Sign of the Dragon (Tatsu Yamada Book 1), Niall Teasdale [books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

The oppressive nature of the weather seemed to fit with the occasion. She was waiting with Nakano outside Sakurada Gate. Any moment, Yukiko Shiratori would be emerging from the building. The yakuza boss was being released pending charges relating to aiding and abetting a known criminal, though the word was that it would be bargained down to something like ‘wasting police time’ and she would escape without further prison time. Shiratori knew what had happened to her daughter. She had been very stoic on the matter to date.

‘Are you getting that fixed sometime soon?’ Nakano asked.

Tatsu turned her head to look at him, wondering what he meant, and then she realised he meant her arm. Her left arm was hanging over her chest in a sling, still largely immobile after Kaede’s cut. ‘Waiting on parts. It’s only been a day and the whole arm needs replacing. It’s going to be a whole big deal. Strip back the skin, make the replacement, cover and blend the new skin into the old. I’m not in much of a hurry, though doing everything with one hand is getting old fast.’

‘Huh, yeah. I had to have my arm in a sling for three weeks a couple of years ago. I could still hold things, but it was still a pain.’

‘I bet they actually gave you time off to recover.’

‘Yeah. Yes, they did.’

Tatsu flashed him a grin. ‘When you’re a cyborg, you’re just expected to soldier on.’ The grin faded. ‘Here she comes.’

Shiratori had four bodyguards when she walked out through the main doors of the police HQ. She was dressed in a black skirt-suit with opaque, dark-grey hose under it despite the heat; she was, in effect, dressed for a funeral. Her eyes were downcast, it seemed, and yet she spotted Tatsu and Nakano almost immediately, redirecting her guardians to take her closer.

‘Detectives,’ Shiratori said once she was close enough that she could speak quietly. ‘Are you here to gloat over your victory?’

‘I didn’t want to kill her, Shiratori,’ Tatsu said. ‘I wanted her alive. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life in a cell.’

‘You killed my daughter, Yamada. You shot her down in cold–’

‘The blood was at least very warm. She was swinging a sonic katana at my head.’

‘You are an armoured cyborg.’

‘And, as the state of my arm indicates, her weapon was quite capable of damaging me. But that isn’t the point. She was ready to kill or be killed. She had no intention of being arrested and she forced my hand.’

Shiratori gave Tatsu a shallow, malicious smile. ‘Tell yourself whatever you need to to sleep at night, Sergeant. I will never forget what you have done.’

Tatsu sighed. ‘Okay. That was expected. To be clear, however… If you send people after me, I’ll send them back in body bags. If you try to punish me through my friends, I will take your organisation apart, piece by piece, leaving only ashes in my wake. You can be angry with me all you like, if it helps you sleep at night, but I’ll meet action with action, and you don’t want that.’

Shiratori stared at Tatsu for several seconds but trying to outstare a cyborg is a pointless activity. Without another word, she turned and strode away toward a waiting private car.

‘Do you think she will come after you?’ Nakano asked.

‘Honestly, I’m not sure. She’s an intelligent woman. I think she knows that direct action isn’t going to work.’

‘What about indirect action?’

‘Mm. It’ll be interesting to see what she comes up with.’

The City, 22nd September.

It was simply known to most as ‘the City.’ Sitting twenty kilometres to the north-west of the current boundary of Tokyo, it occupied the general area of Maebashi, Takasaki, and Isesaki; over a thousand square kilometres of shining, windowless skyscrapers and mostly empty streets. It was not a place people visited often. Educational trips were organised for children, and that was often the only time you went into the City in your lifetime.

For the two Nakanos and Sachiko, it was their second ever visit. Tatsu had been there on several occasions. The conveyor they were using carried them smoothly through the streets with Mika staring out of the window with obvious interest while her brother and Sachiko tried to look more casual about it. It was a little like visiting a shrine which also happened to be a major tourist attraction. The City was where Izanami lived. The City was, in many ways, the heart and soul of modern Japan.

‘And you just know Izanami?’ Nakano asked.

‘Izanami designed this body,’ Tatsu replied. ‘She led the project which created me and the others on my team during the war. In the end, this chassis proved too expensive for general use, even in the military, so there were never any more built. In a way, then, you could consider the project a failure. But that doesn’t stop her taking an interest in what I’m doing. Frankly, she’s a nag. It’s like having a doting grandmother intent on pressing for the arrival of grandchildren.’

Nakano looked vaguely horrified at the analogy. ‘And she decided to replace your arm personally because of this?’

Tatsu shrugged. ‘Actually, she says she’s going to replace the whole chassis, and that’s why I thought it might be good for Mika to come along. She won’t get to see the whole operation, but she’ll get a good idea of what a total cyborg’s physical life is like. You’ll get to see your, um, living conditions, Mika.’

‘And that’s why I’m here,’ Sachiko said. ‘I get to see what the “real” you is like.’

Tatsu nodded. ‘We’re getting pretty serious about things. This is your last chance to back out. You’ll get to see what’s under the highly realistic skin. I don’t really think you