Turn of the Century

Chapter 2 - Public

Overhead, a pair of CH-51s made their flight across the nearly marble blue skies of the Greater Tokyo area, the slaps and chops of their tandem rotors but a minor nuisance to those on the ground. Their green-and-brown camouflage made their presence more so apparent to any looking up or across from the skyscrapers of Tokyo as little black dots that glided through the sky, and soon to be made more apparent were dozens more pairs en route to various locations - mainly parks and large avenues.

Alas, to all the denizens of Tokyo, their interest was piqued not by that which was above, but rather by what remained on the ground.

Announced only by the faint rumble which they made, convoys of green and brown splattered vehicles, heavy APCs, and trucks with the occasional bully buckled and strapped down to their backs—the rather geriatric Type 74s—crawled the urban streets of Tokyo. Even while in transport, an oppressive aura had already been given off, where cars and vans paled in comparison as children were to businessmen. Both thought of each other as nuisances to their own activities. And just as Tokyo businessmen were, they were merely workers of the colony, obeying their march in neat columns. Convoys which were led and ended by rather meek trucks, their rear hoods hoisted up with the windshield, and large signs on either their front or rear bumper that proclaimed 'Military Convoy, Stay Back'.

Most found their posts near police stations, others near Government buildings. A sight that was exclusive to Tokyo in such radical action, even if only for then, for things could go wrong - far beyond what was foreseeable. And yet, with patience did the Japanese people wait, unable to fail to note the blaring silence that came overnight or the quietness that followed the noisy entry the SDF made. They simply did their best to ignore it, hoping it wasn't a sign of anything to come as they all blended back into the crowd.

[+]

Kantei Speech Room

8:54 AM

The room was less a room, and more a small auditorium. There was but a morsel of space between the podium and the lines of cameras - their black eyes glistening under the clinically white incandescence. A familiar sight; the same cameras still of the same organizations, all in the same positions as they were in his predecessor's last appearance to them, as if left to collect dust by the end of every speech.

A technician on the opposite side of the room to Shoichi looked to another, before giving a bow and a thumbs up to him. The signal sent him lumbering - not clumsily 'nor with struggle - toward the stage. Upon arriving, though not yet filmed, he bowed a perfect thirty-degree angle at the foot of a set of steps, before continuing. Once more, he stopped - just by the podium. He bowed again, perfectly yet toward a banner that hung from a metal pole right behind, and then toward the direction the podium faced - his country's flag and all those in the room. The bows were perhaps superfluous, the occasion one where he was only to be seen publicly whilst speaking, but it was all habit to him.

The cameras hadn't been rolling just yet, so he adjusted what few strewn-together notes he had that barely counted as a script, clearing his throat. The cameras all yawed toward him, their microscopic bulbs flashing into a red glow on their faces in sequence.

He read out the first line as he looked directly forward, where he spoke with an unusual mixture of authoritative and casual tone. "Japan stands at a critical juncture for future prosperity."

The camera shutters widened slightly as if to notion a sense of being startled by both his tone and message. Only subtly, but just so perceivable to him. Even if the movement was only a creation of his by-then sleep-deprived mind, there was no doubt at least one camera had zoomed in on him, and even more likely that a few others had joined in the fray.