Cult X

  Tachibana heard the pounding of feet down the hall outside. What had happened? Had Takahara been captured?

  Yoshiko and Yoshida were at the police station.

  They were already familiar with the officer in charge of the Cult X case. Matsuo had opposed telling the police about Sawatari’s scam, so they never had, but the police had approached Matsuo for information about Sawatari many times. Matsuo and Yoshiko would try to help, but they didn’t know where the cult was located, and they couldn’t tell the police anything useful.

  “If they kidnapped someone, that would be quite serious,” the detective said. “We investigated them seven years ago for an incident involving the murder of one of their members, but we couldn’t locate them. We tracked them down once, five years ago. But then they vanished. We’d thought they’d broken up.” The detective sighed. “But it seems like they’re still at it. We’re not sure what they’re up to now, but we will do all we can. If we just knew where they were.”

  “Come quick!” A young officer burst through the door. He was clearly panicking. “Oh, this is perfect. Yoshiko-san and Yoshida-san, come too . . . The news. I don’t know what’s happening.”

  Takahara and his men were assembled in a hotel suite in the city. There were thirty of them. Today they moved. They were doing a last check of their positions when the news broke. They all stared lifelessly at the TV. Takahara tried to calm himself down, but he couldn’t.

  “Why?” he whispered. “Why?”

  The believers rushed to the twenty-first floor, screaming, “Leader! Leader!”

  The watchman tried to stop them, but they pushed past him.

  “Leader!” one man shrieked, sounding as though he was on the verge of tears. “Leader! The building is surrounded by the riot police!”

  11

  The door opened and the leader came out.

  He was tall when he stood up straight. He was wearing a brand new, plain white robe.

  “Explain the situation.” The leader stopped the believers who were trying to kneel with a wave of his hand.

  Officer Maeda spoke. His voice was quivering. “Someone pressed the interphone. Room 1001. Of course, the believer in the room ignored it, but whoever it was kept pestering him. He thought it was someone trying to sell something. And when he looked at the screen, it was two men wearing suits. When I received the notification and went to check from the observation room, I saw the riot squad.”

  “Have you started preparations?”

  “Yes. Following emergency measure two, we’ve cut power to the automatic door in the front and have begun setting up a barricade. The back door has also been blocked.”

  “The other officers?”

  “They are directing the reinforcement of the windows. All of the windows are already reinforced with steel shutters, but we are attaching iron bars to further reinforce them. As instructed.”

  “Mm . . . Gather all the believers in the hall. And the officers.”

  “About that . . .” Maeda faltered. “Takahara is gone. And not just him . . . Some twenty believers have also vanished.”

  Yoshida stared transfixed at the TV in the police station.

  Yoshiko turned toward it and her face went pale.

  There’s too much happening all at once, Yoshida thought.

  “Why did this happen?” the police officer interjected. “Aren’t we the ones in charge of this case? Why didn’t they let us know about this? And how did they find the cult?”

  The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Security Bureau—they operated on a different philosophy than the police. They hadn’t contacted the officers who could properly claim this jurisdiction because they didn’t trust them. Who could say there wasn’t a mole from the cult in the police?

  In 1995, when another cult spread deadly sarin gas through the subways, there was an informant working for the police who leaked information from their investigations back to the cult. To prevent that sort of leak now, probably only a few of the top brass had been told this raid was coming.

  In front of the rope that cordoned off the press a suited reporter was shouting his broadcast, his voice hoarse.

  “What are they under investigation for?” the female newscaster back at the studio asked.

  “We still do not have precise information about that. However, we did get a report claiming that a man and a woman have been abducted and imprisoned.”

  A man and a woman. There was a rustling in Yoshida’s chest. It must be Mineno and Narazaki.

  “And why have the riot police been mobilized?”

  “It seems there are also reports that this cult possesses a large number of weapons.”

  “We were the ones who got that report,” the young officer said. “How do they know?”

  On the TV screen was a tall, stylish apartment building. Not a place one would imagine to house a cult. Through the automatic glass doors of the front entrance, a sturdy barricade was visible. The people on the surrounding block had been ordered to evacuate.

  The reporter continued, “We believe that this assault is the result of a long-term secret investigation by the Public Security Bureau.”

  Yoshiko’s lips were trembling. The shock was too much for her, Yoshida thought. When he tried to move her away from the TV, she spoke up suddenly. “This is very dangerous.”

  “Yes,” Yoshida said, nodding. “Mineno and Narazaki-kun are caught up in all this trouble.”

  “That’s true, too, but it’s much worse than that.”

  “Yoshiko-san?” The officers and Yoshida turned to Yoshiko.

  She said, “If anything happens to Sawatari, they . . . They’ll all kill themselves. That’s one of the rules there . . . The moment the riot police break down that barricade and get in . . .”

  On the TV, the riot police were readying their riot shields.

  “They’ll all die.”

  The believers were all gathered in the hall.

  There were about one hundred and twenty men and fifty women. Maeda grew nervous heading to the stage with the leader.

  I have to calm their unease. Can I do it? Can I manage this kind of speech? If only Takahara were here, he thought. He would be able to. His appearance, his voice draws people in.

  When he climbed onto the stage and looked out over the believers, he was dumbstruck by their frenzy

  That’s right, Maeda thought. They are not weak sheep. They are not powerless people who simply flock behind a leader. They have all been alienated from society. They all look at society as their enemy.

  With those believers before him, filled with hope, gazes full of encouragement, Maeda felt tears well up in his eyes. That’s right. We are one. We will accept the hostility of society, and turn back with hostility of our own.

  “Everyone, listen.” Maeda began to feel elated. “Society has found us, and they are trying to persecute us. As you all know, those outside are all trash. They have no refinement. They are just trying to get rid of anyone who gets in their way so they can protect their own trifling profit.” He raised his voice even louder. “Are we going to give in to them quietly? Are we going to let ourselves be buried by this worthless society? Absolutely not. We absolutely will not. Look at this!”

  The officers removed a vinyl sheet covering the stage. Guns. A cheer rose from the audience.

  “We will fight. We will show them now, we will show those people who chased us out that they—they!—are the trash!”

  The cheers became shouts. The hall was electrified.

  “The leader is on our side. God is on our side. Justice is on our side!”

  “Leader!”

  Shouts of joy rose up from the crowd.

  “Leader!”

  “Leader!”

  “Men, take your weapons,” Maeda screamed. “Women, you will be the men’s support. From here o
n out all forms of personal interaction and sexual acts are allowed. The thirty-five Cupro girls, those who are here under contract, need not take part in any of this. A safe spot has been prepared for them in the basement if they choose.”

  But none of the Cupro girls tried to leave. They looked with passionate eyes up at Maeda and the leader.

  “We are one! We are one!” The shouts of joy grew to a roar. The air in the hall rose like a tornado.

  “Several of our members have already left this building, and now they are working to launch an all-out attack on society. They have over fifty tons of explosives. They will shake this worthless society to its very core. We have food for two months. We can fight as long as we need.”

  Maeda did not know exactly why Takahara was gone. But he didn’t need to. The leader had told him what to say.

  “Be the spark! This is the most beautiful moment of our lives. This is the most beautiful point of our lives!”

  Maeda couldn’t hear his own voice over the gyrating roar of the believers’ screams. His body was shaking. He was quivering with excitement. Is this the first time? Maeda wondered. Is this the first time I’ve ever experienced this sort of excitement? It feels like my own existence is becoming something larger than me. It’s like by becoming one with the leader I can become something enormous.

  The leader suddenly stood up. The believers began to cry, still screaming.

  “My talented disciples!” he said. The believers shouted in response. “We will fight. I will hold on to your lives!”

  The believers screamed at the top of their lungs. The hall roiled with shouts of joy. Tears fell from Maeda’s eyes. How great, he thought. How great that I followed the leader. My life doesn’t matter. We will shake up this society. We will give those worthless pieces of trash a real shock.

  The officers Sugimoto, Rina, and Unabara began handing out weapons and assigning the believers positions. When Maeda saw Rina, he froze. Why did she have such a tragic expression on her face?

  She was probably worried about her lover, Maeda realized. That would make sense. He didn’t know much, but it seemed Takahara had received a very important order from the leader.

  Why had she been locked up until a moment ago? he wondered. But Maeda quickly stopped thinking. Thinking was a waste, and it didn’t matter. Even if it costs me my life, Maeda thought, full of conviction, I will protect my leader. He felt proud of himself for thinking that. I want to be a sacrifice. For this great thing. For this great thing.

  12

  Takahara stared at the TV screen, rapt.

  The riot police were sent in because a man and woman were believed to be imprisoned? There’s no way. Did my plan leak out? But if that were the case, why did they surround that building? Weren’t they following me?

  But this is convenient for me. We’ll move while they’re distracted. He had just had the others check around the hotel and there was no one suspicious there.

  This is just the last push for us, to actually carry through our plan. Takahara faced the thirty comrades gathered in the hotel suite.

  “As you see, what we are trying to do must have gotten out.”

  They all looked at Takahara. He thought they’d be nervous, but they were all in high spirits.

  “But they’re too late. We’re already here. They can’t stop us anymore.”

  As he spoke, he began to believe the situation was actually as he described it.

  “Listen. The leader has recorded an important message for us.”

  Takahara turned on the tape recorder.

  “You have all worked to carry out my will secretly. Now it will all begin. Go! Spread my will across the world. My friends! You are all part of me, and I am part of you. You who rush to battle, you are my pride. We will soon follow you!”

  They cheered. Listening to the leader’s voice, Takahara was seized by a strange sensation. It was as if those words had predicted exactly what would happen.

  Even though I was the one who wrote them.

