Chapter 1: The Assumed Normality
Her surroundings began to blur as she continued to run. Faster, I'm faster than this. She made a sharp turn to her left and took off down a deserted street. She knew that if she didn't find a place to hide soon, they would find her. Already she could feel their presence. It was only a matter of time before they caught up. She urged herself to go faster as she passed the deteriorating buildings of the empty city. She glanced at a nearby street sign. Huo Street. She dropped a small, tattered book as she ran. No one would notice it amidst the rubbish and debris that filled the street. She rounded the next corner and stopped dead in her tracks. There they were. They seemed to have known where she was going when even she, herself, didn't know. Four men in olive green trench coats surrounded her. This is it. I'm going to die here in this desolate place and no one will ever know...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Pull up. Pull up, dammit!" Cato sighed in exasperation. This was the fifth consecutive day he'd had to supervise the new recruits in the flight simulator. So far, not a single pilot had been able to stomach the pressure of keeping the ship aloft.
"That's enough for today. Kumiko, go tell the rest of 'em to come back tomorrow." He collapsed in his chair as the dark-haired girl skipped off to carry out his request. He wouldn't have even been in this situation if his original pilot hadn't suddenly decided to settle down and have a family. Damn you Esmé. You couldn't have chosen a worse time to leave us. The girl called Kumiko returned with a grim expression on her face. Cato looked up as she entered the room.
"What's wrong now?" he asked. Usually he'd be worried to see anything other than a smile on her face, but today he was too tired to give it much thought.
"Cato, what would happen if a certain someone poured syrup on the control panel of the Red Room?" she asked innocently.
"What would happen? We'd have no way of knowing where we're headed when we take off. Why? Don't tell me that someone did that..." he paused, waiting for her to deny it, "No... you didn't. Tell me you didn't!"
He jumped up and dashed to the Red Room. As he entered, he noticed two things. The first was that there was no sign of syrup anywhere. The second was that no one was manning the control system. Rule number one: always keep an eye on the controls. If a problem were to occur this would be the first place to look for an answer. He examined the closest screen. Everything seemed to be normal. All buttons, levers, screens and keyboards were syrup-free. But then why would Kumiko say something like that? She must have known I'd come in here...
As he turned to leave, he heard something. It almost sounded like a giggle. There it was again. He looked around once more. It was a fairly small room so there weren't many places a person could hide. But then, who's to say it's a person...?
Sure enough, when he found the source of the giggle, it wasn't a person. It was a motion sensitive teddy bear with a note tied around its neck. He picked it up and struggled to read the message in the faint, red-tinted light.
Meet me in the dining hall Cato.
~Fungai
The use of the "messenger" was supposed to be restricted to emergencies only. Fungai knew this and wasn't one to bend or break rules without reason. With that in mind, he tucked the bear under his arm and headed for the dining hall.
When Cato entered the large dining hall, his first impression was that everything was normal. Many people stood near the bar and all four tables were filled with their typical occupants. Little Kumiko sat at the table on the far side of the room, fiddling with her black hair and watching her older brothers, Ken'ichi and Kenji, arm wrestle. At the table next to them, Baldwin sat reading a large book. The third table in the back of the room was the usual haunt for Lorelei and Étaín. The two women were sitting side by side paging through the latest fashion magazines. At the closest table, Fungai stood looking over charts with his large feline companion Bastet. Cato immediately strode towards Fungai. As he approached, the albino panther yawned in greeting.
"Do you know anything about this?" Cato asked, showing him the bear as he spoke. Fungai looked up from a map of the current region, and sighed.
"You are more than a little late, my friend..." Fungai paused to scratch Bastet under her jawbone before gathering up his charts. He led Cato towards the door at the back of the room. Through there, they'd be able to speak freely without worrying about being overheard. Bastet leapt from her perch on the table and followed the two men into the room. Cato made sure the door was completely closed before addressing his longtime friend.
"What's going on Fungai? Why did you use the ‘messenger’? You're not supposed to use it unless..."
"We have an insect problem", he interrupted using the code word for spies, "This time, we seem to have an infestation.”
"What do you mean? Everything seems fine."
"Honestly, when was the last time you saw Baldwin reading?"
"Err... well, he was reading a magazine the other day."
"No, he was looking at the pictures. He doesn't know how to read. And what about Kumiko, when has she ever been calm enough to stay seated for more than a minute? I'm telling you, something's afoot." Fungai paused and stared at Bastet for a moment while waiting for his friend's reply.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cato opened the door a crack and peered outside. Nothing had changed since they had entered the back room. When he looked closer, he realized it was as if everything was on a time loop. Baldwin scanned his book for a minute and then turned the page. Kumiko sat staring into the space between her brothers’ arms in a daze. He watched as Lorelei turned the page of her magazine and then turned back to the previous page seconds later. After watching the same thing happen four times in the same minute, Cato realized that there was indeed a big problem.
“What can we do?” he asked Fungai.
“Bastet knows what to do…” The burly, dark skinned man turned to the panther and rubbed her neck. “She knows exactly how to flush out these filthy vermin.” Bastet began to purr happily as Fungai explained the plan…
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