Chapter 19: Split Decision
Ama gently rubbed the temples of his pounding head, and tried to concentrate on keeping his stomach under control. For a moment his vision dimmed, and then the spotless computer room snapped back into crystal clear focus. Giving his head a little shake to try and clear it, he tried to concentrate on the 'All clear' reports coming in, and tried to think. Being knocked unconscious certainly hadn't helped conserve his energy from the damned leeching machine at the base. Without being able to draw in energy, what he had was quickly growing stagnant and unhealthy. He'd barely convinced a doctor he was well enough for service after being pistol whipped by the 'intruder' but the incident had left him with a headache he couldn't seem to shake.
His eyes shifted to his watch. Fifteen minutes until his shift ended, and he had requested some leave time. As much as he hated leaving the base while it was still a danger, he doubt Kaze and Klick would try another attack so soon after rescuing most of the prisoners (he still didn't know why Yukina went missing, she wasn't with the group that escaped. Odd) and, besides, he needed to make his report to Koenma. The computer keyboard blurred, and nearly separated in two before his managed to keep his eyes focused again.
"And, more importantly, I'm hardly doing anyone any good this way." He whispered quietly to himself. Without warning, the sirens went off, ear-splitting noise accompanied by flashing red warning lights. For a moment, Ama could do nothing except hold his hands over his ears, nearly screaming as the noise pushed his nerves to the limit. By sheer force of will, his fingers moved to the keyboard and tapped in the command, shutting the sirens in the immediate vicinity off. He glanced at the screen, trying to make sense of the suddenly jumbled reports demanding orders. Behind him, other computers were switching on, responding automatically to the emergency status and awaiting the techs that were, he knew, even now on their way to assist with the deployment. SOP stated that the tech on duty would be relieved, ensuring that a fresh crew was ready to deal with the situation.
Which meant that he had precious little time to get a fix on the situation and alter anything that needed to be altered. His eyes caught on a line of code, colored red to indicate a priority message. He blinked twice, certain that his eyes were playing tricks on him, and read it again.
'Commander has been assassinated. Intruders remain within premises, possible connected with previous infiltration of faculty.'
Assassinated? Why on earth would they break into the base again, and kill Avery of all people? Yes, he was the nominal head of the development, but killing him off wouldn't slow the program down at all.
Forcing himself to focus on the immediate problem instead of the unexplained questions, he called up a map of the base, mumbling to himself as he looked for the point Klick or Kaze would have marked as an exit. Nearly passing it over in his haste, his eyes snagged on a small segment to the north side, a partially hidden service exit beneath the camera overhang, out of sight of the cameras and hidden in darkness from the security. Furthermore, it was only a short dash to the edge of the fence around that side, and nothing but tall grass beyond to the abandoned airport in the distance.
"That's gotta be it." He exclaimed, and then started madly tapping at the keys, altering security protocol and slicing a fake message into the system. As the beeping noise outside the heavy door alerted him to the arrival of the first of the techs, he picked up the microphone and made an open broadcast to the scrambling guards.
"Intruders located on service route A-3." He said clearly, using the impartial announcement voice that control techs always did, "Primary anti-intruder forces, proceed to location to intercept. Secondary forces please secure adjacent passageways to prevent escape." The A-3 corridor was at the very southern tip, sending the guards as far away from his friend's exit as he could manage.
Behind him, the door opened and the trio of computer people rapidly sat down in front of the screen, picking up the headsets and calling down the clans on the 'intruders', but, hopefully, far away from the real trouble. As a new man usurped his chair and keyboard, he slunk out of the center unnoticed.
"Well, I did everything I could." He whispered quietly, as the door hissed shut behind him.
***
Matthews' head snapped up, listening to the reports coming in. A reported sighting had sent most of the base's forces to the south wall, and that immediately made him suspicious. He knew there were no such intruders, having killed Avery himself. Conceivably, one of the guards could have thought they'd seen something, and overreacted, but his gut told him that wasn't it. But if not an overreacting guard, then what was going on?
