Sousuke showed no interest in their exchange, and silently continued reading her history.
First came her name: Chidori Kaname. She lived in Tokyo, Japan. Her father was a high commissioner with the UN. She had one sister, eleven years old, who lived with their father in New York. Her mother had passed three years ago, and Kaname herself was attending school in Tokyo. Past that came more detailed information—height, blood type, medical history, etc.
Sousuke’s eyes stopped on one particular row, where a key word had been sloppily blacked out with magic marker: “W*******d potential: 88% (according to Mirror Method).” It seemed a rather perfunctory way to hide classified information, but perhaps that was a sign of how much he trusted them.
“So, something happen to her?” Kurz asked.
“Something might.”
“Huh?”
Major Kalinin sat back in his chair and gazed at the tabloid-sized map on the wall. It showed the world’s current borders—the complicated territories of the Soviet Union, China divided into North and South, and the mess of dotted lines that made up the Middle East region. “All you need to know is that the girl in that picture, Chidori Kaname, is under high risk of kidnapping from the KGB and an unknown number of other organizations.”
“How come?”
“You don’t need to know that,” Major Kalinin said shortly.
“I see,” Kurz sniffed.
The point was, people might be coming for Chidori Kaname. Might. Sousuke didn’t know why they wanted her, or what could have led to it. The situation was completely opaque. “So, what’s our mission?” he asked.
“We’re going to need you to keep her safe. I know Sergeant Sagara can speak Japanese, and I think you can too, Sergeant Weber.”
“Well sure, but...” Kurz’s father had been a special correspondent with a newspaper, and he’d lived in Edogawa, Tokyo until he was 14, so he could speak Japanese well enough.
“I’ve already briefed Sergeant Mao,” Major Kalinin told them. “It’ll be up to the three of you.”
“Just the three of us?” Sousuke asked.
“We can’t spare any more. It’s already been decided.”
“It’s not gonna be easy,” Kurz observed.
“That’s why we’re sending you,” Major Kalinin answered. Sousuke, Kurz, and Mao weren’t merely AS operators; they were soldiers trained in a variety of skills, including parachuting and recon. They were part of an elite team hand-picked from a large pool of candidates. To them, ASes were just another kind of weapon, no different from a gun or a vehicle. “And... because Sergeant Mao insisted, your equipment will be Class B.”
Kurz and Sousuke both stared in disbelief. Class B equipment: he was telling them to take an arm slave.
“Uh... in the middle of a city?” Kurz questioned.
“Use the ECS in invisibility mode,” Major Kalinin recommended, “and you’ll be fine.”
Most modern-day weapons, including the arm slaves, came equipped with an ECS—an electromagnetic camouflage system. It was a cutting-edge stealth device that used hologram technology to hide the user completely from radar and infrared sensors. The ECS employed by Mithril were even more advanced, capable of nullifying wavelengths on the visible spectrum—in effect, rendering you invisible. This consumed a lot of energy, of course, so it was unrealistic to use once maneuvers began. But for staying stationary and hiding, it was nearly flawless.
“You’ll get one M9,” Kalinin added. “Take minimal armaments, and two packs of external capacitors.”
“Sir.”
“Also, this mission must be conducted in utmost secret. We’ll have a mess on our hands if the Japanese government learns about it. Therefore, you must monitor Kaname—and protect her if it comes to it—without her awareness.”
Kurz’s attractive face grimaced. “The hell? That’s ridiculous...”
“It will be difficult,” Sousuke agreed. The idea of protecting someone without their knowledge or consent seemed absurd.
But Major Kalinin remained unfazed. “We have a way to make it easier. This girl, Chidori Kaname, attends a co-ed public high school, where she spends most of her day. Thus, we’ll install our youngest squad member there. He’s the same age as her, and he’s Japanese.”
“Oh, I get it.” Kurz clapped his hands in realization. He and the major both turned to gaze at Sousuke.
Sousuke stood there silently at first, perplexed by their attention. “Major,” he finally asked, “are you suggesting...?”
Major Kalinin signed the directive as he responded. “First, we need to manufacture some documentation. We’ll have to find out what the school requires.”
