An Alternate Story of the Knight Sabers
2034 Year of the Tiger
Neo No Armour Against Fate (Section 5 of 5)
No Armour Against Fate (3 of 10)
by Shawn Hagen(2000;2005)
Based on situations and characters created by Suzuki Toshimichi.
April 5th, Wednesday, 4:43pm, MegaTokyo
It had been something of a rough day for Nene. She had, all in the name of fun, been the object of a number of jokes over the day. People kept asking her if she was lost, pointing out the ADP building was not a school. She was asked if she wanted to join the police when she grew up. She was made fun of in a number of ways.
And the funny thing was she was going to miss it.
She had finished off all her work, making sure there was nothing left undone. She had said all her goodbyes and given her goodbye gifts-she had spent over fifty thousand yen on handkerchiefs and other small gifts, as well as two coffee makers, for Leon's office and the communication centre.
Now it was almost over. Tonight Leon and the others were treating her to a farewell party, but she was done for the day. All she had to do was turn in her ID and other things, including her service weapon. When that was done she would officially be out of the ADP.
It was harder than she had thought it would be.
"Nene-san," she heard someone say.
"What is it Lieutenant Wada?" she asked very politely.
Kaoru shook his head. "I'm sorry Nene, I never meant for you to find out like that."
"You never meant for me to find out at all."
"Yes, I'm sorry. I don't know how to say this. I love my wife, but I also love you. We can still be together. Karen won't mind, all we have to do is be discrete."
"I don't want to be your mistress."
"It is not like that. I love you Nene. I didn't mean for that to happen. At first I just thought you would be fun to be with, and then I wanted our relationship to go deeper, and that took me by surprise. I still want to be with you."
Nene looked at him. He looked tired, maybe near tears. She almost felt sorry for him. "I don't want to be with you," she told him, suddenly feeling a little older, a little more mature. "Goodbye Lieutenant Wada," she said as she turned and walked away. She still had things to take care of.
April 5th, Wednesday, 10:03am, Scotland, near Aberfeldy
Once they reached Aberfeldy Priss and the others found two Land Rovers waiting for them. The house was a little North of Aberfeldy, overlooking Loch Tay, they were told.
It had been on the helicopter that Priss had finally learned the full name of David's partner. She had not expected to be working with Gordon Sumner. While it had been over a decade since he had last released any new material, Priss was familiar with his work. He had also been working in the studio with a number of other bands and he was well known as a producer.
She found herself feeling a little more positive about it all. She was willing to take the chance at being disappointed. That was not something she had been willing to do for some time.
The house turned out to be more of a mansion. Two, in some places three, stories in height, made of dark, grey stone, it almost looked like a castle. It was built upon a large raise, overlooking the Loch below. The road curved up the hill towards the structure. The land around it was rough and rolling. Little surprise the helicopter had not landed there.
It was a little after ten AM when they arrived. They were shown into the mansion and met by its owner. Gordon Sumner looked older than the last picture Priss had seen of him, which admittedly must have been taken more than ten years prior. He was very gracious and, realising that it was after six in the evening back in Japan, showed them to the dining room.
While Norio and the rest of the band ate and talked to David, mostly about what was fun to do around there, Priss and Gordon talked business.
Priss had sent David recordings of thirty-five of her songs. Gordon wanted twelve for the album and had selected the ones he thought would work well together. Priss thought there were better choices for the twelve, though she agreed with the majority of his choices.
They spent hours talking the merit of each song over, about how the Japanese and English translations differed.
By the time they finally came to an agreement it was nearly four in the evening.
"Bit late, for me," Priss said, hiding a yawn behind her hand.
"Must be late back in Japan."
Priss looked at her watch. "Almost midnight."
"You should probably get some rest," Gordon told her. "Tomorrow I want to listen to your sound in person, figure out the best way to do all the recording."
"Sounds like a good plan," Priss told him as she stood up and stretched. "I'm looking forward to this."
"Glad to hear it," Gordon said. "I think this will be big, in all the ways that really matter."
"I hope so," Priss said.
April 6th, Thursday, 12:35am, MegaTokyo
"So," Leon said, pouring Nene a fresh glass of sake. "Now what do you do?"
"I don't know," Nene said with a giggle. "I guess I just get ready for classes." Nene looked at her watch. "Darn."
"What?" Daily asked.
"I've got an entrance ceremony today," she said. "It starts at noon." She laughed. "I don't think I should show up hung over."
"Actually being hung over will probably distract you from what is bound to be a dull ceremony," Leon told her as he began to stack the empty sake decanters in front of him.
Nene nodded. "Where's Naoko-san and the others?" None of the communication staff were around, even some of the tactical people were missing as well.
"Left a while ago. She's got to work tomorrow," Leon told her, adding another decanter to his pile.
