-----------------------------------------
NOTICE
-----------------------------------------
Not all episodes of "The Big Parallel Trouble Adventure" are written by COHugh. This episode, for example, was written by Xtor49, a co-creator. When an episode is written by another author, this notice will appear at the top of their entry along with their name being credited at the beginning of the episode. All comments/reviews that their respective episode receives will be forwarded to their e-mail address by COHugh.
Happy Reading!
-----------------------------------------
The Big Parallel Trouble Adventure Episode 02: "Three's a Crowd"
Written By: Xtor49
Concept Created By: Xtor49 and COHugh
Based Upon Characters From: "Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure", "The Big O", and their respective owners.
All rights reserved.
------------------------------
Act I
------------------------------
A loading van drove into an underground parking area somewhere in downtown Kodai City. Three women in white uniforms got out, their faces hidden from the cameras by the white caps they wore. One had red hair, one had brown, and the other was blonde.
They opened the nearby door and walked down the hallway, two of them with a small metal cart. To anyone who might have been watching, it was obvious that the three knew where they were going. Taking multiple twists and turns through the corridors, they arrived at a set of double doors.
The brunette took out an access card and slid it through the electronic lock nest to the door. Next, she typed in a password on the number pad on the lock. A negative buzz went off, and the doors didn't open.
She tried again. The same buzz sounded. The three women started to look nervous.
The one at the lock suddenly giggled, "I was putting in the wrong one! Silly me."
The other two sighed as she typed in the correct code and the door opened.
"Why did we give her the password to remember?" the blonde asked.
"I'm wondering that myself," the redhead retorted.
The trio took their carts inside the room. It was a storage room, full of boxes of various things on many shelves. The three women started placing certain boxes on the carts, often having to work together due to the weight of the contents.
It was as they were just finishing that when an alarm sounded. "I didn't touch anything," the brunette protested, standing next to a box labeled 'Do not touch! Alarm will sound!' in bright red.
The three young women started running down the halls, headed back to their van. Armed guards were hot on their tails, firing their guns at them.
"Wwaaaaahhhaaaahhhhaaaaahh," the brunette shrieked as they ran, pushing the carts in front of them.
"Alice! Run ahead and start the truck," the redhead commanded the brown-haired one. With a surprising burst of speed, and further screaming, the brunette did just that.
"Ryla, we have to slow the guards down! They're catching up," the blonde declared.
The redhead pulled a canister grenade from her pants, using her teeth to remove the pin. She tossed the canister behind her, which released thick tear gas. The guards started vomiting and crying, now too distracted to shoot the thieves.
The blonde and redhead pushed the carts into the back of the truck. "Mena, you drive," the redhead told the blonde.
"Why can't I drive, Ryla?" Alice, the brunette, questioned.
"Because you don't have a driver's license!" the redhead snapped.
The van took off down the street a moment later. After a few blocks, Mena pressed a button on the dash. The white paint on the van changed to a dull yellow. Military police cars drove right past them, searching for a white vehicle.
"Once again, we've done it, girls! Of course, it would've been a lot easier if you hadn't set off the alarm!" Ryla yelled at Alice.
"I told you, I didn't touch anything!" Alice's eyes watered.
"Can we just forget about this? We're okay and that's what matters," Mena suggested, not taking her eyes from the road.
---
Kazuki groaned and stretched as he sat up in his bed. He looked toward his alarm clock, "Aagh! D?! What are you doing in here?"
D's finger was on the snooze button of the alarm clock, and it was standing emotionlessly next to his bed, "Good afternoon, Kazuki Yotsuga."
"Have you been standing there all day?" Kazuki asked. He could have sworn that he'd set the alarm to go off at 10:00 a.m., just loud enough that he'd awaken an hour or two later.
It was now 1:19 p.m.
When D didn't answer, Kazuki sighed and got up out of bed. "Well, you can go now; I'm sure Yayoi's been looking for you."
"She hasn't been," D stated as if she was certain.
"Just get out," the negotiator groaned.
"Very well," the android replied, walking out of the room.
"There's something very strange about that machine," Kazuki thought out loud. He quickly shrugged the matter off and proceeded to get dressed.
