The Prisoner's Dilemma

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Weiss Kreuz characters. Siren and Hacker, however, are all mine.


Nagi was pretty sure he was getting closer to what Crawford was looking for.

Over the course of the day, he'd found more and more hits from Gelb's machine on new computer technology. Specifically, someone in Gelb was very interested in quantum computers. Nagi wasn't an expert in physics-mainly because he hadn't had the chance to study it much yet-but he was enough of a computer geek to know quantum computing was somewhat of a holy grail, especially for encryption-breakers. The idea was to use the quantum properties of particles to represent and structure data, storing much more information more efficiently than a conventional computer, and then taking advantage of the quantum mechanisms of molecules to perform operations on this data. He didn't quite understand all the science behind it-damn Crawford for not allowing him to enroll in a few college classes-but basically, it had to do with the fact that a unit of data in a quantum computer could exist simultaneously in more than one state, enabling performance of myriad operations in parallel using only a single processing unit. In theory, the mind-bogglingly small particles contained in atoms could be used to store information, induced to take on particular states to represent data by the application of specific external magnetic fields. With the right nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, organic or inorganic molecules could be used to manipulate information and make more calculations in an hour than the best classical supercomputer could make in a hundred years. The majority of encryption schemes used by big governments, powerful financial institutions, and even shady international organizations of psionics all relied on the inability of traditional computers to perform the number of calculations necessary to factor large numbers-a task that a quantum computer could do in minutes-so it wasn't surprising that it was a hot research area.

While the theory of how a quantum computer should work had been around for years, with some research groups even experiencing moderate levels of success with rudimentary one or two particle calculations, no one had yet been able to implement a fully-functional large-scale quantum computer that actually had the processing power to back up the theorists' lofty claims. The problem was in finding a medium in which the inner workings of the computer were separated from its surroundings-something about quantum decoherence. In the act of interacting with its environment, the system lost the very properties that initially made it viable for computing. Different researchers had tried various techniques to overcome the problem, but in the end, much of the difficulty boiled down to developing a system with an appropriate level of control to properly manipulate the tiny particles. So far, no one was able to do it on a large scale.

Although none of the information Nagi found on the web pointed him to any successful attempts in constructing a full-scale quantum computer, one name seemed to surface in his searches over and over again-Dr. Jonathan Braeburn. Of all the teams working in the field, his seemed the most promising. Not surprisingly, Nagi found that someone from Gelb had visited the webpage of Braeburn's research group several times, not to mention his personal webpage. When Nagi saw Braeburn's obituary, published just two days ago, he knew he'd found his lead.

The obit was a rather bland and tasteful send-off, probably written by a fellow intellectual. It didn't contain much information that Nagi could use, but it did mention that Braeburn was survived by a wife and pre-teen daughter and interestingly, that he'd died two days after Siren and Hacker were spotted in a London airport. Intrigued, Nagi went looking for more information. Used to hacking into the Tokyo police database, Nagi had little trouble cracking Scotland Yard's servers. Braeburn's autopsy indicated that he'd died of heart failure, but Nagi could think of about four different types of talents that could kill in such a way to fit that bill, his included. Apparently, upon returning from an afternoon of errands, Braeburn's wife had found him lying dead in the entryway to their home. Mrs. Braeburn had called the police after summoning an ambulance for her husband, insisting there was a connection between her husband's collapse and an alleged break-in at his research center only days before. Oddly, there was no police report on such a break-in, nor was there any mention of a daughter anywhere in the report on Braeburn's death.

Stymied by the mismatch of information in the police reports, Nagi finally noticed how much time had passed since he'd started his search on Gelb's activities. After a quick break for some coffee and snacks, he decided to approach the problem from another angle and went after information directly from Braeburn's company. Although some chaos was certainly to be expected after not only a possible break-in, but also the untimely death of one of the company's directors and head researcher, such chaos didn't explain the absolute lack of access Nagi found. It was as if the entire company had been wiped clean. Braeburn's personal webpage and the pages of his research group were intact, but Nagi found they were run from a server external to the research center. It was as if the entire facility where Braeburn had worked had been shut down.

