You give A-47 your word that the plan will be enacted and reiterate your loyalty to NAGA. He gives you a curt nod in approval. "That's the spirit." As soon as you assert your compliance, the small bug attaches itself to your arm and starts melding with your skin until no trace remains of its presence. You attempt to pat yourself down, but you can't feel the device anywhere. Creepy.
A-47 seems amused at your discomfort. "You're off the hook for now. You know what, I'll even give you a free ride back to the city. As a treat." He says, and kicks the door of the hovervan shut again.
The rest of the drive passes by uneventfully as the van takes you back to your apartment complex. As you stumble out, A-47 throws you a quick glance over his shoulder. "Remember, those heretics aren't likely to resurface any time soon. Take your time and lay low for a while. Alright? Now scram."
---
That day, back in the comfort of your room, you decide you've had enough of this. No more bullshit, no more listening to schizos speaking in riddles, no more getting mixed up in raids or manhandled by guardbots. You should just go back to being the upstanding citizen you always have been, and do your part in upholding normalcy, which apparently includes undertaking shady missions by NAGA-sanctioned assassins. Trying anything beyond that only caused you needless trouble, so this is surely the positive EV move that will give you the best chance of coming out on top. Right?
Still, in the aftermath of all you've learned, there's a distinct sense of wrongness in returning to your normal routines. You try to distract yourself with holomovies, virreels and neuraverts, but even then they feel hollow. The visions in Fu Ji's simulation hang over the back of your mind. You're still anxious about how they might be true. You also realize that you don't know when the events will take place. It could be tomorrow, but it could also be years. Judging by A-47's paranoia about the cultists, it might be sooner rather than later.
You can't imagine doing nothing with all that information. At least now you have some sort of purpose - your mission. Though you know it's for the best, and that the temple people will likely just be taken away for punishment and reeducation, a part of you still feels uneasy about your involvement in A-47's plan. You've never brought anyone harm before, and whatever happens when the cult people are captured is probably not going to be pleasant.
You barely leave your room. The only times you go out are for your perfunctory games at the Soul Shrine, where you even get close to scoring a perfect game a few more times. You wonder what will happen if you manage another 100% score. Would you receive another summon from the Marshall, despite your earlier advances?
The days pass by in a haze. At some point you reckon that you've waited long enough and make your way back to the strange temple. Unlike before, the structure appears deserted, which gives you pause. You look around for any signs of life, your mind half made up to come back another day, when suddenly a shadow descends from the rooftop. As the figure lands before you, you recognize him as the robed man you met during your first visit. The fox-eared monk gives you a cursory sniff, and then bows.
"Kind visitor. I regret that our game was untimely disrupted, and that this is how we must greet you to our temple now. The practice of Anawrahta is stifled and forced to shroud itself. The noose of the snake coils ever tighter around our throat."
"Regardless, I believe in the noble truth of our faith. And I want our doors to be open to anyone willing to receive the Priestess' teaching, like you are." He maintains a half-bowing stance while opening the gates of the temple for you. "If you will only come this way, our people are ready to welcome y-"
Before the monk can finish his sentence, a stray blast of light hits him with deadly precision, and he drops where he stands without a sound. Not far away, A-47 and his army of guardbots emerge seemingly out of nowhere. They must've followed you out here to the minute. Faster than you can think or react, A-47 zips past you at the speed of light, followed by the bots as they swarm the temple.
In the blink of an eye, it was over before it even started. Only just now having the chance to, you take a look inside the hall of the temple. The lifeless bodies of monks and priests scatter across the floor. Among them, you identify the unmistakable white hair of the robed androgynous person who warmly guided you before. They're all dead, just like that.
Ahead of you, A-47 preens with the satisfaction of a job well done. "Heh, that was quicker than I thought. These freaks even make it easy for us by gathering here like lambs to the slaughter." He mentally checks something with his cybernetic glasses. "Seems to be a few left, further inside the structure. No chance they can slip away fast enough, though. We made it in time this round."
