.Hack: Penance
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun

Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached characters/concepts do not belong to me. They are used without permission, but with the utmost respect.

Notes: Happens after the end of Quarantine. (Thoughts look like this.) I know, I know… you've been waiting a long time for some plot resolution, but the answers are coming, and some of them are here. Pay attention, friends. We're on the home stretch now :)

This chapter done to the tune of: Chemical Brothers – Let Forever Be

Chapter 33 – In the Company of Gentlemen

"Delphi. Don't you see? They really are working together, and now we have proof!"

The blue Civic with dice in the window rolled easily down the street, weaving between cars with a practiced bravado. Over the radio played a news show, the hosts almost muted under the voices of the car's occupants.

"I don't understand," said Tokuoka. "You said something about it to the lieutenant, and it sounds familiar, but…"

Dean gave him a quick glance. "Delphi was an anti-hacker program that could take over software and use it, including characters in 'The World.' I thought I destroyed it all, but if anybody could make another one, it'd be Cyber Connect."

He switched on the turn signal, getting into the proper lane as they came to a stop at an intersection. "You remember what happened to Aura after all the phases were destroyed, right? After the end of the Wave?"

Junichiro nodded. "I wasn't there personally, but I'm told she went into some kind of hibernation. I believe she was adapting to her new task."

"Right," said Dean, starting into the turn. "She was still an immature AI system, she needed time to grow. Now, if I were a betting man, I'd bet that the only people who could find her in such a state, would be those that were involved. What do you think?"

"Keep talking."

"Specifically a hacker, or an administrator," Dean continued. "Like Helba or Lios. Of course, you can bet they wouldn't do it on their own…" he gestured with one hand, leading Junichiro to the obvious conclusion.

He followed. "They would need a program to steal their character."

"Exactly. And Cyber Connect just happens to have one handy." Dean chewed on his lip. "I still don't know why they would try to steal their own program, but they're definitely in on it. Then there's the question of what Rosenberg and Asara bring to the table."

The Japanese man scratched his chin for a moment, furrowing his brow. "Asara's still trying to develop that OS… what else do they make?"

Dean shrugged. "Beats me. They're a software company, though. Maybe CC needed something else. Maybe they just needed manpower. Aldous has a lot of connections, and god knows they've done it before."

Without warning, a bright red sports car in the left lane swerved right in front of them, cutting them off with barely a foot to spare. Dean instinctively braked, backing off even as the car sped away in front of him. "Hey, watch it asshole!" he growled, pounding on the horn. "Jesus!"

"He sure was in a hurry," Junichiro remarked dryly.

"Dammit," muttered Dean. "Uh… where was I… oh, right. Well, we've got proof that CC is involved. Just need to find out why they'd work with Asara, and why they'd steal their own program."

"It's possible they just wanted to get rid of it." Junichiro's face went blank. "Maybe Rosenberg bought it off him?"

"Why the hell would you get rid of a one-of-a-kind artificial in…tel…" he stopped as his mind started churning. (Why would they… unless they had no use for her. One of a kind; maybe they couldn't duplicate her. Oh, shit.) "Oh, SHIT!" he yelled.

"What, what is it?"

"If they couldn't copy her," said Dean, "I think they're gonna pick through her code and change her."

"But… that would kill her!"

"Exactly."

The triangular Park Hotel jutted into the sky, overlooking a bridge which crossed over a tiny canal. Several nearby office buildings and expensive-looking residences tried valiantly to match its height, the tallest roughly half of the hotel's ten floors.

The streets surrounding the hotel were suspiciously abuzz with activity, far more than the typical crowd of tourists and foreigners. Dean spotted police – disguised as repairmen – on the roofs of nearby buildings, and noticed that one of them was wielding a shotgun microphone. In the lot of one of the offices sat a conspicuously unmarked white van, and both men were quick to notice a few squad cars in the area, circling around as if coincidentally patrolling the area.

"This sure didn't take 'em long at all," said Dean.

"I think the word of our friend Mr. Monroe helped speed things along," was Junichiro's reply.

They got out of the car, and were almost instantly accosted by a youngish police officer, who had seemingly appeared from out of nowhere. "Excuse me, sir," he said, "but we're in the middle of an arrest. I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave for now."

