(A/N: This is my first time writing fanfic in a very, very long while, so please review and tell me what I'm doing wrong!

Also, I don't own GitS:SAC or any of the associated characters, blah blah blah.)

別れの朝は微妙な情勢 (A Morning After is a Delicate Affair); UNINTENTION

It was odd, I thought to myself as I walked down the familiar hallway; one would think that, as large as this building was, forty people and their support staff could work here comfortably. To be honest, though, I'd always found it cozy enough with eight of us – now it just seemed too crowded. I'd passed three new faces just on my way up from the garage, a trip I'd usually always been able to make without seeing anyone except perhaps an operator taking a message to one of the departments downstairs.

What made it more jarring was the fact that I didn't know any of these people who were now crowding my building. I could line up the faces with their appropriate names, of course, not to mention a whole host of other data besides, but that told me very little. I had no idea how to use them– no idea whom to put at the front of an offensive team or who would be better off at the back. If I needed information from a particular source, I didn't know whom I could send to get it, or who had connections in what places, or who would be able to procure me what, how quickly, from where, and at what cost. It made me uneasy, being surrounded by a whole team of unknown quantities and possible liabilities. It was why I didn't physically come into the building much anymore - one of the benefits of being an independent contractor again was that I usually wasn't expected to.

Still, no matter how long I'd been away or what position I held now that I was back, a summons from the chief was a summons from the chief.

I knocked sharply on the office door.

"Enter."

I pushed the door open. He sat behind his desk with the same impatient expression he always wore, the expression I'd been expecting to see even though I'd come five minutes earlier than I was asked.

I hadn't expected to see the room's other occupant, who was seated with perfect composure on the rich leather sofa, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

I bent slightly at the waist. "Prime Minister."

She smiled graciously. "It's nice to see you again."

The smile didn't quite hide the lines around her eyes; she seemed to have acquired several new ones since I'd last seen her in person.

I noticed then that there was another woman, oddly colorless and wearing a nondescript beige suit, standing just behind the sofa, eyes pointed politely at the floor. She looked irritatingly familiar, although apparently she wasn't important enough to merit an introduction.

I turned my attention back to the chief.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Indirectly," he said. "Madam Prime Minister, if you'd please explain."

She nodded.

"First of all, I'd like to apologize for putting you to all this trouble. But just a few days ago, during a routine scan of my security personnel, a virus was discovered in their shared external memory. We don't know how it got there or where it came from, unfortunately, but the function of the virus, as it was explained to me, was to create a backdoor in the military attack barrier that each of them had installed, probably to enable a future hack by a currently unknown party.

"For security's sake I've given control of the investigation into the origin of the virus to Section 9. It's bad enough that this breach occurred in the first place – I don't want word of it getting out through some leak in the ranks of the police. Also, it's likely that this virus was planted in preparation for some terrorist attack on my person. In light of this, Chief Aramaki has agreed to provide me with some extra personal protection for the time being."

Well, it was easy to see where this was headed.

The chief turned back to me and cleared his throat.

"Because of your independent status, I've merely recommended you for this assignment – whether or not you accept it is entirely your decision. Still, I thought I'd give you first choice before handing it to someone else."

I thought it over. On one hand, it was legitimate work, something that I could definitely stand more of, plus this was a job that I'd be perfectly justified in charging extra for, with additional hazard pay. On the other hand, guard duty was by nature dull and confining and generally stressed the limits of my tolerance.

"Would I be working as part of your existing security detail, madam?" I said, turning to the Prime Minister.

"No," she replied. "Because this threat is so unorthodox, I think it would be best for you to be able to operate free of existing security protocol. I'll leave the strategic decisions up to you; all I would ask is that you try to stay beneath the radar as much as is possible. Really, I'd rather that no one even knew you were there."

That sounded marginally better. And it wasn't like I had anything else coming up.

"It's an indefinite assignment; I'd have to bill weekly on this one. For twice my usual rate as well."

"That's fine," said the chief at once, without so much as blinking. I was surprised – it had been an outrageous bid, even from me.

His piercing gaze locked onto me briefly. He had his own reasons for wanting me to take the job.

"All right," I said. "When do I begin?"

"I'd like you to report to my office tomorrow morning," said the Prime Minister, visibly pleased. "Unless you need more time to prepare…?"

"No," I said.

"Excellent. In that case, I'll see you at eight."

The colorless woman in the beige suit, whom I'd nearly forgotten about, drew a tablet out from her jacket pocket and made a quick note.

"Prime Minister," she said quietly as she tucked the tablet away again, "your meeting with the Minister of Home Affairs is scheduled to begin in half an hour."

There was an odd, halting quality to her speech. I suddenly realized why she looked so familiar.

"Thank you, Mari," said the Prime Minister. She stood in one smooth motion and turned to the chief.

"If you'll excuse me."

"Of course," he said.

I watched as she left the office, walking briskly with her little assistant close behind her. Once they were out of sight, I turned around.

"Another bioroid?"

"Yes," said the chief. "They're going into service as personal assistants in many of the higher government offices, although due to their cost of production and maintenance needs it's unlikely that they'll ever replace the operators entirely."

"I see. Anyway," I said, settling myself into the chair closest to his desk, "it's nice to know that some things never change. She still keeps you on a short rope, huh?"

