Chapter 7: Decisions
08:28 AM (Japan Time), Sunday January the 25th…
"… Hmmm… Uppercut… Low kick… I kicked the guy outta the ring… The prize is mine…!"
"… Scramble alert!"
"Ah! Let's get ready for the fight!"
CRASH! BLOF!
Charles fell from the sofa and hit the floor with his head in a totally disarrayed move: he looked confused.
"Aw… What the heck…" He grumbled.
"About time, Charles." A familiar voice told him.
Charles looked at the head of the sofa to see Davis standing near it and looking serious.
"First: it's half past nine in the morning. Second: Daniel sent us important stuff from Seoul." Davis pointed out.
"Daniel sent us something, ya say…? What the heck was he doing in Seoul to begin with…?" Charles asked as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.
"Well. He was investigating a weapon-smuggling band. He'd just finished handing over the evidence to the local authorities. He's flying back today... However, yesterday night, he was approached by someone."
"Who approached him? Elvis Presley's ghost?" Charles asked with obvious sarcasm.
"As far as I know… Sir Elvis Presley never set his feet on South Korea."
"Joking… Now… Let's get serious… Who approached him?"
"He suspects it was… A Dark Land Secret Service Bureaucrat." Davis let out the bombshell.
"WHA~T?" Charles uttered.
"Yeah. You heard me well." Davis told him.
"Why would a Dark Land Secret Service Bureaucrat approach Daniel? I know they have a small branch in South Korea 'cause it's close to them and they're close to Mongolia too, but, apart from that…" Charles frowned.
"Apparently… It was one of those unsatisfied with the system. He admitted being a "useless bureaucrat". Daniel suspects he must've tried to do something rather silly to gain a higher rank, but was relocated as a punishment." Davis explained.
"It sure makes sense… Wait! Does this mean that the so-famous Project: Walkürenritt is staged by Dark Land?" Charles grasped.
"We even know what Phase 1 was about."
"Did he tell him all of that?" Charles frowned.
"No. He simply handed him a CD with the info saying that we would appreciate it and vanished right afterwards. He must've though that his act would help us crackpot on the system which he has become unsatisfied with... Zoan Gate Man pulled some jokes on Daniel but then fled… Twilight knows we know and must be gloating about how much time it took us to figure it out…"
"What was that "Phase 1" about, then? And I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight was laughing about that."
"You know how both the fighter craft and the four-legged robots seemed to appear out of nowhere, right?"
"Yeah. They were built with a thin layer of anti-radar material, so it's no wonder." Charles recalled.
"And we know that they could operate within the Cyber World, too, in a very easy manner."
"What are you getting at?"
"Do you remember about Spectrum?" Davis asked back.
"Spectrum? Yeah. It was Hikari Tadashi – hakase's joint project with Dr. Wily which was shut down roughly twenty-five years ago, around 1985, if memory serves..." Charles nodded.
"They've managed to recreate one of its effects with Twilight's collaboration: use a powerful algorithm to bend real world and Cyber World together. They have created "shafts" made up of cybernetic data, which link directly to the Cyber World. This way they can materialize or de-materialize the machines whenever they want from several spots across the world. Twilight must've found a way to replicate the whole "Wily Program"…" Davis explained.
"Holy crap!" Charles uttered.
"Yeah. And those "shafts" contain a terrain recreation tool which allows its opening to imitate the ground around it and be unrecognizable either at naked eye or radar. Hence why nobody could find them."
"Ah! Does the data contain the location of any of those so-called shafts, by the way? That way we could check it out!"
"There's just one: the Gobi Desert. The main one, apparently."
"The Gobi Desert…? Ah! That's where those things made their debut… So, they created one of those shafts to experiment on the materialization of the Cyber World version of those crafts, then?" Charles ventured while rubbing his chin.
