"At least I was able to lock the Elsa before they took my connection gear…" I said, not feeling much solace.
The room was completely barren, the walls were white, the floor and ceiling were white, the sheets on the highly uncomfortable bed were white, as were the two piles of clothes we'd been given to change into. I hadn't touched them; inwardly guessing they were probably filled with some kind of powder-form poison.
Rukiro stood up and stretched, but before he replied the door to the room slid open, and the women who entered appeared to me Midori Mizrahi.
I glared at her asking, "What do you want? Or did you realize the loophole I found was legitimate?"
"Oh, that. The loophole is legitimate; we were able to find the document signed by Gaignun Kukai and Representative Helmer."
"So what did you come to say? You don't seem too concerned about legal matters."
She smiled with false sweetness saying, "Ormus would like to make a deal with you, Hikaru Uzuki. We believe with the correct equipment and training, you may be able to reawaken The Bringer of Order."
"You mean KOS-MOS?" I asked.
"Yes." She replied, "Did you not know that is what she was been dubbed? Then again, being raised in that world would explain a lot."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked distrustfully.
"There is more technology preserved from the T.C. period than the governments let you know. They want to restart humanity, and the way they're doing it is fine in most lights, but they did not take something into consideration: the enemies of the past may came to haunt us."
I paused a moment before asking, "Zarathustra?"
"Possibly. Zarathustra may be an eternal force like U-DO, the Zohar, chaos, Mary, and even KOS-MOS. With KOS-MOS, we can learn if she truly is Mary, and the extent of the 'eternal' power she possesses."
"And what do you think is an eternal being that endangers this world?"
"Wilhelm." She answered flatly. "He wanted to restart time in this world for all the corruption and confusion humanity created to be erased. He planned to live on through the eternities always making sure that time would be restarted when humanity learned too much, and started trying to manipulate divine power."
"I smell a 'however' coming." Rukiro said dryly.
"Very perceptive of you." She said calmly. "For this, in a way, is similar to what Wilhelm wanted, his tactic only had one advantage: the years humanity didn't know about U-DO and the Zohar. With humanity knowing about those two things, and their power, with using the technology of old in futile attempts to control to two, existence on earth could come to an abrupt halt in an experiment with the Zohar. Need I list planets that disappeared due to the actions of the U-TIC Organization…?"
"No." I replied calmly. "So, in a retrospect, you want me to try awakening KOS-MOS-"
"The Bringer of Order." She cut in.
"Yeah, The Bringer of Order, to attempt saving the world? But, why should I trust you? Ormus' goal was to return here, to Earth, but the lives and planets they sacrificed made their goal foolhardy." I said firmly.
"We are no longer…" She said after a long pause, "Under the command and control of Wilhelm. Is knowing Ormus was reborn enough for you to help us? We can provide everything you need for her."
In truth, I was very interested and even though I knew it was dangerous, I wanted to do it. Even though, I figured I should at least have some sense of responsibility…
"What's the name of your current leader?"
She smiled saying, "A name you should trust. Arku Uzuki."
I felt numb when she said that. My mind stop Rukiro was clearly surprised too.
I swallowed saying, "Let me see him. I'm not agreeing to anything until I do."
"I suppose it could be arranged." She said, after a moment of silence. "Since you and the Bringer of Order are Ormus' top priority, he should agree to it. I'll be back soon."
The door slid closed as she left and I flopped down on the bed groaning, "How could he be alive?"
"Your father…" Rukiro paused, "Shot your mother then himself, right?"
"Yeah." I replied quietly.
Neither of us said anything, and after a few minutes Midori came back and lead us out of the room down a series of plain, white, halls. I got the feeling we were underground, because after passing through one door the walls were made of ornate wooden trim and the floors were carpeted with thick, dark blue carpet.
After a few security checks, we reached a large double door. Double doors didn't have the same effect when they were automatic sliders…
Midori slid her card into the console on the left of the door, and then pressed a button saying quietly, "Hikaru is here."
The doors slid open, and as I walked in, the doors slid closed quickly stopping Rukiro from entering.
Before I could object, a deep and familiar voice said, "I am glad you are here, Hikaru."
I turned around quickly to see my father sitting at a desk in the center of the room. Behind him, the outer wall was solid glass overlooking the forest. He didn't look very different from the way he looked ten years ago, only older and his black hair was graying.
"Yeah right." I said coldly. "What the hell are you doing here? And why did you…"
"Kill your mother? It was necessary. If you grew up with the security of a mother's love, you would not be here today. You would not have wanted more out of your life and searched for the Bringer of Order."
I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me. Even though I felt hallow and resistant to believe. In a way, I think I knew he'd kill his own wife for a cause he believed could save a world.
"That's the reason you killed my mother?" I spat, "Your wife? Just because you hoped I'd look for KOS-MOS if I grew up miserable?"
"If you were not here now, the Bringer of Order would not come to rest here on Lost Jerusalem."
"Give me a break; I couldn't have had any effect on where the corpse of android landed."
"Don't you think the remains of a frame that old would disintegrate in coming into the atmosphere, unless she arrived here by an unnatural cause?"