"So do you," Nene pointed out, slurring her words just a little.
"We're more used to late nights and excessive drinking," Daily told her.
"How do you explain that then?" Nene pointed at Tetsuya Kawasaki, Leon's second in command. He was leaning up against the wall, asleep.
"He still doesn't know how to pace himself." Leon placed another decanter, overbalancing his pile and causing it to collapse to the table. "Kind of sad really."
"They're cute, but they can't hold their alcohol," Daily said.
"So what do we do now?" Nene asked, sipping at her drink.
"Third party?" Leon suggested.
Daily looked over at Nene. "Up for the 'more drinks at a dingy bar' stage of this night?" he asked her.
"Sure," Nene said, getting shakily to her feet.
"I'm impressed," Leon said as he stood smoothly. He looked down at Tetsuya and gently tapped him with his foot. "Get up."
"I'm up," Tetsuya said before he fell over onto the tatami matting.
"So, where are we going now?" Daily asked.
Leon looked over at Nene who was at the threshold of the room, trying to put her shoes on. "The Air Force club," he said softly.
"That would be the hostess bar, right?"
Leon nodded.
"You're a cruel man McNichol-san."
"I prefer to see it as knowing how to have fun at other's expense." Leon looked around at the other people sitting around the table. "Okay, we're moving on," he said loudly. "The night is still young, as they say."
April 5, Wednesday, 9:45pm, Scotland, near Aberfeldy
"I'm surprised you're still up," David said, loudly enough to be heard over the sound of the club's music.
"If I went to sleep when the rest of the band did I'd be waking up at three or four in the morning," Priss told him.
"So you are just going to bash your way though the jet lag?"
"Seems like a good idea to me."
"I envy your energy."
Priss smiled at that. "I feel sorry for you old people."
"As you should. Must be nice to be on the right side of twenty-five."
"Can't complain."
"So you like Gordon?"
"Yes," Priss said, then raised her glass to her lips and took a pull at her beer. "He's got a good understanding of my songs," she told him after she had finished drinking.
"That's why I brought you to him. He can work with you and you can work with him. You look like you're having an easier time believing in this now."
"You brought me to a big name. That changes things. Before I thought you had thrown together a fly by night kind of deal."
"It is still like that. We'll probably live or die with your record."
"Thanks for putting the pressure on me."
"We'll be all right." David smiled and then took a large drink from his beer.
"What's the name of this label anyway?"
"Stung Records," David told her.
Priss thought about it for a moment. "I like it."
"Good," David said, nodding. He looked about the room for a moment then back at Priss. "Want to dance?"
Priss thought about it then got to her feet. She held out her hand to David. "Let's go."
David took her hand and let her help him to his feet. He moved closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulders as he directed her out onto the dance floor. They were playing something slow, a good song to dance to.
April 6th, Thursday, 9:14am, MegaTokyo
"You're doing much better," Mako Namura said to Linna as they stood off in the wings, watching as the other dancers move through a separate routine.
"I feel like I'm doing better. Actually, I feel like I'm dancing incredibly well, better than I ever have before."
Mako smiled. "I'd be careful about thinking like that. It could end up being embarrassing. Kikuchi-sensei looks for signs of excessive pride and goes after it."
"I can't help it. I feel good."
"Don't say I didn't warn you if you get in trouble."
"Noted," Linna said.
She did feel good, really good. Dancing was helping her. It was easy to put some of the recent events out of her mind. It was easy to pretend that she was not getting to see the others because of a choice of her own.
She had not been able to see Priss off the other day, but that was because she had to be at rehearsal. She was not able to be at Nene's entrance ceremony because she was at rehearsal. The only problem was that she would not be able to see Nene later that evening to congratulate her. That was what would remind her that she could no longer see the other Knight Sabers, that Sylia had told her not to.
It was all because of Devon, though she was certain that there was no real threat from him. Just Sylia being overly paranoid. It did not seem fair.
"Linna-san," Mako said loudly.
"What?" Linna asked, looking to her.
"We're up," she said, pointing at the now empty stage.
"Oh, sorry," Linna said as she followed Mako out onto the stage. From the opposite side Miki Foley and Tina Honda came.
The three of them took their positions on the stage and began to move their feet in the initial steps as the music came up. The first part of the dance was simply foot movements as they stood in place. Precise, perfect movements as the three of them stood, backs to each other.
Around them Tina moved in a different dance. She was playing the part of Izanagi, the creator of the three, noble kami Linna, Mako and Miki were portraying. Andrea had had the musicians work two melodies into the music, one that Tina danced to, the other for the others. It was extremely complicated for the dancers to keep to their own music, to keep the beat they were supposed to stick with.
Yet when it worked it looked beautiful.
