Requiem 05: Kiss Of The Night
Once again, the bright sunlight streams in through the window. This time, however - luckily for Thomas - no Yukari wakes him up at the crack of dawn,
no knocking on the door, and nothing to spoil his happy dreams (probably Mitsuru-related) until the alarm clock starts going off an hour after the dawn
actually occured.
Probably? After last night?
He could barely constrain himself to sleep, with those memories still rampant in his mind.
Alas, he could only imagine how she felt- the one thing his arms and legs denied him was touch.
And, early in the morning, the ability to nearly destroy your clock as you shove the 'off' button on that damned alarm.
The denied clock explodes when his hand slams down onto it, leaving the room peaceful and silent.
But, it also means he needs to get up, and pull open the box of clocks he had lying around.
He slides off the side of the bed and onto his feet. Another fine day... At least he had a good night's sleep.
Nothing appears to be urgently occuring this morning.
Therefore, he could also manage to relax and slow his pace a bit that day.
Good, good.
He needed a break.
Once he gets himself showered and dressed, he begins to make his way back downstairs into the office...
Yukari looks up as he enters. "Morning, sleepyhead!"
"A whole seven hours - that's pretty impressive."
"Only seven?" He yawns, "Well, that's under par... I usually go twelve."
Yukari starts laughing.
"That is cute!" She giggles. "Absolutely adorable!"
"It is?"
He blinks, "Why's that? I like my sleep."
"Thinking you're going to get twelve hours of sleep in this line of work?"
"Hey now, time's all relative, anyway."
"If you say so."
"So what's on the agenda for today?"
"Nothing, believe it or not."
"Really? Huh."
"Well then, I might be able to get back to sleep..."
"Oh, come on. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"Somewhere lost between Mitsuru's things and my pillow."
"Woah woah woah. What?" Yukari's eyebrows skyrocket, and she leans forward, pencil in her mouth. "Mitsuru's things?"
"Just what happened last night, Tommygun?"
"Heheh. Secret!"
She starts tapping the pencil on the desk. "Spill."
"Or I'll call your mo-om."
"No, no. Last night is forever consigned to my mind as the Best Night Ever So Far.'
"I can't have just anyone know about it."
"Oh, so I'm just anyone, huh?"
"Well, no."
"But I still can't say."
"And why not?" She makes a sound like 'harumph'.
"Because this is more fun."
"Nyaaaah!"
"And you're cuter when you're flustered."
"So I've got no reason to tell you!"
Immediately, her frustration shifts to embarassment as her face goes red. She waves the blush away and turns away. "Hmph."
"Fine. Keep your secrets."
"Heheh... So then!"
He cracks his 'fingers,' more of a reflex than any sort of real source of comfort. They don't snap, only grind against one another with the sound
of chafing metal... "What to do today?"
"Oh, right. Mechanic."
"Sounds good. Did you call and make an appointment?"
"Uh, I've been kind of caught up in the work lately..."
She sighs. "Fiiiine...I'll do it."
She picks up the phone and starts dialing.
"Thanks!"
A spring in his step, he makes for the basement. Time to check on Fuuka!
Fuuka is where she always is - downstairs, poring over the files. Does she ever sleep?
Noticeably, the janitor - what was his name? Junpei? - is sweeping up in the corner, and not being terribly subtle about glancing over his shoulder to check
her out.
He casually pushes the door open, grinning and beaming at the world, "Hello there Fuuka!"
Fuuka looks up from the files. "Oh! T-Tom. Hi!"
"And how are you this morning?"
"Exhausted. I've been going over these files nonstop..."
"Looking for a pattern or even a hint that there's some logic behind the manifestations...it seems like there is, but it's all jumbled-up and
encoded."
"...Encoded, huh? Care to elaborate? I love a good puzzle."
"Oh, well..." Fuuka turns one of the papers towards him. It's in her own neat, tidy handwriting.
"It's alphanumeric but it goes backwards and then inverts itself in a negative-two pattern."
"So there's a definite, or at least an apparant scaling, right? I mean. From this, we know it's not random..."
"Huh? Oh..." She blushes. "I meant the file itself."
"OH!"
"Their explanation of the manifestations."
"Heh! Okay then. I thought you were talking about the manifestations. So they encrypted the files too?"
She turns the other file towards him. It is indeed gibberish.
She nods.
"Well, that's a problem. I'm not a coder, myself..."
"But hey, there doesn't seem like there's anything happening today, you should probably get at least a little bit of sleep."
"I'll have it cracked in no-time," she says after a moment. "But...here...here's the R-2 decryption." She holds it up for him to
look at. "It's fascinating."
He runs his eyes over the text on the page, what do we have here?
"It describes R-2 as being a suicidal type, manifesting in people with suicidal tendancies," she summarizes.
"Consequently, R-2 Requiems tend to be berserkers, caring little for their own safety."
"And then there's a list of anomalies and ones who aren't berserkers and didn't have suicidal tendancies, but are still R-2 based on the
traits that manifested, and then there's a list of R-2s
with none of the common R-2 traits but the suicidal tendancies in the hosts..."
"So that's what we're up against now, huh? What does it say about our current suspect?"
"Well..." She rubs her eyes and yawns.
"...Get some sleep. I'll look this over.
"I'm fine!" She protests.
"Hey Tommygun!" Yukari chirps down the stairs, "Mechanic says he can squeeze you in in half an hour."
He calls up the stairs, "Alright! Thanks a lot, Yukari!"
"And Fuuka? If you're exhausted, then it's alright to sleep. If you get a bit of sleep, you'll be able to review the files with fresh
eyes."
"I'm not tired yet...I'll get some coffee..."
"I'm sure Junpei is strong enough to keep watch over everything here while you're asleep."
Junpei narrows his eyes at Thomas.
"Caffiene is no replacement for sleep. Please, I know you're tired, don't push yourself so hard."
He's been getting those looks a lot lately... Why?
"Let's moooove, Tommygun! If I'm gonna walk you there we need to go now."
"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!"
"I'll do it, Yuka-tan," Junpei volunteers. "Got nothing better to do."
"Oh, fantastic! Thanks, St...er, Junpei!"
"Heh, that works, too!"
"So, we ready to go, Junpei?"
"Yeah.'
"I know where we're headed."
"C'mon."
"Alright. Let's go."
Junpei leads him up and out of the detective agency, down the street. About a block down, he turns around, walking backwards.
"So what's up with you, anyway? You come in here and you save the day and everybody just totally loves you."
"What's the deal?"
He chuckles, walking at a very easy pace, "With me? I guess I'm just what you'd call 'likeable.'"
"Yeah, well..." He makes a gesture with two fingers from his eyes at Thomas. "I'm watchin' you."
"That's cool, man, but I don't swing that way."
"Wha...are you callin' me gay?!" Junpei starts.
"I dunno. You're the one who said you'd be watching me.
"'cause I don't trust you, idiot!"
He turns back around, sliding his hands back behind his head. "Besides. It's not like you're from this town. You don't know what it's
really like."
"Well..."
"I guess that's true."
"But back there, you did help me out quite a lot."
"...yeah, you did a pretty good job helping me kill that thing," Junpei agrees.
"Heh, yeah. I guess I did."
Well. It's sort of an agreement.
That brightens him up.
"So Junpei, you've got a thing for one of the girls, don't you?"
"And you've got a thing for all of 'em, what's your point?"
"Huh? What makes you think that?"
"Pffft...I listen."
"Oh, well... I dunno. My mom just raised me to be good to women, I guess."
"I mean, I only generally have one woman in my dreams at any given length of time."
"...Right now, that's... Heh."
"Whatever," Junpei says dismissively, folding his hands back into his pockets. "Listen - just keep your hands off Fuuka, okay? And...be careful
around Yukari. She's had it rough."
"Fuuka's hard on herself. And I can tell, with Yukari."
"...What do you think of Mitsuru?"
"I think good freakin' luck." He snorts.
"She's cooler than ice cream at the North Pole."
"Well, seems to me she likes the obedient types, if you catch my drift."
