Silence In Numbers: File One, page 5
The big man nodded, his deep voice making his explanation seem more serious than the simple lesson it was. “Focused blasts are like det charges opening doors, or modern-day missiles. The explosion is basically aimed to deal precise damage.”
“As precise as an explosion can get.”
“Point. Anyway, unfocused blasts are what you get from most grenades or bombs – the force is unleashed in all directions.”
“So since this is unfocused, you’re saying it’s not professional?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Could’ve just wanted to make it messy. But to me it looks a lot more like a terror thing than attempting to deal physical damage.”
“Any idea what the weapon was?” Katsumi’s voice cut off Sano as he was about to reply. Neither had noticed her coming up behind them, or knew when she’d done so.
Samuel looked over his shoulder at her. “Can’t say for sure, but there are a couple strange things about this.”
“Enlighten me.”
Law pointed around. “Number one is kinda hard to notice due to all this rubble, but there’s no shrapnel from the explosive. Whatever it was didn’t leave a trace of itself.”
“And number two?”
Law looked back at the ground, tracing a finger over it. “Number two is the weird one. Based on the burn patterns, I’m almost positive the explosive was inside the guy’s body when it went off.”
They all paused to take that in and Sano broke the silence as he ran a hand through his hair. “Dude, that goes way beyond weird. That goes straight past the ‘weird’ line and sails right into ‘fucked up’ territory.”
Katsumi shook her head. “Not the first time.”
Sano stared at her. “You’ve seen this kinda thing before?”
“I’ve seen a lot before.” She looked at the small crater for a few seconds longer before sighing. “Alright, that’s probably all we’re gonna get from here. Sano, I want you compiling a list of places in the area that might be hit next.”
“Can do, Boss.”
“Law, take some samples from here and see if you can figure out anything more about what did this.”
“Thinking some sort of chemical residue?”
“It’s worth a shot, we’re flying blind here at the moment.” She looked up, using a cyber link to call Reno.
It took a minute, but he finally answered, groggily. “Ugghhh… Hello?”
“Reno, I need you out here soon, ready for a fast response.”
“What? Captain, it’s my time off.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware playing in the amusement park was more important than public protection. Maybe I can send some soldiers out there to join you, give you enough to make a baseball team. It’s obviously more important than duty.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll be out there. Just promise you’ll give me time off later to make up for this.”
“Don’t try to force me into bargaining, Corporal, or you’ll get some permanent time off along with a dishonorable discharge.”
Reno hung up cursing, but Katsumi wasn’t paying his attitude any attention. Her focus was on the destruction around her, and the potential for this to happen in a more crowded area. She nodded to M as she left, heading to find the final member of her team. There was an itch at the back of her neck that told her this was only the beginning.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The train station was beginning to grow crowded as all the early-morning commuters left their houses at 5 AM and headed to their jobs. One man there just stood, waited and watched. His hair was light blond, about 4-5 inches long and slicked back, slightly spiky. He wore an expensive pair of shades with a lot of technology in them, and a white-and-silver duster over a fine white suit with a silver tie. He stood out mainly because he was alternately balancing a knife on his finger and throwing it into the air to catch it. To him it was idly passing the time; to those around him it seemed slightly unbalanced.
He tossed the knife again, but this time before he could catch it another hand shot out over his and snatched it from the air. He turned to face the woman, taking the proffered knife. “About time, Captain, I was getting bored.”
“You’re a danger to the people around you, Rufus,” Katsumi reprimanded him.
“Only if I do my job right.” He slid the knife back into its hidden sheathe in his sleeve and slipped his hands into his suit pockets. “So, did I hear right? Large explosion with no details known?”
“Some details known, but not many.”
“So we’re working off a hunch here.” Rufus smirked. “I have to say, if it wasn’t you with the hunch I’d just laugh this off, Captain.”
Katsumi looked at him. “I appreciate the trust.”
He shook his head. “Not trust, respect. Trust is given while respect is earned, so it’s worth more.”
“Both are earned unless you’re stupid.”
“Maybe.” Rufus smiled. “But I don’t completely trust anyone.”
“That is because you aren’t a fool.”
Rufus laughed. “These are just cynical thoughts on humanity, not mission details, Captain.”
Katsumi sighed. “Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of mission details to go over yet. You and I will have to trace this back to the source and we can’t do that until we get more evidence.”
“I can tell you’re disappointed.”
“Of course I am. I want to catch this terrorist.”
Rufus smirked. “Sure, that’s part of it. The part you tell people, anyway. Truth is, you were partially glad this happened so you’d have something to do, and now you’re stuck waiting until you can do something again.”
Katsumi gave him a sidelong glance. “You notice entirely too much for your own good.”
“Probably. The only part I don’t get is the guilt.”
Katsumi looked away again, watching the people waiting for the train. “No part of someone should be happy about innocent deaths.”
“Don’t kid yourself. Part of you enjoys killing, too. So do I. We need to have those parts, Captain Sama. That’s what keeps us from going insane while doing this depressing job. It’s why we’re the ones able to do it.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“That doesn’t make any difference to you, does it?”
“Not in the least.”
