Emma Weston stepped briskly into the dimly lit conference room, her petite frame radiating authority despite her small stature. Her blonde hair, tied back tightly into a neat ponytail, accentuated sharp, confident, glacier-blue eyes. Following closely behind her, silently gliding rather than walking, was Kyo Shiku. He wore a black hakama which contrasted sharply with his pristine white hitagi, embroidered delicately with soft pink clouds. He wore his usual stony and emotionless expression behind thick, square glasses; his stiff posture silently conveying a quiet, disciplined intensity.
Seated casually at the far end of the table, slouched lazily in his chair at an angle to the table was Desmond Vincent, better known by his street name, “Diamond Vicious.” Diamond rested his square, masculine jaw languidly on a his hand, held upright by a chiseled, muscular arm, his dark face and shadowy eyes sizing up Emma and Kyo with calculated wariness.
Kyo quietly pulled up a seat diagonally across from Diamond, and Emma sat across the table from him, plopping down a small, tidy collection of folders and papers she’d been garrying.
“Gentlemen,” Emma announced crisply, her tone carrying the weight of authority. Both Diamond and Kyo looked at her, with Diamond yawning in boredom, as if to say get on with it.
“We’re assembling this task force, codenamed Shinigami (死神), on account of Abdul Hakim, who is behind last night’s shootout at the FPD field office in Seattle that ended with 23 officers down and at least 40 more wounded.”
“Gods of death… interesting choice of name,” Kyo murmured.
Diamond leaned forward slightly, skepticism clear in gravelly voice. “And what makes you think sword-boy and me can take on Abdul Hakim, of all godforsaken psionic terrorists? We’d have better luck assassinating a world leader… even if we are shinigami.”
Kyo’s eyes narrowed slightly but he said nothing. His hand rested comfortably on a bladeless hilt that hung from a sash about his waist.
Emma raised an eyebrow, turning smoothly to Diamond with a look of annoyance. She spoke in a stern, matter-of-fact tone intended to appeal to Diamond’s ego. “Desmond Vincent, aka Diamond Vicious: known as the King of Beasts, the former leader of the Spades – Diamond’s Spades. Skin harder than nano-carbonfibre weave, able to take a bullet to the face and live.”
Then Emma pivoted slightly, shifting her hard gaze to Kyo, her eyes and voice softening to appeal to his gentler sensibilities. “And Kyo Shiku: the fastest man in the world. Reflexes that border on precognition, able to dodge bullets and cut through every material known to man, even ten feet of straight lead or concrete if the situation calls for it. Able to take out practically every opponent in a single blow from a distance using a bladeless hilt that projects psi into an edge sharp enough to split atoms.”
Emma took a deep breath before continuing. “Lord knows, if the two of you can’t take out Hakim… there likely isn’t anyone in the Federal Psionics Division who can even stand up to him, much less stand a chance against him. Maybe not even the world over.”
Diamond smirked, a half-grin pulling at his lips. “Alright, alright, Blondie, I get it. My ego appreciates your faith in me. But what makes you think a suave badass like me would want to work with a despondent pretty boy like him?” Diamond gestured rudely at Kyo with his chin — “I think I’d rather take my lumps in a cell at SynapTek than have to work with that guy.”
“The sentiment is mutual,” Kyo affirmed, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, a gesture he tended to do when a certain thought troubled him.
Emma rolled her eyes. “Despite the history you two have with each other, you’re both the only psionics on FPD payroll known to be resistant to Hakim’s abilities to control people’s mental perceptions,” she stated firmly. She was referring to the rivalry and mutual distaste both Kyo and Diamond had for one another. Long before both of them had been recruited into the FPD, they had already been butting heads on the streets: Kyo as the vigilante formerly known as Black Masque, and Diamond as… well, Diamond.
In a rare fall from decorum, Kyo sighed heavily. “I suppose there’s no helping it.”
Diamond chuckled. “Hey, well, if Kyo’s willing to give it a shot… why not.”
