Of Light and Shadow: Life After Sibyl

Chapter 7

Chaos, when left alone, tends to multiply.

-Stephen Hawking

What am I doing?!

Chizuko didn't have an answer to her mind's frantic question as she raced down the street. She couldn't dispel the horror she felt upon seeing her brother crumple to the ground. Panic gripped her when the three men shoved his limp body into the back of a van and sped off. Pure instinct had her picking up the dart that had fallen from Shinya's leg and sent her sprinting after the van. She wove between pedestrians in a desperate effort to get the license plate of the blue utility van. She had to get to them before they got to the highway.

She grinned as the flow of traffic grew heavier and slowed the van's progress. It was boxed in at a red light just as she made it to the corner. Her eyes eagerly searched the back of the van for the license plate. Her stomach dropped. It had been blacked out, no doubt an effort to render the street cams useless. Helplessly, she watched the van bully its way into the far right lane and turn down a side street. Aside from the honking of irritated drivers, no one else had seemed to notice that a major crime had just taken place on that very street. 

Fighting against paralyzing fear and anger, Chizuko placed a call to the MWPSB. Her hands shook as she paced to work off her nervous energy. Her heart thundered in her chest as she waited for dispatch to pick up. The burst of joy that shot through her when the call connected quickly faded when she realized she was listening to an automated recording. 

Hello, you have reached the emergency line for the Ministry of Welfare's Public Safety Bureau. All lines are currently engaged. Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line until an operator becomes available. 

Chizuko stared down at her phone, aghast. "What the hell!?!" Cheerful 'on hold' music chimed softly from its speakers. Not wanting to hang up, she waited for further options. 

Thank you for holding. Your call is important to us. An operator will be with you shortly. 

Glaring at her phone, Chizuko viciously jabbed the 'End Call' button on screen. There was no way she was going to wait on some street corner for dispatch to take her call. Who knew how long it would take them to pick up? In the meantime, the people who abducted her brother would be long gone. She didn't allow herself to even contemplate what they could possibly be doing to him.

Akane.

That was her name, right? Shinya's inspector girlfriend? Chizuko wracked her brain for her full name. He hadn't mentioned it, had he? She cursed aloud, drawing a few censorious looks from passersby. Ignoring them, Chizuko cast her eyes to the sky, trying to figure out the best way to find her. Her desperate gaze landed on the tip of Nona Tower, stretching above the neighborhood in the distance. The idea came to her as a bus screeched to a stop across the street. Without a second thought, Chizuko darted through the cross walk.

If the MWPSB couldn't come to her, she would go to them. 

***

Inspector Ryo Yamaguchi dodged the knife flying at his head and took aim with his dominator. With the would-be bank robber in his sights, he pulled the trigger. The blue flash of the paralyzer shot landed square on the suspect's chest and...absolutely nothing happened. The masked man staggered back a step, but remained standing. He grinned through the ski mask and laughed.

"Hot damn! It actually worked!" He drew another throwing knife from his vest and waved it menacingly at Ryo. "Looks like your little toys from the bureau are useless."

Ryo gaped in shock. "What the hell?!" How could the dominator fail like that? It was rare for paralyzer mode to have no effect. The guy didn't look or sound like he was hopped up on stimulants either.