A steady breeze rolled over the village.  The warmth of the sun rolling off in waves.  Enigma reclined on the roof of the tower, with both legs propped just over the edge.  Watching the slow movement of the clouds.

Visions played over the back of his mind ever since his visit with the Hokage.  Distant or close at hand, important or needlessly dramatic.  It was easier to let them play out like a dream than try to anchor them.  For the time being, it was a welcome distraction.

It had been three days since he arrived at the compound.  His background or lack thereof had created a managerial issue.  They had to forge his identification from scratch.  Not the easiest thing in the world for someone with an agenda.

“This place is a maze,” Enigma muttered.

A haze drifting along the blue sky.  Enigma’s brow twitched as scents from the market drifted over the compound, drawing his attention to the village itself.

Clay shingles, painted in a myriad of colors, decorated the horizon.  A distant ring held the forest back like a dam and marked the edge of the village.

It was large enough to call a city.  At least two stories lined every street, but Enigma remembered seeing areas that were more neglected than others.

He drew his legs up and wrapped his arms around them.  “Soon.  Two days from now, I will see this place with a fresh pair of eyes.  If it takes any longer than that to get sorted out, I’ll need to improvise anyway.”

Integrating with a ninja society.  It was a strange idea, but Enigma knew he wouldn’t make it as a civilian.  He needed the reach and clearance afforded to martials.  The leaf might not be able to take away knowledge he already had, but they could isolate him.  Any bridges he burned would affect him wherever he went.

“I won't let myself be turned into a mad dog.”

There was a blur of blue.  A pattern of footsteps.  Enigma dove down from one rooftop to the next, stopping only to orient himself.  He reach the wall and started sprinting the length of it.

It hurt.  Gods, it brought the taste of metal to his tongue, and thorns to his lungs.  On the first day, he barely made it a few meters from the tower before his stamina gave out.  To this day, it took a measure of spite to sprint the whole distance.  He hadn’t managed to do it without taking a breather, but he was getting closer by the hour.

Each step put another notch in his reserves.  Another stretch up for auction.  His heart rattled off like a jackhammer, but the steps were becoming easier to take.

That wouldn’t do.  He saw the ninja move.  The speeds they achieved in the forest.  On the rooftops.  He-

One step fell short, then the next failed to come down at all.  Enigma’s eye bugged out and he just barely managed to roll into the fall.  When he came out of his he rose onto hands and knees and deadpanned.

“I forgot.  I need to eat enough to carry on like this!”

Enigma drew himself up and gripped one arm as pangs and recoil struck him.  Worse than typical exhaustion.  It was like half of his body went unresponsive while the rest carried on as though nothing had changed.  He limped back toward the tower, doing everything in his power not to draw on his chakra.

He grimaced at the thought.  I’ve already given myself one problem.  Best not complicate it further.  But then, there were actually two different types of chakra manipulation.

Of course, there were the physical and spiritual energies.  Those that gave way to mental and biological energy respectively.  But, there were two ways to use that energy as well.

In absence of spiritual energy, yin release could be used to tap into, harmonize with and siphon chakra.  An ability that was core in collaborative ninjutsu.  Incidentally, it was also Enigma’s preferred element of the two.

But there was a significant difference between chakra harvesting in motion, at rest, or in the wake of another.  One thing he did not trust himself to do, was to harmonize his chakra in the middle of a crowd of people.  Two many people to mistake for one another.

He made his way across the mission area, willing himself to show as much composure as he could, then made his way to the next floor.  He found a hall that opened out to the village and stepped onto the roof.  He kept himself just around the corner, in earshot of anyone who was passing, and just enough of the aura pouring out of the building.

He braced his fingertips against the surface, flinching at the contrast between conditioned floors and sun-baked tiles.  He settled to ball his fists instead and pressed himself firmly against the wall.

Ninjas were freakishly attentive.  If he heard so much as a leaf of paper drop, he would have to hold back or risk a dressing down.  Keeping this in mind, Enigma extended his impression to that of the neighboring rooms.

[Hidden in the limelight, bound to the moon.  Ore and oil, aegis of the machine path.]

A dome projected from him.  Shadows projected from his mind.  With a painstaking measure for each of them, Enigma allowed his consciousness to settle.

Now, everything that the light touches.  Devourer, reaper of spirits.  Have your fill.

