Chapter 17: Changing Gears
It was just me and my friend Eveline, heading down towards the front gate. I was requested for reconnaissance of a small store with Reed picking me up right after school. Mr. Steele said that this job is slightly different than just a walk in and count job.
"You have to go?" Eveline questioned with a distinguishable tone of disappointment.
"I have as uhh… intern at a place far from here," I lied, feeling a cold drop of sweat trickling down my back.
"When did you get an internship?" She asked.
"Not too long ago. Like a few weeks ago or so," I replied, hiding my stress.
"Mmm… Alright. If you need help with homework. You can ask me anytime," Eveline smiled, leaving me on my own. Watching her as she left as I watched. There was something about her that made me stare at her almost dumbfounded whenever I stared for too long. Almost as if she were a light you can't take your eyes off of in a dark tunnel. My heart also tends to beat faster whenever I walk or talk along with her even when I am fully composed. Do I like her? That might be a possibility. No, that would be an understatement. Maybe it was love?
"Dove?" My sister called.
I shook off my distracting thoughts, looking for my sister amongst the students, I managed to spot her.
"Hey sis," I said cheerfully.
"I won't be home until nine o'clock. I have to work overtime," she said. "Do you think you could cook me an omurice?"
I gleefully chuckled at her request, containing it a bit as I looked at her. "Would you like me to make it the same way or should I make it different?"
"Whatever is easiest for you, Little Dove," she flashed a bright smile, gently patting my head awkwardly.
Swiping her hand away, her smile quickly faded. Her frowning pains me greatly, but it was necessary as I didn't want people to see me energetic from a pat to the head.
"You know this is embarrassing for me, right? Also doing this in school. It will be strange for people to see me like this," I whispered.
Her face bloomed a smile again at my clarification. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Eveline would like to see your flustered face. I know you like her. "
Flabbergasted I stumbled with my words before being able to conceive a clear sentence "Eh? What? How do you…?"
She let out a light-hearted giggle. "Well, that confirms my suspicion. You always sneak glimpses at her. Creep."
"It's not what it—"
"You know I'm just playing around," she teased. "Always with the stiff looks and serious attitude. You won't be able to catch her heart that way."
"What do you know about love? You never got a guy to ask you out," I criticized.
"I never tried to," she remarked. "I'll be back tonight. Make sure the omurice is warm when I'm back."
"Yeah, yeah. Be safe," I uttered.
The both of us went on our merry way. Reed has finally reached the gates, I got into the black SUV.
Immediately, Reed greeted me with open arms. "Welcome aboard. Did you have a good day?"
"It was fine. Thanks, Reed."
"That's good to hear. Do you have your briefcase with you?" Reed asked as he started driving us.
"Yes," I replied. "You told me to bring this. Might I add, this thing takes a lot of space in my school bag."
"Sorry to hear that, Mr. Dove," Reed apologized. "I'll be sure to tell Mr. Steele to give you a smaller, compact, and more portable case."
"No no, it's fine," I stopped him. "I like this case."
"If you say so Mr. Dove," Reed responded. "You know the procedures right?"
"Walk in, count, and report and I get my bonus right?" I quickly recited.
"Yes, but we are going to put a few more steps to that," Reed added. "You will be in touch with Mr. Gnat in this task. He will guide you through the procedures of placing a small device over their signals."
"What's this now?" I stressed, my eyes widened, my heart beating faster at the sound of my daunting task. "Is this what that practice was for?"
"Relax, Mr. Dove. You did fine on your practice over the few days. He will be more informative on your actions. Soon, you will be able to do it without his guidance," Reed assured me, although the stress and the burden were lightened a bit. Still, I thought of the worst to come.
The car came to a sudden stop, pulling over on a bare street with a few other cars and such. Looking around seemed to not have any sort of civilians walking around. A few shops were upfront, but none of them seemed to be our target.
Reed immediately took notice of my wandering eyes and turned and explained everything. "If you are looking for your hit, it's a street away from where we are. Now, your case. I assume you know the combination?"
"Yes," I answered quickly.
"Good, you know that everything in there will be proven useful for this job. You will do great Mr. Dove. Just be sure to stay frosty no matter what and everything will be just fine," Reed stated. "The gang will be waiting for your part to be done and as soon as you do. You can leave as nothing happened. Oh! I almost forgot."
Turning towards the inner pockets of his suit, rummaged through them pulling out a wad of cash.
"Each of these is around ten grand," he waved the wad around. "The pay is entirely dependent upon your quality of work."
"Wouldn't it be easier if we got someone else to do an inside job?" I inquired.
