Mid‑morning over the Hokorioka, a small aircraft flies less than twenty feet from the ground as it approaches the area under which Tsuchidokutsu is located, flying in under the radar, both literally and figuratively. Both Hanna and Rob are in the cockpit, with Hanna uncharacteristically silent and restrained, as she knows Rob must maintain absolute concentration to avoid crashing.
As they approach the city, Rob diverts the aircraft, remaining a full mile from the main gates. Five miles later, they reach their destination: a small solitary single‑storey building, barely large enough for a single off‑road car. Rob slows the aircraft and brings them in to land. However, his inexperience means his landing is too hard, and the aircraft digs into the sand, stopping abruptly.
"Ngh," Hanna grunts, recovering the breath squeezed out of her by the harness tightening to prevent her flying out of the seat. "That hurt."
"Sorry," Rob winces, similarly winded. "At least these harnesses did their job."
"By dropping me a cup size," Hanna quips. "And to think, you didn't want me flying."
"You can fly back," Rob promises.
"Assuming the thing still works," Hanna teases.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Rob assures, releasing his harness. "Ready to go to work?"
"Yeah," Hanna confirms, releasing her harness and peeling herself out the seat.
Rob extracts himself from the pilot seat, and after a few stretches, follows his wife out of the aircraft and into the small building. At the back, they open a trapdoor and climb down the short ladder underneath to a helical staircase that leads to the start of the secret passage to Kaede's inner sanctum.
Ten minutes later, they reach the far end of the secret passage, and the door to the sanctum. Despite the relative darkness, Hanna makes quick work of picking the lock, and the couple enters the sanctum.
"Empty," Hanna whispers, unclipping a pencil torch from her belt.
"How can you be sure?" Rob asks.
"Firstly, I don't hear anything except your dumb question," Hanna explains. "Secondly, if anyone was here, the lights would be on."
"Good point," Rob admits. "Let's begin."
Hanna and Rob begin their search, working methodically from one end of the main room to the other. After ten minutes, when their sweep is complete, they regroup in the middle of the room.
"Anything?" Rob asks.
"Nothing," Hanna reports.
"Same. I'll check the kitchen."
"Then I'll check the bedroom."
Rob's search of the kitchen is brief, and he's back in the main room in just a couple of minutes. While waiting for Hanna, he decides to inspect the walls for signs of hidden doorways like the one that leads to the secret escape passage. Just as he finds something suspicious, Hanna emerges with haste from the bedroom, shuts the door hard, and leans back against it as if she's keeping something contained.
"That woman is one fucked‑up freak," Hanna growls.
"We're meant to be stealthy, remember?" Rob reminds curtly. "What on Avalice did you see in there that's got you so worked up?"
"Believe me, you really don't want to know," Hanna states with finality.
Rob is about to argue, but stops himself. "Check this out," he beckons, directing his torch on a hidden seam in the wall. "Looks like another secret door."
Hanna joins Rob and takes a close look at the hidden seam he's illuminating. "I think you're right. Let's get it open."
It takes a couple of minutes to find the concealed handle, but once found, the door is opened to reveal a Kaede's well‑stocked private laboratory.
"Fuck me!" Hanna gasps.
"Not here honey," Rob quips.
"Very funny. Don't tell me you're not shocked by this?"
"I am. I'm just keeping control of myself."
With some trepidation, Hanna and Rob enter the lab and begin searching, taking great care not to disturb any of the delicate glassware on the work surfaces. For a full half hour, they search every drawer, cupboard, and work surface, until Hanna finds a notebook with 影病原菌 on the cover. "Hey Rob, you're good with the old tongue. Any idea what this says?"
Rob joins Hanna and reads the notebook cover. "'Yǐng bìngyuánjùn'… Well, 'yǐng' is typically translated as 'shadow', and 'bìngyuánjùn' is… something to do with infections, I forget what exactly. But that's in Mùyǔ: it may be different in the old Gotoshan language."
"We'll take it to Yoshi," Hanna decides.
"Yoshi?" Rob asks, a little confused.
"'Hideyoshi' is a long name," Hanna explains.
"Fair enough," Rob accepts. "Just sounds like a name you'd give a pet lizard, s'all."
Suddenly, Hanna dashes to the lab door and closes it. "Shut off your torch and silence!" she hisses.
Rob complies without question, joining Hanna by the door, his sai drawn just in case. Both hare and vixen slow their breathing, aiming to make as little noise as possible. A few moments later, they hear the main door to the sanctum open. Two sets of boots enter the room as the lights go on.
