James Cameron and Charles Eglee own Dark Angel. My use is in no way meant to challenge their copyrights. This piece is not intended for any profit on the part of the writer, nor is it meant to detract from the commercial viability of the aforementioned (or any other) copyright. Any similarity to any events or persons (either real or fictional) is unintended.
A Spider and Her Web
Shinji Minamoto pushed the button for the 27th floor and waited patiently as the elevator brought him up to his latest meeting. He was certain his sister would be interested in the information he had procured. The ride was short, and the elevator doors parted to reveal an opulently decorated hallway. Only two people – Shinji and his sister, Himiko – occupied the 27th floor. Well, I guess you could also count the guards, Shinji mused absently. He discarded the thought, though. Guards were irrelevant – everyone in the building had them.
Construction on Walden Tower had been completed a few years before the Pulse, and its state of the art security system, breathtaking views, and central location had immediately placed it in high demand. Shinji's father had been at the top of the waiting list for an apartment, and had decided to buy the entire 27th floor. Such indulgences were the privilege of software tycoons. Indeed, their one upstairs neighbor was Bill Gates, the retired software engineer that had bought the top three floors just in case he ever needed a comfortable place to stay when visiting Seattle.
Since their father's death, Shinji and his sister had divided the floor between them, with her getting the lion's share of the space. It was fitting, though. Shinji found that comfortable surroundings only distracted him, and it was true that his sister did most of the work. He was little more than a specialist called in to deal with specific problems. Vigilantism was one of those problems.
He put his passcard into the reader and opened the door into his sister's apartment. As usual, it was lit only by dim red lights. Shinji knew his sister's eyes were more light sensitive than was normal, but he had always felt her predilection for lighting her living space like a cave was for appearances as much as anything else. Two guards nodded their heads in respect, but Shinji continued on without bothering to respond. He was not there to socialize.
He approached the ornately carved wooden doors that opened into his sister's private office and knocked softly. The doors opened immediately and Shinji was met with the sight of his sister's unoccupied desk sitting across the dark room, spotlighted in more dim red lights. Large potted plants cast uneasy shadows across the room, and the only sound was that of the trickling of water in a stone fountain in the corner. Shinji had always wondered how much it had cost to move that fountain from their family's estate outside Kobe and install it in the apartment in Seattle. It had seemed unnecessary, but such inexplicable desires were one of his sister's defining characteristics.
"Himiko?" Shinji called out. He thought he caught a slight bit of movement off to his left, behind a group of large ferns, but then he heard his sister call out from his right. He attributed the movement to his cousin, Hideki. He was his sister's personal bodyguard and last line of defense, as well as being one of the deadliest assassins in the world.
"I trust by your presence that you acquired the information I wanted," his sister commented as she walked lightly toward her desk. She placed a thick book on its surface, and then gazed at her brother.
"Of course," Shinji replied. "It seemed your sources from South Africa were correct. The American government did indeed fund a project known as Manticore."
"A super soldier program," Himiko commented. "Great. Were you able to verify that there was an escape ten years ago?"
"I don't know if 'verify' is the proper word," Shinji explained. "We're talking about a top secret American program. This isn't something you can verify. However, I was able to find several sources that are in agreement on the issue. Approximately ten years ago, anywhere between six and twenty of these soldiers escaped. The exact numbers are in dispute."
"Anything else?"
"Yes," Shinji replied. "These escapees seem to have been referred to as X-5. My sources seem to be in agreement that this is a designation of generation."
"So there's no telling how many of them there are."
"I have heard rumors of X-6 and X-7 generations," Shinji said. "So however many of these X-5's escaped, it seems the event was not crippling enough to end the program."
"Interesting," Himiko muttered. She sat back in her chair, and Shinji knew his sister was contemplating everything that she had just learned. He sat in silence across from her, wondering what she was pondering, but knowing that the attempt was less than futile. At the age of six, his sister had already begun college-level algebra, and by nine she had received her first college degree. By thirteen she had received doctorates in mathematics, computer engineering, and biochemistry. Many academics considered Himiko the brightest person in her generation, and she had been expected to follow in the tradition of Einstein and Hawking. Then their father had been killed by the Yakuza after refusing to give up a portion of his business. Himiko had sworn vengeance, and had achieved her goal within two short years. Then the Pulse had come. The old rules of the world had fallen by the wayside, and not only in America, but all across the globe the old axiom that 'might makes right' became truer every day. Shinji and Himiko found themselves with an advantage – they had a newly built organization of assassins, gun runners, drug dealers, and money launderers. Rather than return to her academic life, as she had originally planned, Himiko had taken over the family business, using her strength within both the legitimate world and the criminal underworld to gain power and wealth. Now she was known on the streets as The Spider, and known in corporate boardrooms as the last person any executive ever wanted to see. And she did it all without ever attracting undue attention, Shinji marveled. She might have made a fantastic scientist, but as a criminal and corporate kingpin, he doubted anyone had, or ever would, be her equal.
