The Next Morning
Junji yawned and rubbed his eyes, slowly waking up. The hotel bed wasn't the most comfortable he had ever slept in, but it wasn't unbearable or anything. Still, it had left him with a minor backache. Sitting up, he attempted to rub his sore muscles, not having much success due to the epicenter of the pain being located in that one impossible-to-reach area.
"Is something wrong?" Minako asked, lying in bed across from him.
"It's this mattress," Junji muttered groggily. "I know the colonists don't sleep in beds, but you would think they could at least provide one that wasn't so stiff."
Sitting up, the green-haired persocom pressed a hand down on her side of the mattress a few times, applying different amounts of pressure to test its give and elasticity.
"It seems fine to me. Maybe you just slept in a bad position."
Junji pouted, causing his wife to giggle. "Come on, I'll help you feel better," she said, edging over to him so she could begin massaging his sore back.
"Ah, that's wonderful," said Junji, relaxing as he felt the elven-eared 'com's fingers gently knead the tension from his muscles. "So," he said, changing the subject, "How did the negotiations with the Council go?"
"Pretty well," Minako replied with a smile. "There were some stubborn hold-outs, but overall they were a lot more reasonable than I had initially hoped for."
"That's good to hear." Peering over his shoulder, Junji suddenly noticed the time on the small clock on one of the bedside tables.
"It's almost noon already?" he said, surprised.
"Well this is a vacation, of sorts," Minako replied. "It's only fair that I let you sleep in."
"But what about you? Shouldn't you have gotten up a while ago?"
"The meeting with the corporation and government representatives isn't scheduled to start for another hour," she replied.
"Even so, there are a lot of things you could be doing around the island. Meeting with people, guaging the overall public sentiment, working to improve diplomatic relations..."
"That can wait for later. This morning, I just wanted to stay with you, Junji. After all, I figured you would be lonely if you woke up alone."
"That's sweet," he said, "if a bit uncharacteristic."
"Are you saying that I'm not normally sweet?" she asked, her voice assuming that familiar teasing tone.
"No, what I meant was, if there's productive work you can do, it's not like you to put it off."
The elf-eared persocom sighed, the pace of her hands slowing slightly as she continued to massage her husband's back. "I suppose that's true," she said, with a note of melancholy, "but even I get overwhelmed sometimes. Once in a while, I just need some time to relax. Do you think that's selfish of me?"
"Of course not," Junji said, stretching a bit. Minako patiently waited for him to finish before she resumed her massage. "But I'm curious - what do you mean by overwhelmed, exactly?"
She smiled faintly. "Among certain groups, I've developed a reputation of being omnicompetent and infallible, able to tackle any situation and not only come out on top, but make it look easy in the process."
"But you don't feel that way about yourself," Junji finished for her.
"No. Of couse I make mistakes - we both know that. And even though my track record may be pretty good, I still get nervous, especially when everyone seems to have such high expectations of me."
"Ah, I get it now," Junji said, beginning to assume a playful timbre of his own. "The real reason you waited for me to wake up was because you were nervous and needed me to reassure you."
"It's hardly the only reason," she said, irritated. "But it is one of the reasons..." she whispered those last words, accompanied by a slight blush. "It's just that... there's so much riding on the success of these negotiations. The future of Anemkwoj, and perhaps the entire persocom race, hinges on this. That's a lot of responsibility to deal with. If I slip up... say something wrong and botch the negotiations..."
She let the unspoken conclusion to her sentence hang in the air for a few seconds. Junji gave her a comforting smile and gently embraced her.
"Listen, Minako," he said, "I'm not going to tell you that you're perfect and can't possibly fail - because you're not. You're absolutely right about that. But-" he held an index finger up for emphasis, "I do believe that you will succeed. As much as you may hate to hear it, you are a genius - perhaps the smartest person I've ever met."
"You're just putting more pressure on me now," she objected.
"I'm not done yet," the psychologist continued. "Even setting aside your genius, the fact is I know you can handle this, because this is what you're good at. You have experience handling disputes, and you know how to deal with people with wildly differing points of view. You know what both sides want, and what their perspectives are, and you're familiar with all of the ins and outs of the case. Don't work yourself up worrying about failure - instead, think of the best path to success. You don't need to come up with a perfect solution, so don't try to. Just do the best you can, using your logic and intuition like you always do."
"Thanks, Junji," Minako smiled. "That actually does make me feel better." The couple embraced again and shared a kiss.
"How's your back feeling?" Minako asked.
"A lot better, thanks," Junji answered, standing up and stretching to prove his point.
"I'm glad," she grinned. "By the way, do you mind if I ask you your opinion on something, as a professional psychologist?"
"That depends," Junji replied, not sure where she was going with this.
