Chapter 10: Deluxe rescue
17:28 PM (Japan Time), Friday March the 2nd…
"… Well. Here am I, Ijuuin – kun. What's up?"
"Follow me."
"Roger."
Obihiro (carrying a navy blue backpack) stepped into the foyer of Akihara Central Hospital and was greeted by Enzan who simply made a gesture for Obihiro to follow him: they walked down a corridor and climbed up the stairs to the 3rd floor to then head down another corridor and stop in front of a room with no patient name: Enzan knocked on the door and it unlocked so he stepped into an unoccupied room where Oda and Laika were waiting at: Enzan closed the door behind them.
"We've got a spy." Enzan went straight to the point.
"What!" Obihiro gasped.
"A patient has been asking around if there's a fellow patient named Suzuki and described her: it's obvious that it's an external party hired by Golden Star. They're trying to figure out what happened to their operative." Laika smugly explained.
"I see. Do we have an ID on the guy?"
"Yeah. Follow me and we'll sneak on the guy. We also figured out they were faking an illness because their instincts betrayed them." Laika continued.
"Their instincts…?" Obihiro was surprised.
Laika signaled for him to come and both came out of the room to then head down the corridor into a waiting room where a man was giving them the back.
The man looked on his 30s and had messy blackish hair plus traces of a two-three day beard: his eyes irises were brown and he looked rather bored.
He wore the typical hospital pajama plus the socks and sandals together with a collar for the healing of cervical sprains.
The man bought a can of black coffee from the machine and began drinking it inclining his neck backwards: Obihiro realized it just as Laika patted his shoulder: they pulled out and returned to the meeting room to reunite with the other two.
"I see! If he really had a cervical sprain he'd be unable to incline his head backwards to drink!" Obihiro realized.
"Kuwahashi Tanoko: thirty – four. Single… He has some debts which are being paid off by Golden Star at a slow and steady manner so as to keep him leashed and make sure he doesn't run off at a minute's chance: they want a full report on the patients. We'll allow him to get the records because Suzuki isn't registered anywhere. And then we'll investigate how he reports to Golden Star so we can keep the appearances up once we seize him… The police are interested on the guy given a petty theft which he did half a year ago…" Laika exposed.
"I see. Do you want me to investigate if I can found the guy's bank account and see from where does the money come from?"
"Do it. We've picked this empty room as temporary meeting spot: Suzuki is in another room and there's always one agent watching over her but the medics say she hasn't evolved." Laika told him.
"Roger that."
Obihiro sat on a chair and used a movable table to place his notebook computer atop it: he began to work with it while Enzan looked out into the street from the window.
"Do you fear Uncle Moran is using his X-Ray vision to check beyond the walls of the building, Ijuuin – kun?" Oda joked.
"How unrealistic, sir." He drily replied.
"Aunt Moran will come to say bye and hi."
"Oh. Not again." Laika groaned.
22:57 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Fua~h… Night watch sure is bothersome but luckily almost nothing tends to happen at such hours…"
A nurse in the nurse station was yawning as she drank a cup of coffee to stay awake: Kuwahashi snuck towards there and waited in the corner of an unlit corridor while peering at the spot: he drew a remote and pressed a button to make one light in the panel flash.
"Jeez. The lady in Room 458 needs something again…"
The nurse ran off and Kuwahashi snuck into the nurse station with a Cannon digital camera on his right hand: he began to read the panel and take photos.
Suzuki… Suzuki… Well. Ain't here… I'll have to tell that man who is paying off my debts in exchange for this little job… He did admit he wasn't sure they'd be there and I dunno why they want to find them. Anyway, let's go back before another nurse comes up.
"Hey! What are you doing there?" A nurse showed up on the threshold.
Yikes!
"Huh… Eh… That's… I lost my way trying to find the toilets. I thought there'd be a map." He improvised as he hid the camera.
"Well. The toilets are over there. Now please come out."
"S-sorry."
Kuwahashi walked out but hit the edge of a desk with the camera making it fall into the floor, intact, but it was spotted by the nurse: he gasped but the nurse merely crouched and picked it up for him.
"Here you have."
"T-thank you."
He stepped out of the station into the unlit foyer and suddenly stopped as his expression became hostile.
"You know… You've just seen my camera and you must've obviously though I came here to take photos of the patients but even so didn't say anything…"
He turned around to face the nurse who was unfazed and had a serious face to her: his eyebrows narrowed with suspicion.
"Who are you really?"
"Aunt Moran, you see, my fellow."
"What?"
"Net Police's Cyber CID! Don't move! Raise your hands."
"Net Police's Cyber CID? Oho. This looks like a film even."
Oda, Enzan, Laika and Obihiro (the later three hiding in the unlit portions) along with two armed plain clothes policemen ran in aiming their guns at Kuwahashi who calmly lifted his hands and looked amused.
"You're under arrest for the robbery of 5,000Z off a house in Nagoya half a year ago. There's a search warrant on you." One policeman announced.
"Come. We don't want to startle the patients."
"Oh. Then let's wake them up roughly with… this."
He suddenly took out a grenade from his pajamas' pants' right pocket and held it up: everyone gasped.
"He's got a grenade…!"
Laika and Obihiro silently pulled back without Enzan and the others noticing: Kuwahashi placed his left index finger inside of the safety ring while making a smug smile.
