Masako sat quietly at the long, rectangular table that was the centerpiece of the Environmental Planning Board (or EPB for short) conference room 3. The room, located in one of the sub-levels of the EPB headquarters—was bereft of decorations, save the official papers that sat on the table in front of Masako. She had already read the briefing of what the meeting was to be about—something about the discovery of a new island within Japanese territory and the desire for the almighty Maritomo Company to exploit it. How they got wind of this news so fast was beyond her—unless they had someone on the inside, or if one of the senior members of the EPB was handing them information under the table while courting a position there after his retirement. But dealing with that sort of thing was beyond the scope of her job—at least officially. But she knew it had everything to do with her own work and resented that particular reality.

She was currently working as an Ecology analyst for the EPB, and her current task was working in tandem with the Maritomo Company on a housing development project along one of the slopes of Mount Fuji. She wasn't particularly pleased with the progress of this job, especially since nearly every recommendation she made was shot down by some senior analyst or manager, usually because the Maritomo company complained that any effort that Masako suggested to keep the housing in harmony with the surrounding environment was too expensive. And it was those senior analysts and managers—not necessarily her boss, a certain geologist named Professor Fukazawa—who were coveting positions at Maritomo in their future.

Sighing aloud, Masako slid a small mirror between the pages of the report, lifting them ever so slightly, and getting a look at herself. Her lipstick—a sheer sandy red—was fine and her make-up was unobtrusive, just the way she liked it. Her short hair was brushed and in order. She straightened her lapels and waited patiently for the others to arrive.

It didn't take 30 seconds for the door to open, followed by the entrance of five people: four men and one woman. The latter was Miki Saegusa, a clairvoyant and specialist in ESP studies who became famous in three years prior when she successfully predicted the escape of Godzilla from his volcanic prison inside Mount Mihara. When the Environmental Planning Board was annexed by the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) back in 1991 and given the secondary function of keeping tabs on Godzilla, Miki joined the club, so to speak. The mousy 21-year-old bowed respectfully to Masako and took a seat next to her, placing a small black briefcase on the table.

Her boss, Professor Fukazawa, had also been invited. The middle-aged—one could easily see the gray hairs taking precedence among the thick black hair that adorned his head—geologist smiled quietly to Masako and sat to her left. Despite his kind demeanor, a few furrows in his brow revealed the worry he felt in virtue of his current studies on the movement of the Philippine Island plate, which is where Mount Fuji is located on—well, a junction of that with two other plates. Masako imagined he was not happy to be called into a meeting at such an important moment, but Fukazawa was ever the professional and hid his emotions ably.

The next man was the current director of the EPB, Joji Minamino. The 59-year-old man, dressed in the nicest of suits—with a 500-dollar silk tie to match—took a seat on the other side of the table, so that he was directly facing Masako. Despite the external pomp, Minamino greeted Masako warmly, as though they two occupied the same level on the EPB hierarchy.

An older man, whose whitening hair was slicked back and whose dark skin had grown leathery with age, followed and sat next to Minamino. It was Security Officer Tomashi, one of the mediators between the Japanese SDF and the Prime Minister, who found himself in a position as a government-sponsored monster hunter after the monster's devastating appearance in Tokyo nearly a decade earlier. If Miki Saegusa had been invited to this meeting, than Masako shouldn't be surprised that Tomashi was there as well.

Finally a younger man, in his mid-thirties, stepped and sat a few chairs down from Minamino. He was tall and strong looking, with thick black eyebrows and particularly narrow eyes. Unlike the other men, he dispensed with the suit and wore simply a simple (but still expensive polo shirt) and some beige slacks. He made himself comfortable—perhaps too comfortable—in his seat and waited for Minamino to introduce him.

After a few moments, Minamino stood. "I wish to thank you all for coming to this meeting today." He glanced at Fukazawa. "I know some of you are involved in important projects and have your own deadlines—" he looked Masako directly in the eye. "—But the things we have to talk about today may surpass those in importance, at least for the time being."

The younger man cleared his throat.

Minamino smiled. "Yes, how silly of me. Masako, this is Kenji Andoh, an engineer for the Maritomo Company. The President of Maritomo asked that he specifically be allowed to attend this meeting."

Masako bowed her head to acknowledge his presence, but said nothing. Seeing that, Andoh inclined his head for a moment, and then grinned like a child.