"It's related to what we were just talking about," she clarified, beginning to sound nervous again. "My reputation - you know, as this amazing genius who can solve any problem? I suppose I have no one but myself to blame for that, right? It's because I always try so hard."
"Are you implying that you shouldn't be trying as hard as you do?"
"No, but...sometimes I wonder if the reason why I always put so much effort into everything I do, and why I always seem so assertive and aggressive... some might even say arrogant... is because I have a pathological need to prove myself."
"I'd say you've more than proven yourself already," Junji said.
"Yes, but the fact that I'm a persocom - that so many people see me as just a machine by default, without even attempting to get to know me first... I think that contributes to it. I feel like I have to go out of my way to assert myself and show off, just so people will stop underestimating me. But I overdo it so often that I have to worry about being overestimated as well."
"It's a delicate balance, for sure." Junji stroked the stubble on his chin, considering his wife's predicament. "This might seem cliche, but if you ask me, the best advice is to stop worrying so much about what other people think of you, and just be yourself. Do what you want to do, without constantly anguishing over how it will seem to others."
"That's a lot easier said than done, Junji," Minako replied. "A significant component of our selves is defined by our relationships with those around us. You should know that."
"Of course I do. But it's unhealthy to let that part of yourself have too much sway over your identity. And instead of viewing your accomplishments as burdens that lead others to expect too much out of you, you should instead think of them as testaments to your own ability. You know you're competent - you don't need to go out of your way to prove it to everyone. And if you make a misstep here or there, that just proves you're a fallible person like anyone else."
"You're really good at this," Minako smiled, kissing his cheek. "I'm sure you'll have your doctorate in no time."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Junji replied.
"I had better shower and get changed," the green-haired persocom said, getting up and approaching the door to the small bathroom. "Unless you want to go in first, that is."
"Nah, it's fine," Junji said. "By the way, I'm thinking of spending the rest of the day exploring the island and getting to know more of the people. Maybe I could try my hand at being an ambassador myself. You think I'm up for it?"
"I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job," Minako replied, ducking into the shower. "Just try to avoid the separatists, if possible."
Once they were both ready, Junji and Minako parted ways at the front door of the hotel, each accompanied by a bodyguard. The guards had informed them that Yumi and Ueda had left several hours earlier, with an escort of their own.
As Junji proceeded down one of the footpaths leading from the hastily-constructed hotel to the area that best fit the label of 'downtown' on the island, he decided to try making small talk with the man assigned to protect him.
"So, nice day, isn't it?" he asked. The middle-aged Japanese man grunted quietly but gave no other acknowledgment.
"You know, I never caught your name," Junji continued, turning back to address the man.
"My code name is Karasu. You don't need to know my real name," he replied curtly.
"So, you work for the corporation?"
"Yes."
"Must be an exciting job, especially since you get to visit beautiful places like this."
Another grunt of acknowledgment.
Realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere, Junji stopped trying to engage Karasu in conversation, and instead focused on his surroundings. The persocoms here had done a great job of constructing what seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, a functioning town. There were paved streets, houses built in several different styles, what appeared to be shops, and even a small park that wouldn't have been out of place back in Kyoto. Besides that, the place was bustling with activity, with dozens of persocoms going about their daily business. He spotted a handful of them working on construction and landscaping projects, but most of the 'coms seemed to be enjoying themselves and relaxing. He saw couples holding hands, groups standing around and chatting (mostly wirelessly rather than verbally, although their gestures and facial expressions made it clear that they were conversing), and others doing everything from watering plants in their yards to shopping. It was hardly that different from a typical human village, in fact, and far from the work camp-like environment Minako had described to him, when the island had been under Ryuhei's reign.
Of course, there were several notable differences compared to the communities Junji was used to. As persocoms didn't suffer from fatigue, and the island was overall too small and undeveloped to make motor vehicles practical, the roads that separated the buildings were more akin to wide sidewalks, and there were no traffic lights, crossings, or any of the other trappings you would expect from a typical industrialized town. Another notable absence was that of the written word; you could spot an occasional mural, patterned window, or sculpture, but there wasn't a single road sign or flyer anywhere, and all of the buildings were bereft of visible labels. Junji supposed this made sense, as with perfect memories and up-to-date maps of the colony, everyone already knew where and what everything was. Still, from his human perspective, it was slightly unsettling, and gave the place an almost alien feel.
Most of the colonists didn't spare Junji or Karasu a second glance as the two passed by, although occasionally someone would look either intrigued or off-put by the presence of the humans. After a bit of aimless wandering, Junji decided to check out one of the small shops, Karasu accompanying him inside.
