As the saying goes: a hacker who doesn't want to be a driver is not a good tool person. Which is to say, aside from being the Organization's designated driver, Vodka is also, unexpectedly, a hacker.
The data recovery was progressing fast. One by one, the contents of Jangxia's phone appeared on screen.
Vodka scrolled through it for a while, then leaned forward and whispered to Gin, "No sign of contact with them. No messages from Shuichi Akai either."
He turned the screen to show Gin.
Gin gave it a proper look—clearly the Organization never taught "safe driving."
From the records, it looked like both Miyano Akemi and Sherry had sent messages to Jangxia.
Sometimes it was "Go to the hospital."
Sometimes it was "I've developed a new drug. Wanna try it?"
For reasons unknown, Jangxia—though a young man—was using a phone model even older than theirs. And it didn't even have a block feature.
Still, based on the chat history, Jangxia had never replied to either of the Miyano sisters. Seemed like he really did hate them as much as he claimed.
Up until now, Vodka had clung to the idea that the reason Big Brother Gin wanted to off Jangxia was because the guy had betrayed them.
But looking at this chat history, Jangxia seemed... fine?
So Vodka started thinking—maybe they could just let him go?
Gin suddenly frowned. "What's with all this garbled text?"
"Garbled?" Vodka blinked.
Sure enough, there were a few strange, unreadable characters in the call logs and email entries. He hadn't looked too closely—weren't those just the messages Big Brother sent to Jangxia?
Vodka hesitated. Was this Big Brother's way of pushing a pot onto Jangxia? Should he pretend he didn't see it?
"Idiot. I'm not talking about my messages," Gin said flatly.
He tapped the screen: "May 14th, August 3rd, September 27th… These ones. They're not from me."
"Oh!" Vodka's face lit up.
Then suddenly froze in shock. "Wait—is this... is this Shuichi Akai's doing?!"
Jangxia: "?"
Akai Shuichi? What Akai Shuichi?
He hadn't even appeared in the plot yet!
Even if he had, what would that have to do with Jangxia?
Did these two model workers accidentally time-skip when he wasn't looking?
As Jangxia was spiraling into existential confusion, Vodka perked up and began frantically clicking away on the keyboard, trying to trace the source of the suspicious messages.
While waiting for the location trace on "Akai Shuichi" to go through, he picked up a gun and poked Jangxia, who was slumped against the backseat, contemplating the meaning of his existence.
"May 14, August 3, September 27. Who were you contacting on those dates?"
Jangxia: "…"
He had no idea what was going on. But first of all, his memory was excellent. Secondly, the number of shady people in his contacts list who would bother encrypting their messages was… not many.
Which meant those garbled texts Gin was pointing at were most likely...
Just then, the car suddenly rang out with a sharp series of beeping alerts.
Gin's pupils shrank. He stared at Jangxia's phone, which was still connected to the computer. His eyes gleamed like he was facing off with his arch-nemesis.
Vodka wiped the sweat from his face. "Brother… looks like the other side noticed my tracking program…"
Gin straightened up, a cold smile tugging at his lips. The thrill of catching a big fish surged in his veins.
The encrypted number had already looked suspicious.
He trusted Vodka's hacking skills. For even his trace to get sniffed out in a matter of seconds…
If the person on the other end really was Akai Shuichi, then this made perfect sense.
Gin looked at Jangxia through the rearview mirror, gaze cold and sharp.
Unfortunately, Jangxia's face was still covered by a layer of black cloth, so they couldn't make proper eye contact. It kind of ruined the intimidation effect.
Gin sighed inwardly at the missed opportunity. Then he ordered, "Tell him to go to the refinery in Nishiyama-cho, 4-chome. Be careful with your wording—you know what to say, and what not to say."
Jangxia: "…OK."
The two were briefly stunned. They hadn't expected him to cooperate so easily. It felt like he was planning something.
But then again, the trace just now probably spooked "Akai Shuichi" on the other end of the line.
If they didn't pick up the call, that guy might cut contact and go completely dark.
Better to seize the chance and answer while they could.
Vodka picked up the phone, leaned close to Jangxia, and pressed speaker.
The call connected. The person on the other end said nothing, like they were silently observing.
Vodka waited a few seconds, hoping for a signal to trace, but got nothing.
…As expected of Shuichi Akai. The man had patience like a shikigami.
Vodka nudged Jangxia in the ribs with the muzzle of his gun, urging him to say something before "Akai Shuichi" hung up.
Jangxia cleared his throat: "Hello?"
Gin and Vodka held their breath.
After a long pause, a suspicious voice finally crackled through the speaker: "What are you doing?"
Gin flinched.
…That wasn't Akai Shuichi.
But…
The voice did sound kind of familiar?
---
We reached over half way to our goal in the first week of release. Have at most 3 more weeks of attempts to reach the goal below for 10 bonus chapters.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES for 10 bonus chapters.
Progress: 3/50(approx)*
Glossary:
Tool person: Someone being used like a pawn; can imply someone helpful in a mindless or expendable way.
Model worker: Tongue-in-cheek nickname for super-dedicated Organization members like Gin and Vodka.