CHAPTER : DEPARTURES AND TRANSACTIONS
Gotham International Airport - Parking Structure - Saturday Morning - 7:23 AM
Nemuri had arrived at the airport early, her single suitcase packed with clothes and the carefully box of Suguro's childhood belongings, she kept the phone Suguro had given secured in her inner jacket pocket, reminding herself to pass through the leftmost customs lane.
She was pulling her suitcase toward the terminal entrance when she noticed someone leaning against a concrete pillar near the airport entrance, a figure that seemed to be waiting for something or someone.
As she approached, the man pushed off from the pillar and walked directly toward her path, intercepting her with casual confidence.
"Ms. Kayama," he said, his voice carrying a disturbing cheerfulness that made her hero instincts immediately alert.
"A moment of your time before your flight?"
Nemuri stopped, her hand instinctively moving toward a defensive position before she forced herself to relax slightly. The man appeared like just some ordinary person, but his eyes showed a sinisterness that made her nervous.
"Who are you?" she asked, keeping her voice steady despite her racing heart.
"I'm a friend of your son's. and I'd like to have a brief chat before you depart our lovely city."
Nemuri hesitated, but his claim of being Suguro's friend made her follow. If this was a threat, he'd had numerous opportunities to harm her over the past week. And if he genuinely was connected to her son, refusing to talk might damage whatever fragile relationship she was building.
They moved between rows of parked cars, away from the flow of travelers, until they were relatively isolated.
"I heard about your little family reunion," William said, his hands moving expressively as he spoke, "and she wanted my assessment of whether you should be trusted."
"her?" Nemuri thought, her stomach tightening with anxiety, was it that girl her son was with?
He pulled something from inside his jacket—a sealed package, roughly the size of a thick book, wrapped in nondescript black cardboard and black tape.
"So here's how this works," William continued, his tone taking on an edge. "I'm going to give you a little test."
He held out the package. It was surprisingly heavy when Nemuri took it.
"What is this?" she asked, though part of her didn't want to know the answer.
"Something someone wants over in Japan," William said, "someone will meet you at Narita Airport—arrivals area, near the south exit. I was told he would be wearing purple clothes and carrying a newspaper, you'll hand him this package, understood?"
Nemuri stared down at the package in her hands.
"Don't open it," William added, his tone shifting to something more serious. "Now remember what I said?"
Nemuri tucked the package into her carry-on bag, her hands shaking slightly. "South exit at Narita, purple clothes, newspaper."
"Exactly," William confirmed, and his voice carried genuine approval now. "You know, Ivy was worried you'd be too principled to make the right choice."
He started walking away, then called back over his shoulder: "Oh, and Ms. Kayama? Don't make Crane regret trusting you. He doesn't handle betrayal well, and neither do the rest of us"
Then he was gone, disappearing into the parking structure's shadows, leaving Nemuri alone with her luggage and the mysterious package that represented her final test.
She stood there for a few minutes, feeling the weight of the package in her bag, the weight of the decision she'd just made.
Then she squared her shoulders and walked toward the terminal.
She'd already crossed the line.
Might as well commit completely.
Japan Airlines Flight 1147 - Gotham to Tokyo (via Los Angeles) - 10:47 AM
The flight had barely been airborne for a couple minutes when the pilot's voice came over the intercom, calm but with an underlying tension:
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're going to be making some evasive maneuvers and climbing to a higher altitude more rapidly than usual. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened, but stay calm there's no danger to the aircraft."
Nemuri, seated in first class near a window, looked down at Gotham's sprawl below them. Even from this altitude, she could see smoke rising from multiple locations, the perpetual haze that hung over the city like a funeral shroud.
And then she saw it, in what looked like the uptown district.
She turned on her seat's personal entertainment screen and selected a local Gotham news station.
The image that appeared showed exactly what she'd glimpsed from above: a major GCPD operation in progress, armored vehicles forming a perimeter around several city blocks.
"—repeat, the villain known as Hush has been cornered in Gotham's uptown district by GCPD's militarized Division," the news anchor announced, her voice carrying the practiced professionalism of someone who reported on urban warfare daily. "His accomplice, the shapeshifter - Jane Doe, has been subdued by Nightwing and is currently in custody."
The camera cut to aerial footage—a news helicopter circling at a dangerously close distance, and in the center of the chaos, two figures engaged in combat: Batman in his distinctive dark armor, and a man wrapped in bandages wielding dual pistols with disturbing precision.