"Kazuki-kun, a request for your services has been made by Shourai Corporation," Yayoi stated when he came downstairs.
"The Kodai Syndicate, huh? You know I can't stand working for them," Kazuki scolded.
"I know Master, but I thought you would want to decide on this one yourself, so I told them you would respond at a later date."
Kazuki raised his eyebrows in interest, "What is the job?"
"They want you to negotiate the ransom of one of their kidnapped scientists, a Dr. Kaoru Hayase. I don't know any other details," Yayoi explained.
"A woman... Yes, you were right to check with me first."
"If you are to accept the job, she wants to brief you on the details in person," the white-haired woman warned.
Yayoi could only mean one person. Ayuko Rara, President of the Kodai Syndicate and therefore owner of Kodai City. There aren't many people in this world that I can't stand more than that female. I hesitate to use the word 'woman', because as far as I'm concerned, she's not human...
"... Fine. Call Shourai Corp. and tell them I'm on my way," Kazuki muttered.
---
Kazuki rode the elevator up to Ayuko's Lower Kodai office, a room that could easily double as an amphitheater, atop the largest building in Lower Kodai. In the back was a large garden full of plants, many incredibly rare. There appeared to be a few rooms branching off of the main office, as well.
Two guards stood at either side of the elevator entrance. Behind a curved white desk in the center of the room sat Ayuko Rara, in a strange magenta dress with sea-green border.
"Mr. Yotsuga, how nice to see you again. Please sit down," Ayuko gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk. Her voice was warm enough, but her face had a permanent look of extreme superiority.
Kazuki was tempted to remain standing, but sat down anyway. "Ms. Rara, how about we get right down to business?"
"Does my presence cause you that much discomfort, Mr. Yotsuga?" she made an evil inquisitive smirk as she probed his frank response.
"Yes."
The smirk widened, "Very well. As you know, a scientist under employment of Shourai Corp. was kidnapped and is now being held for ransom. Her name is Kaoru Hayase and her research is vital to me."
Her use of the word 'me' was not lost on Kazuki.
"Over the past few months, a trio of bandits has raided various technology labs that the Kodai Syndicate holds 'interests' in. We have attempted to capture them, with little success. A couple of weeks ago, along with various pieces of machinery, they stole one of our head researchers, Dr. Hayase. Now, they want to ransom her back to us. Your job is simply to conduct the exchange, and make sure it takes place as planned. I don't want them taking the money and keeping the good doctor."
"I'll need to know when and where the exchange is to be made," Kazuki said.
"Of course. My secretary shall give you the necessary information." Ayuko pressed a button on her desk, "Ms. Casey, bring Mr. Yotsuga the file and briefcase."
From a room to Kazuki's left came a woman in a pink business suit, a pair of small glasses resting on her nose. She had light brown hair that fell nearly to her waist and a general appearance that Kazuki thought was very familiar.
"Mr. Yotsuga," Ms. Casey handed him a manila envelope and a black briefcase. Her voice was soft and quiet, like a shy child's.
"How long have you worked here?" he asked curiously.
"A few weeks," Ms. Casey responded.
'She looks an awful lot like Sanada,' Kazuki thought. 'Her eyes and hair are lighter brown, voice's different along with her attitude... I guess that old line about everyone having a twin in the world is true.'
Kazuki stood up, stating, "I'll be going now," and headed for the elevator.
"Always a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Yotsuga," Ayuko's false smile returned with a vengeance as the elevator doors began to close.
"So, Ms. Casey, what do you think of him?" the older woman wondered.
"I'm not sure. He's good at his job, I'd say from his file. I'm not sure about the way he looked at me, as if I was the last person he expected to see. Other than that, the only thing else I can say is he's an excellent judge of character," Ms. Casey answered.
Ayuko laughed, "That's what I like about you, dear; you tell me exactly what I ask for, even if it might insult me. But you forgot physically."
Ms. Casey's head fell for a moment in embarrassment, rising again before she spoke, "He's...attractive."
Meanwhile, in the elevator, Kazuki looked at the file. 'The swap isn't until late tomorrow. The briefcase holds $10 million. I would've expected it to be more given that Dr. Hayase is so important to Kodai.'
