Author's Note: I know it's been a while but I'm back. Army career is finally back on track and I'm sticking in for the long haul. It took a while to get aclimated to my new place and I didn't really have the time to just DO things so I had to be a little patient. I'm seeing that I can try and get the uploads back to our regular schedule. I'm hoping I can get 100 favs and follows, that would be awesome. It feels great to know that people like reading my stuff.

Saying it now, I will branch out to other franchises eventually. But one story at a time works best for me. I can't do writing different things at once. Too much stress on my brain.

Chapter 58: Long Term Effects

June 1st 2011 1230 Hours

Santa Caterina, Palermo, Sicily

It appeared that HCLI had finally taken the initiative to protect their merchandise, but they weren't who I was looking get their attention from. Hekmatyar would eventually have tracked down my movements by now but it seems she was smart enough to know that I was using myself as bait. But she can't ignore me forever and I need a better way to hinder her plans enough that I can get her to expose where she might be keeping 'Jormungand'. It seemed as though that I was playing keep up with her, so I needed a different lead. The problem with putting in a request like this, took a lot of time. I had to get said information in person since I had to be extra careful with using regular lines of direct communication. Fortunately the CIA had perfected this for over 50 years without the need for advanced technology or the internet. So it didn't take as long as I feared it would. I just hoped the mail man didn't take too much time scarfing down food from all of the street stands.

As the priests and monks of the four hundred year old Catholic church went about their daily routines, the sound of old wooden doors opening pierced through the silence. Followed by footsteps that echoed through the halls which stopped at the pew I was sitting at a third of the way from the altar on the left side.

"Rather beautiful. Did you know it took about two dozen different artists to paint this whole place? That's not even including the sculptors that had a hand in its construction."

To my right was the other fool that was duped by Hekmatyar, George Black. The man didn't seem to own anything else other than grey. I guess he thought of it as universal camouflage for all the traveling he did.

"It's the frescoes that have most of the names, nobody really knows who made the rest."

"How are you liking Palermo so far?" He asked sitting next to me.

It was rather tragic that I couldn't get out and take in the sights, since it is a rather beautiful city. Such a thing doesn't matter to me right now. Maybe in the future I'll come back here. Make a new scrap book and start all over again. That's if I'll even be alive to do it. Or even worse if there was no world at all.

"Don't care. What do you got?"

He looked at me only for a second. Probably not expecting me to just brush off the beautiful town like nothing. But to be fair, both of us were playing outside of our rules and comfort zones. Neither of us were here on leisurely time.

"You've managed to stir up quite a frenzy in HCLI. Floyd Hekmatyar's scrambling to keep his assets safe and he's tried every method of contact of getting in touch with Koko. No luck so far."

"She knows that they know how to get in touch with her and she'll avoid them like the plague. I got a feeling that her father is finally realizing that his daughter never worked for him on his behalf."

Both of us knew that she needed money to make her project work. Since I threw a wrench in her plans and signaled to HCLI that she's become a company hazard, her source of extra funds had been cut off. She still had a hell of a lot of cash at her own disposal but most of her investments went crumbling down with her building in South Africa. She still has all the parts she needs to put the machine back together, so all she really needs is a spot to do it. But it's still a machine, so it needs suitable enough power to run and a way to connect to her satellites.

"What about Amada and Baburin?" I asked.

"No word on them yet. Sources say that their location in Madagascar was only temporary. They're no longer there."

It was a question to an answer I already knew but I had to ask.

"Shit. Then that just leaves her customer base. And that's gonna take forever."

"Not entirely Damien. Trust is kind of precious to her right now. So I took the liberty of being extra careful and kept my distance from this one. Both of us are acquainted with her and it seems like she's one of the few left that she can trust. Looks like she wanted to cash in on the assistance. Rather sad she brushed me off all those times, I know she's a sparkling conversationalist."

The thoughts of a theater actress started running through my head. Honestly, she had slipped my mind altogether. Bookman was a pro at his job and I knew he had to tread carefully since Hekmatyar was aware that we were hunting her. I just hope that this wouldn't be some kind of trap. There is the possibility that she could have told her about what had been transpiring in the last month.

"Amalia. Has she seen her?"

Bookman knew what I was implying but shook his head no.

"The two of them were making some transactions over the phone. The physical deals were most likely done by Tolokhovsky's people and Koko's bodyguards at a different location. But she would have to have the receipts of what was transpired. If you want your business appear legit then you have to have proof of a multi-million dollar deal or it seems awfully shady. You find where those shipments came from, you find the next clue on tracking her down."

That meant I had to go to Amalia in person and get what I needed. With or without her permission. I couldn't afford to take a burn on this or Hekmatyar would get further ahead of me than I could keep up.

"She's not the type that travels frequently like Koko but she does own several pieces of property in Russia and France. Where is she?"

Bookman then took out a thick envelope from his jacket pocket. I opened it to see my new forged passport and travel documentation. The destination name on the ticket was to Saint-Laurent-du-Var.

