“Mmmrrghh…” I didn’t want to get out of bed…

  Jackie…

  “Scream…”

  “MOM!” I shot up like a bullet, Johnny keeping watch over me as I slept. “Mmhh… Morning, Johnny…” I groaned.

  “Rough night?”

  “Rough night…” I muttered, clutching my head, “I dreamt that I was going up against a Panzer… My mother stepped in front of it and just… burst into flames… And she held me, not letting me run away, while the hover pads ran her over…”

  “Mm,” Johnny returned, “Sounds like someone needs therapy.”

  “Heh, I wish. News flash, the Night City Veterans Department has a fucking two-year waiting list for their services,” I groaned, shaking my head to try and clear some of these thoughts, “It’s a fucking miracle if I can find any betahaloperidol on the black market, let alone privatized. Even with my money, it just doesn’t exist.”

  “Bah, almost like those fuckin’ shits just wanna watch you implode for the fun of it,” he rolled his eyes and looked around, “Nobody else here. Think Panam n’ Saul left?”

  “Probably…” I breathed out and checked my watch… 6 AM. Fucking hell, I slept for like 14 or 15 hours… “Wonder if this hovel has any coffee…”

  “How much you wanna bet it doesn’t?” Johnny teased as I got up and slipped on my pants and shoes.

  “Don’t fuck with me, Johnny… God…” I mumbled as I headed into the kitchen – a very, very dry kitchen. “Fuck! Not even a single cup…” My kingdom for a cup of coffee… Crap, I missed a text string, too…

  “Call me back,” I read off the text, “I got Clouds news…” Ahh, Judy… At least she’s efficient about it. She’s probably still awake now, just got off her shift… Alright, let’s see…

  “Judy!” I said with a friendly – wait, what’s that?

  “V, what’s up? Glad you called,” she answered… Seriously, what is that… Sounds like… engines… “I got a plan together, wanna meet me at my apartment this weekend?”

  “Yeah, yeah, sure…” I replied hastily as I pulled the phone away from my ear… “I’ll be there around… uhh… Sorry, I gotta go.”

  “What? You okay?”

  “Yeah, fine, I’ll call back soon,” I told her in a rushed voice as I hung up and ran to collect Shinden from my bedside… Fuck. Did they find us? And where the hell were Panam and Saul?! Shit, no time to put my armor on…

  “Best get ready, V,” Johnny insisted as I clipped Shinden onto my belt, “Who knows what they got in store.”

  “Good thing I got plenty of sleep, then,” I glared outside. Two motorcycles, sounds like… engines shut off. Alright, at least it’s not a massive contingency of– wait. Is that Panam’s voice…?

  Fuck me, I’m such a paranoid moron…

  I opened the door and leaned on the frame, having a look outside and seeing the rest of Panam and Mitch’s crew together. “Hey, look who’s alive!” Cassidy called out to me from the van where he and the others were treating Saul for his injuries.

  “Panam?” I said to the pretty nomad sitting on the front stoop, “See you’re awake, been here long?”

  “Nah, only about five minutes,” she shrugged and looked back, “Just gettin’ some fresh air. Wanna join me?”

  “Thanks,” I smiled, placing Shinden down by the doorframe, “Wouldn’t happen to have some coffee?”

  “Heh, didn’t sleep well?” she replied with a grin as she adjusted her sitting position, giving me space to join her.

  “Eh… As well as I ever do,” I said bluntly, “And you?”

  “Oh, I slept like a baby. Place’s got a comfy couch.” Panam’s gaze focused on the early morning sun, giving her brown eyes a deep almond color to them. “Heard you screaming again.”

  “Yeah, that seems to be a pretty common thing, heh,” I could feel myself turning red with embarrassment, “So how’re things with you and the clan? Think you’re gonna stick around this time?”

  “I dunno… probably,” she said with a longing tinge to her voice, “Not like Saul and the gang aren’t a good family, spats aside.”

  “You can’t honestly think that you’re happier in the city?” I told her with a sly grin.

  “Pff, okay, you got a point there,” she laughed in return, “Here, c’mon.”

  We both got up and headed to the pair of bikes parked on the dirt driveway, both of which were loaded up with supplies. “Before I go, your compensation.”

  “What? No, Panam, I’m not asking for money.”

  “Stop, V,” she insisted, “It’s not a request. ‘Sides, it's not money, it's my rifle. And I’d rather see my Grad go to good hands. Go on, take it.”

  “Wait, really?!” I stopped dead as I eyeballed the infamous sniper rifle, carefully picking it up and inspecting it from front to back. She was an insanely heavy girl, that’s for sure. “An SPT32 Grad… Only about 300 of these ever produced in a limited-edition run…” I muttered as I fiddled with the rearward-locking bolt action, “My crew would’ve killed to get their hands on this work of art.”

  “Mm,” she nodded, “Punches a hole clean through an FBC cyberpsycho if you load depleted-uranium 20mm into it.” This thing is a force of nature in the right hands. As precise as hitting a nail with a rocket-assisted sledgehammer. And it’s totally inappropriate for my kit.

  “I-I’m sorry,” I stammered, “I can’t in good conscience accept this. I’m not exactly a good shot, and I can’t handle the recoil–”

  “Shut it,” she demanded, “You never know when it’ll come in handy. Even if it sits on your wall for a while, it’s better to have it and not need it.”

  “Uh- I’m sorry,” I said weakly, “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” I have no idea how she got a hold of this gem, but it was unquestionably gorgeous and well-maintained. I’d be happy to fire off a few shots. Maybe one or two, I bet this thing recoils like being hit in the face with a brick.

