Silence In Numbers: File One (12 page)

Katsumi stood up, moving past the two and brushing herself off. “I don’t like this.”

“Well yeah,” Sano said as he turned to follow her, “Making people into living bombs is all kinds of sick.”

“It’s also new and requires some sort of genius.” She looked back at Kurasano. “I don’t like my criminals to be geniuses with new ideas. We don’t have a counter for this.”

“We won’t have to. If we catch him, we can stop this just like that.”

“Just like that…” Katsumi sighed, looking in his eyes. “Why do I not believe it will be ‘just like that’?”

Sano shrugged, offering a humorless smile. “Because nothing’s ever easy for us.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“So… You were told how to stop these attacks… in a dream?”

“Not a… dream, exactly… I mean, he said he was hacking into my mind.”

Ayane sighed. “I didn’t know that was possible. This sounds insane.”

“That’s why I’ve only told you,” Katsumi said as she sat back and folded her arms.

“I’ve never heard of this ‘Sigma’. I’ve never heard of this mind-hacking stuff, either.” Ayane hugged her moogle. “I don’t like this, Katsumi… I don’t like any of this. Someone breaking into your mind? Assassination attempts on you? I don’t like anything about this case.”

Katsumi sat forward. “We don’t know for sure this was targeted at me-“

“You just got out of the hospital, Sumi!” Ayane glared at her. “You’ve almost died two times in as many days – no, within twenty-four hours! What about that sounds like a coincidence?!”

“Okay, okay,” Katsumi said calmingly as she moved to sit on the side of the bed, putting her arm around Ayane and pulling her against her. “It’s okay, really. You don’t have to worry.”

Ayane sniffed and hugged her back. “Of course I do. Everything’s trying to kill you.”

“Not everything,” Katsumi looked down at her. “This ‘Sigma’ warned me, so at least for now he’s trying to keep me alive. As for the attacks, well, they keep failing.”

“They keep getting close.”

Katsumi sighed. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Aya. I don’t have a choice in this.”

“I know you don’t… I just…” Ayane huffed. “Why couldn’t you be, like, a librarian?”

Katsumi smiled, leaning back on the bed so they were more comfortable. Ayane laid her head on her shoulder and Katsumi watched her as she spoke. “I’d be a horrible librarian.”

Ayane frowned. “So? It’d be a whole lot safer.”

“You know my own safety isn’t my highest priority.”

“I wish it was higher.” Ayane leaned up enough to look at her sister’s face, laying a hand on her cheek. “Try to stay alive, okay? I don’t… I really can’t…”

Katsumi reached up and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “I know. You’ll just have to trust me, okay?” Katsumi smiled at her. “I promise I won’t leave you alone as long as you promise the same thing.”

Ayane returned the smile and nodded. “I promise. But you better catch this criminal as soon as you can. I hate these ongoing cases.”

“You and me both.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Katsumi leaned her elbows on her desk and rubbed her eyes, releasing a sigh for what seemed like the four-hundredth time that day. She was tired; exhausted, even. She hadn’t slept since two days earlier when she’d been unconscious for a few hours, and that could hardly be considered sleeping. Before that… Well, she guessed the last time she’d actually slept was four days earlier, before the first bombing. She’d had about one or two hours of sleep that night. Was that what she considered “actual sleep” now? She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a solid six hours, which was probably a problem.

She wasn’t planning on doing anything to fix it, though. What she was doing was staring at a computer screen as she had been on and off over the past twenty-eight hours. She’d also gone to each previous crime scene and a few other places she’d hoped to find clues, not to mention meeting with each member of her team for various tasks. Law had confirmed his earlier estimations; the victims were turned into bombs.

According to the evidence they had, something was introduced to the victim’s bloodstream that converted the oxygen in their blood into a highly volatile explosive. It gained pressure as it spread through the body, which was what led to spasms and the expansion of blood vessels. Eventually the pressure would become too great and the victim would explode. Law’s theory was that each victim had some degree of CP as most people did, and electrical sparks would be triggered in the cyber parts as the body was torn apart and exposed to open air, setting the now-explosive blood aflame. The explosion would rip through the air, feeding on the oxygen in the air and spreading even further until it burned out.

According to Law the original catalyst for this grim series of events was almost certainly always placed in the victim’s heart so that, when triggered, whatever it introduced to the bloodstream would be pumped throughout the body as quickly as possible. Apparently, Katsumi’s heart-shot on the most recent victim most likely destroyed the implant before it could spread its toxin throughout the entirety of the victim’s body, causing the explosion to be less than the previous ones.

The answer’s in the heart!

Katsumi didn’t tell anyone that her so-called “lucky shot” had been determined based on a dream she’d had while unconscious. Well, she hadn’t told anyone other than her sister, but Ayane was as lost as she was as to what it meant.

A knock on the door drew her attention to her open doorway where Sano stood outlined by the light from the hallway, a contrast to her currently dark office. “Hey, Captain.” Sano leaned against the doorframe. “Happy birthday.”

Katsumi glanced at her computer screen. 12:01. Just now March 27th. Apparently, she was thirty-four now. She sighed, running a hand through her soft violet curls. “Thanks.”

Sano smirked. “You forgot.”

“Why would I remember?”

“It’s a big deal to some people.”

Katsumi leaned back in her chair, looking at him. “I don’t see the point in marking the day I was born. I didn’t do anything worth celebrating on that day.”

