Shoda nodded slowly, breathing out at least two long puffs of smoke before speaking. “Takahashi’s voice activation makes sense. Your blood sample does not. You and Hiroyuki shouldn’t share the same DNA. Why would the device identify you as him?”

YF shook his head. “I have no idea. But I know he’s at the center of this. He has to be.”

“As much as I might agree with you Sakai, from a professional standpoint everything you’re saying is circumstantial evidence.”

YF’s heart sank.

Shoda moved the vape box away from his face. “Hiroyuki might have known Takahashi Momoko but that doesn’t mean he knew about the murders or her missing. Nobody in Gochome will say who our dead Yamada Taro is. There’s just a lot of blurry connections among Ms. Hayashi, Viper Sect, the dead man, Takahashi, Hiroyuki and Aritomo Zaibatsu.”

YF decided now was the time to reveal what he knew. “Hiroyuki was in charge of a classified project involving subjects from the old families. The project shut down four years ago, around when the camera replacement and firmware updates happened. The result of the project was multiple old family heiresses becoming unable to survive without consuming the blood of living people.” He could see Shoda raising an eyebrow, but continued. “That much I know is true, and I have it from a trusted source. The next part is speculation, but I think Hiroyuki carried on the project past its officially sanctioned period. He has been using the bugged cameras to kidnap people in the lower levels. He then takes them and feeds them to multiple ex-subjects to keep them alive. Their families are rich enough to cover any sort of expense resulting from the fallout.”

“That’s quite some theory,” said Shoda, raising his vape box to his mouth.

“And he has Fujii,” said YF.

Shoda paused, hovering the box below his lips.

YF continued “I am sure she will be dead within a day if she isn’t already.”

“Sakai, nobody messes with Sentinels or the Police Force. No matter how much they think they have power over us. Particularly not an admin personnel like Fujii. That would be like killing a messenger.”

“And yet my brother did. Which means he has something very dark to hide. I think he was on to us with the firmware check. She uncovered it.”

“My understanding is that district people stick together,” said Shoda.

“Fujii’s not from Itsugo, though.”

“But she’s from a similar background as your family, probably. Your brother has gone on the news multiple times to express his pride in his roots and the idea that district folk are not to be trifled with or looked down on. Why take Fujii?” asked Shoda.

“Familiarity can breed contempt,” said YF. “Erika always liked to say you turn into the people you hate.”

Shoda inhaled then exhaled a puff of smoke. “An Itsugo boy feeding his own people to the country’s elite to climb to the top. It’s hard to imagine someone as smart as him would be so un-self aware to see that. But my wife always told me a person can’t see their own face.”

“I find that idea more unsettling than turning into someone I hate,” said YF.

“It is, isn’t it?” asked Shoda, puffing out another long cloud of smoke.

“What I need is the arm of the Ward Police. We need to enter the Aritomo building and arrest my brother,” said YF.

Shoda sighed, brushing his hand over his hair. “I trust that you’re telling me the truth but this isn’t a call I can make.”

YF felt a sense of dread. “Are you going to tell me to talk to Magistrate Uraga?” he asked.

“I am,” said Shoda.

“Uraga hates me.”

Shoda’s contempt at that comment was palpable. “Find a way to deal with that. If your goal is to make it to the Force it won’t be the last time you’ll need to do it.”

“It’s not that I’m afraid to talk to him,” said YF, even though he knew it was a lie. “Isn’t it a waste of time to try if I know it won’t work?”

“How important is this to you?” asked Shoda.

“Very.”

“Then you obviously don’t think it’s a waste of time. In any case, I have a feeling if you press the right buttons it will work,” said Shoda.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Just try it.” Shoda placed the vape box on the table. “Higashi and I will go with you.”

***

Sitting across from Uraga with Shoda and Higashi felt slightly better than meeting the Ward Magistrate by himself. But that came with another problem: YF was unsure if there would be some discrepancy between what Shoda said to him before and what he would say now. People had a way of changing their story in front of their bosses.

Shoda surprised him. “The audit and investigation has led us to believe that Aritomo was responsible for firmware updates on all Itsugo cameras. They then conducted a ‘timing attack’, where the reset devices would generate predictable random numbers such that they could be taken control of.”

YF was slightly annoyed that Shoda did not mention that all of that information came from YF’s legwork and Toa’s analysis.

Magistrate Uraga seemed intrigued. “So let’s say Aritomo has control of the cameras. What do they do with that?” he asked.

Shoda glanced at YF. “We have some theories on what they are doing but no hard evidence, sir.”

“I’m assuming he means you have a theory, Sakai,” said Uraga looking at him.

