L13-2 Exchange

The warehouse district at night was deserted and still. The Yellow Box warehouse was apparently not in use as there were abandoned materials and old containers scattered about.

As L, Suruga, and Maki entered the warehouse, about ten men and women with rifles came out of the shadows. Secretly, Suruga was dismayed by the formation of the masked men and women that surrounded them. A circular formation was typically never employed to surround the target to avoid hitting a non-target with a stray bullet.

You're not amateurs, for crying out loud. But I guess they have no intention of shooting us anyway. No doubt they're with the counterterrorism division like Kujo, but to think these jokers were this nation's defense against terrorism...Suruga couldn't help but worry for Japan's security.

The man who appeared to be the leader of the group came forward. "Thank you for coming all this way. You'll have to excuse the mask." The man spoke in the same self-important, overly polite tone as on the phone. L peered through his tangled mop of hair as he rubbed the back of his bare right foot against the left.

"Well now, Mr. Ryuzaki. Shall we proceed with the exchange?"

On cue, Kujo was brought out with her hands tied behind her back.

"Dr. Kujo!" Maki shouted.

"I'm sorry this had to happen," she apologized in a barely audible voice.

Upon seeing Kujo's haggard appearance, Maki shook off Us hold on her and dashed forward. "The data's in this teddy bear. Now let go of her!"

The leader nodded, and Kujo was released.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" With her hands now free, Kujo stroked Maki's hair affectionately. Then she took the rifle from one of the men, who only a moment ago had pointed it at her, and slowly turned it on Maki.

The girl's face froze. "Dr. Kujo, why?"

Ignoring her, Kujo turned to L and said, "Mr. Ryuzaki, or shall I say Detective L? You wouldn't allow a child to hold on to the real data for this long, now would you?" Kujo pressed the barrel of the rifle to Maki's temple. Although this was L's first glimpse of Kujo's true nature, he appeared unshaken, as if he'd expected it.

"So you know." L opened his eyes wide and stuck out his tongue as if to taunt her.

"Ryuzaki! Don't give it to her! I made a promise to my father! He told me not to give it to bad people and that I had to protect the world!"

"I know. I had no intention of giving them the data from the start."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" A woman in a mask came forward, walked toward Maki with a syringe, and without the slightest hesitation, plunged it into the girl's arm.

"What do you think you're doing?" "What are you doing?" Maki and Kujo shouted at once.

Hatsune stared at the liquid remaining in the syringe and crowed, "I just made it so you'll have to hand over the data whether you want to or not. I injected the girl with the virus. Give us the data, and we'll make the antidote to save her. Without it, she won't survive past the virus's two-week incubation period. So? Now do you feel like handing over the data?"

'All right. I'll give you the real data." L stuck a hand in his jeans pocket and threw the microchip at Kujo. Picking up the microchip, which landed at her feet, she held it up to the light as if to check its contents.

"Detective L, perhaps you'd like to deduce what our next move will be, like the brilliant detective that you are." Kujo directed a challenging glare at L.

"That's hardly necessary You have no assurances that the data I gave you is real, and yet, you won't be able to analyze its authenticity right away Even if it were real, I would never hand over the data without making a copy for myself, in which case..."

"In which case?"

"You'd kill me where I stand and search all of my belongings."

"How very perceptive—"

Before Kujo could finish, Suruga kicked the copper pipes propped against the wall. The pipes, each five meters long, came crashing down one after the next.

"Run, Ryuzaki!"

Suruga and L made a run for it in the same direction, knocked one gang member down, and dove behind a container. They instantly drew a hail of rifle fire.

"Dammit! We're at a disadvantage being unarmed. Ryuzaki, was that the real data you gave them?"

"Yes, the data I gave them was real, but given that they have no way of knowing that, this is the correct response."

How the hell can he rationalize their actions while they're trying to kill him? Even Suruga, who knew that the gang and Kujo were on his side, was none too pleased at being shot at. Second stage clear. And now for the third stage.

After another bullet whistled above his head, Suruga began, "Ryuzaki, you have to write Kujo's name in the Death Note."

"In the Death Note?"

"That's right. You have it here, don't you? If we kill Kujo with it, the others will get scared enough to stop shooting."

L dropped his head in thought.

"Ryuzaki, please. Use the Death Note. At this rate, we're dead!"

Finally L looked up. "It looks like we have no other choice."

"Good, I'll draw their attention."

No sooner had he said it Suruga was on the move and dragging L with him. "Hold your fire!" Suruga's voice rang out throughout the warehouse. Using the acoustics inside the warehouse to his advantage, Suruga shouted from a location where his voice could not be pinpointed. He knew it would look bad if they couldn't even hit two stationary targets, so Suruga was on the move to make their job appear more difficult.

"What? Ready to beg for your life?" asked the leader.

"Release the girl now. Or I can't guarantee your lives," Suruga shouted, this time from a different location.

The masked members of the group scanned the area to locate the source of the voice. "I don't think you understand," the leader said.

