3.
The tiny island group known as 'Bamboo Islands' to us - even though it's far too small for any actual bamboo shoots to grow there - consisted of two 'major' islands, about 200 meters squared each, and a cluster of rocks where mostly birds nestled. The cluster had been left alone when the place was transformed in the last century.
The two main islands held a big building each, connected with a footbridge as wide as the islands themselves. On the more eastern island the hotel stood, some 80 stories high with a large restaurant with beautiful views and on the roof a helipad for emergencies. On the western island was the conference center, with wide conference halls and meeting rooms, now turned into Go rooms for the duration of the event. On the roof was a sun deck with a sandwich-bar, that also catered to eastern tastes.
All together they were the glitziest, slickest, most western buildings I'd ever seen. It's so not my kinda place, but for the opportunities of playing high level Go, non-stop for a week, I'd put up with a lot, even room service!
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
On day one the big battle was scheduled; all 1024 players would be playing in two groups, one in the morning slot, the other in the afternoon. Twice 256 games would be played and only 512 players would advance to day two. I had bet a ramen dinner for three against Waya and Isumi; first of us to get knocked out paid. I was determined that it wouldn't be me!
As in the previous years, there was a big bustle before the wall that had the game match-up printouts tacked on it. But once I elbowed myself to the front I could get all the info I wanted. My first opponent was a Chinese fellow called Li, who I'd never heard of, and after I checked my program book with all the bios in it, still didn't know. He was a 'dragon level' player, but all the Chinese players were that, so that was no help.
I spied Ochi, Isumi, Waya, Fuku and Nase on the lists, all matched against Chinese players except Waya who had a Korean and Ochi who had somebody from the West. More interesting were the match-ups for Master T - a Chinese 'dragon' called Zeng Ah - and the by now infamous and mysterious Sun Shun, who was matched against a Korean called Park Dong Yul. I had met Mr. Park the year before, nice older fellow, good mid-level player, better than me too. Poor Mr. Park; Sun would probably obliterate him...
All my friends and I were scheduled for the morning games - ten o'clock start, not too early, thank goodness - and Master T and Mystery Sun were set for the afternoon. The games had a time limit of four hours all together, so 90 minutes of play time per player, plus an over time allowance of no more that 30 minutes per player. Komi was set at five and a half points. The afternoon games would start at 2:30pm promptly, with very few exceptions or extensions allowed. In the case of a no-show, the game would be called after waiting 30 minutes, with the no-show declared the loser. This tournament tolerated no messing about, as the Institute impressed on us younger players throughout the year, while we looked forward to the event.
As a rule the games on the first four days would be held in the biggest convention spaces, day one and the first match of day two would fill all four main halls in the complex. There were exceptions for certain players, like Master T because of his health, and apparently Mystery Sun too. Both had a mark behind their match-up notating that their games would be played in some of the small rooms at the center. I memorized both room numbers, B17 for Master T and E45 for Sun. The spy training hand book recommended memorizing as many names, locations, phone numbers, ID numbers - any numbers! - as you could; the seemingly useless info could become vital at any given moment. And I liked memorizing things, just for sport.
I did take note that Sun was to play away from the crowds, but it didn't surprise me any; the Chinese Go team more often than not kept their best players under wraps. I knew that having such options had been demanded by the Chinese team when this event first started, in fact it was what you would call a 'deal-beaker' for them.
To help out with Master T, Isumi, Waya, Master Shirakawa and myself shared a big suite with Master T and Touya. Being there in numbers wasn't just for convenience, it was also so we could cover for Touya's absences. I swear, that guy was only in our company when he could be seen to be in our company by the non-Japanese people at the tournament. It's like a sixth sense or something that lets him know where to be and when. And I swear I saw him at least once dressed up as a little old cleaning lady in a hallway that had a lot of the suites the Chinese occupied. Well, okay, not swear; I'm just sure it was him. I think.
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
My game against Li Jao was not easy. The games against these 'dragons' never are. It's almost like they are fighting for their lives when playing Go. I had to use every trick in the book, and really the only way I managed to get him was by playing the wildest game you ever saw, and so threw him off his game, creating that chink in his defense that I needed to win. By only a half point. Really, too close a shave for the very first game!
