9:13pm, Thursday the 9th October, 2132.

The skylanes reminded Kato of an electronic Jackson Pollock painting; a bizarre and abstract wish-wash of siren lights, spotlights, neon commercials and flames all mixed together in multi-coloured, luminescent pollution. It was loud, too. Police dropships, cars and bikes sped past to cordon off the entire zone; while media vans, journalists and concerned crowds looked on in horror at the doctors and ambulance crews trying desperately to save lives.

He stood inside the cordoned zone, half-sitting and half-leaning on a waist-high stone barrier in the hospital’s main parking zone. The cigarette in his right hand was barely touched, Kato never having been one for heavy smoking, but he slowly brought it to his lips to drag its nicotine none-the-less. After everything that had happened in those last twenty-four hours, surely one cigarette wouldn’t hurt? The night called for relaxation, after all, and he watched the tactical units patrol the perimeter through his own exhaled smoke.

“D.S Kato,” called a low-pitched voice.

Kato turned to find a receding, middle-aged Japanese man wearing a pressed suit walking towards him. “Captain Kurohiko,” he greeted, flicking the ash of his cigarette away and then dropping it to the floor to snuff it out with his shoe.

The Captain sighed and stood by the barrier, turning to watch the doctors and nurses as they accounted for the remaining patients. Most were still stranded outside the building, and still in the process of being delivered into waiting ambulances. “This is a big mess. A very big mess,” he said. “What the hell happened?”

“They’re calling it a terrorist attack,” Kato replied. Police officers with military-grade gear were still coming in and out of the building, and a small army of men and women in white forensics suits were setting up the beginnings of a major forensics scene.

“I know what they’re calling it,” said the Captain, “but I’m asking you what the hell happened here.”

Kato looked at the ground. “I don’t know,” he grumbled, bringing his hand up to his temple to find that it was still shaking. “A massacre is what. I swear, Captain, I have the worst luck. I came here to follow up on a lead that could barely be called one, and the next thing I know I might as well have joined in.”

The captain reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and took out a small bottle of pills. Unscrewing the cap, he tipped one out into a hand that he then held out to his subordinate. “Take this, Sergeant.”

“What is it?”

“A relaxant.”

Kato took the pill and swallowed it dry. “Thanks.”

“This is big, Kato. It’s not just going over my head, but the inspector’s head too.”

Kato was surprised by that. “The Superintendant is getting involved?”

“All of Kanto is watching this,” the captain explained. “Maybe even all of Nihon. The superintendant is adamant that we handle this properly on our end, which means he wants an official statement and a report from you.”

“Yeah, I understand. A psych eval too, I take it?”

“In a few days when you’ve had chance to calm down. Where’s Detective Greaves? She should have been here.”

“She’s on her way. Go easy on her, Captain. I came here to speak to doctors, maybe a witness, not to walk into a damn terrorist attack. Didn’t think I’d need her.”

“Kanto seems to get more dangerous every week, Kato. You have a partner for a reason.”

Kato grumbled, but he didn’t say anything else. Instead his attention was drawn to a group of six heavily armed individuals, each wearing high-tech military gear and form-fitting body suits that reminded him of the kind of electronic-weave armour that special forces sometimes wore. After a few minutes one of them – a large, bald, slightly-tanned man – noticed Kato and the captain and reported them to the tactical police officers they were conversing with. A few seconds and pointed fingers later, one of the tactical officers finally approached, a rifle hanging over his mid-section.

“Captain, Detective Sergeant,” the man said, greeting them. “The QRT wishes to speak with you.”

“Yeah, sure. Let’s get this over with,” Kato answered, and followed the officer back to the group with his captain close behind.

When they finally reached the team, the bald man held out his hand for Kato and the Captain to shake, and they both did so one after the other. “Captain Kurohiko and Detective Sergeant Kato, I assume?” He asked, his New Zealand accent thick.

“That’s right,” Kato replied.

“They call me Toa. I’m the sergeant of this Quick Reaction Team. We were the ones engaging the hostiles you saw.”

“I see. I thought you were TacOff. I wasn’t aware the KMPD had any QRTs.”

“That’s part of the point, Detective. Principally, we’re part of the UNIS Anti-Terrorism Unit, but we work closely with Japan’s National Police and Security Intelligence Agencies, and of course the KMPD.”

“The UN Intelligence Service?” Kato asked, far too curious for his own good. “I thought the ATU was under the Security Council?”

