[EVENING – SATO RESIDENCE]
The phone rang.
It wasn't a normal ring. It was the old, heavy rotary phone in the hallway that hadn't rung in ten years.
Noah froze. Lilly froze.
"That's Nana's line," Noah whispered.
He picked it up slowly.
"Hello?"
"Noah."
The voice cracked like thunder over the line. Even though she wasn't there, the temperature in the house dropped ten degrees.
"Nana! Where are you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Busy. The wolves are loud this year."
(Translation: The war is intense).
"Listen, Noah. I forgot something."
"Did you leave the stove on?"
"No. I forgot to take out the trash in Sector 5."
Noah blinked.
"Sector 5? That old warehouse district?"
"Yes. There's a pile of... refuse... gathering in the basement of Building 4. It's been rotting there for weeks. Go clean it up."
"Okay, Nana! I'll do it tonight!"
"Good boy. Make sure you separate the recyclables."
Click.
[THE INTERPRETATION]
Noah hung up.
"Nana needs me to do chores," Noah told Lilly. "She left trash in an old building."
Lilly went pale.
"Sector 5... Building 4?"
She pulled out her tablet. Her fingers flew across the screen.
DATABASE MATCH:
SECTOR 5, BUILDING 4: KNOWN SAFE HOUSE FOR 'THE DUST UNIT'.
STATUS: ELITE MERCENARY CELL.
THREAT LEVEL: RED.
"Noah," Lilly whispered. "She didn't mean literal trash."
"She said 'refuse'," Noah argued. "And 'rotting'. That sounds like food waste. I better bring the heavy-duty bags."
"Noah, 'Refuse' is code for 'Enemy Combatants'. 'Rotting' means they are entrenched!"
"And 'Recyclables'?" Noah asked, putting on rubber gloves.
"Probably... turning their assets over to us? Or taking prisoners?"
Noah shook his head. "You overthink everything, Lilly. I'm just going to clean the basement. It'll take ten minutes."
He grabbed a box of 50-gallon black trash bags and a broom.
"I'll be back for dinner!"
[SECTOR 5 – BUILDING 4 BASEMENT]
The basement was dimly lit.
Five men sat around a table cleaning assault rifles. They were The Dust Unit. They were waiting for the signal to launch an attack on the city.
"We move at dawn," the Leader hissed. "No witnesses."
CREAK.
The basement door opened.
Footsteps descended. Slow. Heavy.
The mercenaries grabbed their weapons.
"Who's there!?" the Leader shouted.
Noah stepped into the light. He was wearing yellow rubber gloves and holding a broom. He had a roll of black plastic bags tucked under his arm.
"Hi," Noah said cheerfully. "I'm here for the trash."
The mercenaries froze.
The Trash.
They knew the slang. In the underworld, "Trash" meant targets to be eliminated. "The Cleaner" was the one who disposed of the bodies.
"Who sent you?" the Leader demanded, aiming his rifle.
"Nana," Noah replied. "She said you guys have been rotting here for weeks."
The color drained from the Leader's face.
Nana. The Savior. The Demon.
She knows we're here. She sent a Cleaner.
"We... we haven't done anything yet!" the Leader stammered.
"Yeah, that's the problem," Noah said, snapping a trash bag open. Snap. "It stinks down here. You guys really need to organize better."
He walked toward them.
"Okay, who wants to go first?" Noah asked, holding the bag open.
(He meant: Who wants to throw their garbage in first?)
The mercenaries saw a boy walking toward them with a body bag, asking who wanted to die first.
"HE'S A PSYCHO!" one mercenary screamed.
The mercenary fired. BANG.
Noah bent down to pick up a soda can off the floor.
"Hey! Don't litter!" Noah scolded.
The bullet missed him and hit a steam pipe behind him. Steam exploded into the room, filling it with white fog.
[THE CLEANING]
In the fog, Noah moved efficiently.
"Excuse me," Noah said, bumping into a mercenary. "Just need to sweep here."
The mercenary, blinded by steam and terrified by the "Ghost Cleaner," dropped his gun and surrendered.
"I SURRENDER! DON'T BAG ME!"
"Bag you?" Noah asked, confused. "I just want the wrappers on the table."
He reached for the table. The Leader was there.
The Leader tried to stab Noah with a combat knife.
Noah saw a spider web on the ceiling.
"Ew, cobwebs!" Noah swatted the ceiling with his broom.
The handle of the broom swung down and smacked the Leader perfectly on the wrist. The knife went flying.
"Ow!" the Leader cried.
"Sorry!" Noah said. "But you really should dust more often."
Noah proceeded to aggressively sweep the floor. The mercenaries, terrified of being "swept up," huddled in the corner, sobbing.
"Please!" the Leader begged. "We'll leave! We'll never come back!"
"Leave?" Noah stopped sweeping. "Well, yeah, once I'm done cleaning, you guys should probably go outside. Fresh air is good for you."
(Noah thought they were squatters).
"We accept your terms!" the Leader shouted. "We will turn ourselves in!"
[THE RESULT]
Ten minutes later.
Noah walked out of the building carrying three full bags of actual trash (pizza boxes, cans, old papers).
Behind him, five elite mercenaries walked out with their hands up, tied together with duct tape (they did it themselves out of fear).
Lilly and a SWAT team (alerted by the "Nana Call" flag) were waiting outside.
"Noah!" Lilly gasped.
"All done!" Noah smiled, tossing the bags into a dumpster. "They were really messy, but they helped me tie up the loose ends."
He pointed to the mercenaries.
"They said they wanted to go to the police station. Can you give them a ride?"
The SWAT Commander stared at the scene.
"He... he captured the Dust Unit," the Commander whispered. "With a broom."
One of the mercenaries looked at the Commander.
"He's a monster," the mercenary wept. "He tried to put me in a bag. He called me 'Recyclable'."
[CONTROL ROOM]
"Target Noah neutralized the sleeper cell," the analyst reported.
"Casualties?"
"None. But the enemy morale is destroyed. They are currently asking for therapy."
The President nodded slowly.
"Nana calls," he said. "And the Serpent answers. God help the trash."