Epilogue
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
9:57 am ET
A container truck pulled up, just across the river from the observation van. There was no need for the truck's occupants to speak with the observers in the van - they had been receiving regular reports all morning.
The passenger in the truck's cab stepped out, went to the back of the truck, and opened the doors. All he said was, "My sister is too soft. Get in there, you know what to do."
A half dozen self-piloted mecha got out of the back of the truck and walked into the stronghold, through the front entrance, to discover dozens of unconscious beings - trolls, sluagh, giants, dwarves, and others.
Ten minutes later, the Alastors came back out ... to reload.
Rob Donaldson's office, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
2:04 pm ET
"I'm not going to force you to live with us here in Ottawa, Mr. Kamijo and Ms. Index. If you want to go somewhere else, we can arrange that - I know people in Montreal, San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles who could help out if you want to live in a really big city, and I also know about a place in the middle of nowhere that's run by a friend of mine, if you want to get away from it all."
"Know anybody in Tokyo?" the teenage boy asked.
"Sorry, no. There's a language barrier there for me. And there's no guarantees that you'd know anybody in our Tokyo if you went - this world doesn't have an Academy City."
"But it does have a Roman Orthodox church. I can see the spire on the building right over there." Index pointed out the window while frowning.
Rob sighed. "Ms. Index, that's the Roman Catholic church. This really isn't your world, even if there are a very small number of people who you know living here."
"You sure? Index and I just spent three days being held prisoner by some people who can look like other people."
"Yes, I'm sure," Rob replied. "In fact, there's one person waiting outside to verify your identity for us." He raised his voice and continued, "You can come in now!"
The door opened, and Mikoto rushed in. "It's about time! Where is -" Seeing Touma, her tone changed as she gave him a hug. "Oh. I... I actually missed you."
Touma frowned. "Zapper wouldn't act like that."
"Oh, I wouldn't, would I? Maybe you don't know everything about me!" She let go of Touma and took a step back. "I was worried about you!" she added, punctuating her pronouncement with an electricity bolt launched straight at him.
He reflexively raised his right hand to intercept the blast, dissipating it into nothingness. "Okay, that's Zapper."
"And that's definitely Kamijo," Mikoto added. "I don't need anything else for Christmas now, Rob-oji - I just got a better present than anything you could buy me."
Rob grinned - any day that one of his tenants was that happy was a good day. "Mikoto-chan, how about you take Ms. Index over to the apartment that Maika's fixing up for her and Touma-kun? And let her knock on the door opposite theirs so she can get to know her neighbours."
"Maika's here?" Touma and Index asked in unison.
Rob nodded. "That's right. Are you still thinking of living somewhere else?"
"Don't you dare!"
Touma smiled... slightly. "You heard Zapper. We're staying here."
"Then I have some paperwork for you to fill out, just to make things nice and legal. I only need Mr. Kamijo for that; you girls go on ahead. Kazari-chan might even be back from the mall with a change of clothes for Ms. Index by now."
"But -"
Mikoto interrupted Index. "Rob-oji is kicking us out. Let's go. And you can ask me questions today without distracting me from a fight for my own life."
After he was certain that the office door was closed behind the departing girls, Rob turned to Touma. "I'll need to get you to fill out an occupancy agreement, and we'll make a list of official documentation that you and Ms. Index need - birth certificates, health cards, that sort of thing."
"How much is this going to cost us? Or, rather, me?"
"Nothing. We have backers paying for all of that. I know that nothing good ever happens to you - call it Index's luck or Railgun's luck instead of your own, if that makes you feel any better. Oh, and there's one more thing, that you can call my luck."
Touma looked at Rob suspiciously. "You know more about me than you let slip while Index was here."
"I do. And that's because the three of you are the lead characters in a couple of novel series that have been turned into anime, and I've shown some of that anime to Mikoto-san to prove to her that she was in a different universe. That's where my luck kicks in - I did not show her episode 4, where you lost your memory."
"Oh, good - thank you. I've been keeping it secret... wait. Episode four?"
Rob grinned. "You figured that one out quickly. Want to see the first few episodes and get a few of your memories back?"
Washuu's Lab, San Antonio, TX, USA
December 17, 2016
1:56 pm CT
"Now try making a fist."
