mizunoyoroko
Inactive Member
The shuttle carrying Nobutora arrived at Aries station and opened to allow him to exit. Momentarily he would receive a message indicating that the interviewer was ready if he would like to show up early. The message also included directions to the briefing room as well as to storage places for him to store his bags so that he wouldn't have to carry them around. The station was full of people, being a major port for starships, all going their merry ways.
Pushing gently through the crowd, Nobutora made his way first to the storage area. His bulky seabags kept bumping into others in the crowded arrivals bay, requiring apologies from him and looks from those offended. He liked neither of these, so ditching his bags for the moment sound like a good idea. The storage bins were arrayed in long rows and, after receiving a temporary pass key from the manager, he stowed his bags in a locker. Ready, he steeled his face and reached out for the admittance chime.
Yoshiko sat in the briefing room staring down at her datapad. She had just finished reading Nobutara's file and looked forward to interviewing the man directly. Formerly a Geshrin, he's got quite the record. Yoshiko thought as she reviewed the file one last time. Nonetheless, this will be interesting. It appears that he has expierience working with SAINT already. I think I'll have him do the simulation anyway since his expierience is more external than internal. Yoshiko picked up her datapad and began re-reading Nobutara's file.
Receiving no response from inside the room, Nobutora simply decided to open the door himself. It slid open silently and he stepped firmly into the room. Catching sight of the shosa sitting at the end of the conference table, evidently perusing some files, he turned towards her direction and braced to attention. "Ma'am! Yamamoto Nobutora Santo-Hei reporting as ordered, Ma'am!" he cried, eyes fixed a regulation seven centimeters above
As the room came into view the first thing Nobutora would see were the gray walls of the room. About halfway up the walls were lamp fixtures that projected light both above and below them against the wall, and were spaced about two feet apart. In the center of the room was an oval table with fourteen black leather desk chairs sitting around it. These were the kind of chairs that you could spin around and roll in. "Yamamoto-Hei, please take a seat." Yoshiko said without looking up from her datapad. Yoshiko scanned her datapad once again for a few seconds before setting it aside and looking at Nobutora. "How are you doing today?" the white-haired, golden-eyed neko asked.
Still at attention, Nobutora stood a little straighter. "Ma'am, the Santo-Hei is in fine order today, Ma'am!" Then, looking a little startled, realizing that he had been told to sit down, he promptly pulled out a chair and sat down. He looked, and felt, eminently uncomfortable, trying to remain at attention in a chair. With a little mental shake, he steadied his racing thoughts. "If the Shosa will permit it, might the Santo-Hei inquire after the Shosa's health?"
"You can relax Nobutara-Hei. I'm doing well, though I feel a little cooped up from sitting around all day." Yoshiko responded before she leaned back in her chair and rested her arms on the arm rests. "You've got quite a record for someone who hasn't worked in SAINT yet. Good grades in college, extensive fieldwork both on your own as well as several joint task forces with SAINT, I must say I'm impressed. You've been quite successful, so tell me what prompted you to join the Star Army?"
"It was a procedural matter, ma'am," replied Nobutora. He was faithfully trying to execute his order to "relax," and the result was a pained kind of grimace on his face. "The terms of my contract with the Executive Intelligence Branch stipulated that I had four years to be promoted in the service or else I would face immediate termination." He shrugged. "My superior tried to get an exemption for my case, but rules are rules. I insisted they be followed. I didn't really know where else to go with my skill set, though. My experience liaising with SAINT seemed to indicate that the Star Army seemed like the best place, ma'am." He paused for a moment, looking pensive.
“To be honest, ma’am, I’m a little unsure of how I’ll fit in aboard a ship. I’ve spent that last four years and all of my professional life as an analyst. I hate to admit it, but I’m not really a people person.” He paused again, and then seemed to sharply suck in a breath. He straightened up again. “Ma’am, I apologize for my behavior, ma’am! The Santo-Hei assures the Shosa that personal issues will not interfere."
Yoshiko nodded, something inside her twitched every time the Yamataian addressed himself in the third person by rank. RELAX! She wanted to scream at him, but now wasn't the time for that. "You say you're not a people person, Yamamoto-Hei. Could you elaborate on that a little bit? Your record indicates that you have served in several joint task forces before, these are hardly non-people person positions that we are talking about."
“Ma’am, I hate to sound like I’m bragging, but I’m a really good analyst. I was faster and more accurate than anyone in my section; that’s why my superior offered to get an exemption and why I was assigned to the special task groups. But I wouldn’t really interact with my fellow analysts and agents; I would just crank out the technical data or refine other’s data and let the managers do the interacting.” While still visibly up-tight, it was clear that Nobutora was both confident in his abilities and more comfortable talking about them.