The assassin glances at you standing there in shell shock, and commands. "Since you're already here, might as well make yourself useful. We're spreading out to take care of the rest. You should go search, too."
Dumbfounded and with nothing else to do, you follow his orders. You recall the passage flanked by statues that the monks led you through. You're able to trace it again, and at the end of the route, you find yourself back in the room you were previously shown.
In the dark, it takes you a moment to make out the orange-haired priestess sitting alone at the mahjong table. Her gaze is listless as she shuffles the tiles like she's rearranging the board at random, or playing by herself. You hesitate before calling out for A-47 and then turn back to her. She still doesn't acknowledge your presence, let alone make a move to escape.
You awkwardly watch her, unsure of what to do or say. You think about coming up with an excuse for yourself, but decide against it. "H-hey. Aren't you going to run, or surrender, or anything? Maybe if you give yourself up, they'll spare you."
This time, she raises her head up and looks straight through you. "Me...? From the start, we are doomed to wander from one life into another, in endless, cyclical fate. This wheel of death and rebirth to which there can only be one escape... If us few grasp the Four Noble Truths in pure faith, we shall already have attained the sole ending we seek."
You don't know what you expected. The Priestess is spouting strange nonsense, as always. Yet when she speaks, you could swear you feel the room expand and the passage of time stop.
"...Rather, it's about you that I am most curious. You, who now walks the line of least resistance alongside the Sentry, despite your attunement to the Path... Perhaps it is only inevitable that the cattle herded by snakes think there is no real choice other than the quantitatively correct one. And so long as it follows the satisfaction of being right, that is the meaning of victory. But even for such a choice there must be a price, as there is for any other. Soon, you shall learn the full extent of that price. The day the Acinteyya of this lost world reveals itself to you... What will happen, then?"
Ok, this priestess' mystical prowess has got to be keeping time suspended for sure, you think - even if you don't quite believe it yourself. That's the only reasonable explanation for why it's taking A-47 and his bots so long to arrive. You find yourself more and more captivated as she continues, nevertheless - like her words are locking you in their own pocket dimension.
"...I wonder if you will push forward without a care for what you have to lose..." As if to physically demonstrate, the High Priestess pushes ahead a chun from her haipai.
"...if you will find the cost of truth too much to bear and fold into the hopeless breach..." She covers the tile and draws it into her hand again, at this point.
"...if you will mawashi and avoid the weight of your decisions until it's too late..." Now, the Priestess holds out the tile in mid-air for a moment, then spreads out her finger and lets it drop.
"...or, if you will come to understand, in time, as I did..." As she speaks, the chun falls freely onto the board. It clacks with surprising force against another tile, conveniently setting off a domino effect that topples over the rest of her haipai.
"...that the only winning move is not to play."
Then, you snap out of your trance and it's like reality has kicked in again. A-47 rushes beside you, guns at the ready, and fires a perfect shot. The priestess fell silently like a leaf in the wind, as the robed man did before you. A swift, bloodless death.
"That should be the last of them. Good job." He smiles and gives your back a rather forceful pat, presumably in an attempt to be friendly. "You're free to go back to your life now. Maybe you should join us next time too, since you've clearly proven yourself today." You must've let your reaction to that show on your face, because A-47 instantly starts laughing. "What? I'm not talking about my line of work. You'll never be able to make it in this... profession anyway. Still, think about your duty as a good citizen and consider enlisting in the forces."
Afterwards, the assassin allows his hovervan to drop you home. Again, you remember Fu Ji's simulation and the scenes of compulsory conscription you saw in there. Although A-47's words were mostly in jest, you can't help but think that at least a part of it was genuine. You take some time to process what just happened and make a decision:
A) Take A-47's suggestion seriously and join the forces.
B) Actually, you don't want to do the Sentry's bidding anymore. Maybe now is the time to look into your options, like what the Priestess said?
C) You don't want to help NAGA more than you have to, but you don't want to step out of line either. You just wanna grill, for god's sake.