Silence In Numbers: File One, page 22
“Oh… Shit. Um… That’s not a ghost.”
Hitomi blinked in confusion. “It’s not? But it’s…”
“That’s not a ghost.” He stood up, suddenly a lot more alert. “That’s a demon.”
“A demon?! From the stories?!”
“The stories came after the demons, not the other way around.” Sano lifted a hand to his ear. “Guys, we got a problem. It’s a Shade.”
“THAT… WOULD BE CORRECT.”
Sano grimaced at the voice behind him, turning around in time to see the wave that blew him off his feet and into the wall. Hitomi let out a cry and ran towards him but a claw of blue flame materialized, grabbing her wrist. “YOU ARE NOT RELEASED FROM MY SERVICE.”
Kurasano drew his pistol as he stood. “How’s this for a release form?” He fired several times and the demon let out a shriek, allowing Hitomi to run from it to Sano, curious as she was that the thing had actually been hurt by the shots. It was only hurt, though, and its eyes burned with rage as its flames grew higher.
Suddenly the door was kicked in and Katsumi stepped through. “Sano, that line was terrible.”
As she lifted her pistol Rufus stepped in beside her, lifting his as well. “Honestly, you need to work on your one-liners. Amateur at best.”
“Fuck you. How’s that one?”
“Better.”
“MORTALS HAVE NO PLACE INTRUDING UPON MY PROPERTY,” the demon bellowed as its light filled the room.
Katsumi grimaced as she and Rufus began to fire. “Sano, get the girl to the car, now!”
Sano fired a few more shots as he pushed Hitomi in front of him. “Gonna have to trust us; get outside!”
It wasn’t difficult to trust people who were in the process of saving you from a demon, so Hitomi ran as she was told, getting out of the apartment as the bellowing roars and sounds of gunshots followed. Sano pointed to a large black car and she got in the back seat, followed closely by Sano.
In the front seat Reno looked back at them, as he already had the car running and ready to go. “What’s going on in there?! It sounds like a legion of tigers with machine guns!”
“Start driving; we don’t have the gear to take this thing on.”
“On it.”
“But what about the others?!” Hitomi interrupted, looking frantically out the back window. She was answered by two thuds on the top of the car as it peeled out, zooming onto the road.
The demon appeared in the parking lot below, following them with a vengeance. Katsumi leaned her head down to one of the windows, yelling above the sounds. “Keep driving, Reno! I’ve got Law moving to intercept at the bridge!”
She went back up and Hitomi could hear both her and the other man firing from the roof, somehow holding on as the car swerved with deadly speed around every obstacle. She really had little idea what was going on; first of all, every one of these people seemed to be able to see the ghost… demon… as well as she could, even though nobody else had before.
Secondly, even though she was terrified, they all seemed to know what they were doing, which at least made her feel better. She’d been totally lost before, with no idea what to do, but suddenly she was surrounded by people who not only believed her, but seemed to have the will and ability to help her. “Relieved” didn’t cut it.
Up ahead of the car, on a bridge it was currently speeding towards the tunnel of, Law sat perched on the edge with an absolutely massive weapon that looked more like a rocket launcher than anything. He had it aimed at a certain spot and was just waiting for the car to pass through it. “Come on…” A second before it did, he pulled the trigger, and the weapon gave a high-pitched whine as it charged up before firing a thick white beam that struck the Shade head on. “Bet that hurt.”
It caused no physical damage to the surroundings, but the demon gave an unearthly scream and vanished from sight. The car finally slowed down to a normal speed as two doors opened and Katsumi climbed into the front, Rufus into the back beside Hitomi. The girl was watching behind them, looking from the empty street to the people with her. “You… killed it?”
“No,” Rufus answered, smoothing his wind-ruffled hair back. “It was banished, but it can’t be killed on this plane. All we did was delay it for a bit.”
“Oh…” Hitomi looked between the other passengers. “I just… Who are you people?”
“We… are vengeance,” Reno said in a super-serious tone. “We are the night.”
