Chapter 8: Operation "Scare"
09:09 AM (Japan Time), Saturday February the 22nd…
"… Hello! Obihiro – kun. Found a girlfriend through that?"
"No, sir. I didn't! Wasn't intending to! Sir!"
"So what did you find?"
"The updates I was expecting, the new manga chapters and all. Those Golden Star guys have stayed off the radar for three consecutive weeks and Ijuuin – kun is starting to get bored with the training as much as we try to make it harder."
"Maybe you want to help a damsel in distress?"
"Hmmm… Where is that person?"
"Let me introduce you to a friend of mine…"
Obihiro had been working on something when Oda barged into the small workspace without knocking, as usual, to start joking with him; Obihiro replied with total dryness before Oda made a suggestion, which he greeted with obvious skepticism.
"Kendouu. Come and say hi."
"Hello. I'm Kendouu Katsuya, a private eye."
"Whoa! A real private eye…!"
"We were pals in the Police Academy but he remained with the normal CID… He quit five years ago and has started a private eye agency which has been largely successful insofar."
Kendouu Katsuya was a man on his forties with thick blackish hair and a thin moustache: his eyes' irises were brown.
He wore a simple grayish suit over a white shirt, a black tie, a pair of grey wool pants and simple shoes.
He appealed as being close to a meter and eighty tall.
"I got a request from a young lady. She works in the DNN as make-up assistant… Someone has been cyber-stalking her and she called me for help, but I'm not very good at computers. The threats have been rising in level and I advised her to change the locks and add safety locks plus an alarm… That's why I came here to ask of good old Oda if he could help me but he then told me you're a crack at computing."
"I am! I'd like to help."
"Perfect! I've got my car and we can be there in about 20 minutes if we leave now."
"By the way, Obihiro – kun. I'll be out because there's something I must take care of. Good luck on finding Uncle Merton's black sheep inside of the cattle~!"
"Oda. Your humor is too weird, I always say."
"Who knows, Kendouu?"
"I give up."
"Everyone does, sir. Join the club, sir."
"I get the irony, Obihiro – kun."
They both headed for the parking, where a simplistic green Toyota car was parked at; they climbed onboard and Kendou turned on the engine.
"The client is named Suzuki Martha – san, aged 18. She lives in a small apartment 20 minutes from here along with her Net Navi, Akemi. We both believe the cyber-stalker is someone of her place of work given how all attempts to trace the direction lead us to the DNN server yet they come up with fake addresses the whole time."
"But there must be a login register and the servers which dispatch the mail must have records of when they dispatched it and from where because you need a while before shutting down an address…"
"I can see you've got some ideas. When you find the man tell Oda and he'll gladly handle the rest of the affair."
The car drove silently across the streets and, after a while, stopped in front of an apartment building; Kendou stopped the car in a nearby parking, and then they walked over to the building; they climbed up the stairs into the 3rd floor, and walked the aisle down three dors until they found an apartment with the name "Suzuki" on its plaque; Kendou rang the bell.
"Coming!"
A girl opened the door; she was her late teens and had long brown hair reaching past her shoulders and up until the waist; her eyes' irises were brown too.
She wore a simple green wool jumper, jeans and white socks plus a pair of teal slippers.
She also sported the arm-strap for a Link PET colored teal brown and yellow and having the Alphabet "A" character colored golden and set inside of a brownish-edged circle as emblem.
"Oh! Kendou – dono. Welcome back, sir."
"Good morning, Suzuki – san. I have brought someone to help us out in this affair." Kendou politely announced.
"Oh? That child…?" She wondered.
"Obihiro Shun. Net Police's Cyber CID."
"N-Net Police's Cyber CID? At your age?"
"I'm very good at computers, so they hired me…"
"Wow. Please come inside! It's unhealthy to stay out there for so long."
"We apologize for the intrusion."
"No, no. Don't mind it, sir. Akemi!"
"You called, Martha – chan?"
Akemi's main body color was teal brown, accompanied by greenish irregular stains across her bodysuit.
Her helmet had the drawing of a flower on the forehead and her eyes' irises were green emerald.
Her forearms and boots had three consecutive greenish rings drawn across them; each ring had some small yellowish stains scattered inside of them at random.
Green hair flowed out from behind her helmet until the shoulders.
"Can you check the inbox?"
"Alright. I'll be right back."
"Come in, please! Do you wish something to eat or a drink?"
"No, thank you."
"Could you brief Obihiro – kun in?"
"Sure. See, about two weeks ago, I started to get emails asking me out for a date and the sender was very… rude. He claimed to be a "conqueror" so I immediately told them that they'd written the wrong address so as to try to shake them off. Instead, he began to insist and started to add threats! Two days ago, he said he'd find out where I lived at and would then "have fun"… I called Kendou – dono and he did suggest me to add an alarm and safety locks."
"I see. Does he sign with an alias?"
"Yes. "Superman"…"
"Sheesh. What a shame to the character. Please leave it to me! If it's a smart-lass wannabe then they're no rival for my computer skills!"
"Alright. Show it to me, boy."
Obihiro sat in front of the computer and took out a pen drive from his jumper's front right pocket, which he plugged into the laptop; he accessed a folder named "email tracing" and selected an application which he executed; he then opened the browser (Mozilla Firefox) and entered the mailbox; a folder labeled "stalking" contained all the mails from the stalker.
"Perfect."
He checked one, and copied and pasted the sender's email address into what seemed to be a new email message recipient, where he wrote something on its body:
"You're in the way. Go to Norway. Batman."
"Sent! This email includes a beacon that traces the path they used and because they must be using the same computer and static IP address inside of the DNN's network, then it can be traced and we'll find out who they are in about 10 minutes… But if the guy is live and sees this he'll reply back and thus will allow the beacon to ride into the return mail so that we can figure out their origin faster…" He grinned.
"Good move." Suzuki looked amused.
PING!