There was more that followed as each of the three noble kami had their own parts to dance, separate of the others. It represented Izanagi giving them all their separate missions. Linna, last to dance that part, had to explode into controlled chaos at the end to represent Susano's upset at being given the ocean to rule.
Linna was still working on getting the controlled chaos down, but she was doing better since her talk with Miki.
Andrea had them go through it all twice more before finally letting them take a break as she went on to work with some of the other dancers. Linna walked off stage and went to get a bottle of water. Focused on the dance as she was she had forgotten, temporarily, about her troubles with the Knight Sabers.
Nene was considering revenge. She was considering how best to get back at Leon, who, as far as she was concerned, deserved to die. She was not sure why she had agreed to go to the hostess bar with him, other than the fact he had sprung it on her. She had just thought it another bar at first.
Then the hostess had shown up and started blowing in her ear.
Leon had thought it the funniest thing he had ever seen. Nene was not so certain.
She had stumbled home a little after three in the morning, very drunk, with lipstick on her collar.
Yes, she was going to get back at Leon.
Morning had brought a rather unpleasant hangover, and the startling revelation that Nene could feel near death and yet look quite healthy. A long, hot shower and a couple of Midol had her feeling pretty good. She hoped the pills' effect would last longer than her hangover.
She had dressed in her senior high uniform, putting it on just right. She checked the year pin, and her class pin, then the school pin. Everything was just where it was supposed to me. That was important because her mother and father had been waiting for this day for a long time, and they would want her looking just right. Especially her mother.
She picked up her NAVI from her desk and slid it into the inside of her school blazer. Into another pocket went her wallet. She could not carry a purse with her uniform, well she could have, but it would look odd. Back when she had actually been in school she carried it all in a briefcase and backpack.
She looked at herself in the mirror once more and then left her room.
Downstairs she found her mother and father waiting for her. Of course her mother wanted to take some pictures and fussed with Nene's hair and uniform. Eventually all that was done and they left the house.
As they climbed into her father's car Ali gave the motorcycle sitting near the house an angry look. She was very displeased with her daughter's latest vehicle, but Nene was not giving it up. It was not worth arguing.
A moment later the car was backing out of the driveway.
As it was a pleasant day, a little warmer than usual for that time of year, the entrance ceremony was to be held outside. It was in a park on the outside of the city, a large, open area, filled with cherry trees. Buds were on the branches of the trees; the blossoms were a week or two away. Nene would have liked it if the trees had been in full blossom. It would have been so beautiful.
Not that there was not a certain beauty there already.
The students stood in long lines underneath the tress. The majority of them wore the uniforms of Genom schools. There were a small number of students from other schools; Nene was one of them. They had been grouped with the graduates of a small, all girl high school in Okinawa. That group was one of the closer ones to the podium.
Speakers and flat screens had been set up through the park to ensure everyone was able to hear and see the various speakers.
Nene was surprised to find Mei Nagane in the same line as she. It seemed that one of Nene's friends had let the younger girl know what Nene was up to. Nene did not know whether to be flattered that the girl had gone to such great lengths to get close to her or to be incredibly annoyed at her so called friends.
It was something she would have to decide later. At that time she could only hope that Mei would get over the crush after spending some time in a co-ed environment. The last thing she needed was Mei following her around. Furthermore, annoyed as she was at Kaoru, she was still attracted to men.
Mei was cute, but Nene was not at all interested.
Fortunately Mei's enthusiastic greeting was cut short when the ceremony began.
The first up on the podium was the Vice Dean of Students who welcomed them all there and asked all present to stand for the playing of Nihon's national anthem.
Once the music was over she then introduced the Dean of Students, Akoto Nanamiya. Akoto was a middle-aged man, his age showing on him. He wore a grey morning coat and carried a top hat with him. Heads of educational institutions, from elementary schools up to universities had been wearing such ceremonial outfits for over a century. A throw back to the time when Nihon had its borders forced open by Western powers.
Akoto took his place at the podium, removed several sheets of carefully folded paper from within his coat, unfolded them and began to read a long speech.
Nene, like almost every student there, feigned polite interest as the Dean went on about how they should work hard to accomplish their goals, and work together, learn to be a team. He talked about the history of Genom Daigaku, short as it was, the history of education in Nihon, and the history of Genom. Nene had heard several such speeches during her time in school and there was nothing really new to it.
Basically it was a 'work hard and do well' type of speech.
After Dean Nanamiya stepped down an executive from Genom took the podium to speak. It was supposed to be Kenji Sousuke, but he had cancelled for reasons not given. Nene was fairly certain she knew the reason the executive was not there. It gave her a quiet sense of superiority that she knew things that no one around her was aware of.
There were speeches from the Mayor of Tokyo and two members of the diet as well as one of Gendai's alumni who had gone on to fame outside of Genom in Hollywood. All in all a very boring two hours.