Once I could let go of my focus on the game - I always have to spend some minutes going over what I should have done, knowing full how utterly useless that really is - I looked over at my friends, those that were in this hall anyway, and got a thumbs down from Nase and a thumbs up from Waya. Ochi was there also, but he's not a thumbs kinda guy, so I theatrically looked over to Ochi and then back at Waya, who first gave me hands and shoulders lifted in a 'I dunno.' Then he looked over the crowd that was still seated, most were still analyzing their games, and, apparently having gained some info that way, Waya gave me a thumbs up on Ochi's game. So, me, Waya and Ochi, at least, were going to be playing tomorrow.
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
By the end of the afternoon we knew who else would go through: Master T and Mystery Sun, Touya, Ogata, Isumi and quite a lot of the better Japanese players. I think we lost maybe half of our team, and so did the Koreans, possibly a little more. The West had lost a lot more, but that was not surprising; they simply didn't have enough strong players, because it's really not a Western game. The big winners were the Chinese, they managed to keep 7 out of 10 players, impressive!
The match up for the first game of day two was interesting to say the least. I was matched with a West player by the unpronounceable name of Hagen Knudsen, a yellow haired giant from Denmark. I think that's somewhere in Europe. Master T was matched to a 'dragon' called Ruan, who I had never heard of. Isumi had another West guy, Louis Vallois, also utterly unpronounceable. Urg, can't these people have proper names? Sun was matched with a West player I did know: Duco Ooijer - 'call me Duco, is easier!' - whom I had met at both previous tournaments. Nice guy, reminded me of Master S a bit, played a very good game of Go too, just too bad that he was up against Sun...
Of course the biggest buzz after the afternoon games was had anybody seen Mystery Sun yet? Mr. Park obviously had, but he was Korean, and one of the missions for us spies this tournament was to find out as much as we could about the mystery player. And as early as possible; the Institute wanted a description and, if possible a photograph.
But Sun was really the 'hottest property' at the tournament and the Chinese goons were doing their best to make sure he wasn't seen entering or leaving room E45.
Since Touya and Ogata had had to play the afternoon games, at the same time as Sun, neither had had the opportunity to snoop around E45. Those of our people that did had bungled it and so it was up to one of us to try to talk to Mr. Park to needle him for information.
Mr. Park wasn't easy to pin down, being surrounded by other Koreans all wanting to know what the game - and Sun - had been like. In the end we had to make do with the second - possibly third hand - description I got off Hong Su Yeong, after dinner. Some of the others of the team had gleaned info in a similar manner and later that night we boiled it down to:
Sun Shun, late teens-early twenties. Slightly above average Chinese height, pale complexion, light eyes, unusually long hair worn in a braid, traditional Chinese dress. Doesn't talk during or after a game, but does use proper game play etiquette.
I was surprised to learn Sun was relatively young; these Chinese 'dragons' were usually mid-twenties and older. Maybe he was a prodigy. It would explain his sudden entrance onto the Go scene.
That he wore his hair long and a traditional Chinese outfit was very significant. When Mao was in power in China, in the first part of the last century, he had tried to have the old nobility class massacred but he was stopped by the other great Chinese voice at the time, Dao. Dao persuaded Mao that it would be a waste of resources as the nobility class knew most about running a government and things like that. So instead of killing them all - unfortunately he had already had a lot of them killed, by that time – Mao downgraded them to the lowest class of all, making being called a 'noble' a derogatory term. And since then the Chinese nobility had been made to keep wearing traditional outfits - just of a much lesser quality material - and long hair.
It also explained why the Chinese were keeping Sun separated from everybody else; that is the way all nobles are treated in China. Not much was known about how this works out inside China, it is thought that these nobles were given better lives if they were more useful to the state. I shudder to think how a noble with no real abilities would fare there...
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
Much like the previous InGoTos, our group, with Master T in tow, followed closely by Master Shirakawa, had a lot of fun playing private Go games with whomever crossed our paths, trying to milk as much information as we could while providing a pleasant social environment. Unlike the previous times, we set up a 'base' of operations in the west facing corner of the enormous bar-lounge that was one level lower than the restaurant on the hotel island. We would be having the best view of the magnificent sunsets there, Isumi assured us. Not that I'm big on that but I enjoy a good sunset as much as the next guy.
