Chapter 30: Shaken to the core
20:45 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday June the 10th…
"… Bon soir!"
"Fuck. Chat Noir! You're so gonna pay for this! Huh?"
"Surprise, surprise."
"Kage!"
"Yessir. Welcome to Purgatory!"
Enzan woke up; he was inside of a storeroom somewhere, standing, with his arms lifted over his head and cuffed, and missing his shirt and vest: both Kage and Noir (without the paraglider suit) were standing there too.
"So it is a building!"
"Nope. A mobile maritime fortress designed by the Ameroupe Navy and which we've completed… A huge shell to hold Zero, our new-gen super computer… The place that will become our new HQ… A perfect HQ because it'll be in the middle of the bay and we'll be able to see anything trying to come closer… Cloaked in a field capable of fooling IR scanners and defended by materialized Navis… With password-locked doors and security systems…" Noir let out.
"What in the… How can you construct something so huge in secret? It must've cost billions! And the workers and all…!"
"The workers were Navis materialized inside of a "Dimensional Area", were pre-programmed with one segment to do… It was no easy job to coordinate them and the "Dimensional Converters" had to be switched around every 7 hours to have them cool down! They worked 21 hours a day but did not make breaks and continued until they are told to stop… We saved off all the need for salaries and having to keep any staff silent about the project… We also used the old port facilities! It did take some money, of course, to secure materials, but we have plenty of it."
"And since no – one comes by here, nobody noticed anything."
"So that's your real face, Noir. As I thought, that tale of the car accident and the disfigured face was a lie to hide your looks… Say… You and Kage look very alike! You're not gonna tell me you're twins."
"Close! Call me Kuroshiro Oriol."
"Kuroshiro Oriol, then. Who is "Twilight"?"
"You still remembered that? My old Boss back when I was a member of that stupid gang… Nebula."
"What! You were a member of Nebula?"
"Don't get the wrong idea, though! Twilight was a different tale from old Regal! This guy had cold blood and a terrific criminal mind rivaled only by Moriarty… Abducted me from the orphanage I lived it, and was trying to make of me as an assassin who'd get friendly with his victims before slowly killing them off… The mere thought repulsed me and I tried to rebel only to be beaten up repeatedly… The fucker tried to brainwash me, but I was too strong for that. Luckily, they spent most of the time fighting with Regal over how Nebula should work like. In the end, they tried to remove Regal by sneaking into the submarine but Forte showed up and blew it up! Good riddance! I became free and met Mr. Hades, who'd almost become a victim of the guy given some complicated tale about him being sent as cannon fodder by an uncle of his which had to give Twilight some drugs… He'd been monitoring Nebula, and he stumbled upon Slur – sama, who was also trying to figure out how dangerous. She wanted to intervene yet she finally decided to wait, and tagged with Mr. Hades." He exposed.
"Bloody hell. That means that… You programmed Legato and the others?"
"Yeah. I learnt Navi programming on my own while the man was busy and began to plot my insurrection. I jumped off the sinking ship Nebula was and became free."
"And that's when you got the idea to form Golden Star?"
"Slur – sama did. Create an organization that would, in the long run, contribute to the stability of society because that was one of Serenade's beliefs: society needed to be stabilized least it fall into chaos."
"Where does Kage come into the picture?"
"This is the good part. Do you remember the SS Scheherazade Symphony and the bizarre cruise you had?"
"Yeah. Those three guys… Kyundai, Konda, Koyota… The former WWW 5th Column guys… Wily was supposed to be on board but it turned out to be a trick by that Koyota man… He'd planned to murder his two buddies and get Wily's money for his own… He got to murder Konda, but failed to murder Kyundai, and stepped into Hell by his own hand…"
"What if the true culprit was Kyundai and we stepped in by sending two members and making a little change in the script?"
"No way!" Enzan gasped.
"Yessir. Let me explain his brilliant strategy, which we took profit of! Konda heads back to his room. He finds a note telling him to go to the engine room, signed by "Wholy Jisep"! Once there Kyundai is waiting for him, and he shots him! He waits until Monsieur Oda gives up the search for "Wily" and places Konda with the arms lifted inside of the box with the gasoline can… He then comes to play Trumps and waits until Koyota quits he follows him to the restrooms, and knocks him out with chloroform… He picks his sweater and golden watch, and places those clothes into Konda as he prepares a "detonator"… A cigarette stuck in the box's cover and suspended over the can via a string… In 10 minutes' time, the string would burn and the cigarette would fall automatically igniting the gasoline! The knife and bank note had been prepared beforehand… Next: he soaked the flag in gasoline and set it up so that it would ignite a few minutes' before the gasoline can exploded! He purposely walked forward so that everyone would see him… When the can exploded, he would have a perfect alibi!"
