August 2011
"Oh no! I just wound you! Don't tell me you're broken," cries the hostage in blue, holding her grandmother's pocket watch and saying these words for - is it, perhaps, the first time?
If so, tell me, lone observer: How is it that you've heard it before?
Well. This time things may be a little different than you remember them.
"So not fair. I've taken extra good care of you and everything."
The hostage has been shot.
Under other circumstances, these words would have made a lot of sense together. There are many like them. The mad scientist, forever working to unseat the ruling world order, has just been betrayed by his friend - well, his casual acquaintance - and delivered into the arms of the mysterious world shadow government for they are, after all, bent on total world domination. But our mad scientist is an innocent young soul, years of wearing his role as an amusing game has warped his instincts, and, well, there had been one or two untimely distractions after that text in the supermarket…
But Okabe's mind is not capable of appreciating this fact right now. It can see only his best friend, tumbling to the floor, lying on her back in a pool of red - so much red! - still breathing, eyes gazing up at the ceiling, through the ceiling, to the stars. She does not cry at the pain; instead, she smiles (how brightly she smiles!) and reaches up her hand to the sky and
(his own psyche teeters on the edge of its own event horizon. he may have said something. "what the hell is this?! you'll pay for this!" but he's not quite all there)
the door to the lab splinters, kicked in, its cheap lock no match for the fury of a skilled warrior. Okabe's mind is still not working, and it finds itself distracted (now of all times!) by the trivial, the broken door, his fear of a confrontation with Mr. Braun. A flush of shame burns his cheeks as he realizes its triviality, but now the dust has settled and Moeka is pointing a gun at Suzuha on the floor and she is pointing one back: click-click.
(The warrior understands on a level below conscious thought: /Moeka is no trained killer, and unused to the adrenaline rush of combat, she will find it hard to pull the trigger a second time. But the betrayer might still react if Suzuha were to move suddenly, and if either of them shoot or of she waits too long the thugs will waste no time turning the room into a killing zone. She will rely on the gambit, then, and risk herself –)
"The 42 inch television downstairs. It's on."
The part of Okabe's mind that understood the broken door makes itself useful, now. The 42 inch television belongs to Mr. Braun. The 42 inch television acts as a lifter to power the PhoneWave (Real Name TBD). He can send a D-mail. He can do better than a D-Mail. He can save his friend -
he lurches towards the computer, unsteady -
another gunshot (LOUD) (half-deaf)
the computer is already on (thank God for small favors), screensaver ends at the click of a button, he puts on the headphones -
another shot, and Kurisu jumps - flies - through the air, shielding him with her self to buy him the seconds he needs to disable 'test mode' and initiate the sequence (I hope to God he was paying attention when I showed him that)
but
her body is not enough, the bullet flies on through her shoulder and strikes the CRT monitor and the glass implodes before his eyes
and he is in terror and he cannot
breathe and
it's all impossible it's wrong how can it be can it be more wrong
all his hope be snatched away
and
then, he
hears the impossible scream.
As a would-be mad scientist, Okabe has joked about his hostage's screams of terror. Indeed, as he played at the classical mad scientist he would gladly pretend to have many opinions on the topic of screaming, and also possessed several real opinions on the subject of maniacal laughter. As a true friend, though, Okabe in fact knows his hostage's real scream from various misadventures together and the occasional horror movie. It is a shrill noise, loud enough, but with a tenuous, wavering quality. Would it be strange to say that he cherished this scream? for knows of her strength and also her fragility, cherishes this facet of her too.
Yet even as she fell, struck the floor, Mayuuri did not make a sound. Her landing, even, was implausibly soft; the short, violent journey to the doorway of death, impossibly peaceful.
The sound now hurting his ears is shrill, wavering, but impossibly loud, impossibly long, a terrible scream of tortured agony and brutal, animal rage. The building shakes, a little. The lights flicker and go out, fluorescence replaced with a crimson glow of the deepest, reddest red.
"Grandma?" asks the little girl.
"No, no." says the voice. "Not just yet."
"Oh. I thought for a moment that I had been … shot. That I was going to die."
"It's okay. You were shot."
"Oh. It was - it was Moeka, wasn't it."
"Yes."
"So if you're not Grandma," inquires the girl, a little older than she was a moment ago, "are you an angel?"
The voice laughed. "I would be honored to be called that."
The girl turns to face the voice. "Oh!" she says in surprise. "For some reason it seemed like you might be very, very old. That's why I thought you might be Grandma. But you don't look old."