The idea was that we'd all be there from after dinner until 9:30 and have open invite games, so we'd all get to play outsiders, and show our presence big-time. Then we'd move to the privacy of the suite, without invitees, giving Touya and Ogata a chance to go do big-boy stuff and Master T a chance to get an early night, should he feel the need. The rest of us could then play more games among ourselves and other members of the team. Nase, Fuku and even Ochi showed up that evening and a few more joined.
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
My Second game of the tournament was against the great Dane - sorry, bad pun, couldn't help myself - and 'great' he really was; head and shoulders and a good deal of chest above the others, literally. He was no slouch at Go either; again I was forced to pull out all the stops and I managed to wrangle a one and a half point win. One of the reasons I love competitive play is the high stakes having to go all out against a really good opponent. Possibly the best part was when after the game, this mountain of a man with about a meter of curling yellow hair flowing around his head, shoulders and back - resembling a Western comic book barbarian, only lacking his fur-hide loincloth and enormous wooden club - asked me to join him in a game analysis, in perfect, if overly formal, Japanese!
There wasn't much time for a lengthy analysis, because while he was now out of the tournament, I'd be playing again in just over an hour, so I invited him to come to the 'base' after dinner instead. He looked very happy to agree, especially when I hinted that Master T might be there. I had to run to get a bite to eat before my next game and promised I'd see him later.
I must admit I did a bit of flirting; I'm really a sucker for long blond hair, and I think the Dane responded favorably. With a bit of luck, there could be some bed time action here. If we'd be able to actually find a place with enough privacy for that; last tournament I ended up in a linen closet with a very willing, but much smaller, Korean!
Of course things went a little differently from what I had planned for that evening anyway...
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
In the second day's afternoon games, Sun vs. Tang - also Chinese - was a win for Sun predictably; Master T won his game, as did Touya, Ogata, Ochi and Isumi. I won mine, but Waya lost his and that meant dinner back in Edo was on him, whoopee!
I was just on the way from the sun deck to the walk bridge, heading to my room to go get my sun glasses - I'd found I really needed those with sunshine this bright; no pollution to provide a filter out here in the middle of the ocean - when I was about to get into the just opening side elevator and was momentarily distracted by my friends laughing further down the hall. I had my head turned away from the elevator doors as I entered, muttering 'silly Waya' under my breath when I turned my head back just in time to see I needed to duck immediately or hit an obstruction at head height. I ducked, and I didn't realize that obstruction had been the arm of a huge Chinese goon, until I was well inside the elevator and the doors had already whooshed closed behind me.
The elevators were these modern western style things, all chrome steel and mirrors on every wall, with bright spotlights from above and surprisingly dark for all the fancy lighting. It was big enough to transport 10 people, if they were all close friends, or at least 16 employees from the same company, all suitably trying to look away in a different direction from anybody else. But at that moment with only three occupants, it was just too darn small.
At first I didn't notice the third person in the elevator; the goon was standing nose to nose with me, well more like my forehead to his chest, and he was yelling at me in Chinese. Now, as a good spy I had been trained in understanding and speaking Chinese, however you already know I sucked at too many skills to be allowed to become a real spy, and my inability to learn any significant Chinese was my biggest failure.
He yelled and I just stood there. It was obvious from his body language - at least I had had a passing grade for psychology, even if Master T told me I should keep 'going with my gut' and try to think less - that he wanted my out of there like an hour ago. The yelling was also a big clue. I couldn't understand why he was getting so outrageously upset, his pig-like face had turned completely red; if he would just hit the next floor's button he could very easily evict me when the door would open. But maybe the guy was just too angry to think straight and as the row of floor buttons was behind him and I didn't want antagonize him any further - and he hadn't laid a finger on me yet - I decided to let the elevator finish the ride, as I knew it would stop on the ground floor and the doors would open automatically.
But just when I had made my mind up to stick it out the earth moved and the elevator lurched and tilted and I went down to my knees as I'd been taught in training - when in doubt, hit the deck - and the Chinese guy lost his footing and did this amazing - and quite involuntary - pirouette in mid air, before crashing his bold head in the mirrored wall, creating shower of a thousand million shards of mirrored glass, all raining down in the red emergency light that had come on to replace the normal lights, as the man's body hit the carpeted floor with a thud, the hat that had left the man at the start of the incident settling on the floor beside the man's head.
