Eve: Evolution
Chapter 1: Arrival
Kojiroh Amagi, private detective…
Marina Hojo, intelligence agent…
Aya Brea, private investigator…
The year is 2008 The place is Japan The problem... is... Eve...
It was early morning; the sun was rising when the large ocean liner docked at the pier in Japan. Kojiroh was nailing a larger sign on the door of his office… which was a mere warehouse, but to Kojiroh it wasn't just his office but his home too.
"Oh great… another huge boat… the last time one of those docked at the pier… OUCH!! SHIT!!!" Kojiroh exclaimed after smashing his thumb with the hammer.
"You know… you really shouldn't stare at other things when you're nailing...women don't like that."
"K-kyoko?!"
"Did you miss me? Look what I found—"
"Wait a minute… why'd you come back here… I mean, after how I treated you."
Kyoko put her hands on her hips and shook her head, "Listen Kojiroh, I know you're still in love with Yayoi – I get it… But that doesn't change the fact that you and I are partners. Besides, don't you remember – I burned my bridges with the Intelligence agency due to my actions hacking into the network for YOU."
"Oh yeah… you did do that didn't you? Well… anyway, what did you find?"
Kyoko handed Kojiroh a disc.
"Is it porn?"
"No, it's not porn, jackass! Jesus, why would I come all the way over here to give you a pornographic disc? Now let's go inside and look at it – there are a few things you ought to see."
With that, Kojiroh and Kyoko headed inside Amagi Detective Agency. Once inside, Kyoko stopped to look around, "Gee," she said, "You think you could've… cleaned up any since I left?"
"Shut up, I got so used to having you do it that once you left I just sorta forgot about it…"
Kyoko sighed, "Kojiroh…" then she smiled softly, "You haven't changed a bit. I can't believe it's been over a year since I left… so how are you and Yayoi?"
Kojiroh remained silent, causing an uncomfortable atmosphere.
"I see… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked… anyway, the disc."
Kojiroh inserted the disc into his computer and booted it up, "…Jesus, what is this, Kyoko?"
"Have you ever heard of Mitochondria?"
"Kyoko, I'm a detective, not a doctor… I have no friggin' idea what the hell a hypochondriac is…"
"Mitochondria!" Kyoko exclaimed in correction.
"Excuse me… anyway, as I was saying – I don't have a clue what that is."
Kyoko poured a cup of coffee and sat down across from Kojiroh, at the table. After taking a deep breath, she explained, "Think of it like this, Kojiroh… What good would this city be without energy?"
"…It'd probably suck – I don't even want to imagine living in this crap-hole without electricity…"
"Mitochondria are basically cellular power plants for all living things. In laymen's terms… once our mitochondria stop manufacturing energy… we die."
Kojiroh took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in chair, "Huh… so what's so special about that particular Mitochondria then?"
"Can't you see? The cells are rebelling. It defies all normal logic… While yes, Mitochondria is linked to certain diseases and cell death, they shouldn't be able to "rebel" like this… they aren't supposed to be able to survive without a host, yet as you can see, these cells have no host and are surviving on their own."
"…Kyoko, what does this really have to do with me? Is it going to land me a job?"
"…Kojiroh, I just figured you wanted to see it. I needed a reason to come here. And now that I see you're not so depressed… I… never mind, I'll leave…"
Kyoko left, leaving Kojiroh sitting at the table by himself. He looked across the table, at the still half full coffee mug that Kyoko hadn't finished. Then, his gaze looked over to the video clip of the mutant mitochondrial reaction and scratched his head, "I don't get it, what's so interesting about something like this?"
Meanwhile, while Kojiroh contemplated in his office…
At the internal affairs headquarters, Marina Hojo had arrived at Chief Kono's office. Marina Hojo, boasting a 99 percent mission success ratio was one of the top agents in Internal Affairs of the Japanese Intelligence bureau.
"Welcome Marina-san!" Chief Kono greeted her with a smile.
"Chief… I see you still are sporting that stupid looking mustache…"
"Hey! I take a lot of pride in this mustache, Marina-san! As a matter of fact, I have reason to believe it has increased my sex appeal by over 40 percent!"
Marina holds her side as she laughs intensely, "Oh Chief! You! Sexy? Hah! T-that's too much!!"
"Marina-san… would you please…"
"Okay, okay… haha… So what was it that you called me in for, Chief? It must be something pretty important. So is it a bodyguard assignment or perhaps a serious murder?"
Chief Kono pulled out a file from his desk and threw it to the edge for Marina, "That's the basics of it, Marina-san. It's no bodyguard assignment this time, but there's a chance it could be a murder."
Marina was looking over the file when she suddenly stopped and lookd up at the Chief, "You're kidding right? An entire group of people just don't spontaneously combust… Perhaps an arsonist is involved?"
"That's what we surmised initially… but it doesn't add up. There's no sign of any chemical or flammable agents on their bodies or in the surrounding area to lead us to a solid arson murder case," Chief Kono replied while playing with his mustache.
"…So you want me to look into it, right?"
