*Episode 9*
The next day, Keiichi stopped by "Koujiku's" house and rang the doorbell. "Hi,
Keiichi! Come on in!" I greeted.
"Hello, Koujiku-kun," replied Keiichi as he stepped in, taking off his shoes, "So,
where's the bike?"
"Right this way, Keiichi," I said as I led him over to the garage. Upon arriving, I
pointed to it and said, "So, what do you think?"
"Umm.... It's an.... interesting design."
The bike was obviously adapted from a standard motorbike design, but it was...
unconventional to say the least. The frame, instead of some metal was made out of what
looked to be gelatin. The engine didn't have a single metal component, and neither did
the rest of the bike.
"Well, Aerogel Research, Inc. owed me some money, so when I told them about the
race, we worked out a little deal."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. You see..." I said, and walked over to the bike, "This bike weighs less than
half a kilo." I then picked up the bike with one hand and threw it in the air, catching it,
also with one hand.
"Impressive... How did you manage it? Does it work?"
"Yes, it works. The engine is made of a similar material, with coatings in some areas.
The entire bike is made out of aerogels, in fact. To be precise, Aerogel Research's latest
prototypes.
The frame material's stronger than steel, but weighs almost nothing. In fact, most of the
weight comes from the coatings on the piston heads in the engine."
"Woah."
"Yeah. I was pretty impressed by the materials as well. Apparently, they'd been
experimenting with new components that would be useful in engines and structural
components. After I gave them my design, it was pretty simple to get them to make the
thing. Here's the key," I said and threw him a key (Also made of aerogels), "The big
thing to keep in mind is that this bike weighs so little that you'll have to be careful to
keep your balance. I couldn't add any electronics without adding considerably to the
weight, so it doesn't have much of a control panel. Pretty much just an analog
speedometer and fuel indicator. The wheels are especially made, as well."
"How much did Aerogel Research owe you, anyway?"
"Umm... trust me, you don't want to know."
"How much did that bike COST?!?"
"Hmm... let me see... around seventy million yen."
"WHAT?!?" Keiichi said, shocked.
"Well, a good part of that was covered by Aerogel Research. They think this race'll
be great publicity for their company. Besides, it's not like it canceled their debt. I just
gave them an extension--an interest-free extension--on their loan. I'd say this thing cost
me less than a tenth of that."
"That's still a LOT of money for a college student!"
"How do you think I afforded this house? I'd say I'm worth around... oh... half a
trillion yen."
"WOAH!!"
"Well, most of that's pretty tied up. It's not like I could just go off an buy stuff with
it. Besides, it's just a tool. A useful tool, I must say, but a tool nonetheless. In many
ways, you're richer than I am."
"How do you figure that?"
"Oh, come on! I may have money, but you've found the love of your life, are living
with three deities, have potential that even Kami-sama doesn't know what to do with...."
"Okay, I get your point. Doesn't this add another possible reason to why that guy
wanted us to meet?"
"No. The money's a side effect. You see, my parents left me around five hundred
thousand dollars, US. I invested almost all of it, and, well, it's grown. A lot."
"I can see that. What do you mean, 'almost' all of it?"
"I mean, Keiichi, that I bought a cake."
"Huh?"
"Twelve dollars, seventy-six cents."
"Huh?"
"I bought myself a birthday cake. Shared it with the kids at the orphanage, too."
"Oh."
"Actually, I'm pretty good at investing. It's pretty easy to figure out how a company'll
do. Hell, I invested $100,000 in a startup called Microsoft... Need I say more?"
"Umm... no."
"Good."
Just then, the phone rang (Yes, I arranged for that, too). "Just a moment, Keiichi," I
said, and picked up the garage phone.
"Moshi-moshi. This is the Seimeino resi... Hi! How's it going!" I said in Japanese,
"Yes... You are? That's great! Umm... Okay... two weeks from now? See you then!" I
then hung up. "Keiichi, great news. An old friend of mine just enrolled in Nekomi Tech.
She'll be here in two weeks. I can't wait to see what Aoshima does when she gets
here...."
"What?"
"Well, she's... umm... Ah, hell. One moment," I said, grabbing the door to the main
portion of the house and running through. Twenty seconds later, I returned, carrying a
photo of 'Koujiku' standing next to an *extremely* beautiful-looking young woman.
Think Urd's body, Sayoko's hair, Belldandy's eyes, and Skuld's bearing and you'll begin
to get the idea.
"This is Allison," I said, "and frankly, you'd be better off trying to take liberties with
Urd than with her."
"Woah. She's beautiful."
"Yeah, she is."
"Your girlfriend?"
"No. We're old friends. I've known her for over twenty years."
"She's an orphan, too?"
"Sort of. Her mother died giving birth to her, but her father went MIA in the US
army."
"What?"
"Missing in action. As it turns out, he was captured by the old Soviet Union. A few
years ago, the Russians finally admitted to having him... and she left the orphanage."
"Oh."
"The really fun part, though, is that while she was at the orphanage, she was
obsessed with finding him. When she was five, she managed to cobble up a GPS and a
tac-nuke. She, well, is a *lot* like Skuld in terms of mechanical talent, but without the
mecha fetish and a lot more responsible... Uh oh. Mind not telling Skuld I said that?"
Keiichi laughed. "No problem," he said between chuckles.