"Oho. From "supermanwillreturn DNN dot ja"… "Batman, you ass-hole! I was first! I'll beat ya in a sumo match! You girlfriend-thief!" … And the static internal IP address is 192 168 22 11… 22 is 2nd floor 2nd department and 11 is the computer per se…"
"2nd floor 2nd department…? Sound setting…?" She wondered.
"User: Kakoku Mango…"
"Kakoku Mango! The rookie soundman who is one of the two in charge of sound during the news broadcastings in which I work as make-up assistant…! I knew he looked too punk and rude to be in that post! Someone must've pulled some strings in return of a favor."
"Let's send this guy's name to Cyber CID…"
"Good! They're out of league."
"Yeah! Batter out!"
"Hum! This guy was accused of violation five years ago and dropped because there weren't enough evidence… But this will be proof enough to detain the guy." Obihiro muttered as he read a report.
"That's why I say the guy must've known compromising info and someone slipped them inside of the DNN in exchange for their silence and maybe accepting their blackmailing. I always was under the impression the guy had too much money despite being a rookie."
"Let the Cyber CID handle that: we'll find out who they were blackmailing." Obihiro unplugged the pen-drive from Suzuki's laptop.
"By the way, sir, regarding…" Suzuki began.
"No, no. Don't worry. I'll forward you my fee, but since it was a small minor thing then I don't intend to ask for too high of a sum. I'm content enough with you being safe, Suzuki – san."
"Thank you, sir. Thank you too, Obihiro – kun."
"It's nothing, miss! I don't like guys like these getting away with bullying on people: they should pick someone of their size."
"We'll be heading back! We don't want to rob you of your time."
"I had some errands to run anyway so… Thank you very much."
"Thanks for the helping hand." Akemi thanked too.
"It's nothing, really. Good-bye."
"Bye-bye!" Obihiro told her.
"Take care!"
Obihiro accidently tripped with a dent on the pavement right in front of the door, and dropped face-first into the ground; he didn't spot how he'd dropped a small ball of chewing gum as he rubbed his nose and both Kendou and Suzuki checked on him.
"Are you alright!? I'm sorry! There's this dent in the pavement which makes people trip from time to time but no – one seems to want to call for someone to fix it… I forgot to warn you!" Suzuki apologized.
"It's nothing, really… This aching will fade out after a while."
"Do you want a handkerchief or…?" Kendou asked.
"No, no. I'm fine, I insist. It's nothing. Don't feel guilty, Suzuki – san, really… This could happen to anyone!"
"Alright, if you say so… Take care!"
"Let's go, sir. I'm going back on feet because I wish to walk for a while, so… I'm glad to have met you, sir."
"It's nothing. See you around."
Both split ways; Obihiro distractedly looked upwards to see Suzuki coming out, carrying her handbag; she locked the flat and headed for the street in the opposite direction Obihiro was walking; he searched for something on his pockets, which turned out to be a radio receiver; he placed one earphone on his right ear while he turned it on, and then searched for something else.
Now… Where did I leave the miniature microphone with the GPS tracker, which I had designed and wanted to test out…? I can hear its sound over the receiver… This rhythmic… Walking…? Crap! I must've dropped it when I tripped and Suzuki – san must've stepped over it, thus getting stuck to her shoe's soil…! I should try to catch up with her and get it back… How silly of me, really!
He began to run up the street and spotted Suzuki's figure several tens of meters on ahead; she entered an underground parking next.
She must have a bike…
"… Alright. Time to report… Turn on the flute, Akemi."
"OK! Flute: on."
Flute? Is that their way of saying they've opened a communications channel with someone?
"… Me." She announced.
"Input password…" A man's voice replied.
Huh? This voice… I feel like I know it from somewhere! However, I can't remember who it is right now…
"… "Hitherto shall thou come but no further." … Job 38:11."
"Well said. Second password check." The man commanded.
"What is in the middle of "Dark" and "Light"...? …"Shadow"…"
"Both passwords OK. Did you find that "Superman" guy or do you need a hand, Suzuki – san?"
"No. I got help from Obihiro – kun of the Net Police's Cyber CID! Kendou – dono is friends with a gentleman named Oda."
"Superintendent Oda and Obihiro! Interesting! So? Who was that guy, the section chief?"
"A punk soundman who I believe was there because he was blackmailing someone, one of the big fishes… Kage – kun."
Kage – kun? Wait a min! Kage Miquel, does she mean? By all the…! She's a member of "Golden Star" then!
"Typical! Anyway… We meet at 10:15 AM in the usual spot. Please make sure nobody is trailing you, Suzuki – san. I'm sorry if I sounded rude a moment ago."
"Don't mind it! We're colleagues, after all."
"Thank you. I'm off the flute."
I need someone with a car! Oh! I know! Hikari – hakase will do! I'll call him now and he can pick me up…
"Hello there, Obihiro – kun. What's up?"
"Sir! I found a member of "Golden Star" and I need you to drive me so that we can follow them, sir! Please meet me next to Enishida Parking Garage!"
"What!? Count on me. I'll be there ASAP."
Obihiro witnessed Suzuki, riding on a bike, leaving the parking; he took out an iPod Touch 3 from his pocket and accessed an app, which displayed a city map and a red blinking spot, which was moving; he began to impatiently pace around until he heard the horn of a car.
"Whoa! Faster than what I thought!"
Yuuichirou's car pulled up, so Obihiro jumped inside and fastened the seat belt.
"Name: Suzuki Martha, 18. Make-up assistant at the DNN… Net Navi: Akemi…" He summed up.
"How did you figure it out?"
"Superintendent Oda introduced me to a private eye friend who'd been approached by her because she was cyber-stalked. I solved the issue, but dropped a microphone and GPS tracer inside of a chewing gum ball, and she accidentally stepped over it. I heard her call Kage Miquel and thus got my confirmation. She's moving NNW and is 2 kilometers from here!"
"Alright. Let's figure out where they meet and then let's call for the Cyber CID to try to seize information or hints."
"Wait a minute, sir… I'm picking up voices…"
He disconnected the earphones from the receiver, and turned on the speakers.
"…Hello! Akemi – san. Would you mind going out with me on a date to the cinema?" Beta X's voice asked with some amusement.
