Silence In Numbers: File One (16 page)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning at about 9 AM Sano awoke, groaning as he was immediately subjected to a headache. He groggily lifted his head off the table, thankful that Katsumi’s apartment was kept dark and only a bit of dim light was streaming in. He rubbed his eyes a bit, standing up to look around the apartment and noticing he was alone. Apparently Katsumi had left a while ago, which didn’t surprise him, and he wondered if she’d even slept at all. While looking for her he did notice some woman’s clothes lying on her bed that were too small to fit her, but he decided it was probably best to ignore that.

After checking his phone and making sure he had no messages he left the apartment, making his way to his own to change before he went out for some breakfast. If Katsumi hadn’t gotten him up then there wasn’t any emergency, so there was no rush.

An hour later, washed, refreshed and fed, Sano arrived at Aegis Corp HQ. The place was busy and noisy, but thankfully he’d had enough time to get past the worst of his hangover so it wasn’t too bad. He found Katsumi in a preparation room with some others, and she smiled at him as he entered. “Sano, I’m glad you’re here, I was going to call soon.”

“No need, I’m up, just not as ungodly early as you. What’s up?” he asked as he took a drink of his coffee.

“We’re compiling a list of possible suspects. We’re going to visit them today.”

“No kidding? Look at that, one night of drinking with me and progress is made.”

Rufus passed by him, handing a paper to Katsumi. “I don’t think the two are related.”

“Pff, what do you know. You’re Russian; drinking to you just involves vodka and singing.”

“That’s a racist stereotype.”

“
You’re
a racist stereotype.” Sano returned Rufus’ grin before looking back to Katsumi. “So when are we going?”

“As soon as the list is complete.” Katsumi’s phone rang and she answered. “Katsumi Samakura.” Sano watched with concern as her face became stony and she stepped away from the group, heading quickly out of the office and gesturing to him to follow her, which he did immediately. “If you’re calling now, you must be desperate.” She slid into her office and shut the door after Sano, setting her phone to speaker so he could hear as well. A male voice was talking in a harsh manner.

“…esperate, Captain,
you’re
the one who’s
desperate
. I’m calling to warn you to stop coming after me, you’ll only regret it.”

Sano immediately assumed this was the bomber, their suspect, and he pulled out his own phone and tapped into hers, starting to trace the call as Katsumi answered. “Nothing is ever going to stop me from catching you.”

“I warned you, Captain. I’m going to take you down a few pegs. Find me in Risuji Square and we’ll see how long your arrogance lasts!”

The call cut off and Katsumi looked at Sano, who shook his head. “Too well protected to trace.”

“That’s strange, he was easy to trace on the computer. Let’s transfer the data to company servers and let them deal with it.”

“Are we going to Risuji Square like he said?”

“Of course we’re going.”

“You know it’s a trap.”

“Of course it’s a trap.”

“I’m guessing we don’t care at this point.”

Katsumi flung the door open. “I stopped caring the last time he tried to blow me up.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Katsumi, Sano and Rufus, the three team members who had been at HQ at the time of the call, arrived at Risuji Square, a large market-like area, only a few minutes later. Upon arrival they noticed a large gathering of people on one end and Katsumi immediately began sprinting towards it with the other two in tow; she was getting a very, very bad feeling.

The building the crowd was near had a giant screen and, on it, was the image of a man with one of those old theater masks on, the smiling one. Katsumi pushed her way through the crowd to the front and she froze as she came out the other side. Several people in the crowd were holding back a screaming woman who was struggling to get to a child that was tied up in the middle, a young boy.

The man on the giant screen spread his hands. “Welcome, Katsumi Samakura, so good of you to come!” Katsumi stepped out of the crowd and started towards the boy, but the man on the screen shook his finger. “Ah-ah-ah! I wouldn’t do that! You see, this boy wasn’t just
kidnapped
yesterday, he was taken by me, the magnificent Director! He’s got one of my special treats inside him and if you take another step towards him… Boom!” The man laughed. “I even invited his mother to the show. She wouldn’t want to miss her son’s big part!”