The woman who Washuu spoke to did so. And did so. "It's working! Thank you so much! I don't know how I could have explained losing an arm when I was missing for only a day."
Both Washuu and Simon smiled at the last of the people that they had rescued. "Think nothing of it, miss," Simon replied. "And you don't need to pay us anything for the replacement arm," he added as she reached for her purse.
"You're sure? OHIP doesn't cover anything this fancy. The skin colour even matches my own exactly."
Washuu grinned. "Hey, I put that together with parts I had lying around! Don't worry about it! Now, head through that door and Ms. Shirai - the girl in the wheelchair - will help you figure out what you're going to tell people when they ask why you've been missing overnight." She gestured toward the portal door that lead to Ottawa.
After the woman had left, Washuu turned to Simon and asked, "What's an oh-hip?"
He looked puzzled for a moment, then remembered where he'd heard the term before. "A few of the doctors that I met in Florida mentioned that to me. It's a health insurance plan that one of the governments in Canada runs. I've got a question for you, now. I thought we were going to use off-the-shelf parts for the replacement limbs. Did you really use your own technology in that arm?"
Washuu looked grim as she replied. "I had to. I couldn't find enough for our needs anywhere in North America; somebody's been buying up all the local prosthetic tech. And HAL can't figure out who, or why."
"Why would that be a prob- Oh. Robot displacees that we don't know about?"
"Maybe. I'll tell Ben when I give him the bill for all the prosthetic parts that I was able to buy."
Kemptville, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
4:57 pm ET
They were sharing a quiet moment at the coffee shop where Michiru worked.
"I still think it was a mistake to leave them like that."
"We can always go back, now that we know where they are," Michiru replied to her girlfriend's complaint.
Haruka smiled. "That's true. We'd have to prepare for it, though."
"Oh, there's no need for that," an impeccably-dressed tall white-haired young man said from the next table over. "My apologies; I couldn't help but overhear you."
"Who the hell are you?" Haruka snarled at the eavesdropper.
"My friends call me Leonard." He nodded politely to Haruka and Michiru. "And I would very much like it if you would consider me to be your friend, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
9:57 am ET
A container truck pulled up, just across the river from the observation van. There was no need for the truck's occupants to speak with the observers in the van - they had been receiving regular reports all morning.
The passenger in the truck's cab stepped out, went to the back of the truck, and opened the doors. All he said was, "My sister is too soft. Get in there, you know what to do."
A half dozen self-piloted mecha got out of the back of the truck and walked into the stronghold, through the front entrance, to discover dozens of unconscious beings - trolls, sluagh, giants, dwarves, and others.
Ten minutes later, the Alastors came back out ... to reload.
Rob Donaldson's office, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
2:04 pm ET
"I'm not going to force you to live with us here in Ottawa, Mr. Kamijo and Ms. Index. If you want to go somewhere else, we can arrange that - I know people in Montreal, San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles who could help out if you want to live in a really big city, and I also know about a place in the middle of nowhere that's run by a friend of mine, if you want to get away from it all."
"Know anybody in Tokyo?" the teenage boy asked.
"Sorry, no. There's a language barrier there for me. And there's no guarantees that you'd know anybody in our Tokyo if you went - this world doesn't have an Academy City."
"But it does have a Roman Orthodox church. I can see the spire on the building right over there." Index pointed out the window while frowning.
Rob sighed. "Ms. Index, that's the Roman Catholic church. This really isn't your world, even if there are a very small number of people who you know living here."
"You sure? Index and I just spent three days being held prisoner by some people who can look like other people."
"Yes, I'm sure," Rob replied. "In fact, there's one person waiting outside to verify your identity for us." He raised his voice and continued, "You can come in now!"
The door opened, and Mikoto rushed in. "It's about time! Where is -" Seeing Touma, her tone changed as she gave him a hug. "Oh. I... I actually missed you."
Touma frowned. "Zapper wouldn't act like that."
"Oh, I wouldn't, would I? Maybe you don't know everything about me!" She let go of Touma and took a step back. "I was worried about you!" she added, punctuating her pronouncement with an electricity bolt launched straight at him.
He reflexively raised his right hand to intercept the blast, dissipating it into nothingness. "Okay, that's Zapper."
