Money exchanged hands. Hard currency. The sort of thing very difficult to trace.
"One days' hire in 2 days," the man confirmed in English.
"Just out to the reefs and back," Mei replied. "The snorkelling around there is supposed to be beautiful. Anything to look out for?"
The tour guide shook his head.
"It's pretty safe out there. None of the heavy freighters want to risk hitting the reefs so they steer clear. Maybe the occasional shark. Just use your head and you should be fine."
Mei shook the man's hand before heading back up the pier. The weather was gorgeous today. Brilliant blue skies that reflected the ocean below. A smattering of bubbly pure white clouds high above. Coral City dominated the scenery ahead. The three levels sat one atop another, monorails zoomed around the edges, small drone's carrying parcels between the layers, civilian aircraft alighting from or landing upon landing strips on the third layer. Larger landing strips for commercial or military purposes spread out from the satellite islands. And rising up from the centre of Coral City was the Galaxy Ladder. Easily the most ambitious of civil engineering projects on the planet, the space ladder was the driving force behind much of the economic development of Coral City in the last five years.
"Pity," Mei commiserated without any emotion behind it.
A warm wind, thick with the salty tang of the sea, passed over Mei, whipping her sun dress about. Choppy waves were coaxed up and over the low pier, splashing Mei's sandaled feet before slinking back down. The water felt good, helping relax Mei after her latest round of negotiations. She had spent the day moving about the civilian piers. This was third boat she had booked for the same day. It paid to have multiple backups. Nothing could ever be certain. Especially when the Honkai were concerned. The wind whipped Mei's lose hair to the right. She did nothing to hold it back. The tall woman negotiated her way down the pier back toward the city. It made for quite the sight. She eventually reached dry land, standing and waiting for the next civilian monorail to take her back into the city centre. A small boy bounced up and down beside her, parent holding his hand tightly.
"Is that it?" the child chirped inquisitively.
"Yes. Now hold my hand tight and don't move until I say so."
"Yessm."
Mei favoured the parent with a smile. They chuckled in turn. The monorail soon arrived, doors hissing opening and ejecting travellers at the end of the line. Mei motioned for the parent to get on first before following behind and finding a lone seat. She sat down and gazed out the window. Soon the monorail was on its way, each stop disgorging passengers and taking new ones on. The crowds within the train cycled and shuffled. Tourists. Students in uniform. Office workers. Construction workers for the Galaxy Ladder. A melting pot of humanity from every conceivable country, ethnicity and cultural background. All flowed in and out of the carriage. It was a microcosm of Coral City.
'Pity.'
Mei's stop came up soon enough. She stepped off and made her way down the street. Tall buildings rose up toward the metal sky that was the foundation for the next level. Small parks and playground broke up the rows of living complexes. Mei and Amarant only needed food for two more nights. Which meant one night of cooking and one for leftovers. The woman decided it was time to change things up for their last meal. She took a detour to the grocers, picking up various vegetables, pork, noodles and rice. Some small pudding desserts filled out the shopping bags. Mei paid with cash as always.
The tall woman stepped out of the grocers and into a bubble of conversation. People stood on the sides of the road and gestured. Some whispered words behind hands. Others were more overt in reaction. A trio of women patrolled down the sidewalk, clearly armed and armoured. Two of the women carried blades. The third, likely the leader, rested a lance casually on one shoulder. Her long ashen brown hair spilled down her back, a black beret with silver flowers perched on her head. Pale rose coloured eyes scanned the crowd easily. Mei breathed out and centred herself. Now was not the time to lose her nerve. She walked toward the three Valkyrja and then around them.
"Excuse me."
Mei planted feet firmly on the ground. If things went awry she would send orders to Amarant to abandon their base. They had a second hideaway in case of being located. She could still infiltrate the ME Corp facility if Mei drew Schicksal's attention away.
"Yes?" Mei inquired, looking over her shoulder.
One of the Valkyrja gestured toward Mei's shopping bag.
"Where did you get those pudding?"
"Oh, the small grocer around the corner. They're the only place that stocks them on the ground level."
Mei turned on heel and faced the Valkyrja squad. The woman with the lance nudged her friend with her elbow.
"You'll get fat."
"But they're so tasty."
"An hour on the treadmill for each one."
Anthea stuck her tongue out.
"How about we spar instead, Ana? Five minutes should be enough."
"Ten for the Captain," the other Valkyrja taunted.
Ana and Anthea turned to glare at the girl. She withered under their heated gaze. Anthea turned back to Mei.
"Thanks for that."
"Sure thing. Hey, I know this sounds silly, but are you a Valkyrja?"
The girl inclined her head.
"Anthea, vice-captain of Snow Lotus squad."
"So who is the Captain?"
Anthea gestured with her thumb to the Valkyrja with the lance. The Valkyrja with ashen brown hair shrugged.
"Ana Schariac, Captain of Snow Lotus."
"First time I've ever met a Valkyrja. I hope you find the pudding you are looking for, Anthea. And don't forget to share some with Ana."
Mei waved over her shoulder as she left the squad behind to their fate.
Amarant sat in front of her computer. She sucked in air through her teeth and slouched into the chair. This wasn't as easy as she initially thought. Their timeframe was tight enough. Writing the code necessary to go sifting through the database for what they needed wasn't the trouble. It was decrypting and locating what they needed in less an hour. That was the maximum time she could eek out before security systems would start to raise bothersome queries.
"Tadaima!"
Amarant didn't look up. Her eyes were sore and the glare-proof glasses weren't helping. She sighed and slumped further into her chair.
"I said tadaima."
A shopping bag was plopped stop Amarant's head. The contents shuffled around until they formed a cap-shaped blob.
