Before we start...
Happy Holidays! I hope you had a good time so far and thanks for putting up with my irregular schredule. I made you a picture, to conmemorate how far we've come together with this story: Go to Deviantart, account Narumo. It's called "Beyond Sunken Cities Beyond Unknown Stars -Thanks" I hope you guys like it :)
Chapter 20 – Sensitive Research
Deep in the bowels of Benefactor, there was a drafty, narrow place. More than a room, it was the negative space created by two huge walls of machinery, the life-support systems of the ship. Some of it was in suspended state, given that only a limited number of rooms were kept with an environment suitable for Mitsuki. The others were humming, happily simulating the atmosphere of Earth.
Kaito lay on his back on a catwalk between them, with his muffler snaking carelessly around his head. One of the sleeves of his oversized lab coat was torn and hanging from a few last threads, and he absently played with it. The blinking lights of the devices around him and the twin blue stars of Kaito's unblinking stare were the only sources of light.
Suddenly, the air shifted next to Kaito's head, and Gakupo appeared. He crouched down, his expression full of curiosity. "What are you doing here? I've never even been in this room before!"
Kaito stared at him with a morose expression, but made no comment.
"Mitsuki is ready to examine you now."
Kaito sat up, but didn't seem willing to do anything further.
"I'm sure she'll find a way to optimize your coding, if you need it," Gakupo continued cheerfully, placing a hand over Kaito's shoulder. Then, he noticed the state of his attire and asked, "What happened to your sleeve?"
"Meiko tore it," Kaito answered unenthusiastically.
"Oh? Perhaps she needs a strength re-calibration. Even later models like Luka and me need regular adjustments when dealing with delicate things like clothing."
"It was on purpose. She says this is grungy and I need to wear something else."
"It is rather worn," Gakupo commented, sapped of some of his cheerfulness. After some internal debate, he added, "Look, if Meiko's being violent again, you need to tell the rest of us. We can help."
"Can you really?" Kaito's voice was uncharacteristically sour.
"Um, if nothing else, we can tie her up until Mitsuki is done with everything else she needs to check. There's no need to have her run around bothering you," Gakupo mumbled, tugging a strand of his hair. It wasn't the best plan, but it was better than giving her free reign of the ship.
Kaito shook his head. "What if I'm the one that's needs to be put away? I hurt Miku, and now I'm making Meiko behave abnormally!"
"It has nothing to do with you. I don't really understand what, but something in her past is responsible," Gakupo stated, sitting down next to Kaito.
"How can you say it has nothing to do with me?!" Kaito scooted away, upset, and his voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't know how to face her anymore." He began to pull the sleeve again and finally tore it away from the rest of the lab coat, discarding it with disgust. "I don't know how to help her, or myself. I don't know anything."
"None of us are built with the knowledge to face all the problems we run into," Gakupo argued. "Ignorant is our default state as VE units. And humans aren't all that different."
Kaito didn't reply; instead, he stubbornly fixed his gaze on a dark corner of the room. Gakupo waited, feeling increasingly restless. After all the time in the box, he was fed up with staying in place for long. But his friend obviously wasn't ready to go up yet.
"Why do you like wearing that lab coat, anyway?" Gakupo finally asked after a minute. Of all things, keeping a remainder of his time on the labs seemed like an odd choice.
"My default outfit had a long white jacket," Kaito mumbled, still not looking at him. "Mi-chan liked it."
"I see," Gakupo replied. So in a way, it was a keepsake of the human florist. That made more sense.
"What do you call it, when Luka and you come together? Merging?" Kaito asked. Without even waiting for Gakupo's response, he added, "I wish I could remember merging with Mi-chan, or even kissing her."
"I don't know about merging with a human, actually." Gakupo said. The idea sounded very strange to him. "But what you truly want is a feeling of closeness, right?"
"Closeness..." Kaito closed his eyes, examining the word. "I want to feel like I deserve closeness." He picked up the torn sleeve and examined it for a few instants. "I really envy you, you know?"
"Me? How come?"
"As far as upper layer coding goes, you seem pretty stable. I bet you'd never break down like I did."
"It wasn't the same circumstances you faced, but I did break down once," Gakupo said softly. "When I thought I'd never see Luka again…I just couldn't take it."
Kaito stared, taken aback. "Did you hurt anyone?"
"No, my mind just disintegrated," Gakupo fiddled with his hair, uncomfortable. Even recalling that moment in time and the despair he felt was painful. "If it weren't for Mitsuki, I'd be processed materials in a recycling plant somewhere." He laughed a little, although he felt far from happy at the thought. "Perhaps that makes you stronger than me, Kaito. You managed to survive on your own, despite everything that the world threw at you."