"That's how it looks like. The guy was a pretty good hacker and he left several fake trails pointing to Choina to cover his own tracks. However, some of the info was heavily encrypted. All he knows is that the Foreign Department seems to be in charge of the whole thing from the very beginning." Davis explained.
"The Foreign Department is, huh? So… What happened several years ago with Napalm Man was also…?" He guessed.
"Yeah. The Napalm Man affair was handed together with the Secret Service's 4th Department. That's where that guy used to work in before he called the quits on it on that December, 2004, day…"
"So… Does this mean that the Foreign Department is something very recent? For some reason I assumed they'd been around longer."
"It'd seem it started about the time Wily began the activities of the WWW, on September, 2004… Apparently… Someone in the High Command decided it would do best to have a separate department that could oversee the whole of the Secret Service and operate whenever it wanted in foreign territory. There are only six people there and they only are obliged to report to the Supreme General… In short: it's cut off from the usual bureaucracy except for some joint stuff."
"By "joint stuff", do you mean the likes of abduction, interrogation, military courts and executions?" Charles made a scowl.
"Yeah. The info suggested that half of the persons working there are materialized Net Navis each under the orders of a Foreign Department operative." Davis made a scowl as well.
"… Then, summing it up: Dark Land wants to invent a new type of warfare. And blaming other belligerent nations to start a new cold war."
"That pretty sums it up… However… The informer has heard rumors about the Foreign Department wanting to start producing this stuff there instead of Germany once the whole R&D stuff is completed… And it could happen anytime soon. That could be bad."
"We should ring up our contacts and pass on this info."
"I've been working on a summarized version of the data for easier reading and analysis. I can send it out in encrypted mode anytime."
"That's some wise thinking." Charles looked satisfied.
"Thanks for the compliment, Charlie." Davis smirked again.
"I'm Charles and not Charlie!" Charles growled.
"I was teasing you." Davis admitted.
"Yeah. I knew it…Oldest trick in the book!" Charles grumbled.
"Heh, heh, heh! I feel inspired today!" Davis grinned.
08:56 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hullo~!"
"Tamashita – san?"
Nelaus had checked who'd rung his door that morning to see Tamashita standing outside.
"Surprised?" She asked.
"Huh… Well. Yeah. We really hadn't made any plans for today's morning, had we? Unless I forgot…" Nelaus frowned.
"Don't worry! I'm just dropping by. I wanted to hear some stuff from you... Just a couple things, that's it…"
"Oi, Nelaus. Davis sent us some stuff." Isaac announced.
"It's urgent?" Nelaus glanced at Isaac.
"It's "classified" to begin with, so…" Isaac trailed off.
"Classified stuff, you say…? Ever since when do you receive them, anyway?" Felicia asked with a smile.
"What's this: some spy movie?"
"I-I don't know, really." Nelaus nervously replied.
"… "Not to be shared with people not connected to the Net Police", it says… So, then…" Isaac quoted and trailed off.
"… It'd seem that I've gotta go to the Net Police HQ to talk it there, then..." Nelaus shrugged.
"Oh. What a pity! It was a perfect day to go have a stroll 'round the calm city..." Tamashita complained.
"Sorry. Next weekend will surely be different. As you know, I gotta put duty first." He apologized with a sigh.
He picked his coat and hat, made sure to have the essentials, and escorted Tamashita out while he locked down the house.
"See you!"
Nelaus ran off towards the Metro Line station: Tamashita frowned and brought a hand to her chin.
"Too convenient… Too convenient! Don't assumed that you can ditch me like this!" She muttered.
"Don't tell me Sakurai – san passed on you her bad moods after all, Aura - chan." Felicia muttered with a skeptical look.
"I don't care!"
Tamashita ran into the Metro Line station and managed to board a train just as it was about to depart.
"You're not planning to follow him into the Net Police HQ, I hope, Aura – chan?" Felicia hoped.
"I will follow him to Hell itself if I need to!" Tamashita proclaimed.
