"Hey… up. Can… hear me? Wake up!"
"Uah!" She didn't jump so much as get shaken awake. When Ray opened her eyes there was a man she couldn't recognize holding on tight to her shoulders.
"Good, yer awake. Now get away from my storefront ya tramp!" The man was apparently the owner of the store Ray had fainted in front of.
"Geez, alright, alright I'll get moving." But she couldn't even get to her feet without wobbling, and fell back down. "Just, give me a second." The man grabbed under her arms and lifted her up with little effort.
"There, yer on yer feet, now get going." He shooed her off, a little less forcefully this time.
Ray walked for a while, not really sure what to do or where to go. In truth, she was beyond dazzled by the entire situation. Yesterday she had gone home after work, microwaved some leftovers, took a quick shower and went to bed. Today she woke up in a different world, and not only some fictional world, one she was rather familiar with. The world she was in now was from an anime and manga she had watched and read growing up, how could that possibly be real?
Did Ray get isekai'd, or in more plain English, did she get transported unwillingly from her world to this one? That was only supposed to happen in fictional media right? And didn't getting transported to another world usually involve death and rebirth, or at least the intervention of a higher power? Ray couldn't recall meeting anyone that fit that description. 'What if I've gone insane and just dreamed up my previous life. Wait a second I can check that.' Looking down at her hands, a small scar ran along her left thumb, just like she remembered having before. 'Ok, so not a rebirth, unless I scared myself the same way. So that can only mean I got isekai'd right?'
It was altogether too much for her to handle. She was in a fictional world! And not just any fictional world, one where she knew the ending. And it did end, more or less, and that was a problem. Ray's thoughts were a jumble, but one thing was abundantly clear to her, she should not be here at all. And she had to survive long enough to go home!
While in her confused daze, Ray eventually found a bench. She sat down, still looking for all the world that she'd been slapped by a megadeus. Oh right, I should read the paper I got off that man earlier… wait, was that Big Ear? If it was then…
Ray stopped her train of thought and opened the paper. If I can figure out when I am in the story, I can create a plan of action on how to deal with this whole isekai crap. Thumbing through the paper, Ray came upon an article about a reclusive robotic scientist being murdered in a nightclub. Oh… well then. I should be within the first few episodes. So I have longer to create a plan of action. Ray never thought she would be glad to read about a murder, but in this case, it gave her longer to find a way out of the mess she was in.
While she was thinking about it, Ray came to a stomach sinking realization. If I start interacting with the main cast of the series, I might get stuck in the world longer, or may not be able to go home at all. Then another thought hit her. Or it might make it easier to go home… I don't know.
Ray couldn't help but feel helpless about the whole situation. How and why was she in Paradigm City? She didn't think it was the typical method of death and rebirth. Could it have been a random portal opening up and bringing her to a new world, or some gods interference? Well, Ray wasn't one to believe in the supernatural, but it was hard to deny something or someone had a hand in this. Still, no matter how much she racked her brain, Ray couldn't think of a conceivable answer.
"Hey you, what are you doing?" Ray heard a gruff voice not far away and jumped from the startling noise. The gruff voice belong to none other than Major Dastun, with his black mutton chops being fluffed by the wind, yet his long dusty military coat seemed to stay close to the body.
'Ah shit. I better run.' And with that thought Ray was up and off, hoping she could at least outrun the wary old cop.
Ray had run for an unknown number of blocks, she was far too tired and hungry to keep going. Jeez, he ran longer than I thought he would. With Ray being too exhausted to go any further, Ray found a small alleyway near the end of the block she was on. Hiding behind some trash cans so no one could see her, Ray rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes for a while. 'I'll just nap here a bit, then start looking for answers again.'
"Young lady, are you alright?"
Ray jumped with a start, yet again, and could not believe her tired, panicked eyes. In front of her was a person she did not want to meet in this strange and terrifying situation that was her life right now. None other than the elderly butler that was this world's equivalent of Alfred Pennyworth, Norman Burg the machine gun toting manservant was in front of her. Towering his full 6'5", pristine uniform and handlebar mustache immaculate, the manservant was staring down at the unfortunate Ray with his one good eye.
"Um, no I'm ok, just tired…" A rumbling sound came from her stomach, betraying her just when she needed to make a getaway.
"How long have you been on the streets, young lady?" His tone went from concerned to fatherly, that tone he tended to take with another young lady.