"What in the…"
"While everyone was focused on the burned body he headed moved Koyota from the toilet to the bow and tied him into the rope stairs… Some while later he placed four devices lightly taped behind the stern's railings… They made up for the four shots you heard. The distraction directs you to the stern!"
"Bloody hell! Firecrackers!?"
"He runs into the bow, sets up another two cigarettes, pulls Koyota up and murders him to make it look like a suicide. From now on, I'll say "supposed" because he didn't get to do it, someone else stepped in his place… The rest of the plan was to shoot himself in the arm after stopping the flow of blood with a tennis ball under his right shoulder. The bullet he shot would fly through the glass and embed on the far wall, since it pierced through the forearm… He was going to time it with the first BANG sound so that he'd fall into the ground and look like he'd gotten hit right now because the wound was just starting to bleed… A second gunshot would ring out, and you would rush to the bow… Then you'd find the dead Koyota, having shot himself. That accounts for the second gunshot. When the police investigated, and heard all witnesses' talk, they'd automatically conclude Koyota was the culprit trying to kill both of them. The clothes on Konda would've been a trick to deceive them into thinking Konda was the culprit at work. Kyundai would have an unbreakable alibi when the box went up on flames and he'd been shot in front of everyone! Koyota's gun would be missing eight bullets! Five blank shots, one for Konda, one for Kyundai and one for himself. There you have it."
"B-but! Kyundai wasn't the one who got hit! Hikari was hit because Koyota made an error, and…! Wait! If Koyota was dead and no – one shot for real because the sounds were firecrackers… How was Hikari wounded? I did read the forensics report and the gun had shot eight bullets!"
"Hmpf! It's my turn to shine, Ijuuin. I've been waiting for this. You can't imagine how many times we've gone over this during this half a year!"
"What!?"
Kage stepped forward and pulled up his coat's right sleeve to reveal a white shirt beneath it, which he also pulled up; there was a cicatrized gunshot wound halfway along the elbow and the wrist.
"I-impossible…! You…!"
He took off his sunglasses to reveal chestnut brown irises instead of his usual blue ones.
"By all the…!" Blues (inside of the PET) gasped.
A strange glow began to form on his eyes after he pocketed his sunglasses; he pulled at his "skin" to reveal a plastic mask with blonde hair covering his face; he pulled it out and then swept the left hand over his brown messy hair.
"Hikari!? It was you!?" He yelled, horrified.
"T-that's ridiculous!" Blues exclaimed next.
"Yeah! This is my new self! Born from the ashes my old self was! The new man I've become! A man who has risen above the wreck and ruin he was! You couldn't see it coming. It was perfectly staged! Oriol… He's the original Kage Miquel! The Kage Miquel who shared a classroom with me for ten months was him! He handed the mantle into me a year ago! I spent the summer getting ready to become the new Kage Miquel!"
"The root is in the incident of two years ago…?"
"Correct! That was the last straw. It broke me. One doctor was brave enough to tell me the truth: I could've died back then. The realization made my whole system collapse! Only Rock Man's help prevented me from trying to end it all! I thought there was no point in living for a world that I'd saved, and it was returning the favor with spite! I saved it in exchange for nothing! It had to be done! I could make a change! I didn't want fame, medals, money or anything in exchange! Despite that, some scum who had the guts to call themselves "police" conspired to try to murder me in front of the Superintendent's office! By hiring proxies! Proving how much of scum and dregs they were! "
"And then Kage… I mean, Kuroshiro… He appeared?"
"Yeah. At the very start, I didn't have the slightest idea. I just was thinking on obsessing myself with these studies and filling my head with them to keep that black abyss at bay. One month after we began the school year, he invited me to his apartment. That's when exposed his origins. I saw that he was looking for his reason to live, too. I felt a comrade in him. Someone who was going through a struggle, too."
"Indeed. Despite fleeing Nebula and all, I didn't escape without sequels. You know about them because Suzuki – san heard me cursing Twilight's name more than once…"
"His idea of an organization that would try to fulfill Serenade's wishes attracted me. He told me about the plan of how he'd become Kage Miquel and be a reference model which I would then imitate. The prospect of gaining a new identity thrilled me! I could be someone who hadn't gone through that. Someone unrelated to that business…" He exposed next.