"Maybe. Maybe not." He shrugs. "I've known 'em a long time, and Mitsuru's never been the type to let herself have a minute of
weakness."
"Hmm... Maybe, but she's still smoking hot."
Junpei gives a bark of a laugh at that as they round the corner.
"She had her eye on Akihiko for a while in high school, but they never got together - Akihiko's gay as a two-pound bill and he and Shinji..."
"He and Shinji what?" Shinji asks as he closes the door he was exiting.
"Are everywhere at once?"
Junpei gives a sharp yelp.
"Hmph." Shinji shakes his head. "Just unlucky coincidence. Now then...what are Akihiko and I doing?"
Junpei swallows. "Nothin', man."
"No no. I'm curious now."
"Heh, don't worry about it, Shinji. So how's today going for you?"
"Better than usual," he agrees, sliding into formation behind Junpei. "Where are we going?"
"To a mechanic's, I'm going to get my gear checked out."
He's apparantly relegated to being behind Shinji. Akihiko would kill him.
Whether by cosmic coincidence or simple understanding of the laws of amusement, Shinji relegates himself to Tom's side. Junpei walks a bit quicker now.
"I heard they were looking for you." Shinji notes.
"You mean the police, right?" He sighs, a metal hand rubbing idly at the base of his skull, "Yeah. I was following up on information Mitsuru
gave me and got caught by a patrol she didn't tell me about."
"Mitsuru's probably beating herself up over it," Shinji notes idly, a Xanatos cell phone sliding into his palm. He holds it up to the light,
checking something. "This mechanic?"
Xanatos cell phone? "Huh? I'm not sure. Why?"
"Is he crazy, or something?"
"Does his son streetrace?"
"No, he's just...eh, nevermind. You'll see for yourself."
"Right... Nice phone, by the way."
"Thanks."
"Mp3s, too." Whatever he was checking, he slides it back into his pocket. "Anyway."
"So this mechanic's got something odd about him?"
"You'll see."
"I take it you're having a shitty run with those arms, huh." Shinji notes.
"Shitty run? Nah, they serve me well."
"Shame I can't feel anything through them, though."
"I break alarm clocks, phones, can't feel anything when my hand's on Mitsuru's ass..."
"Woah woah woah." Junpei turns around mid-walk. "What?"
"Yeah. The place I grabbed that intel from? I got in as her date for a ball."
"..."
"...dude."
"Best night ever."
Shinji just chuckles as they turn another corner. "Here we are."
Thomas looks up at the building. A sign, maybe?
The sign reads 'Bonne Family Mechanics.'
Shinji chuckles.
"Good luck."
"...Oh. Thanks."
"...Why do I need luck again?"
"Heh, heh, heh."
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
He knocks at the door to the garage, "Bonne Family, huh..."
The door swings open to reveal a brown-haired woman in a pink shirt with black coveralls. She looks over Thomas for a moment. "You the cyborg?"
"The Cyborg I am," he says, rolling up his sleeves to reveal the cybernetic components underneath.
"ROLL!" the woman shouts in, "Tell Rock the borgs here!"
"Kay!" A cheery girl's voice replies.
"So... The name's Thomas. And what might yours be?"
"Tron." She blows a bubble from the gum she's apparently been chewing. "Tron Bonne. I'm the owner."
"Well, it's nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Get in."
"We're on a tight schedule. SERVIES!" She shouts inside, "I need units one through four, and where the hell is-"
"Right here." A brown-haired guy in a blue shirt and pants replies, "Sorry about that, Tron."
Servebot 42, then. He moves inside, glancing about at the workshop.
The workshop is indeed filled with about fourty-one robots running all over the place, little lego-like drones taking care of various menial tracks. The guy -
probably Rock - rolls up Tom's sleeve.
"What have you been doing with these things?"
Naturally, he's unable to feel it, "That's... Complicated... I work for the Twilight Investigators, if that clears anything up."
"What'd you punch, a wall?"
"Or a car?"
His eyes follow one of the servebots around the floor, "A living one, yeah. What are those little guys?"
"Servbots," Rock notes, "Tron made 'em for the repair work."
One of the little guys bumps into Tom's leg and immediately starts pulling it apart. A swat with a newspaper from Tron, and it waddles off.
"...there are a few problems," he admits.
He shifts his weight to his 'good' leg as he feels himself slip, "Uhh... They seem really eager."
Tron kneels to fix it as the cheery young girl from earlier wanders over, looking over Tom after a moment and giving a whistle. "Cute!" She admires.
A slight dash of crimson colors his face, but only slightly, "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."
She flashes a grin at him as she kneels to check his other leg.
"These are pretty cheap-looking. Are they factory models?"
"Actually, I don't know."
"You...don't know?"
Tron raises an eyebrow at that.
"How could you not know?"
"Tell you the truth, I was knocked out once upon a time, and came to with a set of mechanical limbs.
"So... I don't know."
"...hu~uh."
Roll drums her fingers on the knee.
They're pretty sturdy, though, for 'Cheap-Looking' parts...
"Well, we can't let you walk out of here with these. Tell you what - you leave these with us, and we'll do this right and custom-build you some
new limbs."
"Uhm... I'll be a torso with stumps for a while, then?"
Rock shakes his head. "You two can't resist this, huh?"
"How long has it been since we had another cybor-" Roll looks up at him. "No way! We have loaner parts."
"They're really basic but they'll let you get around and manipulate."
"Oh. So... Uh..."
"Will they be done by tonight? Another uh- wall might need punching again."
"Uh." Roll looks up at Tron.
"It'll take a day on the outside. But the loaners are fine - they're sturdy."
Tron examines his arm. "Probably sturdier than these pieces of junk."
"Tron," Rock hisses. "Customer, remember?"
"Right, right. Sorry. Pieces of expensive junk."
Rock just sighs.
"Hey now..."
"These pieces of junk can punch through quite a bit, you know."
"Ignore her," Rock replies, "They're obviously not junk."
"She doesn't like factory models."
"Well, I'm not even sure what they are."
"I mean, they MIGHT be factory models, but then, I'm not the expert."
"All the more reason for us to rip 'em out and replace 'em with better models." Tron answers.
"Well..."
"How are we sure that they aren't just looking like Factory Models?"
"Take your shirt off," Tron says.
"Ooooh."
"Roll!"
"Sorry."
"First time I've been asked that here.
"Wish it were under different circumstances."
"I need to see the connectors." Tron says with a sigh.
He'd slide the coat off his shoulders, then the reinforced undershirt from his torso, "I gotcha, just kidding."
Roll stands up and gives another whistle, a hand on her hip.
Well, at least the joints didn't seem standard. They appeared to be comprised of scarce, if any wiring at all- rather, the joint itself was a revolving
ball within a pair of sockets: one in his shoulder, the other at his arm.
It became obvious that the cybernetics didn't stop at the joint, but were attatched by plates to his torso as well.
Curiously, they were not connected by cable or by gear to the arm and body, but hovered, it seemed, about a central point while the two pieces moved
independently about the joint. Despite the apparant looseness of the link, the arm was quite firmly attatched to the joint, as if by magnetism. The bicep and
forecep were more organic than one would imagine- armor plating resembling flesh over muscles-
was set atop a mass of wiring that, upon closer inspection, would in fact be a set of countless pistons and pulleys, effectively acting as a very dense set of
'muscles.' The trend of designed continued toward the wrist and-
-out toward the fingers. If she would put a finger to the 'pistons,' she'd also notice that they were covered by a nearly transparent, but dark
mesh of reinforcement.
It looked as if one could inspect the inner workings by removing one of the armor plates, though.
Tron gives a bit of a frown as she examines the interface. "Interesting." She says, examining it carefully. "The interface is really..."
"Huh?" He says with a slight tilt of the head, "What's up?"
"...unique." She admits.
Roll grins. "She can't bring herself to call it fascinating."
"Shut up!" Tron retaliates, waving a hand at Roll. "I'm trying to analyze it."
"Well, I don't mind if she wants to take a closer look, or anything. I mean, unless I get a call back to the office, I'm pretty free today."
"It really comes down to, 'do you want a new set of limbs'?" Tron notes. "These are pretty...I mean..."