"I see. I think that you will find it is easier to be a people person than you thought it was, you'll also find that your job will require you to be such." Yoshiko paused as she collected her thoughts, "That aside though, if given mission objectives and guidelines do you think you are capable of creating a plan for completing said objectives? This will require working with others, though to what extent is up to all involved."
“Please let the Santo-Hei repeat his assurance to the Shosa that personal difficulties will absolutely not interfere with the execution of duties. That Santo-Hei is completely prepared to do whatever is required to complete any and all objectives and orders, ma’am!” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I am capable of working with others, ma’am. If the situation calls for it, I can do it. It’s only my personal preference to avoid it."
Yoshiko barely managed to suppress a grimace when Nobutora spoke in the third person rank again. "Good. I think we've covered almost everything for now, but there is one last part of the interview remaining." Yoshiko stood up out of her chair after she spoke. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the rec room where it will be conducted." Yoshiko said before moving toward the door.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am," said Nobutora, standing and bracing to attention as she walked passed him. He quickly fell in behind her as they exited the conference room back out into the crowded passageway. They walked for a good distance, Nobutora silently following the Shosa. Though he was considerably taller than she, he still had to walk swiftly to keep up with her pace. Finally, they pushed back out of the stream of people and came to a stop in front of the rec room door, Nobutora bracing to attention as they did. Nobutora bracing to attention as they did.
Silently Yoshiko cringed as the Hei went back to attention before the rec room door slid open. "Yamamoto-Hei, if you'll just enter the room the simulation will begin automatically." Yoshiko gestured toward the door as she spoke.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Nobutora took two steps forward, depressing the door control. As the door slid open, this time with a soft hiss, he turned and, at attention, threw the Shosa a crisp salute. "If the Shosa will excuse me?"
"Of course." Yoshiko responded to the Yamataian. As Nobutora stepped in the only thing that would be visible to him was a wooden table with a lamp hanging over it, casting it's light upon the small structure. On top of the table lay a NSP as well as a datapad. Once was inside the door the slid shut and dissappeared from view.
His line of retreat now cut off, Nobutora did the only sensible thing and strode forward. He left the datapad alone for the moment, instead picking up and expertly checking the pistol, stopping just short of actually field stripping it. Maybe he didn’t like combat and maybe he wasn’t a good shot, but Nobutora would be damned if he wasn’t proficient at dealing with his equipment. Satisfied with the condition of the weapon, he set it back down on the table and turned his attention to the datapad. He reached down, picking it up and thumbing the activation stud at the same time.
The pad sprang to life in front of Nobutora's eyes. It started reading it's contents aloud. "Santo-Hei Yamamto Nobutora. This simulation is the second part of your interview." came a computerized voice, "You and a fellow member of the Star Army have discovered a known terrorist inside of Yamataian space. You and your friend have been instructed to monitor David Hughes's" when the datapad reached this point an image popped up on the screen of David, he was a Yamataian with blond hair, blue eyes, and about an average height and build. "movements until appropriate Star Army personel arrive, at which point they will capture him at this location:" Instantly an image of where the capture was to take place popped up on the display.
"You've been watching David for three days now, rotating shifts with your partner James Sanchez.", another image this time of James appeared on screen. James looked like an average Yamataian as well, though he had crisp low cut black hair and black eyes. "It is now your shift." As the voice finished talking the datapad dissolved from view and the world suddenly altered itself. Now Nobutora was standing in a trashy hotel room, across the street was David's house.
Nobutora sucked in a quick breath; the suddenness of changes in a sim had a tendency to give him momentary vertigo. The episode passing, however, he examined his surroundings quickly. The room was as trashy as the rest of the hotel suggested it might be. There appeared to be mold in one corner and the sheets gave off a musty stench. It certainly was not hospitable.
On the other hand, it meant that the target, as identified by the datapad, was unlikely to come snooping around the hotel for kicks. After all, the house across the street was much nicer; a two story affair, well trimmed in the modest fashion of most Yamataian citizens, with a yard, tiny by ancient standards, but positively gigantic in the crowded environs of modern Kyoto.
His cursory search complete, he looked down to see if there was any surveillance equipment on hand. After all, Nobutora was first and foremost an analyst, given him a sensor feed and computer to run it through and he could pull operational data out of a morning greeting. His auxiliary training left him capable of doing the job the old fashioned way, but he knew what he was hoping for.
Unfortunately for Nobutora, there was no such equipment, instead there was a windowsil with a chair nearby. "I'm heading out to get some food, is there anything you want?" James asked from a side room as he looked out the window toward David's house. Throughout the hotel room, in addition to the mold that Nobutara first noticed there were fastfood bags laying around at random. It was clear that they had been living off of quick meals from local fast food chains for breakfast lunch and dinner.