The elevator came to a halt at the main lobby. Kazuki closed the file, stepping out. 'Perhaps they have no intention of returning the good doctor. Or there's something that female isn't telling me. Maybe I'll get lucky and the kidnappers are just ignorant of her true value.'
He walked out the main entrance, 'Nothing in the file says just what she does at Kodai Corp. Her research is a complete mystery... I think I had better go see an old friend...'
'I still find that moniker of his ridiculous...' the negotiator got into his car, started it up, and drove off, 'But his information is worth it.'
---
Yayoi rode the platform in the storage area in Kazuki's mansion down to Zinv's cockpit for her daily check-over of its systems. She twirled her pencil in her right hand, a checklist on a clipboard in her left hand.
To her surprise, D was sitting inside the white Megacore's cockpit. The android made no movements, simply sat upright with its hands on the life sympathy orbs with the cockpit door open.
"D, what are you doing?" Yayoi asked rhetorically.
"I am talking to Zinv," D answered.
Yayoi wasn't sure how to respond. "...Well... Get out of there!"
After a moment, D rose and climbed out onto the walkway. The life sympathy orbs flashed dimly a couple of times as it exited the cockpit.
Yayoi climbed in, "Go... Do something productive!"
D went over to the elevator and rode it back up to the main floor.
The gray-haired woman looked down at the life sympathy orbs where the pilot's hands rested, 'Did I really see these light up when that thing touched them? They never did that for me...Kazuki makes them glow like light bulbs...'
'Does that mean D could pilot Zinv? I don't like the idea of an android controlling a Megacore. I better keep an eye on it when it's in here.'
"And what did it mean, 'Talking to Zinv'? Its lips weren't moving and it's not as if it can talk back," Yayoi thought out loud.
She decided to push it from her mind and focus on the task at hand, "Okay, big guy; time for your daily systems check."
---
Kazuki drove up to the establishment known as the Speak Easy Bar. Parking his car outside, he activated the security system. As the armored plating surrounded the vehicle's various vulnerable points, Kazuki stepped into the bar.
"What'll it be," the bartender queried.
"Scotch, on the rocks," Kazuki walked over to pick up the drink, leaving a few dollar bills on the bar.
He sat down at one of the booths along the far wall, next to a booth occupied by a well-tanned overweight bald man with hearing aids and a small moustache. The man was reading the newspaper, as always. Kazuki set the scotch down on the table next to the large man, pushing it towards him.
His ears are fine. The hearing aids are for eavesdropping, a pastime of his.
"Hello, Negotiator," the man took the scotch and sipped at it behind his newspaper.
"Big Papa. What do you know about a Kodai Corp. scientist by the name of Kaoru Hayase," Kazuki asked.
"Hayase, eh? The one that was kidnapped recently? She's around 30 years old. Kinda cute, in her own way. Word is that her kidnappers were three women, about the same age. They've been stealing what many think is just random technology."
"But it's not, is it?"
Big Papa took another sip, "Nope. Hayase is one of Shourai Corp.'s head scientists in the study of those giant robots, the Megacores. The parts those three have been stealing could easily be used to repair a Megacore, if not start building one from scratch. However, no one has been able to create a functioning Megacore from scratch yet, not even Dr. Hayase."
"I see."
"The thieves also had the necessary pass codes, knowledge of the inside of the buildings, knew when the shift changes were, and other signs that point to either one of two things," the older man added.
Kazuki frowned slightly. "They had really done their homework and had been planning this for quite some time or they had inside help."
"And given that some of the pass codes change daily, some machines take retina scans, even DNA tests on a few of the things," Big Papa glanced at the young man.
"The latter is far more likely," Kazuki muttered.
My job wasn't to find the thieves or to investigate the thefts; it was to make sure Dr. Hayase was returned to the Kodai Syndicate after the exchange. I like to be in the know, however, and if the trade goes south it will become my job...
I just hope it doesn't come to that.
He took a stuffed envelope out of his coat's inner pocket, sliding it over to the large man, "Thanks."
"Anytime, Negotiator," the well-informed man calmly stuck the envelope inside his shirt as the younger man left.
------------------------------
End Act I
------------------------------