Rufus shook his head. “Ah, well. We can head back to headquarters and start looking through what information we have, planning things out. I’m sure catching the people responsible and preventing further death will soothe your guilty conscience.”
“I can hope.” Katsumi turned and headed up the stairs with Rufus following, her mental state of determination and efficiency returning. Now was not the time for small worries and distracting emotions, now was the time to avoid mistakes. If she did everything right, she could prevent the next bombing entirely.
All of her actions now were based off of a simple suspicion, a feeling… But her team was behind her. If she was wrong, then nothing would happen and it would be a little wasted time. But, if she was right and did nothing, it would mean a lot of civilian deaths.
To her, it wasn’t even a choice.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Date: March 22, 2068
Time: 7:14 AM
Location: South Ashfield Hospital, Room 302
“Ayane, you look terrible!”
Ayane smiled wryly, looking at her friends as three of them entered the room. “Thanks, Yuri. I really needed that uplifting comment this morning!”
Her pink-haired friend put a hand to her lips. “Oops! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!”
A more mature-looking woman with softly curled brown hair and intelligent green eyes passed by the younger girl. “Not even two steps into the room and your foot is in your mouth already. I’ve seen better starts, Yuri.”
“It’s not my fault, Mikoto!” Yuri huffed, her magenta eyes glaring at the thirty-year-old. “I was just making an observation.”
“No one’s surprised,” Kyo said, uselessly brushing his black bangs out of his eyes as he, too, stepped past Yuri and moved to lean against the wall.
Yuri sighed. “Am I the only one here who’s concerned for Ayane?!”
Ayane grinned. “Use your inside voice, Yuri. You don’t want to get thrown out again.”
Mikoto chuckled as she took a seat beside the bed. “Are you sure you want to warn her against that? I know it’d improve my mood.”
Ayane looked at her. “Why does your mood need improvement?”
“Well as it turns out, representing your company in court becomes a bit harder when they lie to you.”
“Oh, I can imagine. Does this mean you’re switching companies again?”
Mikoto sighed. “I’m not sure yet. Although it’d be nice to be with one that was relatively sane for once,” she said in a dry tone. “Still, it isn’t like there’s a shortage of companies looking for lawyers these days.”
“Especially good ones!” Yuri put in, hugging Mikoto from behind. “You should relax and stop worrying for once.”
Mikoto smiled and patted Yuri’s hand. “Thanks, I’ll try.”
Kyo put his hands in his pockets. “Maybe you could represent the company I work for.”
Mikoto narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. “Why, what’d you do?”
“Hey, why do you automatically assume I did something?”
Ayane looked at Mikoto. “It’s alright, we’ll just watch the news and find out.”
“One time I get on the new - two, two times I get on the news – and no one ever lets it go.”
“Two?” Yuri began counting on her fingers.
“Okay! Not important!” Kyo waved his hand. “Minor details, we don’t need to focus on them. Besides, it’s not like I’m causing things like that attack this morning.”
Mikoto sighed. “Ah, yes. That was a depressing start to the day.”
Ayane looked between them. “You guys saw that?”
“On the news, yes.” Mikoto looked at her. “You learned about it another way?”
Ayane nodded. “Katsumi’s leading the investigation.”
“Oh,” Mikoto sighed and squeezed her hand. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, they’re saying it looked kinda amateur,” Kyo added. “And I’ve never heard about your sis having trouble with amateurs.”
Ayane smiled. “Thanks. I hope you’re right, although from what I hear a lot of things about it don’t make sense. Not that I can say any more about it.”
“Conspiracy stuff?” Yuri tilted her head. “Is the government censoring you, Ayane? Ooh, can I do a story about it?!”
Mikoto rolled her eyes. “Put the reporter instincts away, Yu. Try to remember what ‘no’ means.”
“Oh, right… Sorry!”
Ayane smiled at her. “Yeah, I don’t think Sumi would appreciate my being an information leak.”
“Still,” Kyo put in, “it’d be pretty cool to know this stuff. You’re lucky for that.”
“Most of the time it doesn’t feel lucky.”
“You don’t care about the details?”
“It’s not that…”
“It probably makes it harder to deal with sometimes,” Mikoto explained for her, receiving a grateful look from Ayane. “Knowing exactly what kind of danger your sister is in might just make you worry more.”
“Huh. I didn’t think about that,” Kyo nodded.
“I think… that’s the wrong way to think about it.” Yuri tilted her head. “At least you know. The imagination can be a lot scarier than actual facts sometimes. If you were in the dark you’d worry all the time about what you didn’t know.”
“That’s… true,” Ayane smiled. “I’ll try to think about that more.”
Mikoto looked at Ayane. “Maybe we could help more if we really met her.”
Ayane laughed. “Very subtle, Miko. I told you before that’s up to her, and she’s really busy.”
“Not too busy to visit you twice a week. That means she must not be too busy to meet us.”
Ayane sighed. “Fine, I’ll bring it up again, but she’s gonna worry about bringing you into danger.”
“It’ll bring us into danger?” Kyo straightened. “Really? Awesome.”