Nobutora looked at the simulated person for a moment. At least, he assumed it was a simulation. “No, thanks,” he replied finally. “James” stood up and shrugged before grabbing some keys off a nightstand and heading for the door. If he was a simulation, then his personality subroutines had been well thought-out. As the door closed, however, Nobutora turned his attention back out the window. He peered closely at the house, trying to glean whatever information he could about the owner, or at least resident. He might have been more used to looking for patterns and oddities in sets of numbers and symbols, but in a pinch, an out of place physical detail could be just as informative.
It would seem that there wasn't much to glean from just the outside of David's house, nothing seemed unusual about it. The lawn had been cut low, though not recently since it was fall and the weather was turning colder. The path looked clear, and even the door seemed like a normal glass screen door with a thicker red door behind it. Nothing seemed out of the normal until David stepped out the door about 20 minutes later. It seemed like he was just a normal person going out for a walk toward the city, which was about five minutes away on foot, but occasionally he'd speed up his walking speed before slowing down again as if nothing had happened.
"Amateur," whispered Nobutora with a tight grin. Even analysts knew better than to use such obvious counter-surveillance techniques. They were useless anyways, as any decently skilled street surveillance operative would never blow cover by trying to catch up with such a foolish ploy. He supposed the man was at least a bit cautious though. The technique at best indicated guilt and at worst indicated he had an associate watching for followers.
David continued walking, within seconds he would be out of sight of the hotel window. If he made it into the city unseen he would be untrackable.
Moving quickly but nonchalantly, Nobutora slipped out onto the balcony heading for the stairs down to street level. He had timed it perfectly. Just as the target would have slipped out of sight, he made it onto the sidewalk. Now, he settled into an average gait, so that when the target hurried up, he fell behind, but when the target slowed down he would get closer. This was the happy medium; between his distance from the target and hid apparently self-centered pace, no watcher would think that Nobutora was following the target. He also used this time to scan for any back up the target might have brought along. They were still in a relatively suburban part of the city, so both foot and vehicle traffic was light, but there was still plenty of opportunity for someone to tag along.
It wasn't too hard to follow David, his features were slightly distinctive compared to most Yamataians, and he didn't appear to have anyone else tailing him. As they grew nearer to the city though, foot traffic increased dramatically. About two and a half minutes into the city though, David turned back and looked through the crowd behind him, as if looking for someone.
Nobutora had to suppress another grin. The sloppily executed check was another sign of the target’s lack of tradecraft. Nobutora called the bluff and kept walking forward, advancing towards the target at the same pace he had been strolling at since the start of the pursuit. He kept an eye on the man without looking at him, happy to see the target’s eyes roll right over himself without even focusing.
David lingered from face to face for a few seconds before walking a little further and turning down an alleyway that was between two taller buildings. It looked like it could have the back or side entrance to a shop possibly, but it was hard to tell without getting closer. There were crowds all around all of the buildings, looking in at the merchandise in the windows, talking amongst themselves, or even just passing by on the sidewalk.
Nobutora advanced at the same pace, casually glancing down the alley as he walked past it’s entrance.
From the glance that Nobutora got, there appeared to be a second figure huddled in the alleyway, but it was hard to tell without standing still. David had just approached the person before Nobutora had crossed the alleyway.
Nobutora drew up short, pausing to look into the window of the shop right next to the alley's entrance. Feigning interest, he stepped up closer, ostensibly looking at the display, but really watching the meet in the alley.
As Nobutora looked into the alleyway the person that David was talking to seemed familiar somehow. There was a bag of some kind in his left hand and something small was in his right. It looked like David was making a trade or something from him, but his body blocked anything that would be a dead giveaway as to what it was.
With no other options, he decided to play the waiting game, and see who came out of the alley first. Before that, though, he walked a little further down the street, entering the shop he had just been looking into. From inside, he would have a clear view of whoever stepped out of the alleyway, but would himself be unnoticed.
About five minutes later David came out of the alleyway, this time taking a more leisurely walk back to his place.
Nobutora ignored him; the target could always be reacquired at his house. He was more interested in the person he had met with. In addition to the audacity of a meet, and a sloppily performed one at that, Nobutora had a gut feeling that something was wrong.
About three minutes later Nobutara would see James pass by the store with a bag from a local fast food chain in his hands. By the direction he was going it was obvious he was headed back to the hotel.
