Chapter 8- Revelation
Mirei blinked, and looked up. The room came into focus, and she saw Moonrise standing over her, looking worried.
"You're back! I thought a rabbit got you, but when I checked, everything was clean…" Moonrise trailed off.
"I… I must have blacked out for a minute… I haven't had much sleep the past few days, and I didn't eat much today. I'm OK now." Mirei said as she lifted herself off of the floor. Her head felt thick, and every time she moved, the room started spinning. She sat back down on the floor.
"Relax. I'll have Herald bring you something to eat. What do you like?" Moonrise inquired.
"Oh, I'm fine. I really need to be getting back. Here is your money." Mirei said as she fished around in her case.
"Well, anytime you need some chocolate, you know where to find us. I'm glad to see you back on the scene. Even the hackers are leaving New Hong Kong. This place is going to be a ghost town before you know it." Moonrise said as she extended a hand to help Mirei up off the floor.
Mirei stood unsteadily and shook her head. The day had really been too much for her. She wondered how she would make herself functional for tomorrow. It was almost 5:00 AM, and by the time she made it back to the hotel, she'd probably get less than 30 minutes of sleep.
As Mirei walked back to the Kowloon Hotel, she looked around. The streets were dark and deserted, even though the city should be waking up for the new day. She idly wondered how smart it was to be walking around downtown on her own at such an hour, when she realized she wasn't alone- a solitary figure loomed out of the darkness a few feet ahead of her.
"Oh, great." Mirei thought. "What a fabulous time for the local toughs to put in an appearance. And I'm only a few blocks from the hotel…"
The figure moved closer, and was fully revealed in a pool of light from a nearby streetlamp.
Mirei breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sunny! Thank goodness! I thought you were a mugger. What are you doing out here?" Mirei called as she recognized the figure under the lamp.
Sunny replied as she closed the distance between Mirei and herself. "I could ask you the same question, but I all ready know the answer." Sunny stopped directly in front of Mirei.
"What do you mean?" Mirei asked.
"Cut the crap, Mirei, and I'll do the same. I know you've been to the Golden Lotus. I know you were accessing some quads from the archives. The little game is over. I know what you're up to, and now I have to take you back to Tokyo, to see what they want to do with you." Sunny said as she crossed her arms in front of her. There was no laughter in her eyes.
"What in the hell? What is going on, Sunny? How dare you talk to me like that."
"I'll talk to you any way I please, Mirei. See, I don't actually work for you. I'm on special assignment- I answer to someone far higher on Atlas' food chain than you. My orders were to keep an eye on you- seems like the big dogs think you might try to pull something funny, even after the brainwashing. I thought they were nuts, but now, I have to tend to agree…" Sunny said in an offhand way.
"Do… are you working for Chief Harata? Was this whole trip a setup?" Mirei asked as she shook her head.
Sunny stared at her blankly. "Harata? Hardly. I answer to the Board itself. No, this little trip was a disaster of your own making."
"Are there…others on the team, other spies?" Mirei asked in bewilderment.
Sunny responded in measured tones. "Mirei, I'm not here to hurt you. My orders are just to take you back. All of this speculation- it's really pointless. As far as I know, I'm the only one watching you. If you've been up to other shenanigans, though, I'm sure the Board knows. They have their ways. Come on. I have the shuttle waiting in the alley over there. I took the liberty of packing your bags. We won't be returning to the archives."
"Now would be the time to resist." Mirei thought. "But I'm just so tired. I'm not sure if I could…"
Sunny interrupted Mirei's thoughts.
"Don't get any ideas, Mirei. Your little stunt with the sentries earlier didn't impress me nearly as much as it impressed that imbecile Macus. I know how to handle myself, and I'm armed." Sunny pulled a small pistol out of her pocket. "Come on. I want to get moving."
Mirei acquiesced, and allowed Sunny to guide her to the shuttle. They stepped into a little alley off of the main street. Mirei could see the shuttle about a block down. As they neared the shuttle, a figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Hold it right there, ladies. I'm afraid that's as far as you'll be going this morning." A calm voice rang out.
"I don't have time for this. I've got a gun, asshole! Turn around, and get out of here." Sunny snarled.
"Oh, you do?" the voice asked. The man step forward a little from the shadows. He was rather tall and imposing looking, with a brimmed cap tilted over his face. In a flash, he lunged forward, and grabbed the pistol out of Sunny's hand. "Sorry, hon. It looks like I have the gun now. I'm in a little bit of a hurry myself. I'm going to have to ask you to get into that large trunk over there." He motioned with the gun to his left.
Sunny took a step back, and began to cock her head.
" Don't bother. I'm jamming your implant. You can't call out." He held up a small blinking box. " I'm afraid you're going to have to crawl in there. You can do it the easy way," at this point, he cocked the pistol with his other hand, "or you can do it the hard way. You choose."
Sunny walked over to the trunk. The main trailed her with the gun. She looked around, and concluding there was no good way out, folded herself into the large trunk.
The man placed the blinking box on the top of the trunk, and locked it in one swift motion.
The man bent down and spoke to the trunk. "There is about an hour of air in there. In 3o minutes, the jammer will switch off. I highly advise you call the NHK Special Police Force to let you out. They have a better response time, and the right tools for the job. If you call the local security force, or some buddies of yours, you do so at your own risk." He gave the lid a pat as he stood.
"One down, one to go. OK, little lady- let's get a move on! I've got a second jammer, so calling in the Calvary is still out of the question." The man stepped behind Mirei, and propelled her toward the waiting shuttle with his hand. He opened the rear hatch, and told Mirei to get in. A moment later, Mirei felt the shuttle lift off. Her tired mind raced as she tried to get a handle on the situation. "Crap. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. How do I get myself out of this one? I don't; at least not right now. If this guy is with some local street gang, I'm probably dead. He's just doing this for the fun of it- he'll probably rape me and kill me. If he's triad, I might actually have a chance. He'll be in it for the money, and his boss won't let him kill me until they try to get the ransom. If he's something else- a private contractor or something… I don't know. He seems pretty professional. He could have killed Sunny, but he didn't. He could have popped me pretty easily if he was just after the shuttle. My best bet is to wait until the shuttle lands, and surprise him when he comes to get me."
Mirei looked around the cargo area. It was totally empty. Whatever she did to the man, it was going to have to be with her bare hands. She sighed. He looked pretty big, and she was so tired. Maybe she should try to catch just a little sleep…
In less than a minute, Mirei was curled up on the floor of the shuttle, fast asleep.