The Absence Equation - Chapter 12
Title: The Absence Equation - Chapter 12
Group/Pairings: NewS. Pairings: Koyama/Shige, Massu/Yamapi
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, cursing, sexual implications.
Words: 2,945
Summary: First try: "The fate of the world as they know it rests in the hands of one Kato Shigeaki. Oh shit." Possibly more coherent try (though it sounds like a lame old-school sci fi jacket blurb): The A.I. guarding cyberspace is forced to choose between eternal imprisonment and self-destruction. With the fate of the world resting in their hands, they must race against time to give her a third option before it's too late.
Prologue - Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Epilogue
---
Chapter 12 - 1100
“Okay, wait. Can you explain this to me again?”
The man sighed. “I am going to graft this to your eye; it’s a hand-done copy of the retinal information that was sent to us. It’s much harder to do than a simple implantation because it has to be lined up perfectly and is also highly illegal so when you get it removed, don’t go through regular channels.”
“Yeah, that grafting part and the removal. That.”
“They’ll remove it with a laser. You’ll have to wear an eye patch for a few days. Nothing big. And you won’t suffer any loss of sight right now.”
“That’s right, Shige,” Tegoshi said cheerfully. “At least you don’t have to donate your eye to the cause. Massu went through a lot of trouble to do this for you. Well, and it also meant he didn’t have to hurt anyone so it was sort of for him too…”
Shige felt suddenly guilty - an image of Tegoshi lifeless on the hotel room floor -and he swallowed loudly. “Yeah. Do it.”
As they prepped him for the surgery, a minor one, really, all things considered, he thought of Koyama mocking him. They’d been cuddling on the couch in the first and only apartment they’d ever rented and it hadn’t lasted long.
“You,” Koyama said, giggling, “are a technophobe hacker. How is that even possible? You have a hard-drive in your brain.”
“Shut up.”
“Seriously. It’s not like it really hurts much, most of the things they do now. It’s no big deal.” He smoothed his fingers along Shige’s arm, soothing him.
Shige shifted against Koyama’s side, uncomfortable. “It’s just weird, okay? I can deal with the things you do to your body. I won’t ever do them, but I know it’s what you want so it’s okay. But not that.”
Koyama leaned away and tilted Shige’s face up until he could see his eyes. “It would still be me. It would be helpful, too. Having new eyes would allow me to have optical displays of other things, you could see what I saw, a whole-“
Shige cut him off with a grunt, sitting up straight and looking down at Koyama’s body. With one finger he traced the faint circuitry he could just barely see through the skin of Koyama’s tanned chest before dragging his hand up to cup Koyama’s cheek and look him in the eyes. He imagined something foreign staring back and shuddered. “Please, Koyama. Not that.”
And Koyama had finally, sadly but seriously, nodded before Shige roughly claimed his mouth in a kiss that said ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you’ and a million other endearments all at once.
When the laser lowered to just millimeters above his eye, Koyama held his hand tight.
~~~
After it was over Shige didn’t really feel differently. He’d known that he wouldn’t, really, but it had been the first time he’d had any alteration done since he’d had the drive put in, if you didn’t count the tune-ups KZ did every couple of years. But there was no time for philosophic ponderings. He called Jansen from his hotel room less than an hour after it was done, presumably from a payphone a couple cities out of Denver.
“Jansen,” he hissed into the receiver. “I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t something weird about all this. They knew what room we were going to be in. How could they know that?”
“They have extensive resources. Where are you? Are you safe?”
As if he cared. Ha. “Yes, for now. Where the fuck am I going, Jansen? I’m starting to think you didn’t pay me enough for this job. I’m tired of being led around. I need to drop the data and be done with this.”
Jansen didn’t say anything for a beat. “Two days,” he finally said.
One day after Nishikido would have delivered the program, if Masuda’s hunches were right, and this made Shige think they were.
“Tomorrow I will have your tickets waiting for you at the Denver station. I’ll call with the time. Until then… stay alive.”
“Mother fucker,” Shige said to dead air.
“I love it when you talk dirty, Shige,” Tegoshi said absently from his seat in front of his laptop, goggled in.
Koyama rolled his eyes.
Shige just sort of stared at him for a minute, wondering if he even knew what he’d just said or if it was an automatic response. He wasn’t sure which one he wanted it to be. He rubbed his eye.
