by A. Omukai
If they had observed me, they knew about home, the places I usually went and the people I hung out with, a list that consisted of only Daisuke. I had no other contacts, as pathetic as that was, but it would have complicated my life, and that would have gotten in the way of my job. I wouldn’t flee out of town. Chiba was the biggest city, there was no better place to hide. Anywhere else would provide me with less anonymity. I’d either ask the Ellyll to let me crash at his place for a few days, or rent a hotel room.
The capsule was getting closer to the station now. The streets here were as empty as everywhere else. My eyes wandered over the signs of shops lined up in a row. A massage parlour, a fast food restaurant, a drug store, a hardware store. I passed the big hotel in front of the station, and the parade of small shops picked up where it had left off, here and there interrupted by narrow alleys, leading to…
That was an idea worth exploring.
I ordered the vehicle to stop and paid the fare. It would be five soon, and this city would slowly wake up. I’d have loved to be off the street at that point.
I checked my belongings. Not much, to my dismay, but I had some cash with me. At least I could pay without leaving a trace. A taxi fare was relatively low risk, the capsule would move around all day long, but paying automatically for anything static was scary right now.
It was still cold, but the wind had slowed down considerably. Here, near the station, light was everywhere. Street lamps and shop signs brightened the environment enough to have decent vision. As soon as I entered the alley though, that changed abruptly. The bright city lights stayed behind, unable to follow through the shadows of the pathway through the row of buildings. The alley was narrow, but not dirty. There weren’t many truly dirty places in Chiba.
I walked down the street and didn’t feel the need to count my steps. Making myself aware of this allowed me to focus and calm down a little. I stopped for a moment, took deep, slow breaths and closed my eyes. My looks fit my circumstances exactly, a salaried employee of some company in need for a roof over his head, unable to get home for some reason. It would speak for itself.
I continued my way. There were backdoors of small establishments here, night clubs mostly, or pachinko parlours. How this particular vice had stood the test of time, I had no idea. A soapland offered its services in unambiguous words, but that was not what I had come for. I walked without a map. Stations were the same everywhere. The exact same shops and services in a certain circumference, the only challenge was figuring out how this particular area was organized. I didn’t have to search for long. Turning at the end of the alley, the name ‘Hotel Tsubaki’ blinked in large, pink letters.
A big menu mounted on the wall next to the entrance listed a number of rooms with prices and times. I could zoom in on small pictures of the rooms, and symbols next to them let me know what was available.
Right now, all the rooms were empty.
For most love hotels, most would be in the middle of the night, most of the time. This one was close to the station, a prime location.
I entered the reception and a middle-aged man wearing a pink vest over his white shirt greeted me with surprise, then understanding on his face.
Rundown guys like me must be a common sight for him.
“I need a room. I’d actually like to rent one for a few days, would that be possible?”
“A few days?”
“Yes. As you can see, I’m in a bit of a bind right now…”
“In a bind.” He nodded, then continued to stare at me in obvious confusion.
“I’m willing to pay extra.”
“Pay extra?” The lights in the abandoned flat inside his skull went on, and he nodded, then summoned a menu on the holo.
“We have… All rooms are currently free.” He looked expectantly, as if waiting for something. Of course, it was my turn now.
“I’d like to take the — which of your rooms is at the end of the corridor?”
He scratched his head, furrowed his brows, then pointed at two options. I followed his index finger.
“This is the LoveLove Suit.” A room all in pink, with a king size bed dominating the room, and not much else.
“And this here,” he tipped at the picture of the second option, “This is The Jail.” He expanded the picture of the room, the bed really only a bunk, inside a cage, complete with handcuffs already stuck to the frame. Several toys hung on chains from the ceiling.
“I would like the LoveLove Suit,” I said, feeling silly speaking out the name.
“How long?”
“Let me think… How much for one week?”
His eyes widened. This must be the first time anyone ever rented a room for longer than one day, and technically, this wasn’t a place meant for extended stays.
“One day is one hundred twenty credits,” he said. “Seven days are…” The light in his eyes flickered, as if he was about to run out of power.
“Eight hundred forty. I’ll pay double. I got cash.”
Actual money was still in use, even though most shops accepted transactions via net these days. There was always the odd case. I had been carrying this money around for months now, with no need to pull it out, until now.
I handed him two thousand credit notes. “Keep the rest, Mister…” I took a look at his small name tag. “Ishida.”
How fitting.
