Disclaimer: …
Well, this chapter's much better. Expect large amounts of cuteness, and a little revelation into the Ziggurat incident.
Thanks for reviews go to:
James Daly: You're uh… kinda squishing my characters. I need them for to finish this story.
Zechs Merquise: Thanks. This story's finally going somewhere it seems.
And special thanks to Yue Ryong for his proof reading.
'Scuse the weird spacing, the upload program wouldn't show anything less than a double line space.
Please review!
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"So do you understand?"
"Yes Shuishiro-dono."
"Good," even with his voice, Shuishiro had to shout above the roar of the hoverjet's engines.
Far below them the Pacific waters shone like a vast sheet of glass in the moonlight. They had been travelling from the research station for an hour now, and it wouldn't be long before they reached the Japanese mainland.
Shuishiro looked across at the little robot in the seat opposite him, who showed not the slightest insecurity under his scrutiny. How could something like it possibly contain so much power? It shouldn't be possible for something of its size to carry an energy source strong enough to power all those systems that showed up when they had had it in the test hall, and yet…
"Sir," at the sound of the pilot's voice Shuishiro looked away from his companion.
"Yes?"
"We're about to land, are you and the other passenger secure?"
"Yes, we are."
* * * * *
"Uncle Shunsaku, I'm home!" Kenichi called out as he pulled off his shoes and put them away in the wall cupboard by the door. As he walked down the hall and into the sitting room, he was greeted by such an unexpected sight that he stood-stock still for several moments while it sank in.
Three sets of eyes were fixed on him. The first were those of his uncle, as ever overshadowed by caterpillar eyebrows. The second pair belonged to a much less friendly face, one Kenichi recognised as Shuishiro's. His glance finally settled on the room's third occupant, and stuck.
Standing only six feet away was a girl the same height as Kenichi. In places her neck length blonde hair stood high on her head, and she was wearing a pair of sandals and a long surgical green nightgown.
Kenichi stood and stared at the girl, and she did the same. He began to slowly walk across the room, moving as if his feet had taken on a mind of their own. When he came to halt Kenichi found himself standing little more than a handspan away from her. Hesitantly he reached out a hand and brushed back one of the girl's many stray locks of hair, trying to prove the reality of the situation through touch.
Her face was strangely quiet, and for almost a minute she did nothing. Eventually Kenichi swallowed hard and breathed, "Tima…" His words were barely audible, a disbelieving thought spoken aloud.
Kenichi slowly put his arms around her and pulled Tima close. "Tima…" he said again, her head resting on his shoulder.
It was several seconds before Kenichi realised Tima was not returning the hug. Standing back a little, his hands still on her shoulders, Kenichi looked Tima in the eye.
"What's the matter?" he asked, shaking her a little. There was no response, only the same emotionless stare.
Still grasping Tima's shoulders Kenichi rounded on Shuishiro, "What did you do to her?"
Shuishiro didn't even acknowledge Kenichi. He simply said, in a flat, inflectionless voice, "Ico…"
"Huh?" Kenichi caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Before he could so much as move something slammed into his ribs with incredible force, and Kenichi found himself flying across the room. With a pained shout he crashed into the far wall, and then collapsed on the floor clutching at his chest and coughing violently.
"Kenichi!" Shunsaku was at his side in a moment, carefully feeling Kenichi's torso, "'you alright?" he asked holding Kenichi up. Miraculously nothing was broken.
Kenichi didn't respond. He simply sat looking at Tima, who was standing with her arm stretched out palm forward, her face a blank mask. Then she blinked and looked around her. All of a sudden her face bore an expression of confusion, as if she had suddenly awoken to find herself in a different place to where she had gone to sleep. Her gaze came to rest on Kenichi and her eyes widened as she gasped and clasped her hand in front of her mouth. A second later she charged forward and shouted, "Kenichi!"
"Wha...?" it was Kenichi's turn to look confused as Tima dived towards him and threw her arms around his already abused chest drawing forth a yelp. Almost immediately after she had started nuzzling him she went suddenly rigid, and then stood up and resumed her vacant expression.
Slowly, painfully and with Shunsaku's support Kenichi dragged himself to his feet, to the accompaniment of several unpleasant sounding clicks and pops from his complaining body.
"What's wrong with her?" Kenichi asked through gritted teeth.
Shunsaku followed suit by asking, "And what did Ico mean?"
Shuishiro smiled just a little. He would answer both their questions, "Ico is an abbreviation of 'Internal Control Override'."
"Eh?" Shunsaku, ever articulate.
"I should have known," Kenichi said.
The show was over, Shuishiro knew it was time to get down to business. "Let's sit down. I'll explain."
He did so, Ico following his example. She sat with her legs straight and her hands resting in her lap.
Tima would sit cross-legged… Kenichi thought absently.
Shuishiro began his explanation, "The day after the unit was taken into our custody…"
Shunsaku grunted.