  “Don’t mention it,” Panam returned with a smile as she climbed up on one of the motorcycles. “I’m indebted, V.”

  “Where will you go now?”

  “Who knows…” she mumbled, “The Raffens wanted to know our routes, figure maybe it’s time to pay ‘em back in kind.”

  “The Aldecaldos need you, you know,” I told her, looking back over my shoulder at the crew, “And you need them. They’d never admit it. But you know it as well as I do.”

  “Yeah…” she whispered to herself, starting it up and glaring out in the distance. Wonder what was going through her head…

  “Hey!” I suddenly stopped her before she left, “Be safe, okay? Until next time.”

  “Heh, no promises,” she told me flatly as she revved the machine up and sped off into the morning sunrise. I don’t know what I expected from a woman as independent and filled with wanderlust as her.

  “Woman like that,” Johnny mulled, “I would say you should go chasin’ after her. But you’d never catch her… You just have to wait and hope she’ll stop somewhere down the road…”

  “Speaking from experience, Johnny?”

  “Dunno… a memory, maybe,” he pondered as Panam rounded the perimeter fence’s corner and disappeared towards the city, “C’mon. Let’s check up on Saul and haul ass.”

  Fuck, I just got a text… “Are u ok??” Judy wrote to me…

  “Yeah, false alarm. Gimme 5 mins, sorry” I quickly jotted to her as I headed over to Saul, being treated by Cassidy and the others.

  “For what you did, I dunno how to thank you,” Saul said humbly, looking up at me with the others doing the same.

  “I’m guessing this means you buried the hatchet with Panam?” I asked him.

  “Heh, hatchet? More like a battle axe,” he muttered between himself and Cassidy, eliciting a chuckle from them both, “But yeah, I think we’ll be alright. I’m gonna get the camp nailed down and prepped for anything else they got in store for us. What about you, gonna take off?”

  “Mhm, got business in the city,” I replied longingly, though it’d certainly do me good to have a decent shower… “Take care of yourself, Saul, Cassidy.”

  “You as well, V,” Cassidy told me with a smile.

  “Yeah, you’re welcome back anytime,” Saul continued, “Bike over there’s yours, you can ride it back to camp, pick up your car there.”

  “Thanks, take care,” I replied earnestly and sincerely, giving him a nod as I left.

  “You too,” I heard him say before Cassidy got back to work on him.

  I’m hungry… It’s been one long-ass day. Actually, that’s a good idea… I should head off to that market that Takemura wanted to go to. Could fill up and get some recon work done at the same time… Easy win for me, I say. Plus, I’m sure that what they have there is probably better than the scop we have in the Megatower. First thing’s first, though, I desperately need a haircut… And to call Judy back.

  “V!” Judy answered as I took a walk around the building, “You okay?”

  “Yeah, fine, sorry to make you worry,” I replied reassuringly, “Just heard something outside of where I was staying, but it was nothing, just another friend of mine.”

  “Aw, someone else? You cheatin’ on me?”

  “Hah!” I chuckled, “Nah, just helping someone else out of a jam. You might actually get along with her. She’s a nomad named Panam, definitely has an attitude up your alley.”

  “Pff, I’ll bear that in mind,” Judy replied, her voice such a breath of fresh air right now, “So I got an idea. I’ve figured out how to reprogram doll chips into combat ware.”

  “Wait, what?” I paused, turning around and heading for the motorcycle, “Uh… say that again? It sounded like you said you wanted to turn dolls into combatants.”

  “Indeed I do,” she boasted, “Took me a while to iron out the kinks. But with a little magic, I can turn a doll chip into a bitchin’ battle implant.”

  That’s certainly… um… an idea. Such a device could theoretically unlock their muscle potential, work as a pain editor, maybe even give them an edge in terms of martial arts technique, like getting an AI to control a video game character or something similar. But then comes the simple question of how effective it would be in comparison to an actual skilled combatant? It’s not like the dolls are borged up; there’s only so much their bodies could do. But I guess it’s better than nothing – at least they can defend themselves, so that’s a plus.

  “Well, points for innovation,” I conceded, “Alright, I’ll be there this weekend, is that okay?”

  “Perfect,” she told me as I started up the motorcycle, putting her on the earpiece and motoring off, “Oh, and Maiko’ll be there, too.”

  Oh, joy. Probably not without her own agenda. “No kidding? I’m surprised,” I admitted to her.

  “Yup, and a couple other dolls, too. Tom and Roxanne… By the way…”

  “Yes?”

  “What kinda pizza do you like?”

  “Hmm…” I thought to myself, “I’m all about the classic. Gimme straight locust pepperoni and extra cheese.”

  “Atta girl,” she teased, “Alright, see you around 7 on Saturday.”

  –

  Megabuilding H8… I guess I better get used to driving past here. I’m actually kind of jealous. It’s in a much better spot than my place – come to think of it, probably a good idea to scout out a house or apartment in case my home gets compromised. Hell, I bet Mamá still has Jackie’s apartment in her name, I could probably live there. Well, whatever, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

  “Remind me again why we’re helping Takemura?” Johnny chimed in, appearing in my passenger seat again.

  “Because he saved my life, Johnny. I owe him this much, at least.”

  “Yeah, but he saved your life cause it makes his easier. He’d have killed you in two seconds if that was in his best interest.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt about that,” I told him plainly, thumbing around the tracker he planted in my shoulder, “Don’t worry, I’m not naive. I’m using him as a means to an end, nothing more.”

  “And what end might that be?”

  “Well, the way I figure it, it doesn’t get much higher up than Hanako Arasaka. And if she wants the Relic, then she’ll have the resources to get it.”

