I took a few days off while I was working on this chapter in an attempt to keep my mind fresh with ideas, hence the lack of an update this past weekend. This chapter is considerably longer than the last as a result; expect the next chapter sometime between next Friday and Sunday.
Begin!
Book I, Part IV: Mortal Conflict - Dissension in the Ranks
Chapter V—Hide and Seek
[July 7, 2152 | Trabia Garden, Third Floor, SeeD Commander's Office | 2:14 PM]
"At ease."
Andréa Beoulve, Tetsuya Kurabasa, and Yuki Kurabasa quickly lowered their hands from the saluting position at the SeeD Commander's words, though each still remained focused and attentive as he continued to speak.
"Earlier today, we received a mission request from a group over in Timber. The group in question has been shipping out mineral ores and other materials to places such as Galbadia and Esthar for sale to businesses and industry, but has had their trains fall under attack with increasing frequency in the past few weeks. They have no leads at all as to why their trains are being raided, or who is responsible, but they possess little way on their own to defend against the attacks."
"Wouldn't there be armed security on a shipping convoy?" Yuki asked. "Why haven't they been able to do anything?"
"Armed security is present," Katanas continued. "However, according to the reports from our client, the security detail reported being attacked not just by armed raiders, but ones armed with magic of some form."
"Paramagic? Are they being attacked by SeeDs?" Tetsuya asked, his eyes suddenly widening a fraction as the implication sank in.
"It's too early to say," Katanas replied. "With their lowered income, it apparently took them quite a while to be able to pay for our services. It seems that their hope is that by having SeeD as a show of force, those attacking the trains will abandon their efforts entirely, or at least slacken their attacks long enough for the security forces to be trained appropriately or for other, more lasting security to be hired from elsewhere, such as Galbadia."
"Why not hire Balamb Garden SeeD for this kind of work?" Andréa questioned, folding her arms. "Surely they would be faster to arrive than we would."
"I believe their next convoy will be traveling from Timber to Esthar; if that is the case, then returning to Garden will proceed faster for Trabian SeeD than Balamb SeeD. Also, contracts at Balamb Garden are usually more expensive because of the lower number of SeeD officials at the Garden, and money – as I mentioned – was a point of importance for them."
"So, all we do is go and beat up a bunch of magic-using bandits attacking a train?" Tetsuya asked, shrugging. "Sounds like easy money to me."
"You'll be leaving at 1700 hours by train from Esthar," Katanas stated, looking towards Andréa. "Major Beoulve, you will be in command – use your best judgment during the mission, and contact Garden immediately if any evidence of rogue SeeD involvement surfaces. The meeting location and contact information has already been uploaded to your GLDs. If there are no more questions, then I wish you good luck."
"You heard the Commander," Andréa said, turning towards her teammates. "Let's gear up and move out. I'll see you at the parking garage in 15."
[July 7, 2152 | Esthar, Business District, Vector Industries Main Complex | 4:03 PM]
Darius had always known that Garden had a hand in just about everything if you looked hard enough, but it was in times like these that he really appreciated just how much Garden could muster up when needed. The video camera he was currently carrying was certainly impressive and official-looking, as was the rest of the news gear that his team had requisitioned from Garden for their mission. During the pre-planning for the mission itself, they'd come up with numerous ideas and discarded them equally quickly while going through what information they could readily find on Vector, but it wasn't until Darius had happened across information on some inside interviews of upcoming projects that they had really hit upon an idea that would work. Breaking into the Vector Industries complex had been considered and thrown out straight away; while they had no doubt in their abilities to actually get inside and overpower the security forces, none of the three had the necessary skill to hack the computers if placed under a lockdown like the one their action would undoubtedly bring. Naoki and Sumiko's skills in technology were vastly lacking even in comparison to Darius, who had little beyond the basics of computer use to rely on.
After some discussion, however, Darius had found an interesting fact that they quickly saw as a window of opportunity. One of the major news networks in the area, Estharian Regional News, was scheduled to do an interview with some of the project workers in Vector's Third Division regarding a new breakthrough in reactor technology. Following some quick working of the idea, the trio had worked out the basics of a plan to get inside.
First, they would redirect the news crew scheduled to do the interview somewhere else – Darius had enlisted his father's help with that particular facet of the plan. Next, they would disguise themselves as the news crew before entering Vector; they had moved the mission time back a bit to accommodate the new plan, as the actual requisitioning of equipment and forging of identification required more time than they had planned for.
The next part was the trickiest – at some point, while inside, they would have to replace themselves with clones created by Naoki and Sumiko, in order to create an opportunity to hide and still have it appear to everyone that the news team leaves when instructed. After that, they would have to wait until most of the Vector staff had cleared out at the end of normal business hours, and then make their way inside First Division and to the office of the project leader, one Aiva Furello. Darius was confident that he could get inside the office, and neither Naoki nor Sumiko decided to question him on that point. Senior had also provided the team with Furello's login information, supposedly verified by reliable inside sources. Darius, however, seemed unconcerned with the idea of improvising if things didn't work out as planned, and Naoki and Sumiko seemed to trust his abilities in that area.
