Max Black wakes up with the sound of someone bashing on the door of his hotel room. While he’s still half asleep, Kari jumps out of bed and quickly recovers the clothes on the floor.
<Hurry! We’re under attack!> she orders, throwing Max’s pants on his face.
<Kari…> he starts to say, yawning.
<If I create enough duplicates, maybe we can get them to lose our tracks> she says frantically, running to watch the window like a caged animal.
<Kari, just calm down> Max says, pulling up his trousers and getting out of bed. Another bang on the door frightens the purple haired girl, who takes a step back into Max’s arms.
<We’re not on Myridia anymore, Kari. There are no more Oracles to hunt you down.>
<Sorry. Hold habits die hard> she answers, trying to fix her morning hair to hide her nervousness.
<It’s probably nothing; nobody knows we’re here> Max adds just when there’s another knock.
<Alright, alright, just wait a freakin’ minute okay? Just wait over there, Kari.>
<Why? The door’s right here.>
<‘Cause you’re naked.>
<I don’t get it> she says, genuinely puzzled. Max shrugs and opens the door.
On the other side there’s a woman in a black suit, wearing sunglasses. He’s never seen her before.
<Maximilian Black? Agent Ramirez, C.I.A. Please follow me> she says, showing her badge.
<Crap> Max says, instinctively transforming his body into light and moving almost instantly behind the woman’s back. When he tries to catch her, however, his arms pass through the hologram.
<What the…>
Max can’t say anything else, because the real Agent Ramirez is down the hall and has just shot him with a tranquilizing dart.
<I said please> she quips, readying another dart. Kari runs out of the room: Ramirez’s second shot doesn’t miss her, but she was an easy target intentionally.
A Kari duplicate appears out of thin air right besides Ramirez, confiscating her weapon; a second one kicks her on the stomach, and a third one punches her on the nose.
Working together, the three naked duplicates incapacitate Ramirez in about five seconds straight.
<Don’t move. I have you outnumbered> she threatens.
<I have backup> Ramirez manages to say, despite the pain of the broken nose. Just as she says it, two men in dark suits storm the hallway. They don’t even get to aim their weapons: each of them is attacked by six Kari duplicates.
<That’s all you got? I was chased by a whole planet for years. Nobody can lay a finger on me if I don’t want them to.>
<Good, you’ll make my job easier. Someone is trying to kill your friends.>
Police station
There’s a man sleeping on the floor, seemingly oblivious to the men talking on the other side of the bars.
<Is that him?> asks the man in the black suit.
<The one with the red skin, yeah> the policeman answers.
<You said he pulled apart an ATM with his bare hands. How did you manage to catch him?>
<He didn’t resist. I’m not sure he understands he’s in jail; he said he just wanted a place to sleep.>
<Did you manage to get a name?>
<Torn> says the red skinned man, without opening his eyes.
<Is that a name, a surname or a nickname?>
<Yes. Go away now.>
<Mister Torn, I’m Agent Warden, C.I.A. I’d like to ask you a few questions.>
Torn doesn’t say anything, just making a sound between a sigh and a grunt. He steps up, walking towards the bars still half asleep. Red energy swords appear out of thin air while he’s yawning, slicing through the bars of his cell in less than half a second.
The policeman quickly draws his gun. Torn just glances at him, and a red dagger cuts the barrel in half before the man understands what’s going on.
<This inn is too loud> Torn says, leaving behind him the cell and the policeman who’s looking at what remains of his weapon.
<He…he just looked at it…>
<Lucky you he’s my problem now> says Agent Warden, hurrying to catch up to Torn while another man in a black suit deals with the legal minutiae with policeman.
<Mister Torn, wait!>
<Just Torn.>
<I was on my way to talk with miss Null. We can grab something for you on the way.>
<How do you know I work for Null?>
<That’s classified.>
Torn looks at Agent Warden with a puzzled look…or what passes for a puzzled look for Torn, whose eyebrows frown slightly more than usual.
<Well, actually it’s a lucky guess, but I’ve been waiting to use that line for years> the agent admits.
Jane Blake is asleep on a chair, kept warm by a blanket left there by some thoughtful officer. She wakes up when a man with red skin sits down in the chair to her left, giving a very confused look to a donut.
<Why is there a hole in your food?> he asks.
<What?> Jane asks, still not fully awake.
<You shouldn’t make holes in your food unless you need to kill it> Torn says, like it’s some kind of ancient proverb.
<Don’t tell me: you’re one of Noriko’s new friends.>
<Close enough. You also know Lady Null?>
<“Lady”?>
<The man in black said you’re one of her old friends.>
<What man in black?> Jane asks, turning to catch a glimpse of the room where they’ve been interrogating Noriko for the last few hours.