"Thought so," muttered Nobutora grimly. His gut had always been right with numbers and now it was proving right in the real world. His first thought was to take out he NSP slipped in the back of his pants waistband, under his jacket, but that would ruin any advantage he might gain from the situation. Instead, he turned and raced down a side street. When he reached another street parallel to the one James was on, he turned down it and sprinted. After a few moments of that, certain he had gained the lead over James but had no chance of accidentally running into the target, he turned down another side street, and started sprinting back up to meet James head on. When he at last came into sight, Nobutora ran up to him, and stopped, bending over while huffing heavily at the exertion “James… the target… slipped out of my sight… I didn’t notice until now… tried to catch up with him…” he said, sucking in air between each phrase.
A scowl crossed James's face. "Shit. Where'd you lose him at?" James asked before glancing the direction that Nobutora had come from. "If this guy get's away we'll be in deep trouble." James said almost scoldingly.
“Back at the hotel,” Nobutora replied sheepishly, perfectly emulating an incompetent subordinate. “I got out of sight before I could get down onto the street. So I started trying to find him. I couldn’t around the hotel, so I thought I’d try coming into the city. But I haven’t seen a single sign of him. Sorry,” he ended, lamely. Quite differently from external appearance, Nobutora was grinning inside. James appeared to be completely buying into his “mistake.” It was a pretty reasonable error too, something to be expected from a rookie surveillance operative.
James grimaced and covered his face with his hand. "Alright. We have to find him, one of us should go back in case he goes back to his home. The other should keep searching." James said finally. It was obvious that James wasn't pleased about this news, his now crumpled fast food bag served as evidence to that.
"You're right," he replied. "Who do you want to return?" It didn't really matter to James which he picked. Either way, Nobutora would be making a call from a payphone to SAINT, informing them of their treacherous friend, and that the whole operation, including the capture, was probably compromised.
"You keep looking. I'll go back and check and make sure he's not there. If he's gone I'll call it in. If you find him let me know." James responded before starting toward the hotel.
It wasn’t a long search and a quick swipe of his electronic bank card had the phone’s console online. A quick directory search brought him the SAINT number and he quickly dialed it in. A moment of ringing later, it connected. “ID Number 11893857F3. Do a voiceprint and connect me to Operations immediately,” he said, speaking over the secretary’s greeting.
"One moment. Verification confirmed, transfering now." a woman responded before there was a brief click. "Operations." this time a different woman was speaking.
***********
Meanwhile once James was out of sight of Nobutora he ran flat out toward David's house. "We've been exposed." James sent telepathically to David. "What? How's that possible?" David replied. "I don't know, but my partner just tried to lie to me. Sometimes the kid can't lie to save his life." James sent.
Suddenly the world went dark, and in the center of the room hung the words: SIMULATION OVER. A door fizzled into existance behind Nobutora and slid open, allowing it's white light to spill into the room. In the hallway outside Yoshiko stood waiting. "Good job Yamamoto-Hei." Yoshiko said with a big grin on her face.
After another moment of disorientation, Nobutora realized that he must have failed. "Ma'am! The Santo-Hei apologizes for his failure. I am not a field agent; I should have eliminated the traitor when I had the chance. I will understand if you find me unfit for duty, ma'am," he said in a rush, bracing to attention and staring at the bulkhead above the Shosa's head. The words "good job" had apparently not even registered with him.
Yoshiko cringed again, "Yamamoto-Hei, you should relax more. You don't need to refer to yourself as 'the Santo-Hei' so often. As for you performance in the simulator, since the simulation isn't a pass-fail simulation it is irrelevent, though I find you more than fit for duty. If you'll come with me." Yoshiko motioned for Nobutora to walk with her. "I did forget to ask you one question Yamamoto-Hei, and this is a pretty important one. How do you feel about ST body transfers?" Yoshiko asked, she remembered that he had been formerly Geshrin so she didn't believe this would be an issue but you never would know.
“Understood, ma’am. The Santo… I will attempt to relax, ma’am.” Now that it was a direct order, he couldn’t really help but do as instructed. “As for ST’s, ma’am, I had never really thought about it. But if it is important for the mission, it doesn’t matter. The mission always come first ma’am. Whatever is required of me is acceptable, ma’am.”
"I see. Well, that concludes the interview. I've decided to accept you aboard the Genei. I'll expect to have you aboard within 20 hours, which is when we leave. Don't be late. I've already modified your access privileges so you'll be allowed to board her, PANT-IES can give you the location of the bay that she is located in as well.
"Understood, ma'am. I will gather my belongings immediately." He braced to attention, but then paused for a moment. "If I might ask, ma'am, what position have you seen fit to assign me to aboard the Genei?" He hoped it was an analytical position. The sim proved, yet again, that he was no field agent.
"Your position, like that of all of my crew, will be flexible. You will serve in whatever method you and your fellow operatives feel is best based on a particular mission. In our line of work we can't afford to be rigid or stiff, we have to be able to bend and adjust to the winds of change." Yoshiko responded before turning to the Yamataian. "Welcome aboard."