  “Let’s go. The leader is with us!” Takahara shouted, shaking off his unease. They cheered again, and left the room in single file. It was as if everything were moving along smoothly of its own accord. Even though he was the agent making it happen.

  Takahara left after them, rode the elevator with Sasahara, exited the lobby and got in a car. A golf bag next to him contained a PPSh-41 automatic rifle.

  “Takahara-sama . . .”

  “Hm?”

  “Actually . . . Some of the weapons have disappeared.”

  Takahara stared at Sasahara. His face began to go pale, but he continued speaking. “Um, of course, we have enough. But the extra guns we prepared have vanished.”

  “Why?” Takahara’s heart began to race. They moved into the passing lane on the highway. “What do you mean they’ve vanished? Just the extras? The twenty Colts?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well then, there’s no problem . . . Let’s just say there’s no problem. It’s a huge problem . . . But we have to proceed.”

  Takahara focused on not letting concern show on his face. He couldn’t make his subordinates uneasy at this point. But why? If they had all vanished, he would understand. That would mean someone had caught on to his plan and tried to stop it. But why just some of them?

  They had to go. Everything was in motion.

  A carefully crafted terrorist plot that would leave no one dead, Takahara thought. The more people die, the more attention an attack gets, but that decreases the righteousness of the group carrying out the plot. They do not gain support for their beliefs, and they become mere criminals.

  That’s why we won’t kill anyone. Takahara was the only one holding a gun with the power to actually kill. The rest of the guns his subordinates carried had been altered. If someone were shot with their fake bullets, they’d bleed, but the bullets should not go deep enough to penetrate organs. Unfortunately, they couldn’t totally avoid the possibility of seriously injuring someone.

  They changed lanes and turned left. In the distance they could see the JBA broadcasting station.

  He had ordered his subordinates strictly to shoot no humans. If they did, there was a chance they would find out their guns couldn’t kill. I am the only one who will shoot anyone. I have practice. I can make sure they don’t die.

  He looked at his watch. 2:50 p.m. Ten more minutes.

  There were no guards with guns at the broadcasting center. Unarmed security could do nothing.

  All they needed was an hour.

  If we can succeed in an hour, I can complete my mission.

  They approached the JBA studio building where the nightly national news was broadcast. They stopped the car in the road. Seven more minutes. His heart began pounding.

  He took the PPSh-41 from the golf bag. It was already assembled. He unlocked the safety. Maybe because it was a motion he had repeated many times, his fingers moved automatically, without shaking. He took a deep breath. He could hear his heart beating. Five more minutes.

  Sasahara was also nervous, but he was smiling. That’s right. I’m excited, too. My heart is racing, and I’m nervous. I want to run away. But I’m also excited.

  “Two more minutes.”

  “Yes.”

  They got out of the car holding their guns. They headed toward the back entrance of JBA’s parking lot.

  “One more minute.”

  “All right. Let’s go.”

  The moment he spoke, Takahara’s heart beat even harder. A security guard in the parking lot was looking at them—two men approaching with automatic weapons. The guard was thin, and didn’t look like he’d be able to fulfill his guard duty. He stared at them blankly, like he thought they were part of the film crew for some TV show. But part of him doubted that, and he was growing more and more nervous.

  “Hey, you there!”

 
“It’s three.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Takahara raised his gun and shot a car nearby. The recoil sent a shock through his shoulder, and a dry noise rang out. The windshield of the car shattered. He trained the muzzle of the gun on the stunned security guard.

  “Walk. To the door.”

  As they walked, a woman exited and saw the security guard with the gun pointed at him, but because the whole scene lacked any sense of reality she couldn’t even scream. She just looked on, stupefied, as they passed her and walked through the automatic door. Inside, there was a gate that required an entry card. Takahara kicked the security guard through. Several people were looking at them, but they still couldn’t register this scene as real. Takahara pointed his gun at the ceiling and shot wildly. There was a terrifying noise. Several lights shattered and broken glass fell to the ground. People screamed and dove to the ground; one man tried to run and tripped. The security guard also tried to run. Of course he did. He didn’t even have a gun.

  “Everyone, get on the ground. I want to kill as few people as possible. Don’t move. If you hold still, I won’t kill you.”

  The sound of glass shattering and multiple screams sounded in the distance. The same thing was happening at every entrance to the building.

  “You, too. Don’t move.”

  Takahara pointed his gun at a security guard in a booth.

  “You want me to kill you? You want me to kill you? Then move. I’ll shoot.”

  The security guard put his hands in the air and crouched down.

  “All right. Everyone, get up. Put your hands in the air and walk.”

  But no one moved. They stayed on the ground. Takahara shot again at the wall. They screamed.

  “Get up! Go through that door!”

  They stood up, watching Takahara in terror. They began moving slowly.

  “That way. Go through that door.”

  There was a loud noise. A young security guard rushed in from outside and tried to grab Sasahara. How stupid, Takahara thought. At times like this it’s best to just listen calmly. Such an idiot.