Matters surrounding Raven were growing messier and more concerning by the day. It started to impact Sanae's actual work and she considered leaving the official business to the Vice Minister for a couple of days. Though, this would just end up spreading rumors like last time. She opted to try and squeeze whatever matters had to be addressed in between her office hours.
However despite the mess it became, she did not expect Raven's kidnapper to actually attempt contacting her, even when it happened through her servant Amelia.
She wished that listening in to the heated conversation in orbit of Tokyo was all contact she would ever end up having to this person, but it turns out he tried to persuade Amelia into considering Raven an infectee. Amelia, always worried about Sanae's well-being, of course informed her and Irelei right away of this accusations. Irelei applied pressure on Sanae as she knew from Sanae that Raven had mental issues caused by Nomad contact.
At first a little unwilling, but eventually convinced, Sanae agreed on testing Raven. Just to be safe. Falsifying Caliban's claim could even help Raven, especially with the little letter Sanae received in mind. It appeared as if Caliban was marked a foreign agent by now. Was this a campaign to discredit Raven? But if he spoke the truth... Sanae did not want to think about it. Irelei in tight coordination with Rayne Krenton - a former Core member - prepared a scenario where they could receive a bio-scan without Raven noticing: By utilizing the Sunekosuri.
The vessel was outfitted with some of the most advanced technology at Kusari's disposal after all, including military-grade automated defense systems by Samura for the interior and trinary internal computer systems. Naturally, the most important piece of equipment where the integrated multilayer scanners: Any guest arriving or leaving would be subject to scans without their knowledge. A mandatory security measure installed under supervision of the Emperor's Imperial Guard several months ago.
Rayne's plan would go as following: For their day trip to the cat island, Sanae would invite Raven on board the Sunekosuri for the transit from Planet Honshu to Planet Kyushu. Upon boarding, Raven would be subject to the scans, if anything turned up - she'd be rendered unconscious and handed over to the KOI. If nothing turned up, they could enjoy their day trip as planned.
Sanae did not only hope for the best but was convinced that this was a simple attempt of manipulation, but she was still concerned. Less so over the result, which she was sure would turn out to be negative, but far more so that Caliban actively tried to meddle into her personal relationship. At least Amelia managed to feed him false information.