"You can't feel anything, can you?"
"Nope," he replies, "Not at all."
"But right now, that may be more help than a hinderance."
"I think I can fix that, if you give me a few weeks...but this is...it's primitive, but it's unusual at the same time."
"One misaligned piston and it's toast."
"So it's like a heart? How are they right now, though?"
"Looks like it's working," Tron replies.
"You mean you've really never actually looked at it?" Roll asks.
"Is there anything we can do to like... Make sure it DOESN'T blow up on me?"
"No, not really... I mean, I have, but I haven't ever really taken a long, hard look at them, or compared them to anything else."
"Not short of replacing it, no."
"It's delicate crude mechanics."
"Don't get me wrong, it's very...unique...crude mechanics...but it's just a piston system, it looks like."
"Like I said, she can't say 'interesting'," Roll chirps.
"Heh, it's fine. Even if she doesn't say it, we can tell, right?"
Rock, meanwhile, is already peeling off his shirt, revealing that he, too, has cyborg arms - however, his are quite convincingly disguised with synthetic skin,
except for the bulging arm joints.
Tron glances over at him. "Something wrong?"
"Just going to change my equipment real quick, get a better look at his arms."
"No need. I can already tell that this is a piston-system."
"I wanted to see if I could find anything wrong with it."
"Rock, if anything goes wrong with these things, they're just going to stop working."
"As long as it's working, it's okay."
"Heh, they've got plenty of power, I'm just worried that I might have damaged the shells at all..."
"Doesn't look like it."
Even then, there could possibly be something... more about the arms, beneath the pistons, "Well, alrighty then. Looks like they're good for another
while, then."
"I have a few ideas on improving on this model...but fortunately you don't need the extent of tuning that most cyborgs do. Probably because of this
interface." She frowns at it. "Honestly...who uses magnetics?"
"Just odd."
"Huh? Don't magnets usually mess with computers?"
"That's why it's odd and not widely-used," she snarks back, fingering the joint idly.
Roll grins. "She's just cranky 'cause she hasn't had her coffee."
"So uh. If they don't have computers..."
"How are they moving?"
"Oh. Yeah. I get like that too- at night."
"Hence, unique," Tron replies almost acidly - well, it would be, if the tone was a little colder, "I'm not sure."
"I'd have to disassemble your shoulder and arm to see how it's moving, and while I know I could put them back together again, it'd probably be
intensely painful for you."
"...Uh. I can't feel anything in these, remember?"
"I assume the shoulder would hurt like hell, but you can do whatever you want to the arms as long as you put them back together again later.
"...My legs, too."
"Intensely painful for you," Tron notes, "Because your shoulder would be open."
"Customer," Rock reminds her sharply, passing off a mug of coffee to her.
"Oh, well."
"Yeah. That would kind of suck..."
"Mmmm," she replies.
"Soooo..."
"Well. As far as I can tell, there's no actual tactile interface in your arms...and with a magnetic link, no way to install a nervous uplink..."
Roll taps his shoulder. "Unless, of course, you hand-built a nervous system for these things."
"...thank you for cutting me off."
"I was just trying to help." The younger girl sniffs.
"...anyhow...I can't do that unless I take your whole arm apart."
"...Ooch."
"And I can't give you a loaner because we have nothing that would fit with this interface."
"Well... It probably wouldn't be the first time. Just gotta hit me me over the head first."
Rock unplugs his hand, setting it on the table and picking up a scanner-like object before plugging it into his hand.
"I'm going to take an internal shot of them with this," he says, "So we can take a look at what's going on in there."
"Ookay, then."
"As long as it won't give me cancer, or anything."
"It's not an X-Ray." He replies. "X-Rays wouldn't work on lead-based polymers."
"And believe it or not, a lot of factory borgs have lead in their bodies."
Tron rolls her eyes. "Cheap crap."
"Anyhow...this is a sonar imaging device."
"Oh. Huh."
"Ah, so just to get a look at what the insides are like."
"Gotcha."
He holds up his arm to the arm, slowly scanning over it. Rock repeats the process with each arm and each leg, then nods as he unplugs the sonar device and
returns his original hand. "That'll do it."
"Who made those? These two?"
"Your cybernetics, I mean."
"Grandpa," Roll replies.
"Grandpa?"
She wiggles her fingers. "Mine too, though mine are later than Rock's."
"You can't even tell, right?"
"Grandpa Baryl," Rock finally answers, moving his fingers in a systems-check.
"Really? Huh... Yeah, I can't tell they're even mechanical."
"I can feel and everything through them, too." Roll says cheerily. "They're practically real."
"Wow... Your grandfather must be an amazing mechanic."
"Their grandfather was an absolute genius. Roll got most of it..." Tron comments. "...not that Rock did."
"Hey!"
"Yeah. Even I can appreciate how much work he put into those parts."
"This might by prying, so don't feel obliged to answer, but what happened to require replacement anyway?"
"Rock's were voluntary to better fit his old profession," Roll answers.
"And Roll's were...caused by an accident."
"...I see. You don't have to go any further than that, if you don't want to."
"Nah, it's okay." Roll grins up at him as she stands, dusting herself off.
"Well, if you say so."
"Rock and I were exploring some ruins, and my arm got caught in a cave-in."
"It was totally crushed."
"I see. So your grandfather made a replacement... You two did a lot of spelunking?"
She nods.
"I was a professional treasure hunter back when that was still profitable," Rock adds.
"Oh, I see. So what did Tron do before you guys opened this shop?"
"...privateering."
She gives a bit of a grin. "Those were the days."
"...Uh. You guys don't look too old. How long ago was this?"
"Oh...'bout...five, six years ago?"
"...-Huh.-"
"...You guys must have been pretty young back then."
"We were just kids." Tron agrees.
"Anyway, we have a big workload coming in soon."
"Oh? Well, if you guys need me out of here..."
"We'll call you if we find anything out."
"I might call you before that," Roll teases.
He chuckles, pulling his clothes back on, "Well, I guess I have something else to look forward to today, don't I?"
Roll laughs.
He adjusts his coat one last time, before pulling back towards the door, "Thanks folks! I hope to hear from you guys soon!"
Junpei and Shinji are waiting outside. Shinji's lit up a cig.
Again, he makes to crack his knucles. Naught but the sound of grinding metal is produced, "Well, looks like I'm alright for now."
"Good for you." Junpei replies. "Can we go now?"
"So I still want to know," Shinji says as they start walking, "What you think Aki and I are doing."
Junpei coughs. "Ah..."
"Uhh... Well, that's not TOO important, right?"
"Anyway, if we've got nothing to do, I was going to head out and investigate the suspect's whereabouts while it's reasonably safe."
"Not too. Call me curious.
"
"Hn. Which one?"
"Give me his name. I'll go ask around some friends of mine, see if they heard anything. Enjoy your day off - you won't get many."
"Huh? Oh, the guard that- Oh! Well, thanks for that, Shinji."
"His name was... O'Hara. Michael O'Hara.
"Got it." Shinji diverts off from the group into an alley.
Junpei shakes his head. "The world's only openly gay bandit," he mutters.
Once he's out of earshot, Thomas starts again... "Yeah, but at least his heart's in the right place."
"He quit after all the stuff happened with Yukari." Junpei frowns.
"It all comes back to that, heh. Ah, but what am I talking to you about this for, outsider?"
"It's like I said, I guess I'm just a likeable person."
"Doesn't matter...it's not my place to talk about it."
"If Yukari wants you to know, she'll tell you."
"Yeah. I understand."
"I'm just the new employee, it's not my business to pry into."
"You got it." He pushes the door of the detective agency open. "Hey, Yuka-tan, we're back."
"Hey guys! We're home!"
"Welcome back."
"Anything interesting happen while we were out?"
"Mmmm...nope! Not so far."
"Well, no news is usually good news."
"Maybe you'll get to sleep in after all, Tommygun."
"Heh, maybe!"
"Provided that the quiet keeps up."
Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
Whose phone, though?
Yukari picks up her phone, then shakes her head and sets it down, pointing at Tom.
