The man raised a well groomed eyebrow. "Tot? I was thinking of calling you 'Morrigan'."
Nanami silently cursed herself. "Please, come in." She stepped back to allow him room to enter. While he was slipping off his shoes she noticed a slight bulge in his suit jacket. He smiled when he saw her looking.
"It's a 9millimeter pistol."
"Ah." This meant nothing to Nanami. Masafumi-Papa did not allow Schrient to use handguns as bullets could be traced. "Would you like some coffee?"
"No." He said shortly. "Is there a place we could talk?" She nodded and led him down the hall to the living room. "Your home is very modern. And clean."
"I have a maid." She sat down on the leather sofa while he sat on the matching loveseat. He placed the leather briefcase he was carrying on the coffee table between them.
"My name is Siamese. I understand you were recruited by Manx?" His tone changed from almost friendly to business in a matter of moments.
"Yes." She wasn't eager to discuss her recruitment. Somehow he sensed this and moved on.
"You were recruited with the idea that you would engage in non-lethal activities. You have a choice then: you will join the group Hibernia here in Tokyo and act as a non-lethal component to their activities or we have a position open overseas in America." He looked at her over the tops of his glasses. They had square frames and smudge prints on them.
America. America was a scary place, Nanami had been taught. America was the homeland of Brad Crawford and he was the scariest person she had ever met. America was far away from Japan, far away from everything she knew and understood.
"I would suggest staying in Japan. You don't speak English." Siamese didn't explain how he knew this.
If she left Japan, she could find Nagi. The moment she thought that, she gave an involuntary shake of her head. She wanted to find Nagi so they could live together in a big house with a garden and five children, but even she knew that wasn't going to happen. If the boy had wanted to be with her, he would have found her by now.
"I'll stay in Japan." She whispered hoarsely.
He nodded. "Very well. In that case, you will be working with the group Hibernia." The foreign word rolled of his tongue smoothly, indicating he spoke English. He snapped the locks on the briefcase open and pulled out four thin manila folders. He stretched a long jacketed arm and slid them across the table to her. "These are your teammates."
The papers had been made to look like concise medical files. 'Brigit'. Fifteen years old. A picture of a scowling blond girl was included, along with her birthday, weight, height and blood type. No surgeries, allergic to dogs.
"She's young." Tot felt herself go numb. She had been sixteen before Hel had allowed her to participate in a mission.
"She is also a non-lethal component. She is an expert at what she does but Kritiker has deemed her too physically and mentally immature to be sent into combat yet."
"What does she do?"
He gave an odd little smirk. "You'll find out when you meet them."
'Dagda'. Twenty-six. Dark hair that was just beginning to go gray along the sides and dull, tired eyes. Birthday. Weight. Height. Blood type. No surgeries, no allergies. It was like a litany.
'Macha'. Twenty. A blank look framed by short, dark hair. Thin. Small. Had her wisdom teeth removed, allergic to pollen. O+.
Nanami read the last file aloud. "Lugh. Twenty-three years old. October eighteenth. 155 pounds, 5'9'. No surgeries, no allergies. A-." His picture showed an auburn haired young-man with angry green eyes. When she was finished reading she looked up at Siamese. "That's it? It's just these four?"
He nodded. "You'll be expected to move closer to their location. You'll need to be in contact for…"
She cut him off. "What will I be doing?"
The whole apartment went quiet for a moment. Even the outside noise coming from the busy streets of Tokyo seemed to fade into the background and Siamese adjusted his glasses and tie. "Your primary role will be of decoy and bait. You will be granted adequate protection for this."
'Adequate protection.' Nanami knew what that meant. "You said I wouldn't have to kill anybody!" She yelled out, sitting on the edge of the loveseat. "You said…"
"I know what was said and Kritiker will stand by that to the best of its ability. But understand that we can't predict how every situation will play out. You will have a back-up plan in case things go badly." He explained patiently. "In the event that you are compromised, you will always have the option of eliminating yourself."
Nanami had not been expecting that. "You mean suicide?"
"Yes."
She shrugged. "Okay then!"
Siamese blinked, clearly not used to such a nonchalant response on the topic. He adjusted his glasses. "Ehm, moving on. Like I said, your primary function will be decoy and bait. You will also be expected to hand deliver mission reports to the acting head of Kritiker."
"Couldn't we just use the computer to send them?" She asked. She didn't want to be in regular contact with any more of these people than was necessary.
"Kritiker doesn't use e-mail to convey sensitive material. There was a hacking incident in Venezuela that led to the deaths of an entire team. From now on, all reports and sensitive information are to be delivered by hand." He straightened his glasses once again. They weren't as shiny as Crawford's had been.
"While you are a trained assassin, you were on an opposing side and Kritiker has cause to question your loyalty. For that reason, you are considered an agent on probation. Your teammates will submit reports on your performance and you will be under surveillance. Should you do anything to undermine an mission or compromise the identity of your teammates or Kritiker you will be exterminated."
Siamese stood up and began gathering the files back into his briefcase. "We also has cause to question your frame of mind. Should you show signs of mental instability you will be removed from Kritiker and placed in an asylum. Should you show signs of mental instability during a mission, you will be exterminated." He snapped the brass locks on the briefcase shut and looked at the door.
"While we are in public you will refer to me as 'Jake' and I will call you 'Nanami'. At all other times I am Siamese and you are Morrigan. Is this clear?"
Nanami nodded. "Yes." She half-whispered, wishing Rabbi-chan was with her. If he were here he would tell Siamese to go away and leave her alone.
Then she remembered her therapist's words and stood up. "I believe you also wrote that we have an appointment at the Police Headquarters?" She asked, making sure her voice was strong and didn't waiver.
Again she had surprised him. "Yes. In fact I was just about to suggest we get on with that." He went over to the door and slipped on his shoes. She did the same, clumsily fiddling with the ankle strap to her high heels. Then he opened the door for her and she walked through.
Author's notes- Ahhh! So much talking in this chapter! I'm sorry. I promise the next chapter will have a bit more action in it. Things will happen to Nanami, some good, some bad. Other characters from Weiss will show up as well! So please look forward to it. I'll do my best to get it out on time.
Also, go read some of Poco Poco's stuff. I haven't had enough to time to read her stories in full, but I've read snippets and they're good.