“Shige,” Koyama said quietly and Shige tucked his hand into his pocket guiltily. “How long?” he asked Tegoshi.
“Maintenance begins at 12:01am, so Nishikido will be in the room and ready to go at that time. You and Shige will go in at 11:16pm after Massu’s … distraction has had a little time to take effect.” He pulled his goggles off and looked at Shige apologetically. “I’m sorry we’re cutting it so close, but Massu’s distraction will only keep them off of you so long, and we know we can’t get to Nishikido before he’s there simply because we don’t know where he is and unless we find him tonight, somehow, and can come up with a plan to get to him in time, it has to be like this. So we leave here at 10pm tomorrow night. Thirty-one hours.” He slipped his goggles back on.
Shige sighed and brought his hand up to his face, dropping it again at a warning grunt from Koyama and he looked over at his partner. He was sitting in the overstuffed armchair of Tegoshi’s celebrity suite, in soft, white pants and t-shirt, long legs folded with his feet tucked under him, a peaceful look on his face. Shige glanced at Tegoshi, his eyes still hidden behind his goggles, and slipped to kneel in front of Koyama, resting his hands on the man’s thighs.
“Feeling good, Kei?” he whispered.
Koyama smiled down at him and lifted a hand to run it through Shige’s hair. Shige shifted forward to wrap his arms around Koyama’s waist and lay his head in his lap. Shige felt some of the nervous energy drain out as he rested there, even as he felt the readiness vibrating through Koyama’s deceptively relaxed muscles.
Shige heard movement behind him and he groggily lifted his head to see Tegoshi getting up from his seat.
“I’m going,” Tegoshi said, looking him in the eye, “downstairs for dinner and a drink. I’ll be gone for two hours.” He looked at his wrist, then at Koyama, and grabbed his bag off the table and left.
“I told you he could be caring,” Koyama said softly, with a glint in his eye, and gripped Shige’s arms, standing and lifting him to his feet.
Koyama smiled, heat behind his eyes and Shige heard a quiet snick and looked down to see Koyama’s razor-edged claws out and Koyama bringing his fingers to Shige’s chest to drag the flat edges of the blades down his t-shirt. Flashes of the first night after the implants and Shige’s throat went dry and he felt the arousal burning up his body as Koyama brought his hand up to carefully grip the back of Shige’s neck and draw him in for a kiss. He barely registered the sound of the claws retracting but the job had been done, hard want clutching him as he let Koyama carry him into the bedroom and lower him onto the bed.
When Tegoshi came back, two hours and 25 seconds after he had left, they were asleep, twined around each other and wrapped up in the sheets, and he smiled, grabbing Shige’s bag off the chair and closing the door softly behind him.
He slid into the seat at the desk, powering on his laptop and pulling up the anti-virus code. He spent the next four hours modifying the anti-virus and replacing the original on Shige’s laptop, before lying down on the couch and passing out.
The next day was devoted to consolidating their plans. Their faint hope of finding Nishikido went unanswered so they continued with their original strategy.
“I want to go in, Shige,” Tegoshi said quietly, hours into planning.
Shige stared at him. “Tegoshi, we need you at the computer. There’s too much fast work that needs to be done; I just can’t keep the security system for Stat Com engaged for that long, and Koyama and I know each other. If you go in, that leaves me at the helm and I’m not quick enough, and Koyama will have to work harder to protect you both. It needs to be me.” He cocked his head, confused. “You know that.”
Tegoshi nodded. “Yeah, I know. I just… what are you going to do when the A.I. fights it?”
“I’ll have to hope that what I’ve done works, that’s all. Tegoshi, even you’re not fast enough to hack an A.I.” Tegoshi hung his head and Shige placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not being critical, you know that. And I know you’re worried. But we’ve done our best. We’ll just have to trust in our strengths. And your biggest strength for us is your confidence, okay?”
Tegoshi sat up straight and nodded. “I know.”
“Good.”
They coordinated with Masuda, ate, napped, paced, and waited until 10pm, nerves jangling and energy high. And then it was time to go.
~~~
Masuda paced across the hotel room floor, Yamashita watching him silently from a chair.
“Taka,” he finally said, quietly, and Masuda stopped to look at him.
The younger man padded over to him gracefully. The bruises on Yamashita’s face had faded slightly and he reached out to touch them gently.