Dean's reply was preempted by a familiar Japanese voice. "It's all right, Koji, that's our man." All three turned and watched as Lieutenant Masamoto approached the car. "This is Dean Stollis," he said, stepping between Koji and Dean. "He's the one who gave us the info." He turned to Dean. "Good to see you again." He extended a hand.

The detective shook it generously, and was only momentarily surprised to feel a folded-up piece of paper in the palm of the elder cop's hand. "Likewise," he replied.

"You owe me one," muttered Aniki, "if this isn't genuine."

"Trust me, this'll pay for itself," Dean answered. Palming the piece of paper, he shoved his hand in his pocket, pretending to fumble around for something, before producing that same piece of paper. He unfolded it and showed it to Koji.

"By order of the Japanese Government," said Aniki to Koji in their native language, "Precinct 4 of the Tokyo Police has secured the assistance of one Dean Stollis, in regards to the string of cyberterrorist attacks and related disturbances. He's a civilian advisor under our employ for the duration of this affair."

Koji's eyes shifted back and forth as he read the certificate. After a couple seconds he nodded, and then glanced up at Junichiro. "Are you with Mr. Stollis, sir?"

Junichiro rounded the car to join them. "Yes sir. My name is Junichiro Tokuoka, I'm a former employee of Cyber Connect; I was director of 'The World' for its release here."

Aniki's eyes widened. "Is that so?" He gave Dean a curious smirk. "And can you verify what Mr. Stollis discussed with me, that one of the men we're currently watching was seen with a hacker, and that this hacker helped perpetrate the theft of data from your former employers?"

"I can. Every word of it is true," said Junichiro firmly.

"Excellent. Gentlemen, if you'll follow me, please?"

Together, the four of them walked over to the white van, towards the open rear doors. Inside were two police technicians; one was wearing headphones and a speaking into a microphone, sitting in front of what had to be a radio; the other before several monitors, one of them depicting the inside of a hotel room, and – if microwave was to be believed – its three occupants.

Masamoto grabbed the roof of the van and leaned inside. "What's our status?"

"Everything's A-OK, sir," said one of the techs. "Getting every word."

"Mind if I give a listen?" asked Dean.

The radio technician glanced at Masamoto for a moment, who nodded. "All right," said the tech, "I'll switch to speaker." He turned a knob, and suddenly voices began to float in through a speaker on the console.

"Look, I don't care about your concerns, Mr. Sato, I just want the product." The voice was harsh, guttural, and in English.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Mr. Rosenberg." Dean's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets. "There have been complications. The men you've directed to assist us… these are not professionals! They are criminals, thieves, con men… and that Felix is the worst of them all! He… he goads this man, like it's but a game to him!"

Junichiro and Aniki both looked at Dean as a third man started to speak. "Look, he was brought in because we knew he would keep Stollis' attention off of what we were really doing. So far, he's played right into our hands."

"This is not someone to trifle with," said Sato. "I was there that night he infiltrated Cyber Connect. He is uncannily resourceful."

"So what do you suggest we do?" said the third man.

"Kill him now!" shouted Sato, rather loudly. "He is… irrelevant now that we have Aura, and the longer he is left alone the more likely he is to catch on to us."

"There's something not right here," Dean muttered. "Do we have a camera on the room?"

"Sorry sir, only microwave," answered the video technician. "We can't get a good angle from the surrounding buildings."

"What is it, what's wrong?" asked Masamoto.

Rosenberg spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "All right. Make it happen, but I want that disc."

Dean blinked. (He WANTS the disc? I thought they already had it! What's going on here!) "Something's off. I think it's a setup. Do you have any men in place?"

"Six SWAT units, three in the north stairwell, three in the south. Dean, what is it?"

One of the speakers made a gurgling noise. "Grrt! That's… mnng…" he cleared his throat, "don't worry, Aldous, you'll get the disc, as soon as we're done with it."

Dean turned around and pointed to the microwave picture, purple man-shaped objects dominating the mostly dark screen. "They have Aura already. These guys are jerking us around, it's a decoy."

Masamoto's reaction could have been measured in microseconds. He turned to the radio tech. "Tell Team One to move in, Team Two to stand by. Perimeter units secure the area, I don't want a single car getting out of here without us knowing about it."

"Are you sure they're still in the building?" asked Dean.

"He has to be, the Range Rover entered the underground parking lot. Hasn't left yet."