"Well, I won't say no… Yet… Are you trying to escape Sandra – san's teasing behavior?" Akemi asked back.
"You could say so. I also need that to escape from that other girl… She's starting to accuse me of ditching her even though we'd never said we were a couple…" Beta X sighed.
"Oh, I know. She's the jealous type. Andy – kun is somewhat dull when it comes to this. He barely says anything but "good morning" when we meet which is often given how we both are part of Vice President Noir's department…" Akemi muttered aloud.
"Vice President Noir…? It's gotta be some code-name…" Obihiro muttered as he looked at the map screen.
"In contrast to VP Noir, President Hades is always very direct in the sense that he asks for our direct opinion and is always open to suggestions and ideas. Slur – sama lacks… how should I call it… social instinct… despite that Her Grace has a brilliant mind when it comes to battling or complex programs… President Hades always speaks like he thinks he's abusing of her will and Her Grace is always amused by that…" Beta X exposed.
"President Hades… Vice President Noir… Curious: both are associated with "death"…" Yuuichirou muttered as he drove.
"We're reaching the rendezvous spot…" Akemi commented.
"True." Beta X confirmed.
Obihiro zoomed on the map; the red dot turned right and vanished from the map altogether; Obihiro cursed and inputted some commands.
"An underground parking…! Luckily, the radio feed still comes out in a normal manner… We should try to get close but not too close either: let's say 25 meters from there." Obihiro suggested.
"Alright."
"I hear a car's engine… I guess it's the black Toyota that ran away from Akihara City Hotel… I'd stake my beard on it, even."
"Welcome, Suzuki – san. It's been a while, fair lady." Kage's voice rang out with some dryness to it.
"Don't be so dry, Kage – kun. Let's go over the details of Operation "Scare", shall we?" Suzuki replied.
"Today's gonna be an exciting day, yessir."
"You stay quiet, Zarashe." He sentenced.
"Man. Always acting as if you were the CO… When do I get to shine? All I've been able to do these 3 weeks is bust morons and wannabes!"
"Got any complains? Tell them to President Hades."
"Sheesh! I don't want to sound like a spoiled brat!"
"By the way, Kage – kun… Will you stop aiming at me from behind the door with that Beretta M92F already?"
"My bad. I'm wary of who comes in and out."
"As laid out in the schedule, I will be in the DNN's team and use my position to draw Mr. Interloper to Point S. That's where those two come in and… Where are they? I thought we were all meeting here?"
"They gotta be about to arrive, I'd say… They called five minutes ago saying they were close by…" Kage shrugged.
"… 25 meters from the spot… What do we do?"
"I'll go down and check the surroundings. Huh? Is that…?"
Obihiro heard someone knocking on the window, so he looked up to see Enzan standing outside, surprised; Obihiro lowered the window, too.
"Ijuuin – kun! What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. We're in the midst of a Cyber CID field mission… Tracking "Golden Star"…" He announced.
"What! So you knew that she was one of them?"
"… "The media are anarchy's right arm"… We assumed that eventually they'd want to use the media… We discreetly investigated young people who'd been hired… After looking at many profiles, Meijin remarked that her PET had a golden Alphabet letter, similar to Zarashe. We thought it was possible that they all used golden letters as emblem… We've been remotely observing her movements ever since five days ago! She hadn't contacted anyone nor did anyone contact her at all until we saw you and that private eye go in and out."
"Wow! To sum it up…. She stepped into a microphone and transmitter I carry inside of chewing gum! I'm hearing into their talk! They're talking about some DNN program, "Mr. Interloper" and Operation "Scare" whatever they mean." Obihiro explained.
"Kage is there?"
"Yeah. The black Toyota that ran out of Akihara City Hotel could be there too… And they're expecting another two members."
"Enzan – sama, sir… Look, sir, a scarlet Subaru, sir…"
Enzan and Obihiro looked at the parking entrance as a scarlet Subar entered; both he and Obihiro ran towards there, snuck inside through one of the doors, and hid next to a row of parked cars; Enzan aimed the PET at a CCTV camera.
"Plug – In. Blues, Transmission."
The imagery by the camera showed the scarlet Subaru parking to Suzuki's bike left and the driver's window (foreign car, driving wheel in the left side) lowered.
"Hey~! Suzuki! Kage! Zarashe! We've come! I've been waiting all week long for this. Tozukana Joanne the Vile Sniper came!" A girl's voice rang out with obvious amusement.
"Jeez. That of "Vile Sniper" is silly, Joanne – chan!"
Tozukana was around Suzuki's age; her hair was tinted black even though some patches of brown hair was visible beneath it, and her eyes' irises were brown.
She was wearing a black leather cat suit, which covered her body starting slightly beneath the shoulders.
Her Link PET was colored purple and black; its symbol was the Alphabet "L" character surrounded by a golden edge.
"Come on, Lily! Be more imaginative!"
"Jeez. I'm not."
Lily was a Navi who had a Goth look to her given her use of heels, two metallic loose bracelets in her forearms, and a collar with spikes protruding from it around her neck.
Her helmet's forehead had the word "Goth" engraved on it using scarlet red letters, and her eyes' irises were scarlet red too.
The bodysuit's predominant color was black with some patches of white scattered like stains there and there.
Tozukana and Lily… It's gotta be the "Ms. Sniper"…!
"Hey there. Felix Leiter. Say something."
"… My surname isn't… Leiter… Tozukana… It's Qong… You know it…"
"Jeez. There you go with your dryness and dullness."
"My bad."
"Say, Tom… Are you ready for the job?"
"Hmpf… I obviously am… I'm no amateur or rookie!"
There was a teen on the passenger seat; he had short brown hair, cut into a military haircut, but largely hidden by a grayish cap with no logos on it whatsoever; his eyes hid behind a pair of sunglasses too.
He wore a sleeveless camouflage-colored vest over a black long-sleeved shirt plus a pair of jeans.
His gray and brown PET had the golden-colored Alphabet "T" character drawn as emblem surrounded by a black edge.