Abruptly, he had it. The one who had announced it, Ama had transferred in from an outlying base shortly after they had cracked down on the group of hackers Peterson had known and told about the project. A group of hackers that have subsequently eluded all attempts to locate or capture. Shortly after that break in, a computer technician requests a transfer to the base, a tech with perfect records and a skill set well equipped to handling anti-splicing, hacking, and coordination. Hacker. Ama.
"Son of a bitch!" Matthews burst out, slamming his hands down on his desk. Standing quickly enough to send his office chair into the wall, he covered the distance to the door in three quick strides, checking the safety on his pistol as he did so.
"Let's see how skilled he is in the real world."
***
"Hiei, calm down."
"I am completely calm, Foxboy!"
"Just sit down Hiei, Calm yourself. Think about this for a moment."
"I've thought about this enough, I know PRECISELY what I'm doing."
"You're hurting him."
"That IS the idea."
Meanwhile, the object of their conversation kicked his feet once or twice as he futilely attempted to catch his breath. He could kick his feet because they remained suspended a few inches over the ground where they would normally rest. He was attempting to get his breath because he was barely managing enough air to keep him conscious. He was attempting futilely because Hiei's hands were locked tightly around his throat. Needless to say, the former Saint Beast Leader had seen better days.
"And...exactly...why am I...the one...you feel...you need...to hurt?" Suzaku managed, locking his hands into Hiei's fingers and prying the iron grip away from his windpipe. The former demon's fingers didn't open a whole lot, but enough to suck in some air, "In case you hadn't noticed, there were a few people on the team to rescue you, and we all failed to find your sister. Kuwabara's been nearly running up the wall to prepare to try again, though of course he doesn't know her relation to you."
Hiei blinked in surprise, nearly dropping the man, "And exactly how, may I ask, do you know about it, Saint Beast?" Suzaku's eyes flicked to Kurama, then resettled on Hiei apologetically,
"When I captured Kurama those days ago.." Had it truly been so little time, it felt longer.. "When I captured him, I touched his mind to close off his Spirit Energy. A trick I picked up in my recuperation, but a dangerous one. One of the side effects is a smattering of tiny pieces of information from memory, of which that is one."
"As he touched my mind, so did I touch his. If I had not, I would never have believed his intentions benign." Kurama added softly. Hiei suppressed an uncharacteristic flash of jealousy, and let go of Suzaku all at once, nearly causing the Yokai to stumble when his feet touched the ground. Taking a deep breath, Hiei turned away from the two of them, forcing himself to calm down. He'd allowed his temper far too much reign since his..humanization month ago, and it was about time to change that.
"Hiei.." The three demi-humans turned to the door, surprised to find the soft voice belonging to Yusuke. Kurama glanced at the sorrowful expression on Urameshi's face, then flicked his eyes to the other youth, Kuwabara, whose eyes held only blind hatred, nearly forcing the ancient thief back a step. Slowly, Yusuke extended a small package, a brown postage box found in abundance almost anywhere. Gingerly, fighting down a feeling or premonition in his gut, Hiei took the case and opened it.
"There was a letter inside.. He wants you to meet him at the Docks, by six pm, which doesn't leave you much time."
Hiei hardly heard him, staring within the box. The brown lid flicked briefly as the hand holding it shook slightly, and then firmed. The fire demon looked up, and the Dragon was behind his eyes, burning with a fury that drove the rest of them a few steps back in surprise.
"I'll get there." Hiei promised softly, his voice subtly changed, like pouring gravel or a hissing flame, "And he'll regret my punctuality."
The demon spirit let the box go, where it fell a slow path to the ground, impacting by one corner and sending its contents rolling over the floor. Pearls, perfect pearls, glistened over the floor, scattering to the edges of the square. Perfect pearls.
Yukina's Tears.
***
"Yusuke!" A tiny voice shouted from his pocket, and he slowed marginally to search through it. Ahead of him, Hiei either didn't notice or didn't care, keeping up the relentless pace toward the Docks. Removing the pocket communicator from his pocket, he flipped it open and blinked at the close up image of Koenma's face, "Yusuke! You need to high-tail it back toward the base! The enemy has picked up on Ama, and have him pinned down over there!"
