To Cap’s relief, Aquila seemed to be more herself the next morning. She was still somewhat subdued, but at least she was speaking with some animation to Kasumi and the others over breakfast. After, as they sat on a couch watching television while waiting for news about Natsuki or the offer to talk, Cap kept stealing glances over at her.

    “Well, the costumes are nice,” Yukari said as the superheroes transformed on screen. “There’s that at least.”

    “So let me get this straight,” Cap began. “The normal people with special transforming suits that give them powers are superheroes.”

    “That’s right,” Kasumi said.

    “But the magical knight in the previous show who could fly and shoot fireballs at people wasn’t a superhero.”

    “Correct,” Kasumi stated. “She’s just a magical knight.”

    “Even though she’s got superpowers,” Cap added.

    “They’re not really what we consider ‘superpowers’,” Kasumi said.

    Cap shook his head. “That makes no sense to me.”

    Kasumi shrugged. “It’s just how it is.”

    “At least they seem formidable enough,” Cap said.

    Beside Kasumi, Aquila chuckled. “They really aren’t.”

    Cap looked at her. “Oh?”

    “You know that pose they strike as they transform?” Aquila said. “You hit them right as they start transforming. They will just hold that pose and take the hit. It’s bizarre.”

    “No news yet,” Leora Deutschland declared, walking into the room. “But, the message has been delivered to the other side. So, we should have a reply soon.”

    “And Natsuki?” Kasumi asked.

    “Nothing yet,” Leora replied. “But, we have to operate on the assumption that they have her by now. How’s Aquila doing?”

    “I’m better,” Aquila stated. “Still getting used to it, though.”

    “And where is our resident magical knight?” Cap asked.

    “In meetings with the Eastern Army leadership and the Ministry,” Leora said. “She has to do this a lot, unfortunately. Truth be told, I’m not sure most of them take our kind very seriously. And, they weren’t happy when Ms. Silverspear showed up with that intelligence about Balthazar’s capabilities – they had to scuttle a planned operation for a mass attack against him because of it.” She glanced across the room, where a slight Japanese woman was staring at her and taking notes. “But, what is it you Americans like to say? ‘We all have our crosses to bear’?”

    “That’s the saying,” Cap said, glancing at the woman. “Who is she?”

    Leora sighed. “She’s my voice actress. We told her that there’s no possibility of Balthazar attempting to harm her, but she won’t leave. Apparently, my anime has been greenlit for a second season, and she’s decided to use me for...research.”

    “A truly terrible cross to bear,” Cap said with a smile.

    “Yes, well, she insisted on getting assigned the room next to mine,” Leora added. “And she follows me almost everywhere. I’ve had to sneak away just to go on dates with my boyfriend!” She turned to face the woman. “You know, there are three women here who came from a harem comedy! You might have to play somebody like them sometime!”

    The woman jotted down another note.

    “Don’t get us involved in your problems,” Sayori demanded. “Just find our friend.”

    “We are working on it,” Leora said. “One of the things Meliana did was to inquire about her with the Wildcard. If Balthazar has Ms. Toshiro, we’ll know soon enough.”

    “And if he doesn’t?” Yukari asked.

    “Then we’ll find her the same way we found you.”

    Cap heard the door to the common room open. “Speaking of crosses to bear,” he said, watching Lieutenant Heller step into the room and salute him. “What do you want, lieutenant?”

    “I’ve taken the liberty of contacting our embassy,” Heller said in English. “I figured you might want American citizenship. There should be paperwork for you to fill out soon.”

    Cap shrugged and switched to English. “I suppose that’s not nothing.”

    “You’re not Japanese, so the Japanese government is not going to issue you the documents you need to live here,” Heller stated. “And the last thing you need is them deciding to deport you. I’m trying to help.”

    Cap chuckled. “I’m powerful enough to have been called a god among men. Precisely how would anybody here make me go somewhere I’m not willing to go?”

    “Look, you want legal protections or not?” Heller demanded. “I don’t have to do this for you, you know. My job here is to liaison with the JSDF and investigate any off-world technology that comes from the story worlds.”

    Kasumi shook her head. “You Americans are really confusing, you know that? I’d think you’d be happy to have another American to talk to.”

    Heller blinked. “You speak English?”

    “We all do,” Yukari said in English. “Fluently.”

    “It depends on the American,” Cap said. “You Japanese are very reserved and try to avoid direct conflict. We Americans are not. And as he said, his job isn’t to help us – what he wants is a chance to get me alone in a room so that he can evaluate my powers. But, since it’s not physically possible for anybody to force me to do anything, for that he needs me to agree and go willingly. Isn’t that right, lieutenant?”

    Heller took a deep breath. “Those were my orders, yes.”

    “So why is an American here, anyway?” Kasumi asked. “Wouldn’t the Japanese army handle this on their own?”

    “Japan is one of our most valuable front-line allies,” Heller replied. “We work hand-in-hand with the JSDF in just about everything relating to security on Japanese soil. The only way that we wouldn’t be involved in something like this would be if the commander of the Eastern Army was running active interference to keep us out.”

