WD Spy rule two eighty is entitled 'It's rare to see a downcast face on a person who's always looking forward'.

Previous rule two seventy nine:  Expecting the unexpected can also mean completely missing the obvious.

Next rule two eighty one: Arriving at the past.

Summary page

-Short summary-

Matilde and Wargle's plans to manipulate others into protecting Sector seven begin, and Lukas makes a hospital visit which spurs his plans for the future.

-Long summary-

Rain pelts the trench coats of the mafia operatives as they stand in a graveyard. A priest reads last rites as they prepare to lay what seems like a countless amount of coffins to their final rest. Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano stands among his operatives, his face as hard as stone. The plan had been to be rid of Penbur, who had been nothing but trouble since the two men had struck up a deal to collaborate together. Little had Luciano known that a group of guys had decided to take the scientist's side and accompany him to the battle against Asahara. In a way it had been Penbur's fault that the whole battle begun, since it was his order to attack the group associated with Asahara's daughter who had been hurt during all the strife. The cult leader had immediately retaliated by asking for a duel, although since relations between the Mafia and the Li se xing xuo had always been to put it lightly 'strained', both men knew what would really happen. As punishment, Penbur would have to find a means to deal with the cult himself. Unfortunately this 'punishment' had failed miserably as Luciano had lost several good men, and Penbur apparently got away. Even if the mafia don were to consider in the death of Asahara as a possible power play, he had already been replaced by his daughter. The only solace from this whole travesty had been that for now the Li se xing xuo has no beef with him any more, and he could continue his 'thing' without having to worry about further retaliation. It still nags at him though, how could his guys decide to jump in with Penbur when he is their boss? What had he done wrong? What had he done right? The thoughts pile up through his head even after the procession is over and he gets into the limo to be driven back to HQ. Luciano allows the sweet sounds of Louis Armstrong's sax to sooth his psyche until the car jolts to a halt.

He asks the driver what the deal is and opens the small compartment to the front. To his surprise however, the driver is dead; a bullet to the head had ended his life. Luciano is surprised by this, and rightfully so as his car is pimped to the teeth so to speak. He could literally go to war in his limo with the shock absorbers and bullet proof glass that had been installed on it. He steps out and does a once around inspection of the car.  After further investigation, he sees a small hole had been cracked through the roof and side window of the limo. This means someone has been staking out his ride, which means premeditation, which means professionals, which means...

Luciano turns suddenly and behind him is an Asian girl with flowers. She nods solemnly and gives her condolences for his loss, and then hands him the flowers with a grin and a bouncy 'I hope this makes you feel better'. Luciano eyes the flowers and asks the girl what her game is. When she doesn't respond, he pulls a gun as does she. The two stand at odds for a moment, until the girl says she'd like to discuss a deal with him. Luciano balks and asks if she thinks he's stupid. Why would he want to discuss anything with her besides funeral plans? The girl tilts her head inquisitively and points out that she could have killed him just now....the driver was supposed to be a very unfortunate example. She had made sure to poke a hole unnoticeable by rain but with just enough width so that a bullet going fast enough could pierce it. She had followed his patterns for days just to get this right...Hearing this, Luciano glances back at the car and hears the girl click the trigger. The girl smiles and asks how long he thinks his already fractured organization will fare when their leader loses his head? Several more clicked triggers can be heard behind the girl, and Luciano smiles as he replies that they seem to be just fine. Several Mafia agents surround the girl and she drops the weapon and raises her arms in the air. Luciano steps towards her and asks her name, to which she replies 'Matilde Ngai'. He then asks her to talk about her 'deal', since he is honestly impressed with the moxy she showed coming out here. Any guy or...gal in this instance who's willing to put her ass on the line to strike up business can't be all bad in his opinion.

Matilde curtsies and thanks the don for the opportunity, and begins her dealing by asking if the don knows of Sector seven's dissolution. Luciano nods, and Matilde continues; she'd like to have the mafia extend their hands and protect the group for her. She's got her own ways of doing so, but as one lone woman she can't possibly hope to be as effective as big strong Italian men. Luciano makes a face, and asks why he'd want to protect the same Govt workers who wouldn't hesitate to snap a cuff on him. Matilde looks up at the mafia don and with Bambi-esque eyes asks if he'd do it 'for her'. Luciano makes a motion with his hand, and a trigger clicks. Matilde waves her hands and with a sheepish smile says she was just kidding. She does have an ace in the hole so to speak, and will call him up right now. She takes out a cellphone and after going into her contacts folder clicks a number and listens to it dial. After barely half a ring, someone picks up and Matilde asks that person if 'things are going okay'.

A few buildings away, Edmund Wargle stands and replies that 'things are fine', and 'couldn't be better'. Beside him, Bandito has a sniper rifle trained on Luciano's head. The leader of their group a woman who simply goes by the name of 'Lady' watches Wargle as he paces about on the phone. Ex Sector two agent Duarte narrows his eyes and glances down at Bandito who waits for the signal to fire.

Lady has ties to Meifa as she was the woman as she is her adoptive mother as does Duarte who raised the future Sector seven operative until she was about seven or eight. Lady (Who's real name is Alejandra Lucina Carvalho Ventura) had become millitent after Meifa had been exposed to the World destruction theorem as a toddler. Unlike most children, she had managed to survive her bout with the virus, but as a result she lost an eye. Since then Lady had been a one woman movement to stop Penbur through any means necessary, even if it meant killing a girl who happened to know the theorem, but wouldn't talk about it. Duarte had taken Meifa and put her into the care of Jax to save the girl from becoming too involved with Lady's vigilantism, but after reuniting with her in France, he had decided to leave his post and join her again, as they are in fact married. Duarte and Lady are husband and wife, and Meifa had been their adoptive daughter.

In the present Wargle finishes his phone call and turns to the group. He regales them with how much fun it had been to be in their care for so long, and how regretful it is he has to come to this decision, but he is quitting the group as of this instant. He has actually been a double agent for Mugen or Matilde for a while now, and was only spying on them to report back to her.  Now that she has decided to make her move, he has no reason to continue with the group. Duarte narrows his eyes and snarls that he knew something was up with Wargle, and how he never fully trusted him. Wargle grins and says 'Too little, too late'. The door to the roof flies open and Mafia agents surround them. Lady yells Wargle's name, but he simply walks past the Mafia operatives and through the door, waving absently as he does so. Duare grits his teeth and promises his wife and friend that they  will get out of this alive.

Matilde hangs up the phone and beams at Luciano an obvious 'see-I-told-you-so' face. The mafia don glares at her, but tells his men to ensure that the insurgents get a nice bullet mattress to sleep on. He then regards Matilde who hums a nonchalant tune as she plays with her hair, and agrees to her deal. He's not making a career of this though, and she had better know not to overstep her bounds, or she too will get shot up. Matilde nods and says she 'looks forward to it'. Luchiano's eyebrow raises, and he wonders if she's talking about the deal, or the shooting?

Matilde and Wargle meet up later at the bottom of the building where Lady and her group were located. She raises her hand for a high five that he ignores, until Matilde makes a pouty face and he begrudgingly gives her what she wants. Wargle then says he has something else he'd like to discuss with her. Matilde tilts her head cutely, and asks in a playful tone what he could want, to which Wargle motions over to the building and a girl walks out; Mizuki Asahara.

Wargle explains that she was hiding in a nook of the building and had requested to be taken to 'Mugen'. He told her to get lost several times, but her tenacity was more than his. Apparently she wants to join them, since her Dad is now dead..? Mizuki dashes over to Matilde and after a moment of sizing her up (though despite their age difference, they're about the same height since Mizuki is tall for her age.), asks if she's really Mugen. Matilde's eyes change for a brief moment, and Wargle can see the 'Mugen' he had once known manifest and then disappear. Matilde replies with a jaunty 'Why is that your business~?' Mizuki bows and asks to join them. She only knows killing, and how to follow her father's orders. Now that he's gone, how could she possibly live in normal society? Every person would be just a target to her, blood to be spilled. She can tell that Mu-Matilde will be a person with targets and at times be a target herself. That's the kind of life she wants, the one constantly on the path of carnage, to follow a person who walks down this path and calls it home. Maybe she is admitting she can't think for herself, but she doesn't regret it since this is fact.

Wargle glances at Matilde who seems to be thinking this over. She then grins and asks if Mizuki is willing to follow her every order, to which she agrees. Matilde claps excitably and bubbles, she's never had a slave before. She then gleefully gives Mizuki her first assignment. Learn Korean. For every word she pronounces incorrectly or doesn't remember, it's a hundred needles on any given body part. Mizuki nods in agreement, which inwardly freaks Wargle out. If she had at least shown some kind of resistance he'd understand, but to what extent does Mizuki really not want to think for herself if that sort of punishment is okay? Matilde marches forward as Wargle steps in tune, leaving Mizuki to take up the rear. Wargle asks his 'boss' if she knows any Korean, which Matilde quickly replies in the negative. She is one hundred percent American. Maybe her parents were Korean, she's not sure.  Wargle decides to put aside the fact that she's not sure what her parents are, and instead asks how she'll know whether Mizuki is right or wrong? Matilde stops and turns to Wargle, a twisted sort of innocense in her eyes. She tells him 'there's no such thing as a wasted punishment if one learns from it', and resumes her march. Wargle glances back at Mizuki and shakes his head. He won't do anything to help her of course, but it doesn't mean he doesn't pity the poor thing.

A few days later, the Sector seven operatives are taking a break from packing and eat lunch while watching the news. Heike and Nolan decide to order take out while Lukas and Meifa decide to HQ sit for a little while.  Most of the other sectors have work to do, and Yelena had gone out as well leaving the two alone. Apparently the news broadcast through the TV at HQ is primarily for spies and has a whole host of programs and information civilians would never get to see. The current news is the mafia and a vigilante group having a brief skirmish. One man had sustained some injury on the vigilante side, while the mafia had sustained no damage at all. In the end the group managed to escape, though news in the underground indicates that the Mafia is still hot on the group's heels. A grainy picture is all that was secured of the vigilante group, though upon seeing it Lukas and Meifa immediately recognize Lady. Meifa shrugs it off, as she feels bad people have bad things happen to them. Lukas nods in agreement and notes that Meifa's hand is trembling under the table. He starts to assure her that Lady is fine, but thinks better of it and gets up to pack more of their things. Time is of the essence, and it's doubtful the govt is above putting their stuff on the curb if they don't take it with them. Meifa then stands and says she forgot to drop off something at the hospice and asks 'dipshit' to do it for her. n. Lukas makes a face and tells her to do it herself, and upon hearing the word 'hospice' asks when she and the group intend to see Ricca? They had gotten a text from Tyrell who said she had woken up a day or two ago.  Meifa asks why he can't just go on his own, seeing that he's the team leader and all. Lukas quickly changes the subject, regretting not getting carry out with Heike and Nolan. Meifa growls and says under her breath that 'he's going to have to see her sometime', to which Lukas glares at her but says nothing. Meifa then asks him again to drop something off to the hospice, to which Lukas repeats his previous answer. She cracks her knuckles and asks if it would be easier for him if he had a reason to go? She lunges at Lukas who darts out of the way, and asks what the hell she's doing. She lunges again and this time Lukas trips over a book, just as she reaches in to hit him.

A few moments later Lukas is standing outside of the building with a shoddily patched up broken nose. To her credit, Meifa proclaimed her innocence (but did not apologize) saying she only meant to hit him in the jaw. Lukas sighs and looks at the letter in his hand. He realizes this is the same hospice where Ricca is and sighs. What makes this so important that Meifa couldn't just wait for Nolan or Heike to come back to deliver it? In any case he would just leave it at the reception desk, and leave since he's not mentally ready to see Ricca yet, her missing arm still haunting his consciousness. Lukas looks up from the envelope and sees a white haired girl staring up at him, cluching a cellphone in her hand. He makes a face and asks 'Chiaki' what she's doing here.  Chiaki furiously types a reply on her cellphone which causes Lukas's to buzz to life. Her text states her intent to go with him, and he asks why she'd want to. Is she going to bitch at him for not seeing Ricca too? Chiaki shakes her head and produces a first aid kit from a bag, to which Lukas mouths 'I love you' to her before holding his hands out for the first aid box.

As the two take the bus to the hospice Lukas pokes at his nose injury and shudders. Chiaki is a bit better than Meifa at dressing first aid, but it still hurts him to touch it. Chiaki stares out the window into space, and Lukas recalls how they met. Born to MIA  Japanese parents in Ireland; apparently she like he knows about the WD theorem, though to literally keep her quiet, her vocal chords had been removed. She had wandered the streets of Ireland after that, until Nolan took pity on her and secretly kept her in his house. Eventually he left to join Sector seven and Chiaki had stayed behind until Lady's group had contacted Nolan's aunt who had become a member, and therefore wanted Chiaki dead. She had fled to America to ask Nolan for help, and after the case had been closed became an honorary member of sorts of the team. Like most girls, she has a great aptitude for texting on cellphones, though in her case it's because it's her only means of communication. Lukas asks her if she knows about the team disbanding, and she nods. He then asks what she'll do from here on in, and she texts back to him that she'll probably do whatever Nolan is doing. She then asks what Lukas will do, to which he replies that he's not sure yet. Chiaki texts back a reply. 'If not now, when?' To which Lukas can only stare at the screen and think about his answer.

