Chapter 6: Evening Mansion
16:44 PM (Japan Time), Sunday June the 14th…
"I had luck at the Chip Traders! Mr. Higure even began to check the machine to see if it was broken or something!"
"He sometimes doesn't understand that some people have better luck than others!"
Netto and Saito were talking as they headed back home from Higureya.
"I'll go ahead and check the post mail!"
"OK!"
Saito opened the mailbox and sorted the letters,
He found one which was different given the black envelope and the golden words "Hikari Brothers" written into it using ink.
He turned it around and gasped.
The wax seal had the drawing of red-eyed purple skull and crossbones.
"What the…! What's this letter?" He gasped.
He ran inside, took off his shoes, put on the slippers, and climbed up.
He opened the door in a brusque manner, surprising Netto.
"Look at this!"
"What's this?"
"This doesn't look like a prank letter, for once…"
"Guess it's serious business!"
"Maybe it's a challenge from Ootsuka!"
"Or Minami!"
"Either way, let's show they don't impress us!"
"Delighted!"
Saito opened it and found a computer-written letter inside of it.
"… "Gentlemen. We, the Death Club, will show the extent of our power. We are willing to negotiate the release of some of the Navis that we have, given their lack of compatibility with our prototype "Hyper Mode" system. We shall discuss this during a meeting to be held in the Evening Mansion, which we've rented for this occasion. Naturally, other enlightened persons are also invited, which have far more experience of how to carry out a proper negotiation. There's an adjacent card with the instructions on how to reach the manor. We shall be waiting, and we promise that this is a parliamentary meeting. No conflict shall be sparked tonight regardless of the conclusions of the negotiations, whichever they might be. Yours politely, Duke of Dusk, Executive Director and Founder." … Negotiation…! They want to negotiate the release of some Navis…!" Saito read aloud.
"Sounds like a trap to me, though…" Netto argued.
"I know. But sometimes you must step into it to trigger it…"
The entrance bell rang so Saito headed downstairs and checked out through the peephole.
"Why. It's Akashi. Come in!"
"Sorry for the bother… See, it's about this letter!"
Akashi stepped into the entrance and showed Saito an identical letter.
"You also received it? Come up…"
"OK…"
Akashi took off his shoes and changed to slippers before climbing into the bedroom along with Saito.
Akashi handed over the envelope to Netto, who checked it.
This one read "Mr. Akashi Hiro & Mr. Delta" instead.
"So, whaddya think?"
"I insist it must be a trap…" Delta argued.
"We both agree with that, yet… They could employ some cowardly trick like saying that if we don't come, they'll harm the Navis…"
"Seeing that they're modifying them into freaks to become like Shade Man, wouldn't surprise me!" Delta fumed.
"The letter is beating around the bush, but I think it means to say that someone from the "Committee", most likely Mr. Denpa, will be involved given the hint to someone having more experience to handling negotiations and having experience in the field…" Saito suggested.
Netto's PET rang.
"Speaking of which!"
He patched the call in.
The caller was a man on his early 30s.
He had brown, short and combed hair.
He had reading glasses on, and his eyes' irises were brown.
"It's been a while, gentlemen…"
"Mr. Denpa! Could it be that…?"
"I received a letter from the "Death Club"? Correct. Chief Lezareno and Colonel Talos received them as well…"
"Both us and Akashi have received it, too…"
"The agents did say you looked flustered when checking the post…"
"We suspect it's a trap, sir…"
"We expect no less, either. But we'll have a backup team ready to intervene at a moment's notice, if needed…"
"What about Mr. Zataki?" Akashi asked.
"We received a message from him. He's in Vietnam right now…"
"So, he can't make it on time…"
"The manor is an old place. It doesn't have net-controlled systems…"
"I see. So, it's unlikely that they'll assault us from the Net…"
"Do you think it's Ootsuka or Minami?"
"The possibility exists. We can't tell anything right now…"
"It'd be but baseless speculation…"
"We'll send a drone to scan the area ahead of time, and ready for agents to secure all routes there… If needed, we'll arrange for a chopper too!"