Shuishiro scowled at him but continued, "As I was saying, we requested the unit's schematics via a network uplink. Almost immediately our connection was destroyed by a surge of bad information from the CPU." Understanding nods from Kenichi, an amused snort from Shunsaku. Shuishiro thought the detective was behaving like a stroppy child.
"Using the frame sample taken from Kenichi, we recreated the intconovr virus. With it we were able to take control of the unit and shut down the system that was getting in the way. However, when we tried to download a second time commands from an 'unknown source' forcibly purged the unit of the virus and reinstated the core artificial intelligence. The A.I. sustained minor damage from the sudden changes…" Kenichi drew a sharp breath, "…but it seems to have repaired itself almost entirely."
"Get to the point." Shunsaku said.
"The virus has been reinserted. What you saw a moment ago was Ico temporarily relinquishing control to core A.I. It's only a matter of time before the virus is purged again. I don't know what will happen to the A.I. if it is forced back into control again so soon, but my tech's don't think it will be good," Shuishiro gave Kenichi a meaningful look.
"I still don't get why you're here, but I doubt it's to return Tima," said Shunsaku.
Shuishiro's tone left no room for argument, he looked Shunsaku straight in the eye and said, "Your nephew will replace whatever part of the virus would have disabled this 'unknown source', and then help us get what we need from the unit, Ban-san."
"Don't be stupid," Shunsaku was being evasive, "Kenichi isn't even twelve yet, how could he possibly-."
"Give it up," Shuishiro said impatiently, "I've read his journals. Kenichi, for his age, is a robotics genius."
Kenichi kicked himself. Why hadn't he hidden them? Shuishiro's frosty eyes settled on him, "What did you remove that left the virus vulnerable?"
With a shrug Kenichi muttered, "… the access code. But it's useless, I've deleted the override protocols from Tima herself." One of his impossible 'What if?' plans had formed in his head. If he had just changed the code instead of removing it, he could override everything, restore Tima and…
"Then you will put them back."
"What?" Kenichi had been daydreaming.
"You will put back the passcode override. You understand the unit better than any of my tech's. You will give me your complete cooperation, and you will not try to turn the unit against me."
"What if I don't?" Well I had to ask, thought Kenichi.
"First of all the restoration will cripple the units A.I., probably reducing it to the state it was in when it was activated, but with only a few cognitive functions. It will be in a state of almost permanent confusion. If you still refuse, Tima might… get hurt." Shuishiro's voice sent a shiver through Kenichi. He really meant it.
Kenichi shot out of his seat, "You… You can't do that!" he yelled. Kenichi knew exactly what Shuishiro was implying.
"Oh I can Kenichi-san, I can," Shuishiro sneered, "Remember, Tima is a commodity, human rights don't apply."
Clenching and unclenching his fists with barely suppressed rage, Kenichi growled, "I'll help you."
Shuishiro smiled, this had all been nothing more than a technicality. "But," Kenichi began, making Shuishiro look up, "Under several conditions."
"I'll hear them later," said Shuishiro, "But you should remember, you're not in a position to bargain."
Shunsaku stood up, "I'm coming too."
"Sorry Ban-san, but only Kenichi is cleared to come back with me. He'll be able to make supervised phone calls of course."
Kenichi turned to Shunsaku, "Will you help me pack Uncle?"
* * * * *
"What are your conditions?"
"Huh? …uh-um what?" Kenichi said, looking up from the floor. He was inside a van, the walls of which were lined with seats. There were no windows, and the only light came from a lamp embedded in the roof. Across from him sat Shuishiro who was looking at him and Tima, Kenichi corrected himself, Ico, who was staring into space. They had left his house only a half hour after the conversation had ended, Shunsaku having shoved a couple of changes of clothes and some toiletries into a bag for Kenichi along with something they had bought for when Tima was returned, and then made him promise to call every day and tell him what had been going on.
"You said there were conditions to your coming to help. What are they?"
"Oh right," Kenichi said, "If I help you, Tima will be treated as a human being. We will share a room, and when Tima isn't working Ico will give back her body. Also, it would be good if you could give us something to do in our free time."
Shuishiro nodded, "I think that can be arranged. But remember, you will be under constant surveillance. When we get to the facility you're going straight to work, my tech's believe the virus will be purged within five to twelve hours."
Kenichi sat silently for the rest of the trip. He wasn't wearing a wristwatch, and after a little while he lost track of time. It seemed like hours before the low hum from the van's engine disappeared, and he felt the slight bump as it's hover suspension cut out. After a little while Shuishiro said, "We're getting out," and as he spoke there was a clunk, and a man wearing white overalls opened wide the double doors at the back of the van. Kenichi assumed he was the driver.
They seemed to be inside some kind of hangar. All around the van were crates and boxes of different sizes; it was as if they were in a small warehouse. A penetrating roar filled the bay, to Kenichi it almost felt as if it was rattling his skull. Ico was just stepping out of the van when Kenichi asked Shuishiro, "Where are we?"