***
The bed vibrated when I sat down, and I jumped up in reflex. I had only been calm at the surface, all the nervous energy was still crackling just below. I looked around. There was a switch at the bed-head. I walked around it on the pink plush carpet and pressed the switch, then sat down once more. Switched it on again, and the vibration started without delay, followed by the soft sounds of a melody coming from hidden speakers somewhere in the room. I switched it off for good, and would leave it at that. I was half sitting on a heart-shaped pillow embroidered with the words ‘Chu Chu’, pulled it out from me, held it in my hands for a moment, then put it down, shaking my head.
I really was tired.
What would my next steps be?
I opened my system, called up the messenger and began to write.
“I need to talk to you urgently, but we can’t be seen together. I’m not sure if you are being watched. Get in touch as soon as possible.”
I sent it before I could be tempted to start counting.
Checking the clock, it was almost seven now, when a notification popped up.
A reply, already? That was fast!
I pulled the icon to the centre and saw the sender’s name. Inoue, why?
This was a surprise, I hadn’t expected her to contact me, not at this time of the day anyway.
“Suzuki, where are you? Your absence caused a lot of chaos here. Don’t pull an Ishida on me! Are you okay?”
Oh yeah, I would believe the chaos, but it wasn’t my absence that had caused it.
“Hello, no idea what you’re talking about. This is my day off. I’m okay, I just can’t come to work for a while.” Sent.
Not even thirty seconds had passed when the answer came.
“What do you mean you can’t come? I’m feeling really uneasy right now, with all that’s happening here. Want to meet somewhere?”
I felt more than just uneasy, and this line of communication, while encrypted, wasn’t one hundred percent secure.
“I don’t want to talk over the net. Meet me the day after tomorrow at the park by the police box, near your apartment. How about before work, around this time?” Sent. The urge to count returned, but before I could really think about it, her next message appeared before me.
“Okay. Be careful.”
The day after tomorrow, because I would sleep through today and be busy tomorrow. My eyes already refused to stay open.
27
Daniel
They had come to Chiba by high-speed train, quite a different experience from the Trans Siberian Railway. Faster, but less comfortable, it had transported them in just a few hours.
It wasn’t even noon yet when they arrived.
Daniel checked the map. Nadya had marked two locations for him, one in Hiregasaki, one in Heiwadai. Hiregasaki was a commercial district with office buildings stretching over several floors, not only building-floors, but also floors of the city itself. Chiba was the biggest city in Japan, reaching from the ground deep into the earth, more than eight miles. There were even deeper levels, but those weren’t inhabited. The surface area over Chiba was also part of the city, theoretically.
“So which of the places will we check first?” Nadya asked.
“We? I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come with me. This will be dangerous.”
“That’s why I think it’s a good idea.”
The woman was too stubborn for her own good, but he couldn’t help it. He shrugged.
“I’d like to start at his residence first. He might not be at the office all the time. Can you get more information about the place?”
“Maybe, but I’d have to break into the building’s system, I can’t do that from here.”
He looked at the map again. Getting there was no problem, Heiwadai was well connected. A local train stopped nearby, a bus stop was a two minute walk away, and Chiba had only short wait times for taxis. He decided on the last option.
“How close do you have to be?”
“If I want to break through house security, it has to be fairly close. Fifty to a hundred meters.”
How much was that, three hundred feet? Probably in that ballpark. He’d get her there.
Their capsule taxi bowed around a corner and stopped in front of them in silence. The click with which it opened was barely audible. Australasian technology was ahead of the rest of the world.
Just when he finished giving course instructions, he received another call from home. It wouldn’t be possible to worm himself out of this one. The way he had done it last time wasn’t repeatable. It had already tested the suspense of disbelief he could expect from the bishop, which was directly proportional to the success of his mission. He stifled a sigh and accepted the call.
“Daniel! By god, are you out of your mind?”
“What do you mean, Your Excellency?”
“Stop playing dumb. I’m willing to overlook things here and there, but there’s limits to my patience.”
“I’m sorry, but you know I can’t abandon this mission. If I stop here, we will be unable to track down the AI in the future, and even if we can, it might already be too late.”
“Forget that god-forsaken AI! I told you to come home, we have more important work for you here.”
“More important?”, he echoed. No matter how important, he had already come this far. He wouldn’t go back empty-handed. Even if the church wouldn’t mind, he would still have to answer to a higher instance, and he would stand before the Lord with blood on his hands.
“We shot down a Chinese spy satellite we suspected was scanning military facilities. There was no way to make it look like an accident. War is on the horizon, Daniel. We need you to carry out a special mission I can’t talk about through this channel.”
The old man’s expression was hard. He would not back down, and he would not tolerate disobedience. Daniel was well aware of what he would risk, but in the end, every man died alone.
“I’m almost done with this. I found the buyers and am about to find the AI.”
The bishop shook his head. His face had turned red.
“Come home now, at once. I won’t repeat this, Daniel!”
