Inside a darkened room, twelve monoliths were the only source of light in the room. They were called the twelve pillars of SEELE, and they were responsible for everything that goes on in the world from terrorists attacks, financing, and even outright control of the UN military. 'To those who have the gold,' as the saying goes.
The reason behind this particular meeting, according to the only man in the room at the moment, was the shock that the third child, Shinji Ikari, had arrived to Tokyo-3 a year earlier than expected. After assuring the men that the early arrival meant nothing to the scrolls, the pillars decided to let the man go off and do his own thing. The man left the room as the monoliths remained lit to discuss something between themselves.
"So," monolith 1 began to speak, "Anyone would want to tell me why the third child arrived earlier than was foreseen in the scrolls?"
"Sir," pillar 6 responded in Latin, "the more pressing matter is what the third child was doing in England before his draft into NERV."
"I may have the answer to that," monolith 3 said in German, "I had the German NERV branch MAGI hack into the British mainframe for British intelligence, and I've found his profile. Shinji Ikari, born June sixth, two thousand one, aged thirteen. Spent four years of his life in Japan before moving to England. Apprenticed under Commander Miles Messervey of the Royal Navy in intelligence before moving to full duties in MI6. Recently, achieved "00" status by assassinating our secondary accountant and drug kingpin in Brazil and a bodyguard."
"And the price of this information," pillar 6 pressed.
"Only a minor annoyance, a techie who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut about the Dead Sea Scrolls."
"So the rumor was true then," monolith 3 said, "we lost a copy of the scrolls to some no name thief."
"Sadly, yes," monolith 1 confirmed, "When pillar 12 was assassinated a few days ago. Chinese officials confirmed the kill."
"What are we going to do about the third child," pillar 10 asked.
"Nothing for now. Right now the thief is having money troubles and risking the scrolls at a casino in Tokyo-3 will be our best chance of recovering them. This meeting is over."
One by one the monoliths shut off as the display of light ended in the otherwise dark room.
006 006 006
Shinji Ikari sat quietly as he listened to his MP3 player. He had a few moments before his conference call with M to let her know about the update of his hunt for the assassin of Francisco Scaramanga. With his NERV identification card, he has been hitting the chemin de fer tables and caught wind of a massive tournament where the prize was two golden guns plus over five hundred million in cash. When pressed about the guns, the two men said that one is a walther P99 and the other is a prototype weapon meant to be disguised. After getting the flier for the event, Shinji promptly cashed out and notified M of the recent developments.
The next day he was shocked as M herself showed up at Misato's door with Mr. Tanner and her bodyguard at her side. Thankfully, Misato was at work so the need to see his boss wouldn't be a surprise to anyone but himself. The quartet went to the limousine that is at the bottom of the building.
"So you have an update for me, 006," M got the conversation started.
Shinji scanned the flier into the MI6 system as he said, "Yes, M, the assassin seems to have run into sudden money problems courtesy of our 'friends' at the UN. It seems that someone there knows the identity of the assassin and isn't afraid of exploiting that fact for their own purposes. The assassin also knows that the CIA, MI6 and every other intelligence division in the world would like to have a piece of the assassin for his knowledge of what has recently been driving the UN's war on the so called angels."
"Have you been able to ascertain that the man in question have first hand knowledge of the Dead Sea Scrolls?"
"No, but I think that he knows someone who does at the very least, or he could have the scrolls themselves. Our intelligence has been shakey in China since the blockade by the Chinese navy after Second Impact. It is only our luck to know that Mr. Scaramanga's demise was due in part that the island was outside the blockade."
Mr. Tanner butted in at this point, "what makes you so certain that the assassin will even bet the scrolls in a game at a high-end casino in Japan?"
Shinji answered the question by saying, "Tokyo-3 has enjoyed certain 'liberties' since second impact, and legalized gambling has been one of them. The man needs some way to dump the scrolls cleanly and legally. Putting the scrolls as a stake in a big game of baccarat will surely draw the attention of whoever wanted them."
"Which is why we are putting you into the game, 006," M said with a basic command, "we are invited to send our best player to the game. Nine players, each staking a hundred million yen, or six hundred sixty five thousand pounds in our currency. One from MI6, one from the CIA, two from NERV, two from SEELE, two others from various syndicates from around the globe, and finally the assassin himself."
"Do you want a good clean kill or a messy one?"
"We need him alive. If he was rumored to have taken out one of the twelve pillars of SEELE, then there is a good chance that he can identify the other eleven and take them out," M turned to the driver and said, "Take 006 home. He will need his rest for the game in three days."
The driver took off to the apartment that Shinji was staying at. As soon as they arrived, Shinji and M parted ways each expecting the next few days to be quite interesting.
Author's notes and Statistics
And with that, we are going to the next arc of the story, Imperial Casino. Expect a big chapter next time as I explain the rules of the game of baccarat chemin de fer, or railroad from the French and get the game underway, at least that is what I am hoping for.
Statistics
Total Hits: 486
Total Reviews: 8
Average Hits/Chapter: 162
Average Reviews/Chapter: 2.66
Total Content Word Count: 4303
This story is on 1 C2s, 9 favorites lists, and 10 Alert lists. Thank you for the support.