The meeting at Fort Nakajima was a depressing slog. Clan Miyazuki had invested significant resources in extending the capabilities of the Miyazuki Rail Cannon for purposes of infrastructure. This was because about a third of the weight of cargo freighter was comprised of the vehicle itself rather than the cargo. The plan was for ballistic delivery to enable the rapid transport of goods and reduce transportation, refrigeration, and spoilage costs by up to 60%. It was a lofty goal. The problem was that fruits and vegetables were not sufficiently armored to survive the rapid acceleration forces. Vegetables became vegetable juice, fruit became fruit juice, and meat became paste. Foodstuffs generally arrived in a state needing heavy cleanup.
The Miyazuki Rail Cannon was already a highly successful means of instantaneous deployment of drone reinforcements as well as military resupply. It enabled Fort Nakajima to place a small contingent of deadly dragoons anywhere within Japan in a few minutes time. Dragoons were the mechanical component of a 24th century sniper team. They were helicopter drones that could carry a sniper to any distant vantage point and then fly unmanned to engage in a firefight. Sometimes the dragoons would flush enemies out of entrenched positions and into sniper fire. Other times, enemy units get pinned by sniper fire and find themselves flanked by a dragoon's machine gun. It was far cheaper and safer than deploying a spotter and allowed for extreme mobility.
Chiharu was a eighteen year old girl wearing a frilled maid outfit as she finished dusting the painting frames in the hallway leading to the penthouse suite. Underneath her white headband, she kept a shiny ponytail that reached down to her shoulders. She turned at the ding of the elevator, bowed her head, and greeted the two men who emerged. "Miyazuki-Dono, Tachibana-San."
*Soft Beep*
Satoshi nodded and greeted her as he approached. Satoshi had an appreciation for pretty things, and Chiharu was one of them. The problem was that good girlfriends make for bad wives. That same personality traits that made for a fun girlfriend was a liability when it came to the nerve-wracking trials of child rearing. "Chiharu-chan."
Chiharu giggled and replied, "Your girlfriend came to visit earlier while you were out."
Satoshi responded with a smirk, "Which one?"
"Hiromi. Oh, and your luggage is all packed. I'll see you when you get back." Chiharu covered her mouth with her white gloved fingers and giggled again. With that, she skipped around the two men and into the elevator. Chiharu blew a kiss as the doors closed.
*Soft Beep*
"Hiromi? Hiromi?" Satoshi spoke the name to remind himself. He knew a Hiroma a while back but she married and moved away. He didn't know any other Hiromi except-. "OHMIGODWTFHOWTHEHELLDIDSHEGETMYADDRESS."
Satoshi ran down the hallway and pressed his left palm onto the biometric scanner, with a confused Kaoru in tow. He sprinted through the open door and slammed it the instant Kaoru crossed over the doorway.
"What's going on?" asked Kaoru. The name Hiromi didn't ring a bell with him either, but he was never too familiar with any of Satoshi's plates. A marriage meeting gone awry perhaps.
Satoshi locked the door, slid in the deadbolt, and latched the door guard. "Hiromi was a hook up I met at a party. I have no idea how she got my real name, let alone my address."
*BEEP*
Satoshi looked down to his right, at the flashing light on the holorecorder. 31 New Messages. He pressed his finger against the biometric scanner on the screen.
"You have 31 unheard messages.
Next message: Saturday, February 2nd. 5 PM. End of Message.
Next message: Saturday, February 2nd. 5:01 PM. End of Message.
Next message: Saturday, February 2nd. 5:05 PM. Hey, it's me, Hiromi. I thought maybe you lost my number or something, so I figured I'd check up. My number is 011-XXX-XXXX. We should hang out. End of Message.
Next message: Saturday, February 2nd. 5:25 PM. Hey. it's Hiromi. I thought we had something. I felt a special connection with you. Call me back. End of Message.
Next message: Saturday, February 2nd. 5:45 PM. Hey, it's Hiromi. Just wanted to- Message Deleted.
Message Deleted.
Message Deleted.
Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Me-Message Deleted. You have no unheard messages."
Kaoru placed his index finger to his lips and made a barely audible hush. "SHHHHHH"
Satoshi shrank in panic suddenly. The thought that Hiromi had gotten inside the apartment had not occurred to him, but Kaoru's theory would explain how Chiharu would know Hiromi's name.