He cleared his throat briefly, brushing the comment aside.

"The fact of the matter is that the situation is far more serious than the Prime Minister would like to admit. She hasn't said this to me directly, of course, but she's made it clear that she thinks it's possible whoever's behind this attack is working from inside the government itself."

"That's a bit paranoid of her, isn't it?" I said. "If it was someone on the inside who planted the virus, why would they just leave it out in the open where it would be detected and purged? Even members of parliament have their own links to military sources – I can't imagine that anyone would be so careless as to try to spread a virus around without encoding it properly, or at least checking the dates when security inspections would be held. It's like they wanted it to be found."

The chief nodded. "Precisely. The whole situation is extremely unusual; at the very least, we're up against someone who's capable of hacking his way into the shared memory of the Prime Minister's security staff, and at the most, it could be an attempt on her life engineered by someone with full military backing."

"Business as usual, then, I suppose," I said. "Still…wouldn't it be more efficient to send a three-man team over to handle this? Close combat, long range, and then one of Ishikawa's disciples to handle the communications end of things?"

"Under normal circumstances that's probably how I would have done it as well. However, I wanted to give you this assignment for two reasons:

"First, to be honest, at this point I have very little idea where this situation is headed. It could be nothing, or it could jump right to the worst-case scenario. I need someone who can keep an eye out in all the right directions in addition to being able to handle whatever comes up as it happens. Also, if it turns out that we need to make the Prime Minister disappear for a while, you're the only one who's equipped to do so securely without having to make arrangements in advance.

"Second, you've worked closely with the Prime Minister before. I know it's been a couple of years now, but she's familiar with you and she knows she can trust you. Even if it turns out that all of this is merely an overreaction and whatever terrorist threat may have been present was neutralized the moment the virus was discovered, I think the Prime Minister will be less likely to let her paranoia get the better of her and do something foolish if she has someone nearby from whom she feels she can take advice."

I nodded. "And third," I said, "you've barely had anything for me to do since I came back, and you don't want me to feel left out. Go ahead and say it – I won't get offended, I promise."

The chief's eyes narrowed.

"I expect you to report back to us with anything you observe that may help the investigation into the virus. Now, you've got some prep work to do – you're dismissed."

"Right. See you."

I got up and left the office, shutting the door a little more harshly than I'd meant to on the way.

I saw two more unfamiliar faces on my way back down to the garage. They had been talking animatedly up until they noticed me, at which point they fell silent and waited for me to pass. I had long since grown used to this, and I kept walking. I was already perusing the initial report that had been made on the virus, trying to get a feel for what exactly I was up against.

You know, it wouldn't have killed you to stop in and say hello while you're here.

I directed my attention to the cybercomm channel as I stepped into the elevator.

Why Ishikawa, I'd never have thought you were so sentimental. I just assumed you were busy and that'd I'd be intruding.

Of course I'm busy. But if it's you I've sure as hell got a minute.

I don't, unfortunately. I'm on my way out the door again – there are a few things I need to take care of before I head out to the Prime Minister's residence.

Yeah, I heard about that. I'm a bit surprised you took the job, though. It's not exactly in the same vein as everything else we've given you...

Is there anything else you can tell me about this virus? Any idea who wrote it or why it was planted yet?

There was a brief pause in the transmission.

Well, we just finished the structural analysis, and I have to say, the construction of the thing doesn't look like something your average amateur would write. It's more along the lines of what you see in military protocol, although if this is military, their quality control standards have changed a lot since I was contracting there.

I see. So it's possible that this is an inside job after all?

That's the funny thing. You'd think that given how it was discovered, it'd be easy to track it back to someone – after all, if you're dumb enough to put a virus into a shared memory space where it's almost guaranteed to be found, you're probably dumb enough to leave a trail - but we don't have a single lead so far. I've got a few of the guys on it, so hopefully we'll turn up something in a few days.

All right. By the way, is Batou still out in Nagasaki with Togusa?

Yes.

When he gets back, tell him that I want him and Saito on standby in case I need backup.

He'll be happy to hear that. I'll pass it along.

Thanks.

I terminated the conversation, unlocked my car, and sank into the driver's seat. As I started the engine I began compiling a list of preparations that needed to be made – fortunately, most of them could be taken care of en route to Fukuoka, such as preparing emergency bolt holes and letting certain contacts know that if anyone came asking for me in such-and-such a way, they were to be told that I was currently unavailable. Usually I was able to balance the work I got from Section 9 with my other commitments, but I had a feeling that this job would require more of my undivided attention than the others I'd taken on.

I edged carefully out of the garage and onto the entrance ramp. Even the parking deck was crowded now.

How stupid of me, to get hung up on something so trivial.

I turned sharply out onto the street, neatly skirting an oncoming delivery van. For now it was back home to pick up my I.D., which I was usually encouraged not to carry when on an assignment, and my dress uniform, which I thought I might never have to wear again. Everything else I would need – firearms, camouflage, my arsenal of cyberbrain devices – I kept with me as a matter of habit.

In a way, it was nice to be packing up for a mission again. These days I was carrying out most of my investigations solely on the 'net – it would be good to move around a little and get a change of scenery.

Except for the part where the scenery was a collection of offices and the only movement I'd be doing would be following the Prime Minister's shoulder.

Maybe I should have turned down the job after all.