"That's the Tom I know."
Tom was a Net Navi looked like an assassin to him given his cold scarlet red irises, and the total lack of emotion on his face.
Other traits included self-inflicted cuts over his upper chest, which looked like a count of victims; 17 cuts were carved there.
His main bodysuit color was gray, combined with red armlets around the ankles and wrists; his hands had an extra layer of "skin" colored brown and he sported a utility belt around the waist set with knives.
Lastly, he had a pair of binoculars protected by their fund hanging from his neck using a brown leather band.
"Alright. Should we move out?" A voice asked.
"What the fuck! The bitch! Ikada~!"
Tozukana climbed down from the car and ran towards the rear left side of the black Toyota, which Zarashe was driving; Ikada was sitting on the middle rear seat; Tozukana began to bang the window with her right fist.
"What's this bitch doing here? Don't tell me this bitch is supposed to take part in the strategy too! This screen time thief!"
"Tozukana – san. You are not acting rationally. Please return to your vehicle." Kage drily told her.
"Miquel! You fucker! What does this mean!?"
"Simply means that President Hades thought her disguising abilities could come in handy if we need to resort to the backup plan…"
"Backup plan? Are you screwing me!? Are you saying I'm gonna fail!?"
"No. One always has a backup plan. It may not be necessary if you make a good shot. Those are the President's words."
"Hmpf! I will land the shot! I've got an aunt married to a JSDF officer for something, and she was intelligent enough to show me the art of sniping! I know we can only shoot tranquilizer bullets but I don't care!"
"Maybe you desire to complain to both President Hades and Vice President Noir?" Kage offered.
"Fuck, no."
She walked back to her car and climbed inside before slamming the door shut and impatiently tapping the driving wheel; Qong didn't react either.
"You two go on ahead and set up the camp. Remember Rule 14! No in-fighting beyond words."
"When did ya become the Boss?" Tozukana complained.
"I'm just making a suggestion. Do you want to complain about that to President Hades and Vice President Noir too? Call them if you want! There's still time before 11:45 AM. It's just 10:38 AM."
"Hell no. I don't wanna antagonize our bosses. If I see that bitch trying to leech ya out then I'm gonna put a bullet on the back of your heads for real! You dirty womanizer!" She threatened.
"This is the 27th time she's said that since August." Andy whispered.
"Hmpf. No need to pay heed to jealousy, anyway."
"Let's go, Felix!"
"Roger… Mission begins…"
The scarlet Subaru roared and ran out of the garage; Ikada shrugged and hummed a tune.
"Let's get moving towards Kiraaha Park. Boys and girls."
"Handle the driving, Zarashe. Remember to drive normally. No running!"
"Roger that, Capt'n. We'll get there in a breeze!"
"Sheesh. Surprised VP Noir hasn't scolded Ms. Sniper for threatening!"
"Oh, no! He did. Many times. Unfortunately, it'd seem it falls on deaf ears." Andy grumbled.
"Let's meet at Kiraaha Park! The aim of the strategy is to "scare" Mr. Interloper by showing that there forces interested in him not making it to the post he's running for… Ciao."
"Later, guys and gals."
Suzuki's bike drove away; the black Toyota turned on its engine and silently came out, too; Enzan pressed the button on his PET and retrieved Blues before both returned to Yuuichirou's car; Obihiro had left the receiver there so that he could hear the talk.
"This is turning complicated. They seem to want to scare someone of taking a post… Do you know anything, Ijuuin – kun?"
"Yes, sir. The DNN is interviewing a former PSB officer: Sorodo Tantokan – dono who will be the successor to the Chief of the Net Police by appointment of the current Chief, who is going to retire."
"I see. So you think they might fear him, even?"
"Yes, sir. His PSB connections and instinct might be something they are afraid of, hence why they would go and try to scare him off. Another reason why we're trying to get a hold of them…"
"Where's Kiraaha Park at? The name sounds like "Killer Wave"… It sounds like the Kamehameha of Dragon Ball, even…"
"I don't know. I think the DNN won't tell us so openly, either. We don't want to call the team and say we're Net Police's Cyber CID…"
"…because they might pull off and we'd lose our chance to figure out more stuff about them, you mean?" Yuuichirou guessed.
"Yes, sir. Obihiro. Where is Suzuki heading to?"
"The DNN Station… Undoubtedly."
"Obviously… She's gonna go there with the whole team and with their van! We'll either have to wait for them to get there or try to see if there's a logic to "Kiraaha Park"…" Enzan muttered.
"Kiraaha… It sounds familiar, somehow…"
"Ki – ra – a – ha… Ha – ki – ra – a… Hakiraa? No, no… Ki – Ha – Ra – A… Kiharaa? I think I've heard of a girl named Kisara somewhere but… It's close yet…" Obihiro tried changing the letters.
"Kiharaa…? Got it! Akihara! Akihara Park!" Enzan realized.
"An anagram… Like they did with Omenda – san… Surely Zarashe thought of the name which sounded misleading enough…"
"Then let's get there and in position: it's close to 11:00 AM and their operation kicks off at 11:45 AM…!"
The car started up and Yuuichirou climbed into the expressway; Obihiro looked at the iPod Touch 3's screen and listened to the receiver; the beeping of a PET rang out.
"What's up?" Suzuki was asking.
"Just double-checking, Suzuki – san… Call me worry-wart but sometimes tragedies happened because no – one acknowledged a message or checked it properly…" Kage told her.
"No hitches over here. The team is ready and we're about to head for Kiraaha Park in the DNN van."
"Suzuki – san… There's some noise in the line… I felt it when you contacted me earlier… Any ideas?"
"Isn't it bad reception or interference by other devices? Because I am underground…"
"Oh. Look. Tozukana – san's and Felix's car…" Zarashe reported.
"This checkpoint thing is silly." Tozukana fumed.
"You never know. Complain to the big bosses."
"Hey! Joanne! Good luck…" Ikada called out; there was a noise as if she blew a kiss at her.
"Goddamned BITCH!" Tozukana cursed aloud.