"At her private villa in Nice. You leave tonight. My contact in the DGSE will handle the travel arrangements and anything you'll need."

I put the contents in my own jacket pocket. "Sounds good. I'll let you know when I got the next bread crumb."

"Hold on Damien." He said as I was about to stand up and leave.

"What?" I said impatiently.

"Remember me telling you that before you left to come over here that speed was priority?"

"I also remember telling you that I'm not one of your agents and I never will be. Once this is over I'm not getting involved in anyone else's shit ever again."

It was one of the several demands dad and I negotiated with Bookman once this started. One was for me to come out of this as clean as possible. Even though it would mean I'd be struggling the rest of my life returning to a world that had no use for what I could do. I already knew that there was the possibility of imprisonment but what I wanted was to be disassociated from the foreign or domestic affairs of the United States. Or in simpler terms, fade away and forget about the world. Prison seemed kind of beneficial since I would be away from innocent people and I could do them no harm.

But if Hekmatyar got what she wanted, none of what might happen to me if I failed would really matter.

"I'm not arguing against that. I'm saying that it's also necessary that you get moments to relax so that you don't suffer burnout. Espionage is nothing like being in combat or operating search and destroy behind the enemies front lines. It's because there aren't any front lines in this job. Rule number one is the speed in which information is passed along to those who need it. Rule number two is the patience to make sure what you have is the right information. Going in with your bare fists and a gun is only necessary if you have to make an escape."

I can't believe I was being lectured by this shit again. It gets to a certain point where it becomes so repetitive it becomes monotonous nagging. I'm not a fucking kid, I know my limits, I know what matters, I know the difference between being a spy and fighting on the front. Plus there was one thing I wanted to remind him on, I knew he was smarter than that.

"I am not R. I am not doing any of this on your behalf or the US. I'm doing this, because I don't want to live with the fact that I had a hand in the destruction of millions of lives. So my choices are a bit limited."

He stayed silent that time as I stood up to leave. Probably grumbling to himself in his head that I might not be listening to him.

"I know that even if I spend the rest of my life cleansing my soul and praying for redemption, it will never wash away the blood. But as far as Hekmatyar goes…" I then thumbed to the altar. "…history is not too kind to those who play God."

I stepped over him and made my way out of the church.

Well, back to France.

June 2nd 2011 2145 Hours

Nice, France

I was donned in all black once again with the bare minimum of protection tonight. So even if I had my own stuff it wouldn't have mattered. Just a knife and a modified suppressed Walther P99 with just enough ammo to make sure I could defend myself only if necessary. I didn't even get night vision for sneaking around the dark easier. Just a monocular, some lock picks, an emergency radio transponder, and my smartphone to get what I needed.

Security around Amalia's villa seemed relaxed and only two or so lights were on in the windows. It was a much older place fitting the Southern French style of the region and it was part of a neighborhood, not isolated further into the hills like some other houses. So that meant her guards didn't need to be that concerned about an intruder. There wasn't even a wall or fence, just shrubs surrounding the property. During my recon earlier in the day I spotted where she would most likely be, in her office or her bedroom on the second floor.

There was no moon out tonight and it was darker due to the overcast, so after I got across the street I hoped over the shrubs and sprinted to the side of the house. The humid air from the summer temperatures of a city being located next to the sea tried to make me catch my breath. So far was so good and I made my way to the back of the house where the balcony was. But I froze and took cover behind the corner as I heard the voices of Russians. Two of them had stepped outside on the patio to have a cigarette. For a moment I thought that one of them was Viktor but I could tell neither of them was him. So for now, I had to have a little patience.

Checking my watch, just over two minutes had passed. They both put their smokes out under their shoes and went back inside. Now that it was clear, I hopped up on the window banisters and bars and proceeded to make my way up to the balcony. Being in the peak physical condition that I am getting up there wasn't the problem, being quiet was. You can't really hide the sound of a man the size of an NBA player crawling on the outside of your house. As I got to the ledge of the balcony I saw the lights come on, so instead of climbing in over I did my best to hang horizontally.

I had to grit my teeth hard so as not to make a sound and the stress of me holding my own body weight in this position was causing myself to shake. But it looked like someone just wanted to open a window and let some air in.

The light went back off and I made my way over the railing to the door, it was locked. After getting my picks out, I made quick work of the old early twentieth century lock and opened the door slowly to see that I was in Amalia's room. The smell of perfume and lotions used for sleep filled the old room as much as the old furniture, Victorian era at least. Looking around I saw her computer sitting on an old desk, it was the only thing that was totally out of place. I then heard footsteps coming my way and I took cover behind a dresser. In she walked dressed in her white night gown and a blue silk robe. Even with her hair in a bun and without makeup, she looked absolutely breath taking.

But now came the hard part. After waiting for her to get some space from anything that would make noise, I crept up behind her. Sensing something was wrong she turned around the moment I was close. She let out a frightened gasp but I covered her mouth with my gloved hand and wrapped my other arm around her, picking her up off the floor with ease. Her beautiful violet colored eyes full of fear, unknowing of why this was happening. There was no way she had the strength to force herself out of my grip as she struggled effortlessly. So now I had to let her know I wasn't going to hurt her.