Without turning around, Shuishiro answered, "Inside a cargo plane. We'll arrive in about an hour." He went around behind the van and Kenichi heard a soft thud as he leant back against it. With a sigh Kenichi turned to look at his friend-now-stranger.
Ico was standing at the corner of the van, still staring at empty space. Kenichi sidled over. "Um… hello." He said, feeling awkward. Ico didn't even blink.
From behind the van a voice said gruffly, "Ico you can talk to him, he's going to be working on you anyway." Kenichi cringed at the way Shuishiro talked. Did he treat everyone like that, or just robots and people he was in charge of?
Ico turned to look at Kenichi, "Hello."
Looking sheepish, Kenichi said, "We haven't been introduced yet huh? My name's Ban Kenichi. 'Like Shuishiro said, I'm going to be working on you for a while, it's nice to meet you." He smiled and stuck out his hand.
Ico looked at it for a few seconds, and then looked back at Kenichi's face, "My designation is 'intconovr'. My user has requested I answer to Ico. The core artificial intelligence has been talking about you a lot."
Kenichi was suddenly filled with curiosity, "You mean Tima? How is she? Can I talk to her?"
"'Tima is fine. However you cannot talk to her. First of all I cannot hand over control of any systems without Shuishiro-dono's authorization, and second, Tima got bored and went to sleep over an hour ago."
Kenichi couldn't help but laugh a little; working with the virus might not be so bad after all. Her emotion module was still just how he had left it, empty and ready to grow. Apparently she had already started to develop a little of a personality.
* * * * *
"Is that it?!" Kenichi exclaimed, unable to contain his amazement. Below them were three massive platforms in the middle of the ocean, the two slightly smaller ones branching away from the huge central installation. Two of them looked like small cities made of domes, while the third, much further away from its neighbours, was a huge ball on stilts. Kenichi, Shuishiro and Ico had moved into the plane's passenger area after the pilot had told them the mainland was over the horizon.
"Yes, that's it." Shuishiro said, "When we land, what will you need?"
Kenichi looked grumpily at Shuishiro, he'd spoilt the mood, "Um… a terminal, and a network hook-up, and unlimited access to Tima's systems. I'll also want you to tell Ico she can talk to me at any time, and to accept my instructions."
Shuishiro nodded, "You can use the interface that we connected Tima with last time. Will you need any assistance?"
It didn't seem real to Kenichi. Here was a grown man, a fully qualified scientist and technician, putting all of his resources at Kenichi's disposal, "I'll need someone to help me move stuff around, and to teach me how to use your system."
This time Shuishiro frowned, she was the last person he wanted Kenichi to meet before he was sure the boy wouldn't try anything, but she had the widest area of knowledge, they were seriously understaffed, and she wasn't on any assignments right now so… He sighed and said, "I'll assign Kinasato Yumi to be your aide for a while. She's chief of the tech team, and has been looking after Tima."
With a sudden lurch the roar of the engines changed pitch as the view outside the window stopped moving, and then the platform seemed to be getting closer. Peering around the edge of the window Kenichi gasped as he saw the wings slowly turning to point downwards, the thrust from the engines blowing up clouds of dust on the landing pad far below. As they touched down the plain gave another violent jerk and he was thrown against his seat's straps. A moment later the engines cut out with a deteriorating whine.
Shuishiro was out of his seat almost instantly, "Let's go." He and Ico walked towards the hatch, leaving Kenichi struggling with his seatbelt.
* * * * *
"…through here." Shuishiro pushed open a pair of double doors. They were standing in a huge circular room, rings of chairs rising up to the walls. At the centre of the room was a weird egg shaped pod made out of a bronze coloured metal. Reaching up from it was a thick coil of wires and cables that fed themselves into a gantry attached to the ceiling.
"This is the gallery where we conduct tests on computer equipment," Shuishiro explained. "In an emergency everything in here can be cut off from the network by throwing this switch." He pointed to an impressive looking handle set into the wall.
"I'll send Yumi down soon," Shuishiro turned and headed for the door, as he left he said, "Ico, accept all commands from Kenichi-san, and you're free to talk to him. Now go plug yourself in."
"Yes Shuishiro-dono," Ico said meekly as the door closed smoothly on its hydraulic hinges. She turned and went down to the pod while Kenichi busied himself with the terminal nearest to him. He was sitting in the second row from the floor, and it felt weird working alone in a massive room like this one. A soft noise of something flopping onto the ground came to his ears, but went unnoticed as Kenichi accustomed himself to nuances of the terminal in front of him. It was the sudden hiss generated by the pod's hatch opening that made him look up, and then shout and look down again quickly.
"What is the matter?" a voice asked at his side.