"We are the ones on the offensive, or have I misread the situation?"

"You must have heard that the Kira murders have ended. It's because L defeated him. And right now, we have Kira's killing tool in our possession."

"Killing tool?"

"That's right. The ultimate weapon capable of killing anyone as long as we know the name and face. We have it right here. Want to die right now? We know all the names of the members of your little gang."

"You're bluffing," said the leader. "Of course, I'll have to believe you if you do kill someone as you say you can."

"We have no choice but to do it, Ryuzaki. It has to be Kujo's name," Suruga said.

L nodded and produced a bag wrapped around his torso under his shirt. In it was a plain black notebook. He took the pen from Suruga and slowly began to write the name. K-U-J-O...

Just as I thought. He doesn't have the eyes of the shinigami.

The last stage of Kujo's plan had been to find out whether the Death Note was real by compelling L to use it in a life-or-death situation. Of course, they devised the strategy based on the fact that as an undercover agent, Kujo was using an alias and therefore would not die if it were written in the Death Note. The risk was the possibility that L possessed the eyes of the shinigami, which would allow him to see Kujo's real name. For this reason, Suruga had to be next to L, so he would be there to stop him should he start writing a name other than Kujo's alias.

Suruga seized the Death Note the moment L finished writing the name. "Kujo!" he called out. "Mission accomplished, five got the Death Note, and the data you have is real." Suruga darted out waving his hands and ran to Kujo. "Ryuzaki, Maki, Im sorry to deceive you. I was just doing my job. Forgive me."

"And now, on to stage four." Slowly, Kujo's rifle turned on Suruga. His face froze in an awkward half smile.

"What? What's going on, Kujo? These men aren't...?"

The masked members of Blue Ship laughed scornfully.

"I didn't expect you to believe that line about my being in the counterterrorism division for this long." Kujo stood on her toes to plant a kiss on Suruga's cheek. "Now we have the data and the Death Note in our possession."

The members tied up Suruga, who stood in a daze with a hand pressed to his cheek, still unable to fully grasp what was happening.

After realizing Kujo had been fooling her all this time, Maki, who was still being held down, shouted, on the verge of tears, "Are you really with them, Dr. Kujo? That's like saying you killed my father!"

Kujo did not answer. Hatsune bent down instead and waved the syringe in front of her. "That's right, little girl. This lady may look shy, but she doesn't give a damn about people's lives. She's badder than this virus—''

Interrupting Hatsune, Kujo said, "Maki, do you remember our conversation in the animal husbandry room? Sometimes this world needs people to sacrifice their lives."

"Are you saying my father had to sacrifice his life for you?" Maki's cheeks flushed with anger. Kujo averted her eyes, no longer able to look at the girl.

"I'm sorry, Maki. I wanted your father to help us in our plan. But it's too late to stop now. The wheels have already been set in motion. It's just like how the destruction of the earth's environment and ecosystem can't be stopped by one person alone. It's too late for me to stop it."

"By using the virus, you're going to eliminate most of the world's population so the chosen people can create a new world?" L interjected from his hiding place. "Please tell me. You have a hostage, the Death Note, and here I am all alone, unarmed. I accept the fact that I will die here, but I'm also a detective. If I don't find out whether my deduction was correct, I won't be able to die in peace. Will you honor a dying man's wish by revealing your plan?"

"What should we do, Mr. Matoba?" Kujo turned to Matoba, unable to decide.

Matoba nodded his consent. "All right. We'll lower our guns, so come on out."

L appeared from behind the container without a hint of caution, his hands in his pockets.

"What we are trying to carry out, L, is a negative population growth plan, just as you figured. The human population has far exceeded the number the earth can adequately support. With the virus, we plan to cleanse the planet of that peril."

"It seems you have a pessimistic view of the future of mankind, L said.

A smile came across Kujo's face. "Detective L, you of all people should recognize the folly of humans. Wouldn't you agree?"

"You're right, Dr. Kujo. But I haven't lost hope in the future of mankind, and I have faith that people can change."

Kujo looked directly into L's black-rimmed panda-like eyes as if she were searching for the truth. When she realized that what L had said was not bravado but spoken from the heart, she shook her head wearily. "Such an optimist. Perhaps even a renowned detective such as yourself can't figure out the future that confronts mankind."

"How do you mean, Dr. Kujo?"

"Mankind has no future. Despite the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce CO z emissions, the U.S., the highest producer of carbon, abandoned the plan, while developing countries are exempt from emissions restrictions altogether. On top of which, even the ratifying countries engage in this utter farce called emissions trading, while no serious effort has been made to reduce emissions. If the CO, levels continue to rise, the world's major cities concentrated in coastal areas will be submerged under the sea. While people blather on about recycling and energy conservation, the time when recovery was still possible has come and gone." Kujo's voice was filled with bitterness, as if she were in the presence of a criminal trying to finish off the very life force of the earth. "The people of this world must change the way they live in a fundamental way. We have known about these problems since they were first brought to light in the '70s but have only put off confronting them. And now there's no turning back the clock."

