Friday 1.22 : On the Effectiveness of Earplugs

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

The sun was just starting to set - a red glow burning the edges of the scattered clouds in the Tokyo sky.

Ran and Yohji parked in an alleyway with an exit on both ends, close enough for their (hopefully unneeded) getaway, hidden enough for their approach. There were conveniently placed dumpsters blocking the car from view. The skyrises to either side were offices - the chance of an employee working late seeing them was less of a risk than if the buildings had been residences. It was an easy start to the mission.

Ran had remained silent during the drive. He wondered if he would regret any of the words he wasn't saying, and clenched his teeth at himself for his thoughts. Preemptive goodbyes were not his style, and neither were false reassurances.

If they could only find the source of the alleged sound before it was played, Ran was confident that he - Abysinnian - would be able to take them out. If not him, the others were just as competent, as long as they could keep themselves from being distracted. They had all been up against worse.

Distraction was the other reason Ran kept his mouth shut. He wanted Yohji focused, not dwelling on anything he might have conveyed too hastily.

Ran got out and shut the car door with an unintentional flourish of his coat, giving Yohji an efficient nod before heading to comply with Omi's directions.

"Bombay - we're at location. Anything before cutting contact?"

He held the earplugs between his gloved forfinger and thumb, waiting for the go-ahead.

Comments

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji sighed internally as Ran plowed ahead without affording him more than a curt nod. They weren’t even inside the theater yet but he was already operating as though they were moving on two separate planes. Whatever.

He distracted himself from frustration at that by studying his reflection in the car window. He ran his fingers through his hair, deliberately mussing it and slid his glasses a little farther down his nose. He stepped back to take in the effect. If his specific job for the mission was to charm the management…the coat really needed to go. That unfortunately wasn’t an option given how useless his mission shirt was at concealing the unflattering bulk of bandages he was still sporting. He frowned and compromised by unzipping it. …Better.

Definitely not the best he’d ever looked, but he could make it work.

He turned and caught up with Ran who seemed poised to take on instructions.

He lit up a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth while he joined in waiting. It was the best way to prevent some gratuitous sentimental bullshit from slipping out. He didn’t think Ran would appreciate that.

[kansouame.livejournal.com]

"Roger that." Bombay said into his comm unit. He fussed and fiddled with the camera images trying to make them as clear as possible.

"Uh, Balinese, if you are online, stay out of the right hand corner as you walk into the manager's office. It's a blind spot for the camera."

He could hear Siberian in the driver's seat fidgeting but kept his attention on the monitors and his laptop.

"If possible, leave your comm units on for as long as possible in case of trouble but don't wait too long to put your earplugs in and remember to leave your mics on. I am recording this."

Omi paused, things felt wrong but he couldn't pinpoint the source of his uneasiness. "Just be careful. Bombay out."

He tried to take a calming breath before turning to Siberian. "Can you start monitoring the screens while I hack into the power grid?" He had no idea how co-operative or not his teammate was going to be. He hoped Siberian's training would keep him in check and that somewhere deep down Ken cared enough to not endanger the other two, no matter how much he hated Omi.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

It sounded straightforward enough.

Ran pocketed the earplugs, they would be a handicap until they found their targets and he would need his ears to be alert for danger. He shot Yohji an assessing look from head to toe, lips thinning ever so slightly. He gave him another nod and took off at a brusque walk toward the theater.

He did not have a good feeling about this.

What he liked least was that he would have to keep one of their targets alive for questioning. It wouldn't even be a straightforward kill. It meant a struggle, and the possibility of noise alerting others at location, and the problem of lugging a body to the alley if they wouldn't talk on site. Before, they could turn live targets in to Kritiker. It was going to be a messy affair now.

Despite his shortcomings, he would have liked to have had Sato on a comm unit. But he had abandoned them it seemed.

He closed his eyes briefly and focused.

There was a rip in the dark covering on the inside of the glass side door, and through it he could see a long dark hallway. There were a couple teenagers coming toward him, but they disappeared into a theater on the right. Beyond that he couldn't see much except for the glow of a concession stand. He tried the handle, it opened and he slipped inside.

"I'm in," he murmured to his teammates. He followed the layout of the theater in his mind, trying to place where he was standing. He moved out of the first hallway into the right-hand branch of the T the hallways formed, out of the line of site of the incomers by the concession stand.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji raised an eyebrow at Ran’s disapproving once-over, not really sure what the hell it was supposed to mean.