"As you all will have read in the briefing," continued MInamino, "a new island has been discovered, about a hundred miles south of Okinotorishima in the Philippine Sea. It's located with within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Okinotori Islands, so Japan can claim it."
Masako interjected. "How did nobody know about the island before?"

"Easy," said Fukazawa. "Well, sort of. You see, for reasons we haven't discovered, but hope to soon, there was literally a perpetual storm raging around the island. I've already assigned some of our analysts to find any historical documents that can confirm that. Because of this storm, no ship ever reached the island, nor was able to see it."

"Not even our satellites were able to detect it." Minamino continued the professor's explanation. "And then, just three days ago, the storm stopped. Nothing in our weather satellites have afforded us a reason to that. It just stopped. When the storm dissipated, the island appeared in the satellite images."

Masako nodded in awe of such a strange occurrence. "Has anyone been to the island yet?"

Fukazawa nodded and grunted.

"Yes," said Andoh, finally sitting up in his chair like a professional businessman. "One of Maritomo's ships was in the area when the storm ended. The sailors noted the new island and a helicopter was sent to do some basic reconnaissance."

"And?"

"It doesn't seem to be inhabited. But the company is now interested in exploiting whatever resources it might have."

Masako fought to role her eyes at that last comment. She looked askance at Minamino.

He knew what she was thinking. "Before anything is done there, we need a full report at what is on the island: vegetation, fauna, signs of previous human habitation, the works. Said report will be presented to the Prime Minister and, if need be, to the UN. Then the politicians and the businessmen will be let loose on it—but all that will depend on your findings."

Masako coughed aloud. "My findings, director?" She turned to look at her boss, who returned the glance impassively. "What about Mount Fuji?" Admittedly, Masako was more worried if this change of scenery was more related to her performance on the Fuji development project than the mere idea of leaving that behind to explore an island.

Fukazawa was matter of fact. "It will have to wait. We need you on—"

"—Infant Island," said Miki, completing his sentence.

"Infant Island?" repeated Masako, surprised. They've already come up with a name for this place?

Miki smiled and nodded.

Not taking her eyes from the young woman beside her, Masako went on with her questions. "Is Godzilla on this island?"

Tomashi shook his head. "While the satellite's infrared sensors have shown slight traces of electromagnetic radiation, nothing suggests that Godzilla lives on the island."

"To be perfectly honest," Miki complimented, "Godzilla was last seen near the Mariana Trench. But he's been off our radars since then." She paused and took a deep breath. "And I haven't felt his presence since Mecha King Ghidorah, for that matter."

"Could this radiation reading attract him?" Andoh said, rather worried. After all, he feared the prospect of telling his boss that his plans for Infant Island would be deemed infeasible due to the possibility that Godzilla would be around to interfere.

Miki shrugged. "While radiation in a general sense is consumed by the creature, only certain wavelengths—those of x-rays and gamma rays, to be exact—have been proven to be convertible to mechanical energy for him. Besides, we don't even know what the source of those readings actually is."

"Which brings us to the reason we're asking you to join the first official expedition to Infant Island," said Minamino, gesturing toward Miki.

Miki nodded slightly and opened the briefcase. Without making a sound, she produced a small stack of papers and handed them to Masako. The latter's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she glanced at them. Miki then said, "We may say that the storm was a physical barrier to Infant Island, but evidently it was a psychic barrier as well" By this time, Miki had proven herself enough that she could throw around words like "psychic" and "telepathic" at official meetings without eliciting guffaws from those present. "I started dreaming about this place the same night that the island was discovered. More specifically, I dreamed the symbols you see before you. I drew them as soon as I woke up, something of a talent I've developed over the years. In any case, it was in the same dreams that I learned the name of the place."

Masako's eyes were so fixed on the strange symbols Miki had drawn that she didn't even bat an eye when Ms. Saegusa spoke of dreams telling her the name of the island. She recognized the symbols, something she had seen several years before.

"Masako?" asked Fukazawa, breaking Masako from her trance.

"Huh? Wha-?" she said, making a concentrated effort to tear her eyes from the symbols before her.

"I take it you've seen those before."

"So you don't need 'me' for the mission, you need 'him'," she observed, her eyes wandering back to the symbols.

Fukazawa and Minamino exchanged glances, the latter giving the former a slight nod.

"It's true," said Fukazawa. "The message that Miki saw, and any other that may be found on the island, is written in a language that only Takuya can translate. And you're the only person who knows where he is."