"If only it were that easy. We tried many times before and that didn't look good each time. This is where you come into play makes going in and slipping out much easier." He explained. "This place that we are robbing is owned by a rival gang. Recently they have bought a few new pristine military-grade weapons from an unknown source. If this goes according to plan, then we will be able to take them and sell them off to one of our 'allies' overseas."
"This seems absurd," I commented.
"Don't worry about it," Reed said. "There is an earpiece in your case. Put it on and go. We don't have time to waste."
Digging the case out of my bag I flipped through the numbers, hearing a click upon flipping to the last one. Opening my case, there were many sorts of tools. Some I don't even recognize, but I paid no attention and found the orange earpiece Reed was talking about. Carefully handling the piece, I placed it snuggly in my right ear right after I closed the case shut. Leaving the vehicle, there was immediate transmission through the earpiece as it coughed a tuning sound.
"Can you hear me?" Gnat's voice emulated through the piece.
"Yes, Gnat. Loud and clear," I softly replied, making my way down the street.
"Good, my side is looking fine as is yours. Now, make your way towards the alleyway to the right of a coin-wash. When you do, take an immediate left. When doing so, look out for any cameras. I want you to be as discreet as possible."
I followed Gnat's directions, landing me near a rather poorly maintained coin washing building. The sign's color was fading, a few letters seemingly had fallen off; nowhere to be seen. Inside the laundromat business were just two people, doing their business. Following the rest of Gnat's instructions, I landed myself at a long and narrow back alley of the laundromat with dumpsters and garbage bags emitting a repulsive odor that only flies and rats could appreciate. The walls were clear of any sort of camera and people too.
I checked in with Gnat again. "Alright, I'm here. What now?"
"Find a circuit box, a cable that connects to a satellite, a ladder even if there is one. Just find anything that can lead to a signal or anything electric," Gnat responded.
I examined the wall carefully, moving as I did. Every speck of dirt, the graffiti art, and the damaged walls. I managed to spot an electrical box and next to it a cable line.
Immediately, I called this in. "I found what appears to be an electrical box and a security box, possibly."
"Excellent," Gnat said. "Now, do the boxes have locks on them? If so, pick it if you know how to. If not, you can try brute force. Just be sure to put on your gloves while doing so."
"Alright," I ended the conversation.
Dropping the case near the wall and opening up the case, revealing its contents. The various tools were a hammer, hand drill, electrical gloves which I immediately threw on, a lock picking kit, a set of pliers, a small box with a bunch of hand tools, and a small intricate electronic device.
Picking up the lock picking kit and opening it up, the case showed an array of various picks and prying tools. Immediately, I got to pick the lock; inserting the tension wrench into the lock, pulling on the lock I started picking away feeling for the pins to fall into place. The process was both difficult and tedious, feeling a loose pin and then a resistant one before losing it again.
"Damn it, almost had it," I said to myself, feeling for the pins again.
With a semi-audible click, that was my cue to move on to the next one, still fumbling around with my tools.
A few minutes passed as my fingers finally managed to click every pin in place, rewarding me with a full turn of the lock, pulling the hatch down with a click for an unlocked padlock. Pulling the circuit box cover away, I was presented with something completely alien to me.
"Alright, the lock is popped. What's next?" I asked.
"Took you long enough," Gnat's voice echoed, a sound of a book closing could be heard. "Do you see a switch or a button of some sort?"
My eyes darted around the rectangular box for a moment, finding a small, white light switch at the top of it.
"Yes. I see a switch."
"Okay, that will be used later on. Now you said there is a security box right? I want you to open it and attach the device in your case. You know that practice we did together? This is where this comes in, just don't mess up for even a split second." Gnat instructed slowly. "If you do, then a line will be called to the cops. Got it?"
"Yeah, no pressure" I murmured sarcastically.
Instead of picking the lock, I brought out a heavy claw hammer. Recoiling my arm back and a quick strike to the top, the lock broke open. Wasting no time, I got to work, flinging the cover open; exposing the multi-colored wiring. Taking out a pair of wire cutters, pliers, and the intricate device from my case, I started pulling at wires, exposing its copper insides. With that out of the way, I hastily plug the device in. The device lit up with a tiny green light, signifying a signal is being put out. Still tinkering with the rest of the wires as I tried to cut the right wires.
"Hey, you!" Someone shouted. "What are you doing?"
"What the…" I questioned, cocking my head at the voice to see a tall grey-haired man dressed up in a blue security uniform slowly making his way towards me. He seemed to be out of shape but a problem no matter what.
"What happened? A signal went out to the cops. This is bad… Did you cut the wrong wire? Forget this. Time for plan B. Dove, get out of there without anyone noticing you ASAP," Gnat jabbered.