I was silent, for I had briefly thought of that. I'd dismissed as unimportant, because I was trying to focus on all the information the Elsa possessed on KOS-MOS.
"All right, fine. Maybe there is something strange going on. But what proof do you have of it? And do you seriously think that's enough to make me want to help you?
"No." He said simply, "I do not. I ask you to help, for the Bringer of Order. You want to learn more about her, correct?"
I was silent a moment before he continued, "If you do chose to help, I will inform you aunt you were accepted to a college the west. You would stay here and everything you needed would be supplied. You could work on KOS-MOS at your leisure while studying her frame and deciding how to rebuild her."
"What about Rukiro?" I asked stubbornly, "I'm not cooperating with you unless Rukiro can stay too."
"He can come occasionally, and it has to be by Ormus provided transportation. If he came too often it would cause problems with Ormus' secrecy." He said calmly. "Will you comply?"
"…Fine. I'll help you."
"College?" My aunt demanded, "Why would you have to move so soon? It's only the middle of June! If I've never heard of it, the place can't be that popular."
"Auntie," I said, all too aware of all the people that were looking. "If I don't move into that apartment now, I won't be able to go to the college."
"You never planned on going any college aside from the local one." She objected, lowering her tone. We were at an informal restaurant, waiting for our dinners. We were at a table in the center of the place, making her outburst more than noticeable.
"Look, can I withdraw from my inheritance or not?"
"Not until you tell me why you want to go to the west coast. What's there that isn't here? Is Rukiro going there, or something?"
"No." I said, hoping I didn't sound defensive. "You know I like to work with computers and machines. I've taken apart an uncountable amount of household appliances. I want to learn about professional machinery and computers."
"The only real goal of those people is to rebuild the U.M.N." My aunt said stubbornly, her green eyes burning with spite. "Humanity is just fine on here on Earth."
She's so old-fashion… I thought, getting irritated. "There are a lot of colleges that specialize in machinery, but that one is simply the most effective."
"Couldn't you find a college of the same caliber closer?"
"I've already passed the entrance exam."
"Hikaru, you're only seventeen. You're not even an adult yet. Going all the way on the other side of the country for schooling…it just doesn't sound right to me."
"I'll be fine." I said calmly, "You know I can handle myself."
She pursed her lips saying, "When you say 'handle' yourself, are you referring to fighting? You're too violent for you own good."
"Maybe, but that's not the point. This is what I want. If my mother would respect this wish, than shouldn't you?"
She sighed exasperatedly saying, "Don't go picking any fights. Around here you've got a fair bit of security because of your name alone, but there nobody would know you're the heir of Shion Uzuki. They wouldn't believe you, either."
"I know."
"You still want to go?" She asked unhappily.
I nodded in response, and she sighed in defeat.
"How much do you need?"
Moving out of my basement and into the lab I'd been given at the Ormus headquarters was slow business. Rukiro was helping, but all the parts from dissected refrigerators, microwaves, can openers, air conditioners, car engines, toaster ovens, and other household appliances were scattered about my room. What, you never know when you might need a heavy wire that's build to get cold…or a spark plug from a droid, or any other random and weird things.
"Are you seriously going to use this?" Rukiro asked doubtfully, holding up a rusted car muffler. "You can't even drive."
"Well…"
"Any materials for anything you might need are going to be supplied by Ormus. I don't think you'll need a rusty car muffler."
"Yeah…" I trailed off, "But I might need it to absorb some kind of shock, or something."
"Too abstract. You lose." He said, tossing it in the large trashcan that had filled up with other "junk parts" that had been condemned to obliteration.
"What about this?" He asked holding up some bent metal wire. "It looks like a twisty-tie on steroids."
"Save it."
"Why?" He groaned.
"With that, a pen, and some adhesive you could make a key to get into a car, or something."
"I just said you couldn't drive. And is everything 'or something' down here?"
"Well, a lot of the wires I saved came in handy with that solar panel."
He shook his head saying, "You're hopeless, Hikaru."
"And what happens if I start going through your collection of baseball cards and asking you why you save copies of highly common ones?"
"That's different." He said defensively.
"Hardly." I shot back. "Besides, these wires are also good for shoving up the asses of people I don't like."
He burst out laughing then said, "I'd better keep away if you're dealing with metal wire in a bad mood, huh?"
"It's recommended." I said with false sweetness. He shook his head and tossed the wire in an empty cardboard box on the table we were working on emptying.
Rukiro was sliding my beaten, ratty, and earlier-in-life cream-colored sofa off the wall, looking disturbed.
I don't recall losing anything that could produce a foul small behind there…
"What the hell…?" He muttered.
I jogged over and looked behind it saying, "Oh, those."
"There's over thirty empty water bottles back here." He said pointing as they rolled under the sofa. A few of them made the mighty pilgrimage to reaching the other side of the large basement. "And over eight brands." He added, picking up a Dasani that was past it's expiration date.
"Be sure to recycle them." I said dismissively and returned to going through a stack of crap on the table we'd been unearthing. "The caps go in the trash, tear off the labels and toss them in the trash, too."
