Silent Water
by
DeepQuote
Author's note: The NPA is the National Police Agency and it is the only "official" Japanese law enforcement agency I could find.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and related characters do not belong to me, and are used here without permission strictly for entertainment purposes. This story was partly inspired by Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.
"When I wish to find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how wicked is anyone, or what are his thoughts at the moment, I fashion the expression of my face, as accurately as possible in accordance with the expression of his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart, as if to match or correspond the expression."
Edgar Allen Poe "The Purloined Letter"
Step.
Step.
Step.
Ranko Tendo cursed silently to herself as her footsteps echoed through the empty hallway, announcing her arrival to the inmates held within the small cell block. This wing of the prison was designed for those prisoners who incarceration requirements were beyond maximum security. It was specially created to house inmates of "Special" circumstances. The wing was a prototype designed to test the effectiveness of certain building techniques for holding various superhuman criminals. Housed within these walls were some of the world's most dangerous criminals.
The neutrally colored walls were constructed of a carbon polymer designed to look and feel like concrete, but have the strength and durability of 12 inch solid steel. The use of the synthetic compound cheapened cost of the walls, but it also allowed for easy cleanup when things got messy. This ease of cleaning was aided by a clear outer coating. The clear coating was a silicate based compound used to additionally fortify the walls. The compound was capable of withstanding great amounts of heat and energy when applied to the walls. The criminals of the wing were highly adept at using such energies. The highly advanced and durable construction techniques, a state of the art surveillance system, and individual inmate tracking chips, made this particular wing of the prison was as close to inescapable as any prison truly was.
Despite the technological assurances of such a highly advanced prison, Ranko was still on edge. This place unnerved her, and after all it did house some of the most dangerous criminals alive. Everyone had reassured her multiple times that she was totally safe among the inmates, she didn't believe them at all. Someone who didn't know her would just she was just a scared little girl. The thing is, Ranko Tendo didn't get scared, she got even. In spite of this devil may cry attitude, even the hairs on the back of Ranko's neck were standing up in place like this.
With each step continuing to echo down the hall, Ranko continued on towards her destination. She was here to visit the most deadly man on the entire planet. A serial killer that had taken the combined forces of the NPA and Interpol to catch. She was here to talk with the very man who inspired the creation of this cell block. It was a surreal feeling for the young trainee. For Ranko had not even graduated from the NPA academy and yet here she was already walking to the darkest recesses of the prison system. As she listened offhand to the echoes of her footsteps, Ranko noticed a slight chill beginning to develop, as if all of the heat in the far end of the hall was being sucked away. The cold brought an involuntary chill to her bones, as she thought back to the beginning, back to the day she got the assignment...
FlashBack
Tokyo, Japan. NPA Academy.
2 Days Earlier...
Palmstrike, Left sided dodge, Dragon tail...
This kata was one of Ranko's favorites, it helped her relax. It wasn't a complex kata, but for Ranko while wrapped in it's graceful moves, she felt at peace. It was this daily practice which earned Ranko's reputation among her fellow classmates. When Ranko first started doing katas early in the morning, she found various male admirers watching for their own benefit. It didn't take long before the men were given a close and person demonstration. The female students who enjoyed the demonstration with unrestrained glee, had a different attitude toward Ranko's katas. They were affectionately named "Slow motion ass-kickings".
Today, however there was no new admirers this morning, there were no distractions and Ranko's mind focused on her art. Water flows, Wind flys, and Ranko seemed to do both during various parts of her kata. This deadly but beautiful dance soothed Ranko it lulled her into a sense of peace. It also gave her evidence. Evidence that she had control of herself and her environment. Concentrating on her movements, Ranko carefully controlled her breathing. Oxygen filled her lungs, and instincts flowed among split second decisions as one kata became another.
"Tendo."
Gone. No more grace, no more flow, and barely any control. The flawless form of anything goes was stopped by a single word as Ranko fought to regain her center before reacting to her company. She fought desperately, only to regain the control shattered by a single world.
"Tendo"
Biting back her tongue, Ranko flowed into an improvised ending to her workout bringing her face to face with her company.
"Yes, sir?"
"Takahara wants to see you in his office, pronto."
"Yes, Sir. You wouldn't happened to know why?"
"Sorry Tendo, but I don't. I'm just the messenger. I suggest you report to his office immediately."
"Yes, Sir!"
Digging her feet into the moist earth, Ranko sprinted forward, her legs racing as she sped off toward the other end of the campus. The wind flowed through her wild hair as Ranko bounded through the campus with speed usually reserved for race cars and fighter jets. It was only a matter of minutes before Ranko reached the main doors of the Behavioral Science offices. Upon entering the building, Ranko adapted a more civilized pace of walking as she composed herself, and tried to look as presentable as possible.