“You are Batman?” Hitomi said with a smirk.
Reno grinned. “I like this girl.”
“Seriously,” Katsumi said as she turned in her seat to meet the other woman’s gaze, “The answer to that is top secret. Don’t worry, we’re going to answer it for you,” she continued with a smile, “but you’ll have to keep it quiet. You’re also going to need to stay with us, for a short time.”
“You think it will come back,” Hitomi stated.
“It will,” Sano nodded, drawing her attention to him. “If you’re with us it can’t do anything about it, though. And then we’ll get a chance to do something about him.”
Hitomi sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. “This is all so… strange. Sudden. Fast.”
“That’s us,” Sano smirked.
“I’m Fast,” Reno added. “Rufus is Sudden.” He gestured to the seat behind his in which Sano sat. “He’s Strange.”
Hitomi looked at Katsumi. “So what’s she?”
“Someone I try not to call names,” Reno muttered, earning a smirk from Katsumi.
Minutes later they were back at HQ, driving the car into a large garage. The team dispersed, as not all were needed now; Katsumi and Kurasano led Hitomi into a comfortable room where M met them with a smile. “Ah, Miss Saizen, I’m glad you could visit.”
“Um… Yes, well, I really only had two choices, and the first was probably dying.”
M chuckled. “Of course. Either way, you are in safe company now. I am M.”
Hitomi blinked. “Just M?”
He gave a knowing smile. “Just M. I am the Director of this division.” He pointed to Sano, who had taken a seat in a chair as he let the adrenaline wear off. “That is Kurasano Lionel, First Lieutenant of the division and second-in-command here.”
Sano waved and gave a grin. “She knows my name already. Just Sano is fine.”
Hitomi smiled. “Yes, the cool-sounding name,” she said, eliciting a laugh from him.
“If you say so,” M interjected, earning a glare from Sano, to which he of course responded with a smile. M then pointed to Katsumi, who was leaning against a counter with her legs crossed as she lit a cigarette. “And the woman to your right is Katsumi Samakura, Captain and leader of the team.”
Hitomi had already gathered that the woman was the leader thanks to the banter in the car. She smiled politely and gave an uneasy wave. “Pleased, um, Captain.”
Katsumi gave a friendly smile. “I appreciate the respect, but you can call me Katsumi. There’s no point in adding stress to your situation.”
Hitomi smiled more easily then, nodding. “Thank you. I’m not very good with strict, rigid rules.”
Sano snickered. “Neither is Katsumi.”
The older woman reacted with an amused smile, replacing the cigarette in her lips. “Maybe.”
“Miss Saizen,” M interrupted, drawing the younger woman’s attention back to him. “We’re Aegis Corp, as you no doubt already know. We happen to be the SIN Division.”
Hitomi tilted her head. “I’ve never heard of that one. But then, I’m not very well-versed on your corporation’s divisions.”
“You wouldn’t know it even if you were,” Katsumi replied as she let out a breath of smoke, fixing the woman with a more serious gaze. “SIN stands for ‘Supernatural Invasion Null’. Basically, we’re the response to paranormal-based threats.”
“Like… Ghosts and demons.”
“And vampires, and other supernatural entities.”
“I…” Hitomi blinked. “I didn’t know those existed.”
“You knew,” M replied with a smile. “But you passed off ghosts, vampires and evil spirits like urban legends and myths.”
“And demons have a natural defense,” Katsumi added. “The thinking ones have selective invisibility, meaning only those they want to see them can see them. And the unthinking ones, the monsters that do things like randomly attack cities, humans will forget any details about them soon after they’re out of sight. Considering they don’t appear on any civilian-available manner of recording, this means everyone forgets whatever they saw and enables us to pass off their attacks as a more mundane event in smaller situations, or a terrorist attack in larger ones.”
“But if humans forget about them, how does your team fight them?”
Katsumi tapped her head. “They’re all immune to that, thanks to a special cybernetic memory chip. I am for different reasons.”
