Leap into the New World

Public Housing Section 20-A  //  Nishinari Ward, Osaka

“Stop! Osaka Enforcement!”

Mika Shinkawa, a diligent Enforcement officer three years out of academy, charges through the dark and narrow streets between Osaka’s old, seedy apartment blocks. Her sleek black uniform clings to her toned, athletic frame, tailored just enough to allow freedom of movement despite the bulk of her chest rig. Her green determination is evident as her scuffed boots pound against the pavement with every stride.

The suspect ahead, wearing a backpack, gray hoodie, and face mask, ducks into a side street, hoping to lose her. While most Enforcement officers are fit from their rigorous training, Mika is one of the fastest in her department. Her skirt flutters as her toned legs carry her through the chase. Her red-highlighted bangs part from the wind she generates.

The suspect dives into a narrow alley and crouches in the shadows, holding his breath as a large group of Enforcement officers rush past.

All except Mika. She pauses, her hand resting on the scabbard of her katana. Her thumb presses against the tsuba, ready to unsheathe the blade.

Her sharp eyes scan the alley. A flicker of movement in the shadows. Three kunai whistle through the air.

She dodges them just in time, but one grazes her cheek and another severs a red strand of her ponytail. Her bulky, standard-issue Enforcement chest rig hinders her movements slightly. If only it fit her better.

The chase continues. Mika draws her blade and rushes into the alley. The suspect knocks over crates in a desperate attempt to slow her down, but she leaps over the obstacles with ease.

The chase leads into the busy main street. Pedestrians gasp as the suspect elbows his way through a crowd waiting at a traffic light. He ignores the glaring red “DO NOT WALK” holographic fence and dashes into cross-traffic. Electric cars screech to a halt, some causing a collision in the intersection. Mika vaults over the hood of an autotaxi that skids to a stop in front of her. Eyes forward on her target, she doesn’t spare a glance at the chaos around her.

The pursuit leads into the bustling Shinsekai shopping street, its low, rustic buildings preserved from a bygone era. Vintage neon signs cast a kaleidoscope of colors overhead. She trails the path by the suspect as he forges his way through crowds of tourists and couples alike. Vendors curse as their wares are knocked over, and a child cries as Mika narrowly avoids a collision with a stroller.

At the end of the street, the suspect barges his way into the lobby of the New World Tower, shoving past a startled doorman. Mika sprints after him, not far behind. She bursts through the glass doors and her boot skid to a halt on the polished marble floor.

The suspect has taken a terrified female staff member hostage, one arm around her neck while the other brandishes a knife dangerously close to her throat. Other staff scream in terror while keeping their distance, some backed against the shiny tiled walls.

“Let her go!” Mika commands, the tip of her katana pointed at the suspect.

But the suspect grits his teeth. His knife presses closer to the innocent woman’s skin. He drags her backward toward the observation deck elevators. Mika takes slow, measured steps forward, following them. Her grip tightens on the hilt of her blade.

He leans into the woman’s ear. “Get me to the top,” he growls. Struggling to control her sobbing, the woman’s trembling hand moves to her pocket, retrieving a keycard and waves it at the elevator panel.

The elevator dings and the doors open. The suspect steps backward inside the elevator car with the hostage in his possession. As the doors close, he shoves the woman out, sending her flying into Mika’s arms.

“Are you hurt?” Mika asks as she catches the frightened woman. The woman shakes her head.

Several other Enforcement officers burst into the lobby moments later, their stun blades raised and ready in hand. “Officer Shinkawa!” Corporal Touma Hayashi shouts as he adjusts his askew glasses from his frantic run, panting in short gasps from the running.

Mika gently settles the sobbing woman on the ground. “Take care of her,” she orders flatly to her superior.

Without waiting for a reply, she bolts toward the emergency stairs.

“Where are you going?” Touma calls after her. But she has already disappeared through the emergency exit. A rush of outside wind blows in her face as she pushes the door open. Mika gazes upward and takes in the steel lattice exoskeleton looming above her. She spots the glass elevator slowly ascending the central column and starts sprinting up the stairs. Loud clanging echoes beneath her boots with every step, quickly drowned out by the wind and the noise of Osaka’s cityscape.

Inside the elevator, the suspect leans back against the glass walls, his chest heaving with uneven breaths. He pulls out a storage chip half the size of his palm. It’s surface sleek and metallic, the chip’s prongs are stuck into a translucent yellow casing, protecting its fragile components. His breath steadies as he clutches it tightly before tucking it back into his pocket. He checks his satchel for remaining kunai: three left. Better make it count.

His eyes drift to the glass walls, watching the steel exoskeleton of the tower blur past. Below, the 360-degree view of the glittering lights of Osaka stretch endlessly, falling further away as the elevator climbs higher. Then he sees her. Mika, sprinting up the emergency stairs outside, not far behind.

The view is quickly obscured as the elevator makes its way to the observation deck. The doors open with a soft chime. He steps out slowly, his kunai ready in his knuckles. With the tower having just closed for the day, the deck is deserted, dimly lit, and silent, save for humming machinery.

He creeps forward, every footstep echoing. He catches a glimpse of the city lights sprawling stretching out to the horizon outside.

A sudden disturbance. He spins and throws a kunai on instinct. It thuds into a concrete pillar. Mika ducks behind it just in time. Her heart pounds loudly. Had the pillar not been there, she would’ve been dead.

She scans the room and spots a fire extinguisher on the wall. With no other option, she sprints toward it. Another kunai whizzes toward her. She ducks in the nick of time, and the blade pierces the red steel cylinder. A cloud of powdery fire suppressant bursts out, engulfing the area in a dusty pink mist.

The suspect coughs, waving the fog away with his hand. His vision obscured, he grips his last kunai tightly, his ears straining for any sound.

A subtle shift in the fog.

He throws.

Mika shouts as her katana arcs downward, severing the suspect’s hand in one swift motion. Blood sprays across the floor as the suspect screams, clutching his stump.

Mika raises her sword again, blood dripping down the tip. “You’re under arrest for possession of an illegal weapon, kidnapping, and threatening public safety. You have the right to remain silent…”

But the suspect pays no attention. He staggers back, retreating onto a narrow, exposed platform jutting out from the observation deck.

“There’s nowhere to run,” she says while following him as her sword trails drips of blood behind her. “Surrender now, and I’ll make sure your sentence is lenient.”

With his good hand, the suspect pulls a knife from his pocket and stabs at the glass barrier, grunting as he puts all his might in digging the tip into the pane. It shatters with a sharp crack. tossing the knife aside, he retrieves the storage chip from his pocket. He presses a button, and a tiny red light blinks to life.

“Icarus-sama, forgive me, for I have done all I can,” he mutters to himself.

“Stop! What are you doing?” Mika demands, stepping closer.

With all his might, he slings the chip over the edge, vanishing into the city lights below.

“What did you throw? Answer me!”

The suspect, cornered and nowhere to escape, laughs maniacally. “Pandora’s box is open. The current world order is no more.”

The deranged man steps onto the railing, balancing his feet on the edge. His wild eyes meet hers.

“Hey! Get down! We can talk this out!” she shouts.

He stretches his arms wide, his voice booming. “Virtus Per Ignem!”

He laughs as he leans back and plunges into the ground. Mika rushes to the edge, watching his body thud into the chaos below.

The adrenaline in her veins subside to a sharp pain surging through her torso. She looks down to find a kunai embedded in her gut, its hilt jutting out as a red patch of blood seeps through her uniform. She clutches the end of the blade to prevent it from shifting further. She slumps down against the railing, waiting, as Enforcement officers arrive and begin tending to her wounds.