Sign of the Dragon (Tatsu Yamada Book 1) by Niall Teasdale (e reader TXT) 📕

lime, but there were limits to what MedStat could do. The more comprehensive Kannon operating system was capable of diagnosing more problems, including things like drug addictions, but it was a fairly invasive piece of software and not compulsory. Kannon would report crimes seen or committed by its users, so habitual drug users were among a number of types of people who refused to use it for obvious reasons. The lime mental indicator would probably have been orange if Kannon had been running on Campo’s implant. Lime could just mean that Campo was not using Kannon. The yellow physical one was more interesting, being triggered by a few physical conditions, though it was likely that the woman was just exhausted.

‘I need it,’ Campo said. ‘Sachiko? Sachiko, I’ve got to get a hit. It hurts. It’s never hurt before.’

Tatsu’s eyes narrowed. ‘Rosy? I’m Tatsu. I’m a friend of Sachiko’s. When was your last hit, Rosy?’

‘Saturday? Sunday? Think it was Sunday.’

‘And did you get some new stuff? Maybe looked a little different, smelled a little different. New supplier, maybe?’

‘No. Nothing different. No new supplier. You sound like a cop.’

Tatsu ignored the implied question, though she gave an implied answer. ‘Rosy, it sounds like you’ve taken a new brand of rapture. Your body is craving it, not just your mind. That’s why it hurts when you don’t have it. Whoever is selling this stuff needs to stop.’

‘Listen to her, Rosy,’ Sachiko added. ‘Someone’s hurt you. Tatsu will make sure no one else gets hurt.’

‘I can’t–’

‘You have to, Rosy.’

‘D-don’t know where I got the bad stuff. All seemed the same, but the high lasted longer and when I came down… When I came down, it was like everything was worse. It only got better when I took more.’

‘I’m going to need your suppliers’ names,’ Tatsu said. ‘All of them.’

‘I can’t–’

‘Basically, they poisoned you, Rosy. They sold you something with worse side effects. Look at you. You’re hurting and hungry. You’re a complete mess because they sold you something to make you more addicted and get them more profit. This needs to stop.’

Rosy hid her face, but after a few seconds, she said, ‘Walt Bonham. He’s with the Five Chome Yankees. Then there’s…’

~~~

‘What’s going to happen to her?’ Sachiko asked as they watched Campo being driven away in an ambulance.

‘She’ll be checked out at the hospital,’ Tatsu replied, ‘and they’ll get me a report on her condition. Then I’ll get her sent to a rehab centre.’

Sachiko’s eyes widened. ‘Rosy can’t afford–’

Tatsu held up a hand. ‘It’s a place I know outside the city run by Buddhists. It’s free. They’ll talk her ears off about enlightenment and a better way to live, but they won’t charge her a yen. And they’re good. She’s probably going to need good.’

‘It’s just about impossible to get off rapture. If this stuff has a physical aspect to the addiction…’

‘Yeah, it might even kill her if she has to go cold turkey. Normally they’d use FSR to supply a controlled comedown, but she’ll probably need medical attention and drugs. It’s not going to be an easy ride.’

‘Are you going to find out who’s supplying this stuff?’

‘I am. And then I’m going to make them stop.’

‘Right.’ Pause. ‘Punch them in the face for me too, would you?’

~~~

Walter Bonham, generally known as Walt, was not that hard to track down. He was a wiry sort of man with long legs and a constantly nervous look about him. He tended to glance around constantly, making him look guilty. On the other hand, he usually was guilty of something, and his constant attention to his surroundings meant that he spotted Tatsu walking toward him. His eyes widened instantly, and he took off like a frightened rabbit within a second.

It was a stupid move for several reasons. Walt had been in a race with Tatsu before and knew she was faster than him. She suspected that he hoped to lose her in a maze of alleys behind the road she had found him on, which was a new tactic. He did have a head start and that might have made the difference, if Tatsu had been playing fair. Tatsu turned a corner, spotted Walt about eight metres ahead of her, raised her new pistol, and fired. There was a slight whine from the projectile as it left the barrel and rocketed toward its target, hitting him in the back. There it flattened, efficiently transferring its kinetic energy into Walt. He was tossed forward a good two metres but kept his footing, and he kept on running, if at a significantly lower speed.

‘What did you hit me with?’ he grumbled in English when Tatsu inevitably caught up with him.

‘Baton round,’ Tatsu replied. ‘You’re going to have a hell of a bruise. Still, at least I didn’t kill you and you’ll have plenty of time to recover in a cell.’

‘I haven’t done anything.’

‘Then why did you run away?’

‘I… panicked.’

‘Sure. There’s a new type of rapture going around. Longer effects, more addictive. When I search you, I’m not going to find any, am I?’

‘No.’ He sounded almost affronted. ‘I heard there’s something new. No idea who’s selling it.’

‘Of course you don’t.’ Tatsu reached for his nearest pocket. ‘Let’s see what I’ll be booking you on.’

Truthfully, locking Walt up for distributing was a waste of time. When it came to illegal drugs, the sentences were retributive. People could have access to a range of legal drugs to help them get through the day, so the courts punished those in possession of illegal ones harshly. But putting Walt away would just see him replaced by another Walt. Maybe the replacement would not be an even slower runner.

~~~

Checking out the local mafia was simply common sense. It turned