Finally it was over and they were dismissedand it was very military in naturefrom their neat lines to advantage on the food and drink that had been lain out during the speeches as well as get to know their fellow classmates and some of the faculty. There were over four thousand students there, most of the freshman class for 2034.
"Sempai I'm so glad we're going to the same school," Mei said happily.
Nene sighed loudly and turned to look at Mei. "Why did you come here?" she asked.
"Because you did sempai."
"That's not a good reason to choose a school!" Nene hissed angrily.
"Of course it is sempai," Mei said. "You're so smart and so cool that any choice you make is a good choice."
Nene promised herself never to let Priss or the others, but especially Priss, meet Mei. One, 'Nene is cool' comment would elicit stories showing how wrong that conclusion was. "Do you even know what you are going to do here?"
"Advanced computer science," Mei said simply.
"Why that?" she asked, having a sinking feeling. She herself was going into ACS.
"It's what I want to do," Mei said, surprising Nene a little.
"So part of the reason you are here has to do with the fact that you can get the courses you want?" Nene was hopeful.
"And to be with you Sempai."
"Naturally," Nene sighed.
"Satoo-sempai told me that this was a really good school even if it did not rate very high. Then she told me that you would be coming here."
"Kate is an idiot," Nene mumbled softly. That's what she got for keeping her friends informed of what was going on. "Well at least one of your reasons for coming here was good."
Mei suddenly grabbed Nene's arm in a very possessive manner. "Sempai, I'm so glad we are going to the same school."
Nene gently freed her arm from Mei's grasp. "Well, that's good," she said, sounding a little lame. "I have to go find my parents and then talk to some of the faculty. I'm sure that we'll get a chance to talk more."
"Hai sempai," Mei said happily.
Nene turned and began walking towards where she had last seen her parents. Mei was going to be a problem, Nene was sure of it. And if she told anyone about it they would be likely to laugh at her. It was so unfair.
April 6th, Thursday, 10:14am, Scotland, near Aberfeldy
Priss found her plan had worked out fairly well. She had not gone to sleep until a little after midnight, local time. Then had woken at a little after nine. After a long shower she had dressed and had gone to look for David or Gordon.
She found them both, with the rest of the band, in the dining room.
"When did you get up?" she asked Norio as she sat down beside him.
"I woke up at four," he told her. "I hate jet lag."
Priss laughed as she grabbed a roll from the tableit was still hotand tore it open. "So what do we do today?" Priss asked as she began to butter the roll.
"I want to listen to you play. We'll go through all the songs we are going to record. I want to get a feel for your music first before I do anything," Gordon told her.
"Works for me," Priss said cheerfully as she took a bite of the roll.
"I can't believe you are a morning person," Yuuko said form the other side of the table. She had a large mug of coffee in front of her.
Priss smiled. "One of the benefits of youth."
"I can't believe that you are younger than me," Yuuko added, then took a drink of her coffee.
"This is going to be a long day," Gordon told them. "I think we can get all the recording finished by Sunday, if we work hard."
"I became a musician to avoid hard work," Takeshi lamented as he put his head down on the table.
"Don't make me replace you with a drum machine," Priss told him.
"Slave driver," Takeshi said, a smile on his face.
"I think this is a good time to begin," Gordon said as he got to his feet. "We have to put together a drum kit for Mr. Nado and tune all the instruments."
Priss got to her feet as she finished off the roll. "Sounds like a plan." She was ready to work and had been waiting for that moment for almost a decade. Finally she was on her way.
April 6th, Thursday, 9:05pm, MegaTokyo
Linna drew her steak knife across the prime rib, carefully cutting out a bite sized piece of meat. Devon watched her, an amused look on his face. "Is the food not good?" he asked her.
"Pardon?" Linna looked up from her plate, a little surprised by the question. "No, it is fine."
"It's just the way you are taking so much time, I would have thought that it was not very good."
Linna shook her head as she put a piece of the steak into her mouth and began to chew.
Devon watched her then waited until she swallowed. "You want to tell me something, and yet you don't, so you are stretching out the meal to avoid it as long as possible."
Linna put her knife and fork down on the table. For a time she said nothing, then she looked at Devon. "You're right."
"So, tell me, what is it?"
"I enjoy being with you."
"I suspect there is a 'but' in there or you would not be hesitant about this."
"I like being with you, talking with you, having sex with you," she added the last part very quietly, "but I want more."
"You want a commitment," he said as he picked up his wineglass. "You want to know that our relationship will go farther than it has."
"Yes."
Devon drank his wine, then held the half-empty glass up to the light. "I told you about this at the very beginning. It can go no further." He placed the glass back on the table.