As she watched, Batman moved with the efficiency of someone who'd done this hundreds of times before. Disarm, disable, restrain. Within minutes, the bandaged villain was subdued and being loaded into an armored transport.
"Both suspects will be transferred to Arkham Asylum," the anchor continued, "Arkham's Director Ronald Hienz and his chief psychiatrist Hugo Strange have assured the public that Arkham's security measures are sufficient to contain—"
Nemuri forced herself to turn off the screen, to stop watching, it was no secret in the hero community that Arkham was a failure.
The plane continued climbing, putting distance between her and Gotham, and Nemuri closed her eyes and tried not to think about what might be hidden inside the sealed package she was smuggling into Japan.
Victor Fries's Laboratory - Crane's Wings Facility - Same Time
Suguro stood in the pristine cold of Victor's laboratory, his breath misting in air maintained at precisely -40 degrees Fahrenheit. Most people would suffer frostbite within minutes at this temperature, but Victor moved through it as comfortably as others walked through spring weather.
Rhea stood beside her uncle, also unaffected. She'd been working with Victor for weeks now, analyzing the cryogenic compounds they'd acquired from the POLAR Corporation submarine heist.
Victor's hand pressed against the chamber containing his wife, frost forming instantly where his bare skin touched the glass. "I'm close, Suguro. Closer than I've ever been to saving her..."
Rhea was smiling behind her cold-suit's face shield, genuine happiness for her uncle's potential success.
"Keep me informed," Suguro said, "and if there anything else we need let me know "
"Thank you," Victor said, genuine gratitude in his mechanical voice.
Narita International Airport, Tokyo - Sunday Afternoon - 2:34 PM (Japan Time)
The flight had been exhausting—thirteen hours total. Nemuri had spent most of it in a state between exhaustion and anxiety, unable to sleep properly, unable to stop thinking about the package in her bag.
She made her way through the arrivals area, pulling her suitcase and trying to look like any other returning traveler. Near the south exit, exactly where William had said, stood a man in a loose purple suit holding a newspaper. He was unremarkable—average height, average build, Japanese, probably in his forties, with the professionally neutral expression of someone who'd done this many times before.
Their eyes met. He gave a small nod.
Nemuri walked over, her heart pounding, and stopped beside him. Neither spoke. She reached into her carry-on bag, pulled out the sealed package, and handed it to him.
He took it smoothly, tucking it under his arm with the newspaper. Then he walked away, disappearing into the flow of travelers.
Nemuri stood alone, her hands empty, her first criminal act complete.
A hero should feel guilty. Horrified. Ashamed.
Instead, she just felt tired.
She took the train back to her apartment, unpacked, filed away her research notes, and placed the box of Suguro's belongings on her dresser.
Then she collapsed on her bed and slept a deep, dreamless and peaceful night
Undisclosed Location - Tokyo - Evening - 6:47 PM
The courier entered a nondescript building, taking an elevator down to a basement level that wasn't marked on any official blueprints.
Dr. Kyudai Garaki looked up from his work as the courier entered. The elderly man adjusted his glasses, his expression eager.
"You have it?" Garaki asked.
"As ordered" Giran answered and handed over the package without comment and left immediately, job finished.
Garaki tore open the package with trembling hands.
Inside was a specialized medical transport container and through the transparent glass, he could see exactly what had been promised:
A human brain.
Suspended in preservation fluid, connected to electrodes maintaining minimal electrical activity, kept alive through technology that bordered on miraculous. The organ showed signs of deliberate modification—sections that had been surgically altered, neural pathways that had been severed or rewired.
A drone brain.
Exactly what the mystery Gotham men had offered in their dark web communications.
Garaki pulled out his phone and made a call. It was answered immediately.
"All For One," Garaki said, his voice reverent. "The package arrived, Gotham delivered exactly what was promised"
Silence on the other end, then-
"The quality?"
"Extraordinary," Garaki breathed, moving closer to examine the brain in the container.
So much to learn,
So much potential.
Nemuri's Apartment - Tokyo - Sunday Night - 11:47 PM
Nemuri woke to the sound of buzzing.
Not her regular phone, the one Suguro had given her.
She grabbed it from her nightstand, fumbling with the unfamiliar device.
A single text message:
Thank you for proving you're serious about this.
She typed:
I meant what I said I want to be part of your life, I'm here, whenever you want to talk.
Several minutes passed-
We'll see how it goes….