Whoosh…
He flushed for show, shut the stall door, and sat, pulling out his phone.
Dark gray, palm-sized, a bit thick—normal for the times.
What came next was not normal.
He set the phone sideways on his knees, popped the casing—beneath was another screen.
He flipped the hinge to unfold; the lower half revealed a row of keys.
The phone had become a micro-laptop.
This was the Black Hand's other black-tech, alongside the public electronic sword. Even as a Black Hand member who'd used it several times, Su Tang found it novel every time.
His unit was a special issue with heavily boosted comms—could get signal anywhere on Earth. As a trade-off, most other functions were stripped.
It was for contacting Valon.
Powering up, Su Tang opened a website.
While loading, a red box popped up.
[WARNING: This site may contain dangerous or harmful information. Do not trust any messages.]
Yellow text on red, flashing—an eyesore.
He sighed and clicked [Ignore and continue].
Who knew what Valon's shoehorn head was thinking—slapping this on the front page.
Did he think a warning would keep people out?
It might have the reverse effect—people who weren't interested would click in.
Without credentials, they'd see nothing, sure.
As he thought, the iris/face scan passed. Valon's avatar popped up.
[Su Tang]: Has the Tiger Talisman reached the main body?
[Valon]: Inlaid half an hour ago.
Good.
It had likely been fine, but Su Tang still exhaled.
He'd lingered at the scene earlier to be sure the Tiger Talisman had vanished—so nothing last-minute would make him regret.
[Valon]: The Holy Lord says you did well. The mission bonus has been wired. Fifty thousand dollars.
You wrung a bonus out of that cheapskate Valon?
Su Tang's eyes lit; his fingers flew.
[Su Tang]: My clinic was damaged in the fight. Need funds.
[Valon]: No. No money.
Instant. Almost at once.
Smacking his lips—expected.
Rely on Valon to pay? Better to count on each person in San Francisco handing him a dollar.
He shook his head and was about to log off when a long string appeared from Valon.
[Valon]: We just intercepted a data stream from District 13, the police special department. Found a fresh report from an agent they planted in the Soviet Union. The "Guinea Pigs" are moving. Target seems to be Tokyo. Be careful.
Su Tang's eyes widened.
What? District 13 hacked again, again, again?
Well—irrelevant. The key was the Soviets' "Guinea Pigs" making a new move?
He frowned and set his hands on the keys.
In the Soviet Union there was a persistent rumor: a special department that rounded up orphans, kept them in a secret room, with no freedom and no way out. The children were treated as objects and experimented on.
Those turned into fighters were called "Guinea Pigs."
A troublesome and terrifying group.
Of course, in this world, he believed every nation had such units in the dark. Only the "Guinea Pigs" had been reported on.
He refused to believe Japan had none.
[Su Tang]: "Guinea Pigs" coming to Tokyo? Any specifics? Operatives or objective?
[Valon]: Unclear for now. The message went out an hour and a half ago. District 13 is working it; we'll track updates and notify you at once.
Good grief—sounds like District 13 is a Black Hand branch.
Su Tang rapped the screen with a fingertip. An hour and a half ago…
His pupils shrank.
Wasn't that when he was fighting the Bat Devil?!
Give or take thirty minutes at most.
Were they onto him?
But… that didn't fit.
He hadn't even been hiding.
At most, his biggest "identity" was being Black Hand. The Soviets weren't about to send agents across borders to kill him.
Or was it tied to the Holy Lord?
But the main body on Valon's side hadn't said a thing—likely nothing.
Scratching his head, he noted it without weighing it too heavily.
Tokyo was big, and he was small.
Maybe they were here to assassinate Division 4's chief Makima.
He chuckled.
If District 13 knew, Tokyo likely would too.
Not his place to fret over big shots' business.
Settled, he looked back down. Another message from Valon.
[Valon]: Worried you're shorthanded there, I paid big money to hire a Tokyo-based bounty hunter. She was with a civilian devil-hunting group. She'll head to Tokyo to support you. Her name is:
—Akane Sawatari.
Whoosh…
He flushed again for show and pocketed the phone.
In the end, he couldn't stop Valon from sending that bounty hunter Akane Sawatari.
He figured Valon wanted to grow the Black Hand in Tokyo—send a few to take the lay of the land.
Fine. If they managed something, Su Tang would have more hands when talisman-hunting.
He slid the latch and pushed the stall door open.
A flower met his eyes—blooming in a violet patch.
"Reze? What are you doing here?"
He was puzzled.
"Teacher, I waited a full fifteen minutes." Reze rubbed a numbed leg and carefully took the flower from her hair, cradling it in both hands.
"Ahem. A bit constipated today." He coughed lightly. He hadn't expected to be in so long.
"So, you were waiting to…"
Hearing him, Reze hesitated, cheeks tinged with pink.
Softly, she said:
"Teacher… do you offer door-to-door service?"
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