"Shhhhhhh." I said gently. Letting her get a good look at my eyes.

Realizing I wasn't going to hurt her and sensing something familiar about me, I then slowly took my hand off her mouth. Not letting her go, I then lifted my balaclava off my head. Her face lit up in shock.

"Damien? What are you doing here!?" She whisper yelled.

"We need to talk. There's a lot going on that you don't know about. I know this may seem sinister, but I'm here on the best of intentions."

Loosening my grip, I put her back down gently, and stood casually. She took a moment to calm down and covered herself with her robe.

"So what is all this? Why are you here?" She asked again.

"Hekmatyar's been lying to both of us."

She looked at me confused for a moment on why I was referring to her in last name only.

June 3rd 2011 0608 Hours

Kiseragi Photochemical Engineering, Osaka, Japan

Hiro Kiseragi got up early to go to his and his father's engineering plant after a light breakfast of vegetables and tofu soup. His home was an uninterrupted walk away from where he worked where it would take fifteen minutes on bad days. Business was good, sales and profits were up, and they were starting to catch the eye of other big name manufactures that wanted to use their products for whatever they were constructing. Today was another average day but he had a call that he was expecting early in the morning. So he was waiting patiently at his desk for her to call. Time zones had to be appropriate sometimes but he knew she almost never strayed from a schedule.

His computer monitor beeped for an incoming call. On it was a woman with her white hair in a ponytail and dressed for sleep.

"Good morning Mr. Kiseragi."

"Good evening to you, Miss Hekmatyar." He said for the appropriate time of day where she was.

During the introductions, he waved his father off in the clean room. That he would be there momentarily.

"I like to apologize for being a bit forward but I need you to change the destination of the regular shipment of nanocrystals, immediately."

"Is everything alright? Did you get the starting pack as ordered?" He asked concerned.

"No I have it and they all work fine. I'm just doing some expansion on my part, nothing got lost." She said calmly.

"Well it's good that you called then. Final stages of construction won't be for another couple of days and it will only take one day to change where you want them sent. That won't be a problem."

"Good to know." She said smiling. "I'm glad business is booming for you. You have no idea how happy I am to know that you and your father have been a big help in my efforts."

"Please Miss Hekmatyar, you're flattering me. Just let me know if you need anything else. It won't matter what time of the day it is."

"I appreciate it Mr. Kiseragi. Give my regards to your father. Good morning."

"Good night." He waved as the call disconnected.

"Musuko! Isoge! Shigoto ga arimashita." His father said appearing in his clean suit with his mask off. Surprising him.

(Son! Hurry up! We got work to do.)

"Otōsan, kikoemasu. Ima okonatteru." He said shutting off his computer.

(I hear you dad. I'm coming.)

2213 Hours

Amalia's Villa

Instead of sitting next to each other as I explained the bizarre hard to comprehend events that were transpiring, I sat on a chair and faced her while she sat on her bed. We spoke quietly in the dark, so as to let her guards know that she was alone. I could only trust her with this information and pray that the next path I took didn't lead into an ambush.

It wasn't easy repeating the worst parts, I had a problem trying to hold back on choking up. Especially with Velmer. But I couldn't afford to hide anything or get hung up on something as petty as a break up like some teenage schoolboy. So I damned my pride for the moment and hope that this had the best outcome. The good thing though about talking to an actress was that she could tell if I was giving her fact or fiction. Her sad expression hadn't changed in quite a while as I sat with my hands clenched and looking at the floor in between my legs.

"Why would she do all of this? What does she hope to gain?" She said confused.

"She thinks that if she can kill enough people then nobody would kill anyone else anymore." I said in subtle rage.

The actress turned arms dealer in front of me was clearly having second thoughts about all the deals she made with Hekmatyar. If word got out of her association with 'Jormungand' when it goes online, there would be reprisals. It wouldn't matter who. No matter how far back into the stone age Hekmatyar would take the planet, human beings have a tendency to not forget about great tragedies. Those that are driven enough by their anger would want that particular story closed. She should consider herself lucky that I was the first one to come to her and at least warn her.

"It's no wonder she was being so passive and ignored me whenever I offered to be a part of her plans. Despite me supplying the tools for war, I never once wanted to be an enabler of it. There are thrills which I consider to not be worth the risk."

I lifted my head up to face her. Glad that she was appealing to her human side and happy that her compassion hadn't faltered. Looking unintentionally, I guess that might have been one reason why her skin was so immaculate for her age. She did tell me when I first met her in the hospital I was in that she didn't want to be swallowed by the immense profits war makes. It would have led her down the path of greed, not knowing it was made out of blood.

"I know that you said you do this for the thrill. A little selfish but at least it's not for money. You don't have a family to support but I'm willing to bet some of the people who work for you do. Not to mention that there are over seven hundred thousand other families that are at risk right now if Hekmatyar gets what she wants. And that's just the drop in the ocean compared to what will happen after that. Not to mention the collapse of the world economy if air traffic disappears in an instant."