"Remember those weird Navis who showed up yesterday… They surely must have a lead as to who is behind this affair." Felicia tried to reason with her.
"The timing reeks!"
"Oh. Crap… She's gotten into her "obsessive mood"… There'll be no snapping her outta it." Felicia sighed in defeat.
Tamashita stepped down once she reached her stop and exited into the street where she immediately spotted the Net Police HQ building: two policemen were keeping watch of the front of the front entrance.
"I have an idea…"
Felicia rolled her eyes while Tamashita walked towards the entrance.
"Excuse me!" She called out.
"What can I help you with?" One policeman politely asked.
"I wanted to report a hacking attempt."
"Oh! That's easy! Please go to the 3rd floor and you'll find the officer in charge of the topic." The policeman instructed.
"Thank you very much."
Tamashita entered and spotted that the lobby was empty; the receptionist wasn't there, either.
"Let's see…"
She glanced at a list of departments per floor and spotted what she was looking for:
"NET SAVIORS. 4th FLOOR."
Grinning, she entered the elevator, which was empty, and pressed the 4th floor button, to emerge into a corridor; he and looked around but everything was deserted.
"Huh… Over there!"
She soon heard muffled voices close by, so she entered the women's restroom and paid attention.
"… Dark Land is the force behind this whole affair according to reliable information." Nelaus could be heard saying.
"Dark Land… Those assholes." Netto cursed.
"Netto – kun!" Saito protested.
"Sorry! I apologize!" Netto grumbled.
"Hum. Well. It doesn't matter. We all have had several disgusting experiences regarding Dark Land. I would've said the same thing myself, anyway. You're not to blame, Netto – kun."
"We still don't know who the German manufacturer of those weapons is?"
"No. And now that I think about it, the fact that all data collected by the FOD was sent to southern Sharo makes sense."
"Why, Laika?"
"It could've been a Dark Land facility from which an agent took the data and physically transported it. The place was picked to make us believe in some extremist military complot." Laika was commenting.
"Hum. The ones pulling the strings are called the Foreign Department, huh… The name says it all, don't ye agree?" Sigma was commenting.
"All bureaucracies act the same way." Blood Shadow shrugged.
"What worries me is the fact that they could deploy attacks from the most unexpected spots… We should investigate the "shaft" at the Gobi Desert and try to find out if we can locate the other ones scattered elsewhere around the world." Isaac suggested.
"Besides… The manufacturer won't be able to hide for much longer. A lot of agencies are looking over there." Blues rallied.
"If those weapons get mass-produced and used against us then we'll be in a deep trouble." Search Man grumbled.
"… Hmmm… I'm sure that the informer murdered by the FOD somehow learnt that Dark Land was behind it so that's why they silenced him time ago." Dark Miyabi guessed.
"That's how it looks." Shadow Man shrugged.
"I now remember that the MI5 caught a Dark Land dude trying to infiltrate the Ministry of Defense… I should call them to learn if they got anything useful from him…" Martin suggested.
"Besides that… Herr Kount told us that he had a suspect on mind regarding the manufacturer." Lander added.
"Something tells me it must be a very patriotic person…" Superintendent Manabe ventured.
"How should we proceed like?" Martin asked.
"I'd like to ask of you, Blackdesu – kun, to go along with Senator Morgangantz and investigate the so-called "shaft"…"
"Roger! We'll depart there immediately!"
"Laika – kun could also go along. He could prepare backup just in case."
"Okay. The rest of us will stay put in case they go for another field test in Internet City." Enzan agreed.
"This meeting is concluded, then."
Aura gasped and quickly used the emergency stairs until she reached the 3rd floor: she picked the elevator and exited into the lobby.
"Tee, heh, heh. Now that was interesting!"
She walked past the empty lobby and exited into the street, smiling and acting the innocent: none of the policemen noticed a thing.
"Aura – chan… You've gotten yourself into a mess! That was classified stuff! You weren't supposed to hear to it!" Felicia scolded.
