I left Arakawa to his meal and relocated to a suite one floor below. Across the table sat Yuri Pamfilova, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service.
The director hadn’t spoken for some time. He looked shaken as he repeatedly drank from his bottle of water.
I couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Director, what will we do now?”
He stopped drinking his water and produced a cigar case from his pocket. He offered me a high-class cigar, and I thanked him, took one, and lit it.
Finally, the director spoke. “He really is a monster...” He spoke as if the words caused him pain.
I knew who he was referring to without having to ask. Kouki Arakawa, the boy eating the meal we’d prepared in the room above.
Not only does that boy who’s no more than a freshman at a technology academy know highly classified secrets of our nation, he also knew the location of diamond deposits that we didn’t know about ourselves. I can’t help but fear that boy. I wonder if the director feels the same way.
“Do you know how he found out about the polonium incident?” the director asked me.
“I’ve no idea. All information about that incident was limited to paper documents to prevent leaks. Without infiltrating our underground vault, there’s no way that Arakawa could have learned of it.”
“And yet, he knew...”
He knew things that no one could possibly know. He didn’t just put us in a difficult situation; that young boy has us both dancing to his tune.
Although I hadn’t expected it to be easy to deal with Kouki Arakawa, somewhere deep down, I’d still thought of him as a mere child. I now deeply regretted underestimating him.
“It may well be that Arakawa knows all the details of the incident,” the director said.
“It’s not possible! Not even you or I knew of it until just this morning. He couldn’t possibly...” My voice trailed off.
We’re dealing with a monster. Even if he knows the details, he’ll probably act calm and pretend he knows nothing. It was clear to me now that something had been wrong from the beginning. A diamond mine and Noa broadcasting rights, just for the sake of Lieutenant Anton’s former commanding officer? It’s too much. Perhaps he’s known everything from the start, and is waiting to hear us confess?
Recent intelligence suggested that Kouki Arakawa’s mental state had been greatly improved by ethics training.
“Perhaps this entire negotiation was intended to send a message,” I suggested. “Something like, ‘Tell me what you know and you won’t be harmed’?”
“You may be right. When Alice Alford was abducted, he used his own connections to learn a little about her secret. A lieutenant colonel working for the UN reached this conclusion while planning Alford’s rescue. Perhaps Arakawa learned enough to prove our involvement.”
“That would put us in a very difficult position. Let’s not forget that he wiped out an entire terrorist organization singlehandedly for Alice Alford’s sake. No matter how much his sense of ethics has developed since then, he now has the strength of Noa behind him. He could have us all killed...”
The chilling fact was, we weren’t just facing Arakawa himself. If the incident did come to light, the Russian Federation would have the entire world to answer to. Not only would we lose the influence that being a great nation gave us, there was a real danger that the Arakawa Family would pressure the UN to revoke our membership completely.
No, it’s even more serious than that. The Russian Federation will be awakened, and there’ll be major turmoil. Turmoil on that scale could lead us into...
“...World War 3...” I muttered.
“It seems you’ve reached the same conclusion,” the director said. “Well? Do you see now why I’m sweating as I drink this water?”
“But would it really come to that?” I burst out. “We’re talking about the survival of mankind being put at risk for the sake of just one girl.”
“I don’t think he’d need to go that far. He merely needs to set the world against Russia and Russia alone. They’ll release all information related to Alice Alford, and then Arakawa will hold a press conference. ‘I still love her,’ he’ll tell them. That’s all it will take. Arakawa will play the gallant knight, vowing to protect the innocent maiden. Our role will be that of the evil empire. His recent efforts to take control of the media are clear to see. Perhaps that was all part of the plan.”
Yes, it all makes sense. Noa’s commercials have enough impact to trigger social phenomena. If they made a TV program that was critical of Russia while bolstering the Arakawa point of view, the whole world would side with Noa in an instant. The boy truly is a monster. How far into the future can he see? Can he predict all possible outcomes, no matter how unlikely?
“Here’s what we’ll do,” the director said. “Provide Kouki Arakawa with all the information we have relating to the Alice Project. We also need to prove that we have zero affiliation with the cult known as New World. Head back to headquarters ASAP and gather the relevant documents.”
“I’ll leave immediately!”
I saluted the director before dashing out of the room and heading for the elevator. I had to return before Arakawa lost his patience and took action.
I seem to recall that he was incredibly fond of animals, I thought frantically. Perhaps we could give him a movie about caring for the Russian desman. They’re rare creatures, and one of Russia’s national treasures. It could at least keep him entertained for two or three hours.
While waiting for the elevator, I used my personal terminal to send a message to one of my people, instructing him to bring the video footage to us.
The elevator was taking a long time to ascend, so I jabbed the elevator call button a few more times.