I took off one of my gloves and took her hand.

"Amalia, pozhaluysta. Mne nuzhno nayti yeye i ostanovit' yeye. Pomogi mne." I said trying not to sound desperate.

(Amalia, please. I need to find her and stop her. Help me.)

She didn't expect me to ask for anyone's help. I kept learning new things about myself all the time too.

"I don't know if what I have will lead you to her. I just wanted something that could improve the autopilot systems for some of my drones. It wouldn't have anything to do with her computer."

I wouldn't know until I found out for sure.

"I'm not just the reason she's gone into hiding. I'm also the reason why she needs material and capital to push her agenda forward. And she's pushing uphill and against the clock."

I looked at her still begging to trust me, she finally squeezed my hand back. She stood up and then went to her computer to boot it up.

"Whatever you need, take it."

I then took out my phone, plugged in the USB jack and looked through whatever would be useful. She pointed out where I should click to save time. After copying what I needed, I then took a moment to see where the shipment originated.

The source was where I was at not more than a few months ago. The name was familiar as well.

"Kiseragi. That's one of the spots we went to on our trip through Asia." I took a moment to think about the prepared intel from Bookman. "Of course. That's why she's not bothering with protecting her assets in Africa and Europe. She already partnered with all those firms we went to. Shit, except for Faiza I haven't made a dent in her plans yet."

"Firms? You mean these software and hardware manufacturers? Koko would only receive a minor share of the profits they make. Since she already has her computer, why would she need more of whatever they're making?"

"I'll figure that out later."

Amalia was right, I was missing something. But that might come to light for when I find my next clue to finding her. I unhooked my phone and went to the window to see if any guards were down in the yard, either way it was time to go.

"Damien..."

Oh God, why couldn't she just let me leave?

She knew what I would most likely do. I stood at the door and didn't face her. Others telling me how to handle the world ending situation I've bumbled into like a dumbass was starting to become very irritating.

"Amalia, listen to me. I don't got time for this shit. I'm not here to give you some dramatic speech about what's going to happen or trust in me that I'll do the right thing. I'm going to kill Hekmatyar and smash that machine of hers into scrap so that she won't kill a fuck ton of innocent people. I hate her because she used me for her own selfish ends and thought I'd be ok with the idea of mass murder. The people that get a tomorrow will be the only ones who get a happy ending out of all of this."

I put my balaclava back on and opened the balcony door to leave. But then she grabbed my hand.

"Please…don't make this awkward." I said strained.

"Poslushay menya, mal'chik. Ya ne pytayus' pobudit' vas sdelat' chto-nibud'."

(Listen to me, boy. I'm not trying to encourage you to do anything.)

Her stern words didn't earn a response in her native tongue, not in this instance.

"Then what?"

"Only to live no matter what happens in the end." She said as she let go of my hand.

God I'm sick of hearing this.

"Anything else? Because I've heard this crap already and you're in no position to tell me what I need to do in order to win."

I heard a frustrated grunt behind me, then a sigh. She finally realized words won't get to me and if she decided to use action I would just leave before she did anything. I knew what she was trying to do. Her heart was in the right place, but it won't work on a hardened heart like mine.

"You're not listening to me. And I hope I'm still talking to the Damien I know and not a complete stranger."

She walked to my side so that she'd be in my line of sight. I just kept staring out the door.

"Regardless of whether Koko's plan works or not, you need to live without this hatred that's burning inside you. You think you're angry at her but you're not. I can tell the difference between anger and hate easily and you're full of it now. I understand that she made you feel trapped and humiliated. But if you think the damage you've done in the past was bad, the intentional actions you continue to do will be unforgettable and unforgivable. Hatred does not dissipate over time, the one themselves…"

"Does-this-have-a-point!?" I growled at her with my teeth gritting under my mask.

Amalia flinched in fear. She obviously didn't expect me to come at her with such aggression but this was starting to wear thin. She hesitated first but then gave me a look of disappointment after I relaxed a bit.

"I will help you stop Koko. But I will not help a man create a path of slaughter just to stop another one."

"Fine with me."

I'd had enough and leaped over the balcony to hop down to the yard. It was time to get out of France and make my third trip to Japan. As I sprinted across the open yard to get out of the hot zone, Amalia was more than likely making some type of statement to herself. Saying something if she was expecting me to be better or I hope I knew what I was doing or how I turned into something worse. I really did not care. The people I thought I could call family were now nothing more than your garden variety hired thugs. Their leader, was an self-righteous egomaniac who saw the world with a false sense of reality.

I told her once that dumb shit has consequences. Her mistake was turning me back into the old me.

June 6th 2011 1015 Hours

Osaka, Japan

Japan stop over number three, and my chance to really put a hurt on Hekmatyar's plans. I hoped she didn't know how much my progress advanced. This time I'm gonna need some hard evidence on what she had before she moved it out of South Africa. Set in a cut off section of an industrial park was a single floor building. This had to be the spot where she got some of the key parts for her computer, Kiseragi Photochemical Engineering.