“It doesn’t hurt much,” Yamashita said, turning his face to place a kiss to the center of Masuda’s palm.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, turning his knuckles to press against Yamashita’s lips for another kiss.
“Don’t be. It was my choice. And all good things must come to an end sometime…,” he said wisely.
“Not all good things,” Masuda replied before leaning down to kiss him, and he felt Yamashita smile against his lips.
“How long?” Yamashita asked, once Masuda had stepped back.
“Three hours.”
“What time do you usually meet Isabella?”
Masuda glanced at his watch. “She usually gets there around 8 p.m. so I’ll go right after we get everything together. I’ll stay with her until midnight to make sure she doesn’t show up at an inopportune time.” He looked away, guilt written across his face, and Yamashita tugged at the hem of Masuda’s shirt.
“Don’t worry,” Yamashita said with a small smile. “I know the stakes and even the smallest details need to be covered. And you’re too soft-hearted to abduct her. I’d rather you sleep with her than change who you are for me.”
Masuda blushed. “You’re so cheesy.”
Yamashita grinned at him. “Yeah. You love it.” He checked the clock and stood. “Time to get the troops together.” A wry smile.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Are you kidding? I’m more than ready. Might as well play the part one last time.”
Masuda smiled.
They met a few others in an abandoned warehouse less than a mile from Stat Com, each person representing a larger group of people who, tonight, would be doing a little role-playing.
“Everything ready?” Masuda asked, fixing each group leader with a look. They each nodded. He put a hand on Yamashita’s shoulder. “This is Pi. You will report to him and he will report to me. I’m leaving him in charge. He will be out with you.” He let his hand drop to his side. “At 10pm sharp we start the convergence; at 10:30 begin the aggravation; 11:15pm is the pinnacle and it needs to last until midnight or as long as we can make it. Remember, no violence. You’re non-mods. This is a ‘peaceful’ protest, but it’s got to be distracting. You all know the details?” He knew they did but he had to ask. “All right. Go on.” He turned to Yamashita once everyone had cleared out, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful.”
“You too. Good luck.”
~~~
Ryo let himself be herded into the sleek, black town car, sat quietly in the back seat and watched buildings flash by. He felt strangely calm amidst the tension. He was Manuel Gonzalez, just there to do his job. Just there to do his job. He absently rubbed the delicate skin below his not-his eye with his not-his finger.
God he hoped it went off without a hitch. He wished he’d never taken this stupid job. He dreamt of smoky bars and a guitar and a crowd and his voice barely rising over the music. Then they were stopping the car; there was a shuffle, a press of bodies, loud voices chanting, and thick fingers were wrapped around his upper arms on either side, and he was walking, being walked, dreaming, through the huge glass double doors of Stat Com.
“I’m Manuel Gonzalez,” he heard himself say, and stepped forward to offer his left eye and right ring finger for inspection. “Just here to do my job.”
~~~
Thankfully, Masuda had perfected the art of carrying on two thought processes at once. He was both engaging Isabella and playing out the night’s events in his head. Right about now, the demonstration would be hitting its peak - Yamashita in the middle of the crowd pushing forward, Shige walking through the front doors and hoping that everything worked, Tegoshi holding the security system in check, and Koyama slipping around the building to wait, hidden, at the door Shige would let him in at. And Masuda? He was flirting with Isabella and busy distracting her from trying to get him to bed just yet. If he played it right, he might not have to sleep with her. And that was good, because he wasn’t sure his ability to split his attention so well applied to having sex, and he knew which thoughts would prevail.
~~~
Tegoshi, Shige, and Koyama sat in the back of the oversized van, checking the equipment and monitors over, double-checking their plan, and taking deep breaths. When Tegoshi hacked the system, though, they got a bit of surprise.
“There’s already someone in here,” he hissed, hitting keys in rapid-fire succession, hiding himself even more thoroughly, Shige knew.
Shige peered over his shoulder to check the screen. “What’s that they’re hacking? It’s pretty small…”
“Looks like it’s just something at the station before the system core. A scanner? Ah, I bet it’s the body scan he’ll have to go through to make sure he doesn’t have any electronics in his body. They’ll substitute someone else’s scan for his that matches his body shape and size. Nishikido probably has been told exactly how to pose for the scan,” Tegoshi said.