YF tried to think of something that sounded more plausible than the truth. “As you know, sir, Aritomo has an advanced biological research wing, one that takes contracts from national research centers and other clients. We believe they’re kidnapping people on the ground level for some sort of research purpose. The logic is that such people will not be missed.”

“That’s quite some accusation,” said Uraga. “Don’t take this personally Sakai, but we can only do things based on hard evidence, that’s how the Force works. It seems the only concrete issue we have is tampering of government property. That’ll take at least several months to make it through the courts, and the result will probably not be worth the trial. Aritomo would dump a pile of DTKs onto the Itsugo Sentinel Office, rebuild your building, and wash their hands clear of it.”

YF prepared himself for what would come next. “Fujii was the one who discovered all the firmware of the cameras made by separate manufacturers came from one source: Aritomo. She disappeared the day after. Her receiver tracker stopped at the Aritomo building.”

Everyone froze, the tension between Uraga’s glare and YF’s eyes could be cut by a knife.

“You put her in harm’s way,” Uraga whispered.

“Yes, sir.”

Uraga grabbed the table and lifted it as easily as one would a piece of paper, shoving it toward YF who had to dodge out of the way. “You!” Uraga pointed a finger at YF. “You and your brother are exactly the same!” His finger was shaking and spittle flew from his mouth with every word. “You think you’re some kind of hero, coming to the rescue of people who didn’t ask for it. In reality, you satisfy your ego by twisting everything into a story where you are the savior, and everyone else pleads for you to perform your virtuous deeds. Then, when you’re done with them, you toss them aside to be devoured by your enemies!”

Tears started falling unexpectedly from Magistrate Uraga’s eyes. “I loved her…and you shamed me,” he said in a choking voice, his finger still jabbed toward YF. “She would never look at me the same again.”

YF stepped to the side so that the overturned table no longer covered him. “Sir, I am planning to enter the Aritomo Zaibatsu building, by force if necessary, to arrest Hiroyuki,” said YF. “Fujii is in danger because of my actions. I will take the responsibility of retrieving her, even if it means my death. But if possible, I want the backing of the Force. That will ensure our success.”

“Arrest on what grounds? You have no evidence!” Uraga yelled.

“Tampering with government property as you said,” said YF. “That gives us probable cause. And when we find something much worse which I know we will, we will can him for good.”

Uraga staggered. “She’s already dead…knowing him.” He sat back down in his chair, slumped. “The older Sakai is about the only person in this Ward worse than the younger one.”

“I will go,” YF repeated. “Please send support with me.”

“And I as well,” said Higashi, standing up. The silent man’s voice was shaking.

Uraga held up a hand. “Higashi…if this is about what Sakai did to your brother…”

“It is,” said Higashi. “We’ve waited long enough for our revenge and now is the time to strike. I will go to my brother at once and make preparations.”

YF glanced toward Shoda as if asking what it was exactly that Hiroyuki did to Higashi’s brother, but Shoda gave him a clear indicator that now was not the right time to ask.

Magistrate Uraga breathed out. “As much as I would love to put a bolt through your brother’s head, I am still the leader of this office and I cannot send a police force out for a personal vendetta. Nor do I think it wise to announce what you’ve told me. I’m sure the elder Sakai has informants here.”

He nodded toward Higashi. “Higashi has connections with a few groups who will help.” He then shifted his gaze to YF. “Get her back alive, or I will ensure you are blacklisted from every office in the country if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Yes sir,” said YF.

***

The taxi ride from the office to wherever they were going was uncomfortable. YF spent the entire time wondering what Hiroyuki had done to Higashi’s family and how that would affect what they thought of YF. The Higashi family was a relatively minor pure blood family compared to bigger names like Hayashi, Hata, Oki, and Naka. But YF had heard of them and assumed Higashi Seiji was from some sort of branch family such that he had to work in the Nishida Police Force.

As they went further and further from the city and pulled into the family manor, however, it was obvious Detective Higashi was no branch family scion. The manor was guarded by men donning heavy armor in similar style to that of Blue Rose. When the taxi reached the long parking dock next to the manor, a tall skinny man approached the vehicle. He opened the door on the passenger side.

“Higashi-san,” said the man, bowing.

“Sakamoto,” Higashi nodded.

“Good evening Higashi-san,” said Sakamoto. “You haven’t been home in some time, Lord Higashi is waiting for you in the dining hall.”

Shoda, Higashi, and YF followed Sakamoto through the foyer and up the stairs, across the hall to the dining room. Inside, a man about Hiroyuki’s age was sitting in the head seat. He stood up when the three entered.

