A/N: I was in a really fluffy mood when I wrote this, I was feeling generous and decided to add a heap of sugar to the friendship between Annabelle and Mizuki :3
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost in the Shell or Transformers, just my OC's and the plot
SPARK IN THE SHELL
CHAPTER 13: LOST AND FOUND
As the morning of the cherry blossom festival slipped into the high noon of the day, many of the people had started to congregate at the food vendors and nearby cafes for much needed refreshments and to rest their aching feet from trailing through the seemingly endless avenues of cherry trees. Overhead the sun beamed down with a nice warm touch and the wind blew with that cool spring freshness, blowing the petals of the countless blossoms high into the air, only to let them rain down like snow, by now the entire park was a beautiful stark contrast of fresh green and scattered areas of pastel pink.
Far over on the south side of the vast open space, the park was boarded by the various apartment buildings that made up the many residential districts, near one of the entrances to the park under a particularly small maple tree, Annabelle and Mizuki sat resting side by side resting together. For the last three quarters of an hour they had gotten sidetracked from trying to find their babysitter and mother and had gone off exploring together. Mizuki was amazed at how much Annabelle didn't know about life here in Japan, one such example presented itself when the pair passed a stand that had rows and rows of colourful origami cranes strung together, when Annabelle saw these and she asked what they were Mizuki was flabbergasted, and vice versa, Annabelle was surprised not to find a single hot dog stand anywhere.
But regardless of cultural upbringing the pair had spent a really fun time together, they had joined most of the other kids trying to catch the cherry blossom petals as they fell, trying to stroke the large koi fish in one of the parks many ponds, chasing after pigeons, wandering around the games arcades and pointing out their favourite type of cherry tree (there were over 20 hybrids species as well as several original breeds in the park).
In the course of all their excitement they had lost track of where they were and had found themselves well away from the main events taking place near the centre of the park and to the eastern side where the cherry tree orchid was, but despite not finding their babysitter or mother, they didn't feel lonely or lost in each other's company, if anything they had began to feel like they had known each other for far longer. Annabelle reached into her little pink and yellow back pack and took out two juice boxes and handed one to Mizuki.
"Thank you Annabelle" she replied
"So where do we go next? We must have seen the whole park by now?" Annabelle smiled as she played with one of the scarlet red maple leaves
"Well, I could show you the playground I always go to, it's not far from my home" Mizuki replied as she gulped down her juice
"Where is your home anyway?"
"I live in that place there, with my mommy and daddy and my little brother Haru" she said pointing to one of the larger apartment complexes that had balcony gardens protruding out the sides of the structure.
"Up there? That's a long way up from the ground!"
"I know, you can see the city for our place...hay! I just remembered my neighbour Mrs Yamamoto is in today! I bet she can make something to eat for us, I'm getting hungry!"
"Who's Mrs Yamamootoo?"
"Mrs Yamamoto, she looks after me and my brother when mommy and daddy go out, she's always lets us do whatever we want when we stay over"
"Do you think she'll like me?"
"Sure she will! And she always makes the yummiest rice cakes!"
"What are rice cakes? Does she make brownies?"
"What are brownies?"
Hehehe! Never mind, come on, let's go and see Mrs Yamamoto!" Annabelle giggled as she finished up her juice box and followed Mizuki along the path out of the park along into a courtyard with a large signpost in the centre pointing the way to all the various apartment buildings.
"You know Annabelle, you're my bentest friend" Mikuki smiled putting her arm around Annabelle's shoulder
"Your my bentest friend too Mikuki" Annabelle replied and bought her arm up too as they walked through the courtyard and onto Mikuki's home.
Back in the park the mood for the Autobot gang was starting to grow more dire with every minute that pasted, the kids had searched practically one whole half of the park, going back and forth checking and rechecking areas they had already looked, now they had gathered together again to try and think of a new way of finding Annabelle.
"We've searched everywhere we've been already, I say we try looking further afield, towards the other areas of the park" Darren suggested as he leaned forward to catch his breath.
"M-m-m-maybe we should b-bring the other's t-to help as well?" Frenzy peeped from out his bag
"Jazz called in 10 minutes ago to say Scorpy and Ravage are checking out the park perimeter and that D had swept the whole eastern and central side of the park with no luck"
"Then we check out the western side, com'on guys!" Sam said as he paced off in the direction of the main pathway that ran through the middle of the park
"So we split up again and basically search over the main paths?" Glen asked
"Yep, same as before" Sam replied and the group split up into their pairs again and jogged off in different directions away from the festival towards the much more open areas of the park.
