monitoring picked up some truly bizarre readings! You could never see it from the earth, but deep in a cumulonimbus cloud, there were groups of minute objects, moving like living creatures! I mean, I don’t know what they actually were, of course; they may just have been static. However— Well, I generally try not to say this too openly, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find ecosystems we still don’t know about in the sky. The sky is far deeper than the ocean, after all. As a matter of fact, similar stories invariably come up when I attend drinking parties with the older researchers. For example—” “I told you—it’s too wordy. Be more direct. You’ve got too many roundabout metaphors in there,” Mr. Suga scolded as he read the printout. “Uh, excuse me?! Preliminary meetings go under ‘meeting expenses,’ remember?!” Natsumi wasn’t happy when she saw the account books. “Look, I’ve told you before: Coherence is the name of the game! The introduction and conclusion have nothing to do with each other. Get rid of this whole paragraph and rewrite it!” Mr. Suga yelled at me, looking at the computer. We hadn’t gotten back from the interviews until evening, and it was already late at night, but we were still writing copy for “Latest Edition: Urban Legends of Tokyo,” a thirty-page special feature article. “Oh, but this paragraph’s not bad. Try bumping it up to the top of the page and using it as a hook.” “Yessir!” “Hodaka, would you make us some coffee?” “Yes’m!” “Not the instant kind. Grind some beans.” “Yes’m!” “Hodaka, I’m getting hungry.” “Yessir!” “Me too. In fact, scratch the coffee; I’d rather have noodles.” “Yes’m!” “Udon for me. Sara udon–style—no soup.” “Yessir!” “Actually, make that grilled udon.” “Yessir!” Page 34 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com