Chapter 27: Tempest Tossed

Our tactics in resisting occupation must be many. Most, for the good of the people, must be peaceful, a showing of solidarity that the governments of the world must notice of, must act upon. But with the encroaching of Reality, and the technologies and advances it likely brings with it, we must be willing and able to use such things to enable more stringent, perhaps even dangerous, actions…

To Stand Apart, Post 14

Misato's Residence

Daniel strode into the apartment, a barely controlled rage behind his eyes as Misato, Ritsuko and Maya, and Kyu looked at him and Eleanor.

"Where's Hikari's sister?" Maya asked, anxiety apparent in her voice.

"Still on board the Val." Daniel replied. "Amaya will drop her off at her apartment when she wants to."

"Has anyone else been threatened?" Eleanor asked. "The Ikari's? Mrs. Soryu?"

Misato shook her head. "Not that we've been able to tell. Do you want to get them set up in here?"

"I'd like to get them in the same room, if I can. At least for the most part. The same floor will do, if nothing else." Daniel said. "Has there been any word from the kidnappers?"

Misato shook her head. "No."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Okay… let's start by getting people clustered here. I'm going to go back to the Val, see if the sensors on it can find them by their soul's Frames."

With that, Daniel turned, a hand squeezing Eleanor's shoulder before he left.

Eleanor looked back for a moment, then looked back at Misato. "Are Kensuke and Ichigo here?"

Misato nodded. "They're on this floor."

"Okay. We'll put them together with the other kids for now. Make sure they're all in one place to keep an eye on. Then… we'll see where we go from there."

. . .

Kensuke entered the hotel room quickly, anxiety swirling through his mind as he saw the concerned looks of Mariah, Mana, and Mayumi.

His friends were being held hostage. The thought churned his gut, and his chest seemed to burn with the desire to do… something. Right now, though, they needed to make sure that they were safe, too.

'The others are on this.' he thought as he sat down across from the girls. 'There's no way they wouldn't be.'

His gaze drifted to who was apparently Kyu Akagi, a new lookalike of Rei who the adults had found getting the Frames for the Numberless Children from Terminal Dogma. Eleanor stood behind her as she sat, hands hovering over Kyu's head as a sheet of water seemed to cling to her hair.

The blue under the clear liquid slowly became a brilliant white, a golden hue gleaming from a few locks here and there as the water disappeared.

The gathered children's eyebrows collectively rose. "My, my." Mariah said. "We have a right Sororitas on our hands, don't we?"

All eyes turned to her, most filled with confusion, one pair glinting with bemusement. "Uh…" Mayumi said slowly. "I'm not sure I completely understand."

"Oh." Mariah blinked. "Dad used 40k to help me understand battlefield strategy. Warhammer 40k. The models were a chore to paint sometimes, but they looked cool."

Kensuke shook his head. "Sounds familiar… but I'm still not entirely sure."

Mariah opened her mouth, then shut it after a moment of silence. "You know what, I'll explain later. Long story short, white-haired badasses, and we have someone who kind of looks like one in front of us."

"Okay." Ichigo said. Then she looked over to Kyu, reaching out a hand. "Hello. I'm Ichigo Ayanami. A pleasure to officially meet you."

Kyu took the proffered hand. "And you. I guess that rounds out the people that look exactly like me, then."

Ichigo nodded. "It would stand to reason."

"Alright." Eleanor said, drawing everyone's attention to her as she walked to the door. "I'm going to go help Daniel and the other adults find the kids. If you need anything, Faez and Hyuga are across the hall."

She turned, and smiled a smile that didn't fully reach the anxiety in her eyes. "I'm sure you all can keep each other from being bored. Mariah will see to that. Have a good day."

With that, she left, the atmosphere in the room becoming grim as they were reminded of just why they were all together.

Kensuke looked around the group, especially at the Numberless Children. They had gotten new Frames transplanted from clone bodies of Rei, not more than days ago, and he'd watched carefully for any changes that might come as a result.

Mana was calm, unsurprisingly, but flashes of emotion made their way across her face from time to time. Right now, if Kensuke waited, he could see anxiety of her own flicker into existence for a moment.