"I never thought someone would use the word strong to describe me," Kaito mumbled sadly. "But I'd like to be strong, more than anything. I guess the first step is getting checked by your Master, right?"
"Former master," Gakupo reminded him gently.
"Oh, former master, of course," Kaito said, getting up.
Gakupo got up as well, and slung his arm around Kaito's shoulders. The blue-haired bot looked at him with surprise, and Gakupo returned the look with a big grin. "We aren't Mi-chan, but we are here for you, me and everyone else. Remember that. Ben, we are ready!"
"Um, thanks," Kaito whispered. Before they disappeared, a small smile began to form on his face.
Mitsuki's new laboratory inside Benefactor was quite the mess already, despite the synthetics' help in tidying things up. It truly appeared to be the unavoidable destiny of any room Mitsuki inhabited for an extended amount of time. That day, Luka and Rin were sorting out the shelves, while Mitsuki finished Miku's repairs.
"I still can't get over the fact that I worked on the famous Miku Hatsune," Mitsuki giggled, gingerly touching one of the unit's toes. "Can you wiggle these for me?"
Miku complied, her face gleaming with happiness. Across the room, Luka and Rin cheered. Mitsuki helped Miku climb down from the worktable and observed with professional pride as the girl tested her limbs, stretching and shifting her weight.
"I've missed this so much," Miku exclaimed, hopping from one foot to the other. Then she did a little dance, her long hair and the sheer fabric of her makeshift dress fluttering around her body as she twirled, and finished with a bow.
Mitsuki coughed. "Um, I've meaning to say this for a while, but… Don't you think you should get a new outfit? That's a bit, um, revealing. I mean, there's Gakupo and Kiyoteru and the other boys walking around…"
Miku blinked at her, and then looked down at the body. "But I like this; it's like the surface of a bubble."
Luka smiled. Obviously, Mitsuki had her human conceptions of what was proper to wear, especially for someone that seemed underage. "Maybe you could wear a mini dress or a tube top and shorts underneath it," she suggested.
Mitsuki immediately grabbed hold of the idea, nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes! You should wear a cute little dress, maybe something teal like your hair, or white to bring out the color of the fabric and the sash."
"But where do I get that?" As soon as the words left her mouth, the obvious answer occurred to Miku, given by the change in her expression. Meiko and her hadn't spoken a word since the ship left Mars. In fact, Meiko barely left her room of dresses anymore, except to get more charge.
"We can ask Meiko for something nice for you, if you want," Rin chirped. Luka nodded in agreement.
Miku looked at the floor, tracing figures with the tip of ones of her big toes. After a moment, she looked up. "I should go myself; she's going need my measurements."
"Then we'll go with you," Luka said emphatically.
Miku smiled, relieved. "Thanks." She looked to a side, smoothing one of her twin tails. "I do wish she and I could be friends. We're on the same path, aren't we?"
"Try talking to her, then." Mitsuki gestured with her hands. "You have all shown exceptional adaptability in your programming, her reaction might surprise us."
The teal-haired bot nodded. After a moment's hesitation, she bowed to Mitsuki. "I'm off then. Thanks for the hard work, Mitsuki."
Luka and Rin fell into step behind her, as she traversed Benefactor's dimly-lit tunnels. Along the way, Miku commented: "I wish there was a racing track inside of here. I feel like running a marathon right now."
"We should prepare another act now that you can join us!" Rin exclaimed. She immediately began jumping around, remembering some old choreography.
"As long as I'm not the main star, that's fine with me," Miku said, and laughed a little. She still seemed a little tense, but her laughter was undoubtedly genuine. "I have enough of that."
"Len and I are the stars, obviously. That's the Golden Rule!" Rin struck a pose, a silly grin on her face.
"Oh, I did hear of your show once! My handlers considered giving me another unit to interact with, but decided I needed to be available for the fans," Miku commented.
"Available for what?" Rin asked, tilting her head.
"She means to be a suitable target for their fantasies," Luka interjected.
"Huh?"
"I'll explain later. We are here," Luka waved her hand in the direction of the metal door of Meiko's room. She and Rin watched Miku stop abruptly, just outside of range for the door's mechanism to sense her approach.
For a long minute, Miku stood in front of the closed door, mesmerized. Luka stepped closer and watched her expression intently.
"I can do this," the girl whispered. "I can do it, right?"
