21 INASHIKI

Aizawa was arranging the papers on his desk, at the same time glancing at Shinsou and Misa, seated in front of him. The former was relaxed as usual, leaning back in his seat, cool and self-assured. The latter was sitting upright in her chair, quiet and attentive. Aizawa found himself reflecting that, considering that Shinsou wasn't always the easiest of people to work with, the partnership had developed into a considerably more cohesive and effective team than he had expected.

"I would say we're managing to put together a reasonable picture of the cult leader and what his aims are," he said to them, "With his mind control, he is probably assembling quite a formidable force of bright minds and talent to serve him. The work the Stone Masons seem to be producing for him alone can testify to how effective this can be."

"Has there been any indication what other uses these minds are being put to, besides building?" asked Misa.

"We don't know yet," replied Aizawa, "Your interrogation of nine recruits wasn't a big enough sample size to tell us the entire range of professions he has been seeking out. He probably has some good scientists in those laboratories you observed which are producing nerve gas, and I would also expect him to target professionals dealing in warfare, since he is apparently building up an arsenal. And there were two geneticists alone among those you interviewed. Akahara appears to have an obsession with the Quirkless. I would hazard a guess that he wants to carry out experiments to genetically modify Quirkless individuals into Quirk-carrying ones."

"What was in those samples we collected from the laboratories?" asked Shinsou.

Aizawa pushed a paper forward.

"Tokoyami from Science and Technology sent me the test results yesterday," he said, "The cult appears to be involved in developing both Quirk-nullifying and Quirk-enhancing drugs. The nullifying drugs are not permanent … so far they're effective for about an hour before the Quirk can be activated again. The Quirk-enhancing drugs have been found to work reasonably well, but they only last for about half an hour."

He paused.

"The process in which Akahara uses his Quirk does not seem clear-cut," he commented, "the lower rung cult members sometimes seem incapable of thought, but the leaders appear to be able to think with some independence. Take the case of Graveyard. He lied to Cyanide about your intrusion at Kamone in order to keep his leadership position."

"It could be that different individuals respond differently to his brainwashing," said Shinsou.

"I've been hoping to find out that his mind control process is reversible," said Misa, "then there might still be some way those who have lost their memories could have them restored."

"We don't know if he irretrievably erases the memories of his victims, or if they are still there, only buried within the victim's consciousness," agreed Aizawa, "If it is the latter, then the consequences would be significant. There would be hope that his victims could be restored to their original selves."

"I wondered if he might be able to restore some independence of thought, especially to those cult members who have been identified to have leadership potential," said Misa, "People who can think originally might be more useful to him."

"The only way to find out would be to apprehend Akahara himself," remarked Shinsou.

"And I would hope to do that before long," said Aizawa, "Murders and abductions are still being carried out, and the media have been blowing the issue out of proportion. People are aware that the Quirkless are being targeted. Those without Quirks are fearful. The police are under pressure to provide a solution and some form of protection as well, but it's not possible to keep watch over every single Quirkless person in the country.

"And so the main thing we now want to know is where Akahara is. If you can go to Inashiki and interview Caligula to find that out, we might be able to start moving to dismantle the cult."

"There's another option," said Shinsou, "We could go back to Kamone and look for Citadel. assuming he's still working on the underground facility there. Wherever Akahara is, it's likely to be some major Hikari facility, and the Stone Masons are likely to have built it."

"It has been quite a few months, though, they might have completed the Kamone facility already," said Misa, "It's a pity we didn't manage to find out from Citadel, the other time."

Aizawa didn't seem so convinced.

"It's not a given that Akahara will be in a major facility," he said, "The Hikari leaders we've seen so far certainly lead a comfortable lifestyle, compared to the junior cult members who live underground, but Akahara may be clever enough to elude detection by doing something different … living in some poor and obscure place, for example.

"Although," he added drily, taking out a photograph from a folder, "the latest piece of information I've received from Group Delta does make it seem rather unlikely."

"What's that?" asked Shinsou, with interest.

The photograph was of a bright yellow Porsche.

"But … I thought Group Delta is dealing with the North Koreans," said Misa, hesitantly.

"They are," said Aizawa, "and Tomonaga asked me if I know anything about a group called Hikari. They say that the North Koreans have been giving money and other gifts to some organization called Hikari, the latest of which is this Porsche."

Shinsou's eyes flashed.

"The madman," he said, "he's trying to get nuclear weapons from them!"

"Well, we can't jump to conclusions, yet," said Aizawa, "They only seem to be making friendly overtures to one another at the moment. But for that reason it might be more useful for you to interrogate Caligula next, rather than Citadel. I doubt the latter knows anything more about Hikari than its buildings."