"Oh give me a break!" Yusuke groaned, skidding to a halt, with Kurama, Kuwabara, Suzaku, Klick, and Kaze all stopping with him. Again, Hiei hardly noticed, but disappeared around a corner with amazing speed. Kaze leaned over, gripping the communicator and speaking to the image.
"What happened to Ama?"
"They discovered he's working for us. He was making a report to me, and he nearly got taken out as I watched. You need to go bail him out, he doesn't have much time!"
"Well, Geez, we're a little busy Koenma! Hiei is going off half cocked about Yukina; we can't just abandon him either." Yusuke groaned, venting his annoyance on the image as he tried to puzzle his way through the problem.
"Well we can't just leave Ama out to dry either, Spirit Detective!" Kaze exploded, take a step toward the youth before Klick put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
"We can't abandon either." Klick pointed out reasonably, smoothing blue-green hair habitually, "That dictates that we split up. We will, of course, go to aid our brot-..ahem..our partner. But we might need help, depending on his condition." Kurama glanced at the two hackers slyly, with the expression of one working their way through a puzzle.
"Can't we call some of the guys from Genkai's temple?" Kuwabara asked, "I mean, most of them are good in a fight, right?"
"Too weak." Kurama answered quickly, shaking his head, "They were at that hellhole much longer then Hiei or I, and, in all honesty, we shouldn't be up and around ourselves."
"Well, Yusuke and Suzaku can go save the computer whiz, and Kurama and me'll.."
"No."
Kuwabara glanced up as Suzaku crossed his hands over his chest, watching the youth with an unusual intensity, "No." he repeated, "You're too attached. You might cost her the only chance she has."
"Why, you!" Kuwabara snarled, his hand blurring forward in a dizzying jab. The former Saint Beast didn't flinch, stepping around the blow and bringing his elbow down on the youth's unprotected back. Kuwabara grunted, falling to his knees and turning around with anger in his eyes.
"You just proved my point." Suzaku muttered quietly, "I didn't need to use powers, just because you're too attached and easily provoked into rash action. Go with Yusuke."
"Come on Kuwabara." Yusuke called. For a long moment, Kuwabara just stared, and then, reluctantly, started running with Yusuke toward the base. Suzaku turned, and blinked, suddenly confronted with Kurama's eyes, turned grey with the closeness of the Yoko half behind them.
"You can't use your powers now, can you?"
"No." Suzaku said quietly, dismissing his first impulse to lie, "Not since..that day."
"I see." Kurama turned away, but the threat remained in his voice, "Know this. If she dies, Hiei will be hurt to his soul. I will kill anyone who would hurt him. If you cause her death, you will beg for the torture to end, and I will not grant your wish."
"I won't let you down."
"See that you don't. Let's go."
***
"Ama!" The mental projection nearly made Ama jump from behind his cover. Instead, he eased another look around dumpster he was using for cover, jerking his head back as the edge of the metal exploded with a rifle round. He cursed under his breath, that round had spirit energy behind it, which meant the sniper was God, which meant the rest of Guinness Squadron wouldn't be far behind.
"I'm a little busy here!" He snarled, examining his options. There weren't many.
"Look, Yusuke is on his way. You need to find a place that's farther from the residential area or people are going to be hurt!"
"Yeah, sure! No problem! I can just move around whenever I want!" He hissed, not willing to risk another look around, God was simply too accurate for that. A stray thought crossed his mind; the abandoned air strip was only a little ways to the north, toward Genkai's temple. That would be ideal, but of course, there was a stretch without any cover at all between his dumpster at the alleyway in that direction. He glanced around, examining the pieces of trash nearest him. In the movies, he would find something to create a distraction, maybe a rock and a tin can he could throw. Or maybe he could just stand up and shout 'look, it's Mel Brooks!' and stroll to the alleyway. But of course, this wasn't the movies.
"Well, frag it. Time to run!"
