Ronin Born

by Percival Constantine

  The lights brightened and the walls tinted. He gestured for Erika to have a seat at the round table and she did, then he sat across from her at the other end.

  “I’m curious why you brought me here, Mr. Takasu,” said Erika. “As I said, I’m interested in learning more about Dr. Miyata’s disappearance.”

  “Yes, I’m aware. And I’ve already been informed by the Ministry that you would be coming down.”

  “Informed by whom?”

  “Your superior officer, of course. Agent Yoshida,” said Gardner. “I spoke to him personally. He said you were likely to come and ask questions about Dr. Miyata. I took the liberty of making your job a little easier.”

  He reached into his jacket and held up a small data diskette for her to see, then tossed it across the table. Erika caught it with ease and held it in her hand, her implants reading the data.

  “That diskette contains Miyata’s full employment record here at Yoshida Technologies. Every bit of information we have on him is listed in there.”

  Erika’s implants processed the data and she issued a silent command to run a quick search. There was the possibility something could be missed, but she had to check anyway. When no results were returned, she looked Gardner in the eyes.

  “Do you know the name Keiko Izumi?”

  Gardner hesitated for a moment and then asked, “I’m sorry, who?”

  “Keiko Izumi. She committed suicide five years ago.”

  “I…don’t believe I’ve ever heard of anyone by that name. Why?”

  “There were photos of her and Miyata together in his apartment. Also photos of two unidentified non-Japanese girls.”

  “I really have no clue what you’re talking about, Agent,” said Gardner.

  “Did you know Miyata? Personally, I mean.”

  “We were in different departments, of course. But with my position, I’ve often had to prepare presentations to the government on different technologies in development. So I had some occasions to speak with him.”

  “And what was he like?”

  Gardner took a breath and looked up as he searched his memories. Erika studied his facial features carefully, watching for any strange behavior, and she instructed her AR-HUD to present any discrepencies in his expressions.

  “He was…unremarkable, to be honest. Not in terms of his intellect—in that, he was definitely a genius,” said Gardner. “But I mean when it came to dealing with others. Not exactly what you might call a people person.”

  “I see,” said Erika. “And you’re certain you know nothing about any involvement he had with Keiko Izumi? Or any children he may have adopted?”

  “He didn’t seem the type to get involved with anyone. I doubt the man had much of a social life,” said Gardner. “And as for children, that seems even less likely.”

  The analysis showed nothing unusual in Gardner’s reactions to the questions, nor in his responses. Erika had to conclude that he was telling the truth—or at least he believed he was.

  She would have to go through the records Gardner provided her with. But even then, it didn’t seem likely that anything would turn up that might be of any use.

  “These records, do they include details about the projects Miyata was working on?” asked Erika.

  “There are references to them. Though of course you understand that some of the sensitive details have been redacted,” said Gardner.

  Erika raised an eyebrow. “You’re redacting sensitive details from a Tokkei agent?”

  “For the time being,” said Gardner. “Our unique relationship with the Ministry of Defense grants us some privileges that wouldn’t otherwise be available to other companies. However, if there is something you require more details on, I suggest you tell Agent Yoshida what you need to see and the reason for it. He will handle it from there.”

  “I see,” said Erika, wondering just how normal this kind of relationship really was, and wondering just what Gardner and Yoshida Tech might want to keep hidden, even from the Tokkei.

  “Those photos…of that woman and the girls…you said you found them in Dr. Miyata’s apartment?” asked Gardner.

  Erika nodded.

  “I don’t suppose you found anything else of interest…?”

  Erika paused and waited for him to give an example. When Gardner provided none, she prompted him: “Such as…?”

  Gardner sighed. “Such as a computer? Or any data storage?”

  She had found the computer, though she wanted to keep that to herself for the time being. If Yoshida Tech was already keeping things from her, she wondered if they would try to look at the computer’s data before she had a chance to.

  “I’m sorry, but no,” said Erika. “If he had any data storage in his apartment, he must have taken them with him when he left.”

  “Hmm…that’s a shame,” said Gardner. “Something like that may have provided some explanation of where he went or what exactly he was mixed up in.”

  “I agree. But the records you’ve provided will be a big help, I’m sure.” Erika stood and bowed. “Thank you for your valuable time, Mr. Takasu.”

  Gardner stood and bowed himself. “It was my pleasure, Agent Kuroki. And if there is anything else I or Yoshida Technologies can do to assist in your investigation, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

  “I will,” said Erika, and then he escorted her back to the elevator.

  Erika rode the elevator down to the parking garage alone. She couldn’t help the little chuckle that jumped out from her mouth. If not for that encounter, she may not have suspected anything strange involving Yoshida. But Gardner’s performance made her think they did indeed have something to hide.

  Now the question was what.

  15

  As soon as Erika left the parking garage and pulled onto the main road, she got the sense that she was being followed. She glanced at the display on the hovercycle’s dashboard, which provided a view from behind via camera.

  It was likely she was simply being paranoid. But she didn’t want to dismiss anything without first checking it out. She took a turn at the next corner and continued glancing at the display. Another rider turned the corner as well. She took another few turns and each time, the rider continued to follow her.