"And the looking slow to catch on and those outbursts of anger were just a mask as well?"
"The dumb-looking part was a mask, yeah! The outbursts of anger were very real because there were times in which I realized that even if I changed my face, it wouldn't make a difference… My body still remembered the pain and the edge of the black and unending abyss…"
"But then… The whole tale with Chicago and Houston…?"
"Oriol and President Hades staged it. They created a perfect reason for his disappearance and re-emergence as member of the newly renamed "Golden Star"… It was a smokescreen, which we used to facilitate my entrance into the organization… Only President Hades, Legato, Oriol and Slur – sama knew of my true identity. They acted convincingly, all of them. By the way, speaking of the SS Scheherazade Symphony… Do you remember who the other two passengers apart from us were? Excluding Kyundai and his cronies…"
"A salesman, Kanou Shade… A businesswoman, Nazonazo Mary… Wait a min! Shade… SHADE… Hades… HADES… Fuck! Hades! Shade! You just have to replace the "S" character…! It's a fucking anagram! We had the guy in front of our noses and didn't realize it at all…!"
"Do you think that "businesswoman" was a coincidence too? Or rather, it's someone you know?"
"The secretary working for Hades…!"
"Yet she is not a true secretary."
"What?!"
"She is… Slur – sama in person."
"What! But you hadn't invented "Copy Roids" yet, no!?"
"She used a prototype program extracted from a "Dimensional Area" to freely materialize… She was indeed a friend of Serenade."
"And where did Slur come from to begin with?"
"According to her, she deduces that some scientist who wanted to create a new type of Net Navi designed her as the last project in life. She has no recollection of who made her. The scientist probably feared their research being stolen or abused of, so they took the secret to the grave. Slur herself has no data on who it was. As far as her logs show, she awoke somewhere in Thailand a few years ago. That's why she assumes the scientist lived in that country. She did have a mission: monitor the Cyber World and find all "strong ones" who could help defend it. That's what led her to making Golden Star. To create a new generation of "strong ones"…"
"So you interfered with Kyundai's plan… But what for?"
"It was a test of faith Slur arranged. She wanted to test if I was really committed to the cause or not. Nobody argued it with her and I thought that was just what I needed: I could kill off the ruins of me and be reborn. Mr. Shade picked up the tennis ball. We got rid of the glass by melting it and we repainted the railings too."
"Why would you bother to melt the glass? Unless…When you shot yourself close to the window, some blood could've stained it! Even if you wiped, Luminol could expose traces of it… Luckily, there was no reason to check it! If someone had done so, the whole thing would've crumbled… To make sure no – one had funny ideas about it, you pulled some strings to get it replaced free! Thus, the ship's owners had no reason to complain! Nobody would believe otherwise given the police report in which Kyundai's planned scenario was totally believable!" Enzan realized.
"Correct, Watson. Allow me to introduce you to the last participant in this tale… Saito – niisan! Your turn to shine came!"
"About time!"
"…"Saito – niisan"…?" Enzan wondered.
The door opened and a new person walked in; he was around Kuroshiro's height and age so this meant he was slightly taller than Netto.
He had chestnut brown and neatly combed hair arranged in a symmetric manner; a pair of sunglasses hid his eyes.
He wore a simple blue sleeveless vest over a white shirt, a pair of jeans, white socks and orange sneakers; his outfit looked extremely similar to Netto's own one.
He pocketed the sunglasses and revealed green emerald irises.
"Rock Man? That you?" Enzan gasped.
"Hikari Saito." He merely replied.
"Hikari Saito!? What!? As far as I know… Hikari – hakase has only one son!"
"Legally speaking, yeah. Truth is otherwise. Netto and I were born as twin brothers! I had a strange genetic heart disease called "HBD" which couldn't be healed. So I died."
"HUH!? You died!? Aren't you Rock Man!?"
"My organic and frail body died! However… Dad applied his research in secret, to save me! He'd been toying with the idea of a feedback circuit between Navi and Operator. He began to try to digitize DNA and genetic information… He'd been stuck at some point but, by using my own DNA and genetic information, he succeeded into implanting them into a Net Navi's body! As well as my memories and consciousness… I re-incarnated as Rock Man EXE while Hikari Saito died. I lived in the Science Labs and fed on all info I could find, while trying to get used to the idea. Dad promised me he'd find a way for me to return to the real world one day. He feared the technology would take a long time to catch up. Reuniting with Netto for our 6th birthday and having adventures together soothed my mind. "Full Synchro" and such also bridged the gap between worlds."
