The Rise of Shiroi Nami – Chapter 14

Out in the elevator lobby, a maintenance team is mopping up the mess we just made, but they’re the only ones present, so we edge around them and make our way back to the lab.

“All done?” I ask, opening the door and looking in.

Rin is sitting in a chair, tapping on his Aoi Uma tablet. We rush in and shut the door behind us.

“Kat is pretty sick now. We have time to finish up and leave.”

Rin turns off the tablet and sets it on the desk in the room. “We’re not done yet. Leave your tablets here. We have two stops to make on our way out of the building.”

“Uhhh, okay. Shouldn’t we hustle out of here right away? I don’t want to run into Gen.” I feel like he’s lurking just around the corner, ready to jump out and spook us at any moment.

“We’re going to leave the floor,” he assures me.

With his hand on my back, he directs us out the door and down the hallway. We head in the opposite direction of the elevators and walk at a normal pace, doing our best to not call suspicion to our behavior.

I cringe as I hear a voice behind us.

“Well, I need the lab time now. Narumi Ogawa’s work waits for no one.”

Fuck. It’s Gen, and he’s at our backs.

I can’t turn around.

I want to turn around.

I want to turn around, run at him, and kill him with my bare hands.

If I did that, there would be no way I’d live to see tomorrow. I’d be dead too. If I’m going to kill him, it has to be in the open, so I can get away.

“Hey!” I hear him yell in our direction. “Did you leave a lab open?”

“Keep walking,” Rin whispers, “through the door and into the stairwell. Down one flight.”

We keep going, but Rin halts and turns around. With his headscarf on and only his face showing, it’s doubtful Gen will recognize him. Gen only saw Rin in the flesh a few times, and most of those times, Gen was focused on me.

“Lab 3B is open!” He calls out, waving his hand in the air, before turning and following us through the door. He makes sure the door is shut and presses his ear to it.

“Are we safe?” I ask, my heart beating a rough tempo in my chest.

Rin pulls away and nods. “For now. He’s bound to remember my face sooner or later, though. So let’s keep moving.”

We take the stairs two at a time and use our chips to enter the floor below the labs we were just in.

“Remember what Kat said about this floor?” Rin asks, striding down the hall.

“No.” I search my brain for the information, but all I can see is Kat’s face, her lips moving, but what she said is missing. Damned memory.

This floor is dark, with lights that only illuminate as we approach them. A strong vibrating hum is loud enough for me to worry about not hearing other things I’m supposed to.

“This is where they keep the coolers for the labs, right?” Ryoko asks, looking at each door as we pass them.

“Right.” Rin stops at a door marked with the number three. “In here. I checked before we left, and no one was on this floor.”

We step into another room that illuminates as we enter. It’s hot and stuffy in here with the sharp scent of ozone. But Rin bypasses everything else and goes to the control board on the far wall. He scans his wrist, and the front access panel pops open.

“They’re going to track us if you keep using your wrist like that,” I warn him.

His returning smile is confident. “I stole two other people’s identities while I was in the system and assigned my chip to them using a portal Isao set up. They’ll rotate every few minutes. Isao worked wonders for this mission.”

He taps on the screen a few times until I see the main power panel come up. Rin’s finger slides down the line of virtual switches, turning off almost everything.

“There. In about five minutes, it’s about to get blazing hot up in the labs. Then if they don’t fix it soon enough? Boom.” The delight in his eyes makes me laugh.

“I like boom.”

“I know you do,” he purrs and leans in to kiss my cheek.

“Hey, hey, now. None of that funny business,” Ryoko cautions with a laugh. She waves her hands in front of her face. “We should go. I like boom, too, but only from very far away.”

Rin raises his finger. “One more stop on our way out of the building. One more level down.”

“We have to hurry,” I caution him as we race to the door. “Kat will pull herself together soon enough and start looking for us. I don’t know how long it’ll be before she suspects something.”

We exit back into the hall and return to the stairs.

“Wait,” Ryoko says, hesitating for a moment. “Did you tell Gen lab 3B? Our lab?”

Rin’s face loses its color. “I did. Fuck.”

“Then we should be extra speedy. He’ll find our tablets if he’s not completely self-absorbed.”

We sprint down the set of stairs and exit into another hallway. This time, though, the floor is much busier than the last place we went. A few people glance our way, but we look like everyone else around here, so they just go back to their business.

This floor is open, with workstations scattered everywhere. Along one side of the room is an enormous window that overlooks the android assembly factory floor. We amble along, weaving in and out of desks until we reach the window. My stomach clenches into a tiny ball of knots and nerves. I’m not even sure how to describe the assembly floor. Giant metal vats line one wall, pipes leading out every which way. Other machines spit out android parts onto conveyor belts. Workers in full protective suits stand at their stations and assemble heads to torsos to arms to legs.

I swallow hard, and my throat is dry as day-old toast.

When I poke Rin in the side, we get moving. I don’t want to linger because no one else is watching the factory floor like we are. I don’t want us to appear out of place.

Rin turns and confidently strides to the opposite end of the floor. If people care that we’re there, they don’t show it. It’s still the lunch hour, and lots of people are gone. Those remaining are glued to their work, which doesn’t surprise me one bit. This reminds me of the times I spent my days at Kiiroi Yama’s headquarters with Rin. I would walk around the floor, and no one would question the validity of my presence. The same attitude seems to prevail in every corporation.