An alarm started wailing and it wasn't until that moment that I saw the third occupant of the now motionless, if un-level elevator. In the far corner a young Chinese man sat with his knees up to his chest. He was unmistakably Chinese because he was wearing traditional Chinese clothes, even if his face was unusually pale and fine for a China-man. Over his shoulder a super long braid lay, possibly thrown there by the elevator's violent lurch earlier.
My mouth dropped open; it had to be Sun, no question. For a very long moment I looked at him, as I slowly closing my mouth. He looked back at me, his eyes huge and terrified. The wailing alarm suddenly stopped, apparently startling Sun and I could see him shudder, but he never took his eyes off me as I slowly pushed myself to a seating position. And for another very long moment we sat there, me in one corner, Sun in the other corner with the goon lying on his side facing my way, all lit by the that eerie red security light.
After a while I let my eyes wander to the goon, noting that while a drizzle of blood was rolling down his scalp, his chest was moving, and so there wasn't much I could do for him until help - or a basic medi-kit - arrived. The man's eyes were closed and his face slack with the all the hallmarks of being unconscious and possibly suffering head trauma; a concussion, if he's lucky. If he had been a friend of mine I might have worried about things like brain damage, but as it was I was not sorry if the Chinese lost a good goon. I would have minded if he was in danger of dying; we had strict instructions not to cause the death of a Chinese under any circumstances, and most especially not of a Chinese goon. It could cause an international incident involving one of the largest and most menacing powers on earth!
I looked back at Sun and noted the look in his eyes had changed. Fear was still there prominently, but now curiosity had joined it. I was therefore not surprised when Sun spoke.
"Are you here to assassinate me?" he asked. And that did surprise me for two reasons; one was the question itself, the other was that he had said it in Japanese. Haughty Japanese, incredibly old fashioned Japanese, but Japanese none-the-less.
Absentmindedly I lifted my arm so I could scratch the back of my head - a gesture that some of my lovers have said is quite endearing but that always made Ogata growl at me, and not in a nice way either - and halted the movement immediately when I saw the fear return to Sun's eyes. I lowered my arm slowly and said, "Of course not, why would I?"
Sun's face hardened at that and he said, "That's what this elaborate plot is all about, isn't it? To contrive that you and I are alone in this diminutive space?"
I had to blink a few times to get his meaning, and then I blurted, "What plot?"
The harshness left the pale face and a kinda boredom - or was it contempt - took its place. I found that I hated that look instantly and was determined to change it to something - anything - else.
"The plot of this elevator not going down, but up and it not halting at the levels requested, but at the top where you miraculously boarded it. The plot of the elevator now being disabled and Sergeant Yi lying dead between us. And my being now at your mercy. That plot," he said, leaning his head against the wall behind him almost like in defeat.
I found I had to shift my butt just then. Not only was I sitting on bits of the scattered mirror glass, I have always been unable to sit still for long - except at Go games - and if I hadn't thought at the time that my getting to my feet would have scared or at least upset Sun, I would have gotten up and started pacing. As it was I just shifted, causing altogether a lot more racket than I intended with the noise of the mirror bits getting crushed beneath me. Thank god for sturdy pants.
"Look," I started, "I don't know what nonsense they've been telling you, but," I held up my hands, palms out, in open surrender, "I'm not here to do anything to anybody." I exhaled, trying to expel my frustration with the continued look of weariness in Sun's eyes. "Your Sergeant over there isn't dead, at least I don't think dead men breathe and he is definitely still breathing," - oh gag, I was going to start babbling next, not good - I exhaled, looked up at Sun again and continued more slowly, "I know nothing of any plot, so I sure as hell can't have been part of one, now can I?!" I knew I was starting to sound accusatory, a behavior my spy instructor had reprimanded me for again and again; it can make the other person turn hostile.
I kept my eyes on Sun's, trying to convey my sincerity and held my breath.
After almost an eternity I was startled to see a single tear form at the bottom of his right eye and then it slowly ran down his cheek. The moment was shattered when Sun moved his head to hang forward, wrapped his arms around his head and knees and seemed to shrink into himself, not unlike a frightened child. Ah geez.
