#its missing the little metal bobbin case so i had to order it

[possum-down]

finally worked through the mental block to fiddle with the sewing machine i got and it works! i think

[darkmindsthinktwistedthoughts]

Devil’s Temptation pt17

Warning: Mod Styling warlords, Strong Language

Masterlist

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Chapter 17 – Masterful Lessons

Tower after tower of blinking lights and electric clicking sounds. It was just a massive dense digital rainforest of mainframe computing. Sasuke actually enjoyed this aspect of his job more than the weapons. He never liked fighting, he did, however, see the need to raise arms when protecting someone he loved. Kenshin had taken him in after seeing potential in him, although he was never told exactly what that potential was. 

His family wasn’t part of the crime world both his parents and grandparents had been in education. At some point during university, he was forced to drop out due to lack of funds and that was when the trouble started. Looking back, it was a hard introduction to the underworld.

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Loan sharks. The bottom feeders. His parents had agreed to be guarantors on a loan for a friend who later turned up dead. Dead or not a loan is a loan and the debt collectors wanted the money. Sasuke was home when they broke in and went for his mother and sister. He jumped in before he could think and protected them. His father came home later to find a battered and bloody Sasuke being tended too by his mother. Desperate for help Sasuke informed them he’d find a job that would help and he would take on the debt. He didn’t want them targeted again.

Sasuke walked through the white marble entrance into the Uesugi buildings, clutching his CV in his hand. Kenshin was passing by the reception on his way back from a meeting when he collapsed. He was white as snow and getting colder with each passing second. It was his quick thinking that prevented him from slipping off the mortal coil completely before an ambulance could arrive. Sasuke often wondered if there was such a thing as fate. Something that tied others together through the threads of time. After receiving medical treatment in hospital Kenshin sought him out and offered him a job.

“Mr Uesugi. I am no fighter, Sir. At best I have a very basic level of understanding of self-defence.”

“But you have formidable analytical skills and your grades in other areas such as calculus, economics and electronics could prove to be useful to me. Are you aware of what I do?” Kenshin addressed the young Sasuke.

“I’ve heard rumours.”

“Then I shall add an ability to listen and show discretion and caution to your list of merits.” Kenshin approached the young man from behind his desk, locking Sasuke in his sights. The only emotion the man exuded was determination. “I am not asking you to fight just stand by my side and learn, follow orders and as for the rest… I’ll train you myself.”

He felt a small sense of dread rising within him at accepting such an offer but he also knew he needed a job. He needed to help protect his family. Swimming in the same lake as Kenshin Uesugi would not just kill all his birds with one stone it should set him up with a way to take down the scum at the bottom of the barrel and help protect others from the same fate.

“Then I am in your care.” Sasuke bowed.

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Yukimura entered the room behind Sasuke a large tool bag in hand, putting it down on the ground with a thump that brought Sasuke back to the present. Mitsunari trotted in after carrying the laptop and several hand-held circuit readers, nearly dropping them as he stumbled.

“Oops… Oh! Thank you.”

“No Problem.” Sasuke caught the tech in his hands before they had time to tumble to the ground.

“Why are we doing this and not just you know…” Yukimura asked as he made tapping fingers on invisible keyboard gestures “Digi stuff?”

“Digi stuff?” Mitsunari inclined his head.

“You’ll have to excuse Yukimura Mitsunari. Technical terminology is time-consuming jargon to him.” Sasuke explained as he removed some blueprints from the tool bag and the other men gathered next to him to look at the map of circuitry.

“Is that meant to be a dig at me?”

“Of course not. I admire your honesty and straightforwardness it saves time.” Sasuke was nothing if not completely honest as well. It was one of the things that Yukimura liked about him. That and the guy seemed completely useless when it came to lying.

“So, we are looking for what? A wiretap or something?” Yukimura looked from the coloured lines on the blueprint to the towers in the room. Talk about a needle in a haystack.

“Not quite. From observations on the code streams I’ve seen, there was nothing to suggest that the IP had been jacked by an outside location.” Sasuke calmly explained details as simply as he could.

“Someone did something on the inside?” Mitsunari ran his fingers over the information laid out before him, his purple eyes dilating as he scanned the new information.

“Yes, I believe someone has placed a separate server in here and linked that to the internal mainframe network.” Sasuke began calculating sections of the mainframe mentally. “In that case, they wouldn’t need to hack just access their own server in order to access the files they wanted.”

“Wait. If it isn’t hacked what the hell set off the alarms then? I mean if it was all linked up and they didn’t have to hack, it shouldn’t have set off the alert. Right?” Yukimura was even more confused. You wanted action he could do that you wanted strategic planning and plotting that was always Shingen’s domain.

“I think it comes down to timing. A few days ago, the monthly maintenance occurred. After that, all main server passwords were changed automatically by predetermined algorithms. If the additional server was added before this and the ones doing that didn’t know…”

“All it would take is for them to attempt access with an old password claiming to be part of the system for it to flag up a problem.” Mitsunari cut of Sasuke seamlessly. It was like looking at two people sharing a brain and saying the same thing. Yukimura had to work hard to suppress the urge to hum the theme from the twilight zone.

“Ok… well let’s find this thing.”

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A battered, oxidized business sign welcomed the car's arrival with its pealing lead paint. Shin could say one thing about this city, it provided convenient secluded locations for work.

Shin opened the driver’s door and grimaced as his clean black shoes touched the dirty and neglected ground in the abandoned factories forecourt. Great… just great. Clicking the fob on the key he popped the trunk and was happy to see the human cargo was still out for the count. Shin bent down slipping one of Mitsuhide’s arms over his shoulder and then after shifting the weight a little grabbed a leg and draped the prone form of Mitsuhide over his shoulders. You are heavier than you look Mr Akechi.

It took around an hour to set things up. The facilities weren’t exactly as clinical as he would have liked but they would work. Industrial looms sat in inches of dust, old textile fragments hung from the air like long forgotten flags on a battlefield. Discarded bobbins and other bric-a-brac scattered on the ground like a storm had passed through. He located a room towards the back of the building that was stable and clear enough for him to work safely. After making sure Mitsuhide was “comfortable” and secure he set up his tools on a clean sheet near his soon to be very helpful guest.

Time ticked by slowly and he watched as the crucified figure before him started to stir back into life. They were testing things with little movements that could have easily been missed if you weren’t paying attention. The rattle of the metal behind them was the last sound he needed to hear that told him they were truly conscious.

“I see you’re awake.”

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The drug haze was lifting from his mind a little as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the bad lighting around him. He didn’t think he would be alone so the sound of a voice talking to him from the gloom was not shocking. It would have been stranger had he actually just been left alone to dangle. Looks like the fun has started. Let’s see who has the stronger hand.

“Ah, I see I have finally got you where I need you.” Mitsuhide’s voice was a little strained. It was to be expected he hadn’t used it since being drugged and he was tied up at present.

“Isn’t that what I was meant to say next?” Shin asks chuckling a little at the ridiculousness of the claim. He had been a little further away in the room sitting on a foldable chair, drinking tea from his thermos patiently waiting for Mitsuhide to regain consciousness.

“Not if you knew what I do.” A wicked smile that almost seemed to glow in the darkness spread over Mitsuhide’s face. Fake it till you make it. 

It was unnerving. Shin knew this game, it was a mental game of chicken. But what if it wasn’t a game? People normally beg for life or to make whatever it was you were going to do to them quick. That was standard response in this situation and he had been prepared to listen to that. Have I truly missed something? He seems far too sure of himself to just be playing games.

“Talk is cheap and in a short while you won’t be talking much longer.” Shin spoke levelly as he moved a little closer.

“Now who’s saying who’s lines? Ha-ha and to think I thought you were a Pro. I overestimated you. You’re nothing but a rank amateur at this.” Mitsuhide persisted with his taunting. Shin’s eyes were glancing around discreetly as he tried not to show what he was doing. He was curious, he was interested… he was starting to second guess himself. Good. I can work with that.

“Amateur! You dare call your captor that, in your position? Clearly, we both overestimated each other. I always thought you were smart.” Shin lost his perfect composure. In all his years in dispatch, working in the shadows cleaning the path for his employer he had never been so disrespected. Really Mr Takada something as small, as your captive taunting you, is enough to make you crack?

“Let me explain for the benefit of the class.” Mitsuhide grinned devilishly and dipped his face down. The light caused deep shadows to fall over his features, his yellow eyes glowed as he watched the other man. It all looked… unnatural. “You try this in my city, in my playground with no clue of what you are doing…” 

“Why you little…”

“Ah ah ah. I’m talking. You will wait till I finish.” Mitsuhide interrupted Shin and held his control over the conversation easily. Pausing for a few seconds to revel in the other man’s agitated confusion. “There’s a good boy. Well now. By the condition of this place and the direction of the light coming you could have only brought me to one of two buildings. But knowing an amateur this is probably the old carpet factory.”

Mitsuhide was bluffing. Bluff a bad hand and see if it's enough to make the challenger raise his interest and take the bait. He had always had a way of making things sound believable and worked it to his advantage. You can fake mostly anything if you have a basic knowledge on it. You just had to use the right words and have the ability to keep your nerve while acting confident. When playing games, it was a boon. And there is no bigger game than one where your life is forfeit. The fact was this building was one he was intimately familiar with, he had used it himself many times. If you had just travelled a little further and gone to the storage and loading areas you would have seen it. You would have recognised… this is my playroom… my dungeon. But you didn’t, did you?

“How?... not that it matters. You know where you will die.” The hesitation in his voice was telling. Shin was definitely feeling like he had missed something vital. He had moved back again and was roaming his eyes around as if he thought he would see a clear indication that way of what was going on.

“Ah ah ah I’m still talking!” Mitsuhide kept his captor’s attention from wandering in a direction that could work logically. Distractions. They could be simple or they could be hard but ultimately a distraction is a distraction, and they can cost you dearly.

“Why does it feel as if we have reversed roles?” Shin muttered to himself, bringing his hand up to the back of his neck and rubbing it. This should have been simple. It should have been easy. Everything was planned… everything had been thought out and arranged. He had taken everything into account. Except for the victim. The infuriatingly calm, goading man before him. This whole situation was wrong, but Shin couldn’t think clearly long enough for him to make any of it make sense to him.

“On with the lesson. You tie me to a…” Mitsuhide gave a little wriggle as he once again tested his own position. “closed elevator gate and by the feel of it… oh yes…. Mhm…. you used plastic ties on my wrists.” He kept his expression the same, head angled to the side as if he was still checking details. His feral grin frozen in place. If Shin had been closer, he would have seen Mitsuhide’s eyes starting to dilate. The pain of being suspended, the uncomfortable biting sensation digging in his wrists from the cable ties. I really hate to admit it to myself, but this does feel exceptionally nice… No that can wait for another day. A different path to entertainment and pleasure has presented itself.

Shin noticed the change. It should have been minor but to him, it was as clear as the traverse of the night into day. That guy is so calm. I seriously feel like I’m missing some-… wait, is he enjoying this?

“And you left my legs unbound? Tut… tut. Although I would say that is ok, as long as you don’t intend to get closer than ten feet now that I am aware that I can move them.” As Mitsuhide spoke Shin stepped back a couple of feet without even realising he was moving.  “Second mistake.” Mitsuhide’s head snapped up. A movement that was so sharp and sudden that it made Shin jolt.

“Another? What?”

Panic. That was what that foreign feeling was inside him now. His organised attack. His well thought out plan. All of it falling apart and failing him and he couldn’t see how. The barbed tongue of the viper before him had laced his words with such effective poison that he didn’t even realise the control he had lost until it was completely taken from him. This was not good at all. Shin looked over and the rippling chill that was filling him moved like a flash freeze in his system. His gun, his tools… all of them cleanly and meticulously laid out for use. All of them were around twenty feet too far away for him to reach. Shit…

“This elevator is more than seventy years old and the gate likewise. An amateur would put a brand-new lock on such a gate to keep it closed I… oh, look how confused he is at this simple comment. Did you figure out the problem yet?... No? ok, looks like a demonstration is in order as you still don’t seem to be getting it.” Mitsuhide chuckled sinisterly in the darkness. It was worse than any horror film audio Shin had heard. It travelled in the air, clinging and sticking to things, bouncing off them only to echo more. “Right, are we paying attention?” Shin didn’t move. He couldn’t in the same way he couldn’t look at anything else but the malignant and terrifying spectre in front of him. “What happens when a new solid reinforced metal strikes against an old rusted piece of metal?”

“It… It breaks.” Shin answered rather like a programmed doll. There was a brief moment of triumph in his voice as he got the right answer but it was washed away by a wave of anxiety as he looked at the new Yale lock hanging like a wish token in a temple on the gate.

“Correct” Mitsuhide cried out as he managed to swing his legs to the side and kick off from the solid wall. 

The stress and pressure of such a sudden movement caused the padlock to snap the rusted metal it was on, breaking its hold on the gate and making the hinges weaken. The binds on his wrists twisted into his flesh drawing blood. But that was only a momentary euphoric agony as the gate began to concertina and snap shut behind him. The folding metal cleaved the plastic ties from him as it went. 

Gracefully Mitsuhide landed softly on the ground just in front of the gates behind him. Hinges giving out finally causing the rusted metal to frame him like corroded wings. “As I was saying. I have you exactly where I want you. In a locked room where I have access to the only escape route.” Shin stood there in awe. He had never seen that. Never had a meal turn on its plate and fight back. Never seen someone look as inhuman and wild as Mitsuhide. “And would you look at that? You even laid out all these charming little toys beside me.”

Mitsuhide felt a familiar thrill straining within him. He could drink until his body passed out and never feel this kind of intoxication. His voice was low and growling, his movements were smoke edged with lethal intent. You broke the chain. You fed the beast. Time to pay the price.

“Well, Mr Takada… Are you ready to play a game?”

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