Frustrated, Nagi went to his old hacking fallback-financial records. What he found in Braeburn's bank account sent a thrill of discovery through him. Braeburn's company and personal accounts were both filled with huge deposits from something called SS Enterprises. Nagi had snooped through Crawford's bank accounts enough times to know that SS Enterprises was one of the names that occasionally appeared on Schwartz's paychecks. It was, Nagi assumed, one of the many financial fronts of the organization.

Was that why they'd been sent after Siren and Hacker? Had the duo killed a scientist on Esset's payroll? If Braeburn was as close to solving the decoherence problem of quantum computing as some of the articles said, it would stand to reason that the organization would be very upset about his murder. But according to the police report, Braeburn died after Siren and Hacker fled London. And why had Braeburn's company been shut down? And what about the missing daughter?

An incoming message on his computer screen shook Nagi from his thoughts. It was from Crawford.

*Status?*

*Nothing consistent with our targets yet from the Tokyo police. Am currently processing your other request.*

*Mastermind made contact with our secondary target. Am taking Berserker to scene to investigate. Will contact you if we need you. For now, keep working on your research.*

Nagi sent an affirmative message. Crawford must badly want the information Nagi was working on, to leave him home when they had possibly tracked down their targets. With a renewed sense of enthusiasm, Nagi dove back into his research. Perhaps he wouldn't wait for this mission's conclusion to start looking into Esset's systems after all.

*****

Crawford gripped the wheel firmly, tension turning his knuckles white. Except for the knuckle of his trigger finger, of course. He wouldn't be able to curl that finger around his steering wheel for some time. The gauze-wrapped digit stuck out from the wheel, a white exclamation mark pointing up in the darkness. He actively reminded himself not to grind his teeth, not to speed like a maniac. It might be momentarily satisfying to throw a tantrum with the accelerator, but it wasn't worth the risk. Esset expected its agents to keep their noses clean when they weren't committing murder and mayhem on the clock.

He'd just spent a very frustrating few hours scouring the club district with Schuldig and Farfarello. Schuldig assured him over the phone that Hacker had gotten away-he'd told him how the telepath had monitored him from a distance and threatened to cut off their conversation if Schuldig tried to contact his team-but Schuldig had already proved his judgment was less than reliable lately. Naturally, now that Crawford was calling him on it, Schuldig's judgment was right on the money tonight. They'd covered several blocks and more clubs and bars than he cared to count, Crawford futilely trying to force a vision on their targets' location, Schuldig scanning minds, and Farfarello becoming more agitated at every stop filled with loud music and flashing lights. By the end of the night, Schuldig was sinking much more of his power into keeping the Irishman under control than doing any active scans. When the clubs started to close, he'd sent Farfarello to ride home with an uncharacteristically silent Schuldig and made his way back to his own car. Now he was taking the long way home, trying to center himself so he could find the focus to make it through the mission.

While the ever-vigilant part of Crawford's mind scanned the rearview mirror for signs of a tail and automatically checked the light late night flow of traffic for suspicious patterns, the rest of him gradually dropped from a state of quiet seething to resigned weariness. His center still eluded him, but his finger throbbed dully, his mind felt frighteningly dull, and staying on the road wasn't doing him any good. Maybe if he went home and lay down, he would be able to meditate. He steered himself into the lane for his exit home, indulging himself by allowing his thoughts to wander.

Schuldig's car was already parked in the garage when Crawford pulled in, parked in the spot Crawford normally claimed for himself, no less. Wasn't that just like the little shit, stealing his parking space? Crawford caught himself trying to smile and stopped.

/Oh, come on Brad. You know you wanna./

As he made his way up to the apartment, he reminded himself how much more in control he'd felt that afternoon. The return to professionalism had been empowering.

/Pfftt. Whatever. You still wanted to jump my bones./

The apartment was dark and quiet when Crawford stepped inside. He slipped off his shoes and padded on silent feet down the hallway. A faint blue light shone from under Nagi's door. The boy was probably still working to find information on Gelb's recent activities. Good. Crawford had a feeling they'd need whatever Nagi found.

The door next to Nagi's was closed and bolted shut from the outside. Inside, it was quiet. Schuldig must've been successful in getting Farfarello home and in bed, but not wanted to take any chances in case the Irishman woke up violent.