He slides his cell out of his coat, and slips it open, and puts the reciever to his ear, "Hello?"
"The Skull Man still walks the Tower of Oblivion, and the hunger grows each day in us all. The Festival draws near - will you sink or swim?"
Click.
Dialtoooooooooooooooooone.
He pulls the phone away from his ear and stares at it for a moment...
"I need someone to write something down for me."
"Hm?"
" 'The Skull Man still walks the Tower of Oblivion, and the hunger grows each day in us all. The Festival draws near - will you sink or swim?'
"
Yukari stares at him for a moment before nodding and writing it down.
Junpei just kinda edges away.
"...Why did it mention Boss but not..."
"...Damn. I should have thought of that sooner," He fingered the lens in his pocket, "If I can ever catch them in the morning..."
"Hello?" Yukari picks up her phone after a moment.
"Oh! Hi!"
"That's great news!"
"Huh? What's up?"
She sets the phone down gently. "So Phoenix is on his way over with the confirmations!" She chirps at Junpei. "Official badges and operating
permits and everything!"
"...Pho-ohno."
"If that's the Phoenix I think you're talking about... Is he a lawyer?"
"...Is his last name 'Wright?'"
"Yeah!"
"You've heard of him?"
"...I think part of me died inside."
"Why? He's never failed us!"
"Yeah... He's... Famous, I guess you could say, among crimenologists."
"Yeah... But he's totally..."
"...Incompetent! I mean, the guy only ever really wins because he's lucky! I hear he's never even picked up a law book."
"It's like... Like..."
"I don't know, like he's blessed, or something."
"All the better for him to be on our side, huh?"
"We hired him after an incident that nearly cost him his badge."
"I guess, but..."
"Oh, I heard about that."
"We hired him on retainer."
"He got to keep his attorney's badge and we got a top-notch defense attorney!"
"'Top-notch' huh..."
"Top-Notch Luck, maybe."
"Well...we hired you because you had a good record..."
"It's not like some of that wasn't luck, I'm sure."
"I guess that's true, but..."
"What difference does it make if it's luck or skill?"
"Well, I guess he does get results."
"Bingo!"
"So relax!"
"Hey, if you're that worried go crash."
"You don't even have to meet him."
"It's more that he tends to give us all at the crimenology departments somewhat of a collective hangover."
"No, no, it's fine."
"I need to catch the Boss and Minato if they get home early.
"Boss isn't in, and...erm..." She looks down. "Minato is asleep."
"...Oh."
"Neither of them gets in until nightfall."
"Well, I can catch him, potentially."
"Yeah. I noticed, but in this case, I need to find them before then."
"I... Need to make sure they're alright."
"Minato's upstairs."
"Nobody has any idea where Boss goes when he's not in."
"Right. I'll be back in a sec."
"Well. Provided he doesn't kill me, or something."
"He got a key to his room?"
Reluctantly, Yukari hands it over.
He carefully recieves them in his mechanical hands, "Right. Thanks Yukari."
"I'll be back soon, hopefully."
Upstairs, the door to Minato's room is easily opened. Minato himself is...
...asleep. Just as stated.
Never in the dark... Did he have a reasonably dim light?
The room itself is pretty shabby, in a fair state of disrepair.
Most interestingly, though, is what's passed out against the wall.
Was it... WHAT was it?
That is, the black coat, skull mask, and general form of the Boss.
However, his eyes are black instead of the gleaming red, and there's no visible face.
He blinks... What... in the world?
Instead of disturbing the form, he carefully pulls the lens from his pocket, and takes a glance at Minato's body.
There's no visible Requiem taint in the room.
Minato and the Skull Man appear to simply be sleeping.
However, it's impossible to tell if anyone is actually in the suit at the moment.
He sighs and slides the lens back into his pocket... Before taking a quick snapshot of the 'Boss-like figure' in the corner of the room. With his
camera, of course.
His cameraphone.
Nothing happens.
He humms, then decides to try a bit of an... Experiment.
By placing the lens over the aperture of his cameraphone and taking a second snapshot of the armor.
There's no taint visible, on either the picture, nor the lens.
The whole room is clean.
He nods at last, exiting the room as quietly as he could possibly manage.
A sigh escapes his lungs as he descends back into the lobby, "He's safe, for now."
"That's good." Yukari nods.
Though...
He flips his phone open, selects the armor's picture on his interface and hands the piece of tech over to Yuka-tan, "What do you make of this?"
Yukari's eyebrows skyrocket after a moment. "...Boss sleeps?"
"That shouldn't shock me nearly as much as it does."
"I don't think so. It doesn't look like he's even IN that thing."
She narrows her eyes, holding it up and looking closer.
"Well..." She concedes. "It's not like this is the weirdest thing about Boss."
"I mean, he MIGHT be, but I didn't want to go any further to take another look. If he's not in that suit, then he really doesn't sleep- and
the reason we can't ever find him is that he doesn't act as Boss during the day."
Yukari nods.
After a moment, a huge grin spreads over her face.
"Oooh...or maybe Boss is a ghost seeking vengeance and can only come out at night!"
She wiggles her fingers at him. "Spooooooky."
"Yeah, and maybe Minato dances to disco in his spare time."
"..."
"All I'm saying is that it's possible!"
"But now you're thinking about him with a fro and a bad suit, point-dancing."
He begins to sing, "Dance, Boogie Wonderlaa-and."
"...I'd rather not think about him at all."
"Oh..."
"Sorry."
"'sokay. But come on! The ghost theory totally holds water."
"He doesn't sleep, he's not in his armor during the day, he knows where trouble is..."
"Yeah, I guess. But he might ALSO be..."
"You know... A woman."
"You're just making fun of me now, aren't you?" She pouts.
"Or, hell, he could be a bunch of symbiotic organisms. I don't know what Boss is... Heh, but it's more fun to see you flustered."
"Well, I know a little secret." She glances over at Junpei, who is cleaning the wall by now, and gestures for him to move closer to whisper it.
"About Mitsuru~."
He complies immediately, sliding over with the celerity of a virgin's first sexual experience.
She leans up and plants a deep-ish kiss on his lips, holding it for a moment before pushing him away, a grin on her face. "And now you don't know if
that means anything at all."
"Or if I even know any secrets about her." She pulls down her eyelid. "Nyaaaah!"
He blinks...
"Don't mess with the Yuka-tan."
Tilts his head, blinks again... "Wha...?"
Obviously, he's probably left the building.
"...Junpei, I think I fried his brain."
"Fried like... Bacon."
"Apparently, my lips are powerful." She grins at Junpei.
He shakes the mess of thoughts out of his head, "Graaaah..."
"Heheh! Like I said, don't mess with me!"
"I dunno."
"It wasn't bad at all, actually."
"Of course it wasn't bad."
"Maybe I'll just have to push you a bit more," He smirks, chuckling to himself.
"Don't expect me to do something like that again."
"Besides, anybody with eyes in their head can tell you've got it bad for Mitsuru."
"Damn. There goes MY plan."
"I didn't know that until he told me," Junpei grumbles.
"Well, yeah, Stupei."
"Yeah, well..." He rubs again at the base of his skull.
"Am I wrong?"
"Well, no."
"So why would you want another kiss from me?"
She makes a face. "What you want is a kiss like that from Mitsuru."
"...Feh. Stop calling my bluffs."
"The all-seeing eye of Yukari is unstoppable!" She wiggles her fingers at him again.
"Besides, you're an awful kisser. I don't know why anyone would want to do that with you."
"That's usually what happens when one's brain breaks."
"Ffft."
She kicks back and picks up the phone. "Hello?"
"Ah? Okay, I'll tell him." She lowers the phone. "Mitsuru wants you to meet her for dinner tonight to discuss the files you got."
Click. Switch-on! "Uh, oh, s-she does? Well, I should probably get my suit ready..."
"Amazing how fast you recovered from that 'brain-breaking' kiss...Hey, Mitsuru, you won't believe what just happened..." She gives a sly
grin at Thomas.
He twitches at that...And storms back upstairs.
She sets the phone down and calls up, "She hung up, you know!"
