A conference room on the fourth floor. Long mahogany table. Twelve chairs. Two untouched cups of coffee already cooling at opposite ends.

Outside the windows, Tokyo sprawled under a grey November sky, skyscrapers dissolving into a haze of rain that had been falling for three days straight.

The door clicked open.

He flipped through the pages, scanning names he'd expected. Specialists in infectious disease. Pulmonology. Epidemiology.

Then he stopped.

A single name. Listed as Lead Research Investigator.

The folder nearly slipped from his fingers.

Giyuu set the folder down. His hand trembled slightly—barely noticeable, unless you knew him. Knew what that tremor meant.