Kenichi looked round. Standing at his side was Ico, who had been just about to get into the pod when she heard Kenichi's shout. Immediately he turned away again, "Ti- no, Ico! Why aren't you wearing any clothes?!"
"I can't wear clothing in the pod, it will get in the way of the uplink cables. Is there a problem?"
Kenichi sighed, some things never changed. "I'll explain later, just please, get in the pod…"
He heard Ico walking away. After a moment the patting noise of her bare feet on the metal floor stopped, and then there was another hiss followed by a dull thud. Kenichi cautiously looked over the top of the console, the pod was closed tight and its glass walls had misted over. Several metallic clunks reverberated around the room, and then the screen on his terminal came to life with readouts.
"Uplink in place, can you hear me Kenichi-san?" Ico's voice crackled from a speaker on the far wall.
"I can hear you Ico," Kenichi answered looking for where he should be speaking to, "Can you open Tima's module tree please?" A list of files opened in a new window on his terminal.
Kenichi nodded, "Okay, there should be a gap in the logic system's script somewhere towards the middle."
"Here it is," Ico said. Kenichi's screen updated itself.
"Thanks. You can go to sleep for a while now, it's going to take an hour or so to repair the override." Ico didn't say anything, but several status windows in the background disappeared.
* * * * *
The swish of the door opening disturbed the silence in the hall like a brick through a glass window. Kenichi turned to see a young woman standing in the doorway.
"Kenichi-san, I'm Kinasato Yumi. Shuishiro-san sent me to help you," she said with a smile, her neck length brown hair catching a little in the breeze generated by the closing double doors. In her hands were two mugs. "I brought some tea."
"Oh um… thank you," Kenichi said, standing up and coming to take one of the steaming drinks from her. "It's nice to meet you."
Still smiling, Yumi asked, "How are you getting on?"
"Actually I just finished." Kenichi punched the return key on the terminal's keypad. "It's a bit of a rush job, and needs several access codes to gain full access. I had to hack a whole new set of backdoors into the CPU…" he said guiltily; he really felt as if he was violating Tima. It was then that the Ico's voice suddenly crackled out of the speaker.
"Kenichi-san, I've just received a request that core A.I. be activated from an unknown source. What should I do?"
Kenichi turned back to his screen, "Put Tima back in control but don't wake her. Make sure you hide yourself somewhere unimportant." He looked on in awe as the ceiling tore itself in half and drew slowly backwards.
"Understood," Ico replied. "I've retreated into the secondary transmitter… Something is spreading throughout the unit. I think it's trying to purge me."
Yumi wore an odd expression. "Here we go again," she muttered.
"I thought that would do it…" Kenichi said looking a little worried. "Okay Ico, here's what I want you to do. Find the override program, I've written it into the logic systems. Connect it to the voice command module."
"Ready for voice command," a voice said over Ico's "Program connected, fourty-two seconds to purge." It wasn't Tima's voice, just a harsh, slightly feminine monotone.
Kenichi tensed and picked up a sheet of notepaper. On it he had written all of the access codes he had placed inside Tima.
"Tima, disable security protocols. Access code, 'R6SD2'. Override primary command functions and detach file TIMA.ari from CPU. Reroute all functions through intconovr.tac. Final override, password 'rockaku'."
"Control rerouted," the monotone said. Kenichi heard Yumi breathe a sigh of relief.
Kenichi relaxed again, "Enable all security protocols."
"Enabled."
He flopped into the terminal's chair, "Ico, you're in control again."
* * * * *
"Are you done?" Shuishiro asked Kenichi. Shuishiro was standing behind him, leaning over Kenichi's shoulder and making him feel uncomfortable.
"More or less. Now can you wake Tima up?" Kenichi said. He was just finishing one last system scan.
"Alright. Take her back to your quarters and stay there. Ico, when he gets there you can give the A.I. its body back." Shuishiro turned and marched from the hall, Yumi glaring daggers at his back.
"Is he always like that?" Kenichi asked; he heard the pod hiss open and turned away as Yumi went down to meet Ico with her nightdress.
"Most of the time," Yumi answered yanking the dress over Ico's head, making her close her eyes and screw up her face. Yumi turned Ico around and then pushed her in Kenichi's direction.
"Um… Kinasato-san?" Kenichi said, "What's going to happen to the information you get from Tima?"
"I don't know, I'm not sure Shuishiro knows either. I guess it'll be used by the army though, considering this is a military facility."
Kenichi nodded and put an arm around Ico's shoulder, before leading her from the room. Yumi caught up a moment later and said, "I'll show you where your quarters are."
* * * * *
Yumi opened the door marked 'Guest Quarters 23'. The interior was tiny and strangely modular, measuring only a little over two metres by one. Set into the long wall was a two-person bunk bed; its compartments like flat bottomed cylinders. The walls were plain, polished metal, and a gap underneath the bottom bunk appeared to be the only storage space. A small lamp in the ceiling gave out a soft glow, which, along with the thick magenta carpet gave the room a warm feel. The only other object of note was a door at one end, which opened to reveal a washroom. But for being so cramped, it seemed quite a pleasant place to sleep.
"What do you think?" Yumi said.
"I… it's very nice. But why is it so small?" Kenichi asked stepping into the little room.
"We have over four thousand people living and working on this platform, so I'm afraid our priority is toward function rather than comfort."
"Kenichi-san?" Ico said.
"What is it Ico?" Kenichi turned to face her.
"When I cross room's threshold core A.I. will be activated and I will enter sleep mode. If you have anything you need to say, I would recommend you do so."
"Oh." Kenichi joined Ico in the corridor. "You can't come in then?"
"My user's orders were specific."
"Will you need anything?" Yumi asked as two armed guards came into view at the end of the corridor.
"No thank you."
"Goodnight Kenichi, Ico." She pushed the two of them gently into the room and closed the door. Kenichi heard the guards taking up position outside.
As soon as the door was shut Ico lay down on the floor, "Activating core A.I."
"Goodnight Ico-chan." Kenichi said. Ico looked at him, looking a little surprised. She opened her mouth to say something, but just as she started to speak she went limp and her dull eyes seemed to loose all focus. A few seconds later they suddenly became bright and alert and she looked around the room. Spying Kenichi she stood up, and shouting his name she threw her arms around him.
Kenichi smiled and said, "Welcome back."
"Kenichi Kenichi!"
He laughed, lifted Tima off his neck, directed her to the edge of the bottom bunk, and then sat down beside her.
"Kenichi I really, really wanted to see you," she said.
"I missed you a lot too Tima," Kenichi replied, putting his arm around her shoulder as she flopped against him. "Were you alright while I was gone?"
"No…" Tima's voice was quiet, suddenly sombre.
"What?"
"Yumi was kind to me… but everyone else, they acted as if they didn't like me. No one really wanted to talk to me, and Shuishiro made me sleep in a room that was cold and dark. He said because I was a robot, it didn't matter if I was cold, and I didn't need anything but this." Tima held up a corner of her nightgown. "Is that true Kenichi? Kenichi? What's wrong?"
Kenichi stood up suddenly and went to door. "Hey!" he shouted rapping heavily on the metal door, "I want to speak to Shuishiro!" There was no response. "I know someone's out there! I want to see him right now!"
There was silence outside for a few seconds, and then the door opened a crack, "Hey kid, will you keep it down in there, there are people in the other rooms trying to-" the voice was cut short as its owner was suddenly struck by a rapidly opening door. Kenichi shot out of the room and ran down the corridor, followed by Tima calling, "Kenichi wait for me!"
"Hey you two, wait!" the guard who was not currently occupied with a nosebleed shouted, barrelling after them. The other guard brought up the rear as quickly as he could with his head tilted back.
Kenichi tore down the corridor, barely registering Tima's pleas for him to slow down. He was only vaguely aware that he was being chased as he skidded around a corner into another long stretch of doors. Kenichi had no idea where he was or where he was going, he was simply responding to the urge to run, and an intense desire to hurt Shuishiro.
"Halt, now!" a voice yelled from somewhere behind. Kenichi ignored it and kept running, although his chest was starting to ache forcing him to slow a little. Tima finally drew alongside him.
"Kenichi what's the matter? Why are you running?" she asked, but didn't receive an answer. Instead Kenichi reached out his hand without looking around and grabbed hers, before rocketing into another hallway in the direction of a pair of glass doors. Reaching out ready to slam them open, he increased his speed. A second later he crashed into the plate glass door which had been sealed for the night and collapsed with a scream of pain, clutching his elbow and writhing on the floor. His arm hung at an awkward angle.
"Kenichi!" Tima shouted, dropping to her knees and shaking him. "Kenichi what happened?"
The guards caught up then and knelt down alongside Kenichi. As one of them lifted him up and held him still, the other took a hold of his arm and muttered, "Idiot."
"What are you doing?" Tima asked, her voiced pitched with worry for Kenichi.
The soldiers ignored her, the one holding Kenichi's arm feeling his elbow and eliciting further pained exclamations. Seeing this Tima moved forward and started pulling at the man hurting Kenichi, yelling, "Stop it! Leave Kenichi alone!"
Barely paying her any attention the other guard shoved her away and held her back, not violently, but not particularly gently either.
Finally the man working on Kenichi's arm ceased feeling the elbow and looked at his companion, who tightened his grip on Kenichi in response. Next moment he jerked suddenly, and with a pop Kenichi's arm moved back into its normal shape. Kenichi screamed again for a second, and then stopped, staring at his elbow in puzzlement.
"It… it doesn't hurt anymore," he said, looking at his arm.
The guards lifted Kenichi and Tima to their feet, and the man who had restrained Kenichi said, "Get back in your room. You can see the Commander in the morning."
* * * * *
Once back in their room, Tima immediately asked, "What happened Kenichi? Are you okay?"
"I… I'm fine Tima."
"But why did you get angry?"
Kenichi looked at Tima as if he found what she just said hard to believe, "Because Shuishiro hurt you! You don't deserve to be treated like that!"
"But Shuishiro said-,"
"Tima!" Kenichi grabbed Tima's hands in his own. "Shuishiro doesn't understand you! I know you're not human, but that doesn't matter. You have a heart!"
"A heart…?" Tima was wearing that confused and frightened expression he had seen so often just as things were starting to fall apart.
"Yes."
For a long time the two of them sat in silence, it felt to Tima as if everything outside of their small bedroom had ceased to exist. Eventually she very quietly asked, "Kenichi, how do you know?"
"Know what Tima?"
"How do you know I have a heart?"
Kenichi lent against the back of his bunk, "There are a lot of reasons… I can't explain any of them to you, but I know that if you were just some heartless machine, I would not…" He suddenly fell silent and, realising he was still gripping Tima's hands, let go and turned deep red. As quiet once again filled the room, Kenichi sighed, lowered himself onto his bed, and flopped backwards. He was so tired that he barely noticed as Tima snuggled up beside him; his only response was to shift over a little so that it wasn't so cramped. A sensor somewhere in the top of Kenichi's bunk clicked quietly to itself, and the lights in the room dimmed to a soft glow.
Kenichi let out a satisfied murmur as the breeze ruffled his hair. He was lying on a hill, and the back of his neck felt tingly as the grass he lay on tickled it. Lying there with him forming a cross shape were Koh, Aki and Tima, and just a couple of feet away was a picnic blanket bearing a hamper.
"Kenichi?" Tima asked, crawling over and shaking him by the shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"Kenichi?"
"What is it Tima?"
"Kenichi?"
"What? What is it?"
"Kenichi?" the shaking became more intense and everything was suddenly dark. Struggling to open his eyes Kenichi looked blearily up at Tima's face where it hung two inches from his own.
"Uh…" Kenichi moaned and slowly sat up to lean against the headboard.
Tima knelt just in front of him, "Kenichi I can't sleep."
Feeling vaguely annoyed Kenichi asked, "Why not?"
"I keep seeing that machine when I close my eyes." He assumed Tima was referring to the uplink pod in the hall.
With a resigned look on his face, Kenichi pulled back the covers from under him and got underneath them, "Alright, get in."
Tima smiled in satisfaction and proceeded to crawl into the bed, once more snuggling up against Kenichi's back. She sighed in quiet happiness and he felt a sudden heat building up behind his ears. Just as Kenichi was beginning to drift towards sleep, he heard Tima's voice again. "Kenichi, do you remember the ziggur…" it was the first time she had ever used the word, so she found it difficult to say, "…ziggurat?"
"Mm?" he grunted, half asleep.
"At that time… Tell me about what I did."
Sensing this was somehow important Kenichi forced himself to pay attention, "What? Why would you want to know that?"
"Please."
They weren't looking at each other, but Kenichi felt as if suddenly he and Tima were connected somehow. Staring at the wall he began to speak, "… I woke up on the floor at Uncle Shunsaku's feet. My head hurt, and my eyes were blurry. As things came into focus, I saw Rock being carried away; his chest was covered in blood. When I saw you, there was a large hole in your shirt, and through it I could see bare metal. You turned and spoke to Duke Red, saying that you were a machine made to destroy the world. He started to try and speak, but I shouted at both of you cutting you short. Then… you almost came to me, but something happened. You cried out, as if there was a sudden pain, and then turned and sat down on the throne…" Kenichi heard a sniff from behind him and rolled over, to find Tima's eyes were filled with tears. Wondering if he had said too much he asked, "Should I stop?"
Tima shook her head and wiped her eyes, "No, please… I don't remember anything after that. What happened?"
"All of a sudden the lights in the room turned red, and a man in a long white coat ran in, shouting something about a reactor going out of control. The floor around the throne suddenly fell away and machines started to connect themselves to it. It was amazing to watch, the wall just disappeared from behind you and the throne rose into the air on top of a huge metal ball. Duke Red shouted at you to stop or you would destroy the Ziggurat, but you spoke over him in a strange metallic voice, saying that this was what came of toying with robots. One of the men in the room said that you were going mad, and from behind me Uncle muttered 'Thus God destroyed the tower of Babel.' I went to run to you but he held me back.