“That’s the spirit,” Emma encouraged with some relief. She had expected more resistance from both of them, but apparently they weren’t completely insensible. “Hakim’s psionic abilities for mind-manipulation are unprecedented. You should both consider this a prime opportunity to demonstrate the skills each of you is so proud of.”
Kyo spoke softly, his voice low but resonant. “Unity is strength. Doubtless this is a sign for me to learn to work better with others.”
Desmond paused for a moment, sizing up the master swordsman anew, his smirk fading into cautious respect. “Now that’s a humbling attitude. Count me impressed.” Then Diamond grinned a manic, almost sadistic smile, baring his incisors. “I gotta admit, samurai-boy, I have thought we could make a good team.”
In a rare break from professionalism, Emma smiled warmly and allowed some of her emotions to show. “I’m glad to hear both of you being reasonable.”
Diamond scoffed, tilting his head, his eyes narrowing. “So tell us more about Hakim and what he’s been up to.”
Emma’s expression darkened. “Two days ago, Hakim and a single other unknown psionic infiltrated the FPD offices in Phoenix. The dead and injured officers either shot each other, or turned their weapons on themselves.” She looked between the two men, letting the weight of her words sink in. “Many of them… seem to have sustained bite wounds and deep cuts, like they’d been mauled by animals. But the bite marks don’t match anything we know of. The survivors have no memory of being attacked, and we suspect a residual amnesiac poison from the wounds. We imagine this has to do with the unknown psionic’s abilities.”
Emma paused. “Based on residual psi energy in the area, we believe this may be a new, heretofore unknown S-class. If so, you two will be in for some hefty resistance.
“The unknown psionic aside, as you both know from firsthand experience, Hakim has the ability to telepathically insert thoughts directly into the minds of others — ranging from suggestions to outright hallucinations. Apparently, he’s able to do this en masse against entire groups of people.”
Kyo remained still, his eyes fixated on Emma. Diamond, for once, had nothing witty to say.
Emma continued. “FPD and FBI intel have given us reason to believe that Hakim is working with Luke Stearns to help finance his activities.
“Wait,” Diamond interjected. “The Luke Stearns? The nutty ex-special forces dipshit who leads that batshit-crazy merc group that calls itself the Lucky Sevens?”
“The very one,” Emma confirmed.
Diamond scoffed, as if he couldn’t take them seriously. “I never ran into them myself. Truth be told, I always thought they were something of a joke. Too chickenshit to take me and my Spades on directly.”
“I would probably take them more seriously,” Emma responded dryly. “Based on the information Hakim and his companion obtained in Phoenix and bits of intel we’ve received about their movements, I believe they’re trying to break out a classified Psionic Weapons Asset from SynapTek black site in Alaska. This PWA calls itself ‘Jörmungandr’ and is supposedly capable of slicing through solid matter with nothing but thought, not unlike Kyo.”
Kyo looked up. “Jörmungandr. Not a name given lightly,”
Diamond glanced at his soon-to-be-partner.
The PWA is kept imprisoned in a deep underwater facility with a class-10 Synthetic Anti-PSi Emitter device. If Hakim is able to infiltrate that facility and disable the SynAPSE keeping the asset subdued, I… well, I can’t even begin to predict the sort of havoc he might wreak.”
The room fell into a heavy silence. Diamond folded his arms, all humor drained from his face. “A class-10… jesus.” He felt nauseous remembering what it was like to be subdued by a class-7 SynAPSE. “Who — or what — is this asset, exactly?”
“There’s nothing on him,” Emma answered sincerely. “Whatever this asset is, it’s classified as a human WMD. This first classification of its kind. That’s all I know.”
Diamond puffed his cheeks and blew air. “God damn. And here I was, thinking I was about as strong as they come…” he paused. “Next to pretty-boy, anyway,” he glanced at Kyo who pushed his glasses up.
“So,” Diamond said slowly, “when do we start?”
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