"And that's definitely Kamijo," Mikoto added. "I don't need anything else for Christmas now, Rob-oji - I just got a better present than anything you could buy me."
Rob grinned - any day that one of his tenants was that happy was a good day. "Mikoto-chan, how about you take Ms. Index over to the apartment that Maika's fixing up for her and Touma-kun? And let her knock on the door opposite theirs so she can get to know her neighbours."
"Maika's here?" Touma and Index asked in unison.
Rob nodded. "That's right. Are you still thinking of living somewhere else?"
"Don't you dare!"
Touma smiled... slightly. "You heard Zapper. We're staying here."
"Then I have some paperwork for you to fill out, just to make things nice and legal. I only need Mr. Kamijo for that; you girls go on ahead. Kazari-chan might even be back from the mall with a change of clothes for Ms. Index by now."
"But -"
Mikoto interrupted Index. "Rob-oji is kicking us out. Let's go. And you can ask me questions today without distracting me from a fight for my own life."
After he was certain that the office door was closed behind the departing girls, Rob turned to Touma. "I'll need to get you to fill out an occupancy agreement, and we'll make a list of official documentation that you and Ms. Index need - birth certificates, health cards, that sort of thing."
"How much is this going to cost us? Or, rather, me?"
"Nothing. We have backers paying for all of that. I know that nothing good ever happens to you - call it Index's luck or Railgun's luck instead of your own, if that makes you feel any better. Oh, and there's one more thing, that you can call my luck."
Touma looked at Rob suspiciously. "You know more about me than you let slip while Index was here."
"I do. And that's because the three of you are the lead characters in a couple of novel series that have been turned into anime, and I've shown some of that anime to Mikoto-san to prove to her that she was in a different universe. That's where my luck kicks in - I did not show her episode 4, where you lost your memory."
"Oh, good - thank you. I've been keeping it secret... wait. Episode four?"
Rob grinned. "You figured that one out quickly. Want to see the first few episodes and get a few of your memories back?"
Washuu's Lab, San Antonio, TX, USA
December 17, 2016
1:56 pm CT
"Now try making a fist."
The woman who Washuu spoke to did so. And did so. "It's working! Thank you so much! I don't know how I could have explained losing an arm when I was missing for only a day."
Both Washuu and Simon smiled at the last of the people that they had rescued. "Think nothing of it, miss," Simon replied. "And you don't need to pay us anything for the replacement arm," he added as she reached for her purse.
"You're sure? OHIP doesn't cover anything this fancy. The skin colour even matches my own exactly."
Washuu grinned. "Hey, I put that together with parts I had lying around! Don't worry about it! Now, head through that door and Ms. Shirai - the girl in the wheelchair - will help you figure out what you're going to tell people when they ask why you've been missing overnight." She gestured toward the portal door that lead to Ottawa.
After the woman had left, Washuu turned to Simon and asked, "What's an oh-hip?"
He looked puzzled for a moment, then remembered where he'd heard the term before. "A few of the doctors that I met in Florida mentioned that to me. It's a health insurance plan that one of the governments in Canada runs. I've got a question for you, now. I thought we were going to use off-the-shelf parts for the replacement limbs. Did you really use your own technology in that arm?"
Washuu looked grim as she replied. "I had to. I couldn't find enough for our needs anywhere in North America; somebody's been buying up all the local prosthetic tech. And HAL can't figure out who, or why."
"Why would that be a prob- Oh. Robot displacees that we don't know about?"
"Maybe. I'll tell Ben when I give him the bill for all the prosthetic parts that I was able to buy."
Kemptville, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
4:57 pm ET
They were sharing a quiet moment at the coffee shop where Michiru worked.
"I still think it was a mistake to leave them like that."
"We can always go back, now that we know where they are," Michiru replied to her girlfriend's complaint.
Haruka smiled. "That's true. We'd have to prepare for it, though."
"Oh, there's no need for that," an impeccably-dressed tall white-haired young man said from the next table over. "My apologies; I couldn't help but overhear you."
"Who the hell are you?" Haruka snarled at the eavesdropper.
"My friends call me Leonard." He nodded politely to Haruka and Michiru. "And I would very much like it if you would consider me to be your friend, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune."
--
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown