Disclaimer: See chapter 2
Sorry it took so long everyone. Writing's been a little difficult lately, and due to an unforeseen incident I had to start the chapter over. Anyway, my thanks to:
Moro Stagsleap
Xalan
rockofmarduk
untitled
Zechs Merquise
Inu Adrienn
Here's the chapter, 'hope you all like it!
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Why? Why does it always have to be Tima?
Kenichi was sitting on his bed in a patch of sunlight. The sun seemed inappropriate for his mood as it streamed in through his skylight window. His bedroom was built into the roof of the house, and afforded the best view of any of the rooms.
I'm never the one who gets in trouble. Tima's always put in danger, and then I do my best to pick up the pieces…
As Kenichi raised his head to look across the room, he noticed the chessboard in the centre of the floor, the pieces still arrayed across it, twenty-nine white pieces surrounding the lonely black King. He could almost see Tima now, sitting behind the board, smiling down on her force.
And now she was in the hands of an unknown group of people. Did they know how much power they held? Of course they did, Shuishiro had said so himself. They had taken everything Kenichi had brought with him, his journals, his diagrams, even that backup of intconovr. Kenichi had disassembled the virus though, removed everything but it's personality matrix and base protocols, but still… If they used that, he would have no one to blame but himself, and Kenichi couldn't bear to think what it might do.
I thought this was over… I thought when I saved her, Tima and I could just be happy.
Would that ever be true? Tima had been taken from him once again, this time perhaps to a worse fate than last, and as ever Kenichi was powerless to help her.
* * * * *
The room was stark. The unfriendly strip lights leaving almost nowhere in shadow, and in places shining almost blinding off the white painted walls.
"How is the Tima unit?" Shuishiro asked the young woman standing in front of his desk.
"Just as you left her Shuishiro-san," the young woman answered. She had short brown hair and grey eyes, offset by a pale complexion, "She hasn't said anything to anyone since she arrived here, she just kneels on the floor with her back to door and never moves. One of the guards told me he thought he heard Tima-san whisper someone's name at one point, but whatever it was was so quiet he said he couldn't be sure."
"Thank you Kinasato-san. You are dismissed."
"Shuishiro-san, may I ask you something?" Kinasato asked turning around in the doorway.
"If you must," Shuishiro looked irritated.
"… Don't you think it might be a good idea to give Tima-san a proper room?"
"Why?"
"Well, isn't it unfair to leave her in an empty storage room?"
"Why should we waste one of the volunteer's rooms on a robot?"
"But she's not-," Kinasato started.
"Are you questioning me?" Shuishiro looked blackly at her.
"I… no sir…"
"Tomorrow morning we'll connect her to the matrix."
Kinasato walked quietly from the room and shut the door behind her.
* * * * *
"Tima-san?"
Tima jumped, it had been silent for so long, and that quiet voice had pierced the silence like an explosion. She turned to look over her shoulder. A woman was standing in the doorway.
"Is there anything I can get you?" Kinasato asked.
"No…" Tima said, turning away again.
Kinasato walked into the room and knelt down beside Tima, "I'm sorry, I asked if you could be moved somewhere nicer."
"Shuishiro said no didn't he?"
"There aren't any other rooms available," she could hardly tell her the truth. Tima simply remained silent.
"Are you sure I can't get you anything? When did you last eat?"
"When I had breakfast with Uncle Shinsaku and Kenichi…" as Tima said Kenichi's name her voice cracked and she started to cry. Kinasato gently put her arms around her.
"Come on now, it's alright."
"I want to go home…" Tima sniffed.
"I know Tima-san, and you'll only have to stay a couple more days," Kinasato said patting her back, "I'll get you some food. My name's Yumi by the way."
* * * * *
"I'm sorry, it's not much but it's all the cafeteria had left. It is midnight after all," Yumi said as she put a sandwich and a bottle of water down before Tima.
"Thank you." Tima said without really looking around.
"Tomorrow you'll be connected to the laboratory's computer matrix," Yumi said, "Shuishiro-san didn't want you to be told before hand but…" she looked at the floor, "I know what happened to you in Metropolis. Don't worry, it's not going to be anything like that."
Tima was silent for a short while, then, "…How do you open this?" she asked holding up the sandwich packet. Yumi laughed and opened it for her.
* * * * *
"… Tima…" Kenichi whispered to himself for the thousandth time as he sat looking out of the classroom window across the playground.
He half-heard somebody nearby whisper to their neighbour, "Hey, what's up with Kenichi-kun?"
"'You remember that weird girl that came to school with him last week? I heard it's got something to do with her."
"What? Like an argument or something?"
"I dunno. I tried asking but he isn't very approachable when he's like that."
"Yeah…"
"Ban-san are you daydreaming again?" the teacher's stern voice brought Kenichi back to his senses.
"N-no sensei," he stammered.
Kenichi's teacher sighed, what ever was wrong in Kenichi's home life, it had to be bad…
* * * * *
"Yes… yes I've tried talking to him… No it didn't make any difference," Shinsaku had the telephone to his ear when Kenichi arrived home.
"Uncle Shinsaku, I'm home!" he called.
