Part 37 (1/2)
Mizuno said he didn't know. ”There are only four types of people I've met that I couldn't scan. The first are the mentally handicapped, second is anyone who is a prominent religious figure, so long as they are truly 'religious,' that is. The third type of person would be someone with a part of their brain removed, though it would have to be enough to nearly make them mentally handicapped, so the two are nearly the same category. And the last group just falls to specific people with certain abilities.”
”Like what?” asked Melanie.
”Time control, for instance.”
”<there's no=”” such=”” thing,=””>” Yong blurted out.
”At this point I would hardly label anything as impossible, Yong.” Mizuno took a breath and tried to steer their conversation back on course. ”This is taking far too long.”
”Yeah, considering you haven't even introduced Nick yet.”
Nick looked at the chair that was empty next to him a moment before and saw that Strom had silently joined the group. He sat polis.h.i.+ng a rather large onyx rifle and although he scared the life out of nearly everyone, only Kyle, David, Melanie, and Alisa were truly frightened of him.
”Is there a reason he's here?” Bruce asked Mizuno without looking away from Strom.
Strom didn't take his eyes off of his rifle.
”Strom's here to help train Nick,” Mizuno told him.
”Who?” asked Alisa.
”Nick Jacobs. The kid right next to Strom who hasn't been introduced yet,” Mizuno told her.
”<well who=”” is=”” he=”” anyway?=””>” Yong asked with very little enthusiasm.
Mizuno told them he was a resident in the area, only spoke English, and that his ability made him impervious to any form of projectile as well as allowed him to create firearms.
”<really?>” Yong looked at Nick for the first time and asked him to demonstrate it.
Nick reddened at the request. He didn't want to and fortunately they'd wasted enough time so Mizuno cut their chatter and told Nick to show Yong later.
”All you need to know is that Strom will work with Nick and so long as I don't require him to aid our group in any other way none of you will see him from this point on.”
”<then why=”” did=”” you=”” even=”” ask=”” him=”” to=”” come=”” here=”” if=”” we're=”” probably=”” not=”” going=”” to=”” see=”” him=”” again?=””>” David asked him while the two girls who surrounded him slowly eased back into his arms.
Mizuno rubbed his temples and muttered, ”If we do need Strom then it'll be less of an impact on you all if he's introduced as a possible character now rather than later on. In other words, if you're all aware of him now it won't be very shocking later on. Now,” he took a breath and looked at the group, ”We need to talk about the actual purpose of this project.”
”” Yong muttered.
”Twelve days ago Nick, Melanie, and I met up in Was.h.i.+ngton DC and I happened upon one of the members of the Dafu and managed to counter a pending terrorist attack,” he reported. ”I managed to glean a brief list of pending attacks, though because their operation in DC was stifled a majority of those attacks have since been aborted.”
”<how many=”” have=”” been?=””>” asked Afifa.
”<only two,=””>” he told her, ”<there should=”” have=”” been=”” a=”” bombing=”” in=”” volgograd=”” on=”” the=”” twenty-eighth=”” of=”” august=”” and=”” an=”” a.s.sa.s.sination=”” of=”” the=”” president=”” of=”” slovakia=”” yesterday,=”” though=”” neither=”” event=”” occurred.=””>”
”Is there another event that you plan on stopping?” Bruce asked. ”a.s.suming the attacks start up again on the same route they were before.”
Mizuno said there was one. ”In two weeks there should be an attack on the Seattle Art Museum.”
”What would they gain by attacking a museum in Seattle?” asked Mithra.
”They wouldn't gain anything,” Bruce answered. ”The Dafu never want anything in particular, other than creating disorder and chaos.”
”That's about as close of a reason as anyone can know,” Mizuno said. ”However there is something worth targeting. Do you all remember the attack on the Louvre in twenty-twenty-three?”
David nodded, ”<they destroyed=”” the=”” statue=”” of=”” david=”” and=”” the=”” mona=”” lisa.=””>”
”Yes, among other items. However this time around it's a series of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings that will be destroyed if the scheduled attacks resume. The tour of these paintings will start in Seattle and travel across the States and through Europe for about a year. The Dafu plans of destroying them in Seattle where the security will most likely be extremely limited.”
”<when do=”” they=”” plan=”” to=”” attack?=””>” David asked him.
”On the Twenty-second of this month, which means we only have sixteen days to form a plan to counter the attack.”
”a.s.suming it still occurs,” Kyle added.
”Yes.”
”What's the plan then?” Bruce asked.
”We're going to infiltrate the museum and steal the paintings, then transport them to a secure place away from the building, apprehend or kill any and all Dafu we encounter, and upon completion of the mission we disclose the location of the paintings to the curator of the museum.”
”How are we supposed to do all of that?” Melanie asked him.
”Alisa is going to slip into the museum and steal someone's form of identification which we will use to replicate to grant us access to the building on the day of the event.”
”<why doesn't=”” kyle=”” just=”” do=”” that=”” himself?=””>” Yong asked him. ”<he could=”” just=”” open=”” all=”” of=”” the=”” locked=”” doors=”” with=”” his=”” computer=”” or=”” something=”” and=”” save=”” her=”” the=”” trouble.=””>”
”Yes he could, but with all of the hoops he would have to jump through as well as keeping his presence within their system unknown and playing his own part in the operation would prove to be a bit excessive. And besides, this will be great practice for Alisa when it comes to any future operations.”
”What's next?”
”On the day of the attack we'll infiltrate the museum as well, though Kyle will disable all electronic forms of security and surveillance. On the first go through Yong, David, Jian, Mithra, Melanie, Alisa, and I will stage a heist with various firearms while Bruce and Long retrieve all of Van Gogh's paintings and gather them into a small area for Afifa to transport out of the museum. Now, Afifa's ability creates a ma.s.sive surge of light when she uses it, which is where Mithra will come in. Mithra will blind everyone within the building before she transports our group out of the building.”
”What about Nick?” Strom asked. He received some looks from some of the members of the group for his interference and nonchalant air as if he was a part of their team, though he hardly cared.
”Nick will have a separate task. He's going to distract the guy who runs the show along with his wife and daughter while we all perform the robbery-slash-counterattack.”
”<why don't=”” i=”” do=”” that?=””>” David suggested. ””
Mizuno shook his head. ”Nick is a local, which means that there's a small chance that someone could identify him and cause strife in his personal life. And you already know the daughter, so that would jeopardize the situation.”
””
He nodded, ”Lauren Facet.”