Scylla and Charybdis

“Here. There’s a place not many people know about, even among the ranks of magical girls. A state databank of sorts,” Ryou explained, pointing at a particular spot on the map of Shin-Tokyo. “One with information on every active private contractor in the business. Mercenaries. MPs. Even magical girls. If there’s any place in Tokyo with information on those three, it’s here.”

The location she was pointing to was in the middle of one of the most dangerous parts of the city. The centre of Japan’s military-industrial complex. On one side, the New National Diet building. The other, the home base of the Expanded JSDF. Across the street, the biggest metropolitan cyberpolice headquarters in the world. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it the most heavily guarded city sector on planet Earth.

An infiltration would be tantamount to a declaration of war against the Japanese government.

“Is it possible to hack from outside?” I asked, but Ryou shot my hopes down immediately.

“So far as I can tell, all data is stored on a local intranet with no possible outside connections. Even if you could find a way to access it, it’d be encrypted to high heaven. The only way we could possibly read the data in there is to break in. Failing to mention that we need high-level clearance to access any of it.”

I groaned. It was the last thing I wanted to hear. Robbing convoys and raiding casinos is one thing, but we were talking about sneaking into the most heavily fortified compound in the entire country.

“Where is it specifically? I don’t see any particular building that matches the description,” I aksed. I somewhat dreaded the answer.

“From what my source said, it seems to be underground, accessible only through the military compound. The only people permitted to access it are the Emperor, the Prime Minister and officers of the JSDF ranking colonel or higher.”

“And who was this source?”

“A colonel that defected to a less-than-reputable PMC. I had been sent to… persuade him otherwise. I decided to use some… advanced interrogation techniques that I had learned to get some valuable information for myself along the way.”

“...it was torture, wasn’t it?”

“Some may describe it that way.”

God above. Just who had I thrown my lot in with?

“Toki, I know I say this a lot, but I’ve never meant it to such a degree: this plan is practically suicide,” said Time, perching on the table beside me. “If you decide to do this, I can’t stop you. But I can’t say I think it’s a good idea.”

“Information is the lifeblood of warfare. These enemies clearly know something about you, yet we know nothing about them. I will not pretend this plan does not carry immense danger. But no less dangerous is it to allow our enemies to go unknown. I will leave the final decision to you, but I would urge you on the importance of this.”

I looked down, and didn’t answer right away. Both Time and Ryou made good points. Breaking into a military compound, guarded by the most advanced cybernetic army in the eastern hemisphere, sounded monumentally stupid. Fighting three incredibly powerful specialists with unknown powers and capabilities? Maybe even worse.

Those magical girls had engaged me with lethal intent and no hesitation. If there was a snowball’s chance in hell we could resolve this peacefully, I’d have taken it, but I simply didn’t see a way we could reason with people who were after my head. Peace was not an option.

…peace…?

“Hey… what about the Peace Day parade?” I said, still looking down at the ground.

“What about it?” replied Time, cocking her head.

“...yes. Yes, that could work.” Ryou put her hand to her chin and thought for a second. “The base won’t be empty, but a substantial portion of their forces will be at the parade. It won’t be easy, for certain, but it would not be utterly suicidal either. If we’re to do this, that must be the day.”

The Peace Day parade. An annual military celebration for Japan’s victory in the third Russo-Japanese war. To say the army tended to roll out the red carpet would be an understatement. Everything from tanks to infantry to an entire corps of PMC allies would be there. There were even flyovers by fighter jets. Practically the whole city would be there, including most of the military personnel.

It would be our only possible chance.

“Hmm… a bold proposal, to be certain,” said Higgs as they circled the map, “but there is an elephant in the room, no?”

I tipped my head in confusion for a moment, but before long it struck me. I had been out for two weeks. That meant the parade was only a week away.

We would have to prepare the most daring infiltration in Japanese history in seven days.

If there’s a god out there, he hates me.

“Dear girl, I cannot emphasise enough how vital this information may prove to us. As it stands we are diving blindly into a tank of sharks. The least we can do is open our eyes,” Ryou urged.

“Planning and preparing for a mission like this should take months, not days. There’s not enough time to bring the risk low enough to justify a mission like this. You want to get out of the shark tank? Diving head first into the piranha pit is not the solution,” countered Time.

God, what a headache. Talk about sailing between Scylla and Charybdis.

Time raised too good a point to ignore. If our goal was to ensure we’d be safer from those dangerous magical girls, throwing ourselves to the wolves like this seemed completely antithetical. You don’t cure a brain tumour with a handgun.

“I think Time is-”

I put one hand to my forehead and the other on the table to steady myself. A sharp pain pulsed through my head, and with it came a flash of memory from that night.

The brutality of W

The strength and speed of Z

The overwhelming power of the Girl In Green.

Thinking about it was damn-near enough to make me throw up.

“Toki?” said Time, drawing closer and looking up at me with concern.

“We can’t face those girls again without knowing anything. We need this information,” I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead. “We infiltrate on Peace Day. We have no other option.”

While Ryou gave a small nod and a very slight smile, the expression on Time’s face grew grave. She was right, of course, that this plan was practically suicide. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t face them again without knowing what I was up against.

“Well well,” said Higgs. “The commander makes her call. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s the right one.”

I hoped it was. God, did I hope it was.