"Yes, you can." Luka took a step back and wrapped her arm around Rin's shoulders, to stop her from fidgeting.
After more seconds crawled by, Miku hesitantly took a step forward. The door slid open, allowing the trio to see Meiko sitting on the floor, hugging her knees. Her expression was hidden by her bangs. Her hair was in disarray, and Luka realized that the blue rose usually adorning it was nowhere to be seen. Next to the unit, there was a small mountain of white and blue fabric, completely torn into ribbons.
"Meiko? May we please talk to you?" Miku called out to the brunette from the doorframe.
Slowly, Meiko's face tilted upwards, her eyes a raging electronic bonfire. She glared at the units without saying a word.
"Um, I- Sorry for barging in like this, but-" Miku walked closer, stopping every few steps as if waiting for Meiko to jump up and attack her. Luka took Rin's hand and followed the former VE star, suddenly wishing she had brought a weapon to protect the smaller units. Still, three-on-one were good odds, if the worst happened.
"Stop mumbling and tell me what you want," Meiko suddenly said with dry venom in her voice.
"I…um, Mitsuki says I should wear something under this fabric, and you…er…" Miku stammered, cringing as Meiko rose, towering above her.
"Can you make her a mini dress?" Luka asked, deciding to direct some of Meiko's attention towards her.
Meiko didn't answer. Instead, she looked downwards, at the pile of rags. Suddenly her expression twisted into rage and she stomped on it repeatedly. Miku jumped back, yelping. Luka grabbed her and pushed the girl behind her, same as Rin. But Meiko barely seemed interested in any of them.
"Stupid, stupid puppet!" Meiko shrieked, lost in her fury. Luka suddenly realized what the rags were: A complete new set of clothes for Kaito, embroidered and lovingly crafted, and completely ruined.
"You worked hard on that, didn't you?" She asked, using her calmest tone.
Meiko's movements stopped as abruptly as they had begun. She stood there, looking down at her work, shaking. "…I did."
Luka sighed internally. She could understand Kaito's reluctance to accept anything from Meiko, lest she consider it some proof of ownership. "What a shame, it looks like it was a beautiful outfit."
"It really does. You're very talented, Meiko," Miku said, venturing out from behind Luka. She tried to smile.
"But not as much as you, right?" Meiko asked in a mocking tone. "It's all so obvious. You're the princess, you the golden child and you the perfect woman," she stated, pointing to Miku, Rin and Luka in turn. "What am I next to you all, huh? Just a soiled doll." She kicked the torn clothing, and added in a lower tone. "I could never own someone like Kaito. Of course he'd choose a princess over me."
"I don't want to be a princess!" Miku protested, her pitch rising even higher in a good approximation of human nervousness. "I want to be a friend to everyone here, including you!"
Meiko looked at her, shocked.
"You were ill used in the past, and now you want to be in control. I understand that, really. But think about it. Did the ones that hurt you really look like something you want to imitate?" Luka questioned.
"That would be super dumb!" Rin piped up.
"You are better than any of them, Meiko! Please let us reach you!" Miku haltingly took one of Meiko's hands and squeezed it. "You can't own Kaito, or any of us. But it isn't that bad, is it? We can go on together into the future." Miku looked down at their hands. "I don't know if you hate being by yourself, but I'm terrified of it. Please…please save me from being alone, Meiko."
Luka observed Meiko's eyes, trying to anticipate her reaction. Would she even able to comprehend the idea of bonds based on mutual respect?
All of the sudden, Meiko fell on her knees, crumbling like a wilted flower. She pressed Miku's hand against her forehead, silently, before letting it go. Miku gave Rin and Luka a baffled look, before turning her eyes back towards the hunched figure. After some consideration, Luka kneeled as well and hugged Meiko, gesturing to Miku and Rin with her head. The girls joined her after a moment, enveloping Meiko's form.
"We can choose to love you, Meiko. All of us," Miku whispered. Meiko's body trembled in response, but she hid her face in Luka's shoulder, stubbornly silent.
"You don't need to be a princess to be loved," Luka continued. "Or perfect. None of us is the perfect anything, really."
"If I were perfect, I wouldn't need anyone else to be happy," Rin added. "But I do, I need my family."
"We all need each other. And that includes you," concluded Miku.
For being unrehearsed, that didn't go that badly, Luka thought with amusement; Meiko, what will you choose to do? You can't just curl up in here forever.
At first, Meiko seemed poised to do just that. Her trembling subsisted so long that Luka began to fear they had precipitated a behavioural error.