"If it's one of those houses deep in the mountains with few access routes, it's possible that they might try to trap us there…"
"Exactly. We'll take nothing for granted. If they said that they want to hold fair negotiations, they don't have the right to complain to us being over-cautious and wanting to assess the terrain beforehand…"
"I wonder why they bothered to call for us, too…" Akashi wondered.
"Maybe they're interested in knowing more about Mr. Delta…"
"Or me, too… Since most info about me is sketchy… No wonder, since I don't remember much of the stuff before meeting Delta…"
"Maybe they expect to find a weakness to use as blackmail, too…"
"Wouldn't surprise me!"
"Excuse me. I've got a call… Ooyama? What does he want now?"
Akashi's PET beeped and he answered the call.
"What is it, Ooyama? I'm in the middle of an online match, and…"
"Stop stalking my lil bro!"
"Wha? You had a brother?"
"Don't play dumb! "JW" told me you're stalking him day after day!"
"JW? Sheesh! Must be "Jupiter Warrior"! You're being scammed, man! What do you think I am? Some depraved soul?"
"I did tell you, but you wouldn't listen! Guts!"
"A champ's instinct tells me as much!" Dekao grumbled.
"Sure, sure. Go find Tokugawa's buried gold and impress Ms. Sakurai!"
"But of course! Treasure! A man's dream!"
He laughed and ended the call as Akashi sighed, exasperated.
"We'll come retrieve you in a car at 7:30 PM. Since it's a formal occasion, better use etiquette… Come in your school uniforms…"
"Understood, sir…"
"Check Cyber World security, too. Least they find some flaw to exploit!"
"Good idea, sir. We'll do that right away…"
"NETTO~! THE REAL TREASURE HUNTER IS HERE~!" Dekao yelled.
"Sheesh. Guess JW told him some other joke and he believed it!"
Netto sighed and exited into the balcony to see Dekao carrying a shovel.
"I'll find Tokugawa's buried gold before you~!"
"Go ahead! I couldn't care less for some urban legend!"
"Hmpf! Chicken! I'll become the star of the city!"
"Whatever! As if that will help you finish the summer homework!"
"Don't rob me of my dreams! Dream-eater Kabigon!"
"How original! Post that in Twitter!"
"Sure! I'll become Lord Kabigon DX!" He laughed.
He walked away as Netto sighed and closed the door, pulling the curtains.
"Youth nowadays…!" Mr. Denpa sighed.
"He needs someone to bring him back to the real world…!"
"Were it that easy! Sheesh!"
19:28 PM (Japan Time)…
"There they come… A Honda!"
"As expected of the "Committee"… They're always ready!"
The twins and Akashi had been sitting on a bench in front of Higureya.
A black Honda FRV car drove up there and stopped.
The passengers stepped down.
"Good evening, gentlemen…"
"Good evening, Mr. Denpa!"
He wore a plain white shirt, a black necktie, and a brown coat over them.
He had black trousers and brown shoes.
"It's been a while, gentlemen…"
"I think we've met before once or twice, right? You're Chief Lezareno of the Security Department!"
"Indeed…"
This man was on his forties and could be over a meter and ninety tall.
His hair was blonde color and was neatly combed although it had reminiscences of a military haircut given the edges.
He was dressed in a gray trench overcoat, a black sports suit and pants along with brown shoes.
He had sunglasses on, though.
"We've met before. Colonel Talos, Analysis Department…"
This newcomer was on his late forties.
His hair was grey and parts of it fell in the front of the face.
He was missing his left eye as well.
He was dressed in a grey army uniform.
The sleeves and neck were red
He had a distinction on the right side of the uniform, below the shoulder.
"Let us go, gentlemen…"
"Roger…"
The twins and Akashi sat in the rear seats while the adults sat in the front.
Denpa was the driver, Lezareno was in the center and Talos at the left.
"We've run investigations on the mansion! It's usually used for events… The booking payment was done via the Barclays Bank and was totally legit. The name of the client is "Emilio Magnum", but it's an alias…"
"Does the place look ideal for a trap?" Akashi asked.