The call ended. Daniel would have to face consequences, no doubt, but he had to pull through regardless.
“You okay? You don’t look good,” Nadya asked from behind.
Was he? He wasn’t so sure himself, but his path was laid out before him.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
***
There was no inconspicuous place to sit down and hack their way into the system. The Uehara residence was huge, so big indeed, the road outside was already out of range. The gate was manned with armed personnel.
“We have to get inside somehow. The closer I get, the easier it is for me to infiltrate the system.”
He nodded. There was no easily accessible path inside though, and they couldn’t see what lay past the wall. Walking in guns blazing was out of the question.
“Let’s check the backside. I doubt there’s an unwatched point anywhere, but standing here won’t get us in.” Quite the opposite, they would attract attention, which was exactly what they wanted to avoid.
With some luck… and sure enough, what looked like a small forest spilled over the wall just a few hundred steps down the road.
“Let me take a look,” he said and looked around. The street was empty. This part of town wasn’t busy, the houses were quite far apart, a vulgar display of money.
Getting up the wall and pulling himself up one of the trees wasn’t a problem. There was no alarm system here he would be aware of.
Nadya stood outside and looked up at him. He gestured for her to wait and worked his way up the tree, deeper into the foliage. Fall would begin soon, but the leaves were still green and provided a modicum of cover. He couldn’t make out guards. Maybe he had overestimated the security level of this place. He moved back down and helped Nadya get on top of the wall.
Moments later they sneaked through the small wood towards the building, then she finally raised her hand.
“In range?” he asked.
She nodded. Her attention was focused on something else now, which made her vulnerable. He would protect her.
When had he developed a paternal instinct for her?
Precious moments passed. How much, he hadn’t checked, but it felt like an eternity. Just when he wanted to ask her for her status, she said “I’m in the system. Give me a moment.”
He had seen someone walk in the distance twice. They hadn’t come close enough to be a threat, but the figure he made out now was heading in roughly their direction. He couldn’t see much yet. He had dealt with agents of other blocs before, some of them had had augments that made their job a lot easier, and in moments such as this, he wished he had some of those, too. Yes, he would defile his flesh this way, but hadn’t he already anyway? The chip inside his head was as much a foreign object as more conspicious implants could be. But there was no use lamenting what he didn’t have.
He squinted and noticed details. The person coming towards them seemed to be male. He was walking with a stick he didn’t use to support his weight. Could they be this lucky for a change?
The figure came to a standstill and just stood there, some hundred steps away, in the shadow of a tree. A second silhouette appeared and ran towards the first. This one was smaller, and female. The dress was hued in bright colours. She hugged the first person, then both started what looked like an animated discussion.
It didn’t last long, the small person ran off and the man continued his walk. He stopped frequently. Walked a short distance, paused, moved on, but there was no sign of exhaustion, more as if he was in thought, or possibly engrossed in something.
Daniel took a look at Nadya. Her light grey clothing wasn’t very helpful here. The man would see her any moment. No way to close in on him from here, there only was open terrain without cover.
This was bad. Too close to hide, too far to jump the man without getting noticed.
“Done, the security systems are suspended for the next thirty minutes.”
Her voice was low. She had followed his gaze and seen the man, too.
“Is that him?” she asked.
Hell if he knew. He moved carefully to the side, from tree to tree, and noticed her giving her best as well. Whether it would suffice, they would find out soon.
A call announced itself. Daniel swallowed a curse. What was up with his timing lately?
Caller unknown. He glanced at Nadya, and her face spoke of surprise, too. Daniel accepted.
Two little windows opened, one showing Nadya’s face, frowning, the
other was an old Asian with receding white hair and a stern gaze.
“You two again, of course. Come out and let’s talk. I’m tired of sending men after you, and you must be tired of hunting after me. By the way, nice work with the security breach.”
Nadya pressed her lips together and stayed silent.
“So you knew we’re here. How come you didn’t send muscle to deal with us?”
The man chuckled, but his facial expression didn’t change much.
“We may be able to come to an agreement, and you’ve proven more than capable to deal with something I’d like you to take care of for me. Will you come out now, or do you want to risk being eavesdropped?”
Was there any reason not to do it? They could hardly flee back over the wall now, and how would they approach the problem next time?
Daniel made his decision, ended the call and stepped out of the grove, Nadya following with some distance.
He didn’t pull his gun. The figure turned to them and stood there motionless. Coming closer, he could identify him. It was indeed the person they had just had the call with.
“Good to see you in person,” the man said. He looked in the air above his shoulder and smiled, then turned his attention back to them.
Daniel narrowed his eyes. There was nothing on the old man’s shoulder.