Hitomi took a seat, trying to understand it all. “So all sorts of things exist that everyone thinks are just stories? Why don’t you just tell the public about it so everyone is warned?”
“People, as a general whole, are very unreliable,” M explained. “The world’s governments have always believed- and rightly so- that certain things should be kept from the public.”
She frowned. “You believe society would fall apart into anarchy?”
“That is unlikely,” M admitted. “Society would likely adapt. However, that adaptation is not desired. People like to forget all the potential threats to their lives; if we told them of all these things against which they have no defense, fear would rule society.” M folded his hands behind his back. “History shows us many examples of this occurring; the World Wars, the Cold War, oppressive regimes, ancient empires; society would once more return to a state in which strength of arms is the most valuable trait.”
“Oh,” Hitomi said lamely, realization dawning on her. “You mean life would focus on defense and brute survival, like early civilizations.”
“Exactly. That isn’t necessary; these threats are far rarer than more common, more mundane dangers. But humans fear the unknown, and that fear would drive them into an archaic state that would halt progress and reset the clock on human achievement; we would be back to the days of stockpiling destructive weapons and forming closed-off cities. Humanity’s progress towards one unified whole would halt.”
“I can see why it’s a secret, then. But why tell me?”
Katsumi spoke up to answer that one: “You’re directly threatened now. You deserve to know the situation you’re in. It’s our policy to explain things to someone who is specifically endangered by a paranormal threat.”
“Well, I’m grateful for that, but what happens when this is over and your business with me is done?”
Katsumi shrugged. “That’s up to you. You can tell people if you like, but they won’t believe it.”
“In your case, however,” M added in, “our business with you may continue.”
Hitomi looked at him, uneasy about the statement. “What does that mean…?”
“It means, Miss Saizen, that we have strong reasons to believe you may be a Silent.”
Katsumi and Sano both sat up straighter, and the older woman gave M an incredulous look. “You think she’s a Silent?”
“Almost positive, Captain. Her history fits.”
“Excuse me,” Hitomi interrupted as she looked between them, “but what’s a ‘Silent’?”
“A demi-human,” Katsumi answered as she looked at her with more compassionate eyes. “It means you have the ability to speak with the Spirits of the Dead, as well as control their energy. It also means, unfortunately, that spirits are drawn to you, and not always good ones.”
Hitomi sat back in her chair, a little pale now. “So I’m… So what does this mean?”
Katsumi was looking at the floor, but then she glanced at the other two. M nodded, giving Hitomi a smile. “I’ll be around if you have any questions or needs. If you give me a list of everything you need from your apartment, I shall have it brought here for the time you stay with us.”
Sano stood up. “I’ll be around, too, if you need anything.”
Hitomi just nodded, watching the others leave until Katsumi took a seat in front of her. The older woman looked a lot more serious now, which made her nervous.
“I’m a Silent,” Katsumi started, getting Hitomi’s full attention. “So is my sister. We’re sort of… artificial ones, but it works the same way.”
Hitomi blinked in confusion. “Artificial? I don’t understand…”
Katsumi looked off to the side. “It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to know that part.” Katsumi looked back at her. “This is a difficult thing to be. I know you’ve had something of a history with spirits and ghosts; this is the reason. You haven’t imagined things, you’ve experienced things, and it’s time you knew.” Katsumi ran a hand through her hair. “I’m not going to lie… It’s kind of a curse.”
Hitomi folded her arms, likely seeking some sort of security. “What’s so bad about it…?”
“You’ve already learned some of it,” Katsumi answered. “Ghosts and spirits… they’ll seek you out. You’re one of the rare few that can truly hear and understand them, and they’re desperate. This can be frightening; sometimes they’re angry, even violent. Some might even blame you, simply because you’re the only one they’ve found that can hear their condemnation. This is why you need to learn control.”
“So that I can control them…?”