"Why not?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. I want to know why it can't go any further. I need to know why the one man I have met in a long time who truly interests me can't make a commitment."
"I can make a commitment."
"Just not to me," Linna accused.
"Please Linna, don't be like that. This has nothing to do with you."
"Then what does it have to do with?"
Devon sighed as he took up his glass once again. He finished the contents off and then put the glass back on the table. "It's my nature."
"I don't understand what you mean."
"When I was younger my family moved back and forth between Japan and some other countries. My father had to travel a lot. When I was seventeen we were in England. One of the other students looked up the meaning of my name, not knowing anything about kanji and their different meanings, or how Okami differed from Ookami. He started calling me 'Wolf'."
Linna looked confused. "So?"
Devon smiled. "I always thought the young man, I think his name was Ian, might have uttered a prophetic statement when he gave me that nickname. I've seemed to take after the Wolf in a number of ways."
"You've lost me."
"The wolf mates for life, so they say. I had my love once, now she's gone. You want to know why we can't go further? It is simple. I don't, nor can I, love you. You are a friend Linna-san, but that is all you can be to me."
"That's not enough."
"No, I don't suppose it would be." He picked up the wine bottle from the table and filled his glass. "But it is all I can offer."
"I wish it was enough, I really do." Linna's voice was soft with a hint of tears in it.
"No you don't," Devon told her, then picked up his glass and took a drink. "You want more than that, you know you always will. You wish I could give it to you."
"But you can't."
"But I can't."
Linna laughed. "I just can't get these relationships right."
"You don't have to," Devon told her, taking another sip of his wine. "You are young, there's time ahead of you. Consider this a learning experience."
"I wanted it to be more," she told him. There were tears running down her cheeks. "I just wanted a relationship where I could be myself and not play any games."
"You'll find it."
"How do you know?" Linna demanded, raising her voice slightly.
"Because you are a fighter and you won't give up until you have what you want. I saw it when you first danced. I saw it later, so many times. Like a good fighter you also know when a situation is not winnable and when to retreat."
"So that's what I am doing, retreating from a fight I can't win."
Devon nodded. "It's the smart move."
"It also is painful."
"Sometimes they are one in the same."
Linna got to her feet and walked around the table. Devon stood and watched as she came to stand in front of him. He wondered if she was going to slap him. She did not. She moved in close and hugged him tight. "You are an idiot Okami-san. You are chasing away the best thing that could have happened to you," she said very quietly, still crying.
"I know," Devon said to her. He had heard statements like that before. They still got to him.
Linna released him and turned, walking away. She did not look back. Devon watched her go then picked up his wine and finished it. He sighed as he put the glass back on the table and then reached into his jacket for his wallet.
She was right. He was an idiot, but he was also very much the lone wolf that a young man named Ian had called him on a gloomy day in London. Prophetic words indeed.
Linna left the restaurant, pulling her coat tight about her. So it was over, the hopeful romance with a man old enough to be her father, grandfather actually. The romance that had got her in trouble with Sylia.
She did not know whether to be relieved because it was over or angry because Devon could not commit. She would have though that he had a fear of commitment except she was fairly certain Devon Okami was not afraid of anything.
No, he was just pining for someone he must have loved a long time ago. That was the problem with the older lover she realised. They had a lot of ghosts in their past. You could not fight a ghost, she was pretty sure of that.
She pulled a handkerchief from her coat pocket and used it to wipe the tears from her face and took a few deep breaths of the cool, April night air. She felt a little better, but still sad. What she needed was someone to speak to. Priss would be a good choice. She would simply tell Linna to accept it and move on, which was good advice, even if Priss did not always take it herself.
Of course Priss was not even in the country now and even if she was it was likely that Sylia would not take kindly to such a meeting. Not that Linna was entirely sure that that would stop her. She still felt that Sylia was overreacting a little.
Her friends from the dance troupe were not close enough that Linna felt comfortable talking to about what had happened.
You have only yourself to blame, Linna told herself. You knew what sort of man he was from the start; he let you in on how things would be almost right at the beginning. You knew it and chose to go forward.
Admitting responsibility for it helped a little; cleared her mind to focus on the actual problem. Now she just had to decide what to do about it. Maybe it was time to stop looking for the perfect man and accept that everyone was going to have some flaws.
Linna stopped in front of a small bar and turned towards the door. She really could use a drink or two. Tomorrow she would start re-working her guide to romance and dating. Tonight she just wanted to be sad.
April 7th, Friday, 11:12am
Sylia did not really hear Shuji Okumoto, though she was listening to him.
Her lawyer was getting ready to resign on her. She had seen it coming and had already arranged for someone to succeed him. She had found a younger woman who would be willing to take more chances, and to ignore certain odd dealings. Of course that might make her less than trustworthy in some respects. Sylia would take the proper precautions.