And he did.
Ama gently rubbed the temples of his pounding head, and tried to concentrate on keeping his stomach under control. For a moment his vision dimmed, and then the spotless computer room snapped back into crystal clear focus. Giving his head a little shake to try and clear it, he tried to concentrate on the 'All clear' reports coming in, and tried to think. Being knocked unconscious certainly hadn't helped conserve his energy from the damned leeching machine at the base. Without being able to draw in energy, what he had was quickly growing stagnant and unhealthy. He'd barely convinced a doctor he was well enough for service after being pistol whipped by the 'intruder' but the incident had left him with a headache he couldn't seem to shake.
His eyes shifted to his watch. Fifteen minutes until his shift ended, and he had requested some leave time. As much as he hated leaving the base while it was still a danger, he doubt Kaze and Klick would try another attack so soon after rescuing most of the prisoners (he still didn't know why Yukina went missing, she wasn't with the group that escaped. Odd) and, besides, he needed to make his report to Koenma. The computer keyboard blurred, and nearly separated in two before his managed to keep his eyes focused again.
"And, more importantly, I'm hardly doing anyone any good this way." He whispered quietly to himself. Without warning, the sirens went off, ear-splitting noise accompanied by flashing red warning lights. For a moment, Ama could do nothing except hold his hands over his ears, nearly screaming as the noise pushed his nerves to the limit. By sheer force of will, his fingers moved to the keyboard and tapped in the command, shutting the sirens in the immediate vicinity off. He glanced at the screen, trying to make sense of the suddenly jumbled reports demanding orders. Behind him, other computers were switching on, responding automatically to the emergency status and awaiting the techs that were, he knew, even now on their way to assist with the deployment. SOP stated that the tech on duty would be relieved, ensuring that a fresh crew was ready to deal with the situation.
Which meant that he had precious little time to get a fix on the situation and alter anything that needed to be altered. His eyes caught on a line of code, colored red to indicate a priority message. He blinked twice, certain that his eyes were playing tricks on him, and read it again.
'Commander has been assassinated. Intruders remain within premises, possible connected with previous infiltration of faculty.'
Assassinated? Why on earth would they break into the base again, and kill Avery of all people? Yes, he was the nominal head of the development, but killing him off wouldn't slow the program down at all.
Forcing himself to focus on the immediate problem instead of the unexplained questions, he called up a map of the base, mumbling to himself as he looked for the point Klick or Kaze would have marked as an exit. Nearly passing it over in his haste, his eyes snagged on a small segment to the north side, a partially hidden service exit beneath the camera overhang, out of sight of the cameras and hidden in darkness from the security. Furthermore, it was only a short dash to the edge of the fence around that side, and nothing but tall grass beyond to the abandoned airport in the distance.
"That's gotta be it." He exclaimed, and then started madly tapping at the keys, altering security protocol and slicing a fake message into the system. As the beeping noise outside the heavy door alerted him to the arrival of the first of the techs, he picked up the microphone and made an open broadcast to the scrambling guards.
"Intruders located on service route A-3." He said clearly, using the impartial announcement voice that control techs always did, "Primary anti-intruder forces, proceed to location to intercept. Secondary forces please secure adjacent passageways to prevent escape." The A-3 corridor was at the very southern tip, sending the guards as far away from his friend's exit as he could manage.
Behind him, the door opened and the trio of computer people rapidly sat down in front of the screen, picking up the headsets and calling down the clans on the 'intruders', but, hopefully, far away from the real trouble. As a new man usurped his chair and keyboard, he slunk out of the center unnoticed.
"Well, I did everything I could." He whispered quietly, as the door hissed shut behind him.
***
Matthews' head snapped up, listening to the reports coming in. A reported sighting had sent most of the base's forces to the south wall, and that immediately made him suspicious. He knew there were no such intruders, having killed Avery himself. Conceivably, one of the guards could have thought they'd seen something, and overreacted, but his gut told him that wasn't it. But if not an overreacting guard, then what was going on?
