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My Name Is Not Garrick Grimm (Story Thread) - Black Aeronaut - 08-29-2026
Note: please use the commentary thread for all discussion. This will keep the story thread uncluttered and easier to peruse.
Chapter 1
Dead On Arrival
I don't know what I'm searching for
I never have opened the door
Tomorrow might find me at last
Turning my back on the past
But time will tell of stars that fell
A million years ago
Memories can never take you back
Home, sweet home
You can never go home anymore.
-The Moody Blues, “You Can Never Go Home” Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Threshold Records, 1971
The man sighed as he polished off his energy drink, then tossed the empty can into the box in the passenger-side foot-well. It was late at night, but that was fine. The nighttime was his time. It was his element. He needed the energy drink more to help overcome the hypnotic effects of driving at night than to fight off any sort of sleepiness.
Listening to the rock-steady drone of his truck’s engine brought a small smile to his face. Affectionately dubbed “Ol' Blue” for it’s deteriorated blue paint, it was an old Ford pickup truck - a simple truck, but therein lay its charm. No thrills, no gimmicks, just an honest work vehicle.
Well, that wasn't quite true. For one thing, there was the intercooled twin-turbocharger system he'd installed, a transmission rebuilt to a high-performance specification, and a secondary-overdrive unit. But otherwise, he kept the old truck looking as close to it's stock configuration as possible.
Even though he'd been the one to first lay eyes on it, the moment he showed his mother the pictures he'd taken with his phone she immediately declared that the truck will not leave the family. Which was quite a grand way to announce that she intended to buy it. It would become an heirloom vehicle, one for which he would be responsible for the work on restoring it. So it was only natural that his brothers and sister unanimously agreed that he should have it.
And he did indeed have use for it. As a freelance engineer, his occupation brought him far and wide in the continental US. And while per diem did much to offset the cost of living in short-term fully furnished apartments and long term hotel suites, sometimes it was much better to have something familiar.
And that familiarity came in the form of a pop-top truck camper in the back. It was small, but cozy, and supplied enough of the basic comforts - a soft bed, a kitchenette, a toilet, wet-bath, and heating and air conditioning. There was even a power generator and solar panels that would allow him to boondock¹ for a few days at a time, fully separated from the civilized world except for his mobile satellite internet service. However, powering his workstation was another matter. It was so powerful that he absolutely had to be connected to shore power to run it. So he only boondocked when he was on a recreational trip.
Additionally, he had two vehicles in tow behind him: a Mazda B-Series pick-up and a Saturn S-Series coupe, dubbed Scrappy and Zipper, respectively.
Scrappy, which was really a Ford Ranger with a Mazda badge, was configured for flat-towing. With permanently mounted base plates for the tow bar, an electric brake system that actuated the smaller truck's brakes, and a custom driveshaft with a lockable coupling, it could literally be made ready to tow in under five minutes.
Zipper, on the other hand, had no such alterations. Instead, it rode on a tow dolly pulled behind the Mazda pick-up. The tow dolly itself had a surge brake system², so there was no real need for a complicated setup. Granted, getting the coupe onto the two dolly was something of a chore, it was still easy enough to manage.
While this may seem much for the old pick-up truck, it actually was within it's capabilities. While the payload capacity was roughly 1750 pounds, it's towing capacity of 8,000 lbs far exceeded that. He had made certain of that with the upgrades he'd made.
Surprising to many, the entire combination behaved itself very well at all speeds. Between the smaller truck having it’s own brakes operated by the electric trailer brake system and the surge brakes on the tow dolly, stopping wasn’t too much of an issue. And highway patrols never gave him any trouble over it. And if they did? He had the non-commercial class-A driver's license that satisfied all requirements. There’d even been a state trooper that stopped to check out the combination system at a rest stop, and he had been duly impressed with how cleanly integrated everything was.
But this man was good about these sorts of things. As an engineer by both inclination and profession, he loved little more than assembling clever systems like this one and putting them through their paces.
