The sarariman's voice was perfectly flat and monotonous as he outlined the first mission the Team would perform for Yoshiko. Rent a car, drive to Haneda airport, get a package addressed to Yagyu Juubei, get the package back to him.

He must have watched too much anime as a kid, probably because he was too irritating to have any friends. As a grownup, he was no less irritating - the smoke from his cigarette hanging in bluish sharp-smelling curtains all around the back room of this pachinko parlor buried deep in Shinjuku. His thin whiny voice echoed off bare concrete walls and styrofoam packing crates. The slim suitcase held a finance card for each member of the team, coded to the account that held 40,000 NewYen for your expenses. Also the card you'll use to identify yourself at the cargo terminal checkout, and a map of Tokyo with a large, friendly smiley face drawn on in in red marker pen. Also, a 4-pack of the latest Yoshiko cup noodles, in four great tastes: Beef, Chicken, Pork, and Hot Spicy. This was his idea of a joke.

"Remember," he said, "be discreet." His front teeth were rather too big, with a gap between them. The cigarette dangling from thin lips splotched with bluish spots shed tiny specks of ash as he spoke. Thick glasses distorted his eyes into halfmoons. A face only a mother could love. Yet, he had rank, money, and a place in one of the most powerful zaibatsu. And he was you boss at that moment.

"Questions?" What could you ask about such a simple task anyways?