Chapter 32: Investigating The Past

Sonnet slowly read through the files on the disk Agito had given her. One was an employment record of a man called Seiya Baji, including a little bit about the man's family. Seiya Baji had worked for a small electronics company, based in Los Angeles, for two and a half years, until his unfortunate death during an attempted burglary. What caught Sonnet's eye, however, was the mention of his family. He had been married to a British woman called Rachel Baji, and he had also had a daughter called Sonnet.

Was this man my father? Sonnet wondered as she read the file. She did notice that the man had blue eyes, and was a small resemblance to her, in the photograph that was attached to the record.

A second file was the obituary of Seiya Baji, indicating the date and time of his death, as well as the cause. The third, and final, file was a police report of the attempted burglary at the electronics company. Sonnet quickly skimmed through the third file, and found herself confused by what she was reading, so she contacted Agito.

[Guyver 3?]

[Blue? Is something wrong?]

[I've just been reading this information you gave me. What did you think it was?]

[I thought it was information on your parents. The man does look a little like you, and he had a daughter with the same name.]

[I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, I have no memory of my past, beyond what little I told you. This man could have been my father, but if he was, I don't remember.]

[Sorry to hear that Blue.]

[Thank you anyway.]

[For the information?]

[And the condolences. You have me wondering though, maybe my parents are still alive and I just don't remember them.]

[Possible. I'll let you know if I find anything else.]

[OK.]

The communication was then broken. Sonnet removed the disk from her laptop, connected its modem to her phone socket, and loaded her Internet software. Once it was loaded she went to a search engine, and typed in the name of the company Seiya Baji had worked for. A few results came back from the search, and Sonnet started looking through them.

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"I'm glad you're back, Mizuki," Sho stated as they settled down in the base, "Although I trust Sonnet, I was still worried about you."

"We all were." Agito added, "Your brother especially."

"Where is he?" Mizuki asked.

"Tetsuro is sleeping now," Sho explained, "I didn't want to disturb him."

"That's fine. I'll see him tomorrow."

"Out of interest, Agito, what was on that disk you gave to Sonnet?" Sho asked.

"Information on a man who I believe to be her father." Agito replied.

"I don't think she remembers much her parents, Agito." Mizuki stated.

"No," Agito admitted, "She just told me as much. Worth trying though."

"I wonder if she would want to remember everything?" Sho said.

"What do you mean?" Agito asked.

"Some people could consider not knowing their past a good thing. It would give them the opportunity to start over."

"Have you ever wanted to do that, Sho?" Mizuki asked.

"Sometimes," He admitted, "I wonder if I'd be any happier if I hadn't found the Guyver, and become involved in this fight. My father might still be alive, since Chronos wouldn't have had any reason to bait me if I wasn't a threat to them."

"Although he could have be processed into a Chronos zoanoid when they took over. And he could have been killed by either myself or Sonnet." Agito pointed out.

"I suppose that's possible," Sho agreed, turning to Mizuki, "But then I doubt you and I would be anything more than friends. We might not even be that."

"That is a possibility. But since my brother was your best friend before you became a Guyver, you and I might still have become a couple."

"As interesting as this discussion is," Agito said, "I don't feel like talking about what might have been, there are too many variables and possibilities. Can we change the subject please?"

"So how was your stay with Sonnet?" Sho asked his girlfriend.

"Good fun actually. We had a few combat training sessions, had a few shopping trips, carried out an assault on Chronos Japan. And I was a test subject for her attempts at cooking."

"She cooks?" Sho asked, "I thought she couldn't eat?"

"Yes, and she can't. I can, however, and she was interested in learning. So, I agreed to help her learn, and be a guinea pig for her dishes."

"What did she cook?" Agito asked.

"The first thing she tried, and burnt, was an English breakfast: bacon, sausage and eggs."

"You didn't eat the burnt food, did you?"

Mizuki laughed.

"No, of course not. She was throwing it out when I got into the kitchen. The burning smell woke me up. I ate her second attempt, which tasted great."

"What else?"

"She also tried Tori no kara-age, which was very nice, especially for her first try."

"Interesting," Agito mused, "I didn't think she'd be interested in cooking, at all."

"Because she can't eat?" Mizuki asked.

"Yeah. Why learn to cook if you can't eat the food?"

