The Rise of Shiroi Nami – Chapter 13

After we place our bags in secure lockers at the train station, we’re off to our day of training at the Aoi Uma factory.

“You don’t think we should delay?” I trot to keep up with Rin and Ryoko. I thought that once I told them about the data theft perpetrated by Aoi Uma, we would hold off and do more research.

“Anything that they’ve done with the technology they stole will not get better or worse in the next few days, Yumi. Especially since it happened years ago.” Rin slows down a bit and places his hand on the small of my back. “Try to think calm thoughts.”

Calm thoughts. He’s nuts. Nothing is calming about taking on this mission.

I shouldn’t even be here at all. I should be back on that moon base with Isao. Really. I’m regretting that decision. I could have stayed out of this, but I’m here because the person who was going to play this role is on her way to the moon base. That invasion messed everything up.

I inhale through my nose and out through my mouth, remembering that I’ve been in more dangerous situations before. I have jumped from a burning building. I’ve lived side-by-side with murderers, drug dealers, and rapists. I’ve survived death by android several times now.

I can do this.

I adjust my uniform for the day, and Ryoko nods when I get the headscarf centered on my head. All Aoi Uma employees at this factory wear a comfortable blue uniform of a button-down shirt, pants, and a headscarf. The scarf covers the hair, ears, and neck — a precaution to help keep errant human material out of the factory’s sensitive areas. Good for us because it’s a practical disguise. I can easily hide my face by tilting my head in almost any direction. Ryoko and I have used some fancy skin-plumping creams to fill out our cheeks and lips. It’s temporary, but it’ll last the day and make us harder to identify. Even Rin used a little around his eyes to change the shape of his face. No dark charcoal makeup for him, though. Ryoko and I kept that to ourselves.

Kazuo, Aimi, and Saki will run point outside, disguised as tourists, ready to jump at a moment’s notice.

The goal is to get inside, see what we see, go through the training, and on the lunch break, we make our way to the data center where Rin will set the virus loose that Isao engineered. The beauty of this virus is that the androids will not act any differently at first. It’ll only be when they’re called to do something that violates their new laws that people will notice the difference. We should be able to get away without having androids on our tail, just normal humans. We have a chance of escaping normal humans. Androids, not so much.

As we approach the building, I remind myself of my new identity programmed into my wrist chip. This new chip is one I can control with my tablet, and I have ten identities pre-programmed by Kiiroi Yama. Thanks to my new allies, I am all but a ghost. Today, I’m Mika Ando, and I’m a recent graduate of Shin-Osaka University’s Artificial Intelligence program. Ryoko is now Yoko, one of my fellow graduates. Rin is Ryan, a former Aka Matsuba employee also applying to the same division.

He breaks away from us and travels ahead, slipping through the revolving doors and into the lobby just in front of us.

“Let’s go,” I say to Ryoko, my voice forced into ‘enthusiastic’ mode. “First day!”

“Yay.” She raises her fist. I laugh at her sarcastic tone, and she winks. We’re rocking this undercover thing.

Inside the lobby, the building’s interior rises at least twenty meters, windows streaming in the morning sunlight. I turn to look out and get a lay of the land. Off in the distance, the theme park is coming alive for the day, the rollercoasters taking on their first riders. Kazuo, Aimi, and Saki are nowhere nearby, not yet. They’ll come into their spots in a few hours.

“New employees?” A security guard wearing blue and black gestures at us. “Over there.” He points to a woman standing at a desk with a wallscreen behind her flashing employee information.

The intake process is straightforward. I watch people in front of us, including Rin, go through the same procedure over and over. So when it’s finally Ryoko’s turn, then mine, we’re prepared.

I wave my wrist over the reader at the desk, and my information pops up in a tōsha.

“Mika Ando, welcome!” I have no idea how this woman smiles and says the same things over and over with the same amount of enthusiasm each time. “We’re happy to have you here today. It looks like you already know Yoko?” She points to Ryoko, and I nod. “Great, because you’re both assigned to the same section for the day. Follow everyone in the B line.”

Okay, easy enough. I thank her, grab my Aoi Uma issued tablet (not to leave the building) and follow everyone in the B line. Within a few moments, we head to a conference room.

In true corporate fashion, we’re subjected to two hours of bland intake videos about the building, what they make and do here, how to navigate the timekeeping system, and how to ask for time off, which I gather is strongly discouraged. Of course. I shift my eyes to the right, down the row of seats, to see if Rin is paying attention. A man between us has nodded off, his head bowed forward, a slight snore rumbling in each breath. Rin and I both hold back our laughs about him.