  “Yeah, and the resources to kill you to get what she wants,” he pointed out, “Lemme remind you that these are the people who turned Soulkiller into a weapon, they won’t hesitate to fuck you until your ass looks like raw hamburger meat.”

  …Okay, that horrible image aside, I do agree with him. “Alright, so what would you do in my place? It’s not like this city’s overflowing with options for me.”

  “Then fuck the city, let it burn,” he scoffed.

  “And we’re doing the broken record thing again, are we?”

  “V, your level of hypocrisy is breathtaking, considering how much shit you avoid on a daily basis.” I pulled up to a free spot alongside the elevator leading up to the market itself, overlooking the entirety of the boulevard. It wasn’t too dissimilar from where I used to live, actually. Kind of a shame I’d never been here before. I felt like I was living in a movie, like some sort of facsimile meant as a stand-in for the real thing. It felt uncanny, unsettling, even. Like I was just a haze that didn't belong, an artifact in an old film reel.

  “Yeah, great, while you talk about that, I’m gonna give Takemura a call, see if he’ll meet up,” I sighed and leaned up on Miyoko, pulling out my phone.

  “Whatever,” Johnny rolled his eyes and disappeared as Takemura answered.

  “Takemura,” I greeted him, “I’m at the market now. Would you like to meet me? Could use another set of eyes here.”

  “Mm, I will be there in 20 minutes,” he told me bluntly, “See you soon, V.”

  “See you soon.”

  I let out a long, deep breath and glanced up and down the road, just soaking in the atmosphere. I remember places like this so vividly. The haphazard balconies jutting out everywhere, the smell of scop piling along the road mixed with strangely aromatic fresh street food. The way that everyone was either running their asses off or on a leisurely stroll with no in-between. The distant sound of a car accident and police sirens. I can see why it was Japantown…

  Blah. Might as well head upstairs, go and get some food…

  Funny, back in the day, we would’ve been shot had we been seen wandering the upper levels. It almost felt wrong for me to do it now, like I was unworthy. “Everyone wanted to be up here, everyone,” I explained to Johnny, “Back in the Tokyo outskirts, you had all of these gantries just like this. They started off as these old, rickety, homebuilt bridges that would collapse all the time, then someone had the bright idea of encasing it all in concrete. Some of them were five or six levels deep, with the roof reserved for open markets and stuff like that. Everything was striated. I guess we didn’t know a life without social status.”

  “Mm, or social oppression,” he refuted, “It’s way easier to throw rocks at people when you’re higher up. Got gravity on your side, makes it hurt a helluva lot more. Know what’s funny about gravity, though?”

  “What’s that?”

  “It doesn’t seem to affect money. Cause all the money falls up while everything else falls down.” Hah, isn’t that the truth…

  Sure enough, 20 minutes later, there he was… And he immediately started an argument with a couple of badges. Yeah, this was gonna be a day and a half.

  “...I do not understand,” he complained, “Does Arasaka not have enough of its own people?”

  “Look around, sir, things’re heating up in the city,” one of the officers told him matter-of-factly, “One spark and Japantown’ll be in flames.”

  “Hey,” I stopped them, “Takemura, stop gawking at the local attractions, okay?”

  “Pff, whatever,” the NCPD scoffed at us as we walked away from them.

  “What the heck are you doing, Takemura?” I furrowed my brow at the massive Japanese ronin.

  “As you say, gawking at the local attractions… it is good to see you, V.”

  “Likewise, Goro,” I gave him a friendly nod, “Walk with me.”

  “Mm,” he grunted as we headed back down the path I came in on, stopping to take a look at the scenery below… Man, this was a view I never expected to see for myself in a thousand years… “What have you learned since our last interaction?” he asked me, leaning up on the guardrail.

  “Admittedly I’ve been quite busy trying to figure other avenues,” I told him honestly, “But looking at it now, I can tell you that the parade will likely be single-file, judging by the size of the dashi on the boat. See those balconies? I’m willing to bet they’ll be lined with executives while the rest filter out through the streets and sides. Not exactly getting the best seats in the house. Which means we’ll have to make our approach from the side, but I have no idea how we’ll get to the dashi from there… The only other way I could see this working is if we somehow got control of their camera systems and masked us…”

  “Hm…” he thought to himself, “I too have learned something. Do you know who is the primary benefactor of the Aratama Matsuri? Yorinobu Arasaka. The murderer himself. The irony makes my blood boil…”

  “Smart move,” I noted, “Yorinobu gets to save face with his faction and gains publicity. Plus, he gets to show just what a traditional Japanese he really is, possibly win over some of Kiji onto his side.”

  “Loyalty and honor above all,” Takemura continued, “His hypocrisy knows no bounds… But he is shrewd, I will give him that.”

  “Nevertheless, we’re right back to square one,” I said with a light sigh, “Assuming we can do all that, there’s no way to get onto those dashi.”

  “I would not be so hasty,” he paused and glanced up, “The bridges.”

  The bridg– Wait. He wants to jump it…? “Seriously, Goro…?”

  “It could work…”

  “You must weigh, what, a hundred kilos with your endoskeleton? And you’ll be free-falling from several stories high. Assuming you don’t just crash through the thing, a jump like that is practically suicidal, you’ll seriously injure yourself and have no way out–”

  “I have thought of a solution,” he suddenly stopped me, “I have scouted where they are keeping the dashi. Arasaka Industrial Park, across from the prison. Do you know it?”

  “Sure, why?”

  “We inject a virus onto Hanako-sama’s dashi. Disable its security systems, pilot it close to the bridge.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Hm…” I thought… actually… “You know… that just might work. It’s an act of lunacy, but it might work…”

  “Very well,” he nodded and left the railing, walking back to the market, “Then we have a plan.”