"You weren't wrong, and you weren't quite right either. I am older than the stars, and I am as young as you."
"You're beautiful."
"Thank you," says the gold-eyed angel.
The girl in the blue dress pauses a moment.
"Why did Moeka shoot me?"
"Well, it's a long story. Much of it is her fault. She shouldn't have done it. But there are others, too. They wanted to use her to get at Okabe."
"Oh," says the hostage. "That's sad. I sorta thought we ought to be friends."
"In a better world, you would be." The angel sighs a weary sigh.
"What's wrong?" asked the girl.
"There are many people to blame for this, Mayuuri. There's Moeka herself, but she never wanted this. There are very bad people who used Moeka, too. You can blame them a lot. There are people using the bad guys, and they're actually trying to make the world a better place, and it might even work. And these people were good people, once."
The angel pauses.
"Go on," says the hostage, patiently.
"And then there's me, and I'm trying to use the bad people, to help make good things happen instead of bad things. And that means people get hurt, and I know that they're going to get hurt. Tonight, the people getting hurt are you and your friends. I could have stopped them, but I didn't, because then I couldn't save the other people."
"Oh," said the girl, and paused. "You're an angel. You have to … save everyone, I guess. I understand."
"And you're too kind," says the angel, looking down at her feet, ashamed. "And I know you're too kind, that I can tell you everything, and you'll say it's all okay. And I tell you it anyway."
"Hey now. You're a good person. I can tell. And I know it's not just because you look pretty. And you care. And you told me. I forgive you." Mayuuri leans over and gives the weeping angel a hug.
"I know," says the angel, "just as I know that I don't deserve it."
"Well, I would offer an Oopa pillow if I had one," notes the hostage, "but I don't have one, so it had to be me."
The angel nods. "Of course. Thank you."
They sat quietly a few moments.
"So is this heaven?"
"Oh, no," says the angel. "This is just a vision. I usually can't do these, but you're a special exception. As a matter of fact, you're not dead yet, though you are very, very close."
"Oh," says Mayuuri. "Then what am I doing here?"
"I brought you here," says the angel, "for a few reasons. The immediate one is that you need more time than you have. The one that is closest to my heart - well - well, we have something in common, you and I. I once had a friend, a very best friend, who loved me and cared about me very much, and would do anything to keep me safe. You have one too."
"Okabe?" inquires the girl. "I know he's a very good friend. I hope he's okay, and that he doesn't get shot too."
"Your friend is like my friend. He loves you and cares about you very much. He would throw away his life to save yours, in the blink of an eye. He would walk through Hell again and again and again. He would ruin his life for you, many times over."
The girl in the blue dress blushes and looks away.
"That's… stupid. I don't want him to die. Even for me. Why would he do something like that?"
"Because he cannot bear losing you, and because he would blame himself. Even when it's not his fault. Oh, he was reckless, yes, but it's more my fault than it is his fault."
Mayuuri kicks at the ground, but there's not actually anything here besides these tow, so she kicks the nothing instead.
"You're like him too. You care about your friend a lot, and you would blame yourself if he got hurt, even though you are more blameless. You would be very brave for him. You would die for him too, if you had to. You want to protect him."
"Yes," declares the girl. "I … I'm just not very good at it. But he's taken good care of me. And now… I'm about to die, aren't I."
The angel nods.
"There is a way", says the angel.
"How?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, not exactly, or it won't work. But I can help you to the start of the path."
Your wish has overcome entropy, begins the creature, but Mayuuri is already moving, screaming -
The floor is doused in red blood, and the room glows with a red light, and at the center of it all is Mayuuri, hovering in the air, a foot above the ground. She is not dressed in her sundress, but a maid costume, with many frills, a pocket-watch at her side, and it is all the same red as the blood on the floor.
Okabe is not sure if he's ever seen Mayuuri wear red before. On some academic level he supposes he probably has, but she favors the light blue. Maybe once as part of some cosplay?
Her hair is no longer than usual, not at all like the wig she would use at Queen May's. (Lone observer, do you remember Queen May's?)
(Well, you shouldn't, because it never existed in this version of Akihabra. Are you cheating? Do you have a save-file editor?)
And the mad scientist is now very confused, so he calls out.
"May - Mayuuri?"
The cat-girl's ears twitch, and she turns to face him, with a hiss. Okabe jumps back in surprise, and she pounces but not on Okabe, on the Organization operative behind behind him, just in front of Daru (who is lying on the floor). Now there is another scream, mixed with the ugly gurgle of blood.