Mariah was… Mariah still. Seemingly little had changed on that front. Such was also seemingly the case for Mayumi. But there was more emotion there, and not just that, a seeming desire to just be close to someone. Anyone. Right now, she had settled for being next to Ichigo and him, silently taking in Ichigo's support.

'They'll find them.' Kensuke thought. 'I mean, they're Interfaced. That'll make this a synch.'

. . .

Daniel shook his head as he growled softly. He'd fed the profiles for the Children's souls into the sensor array of the Val 2 hours ago. A sensor array that, he'd found on his journeys, could isolate a Spirit the size of a fly on a planet of trillions of lifeforms in only minutes. And so far, it had found… nothing.

The Cataphract and the Sonne, as he'd somewhat selfishly requested, had also been picking apart the city of Tokyo-2, sifting as if for flecks of gold by a riverbed. That had proven fruitless as well.

He felt Eleanor connect to his soul as she walked up behind him onto the bridge of the Val. "Find anything?"

Daniel shook his head as Eleanor put an arm around him. "Nothing. The Cataphract and Sonne haven't turned up anything either, and the Sonne's array is probably far more fine-tuned than mine is. That means…"

"They're being hidden Pneumaically." Eleanor grimaced. "Some kind of cloaking field or working Spirit?"

"If it's either of those, they'd have to be fairly powerful in order to fool even our ship's sensors. Far more powerful than can even be bought off of the fledgling black market that I'm sure is popping up here. Someone's supplying them. And it isn't the Worldstriders."

Daniel pondered for a moment. "We'll call the Outriders in here. The League delegation, too. We'll get them cleared. I'm fairly confident on most of them, but… I want to be sure."

Eleanor nodded. "Alright. It's getting late. Come get some sleep. The Cataphract and the Sonne can keep an eye on things, I'm sure."

It was a long moment before Daniel nodded. "Alright. Alright." he sighed as he leaned on the console. "We're going to find them." it was a statement meant to brook no argument. From anyone present.

"And we will." Eleanor said quietly. "But running yourself into the ground won't do them any favors. Let's go."

Daniel looked back up at the screen in front of him, showing the city of Tokyo-2. He lingered for a moment longer. "Alright. Let's get some rest, then."

. . .

Hotel Room, Tokyo-2

It was quiet in the hotel room as the squad set up, Ghost setting up a laptop on the coffee table while Soap and Roach secured the apartment for bugs. Price, in the meantime, stared at his burner phone with a brow furrowed in annoyance.

NERV no longer existed, so it seemed. Not that it would hinder them too much. After all, all they really had to do was pin down where the now-former NERV staff would be, and then they would start talking to some people. A task that would be easy in a city of cameras, all accessible by their on retainer spider. All it would take was time. But still, seeing what they had said about SEELE, and how they were, frankly, the only ones who could've stood up worth a damn, it was… somewhat worrying.

'Even still. We worry about that when we get there. All we have to do is beat the UN squads to them. Fewer numbers, less native access, and less of a head start. Especially with the SFGs involved. I've worked with worse. I wonder…'

"Ghost." Price asked casually. "Does Jem know the current locations of the SFGs? I know my Japanese is a little rusty, but I imagine we could have a decent conversation."

"I guess it's better than trying to crack Magi-encrypted personnel files. Let me check with her." Ghost pulled out a phone, making a brief call explaining the situation. In moments, Ghost called Price over to the computer.

"Jem's showing one of them off on his own. Probably keeping cover until they find them themselves." he said, pointing to a man in a jacket and jeans, a panel showing a face and a name: Naruhito Moto.

"Alright then." Price said, cupping his chin in thought for a moment. "Roach, you're with me on retrieval. Ghost, Soap, you two get this room prepped and keep an eye on Moto's location, keep us in the loop."

The men nodded, and after a moment, Price and Roach were out the door. As they began to drive towards Moto, Price spoke up. "Alright, what are our options?"

"I've packed one of the tranqs that we had for Howard." Roach replied. "We could knock him with that. We just need to make sure it's private."