"Alright, thank you."
Kenichi walked into the front room, "Who was that Uncle?"
"Your tutor Kenichi," Shinsaku answered turning to face him.
Kenichi gulped, he'd been half expecting this.
"It seems you haven't been doing well in school lately,"
"But Uncle Shinsaku I-"
"No buts Kenichi! Tima's going to be fine, and she wouldn't want you torturing yourself like this."
"Yes Uncle Shinsaku…"
Shinsaku grinned and ruffled Kenichi's hair, "That's it Kenichi. Just another two days."
* * * * *
The room was full of people in plain, grey suits, most of them men, and all sitting behind workstations arranged in nine circles going down to the floor in steps. Low down in the centre of the circular room's floor on a pedestal with innumerable cables going from it to an array of electronic equipment in the ceiling was a kind of egg shaped glass pod sitting in a thick bronze coloured metal dish. At the top of one of the four staircases that rose from the floor like the spokes of wheel stood Tima and Shuishiro. Shuishiro was wearing a similar suit to the rest of the room's occupants, and Tima was wearing a plain white nightgown that reached to just above her knees. Every now and then she would shift her feet when she couldn't bear to hold still on the cold floor any longer.
"Where are we?" Tima asked, shivering a little.
"This is a test room for electronic experiments." Shuishiro replied without taking his eyes off the pod.
"What is that?" Tima pointed to the pod. There was something strangely familiar about it.
"A machine we developed from Dr. Laughton's notes, designed to interface with your body. It will connect it directly to the laboratory's computer matrix."
"Why?"
Shuishiro's expression never changed. He just stood staring forward, answering any questions Tima asked, "You know why you're here. We will use this machine to extract as much information about you as we possibly can."
A short time later, just as Tima was starting to find the temperature in the room really unpleasant, Yumi joined them.
"We're ready now Shuishiro-san."
"Good," Shuishiro turned to Tima, "Tima, go with Kinasato-san." He walked over behind one of the workstations and sat down.
"Come on Tima," Yumi said walking down the steps. Tima followed, walking quietly behind her. When they reached the pod, Yumi said, "Once you're in the pod several cables will attach themselves to you. It may hurt a little but not for long, since as soon as they're attached you'll be put to sleep. The air inside the pod will be very cold so that the organic parts of your body won't do anything if there's a problem in the system. Understand?"
"I… I think so…" Tima answered nervously.
"Before the pod door shuts give me your gown. It'll get in the way of the cables otherwise."
"Yes Yumi," Tima walked up the steps into the pod. The change in temperature seemed almost like a wall as she climbed in. Shivering violently Tima pulled off her gown and Yumi took it from her, then touched a panel beside the opening and the door slid shut. Instantly the glass walls steamed up and metal tubes began to extend from them. Tima tried to turn around but she felt tired and her body seemed sluggish to respond. As the tubes stopped an inch from her skin, one in the centre of her chest, at the side of her neck, at her side just below her ribs, and one at her hip, a metal arm descended from the ceiling and pushed back her ear, then inserted a metal pin into the socket behind it. As a click sounded from the pin a wave of numbness ran down her spine for a second making Tima feel like she was about to vomit.
Through the haze that had come over her mind Tima could vaguely hear voices outside, "External power supply engaged, internal fuel supply stop detected. Engaging uplink in five seconds…"
She heard Yumi call, "Brace yourself Tima, here it comes."
"Engaging!"
Tima yelled out in pain as beams lanced from the tubes, instantly burning away the skin before them and revealing sockets that had been concealed beneath it. From each of the tubes then extended cables that connected themselves to the now exposed openings. A moment later she found her eyes closing, and the last thing Tima heard was a voice saying, "Sleep mode engaged, all non… systems… silen… op-"
* * * * *
"What do you think?" a voice asked from beside her.
"Hm…?" she murmured questioningly.
"Tima are you alright?"
Tima looked around her. She was sitting on a stone bench in an open, arched hallway looking out over a landscape of fields that stretched as far as the eye could see, and behind it all was a beautiful, deep red sunset that bathed everything in a pastel crimson. A soft breeze was gently catching at her hair.
"Tima?"
"What?" she asked looking to her left. Beside her sat Kenichi, who sighed and shook his head a little, his messy hair waving slightly. At his belt was attached a short black wooden tube of sorts, from the end of which protruded a handle.
"What do you think of the sunset Tima?"
Tima looked out across the landscape again, "It's beautiful,"
"I knew you'd like it. But are you really all right Tima? It's like you were in a world of your own."
"I don't really know," Tima said smiling softly.
"That's just like you Tima!" Kenichi laughed. Tima made a satisfied noise and leant her head on Kenichi's shoulder, closing her eyes. She felt Kenichi gently take her hand in his. They sat quietly for a short time and then Kenichi broke the silence, saying, "It's been a long time since we've been like this."
"Yes…" Tima said sitting up and looking into Kenichi's eyes for a little. After a few seconds she turned to one side, retrieving an oil covered stone and a triangular piece of metal with a complex collection of leather straps at one side which she placed carefully on her lap and began to rub along its edge with the stone using her free hand.
