“Mr. Kaeriyama? This is Haikunterke speaking.”
The sudden sound coming through his detached headphones caused Kaeriyama to bolt upright from where he’d fallen asleep at his desk. The movement was so violent that it knocked his mug over, spilling the small amount of coffee substitute still left at the bottom. He quickly stood it upright again and wiped up the coffee with a cloth.
“I’ve just reentered the Inside at Nanao. I haven’t had any real trouble. I’m sending you the data I collected around the Noto Peninsula.”
“Great. Uh, hang on. Let me look at what I have here…”
He tried to shake his sleepy head into motion, calling up some numbers on his computer.
“The automated turnstile activity we’ve got isn’t a problem, considering they’re watching you. Our net control in the area is low, so I don’t have a lot of detail, but I’d bet that you’re fine when it comes to the immune memory. Stay Inside and focus on recharging.”
“All right. I haven’t toured all the colonies yet, so as soon as I’m done charging, I will proceed with surveying the peninsula.”
“Sure, go right ahead. How’s the weather?”
“I thought it would be warm inland, even outside, but that’s not the case. I think it will be snowing soon. That’s not a problem for this body, though.”
“Yeah, the safety margin on its resistance to chill should be fine, but don’t go exposing yourself to too much ice, all the same.”
“Understood. I will be careful. Also…I know I asked this before, but have you heard from Samayunkur and Yaieyukar?”
“Ah, that. Well…” Kaeriyama looked around. Most of the other operators had their heads down on their desks. The clock said it was eleven at night. “Here’s the thing. Kur’s under Engineering 1st Division, and he can’t send us any of their data. Everyone’s been very nervous about information security ever since that one incident, you know? So the company’s being very tight-lipped about it. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, I see. Very well. I will continue transmitting.”
The conversation ended there. The only thing that came through Suikanet was data. Kaeriyama used the incoming information to compute the location of the Suikanet nodes in the Hokuriku region on the north coast of Honshu. JR North Japan would use this intelligence to launch a concentrated attack on unclaimed nodes to expand their control.
“This is a huge success,” crowed the section chief, who was standing behind him.
“Oh, I’m only relaying your instructions, sir. She’s the one with all the talent and hard work.”
“That’s true. I was worried she might be a little too shy and withdrawn at first, but when you’re doing long-distance tours like this, that extra caution can only be a benefit. I assume Yukie took that into account.”
Kaeriyama blushed, as though the chief were praising him personally.
“By the way, Terke has been asking multiple times about Samayunkur’s disappearance.”
“I’ve told you again and again. Terke’s mission is our top priority. Don’t give her any more than the bottom line. Avoid the topic if you can.”
“I suppose that’s just how it has to be. But what about him?”
“We finally just heard back from Yaieyukar. He said his communication module was damaged. But to sum it up, Shamai was telling the truth.”
“So Kur is…”
“Busted. He’s got power, and his body is functioning properly, but he won’t move.”
“I see. That’s too bad.”
“Yes, it’s a real shame. Just terrible.”
The section chief was clearly irritated about the whole thing. Perhaps he feared the consequences of being in charge during the loss of an agent.
“There’s a sweet spot to these things. He was too smart. Better to be like Terke. She’s just right.”
Kaeriyama’s mouth puckered just a tiny bit. He was upset because he felt like his android partner was being insulted, but he couldn’t make too much of an outward show of it.
“Anyway, Tohoku will be fine. Yukar’s still there, and he’ll do the job. Honestly, I was afraid that dispatching him would just be a waste of resources, but now I’m glad we did.”
“Do you suppose Yukie knew this would happen?”
“Dunno. The thoughts in her head are not meant for the likes of us to understand,” the section chief responded, shrugging.
On Kaeriyama’s display was a dialog message reading Files Received. All of the data Haikunterke had sent from Hokuriku were there now.
Appended to the end of the data package was a comment that said, “If you find out anything about Kur, please tell me.”
Kaeriyama surreptitiously deleted the comment.