As for why he’d have this many vehicles only to himself? There was actually an element of practicality. Holding degrees in mechanical, electrical, and aerospace engineering made for an incredibly wide field of work, and these jobs often needed him to haul his own specialty tools to the jobsite. Engineers don’t always sit in comfortable office chairs all day - there were days where they got their hands good and dirty by working out in the field. This usually entailed measuring all kinds of things - dimensions, weights, densities, speed, rotation, vibration, shock, strain, fatigue, pressure, flow, temperature, current, voltage, and resistance just to cover the basics.
And, because lives typically depended on him getting things right the first time every time, these measurements were usually done with highly precise equipment. Such equipment was used often enough by an engineer that employers typically expected him to have such tools in his possession. It was only for the most esoteric needs that a tool that was special, even for him, was called for. Fortunately, these actually were provided by his employer du jour.
This meant having a light duty truck like his little Scrappy was an absolute essential. While Ol' Blue was for hauling his camper and towing his other vehicles, the Mazda served as his actual work truck, used to haul his tools of the trade out to jobsites. And, of course, Zipper was used for commuting to the office and the more mundane tasks of running personal errands.
As he descended a steep hill, he noticed that there was fog covering the valley up ahead. He pushed down on the brake pedal, automatically canceling the cruise control, and began to slow the combination vehicle quickly, but not dangerously so. Just to be safe, he then tugged on the hazard lights switch on the steering column.
It wasn’t the season for fog, really, but he didn’t let that bother him. Weather in South Texas - especially during the winter time - can be pretty chaotic. It was not unusual to see the daily low and high temperatures swing by as much as forty degrees Fahrenheit, and to have sunny skies one day, and then freezing rain and sleet the next. Once, he’d even seen a sun-shower that rained on only one side of a downtown street in San Antonio.
Suddenly, the fog cleared revealing a grassy meadow with a large house by a lake. Immediately, the truck began to jostle. His adrenaline surged as he realized that he had somehow left the freeway.
There was no time for thought. He shoved his panic to the back of his head and simply acted.
Foot Notes:
![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
1At her preferred spot in the grand atrium of her lab, Washu Hakubi stopped for a moment, getting up from her levitating cushion in front of her central terminal to stretch her legs. Even though she could make it so she didn’t need to, she actually enjoyed the sensations of a corporeal body.
For a moment, she let her mind wander, and it quickly drifted to the events of the last year.
Kagato’s death and her release.
Meeting Tenchi Masaki and learning of his incredible abilities.
Little Sasami and her other half, Tsunami.
The shenanigans of her daughter, Ryoko, and Princess Aeka as they bickered.
Learning about Seina Yamada and his weapons-grade misfortune.
So many changes in so little time.
Really, Washu was quite happy about it. Everything always being in such a state of flux was a stark contrast between the present and her time imprisoned by Kagato.
Just then, the proximity sensor system she had in place around the Masaki residence suddenly sounded an alarm. Quickly, a holographic screen was summoned, displaying footage from a sentry drone she had patrolling the area outside.
She raised a speculative eyebrow at what she saw: an old cargo vehicle - she believed it was called a ‘pickup truck’ - pulling two other vehicles behind it, and barreling across the property at an absolutely reckless speed.
The driver floored the brakes, causing the wheels on the front axle to lock-up. But the rear axle wheels rapidly locked and unlocked.
Ah, a rudimentary traction control system. Simple, but effective enough.
Though Washu did begin to sweat a bit as the truck got progressively closer to the house. Quickly, she ran the math through her head, estimating the speed and mass of the combination vehicle based on the minutia she could observe such as how the suspension behaved under the load.
She didn’t like what she was seeing. The driver didn’t have a chance of stopping in time!
Washu was just about to act when she saw something that nearly made her heart stop. It all happened so fast that she had to replay what she saw in her mind’s eye several times before she was fully certain that she actually saw what she saw.
First, the driver let off the brakes, and then, to her shock, opened the throttle wide, causing the rear tires to spin.