  “Although that still raises a few more questions,” I stopped him before the elevator, “Like how we get into the warehouse where they’re keeping the dashi, for example.”

  “We will find a way,” he said reassuringly, “But before we do that… I have not eaten since yesterday.”

  “Mm, me neither,” I grumbled with a slight smile, “After you.”

  We found this nice little kiosk right next to the balcony, affording us a little modicum of natural sunlight – a rare commodity in these parts, and why people want to be as high up as possible. The food didn’t smell too bad, either, though that’s not saying much when my stomach was as empty as it is. “Give me the best on the menu,” Takemura ordered.

  “I highly recommend the yakitori today,” The cook replied, and I ordered myself three boats’ worth.

  “Mm, a high-calorie diet,” Takemura noted, “Why do you insist on being a natural?”

  “Simple,” I explained briefly, “Because naturals can’t get hacked. Sure, I may need to replace a few burnt-out chips in my microrotors, but I won’t die or be immobile if my implants get shut off.”

  “A fact which likely saved your life once already, when Arasaka shut off your implants,” he noted, “Yes, I have looked into your background.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking,” I said as the cook gave us our food, “How long have you been at this, anyway?”

  “My work?” he raised an eyebrow, “Since before you were born.”

  “I figured,” I gave him a slight glare, “So let me review. We break into Arasaka Industrial Park, plant a virus on… Wait, you have a virus, right?”

  “Indeed I do,” he nodded, sliding a shard across the table, “It is on here. Upload it to the on-board computer and I will do the rest.”

  “Right,” I collected the shard and put it in my pocket, “We do that, and during the matsuri, you will get in position to jump onto the dashi. Meanwhile I will eliminate the snipers and security grid, probably governed by a netrunner.”

  “Yes… mmh,” he bit into the yakitori, “And they call this food…”

  “And what about Oda?” I said between bites of my own, “He wouldn’t dare leave Hanako-sama out of his sight.”

  “Oda would not dare raise his hand against me,” Takemura replied insistently, “But you – that is another matter. I would prepare carefully.”

  “What’s he liable to have? In terms of cyberware.”

  “Enough to give all but the most foolhardy pause,” he said flatly, “Oda is a master at camouflage and ambush tactics. Expect him to behave accordingly.”

  “Fair enough,” I muttered while chewing– wait, it’s Yorinobu on the TV?!

  “Cook, turn it up!” Takemura shouted insistently.

  The cook obliged him, cranking up the volume as we leaned in to listen. “…is ultimately to defend the well-being of my family and employees,” Yorinobu spoke on a podium, “That is why I have decided to double the amount of security in Night City. President Myers has called this a breach in the Arvin Accord, a provocation targeted against the NUSA and its forces… Tell me, then, what do you call the murder of my father? Was that not provocation…” And a commercial break… typical…

  “Can’t believe I’m sayin’ this, but this ‘Saka scum might actually prove useful,” Johnny admitted to me from across the kiosk, “He’s a well-trained dog. Just needs orders. And once we’re done, we’ll flatline him.”

  “I don’t think it’ll be that easy,” I told him openly, “He knows how to handle himself.”

  “As do you, V,” he returned.

  “No, I mean, the way he walks, carries himself. The look in his eyes. Even without implants, he’s formidable.”

  “Hmph, we’ll come back to this later,” he replied as I finished off the third boat, placing all three sticks on the plate. Takemura had long-since slammed his food back on the dish in disgust. “Just don’t you dare let him off the leash, or else his ‘honor’ goes out the fuckin’ window. You know it, I know it.”

  “Yorinobu, in the flesh…” I muttered.

  “He eliminated his last obstacle to power…” Takemura started.

  “And they…”

  “Surrendered it to him…” he completed my sentence, “This all started with him. The faction conflicts, power struggles… Arasaka was an empire built to last, until he set fire to it from the inside…”

  “And with no Emperor at the helm, each faction struggled in a bid for its own domination.”

  “Mm, that is exactly what happened… Kiji with Hanako-sama strive to return to the old ways. Hato support Michiko-sama, they remain the most liberal faction. They are both warring against Taka and Yorinobu’s side. Not to mention the subfaction disputes…”

  “It must be chaos in the Tower right now,” I muttered to him.

  “Indeed… Which is why we must do our work,” he sighed, getting up and pushing the chair in.

  “Takemura,” I stopped him before he left, “Let me come with you. I’ve worked in this city for a long time and I’ve been to the Industrial Park before.”

  “Mm, could use the extra set of eyes as well,” he admitted, “Very well. Meet me across the street tomorrow morning, at the construction site.”

  –

  We met up as agreed, the site itself entirely deserted during the wee hours of the morning. Company policy has such work only occur at night, when everyone else was off. “Fortune smiles on us,” Takemura said to me as I got out of Miyoko, “Nobody is here… I have a lookout up top. Come.”

  Heading up top felt like a disaster waiting to happen, the scaffolding groaning under Takemura’s weight. Thankfully it held up, though just barely. “I would call this a beautiful city, if…” Takemura droned on.

  “If…?”

  “If there was anything to admire.”

  “That’s harsh,” I furrowed my brow, “Sure, it’s no Tokyo, but it’s not been terrible to me.”

  “Hm… perhaps I am nostalgic…” he pondered as he leaned on the pipe railing, “Now, we must scout this facility’s weaknesses. Arasaka cannot know of our intentions. A bit of sabotage may be just what we need as a diversion.”