Katsumi’s blood was cold but her eyes were on fire, her entire body tense. She gritted her teeth, her jaw clenched as she practically seethed. She pointed at the screen. “What the fuck is
wrong
with you?! Why would you do something like this?!”

“Because you won’t let things lie like you should. I told you you shouldn’t mess with me!” He suddenly sounded a little whiny, stressed, not nearly as cool and collected as he was trying to be, but he tried to return to it. “Do you know what I’m going to do, Miss Samakura?”

Katsumi shook her head. “Don’t…”

“I’m going to give a little show.”

“Don’t… please…” Katsumi looked up at the screen. “I’ll let you kill me instead.
I’m
the danger to you. I’m the one you want to get rid of.”

“Tempting… Very tempting.” The man pretended to rub his chin. “But… No.”

Everything slowed down.

The boy suddenly fell over and convulsed. The crowd erupted in screams and began to run. Katsumi yelled at the man to put a stop to it but he just laughed. Behind her, Sano turned away, sick. Rufus shook his head, looking at the ground. And Katsumi watched as the boy’s mother, now free, ran to him and fell on him in a hug, trying to help him.

The explosion destroyed part of the front of the building. It created a crater before her and sent cement, dust and ash in all directions. It knocked most of the people off their feet and peppered a few with debris. It incinerated the two in the middle.

As the explosion faded and things returned to normal speed with falling dust and rising screams, Katsumi stood with her eyes hardening and her body trembling…  no… shaking, violently. Sano felt like he would vomit, but he looked at Katsumi and grew scared.

The woman was literally, visibly shaking, her entire body tensing as her gaze bore a hole into the screen before her. Her fingers curled together and clenched in fists so tight blood began leaking through her fingers.

And in the background, what was this “Director’s” reaction? Could he not believe what he did?

Was he as horrified as she? Did he regret such an… inhuman action?

No… All he was doing, his only reaction to what he’d just done, was laughing. His laughter cut through her just as much as the sorrow, regret, hate, helplessness, and rage did.

Katsumi dropped to her knees, a scream of pure fury erupting from her throat as she smashed her fist into the ground.

And above it all, the man just… kept…
laughing
.

Kurasano sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that morning, sending yet another witness away with no new information and looking across the square. Cleanup crews were halfway through cleaning the debris; medical crews were helping the few with small injuries. M was even there, surveying the scene, with Law examining the destruction to confirm it was the same type of explosion as before.

The only thing missing from the scene was Katsumi.

She’d disappeared soon after the explosion, and given the look on her face none of them had wanted to risk stopping her. Sano had no idea where she was at this point; no one did. She wasn’t answering any call, and Sano finally had to give up and deal with what was happening around him. Rufus stepped up beside him, handing him a picture someone had snapped of the man on the screen. “This ‘Director’… I’ve never heard of him.”

Sano rubbed his forehead, taking the picture and looking at the masked face. “I think he just made it up. He didn’t really seem like any sort of professional, he wasn’t at all in control of his emotions.”

“So he’s an amateur? How has he managed to do what he’s done so far, then?”

Sano shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe there’s more than one.”

“Someone’s helping him? This ‘Director’ could just be the front man, then.”

“Nah, he took it too personally.”

“So he’s just had help.”

“Probably.”

M strolled over with Law behind him, his familiar smile the only one in the group. “Law says it’s the same as the others. It seems we’ve found our culprit, but not his identity.”

Sano shrugged. “One step closer, anyway. We’ll see if we can trace anything from the hack into that screen.”

“Yes, that is the next logical step.” M seemed to glance around a bit. “Where is Captain Samakura?”

“I… uh…” Sano’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t know, sir.”

“You don’t know? I do hope
someone
knows.” He watched both Rufus and Law shake their heads. “It isn’t like her to abandon such a situation…”

Rufus adjusted his shades. “She seemed a bit more… affected… by this incident than usual, sir.”

“Indeed?”

“We’re thinking, sir, that she’s past the point of waiting and pursuing the criminal on her own,” Sano put forward.

Rufus nodded. “She has connections throughout the city that she’s most likely going for as we speak.”

