PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE
Chapter 13: Covert Listening
Several days had passed since Sailor Chibi-Moon and Sailor Arsenic Hyena teamed up to defeat the Erisian in Azabu-Juuban. Nothing remarkable had happened since then, which gave them much-needed time to recuperate after so many assaults within the last two weeks. It was approaching the middle of July, so the heat was oppressive and unbearable. Unless people needed to go out, they would stay inside and sit in front of their fans while drinking cold water and watching television. It was one of those unbearably hot days that sapped one's energy and made them too lazy to do anything.
Inuken Midori likewise refused to go outside in this terrible heat. She had the last few days all to herself, which she spent mostly on cram school studies or cleaning her apartment. Now, however, she had shut herself in her bedroom and closed her curtains. Even though the sun was shining, she preferred to turn her desk lamp on for illumination as she opened the drawers beneath her bed and shuffled through her neatly folded clothes. She pulled a few shirts out to empty a particular drawer, and then slid the bottom off to reveal a hidden compartment with several bizarre gadgets tucked inside.
Midori took out these things and placed them on her desk. She opened the small metallic box and keyed in a series of numbers, then put a set of headphones over her ears as the box attempted to connect her to some other network. She fiddled with the receiver due to a lot of static, but she eventually found the right spot to get reasonably clear audio from.
"Can you… occurred… while… Sailor Mercury…?" she heard a man's voice ask. She had to make more adjustments to get better sound quality.
"Nothing much other than one image, King Endymion" a young woman's voice responded.
Indeed, what Midori was listening to was one of several spying devices she had planted within Crystal Palace while she had been there the one time as Sailor Arsenic Hyena. While she had been fleeing from the Sailor Soldiers, she also had the chance to plant some innocuous-looking objects like coins, pens, and tiny insect toys in key locations throughout the castle. These items then formed a network via the box on Midori's desk that she used to switch between lines and listen in on any happenings within Crystal Palace. If she hadn't done that, it would have been incredibly inconvenient for her to discern what the royal guardians were up to or if they had any information about Eris.
At the moment, she heard Sailor Mercury and Crystal Tokyo's king within the computer room. She had just caught the beginning of a discussion between them as they scoured through some data for a few moments.
"There was something that one of the geosynchronous satellites managed to capture shortly before the Erisian's attack on Azabu-Juuban," Mercury reported. "Here, I'll pull it up. Hmm… This should be it. Pay attention to this spot."
After a short pause, Midori heard King Endymion ask, "Is that… a person?"
"They're wearing heavy robes and a mask, but I'm sure it's a person. The Apple of Discord was dropped from this point as well, which leads me to believe that they were responsible for it."
"The quality of the image isn't really that good. It's hard to tell who it is."
"It's possible that it could be Eris in disguise, or perhaps one of Eris' agents. It's clear that they are capable of handling Apples of Discord though. All of the other apples originated from beyond the stratosphere, so that must be their method of sending Erisians to Earth."
Endymion grew more concerned. "This is troubling. They can sneak up on Earth, drop an apple, then leave without much detection. Their base of operations must be beyond this world's reach, yet they can travel back and forth freely."
Mercury suggested, "We can always send up the decommissioned anti-guerilla satellites, but I don't know how much help they will be in capturing these people or finding their base."
"I don't know about the anti-guerilla, but there's always the option of sending a monitoring robot to find and observe their headquarters. Or we could somehow plant a tracer on one of those robed figures and have them lead us to it."
Midori couldn't help but silently scoff at the irony of Endymion's suggestion.
"That sounds like a good idea. Not only will the enemy not suspect it, but we won't cause unnecessary panic among the citizenry. If you'd like, I'll get to work on that," Sailor Mercury said.
"Right. I'll talk to Haruka and the others about them monitoring outside the solar system for anything suspicious."
With that agreement reached, Midori could hear one of them leaving the computer room, their clicking footsteps getting quieter until nothing could be heard. The other person, presumably Mercury, typed away on a digital keyboard, the keys making distinct beeping noises in rapid succession. Midori figured she wouldn't learn anything else useful, so she cut the connection and safely stashed her listening equipment.