“Well, they’re probably not going to be watching the rest of the system then, and even if they are, you know what you’re doing.” Shige clapped Tegoshi on the back. “We’ll be fine,” he said as confidently as he could manage.
Shige strode in through the front doors of Stat Com looking irritated. He flashed his badge at the guy at the desk and stepped up to the machine to have his eye and finger scanned, acting as though he did this day after day.
“Left my damn wallet. The one time I get the morning off, I have to leave my wallet here.”
The guard checked the I.D. then grinned at him. “If you hurry, you might still have time to sort of sleep in.”
“I’ll probably find something to hold me up. You know how it is.” But Shige gave him a grateful smile and let himself be scanned. He forced himself to relax. But the guard just smiled again and waved him on. He waited until he was in the elevator before letting out his breath.
“Ready with the cameras?” he whispered, the tiny flesh-colored wireless microphone patch under his chin picking up his question and carrying it to Tegoshi.
“Yep. Go ahead.”
He exited the elevator and walked quickly to the desk they’d identified through camera feeds as Isabella’s, knowing Tegoshi would slow it down before he looped it. He rifled through the desk before sitting for a moment, flipping open a file and pretending to write in it. That should be enough, he thought and stood and walked quickly back to the elevator.
“Shit,” Tegoshi’s voice whispered in his ear, no less vehement for its low volume. “They’ve let him in early.”
“Shit,” Shige whispered, too nervous to do more than echo. “We stick to the plan and speed it up if we can. Going down.”
“Roger.”
He got off at the first floor again, followed the complicated map in his head, courtesy of a new microsoft from the files Yamashita had gotten, to get to the door Koyama was waiting at, alerting Tegoshi before he opened the door so he could halt the alarm. He let Koyama in, taking his bag from him. Tegoshi should have all the cameras looping in the right areas now and they quickly went back to the elevator, riding it down to the sub-basement.
Shige could feel the tension riding high in his throat and he fought the nausea. Koyama was tightly wound, nearly vibrating with readiness. Once they hit the floor, they would be rolling. The guard was tight down here, especially since Nishikido should be in there by now. 11:59pm. It all came down to the next few minutes, and he swayed a little, Koyama reaching out a steadying hand, and he nodded his appreciation. The bell dinged. Showtime.
Chapter 13
Group/Pairings: NewS. Pairings: Koyama/Shige, Massu/Yamapi
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, cursing, sexual implications.
Words: 2,945
Summary: First try: "The fate of the world as they know it rests in the hands of one Kato Shigeaki. Oh shit." Possibly more coherent try (though it sounds like a lame old-school sci fi jacket blurb): The A.I. guarding cyberspace is forced to choose between eternal imprisonment and self-destruction. With the fate of the world resting in their hands, they must race against time to give her a third option before it's too late.
Prologue - Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Epilogue
---
Chapter 12 - 1100
“Okay, wait. Can you explain this to me again?”
The man sighed. “I am going to graft this to your eye; it’s a hand-done copy of the retinal information that was sent to us. It’s much harder to do than a simple implantation because it has to be lined up perfectly and is also highly illegal so when you get it removed, don’t go through regular channels.”
“Yeah, that grafting part and the removal. That.”
“They’ll remove it with a laser. You’ll have to wear an eye patch for a few days. Nothing big. And you won’t suffer any loss of sight right now.”
“That’s right, Shige,” Tegoshi said cheerfully. “At least you don’t have to donate your eye to the cause. Massu went through a lot of trouble to do this for you. Well, and it also meant he didn’t have to hurt anyone so it was sort of for him too…”
Shige felt suddenly guilty - an image of Tegoshi lifeless on the hotel room floor -and he swallowed loudly. “Yeah. Do it.”
As they prepped him for the surgery, a minor one, really, all things considered, he thought of Koyama mocking him. They’d been cuddling on the couch in the first and only apartment they’d ever rented and it hadn’t lasted long.
“You,” Koyama said, giggling, “are a technophobe hacker. How is that even possible? You have a hard-drive in your brain.”
“Shut up.”
“Seriously. It’s not like it really hurts much, most of the things they do now. It’s no big deal.” He smoothed his fingers along Shige’s arm, soothing him.
Shige shifted against Koyama’s side, uncomfortable. “It’s just weird, okay? I can deal with the things you do to your body. I won’t ever do them, but I know it’s what you want so it’s okay. But not that.”