Some several meters away, a security camera high up on a lamppost zoomed in on the group.
Back in the surveillance van, Ishikawa and Batou were watching the kids as they searched for their missing little one, as the group passed another camera, the shot zoomed in on their faces, highlighting the worry and distraught they were feeling, Ishikawa passed a heavy sigh.
"Poor kids, I hope they do find her" he said
"I hope so too, but what do we do if we find her? Do we take her in or let her go?" Batou asked
"It all depends, on the one hand she might be the only link we have to finding the machines, but on the other keeping her in custody might cause a few problems if she's classed as material witness or a suspect. A kid that young you'd think the minister of home affairs would have a little more sense than that, but whatever happens next will probably determine our next move" Ishikawa replied
"You might be right there" The Major replied as she stepped into the van
"How's Togusa's search going?" Batou asked
"I asked the Tachikoma's to run a search for his daughter, hopefully she won't have gone far" she replied, looking out the back of the van Batou saw across the street Togusa trying to comfort his distraught wife as she sat on a bench next to Saito with two police officers standing nearby.
"At least he's with the right outfit to look for her, such are the perks of this job, being able to have the right hook-ups to get a job done twice as fast" Batou sighed
"Yeah, but what could be done faster is Boma hurrying up with those pizza's" said Ishikawa looking at his watch.
A few streets away up in the town, Boma was walking along trying to find a decent enough place that did take-out pizza, as he rounded the corner he saw two officers talking to a couple of women and showing them a photo of Togusa's daughter, the big cyborg sighed and hoped that somehow she would turn up okay.
As he bought his gaze back up, he noticed two young girls skipping along in up ahead of him, they both looked young for their size, probably four or five years old."Hay! Look at that!" one on them said as they pointed to something in a nearby shop window, as they ran over and stared into the window Boma caught a look of the sides of their faces and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Major, tell Togusa I just found his daughter"
"Where is she?"
"On Sakura Street, about 400 yards from the van"
"Alright, stay with her and let her know her parents are coming over"
"Uh there's one slight hitch..."
"What is it?"
"The missing kid, the one our suspects are looking for? She right here with her"
"...Follow them and see where they go, we'll be right over"
"You know, for a four year old she can certainly go some distance!" Glen huffed as he started to lag behind the faster paced Darren.
"I know, that's the first big mistake when you watch a kid that young, NEVER underestimate how much energy they've got, like this one time, my mom asked me to watch my little cousin Violet for a whole afternoon, by the time she got back I had to try and explain how the family room ended up looking like a recreation of Stalingrad" he replied
"What happened?"
"I got grounded for a week, but seriously, how do you explain how a five year old can crawl across a ceiling? And the hardest part is trying to keep up with them when they're on a sugar high, it's like you need one of those tracking devices you see on the National Geographic channel, you know the one's you implant via blow dart?" he said offhand, Glen suddenly stopped and face-palmed.
"CRAP!!!" he exclaimed
"What? What is it?!" Darren quickly turned around on his prosthetic leg to see what was wrong
"Aww Man how the hell could I forget!!"
"What!?"
"You remember that little pendent Optimus gave Anny for her first birthday? You know the one that was given to all of us to signify our loyalty to the Autobots?"
"Yeah, I still got mine, what about it?"
"I just remembered, they were all implanted with a tracking device in case of an emergency like now!"
"You only now just remembered that little feature? And why didn't I get told about it?"
"Guess you didn't get the memo huh?"
"Obviously, com'on we have to call the other's, D can track the signal from up top" Darren said as they ran over to Sam and Tom some distance away, whipping out both their cell phones ready to contact the others.
"Wow, this is a really big place!" Annabelle said as she watched the scenery slow descend downwards as both girls watched through the glass window in the elevator's side.
"I know, come on this is my floor" Mizuki replied as the elevator wend ding, they both stepped out and Mizuki lead the way along a row of doors facing the park down below, not far behind a tall broad shouldered cyborg with red prosthetic eyes exited the next elevator and followed them at a slow pace, careful not to let them spot him.
Meanwhile, The Major, Batou and Togusa paced quickly down the street towards the apartment complex where Togusa lived, Togusa was keeping pace with the Major, nearly breaking into run as his anxiousness to see his daughter was now more intense than ever.