"There they go: they've gotta hit the 150 km/h mark by now and I wouldn't be surprised if they beat all records… When Tozukana – san gets angry it's better to run for your hide." Zarashe muttered.
"Sure. Makes you wish it wasn't that hard to keep her on check, though."
"Well then, meet you there."
"How much time…?" Enzan asked.
"Until the destination? Another 15 minutes… We'd get there around 11:25 AM. Enough time to get into position and think of a way to stop them from carrying out their plan. I know they only plan on scaring him, but I feel like we shouldn't let them score another victory! It would be bad for the morale."
"… Suzuki – san: we're leaving!" Someone called out.
"Leaving rolling and dicing." Akemi made up a rhyme.
"You could patent it, you know?" She suggested.
The car continued across the expressway and eventually climbed down a ramp until it reached the parking lot adjacent to the park; the teens ran towards there, failing to notice that the black Toyota had already arrived and had parked close by, facing the perimeter wall and thus giving them the back; Kage and Zarashe were looking at feed from a camera which showed the interior of the DNN van with the staff aboard it chatting.
"5 minutes to destination." Someone told the staff.
"Tozukana – san, Felix. Are you in position?"
"Yeah. I am in position and I feel SO bored. Leiter gotta be bored too!"
"Don't go hunting sheep out of boredom or you'll be scolded by both President Hades and Vice President Noir."
"I know! Fuck. Guess I'll try to solve a Sudoku: they're stimulating for the brain anyway."
"Qong, not Leiter… A sniper always holds their breaths while waiting for the decisive moment… Tozukana… Do not forget it…"
"I knew that, veteran soldier!"
Ikada, however, was glancing behind her, at the car where Yuuichirou was listening to the receiver and using a Sub PET at the same time.
The famed Hikari – hakase…? If my eyes didn't fool me, then… The ones who just jumped off the car were Ijuuin and Obihiro! Could they know, somehow? This has turned promising. Can you actually halt the gears of fate? Here's a challenge from Golden Star's "Ice Queen"… Try to stop us!
"They're there and have begun to unload everything… There's our man! And his PSB bodyguards…" Zarashe signaled the screen's imagery.
The camera now focused on a man on his late forties or early fifties who had blackish hair and brown eyes.
He wore a simple black suit over a shirt, a bluish tie, pants and shoes and appealed to be around a meter and eighty tall.
Two muscular bodyguards slightly taller than him flanked the sides.
"Sorodo Tantokan… An excellent-breed Doberman waiting to jump into us and mincemeat us…" Kage muttered, amused.
"He'll soon wish he'd stayed in his beloved office in Tokyo!"
"So true. He'll regret stepping out of his fortress!"
"I can see the target! When do I get to shine?" Tozukana asked.
"Wait until Suzuki – san makes him seat on the bench."
"Felix! I'll have right. What's your pick?"
"Left…"
"Suit yourself, then! I can feel the thrill pulsating through me… I was fed up with mere VR simulations! I don't care if it's just putting the guy to sleep for a little while… The message will be clear enough and before they can react we'll pulled out. We can always say some half-hearted bunch of idiots did it." Tozukana laughed.
"Plausible scapegoats…" Qong muttered.
"Hmpf. As long as we get to shoot…" Tom shrugged.
"…it doesn't matter!" Lily giggled.
"… Do excuse me, sir! Could you please sit over there? I'm just going to apply some make-up for better image and attach the microphone. Is that alright for you, sir?" Suzuki asked Sorodo in the meanwhile.
"No problem. Do your work, miss."
So? How are you gonna stop us, bad boys?
"Hey, man! You gotta be kidding me!"
"Again…? How annoying."
"And they said it'd break up by now."
"What the heck? It's raining in there?"
Rain had begun to fall around the area, so the pedestrians opened their umbrellas; Zarashe stuck part of his body out of the car's window to look outside; rain began to fall over there too so Zarashe pulled back while he rolled up the window.
"Damn it. They said there wasn't gonna be any more rain. Rain Man comes back with a vengeance!" He sarcastically cursed.
I see! Sprinklers! You must've hit the rotating piece off its place and the high-pressurized water shot skywards to then fall down in the form of drops… You were lucky that it started raining here too so that it wouldn't look unusual! Your goal was to make everyone open their umbrellas and thus block the sight of our snipers with them… Bravo, bad boys. Bravo.
"… Sorodo… navy blue umbrella… Do I shoot…?" Qong reported.
"No. Wait. With that umbrella in the middle the chances of succeeding decrease." Kage argued back as he looked at the feed.
"Fuck. What do we do? Achoo!" Tozukana cursed.
"Pull out, all of you. Suzuki – san! Find an excuse to break off. I guess they'll tell you they don't need you anymore for today or something like that. We meet at Point Limehouse." Kage commanded.
"Fuck! Fine, fine!"
"So? Will you brief us into the backup plan?" Ikada asked as she leant forward towards the front seats.
"Yeah. When we get at Point Limehouse…"
"The backup plan is risky. But it'll work." Andy muttered.
"Sure thing."
"To Point Limehouse we go…" Zarashe shrugged.
"Lime a house?" Sandra grinned.
The car left as Yuuichirou looked over there; Enzan and Obihiro made it back on that moment, largely relieved.
"We managed to pull it out, somehow!"
"What will you do now?"
"They won't give it up so easily. That's why I've called Superintendent Oda to drive us towards their meeting point. Thank you for your help, but we'd prefer if you headed back to your office, sir. This is a job for the Net Police's Cyber CID." Enzan told him.
"Alright. Here's the receiver. Good luck."
"Thank you."
Yuuichirou drove away and, barely two minutes later, Oda's car came in; Enzan climbed in the front passenger seat and Obihiro in the centermost rear seat.
"NNW from here for about 2.8 kilometers…" He guided.
"Point Limehouse… Limehouse… I guess it's a real name and it must have a meaning of some sort…" Enzan muttered.
"It's a London district next to the River Thames and known for its docks and maritime activities…" Blues reported.