Ayane rolled her eyes. “You are not normal. Anyway, let’s move on to another topic, I like to be distracted.”
Her friends obliged and Ayane only half paid attention as they talked, responding to things directed at her but lost in her own thoughts. Katsumi had never met her friends besides Mikoto, who she’d known for several years, and that had only been a very short greeting. She wasn’t really the socializing type, Ayane knew, but it did sound nice to have her friends know the person she so often talked about. After all, she’d already been guaranteed she’d meet Katsumi’s team at some point, so it made sense.
Ayane sighed; now she just had to hope they’d both survive long enough to do so.
Chapter 4: Memories
Date: March 24, 2068
Time: 8:57 PM
Location: On the Move
Operation: Safety Net
Cold wind blew Katsumi’s violet hair around her face as she stood in the open doorway of the helicopter looking down on the lights of the city below. The sound of the blades spinning above her head drowned out all other sound, which she found made it easier to think. For the past two days they’d been moving around the city; inside the chopper, Reno was piloting, but she was the only passenger. Sano, Rufus and Law were all on the ground in different areas around the huge city.
They’d compiled a list of the most likely targets and Katsumi had put her best plan into motion; unfortunately, even her best wasn’t much this time. They’d been able to divide the likely locations into three quadrants and Katsumi sent Sano, Rufus and Law each to one of the three. They’d stay ready in a car in the most central location between their possible targets while Reno and Katsumi flew a circle in the center, ready to respond to any calls in. In addition each specific location had two or three Aegis Corp soldiers in disguise staking it out for suspicious figures.
This “safety net” was their best option for stopping the next attack. Of course, there was no guarantee there would be a next attack, but Katsumi was grateful to have a Director like M who would act on her feelings and was willing to devote as many resources to this as he had. Now it was simply a waiting game, but for how long they couldn’t know. Still, none of the soldiers complained, or if they did it wasn’t in front of her, except for Reno’s muttering of course.
Katsumi’s cyber implants expanded a window of data before her eyes, listing the names of all operatives involved. As the clock hit 9 PM each name lit up green as they checked in, which she had them doing every half hour. If there was an explosion it’d be hard to miss, of course, but she couldn’t be sure that was the only method this unknown – and unproven – criminal used. She gave a sigh as the last name lit up green, responding to all at once with her own signal. Everything was calm and everyone was fine… so far.
Katsumi leaned back into the helicopter, looking into the cockpit. “Take us around the Kitsuine Tower again.” Reno nodded and Katsumi looked back outside as the chopper turned at an angle, heading towards the city’s tallest building.
The Kitsuine Tower was the most expensive building in Tokyo. It had been constructed after the Tokyo Tower had been brought down during one of the country’s worst terrorist attacks. Built partially from materials sent from seventeen other countries, it was one of the symbols of the new world, a sign that the borders between countries were being blurred and ignored more than ever before. As such it was considered a prime target for terrorist attacks and thus had impressive defenses, but those with a strong national pride such as Katsumi, who had been but a child watching it on TV as the Tokyo Tower fell, were very protective of the Kitsuine Tower.
Katsumi didn’t know if what they were after was really a terrorist or not, but it never hurt to be careful.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Law sat back in his car, lighting a cigarette as he looked out the window. The giant black man had a way of standing out in Tokyo crowds so sitting out of sight was always his preference on missions like this where you were meant to notice someone else rather than being noticed. Besides, he liked being able to listen to music as he waited for something to happen, he found it helped prevent anxiety. Not that he really had an anxiety problem, not after his life, but he wasn’t a big fan of the calm before the storm and always preferred the storm’s arrival to the silence prior.
Breathing out a puff of smoke he let his mind wander a bit after making sure his music wasn’t loud enough to prevent him noticing a call. As it usually did in these situations his mind chose a similar event to take him back to, delving into memories he rarely indulged in on purpose.
2054, Central America, Amazon Rainforest:
The Amazon had once been deadly only due to its natural predators and exotic diseases, but that was before one of the biggest terrorist coalitions in the world had moved in. Private militaries had made a huge push into the region, all vying to take down the threat for varying reasons, the most prominent being the renown that would come from such a victory.
Samuel Lawrence, he remembered that was all he was known by, no nicknames. Just as large a man then, he had a big advantage in close combat so frontline fighting had always been his forte, and it was no different in this conflict. But rules had no place in those jungles. His unit lost several commanders and many men to the mines, traps, ambushes, guerilla tactics, and straight-out attacks. Military drills dissolved in the face of the true chaos that ruled that forsaken battlefield.
Still, Command refused to give up; the company he’d worked for back then had no trouble with throwing people away. After all, each death was a face they’d never seen and a name they wouldn’t remember. They’d simply hire another person to take the place of the deceased and repeat the process when necessary.
Sam remembered the last commander they had die. The men who had survived the longest, including Sam, just looked at each other and shook their heads after that little skirmish. The officers they were sent were usually the staunch military type with starched uniforms, shiny boots and stern faces. By the end of the month their posture would be slumped, uniforms torn, boots bloody and faces afraid. The ones that still had faces after a month, at least. Eventually they’d either leave or die.