"Major, the girls have just entered one of the apartments, number 196 on the 37th floor" said Boma
"That's our neighbour Mrs Yamamoto, she babysits the kids when we're not in, thank god Mizuki knew to go there" Togusa sighed as he slowed down slightly
"That's a relief, but what do we do about the girl?" Batou asked
"At this point let's just check she's okay, I'll contact the chief to see what our next move is" the Major replied as they approached the building and headed to the elevators.
"You only remembered that little detail just a few minutes ago?! We've been running around all over this bloody park when we could have just picked up the tracking signal?" Ashley exclaimed with frustration as the kids stood in a small avenue of maple trees.
"Look it doesn't matter now; the important thing is we now have a means of finding her..." Morri replied putting a hand on Ashley's shoulder to calm him down and tapping the side of her ear piece.
"D, are you tracking the signal right this minute?" she asked
"Not yet, I had to ask Jazz for Annabelle's signal code which he's data-burst to me just now, I have to send out a probe signal which will activate the pendants tracking signal, it might take a minute or two" he replied
"Alright, do it"
Up 300 yards in the air, hovering silently and invisibly , the only inclination of Deathshot's presence was a sudden wave of blue light which only lasted for a tenth of a second, no-one on the ground even noticed it. As the signal went out over the area a blip started to flash on his long-range scanners.
"Got it! I have a confirmed signal; she's approximately 457 yards south of your current position, and 245 feet up in the air"
"She's 245 feet in the air? What's going on?" Morri replied, the others all glanced at one another bemused and leaned in to listen more closely.
"Hold on, I'll go and see exactly where she is" the sniper replied as he swung around and headed in the direction of signal.
When she opened the door, Hina Yamamoto was surprised to see her neighbour Togusa standing there with another woman and a tall imposing man with pale ash blond hair and prosthetic eyes; she knew the reason why he was here.
"Togusa, thank goodness your here, Mizuki's here, apparently she got separated from her mother at the festival and came all the way back here..." she said as she stood aside to let the detective and his friends come in
"I know, thank goodness she had the sense to come here, is she okay?" he replied.
"She's just fine, she's in the living room and she bought one of her friends along too" the silver-haired middle aged woman replied as she lead the way through to a spacious living area with a couple of sofa's, a small TV in the corner, and seated around the large central coffee table scribbling into some colouring books were his daughter and the little blond girl. Mizuki looked up, and with a big smile got up and ran over to hug her daddy.
"Daddy!" she happily exclaimed as Togusa scooped her up into a bear hug, his worry completely faded into content as he held her tight, Batou smiled as his own anxiety for the girl's well being faded away. While the Major was relieved in her own silent way. She watched as the other girl looked on at the happy reunion.
"Mizuki...don't run off like again okay? You made mommy really scared, and you scared me too" Togusa said as he stroked her hair.
"I'm sorry daddy...hay you wanna meet Annabelle? She's my new best friend!..." she replied as her father put her back down an she ran over to where Annabelle was sitting, the little honey blond stood up and approached the grown-ups with Mizuki, seeing the unsure look on her face, Togusa knelt down closer to her level.
"Hi Annabelle, nice to meet you" he smiled warmly and she in turned smiled back
"Hi" she replied sheepishly
"She got lost like me daddy, she's looking for Morri" Mizuki peeped in
"Morri?"
"She's one of my babysitters, I lost her in the park and I tried looking for her but I couldn't find her anywhere, but then I met Mizuki here and we had a really fun time together!" Annabelle beamed
"You did huh? Well at least your both okay, Mizuki, why don't you go and play with Annabelle for while, daddy's gotta talk with the grown-up's...can you watch them a minute please" Togusa asked Hina as he stood back up and headed back out into the hallway with the Major and Batou, she nodded and went into the living room shutting the door behind her.
"So now what do we do? Do we let her go back to the other kids or do we take her into custody?" Togusa asked
"Chief, are you there?" The major asked
"I'm here, Ishikawa's just filled me in on the details on what's happened, I've checked in with the minister of home affairs and he's made it clear that any clue that could lead us to finding those machines cannot be taken lightly no matter how unlikely it may seem and as of now that child is the best and only lead we have" the chief replied
"But what about the other suspects? Their still looking for her and by the way they've been searching I doubt they'll be willing to give up" Batou replied
"Alright, then track them down and arrest them, the CIS and the military are starting to search for them too so watch your back"
"Will-do, chief?, one last thing, about Saito's facial data at Megatec, has there been any word of any data leaks?"
