Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ The Rain Doesn't Grieve ❯ 14 ( Chapter 14 )

A Special Note from the Author:

 

Thank you all for your support during the past few weeks. You made a hard transition easier, a sorrow less painful to bear, and I bless you for it.

 

GR

 

14

 

Fantasy and microchips, shooting from the hip…

 

Omi ~ Q

 

“Manx, please get the car ready. I have some errands to run.” I released the speaker key and leaned back with a sigh. Around me the huge command room seemed to close in, the walls too full of secrets.

 

I gripped the wheel rims and pushed back away from the console. The latest discoveries troubled me greatly, and even the encouraging news from Switzerland didn't help much. I'd be glad to see Ken-kun again, but I was beginning to doubt whether Kritiker would be around when he got back.

 

I scooped the pile of CD-ROMs into my pack, all the while trying to ignore the little nervous voice in the back of my head that told me I was being watched. There wasn't much I could do about it here.

 

Manx escorted me down to the parking garage. I settled into the passenger seat while she stowed the wheelchair in the trunk. If my back didn't hurt so much today, I'd have just used my cane, but as it was I didn't know how long it would take to find the things I'd need, so the chair would have to do.

 

Once we were moving, Manx asked, “Where did you want to go?”

 

She avoided using either name or title, for which I was grateful. I was beginning to wonder just who I was anyway, and the question of Omi or Mamoru was getting fairly depressing. Add Persia to the mix, and I was ready for a vacation.

 

A vacation…?

 

I smiled, inspiration moving me. “Manx, do we still have that cabin in the mountains?”

 

“The holiday retreat? Yes, we own that.”

 

“I've been thinking,” I told her, weighing my words with care. “The main office is still a little hard for me to get around in. I need to take some time and concentrate on my own health, or I won't be any use at all. I'd like to move my apartment and office to the cabin for a while, use it for the summer. We could have the doctors and physical therapist come by whenever they need to, and we could even have the cabin fitted for handicap access. What do you think, Manx? Too much for the budget?” I tried to keep my tone light and casual, though my thoughts were far from that.

 

She frowned a moment, and regarded me with those clear blue eyes. Then she smiled and said, “I think we can handle that. It's not unreasonable, and besides, you are Persia. There are damn few perks to the job, but change of scenery is certainly one of them.” Her smile turned a little melancholy, and she added, “Besides, why do you think we have the cabin in the first place?”

 

I nodded, then turned to look out the window. Her pain bothered me. Whenever she spoke about Shuichi, her face became so naked, her expression so lost. I couldn't afford to get swept up in her sorrow; I had my own worries at the moment, and I had to be very careful how I dealt with them.

 

Once at the cabin, I checked it over for ease of use, and jotted down some notes for changes. It would take some work, but it shouldn't be too difficult to make the place home for a while. I told Manx what we would need, and she made a few phone calls. The remodeling crew and the movers would be swarming all over through the next several days.

 

Just the amount of time I'd need.

 

“Manx, would you mind driving me to the hobby store?” I asked, hoping she wouldn't balk.

 

“By `hobby store,'” she said, her eyes laughing, “I take it you mean the electronics shop?”

 

I nodded, grinning. “Hai, that hobby store. Until I can get on my feet again, I need something to do, and I can't really practice archery. I want something to tinker with, maybe even build my own computer. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and now all I seem to have is time.”

 

Within the hour I was browsing happily among the rows of components and wiring at my favorite hobby store. The clerk helped me gather the things I'd need. He raised an eyebrow at a couple of the items, then leered at Manx and nodded. Let him think it was all for fun; I was safer that way.

 

I paid in cash.

 

When we returned to the cabin, the place was already crawling with construction workers, and an unmarked Kritiker van disgorged neatly packaged boxes that I presumed were from my apartment. While I didn't really like the idea of my things being packed up and moved for me, I had to acknowledge that they were efficient about it. Besides, they'd done it once before, why should it bother me this time?

 

Manx asked me whether she should stay at the cabin with me or arrange for another bodyguard. For a moment I considered, then shook my head at my own flight of fancy. He was Weiß, not a bodyguard. Besides, he wouldn't want to be here. “I don't mind if you stay, Manx,” I told her. I wished I could say more, but until I knew a few more things I didn't dare.

