Chapter XXX: PTSD

1420hrs, 1 December 2013, "Top Secret" Medical Facility, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

"It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars. I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars." John McCain.

"Have you ever realized just how insignificant your existence on this planet really is?" Haruhi Suzumiya.

"How long have they been like this?" asked Dr. Kobayashi to Nurse Kuroi. The girls were back in the sterile holding cells, dressed in medical gowns and nothing else.

"Since they came back from the mission," Kuroi replied.

"How many people died?" Kobayashi asked stoically.

Kuroi accessed the mission report on her tablet computer. "100 plus noncombatant KIA, plus all 100 attacking insurgents killed."

"Christ," Kobayashi said, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

"The media is going crazy over this," Kuroi noted. "I heard that the massacre got blamed on a Muslim extremist group, and now there's pogroms all over Sudan and South Sudan. The entire region is destabilizing right now, and all the oil companies are pulling their people out."

"Except one," Kobayashi looked at her, his grey eyes staring blankly.

"Nakanishi," Kuroi replied.

"You bet your ass. They've got this security firm now, and they're adding 'protection' for anyone willing to pay the price."

"What's the price of oil now?"

"I think it's $150 for JCC or something like that," Kobayashi said, looking at his computer. "Whatever that means. More money out of my hide."

Kuroi and Kobayashi continued to stare at the TV monitors, watching the muted and unmoving bodies of the SAILOR Team.

The door to the observation room opened, and Kuroi and Kobayashi turned to look.

"Sorry I'm late." It was Dr. Kawasaki.

"Where were you?" Kobayashi asked.

"I was in a meeting with Iwasaki."

Kobayashi gave him a strange look. "I wasn't told of this meeting."

"You didn't need to know," Kawasaki replied, trying to avoid any sort of conflict but Kobayashi wasn't going down that easy.
"Uh, that's not true," Kobayashi said to him. "I'm the one in charge of this project."

"Well, maybe Iwasaki just wanted to talk to me," Kawasaki protested, walking over to one of the video monitors and pretending to look at Amy.

"Bullshit." Kobayashi went over to him and grabbed him by the shoulder. "You tell me what the hell is going on here, or you're off this team and your clearance revoked."

Nurse Kuroi stood forward and tried to pull Kobayashi off of Kawasaki, but he stopped her.

"Yuki, it's alright." He looked at Dr. Kobayashi. "Let me go, and I'll talk."

Kobayashi released his hold on him and stood back, glaring at him all the while.

"You're too soft," Kawasaki said to him. "We need to take more drastic action."

"I thought you didn't want to take any action," Kobayashi replied sourly. "And I agreed with you."

"Well, you've seen what's happened," Kawasaki said. "We need to start making more modifications, taking out some of the bad parts and upping the medications."

"We can't do that!" Kobayashi retorted. "These aren't robots! If you start doing more surgery…"

"Yeah, we'll cause all sorts of problems, I know!" Kawasaki shouted. "And right now, we don't have a fucking choice, do we?"

"They need more time to recover!"

"That's a lie, and you know that!" Kawasaki snapped. He walked up to Kobayashi and looked him right in the eyes. "They aren't human anymore, not like this. So it'll be even more easy."

Kobayashi looked at him with disgust. "They're still human, and that's my final decision. We're going to take the entire team offline for a month. Then they can recover, get counseling, we can run more tests in the VR simulators and assess their medical and physiological condition."

"We cannot afford to take the team off for a month."

Everyone in the room turned to see Col. Iwasaki enter through the door. He was out of uniform, wearing a suit and tie instead of the flecktarn pattern of the JSDF.

"Kobayashi, I am seriously doubting your ability to remain on this team," he threatened to him. "I've been making sure that your friend General Ishimura is placated in this matter, but at the end of the day, I don't really care who your friends are, your inability to get things done around here is very concerning."

Kobayashi was taken aback by Iwasaki's comments. "Colonel, I did not use my connections to get to this position."

"I find that very hard to believe," Iwasaki replied. "You did go to school at Waseda University with both of them."

"That was a long time ago!" he protested. "I did not get in touch with them until after I was promoted to this position."

"That's a nice story," Iwasaki dryly said, bored by Kobayashi's concerns with his attitude. "Be that as it may, my only concern is to maintain the operational status of the SAILOR team and to have it ready to conduct more operations later this month."

"They need to be taken off for the entire month," Kobayashi insisted. He took a deep breath in, trying to remain calm. "This is a necessity. The SAILOR team will be combat ineffective unless they get this entire month."