  “Sabotage…?” I recoiled back a little before propping myself up next to him, “Why not just sneak in and out? I’m an infiltration specialist, just let me do my job and we’ll get it–”

  “No, V,” he stopped me, “I trust that you know what you are doing, but we need a backup plan in case something goes wrong.”

  “Fair enough…” I conceded, “Hang on, zoom in on that guy by the secondary gate. The one on his phone. You have a scope?”

  “Yes, but why–”

  “He’s acting strangely. See if you can pick up what he’s saying.”

  “Hm…” Takemura paused, “Something about calling from a burner phone. A netrunner who forgot to ‘wipe the gear…’ system logs claiming counterintel will disembowel him…”

  “Wait, stop,” I interrupted him, “That’s our way in.”

  “Oh? How do you figure?”

  “I was the second-in-command of counterintelligence. I simply do my job. As long as I have my dogtags on, they shouldn’t give me a second glance.”

  “That is, if you can convince the guard you are legitimate,” he noted.

  “If I can’t, then I’ll put his head on the ground and go in through that air conditioner unit to the right of the footbridge,” I countered in-kind, “I’ll need you to go to the satellites over there, see if you can disrupt their communications. That should buy me all the time I need to prevent the system from flagging me. Long as I’m wearing my uniform, no one should question me.”

  “A solid plan…” Takemura finally caved, “What else?”

  “Yeah… can we have some pizza?” I joked at him with a slight smile.

  “Pizza…? No… just no…” he took a pause and glanced down, thumbing the lens on his scope, “If I had a choice, I would prepare onigiri with cod… or with grilled salmon… No, even better… with umeboshi plums… Mm… Arasaka-sama’s favorite appetizer.”

  “That sounds delicious…” I moaned, thinking of some good food from my hometown. I do miss it, I must admit.

  “He usually had it with his protein bar,” he continued.

  “Wait… the Emperor with a protein bar? Hah!” I giggled, “Okay, that’s an image…”

  “Like a true soldier,” Takemura nodded pridefully. True soldier, indeed. “Okay, enough of this or we’ll both get hungry… Let us wait and be sure we have not missed anything else.”

  “Good plan,” I agreed, stretching my legs and getting ready for the long haul. My favorite part of espionage… the ‘hurry up and wait’ part…

  –

  “V…” Takemura whispered, bringing my glance over to my left, “No sudden movements… do you see it?”

  I’ll be damned… is that a cat? That’s a rare sight in this city… A beautiful tuxedo, at that. “And just when I thought they’d all disappeared…” I muttered quietly.

  “It is the first animal I have seen in Night City, aside from the cockroaches…”

  “Mm. Birds, dogs, swine, cows… cats survived the longest…” I recalled.

  “Perhaps it is a bakeneko,” he suggested to me, slowly kneeling down and getting a better look at it.

  “Maybe…” I mulled, “It would certainly be appropriate…”

  “In my region, they are said to bring the dead back to life and bring misfortune to the living,” Takemura confessed as Johnny appeared beside the cat, lounging out on the side of the railing. “My grandmother knew many stories about such yokai. Bakeneko, kitsune, kappa, and so on.”

  “Where did you grow up?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “I am from the slums of Chiba-11… You are familiar?”

  “Somewhat, I’ve never been there, myself, but I heard horror stories about it. Explains why we share an accent, heh…” I giggled to myself.

  “Indeed. Once, when I was there, I…” he took a long, deep, introspective pause, “I… bad memories washed away by time. I long for the simpler days of childhood.”

  “What was it like behind the walls there?”

  Takemura again paused, reminiscing about a life he left long ago. “I remember the chemical stench of the canal where we washed our shirts… Corporate transporters sometimes passed through our slum. Collecting children – but only the clean ones.”

  “Sounds similar to where I grew up, actually…” I admitted.

  “Oh? And where is that?”

  “Same prefecture, actually – Yokosuka, on the other side of the Bay,” I said softly, biting my nails as I explained, “I grew up just outside of Mizuno Plant, the manor house there. But I ended up moving up north to Yokohama.”

  “Ah,” he nodded, “Arasaka territory.”

  “Yeah, I was about a kilo inside the Wall at the time. Lived by the Bay in one of the storm drains. We called it the Concrete River, have you heard of it?”

  “No,” he shook his head, “Go on.”

  “One day, an Arasaka transport came to us as well. Seeking recruits – but I was not chosen. I had dropped out of the Academy before and I guess they didn’t want me… A friend of mine was, though, but he wasn’t terribly bright… So I volunteered to help him out. I took a train straight into Chuo City and visited Arasaka Academy with an old uniform and ID of mine, and planted a camera in the dean’s office.”

  “A camera?” Takemura asked, “To what end?”

  “I wanted to help him out by giving him the test answers, heh… I planted it in this vent over the top of his desk, looking down at his papers, and just snapped a bunch of photos and gave it all to him on a shard. Camera wasn’t found until two months later when a janitor was cleaning the office, apparently…”

  “And what happened then?”

  “They reviewed the security footage and found out who did it. I was picked up that afternoon, expecting a firing squad. But the dean was so impressed by my hubris that he recruited me instead.”

  “Mm, Arasaka has an eye for talent,” Takemura complimented me.

  “That how you got your job, guarding the Emperor?”

  “I got my work by…” he paused again, “Erm…”

  “Something wrong?”

  “I normally do not talk about myself,” he admitted, “I had spent several years at both Hokkaido and Benkei, training for special forces work. I was granted a full scholarship at the Academy and graduated top of my class… When the Emperor needed a new bodyguard, he lined up a list of candidates before him. He paced down the row, his eyes studying every one of us carefully. And he selected me.”