When the lights come up, everyone blinks to wake themselves up.

“We’re going to take breaks now for water and snacks. Feel free to use the bathrooms and then meet your new supervisors back here. They will guide you on a tour, you’ll get lunch, and then you’ll go to your departments to learn more about what you’ll be doing there.”

“Bathroom?” I ask Ryoko, then lower my voice. “We may not get a chance later.”

“Yeah. We should.”

Once we’ve used the bathroom, and it’s empty except for us, Ryoko joins me at the sink. “Do you know what you’re going to do so Rin gets access to the data center?”

“Create a distraction,” I whisper over the running water.

“If you can’t, I’ll pretend to be sick. I can throw up on command.” Her face is dead serious. “It’s a great party trick.”

“You’re joking.”

“Nope.”

Our eyes meet in the mirror, and we laugh. My shoulders shake with laughter, and my body releases the tension that’s been building all morning. I wipe a tear from my eye and check my makeup.

“Thanks. I needed that. And please don’t throw up on me. I, uh, reflexively puke if other people do.”

Back in the conference room, our new supervisor is chatting with Rin and a few other people. She seems relaxed and easy like she does this all the time. Good. We don’t want her to suspect anything.

Ryoko and I grab waters and try to appear at ease. If Ryoko is anything but, I wouldn’t know. It’s like she was made for this undercover shit. I didn’t know someone like her, a scientist, could change so drastically in just a few months. My dad has all these sayings from Earth, and one of my favorites is about the strongest steel being forged in the hottest of fires. That’s Ryoko. We have put her to the test, and now she’s stronger than ever before.

Rin glances over at me and smiles. I politely smile back as if I don’t know him. Ryoko takes my hand, squeezes it, and nods to Rin while our supervisor, Kat, drones on about the corporate culture and what to expect during a workday.

“All right, everyone. We’re going to start our tour here on the first floor since the other groups have opted to go upstairs. Here on this south side of the building, we have five floors of office space, which includes the cafeteria if you don’t want to go out to lunch in the city. We also have a gym and an in-house hotel.”

So they can work you to death, and you never have to leave? Got it.

This is the hardest part of the mission, keeping my nerves calm through this bullshit until we get to the actual work. We file out of the conference room to the main lobby again, and this time I have a good idea of where everything is.

“Hey!”

My forward momentum freezes, and the blood in my veins turns to ice.

It’s Gen.

He runs straight past me from behind and corners my new supervisor.

“Hey, Kat! I need to speak to you for a second.”

The irritation on Kat’s face is plain, and I turn my head away to study the tall ceilings while she deals with Gen.

“Can you hear them?” Ryoko murmurs to me.

I nod. Gen is asking about available time in the lab. Kat responds that the schedule is always posted, and if he needs a slot, he should book one. But Gen wants time today at three. She doesn’t have that time available. Guess what? Gen is an asshole, so he threatens to go over her head to her supervisor. She says fine, do that, and maybe her supervisor can rearrange the schedule for him.

“I’ll do that,” he huffs, stalking away. Both Ryoko and I face the other direction so he can’t see us.

“Sorry about that.” Kat forces a smile on her face. “Let’s get moving.”

Ryoko widens her eyes at me, and I mime a heavy breath. We avoided him. For now.

As we make our way through the place on our tour, I find I’m getting lost easier than usual. I concentrate on everything around us, but all the hallways look the same. Every turn is just like the last one. My memory is so fractured, and my head hurts from focusing so hard. When we have a moment between floors, I dig into my pocket and pull out a quick-dissolve tablet of painkillers. Popping it into my mouth, I wash it down with a swig of water.

“Everything okay?” Kat asks as the elevator doors open to the cafeteria.

“Fine. I woke up with a stress headache today. I guess I was a little worried about my first day.”

Ryoko butts in. “My stomach has been a mess since last night. First-day butterflies here.” She rubs her abdomen.

Kat nods, her expression sympathetic. “I understand. First days are always tough. See if you can eat anything because we’ll be going to the lab later to start our initial work. I don’t want you to be impaired by head or stomach aches.”

She pats me on the shoulder as she moves to the front of the group to show everyone the cafeteria.