"You expect me to peel the plastic wrappers off some of the bottles?" He demanded.
"Most of them are paper. Don't complain! Doing it helps the environment." I said, tossing another bent mental wire in the box Rukiro had scribbled a stick person with a wire chasing another stick person.
I smirked and picked up the wire and brandished it at him saying, "Or face the wrath of my wires!"
"Don't shoot!" He said playfully jumping behind the sofa. I ran forward, jumping on the sofa and picked up a pillow and swatted at him with it. He quickly got to his feet, and wet to side-step my attack but stepped on a water bottle, lost his balance and fell backwards. He crashed into a table, and the box of metal wires came raining down on him.
"Ah, shit! How'd a full bottle of water end up under there?"
I jumped off the back of the sofa, crushing some empty bottles and picked up the full bottle saying, "Factory seal and all. It expired a few months ago. Thirsty?"
"No thank you." He said and stood up, surveying the wires that had fallen.
"Are ya sure?" I asked, tossing the bottle toward him.
He caught it easily and put it down next to the box of wires on the table. The box was on its side and he pushed it back into position and we picked up the wires, with only a few wire-to-wire duels. Not that it got very far since the bent so easily…
That afternoon, we both flopped on my couched tiredly.
"I didn't know those tables were blue metal." He said dryly.
"Shaddup."
"So, how many boxes of crap did we end up keeping?"
"Rubber maids of crap." I corrected.
"Whatever. How many?"
"Only fifteen. And it's good crap."
"Uh-huh, I'll be the judge of that."
"So…" I paused, "What did your parents think of the lie about college?"
"Shot it down in mid-flight." He said solemnly.
"I thought so."
"Have you told you aunt?"
"Yeah, she put up a fight but in the end I won." I replied. "It's already June twenty-second…I probably won't be allowed to visit town unless it's a holiday. School starts in the end of August for you, right?"
"Yeah."
"You'll come by on the weekends, right?"
"Of course."
This is awkward. I thought after another moment of silence.
"I've got an idea! How we meet at the Elsa every Saturday?" Rukiro suggested.
"Ormus forbid me going to the Elsa." I sighed. "Unless I can slip away on a holiday."
"But you can do what you want in town until school starts, right?"
"Not exactly." I said, "I get one day a week to go out, and I have to be escorted. Evidently, if it gets around I'm helping Ormus I may find myself dubbed an outlaw by local police and the government."
He nodded asking, "Any other ways to work around the system during the school year?"
"Not that I can think of. Hopefully after I get used to the schedule there, I'll be ale find some loopholes and can get out on the weekends."
"Mmm."
"Hey! Uzuki! Kukai! Hurry it up! What are you two doing down there?" Amaila, the oldest of the girls that resided in the house called. She took charge when I wasn't around. I picked up my laptop case, the only remaining item in the basement.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked, stomping up the stairs with Rukiro following attentively anticipating an argument.
"Don't have any wire, do you?" He asked quietly.
"I may need some." I opened the door asking, "Wanna repeat that?"
She had blond hair and blue eyes, and she stepped back backpedaling as she asked, "What? You two are engaged and saying goodbye."
I scowled at her, my reserves about being rude to the tenants gone (why should I have any now that I'm moving out?), saying, "Be glad I'm not strict about you and Takyuki having guests at night."
She looked disturbed and insulted as smirked adding, "Keep it up and I'll take my microwave back."
"But you said we call could use it!"
"And I'm moving out, so I have every right to take it with me." I said dismissively, strutting over to the door. Rukiro followed, not wanting to stick around to feel the wrath of an angry twenty-two year old woman versus me. I slung my backpack over my should, it now contained random things like my digital camera, cell phone, other electronics I used for their real purpose instead of dissecting them.
"No wire?" He asked as I closed the door.
I smiled slightly saying, "No wire."
"Damn. The wires are all packed up, too…"
The driver of the white Toyota pickup truck hadn't complained about us taking our sweet time, but he looked relieved I was ready. He walked over and opened up the door of the extended cab. I waved him off and turned around to face Rukiro, the awkward feeling returning. It was only intensified when the driver started up the engine.
"Oh yeah!" I said, opening my backpack. "Last time we were on the Elsa I found a connection gear. With a little tweaking I was able to get it working…"
After rooting around for another few minutes in a pocket full of Walkman, headphones, and CD boxes, I pulled out the connection gear.
"I've already got mine, so I figured I'd give it to you."
He smiled and took it saying, "Thanks."
I reshipped my backpack, and tossed it in the backseat of the truck without much concern for all the electronics inside, but before I was fully turned around Rukiro stepped forward, kissing me lightly on the cheek saying, "See you soon."
"Y-yeah. See you s-soon." I said, caught off-guard. After I closed the door and Rukiro stepped back the driver started driving me away. I glanced back, seeing Rukiro waving. I waved back, even though I still felt…wait, just how do I feel?
"A friend of yours?" The driver asked.
"Yeah…" I replied. "You could say that…"