"Try for some car troubles, perhaps? See if we could get him looking at the dashboard or under the car?"

"Plausible."

There was a moment of silence. "So who'll be the hook?"

Price rolled his eyes. "It'll have to be you. We all know how quickly Cambodia went sideways when I tried."

Roach chuckled. "And you never improved when you had Mariah?"

"A little." Price cracked a small smile. "Not enough to ever be convincing, but a little."

"Alright. You've got to pop the hood and look confused, then."

"That look, Mariah perfected."

. . .

First Lieutenant Naruhito Moto was looking for someplace to eat. It was late, and ordering in while he waited for word of the operation to begin was getting stifling.

As he walked down the street, a man walked up to him, a little taller than he was, and obviously foreign.

"Uh… Pardon me." he said in halting Japanese as he pointed to a car with his hood up parked off the road. "Car… car troubles? Can you help?"

Moto glanced over at the car. It probably wouldn't take long. "Okay. I can help." he said in English

"Thank you." the man replied in English as they walked back towards the car.

As they did, Moto glanced the man up and down. "You a veteran?" he asked casually.

The man nodded. "Yeah. 4 years. You?"

"Still active. Joined 5 years ago, haven't looked back. Got any family? Wife and kids?"

"Yeah, back home. But Thomas has a nasty infection, so Clara, my wife, is tending to him while my friend and I enjoy our time."

The pair reached the van as the other man, this gentleman's friend apparently, turned to look at them. "Well, it isn't the engine. Care to take a look under? Maybe it's a problem with the transmission."

The man looked at Moto almost expectantly, and he shrugged. "I don't know much, but I'll see what I can do."

The two of them got down on their backs, and the man looked over at him. "I'll check the back tires, you check around the front?"

"Sure."

With that, the two men slid under the car, Moto looking as best he could with his phone's flashlight.

"Let's see…" the man said. "I think… ah. Found it."

Then, sharp pain in his neck caused him to shout, dropping his phone as he felt a needle slide out of his neck.

He looked to the side, seeing the man drop an injector as he clamped a hand over his mouth, pulling the gun Moto kept holstered at his waist.

The man put a finger to his mouth as Moto's vision began to tunnel. "Sir? Sir, are you alright? Sir?" were the last words he heard as he lost consciousness.

. . .

The Val

Daniel sat across from Loki Odinson silently. The room they sat in was bare, save for a table and two chairs, hidden cameras feeding to a room where Eleanor, Misato, and Ryoji watched intently.

It hadn't been hard to gather the Outriders, really. One call to Atreus, and they'd mustered together quite quickly. The diplomatic delegation, on the other hand, was trickling in, one or two members at a time. So, for now, he started with who seemed, at first blush, to be a prime suspect.

"My apologies," Loki began, a somewhat annoyed tone betraying his true feelings, "but I get the feeling that I'm the first that you've talked to about… whatever's going on. I can't help but feel… singled out."

Daniel shrugged. "You aren't wrong. I'll start with why I'm talking to you."

He paused for a moment as he leaned on the table. "The Children that I introduced to you when you arrived have been kidnapped. They're being hidden from any Pneumaic sensors we point at the city below by something or someone powerful, so we've chalked it up to a device or Spirit that has the power to hide a soul's Frames."

As Loki drew back ever so slightly, his eye twitching subtly, Daniel nodded. "There's a lot of evidence that seems stacked against you, given your past and abilities. I am, however, willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, given your… rather tumultuous tenure with the TVA."

Loki chuckled slightly. "That's certainly a rather eloquent way to put it."

"Perhaps. But because, if not that you're changed, then at least you know better, but others might not know, I'd rather establish your innocence first."

"How magnanimous of you." Loki said sardonically.

"I try to be." Daniel paused for a moment. "I'm going to connect to your soul, just enough to verify the truth of your statements, then we'll begin."

It was a moment more before Daniel nodded. "Alright. What do you know of the Lone World movement?"

. . .

Daniel now sat with Rastaff, Loki's interview, along with the other Outriders and the members of the diplomatic staff he had a suspicion of, past.

