Chapter 2 : Lunch, I Hardly Knew Ye
Several minutes later, when everyone was settled in, Ginji had finished his shower and Ban was finally decent; they gathered around Hevn for the low-down.
Hevn unzipped her tote bag and took out an 8 x 10 glossy. Laying it on the table, she said nothing and let the team study it for a while.
"Ugh. A teenage girl?" Ginji frowned.
The photo was a full-body shot of a stunning, full-figured young woman with long copper-coloured hair wearing a one-piece bathing suit. What the guys found bothersome about the picture was that it was seemingly taken in a cold, gray non-descript room and that the girl's posture was rigid, her face expressionless and her hazel eyes vacuous – as if no soul had ever occupied them.
"Is this… Is she involved in a white slavery ring?" Kazuki's usual calm tone turned harsh. "Yakuza?"
"Not another kidnapping case?" Ban groaned sarcastically. "Why do you keep referring us to matters the police won't touch? We might as well demand a retainer."
"B-Ban-chan…" Ginji protested quietly, tugging at his partner's sleeve.
Hevn shook a finger at her most stubborn retrieval agent. "Tsk. Tsk. Is that any way to treat your meal ticket?" Ban sneered. She pushed the photo across the table and winked. "Look closer."
Ban adjusted his glasses down his nose and leaned his face closer to the picture. He deliberately scanned the details, sapphire eyes taking on a burnished hue as his sharp mind tried to lock onto points of familiarity – or the absence of them. After a few seconds, Ban sat back into the booth and flashed a satisfied smile.
"I see… It's a 'Stepford Wife'." He slid the glossy back at Hevn. "Or rather, "Stepford Girlfriend'."
Kazuki was slightly taken aback. "You mean…"
Ban nodded. "Yeah. It… She's an android. A robot."
The rest of the gang gave out a collective surprised murmur. Kazuki took the photo from the table to examine it himself. After a minute of careful scrutiny, he, too, came to the same conclusion. Laying it on the table, he told Ginji, Shido, and Emishi to inspect it closer.
Pointing at the girl's shoulder, Kazuki explained, "It's not very apparent at first glance, but if you notice, there's a distinct line of indentation in the skin where the arm is attached to the torso. Unless a real person were severely emaciated – which she's not – the ball and socket of the arm and shoulder joints should be concealed by a layer of thick muscle."
Kazuki's finger shifted to the leg area. "And over here, there isn't a fold of skin – "
" – where the knee-caps should be. She has no knees," Shido cut in.
Emishi tried to break the tedious anatomy discussion. "And you don't have any eyebrows, Shido. Does that mean you're a robot, too? Owww!" Shido answered him with a hard smack to the back of the head.
"But she… she looks so life-like." Ginji held the photo in his hands, the static of his touch making it feel as though it were melting into his skin. He then added thoughtfully. "But you're right. She can't be real. No one who's truly alive should have eyes that look so – dead."
Ban hiked up his glasses and threw a stealthy sideways glance at his best friend. Whereas the others picked out visible material details on the girl, only he and Ginji saw the emptiness behind the near-perfect shell. It was the kind of heavy void they discovered in each other when they first met. However, despite their years of friendship and shared instincts, those were feelings neither would easily forget.
As if by cue, Ginji volleyed a sideward look of his own, followed by an exchange of assuring smiles. They both knew they didn't have to feel that way ever again.
###
Hevn clapped her hands proudly. "I knew you guys wouldn't be fooled."
"But that android isn't what we're here for, is it?" Ban said pointedly while lighting a cigarette. "It's certainly not a job for five retrievers."
"Indeed not," she agreed. "The android in the photo is merely an assembled prototype. As a whole unit, she's not capable of doing much yet. But the parts - arms, legs – that's where the real value is."
"In this case, the sum of its parts is greater than the whole," Kazuki intimated.
"Exactly, Kazuki-san," Hevn exclaimed as she took out of her bag more photos of robotic limbs, torsos, heads, and other components and arranged them on the table.
"Reportedly, the arms and legs are made of electrically activated plastic muscles with receptors that mimic those of real nerves. Imagine how that would revolutionize the prosthetics industry and change the lives of millions of amputees."
"So what happened to these parts?" Emishi asked, closely checking out a photo of a naked female torso.
"Stolen," she replied without an ounce of surprise. "Our client owns a privately-funded robotics research lab. He's in the process of transferring his base of operations to Switzerland. He was shipping out the parts late last night when the van they were being transported in was intercepted before reaching the airport."
Ban tapped his fingers on the table. "Does the client know who may have been behind it?"
Hevn shook her head. "No clue, unfortunately, other than this was the work of professionals. Officially, the police are on the hijacking case. Unofficially? We're against the clock here. It's likely the target has already left the hijackers and are now with the middle-men - or worse – the transporters. At this pace, the parts could be smuggled out of the country as early as midnight."
Ginji balled up his fists. He hoped Akabane would not be involved in this.