"So, everyone know the plan?" Darius asked, shouldering the heavy-looking piece of equipment as he looked at his squad members. While his two teammates had relied on some illusionary methods of disguise to go with the normal methods, he had gone with a completely traditional solution; his red hair was now a jet-black color, falling loosely over a white headband around his forehead, while he wore a pair of black slacks and a black jacket over a white shirt. Naoki's attire appeared similar to Darius' own, with brown pants, a heavy brown jacket and plaid polo shirt under the jacket, over which a press card hung that Garden had forged for the mission. His black hair was now a dirty blond color, and he wore a pair of glasses with simple glass frames as well as maintaining an illusion that gave him an older, late-twenties appearance. Sumiko also maintained a similar age illusion, giving her the appearance of a woman in her late-twenties. Her long blond hair had been changed to a dark black, while her clothes had changed to a black dress skirt and heels along with a white tank top covered by a jacket similar to Darius' with a gold 'ERN' pin at the lapel.
"Yes," Naoki said with a nod, adjusting his jacket as they started to head towards the doors of the main Vector Industries building. "I only hope you're as good with that camera as you claim."
"I'll have you know my camera skills are a work of art!" he protested, grinning. "Just direct the conversations, and there won't be a problem."
"Besides the obvious problems, anyway," Sumiko stated as they walked.
Vector Industries' holdings in the business district were impressive even viewed from afar, but the sense of enormity was magnified up close and personal. Warehouses decorated the business complex's land like trees in a forest, with dozens of workers moving between buildings on foot or on various pieces of motorized equipment or cars, none of whom gave the three 'reporters' any passing glances other than the occasional polite greeting. The main building itself was massive, a black structure with faint red highlights that stretched around twenty stories into the air at its central tower, with two flanking towers stopping two or three stories before that. The Vector Industries logo, one red and one black line surrounding the word 'Vector' in an ovular fashion, was stamped prominently over the front entrance. The three stepped inside one of the three sets of automated sliding doors at the entrance and into the lobby, noticing immediately the immaculate look of the inside; white tiled floors along with red and white walls blended nicely with the two white and gray receptionist desks and similarly-colored sofas around the lobby. Three hallways branched off from the main lobby, all at the back – one door sat directly in the center of the back wall opposite the front entrance, while two other doors sat one apiece on either side wall, past most of the furnishings in the room.
"Nice place," Darius commented, taking stock of the room and his surroundings. "What do you guys think?"
"Certainly stylish," Naoki said, following Darius' gaze around the lobby. "Then again, I can't say I expect anything less from a company like this."
"May I help you?" a male voice said from one of the two desks in the room. The receptionist that spoke looked to be around thirty years old, with short blond hair and a red polo shirt prominently displaying the Vector logo on the breast pocket. Sumiko nodded, stepping over to the desk and taking out a press card from her pocket.
"Yes," she stated, handing the card over to the receptionist and gesturing for her comrades to follow her to the desk. "Kate Lockwell, ERN – we were supposed to have an interview today with a…Dr. Fuyutsuki, I believe. Did I say that right?"
"You did," the man replied, looking over her press card for a moment before taking two more from Naoki and Darius, looking at each of them in turn after a similar examination of each card.
"Just making sure."
"Okay…Michael Liberty, and…Zach Oliver, right?" he asked, receiving nods from both of the disguised SeeD. "Give me just a minute, and I'll contact him for you. You can have a seat over there," he continued, pointing towards one of the sofas in the room as he picked up a telephone at the desk.
"Thank you," Sumiko replied politely, turning and making her way towards the indicated seat with Darius and Naoki following. While she wasn't the de facto leader of the team, Darius had told her beforehand to take the lead conversationally, something which was only logical given their situation.
"So, what do you think about this place?" Darius asked Naoki, taking a seat on one end of the sofa before setting his camera down beside him and throwing an arm over the side.
"They've certainly made a name for themselves in the past few years," Naoki said, standing to Darius' left against the wall as Sumiko sat down on the other side of the couch. "Moving from newcomer in the market to military supplier in four years is pretty tricky here, especially when they would've had to muscle out other companies already in that niche that have likely been here three times that long."
"Tell me about it," Darius replied, looking up at his fellow SeeD. "Did you know they haven't reported a quarterly loss in the six years they've been here?"
"Is that particularly unusual?" Sumiko asked. "I don't presume to know a lot about business."
"For a new company, just getting established? First and second-year losses are practically guaranteed, even if they're only small losses, but this company's just taken off like a shot right from the start. They were reporting gains that were easily double what was expected for a new company in their position in the first year, according to the analysts, and they've only gone up from there. Their stock price has jumped astronomically as of late, too. Anyone who's been investing in them is likely making a killing right about now."