Koyama leaned away and tilted Shige’s face up until he could see his eyes. “It would still be me. It would be helpful, too. Having new eyes would allow me to have optical displays of other things, you could see what I saw, a whole-“
Shige cut him off with a grunt, sitting up straight and looking down at Koyama’s body. With one finger he traced the faint circuitry he could just barely see through the skin of Koyama’s tanned chest before dragging his hand up to cup Koyama’s cheek and look him in the eyes. He imagined something foreign staring back and shuddered. “Please, Koyama. Not that.”
And Koyama had finally, sadly but seriously, nodded before Shige roughly claimed his mouth in a kiss that said ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you’ and a million other endearments all at once.
When the laser lowered to just millimeters above his eye, Koyama held his hand tight.
~~~
After it was over Shige didn’t really feel differently. He’d known that he wouldn’t, really, but it had been the first time he’d had any alteration done since he’d had the drive put in, if you didn’t count the tune-ups KZ did every couple of years. But there was no time for philosophic ponderings. He called Jansen from his hotel room less than an hour after it was done, presumably from a payphone a couple cities out of Denver.
“Jansen,” he hissed into the receiver. “I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t something weird about all this. They knew what room we were going to be in. How could they know that?”
“They have extensive resources. Where are you? Are you safe?”
As if he cared. Ha. “Yes, for now. Where the fuck am I going, Jansen? I’m starting to think you didn’t pay me enough for this job. I’m tired of being led around. I need to drop the data and be done with this.”
Jansen didn’t say anything for a beat. “Two days,” he finally said.
One day after Nishikido would have delivered the program, if Masuda’s hunches were right, and this made Shige think they were.
“Tomorrow I will have your tickets waiting for you at the Denver station. I’ll call with the time. Until then… stay alive.”
“Mother fucker,” Shige said to dead air.
“I love it when you talk dirty, Shige,” Tegoshi said absently from his seat in front of his laptop, goggled in.
Koyama rolled his eyes.
Shige just sort of stared at him for a minute, wondering if he even knew what he’d just said or if it was an automatic response. He wasn’t sure which one he wanted it to be. He rubbed his eye.
“Shige,” Koyama said quietly and Shige tucked his hand into his pocket guiltily. “How long?” he asked Tegoshi.
“Maintenance begins at 12:01am, so Nishikido will be in the room and ready to go at that time. You and Shige will go in at 11:16pm after Massu’s … distraction has had a little time to take effect.” He pulled his goggles off and looked at Shige apologetically. “I’m sorry we’re cutting it so close, but Massu’s distraction will only keep them off of you so long, and we know we can’t get to Nishikido before he’s there simply because we don’t know where he is and unless we find him tonight, somehow, and can come up with a plan to get to him in time, it has to be like this. So we leave here at 10pm tomorrow night. Thirty-one hours.” He slipped his goggles back on.
Shige sighed and brought his hand up to his face, dropping it again at a warning grunt from Koyama and he looked over at his partner. He was sitting in the overstuffed armchair of Tegoshi’s celebrity suite, in soft, white pants and t-shirt, long legs folded with his feet tucked under him, a peaceful look on his face. Shige glanced at Tegoshi, his eyes still hidden behind his goggles, and slipped to kneel in front of Koyama, resting his hands on the man’s thighs.
“Feeling good, Kei?” he whispered.
Koyama smiled down at him and lifted a hand to run it through Shige’s hair. Shige shifted forward to wrap his arms around Koyama’s waist and lay his head in his lap. Shige felt some of the nervous energy drain out as he rested there, even as he felt the readiness vibrating through Koyama’s deceptively relaxed muscles.
Shige heard movement behind him and he groggily lifted his head to see Tegoshi getting up from his seat.
“I’m going,” Tegoshi said, looking him in the eye, “downstairs for dinner and a drink. I’ll be gone for two hours.” He looked at his wrist, then at Koyama, and grabbed his bag off the table and left.
“I told you he could be caring,” Koyama said softly, with a glint in his eye, and gripped Shige’s arms, standing and lifting him to his feet.
Koyama smiled, heat behind his eyes and Shige heard a quiet snick and looked down to see Koyama’s razor-edged claws out and Koyama bringing his fingers to Shige’s chest to drag the flat edges of the blades down his t-shirt. Flashes of the first night after the implants and Shige’s throat went dry and he felt the arousal burning up his body as Koyama brought his hand up to carefully grip the back of Shige’s neck and draw him in for a kiss. He barely registered the sound of the claws retracting but the job had been done, hard want clutching him as he let Koyama carry him into the bedroom and lower him onto the bed.