This might seem insane to the uninitiated, but there was good reason for the driver doing this.
With this, he had no traction on the rear axle, but the wheels up front had plenty. He thus cut the steering wheels quickly and sharply toward the lake. The effect was immediate - the trailing vehicles in-tow pushed from the rear, slewing the rear-end of the tractor vehicle to the side.
Immediately afterward, he let off the throttle and cut the steering wheels back in the opposite direction - towards the house. Instead of turning towards the house, though, the pick-up truck began to turn away.
He was steering into the skid.
While it did not appear so, the initial jacknifing of his combination vehicle was turning his truck away from the house, and steering in the opposite direction made the front end of the truck turn back towards the house. In short, he achieved equilibrium between the trailing vehicles pushing from behind and his steering wheels leading the truck.
And then he applied the brakes, but only those of the middle vehicle using the override control of the electric trailer brake system.
Shockingly, the entire combination straightened itself out as the driver lined up his steering wheels with the new orientation, running parallel to that side of the house. Only the rear-most vehicle fishtailed, and only a little bit, even as he came to a careening stop just shy of the boardwalk that extended over the lake.
Washu let loose the breath she’d been holding. She knew she shouldn’t have been so concerned, but even so...
She had to admit, that was damn impressive skill. Getting such a combination vehicle under control by seemingly losing control took incredible skill and nerves of steel. Now, she definitely wanted to meet this person, if for no other reason than to congratulate them on doing something that even a seasoned Galaxy Police officer might have trouble with.
And, regardless, she felt it was best to go and confront this stranger who so suddenly appeared.
Leaving her lab and exiting the house through the front entrance, she went around to the side of the house where the truck had stopped.
Briefly, she was taken aback. The truck was absolutely enormous. At least, by the standards of the Japanese people. But given the two other vehicles it was pulling, it’d have to be at least this large.
And then she saw the driver.
Male.
Moderate height for a human - he was just a few centimeters taller than Tenchi.
Not Japanese at all. High forehead, high cheek bones, and a sharp and prominent nose made the likelihood of that highly improbable. Not to mention his eyes. He had deep, expressive eyes with thick, yet finely shaped eyebrows. And those eyelashes! They must have made other women go green with envy.
His hair was long, dark, thick, and cascading around his face with natural, vertical curls that Washu knew for certain some women would kill for.
This guy was unusually pretty for a male.
Washu couldn’t quite pin down his ethnicity. Maybe he is an American? That place was such a melting pot of ethnic groups.
He was young, too. Maybe he was sixteen or eighteen years old? But something about him made her think that he was actually a lot older than that.
He looked a bit unsettled, and rightfully so! While Washu could make a good estimate on exactly how much adrenaline he had pumping through his system right then, that didn’t mean she envied him for it! It spoke volumes of his countenance that he was coping as well as he was, trying to put himself at ease by seeing to the disposition of his combination vehicle and its cargo.
Washu then cleared her throat.
“Hey, what’s going on?” she called out in Japanese.
The young man jolted with a shout and snapped around to look at her.
He then sighed in relief and spoke using English.
“Jeeze, you startled me there.” He then sheepishly looked at his combination vehicle and the deep tracks it had left in their yard and said, “Sorry about this mess.”
“He-eh?” said Washu in interest. He seemed pretty sharp, all things considered. But just how sharp was he, she wondered. “You don’t speak Japanese, do you?” she said, still using the local language.
He blinked at her once again in surprise.
“Ah, no,” he said, his own Japanese coming out very clumsily. “Little-little Japanese. Very few words.”
And that clinched it for Washu.
“So you are an American then!” she said brightly in English.
He gave Washu a nonplussed look at that.
“Ah, pardon my ignorance little miss, but can you tell me where I’m at?”
Washu was so pleased. An honest admission of ignorance! Because being able to admit you didn’t know everything was a sign of a true genius. After all, no matter how much you’ve already learned, there was always something new to learn. Even if you had to be the first person to learn it. This was the real driving force behind the minds of the Philosophers at the Galaxy Academy.