"I appreciate the lecture, Dr. Kujo. Even so, you have no right to decide who gets to live and who gets to die. Do you really believe you'll be allowed to go through with this?"

"Allowed has nothing to do with it. If the population cant be controlled by natural means, then someone has to do it. Someone has to make the decision. If no one else will do it, it's up to us to maintain the balance of the natural world. That's all."

"You betrayed my father? I believed you would take over my father's mission and use the virus to bring peace to this world." Maki clenched her fist, her voice trembling.

Kujo directed the same kind smile at Maki. "While our thinking may be different from your father's, this is our best possible solution toward world peace."

"A peace that can only be gained by killing isn't real! You're no better than Kira!"

Maki's heartrending cry was enough to wipe the sneering smiles off the masked faces of the gang.

"She's right," said L. "People have the right to forge their own destinies no matter what future awaits them. Your solution to decrease the population by terrorist means is an act of pure evil."

"I wish you wouldn't confuse our plan with something so foolish and irresponsible as terrorism. We merely seek to control the number of necessary deaths and necessary lives. That's why we need the antidote. The next generation will judge whether our actions were for good or evil. Of course, you won't be alive to see that happen."

Both L and Kujo were smiling peacefully, contrary to the exchange of words between them.

"Are we about through, Detective? We really are rather busy."

Matoba glanced at his watch with an exaggerated gesture.

"Of course. I'll give you the real data now." And with that, L tried to remove something from under his shirt.

"Don't—''

One of the masked men moved to stop him. But it was already too late as the object tied around L's stomach fell to the ground.

A strobe bomb. A powerful flash filled the room.

"You didn't think I would come here unprepared, did you?" L's voice echoed in a world turned completely white. Just as L had known all along, the group was not composed of hardcore terrorists, as evidenced by their awkwardness with handling weapons. Their attention had been caught by the falling bomb, and every one of them was looking directly at it when it went off.

Armed as they were, they were unable to shoot for fear of shooting one of their own. L had known the best strategy against a group of armed amateurs was to confuse them first.

The first thing Maki's eyes adjusted to was the syringe. Feeling the arms holding her down go lax, Maki shook them off, grabbed the syringe, and plunged it into Kujo's arm.

Maki's eyes burned with anger as she glared at her. "I believed you! My father died because of you! You deserve to die!"

"Maki, we're leaving." L ran up to Maki and grabbed her by the hand.

"No! I'm going to kill her. Let me go!"

Maki struggled to lunge at Kujo. The masked men regaining their sight lifted their rifles at L.

"You leave me no choice," L mumbled. He pinched the back of Maki's neck and rendered her unconscious. He darted around the warehouse carrying Maki. Obstructed by the garbage and abandoned cargo strewn about, the members of the group struggled to set their sights on a target.

For an instant, L disappeared inside a container. He held another strobe bomb in his hand when he reappeared. The pursuers again fell prey to the blinding flash. By the time their surroundings emerged into view, L and Maki were nowhere to be found.

"Damn! They got away!"

One of the members looked at the shipping slip on the container and exclaimed, "What is this container? It was delivered here today."

"To an abandoned warehouse?"

The members lowered their rifles and stared at each other, perplexed.

Taking off his mask, Matoba slicked back his hair and regarded the members of the environmental group Blue Ship. "Thank you, all. We made some progress even if it was to make the girl a carrier of the virus. World's top detective indeed. He isn't one to be dealt with lightly."

"After all, none of us are exactly trained for anything like this." Kagami, awkwardly handling his rifle, took off his mask and wiped the sweat from his face. Suruga, who was tied up, sat with his legs crossed and sulked. Hatsune flopped down in front of him and flashed him a mocking look. She paid no mind to her miniskirt, which was hiked up past well past her thighs. "Well, well, looks like L didn't bother to save you. Figures, seeing as how you betrayed him."

"Yeah, I got tired of being with him. Guess I'll be staying with you for a while. You know, your underwear's showing."

"Oh, I don't mind. There's plenty more to go around."

Kujo watched the members buzzing after the job and let out a small sigh of relief. No one noticed her being injected with the virus. Since she had been prepared to forfeit her life from the start, it was actually a blessing in disguise that she'd become a carrier. But the group's finding out about it now would be a hindrance to the plan.

Kujo collected herself and clapped her hands in their direction. "We need to move out before the police get wind of the commotion. We need to regroup and discuss our next move."

The members began to move at once.

Matoba whispered in Kujo's ear as she passed. "I was worried to see you so down as our plan progressed, but you seem to have found your enthusiasm. Is L responsible for this turnaround?"

Kujo said nothing as she approached Hatsune. "Why did you inject the girl with the virus? I told you to inject L if it became necessary,"

she said, an edge in her voice.

Hatsune ran her fingers across the sharp edge of a knife as she answered indifferently, "It's all the same result. What? Did you develop feelings for her while you were at the lab?" Pointing the stiletto knife at Kujo, she sneered, "Everyone in this country is going to die anyway."