"As of yet no, I did inquire with them earlier to ascertain whether they had picked any suspicious activity on their security barriers, they're still checking the systems for any sign of possible back-hacking but it will take a while before anything conclusive shows up, in the meantime, keep your eye on that girl"
"Rodger that" the Major replied as the cybercomm fell silent, for a minute no-one said anything as the uneasy feeling of uncertainty began to creep in, Togusa bought his gaze back up to look at the Major, in the background the laughter of his daughter and her friend could be heard behind the door, making his uneasiness feel more like a taunt.
"So how do we go about arresting them? If we approach them and tell them we have their little friend their only going to be suspicious and suspect foul play on our part" Togusa asked
"And there's no way we can storm their hide out with those machines there, it would be a complete suicide mission, but we can't let the kid go back to her friends if she's now a primary lead in the case" Batou conquered
"We've got to draw them away from the hideout and the machines at the same time...I'm not particularly keen on the idea but we might have to use the girl as bait to lure them out, if they're so worried for her then they will come looking for her, and if we give them the chance to follow her we could apprehend them more efficiently" the Major replied doubtfully.
"It's a sound theory but will the girl be willing to co-operate?" Batou replied
"That all depends, Togusa I want you to keep the girl around for a while, talk to her and see what you learn about her friends and those machines, she's more likely to be responsive while she's in a more relaxed environment and with someone she's familiar with" the Major said
"Since when did you become the expert of how to handle kids?" Batou grinned, she simply shot him a look, Togusa only grinned.
"I'll talk with Mai, I'm sure she'll be okay with letting Annabelle stay for a while, speaking of which I better call her and let her know to come on up" Togusa replied as he stood off to one side and got his cell phone out, the Major and Batou peered through the crack in the door at the two four year olds laughing together as they played.
"You really think using the kid as bait for the others is really a good idea? How can we ensure her or the kids safety if things get dicey?" Batou asked in hushed tone
"It'll be a risk, but if we play our cards right we can safely take them into custody without causing a stir, the last thing we need is for the CIS and the military to wind of the fact we've got one of the prime suspects in custody" she replied, just then, something around Annabelle's neck caught her attention.
"Batou, look at the pendent she's wearing..." she said, motioning to the little one, Batou focused his vision onto a little gold pendent Annabelle had around her neck, in the centre of the pendent was the red face like shield that was on the machines and the cars.
"She's got to know something if she's wearing that" the Major said, as the two agents watched the four year olds play together they had no idea that something else was watching the girls from the balcony.
"I am directly outside the section of the building Annabelle is in, it would appear she has made herself a little friend, there's another human sparkling approximately her own age in there with her, plus her father and three other individuals" Deathshot said over the direct comm-link to Morri's cell-phone, the kids were all still gathered behind the maple trees, listening to the sniper via the cell-phones loud speaker.
"How can you tell it's her father?" Mikaela asked
"My bio-scan confirms the other girls DNA sequence is a 50% mach to one of the men in there" he replied
"What are they doing now?" Ashley asked
"So far Annabelle and the other girl are playing together, the four other individuals are in the kitchen area of the apartment, my bio-scan's registering that Annabelle's vitals are well within normal human bio-parameter's, she's healthy and unharmed"
"That's a relief" Hailey sighed
"Yeah I guess, anything else going on in there D?" Morri asked
"Two other individual's have just entered the apartment, a female and a male protoform..."
"A mom and her baby?" Becca asked
"Yes a mother and child, the other girl seems very pleased to meet her, their greeting one another with hugs and kisses"
"Must be her daughter" Danny said offhand
"She is, the woman has a 50% DNA match to the girl, and the baby had a 75% match to her too, which would make him her brother"
"So the whole family's together then? Question now is how do we get Anny back? We can't exactly stroll up to the front door and ask, of all the apartments in that one block and we just happen to know she was in that one? It'll freak' em out" Glen said
"Good point, anything else we should know D?" Morri asked
"Yes, they've moved into another apartment, it would seem the one they were in belonged to a neighbour, this one appears to be the family's true home, it's only one apartment along from the previous one, Annabelle is still with them and two of the strangers have walked outside to the front of the apartment"
"Can you hear what's going on in there?" Sam asked
"Only just, there's a lot of ambient static about, the mother is inviting Annabelle to stay for dinner tonight, the other girl is quite delighted by this, and so is Annabelle" replied Deathshot, the other's all looked at one another.