There was a loud explosion, and bright flashes of light drew everybody's attention back to the microwave monitor. Gunfire was heard over the radio as the bodies in the room drew weapons and opened fire on the invading SWAT team, taking cover as they did so. One by one, their bodies convulsed and collapsed to the floor, withering under audible yet invisible gunfire. Within seconds, three more figures entered the room, slowly but steadily checking every corner for other potential targets.

The lead figure raised a hand to his head, and a voice came through the radio. "This is Team One. The room has been secured. Three hostiles down. No injuries. Over."

"Copy that, Team One. Can you confirm any…"

The squeal of tires distracted all once again. Across the street, they saw a limousine race up the ramp from the lot below, and almost a full second later the radio began squawking. "Car has broken containment! I repeat, a limousine has broken containment! All units, converge on the north side of the hotel!"

"Shit!" hissed Dean. "We gotta go after 'em, come on!"

A strong hand on his shoulder held him back. "It's all right," said Masamoto. "We're ready for this." He nodded to the radio tech. "Give the signal to the VI Team."

"Yes, sir!"

Tokuoka, who had been silent for a while, asked, "VI Team?"

"Keep going!" shouted the man in the passenger seat, young, blonde-haired and wearing a navy blue suit. "Get out of the garage!"

"But where?" asked the driver, a nervous, slightly older man, similar in dress to the first.

From the backseat came the order, by an older man in a gray suit and dark red tie, hair receding with barely any traces of blonde left. "Get past the bridge! That bastard Sato set us up! Just go, as fast as you can!"

The driver obliged, guiding the limousine towards the ramp up to the street. Seeing no one in the way, he stepped on the gas, causing the limo to peel out and rocket up the ramp. It bounced violently as it reached the job, careening off the ramp and onto level ground, sliding, almost out of control, onto the street.

"There's no block up ahead, sir," the driver said. "I think we can make it!"

"Damn it," grumbled the rear passenger. "Those cops knew we were here. They must've turned us in."

"But what about the assassins?" asked the other passenger. "They were there waiting for us in the room, they wouldn't be hanging around while SWAT stormed the place!"

"M-mister Rosenberg! Look!"

He followed the shaking finger of the driver as it pointed straight out the window, towards the road ahead – and the squad car parked off to the side, next to the bridge underpass. A police officer knelt next to the car, pointing a strange gun-like device at their limo.

"What is that? Walter, what is that?"

"Oh, shit! Turn, turn, TURN!"

A piercing electronic wail cut through the air; the 'barrel' of the device (which consisted of what looked like a mini-satellite dish) flashed briefly, with enough recoil for the officer holding it to stumble briefly.

The effect of the gun wasn't evident until the car's engine suddenly stopped, with the only noise being the road beneath them and the rattling of pistons as they gradually died to a halt.

"They immobilized us!" cried Walter. "Stop the car, stop it now!"

"I'm trying!" the driver shouted back. "The brakes are locked up!"

"Pull off the road!" was the next order, this time by Rosenberg. "We're gonna crash into somebody!"

"I got it, I got it!"

The limousine careened off the road, drifting onto a wide, grassy flat, mere yards away from the bridge underpass.

"We have to run for it," said Walter. "Everybody out, now!"

No sooner could they undo the door locks and scramble out of the limo than a pair of squad cars arrived, quickly cutting off their only means of escape. Two more arrived less than a minute later; sensing defeat, Aldous wearily collapsed to his knees and put his hands up, his companions doing likewise.

News: Asara CEO Arrested

Tokyo police apprehended Asara CEO Aldous Rosenberg today, after a stakeout at the Park Hotel implicated his involvement with a group believed to be responsible for the theft of data from Cyber Connect Corporation.

"The issue was of physical security," remarked Vice President Kyoya Takahashi of CC Corp. "Mr. Rosenberg solicited outside help in acquiring a classified program from our mainframe – from within the network. This incident is strictly minor, and in no way compromises the stability of our operating systems, nor the planned events for this weekend."

"Nonetheless," he added, "I am grateful to the police their aid in bringing this matter to a close."

With Rosenberg under arrest, his replacement at the event will be one Maxwell Kerrek, one of the company's business agents. Mr. Kerrek could not be reached for immediate comment.

- End of Chapter 33