"Totally. It's on top of a peak and the only communication is a road! There is a wooden bridge crossing an abyss and which is the only way in or out of the area! Tell phones don't work there either given the lack of broadcasting antennas. There is a landline, though!"
"Did you arrange for backup?"
"Obviously, gentlemen. We have sent agents there and checked for any explosive setup on the bridge! One team is waiting on a nearby gas station, and we've set up a hidden camera to control the bridge. Were they to spot it being blown up, they'd notify the chopper we've rented out so that it can come here. Were the chopper to find hostility, then they'll have to contact the riot squad police!" Talos listed.
"It is a chain of events. It's like when programming a game. Go to X spot then, given Y condition trigger Z event. Games always work on a "place-condition-event" mechanic. Cut scenes are triggered by having the two earlier spots being met!"
"This reminds me of a simulation that game that I own… I had to program a set of events, rules and conditions! Believe me, it's not easy job because of the endless combinations you can come up with. The result is worth it!"
"Fascinating!"
"It's like when making a big-scale videogame which takes years because they need to build up the graphics engine and all aspects of it plus having it undergo bug-checking and purging before producing the masters…"
"True, sir!"
"That game is known as Tzar: the Burden of the Crown. Little-know outside of Europe, though. It's by an Eastern European studio and even though it's something of the 1990s it still is enjoyable!"
"I think I'll treat you gentlemen to it one day…"
"That'd be great!"
"By the way. Mr. Ooyama, was it? He was digging behind the shop…"
"Really? Did he hope to find the gold there?" Netto sighed.
"Mr. Higure came out to scold him…"
"Naturally…"
"But they began a competition and began to dig together…"
"Sheesh! Mr. Higure…!" Saito sighed.
"To the point a policeman had to come call for their attention because that was private land, and they didn't have permission to dig there…"
"Naturally. Mr. Higure is only renting the store…"
"And, as a result, both had to fix the mess they made up…"
"Mr. Higure should teach lessons on behavior, not join the prank…"
"Guess he lacks criteria to tell what's a joke and what's real…"
"Guess he'll run into trouble…" Delta sighed.
"Sheesh. Dekao… Do the summer homework! Or go play a game if you're bored and want to do something else!"
"You know him. He's too stubborn for his own good!"
"Of course! He needs a cold shower to snap out of it!"
20:55 PM (Japan Time)…
"Here we are. Evening Mansion. And I see that a butler is waiting there!"
"Good. Let's go!"
The group of six climbed down from the car and looked at the mole of the mansion's front façade.
A set of stone stairs climbed until the porch where the main door was.
The skies around them had started to cloud up and it threatened to rain.
"Follow us..."
The teens walked up the steps after the adults.
The butler was a man on his early 30s.
He brown hair, brown eyes, and was clean shaven.
He wore a typical black butler's outfit.
"Welcome to the Evening Mansion, gentlemen…"
"Is everything ready?" Lezareno asked.
"Correct, sir. If you'd please follow me…" He requested.
He opened the doors and the group looked around the hall.
A main stair led to the first floor and there were some other rooms' doors built on different spots of the hall.
"Over here, please…"
They followed him down a corridor, and he stopped in front of two doors, which he opened.
"If you may…"
The group stepped in and gasped.
"Good evening. I, the Duke of Dusk, greet you, gentlemen. Please take your seats. The negotiations are about to begin…"
Their guest was a man (wearing a black suit with a black tie.
He had white gloves on, too.
He wore a purple hood with two cuts for the eyes which were glowing red.
His voice was distorted by a device.
"Your seats are marked, gentlemen. Mr. Butler. Please bring the aperitifs. You will have to excuse me, but I am fragile of health. I had my own dinner before you did. Do not be surprised if I do not eat in front of your presence and do not take off the mask. I would like to have my right to privacy respected, thank you very much..." The man told them.
The group sat on both sides of the tables arranged in a U-shape.
Their names were drawn with ink in a piece of white cardboard set atop each empty dish.
"Let's see… I go here. Left row's topmost seat. Netto's seat is at my right and Akashi's to his left..." Saito announced.
"I have the seat across. The Chief's seat is to my right and the Colonel's seat is to his right…" Mr. Denpa muttered.