"Like you?" Naoki asked with a grin.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Darius said, his face the picture of innocence. "I'm just a humble cameraman – they don't pay me enough for me to invest in such a thing."
Naoki and Sumiko shared a look that clearly said "unbelievable," just as the receptionist's voice called over to them again.
"Miss Lockwell? If you'll please follow this man to the elevator, he'll escort you up to the fourth floor," he said, motioning to a man standing beside the desk dressed in dark clothing and a helmet with a clear visor, as well as a belt with an easily-visible pistol holster and numerous other items – obviously a member of the building's security detail. "Dr. Fuyutsuki will be with you in just a minute."
"Right this way," the guard said, stepping over towards the trio at the sofa and motioning for them to follow him towards the central door at the far wall. Darius grabbed his camera and stood up along with Sumiko, letting her fall into step behind the guard before following himself, leaving Naoki trailing behind him as they started to walk down the hallway after the guard.
The elevators, they found, were not very far from the main lobby – in fact, had they seen the building's inside before, they would've noticed them as soon as they stepped through the door leading into the hallway. The guard uttered no words as he led them to one of the elevators, solemnly pressing the button to summon it down from the higher floors.
"This place is really nice," Sumiko commented, looking at the guard. "I can only imagine how much work it must take to keep a place like this in order."
"Thank you," the guard replied, nodding. "Long hours are a given most of the time, but we enjoy it."
"Understandable," she said, finding herself cut off by the sharp 'ding' of the elevator as the doors opened. In moments, the group was on the way up to the fourth floor, a trip which lasted but a few seconds as the doors opened almost immediately after closing on the lower floor. Again, the guard led the way out of the elevator, but stopped upon barely entering the hall, instead stepping towards one of the doors on the hallway's left side.
"You can wait inside this reception room," he stated, opening the door for the trio. "Dr. Fuyutsuki is on his way now, I believe."
"Thank you for the help," Naoki said, causing the guard to simply wave the gratitude off and take up a position guarding the room as the three stepped inside.
"Now this is what I call a welcome," Darius said with a grin as his eyes caught their first glimpse of the expansive room beyond the door. Several long sofas similar to the ones in the lobby lined the room, with numerous paintings and portraits decorating the walls that kept them from being as barren as the entrance. Tables also sat near each of the sofas with lamps atop them, the small wooden tables bearing a dark sheen that indicated their finish and contrasted nicely with the white lamps and their shades. One long coffee table with a similar polish as the other tables sat near the very center of the room among two of the sofas with several magazines lying atop its surface, and a small cart of beverages and snacks waited a short distance inside the room, obviously intended for the news crew's members.
Darius wasted no time at all moving over towards one of the long couches, almost flopping down as he hastily sat and let his large camera rest beside him. "Yes, I could definitely get used to this."
"We have a job to do, you know," Sumiko countered, stepping inside and admiring the room with more leisure than her comrade.
"I know, I know," he complained. "But, really, how often is it that we get treated like this? These guys must treat all their guests like kings."
Naoki followed Sumiko inside, taking a small pastry from a tray on the cart and taking a bite – coffee cake, he realized – before taking a seat on a different sofa. "All we can do is wait at the moment, Kate. I believe our beloved cameraman, for once, has a valid point."
"You're right," she finally said, stepping back over towards the cart and pouring a small cup of water. "I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, aren't I?"
"Just a little," Darius commented from his lounging position. "Ease up a bit, would you? I don't think the story's going anywhere."
"– told that we needed those parts by the end of the week."
"Except coming to us," he amended, hearing the voice of someone outside the door. The door opened as he spoke, letting a rather short man that looked to be somewhere in his forties into the room, completely bald and wearing a pair of safety goggles atop his head along with a long white lab coat. Instead of speaking with someone outside, as Darius had first thought, the man was speaking on a cell phone, and sounded faintly upset about something.
"Well, I'll give them a call today and see what the hold-up is. We can't continue without some of those parts, and we need this prototype done by the end of the month," the man continued in faintly-accented Gaian, ignoring the other three in the room for the moment. "Good day."
The phone clicked shut in his hands, and he pocketed the device quickly before looking between the three SeeD inside the room. "You three are the crew from ERN?" he asked, his tone of voice shifting back to a more professional one.
"Yes, we are," Sumiko said, walking over and extending a hand for the man to shake. "I'm Kate Lockwell – this is Michael Liberty, a fellow reporter," she continued, gesturing towards Naoki, who also moved towards the scientist to shake hands, "and Zach Oliver, our cameraman." Darius waved, but didn't get up off the couch just yet – he was apparently rather comfortable where he was.
"Nice to meet all of you," the man remarked, shaking Sumiko's hand before doing the same to Naoki's. "I'm Masaru Fuyutsuki, Third Division's assistant division head. If you don't mind, I'd like to skip some of the pleasantries and get on with this interview – nothing personal, I assure you. We've simply had a few…shortcomings, as you likely just heard me mention, and we're a bit behind where we need to be on this project."