And it also helped that he called her a “little miss”! He’d just earned himself some serious brownie points for that alone.
“Sure!” declared Washu cheerfully. “You’re in Japan. And if I'm guessing right, you were someplace else before hand.”
“Texas,” he confirmed, his nonplussed expression intensifying.
Washu nodded her head. It was a serious situation, but this guy was hitting all the right buttons to make her happy, so it was hard to keep a smile off her face.
“Well, why don't we see if we can get you sorted out?” she said. Because, stranger or not, this man suddenly being transported half-way around the planet with his vehicle definitely warranted further investigation.
“Uhm, mind if I use the toilet first?” asked the young man suddenly.
“Sure sure,” said Washu breezily. After all, she saw no issue with that, and it would be understandable if he felt the need to relieve himself after such a scare. “Go around the side, here, and around the corner will be the main entrance. Just go straight from there and you’ll find the toilets. There’s two of them, so pick either door. Just don't go stomping around and waking anyone up.”
“Thanks,” said the young man and he turned to make his way inside. Washu had no concerns about it. It was obvious he was just scared, and she somehow got the sense that this person was someone she could trust.
Strange, that. She rarely ever got that sense about anyone. And 20,000 years of life experience gave one an incredible ability to read people.
While she waited, she began to examine the vehicle and the vehicles in-tow.
The truck was an example of simple and forthright engineering. Uncomplicated to minimize maintenance and upkeep. A large, reciprocal cylinder engine fueled by hydrocarbons was the power plant. Not the most efficient thing, but good enough to do the job. Judging by her scans, this engine was solidly built and capable of delivering a surprising amount of torque and power.
Primitive indeed, yet forthright in execution! As anachronistic as they were, Washu did so dearly love systems like these! How they made use of lesser technology to achieve effective results showed a stubborn sort of genius - one which was worthy of appreciation and respect, as far as she was concerned.
Just then, there were two shouts of surprise from inside the house - one female and the other male - followed quickly by the sound of wooden furniture being smashed.
Washu’s heart sank and she turned to run inside as quickly as possible.
Ryoko cracked an eyelid when she heard the commotion outside. She had been just about to go investigate it when Washu popped out of her lab and quick-marched straight to the entrance and out the door in a flash.
With that, she mentally shrugged and tried to settle back in. She could tell from her link to her mother that Washu was not agitated at all.
In fact, she was downright impressed by something.
Whatever! It wasn’t her business.
Just as she was about to drift off, though, a tightness down in her pelvic area made itself known.
Her bladder was full.
Of all the times... Ryoko then stopped there, mid-thought, and sighed to herself. Well, I did put away a good amount of sake before going to sleep earlier. Jeeze, what was I thinking?
After all, she had decided to try being more “human” lately in an effort to better relate to Tenchi. And allowing bodily functions like urination and defecation instead of just converting all the mass into energy was something that, while unpleasant at first, gave a wonderful sense of relief afterwards.
So, she simply reminded herself that she should look forward to the blissful relief as she rolled out of her bed (such as it was), and then teleported as she drifted towards the bathroom.
She had been finishing up her business inside when she heard the door up front open, and then close.
At first, Ryoko simply put it off as Washu finally coming back inside after dealing with... whatever was happening outside.
But then she noticed something odd.
As clichéd as it was, it was too quiet in the entry hall. Even for Washu, because she would at least make sure her footfalls were audible. Not that Ryoko couldn’t hear them at all, but they were so soft and so gentle that it hardly made any difference.
Soon, though, she could make out a heartbeat. But it didn’t belong to anyone she knew, and that immediately set Ryoko on edge.
Quickly and quietly, she made herself decent again. She didn’t even bother with the door and simply phased through it.
A strange face with tired eyes greeted her, but once they registered her presence, the person suddenly let out of shout of surprise. That startled Ryoko - enough that her initial fight-or-flight response quickly settled on “fight” - and she let out a shout of surprise as well.
And then she punched him.
