Day 18

[from Don't Say a Word] [note: you can read the story itself here]

"EPSILON YV BLUE 2. CONFIRM."

To anyone else, the message flashing up on Shizukesa's holophone would have seemed like gibberish. Indeed, only a few weeks ago the message would have seemed like gibberish to Shizukesa herself. However, with her training complete and the protocols for her assignment established, she was able to decode the cryptic message in a heartbeat.

 First and foremost, the message itself meant that she had her first assignment, and there would be a meeting today between her and her handler to discuss the details. "Epsilon" referred to one of several meeting places known only to Shizukesa and her handler; in this case, it was the Special Observatory near the top of Tokyo Tower. "YV" were the second and fifth letters from the end of the English alphabet; together they corresponded to a meeting time of 2:30pm. "Blue" meant her handler would be wearing a blue shirt, allowing her to identify him. "2" was the importance of the mission, on a scale of one to five. It seemed they were easing her in, to an extent.

Shizukesa checked the time; it was just after 11am. Plenty of time to prepare herself. She typed out a simple reply - "I ACCEPT" - then headed off to the indoor shooting range tucked away inside a corner of her hideout, an old abandoned warehouse that had been secretly converted by her employers for her to live in. She was going to need all the practice she could get; after all, practice makes perfect.

***

Shizukesa arrived at the Special Observatory, 250 metres above the Tokyo streets, at precisely 2:30pm. Through the thickened glass windows, she had a spectacular view of the surrounding city. To her right, in the distance, she could see Mitsukashi HQ, the headquarters of her employer; at eight-hundred metres tall, it dwarfed the very observatory she was standing in. But she was not here to admire the scenery. She was here for business.

There were very few other people around, and so Shizukesa quickly located her handler, standing over on the far side of the observatory. Though Shizukesa often interacted directly with the Mitsukashi board members, any actual missions went through him, presumably to reduce the chance that the assassinations could be traced back to the company. He had short black hair and tanned skin, and usually had a cigarette dangling from his lips, but since the observatory was a no-smoking area, he had had to go without. As Shizukesa approached him, she saw he was chewing gum instead.

As Shizukesa approached, she pulled out her phone, opened her text-to-speech program and started to type. "Good afternoon," came the cool female voice from the phone.

The man nodded in her direction. "Hey," he said. "Glad you made it on time."

"So am I," said Shizukesa. "So, my first mission. Who's the target?"

"Straight down to business, huh?" The man smiled. "Alright then." The man produced a small folder from inside his shirt, and handed it to Shizukesa. Holding it in one hand, she flipped it open with her thumb; on the first page was a picture of a middle-aged woman whose name and face Shizukesa did not recognize.

"Her name's Yui Okazaki," he said. "She's the head of a marketing firm used by Kasaiki Corporation. Thanks to her, Kasaiki's sales have gone up by as much as 20% in some sectors over the past year. With her out of the way, their marketing strategy will be destabilized. Good place for you to start."

Shizukesa nodded. "Not critical enough for it to matter if I mess it up, but still worth doing. Do we know where she is?"

"In two days' time she'll be attending a conference in Seoul," said the man. "The address of her hotel is listed in the folder. We've taken the liberty of booking you into that same hotel, under the name of Rei Kuroki; your flight to Seoul leaves from Narita at noon tomorrow. Your tickets are also in there."

"How am I supposed to get weapons into South Korea?" asked Shizukesa.

"Oh, we got a little something in mind," said the man. "Don't worry."

"I'll stop worrying when I have a weapon in my hand," said Shizukesa.

"Relax," insisted the man, "you'll get your weapon. You'll get your money as well. When you leave, head for the rightmost elevator; a man will get on with a briefcase and hand it to you. Don't open it until you leave; it contains your payment, as well as some other essentials for the mission."

Shizukesa nodded. "Okay. I'll do my best."

"We can't expect any more than that," said the man. "As long as you stick to your training, you'll do fine."

"I'm sure I will," said Shizukesa, nodding.

"Okay," said the man, "that's all. This is a pretty straightforward mission; anything else you might need to know is in that folder. Good luck, Shizukesa."

"Thank you, sir," said Shizukesa.

With that, Shizukesa took her leave. As instructed, she took the rightmost elevator back down, closing the doors manually before anyone else could enter. As she reached the Main Observatory, one hundred metres below the Special Observatory, a man in a tuxedo who looked like an ordinary businessman entered the lift, carrying a briefcase. Without saying a word, he handed it to Shizukesa.

As the elevator arrived at FootTown, the building beneath the tower, Shizukesa and the tuxedoed stranger departed in different directions, Shizukesa heading for her car, a custom-built model derived from the latest Nissan sports car. It was time to head home and prepare for her mission.

Upon reaching her car, parked in a nearby car park, Shizukesa popped the trunk and stowed the briefcase away inside. Closing the trunk again, she got into the driver's seat, started the silent electric engine and drove away.