When Tegoshi came back, two hours and 25 seconds after he had left, they were asleep, twined around each other and wrapped up in the sheets, and he smiled, grabbing Shige’s bag off the chair and closing the door softly behind him.
He slid into the seat at the desk, powering on his laptop and pulling up the anti-virus code. He spent the next four hours modifying the anti-virus and replacing the original on Shige’s laptop, before lying down on the couch and passing out.
The next day was devoted to consolidating their plans. Their faint hope of finding Nishikido went unanswered so they continued with their original strategy.
“I want to go in, Shige,” Tegoshi said quietly, hours into planning.
Shige stared at him. “Tegoshi, we need you at the computer. There’s too much fast work that needs to be done; I just can’t keep the security system for Stat Com engaged for that long, and Koyama and I know each other. If you go in, that leaves me at the helm and I’m not quick enough, and Koyama will have to work harder to protect you both. It needs to be me.” He cocked his head, confused. “You know that.”
Tegoshi nodded. “Yeah, I know. I just… what are you going to do when the A.I. fights it?”
“I’ll have to hope that what I’ve done works, that’s all. Tegoshi, even you’re not fast enough to hack an A.I.” Tegoshi hung his head and Shige placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not being critical, you know that. And I know you’re worried. But we’ve done our best. We’ll just have to trust in our strengths. And your biggest strength for us is your confidence, okay?”
Tegoshi sat up straight and nodded. “I know.”
“Good.”
They coordinated with Masuda, ate, napped, paced, and waited until 10pm, nerves jangling and energy high. And then it was time to go.
~~~
Masuda paced across the hotel room floor, Yamashita watching him silently from a chair.
“Taka,” he finally said, quietly, and Masuda stopped to look at him.
The younger man padded over to him gracefully. The bruises on Yamashita’s face had faded slightly and he reached out to touch them gently.
“It doesn’t hurt much,” Yamashita said, turning his face to place a kiss to the center of Masuda’s palm.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, turning his knuckles to press against Yamashita’s lips for another kiss.
“Don’t be. It was my choice. And all good things must come to an end sometime…,” he said wisely.
“Not all good things,” Masuda replied before leaning down to kiss him, and he felt Yamashita smile against his lips.
“How long?” Yamashita asked, once Masuda had stepped back.
“Three hours.”
“What time do you usually meet Isabella?”
Masuda glanced at his watch. “She usually gets there around 8 p.m. so I’ll go right after we get everything together. I’ll stay with her until midnight to make sure she doesn’t show up at an inopportune time.” He looked away, guilt written across his face, and Yamashita tugged at the hem of Masuda’s shirt.
“Don’t worry,” Yamashita said with a small smile. “I know the stakes and even the smallest details need to be covered. And you’re too soft-hearted to abduct her. I’d rather you sleep with her than change who you are for me.”
Masuda blushed. “You’re so cheesy.”
Yamashita grinned at him. “Yeah. You love it.” He checked the clock and stood. “Time to get the troops together.” A wry smile.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Are you kidding? I’m more than ready. Might as well play the part one last time.”
Masuda smiled.
They met a few others in an abandoned warehouse less than a mile from Stat Com, each person representing a larger group of people who, tonight, would be doing a little role-playing.
“Everything ready?” Masuda asked, fixing each group leader with a look. They each nodded. He put a hand on Yamashita’s shoulder. “This is Pi. You will report to him and he will report to me. I’m leaving him in charge. He will be out with you.” He let his hand drop to his side. “At 10pm sharp we start the convergence; at 10:30 begin the aggravation; 11:15pm is the pinnacle and it needs to last until midnight or as long as we can make it. Remember, no violence. You’re non-mods. This is a ‘peaceful’ protest, but it’s got to be distracting. You all know the details?” He knew they did but he had to ask. “All right. Go on.” He turned to Yamashita once everyone had cleared out, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful.”
“You too. Good luck.”
~~~
Ryo let himself be herded into the sleek, black town car, sat quietly in the back seat and watched buildings flash by. He felt strangely calm amidst the tension. He was Manuel Gonzalez, just there to do his job. Just there to do his job. He absently rubbed the delicate skin below his not-his eye with his not-his finger.