"We'll try not to take up too much of your time," Sumiko said with a nod. "Are we doing the interview here, or somewhere else?"
"Follow me," Fuyutsuki stated, gesturing for the news team to follow him as he moved towards the door of the room again, allowing it to open in front of him. "I'll give you all a look at some of the Third Division laboratories while you interview to make up for the trouble."
Sumiko smiled brightly as Naoki and Darius shared a look with each other, the latter finally getting up from the couch and grabbing his camera again. This could prove to be more profitable than even they initially thought, he realized.
[Ethereal Plane, Upper Court, Sanctum of the Ethereal Knights]
Arragious Nicholai had always wondered why the Ethereal Plane seemed to always choose form over function. With the exception of the Palace of Creation – which, legitimately, was a fortress in its own right no matter the decoration – and the Gilead Order's citadel, which he had designed specifically with defending against intruders in mind, every building in the Upper Court seemed to radiate an aura of wonder and mystique instead of the aura of menace and power that he felt should have come from such a place. The Ethereal Knights' sanctum was no different than the over-elaborate designs that the mortals favored in his eyes. At first glance, the building could almost be described as 'squat,' with merely two stories of height to its structure that it made up for in width, giving it a rectangular shape. The front was decorated in ornate plaques and runes, bearing similarities to the murals and designs on the inside of the Palace of Creation but set on raised surfaces rather than painted onto the walls. Like the Palace, it shared the same medieval-styled wooden doors, resembling those on ancient castles, magically-reinforced to be as strong as any metal despite the rustic appearance. On top of the building sat a large dome, centered perfectly in the middle of the structure's roof and comprised of spaced pillars in a circle that supported the dome's cap, leaving the inside open.
At some level, he knew, he was relieved to be seeing it at all, or any part of the plane. Freya had exiled him, stripping him of his power to return under his own will, but there were…ways around that, he had found. She always was blind to the obvious, in his opinion, despite how all-seeing and wise she attempted to appear. He continued to watch, resting easily atop a section of the outer wall surrounding the building; cloaking himself in a spell had made it a simple task to walk unnoticed, provided he was careful. While he was powerful, likely one of the most powerful Erudite in the plane even now, there were many others who could possibly tell that someone was present by merely sensing their power nearby. Odin himself was capable, though relied far less on the technique than some, while most high-ranking members of the Ethereal Magi used the skill like simply another sense, as natural to them as breathing. Getting inside their tower would be more challenging than entering the Ethereal Knights' sanctum, he knew.
He had targets in mind within both structures, as well as the palace itself, but the first to feel his wrath lay within the building in front of him.
Arragious knew well the rules and procedures for exile – he created most of them himself, during his time as Captain-Commander of the Gilead Order. Being exiled was seen as the ultimate mark of shame by nearly all Erudite, as being cut off from the vast sources of knowledge and wisdom that the plane possessed, to an intellectually-focused and knowledge-driven race such as they, was an infinitely-worse fate than execution in the minds of many. Exile could only be decreed by the Creator after the gathering of a council of officials, the members of which were taken from both the Ethereal Knights and Magi alike. The Creator, Grand Master, and Executor were always present, as were up to three Masters, in the case of the Ethereal Knights, or Praetors, in the case of the Ethereal Magi – all holding that rank attended if there were less than three. After an open discussion, there would be a vote, and if a majority vote was reached, then exile would be decreed.
Not once had he ever thought that those same procedures would be used on him. He had given his life to the Ethereal Plane to protect and serve it, and in return, he had been cast out like refuse. 'They will find out the folly of that decision sooner than they expected,' he thought to himself.
He kept his power suppressed carefully as he dropped down from the outer wall and began moving towards the building itself in a brisk run. The building in front of him, despite the decorative elements, was solid in structure if not as tactically sound as he would've liked, and as such he knew of no true way inside that wouldn't draw attention except through one of the two sets of doors on either the front or back of the building. Two guards stood outside the set of doors at the front, meaning that he had to wait until those doors opened and slip inside before they closed so as not to give away his presence. Fortunately for him, he did not have to wait long; the doors opened from the inside shortly after he began his watch, allowing him to quietly move inside after a group of four Erudite clad in plate mail exited. The inside of the building was, perhaps surprisingly, less decorative and elaborate than the outside, with only a scarce few paintings decorating the uncolored walls. He found that he couldn't remember if it had been this way the last time he had seen it, but quickly decided not to dwell on the matter and to accomplish his mission first.
'The Masters' chambers are on the second floor,' he reminded himself, attempting to dredge back up centuries-old information from his lengthy memory. His body moved down the hallway of the building like a wraith, unseen and unknown to any around as he began sneaking his way through the building. This revenge was a long time in the making, and he was determined not to foul it up by letting himself grow lax and overconfident. The halls, thankfully, were relatively empty at the moment – whether they were running drills or simply in their chambers, Arragious couldn't say, but it was a stroke of luck he meant to take advantage of. Haste magic would have aided him, but he felt wary simply using the Vanish magic that he used to aid his movement, despite the noticeably inferior magical senses of most within Odin's forces. Stairs to the second floor should be nearby, he knew, and he continued his trek through the halls of the military complex, keeping close watch for any sudden movements around him as he glided through the area.