The air shivered.  The imbalance in his chakra hashed out in waves.  Absently, Enigma grasped at the tiles, picking fragments from the weathered earth and shattering it with a burst of lighting.  The remaining three elements answered and rivaled one another.

Good.  Warding techniques are effective in this world.

Oddly enough, this affected his perspective of the visions.  What seemed like a row of masks bearing down on him extended like a watershed.  Intricate streams and rivers dropped down to his level as they approached him.  It was too early to make heads or tails of, but Enigma felt one of the masks turn to regard him, and he mirrored them in turn.

“Enigma?”

The boy nodded.

“You have been summoned to the intelligence office.”

Enigma sighed.  Making no secret of the exchange, he drew long and deep at the chakra lacing the building.  He felt rogue aspects prickle at the edge of his mind like echoes of distant thunder.  Merging beneath his skin and kickstarting his chakra reserves all the same.  His body numbed from the abridged technique.

“So they’ll have me.  Thanks for the memo.” He leapt through the sill and followed the ninja’s path back towards the department.

The din of raised voiced swelled into the mission center.  It was still early, and the gathering clientele were getting accustomed to one another.

Strange, that the busiest hours are actually quieter.

Ninja streamed in throughout the course of the day, and many of those who left carried a scroll.  No, it wasn’t carried out in the open, but curiosity got the better of him, and he caught some of the more formal exchanges.  People always carried themselves a bit differently when they had a goal in mind.  They come in with their bows unstrung, and leave counting their arrows.

Some hid it better than others, but Enigma knew what to look for, and their emotions betrayed them.  He shifted his stride nervously.  “It’s so easy to become overconfident.”  The most insideous illusions, the ones he invited onto himself.

He left the mission center behind and weaved through the hallways.   Passing the occasional messenger as he went.

Enigma had to watch carefully.  The hall to the intel department was so much like any other, and the placement of each door and turn was placed deceptively.  He’d overshot and undershot more times than he’d cared to admit, only to be tracked down by a ninja.  He wouldn’t even realize he’d missed the mark until he finished following directions.

It was as much for his sake as it was theirs, that he counted not only doors and hallways, but the distance between them.  Stamina might be a fickle thing, but the unconscious eye was not.  His senses extended to follow the curve where the wall met the floor and gouged out each opening and fixture he came across.  Enforcing them in his mind’s eye like marked trees.

It wouldn’t take long to narrow down and memorize the location, but there was a second purpose to this.  As a byproduct of this attention, Enigma built a layout in his mind.  Water, electricity, ventilation, even cutoffs and the engine grade required to service them.

He smiled, feeling his chakra rush in harmony with his element.  Without sparing a glance, he dove into the next turn.

Three people were waiting for him in the office. A couple of clerks going around filing documents in the background.  Enigma let his gaze wander, and take their measure before turning to the others.

With a contemptuous frown, one of them placed a familiar device on the table.

Enigma’s heart leaped at the sight of his companion, and all but reclaimed it.  He looked up at the researchers skeptically, “I don’t suppose this means you’ve cleared it?”

There were three of them.  One in a lab coat, another in a vest with a portable microscope, and the last was a ninja specialist.  The former folded his arms with that same vexed look on his face, “We’ve only just started.”

The ninja took one look at lab-guy and shook his head, “We need you to open it up, and a list of the parts.”

Enigma sighed, “I suppose you’d like a list of materials too.”

Scopes lowered his head thoughtfully, “Your cooperation in this is appreciated.” Lab guy glared at him.

Enigma shook his head, “You’ll have to forgive me.  I’ll cover what I can, but I’ll have to improvise.  Some of the specs had to be developed in another language, and I’m neither willing nor able to disclose the operating system.”

“Can you tell us why?” The ninja asked.

Enigma pouted and looked to the side, “It uses an analog artificial intelligence, encrypted by my- you call it chakra right?  It’s designed to adapt and learn from me, reading my chakra like a life support system or polygraph, and comparing that to information either stored or collected by my instruments.  A compass, thermometer, barometer, centrifuge, geiger counter, transformer-”

He became forlorn, “I’m probably gonna have to get a license to carry.  Those smart cables double as a taser.  A personal defense weapon, like a baton or pepper spray.” Rubbing his chin, “I’ll look into that later today.”

He looked up and found three deadpan faces looking down at him.

“What?  Okay, where did I lose you?”