WHAT A DUMP by Kondoru
Standard Disclaimers
Thanks to Ben for Betaing.
Falling.
A great sensation of speed. While standing still.
Light.
And it all fades.
Haruka shakes her head to clear her vision.
Karasu is still hugging her tight.
It seems he's been holding her ever since she was plucked from that tank by his layze tentacles.
Karasu held her while he argued with the Lady Amamiku.
(And if Haruka hadn't forgiven Ai, what would he have done?)
He carried her to the Transportation room, and held her while space suited (or so they looked to Haruka) technicians reconnected his pipeline.
He didn't need to say he was taking her back home. He didn't need to.
And now after the infinity of the Space-time jump, she can see the familiar stars.
Its night, and Haruka is indeed home.
"Thank you, Karasu," she buries her head in his cloak.
And recoils from his scent.
Karasu stinks of Lacryma.
But, so come to think of it, so does she.
Haruka sighs, Karasu sighs. Silently, he reaches down to his hip, unlatches the lock, and slowly withdraws the plug that connects him to his insubstantial blue pipeline.
And Lacryma.
The plug, disconnected, disappears upward into nothingness.
"I don't need that anymore."
"Isn't it important?" Asked Haruka.
"It's important, yes, but I don't want the Lacrymans to drag me back. I'm not going back there ever again."
Haruka shrugged, all too aware of her bare shoulders. "What a dump. I can see why you have decided to stay here."
"I'll stay, and protect you, for as long as I live."
By the way he said that Haruka knew her saviour wasn't making any long term plans.
Karasu flopped down onto the grass in a black mass, and Haruka was happy to follow him. For a moment, they lay looking up at the stars.
Haruka was pensive.
She stood up again, and inspected her new dress.
"You look quite the Downtown lady." Karasu made a not very amusing quip.
"Tch. You're not the first person to tell me that." She shrugged. "But I want to be me, thank you very much. I'm not from your world."
"No." Karasu agreed most unnecessarily
"I knew you didn't intend dragging me to that DUMP." She spat the last word.
Karasu was silent. Shortly he spoke. "I should have known that my superiors would have a way to forcibly transport me back," he shook his head, "they did it to Atori, after all."
"And in front of Yu, and all." Grumbled Haruka. "Heaven knows what he must think of you now…And its nothing good." Idly she wondered just how much time had elapsed since she had last seen her sorry friend. By her internal clock, it must have been at least twelve hours.
And now it was night.
Which meant she had actually been absent for about twenty-four. (1) It had been evening when Karasu had been forcibly recalled.
People would be worried sick.
Really worried. Even her mother, who was a little oblivious to time...A lot of the time.
"I've got to get back home…My phones there," she started walking.
"I'll take you home." Karasu followed.
He wrapped his great sable habit around the both of them and rose into the air.
Haruka quite liked the flying, but that entire journey she was chuckling to herself. Karasu never walked if he could fly.
Karasu had been safely stashed in the storage room; much to Barons consternation and her mothers suspicion. (No, Mummy, I'm not in the habit of bringing strange men home and hiding them in the storage room…Anyhow Baron would not like it.)
"Where have you been? It's very late." Asked her mother with real concern.
"Over at Mihos," Haruka lied; "we got tied up in a good film."
"Oh, and I like the dress."
Haruka had quite forgotten her unwanted new garb.
"It looks very twenties."
Twenties, among her mothers books on traditional Japanese art, she had a few more modern ones, including those of the Art Deco age.
"Yes, I'm a Flapper." Haruka told her mother.
"Ah, its nice to see this stuff back in fashion, bit like time travel, eh?" And her mother ambled back downstairs.
(Who me, time travel? Perish the thought. I've tried it and its verrry overrated.)
Haruka went to bed.
She felt…Jetlagged.
And according to a much relieved Yu, she had been absent only three hours.
The Lacrymans had not been that accurate.
(Let's not think what would happen if they had been tardy!)
(Or early...)
Haruka got up early. The pets needed letting out and she knew that her inefficient mother would be sleeping late.
As usual.
It was Haruka duty to let Baron and puss out, feed them, and get her own and her mother's breakfast.
And now she had a new pet to tend to.
Karasu.
She didn't want to think about what Karasu would eat. (Can I believe I actually ate that…And enjoyed it??)