Behind him, Captain Kurohiko cleared his throat and coughed – a clear sign for Kato to stop asking so many damn questions. “That’s enough, D.S Kato,” Kurohiko said. “We’re not here to interrogate them. Besides, I’m sure you can understand that it’s both complex and political.”

“Ah, I get it,” said Kato, nodding to them with a look of thinly veiled disapproval. “Complex. Code for confuse the ordinary people so they don’t know who to blame if you mess up.”

“Hey, you listen here-” began the only woman in the Quick Reaction Team, shortly before Toa raised his hand to cut her off. She obeyed immediately, but Kato examined her in that curious way detectives couldn’t help. She was caucasian, English by her accent, and she had long brown hair tied in a tail and eyes with a subtle shade of red that came not from a cosmetic implant, but a tactical one. “I apologize, D.S Kato,” she told him, looking down at her marksman rifle.

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“It’s fine,” Kato replied. “I should be the one apologizing for getting us off track. So what is it you wanted to speak about, Sergeant?”

Toa cleared his throat. “We don’t yet know who these ‘terrorists’ were, or where they came from, but we’re confident they were trying to take a hostage. The male you ran into, in fact. We were hoping you might know more since you got a better look at him.”

Kato shook his head. “Only a basic description, Sergeant. But even when we opened fire he managed to get past us and escape. He must have had some serious military grade implants to pull that off. As to why they tried to take him hostage? I have no idea.”

“It’s unusual,” said Toa. “These terrorists seemed to have caused explosions deep in the hospital, set fires, cut the main power, wiped the feeds and killed anyone they came across. Over one hundred people are already confirmed dead. And yet they only tried to take one man, as though the rest of this entire fucked up situation was nothing more than a convenient distraction.”

“But why?” Asked Kato, even looking to his captain for answers. By the look on Kurohiko’s face, he clearly had none. “That’s a lot of effort – and a lot of death – for one man.”

“We were hoping you could tell us. You came here to investigate him, after all.”

Kato’s eyes widened slightly. Though he had known it was a possibility, the shock of the attack had prevented that cynical detective part of his brain from seriously considering a connection. But the more he thought about it, the more obvious it seemed.

“I’ve been investigating an unusual double homicide,” he explained. “I heard of a young woman who had been severely injured in an attack not too far from the scene, and only hours after it happened. She was brought into Fukaya General this afternoon in critical condition, alongside her apparent boyfriend and prime suspect, but he was unresponsive. They thought he was in a coma. They restrained him and put armed officers outside his room.”

“Hang on a moment, Kato,” said Captain Kurohiko. “This is a sensitive investigation, Sergeant Toa, and though I understand and respect your desire for answers, I have to question if this is your proper jurisdiction. You are an ATU Quick Reaction Team, not an investigative body. I must ask you to return to your superiors and let this investigation proceed through the correct channels, rather than down the road of what is beginning to sound like pseudo-vigilantism.”

Sergeant Toa gave him a polite nod. “I understand, Captain. I apologize, we just want to know why so many civilians died tonight.”

“And I’m sure you’ll be the first to know,” Kurohiko said.

Before long, the sergeant was bidding them goodbye and leading his team away back across the parking lot.

“Wait, hang on,” Kato said, stopping them in their tracks. He took a contact card out of his jacket pocket, then handed it to the nearest member of the QRT; the woman with red eyes. “Just in case we need to get in contact again.”

“Cardboard, really?” Asked the woman, examining it. “How old are you, 100?”

“Just keep it.”

The woman put the card into one of her tactical pockets, then turned to catch up to Toa and the rest of her team.

When they were gone, Kurohiko gave Kato a frown. “What are you planning to do? Interview them? Even if you ever hear from them again I doubt anyone will agree.”

“It’s not that,” said Kato. “This attack isn’t even my investigation. I have my own to solve, remember? But even so, you never know what will happen in the future. You never know who you’ll need to call.”

“This whole thing is a damn mess,” the Captain grumbled again, reaching to double-check his firearm. “Military guys running around with war gear, strange agents who won’t explain themselves… Who the hell is even running this scene?”

“I don’t know,” Kato admitted. “But it’s certainly not me. National Security, I guess? I’m just waiting to hear if my potential victim even survived. They don’t know yet; too many bodies, too much chaos.”

Captain Kurohiko crossed his arms and smirked. “It’s amazing how quick they turn up to take over. What’s it been? An hour?”

