Chapter 10: Deluxe rescue
17:28 PM (Japan Time), Friday March the 2nd…
"… Here am I, Ijuuin – kun. What's up?"
"Follow me."
"OK. Guess it means business."
Obihiro (carrying a navy blue backpack) stepped into the foyer of Akihara Central Hospital, where he was greeted by Enzan; he made a gesture for Obihiro to follow him, so they climbed up the stairs to the 3rd floor to stop in front of a room with no patient name; Enzan knocked on the door, and they stepped into a room where Oda and Laika were waiting at, sitting in portable chairs.
"We've got a spy." Enzan went straight to the point.
"What! A spy!?" Obihiro gasped.
"A patient has been asking around if there's a fellow patient named Suzuki and described her… It's obvious that it's an external party hired by Golden Star. They're trying to figure out what happened to their operative."
"I see. Do we have an ID on the guy?"
"Yeah. Follow me. We'll sneak on the guy. We also figured out they were faking an illness because their instincts betrayed them." Laika explained.
"Their instincts…?"
Laika signaled for him to come; both walked into a waiting room where a man was giving them the back.
The man looked on his 30s and had messy blackish hair plus traces of a two-three day beard; his eyes irises were brown and he looked bored.
He wore the typical hospital pajama plus the socks and sandals together with a collar for the healing of cervical sprains.
The man bought a can of black coffee from the machine and began drinking it inclining his neck backwards.
That's what he meant!
Obihiro realized it just as Laika patted his shoulder; they silently pulled out and returned to the meeting room.
"I see! If he really had a cervical sprain he'd be unable to incline his head backwards to drink!" Obihiro realized.
"Kuwahashi Tanoko. He has some debts, which are being paid off by Golden Star at a slow and steady manner to keep him leashed and make sure he doesn't run off at a minute's chance! They want a full report on the patients. We'll allow him to get the records because Suzuki isn't registered anywhere. That'll alow us to figure out how he reports to Golden Star so we can keep the appearances up once we seize him… The police are interested on the guy given a petty theft which he did half a year ago…" Laika exposed.
"I see. Do you want me to investigate if I can found the guy's bank account and see from where does the money come from?"
"Do it. We've picked this empty room as temporary meeting spot. Suzuki is in another room and there's always one agent watching over her. The medics say she hasn't evolved, though." Laika told him.
Obihiro sat on a chair and used a movable table to place his notebook computer atop it; he began to work with it while Enzan looked out into the street from the window by opening the curtain slightly.
"Do you fear Uncle Moran is using his X-Ray vision to check beyond the walls of the building, Ijuuin – kun?" Oda joked.
"How unrealistic, sir." He drily replied.
"Aunt Moran will come to say bye and hi."
"Oh. Not again."
"We should ring Mr. Hakuba and his Watson owl! They'll solve it all."
"Sheesh. Save me the Detective Conan references, SIR!"
"Quiet, please! Else I can't concentrate! Sheesh!"
22:57 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Fua~h… Night watch sure is bothersome but luckily almost nothing tends to happen at such hours…"
A nurse in the nurse station was yawning as she drank a cup of coffee to stay awake; Kuwahashi snuck towards there and waited in the corner of an unlit corridor; he drew a remote and pressed a button to make one light in the panel flash.
"Jeez. The lady in Room 458 needs something again…"
Kuwahashi snuck into the nurse station using the distraction with a Cannon digital camera on his right hand; he began to read the panel and take photos.
Suzuki… Suzuki… Ain't here… I'll have to tell that man who is paying off my debts in exchange for this little job… He did admit he wasn't sure they'd be there and I dunno why they want to find them. Anyway, let's go back before another nurse comes up.
"Hey! What are you doing there?" A nurse showed up on the threshold.
Yikes! Speaking of the devil!
"That's… I lost my way trying to find the toilets. I thought there'd be a map." He improvised as he hid the camera.
"The toilets are over there. Now please come out."
"S-sorry."
Kuwahashi walked out but hit the edge of a desk with the camera, making it fall into the floor, intact, but the nurse merely crouched and picked it up for him.
"Here you have."
"T-thank you."
He stepped out of the station into the unlit foyer and stopped as his expression became hostile.
"You know… You've just seen my camera and you must've obviously though I came here to take photos of the patients but even so didn't say anything…"
He turned around to face the nurse, who was unfazed and had a serious face to her; his eyebrows narrowed with suspicion.
"Who are you really?"
"Aunt Moran, you see, my fellow."
"What?"
"Net Police's Cyber CID! Don't move! Raise your hands."
"Net Police's Cyber CID? Man! This looks like a film even."
Oda, Enzan, Laika and Obihiro (the later three hiding in the unlit portions) along with two armed plain-clothes policemen ran in aiming their guns at Kuwahashi, who calmly lifted his hands.
"You're under arrest for the robbery of 5,000Z off a house in Nagoya half a year ago. There's a search warrant on you." One policeman announced.
"Come. We don't want to startle the patients."
"Oh. Then let's wake them up roughly with… this."
He drew a grenade from his pajamas' pants' right pocket and held it up.
"He's got a grenade…!"
Laika and Obihiro silently pulled back without Enzan and the others noticing; Kuwahashi placed his left index finger inside of the safety ring.
"Don't move! Or I'll blow up the nurse's station!"
"Damn." One policeman cursed.
"He's running away!"
"Maybe he wants to retrieve something on his room: let's go after them!"