"Don't move! Or I'll blow up the nurse's station!"
"Damn." One policeman cursed.
"Heh, heh, heh…"
"He's running away!"
"Maybe he wants to retrieve something on his room: let's go after them ASAP!" Oda commanded.
"Roger! Blues! Access the corridor cameras on the route to the guy's own room!"
"Yes, sir. I'm on it. Huh? I don't see him in the corridors or the elevators but I see him in… the parking lot!" Blues reported.
"Damn. He must've read our minds!" Enzan cursed.
The group ran off through the front door just in time to see Kuwahashi speeding away in a greenish Subaru car followed by Laika and Obihiro who were riding in a bike.
"Laika and Obihiro! They read the guy!" Enzan realized.
"Good!" Blues looked animated.
"Oi, Laika! Catch them before they can contact Golden Star!" Enzan called out through the PET.
"I know. But if he has some device on hand he can use it to call them right now…" Laika argued back.
"Don't worry, Laika – san! I snuck into his room when he'd gone out for coffee and removed the battery of his cell-phone!" Obihiro called out with a broad grin.
Laika looked on ahead and spotted the man tossing a cell-phone out of the car's open passenger window in obvious annoyance: Laika halted and quickly picked it up to pocket it before resuming the chase.
"He mustn't have a plan in mind: maybe he's hoping to lose us but that won't save a desperate guy with little to no brains…"
"Watch out!"
BANG!
"Fuck!"
"He's armed!"
"The car had a gun on it then! I'm sure it's his."
Laika had to duck to dodge a bullet shot by the escaping car: he turned on the engine at max and caught up with the guy: he purposely let the bike drop towards the left to hit Kuwahashi's arm and made him let go of the gun: Kuwahashi cursed something under his breath and speeded up only to turn towards an abandoned house which was largely boarded up and then halt there: he jumped down and ran inside slamming the door shut behind him and seemingly barricading himself given the sounds.
"Hmpf. He's cornered and with no contact lines. He'll eventually have to give himself up: this cell-phone will tell us how to contact those guys and send them a report." Laika muttered.
"Kuwa~h!"
"What the hell?"
Kuwahashi suddenly let out a yelp of terror before bright blinding white light escaped from within the gaps in the boarded up windows spreading in all directions and forcing both Laika and Obihiro to shield their eyes: the whole thing lasted under 5 seconds and disappeared as quickly as it had vanished to be replaced by silence.
"What happened? Obihiro! Can you try popping your head through one of those gaps?" Laika requested.
"Alright."
Obihiro jumped down and managed to crawl inside of an opening in the ground floor's window to look inside: the house was bright and totally devoid of furniture yet there wasn't anyone and no traces of other exits whatsoever.
"Empty! This reminds me of something… Oh yeah! The mysterious disappearance of the bribed man, Hosoyoda, from Akihara City Hotel, equally bizarre… There's no doubt: Golden Star rescued him and they'll be coming here… Tomorrow." Obihiro reported after coming back.
"Tomorrow… So this is how it's gonna be…"
23:19 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Mr. President? I am sorry to disturb you at such a late hour but we've got important news…"
"Do come in, Zarashe – kun and Ikada – san."
"Tee, heh, heh."
Both Zarashe and Ikada walked into what seemed to be a living room of Western style given the fireplace set on the right wall which was burning with a real fire and a red leather armchair where someone whose figure couldn't be clearly discerned could be seen: both Navis walked in as life-sized holograms too.
"Beta X – kun and Sandra – san too… So we have news?"
"Yes, sir. We rescued our agent and he confirmed my suspicions: Martha is indeed in Akihara Central Hospital and the Net Police's Cyber CID is camping there. Right, Wan?" Ikada grinned.
"Yes, sir. Laika is there too but I don't think they'll dare move her around because Suzuki – san is in a coma as her chip implant and nanomachines told us." Zarashe added.
"We've been thinking of a plan to make them reveal the location of her room by making use of human instincts." Sandra grinned.
"We are pretty sure that it'll succeed: if they dare to flee then we'll be ready to pursue them and given an opportunity rescue Akemi – san from them." Beta X added.
"Splendid, ladies and gentlemen. I'll talk about it with Vice President Noir in the morning and then we can get on the move. The Net Police's CID will soon see how cunning we really are I daresay." The man sounded rather pleased.
"Roger."
"You might head back."
"Good evening, sir."
23:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… It's madness to remain here, sir! We MUST move her! We should take her to another hospital or clinic!"
"It's not that easy, Ijuuin – kun. I know she isn't dependent on machines to continue alive but I don't dare move around a comatose person."
"And I don't think we'd get very far either."
"What do you mean, Laika?"
The two policemen, Oda, Enzan and Obihiro had gathered in the meeting room and Enzan looked hysterical, for once, while Oda didn't want to hear about the topic: Laika came in at that moment.
"I've spotted one or two figures in the adjacent building: they might the two snipers sent to recon the area and decide the best sniping positions if we dared to go out through either the front or the rear doors. So going out normally is foolish and they'll surely be ready to chase us if we try to leave in a vehicle." Laika exposed.
"Their heat signatures were very faint too… They must've developed a system to hide from IR scanning too…" Search Man warned.
"Fuck! So what's this? State of siege? What do we do?"
"We won't flee. We'll fortify ourselves there and get ready to greet the wolves who've come to rescue their stray pack member…" Laika smugly announced.
