Night Hacker

"Sophia, I was just joking with you."

"A joke? Kitano Kazuya is missing, taken by the Yakuza. You said the Yakuza stepped in to protect him and that Santou wouldn't interfere anymore. Yosuke Harato, since when did you people at Santou learn to tell jokes?"

"It's exactly because we lack that precious quality that I need the practice."

"Don't think I don't know you're just borrowing another's knife to do your killing. You warned the Yakuza and played me at the same time. How did I ever offend you?"

"You haven't, dear Sophia. It really was a joke. He's just a brain slave. Let him go and get a new one."

Through the floor-to-ceiling one-way glass of the second-floor VIP room, the brightly lit mind network combat room was visible below, bustling with Gasboyne security personnel and combat department staff.

Thirty luxurious Consoles were arranged in two rows. An operative lay on each Console, wearing the latest Seth Mind Network Helmet. Their bodies were covered in electrodes connected to the surrounding monitoring interfaces.

The fifteen core operatives in the first row had already entered the mind network. The second row consisted of backup personnel who had yet to log in.

Up in the VIP room, Sophia leaned back against a leather sofa with a face full of quiet fury and ended the video call.