"So I guess it's somewhere close to the sea or a river… Maybe a warehouse… Makes sense as a discrete meeting place…"
"Yet the name hinted at it being an occasional place: they must have some stuff ready there in case it's needed." Obihiro argued.
"By the way, Laika – kun came. He landed in secret two days ago and contacted me ten minutes ago! Apparently he suspected what we were doing out today's morning and I told him what you'd summed up in your mail to which he merely replied "I see" and cut me off."
"He must be Holmes." Enzan sarcastically muttered.
"No, Uncle Moran was hot on his trail."
"Chut! I'm hearing several engines and now voices… Kage is the lead voice… I'm gonna switch to speakers…"
"… At 1:00 PM Sorodo's car will cross the bridge. That's where we'll show him what we can really do. This time, though… You two will be on reserve and not directly intervene…" Kage was saying.
"What the fuck? Reserve?" Tozukana scowled.
"I'd like to… shoot…" Qong drily complained.
"It won't be the same thing, you two. Sorodo's car has bulletproof windows and two big macho bodyguards cover his flanks. Sniping won't help this time." Zarashe told them.
"Even if you could get through the thinnest side-window… The bullet would be wasted on a bodyguard."
"Then how the hell do we get to knock the guy out? Stand butt naked in the middle of the bridge and try to hitch-hike?" Tozukana hissed.
"Uncle Merton would never approve of that." Oda muttered.
"No – one would." Enzan wasn't surprised either.
"My, Joanne. Now you're talking."
"Bertha. You bitch."
"You called?"
"Go away, vampire."
"I hear a motorbike's engine…" Obihiro reported.
"She must be on a bike, then." Enzan deduced.
"I'll simply feign an accident in front of his car which will force them to stop and come out." She calmly announced.
"Do you think such a guy will easily come out?"
"Don't worry! Men are all the same! They see a bleeding woman on the midst of the road they feel like they should play hero!"
"What if they see your face? Do you wanna show up in all newspapers' front pages and be recognized by someone?"
"Have a look."
There was a sound and Tozukana cursed something while Zarashe made a little chuckle.
"A face-mask, see! Black hair and brown irises… Fake blood trails included… I wouldn't recognize her myself!"
"So this is why the bitch gets to shine." Tozukana fumed.
"You two will be on reserve and handle the bodyguards."
"I will come out from behind and deliver the sleeping potion made by the witch…" Suzuki's voice rang out with a hint of sarcasm.
A car's door opened and someone zipped a zip.
"… Kage… Location…?" Qong asked.
"Fate's Bridge." Kage quickly replied.
"Fate's Bridge? Is there such a place?" Enzan wondered.
"I'm pretty sure there isn't." Oda frowned.
"… Certainly, sir. There isn't, sir." Blues confirmed.
"Another code-name, then…" Enzan concluded.
"Wait. They're going over a map… Maybe they'll mention the name of a nearby landmark…" Obihiro hushed.
"… Felix goes there… And Tozukana – san over there…"
"Acknowledged…" Tom replied.
"So we get to shine in the end." Lily smugly announced.
"Are you ready, Martha – chan?" Akemi asked.
"Yeah. Ikada – san, where is my bike?" Suzuki asked.
"There, behind that container…" Ikada apparently signaled.
"Thank you. Let's meet at Fate's Bridge."
"Hey, Martha." Ikada suddenly called out.
"What is it? Ikada – san?"
"You wouldn't be…"
There was a knocking sound, which sounded like Ikada was hitting the speedometers with her knuckles.
"…this?" She finished.
"Of course not! Please don't say nonsense!"
"What was that…?" Obihiro wondered.
"Dunno. Maybe she was asking if she was the one who took her bike out and depleted the deposit." Oda suggested.
"It's not crazy." Enzan admitted.
"Anyway, I better get moving. Something about this strategy gives me the creeps." Ikada addressed the others.
"Is something troubling you, Ikada – san?"
"Oh. No, Miquel… Just a woman's paranoia…" She settled.
"You guys. Move it. Tozukana – san! Drop Felix on his spot and then head to your spot with the car."
"Alright, Boss…"
"I am not the boss, mind you." He reminded her.
"My little payback…" She seemed to shrug it off.
"No issue, then."
"They're moving out… They're about 1.4 kilometers from us! They're going pretty fast. Let's try to solve this new code…" Obihiro told them.
"Alright… Fate… Unmei… UN – ME – I… UNIME… IUNME… MEINU… Meinu Bridge! It's gotta be the answer!"
"It's the only bridge nearby, too, sir. It must be the one, sir."
"12:04 PM… We can get there with enough time to corner them and catch one of them! I'll order for a car to follow Sorodo – san's car, too!"
"We only gotta wait until we get there so I'll turn this off because now we know what their aim is." Obihiro switched the receiver off.
"I suddenly felt weird… Like something bad was about to happen but I guess it's my imagination…" Enzan suddenly admitted.
"No, no. Uncle Moran is hot in your trail too, Ijuuin – kun."
"Very funny, sir." He drily replied.
"You wanna patent Dry Man?"
"I don't see the need to, sir." Enzan simply argued back.
"I don't either!" Obihiro protested.
"Let's gamble on Gamble Man and Gamble Woman."
"How ridiculous." Blues fumed.
"Oh! How Ridiculous Man saved the world!"
"Sheesh. Patent them! SIR!" Enzan grumbled.
"Already did at the Jones & Jackson Humor Syndicate!"
"Yeah, sure. SIR. Excuse me, sir, but I'm afraid there's no such syndicate anywhere in the world! SIR!" Enzan slapped his face, exasperated.
"Beware of sharp prosecutors who cut everything on their wake!"
"Sheesh! Isn't that a reference to Prosecutor Mitsurugi Reiji from the Turnaround Trial game series? Because his name means "Sword"!"
"As expected of the connoisseur Obihiro – kun. I take off my hat in front of such knowledge and wisdom, new generation."
"Sheesh. Save us the gentleman's speech, SIR! We won't make it on time!"
"Alright, alright. I was trying to motivate you for the salmon hunt!"
