Adam/MYSTIQUE
"Isn't it incredible?" Adam asked, in Clara's personal suite of rooms, one such of four overlooking Hokkaido atop a mountain, this GAMA private facility for expensive treatments.
"Sure," Clara flicked through the channels on the TV, some in Japanese which she couldn't completely understand. "Why are you still wearing that?"
"I had to to get in," Adam admitted, his staff robe turning in a flick of blue back to his usual form. "I'm not on the guest list."
"No," Clara replied, rising to stretch and pouring herself some green tea. "It's expensive enough just for one of us."
"When Yuki Yamazaki arrives, I'll take her," Adam nodded.
"And I'll take Erich Soders," Clara didn't bother pouring him a cup, instead finding a manga comic to flick through.
Clara/SHADOWCAT
Once Adam had left, Clara showered and changed into the robe provided by the facility, white with pink cherry blossoms upon a branch. She exited her suite of rooms, out into a corridor where officers strolled and attendants bowed and smiled politely.
"Ogenki desu ka," they intoned.
"Konnichi wa," Clara replied.
She took the stairs up to where she could see the inner courtyard, paved with snow and a rock fountain with a bridge spanning a little pond. Gardeners pulled weeds while the hospital director enjoyed the solitude before his special patient was brought in.
Max/NIGHTCRAWLER
Max was perched atop a cliff higher than of upon which GAMA was built, watching as the helicopter arrived to deliver Erich Soders directly into the facility where he would be prepped for surgery and laid on the operating table.
"Soders is here," Max paged, wearing multiple layers to keep warm. He used his binoculars and saw the cable car rising, with the sharp dyed blonde haircut of a slim Asian woman and her two black suited bodyguards within. "And the hot chick."
Adam/MYSTIQUE
Adam had read up on Yuki Yamazaki, including her penchant for fugu fish and that she wished to relax in the sauna upon arrival. In the resort uniform disguise, he headed for the onsen, flanked by two attendants who nodded and smiled politely, as he entered the open plan room where many were getting washed or enjoying hand or foot massages.
Outside was a wraparound deck area with hot and cold pools, and a spot for yoga should one wish it. Within the indoors, Adam headed for the sauna, itself in a smaller room with a bathroom beside it. Adam closed the door, seeing the bathroom occupied, and the sauna occupied by two men at present.
He approached a side door where a computerised display, which previously showed a red circle, turned blue and the door opened at his approach. Adam stepped in to a maintenance shaft of sorts, adjusting the temperature on a panel where through one-way glass he could see the men complain as they rose and exited the sauna. Now all it took was patience, and a little time.
Clara/SHADOWCAT
Clara entered the restaurant, where sushi was being prepared and served, alongside tables where patrons were having their meals, and went to the bar to have some sake served warm, and drank it while at the bar watching the snowflakes fall outside the large glass paned windows.
Outside she went into the chilly air near where an arch stood, noticing a resort worker shuffle his tools about as he found a wrench and put it inside, humbly bowing to her and going on with her business.
Quite sure she wasn't being watched, she crouched down near where he had been fixing the vents, and climbed down a nearby pipe, until she reached a window locked against her which she phased through, into sleeping quarters for the doctors, where one snored loudly.
Quietly she moved through this section, the door opening automatically for her out into the corridor, where the door would not open behind her. The AI in charge of GAMA knew body presences and their associated access keys; much like PAN cards in MGS2.
Clara went down the corridor and through a door, up a couple flights of stairs until she reached the morgue, where two assistants were preparing a body, one holding a camera.
She slipped past these two when their backs were turned and entered the crematorium where the furnaces lay, and to one side was a door secured which could not prevent her phasing through, into a medical supply closet where among other things were the stem cells kept in storage should Soders need more.
Clara retrieved a jar from her pocket and opened the stem cell storage, pouring the contents within and closing it shut, turning to the door once more.
Adam/MYSTIQUE
Adam did not hear footsteps, but watched as Yuki Yamazaki entered the sauna, relieved that it was unoccupied. From behind the one-way glass, he saw her dismiss her guards, who exited the room preceding the sauna.
