Vol 3 Chapter 1.2 (1/2)
[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 3 Ch 1 (b)
This is a continuation of PART A.
”I want information.”
”I figured as much,” Inukas.h.i.+ said simply. ”Even you wouldn't be foolish enough to come to me looking for groceries. So? Information about what?”
”The Correctional Facility.”
Inukas.h.i.+ almost fell over.
”Correctional Facility!” he exclaimed. ”You mean the one the Security Bureau presides over?”
”Is there some other Correctional Facility that no one knows about?” Nezumi said sarcastically.
Inukas.h.i.+ ignored him.
”So you want information... what kind of information?”
”Any kind, no matter how unimportant.” Nezumi fished a white mouse out of his pocket. It was about the size of an adult thumb. Inukas.h.i.+'s eyes narrowed.
”Is that a robot? It's smaller than the one you gave me last time.”
Pulling off his gloves, Nezumi gently pressed the mouse's head. Its back split open, and a yellow s.h.i.+mmer of light flickered momentarily before an image floated up into it.
”What's this?”
”A hologram. The mechanism embedded in this mouse uses light to reproduce objects.”
”I know what a hologram is,” Inukas.h.i.+ said irritably. ”It's my first time actually seeing one, though,” he said as an afterthought. ”But I'm asking about what's displayed there. What is this? A blueprint?”
”It's a floor plan of the Correctional Facility's inner structure, but it's pretty outdated. The structure itself might not have changed, but their administrative system has probably been improved.”
Inukas.h.i.+ scowled at him in a way that said, 'you must be kidding me'.
”No can do. I don't care what kind of information you want, I won't be able to get it for you.”
”Why?”
”Why? Don't ask me stupid questions. Do you know what kind of place that is? Of course you wouldn't,” he said flatly, ”I don't know either. No one knows, because there hasn't been a single person who came out of that place alive. ―Not even dead bodies can make it out of there. Once they pa.s.s through the Special Gates, they disappear. They vanish off the face of the earth. That's the kind of place it is, right? That's what the rumours say.”
Inukas.h.i.+ gulped, and shuddered. Nezumi echoed his words back to him expressionlessly.
”Rumours?”
”Rumours say―” Inukas.h.i.+ began hesitantly, ”there's a huge incinerator in the bas.e.m.e.nt, and all the prisoners get thrown in there. They get burned like garbage. And the ashes that come out of there are scattered on the farm fields of the South Block, instead of going to waste disposal. They say it's good for the soil. ―Here, in this place.”
Inukas.h.i.+ pointed at the bottom-most floor, presumably the bas.e.m.e.nt, on the diagram that floated above the table, and shuddered again. It was a blank white s.p.a.ce, and there was nothing written in it. This curiously empty s.p.a.ce gave him an eerie feeling.
”There's no incinerator there,” Nezumi muttered.
”What makes you so sure?” Inukas.h.i.+ said accusingly. ”Have you seen it? How can you say that without even―”
Inukas.h.i.+ clipped his words halfway through and found himself staring at Nezumi.
”You know―?”
There was no answer.
”You know what it's like inside the Correctional Facility? When―” Inukas.h.i.+'s hand thrust into the light, and clenched into a fist. The image jittered and warped.
”When did you record this?” he demanded. ”This is internal data.”
”Inukas.h.i.+, I'm not paying you gold to answer your questions. I want whatever you can manage ― find any latest information about the interior of the Correctional Facility, and add it to this data. Specifically, if I were to be picky, I'd want accurate information about the operations and security systems.”
”You stupid or something? Operations system? Only people in the highest cla.s.ses have access to that, it's top secret. Tough luck if I can even get my hands on it.”
”That's why I'm not being picky. Gather whatever you can manage. Any information that has to do with the Correctional Facility, and I want it ASAP. I'll leave you with this.”
Nezumi turned off the switch, and tossed the small projector mouse to Inukas.h.i.+. Inukas.h.i.+ wrinkled his nose at it as if it were a rotting corpse.
”Should I use the mini-mouse I got from you last time?” he asked.
”No, that won't work. The Correctional Facility is full of security sensors. Any robot, no matter how small, is gonna get blown up if it's caught scurrying around without proper recognition.”
”Then use real mice,” Inukas.h.i.+ continued. ”They'll be able to get in much easier than dogs. A small living organism isn't a problem for the sensor, is it?”
”Not so fast. Forget mice, even flies or c.o.c.kroaches would be exterminated automatically. Lasers burn them up so that there's nothing of them left. They don't let a single fly intrude into that place. And that's how it is.”
”Then what am I supposed to do?” Inukas.h.i.+ said in frustration. ”How am I supposed to sneak in and gather information from some place that's all computer-managed?”
”You don't have to sneak in. You're right ― pretty much all of the Facility's interior is managed to the tee. But there are still lots of areas that involve people, too. And information usually leaks through the mouths of people. If there's anything computers can't control, it's a man's tongue.”
Inukas.h.i.+ hunched his shoulders exaggeratedly. He was beginning to make out, though vaguely, what Nezumi was trying to get at. He didn't want to see any more clearly if he could help it.
”Of course,” he agreed promptly. ”You need people operating the computers and humanoid robots. The guards would have to be human, and officials from the Bureau would be coming in and out of there. And we can't forget the prisoners, they're human too, right? But apart from them, the only people that can come and go from the Correctional Facility are people inside No. 6. You need an IC card to get through the Special Gates. It's impossible to create a fake No. 6 IC card. Which means no one from the West Block can get near that building unless they're prisoners. Not that anyone would wanna get near it, anyway. So ―” He was talking rather fast. ”Well ― if we jump to the conclusion, pretty much it's impossible for us to interact with people inside the Correctional Facility because they're residents of No. 6, and that makes it an impossible case, right? You should know better than anyone. Those guys live in a completely different world from us. It's just different.”