“You can only control their energy, not their will. However, you can use this to weaken the violent ones so they can’t hurt you, or even to shut them all out when you need the silence. That’s important to keep you sane. Though it’s… harder to do when you’re weak,” Katsumi said softly, remembering the times the memories of spirits assaulted her mind during attacks from her sickness.
Hitomi nodded. “What about things like what happened this week?”
“Demonic spirits like to use humans as tools. A Silent is the most powerful tool one could gain. With more control you’ll be able to stop, drain or shut them out, as well. Depending on the relative power.”
“That would be nice… He said he had all kinds of plans for me.”
“I’d love to know what those were,” Katsumi stated with a slightly worried look. “We’ll have to find that out; he’ll be using another human as a tool soon.”
“He had me steal a knife… Maybe he wants someone killed?” the florist offered.
“He could kill a human himself…” Katsumi frowned. “We think… He wanted a sacrifice. The knife was a sacrificial tool from an old, extinct cult.”
“You think he wanted me to sacrifice someone to gain him something?”
“Sounds like the best bet,” the purple-haired woman sighed. “Well you don’t have to worry about that. For now, we’ll just make sure you’re comfortable and safe.”
Hitomi smiled a little. “Thank you… Really, thank you all for helping me.”
“It’s our job,” Katsumi said with a smile as she offered her a hand up. She pulled the younger woman out of her chair. “I’ll talk with you more on all this Silent stuff, and teach you what you need to know. Let’s worry about that later, though.”
“That would probably be best… Today has been… very full of new information.”
“It can be overwhelming,” Katsumi said in agreement. She stepped outside the room, looking across the hall. “Sano.”
“Sir,” the man said as he exited the next room.
“Show Hitomi the room she’ll be staying in, make sure she’s comfortable.”
“Not a problem,” Sano said with a wink at Hitomi, which she responded to with a smile.
Katsumi held out her hand and Sano tossed her a phone, which she handed to Hitomi. “This contains all of our numbers, and it’s as secure a connection as you can get outside of a cyber link. Call me if you need anything, whether it’s help, a talk, or getting something you forgot in your car. And if you can’t get me, try one of the others.”
Hitomi smiled gratefully as she took the phone. “That’s really generous of you. I wish I could thank you enough.”
Katsumi smiled sadly. “I’ve been in similar situations. I just want to make sure your time here feels more safe and comfortable than confining.”
“You’re doing a very good job… What about friends and family?”
“You can contact them whenever you like, but don’t mention the real situation. We’re also known as counter-terrorists, so a good cover is to tell them you witnessed a crime and we’re keeping you safe here until the criminal is caught. It’s true enough.”
Hitomi smiled and nodded. “That’s good. I guess the only thing left is my shop…”
“It’s being tended to,” Sano smiled. “You had the foresight to call in a temp to keep it in good shape for your return.”
“You people really did think of everything.”
“Well, we’re awesome.”
“And it’s our job,” Katsumi smirked. “Either way, I’m just glad we’re helping a pleasant person this time.”
Hitomi looked between the two. “The last person wasn’t pleasant?”
Sano scowled. “Hell no. The guy kept complaining about being ‘held hostage’ and how he’d ‘sue us all to hell’ and that we were ‘worthless imbeciles who couldn’t even do our jobs right’. He even tried to punch me.”
“Wow. He sounds very… colorful.”
“If you wanna put it that politely, sure.” Sano folded his arms. “I was just upset that ‘Shining Knight Katsumi’ wouldn’t let me feed him to a demon.”
“Sano,” Katsumi sighed. “I told you, even a demon doesn’t deserve that stomach-ache.”
“I’d risk it.”
“I’d feed him to the demon.”
“See? Hitomi knows I’m right!”
“A florist with a mean streak,” Katsumi chuckled. “I like it. You should fit in here well. I’ll leave you with Sano now; I need to meet up with Law and see if he’s got any trace of this demon.”
“Thank you again, Katsumi,” Hitomi said with a friendly smile.
Katsumi returned the expression as she walked off. “Don’t mention it. Don’t hesitate to call.”