Seriously? This is some shit. Ok I just have to find a way out of this. Her stomach grumbled again, louder this time. Then again, Norman has been known to help the less fortunate and down on their luck without a lot of questions. Another long rumble roared from her stomach, and Ray could feel the muscles contract from it. Screw it, I'm just going for broke. "I… I have no idea. I woke up this morning with no idea what happened. I only remember my name."
Ray knew that in Paradigm City, people can seemingly at random lose and regain their memories. Not only those who were alive forty years ago, but people younger than thirty often regain memories that aren't theirs, or lose them altogether. So, thinking maybe if she played her cards correctly, she could claim to be an anemisaic for long enough to hopefully convince the kindly, older man to leave her be. Or feed her and let her alone after. She wasn't averse to getting a warm meal right now.
"I see, that is rather unfortunate. Hmm." He peered off into the distance, appearing to be lost in thought. Ray held no such notions, she knew he was scheming. "Well then, I have a little proposition for you."
Ray just looked perplexed at his choice of words. Oh no, he's not about to suggest what I think he is, is he?
"Well, for the time being, come inside for a bit, let's get you cleaned up and fed first."
"Are you sure? I could be lying, or dangerous."
"I highly doubt that Miss…"
Ray sighed. Can no one just ask for names normally here? "Ray Law."
"Well, Ms Law, please follow me."
It was all rather surreal for Ray. While she had seen the old bank that comprised the Smith mansion from the anime she had watched growing up, it was like an out of body experience being inside the building itself. Clean, but yet still having a bit of a lonesome feel to it, with some of the pillars being cracked a tad, and the wood of the bank booths faded with age. Still, Ray just couldn't deal with all of this. It was beginning to be too much for her. She must've looked glassy eyed, or perhaps a bit out of sorts, but she wasn't all there. Body in one place, trying to stay grounded, but her mind had long since wandered off while allowing herself to be led wherever Norman was intending to lead her.
"Norman, who is this?" A calm, level and feminine voice spoke from the corner.
"Yip!" Ray jumped yet again, and this time couldn't stop herself from tripping over her own two feet and falling flat on her face. She just laid there for a few seconds, trying to reorient herself and let the stinging feeling fade away. Of course she would be here, she lives here… Freakin' tiny robot ninja. Ray was cursing internally, as doing so outward was not something she considered a good idea. No, angering Norman was not something she wanted to do, ever, if it could be helped.
"Are you alright Ms Law?"
"Yeah, I'll be ok, as soon as everyone quits sneaking up on me." Ray finally sat up and rubbed her nose to stop the stinging. She looked over to the corner the voice had come from, and sure enough, the gynoid maid dressed in her typical black maids dress was standing there, broom in hand.
"Um, hi?" Somehow the greeting came out as more of a question then a salutation.
"Wonderful timing Ms Dorothy. Would you be so kind as to set up one of the guest rooms please?'
"For this woman?" While the tone was flat, Ray got the feeling of disdain from where she sat. Geez, I know I look like a pile of trash, but does she gotta make me feel like it too?
"Yes. She'll be staying with us for a while."
"Wait what?" Ray's face took on the look of the distrubed emoticon, "I don't think I ever…"
"Now, this way Ms Law," he turned and started walking off down the hall.
Ray just stood up, shrugged at Dorothy's own look of disapproval (or at least as much of a face as the gynoid could make) and followed him down the hall. He set a brisk pace towards the elevator, which was hard to see in all the gray and black of the buildings interior. The elevator rose slowly, and eventually opened up into a hallway with a spiral staircase straight ahead. Ignoring her look of curiosity, he continued on into the kitchen, the only room in the house not entirely black. Copper, silver and wooden utensils, pots and pans lined the walls. A small wooden table was in the middle of the kitchen, with various ingredients on it, in various states of preparation.
"Master Roger is away at the moment, so it's just Ms Dorothy and myself here. But before we talk about room and board, let's get you fed and cleaned up shall we?" He sounded bemused and had a mischievous smile on his face.
"Why are you helping me gramps?"
"Gramps?"
Shit shit shit, "Why are you helping me, sir?" I need to be more careful, I do not need to be getting my ass kicked, and especially here of all places. Ray didn't think Norman would get violent with a young woman, but he might throw her out, and she was just hungry enough to go along with whatever was happening.
"Hm, just an old man being sentimental." He set about making a small meal.
Ray's face slowly moved on its own, shaping itself into an expression of wide eyes, slightly slack jawed, and ending in her emulating a certain Yotsuba confused face.
