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Japanese hospitality,” Keda said. His face brightened at the appearance of a young flight attendant pushing a heavy cart full of foil-covered meals and coffee. “Have you ever been to Japan?”
    “Nope.”
    “And we have two nights, do we not?”
    “That long? Ugh.”
    “You are very pessimistic,” Keda said, nodding his head in a knowing way, with that God damn smile of his. Tom didn't like it.
    “Like I said, I'm supposed to be on leave.”
    “Let me explain how this works,” Keda said. He pulled down the tray from the seat in front of him. Tom did the same, resting his elbows on it. “Once we arrive, we will be taken to a nice hotel. I will be given a few hours to prepare my body for the exorcism. During that time, you can sleep, or do whatever you want.”
    “Hang on. This is different from how they do it in the states?”
    “Very. For me, this will be something of a vacation.”
    “The last time I went on an escort, we had to drive for seven hours and then they just shuffled us straight out of the truck and into a basement.”
    “I'm not surprised.”
    “I had to stay and observe the area for a day, but after that my relief arrived. They picked me up and shipped me back home in the middle of sitting down to lunch.”
    “The Americans are a very cautious, paranoid people, Tom. I say this without malice or judgment, for a great deal of it is perfectly warranted.”
    “Right. It's not paranoia…”
    “If people are actually out to get you, exactly right. Many of my fellow Mediums are very exhausted by their work in America, and for a great many of them the compensation is little solace.”
    “They're not paid enough?”
    “Right again. The American approach to these exorcisms is to get the Medium to their destination, quickly expel the aberration with as little fuss and subtlety as possible, and then get all traces of the DPSD out of the area once it's been shown to be secure. Why do you think that is?”
    “Because these things are dangerous and people can't know about them.”
    “Your answer is telling. Accurate nonetheless-- but in Japan, there is a fundamental distinction.”
    Tom groaned. “Is this about get philosophical?”
    “Mildly. It comes down, basically, to the difference in each country's dominant religion.”
    “This IS gonna get philosophical. I need some coffee.”
    “America is, first and foremost, a country heavily dominated by Christianity. Christianity is built upon very specific dogma, and history shows its practitioners to be highly intolerant of the beliefs of others. They are especially hostile towards supernatural interference in the mortal world, or at least that which does not come directly from their singular deity, or God. That the faith has come to hold such dominance over America's government, in spite of its origins as a secular colony, is a testament to this.”
    “Right. You're talking about witch burnings, exorcisms, half of our pop culture. Vampires, demons...”
    “Or, at least, the mainstream culture's perception of such things. Good versus evil. Precisely correct.”
    “Yeah. So you're saying in America, it's all about us versus them, whether it's in religion or politics.”
    “Or working for the DPSD,” Keda added.
    “I think you've lost me?”
    “Mr. Bell, you've seen the movie The Exorcist, or maybe Men in Black? ”
    “Of course?”
    “ Put the two of those together, and that more or less describes our line of work. Demons and otherworldly creatures pervade mainstream society, you and I both know this. But for the average American citizen to learn of this has the potential to mentally destroy them. For them to even entertain the notion that a house is haunted takes a great deal of spiritual flexibility, up here,” Keda tapped his temple, “That not everyone has. To actually come face to face with something like Aki...”
    “Could scar a person for life,” Tom quickly shut that line of conversation down, hoping Keda wouldn't notice. “So