God he hoped it went off without a hitch. He wished he’d never taken this stupid job. He dreamt of smoky bars and a guitar and a crowd and his voice barely rising over the music. Then they were stopping the car; there was a shuffle, a press of bodies, loud voices chanting, and thick fingers were wrapped around his upper arms on either side, and he was walking, being walked, dreaming, through the huge glass double doors of Stat Com.
“I’m Manuel Gonzalez,” he heard himself say, and stepped forward to offer his left eye and right ring finger for inspection. “Just here to do my job.”
~~~
Thankfully, Masuda had perfected the art of carrying on two thought processes at once. He was both engaging Isabella and playing out the night’s events in his head. Right about now, the demonstration would be hitting its peak - Yamashita in the middle of the crowd pushing forward, Shige walking through the front doors and hoping that everything worked, Tegoshi holding the security system in check, and Koyama slipping around the building to wait, hidden, at the door Shige would let him in at. And Masuda? He was flirting with Isabella and busy distracting her from trying to get him to bed just yet. If he played it right, he might not have to sleep with her. And that was good, because he wasn’t sure his ability to split his attention so well applied to having sex, and he knew which thoughts would prevail.
~~~
Tegoshi, Shige, and Koyama sat in the back of the oversized van, checking the equipment and monitors over, double-checking their plan, and taking deep breaths. When Tegoshi hacked the system, though, they got a bit of surprise.
“There’s already someone in here,” he hissed, hitting keys in rapid-fire succession, hiding himself even more thoroughly, Shige knew.
Shige peered over his shoulder to check the screen. “What’s that they’re hacking? It’s pretty small…”
“Looks like it’s just something at the station before the system core. A scanner? Ah, I bet it’s the body scan he’ll have to go through to make sure he doesn’t have any electronics in his body. They’ll substitute someone else’s scan for his that matches his body shape and size. Nishikido probably has been told exactly how to pose for the scan,” Tegoshi said.
“Well, they’re probably not going to be watching the rest of the system then, and even if they are, you know what you’re doing.” Shige clapped Tegoshi on the back. “We’ll be fine,” he said as confidently as he could manage.
Shige strode in through the front doors of Stat Com looking irritated. He flashed his badge at the guy at the desk and stepped up to the machine to have his eye and finger scanned, acting as though he did this day after day.
“Left my damn wallet. The one time I get the morning off, I have to leave my wallet here.”
The guard checked the I.D. then grinned at him. “If you hurry, you might still have time to sort of sleep in.”
“I’ll probably find something to hold me up. You know how it is.” But Shige gave him a grateful smile and let himself be scanned. He forced himself to relax. But the guard just smiled again and waved him on. He waited until he was in the elevator before letting out his breath.
“Ready with the cameras?” he whispered, the tiny flesh-colored wireless microphone patch under his chin picking up his question and carrying it to Tegoshi.
“Yep. Go ahead.”
He exited the elevator and walked quickly to the desk they’d identified through camera feeds as Isabella’s, knowing Tegoshi would slow it down before he looped it. He rifled through the desk before sitting for a moment, flipping open a file and pretending to write in it. That should be enough, he thought and stood and walked quickly back to the elevator.
“Shit,” Tegoshi’s voice whispered in his ear, no less vehement for its low volume. “They’ve let him in early.”
“Shit,” Shige whispered, too nervous to do more than echo. “We stick to the plan and speed it up if we can. Going down.”
“Roger.”
He got off at the first floor again, followed the complicated map in his head, courtesy of a new microsoft from the files Yamashita had gotten, to get to the door Koyama was waiting at, alerting Tegoshi before he opened the door so he could halt the alarm. He let Koyama in, taking his bag from him. Tegoshi should have all the cameras looping in the right areas now and they quickly went back to the elevator, riding it down to the sub-basement.
Shige could feel the tension riding high in his throat and he fought the nausea. Koyama was tightly wound, nearly vibrating with readiness. Once they hit the floor, they would be rolling. The guard was tight down here, especially since Nishikido should be in there by now. 11:59pm. It all came down to the next few minutes, and he swayed a little, Koyama reaching out a steadying hand, and he nodded his appreciation. The bell dinged. Showtime.
Chapter 13