MHG-V1-2 (Initial Draft)

Chapter 14 - Don't let her fool you, darling

A.14

It was the second day since Ken had talked to Ayaka at the pc cafe, and since Teruko had told him she knew of her ip address. Teruko had seemed freer these days, although there were times when she had to direct all her resources at deflecting some kind of an attack, but in general she seemed more free to talk and chat the way she used to.

Which was why Ken felt a bit puzzled as he walked out the school gate and headed down the path toward the underground. She normally contacted him as soon as he left the grounds, but there had been nothing for the last ten minutes. Instead, his earpiece was telling him that he had an incoming call from Ayaka.

From Ayaka. Should he answer it? Who knew what she would have to say? A part of him was sympathetic to her, while another part feared her. He didnt know what she was truly capable of, and he didnt know if he could trust anything she said. Afterall, she was their enemy. But there was a human side to her, which touched Ken's heart and drew him to sympathise with her.

Ken accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"Ken! You answered!" Ayaka said in a very quiet voice, almost a whispher.

"Yes.." ken said.

"Ken. I dont know who else to talk to but you. Im sorry, even though you rejected me. But still I have noone but you."

"Um.."

"Ken.. im scared."

"Huh?" Her voice had a hollow feel to it.

"The people I work for. They are horrible people. They are doing all kinds of sick experiments on real people. And they are asking me to get involved. I hate that kind of thing.. it makes me feel sick. But if I dont do it they will terminate my life. So.. I dont know what to do."

Ken listened patiently, his heart unable to keep itself from sympathising with her. But what could he do? He was a 12 year old boy..

"Ken? Will you help me?"

"How?"

"I don't know." She said, starting to cry. "I really dont know. But maybe you can think of a plan? Or Teruko? There must be a way.."

Ayaka trailed off as she wept. Ken felt anguish inside, but he didnt know what he could do.

"I thought you didnt want me to talk to Teruko about-"

"I dont care!" Ayaka cried. "Tell her! Tell anyone. Just please.. save me! I cant endure it anymore."

Ken stopped walking. His heart was beating fast and he felt short of breath. He wanted to help. He just didnt know what he could do.

"I.. I'll try." Ken said, finally.

"Really?" Ayaka said, hope in her voice. "Will you really try to help me?"

"Yes." Ken said. "I'll try my best."

"Thank you." Ayaka said. "I wish I could hug you right now."

There was a pause as neither said anything. Then Ayaka continued.

"Then i'll let you go now. Youve given me hope. Thankyou, ken."

Ayaka hung up, and almost immediately after, Teruko connected and started talking with frustration in her voice.

"That brat!" She said angrily. "She blocked me! I dont know how she did it, but she blocked my connection to you, and then started speaking all that rubbish to you.."

"Rubbish?" Ken asked, his heart now twisting into an uncomfortable knot.

"You dont believe it do you?" Teruko asked spitefully. "Shes obviously playing on your sympathy. Trying to get you on her side."

"Playing on my sympathy?" Ken asked. He felt confused. He wasnt sure what to believe. Ayaka had sounded so genuine.

"Ken, this is war." Teruko said strongly. "She will do anything and everything to get you. Even if it means making you believe that shes in trouble and needs your help."

"Can it really be like that?" Ken asked.

"Absolutely." Teruko replied. "You can't trust her. You musn't. I think we have to act soon, otherwise we might soon loose the upperhand that we have. Ken, are you ready to begin the next step in our attack?"

"The next step?" Ken felt bewildered, like the world was moving on rapidly, and his consciousness couldnt keep up.

"To report her activities to the National Investigation Agency? I can make the submission online, but you need to go in person to verify the submission before they will investigate."

"Oh." Ken didnt know what he wanted to do. He wanted to stop Black Petal's attacks on them, for sure. But was this really the only way? But he couldn't really refuse Teruko either. She seemed set that Ayaka was evil and not worthy of their trust.

"Please trust me, Ken." Teruko said, as he paused. "This is the best way forward. But if we don't play our hand now, we may loose it forever. It has to be now or never."

"Okay." Ken said. If it had to be done, it had to be done.

"Thank you." Teruko said with relief. "I'll book an appointment for you to go in tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Ken asked. "What about school?"

"Dont worry about school. I'll have you excused from that somehow."

"Oh okay."

"Thank you, honey. This will all be over soon, I promise."

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Ken sat nervously in the waiting room of the NIA.  It had a very different feel to it from the last government office he had been to. This one made his spine creep with fear. There were cameras everywhere and security personnel guarded every exit. Whereas the last place stunk or wealth and beauracracy, this one stank of security and conformity.

But what gnawed at him the most wasnt where he was, but what he was about to do. Teruko had gathered a large collection of data proving that more than 240 hacking attacks on various public and private sector IT systems had originated from a single traceable ip address. That meant that the organization using Ayaka to perform their crimes could be located and exterminated. Or at least Ayaka could be put out of commission. That would be enough. Teruko could mop up from there. But to prevent hackers from usong the NIA for there own purposes, any submission of this kind had to be signed by a real human person. Hence Ken's current assignment. It was simple enough. He had to meet an officer, agree that he knew about the submission and then supply his identity as a signature against the submission.

That part was easy enough. But it was the repricusions of what he was doing that bothered him. Ayaka was their enemy. But was she really? Or was she just being used as she said? was it okay to do something that would probably result in her loosing her life? Or should they try to do something to save her?

Ken had been through lonliness and rejection for a large period of his life, so he knew what it was like to be alone, to be singled out, to have no one to care for him. Because of that he could empathise with Ayaka's siutation, if what she was saying were the truth. He would never wish anyone to go through what he had been, and if there were any way he could help someone escape that kind of a hell, he would certainly do it. The question here, then, was whether he could trust Ayaka's word or not. Was she really in trouble? Or was it just a guise in a big war of deception, as Teruko said?

These thoughts played around continuously in his mind until he was called to meet the officer who would handle his submission. He rose to his feet as the receptionist called his name, and with a heavy heart walked through the door into the room.