YF found Viper Sect’s territory in Itsugo Gochome more easily than expected, likely because he had been driving manually that time he and Erika ran into her former colleagues. The road block they stopped at then was no longer set up; instead, a night market with vendors pawning all sorts of wares both mundane and strange filled the early morning with noise. It was odd that in many parts of Itsugo the night market would’ve folded by now, when the bulk of the Sentinels had gone home to sleep. Operating later than then would just be inviting trouble. But on the ground level with no surveillance, no Sentinel drones, and not a single shield dispenser in sight, the market was bustling as if nothing would happen. Why?

A man in a long trench coat approaching YF’s car answered those internal inquiries. “I don’t recognize you,” the man said flatly.

“I’m looking for Machida,” YF replied, recalling the only name he could remember from that night.

The man lifted his vape box to his mouth. “Imagine what would happen if Machida showed up every time someone asked for him at the gates.”

“Sentinel business.” YF held up his Sentinel badge. “Scan it if you’re suspicious.”

“I would recognize a fake ID when I see it,” said the man, taking a long draw from his vape box. “Yours might be fine. But you’re not supposed to be here.”

“And I wouldn’t be unless it was important. Don’t let me on your turf if you don’t want to. But at least get Machida to meet me at the gate then. It’s not like we come here every day.” YF looked up at the arch that marked the beginning of the shotengai.

“Kiss the ground. Get out.” The man grunted and walked off while YF engaged the parking sequence. When Machida arrived, YF was already waiting outside the car.

“I remember you,” said Machida, approaching him with a scowl on his face.

YF lifted his Sentinel badge once more. “Itsugo Sentinel business. It’s about the murder in Gochome from a few weeks back. The ID-less man.”

“We can take care of our own problems. And the Sentinels are not supposed to be here. There was a deal.”

“Except for serious crimes,” said YF. “And we were here the day we recovered the body.”

“Yes we didn’t interfere back then,” said Machida. “But that doesn’t mean he’s our man.”

“Isn’t it only natural that we ask a few questions if we want to find out whose man he is exactly?”

“Why not do that then? Why now? Doesn’t the Ward Police deal with murders? This isn’t something your people deal with,” said Machida.

“Well I’m helping with the case,” YF lied. “You must also know about the disappearance of Takahashi Momoko, which we just found out about. We believe the two cases are tied.”

Machida thought long and hard, opening and then clenching his fist like he was trying to find a vape box that was not there. “It’ll be up to the boss,” he finally said, motioning for YF to follow. “Ishikawa will watch your car,” he added. YF glanced once at the man he had first met at the Gochome entrance, presumably Ishikawa. He then followed Machida and climbed into the car after him; the Sect Enforcer typed some message into his receiver, sent it, and promptly drove off through the shotengai gate and deeper into the compound.

“So I take it Viper Sect must have taken their own actions to find out what happened,” said YF.

Machida did not reply.

“Some sort of code of silence, Machida? I’m just here to find justice for your man.”

“Justice doesn’t flow down here from the uppers,” Machida spat. “Just piss, shit, and other sewage.”

YF kept silent after that, deciding it wouldn’t be worth pursuing more conversation until they got there.

They arrived at a building about as drab as the former Sentinel Station in Itsugo, except it was probably more properly maintained. YF followed Machida through the front sliding door. The inside was much more cramped than the Sentinel Station, with more space allocated for storing things than office desk space. Still, there were multiple people sitting at terminals doing what looked like office work, many of them secretary types that looked not much different from Fujii. That time he helped Erika infiltrate Double Phoenix Sect’s turf he did not get a chance to look at their headquarters, making him curious as to whether that sect and this sect’s offices resembled each other – shockingly mundane.

A man whose face was covered by a terminal called out to him. “Mr. Sakai. Forgive me for my lack of manners. I will be done soon.”

YF could see him returning to a phone call on his receiver, speaking in a low voice such that he could not catch what the man was saying. After he was finished, the man stood up and bowed to YF. He was very skinny and wearing a nice suit. In true sectarian fashion, even if the man had been marked, he was dressed such that they would not show.