"...Well look on the bright side, there are much worse situations she could be in?" Danny shrugged
"That's true, but while I'm relieved she's with responsible people we still have to address the issue of how we get her back...any thoughts?" Mikaela suggested everyone glanced at each other, wondering what options were open; Darren raised his head with a serious look on his face.
"Anny may not be that couple's kid, but if anything happens they'll try to protect her as best they can if anything drastic were to occur, and if we to just show up and asked for her back they'll want some form of proof, which of course we don't have...I know this may sound a bit drastic guy's, but I think we might have to consider an emergency type 2 evac..." he said, everyone looked at him with uncertainty, not sure what to make of the idea at first, Morri peeked around one of the maple tree at the building where Annabelle was in and wondered whether it was really the right course of action to take.
"It is drastic, but do we really not have any other choices?...D, what's the layout of the building and the surrounding area like?" Morri asked
"The apartment complex has four elevators with two main stairwells, with the apartments themselves lining the main structure, each with its own balcony, but the surrounding area is a network of interconnecting alleyways, pathways and courtyards, it would be easy to get lost or trapped if it were a ground-based evac, if it were airborne all we have to do is wait for Anny to come onto the balcony and I could extract her easily" the sniper replied
"Maybe, but if we run with that plan then we'd have to wait for the right opportunity to do it, we need to make sure Anny's safe but we've got to consider the couple and their kids too...I think, for time being we head back to the hideout and formulate a proper plan, D, can you stay here and keep us updated on what's going on up there?"
"Of course Morri, have you got something in mind?"
"Actually, I've got half an idea, Frenzy, are you listening up?"
Y-y-y-yes?" the hacker replied and peered all four of his blue optics out the side of Darren's back pack
"Frenzy, Can you get up to the apartment somehow? Try and get Anny's attention and tell her we're coming to get her back, keep your comm-link open and stand by for any updates, when we have a plan in place we'll call you and let you know what to do" said Morri
"I-I can do t-that!" he squeaked
"Alright, we'll drop you off next to the building, Glen; can you call the guys and tell them to pick us up nearby? It's too far to walk back to the hideout from here" Sam said, Glen got out his cell-phone and dialled Jazz's direct line as the group started walking in the direction of the building.
"You think it will work? I mean, trying an Autobot-style evac?" Sam asked Morri
"Well, D does have a great big anti-gravity field I have no doubt we can do something with that, actually getting her won't be the problem, it's how we get her out without anyone noticing that'll be the real challenge, but we need to make Anny aware so that she can help us out, hence Frenzy going up" she replied, as the group left the park and approached the residential district, they paced their way across the street and followed the road along, keeping the apartment complex in their line of sight.
Not far behind, the occupants of a large gray van watched the children walked by with suspicious eyes.
"Major, the kids just walked past the van, their heading over your way" said Ishikawa
"All together? They're not still looking for the girl?"She replied
"Apparently not, their all together and not in a panic anymore"
"Tail them, see what they do next"
"I'm on it Major" Saito replied and smoothly existed the van and followed the kids several meters behind. On the terrace outside Togusa's apartment, the Major and Batou watched the large parking lot down below, waiting for their quarry to come into view.
"What are they up to now? Weren't they worried about the kid not 10 minutes ago?" Batou thought aloud
"Something's up or they wouldn't be coming this way, look..." the Major gestured to the small group of kids walk around the corner, across the parking lot and stopped in front of the building. The two agents watched as the kids looked the building up and down.
"Do they know she's here?" Batou said offhand
"Wow, I wonder how much the rent goes for on this place?" Hailey said as she scanned the building up and down
"It looks pretty spacious, must be a five figure price tag I bet" Sam replied
"This is the side is just the front doors, the balconies must be on the other side, com'on, let's go and see..." Morri said as she walked along a path around the building, Looking all around to check no-one was looking, Darren slipped the backpack off his back and cautiously opened the flap, Frenzy popped his head up and looked around, "looks like no-one's around buddy, come on out you come..." he said and he eagerly jumped out and stretched his cramped limbs.
"Aaah! Th-that's b-better!" he said
"I bet, come on let's see what's round the back?" Darren said and the jittery hacker followed close behind, staying low and hunched over, ready to jump into the nearby bushes if anyone came walking by. Once around the other side of the building the kids saw how the balconies stepped upwards like wedges stacked on top of one another at an angle, from their position on the ground it looked larger than it actually was, and with many of the balconies covered or lined with pot plants and shrubs it was hard to tell which apartment was which.
