Darkness Falls - Chapter One: 'You Have A Granddaughter?'

"Please, Doctor Cain, I need your help."

He couldn't quite place the tone of her voice. Panicked, yes, but calm at the same time… Final. Her tone was final. She was desperate; that was why she was calling. He doubted she would have ever turned to him, but something told him Tony was involved.

"Kiri, calm down," Cain replied firmly, rubbing his temples. Once again he was glad he had never gotten around to installing the newer 'vid-phones' in place of his old one, being thankful the woman couldn't see his reactions. "What do you need me to do? I can't go down and live with her and I'm not a psychologist. I don't see what-"

"She can't stay here any longer." She cut him off, her tone equally as firm as Cain's. "She can't-"

Something was happening in the background and, as much as he did despise the Vid-phones, Cain was now wishing one was in his possession, just so he could see what was going on. There were muffled voices, a man whom he assumed to be Tony, and another woman's voice. They seemed to be arguing about something; maybe the other woman was the girl she was referring to?

Cain's train of thought was brutally interrupted when Kiri came back to the phone, growling. "She can't stay here any longer Cain. And she hasn't visited you in nearly seven years. She needs somewhere to stay, please, take her…"

+╗
+╝

"… is the excavation going?"

"Not too well, damnit. The humans all come down with this same goddamned illness. They start screaming and running around terrified till we take 'em back upside… then they don't remember a damned thing, yet refuse to go back down. And now the reploids are starting to complain about doing all the work, or they're starting to show the same symptoms as the humans!"

"This place is cursed."

"That's what you keep on saying."

"That's what's being proved, isn't it?"

"…….."

+╗
+╝

"Anyone seen Cain lately?"

No one was sure who had asked the question. The room was large and packed with Spotters, Hunters, and Mechanics, both the human and reploid varieties. For all anyone knew it could have just been the question in the back of their minds that no one specifically had voiced, but no one really cared to think too much on the subject of 'who asked what'.

It didn't matter, really. Whoever it was wasn't willing to stand up and take credit for starting the current topic of debate, and no one cared.

A group of reploids, specifically the reploids named X, Zero, and Alia, hung back in a corner, away from the crowd. A frown crossed Alia's face as she leaned against X, trying to hear what the blue hunter was saying against the din of the crowd.

"-ing something to me about someone coming," X practically had to shout for her to hear, and even then she missed most of what he was saying.

"What?"

"Someone's coming to visit Cain!" Zero bellowed out, causing them both to wince. It really didn't matter the size or the noise level of the crowd he was in; anyone Zero wanted to hear him heard him. A useful ability, yes, and yet one that also caused his friends more ear-aches than they could count.

"I wonder who?" Alia murmured, shaking her head at X's questioning voice. If someone was coming, she should have been told about it. She handled most of the paper work that went through Cain, so that ruled out the possibility of it being a governmental official. The only option left then was-

"Does Cain have any family?"

+╗
+╝

The small side room in his apartment would have to do, Cain decided. He would have gotten her her own apartment, a one, maybe two roomed one with a bathroom, but from what Tony and Kiri told him about her, it would be dangerous to leave her by herself.

A small bed would have to be brought up; he could do that later. Right now, he needed to remove all the clutter, dust, vacuum. A dresser needed to be brought up too, and with a groan he realized that he would now need to get used to sharing his bathroom. With a female. A sixteen year-old teenage woman.

He was an old man. He shouldn't have to do this.

Setting his face into a determined grimace, he set about his work, moving, vacuuming, and dusting everything in sight. It soon became obvious, though, that he had no clue as to what he was doing. He was a doctor, a scientist, really. He had never needed to clean his apartment, save for the occasional vacuum when the color of the carpet changed. Cain buried himself, almost literally, in his work, and would have been lost for days, had there not been a knock on his door, saving him from death by housework.

"Oh, Alia, thank god you're here," he greeted the spotter enthusiastically as he opened the door for her, allowing her entrance. "You're probably just the person I need. See-"

"Oh my lord Cain, who died in here?" Pinching her nose, Alia waved her hand in front of her face. "Or to be more precise, what died in here? How often do you clean?"

"Eeh… I haven't really cleaned since I moved in here… ten years ago." She nearly choked hearing that, and she stared at him, disgust evident on her features.

"That's so sick!"

Cain shrugged in response. "We can discuss my cleaning habits some other time Alia. I really need your help right now, and it involves cleaning. My granddaughter's coming to stay with me for awhile, and I need to get my apartment ready for her."

Arching an eyebrow, Alia set to work, improving the state of the tiny complex in less than five minutes. It was only when she was opening a window to allow some fresh air in the place that everything Cain had said finally sunk in.

"Wait… you… you have a granddaughter?"

"Yes." She couldn't help but note the sad tone of his voice when he said that. "Caroline… her father is my son, Tony. When he was 23 he left Japan to go marry his current wife, Kiri Hinasaki. There… hasn't been much communication between us… due to her beliefs, Kiri feels that reploids are Satan's work, as she put it. Caroline came over to Japan to visit me once, nearly ten years ago, and even then Kiri refused to allow her to step foot in Hunter Headquarters." He sighed, shaking his head. "And now Kiri wants me to take her in. I don't understand, though- never mind."

Giving him a questioning look, Alia went back to her work, scrubbing and vacuuming the entire apartment. There's something else about her, she thought. I wonder what it is… though I doubt I'll ever have anything to do with her…