“Mr. Sakai, please come to the conference room.” The man gestured toward the back. Machida nodded to YF, who then proceeded to go toward the back room. The man followed him and stood in the door frame, motioning to the end of the room. “Please, have a seat,” he said.

YF looked around. The meeting room consisted of multiple low, cushy armchairs surrounding a coffee table. He recalled the image of Hiroyuki sitting at the head of the dining table, though he was unsure what he should do in this situation. The man looked at him, seemingly puzzled at what was taking YF so long. YF made a quick decision, approaching the left-of-head seat and then sitting down very slowly.

“Mr. Uwada will be here shortly,” said the man before bowing deeply and shutting the door.

As if the door was made of some soundproof material, the world went silent after that. Moments later, YF noticed the very faint ticking sound of an archaic analog clock on the wall; after he noticed it, the light noise somehow began to fill the entire room. He stared at the moving second hand, trying to recall when the last time he had seen one of those clocks outside of a movie was. He became fixated on it, unable to look away.

When the door opened, YF tried to figure out how much time had passed, but then realized that he had completely missed the hour and minute hands such that he could not tell. He turned to the door, where two men filed in and sat in the head and right-of-head seats. YF suddenly remembered the name of the other sectarian from that night — Kubota — who was the one who sat right-of-head. YF did not stand to bow to them, nor did they bow to him.

“Mr. Sentinel,” Uwada started.

YF recalled that voice as the voice of Erika’s former lover. When they approached the roadblock during the first encounter the floodlight had shielded him from view. Now that YF could properly look at him, he had to admit that the man was tall, good looking, and seemed able to lead a group of people not exactly known for their orderliness.

“Mr. Uwada,” YF acknowledged.

“As I recall there was a deal on protocol in Gochome…” Uwada started.

“It’s an urgent matter, as you know,” YF interrupted. He knew Uwada could probably see through his veneer of confidence, but he had to attempt it anyway.

“We have our own men looking for Takahashi Momoko,” said Uwada. “Rest assured we can take care of the good people of Gochome without assistance.”

“I’m going to need more information on who the dead man was. In addition I came to inform you that we will be looking for Takahashi Momoko, and will be on the premises.”

“Kuroda doesn’t have resources to look for Ms. Takahashi,” said Uwada.

“The resource is me.”

Uwada scoffed. “Magistrate Kuroda assigned you to run around Gochome looking for a missing woman under the protection of a chivalrous organization? Mr. Sakai, do you know how many people go missing on the ground level?”

“About fifty a year,” said YF.

Uwada laughed out loud. “Says the man who also believes Itsugo only has 200,000 people. What about the people without registration Mr. Sakai? People with nothing but a wrist ID to prove that they’ve ever been alive? People who get no benefits to education, healthcare, even public housing?”

Uwada leaned in toward YF. “I admire your guts.” He pointed two fingers close to YF’s chest. “Buit coming here was not a rational decision.” He leaned back. “Please remember this, Mr. Sakai. You may be a resident in Itsugo but you are still an upper. An upper who has no idea what is going on down here. An upper who is part of a corrupt organization that claims to uphold the law. And even if that were true, an organization upholding laws designed only to keep those beneath continuously beneath.”

“Uppers don’t assist the chivalrous organizations? Form part of your ranks?” asked YF. He thought of course, about Erika.

“Upper is a mentality,” said Uwada. “And you can always tell who has the mentality of an upper. You do, Mr. Sakai.”

“Seems rather discourteous to make assumptions about me when I’ve made none about you,” said YF.

“Humor me then, Mr. Sakai. What is it you know about our way of life down here?”

“I’m not obligated to answer that,” said YF. “And you’re deflecting my questions, something I did not expect someone like you to do. You see, while you made many negative assumptions about me, I had mostly positive assumptions about you. Namely that you would be forthright and honest with me.”

