Black Project

Mitsuo Katagiri, Japanese Minister of Defence and CEO of the Crisis Control Intelligence agency, viewed the screen one more time, in the lavish Prime Minister's office. He had been ordered to keep the Prime Minister, Hirohito Ifume, updated with any word of progress in his investigation into the disappearance of three confidential files from the CCI's vaults. Over the last month, he had not had anything substantial to follow up on, and the frustration had been mounting up in him. Whoever had stolen the files had not left any traces that could be followed. Same thing applied to the hacker who all but destroyed their security systems the night the files went missing; no substantial leads had come from his investigation into that either. The hacker had been extremely crafty; every address they traced was a dummy, and no other traces of his techniques could be discovered. Katagiri felt that he really didn't need this. Most days he had enough on his plate, especially if Godzilla decided to come to call. Mind you, Godzilla had been quiet lately, making Katagiri wonder if the monster had finally given up without even giving Katagiri the satisfaction of killing the beast.

However, as he viewed the screen another time, he finally started to feel some kind of satisfaction. It looked like their experiments five years ago had given results beyond his wildest imaginings.

"Explain to me," said Ifume, as he viewed the tape with Katagiri. "Just how will this help us learn who sabotaged the CCI's systems and stole the files?" He finished with some scepticism; Katagiri was the best man he could rely on for an emergency like this, but sometimes he had to wonder what went through his mind.

Katagiri paused the tape. The tape had been recovered from the GPN's headquarters, and was dated several years ago, during a G-Chase through Tokyo before the Monster Zero attack. Katagiri had been astounded at the actions of one man inparticular on the tape. The tape was now paused on a frame showing the man clearly, his golden reptillian eyes clearly visible.

"It proves to me," Katagiri said, his look deadly serious, "that our experiment went better than any of us first thought. Subject #3 has developed into a truly remarkable creature, even if that now makes him a threat, especially if he is a contact of Dr. Shinoda."

"How can you possibly know Dr. Shinoda stole the files?" Ifume countered, "You don't have any proof! I know that you two have a history; I hope you're not using this as some excuse to satisfy your grudge!"

Katagiri stood up to his full height. He was quite tall amongst the majority of the Japanese, a good half-foot taller than Ifume anyway.

"I told you, didn't I?" Katagiri stated, almost as if lamenting Ifume's lack of short-term memory. "You remember me telling you what I heard?" He pulled a cassette tape out of his pocket, and stuck into Ifume's cassette player. "Dr. Miyasaka doesn't know I have all calls recorded, even those of high-level employees. Someone in my position has to be careful with these things, in case my own employees, even ones I've known for years, try to betray me. Betraying me is betraying their country."

He pressed play on the cassette player. Instantly, Dr. Miyasaka's voice was recognisable, nervous and scared.

"So..." Miyasaka started, pausing for a while, quite possibly checking that no-one was listening. "What about Alan and the files? Are they safe?"

"I've not heard anything since he left Japan last month," Shinoda's voice spoke. "I can only hope that means he's managed to stay hidden..." At this Shinoda paused, wondering whether or not to mention some delicate subject or other. "I hope he's okay."

"I know..." Miyasaka said, "I'll never forgive myself for getting involved in those experiments in the first place..."

Katagiri then switched the player off. Clearly he figured Ifume had heard enough. It wasn't like there was much else to go on through the rest of the recording anyway.

"You granted me a warrant to search the headquarters of the Godzilla Prediction Network based off of that excerpt," Katagiri said, smugly. "Who are you to say I'm rushing into things prematurely? You want to know who stole those files as much as I do; why else would you have granted me clearance?"

"But you still didn't find any proof!" Ifume said, getting more frustrated, "What we have certainly isn't grounds for arrest for the theft."

"Then obviously he's passed them on to somebody," Katagiri said bluntly. "Perhaps to #3. Why else would he have gone into hiding now, after all these years?"

"All these years..." Ifume said, trying to figure out what Katagiri meant. It quickly dawned on him though, and he felt he understood how deceitful Katagiri really could be. "He's been here in Tokyo the whole time, and you never took action?!"