"That's a strategy?" Enzan looked skeptical.
"We've made a mistake, though."
"What?"
"We rushed too much into trying to catch Kuwahashi: we could've simply let him finish and have already copied his cell-phone's contents into another cell-phone for analysis." He pointed out.
"Well. That's true, yeah…" Enzan muttered.
"What worries me is that he had an infrared thermograph on his room which could be used to survey the interior of a building or vehicle from the outside." Laika commented.
There was a knock on the door and Laika lifted his eyebrows: he opened it by a minimal slit and talked with someone outside before allowing them inside the room.
"A unit companion of mine… The backup I requested… Ian Torolov. 16. He has been in the unit since young like I was… Outstanding record… He's skilled in information gathering and infiltration and has ample experience in the field…"
"I am glad to be of help."
Ian Torolov was a young man around sixteen years old who appealed to be one or two inches shorter in height than Laika.
He had brownish hair combed in a neat manner and brownish irises as well: his face profile indicated seriousness.
He simply wore the same Sharo Army uniform Laika did.
"They'll be coming for real tomorrow morning so we should prepare a pull-out plan just in case. But let's remember about the infrared thermograph: they'll know how many persons ride in each vehicle from afar. So first priority is trying to avoid involving staff or patients into this but luckily they won't come openly brandishing machine-guns: they are the sneaky type who will exploit some weakness or another which we won't see coming." Oda told the group.
"By the way, sir… Wireless and cell-phone used should be avoided as much as possible, right?"
"Correct. You have my number in case of an emergency but all other communications will be done face-to-face. Only a few know Suzuki's room number which must be kept secret no matter what."
"Roger!"
"You're dismissed. We need some sleep… Before the battle."
09:49 AM (Japan Time), Saturday March the 3rd…
"… then I told the boss about how the guy spent the time betting on horses so he got kicked off and stopped sucking off money. Really. People can be so brat-like from time to time."
"Oh yeah."
"… and so Monica's cousin by the way of her father happened to meet Garodo – sama, the actor who did the villain in Salvage Adventures 2: Return of Sebastian…"
"No way… And she got his sign too?"
"… Inao went and made mincemeat of them! We did score two goals in the first half but then they turned defensive and started to give us trouble and in the end Iano scored the turn-around in the extra time! What a goal the guy did! Wasn't that simply AWESOME, man?"
"Oh yeah, so awesome! It'll go down in history!"
CRASH!
"U-ugh…"
"Mr. Customer? What's wrong, sir?"
"S-stomach aches… Sorry…"
Several customers were having meals in a café somewhere and chatting when one accidentally made a glass hit the floor while clutching their stomach.
"Ugh! Me too…!"
"Grah…! My stomach…! H-hospital… Need a… hospital…!"
"By all the…! And here I thought I was immune to these things…!"
"Someone… ambulance… ugh!"
"Call for an ambulance… please…!"
"Hurry it… up!"
10:05 AM (Japan Time)…
"… The Line 3 train with final stop on Densan City's 5th district is coming through platform 4. Please stay away from the edge and allow exit before entry…"
"… Oi. Don't you feel a weird stench?"
"Gasoline?"
"No… Not gasoline…"
"Someone's totally horrid perfume?"
"How rude!"
"Sorry, miss!"
"Hey! I feel… dizzy… what's this stench…?"
"Ugh…!"
"Y-you alright, man?"
"N-not really…! This stench is making my throat ache…!"
"I feel like my throat is burning…!"
"Station chief! Call a medic, an ambulance, whatever! Our throats are aching… Hurry!"
"A-alright…!"
Several passengers had been waiting for their train to come into the train station when they began to notice a strange stench and some of the collapsed while others clutched their throats: a station chief began to run around while checking on the customers: another joined him as they covered their faces with cold masks.
"You're not gonna tell me this is mustard gas!"
"No! It isn't but it sure makes me remember that…"
"Call for an ambulance!"
10:17 AM (Japan Time)…
"... thus you're the culprit!"
"H-how did you know?"
"Nothing escapes meitantei Dragoon!"
"Meitantei Dragoon, you say!"
"Get ready, you villain!"
"Ni~h! How frustrating!"
"… I didn't see that one coming, really!"
"I didn't either: Dragoon's cool! Guess he's pretty much a Holmes wannabe to begin with but hey he's cool."
"So true, man."
Several persons had come to see a movie and were whispering in an animated manner when suddenly an alarm rang out and the lights turned on: everyone gasped.
"Fire has broken out in the 7th floor. Please evacuate immediately following the attendants' instructions!"
"No way!"
"Fire, they say!"
"Please stay calm! There's no imminent danger! This is the 2nd floor after all! Evacuate through the fire stairs! The fire-fighters are on their way here by now!" An attendant instructed.
"A-alright!"
The customers began to evacuate and some looked at the smoke coming out of the 7th floor: the fire-fighters rushed over to the building and a cameraman with their partner came to see.
"The Akihara Shopping Stores' 7th floor storage room is on fire but it'd seem that area is off-limits to customers so…"
10:22 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Oi. Laika. Do you see that smoke rising from there? What do you think it is?"
"… Them."
"… Superintendent Oda? We have no such patient."
"No, I was told he's a friend of someone of the staff…"
"Did ya hear that?"