"Salmon…? Oh come on! Sheesh! This is getting ridiculous!"
12:10 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Ikada – san! Are you in position?"
"Yeah. I'm waiting for instructions. Martha got there?"
"No, not yet. I've gotta check with the snipers too."
Zarashe was talking with Ikada over the PET; the screen displayed how she'd changed into a black leather zipper one-piece suit with riding boots; a purple helmet covered her head; the bike was halted outside of the road next to a hill heading until the river.
"By the way, Zarashe, you've got some static in the line…"
"Huh? Really? My bad. Miquel's PET must be interfering."
"Wait. It's fixed. Sorry, I think mine was acting up! Don't mind it!"
"Alright. If you say so…"
"Tozukana – san! Status? Over." Kage requested over his PET.
"In position and ready! View: perfect! How 'bout cha, Felix?"
"No problems either…" Qong reported.
"… A View to a Kill, even!" Lily giggled.
"Hmpf…Worthless!" Tom didn't find it funny.
"Good catch."
"Guess so!" Beta X shrugged his shoulders.
"How about you, Suzuki – san?"
"That's… There's some traffic here but I expect to be there in about 7 minutes at this speed…" Suzuki (sporting a rider's suit and a white helmet) reported.
"Contact me again once you're there and ready. The timing is crucial if we want to pull it off as scheduled."
"Roger that. Over and out!"
12:18 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Excuse me, miss! We've got some questions to ask of you. Would you be as kind so as to halt the bike?"
"What!? That's…!"
"Net Police's Cyber CID…! How did they know we were here…!?"
Suzuki had kept on driving when Oda's car pulled up at her right side (the left side had a hill's grassy slope) as Enzan displayed Oda's ID to her; another two cars in front and behind her slowed down to surround her.
"Surrounded…!" Suzuki muttered.
"Not yet! There's a way out!" Akemi whispered.
"… Alright… We can do it."
"Please pull to a stop!" Oda called out.
"My bad!"
"Go~!"
She speeded up instead and climbed up the front car to stop atop the roof in a dominant pose, as if deciding where she had to jump to next; the driver of the car spotted a small child running into the road, chasing a soccer ball.
"WATCH OUT!"
He instinctively spun the wheel leftwards as he hit the brakes and pulled up the hand brake to bring the car to a halt after having it spin 90º in a mad manner; it stopped inches from hitting the child, who'd just picked up the ball and had obviously not realized what he'd done; Suzuki's bike was sent flying and she fell off it into the now empty road; the blow made her helmet jump away and she rolled across it before stopping; the bike hit the hill and its gasoline deposit exploded, setting it on fire; Oda's car and the third car stopped as well, and everyone immediately disembarked.
"By all the…! What a tragedy!" Oda gasped.
They rushed over to Suzuki, who had a blunt trauma on a side of the head and was bleeding; Oda carefully picker her.
"Drive her to the nearest hospital! I'll come later! Take the PET as well and try asking things of the Navi! Don't force them! I don't believe in violent questionings!"
"Excuse me, sir, but… Is this normal?"
"What is?"
"The Navi has the same wound and is leaking some data… She looks unconscious too…" An agent reported.
"How odd." Enzan frowned.
"We can settle that later!"
Oda placed the girl in the rear seats of one of the cars, which sped off while another agent was speaking with the child.
"Bad child! You must realize this is not a place to play and it's dangerous to come down! You should've asked someone to help you! You could've had an accident too!" He told him.
"Sorry, mister…"
"Go home and tell your parents."
"Yes, mister…"
"I thought this woman was supposed to be the disguised Ikada! However, it was Suzuki. How do you explain this?"
"The tracer was pretty far from here! I thought that it had to be her… She's changed clothes at some point, so she must've left the shoe with the bug elsewhere…"
"Lovely. The problem is that I think that the place in question is their car… What are we gonna do?"
"I wish I knew. It won't take them long to figure out that she's gone missing, obviously enough… Damn it!"
12:24 PM (Japan Time)…
"… MIQUE~L! YOU FUCKER! WHAT AM I WAITING FOR! WHERE'S THAT SUPERCOP RASCAL? ANSWER ME YOU FUCKER!"
"I'm not deaf."
"ANSWER ME I SAY!"
"I haven't been contacted yet. Heavy traffic, I guess."
"STOP SCREWING ME WITH THIS NOISE~!"
"Noise…? Radio interference, you mean? Wait! Could it be…?"
"Huh? What's wrong? What noise?"
"Stay quiet!"
Kage and Zarashe were waiting in the black Toyota; Tozukana began to yell over Kage's PET, startling Zarashe, but not Kage; he was unfazed until Tozukana mentioned "noise"; he glanced at a paper bag in the rear seat, which he rummaged and brought out Suzuki's right shoe, to then look at its soil and discover the chewing gum, which he peeled off.
"So that's how it was." He muttered.
"A tracer…? A bug…? Or both…?" Zarashe wondered.
Kage took out a Swiss Army knife and calmly split both devices apart before crushing the tracer; he wrapped the microphone in some layers of cello-tape and tossed it inside of his coat's right pocket.
"Andy. Call Boss."
"Alright."
"VP Noir speaking! What's wrong, Miquel – kun?"
"Kendou, private eye… He set a bug and tracer on Suzuki – san and we've lost contact with her! I think he's tipped off the Net Police's Cyber CID to capture her… We'll have to cancel the strategy."
"So you wanna make him confess? How?"
"Simple. Leave it to us, Boss."
"Try to be as less violent as possible and don't go around swapping the ammo!" The man commanded in an icy tone of voice.
"Don't worry, Boss. If he doesn't yield, we'll make him dance around the floor of his office before he chats."
"Do you need Legato to go over to there?"
"No, no. Keep Legato where it is, Boss. We'll handle it. Just give permission to proceed. I'll report from the scene before making a move."
"Fair enough. Later."
Kage turned serious again as he cleared his throat and opened a channel.
"Strategy cancelled. Target shifting."
"CANCELLED! YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING ME!"