She nodded politely to the agents and staff that she passed, as she winded her way through the various nondescript offices that made up the Behavioral Sciences Division. Ryu Takahara was the director of behavioral sciences, and he was her mentor. Takahara was the finest profiler the NPA had, and he single handedily led the NPA And Interpol to the downfall of the most notorious serial killer of the modern day.
The Wild Horse.
Finally arriving at her destination, Ranko waited politely for Takahara's secretary to address her before attempting to enter his office.
"Ms. Tendo."
"Yes?"
"Mr. Takahara wants to see you immediately, please go right in."
"Thank you."
Consciously aware of her cautious pace, Ranko enter Takahara's office. Upon entering, idle thoughts of what she must look like bundled in her regulation PT clothes all covered with sweat. With her wild hair all over the place, Ranko was quite sure she looked wilder than even her name could express.
Ryu Takahara's office was like any other you would expect to see in the behavioral sciences division. Manila file folders sat on the desk piled among pictures, maps, and forms burying the desk. Even the walls seemed an extension of the buried desk as multicolored push pins held many of the same items to the walls.
"Ms. Tendo. It's good to see you. Please sit down."
"Thank you, sir. um..You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, Tendo. I did. I have a job for you. You know you come highly recommended by your instructors for this assignment. And, I recall you giving me quite a had time on my views of primitive instincts in serial killers."
"Yes, Sir. I remember you being most adamant about the fact that most serial killers are methodical in their madness, not animals of instinct."
"Correct and most of the research the bureau has collected on serial killers in custody support my theory. Well, I should say All of them except one support my theory. He refused to cooperate, and I know that if he did his insight would be more valuable than all of the other data. I'm sure you've heard of him... Dr. Ranma Saotome..."
"The Wild Horse."
"Yep, that's him, and I want you to interview him. So far he has refused to cooperate with any attempts to categorize him. Saotome being a Doctor of Psychiatry he knows exactly how to block our attempts to understand him. He knows better than anyone both sides of the human mind, the sane, and the insane."
"I've read about Dr. Saotome many times before. The FBI marks him as one of the most dangerous serial killer ever. Even before his capture and murder, Dr. Saotome was a renowned psychiatrist, what makes you think he will talk to me? What can I do that a agent can't do?"
"You can agree with him Tendo."
"Agree with him sir?"
"The reason you were picked for this assignment is actually simple, Tendo. Saotome believe just as you do on the primitive mind. He published a philosophical article shortly after his capture called "The nature of the beast.". With that similarity I believe you have an insight into him no one else does. Use that insight to talk to him, connect with him. In essence, Tendo I am giving you a chance to prove me wrong."
"Prove you wrong how sir?"
"Get Saotome to talk with you, and watch him. Learn what you can about the animal inside the cage. Basically, I'm sending you out there to rattle his cage and see what falls out. I want you to see if you can prove what you believe him to be."
"What is that, sir?"
" A predator."
"Tendo, I've booked you on a flight to Tokyo. I have here a copy of Saotome's file, an expense account, and a special ID for you. The flight leaves in a few hours, I suggest you go and pack."
"Thank you, sir. I'll do it. I will bring you back some insight into Dr. Saotome."
Takahara chuckled. "Good luck Tendo. One last thing. Get inside his head, but don't let Saotome into yours that is when he is really dangerous."
End Flashback
That was how, Ranko ended halfway around the world in a hi-tech prison visiting the most dangerous man on the earth.
The last cell was quite different from the others. Instead of the standard issue bars, the front of the cells was encased in what appeared to be a clear version of the synthetic steel with large air holes in it, along with what appeared to be a sliding drawer. Among the walls, Various drawings, and pictures lined the walls. The far corner held a large canvas depicting a scene that seems vaguely familiar to Ranko, but she couldn't place it. Small pools of what dotted a slopping valley as endless bamboo poles stuck out of the pools in the foreground and the fog in the back ground.
Within the cell, stood an immaculately dressed young man, his black hair pulled into a ponytail falling over his solider. Upon closer inspection, you could tell it was almost if not a single hair was out of place to put the man's appearance to any less than perfect. Upon noticing the ponytail, the redhead tugged nervously at her pigtail before speaking. Her voice booming forth from her small frame as she tried to exude confidence.
"Dr. Saotome. I am Special Agent Ranko Tendo; I'm with the NPA and We'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Welcome, Wild Child. I know who you are. Warden Kuno informed me I had a visitor coming. I naturally suspected good ole Ryu Takahara. How is he by the way?"
"Agent Takahara is back at headquarters doing his job Dr. Saotome."
