Walking up to the shack that the informant used as a safe house I began to smell perfume. With each step the smell grew stronger.
I knocked on the door.
A tall woman opened the door. "Are you the informant?" I asked.
"That depends, who are you?" She replied.
"Grigori Mstislav, Russian Special Forces. I was sent here by the Marshal of the Soviet Union." I stated.
"Ah, Khan sent you, come in. My name is Annabel by the way" The informant let me in and offered me a drink. I asked for water.
"What have they told you?" Annabel asked as she handed me the glass of water I had requested.
I pulled out the two files that were given to me. "Only this." I said to her as I handed the files over.
Annabel studied the files for a while. "At least you're well informed." She said to me handing back the files.
"What about your gear?" She asked. I slid the bag filled with my equipment to her.
Annabel respectfully huffed at me. "Well equipped, impressive."
Annabel searched through my bag finding and A.K.74u, a ballistic knife, and the rest of my Special Forces uniform. She also found my cut down version Mosin Nagant.
"What is this?" She asked as she began studying the Mosin Nagant that had been cut down to be used as a handgun.
"Ever heard of the Obrez pistol?" I asked.
"No, not once." She responded. I began to explain what I was told about the Obrez pistol.
"You seem to know a lot about firearms Grigori." Annabel said as she handed me back the handgun provided for me.
I nodded. "So what do you have planed?"
"I am in contact with a group of six kids that know where that women in your files is, we can see them tomorrow after I show you around." Annabel replied.
"If its okay with you, I'd rather we just focus on the task at hand." I was interrupted.
"This does focus at the mission we have been tasked with." Annabel explained. "There's an armory I'd like to show you, the man that runs the armory goes by the name Gerald."
"I thought firearms were outlawed in all of Japan." I stated.
"That doesn't mean people don't illegally buy and own firearms." Annabel responded.
I nodded and accepted her plan to take me down to an armory. Besides, I was always happy with owning more firearms.
"We should probably get some rest." Annabel stated. "You good with sleeping on the couch?"
"It's better than the floor." I responded.
That night I slept surprisingly well.
I was shaken awake, Annabel told me to get my things ready because we were headed into the village.
"I'll drive." I stated as we left the safe house.
Annabel was locking the door when she asked how I was going to drive. I pointed out the car I stole.
"Take the next left." Annabel directed as we got closer to our destination.
Finally we arrived in an ally. I kind of expected the illegal weapons shop to be in a dark place where no one comes around.
At the door Annabel knocked in rhythm on the door. After a short wait, a German voice called on the intercom asking who it was.
"It's me, Annabel." She stated. We were let in momentarily.
Inside I could see weapon racks mounted on the wall. Rifles, sub-machineguns, handguns, even grenades were on display. Each weapon also had a distinctive price tag tapped on it. The grenades in the shop cost the most out of everything else.
"Gerald, this is Grigori, he's the agent that was sent here to find out about the military presents that currently occupies this village." Annabel said as Gerald turned around.
"Listen, before it's too late." Gerald said in a frantic manor. "I know about the photos, I have an explanation."
"What? What are you talking about Gerald?" Annabel asked.
"I moved here in 1982, the mercenaries arrived in 1983, and whipped out the entire village on the third Sunday in June." Gerald stated as he scratched his neck. "I remember everything now, Grigori get out of here before it's too late!"
Annabel tried calming him down.
"Get away from me!" Gerald smacked Annabel across the cheek sending her wincing in pain.
"There's a girl named…"
Time froze, and right before my eyes the conversation with Gerald seemed to rewind itself. Time unfroze, and Gerald turned around. "Ah yes, I was sent here a week ago to spy on the villagers, and provide the commanders back in Russia with intelligence."
"You set up shop very quickly." Annabel stated.
"What the fuck?" I thought to myself. I started to question if I was drunk.
"Naturally." Gerald responded to Annabel's statement. "So what do you two need today?"
"I was just showing Grigori here your armory; can you provide him with a supply of weapons and ammo?" Annabel asked to which Gerald replied with a yes.
"I'll set up an account, sense it's your first time buying I'll give you one free firearm." Gerald said to me.
I nodded.
"Well go on, pick a weapon." I started to look around as Annabel and Gerald started a conversation about a new model of a rifle.
It was hard to pick a weapon in Gerald shop. "Should I pick the Atchisson Assault-12 12 Gauge shotgun, or the newer versions of the A.K.47?"