”Inukas.h.i.+.”
”What?”
”You're talkative today.”
Inukas.h.i.+ dropped his gaze. He knew that lowering his eyes signalled defeat, but he had no energy to glare back at the pair of grey ones that stared at him. He knew already who would win and who would lose.
Nezumi stood up and drew close to Inukas.h.i.+, who was staring at the floor. He whispered in a voice raspy and low, but sensual ― a woman's voice.
”That's how you always are. When you've got something to hide, you suddenly become more eloquent. And then I realize the truth that lies in your heart ― that underneath that tongue of yours, flapping like a leaf in the wind, a furtive secret is curled up.”
His fingertips stroked Inukas.h.i.+'s chin, slid up his jawline, and lightly pinched his earlobe. Inukas.h.i.+ s.h.i.+vered. The brief moment of ecstasy was followed quickly by a small, sharp pain. His earlobe had been yanked.
”Ow!” he said indignantly. ”The h.e.l.l was that for?”
”Don't underestimate me, Inukas.h.i.+.”
”What're you talking about? I wasn't―”
”Stop playing dumb. I know what you're using your dogs for. That's why I came here.”
Inukas.h.i.+ tsked loudly, and roughly shoved Nezumi's hand away. Nezumi chuckled amusedly.
”You use your dogs to smuggle, don't you? You've been transporting leftover food and garbage from the Correctional Facility into the West Block. For years now.”
”I am,” Inukas.h.i.+ answered defiantly. ”So what? Transporting goods is also part of my trade. A rat like you has no business telling me what to do.”
”The Correctional Facility has full waste disposal functions,” Nezumi continued. ”They can dispose of everything inside that building. You just said that not even corpses can make it out of there. You're right. They even dispose of dead bodies inside that place. Which means there shouldn't even be a speck of dust escaping from there, much less leftover food. From that same Correctional Facility, you somehow manage to get periodical loads of leftover food, and sell it to the food stalls in the West Block. Makes good money, doesn't it? Maybe even more than your hotel-running business?”
”Is it not to your liking that I'm operating in the black market?” Inukas.h.i.+ said scathingly. ”You must be kidding me. Since when did you become a Bureau lackey, huh, Nezumi?”
”Machines don't trade with black-market merchants. Once programmed with a set of rules, they'll never break them. If anyone's going to break the rules, it's the humans. There's someone in the interior of the Correctional Facility that's selling you leftover food, isn't there? No, not just food. He's probably pa.s.sing prisoner rations and other belongings your way too. Anyway, the fact is, you have a contact inside the Correctional Facility. Sniff out a lead from him. Lure the information out of him.”
Inukas.h.i.+ shook his head. The young man in front of him was trying to get him involved in more danger than he had expected. Inukas.h.i.+ broke out into a cold sweat.
”It's impossible―” he muttered. ”The guys I deal with are the lowest of the low. They pretty much do the cleaning and waste disposal right alongside the robots. There's no way they would have any sort of useful information.”
”That's exactly why you wanna ask them. The guys on the top tier are strictly overseen by the authorities. They can't risk the danger of letting any secrets slip. But management is lax with people in lower positions. And if their job is to clean the place, they've probably been everywhere inside the Facility. Who knows, they might have more information than you think. Your job is to sniff it out. Your nose is as good as a dog's, isn't it?”
Inukas.h.i.+ heaved a sigh, and vainly attempted at a last act of retaliation.
”I need money. To get any information from them, I'd need money. Two gold coins isn't gonna cut it.”
Nezumi nodded, and pa.s.sed a small leather pouch to Inukas.h.i.+. In it, there were a considerable number of gold coins.
”I only have this much right now.” Nezumi suddenly squatted down and peered into Inukas.h.i.+'s eyes.
”Inukas.h.i.+, work with me. I'm begging you.”
Begging? Nezumi, are you begging me?
”If you take the job, I promise I'll always rush to your side if you're overcome with unbearable pain one day. No matter where you are, I'll deliver a song to your soul. I promise.”
”Who's gonna count on a promise between a dog and a rat?”
No one could guarantee it. But yet ― Nezumi would keep his promise. Almost instinctively, the feeling apprehended Inukas.h.i.+'s soul.
No matter where or how I died, if it was accompanied with suffering, he would always appear and put my soul to rest. He could be hard to understand as h.e.l.l, but he would never break a promise.
Inukas.h.i.+ believed strongly in his own instincts. He extended his hand, and closed it around the leather pouch.
”I'll take the job.”
”I owe you one.” Nezumi breathed out shortly, and wound the superfibre cape around his shoulders. Then, he put a finger to his lips.
”I shouldn't need to tell you, but none of this―”
”I know. I won't let anyone get wind of the job. It's the cardinal rule for my work. I'll gather the information as quickly as I can, and contact you before anyone else can find out.”
”I'm counting on you.”
”Nezumi, I wanna ask you something.”
”What?”
”What are you doing this for?”
Silence. It was impossible to read a single expression from Nezumi's face. Inukas.h.i.+ licked his bottom lip, and continued.
”With this much money, you could live the easy life for a pretty good while. I knew you were a star actor and making quite a bit of money, but even for that, this is a lot. Putting this much money forward, and threatening me―”
”I'm not threatening you. I only came to you with a job.”
”Hmph―whatever. Then, going as far as to request a job from me ― what makes you want to poke your nose into the Correctional Facility so badly? What's your reason?”
Nezumi didn't answer. He only made a slight half-smile. It was an artificial one, made for the stage.