"Hmm. Not really that intricate considering it's a production facility for advanced technology. Not like that'll matter by the time I'm done with it."

After this, I figured it be best I head back home and give whatever the hell Kiseragi has to the tech boys or pretty much anyone that Bookman or Dad could trust to figure out how Hekmatyar's computer works.

That and I did need a break from the last week of constant momentum.

There had to be some way I can manipulate her system to either cause it to crash or make it just unusable. Science and technology on this level is a little out of my league but computers are a machine like any other. If somethings blocking the gears it won't work. So if I can find some way to shut down its processing and computational capabilities, other than finding its system core and start target practice, it's just a giant electric paper weight.

Dressed a little more clean and professional with my hair in a ponytail, all I had to do was get in and find where they put the finished products. My support contact dropped me off what I needed this time, just enough tools to get what I needed and if I had to extract information from Kiseragi if he didn't cooperate. Which he most likely wouldn't. Apparently Dad said his DIA contact could get someone that worked on both playing fields over here and would be a big help if I needed it. I didn't. I just hoped he didn't tell him more than what was necessary, but you can't just deliver a briefcase full of explosives without a good reason why.

Even though I was kind of winging it with the language translation application on my phone, the secretary at the front desk spoke good English. After she recomposed herself that I overshadowed her and had to make sure I didn't hit my head on the door when I walked in. From what she and I said during the opening introductions and discussions the owners son and Chief Engineer, Hiro, spoke better English than she did. Good enough since he would need to understand just what the fuck he involved himself with.

"Is he in dear?" I asked.

"Yes sir he is but he'll be rather busy until this afternoon. Are you sure you can wait?"

"It doesn't matter to me."

I then took out one of my "tools" from my suit pocket, a better upgrade than that Walther I had. A H&K Mk 23 that managed to fit subtly against my large form. I was amazed the lady didn't notice any bulge under my coat, but I think she was more concerned at this point on wondering what in the hell was about to happen. Given the look of immense fear on her face.

"Say one damn word and your dead." I then grabbed her wrist hard. "Take me to him right now."

After yanking her out of her chair I kept her in front of me as she "led" me to her boss with my pistol at her spine. She may have kept a calm composure but she was sweating like hell. Batting away questions from other workers and just acting like nothing was wrong. She was at least smart enough to know that if she gave away something, even if it was in Japanese, to someone else and if I noticed a change of look on their faces I would have put a bullet in her back.

We then came across what appeared to be where the goods were made. A secure spot where people couldn't just go in and out on a whim. Better still that there didn't appear to be too many people in the building. I didn't have the luxury of taking hostages and I only needed one man. I motioned to her to stop before she opened the door, taking out the suppressor for the pistol and screwing it on. Nudging her to open it we came into what appeared to be a laboratory that was split into two halves, one for regular research and the other was a clean room.

"Which ones Hiro?" I asked as some of the scientists started to take notice of the rather large elephant, myself, that had entered the room.

She hesitated to answer. Probably either too scared or wanted to save her boss's life. It didn't matter to me since she wasn't useful anymore.

THWACK!

"Have it your way."

After she collapsed to the floor due to the pistol whip to the back of the head, it drew everyone's attention to me. I put one finger to my lips and pointed my sidearm to the nearest worker in white, and it shut them all up quick. I kept my eyes on the lookout for any phones or signals for help. Fortunately this lab seemed pretty secure so hopefully there wouldn't be too much noise.

"Hiro Kiseragi!" I shouted while looking at the unmoving secretary on the floor. "If you value your employees lives you'll make yourself useful and give me what I want."

One Japanese man in the clean room squinted his eyes at me and rushed to the decontamination chamber separating the rooms. He forced the doors open not caring about protocol and came to me tearing off his protective mask. Instead of answering to me he looked to his employee on the floor.

"Look at someone when they're talking to you." I said as I pointed the gun to his chin.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He said calmly but angry at me.

I then set my briefcase down and grabbed him by his suit. "First I want everyone to get into one corner of the room, then tie and gag each other up. All except you. You need to point out to me what I want is the real thing. And if you don't…" I pulled the hammer back on the HK and pointed it at a random scientist. "…I start target practice."

The workers started muttering Japanese in fear, since I was alone I had to make this quick and quiet. I couldn't run the risk of one of them panicking or I would be in trouble. At least Kiseragi did what I told him to do and they started to tie each other up. One of the older ones of the group started to argue with Kiseragi but it looked like he was insisting that they'd go along with whatever was happening. More than likely that was his father since they looked a little similar. I would have to ask since it was his companies family name and apparently he was a bit of tech genius in his own right. So he might have something to do with this as well.

After a few tense minutes of them zip tying themselves together and taping their mouths shut. Hiro stood to face me, ready to get it over with.

"Whatever it is you want just take it and go. Just don't hurt my dad or my employees."

THWEW!

I responded by shooting out a lamp on one of the desks.

The sparks of electricity and the pop from the fractured bulb caused the scientists to cringe back in muffled sounds of fear.