"We have a schedule to meet," Iwasaki said, but quickly shut up. That got Kobayashi's attention real quick.

"Wait a second, a 'schedule?'" he asked in disbelief. Kobayashi started to pace around Kawasaki and Iwasaki, observing them like a hawk. "I'm the one now who has serious doubts now about both of you now. What else don't I need to know on this program? Hmm?"

Iwasaki and Kawasaki looked at each other, and started to back out of the room. But Kuroi stood in the way of the door and glared at them.

"Yuki," Iwasaki started to say, but she just stood there, arms crossed, looking extremely angry.

"Explain yourself," Kobayashi demanded. "Or I'll call my 'friends' you keep going on about."

Iwasaki sighed, pulled out his smartphone and brought up a series of emails between him, General Ishimura, and the PM himself.

"The reason why the SAILOR team has been so busy is because the PM wants it to be," he explained, showing the emails to Dr. Kobayashi. "You'll have to ask him yourself if there are to be any changes to the plan."

Kobayashi looked at the emails. Nowhere was his name mentioned, only referred to as "Medical Chief of the SAILOR Program."

"Fine. I'll ask him."

He pulled out his own phone, and searched through the contacts and found the PM's direct number. Kobayashi hit the green dial button, and held the phone up to his ear.

It took awhile for the PM to pick up the phone. But he did.

"Yeah, this is Hasegawa."

"Hasegawa, it's me. Kobayashi."

"Oh, hey, nice to hear from you. I hope all is going well with your job."

Kobayashi glanced at Iwasaki and Kawasaki, still standing there. He turned his back to them and turned around, trying to make sure that they didn't stare at him the entire time he was talking on the phone.

"Actually, that's what I was calling about."

"Hold on, let me secure this transmission."

There was a silence for a second, a loud click, then the PM started to talk again.

"What's up?"

"I need to take the SAILOR team offline."

The PM took in an audible breath. "We can't do that."

"We need to, or else there won't be a SAILOR team. You'll have a repeat of what happened in South Sudan."

"Dammit Kobayashi," the PM said, taking off his glasses. He thought of the flask in his desk; it had managed to refill itself several times…somehow. "I need that team out there."

"Doing what, sir? So far, the only beneficiary I've seen of the SAILOR team is the Nakanishi Group." Kobayashi knew he was onto something, and he had to make everything count. "Look, I just need to know. I won't get upset or anything, but I need all the facts and such. I can't be left out of the loop again."

"I can't do that Kobayashi," the PM pleaded. "You're the best I have out there, and you don't need to know the bullshit that goes on here in Tokyo."

Kobayashi ignored the PM's request and dove in anyway. "What's the schedule? What timetable is there to meet?"

"Kobayashi…"

"Prime Minster," he said insistently.

The PM looked down at his desk again, wondering if he should tell him about the memo that Beryl had passed him so long ago, telling him what people needed to be gotten rid of, what targets to hit, what companies needed to "disappear", and finally, the authorization for Nakanishi to go through with all the acquisitions that they wanted.

"Here's what I can give you," he said reluctantly. "Some people…"

"You mean Nakanishi."

"Like I said, some people want certain targets eliminated, some buildings blown up, you know the drill."

"And I assume that it's for the 'national interest?'"

"You would be correct in assuming that." The PM allowed himself a small drink from the flask.

"How long did they give you to complete these tasks?"

"Until the end of this year. But…" The PM tried to stop the barrage of questions, but it was no use.

"And how far are we through the list?"

"Kobayashi, I can't continue this conversation any longer," the PM said, unwilling to give any more information. Kobayashi wasn't going to accept that.

"Hasegawa, tell me how much further we have to go!" Kobayashi snapped into the phone.

The PM was silent for a second after that. He could give the information…but if Kobayashi knew how far they had to go…

"How far?!" Kobayashi repeated, forcefully.

"I can't answer that question."

"That's bullshit, and you know it."

"That's all I can give you." The PM was resisting his efforts to pry open more information.

"Then let me tell you this," Kobayashi said. "The SAILOR team will be useless come the next mission if I don't get them some rest, some relaxation. And they won't be able to complete that list of yours. Whoever wants somebody or the other dead, they can fucking wait, because they're not the ones putting their lives on the line here! The girls are, and they're doing a proficient job of it."

The PM knew that Kobayashi was right, and Kobayashi knew that he knew that he was right. There was so much pressure on him though, from Nakanishi, from the Joint Chiefs, from everyone involved, that he was almost paralyzed with indecision.

"Sir, this is your force," Kobayashi stated matter-of-factly. "It's your decision. I will follow your orders, but what I can tell you is that this force will cease to exist if you continue on this path."