"Blues! Access the corridor cameras on the route to the guy's own room!"
"Yes, sir. I'm on it! I don't see him in the corridors or the elevators! Instead he's in… the parking lot!" Blues reported.
"Damn. He must've read our minds!" Enzan cursed.
The group ran off through the front door just in time to see Kuwahashi speeding away in a green Subaru car followed by Laika and Obihiro, who were riding in a bike.
"Laika and Obihiro! They read the guy!" Enzan realized.
"As expected of Search Man. They read the culprit's intentions!"
"Laika! Catch them before they can contact Golden Star!" Enzan called out through the PET.
"I know. But if he has some device on hand he can use it to call them right now…" Laika argued back.
"Don't worry, Laika – san! I snuck into his room when he'd gone out for coffee and removed the battery of his cell-phone!" Obihiro called out.
Laika looked on ahead; the man tossed a cell-phone out of the car's open passenger window, in obvious annoyance; Laika halted and quickly picked it up to pocket it before resuming the chase.
"He mustn't have a plan in mind! Maybe he's hoping to lose us but that won't save a desperate guy with little to no brains…"
"Watch out!"
BANG!
"Fuck!"
"He's armed!"
"The car had a gun on it then! I'm sure it's his."
Laika ducked to dodge a bullet shot by the fugitive; he turned on the engine at max and caught up with the car; he purposely let the bike drop towards the left to hit Kuwahashi's arm and made him let go of the gun: Kuwahashi cursed something under his breath and speeded up.
"There's no way out! Surrender!" Laika commanded.
"Fuck you!" Kuwahashi growled back.
The carn turned towards an abandoned house, largely boarded up, and halted there; Kuwashi jumped down and ran inside slamming the door shut behind him, barricading himself given the sounds.
"Hmpf. He's cornered and with no contact lines. He'll eventually have to give himself up! This cell-phone will tell us how to contact those guys and send them a report." Laika muttered.
"Huh? What's this…? UWA~H!"
"What the hell?"
Kuwahashi screamed, terrified, before blinding light escaped from within the gaps in the boarded up windows, spreading in all directions and forcing both Laika and Obihiro to shield their eyes; the whole thing lasted under 5 seconds and disappeared to be replaced by silence.
"What happened? Obihiro! Can you try popping your head through one of those gaps?" Laika requested.
"Right away!"
Obihiro managed to crawl inside of an opening in the ground floor's window to look inside; the house was bright and totally devoid of furniture save for a table set to block the door from the inside; yet there wasn't anyone and no traces of other exits whatsoever.
"Empty! This reminds me of something… I know! The mysterious disappearance of the bribed man, Hosoyoda, from Akihara City Hotel, equally bizarre… There's no doubt: Golden Star rescued him and they'll be coming here… Tomorrow." Obihiro called out.
"Tomorrow… So this is how it's gonna be…"
"They either were monitoring him in real time or there was some kind of switch that he activated when he came in…"
"That hardly matters by now… Let's go back to report… Hmpf…"
23:19 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Mr. President? I am sorry to disturb you at such a late hour. We've got important news…"
"Do come in, Zarashe – kun and Ikada – san."
Both Zarashe and Ikada walked into a Western style living room; the fireplace set on the right wall was burning with a real fire and there was someone sitting in a red leather armchair, giving them the back; both Navis walked in as life-sized holograms.
"Beta X – kun and Sandra – san too… There's been progress, then?"
"Yes, sir. We rescued our agent and he confirmed my suspicions: Martha is indeed in Akihara Central Hospital and the Net Police's Cyber CID is camping there. Right, Wan?"
"Yes, sir. Laika is there too but I don't think they'll dare move her around because Suzuki – san is in a coma, as her chip implant and nanomachines told us. They can't stop their transmissions, after all." Zarashe added.
"We've been thinking of a plan to make them reveal the location of her room by making use of human instincts." Sandra exposed.
"We are pretty sure that it'll succeed, sir. If they dare to flee then we'll be ready to pursue them and, when there's a chance, rescue Akemi – san from them as well." Beta X added.
"Splendid, ladies and gentlemen. I'll talk about it with Vice President Noir in the morning. Then we can get on the move. Like I suspected, your intuitions are very useful, Ikada – san."
"Thank you, sir. It is an honor to be of help, sir."
"Don't worry, Zarashe – kun. I've found some opponents which are more worth your time. But don't neglect your training, either."
"Thank you very much, sir. I will handle it with all of my strength, sir!"
"Wonderful. What I want to see is motivation. As long as we all have it, we can overcome any obstacles. Such is human virtue!"
23:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… It's madness to remain here, sir! We MUST move her! We should take her to another hospital or clinic!"
"It's not that easy, Ijuuin – kun. I know she isn't dependent on machines to continue alive. But I don't dare move around a comatose person."
"And I don't think we'd get very far either."
"What do you mean, Laika?"
The two policemen, Oda, Enzan and Obihiro had gathered in the meeting room; Enzan was hysterical, for once, while Oda didn't want to hear about the topic; Laika came in with a warning.
"I've spotted one or two figures in the adjacent building! They might the two snipers sent to recon the area and decide the best sniping positions if we dared to go out through either the front or the rear doors. Going out normally is foolish and they'll surely be ready to chase us if we try to leave in a vehicle." Laika exposed.
"Their heat signatures were very faint too… They must've developed a system to hide from IR scanning too…" Search Man warned.
"Fuck! What's this? State of siege? What do we do?"