He paused, looking at them.

"I've sent Shinohara and Ishida to Inashiki. Once they've settled there and checked the place out a bit, I don't think we need to wait too long before the two of you go there."

.

.

Shinsou knocked on the door of Misa's small room on the top floor of the Directorate. He didn't expect it to open. She had made a peephole in the door by the simple method of phasing one of Magnetron's periscopes in, and once she saw him outside, her smiling face soon appeared through the door. Reaching out, she grasped his arm and phased him through into her room.

"You never do open doors, do you?" said Shinsou, smiling.

"I do, sometimes," she said, laughing, pleased to see him.

They had sensibly kept their relationship at work strictly platonic. They trained and sparred, met with Aizawa, and discussed work and the Hikari case just as they usually did. Even weekends were often taken up by work and training, or other matters. However, Shinsou had gotten into the habit of dropping by the top floor room in the evenings rather often once work was over, and it could be said that neither he nor Misa found it necessary to continue behaving platonically then.

"We've been training pretty hard," Shinsou now said, "I thought that, before going to Inashiki next week, we could take one night off and have dinner out."

Misa's face brightened.

"That sounds like a good idea," she said.

"And besides," he said, taking a small package out, "it's your birthday today."

She was surprised. "How did you know? I don't recall telling you."

He laughed. "I still have your stats page from the time I was sent to track you down in Iideyama, you know."

Misa was looking at the package in amazement. "You got me something!"

"Open it," said Shinsou.

The present was a locket.

"You can put someone's photo inside," said Shinsou, "Hideo's, or …"

"Yours," said Misa.

He smiled.

"Put a dress on for a change, and we'll go out for dinner," he said, "I've booked us a table at a restaurant."

Misa was looking rather worried.

"You know, Hitoshi-san, you don't have to always go to this trouble," she said, placing a hand lightly on his arm, "We never used to do these things much, back in Iideyama. I've hardly ever celebrated my birthday, and it's not something I expect to do."

There was a curious expression in his eyes as he looked at her.

"I know you haven't," he said, "That's why I wanted to."

She didn't quite understand, but she smiled, and turned back to the locket.

"It's beautiful," she said softly, and there was a slight catch in her voice, "I'll treasure it. Thank you."

"You can thank me better than that," he said.

She thought she would give him a quick kiss, but he held on to her, and the kiss lasted a great deal longer than she thought it would. She was breathless when he released her at last, and he was amused to see that she was blushing slightly.

"After dinner tonight, I thought we could go over to my place," he said, casually.

She smiled at him.

"I'd like that," she said shyly, and was vexed to find herself blushing again.

.

.

The layout of the Hikari house in Inashiki was similar to the earlier two that Misa and Shinsou had visited, in that it was located in large grounds and was not visible from the main road. It, too, contained an underground complex, where most of the cult members lived, while the higher-ranking members lived in the main house, above ground.

Inashiki was a city, and although the house was on the outskirts, there was not much forest present for Shinohara and Ishida to camp in. Since Aizawa had told them that they would not be there for long, they had solved the problem by driving there in a van, in which they could sleep and do the monitoring. They managed to park the van in various secluded places during the nights.

When Shinsou and Misa arrived, they swapped vehicles. The scouts handed the van over to them, and drove off in their car.

"What's the surveillance system like, there?" Shinsou asked, before the scouts went off.

"Rather similar to Ematsu," said Ishida, "They have cameras in the grounds and in the underground complex, but there's only one in the main house, outside a locked room. We couldn't get in to have a look. Otherwise if there were any other cameras for the main house, they must have been removed. I think the Hikari leaders find it irksome having their movements monitored."

"Good," said Shinsou, looking at Misa, "That makes it easier for us."

"The underground complex isn't as extensive as the others we've seen," added Ishida, "They're producing nerve gas and they have a number of drones there. There's also a laboratory. But they aren't storing weapons here. The complex is mostly being used to assemble computers, it seems."

"Computers?" said Shinsou.

"This place is a business centre for the cult," Shinohara said, and gave a small whistle, "That Caligula's a big-time businessman!"

"He can do the job," agreed Ishida, "Tall fellow, his face is like a gargoyle, but it doesn't matter. He speaks well and is persuasive. The cult has an office in the city where he meets clients. But he'll be leaving soon, apparently. He seems to be training Anthrax to take over."

"Leaving?" said Shinsou, "Where to?"

Ishida shrugged.

"We didn't manage to find that out," he said, "You can get him to disclose everything when you interrogate him."