The next day, Keiichi stopped by "Koujiku's" house and rang the doorbell. "Hi,
Keiichi! Come on in!" I greeted.
"Hello, Koujiku-kun," replied Keiichi as he stepped in, taking off his shoes, "So,
where's the bike?"
"Right this way, Keiichi," I said as I led him over to the garage. Upon arriving, I
pointed to it and said, "So, what do you think?"
"Umm.... It's an.... interesting design."
The bike was obviously adapted from a standard motorbike design, but it was...
unconventional to say the least. The frame, instead of some metal was made out of what
looked to be gelatin. The engine didn't have a single metal component, and neither did
the rest of the bike.
"Well, Aerogel Research, Inc. owed me some money, so when I told them about the
race, we worked out a little deal."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. You see..." I said, and walked over to the bike, "This bike weighs less than
half a kilo." I then picked up the bike with one hand and threw it in the air, catching it,
also with one hand.
"Impressive... How did you manage it? Does it work?"
"Yes, it works. The engine is made of a similar material, with coatings in some areas.
The entire bike is made out of aerogels, in fact. To be precise, Aerogel Research's latest
prototypes.
The frame material's stronger than steel, but weighs almost nothing. In fact, most of the
weight comes from the coatings on the piston heads in the engine."
"Woah."
"Yeah. I was pretty impressed by the materials as well. Apparently, they'd been
experimenting with new components that would be useful in engines and structural
components. After I gave them my design, it was pretty simple to get them to make the
thing. Here's the key," I said and threw him a key (Also made of aerogels), "The big
thing to keep in mind is that this bike weighs so little that you'll have to be careful to
keep your balance. I couldn't add any electronics without adding considerably to the
weight, so it doesn't have much of a control panel. Pretty much just an analog
speedometer and fuel indicator. The wheels are especially made, as well."
"How much did Aerogel Research owe you, anyway?"
"Umm... trust me, you don't want to know."
"How much did that bike COST?!?"
"Hmm... let me see... around seventy million yen."
"WHAT?!?" Keiichi said, shocked.
"Well, a good part of that was covered by Aerogel Research. They think this race'll
be great publicity for their company. Besides, it's not like it canceled their debt. I just
gave them an extension--an interest-free extension--on their loan. I'd say this thing cost
me less than a tenth of that."
"That's still a LOT of money for a college student!"
"How do you think I afforded this house? I'd say I'm worth around... oh... half a
trillion yen."
"WOAH!!"
"Well, most of that's pretty tied up. It's not like I could just go off an buy stuff with
it. Besides, it's just a tool. A useful tool, I must say, but a tool nonetheless. In many
ways, you're richer than I am."
"How do you figure that?"
"Oh, come on! I may have money, but you've found the love of your life, are living
with three deities, have potential that even Kami-sama doesn't know what to do with...."
"Okay, I get your point. Doesn't this add another possible reason to why that guy
wanted us to meet?"
"No. The money's a side effect. You see, my parents left me around five hundred
thousand dollars, US. I invested almost all of it, and, well, it's grown. A lot."
"I can see that. What do you mean, 'almost' all of it?"
"I mean, Keiichi, that I bought a cake."
"Huh?"
"Twelve dollars, seventy-six cents."
"Huh?"
"I bought myself a birthday cake. Shared it with the kids at the orphanage, too."
"Oh."
"Actually, I'm pretty good at investing. It's pretty easy to figure out how a company'll
do. Hell, I invested $100,000 in a startup called Microsoft... Need I say more?"
"Umm... no."
"Good."
Just then, the phone rang (Yes, I arranged for that, too). "Just a moment, Keiichi," I
said, and picked up the garage phone.
"Moshi-moshi. This is the Seimeino resi... Hi! How's it going!" I said in Japanese,
"Yes... You are? That's great! Umm... Okay... two weeks from now? See you then!" I
then hung up. "Keiichi, great news. An old friend of mine just enrolled in Nekomi Tech.
She'll be here in two weeks. I can't wait to see what Aoshima does when she gets
here...."
"What?"
"Well, she's... umm... Ah, hell. One moment," I said, grabbing the door to the main
portion of the house and running through. Twenty seconds later, I returned, carrying a
photo of 'Koujiku' standing next to an *extremely* beautiful-looking young woman.
Think Urd's body, Sayoko's hair, Belldandy's eyes, and Skuld's bearing and you'll begin
to get the idea.
"This is Allison," I said, "and frankly, you'd be better off trying to take liberties with
Urd than with her."
"Woah. She's beautiful."
"Yeah, she is."
"Your girlfriend?"
"No. We're old friends. I've known her for over twenty years."
"She's an orphan, too?"
"Sort of. Her mother died giving birth to her, but her father went MIA in the US
army."
"What?"
"Missing in action. As it turns out, he was captured by the old Soviet Union. A few
years ago, the Russians finally admitted to having him... and she left the orphanage."
"Oh."
"The really fun part, though, is that while she was at the orphanage, she was
obsessed with finding him. When she was five, she managed to cobble up a GPS and a
tac-nuke. She, well, is a *lot* like Skuld in terms of mechanical talent, but without the
mecha fetish and a lot more responsible... Uh oh. Mind not telling Skuld I said that?"
Keiichi laughed. "No problem," he said between chuckles.