"I suppose," Mizuki conceded, "Maybe she was a good cook during her childhood, and it's a subconscious memory in her mind?"

"That's possible, I suppose." Sho said.

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Sonnet's search through the Internet sites had been a waste of time. Nothing she read, or saw, looked familiar.

This is pointless, She thought, Without any memory of this part of my life, I don't know if what I'm reading has anything to do with me. I could just as easily be reading about the life of another person called Sonnet Baji and not know.

She shut down her laptop, and replaced it in its hiding place. It was now just after midnight, and she had nothing else to do. Going hunting was something she didn't feel like doing, and she had no way to contact Aptom, so trading information with him wasn't possible.

I suppose I could hire a private investigator to look into what could be my past, and see what happens. Sonnet thought.

She then looked at the clock, and realised that it was about 12:20 in LA.

I'm going to see if I can find a private investigator in LA to look into this for me.

She grabbed the disk containing the files Agito had given her, since she had a copy for herself on the laptop, and pictured the LA skyline, from what she remembered seeing in a Travel Agency window, back in Phoenix, and teleported herself there. Unfortunately, her use of a photograph to initiate the teleport resulted in her appearing in midair, about 20 floors high. Sonnet quickly reacted by summoning her armour, and activating her gravity orb. Once Guyver Blue had stabilised herself, she lowered herself to ground level in a small alleyway, and deactivated her armour. Sonnet left the alley, and looked around for a phone box, and a phone book. She walked though the LA streets for over an hour. She eventually found a phone box and a phone book, and turned to the business section. It took her about two minutes to find adverts for private investigators, and a few more to memorise the phone numbers and addresses for them. She went to a cash machine and accessed one of her accounts, one she rarely used, and selected to withdraw $300. She then pocketed the cash, and looked for a map of the city, hoping to find the agencies she had memorised.

She found the first two easily enough, but after talking with the people in them, she realised that they couldn't help her. The cost was more than she thought it was worth in one, and the second didn't handle past research cases. Her third call was an agency based in what used to be a prosperous hotel, called the Hyperion, but she eliminated that one too, since the focus there seemed to be supernatural cases. Her fourth call was at an agency in the San Fernando Valley, called "Rin's Detective Agency". Sonnet noticed that this agency, unlike the others, appeared to suit her needs, so she went in. Almost immediately, a young woman around her age entered the reception area. She was wearing a peach blouse, and a dark green skirt. She had her blond hair worn up, with a few braids added in at what appeared to be random points and her eyes were a brilliant green. She looked at Sonnet and smiled. She then spoke up in a very cheerful voice.

"Hello there. May I help you?"

Sonnet smiled back at the woman, before replying in English.

"I hope so. I was hoping to hire you to look into someone's past. Do you take that kind of case?"

"Yes. Take a seat, I'll be back in a minute."

Sonnet took a seat in front of the reception desk, and waited patiently. The young woman came back within a minute.

"OK. You want me to look into someone's past Miss…"

"Baji. But call me Sonnet."

"OK, Sonnet. My name's Alicia Rin."

Alicia held out her hand to Sonnet, who shook it. Alicia then continued.

"So, what's the name of the person who's past you want me to investigate."

"My past, actually. I have very few memories of my past, but I recently received some information about a man who may have been my father. This man lived and worked in LA at the time he died, yet the information seems to indicate that he could be my father."

"How so?"

"His last name was the same as mine, the image of him resembles me a little, and he supposedly had a daughter called Sonnet."

Alicia was quiet for a minute or two.

"I can understand why you think the man in question might be your father," She said "May I see the information you read?"

Sonnet pulled the disk from a pocket in her jeans and handed it to Alicia. The PI placed it into her computer, and after a minute, loaded the three files on it, and spent another few minutes looking at it. She glanced at Sonnet once or twice as well.

"Well," Alicia began, "I can see a bit of a resemblance between you and the man in this image."

She was then quiet for about 30 seconds.

"So you want me to find what I can on this man, and any family he may have had to see if he is your father?"

"Yes."

"Ok. I'll take this case. I charge $40 per hour, plus expenses."

Sonnet took the $300 from another pocket in her jeans.

"Will this do as a retainer?" She asked Alicia, as she handed her the money.

Alicia quickly counted the money, and nodded at Sonnet.