"Are you awake, Karasu?" She knocked on the storage room door.
"Haruka."
She entered; Karasu was still sat by the window.
"Are you hungry?"
No reply.
"Have you a favourite food?" (Don't say grubs, you fiend!)
Karasu shook his head. "I don't eat much." (That's because I need reizu to survive…And I'm not getting it.)
"I do need water though." (Yes, reizu altered water for preference.)
"I'll fetch you some."
Haruka went downstairs, coming back with a bottle of mineral water and a glass.
She watched Karasu down the lot. "Do not flush the upstairs toilet." She told him, "my mothers not very attention giving, to anything. But I think she might wonder at that."
"Oh, I went in the gutter."
Haruka decided not to say anything to that. Karasu was going to take a lot of getting used to. Not a lot of hiding, as he seemed to be pretty good at that, but now she would have to live with this very strange fellow.
"My mother doesn't come up here often, there's only one room in use on the second floor, that's my bedroom, so you have pretty much the run of this floor, but remember that my mums here, she works from home, I tend to be the one to do the shopping, so you can assume she will be in most of the time."
"But what about you?"
Haruka rubbed her head. She knew things were afoot, had learned that the hard way, but she also knew it would be wrong to change her habits. Haruka wasn't about to let some troublemakers from the future ruin her summer holiday.
And she didn't want her mother worrying, still less any word of this getting to her father. (But she also knew he might have answers to her questions, even if he didn't believe her. Haruka intended keeping Dr Mayuzumi in reserve, at least for now.)
"Me, I'm going to act normal."
"Go play with your friends?"
Haruka sat down next to Karasu "Yes."
Karasu admired her fortitude; this was the Haruka he knew. Not afraid of anything. "I'll be watching over you."
"Thanks." Haruka thought for a minute. "I suppose I'll have to tell them about you."
It was Karasus turn to not say anything. "Do you think that would be a good idea?"
"I'll think on it." Haruka shrugged indifferently, "it will reassure them, and you can come play in the woods with us. But its best not to wear your habit, there's been too much talk of black robed ghosts of late in this town."
Karasu was silent; some of whom were now hostile to him. "I can take this off." He dismissed his layze habit.
Haruka flinched. "Yes, that might do."
Karasu rematerialised his layze, he felt naked with it off, even, unlike many of his peers, fighting in it for preference.
Haruka nuzzled into Karasus flank. "I knew you would bring me safely home."
Karasu said nothing. (Wasn't it good to be a little girl's hero?)
"I hope your not missing much by staying here." She said lamely.
"I have nothing to return to." He said. (Only a slow agonising death.)
He didn't know what was worse; being tortured or having his `friends` come and scold him for the trouble he had caused.
Damn Kosagi and her childish crushes!
(But he was damned with childish crushes, wasn't he, steady on, Karasu, this isn't the woman you loved…)
He had a lot on his mind.
And then there was the problem of the missing Dragon Knights.
Who were at large in this Reality.
Oh Joy.
Tobi was OK, so long as he could be kept from a computer terminal; Atori needed something breaking, preferably his skull, neck, and spine.
Karasu relished the prospect of yet another fight with that madman. And obliterating him.
(But then, he knew he could sit back and let Atori be obliterated by the Dragon Torc, Haruka hardly needed the self doubting Karasu to protect her…Why was he hanging round? Because he needed someone to care for him, that was why.)
"Why is Lacryma such a messed up place?" Asked Haruka, suddenly.
Karasu shrugged. "It's always been that way."
"You have to live underground, fine, but the technology your possess…. You could make it a paradise."
Karasu had never thought about it. "I guess no one cares."
"Not even your leaders? Or do they keep it all to themselves?" Asked Haruka.
Karasu had not thought about that either. "Um, the place is ruled by the Dragon warrior monks."
"Those yobs in the masks wielding quarterstaves?"
"Yes…That could be an accurate way of describing them." (I was a yob with a quarterstaff once, and my Haruka didn't mind.)
"No, the higher you go, very often the tougher it is."
"What happened on the surface. Was there some kind of ecological disaster?"
"Not like you mean." He wasn't sure how to explain it. "When Noein came, the entire world rebelled against his presence. There were massive earthquakes, all the volcanoes erupted, and the weather systems went haywire."