  “Quite the success story,” I raised my eyebrows, “I’m impressed. And all you had to do was kill off the competition.”

  “I sense that you judge me, yet you have no right to,” he responded in-kind, “Unlike you, I was not handed a life of privilege on a silver platter. I was not arrogant with my decisions, refusing my heritage to become a thief.”

  “So you’re saying I didn’t face hardships, that your hands aren’t dirty?”

  “We all face hardships and dirty our hands,” he explained, “It is about how we dirty them and why we overcome our hardships.”

  “And what do you know of my hardships, exactly?” I canted my head with anger.

  “I know you seek to defy a corporation without fully understanding it. Their order, their world. You rebel against them and show me filthy streets, offering no other alternative to the millions of people who find safety and stability within the walls.”

  “I lived in their world for years, on both sides. As did you,” I shot back, “You know as well as I do that the walls are high. And the higher you are, the more power you have. A return to a feudal society may work on a base level, but it is still an oppressive one to no end. Take a look at Chiba-11, where you grew up. The murder capital of Japan, and whose fault is that? Yakuza? Zaibatsu? Arasaka? Take your pick, but they are all functionally the same as far as the commoner is concerned.”

  “We cannot solve all the world’s problems at once, V,” he retorted before taking a long, deep, retrospective sigh, “I understand you were a nomad, for a time. There was once a time when I wished to become a nomad as well… To leave this world. To forget everything.”

  “It’s a life of hardship, but it’s never too late to change, Goro…”

  “What is it they say here… ‘You cannot teach an old dog new tricks?’ I am afraid it is too late for me,” he muttered, “Perhaps if I was fortunate enough to have been given an assignment abroad like you… Do you know what I think?”

  “What?”

  “That we both lost a part of ourselves that day in Konpeki Plaza… Someone that our world centered around. And we are both lost, and readily seek conflict…” he pondered. Suddenly the cat jumped down, apparently sick and tired of our grumbling.

  “I suppose it got fed up with us.”

  “It will find its own way,” he mumbled, “As will we. It is not every day I meet a Kantō native like myself. Part of me believes it must be fate. An atonement for our misdeeds. That we will help each other atone for the dead.” Interesting choice of words, considering he was all about revenge earlier. “Hanako-sama will aid us in our mission, of that I am sure.”

  “Or she’ll kill us both the second she gets the chance,” Johnny interjects before committing ‘suicide’ by throwing himself off the side of the balcony.

  “It’s getting late…” I muttered, “And rainy. Let’s get this done.”

  “Mm,” Takemura nodded in agreement, “Grab your clothes. I will wait here.”

  –

  It’s been a long time since I’ve worn this uniform…

  The golden lapel pin indicated ten years of loyal service. And my dogtags still retained my rank, at least according to the 2023 Memorial, so I should be all good to go. As long as Takemura pulls his weight with the diversion, this will theoretically be as quick as walking in, planting the bug, and walking right back out again.

  “Are you ready?” I asked him one last time.

  “As you said, let’s get this done. I will be in position in five minutes,” he repeated before walking off and leaving me to contemplate my mission.

  All I wanted in life was to be a dancer…

  “Scream…” my mother’s voice echoed in my head. I paused and lightly touched Shinden’s handle before leaning back on the railing again, letting the rain gently envelop my body. Probably shouldn’t get too wet before the mission, come to think of it…

  Am I really that far out of the loop that I’d actually allow myself to get wet before an important meeting? Come on, V, you know better. Be presentable… Fuck. I’m gonna need to dry myself off. Actually, whatever, this might be better. Showing up out of the blue like this would really play to the element of surprise…

  Alright… Alright, okay. Let’s get to it…

  “Interesting plan you got goin’ on there,” Johnny posited, “Can’t wait to see Takemura fumble the play at the last possible second. You know he’s gonna.”

  “We’re both motivated by the same goals, Johnny,” I reminded him, “Look, let’s just see how this plays out, okay?”

  “Betcha five eds he’s gonna leave you in there to rot.” God dammit, Johnny… I don’t have time to deal with your crap…

  “I haven’t been back here in years…” I confessed to him as I sat in the car, “I don’t know the protocols or anything. At least, not anymore. I could be giving this guy the wrong information.”

  “Then do what you said you’d do and take his fucking head off,” Johnny repeated, “C’mon, time’s a wastin’.”

  “Fine…” I muttered as I got out, collecting an umbrella from the trunk. A beautiful oil-paper parasol, one which my mother would’ve likely carried. She was always fascinated by birds… One time I caught her staring at pictures of them in an old textbook. Of course, she threw it away as soon as she noticed me…

  Alright, V. Game-face on.

  Jackie, watch over me. I don’t trust Takemura, but I do trust you. I know you won’t let me down.

  “Ey, you shouldn’t be–” the guard started talking before immediately stammering as soon as he saw my dogtags. Provided I’m wearing them, my rank, ribbon bar, and title are right there above my head in his cybereye vision.

  “I believe I should, actually,” I glared, “Captain Shinden, Internal Affairs.”

  “Pff, Captain Shinden,” he scoffed, “As if corporate would actually send anyone down here in this pissing rain–”

  “Name,” I interrupted.

  “What?”

  “What’s your name, sentry,” I demanded again.

  “How ‘bout we start with what you’re doin’ here? See, no one told me about–”

  “An unscheduled inspection regarding classified data leaks?” I immediately shot back, “Now, why would I be under any obligation to tell you my business here? Better yet, why don’t I get Abernathy down here so she can inspect this place personally, or would you object to that as well?”

  “Aberna– uh… I– I’m sorry,” he shook like a leaf, tripping over every other word, “I– you don’t have to–”

  “Then step aside and man your post,” I said with a rather stern glare, forcing him to back down like a cowering puppy.

