Quote:And who knows what else might happen...?Well, this might... and it does!
Main Concourse
Stellvia
11:17 GMT 14 March 2014
"I just thought of something."
Yayoi turned to Kohran. "Oh?"
"I'm the Maid of Honour, and you're the Best Person. We're going to have to dance with each other. It's traditional."
Yayoi thought for a moment. "You're right. Do you have a problem with dancing with another woman?"
Kohran shook her head. "I have preprogrammed memories of dancing with Sakura and Sumire during some of the Flower Troupe's productions. I'm worried about how your girlfriend will react. She's fully human, after all, and that includes all the negative emotions that we can supress if we have to."
"As you said, it's traditional. Ginny's okay with 'traditional'." Then Yayoi smiled impishly. "Besides, with the U.S. Navy's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, she can't complain."
"Do they still have that policy?" Kohran asked with a straight face.
"I think so..." Yayoi began, only to be interrupted by what sounded like a small explosion a few meters away. She pulled out her PDA. "Emergency desk, this is Fujisawa. There's been an incident on the Main Concourse. Engineer Li and I are investigating."
She got to the scene just as Kohran cradled a young woman in her arms. "What happened?"
The woman looked up. "Help-p-p-p-p m-m-me, A-a-a-aunt Kohr-r-r-ran..." Then she closed her eyes and gave off a few sparks.
Maintenance Bay
Old Ring, Stellvia
12:41 GMT 14 March 2014
"I got here as soon as I heard," A.C. said to Noah. "Who is she?"
Noah frowned. "She's an android. One of our androids, going by the circuit designs - she could have come from the same production run as Kohran and Yayoi, if we had built them that way. I take it you didn't build her, and I know I didn't."
"Neither did I," added Kohran.
"That much I figured out as soon as I saw her," replied A.C. "Who is she?"
"Oh. She hasn't regained consciousness since she passed out... or broke down... in the Main Concourse, and she wasn't carrying any ID. So I'm going by her appearance here. She's a meganekko, of course. Shorter than average. Twin ponytails, loosely held with bows. A honking-big harisen hidded behind her back, and Yayoi found an empty artist's case where she collapsed. And Kohran said she has a Kansai accent. I think she's Yuu Inagawa."
"That-t-t-t's ri-i-ight, Gra-a-andf-f-f-f-father."
Everybody rushed to her side. "Save your strength, Ms. Inagawa," Noah insisted. "We're going to help you."
"We are?" asked Safety from her perch on Noah's shoulder.
"Of course we are," A.C. and Noah answered together. A.C. continued, "We have to."
"She obviously has some serious physical problems," Noah added. "Not helping her would be the same as letting her die in agony. And I'm not going to let that happen to somebody who believes she's family."
"B-b-b-belie-e-eves?"
Yayoi glared at Noah, then sighed. "None of us have seen you before today, Ms. Inagawa."
"But we will help you. I promise." Noah took Yuu's hand in his own. He kept his surprise at how cold it was to himself. "I have to ask: how did you get aboard Stellvia without any identification?"
"I-I-I don't kno-o-o-o-ow. I wo-o-oke up on the Ma-a-a-ain Concour-r-r-r-rse, just-t-t befor-r-r-r-re I col-l-l-l-lapsed."
"Thank you, Yuu." A.C. turned to Noah. "Let's get out of Kohran's way."
Noah raised an eyebrow, but walked to the other end of the room with A.C. "I would have thought you'd want to help Kohran repair Yuu."
"I do, but this comes first. Why did she show up now?"
Noah nodded. "Yeah. We were ready for anything from a persistent paparazzo to a Boskonian battle fleet trying to disrupt the ceremony tomorrow. Yuu is something we couldn't expect."
"But we're still going to repair her."
"Of course we are. I made her a promise."
"Then Kohran and I had better get to work now, or we'll miss the wedding tomorrow."
"Thanks. And I'll get Takami and Kagome working on finding out who really built her."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012