"We won't flee. We'll fortify ourselves there and get ready to greet the wolves who've come to rescue their stray pack member…"
"That's a strategy?" Enzan was skeptical.
"We've made a mistake, though."
"What mistake?"
"We rushed too much into trying to catch Kuwahashi! We could've simply let him finish and have already copied his cell-phone's contents into another cell-phone for analysis." He pointed out.
"Good point. I guess the impatience got a hold of us." Oda sighed.
"That's… You're right, sir." Enzan admitted.
"What worries me is that he had an infrared thermograph on his room which could be used to survey the interior of a building or vehicle from the outside." Laika commented.
There was a knock on the door and opened it by a minimal slit; he talked with someone outside before allowing them inside the room.
"A unit companion of mine… The backup I requested… Ian Torolov. 16. He has been in the unit since 3 years ago… His driving skills are very good. He also has patience and good observation skills."
"I am glad to be of help."
Ian Torolov was a young man around sixteen years old, one or two inches shorter than Laika.
He had brownish hair combed in a neat manner and brownish irises.
He simply wore the same Sharo Army uniform Laika did.
"They'll be coming for real tomorrow morning. We'll prepare a pull-out plan just in case. Let's be ware about the infrared thermograph! They'll know how many persons ride in each vehicle from afar. First priority is trying to avoid involving staff or patients into this! Luckily, they won't come openly brandishing machine-guns. They are the sneaky type who will exploit some weakness or another which we won't see coming."
"By the way, sir… Wireless and cell-phone used should be avoided as much as possible, right?"
"Correct. You have my number in case of an emergency but all other communications will be face-to-face. Only a few know Suzuki's room number which must be kept secret no matter what."
"Understood, sir." Torolov saluted.
"I'll be responsible for his actions." Laika announced.
"Alright. You're dismissed. We need some sleep… Before the battle."
"Sheesh. Guess I'll barely sleep with this tension… What kind of ploy will those jerks use? Now I miss the times of solving things by battling!"
09:49 AM (Japan Time), Saturday March the 3rd…
"… then I told the boss about how the guy spent the time betting on horses! The jerk was sacked, and stopped sucking off money. Really. People can be so brat-like from time to time."
"Oh yeah. You needn't tell me."
"… and so Monica's cousin by the way of her father happened to meet Hasegawa – sama, the actor who did the villain in Salvage Adventures 2: Return of Sebastian…"
"No way… And she got his autograph too?"
"… Inao went and made mincemeat of them! We did score two goals in the first half but then they turned defensive and started to give us trouble! However! Iano scored the turn-around in the extra time! What a goal the guy did! Wasn't that simply AWESOME, man?"
"Oh yeah, so awesome! It'll go down in history!"
CRASH!
"U-ugh… My… stomach…!"
"Mr. Customer? What's wrong, sir?"
"S-stomach aches… Sorry…"
Several customers were having meals in a café somewhere and chatting when one accidentally made a glass hit the floor while clutching their stomach.
"Ugh! Me too…!"
"Grah…! My stomach…! H-hospital… Need a… hospital…!"
"By all the…! And here I thought I was immune to these things…!"
"Someone… ambulance… ugh!"
"Call for an ambulance… please…!"
"Hurry it… up!"
10:05 AM (Japan Time)…
"… The Line 3 train with final stop on Densan City's 5th district is coming through platform 4. Please stay away from the edge and allow exit before entry…"
"…Hey. Don't you feel a weird stench?"
"Gasoline?"
"No… Not gasoline…"
"Someone's totally horrid perfume?"
"How rude!"
"Sorry, miss!"
"Hey! I feel… dizzy… what's this stench…?"
"Ugh…! My head…! It aches!"
"Y-you alright, man?"
"N-not really…! This stench is making my throat ache…!"
"I feel like my throat is burning…!"
"Station chief! Call a medic, an ambulance, whatever! Our throats are aching… Hurry!"
"A-alright…!"
Several passengers had been waiting for their train to come into the train station when they began to notice a strange stench and some of the collapsed while others clutched their throats; a station chief began to run around while checking on the customers; another joined him as they covered their faces with masks for the cold.
"You're not gonna tell me this is mustard gas!"
"No! It isn't but it sure makes me remember that…"
"Call for an ambulance!"
10:17 AM (Japan Time)…
"... thus you're the culprit!"
"H-how did you know?"
"Nothing escapes meitantei Dragoon!"
"Meitantei Dragoon, you say!"
"Get ready, you villain!"
"Ni~h! How frustrating!"
"… I didn't see that one coming, really!"
"I didn't either: Dragoon's cool! Guess he's pretty much a Holmes wannabe to begin with but hey he's cool."
"So true, man."
Several persons had come to see a movie and were whispering in an animated manner when an alarm rang out and the lights turned on.
"Fire has broken out in the 7th floor. Please evacuate immediately following the attendants' instructions!"
"No way!"
"Fire, they say!"
"Please stay calm! There's no imminent danger! This is the second floor after all! Evacuate through the fire stairs! The fire-fighters are on their way here by now!" An attendant instructed.
"A-alright!"
The customers began to evacuate and some looked at the smoke coming out of the seventh floor; the fire fighters rushed over to the building and a cameraman with their partner came to see.
"The Akihara Shopping Stores' 7th floor storage room is on fire but it'd seem that area is off-limits to customers so there is no danger of any customers being involved in the floor…"
10:22 AM (Japan Time)…
"Laika. Do you see that smoke rising from there? What do you think it is?"