"That's right. With your insight, perhaps you could find out something we missed. Here, take these papers with you," Kono answered, handing her some documents.
"What're these?"
"Those papers will make it easier for you to get on the premises of the scene. The two police officers who're stationed there have… dispositions."
"So these bad boys will allow me to deal with two guys with MPE – cool."
"MPE?" Kono replied quizzically.
"Let's just say it's a type of envy, I'm sure you get what I mean, Chief?"
"Say no more, Marina-san. Good luck with your assignment."
"Thanks Chief," Marina replied as she left the office and headquarters. Once outside, Marina looked at the first document that Chief Kono had given her. It was a map of the scene of the incident.
"Hmm… It's in the Park. While not as big as New York's Central Park in America… it's a vast park none the less. A chance of an assault of any kind is much higher here at night than in the city. According to these papers… the time of death indicates sometime early this morning… so that would mean the incident occurred during the late hours of the evening last night… Well, no use in standing here speculating. I'll head on over to the park and see what I can learn."
With that in mind, Marina headed towards the park region of town…
Meanwhile, the large passenger cruise liner that had docked at the Japanese port was letting out; among the passengers stepping foot on Japanese soil was 35 year old Aya Brea. Her youthful appearance deceived her actual age. Her beautiful blond hair was just above her shoulders. She wore fitting denim jeans and a matching denim jacket over a black sleeveless shirt. She stepped down the ramp and was stopped by the border guard.
"Excuse me, Miss. I'd like to welcome you to Japan, but first I must ensure that you do not have any illegal firearms in your possession—"
Aya flashes a card in front of the guard, "Is this sufficient?"
"…A concealed weapons permit? That's only valid in the United States, Miss… Brea."
"…Jesus, is this how you secure your country? Fine," Aya removed her M9 from inside her jacket and handed it to the border guard, "Does this appease you?"
"I'd be appeased, if you would also open up your musical instrument case, Miss Brea."
"You drive a hard bargain, you know that?" Aya replied as she opened a large case, revealing a Baritone Saxophone, "I'm on my way to a rehearsal… now if you're done here…"
"Yeah, we're done here, Miss Brea. Welcome to Japan and when you're ready to leave you can retrieve your firearm from the Border Patrol office."
"I'll be sure to do that…" Aya replied as she walked past the border guard, case in hand. She continued walking, from the shipping district, she headed into Central Avenue of town. When she arrived she looked up at the Princess Hotel, where her reservation was.
"Not a bad looking hotel… hmm, it has a cocktail lounge too. Perhaps I'll check that out later." Aya thought to herself. At that moment, when she was standing in front of the hotel in thought, someone bumped into her.
"E-excuse me," the man said.
"…It's no problem… just watch where you're going next time, won't you?"
"I-I'll b-be sure t-to, g-goodbye," the man stammered before he took off in haste. Aya stood and watched him scamper off.
"…I haven't seen a guy that out of touch with people since Maeda. Hmm, I wonder if Maeda got my phone call, I'd rather meet with him sooner than later…"
With that thought, Aya headed into the Princess Hotel and made her way up to the check in desk.
"Excuse me; I made a reservation via on-line for Suite #2, on the top floor."
"Name, Miss?"
"Brea, Aya," Aya replied.
"Ah, here you are," the clerk replied, handing Aya the keys to her room, "May your stay here at the Princess Hotel be a magnificent one."
After receiving her keys, Aya decided to head directly to her room. After unlocking the doors to Suite #2, Aya set her baritone saxophone case onto the bed and opened it up. She took the saxophone out of the case and set it on the bed beside the case. Afterwards, she pulled out a pocket knife from her pocket and cut the back of the casing and pulled out the backboard, revealing a M24 SWS (Sniper Weapon System). She started to ready the rifle when there was a knock on the door.
"Shit…" Aya retorted under her breath as she placed the rifle back in the case and covered it up with the saxophone on top of it. Afterwards, she headed towards the door, where the knocking still persisted. Aya peered through the peep hole, outside there was an attendant. Aya opened the door partially, leaving the latch still locked to the mechanism, "Yes?" she answered.
"I've just come here to deliver a message. Apparently there's a man by the name of Maeda Kunihiko who's waiting in the cocktail lounge downstairs. He has asked me to inform you that he is here, and if you'd be so kind to come down and talk with him."
"I see, thanks for the message, I'll be down shortly," Aya replied.
"I shall tell Mr. Maeda then… good day to you, Miss Brea," the attendant answered with a polite bow before leaving Aya's door. Afterwards, Aya closed her door and returned to her bedside and removed the rifle again. She began to polish and clean it, adjust the scope, check the ammo, and overall maintenance of the rifle. Once finished, she put the rifle away, left the suite, locked up, and headed down to the cocktail lounge…
Preview
Next time, Aya Brea meets with Maeda in regards to the new threat which Japan will soon be facing full out. Elsewhere, Marina Hojo investigates a crime scene which points to murder by waves of arson… however this doesn't add up given the limited evidence at the crime scene. Marina makes her own deductions about the incident… but is she a target herself? Find out next time in Chapter 2 of Eve: Evolution, Awakening