The Walled Garden, Part III

Participants:

alix_icon.gif asi_icon.gif chess3_icon.gif eve_icon.gif kimberly_icon.gif luther_icon.gif ff_miles_icon.gif monica_icon.gif

Scene Title The Walled Garden, Part III
Synopsis Asi breaks international law to smuggle her foreign allies into the Tokyo Restricted Zone.
Date June 5, 2019 (Local Time)

As a nation, Japan has not changed overly much since the great upheaval in 2007.

On the winding highway from Narita Airport the rolling hillside lined with verdant forests and uniform gray concrete buildings has changed little in the last twenty years. The freeway cuts in and out of stark contrasts in urban sprawl and rural countryside, like a patchwork of humanity and nature not quite living in harmony, but edging in on one-another at any given time. Crisscrossing power lines over the freeway give way to the boughs of tall trees, and then finally to a visualization of change not otherwise evident in the surrounding suburbs.

The moment Tokyo city comes into view, the aftermath of history feels like a crushing weight. Towering skyscrapers rise up to the clouds, gleaming spires of glass and steel that look so much more like a vision of the future than the raw concrete and asphalt of Narita. Among the buildings, one neon-lit structure set on the southeast edge of Tokyo is a prominent and visible reminder of the lasting impact of SLC-Expressives on the world — the corporate headquarters of Yamagato Industries. When viewed out the windshield of a passenger car, that sight still twists a knife in Monica Dawson’s chest. It’s the first time she’s seen that building since her severance.

But it isn’t the remarkable architecture of Tokyo city that is the truest reminder of the state of the world, but the high concrete wall dotted with watch towers surrounding the city. Freeways cut into steel-framed gates in the wall, with upper and lower decks crossing one-another as much as the power lines in Narita crossed the roads. Egress into Tokyo has been closed off by that partition, ever since the Shibuya Incident where powered people conducted a brutal battle across half the city.

It is Magnes Varlane’s lasting impression on the nation of Japan and its people.

It is a stark reminder of how even one person can have an impact that lasts for generations.


Tokyo Restricted Zone

Tokyo, Japan

June 5th

10:17am Local Time


At the border of the Tokyo Restricted Zone, all vehicles must pass through security checkpoints manned by a collaboration of flesh and blood JSDF officers and automated drones that buzz through the air of the concrete-walled space, scanning vehicles with chemical spectral analyzers for explosives and leveraging Compass technology to detect the presence of SLC-Expressive passengers or stow-aways.

The hum of an electric engine is only subtly louder within a subterranean tunnel that goes beneath that wall and its checkpoints, past an automatic gate and several buzzing drones, beneath a sign that indicates in no uncertain terms that passage beyond this point without authorization could result in the use of lethal force.

Asi Tetsuyama is permitted beyond this point.

Asi’s electric car hums through the tunnel, yellow lights set into the ceiling flashing across the glossy hood of the car. Automatic controls have engaged, retracting the steering wheel into the dashboard and turning a yellow manual control icon to a vibrant green. The Mugai-Ryu are permitted special access into Tokyo, bypassing the slow processing lines for non-government and non-essential vehicles. It also bypasses the security checkpoints, in so much that each Mugai-Ryu officer is responsible for who and what they bring into the city.

But none of them are truly honest. For some it’s drugs, for others women or men or often times both, and others family that would not be permitted within the city limits. Asi has always known about the subtle ways in which the Mugai-Ryu are corrupt, but only on a personal level. Different members leverage their privileged positions differently. All because they feel they've earned it. They're not bad people, not unilaterally, and Asi herself is no less guilty of such abuses of power.

Like right now.

As her car comes out on the other side of the tunnel it ascends an on-ramp that merges onto a five line elevated highway cutting through the city. It isn't far to her apartment now, and the automatic driving system beeps three times as the icon flashes red to alert the driver, then switches back into manual mode as the steering wheel extends out of the dashboard again.

The news that there would be additional company coming had changed a few things, in no particular order. The first of which was shifting from eating out to having food delivered to Asi's apartment. A second would be how quiet she's gotten.

The flash of the signs they'd slowed but not stopped under give some insight as to what she could possibly be thinking about.