"Hero to Shrine: Spoof a telemarketer call to this number. 011-XXX-XXXX. Keep her busy." Kaoru wrote as a text message on his phone. Shrine was the codeword for Fort Nakajima, however, Kaoru didn't have the time to pretend to order a pizza and drop codewords into the conversation.
"Shrine to Hero: Call in progress. Will text once call ends." Kaoru whispered the response aloud, likely relayed from Fort Nakajima to clandestine services where subterfuge was a specialty. Kaoru felt only the slightest loss for Satoshi, whose gift at scheming would have made him legendary. Instead, family circumstance forced Satoshi into politics as the next face of the Miyazuki family. Kaoru announced, "We would have heard the phone ring if she was in here. We need to move."
"Hero saves the day. Backpacks. Money. Peasant clothes. Tribute. Then we GTFO." Satoshi stressed the words peasant clothes. The police in Akane territory had a propensity for civil forfeiture, which meant that they would deem anything they liked as suspicious and help themselves to it. The Akane were far too Americanized. It was fortunate that their tribute was a new book rather than something explicitly precious. Satoshi would also need to leave behind his tags and hide his watch inside his luggage.
"So what was up with Hiromi?" asked Kaoru. His curiosity had gotten the better of him and the situation grown far too much to not bring up.
"Don't stick your dick in crazy. Doesn't matter how hot or how kinky, don't do it."
"Yes, but it seems like you only discovered it just now. Was there a reason you didn't call her even before this?" Kaoru took a small bit of pleasure in seeing the unrepentant asshole suffer at least slightly for his ways. It was almost like the universe was acting to right itself and avenge womankind against Satoshi. "Lemme guess, you accidentally punched her in the ovaries and had to take her to a gynecologist?"
"Ouch. No, she was fast approaching 25. I don't go for Christmas cakes." replied Satoshi matter of factly.
"25 isn't old." said Kaoru. He began to regret his inquiry. Kaoru had the nagging suspicion that had his life been a book, this would be a perfect opportunity for character exposition on how much of an asshole Satoshi was. He had once suspected that Satoshi was simply joking, but the logic was far too consistent.
"Do you remember Chromosomal Aneuploidity from biology class? It is when you have too many or too few chromosomes. Down syndrome is when you have an extra copy of chromosome 21. This chart here shows the incidence of chromosomal aneuploidity in eggs by mother's age. A 44 year old has a 90% incidence of egg mutation while a 28 year old only has 25%." Satoshi pulled out his phone and showed Kaoru a chart he had bookmarked.
"Then there's no problem with 25." Kaoru said. He paused to change out of his shorts and into dirt stained overalls. For the next seven hours, Kaoru would be the world's prettiest farmer. "You are being a little harsh."
"Dude, I want more than one child. If I want 3 kids and have the third one out before the age of 28, I need to have the first one at age 23. That means I need to be married to 22. That means the oldest I can date is 20." Satoshi answered. Satoshi paused to admire his boots that had pieces of rice straw embedding between the laces. He smiled at Chiharu's attention to detail before continuing. "That's just math. If I want kids free of autism or any other mutations, scientifically speaking, I have no choice in the matter. Worse, I want 5 kids, which means 18 year olds girls only."
"Dude, you're 20. Aren't you a little young to be thinking about children?" Kaoru asked. Most of the people that Kaoru knew that were in their early twenties were looking to date around and enjoy their youth. The pressure placed on Satoshi must have been considerable.
"I like to be smart and plan ahead. This is why I'm a major and you are a sergeant. We got everything?"
"Yeah, let's go."
*Chirp*
Kaoru looked down and reached for his holophone. The chirp signified a new text message received on his phone. He already knew the contents as he read it aloud. "Call ended. We heard elevator music in the background."
*BBBBBRRRRRRING*
Satoshi heard the doorbell ring. He took a quick glance at Kaoru, pulled out his phone, and began writing. "Villain to Shrine: Requesting 2 Dragoons. Fly them right to my penthouse."
"Shrine to Villain: Affirmative. ETA 90 seconds via ballistic deployment. Expenses will be garnished from your next paycheck."
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