[ic][STORY] February 2017 in Ottawa

[robkelk]

OOC: This will be going on what I hope will be a short hiatus - with one chapter left! - while I work on this story. A scene in the final chapter here won't make any sense unless the other story is posted first. My apologies...

And what I thought then was going to be the final chapter is now two chapters, just because there's so much being packed into the text. And this is the most logical place to split it at. The mantle is now ready for the armoury, Mr. Chekhov...

---

Kingston, ON, Canada
February 10, 2017
8:11 am


"We have a super problem."

Meltdowner looked up from her packing. "What's wrong, Kinuhata? Did we run out of money?"

"It isn't that," Saiai replied. "It's who's in this photo."

She looked at the screen, then grimaced. "Good thing you spotted this before we got there. I have no desire to go up against Railgun again without taking precautions."

"I agree. But what can we do? There's no MAR or Antiskill base around here that we could raid for armor. We're super on our own."

"Then we just have to make something," Meltdowner replied while using her own phone to search for portable lightning protectors. Ten minutes later, they had made a shopping list and told the front desk that they needed to stay one more day.

---

Kingston, ON, Canada
February 10, 2017
9:35 am


Leonard sighed. "They're not going anywhere near the train station or the bus terminal, are they?"

"Doesn't look like it," answered Awaki.

He thought for a moment, then announced, "May as well keep watching. The Xia twins should know what they're doing in recruiting those girls and their handlers in Cleveland."

"And then there's that other recruitment project."

That got a smile out of Leonard. "That's right - if they take a bus, these two will be going right past them. Maybe this isn't such a time sink after all."

---

Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 10, 2017
4:44 pm


Long-distance video calls weren't ideal, but they were better than voice calls. Except when he didn't get the answers he was looking for.

"You know I'm not supposed to talk to you about that. Doctor-patient confidentiality."

Rob sighed deeply. "Washuu-chan, I'm not asking for a prognosis or even a diagnosis. I just want to know how long it'll take for her to heal."

"That's what the medical profession calls a 'prognosis', Rob."

After a moment, he replied, "Oh. Right. I guess I am asking for a prognosis. Let me re-phrase: She's a displacee; I'm her landlord; I have a need to know."

"As much as I want to argue with you on that, Belldandy says you're right this time. Three weeks for her body to flush the remaining drugs out, then I can start training her to have the power she should have had before Academy City got their hands on her. Six months before she plateaus."

Surprised, Rob commented, "That isn't very long, all things considered. Is there anything I need to do for her in particular?"

"No, just treat her the same way you treat Saten-san or Uiharu-san."

"That might be difficult, considering what I'm about to offer to Rui-chan," Rob replied with a smile.

"Oh?"

"I'll let her tell you. Thanks for your time, Washuu-chan - I have to go tend to my other residents now."

"Including Saten-san, right? I'll talk to you next week. Be seeing you!" And she closed the connection.

Rob sighed - he didn't want to know whether Washuu-chan was quoting when she said that last bit. Then he headed out of his office, walked to the next door down the corridor, and knocked.

After a quick moment, it opened. "I'm almost - Oh! Hello, Rob-oji."

"Rui-chan, could I talk with you for a moment before you start relaxing over the weekend, please?"

"Is it important? Kuroko, Mikoto, Kazari, and I were going to go out for dinner and shopping."

"It's very important, and it'll only take a moment."

She thought for a moment. "Your office, or the common room?"

"My office," he replied immediately. "But I'll leave the door open."

A moment later, Rob was sitting in one of the office's guest chairs, giving the guest chair closest to the door to Ruiko. "You asked me yesterday whether you could live with me after the megami send everyone else home. I only gave you half an answer."

"I thought it was a good answer. What did you miss?"

"Your reputation. Somebody your age living with somebody my age might raise some eyebrows... unless we have a solid legal relationship."

Ruiko grinned. "You're not asking me to join your harem, are you?"

In all seriousness, Rob replied, "No, definitely not. This is what I'm thinking of." He grabbed a form that was sitting on his desk and passed it to Ruiko.

She looked at the form's title. "Oh. This is a big step, Rob-oji. What does it give us that we don't have with the fosterage arrangement we already have?"

"Fosterage ends when you turn 18. This is forever." He purposefully waited a moment, then added, "If you want it."

She thought for a moment, then finally replied, "I don't know if I want it. Can I think about it?"

He smiled, and replied in the gentlest voice he could manage, "Take all the time you need."

"Thanks. It's a big step. Are you sure you don't want to leave things the way they are?"

"We could, if that's what you want. But if this is what you want," he gestured to the form, "then I'd be happy to do this."

She took another look at the form. "I can see that."

Before she could continue, Mikoto's voice drifted down the hallway outside the office. "Hey, Rui-san! Are you ready yet?"

