New Intel

“Short-circuiting the control panel! Rust and corrosion in all the joints! Mold and mildew in the cushions from overexposure to seawater! With all this conclusive evidence, I only got one thing left to say… Murder! This is murder! The lowest, scummiest kind! Have you no shame?!”

It was the following morning. The trio had returned to the base late into the night. After some treatment from Dr. Tenzo, they had some rest, but Maki made sure to cut it short and demand their presence in her workshop. After a quick breakfast, they’d been getting an earful from her ever since. Whether he liked it or not, Hiro did learn a thing or two about the intricacies of amphibious vehicular assembly from the hour-long lecture.

Usano cowered behind Haruka. “I-Is it fixable?”

Maki pressed her palm against her forehead. “Yes, yes. This’ll take a day at worst. I can’t stay mad at you.”

“Yay!”

“But you have to be my assistant for a full month!”

“Double yay! I get to hang out here!”

Haruka yawned as she checked her phone. “Can I go now?”

“Hold on!” Maki wagged her finger. “Isn’t there anythin’ y’all wanna say to me?”

They all fell silent.

“Oh! Oh!” Usano excitedly raised her arm. “Big Sis, you’re so cool and awesome and the Duck was super useful! Thank you so much!”

Maki patted her head. “That is absolutely correct! Good girl!” She turned to Hiro and Haruka.

Hiro waved his hand dismissively. “Yeah, no. I’m going back to bed.” He turned around and walked away. Haruka followed him.

The elevator opened. The towering Golem struggled to step out. “Ah, the whole gang’s here! Perfect, that saves me the trouble. Leo’s summoning you to the command center.”

Sleep once again eluded them.

“Woo! Meetin’ time!” Maki rushed to the elevator.

“You’re not invited,” Haruka said.

She placed a hand on her hip. “Excuse me. I was involved in the mission just as much as you guys! So who says I can’t come?!”

“Me. Please.”

“Boohoo! Cry me a river!”

Hiro tapped Haruka’s shoulder. “The faster we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to sleep,” he whispered.

“She’ll still visit me in my nightmares,” she whispered back.

The four of them left Golem behind and went up to the fifth floor. There, Leo sat at the circular table with his usual cat-like coffee mug. He spoke to the screens on the wall, which displayed pictures of armed guards and a tall skyscraper.

“Hm, we’ll keep our distance for now, I suppose. But keep tabs on them from time to time.” Leo turned to the four. “Ah, great! You’re all here. Come, come. Take a seat.”

They all sat side by side around the table. Haruka stayed to Hiro’s left, deliberately avoiding being next to Maki.

Leo clapped his hands together. “Alright. First things first, I have to thank you all for a job well done. Considering who you were up against, you all deserve to be very, very proud of yourselves. You managed to get an entire sack of precious ore, which added to the fact that you are all alive and well, is pretty much the best case scenario.”

“No it wasn’t,” Usano mumbled.

Hiro looked down. He, too, was disappointed in himself. His only success was kicking an already exhausted Hui Yan’s face away from his leg. If he wasn’t there, Haruka would’ve easily disposed of them, just as she’d always done. Was being dead weight really something to be proud of?

Maki must’ve sensed the gloom in the room, evident when she slapped the table. “Enough with the small talk, boss. Get to the good stuff. Got some dirt on Brigade?”

“Right. I was getting to that, thank you very much.” Leo took a sip of coffee. “While stealing ores was a major part of the mission, our main objective was to gather new insight on who might be involved in this shipment. Yasu, do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Big L!” a young, chipper voice responded from the speakers.

Hiro jerked his head back. “Who’s that?”

Leo placed his hand over his mouth. “Oh dear. Did I forget to introduce you?”

“Yeah, you know I was waiting for that this whole time, right?” the voice asked.

“Right. Of course. Well, Hiro, as late as it may be, I’d like to formally introduce you to Lionheart’s professional intel-gatherer, Yasuichi.”

“Just Yasu’s fine. Pleasure to meet you, Hiro! Sorry I can’t be there in person. To be honest, I don’t know when I’ll be back in the base.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Hiro turned to Leo. “Are there still others in Lionheart I haven’t met yet?”

Leo scratched the back of his head. “Ah, sorry. A lot has happened in such a short period of time, so we never did get to give you a full tour of the base. Don’t worry, there’s only one member I have yet to introduce you to. She should be back by tomorrow, in fact. Now, as for what we’re here for… Yasu, take it away.”

“On it, Big L!” Yasu exclaimed. The screens displayed a video looking down on the skyscraper. It circled around the building as though a bird was filming it. “This is Brigade’s headquarters in downtown Zenpo City. It’s twenty floors high with about a hundred guards patrolling the area at any given time.”