I rose to my feet slowly, keeping an eye on both the goon and Sun - and trying not to go cross-eyed - and carefully stepped over the still drooling, but strongly breathing goon, the glass loudly crushing under my rubber soles. I picked a spot against the wall not far, but also not too close - the instructor had said such things matter a lot when trying to calm someone - to Sun, brushed my butt with both hands clear of glass and sat down.
Sun hadn't moved, hadn't even lifted his head. I couldn't be sure if the guy was just scared or if something else was going on, but even so I felt for him; what with being a Chinese noble - if the info was all correct - life can't have been very easy for him. My mouth opened before I was finished deciding what would be to most calming thing to say.
"So, how come you speak Japanese?" Me and my big mouth. But it was an interesting question, the Chinese players and staff were famous for not speaking anything but Chinese. Loudly. My ears were still ringing from Sergeant Yi's tirade.
I had rested my head against the wall in exasperation when I realized I had spoken without thinking and from the corner of my right eye I saw Sun's head slowly come up. I rolled my head so I could see better and was pleased to note that the curiosity had come back in the still round eyes.
"Many great books have been written about Weiqi, uh, Go. Many of those are originally in the Japanese language, and many have quality translations. But not all and not all translations are of quality. I desired to know the best quality Go. So I learned by comparing what translation I did have with the originals." Sun said slowly.
"You learned Japanese from Go books, just so you could read more Go books? Geez, you are really into Go," I said. Then I added, after I saw Sun starting to withdraw again, "But that's a good thing, you know, to be that focused."
"It is not so good for my opponents," Sun's voice held a calculating note, as though he had said it to see me react. Much like I'd expect him to do on the Goban where a player would play a stone in an as yet undisputed area, just to see if the other player would follow him there with his next move.
"Ha," I laughed, "you're right at that!" I shifted my body around so I was facing Sun a bit more head on and dropped my legs into a loose tailor fashion pose. I deliberately exposed my front side - the soft parts, as my instructor used to call them - in a show of giving, and expecting to receive, trust.
"Well, all your studying has paid off, you always win," I said, giving him my most winning smile. "I followed all your internet games, and you are terrific!" Hey, a bit of fan-boy flattery always works.
But apparently I said the wrong thing as Sun's face fell. "I don't always win," he said, sounding sad.
I hadn't forgotten that Sun had lost that fist time against Master T on internetGo, but Master T is a terrifyingly strong opponent and it was not like Sun was clobbered by the Master, quite the opposite, it could have gone either way until the very last moves. I told Sun all that and added, "That was a great game, one of the best on record. There is no shame in being second best in that game, really!"
I had hoped my little speech would perk the guy up but it seemed to do the opposite, his face turned even more sad. Then he said something I didn't immediately catch and he put arms around his knees again, pulling in tight and started rocking ever so slightly, side to side. I concentrated on what he had said, using a memory trick of just winding back the sound so my brain could hear it again and I came up with, 'I mustn't lose, ever.'
"Whatcha mean 'you mustn't lose?'" I blurted, startling Sun into looking me straight in the eyes wide-eyed. I saw more tears forming, but I held my breath again, 'cause I had messed up again; I sure didn't want to make him cry!
"If," Sun stopped to swallow, the action dislodging a tear from its spot at the bottom of his left eye, "if I lose," the word wobbled, "there will be punishment."
They punished their players for losing? That was a horrible thought!
"What kind..." I stopped there. I stopped because I knew I wasn't gonna like the answer. Just the fact that Sun was this upset about it, meant it was something mighty bad.
"My sister... my niece..." was as far as Sun got before the dam broke and he started bawling like a baby. Ah, geez.
I gave him some minutes to have a good cry and then, when his head started to lift a bit, I handed him my still folded clean hanky. He nodded once as he accepted it and started to clean his face with it, using it folded like a make-up pad. Once his face was dry he handed it back and I folded it over one more time so the wet part was on the inside before putting it back in my nice dry pants, that were now going to keep on being dry.
"Thank you," Sun said, using one of the most archaic thanking phrases Japanese has.
"No problem," I said. And then we sat for a few minutes in silence, looking at each other under the weird red lighting.
