Tokyo, Japan. Harry's Bar, Late Evening.
The Factory had Hunted; Sakaki and Karasuma, to be precise, and while they had prevented the younger Hunter from being taken, Miho was nowhere to be found. The one bright side was that Robin was home, with them, where she belonged. At Harry's, served her proper Italian espresso, and Master fussing over their lost little bird.
Yurika had needed to swallow her tears when he had folded her into a hug, and welcomed her home.
"Zaizen is in a very delicate position right now," Dōjima explained to Sakaki as the rest of the team huddled around the bar. "SOLOMON HQ is completely opposed to Orbo research, or rather, they're actively trying to stop it. That's what the raid on the office was about; HQ was looking for the secret behind the Orbo."
"Understand, in Zaizen's eyes, it doesn't matter if you're a Hunter or not. A Witch is a Witch. With no need for a group of Hunters, it should come as no surprise he's trying to eliminate us now."
"How do you know all this, Dōjima? You seem to know a lot. Come on, spill, how are you privy to all this inside knowledge from headquarters?" Sakaki challenged, an accusation hovering at the edge of his lips. Calling her Zaizen's lapdog, perhaps, or something worse.
Years ago, Yurika would have crumpled to reveal what she was to her friends, and to see the hurt and betrayal on their faces to find out that her entire motivation was a lie.
Nothing, however, would ever hurt her more than when she had told Romeo, then Rikku and Reno, and so she met his eyes, unwavering. "Gomenasi, Sakaki-kun," she said, placing her hands flat on thighs and bowing formally, all traces of her Osaka accent gone, replaced with a crisp, educated tone. "Gomenasi, Robin~chan. I am a SOLOMON intelligence agent sent to uncover the truth about Zaizen's Orbo research."
"You're a spy?" he spit out angrily, and she did not flinch. "A spy for SOLOMON? You've been lying to us this entire time!"
"No, you're wrong." To Yurika's surprise, it was Robin's voice that spoke first and not her own. "You're wrong, it's not like that."
"While we're at it, I am not truly a replacement, either," the little nun continued.
"What are you talking about?" Sakaki snapped.
"My real assignment is to find out a secret relating to Witches here in Japan," she said calmly. "Not everyone in the STN is after the same thing; that's just the kind of organization that SOLOMON is."
HA! Dōjima had been totally right. She'd known there had to be some reason Juliano had sent his prize Hunter to Japan while Dōjima was on assignment. You didn't normally put two top-ranked operatives in the field like this without some ulterior motive.
"So if the Factory has this Karasuma lady, what's your next move, Amon?" Nagira asked, bringing the conversation back on track.
"We rescue her."
That was it, then. Michael offered the STN-J as the headquarters, bearing news of the Chief defecting along with them. Nagira was in, too.
Databases hacked and disconnected. Links pulled down, the police pulled into the conspiracy, security camera feed to the Factory taken offline. Nagira and Dōjima ran intel operations with all the sneakiness of a spy and a lawyer even as they set up electronic surveillance on the Factory itself.
This revolution would not be televised, not unless it went really really badly.
[OOC: NFB, NFI, OOC=OK.]
Yurika had needed to swallow her tears when he had folded her into a hug, and welcomed her home.
"Zaizen is in a very delicate position right now," Dōjima explained to Sakaki as the rest of the team huddled around the bar. "SOLOMON HQ is completely opposed to Orbo research, or rather, they're actively trying to stop it. That's what the raid on the office was about; HQ was looking for the secret behind the Orbo."
"Understand, in Zaizen's eyes, it doesn't matter if you're a Hunter or not. A Witch is a Witch. With no need for a group of Hunters, it should come as no surprise he's trying to eliminate us now."
"How do you know all this, Dōjima? You seem to know a lot. Come on, spill, how are you privy to all this inside knowledge from headquarters?" Sakaki challenged, an accusation hovering at the edge of his lips. Calling her Zaizen's lapdog, perhaps, or something worse.
Years ago, Yurika would have crumpled to reveal what she was to her friends, and to see the hurt and betrayal on their faces to find out that her entire motivation was a lie.
Nothing, however, would ever hurt her more than when she had told Romeo, then Rikku and Reno, and so she met his eyes, unwavering. "Gomenasi, Sakaki-kun," she said, placing her hands flat on thighs and bowing formally, all traces of her Osaka accent gone, replaced with a crisp, educated tone. "Gomenasi, Robin~chan. I am a SOLOMON intelligence agent sent to uncover the truth about Zaizen's Orbo research."
"You're a spy?" he spit out angrily, and she did not flinch. "A spy for SOLOMON? You've been lying to us this entire time!"
"No, you're wrong." To Yurika's surprise, it was Robin's voice that spoke first and not her own. "You're wrong, it's not like that."
"While we're at it, I am not truly a replacement, either," the little nun continued.
"What are you talking about?" Sakaki snapped.
"My real assignment is to find out a secret relating to Witches here in Japan," she said calmly. "Not everyone in the STN is after the same thing; that's just the kind of organization that SOLOMON is."
HA! Dōjima had been totally right. She'd known there had to be some reason Juliano had sent his prize Hunter to Japan while Dōjima was on assignment. You didn't normally put two top-ranked operatives in the field like this without some ulterior motive.
"So if the Factory has this Karasuma lady, what's your next move, Amon?" Nagira asked, bringing the conversation back on track.
"We rescue her."
That was it, then. Michael offered the STN-J as the headquarters, bearing news of the Chief defecting along with them. Nagira was in, too.
Databases hacked and disconnected. Links pulled down, the police pulled into the conspiracy, security camera feed to the Factory taken offline. Nagira and Dōjima ran intel operations with all the sneakiness of a spy and a lawyer even as they set up electronic surveillance on the Factory itself.
This revolution would not be televised, not unless it went really really badly.
[OOC: NFB, NFI, OOC=OK.]