  Erika accelerated the hovercycle, trying to put some more distance between her and the rider. She began to weave in and out of the lanes. The rider continued to try to keep pace with her and there was no doubt in her mind that this was a definite tail.

  A ramp was just ahead, leading to one of the expressways. Erika sped up the ramp and merged into the highway traffic. The rider seemed to have broken off, probably because they realized they’d been spotted and it was useless to continue trying.

  Erika smiled to herself beneath her helmet as she passed an exit. She’d get off at the next one, then loop around and return to HQ. She did wonder who exactly would be tailing her in the first place, though, briefly wondering if maybe Gardner had put someone on her just in case.

  She checked the display and then she noticed there was a new rider a few cars behind. Definitely different from the first, and now Erika was getting extremely suspicious. It wasn’t just one person, now it seemed a group was tailing her.

  “The hell is going on…?” she muttered to herself.

  Erika decided the time was right to confront her pursuer. She reduced her speed and allowed the rider to catch up to her. The next exit was just ahead and Erika took a hard turn to take the off-ramp.

  The rider almost missed the exit, but did follow. Erika merged into the street traffic. There was an interection just ahead with the light turning from yellow to red. She throttled up and blew through the red light. Cars from oncoming traffic swerved and honked, colliding and creating a pile-up. The rider accelerated themselves and boosted, flying over the accident.

  Erika pulled a hard left at the next corner, running another red light and making some of the cars slide to avoid her. More turns followed and the chase continued. The rider was go
od and she had to admit that a part of her was enjoying the chase. Still, it was time to bring this to an end.

  They were getting away from the populated areas. Now they were in the nightlife district, which was pretty much dead at this time of day. Erika turned down one of the small streets and swerved to a stop. All around her were bars and clubs, closed for business until the sun went down. It was like a ghost town.

  The rider turned the corner and remained at the end of the street, staring at Erika. She climbed off her hovercycle and removed her helmet. The rider didn’t do the same, just remained on their cycle.

  Erika heard something and glanced over her shoulder. At the other end of the street was the first rider. Judging from the body types she could now see, both appeared to be men.

  They revved their cycles and Erika readied herself for what was going to come next. Both took off, racing at her from the opposite ends of the street. Erika tapped the container on her wrist to release the nanites. They covered her body within seconds as she leapt at the rider who had been following her the most.

  Her kick took the rider off his vehicle and the cycle spun out. The other rider managed to avoid it and raced for Erika. She extended her sword and jumped as the rider came at her, using the energy blade to slice through the front of the cycle.

  Erika turned to face the two riders, raising her sword. The two got to their feet and drew handguns, quickly opening fire. She dodged many rounds, and sliced through others. As soon as the guns clicked on empty, Erika charged.

  She changed the setting on her sword. Whoever these two were, she wanted to find out exactly why they followed and then attacked her, and dead men weren’t very responsive to questioning. She plunged the energy blade into one of the riders, and he screamed from behind his helmet before collapsing.

  Taking out one gave the other an opportunity to reload and start firing again. Erika’s armor protected her from the rounds and she reached out with her free hand. Her fingers wrapped around the gun’s barrel and when she squeezed, the strength provided by her armor enabled her to crush the weapon. She then grabbed the rider by the throat and drove her blade into his chest.

  The two men were both lying on the ground, moaning in pain from the synaptic shock caused by the sword. Erika retracted the blade and knelt down by one, pulling off his helmet.

  “Who are you?” she asked. “Why are you following me?”

  “Go to hell…” he muttered.

  Erika smacked him with his own helmet. He let out a cry of pain in response.

  “Wrong answer,” she said. “Now are you going to tell me what I want to know or should I hit you again?”

  “Fuck off, fascist.”

  She struck him two more times with his helmet and both times he gave a shout of pain. His nose was now bloodied and welts were forming on his face.

  “Keep it up. I’ve literally got all day,” she said.

  “Stop!” called out the other rider, lying on his stomach and reaching a hand out. “We were just hired to do a job, that’s it!”

  “Someone hired you to kill a Tokkei agent?” she asked.

  “The computer. We were sent to get it, but you got there before us,” he continued.

  Gardner had mentioned Miyata’s computer, too. Apparently there was something on it that was important. Now it seemed likely that he was responsible for sending these two braintrusts after her.

  “Were you sent by a white guy named Takasu?” she asked.

  “We’re not telling you!” said the bloodied rider. Erika struck him again.

  “Shut up, Shin!” said the second rider.

  “You don’t have to listen to him, Shin. I kind of enjoy hitting you,” said Erika.

  “’Cause you’re a fascist bitch, that’s why!”

  She hit him again. “See? It gets funnier every time.”

  “We don’t know!” said the second one.

  Erika moved from Shin over to the more talkative one. “What are you called?”

  He sighed. “Jo. Just leave Shin be, he’s an idiot and he’ll let you kill him before he talks.”

  “Save his life and tell me about this man,” said Erika.