Once again, the bright sunlight streams in through the window. This time, however - luckily for Thomas - no Yukari wakes him up at the crack of dawn,
no knocking on the door, and nothing to spoil his happy dreams (probably Mitsuru-related) until the alarm clock starts going off an hour after the dawn
actually occured.
Probably? After last night?
He could barely constrain himself to sleep, with those memories still rampant in his mind.
Alas, he could only imagine how she felt- the one thing his arms and legs denied him was touch.
And, early in the morning, the ability to nearly destroy your clock as you shove the 'off' button on that damned alarm.
The denied clock explodes when his hand slams down onto it, leaving the room peaceful and silent.
But, it also means he needs to get up, and pull open the box of clocks he had lying around.
He slides off the side of the bed and onto his feet. Another fine day... At least he had a good night's sleep.
Nothing appears to be urgently occuring this morning.
Therefore, he could also manage to relax and slow his pace a bit that day.
Good, good.
He needed a break.
Once he gets himself showered and dressed, he begins to make his way back downstairs into the office...
Yukari looks up as he enters. "Morning, sleepyhead!"
"A whole seven hours - that's pretty impressive."
"Only seven?" He yawns, "Well, that's under par... I usually go twelve."
Yukari starts laughing.
"That is cute!" She giggles. "Absolutely adorable!"
"It is?"
He blinks, "Why's that? I like my sleep."
"Thinking you're going to get twelve hours of sleep in this line of work?"
"Hey now, time's all relative, anyway."
"If you say so."
"So what's on the agenda for today?"
"Nothing, believe it or not."
"Really? Huh."
"Well then, I might be able to get back to sleep..."
"Oh, come on. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"Somewhere lost between Mitsuru's things and my pillow."
"Woah woah woah. What?" Yukari's eyebrows skyrocket, and she leans forward, pencil in her mouth. "Mitsuru's things?"
"Just what happened last night, Tommygun?"
"Heheh. Secret!"
She starts tapping the pencil on the desk. "Spill."
"Or I'll call your mo-om."
"No, no. Last night is forever consigned to my mind as the Best Night Ever So Far.'
"I can't have just anyone know about it."
"Oh, so I'm just anyone, huh?"
"Well, no."
"But I still can't say."
"And why not?" She makes a sound like 'harumph'.
"Because this is more fun."
"Nyaaaah!"
"And you're cuter when you're flustered."
"So I've got no reason to tell you!"
Immediately, her frustration shifts to embarassment as her face goes red. She waves the blush away and turns away. "Hmph."
"Fine. Keep your secrets."
"Heheh... So then!"
He cracks his 'fingers,' more of a reflex than any sort of real source of comfort. They don't snap, only grind against one another with the sound
of chafing metal... "What to do today?"
"Oh, right. Mechanic."
"Sounds good. Did you call and make an appointment?"
"Uh, I've been kind of caught up in the work lately..."
She sighs. "Fiiiine...I'll do it."
She picks up the phone and starts dialing.
"Thanks!"
A spring in his step, he makes for the basement. Time to check on Fuuka!
Fuuka is where she always is - downstairs, poring over the files. Does she ever sleep?
Noticeably, the janitor - what was his name? Junpei? - is sweeping up in the corner, and not being terribly subtle about glancing over his shoulder to check
her out.
He casually pushes the door open, grinning and beaming at the world, "Hello there Fuuka!"
Fuuka looks up from the files. "Oh! T-Tom. Hi!"
"And how are you this morning?"
"Exhausted. I've been going over these files nonstop..."
"Looking for a pattern or even a hint that there's some logic behind the manifestations...it seems like there is, but it's all jumbled-up and
encoded."
"...Encoded, huh? Care to elaborate? I love a good puzzle."
"Oh, well..." Fuuka turns one of the papers towards him. It's in her own neat, tidy handwriting.
"It's alphanumeric but it goes backwards and then inverts itself in a negative-two pattern."
"So there's a definite, or at least an apparant scaling, right? I mean. From this, we know it's not random..."
"Huh? Oh..." She blushes. "I meant the file itself."
"OH!"
"Their explanation of the manifestations."
"Heh! Okay then. I thought you were talking about the manifestations. So they encrypted the files too?"
She turns the other file towards him. It is indeed gibberish.
She nods.
"Well, that's a problem. I'm not a coder, myself..."
"But hey, there doesn't seem like there's anything happening today, you should probably get at least a little bit of sleep."
"I'll have it cracked in no-time," she says after a moment. "But...here...here's the R-2 decryption." She holds it up for him to
look at. "It's fascinating."
He runs his eyes over the text on the page, what do we have here?
"It describes R-2 as being a suicidal type, manifesting in people with suicidal tendancies," she summarizes.
"Consequently, R-2 Requiems tend to be berserkers, caring little for their own safety."
"And then there's a list of anomalies and ones who aren't berserkers and didn't have suicidal tendancies, but are still R-2 based on the
traits that manifested, and then there's a list of R-2s
with none of the common R-2 traits but the suicidal tendancies in the hosts..."
"So that's what we're up against now, huh? What does it say about our current suspect?"
"Well..." She rubs her eyes and yawns.
"...Get some sleep. I'll look this over.
"I'm fine!" She protests.
"Hey Tommygun!" Yukari chirps down the stairs, "Mechanic says he can squeeze you in in half an hour."
He calls up the stairs, "Alright! Thanks a lot, Yukari!"
"And Fuuka? If you're exhausted, then it's alright to sleep. If you get a bit of sleep, you'll be able to review the files with fresh
eyes."
"I'm not tired yet...I'll get some coffee..."
"I'm sure Junpei is strong enough to keep watch over everything here while you're asleep."
Junpei narrows his eyes at Thomas.
"Caffiene is no replacement for sleep. Please, I know you're tired, don't push yourself so hard."
He's been getting those looks a lot lately... Why?
"Let's moooove, Tommygun! If I'm gonna walk you there we need to go now."
"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!"
"I'll do it, Yuka-tan," Junpei volunteers. "Got nothing better to do."
"Oh, fantastic! Thanks, St...er, Junpei!"
"Heh, that works, too!"
"So, we ready to go, Junpei?"
"Yeah.'
"I know where we're headed."
"C'mon."
"Alright. Let's go."
Junpei leads him up and out of the detective agency, down the street. About a block down, he turns around, walking backwards.
"So what's up with you, anyway? You come in here and you save the day and everybody just totally loves you."
"What's the deal?"
He chuckles, walking at a very easy pace, "With me? I guess I'm just what you'd call 'likeable.'"
"Yeah, well..." He makes a gesture with two fingers from his eyes at Thomas. "I'm watchin' you."
"That's cool, man, but I don't swing that way."
"Wha...are you callin' me gay?!" Junpei starts.
"I dunno. You're the one who said you'd be watching me.
"'cause I don't trust you, idiot!"
He turns back around, sliding his hands back behind his head. "Besides. It's not like you're from this town. You don't know what it's
really like."
"Well..."
"I guess that's true."
"But back there, you did help me out quite a lot."
"...yeah, you did a pretty good job helping me kill that thing," Junpei agrees.
"Heh, yeah. I guess I did."
Well. It's sort of an agreement.
That brightens him up.
"So Junpei, you've got a thing for one of the girls, don't you?"
"And you've got a thing for all of 'em, what's your point?"
"Huh? What makes you think that?"
"Pffft...I listen."
"Oh, well... I dunno. My mom just raised me to be good to women, I guess."
"I mean, I only generally have one woman in my dreams at any given length of time."
"...Right now, that's... Heh."
"Whatever," Junpei says dismissively, folding his hands back into his pockets. "Listen - just keep your hands off Fuuka, okay? And...be careful
around Yukari. She's had it rough."
"Fuuka's hard on herself. And I can tell, with Yukari."
"...What do you think of Mitsuru?"
"I think good freakin' luck." He snorts.
"She's cooler than ice cream at the North Pole."
"Well, seems to me she likes the obedient types, if you catch my drift."
"Maybe. Maybe not." He shrugs. "I've known 'em a long time, and Mitsuru's never been the type to let herself have a minute of
weakness."
