The flight was considerably more pleasant than the fight that preceded it...as well as the meeting with Mirai that followed it.

Having someone who could - given the right prompting - help you to get almost immediately out of the country without pulling any official powers was extremely good, no doubts.  Indispenceable, one might say.  Not to say that any of this would be habit-forming.  All of this was less 'calling in a favor' and more 'asking a favor which would be necessary to repay later', and he would gladly pay whatever it took for this, just so long as it wasn't straightforward money, as he didn't win any and his army pay wasn't going to bury him in luxuries for the rest of his life.  Even still, it was a calm and restful flight, and West City soon held their arrival, where a simple cab, booking of somewhere modest to stay, and dropping in at Capsule Corp was to follow.

They hadn't even gotten to see Mirai upon their first showing at the main HQ.  She was off-duty, and would be in at the evening, as per usual.  They would have to leave the phone there, sent to her inbox to work on.  No problem.  If you could trust anybody, it was Capsule Corp, and if you could trust anyone IN Capsule Corp, it was the ever-dedicated and ever-diligent types who worked the late shifts.  With time on their hands, Niko had decided to make good on his promise of Capsule shopping while there, so it didn't look like he came all this way just to mooch off of the company.  He would be dipping a bit into his reserves here, but a Capsule Car and basic storage units were a good investment for your personal needs.  It's certainly handle his luggage if he needed to vacate the hotel in a hurry.

Of course, it was [i]then[/i] that Niko got a good look at his account and literally went [b]"Agh!"[/b] with a double-take.  There were a few more zeroes there than he remembered!  He was left standing there, basically in WTF Mode, when he looked to the note attached to the transaction history, reading [b]"You forgot this when you checked out.  All of our competitors who make it to the Final 16 receive payment for their efforts, and it only goes up, the further you make it.  See you next time!"[/b] with a smiley at the end of it.  Niko was left dumbfounded, but a nervous smile crept along his face, followed by laughter and [color=92278f]"I am such an idiot, sometimes."[/color].

It was only later in the evening when the call came to return to Capsule Corp HQ.  Niko had spent the time doing various things to distract himself from the matter at hand, as it naturally bothered him a great deal.  All except checking to make sure his brother was alright, via phone.  The answer was that he was both stable and looked after, so all was well on [i]that[/i] front.  Sadly, this is the part where things take a definite bad turn, as Mirai had met them in-person now with the results...and what she'd uncovered led to some rather nasty accusations, levied not only at the Martian Mining Corp...but also Wu Han.  He was, after all, one of the Wuye-ying, himself.  The fact that she found out herself, with no prompting at all to look into it, very well underlined Mirai's performance.  However, she was under a misapprehension that was best left cleared.

[color=92278f]"He's not going to kill me."[/color]

Niko turned to face Han enough so that both he and Mirai were in his field of view.

[color=92278f]"If he were going to do it, the most sound opportunity would be when we were attacked by half a dozen men from his organization.  Seven men against one me, miles away from where I'd last been seen?  That would've been ideal, and if it were a matter of who gets credit to the kill, I imagine the boss' son wouldn't have trouble making the claim, anyway."[/color]

Now, he looked back at Mirai to give her a reassuring smile.

[color=92278f]"He's on our side.  It's a matter of honor for him.  He only puts down disreputable targets.  And thank you...  I know it's not evidence, but up until now, it's only been supicions and worries.  Now, I know, and now I can really start to put on the pressure.  These people have gone too far, both here and in space, and it's about time they were put in their place."[/color]