"A guard spotted me," I whispered, my head still looking over at the guard which is only a few feet away.
"Don't worry about that now." Gnat spouted. "He will get sidetracked right about…"
By the time Gnat gave his last words, the man had already reached me, roughly grabbing me by the arm. "You think this is funny? This is private property young—"
A harsh shattering of glass could be heard towards the entrance of the coin-wash followed up with the sound of people barking orders or screaming.
"Now's your chance. There is a hidden compartment under your tools that holds a gun." Gnat directed quickly. "Don't hesitate now, he saw you and now you have to tie up that loose end. This can jeopardize our whole operation."
The man who had heard the sound of the commotion had let go of my arm, his hand now reaching for his handheld, reporting the sound while speedily making his way out of the long alleyway.
My eyes locked on my opened case and my arms started pushing tools away wildly, finding a hidden hatch. Ripping the hidden compartment up hid a silenced gun perfectly placed in a black silicone gun mold. Taking the gun into my hands, outstretching my arm, and aimed the barrel at the man who was about halfway on making it out of the alleyway. My finger delicately placed on the trigger, my mind racing between killing and not killing the man.
The guard was nearing closer and closer to the end, my mind unable to make the decision. Closing my eyes, I fired. The gun pushed against my hands, making them pull upwards. The sound of the gun letting off a volume close to a person talking in an open room. Little by little I opened my lidded eyes, an image was forever branded into my memories.
The man was still conscious, now on the ground crawling towards the alley exit while groaning loudly while wailing for help. It seemed like I might have hit him in the spine as there was a deep red stain at the back of his blue uniform. My brain couldn't handle the pitiful sight of the man as he was slithering sluggishly, so I aimed again this time at his head. My arm trembled greatly as it pulled forward as the shaky barrel pointed at the man. My shoulders feel heavy if someone had placed weights on them. My hand ceasing to stop shaking, so I got my other hand to hold it. The gun now a bit steadier, I placed my index finger on the trigger, pulling it once more, another suppressed shot pushed the gun against my hands, making it pull upwards slightly similar to the first.
The guard's painful moaning had been silenced along with his crawling. The back of his grey hair is now slightly colored with a deep crimson.
It's over… he's dead
My arms collapsed, hands still shaking, my shoulders felt liberated, and yet an unknown burden far worse had been placed on me. I raised my head towards the skies, looking for an answer to my question.
"Are you out of there yet?" Gnat questioned. "First responders will arrive in less than thirty seconds."
"Yeah…" I murmured. "Yeah, I'll be out of there soon."
"Yeah?" Shikikan questioned.
"I forgot to tell you. I'll be gone the entire week. A friend invited me to his birthday party. We will be traveling in his RV throughout the country," his uncle yelled.
"Okay. Whatever," Shikikan stated.
Looking through the case, his old tools were still in there from day one every single one of them. Pushing past them, he pushed a few tools away, revealing a false bottom. As his hand reached down to remove it, it revealed a couple of wads of cash neatly stacked parallel to each other. Beside all of the money was his old gun and a few pistol magazines that Mr. Steele had given him, inside of the gun mold.
The sound of steps came inching closer towards him. Quickly, he closed the hatch and shut the case despite the tools being in an awkward position, making the case half-closed.
His uncle rudely intruded. "Dove, I need you to drop me off."
"Knock first. Then enter," Shikikan lectured. "Everyone is just rude these days."
"Says the one who left all of their luggage in my trunk leaving me to unload it for you," he countered. "You never fully told me what that is about."
Picking himself up, he lightly pushed aside his uncle. "Let's just get you on your way."
Making his way out with his uncle following behind, they made their way towards the car. His uncle only having to stop as he was distracted with his dog following behind them.
Pulling up in the car, he dropped himself off in the passenger seat. "Alright. It's time to go. You don't want to keep your friends waiting."
"Neither do you, Commander."
"Family and military business are separate. You should know that during your glory days," Shikikan criticized, earning a slight smirk on his uncle's face.
"Those years were certainly fun." His uncle muttered, closing his eyes briefly. "Yet, it was so boring without much to do as a commander. Yet here you are, the world's greatest and luckiest commander."
"You are still going on about this whole ship women?" Shikikan turned towards him, showing a slightly irritated expression. "Don't. I've had enough of that thrown around."
"I'm not," his uncle stated, plopping himself in the passenger seat. "But I still think you should be around them and at least form a friendship. The last you would want is mutiny or desertion if another war breaks out."