Haruka was silent; she tried to visualise all this. "He's that bad, is he?"
Karasu nodded, "yes. Noein is `that` bad."
"A complete defier of Reality?"
Karasu nodded again, "yes, I have never heard him described as such, but I think that fits."
They were both silent for a few minutes.
For once, Haruka felt she could speak freely.
"What happened to the Haruka in your world?" She paused. "There must be one, mustn't there?"
Karasu was silent. (Do you want to know, kid?)
Haruka decided to dig deeper. "You love her very much, don't you? That's why you love me."
Karasu didn't know what to say to that.
Haruka gave a little laugh, that reminded him painfully of his Haruka. "I love you, you know."
"She's dead." Karasu said, with no emotion in his voice.
"Thought so." Haruka had expected this.
"She gave her life in order to be incorporated into the biological section of the Reizu computer."
This gave Haruka pause for thought. Her father had explained the difference between ordinary electronic computers, and both the developments in quantum computers and ones which were biological. "I thought it was a Quantum computer."
"Yes, but the Reizu computer isn't just a Quantum computer…it has other components too. It needs a biological component in order to do its job. To be the Observer."
Haruka had heard that theory before, that Reality needed a conscious observer in order to stay real.
"Ah" Haruka shook her head in sadness. "I suppose my future version went willingly?" She snarled, "cos I certainly wasn't!" She was still embittered by Amanmikus betrayal.
"It's just like Ai to string me along… Imprison me, drug me up, and then try to drown me."
(Isn't it horrid what little girls do to their best friends?)
Haruka had realised that she `wasn't` going to drown -the Dragon Torc had activated just as she lapsed into unconsciousness, that she was aware.
But she was still rather uncertain about the devices power…At least Karasu was working in her interests.
Even if it wasn't in his interests.
Karasu shook his shaggy head. (And just where did you get that grey hair, Otosan?) "She was willing."
Haruka shook her head. "And were `you ` willing?" She paused, "what did `they` do to you?"
Karasu hung his head.
"Don't you go dumb on me, If you were Yu…them why aren't you Yu anymore?"
"We Dragon Knights are given a new name when we are initiated."
"You told me that." Haruka waved a finger at the offending personage. "Yu cant do half the stuff you do, no `normal` person can." She paused. "Are you a cyborg?"
Karasu sighed. "If you mean someone who is part machine, No."
"So what's that in your butt?"
Karasu stood, he dismissed his layze habit. "These." He pointed to his umbilicals and spin weapon node. "These are what I'm plugged in by when I'm connected to the Reizu computer."
"Those strange insubstantial blue lines you guys trail?" (Cut to the chase, mister, you're a cyborg!)
"Yes, they feed us energy and the Reality you need in order to exist."
"Reality?"
"Identifying data. It's needed to stop you fading in an unfamiliar dimension. I don't belong here and so your world is constantly trying to reject me. One day it will win and I'll fade away."
"Oh," Haruka had little to say to that. "Not painful?"
Karasu shook his head. "No, it's not going to be painful. But you're going to have to get used to the idea I have only days, at most weeks, to live."
"You seem very...Unbothered."
Karasu sighed. "You were in Lacryma a whole twenty four hours. Amamiku told me you pulled a jailbreak and got into the upper levels...Even as far as the surface."
Haruka remembered. She remembered how the tainted air seared her lungs, the smell of smoke and decay, and the blighted land, oh, she remembered. "Yes I did, it's a dreadful place."
"It isn't called the Dimension of Tears for nothing." Karasu continued. "Lacryma is not a nice place at all. And its particularly nasty living in the Reizu monastery.... Even in our so-called luxury quarters."
"Amamiku told me you were in jail too." Haruka said quietly, "she said nothing more, but I could tell that she knew you were in a far worse place than I was held in."
Karasu nodded, "Amamiku would see to it you were well treated."
"Bugs for dinner!" Spat Haruka.
Karasus soulful eyes went wide, "real wriggly live squigs?"(2)
"Yes, very live."
"How lucky you were. We never saw squigs in the monastery; we got fungus gruel for our meals."
"I like squigs" said Haruka without a hint of humour.
"That's good, while I was not given `anything, ` not even a good dose of reizu. And do you know the worst of it?"
