Interlude 8: Takemura

Takemura paced.

Back and forth, back and forth, his hand hovering over his gun, waiting for someone to knock on the door, or to knock through the door. It was a flimsy piece of steel, cheap and totally insufficient to the task at hand. Even I could shoot through it, he thought, balefully.

He felt like an idiot, now. What had he been thinking, tranquilising Hanako? In his peripheral vision he could see her sitting, regarding him coldly as he walked up and down the room. He had tried to offer her some comforts, some tea, but she would not speak to him. He tried to explain the situation to her, and she would not listen to him. Takemura did not blame her. If he had been kidnapped, he would not have offered his captors any absolution, either.

She needs to hear the truth, he consoled himself by thinking. And then she will understand.

Takemura glanced at the clock in the corner of his vision. His chronometer wasn't broken, so where was V?

This place made him nervous. Strips of neon light filtered through the shutters, made of the same flimsy steel as the door, giving the room a dull haziness and casting long shadows across the walls and floor. It was a large enough room, with a small table, clearly meant for dining, and a larger desk with a monitor on it. The paint on the walls was yellowed, old and peeling off. There hung a vague odor in the air, unidentifiable, but distinctly unpleasant. Takemura hoped he would not have to stay here long.

Then, a knock sounded from the door. Takemura gripped his gun, ready to draw and fire, when three more knocks sounded soon after. Gun still in his grasp, he tentatively jabbed the button to the door, and it slid open with a hiss. Takemura grabbed V by her arm, "Ok. Come inside, quick." Only when he heard the door slide shut behind him did he allow himself to slightly relax, "I feared they had caught you."

"Now're you gonna tell me what the fuck you were thinkin'?!" spat V.

Takemura shifted his stance, suddenly uncomfortable, "I used a sedative. She tried to enable her tracker. I had no choice." V looked at him, indignant, and Takemura suddenly felt the need to justify himself, "I offered her some tea..."

V looked disbelieving, "You kidnap Hanako Arasaka and offer her a cup of fuckin' tea?!"

"Yes... She respectfully declined."

"I helped get you to that festival to talk to her. Not offer her fuckin' tea!"

Takemura squared his shoulders, and looked V straight in her eyes, any lingering traces of shame banished from his mind, replaced in favour of earnestness, "Tell her the truth about Yorinobu, then, no embellishment. And state your terms clearly." Takemura waltzed forwards, and muttered, "Perhaps to you, she will listen..."

Takemura walked up to where Hanako was sat, and made his introductions as V sat opposite her, "花子様… これが私が話した女性です. 彼女の話を聞いてください."

V pulled a chair out, and sat down in it, now addressing Hanako, "I was there that night in Konpeki Plaza. I saw Saburo Arasaka die. He wasn't poisoned. That's a lie your brother made up and spread." V jabbed the table with her index finger, "Yorinobu is the murderer."

Hanako regarded her with disdain, "You must be mad to think I will listen to such nonsense."

V looked outraged, "Mad! You got no idea, lady. Got a voice in my head, see? An engram, one of your personality constructs."

Hanako appraised V, regarding her in a new light, "Engram?"

"Yeah," said V, rather matter-of-factly. "I stole the Relic Yorinobu tried to peddle off on NetWatch. While I was makin' my escape I caught a bullet to the brain... Relic saved me. But now, the damn thing's killin' me. And I gotta stop it."

Takemura could tell Hanako was doubtful of V's claims, "Hanako-sama!" he interjected, "V is living proof of the terrible crime your brother committed! We can confirm every word he speaks if only you will help him with the Relic." Hanako refused to so much as address Takemura's presence, and he felt himself quail a little at that, she likely hates me... "Hanako-sama?" he asked, his tone unsure.

There was a long silence as Hanako considered V's words. She looked away, to every corner of the room, anywhere but at her captors. She regarded V coldly, and disdained Takemura's very presence in the room. Takemura felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise again. Time is running out... V's fingernails began to beat a steady rhythm on the surface of the table, and it was clear that even the mercenary was a little anxious herself.

There was a banging on the door.

V's head shot up, a panicked look in her eyes. Takemura did not doubt the expression was mirrored in his own features. He looked at the door, grabbed his gun, and gestured to V, "Go and check."

V scowled at him, but stood from her seat, inching to the door, "I got a bad feelin' about all this..."

The door slid open, and so focused was Takemura on what lay beyond the door, that he almost didn't notice the bullets.

Almost.

Sparks showered his back. Dents appeared in the shutters on the windows, and then holes. Glass spewed out from the gaps. The sound of bullets slamming on metal bounced around the walls of the room. Shards of shrapnel went flying, and Takemura positioned himself between the windows and Hanako, wincing in pain as he did so. Hanako-sama must not be harmed. He crouched down, almost tackling her, protecting as best as he could, "Argh!" he cried. "Not now!"

He looked up at V, "Arasaka - they have found us!"

V wheeled around from the door, her eyes wide with surprise, her hand going to draw her own gun, "Dammit!"