Her mind was not on the meeting, but somewhere else. Caught up in memories and dreams, she was far off.
Shuji never noticedhe was too preoccupied with his own feelings. Sylia's dealings had finally become too much for him. He felt guilty for what he was going to do and tried to put it off by going into inconsequential details.
Sylia looked down at the legal pad she had been writing on. Her neat handwriting had become cramped and almost illegible.
A rough outline of a boomer intelligence covered the page, a little more specific detail for the new things she had thought about.
Taking her pencil she drew a line across the paper, the point snapping off as she reached the bottom.
"Stingray-san?" Shuji said.
"Pardon?" Sylia looked up at him, not quite sure where she was for a moment.
"I was saying that I hope my resignation will not cause you too many problems."
She looked at him for a moment and realised he had been talking about resigning for the past few minutes. "I will survive Okumoto-san," she told him.
"I've taken care of everything, made detailed notes, whoever you hire should not have too many problems taking over."
"Yes," Sylia nodded as she picked up her briefcase. "I think that takes care of everything. Is there anything else we have to discuss?" She put the note pad into the briefcase that she then locked.
"No, I don't think so."
"Then I'd like to thank you for all your hard work over the past years." She stood. "Thank you Okumoto-san." She bowed. "Goodbye." Sylia turned and walked from the office.
"Goodbye," Shuji said, quickly getting to his feet and bowing.
Sylia was not thinking about him as she walked to the elevator. She was not thinking about much. She was trying hard not to think about the information that covered the top sheet of the notepad in her briefcase. She was trying not to think about that a lot.
April 8th, Saturday, 9:56am
Domino looked at the computer screen, watching as the data flashed by, waiting for the information that she wanted to see. She and Katherine were in one of the workstations in the lower parts of the tower. Neutral ground as it were.
"There." She hit the scroll lock. "That is it."
Katherine looked at the information on the screen. A small company in Mexico had just been sold.
"How much did they get for it?" she asked.
"Enough to replace some of their losses."
"You are sure that they owned that company?"
"One hundred percent? No. I'm sure enough to risk the time investigating it."
"Will you put a trace on the funds?"
"Backwards and forwards. Seeing where they came from might be of use."
"They are getting desperate."
"Wouldn't you be?" Domino asked her.
"Yes, but I like to think that I would be more clever about it."
"They are panicking. They did not expect us to react so fast or decisively."
"They should have, considering what you believe about them."
Domino looked away from the screen and up at Katherine. "You think it is something else?"
"I don't know for sure," Katherine said slowly. "I do know that if Largo was gifting," she put a slight emphasis on the word, "his knowledge on others, they would play this game better."
"They might, if they were not all suicidal."
"I find that hard to credit."
"Rathen made sure he would die before he could know how things would turn out. Meren chose to die when he might have escaped. Both had lesions consistent with Dr. Stingray's process. Seiroku also chose death when he might have escaped."
"Two you can be sure of, one not so sure. We don't know how many people may have been compromised but we know it is more than three. We can't assume that those remaining are suicidal or likely to be as sloppy."
"Agreed," Domino said after a moment.
"Either they are making mistakes because they want to fail, they are stupid, or this is yet another feint."
"We have prepared for all three possibilities."
"I think you are not giving as much consideration to the third possibility."
Domino was silent for a few moments as she thought over Katherine's words.
"I may be fixated on one possibility to the exclusion of others, but as you are not, we balance each other out."
"I'd rather we were both working off each other's strong points instead of shoring up the weak."
"What would you have me do?"
"Only consider other options. I think you may be right in the end, but we cannot afford to ignore other possibilities."
"Thank you," Domino nodded.
Katherine looked at the young woman and felt she might have just been manipulated. She knew that she had just subtly changed their relationship. She had become a mentor of sorts and she did not know if Domino really needed one, really needed any advice. In the future she might find herself entering the mentor role with greater ease if she did not check herself. Domino was not her protégé, but her competition.
Domino had turned her attention back to the screen, setting information scrolling across it again.
Katherine looked down at her and decided to take a chance. "Who was that woman your teams pulled out of the house in Houston?"
"Rathen's mistress, the same woman who was in the city with him. One of our stray 33-Ss."
"Do you think she knows anything of use?"
"Perhaps. It is hard to be sure. She may not be able to tell us anything more than what unit AB22A had to tell us."
Katherine nodded. "We seem to only get the ones that belonged to people already dead."
"Hopefully that will change soon," Domino said.
"What about that mercenary company, the one that screened Rathen?" Katherine asked.
"Nothing of real import yet. Someone who we red flagged is looking to hire them."
"Really," Katherine said, suddenly interested. "I'll have to look into that."