"Understood, ma'am. I look forward to serving the Empire and Empress under your command." His parade ground stance and salute were flawless as he turned to face the Shosa.
Pushing gently through the crowd, Nobutora made his way first to the storage area. His bulky seabags kept bumping into others in the crowded arrivals bay, requiring apologies from him and looks from those offended. He liked neither of these, so ditching his bags for the moment sound like a good idea. The storage bins were arrayed in long rows and, after receiving a temporary pass key from the manager, he stowed his bags in a locker. Ready, he steeled his face and reached out for the admittance chime.
Yoshiko sat in the briefing room staring down at her datapad. She had just finished reading Nobutara's file and looked forward to interviewing the man directly. Formerly a Geshrin, he's got quite the record. Yoshiko thought as she reviewed the file one last time. Nonetheless, this will be interesting. It appears that he has expierience working with SAINT already. I think I'll have him do the simulation anyway since his expierience is more external than internal. Yoshiko picked up her datapad and began re-reading Nobutara's file.
Receiving no response from inside the room, Nobutora simply decided to open the door himself. It slid open silently and he stepped firmly into the room. Catching sight of the shosa sitting at the end of the conference table, evidently perusing some files, he turned towards her direction and braced to attention. "Ma'am! Yamamoto Nobutora Santo-Hei reporting as ordered, Ma'am!" he cried, eyes fixed a regulation seven centimeters above
As the room came into view the first thing Nobutora would see were the gray walls of the room. About halfway up the walls were lamp fixtures that projected light both above and below them against the wall, and were spaced about two feet apart. In the center of the room was an oval table with fourteen black leather desk chairs sitting around it. These were the kind of chairs that you could spin around and roll in. "Yamamoto-Hei, please take a seat." Yoshiko said without looking up from her datapad. Yoshiko scanned her datapad once again for a few seconds before setting it aside and looking at Nobutora. "How are you doing today?" the white-haired, golden-eyed neko asked.
Still at attention, Nobutora stood a little straighter. "Ma'am, the Santo-Hei is in fine order today, Ma'am!" Then, looking a little startled, realizing that he had been told to sit down, he promptly pulled out a chair and sat down. He looked, and felt, eminently uncomfortable, trying to remain at attention in a chair. With a little mental shake, he steadied his racing thoughts. "If the Shosa will permit it, might the Santo-Hei inquire after the Shosa's health?"
"You can relax Nobutara-Hei. I'm doing well, though I feel a little cooped up from sitting around all day." Yoshiko responded before she leaned back in her chair and rested her arms on the arm rests. "You've got quite a record for someone who hasn't worked in SAINT yet. Good grades in college, extensive fieldwork both on your own as well as several joint task forces with SAINT, I must say I'm impressed. You've been quite successful, so tell me what prompted you to join the Star Army?"
"It was a procedural matter, ma'am," replied Nobutora. He was faithfully trying to execute his order to "relax," and the result was a pained kind of grimace on his face. "The terms of my contract with the Executive Intelligence Branch stipulated that I had four years to be promoted in the service or else I would face immediate termination." He shrugged. "My superior tried to get an exemption for my case, but rules are rules. I insisted they be followed. I didn't really know where else to go with my skill set, though. My experience liaising with SAINT seemed to indicate that the Star Army seemed like the best place, ma'am." He paused for a moment, looking pensive.
“To be honest, ma’am, I’m a little unsure of how I’ll fit in aboard a ship. I’ve spent that last four years and all of my professional life as an analyst. I hate to admit it, but I’m not really a people person.” He paused again, and then seemed to sharply suck in a breath. He straightened up again. “Ma’am, I apologize for my behavior, ma’am! The Santo-Hei assures the Shosa that personal issues will not interfere."
Yoshiko nodded, something inside her twitched every time the Yamataian addressed himself in the third person by rank. RELAX! She wanted to scream at him, but now wasn't the time for that. "You say you're not a people person, Yamamoto-Hei. Could you elaborate on that a little bit? Your record indicates that you have served in several joint task forces before, these are hardly non-people person positions that we are talking about."
“Ma’am, I hate to sound like I’m bragging, but I’m a really good analyst. I was faster and more accurate than anyone in my section; that’s why my superior offered to get an exemption and why I was assigned to the special task groups. But I wouldn’t really interact with my fellow analysts and agents; I would just crank out the technical data or refine other’s data and let the managers do the interacting.” While still visibly up-tight, it was clear that Nobutora was both confident in his abilities and more comfortable talking about them.
"I see. I think that you will find it is easier to be a people person than you thought it was, you'll also find that your job will require you to be such." Yoshiko paused as she collected her thoughts, "That aside though, if given mission objectives and guidelines do you think you are capable of creating a plan for completing said objectives? This will require working with others, though to what extent is up to all involved."
