Chapter 61

10 The third call from Yumiko came just ten minutes before 1:00 a.m. “I’m calling from the restroom, so we don’t have long. We’re leaving at the scheduled time in a black Alphard. Our destination is Camp Mishuku, a Self-Defense Force base. We’ll be heading south on Gaien East Avenue, then west on Route 246, past Shibuya Station, then taking a left at the Mishuku intersection. No change to the personnel on board. Once you decide when to attack, let me know via text.” “R…right.” At that, Yumiko simply hung up. Minoru was so shocked by the mention of the Self-Defense Force that he simply sat there holding the phone in silence for a moment, but he returned to his senses when he felt a piercing gaze on his right. Hurriedly, he relayed the information to Liquidizer, who looked equally grave. “Camp Mishuku, you say?” “Yes… Why, is there something special about it?” “Quite a few things, but its main facilities are the Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency’s Electronic Systems Research Center and the Self-Defense Force’s main hospital, I would say.” That made some sense to Minoru. “If there’s a hospital, then maybe they’re planning on transferring Trancer there? They’ve probably got better defenses than an ordinary hospital…” “I don’t know if it’s quite such a passive reason, but…as long as we steal him back before they get there, it doesn’t matter, I suppose.” Liquidizer spoke in a strained voice as she pulled out her own smartphone, scrolling through a map application. “…Gaien East Avenue and Route 246 will both still have quite a bit of traffic at this time of night. If we’re going to set a trap…it’ll have to be here, on this street on the north side of Setagaya Park.” Minoru peered at the phone she held out and narrowed his eyes. “What?! But that’s right in front of the base!” “It doesn’t matter. Even if we were to run around shooting guns at their front gates, the soldiers at the base would need permission from the prime minister or the minister of defense before they could do a damn thing. More importantly…” Liquidizer put away the phone and looked at Minoru intently. “Can you do it?” “…Yes.” He nodded, and Liquidizer silently started the engine. Leaving the parking area, the Swift revved fiercely toward Setagaya Park. The last train on the Yamanote line had just departed, so both Meiji Avenue and Route 246 were packed with taxis, but Liquidizer weaved around them expertly and got them through the five-kilometer journey in less than ten minutes. When they arrived at the planned site of attack, they slowed down and searched for cameras. There was one at the parking lot on the south side of the road, so Liquidizer did a U-turn outside the camera’s view, stopped the car, and confirmed that the three cars parked on the street nearby were empty before shooting out the camera with a silenced pistol. Next, she produced black gloves and some kind of large sticker from the glove box. “Put on the gloves, then stick this on the back.” Liquidizer handed Minoru the gloves and the sticker, which had one letter and four numbers printed on it in dark green. Its use was obvious. Obediently, Minoru put on the gloves, got out of the car, and affixed the sticker directly over the license plate. I guess the Syndicate has their ways of dealing with things, he thought, when suddenly the smartphone in his inner pocket vibrated. Yumiko had sent him a text. “@SBY 5 min,” it read. Minoru furrowed his brow for a moment before figuring it out. The car was currently passing Shibuya Station and would arrive at its destination in five minutes, he guessed. Yumiko was probably texting in secret next to DD, so he couldn’t blame her for sending such a short message. Minoru responded with “Waiting at Setagaya Park, north side,” then looked up at Liquidizer as she approached. “They’re five minutes away.” “D’accord.” Responding in French, Liquidizer glanced around quickly. “That car there should work.” She pointed at a silver minivan parked some twenty meters away from the Swift: a Nissan Serena. Though Minoru felt bad for the owner, its large size certainly made it an ideal hiding place. Liquidizer walked up to the front of the Serena and slid her index finger into the gap between the hood and the front grille. Immediately, a minuscule hole opened in it without a sound. She moved her hand to the side and withdrew it within seconds. She’d used her liquefaction ability to break the locking mechanism. It only took less than a second, so even DD shouldn’t be able to pick up on it from several kilometers away. Liquidizer lifted the hood and had Minoru hold it in place while she used her ability to cut the red cable connecting to the battery. Even Minoru could figure out that this must be to disable the car’s security. Closing the hood, she walked to the rear door on the sidewalk side. It was locked, of course, but Liquidizer pushed her right hand through the window and unlocked it from the inside. Opening the sliding door, she slipped inside. Minoru followed and closed the door behind him. Four minutes left. The Serena’s two rows of seats were quite a bit larger than the Mitsubishi Delica D5 used by the SFD. Sinking into one of the leather-covered seats, Liquidizer closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Though she’d eaten well at the okonomiyaki restaurant, her face still looked pale. That was only natural—she hadn’t yet recovered from the fight with Stinger, and now she had been shot, pulled out the bullet in a hotel room, and slept for less than two hours. “Is your shoulder…” …all right? Minoru was about to ask. But Liquidizer held up her right hand to cut the question short, then opened her eyes and looked at Minoru. “I’m fine. Let’s get started.” “…Okay.” Minoru nodded and pressed his right hand to his chest. Feeling the presence of the black Third Eye that lived in his sternum, he spoke to the woman with the red Third Eye. “Imagine that there’s a small child inside me, a completely different person from myself.” “…A child?” “That’s right. A child who’s shy and cowardly but also very curious. That child is frightened of you, since we’ve fought before. But at the same time, he wants to know more about you.” “…And this child controls your protective shell, boy?” Minoru shook his head. There were three minutes left. In less than a minute, DD would probably pick up on Liquidizer’s scent. “I’m the one who turns the switch on and off. But that child is the one who creates the shell. So it’s not up to me who can enter the shell and who will be pushed out.” This was Minoru’s current explanation for the mysterious phenomenon that sometimes allowed him to bring others into his shell. It had accepted Suu Komura, even though they’d just met for the first time. But after that, when they tried to re-create it at SFD Headquarters, it stubbornly rejected Yumiko Azu. Minoru had assumed that it was based on the mental condition of both parties—whether they felt any animosity toward the other at the time. But thinking back to those experiments, Minoru had only felt a little timid toward Yumiko, not hostile—and he’d felt the same way when it worked with Suu. He had succeeded in bringing Yumiko into his shell during the fight against Igniter, too, so there must not be any simple conditions that determined the outcome. When Suu came to pick him up today—no, last night—she had said something about it, too. That when Minoru brought Suu into his shell at the hospital, someone else’s hand seemed to enter her head and heal the hematoma inside it. Minoru had felt the same thing. If that hand belonged to the being that gave Minoru his mysterious protective-shell ability, then it was up to him, or her, whether Liquidizer would be allowed inside. Suddenly, Liquidizer lifted her left hand. She placed it over Minoru’s right hand, which was still pressed to his chest, and spoke in a voice that was quiet but clear. “I promise you…I will never allow Trancer to kill again. So please give me a chance to save him.” Immediately, Minoru felt a sharp ache in his chest. He answered instinctively: “But…what about you?” “I have never killed a single person up to this point, I’ll have you know.” Before Minoru could say anything else, Liquidizer pressed her upper body close to his. Pulling him to her with both arms, she whispered in his ear: “Go ahead. Do it.”