Page 89 of Pandion

“Yes, what is it?”

“If you could come with us, we would appreciate it.”

“What is this about? More tests? I was about to take a break. I’ve been working on something all day.”

They’d already done all the tests they could possibly want. Were they going to chastise him for accessing their servers at a time like this, or…?

“This won’t take long.” No doubt she’d get what she wanted, swiftly, with the three people behind her eager to make sure Kagesawa complied.

We may have some trouble.

“Kurosaki Akio, I presume?” Kagesawa hazarded a guess. One of the men behind Fujitani-sensei seemed surprised to be recognised. So, they were not aware that he’d checked the servers. That left… “Hase-sensei isn’t aware of this, is he?”

What is it?Satoru asked.

“No. This is something we would like to discuss with you in private.”

Fujitani-sensei’s affairs are about to come to light. You may want to steer clear of her.

“By discussing you mean zapping me and leaving me in some back room to rot?”

Since Satoru was downstairs, he was too far away to be of help, but at least he was out of harm’s way for now. Surely they wouldn’t interfere with a former SEU student, especially someone as prolific as Satoru? Kagesawa was a prime target, though, with not much to defend himself with.

“I’d prefer you stating your business right here so I can be on my way.” It was worth a shot.

She appeared to check that they didn’t have an audience. “It’s not something we should be discussing here.” She gestured for the two other men to escort Kagesawa. “Also, if we are interrupted or our business becomes known, we will have no choice but todealwith it. I’m assuming you don’t want that, so I suggest keeping correspondence to a minimum.”

Should I come over?Thankfully, Satoru seemed to be offering more to be polite.

I’ll handle this.

Chapter 33

There had been no word from Kagesawa for two hours since he’d said he’d handle it, whatever it had been. Harumine was wrapping up his meeting with the students and organising the first of the departures for the evening.

The students seemed capable of handling it themselves but lacked the confidence to take charge. Harumine had seniority, so no one questioned him giving out the orders. It was not a comfortable role, but with no one else willing to take it on, he was stuck with it for now.

Are you OK? I’m done here. I can come over if you need help.The link wasn’t dampened, and there were no signs of trouble, but it was difficult to read what was going on. Kagesawa’s lack of communication was a little worrying, but he seemed busy with something.

Kagesawa? Hello?No answer. He wasn’t asleep. He didn’t seem distressed.Tsuyoshi? Can you hear me?Usually this would do the trick… This time it did not.

“Excuse me, I think I need to go find my link.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know… I don’t think so, but he’s not answering.”

Harumine could tell Kagesawa was still somewhere on the upper floors, but it seemed he’d crossed the skybridge into the other building. He’d said something about Fujitani-sensei, so maybe they’d gone into her office. Harumine headed up.

Can you project a calm mental state to Satoru for me, so he doesn’t worry? Also, if you can come up with a workable scenario to escape, do share.

The two men pushed Kagesawa across the skybridge. Fujitani-sensei and the other woman seemed to be communicating something wordlessly, walking ahead. The other woman, presumably Fujitani-sensei’s link, disappeared into the lift while Fujitani-sensei led everyone else down the corridor to the other end of the building.

“This way, gentlemen.” She guided them through an empty lecture hall to a smaller conference room at the back.

You wouldn’t by any chance have the layout of the building memorised in there, would you? How far up is this? Is there a way to escape through the window?

You seem fond of exiting through the window, but I would advise against it. There is nothing to hold on to out there. Can’t we use the door?

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