Adam exited the maintenance closet, where there was only a bathroom and the sauna, both now occupied. Catching sight of Yuki Yamazaki rising from the seat, her moue one of discomfort for having realised how hot it was, Adam held the door tightly shut against her, and her pleadings were lost on his ears as she slumped, lifeless to the ground.
Adam picked up her body over his shoulder, and moved into the maintenance room, a furtive glance behind him as the toilet flushed, and closed the door behind him. He tossed her body in a hamper set aside for towels and changed his form to match Yuki Yamazaki perfectly, including the toweling robe.
Emerging from the maintenance room, he came upon the resident emerging from the bathroom.
"Oh, Miss Yamazaki," he cowered, fleeing.
Adam appraised him with a cruel smirk, as only Yuki would do in her situation, and emerged out into the onsen area, where the two bodyguards followed her at will.
"I'm done with this kind of relaxation," Adam announced, in a sharp voice, headed for his new suite of rooms.
Clara/SHADOWCAT
From the room where the stems cells were kept, Clara phased through the door and slipped into the morgue, careful not to disturb the assistants at their work, and across the other side of the room where through these doors she phased was a staircase leading up into near the operating theatre.
As she rose these steps, she noticed a nurse through the glass door move past her work station and into the operating theatre to adjust some tubes attached to Soders.
Clara entered the workstation area from where the nurse had just departed and typed some buttons on the computer, triggering an arrest of the systems vital to keeping Soders alive.
"No pulse," intoned KAI. "Commencing backup procedure. 3… 2… 1… "
Soders was brought back from the brink, in case this sort of thing should happen.
"Require new stem cell treatment," spoke KAI, as the nurse nodded, her pulse fluttering after such a surprise, and heading back into her work station area -
Clara phased out onto the landing where the staircase was held, going down the steps two at a time where the nurse would surely soon be to follow to replace the stem cell canister.
She made her way back through the morgue and phased into the doctor's sleeping areas, phasing through the wall where she frightened a resident talking on her cell phone, waiting for the toilet below the restaurant to be free.
"You startled me!" she exclaimed. "I didn't hear you enter!"
"Sorry," Clara replied, walking up the stairs to enter the restaurant, where her heartbeat began to settle unlike Soders' would in a matter of minutes, and sat at the counter of the bar where sushi was being prepared, and ordered some to taste, receiving chopsticks.
Adam/MYSTIQUE
"There's a yoga instructor on the premises," Adam barked at his bodyguards, as only Yuki Yamazaki could. "I want my instruction to be a private one."
"Apologies, Miss Yamazaki," pleaded one of the bodyguards in the palatial suite, where two sat watching TV, two more stood outside on the balcony scanning for threats, and this one stood hesitant before him. "But he's just called. He's twisted his ankle and unable to make it - "
"Damn it!" Adam shouted, startling the other bodyguards in the room. He simmered his temper down as best he could. "Then call him here. He may not be able to perform, but I can."
Clara/SHADOWCAT
Clara sat sipping sake at the counter, when a man took a seat beside her and asked for some sushi. She saw that he had a shaved head with a bead necklace, black singlet and olive shorts, wincing as he pushed himself up on the stool with his legs.
"Man, I'm hungry," he said, picking up his chopsticks with aplomb and eating feistily. He turned to Clara. "I'm John."
"Clara," she told him, thinking of MGS2's Snake's real name, as her cup of sake was refilled with a smile and nod. Curious about what he wore, she asked, "What do you do here?"
"I'm a yoga instructor," he replied as he glanced at her and she faced the wall. "Or supposed to be, till I twisted my ankle."
"Oh," Clara replied, little sympathy in her tone. "You should try a massage."
"Yeah," he chuckled, glancing at her again. "You here for a checkup, or?"
Clara glanced at him and he faltered under her gaze.
"My bad, didn't mean to intrude," he said just as meaningfully. "Can't be for plastic surgery, though?"
"No," Clara smiled mirthlessly. "Not today."
"Heh," John chuckled. "You're alright."
Adam/MYSTIQUE
Adam emerged from the shower, toweling off his hair though the short haircut and bleached blonde was not his style at all. His body was thin, with small breasts but his body razor sharp nonetheless.