    Cap sighed. “That’s true in my story world too. As Leora here said, we all have our crosses to bear. At least this means that the American government now knows that our kind exist and will provide those who fall through into America the same support and courtesy you’re offering me, right?”

    Heller looked away and wouldn’t meet Cap’s gaze.

    Cap stiffened. “What? It won’t?”

    “That would require proving that you all exist to Congress,” Heller said. “And we can’t do that.”

    “Why, because it’s classified?” Cap demanded. “There are people with powers right here!”

    “Because there’s nothing any of you can do that can’t also be done by a good stage magician!” Heller declared. “You may think that I’m some heartless intel officer, but you’re wrong! I’ve been fighting this battle since I got the call that the first fictional character in this war had shown up. I’m a trained intelligence officer – I know the implications of a thing when I see it! If we even tried to put this on the docket for the House or the Senate, we’d be laughed out of the room. And this war has been going on long enough that we’ve been able to document that people’s powers fade the longer they stay here. By our estimates, within a year of arrival every single character will lose their powers and become just another ordinary human being. The same goes with the technology. There is nothing we can do that won’t be written off as a magic show or a visual effect. I’m sorry. Trying to solve this problem is my cross to bear.”

    “Cap,” Aquila said. “There’s nothing he can do. The only way for somebody’s powers to last here is if you’re attached directly to an information stream like I am, and people like me prefer to stay in the story worlds.”

    Sayori went pale. “But that means that if somebody falls through the information stream like Natsuki did, and doesn’t know how this world works...”

    “Most of them probably don’t last very long,” Aquila said.

    Cap felt Yuri squeeze his hand, hard. “That’s horrifying,” she said. “How often...”

    “The information streams have all been leaky for as long as I’ve been around,” Aquila said. “There’s almost certainly been a lot of us.”

    “As I said, I’ve been fighting this battle since I found out,” Heller stated. “Unless some scientist can prove the existence of the information streams and the story worlds, or a war like this one takes place on American soil, there’s nothing we can bring in front of Congress that they’d believe.”

    Cap sighed. “I guess I owe you an apology, then, Lieutenant Heller. I’m sorry I misjudged you.”

    “Damned right you did,” Heller said. “I’m going to do what I can with the embassy, but don’t hold your breath. They’re no more likely to believe any of this than Congress is.”

    Aquila switched back to Japanese. “It doesn’t matter. As soon as we get Natsuki back, we’re leaving anyway.”

It wasn’t until the late afternoon that Meliana came to the common room, arguing with Atria. Cap turned from where he was playing a card game with Yuri and Yukari to look at them.

    “Of course you won’t,” Atria declared. “After all, why take an action that can actually win this war?”

    “The Americans tried something like it,” Meliana stated. “It didn’t work.”

    Atria scowled. “We have no idea of what the Americans did wrong. Get us the recordings they have from the engagement! Let us analyze it!”

    “That’s not an option right now,” Meliana said. “I’m sorry. Now please drop it so that we can concentrate on this.”

    “At some point you are going to need to realize that this is not some fantasy version of a war, but the real thing,” Atria growled. “And I hope that happens before the world ends.”

    Meliana brushed her off with a dismissive motion and then turned to face Aquila and Kasumi. “We have news. First, Balthazar has your friend, and she is safe. He allowed her to write you a letter.” She handed Aquila an opened envelope. “It’s in there. You’ll understand that we had to check it first.”

    “That was my call,” Atria added. “Sorry.”

    Aquila read the note and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she handed it to Kasumi.

    “Second, they’ve agreed to open negotiations,” Meliana said. “But, they want to vet Aquila first. The Wildcard said that he was told that while Balthazar has met Aquila and does not have an objection, the others on his side don’t know her. They want to meet her in a public place tomorrow morning and make sure she’ll be an honest broker. They’ve chosen an intersection in one of the industrial areas of Tokyo.”

    “In my opinion, it’s a trap,” Atria said. “If Balthazar is okay with Aquila mediating, then there wouldn’t be a need to vet her. I think this is an attempt to isolate her and take her down.”

    “It probably is,” Meliana stated. “But, at this point in time, we have to take the chance.”

    “She won’t be alone,” Cap said. “I’m going with her as backup.”

    “They won’t like that,” Atria said with a smile. “Good. I’ll make sure you’ve got comms and backup ready on the day.”

    Cap saw Kasumi look at Aquila and open her mouth to speak, and then close it again, eyes downcast. Aquila just embraced her.

    “They will have as much support as we can give them,” Atria stressed to Kasumi. “If it is an ambush, we will do whatever we can to extract them.”

    Kasumi handed Cap the letter. He started reading.

    Dear Aquila,

    “So the question is whether he believes Meliana putting you forward as a mediator means you’ve joined her side,” Cap said. “If he doesn’t...”

    “Then we can get Natsuki back,” Aquila stated. “That settles it. We have to do it.”

NEXT: “Ambush”