Abruptly, he had it. The one who had announced it, Ama had transferred in from an outlying base shortly after they had cracked down on the group of hackers Peterson had known and told about the project. A group of hackers that have subsequently eluded all attempts to locate or capture. Shortly after that break in, a computer technician requests a transfer to the base, a tech with perfect records and a skill set well equipped to handling anti-splicing, hacking, and coordination. Hacker. Ama.
"Son of a bitch!" Matthews burst out, slamming his hands down on his desk. Standing quickly enough to send his office chair into the wall, he covered the distance to the door in three quick strides, checking the safety on his pistol as he did so.
"Let's see how skilled he is in the real world."
***
"Hiei, calm down."
"I am completely calm, Foxboy!"
"Just sit down Hiei, Calm yourself. Think about this for a moment."
"I've thought about this enough, I know PRECISELY what I'm doing."
"You're hurting him."
"That IS the idea."
Meanwhile, the object of their conversation kicked his feet once or twice as he futilely attempted to catch his breath. He could kick his feet because they remained suspended a few inches over the ground where they would normally rest. He was attempting to get his breath because he was barely managing enough air to keep him conscious. He was attempting futilely because Hiei's hands were locked tightly around his throat. Needless to say, the former Saint Beast Leader had seen better days.
"And...exactly...why am I...the one...you feel...you need...to hurt?" Suzaku managed, locking his hands into Hiei's fingers and prying the iron grip away from his windpipe. The former demon's fingers didn't open a whole lot, but enough to suck in some air, "In case you hadn't noticed, there were a few people on the team to rescue you, and we all failed to find your sister. Kuwabara's been nearly running up the wall to prepare to try again, though of course he doesn't know her relation to you."
Hiei blinked in surprise, nearly dropping the man, "And exactly how, may I ask, do you know about it, Saint Beast?" Suzaku's eyes flicked to Kurama, then resettled on Hiei apologetically,
"When I captured Kurama those days ago.." Had it truly been so little time, it felt longer.. "When I captured him, I touched his mind to close off his Spirit Energy. A trick I picked up in my recuperation, but a dangerous one. One of the side effects is a smattering of tiny pieces of information from memory, of which that is one."
"As he touched my mind, so did I touch his. If I had not, I would never have believed his intentions benign." Kurama added softly. Hiei suppressed an uncharacteristic flash of jealousy, and let go of Suzaku all at once, nearly causing the Yokai to stumble when his feet touched the ground. Taking a deep breath, Hiei turned away from the two of them, forcing himself to calm down. He'd allowed his temper far too much reign since his..humanization month ago, and it was about time to change that.
"Hiei.." The three demi-humans turned to the door, surprised to find the soft voice belonging to Yusuke. Kurama glanced at the sorrowful expression on Urameshi's face, then flicked his eyes to the other youth, Kuwabara, whose eyes held only blind hatred, nearly forcing the ancient thief back a step. Slowly, Yusuke extended a small package, a brown postage box found in abundance almost anywhere. Gingerly, fighting down a feeling or premonition in his gut, Hiei took the case and opened it.
"There was a letter inside.. He wants you to meet him at the Docks, by six pm, which doesn't leave you much time."
Hiei hardly heard him, staring within the box. The brown lid flicked briefly as the hand holding it shook slightly, and then firmed. The fire demon looked up, and the Dragon was behind his eyes, burning with a fury that drove the rest of them a few steps back in surprise.
"I'll get there." Hiei promised softly, his voice subtly changed, like pouring gravel or a hissing flame, "And he'll regret my punctuality."
The demon spirit let the box go, where it fell a slow path to the ground, impacting by one corner and sending its contents rolling over the floor. Pearls, perfect pearls, glistened over the floor, scattering to the edges of the square. Perfect pearls.
Yukina's Tears.
***
"Yusuke!" A tiny voice shouted from his pocket, and he slowed marginally to search through it. Ahead of him, Hiei either didn't notice or didn't care, keeping up the relentless pace toward the Docks. Removing the pocket communicator from his pocket, he flipped it open and blinked at the close up image of Koenma's face, "Yusuke! You need to high-tail it back toward the base! The enemy has picked up on Ama, and have him pinned down over there!"