Across from Farfarello's room, a light shone from under Schuldig's door as well. Crawford's feet hesitated in their trek down the hall. He was very tired, but also wound-up with unresolved tension from their night of fruitless searching.

/Just a fuck, Brad. A little stress relief./

His hand reached for the door. The Schuldig-voice laughed in his head. The sound jarred loose a memory from his subconscious, one of the other Schuldig visions he'd shoved to the back of his mind the moment it had finished playing in his head. He pulled his hand away quickly, balling it into a fist at his side. The splinted trigger finger refused to cooperate, sending a twinge through his hand and all the way up his arm.

Crawford continued down the hall to his own room. If he had trouble sleeping, he'd meditate.

*****

Nagi was so immersed in his work, only a very small portion of his brain registered that he was no longer alone in the apartment when the rest of his team returned at 4 am. He was beginning to understand why Crawford tended to sneer involuntarily whenever anyone mentioned the data division. Esset's systems bristled with security-a virtual moat of toxic waste filled with mutant crocodiles swishing between long, jagged spikes of glass driven into its muddy bottom. Given time and the right resources, he might be able to break in. Tonight, he didn't stand a chance.

Although the data division's main systems were out of Nagi's reach, in a fit of desperation, he'd decided to look into computers at Rosenkreuz-the school was closely connected to the rest of the organization, after all-and found a way into one of the few machines at Rosenkreuz that accepted outside connections. The computer held very little useful data-just a few class rosters and some vaguely disturbing lesson plans. He'd been about ready to give up when he noticed a familiar name on one of the student lists: Alexis Braeburn. Nagi pulled up the obituary he'd found earlier in the day, scanning for the mention of Dr Braeburn's wife and daughter. There it was: ...survived by his wife, Emily, 38, and daughter, Alexis, 11.

Braeburn's daughter was a talent? Did that explain why the doctor was on Esset's payroll? Nagi knew Esset kept detailed master files on all its talents; he'd just seen the front pages of two such files last night. He'd figured those files would be stored on mainframes within Esset's main network, but perhaps student files were also maintained within the Rosenkreuz network. He started going through the client applications on the low-level machine he'd hacked, the fatigue bleeding out of his eyes as he worked. Sunlight shone through a crack in the fabric of his curtains by the time he'd found the school's student database server, caused a buffer overflow in the server's software, and executed a program to create his own backdoor into the server with adminstrator level access, but Nagi felt more awake than he had all night.

The student database was comprehensive. Not only did Nagi find Alexis Braeburn's master file, which indicated she'd been acquired by the organization six months ago after manifesting pyrokinetic abilities, he also found detailed evaluations of the girl from Rosenkreuz's "psychiatric" staff. Apparently, the girl's indoctrination was going swimmingly, the only potential drawback being her father's insistence on contacting his daughter. Nagi read the reports with increasing interest, his face serious and impassive as his eyes darted across the screen. He worked to maintain objectivity, pushing jealousy to the back of his mind. This was the information that Crawford was after; Nagi couldn't let his envy of a child whose parents wanted her despite her dangerous talent get in the way of compiling a good report.

The Rosenkreuz double-speak in the files was difficult to cut through, but Nagi gathered that the organization had collected Alexis Braeburn from her parents under promises of helping the girl control her destructive power, assuring the Braeburns regular visits could be arranged. Nagi knew without having to search the files that that assurance had never been fulfilled; none of the junior-level students received outside contact of any kind. Apparently, Dr. Braeburn worked for three months to contact Alexis through channels within Esset.

The reports on Braeburn's activities were more vague after that point, probably, Nagi assumed, because Braeburn finally had an inkling of just what he was dealing with and started working under the table. If so, the doctor hadn't been careful enough. According to Alexis' recent files, two of the girl's handlers had been debating whether or not informing the girl of her father's death would be advantageous to her inculcation. This debate occurred over a week before the man's death.

Nagi sat back in his chair, trying to pull together all the information. It was pretty obvious from Alexis' files that Esset had put out an assassination order on Braeburn, possibly due to his attempts to thwart his daughter's "education". Since Gelb's computer activity indicated the team had been researching the doctor, the order must've gone to their team. But Braeburn had died after Siren and Hacker left the country; the pair couldn't be the ones who'd completed the hit. However, Schwartz's targets had been in the area during the break-in to Braeburn's company his wife reported, a break-in that was apparently being covered up. Were Siren and Hacker responsible for the break-in? Was that why Schwartz was hunting them?

