Page 53 of Pandion

“Satoru!” Kagesawa’s voice sounded like it wasn’t inside his head for a change. How strange. Harumine looked up.

“Oh, hello,” he greeted Kagesawa. “Why are you here?”

“I was worried sick. What the hell happened?” Kagesawa looked oddly perturbed. Harumine frowned.

“I’m not sure… oh, right, 7—7— I have a lovely little blue migraine. That was the thing. And something else…?”

“Let’s get you inside.” Kagesawa ushered him through the door.

Harumine listened in a daze as Kagesawa screamed his head off at Takazaki at the door to the man’s apartment.

Why are you yelling at him?Harumine stood in the corridor with his eyes closed and his forehead lightly pressed against the wall to help with the dizziness. Now that his head no longer hurt and the world had stopped moving, he was in no particular hurry to go anywhere. The brain fog was still there, and the side-effects of the medication didn’t do much to help his comprehension.

“It wasn’t me!” Takazaki insisted.

“You’re the only one I gave that data to. Who else could it be? I specifically told you not to tell anyone!”

“I know, and I didn’t!”

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. I’m such an idiot.” Kagesawa seemed ready to punch Takazaki. Harumine tried to send something calming through the link, but when this was met with brief dismay and the link was as if clamped tighter shut from Kagesawa’s end, he gave up trying.

“I’ve never betrayed you. I know I’ve come pretty close on occasion, but that’s because I didn’t know you werehim. You need to calm down for a second—”

“How the fuck do I calm down? You don’t understand! These are death threats!”

“They are extremists. The authorities will sort them out. You just need to lie low for a while.”

“Your trust in the authorities is remarkable considering your past loyalties.”

“That’s beside the point.” Takazaki took a hold of the door frame and swung out to look into the corridor. “You’d better get inside. The neighbours don’t need to hear all this.”

“I think we’re done here.” Kagesawa’s expression turned cold. Harumine shuddered.

If whatever secrets Takazaki had kept from Kagesawa had soured their relationship before, it was probably beyond salvaging now. Kagesawa grabbed Harumine’s hand and pulled him along.

“Kagesawa…” Takazaki sounded sad. Harumine glanced back to see the man turn away from the door, looking as depressed as he’d sounded.

Once inside their apartment, Kagesawa locked and bolted the door.

“I checked the news when you didn’t respond. It’s everywhere. If it were just the AEM barking like they usually do, nothing would have come of it, but they’re forming new causes and teaming up. This sentience thing may have been what pushed it over the threshold.” Kagesawa checked the fridge. “We don’t have much food left, and this might last more than a couple of days.”

Harumine watched him check the cupboards and the closet for what they had at hand. “You could have asked Takazaki to fetch us something if you hadn’t yelled at him.” He sat down and made an effort to suppress a few sort codes. Kagesawa was glaring at him, but he couldn’t quite connect the dots to understand why.

“That stuff you’re taking is frighteningly effective.”

“Yes. It does the job.” Harumine leaned back and exhaled. Sleep would be great. He was about to close his eyes when Kagesawa interrupted him.

“I’ll let you sleep, but I need you to do something for me first.”

“Hmmmwhat do you need?”

“Can you project what you saw for me? Is that possible? I need to know what’s out there in case we need to leave in a hurry. They’ve cut access to the security cameras in the area.”

“All right.” Harumine sighed and tried to concentrate.

“If it’s too much, can you describe it to me?”

“Wait, wait…”Don’t be so impatient. I’m trying. It’s a bit fuzzy.He’d been at the doctor’s office, then the pharmacy. The TV… He had to try to recall it bit by bit to keep track. “Right, so I turned my hoodie around.” He stared at the hoodie.A handful of people, two more… They were congregating at the park. Hundreds in front of the EA building.He tried showing it to Kagesawa, but he’d never relayed memories like this, so he could only assume how it was done based on other similar skills. “That’s all I saw. I couldn’t look for very long, it’s so bright out there. Is that enough? Can I sleep?”

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