"As you can see," Fuyutsuki began, "most of our work is done in large laboratories like this one. A lot of initial work begins here as well, as opposed to individual offices or even other buildings. We encourage our employees to help each other as much as possible, even when those employees are working on entirely different projects."
"The division is rather closely-knit, then – almost like family?" Sumiko ventured, holding a microphone over towards Fuyutsuki as she finished speaking. Fuyutsuki had led them up a small set of stairs in the hallway which opened into a series of hallways that appeared to be suspended from the ceiling, comprised of metal catwalks enclosed by clear glass to keep people from falling over. Below, they could see one of the large laboratories of Vector's Third Division, full of busily-moving scientists and other workers flitting around large amounts of equipment and materials – metal tables full of components and machinery, metalworking tools, and machines for assembling or disassembling parts littered the room in droves, tended to by the employees like bees in a hive. The area was quite noisy, even with the glass blocking some of the sound, and they had pulled out the microphones in order to make things simpler on all of them both for interview purposes and normal conversations.
"You could say that," Fuyutsuki remarked, nodding. "Most of the people who work here seem to treat their coworkers with a bit more familiarity than just another employee at the office, so to speak. We supervisors try to take the time to speak with people during the day as well to maintain that familiarity and show that we care, and it seems to be reflected in the company's overwhelming success."
"It does indeed," she replied, stepping aside so that Darius could get both her and Fuyutsuki in the camera angle. "So, Dr. Fuyutsuki, what can you tell us about this new reactor technology that your company is developing?"
"Well, miss Lockwell, to be honest, most of the specifics are still tied up in company privacy right now, but I do have a few things I can share," Fuyutsuki stated. "Right now, we're still running tests on the early prototypes that we have, and right now the results are rather promising. The existing technology for personal energy sources has several drawbacks, one of the most prominent of which is the ratio of the unit's weight to the energy output – that, in itself, has served as a rather limiting factor for use in specialized equipment that demands a high energy output, such as certain types of scanning technology and some military-grade equipment. Our prototype technology for personal sources has, at present, anywhere from thirteen to twenty-two percent more effective energy output for the same weight, and our engineers are still refining their methods to further enhance those numbers."
"That could prove to be a significant improvement for many different fields, I imagine," Naoki chimed in, also carrying a microphone to aid with speaking over the laboratory's din.
"Oh, absolutely – everyone from geologists to front-line military men could benefit from more efficient power cells in their daily-use devices," the doctor said, nodding enthusiastically. "But that isn't all. More expansive reactors are also in development currently using the same methods, and one of our prototypes sized appropriately and designed primarily for backup power generating for buildings has tested at anywhere from seventeen to twenty-eight percent more efficiency. This, for instance, means that a hospital in the middle of an outage could potentially have a sizably-lengthened amount of time with power, which could be critical to saving the lives of patients who are dependent on life support or other machine aid."
Darius, behind the camera, found himself intrigued and more than a little impressed. If Vector wasn't just making things up to pad their influence on the business market, Fuyutsuki's statements could potentially garner quite the amount of interest when they leaked out into the market. The medical sector in particular was sure to be highly enamored of more efficient energy as a way to cut costs, save space, and increase the efficiency of their existing infrastructure, among other things.
"How many employees, would you say, are currently working on this project?" Naoki continued, momentarily taking the lead from Sumiko.
"Hm…an interesting question. Obviously, I can't keep track of everyone in the division offhand, but if I had to guess…I would say likely forty to fifty engineers are working on basic prototypes, and another thirty to forty are assisting with material gathering and other, smaller duties. This, mind you, is split between only a few prototypes. Everyone is working to the fullest to ensure that these projects are in tip-top shape for the more involved testing procedures."
"That's excellent news, Dr. Fuyutsuki," Sumiko said, turning her attention back to her interviewee. "Do you have any guesses on when this technology might become available to the public?"
"We're still working on the techniques behind this project as well as the prototypes for the project itself, so regretfully, I fully expect it to be at least another year before this tech goes to market," Fuyutsuki replied with a hint of sadness. "It is a wonderful advance, and we wish to see it refined into the best base form possible before we decide to unveil it to the general public."
"That's certainly understandable," she replied, nodding. "We wish you the best of luck in the future with this project."
"Thank you."
"Vector Industries – hard at work to make life easier," Sumiko stated, finally turning back to the camera as it focused on all three. "From Vector Industries complex here in Esthar, this is Kate Lockwell and Michael Liberty, signing off."
