“Mr. Gardener, you cooperated with the Alliance, developing drones for the spread of biological weapons that were involved with the murder of six investors… Is everything I just stated correct?”
Fokine conducted Greg Gardener’s interrogation in a terrace house they’d rented, nestled deep in a residential neighborhood. He was dressed in a turtleneck sweater and denim pants, and one of his cheeks was swollen and red. Apparently, Smith had punched him during the altercation that led to his suspension.
Greg, on the other hand, was sitting on the sofa across from Fokine, eyes darting every which way.
“I keep telling you, I have nothing to do with this! Why aren’t you taking me to the bureau?!”
“It’s being renovated, so this is our office for the time being,” Fokine said, making up an excuse on the fly. “If you had nothing to do with the drone, then what were those schematics doing in your study?”
“It told you already, those were rejected plans for drones we provided to the British Army!” Greg raised his cuffed hands to his neck, his patience running thin. “Take these off! I am not a suspect! The way you’re treating me is an injustice!”
“We can’t have you running off on us again. Though I’d say you’re safer here with us than you would be on the lam.” Fokine crossed his arms calmly. “If the Alliance decides you sold them out to us, you’re probably next in line to get a dose of that chimeric virus.”
That got Greg to shut up for a second, the color draining from his face. But then he shook his head in denial.
“…Threaten me all you want. I won’t talk.”
No good.
Peering in from the gap in the door, Echika turned to Totoki, who was standing next to her. She gestured for Echika to follow her, and they walked away. Totoki’s black hair, which was usually done up, was hanging loose, and she had on a leather jacket instead of her usual suit. A few hours had passed since they’d brought Greg to the terrace house, and he was still being tight-lipped.
“We’re running out of time,” Echika said, keeping her voice low. “We need to get him to confess… If Investigator Gardener reports this to Smith, the Alliance is definitely going to try to silence him.”
“Well, we don’t know for sure if Smith is working for the Alliance, so we might have a bit more time than that.”
As she talked with Totoki, the two of them stepped outside the terrace house. It was past three PM, and clouds were starting to blot out the sky. The Your Forma’s forecast warned of heavy snowfall during the night. The neighborhood was silent, and the brickwork of the houses in the area darkened as the sunlight grew dimmer.
Totoki herself had chosen to set up base in Borehamwood. It was an hour’s drive away from London, so it was easy to access, and they wouldn’t have to worry about any staff here, unlike at a hotel. There were barely any security drones patrolling here, either, making it much easier to conduct their interrogation.
Despite that, with the bureau compromised by the Alliance, they’d needed to hide their GPS data.
“I never thought the day would come when an investigator like me would have to put one of these things on.” Totoki gently brushed her hair, exposing the spherical network isolation unit inserted into her port. Right before leaving on his suspension, Fokine had tricked a logistics and equipment Amicus and stolen these from the bureau. Everybody here was wearing them. “It just doesn’t feel right…”
Totoki took out a box of paper cigarettes from her pocket. As Echika watched Totoki’s slim fingers pull out a cigarette, she unconsciously reached for the electronic cigarette sitting in her jacket pocket. But a second later, she reconsidered.
“I never knew you were a smoker.”
“I haven’t for over a decade. My roommate at the time wouldn’t stop complaining about it, so I quit.” Totoki put the cigarette to her lips, turned on the lighter, and lit the tip. I hope that “roommate” of yours isn’t a pet cat. “I ought to have noticed the Alliance was laying a trap for us before this happened. If I had, you wouldn’t have needed to do this…”
A thin wisp of smoke blew from her lips. Echika watched it dance through the moist air. It wasn’t often she saw Totoki display so much weakness and vulnerability. She must have agreed to this covert investigation because she felt responsible for falling into the Alliance’s trap and putting her subordinates in harm’s way.
The guilt of it all must have been crushing.
“We’re doing this because we want to,” Echika said, on behalf of herself and Fokine. Indeed, none of them wanted to let the Alliance have its way anymore. “And we’re grateful for your help, Chief.”
“I’d have done this on my own if I had to. It’s my fault things came to this… And if I don’t act here, then what was the point of me becoming an investigator?”
The last thing she’d wanted to do was get them involved.
Totoki’s voice followed the coiling wisps of smoke. In the four years Echika had worked in the bureau, Totoki had always been her superior, but she’d never asked Totoki why she became a police investigator, apart from the obvious reason of her aptitude diagnosis. There were many things that Echika hadn’t confided in Totoki about, too.
They’d been working together for a long time, but they scarcely knew each other.
“I don’t feel like you got me involved in this. And I’m honored I get to work with you.” If nothing else, Echika couldn’t see anyone as her boss but Totoki. There was no one she trusted more when it came to investigations. “We need you to lead the Special Investigations Unit…”
“Weren’t you always fed up with the tight schedules I forced on you?”
Echika jolted. “That’s one thing, and this is another story altogether.”
“Regardless, I can’t say I approve of bringing personal feelings into this.” Totoki looked exasperated, but Echika could tell her words contained a hint of bashfulness. She closed her eyes, her long hair brushing her cheeks and hiding her expression. “As the woman who’s looked after you all these years…it makes me proud seeing you become such a skilled investigator.”
This was the biggest compliment Totoki had ever given her. And this was why…Echika had to actively suppress the pangs of guilt she felt.
“…Thank you.”
“I’m sad I have to see it fall apart, though.” By the time Totoki looked up again, she had regained her stoic expression and sharp glare. “Once this problem is cleared up, I’ll make arrangements for your next Belayer. Even if I don’t get my old post back, I won’t let your career go down the drain.”
“I’m prepared to see this incident to the end, too.”
But even saying this, Echika actively tried not to think too much about her next Belayer. She didn’t want to think about it, and above all else, she didn’t have the time to let it occupy her thoughts. And yet something deep down in her heart felt like it was cracking.
Suddenly, some headlights flickered from a bend in the residential neighborhood’s road. The others had come back safely.