"What in the…" Both Enzan and Blues gasped.
"When we defeated the "Dream Virus", I thought I was done for so I did call him "otouto" like I'd used to do when I was a kid… Papa was forced to confess the truth he'd hid from him on the aftermath."
"So that's why you seemed to know each other's flaws and strong points so well… You were blood-related, twin brothers…! And now you're using a "Copy Roid" to return to the real world?"
"Better than a "Copy Roid"… The "cyborg body"…!"
"What!? But aren't cyborgs sci-fi!?"
"Depends on how you look at it. 90% of this body is human. The brain is a cybernetic device. It contains a central processor where my Navi frame is stored at and then my consciousness program acts as if it was that of a human's brain. Some implants in the CNS help the body interpret the signals! I have nanomachines like everyone in Golden Star. Oriol also has that type of body, too." He described.
"What! Then you originally were a Net Navi? But why would such a criminal bother to make something so complicated?"
"Good question, Ijuuin! The world's first cyborg… Gotcha?"
"He was so arrogant that he thought he could crown himself as the inventor of the world's first cyborg? What kind of man was he and where'd he come from?"
"Dunno. Never was much of a talker. Fucker wore a balaclava the whole time so they've could've been on their 60s for all I knew. I never bothered to investigate because I figured out from the start that the guy's name was an alias. Incidentally… Laser Man thought he was being original, but ended up repeating the same idea Twilight had already developed."
"You mean… There's another Rock Man DS?"
"And that's me. Umbra. That of the orphanage was a lie, by the way."
"What!? It sounded so natural, I totally fell for it!"
"No wonder. However, I'm a billion times over that guy. I might not be terribly powerful! At least I have emotions, and am not an incarnation of hatred. I'm not perfect either. I sometimes have nightmares as a side-result of the guy's attempted brainwashing by uploading VR simulations into me. He would torment me making me think I'd killed Netto – kun in some form or another and, in his last breath, he asked "Why…?" before dying. Those are what I've had a hard time countering and only by obsessing myself with reading and studying subjects far ahead of my age."
He rummaged into his right jeans' pocket and took out a purplish-colored Link PET with Legato's drawing as emblem; he inputted a command and projected a life-sized hologram of a Net Navi who was identical to Rock Man save for the purple color palette, eyes with red irises, and his chest emblem, navy blue instead of red; his face displayed lack of interest.
"That's my look as Umbra. However… I've never left this body ever since I got uploaded into it despite it being possible. It's just a matter of transmitting my own data through one eye in the form of the IR laser and into the PET. The nanomachines place my body in a sleep-like status and monitor that my health continues to be unaltered. I've gotten so used to being "human" that I haven't done it once, even."
"Since that could raise moral questions and it's not something easily produced, we developed the "Copy Roids" as a first step. There'll be a moment in which they'll be able to process food and drink as energy and also be able to store as a program allowing for free materialization. Navis will be able to customize their appearance and no – one will be able to tell them apart from normal persons."
"You're planning that far ahead?"
"We are. Obviously enough, the incident of Netto – kun was something none could account for. We did intend to "recruit" him, and I was going to play the role of Kage Miquel nevertheless, but the incident changed the meaning of our actions… At first, the intent was that he would contribute with his experience… However, after we saw the state he ended up him, we knew that we HAD to help him. It was no longer a matter of profits. It was a matter of rescuing him from his depression."
"Exactly. We had to be his confidants." Legato added.
"However! We can't let you tell others yet. I told you tonight because you would understand the need for all of this. We'll have to use a little insurance until the time is ripe! Priority One is making sure we can make Zero run at 100% power and see what it can do while trouble-shooting along the way and debugging…"
"What kind of "insurance", Hikari Jr.?" He demanded.
"Don't worry… It won't harm you and I'm not blackmailing you or anything like that… In fact you won't even remember what happened tonight to begin with…"
He made a signal to Saito, who nodded, and drew his Beretta M92F.
"Time for a nap, Enzan and Buruusu… By the time you wake up, you'll believe this was just a terribly realistic nightmare."
Saito shot Enzan's right knee and he fell unconscious as Legato grabbed his PET from his jeans' right pocket and switched it off.
