Miz scowled at Fujisawa as he pushed the synthetic vegetables around his plate. He had been mopey and sober since he read that message. It didn't help matters that he was thumbing that damn data crystal all night. Part of her wanted to reach out and snap it in half but she knew that would probably push him over the edge any way. Her hand rested over her glass for a moment as she pulled an ice cube out of her drink and threw it at him.
He sputtered for a moment, “Hey what was that for.”
She giggled, “For being a mopey idiot.”
He scowled back at her but she beat him to the point, “Look take that damn data crystal over to Xavier's and open it up. The old man has at least a dozen surplus machines lying around off network even if it is one big virus you can just pull the drive and be done with it. Besides, if it is her she probably didn't drop his name without reason.”
Miz watched at he perked up like a praised puppy. To her it was really pretty pathetic but his loyalty was one of his endearing qualities. He stood up and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before darting out the door. She pushed the remainder of her dinner away and wandered over to her computer; it was his turn to do dishes anyway. She looked down at the mail browser and frowned. Nanami Jinnai reply sitting right on top. She clicked the message open and scanned the contents, “Ducks huh?”
******
The shuttle cross cross town and into the suburbs took only thirty five minutes door to door. Fujisawa pressed the intercom button on the gated estate. The tenured professor had done exceptionally well in his life time. His work in genetics and artificial immune systems was both profitable and life saving. His success also bought privacy, the kind only money and power could ensure. He waited until a woman's voice came over the intercom, “Welcome to the Xavier residence how may I help you.”
He ground his teeth a bit, “Professor Masamichi I'm hear to speak to Professor Xavier.” The synthesized voice only served to remind him who he was visiting. It also served to remind him just how sober he currently was.
The voice pleasantly replied, “My records do not indicate a professional appointment at this time Professor Masamichi. Is this a social visit?”
“Yes, it is a god damn social visit.” He muttered under his breath, “Paranoid old bastard.”
Her reply was easily anticipated, “I'm sorry but there are no social events scheduled for tonight. Pl.....”
Fujisawa administered a round house kick to the video screen promptly disabling it but setting off the private security system. Flood lights kicked on illuminating the area in blinding white light. He squinted his eyes shut and waited for them to adjust.
A gruff voice grumbled, “Shit Fuji, and they say I have terrible people skills.”
He recognized the voice. Xavier's retainer, an ex-“marine” that had a history just as shady as his employer, “Not my fault he set the damn thing to aggravate and annoy.”
The gate clicked open and Fujisawa stepped through. The large man laughed, “Well you know how those street gangs are here on Harvest.”
“Yea, I'm so lucky I didn't get mugged on the way over.” He joked back. The man's past may have been questionable but he was a decent sort of person, “Is Xavier in?”
“Chuck got some file today and has been pouring over it for hours.” He gestured to the door, “It's why he set out the do not disturb sign.”
After fishing into his pocket he held up the data crystal, “Seems I got the same thing.”
“Ah, well next time just ask for me instead.” He let out a gruff laugh, “Saves on the repair costs any way.”
Fujisawa scratched the back of his head, “Will do.”
******
Xavier relaxed into his chair as he pondered the file Nanami sent him. He had time to skim through most of the project headers leaving the technical details for later but it was clear there were several million man hours of work. He flagged several of the more exotic experiments for a more through read. The most interesting file was the one detailing the abilities of Nanami herself. The girl had several telepathic markers and he had completely missed it. He was mentally berating him self that alone could have put his research ahead ten years no wonder Umbrella-Weyland-Yutani picked her up. A knock on his door prevented any further reading. He slide the files to the edges of the monitor before moving himself to the door.
Fujisawa looked down at the man in the wheel chair and smiled, “Ah, sorry to barge in on you like this Charles.” He let the data crystal dangle from his hand.
Xavier looked at the man and then his hand before he nodded, “Seems our young friend really stepped in it.”
The scruffy man just nodded, “Greed and Vengeance are great motivations. It was a shame we couldn't do more for her.”
“I offered more than fair compensation to employ her. It seems Umbrella had more in mind for her.” Xavier turned and pulled up her file to the large screen that dominated one wall of the study, “Fourteen telepathic markers, just six shy of complete manifestation.”
He sat down at the nearby desk and let out a long whistle, “I had no idea.”
“Neither did I. Did you browse the file yet?” Xavier asked quickly.
Fujisawa shrugged, “Didn't want to open up a virus on a school computer. Figured you'd have a spare machine or at least better sentry programs.”
Xavier gave him a blank look, “Miz kicked you out didn't she?”
He nodded and slid the crystal across the table and grumbled, “Just open it up.”
The interface too a moment to load and read the data. Xavier punched in the password he used to decrypt his file but the entry failed. Xavier looked at him, “Different passwords?”
“Something's got her spooked. Let me pull up the original mail see if she dropped a hint.” Fujisawa logged into the unused terminal and pulled up his mail. He turned slightly pale as he realized there were two messages from Nanami and the newer one was also marked read. He eye the new message went slightly pale. Miz was sure to be asking about the ducks now. He moved to the older message looked it over then typed. The interface to the crystal gave him a green light and the files started to decompress onto the desk top. The two men eyed the contents in silence as the file headers flashed by.
Xavier clicked the master directory and looked at the contents list, “Similar file but I don't recognize any of these headers. She must have taken a large chunk of their database.”
Fujisawa nodded then moved to a promising file, “Miz is going to kill me.”
He started typing on the computer, “Alright brat you got my attention. Miz is going to be bugging me about the ducky now. Xavier is mildly impressed by the genetic work up they did on you. Watch your back, you stole a lot of work here but we may be able to help a lot of people with it. We'll see what we can do about getting you home.”
The two men turned back to the file headers and started sorting though the data trying to make sense of just what the hell they had on their hands.
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(Posted Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:13)
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