Still, she doesn't change her mind. When the vehicle alerts her of the manual driving requirement as it heads for the exit ramp, she rests one hand calmly along the side. "Ten years ago," she remarks with sudden thought, "there would have been sights worth seeing out here. Now, though, Tokyo isn't the place for that." Asi looks away from the road, brow arching. "Though if you want a guided tourist trip, let me know. We can head west in a week or two."

She preferred life outside of Tokyo, anyway.

With a careful rotation of palm against wheel, she brings the vehicle about with one hand to make a near U-turn off the exit, the neighborhood visible through tinted glass continuing on oblivious to the foreign, illegal faces only feet away from them. Asi coolly regards the road, waits through every traffic light, stops at every necessary sidewalk crossing to let pedestrians pass. "So," she interjects as she maneuvers down a narrow alley. "When do I get to know why you really came all this way?"

"Continuing investigations," Monica says with a grin in Asi's direction. "Praxis, the Dragon, Kensei, all that nonsense I just got so fired for. We have a few leads and we're gonna chase them down. Calmly," she says, the last word meant to reassure. They're not here to blow up Japan, after all. "We're splitting us all up into smaller groups and coming at it all from every angle we can. We need all the information we can get before we can know how to act. And right now we don't even know how many enemies we have. So. A lot of work to do."

She looks back at Chess and Luther, lifting her shoulders, "That's a good summary, right?"

Turning back to Asi, she notes, "Strictly recon. Then we take our findings back to New York or wherever and go over everything."

Never the most talkative, Chess has been quieter than usual dark eyes watching the city grow in size as they approached it, until the tall buildings loom over Asi’s car like judgmental gray giants. Or maybe that’s just her paranoia talking.

There’s also the looming rendezvous with Miles — she wasn’t the one who asked him to come along, after all. She was surprised he’d said yes.

Asi’s words draw her gaze that way, meeting Asi’s in the rearview mirror from where Chess sits in the backseat. She lets Monica speak, then lifts one shoulder. “I came for the ramen and the sushi,” is a small quip, accompanied by the smallest of smiles, before she glances at Luther to see if he has anything to add.

But not before adding, “I’ll try not to blow anything up.” It’s probably not the most reassuring of promises.

Luther is overall placid, sitting silently and studying the changing landscape. His gaze passively scans streets, skyscrapers and sidewalks out of habit, though by the way his finger fidgets with the corner of his passport he's not as calm inwardly as he appears. He hasn't been inwardly calm since they'd exited the airport. Definitely not since they had passed the TRZ border and gotten a look at the warning signs about lethal force.

As the conversation picks up, Luther blinks away an odd feeling of dry eyes and refocuses on the trio of ladies. He nods to Monica's summary, glances over to their hostess considering her inquiry. "With all our lives at risk because of some Grand Asshole Supreme and an invisible pet dragon that fucked up our friends and family," he rumbles out too casually, "we can't just stand by and wait."

That said, he glances back over to Chess. Family. "What about those little chewy rice things," he adds, "mochi?"

"I'm getting the impression I missed a development," Asi comments off-handedly, "Or that maybe there's something I was missing from the beginning. It was hard to know who to trust, then." Her eyes dart to Chess's image in the rearview. The girl who blows things up is innocently swearing not to blow things up.

Her internal confidence levels about the nature of this trip soar greater by the moment.

Gaze coming back to the road, she lets the vehicle slow to turn down another thin space between tall apartment buildings. "Funnily enough, I've not been able to shake Monroe entirely even at my day job. I'm working on getting into the good graces of some of his associates." Numerous as they are, who knew exactly what that could apply to up front?

Asi leans forward at a stop back onto the main road, minding traffic in both directions while a garage opens up directly across the street, the entire width of a thin home with its living space layered on top of the parking area. Seeing it's clear, the electric vehicle surges forward with one last burst of speed safely out of sight before she settles the car into park and thumbs the ignition off. Only when the garage door is sliding shut behind them does she let herself out of the car, rolling her neck. For all the external calm she presents, the current stressors are definitely felt in her neck and shoulders!

"Food will be here soon," Asi sighs. "Let's get your things." She gestures a hand to the door to the stairs, seeming unperturbed about shoe cleanliness as she offers no instructions about what to do with them once indoors.

"Adam has been a side hustle for a while. Yamagato didn't really need to know the details, but the investigation I was doing for them went hand in hand with some more personal junk we were all poking around in." Monica doesn't deny that trust was a rare commodity just a few months ago— she seems more easy with it now, though. Perhaps because Asi is taking a risk for their sake.