They sat down on their assigned seats and the butler brought some spring rolls with sauce and some bread.
He made a reverence and came out, slowly closing the doors.
"Well then… Let us begin the negotiations. I will list out the names of each Net Navi…" The Count of Dusk announced.
"We'll listen…"
"Aqua Man, Charge Man, Dust Man, Ground Man, Killer Man, Slash Man, Tomahawk Man, Tengu Man… There's also Star Man and Needle Man… They work with a certain Ms. Minami, who's not the legal Operator… Cosmo Man, Cloud Man and Blizzard Man lack an Operator…."
The teens raised their eyebrows slightly but made no comment.
They managed to snatch that scammer duo, too? Saito considered.
Guess they became overconfident and made a blunder! Netto shrugged.
Nevertheless, it's a huge amount of abducted Navis…
True. Didn't expect them to be able to abduct that many!
"Shade Man has been deleted. We have 13 Net Navis in total. We are disposed to negotiate the release of Aqua Man, Charge Man, Dust Man, Ground Man and Tengu Man… Under a single condition…"
"We imagined there'd be…" Chief Lezareno drily replied.
"Disclose the identity of the organization that you call "Common Patterns" to the general public and give all information you have to the authorities. Only then we will release these Net Navis..."
"You order us to publish 40 years of data to the police and to the media? It'd take forever to sort it! Can you imagine how much volume there is? There are some names which don't mean anything anymore given how those persons have passed away over time, yet… That's not something that can be done overnight! Can't we settle on the last 5 years?"
"We agree with that argument. We will be satisfied with seeing enough headlines in the main international media. You have a week. If you want to ensure the safe release of the Net Navis, you shall not actively hunt down our bases of operation or agents. You are in your right to defend yourself while being attacked, though, and we do not mind it if an experiment is deleted or captured. The time limit begins tomorrow at 20:00 PM… Also, a copy of that data must be delivered to us. Details on how and when will be eventually told…" The Duke of Dusk replied.
"Hmmm? This situation reminds me of something! I know! It was that Sweden psychological thriller novel, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, by the late Mr. Stiegg Larson… The Millennium magazine disclosed the existence of a group of conspirators inside of the Sweden SÄPO…"
"I'm surprised that you knew our internal codename for that organization! Nobody outside our organization knows about it! Others call them titles such as "the Conspirers", "the New World Order", "the Establishment" and so on…"
"Hmpf. We had access to an internal document, dated February 2013. That document had a summarized analysis of their scope, connections and purposes were explained…"
"February 2013? Maybe that was the memorandum I wrote for the new Branch Chief in Los Angeles…"
"Correct, Colonel Talos. It had your firm on it plus your own personal seal, which you used so often…"
"Wait a minute. "Used so often"? How could you know that, if you only saw one document?" Talos questioned.
The Duke of Dusk fell silent, yet tension began to build on the room.
The teens had noticed it, too, and were glancing at the figure.
None of them had yet touched the aperitifs, even.
"Someone told us..." The Duke of Dusk finally replied.
"I find that hard to believe. I've gone over all agents operating within Japan and none reported any anomalies… They often operate in pairs to cover for each other…"
"One of your agents had a slip when a middleman invited him to drinks. He happened to know the middle man from his previous job before joining the "Committee"… Agent Mori…"
"Mori? He wasn't around in February 2013. He joined in April 2015!"
"He was in the JSDF and had a clean service record. So, Duke of Dusk? Where did you know that I used my family seal to sign memorandums? And how could you know if I used it "so often" when I only use it like a dozen times in a year? Or did you know I stamped my folders with it, too? No – one but high-ranks officers knew that, and no agents were supposed to know that. So?"
The man fell silent again and tension built up.
"Hmpf. Cat ate your tongue, Mr. Duke of Dusk? Let's at least enjoy these while he reconsiders his nest of lies…"
"A-alright…"
They all ate the spring rolls while a sigh rang out.
"I must have mistaken you for someone else. My apologies…"
"Is that so? Well then. What about Death Shadow?"
"Hmmm? What about them? Are they not in Vietnam?"