"He's got a favourite housemaid who entertains him every night, though," remarked Shinohara, "you'll have to get rid of her if you want to interview him at night."

"Thanks," said Shinsou, drily.

"He's also got this unusual liking for sand art," said Ishida, "One of the cult members is a sand artist, and since we came, we noticed he gets her to create sand art for him every afternoon after lunch. The sand table is in the study."

"He does, does he?" said Shinsou, looking interested, "How long does that last?"

"About an hour," said Ishida, "from one to two every day. His routine is as regular as a clock."

"Is it?" said Shinsou, "What does he usually do after the sand art session?"

Shinohara gave a snort of laughter. "He naps for an hour."

"You can check out his Porsche too," added Ishida, as he and Shinohara got into the car to drive off, "He's got a flashy yellow one in the front porch."

.

.

The Inashiki house was an elegant one, consisting of two storeys, high-ceilinged and built in an open-concept contemporary style. It had timber strips for flooring, but the walls were made of stone. There was a second building next to it which contained a large hall with an auditorium. Shinsou guessed that this was where the initiation of the first-tier leaders had taken place.

They spent the rest of the day monitoring the house from the van. As the scouts had said, Caligula had the sand artist give him a session after lunch. Shinsou watched with interest.

"I think we can try interviewing him around this time, tomorrow," he said.

They went over to the house that night to get a feel of the place, and to have a look around. They located the locked room that Ishida had mentioned. It was securely locked and had a surveillance camera outside. When Misa cautiously phased herself in, bypassing the camera, she saw another camera inside, as well as a massive safe. There was a laser security system in the room as well. She phased herself and Shinsou into the room below and then moved upwards so that they surfaced inside the safe. The flashlight revealed a large pile of cash in US dollars, as well as gold.

"Their businesses must be doing well," said Shinsou, astonished, "I would estimate there must be a few million dollars in here."

They took a few photos for the record, and then left the room and went over to the study where the sand art table was. Besides bookcases, it contained a number of cabinets, and after moving some of its contents elsewhere, they found one large enough for them to hide in. Shinsou also noted that there was a telephone on the table.

The next day, they went over around lunch time to hang around and wait for the sand art session. Anthrax and Despair were having lunch with Caligula in the dining room, and Shinsou noticed that someone had left a cell phone on the coffee table in the living room.

"Misa," he whispered, "Can you phase over there and get us that cell phone?"

She did as he asked, and when she had gotten hold of it, he said, "Let's go to the study. I think we might as well wait there for Caligula."

When they reached the study, Shinsou picked up the study table phone and dialled a number. He then called someone in the Directorate on his cell phone.

"What are you doing?" asked Misa, as he ended the call.

"I've just gotten someone at the Directorate to tell me what the study table phone number is," he said, "I'd rather not use my own phone for that. I'm going to use our stolen phone to brainwash Caligula later."

"Will that work?" asked Misa, "Brainwashing over the phone, I mean."

"It isn't really over the phone," Shinsou explained, "I'll still be in the same room as him, after all."

They hid themselves in the cabinet and waited. Presently, Caligula came into the study with Anthrax.

"Where's Despair?" Caligula was asking.

"He's looking for his cell phone," said Anthrax, "he seems to have misplaced it."

"Well, tell him that you and he will be doing cleansing during the next few nights," said Caligula, looking through a folder and then taking a piece of paper from it and handing it to Anthrax, "The list just came in from headquarters."

Anthrax took the list and nodded.

"This should keep us busy for most of tonight," he said, "We won't join you for dinner, then."

Misa felt rather tense. She guessed that the list contained the names and addresses of Quirkless people, and that the villains were going to murder them that night.

Anthrax left the room. Shinsou was about to call the study phone using Despair's phone, but Caligula had already picked up the receiver and was dialling a number.

"Hello," he said, "Hasegawa, is that you? I've been trying to get hold of Obsidian all morning. His phone appears to have been switched off. Is he there?"

There was a pause, as Citadel went off to look for Obsidian. After what seemed a long while, the latter came on the line.

"Hello, Hatano?" said Caligula, "I've been trying to contact you urgently. Akahara wants us to discuss something important. I'm going to need you to come down here later today."

There was a pause, and then he said, "No, it can't be done over the phone. I know it's a long way to travel, but it's urgent. … No, it can't wait till tomorrow. It has to do with the tunnel ceiling collapsing."

There was another pause, and then Caligula said, "No, it hasn't collapsed yet. But I need to talk to you before it does. I have Akahara breathing down my neck about this. No, he specifically asked I see you, not Citadel. You can leave Kamone for a short while and let Citadel take care of things there."