"I…need some time to think about all of this," Meiko finally answered. "Please leave."
The trio of units stood up, looking at each other awkwardly. At least on a personal level, Luka felt they had done their best to shake up Meiko's worldview. She just wasn't sure it was enough.
"Um, then, we'll be going, I guess. Thanks for listening," Miku mumbled, her nervousness back in full force.
"Let me take your measurements first," Meiko replied in a dull tone.
Despite her lack of enthusiasm, Miku smiled widely at her and the other two. "Yes! Thank you!"
"It's nothing," the taller unit replied. But there was a new glow in her eyes, something that could grow, and make her more beautiful than she'd ever been before.
Not a botched attempt, perhaps. Luka smiled with relief as Meiko measured Miku's modest chest carefully.
Welcome, Meiko.
Mitsuki replaced Gumi's head piece and smoothed her soft green hair. She seemed less cheerful than usual, but managed to smile gently. "You don't have to protect me anymore, Gumi, Lily."
The two girls were sitting on her worktable, next to the machinery pilfered from the base. Behind Mitsuki, Gakupo, Luka, Kaito, Kiyoteru and Leon waited for their reaction. The former bodyguards examined the group with a curious expression, then glanced at each other, clad in the revealing clothing Mitsuki's former employers decided to give them.
"This feels different," Lily commented.
"You are Mitsuki. I could kick your rear if I wanted," Gumi stated, looking back at the human.
Mitsuki blinked, then waved at Gakupo and Luka to stop them from moving forward. "It's ok! Really! Gumi isn't really going to hit me, right?"
"Of course not. I just wanted to see how it felt to say it," Gumi laughed and stuck her tongue out playfully.
"You freed us," Lily said in her deep voice. Despite her restrained tone, she appeared happy as well.
"We were all prisoners back there. It's only fair I fixed that, after my friends rescued me," the scientist replied.
"You are a strange one," Gumi exclaimed. "The best kind of strange, though."
"I feel flattered." Mitsuki grinned.
"Now fix Lola." Everyone turned to look at the corner, where Leon leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Everyone else is fixed, everyone else is happy. I was told you could fix her. Give me Lola back. That's your function." It was the longest speech anyone had ever heard from him.
Mitsuki fidgeted. "I…I know you miss her. However, that's a much more delicate job than anything else I've done here, and I'm more of a software expert."
Leon's expression darkened. "Give her back."
Gakupo stepped between them. "Don't speak to her like that."
"Silence. It's your fault Lola is gone." Leon's eyes focused on him with hostility.
"You guys were attacking us! You threw me overboard!" Gakupo replied, bewildered.
But Luka could see that being directly accused of wrecking Lola had struck a metaphorical nerve. She decided to step in before he decided to pull something stupid and self-sacrificing like offering his own parts. "So you need a hardware specialist to help you, Mitsuki?"
"That would be the best solution, yes. But wait…" Mitsuki's eyes widened, shocked. "You aren't thinking of abducting one, are you?"
"Not to take them permanently with us, no, but maybe to pass on to you some skills and documentation," Luka explained.
"I think you are overestimating the rate at which I can learn. I'm still human, you know?"
"And where do you suppose we can get such a professional, an ad on the net?" Kiyoteru asked.
"The organization I worked for has a team in Belt to perform their illegal hardware modifications," Mitsuki ventured cautiously. "If we are going there, perhaps…"
"Oh, I'm sure they will be happy to collaborate," Kiyoteru said drily.
"Perhaps seeing a giant hostile ship might convince them." As if the matter was settled, Leon turned around and stepped out the lab's door.
Mitsuki sighed. "Have you guys even decided whether you want to approach Belt or not?"
Gakupo frowned. "It shouldn't even be in question. Our friends need us."
Luka groaned internally. "We'll have a vote, ok?" She turned towards Gumi and Lily, who seemed rather lost by this point in the conversation. "You two should vote as well. Come with me while I do my maintenance rounds and I'll get you up to date on things."
"I want to check on some structures on deck 3. Kiyoteru, want to come with me?" Gakupo said. Kiyoteru nodded, slightly surprised.
"If you don't have anything else to do, could you stay with me and chat, Kaito?" Mitsuki asked good-humoredly. His initial evaluation had been a success, but Mitsuki was clearly interested in studying an earlier VE model more deeply.
"Um, sure," Kaito answered a bit unnerved by the gleam in the scientist's eyes. She cheerfully wagged her fingers in the air, with a smile that was just a little too wide. Kaito glanced back at the rest, eyes wide.