 

I excused myself and began sorting through my new hobby box. One of the items that had caught the clerk's attention was a cell-phone casing; when he'd seen the tiny camera, I'm sure he presumed I'd use it to spy on women. At least he wouldn't wonder about it too long. But the camera was for something different. When I was done, there wouldn't be any extra room for it in the “phone” anyway.

 

Then I would start to work on building a computer. A powerful, non-traceable, non-hackable computer. Only when that was complete would I even try to open the encrypted files I had discovered hidden away within Persia's data discs.

 

Because until I knew otherwise, I had to presume that my every move was being monitored.

 

I made good use of the chaos in the cabin to work on my gadget without being too obvious about its function. It kept me out of the way and gave me a perfect excuse for being a little antisocial. For some reason I found myself thinking of this odd movie I'd watched with Ken-kun, where schoolboys build a woman, and I smiled at the memory. Ken and I had always watched the quirky gaijin movies, or the giant robot variety of anime. He'd save the “panty anime” for his time with Yohji. I swallowed down a sudden lump in my throat as I realized just how much I missed them.

 

If Ken were here, he'd be telling me I was just being paranoid. But Ken didn't know.

 

Moving crews and builders bustled in and out of the cabin well into the evening. I kept at my weird little hobby, soldering tiny bits of metal into thin circuit boards. Manx ran interference for me, giving me privacy and, more important, giving me time. When appropriate, she even brought me food.

 

By midnight I was tired and my eyes burned. In the unexpected quiet, I blinked, not sure I was still awake. I regarded my project with a weary self-satisfaction. It looked like any other cell phone, but the vibrating alarm would signal something far more sinister than any incoming call.

 

I frowned at it, dreading the moment I tested it out. If it found something, what would I do? The discovery alarm itself would be overlooked by anyone watching - simply a phone call, with a quick-connect relay to a local number just in case they could track the signal. A wrong number, nothing of interest. But to me it would mean infiltration, or worse: betrayal.

 

I wasn't sure I was ready for the answer.

 

I took a deep breath, settled back into the seat of my wheelchair, and casually turned the device on.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Either it didn't work, or there wasn't anything within ten feet. That would mean at least the chair itself was not bugged. If the gadget was working.

 

I wheeled around the room, giving the device time to register any signals.

 

Nothing.

 

I was starting to panic. If the gadget didn't work, I could try to make another, but it would look suspicious as hell. Then again, if there were anti-detection equipment in addition to any bugs, I was doomed. It was only a faint possibility, but I'd become too aware of the nature of the enemy to doubt that it was, in fact, possible.

 

They had tapped into Kritiker's mainframe. Everything else was child's play.

 

The “phone” vibrated.

 

I jumped, then remembered to press the “answer” key and act like it was a wrong number. My mind whirled as I switched the gadget off.

 

Manx's hand gripped my shoulder like an iron claw. “Are you all right?”

 

My heart was pounding, the paranoia of the past week suddenly compounded by an immediate panic. “I'm fine,” I gasped. “Just a little tired, that's all.”

 

I allowed Manx to wheel me to my new bedroom, where my personal effects had been unpacked for me sometime during the evening. Before she could leave, I tried the device again. I had to know: if the traitor was Manx…

 

The “phone” remained still.

 

“Good night, Manx,” I whispered. “Stay sharp.”

 

She only nodded, never asking why.

 

 

Manx ~ Vindicated

 

He knows.

 

Thank God, he knows.

 

Now, just maybe, Kritiker has a chance.

 

 

 

Author's Notes:

 

Fantasy and microchips, shooting from the hip…

“Weird Science” - Oingo Boingo Best O'Boingo

 

Omi ~ Q

This is a reference to the “Q” of James Bond fame, not Star Trek. Omi is a tinkerer. I suspect he would have been perfectly happy to design and build gadgets for Kritiker rather than hunt the dark beasts. Still, it's good for him to have a hobby. Especially one as useful as this. (I'm just glad I finally got the “Inspector Gadget” theme unstuck from my head…)

 

Manx ~ Vindicated

Imagine knowing that you organization has been compromised, and there's no one you can safely tell. You can't quit. And the only other person who knew…is dead.