The interior of the store (at least, he assumed it was a store) was not all that strange. There were shelves and rows of various eclectic items, ranging from mechanical and electronic components to construction and gardening tools, and even what appeared to be hand-made arts and crafts. Notably though, there was no sign of any food or drinks anywhere. Behind a counter in the center of the main room sat a smiling persocom with Korean features - presumably the shopkeeper. She raised an eyebrow at the two humans, but once she realized that they were just here to observe she seemed to lose interest.
The shop wasn't particularly busy, but Junji was able to observe two distinctive patterns of behavior among the customers that did show up. Most of them would head quickly and purposefully towards a certain shelf or aisle, seeming to know exactly what they wanted and where to find it. Less commonly, others would spend time browsing the shop's various wares before deciding on something. In all cases, however, they simply took what they wanted and left, sometimes not even bothering to acknowledge the shopkeeper with a nod or a wave.
Junji could think of two possibilities to explain this - either all of the monetary transactions were done wirelessly, or this wasn't a shop at all - more like some kind of free supply station, with enough goods to go around. He pondered whether such a system would be feasible, even in the limited environment of Anemkwoj, but he was no economist, and he soon filed the puzzle away in the back of his mind for later.
Just then, he spotted two familiar faces entering the store. Janet and Martin, the married couple who had helped him and the others get settled on the island yesterday, were now accompanied by a third persocom - a male with the body of a teenager, and the same dark complexion.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Takeda," Janet greeted him, shaking his hand. "I didn't expect to see you here. How are you enjoying Ailinginae so far?"
"Well, it's certainly... different," Junji replied, not quite ready to give his final verdict on the place.
"I can imagine a lot of things here must seem pretty weird from a human perspective," Martin laughed. He turned towards Karasu, subtly inviting the human bodyguard to introduce himself, but the man replied only with a steady glare, forcing Martin to look away after a few seconds.
"Don't worry about him, he just takes his job a bit too seriously," Junji laughed, trying to break the tension. Junji then noticed that the teenage 'com was avoiding his gaze, and seemed to be trying to minimize his profile by hiding behind Janet.
"Is that your son, the one you told me about?" Junji asked.
"Yes," Janet smiled, happy at the chance to introduce her pride and joy. "This is Derek. He's only three weeks old, and he's a little shy, but I couldn't have asked for a better son. Say hello, Derek."
The young persocom hesitantly approached Junji. "Hello, Mr. Takeda," he said, offering a handshake. Junji accepted, and Derek smiled, but then took on a confused expression as he started to examine his palm.
"You left some kid of viscous residue on my hand," he said matter-of-factly. "Is this that thing called sweat I've read about?"
"Yeah, sorry, it is rather hot out," Junji said self-consciously.
"There's no need to apologize, I think it's fascinating," Derek said, still examining his hand. "You know, you and your friend there are respectively the seventh and eighth humans I've ever seen in person. You're also the second one I've ever spoken to."
"I guess I should consider that an honor," Junji replied with a smile.
"Is it true that humans spend an average of eight hours per day in an inert state?"
"Inert state? Oh, you mean sleep. Yeah, we do. We can't function without it."
"How do you stand it? I couldn't even imagine wasting so much of my life doing nothing!"
Junji laughed. "Believe it or not, sleep is usually quite pleasant. It's the ultimate form of relaxation. A lot of persocoms can appreciate it too - many of them choose to deactivate themselves to match the sleeping patterns of the humans they live with, and some of them even have specialized programs that let them feel fatigue and sleep much like humans do."
Derek's eyes widened. "Really? That's so weird!"
"Yes, well, don't knock it until you've tried it," Junji laughed.
"I'm sorry to cut this meeting short, Mr. Takeda," Martin interrupted, "but we need to be on our way." He grabbed a few cans of paint from a nearby wall display and then proceeded to the door, beckoning impatiently for his wife and son to follow.
"Can I just ask one thing before you leave?"
"Sure," Janet said, to Martin's slight consternation.
"Are they giving away the stuff here for free, or are you paying for it electronically?"
"I wish it was free," Janet laughed. "But no, we still use currency here, even if it's all virtual. Ryuhei and his separatist faction were big fans of capitalism and entrepreneurship, so they insisted we do things this way, and when the Council took over they saw no need to change it. I suppose a more planned economy would also have been possible, but this has worked out fine for us so far. We don't have any problems with poverty or anything, at least not yet."
"I'm glad to hear that," Junji smiled, bidding the family goodbye. He then left the shop, Karasu trailing him like a shadow. Having seen enough of 'downtown' for now, he decided to go check out some of the other parts of the atoll.