"Let's see what you brought," Himiko commented as she opened the files that Shinji had placed in front of her. She seemed to skim over the words, but Shinji knew that his sister had committed to memory everything she had seen in those few brief minutes. "This Manticore program appears to have been thorough," she said.
"Very," Shinji agreed.
"From everything you have here, I would have to agree that we are up against one of these Manticore soldiers," Himiko stated. "The video surveillance records we have show Justice moving at an inhumanly fast speed. From the beating she took from our exploding briefcase trap, we also know she has augmented healing capacity. Otherwise she would not have been back on the streets within seventy hours."
"And she can apparently see in the dark," Shinji pointed out.
"Indeed. Yes, it appears that Justice is something more than human. The question that presents itself, then, is whether this is one of the program's escapees, or whether Manticore has assigned one of its own to the city."
"What?" Shinji asked, not having expected this tangent.
"The United States government has a vested interest in regaining control of its cities," Himiko pointed out. "It makes sense that they might use one of these soldiers to pursue that goal."
"But why only one?" Shinji asked. "Wouldn't a team of these soldiers be more effective?"
"Of course it would," Himiko agreed, "and it's also unlikely that, even if only one were used, that it would be assigned to Seattle. It would make far more sense to deploy the individual in New York, Boston, or Washington. In the whole scheme of things, those cities are considered more tactically valuable, and all of them are in far worse shape than Seattle as far as crime goes."
"So you think it's an escapee?"
"I do," Himiko stated. "One of them seems to have settled in the city, and has taken to doing what she presumably does best. She's a soldier, and she's waging a war."
"So now what?" Shinji asked.
"Well, we now know who our enemy is, and that is an important step. We have a good idea of what she can do, as well." Shinji nodded in understanding. Himiko had arranged to have three warehouses thoroughly rigged with hidden cameras, and then had allowed word to get out that there were drug-producing activities going on. Predictably, Justice had shown up to deal with the problem, and Himiko had gotten detailed recordings of her foe's capabilities, strategies, and tendencies.
"So we set a trap?" Shinji guessed.
"Not exactly," Himiko explained. "We tried that once before, in the alley. I would have been more than happy to trade off all of those people for one dead genetically engineered vigilante, but I'm not willing to take another loss for nothing in return. We'll control the time and place of our next encounter with Justice, but I'm not going to risk my own assets needlessly this time. Recruitment is getting too expensive."
"I see," Shinji replied, though he had no idea what his sister was up to.
"Talk to some of your people, and get word out that Rico is about to make a move to increase his power," Himiko instructed.
"Rico?" Shinji asked. Ricardo Rico was the only criminal in the city that could still challenge Himiko's position, and she had usually treaded lightly around the man in order to avoid a confrontation she could not be assured of winning.
"Yes, Rico," Himiko said evenly. "Be discreet, of course, but be convincing. Make certain that the rumor is all over the city by dawn."
"Of course."
"Then, once you are done getting that rumor circulating, I have some very important information for you to acquire."
"What kind of information?" Shinji asked curiously.
"The expensive kind," Himiko answered. "And keep in mind that you'll not only be paying for the information, but for the silence of those that sell it to you. If you doubt their ability to remain silent, you will have to dispose of them."
"I understand," Shinji replied, realizing that his sister finally seemed to be making a major move. What surprised him, however, was not that she was planning on getting rid of Justice, but that she also seemed to have something planned for Rico. Shinji guessed at how dangerous his sister's scheme was, but he had confidence in her. He had seen the information on the X-5's, and though they were certainly smarter than any average human, they still fell short of his sister. Leave it to nature to come up with a prodigy that puts science to shame.
To be continued.............................