"Let me get back to you," the PM said.

"Prime Minister…"

"I will get back to you in a minute…just give me some time." The PM hung up, and clutched the mobile phone close to his face.

"So, what did the PM have to say?" Iwasaki said smugly, his beady eyes staring intensely at the doctor.

"He's going to give me an answer in a minute," Kobayashi replied.

For a minute, everyone stood there in silence, the whoosh of the heating system echoing in the background, the TV and computer monitors humming, Nurse Kuroi's nervous tapping of her foot, Iwasaki's incessant glare at Kobayashi, and Kawasaki's stare at Nurse Kuroi.

Kobayashi's phone rang exactly one minute after he had hung up with the PM, startling everyone in the room. He answered the phone.

"Kobayashi speaking," he said.

"Take the team offline for three weeks."

"Thank you."

"Don't ever call this number again."

"Of course."

With that, the PM hung up on Kobayashi. He pocketed the phone, and looked at Iwasaki.

"We're postponing all missions for three weeks," he announced, wiping the smug look off of Iwasaki's face. "All SAILOR members are to be given a week leave, to any destination they see fit, for R&R, after a week of rehabilitation, psychological evals, and medical checkups. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely," Kawasaki said, glumly. "It's your call."

"This is unbelievable," Iwasaki protested. "I'm going to have a word with General Ishimura about this."

"You go ahead and do that," Kobayashi replied, calling his bluff. "In the meantime, get the staff ready. It's time for some serious repair work."

Iwasaki left in a huff, pushing Kuroi out of the way and slamming the door behind him.

"Well, I think he's not going to be talking to you for awhile," Kawasaki said, somewhat jokingly.

Kuroi went up to him and slapped Kawasaki extremely hard. Kobayashi winced; it hurt just from looking at him getting hit that hard.

"Don't you ever, ever, compromise this project like that ever again," she said sternly, like a mother chastising a child.

"Kuroi…"

"Do you understand me, Kawasaki?" she spat. "Oh, and we're done. For now at least."

She turned around too and slammed the door behind her.

"Ouch," Kobayashi said after she had left. "Reminds me of my late wife."

"Ha ha, very funny," Kawasaki replied. "Make fun of me, why don't you?"

"That's what you get for dealing with Iwasaki," Kobayashi said. "He can't be trusted."

"And the PM? What about General Ishimura?"

"That's…a bit more complicated. They've got a lot more on their plate than Iwasaki could possibly ever handle."

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, we get working on how the microchips are affecting the SAILOR team. Pull up every test, every CT scan, every EKG that we've taken in the last six months on these girls and we're going to get to the bottom of this."

"Right away."

With that, they set about getting their work done.

"What's this then about someone accessing the system from outside?" Kobayashi asked Luna. They were in the underground laboratory, looking at the girls in the healing solution.

"Amy reported to me that all the people in the village had been designated hostile," she replied, tapping at her tablet computer. "I ran a systems diagnostic and found that our communications had been compromised."

"By whom?"

"I don't know. Whoever did this, wanted to spark off a major chain of events in that area."

Kobayashi sighed and rubbed his balding head. "Did you check the encryption on everything?"

"Yes sir. The only way that someone could have possibly accessed our C4I network is if they had the encryption codes, the computer software to decode said codes, and a physical internet port authorized by the Ministry of Defense."

"So it's not possible for someone to have cracked the system."

"No. You would need all of the cryptologists in the American NSA and all the processing power of about seventeen million average computers to maybe crack this system."

"Or just have direct access to it. Who has authorization to the physical ports?"

Luna ran a mental checklist. "Let's see. Us, of course. There's one at the MOD, and one at the…"

"One at what?"

"The Nakanishi Group…" Luna said, faintly. Her conversation with Amy and Mina came back to her at once. "They have a contract with the MOD…"

"To make our healing solution," Kobayashi finished. "Great. Knew that was going to come and bite me in the ass."

"So we're working for the Nakanishi Group,"

"Took you that long to come to that conclusion, hm?" Kobayashi continued to stare at the girls, still immersed in the healing solution.

"Ten seconds." A technician announced the time remaining in the healing tanks.

"So you knew?"

"Hell, General Ishimura basically confirmed it when he visited here."

"Then why didn't you…"

"There's nothing I can do," Kobayashi said.

"Beginning drain of tanks."

The healing solution, now clear, was drained out and the girls were lifted from their chambers onto stretchers.

"But you knew! You knew about…"

"Luna, look. There's a lot of things I was kept in the dark about. I only learned some…disturbing information from the PM himself this afternoon."

