Joined by the Current

The briefing took place in a small meeting room on the second floor. It was different from what I had in mind. The building was literally an office building filled with office workers wearing military uniforms. They were all sitting together in a huge open space, working with their holographic computers—hologram screen and keyboard. Some displayed their presentations on the LED walls—the same blue walls as everywhere else in the base.

A door on one of the walls led to the small meeting room. Inside, there was only a table in the center and four chairs surrounding it. Hideo was already sitting on one of them.

The briefing should be for all Drifter Captors from what Enma had informed me. With a military base this big, there must be a lot of soldiers, and the chance of them deserting was much bigger as well. It didn’t make sense. Why are there only four of us?

Upon our arrival, Hideo jumped to his feet and saluted, uncharacteristically. “Private Yaku Hideo.”

Enma returned his salute. “Let’s wait for Sergeant Nishi.”

Hideo didn’t try to do anything funny. In fact, I couldn’t even sense any malice from him. He seemed to strictly separate personal from professional matters. It was very unexpected for someone aggressive like him. Maybe, this teamwork was possible after all. I should try to do the same, although I wasn’t sure if I could stop my fight-or-flight reflexes when our eyes met.

After an excruciating five-minute wait, a bespectacled man in his early thirties came in, his eyes still glued on the mini hologram screen popping up from his digital watch. He tapped his watch against the wall and the whole room turned into his presentation display.

Enma stood up to salute. Hideo and I followed her lead. The nerd-looking soldier returned our salutes distractedly, his eyes darting around from wall to wall, checking his display.

“Sergeant Nishi Koji. I’m your data analyst,” Sergeant Nishi introduced himself. He didn’t waste any more time with pleasantries and just dove into the main topic. “Our target is nineteen-year-old Private Fuji Daiki from the Logistics Department. These are the sightings of him after he deserted. Most of them are in internet cafes. I can safely assume that this is a regular case of a young deserter. As you can see, he doesn’t even try to hide from CCTVs. It will be a fitting case for you first-timers. A trial of sorts.”

I studied each clip that Sergeant Nishi displayed. Daiki had a small physique and a tendency to wear oversized hoodies. His hair was a short crew cut—just like me and all the soldiers here in the base. The cameras had captured him walking into various internet cafes, different ones every time. He must have avoided going to the same place twice for fear of encountering anyone from the base.

This case shouldn’t be too difficult. He didn’t seem like someone who would fight us if we went to get him. However, I could be wrong. Most people changed after conscription.

“The plan is to make Bluefort watch the entrance of every internet cafe in town and notify us once he appears on the footage. Then I will grant you permission to leave the base temporarily, which you will use to bring him back.” Sergeant Nishi repeated the last part with more emphasis, “Only to bring him back.”

I gulped nervously as Sergeant Nishi’s stern gaze met mine. There was no warmth in his features. The punishment for deserting was a lifetime in prison. Enlisting in the army didn’t offer anything better than serving time behind bars, especially for someone like Daiki. For Drifter Captors, life got a little bit better because we still had a glimpse of the outside world from time to time. We were lucky. That would at least keep us sane.

Someone I knew had broken his own leg so that he wouldn’t qualify for conscription. Some would be willing to do more extreme things.

“Is that understood? Any questions?” Sergeant Nishi asked, glancing at his watch again to check the time. He seemed to be in a hurry.

I was too curious to care. “Are we the only Drifter Captors?”

“In Kyota? Yes, the four of us are in charge of Kyota.”

“What happened with the previous Drifter Captors?” Both Hideo and I were newly conscripted soldiers. Surely there had been Captors before us.

“What else? They deserted and now are rotting in jail,” he said nonchalantly as if talking about the weather. “Is that all? I’ll leave it to you, Enma. I need to go. Good luck.”

Just like that, Sergeant Nishi left the room. He came and went like a storm. Dropping a mission along with the threat. We all remained seated and stunned for a few seconds. The footage of Daiki entering internet cafes was still looping in the walls.

“Is he always like that?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Don’t even ask.” Enma handed each of us a digital watch, the same one with what they were all wearing. “This is your ID. It functions as—I don’t know. This thing can be whatever you want it to be. Oh, and Bluefort runs in this thing, too.”

“So it’s a tracker,” Hideo quipped, but he wore the watch anyway.

Enma tilted her head slightly. “Sort of? What’s the point of a tracker nowadays?” She jerked her thumb at the footage of Daiki behind her. “Hideo, you’re coming with me. Sou, you can go ahead and review the files.”

Thank you, Enma.

Finally, I could get my peace alone in my room for a short moment. This chance might not come easily, so I needed to treasure it. After having my tasteless lunch in the cafeteria, I fetched the robot dog that Enma had chosen for me from the lab. I brought him back to my room before trying to talk to him.

“Hi. Hello,” I tested, plopping down on my bed as my robot dog sat on the floor in front of me.

“Are you going to name me Hello?”

“What? No!”

“Decide on a name, please.”

Why is my robot dog pressuring me? “Uh, Shiba?”

“Creative,” Shiba said sarcastically. Before I could protest, he continued, “What do you want me to do? I can do a lot of things, even breaking the rules. But if you get caught, that’s on you.”

His offer piqued my interest more than the fact that he had just insulted me. “Wait, you can do that? I thought Bluefort wouldn’t let you break the rules.”

“I know how to slip out of the main system’s radar. What you ask me to do is between you and me. But if someone tears me apart, you’re done for.”

“What happened to you? I’ve never seen an AI do whatever it wants like you. And usually, AI is polite—it’s programmed to be polite.” I couldn’t wrap my head around the robot dog in front of me. Shiba and Kuma were the total opposite. Kuma wouldn’t even litter.

“I won’t help you then.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” What the hell is wrong with this robot dog?

“So, what do you want?”

It was obvious. There was one thing that I had always been curious about. 

Let’s test if he’s bluffing or not.

“Get me everything you can find about Private Yaku Hideo during his military training. And of course, try not to get caught.”