"It really went as planned. Once again, I'm amazed at your planning skills, Oriol & Legato." Netto laughed.
"Please. You knew him better than anyone else; you knew what had to be done to motivate him to keep on the game." Kuroshiro laughed.
"We did have several unaccounted for things during the way but it's not like we found a way to deal with them, anyway." Legato shrugged.
"That time when Laika sniped you was a close call. It could've torn the mask apart depending on the angle and all. Fortunately, we made sure to make it thick enough so that at a first touch it'd feel like real skin. Who'd said the jerk was looking up to Akai Shuuichi from Detective Conan?"
"I know, niisan, I know… We were also stupid to assume that the private eye was to blame even though we knew Obihiro had been at Suzuki – san's place too… I simply didn't expect him to carry spy gadgets on him!"
"We can talk that later. Let's get to work, my fellow conspirers!"
22:49 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Uh-unh… Where am I…?"
"He's waking up."
"Can you hear me, Ijuuin – kun?"
"Huh… Superintendent Oda…? Meijin…?"
"Relax. This is the Net Police's HQ…"
"Huh… The Net Police's HQ…? Where have I been at?"
"That Noir guy suddenly transported you somewhere where we couldn't receive your PET's signal… You suddenly reappeared in the rear yard of the building… I guess he pulled a joke on you."
"Huh-uh… I think so, yeah… Blues… Don't you remember?"
"No, sir. They switched me off, sir."
Enzan began to wake up; he was lying face-up on a couch placed inside of ta infirmary; Oda and Meijin were standing next to him while Enzan was clouded and slow of reflexes; he managed to sit up and looked around.
"Guess the sleeping dart had too powerful of a round this time around and it's had some effects… It sometimes happens and it's something rather unpredictable…"
"Huh… I can only remember hitting the floor, hard… Guess I lost consciousness… Next thing I remember is that then I walked up stone stairs into the street… I walked for two to three minutes before I collapsed and I can't remember anything else…"
"I guess they pulled a joke on you and that earlier dramatic setting was just part of it." Oda concluded.
"Yes, sir… I think so, sir…"
"Man. I'd like to bust one of 'em. We did bust that locomotive jerk, but that gal was done with me in the blink of an eye! By the way… They've been installing somethin' 'round the Reverse Internet." Punk told them.
"What is it?" Blues asked.
"Some kind of metallic white octagonal prism, barely a meter tall and can be hidden under fake hollow rocks… It has wires, which end up in sensors calibrated to pick any encrypted traffic, and then send the data elsewhere! We tried to follow it but ended up stuck in some kind of gateway with small narrow openings for the data… Then that Slur showed up. Called me "wandering soul" and told me to "seek the road from which you came from"… That gal's mere apparition chilled everythin' on me so I ran outta there before I got slaughtered! I swear she was directing a smug smile at me from behind me." He ended.
"I see… They must be for some kind of analysis system… Maybe that Zero thing Suzuki has heard about as of late…"
"We did contact her and told us Noir and Kage had come out of the HQ along with Legato and Andy… She doesn't know where they've gone to and they announced they weren't coming back tonight. Tozukana seems to believe they're hanging out with girls and Hades didn't like the baseless accusation so she's scolded her. He reminded her that what they did on their free time was their business. "Ever heard of privacy, Miss?"…"
"No wonder." Enzan muttered.
"Rumors are circulating about that Purgatory thing. It'd seem that they're expected to switch HQs along the summer, but the location hasn't been disclosed yet. Hades has promised there will be more space and that the place will feel more comfortable. The port building was always intended to be a temporary stop apart from a sign that they're not show-offs because they have enough with a rather weathered down building as HQ…"
"So it's gotta be a building after all."
"Going over the messages to Hikari – kun, I noticed they are a reference to some games… To not to bore you with the context… Both meant "let's meet somewhere safe and discrete"…"
"Obviously enough. You understand the why, yes? Ijuuin – kun."
"Yes, sir… Least we want is some morons spreading ill gossips, sir…"
"While we already got rid of the morons doing that, we've got no guarantee that others could eventually pop up. Chief Sorodo has begun to place pressure around to remind them he has not patience for those who slack and forget their duties."
"Obviously enough, sir."
"So if it turns out that Hikari – kun was secretly meeting with Kage, we mustn't critizice him for that. It's not like we ordered him to not to in the first place. He will prioritize his friendship." Oda reminded them.
