Ami continued to lament while staring out of Rei’s hospital window. Thankfully, movement in the corner of her eye became a welcome distraction. She gazed upward at the adjacent side of the building, looking for its source.

“I see,” Ami said to herself, then turned to Rei, making a connection in her mind that she had been wondering about for some time now. “How cruel.” Without another word, Ami left the room and headed back to the elevators, giving a nod to the nurses as she did.

“Well?” said one of the nurses to her colleague. “She’s gone now. Tell me!”

“Oh, alright!” the other replied. “Well, rumor has it, Dr. Mizuno had her friend, the patient she just visited, placed here with us as an employment perk. I guess she’s sort of famous.”

“Oh. Well, that’s not so bad, is it?”

“You’ve seen the girl. You know she doesn’t belong here. She should be in a long-term psychiatric care facility! Then, there’s the fact that she hardly ever visits. I can’t remember the last time I saw her up here.”

“What’s wrong with that patient anyway?”

“That’s the thing—nobody knows! Her condition presents like catatonia, but every now and then, she has one of those inexplicable episodes… It’s been a few weeks now since the last, but people in that state don’t usually respond at all. It’s a sad case. She was such a pretty girl. We had to cut her hair and start using hard restraints when the fits started. I hate having to do it, but it’s for her own safety, and ours!”

After a few more minutes of gossiping, the nurses were distracted by the distant sound of moaning. The moans turned into shouts, and then incessant screams.

“Oh, dear. Speak of the devil, maybe literally! That’s Miss Hino. She’d been doing so well, too! I’ll get the sedative; you call for the doctor!”

***

Minako returned to her rooftop lookout point, removed her eye mask, and threw her trench coat back on before sitting on a ventilation unit. With a sigh, she reached out and turned her police scanner back on. The wind whipped her face as she listened with her eyes closed. Her recent appearance meant there was a lot of chatter about Sailor V. In the past, she might have enjoyed being in the spotlight, but now it was interfering with her work.

When genuine calls did start to come through again, they were the usual domestic disturbances followed by a report of a wandering elderly woman in need of assistance. Compared to her recent high-speed chase and armed standoff, these kinds of calls were not worth the time of a Sailor Soldier, even one not utilizing her full powers.

"Come on, someone give me something!” Minako spoke under her breath, tapping her foot in frustration.

As if responding to her request, Minako suddenly sensed another presence on the roof, and upon realizing who it was, she couldn’t help but laugh to herself. This was not what she had meant.

“Oh? Another visitor?" Minako questioned aloud without turning around.

"Sharp as always, Minako. Long time no see," Ami greeted her old friend pleasantly.

"What brings someone like you here at this time of night, Dr. Mizuno?" Minako replied with a wry smile.

"That's funny, I was going to ask the same of you," Ami responded.

"Liar," Minako challenged

"Excuse me?"

"You know exactly why I'm here, don't you Ami?"

A brief silence followed before Ami answered, "Yes.” She then approached the edge of the rooftop, close to where Minako was sitting, peered down, and immediately spotted Rei’s hospital room window, from where she had earlier spotted movement on the roof. “An interesting vantage point. How long have you been doing this?” she questioned airily.

“Ever since I realized what Rei’s episodes were really about. She’s been quite helpful, you know.”

“How wicked of you!”

“That’s rich coming from you, Ami!” Minako guffawed. “At least I’m doing my part, and this way, it’s like Rei is too!”

“Oh? Are you saying you require assistance?”

Minako was growing tired of Ami’s passive aggressive jabs. Luckily, the distant sound of screaming interrupted their conversation

"Right on cue," Minako commented.

Minako and Ami watched Rei’s window as the lights turned on, and figures could be seen rushing in to tend to the girl as she struggled against her bed restraints.

Minako scoured the city. Spotting a cloud of smoke in the distance, she pulled off her coat and donned her eye mask once more. "As much as I’d like to continue this little chat, Ami, it’s time for me to go to work."

"Minako,” Ami asked in a softer tone than before, “are you really okay with this? With using Rei as some sort of monster detector?"

Minako didn’t answer right away. She stepped up to the roof edge before replying, "I believe this is Rei's way of fighting. I think taking out the evil she senses could help with her recovery, so that’s what I’m going to do." Then, with a single bound, Minako took off into the night.

"Now who's the liar?" Ami said quietly, watching Sailor V scale buildings until she was out of sight. She then reached into her brief case and fished out a small, blue hand-held device with the symbol of Mercury on its cover. Ami felt no need to inform Minako, or Luna for that matter, but she had been using her old Moon Kingdom computer to measure the power levels of Sailor V’s enemies for a while now.

It had been years since any serious threats had appeared, of course. Lately, however, Ami had noticed a concerning trend in the frequency and strength of her opponents. Something sinister was at work, and it couldn’t be happening at a worse time for Ami, when she was so close to enacting her big plan.

"Let's see how Sailor V fairs against this one,” Ami muttered, “If my calculations are accurate, we could be in trouble…."