"This will be fine. I'll note any other costs, and give you a bill when you think either I've finished the task, or you decide to hire someone else."

"That will be fine. Thank you."

Sonnet got up, causing Alicia to do the same. Sonnet shook her hand again, and headed for the door.

"Hold on a second," Alicia called, "How do I contact you?"

Sonnet realised that she couldn't give this woman her phone number; she probably wouldn't want to call Japan anyway. She quickly decided how to answer that question, and turned to face the PI.

"I'll call in twice a week, to see what you have learned."

"OK. Goodbye, Sonnet."

"Goodbye, Alicia."

Sonnet then left the agency. She wandered around the Valley for a few more hours, before finding another alleyway to use to teleport herself back to her apartment.

As she appeared, she glanced at the clock and noticed that it was 05:22. She still had time on her hands before she was to go back to work. She suddenly felt another presence in the apartment; she spun round to face the other person, only to see Ran standing by her front door.

"Something wrong, Ran?" Sonnet asked.

"I'm not sure," Ran replied, "Uncle went out after we got back from Relic's Point. He said he would be back before midnight. But he is still out."

"Maybe he just lost track of time." Sonnet suggested.

Ran threw a sceptical look in Sonnet's direction, which Sonnet could easily see in the darkened room.

"You know how much he gets at Mutaru and me for being late. He wouldn't be late unless there was something very wrong. Where have you been anyway? I've been waiting here for almost two hours."

"That's not important now," Sonnet replied, "If your Uncle is missing, we need to find him. Although I'm sticking with the 'lost track of time' idea."

"I suppose. If you hear from him, or see him, will you let us know?"

"Of course. I suggest that you wait until you get home from work and, if you haven't heard from him by then, inform the police."

"OK, we'll do that. Thanks."

Ran turned to leave, but Sonnet stopped her.

"Where's your brother?" She asked.

"He's been looking into a few places that Uncle might be, as well as patrolling."

Sonnet nodded at this, and Ran left her apartment. Sonnet locked the door behind her, and decided to go for a shower, even though she didn't need to be in work for another four hours. She went into her bathroom, set the shower running, grabbed a towel and got undressed. She climbed into the shower and let the hot water soak into her skin and hair, before picking up the soap and washing herself.

A few minutes later, she was reaching for the shampoo to wash her hair, when she heard a telepathic voice.

[Guyver Blue?]

Sonnet replied in kind.

[Guyver 5. Is something wrong?]

[I just spoke with Red. Her Uncle is missing?]

[Apparently. I told her to wait a little longer before calling the police.]

[Understandable. By the way, where were you earlier?]

[What do you mean?]

[Red said she called by your apartment a few times and you weren't there.]

Sonnet turned off the shower before continuing.

[Did Guyver 3 mention any information he had given me?]

[Yes. He believed it was your father, although you don't remember that part of your life.]

[Correct, so I went to LA.]

[What for?]

[Hired a PI to look into it. If he is my father, and he was in LA when he was killed, this investigator might be able to find something.]

[Oh right. Doesn't hurt to try I suppose. As long as you can afford it.]

[That's not a problem. I rarely spend my wages, so I have plenty saved.]

[Good thing. Anyway, could you keep me informed as to what is happening with Red's Uncle?]

[Of course. Speak to you soon.]

[Bye.]

As the conversation ended, Sonnet turned the shower back on and picked up the shampoo. Within five minutes she had washed and rinsed her hair, and turned off the shower. She waited for another couple of minutes, allowing water to drip off her, before getting out of the shower, and grabbing her towel. While she was drying off, she wondered what she would be expected to do in work tomorrow. She then decided to stop wondering, since she would find out soon enough, and dressed herself again.

She spent the remaining hours before going to work reading through a few Internet sites, mainly news and sports pages. About 08:20, she closed down her computer, hid it away, and changed her clothes for work. She then left her apartment, locked the door, and went to the Chronos Building.

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AN: This chapter contained several references to three games and a TV show. There are two references to Final Fantasy X, one to Final Fantasy VIII, one to Time Crisis 3, and two to Angel.

They are all in the Private Investigator part of the chapter. If anyone can correctly identify all six references, then I'll email you a sneak preview of the next chapter.

Also, my thanks once again to Refugee (my editor and source of various information used in this story). He has been a great help in this chapter with his suggestions regarding the Private Investigator character.