"Hmm... Maybe, but she's still smoking hot."
Junpei gives a bark of a laugh at that as they round the corner.
"She had her eye on Akihiko for a while in high school, but they never got together - Akihiko's gay as a two-pound bill and he and Shinji..."
"He and Shinji what?" Shinji asks as he closes the door he was exiting.
"Are everywhere at once?"
Junpei gives a sharp yelp.
"Hmph." Shinji shakes his head. "Just unlucky coincidence. Now then...what are Akihiko and I doing?"
Junpei swallows. "Nothin', man."
"No no. I'm curious now."
"Heh, don't worry about it, Shinji. So how's today going for you?"
"Better than usual," he agrees, sliding into formation behind Junpei. "Where are we going?"
"To a mechanic's, I'm going to get my gear checked out."
He's apparantly relegated to being behind Shinji. Akihiko would kill him.
Whether by cosmic coincidence or simple understanding of the laws of amusement, Shinji relegates himself to Tom's side. Junpei walks a bit quicker now.
"I heard they were looking for you." Shinji notes.
"You mean the police, right?" He sighs, a metal hand rubbing idly at the base of his skull, "Yeah. I was following up on information Mitsuru
gave me and got caught by a patrol she didn't tell me about."
"Mitsuru's probably beating herself up over it," Shinji notes idly, a Xanatos cell phone sliding into his palm. He holds it up to the light,
checking something. "This mechanic?"
Xanatos cell phone? "Huh? I'm not sure. Why?"
"Is he crazy, or something?"
"Does his son streetrace?"
"No, he's just...eh, nevermind. You'll see for yourself."
"Right... Nice phone, by the way."
"Thanks."
"Mp3s, too." Whatever he was checking, he slides it back into his pocket. "Anyway."
"So this mechanic's got something odd about him?"
"You'll see."
"I take it you're having a shitty run with those arms, huh." Shinji notes.
"Shitty run? Nah, they serve me well."
"Shame I can't feel anything through them, though."
"I break alarm clocks, phones, can't feel anything when my hand's on Mitsuru's ass..."
"Woah woah woah." Junpei turns around mid-walk. "What?"
"Yeah. The place I grabbed that intel from? I got in as her date for a ball."
"..."
"...dude."
"Best night ever."
Shinji just chuckles as they turn another corner. "Here we are."
Thomas looks up at the building. A sign, maybe?
The sign reads 'Bonne Family Mechanics.'
Shinji chuckles.
"Good luck."
"...Oh. Thanks."
"...Why do I need luck again?"
"Heh, heh, heh."
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
He knocks at the door to the garage, "Bonne Family, huh..."
The door swings open to reveal a brown-haired woman in a pink shirt with black coveralls. She looks over Thomas for a moment. "You the cyborg?"
"The Cyborg I am," he says, rolling up his sleeves to reveal the cybernetic components underneath.
"ROLL!" the woman shouts in, "Tell Rock the borgs here!"
"Kay!" A cheery girl's voice replies.
"So... The name's Thomas. And what might yours be?"
"Tron." She blows a bubble from the gum she's apparently been chewing. "Tron Bonne. I'm the owner."
"Well, it's nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Get in."
"We're on a tight schedule. SERVIES!" She shouts inside, "I need units one through four, and where the hell is-"
"Right here." A brown-haired guy in a blue shirt and pants replies, "Sorry about that, Tron."
Servebot 42, then. He moves inside, glancing about at the workshop.
The workshop is indeed filled with about fourty-one robots running all over the place, little lego-like drones taking care of various menial tracks. The guy -
probably Rock - rolls up Tom's sleeve.
"What have you been doing with these things?"
Naturally, he's unable to feel it, "That's... Complicated... I work for the Twilight Investigators, if that clears anything up."
"What'd you punch, a wall?"
"Or a car?"
His eyes follow one of the servebots around the floor, "A living one, yeah. What are those little guys?"
"Servbots," Rock notes, "Tron made 'em for the repair work."
One of the little guys bumps into Tom's leg and immediately starts pulling it apart. A swat with a newspaper from Tron, and it waddles off.
"...there are a few problems," he admits.
He shifts his weight to his 'good' leg as he feels himself slip, "Uhh... They seem really eager."
Tron kneels to fix it as the cheery young girl from earlier wanders over, looking over Tom after a moment and giving a whistle. "Cute!" She admires.
A slight dash of crimson colors his face, but only slightly, "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."
She flashes a grin at him as she kneels to check his other leg.
"These are pretty cheap-looking. Are they factory models?"
"Actually, I don't know."
"You...don't know?"
Tron raises an eyebrow at that.
"How could you not know?"
"Tell you the truth, I was knocked out once upon a time, and came to with a set of mechanical limbs.
"So... I don't know."
"...hu~uh."
Roll drums her fingers on the knee.
They're pretty sturdy, though, for 'Cheap-Looking' parts...
"Well, we can't let you walk out of here with these. Tell you what - you leave these with us, and we'll do this right and custom-build you some
new limbs."
"Uhm... I'll be a torso with stumps for a while, then?"
Rock shakes his head. "You two can't resist this, huh?"
"How long has it been since we had another cybor-" Roll looks up at him. "No way! We have loaner parts."
"They're really basic but they'll let you get around and manipulate."
"Oh. So... Uh..."
"Will they be done by tonight? Another uh- wall might need punching again."
"Uh." Roll looks up at Tron.
"It'll take a day on the outside. But the loaners are fine - they're sturdy."
Tron examines his arm. "Probably sturdier than these pieces of junk."
"Tron," Rock hisses. "Customer, remember?"
"Right, right. Sorry. Pieces of expensive junk."
Rock just sighs.
"Hey now..."
"These pieces of junk can punch through quite a bit, you know."
"Ignore her," Rock replies, "They're obviously not junk."
"She doesn't like factory models."
"Well, I'm not even sure what they are."
"I mean, they MIGHT be factory models, but then, I'm not the expert."
"All the more reason for us to rip 'em out and replace 'em with better models." Tron answers.
"Well..."
"How are we sure that they aren't just looking like Factory Models?"
"Take your shirt off," Tron says.
"Ooooh."
"Roll!"
"Sorry."
"First time I've been asked that here.
"Wish it were under different circumstances."
"I need to see the connectors." Tron says with a sigh.
He'd slide the coat off his shoulders, then the reinforced undershirt from his torso, "I gotcha, just kidding."
Roll stands up and gives another whistle, a hand on her hip.
Well, at least the joints didn't seem standard. They appeared to be comprised of scarce, if any wiring at all- rather, the joint itself was a revolving
ball within a pair of sockets: one in his shoulder, the other at his arm.
It became obvious that the cybernetics didn't stop at the joint, but were attatched by plates to his torso as well.
Curiously, they were not connected by cable or by gear to the arm and body, but hovered, it seemed, about a central point while the two pieces moved
independently about the joint. Despite the apparant looseness of the link, the arm was quite firmly attatched to the joint, as if by magnetism. The bicep and
forecep were more organic than one would imagine- armor plating resembling flesh over muscles-
was set atop a mass of wiring that, upon closer inspection, would in fact be a set of countless pistons and pulleys, effectively acting as a very dense set of
'muscles.' The trend of designed continued toward the wrist and-
-out toward the fingers. If she would put a finger to the 'pistons,' she'd also notice that they were covered by a nearly transparent, but dark
mesh of reinforcement.
It looked as if one could inspect the inner workings by removing one of the armor plates, though.
Tron gives a bit of a frown as she examines the interface. "Interesting." She says, examining it carefully. "The interface is really..."
"Huh?" He says with a slight tilt of the head, "What's up?"
"...unique." She admits.
Roll grins. "She can't bring herself to call it fascinating."
"Shut up!" Tron retaliates, waving a hand at Roll. "I'm trying to analyze it."
"Well, I don't mind if she wants to take a closer look, or anything. I mean, unless I get a call back to the office, I'm pretty free today."
"It really comes down to, 'do you want a new set of limbs'?" Tron notes. "These are pretty...I mean..."