"I see. I didn't expect him to send someone else. He must be very busy to resort so sending such a wild child out to do his dirty work. Well, Agent Tendo it is a pleasure to me you. You must forgive me, if I don't shake your hand. I'm incarcerated at the moment."
"At the moment, Dr. Saotome? It sounds like you plan on escaping from this inescapable cell block.'
"Plan? Agent Tendo. no. no. no. no. I know I will escape. It is only a matter of time and opportunity. Now, What do you want from me, Agent Tendo. Did Ryu Takahara send you down to analyze me? Or does he need new insight on chasing that new one... Cane. I believe his name was."
Ranma lips turned into a cruel smirk as his grey eyes seemed to stare unblinkingly at the young agent before him. Pausing only to place her bag on the floor, Ranko stepped forward to the entrance of the cell. She stopped no closer than an inch away from the glass before she spoke.
"Dr. Saotome, You don't frighten me."
"hahahaha..." he chuckled.
"That my dear Agent Tendo is not the problem."
Dr. Saotome mimicked Ranko's motions as he placed himself exactly opposite from her inside the cell. He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke.
"I scare myself."
Stepping back, Ranko stumbled taken aback by the frank answer from the madman. That was not at all the response she had expected from him. Steeling herself, Ranko reached into her small purse. She pulled forth the Questionnaire, she had been given.
"Dr. Saotome, As I'm sure you know the agency often conducts studies in order to understand the criminal mind, and I was hoping you'd..."
"Tut, Tut, Tut. You were doing so well. You've been polite, courteous, and even forthright by telling me you are not afraid me and , now this... this half-witted attempt to get me to take a... a.. Survey. No. No. No. this will never do... And I had such high hopes for you wild child. You may go now."
"What would you have me do Doctor? Hold up a mirror and ask you what you see? You tell me your scared of yourself, why won't you tell me why? Too afraid to look at a real monster? No man is the judge of another, Doctor. The only one should be examining is yourself."
"Good-bye, Agent Tendo."
"Fine." Ranko hurriedly gathered her purse, and straighten her appearance before regarding the young man once more.
"Good-bye, Doctor."
Step.
Step.
Step.
Just as her heels had announced her arrival to the cell block, they announced her departure just as loudly. About halfway down the hall, Ranko shiver involuntarily. She heard something that sounded like water. A bucket of water to precise. The mere thought of the cold clear liquid sent shivers down Ranko's spine as she continued out of the cell block. Calming herself Ranko managed to hold onto her fear until she heard a strange battle cry come from her right side.
"SWEETO!!"
Seconds after the strange outburst, the cells occupant, a Japanese pervert named Happosai threw cold water from his water pitcher through his cells bars at Ranko. The pervert's beady eyes became riveted to Ranko's white blouse searching for some source of perverted enjoyment. Ice cold water, chilling her to the bone covered her right side, as Happosai cackled maniacally at her discomfort. The cold grip of the water struck her by surprise and her body continued to shiver as the water dripped down to the floor.
"Aaaaaaaa!!"
The cold liquid gripped Ranko stronger than anything. It's icy grip struck fear into her very being. The feel of cold water brought a vision of a small pool with a bamboo pole, and for reasons unknown Ranko hated this place with a vengeance. Caught up in the swirl of emotions brought on by her assault, Ranko almost failed to noticed the doctor calling for her.
"Agent Tendo!" "Agent Tendo!"
"Come back!"
Racing back from the cold water, Ranko took in the warm sounds of the Doctor's voice and once more presented herself before his cell. The water still dripped down her pale face, as the water made her clothes stick to her body. Ranko watched the doctor try to slip his mask of control back on as his eyes glanced over her body trying to insure she was unharmed.
Stammering more from nervousness than the temperature, Ranko spoke.
"d...d..Doctor?"
"My humblest apologies, my dear. I would rather that not have happened to you."
"Then help me doctor. Fill out the survey. Make this humiliation worth my time." Ranko demanded sensing a opportunity.
"I'll do more than help you, Agent Tendo. I'll make this up to you in a way your wild heart can appreciate. I'll give you Cane's head on a plate."
"Cane, doctor? What do you know about him?"
"I know that if you are a good little girl, and travel through the looking glass just like Alice, you will find what motivates our mad Mr. Cane."
"Through the looking glass? What do you mean, Doctor?"
"As the American say, Let you fingers doing the walking young Ranko and you will know what I am talking about. Now go, Agent Tendo. I don't think the old fart will be expecting you so soon. Now go!!"
Sliding the survey into Ranma's cell, Ranko slipped off her heels and tore down the cell block, and out of the building.
To be continued...