“Shoda, it’s been a while.” He turned to Detective Higashi. “And Seiji, glad you’re home.” The man finally turned to YF and bowed. “My name is Higashi Ryoji, please take care of me.”

“Sakai Yasufumi, please take care of me,” said YF bowing back.

“Please have a seat gentlemen, the food will be ready shortly,” said Sakamoto as he pulled out the seats. Shoda and YF sat to the left of Ryoji while Seiji sat to his right.

“You ever wonder how old families make any money, Sakai-san?” asked Ryoji.

“I...I imagine it’s mostly from investments,” said YF.

Ryoji laughed out loud. “You’re a diplomatic one!” he exclaimed. “But I know most people think it’s from political dynasties and the corruption thereof. Though that’s a rather simplified way of viewing it.”

“How do the old families make money, Higashi-san?” YF asked politely.

Sakamoto came out of the kitchen as silent as a ghost, expertly placing plates of beef soaked in blood in front of each seated person.

“It’s from war. Centuries before the liberation we had feudalism. Samurai, Daimyo and the like. The occupiers gave us centralized armies and the nation continued as such for the next millenia.” Ryoji cut a slice of beef and popped it into his mouth. “But what happens when the population is too large to govern? People fall in the cracks. The local police—” he pointed his fork at YF. “— or not the police, the Sentinels, noble as they are, are funded by donations. Everything is decentralized. In a world of pleasures nobody wants to enlist in the national army. Then what? We’ve come full circle, Sakai-san. Back to feudalism. People say feudalism is dead, but no, we are more feudal now than we were millenia ago.”

Blue Rose’s connections to the Hayashi family, the armed men in front of the Higashi manor — YF had never thought about why pure blood families always seemed to have paramilitary attaches. But Higashi Ryoji’s explanation made sense.

“Protection, conflict, war,” Ryoji continued. “That’s what’s necessary in this world. Somebody to keep the people safe. In peace they look to us for protection, in conflict they look to us for resolution, and in war...well...nothing will inspire men more than a nobleman riding his horse at the head of a charge.”

YF recalled that old family men tended to go through military training. Though the practice seemed ancient in theory, he had to admit there was something striking about pure blooded men in uniform. But YF was a bit concerned with the way Ryoji was phrasing things. For YF who had grown up brawling on the streets, Ryoji seemed a little too idealistic about violent conflict. But if this conversation was going where YF thought it was, he could resist his urge to cringe until they fulfilled the mission.

After dinner, the three of them followed Ryoji to his personal library, where a large suit of armor sat behind a glass cage at the far end. A sword rack with a katana, wakizashi and tanto, all of matching sea blue motifs stood in front of the glass display. YF thought now would be a good time to broach the subject.

“I plan to arrest my brother Sakai Hiroyuki. We have cause to believe his company tampered with government property but I suspect he’s done much worse, and he has taken a district administrator hostage. If he resists I will shoot, and if I die, so be it.”

Ryoji nodded in satisfaction but did not reply.

“I will go with him brother. We must avenge the shame Hiroyuki brought to our family,” said Seiji.

“No!” Ryoji shouted, startling everyone in the room. The others kept silent, waiting for him to continue. “The shame he brought was upon me. I will not let anyone else take on the burden of revenge. I will go.”

“Then what about the family?” asked Seiji.

Ryoji picked the katana up and turned to Seiji, placing it in the latter’s hands.

“I officially designate Higashi Seiji the pillar of our family, the Higashi Clan,” said Ryoji. “And am retiring from family duties.”

“Brother, I cannot—” Seiji started.

Ryoji shot him a threatening glare, causing Seiji to back down. “The former pillar always designates the next pillar. That is how it has been, that is how it will be. I trust you will not violate our traditions,” said Ryoji.

“I would not dare,” said Seiji with a bow.

Ryoji turned to YF. “I shall join you in confronting Sakai Hiroyuki. The Yasuda Electronics building should still be vacated on Denki Street. We will meet there at dawn on the first hour. Sakamoto will take care of your taxi fare. Make any preparations you need.”

“Yes sir,” YF bowed.

***

YF drove to the spot where he and Erika had sat near the Sentinel Station the day it was bombed. There, under a bush lay Erika’s body armor and Maeda’s gun that had been given to him at Yaura Kaigan. After strapping the body armor on and slinging the rifle over his back, he looked out into the distance of the still dark night sky. He thought about when he first met Erika at a community event where he was in charge of the cooking crew. All new Sentinels had to participate in such things; he had stopped going to them a few years in.