Off the main floor, we follow the hallway while Rin stares at the numbers on the doors.

“Here, this one.” He points to the door. “I’m going in. Meet me at the end of the hallway. Call the elevator now and hold it. I’ll only be gone a moment.”

My heart is likely to burst with how fast it’s trying to run. What if he goes in there and never comes back out? I can feel the tears forming in my eyes, but I push them away. No. No time for emotions now.

When the door clicks shut behind him, I stare at it for a breath. I’m not comfortable with this. I don’t even know why he went in there. What’s so important that he’s willing to risk everything now?

Ryoko tugs on my arm. “Come on. Act natural.”

We walk to the elevator bank and stand there for a moment while I piece together the puzzle. I remember the diary entry I read last night and everything I told Rin about this morning. This mission had only one objective — reprogram the androids. Right about now, androids are getting their new laws, their new instructions, and the entire scheme is about to tumble down around Aoi Uma. And with each passing second, our situation here becomes more precarious. Would Rin risk his life, our lives, to do something else?

Wait. I think I know what he’s doing.

Is he going after the consciousness transfer program? Is that even something we can steal back? Aoi Uma stole it from Shiroi Nami. It must have been portable enough to pick up and leave with.

An elevator door opens, and people returning from lunch file out and walk past us. The elevator is now empty, and we didn’t have to call it. Ryoko smiles and slips by them to insert herself in the door.

“Stand there,” I say, stepping in.

The elevator chimes and asks, “Which floor, please?”

“Lobby,” I say, and its status screen switches to list the lobby as the next destination.

“Please step out of the doorway and allow the elevator to close,” the system prompts.

I shake my head at Ryoko. She leans to the side so she can see down the hall.

Where’s Rin? Panic turns everything in my brain to mush. Please let him be okay.

“Please step out of the doorway and allow the elevator to close,” the system repeats.

“Come on,” I whisper.

Ryoko gasps. “He’s coming.”

“Please step out of the doorway and allow the elevator to close. If there is a malfunction, maintenance will be called in thirty seconds.”

“Hurry,” Ryoko calls to Rin.

He appears around the corner and double-times it to the elevator. Ryoko lets the door close as he slips in past her and next to me. He’s carrying a black suitcase in his right hand.

“I got it. Let’s go.”

Even he seems panicked, and my heart is straining at my chest. Sweat pours down my back, and I’d give anything to take this headscarf off now. I feel like it’s a giant snake wrapped around my head, trying to suffocate me to death.

The elevator drops, and I pray that we’re not interrupted in our descent to the lower levels. What happens if someone else gets in?

But I breathe out a sigh of relief when the elevator doesn’t stop.

“Walk straight out, with purpose,” Rin instructs. “Don’t look at anyone. Don’t run unless I say so. Kiiroi Yama is on the way.”

I nod and grab Ryoko’s hand to squeeze it. She nods back at me.

This is it. We will either get out of here alive, or they’ll catch us at the door. Are there any other options? There are so many choices in life, yet sometimes there are no real choices. Choosing between living and dying? That’s not really a choice unless you’re suicidal. But where do I go from here? Is this what’s in store for me for the rest of my life? Watching my enemies one-up each other trying to kill me? Or should I slip into obscurity? I could if I didn’t care anymore.

I still care.

Even with the gaps in my memory, I know that the only way out is through.

We can do this.

The door opens, and plenty of other people are waiting to get in. I don’t look at anyone. I keep my eyes forward and walk out with Ryoko, and Rin is right behind us. The shortest route to the revolving doors is straight across the room, through the turnstiles, and then another twenty meters. That’s nothing. We can do that.

But I feel a panic attack coming on. My stomach has completely bottomed out, and my teeth chatter with the nerves. The giant room darkens, and my breathing becomes erratic.

Not now, Yumi. Be brave.

Ryoko and I approach the turnstiles, but we let Rin go first. He scans his wrist, the gates open, and he slips through. Ryoko takes the next turnstile, and she’s through. I wave my wrist over the reader, and the turnstile beeps.

Fuck.

I begin to panic as a security guard approaches me. I try again, and this time my wrist opens the turnstile. I sigh as I walk through.

But out of the corner of my eye, I can see the guard still approaching.

“Miss!” He calls out, raising his hand. “Miss! There must be an error with your chip. If you come back, we can take care of it right now.”

I turn on my heel and wave to him. “Tomorrow. I’m going to be late for an appointment.”

When my eyes focus past him, adrenaline shoots through my whole system.

Gen runs out of the security station with three of the most beautiful, most deadly-looking large cats I have ever seen trotting at his side.

“Yumi!” He calls out, and my legs stumble as I attempt to walk backwards. “It’s over, Yumi! Don’t try to escape!”

People shriek and scramble out of Gen’s way, but I lock my eyes on the cats. Not just cats, maybe leopards? Jaguars? Oh shit.

The one in the lead stops and looks up at Gen as I reach the door. He peers down at the cat and says, “Yes, that’s the one. Don’t let her get away.”

The cat nods. It fucking nods.

Its eyes are filled with intelligence, and it knows where its prey is and what she looks like.

She looks like me.

I get my legs under me, and I call up every last bit of energy I have.

“Run!”