"You can't feel anything, can you?"
"Nope," he replies, "Not at all."
"But right now, that may be more help than a hinderance."
"I think I can fix that, if you give me a few weeks...but this is...it's primitive, but it's unusual at the same time."
"One misaligned piston and it's toast."
"So it's like a heart? How are they right now, though?"
"Looks like it's working," Tron replies.
"You mean you've really never actually looked at it?" Roll asks.
"Is there anything we can do to like... Make sure it DOESN'T blow up on me?"
"No, not really... I mean, I have, but I haven't ever really taken a long, hard look at them, or compared them to anything else."
"Not short of replacing it, no."
"It's delicate crude mechanics."
"Don't get me wrong, it's very...unique...crude mechanics...but it's just a piston system, it looks like."
"Like I said, she can't say 'interesting'," Roll chirps.
"Heh, it's fine. Even if she doesn't say it, we can tell, right?"
Rock, meanwhile, is already peeling off his shirt, revealing that he, too, has cyborg arms - however, his are quite convincingly disguised with synthetic skin,
except for the bulging arm joints.
Tron glances over at him. "Something wrong?"
"Just going to change my equipment real quick, get a better look at his arms."
"No need. I can already tell that this is a piston-system."
"I wanted to see if I could find anything wrong with it."
"Rock, if anything goes wrong with these things, they're just going to stop working."
"As long as it's working, it's okay."
"Heh, they've got plenty of power, I'm just worried that I might have damaged the shells at all..."
"Doesn't look like it."
Even then, there could possibly be something... more about the arms, beneath the pistons, "Well, alrighty then. Looks like they're good for another
while, then."
"I have a few ideas on improving on this model...but fortunately you don't need the extent of tuning that most cyborgs do. Probably because of this
interface." She frowns at it. "Honestly...who uses magnetics?"
"Just odd."
"Huh? Don't magnets usually mess with computers?"
"That's why it's odd and not widely-used," she snarks back, fingering the joint idly.
Roll grins. "She's just cranky 'cause she hasn't had her coffee."
"So uh. If they don't have computers..."
"How are they moving?"
"Oh. Yeah. I get like that too- at night."
"Hence, unique," Tron replies almost acidly - well, it would be, if the tone was a little colder, "I'm not sure."
"I'd have to disassemble your shoulder and arm to see how it's moving, and while I know I could put them back together again, it'd probably be
intensely painful for you."
"...Uh. I can't feel anything in these, remember?"
"I assume the shoulder would hurt like hell, but you can do whatever you want to the arms as long as you put them back together again later.
"...My legs, too."
"Intensely painful for you," Tron notes, "Because your shoulder would be open."
"Customer," Rock reminds her sharply, passing off a mug of coffee to her.
"Oh, well."
"Yeah. That would kind of suck..."
"Mmmm," she replies.
"Soooo..."
"Well. As far as I can tell, there's no actual tactile interface in your arms...and with a magnetic link, no way to install a nervous uplink..."
Roll taps his shoulder. "Unless, of course, you hand-built a nervous system for these things."
"...thank you for cutting me off."
"I was just trying to help." The younger girl sniffs.
"...anyhow...I can't do that unless I take your whole arm apart."
"...Ooch."
"And I can't give you a loaner because we have nothing that would fit with this interface."
"Well... It probably wouldn't be the first time. Just gotta hit me me over the head first."
Rock unplugs his hand, setting it on the table and picking up a scanner-like object before plugging it into his hand.
"I'm going to take an internal shot of them with this," he says, "So we can take a look at what's going on in there."
"Ookay, then."
"As long as it won't give me cancer, or anything."
"It's not an X-Ray." He replies. "X-Rays wouldn't work on lead-based polymers."
"And believe it or not, a lot of factory borgs have lead in their bodies."
Tron rolls her eyes. "Cheap crap."
"Anyhow...this is a sonar imaging device."
"Oh. Huh."
"Ah, so just to get a look at what the insides are like."
"Gotcha."
He holds up his arm to the arm, slowly scanning over it. Rock repeats the process with each arm and each leg, then nods as he unplugs the sonar device and
returns his original hand. "That'll do it."
"Who made those? These two?"
"Your cybernetics, I mean."
"Grandpa," Roll replies.
"Grandpa?"
She wiggles her fingers. "Mine too, though mine are later than Rock's."
"You can't even tell, right?"
"Grandpa Baryl," Rock finally answers, moving his fingers in a systems-check.
"Really? Huh... Yeah, I can't tell they're even mechanical."
"I can feel and everything through them, too." Roll says cheerily. "They're practically real."
"Wow... Your grandfather must be an amazing mechanic."
"Their grandfather was an absolute genius. Roll got most of it..." Tron comments. "...not that Rock did."
"Hey!"
"Yeah. Even I can appreciate how much work he put into those parts."
"This might by prying, so don't feel obliged to answer, but what happened to require replacement anyway?"
"Rock's were voluntary to better fit his old profession," Roll answers.
"And Roll's were...caused by an accident."
"...I see. You don't have to go any further than that, if you don't want to."
"Nah, it's okay." Roll grins up at him as she stands, dusting herself off.
"Well, if you say so."
"Rock and I were exploring some ruins, and my arm got caught in a cave-in."
"It was totally crushed."
"I see. So your grandfather made a replacement... You two did a lot of spelunking?"
She nods.
"I was a professional treasure hunter back when that was still profitable," Rock adds.
"Oh, I see. So what did Tron do before you guys opened this shop?"
"...privateering."
She gives a bit of a grin. "Those were the days."
"...Uh. You guys don't look too old. How long ago was this?"
"Oh...'bout...five, six years ago?"
"...-Huh.-"
"...You guys must have been pretty young back then."
"We were just kids." Tron agrees.
"Anyway, we have a big workload coming in soon."
"Oh? Well, if you guys need me out of here..."
"We'll call you if we find anything out."
"I might call you before that," Roll teases.
He chuckles, pulling his clothes back on, "Well, I guess I have something else to look forward to today, don't I?"
Roll laughs.
He adjusts his coat one last time, before pulling back towards the door, "Thanks folks! I hope to hear from you guys soon!"
Junpei and Shinji are waiting outside. Shinji's lit up a cig.
Again, he makes to crack his knucles. Naught but the sound of grinding metal is produced, "Well, looks like I'm alright for now."
"Good for you." Junpei replies. "Can we go now?"
"So I still want to know," Shinji says as they start walking, "What you think Aki and I are doing."
Junpei coughs. "Ah..."
"Uhh... Well, that's not TOO important, right?"
"Anyway, if we've got nothing to do, I was going to head out and investigate the suspect's whereabouts while it's reasonably safe."
"Not too. Call me curious.
"
"Hn. Which one?"
"Give me his name. I'll go ask around some friends of mine, see if they heard anything. Enjoy your day off - you won't get many."
"Huh? Oh, the guard that- Oh! Well, thanks for that, Shinji."
"His name was... O'Hara. Michael O'Hara.
"Got it." Shinji diverts off from the group into an alley.
Junpei shakes his head. "The world's only openly gay bandit," he mutters.
Once he's out of earshot, Thomas starts again... "Yeah, but at least his heart's in the right place."
"He quit after all the stuff happened with Yukari." Junpei frowns.
"It all comes back to that, heh. Ah, but what am I talking to you about this for, outsider?"
"It's like I said, I guess I'm just a likeable person."
"Doesn't matter...it's not my place to talk about it."
"If Yukari wants you to know, she'll tell you."
"Yeah. I understand."
"I'm just the new employee, it's not my business to pry into."
"You got it." He pushes the door of the detective agency open. "Hey, Yuka-tan, we're back."
"Hey guys! We're home!"
"Welcome back."
"Anything interesting happen while we were out?"
"Mmmm...nope! Not so far."
"Well, no news is usually good news."
"Maybe you'll get to sleep in after all, Tommygun."
"Heh, maybe!"
"Provided that the quiet keeps up."
Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
Whose phone, though?
Yukari picks up her phone, then shakes her head and sets it down, pointing at Tom.