M nodded. “That does make the most sense. With anyone else I would be angry with them for doing something this seemingly rash, but Miss Samakura does know what she’s doing.” He looked between the two. “I would ask that either of you let me know if you hear from her. Until then, both she and I are trusting you to keep this investigation running topside. Send the Captain any information you find and be ready to assist her at any moment should she call for it.”

Both men saluted and M turned away, intending to head back to the HQ. His familiar smile returned like it had never left. Never once had he regretted the team he’d help build, and days like this reminded him why. At a point when other teams may give up or fall into depression, his got angry and fought even harder. He was always amused when other board members in the company asked if SIN Unit Alpha was capable of taking on all they intended to take on.

Honestly, it wasn’t even a contest.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reno shut his phone, reaching for his jacket without a thought. Lenora watched him worriedly, as she had been since soon after he’d answered the call. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

“There was another bombing; this time involving a child.” Reno couldn’t tell his wife the details of it; as it was he himself ground out the words between gritted teeth. His wife looked as sick as he felt, but at the moment those facts weren’t something anyone could do anything about. “Captain Sama went missing soon after.”

“Missing?” Lenora’s face grew darker. “You mean after the attack-“

“Yeah.” Reno laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder to calm her. “She wasn’t hurt, she just took off. No one knows for sure why or where she is, and she isn’t answering any calls. This isn’t like her at all, so everyone’s a little… confused.”

Lenora nodded, though she believed she understood the reasoning behind the woman’s actions.

“So you’re going out there.”

“I have to help, and the team could stand to be together at the moment, what with our leader missing and all.”

“Don’t blame her… This is harder on her than anyone else, it makes sense she might need some time alone.”

“Time alone?” Reno looked at his wife. “I don’t think she’s taking time alone. If that were true we wouldn’t be in a rush to find her, we’d leave her alone.”

Lenora blinked, not understanding. “Then why…?”

“We think she’s making it personal.”

“It was already pretty personal…”

“No, I mean… She’s probably going after the guy already. Alone. And angry.” He sighed.

“Really angry.”

“Oh…” Now she understood.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The door not only slammed open, it flew off its hinges, flipping through the dank room to collide with the opposite wall, sending up a cloud of dust. The force knocked over the man
hiding behind it, and before he could bring his pistol to bear an iron-hard hand clamped down on his own, twisting and forcing him to drop it. Another hand caught his throat and whirled him around, lifting him into the air and slamming him into the wall hard enough to knock all breath out of him.

Katsumi leaned in, glaring into the criminal’s eyes from only inches away. “Are you done running yet? Ready to talk a bit?”

The man squirmed, fighting pointlessly against the forceful hold and choking out his words. “Ready… Jus’ let go…”

“Talk, then I’ll let go.”

“I d-don’ remember th’ ques-“

Katsumi slammed her fist into his face before throwing him to the floor and placing her foot on his neck. “I’m in no mood for games. The man I’m looking for uses the name of ‘the Director’. He’s responsible for the recent bombings. With your connections I’m sure you’ve heard something, and you better hope you’ve heard something, or you’ll be useless to me.” She pressed her heel into his throat and finished in a low voice,
“You don’t want to be useless to me.”

“G-Gamlen…” He man coughed, scratching at her boot as he struggled to breathe. “Gamlen Ordo… got some guys fer ‘im…”

Katsumi released the man, stomping off down the hallway. “I’m sure you know better than to lie. Don’t tell anyone I’m coming.”

The man pushed himself up on his elbow, rubbing his neck as he glared after her. “No problem…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Samuel knocked on the hospital room’s door and opened it to see Ayane smile weakly at him.

“Hi Big L.”

“How’s it goin’, blue-hair?” Law shut the door behind him and walked over. “Feelin’ alright?”

“More or less.” Ayane watched him sit down and then looked at her hands. “I think I can guess why you’re here.”

“Yep.” Law settled as much as he could in the small seat. “We’re tryin’ to figure out where she is, and if I know you two at all, you know where she is. She wouldn’t do this without telling you.”

“No, I know.” Ayane sighed. “I know where she is, where she’s going.”

“But you’re not gonna tell us.”

“No, I’m not. She doesn’t want you to know where she is or she’d have told you herself.”

“I figured that, but she could be in trouble.”