"You are not in the position to tell me what I will and will not do." I then approached him, standing over him with dominance of what power really is. "Now, all the fancy shit you made for Koko Hekmatyar. Blueprints, devices, materials, whatever the hell you made for her. I want it now."

He then formed a confused look on his face when I mentioned her name. He obviously didn't know how to deal with this type of situation before. He didn't know that this was the type of thing that arms dealers dealt with. But he knew I meant business since his secretary still wasn't moving. I did see fluid pooling out of her ears, so even touching her wasn't an option even if he wanted to. It would have worsened the concussion.

"Why do you want what Miss…" I then growled at him when he mentioned her name. He quickly changed his mind when he should know he shouldn't ask questions. "I…I can give you the technical aspects of what she ordered. It's in the clean room computer, but you can't take all of the nanocrystals by yourself. There's too many."

I couldn't just shoot out the windows to make an easier path. That would have made a lot of noise, or set off an alarm, or even be bulletproof. So I had to follow a bare minimum of their protocol for now.

"Nanocrystals? What are they? And what are they for?" I asked in interest pointing to where to go. Keeping an eye on the lab assistants as well. The old man, his father, wasn't taking his eyes off of his son.

"They're…uhh…oh how can I explain this?" He said probably trying to figure out how to put Japanese technical terms in English while trying not to panic. "They're basically semiconductors that are constructed together based on the nano level of size."

As he opened the doors to the clean room, I started to run through whatever type of science I knew of on this scale. I had heard of the concepts of nanotechnology, but they were still way out of being reality. Not to mention that quantum physics isn't a field of study a person just takes. In fact the closest thing I can comprehend on it is from video games and movies. But I knew that they were far from just very tiny machines.

"You mean like energy transference on a microscopic scale?" I said as the decontamination spray made a quick blast. Moistening my business casual clothes.

"Uhh…somewhat. They're basically solar cells. Like what you would see at a solar power plant but they don't have to use just the sun. What I was working on, allowed the adjustable transference of electrical energy between bandgaps. The greater the gap, the higher voltage output." He answered as the doors opened and I told him to move.

Makes sense since her computer is running so many calculations at once. It's gonna need a lot of juice.

As he went to boot up his computer, I took a quick look around the clean room. Like before, science and technology on this scale was a little out of my league. Computers I know were just chips, motherboards, and fans that redistribute heat produced. The objects on the tables looked rather alien if I could put it into words.

"These films and crystals. Which ones are they?" I asked looking down on him, reminding him not to lie.

"All of them are. They are just some other prototypes. They don't need to be just crystals. They can be molded into any shape and be fitted on any inexpensive polymer, ceramic, or metal material." He then stopped typing. "Ok there. Those are the files with what you want."

"Move and turn around."

After he did what I said, tucked my pistol in my waist, took out a flash drive, and started cutting and pasting files.

After a few minutes, that was the end of phase one. Now came phase two.

"That computer was the only spot you stored those files?" I said as I put the flash drive in my shirt breast pocket.

"I swear yes!" He pleaded with his hands up.

I took three seconds to think. "Very well."

THWEW! THWEW! THWEW!

And put three .45 rounds into the hard drive tower as Kiseragi recoiled back.

"Now I know that's not all of your shit." I said pointing to the prototypes. "The finished devices. Where are they?"

"L-L-oading bay. Two rooms down." He said trembling.

"Alright. Five more minutes and I'll be done. You never have to see me again."

I was amazed that his white protection suit didn't turn yellow all of a sudden. As we went out the door separating the rooms, and getting moist again in the process, I mentioned him to hold as I picked up my suitcase.

"Papa, daijōbudayo. Kare wa hoshī mono o motte imasu." I overheard as I took advantage of him being distracted talking to his father.

(It's gonna be fine, dad. He has what he wants.)

As I set it on the desk he looked back at me again, more or less concerned with wondering when this would be over as opposed to what I was doing. Plus his secretary still hadn't moved from her position on the floor. That changed real quick when he saw what I took out of the case.

One remote control C4 demolition charge.

"Get out of your clean suit. I'm gonna need you to point whoever is there or whoever wasn't in the lab to your meeting room." I said as I put the unarmed charge inside my coat, shut the briefcase, and pushed it off the desk. "Move."

He did his best to not look terrified as he led me through the office building to a rather clean looking storage room that held several boxes. But two in particular were wrapped in plastic and had flat rectangular carboard boxes stacked on top of each other. He went right to them. My intuition was spot on.

"Just do what you need to do and go."

"I intend to."

Before anything, I had to get what was finished that was going to her.

Taking my knife, I cut through the plastic and cardboard. Ripping it a part as if tearing open a present, cutting through layers until I came across something held by styrofoam. Some type of clear solid filament about nine inches long, two inches wide, and probably a eighth of an inch thick. I just grabbed a few and stuffed it in my pants pocket. If they were this thin and more than likely fragile, what I had would have been overkill.

It didn't matter to me.

