The sun finally hung high in the air. After a long night and even longer month, peace finally started to arrive once more in their home. But it wasn’t going to be an easily built peace. This much all of them knew. They learned almost too well from the survivors how true that it would be. A first step was all that was taken today.
UN forces continued to patrol the battle site for any survivors that might have been missed. The destruction was too vast and the influence that Takako held over the whole area made it impossible to be certain that they had found everyone. They had taken over much of the site now as Hiroshi and the others pulled back.
Masayuki stood in a new tense situation before the teenagers that helped salvage a terrible situation. He made an agreement with Hiroshi and things looked up. “I hope that this will work to bring cooperation together between us. We don’t have to be working in separate corners.”
“I’d like that as well. Though it’s going to be hard convincing everyone else. Your reputation here isn’t a positive one.”
“I’m all too well aware of that. But we’re only trying to protect and keep people safe. The rise of the Empowered has required a different approach. If we, the Japanese, can't prove we can protect and govern ourselves in this situation we’re only going to see even worse aspects of the world in our homeland.”
“People are still very scared and frightened about everything happening. This isn’t going to be something fixed overnight.”
“No, it’s not. But all we can do is keep trying.”
Saki stepped out from Hiroshi’s side, joining Masayuki. She looked back at the others. “Trying is going to be the important thing. You can’t stop moving forward.”
Everyone looked a little confused at what Saki was doing. “What are you doing, Saki?”
“What I must do as well.”
All of the confusion continued while Masayuki stepped forward with an explanation. He swallowed roughly knowing what he was about to do. “This woman has openly admitted to numerous crimes. Even if her actions did lead to the resolution of the crisis, what she’s done can’t be ignored.”
“What?! You’re still going on about that! I thought we moved past that!”
“Crimes are still crimes. If we can’t show that we can maintain order and carry out justice then all we have is anarchy. We can’t pardon violent unsanctioned actions.”
Hiroshi tightened up his fist. ‘She’s been planning this the whole time. She’s going to take the fall for all of us. Dammit! Once more I can’t do anything for my friends!’ He wanted to do anything for Saki, but the peace and good well he built would be destroyed. “…Saki…”
“Don’t worry, everyone’s in the places they’re supposed to be. Do what you’re supposed to do now.”
Looking up at Saki, he stared into her eyes to see her resolve. She held steadfast and unwavering on her path. But she was also telling him as well. She told him where he belonged and was meant to be. It left him stunned for a moment realizing what she was doing. ‘You planned all of this?! You intentionally did all of that to put me in this place knowing that someone you could trust was here?! Saki…dammit…this makes it even worse… What do I tell Yuki when he wakes up?’
Tatsuya came up behind Hiroshi and put a hand on his shoulder. He understood as well as Saki the course and destination that she put them. “She’s right, man. This is where you should be. Don’t look away.”
Hesitation and regret still filled up his chest trying to push out the hope that he desperately tried to hold. The hope that Saki gave him and entrusted him. He had to keep it safe. Yet he feared that the darkness of his own heart might taint that hope. “…I know…I’ll keep looking forward.”
Chapter 366 – Broken Paths
Inside the APC, Masayuki sat in the back along with his team and Saki as her guard. They had no containment cells for Saki given that they were all consumed by the survivors. So they acted as her prison, for what it actually was worth. They all had seen a taste of her power and that she only came because it was her decision.
Over in the corner, Nawabe continued to nurse a bloody nose and swollen cheek from Saki’s fist. He glared at her for the entire ride knowing that she was better than him, but having trouble accepting that fact. A slow burning rage fueled by his destroyed pride began to build inside him.
“Looking to get knocked out again?” mocked Umari. None of them could miss the signs that he put off. Probably only Masayuki’s presence kept him from making another stupid mistake.
The others laughed at him while hiding their own fears and relief. All of them wanted a piece of Saki, but Nawabe provided them all with enough second thoughts to not act on their instincts immediately. He growled lowly at all of them for becoming the mockery of the team. “She just caught me off guard.”
“Says everyone that gets completely curb stomped.”
Masayuki fixed his eyes at his team to get them in order. He earned a little more respect from them thanks to Saki. ‘Up until now, I’ve never had to show much of my power thanks to the criminals we faced being weaker than us. They’ve never seen me go all out. They only knew that my powers made me annoying for them, since I never gave into their baiting. While she didn’t intend it, this teenage girl’s done a lot for both of us…’ Thanks to that recognition from his team, they silenced up pretty quickly. “If you don’t want to get caught off guard next time, train harder Nawabe and follow my orders. I don’t give them because I like hearing myself talk.”
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“Yeah, yeah…” Nawabe tried to play off his unsettled feeling with a casual reply. All he got for his troubles was another piercing glare from his Captain. “…sir…”
The vehicle came to a stop suddenly. They arrived at their destination, the headquarters of the UN within the city. As the back hatch opened to flood the chamber with light, Saki finally got a look at the heart of their unknown counterpart. Dozens of soldiers marched around the fenced in base along with an entire fleet of the most advanced modern vehicles and equipment that the world powers had to offer. She had a brief moment of impressive awe at their display of arms only to realize how pointless all of it was made. ‘This is purely an empty show of strength. Against us superhumans, these weapons are nearly meaningless. I could completely destroy this base on my own, if it were just normal humans.’ Taking up her side on the left was Masayuki, a reminder that she wasn’t alone and that he only stood as one of many like him on the base.
She had many questions about the UN and their true intentions in this policing action of theirs. ‘This man seems sincere, such that he doesn’t really belong in this sort of place. He’d do more good alongside Hiroshi. Who are the ones giving him his orders?’
