A murmur of shock and unease rippled through the agents. Aki cursed under his breath, realizing just how vulnerable they had been. Kobeni trembled visibly, terror flickering in her eyes at how close they'd come to total annihilation. Himeno's lips tightened around her cigarette, her eye darkening in grim realization.
Makima advanced the briefing, her voice ice-cold as images flashed across the projection screen—clandestine photographs captured from recent covert operations:
A filthy, dimly lit laboratory with twisted machinery, scattered syringes, blood-stained operating tables, and incubators filled with murky, glowing liquids. Next, crates stacked high with smuggled weapons, rifles, explosives, and strange metallic devices designed specifically for Pokémon containment or exploitation.
"We face threats on multiple fronts," Makima continued relentlessly. "Inside our borders, illegal Pokémon laboratories have proliferated—secret facilities conducting unlicensed and horrific experiments. Pokémon are being dissected alive, genetically modified, forced into agonizing and twisted evolutions. There are even attempts at fusing Pokémon genetics with human subjects to create living weapons—projects that make the horrors we've seen before look mild in comparison."
The screen shifted again to show black market stalls hidden in dark alleyways: shelves lined with PokéBall prototypes, vials labeled with Pokémon DNA, jars of Pokémon organs harvested for profit. Denji's eyes narrowed in disgust; Power audibly snarled, clenching her fists.
Makima's voice lowered further, a razor's edge of anger now fully evident. "These same black markets are supplying extremists who've infiltrated our country—radical Islamist groups such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, and various fundamentalist splinter factions. We have confirmed intelligence that these terrorists are planning major attacks inside Japan. They've already smuggled agents onto Japanese soil, embedding themselves within immigrant communities and exploiting our nation's reluctance to scrutinize foreigners."
She took a deep breath, her expression turning darker. "Japan, a non-Islamic, largely secular society, represents an ideal target for these radical Islamist cells. They seek to exploit our political chaos, aiming specifically at densely populated civilian targets—schools, shopping centers, train stations—areas with maximum casualties. Their goal is nothing less than mass slaughter and total societal collapse. Historical precedents show they aim to kill the men, enslave women and children, forcibly convert survivors to Islam, and erase our unique cultural identity and traditions entirely. Pokémon, being easily concealed in miniaturized PokéBalls, provide them with ideal portable weapons for acts of mass terror."
A stunned silence blanketed the room. The sheer horror of Makima's words hung heavily, forcing each agent to confront this grim reality. Even Angel's normally aloof expression tightened visibly, disgust flickering across his delicate features. Kishibe's scarred face was an unreadable mask of simmering fury.
Kobeni let out a faint, horrified gasp, her trembling hands rising to her lips. "Pokémon… used as weapons of terror?" she whispered, voice shaking. "Against innocent people?"
Makima nodded gravely. "Precisely. Picture a Voltorb or Electrode detonating inside a packed subway station at rush hour, a Charmander or Charmeleon unleashed to burn buildings crowded with families and children, psychic-types manipulated into inducing mass panic, suicides, or riots. The devastation would be catastrophic, instantaneous, and widespread."
She tapped the projector screen again, and intercepted chatter filled the speakers—scratchy, distorted voices speaking Arabic, chillingly matter-of-fact as they discussed targeting schools, hospitals, and shrines. One voice laughed cruelly about "turning the infidel's own creatures into weapons against them," while another coldly mentioned targeting places where women and children gathered, aiming to maximize emotional impact and terror. Explicit instructions spoke of kidnapping young women as "war brides," capturing children to indoctrinate as future soldiers, slaughtering male captives publicly to instill fear.
Kobeni visibly shuddered, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Himeno gently placed a reassuring hand on her trembling shoulder, her own face pale but set with furious resolve. Denji clenched his fists until they shook. Power's crimson eyes blazed openly with rage, and even Aki's usually composed demeanor cracked, teeth gritted as he fought back raw anger.
Makima paused to let the horror fully sink in before continuing. Her voice trembled slightly, barely controlled anger lacing every syllable. "These threats aren't abstract or theoretical. They're already operational, coordinating closely with corrupt elements inside our government. These traitors—politicians, officials, even some within the PSIA itself—are directly enabling terrorists who openly advocate for mass violence, cultural erasure, and the forced subjugation of our people. Their goal is nothing short of destroying Japan's way of life, imposing their twisted ideology by any means necessary. Our culture, history, language—all of it would be reduced to ashes, replaced by violence and terror."
Aki finally spoke, his voice low and shaking with suppressed fury. "We can't let that happen. Not now, not ever."
Makima's expression hardened further. She clicked again, and now came truly disturbing images: X-ray-like scans and medical diagrams showing human silhouettes with foreign, inhuman shapes fused to them; a photograph of a dimly lit operating table spattered with blood; a close-up of a child's arm marked with a serial number tattoo and what looked like a faintly glowing vein beneath the skin. "Perhaps worst of all," she intoned, letting the horror of the visuals sink in, "there are ongoing research projects attempting to create Pokémon-human hybrids. In plain terms: to fuse or genetically engineer living weapons."