She deserves the right to kick them all out if she doesn't want to get deeper involved.

Climbing out of the car when they get to Asi's, she takes a moment to stretch. It was a long flight and a long drive and she's not used to being that still for that long. But it isn't long before she grabs her suitcase and follows Asi inside. "Luther wants mochi," she repeats, some amusement on her tone. "Don't worry, big guy, we'll track some down for you. Also, you might want to duck." Because he is a tall person.

A few swipes of Chess’ deft fingertips send another message to the B-Team, alerting them of their arrival at Asi’s apartment, as she absent mindedly nods slowly in response to Luther’s request for mochi.

Seatbelt un-clicked, she extricates herself from the car, moving to the trunk for her duffel bag, which she swings over her shoulder.

Sharing a glance with Luther and Monica, Chess murmurs, “Personal junk is one way of putting it.” She sighs, then pushes forward, verbally. “Don’t be too surprised when our friends get here. One looks just like me. The other,” she makes a small face, “looks like the triplets who bombed Yamagato. But she’s not one of them. She… defected before then.”

Hoisting himself out of the car, Luther is grateful about the warning to duck. Nothing quite fits him here, but he adopts a familiar slight hunch to avoid striking his head against anything. Coming around to the back to retrieve his suitcase, he doesn't comment on the additional guests just yet but looks around at the surroundings.

"Probably should've told you earlier," he agrees with a small shrug of solidarity with Monica and Chess, "but we won't impose long. If it gets… too crowded for your liking. Thank you for the hospitality so far, anyway." The man's head bobs politely, then looks to the slim staircase leading up to what he assumes is the next level with living quarters.

"That way, yeah?" The next head bob indicates the direction as he shuffles aside to make room. Shoes… well he'll worry about that tradition when he gets there, and whatever size of house slippers might be awaiting.

"I'll run out for some," Asi promises in regards to the mochi, letting her gaze flit in Luther's direction with a hint of mirth in her gaze. Hopefully at his request, and not at the issues his height is imposing on him. "Higher ceiling indoors," she offers up suddenly.

Nope. Sorry, Luther.

Up the frightfully narrow and steep staircase, the home opens up into a taller, but still narrow space. The blinds are drawn, and the space is overall dark save for the cerulean light emitted from the top of what has to be an electronic. "ただいま," Asi announces to the air, tossing her key fob into a dish at the top of the stair. "お帰りなさい オニ," comes the pleasant, if clipped reply from the house itself. Oni, it says. Good. Asi thinks to herself. No unexpected visitors dropped by while she was out if it used that name.

The hanging lamps in the kitchen area are the first to light, revealing a dark-granite island and black appliances accented with brushed nickel. The ceiling lights that gradually dim on reveal that the living and dining area all share the same space, wooden floor shared between them save for the rug at the foot of the sectional couch pushed up against the wide, darkened window facing the street. The blue light comes from the television, off, and the listening puck for the home assistant, both of which wink off once the the rest of the lighting is adequately on.

"As long as we're sharing surprises, I have a visitor of my own, at the moment." Asi announces. She doesn't look to the door leading to the back half of the townhome, she instead looks toward the couch. "Shiro-kun," she calls out softly, rubbing her fingertips together noisily. A small face tipped by a pink nose peeks out from under the couch, but only just. The cat it belongs to is definitely not the color it is named for, so black it's only visible by its nose and copper eyes. Asi seems non-plussed at its behavior. "So whoever is sleeping out here just needs to be aware of him. He should leave you alone."

She kicks off her ankle-high boots, only one set of house slippers being present, so she foregoes them. Solidarity, after all. "Luther, probably," comes from her as she thinks aloud. "I've got a futon I can spread out here… another in the bedroom…" Asi looks across her apartment with a squint.

Sleeping four in this space was already cutting it close to capacity, at least a comfortable capacity. Otherwise people might start sleeping in odd places like the kitchen.

"Alcohol's in the fridge," she announces, like she might be considering one herself. "Non-smoking, unless you're sharing." Finally, Asi's gaze slides to the doorway off the kitchen, which must lead to the rest of the home, considering it thoughtfully.

Chess’ phone buzzes with an incoming text message.

Chesstra
10:45am
did we bring an off-switch for aunt crazyface?
or a gun?
or a gun that shoots off switches?