"Do you carry that whetstone with you everywhere?" Kenichi laughed again, "One of these days you'll rub those katar away to nothing!"
"I have to keep them sharp Kenichi, or they might fail when I really need them," Tima replied, "Besides, you're just as bad with that tachi!"
"Heh, you caught me."
"Of course! I know you better than anyone," they both laughed for a little, eventually just going quiet. Kenichi smiled and brushed back Tima's hair, making her look up in surprise and catch her breath. For a moment they sat staring into one another's eyes, and then Kenichi started to slowly bring his face close to hers. "…Kenichi… I…" Tima started to whisper.
Tima opened her eyes, and then quickly shut them again. The light was painfully bright. Even closing them didn't seem to help, and her arms wouldn't move to cover them. Her head hurt, and a tingling feeling as if she was being brushed with thousands of pins kept moving around her body. She groaned quietly.
"Your awake," a voice said from somewhere beside her.
"What…?"
"It's me, Yumi. Don't worry, you should be fine soon."
Yumi was right, after a few seconds Tima's eyes got used to the light again and she was able to move a little. Tima sat up slowly.
Looking down at her legs Tima said quietly, "It was a dream…"
"I hope it was a pleasant one," Yumi smiled, "The experiment didn't go very well."
Tima didn't respond. She was a little depressed to have found it was just dream, especially after waking up on the bare floor of the storage room again, and this time wearing nothing but that nightgown she'd been given. Tima shivered, "It's so cold…"
"Shuishiro-san says you don't need anything but that gown." Yumi said angrily.
"Why?"
"Apparently you won't get sick if you're cold. He refuses to believe you're anything more than a robot. He won't even let me give you anything except that old blanket," she gestured toward a thin, rough blanket on which Tima was sitting.
Yumi sighed and started to explain what had happened during the experiment.
"A short time after you fell asleep and we'd started to look around your programming your mind rebelled. We couldn't get any further than requesting information before it sent a massive burst of bad data and cut us off. It's like your mind's designed to fight off outside access. What we don't understand is how your friend Kenichi was able to do what he did."
Tima didn't understand much of what Yumi was telling her, but from what she could understand, she guessed that even while she was asleep she had made it hard for them. It was strange though. The tingling and numbness had left her body now, except for in a few places. She placed her hand against her chest where the feeling was strongest, and gasped when it touched something hard. Looking down the neck of her gown Tima covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stop the sudden that moved up her throat. A moment later she was violently sick, barely avoiding ruining her bedding. There, in a circular cut in the centre of her chest surrounded at its edges by a hard reddish-brown ring was a hole.
"Oh!" Yumi exclaimed realising what Tima had found. She quickly took the nightgown's neck from Tima's hand and pulled it back over the socket, "You shouldn't look at that."
Tima was dead silent. She hadn't even moved.
"Tima-san…?" Yumi said gently putting her hand on Tima's shoulder.
Tima began to shake a little, and then burst into tears.
"You've never seen yourself like this before, have you?" Yumi asked sympathetically. Tima mutely shook her head.
"Don't worry, the skin will grow back."
"I… I knew…" Tima choked, "I always knew I wasn't human… but to see… to see..."
Yumi sat with Tima for a while until she had recovered a little, then said, "Tomorrow Shuishiro-san's going to try again. Goodnight Tima." Yumi stood up and walked out of the room closing the door behind her. A moment later there was click and everything was dark. Tima bundled herself up as best she could in her blanket and after laying crying and shivering for a long time, finally fell asleep.
* * * * *
"…were you on duty in B wing last night?"
"Yeah I was. Someone was crying for hours, I was really spooked. Most of the unit think it's that little girl we've been seeing lately."
"I heard Shuishiro's been keeping her in that empty storage room. 'Funny way to treat one of the volunteer subjects if you ask me."
"Apparently she's not a volunteer."
"What?"
"Well when Shui- look out here they come!"
The two guards snapped to attention as Shuishiro, Tima and Yumi came around a bend in the corridor.
"I suppose Kinasato-san told you what happened yesterday?" Shuishiro asked.
"Yes." Tima answered without looking at him.
"However she does not know how I am planning to gain access to you," Shuishiro said. Something in his tone made both Tima and Yumi uncomfortable. Feeling colder than ever, Tima hugged herself as they walked into the laboratory.
* * * * *
Once again Yumi helped Tima into the pod, "Don't worry Tima. The cables won't have to hurt you this time," she said as she took Tima's gown from her. She nodded silently as the door closed with a hiss.
Once again Tima went through the uncomfortable procedure with the cables, and then everything around her went black.
"Shuishiro-san…" Yumi said apprehensively, "Tima hasn't entered sleep mode."
"I know," Shuishiro responded in a flat tone.
A moment later everyone in the room but Shuishiro jumped as a scream echoed from the pod, and then was suddenly cut off.
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I'll work on the next chapter as fast as possible. I once again apologise if Ban-san is out of character. I just can't seem to get him right. Also this chapter was in places a bit of an experiment, do you prefer it this way, or how it was when I was presenting it in .txt format?