Uwada continued to draw on his vape box in silence.

YF shrugged his shoulders. “So first you deflect, now you just won’t answer. Some odd behavior for men known for their bravery and chivalry.”

Uwada lifted a finger off the box, shaking at YF with a smile on his face. “You should be at the Ward Office with those other slimy eels. You talk well.”

“I just want to find a killer and a missing woman,” said YF.

Uwada blew out a puff of smoke. “I’ll tell the brothers and sisters you can go as you please here. Just you, no others. You’ll have to take my word for it that you won’t be harmed by them.” Uwada slapped his knees and stood up. “But as you’ve already guessed, not every soul in this area answers to me. The other Enforcers certainly don’t, and the Mountain Master definitely does not.”

“Is that a threat Mr. Uwada?” asked YF.

“Say and think what you want but you know I’m telling you the truth. We live in chaos down here Mr. Sakai. The real law of the jungle. You suggested you have some idea of what that’s like, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Uwada bowed once and then left the room with Kubota before YF could stand and bow back.

***

“I don’t have an answer for your first inquiry,” said YF.

He could see the disappointment on Kigali’s face as they sat together on the park bench.

“Then I think maybe you should sleep soon. Don’t you have to go to…wherever they’re using as a temporary Station?” asked Kigali.

YF knew Kigali knew where that was. “We’re in the Antelope Café. It’s not a big secret,” said YF. “But I needed to talk to you about something first.”

“What’s that?” asked Kigali.

“I need some information.”

“And what’s in it for me?”

YF nodded. “A businessman through and through, though.”

“Not sure what else you expected.”

YF gave it some thought. “I will speak to some contacts in Nishida Ward about the vehicle modifications, specifically requesting a meeting with Magistrate Uraga.” YF figured leaving out the fact that Uraga hated him would be a good idea.

“That’s it?” asked Kigali.

“It’s a start. And I’m not asking you for any risks here, I just need information on some mods. I figured you could give the answers with little effort.”

Kigali sighed and made a motion with his fingers as if beckoning someone to come over. “Give me the specs or whatever. I’ll let you know now.”

YF handed Kigali a chip with footage from his car’s dash cam the night he and Erika accidentally drove into Uwada’s territory.

“A memory chip?” asked Kigali.

“Forgot my receiver at home,” said YF.

“Who forgets to take their receiver?” Kigali mumbled, taking the chip and eyeing it suspiciously.

“My wife has mine. I’m not really sure when I’m going to get it back since she’s somewhere else right now,” said YF.

Kigali examined YF’s face as if assessing whether he was telling the truth. He then plugged in the chip, watching the video clips. Within a few seconds his eyes widened. “These are prototype mods. But very cutting edge…mix of Ardan, Xian, some of the better Kazen ones. This is really…is there any way I could get a look at these vehicles? Which Sect did you say this was?”

“It’s not important which Sect it was,” said YF. As much as he disliked Uwada, he didn’t feel like outing him. Something about using his position to harass his wife’s ex-boyfriend felt both petty and a way to prove Uwada right on his assessment of who YF was. YF didn’t want either.

YF pointed at Kigali’s receiver. “And from what you’re saying it seems like you didn’t install these modifications, which means they didn’t let you on their turf, and it’d be dangerous for you to go.”

Kigali smirked. “I’m in danger just walking on the street every minute.”

“Not like this though,” said YF. “How many DTKs do you think these mods cost?”

“That isn’t even the problem,” said Kigali. “The bigger question is who has the connections to bring these into the country. It almost seems like the sect would have some really high up connection. But that makes no sense.”

YF thought it over for a moment. “No…no I think it makes perfect sense.” He turned to Kigali. “How can I figure out who imported these?”

“The trail can be very long and wind up in a dead end,” Kigali cautioned.

“So I should start figuring out which ships imported these?”

Kigali shook his head. “You need to figure out who paid for these. The trail of DTKs is usually more reliable than anything.”

YF nodded slowly. “I think I have an idea.”