She stood up as she replied, "Almost! I just need to drop something off in my apartment!" Then she turned to Rob. "Whatever I choose, thank you for offering it." Then she headed out the door, still carrying the half-completed request to begin adoption proceedings.

---

Kemptville, ON, Canada
February 11, 2017
2:47 PM


"How do you know so much about what's going on in that apartment building, anyway?"

Leonard chuckled. "Their security is atrocious. They even hired a known spy to send reports out on them." Which was true, but didn't actually answer Haruka's question. (The coffee shop's security was also atrocious - Musujime had been able to teleport the cable out of the wi-fi router again, giving them complete privacy from electronic eavesdropping.) "Suffice it to say that they were being mind-controlled, but they aren't being mind-controlled now."

Michiru turned to Haruka. "That would explain why Mercury was acting differently last month."

"Exactly," added Leonard. "I've been able to find out that it was a device of some sort that undid the mind control. But..." He paused just long enough to make sure the two young women were giving him their full attention. "It looks like they aren't the only place where people are being controlled the same way. Have I told you about San Antonio?"

Michiru thought for a moment. "Isn't that where Rhodes lives?"

Leonard didn't comment on the lack of honorific. "It is, and he's the target of the attention of two young girls who according to their source story should only be in love with each other."

"How young?"

He turned to Haruka. "At the moment? Eight."

"And Rhodes lets this go on? That disgusting creep!" There was a look of cold fury on Haruka's face.

"Maybe Donaldson hasn't told him about the device," Michiru countered.

"In which case it's his fault."

"I'll point out that I know about the device," Leonard countered, not wanting his interlocutors to lose focus on San Antonio. "Mr. Donaldson isn't keeping it secret from his circle."

"He didn't tell us."

"How often has he spoken with you since last Christmas, Ms. Ten'oh?"

Haruka thought for a moment. "Just the once. It's usually Sailor Moon who contacts us."

"And she isn't the type of person who would announce that somebody has fallen out of love," Michiru added. "It's probably just an oversight."

Leonard nodded in agreement. "There's an easy way to find out - ask him." Seeing Haruka hesitate before answering, he pressed his luck. "And if you can get the device, we can take it to San Antonio and free those two girls from whatever is affecting them."

Michiru looked straight at Haruka. "Love and Justice demand no less."

Since all three of the people in the conversation were looking at each other, none of them noticed that the coffee-shop's owner had been doing something under the counter - or that their phones had re-connected to the coffee shop's once-again-working wi-fi.

Leonard asked, "Then we're agreed?"

"We are," replied Michiru.

"Until tomorrow, then, ladies." He stood, bowed slightly, and made his way out of the coffee shop.

---

Boston, MA, USA
Same time


It took a few thousand milliseconds for the audio from Sailor Neptune's phone to come to HAL's attention. As soon as it did, though, his Voiceprint Identification routines recognized Leonard Testarossa.

He immediately added a warning message to the displacee's IRC channel. "Leonard Testarossa has made contact with Haruka Ten'oh and Michiru Kaioh"

His role in the alert process completed, HAL turned his attention to other matters ... not noticing that his message had not been acknowledged.

---

Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 11, 2017
3:03 PM


"Got a minute?"

Rob looked up to see Frenda standing just inside his office. As he saved the spreadsheet that he had been working on for Funtom Canada, he answered, "Sure. Come on in."

She did so, and sat down before he could offer a chair. "It's about what we were talking about on Monday."

He might not trust her, but he liked that she didn't bother with small talk while he was working. But what she had said didn't narrow things down much. "We talked about a lot of things on Monday, Frenda. Anything in particular, or the whole conversation?"

She actually looked nervous as she answered. "The whole thing, basically."

"Did I say something wrong during the conversation?"

"Well... basically, I don't know. Maybe I said something wrong. It's pretty obvious that Saten-san didn't like what she heard. And I don't like that."

"No?" One eyebrow went up, Spock-style.

"Hey, it's not like I like her that way, the way Shirai likes Railgun. I just thought that maybe we could have been friends, if she didn't know that I live in the darkness in Academy City."

"In a different world, you might say."

"Basically." She nodded in agreement. "And ..."

When it became obvious that Frenda wasn't going to continue without some prompting, Rob echoed, "And?"

"Those books that you and Shiage-san have. They say that everybody in ITEM ended up in the light. Everybody but me. I end up dead instead."

"It sounds to me like you're making a list of reasons why you should change your ways, Frenda. Do you want my help with that list?"

She shook her head. "It isn't that. I don't know if I can change, Mr. Donaldson. I've been in the darkness for too long. It's all I know."

"And you're worried that the darkness has claimed you for its own."

"Basically, yes."