  “F– uh, s-sorry… Head on in…” he muttered as he meekly stepped to his right, letting me pass.

  “My, my, your tricks paid off,” Takemura complimented me over an open phone call.

  “This was the fun part of my job at counterintel,” I told him with a smirk as the gate shut behind me. No one was any the wiser.

  The compound was absolutely bristling with guards. Machine gunners seemed to line every corner, at least one guard posted at every conceivable entrance, plus snipers on the rooftop… It was a miracle we weren’t spotted beforehand. I took my time to survey my environment, noting a brand-new security building that wasn’t here the last time I visited. Looks like there’s a maintenance shaft that runs between the security building and warehouse, good backup egress point. I could also take the ventilation shafts on the second story, provided I parry a few bullets from one of those turrets… Alright, that’s another idea.

  I folded up my umbrella and left it in the holder beside the door, taking a quick assessment in the waiting room. “Are you in position yet?” I asked Takemura.

  “I am…” he whispered, “Ready to create a beautiful diversion once you upload the data.”

  “Please don’t,” I insisted, “Not unless you think they made me.”

  “Just remember, V, it is the biggest dashi in the warehouse…” Was he even listening to me? “You will need to find a terminal connected to it. Any will do, even a personal computer. I will take it from there.”

  “Okay,” I replied calmly, walking up to the second story and observing the warehouse proper. Casually walking past no fewer than three heavily-armed guards certainly got me on-edge, but I’ve dealt with worse.

  I counted about ten different floats, each representing a different historical image associated with Japanese culture, along with a dizzying array of shipping containers filled with more than have yet to be assembled. It was a massive effort, one which will surely put on a hell of a show.

  I missed this… Missed being in the belly of the beast. Missed doing my job as an infiltrator. And to think that my last job was Frankfurt before I was fired… Why couldn’t it have been somewhere nicer like New Dubai or Stockholm or something. But I guess if I do this, then I will have many more years to contemplate where the road may take me. Back to Japan at some point, hopefully… Takemura wasn’t the only one who was homesick. He’s been gone for a couple months, me about 13 years… Cry me a river.

  This place even smelled like fresh lumber and brand-new metal, with the microscopic flakes still settling in the room. What a strange combination… But I guess no expense must be spared on the Emperor’s account. Yorinobu was certainly good for it. I wonder how Arasaka-sama’s wealth was divided between his family members… I assume Hanako-sama got the majority – she was always his favorite. Frankly it seemed like she was more of a pet than a person at times…

  Hmph, I wonder why my mind always drifts during operations. Perhaps it’s a coping mechanism… I needed to stay focused, though. Certainly as I walked up the corridor, inspecting every dashi. How would I know which one is hers, specifically? All of these looked quite large…

  Okay, think… What is it that Wakako said…

  Hanako-sama was to give a speech on top of the float. Alright, so that implies that it has a roof. With security being the way it is, likely it’d have some sort of interior as well…

  No… Wolf’s head, no… Demon’s mask… no, no…

  Ah… Found it. A traditional Japanese home, with a balcony up top. Alright, perfect.

  “Guide me,” I whispered, “Once I am in, then what?”

  “All you must do is plug in the shard,” he told me, “I will do the rest from here.”

  “Got it…” I walked around the outside perimeter, noting a guard with a big-ass Masamune stationed just in front of the dashi. Nice rifle. Not something given away lightly. Alright, this is definitely the right one, then.

  I headed in through the back instead, noting a rather funny irony – Militech and Arasaka-branded boxes, coexisting within practically the same shared space… Definitely an interesting choice to put in Hanako-sama’s personal dashi. I wonder if she knows. Granted, the entire arms industry has always been rather incestuous, but it’s quite forbidden for a Militech crate to find its way aboard something so important. I guess I found out where the intel leaks were going…

  Heh. Doing my job even when it’s not strictly my intention. Guess I really am cut from corpo cloth, after all…

  Then there’s the issue that all of this just feels a bit too easy. Which, granted, is quite exhilarating. As I approached the computer, I couldn’t help but get those hairs tickling the back of my neck telling me to run. That rush of adrenaline, like I was a kid sneaking around her parents’ bedroom looking for money. It was so tantalizingly close, yet so far. All of this with a heavily-armed guard not five meters away from me. All he had to do was turn around and put a bullet in my head and he would instantly have a promotion and a chest full of medals, all for such a minimal amount of effort.

  Right, there’s nothing else to it. Just plug in the shard and we’ll be out of here the same way we came in…

  “Okay, it’s uploaded,” I muttered as I casually walked away, “The next destination may well be Tokyo if you want.”

  “Hah, I just may do that, good work, V,” Takemura complimented, “Now it is my turn…”

  “Takemura…?” I paused– wait. Wait, what’s happening?!

  “Takemura… the roof is opening!” I frustratedly whispered into the earpiece, looking out from behind some crates and seeing the blanket of rain falling onto the dashi… Fuck. What the fuck?! “Takemura?!”

  “Can you see? Terrible chaos,” he muttered, “Even the roof is slowly…”

  “Wait, is this you?!” Fucking hell, Takemura!

  I quickly zipped up the stairs and hid around the corner… Johnny was spot-on again. Fucking God dammit… Why didn’t I see this coming… Of course that bastard would set me up. Either that or he’s just incompetent as hell. It could’ve been the shard, but why the hell would a shard open up the roof by itself? Something that complicated would surely need a manual input…

  Whatever. Alright, V. Pop quiz. You’re in Old Dubai meeting with one of the seven seats of the Supreme Council of the Union on his little victory tour. You enter the underground party as a delegate, but after the guy drops, you find yourself in the middle of a concrete bunker with exactly one exit. The whole place is in an uproar and you’re trapped in a ventilation duct because you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and need a quick extraction. What do you do?