"Oh, okay then…" Within a few minutes a sandwich was made and set at the table. Ray's mouth started watering and she was about to grab it when she heard a stately 'hem hem'. "Oh um, right, should wash my hands first."
Ray took her gloves off and shoved them into her pockets, quickly, but efficiently scrubbed as much dirt from her hands as she could, and finally sat down at the table to eat. Once she was done scarfing it down, Norman removed the plate and set down another plate with some kind of sweet bread on it as well as a glass of milk. Ray practically swallowed it whole and drained the glass in one go.
"Now then, Ms Law." Norman spoke softly, perhaps afraid to startle her again, "Shall we discuss the proposition of sorts?" Norman continued after seeing Ray nod in affirmation. "Wonderful. Well then, as you saw earlier, it is only myself and Ms Dorothy here to take care of the house, all the cooking and cleaning and… maintenance, shall we say."
While his coyness would've fooled just about anyone else in the city unawares, Ray was very clearly aware that he meant the maintenance on The Big hidden in the household. And how for the most part, only he was capable of all the repairs the megadues needed to function after every battle. While Dorothy helped a bit, she didn't really handle the repairs so much as help more run checks. But Ray wasn't supposed to know that.
"Ok, so you want more help?"
"Indeed." His good eye shown a little in the light. Smiling he continued, "Glad to see that you are quick on the uptake."
"Right," Ray was of course, skeptical of whatever Norman was planning, "And your Master won't mind a sudden new worker appearing in his home?" Ray felt odd using the word master, it didn't have a good connotation where and when she was from. But then again, this world took place in a sort of 1950's-ish time, when a butler would use such terms.
"He might protest a little at first, but I'm sure he with time he will come round to the idea." Ray just stayed silent and raised an eyebrow. "Now then, Ms Dorothy should be about finished setting up the spare bedroom, let's get you washed up and rested a bit, shall we?"
"What am I supposed to do about my clothing? All I have is this ratty outfit."
"I'm sure an outfit can be procured for you, and you should be able to not appear as if you…" Norman coughed into his hand, "As if you had been living a less than ladylike life style. Now come along."
Freshly washed and also to Ray's shock, clothed in proper fitting rest attire that wasn't a maids outfit, she was now faced with the less than thrilled gynoid in the 'spare room' Ray would now be occupying.
It was sparse to be sure. Other than a bed and nightstand with a lamp, there was a small chest at the end of the bed, and a desk. But seeing as they were empty Ray ignored them.
"What was Norman thinking, letting you stay here?" Dorothy was picking up the filthy used clothing by pinching it, and dropping them into a basket.
"Why not go ask him yourself, I have about as much idea as you do." Ray couldn't help but shrug at the affront to her existence. I completely forgot about the fact that until Dorothy warms up to someone, she's kind of distant and angry about their very existence. Well, if you aren't Roger or Norman at least. And I'm not entirely sure she felt for Roger until much later.
"I intend too." Dorothy turned to leave.
"Um, wait," Dorothy turned back to face Ray, forcing her movement to be more mechanical than necessary. Ray cringed at the noise. "Doesn't that hurt your joints?"
"Is that what you wanted to ask?" Ray wasn't sure how to interpret Dorothy's mild tonal change from flat monotone to slightly less flat monotone.
"No, but well it seems rather concerning that you would force your body to make that noise when you could avoid doing so." Dorothy remained silent, but the light in the room made her face look neutral instead of angered as it had before. "I… just wanted to ask, I saw an article earlier in the paper about a recently deceased robotics scientist. Was that your..." Ray trailed off, the light in the room made Dorothy's face now look a little upset.
"Yes, that was my father."
"Is that so? I'm sorry."
"What for? You didn't cause his demise."
"Yeah, but that was still your… Parent?" Ray hadn't meant to make it a question, but it slipped out that way.
Dorothy simply turned and left, no more forced mechanical movement.
Dang it. I really do have isekai protagonist luck. With that, Ray was left alone, and given plenty of time to think about her current situation.
Well this ended up longer than I thought. Anyway, this should be a rather long story, longer than my normal story length. I am intending to cover the entirety of the series from a little before the start of episode three, until the end, with extras like this one between. It's a retelling of The Big O, with a regretful isekai'd protagonist that doesn't want anything to do with the world shes been forced into. I'm breaking up chapters into more bite sized segments for the sake of readers, but hopefully when I am done, the story makes sense and flows well.