"Which apartment is Anny in D?" Morri asked over the earpiece
"Walk another 60 yards along..." he replied, Morri walked along, looking up to try and spot the right balcony, "...a little further...alright stop, it's the 37th balcony up from where your standing" he said.
"This is it?" Morri said offhand, the others all looked around at the layout of the grounds. The building sat in a huge circle alongside five other apartment complexes, the area they were in now was a larger circular courtyard garden with a view of the park, the city and a far off highway.
"It is a pretty large space here, loads of room for a type two evac" Darren said offhand
"Okay Frenzy, it's the 37th balcony on this row of apartments here, climb up and wait for when we call, in the meantime try and find a way to grab Anny's attention and tell her we're coming and to stay put, okay?" Morri told the hacker as he looked up and down the building
"37th floor, t-try to tell her we're c-coming, g-g-got it! See y-y-ya!" he replied and in several fast paced leaps he bounded up the side of the building and over each of the balconies, disappearing among the railings and greenery, every now and then the only sign of him was a silver glint.
"I have Frenzy in my view range, and the others have arrived outside the building, don't worry younglings she's okay, and we'll make sure she stays safe, I'll update you with any new developments" Deathshot said over the direct comm-line "okay D, we'll be back later" Morri replied and switched the cell-phones loud speaker off, she took a deep breath and sighed a long deep sigh, the others all looked at each other, feeling somewhat helpless for being able to do anything more.
"Com'on, there's nothing more we can do here, D's in place and Frenzy's even closer on the balcony, let's go back and see what we can come up with" Sam said as he started walking back the way they came, as they came back into view of the parking lot, they saw their Autobot friends waiting for them, as the other's got in Mikaela stopped with her arms folded and sighed a solemn sigh, Morri stopped and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"What's up? She's okay that's all that matters for now, there's no need to worry" she said
"I know, I'm just...I'm exhausted is all, and the fact she's okay somehow doesn't seem enough to make the worrying go away...is a type 2 evac really necessary? I mean, I know D's anti-gravity field is effective at lifting anything off the ground but, what if it's too dangerous? and what if-"
"Mikaela, she's going to be okay, we just need to organise how we do it that's all, she's with responsible people who are parents themselves and she's not hurt or up-set, and she's made a new friend with the family's daughter to keep her company so we can afford to take our time with this. And besides, D's got his eye on her, don't forget he's a sniper this kind of stake-out is right up his ally of expertise. Look, we both know worrying won't help us now so let's go back to the hideout see what we can plan out alright?" Morri replied, Mikaela looked up at her and sighed with a smile, "Alright...thanks" she quietly replied and putting her arm around the brunette they walked over to Bumblebee, got in and drove off.
However, they failed to notice the one eyed stranger standing behind the thick bushes.
"Major, we got a problem, the kids know where the girl is and just said their going to attempt to get her back" Saito said
"How do they plan to do that?" Batou asked
"I don't know, they said something about a 'type 2 evac'?, but that weird silver spiky robot was with them and just scaled up the apartment balconies, I think its outside Togusa's apartment right now, I couldn't get a good look it moved too fast to keep track of and apparently there's a sniper posted nearby watching the apartment"
The Major and Batou both looked at one another in surprise
"Where are the kids now?" Batou asked
"They just took off in those unidentified cars, they're going to come back for the girl later, and somehow they know she's safe with Togusa's family"
The Major frowned in concern
"Alright, get back to the van and get your equipment, try and locate that sniper and neutralize him, the rest of you remain on standby for further orders, Tachikoma, come over here and keep watch around the perimeter of the building, notify us immediately if they show up again" she barked
"Rodger!" they all replied
"Looks like our opportunity to nab them will come sooner than expected" Batou said
"It looks that way, but at this point it's that sniper we need to be concerned about, if he's watching all that's going on and he saw us in the apartment he'll alert the kids and something could go wrong, for the meantime I want you help Saito catch that sniper, I'll help Togusa keep an eye on the girl and at the same time try to look for that weird little robot, he can't be too far away" The Major replied
"Alright, but how are we going to lay out the trap? If these are only kids we're going arrest then it should be pretty simple"
"If it were any other time I would agree, but something's telling me to careful about this lot, my ghost is whispering that there's more to those kids than what we've just seen so far, and don't forget, if they decide to bring their oversized pets along than we'll be in real trouble"
"That's for sure" Batou replied, the Major turned and quietly re-entered Togusa's apartment, Batou watched as she closed the door and headed over to the elevators to wait for Saito.
R&R please!