"I said DEATH Shadow. Not BLOOD Shadow…"
"It must be some trend by the youngsters…" He shrugged.
"Too bad. Mr. Sponsor told us the truth of this affair…"
"What!? When did you…!?" The man gasped.
"You're not the only ones who can use middlemen!"
"Devil!"
"According to Mr. Sponsor… The "Death Club" is made up by a trio of autonomous Net Navis! Their names are Kurayami (Jupiter Warrior), Kanaya (Venus Warrior) and Death Shadow (Grim Reaper)!"
"What's more! They have no human agents! They're unrelated to either Ootsuka or Minami!"
Talos quickly stood up, ran to the host, and pulled off the hood.
It revealed a black mannequin's head with a speaker built into it, leaving part of the nose and the mouth on its face.
"Hmpf! I knew it! The setup is a copy of episode 219 of Detective Conan! Our "Duke of Dusk" must have a wireless mike and earphone on him!"
"His story was bollocks to begin with… He was trying to gain access to our materials on that organization and sell exclusive scoops to major media! Imitating Deepthroat, the informant of the Watergate Scandal! I'm curious about how they knew about the seal thing, though… As I already argued, that wasn't something anyone would know!"
"Hmmm… Wait. I've got a candidate in mind…" Denpa muttered.
"What do we do now?" Netto asked.
"Don't worry. They must be hiding nearby. Let's catch them before they run away! I want to confirm their true colors…"
Lezareno drew a modified Beretta M92F and checked it.
"It's tranquilizer rounds. We'll have them take a nap…"
"And bring them to the authorities…"
"We're authorized to carry these for self-defense…"
They walked out of the room, with Lezareno taking lead and scouring the corridor while aiming his gun.
"By the way. What exactly is the "Common Patterns"?" Saito asked.
"It's VIPs from over the world who try to use media to influence masses into becoming more simple-minded and lack critical criteria of their own, incentivizing them to become mindless followers, doing their bidding and using them as proof of their argument that "humanity needs to be controlled like they were sheep"…" Talos explained.
"Sheep!?" The teens and Delta gasped.
"That humans do not need to think about anything. Only obey…"
"But that's like turning us into machines!" Akashi growled.
"Exactly. Which is why we've been trying to undermine them for decades, and we've been successful in inciting them to fight each other over leadership of the organization… Of course, they've tried to hit back at us with espionage, sabotage, threats and so on…"
"If they knew that codename, then… Does that mean that this "Duke" fellow is actually one of their spies?" Netto guessed.
"Very likely! We did catch several of them and turn them to the authorities for intrusion and theft… But there were some that managed to run away before we could catch them, too…"
"Man. And here I thought such stories were but fiction!"
"Maybe he's been ordered by his bosses to steal info from you gentlemen, and figure out how much weakness they have?"
"Possible. It can be that, or they could be operating on their own because it's not like they treated their thugs any better…"
"As in that they were use and throw tools?"
"Exactly. Some confess their espionage themselves because they preferred being locked up than being subject to the "mind boost sessions" that they were forced to undergo often…"
"Mind boost…? Guess it's pretty words for what's basically brainwash!"
"Indeed. That madman that was arrested half a year ago acted in a way reminiscent of those fools… Which is why we had suspected a connection, however there was nothing… They were but a foolish imitator of that infamous criminal organization, the "Secret Empire"…"
"Those bloody creeps…!" Netto muttered.
"Creeps, alright. Fiends posing as humans, indeed…"
"Where do we begin? This place is huge!" Akashi argued.
"Hmmm… I instructed the agents to shoot out a flare if they saw someone trying to escape from the area. Given how there's no flare insofar…"
"They must be hiding somewhere and waiting for a chance?"
"There must be a cook hired to make the dinner. Let's try the kitchen!"
"I doubt them having access to things such as stealth camouflage, yet…"
Talos drew his smartphone and interacted with it.
"I've got a radar to detect movements. They can't sneak on us! If they try to come closer, my judo will say "hi"…"
"Amazing! You're a judoka, sir?" Akashi asked.
"Green belt, grade 3… Anyway. Let's move it, gentlemen…"
"The hunt is about to close into the prey…"