"Oh?"
"I was stuck there having to listen to lectures on good conduct from my commander, and then my friends came in and gave me a further telling off."
Haruka had to laugh. "You're lucky to have friends who care."
Karasu shook his head. "I think they just took a sadistic delight in seeing me in such restrained circumstances."
Haruka shook her head. "Friends can be so dreadful at times. All I had was Amamiku expounding on quantum physics," she sniffed disdainfully. " Normally I have my father for that."
"And then she tried to kill you."
Haruka looked sorry, "Friends can be like that too. But now I'm not sure she was even doing that." Haruka looked away, lost in thought, "She was trying to activate the Dragon Torc."
Karasu snorted, "Dragon Torc, Dragon Torc! I've heard too much of late about that wretched artefact!" He sniffed. "Do you know it's the entire reason why I was made a Dragon Knight? In order to travel though time to this place in order to recover the Dragon Torc?"
"Is it?" Haruka didn't realise just how important to the Lacrymans the Dragon Torc actually was.
"Killing you was one thing" he paused, "I cant tell you much about the Dragon Torc...All I know is its `extremely` powerful and that it has a will of its own...Amamiku trying to activate it..." He was silent, looking pensively at his feet
"Bang, goodnight Lacryma." Haruka offered.
"Bang, goodnight Multiverse!"
Haruka was shocked, she knew the artefact was powerful, but no?
"Be `very` careful with that thing. Haruka." Karasu was deadly serious. "Don't go experimenting with it; don't even think of using it unless Noein threatens you. Any lesser threat, such as Dragon Knights," he cracked his knuckles, "I'll deal with them for you."
"Yes, I will be careful. "She agreed. "Who's Noein?"
"He's the ruler of Shangrila."
"Shangrila...That is what attacked us in the warehouse, didn't it?" Haruka shuddered.
Karasu nodded at the painful memory. "Yes, the guy in the mask; that was Noein."
"Bad news?"
"Yes, he's very bad news indeed." Karasu paused. "Bad guys or no, remember this, the Lacrymans are not the aggressors in this little war...Its Noein trying to take over the multiverse, reduce it to a state of stasis, so he can extend his dystopia."
"That sort, eh?" Haruka scowled.
Karasu sighed, he decided to change the subject. "No, I'll die, but its not bad here, the sky is blue, and there are trees everywhere, and the ocean. I'll get a holiday before I have to go back into the darkness."
Haruka hugged him; tears in her eyes "and you have me."
Karasu hugged back, "I have you, I don't care if your not `my` Haruka, your `a` Haruka and I'll protect you from both Lacryma and Shangrila."
"Thank you ."
She never did find out just what had been done to turn Yu into Karasu, not until Tobi told her a fortnight later.
But by then she was used to him.
(1) Time difference between Lacryma and Hakodate;
I assume that Noein runs at about an episode a day (though not consistently; Episodes 5 though to 10 seem to be over a twenty four-hour period.) In Episode 20 Amamiku tells Haruka and Yu that she hasn't seen Haruka in a very long time. So I assume that Lacryman time runs slower, say about a week to every Hakodate day. (Incidentally bringing it in with standard Anime time keeping, a week per episode, so that the duration of the show is the same as the time it is on air.) This would be consistent with the action during Harukas first `visit` to Lacryma, which takes place over at least twelve hours, more like twenty four. Yet she has only been away from Hakodate three hours.
This would also be consistent with little things like the time it would take for the Dragon Knights to rest from the stresses of time travel, (they must need it!) and for Kuinas cybernetic bits to be fitted...Also Atoris recovery from brain surgery. (In Episode 3 we see him carted away under heavy restraint, and yet in Episode 4 he is back in his usual quarters plotting mischief with Tobi and Isuka.)
(2) Squigs
I'm an old Warhammer 40K fan; my favourite army is the Orks, who live on fungi and the attendant squiggly beasts, i.e. squigs for short. I can't see the Lacrymans calling their dinner something honest like `larvae`, `gentles` or heaven forbid, even `maggots` can you? They would use some discrete circumlocution like `squigs`.
Here's two more time travel themed books for you. Written by my friend in Texas, Peni R Griffin. `11 000 Years Lost,` and `Switching Well.`
Tell her I recommended them will you? She's a great sort.