Monarch 2: Connections

Epilogue

Jace Williams, after saying goodbye to his kids, waited outside a seemingly bland building. He waited for those he had agreed to meet. He cursed the timing because he was looking forward to spending time with his kids after all that's happened. But when the Minister of Defense calls for your presence, it's hard to say no.

"Hey, Jace!" He looked down the road to see a familiar face.

"Afternoon, Isake!" Jace extended his hand as Isake Suzaku approached. "What brings you here?"

Isake grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. "I imagine the same as you?"

"The Minister called?" Jace asked.

Isake nodded in response. "It's a shame. But he was pretty insistent." He couldn't help but wonder now. Why had Shigeru called both Jace and Isake?

Suddenly, a man walked out of the building and approached the two men. As he got close, he stopped and saluted them.

"Captain Suzaku?" He asked.

"Yes?" Isake responded.

"Major Williams?" The soldier addressed Jace.

"Just Jace, please. I'm retired." Jace held his hand up to try to relax the soldier.

"As you say, sir!" The solder broke his salute, but stayed stiff. "If you both would please follow me."

"Lead the way, son," Isake waved his hand. The soldier spun around and led the men into the building, scanning a badge to get into the first set of doors, and again to get into the second.

As they walked in, they were met with a metal detector and a small plastic bin.

"I have to ask that you leave your cellphones and any recording devices you have here, please," the soldier directed them to the bins. "What you're about to see is strictly confidential."

"Understood..." Jace was getting a bit worried, now. He and Isake both left their phones in the bins and then walked through the metal detector. They were then patted down thoroughly before allowed entry.

The soldier then led them down a long hallway. After walking in silence, they approached a set of double doors. The soldier opened one, then held it open for Isake and Jace. As they entered, the soldier saluted them again, then left the room.

Jace and Isake were met with a large, dark room. The only light were the monitors that lined the edges, and a large table in the center that seemed to be projecting holograms.

"Good to see you, gentlemen..." Isake and Jace turned to the right to see Shigeru Sato standing there. It appeared he was looking at one of the monitors someone was working at. "Please be sure to send these files to me as soon as you're finished."

"Will do, sir," the worker said quickly as he continued to look.

The Minister stood straight and approached the men. "I'm terribly sorry to call you away so soon after recent events. But what I have to show you is very important, and I felt it couldn't wait."

"It's not a problem, sir," Isake said, making sure he was maintaining an air of respect.

"There will always be a next time, sir," Jace was also being respectful since they were around others.

But Shigeru smiled. "You don't need to be so formal here. Come!" Shigeru escorted them to the center of the room, to the hologram table. As they approached, Jace noticed some familiar landmarks.

"Is this a map of Fujisawa?" He asked.

"Very perceptive. I expected nothing less!" Shigeru said as he approached a console. "This is what I wanted to show you." He clicked a few buttons, and the hologram changed. It zoomed as far out as it would go. As it did, it revealed a sizeable yellow circle on the map.

"What's this?" Isake asked.

"I'm sure you two know. We owe the end of the war to someone we call 'The Mediator', yes?" Shigeru asked.

"Of course..." Jace leaned on the table. "It's due to them that the Enhanced humans had their inhibitors returned. I remember you saying something about trying to narrow down their location by using sensors, is that what this is?"

"Indeed..." Shigeru examined the map. "Years ago, when we gained this knowledge, this was our first attempt at trying to find them."

"But this circle encompasses all of Fujisawa?" Isake questioned.

"Yes..." Shigeru lowered his gaze over the hologram. "This image remained unchanged for about three years, in fact..." Shigeru made the hologram change again. This time, the yellow circle was even bigger. "This was taken a few months ago. This is when we realized that we would probably never be able to narrow down whom the Mediator is. And we become worried that because we could not find them, we would not be able to adequately protect them." Shigeru looked towards Jace. "But not long after this image was taken... Something changed."

"And that was?" Jace asked.

"You and your children arrived in Japan..." Shigeru changed the hologram again. This time, the circle was a much darker shade of yellow, but it was still roughly the same size. "We knew we were requesting the best..."

"The circle became darker..." Isake said. "Is the shade of the circle indicative of the amount of power being outputted?"

"It is..." Shigeru nodded. "However, we don't know if it's Kazuyuki and Rekka's powers that are affecting the scanners... Or if their presence is having an effect on the Mediator's powers." Jace could only look over the map in thought. "At least that was our theory until a few days ago..." The hologram changed again. This time the Circle was not visible in Fujisawa.

"Where did it go?" Jace asked, somewhat nervous.

"A fantastic question that had us in a panic," Shigeru sighed. "But after doing a countrywide sweep, we found them again..." Shigeru zoomed the map out, and the yellow circle was visible again in the northern part of Japan. Shigeru leaned over and pointed to the center. "Right about here... Is a certain resort I'm sure you two are familiar with..."

"You mean to tell me..." Isake trailed off.

"We believe that the Mediator is, in fact, attending the same class as Rekka and Kazuyuki..." Shigeru explained. "The problem is, that still doesn't give us a lot." Shigeru changed the hologram one more time to show a wide view of the entire country of Japan. This time, there were two circles. One circle was a lighter shade of yellow than the other, and it was centered in the western part of Japan. "This proved to us something extraordinary..."

"And that is?" Jace asked.

"Here," Shigeru pointed to the lighter colored circle on the western side of the country. "Is where Kazuyuki was being held..."

"But..." Jace was trying to piece together the information. "What does this mean, exactly?"

"Well..." Shigeru shrugged. "This is what the map looks like if we're just looking at enhanced humans in general." The hologram changed to show a series of green circles dotted all around Japan, coinciding with cities. "What this means, Jace..." Jace looked up at Shigeru in a bit of shock. "Is Kazuyuki, and likely Rekka... Have the same type of powers in them that the Mediator does..."

The words hung in the room like a heavy fog. But Jace was able to come to terms with it quickly.

"It's always something with these kids..." Jace took a deep breath as he leaned on the table. "But there's something that's troubling me." He pointed to a part on the map... A third yellow circle that was smaller than the others, seemingly in the middle of the ocean. "What's that?"

Isake stared at the circle intently, silent and Stoic... After a moment, he spoke.

"Just a glitch..." 

R̶u̶l̶e̶ N̶u̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ 2̶:̶ S̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ a̶l̶l̶ c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶. C̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ l̶e̶a̶d̶ o̶n̶l̶y̶ t̶o̶ c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶n̶c̶y̶.

𝑅𝓊𝓁𝑒 𝒩𝓊𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝟤: 𝐻𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒. 𝒪𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈.