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New WD Rule fifteen

Page history last edited by Sakaki 10 years ago

 

 

WD Rule fifteen is entitled 'There are times where there isn't a right answer, just greater and lesser degrees of 'wrong'.

 

Previous rule fourteen: Family is a business that is only sometimes is worth the time put into it, but one can't help but start anyway.

Next rule sixteen: No, Silence is not golden. Like everything else it's worth exactly as much as what one is willing to give up for it

Summary page

 

-Short summary-

 

Lukas, Jia and Jitka make it to Jia's home, but Dao's far reaching criminal enterprise doesn't allow them a moment to rest leaving Lukas to make a tough decision...

 

-Long summary-

 

Lukas’s mouth gapes open as he stands in front of Jia’s house---er, building.  From the outside it looks like a miniature luxury hotel, complete with a fancy entrance. The building itself has two stories, a side entrance, and a flat top roof with a wall on it’s right side. There are four windows from the front for one to get a view from, as well as a bay window on it’s left side which splits off into a different building that has a sliding door. The trees in front are obviously new and not yet fully in bloom, and a sidewalk to the left leads down to a garage for visitors vehicles. Lukas whistles and keeps gawking until his brother politely asks if he’d like to maybe gawk at the inside? It’s really nice in there too.

 

Lukas makes a face and asks if it’s really just him and his mother living here? If so, why would they possibly need so much space? Jia shrugs a shoulder and comments that their dear old dad made sure that the two of them are well taken care of. He can’t always be around, so he makes sure that in his absence that they live as luxuriously as possible. For a moment, the operative considers this and finds himself wondering where his father is now, and if he’s still able to keep up payments on a place like this.

 

Jitka points at the front door, and Lukas nods. He hadn’t seen any of Dao’s guys pursuing them, so they should be okay to head in through the front. The sooner they get in and are relatively safe, the better.

 

The trio make their way to the entrance where they see a woman waiting. Jia looks up and gives her a weak smile and greeting in Chinese. The woman looks surprised upon seeing him, but keeps a reserved expression. She then turns to the doorway and guides them in.  Once they have entered, she claps her hands and two men appear seemingly out of nowhere and listen as she gives them commands in Mandarin. They nod and surround Lukas, taking Jia from his shoulder and escorting he and Jitka to a nearby room. Jia is taken somewhere else where the woman follows him, which leaves Jitka and Lukas in a separate room alone.

 

The room is well furnished with a single bed in one corner and a desk with a laptop and lamp in another. A window that faces out the side and has white linen curtains is adjacent to the entrance, and a bathroom with a shower is on the side.  Lukas sits at the desk which has a small flat screen TV behind it, as Jitka stands by the side of the window and peers outside on the lookout for trouble.  They had abandoned the car  when they had gotten close to Jia’s house, and had safely managed to duck, weave and hobble the rest of the way there.  Lukas tries not to let himself relax too much though, as they have no idea where and when Dao will send his guys over. Still, with their current digs, the operative can’t help but be lulled into a temporary sense of security. How it would be great if he could have come for a social visit…

 

The woman from earlier enters the room and Lukas’s sense of security vanishes. Right, he would probably have to explain things to her wouldn’t he? A shame he doesn’t speak Chinese, and while it seems Jitka does understand the language he’s not sure how rude it would be to communicate exclusively by writing.

 

Now that she’s standing before them, he sees that she is maybe late twenties-early thirties? (To be honest it’s always hard for him to tell the exact age of Asian women…) And wears a pink floral cheongsam and has her black hair up in a bun. She has slippers on and is a bit shorter than Lukas. She has a gentle but firm expression, like one who is here to break bad news in a very professional matter, and on her arm is a set of bangles. Lukas sheepishly grins and starts to say that he doesn’t speak Chinese, but she surprises him by asking him to relax in English. Her accent is barely there, a sign that she has been speaking English for many years but as a second language.

 

Lukas nods and asks if she understands the situation? She nods and replies that she does more or less. Lukas sighs in relief and apologizes for barging in. He then asks her if he can speak to Ms. Kuang? No doubt she’d want to know what happened to her son…

 

The woman blinks and tilts her head. She asks Lukas who he thinks he’s speaking to? Lukas double takes and sputters…sh—she’s Jia’s mom? She smiles warmly and bows, introducing herself as Kuang Liwha, the owner of the building they’re currently residing in.  Lukas stands up and bows awkwardly, introducing himself as well. He then apologizes for not acknowledging her sooner, as he wasn’t expecting Jia’s mom to be so…well…

 

Liwha allows herself a small laugh as she murmurs something in Mandarin. Is the word ‘Young’ what he is looking for? She’s flattered, but she’s already 39 years old. Not quite old enough to want to be younger, but not quite an old lady yet either. She then looks Lukas over and comments that he takes after his father.  She too wishes that they could have met in a less stressful situation, but we can’t choose who we encounter nor how we encounter them. The thing now is to make the best with what they have now. The operative agrees non verbally and thinks to himself that she seems really quite accustomed to underworld, judging from her quick reaction in regards to her son’s treatment and lack of commentary on it. Then again maybe that’s just the price of entry when getting in bed with the mob. As selfish as it is, Lukas really wishes a lady as nice as her could have avoided being sucked into this kind of life…

 

Lihwa regards Jitka for a moment, and then gazes at Lukas. The operative isn’t sure how to describe her relationship with him, but before he can, Lihwa nods slowly and quietly says she understands the situation. Jitka gives her a level look and the two women simply size each other up. She then asks Lukas without turning to him how he plans on proceeding? She assumes that they look haggard not because they were able to leisurely make their way here. They were pursued right?

 

Lukas is silent for a moment and admits that this is the truth. He assumes she knows of Li Dao? Lihwa closes her eyes and mutters a curse in Mandarin. She knew that eventually things would come to this. Dao’s been out for her son’s blood since he went to America three years ago. Jia wanted to march in and deal with the situation immediately but she managed to talk him out of it.  Still Dao is a problem that won’t go away simply by ignoring him. She also heard that he has his sights on taking over the cult and running both the American and Chinese branches.  In short he wants to start a war that could possibly engulf both countries.

 

Lukas grimaces, understanding the implications of Dao’s ambition. He then asks if they should take him on then? Lihwa is silent and replies that there really isn’t a right answer to that question. Just ‘wrong’ answers of different qualities. Dao is extremely powerful and influential…taking him on directly is suicide. Yet if they don’t stop him, they will die anyway. Now that he has Jia and his seat in his sights, he won’t stop until he has them both. However, they may be able to use this to their advantage. The more they’re able to drag this out, the more likely it is that he will slip up and reveal a weakness for them to exploit. If that should happen, they may just be able to stop him and keep their lives.

 

Jitka clears her throat and nods out the window. Lukas follows her gaze and sees a man in black scanning the perimeter and giving orders to cohorts. The jig is up and their would be executioners have arrived.  The operative breathes in sharply and turns away from the window. Jia’s mom has made it clear that they need to draw things out. The question is how are they going to manage that? Heading outside is basically a death sentence, and while they might have a few guys here to hold down the fort, Dao’s basically got an ocean while they have a lake. The only way this will work is if they have a good plan.

 

Lihwa surprises the teens by standing up and saying she’ll keep them at bay. In that time, she hopes Lukas will come up with one of those plans that her son is so fond of talking about. The operative shakes his head and empathetically tells her not to go. Despite his reputation, he’s really not good at thinking under pressure, and he’d never be able to face Jia if something happens to her. Lihwa is unshaken and reminds him that sometimes there is no ‘right’ answer. In that case he should be thinking of the least ‘wrong’ one. With that she bids farewell in Mandarin and closes the door behind her. Jitka gives Lukas an even look, and the operative groans. Give him a break! Considering how far off course this job has gone she should give him credit that they’re not dead. Though he mulls over her words for a moment. What’s the ‘least’ wrong decision in this situation?

 

Outside Lihwa strides to the entrance with no hesitation. Two men dressed in suits fall in behind her as she walks outdoors and meets group of grunts. She asks in an authoritative voice where their leader is, and after a long silence one of the grunts dials Dao up on a cell phone and asks him how he wants to proceed? He then puts the phone on speaker and Dao addresses Jia’s mom as ‘Her Highness’, and asks how she’s doing today? Lihwa replies that she’s doing well, and thanks Dao for sending her son back in one piece. She goes on and states that it must have taken quite a bit of restraint to do so….or maybe he just wasn’t able to do anything at all? She finds it hard to believe that if Jia was in his clutches and he could have ended him easily –if he weren’t inept, but heaven forbid she a simple woman ever accuse him of being unable to kill a single man.

 

One can almost hear Dao’s sneer as he reminds her that good things must always end. It’s the human condition to see suffering before salvation etc. If she’s here to beg for her son’s life she’s doing a pretty bad job. He knows fully well what kind of connections she has to the Luciano run mafia and therefore won’t kill her outright, but she shouldn’t think that accidents can’t and won’t happen. Especially since the cult has aims to take the underworld crown. Soon Luciano’s name will just be a whisper of the damned as they take their last breath, and her protection will die along with them.

 

Lihwa responds in kind that if he’s trying to say that he’s going to charge in and kill her son and his half-brother that he’s doing a bad job. They both know all too well what a frontal assault means. Dao is silent for a moment before his voice laced with malice returns and agrees that a frontal assault would be bad.

