//File 0.1 - Hotaru//

Hotaru took a few seconds to focus on both runners, trying to glean and record as much data on them as he can before retreating back into the room.

Hotaru had managed to get the mage to drop whatever illusion she had been using earlier to disguise herself, and he had unerringly recgonised her to be the business woman he had traveled from London with. The orc was also a passenger on the same plane. The data would be useful for review later. The Hornet itself, while equipped for surveillance and speed, had been spotted, and as such was not as useful as he had hoped it would be. Reluctantly he flew the machine through the nearest air duct he could find, as the door was closed, in order to return to the room where his meat body was in.

Halfway though inside the air duct, Hotaru found himself unable to command his drone. He was still in virtual reality, but he could not 'see' through the camera and image link of the Hornet, nor move it. The drone came to an abrupt stop and sat there. All he could perceive was a grey static, and nothing else.

Sigh, stupid Dirtboys, always so short sighted Hotaru tune out of VR and return to his meatbody.

Hotaru found himself in full awareness of his physical body again. It wasn't the neural pain of dumpshock, but he recognised the sings of gear failure. He was simply unable to access the virtual reality world, nor even the augmented reality which he was used to using by default. Hotaru quickly realised why. He was back in the room with the two civil aviation officers, but his arms were restrained behind him. Attached to his temple was a headjammer, a delimiting device that deactivated his commlink and control rig implants. He was now effectively unable to operate his cybergear.

Moments later, more border security police filed in. They were business-like and efficient, but not brutal nor rough, and they did not say a word to him. Two personnel on either side of him marched him out and into a small security vehicle, and from there whisked him away to another nearby building, which Hotaru didn't have the opportunity to observe from the outside. There, just as efficiently, they hauled him out through a doorway, down a corridor, then another, then another, until they reached a plain room with only a metal table and two chairs, and grey featureless walls. There they secured him to the chair, and left.

Nothing happened for a while. Then, after what seemed like a long time, the door opened, an two persons entered, a slick man in a well cut suit, and an older woman of some authority, who stood by a wall and watched the proceedings. The man sat down in front of Hotaru.

"Mr Etienne, I am Hakata, of the Security Division." Even in circumstances such as these, the Japanese were unfailingly formal, polite even. "You will cooperate with this investigation by explaining your involvement and answering all our questions." The woman behind said nothing.

Hotaru expected the headjammer and simply put himself in a more comfortable position until the agents picked him up.

Once secured in the empty room, he began to lose his nerves. An rush of adrenalin, an overactive brain and a total lack of stimulation can do that.

Alternating between fidgetting nervously and total focus on the featureless grey wall, Hotaru discovered 147 cracks, 7 stains and a very distinctive, almost imperceptible, pattern of discoloration in the paint probably caused by the repeated draft from the occasional opening of the only door in the room. Slow motion perception and prison-like setting are not a good pairing...

When the two persons entered, Hotaru pretty much stared at them until they finished speaking. Even with their neutral expression and professional behaviors, he could basically count their heartrate by looking at their neck and temple and notice so many imperceptible movement in their eyes and body language.

He started answering, in Japanese, in faster rythme than intended : "Well, of course. I was hire to transport prototype drone back to Tengu Corp facility here and I noticed..." Hotaru realized he had forgotten to slow his speech at "normal" speed. He stopped, took a deep breath and restarted in a calmer tone and rythme. "I was asked to transport prototype drone back to Tengu Corp facility here and I noticed signs of suspicious activity. I only had confirmation when the two individuals entered the room under false pretense. Then I tried to warn and assist the security that was caught totally unaware. Which led me here as the victim of a theft and being treated as a criminal. Very politely I might add, but detained and restrained all the same."

There was no need for the interrogator to take notes. If Hotaru had a chance to view himself from the other side of the room, he would've realised that all his words were being recorded, and his facial expressions, vital signs were being monitored.

"May I remind you that speaking truthfully will be to your advantage, whereas any deception will make it harder for your situation. We will require the name of the person from whom you received the prototypes. Were you aware of any of the other contents inside?" Hakata asked the more straightforward questions first, but he clearly had another, bigger one he was waiting to get to.

"Dillon Halbert and I was aware of the manifest of the content only. I did not open the case before security forced me too. So, what is your real question? "

The man weighed Hotaru's resistant tone. "Explain how a person of your age is a courier for a major corp, entrusted with a case of prototypes - and more. And explain how an ordinary courier like you is rigged with high-end cyberware."