Suddenly a submachine gun caught my eye on one of the shelves. The Heckler & Koch MP5 was the name of the firearm.
I informed Gerald that I would like to purchase the firearm.
"Again, sense this is your first purchase I'll give it to you for free, with additional magazines and two boxes of ammo." He said handing me over my new firearm.
"Before we go, is there anything you have to inform us on?" Annabel asked. Gerald replied by saying that he would give us a call if he found anything out.
"Alright let's pay a visit to those kids I was talking about, the Sonozaki residence is just a couple of blocks from here." Annabel stated as I drove off in the direction she had pointed me to.
"So you like your new toy?" Annabel asked.
"Gerald has a lot of weapons, how'd he get started up doing work like that?" I asked Annabel ignoring her question.
"We all start somewhere I guess." Annabel stated.
"That's very true." I paused. "So how did you get involved with the Russian Special Forces?"
"How did you?" She responded with a question.
"Volunteered, than applied for Special Forces training." I responded. "And I asked you first."
Annabel joined the Special Forces much like me. She volunteered but wanted more. She told me her parents were killed by terrorists and she wanted to take revenge. I noted that she might have demons if her parents were killed and she applied for the Special Forces.
We finally arrived at the Sonozaki residence.
"The kids name is Mion, be nice to her please." Annabel said to me as I placed the car in park and shut the engine off.
Even though I came to the conclusion that what I saw in Gerald's armory was just my mind playing tricks on me, but I still couldn't help but think that something else happened.
Walking up to the door and knocking it, Mion's mother answered. Her name was Akane.
"My name is Grigori Mstislav, and this is Annabel, can we ask your daughter a few questions?" I asked as Annabel repeated what I said in Japanese.
"I understand, and speak English. Please come in." She said as she opened the door and let us in. "Is there something wrong?"
"We are part of a health department in Tokyo, we have come to ask a few questions about the village." I responded.
We followed her to the second floor and at the end of the hall way she knocked on a door.
"Yes?" A voice from the other side of the door said.
Akane informed what I believed to be Mion that Annabel and I had a few questions about the village. The door opened and we were let in to Mion's room. Akane walked back down stairs.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked professionally.
"No, we just came to ask some questions." I stated. "There's a military presents in this village correct?"
Mion confirmed the presents of military forces and also told us their purpose in the village.
According to Mion the military presents in the village have been sent here to insure the safety of the village. Two weeks ago a plane crashed into the swamp of the village, and it has been said that the plane was carrying nuclear weapons.
I thought back to my files as Mion wrote down the directions of the swamp. The plane I was looking for was a spy plane, not a cargo plane.
"So they're here to remove the weapons?" I asked.
Mion nodded. "That's what we have been told. Along with them being here to remove the weapons, they are helping prevent a disease to break out and infect the whole village."
Mion informed us of a disease called "Hinamizawa Syndrome". It caused a high state of paranoia, and caused whoever was infected to become extremely violent."
"Do these men have a name to their group?" Annabel asked.
"I think they're called the 'Yamainu'." Mion informed.
"Is anyone in the village in contact with the Yamainu? Like a doctor or a law enforcement officer?" I asked.
Mion nodded then walked over to her desk and pulled out a picture.
She pointed to the women in the picture.
"Her name is Miyo Takano; she works at the clinic here." Mion stated. "She and the local doctor named Irie have been working on a cure for the disease; they have been in contact with the Yamainu. The clinic Irie works at is a few blocks from here."
Mion wrote down directions to the clinic.
"Just one more question; have there been any incidence's in the village recently?" I asked keeping the recon photos and the knowledge of the missing pilots in mind.
"Actually yes, another plane crashed in the village, I didn't catch the location though." Mion responded.
"Thank you for your time. That is all the questions we have at this moment." I said to Mion then walked out of her room.
On the way out I could see Akane discussing something with an older woman. I wasn't able to make out the conversation.
"Looks like we confirmed Takano's position with the 'Yamainu'." Annabel said as we got in my car.
"I think there's more to the situation here than Mion told us. Even though we've been able to confirm the presents of a military force, we still have to find out if they pose a threat to Russia." I stated. "And we're looking for a spy plane, not a cargo plane.
"She's just a kid Grigori; she probably is more interested in boys than two Russians asking questions asking questions about things she doesn't know about." Annabel responded.
We drove to the clinic Mion gave us directions to.