"Miss Yamazaki," knocked the bodyguard on the door.
Adam changed into a toweling robe and emerged, hearing the soothing tones of the TV on a low volume, noticing the flower arrangement in the tokonoma and feeling the heat in the room, glad for the goosebumps traveling his skin.
"Did you hear back?" Adam asked, spritzing perfume from the bureau in the bedroom.
"He's not picking up his cell phone," replied the bodyguard.
"Then find him," Adam marched across the room, red weals on his forehead from the frequency with which he frowned. "He's in the servant laundry room, or the onsen. Call up every officer to keep an eye out. I'm paying more than enough to stay here!"
"Yes, Miss Yamazaki," the bodyguard echoed, and replied to his colleagues, and sent out the call.
Clara/SHADOWCAT
"This is my place," Clara told him, entering her suite as John followed behind, whistling as he glanced around.
"Pretty sweet," he grinned, taking it all in. "Me, I've got a capsule bed in the staff quarters."
"I'm going to fill the jug," Clara took it off its mantle, heading into the bathroom while John checked out the fixtures and the ceiling. She took off the lid and turned on the tap, glancing up in the mirror while her hand grew heavier the longer she held onto it.
When she emerged, John was glancing out at the view but from the living room.
"You can take a look on the balcony, if you like," Clara told him, replacing the jug on its element and flicking the switch. She put green tea in two cups on their saucers and set them aside, a panicked glance to the bed to ensure she had not left any personal items lying around, following him outside into the cold air where he placed his hands on the rail and glanced over the balcony.
If he was my target all along, he would be dead half a dozen ways, Clara thought to herself, glancing over to the cable car which took guests back into Hokkaido, a perilous descent from this view.
There came a knock on her door but she did not hear it; and when she went back inside, the jug was ready. She poured in both cups and handed his on a saucer, which he gratefully took and blew on it.
"Thanks," he waited for her to sit down first on the couch, both of them facing the TV which had on some Japanese show but muted and with captions. "So, Clara…"
Clara glanced at him, noticing he still kept his sore leg out of the way.
"What do you do, when you're not lounging 'round private medical facilities?
"I'm an artist," she decided to tell him.
"That's great," his eyes lit up when he smiled. "Do you have pictures, or… "?
Clara set her half-drunk cup back on its saucer, staring at the TV for a moment before deciding what she would say next.
"Yes," Clara replied, rising from the couch, looking down at him. "They're in the other room."
Eyes alighting, John rose with her, and she took his hand and led him into the bedroom, where she pressed a button and shades came down like weeping rain over the windows, only the nude light to prepare them for what might come next. Inside was still and warm.
"I had some idea, but," John sheepishly grinned. "You sure you wanna do this?"
"Yep," Clara watched him pull off his singlet, and felt a tingle of excitement to see his not super muscled but flat belly, his belly button stretched taut when he leaned, the ripple of muscles and veins evident up his arms.
"Now you," he grinned, thumbing the waistband of his olive sweatpants so that they came to a rest at his ankles, kicking them off to reveal black boxer briefs concealing his erect bulge.
Clara undid the obi of her kimono, letting it fall as she shrugged it aside, wearing a silken robe underneath. This she took off, as he grinned and stood legs apart like a sailor on desk, his erection more prominent as she wore only her bra and underwear, her feet nude upon the wooden paneled floor having kicked off her sandals.
"I've never done this before," Clara told him, as he raised his eyebrows.
"I'll be gentle," he assured her, touching her shoulder as he moved close for a kiss, and she enjoyed his warmth, as he held her closer still, clearly enjoying it.
Adam/MYSTIQUE
"Miss Yamazaki," spoke one of the bodyguards, while Adam tentatively tried a cigarette from the pack on the desk, promptly coughing like a layman.
"Y-yes?" he stumbled, throwing the pack off the balcony where both bodyguards outside looked mournfully at the loss of secret contraband.
"The yoga instructor's been found," replied the bodyguard, as Adam's eyes lit up. "A worker saw him entering the room of one of the patients, a Miss Hikari down the corridor."
Adam's face fell and the bodyguard bowed his head to hide noticing his shame.
"Leave me," Adam ordered.