“My sister can take care of herself, Sam, you know that. She has to do this herself or it might be worse for her than physical injury.”

Law sighed, running a hand over his bald head. “You know her best. Just let her know we’re tryin’ to help, alright? She’s not talking to any of us.”

“That has nothing to do with you.” Ayane looked at him sadly. “Any of you. This is her thing.”

“Why is she doing it?”

Ayane sighed and lay back, looking at the ceiling. “Sumi is… angry. She’s past her limit of control right now. She can’t stand back and not do anything anymore, not after this morning. She can’t sit and wait for clues or reports. She doesn’t have a choice but to do this, for her own sanity.” Ayane looked at Samuel. “And she can’t bring anyone with her because if she doesn’t do this herself, she’s failed… again.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Ayane smiled sadly. “It doesn’t need to make sense to anyone else. It makes sense to me and her and we’re the only people it needs to make sense to.”

Law shook his head. “I’ll never understand you two.”

Ayane smiled genuinely this time. “No one will, and believe it or not, that’s something of a comfort in a way.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “I guess no one but you two would understand why that’s a comfort, either.”

She laughed softly. “Now you’re getting it. I’ll be a little nicer and explain just a bit for you, Law. When you only have one person for most of your life, the more exclusive things you have with each other the better it is.”

“’Cause your relationship is more special?”

Ayane smiled. “Exactly!”

“Still seems twisted.”

Ayane shrugged with another small smile. “In lives like ours you take what you can get.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sano ran a hand through his hair, staring at his computer screen as if it’d suddenly show new information. He was currently, temporarily, leading this investigation, plus he was trying to find Katsu- Captain Samakura – and he wasn’t having any luck with either of those endeavors. Reno had been flying patrols across the city, Law was asking around any of Katsumi’s contacts he knew, and Rufus was working his way through the criminal underground for any information on either pursuit.

Sano had no idea what he was doing. He was trying to coordinate things, but really he was just hoping; hoping for a resolution to either problem to present itself. So when his phone suddenly gave a tone signaling he’d received a message he immediately grabbed it, hoping it was from Katsumi. He frowned as he saw it was from an unknown number.

I can help you. Meet me in Room 3.5 in the tunnel beneath the Takagawa Building at 11.

So much about the message seemed odd. Who was this mysterious person who not only knew his problems, but could help with them? And why were they meeting in an underground tunnel? What kind of weird address was “Room 3.5”?

It could be a trap by the bomber or any number of other things but Sano was beyond caring by that point. He grabbed his gun and took off, informing the rest of his team of the message and where he was going. When going off alone, you never went without telling others – not unless you were Katsumi, anyway.

“Want me to come with you? Sounds suspicious.”

Sano smirked at Rufus’ tone. “Just a little suspicious. Keep doing what you’re doing; if whoever this is can help us, I don’t want to scare him away. And if not, I can put a bullet in his head myself.”

“Your call. I’ll stay within the area anyway; we’ll know if your phone goes offline.”

“Probably smart,” Sano replied before ending the call as he pulled up to the building in question, inspecting the entrance. It was apparently closed so he searched a bit and found what appeared to be a cellar door, completely unlocked. “Convenient.” He opened it to reveal a ladder descending into darkness.

At the bottom was a long maintenance tunnel with dim white lighting and doors lining the walls. He counted as he walked past, stopping at Room 4 and looking back at 3. “No 3.5… Obviously.” He took a few steps to a point between them, his eyes flickering and scanning the wall there, finding a slim line and a small spot of energy. Upon pressing his hand to the spot a section of the wall slid up revealing another, thinner hallway. He stepped in and the door shut behind him, but he continued forward.

He ended up in a small square room with a glass wall on one side, very similar to an interrogation room. “You came alone. I’m glad you’re sensible.” A light on the other side of the glass turned on, revealing an older man with graying hair in a short ponytail and a well-groomed short beard. He also wore glasses which, like M’s, hid his eyes. He had a harsh, experienced look to him and his build was strong. He stood at least six feet tall with a solid frame, clothed in a large brown trench coat over a black sweater and pants.

Sano turned towards the glass, studying him as he ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, well, the sense behind coming to a mysterious meeting in a secret underground room alone is debatable.”