Sano shrugged. “It’s the one day of the year when things are supposed to focus on you.”

“You know how much I hate people focusing on me.”

Sano chuckled. “True. Don’t worry; nobody’s been stupid enough to try throwing a surprise party since Reno’s first year on the team.”

Katsumi was unable to prevent a smile forming on her lips at the memories that brought up. “You could’ve warned the rookie, you know.”

Sano blinked. “I see… And how would that have been fun to watch?”

Katsumi laughed, shaking her head. “I’ve never seen someone so crestfallen by a reaction to a party. I had to pretend to enjoy it just for his benefit.”

“That was pretending to enjoy it?”

“Hey, give me a break. At least I tried.”

“Not very hard.”

“You’re asking a lot from me.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sano pushed off the doorframe and gestured towards the computer. “Anything new?”

Katsumi sobered with a sigh and shook her head. “I haven’t found anything, not even a suspect.” She glanced at him. “Did you get Law’s report?”

Sano grimaced. “Yeah, pretty disturbing stuff.”

“Needlessly so. What’s the point of going to such trouble? Why not just use normal explosives or something similar?”

Sano shrugged. “It’s an act of terror, right? I guess living bombs spread more terror.”

“Mmm.” Katsumi clasped her hands and leaned her chin on them. “I still don’t know what he’s trying to terrorize.”

“At this point I’d say you. The last attack was on you directly, wasn’t it?”

“And maybe the one before that as well.”

“Right. So I guess the only question is why.”

“If you’re going to come up with a list of people who may want to kill me, you’re going to need a lot of data space.”

“Yeah, that’s not exactly helpful.” Sano tapped his chin. “Maybe trying to kill you is just a reaction? The guy got worried we were gonna catch him.”

“Or he wants to take out the leading counter-terrorist in the city.”

“World.”

“City.”

“Country?”

“Fine,” Katsumi sighed. “The point is, if he wants to conduct terrorism here, our team is the main obstacle.”

“Oh, so he’s after the whole team now, is he?”

Katsumi raised an eyebrow. “You think it’s personal?”

Sano shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. This guy’s unpredictable as hell. Basically all I can tell you is that he’ll blow something up. It’s just that the last two times he did so he came kinda close to killing you, so either it’s a really bad coincidence or you’re his current target.”

Katsumi leaned back in her chair. “At least that’s better.”

“Yeah, who doesn’t love having their own personal terrorist? I know
I’m
jealous. Can’t wait until I’m popular enough to get one of my own.”

“You know what I mean, Sano.”

“Yeah. Less danger for innocents, more on you. Most people wouldn’t consider that a good thing, you know.”

“You would.”

“Yeah but I’m crazy. What’s your excuse?”

“I have an obsession with danger?”

Sano snorted. “Can’t argue with that one.”

Katsumi waved towards the door. “If I’m going to be a target for a madman, I need to learn more. Get out, you’re distracting me.”

“Fine, fine.” Sano backed towards the door, pointing at her. “You better get some rest soon, though.”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

“If you don’t sleep that might be sooner than you think.”

“Lecture me some other time, Mother. Don’t you have work to do? And close the door on your way out.”

Sano grinned at her as he pulled the door closed. “Kids are so rude these days.”

Katsumi rolled her eyes as she looked back at her computer. She had pulled up every bit of data they had on the bombings and the victims, which wasn’t much. She had hoped that staring at the entire picture would make something come together for her or reveal some little detail they’d missed, but so far she’d learned nothing new.

In all honesty it was driving her crazy. While actively out in the field she was able to slip into an attitude fueled by determination and duty, and while with others she could put on a mask of slight distraction or focus so that they knew something was up but were able to assume it wasn’t that big a deal.

But when alone, when sitting in a dark room staring at a screen of the pitiful amount of clues she’d managed to collect, willing something,
anything
to appear and lead her towards her quarry, she could feel herself becoming less sane with every passing hour. She stared at the words until they blurred so much she couldn’t read them anymore, then wracked her brain for answers that simply weren’t there. There wasn’t enough to go on, to lead her anywhere. She knew she needed more information, but she wouldn’t get that until there was another bombing, and the fact that she had to wait for people to die before she could figure out how to protect them was practically taking a sledgehammer to her sanity.

Thirty-four… My big sister is getting so old!

The words drew Katsumi out of her self-hating reverie and brought a smile to her face.
Why does everyone remember my birthday but me?

Because you’re really, really bad at focusing on yourself. Really, Sumi, you should try to be a little more selfish.

So what, I should just abandon my job for the day and spend it all with you?

Yes! Exactly! Now you’re thinking straight!

Katsumi laughed softly.
That’s exactly what I want to do, Aya, but I can’t. I’m already going crazy here, I need a lead or something. I’d barely be able to enjoy myself.

She could hear Ayane sigh.
Fine, work yourself to an early grave instead of spending all day with your shining star of a sister.

Maybe I should take lessons from you on focusing on myself more. You seem to be good at it.

Hey, I’m worth it!

Katsumi smiled.
I won’t disagree.

In all seriousness, happy birthday, sister. I’m truly happy to celebrate your surviving your crazy death wishes and mad terrorists and evil spirits and giant demons for another year. I love you, Sumi.

I love you too, Aya. Thank you for keeping me strong and keeping yourself stronger. You know I’ll be up there at some point today, as I always am.

I look forward to it! We’re totally staying outside!