Heading towards a nearby beach, he couldn't help but notice that many of the female 'coms were quite pleasant to look at (the fact that many of them wore tight-fitting swimsuits was a major contributing factor). Of course he realized that Minako wouldn't be too pleased if she knew the kind of thoughts that were running through his head right now, but what she didn't know couldn't hurt her (or him, for that matter).
One of the 'coms he had been ogling, a Japanese model with short, sky-blue hair, sporting a black bikini, seemed to notice his wandering eyes and glared sharply at him. He quickly looked away, chuckling self-consciously. 'On the other hand,' he thought, 'it would probably be a good idea to avoid doing anything that might cause offense... I am acting as a representative of my entire species here, after all.'
Taking a seat near a small tree on the edge of the beach, he watched the comings and goings of the colonists (taking care not to fix his gaze on any of the women for too long). One thing he noticed was the prevalence of families similar to Janet, Martin, and Derek. Most couples typically had one child each (although he did spot one family with two). The 'children' themselves varied wildly in form - some of them had teenage bodies like Derek, others had the bodies of little kids, and some even looked like adults (Junji was only able to tell that the latter were 'children' by how they constantly deferred to their parents). Everyone seemed to be having fun, and overall it seemed much like any other day at any public beach he had ever seen.
He took out his mobile and began taking notes regarding the group social dynamics on display - this was a potential goldmine for his research into persocom psychology. He soon became so engrossed in his writing that he didn't notice that he had attracted some attention, until he felt a slight tug on his shirt.
Jumping slightly, Junji turned his head to see what appeared to be a young Japanese girl, no more than five or six, sitting on the sand next to him, looking up at him curiously with her large brown eyes. Two semicircular grey plastic protrusions on her head identified her as a persocom.
"Hey mister, what are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm just observing," he explained.
"You're a human, aren't you?" The childlike persocom asked. "You're not one of the humans the company sent to watch us, so you must be one of those guests I heard about, right?"
"Yes, my name is Junji Takeda," he introduced himself. "I came here with my wife and my friends in order to-"
"Megumi, what are you doing? Get away from him!" A harsh voice interrupted. Junji was flustered to discover that it belonged to the same blue-haired female 'com he had been eyeing earlier.
"Sorry, mama!" the little girl, now identified as Megumi, said as she stood up and ran back, clinging to her mother's leg.
"What have I told you about talking to strange people, especially humans?" the taller 'com scolded.
"He seemed nice, though," Megumi replied.
Her mother snorted in disgust, sending a dirty look in Junji's direction.
"Listen, uh, ma'am," Junji began, doing his best to ameliorate the situation. "I'm sorry if I did anything wrong, your daughter was just curious about-"
"Shut up, I have nothing to say to you," the woman replied haughtily. "Come along now, Megumi," she said, walking back towards the water.
Megumi hesitated for a second or so, then bowed politely in Junji's direction before turning her back on him and running after her mother.
"Well, that could have gone better," Junji nervously muttered. As he pocketed his mobile and left the beach, Karasu, who had been watching the whole scene from a few meters away, silently followed.
Meanwhile, over at the island's main dock complex, Minako was waiting, accompanied by Rosa (who had been chosen as a direct representative of the Council for the talks) and a single bodyguard, who had given her code name as Fukuro. The corporation and government representatives were supposed to arrive any minute now, but as Minako scanned the horizon she didn't detect any approaching vessels, even with her vision set to maximum zoom mode.
"Maybe you should call them and ask why they're late," Rosa suggested.
"I've been trying," Minako said, looking frustrated. "But they haven't acknowledged any of my queries, whether by phone, e-mail, text..."
She turned to her bodyguard, the middle-aged Japanese woman she had spoken to the previous night. For some reason she was wearing a long-sleeved coat, despite the heat.
"You wouldn't happen to have any idea about what could be holding them up, would you?"
"Sorry, not a clue," Fukuro replied.
"This is rather odd, but humans aren't always known for their punctuality," Rosa pointed out. "Let's wait another half an hour and see if they show up."
"I guess," Minako muttered. "But something seems off about this..."
Several Hours Earlier
"I wonder if we should have woken Junji-kun and Minako-chan up," Yumi suggested, as she and her fiance left the hotel.
"It is unlike them to sleep in so late, but they deserve the rest," Hiroyasu replied. "I'm sure Minako-san won't forget about her meeting today."
"Just in case though, let's come back at around twelve forty-five and give them a wake-up call if they're still in bed," Yumi said.
"Sure, but that won't be for a while," Ueda said, checking his watch, which gave the time as just after nine.
"I'm sure that won't be necessary," said the bodyguard that was escorting them. "My colleagues will make sure they're awake in time."
"Is that part of your job description, though?" Ueda asked.
"Yes, actually," the bodyguard, a stout young man, replied. "You should trust us. We're professionals."