Not hard. After all, she wouldn’t want to deal with that kind of mess, especially at this hour.
But then, as she saw the person soar through the air, she suddenly realized that there might be a whole different kind of mess to clean up.
As they landed against the small entryway cabinet where the telephone was kept, buried amidst the other sounds of cracking and splintering wood, there was a different sounding sort of crack.
Ryoko somehow knew for sure that this night was going to be one she would never forget. And probably for all the wrong reasons.
Washu assessed the situation immediately upon entering the entry way. It only took her a mere second to conclude that it was as close as possible to being the worst-case scenario.
The stranger was slumped against the shattered remains of the entryway cabinet. He was not moving at all, and his neck was at an odd angle, but he was still conscious. And standing over him with a horrified look on her face was Ryoko.
Disregarding her daughter for the moment, she went to examine the young man so she could verify her initial assessment. She had to be careful here - at this point, the slightest wrong move could end him right then and there.
“Hey, are you alright?” she cried out. “Say something! Anything!”
His face was completely blank as he could no longer control the muscles to make facial expressions. But his eyes...
In her 20,000 years of life, Washu had watched many people die. She never liked it. It was always unpleasant business, be it a person with ill-intentions, or someone who’d been under her medical care.
It never got any easier to deal with. Because while it wasn’t the first time, the last thing she liked to see was someone realize that they’re dying and lose all hope.
And even though he couldn’t really emote at that time, Washu could see everything in his eyes.
A life unfulfilled. Someone who was robbed at just about every turn. An existence that was more cursed than blessed. And now this: a sudden and tragic end from an ignominious accident. The knowledge that they were dying, and that there was nothing that could be done to stop it from happening.
They didn’t even have the chance to pass on any last words in the final minutes of their life.
What was worse was that Washu could tell that, as far as he was concerned, this only made sense. A horrible, twisted sort of sense, but still a sense that was rooted soundly in the hardest and coldest of all logic.
“Oh HELL NO!” cried out Washu, because she was not about to let this sort of thing happen if she could help it. She instinctively knew that this was a man who had potential to do great things... but somehow, everything that was important to him had been taken away, and his own life was just the last thing left to him that really mattered at all.
“RYOKO!” called out Washu, immediately summoning her daughter to her side. “Tell me what happened.”
“It... it wasn’t... I didn’t mean it!” stammered Ryoko in a way that was almost out of character for her. Meanwhile, Washu had opened a small portal into a subspace pocket and began to rummage through the contents inside, looking for the one thing that would save this man’s life.
“I know you didn’t!” said Washu, trying not to snap at her daughter. “Just tell me what happened.”
“I just finished using the toilet and when I went through the door, he was just there! I barely even heard him! So I...”
Washu stopped for only a second as she shot Ryoko an astonished look.
“You didn’t hear him coming!?”
“Barely! I could hear his heartbeat. But it didn’t sound like anyone else I know! And since that was pretty much all I could hear...”
Washu could only stare in astonishment. How was it possible that someone could tread so lightly that someone like Ryoko could only barely hear them!?
Quickly, though, Washu regathered herself and her hand finally latched onto what she was looking for.
“AH-HAH!” she cried out triumphantly as she pulled out a small, oblong object. Her TDS - the Thoracic Diaphragm Stimulator - guaranteed to keep a man breathing no matter what, or double your money back.
“Boy, I am so glad I never throw anything like this out. Hang on, mister, we'll get you through this.”
With that, Washu carefully pulled the bottom of his shirt up, just enough so she could seat the device at the bottom-end of his solar plexus.
Suddenly, there was a strong inhalation as his diaphragm began to work once again.
The look in his eyes changed slightly. There was now a tiny spark of hope. But overlaying that was something else.
Why are you going so far for me?
“Alright,” said Washu with a sigh. “That Thoracic Diaphragm Stimulator should keep you alive for the moment. Now, I’d ask you to sit still, except that’s a given. Let’s see if we can move you.”
With that, Washu gently felt around his neck, carefully probing for where the bones were all at.