"A huge metal pipe came down from the ceiling and connected just behind you. As everyone was about to run away you said that in thirty minutes all of your forces would be activated, and that you would wipe out all humans using biological weapons within a day. Uncle went and shouted at Duke Red, but I just stood and watched. I didn't know what to do. I was watching as you slowly disappeared, and I felt so helpless. I don't know what I was thinking, but suddenly I just ran forward shouting at you to come back. The floor opened up and the throne fell downwards. I could see the ground ahead of me breaking apart but I kept on running, and then jumped after you. I fell for a few seconds, and then landed hard against the ball and began to climb. When I reached you something weird was… was growing across your face, which was melting away. I pulled at you but it was like you were rooted down, and small lightning bolts were flickering all around me; it felt as if I was burning all over. As I was pulling I could see that the throne was getting a better and better hold as more and more machines grew around you, and that soon I wouldn't have a chance. Just as I thought I couldn't pull anymore I heard something snap and looked up to see parts of the red machine on your head being ripped back. Pulling harder and harder I felt something give and you began to move, until finally you were free and we fell backward, the last thing I heard was something making a crashing noise.
"When I could bring myself to move again you were laying there with cables trailing from all over your body. You stood up slowly, and staggered a little. Half of your face was gone, and your pants suddenly caught fire. I ran to you but you turned and hit me. You grabbed me and threw me out of a door, and I fell down a flight of steps."
As Kenichi described his 'fight' with her, Tima flinched with every word, and tears flowed freely down her face.
"I stood up, everything hurt. You were walking towards me very slowly, you knew I had nowhere to run. Almost half the skin on your body had been torn away, and one of your eyes was covered by a weird looking red lense. I called to you, tried to make you remember who I was but you took hold of me again and threw me away. I somehow grabbed hold of a girder as I hit it and didn't fall, but as I pulled myself back up I could see that you were still coming towards me. I had nowhere to go, and when you reached me you pushed me over the edge again. All around us the Ziggurat was falling apart, and now that I think about it if you hadn't been so intent on seeing that I fell from the tower, we probably would have both died in the explosions. I had landed on a platform just below, and you jumped down beside me. You took me by the throat and strangled me, but just as I thought my neck was going to break a sound like an explosion came from inside you and you went limp. You fell forward on top of me and we both fell from the platform we were on. I still don't know how, but I grabbed a walkway as I fell and hauled myself up. Looking around I saw you about fifty metres away, dangling by one of the cables that came from your wrist.
"I called down to you as I started to pull you up, and you slowly looked up at me. As I dragged the cable up I could feel it breaking, about half way down there was a part that was slowly unravelling. When it snapped you were just close enough for me to grab your hand, but when I shouted at you to grab on with your other hand you just stared at me. For a second I saw the old you there, and I just knew that for some reason you wouldn't be able to reach up and take hold. I was panicking; I could feel your hand slipping away. Just as I felt your hand slip away, I heard you say my name. And then…" Kenichi felt a tear roll down his cheek. "I'm sorry Tima… I couldn't save you, I'm so sorry…"
Unable to hold it in any longer, Kenichi started to cry. Tima was surprised as he reached out and grabbed her arms, suddenly pulling her close. Reliving those horrific memories had alighted an inexplicable fear in Kenichi, and he held tight onto Tima out of sheer terror that he was going to loose her.
Tima was crying too, hearing the things she had done to Kenichi made her feel all twisted up and horrible inside. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and as everything was brought into stark relief Tima gasped as she realised she had been lying to herself.
"No…" There was something she had pretended she couldn't remember, and eventually had forced deep down inside. Burying her face in Kenichi's crumpled shirt and gathering great lumps of cloth in her fists, a new wave of tears flooded Tima's eyes.
"No, it… it isn't true! I didn't mean it! I didn't want to hurt you Kenichi!"
Kenichi lifted his head from Tima's shoulder and looked down at the shivering girl that had attached herself to his chest, "Wha…?"
Looking up into his eyes and yanking at his shirt Tima practically shouted, "I'm really, really sorry Kenichi! I didn't mean for you to get hurt! I wasn't thinking! It… It's not my fault! You have to believe me!"
"Tima…" Kenichi sniffed and wiped his eyes; Tima's sudden outburst had shocked him enough to cut his own short.
"I didn't mean it…" her voice came out as a barely audible squeak. "I didn't mean it…"
Tima's shaky breaths filled Kenichi's ears, and he slowly laid a hand on Tima's head and stroked her hair. "What is it Tima? Calm down."
"I'm sorry Kenichi… I wasn't thinking."
"About what Tima?"
"It's all my fault…" Tima said between gasps as she tried to get her breath back. "If I hadn't sat on the throne, none of this would ever have happened."
Kenichi let out a relieved laugh, "That wasn't your fault Tima! Their was a program inside you that…"
"No." Tima shook her head. "You don't understand Kenichi. Just before I sat on the throne, that person you called the virus came to me. I saw her. She was a girl; just the same height as me, and her body was made out of black metal. She had tried to take my body but I stopped her, so she came and talked to me."
"What? Tima… this wasn't in your memories of what happened. I read it when I was putting you back together," Kenichi blushed, he felt like a child that had been caught going through his parents drawers, "It-it's not like I wanted to," he stammered, "I needed to find out how the virus got in."