"Yeah. Let's check it out."
Enzan had spotted the smoke from the fire: Laika grinned but Obihiro signaled a delivery man carrying a package and speaking with the reception counter's nurse.
"Excuse me, I know that person. Who sends this package?"
"Let's see… A gentleman named Kuwahashi Tanoko – sama… It's already paid for so…" The delivery man read a piece of paper.
"Ku-Kuwahashi Tanoko, you say!" Enzan gasped.
"Yes, sir. And you can guess the contents of the package by their shape as well! Have it, sir. Good morning!"
"T-thanks."
Enzan accepted what seemed to be a pot of flowers surrounded by a small purple-colored plastic wrapping while being bewildered: Laika signaled the exit and the group headed into the parking lot where Oda was discussing with someone over the phone while waiting near a group of three navy blue vans.
"… No, ma'am! This is not the butcher's! I insist, ma'am! I am not the butcher! No, ma'am! this number is mistaken! Do have a good morning, ma'am! Jeez. And they say I'm the one doing crazy things."
"Eh… Superintendent Oda, sir… A package has been delivered to you just now and comes from… Kuwahashi Tanoko."
"WHAT?"
"Have a look."
Oda picked the package and took off the wrapping to reveal some Columbine flowers: he looked at them.
"Columbine… A friend of mine said they grow in Colorado. But I don't see why Golden Star would bother to send them to me."
"… Obtain without fail…"
Obihiro suddenly looked up from his notebook computer and his face turned grave, to Oda's surprise.
"What?"
"Flower language, sir. It also means "certain victory"… It's a subtle manner of saying they're confident of their victory. In short: a challenge to us Net Police's Cyber CID! And it's a joke too: these flowers are named Odamaki here in Japan!" Obihiro explained.
"Challenge, huh."
"… almost there: hang in there!"
"There's no time to waste!"
Several cars began to park in the outdoors parking lot and several citizens began to head towards the hospital.
"Are they persons indirectly harmed by the fire?" Oda wondered.
"This is Rioru, from the front entrance! T-this is…!"
"What's wrong, Rioru – kun?" Oda gasped.
"T-that's…! A mass of citizens has gathered in the front entrance and demand to make their way in: the staff is overwhelmed and there's no possible way to check what they bring with them!"
"What! Then… Craig is there and they all want him to heal them with his King Land dry humor?" He managed to pull a pun.
"Sir! This is not a moment for puns, sir! According to some of them, three simultaneous incidents have broken out in the neighborhood!"
"Three simultaneous incidents, you say?"
"Yes, sir! Massive food poisoning, a disturbing odor and a fire…!" Rioru reported.
"Them." Laika muttered.
"Hum. While you can control when a gas will be triggered as well as fire food poisoning depends on the person and what allergies they might have…" Oda turned serious.
"Maybe they used a drug which simulates those symptoms." Obihiro suggested.
"And all three incidents were designed to cause harm to citizens and have them come to here because it's the closest hospital… But there could be fakes feigning their symptoms like throat ache to sneak inside and then be able to search for Suzuki's room." Oda guessed.
"No. That's not it. That'd be like they would be allowing us to catch those agents and I don't believe them to go for such an old-fashioned strategy to begin with… There's gotta be something else…" Laika objected.
"… Laika – sama, I have been hearing a noise increasing in volume ever since 38 seconds ago." Search Man reported.
"I have as well. And it's coming from that flower pit, sir." Blues reported next.
"What!" Oda gasped.
"Please leave it on the floor softly and step away."
Laika crouched to examine it and everyone began to hear a tick-tock sound: Laika brought the right hand to his chin and frowned before he lifted the soil with the plant on it and exposed a plastic bag having a large analog clock with devices strapped to its rear inside.
"A bomb…!" Enzan gasped.
"You didn't search the pot?" Oda recriminated.
"We are sorry. We thought they were just flowers."
"… A bomb this size would only blow one car at the worst. It'd call for police intervention. They wouldn't gain anything from it. But it's very real too." Laika analyzed.
"Unfortunately it's rigged with too much traps and it's too complex to disable here without proper tools. The most logical course of action would be taking it to abandoned spot and let it detonate." Search Man suggested next.
"Then I'll go."
"No, I'll go. I need your scanning abilities just in case. There's a garbage dump not too far from here. I should be able to go there with Blues' driving. Do you authorize me, Superintendent?" Enzan interjected and looked at Oda.
"Do it. Pick my new car: it's the one with the roof opening mechanism and colored white." Oda replied as he handed him the keys.
"If the clock isn't rigged we've got about 35 minutes before it detonates but the dump is about 15 minutes from here: there'll be time." Blues analyzed.
"Heh. Making it in just half an hour is questionable. The main roads are bottled up with the traffic coming here. But if you have a driver like me who has a knack for shortcuts then it's another tale." Torolov announced as he walked in.
"Torolov? I thought you'd been assigned to rear door vigilance? Why did you leave your post?" Enzan asked.
"Well. I heard of the chaos so I came to report. Does Mr. Superintendent have some complain about that?" He shrugged.
"No. Laika – kun: is he a good driver?"
"One of the best."
"Excellent. You two go together and dispose of the bomb while we stay here to see what else Golden Star will do next."
"Roger!"
"… It's picking me…" Laika muttered.
"What? Torolov – kun's behavior?" Oda asked.