The woman's eyes flickered in interest.

Being an awful liar, Hotaru decided to go with as much of the truth as he could.

"Forgive my tone, it was not meant to be confrontational, it just was a stressful day and I am a bit on edge. I will explain to the best of my ability. Most of it comes down to something very simple, I have talents and Corporation always exploit talent. Being a courier his not however my usual function, I believe it was more an arrangement of convenience, two different assets needing to be move at the same time. I ... notice things. Details or patterns that others miss. That is how I could spot and react to the threat faster than your security.

As for the wares, I was simply raised in a privileged environment where money was no issue. So the wares and equipment to develop my talents were readily available."

"Mr Etienne, I have done this long enough to know that you have something to hide. You not told us the entire truth about your personal motives for coming to neo-Tokyo, but personal secrets are not an offence in this country, neither are your cyberware implants, although their proper use is still governed by the laws here. We have your footage of your well-intentioned but misguided attempt to confront and restrain the perpetrators of today's theft. Nonetheless, you are still responsible for transporting..." here Hakata paused, as if looking for the right word, before he avoided it completely, "...what was stolen. For involvement in that, you are currently under arrest. You have a right to a lawyer -"

"Alright Hakata, I think he understands the predicament he's in." The woman finally spoke up. Hotaru had noted earlier she was an elven woman of indeterminate age, but moved gracefully without a sound. She hadn't said a single word while Hakata interrogated Hotaru, but Hotaru was certain that neither her nor Hakata bore any ill-will, for it was clear that the investigator was clearly a lawful professional doing his job thoroughly. The woman was harder to read, Hotaru could almost sense that she was coolly calculating what direction this entire debacle ought to take. "Mr Etienne, how would you like to make amends for this fiasco you have caused?"

"How can I be of service?
Hotaru accompanied his words by a small bow, made awkward by all the restrained.

"You'll complete the job you were hired to do, that is to deliver the case of drones to the Tengu Corporation. You will proceed as if you had just arrived at the airport, make your way to their head office, and only hand them over to the person or persons authorised to accept them." The woman outlined the task as if the idea wasn't new to her.

Hakata continued with the execution of the details. " Your cyberware will be tagged, so that we will know your whereabouts at all times, and with all your relevant feeds uplinked to us. You may sync up with your anthrodrone, and pre-load the Hornet interfaces, to serve as tracking devices. When done, you will leave for a rendezvous point for pick up. Do this, we will take into consideration your cooperation at your trial." The agent looked up to see if Hotaru was following.

"While I would love to help you uncover what exactly is happening here, you are asking me to put myself in possible danger and definitely burn my reputation to the only work contact I have here. The abruptness with which I was sent here does suggest trouble of some sorts at home, so I expect I will need some employment and accommodation here. This will be that much harder to get if you or Tengu Corp keep treating me like a criminal.

There is no proof of any wrongdoing on my part and there is evidence of me being a victim here. I was assaulted and stolen from while under the care of your security. I am certain any lawyer and judge can see that. Ha! Even my thief said herself that I was a victim here. So, may I humbly suggest that you offer me a contract instead of empty threats, so we can work together to get to the truth of this situation?"

The woman laughed. "Oh I like this one." She continued to look at Hotaru with amusement, before the more strait-laced Hakata resumed.

"Mr Etienne, we are the Security Division of the Neo-Tokyo Metropolitan Police, not some Lone Star or Knight Errant privatised police force. We do not hire crime suspects. Perhaps I was too quick in assuming you understood your predicament. You are currently under arrest for smuggling a prohibited mutagen for Tengu Corporation, which you transported in your luggage from London to Tokyo. You are a culprit Mr Etienne, not a victim. We can begin interrogation again to establish who it was who gave you the luggage, so that we can investigate its origins in London. We can continue this interrogation until you reveal the names of your accomplices, who knew your whereabouts, and conveniently 'stole' the vials from you from aviation security. If you would like a lawyer in order to proceed to trial that is within your rights, and we will permit you to arrange for one.

However, my colleague here has decided to give you the benefit of doubt, given the circumstances. Hence her offer to you. The offer gives you a chance to redeem your actions by working for the police, as opposed to being the prime suspect in this case."