While they prepared food for the homeless, YF was impressed by the fact that she never once asked what he did for a living, where he lived, whether or not he had ever gone to university, or even what he was planning to do. They instead spent most of the time discussing the economic situation of Itsugo, political topics, and bulk cooking recipes. Erika had a genuine heart for the helpless and underserved. YF would later find out she was sectarian, but not every sectarian who claims to help the weak and fight the strong actually does. Erika seemed to embody that value from the moment he met her.

Memories of those moments and the thought that he might never see her again brought tears to his eyes. The quiet sobs turned into open wails as the sleeplessness, pressure, and emotional turmoil of all the recent events descended on him at once. YF did not know how much time had passed when he finally calmed back down. For a moment he thought about abandoning the mission and not meeting with Higashi. But the thought of going back on his word and the guilt of putting Fujii in danger would not allow him to turn back. YF wondered if this was the reason why Higashi had waited so long to take action. A person could be more compelled to commit when someone else is involved.

YF closed his eyes and tried to recall the smell of Erika’s hair that day they sat in the spot he was standing. It was the smell of rain falling on pine trees. He smiled, forcing himself to appreciate that moment, whether or not he could have it again. YF then wiped his tears quickly and jogged back up the trail toward the car.

***

When YF showed up to the abandoned Yasuda Electronics building, Higashi had not arrived yet. YF spent a bit more DTKs than he would have on the way there buying a vape box, now drawing long puffs of smoke as he waited. He and Erika had committed to quitting during their dating years. But he needed it to calm his nerves now.

It was not long before Ryoji arrived at the building, helmetless but donning armor in the same fashion as his retainers. He held a standard issue infantry rifle, likely from his time in the military. Higashi Ryoji seemed irritated and nervous, though he was trying his best to remain poised.

YF pocketed his vape box and checked his cartridges and gun. Sentinels received some yearly training on rifles even if the office didn’t have a single one. It was an easy way to encourage young men to fork the bill for applying to the academy as well as reduce future training costs, all while not making a large dent in the Force’s budget. Now YF could only hope that such training would be enough for the next step.

After checking his gun as best as he could remember, YF turned to Ryoji. “You ready?”

“Yes I am Sakai,” Ryoji replied with forced bravado. “I have only been deployed to disaster relief missions during my time in,” he admitted. “But live fire training should be sufficient. We’ll be alright.”

YF plucked his vape box and handed it to Ryoji. “You forgot the most important part of throwing your life away on missions with questionable survivability: nicotine.”

“Much obliged,” said Ryoji, receiving the box and taking a long puff.

“I grew up with a guy who signed up to the national army. Joined the Nishida Police Force afterward. He deployed north to put down the rebellion a decade ago,” said YF.

“Leftist radicals, got what was coming for them,” Ryoji murmured.

Eiji was very apolitical and didn’t care much who he was fighting at the time. He only went north because he was told to go north; YF felt like that detail didn’t have to be shared now.

YF continued. “He told me that when the bolts are flying people forget about rank and command. You just try to keep your brother next to you alive.”

“We did share a camaraderie in the army,” said Ryoji defensively. “I didn’t think of the enlisted as below myself.”

“All I’m saying, Higashi-san, is I hope that for the next few hours we will keep each other alive. You are now closer to me than Hiroyuki, and I am closer to you than Seiji. The first bolt that flies our way will bond us by fire.”

Ryoji nodded, handing the vape box back to YF. He then placed a firm hand on YF’s shoulder. “Brother it is then. You are my brother.”

YF nodded. “Let’s go.”

But as the two of them were about to turn, they saw an armored man clutching a rifle approach them from the opposite entrance of the building. YF immediately brought the rifle butt up to his shoulder and pointed his gun at the man. “Identify yourself!” YF shouted.

“I see the annual training did some good,” said a familiar voice.

YF lowered the gun slowly. “Magistrate...Uraga?”

Uraga emerged from the shadows with his own body armor and a Tactical Armed Police rifle in his arms. “I will not allow anybody to think that I sent other men to die for the woman I love while I sat in my cushioned seat.” He reached a hand out toward YF. “Give me that box.”

YF handed him the vape box, watching as Uraga took a few puffs.

“I will prove you completely and utterly wrong in your judgment Sakai, and I will put so many bolts in Hiroyuki’s body that the coroner will not recognize him.”

YF knew the mission might result in Hiroyuki’s death, but he was still hoping to capture him alive. After all, YF could never pay back to Hiroyuki what the latter did for him, even if it turned out Hiroyuki was a sick psychopath. Hearing Uraga’s thirst for blood made YF uncomfortable, but there was no turning him back now. And if the rumors about Uraga’s abilities were to be believed, it would help their survival.

“Understood. All ready then?” asked YF.

Ryoji nodded first, then Uraga.