“Something like that.”

“You asshole!” A woman’s voice suddenly came, and Kato froze as her arms wrapped around him until he could barely breath. “You’re lucky you’re not dead!”

Struggling free, he turned to find that Greaves had ambushed him from behind and looked to be on the verge of tears. “I’m fine, Greaves,” he said. “And don’t cry – you’re not allowed to be sentimental on this job.”

Greaves wiped her eyes. “Yeah, fuck it, I know.”

“Detective Greaves, please stop cursing,” said the captain, to which Greaves took in a deep breath and apologized.

“So what the hell happened?” She asked.

“I’ll tell you later, Greaves,” Kato said. “I’m sick of explaining it to people if I’m honest.”

Greaves nodded. “So what about the girl? Did you speak to her? Is she still alive?”

“Don’t know,” said Kato. “She was critical when she came in. She could have died before this attack even happened. Could have died during it for all we know. There are a lot of bodies out there, Greaves, and no-one knows if she’s still alive. I don’t think TacOff have even given the all clear yet.”

“Excuse me, officers!” A woman called out from behind them, her voice carrying across the parking lot. The three detectives turned to look at the source and saw a reporter standing in the distance in front of a KM Channel 5 News team. “Can we ask some questions?”

“Go fuck yourself,” Greaves shouted back, then the three detectives turned back around as though nothing happened.

The next ten or so minutes were a blur to Kato. He watched as forensics teams walked in and out of the main hospital doors with bags of equipment, and as examiners suited up outside expensive mobile laboratories. When he looked up, he saw tactical officers sweeping through the hospital’s upper floors and over the walkway bridges that led to the surrounding superstructures, and as men and women followed behind them checking what he assumed to be bodies. All the while, Captain Kurohiko and Greaves were talking, and as he ignored them he felt an overwhelming urge to go somewhere else. He couldn’t.

“Detective Sergeant Kato?” Someone called, and Kato cleared his throat and snapped back to attention to look at the man speaking. It was a Tactical Officer, with a female doctor standing at his side.

“What is it?” He replied.

“That young woman you came here to see, Taniguchi Nami? We’ve found her,” the officer said.

Kato perked up. “Is she alive?”

“Barely,” said the doctor. “She was in critical condition when she came in. Someone disconnected her life support but… She’s still alive. She’s not conscious, but she’s alive.”

Kato released a hefty sigh, and even went as far as to smile at the good fortune. “Great,” he said. “We need to put an armed escort around her. She might have been an intended victim and I don’t want to take any chances.”

“I’ll get it done,” said the officer, who turned away and spoke into his earpiece.

“What about the suspect in her attack? Is he missing?” Kato asked.

“Yes, it appears so,” said the doctor.

As she spoke, the tactical officer turned back to them and nodded in agreement. “He’s not just missing, Sergeant. There are two bodies his room and even more outside.”

“Shit,” mumbled Greaves.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s the guy I tried to apprehend on the walkway,” said Kato. “He moved like he had some serious hardware, and those terrorist guys melted like butter when he got close to them.”

“Hardware?” Asked the officer. “None of the other officers on the walkway saw any signs of augmentation.”

“That’s the thing,” Kato admitted, much to his own frustration. “There weren’t any.”

“Do you think he’s our murderer? There’s no way this is a coincidence, right?” Asked Greaves.

“I don’t know. Maybe. It’s too soon to tell.”

Finally, Captain Kurohiko stepped forward to get their attention. “You should go home, Kato. You too Greaves. There’s nothing else you can do here, and Kato needs some rest.”

“I agree,” said the officer. “We’ve got plenty of descriptions of the suspect already, and a thousand other leads to sort through. We can handle this on our own.”

Kato shook his head. “With respect, Captain,” he argued, “there’s no way I’m going to sleep tonight. I might as well keep working my case.”

Captain Kurohiko looked at him for a while, then turned in defeat. “As you wish, Sergeant,” he said. “Just make sure you’re careful.”

“Always am, Sir,” Kato mumbled, watching as Kurohiko led them off into the commotion.

When they were finally gone, Greaves gave him a light slap on the shoulder. “Well, I’m with you all the way. What’s the plan now?”

“I don’t know,” Kato replied.

“Well the girl’s alive and we have a suspect. At least after all this shit the night can end on a high note,” she said.

Kato looked off into distant contemplation. “Don’t say that,” he told her. “The night’s not over yet.”