"No. The bomb." Laika corrected.
"I find it odd they'd bother so much to make a big clock we can all see and set it so that the clock sound would increase in volume and we'd eventually discover it…" Obihiro exposed.
"Then why the heck did they send it to us?"
"We dunno. We'll go see how things are in the hall: maybe we'll get a better idea somehow. Keep the watch on Suzuki ready: someone might get too curious and try to snoop around." Laika replied.
"Alright."
Laika and Obihiro walked out and Oda scratched the back of his head without noticing a nurse walking away from a nearby van and having a smug smile on her face: Oda shrugged and took out his walkie-talkie which he turned on.
"Post 1: status? Over."
"All nominal."
"Post 2: status? Over."
"All nominal."
"Rioru: status? Over."
"A chaos, sir."
"Chaos Man is about to rob you of sleeping hours?" He smiled and came up with a pun.
"No, sir. Because there's no such person to begin with, sir."
10:48 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Torolov… Are you sure I'm going in the right direction? This is totally collapsed and we don't move!"
"I thought your stubbornness would make them move."
"What?"
"Laika said that."
"Oh by all the… The jerk."
"By the way, Ijuuin… Did you put a clock in the trunk? I've been hearing this tick-tock noise for a while already…"
"Fuck."
Enzan had been grumbling while seeing how the car was trapped in the bottleneck and wasn't advancing: Torolov was sitting in the rear middle seat and had his arms crossed while displaying a smug smile: Enzan's exasperation grew but Torolov then glanced at the trunk over his right shoulder while looking bored.
"You should've told me earlier!"
Enzan climbed down and rushed over the trunk which he unlocked but it turned out to be empty: he gasped and then looked at the rear seats to see that Torolov wasn't there.
"What a chicken! He fled!"
"Climb in or I'll go without you."
Enzan, bewildered, climbed into the passenger's seat given how Torolov had picked the driver's seat.
"By all the… Do they train you to lie the whole time or what? There wasn't anything in the trunk!"
"Having to give you instructions would be boring and I know some tricks which a Navi can't properly do because they don't have the feeling of the wheel or the pedals. But no offense, Blues."
"Hmpf. You lie to my master and override the car control to manual so I'm obviously untrusting about you." Blues scoffed.
Torolov didn't reply and switched to reversing: he began to aim the car towards the separating line between both lanes and suddenly jumped into the southern lane: he sped up it in the wrong direction before braking in a brusque manner and rearing while spinning to aim the car south: he accelerated again.
"That was crazy and…! Hey! The dump's the other way!"
"I know. But I gave up on that because we've only got 10 minutes left and there's another place which we can use."
"… Ijuuin – kun? How's it going? The bomb must be about to go off by now, shouldn't it?" Oda called through the PET.
"Torolov has taken the wheel and…! Whoa!"
Torolov suddenly ran into a side alley and into a tunnel: he pressed the button to open the sliding roof and picked the bomb.
"O-oi!"
"Handle the wheel!"
"T-the wheel? Fuck!"
Enzan clutched into it and somehow managed to keep the car going into a straight line just as the car exited the tunnel into a bridge over a river: Torolov tossed the bomb there and it exploded thus forming a plume of water heading skywards.
"W-what was that noise, Ijuuin – kun?"
"Torolov disposed of the bomb!"
"Oh! See? I knew he was a smart chap."
"Anyway! What's going over there?" Enzan asked.
"Laika – kun and Obihiro – kun found a lot of delivery men bringing consolation gifts to already interned patients with Kuwahashi's name!"
"What!" Enzan gasped.
"They're still checking but I had to guess then I'm afraid I know what's in those consolation gifts." Oda sighed.
"Damn it." Blues growled.
"By the way! Is Torolov – kun as good as Laika – kun said?"
"Yeah. I really must be thankful to the guy." Enzan admitted.
"Bad news. I went to a room and found this inside of a fruit basket after passing as hospital security: luckily the person didn't realize my affiliation but someone else will have to handle the retrieval of these little toys which have been scattered over the hospital… Have a look."
The call became an audio plus video call as the holographic screen popped up and Laika showed them a small bomb shaped like a lighter with a transparent plastic case, the plastic explosive, a digital LC counter and a battery which displayed "04:55:31" and was counting down.
"Miniature bombs…!" Torolov muttered.
"Yeah. And one of these would only blow up one room but if several go off at the same time… You can imagine the outcome."
"I can't believe it's turned this ugly! I thought they were totally against killings and they'd only come to retrieve Suzuki but now it looks like they want to silence her instead!" Enzan exasperatedly cursed.
"Well. Good part is that we've got close to 5 hours to find and neutralize these: once you take off the fuse then they can't keep the count-down and are harmless because plastic explosive is not shock-sensitive unlike older generation explosives." Laika calmly told them.
"Good! How many of these are there?"
"We counted the delivery men and if we assume there's one per package then… About 60." Laika announced.
"I'll call some extra hands. After all we must only come in, say we're hospital security, retrieve them and pull out."
"If anyone spots we can say they're listening devices which is part of a new money scam scheme which is on the rise." Laika suggested to the group.
"We're almost there too." Torolov announced as he looked through the windshield at the hospital.
"Excellent. Obihiro and I will remain here: Torolov, leave your coat in the car and thus the chances of being recognized by affiliation will be lowered as well. If they ask you reply that you like green and that'll work. Be polite with everyone." Laika instructed.