Absently rubbing the back of his neck, Nagi continued to pick at the threads of information he was trying to weave together. According to the financial records he'd tracked down, Braeburn had been collecting money from SS Enterprises long before his daughter was born. The organization had been footing the bill for Braeburn's research practically since the doctor had completed his dissertation at Cambridge. Esset had invested a lot into Braeburn's work, and now that work was apparently shut down. Assuming the organization's conflict had only been with the doctor, it seemed grossly wasteful to abandon the entire quantum computer project, especially when, according to an article Nagi read, the doctor estimated they were within months of a working prototype....

Nagi drew in a sharp breath, his eyes widening as realization hit. Esset wouldn't have abandoned its investment, but it might try to cover up the fact that that investment had been compromised. Gelb was supposed to silence Braeburn, but if he'd been on the outs with the organization, it was likely that he hadn't been sharing the recent developments in his research as he was undoubtedly expected to. Crawford had mentioned during his mission briefing that Siren and Hacker worked as a data gathering sub-team within Gelb. It stood to reason that the pair had investigated the progress Braeburn made on his research following his falling out with the organization. They must have been responsible for the break-in. And whatever they'd found, they must be running with it now.

Nagi glanced at the clock on his computer. Crawford would be awake soon, if he wasn't already. Cursing softly under his breath, the boy began compiling a summary of all he'd discovered. He'd have to fudge some of his sources-suspicions of Crawford's motivations aside, Nagi wasn't sure Crawford would approve of him hacking into the Rosenkreuz data server. He quickly put together his report, sent if off to Crawford's computer, and trudged into the kitchen to make himself a fresh pot of coffee. Returning to his room, Nagi got back to work on checking the Tokyo police databases. He'd sleep when the mission was finished.

*****

Crawford took another sip of his coffee, a small, secret smile on his face as he looked over Nagi's report. He reminded himself never to underestimate the boy. Although he'd gone to lengths to hide it, the telekinetic had clearly hacked into internal files within the organization to get some of this information. He hadn't gotten into Esset's mainframes-if he had, the information he'd given Crawford would have been much more concrete and complete-but he'd found an in somewhere relatively close to the heart of the data division. Plus, the kid made a mean cup of coffee. Crawford would have to make sure the boy was covering his tracks properly, and he knew it wouldn't be long now before Nagi worked up the adolescent spunk to start asking questions about Crawford's motivations, but if Nagi was diving into Esset's files on his own, chances were what he'd find would put him on a track parallel to Crawford's purposes without any other intervention.

Satisfied for the moment that Nagi would keep in line for the near future, Crawford turned his focus to the details of the boy's report. Settling into a state of concentration was slightly more difficult than usual, perhaps because he was still behind on sleep. Last night's meditation had not been particularly successful. He'd finally ended up guiltily jerking himself off under the covers, thoughts of pushing into Schuldig's tight body running through his mind until he'd finished and fallen into a few hours of fitful sleep.

Crawford skimmed the section detailing Braeburn's work on quantum computers a second time, something about the research tickling the corners of his thoughts like a word stuck on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't say he thought much of Dr. Braeburn. Normals who voluntarily became involved with Esset deserved whatever they got. The doctor should've known better than to start withholding accurate data on his research from the organization.

Pushing dark hair back from his face, Crawford looked over Nagi's assessment of Siren and Hacker's involvement with Braeburn. The way the boy had put the pieces together seemed to fit, mostly. Having had several years experience with mission assignments from Esset, Crawford could practically reconstruct the orders Gelb must've received concerning Dr. Braeburn. Given the doctor's demonstration of disloyalty, the team had probably been instructed to determine the state of Braeburn's research, eliminate the doctor, and seize control of his findings. It seemed Siren and Hacker had accomplished the first step, skipped the second, and gone straight to the third. If the pair carried valuable information though, wouldn't the organization want both of them captured? Why the strict orders to terminate Siren? Crawford knew he was missing something important, and felt that the irritating bit of information, dancing just outside his awareness when he contemplated Braeburn's research on quantum computers, was the key. He scrolled the cursor on screen back to Nagi's section on quantum computers, forcing himself to read carefully.

