“You’re family, Jason. All you ever have to do is ask.”
Jason turned and offered his uncle a smile.
“I admire you for feeling that way after the way the family has treated you. I was less magnanimous, with less reason to be.”
“Your brother stole the girl you loved since you were ten years old, Jason. That’s seriously not okay.”
“I know, right?” Jason said. “It’s nice to have someone actually say it. My own mother more or less told me to suck it up and be happy for them.”
“I’m going to be honest, Jason; I never liked Cheryl.”
“Really?” Jason asked with a chuckle. “You always hid it so well.”
“I swear that the only reason she kept the baby was your father being Japanese.”
“Don’t you dare say yellow fever,” Jason said.
“I’m not that crass,” Hiro said. “I’m pretty sure she was entranced by the idea of an adorable Japanese baby, though.”
“In her defence, Erika was very adorable,” Jason said. “I swear Dad took more photos of her than Kaito and me put together.”
“She really was the cutest little girl,” Hiro agreed with a reminiscent smile. “Sometimes I wish I’d had some of my own, but I liked being an uncle. Before things went bad.”
“Did things go bad after I left you with those hoodlums?”
“Hoodlums?” Hiro said with a laugh. “Jason, we don’t carry money out of banks in a big sack with a dollar sign on it.”
“How am I meant to know that?” Jason asked. “If I was a criminal mastermind, I wouldn’t need your help.”
“Taika has your money,” Hiro said. “Full market price.”
Jason frowned.
“Why? That’s taking a loss on the deal. I’m not looking to rip anyone off and I’m not looking to get played.”
“After you left, Ari called our boss. He decided what to pay you, but he also wants to meet you. You should know that the man we talked about, Vermillion, will probably be there.”
“He works for your boss?”
“Definitely not,” Hiro said. “I’m not sure who Vermillion works for exactly, but my boss is very careful about how he treats them and their secrets. All I know is that there’s some kind of group that has no interest in criminal enterprises themselves, only maintaining some useful contacts. I don’t know if they’re government spooks or corporate pricks that make me and mine look clean and occasionally need some dirty work done. They’ve got way more juice than my boss, though, let alone me. Vermillion is someone from that group the boss occasionally calls on for favours. He scares my boss as much as everyone else.”
“Alright,” Jason said. “I don’t want to cause you more trouble than I have, so set up a meeting with your boss. In the meantime, I’ve brought a lot of strangeness to your door. I know you must have questions.”
“I thought you came to me because you knew I wouldn’t push.”
“And you haven’t, which I appreciate. But fair is fair, Uncle, and you deserve some answers. That said, there are things I think it’s better you don’t know. Some doors you open can’t be closed again.”
“Jason, you’re being very clandestine. Faking your own death, the self-driving car, the secrets practically dripping off of you.”
“The James Bond thing again?”
“The James Bond thing,” Hiro said. “Did you go off and join ASUS or something?”
“Nothing so safe,” Jason said lightly. “As you said, there’s a very big secret hanging over me and I’m starting to suspect that there are powerful people invested in keeping it.”
“This organisation that Vermillion belongs to?”
“Maybe,” Jason said. “They may only be part of a wider circle. I don’t know who these people are or what they would do if they found out you knew the things I’ve been keeping from you. But if you’re willing to take the risk, I’m willing to tell you everything. To answer all your questions.”
Jason let out a frustrated sigh.
“You’ve been unreserved in helping me,” he continued. “I fear that all I’ve done in return is bring danger to your door. If you get involved in my affairs, you’ll have no more protection than what I can personally offer. Ignorance is an uncomfortable shield, but it may be the best one you have.”
“Alright,” Hiro said. His curiosity was enough to war strongly against his prudence. “How about I ask you some questions and you tell me when we’re nudging into dangerous territory?”
“That works,” Jason said. “I know you must have some pressing questions. Things haven’t quite seemed rational since I showed up, have they?”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Hiro said. “Things have been getting strange for a while now and you turning up is just one more thing. It’s like that feeling before a storm. The people I work with, we’ve all felt it. This EOA group with their juiced-up thugs. The army running around with their terrorist readiness exercises that are so transparently a cover-up for something. This guy Vermillion and whoever’s behind him. There’s a game going on in the dark that I can’t see. I don’t know the rules and they’re changing on me anyway. Then you show up and I get the feeling that maybe you can see through the dark. Maybe you know the rules.”
Hiro shook his head.
“Or maybe not,” he said. “This probably sounds like nonsense to you.”
“No,” Jason said. “As it happens, I really can see through the dark. I don’t know who the players are, but I’ve played this kind of game before and I’ve already started looking for answers. I don’t have them yet but, for now, you were promised yours.”
Hiro rubbed a hand over his face, unsure of where to start. After the encounter with Ari, he couldn’t help but compare the dangerous and enigmatic Vermillion with the returned Jason. The way Ari reacted; Hiro knew that fear. Standing in front of Vermillion was like floating in the water in front of a giant shark.
“Did you really make Ari’s dogs go submissive like that?”
“Yes,” Jason answered.
“And the thing you did that scared Ari and his guys. That was the same thing?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think it’s the same thing Vermillion does?”
“I can’t be certain, without meeting the man,” Jason said. “It seems likely.”
“And what is that thing?”
Jason gave his uncle an awkward smile.
“This is where we head into dangerous territory, Uncle. I’ll try and explain enough to give some understanding, but I’m going to start out very vague. If you want more details, you can have them. But be certain before you ask.”
“How dangerous is this secret you’re not telling me, Jason?”
“I honestly don’t know. I have no idea about the local situation, which I’m hoping this Vermillion character can help me to rectify.”
“You want to meet him?”