Zero Sum Game (14 page)

"You will have abilities far beyond those of your peers. I believe the current popular term is 'superhuman.'"

Hina couldn't believe what Voice had said. She hadn't even done anything yet, but she was amazed and awed. She kept smiling, liking the feeling growing in her. With Voice's help, she might defeat the other two Noigel and save her family and friends.

Voice instructed her to go to one of the large stacks of finished lumber. Three chains with thick links bound each stack together as they lay on a large pallet. She read a piece of paper glued to one end. Near the bottom of the paper it listed the gross weight of the shipment to be around twenty-three tons. "Now what?"

"I will demonstrate your physical strength. This will be your most powerful ability and the most dangerous."

"Okay." Nervousness clutched her chest but the fear from earlier drained away, like it did when she participated at a weightlifting competition, listening to the introductions and waiting for her turn to lift. In the locker room she nervously went through the movements in her head. But once she was on the floor, she used those few moments to focus her agitation. She needed to do that now.

"You have to be aware of yourself and your surroundings at all times," Voice said. "Your strength is not something you can switch on and off like your heightened senses. Hypothesize that one of your classmates takes your pen case off your desk while you are standing beside it. What would you do?"

"I'd get it back from them," Hina said.

"How? What would be your first action?"

Situations like the one Voice gave her were commonplace in class; friends liked to tease and pick on each other, taking books from their desk or hiding the nameplate they wore on their uniform. There were all sorts of physical playing around in the hallways during passing period and at lunch. "I guess I'd grab their arm or something, try to stop them," she said.

"You saw what you did to the bat yesterday. Your power is tremendous. If you grabbed your friend's arm, even in a playful gesture, without being aware of your strength at the time you could easily crush their bones simply by squeezing your hand."

She let out a yelp of surprise and clasped her hands together in front of her chest. "I don't want to that," she said.

"You most likely won't. I will try to monitor your actions but as I stated before, I cannot control your muscles without your consent. You must be aware of what you are doing."

"You can't stop me?" Voice was making her out to be some sort of monster, and she didn't like it. She wanted to save her friends, not hurt them.

"I can try to figure out your intentions by the situation, but I cannot stop you. If you grab your friend's arm to keep them from taking your pen case, you are not trying to cause them harm. But if you do decide to squeeze hard, through conscious action, I cannot control it. That is why you have to be careful."

"Okay." The excitement of earlier wore off and the seriousness of her situation crept in.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Hina," Voice said. "I'm telling you to be careful. You wouldn't harm your friends on purpose. Please relax."

Hina took a deep breath and tried to push away her nervousness. Voice was right: she had new powers and she would have to get used to them.

"I promise I'll be careful, Voice. So what's next?"

"A brief lesson is in order," Voice said. His tone reminded her of the business-like manner her math teacher conducted class. "You will now be able to lift objects far larger than yourself. With the additional size comes the problem of balance."

"You mean I might fall over or trip or something?"

"Not
your
balance," Voice continued, "but the balance of the object you're holding. The distribution of weight."

"I understand," Hina said.

"Do you?" replied Voice.

Hina almost snapped at the voice in her body. "Yes, I do. I'm a weightlifter, and you have to be careful. It's easy to overbalance. If you're not careful, you can drop the weights on yourself or your coach. I got it, okay?"

Hina thought he hadn't had such a difficult time with his former master. Then again, the battle suit had been designed for a Noigel, not a human.
And for a warrior, no less,
she thought. She was a human student.

"Let us continue," Voice said. His tone had lost some of its lecturing brusqueness. "We'll start out with something easy. While it isn't light, it will give you a sense of what you're capable of."