He stopped at Nagi's description of a quantum computer's code-breaking capabilities, thinking back to something Schuldig had briefly mentioned last night. He'd said Hacker suggested they'd broken into Schwartz's Esset files. Crawford had found it rather unsettling yesterday in the park when Hacker had casually displayed his knowledge of Crawford's full name and talent. One of the only sources of such information, aside from the handful of people who actually knew Crawford, was his Esset file. But it didn't seem possible for Hacker to be able to access that file from Esset's mainframes. Even Nagi, who was probably the most capable computer hacker Crawford had ever seen, hadn't been able to crack Esset's mainframes, so how could their targets accomplish such a feat in less than 24 hours?

Understanding rushed into him, all the pieces falling into place with a nearly audible "clink" in his head. According to Nagi's report, with the proper nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, virtually any sort of organic or inorganic matter could be used as the components of a quantum computer. The important bit was achieving an adequate level of magnetic control over the components, such that the system could be observed without throwing off the calculations. Braeburn must have solved the problem. In the time he'd been estranged from Esset, he must have completed his prototype. And a talented magnetokinetic with a very fine level of control could have emulated that prototype, using the information within its circuits to learn to manipulate the molecules of objects around her or even the molecules of her own body to store and process data.

They'd been ordered to kill Siren because the woman had become a living quantum computer.

If Siren had access to an electromagnetic data signal, she could break any encryption on that signal within a matter of minutes. The woman was capable of taking down Esset's entire data structure with a thought. No wonder the organization wanted her dead. No single operative should wield so much power.

Esset had really fucked up sending a magnetokinetic in on the Braeburn job. He could understand why the agents had taken the opportunity and ran. Siren would be a hot commodity; any number of governments and organizations would offer her almost anything she wanted to gain access to her abilities. Perhaps that was why the pair was in Tokyo, shopping around for a kinder, gentler place to hang their hats. Crawford thought it was ridiculously naive of the agents to think any organization would allow Siren to live anything approximating a normal life, but he'd look into the big players in town with a reasonable reputation all the same.

It warmed Crawford's heart. The organization was capable of making big mistakes. This time, he'd clean it up for Esset. But one day, those bastards would realize they'd made a mistake that couldn't be fixed. Crawford knew that would be the last mistake they ever made. He would make sure of it.

He finished his coffee, a manic gleam in his eyes. Of course, there was still the obstacle of making it through the current mission-no mean feat, considering the targets' capabilities-but with his goals becoming more tangible all the time, Crawford felt optimistic. His feelings of optimism lasted through a second cup of coffee, and then the vision hit.

Schuldig, pinned to a concrete wall by an invisible force, eyes wide with disbelief. Nagi, face white and haunted as he held Schuldig to the wall. Farfarello, ceramic knife already slick with another's blood, approaching Schuldig with sick adoration and murder in his eye, whispering a name under his breath...Judas...Judas. Crawford, inclining his head to Farfarello, giving the madman permission before his eyes met Schuldig's and Farfarello's blade slid home.

Fuck. Ohfuckohfuckohfuck. Crawford pulled deep breaths through his nose, willing away the shakes and nausea left in the vision's wake. He rested his forehead on the desk, cool wood refreshing his burning skin. That was not an acceptable future. Goddammit, why did Schuldig have to make life so fucking difficult?

Crawford slowly regained composure and started to think the vision through, dissecting it with the razor sharp intellect he'd honed over painstaking practice. He could glean the time and approximate setting of the vision, but it directly contradicted other visions he'd been having about Schuldig for weeks now. He despised dredging them up, preferring they stay buried in his subconscious where they belonged, where they couldn't make him uncomfortable, but he was pragmatic enough to realize that they made him less uncomfortable than the idea of this latest vision actually coming to pass. Those other Schuldig visions, the ones that came less frequently than the sex visions, but left Crawford feeling even more distracted, definitely took place later in the continuum than the scene he'd just witnessed. Crawford just had to make sure that possible future won out over the one he'd seen today.

Bitterly, Crawford realized what he'd need to do to force the correct course of events. Damn Schuldig for making life so difficult.