"At least now I'm sure that he isn't going out with another girl, anyway. Now I can be at ease that he's not a womanizer!"
"Aura – chan… You're hopeless from time to time! Did you know about it?" Felicia grumbled: she was obviously frustrated.
"Oh, I knew it, Felicia. Does it surprise you after all these years?"
"Huff. No. But I thought you would grow out of it. Guess I expected too much."
"By the way: maybe you should make "those" bigger?" She teased.
"No. I don't feel any need to!" Felicia sentenced with obvious annoyance.
"Tee, heh, heh. I like seeing that annoyed face, cha know…"
"Huff. You're yuri or what? I've got the right to decide that stuff myself!"
"Of course, of course. It's but a joke, no need to get so annoyed!"
"Something tells me those "meeting times" at the academy…"
"Chut, chut! The walls have ears! Tee, heh, heh! Ta-ta-ran-dan-tan-da~!"
"Sheesh. Don't asume you'll be able to fool me!"
08:03 AM (Mongolia Time)…
"… I've got bad news, fellows!"
"What's up, Scorpion?"
General Meta had been sitting next to the round table and working on something with the laptop: Vulture had been inspecting some bureaucratic-looking documents; Scorpion had run in followed by Cobra and he looked rather out of breath, given how he stopped to regain it.
"We've been hacked by the Choina Secret Service!" He let out the bombshell.
"WHAT?" General Meta roared as he stood up all of a sudden.
"Yeah! I'm serious! To top it off, almost all of the data about Project: Walkürenritt is gone! Only the most encrypted data is untouched but the info tells everything! They will come and get a hold of our stuff!" Scorpion reported.
"By all the…! I suspected this could happen but I wasn't expecting it to happen before we'd started to produce the stuff here on our Dark Land factories!" General Meta cursed.
"What do we do?" Vulture asked.
"… Grah! I see no other option. We'll have to stick to the schedule. Let's send a warning to the border with Choina just in case they try to sneak a spy." General Meta grumbled.
"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried such a move. Let's move it, Cobra!" Scorpion commanded.
General Meta sat down on his chair and resumed typing some stuff into his laptop while grumbling under his breath: Vulture was calm.
"Nothing shall stop us. Nothing. Not even Choina!"
"I apologize, sir, but I think that's underestimating them and…"
"Shut the trap up, Vulture! Not in the mood for that! SHEESH!"
00:44 AM (Berlin Time)…
"…. Heh, heh, heh… So Mr. Twilight finally provided the info… I knew it: the whole tale was and is amusing…"
The unidentified scientist who had lastly been seen at the Gobi Desert tests was sitting inside of a dimly lit room and typing into a laptop.
He had removed his shades thus showing his purple - irises eyes.
His face appearance seemed that of a man on his early twenties.
He was smiling as he looked up some information.
"This is very interesting indeed… There's no refuting it: this technology exists and it's not an item of a sci-fi movie. I know it better than anyone else. I am one of its main engineers…"
He inputted some commands and a videoconference with Twilight was started; Twilight was crossing his arms and was in a good mood.
"Well, Gate… Satisfied? I did provide you with all of the details."
"Truly. I had guessed most of them but you helped confirm them."
"What do you wish?" Twilight asked with some amusement.
"I'll bury them. They're a nuisance, aren't they?"
"You'll have to ask permission to IQ – sama."
"But of course. Or else I could bury them… socially."
"Ah. Ah. I see that more probable… Yeah… IQ – sama would like to have them regret their "softness"… Let overwhelming pressure bury them: that'd be fitting, truly." He was amused.
"OH YEAH! LET ZA RING HIT ZA ZEILING!"
"Cloud Man! Stop with your "Bodies" parodies already!"
"Well then… I'll speak with IQ – sama, Mr. Twilight. Auf Wiedersehen."
"Hmpf… Auf Wiedersehen… Good luck… Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh…"