"I hate being stuck with patrol duty," one of the guards sighs.
"You'd rather be on the frontlines in Mizutani?" the other guard asks.
"At least there'd be some action," the first guard replies.
"It'd be urban warfare," the second reminds. "We're better off here, even if it is a bit dull."
"I guess," the first guard accepts. "Still, could do with something to break the monotony."
"Huh. Never noticed there was a door there before," the second guard comments.
"Looks like a secret escape route," the first ventures. "Could sensei have come back?"
"All the way from Mizutani?" the second replies. "I seriously doubt it. Someone's broken in. Looks like you'll get that action you want after all."
The first guard closes and locks the main door. "We know you're in here! Come out and surrender!" he demands.
Hanna's eyes flash with violent intent, a vicious grin spreading across her face. "I never surrender."
The door to the lab flies open, almost breaking off its hinges. Before the guards can react, a ferocious orange blur slams one of them to the ground so hard he's knocked out cold by the impact. The other guard just manages to draw his kama in time to defend himself from the brutal vixen, but Hanna has the upper hand. In just a few seconds, she disarms the guard, wheels around behind him, and wraps a nunchaku around his neck. "Hello," she growls.
The guard struggles to break free briefly, but stops when Rob places a sai on his neck. "I wouldn't do that if I was you," the hare advises.
"Why are you here?" the guard demands.
"To uncover the truth about your leader," Hanna explains.
"You won't get away with this!" the guard promises.
"Yeah, we will," Hanna replies. "Time to say goodnight," she adds, tightening the nunchaku around the guard's neck.
The guard scrabbles at the nunchaku, but his efforts prove futile. A few moments later, he passes out from lack of air.
Hanna loosens her grip, lowers the guard to the ground, and confirms he's still breathing. "Judged it right," she sighs with relief. "Let's grab that book and get out of here."
Fifteen minutes later, Hanna and Rob get back to the surface. They waste no time leaving the small building and returning to the aircraft, Hanna jumping into the pilot's seat. Rob secures himself in the co‑pilot's seat just as Hanna starts the engines and begins to take off. Her inexperience and impatience combined with Rob's earlier blunder tears the undercarriage from the aircraft, but Hanna doesn't pay any attention to the sound of rending metal. She pushes the engines to maximum thrust and points the aircraft north and skywards.
A few minutes later, Hanna levels the craft at a safe altitude, then finally secures her harness. "I'm enjoying this," she smiles. "I should do this more often."
"You did tear the undercarriage off though," Rob informs.
"Is that what that was?" Hanna asks. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"Only when we land," Rob explains, unable to hide a cheeky smile.
As the sun is setting, Hanna and Rob arrive back at Kasai‑dojo. Landing the aircraft proves extremely tricky with no undercarriage, but Hanna manages to do it without causing Rob or herself injury. After handing the keys back to the chief mechanic (who would have expressed extreme displeasure at the damage done had Hanna not had her claws fully out when she handed the keys over), the couple heads to Hideyoshi's inner sanctum, Kaede's notebook in hand.
"Welcome back," Hideyoshi greets as he welcomes Hanna and Rob into his sanctum. "How did it go?"
"We've brought you homework," Hanna quips, handing the notebook to Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi flicks through the notebook. "It's written in Imperial Gotoshan, a language that fell out of common use when the Kegawa dynasty fell," he informs. "I must admit, I did not expect Kaede to be so learned."
"The script looks almost identical to Classic Yǔyán," Rob reveals. "The only dialect of it that survives today is Mùyǔ, the Shang Mu dialect, and even that's fading. I'm a little rusty, but if I had to guess, the phrase on the cover is 'Shadow Infection'."
"That's remarkably close to the Imperial Gotoshan meaning," Hideyoshi reveals. "'Kage byōgenkin' would normally be translated as 'Shadow Pathogen', but there are alternative readings: 'kage' can also mean 'shade', and 'byōgenkin' can also mean 'virus'‑"
"Shade Virus‽" Hanna and Rob gasp in shock and unison.
"You know of this already?" Hideyoshi asks.
"Indirectly," Rob begins. "There are three people on Avalice known to be infected with the Shade Virus: Serpentine, King Dail, and Milla Basset. All three were infected by Lord Arktivus Brevon a year ago, and as far as anyone can tell, they're still infected. It's capable of mind control, and in large enough doses, can lead to a grotesque mutation that overwhelms the host and turns them feral."
"And that sadistic bitch infected two of our friends with it!" Hanna fumes. "I swear, if I ever come face to face with Kaede Himura, I'm going to fucking tear her to pieces with my bare hands!"