"As you will," Domino said, glad she would be doing it. It freed up time. "Here." She hit the scroll lock and pointed to the top of the screen. "Someone is buying up space on two cargo shuttles with the funds from one of Largo's accounts."
"Why?"
"I think I'll send a team to find out," Domino said.
"We're closing in on them," Katherine said.
"I know." Domino nodded. "It will be interesting to see how they react to all this over the coming days and weeks."
Devon looked at himself in the mirror. He was getting old. Not that many would notice, but he saw it in his eyes. There were times he found himself regretting all of his past decisions. A very telling sign that he was getting too old. Maybe it was the fact that Linna had ended their relationship. There had been too many endings like that over the years.
He should have truly left it all behind him. Retiring into the shadows had not made it easier, it just meant he had to more careful not to trip over something when he moved back into the light.
Reaching up, he straightened his tie. He had to meet with Quincy shortly, one of their talks. He had a little too much power for Quincy's taste and, no matter how loyal he was, Quincy could never trust him completely. Not giving up his voting shares was another thing that Devon found himself regretting. It had seemed a daring move to make when he had done it, now it just seemed foolish.
He could not give them away now, however; they were part of the legacy he would leave and part of his power to protect.
He looked over to the chest of drawers and the picture that sat atop of it. His daughter, so long gone. Another of his regrets and one that was with him constantly.
Sighing, the old man took his hands away from his tie and turned away from the picture. He would not make Quincy wait.
The meeting had gone on for almost an hour when Quincy asked the question he had brought Devon in to ask.
"Has anyone tried to turn you yet?"
"No," Devon said.
"Nothing at all?"
"Nothing I would call conclusive."
"Explain."
"I always get a few offers to help embezzle from Genom or to supply someone with information. Any of those over the past year might have been attempts to turn me, but I can't say for sure."
Quincy said nothing, just stared levelly at Devon. Devon returned his stare.
"I want you to talk to Katherine Madigan about the attempts in the past and if any future attempts are made you are to keep them interested. Go along with them."
"I understand."
"What are your weaknesses?" Quincy asked him suddenly.
Devon was a little surprised by the question. "What can be used against me?"
"Yes."
"Nothing, not anymore."
"You are sure of that?"
"Yes."
"Thank you for your time Okami-san," Quincy said, dismissing him.
"It was not a bother. It is good to talk to old friends," Devon said, getting to his feet and then walking towards the door.
Quincy watched him all the way, staring at the man. He often wondered about Devon, if he was telling the truth. Devon was one of the few who could lie to his face convincingly. This time he had no questions though. There were still levers that could move the man, no matter what he said to the contrary.
It was in his best interest if he made sure that those levers did not become available to outside sources. That assumed that those outside sources knew of them.
It had come down to that a lot over the last year. Just how much did his enemies know?
Devon stared out the windows of the restaurant, looking at the city but not seeing it. Domino watched him, wondering where he was. She often wondered just how much he had seen, who he had known, where he had been. Like most of the people who had founded Genom his past was locked up, not that she had pried. He told her things, of his past, secrets he knewall of them valuable, though few of any use in her day to day life at Genom. She was not surprised. Devon knew, as she did, that certain things had to remain a secret.
"Do you like this restaurant Odotte-kun?" he asked her.
"It is nice," she said. It was the truth.
"Yes," he said and for a time he was quiet. "There was a nicer one though."
"Long ago?" Domino asked.
"Long ago." He smiled. "A number of buildings, none taller than three of four stories, stores and a restaurant on the bottom floors. Tore it all down to put up a parking garage." He shook his head. "Three years later the quake hit and levelled the entire city. They put up a hotel here and put a restaurant on the top floor."
"The more things change," Domino smiled as she quoted the old saying.
"That is lie," Devon told her. "Once things change, that's it."
"Did you go there often?"
"At one time. My daughter and I ate there a lot."
"You have a daughter?" Domino was more than a little surprised.
"Had," he said, suddenly seeming old to Domino. "She died in the quake." He looked up at Domino, the sadness passing as fast as it had come. "So, Quincy-san has my past locked down as tightly as his own?"
"I've never tried to pry into your past," Domino told him.
"Not much there really." He shook his head. "You know, last time I ate with her was twenty two years ago almost to the day. It doesn't seem that long."
Domino placed one of her hands on his and smiled. She liked Devon, liked the way being with him allowed her to forget about the games, the intrigues, the ploys that she lived by in Genom. In the end there was no real advantage to being with him. Only the minor players thought their relationship important and Domino was never threatened by the minor players. They were beneath her notice.
"Losing your latest mistress hit you hard," she said.
"She was a good one. Very smart as well, which is why she left me."
"Perhaps she does not know what she is missing."