I then took the charge, primed it, and dropped it in between the crates. It was time to leave the building. I looked to the engineer and it looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

"Almost done Mr. Kiseragi. The hard part is over and I need nothing more."

"Are you going to leave now?" He said relaxing a bit.

"Not yet. Since you're more than likely wondering why all this is happening, you deserve an explanation. Follow me to my car."

After taking a calm but quick walk out of the building, we went down the street to where my car was parked. A good twenty or so meters away.

It needed to be, after I took out the detonator.

BOOM!

As Kiseragi shrieked and dove to the ground, the combined blast of two separate charges blew two holes in the buildings roof and shattered the glass of the front windows and doors sending smoke and debris flying everywhere.

I only took out a charge from the briefcase. Two pounds wasn't going to hinder another twenty three on a shared detonation system in that case.

"Papa…" He said as he turned to me on the ground with his eyes full of rage and tears. "ANATA WA MEINU NO MUSUKODESU!"

(Dad…YOU SON OF A BITCH!)

He leaped up trying to deliver a wild haymaker but I just moved out of the way as he stumbled past me. I then kicked him under his jaw and he fell on his back. I did owe him an explanation but it'd have to be quick. Someone had to have heard all of the commotion.

"Why?" He gritted while clutching his jaw in pain.

Standing over him like a dominant predator I just looked at him in pity. The poor bastard didn't realize that this is what happens when you make deals with monsters. The unnecessarily exorbitant amount of money she was paying to him to make those gizmos should have been obvious. Not to mention that it seemed like they were the only thing he was making. The stuff Amalia got from him, from my perspective, seemed inconsequential.

"Ignorance is something that really irritates me. Even more so when fools come up with short term solutions and not think about the long term consequences. Hekmatyar doesn't give a shit about your company OR you. She just wanted what you've been making so she can hurt and kill more innocent people than you can count."

"What!? Koko!? What are you talking about!?"

"Not all weapons are guns, tanks, and bombs. Believe me or don't, I do not care. You and your people gave her the parts for a machine of mass genocide." I decided to make it quick and painless for him as I aimed for his head. "Which means you are just as complicit in this mess as she is."

Fear of the end consumed him. "But why kill everyone else!? Why my father!?"

"The answer is simple. Technology of this scale is too dangerous and too powerful. Which has a tendency to get abused. And you gave it to an angry girl who doesn't like the world because it doesn't suit her reality."

THWEW!

"And she doesn't even know how war is truly waged."

With a clean shot to the head, I stepped over his corpse to get in my car and drive off. Sure someone else will duplicate and figure out this technology further down the road. But hopefully that will be long after Hekmatyar and her dream is crushed and buried. The tech boys back at Langley and maybe DARPA could give me a lead on finding the gaps in Hekmatyar's armor. But for now, I had to get out of Japan and back to the states.

Because after this little signal fire I have to be ready. Hekmatyar will have no choice but to come after me.

1448 Hours

Osaka International Airport

The destruction of Kiseragi's lab had been on the news all day, no surprise. I grabbed the first available flight out of Japan and was lucky enough that customs didn't decide to ask about the fragile objects I had. They assumed it was just some kind of new weird cheap plastic thing that tourists got. I was more concerned if they found my gun, but the old sneaky ways of taking things like that to and from places still worked just fine.

Can this line hurry up so I can get out of here?

"Excuse me sir?" Said a combination of English and Japanese to my left.

I looked and I didn't want to see what I was looking at, two Osaka police officers. I do have a knack for standing out, but as long as they didn't think I was anything else then I was in the clear.

"What's going on?" I said nonchalantly.

"Do you mind if I see your passport sir?" He asked with his hand out.

"You can." I said as I pulled it out of my pocket. "Why for though?"

"Just protocol sir." He said as he took his bulky portable scanner on his hip. "You've probably seen or heard the news?"

The other officer pointed to one of the many TV's as I was waiting in line. Damn story had been played into the ground.

"Man…somebody was scared of the robot apocalypse." I said fainting ignorance but the two officers didn't find it amusing.

"Somebody decided to murder a whole family and blow up their business in cold blood. Not to mention someone executed a man and left him in the street."

Oh fuck.

I kept a straight face but the pit of my stomach hollowed out. I took too much time, someone saw me.

"Is that so? Mmm…someone must have hated them."

"Kōryū no furagu wa arimasen. Shikashi, kare wa setsumei to itchi shite imasu." The one with the scanner said to the other.

(No flags for detention. But he does match the description.)

"Watashitachi wa nani o shimasu ka?" I wish I could understand what they were saying.

(What do we do?)

"Sir? Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?" He said looking to me with suspicion.

Son of a bitch.

"Look officers I'm sorry about whatever that was but I don't know what's going on and I'm about to go home."

"Sir, we insist that you come along with us." The other said tightening his form.

"Well I insist you give me my passport back."

Several patrons in the airport were starting to take notice of the two police officers and the big American. When I heard another older voice behind me. A familiar one at that.

"Kore de jūbundesu. Kare ni sa sete."

(That's enough officers. Let him be.)