"… It's them."
"… Superintendent Oda? We have no such patient."
"No, I was told he's a friend of someone of the staff…"
"Did ya hear that?"
"Yeah. Let's check it out."
Enzan had spotted the smoke from the fire as he, Laika and Obihiro were sitting in chairs of the lobby looking out northwards; Obihiro signaled a deliveryman carrying a package and speaking with the reception counter's nurse.
"Excuse me, I know that person. Who sends this package?"
"Let's see… A gentleman named Kuwahashi Tanoko – sama… It's already paid for so…" The man read a piece of paper.
"Ku-Kuwahashi Tanoko, you say!" Enzan gasped.
"Yes, sir. And you can guess the contents of the package by their shape as well! Have it, sir. Good morning!"
"T-thanks."
Enzan, bewildered, accepted a pot of flowers surrounded by a small purple-colored plastic wrapping; Laika signaled the exit and the group headed into the parking lot, where Oda was discussing with someone over the phone while waiting near a group of three navy blue vans.
"… No, ma'am! This is not the butcher's! I insist, ma'am! I am not the butcher! No, ma'am! this number is mistaken! Do have a good morning, ma'am! Jeez! Then they say I'm the one doing crazy things. Guess it's "karma", huh? Lovely morning!"
"Superintendent Oda, sir… A package has been delivered to you just now and comes from… Kuwahashi Tanoko."
"WHAT!?"
"Have a look."
Oda picked the package and took off the wrapping to reveal some Columbine flowers.
"Columbine… A friend of mine said they grow in Colorado. But I don't see why Golden Star would bother to send them to me."
"… Obtain without fail…"
Obihiro looked up from his notebook computer and his face turned grave, to Oda's surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"Flower language, sir. It also means "certain victory"… It's a subtle manner of saying they're confident of their victory. In short: a challenge to us Net Police's Cyber CID! It's a joke, too! These flowers are named Odamaki here in Japan!" Obihiro explained.
"Challenge, huh."
"… almost there: hang in there!"
"There's no time to waste!"
Several cars began to park in the outdoors parking lot and several citizens began to head towards the hospital.
"Are they persons indirectly harmed by the fire?" Oda wondered.
"This is Rioru, from the front entrance! T-this is…!"
"What's wrong, Rioru – kun?" Oda gasped.
"T-that's…! A mass of citizens has gathered in the front entrance and demand to make their way in: the staff is overwhelmed and there's no possible way to check what they bring with them!"
"What! Then… Craig is there and they all want him to heal them with his King Land dry humor?" He managed to pull a pun.
"Sir! This is not a moment for puns, sir! According to some of them, three simultaneous incidents have broken out in the neighborhood!"
"Three simultaneous incidents, you say?"
"Yes, sir! Massive food poisoning, a disturbing odor and a fire…!"
"It has to be them." Laika muttered.
"Hmmm… While you can control when a gas will be triggered as well as a fire… Food poisoning depends on the person and what allergies they might have…" Oda turned serious.
"Maybe they used a drug which simulates those symptoms."
"All three incidents were designed to cause harm to citizens and have them come to here because it's the closest hospital… There could be fakes feigning their symptoms like throat ache to sneak inside, and search for Suzuki's room." Oda guessed.
"No. That's not it. That'd be like allowing us to catch those agents! I don't believe them to go for such an old-fashioned strategy to begin with… There's gotta be something else…" Laika objected.
"… Laika – sama! I have been hearing a noise increasing in volume ever since 38 seconds ago." Search Man reported.
"I have as well. And it's coming from that flower pot, sir."
"What!" Oda gasped.
"Please leave it on the floor softly and step away."
Laika crouched to examine it as a tick-tock sound became noticeable; Laika brought the right hand to his chin and frowned before he lifted the soil with the plant on it and exposed a plastic bag having a large analog clock with devices strapped to its rear inside.
"A bomb…!" Enzan gasped.
"You didn't search the pot?" Oda recriminated.
"We are sorry. We thought they were just flowers."
"… A bomb this size would only blow one car at the worst. It'd call for police intervention. They wouldn't gain anything from it. But it's very real too." Laika analyzed.
"Unfortunately it's rigged with too much traps and it's too complex to disable here without proper tools. The most logical course of action would be taking it to abandoned spot and let it detonate."
"Then I'll go."
"No, I'll go. I need your scanning abilities just in case. There's a garbage dump not too far from here. I should be able to go there with Blues' driving. Do you authorize me, Superintendent?" Enzan interjected.
"Do it. Pick the car I brought; it's the one with the roof opening mechanism, colored white." Oda replied as he handed him the keys.
"If the clock isn't rigged we've got about 35 minutes before it detonates but the dump is about 15 minutes from here. There'll be time." Blues analyzed.
"Making it in 15 minutes is questionable. The main roads are bottled up with the traffic coming here. But! If you have a driver like me, who has a knack for shortcuts, then it's another tale." Torolov announced as he walked in.
"Torolov? I thought you'd been assigned to rear door vigilance? Why did you leave your post?" Enzan questioned.
"I heard of the chaos so I came to report. Does Mr. Superintendent have some complain about that?" He shrugged.
"No. Laika – kun! Is he a good driver?"
"One of the best."
"Excellent. You two go together and dispose of the bomb while we stay here to see what else Golden Star will do next."
"… It's picking me…" Laika muttered.
"What is? Torolov – kun's behavior?" Oda asked.