"Merde alors, that is indeed a putain de bordel I seem to have gotten mixed with, please excuse my French...

Voyons voir, you have information on the content without having analyzed it, since it was not flagged in London, and you know its movement only through the information I personally gave you..." Hotaru speaks mostly to himself, trying to connect the dots, checking the officer's reaction as he guesses his situation. "Unless I seriously overestimate airport scanners, the most probable explanation would be an anonymous tip. If that is the case, then the timing would tell much about the intent, my best guess would be the thieves wanting to catch the material in a controlled environment; They were, after all, awfully quick with the fake airport credentials... How dangerous is that mutagen? Oh yea, you wouldn't tell me as I am still a suspect...

Hotaru's focus comes back to the officers. "You look like decent, smart and capable officers. Overzealous and open-minded must be a good combination in your line of work. You are smart enough to guess that I really am a patsy and that precious time would be wasted trying to get names I don't have out of me, but also principled enough that you want to make sure I have both the lawful punishment and defense for my involvement. So I feel I can trust you at least to a reasonable degree."


Hotaru's gaze turned inward again. "Now, we have at least two other parties involvement. The smugglers, almost certainly corp affiliated, deal in illegal mutagen which could be only about profits but could also be about more nefarious stuff. The thieves, however, were surprisingly careful about not causing unnecessary damage and almost genuinely concerned about me. That raises the probability of a dangerous and morally dubious intent from the smugglers..."


Hotaru's attention comes back to the officers again.

"Ok, I'm in. Now if you can define "redeem your actions" we can negotiate the terms of this offer. I also have some analysis and recording of the thieves to add if you are interested, although I would need access to my commlink to know the exact value of what I picked on before I was cut off." [/b]

Hotaru wait for the officers responses while analyzing some of their reactions during his analysis to either confirm or invalidate some of his guesses.

Hotaru never asked what trouble his father was in that forced him to send Hotaru out of England as quickly as he could. Even Dillon Halbert, his father's colleague, had warned him that trouble was sure to follow, and sure enough, trouble did. Someone had planted an illegal substance in Hotaru's case, substituting two vials of regular nacroject paralyser for some no doubt dangerous mutagen. This was done without Hotaru's knowledge. All this Hotaru could infer in his head.

The woman, after listening to Hotaru's thoughts and conclusions, nodded to Hakata, who continued. "As mentioned, we will give you an opportunity to assist us in our investigations. This investigation may very well prove that you are innocent in the charge of smuggling, so it is in your interest to cooperate. Those are the terms of the offer: you get to clear your name." Hakata's last statement was spoken in a less formal register, in case Hotaru did not grasp the formalities of his earlier explanation.

The woman finally approached the table were Hotaru was, sat at the edge of the table and leaned toward Hotaru. "Kid, Tengu Corp used you to ship something terrible into this country. You're their patsy, and they're happy to leave you to rot. However, they don't know that their mutagen has been stolen, so they're still expecting you to deliver it. That's where you come in. Hakata has already outlined the plan earlier, complete your 'delivery'. You'll have back up. That's it.

As for the runners who made off with the vials, we're on their trail. If you want to give us the information you've recorded to add to our evidence, that'll count in your favour too." The woman spoke quickly and smoothly, and much less formally than Hakata. In fact, there was a edgy, experienced air about her, as if she'd been doing this for the longest time.

"So, what'll it be? Decide. Time's ticking and there's lots to do."

"That sound good, i'm in."

"Good. Time is of the essence. We will now release your restraints, and tag your cyberware." Hakata buzzed, and wired technician wearing AR gloves entered, waving his hands in the air as if he was manipulating various objects in virtual reality. Hotaru could feel his cuffs released, and commlink and rig coming back online. "This is so that we can track your whereabouts, and also see what you're seeing through all your feeds, which will be uplinked to us. You will have backup; they will track you via the uplink.

What you will do next is exit the airport as if you have just landed. A replacement box of nacroject vials will be placed in your case. You will sync up with your anthrodrone, and also pre-load the Hornet interfaces, so that you can use them for tracking as well. Make your way to Tengu Corp according to whatever instructions you have been given. Once you have made the delivery, make your way to an extraction point so that we can ensure your safety."

Hakata waited to see if Hotaru had any other questions. If not, he got ready to escort Hotaru out to begin his assignment.

"i'm ready."