Usano raised her hand. “Hey! That’s where I’m from!”

“Eh? Isn’t that the capital?” Hiro asked. “Why would their base just be in the center of the city?”

Leo walked closer to the screens. “This building is legally owned by Hao Corp, named after their leader and founder, Hao Xue. For years, it’s been known in underground circles that Brigade functions under his same leadership, but Orin’s government refuses to acknowledge their connection.”

Hiro crossed his arms. “So even in the big cities, criminals get away with whatever they want, huh?”

“Oh, far more than any of us know. As for who’s been pulling the strings to let them stay afloat, we were only able to speculate… until now.”

“Haruka, do you remember the report you gave from Ushiro Village?” Yasu asked.

She nodded. “About Hiro’s dirty home?”

Hiro snapped his head to her. “Excuse me?!”

“No, no! I’m talking about Governor Shimazaki!” Yasu yelled. “I’ve been keeping a close eye on him. Seems like he’s far more involved in this shipment than meets the eye.”

Pictures of a spacious laboratory with cutting-edge equipment flashed on the screens. One of them portrayed a man with a pompadour hairstyle in a sleek black suit. He shook hands with a taller individual adorned in a silver suit that precisely matched the color of his brush-like ponytail.

“The one in black is Shimazaki, and the one in silver is Hao Xue. The governor just signed an agreement with Hao Corp to fund their most recent power source project.”

“Ah! Ah! Ah! AH!” Maki sprung from her seat. She pointed at an image of a small glass tank with a glowing red orb hovering in its center. It blazed with an intense brilliance that resembled the fiery sun. “That! THAT! Red ball! What is that?!”

“They call it a solarium core,” Yasu said. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it. It was all over the news last week.”

“I’m more surprised you thought I’d ever watch the news.”

“Know what? Good point. Well, Hao Corp announced this project three years ago, and they finally made a breakthrough. This thing can power an entire city for years. Only problem is they have no means of safely harnessing all this energy.”

Maki plopped back down on her seat and rubbed her chin. “I see. I see.”

Leo gave a long, weary sigh. “I don’t think any of this is a coincidence. Huasheng has cut off commercial ties with the other three kingdoms ever since it closed borders. But now with this new power source? The secret shipment? I think the government’s working together with Hao Corp to try and sweeten the deal with Huasheng. If Orin can get the sole trade relation with them, it would be a serious advantage over the other kingdoms.”

Hiro raised his hand. “Um… Sorry if this is a dumb question, but you make that sound like a bad thing. I mean, we live in Orin. Wouldn’t we want to have an advantage?”

“Hiro, do you know why Huasheng closed its borders?” Leo asked him.

He shook his head.

“It was discovered that Huasheng had large reservoirs of petroleum that remained untapped. The Yellow King hated the attention those brought and cut off the other kingdoms in response. Orin already has technological superiority over the rest of the world. If they have access to these fossil fuels, do you know what will happen next?”

He shook his head again.

“War, Hiro. All out war. Their thirst for power is insatiable. The peace treaty between the four kingdoms will not last if there is an imbalance of power.”

“Then what’re we gonna do about it?”

“Nothing. We’re going to sell this information out and let the rest of the world handle this.”

Maki placed her hands on her hips. “And let others get all the credit? Why the hell would we do that?”

Usano mimicked her pose. “Yeah! Why?”

Leo chugged the remainder of his coffee. “Because we’re not ready to show ourselves to the world yet! This mission was already a result of my own selfish greed. I wanted to get all the intel and the precious expensive ores. But now, we’ve taken a step too far. I’m not endangering our family any further.”

“Danger? Us? We ARE the danger! We’re strong and capable! We can handle the whole world!”

“Of course there’s danger! In fact, we’ve already received enough danger from you bringing strangers into our base!” He slammed his mug on the table.

Maki stormed up from her seat. “Well, maybe if you weren’t so hesitant in adding new members, we’d actually be ready by now!”

“Hm! Hm!” Usano firmly nodded in agreement.

Leo clicked his tongue. Hiro had seen that look from him before—a cold-blooded gaze that could kill a man. He shuddered. What astonished him more, however, was Maki’s unrelenting stare back at her own boss.

After a lingering, tension-filled pause, Leo finally spoke. “After all these years, you still don’t understand, Maki. Lionheart wants to eradicate both the Four-Kings system and all the blatant criminal organizations. These things take time.”

“And now could be our time! Wanna eradicate them both? What a perfect opportunity!”

“Our time is very delicate. One false move, and our family could crumble in an instant.”