“Please let the Santo-Hei repeat his assurance to the Shosa that personal difficulties will absolutely not interfere with the execution of duties. That Santo-Hei is completely prepared to do whatever is required to complete any and all objectives and orders, ma’am!” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I am capable of working with others, ma’am. If the situation calls for it, I can do it. It’s only my personal preference to avoid it."
Yoshiko barely managed to suppress a grimace when Nobutora spoke in the third person rank again. "Good. I think we've covered almost everything for now, but there is one last part of the interview remaining." Yoshiko stood up out of her chair after she spoke. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the rec room where it will be conducted." Yoshiko said before moving toward the door.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am," said Nobutora, standing and bracing to attention as she walked passed him. He quickly fell in behind her as they exited the conference room back out into the crowded passageway. They walked for a good distance, Nobutora silently following the Shosa. Though he was considerably taller than she, he still had to walk swiftly to keep up with her pace. Finally, they pushed back out of the stream of people and came to a stop in front of the rec room door, Nobutora bracing to attention as they did. Nobutora bracing to attention as they did.
Silently Yoshiko cringed as the Hei went back to attention before the rec room door slid open. "Yamamoto-Hei, if you'll just enter the room the simulation will begin automatically." Yoshiko gestured toward the door as she spoke.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Nobutora took two steps forward, depressing the door control. As the door slid open, this time with a soft hiss, he turned and, at attention, threw the Shosa a crisp salute. "If the Shosa will excuse me?"
"Of course." Yoshiko responded to the Yamataian. As Nobutora stepped in the only thing that would be visible to him was a wooden table with a lamp hanging over it, casting it's light upon the small structure. On top of the table lay a NSP as well as a datapad. Once was inside the door the slid shut and dissappeared from view.
His line of retreat now cut off, Nobutora did the only sensible thing and strode forward. He left the datapad alone for the moment, instead picking up and expertly checking the pistol, stopping just short of actually field stripping it. Maybe he didn’t like combat and maybe he wasn’t a good shot, but Nobutora would be damned if he wasn’t proficient at dealing with his equipment. Satisfied with the condition of the weapon, he set it back down on the table and turned his attention to the datapad. He reached down, picking it up and thumbing the activation stud at the same time.
The pad sprang to life in front of Nobutora's eyes. It started reading it's contents aloud. "Santo-Hei Yamamto Nobutora. This simulation is the second part of your interview." came a computerized voice, "You and a fellow member of the Star Army have discovered a known terrorist inside of Yamataian space. You and your friend have been instructed to monitor David Hughes's" when the datapad reached this point an image popped up on the screen of David, he was a Yamataian with blond hair, blue eyes, and about an average height and build. "movements until appropriate Star Army personel arrive, at which point they will capture him at this location:" Instantly an image of where the capture was to take place popped up on the display.
"You've been watching David for three days now, rotating shifts with your partner James Sanchez.", another image this time of James appeared on screen. James looked like an average Yamataian as well, though he had crisp low cut black hair and black eyes. "It is now your shift." As the voice finished talking the datapad dissolved from view and the world suddenly altered itself. Now Nobutora was standing in a trashy hotel room, across the street was David's house.
Nobutora sucked in a quick breath; the suddenness of changes in a sim had a tendency to give him momentary vertigo. The episode passing, however, he examined his surroundings quickly. The room was as trashy as the rest of the hotel suggested it might be. There appeared to be mold in one corner and the sheets gave off a musty stench. It certainly was not hospitable.
On the other hand, it meant that the target, as identified by the datapad, was unlikely to come snooping around the hotel for kicks. After all, the house across the street was much nicer; a two story affair, well trimmed in the modest fashion of most Yamataian citizens, with a yard, tiny by ancient standards, but positively gigantic in the crowded environs of modern Kyoto.
His cursory search complete, he looked down to see if there was any surveillance equipment on hand. After all, Nobutora was first and foremost an analyst, given him a sensor feed and computer to run it through and he could pull operational data out of a morning greeting. His auxiliary training left him capable of doing the job the old fashioned way, but he knew what he was hoping for.
Unfortunately for Nobutora, there was no such equipment, instead there was a windowsil with a chair nearby. "I'm heading out to get some food, is there anything you want?" James asked from a side room as he looked out the window toward David's house. Throughout the hotel room, in addition to the mold that Nobutara first noticed there were fastfood bags laying around at random. It was clear that they had been living off of quick meals from local fast food chains for breakfast lunch and dinner.