Was he pissed that Yohji had for the umpteenth time been type-cast into the role of schmoozer for a mission? Was he just not pulling it off? It was probably true that no amount of last minute window reflection fine tuning could eradicate the sallow sickliness still clinging to him. It was probably a joke for him to even be on this mission.

…That could be said for almost all of them though.

Eh. He brushed the niggling insecurity off; critical looks from Ran were certainly nothing new. And Ran had wasted no further time in getting going, so he had better do the same.

He strolled out to the front of the theater, and stomped out his cigarette, promptly replacing it with a fresh one. In the process he accidently-on-purpose dropped his lighter. As he stooped to retrieve it, he managed to pick up a discarded movie ticket from the ground as well, which he discreetly slipped into his pocket.

He loitered another 2 minutes or so, to keep up the pretense of smoking before tossing his second cigarette and joining a flock of teenagers as they entered the theater.

[kansouame.livejournal.com]

Omi glanced sidelong at Siberian. The man was whistling happily and looking like the cat that ate the canary. IF that didn't send off alarm bells in his head, then nothing would. He let his concentration move back to the laptop and started a second password hack program. It took less than a minute and he was in the electrical grid searching for the transformer than fed electricity to the theater.

"It's good to hear you so happy Siberian. Anything you want to share?"

Omi knew that the comms were still live and he hoped that it would alert the other two in the theater that something was even more off with their teammate and just letting them be aware was about all he could do.

"Ah gotcha!" he said smugly, not to Siberian but to his laptop as he managed to find what he was looking for. He was pretty sure that shutting off the electricity would be a fairly easy process if that was necessary. All it would take was hitting the enter key. At least one thing was working out for them. He sighed quietly to himself. Now, they just need this to not turn into a huge deadly cluster-fuck.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran frowned as Omi voiced his own, private question to Ken - why the hell he was sounding so chipper. It was chilling. He was reminding Ran honestly of a member of Schwarz, and the one Ken should be least likely to emulate. That white-haired freak who liked pain and chaos. Not soccer-loving, child-friendly Ken.

They had timed it so that they were between shows; a few people were showing up early but mostly the halls were empty.

"Balinese?" He questioned. There had been silence for a few minutes from Yohji.

"Bombay?" He added. "Am I clear?" He meant for the stairs - he eyed the way to the projector booth and the end to the mission. He leaned casually against the wall and tried to make it look as if he were waiting on someone.

[skyrat13.livejournal.com]

Yohji scanned the walls of movie posters, searching for the one that matched his commandeered movie ticket, trying to get a sense of what it might be about.

Just his luck that he’d picked up a stub for some kiddie movie he’d never even heard of.

He pulled out the ticket and scrutinized it a bit more carefully.

‘Galactic Hamster Triumph Squad’?

Seriously??

Well, he could guess what it was probably about. And could certainly invent no shortage of complaints about it, background info or no.

His hand was poised on the doorknob of the manager’s office when Ran’s voice broke over the comm unit.

He frowned at the interruption and stepped away from the door.

“I’m about to enter the manager’s office,” he answered quietly.

[kansouame.livejournal.com]

Omi grit his teeth. Since when did Siberian think he was in charge of this mission? He was damn lucky to even be here.

Omi took a cleansing breath and tried to calm his racing heart. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong and he realized it was making him lose focus.

Ignoring Siberian, Bombay spoke quietly. "Balinese, you're clear. Abysinnian, How many civilians are near you? If Oracle's on target then we have about 5 more minutes until we know the suspect is there. Proceed carefully and neither of you forget your earplugs. Bombay out."

Omi chewed on his bottom lip and ran through his plans in his head one more time trying to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. If he had, he could be losing two of his best friends and that was not an option in his book.

[genuinelie.livejournal.com]

Ran opened his mouth, but two teenagers rounded the corner. He shut it with a snap and watched them meander slower than humanly possible down the hallway. A full minute passed. He glanced around the corner - finally.

"None, but this is a theater, Bombay. This setup is a disaster."

He was more interested in keeping them alive than whether or not they saw him sneaking around. Like teenagers these days would rat him out.

"Can you see into the projection room?"