"Okay."
The car parked in the parking lot and both ran out: Enzan headed up to the 4th floor and looked at his PET where a list of patients and rooms was being displayed: he knocked on one.
"Come in!"
He came into a room where a mother and a small child no older than 7 or 8 years old were looking at a stuffed bear.
"Excuse me. Hospital security. Someone sent you that stuffed bear as a consolation gift, right?" He politely asked.
"Yes… But I do not know the sender."
"Sorry. Can I ask a question out of Mr. Bear?" He tried to look welcoming to the child.
"Yup! Mr. Bear knows a lot!"
"I'll be brief."
Enzan turned around and opened the rear zipper to take out the plastic explosive which he immediately defused: the child was distracted looking at some cartoons when the image was filled with static and then replaced by something else.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your support. As you can see, I am already fully recovered." A voice announced.
"E-Enzan – sama, sir…! The TV, sir…!" Blues whispered.
"The TV? What's wrong with…? T-this is…!"
Enzan looked over there and spotted Suzuki being displayed over it: she was sitting on a chair next to the bed and looked totally recovered while directing a smile to the camera.
"Who is that child?" The mother wondered.
"Here: Mr. Bear. Thank you."
Enzan quickly made it out of the room and spotted another agent coming out of a room nearby while looking nervous.
"You saw it?" He asked.
"Yeah! Let's go check!"
"Roger! I'll call Superintendent Oda!"
"Opening channel, sir…" Blues announced.
"Superintendent, sir! Suzuki… is on TV!"
"Wha~t?" He uttered in disbelief.
"Yeah! It looks like she's still on her room so we're going up there to check given how there's no direct line there…"
"Do that, yes!"
"… So that's how it was!" Obihiro suddenly exclaimed.
"Tell everyone not to go to Suzuki's room!" Laika gasped.
"Huh? Why?" Oda asked.
"Well… It might be too late anyway." Obihiro sighed.
"Too late…? Don't tell me they got her back already!"
Enzan made it to in front of the room where the other three policemen had gathered and were whispering while sounding disconcerted: Enzan ran past them and into the room to halt.
"What…?"
Suzuki was still comatose as she lay in the bed and had an oxygen mask over her face.
"Now I'm confused." He admitted.
"I am, too, sir." Blues confessed.
"We fell for it. They fooled us and we ended up making them score a victory." Laika announced as he made his way there.
"What? How?"
"They wanted us to come here by broadcasting the edited footage via the hospital's TV antenna." Obihiro announced.
"I can see that. But if we'd said they wouldn't risk sending spies in then how they would benefit from that?" Enzan frowned.
"The toys… The toys scattered across the hospital… Where are they, Ijuuin?" Laika coolly asked.
"The bombs, you mean? Well. I disabled one but still had it on hand when I saw the TV so I rushed here…" He instinctively replied as he and the other policemen took them out.
"Think about it: the timing." Laika hinted.
"Timing…? Oh no! You mean…?" Enzan gasped.
"Yeah. These toys carry a troublesome bonus to them." Obihiro sighed in defeat.
They didn't spot that the nurse of a while ago (Ikada) glancing towards there using a portable mirror to avoid coming out into view: she had a smug smile on her face and so did Sandra's full-sized hologram (also disguised as a nurse) as well.
"See, Sandra? I told cha it'd work: people are so predictable." She smugly announced.
"So true, Bertha – chan. Let's pull out: our duty is over."
11:23 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Heh, heh, heh. Like fan-girls to the star."
"They're gathering fast, aren't they?"
"Room 333, 3rd floor… Gotcha."
"Hmpf… Maybe they wanted to be ironic even…"
Kage, Zarahe, Andy and Beta X were seated inside of the black Toyota which had parked not too far from the hospital inside of a parking lot building: Kage had a laptop on his lap which was displaying a map of the hospital plus several dots gathered inside and outside of one room: both Operators grinned and both Navis had smug smiles on their faces while their irises shone with malice.
"Alright then! We can move onto the next part now that we've figured out her room's number and I got confirmation from Ikada – san. This is gonna be fun, man." Zarashe grinned.
"Hmpf… But I wasn't interested in the location of Suzuki – san's room at all, you see." Kage announced.
"Huh? Then… What did you want?"
"I wanted to make them believe we'd figured out the room. Which we really have. The point is that I want to pressure them into thinking that we're gonna strike and such they'll want to flee. Under such pressure then we'll see how they'll flee… Heh, heh, heh." Kage chuckled.
"Oho… I see. Let them feel hysterical and abandon the hospital. Then we should be ready to chase the vans Ikada – san told us about: we should stop at Point Moses and pick the bikes and infrared thermographs as well…" Zarashe grinned.
"Sure thing." Andy grinned.
"It's time to show them how relentless we are. Let's put some "Pressure" into them as if we were Legendary Pokémon!" Beta X chuckled.
"Glory to Golden Star!"
11:29 AM (Japan Time)…
"… A transmitter…! These things had a transmitter which works even if you remove the fuse…!"
"Yeah. The flower pot was a hint that they'd be attacking with bombs. The flooding of the hospital was the necessary camouflage needed to introduce the bombs into the hospital via the delivery men. Lastly, the TV feed was a ruse to make us rush here while still carrying the defused bombs thus giving away the room's location!"