Suzuha, to her credit, still has her wits about her, her foot against Moeka's neck, but she is agape.
"I've finally lost it," said Okabe to Daru. The pair of them have scrambled over to a corner. "None of this is real, is it. They're going to take me away, to the funny farm."
"Don't say that, dude. If - if that's the case I'm just as screwed as you are, and I will not look good in a size-84 straitjacket."
The red light faded, and there was a familiar giggling.
The assistant's voice calls out. "May … Mayuuri? Is that you?"
"Mmm-hmm! You're all better meow. I'll go get Okarin. Okarin!"
Drawn by her voice, he stumbles to his feet, still trying to piece things together. The hostage is still a catgirl maid, but the terrible red is gone, replaced with sky-blue frills. Mayuuri blue.
Kurisu is whole, but confused. "How are you - what happened? You were hurt …"
"Well, Meoweka shot me, but I became a magical girl so I could save all of you guys!"
Daru stared. "Magical … catgirl … Mayuuri? M… m…"
This would prove to be the impetus to get Kurisu back on her feet. "… Daru, I swear, if you say one word that is less than perfectly appropriate I will relieve you of your spine. Is that clear?"
"But we need to get going really soon meow. They might have brought backup."
"Do we need to take the time machine?" asked Kurisu.
"It's too much. We can't possibly carry it all. Just … take the important pieces and … destroy the rest," declared the mad scientist. "We'll burn down the lab to destroy the evidence."
"Gather what you can, then," said Suzuha. "I'll go hot-wire a car."
"We've met online before, you and me," said Suzuha, loading the partially disassembled microwave into the hatchback. "I post as John Titor. I'm a time traveler."
"I hid my posts in plain sight," revealed the mad scientist…
Suzuha drove the car and explained at the same time.
"By the year 2036, the UN was dissolved amidst a full-out nuclear war. The Emergency Defense Committee which replaces them immediately began to stamp out dissent. Democracy is nothing but a memory. People sleepwalk through their lives, completely devoid of hope. Opposition is treason… and treason is death. At the heart of the Council's reign of terror is a shadow organization, the true world government, pulling the strings. Their ultimate trump card: the time machine. Their research arm is known to the public as SERN."
"Nuclear war…" said Kurisu, in shock.
The cat-girl-maid took her hand, wordlessly. She contemplating the empty space in front of her with a distracted, thoughtful look, one which would have been more characteristic of Okabe.
"A war arranged by the shadow organi- " she paused. "Okay, everyone, stay calm."
"What's wrong?"
"Enemy ahead. But they don't know we're in a car, so they might looking for us yet. Just play it cool, don't try to look."
They passed a van, and turned the corner.
"MSY Deliveries?" asked Daru. "But they're all over town…"
Suzuha nodded. "One of the organization's oldest fronts. They do real deliveries, but there are ties to the Yakuza. I'll take a detour, make sure they can't follow us. Play it cool."
She slowed, turning the van down an alley - then stopped, and shifted into reverse.
"Oh… oh, shit."
"What's wrong?"
"totally screwed we're totally screwed."
"Maybe we can negotiate! We have a hostage!" Daru looked back to the trunk, where Moeka was tied up.
"NO!" said Mayuuri. "No hostages. That's my job and I'm not letting you give it to anybody else. Besides, it's not really her fault."
"Not her fault?" said Kurisu, from the front seat. "How - I mean, I don't like the idea either, but - Mayuuri, she shot you! By all rights you should be dead right now, and -"
"No buts. You can tie her up for meow to be safe, but no being mean. She's not the bad guy here, she's just … very confused. Besides, they probably don't really care if she gets hurt."
Suzuha squealed around the corner, and Okabe slammed into Mayuuri.
"Hey, careful!" said Daru.
"Oof!" said Mayuuri, but she had a distracted look.
"Confound it, woman! Where did you learn to drive?!" exclaimed Okarin.
Suzuha wore a grim expression. "Right, so guys, I don't know how to say this - well, no, I mean, I already said we're totally screwed - I think they followed me."
The black car from the alley swerved around the corner. Its headlights were still off.
"While I fully concur with the accuracy of your assessment, I'd say that it runs a little bit on the obvious side of things!"
"No, from 2036."
Kurisu was a little taken aback. "What? How … I mean, the physics involved; if you change the future …"
"Yeah the physics involved all work out fine if we're in a closed timelike curve where we were all doomed before I started."
"Oh. Shit." Daru swore.
"Exactly."