"I guess that makes me feel better," Yumi smiled. The bodyguard ignored her as he continued following the two down the boardwalk.
The brown-haired persocom frowned at this indifferent reaction, but the expression didn't last long as something else soon grabbed her interest. An odd, curved, metallic structure was just barely visible beyond a small group of trees to the right.
"Hey, what's that? It's not on the map of the island I downloaded," she wondered aloud, already dragging Ueda towards the mysterious edifice.
"Hey, Yumi, hold on!" he shouted, struggling to keep up with her.
After passing through the dense grove, they arrived at the base of the building - some kind of large, prefabricated metal shed surmounted by a rather sizable satellite dish. The building was surrounded on all sides by trees, with only a narrow dirt path serving as an access point to the rest of the island.
Ueda paused to shake the dirt and leaves off of his clothes, looking annoyed. "Look, Yumi, there's a path, we could have taken that instead of running through the woods."
"Well how was I supposed to know that? This place isn't on the map, remember?"
Before they could continue their argument, a trio of angry-looking persocoms emerged from the building, storming up to the uninvited guests.
"What is it now?" the apparent leader of the group, a blonde female wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, asked.
"What do you mean, now?" Ueda replied. "We've never been here before!"
"Well there were some humans snooping around here only fourteen minutes and thirty-six point nine seconds ago," the blonde 'com replied. "We caught them trying to sneak into the station," she pointed her thumb towards the structure behind her.
"What is this place, anyway?" Yumi and Ueda's bodyguard spoke up, sounding suspicious. "It's not on the digital map you provided to the guests."
The blonde persocom facepalmed. "It's nothing more than a satellite uplink station which doubles as storage for 3D printer components. The reason it's not on the map is because there's nothing here any tourists would be interested in. We already explained this to your friends."
"If that is the case, then you won't mind if we have a look inside, will you?" the bodyguard continued.
"We already gave the tour to the humans that were just here after they kept insisting, so go and ask them!" the blonde 'com shouted, clearly exasperated. "Believe it or not, some of us have work to do and we don't have time for all of these interruptions!"
Yumi and Ueda exchanged a confused glance, while their bodyguard whispered something into the headset he was wearing. He soon received a reply, then nodded his head, seemingly satisfied.
"Sounds like your story checks out. We're sorry to have bothered you," he said, bowing politely. The blonde 'com and her assistants simply scoffed and returned to the small building.
"We should probably head somewhere else now," Ueda muttered. Yumi, however, was curious about something.
"Why were the other guards here before?" she asked their bodyguard. "I thought you were supposed to be protecting us, not sneaking around the island."
"It is part of our assignment to ensure your safety," the short man replied. "I'm not at liberty to divulge any more detailed information."
"Something seems awfully suspicious about this..." muttered Ueda.
"You're telling me," Yumi said. Their bodyguard declined to comment.
Several Hours Later
After wandering around a bit more, Junji had run into Takumi, one of the twelve Council members and a self-styled philosopher. Naturally, the two had quickly sparked off a conversation.
"So you're saying that you think the world would be better off without humans?" Junji asked.
"No, that's not what I meant at all! It's just a thought exercise - if every last human were to suddenly vanish off the face of the Earth tomorrow, what would happen next?"
"I don't know, you tell me," Junji said, still unsure where Takumi was going with this.
"If the same question was posed just thirty years ago," he began, "the answer would be the same as it had always been throughout human history - civilization would come to a complete halt. Cities, vehicles, and all of the other artifacts of mankind would simply lay there abandoned, eventually yielding to nature as the forests, deserts, and tundras reclaimed them. The planet would return to a feral state, ruled only by mother nature, much as it was before humans ever existed. But-" he said with emphasis "-now things are different. Humans now share the planet with another form of sapient intelligence, one that could carry on their legacy. The success of Anemkwoj is proof of this. If humans were to disappear now, we would be there to pick up the slack - not only maintaining their cities and vehicles and making use of their technology, but improving on it and expanding, just as humanity used to do. Did you know that quite a few of the things we've created here are our own innovations? We haven't just been copying human designs; we've been modifying them to serve our own purposes. For example, the children we've built use components and code superior to factory standards, developed by our own engineers. In other words, we're not just reproducing; we're evolving, and we're even directing our own evolution. I imagine that's one of the reasons why so many humans are afraid of us."
"Yes, I'm familiar with the apocalyptic singularity scenario - humans build an AI, that AI builds a superior AI, which then builds an even superior AI, and so on, until the machines advance so quickly that humanity becomes obsolete and irrelevant; subject to the whims of beings we can't even comprehend. It's a somewhat popular science fiction plot."
"You don't seem particularly worried about that eventuality actually coming to pass, though, Mr. Takeda," Takumi pointed out.