Nobutora looked at the simulated person for a moment. At least, he assumed it was a simulation. “No, thanks,” he replied finally. “James” stood up and shrugged before grabbing some keys off a nightstand and heading for the door. If he was a simulation, then his personality subroutines had been well thought-out. As the door closed, however, Nobutora turned his attention back out the window. He peered closely at the house, trying to glean whatever information he could about the owner, or at least resident. He might have been more used to looking for patterns and oddities in sets of numbers and symbols, but in a pinch, an out of place physical detail could be just as informative.
It would seem that there wasn't much to glean from just the outside of David's house, nothing seemed unusual about it. The lawn had been cut low, though not recently since it was fall and the weather was turning colder. The path looked clear, and even the door seemed like a normal glass screen door with a thicker red door behind it. Nothing seemed out of the normal until David stepped out the door about 20 minutes later. It seemed like he was just a normal person going out for a walk toward the city, which was about five minutes away on foot, but occasionally he'd speed up his walking speed before slowing down again as if nothing had happened.
"Amateur," whispered Nobutora with a tight grin. Even analysts knew better than to use such obvious counter-surveillance techniques. They were useless anyways, as any decently skilled street surveillance operative would never blow cover by trying to catch up with such a foolish ploy. He supposed the man was at least a bit cautious though. The technique at best indicated guilt and at worst indicated he had an associate watching for followers.
David continued walking, within seconds he would be out of sight of the hotel window. If he made it into the city unseen he would be untrackable.
Moving quickly but nonchalantly, Nobutora slipped out onto the balcony heading for the stairs down to street level. He had timed it perfectly. Just as the target would have slipped out of sight, he made it onto the sidewalk. Now, he settled into an average gait, so that when the target hurried up, he fell behind, but when the target slowed down he would get closer. This was the happy medium; between his distance from the target and hid apparently self-centered pace, no watcher would think that Nobutora was following the target. He also used this time to scan for any back up the target might have brought along. They were still in a relatively suburban part of the city, so both foot and vehicle traffic was light, but there was still plenty of opportunity for someone to tag along.
It wasn't too hard to follow David, his features were slightly distinctive compared to most Yamataians, and he didn't appear to have anyone else tailing him. As they grew nearer to the city though, foot traffic increased dramatically. About two and a half minutes into the city though, David turned back and looked through the crowd behind him, as if looking for someone.
Nobutora had to suppress another grin. The sloppily executed check was another sign of the target’s lack of tradecraft. Nobutora called the bluff and kept walking forward, advancing towards the target at the same pace he had been strolling at since the start of the pursuit. He kept an eye on the man without looking at him, happy to see the target’s eyes roll right over himself without even focusing.
David lingered from face to face for a few seconds before walking a little further and turning down an alleyway that was between two taller buildings. It looked like it could have the back or side entrance to a shop possibly, but it was hard to tell without getting closer. There were crowds all around all of the buildings, looking in at the merchandise in the windows, talking amongst themselves, or even just passing by on the sidewalk.
Nobutora advanced at the same pace, casually glancing down the alley as he walked past it’s entrance.
From the glance that Nobutora got, there appeared to be a second figure huddled in the alleyway, but it was hard to tell without standing still. David had just approached the person before Nobutora had crossed the alleyway.
Nobutora drew up short, pausing to look into the window of the shop right next to the alley's entrance. Feigning interest, he stepped up closer, ostensibly looking at the display, but really watching the meet in the alley.
As Nobutora looked into the alleyway the person that David was talking to seemed familiar somehow. There was a bag of some kind in his left hand and something small was in his right. It looked like David was making a trade or something from him, but his body blocked anything that would be a dead giveaway as to what it was.
With no other options, he decided to play the waiting game, and see who came out of the alley first. Before that, though, he walked a little further down the street, entering the shop he had just been looking into. From inside, he would have a clear view of whoever stepped out of the alleyway, but would himself be unnoticed.
About five minutes later David came out of the alleyway, this time taking a more leisurely walk back to his place.
Nobutora ignored him; the target could always be reacquired at his house. He was more interested in the person he had met with. In addition to the audacity of a meet, and a sloppily performed one at that, Nobutora had a gut feeling that something was wrong.
About three minutes later Nobutara would see James pass by the store with a bag from a local fast food chain in his hands. By the direction he was going it was obvious he was headed back to the hotel.
"Thought so," muttered Nobutora grimly. His gut had always been right with numbers and now it was proving right in the real world. His first thought was to take out he NSP slipped in the back of his pants waistband, under his jacket, but that would ruin any advantage he might gain from the situation. Instead, he turned and raced down a side street. When he reached another street parallel to the one James was on, he turned down it and sprinted. After a few moments of that, certain he had gained the lead over James but had no chance of accidentally running into the target, he turned down another side street, and started sprinting back up to meet James head on. When he at last came into sight, Nobutora ran up to him, and stopped, bending over while huffing heavily at the exertion “James… the target… slipped out of my sight… I didn’t notice until now… tried to catch up with him…” he said, sucking in air between each phrase.