“Well?” asked Ryoko.
Washu nodded. “It’s pretty much as bad as it can be without being instantly fatal. We’ll need to be careful about it, but we can move him.”
“Okay,” said Ryoko. “What do you need me to do.”
It didn’t take long. Washu was good at giving directions, and Ryoko was not in the mindset to mess this up.
Just as they got him laid out in the entryway, though, people began to show up.
Mihoshi stirred the moment she heard the sounds outside. Sitting up, she had a blank look in her eyes as she operated purely on instinct. Reaching out to her side, she retrieved her GP subspace storage device, manipulated it like it was a Rubik’s Cube, causing it to take on all kinds of different shapes, textures, and colors as she did so, and then caught her standard issue particle projector pistol as it appeared out of thin air.
Clad only in her comfiest underwear, she left her room without any regard to modesty at all - her sun-colored curly hair all disheveled and her chocolate-brown skin on display everywhere.
Really, she would have slept nude. As a Seniwan, she was accustomed to long, harsh winters and perpetually tundra-like climates. So the summer nights in Japan were absolutely torrid to her.
But she did at least understand that even if she didn’t really care about her body being seen by others, it still made some people uncomfortable. Her loose fitting tank top and comfiest panties were her compromise so long as she was in her room. And, under normal circumstances, she would have put on a bit more before leaving said room.
However, this was important. There was a stranger here. And sometimes strangers can be very dangerous. How others felt about seeing her body did not matter when someone she cared about could be hurt.
Her face was still blank as she quietly took up a position on the second-floor mezzanine that overlooked the front hallway and entryway.
She saw Washu come into the hallway from the den and then leave through the entryway.
She saw Ryoko phase into existence just below her as the former pirate made way for the toilet.
It was only then her conscious mind finally woke up.
She blinked in confusion as she noticed that she had her pistol gripped firmly in her hands and was in a ready-stance to aim and fire. She then relaxed as she put a finger to her lips, deep in thought.
Ehhhh-uuuuhhhmmm... What was I doing now?
Her confusion was short-lived, because that was when the stranger came in through the entry way. Mihoshi nearly panicked, but caught herself at the very last second as she realized that if she made any sound, the stranger would notice her. Once she mastered herself, she then aimed her pistol at the stranger, watching him intently for the slightest hint of aggression.
That aggression never came.
Instead, he carefully slipped his shoes off, and then did the most peculiar thing. He covered his eyes and stayed that way for a short moment.
Some part of Mihoshi’s mind, somewhere far, far away, noted that he was forcing his eyes to adjust to the near-total darkness inside. That meant that this person was very used to moving in dark places.
It was very suspicious. But he was still not doing anything wrong.
Yet.
But what happened next made the police girl very nervous. Treading so softly that she couldn’t hear his foot-falls, he slowly made his way down the hall, taking short steps so not even his clothing rustled, and obviously listening to himself for any sound whatsoever.
Mihoshi had to keep herself from making any sound herself. That was SCARY! It was almost like he was a ghost!
Is he a ghost!? Oh no, please don’t let him be a ghost! I don’t have anything I can use to fight against a ghost!
However, Mihoshi quickly realized that she could hear the faint, tell-tale sound of a heartbeat coming from him. It was something all GP officers could do once they received their body modification.
Additionally, she sensed no bad intentions from this stranger. In fact, it seemed like he had no desire to cause any trouble at all. Which was why he was being so very quiet. He didn’t want to disturb anyone!
Oh! He must be a really nice person, then.
Just as Mihoshi was starting to relax, there was the two shouts of surprise, a meaty-sounding impact, and then the sight of the stranger suddenly flying down the hallway and crushing the cabinet by the entryway.
And her sensitive ears clearly heard the sound of bone snapping.
Oh no! This is bad! Really really bad! That’s a big owie. Someone can die from an owie like that!
Before Mihoshi could do anything, though, Washu came in and started to take care of things.