 

Lukas peers out into the hallway after a noise caught his attention. After scanning the perimeter he figures it was just a trick of his unconscious (and nervous) mind, but feels the cold poke of a gun from behind.

 

Dao wouldn’t dream of going through the front door, but he would have guys sneak in from the side windows and doors.

 

Lukas can smell the blood in the air and can immediately surmise that these gents didn’t leisurely walk upstairs to escort him out. He quickly turns and shuts the door on his would be assassin, diving on the bed to avoid two silenced shots where he once was. Jitka springs into action and returns fire nailing the gunman in the chest twice, but he is quickly replaced with another who fires upon the teenaged gunwoman. She takes a shot in the shoulder and forearm which causes her to drop her weapon. Lukas grits his teeth and fires back with the pistol she gave him earlier, shooting the intruder in the leg. He then grabs Jitka and summoning his inner last action hero jumps out the window sending glass and debris into the air.

 

Lihwa looks up at the sound and Dao sarcastically asks if anything is the matter? It sounds like she’s having a bit of intruder trouble. As she can see, his men are all standing in front of her and he has been enjoying their conversation far too much to order them to do anything. Could it be that another unrelated party has decided to crash their festivities? How very rude! And more succinctly out of his control.

 

Miraculously grabbing a ledge, the operative slings Jitka on a lower veranda before climbing up himself. He can hear more footsteps coming their way and realizes being in a small confined place is a dream come true for their pursuers. He apologizes to Jitka for the necessary roughness, and jumps down again this time on the outside not too far from where Lihwa and Dao are speaking.

 

Liwha curses Dao who innocently asks why she should speak to him so harshly? It’s unbecoming of a ‘simple woman’. Two men appear from the front entrance with Jia in tow, and toss him in front. His mother looks pained for a moment but doesn’t move, as Lukas starts to make his way over with the pistol ready. He’ll be damned if he watches his family get killed!

 

Then it occurs to him. On the gradient scale of possibly incorrect decisions, how far in the red would this one be? How much would he stand to lose if he keeps going down this path?

 

How wrong can he be and still be right?

 

It is during this retrospective that Lukas realizes that he right answer –the simplest one has always been right in front of him. It’s funny how the right answer to one person might always be intrinsically ‘wrong’ to someone else. In the scheme of things, even the right answer is in some way fundamentally ‘wrong’. The only thing that keeps a guy from going insane however is the ‘reason’ behind such a decision. The effect.  To make a decision is to strive towards a desired ‘effect’.  As long as one knows that then the answer is always simple.

 

Lukas knows what he wants, and knows what he has to do to get it. He doesn’t like it, but it fulfils the criteria of being his ‘right’.

 

He walks over to Lihwa and nods in her direction. She looks surprised at first, but that gives way to understanding. She nods back and Lukas mouths an apology before turning to Dao’s stand in and gathering his resolve.

 

He admits defeat.

 

He’s the leader of the group that had killed and injured his men back at their HQ, and the de facto representative for Ruka Deguchi and the American branch. As such he’s the guy Dao wants to kill. He’s taking responsibility for the conduct of his underlings –the girl and his brother by offering them all up as a sacrifice to quench his thirst for revenge. As such he has to guarantee that Lihwa and her home not sustain any more damage in their conflict and that she be left alone. If he can swear to this then he, his brother, and the girl will give themselves up quietly and await whatever it he has planned for them.

 

Dao is silent for a long moment, and then responds with a surprising amount of reverence for his opponent. You just don’t see that much honor in the underworld nowadays. Of course it doesn’t change their fate one damn bit. Still it’s a testament to how things once were. He accepts the deal and orders his men to take Lukas, Jitka and Jia. He wants to deal with them personally.

 

Lukas looks back at his partners apologetically. As far as the ‘right’ thing to do, this was the least ‘wrong’ of all their options. He would have shouldered the whole burden himself, but he knows Dao wants Jia for personal reasons and Jitka and himself for professional ones. This is the only deal he would have accepted.

 

Jia smirks in response and Jitka keeps her muted expression. In their own way they approve of Lukas’s response to their situation, and resign themselves to follow him. Lihwa retains her calm composure, but her eyes reflect the concern of a mother. She turns to the two men with her and gives orders to check if anyone is alive inside. She then silently bows as Lukas walks past her and apparently doesn’t notice the gesture.

 

Appearances aside the group may have admitted defeat but they can tell from Lukas’s expression that he has far from given up.

 

The operative’s eyes burn with unmasked resolve as he, his brother and the teenaged assassin are taken back to enemy HQ and Dao’s unforgiving clutches.

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