Okabe looked out the rear window. The black car was gaining on them. The driver was a girl with long red hair, and a ponytail - a young girl, younger than Suzuha. She wore an unsettling smile.
"Looking on the bright side", said Suzuha, "there are a couple of other unsettling possibilities. For instance right now I'm just assuming that we're being chased by a robot assassin from the future. It could be that SERN already has that technology." She laughed a nervous laugh.
"Robot assassin?!" asked Daru.
"SERN's top enforcers. Incredibly dangerous. They … don't experience pain. You can shoot them full of holes and they just don't stop. And apparently someone has a depraved sense of humor because they all look like teenage girls." Suzuha ran a red light as she explained.
"Oh, how lovely," said Kurisu, with a nervous tone.
"I'm going to be honest with you," said Suzuha, "most people don't survive an encounter."
"What is she doing?" asked Okabe, staring.
The pursuer had opened the car door, and placed a hand on the top of the car. In a single, swift movement, she flipped herself onto the roof. The car, somehow, kept driving - accelerated, even.
Okabe's mind reached for something to say: an obscure curse, an appeal to Norse gods, a plea in the name of Science. He found nothing.
A mid-air somersault later, the girl was on the roof.
"Everyone sit tight," said Mayuuri. "I'm going to try and talk to her."
Suzuha swerved wildly, hoping to shake off the attacker. "No! We can't let them have it!" She took in her surroundings, made one last turn onto a bridge over the river.
"Are you out of your mind?!" exclaimed Daru.
knock knock knock, went a sound on the driver's window. A muffled voice came through the glass. "You guys mind stopping?"
"You won't take us alive!" exclaimed Suzuha, pulled the steering wheel hard
the girl flew off the roof and onto the deck of the bridge, but the rolled over, out of control, on its roof, back upright for a moment but still flying through the air
smashed a guardrail, and off the
side of the bridge, they
were falling and
"Okarin!" cried Mayuuri, reached for his hand - grabbed it and
splash
for a moment all Okarin saw was red
The floor is doused in red blood, and the room glows with a red light, and at the center of it all is Mayuuri, hovering in the air, a foot above the ground. She is not dressed in her sundress, but a maid costume, with many frills, a pocket-watch at her side, and it is all the same red as the blood on the floor.
Okabe has seen Mayuuri wear red before. It wasn't even that long ago. What he doesn't understand is why he's seeing it again.
The cat-girl's ears twitch, and she turns to face him, with a hiss. Okabe jumps back in surprise, and she pounces but not on Okabe, on the Organization operative behind behind him, just in front of Daru (who is lying on the floor). Now there is another scream, mixed with the ugly gurgle of blood.
Suzuha, to her credit, still has her wits about her, her foot against Moeka's neck, but she is agape.
"I don't get it," said Okabe. He was less panicked than before, still a little shaken, but … it was just surreal, at this point. "How? It doesn't make sense. Have I actually gone mad? We were in the car …"
Daru looked at him funny. "Dude… pull it together. You're way too calm, and you're kinda scaring me, and - I mean - given what just happened that takes some doing."
The red light faded, and there was a familiar giggling.
The assistant's voice calls out. "May … Mayuuri? Is that you?"
"Mmm-hmm! You're all better meow. I'll go get Okarin. Okarin! We're back!"
"Back?"
Kurisu is whole, but confused. "How are you - what happened? You were hurt …"
"Well, Meoweka shot me, but I became a magical girl so I could save all of you guys!"
Daru stared. "Magical … catgirl … Mayuuri? M… m…"
"… Daru, I swear, if you say one word that is less than perfectly appropriate I will relieve you of your spine. Is that clear?"
"But we need to get going really soon meow. There might have some backup and there are probably more bad guys waiting nearby just in case one of us tried to escape, so they can give chase."
"Do we need to take the time machine?" asked Kurisu.
"… Just the important parts," said Okabe, pulling himself back together. "The phone-wave unit. Computer. Headset. We'll find another monitor."
"Gather what you can, then," said Suzuha. "I'll go hot-wire a car."
"No driving it off a bridge this time, Titor!" exclaimed Okabe.
"… wait, what?" Suzuha froze.
"That's right. I know your game, future-girl. You're a time traveler from the year 2036. Did you really think you could hide your online identity from the great Houin Kyouma?! Your operational security is no match for my towering intellect! You're just lucky that we're on the same side."
"Okarin!" said Mayuuri. "Be nice."
"… right, sorry. The car! We shall converse while we are en route!"