"There's the clinic, pullover." Annabel said as I pulled over to the side of the road.
For a clinic, I found the building to be rather large.
Walking in we were greeted by a sectary. She was speaking Japanese so I couldn't understand. Annabel spoke Japanese and had the sectary lead us to Irie's office.
"Yes, can I help you with something?" Irie asked in a friendly tone.
The door to his office was shut and Annabel and I were left to ask questions.
"My name is Grigori Mstislav, and this is Annabel. We're here with a health department sent here to make sure everything is okay in the village." I stated. "Can we ask a few questions?"
"Go right ahead." Irie responded.
"Do you know a Miyo Takano?" I asked.
"Yes, she's a nurse here. Is there something wrong?" Irie asked.
"Is she working today, we need to ask her a few questions also." I stated.
"I'm sorry you just missed her, she just got off of work." He replied. I asked where I could find her.
"I'm sorry I don't know." Irie apologized.
I moved on to the next question about his role with the Yamainu.
"You're in contact with the Yamainu, the military group that's protecting the village." I stated.
"No, I don't know what you're talking about. The Yamainu are here, but I'm not in contact with them." Irie stated.
"Okay sure, that's defiantly why a kid named Mion, someone you know, told us you were being helped by them, give me the truth." I said. Irie swallowed then told me the truth.
"The Yamainu are here to help me find a cure for a disease called…"
"Hinamizawa Syndrome." I said to finish his sentence.
"Yes, they also provide security for the village because of the plane crash carrying nuclear weapons." Irie stated.
I asked about a second plane crash.
"We were only told about one plane crash, but there was a plane that did crash shortly after the first was reported." Irie stated as he began to remember the plane crash. "I remember a plane flying low to the ground; fire had erupted from one of its engines."
I came to the conclusion that the spy plane that I was sent here to find was shot down.
"Can you tell me where it crashed?" I asked. Irie didn't know, but he was able to give us the location of the crashed plane carrying nuclear weapons. It was in a swamp, just like Mion had told us.
I asked one final question about getting in contact with the Yamainu. Irie informed us that he was only in contact with a commander, but he didn't know of a way to contact the commander.
"That's all the questions we have, thank you for your time." I said as we got up.
Just before we got to the door Irie asked us a question about our role with a health department. I didn't answer, neither did Annabel.
In the car we decided to head to the swamps to check out the supposed crash site.
"All right let's piece the evidence together. Two planes crash, one carrying weapons, and the other probably carrying surveillance gear, I'm pretty sure the plane with the weapons is false, the Yamainu probably made up the crash to get into the village to do something else." I stated. "Takano Miyo is probably the leader of the Yamainu, but that's just my guess."
"Until we meet Takano, I don't think we should be kicking too many doors down." Annabel replied.
"What about the Yamainu?" I asked.
"Like I said, don't kick too many doors down, I didn't say don't kick any down." She replied.
Finally after a while of driving, we came up to a sign that said "Onigsfuchi swamp." Another sign was under it that read "closed."
"Closed my ass." Annabel said to herself as I parked the car.
"I hope your okay with getting your 'new shoes' dirty." I said to Annabel as I noticed I had stepped in mud.
Annabel just gave me a glare.
After a while of searching we didn't find any crashed plane, and we gave up our search.
I found the swamp short of creepy, and there was a heavy feeling in it. We quickly walked back to the car.
"Now what?" I asked Annabel as we got in the car and I drove off.
"Head back to my safe house; I'll try to find some way of getting in contact with the Yamainu." She responded.
"How are you going to do that?" I asked.
"I have a friend that lives here that can help us." Annabel replied.
Once back at the safe house I parked next to Annabel's car. Once inside she began to make a series of phone calls.
I sat on her couch looking over my files. I remembered that I took a look in my bag just before I arrived in Hinamizawa; there was a radio in the bag that I could use to get a hold of the base in Russia.
I noticed it was dusk outside when Annabel walked over to me, finished with her phone calls.
"I got a hold of my friend, she can help us." Annabel stated.
"And her name is?" Annabel smiled and walked back to her phone which was on her desk.
"She'll be over in one hour." She stated.
Just like Annabel had said, there was a knock an hour later. Annabel answered the door.
I could see that she had opened the door slightly so she and her friend could talk in private. After a while of talking she let her friend in.
Just then I realized who had walked through the door.
"Holy shit." Annabel's friends and I both said simultaneously.