"I didn't see the point," Katagiri shrugged. "I've been monitoring the G-Chasers' actions for some considerable years now. I have wondered what we could possibly learn from them, to figure out new ways of training the JSDF more effectively in battling Gojira. It was through monitoring the Chasers' Internet activities that I learned of #3's continued existence. He has an email account, and a gallery where he posts photographs he has taken of the monsters. Clearly, he didn't remember what we had done to him in the year 2000; why else would he not be in hiding? So I didn't feel there was any reason to panic. Besides," Katagiri smirked, "Even if he did remember and talk, who would believe him?"

"Yet now, if your suspicions are correct," Ifume countered again, "then Shinoda will have passed the files onto him! #3 will know what we did, and could now go public at any minute!"

"I doubt it," Katagiri said. "To do so would be to admit he himself stole the files, possibly collaborating with hackers to do it. I doubt he'd be so willing to incriminate himself, even if it was for Shinoda's sake. I'm willing to bet either he or Shinoda know the identity of the hacker who disrupted our systems, even though I think the answer to that question is obvious to us both."

"Perhaps," Ifume said, shaking his head. "However, without hard evidence we cannot make a case against the Utah Foundation or their creation. I knew I should've had that monstrosity unplugged the moment I learned of what it truly was..." He hung his head even lower, almost as if ashamed to show his face. "I knew all of this would come back to haunt me. Not just the Mekagojira project, but also G-Synthesis."

G-Synthesis was a name that Katagiri had given the beta experiment with Organiser G-1. The name change had not been officially recorded, but Katagiri and Ifume referred to it as that. It had seemed particularly relevant after the discovery of #3's ability to enter Godzilla's mind.

"I knew keeping those abominations alive would be a bad idea," Ifume continued, his anger gradually overtaking any regret he might have had. "After what you reported to me about their mutations, I should've ordered them terminated there and then. But no; I said keep them alive and see what happens. I can't believe I listened to you."

Katagiri smirked. Ifume trusted his judgement, especially as far as matters of Godzilla were concerned. He was the best commander of all anti-Godzilla efforts that the JSDF had ever had; of course Ifume had to trust his judgement. He still believed the mutants still had some use, though he felt it a pity that #3, by far their most promising subject, may have to be eliminated.

He leaned across Ifume's desk, his face close to the Prime Minister's own.

"Alan Tyler is our country's dirty little secret," he said, in a low, icy voice. "Just like Monster Zero was America's and Britain's, and the exposure of the truth about that monster didn't help their governments one bit. I've read about some of the things that have been happening in those countries since. Anti-government protests, riots in the streets, calls for the governments to stand down... If the full truth about G-Synthesis was revealed, the same would happen to us."

Ifume looked at Katagiri with wide eyes. He had an idea as to what Katagiri wanted, but he was still uncertain.

"Are you blackmailing me?!" he said.

"No," Katagiri said, deathly serious. "I'm stating that, with our knowledge of how to drive back Gojira, people will be looking to us for support should Monster Zero ever return. We cannot defend this country if we are forced to stand down; all because of one scientist who knew too much. Are you really willing to take that risk? I'm a soldier, not a politician; I know when a threat has to be silenced, to eliminate the risk."

Ifume was torn. He didn't want to use men and resources to go off on possible wild goose chases. They didn't have any conclusive proof, outside of the tape recording, and that on its own was not enough. All they had were vague theories and accusations, and Katagiri still seemed willing to play along with them. The man had always used unorthodox methods, but even this was a stretch.

Still, he felt Katagiri had a point. There was an election coming soon, and he didn't want to jeopardise any chances of being re-elected. Besides, from day one he had mistrusted the Mechagodzilla, despite Katagiri's apparent excitement at the machine, and he felt that, even if there was just a slim chance, he could finally shut down the Utah Foundation's operations. First of all, however, they had to get their hands on Dr. Shinoda, and then #3, Alan Tyler, whatever Katagiri called it.