"Oh give me a break!" Yusuke groaned, skidding to a halt, with Kurama, Kuwabara, Suzaku, Klick, and Kaze all stopping with him. Again, Hiei hardly noticed, but disappeared around a corner with amazing speed. Kaze leaned over, gripping the communicator and speaking to the image.
"What happened to Ama?"
"They discovered he's working for us. He was making a report to me, and he nearly got taken out as I watched. You need to go bail him out, he doesn't have much time!"
"Well, Geez, we're a little busy Koenma! Hiei is going off half cocked about Yukina; we can't just abandon him either." Yusuke groaned, venting his annoyance on the image as he tried to puzzle his way through the problem.
"Well we can't just leave Ama out to dry either, Spirit Detective!" Kaze exploded, take a step toward the youth before Klick put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
"We can't abandon either." Klick pointed out reasonably, smoothing blue-green hair habitually, "That dictates that we split up. We will, of course, go to aid our brot-..ahem..our partner. But we might need help, depending on his condition." Kurama glanced at the two hackers slyly, with the expression of one working their way through a puzzle.
"Can't we call some of the guys from Genkai's temple?" Kuwabara asked, "I mean, most of them are good in a fight, right?"
"Too weak." Kurama answered quickly, shaking his head, "They were at that hellhole much longer then Hiei or I, and, in all honesty, we shouldn't be up and around ourselves."
"Well, Yusuke and Suzaku can go save the computer whiz, and Kurama and me'll.."
"No."
Kuwabara glanced up as Suzaku crossed his hands over his chest, watching the youth with an unusual intensity, "No." he repeated, "You're too attached. You might cost her the only chance she has."
"Why, you!" Kuwabara snarled, his hand blurring forward in a dizzying jab. The former Saint Beast didn't flinch, stepping around the blow and bringing his elbow down on the youth's unprotected back. Kuwabara grunted, falling to his knees and turning around with anger in his eyes.
"You just proved my point." Suzaku muttered quietly, "I didn't need to use powers, just because you're too attached and easily provoked into rash action. Go with Yusuke."
"Come on Kuwabara." Yusuke called. For a long moment, Kuwabara just stared, and then, reluctantly, started running with Yusuke toward the base. Suzaku turned, and blinked, suddenly confronted with Kurama's eyes, turned grey with the closeness of the Yoko half behind them.
"You can't use your powers now, can you?"
"No." Suzaku said quietly, dismissing his first impulse to lie, "Not since..that day."
"I see." Kurama turned away, but the threat remained in his voice, "Know this. If she dies, Hiei will be hurt to his soul. I will kill anyone who would hurt him. If you cause her death, you will beg for the torture to end, and I will not grant your wish."
"I won't let you down."
"See that you don't. Let's go."
***
"Ama!" The mental projection nearly made Ama jump from behind his cover. Instead, he eased another look around dumpster he was using for cover, jerking his head back as the edge of the metal exploded with a rifle round. He cursed under his breath, that round had spirit energy behind it, which meant the sniper was God, which meant the rest of Guinness Squadron wouldn't be far behind.
"I'm a little busy here!" He snarled, examining his options. There weren't many.
"Look, Yusuke is on his way. You need to find a place that's farther from the residential area or people are going to be hurt!"
"Yeah, sure! No problem! I can just move around whenever I want!" He hissed, not willing to risk another look around, God was simply too accurate for that. A stray thought crossed his mind; the abandoned air strip was only a little ways to the north, toward Genkai's temple. That would be ideal, but of course, there was a stretch without any cover at all between his dumpster at the alleyway in that direction. He glanced around, examining the pieces of trash nearest him. In the movies, he would find something to create a distraction, maybe a rock and a tin can he could throw. Or maybe he could just stand up and shout 'look, it's Mel Brooks!' and stroll to the alleyway. But of course, this wasn't the movies.
"Well, frag it. Time to run!"
And he did.