<Oh crap. I really wish she’d keep me out of these things. She almost got killed last night, y’know.>
Torn doesn’t answer immediately, busy eating the donut with a surprisingly satisfied look on his face that almost gets close to a happy look.
<It would taste better without the hole.>
<Someone tries to murder your friend and you worry about donuts!?>
<Where I come from, someone’s always trying to kill somebody else. Null can take care of herself.>
<Yeah, I guess she can. I kinda miss the old Nori though.>
<She wasn’t always like she is now?>
<Oh God no. She was always a little weird, something of a tomboy…I don’t think you could get her in a skirt if her life depended on it…but she did, y’know, normal stuff.>
<I see.>
There’s a full ten seconds without a word. Doesn’t sound much, but try it in a police station.
<You have no idea what normal means, do you?> she finally asks.
<Does this conversation count as “normal”?>
<Not even close.>
<I see.>
Inside the room, Agent Warden sits down in front of Noriko. She looks pretty ruffled up, having been rushed here in the middle of the night and questioned for hours.
<You have some interesting friends, I’ll give you that> he says to break the ice.
<I don’t know who you are. That shouldn’t be possible> she answers, her silver eyes flashing briefly while she examines every face ever recorded on a database.
<Like people with red skin with mind swords or people who turn into energy, but what do I know. I’m Agent Warden, by the way, C.I.A.>
<Since when does the C.I.A have jurisdiction over an assault on an American citizen on US soil?>
<Since the head of an international corporation ordered an assault on an American citizen by means of biological weapons designed by aliens.>
<…>
<I had to practice the line in front of a mirror to say it with a straight face. To tell you the truth, Noriko…can I call you Noriko?>
<No.>
<I think you’re either the best thing that ever happened to America or the most scary.>
<The two are not mutually exclusive, Agent Warden.>
<True, true. Take your Sound Nullifier: it made snoring a thing of the past. It also makes killing people without being caught a lot easier. I think the C.I.A. already buys them in bulk.<
<I will track down who bought the Sound Nullifiers used by my would-be assassins> she boasts.
<No you won’t. You’re good, there’s no denying that, but the people behind this are better.>
<You have to excuse me, Agent Warden, but I’ve been off-planet for the past six weeks. If you want to discuss something, you need to fill the blanks for me.<
<Fair enough. Who is Leiko Tanaka?>
The irritation on Noriko’s face shines through her stoic exterior. Warden is getting under her skin.
<Japanese businesswoman, age 33. CEO of Scion Corporation> she answers.
<Let me show you something> Warden adds, reaching for the inside pocket of his jacket. He pulls out a slightly wrinkled copy of a very famous magazine and puts it on the table.
The cover shows Leiko, arms crossed and oozing confidence, over the title in bright letters PERSON OF THE YEAR.
Noriko snatches the magazine, reading it so fast that it looks like she’s just flipping through the pages. Then she angrily punches the table, and her eyes shine in anger.
<She STOLE IT!!! The Plasma Fusion Reactor is MY IDEA!!!>
<You sold her the patent for an obscenely huge amount of money.>
<That’s a LIE! I was in space for the past six weeks! FIGHTING GODS!!!>
<That’ll hold in court> Warden jokes, unfazed by Noriko yelling in his face.
She looks aside at the mirror, thinking about who could be on the other side. They’re probably recording the whole conversation. She calms down, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration.
<The men who tried to murder me are probably an imperfect copy of the Many. Bio-engineering based on an alien lifeform in six weeks; there can’t be more than two people on the planet who can pull it off, including me.>
<We’ve caught a few around the world…India, Pakistan, Korea. Even prevented a coup by the skin of our teeth. We can’t exactly trace them back to Scion Corporation, but after your father told us about the Many…>
<My father? Where is he now?>
<In a safe location, don’t worry about him. Anyway, he told us about the Many and the alien robot you fought in New York, the Talos. You’ll never guess what powers it.>
<A Plasma Fusion Reactor. It’s where I got the idea> Noriko reveals.
<And Leiko Tanaka knows how to build another now. So we have a foreign businesswoman who, I remind you, is the daughter of an alleged big shot in the Japanese underworld, stealing the most important discovery since the atom bomb from an American citizen. Who she tries to murder with goons she can easily mass-produce in a lab. Oh, and to top it all off, they’re probably made of recycled killer alien cells. Now, what does all of this tell you?>
<She wants to take over the world.>
<I wonder where she got that idea> Warden snarks.
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