| Chapter Three The Montfort Corporation Bottou-chan |
"So you've worked with these before?" Lawrence looked up from his microscope at Musako, who was busily taking notes.
Musako nodded. "It was a top-secret government job," he explained. "That's about all I can say… apart from the fact that I was successful."
Lawrence's eyes gleamed. "This is amazing technology that we've got here," he said. "It's like we're pioneers or something."
"Or something," remarked Arami dryly, looking up from a preliminary report she had been reading. She didn't care much for Lawrence already. Whenever he spoke to her, his eyes never focussed on her face. They were always riveted to her cleavage. She turned a page. "To the best of my knowledge, our research hasn't left Japan until now. How did you people come up with the idea this was possible?" Her words were spoken casually, but she was watching him closely.
Lawrence shrugged evasively. "One of the company big shots found a device on a business trip to Japan. We studied it, and are attempting to replicate it."
Arami and Musako exchanged a glance.
"Where did he get the device from? Does he still have it?" pressed Musako.
Lawrence shrugged again. "How should I know. I'm sure if we asked, he could bring it to us… but we've got more than enough data to work with right now. It's a matter of dragging the information out of the data."
They allowed the subject to drop. For now.
One month later
"The project's coming along well," said Lawrence, standing in Mr. Henson's office. Several members of the Montfort Corporation's board of directors were seated, too. Arami, Musako, and a few other engineers working on the project stood off to the side, watching the proceedings and ready to field any questions Lawrence was unable to answer. "We had a few glitches in the Y sector, but have been able to iron most of those out. As of this point, we have a 20% success rate in the initial manipulation of an object, but only a 10% success rate in reversing our changes to original condition. We have a suspicion that a further investigation of the structure of the R sector holds the clue to a better ratio. It is Mr. Musako's theory that we investigate the Phi Fragment in the R Sector, whereas it is Mr. Wilder's theory that our problem lies in the current makeup of the Iota Fragment of the R Sector, and that those are the molecules we need to work on restructuring."
One of the board members raised a hand slightly. "The techno-babble doesn't mean anything to us. What we're interested in is results. Will you have this finished within two months?"
Lawrence glanced at his colleagues who silently lined the wall. "The efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Musako have greatly sped up the process, and they have provided some very unique, useful insights based upon their previous experience with similar projects. So yes, I do believe that if we continue at our current rate, we will be able to have a 75% success rate by the end of two months, if not better. However, I wouldn't be willing to have this go commercial until the reversal-rate was at least equal to the success rate."
"When will you perfect the technique?" inquired another.
Lawrence stared at him. "This is new ground we're working on," he said. "It could take ten, fifteen years before we're capable of perfecting a faultless system… and it might be twenty years before we fully understand why this works."
Mr. Henson shook his head. "We don't want to sit on this for ten or fifteen years," he said. "Our investors won't stand for it. We'll go commercial as soon as we feel we have a reasonably successful product. After all, it's the first of its kind-"
"Minus the one in Japan," put in Musako, and heads turned to stare at him. He sweatdropped slightly. "Ever since I came here," he said, suddenly realizing he had drawn unwanted attention to himself, "I have been trying to discover what we're basing our own work upon. If there is already a preexisting device which is known to be successful… why have I not seen it yet?"
"It would increase our productivity immensely," put in Arami, supporting her husband.
"But all those tests we ran… the information… the data we collected… we've recorded everything pertinent regarding that object, down to the atomic level," argued Henson.
"That doesn't matter," said Musako, shaking his head. "It would be a thousand times more helpful to Arami and myself to be able to actually handle the object, rather than reading computer printouts concerning its structural makeup."
"It has no moving parts," said Henson. "It manipulates matter of its own accord-it's just a round… thing. Like a glass ball, almost. So the object doesn't matter… I believe that it can be produced in any shape, any size. What matters is on the inside. And our source isn't likely to let you cut up the device just to satisfy your own curiosity."
"I don't want to cut it up," said Musako, beginning to get annoyed. "I want to look at it… get a feel for it… know what you're asking of me. Because you're not asking me to do original work. You're asking me to reproduce a preexisting object. How can someone be asked to make a reproduction if they've never seen the original?"
"Our source is very possessive," snapped Henson. "He agreed to let us run the tests, in exchange for monetary reimbursement. But we're not about to sink more funds into him just to let you hold the device in your hand and satisfy yourself that it's nothing more than a little solid ball."
Musako's eyes flashed as he bit back his next comment, although no one could see. Kurei had told him to stay agreeable… stay agreeable… stay agreeable.
Henson would look very nice at the end of his Taishaku Kaiten, ne?
A grin spread over his lips, and he contented himself with that thought.
* * *
"I'm going over to Jeremy's to play," said Koganei. Jeremy was the Hensons' son, who lived a short bike ride from the hotel.
"Be back by dinnertime," said Neon. "We're eating at 6:30."
"All right," he agreed, running outside and slamming the door shut behind him.
"Those bakas," growled Joker, rummaging through the cupboards for a mixing bowl. "How can they expect us to be successful if they don't cooperate?"
Neon smiled. "You're not concerned for their success… you just want to hurry up and get back to Japan, ne?" She began slicing carrots on a cutting board.
Joker shrugged. "Which one of us doesn't? Koganei's having a blast… but I was never meant for a 9-to-5 job."
"We only work until 4," Neon remarked, steadily chopping carrots.
"You know what I mean," said Joker. "I'd rather go out and threaten a Japanese drug lord in the dead of night, than sit cooped up in an office all day. Wouldn't that be funny, if Kurei gave all his Uruha offices, though, and gave our victims appointments? I could just see our secretary now… 'Konnichiwa! You're a bit late for your 10:15 appointment, but Joker-san will see you now. Third door on your left.' 'Arigatou! Tra, la, la, la….knock, knock, knock, aiiiiiii!'"
Neon laughed, dumping the carrot slices into the mixing bowl and turning her attention to quartering tomatoes. "You know," she admitted, "At first, I was a bit uneasy about having such a long mission with you. But you know what… you're not half bad."
"Does that mean that I'm not half good, either?" asked Joker, pretending to pout. He peeked in the oven to survey the roast's progress.
Neon shook her head. "It's… it's hard to explain. But you're different, somehow, as opposed to how you are in Japan. You're so… childish… back there, I guess. It's a relief to see a different side of you."
"You're different, too," grinned Joker. "You're not half the whiny annoying stuck-up nag as you were back there…"
Neon pelted him with a carrot slice and he ducked playfully. "I take back everything I said," she scowled, suddenly concentrating extra-carefully on the salad preparations.
"Did you e-mail Kurei-han about today's meeting?" asked Joker, picking up carrot pieces from the floor.
"Yeah… he replied, but I haven't run it through the decoding program yet."
"I'll check on that after dinner," he replied, pulling plates from the cabinet and setting the table.