"We're gonna need to be outside the walls, too. Some of us, anyway. I was thinking we could do an Air BnB out there somewhere. Bunch of friends vacationing together. Maybe somewhere that no one would notice a lot of coming or going." Monica looks over at Asi, gauging her reaction to the idea, since she would need to be one of the friends. And also because it really is a lot of people coming. "We'd like this to look casual for as long as we can manage."

When the location of the alcohol is mentioned, Monica ooos and leaves her suitcase near the doorway in favor of heading to the fridge. She doesn't need to hear that invitation twice. It was a long flight, after all.

Chess’ brow lifts at the ease with which Asi takes the clone news — she either already knew or she has just come to expect the unexpected with this lot. Perhaps both. She snorts at the incoming message, before replying,

she’s ur passport here so be nice. M. probably wouldn’t have agreed to bring u otherwise. Let me know when ur ready so no one gets knocked out when you port in.

“Me too,” she says over her shoulder to Monica, so long as she’s pulling out the booze. With her sisters, Eve and Miles inbound, she will definitely need it.

Chesstra
10:48am
literally now please
be right there

‘Right there,’ in this case, apparently means literally right there, because almost no sooner does Chess get the text then there’s a little shimmery spot of the air in the room, and the odd quartet winks into existence. It’s a normal jump, nothing odd about it, but for his part Miles is not really looking all that thrilled to be here. While he doesn’t actively say anything negative, it is obvious in his posture, hie expression. His aura radiates ‘get me the heck home.’

“Hey,” is what he says, however, stepping a little away from the group as soon as they’re all there and materialized and everything. It wouldn’t do to leave anyone in limbo. Can that happen? Best not to try.

"Somebody get Bunny a drink pronto! He's surely parched!" Eve turns her head and spins around grinning towards her friends and scurries over looking over her shoulder at the sisters and Miles, "I thought Kimbo was a rowdy one, she just couldn't keep her food inside her belly poor thing." She's whispering as she winks towards Luther.

"Hello my Witch of Tech. I said hey! What's going on!" Eve rips her dark sunglasses off and looks around the place, "What a lovely home! How long have you lived here? Quick hugs! Quick!" Made apparent by the sizzle of energy running along her arms making her leap back, "Careful there." Crimson eyes staring over at Asi with a sheepish expression. She drops her two backpacks, "I brought the toys!" God only knows what that means.

"How was the flight? Any shady gooberbeans following you? I haven't seen any mythical creatures yet." But Eve was ever hopeful. Shaking her dress and trench coat out and smiling up to the ceiling her eyes grow wide and she turns her head towards the technopath. "Do you have a basement?" There's another fizzle.

onono” Kimberly blurts out, gripping on to Alix’s arm as she appears out of the shimmering haze. “Oh god I’m ssss ” and then turns sharply and promptly vomits right onto Asi’s floor. It’s a choking, gagging, nauseous vomiting bout, but mercifully there isn’t much left in it. She doubles over, hand on a wall, Alix holding back her hair and staring //wide eyed at Chess.

“She doesn’t do teleportation well,” Alix explains, “we— I forgot to mention that we learned that.” Her smile grows to a sheepish and awkward one. “It’s— it’s been a learning experience,” she adds with a nervous laugh, looking around the increasingly cramped apartment that has descended into abject chaos.

"I don't mind," Luther replies as he's looking around the living space, gauging its size versus his own. Shiro the Not-White cat gets an eyeing, but only just. Because there's alcohol being offered, and that sounds much better than—

The man sucks in a breath as the remaining travelers suddenly pop into view. Luther takes a half step back, just managing to miss Kimberly's turn-and-gut-churn motions. Miles gets the scrutinizing gaze next, mainly to assess the teleporter's condition as well.

"Well it's like, almost 11pm our time," Luther notes as he checks his watch. "Let's get some rest, and somethin' to settle stomachs, and in a few hours, get some plans of action going on. Yeah?" He looks around at all the gathered, then particularly at their host. His expression seems neutral, leaning towards an apology.

Which doesn't even begin to approach what his concerns are with both Miles and Chess in the cramped space. “Let’s move these travel bags out of the way first,” he states aloud to nobody in particular, and starts to gather Monica’s and his bags first to one side of the living room.

