Lower slopes of Mount Fuji, 11:20 AM Terence Philemon Louis Jean-Balfourt pressed the cold tablet screen close to his ear, seconds after the message. He was no linguistics expert, but he had learned a little bit of Japanese in Monarch training seminars. He could read a newspaper and have casual conversations over the phone, but this... this message eluded him. "Tekishi." Terence turned to a young man with small rectangular-rimmed glasses and a beige insulated coat, who was also pondering his Samsung Nova. "Mr. Balfourt?" A crisp, fluent but slightly stilted voice in English replied. "Did you just receive the same call?" "Did... did it involve a sea kingdom and the unconditional surrender of Japan in forty-eight hours?" "Yes. Yes it did." A buzz from Tekishi's phone. "Apparently, the headmaster of the University of Tokyo also received this call." A second buzz. "And so did Professor Kuroga of Microbiology." A third buzz. "And so did Professor Hirachi of Robotics." A fourth buzz. "And my sister." Terence rubbed his temples together. "Your sister does not work in the university, does she?" "No, Mr. Balfourt. If you recall, she is the secretary for the CEO of Sakamoto Steel Incorporated, in Yokohama." "Hey." Terence looked up and around. "I can't hear the drills anymore." "I'll take care of this, Mr. Balfourt." With a purposeful swish of the yellow tent covers, Tekishi emerged into the tranquil rocky landscape of Fuji-San. Other yellow tents circled around a large circular dip in the basalt. Usually, the said dip would be filled with eight to ten hired workers with white construction hats jackhammering into the rock. But today, the dip was empty. The jackhammers were all turned off, either lodged into the rock or laying by their sides. Their masters were of a similar motley appearance - some were laughing, some were muttering expressions of frustration, a slim few were conversing seriously amongst themselves, but they all held one thing in common - they were all holding their phones. "Karoto!" Tekishi swiftly strode towards a burly, tan worker with a cigarette that was seemingly permanently lodged between two dry lips. "Why are your men not drilling?" "I-I really don't know, Mr. Tekishi." The foreman gave a sincere shrug. "The thing is, all of my men received this mysterious call about this sea kingdom and surrender of the Japanese people... even I got it." He held up his Nokia, which also displayed the mysterious phone number. A hand suddenly appeared on Tekishi's shoulder, and Terence emerged beside him and addressed Karoto. "Did... did everybody in the dig site get it?" "Apparently so, Mr. Balfourt." A buzz from the Nokia. "Even the local park ranger, Mr. Nimobe, received it." Several more buzzes. "...and almost every other park ranger in Fuji-San." The foreman, Terence, and Tekishi looked at each other uncertainly. Terence finally broke the ice. "Karoto, your men have been drilling since six in the morning for four weeks. Perhaps they deserve a half-day off." Karoto slowly nodded, then summoned his men with a sharp clap and a loud call. Terence and Tekishi went back inside the tent. The tent was actually rather spacious, about fifteen feet across and eight feet tall. A PC, a locker table and several variations of the modern seismograph (connected by a labyrinthine hellhole of wires) were its contents. Terence offered Tekishi a stool, and the two sat down by the PC. [b]BREAKING NEWS MYSTERIOUS CALL REACHES EVERY SINGLE PHONE NUMBER IN JAPAN[/b] The two scientists read on, intrigued. They clicked on a video, and an FNN news anchor accompanied a map of Japan, slowly turning green by the district. The map turned green every time a district reported its inhabitants receiving the strange call. Terence and Tekishi looked on, mystified, as all of Japan gradually turned green. "What is this? A prank? A marketing scheme?" "The things that the youth today can do with technology knows no bounds, Mr. Balfourt. Also, this would not be below the marketing standards of sprawling modern corporations. However, I have not heard of any fashion or toy line bearing the name 'Seatopia'...." The two men stared in silence at the screen for a while. "...Mr. Balfourt, you don't think it could be... true? We [i]do[/i] work with Monarch, after all." "Maybe. Maybe not. But what intrigues me most is [i]this[/i]." Terence minimized the window, and brought up another screen, showing the reading of a seismograph for one day - relatively calm. Terence clicked a button, and soon the whole screen showed four weeks' worth of seismograph readings. "Here." Terence outlined a group of readings. "For the past three and a half weeks, there's this been this steady 'boom' from underground. See? Slow but steady disruptions in the lines." Terence outlined a reading. The line was interrupted by faint but steady vibrations. "It seems to have originated somewhere east, then slowly made its way here. It got closer to the surface. See? Lines grow taller every day." Terence clicked on a pull down menu, and selected a button. "...About a nine percent increase daily. Then, for the past two or three days, it stopped, probably somewhere near the magma vent of Fuji-San." As Terence outlined a few readings toward the end that were relatively calm, he paused thoughtfully. "..Like it was waiting. Waiting for something." Tekishi looked worried. "Could it be... Godzilla? Or another kaiju?" "Nonsense. The latest report from HQ proves that our Monster King is still sleeping under the Solomon Islands. But another kaiju..." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe the King has another contender for his throne."