I turned around and my eyes widened for a split second. Either this would play in my favor or I had unbelievably shitty luck.

It was Tojo's old boss, Hinoki.

"Anatahadare?" One of the officers asked.

"Hinoki Youske. Jōhōhonbu." He said holding out what appeared to be a ID card.

"Watashi wa Amerika Kokubōshō no kono otoko no goeidesu." He then turned to me with a smile. "I was wondering when you'd finally get here. You kept me waiting."

(I'm this man's escort for the US Defense Department.)

I'd play along for now. "I can't make the lines move any faster." I said shrugging.

"Gomeiwaku o okake shite mōshiwake arimasen. Watashitachi no machigai." The officer said handing my passport back to me.

(Sorry to trouble you sir. Our mistake.)

As they left, I turned back to the old Japanese Ranger.

"Ok seriously. What in the actual hell?" I said to him as they left.

"Now now Damien. Don't act so suspicious. When I first heard of what was really going on from Mr. Carlyle, I jumped on board to help without hesitation. I cannot stand ideally by when the real threat of world-wide destruction is possible."

I did have a twelve hour flight back to Washington to get whatever answers I wanted out of him. But just because that NSA guy Dad kept showing confidence for trusted him, didn't mean I did. He took a neutral approach to Hekmatyar on their first encounter, but his men still shot at us.

"What about your star pupil? I thought you were going to make him a world class spy? Oh wait…if his boss get's what she wants then there ain't gonna be no world anymore." I said sarcastically as he stood next to me in line.

He then formed a look of regret. "He's not my subordinate, student, or anything anymore to me. He chose his path when he decided to side with Koko Hekmatyar in something so sinister it defiles why a spy is supposed to do. Espionage is a dangerous and dirty game Damien, no place for those with weak hearts or minds. But at our cores we want to do our very best to protect our countries. I know I don't need to explain to you that both our nations have some bloody and unpleasant history. But what Tojo is doing, is nothing more than common terrorism."

"Then I should tell you now that no matter what, I will stop Hekmatyar."

He paused before answering. "She wounded you deeply. I think now she realizes what she's done."

June 8th 2011 1130 Hours

Istanbul, Turkey

In the age of digital information, news traveled instantaneously. Once it happened, most people already knew about it. But sometimes it had to be looked up if missed. Koko Hekmatyar had wondered why her shipment of quantum dot nanocrystals did not arrive in Istanbul. From there, they would have been shipped to an assembly area in Kazakhstan. Leading to an old Soviet era rocket base that was now being used to launch civilian satellites into orbit. She wanted a back up in case if her platform in the Solomon Islands was compromised. But now she was racing against the clock. Damien's recent exploits had convinced her that he was determined to put a stop to her plans. No matter how many innocent people got in the way.

"Given some time to analyze and a place to manufacture them. I can make duplicates of Kiseragi's quantum dots."

Koko had started to make sure her best friends transmissions from her new lab were properly encrypted so that she couldn't track her. The only way they could know where each other was, was if they told each other.

"Minami I don't think we will have time anymore to miniaturize or even make a second brain for 'Jormungand.' Not yet anyway. For now I want you to prepare to use it at its testing potential. Like in Cuba, but we will only use it once. Now for the hard part. Damien has found a lead into how 'Jormungand's' constructed. For now we will have to cease our plan's for the second brain and stop him before he gets any further."

"I told you, you should have waited longer before you made any sales."

"It was his fault for that as well Minami. I had to make a risk and somebody talked. But for now I think I have a way in which we won't have to worry about sales. We'll call it a hostile takeover. Call me back in a few hours and I'll explain. I do need to take my mind off of what he's doing now. The bridge between Europe and Asia during the summer time is rather lovely."

"You know I'm always willing to talk. Don't hesitate to talk.

"Caio." She hung up her sat phone and stared at the strong Turkish coffee on her table on her hotel's roof.

Valmet had poured two cups for each other, but she was the only one to drink hers so far. Koko had been wrapped up in her phone and work since she found out that Damien was willing to go so far as blowing up an industrial park in the middle of downtown Osaka. It had now become obvious that Bookman and his father were pulling strings in the CIA and US military to give him the support he needed to fight. She wondered if it was finally time to do what was necessary. They weren't alone on the roof though, Lehm stood at the roof's doorway entrance. He and Valmet shared a glance that they were more than likely about to head back to Asia.

"Well boss? What's the deal?" He asked as he put out his cigarette.

She then took her first sip, tightening her lips. It had cooled considerably but that wasn't the reason why she reacted in the way she did.

"First, this needs more sugar." She said as she took two spoons. "Second, I'm ending this now."

She then picked up her sat phone and called the only other person she could turn to if she truly needed help. It was difficult to do, not because of who she was asking but why she had to do what she must now. Looking across the table to her sister, she wouldn't let her do something that would ruin her in the long run. Both of them knew for sure now, that the man they loved was never coming back.

That meant getting it over with in the least painful way possible.

"Kasper it's me. I'm not beating around the bush. I need your help."