This interview was far more relaxed, having ended as Daniel had expected. "Again, Representative Rastaff, I have to thank you for you and your staff's cooperation during this time. I notice that Representative Vinis still hasn't arrived yet. Has he been held up?"

Rastaff nodded. "We received an electronic message from him shortly after you asked us to gather. He's in Siberia supervising the setup of the agri-domes, in an area of heavy Pneumaic interference. He'll be along as soon as he can. He has a tendency to get… involved in his projects."

Daniel's link verified the statement as he nodded, sighing quietly. "I can't say I'm not somewhat annoyed, but I at least understand."

"Certainly. And as I've said, you have our full support in the search for the Children, and the supplier of this cloak. This is a serious breach in trust, and I seek to mend it as soon as possible."

"Thank you."

Another moment of contemplative silence passed between them before Rastaff nodded slightly. "You're ready for battle." he said quietly.

"If it comes to it." Daniel admitted. "You're quite perceptive."

Rastaff smiled slightly. "I was in the Warrior Caste far before I was in the Priest Caste. I cut my teeth when the Shadow War began, and I did my fair share of boarding actions and ground combat during the Drakh Campaigns. I had the privilege of seeing off the last of the Babylon stations before my entrance into the priesthood. The Cataphract has been under my command for many years. Now, it is an exploratory vessel, but, like its commander… it has not left its past behind."

Another pause. "Due to my status among the Warrior Caste, I always seem to have a retainer of soldiers with me. Should it come to it, call me. We shall answer."

"Thank you. From one old soldier to another." Daniel said with a smile.

. . .

Daniel walked into the observation room as Rastaff left, wishing him well before the door closed and Amaya led him out.

He turned and looked at Eleanor, Misato, and Ryoji. Each held a somewhat defeated look on their face, to one degree or another.

"Well, it doesn't look like we're any closer than we were several hours ago." Misato sighed. "Everyone on the League side's been cleared. And I'm pretty sure we trust the Tellan delegation enough to not even need to bring them in."

"Well, I wouldn't be too quick to judge, dear." Ryoji replied. "We still have one loose end when it comes to the League."

"Vinis." Eleanor said quietly.

Daniel nodded. "Yes. He has a decent alibi for not showing, at least for now. But… I can't help but wonder. And I'll be wondering until we finally get the chance to talk."

"Until then, though," he continued, "we need more options. I don't want to go so far as to case the city on foot, but if it comes to it, it's what I'll do. In the meantime, let's get the adults together. The Ikari's, Kyoko, Mrs. Akagi, Ritsuko and Maya. See if we can brainstorm some new solutions."

"That's easy enough to do, at least." Ryoji chuckled. "I'll do some legwork while we get everyone together, contact Kodama and see if she can find anything from her friends on the down-low."

"Alright." Daniel said, a slight smile on his face. "We're at least doing something. Let's be about it, then."

John Price regarded the man slumped over as he was tied to the chair in the center of the room. The floor surrounding him had butcher's paper laid over it, just in case they needed to silence him quickly.

"Alright." he said quietly. "Wake him up."

Soap walked forward with an injector loaded with Flumazenil, putting it up against his neck and injecting the drug.

He stepped back, and slowly, Naruhito Moto woke up. As he did, he looked around, seeming to test his bonds before his gaze fell on Price, his eyes narrowing slightly in incensed recognition.

"So," Price began in nearly perfect Japanese as he pulled out a combat knife, "first things first. You scream or shout in any way, you're dead. Everything starts and ends with that understanding. Do you understand?"

Moto nodded slowly. "And who are you?"

"No one that matters to you." Price paused for a moment. "Well, actually, we might, seeing as we'll be getting in the way of your little mission."

Moto's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your mission from the United Nations." Price replied as he stood, walking towards Moto while idly flipping his knife. "The one to 'take care' of the Evangelion pilots of NERV? With the rest of the squads from around the world?" he chuckled softly. "I must say, they must be pretty scared of a couple of kids if they're sending spec ops from as far away as Brazil and Somalia."

Moto looked up at him, eyes glimmering with a shock that he held behind a carefully neutral expression. "How do you know that?" he asked calmly.