Laika had exposed to the group how the trick had worked like and everyone was still reeling.
"So… What do we do, sir?"
"There's no other way around: we must go for the backup plan. Let's get rid of these and scatter away in the 3 vans hoping to confuse them: we should go by transited routes to make sure they can't assault us so secretly too." Oda sighed.
"Wait. I thought of something with Obihiro yesterday evening: leave some of those transmitters as they are… And my plan is this…"
He whispered something to Oda and Enzan who nodded in understanding and seemed to be thinking about it.
"… Hmmm… There's the chance of this idea working…" Oda seemed to find it passable.
"The only loose end is… Who'll drive the van with Suzuki on it? The driver must be someone skilled." Enzan argued.
"I'll do it." Torolov announced.
"Oh true! With someone like you at the driving wheel then…"
"Torolov. Remember this… Fear of death is worse than death itself. But they're not killers so maybe I tend to dramatize a lot."
"Don't worry! It's not like I've got a meek cousin who'll get scared when I get back with a wound or two." He shrugged.
Enzan suddenly frowned and seemed to react to Torolov's words by bringing the right hand to his chin.
Yesterday, after the meeting, I saw him talking with someone over the PET and he named the caller "cousin" so… Why does he say he doesn't have one…?
"Hum… Eh…" He timidly called out.
"Is something the matter, Ijuuin – kun?" Oda asked.
"… Nothing. Good luck." He made a weak smile.
"Thanks."
"Let's get moving to the underground parking: there's work to be done anyway." Oda commanded.
Some of the group walked away but Obihiro had a grave look to his face: Laika smiled at him.
"What's wrong? Are you worried?"
"Well… Guess I am, yeah." He admitted.
"Come on. It'll be alright: you just have to trust my intuition."
Both walked away and Enzan followed them into the underground lot where they started to check on the vans: Enzan walked into the restrooms and then returned to see Oda speaking with Torolov next to one of the identical vans.
"Well then, Torolov – kun. When this is over I'll invite you to a good self-service restaurant." He told him.
"Thank you, sir."
Oda walked away and Torolov unlocked the van but Enzan walked over to him on that moment.
"Change of plans. Give me the key: Blues will drive."
"I've got no objections. But won't Mr. Superintendent complain?"
"I'll speak with him. There's something weird about you and I've got one or two questions regarding you… Ooff!"
"Enzan – sama!"
Torolov had suddenly turned around and he delivered a punch to Enzan's stomach thus knocking him out: he switched off the PET and then hid Enzan behind a car by sitting him there: he rushed to climb into the van which now had someone else in the passenger seat.
"Yo."
The passenger, who remained silent, wore a pair of gray pants, a gray zipper vest and a purple cap which hid most of their face: some brownish hair could be spotted and both hands were inside of the vest's frontal pockets.
"Guess you aren't the talkative type. Well. Whatever."
He turned on the engine and joined the queue of three vans ready to come out.
"Van 1: ready."
"Van 2: ready."
"Van 3: ready."
"Vans 1, 2 & 3 are ready, sir."
"Good. Drive safely and with care. Keep your radio lines open in all moments and report anything abnormal."
"Roger!"
"By the way, Torolov – kun… Have you seen Ijuuin – kun around? I thought he was going to talk with you."
"Yes, sir. He gave some advice and left in a rush." He lied.
"Alright, then. Good luck."
"Thanks. Gotta do it right, since I am the "right" van…"
11:49 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Can cha see my camera's feed, Miquel? One… Two… Three navy blue vans! They all came out and it matches the bitch's data."
"Can you try using another word, Tozukana – san? Maybe you can say the jerk instead of using such a bold word over unencrypted lines? If Mr. President knew of this he'd be annoyed at this lack of public decency, you see…"
"Alright. The jerk's info matches."
"Good. Then could you please chase the first one?"
"Sure thing…"
"Felix… Yours is the second."
"… Roger…"
"Zarashe. Handle the third."
"Fine. By the way, did the informant contact us?"
"No. But that's a backup plan of Mr. President. I'm not counting on them to begin with. I'll stay here to make sure those vans aren't some desperate decoy. Keep your own radio lines open too."
"Alright. Here we go~!"
"And have the infrared thermograph at hand too! We'll need it to know what's inside of them!"
Kage had looked at some audio and video feed provided by Tozukana in which the three vans could be seen coming out of the hospital: he began to issue instructions and glanced the car's left (the car currently being under a small railway bridge) where Zarashe put on a motorbike's helmet and climbed into his: Andy was sitting in the passenger seat and directed a smile at them.
"Sure thing! I always wanted to strip someone. Heh, heh, heh."
"That guy…" Andy grumbled.
"Let them be, Andy."
"Oi! Miquel! I found the first van…" Tozukana reported.
"What's the situation like? Over."
"Side windows are tinted… Nothing to be seen…"
"Strip it naked if you may." He grinned.
"Sure thing. Lily! Handle the photo."
"Roger."
A picture formed on Kage's laptop screen: Andy leant closer to look at it too and see that it was a thermal graph showing seven persons (driver and passenger included) aboard it: one person was lying on their back and almost all of them had blinking dots in their bodies.