"I hope we haven't kept you from your work too long, doctor," Naoki said, sounding sincere. In actuality, while he was rather sincere in his desire to let the doctor get back to his work, the shortness of the interview also served their purposes as well.
"On the contrary, I expected it to last longer," Fuyutsuki remarked. "I'm glad that you decided to keep things concise."
"Well, we can't expect you to reveal company secrets, so we kept our questions limited and general," Sumiko said, nodding. "This will just serve as a small exposé to let the business world know that Vector's actually making headway on this new project. I'm sure that your company will hold press conferences later on the matter, at any rate, which means you'll probably see us again," she added with a smile.
"I'm sure," Fuyutsuki said with a chuckle. "Well, I hate to rush off, but I need to get down to the lab and make a few calls. It was nice to meet all of you, and I do hope to see you again, as you said." He'd have to make sure he remembered the names of these three, he thought to himself – they deserved to have the first crack at any future stories about this project.
"The pleasure was ours, Dr. Fuyutsuki. Please, take care."
As the elder doctor turned away to walk further down the glass-enclosed hallway leading down the lab, Darius gave Sumiko a look that said volumes in a glance – it was time to really get to work.
"Uh…Kate?" Darius said, fumbling around in a pocket with his free hand as he set his camera on the metal floor, beginning to dig in his other pocket with that hand as well. "I think…yep. Think I set my phone down in that reception room."
Sumiko let out a mock sigh of exasperation, shaking her head. "Zach, I keep telling you that you play with that stupid phone too much."
"Yeah, but…it's top-of-the-line!" he protested, picking the camera back up. "What am I supposed to do, not play with it?"
"Certainly a start," Naoki said, a small grin growing on his face. None of them knew how much they were being watched or listened to – they were certainly being monitored somehow – which meant they needed to keep their cover going until they could truly get underway with the next phase of the plan. Naoki and Sumiko were chosen for the mission for very specific reasons – Sumiko was very skilled with illusionary magic and other concealing techniques, while Naoki was rather proficient in creating clones which could be used for a variety of purposes. Scouting was foremost among those, but his ninjutsu abilities also let him use those clones to impersonate others, which was his purpose on the team. It was planned that Sumiko would use her illusion skills to give Naoki an opening to create clones of the three of them, which would then leave the premises to displace suspicion while simultaneously allowing them to remain inside the building, hidden by their magical abilities. It would, of course, require them to remain alert and focused so as not to be discovered, but it was much better than openly breaking into the building and setting off every alarm in the place.
"Come on, then. Let's get your phone and then head back to the station – we'll need to work on this story a bit before we head home to make sure we have it done by tomorrow evening."
The door in front of Arragious felt more like the entrance to a jail cell than a simple door to an Erudite's chamber. Walking into a room with only one exit was inviting trouble, especially in a situation of this nature. If something went wrong, he only had one way out, which meant that he could be easily trapped or surrounded, and it would be easy for his foes to use the time spent escaping his initial predicament to direct his path of escape in a manner most favorable to them. Of course, he had considered that, and had already come up with a means of evading that problem.
His hand tightened on the door's handle, and he was inside almost before he himself had realized he'd moved, already in motion towards the sole figure meditating inside.
One male sat in a meditative position in the center of the room, his head down with eyes closed and hands resting on legs clad in dark clothing. A dark red shirt or tunic of sorts covered his entire upper body and bunched up a bit at the waist, appearing as if it would cover part of the lower body as well if standing. Dark bangs framed his eyes as he concentrated, only to shift wildly like the rest of his shoulder-length hair as his eyes snapped open and his head snapped up, looking pointedly at the door that had not been open seconds prior. He reached for one of the twin swords at his side, sheathed in cured brown leather, but froze as cold steel moved to the middle of his neck, held in a hand he couldn't see.
"Hello, Master Hirota," a voice whispered, the cruel rasp barely hearable to others but feeling all too loud in his ear.
"N-Nicholai?" he gasped, honestly stunned by the voice he was hearing. "But…you were –"
"Exiled?" Arragious asked innocently, cutting his captive off and smiling underneath his invisibility spell. "Oh, I still am. However, your Creator failed to take into account that such things can be worked around."
"What do you want?" Hirota asked hesitantly, trying to figure out a way to retrieve one of his blades – if he had one, he could potentially get himself out of the situation he was now in.
The smile on Arragious' face became downright cruel as he glanced up at the door, making sure that no one was about to enter. "I want you, Masaki Hirota, to pass on to Soul Society with the knowledge that you have helped seal the imminent demise of your beloved Ethereal Plane."
Arragious' captive gasped, right before he was violently interrupted by the blade of Arragious' knife puncturing his throat once, then twice, followed by a sickening pain in his chest as the razor-sharp edge slid between ribs and punctured muscle and tissue. He choked, hands clutching at a throat that would no longer support air, and felt himself slump sideways as fluid began to soak his tunic. Dimly, he realized that Arragious had been very thorough in those few moments – both wounds would undoubtedly be fatal in short order, provided he didn't heal himself quickly. He started to call up the energy for a healing spell, still not knowing Arragious' position but seeing his survival as the pressing issue…
…then froze as the magical energy of Silence washed over him, locking his energy within himself and sealing his fate.
