Disclaimer: carries over from previous.
The only person who reviewed liked this idea and is one of my favorite reviewers, so I guess this fic is dedicated to you, then, Fyliwion. (grins)
As advertised, here's the joint Infiltration/Operation ending. Short, but should make things clearer.
(Edited 11/05 for clarity)
The news was just beginning to filter around when a strawberry-blonde girl found a feather inside the rolled pile of mail in the mail slot.
It was a dove's feather, white in the shadows of the house, but black in the sunlight when she experimentally moved it into the beam from a window. A few moments more, and the feather began to smoke, and then dissolved in a puff of ash that evaporated into thin air as she watched.
She unrolled the newspaper, then nodded to herself in understanding at a glance at the headline.
"Professor. There's a conference coming up in Europe that I think we had best attend."
The newspaper lay abandoned behind her, the headline of a schoolchild's death face down on the table.
-
A phone beeped, was answered.
"Yes."
"It went successfully?"
"Yes. Your assistance in dealing with the local law enforcement was invaluable."
"That's what I'm here for."
"I trust you appreciate the necklace I left for you."
"Oh, indeed. I'm wearing it right now. The matching earrings are a nice touch, too."
"I thought you might like them. Is the rest of your compensation to your liking?"
"Quite. The facilities are very impressive."
"Good. Lay low until they stop looking for any accomplices of mine. I'll use my other contacts in the meantime. I'll contact you if anything requiring your expertise comes up."
"Understood."
Two cell phones disconnected. A man in black returned his device to an inside pocket.
And somewhere else, in a small, hidden room where the hissing of machinery came dimly through the walls, someone else who was not quite what they seemed placed a small white phone back on a shelf.
And adjusted a dial cleverly concealed on the back of a bow tie.
And smiled sardonically.
It's anyone's move, when one plays both the white and the black.
(Edit 11/05: Still confused? Don't want Satou to have been wrong? Try reading Explication and see if that makes you feel better.)