He slides his cell out of his coat, and slips it open, and puts the reciever to his ear, "Hello?"
"The Skull Man still walks the Tower of Oblivion, and the hunger grows each day in us all. The Festival draws near - will you sink or swim?"
Click.
Dialtoooooooooooooooooone.
He pulls the phone away from his ear and stares at it for a moment...
"I need someone to write something down for me."
"Hm?"
" 'The Skull Man still walks the Tower of Oblivion, and the hunger grows each day in us all. The Festival draws near - will you sink or swim?'
"
Yukari stares at him for a moment before nodding and writing it down.
Junpei just kinda edges away.
"...Why did it mention Boss but not..."
"...Damn. I should have thought of that sooner," He fingered the lens in his pocket, "If I can ever catch them in the morning..."
"Hello?" Yukari picks up her phone after a moment.
"Oh! Hi!"
"That's great news!"
"Huh? What's up?"
She sets the phone down gently. "So Phoenix is on his way over with the confirmations!" She chirps at Junpei. "Official badges and operating
permits and everything!"
"...Pho-ohno."
"If that's the Phoenix I think you're talking about... Is he a lawyer?"
"...Is his last name 'Wright?'"
"Yeah!"
"You've heard of him?"
"...I think part of me died inside."
"Why? He's never failed us!"
"Yeah... He's... Famous, I guess you could say, among crimenologists."
"Yeah... But he's totally..."
"...Incompetent! I mean, the guy only ever really wins because he's lucky! I hear he's never even picked up a law book."
"It's like... Like..."
"I don't know, like he's blessed, or something."
"All the better for him to be on our side, huh?"
"We hired him after an incident that nearly cost him his badge."
"I guess, but..."
"Oh, I heard about that."
"We hired him on retainer."
"He got to keep his attorney's badge and we got a top-notch defense attorney!"
"'Top-notch' huh..."
"Top-Notch Luck, maybe."
"Well...we hired you because you had a good record..."
"It's not like some of that wasn't luck, I'm sure."
"I guess that's true, but..."
"What difference does it make if it's luck or skill?"
"Well, I guess he does get results."
"Bingo!"
"So relax!"
"Hey, if you're that worried go crash."
"You don't even have to meet him."
"It's more that he tends to give us all at the crimenology departments somewhat of a collective hangover."
"No, no, it's fine."
"I need to catch the Boss and Minato if they get home early.
"Boss isn't in, and...erm..." She looks down. "Minato is asleep."
"...Oh."
"Neither of them gets in until nightfall."
"Well, I can catch him, potentially."
"Yeah. I noticed, but in this case, I need to find them before then."
"I... Need to make sure they're alright."
"Minato's upstairs."
"Nobody has any idea where Boss goes when he's not in."
"Right. I'll be back in a sec."
"Well. Provided he doesn't kill me, or something."
"He got a key to his room?"
Reluctantly, Yukari hands it over.
He carefully recieves them in his mechanical hands, "Right. Thanks Yukari."
"I'll be back soon, hopefully."
Upstairs, the door to Minato's room is easily opened. Minato himself is...
...asleep. Just as stated.
Never in the dark... Did he have a reasonably dim light?
The room itself is pretty shabby, in a fair state of disrepair.
Most interestingly, though, is what's passed out against the wall.
Was it... WHAT was it?
That is, the black coat, skull mask, and general form of the Boss.
However, his eyes are black instead of the gleaming red, and there's no visible face.
He blinks... What... in the world?
Instead of disturbing the form, he carefully pulls the lens from his pocket, and takes a glance at Minato's body.
There's no visible Requiem taint in the room.
Minato and the Skull Man appear to simply be sleeping.
However, it's impossible to tell if anyone is actually in the suit at the moment.
He sighs and slides the lens back into his pocket... Before taking a quick snapshot of the 'Boss-like figure' in the corner of the room. With his
camera, of course.
His cameraphone.
Nothing happens.
He humms, then decides to try a bit of an... Experiment.
By placing the lens over the aperture of his cameraphone and taking a second snapshot of the armor.
There's no taint visible, on either the picture, nor the lens.
The whole room is clean.
He nods at last, exiting the room as quietly as he could possibly manage.
A sigh escapes his lungs as he descends back into the lobby, "He's safe, for now."
"That's good." Yukari nods.
Though...
He flips his phone open, selects the armor's picture on his interface and hands the piece of tech over to Yuka-tan, "What do you make of this?"
Yukari's eyebrows skyrocket after a moment. "...Boss sleeps?"
"That shouldn't shock me nearly as much as it does."
"I don't think so. It doesn't look like he's even IN that thing."
She narrows her eyes, holding it up and looking closer.
"Well..." She concedes. "It's not like this is the weirdest thing about Boss."
"I mean, he MIGHT be, but I didn't want to go any further to take another look. If he's not in that suit, then he really doesn't sleep- and
the reason we can't ever find him is that he doesn't act as Boss during the day."
Yukari nods.
After a moment, a huge grin spreads over her face.
"Oooh...or maybe Boss is a ghost seeking vengeance and can only come out at night!"
She wiggles her fingers at him. "Spooooooky."
"Yeah, and maybe Minato dances to disco in his spare time."
"..."
"All I'm saying is that it's possible!"
"But now you're thinking about him with a fro and a bad suit, point-dancing."
He begins to sing, "Dance, Boogie Wonderlaa-and."
"...I'd rather not think about him at all."
"Oh..."
"Sorry."
"'sokay. But come on! The ghost theory totally holds water."
"He doesn't sleep, he's not in his armor during the day, he knows where trouble is..."
"Yeah, I guess. But he might ALSO be..."
"You know... A woman."
"You're just making fun of me now, aren't you?" She pouts.
"Or, hell, he could be a bunch of symbiotic organisms. I don't know what Boss is... Heh, but it's more fun to see you flustered."
"Well, I know a little secret." She glances over at Junpei, who is cleaning the wall by now, and gestures for him to move closer to whisper it.
"About Mitsuru~."
He complies immediately, sliding over with the celerity of a virgin's first sexual experience.
She leans up and plants a deep-ish kiss on his lips, holding it for a moment before pushing him away, a grin on her face. "And now you don't know if
that means anything at all."
"Or if I even know any secrets about her." She pulls down her eyelid. "Nyaaaah!"
He blinks...
"Don't mess with the Yuka-tan."
Tilts his head, blinks again... "Wha...?"
Obviously, he's probably left the building.
"...Junpei, I think I fried his brain."
"Fried like... Bacon."
"Apparently, my lips are powerful." She grins at Junpei.
He shakes the mess of thoughts out of his head, "Graaaah..."
"Heheh! Like I said, don't mess with me!"
"I dunno."
"It wasn't bad at all, actually."
"Of course it wasn't bad."
"Maybe I'll just have to push you a bit more," He smirks, chuckling to himself.
"Don't expect me to do something like that again."
"Besides, anybody with eyes in their head can tell you've got it bad for Mitsuru."
"Damn. There goes MY plan."
"I didn't know that until he told me," Junpei grumbles.
"Well, yeah, Stupei."
"Yeah, well..." He rubs again at the base of his skull.
"Am I wrong?"
"Well, no."
"So why would you want another kiss from me?"
She makes a face. "What you want is a kiss like that from Mitsuru."
"...Feh. Stop calling my bluffs."
"The all-seeing eye of Yukari is unstoppable!" She wiggles her fingers at him again.
"Besides, you're an awful kisser. I don't know why anyone would want to do that with you."
"That's usually what happens when one's brain breaks."
"Ffft."
She kicks back and picks up the phone. "Hello?"
"Ah? Okay, I'll tell him." She lowers the phone. "Mitsuru wants you to meet her for dinner tonight to discuss the files you got."
Click. Switch-on! "Uh, oh, s-she does? Well, I should probably get my suit ready..."
"Amazing how fast you recovered from that 'brain-breaking' kiss...Hey, Mitsuru, you won't believe what just happened..." She gives a sly
grin at Thomas.
He twitches at that...And storms back upstairs.
She sets the phone down and calls up, "She hung up, you know!"