"None of your damn business. Do you know where the pilots are located?"

It was silent for a moment before Moto shook his head. "Not exactly. We know that they're in the hotels in the Kotoban and Hasarigaru districts. That's where all the NERV staff are clustered right now."

"No more than that?" Price asked, somewhat incredulously.

Moto shook his head. "For now. The data analysts are working on narrowing down their location. It's somehow more difficult than it seems."

Price was silent for a moment. "And why would Japan, much less the United Nations, whack what are the closest things we have to superheroes? After all they've done to save the world, twice now, this is a hell of a reward."

"I don't know." Moto shrugged. "The higher-ups in charge of my section want it done, and they seem pretty driven on doing it."

Price nodded slowly. "I see."

It was silent again for a moment as Price regarded the man again before turning and taking his former seat. "Got any family?" he asked softly.

Moto's expression became confused. "Yeah." he said slowly, cautiously.

"What're they like?"

A pause. "A mother. A sister. A son. No wife. She died in an accident." another pause, for just a heartbeat, as a tear welled in one eye. "He's everything to me."

Price nodded silently. It was a long moment before he answered. "Are they being threatened to ensure you do this?"

Moto's eyes widened. He nodded silently.

"No need for theatrics." Price replied with a roll of his eyes. "No bugs here. If they were not in danger, would you be pursuing this mission?"

"No. I mean…" Moto shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. "They're just kids, damn it. Even if they pilot the most dangerous machines in the world. If they weren't threatening mine, I'd never even consider it."

Price considered Moto's answer for a long moment. "Where are they?" he asked. "In the city?"

Moto nodded quickly. "In the Kansai district. They've probably got more than a few spotters on them right now."

"If we make sure that they're off your family and that they're out of harm's way, will you keep us in the loop about the movements of your squad? Covertly, of course. We won't promise to not shoot at you if it comes to it, but we both know how combat works."

Moto nodded. "I think I can do that. You'd better hold up to your promise, then. If they're dead when I return…"

"You'll get your due justice." Price said with a shrug. "We may be special operations, but honor is no foreign concept to us."

Moto took a deep breath. "Alright then. I'm going to need to call in. We report every two hours, and I'm going to assume it's way past that point, now."

Price stood again, gripping the knife he held firmly as he walked towards Moto. He had to admire that the man had the presence not to flinch before he went around and cut his bindings. "Alright. We have your phone. But you're likely going to need a hell of an excuse. Need to be anywhere soon?"

"Not before the operation begins." Moto said as he stood. "I'll think of something. I'm not in the SFG for not being able to think on my feet."

As Moto got prepared to leave, slotting the battery back into his phone after holstering his pistol, he looked back at Price. "So, why are you here then? Just to protect the Children?"

"One of the pilots is my daughter." Price said after a moment. "She's being held by NERV after being part of an operation into Tokyo-3."

"Shit." Moto paused. "So, she's part of what happened to Tokyo-3?"

"Somehow."

"Alright, then. Kotoban and Hasarigaru. That's where she'll be. And frankly… I hope you find them first."

"So do we."

. . .

Theisman Residence, Tokyo-2

Daniel and Eleanor sat together, hand in hand, as they regarded the others with them in the living room. The Ikari's, naturally, were almost a mirror image of them, hand in hand. All of the couples were close, in one form or another. The only exceptions were Naoko Akagi, who sat a little to the side of her daughter, seemingly comfortable in her new physical body, and Kyoko, who sat next to Eleanor.

"Alright." Daniel began. "We've got a few possible leads. Either we're dealing with a Spirit, in which case we'll need to get onsite in order to even deal with it, involving a lengthy look for both Spirit and Interfacer, or, far more likely, we're dealing with a piece of technology. We have some of the most gifted computer engineers in the world with us today, and likely up to snuff when it comes to Pneumaic systems."

He looked particularly at Ritsuko, Maya, and Naoko. "What do you think we can do to find it?"

"Well, to begin with," Naoko said, "if the device has some form of remote control, there might be a signal we can try and piggyback into the system with, walk in the front door, as it were."