The two reach the hospice and as he said he would, Lukas gives the envelope to the receptionist who thanks him. He asks what it is, and the receptionist replies that it's a donation to the hospice. It had been news that they'd probably lose their funding soon, due to the work there being contracted out for better efficiency, so people had been giving donations to keep the lights on. Lukas is surprised since Meifa never really acts out of concern for anyone other than herself, and then asks if he can donate too.  The receptionist nods, and Lukas writes out a check. After that is done, he prepares to leave when a familiar voice gushes with excitement upon seeing him. Lukas's face scrunches up and he turns around slowly to see Ricca being pushed by an orderly. She jumps out of her wheelchair upon seeing him and gives the operative a long embrace. She gives the same treatment to Chiaki and then asks if the two will stay since she's been lonely. Chiaki nods happily and Lukas as glum as he is now has no choice but to accept her invitation too. He tries hard to not look at her missing arm, but finds his eyes glancing down at the sleeve of her pajamas that is flat and unoccupied, and immediately becoming filled with a sense of dread.

Ricca leads the two to the roof, as she loves to watch the sunset. Lukas apologizes to her for not bringing the team here sooner, though to his surprise Ricca informs him that they were here earlier today. She had asked why he didn't come with him, but they said he was busy with work. Lukas remembers waking up and no one being there that morning, and when he had asked the group where they had gone, they simply responded 'Mcdonalds run'. He curses them for leaving him out on purpose, and then gives a special mention to 'that bitch Meifa' who purposely sent him up here by himself. Ricca invites Lukas to sit beside her and Chiaki and the three watch the sun sink beyond the horizon for a while in silence until Lukas finally asks what Ricca plans on doing now?

Ricca smiles sheepishly which confuses Lukas. She tells him she's heard about the team being disbanded, but she doesn't believe that will last long, since they're all good friends. Lukas wants to point out that friendship won't overturn a court decision, but shoves his reality to the back of his brain. Ricca continues that she'll probably go back home to Italy for a while since some of her relatives had heard of her accident and want to see her. She then turns to Lukas and bows her head, asking very formally to allow her to continue serving with Sector seven when they should reunite. She apologizes and adds she may not be able to do her job the way she once had, but she will work to ensure she continues to meet the standards Sector seven requires. Lukas stands up and despite himself asks how she could possibly want to work with them again after what happened. She lost an arm! An arm! It's not going to grow back because of the magic of friendship or anything like that! How could she...want to live this kind of life any more?

Ricca turns to him and with a serious expression replies that it's the same reason she loves to work on bombs. It's something she enjoys. If she spent her life worrying about getting blown up, she wouldn't get anywhere. It's the same as working with Sector seven. The work is dangerous, sure, but its with the people she loves. Though, even when doing something one enjoys, there runs the risk of making mistakes and losing something precious; and to be honest she had thought about quitting but something she had told herself a long time ago is what makes this decision the easiest and most obvious for her.

Lukas knows Ricca usually quotes life lessons from her Dad, so he's a bit surprised when she smiles and says that this is something she her self thought of. Ricca states even if she falls, even if she loses everything, she'll be fine as long as she looks forward and asks herself 'what can I do from here on in'? 'What does tomorrow hold'? It's what's got her through tough times before, and what keeps her going now. Knowing that even if things don't work out today that 'tomorrow' will be there is what is the most important part of living.

Lukas looks into Ricca's eyes, filled with determination, and asks her quietly if he can hold it...her arm. She nods and adds 'I thought you'd never ask.' He does so and while closing his eyes thanks her for her service and adds that he looks forward to working with her in the future.

The sun is nearly out of sight and the three are still there, though Chiaki and Ricca are fast asleep. Lukas remains on the bench as the orange of dusk gives way to the jet blue of night. The only thing on his mind as he stares into the distance is his own contributions....and his own decisions.

'From here on in, huh....'