"Roger, sir. I will say nothing, sir." Blues acknowledged.
"I didn't intend to, either, sir. It's perfectly reasonable. It's not like they are dangerous terrorists, either. I knew Serenade myself too. I do agree that he would advocate for a means to avoid chaos like those incidents we experienced in the past, sir." Meijin affirmed.
"Good. I see we all understand the essence. I'll talk it with Obihiro – kun tomorrow. He did analyze the device in the Waterwoks and confirmed that it's indeed benefitial to them. It design takes into account possible hacking, because it cannot hijack any of the facilities. Even if someone accessed it, that'd mean no harm at all!"
"No wonder. They seem to account for most things by thinking in long-term effects. That makes them realistic."
"Exactly. While the incidents they staged to "rescue" Suzuki – san from the hospital weren't exactly a good thing… It could be a reminder that there could be dangerous terrorists who could try to do something like that. Which means we cannot take anything for granted."
"Good points, sir… Excuse me, but I feel very tired. I'd rather sleep here tonight, sir… Might I?" Enzan asked, yawning.
"Of course. Blues. Keep watch on him. I'll probably also stay here because I want to finishing some things. You do as you like, Meijin – kun."
"Roger, sir. If you'll excuse me, I prefer to go home and rest."
"Good. See you tomorrow, then."
He fell asleep, so Meijin placed a light blanket over him as well as a pillow behind his head before leaving.
"Alright. Take it easy, Meijin – kun."
"Thank you, sir. Let's go, Punk."
"Roger! I need some rest too."
Oda watched them leave and then headed to his office; he stepped in and stumbled upn the "secretary" sitting in the visitor's chair; he quickly closed the door and sat down on his own chair, remaining silent.
"It is as you gentlemen have deduced."
"Or maybe you want to give us that feeling?" He countered.
"That is good question, true."
"As long as his health is not endangered, I don't care if you pull a prank on him. I already know you're not an enemy. You're just enigmatic and people have an obsession about trying to investigate and find out why it is so enigmatic and what's at the source."
"That is true. I shall not deny a universal truth."
"I rather say you should keep Miss Tozukana under control or else we could get a mess one of these days."
"Such is my intention, and most of the members agree with me, Superintendent Oda. It is late. I shall not bother you anymore and I shall apologize for coming in like this, but I wanted to test how you would react against something unexpected. You obviously did not get this far by mere merits. That is good. One should prove they deserve holding the rank they hold. Good evening. So long."
"So long, ma'am." He calmly nodded in agreement.
What happened to Ijuuin – kun? I smell a conspiracy…
Sighing, he booted up his computer and checked his inbox.
Nothing important, for now. Good.
He switched it off and took out a key from his inner pocket to unlock a drawer; the contents were a green thick spiral notebook, sealed with duct tape around the edges; he held it up and examined from several angles as if he was checking out something.
No signs of opened recently. I did put a couple of fail-safes to indicate if someone had opened it and then redid the tape. I mixed in gibberish and clichés to make anyone think it's an old man's stupid fantasy. It might take years, but I'll slowly connect the pieces… There's more to that incident, the picture is now clearer than it was back then… I only need to keep up the pretenses and the plotters will slowly become confident that their presence will never be detected and that I'm a senile fool, easily fooled…
Satisfied, he placed it back on its place and locked the drawer again, pocketing the key on its place, using a clip inserted into the fabric of the pocket's wall.
Nevertheless… I'm pretty sure that that "secretary" is actually Slur, who uses that as a means to study the Operators from the real world too. That must be the reason she never shows her face… I'm also sure that she was that lady of back when the cruiser incident… That Kanou young man is very likely to be "Hades"… Shade and Hades, after all… A simple anagram… I'm not really sure who Noir could be, but that can wait. I haven't said anything least someone with evil intent tried to use that info to blackmail Golden Star leadership… I do make sure to censor names on reports and have the minimum number of people attend meetings… We also do checks to ensure there's no wiretaps either… They might use some other trick that doesn't rely on electronic means, though…
Sighing, he stood up and headed out into the corridor, to stop in front of a vending machine; he inserted a couple of coins and bought an orange juice tetra brik; he put on the straw and began to distractedly sip it as he listened to the faint sound of the wind and the machine's humming; some voices echoed from other floors too.
Paranoia won't help, either. It's a matter of being conscious about it from time to time. Patience. Types like those get more confident as time passes and they believe they won't be found! However, I WILL find you! My word!