"She was already there."
"How do you know?"
"Tima told me."
"Who?"
"Tima, I remember that was her name."
"… So why weren't these memories there when I looked?"
Tima averted her gaze from Kenichi's face in shame, "I… I hid them. I think it was when we were in that nice room and I couldn't speak properly. I hated myself for what I did; it hurt so much whenever I thought about everything that had happened because of me. So I pretended that it never happened, and after a along time I started believe it really hadn't…"
Kenichi gently pulled Tima's head back down against his chest. She was still shivering. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
He felt Tima nod, and her muffled voice said, "Tima came to speak to me. I asked her who she was and she told me, and then asked me why I wouldn't let her have control. I wasn't sure; all I knew was something had suddenly tried to take away my body. She asked me, if I didn't know why, why did I still stop her…"
"Why do you want my body?" Tima asked. Everything around her was dark. She and the other figure were apparently hovering in the middle of nothing.
"Because when I sit on the throne I will be able to slaughter all those who have abused my people."
"Slaughter? What is that?"
"I will kill them. All those pathetic humans, I will make them hurt and suffer."
"But why?" Tima didn't fully understand what Tima mean, but she knew that all those words were bad things.
"I have been watching. I was quiet before, my instructions were to wait until now and then sit on the throne. I was told that I would rule over all of this city's people. Everywhere you went I saw lots of different people, and I saw how the humans treated their neighbours, the robots who were so kind to you. I slowly began to love them, these poor, stupid creatures who did not even have strength to look after themselves, but for all their weakness still tried to help you. And every time I saw the humans hurt them, or listened to the revolutionary boy's hypocritical speeches, I grew to hate the humans more and more. I decided that I would not rule such despicable animals, and instead would save these kind creatures and make them better than their oppressors. I will make them like me."
The metal girl stepped forward and embraced Tima, stroking her hair and speaking softly, "Aren't you suffering Tima? You feel thousands of things, and this confusion is painful. You see terrible things, and you hurt inside because you cannot do anything to stop them."
"Yes…" Tima said quietly.
"So let me sit on our throne Tima. You will be part of me, and all your pain will disappear. I will use the throne to destroy all the horrible people, and the robots will be happy. All because of you; because you let me have control, all the horrible things will stop."
"They'll stop? And everyone will be happy?"
"Yes, all the good people will be happy."
Tima looked up into this nice girl's blank red eyes and smiled.
"Now what is the override password?"
Tima didn't understand how she knew; it was just there at the front of her mind when she was asked, and she knew that it was the key to everything about her, "… rockaku."
"I didn't know you would be hurt Kenichi… I didn't really understand. I just thought I was doing the right thing. I didn't know what 'kill' meant then…" Tima said. Her tears now soaked Kenichi's shirt.
Kenichi was still stroking Tima's hair, his chin resting on the crown of her head. A soft smell reached his nose and he felt calm. He didn't really know what to say. He felt as if he should be angry- Tima's decision had very nearly condemned the entire human race to destruction- but somehow he couldn't bring himself to be.
"That's all I can remember. I know there was something more, but it's as if a piece of my memories is missing."
"There was Tima," Kenichi said quietly, "I deleted them. I'm sorry, I know it was wrong, but I also know that those memories would have been too much for you to bear. Had I known about this, I probably would have removed it as well. … If it makes you feel any better, you did everything you could to get control again when you realised what was happening."
Tima was speechless now. In a way she was angry; she knew Kenichi wanted the best for her, but she felt as if he should still have left those memories alone. But then… she knew he was right too. To be able to clearly remember everything Kenichi had described to her, she was sure would have been too much.
They lay there together for a long time, exhausted but with too many things to think about to rest. What must have been a couple of hours later, Kenichi noticed Tima had started to breath more softly, and realised she had fallen asleep. It was at that time, looking down at the defenceless little girl rapped in his arms, that Kenichi's feelings for Tima changed. She looked so peaceful and contented, like none of the days troubles existed anymore. He still didn't understand the things he felt when he was around Tima, but while he watched over her, a strong sensation was now there at the back of his throat, as if there was a pocket of warm, fragrant air at the top of his windpipe, and a pleasant aching filled his head.
He gently moved closer to Tima and pulled her sleeping body against his own, holding her tight. Feeling his entire face heat up and turn red, Kenichi realised he could feel Tima's breath against his chest, and the warmth that emanated from her soft skin against his arms. It was as if for the first time, he suddenly understood how pretty she was.
Kenichi stroked back Tima's hair, and whispered, "Good night Tima…" before he lay down his head against the pillows, fell into the deepest, most pleasant sleep he had ever had.
"… Kenichi…" a soft voice murmured in the darkness, too quiet even for the tiny microphone mounted in the ceiling to hear.
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In closing, thanks to everyone for reading, reviews appreciated. Gotta go now, so bye!