"No. The bomb." Laika corrected.
"I find it odd they'd bother so much to make a big clock we can all see and set it so that the clock sound would increase in volume and we'd eventually discover it…" Obihiro exposed.
"Then why the heck did they send it to us?"
"We dunno. We'll go see how things are in the hall! Maybe we'll get a better idea of what's going on. Keep the watch on Suzuki ready! Someone might get too curious and try to snoop around." Laika replied.
"Alright. I'll handle it."
Laika and Obihiro walked out, and Oda scratched the back of his head without noticing a nurse silently walking away from a nearby van; he took out his walkie-talkie, which he turned on.
"Post 1: status? Over."
"All nominal."
"Post 2: status? Over."
"All nominal."
"Rioru: status? Over."
"A chaos, sir."
"Chaos Man is about to rob you of sleeping hours?"
"No, sir. Because there's no such person to begin with, sir."
"Huff. Fine. There's no point in trying to check that crowd so step back and keep an eye on the emergency stairs." He ordered.
"Affirmative, sir. Over."
"Hello? Do you copy, Maeda? Keep your eyes open. Don't let anyone but medical staff inside of the room." He commanded next.
What kind of ploy are they using? Makes you wonder why they don't use that "vanishing" trick. Maybe because it's cumbersome to use?
10:48 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Torolov… Are you sure I'm going in the right direction? This is totally collapsed and we don't move!"
"I thought your stubbornness would make them move. You yell at them and they will clear up the path."
"What the hell?"
"Laika said that."
"Oh by all the… The jerk."
"By the way, Ijuuin… Did you put a clock in the trunk? I've been hearing this tick-tock noise for a while already…"
"Fuck."
Enzan had been grumbling, seeing how the car was trapped in the bottleneck and wasn't advancing; Torolov was sitting in the rear middle seat and had his arms crossed; Enzan's exasperation grew but Torolov glanced at the trunk over his right shoulder, unimpressed.
"You should've told me earlier!"
Enzan climbed down and rushed over the trunk, which he unlocked, but it turned out to be empty; he looked at the rear seats to see that Torolov wasn't there.
"What a chicken! He fled!"
"Climb in or I'll go without you."
Enzan, bewildered, climbed into the passenger's seat, given how Torolov was on the driver's seat.
"By all the… Do they train you to lie the whole time or what? There wasn't anything in the trunk!"
"Having to give you instructions would be boring and I know some tricks which a Navi can't properly do because they don't have the feeling of the wheel or the pedals. But no offense, Blues."
"Hmpf. You lie to my master and override the car control to manual! Of course I'm going to be annoyed!" Blues scoffed.
Torolov didn't reply and switched to reversing as he aimed the car towards the separating line between both lane; he jumped into the southern lane, sped up it in the wrong direction, then braked in a brusque manner and reared while spinning to aim the car south; he accelerated again.
"That was crazy and…! Hey! The dump's the other way!"
"I know. But I gave up on that because we've only got 10 minutes left and there's another place which we can use."
"… Ijuuin – kun? How's it going? The bomb must be about to go off by now, shouldn't it?" Oda called through the PET.
"Torolov has taken the wheel and…! Whoa!"
Torolov suddenly ran into a side alley and into a tunnel; he pressed the button to open the sliding roof and picked the bomb.
"Handle the wheel!"
"T-the wheel? Fuck!"
Enzan clutched into it and somehow managed to keep the car going into a straight line just as the car exited the tunnel into a bridge over a river; Torolov tossed the bomb there and it exploded, forming a plume of water heading skywards.
"W-what was that noise, Ijuuin – kun?"
"Torolov disposed of the bomb!"
"Oh! See? I knew he was a smart chap."
"Anyway! What's going over there?" Enzan asked.
"Laika – kun and Obihiro – kun found a lot of delivery men bringing consolation gifts to already interned patients with Kuwahashi's name!"
"What!" Enzan gasped.
"They're still checking but I had to guess then I'm afraid I know what's in those consolation gifts." Oda sighed.
"Damn it." Blues growled.
"By the way! Is Torolov – kun as good as Laika – kun said?"
"Yeah. I really must be thankful to the guy." Enzan admitted.
"Bad news. I went to a room and found this inside of a fruit basket after passing as hospital security! Luckily, the person didn't realize my affiliation but someone else will have to handle the retrieval of these little toys which have been scattered over the hospital… Have a look."
The call became a video call as the holographic screen popped up; Laika showed them a small bomb shaped like a lighter with a transparent plastic case, the plastic explosive, a battery and a LCD screen, which displayed "04:55:31" and was counting down.
"Miniature bombs…!" Torolov muttered.
" of these would only blow up one room but if several go off at the same time… You can imagine the outcome."
"I can't believe it's turned this ugly! I thought they were totally against killings and they'd only come to retrieve Suzuki but now it looks like they want to silence her instead! Does that mean that the whole part about admiring Serenade was a lie to begin with!?" Enzan exasperatedly cursed.
"Good part is that we've got close to 5 hours to find and neutralize these! Once you take off the fuse, they can't keep the count-down and are harmless because plastic explosive is not shock-sensitive unlike older generation explosives." Laika calmly told them.
"Good! How many of these are there?"
"We counted the delivery men and if we assume there's one per package then… About 60." Laika announced.
"I'll call some extra hands. After all, we must only come in, say we're hospital security, retrieve them and pull out."