"Farewell, Master," Arragious called from somewhere behind him, the mocking edge to his voice softer than before through the haze clouding his mind. "I hope you consider my words for a long, long time."
He shifted painfully to look behind him, still choking on blood and his own lack of air, only to see a section of the wall behind him glow and simply melt away, oozing down as its form suddenly became liquid. The last sight he had before blackness overtook him was a sneering smile and a dark cloak, leaping out into the air beyond the wall.
Sneaking around First Division, Naoki surmised, would've been next to impossible without the aid of magic.
The area of Third Division that they had been taken to on the fourth floor was relatively lax on the surveillance side compared to the area that they were currently occupying. While there were cameras, they were few and far between. While there were guards, they patrolled scarcely and alone. Neither of these were true in First Division – the guard patrols, they quickly found, were groups of three most often, but they had seen larger groups in places. The cameras were better hidden and rather more numerous, often set into the wall itself near the ceiling and not simply hanging down like the cameras they noticed in the other section of the building. Most all of the doors that they had seen required keycard access as opposed to handles or knobs, and what looked like laser tripwires had been spotted by Darius' keen eyes on more than one doorframe as they moved. In addition, a more mundane obstacle had been found – ironically, despite the fact that normal business hours had been over for some time now, First Division seemed to be even more active than the area of Third Division they'd been taken to during their mock interview. People roamed the halls nearly everywhere; most of them seemed to be in a greater hurry than normal, and more than once the trio had been forced to backtrack in order to not blow their invisibility by accidentally running into someone.
Before they entered First Division, the group had spent some time looking around Third Division, examining the layout of the place both for intelligence purposes and also to keep themselves occupied and focused while they waited for the proper time to move. Replacing themselves with Naoki's clones proved to be a simple task, and it wasn't long before he received the mental feedback from his clones as they dispersed themselves outside the Vector grounds, leaving their equipment in a predefined location. Once that was finished, Naoki had cloaked himself and Darius with a hasty invisibility ninjutsu while Sumiko did the same, and after Naoki assured him that there wouldn't be 'any adverse effects on his chakra usage,' as he had put it, Darius had retaken official command of his team and ordered them to move. They had proceeded to spend roughly forty-five minutes examining the hallways of Third Division, making notes on anything that seemed particularly interesting before proceeding to the second and primary part of their mission.
A quick scan of the hallway they were in turned up nothing that alarmed the Alchemist, and he gave a quick hand signal to his team telling them to stack up at the doorway while he prepared to bypass the door locks. Naoki and Sumiko acknowledged the command, quietly moving towards the office they were seeking just opposite them and stationing themselves on either side of the door. Darius followed suit a moment later, quickly stepping up to the door and bending slightly to take a look at the slot on the door for swiping a keycard. He had a good amount of knowledge on electrical circuits and similar systems of this sort, brought about by a fascination with getting into places that he shouldn't have access to, and a hand rose carefully towards the slot as he prepared to use his alchemical talents.
A quick double-tap on his shoulder stopped him, and he glanced to the side to see Naoki flash the hand signal for 'danger nearby' before moving back towards his original position. He followed a moment later as he saw a white-clad figure walk towards them from down the hall, flanked by Sumiko as she did the same in order to stay out of the path of the approaching person. After a few seconds, they realized both that it was a woman with unusual sky blue hair, and that the white that they had initially taken for clothing looked to be closer to some kind of armored uniform than anything. A holographic projection hovered in front of her eyes like a visor briefly before fading away, the heads-up display apparently built into whatever kind of electronics her armor carried. Darius gave the signal to hold position just to ensure his team's hesitance as the woman turned to the door, quickly swiping a keycard through the slot with a soft 'beep' as the door slid open in front of her.
"Move," Darius whispered, gesturing to the door as he started to stalk towards it again. "Silent takedown. Probably armed – ready Protect magic." The armor he saw looked like nothing more than a version of what Estharian soldiers were known for wearing, though a bit more form-fitting and monochrome as opposed to the metallic shades of the nation's standard infantry armor. The momentary consideration that their cover was blown flew through his mind, but he realized that he'd just have to improvise if that was the case – he'd carry an entire computer back with him if that was what it took to get the job done. Again, Naoki and Sumiko stacked up at the door, and he moved beside Naoki in order to take the primary entry.
The door slid open again as Darius gave the signal to move, stepping inside the room as he quickly brought up disabling magic, scanning the room instantly for the person that he needed to target. The woman was already facing them, having spun the moment the door opened behind her, and waves of debilitating Slow magic flowed from Darius' fingers as Naoki and Sumiko flanked him, advancing on their target in tandem to restrain and immobilize them. Neither expected the paramagic to simply flow away from the woman as if impacting a shield, however, and so both were caught off-guard as she snapped a hand up to intercept Naoki's attempt at a nerve strike directed at her neck, smoothly turning the blow aside and pivoting inside his guard to strike his chest with her left hand.