"Perhaps, but we'll need to find the signal in the first place." Ritsuko interjected. "And with Pneumaic computer systems running parts of their system in the Mental realm, sifting through all that noise that thoughts can produce is likely going to be time-consuming."

"Maybe." Maya replied. "But if we're looking for a focused signal in Mentality, there can't be that many here in the first place yet, even with all of the traders who have started coming in. All we might have to really do is isolate the signal from the few others that we know are ours or the League's."

Ritsuko nodded. "A fair point. We should get on that sooner rather than later then. The number of channels the signal can hide in is probably increasing by the day."

Kyoko shrugged. "That sounds like a plan. It might be easier if we were able to confirm if there is a remote in the first place. To do that, we'd likely have to find out from one of the Lone Worlders."

"And that's where my expertise comes in." Ryoji said with a slight grin. "I can start tracking down some of the members. One of Kodama's friends might know where they went, especially if they're close to joining the Lone World chapter here."

"And if they are, in fact, in a central location with the Children," Gendo mused, "they will have to strike out from it every once in a while, in order to obtain food and followers. Someone outside of the field will likely know the location to which people should be sent."

"I'll get on that, then, once we're done." Ryoji said, nodding assuredly. "With my Interfacing…" he shrugged. "It shouldn't be more than a day."

Daniel nodded, then felt something stir. Someone had passed through the boundary he had set on his apartment after hearing Ryoji speak of the I-Breaker's presence. He was silent for a moment as his senses sharpened, and he could feel something gusting the air towards him with its coming.

As whatever it was came to a stop behind him, and none seemed to take notice, Daniel nodded again. "I'd wondered if you might show up again. Drop the cloak, if you would. It's rude to hide in someone else's home, after all."

Daniel stood slowly, the others far more quickly, as Ritsuko, Eleanor, Misato, and Ryoji all manifested their Grips, guns soon pointed at the I-Breaker who had revealed himself pointing a pistol of some kind at Daniel's head. Gendo put himself between the I-Breaker and Yui, while Naoko slowly backed away with Maya at her side.

Daniel sighed quietly and turned to face the emotionless, expressionless helmet of the I-Breaker. There was no marking or even any angles to the helmet, simply a smooth, curving shell of light tan that betrayed nothing of the I-Breaker's face. And yet, his hesitation spoke volumes.

"So," Daniel began, "you no longer work for the Scions. I can't say that I'm disappointed."

"And yet," Daniel continued after a moment, "it seems a bit of a stretch to be working with just the Lone World, an organization who just learned about Interfacers only months ago. Who are you really working for?"

"That's none of your concern, Interfacer." the I-Breaker replied. "All you need to know is that you're worth a lot of emmies to someone, with or without a body. If you try and get the answer from my soul, I will know, and you will have made the choice to go to them in soul only."

"Then why are we standing here talking?" Daniel said. "Why not shoot me now?"

"Daniel…" Eleanor said warningly.

Daniel put a hand up to forestall her as he waited for the I-Breaker's reply. "For one," he replied, "my employer prefers to speak to you face to face."

"For one?" Daniel asked. "What is the other reason?"

Even behind the mask, Daniel could see the I-Breaker's realization of what he said. "None of your damn business."

Daniel nodded. "I see. It's personal, unless I'm wrong."

Daniel's eyes hardened, his voice becoming sharp. "Well, the Lone World has made this personal, too. They've taken the Children. My friends. My family. And I-Breaker or not, you will get out of the way, or you will be taken care of, one way or another. That choice, I leave up to you."

It was silent for a moment, then the I-Breaker's gun began to tremble slightly. Then, it slowly lowered.

"Family?" Daniel said simply, the fire in his eyes snuffed out.

"Yes." was the curt reply.

It was silent again. "I can't promise to get yours back. But… maybe you can help me with mine. Where are they located?"

The I-Breaker shook his head. "I can't say. I'm under the effects of a Geas Inscription until my contract with my employer is fulfilled."

Kyoko's brow furrowed as she regarded the I-Breaker. "A Geas…"

"What does that mean?" Maya asked.