A scowl crossed James's face. "Shit. Where'd you lose him at?" James asked before glancing the direction that Nobutora had come from. "If this guy get's away we'll be in deep trouble." James said almost scoldingly.
“Back at the hotel,” Nobutora replied sheepishly, perfectly emulating an incompetent subordinate. “I got out of sight before I could get down onto the street. So I started trying to find him. I couldn’t around the hotel, so I thought I’d try coming into the city. But I haven’t seen a single sign of him. Sorry,” he ended, lamely. Quite differently from external appearance, Nobutora was grinning inside. James appeared to be completely buying into his “mistake.” It was a pretty reasonable error too, something to be expected from a rookie surveillance operative.
James grimaced and covered his face with his hand. "Alright. We have to find him, one of us should go back in case he goes back to his home. The other should keep searching." James said finally. It was obvious that James wasn't pleased about this news, his now crumpled fast food bag served as evidence to that.
"You're right," he replied. "Who do you want to return?" It didn't really matter to James which he picked. Either way, Nobutora would be making a call from a payphone to SAINT, informing them of their treacherous friend, and that the whole operation, including the capture, was probably compromised.
"You keep looking. I'll go back and check and make sure he's not there. If he's gone I'll call it in. If you find him let me know." James responded before starting toward the hotel.
It wasn’t a long search and a quick swipe of his electronic bank card had the phone’s console online. A quick directory search brought him the SAINT number and he quickly dialed it in. A moment of ringing later, it connected. “ID Number 11893857F3. Do a voiceprint and connect me to Operations immediately,” he said, speaking over the secretary’s greeting.
"One moment. Verification confirmed, transfering now." a woman responded before there was a brief click. "Operations." this time a different woman was speaking.
***********
Meanwhile once James was out of sight of Nobutora he ran flat out toward David's house. "We've been exposed." James sent telepathically to David. "What? How's that possible?" David replied. "I don't know, but my partner just tried to lie to me. Sometimes the kid can't lie to save his life." James sent.
Suddenly the world went dark, and in the center of the room hung the words: SIMULATION OVER. A door fizzled into existance behind Nobutora and slid open, allowing it's white light to spill into the room. In the hallway outside Yoshiko stood waiting. "Good job Yamamoto-Hei." Yoshiko said with a big grin on her face.
After another moment of disorientation, Nobutora realized that he must have failed. "Ma'am! The Santo-Hei apologizes for his failure. I am not a field agent; I should have eliminated the traitor when I had the chance. I will understand if you find me unfit for duty, ma'am," he said in a rush, bracing to attention and staring at the bulkhead above the Shosa's head. The words "good job" had apparently not even registered with him.
Yoshiko cringed again, "Yamamoto-Hei, you should relax more. You don't need to refer to yourself as 'the Santo-Hei' so often. As for you performance in the simulator, since the simulation isn't a pass-fail simulation it is irrelevent, though I find you more than fit for duty. If you'll come with me." Yoshiko motioned for Nobutora to walk with her. "I did forget to ask you one question Yamamoto-Hei, and this is a pretty important one. How do you feel about ST body transfers?" Yoshiko asked, she remembered that he had been formerly Geshrin so she didn't believe this would be an issue but you never would know.
“Understood, ma’am. The Santo… I will attempt to relax, ma’am.” Now that it was a direct order, he couldn’t really help but do as instructed. “As for ST’s, ma’am, I had never really thought about it. But if it is important for the mission, it doesn’t matter. The mission always come first ma’am. Whatever is required of me is acceptable, ma’am.”
"I see. Well, that concludes the interview. I've decided to accept you aboard the Genei. I'll expect to have you aboard within 20 hours, which is when we leave. Don't be late. I've already modified your access privileges so you'll be allowed to board her, PANT-IES can give you the location of the bay that she is located in as well.
"Understood, ma'am. I will gather my belongings immediately." He braced to attention, but then paused for a moment. "If I might ask, ma'am, what position have you seen fit to assign me to aboard the Genei?" He hoped it was an analytical position. The sim proved, yet again, that he was no field agent.
"Your position, like that of all of my crew, will be flexible. You will serve in whatever method you and your fellow operatives feel is best based on a particular mission. In our line of work we can't afford to be rigid or stiff, we have to be able to bend and adjust to the winds of change." Yoshiko responded before turning to the Yamataian. "Welcome aboard."
"Understood, ma'am. I look forward to serving the Empire and Empress under your command." His parade ground stance and salute were flawless as he turned to face the Shosa.