"That's because there's a factor involved here that many people seem to overlook. The assumption seems to be that as soon as an AI gains the capability to modify and improve its own design, it will go full steam ahead, building link after link in the chain of progressively smarter computers. But whatever negative consequences this could have for humans down the line would equally apply to the AIs on the lower rungs of this ladder of sophistication. If we assume that this hypothetical Uber-AI, the result of countless generations of machines improving on themselves, would suddenly decide that humanity is obsolete, then why wouldn't it decide the same for all of its less-advanced AI forebears? There's no reason why you, your children, and your children's children, going forward who-knows-how-many generations, wouldn't be in just as much danger from this theoretical ultimate AI of the future as we would. And even it could eventually face the same fate from its own descendants. It's an ultimately self-destructive path, and as each succeeding generation of machines becomes smarter, they would become less and less likely to follow it."
Takumi smiled. "You are very insightful, Mr. Takeda. While paranoia about such singularity events is common, the chances of such a thing leading to the end of humanity are indeed low. When your scientists first designed us, they modeled our minds after your own. While we can think faster than you and possess several other advantages, that does not make us qualitatively smarter. We simply want to prove that we can match humans, not replace them. After all, there is more to intelligence than sheer computing speed. My processor runs at only forty petaflops, while my daughter Susumu's runs at seventy-five, but she still relies on me to teach her. It's not just the difference in experience, either - I was chosen for the Council above many other persocoms whose specs leave mine in the dust, because I'm known for my wisdom. Greater processing power and memory capacity is no substitute for that. I think it's safe to say that while we are making improvements, we are definitely not creating a new race to succeed you, or ourselves."
"Your reputation seems well-deserved, Takumi-san," Junji smiled. "Would you mind if I used some of your insights in my writing? I'll be sure to credit you, of course-"
Before Takumi could respond, a burst of static indicated that Karasu was receiving a transmission on his headset. With a concerned look on his face, he grabbed Junji's arm and pulled him off to the side.
"Mr. Takeda, I'm afraid there's been an incident."
"What?" Junji asked, startled. "Are Minako and the others okay?"
"For the moment, yes," replied the bodyguard, "but we need to get you to a secure location immediately."
"What's going on?" Takumi asked, having overheard the whispered conversation. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Yes - stay exactly where you are and do not interfere," Karasu said harshly.
"Karasu-san, whatever's going on, I don't think Takumi-san had anything to do with it," Junji objected. "He seems just as surprised as we are."
"We can't take that risk," the bodyguard replied, continuing to whisper out of habit even though it was now obvious that the persocom could hear him. "Come with me, we don't have much time." Karasu took off at a run and Junji followed after him, being given no real choice in the matter.
After the misunderstanding at the communications station, Yumi had tried grilling their bodyguard for more information, but he refused to say anything other than assuring them that everything was being done 'for their protection'. He wouldn't even give them his real name, instead insisting they call him by the code name 'Washi'. Finally, Yumi had given up and decided to just enjoy the island. That hadn't worked out very well either, though, considering that they had been accosted by a group of separatist 'coms when exploring the colony's urban center.
There was no violence, but a heated argument had broken out after some of the anti-human colonists had made their views quite clear. Ueda had finally had enough when one of them accused Yumi of being his sex slave, and they had both stormed off back to the hotel, Washi following.
"I hope Junji-kun and Minako-chan are having a better time than we are," Yumi grumbled, sitting on the hotel bed across from her fiance.
"They probably are. Minako-san should be in the middle of her negotiations now... hopefully she'll get the Council to punish those separatist jerks for harassing us like that."
"That would be a welcome development," Yumi said, smiling at the thought of the bitch who had called her 'that human's brainwashed pleasure toy' being reprimanded by Rosa or one of the other Anemkwoj higher-ups.
"There's also something really fishy going on with these bodyguards," Hiroyasu pointed out. "Personally, I don't trust Washi or any of the others as far as I can throw them."
"Same here. I think they're up to something."
A sly grin spread over Ueda's face. "I've got an idea. There are at least two exits to this building, right?"
"Three, actually."
"Even better. What do you say we ditch Washi and do a little investigating?"
Yumi now sported a mischievous grin of her own. "Lead the way!"
"Something is definitely wrong here," Minako muttered, still scanning the horizon with her enhanced vision. "It's been almost an hour and there's still no sign of them."
"Perhaps we should-" Rosa began, but she was unable to finish her thought before being interrupted by Minako's bodyguard.
"Mrs. Takeda, a problem has arisen," she said, listening to her headset. Minako tried to use her enhanced hearing to pick up what was being said on the other end, but the microphone seemed to employ some kind of sound dampening technology that made the words impossible to make out.