"I'm sure I will manage," Shikikan claimed, climbing into the driver's seat. "After all, we won't be deploying them unless we have to."
"While I'm gone. Take care of the dog. She can be a handful at times but be sure to love her properly and she won't cause any problems," his uncle requested.
"Sure. Sure," Shikikan lightly replied with a hint of sarcasm.
Shoving the keys into the ignition with a slight turn, the engine roared to life roaming the roads once again. Filling the emptiness with their voices, discussing aimlessly from topic to topic; some on the different kinds of kansens others on funny stories that they vaguely remembered with mild uncertainty of the memories. The time has seemingly jumped by when his uncle asked him to hit the brakes.
"Alright, stop here," his uncle asked abruptly midway through his story.
Shikikan steered right pulling over in front of a small suburban neighborhood. The place was like a homeowner's wet dream. Green lawns, a two-story modern house, and a large garage to accompany it. Probably a large backyard with a pool if he were to guess what else came with the house.
His uncle slowly made his way out leaving for the front door of the mansion. His uncle looked back at him, giving his nephew one last lecture.
"I hope you will make the right decision," his uncle said. "Their futures could save our blood as well."
His uncle turned his back on him, leaving Shikikan in a brief state of wonder only to kill the thought as he thought of it as a lazy excuse. Setting his sights on the road again, he drove in complete silence as he passed several buildings. His drive seemed to have felt endless. Closing up upon his home, he noticed that there was a pair of individuals waiting at his doorstep, one male and one female. He pulled over at his driveway, making eye contact with the two. Both of them were dressed casually, the man wearing a blue button-up shirt with long black pants while the woman was wearing a red and black flannel with a navy blue polo shirt. The two merely smiled and greeted him joyfully upon his arrival.
"Hello. You look rather uniform today. We are here to ask if you are interested," smiled the man.
"Excuse me. What is this about?" Shikikan asked, not remembering a single committee that had ever stepped in his neighborhood, it was rather suspicious.
"The kansen conspiracy group, sir," the woman answered, handing Shikikan a pamphlet.
Picking the pamphlet out of her hands, observing the paper. The cover showed Enterprise with the Azur Lane logo imprinted at the top. Opening up the pamphlet read many bizarre theories on the kansens. Some were reasonable from bio evolutions to the strange binding of dead supermodels or mythical creatures' souls were intertwined and God had bestowed upon them what they would describe as demi-humans.
Oh boy. Now, this is just great. Conspiracy theorists and their craziness.
"Thanks but no thanks," Shikikan stated to the two, pushing past them to unlock the door.
"Wait, but you haven't heard the benefits that you get fro—"
"Good day," Shikikan rudely interjected with the man.
"Wait, doesn't he look familiar, Scott?" The woman questioned, squinting her eyes to get a better look at Shikikan's face.
Shikikan, obviously felt her uncomfortable presence hastened his movements, swinging the doors open as to step his foot in.
"Yes actually, Amanda. The logo too…"
Shikikan removed his shoes quickly yet subtly but the two had their heads in the clouds. Quickly removing shoes, he moved into his house without them noticing.
"Wait, is he—"
Shikikan closed the doors on them before they were able to piece together the puzzle. He let out a hard sigh, sliding to the ground without the regard of dirtying his white uniform. The two outside were still discussing matters that he could give less about. Lifting his arms, he closed his eyes and rubbed his brows as he breathed heavily wanting to release his stress upon something.
A curious whimper and slight panting can be heard in front of him. Opening his eyes, his uncle's dog can be seen in the front sitting perplexed as her real owner had not returned, her curious eyes looking from top to bottom at her somewhat familiar figure. Standing up she slowly made her way towards him but was stopped when Shikikan held his palm up.
"Stop. Stay," Shikikan commanded weakly, in an attempt to tame the animal.
She ignored his commands, her curiosity getting the best of her, and instead started to sniff his hand's scent. Upon recognizing his somewhat familiar scent, the animal started to caress her head against his palm.
Sighing, he dropped his arm to the ground letting the dog lay her check against his open palm, resting on her side on the floor with him with a playful expression.
"Dog, I know you want to see my uncle. But I don't know how to take care of you," he muttered, his fingers delicately stroking the fur of the pooch with his occupied hand. "I can't leave you here by yourself either while I'm gone either. I guess I can just have my neighbor take care of you. But I can't just have them take care of you without a valid reason."
Lifting himself off the ground, his palm leaving the dog's cheek not moving an inch as she laid motionless.
"Good girl."
Shifting his sights, he left to his room to get dressed in different attire. Pushing through his wardrobe, he put together the best attire that he had which was a black polo and grey slacks with a black belt with a rose cap to finish off his look.