"I am not. Boss gave permission to proceed… Kendou, private eye, is our new target… And we're going to pay him a little visit."
"Kendou…? Private eye?" Ikada asked, surprised.
"I hope you're trying to do pull a loophole." Sandra warned.
"No, no. I'll report from the scene and he'll decide what to do."
"That sounds better." Tom muttered.
"Acknowledged…" Qong replied.
"Can't be helped…"
"I'M SO GONNA FUCK YOU ONCE THIS IS OVER, MIQUEL!" Tozukana threatened over the radio.
"That's a first." Andy drily noted.
"And last. Vain as all the others."
"WHO ARE YA CALLING VAIN!? NYA~H! I'M SO GONNA DESTROY SOMETHING! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME~!"
12:48 PM (Japan Time)…
"… What in Merton? They've pulled out and left a bike behind? Where are they heading to?"
"Back towards Akihara City it'd seem…"
"The tracer has vanished and the microphone's signal is very bad. I don't like the looks of this!"
"Which district?"
"4th, I think…"
Oda had kept on driving when a broadcast by an agent came in; Obihiro was worried because the map screen was blank, and he was trying to hear what was going using the earphones, yet he didn't seem to be having much success.
"Oh hell! I think I know what they're doing! They must think Kendou – san had something to do with the disappearance of Suzuki – san and must be trying to get some answers outta him!" Obihiro realized.
"Fuck! Which means that they found the tracer and the microphone yet they thought Kendou did it! Even though they know about you having been there! They mustn't think you're the type to go around using such espionage tools to begin with…" Enzan cursed.
"U – Turn! Let's head back!"
Oda turned around like mad, and was followed by the other car as they ran down the road back the way they came from; Obihiro strained his hears and began to hear something.
"… It's true, then? Kendou told the Net Police's Cyber CID where Martha was at so they captured her?" Ikada was asking.
"Yeah. The guy has a reputation of being smart-lass and only someone who visited her very recently could've planted that bug. So it's gotta be him by elimination… We're gonna get some answers out of them and scare them too… Teach them a lesson…"
"Don't go over the thin red line."
"I told you that Boss will be briefed before giving us the go-ahead and deciding if it's worth it or not." Kage insisted.
"Why didn't you destroy the bug while you were at it, Miquel?"
"If the guy planted it he must be feeling confused! I don't want to have him realize we've found him out yet…"
"Miquel! Where do we take positions?" Tozukana asked.
"The building in front of his office… From the photos in Street View I can see that the office looks out into the street and there's a building just five meters taller than the first floor in front… We come in from the rear up the fire stairs and then aim from there… We'll cover the guy's back and they'll be unable to escape." Kage detailed.
"Roger that!"
"OK…"
"Shit. This is turning ugly. We need to find a way to show them Kendou – san is unrelated to this mess while stopping them from trying to force non-existent answers from them…!"
"We'll be there in about 2 minutes…" Zarashe reported.
"Let's hope we aren't chasing a red herring." Andy muttered aloud.
Which you are doing!
"Don't be so pessimistic." Beta X shrugged.
"Who knows?" Sandra didn't seem to care either.
"I think we're getting over-confident there, Miquel…"
"Don't worry, Ikada – san. The VP is with us! He'll guide us to victory! Just wait and see, miss!"
"Speed up, Superintendent! We gotta intercept them somehow!"
"Hold into something!"
13:09 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Alright. We're in position. Aim for the NW and NE corners of the desk to cover both flanks…"
"See? The guy has an earphone on!"
"Hmpf… It's him, indeed! Can you hear me, Kendou?"
The "Golden Star" members had taken position in a rooftop looking directly across the street at a small office where Kendou was sitting on a chair, and giving them the back, doing something that they couldn't see.
"Where's Suzuki – san? Rather… Where was she when you told the Net Police's Cyber CID where she was? How much did they pay you? Did you have a debt from gambling? You sold a client just for that? If you feel like answering then… Move your right hand away from that earphone. I'll count down from ten but if you don't reply then we'll start to shatter all glasses there until you tell us something… Do you approve, Boss?"
"Alright. But don't hit anyone else."
"Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five…"
A waste of time… You've picked the wrong man, Miquel. I want to see how you find that out. Ikada inwardly grinned.
"… Four… Three… Two… One…"
CLING!
"What in the…?"
A bullet flew past the bug and pierced through it before hitting the handrail and bouncing off; the snipers immediately turned around and looked at a tall building not too far away.
"There! Behind, 10 o'clock direction!" Tozukana announced.
"B-but isn't that building WAY too far away? It's like… 700 yards away, isn't it? Who could snipe from so far away!?"
"Interlopers! Give me this!"
"W-whoa! What are you…?"
Kage yanked Qong's rifle off his hands and focused towards the building to locate the sniper; he gasped and tightened the rifle.
"Sharo Army's Laika…! And Search Man…!" He uttered.
"Laika!? No way!" Zarashe gasped.
CLING!
"Whack! The son of a.…!"
A bullet flew through the telescopic sight, shattering it and making a small cut on the right cheek; Tozukana's counterattack fell slightly short of hitting him due to the distance between them.
"This is for my Unit's pride." He muttered.
He shot another two shots, which seemed to bounce off Kage's jacket, given how he erratically stepped back.
"Payback, huh… Let's pull back! We don't want to start a shootout and I think I've screwed it up big. We'll settle this at the HQ! Move, move!"
"That bastard grinned at me…! I'm so gonna fuck 'em!"
"That'll come later! Hurry or we'll be caught by the cops!"
"What the hell is going on today~!?" Zarashe groaned.
The five of them climbed into the two cars, which sped away while Laika placed the safety on his rifle and saw Oda's car stop in front of the agency; Enzan and Obihiro looked around, confused.
"Alright, Search Man. I guess I'm staying here for a while! Things just turned interesting. Uncle was right when he said it was worth taking these folk more seriously than the other top brass did!"
"Acknowledged, Laika – sama."
Their strategy failed: I predicted they'd come here and waited for the right moment… Golden Star! This is but the start! Showdown!