"It's an ancient word for command or compulsion." Yui replied. She looked over at the I-Breaker. "I'm assuming that's a generally accurate description of the Inscription?"

The I-Breaker nodded. "Yes."

"How likely would it be to remove this Geas?" Eleanor asked, taking a cautious step towards the I-Breaker as she lowered her pistol Grip slightly.

"Impossible." The I-Breaker replied. "It will only dissolve once the contract is complete. Any attempts at removal made by anyone before such time would result in the death of my body and the shattering of my soul."

"And how exact is the Geas in its instructions?"

"Extremely."

Eleanor nodded as she established a link to Daniel's soul. "Well, this is interesting, if nothing else. We're not able to break this Geas. He has to complete his contract, which likely still involves you. Now what?"

"Now,"

Daniel replied, "we get around the Geas. Very few in Reality, and certainly no one here, are so omniscient as to create a completely unbendable Geas. But… you're going to have to trust me."

"Alright, then." Daniel said aloud. "I'll go ahead and surrender myself to you." he continued over the quiet gasps behind him. "I assume that leads to you escorting me to your employer?"

"Correct." the I-Breaker replied.

Before Daniel could continue, his phone rang. Looking down, he slowly reached into his pocket, revealing an unknown number. 'Maybe it's them. Maybe not. Even still…'

He answered. "Hello?"

"Is this Daniel Theisman?" a man said on the other end of the line.

"Yes. Who am I speaking to?"

"No one of any great note. All you need to know is that I represent the Lone World movement here."

Daniel's eyes widened slightly as his fist clenched by his side. "Do you now?" he said, a forced calmness to his voice. "Tell me, what do you have to gain by kidnapping the Children?"

"We get to you, of course." the man replied. "You are going to come to 272 Kishimiya, alone and unarmed. If we see a weapon in your hand or a person by your side, the Children are dead. Then you'll read out a prepared statement imploring the rest of reality to consider moving elsewhere until we want them here. Then, we'll release you. Simple as that."

"And what if I decide that now that I know where you are, I don't just come and use my powers to neutralize the threat you represent?" he said aloud. "Eleanor, get a fix on their location. Quickly." he said through the link to her.

Eleanor rubbed her fingers together, her mechanical Aspect Core serving up an Expression that she flicked onto an open spot on Daniel's phone, a little disk of circuitry and metal, as she opened her pad and began tracking the location of the signal, simultaneously transcribing the call for all to see.

"Then the Children dying will be the first thing you see." the man replied, the tone of his voice indicating that he meant, or at least seemed to mean, what he said. "You come to us, and we let the Children go after you've read the statement. Surely, you're smart enough to understand that."

"That I am." Daniel said after a moment. He glanced at Eleanor, who nodded slightly. "Very well. When do I need to be there?"

"As soon as you can. Be quick, Mr. Theisman. We are an impatient lot."

With that, the call ended, and Daniel put down his phone with a deep breath. "Alright, then. It seems the decision is made for me."

He looked at an open palm, within which appeared his Grip, humming quietly. He considered it for a moment, then set it down on the table.

"You can't be serious." Kyoko said. "You're actually going along with this?"

"You saw what the man said, Kyoko." Daniel replied. "I am not risking the Children's lives so that I can go in and play the hero."

He looked over at Eleanor. "Got a location?"

Eleanor nodded. "Right where he said you should go. 272 Kishimiya." she paused for a moment. "Daniel, I have to agree. If they can get the jump on the kids and hide them from us like this, then there's a better than good chance that they'll be able to contain anything you might do. Especially if you don't bring your Grip."

"They wanted me unarmed and alone." Daniel said quietly. "And that is what they will get."

He turned to the I-Breaker. "I assume taking me there would be part of the Geas?"

The I-Breaker nodded silently, and Daniel sighed. "Very well. Let's go on the road then."

He looked at Eleanor. "Keep Nynrya company. Introduce yourselves. She's been interested in getting to meet some of you."

As he turned towards the door, he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to look at Eleanor again, who kissed him gently. "Good luck." she said quietly.

"Thank you."

With that, Daniel and the I-Breaker walked into the waiting night.