“Boss…” Her fists trembled. She grit her teeth. “Leo, I’m not a little kid anymore. I know what you’re afraid of, but maybe you’re too afraid, y’know? You called this mission a golden opportunity. I think you’re right. Then you said you were too greedy. I think you’re wrong. What if this is it? Our once-in-a-lifetime chance to topple down Brigade, Huasheng, and Orin. And you’re passin’ it up?”

Leo slowly shook his head. “Maybe it was I who didn’t explain to you clearly enough. Yes, our goal is to take them down. But I will not sacrifice our family in order to do so.”

Maki stomped her foot. It resonated across the command center. “Ugh! You’re such a… such a… PUSSY!”

Usano swiveled her head back and forth between the two. She flailed her hands helplessly. “B-Big Sis, maybe that was too much…?”

“NO! I’ve had it with you!” Maki stormed to the elevator and left the command center.

Silence filled the room. Several minutes of everyone awkwardly staring at the floor passed. Finally, a low whistle from the speakers shattered the quiet.

“Sooo, I’m pretty much done,” Yasu said. “Are there any questions, or…”

Leo took a deep breath in. “It’s okay, Yasu. I’ll take things from here. Thank you so much. You may take your leave. Keep me updated on Brigade and Shimazaki. Take care.”

“You too, Big L! And everyone else too! I’ll let you know if something’s fishy. See you!”

The speakers made a clicking noise. Leo shut the screens off and turned to the others. “Meeting adjourned. I just wanted to let you know the results of the mission. None of your efforts were in vain. Sorry you had to witness Maki’s outburst, though.”

“Should we go to her?” Hiro asked.

Usano twiddled her fingers. “I’m worried…”

Haruka shrugged. “She makes tantrums all the time.”

“No, this time’s different! You’re just mean, that’s all! If you don’t wanna help, fine. I’m going.” Usano dashed to the elevator, but forgot it was still in use. To avoid the shame, she stared sheepishly at the elevator doors.

“She’ll be over it soon enough,” Leo said. “She’s too ambitious for her own good—for all our good. Don’t worry. By tomorrow, she’ll find something new to obsess over.”

Haruka stretched her arms and yawned. “Can we go now?”

“Yes, yes. Of course. Get some well-deserved rest today.”

“Understood.” Haruka walked over to Usano moments before the doors opened. She then turned to Hiro, who’d been looking down at the table, deep in thought. “Coming?”

He swiftly looked up, somewhat startled. “Y-Yeah, hold up!”

They all returned to the living quarters. Hiro placed his key card over the sensor of his room and entered. He kicked his shoes away and dropped face-first onto his bed. Slowly, he dragged himself up to his pillow and stuffed his head under it. At the top of his lungs, he let out a muffled shout.

No one mentioned it in the meeting. Hiro had been dreading the conversation since the night prior, but no one mentioned it. The thought played havoc in his mind. It consumed his thoughts. Usano lamented her contribution to the mission, while Leo regretted sending them out in the first place. But Hiro…

He was useless. Completely, utterly, irrevocably useless.

He steeled himself to be stronger but had nothing to show for it. What even was strength? The ability to shoot a gun? When he finally managed to pull the trigger, he blatantly missed. Dead weight. Nothing but dead weight. He was better off stealing the ores. Even then, they couldn’t give him that job. They couldn’t let him be alone.

They couldn’t trust him to be strong enough.

Hiro pounded his fist into his bed over and over until his wrist grew weary. His phone rang, but he turned it off. Golem knocked on his door, calling him for lunch. He didn’t answer. After a while, he drifted off to sleep.

***

Hiro didn’t recall having any specific dream. He remembered darkness—vividly so. It was as though he stared into an endless void. A sense of familiarity perched deep within his heart. He felt at home, where he needed to be, where he belonged.

Suddenly a bright light dazzled his eyes. A great weight pressed against his stomach. Though he floated in the air, the space around him shook, and he felt it all around his body. No matter how much he yelled for help, no one responded. At last, he heard a faint voice. It called for his name.

“Hiro… Hiro… HOBO! WAKE THE HELL UP ALREADY!”

His eyes opened, but they were immediately met with an intense flash. He groaned as he covered his face with a pillow. Eventually, his eyes adjusted to the light. “Maki… Is that you?”

She straddled him. A flashlight in her hand was aimed directly at his face. “You awake now?” she asked.

“How the hell did you get in my room?”

“You think I’d design this whole base without givin’ myself full access to all the rooms? Foolish Hiro.” She chuckled.

“Ugh… What do you want? I’m so tired.”

“No you’re nooooot! You literally slept all day!”

“What time is it then?”

“One A.M.”

“...Why are you here then? Get out!”

“Rude! Here I am offerin’ you the greatest adventure of your life and you’re kickin’ me out? For shame.”

“What adventure?”

Maki grinned from cheek to cheek. “We’re bustin’ into Brigade’s base!”