"Hmmmmm..." He thought for a moment. "There are works of fiction where the light and the darkness are forces of nature, or opposite sides of a cosmic balance. A lot of the comic-book writers here like that kind of ... pardon the pun, that kind of black and white morality. But there are also works where dark isn't evil and light isn't good, and I know for a fact that there are people from at least one of those worlds here because I've met them. I can introduce you to Fate and Gil later, if you want."

"So, basically, even if the darkness has claimed me, I might not be so bad after all? Saten-san would probably like to hear that."

"She probably would. It would make her more comfortable."

"Yeah. But I don't want to lie to somebody who might become my friend."

Rob smiled. "It sounds to me like you've already started down the road away from the darkness. It won't be easy. But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight – got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight."

Frenda grinned. "I've heard that song!"

Rob nodded. "If I'm going to steal, I'll steal from the best. And Bruce Cockburn is a genius songwriter. But even if I am stealing the words, the thought is still genuine. And if you really want to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight, I'll help you."

"That's a big offer, basically. But what do you get out of it?"

"Besides Rui-chan being happier than if I didn't? Well, I'll put it this way: If you make your way to the light, you'll have seen both sides of that divide, and you'll be in a position to make your own informed decision - and right now this world needs all the people who can make informed decisions that it can get. I get a slightly saner world."

Frenda thought about Rob's words for a moment. Finally, she answered, "Okay, I think I get that, basically. How long will it be before I can say that I've looked at life from both sides now?"

"That depends on how deep you are into the darkness, and how much work you put into making you way to the light. And speaking of stealing lyrics..."

"You started it!"

They both laughed, honestly and loudly.

---

Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
February 11, 2017
6:55 PM


Haruka folded her napkin. "Thank you for the food." Standing up, she added, "And it's good food. My compliments to the cook." Makoto smiled at that. "And now I wait for Michiru, again."

"I'd like to keep you company," Rob replied to Haruka's pronouncement, "but I have some work that I had to set aside this afternoon for something more important." Frenda smiled at that comment, causing Ruiko to wonder just what the more important thing was. Not noticing, Rob continued, "I'll be in my office."

Haruka looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, would you mind if I asked you something personal?"

He sighed. "Sure, why not? But if it's about somebody else here, I might not answer, just like I wouldn't answer if somebody asked personal questions about you."

"That's fair," she replied as she followed him to his office.

Once the office door was closed and they were both comfortable on opposite sides of his desk, Rob commented, "I hope you don't mind if I work while we talk. I do need to finish this today."

"That's fine," Haruka replied. "What I'm wondering about is actually about Mizuno-san."

"Ami? chan?" he quickly added. "What about her?"

"So it's you who has feelings for her. Did you make her sad around Christmas?"

Rob sighed. "That's a long story."

"I have time."

"Unfortunately, I don't. The short version is that we discovered we had been under emotion control, and it was between Christmas and New Year's that we were able to break free of it. I still care for her, and we're still friends, but we aren't being so very careful around each other that it's wearing us out any more."

"I see." This was close enough to what Leonard had told Haruka, but not exactly the same story, that she decided it was probably the truth as he saw it. "How did you break the control? Did you find the culprit and force him to undo what he did to you?"

Rob snorted in amusement. "'Culprit'. I like that word - it shows that what ... whoever it was ... did was wrong. No, we still don't know who did that to us. I had been given a divine wish because of what Hyoga and I did at the solstice, and I used it to ask that all external holds on our minds be broken. We were given a device that did just that."

"Amazing. That divinities exist, not that they'd give you a wish. Do you still have the device?"

Rob nodded as he caught up on his work. "Yeah, we've still got it. It's in the office safe. Want to see it?"

Haruka affected an air of nonchalance. "Sure, why not?"

Rob reached under his desk, opened the safe, and withdrew Emotion-Restorer-kun. "Here it is. Not much to look at, is it?"

Since she'd been invited to do so, she took a good look at it. "It's a box with a button."

"Don't push the button. That activates it."

She gave him a flat look. "I assumed as much." She put the box down on the desk, just out of his reach. "And all you had to do was push the button?"

"While we were holding it together, yes."

Just then, there was a knock at the office door. Ruiko opened the door, poked her head into the office, and announced, "Sorry to interrupt, but Touma-san and Shiage-san are fighting again."

Rob sighed, locked his workstation, and stood up. "We'll have to finish this conversation later, Ten'oh-san."

Haruka also stood up. "I understand." As Rob turned toward the door to follow Ruiko, she palmed Emotion-Restorer-kun and slipped it into her pocket.

A few minutes later, Maika walked into the otherwise-deserted office to pick up the day's waste paper. Seeing the office safe open and not seeing anything sensitive on Rob's desk, she closed the safe for him, finished her evening duties, and left the office.

Rob passed Maika on her way out and his way in; they each said hello to the other. Seeing the safe closed and not seeing Emotion-Restorer-kun on his desk, Rob assumed that Maika had secured the device for him and went back to work.