"No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read."
--David McCullough
"Ah, Aramaki-kun, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"A long time indeed, Yamashita-kun. When I received the message and saw your name, it was like a ghost from the past." The two sat down at an outdoor table at the cafe, warm even in the shade of a large peach tree, and a plainly-dressed android waitress brought a pot of tea and two cups.
"A ghost, indeed!" Yamashita smiled slightly, creases lining his face, and then carefully poured tea. The two sat quietly for a few minutes, both comfortable in their thoughts, gently sipping the tea. A cicada chirped noisily in the tree above.
"Well," Aramaki began gently, "you don't seem quite the cheerful man I remember from our days together at the university. Is everything well with you?"
"You read me too well, old friend. I can't complain about myself, but I'm a little worried about my fellow professor. I don't suppose you remember Ogawa-san, do you? He was in a few of our classes, but not too many. He studied mainly Japanese history and architecture -- which is what he teaches now. Well, I should say, what he taught." Yamashita looked down for a minute.
"Ogawa-san? Yes, I remember him, though I can't say I knew him well."
"He is rather quiet, and tends to get deeply involved in his own studies. I fear that may be what has happened this time."
"I see. Has something happened to him?"
"I'm afraid so. He is now in the hospital in a coma -- there is brain activity, but he has been unable to regain consciousness. Several of his research assistants have met the same fate."
"Really..." Aramaki looked thoughtful, "Do they have any idea what has caused this lack of consciousness?"
"The doctors at the hospital suspected some sort of chemical in the air -- perhaps a ventilation problem, but I have a different idea. I think it may be related to his latest project."
"What project is that?," Aramaki asked.
"Well, I don't know all that much about it, but I do know that they were building an immersive AI system."
"An AI system? What for?"
"A historical simulation system. A week ago, he mentioned to me how excited he was that it was almost ready for initial testing. He said he always wanted to be able, not just to tell his students about history, but to have them experience it. He called it the 'Historical Immersion System'."
"I can understand the appeal of that. Such a system might have many uses . . . "
"Yes, apparently the government thought so too. I was able to retrieve some papers that indicate government funding from several departments. I thought that, since they were funding the project, they would want to help Ogawa-san . . . but they seem loathe to investigate this, for some reason. It's too bad there's no one else that is taking an interest in this, for Ogawa-san's sake . . ."
"Yes, indeed . . . that is a pity." Aramaki paused, while taking another sip of tea. The still summer air surrounded the two older men, and, for a moment, even the cicadas were silent. Yamashita set his cup down gently and glanced at Aramaki. A slightly mischievous smile crept into the Chief's eyes, and Yamashita nodded slowly.
"Ah, well, perhaps you can indulge me by telling me a bit about some of our other old classmates. I haven't heard from any of them, except those I see at the university . . ."
"Of course," Aramaki agreed, and as he began to tell of a few mutual old friends, silently opened up a secure comlink.
"Major?"
"I'm here, Chief."
"I want you and Ishikawa to see what you can find out about a project run by a Professor Ogawa called the 'Historical Immersion System' at New Tokyo University."
"All right. Are we looking for anything specific?"
"You can start your search by tracing the funding sources. Report anything suspicious that you find."
"Roger that. Sounds like you're up to no good, as usual."
"I wouldn't want you to get bored and take up another line of work."
"Heh. No danger of that, Chief. Major out."
"Have you found anything yet, Ishikawa?" He pulled back from his terminal when he heard her approach, and pressed a button to change the display to the main screen,
"Well, it's a little bit difficult . . . the project has joint funding from several different government departments, as well as the university itself. The Board of Education and the Department of Internal Affairs seem to be providing the bulk of it."
"Department of Internal Affairs? Pull up their financial records related to this project." A new window popped up on the screen, listing amounts and transfer locations, with a transfer of the same amount the first of every month.
"Nothing out of the ordinary here . . . " Ishikawa scrolled through the list of entries, going back for six months. As he scrolled up, a new entry appeared with the current date.
"Something new, hmmm? For 6,000,000?! Take a look at this, Major."
"I see. Who's the recipient of this latest transaction?"
"Let me trace the routing number . . . looks like a private bank account in Chiba, belonging to an Oda Ichigo." He started a search on Oda's ID number, which came back almost instantly. "Let's see . . . 45 years old, occupation: investor . . . looks like he's also got some suspected yakuza ties."
"Looks pretty suspicious . . . and sloppy, too," the Major commented. Ishikawa nodded, and reached to save the data for later retrieval, but at that moment, the entry disappeared, leaving only the innocuous monthly transfers.
"Not quite so sloppy after all," she said with amusement. "Well, we still don't have any evidence, but I think this will be enough for us to start on."
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I tried to make the whole Aramki-Yamashita conversation very Japanese . . . which is hard to do in English. So if it sounds really formal and vague, that's why. :-)