Day 64

[from Vanishing Point]

"…Tokyo City Patrol are currently investigating an incident yesterday afternoon in which three female prisoners were allegedly broken out of a secure facility on the outskirts of the city. An unidentified male posing as a security guard broke into the facility and escaped with the three girls in tow. The City Patrol have so far not disclosed the identities of the escaped convicts, nor any details of the crimes for which they were imprisoned-"

"Gee, I wonder why," remarked Cobra sarcastically, as she, Hanako, Kiyoko and Kamui watched the news report detailing their own escape.

"-but they insist that there is no danger to the public, and that the four criminals will be tracked down and apprehended as soon as possible," continued the reporter.

"Are… are we really criminals?" asked Kiyoko nervously.

"We are now," said Kamui. "No going back from here. The only way out of this is to finish what we started, and find out the truth behind what's going on at Shinsuke Corporation."

"Shinsuke run the City Patrol, don't they?" asked Kiyoko.

"Yeah," said Kamui, "which is how they abducted you three, and probably dozens of other girls, without anyone noticing. They could just pass you off as criminals being taken to jail, like they're doing now. It also means they're going to be looking all over the city for us. If they catch us, it's game over."

"They won't catch us," said Cobra. "Me and Kiyoko can use our powers to evade them, and as long as the two of you stick with us, you'll be safe as well."

Kiyoko looked down at her hand. That's right… my power. She didn't know where it had come from, but during the escape from the Shinsuke facility, Kiyoko had discovered that she had the power to turn invisible. She was still learning to control it - it had first triggered after Shinsuke's guards ambushed her and Kamui as they tried to escape, and she had panicked and ran, not realizing she had activated her power subconsciously. Kamui eventually managed to find her again, and together with Cobra and Hanako, who had taken advantage of the commotion to make their own escape, the four of them had fled from the facility.

Now the three girls found themselves at Kamui's house: Kiyoko and Hanako because they couldn't go home, for fear of Shinsuke attacking their loved ones, and Cobra because she had no home to return to, or at least not one that she could remember. Unlike Kiyoko, whose disappearance was what had brought Kamui into the whole affair in the first place, Cobra did not even know her own name. Her current moniker was one Hanako had affectionately given her, based on the distinctive snake tattoo that wound round her right arm. It wasn't the best name, but it was better than "Subject 13".

"…so, what do we do now?" asked Kiyoko. "How do we go about finding the answers?"

"I'd like to start by finding the other twelve test subjects that came before you three," said Kamui. "You were the only ones at the facility when I arrived there, so the first twelve must be somewhere out there. At the very least, I'd like to let them know about this conspiracy they're tangled up in."

"And how do we find them?" asked Hanako. "How will we even know who they are?"

Kamui mulled this over for a moment. "You're all just test subjects to them, right? Then they must have some kind of record of all the subjects, and all the tests they were subjected to, the results, and so on. Even if it's a top-secret record, it'll be somewhere in their database. We can use that to find the identities of the other test subjects."

"It's worth a shot," said Cobra. "So, how will we get that information?"

Kamui smiled knowingly. "Oh, let's just say I know a guy," he said.

***

The girls heard the front door slam as Kamui returned from his trip to his mysterious contact. They quickly rushed over to hear what news he might have. "Did you get the info?" asked Hanako.

Kamui's uneasy expression quickly told them that he had not obtained the information. "Sadly, it's not that easy," he said. "The guy can break their encryptions, no problem, but he has to actually be there to do it. That's not possible for him, but it is possible for you, Kiyoko."

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked Kiyoko, surprised.

"I'm saying, you'll have to infiltrate Shinsuke HQ in order to get the information we need," said Kamui. "With your invisibility, it should be a breeze."

Kiyoko didn't seem convinced. "B-but I don't know how to hack computers-"

"You don't need to," said Kamui reassuringly. "Here." He handed her what appeared to be an ordinary USB flash drive. "This flash drive contains a powerful decryption program that my friend wrote. Plug it into any of the computers in their headquarters and it'll break through their encryptions, allowing you to find the information we need. Once you find something, download it onto the flash drive and bring it back here so we can analyze it." He gave her a serious, but gentle look. "You're the only one who can do this, Kiyoko."

Kiyoko was still far from confident. "But…"

Cobra put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "We'll all support you as best we can. You won't be alone in this."

"Yeah!" said Hanako enthusiastically. "We believe in you, Kiyoko! You can do it!"

Kiyoko smiled, touched by her new-found friends' words of encouragement. She looked down at the flash drive in her hand. It seemed so small and fragile, so incapable of holding the power that it supposedly did. I'll just have to trust in it, she thought, like everyone's trusting in me.

"Okay," said Kiyoko, still a little nervous. "I'll do my best."