Luna glared at the doctor. His white coat was stained with coffee and food, and the bags underneath his eyes betrayed his tiredness of the situation.

"I don't have a choice in this matter anymore," he said sadly.

"Fine," Luna replied. "But I know someone who does."

She left, leaving him standing there, wondering who the hell would know about the complicated situation between Nakanishi and the SAILOR team.

"Amy…"

Amy was asleep in her room now, but awoke to somebody shaking her.

"Yeah…yeah, what is it?" she replied, groggily. The room was completely dark, and she hadn't had the time to unpack or do anything after the incident in South Sudan.

"It's me, Luna."

"What do you want?"

"I believe you," came a whisper.

Amy sat up in her bed, and blinked away the cobwebs in her mind from her awakened sleep.

"Believe what?"

"Remember that conversation we had a while ago? About that box?"

"Oh yeah." Amy had placed it underneath her bed for safekeeping.

"I know it's underneath your bed."

"Damn."

"That's the first place everyone keeps their stuff," Luna said, winking at her.

"So, what made you come around to the dark side?"

Luna chuckled at that reference. "Funny you should put it like that, but a nice conversation with Dr. Kobayashi put it the situation straight for me."

"So, what does he know?"

Luna leaned in close to hear ear and started whispering.

"He know that this was a Nakanishi operation from the start. The top brass, the PM, everyone at the highest levels was involved in this operation."

This wasn't too surprising to Amy, but it still made her mad.

"They lied to us then," trying to keep her voice from shouting in anger. But she knew that already as well. Why was everything a surprise anymore?

"Yeah well, we all get lied to at some point," Luna said, sitting down on the bed. "But whatever happens, I'm with your team."

Amy nodded at Luna's support. "It's much appreciated."

"You're planning to go to Hong Kong soon?"

"Yeah, to meet…"

"Hush now," Luna said. "Remember, they have this room under surveillance. But remember…we're with you now. So follow me and Artemis' lead when the time comes."

"Wait, when the time comes…?"

Luna had already gotten up from the bed and was walking toward the door. Without any more words out of her, she turned around and nodded to her. She then left.

About a week or so later, Amy stood in front of Dr. Kobayashi, along with Mina and Col. Iwasaki in his office.

"Let me get this straight," Iwasaki said, glaring at the two of them. "You want to go to Hong Kong. Just for a vacation?"

"Well, Mina and I came up with the idea when we were on one of our missions," Amy replied, giving a nervous look to Mina, who just smiled back. "If we're going to get another week off, I kind of don't want to spend it here. I think it would be best if we got out of here, you know, go someplace else. Someplace where there isn't shooting, or violence, or anything like that. Considering what just happened…"

"Alright, I understand," Kobayashi said with a smile. "You can go."

"Hold on just a moment," Iwasaki butted in. "You two are not going anywhere."

"Uh, but…"

"As your commanding officer…"

"You know, you don't command shit around here," Amy said, uncharacteristically. "We get our orders from the PM, and you're just the middleman around here. We do just fine without you in the field. Sir."

Iwasaki had about enough of their insubordination but Kobayashi stopped him from doing anything else.

"I'm sure that a few days in Hong Kong wouldn't hurt anyone, would it now Colonel?" He looked at him intensely.

"No Doctor, I'm sure it wouldn't." Iwasaki kept glaring at all of them, but there was nothing he could do about the situation presented in front of him.

"So, no mission control, no nothing out of this group here, right?" Mina asked. "I don't want to hear from…"

Artemis and Luna burst into the room just as Mina was about to say "Artemis and Luna."

"Hey, you can't just go running off to Hong Kong," Luna protested, but giving a look to Amy.

"Why…why not?" Amy asked.

"It would still be prudent to have someone to watch over them," Artemis said.

Iwasaki looked at them, back to Kobayashi, back to Amy and Mina, and threw his hands up in defeat.

"You all sort it out," he groaned. "I don't care what you people do now, just be back here after Christmas."

He stomped out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

Luna smiled, and approached Mina and Amy. "Well, I think that someone should be keeping watch over you, just in case of some…developments."

Amy gulped. "Of course. I think it would be prudent to have Artemis as our comm officer for this one."

He nodded approvingly at that statement.

"And I think it would also be prudent for a new communications network to be set up," Luna continued. "We need to make sure that no one…unwanted taps into our network again."

"That sounds good," Amy replied. "I could whip some stuff up."

"Very good then," Kobayashi said to them. "Get started on all that, and have a good vacation."

"We certainly will," Mina said with a smile. "We certainly will."