'Anti-magic field?' Darius' mind screamed, disbelieving, as Naoki recoiled in pain from the sudden counter. 'Never mind that – we're still invisible! How'd she see him?'
Sumiko's moment of hesitation worked against her as she let her strike off a moment too slowly, resulting in the woman moving smoothly underneath her strike before jabbing out sharply with one hand, striking her in the base of the throat and instantly causing her to choke and cough as her breathing was suddenly impaired. Darius went to move even as Naoki let the invisibility technique fall, calling up his Alchemy again as he prepared to perform a transmutation on the floor beneath him, but two faint 'clicks' from in front of him heralded the woman's rapid acquisition of twin pistols from magnetic mounts at her sides and the halting of his movements as one of those weapons trained unerringly on his face. The other was also held at the ready, and her eyes darted between Naoki and Sumiko, clearly telling them with a look that she could drop any of them at even the slightest movement. Darius belatedly noted that the holographic display he had seen a minute ago had returned even as a tense silence settled over the room again.
"You're here."
She glanced quickly between the three SeeD officers, and Darius swore that he caught a note of familiarity in her eyes when she looked his way. In the moment it took him to consider that, the woman's pistols fell back to her side and locked back into place with another simple 'click' as she moved past them towards the door.
"You've got ten minutes before I send a security team down here. Work fast."
The door opened behind them, and the woman was gone as quickly as she had come, leaving a thoroughly-confused yet thankful group of SeeD members behind her in the office of Aiva Furello.
It took precisely seven minutes and forty-one seconds for Hikari Tanaka to make her way from Aiva Furello's office on the sixth floor to the nearest security office, located one floor up, including all checks and identity verifications for entering the office itself. Only one guard was stationed in the room right now, she noticed; the others must be patrolling the floor. A simple nod was all the greeting she gave the uniformed guard, who was positioned in front of a series of monitors linked to the numerous security cameras on the seventh floor, as she stepped over to one of several different consoles in the room and sat down.
Vector Industries Security Mainframe
Username: Hikari Tanaka
Password: **************
…
Validating login information…
Processing…
…
Welcome, Hikari Sayoko Tanaka.
The computer screen in front of her quickly displayed the familiar sight of the security system interface for the building proper – from here, she could access video feeds from any camera in the complex, as well as archived data, audio, video, or any other form of logged information within the Vector Industries servers. She ignored the colorful interface, instead pulling up the comparatively-bare window of the command prompt and positioning it on the right side of the screen in order to see the important data on both windows at once.
~ nav First Division\data\system\accesslogs\July 7, 2152\
~ dsp useraccess –l –sl
The prompt immediately changed to display a list of the users that had accessed data over the course of the day, complete with names, dates, and locations, among other information. Quickly, she glanced at the top of the list, looking for the specific entry she wanted.
July 7, 2152; 06:08 PM; Furello, Aiva Christine; 637; 000:03:26
Satisfied that the entry was correct, she turned her attention back to the primary interface, dismissing the prompt and instead browsing her way to the video feeds from the sixth floor. With but a quick series of clicks, she had pulled up the feeds from the past fifteen minutes onto the screen and forwarded them to the point she wanted. As she watched, the feed showed nothing but the intersection nearby Aiva's office and the hallways themselves, as well as her office door – nothing amiss about the recording that could be seen, simply people going about their routines as they passed through the hallways.
Which was precisely as she wanted it.
She had taken a great risk in doing what she had, even being forced to enlist the help of one of her associates in order to do what she had desired; her technical skills, while suitable for her job as head of security, did not feature the in-depth knowledge of computer technology that she had needed. Still, it seemed to have worked from everything that she could see, something for which she knew she would have to thank her associate for. Another swift series of clicks closed the command prompt before logging her out of the system and setting the terminal itself to standby mode once more before she stood up from the chair.
"Working late again, ma'am?" the guard asked, stretching slightly from his sitting position.
"About to leave," she answered, her tone business-like enough to border on emotionless. "I was simply double-checking everything before I did."
"Have a good night, then," he replied, earning a curt nod from her as she walked out. Obviously, the SeeD team had done whatever they needed to do, which meant that her job for the night was done as well. Images of the look on the red-haired boy's face flashed back into her mind as she walked, and she did her best to push them away as she headed towards the elevator. She found it hard enough to sleep these days, and she didn't need anything else weighing on her mind and making that worse.
Anyone happen to catch the reporter names? All three of them are from Starcraft - after playing Starcraft 2 so much recently, the thought of using those names made me smile enough that I simply ran with it.
Nothing really to say past that for this chapter - I'm working on the next chapter already, and should have it out sometime next weekend. As always, please read and review.