Leaving, he signaled the dog to follow him which she did as they both left the door. The both of them made their way towards the nearest house to his and his closest and friendliest neighbor that doesn't cause a huge ruckus at night. Knocking on the front door, a bald man wearing squared glasses around his height answered.
"Ah, Dove or should I be calling you Commander? Welcome back to the neighborhood," welcomed the neighbor. "Should I put on some tea?"
"No, thanks for the offer," Shikikan humbly declined. "I came here to ask for a favor if you don't mind."
"Alright, let me guess. I see that you have your uncle's dog. You want me to take care of her while you visit your relatives?" Guessed the man.
"Yes, if you don't mind sir," Shikikan beckoned to the dog to move forward.
The white-haired dog moved as instructed, panting happily as the two men stared at it.
"Alright, she looks to be well trained. I'll take good care of her while you are gone," smiled the man. "You don't have to pay me anything. Your uncle always talks to me about how you are saving up to help your sister."
"Thank you so much, sir," Shikikan gratefully thanked.
The man took the dog in, closing the door behind him, leaving Shikikan to leave for the car. Once again, he hit the road.
"Hey, Enterprise. Do you think that Shikikan will ever visit us?" Asked the swordswoman who was busy maintaining her katana on a well-decorated couch.
"I doubt it. Did you see and hear his reaction and his responses? He didn't want to be near us," replied Enterprise, who had just stepped out of the shower now in a white bathrobe and her hair wrapped in a hotel towel. "I get that Corrian wanted us to go and increase our chance of convincing Shikikan to get along with us. But don't you think that this is a little strange?"
"What way is it strange?" Asked Takao all while not taking her eyes off of polishing her sword.
"Think about it for a second. Corrian invited us unattended to his vacation. Don't you think that it's strange?" Enterprise said, sitting herself down on the bedside facing Takao.
"Perhaps it was needed for his benefit. You've read his profile and even worked under him. He doesn't like getting close to people because he lost his old friends as you said and is a hard worker that rarely seeks outside help. I agreed to tag along in hopes that we can do some training again." Takao answered, lifting her blade upwards to examine it, her lips curving into a satisfied smile before sheathing the blade. "What made you come along?"
"I… don't know…" Enterprise said with uncertainty, moving to her suitcase for new casual attire. "He… seems to be lost is a light way to put it. I feel as if I have met him somewhere or maybe it's just my intuition telling me to help him. We still don't have enough information about him. His uncle gave us a large leap in information as well. He's hiding something. A dark secret."
"Still, it's not our decision on if we can be around him. It's him and if he so chooses, so be it," Takao concluded, putting her sword aside to put her maintenance kit away. "I'll be here training. You can train with me if you want."
"No thanks, I'll just be going out for a walk to be familiar with the place," Enterprise said, dressing in a black sweatshirt, black short shorts, and knee-high stockings. "I'll be fine on my own. I know that Corrian said that we should be together in case problems arise, but I won't stray too far away."
"Alright then, take care of yourself out there," Takao told Enterprise.
Enterprise left waving behind, leaving the swordswoman alone to focus. Enterprise, entering the main lobby was greeted by a well-dressed gentleman.
"Hello, are you new around here?" The man inquired politely.
"Yes I am," Enterprise answered.
"I can give you a tour if you'd like. Miss…"
"Enterprise. But no, I don't intend on being out for long," Enterprise rejected, leaving him behind.
"If you say so Ms. Enterprise," the man said. "But I must say, you are a priceless gem amongst the many women here. If you do want to join me in a party tonight, you can find me here."
"Uhh… thanks, but I'll intend to be left alone," she told him.
The man followed her as she tried to leave, pestering her some more. "Are you sure? There will be drinks all around for everyone that attends."
She ignored his words, moving towards the front entrance only to be stopped abruptly with an unwanted arm to her arm.
"Please, just tell me if you can at least give me at least five minutes of your time," he begged.
"Let go!"
"Is he bothering you?" A voice interjected with their argument. "If she doesn't want to be around you. You leave the lady alone."
"Shikikan?"
And there you go another chapter down. This one took a bit longer as school is seriously messing up my motives to make a new chapter. What do you think? I think that this chapter came out all right. Also, the whole mafia thing is kinda becoming a bit stupid so snippets of his backstory with it might end in a chapter or two unless you guys really like that. The next chapter I will definitely have a bit of fun with. Also if you can do me a favor, go raid my friend Dontanba's fic and tell him to make the next chapter then I'll try to get the next chapter done hopefully by the end of the month. Alright, I'mma go to sleep.