Actually, Asi had not connected the dots about the clones yet. The warning about similar looks was appreciated, certainly, and ensured no one would get shot. Initially, the introduction to where the alcohol was stored was meant for later as she reserved day-drinking specifically for SEAN nights. But as it dawns on her the unlikelihood that there were four identical siblings occurring naturally, Chess's incoming doppelganger not yet included, she starts to think she may need a beer herself before issuing follow-up questions.

She barely has time to process that before she hears the unfamiliar male, turns around and Eve Mas is inches from her. Asi blanches gracefully, brow lifting in surprise. "Eve!" she starts, polite edging toward pleasant surprise. Eve is here!… but something about her feels off, which becomes apparent when the Italian woman quickly embraces her. Asi blinks at the energy that sparks from her, that rattles something inside herself, but there's no time to even question that, as Kimberly is retching on the floor.

The technopath stands perfectly still, a stone-faced pebble in the stream of chaos unfolding around her. She slowly turns in Monica's direction while she rummages. "Shochu," she croaks out at first, then repeats: "焼酎ちょうだい。" Because beer isn't going to cover this anymore. "Tall brown bottle at the back. It's about midnight in New York, actually. Why not."

She suspects the cat won't come out from under the couch at all now. Poor Shiro.

Asi turns back to look at Alix then, gaze lingering on her more harshly than it probably should. The girl looks as frantic as Val had, but every bit the Vi that would have pummelled her to death had she been allowed the chance. Tension only partially leaves her as she gestures into the kitchen. "Grab a towel for her," she directs. "Then settle down so I can explain house rules."

They needed explaining, before Asi became frazzled with stress. As long as they were here, there were warnings that needed heeded, much like the sign posted at the border of the Restricted Zone. The sign half of them didn't see. She grabs ahold of Eve's bags to start dragging them away from the vomit and with the pile Luther is making. "Basements are uncommon here, Eve." she remarks, wary of those sparks. "Until you mention what's going on with you, you're not allowed in the back, either." Sparks and whatever was going on with Eve's aura did not mix well with her, so she could only imagine what it would do to her computers.

"On it," Monica says as she reaches in the back for the hard stuff. But everyone is getting a beer, with the exception of Kim, who is already a mess. She gets a water as Monica passes drinks out. Asi is handed the whole bottle instead of getting a glass to go with it. She's gonna need it. "We'll get a place outside of the city. Eve will need it. So will you, No doubt." That is, Asi will need less people in her home. Less wild people certainly.

"Luther, we have food coming, we have all heads accounted for, we're gonna hear some house rules, relax, and game plan in the morning. Sound okay to you, Dad?" She smirks, pressing a beer into his hands. Then she grabs a drink for herself and finds a place to settle in.

Chess’ brows rise at Kimberly’s adverse reaction to teleportation, and her lips curve up a little at one corner in an amused smirk. She glances over at Miles, and then lets the directions given by Asi redirect her to the kitchen — it’s a good diversion. As soon as Monica hands her a bottle, Chess takes a healthy swallow, before poking around for the towel drawer. Once she’s found it, she wets it at the sink and then grabs the paper towel dispenser for the mess.

Both are handed to Kim when Chess enters the living room again — she’s not cleaning that up. Chess moves to the farthest end of the sofa from Miles’ locale to perch on its arm, and does a good job of reading the label on her bottle — or peering at it, anyway. She doesn’t read Japanese after all. Another hand slides into her pocket to find the baseball, a large worry stone of sorts.

It’s not that hard for Chess to pick a location that’s far from Miles, since he seems to be opting to stand as far away from everyone else as is possible in this space. So really not that far, but it’s something. He looks around the room in silence for now — Asi gets a bit of a double take, but since another Asi is no weirder than multiple Chesses, he doesn’t comment on it, just accepts the beer since, as Eve mentioned, it’s likely he’s going to need it. He takes a good swig, leaning against a convenient wall as he lets the others discuss for now.

The former seer looks around the place again before back to Asi, "Well," How to explain. "I crossed paths with an ancient entity that this time scrambled me all up. Big boom. Real big boom. But not to worry. I farted before we hopped over!" That, was an ordeal in itself. Finding somewhere where Eve could glow for a while. The woman says all of this as if it's perfectly normal, polite and sane.