Masayuki waved off his team to dismiss them. “We’re going to my superiors. They’ll be the ones to determine your fate.” He began to walk ahead of Saki as her guide.
‘Very trusting man…but he knows that I’m not at full power yet and that we’re evenly matched. Let’s see what the big shots are like.’ Keeping close behind him, she kept her senses open still not trusting anyone else in the complex. She didn’t know if his team would try to make another attack, a sneak attack for retaliation for what she did or if someone else might want a piece of her. Though she felt the latter had small odds since she didn’t have a name for herself yet.
The building the UN took over was a familiar one. They set up inside the heart of the city within the commercial district. After the Incident, much of the heavy traffic and popular areas of the city became deserted. Entire skyscrapers remained untouched as no one wanted to work in such a city anymore. Fear and uncertainty were too strong. Only the brave and stubborn attempted to keep some semblance of their former lives going.
It left plenty of places for others to come in and take over. Centrally located and well equipped to handle the infrastructure that they carried, it was well suited for their needs. Several city blocks came under their arm of control and bore the flags of the UN and joint nations.
Inside the large open thirty-fifth floor of an office building, the main command structure of the UN’s headquarters took everything over. Wires and machines ran about everywhere in a very ordered chaos that only those that put it together could understand. None of it was something that interested Saki, just how well built-in they were.
At the back, where a boss or manager likely sat when it was still just a regular tech company, the superiors that Masayuki mentioned awaited Saki’s arrival. They knew of her arrest and prepared ahead in a large show of force that Saki could only scoff at. An entire platoon of normal multinational soldiers followed her and Masayuki.
They stopped at the door where Masayuki gave her entry. Inside behind an extra long desk, extended by adding another desk from some other room, sat the Generals and a man in a business suit. Saki kept her reactions to herself without giving away anything. ‘What’s a regular office worker doing here? This is a military operation.’
“Captain Ayabito, is this the criminal Saki Furukawa?” asked General Evans. Ever since the bombing incident the other day, Evans had been visiting from Tokyo. He came under the guise of monitoring the effectiveness and methods of the branch.
“Yes, sir! She has admitted to the murder of the gang leader known as Takako Yamazaki, who held eastern neighborhoods of the city.”
He measured Saki up and down trying to get a read on her. It seemed that she didn’t give him an impressive reaction as he leaned back in his chair. “This girl wiped out the gang and leveled an entire neighborhood?”
“That’s right,” Saki answered, speaking out of turn. She crossed her arms not feeling any of the intimidation that all of the men in the room tried to emit. ‘They’re more scared of me than anything. They’re just trying to cover it up.’
“If that’s so, why has she not been placed into a containment cell?”
The businessman perked up joining the conversation, “All of our company’s equipment is in use currently.”
“We had enough equipment you said for the next two months. Is your production behind schedule?”
“No, General. We’re ahead of schedule in fact. But thanks to you bringing the gang war to an end, the number of Empowered needed to be kept locked up has exceeded our estimates.”
“We’ll speak about your production later. Saki Furukawa, you’ve been charged with the murder of a Japanese citizen, assault of a UN soldier and excessive property damage. How do you plead?”
“Guilty.”
“Very well. Under martial law, the UN will pass your verdict rather than a civil court. I hereby pass judgment upon you. Saki Furukawa, you have been sentenced to death for the murder of a Japanese citizen.”
Masayuki jerked forward in surprise. “Sir? She brought an end to the conflict. Why isn’t that being accounted for in her judgment?”
“Captain, law and order are two things lost since Japan has changed. Those must be maintained and shown to still be the governing force. Murder regardless of intent is still murder and can’t be justified.”
“So you’re just using her as a tool!”
“Captain, you’re out of line. Any further and I will hold you in contempt.”
Unable to speak back further without ruining his own position, Masayuki clammed up quickly. He tightened up his hands in frustration. ‘They’re just going to execute her to show that they’re in control and that they’re still superior over all of the Empowered. All of this is just political!’
General Evans continued with Masayuki’s interruption silenced, “Your execution will be carried out tomorrow at noon. And find a containment cell to put the criminal in under her execution. Dismissed!”
Only able to escort Saki out of the room, Masayuki walked with her to the elevator. His mind spun with various thoughts, ones that he should never be even entertaining. Once the door opened, they walked in without the rest of the show of force with them. He had trouble looking at the girl knowing that she was just being used.
Saki remained unaffected by everything. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about me and don’t be thinking up any stupid ideas.”
It took him a little back that she realized that much was going on in his mind. “I can’t believe that they would go this far just to prove their efforts. I figured you’d be given life or something. But they don’t even care.”
“I expected this sort of thing.”
“You’re going to be killed for a completely selfish and pointless reason. How can you be so calm?”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve faced such things. If this is where I must die, then so be it. I’ve got no regrets with what I’ve done. Others can carry on my work.”
He threw out his fist punching a hole in it and shaking the chamber. The lights flickered a bit from the force, but it continued to go. ‘Dammit, this isn’t right! The young shouldn’t be dying for us!’
* * *
Across the city about a kilometer from the ruined grounds of the school, two figures in black turned away from their monitoring positions. The man on the left closed his device while the other finished his conversation on his cell. The man with the cell looked back at the ruins. “The surveillance is complete. They’ve got all of the data that they need.”
Returning the device back into a briefcase, he picked it up and began to walk away with his partner. “Seems the first field test was successful.”
“Yes, but it only works on Meso Prosecho users.”
“It’s enough to begin Phase 2.”