She left her darkened bedroom and went to her small kitchen to make dinner for herself. She had plenty to think about after listening in on Endymion and Mercury's discussion, although there wasn't really anything she could do in response as Sailor Arsenic Hyena. She was just as clueless as them regarding where Eris and/or her followers were located. Although she knew that Eris was the prime instigator of these latest events, she didn't know where her headquarters was so she could plan an effective counterattack. The only thing for certain was that it isn't on Earth, so it saved her the trouble of scouring the planet on a fool's errand.
Another thing that bothered her was the person wearing the heavy robes and mask. Unfortunately, when she planted listening devices as Arsenic Hyena, she didn't consider nor had the time to install a hacking program she had brought with her to pluck critical images and data from the castle's computer databanks. If Midori could somehow return to Crystal Palace, she would do just that. However, she couldn't risk returning because Sailors Uranus, Jupiter and Venus had been pursuing her at that time, and the palace would undoubtedly be on high alert. She knew that the Sailor Soldiers were itching to interrogate her fully, rather than get details in bits and pieces like she was doing.
Perhaps if she could take advantage of Chibi-Usa being the princess, Midori could figure out a way to return. But there was also the fact that Chibi-Usa had been explicitly told (in previous conversations she had listened in on) that she was not to tell anyone that she was part of Crystal Tokyo's royalty. Therefore, Chibi-Usa would not want to reveal this to Midori. That option was not feasible for her to pursue.
In the end, she figured that there was nothing she could do about it. Perhaps she would get the chance to meet this mysterious figure and force them to talk. She just had to remain vigilant and fight the Erisians while watching the Sailor Soldiers from the sidelines. Eventually, the enemy would grow tired of this tactic and attempt something more drastic. An impatient enemy acting without a plan was what Midori counted on to gain the advantage.
She finished cooking some noodles and sat down to eat. Her meal was uneventful for about five minutes until she heard her doorbell ring. She got up and peered through the peephole quickly, discovering a familiar blue-haired girl on the other side.
She unlocked the door and opened it, coolly remarking to her guest, "Good afternoon, PallaPalla."
"Good afternoon," the other girl replied in an unusually low tone.
"Is there something you require of me?"
"Hmm… Chibi-Usa told me that you don't like being bothered, but I don't really have a choice here…"
"That may be true when I'm studying, but I am not preoccupied at the moment."
"Then can I ask you a favor?" PallaPalla squeaked timidly.
Midori wasn't sure why she was acting so bashful, but she replied, "Come inside. You sound like you have some dire concerns."
She invited PallaPalla into her apartment. While Midori made tea, PallaPalla explained, "This is a little embarrassing for me to say in front of someone smart like you, but… Well, I did very, very bad in school last year."
"How bad are we talking about?"
"I only super-barely managed to scrape by! I'm awful at everything except gymnastics and art, and I really, really hate studying by myself!"
"So you're requesting me to be your study partner this evening?" Midori assumed.
"No, no, that's not it! I know you're super busy with your cram school and I don't wanna bug you!"
"Then what else could it be? I cannot imagine any other favor than that," Midori wondered as she handed PallaPalla her cup of tea.
She sipped it for a minute, then continued, "You see, I've been going to a friend's house to study with her."
"A friend's house? Do you not have Chibi-Usa and your sisters to form a study group?"
"No way!" PallaPalla waved her hand dismissively. "CereCere and JunJun are pretty smart, but none of us are really kind and patient geniuses like my friend! Besides, none of us are very good at kanji or math. All of us are just getting by even with lots and lots of studying. I'm still having a hard time writing the kanji for 'red', although 'mountain', 'sun' and 'mouth' are really easy."
"Of course they would be," Midori grumbled. "If you couldn't write those by grade two, you would be in real trouble…"
"Anyway!" PallaPalla exclaimed, her cheeks flush with embarrassment. "What I wanted to ask you was to come with me to my friend's house!"
"I see. So you're requesting me to be an escort. Where have Chibi-Usa and the others gone for tonight?"
"They're hanging out at the arcade for the evening, but I have to keep my appointment! It's so tough… I wanna enjoy the summer, but I'm always bogged down like this."
"An 'appointment', you say? What kind of friend would need you to set up an appointment with them?"
"Ah, well…" PallaPalla twiddled her fingers. "It's Dr. Mizuno."