"If anyone spots the device… We can say they're listening devices which is part of a new money scam scheme which is on the rise." Laika suggested.
"We're almost there too." Torolov announced as he looked through the windshield at the hospital.
The car parked in the parking lot; Enzan headed up to the 4th floor and looked at his PET, where a list of patients and rooms was being displayed: he knocked on one.
"Come in!"
He came into a room where a mother and a small boy no older than 7 or 8 years old were looking at a stuffed bear.
"Excuse me. Hospital security. Someone sent you that stuffed bear as a consolation gift, right?" He politely asked.
"Yes… But I do not know the sender."
"Sorry. Can I ask a question out of Mr. Bear?" He tried to look welcoming to the child.
"Yup! Mr. Bear knows a lot!"
"I'll be brief."
Enzan turned around and opened the rear zipper to take out the plastic explosive, which he immediately defused; the boy was distractedly looking at a children's animation on TV when the image was filled with static and was replaced by something else.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your support. As you can see, I am already fully recovered." A voice announced.
"E-Enzan – sama, sir…! The TV, sir…!" Blues whispered.
"The TV? What's wrong with…? T-this is…!"
Enzan looked over there; Suzuki was displayed onscreen, sitting on a chair next to the bed; she looked recovered and directed a smile to the camera.
"Who is that child?" The mother wondered.
"Here: Mr. Bear. Thank you."
Enzan made it out of the room and met another agent coming out of a room nearby.
"You saw it?" He asked.
"Yeah! Let's go check!"
"Roger! I'll call Superintendent Oda!"
"Opening channel, sir…" Blues announced.
"Superintendent, sir! Suzuki… is on TV!"
"Wha~t?" He uttered in disbelief.
"Yeah! It looks like she's still on her room so we're going up there to check given how there's no direct line there…"
"Do that, yes!"
"… So that's how it was!" Obihiro suddenly exclaimed.
"Tell everyone not to go to Suzuki's room!" Laika gasped.
"Huh? Why?" Oda asked.
"Well… It might be too late anyway." Obihiro sighed.
"Too late…? Don't tell me they got her back already!"
Enzan made it to the room, where the other three policemen were gathered and whispering; Enzan ran past them and into the room to halt.
"What…?"
Suzuki was still comatose as she lay in the bed and had an oxygen mask over her face.
"Now I'm confused." He admitted.
"I am, too, sir." Blues confessed.
"What the hell is going on?"
"We fell for it. They fooled us and we ended up making them score a victory." Laika announced as he made his way there.
"What? How?"
"They wanted us to come here by broadcasting the edited footage via the hospital's TV antenna."
"I can see that. But if we'd said they wouldn't risk sending spies in… How they would benefit from that?" Enzan frowned.
"The toys… The toys scattered across the hospital… Where are they, Ijuuin?" Laika coolly asked.
"The bombs, you mean? I disabled one but still had it on hand when I saw the TV so I rushed here…" He instinctively replied as he and the other policemen took them out.
"Think about it! The timin!." Laika hinted.
"Timing…? Oh no! You mean…?" Enzan gasped.
"Yeah. These toys carry a troublesome bonus to them." Obihiro sighed.
They didn't spot that the nurse of a while ago (Ikada) glancing towards there using a portable mirror to avoid coming out into view; she was tagging with Sandra's full-sized hologram (also disguised as a nurse).
"See, Sandra? I told cha it'd work: people are so predictable."
"So true, Bertha – chan. Let's pull out: our duty is over."
"Sure. Too bad, handsomes. But when several brilliant minds combine their efforts, we can come up with subtle art."
"So subtle, they'll never understand the beauty of it."
Both silently moved away from the corner and headed downstairs through one of the emergency stairs; both rubbed their hands together, excited.
"Let's get to the designated point and ready the bike!"
"Roger! Now comes the best part!"
11:23 AM (Japan Time)…
"…Like fan-girls to the star."
"They're gathering fast, aren't they?"
"Room 333, 3rd floor… Gotcha."
"Hmpf… Maybe they wanted to be ironic even…"
Kage, Zarahe, Andy and Beta X were seated inside of the black Toyota, parked not too far from the hospital, inside of a parking lot building; Kage had a laptop on his lap displaying a map of the hospital and several dots gathered inside and outside of one room.
"Alright then! We can move onto the next part now that we've figured out her room's number and I got confirmation from Ikada – san. This is gonna be fun, man." Zarashe grinned.
"Hmpf… But I wasn't interested in the location of Suzuki – san's room at all, you see." Kage announced.
"Huh? Then… What did you want?"
"The point is that I want to pressure them into thinking that we're gonna strike and such they'll want to flee. Under such pressure then we'll see how they'll flee…!"
"I see! Let them feel hysterical and abandon the hospital. Let's get ready to chase the vans Ikada – san told us about. We should stop at Point Moses and pick the bikes and infrared thermographs as well… No tricks will fool our "clairvoyance"!"
"Sure thing."
"It's time to show them how relentless we are. Let's put some "Pressure" into them as if we were Legendary Pokémon!"
"You know, that's a pretty good analogy!"
"Thanks. I'm gonna use it more often!"
"Glory to Golden Star!"
11:29 AM (Japan Time)…
"… A transmitter…! These things had a transmitter which works even if you remove the fuse…!"
"Yeah. The flowerpot was a hint that they'd be attacking with bombs. The flooding of the hospital was the necessary camouflage needed to introduce the bombs into the hospital via the deliverymen. Lastly, the TV feed was a ruse to make us rush here while still carrying the defused bombs thus giving away the room's location!"