“What the school requires for what?” Sagara Sousuke asked with trepidation, though he already knew the answer.
“What else?” Major Kalinin replied. “A transfer student application.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Sousuke glared sullenly into the camera.
“Big smile, Sousuke,” Kurz cooed, beckoning. He was serving as an impromptu photographer.
Sousuke made an awkward attempt to twist his face into a smile. It ended up looking more like a muscle spasm.
“There we go,” Kurz said encouragingly. “You want to look nice and friendly on your ID, right?” He snapped the picture.
Sousuke immediately reverted to his blank expression.
Kurz sighed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sousuke furrowed his brow as he surveyed the items scattered across the table. “What is all of this?”
Mousse and a brush, a portable CD player, CDs by enka singer Itsuki Hiroshi and pop icon SMAP, an amulet from Mt. Narita, Rohto Pharmaceutical eyedrops, a coupon to Tower Records, a Nintendo GameBoy, a Mr. Junko-brand watch, a Yunker Kotei health tonic, packs of Marlboro and Libera cigarettes, magazines like Popeye, Josei Jishin, and Dragon Magazine, etc, etc, etc...
“We rounded up everything on board that a Japanese high school student might have,” Melissa Mao explained proudly.
“I see,” he said, then paused. “What’s this?” It was a small ring of rubber in a square plastic wrapper.
“That’s a condom,” Melissa grinned.
“I know that,” Sousuke told her. “But what use would a high school student have for a condom?”
“Don’t play dumb, you perv!” she teased.
“What are you talking about?” he asked with perfect sincerity. “I’ve used them several times before. They’re meant for use in the jungle, to replace a lost canteen.”
Mao stared and said nothing.
“They can hold a liter of fresh water,” Sousuke added.
“Oh, really?” Mao sighed.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Here, have a look at this.” Kurz pushed Sousuke to the LCD screen, remote for the tape deck in hand. “This is how Japanese high school students act. Burn it into your brain, okay?”
It was footage of a classroom. It seemed to be around sunset, and there were only two students present—one male, one female. Though the classroom was large, they had holed up together in a corner, exchanging nervous conversation.
“Hey... listen. I used to just think of you as a childhood friend, but...” the boy stuttered out, while the girl remained silent. “But I’ve finally realized how I really feel. I... I...”
“Toru-kun!” she cried out.
The two of them embraced. Just then, there was a sound. They gasped and turned. Another girl stood in the door to the classroom. She was watching them and trembling.
“Naomi!” the boy cried.
“You’re awful,” the second girl whispered and then ran away, crying. The boy looked about to follow her, but the girl he was sitting with stopped him, and—
“Well?” Kurz asked, prompting Sousuke for his opinion.
Sousuke’s expression was one of ardent confusion. “I don’t understand. Why did the second girl flee the scene?”
“Flee the scene? You stupid—”
“No... I see now. She had learned their secret. She was afraid of being silenced, so she fled the scene. A wise woman. She’ll live a long time.”
Kurz sighed.
✦ ✦ ✦
The noise of the engine roared.
The de Danaan had surfaced and exposed its flight deck. The black vessel’s maw stood open to the sky above, allowing ASes, combat helicopters, and VTOLs to take off from within. On the deck, a seven-blade transport helicopter stood by for takeoff. Its storage compartment was loaded up with an M9 arm slave and its equipment.
Sousuke tossed his bags behind his seat, then fastened his seat belt. He pulled his forged certificate of residence from his inner pocket and double-checked the information.
From beside him, Mao peered at his documentation. “You’re using your real name?” she asked him suspiciously.
“It’s not as if I’m registered in that country anyway,” Sousuke explained. “You can always change the name of someone who doesn’t exist.”
“Well, I suppose...”
“It’s not a problem. Take us out.”
The helicopter began its smooth ride toward their take-off point.
“Are you sure you can handle this, though? You’re kind of a dunce about social stuff...” Kurz asked from the seat behind him.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Tessa was worried, you know,” Mao added. Tessa was the captain of the Tuatha de Danaan.
“That’s understandable,” Sousuke agreed. “It’s an important mission.”
“That’s not what I meant...”
Just then, the pilot in the bulky helmet said “We’re taking off.”