On the High Frontier

4. Trick or Trap (part 1/6)

Kimiko looks at the basket. It's a good selection of treats, though Saki will not be happy. What can she expect if she sends Kimiko out and there's a pop-up dagashi ya. You could get big bags from the store but where's the fun in that. Visits to these sweet shops had been a highlight of Kimiko's childhood, and this one has a lot of her favourites. From the umaibou corn treats to the pure sugar of knopeito they are all here. She has even managed to get a personal stash of Yocchan Ika to chew on. Her mother always complained about the dried squid, but though Kimiko hates swimming, she loves what lives in the water.

The shopkeeper sorts through the pile and gives her the total. Not as cheap as twenty years ago, but this is a special occasion and the shop has a captive audience. She pays and takes her spoils to head back to Saki.

As she turns to leave her tech ring buzzes an call alert, it's Fee. She's not been looking forward to this call. "Hi there."

"Hey Kimiko, you dodging me? We need to settle our arrangements for tonight?" The last two years she has gone to the large Halloween cosplay party in the P2 grand park with Fee. Last year they had been Count Dracula and the Slayer, Fee had been very intimidating with the teeth, blood and the large flowing cloak.

Kimiko hasn't got round to breaking it to Fee that she can't come tonight. "Hi Fee, about that, I'm afraid that Saki has recruited me for block duties."

"I thought you were too clever to get trapped." Why does everyone remember what she's said? It makes it really difficult to maintain her image.

"You've met Saki. At full bore she's very persuasive. Particularly after all that fuss at the start of the month." Amongst other things Saki had ended up unintentionally running interference for her with her mother and Kimiko appreciated that.

"Well you're going to miss a great party. I thought we could go as Jessie and Hils, but you can't have only one Scaper." Now Kimiko is really disappointed. Scapers had been her favourite series when she was younger. She really empathised with the goth hacker Hils, who didn't take guff from anyone. And Fee would make a great Jessie; tall and good with machinery, though she was a much better pilot that Jess. "I'll just have to improvise. I'm sure it'll be fun."

"Rub it in."

"Well if you manage to finish in time you can always come along later. I'm expecting to be going all night."

"We'll see." Kimiko hates starting partying with people who are already well gone, it takes so long to get to their level of relaxed. "Have a good time."

"I will. See you round." Fee ends the call and Kimiko is left feeling jealous. Nothing for it, back to the flat.

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As predicted Saki is not best pleased about the balance of the treats. "How am I going to be able to look my friends in the face when they find out what I'm handing out to their children tonight?" She gives her flatmate a severely disapproving stare. In response Kimiko pulls another bag out of a pocket and waved it gently. "What's that?" She opens the bag slightly and angles it so Saki can see in the top. "Sakura Daikon? That's not fair." It's true, her flatmate's weakness for the red-coloured radish slices has given Kimiko a much needed advantage more than once. The bag is almost ripped out of her hand as it gets close. "Okay, the treats will do." She starts to chew on one of the slices, how does she make that look so dainty?

"I could do the door if you want." She knows it is a futile effort, but Kimiko hates the idea riding shotgun on the block's youngsters whilst they go door-to-door. In other areas it's easy, but here the need to avoid inconveniencing others and being rude make it challenging as the kids can get a bit carried away. Only doors displaying a lit pumpkin wreath are involved, and often only for part of the evening. No nasty tricks, and the residents repel the Halloween Oni with treats dropped in bags rather than thrown at them.

"Nope, this is the first year I'll be able to do the door for the entire evening." Saki really gets into giving out the treats. She loves seeing the kids happy. Being on the door for the entire time is her definition of paradise. "Come on let's go get you organised." Great, her dreams, or nightmares,  are realised. Saki leads Kimiko out and down to the block community offices.

Ueno Mariko is a larger than life woman whom Kimiko has seen around the building; Always hurrying somewhere, always with something to do. A positive tornado of energy she carries others along in her wake, organising those around her almost by default. She reminds Kimiko too much of her own mother and she instinctively avoids her so as not to get involved. But tonight she is apparently one of Mrs. Ueno's minions responsible with a second dupe for a group of half a dozen youngsters. Things have moved on since her time as all their charges will have tracking bracelets, which with an associated app prevents them getting separated. In her day that had been her mother's security chief Jefferson's job.

Her partner is Kohana, an exchange student at the local college out from Japan. Comparing notes, apparently she had made the mistake of saying hello to Mrs. Ueno this morning, and that's as good as volunteering in Mariko's eyes. "If you can be back for five we will have a short briefing and then you'll meet your little darlings." A shiver runs down Kimiko's spine, and with that Euno Mariko is off to sort out something else. Kohana is planning on dressing up as a gunfighter cowgirl, with the success of the recent female Magnificent Seven it is likely to be a popular choice. Kimiko is planning to cheat and use Chloe to come as a Goth, that way she will have access to all her systems if things get too boring.

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At their third door Kimiko starts to relax, everything is going smoothly. Kohana and she have been given a group of six girls, all teenagers, who are competing with each other to be more outrageous with their unwanted escort. Five of them are friends in eighth grade, and are dressed as the normal mixture of witches, ghosts, and demons. The fifth is a tenth grader, annoyed at not being allowed to go to the big party with her friends who have already turned sixteen. Sachi is a kawaii vampire goth, in a little black dress over what Kimiko hopes is a body stocking, and took immediate offence at Kimiko's goth costume. As part of her revenge Kimiko is now "Auntie" whilst the only slightly younger Kohana is "big sister". A lead that the other girls of course follow with relish.  It's not helping Kimiko's general humour, but if that's the worst that's going to happen she can take it.

James' trick allowing Chloe's skin to be normal coloured is working great. She's even managed to dial it down so that it has a very pale hue close to the goth ideal. Now she can use Chloe's superior scanning and display capabilities to keep track, and keep up on what's happening in the station. The news feeds are full of images from the party in the great park which is depressing, but they are also running with a few other things: feel-good stories; sports; something about the VE cordoning off a technical plant sector. Well she's not on duty tonight so definitely someone else's-problem.

She has managed to fall slightly behind the group, but she can see them all round the corner with Kohana leading the girls to the next door. She rounds the corner and realises that something is off. Chloe's overlay is showing one of the trackers in the treat bag of one of the girls and she can only count five young heads. Sachi is of course the missing one. Nuts, how has she managed that? She runs up Chloe's surveillance systems but with the heat from decorations and regular corridor traffic nothing useful shows up. She calls Kohana back for a moment and after asking her to count the heads calms her companion down again.

Examining the bag in question they find the tracker bracelet fastened round a large daikon radish. The girl explains Sachi didn't like radishes and gave her one she had received. Sachi had probably hidden the bracelet under her hand when she put it in the bag, and then apparently excused herself to visit the little goth's room. But how had she removed it without setting off the alarm?

First things first, they have to track her down. Luckily Kimiko shouldn't have too much trouble with all her resources. She's never met the teenager who willingly gives up their techlink so all she needs is the missing Sachi's details. First port of call, a consultation with her own oracle of the block. "Aren't you supposed to be busy?"

"Hello to you too, Saki" Apparently her flat mate is having too much fun to want to be bothered with her flatmate. "Ummm, would you happen to know anything about a 15 year-old called Sachi?"

"You mean Mrs. Ueno's daughter? Why what's happened?" What? The elusive Sachi is the Hyperactive Mariko's kid! Kimiko watches her dreams of a simple Halloween vanishing over the horizon.