Laika had exposed to the group how the trick had worked like.
"So… What do we do, sir?"
"There's no other way around! We must go for the backup plan. Let's get rid of these and scatter away in the 3 vans, hoping to confuse them! We should go by transited routes to make sure they can't assault us so secretly too." Oda sighed.
"Wait. I thought of something with Obihiro yesterday evening! Leave some of those transmitters as they are… And my plan is this…"
He whispered to Oda and Enzan; they nodded in understanding.
"… Hmmm… There's the chance of this idea working…" Oda seemed to find it passable.
"The only loose end is… Who'll drive the van with Suzuki on it? The driver must be someone skilled." Enzan argued.
"I'll do it." Torolov announced.
"Oh true! With someone like you at the driving wheel then…"
"Torolov. Remember this… Fear of death is worse than death itself. However, they're not killers. I tend to dramatize a lot."
"Don't worry! It's not like I've got a meek girlfriend who'll get scared when I get back with a wound or two." He shrugged.
Enzan frowned and reacted to Torolov's words, rubbing his chin.
Yesterday, after the meeting, I saw him talking with someone over the PET and he named the caller "my girl" so… Why does he say he doesn't have a girlfriend…?
"Huh… Excuse me, but…" He timidly called out.
"Is something the matter, Ijuuin – kun?"
"… Nothing. Good luck." He made a weak smile.
"Thanks."
"Let's get moving to the underground parking! There's work to be done anyway." Oda commanded.
"What's wrong? Are you worried?" Laika asked Obihiro.
"Guess I am, yeah."
"Come on. It'll be alright! You just have to trust my intuition."
Enzan followed them into the underground parking lot, where they started to check on the vans; Enzan found Oda speaking with Torolov next to one of the identical vans.
"Well then, Torolov – kun. When this is over I'll invite you to a good self-service restaurant." He told him.
"Thank you, sir."
Torolov unlocked the van but Enzan walked over to him.
"Change of plans. Give me the key: Blues will drive."
"I've got no objections. However, won't Mr. Superintendent complain?"
"I'll speak with him. There's something weird about you and I've got one or two questions regarding you… Ooff!"
"Enzan – sama!"
Torolov had turned around and he delivered a punch to Enzan's stomach, knocking him out: he switched off the PET and hid Enzan behind a car; he climbed into the van, which had someone else in the passenger seat.
"Hullo."
The passenger, who remained silent, wore a pair of gray pants, a gray zipper vest and a purple cap, which hid most of their face; some brownish hair could be spotted and both hands were inside of the vest's frontal pockets.
"Guess you aren't the talkative type. Whatever."
He turned on the engine and joined the queue of three vans ready to come out.
"Van 1: ready."
"Van 2: ready."
"Van 3: ready."
"Vans 1, 2 & 3 are ready, sir."
"Good. Drive safely and with care. Keep your radio lines open in all moments and report anything abnormal. By the way, Torolov – kun… Have you seen Ijuuin – kun around? I thought he was going to talk with you about some routes you could use."
"Yes, sir. He gave some advice and left in a rush." He lied.
"Alright, then. Good luck."
"Thanks. Gotta do it right, since I am the "right" van…"
"Understandable. By the way, what about Laika – kun?"
"Laika said he would drive out too. He probably intends to be a decoy to draw away their attention as well." He admitted.
"He could've at least consulted it with me. Anyway. Take it easy."
"Roger, sir. Thank you, sir."
"Coast is clear. There's no-one in a 250 meter radius, sir. No-one is ambushing us in the victiny, sir!"
"Good. You can now come out. Good luck!"
11:49 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Can cha see my camera's feed, Miquel? One… Two… Three navy blue vans! They all came out and it matches the bitch's data."
"Can you try using another word, Tozukana – san? Maybe you can say the jerk instead of using such a bold word over unencrypted lines? If Mr. President knew of this he'd be annoyed at this lack of public decency!"
"Alright. The jerk's info matches."
"Good. Then could you please chase the first one?"
"Sure thing…"
"Felix… Yours is the second."
"… Roger… Leave it up to me!"
"Zarashe. Handle the third."
"Fine. By the way, did "they" contact us?"
"No. That's a backup plan of Mr. President. I'm not counting on them to begin with. I'll stay here to make sure those vans aren't some desperate decoy. Keep your own radio lines open too."
"Alright. Here we go~!"
"And have the infrared thermograph at hand too! We'll need it to know what's inside of them!"
Kage had looked at some audio and video feed provided by Tozukana, showing the three vans coming out of the hospital; he began to issue instructions and glanced the car's left (the car currently being under a small railway bridge) where Zarashe put on a motorbike's helmet and climbed into his; Andy was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Sure thing! I always wanted to strip someone!"
"That guy…" Andy grumbled.
"Let them be, Andy."
"Miquel! I found the first van…" Tozukana reported.
"What's the situation like? Over."
"Side windows are tinted… Nothing to be seen…"
"Strip it naked if you may." He grinned.
"Sure thing. Lily! Handle the photo."
A picture formed on Kage's laptop screen, and Andy leant closer to look at it; the picture was a thermal graph showing seven persons (driver and passenger included) aboard it; one person was lying on their back, and almost all of them had blinking dots in their bodies.