  “All I know is he gave us the means to get into the apartment and told us to find his computer. But when we got there, we saw you come out. Shin tailed you to Shibuya just in case you had taken it. Once I confirmed it was gone, we figured you had to have it, so we both came after you.”

  “Okay, Jo, how much did this guy pay you? How much does it take for you to risk a charge of attempted murder of a Tokkei agent?”

  “A hundred grand.”

  “One hundred thousand yen? That’s it?”

  “Times are tough,” said Shin. “Not a lot we can do about it.”

  “That’s pretty pathetic, even for thugs like you,” said Erika. “So if this guy wanted you to steal the computer, obviously he’d need a rendezvous point.”

  “We were supposed to call him once we had it, then set up the meet.”

  “Good, do it,” said Erika. “Tell him you have the computer and you’re ready to get paid.”

  “And then what’s gonna happen to us?” asked Jo.

  “Maybe if you help me out, I say you were useful to the investigation and you get a break,” said Erika. “Or I can arrest you both now and have you thrown in a hole for the rest of your miserable lives.”

  “Don’t do it, Jo!” said Shin, which earned another blow from Erika.

  “Make the call, Jo. Give me a hand here and I promise I won’t hold your friend’s stupidity against him,” said Erika.

  Jo sighed and nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “Good, get on with it.” Erika stood and made a call on her own to HQ. “Kuroki here. I need transport for two arrests. Sending you coordinates now.”

  If it was indeed Gardner who sent these two after her, he’d be in a lot of trouble. But then Erika also wondered if it could be Miyata himself who hired them. Only one of the two seemed likely, which meant whatever Miyata had on his computer had to be very important.

  16

  The small room at HQ that Erika stood in was sandwiched between two interrogation rooms. There was a two-way window on each of the walls, and she looked back and forth to each. The room to the left was where Jo waited and the right housed Shin. They both looked nervous as they waited for what would come next.

  There was a knock on the door followed by it opening. Hiro stepped inside and approached her, then turned on the holographic projector on his gauntlet—the only part of his armor that was active. There were two holograms displayed, both of them mugshots matching the two prisoners.

  “We’ve got Jotaro Iida and Shinya Omi,” said Hiro. “Both are twenty, and both have in and out of juvenile detention since the age of twelve. Bosozoku orphans.”

  The bosozoku were biker gangs. For a time, their kind seemed to have died out. But over the course of the past two decades or so, they’d seen a resurgence. Most of their recruits came from the dregs of society—orphans, the poor, illegal immigrants, runaways. The people who had no real future.

  “Did you bring in Takasu for questioning?” she asked.

  Hiro scoffed. “Are you crazy?”

  Erika did a double-take. “Am I missing something? What’s crazy about it?”

  “You want me to march into Yoshida Tech—the corporation that the Ministry of Defense is pretty much dependent on—and arrest their VP of government relations?” His neck bent forward. “And you don’t see why that’s crazy?”

  “As soon as I walked out of there, these two punks show up looking for the exact same thing Takasu asked me about. And you don’t think that’s suspicious?”

  Hiro exhaled a long breath. “Did either of these bastards mention Takasu by name?”

  “No, but—”

  “Did they give a description of him?”

  “They didn’t deal face-to-face. The arrangements were all made online.”

  Hiro shrugged. “Then you’ve got nothing. Just
wild speculation. We can’t arrest someone based only on your word.” He turned back to the door. “Let’s give them some time to stew and then we can try questioning them.”

  “Would you be this concerned about evidence if Takasu wasn’t working for Yoshida?”

  Hiro’s shoulders stiffened. As soon as the words escaped Erika’s lips, she knew they were a mistake. He turned, his gaze hardened as he stepped closer to her. His voice was low but his tone was biting.

  “Are you insinuating that I’m looking the other way because we’re dealing with my family’s company?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. I was just…”

  “Maybe you’d like to speak to the general about your idea? See if he feels the same way?” Hiro reached a hand for his ear as if he were about to make the call. “I can call him up right now. Sure, he’s in a meeting with the Prime Minister, but I’m sure he’d make an exception for you, right?”

  Erika looked down at the floor. “I apologize, Agent Yoshida. My comment was out of line.”

  “Damn straight it was.”

  They were both silent for a few beats. Hiro’s hard expression softened before he spoke again.

  “What about this computer everyone seems to be looking for?” he asked. “Did you find it at Miyata’s condo?”

  The smart thing to do would be to bring Hiro completely in on this, to tell him that yes, she did indeed find a computer at Miyata’s home, but she couldn’t break into it. But Hiro’s reluctance to investigate Gardner triggered something in her. It was the same feeling she had when Hiro told her to drop the Kitano investigation. And so with all that swirling around her mind, she surprised herself with the next words that came out of her mouth.

  “No, there was nothing there.”

  “Hmm, that’s a shame,” said Hiro. “If we had access to the data on it, we might know just why Takasu and these two yahoos were so keen on getting their hands on it.”

  Erika just went on instinct when she told Hiro she didn’t find the computer, but now she saw a potential problem. She already knew the encryption was too strong for her armor’s systems, and she couldn’t very well ask Adachi for help. He would certainly reach out to Hiro and then Hiro would know she lied.