Maybe he thinks there's hope for me after all
, Hina thought. Following Voice's instructions, she went to the center of the large lumber stack and squatted. She slipped her fingers underneath the pallet and lifted the stack of wood a few centimeters. She moved her arms forward, towards the center, and continued to lift. As it moved past her nose, she stood up, moving forward underneath the pallet as she lifted it higher. Soon she had her arms stretched all the way above her and held the twenty-three ton block of lumber above her head. She didn't move around too much, afraid of bumping the stack into the side of the nearby building. Wood scraped and cracked as the pieces moved against each other, and the chains rattled as they kept the stack together. She laughed at the sight of twenty-three tons of wood above her. It wasn't heavy to her, it was like lifting a bag of vegetables. It took a moment for that number to register, and when it did, she became nervous and excited. Her arms and legs began to shake. She set the massive pallet down on the ground.

She backed away, wiping her hands free of dirt and wood pieces. Her heart hammered and it took a moment to say anything. "I…I…lifted that. It's…that weighs more than a car, or a truck."

"More than a bus," Voice added.

Hina couldn't believe it. "H…how much can I lift?"

"The battle suits were not designed for human physiology. I'm still trying to figure out the variables. In addition, I am not operating at full capacity. My conservative estimate would be more than one hundred tons. How much more is uncertain at this point."

Such a weight meant nothing to her, she couldn't wrap her mind around it.

"Everything about you is stronger, not only your arms. Please go to the red building."

The two-story building Voice indicated had a flat roof. "You can do a standing jump onto that structure." He paused to let that statement sink in. Hina had nothing to say. "Do not jump straight up but at a slight angle. Not too much of an angle, or you may jump into the side of the building. We do not want to damage it."

Exhilarated after what she had done, but a little tepid about going through a brick wall again, Hina went for the angle she guessed was right, squatted, and bunched her powerful leg muscles. She leapt, fast and high, the side of the building streaking in front of her. She didn't land on the roof; her angle was too steep. As she lost momentum, she could tell she was too far away from the ledge. At the height of her jump, Hina felt like she was floating, as if she had bounced off the world's most powerful trampoline. Then gravity took hold and pulled her down. She stretched out her arms and managed to catch the ledge. Her fingers dug deep into the concrete. Her legs kicked against nothing. She looked down at the ground, almost six meters below. "Voice, help!" she yelled. Her body swung in a small arc.

"Calm down, Hina," he said in an even tone. "Calm down and listen to me."

Hina stopped screaming. Her fingers didn't seem to be in any danger of slipping from the ledge. She stopped kicking and her body slowed its swing. After she became still, she wondered what to do next. She gazed down, there was nothing underneath her to help break her fall.
In the movies, isn't there always a dumpster or a pile of soft trash for the hero to fall into?

Voice spoke again. "Hina, there is something I need to show you. I want you to let go."

"What?" Hina yelled. "Are you crazy?"

"You're nearly invulnerable. If you fall, you won't get hurt. I guarantee it."

Tears threatened to escape.

"This is a power I have to demonstrate to you. It can be scary. You can close your eyes and scream if you want, but when you hit the pavement, I promise that you will be unharmed."

"Okay." She let go, squeezed her eyes shut, and screamed all the way down until she hit the ground.

The air rocketed from her lungs, and she lay still for a few moments. She felt concrete underneath her outstretched hands and a faint breeze across her cheeks. She opened her eyes and saw the ledge high above her. She turned her head, expecting to see a pool of blood rushing out of her body and staining the ground crimson. Nothing oozed from her. Panic seized her and she sprung to her feet. Taking stock of herself, she realized she was fine and felt no pain, like when the box cutter had broken against her palm. She studied her hands. She had felt the impact of both the box cutter and the concrete, a sensation registering their presence, but nothing more.

Voice said, "I stated you were almost invulnerable. You are not, however, indestructible. You can survive most of the conventional weapons on Earth."

"Are you saying I can block bullets?"

"Yes." Voice said it in such a matter-of-fact tone Hina couldn't believe the answer. "I don't know how you will fare against larger weapons such as bombs. Nor do I think that is something we should attempt to test."