Mihoshi sighed in relief. Washu-chan was super-good at fixing people. She didn’t need to worry about anything now.
Once more, Mihoshi began to relax, only for someone to make her practically jump out of her skin.
“Mihoshi?”
“KYAAAHHH!!!” cried out the nearly-naked police girl. But then, she saw who it was.
“Oh! Tenchi-kun! I’m so glad it was just you.”
“Sorry, Mihoshi,” said Tenchi sheepishly. But then, his expression became serious. “What’s going on down there?”
“I dunno,” replied Mihoshi helplessly. “I heard something happen outside... Or at least I think I did? Yeah, that had to be it. Because then Washu-chan went outside to see what was happening. So I waited here, and then Ryoko came out and went to the toilet.”
Mihoshi’s face then lit up in realization.
“Oh! Ryoko must be practicing being human! I thought that was kinda strange.”
Tenchi blinked at her, nonplussed by the non sequitur.
“But what about what happened outside?” asked Tenchi leadingly.
Fortunately, the tactic worked and Mihoshi was brought back on track. It had been difficult at first, but he was starting to learn how to handle the seemingly air-headed police detective by guiding her eidetic memory playbacks.
“Oh! Right! Well, I dunno what was happening outside, but then that stranger came inside. I didn’t understand why he was there. But then, I knew that if Washu-chan let him in, then it must be okay.
“But then he did something really spooky!”
“Spooky?” repeated Tenchi.
Mihoshi nodded her head vigorously. “Uh-huh! Uh-huh! After he took his shoes off, I couldn’t hear him moving! The only thing I could hear at all was his heart going doki-doki-doki.”
Tenchi was following along, but it took him a second to realize the importance of that statement.
“Wait!” he cried out in surprise. “You could hear his heart beat? And that was the only sound he was making!?”
“Uh-huh! Uh-huh!” replied Mihoshi, nodding her head again. “I can hear everyone’s heart beating if its quiet enough. All GP officers can after they get their body modification. It does take a lotta practice, but I could do it almost right away!”
She then beamed a big smile at Tenchi - one that he had quickly learned from Ryo-Ohki that meant “I did a good! Praise me! Praise me!”
Tenchi laughed somewhat sheepishly and then patted Mihoshi’s head.
“That is very good. But what about that stranger?”
“What stranger?” came another voice as someone else joined them. It was Princess Aeka, clad in her sleepwear and giving them a confused look. “Lord Tenchi? Mihoshi? What is going on down there?”
“There was a stranger,” said Tenchi. “I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm to us because Washu-chan was with him.”
“Right!” replied Mihoshi. “But he was so quiet he even scared Ryoko when she came out of the toilet!”
“What!?” cried out Aeka. “He scared Ryoko!? How?”
Tenchi answered for Mihoshi before she could repeat everything all over again.
“He was somehow so quiet that Ryoko didn’t hear him coming.”
Aeka’s expression became deadly-serious.
“Is he a threat of some kind?”
Mihoshi, though, shook her head. “I could tell, he is a very nice person because he didn’t want to bother anyone. He just wanted to use the toilet. But he saw Ryoko and yelled, which made her yell, and then POW! Mister Stranger went ZOOM and CRASH, and got a very big owie.”
“A big owie?” said Tenchi in confusion.
Mihoshi nodded again, but this time it was a more solemn expression.
“His neck got broken and he almost died.”
Tenchi and Aeka could only stare at Mihoshi in shock. While they were no strangers to death, it was another matter to have that specter visiting within the very walls of their own home. What’s more, they both knew that even as strange as Mihoshi could be at times, she was never one to embellish a turn of events like that.
Mihoshi went on, unabated. “That was when Washu-chan came in. She got very worried...”
Mihoshi then... hesitated.
“Mihoshi?” asked Tenchi.
“His eyes,” she said, almost like she was someplace else far away. “He was so sad. Even though he couldn’t move his face, I could see it. He knew he was gonna die. And that no one would ever know about him. A lonely life, and a lonely death.”
Mihoshi then seemed to come back to herself.
