When they arrived at the Brown Line terminal station at the edge of Itsugo Gochome, Mizuno came to a stop, turning off the car. YF looked up from where he was staring at the ground. “We riding transit in?”

Mizuno shook his head. “Orders from the oyabun to drop you off here.”

“And go where?”

Mizuno raised his receiver and swiped once toward YF’s phone. “There.”

YF read the line and then looked up. “Isn’t this where the old Kawaguchi reactor plant was? It hasn’t been used for years.”

“The oyabun needs you to retrieve a subject. The original team failed in their mission,” said Uwada.

“Why am I going alone?” asked YF.

“The oyabun requested specifically that you go alone,” said Uwada.

YF looked at Mizuno in disbelief.

“It’s true,” said Mizuno firmly. “We aren’t sure why but we know she would not make such a request lightly.”

“Will you give me a rifle then?” asked YF.

Uwada shook his head. “She thought it would increase your chances of survival if you approached the facility unarmed. I think you should at least bring your pistol and forget that I suggested it.” Uwada turned his head and looked out the different windows of the vehicle, as if someone were watching them.

YF frowned. He was about to say something when he saw a notification flash on his receiver. It was a message informing him that he should arrive at a Sumida Banking Corporation branch in Nishida City to complete a settlement.

“A settlement for what…?”

He double tapped the message to read it in its entirety. It was a settlement to close on some sort of condo. YF did not have an account at Sumida Bank. And so he was about to pocket his receiver and dismiss the notice as spam until the second message came congratulating him for opening an account. YF double tapped the message, revealing his new account number at Sumida and the initial deposit value. YF breathed in deeply.

“If you need backup I will come,” said Mizuno.

YF looked up to see the different conflicting emotions rotating through Mizuno’s expression.

“The oyabun—” Mizuno started.

“I’ll be fine,” said YF. Reina had promised him a transfer to the Ward Office; it seemed as though she was making good on that promise. YF considered the possibility that she set up the account and settlement just to get rid of him. But Reina was a woman who greatly valued her time. If she wanted him dead, Uwada would have turned and shot him with one of the deactivated rifles back in the warehouse. Perhaps Reina was even a major reason why Erika’s ex-lover hadn’t done the job already. YF pressed the button to release the passenger door and stepped out. “I’ll message you when I’m done,” he said to Mizuno.

Mizuno nodded, continuing to leave the car powered off. YF tapped the pistol on his belly band holster once before walking toward the station. When he arrived at the stairs, he could hear Mizuno start up the car and speed off.

It was late enough in the morning that from the terminal station all the way to his destination, no additional passengers entered his car. Despite his own reassurances that Reina meant him no harm, YF found himself preparing to die. The constant state of sleep deprivation and fatigue made the idea easier to swallow. His only regret was that he could not see Erika one more time before the end. But when he thought about her disinterested tone in their last few calls and messages, the remaining doubts about what he had to do left his mind. If this was a legitimate mission and he accomplished it, he would be one step closer to achieving something that had been impossible even a few months prior.

When he arrived at the station, YF walked up the slow moving escalator, passing by an old man descending on the other side. At the surface platform, he found several rental cycle laying by the kiosk unplugged. When rental cycles were first introduced to Itsugo, every use had to be preceded by a wrist or receiver swipe. But criminals who found the silent modes of transportation convenient had started to use code cards with fake names to access the bikes and ensure untraceability. The Sentinels who found the method equally convenient for untracked excursions decided it was in their interest not to enforce strict identification logging. Eventually people started to leave the bikes continuously unplugged unless they needed to be charged, logged in for days on accounts for “Tanaka Taro”.

YF approached the nearest bike, examining the reactor indicator. It had enough juice to take him to where he needed. He got on and rode the bike down an alley behind the station and out into one of the main streets, going down the street for about fifteen minutes before turning into an industrial area.

The Kawaguchi plant used to make small sized reactors for bikes such as the one he rode and some smaller displacement Tanaka models. But the situation in Itsugo Gochome had gotten worse over the years as crime rates rose, making it harder for Kawaguchi to keep their building free of thieves. Eventually, they moved production closer to Nishida City, and no one who could afford a building so large ever wanted to move into the Itsugo facility. Or so YF had thought.

YF stepped off the bike and walked forward toward the plant entrance. When he approached within about a tenth of a li, he pulled his firearm out of its holster and toward his stomach, his finger lying parallel with the accelerator. He looked down to check the pistol’s reactor levels. He probably had about forty rounds left. It would have to be enough.

The large iron doors were cracked open when he arrived. YF wedged his hand into the opening and pulled, but of course it did not respond. He walked slowly to a nearby panel and scanned his wrist over it.

“Sakai Hiroyuki detected. Access granted.”

YF stood back as the doors opened inward, making very little noise as they did despite their size and weight.

As he entered the building, he could see the gruesome, bloodied bodies of sectarians lying over the floor. Many of their bodies had claw marks from what looked like a bear or a larger animal, their thick coats and armor completely shredded. Ever since the incident at the Double Phoenix compound YF found himself more and more desensitized to such scenes. Though he could feel his heart pounding harder, he did not react nearly as violently as he thought he would. In the distance, a figure was limping toward the far end exit while fireman-carrying a body. YF raised his pistol, lining up the sights.