Another pause, and then Caligula looked pleased. "Good, see you tonight, then. Yes, don't worry, even arriving around nine or ten will be fine." He put the phone down.

Shinsou quickly dialled the number. The study phone rang, and Caligula picked it up.

"Hello," said Shinsou quietly into the phone, before Caligula could speak.

"Hello?" said Caligula. His face became blank.

"When the sand artist comes, tell her to come back an hour later," said Shinsou, "Say yes if you heard me."

"Yes," said Caligula.

"Put the phone down, then," said Shinsou, "Leave it off the hook." He didn't want any more calls to come in.

Caligula put the phone down.

A few minutes later, the sand artist arrived. Caligula promptly carried out Shinsou's instructions.

"Return Despair's phone to somewhere in the living room, will you?" Shinsou said quietly to Misa, as they both emerged from the cabinet. He started setting up the recording equipment.

Misa disposed of the phone, and then came back to the study to find that Shinsou had already started the interview. Although she knew it was unlikely anyone would disturb Caligula during his sand art time, she stationed herself near the study door to keep watch.

"Our cooperation with the North Koreans is at the very initial stage," Caligula was saying, "We're going to see what they want from us, first. Of course, they'll be happy for any excuse to destabilise Japan. We don't need to deal with them only, there are other places where one can get nuclear weapons."

Shinsou frowned.

"Does it not trouble you that you are betraying your own country," he said.

"The notion of country will become irrelevant in the coming new order," said Caligula, "all that matters will be whether you are in Hikari or not."

"Is that Porsche outside a gift from the North Koreans?" asked Shinsou.

"Indeed yes," said Caligula, "We at Inashiki are the main contact within Hikari for corresponding with them. The car is the latest in a series of friendly overtures we've received from them. They seem keen to establish ties with us."

"Tell me about Hikari's other operations here at Inashiki," said Shinsou.

"We are the main business centre for the movement," said Caligula, "We reap good profits because the cult members work for free. Last year, we generated over a billion yen by selling cut-price computers assembled by our unsalaried cult members."

"And you're the one running things here?" said Shinsou.

"Yes," said Caligula, "I have lots of ideas. For example, there are plans to start a pop band to subtly introduce our beliefs to people, with songs written by Akahara himself. But I shall not be here long. Akahara has chosen me to be one of his advisors, and next week I shall be moving over to Headquarters while Anthrax takes over here."

"And where are Hikari's headquarters?" asked Shinsou, looking intently at him.

"At Mt Aino," said Caligula, "In Minami Alps National Park."

"That's protected land," said Shinsou, astonished, "how is it possible for Hikari to have built a habitation there?"

"The building is two thousand feet underground," said Caligula, "It is completely hidden. It cannot be seen from the surface."

"How did Hikari manage to build this without being detected?" asked Shinsou.

"The Stone Masons did it," answered Caligula, "They tunnelled all the way there from Hirogawara. We have a house in Hirogawara, far in from the road. No one outside could tell that something was being built, except that trucks and equipment kept going in and out of the house. It was remote enough that no one took any notice of the activity."

"Tell me more about the Mt Aino headquarters, then," said Shinsou.

"I only know that it is underground," said Caligula, "I have never been there yet, although I have been in close contact with the Enlightened One, and he has been giving me instructions to liaise with the Stone Masons about repairing some of the facilities there."

"Who in Inashiki would have details of the Mt Aino base, then?" asked Shinsou.

"No one," said Caligula, "It is a secret location, even within Hikari. Even many of the first-tier leaders do not know about it."

"Well, what about that Stone Mason who is coming tonight," said Shinsou, "Obsidian. Would he know about it?"

"Definitely," said Caligula, "He was one of the main architects working on it."

Shinsou quizzed Caligula further, trying to find out more about Akahara and his Quirk, but didn't find out anything more useful than what Cyanide had told them. He did, however, manage to get Caligula to write down a list of the names of all of Akahara's advisors at Mt Aino, together with details of their Quirks. When the hour was almost up, he made Caligula set his watch time back an hour, and turned the hands of the wall clock back an hour as well. He then woke Caligula up as Misa phased the both of them out of the room.

"The sand art presentation seems to be such a big part of his day that it would simply have been too jarring for him if he were to miss it," he later said to Misa, "He won't notice anything is wrong at first, and hopefully when he finds out the real time, he'll just be confused but won't be able to discover what really happened."

"So, we're going back tonight to interview this Obsidian?" said Misa.

"Yes, and it's a stroke of luck that he's coming," said Shinsou, "Otherwise we'd have to go all the way back to Kamone to get hold of him or Citadel."