"What kind of problem?"
"No time to explain, we need to get you to a safe location," Fukuro said, grabbing the green-haired 'com by the arm. Minako immediately pulled herself free.
"Not until you tell me what's going on. Is Junji okay? What about Ueda and Yumi?"
"They're fine, but we have to get you to safety immediately."
Minako put her foot down firmly on the sand. "What is going on? Tell me, now!"
"Please, ma'am, this is no time to be stubborn," Fukuro said, clearly becoming impatient.
"You're the one being stubborn by not telling me what the big emergency is! I'm not about to run off and hide somewhere if I don't even know-"
She never had the chance to finish her sentence, as arcs of electricity suddenly began to play over her body, and she fell over, unconscious.
"Minako! What happened?" Rosa shouted, not noticing the miniature stun gun Fukuro had concealed up her sleeve.
As the Marshallese 'com ran over to investigate her fallen friend, the highly-trained bodyguard, moving with speed and practiced grace, jabbed Rosa with the stun gun, causing her to collapse as well.
"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," she muttered under her breath, as she hoisted the inert bodies of the two 'coms over her shoulders and quickly carried them to a nearby grove of trees, taking a few minutes to hide them beneath a hastily-assembled layer of dirt and leaves.
Meanwhile, Karasu had led Junji to an area near an unused dock, and was still refusing to answer any of the psychologist's questions. As he received another message on his headset, Junji saw the man's eyes widen in shock.
"What? What do you mean you lost them? And Fukuro had to do what? Dammit!"
"For the last time, will you please explain exactly what is-" Junji began.
"Shut up!" Karasu cut him off, a touch of venom in his voice. "Just sit tight and keep quiet, we're going to send for a boat to take you safely away from here."
"What, exactly, do I need to be saved from? And what about the others? Did you say something about losing them?"
"The situation is under control," Karasu hissed, his demeanor suggesting the opposite of his words. "Just do as I say and stop making trouble!"
On the other side of the island, Yumi and Hiroyasu were still sneaking around, having successfully evaded Washi. However, for the last few minutes at least, they had seen neither hide nor hair of any of the bodyguards or their friends they were supposed to be guarding.
As they rounded a corner of one of the sections of the atoll, however, Ueda suddenly grabbed his fiancee and ducked behind a tree.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Yumi shouted.
"Sssh! Keep it down! Look over there!" Ueda whispered, pointing to a figure a few dozen meters further down the beach. "That's one of our guards, I recognize the uniform."
Yumi zoomed in, resolving the details of the person's face. "You're right," she whispered back. "That's Fukuro, the bodyguard assigned to guard Minako-chan."
"Where is she then? Shouldn't they be together?" Ueda asked.
"I don't know, but - wait, she's speaking into that headset of hers," Yumi announced. "I can't make out what's being said on the other line, but I can hear what she's saying."
"Tell me," Ueda whispered.
Yumi's voice suddenly changed to that of an older woman, as she faithfully recorded and re-transmitted Fukuro's side of the conversation, albeit quietly enough to avoid tipping off the human bodyguard, who was still a fair distance away from the couple's concealed position.
"Yes, I double-checked with Tsuru, she said she's sure. You can ask her yourself if you-"
"No, I know that you don't-"
"Oh, so now it's my fault? At least I know where my charge is, you lost yours completely! Both of them!"
"About twenty meters from the rendezvous point, camouflaged under some trees. They should be easy to find if you look."
"You still think the operation is salvageable? I'm not that optimistic... fine then, I'll be right there. See if you can send someone to reinforce Karasu as well. Fukuro out."
Yumi and Ueda looked at each other for a few seconds, then watched as the woman known as Fukuro ran past, completely missing them behind the cover provided by a small grove of palm trees.
"Any idea what that was about?" Yumi asked.
"No, but she mentioned something about a rendezvous point... I'm guessing she meant the dock where the representatives were supposed to show up to negotiate with Minako-san and the others."
"That's not far from here, according to the map. You think we should check it out?"
"It's our best lead so far," Ueda replied.
The two carefully proceeded in the direction that Fukuro had come from, making sure to hide themselves among the foliage when possible. It wasn't long until they arrived at the designated rendezvous point, which comprised the island's main dock complex, currently abandoned.
"Shouldn't the representatives have arrived by now?" Ueda asked, looking at the empty dock.
"Maybe they took the boat somewhere else to conduct the negotiations?" Yumi suggested.
"Maybe, but I doubt it. Fukuro-san said something about trees near here, didn't she?"
"She said there was something hidden beneath the trees twenty meters from the rendezvous point, and it wouldn't be too hard to find."
"Let's start looking then."
"Right!"