“Halt!” he shouted.

The person turned around, the silhouette clearly indicating she was a woman.

“Put her down or I will shoot,” YF warned.

The woman dropped the body like a strung up game animal to the side, bending her knees before suddenly dashing toward YF, moving toward him at impossible speeds. YF grimaced and rested his finger against the trigger, pulling to the wall as he tried futilely to realign the sights to his target. But about thirty shaku away YF caught a good glimpse of her face, causing him to quickly holster his gun and hold his arms out to indicate he did not mean to fight.

“Nee-san!” he called out.

The woman did not slow down, continuing to plow toward YF.

“Yui!”

She stopped within arm’s length from him. YF could see that her eyes were completely dilated, veins popping along her face and forehead. The rusty smell of blood emitted from her breath as the life force of multiple sectarians dripped from her fangs onto her lips.

“Yui. I need to take Ms…”

He looked past her to the woman laying on the ground. What was her name? He thought back to when he joined Reina on the trip to visit the Mori family back in Ikusayama. It was as good a guess as any. There couldn’t have been that many ARC subjects, could there have been?

“Mori. I need to take Ms. Mori back to headquarters.”

Hata Yui clutched her head, seeming to struggle with something. The agony in her expression coupled with the fangs and the veins made YF shiver.

“Honey…I…I’m not feeling quite myself…” she whispered in what resembled her natural voice.

She had a hungry look in her eyes. It was obvious she could not control her gaze as it fell to YF’s neck. “I…”

YF tried not to flinch as she inched toward him in a trance like state. “Honey…” he tried his best to imitate Hiroyuki. “What about the ones you already took care of?” He motioned with his head toward the deceased sectarians.

“Theirs is cold…the effect is lower if they’re gone already…I…just a little…” she held onto YF’s shoulders and moved her head toward him. Though the crazed look in her eyes did little to detract from her beauty, YF found her allure fading as she moved closer.

He grabbed her wrist. “I don’t think it will be just a little.”

Yui’s breathing grew more labored, her forehead now touching YF’s. She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry.”

YF slowly reached up and embraced her, pulling her forehead toward his shoulder. His sister-in-law’s hair smelled like rose petals floating in a summer breeze; the scent brought back memories of his mother drying clothes on the roof of their shop. On a summer evening like this his mother would start the laundry a little later than usual, as the afternoon sun was more than sufficient to dry the clothes before dark. Hiroyuki did not like to do any housework other than cooking, which meant it was always YF and his mother on the roof with one hamper of laundry and one bucket of clips. YF’s mother was kind and soft spoken but did not say very much — just like Yui. He didn’t mind working silently beside her, handing her clips from the bucket when he was too short to reach the line. After the task was done they would stand at the edge of the north wall overlooking a river and some trees below. She would speak a little more about the neighbors or family affairs, nothing about politics the way his father and brother would. It was his guaranteed hour of quality time with her alone once a week. But by the time he could dry the laundry himself, he found himself going to the roof alone.

Yui lowered her head unexpectedly and bit into his neck. The feeling was a small prick at first but the pain grew sharper within seconds. YF felt himself cry out instinctively but no sound came from his mouth. It was then that the pain seemed to subside as his vision blurred, the numbing effect starting from his neck reaching out to his whole body and lulling him into a comforting sleep. YF was not sure how much time had elapsed before he heard a gasp from Yui before she withdrew gently from him.

“I…” she started.

The image of her was still out of focus as YF reached out toward her hand, only to have her pull away. Without another word, Yui pushed past him and ran toward the entrance. YF could hear her footsteps fading into the distance.

YF collapsed on the ground, reaching out to stabilize himself. When he reached up to his neck, he could feel something warm and damp where the puncture wounds were, but when he touched it again a few seconds later the area had already become dry. The numbness in his body faded first from his chest and eventually reached his extremities. Even afterward, the prickling sensation lingered in his calves and forearms. YF started crawling toward the woman who was laying on the ground at least a quarter li away. When he felt the strength return to his legs, he paused and stood up slowly. He raised his receiver up to his face and typed in Mizuno’s number, texting him to come to the Kawaguchi plant. YF pocketed the receiver.

He then started walking toward the woman again. After what seemed like an eternity, YF found himself standing over her as she lay awkwardly to one side. She clad only in green hospital scrubs and underwear. On her back was a number “03” in digital font, just like Naka’s, and just like the woman they had retrieved from the Southlands. YF crouched down and turned her over so she was face down on the ground. He then placed his arms under hers and hoisted her upright as he stood, turning her around to face him. YF paused as the woman’s head fell forward into his chest, her long fangs grazing against the fabric of his clothing. Her veins were showing along her face and forehead just like Yui, giving her a frightening appearance. She was muttering something and groaning, but did not make any more movements. YF quickly examined her to make sure she was not wounded, but realized that even if she had been she would have healed by now. YF bent and then raised her into a fireman hold.

Before leaving the area, he looked around the abandoned assembly lines to see if he could locate where they had taken her from. But after searching for any source of light that would indicate an operational terminal, he decided he would need to leave the scene quickly before anyone noticed he was there. Whether Aritomo or even Reina’s own men, YF had a good feeling he should not be discovered. He power walked back toward the entrance of the plant as quickly as he could.