Chapter 3: Arrival
The following morning, long before the sun was due to rise, Rokusho was startled from sleep by the sound of someone tapping on his door. He was alert in an instant, but found he was imprisoned in the bedclothes, and he thrashed about in an attempt to free himself. His endeavor proved to be only somewhat fruitful – he escaped from the odd entrapment, but fell out of bed and onto the hard floor. Piqued, he stumbled to his feet, and opened the door.
The Professor was the one at his bedroom door, and the old man's expression was a cocktail of simultaneous concern, lassitude, and amusement at his appearance. "Rokusho, Argenta's plane will be arriving in a couple hours, would you please fetch her for me?" he asked him. "The two of you are going to be spending a great deal of time together I'm sure, so it's best you get to know each other."
"Of course Professor," the Medabot replied. He retrieved his cape from the closet and came downstairs to where the old man was waiting.
"Here is her flight information," The Professor said, handing him the note he had written the night before. "And here's a photo," he continued.
Rokusho thanked him, and after bidding him farewell, headed out the door. He began to walk as quickly as his knee would allow him. He was soon well within the city limits, but knew that the airport was in the neighboring city of Medaropolis. He set out in the direction of the large city, but he had scarcely continued when he began to feel fatigued. He slowed his pace as the honk of an approaching vehicle caused him to stop in surprise.
A familiar pale pink limousine pulled up beside him, and one of the many tinted windows was rolled down to reveal a green-eyed girl in a pink dress, her slightly wavy orange hair pulled back into pigtails. Leaning toward him from beside her was a white and pink Medabot who looked like a nurse, her glassy almond-shaped red eyes filled with surprise at the sight of him.
"Rokusho," the Medabot said in a soft mezzo, "Do you need a ride?"
" Yes, please," Rokusho said, and opened the door after the girl unlocked it. "Thank you Nutranurse, thank you Karen," he continued as he entered and closed the door.
"Oh it's no trouble," the girl said. " I'm on my way to school - it starts at seven, but I like to be there early." Her voice was light, and higher in pitch than her Medabot's. "Where are you going this early in the morning?" she asked as the white Medabot buckled his seatbelt.
"The airport, I'm going to pick up a relative of the Professor's," he explained.
"Is that so?" asked Nutranurse, as Karen informed her chauffer of Rokusho's destination.
"Yes," Rokusho confirmed.
"I didn't know the Professor had any relatives," Karen remarked thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I don't know about him at all."
"Who is this relative, if you don't mind me asking," questioned Nutranurse. "And where are they coming from?"
" The Professor's granddaughter, Argenta," Rokusho answered. "She's coming from America - California, I believe."
"How old is she?" Karen asked.
"Nineteen, a few years older than you, Miss Karen." Rokusho replied.
"It's good to see you again, Rokusho, you've been missed." said Nutranurse. "Will you be here long?"
"Oh, yes, the Professor has bought a cottage at the foot of the mountains, therefore I intend to be here for quite some time," The white Medabot said happily, and Karen smiled at the news.
"I'm glad to see you still have the cape I bought you," she said. "Have you been taking care of it?"
"Yes, and I'm fond of it," he answered. "Although," he continued, " I do wonder whatever became of my old cape. I acquired it during my wandering years, and it has sentimental value to me." Rokusho said.
"Hmm, I believe you left it at Mister Ikki and Metabee's house," Nutranurse said, slowly pointing a finger at him as she tried to remember.
"Yes, it was the night Metabee and I fought RoboEmperor, and I spent the night at Ikki's house," Rokusho said, remembering.
"Wasn't that also the night your uncle, Dr. Aki's house burned down, Miss Karen?" the driver asked, overhearing their conversation.
"Yes, it was," Karen said, her pretty face frowning at the memory.
"That was mainly my fault," Rokusho said, ashamed. It was one of the few times his anger had gotten the better of him, and in his heart he hadn't quite forgiven himself. "If I hadn't been so quick to anger then, and more mindful of the fireplace-"
"Don't beat yourself up over it, that was two years ago," Karen interrupted him. "Besides, you were tricked into thinking that my Uncle Aki burned your house down and killed Professor Hushi."
"It certainly was a good thing that Dr. Aki wasn't the one who did it, and that Professor Hushi survived that fire," commented Nutranurse. "My goodness, weren't we surprised to find him alive and well."
"No one was more surprised than I was, I can assure you of that," said Rokusho.
"We've arrived at our destination Miss Karen," announced the chauffer, and the limo slowed to a stop.
"Again, thank you," Rokusho said as he unbuckled, and opened the door.
"Would you like us to wait for you, Rokusho?" the chauffer asked him.
"No, that's all right," he answered.
"Here, have this so you and Professor Hushi's granddaughter can take a taxi home," Karen said, handing the Medabot several paper bills.
"Oh, I couldn't Miss Karen!" Rokusho said, holding up his hands in an attempt to ward off the offered money.
"I insist," the girl countered. " Besides, it's quite far from here to Riverview. It would be an awfully long walk, and don't even think about trying to pay me back," she finished, her sweet voice firm with determination.
" Very well, thank you," Rokusho relented, knowing she was right.
"Take care now," Karen said, as the white Medabot shut the door and stepped up onto the curb.
"Do come by and visit," continued Nutranurse. "You do remember where our house is, don't you?" she asked.
"Yes," he confirmed, and Karen waved as the limo pulled away.
Rokusho turned, headed inside the crowded airport, and after asking for directions, found where he was to wait for Argenta. He found a bench where he could wait comfortably, and watch the people coming and going. There were a few people nearby, but no one near where he was sitting, and no Medabots either. He looked at the photo of Argenta the Professor had given him. It was a school photo, and the girl was in front of a blue canvas. She had an angular face, framed by long, straight white hair, and her skin was also very fair. She also had red eyes, which Rokusho knew was quite rare. Hmm, the Professor once told me that humans could be born with albinism just as easily as animals, but I never thought I would ever meet someone with the conditio, he thought, intrigued.
The Professor had studied biology a great deal in college before pursuing robotics because his family had wanted him to be a doctor. As a result, Rokusho had learned a great deal from him about the subject, and the Medabot found living things interesting. Insects were his favorite living thing to observe, because their world was a miniature version of the one Medabots and humans shared, and there was an amazing amount of diversity among insects, just as there was in his own.
The Professor had instilled in him a great love and respect for the natural world, and he treasured all of the knowledge that the old man had imparted to him.
Just then, another group of passengers streamed towards him from the direction of the plane. Rokusho searched the faces of the many people, hoping his poor vision would not cause him to miss her.
He noticed a face that matched the one in the picture, and stood up slowly, so as not to irritate his injured knee. The girl saw him, and excitement crossed her face as she made her way towards him purposefully, but she was still partially concealed by the other passengers. Unlike in the picture, her hair was jet black. It was cut shorter than what he usually saw in human females, and it was also spiky. Sharp points of hair seemed to stick out in all directions, and a pair of pointed strands framed her face. Although Rokusho decided that the shorter hairstyle suited her face better than the one in the photo, he wasn't sure he liked this one, and he thought that it looked like she had used half a bottle of gel in her hair.
She left the crowd of people, and Rokusho could now clearly see the rest of her and found she was dressed entirely in black. Her backpack, the hooded jacket she wore - even her nails were painted black. The only thing that wasn't black was the set of dog tags that hung from a chain around her neck, and even then, they were framed by a black rubber border, and looked authentic.
"Oh, Professor," he moaned softly to himself, "What have you gotten me into?"