Chapter Thirty-Three : Working With The 'Chivalrous Organizations' - 2.2.1937
Utsunimiya's War
(HoI3 TFH - Interactive Japan AAR)
Chapter Thirty-Three : Working With The 'Chivalrous Organizations' - 2.2.1937
(HoI3 TFH - Interactive Japan AAR)
Chapter Thirty-Three : Working With The 'Chivalrous Organizations' - 2.2.1937
The man who entered the Pachinko Parlor looked pretty normal. His suit was clean but middle class, his face was handsome and his posture relaxed. Yet he could have been mistaken for a dozen other men in the parlor. But he was far from a normal man. He was Agent Zeus.
Agent Zeus was a high-ranking officer within the military police. Foot work like this was, officially, beneath him. But he liked to keep his mind, and his skills, sharp. Also this operation was important to him and his superiors.
Pachinko machines had first been built in the 1920s as a kid's toy. But soon the larger adult version had spread throughout Japan. Gambling in Japan was, of course, illegal. And the balls players won from the games could not be exchanged for money. They COULD, on the other hand, be exchanged for "special tokens" and THOSE could be sold for money to a off-premise vendor. Technically this allowed everybody to make a profit without breaking the law.
On paper the parlors and the vendors were independent from each other. But dig enough and you would find them owned by the same individuals.
Agent Zeus had a meeting scheduled with one of these individuals. At least on paper he was the owner of many of the parlors and vendors. In real life the man was a 'senior advisor' of the Yakuza. In other words one of the men who controlled the businesses, legal or otherwise, for his 'family boss' in the city of Tokyo.
This made him one of the most powerful, and dangerous, men who lived in the underworld of the city. And Agent Zeus was here to offer him, and his 'family', a job.
Agent Zeus approached one of the employees and showed him the white stone he had been given. It was a simple Go piece and, to be honest, he had felt a tad weird carrying it around with him.
But the employee seemed to understand what it meant and said, "Follow me please."
Agent Zeus was guided through a storage room, a staff room, and up some stairs to a hallway. The man walked down the hallway, opened a door, and walked down another hallway. For some reason, maybe because of a change in the air, Agent Zeus decided they were walking into another building. They had crossed a tiny enclosed bridge.
This new hallway was lined with a few unmarked closed doors. The employee knocked on one and opened it for him.
"He is waiting for you," was all the man said with a gesture of his free hand. Agent Zeus nodded and entered the room. The door was closed behind him.
The room was an office. Or at least it was an office now. It looked like it had evolved and been used for many purposes before finally becoming an office. It had one wall replaced with a large window which looked down on a small warehouse.
In the middle of the office was a trunk and a man sitting on a wooden bench. He had a unlit cigarette in his mouth and he was slowly polishing a sword. On the trunk in front of him was a black Go piece.
Agent Zeus sat down next to him, removing his hat, and placed his own piece on the trunk.
"I am Agent Zeus," he stated while seeming to brush some dust off the rim of his hat.
"Then I guess I am Brother Jupiter," said the man with the sword. "How can I help you Agent?"
Agent Zeus slowly opened his jacket to pull out a small, unmarked, envelope. He placed it on the trunk, between the two game pieces, and said, "The future is being threatened by those who cling too much to the past."
"You wish them removed?"
"No," replied Agent Zeus. "We don't know, among these names, who are the fossils who need to be buried and who are those who are not a problem. For now we wish them to be watched. And studied."
The man who called himself Brother Jupiter nodded. "It will cost you."
"How much?"
"Not all of the cost will be in the form of cash," explained the man as he continued to polish his sword. "Sometimes my family may need a police patrol NOT to patrol a certain city block on a certain day. Sometimes we may need a certain business left alone. We may ask for another business to be closed."
"I understand," responded Agent Zeus. "We may also have other jobs for you. In the form of keeping the peace. Things are about to become chaotic."
"I understand," replied Brother Jupiter. The man stood up and went over to a cabinet in the corner. He opened it and revealed that it was, in fact, a small bar. Jupiter opened up a bottle and poured out two cup of shake.
He carefully brought them back to the bench. As he sat down Zeus noticed that the sword had disappeared without him even noticing where it had gone.
They both drank the sake. It was good sake. Zeus could tell only the best water had been used in the brewing.
"We will start right away," said Jupiter after they had finished the sake. "We will send for you when we have the information. And a price." Suddenly the sword was back in his hands and he was polishing it.
Agent Zeus nodded, picked up his game piece, and stood up. Even before he reached the door it had opened and the same employee as before was waiting for him.
This time the pathway was different and when Agent Zeus stepped out of the doorway onto the streets he realized he was nowhere near the Pachinko Parlor he had started out in.
He sighed and started to walk towards one of the main streets. There he could pick up a taxi.
Two thoughts surfaced from the back of his mind. One thought was he never wanted to get into a knife fight with Jupiter. The second thought was that after the war he would have to make sure that the Yakuza were tamed or, if that was not possible, destroyed.
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