Just then, there was a shrill ringing from Katagiri's mobile. Katagiri answered.

"Katagiri... Really? How long ago was this?... Where are they going?... I see... Thank you... Goodbye."

"What is it?" Ifume asked, as Katagiri hung up. "Any further developments?"

"Seems our dear Dr. Shinoda and his daughter are on their way to Salt Lake City in Utah," Katagiri stated, "I left two of my men outside the distillery to trail him should he leave. So it seems he could be going out there to rejoin with #3. I also find it hard to believe that he's also heading for Kiryuu's home state by mere coincidence."

"Dammit, Katagiri..." Ifume muttered, "Sometimes I fear at the lengths you will go to."

"I will do whatever's necessary to complete my job and protect my country," Katagiri said, his eyes narrowing. "Now, will you or will you not grant me permission to pursue him?"

Ifume could see that there was nothing to be gained from allowing their leads to leave. There was a danger that the information on G-Synthesis - not to mention the Oxygen Destroyer - could go public at any moment, and so far Dr. Shinoda was the only lead they had. He turned back to Katagiri.

"You have permission," he stated, "Find Dr. Shinoda, apprehend him and find out what he knows. Should you locate the whereabouts of subject #3, I want him brought back alive."

"Oh, so you do believe that there is a chance for G-Synthesis to work?" Katagiri asked, with mock surprise.

"Don't misunderstand me," Ifume stated, "I will do anything to ensure that this information is not made public. If the worst comes to the worst, you have permission to use lethal force. Hopefully things won't come to that, though; there's been enough blood spilled in our battles against Gojira."

"As you wish, sir," Katagiri said. He personally felt that, if Tyler did know too much, then he had to be eliminated to keep him quiet. He could see why Ifume would want to keep him alive - out of those who underwent G-Synthesis, #3 was the only subject to show real promise - but he didn't like the idea of risking a repeat of the events of five years ago. Maybe that's what he'd do; eliminate #3, and tell Ifume that there was no other way. It was certainly an option worth exploring.

"We must proceed cautiously," Ifume stated. "If Mekagojira is really involved in this, we must be careful not to alert its attention. I will arrange for a private flight for you and your best men to Salt Lake City. I will ensure that no records of your flight exist on any computer system. Not even Mekagojira will see you coming."

"What of Dr. Miyasaka?" Katagiri asked. He felt Miyasaka could still be a danger, especially after that phone conversation he heard.

"I will keep him under surveillance," Ifume stated. "I will have his mobile tapped. The minute he makes an incriminating move, we'll have him. Now you'd better go. I'll contact you when your flight is arranged."

"Very well," Katagiri said, with a cold smile, "I'll leave now and await your message."

"Katagiri..." Ifume said, then, after a slight pause, he added in a vicious tone, "God help you if you mess this up. If I go down I will take you with me."

Katagiri said nothing. Both of them exchanged silent looks. Finally, as Katagiri left the Prime Minister's office, he felt like he had been insulted.

How dare he even suggest that I will fail?! he thought bitterly. That blowhard wouldn't even be where he is today if it hadn't been for my efforts!

As he walked through the corridors of the Diet building, several people gave acknowledgments to Katagiri, one or two even saluted. Katagiri didn't pay attention to them. He was too busy thinking over how to handle this situation, even as he stepped out of the building into the cool night air.

At last, he would finally have a chance to settle the account between him and Shinoda. He was convinced Shinoda, Tyler and Kiryuu were involved in the CCI raid, Miyasaka too. All of them would go down for what they had done. He wasn't worried about Monster Zero; he was confident the JSDF could deal with him. This, however, was a threat much closer to home; always the most dangerous kinds, as far as he was concerned. He felt it a shame that Kiryuu would have to be shut down if he found evidence pinning him to the CCI raid; Katagiri himself had come up with the idea, and the mech had performed beyond his wildest expectations. In many ways, Katagiri felt that Kiryuu was a lot like him; both were willing to go to any length to achieve their ends. Still, a crime was a crime, and all criminals had to be punished.