I12DT: An Illuminating Discussion

[John Hino]

"Dad, stop, please. You can't get cold feet about this now. We... I need to know you're safe and not being mind whammied," John pleaded.

[Narrator]

Mr. Hino, again in his suit, continues to put on his shoes.

"You know full well that I have way to many trade secrets to let someone I've never even met poke around in my head."

[John Hino]

"It's not enough that I trust him?" John asked, sounding offended.

[Michael Asters]

"Or that I don't have any use for anyone's trade secrets?" Cassiel said with a little chuckle as he walked in.

[Narrator]

Mr. Hino gives Cassiel an appraising look.

[John Hino]

"Cassiel, Kazuhiro Hino. Dad, Cassiel," John introduced.

"Maybe you'll be able to talk some sense into him," he said to Cassiel.

[Michael Asters]

Cassiel offered the man his hand. "Or Michael Asters, if you're more comfortable with that. Would you be more comfortable if I filled out all of the legal liability forms before we did this?" he asked, turning this last question to them both.

[Narrator]

Mr. Hino shakes the proffered hand. "I would be on both counts Mr. Asters," he answers honestly, not giving his son a say.

[John Hino]

John sighed. His dad was in business mode and he might as well be invisible.

"Whatever gets him to let you help."

[Michael Asters]

Cassiel gave John a sympathetic smile. "Metahuman abilities only have a... tenuous place inside the law," he said, opening his briefcase to take out a sheaf of papers. "But you'll find that these areas legally binding as you can get. Which country's legal system would you prefer?"

[Narrator]

"The United States. I've been in America longer than I was ever in Japan," Mr. Hino answers.

[Michael Asters]

He drew out a sheaf of papers from among the pile. "Then you'll find that these are binding upon me," he said. "You'll need to list out your competitors or any company you want me to specifically have no psychic contact with for anyone over mid-level within the company for the next two years. Any trade secrets you can prove you had prior to this point, if they turn up in the hands of any of your competitors within the next two years, I'll have to prove no personal contact with. Beyond that is legally ruled sufficient time for my personal liability for your secrets to be released."

[Narrator]

Mr. Hino reads it over carefully. "This will be sufficient Mr. Asters," he says before he filling out the needed information, signing it, and handing it back.

Now back to the actual point.

"One other thing. My son expressed an interest in tagging along, however that works. This cannot be allowed."

[John Hino]

"But..."

[Narrator]

"A father must have his secrets."

[Michael Asters]

Cassiel frowned, deciding little by little that he didn't particularly like Mr. Hino. "I suppose that's reasonable."

[John Hino]

John frowned. "Fine," he said, just barely holding his frustration in check.

He looked to Cassiel. "If you need me for anything, I'll be in the waiting room."

Trying not to punch something.

He promptly left the room.

[Narrator]

Mr. Hino watches his son leave.

"He was never this headstrong before he came here," he says. Is that a hint of a smile?

[Michael Asters]

"That might be a subject to discuss with him sometime," Cassiel said mildly, but without much hope. "So... shall we begin?"

[Narrator]

He nods. "What do you need me to do?"

[Michael Asters]

"Absolutely nothing," he said as he began probing the man's mind. Just a surface scan at first, before he began sinking in deeper, looking for signs of alteration or that things otherwise weren't exactly as they should be.

[Narrator]

Cassiel can detect a foreign presence, but it seems to defy further identification beyond that whatever it is, either a far stronger telepath put it there or it isn't telepathy at all. It feels somewhat chaotic.

[Michael Asters]

Cassiel frowned at that. He knew most of the telepaths who were stronger than him, and he was fairly sure there couldn't be a large number he didn't know. He started scanning closer to see whose handiwork this was.

[Narrator]

A distorted voice answers, "You should never say who's there, don't you watch scary movies?"

It sounds... familiar somehow.

[Michael Asters]

What the...

Cassiel slid farther in, taking this more as a memory than an active thought, since he hadn't announced his identity.

[Narrator]

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" asks a completely different possibly familiar voice.

The presence is quietly giggling with childish impishness.

[Michael Asters]

No, I don't think so, I'd have worn my other hat for that.

Mentally, he started surrounding the area with his presence to try to home in on... whatever it was.

[Narrator]

Cassiel can sense a warm inviting glow beckoning him deeper.

[Michael Asters]

Wow. That doesn't seem like a trap or anything, he thought dryly. But, not seeing any alternatives, he slid in deeper.

[Narrator]

Inside Mr. Hino's mindscape sits a large foggy plain with a single path cut through the tall grass. It feels like a boundary between the man's mind and whatever has invaded his head. Multiple colored lights illuminate the fog down the path.

[Michael Asters]

In the real world, Cassiel's eyes rolled back into his head as he dropped all of his attention into the mind probe. Astrally, he split his attention three ways, coming into the probe from three different areas, his physical responsiveness dropping to zero as he processed the increased flow of information from the probe.

[Narrator]

From all angles, Cassiel can see the fog clear from a gaudily lit movie theater festooned with lights of all shapes and sizes. While there is a pattern to the lights, that just makes it organized chaos. The marquee reads:

Midnight Double Feature!
Demon Hunter Daisuke
Demon Hunter Genbu

[Michael Asters]

...John, your dad's head has weird stuff in it. But then again... Those in glass houses, I guess...

Deciding that this seemed to be a good focal point for this...whatever it was, he sent his mind into the theater.

[Narrator]

Inside, the architecture has a distinct Japanese flair and is primarily lit with fixtures resembling paper lanterns. Past the usual movie theater accoutrements, a glow comes from one of the small but ornate theater's three large screening rooms.

"In here cue ball. The show's starting," urges a playful voice.

[Michael Asters]

"Is it an action flick? I'm not in a mood for drama." Knowing it was a trap, he headed in.

[Narrator]

"Nah, it's a true story action adventure horror movie," the voice replies.

The voice emanates from a figure draped in rags stands on the small stage in front of the screen, face hidden beneath a conical straw hat. The still form holds aloft a glowing paper lantern. Cassiel can feel that this room is not from Mr. Hino's mind, but a strange and inhuman one.

"Glad you could make it, ally of young Genbu."

[Michael Asters]

Cassiel looked the figure over, more than a little suspicious. "You seem to have the advantage of me," he said, walking over to take a seat with the person.

[Narrator]

"You can call me Taiki. Nice ta meetcha. I don't know your name though. You look like a... Joe?"

Strangely, the standing figure doesn't move in the least, not even to look.

[Michael Asters]

"You can call me Mike," he said.

"Mind telling me what you're doing in Genbu's father's head?"

[Narrator]

"I needed to get to the university. Air travel is hard for... well... I can trust you right?" the voice asks hesitantly, but hopefully.