It wasn't long until the couple located the unconscious bodies of Minako and Rosa. At first they feared the worst, but a careful examination revealed that they had merely been subjected to a minor electrical shock, and Yumi was able to use her charger cables to reboot both of them. They quickly filled her and Ueda in on the situation, but they were still missing one important piece of information - Junji's whereabouts.
Junji was, at that moment, angrily pacing back and forth across the sand. A few minutes ago another one of the bodyguards, an older bald man code-named Taka, had arrived to join Karasu, and the two had done nothing but nervously patrol the area in front of the dock and insist that Junji remain here with them.
"What are you guys really up to?" the psychologist asked, finally reaching the point where he could no longer stand waiting. "After all this, you can't expect me to believe that there's nothing shady going on here."
"It's none of your concern," replied Karasu in his typical manner, although his voice was now tinged with a note of stress, the same kind of stress you get when your well-laid plans degenerate into what can best be termed a clusterfuck.
"You know, my wife and I are good friends with Yoichi-san and his daughter," Junji tried. "I'm pretty sure he didn't authorize whatever you're doing, and when he finds out-"
Taka chose this moment to smack Junji across the face with the butt of his stun gun, knocking him to the ground. Karasu looked surprised.
"Taka, we're supposed to be protecting these people!"
"He can protect himself by shutting up - he should be grateful I didn't use the business end of this thing," the older man said, flipping the switch on the stun gun, which caused an arc of blue lightning to crackle between its twin prongs.
Nervously, Karasu tried his headset again. "Washi? Washi, come in." No response.
"Fukurou? Tsuru? Kujaku?"
"I'm afraid they're not available to chat at the moment," a familiar voice rang out from near the tree line across the beach.
"Minako!" Junji shouted in relief, glimpsing his wife as she approached them along with Yumi, Ueda, and Rosa.
"Stay back!" Karasu said, brandishing his stun gun in the elf-eared 'com's direction. Taka took out his own stun gun and held it to Junji's neck.
"Bodyguards taking the one they were assigned to protect as a hostage," Minako spat. "How disgraceful."
"We won't hurt him if you let us leave," Karasu replied.
"You'd abandon your comrades here?" she asked.
"They can fend for themselves," Karasu said.
"Are you sure about that?"
On cue, over a dozen persocoms emerged from the trees, along with the human 'bodyguards' designated Washi, Fukuro, and Kujaku, their hands bound behind their backs with makeshift restraints.
"Let him go. Now." Minako commanded, the authority in her voice as great as it had ever been.
Taka growled, raising his stun gun, but Karasu grabbed his arm and urged him to stop.
"It's over," he said. "We've failed."
Junji took that moment to punch Taka in the back of the neck before running over to join his wife.
"Thanks Minako, you're a lifesaver," he said, as the two shared a quick hug.
"You should really be thanking Hiroyasu and Yumi; if it wasn't for them these scumbags might have gotten away with it," she said.
"What were they trying to do, anyway?"
"It seems the corporation never intended to negotiate with the colony in the first place; the whole thing was a ruse. They just needed an excuse to let these six conduct some kind of espionage operation here."
"Wait, six? I only count five," Ueda said.
"The last one escaped in the confusion," Masaji explained, having accompanied Minako to help rescue Junji. "As soon as we discovered what they were really up to, they went into panic mode and tried to take you all hostage. They fed us some bullshit story about being sent here to find some hidden weapons cache or something, but it's obvious they were just trying to-"
"Bullshit, is it?" A female voice rang out from the far side of the beach, cutting Masaji off.
"Tsuru!" Karasu shouted, recognizing the sixth member of their unit. The woman took out a machine pistol and fired a few shots into the air, causing everyone to duck and cover.
"Where the hell did she get that?" Rosa shouted. "They were all searched earlier, the stun guns were deemed acceptable, but there's no way they could have smuggled in something like that!"
"Where do you think, persocom?" Tsuru snarled. "This gun is made of the same reinforced plastic polymer used by many of the 3D printers here. And it's just one among hundreds, all stockpiled away in a secret stash, at least until I found it. Your peaceful colony has been busy these last few weeks, arming itself for all-out war!"
Author's Note: Sorry for the late chapter again! I hope the next one will be quicker, especially because of the cliffhanger at the end of this one (I'm sure it will increase the anticipation factor). As usual, I would like to give some more shout-outs, first to webidolchiu94, who has finally finished her epic story Eternal Flowers - check it out if you haven't yet done so. Next, I'd like to make note of a relatively new author, 25Dragonfly, responsible for the stories I want to love you and Tsundere Kotoko. His grammar and spelling, as well as his overall writing are rather rough but he has been improving, and I've been giving him tips, and he could probably use some more encouragement, so read and review his stories if you have the time, I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