"Seven fellows and they all have transmitters…"
"See the one lying in the back? It's gotta be Suzuki's stretcher! She must still be unconscious and such need to carry her around like that. I'm resuming the chase!" Tozukana exclaimed.
"… Photo taken. Transmitting…" Qong muttered.
"Mine's done too." Zarashe added.
"Hmmm… Felix's photo shows seven fellows including a stretched person but no transmitters… Zarashe's photo has not fellows in the rear and just the passenger and driver both with transmitters…"
"Hard to say… To me it smells like the third van is a decoy. Look at its route on the map: it's just making a gigantic loop to return to the hospital…" Andy argued.
"Well. Yeah. That's true but it could be part of their plan. I smell Laika's hairy hands in this and my scar tells me so."
"Now you're Harry Potter?" Andy looked somewhat skeptical.
"Kidding, man. Just kidding." He shrugged.
"Sorry for the hold-up, Miquel… I found Laika's bike! Obihiro is in the ride as well it'd seem." Ikada's voice came in.
"It took you some time, Ikada – san."
"Well! My bad! But the guy parked four blocks away from here and it took me a while to find him." She apologized.
"The guy's closest van is the one Tom's chasing… He's about 300 meters behind and keeping a constant distance…" Sandra reported.
"Then there's no doubt: Felix's van must be the right one!" Tozukana immediately exclaimed.
"Good. I'm gonna join you guys too. I'm bored with just chasing a decoy and the driver knows I'm chasing him: it's another Sharo Army guy who Laika must've called for." Zarashe reported.
"Oh! Wait! Laika's speeding up like mad: he's running ahead towards Felix's van!" Ikada gasped.
"Heh! Settled, then. I'm joining the thrill!"
"Wait for me!"
"If that guy comes… I'll blow out their front tire…" Qong drily muttered over the line.
"Store away the rifle NOW, Felix, then get into a secondary road and change your current course." Kage told him.
"Wha~t? Running away from Laika, you moron?" Tozukana annoyingly questioned of him.
"No, I ain't running away. I'm just not dancing to the guy's flute tune because the van we gotta chase is Zarashe's."
"B-but… The van I'm chasing only has the Sharo Army man and a Net Police agent in the passenger seat…" Zarashe argued.
"That's their trick."
"Trick?"
"They wanted us to assume the unconscious Suzuki – san would be placed in a stretcher and in the rear area of the van but Laika calling the attention to one van is a trick to fool a nitwit… No… What they've done instead is dress up Suzuki – san as a Net Police agent and placed them in the passenger's seat." Kage concluded.
"But isn't this van returning to the hospital?" Ikada asked.
"That's a piece of it too. It's a way of admitting defeat because they have no other place to bring her to." Kage grinned as he closed his laptop and placed in on the ground behind the driver's seat.
"So we gotta converge on that van's location then. I'm on it but don't steal the glory!" Tozukana exclaimed.
"Of course not. Let's gather all of us at the same time and we'll create a strong impression of our power." He grinned.
He turned on the car and soon joined the bikes in chasing Torolov's van down a road built on a slope next to the river: Torolov accelerated and began to move right and left so as to warn that he wouldn't doubt on smashing them if they tried to pass him: the van suddenly veered madly out of control until it had turned almost a full circle thus crashing with the guardrail and halting before a gap: the four bikes and the car halted and Kage stepped out of the car while keeping the driver's door open and hands on his coat's pockets: the other bikers halted as well and they saw Suzuki climbing down from the van while clutching her left shoulder: Torolov was seemingly unconscious.
"Suzuki – san. It's been a while. What happened?"
"Huff, huff… I heard on… that guy's radio… that you were chasing the van so… I used the defused bomb… to hit him… pulled the hand brake… and brought the van to a halt…" She explained between pants.
"But weren't you in a coma?" Ikada asked.
"I was! But I got out of it yesterday evening: the chip implant allowed me to fool the EEG readouts for me and Akemi… Anyway… I feel rather weak so… Can we wrap this up?" She requested.
"Sure thing. Let's just leave a little reminder to those guys. Tozukana – san, do mark them with some paint bullets: let's be like in the Far West where the criminals were covered in tar and feathers." Kage grinned.
"Delighted."
"I'll… pass." Qong dully announced.
"Do as you like." Kage shrugged.
"Heh. Don't blame me if you gotta call Sharo and need a new uniform to be delivered via DHL: blame that Laika guy and his idiotic hero – like strategies…!"
KRACKABO~M!
The van suddenly exploded and everyone was pulled backwards by the heat shockwave: they instinctively crouched and looked up to see it burning.
"An explosion? No way! The guy carried a live bomb?" Zarashe cursed as he stood up.
"Maybe the shock from the explosion turned the fuse on or it got short-circuited somehow…? This is gonna be damaging for our reputation, I can see it coming, really." Suzuki muttered.
"… Hmmm… Hmpf… No… Don't worry. As Tozukana – san said… Laika is fond of silly things. I'll explain it on the way back: please ride in the car and let's head back straight to HQ." He grinned.
Suzuki climbed into the rear seats and Kage sat back in the driver's seat while looking towards the slope: he grinned and sped away along with the bikes just as Torolov began to climb up the slope while panting: he sat close to the edge of the road, still hidden by the burning van, and dialed a number.
"… Mission… successful… Laika." He reported.
"Good work." Laika congratulated.
Torolov made a weak chuckle and sighed in relief…