“That was what made Washu-chan so upset. After that, she became the super-serious Washu-chan! The one who only shows up when things are really bad.”
With that, their collective attention turned back to the controlled chaos going on by the entry way.
“Should... we go down and help?” asked Aeka, uncertainly.
Tenchi, though, shook his head. “We’d only be getting in the way.”
As though to confirm this, Washu looked up at the second floor railing, and then made several one-handed gestures. These were standard Galaxy Police hand signs.
Without being prompted to, Mihoshi translated the signs for Aeka and Tenchi.
“Remain in place. Situation is stable. Will report again in five minutes.”
All they could do was watch helplessly. And in that moment, it became obvious from the glimmering dampness on his face that he had been crying.
“He must be terribly confused right now,” said Aeka.
“There may be more to it than that,” said another voice.
Everyone jolted, then turned to find Tsunami, standing tall and regal in her elaborate robes.
“Tsunami-sama!” said Tenchi in surprise. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“Unfortunately, not at this time,” replied the Choushin. “All I do know right now is that I sensed an incursion in this dimension. And now we have this man down there.”
“He came from another world?” said Aeka in surprise.
“Indeed,” replied Tsunami, nodding her head. “Though what world it was, I have no idea. All I can say is that it is not a world that any of us Choushin are responsible for.”
“So,” began Tenchi, “when you say that there may be more to it...”
Tsunami nodded her head. “He may very well have just lost everything that is dear and precious to him. For that reason, I would advise great care in dealing with him for the moment.”
“Why is that?” asked Aeka.
“There is a saying,” said Tenchi quietly, “that the most dangerous thing in the world is a man with nothing left to lose.”
“Indeed,” agreed Tsunami in a solemn tone.
“So...” said Aeka ponderously. “We treat him with respect?”
“No,” said Mihoshi, her tone uncharacteristically sober. “Respect is nice, but... he is hurting inside. We need to be kind to him.”
“Exactly,” said Tsunami. “I am sorry for imposing on all of you, but I would like you to keep him here. At least until I can find out why he is here. I get the sense that he may be in some kind of danger, but from what, I’m not sure.”
Everyone looked to each other, and then all eyes fell on Tenchi.
Tenchi sighed. “Alright. We’ll keep him here for now. I’d feel really bad anyways if we just threw him out once he’s healed.”
“Thank you,” replied Tsunami. “I’m going to let Sasami take over now. But in the meantime I will be investigating this matter from my end.”
With that, the Choushin suddenly glowed brightly and shrunk in on herself, taking on a much smaller form: that of Sasami Masaki.
“I already saw everything as Tsunami,” said the girl. “I don’t think anyone is going to be able to go back to sleep after all this, so I think it would be a good idea to make some snacks for everyone.”
There was a soft murmuring of agreements, and the group then made their way into the living room and then down the stairs.
However, they all pulled up short as Washu and Ryoko entered the room from the hallway, guiding the stranger on a levitating gurney.
“Washu-chan?” said Tenchi, uncertainly.
The small scientist stopped the gurney with a touch and turned to Tenchi.
“Everything is going to be alright, Tenchi. I already gave him an injection of surgical nanites and his spinal nerve is being mended right now. However, I’m going to have to keep him immobilized until the damage to his cervical spine is fully repaired. In the meantime, though, I’m going to be getting the entire story from his perspective.”
“It’s all gonna be okay, Mister,” came Sasami’s voice all the sudden. Turning around, Washu and everyone else saw that Sasami had gone to the side of the gurney without anyone noticing. She was gently dabbing at the stranger’s face with a handkerchief, drying his tears.
“Washu-chan is a good person. She’ll make sure you get better.”
Washu reached over and gently touched Sasami on the shoulder.
“I need to take him into my lab, now. I promise, you’ll see him again when he’s better.”
Sasami only silently nodded her head and then went back to Tenchi’s side. With no further interruptions, Washu opened the door to her lab, and the gurney then followed her inside, carrying the stranger with it.