This mission is agonizingly slow. I knew it would take most of the day, but Kazuo, Saki, and Aimi must be worried sick about us outside. I try to eat tiny bits of food from the cafeteria, but the best I can manage is some buttered bread and a protein shake. Ryoko continues to baby her dramatic stomach by only drinking juice and eating plain rice. Rin eyes us both from the end of the table. I wait till no one is watching and then wink at him. He should know we’re okay.

Whatever we do, whatever distraction we have to plan, it better work.

When the elevator door opens on the lab floors, my nervousness revs up into overdrive. This time I’m not faking the sweat that breaks out on my upper lip and the back of my neck. This is a lab like I’ve never seen before. I assume that these long corridors and walls of technology have to be their servers, where they store the programming for the androids.

“Wow,” Ryoko says, her mouth open. I know she’s not faking this awe because I can feel it too.

A cool breeze flows down the halls, and every time someone opens a glass door to a lab, the pressure changes, and my ears strain.

“This floor is ultra-cooled to keep the server equipment from overheating. We have two cooling stations in the floor below to maintain these rooms at the optimum temperature. Today, you’ll each be supervised in small teams as we show you the interfaces and what you’ll need to perform your work.”

Okay, here’s where the paths will diverge if we’re not careful. I grab Ryoko’s hand and move her sideways to the right so we’re closer to Rin.

A few new Aoi Uma employees approach us from down the hall and wave to Kat. She waves back. “Great. Right on time. Here, Rachel, you take these four. Jess, you take these three. And I’ll take these three here.” Kat points to Ryoko, Rin, and me, and I smile with relief. Perfect.

“Come on,” Kat says, jerking her head towards a lab just down the hall.

Nerves turn the butterflies in my stomach into big, fucking birds. Like giant birds. Whatever we need to do, it has to happen now. The door closes behind us, and the pressure in the room equalizes.

Ryoko stumbles back.

“Oh…” She brings her hand to her forehead. I’m impressed that her skin turns a frightening shade of white. How does she do that? “Hmm. I don’t feel so good.”

“Oh no,” I say, taking her arm. “Maybe you should sit down.”

Rin backs away from us, his hand in his pocket. I’m not sure what he has to do to get Isao’s program to work, but he better be ready. This is a minuscule space, maybe only three meters square, and most of it is taken up by a wall interface.

Kat steps away to the other side of the room and pulls a wheeled chair out of a wall slot. “Here, darling. Are you okay?”

Ryoko lowers herself into the chair. “Maybe? I think I’m a little woozy.”

I wave my hands in front of her face and try to get her more air.

“I… I…” She grabs my hand and one of Kat’s too. “I’m going to be sick.”

Kat panics, her feet dancing beneath her. “Oh, oh. No. The bathroom is this way.”

She thrusts Ryoko to her feet and shoves her out the door. I follow, but not before looking back at Rin.

“Be safe,” he whispers right before the door shuts on him.

I’m at Kat’s heels when Ryoko slaps her hand over her mouth and retches.

Kat’s face blanks and whitens. “Don’t. I can’t…”

With two more steps, Ryoko leaps forward and pukes all over the floor in front of the elevator. I look away and hold my breath, hoping my stomach stays put.

Kat is not so lucky. She lets her stomach loose right next to Ryoko.

Double whammy. Ugh.

From down the hall, someone shouts, “Somebody call maintenance!”

I said I was a sympathetic puker, and I knew other people were like me, but… I back away from the mess. I don’t want to lose my lunch. I didn’t eat enough to make it worth my while.

Glancing over my shoulder and leaning to the side, I can see into the lab where Rin is. Whatever he’s doing, he’s still in the middle of it, his hands flying over the lab console. He needs more time.

Looking away from the mess, I slowly approach both ladies. “Hey, let’s get you both to the bathroom.” I grab their arms and breathe through my mouth, doing my best to stop my gag reflex.

This is the worst distraction ever.

The bathroom sign next to the elevators points to the left, so I pull both women around the mess on the floor and bring them to the bathroom. A woman inside takes one look at Kat and hightails it out of there. Good.

Kat launches herself into a bathroom stall and slams it shut behind her. I follow Ryoko to a sink.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m perfect,” she whispers and then clears her voice. “I think I’ll be okay,” she says at a normal volume. But Kat isn’t listening because she’s continuing to puke.

Ryoko swishes water in her mouth, wipes up her face, and washes her hands.

I approach Kat’s bathroom stall and lightly knock on it. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be okay. Just give me some time.” She retches again. Ew.

“Sure. Uh, we’ll wait for you outside, okay?”

“Okay.”

I smile at Ryoko and jerk my thumb at the door. Time to go.