Lisa Lewie Lizzie Richard Serendipidy Tom Norval Joe Planet Z The next topic is An empty cup LISA The Case of the Missing Baggage Have you seen online where someone buys unclaimed baggage and then livestreams the opening to show what they got for the money? I tried it! The gamble of Rolexes and Gucci belts or dirty pants and leaked suntan cream. My case was well travelled with a Tokyo sticker on the side. Oddly light when unpacked because it had a false bottom! Heroin: street Value in the millions. I thought that was my fortune made; except I’d livestreamed it so had to give the heroin, case and contents to the customs team that called round shortly after the video went viral. RICHARD Tokyo Drift Tokyo isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, believe me. Sure they have pedestrian crossings, trains that run on time, cherry blossoms and ramen… lots of delicious ramen. And let’s not forget the maid cafes! Those are a whole lot of fun. But there’s a downside to it also. The working hours are long and you’re obliged to do them, and you don’t get extra pay for extra time. The houses are small and prices are high, and don’t mention the traffic. Not that any of that really bothers me much. Being a Yakuza has its perks, get my drift? SERENDIPIDY The name’s evocative, isn’t it? Bullet Train. Two simple words that speak volumes. Speed and efficiency, punctuality and the striving for excellence. If I were in Tokyo; but I’m not. I’m in a quiet backwoods location, alongside a railway line; the rest of the gang are a little further along, waiting to rendezvous. And the train is no passenger express, it’s the mail train, loaded with cash and gold. I’ve changed the signal to red and the train is coming slowly to a stop. I emerge from the shadows and take aim, as the driver steps down. Bullet… meet train! LEWIE Title: Everything But the Tea “I need to grab a bottle of tea”, the tourist said. They stepped into a konbini. A selection of 30 rice balls caught their attention. After five minutes, they panicked and grabbed the only flavor they couldn’t identify, deciding to live life to its fullest and take a chance. The little store in Tokyo had a better life organization than they did. They picked up fried chicken, pudding, socks, and a phone charger. “Would you want chopsticks, a spoon, a bag, a receipt, and heating?” the cashier asked. So many questions, and overcome with a fear of forgetting something. “Yes” LIZZIE He booked a trip to Japan. He wanted to visit Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe. He wanted to just sit and enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossoms. So, he landed in Tokyo. He was hungry. He went to a street vendor and sat down to eat. And he stayed. He ate and stayed some more. The food was so good, Kyoto and everywhere else would have to wait. A few months later, he moved to Tokyo, and his life changed. Strange guys with massive tattoos hired him to be a bouncer. He’d do anything for that food, even go to jail. TOM My Woman From Tokyo Uncle Bob loved to tell tales of his time in China during the war. His job was to guard high value Japanizes prisoner. After VJ day he continues this work in Tokyo. This is how he met Iva Toguri the voice of Zero Hour, Tokyo Rose. Uncle Bob was her guard and they become good friends. When Iva was released from prison she settled in Chicago. She and my uncle remained friends until his death in 1981. He always spoke highly of her and thought the government had treated her unfairly. I think he might have had a crush on her. NORVAL JOE Pinkerton turned to Joan. “Where do you think they are?” Joan shrugged. “Last we saw, Mr. Yaan was being carried out to sea by a tornado. He’s probably halfway to Tokyo by now.” Ms. Pinkerton’s face went bright red. She snarled, “Don’t mock me.” “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” Joan said, recognizing only her superpower might save them and a veil of efficiency spread around them. “Patrick and Bobby Yaan can verify this.” “Okay, bit it’s late,” Pinkerton said. “We can meet at the Yaan’s house tomorrow morning, say 9:00?” Joan nodded and shuttled Sabrina back to her car. PLANET Z Just as I was waking up and making a cup of coffee, I knew that my coworker in Japan was coming home from a night out in the Tokyo clubs. He usually left an encouraging message and a stack of code changes that I needed to test and document. However, this night there was a ransom note and a photo of a bloody finger. They wanted access to the code base, but my coworker refused to enter the password. Company policy is to notify our security team so I did. I finished my coffee, sat in my chair, and prayed.