"Yeah." The day's events had robbed her of more coherent vocabulary.

"I think that's all for today. Shall we go back home?"

She nodded and walked towards the front gate.

"Hina," Voice said, "your bag."

She went back and retrieved her bag, settling it across her shoulders. She walked towards the front gate, her mind swirling with the images and sensations of all that had happened today.

"How can you do this?" she asked Voice after she had passed the front gate and made her way to the nearest bus stop.

"I cannot accurately describe the processes involved because the words have not yet been invented on your planet," Voice replied.

"Can you give me an idea?"

"I am made up of catoms, microscopic machines that can be programmed for almost anything. Your uniform is made up entirely of catoms, and I permeate every cell of your body as well. That is how I can give you such enormous physical powers. But there are limitations, Hina. It's important that you understand this."

Hina reached the bus stop. The schedule posted there said she had about ten minutes before the next arrival. She sat on the bus bench. "Okay, I'm listening," she said.

"The catoms work when close together. When you take off your uniform, the catoms will migrate out of your body and into the uniform. Do you understand what this means?"

"I'll have less powers."

"You'll have none. Your school uniform is like a suit of samurai armor. The more layers of armor you have, the better protected you are. Correct?"

"Yes," Hina said.

Voice's tone became softer. It sounded more ominous to Hina. "Don't leave me behind. Wear me as much as you can. I don't know when or where we will face Shimizu and Fujiya. We have to be ready." He was pleading for her life. "My mission is to protect you. Trust me to do so."

"Okay," Hina replied.

"There is one more thing I need you to do, Hina," Voice said.

"What now?"

— — —

She stood in front of an apartment building.

"Hiroshi lived in 201," Voice said.

She walked up the stairs to the first apartment on the second floor. The old and run down building reminded her of her current living place. Only the apartment number by the door identified the residence. She felt she should knock although another part of her told her the tenant was dead, there would be no answer no matter what she did.

"Go inside," Voice instructed.

She turned the door knob. "It's locked."

"Push the door open," Voice said.

She could detect a hint of impatience in his tone, as if breaking down the door should have been the most obvious course of action. Swallowing a retort, Hina twisted the knob farther. It paused for a second, then she heard the crack of breaking metal. She pulled the door towards her and stepped inside. After removing her shoes, she walked into the kitchen. The small apartment had only three rooms: the kitchen and dining combination, a living room, and a bedroom, both with tatami mat floors. A trash can was still full. Hina saw the garbage guide and pick up schedule posted above it. A few dirty cups and plates were in the sink and the light on the electric hot water pot still glowed orange. A closed laptop rested on the kitchen table, with two stuffed file folders stuffed strewn around it. The apartment was sparsely furnished; along with the table in the kitchen, there was a large TV, a legless couch, a small metal desk with chair in the living room, and a western style bed in the bedroom.

The walls were bare except for some photos of coffee fields and close-ups of coffee beans. She couldn't help smiling at them. "He was a coffee manic," she whispered. She gave an involuntary shudder; she was in a dead man's apartment. Standing here felt wrong and disrespectful.

"Indeed," said Voice.

He instructed her to the laptop; after she started it and logged in, Voice told her to place both hands atop of the keyboard. "There are accounts and transactions that need taken care of. His bank account, water and electric bills, and the sort."

Hina didn't understand. "Why?"

"There is no body to be found. When Ichihara died, his flash skin took care of any remains. If he stops paying his electric bills or his Internet service, however, or if his garbage is not picked up, his absence will be noticed. We need to take care of his accounts, his 'loose ends' as it were, to make sure no one suspects he is dead and thus start asking questions."

She supposed it made sense. Voice told her he would do most of it. He could access the accounts and close them down, filing the necessary documentation.

"You can do that?" Hina asked, impressed.

"Of course. As long as I'm in physical contact with, or have access to a network, I can get into virtually any computer. It was how Ichihara set up his identity. I'm afraid the details are complicated."