He was actually quite good looking. A feminine face, made more so by the super long hair. Expressive eyes, quite large and surprisingly open. Straight nose, soft mouth, with the red light reflecting off the moist lips.
I don't know who leaned forward first, but suddenly his eyes were very close to mine - and I closed mine automatically - and then his lips were touching mine. They were warm and alive and Sun smelled of cherry blossoms and tears. For a long moment we held the contact but then it ended and I opened my eyes as I sat back upright.
Sun looked at me in shock, one hand covering his mouth, the fingers touching the spot my lips had touched his earlier.
"I should not have done that," he said, sounding breathless.
"I'm glad you did," I countered and smiled.
"No, you don't understand; they mustn't find out! They mustn't!" he insisted.
"Well, I'm sure not going tell them, now am I," I said, the giddy feeling of the soft kiss still tingling through me.
Then Sun rolled his eyes towards the goon and then back to me. Suddenly understanding his worry, I quickly got up, stepped over the goon and checked him over again. Face still lax, drool pile was getting bigger. In a stupidly bold move - I figured if I was wrong and the guy was not out cold, Sun would be in more trouble than I would be with just one angry goon in a small place, urg - I grabbed the guy's ear and twisted it, hard.
Either he was a world class actor with phenomenal pain control or he was truly out cold. I decided, he was still out and told Sun so. I then proceeded to search the man for spy equipment, cussing at myself for not thinking of doing so sooner.
It was commonly known among us spies that the Chinese didn't have a great deal of ultra modern equipment. It was partly a lack of funds – the Chinese economy was doing badly - but also because no nation would supply China with equipment or technical know-how; everybody was much too scared that the Chinese would do something horrible with such knowledge. But unlikely or not, I had to look.
"What are you doing?" Sun asked. I looked over at him while I was still bent over the goon, working through his pockets. I told him.
"He has a recording device. It's in his right inside pocket," Sun whispered his eyes growing bigger with fear again.
Bloody hell! I redoubled my efforts to find it and at last I found a box the size of a cigarette case. I held it up for Sun to see, using my sleeve to stop any fingerprints getting on it. "Is this it?" I whispered. Sun nodded.
I dropped it on the floor and planted my shoe on it. The casing shattered and the thing promptly shorted out, singeing the tape inside. I quickly removed my foot and grabbed my pen from my pocket, using it to move the tiny tape reel onto to the little short circuit fire. Damn Chinese made crap. It created a horrid smoke and Sun and I were both coughing. I darted about me for something to cover the smoking device with when I spied the goon's hat. It did the trick nicely and soon the air cleared.
I looked at Sun and smiled, he gave a very shy smile back, trying to hide it behind his hand. I retook my seat next to Sun and gently took his hand. "It'll be alright now," I said.
He looked at me still a little sad and then asked earnestly, "Please, don't tell anyone about this. Please, for my sister and my niece?"
I wasn't happy about having to promise that, especially because I knew I'd have to break my promise, because I had taken an oath of loyalty to my country. But the thought of his sister and niece suffering sure didn't sit well with me. In the end I promised, I hardly could do anything else.
Sun nodded at me gravely and squeezing my hand he said, "Thank you. We both know we must forget what happened here. We must not ever be seen to be friendly with each other. It must never be known that we care," his voice broke just as my heart did, "for one another."
Sun was right of course, soon the elevator would be fixed and we'd be sworn enemies again. The very thought filled me with dread; how could I let him go? My heart screamed at the injustice.
"I know you're..." I started to say when suddenly there was the horrendously loud sound of metal tearing and the regular light came back on.
I could hear "Hold on, we're coming to get you!" hollered in Japanese somewhere just outside the elevator doors. Quickly I got up and jumped over the goon - giving him a quick glance, still out - sat down and put my finger to my lips and moved my other hand palm down, in a sign that Sun should stay silent and stay put.
The rescue happened really fast, one moment the elevator doors were ripped open and I was pulled away by my arm by two burly Japanese staff members and the next I was back at our suite getting a medical once over from Isumi.
I had had only the one last shared glimpse with Sun before a Chinese goon blocked the view. I shall never forget that look on his face; that of a frightened child abandoned in a dark and dangerous forest.
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
TBC
Don't forget to review!