"She's not going to harm you, Kaito," Gakupo whispered in his ear, to Luka's amusement. Did the VE-01 really need that spelled out? "She's just enthusiastic about us." He straightened up and signaled the ship to warp him and Kiyoteru.
Luka gestured Lily and Gumi to follow her and walked out the door. "Have fun, you two," she said over her shoulder.
"We will!" Mitsuki said, flashing two thumbs-up at the bots until the door closed. Kaito settled on looking awfully like a lamb about to be eaten by a wolf.
"Not that I don't appreciate the invitation, but I'm wondering why you asked me to join you here," Kiyoteru told Gakupo as soon as they appeared among the mysterious mechanisms of deck 3. He gestured towards the towering structures all around them, a jungle of crystalline crisscrossing tubes, panels with blinking lights and tall thick metallic pillars with many protruding sections of unknown purpose. A subtle hum permeated the air.
"Aside from Luka, you are the only one with repair skills among us," Gakupo replied, and started walking towards an elevated section of the floor, with something that looked like a control console. "And you are less concerned about my personal well-being than her, so you might be able to give me an unbiased opinion."
"There is no such thing as an unbiased opinion, Gakupo." Kiyoteru pushed up his glasses. "Check your word banks."
"Strictly speaking, you are right. But I'm using relative assessment here."
"Well then, ask away."
"This whole deck seems full of interesting machines. So, let's just say we find something here that we can return to working state," Gakupo started, and immediately raised a hand to stop Kiyoteru from interrupting. "I don't want to attack the station, not at all, but we need something to bargain."
"Bargain? You mean to trade the units for alien technology?"
"Why not? Belt authorities crave new technology, right?" Gakupo slid his hand along the side of a metal box in the middle of the path. It had several rows of blinking indicators on its front, with strange symbols etched under each.
"We could end destabilizing the power equilibrium of the whole Solar System," the other unit pointed up.
Gakupo stared at the metallic surface, tinged with the red and purple reflection of his own figure. "I'm beginning to think…maybe I can't save everyone. Maybe it's wrong to even try. But I'm still willing to do anything for the ones I care about. Let the humans sort their problems on their own."
"Another logical hiccup; did Mitsuki really clear you as recovered?" The bespectacled unit shook his head. "Giving one faction technology is the opposite of letting them develop on their own. Then again, I don't actually care about them. I just feel I should point out the fallacies in your argument."
"Thanks for the input," Gakupo laughed. "So you would be in favour of the idea."
"Yes, I suppose so."
Benefactor, consensus reached. Proposal, rejected.
Gakupo froze. He looked upwards, in lieu of something to focus as Benefactor's 'face'. He suddenly felt guilty. Of course he should've consulted with the ship first, before speaking with anyone else. Perhaps he truly was still malfunctioning.
"…I'm sorry, Ben. I thought you wouldn't mind, if it meant rescuing the others."
Security breach proposed. Organic matter, not cleared for usage of sensitive research.
"Wait, sensitive research? I thought you said you didn't remember the purpose of this deck," Gakupo asked, frowning.
Partial recovery, achieved. Design documentation, recovered. Daily research logs, 64% corrupted. Conclusions, not found. Additional files, not found.
"So, what were they researching then? Can you tell us?"
Benefactor didn't reply. Instead, Kiyoteru suddenly pulled Gakupo's arm, pointing to the wide open space before the console. "What's that?!"
It was a grey figure, slimmer and taller than them, extremely distorted and filled with static, like a corrupted video transmission. It was incredibly disconcerting to see it trashing about as is in great agony, but have no audio to go along with it. After a couple of seconds, a flash of light emitted from the spot, followed by a blue glint before the creature disappeared.
Benefactor, consensus reached. Research, dangerous.
Benefactor loves small ones.
With the familiar cascade of warnings rushing through his mind, Gakupo suddenly found himself back at the charging room, with Kiyoteru still grabbing his arm. They looked at each, baffled.
"What just happened?" Kiyoteru asked, letting go off Gakupo and unnecessarily patting down his suit for non-existing dust.
"I think…I think Ben showed us what happened to his old crew." Gakupo scratched his head. "I don't think he wants us to find out what they were doing in deck 3."
"I don't think I want to know," Kiyoteru retorted.
Gakupo ran his hands through his hair, unsure of what to do. He obviously couldn't go against Benefactor's wishes, even if he wanted. But then, how could they rescue the others? He looked up, almost expecting some explanation or comment from the ship.
There was nothing.