Through a gap in the shutters, Takemura watched, almost in slow motion, as a red light and trail of smoke sailed through the room. Knowing what it was, he clasped his fingers around Hanako-sama's eyes, and scrunched his own shut.

There was a brilliant flash of white.

A ringing sound, almost painfully loud, was all that could be heard. When Takemura opened his eyes, it was all but over. Jack-booted men - the Arasaka assault squad - swarmed the room, guns raised. They were all heavily armed and armoured, and even if he had started shooting, Takemura doubted that his bullets would have done anything more than bounce straight off their armour. I have failed, he realised.

One of them approached V, her hands raised in surrender, "On the ground, bitch! Don't move!"

There was a low rumble. Concrete cracked under the strain of all the explosions, and rebar jutted out from the breaks. V was surrendering one moment, and falling the next. Takemura gritted his teeth, I am on my own, now. There was sharp jabbing feeling in his gut, and Takemura realised it was Hanako. She was tugging, twisting out of his grasp, hitting him, scrabbling to get away.

Takemura let go.

She will be safer with them than with me.

Having released his charge, Takemura was finally free to fight back. He leapt away, ignoring the pain of shrapnel in his back, flipping over a thick metal desk, taking cover behind it as a hail of bullets followed. Takemura had judged the desk correctly. The bullets struck the metal, leaving small dents, but they failed to pass through. Every so often, he would pop out from behind his cover to take the occasional pot-shot, taking care to avoid the area where Hanako would be.

The safety of the Arasaka family is paramount.

Now occupied with rescuing their objective, the squad returned only a little fire. They formed up around their charge, guns raised in all directions, escorting her to a nearby aircar for exfil. Takemura estimated maybe only three men were left behind, lazily firing off rounds in his general direction. Pinned down, Takemura waited for the men to leave, preventing their advance with the occasional bit of blind-fire.

But they didn't. Takemura heard the roar of the jets on the aircar intensify as the engines accelerated, and then fade away entirely as the men left. I'm trapped, Takemura realised. Yorinobu has likely called for my head.

And then, the pattern of gunfire changed. The harsh rattle of automatic fire was interrupted with a loud bark, and then another. Peeking out from behind his cover, Takemura saw V, brandishing a shotgun, smoke curling out from the barrel, "You should not have returned! You will die here with me!"

V scowled at his words, "Thank me later! We need to find a way outta here - fast!"

And so they ran. Past the men, jumping through holes in the floor and throwing themselves down flights of stairs as a hail of gunfire whipped past. Against so many, it was impossible to stand and fight, and so they did not try. V moved like a blur, evading the soldiers on the path to freedom. When they emerged back on the street outside the mall, V stumbled and fell, her voice adopting a drowsy quality, "Oh, shit..."

"Be careful!" he said. Leaning in, it became clear to him from her eyes that the Relic was acting up. Takemura nudged her arm, only to find it was limp. Behind, Arasaka troopers were fast approaching the doors of the mall to where they were, finally catching up with the pair in their bulky armour. Takemura cursed and backed away, "We must go different ways! Alone we have a better chance!"

V groaned, lifting herself even though it clearly hurt to do so, "Really!? Think so!?"

"Then go!" he shouted, "Now!"

And then he turned tail and ran. Ducking through an alley and up a set of stairs and through an abandoned apartment. Takemura ran faster than he had ever run before. It seemed to be working, and with every step freedom drew closer. He cut through building after building, making sure to keep off the street level and away from any prying optics.

And it was working, too. The wailing of sirens and the cracking of gunfire and stomping of boots and roaring of engines all grew distant as Takemura travelled, each hour proving quieter than the last. And yet, as freedom drew near, despondency threatened to seep in. My honour is tarnished. Hanako-sama does not believe me, and I have become an enemy of Arasaka trying to convince her. The urge to commit seppuku was growing. Will this be my life now? Forever running?

Takemura shook off his despair, no. I am alive. V risked her life for me. I will find a way to avenge him - to see justice done - one way or another.

Now in the clear, Takemura emerged back onto the street and pulled up his holo, shooting V a grateful message. He waltzed down the alley, rain lashing his shoulders and soaking his shirt clean through, thinking his next move through, when a woman's voice called out to him, "You Goro?"

Takemura turned on his heels, his knees bending slightly, his muscles tense and ready to launch into an attack. The person was a woman with a typically degenerate sense of style for this city, though Takemura could tell she was more dangerous then she looked, "How did you find me?"

The woman looked amused, "I've been following you for weeks! I mean, you're hardly subtle. You're the gonk looking for justice for Saburo, no?"

Takemura narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "Who are you?"

The woman smiled, pointing at herself proudly with her thumb, "Name's Gonz'. Boss wants a word."

"And who is your employer?"

The woman's tone grew impatient, "You want justice for Saburo or not?"

Takemura nodded, "I do."

"Then stop asking stupid questions and follow me!"

The woman turned on her heels with a huff and began to walk away. Takemura could not help but feel sceptical, but after a moment's hesitation, he opted to follow her regardless. It was hardly as though he had any other means of retaining his honour available to him, after all.

Justice, he thought ruefully, one way or another.


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