  Alright, the roof is absolutely a no-go right now. That’s where all eyes will be. I need a better extraction for this. People will be checking everyone leaving, so that’s out. The ducts are on the other side of the warehouse; I’m effectively stuck on an island until someone has the bright idea of checking each and every dashi and then finding me, without any legitimate credentials. I’ve already passed the buck to Abernathy by dropping her name, so I’m off the hook for this. It’s more important that I leave without alerting a soul, otherwise someone will instantly backtrace my presence to the dashi and switch out the software, then we’ll be back to square one.

  What do you do, V… You park your ass in that duct and get used to the idea of crapping yourself for a full week before they finally decide to clean up the room? But I don’t have a week today… Perhaps a half-hour at the most before they search this dashi…

  No, there’s only one way out of here – the construction scaffolding on the side. Okay… I do that, then what… I would have to cross this guard’s line of sight. I suppose if I’m far enough away, he wouldn’t know the difference. But a camera may still pick me up, so I’ll need to be right up against the wall, too suspicious, perhaps…

  Hm. Right, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there too, I suppose. Let’s just get out of this death trap…

  I hopped up on the roof to analyze my surroundings and give me some options in case they decide to check this dashi… Let’s see. I have an inspections officer to the float’s left, he’ll instantly clock me… The guard standing out front waiting for the team to go in and peruse everything… Snipers guarding the entire length of the warehouse’s main passes. I’d never be able to walk out of here in a thousand years. Given my situation, I probably don’t have a choice but to take the skylight…

  There’s a phenomenon one can take advantage of – a human’s natural curiosity. Unlike a camera that scans a target, clears it, and moves on, if a human detects something amiss, they’re liable to keep investigating until they’re satisfied. A misplaced Kang Tao air filter haphazardly left in the middle of the hallway in an underground bunker, for example, something you took with you because you were issued off-brand items to keep from being linked back to Arasaka. And you play it smart until a guard notices, then all hell breaks loose and they descend on the flock. Everyone immediately turns to a Kang Tao operative, not stopping to consider that a third party might be at play. Then you go out the most obvious route possible, with no one stopping you…

  I could play that card again… A quick distraction, then slipping out unnoticed… Get this guard to commit to searching the dashi and casually walk away.

  Alright… let’s do this.

  A pen. A simple pen tossed in the middle of the floor, knocking against one of the Militech crates. But it was enough to attract his attention… Good. Subtle footsteps only. Act casual. They will hear heavy footfalls with augmented ears. I count three snipers and four cameras watching the main line. Boxes on the opposite side, hopefully piled up enough to make a jump out of here. Out the most obvious way, but the guards are looking elsewhere… if this works, I will shit myself.

  I gingerly climbed up one box after another, taking long, deliberate pauses and looking back at the guard, still struggling to comprehend the meaning of a single errant pen lying in the middle of the floor. Did someone bump into the crate? He didn’t hear anyone scrambling around… Is the person inside of the crate? No, it’s just the turrets and other equipment that have yet to be installed. Little did he know that the culprit had simply walked right past where he was, yet he didn’t think anything of it, imagining that the person was just a technical officer. When you hear people walking up and down corridors all day, your brain filters it out, unless something seems off with the way the person’s walking. A thin as hell tactic, but I assume that they aren’t thinking, they’re just looking at a curiosity during an alert phase.

  The snipers weren’t looking this way, no cameras pointed this high up… Alright, this is as good of a chance as any…

  Jumping wasn’t exactly my specialty, thanks to my natural legs. But even I could make this paltry gap. I guess someone will have a word with these people concerning health and safety standards here in due time.

  You’re in the clear as soon as you leave that bunker and get in the truck. All you have to do is drive away into the desert, and people will either assume you belong there, or the sands will kill you. Just keep your uniform on and act like any other officer.

  “I’m out,” I told Takemura as I climbed back down to street-level.

  “Very good, V,” he complimented, “And now we lay low until the parade.”

  “Tak– Takemura?!” I shouted as the line went dead… Oh, this fucking guy…

  I can’t believe this shit… Takemura actually had the balls to retract the roof, then play it off like it was all just part of the plan?! He might’ve single-handedly put this whole fucking idea in jeopardy – now they will know that something’s wrong.

  “Well, you called it, Johnny…” I muttered as I walked down the sidewalk in the pissing rain, “Takemura betrayed us. Or he’s an idiot. Frankly I’m not sure which would surprise me more.”

  “Who’s to say he ain’t both?” Johnny replied, glancing over at the alerted base to my right, “Could be that he tried to backstab you but forgot who he was dealin’ with for a couple seconds, then had to play it off as you walked away.”

  “You know, it really wouldn’t have been below him to have sicced this whole base on me, but he didn't,” I elaborated as I headed back to my car, “Think about it. He knew exactly where I was, he likely had open comms with them via the satellite, he could’ve easily told them all, yet he didn’t.”

  “Or, maybe he didn’t know and just put out an alert to catch you off-guard,” Johnny countered, “Throw you off your game, make you make a mistake.”

  “Pity I’ve played this game before…” I grumbled, Miyoko coming into view totally unguarded. Guess their attention was focused elsewhere. Whatever… Take the win where you can get it, V. You made it out of there. Enjoy it while it lasts. All other things being equal, though, Takemura was getting to be more trouble than he was worth. After the parade is over, that’s it, I’m gone.