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Lunatic AI
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[FONT="]KNIGHT HUNTERS: PROJECT SHINE
[/FONT]
[FONT="]EINLEITUNG[/FONT]
[FONT="]Patchwork Lives
<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT="]EINLEITUNG[/FONT]
[FONT="]Patchwork Lives
<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thursday, August 19<sup>th</sup>, 22:47.<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT][FONT="]San Francisco is beautiful at night. Most cities are. The darkness smooths away the details that make a city physically ugly; graffiti, cracks in the asphalt, garbage and mud and old gum and other, even less appetizing stains on the sidewalks… You notice the lights, not garish anymore, now that night has swallowed the city up, but beacons, stars plucked from the sky to fill the bay. So many thousands of feet above flashing to warn planes the buildings are this tall; directing traffic down the block at the intersection; here laughing, beckoning people out of the cooling air into shops and restaurants, inviting and warm. <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]The stink of beer and Chinese food looses it's suffocating cloy in the night breeze, and now you're hungry, when an hour ago you wanted to gag walking three blocks away from China Town. It's the time of night people are headed out for a well earned round of drinks- but turn aside from the little bar not quite at the corner up the street- to the noisier lights, their friends calling them to someplace that does dinner too, or else no one's gonna be able to drive! <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Leaving the cold blue cursive of a neon sign to flicker at an empty street; closed, even if someone happened to stray from the flock…<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Shine.<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]The lights are on, more soft blue creeping around the edges of the fabric to reflect tapestry swirls on the glass front; there's a handwritten sign taped to the inside of the door, hesitant printed letters saying they will be opening again Sunday: "Please to come back round! ~Love Roulette!" And signed with a kiss.<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Aya blinked at the careful scrawl- Only Roulette would try to couch a directive (We are closed. Come around to the back.) in engrish. He thumbed the key-chain in his coat pocket and a white Porsche, left at the corner and two blocks up-just within visual range, parked close enough to bolt to in an emergency, far enough passerby would have no reason to associate it with this end of the street- bleeped plaintively. Somewhere a not-so-well-meaning teenager cursed it. <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Nevermind, my brother got some pot, you wanna go smoke?"<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]The conversation drifted off into the night.[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Aya liked San Francisco. It wasn't nearly as crowded as Tokyo, he didn't stand practically a head above everyone else, and his red hair was just another color in the sea of blondes and browns and blues and greys and greens- He shivered and shrugged deeper into his coat, heading around to the back door. <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Only up close was it obvious the lock holding together the chain winding between the heavy doors wasn't actually fastened. It occurred to him to wonder how Russian had managed that, or if Roulette had left it that way on her way out. He knocked, two echoing raps just to let her know to switch the safety on her gun and let himself in. There was nothing to be done about the lock, but he turned over the bolt from the inside.<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Hadrwood chairs had been turned up onto polished mahogany tables for the night, plush blue carpeting vacuumed, windows clean and curtains drawn. An oil burning lamp above each end of the bar cast the room in faint light that only pronounced the shadows- it was a picture Yoji would have flipped over- though, probably more because of the woman in a tank and shorts too short to be in any way conducive to hiding a weapon…<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Weiss."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Aya wiped off the end of the bar and reached up to dust above the lamps. "At least keep your shoes on." <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Russian smiled a little, finishing drying the last of the glasses and tucking it below the counter. Only Aya would frown at a beautiful woman and mean the world by it. "You just missed 'Roulette'."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Hm. Head count?"<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Four, so far," She said quietly. Out of twenty six operatives on the northwest coast that was… dismal. "Roulette believes she may have leads on another three, but nothing confirmed."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Contact is in the works."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Yes. Roulette is printing up an advertisement for the bar…"<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"What's wrong with your printer?" He had his own laptop- well, he'd taken Omi's laptop- but he needed to know if he needed to buy a printer before tomorrow night. <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Russian paused. "She's… angry." She gestured to a tray sitting at the far end of the counter. "I'm going to burn them."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]He leaned against the bar and shuffled through the photographs. Pictures of Russian's son. The two women were hardly important to the organization, not on a professional level. Neither knew anything, had access to anything, they had only to be on hand to provide a cover for meetings and alert agents when Weiss had orders for them. The odds were one in millions anyone would ever know the boy existed, let alone seek him out for harm.<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"You're his mother." It was a protest and a statement of understanding. She didn't see him, he didn't know her, this was all she would have of his childhood and she was not going to risk keeping it around if things went... the way they usually did. <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"I wanted you to see him."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Aya gathered the photos up and slipped him inside his coat. "I'll take care of it."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]He would have to destroy the originals, but he could use the Director's private encryption for filing scans of the pictures- The other Weiss would have Aya's head if any one of them found out Aya had done nothing. It seemed the more vital it was to keep from forming personal attachments the more difficult it became. <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Saturday night, 2300." He confirmed. "Have her distribute fliers to the unconfirmed operatives as well." It was standard Kritiker procedure to meet in a closed business cove;, to a false lead it would be just another business misprint by a couple girls who couldn't speak English. <o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Yes, sir."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Aya turned to go.<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Do you have a place to stay?"<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]"An apartment."<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Russian nodded. "Remember you have an appointment to have your stitches out on the 30<sup>th</sup>." It was perhaps the longest conversation either of them had had.<o:p></o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]<o:p> </o:p>[/FONT]
[FONT="]Aya didn't tell her he took them out himself, two days ago. He wasn't cleared for field work until the 4<sup>th</sup> of November anyway, he could use a calendar- he didn't need the stitches to remind him.[/FONT] It wasn't like it mattered.
[FONT="]<o:p></o:p>[/FONT][FONT="]<o:p></o:p>[/FONT][FONT="]<o:p></o:p>[/FONT][FONT="]<o:p></o:p>[/FONT] <o:p> </o:p>