"Welcome back," Amarant grizzled in English.
The conversation continued in English.
"Trouble?"
"I need to squeeze some more efficiencies out of the code. Unless you want to volunteer sifting through all those records."
"If we haven't any other choice. I don't know if I'll be more effective than you, though."
"Right now, I think a pregnant yak would be more efficient."
"That is certainly not a mental image I thought I would experience today."
"You're welcome."
"I ran into the Snow Lotus squad, headed up by Ana Schariac, earlier."
Amarant sat up so fast as to send the glasses falling off her head.
"You're welcome," Mei taunted back.
"They didn't make you?"
"A tall Asian woman with loose hair in a sundress and sandals with an easy smile and wanting to ask about Valkyrja's is a stark contrast from the Raiden Mei found in any Schicksal database."
"You looked her in the eye."
"Helped her and vice-captain Anthea find some pudding. Waved goodbye too."
The room was silent after that. Mei got to work on dinner. Stir-fry with noodles and a side of rice. Cool pudding for desert along with hand-made lemonade. Amarant retrieved her glasses and continued her work. Mei plated their meals and set them on the cleared table. The last few days had been spent disposing of any evidence. It wasn't necessary. The two operatives however believed in being thorough. There was a small chance that someone could come snooping for them at a later date. Best to cover their tracks. Amarant finally set aside her work and attacked the meal with gusto. Mei was more circumspect, well drilled table-manners shining through. Hashi delicately picked up each piece of meat or vegetable and deposited it in her mouth smoothly.
"I know you can be many things, Raiden," Amarant spoke up, "But this is new to me. You just looked her in the eye and had a chat. We both know what's coming. But you haven't lifted a finger. That's cold on a level even I can admire."
"What would be the point of taking action?"
"Pardon?"
"The Honkai are drawn to civilisation. They are driven to destroy it. What would changing the outcome achieve? Assuming we even can. We know how events are likely to play out. Why should we change anything? If the script is followed, we tailor our actions to suit our needs. If this city was evacuated what happens next? Another city will be decimated instead. One we cannot anticipate nor take action toward. What if Tokyo falls? Hong Kong? Sydney? If everyone leaves Coral City then the likelihood that one of these other commercial, research and industrial hubs is attacked instead increases exponentially."
Mei set down her hashi and gave Amarant a cool look.
"If people are to die then let it be losses that can be calculated. We know that Schicksal evacuate much of the populace before dealing with the Honkai. I will accept known losses over the unknown."
Amarant flashed an impish grin.
"Never thought I'd have more of a conscience than you."
"If you are looking to get a rise out of me do not waste your breath. We both have our goals and for now they align. Who knows where they may diverge in the future?"
"My apologies, Dear Customer. Worry not. The knowledge your father gave us is being put to good use. Two days and we act."
Mei said no more. She collected their empty dishes and cleaned them in the sink. Two days and they would act. Two days until everything would start to change.
'I'll show you, Oto-sama. Fate is not an unbreakable chain. I will tear this world apart and shape a future that nobody envisaged. You gave me everything I needed. Now I will exceed your expectations. Now I will exceed everything Otto and Kevin ever anticipated. This world will bend to me or be burnt to the ground.'
Owl yawned and looked over Coral City. From where he was perched atop one of the commercial buildings on the third level, the lights of the bright city far below were like fireflies. And thrust high above him was the first phase of the Galaxy Ladder cabling. This Era of humanity were quite proud of their meagre accomplishments.
"Not that this all counts for much," Owl said with another bored yawn.
He'd seen what humanity had previously accomplished. Listened for hours as Jackal preened and carried on about the possibilities. But that meant defeating the Honkai. Owl didn't know what Project STIGMA meant. He didn't care. As long as he could get revenge for his family it would be enough. Let everyone else rot for all that it mattered.
That wasn't entirely accurate. Owl reached up and gently gripped the half-heart necklace in his cybernetic hand. A gift and reminder from someone that had given him a second chance. He would repay that favour if ever the opportunity arose. Someone that saved him for no other reason than they could. Owl knew how twisted he was. Not that he considered himself twisted. Just pragmatic. Thus he appreciated what this act of kindness meant. It was a debt he would return. No matter the cost. To himself. To others. To even the person who he owed this debt. It was a dichotomy Owl admitted.
Beneath him was a sea of multicoloured stars. Above was the milky way, silver stars winking and shining in the night sky. Sandwiched between was Owl. Others might have waxed lyrical on such moments. Owl just stretched before lying on his back and scrolling through his holographic interface. A data-sniffer that picked up all manner of useful information and internet traffic. He'd custom built the software from scratch. He didn't trust any other code. Especially that from Jackal. She was bona fide crazy. World Serpent was everything to her. More than everything. Obsessed and crazy to a level that gave Owl shivers. No wonder Hare never bothered to come to the meetings. Listening to the woman rant and rave was a pain. Her contacting them through the shared network was aggravating enough. One nonsensical request after another.
"Crazy as a rabid animal."
Unfortunately, she was smart. Intelligent enough that the Serpent needed her. If she wasn't needed maybe Owl would have gotten rid of her. That sort of crazy was dangerous for anybody's lifespan.
A new thread scrolled across his holographic interface. The Hyperion had been spied flying inland, crossing national borders into China. Outside of the defended population hubs there was nothing but Honkai and devastation. Owl flicked it into his low priority bin. Following the Schicksal rebels wasn't so important. That's what having an infiltration unit was for. They could find out who the replacement leading the St Freya leftovers was. Another dull night for Owl. He was happy to doze off such nights. Maybe something would come up.
- 2 Days until the 5th Impact -