An Heir for the Dragon

Chapter 3: Extracted Secrets

Kiryu took in the sights of something that looked like a fortified penthouse suite. Saiki ensured water and electricity were there and activated. Then she showed him her library. He was floored at how many books lined the walls, floor and even various desks. Only one desk was cleared away for writing and other things. He respectfully avoided the bedroom, but he saw there was a guest chamber with a second bathroom. The kitchen was spacious with a dining room area, and there was even a small room for recreation. He spotted a pool table, a video game system and a vending machine with small snacks.

"You have video games?" he chuckled.

"I requested it when I learned about it. I have a small collection. Not much, but it helped," she shrugged. "Many are strategy games, a couple first person shooters and a few action/adventure options."

"Ah, you said you had a place for karaoke?" he asked. She grinned and gestured for him to follow her to a door just alongside the kitchen. He opened it and paused at the sight of a full dance stage, seating, lighting setup and a deluxe karaoke machine. He even saw instruments for people to play with and a table with small costume pieces. This place can easily hold up to twenty people!

"I have a rather nice selection of songs. If you know of any others, just let me know so I can get them uploaded," she chuckled.

"You're sure we can't live here?" he asked. "This would make an awesome place to hunker low to stay out of sight. Like a safe house."

"I did agree to the idea. Although, I would only allow one other for a permanent form of stay. That would likely be you, of course, with the guest room area. The others can visit. We'd need to figure out supplies, though," she smiled. "Unless we send someone to go shopping for us, but we don't want to be followed. The Tojo building is supposed to be uninhabitable. We need it to stay that way. However, I was thinking I could purchase the land as an empty plot. Depending on my bank account, that is."

"True. We could arrange something," he mused. "Tomi could help us here. Even Sa-chan. Chi-Chan might be able to help us get the land, too. I'd rather have this land protected than used for something else. We'll figure something out."

"I never expected to come back here. Oh. This way," she said and moved to a blank part of the wall in the recreation room. She pushed in a panel to open another room. Now he saw her security room. And this room branched off into her workshop. He was in stunned amazement.

"How did they approve your requests for this?!" he asked with amazed shock. "This is stuff...even the Daidoji faction would kill for this..."

"Some of it was not requested. It was stolen," she admitted. "I went on many missions to kill people. Some things I took pictures of. Downloaded programs when I knew I had time. Made note of equipment to request. I even made duplicate orders to smuggle it into my room here. Dog Catcher had no clue. No one really did."

"You self-taught yourself so much," he muttered on looking at her.

"I know," she nodded. She moved to the main console and ran her fingers over the keys. The machinery hummed to life, the monitors flicked on and now he saw the screens that showed where the cameras were placed. He noticed that a few of the screens were dead. "Those cameras were destroyed in the fire. I was able to see certain things in motion when I was able to sneak out to install them in secret. The ones in the building even had audio."

"Were they recording?!" he asked with surprise.

"Of course..." she grinned. "All the way up until they were destroyed. I have a master server that uploads into a cloud data center. I made sure to do everything remotely in case I couldn't get back in. My weapon...it's not just a weapon. It's a mini computer. It actually has a micro hard drive in it that can store up to ten terabytes of information. The whip handle, when back in the pole, can convert into various USB drives at the very end of it to hack and download."