"Seven fellows and they all have transmitters…"
"See the one lying in the back? It's gotta be Suzuki's stretcher! She must still be unconscious and such need to carry her around like that. I'm resuming the chase!" Tozukana exclaimed.
"… Photo taken. Transmitting…" Qong muttered.
"Mine's done too." Zarashe added.
"Hmmm… Felix's photo shows seven fellows including a stretched person but no transmitters… Zarashe's photo has not fellows in the rear and just the passenger and driver both with transmitters…"
"Hard to say… It smells as if the third van is a decoy. Look at its route on the map! It's just making a gigantic loop to return to the hospital…"
"It could be part of their plan. I smell Laika's hairy hands in this and my scar tells me so."
"Now you're Harry Potter?" Andy skeptically asked.
"Kidding, man. Just kidding." He shrugged.
"Sorry for the hold-up, Miquel… I found Laika's bike! Obihiro is in the ride as well it'd seem." Ikada's voice came in.
"It took you some time, Ikada – san."
"My bad! The guy parked four blocks away from here and it took me a while to find him." She apologized.
"The guy's closest van is the one Tom's chasing… He's about 300 meters behind and keeping a constant distance…" Sandra reported.
"Then there's no doubt: Felix's van must be the right one!" Tozukana immediately exclaimed.
"Good. I'm gonna join you guys too. I'm bored with just chasing a decoy and the driver knows I'm chasing him! It's probably the other Sharo Army guy who Laika called for. Ikada – san said he's good at driving so it makes sense they'd entrust him to be the decoy." Zarashe reported.
"Wait! Laika's speeding up like mad! He's running ahead towards Felix's van!" Ikada gasped.
"Settled, then. I'm joining the thrill!"
"Wait for me!"
"If that guy comes… I'll blow out their front tire…" Qong drily muttered.
"Store away the rifle NOW, Felix! Then get into a secondary road and change your current course." Kage told him.
"Wha~t? Running away from Laika, you moron?" Tozukana questioned.
"No, I ain't running away. I'm just not dancing to the guy's flute tune because the van we gotta chase is Zarashe's."
"B-but… The van I'm chasing only has two cops, and…" Zarashe argued.
"That's their trick."
"Trick?"
"They wanted us to assume the unconscious Suzuki – san would be placed in a stretcher in the rear area of the van! Laika calling the attention to one van is a trick to fool a nitwit… What they've done instead is dress up Suzuki – san as a Net Police agent and placed them in the passenger's seat. As simple as that!" Kage concluded.
"But isn't this van returning to the hospital?" Ikada asked.
"That's a piece of it too. It's a way of admitting defeat because they have no other place to bring her to."
Kage closed his laptop and placed in on the ground behind his seat.
"So we gotta converge on that van's location then. I'm on it but don't steal the glory!" Tozukana exclaimed.
"Of course not. Let's gather all of us at the same time and we'll create a strong impression of our power."
He turned on the car and soon joined the bikes in chasing Torolov's van down a road built on a slope next to the river; Torolov accelerated and began to move right and left to warn that he wouldn't doubt on smashing them if they tried to pass him.
"Hmpf. As expected. He won't make it easy." Kage muttered.
"Obviously! Whoa! What's that!?"
The van veered madly out of control until it had turned almost a full circle, crashing with the guardrail, and halting before a gap:; the four bikes and the car halted, and Kage stepped out of the car while keeping the driver's door open and hands on his coat's pockets.
"Huh… Grah! Now! It's open!"
The passenger's seat door of the van was forced open and Suzuki jumped down, clutching her left shoulder; Torolov was seemingly unconscious.
"Suzuki – san. It's been a while. What happened?"
"I heard on that guy's radio… that you were chasing the van, so… I used the defused bomb… to hit him… pulled the hand brake… and brought the van to a halt…" She explained between pants.
"But weren't you in a coma?" Ikada asked.
"I was! I got out of it yesterday evening! The chip implant allowed me to fool the EEG readouts for Akemi and me!"
"So you managed to fool them? Bravo. Please climb into my car. Before we leave, though… Let's just leave a little reminder to those guys. Tozukana – san! Mark them with some paint bullets! Let's be like in the Far West, where the criminals were covered in tar and feathers."
"Delighted."
Tozukana drew a paint bullet gun from the bike's built-in compartment and cocked it as she walked towards the van, aiming it at Torolov.
"Don't blame me if you gotta call Sharo and need a new uniform to be delivered via DHL! Blame that Laika guy and his idiotic hero – like strategies that…!"
KRACKABO~M!
The van exploded and everyone was pulled backwards by the heat shockwave; they instinctively crouched, and, when they looked up, the van was burning.
"No way! The guy carried a live bomb!?" Zarashe cursed.
"Maybe the shock from the explosion turned the fuse on? Or it short-circuited somehow…?" Suzuki wondered.
"Shit! Now they'll say we're killers or what?" Tozukana cursed.
"Nevertheless, the timing reeks." Ikada muttered.
"Hmpf… Don't worry, comrades! As Tozukana – san said, Laika is fond of stupid stunts. I'll explain it on the way back! Let's head back straight to HQ. Mr. President and Mr. VP must be waiting for us!"
Suzuki climbed into the rear seats, and Kage sat back in the driver's seat while looking towards the slope; he sped away along with the bikes just as Torolov began to climb up the slope while dragging his body; he sat close to the edge of the road, still hidden by the burning van, and dialed a number on his phone.
"… Mission… successful… Laika." He reported.
"Good work. I'll send one of the decoy vans to pick you up!"