Devon shook his head. "She knows. All of them eventually realise that the relationship will never go deeper than friendship. Most leave then. Linna-san just figured it out quicker than most." Devon looked at Domino for several seconds, simply staring into her eyes. "That's why I don't take this any further. You are just like me."
"Pardon?" Domino asked, a little surprised.
"We share the same sort of ability to deal with the people close to us, to subtly shut out those who might want to get even closer. To keep them at an arms length. I don't think I would care much for that."
"And yet you expect your mistresses to accept it."
Devon nodded. "I did not say it was right, that is just the way it is."
"I think you like it that they fall in love with you."
"Pardon?" it was Devon's turn to ask.
"You like it that they want you, want to be closer. Maybe it is a power thing."
Devon stared at Domino, several conflicting emotions hinted at in his eyes and face. Then suddenly he laughed. "Maybe you are right Domino-san. But I do not feel like talking about such things. So tell me, have you and Madigan-kun discovered the threat to the company I helped to build?"
"And you say you know very little about the happenings of Genom." Domino shook her head. "We are getting closer. We have more leads to follow then we did before." She was silent for a moment. "Did you know Komatsu Seiroku?"
"For a time. He was one of my protégés. I brought him into Genom before it was Genom. And yes, I think his betrayal is very uncharacteristic. He had a lot of useful qualities but ambition and drive were not among them. It was what doomed him to an ultimately minor posting in Brazil. He did not have the guts, to use that wonderful metaphor, to have done this. Whoever this person was he is not the same Seiroku-kun I knew."
"Interesting," Domino said.
"I'm glad I could be of help then."
"It confirms some things I have been looking into," Domino said. "Should we order now?"
"Let's," he told her.
April 9th, Sunday, 1:39pm, Scotland, near Aberfeldy
"Last song," Gordon said, putting his hand up to cover a yawn. He had been working hard, along with the band and the technicians, and they were almost finished.
Priss sat in a recording booth, beside Yuuko. She looked over at Gordon and gave him a thumbs up.
"Roll tape," Gordon said. "Rain's got to end, take 1," he spoke into the microphone.
Yuuko started playing, going for deep notes on her bass. The last song was almost spoken, the music in it very subtle. She was the only musician to play on it.
Priss nodded her head in time to the music, then leaned forward towards the microphone.
"There's a comfort in loneliness,
The arrogance of survivors.
Yet in darkness nothing grows And it is so easy to be lost."
She sang softly, almost speaking the words.
Yuuko picked up the tempo a little for the chorus.
Priss sang,
"You wrap yourself in darkness like it's a cloak,
You embrace your loneliness as your only friend.
But one day you're gonna have to reach for the light,
One day the rain's got to end.
"You put out thorns Hiding behind aloofness and anger.
But there is no warmth,
And nothing exists in a vacuum."
She sang the chorus again, putting more feeling into it. She moved back from the mike and let Yuuko play for a few seconds. It was a simple, sad song, laced with hope. It was good one to end on.
Yuuko toned down her playing and Priss sang once again,
"Solitude can be painless,
Or at least it is a dull pain.
It is a coward's way though,
And you'll have died before you lived.
"You wrap yourself in darkness like it's a cloak.
You embrace your loneliness as your only friend.
But one day you're gonna have to reach for the light.
One day the rain's got to end.
"Death can be a final refuge,
And insanity can give an exit.
But it is not the choice you want,
There is always another option.
If you want it."
Priss moved back from the mike again and let Yuuko finish the song off with the last of her slow, deep notes. Yuuko finally stopped and stilled her strings, letting everything go silent. After several seconds Priss looked over to where Gordon and the others stood behind the glass. "Well?" she asked.
"That's it," he said, smiling. "We're done."
Behind him Takeshi and Norio began slapping David on the back and thanking him. Yuuko leaned over and hugged Priss. Priss looked at Gordon through the glass and smiled. "Thank you," she mouthed the words.
Gordon nodded.
Geographical Notes: As far as I know there is no manor house near Aberfeldy, overlooking Loch Tay.
Cultural Notes: Nights out in Japan are often, especially for parties, are punctuated by a number of stages. A dinner at a nice restaurant will be called a 'first party'. The next stage, a nice bar somewhere, is the 'second party' and so on. Often the quality of the establishment declines the farther into the evening one goes. It often ends early in the morning at some place where you can get a couple of bowls of soba before stumbling home.
An entrance ceremony for schools is likely to go on much as I have described. The principal of the school, Dean, will wear a morning coat with long tails and a top hat. The rest of the faculty tends to go for suits for the men, kimonos with hakama for the women. And the ceremonies are long. The best ones to watch are for elementary schools. Nothing like watching a principal read a speech to a bunch of six year-olds.
"Throughout your life improve yourself daily, becoming more skilful than yesterday, more skilful than today. This is never ending"
-Yamamoto Tsunetomo