One hand goes to cup her chin and she goes to grab one of the bags before they can be taken off. Her hands dig into it, papers sound as she tugs out her sketchbook. The newer sketches weren't precognitive in nature but they were still.. disturbing. She brought it mostly for the older sketches. "Sometimes I miss things! All those visions, I don't have em anymore by the by!" There's another sketchbook pulled out and this one is older, more beat up. Maybe from her late teens, college years. "Couldn't bring them all but! I'll go over the pages." Running her hand reverently over the front, a sticker of a sun and moon, old and faded sits in the top corner of the cover.

"Oh!" Eve had forgotten something as she flops down on the couch and peers over at Asi with a grin, there's a fizzle of electricity and the pale woman peers over at their host even closer. "Would you happen to know any seers? One whose sees what was or was will be." Red eyes slide over Alix, "We have one that sees in the now already." Eve's admiration for seers is plain and open. She's always been more inclusive with the word. A seer was someone who saw. Whichever tense mattered little to the woman. Her hand goes in her pocket now, pulling out those meds. She rolls her eyes, "I'll neuter myself right now."

Bags are moved aside so the sick doesn't contaminate. Kimberly gets a small nod of sympathy. As he's handed a beer, Luther, like Chess, takes a long swig of it and for the moment looks as if he's merely savoring the taste. Or soaking in the presence of all the other people, his look lingering particularly on Miles and traveling over to where Chess leans.

Dad looks over then to Mom-ica, and Luther exhales a resolute, resigned sigh of acceptance of the conditions. Plus, there's still a lot of 'splainin' to do. Their work had only just begun. It's when Eve's going off to neuter herself that he reaches over to lay a hand on the former seer's shoulder. "If you don't think you can control it right now without those," he rumbles slowly in the practical hypothetical, "Then I hope you brought enough to last the trip." The man's gaze holds concern, and a sort of promise. They'll work something out.

Luther turns back to Asi, adding her in to that. Actually he adds everybody into it. It'll work out. Somehow.

Somehow. Asi meets Luther's gaze with a nod, figuring that everyone's as settled as they're going to get.

Eve's explanation is taken in with a placid expression, as if everything she's said is normal, polite, and sane. It is indeed Eve's 'normal', and it was polite of her not to make a mess of Asi's home. Thanks for that, Eve. Monica's suggestion that they get a place outside of the city is mulled over without anything like relief. "I'd hoped to be a better host, but there's only so many of you I can efficiently hide. It's only more complicated since…" Asi looks back across the group, not frowning, but not pleased either. "half of you are here illegally."

She takes a moment to simply hold the large bottle of shochu by its neck, not actually drinking from it yet. "They say Japan is the most polite country in the world, but that courtesy ends when it comes to criminal behavior." It's not news she looks happy to relate. "You already will stand out immediately because you are gaijin, and you will be damned the moment they realize you are shinkajin — that you are SLC-Expressive. There is a one-strike policy here, and you either come in peacefully, or risk coming in in a body bag." And that was an option she felt her contemporaries were becoming too comfortable with.

"Inside the Tokyo Restricted Zone, foreigners are not permitted. If your teleporter—” A brief glance given to Miles, one filled with both a quiet surprise and appreciation for his ability. Did he really jump them from New York to Tokyo in one go? “Can manage transit in and out of the Zone, excellent. If not, I can give you a ride in the morning. Until then, keep quiet while here, and don’t leave the house. It’s my job, if not my life on the line, there.” For how serious that sounds, her tone is one largely unaffected with worry. They’d not be here if she didn’t trust them. That being said…

“When you’re traveling, for your own safety, keep in mind that if there is any ability use that could be interpreted as a threat, they will call the Mugai-Ryu." Asi stresses, gaze alighting on Eve in particular. She looks apologetic to have to imply that negation really is her best option. Her attention moves on, roving across the strangers now. “Do not to that to yourself, and do not do that to me. Think about the consequences of your action before you take it, about how it might be perceived, regardless of what it actually is.”

Lifting the bottle up to drink, her brow arches. “Beyond that, I’ll do what I can to help in your search. I’ve got some days off accrued… and I might know a thing or two about some seers around the country, if not in town.” Asi almost smiles, but drowns it out with a drink. “I have been keeping odd hours working on a special assignment anyway.” she adds in an afterthought, wondering how many ‘work from home’ days she could sneak.

“Either way, welcome to Japan.”


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