"Anyway, I've assured the client that you are the only guys for the job. My contacts at customs and the port authority have detected no unusual movements or suspicious packages, so chances are, the goods are still within city limits."
Hevn began gathering up the photos. "There are six pairs each of arms and legs, five torsos, two heads, and an assortment of chips, processors and disks. Since we don't know which gang or group has which parts, you'll have to do the legwork yourselves. So use your sources, track down the corporate gophers and henchmen, shakedown the small-timers… I don't care. Do what you have to do. The client is leaving for Switzerland tomorrow, so you have twenty-four hours to retrieve everything."
"Ahem…" Ban cleared his throat loudly, breaking the fleeting silence that followed Hevn's instructions.
"Oh, for goodness sake, keep your pants on! I was just coming to that!" Hevn screeched, amber eyes glowering from across the table. She took an envelope from her tote and waved it in Ban's face. " A 600,000 yen deposit for each of you and a fee to be determined by what and how many robotic parts you recover."
Ban lightly wrestled Hevn's waving hand onto the table. His eyes sparkled. "Eh? So how much is each part worth?"
"What am I? Stupid? Of course I'm not going to tell you! Otherwise, you'd all go for the most valuable item." She slapped Ban's hand with the envelope.
Let's just say that if you retrieve all of the targets, you can expect to share an estimated 15 million yen among yourselves. Besides, don't you think this arrangement makes the assignment more… hmm… interesting?"
The boys all looked at each other warily, sly smiles beginning to form at the corners of their mouths.
"So," Shido finally piped up. "It's a race then." His steel-gray eyes aimed at Ban.
"Heh. Looks like we'll get to finally finish what we started at the hospital – " Ban rose from his seat to face his rival. He then pointed a finger at Emishi. " – as long as Joker here doesn't butt in."
"Wah!" Emishi wailed, waving his hands in surrender. "Had nothing to do with it then, have nothing to do with it now. I'm innocent!" He could still feel the clobbering he got from both the monkey and snake when he unwittingly returned the bag of love letters to those desperate nurses at the hospital. Emishi shuddered at the thought.
" – And our deal. It's still on?" Shido menacingly moved towards Ban, unintentionally squishing Ginji between them.
" – Where the loser quits being a dakkanya? You're damn right it is!" he countered, poking a finger at the Beast Master's chest.
To Ginji's relief, Ban sat back down. Then he smirked. "But I'm telling you now, monkey-trainer, you better ask Madoka to marry you soon, because tomorrow, you're joining the ranks of the unemployed."
"MIDO!" Shido had had enough. He jumped Ban, who caught him and they both landed on the table, pulling each other's spiky hair. Ginji turned chibi and managed to hide under the table – along with Emishi.
"Ban-chaaan! Shido-nii!" chibi-Ginji whined.
"Stop it! That's enough!" Hevn shrieked so loud the bells in Kazuki's hair vibrated wildly.
Ban lay prone on the bench while Shido was belly-flopped on the table, head-band pulled over his eyes. Everyone remained frozen for a few seconds. And just like that, the two released their choke-holds on each other, sat down and began a staring contest.
Ginji and Emishi meekly poked their heads from beneath the table.
"You guys are impossible." Hevn sighed hopelessly. "From now on, everyone plays nice, okay? O-kaaay?" A chorus of snorts and grumbles. "Good. Be here tomorrow, same time with your catch." She began walking out, but then turned on her heels.
"Oh, I almost forgot. The client has only one condition for you. Since the components are considered highly sensitive, under no circumstances are you to open any of the packages." Hevn took out five small ID scanners and placed them on the counter.
"Everything is digitally coded with a sensitive control number so use these scanners to identify the correct items. Remember, no opening." She waved as she walked out the door.
"Jâ ne!"
Kazuki took one scanner and tossed the rest to the other four. "If I may suggest, why don't we divide up the work and decide which targets we're each going to go after. That way, we don't accidentally aim for the same things and waste time."
"What, and spoil the fun?" Ban replied haughtily, blowing smoke rings at an incensed Shido. "It's not our fault the GetBackers have an almost one-hundred percent success rate. No way are we going to spoon-feed you pretenders with a guaranteed haul. I say, 'finders, keepers'."
Everyone threw Ban an icy stare – even Ginji pouted.
With a deep sigh, Kazuki jumped off the bar stool, left some change on the counter and proceeded towards the door. " Fine, then. Well, I better get going. Good-luck everyone!" With a smile and a final swish of his long hair, Kazuki was gone.
Emishi and Shido stood up as well. Shido put both palms on the table and hovered over an unruffled Ban. "I don't care what you're going after. Just stay out of my way," he warned.
"Don't worry. We'll be out of your way all right…" Ban puffed on his cigarette, then waved it playfully. " - about an hour before you get there."
"Baka-yarou!"
"Hey, at least you can use the spare time to shop around for an engagement ring, ne?"
"Tch!" Shido sneered through clenched jaws. He straightened up and cracked his knuckles. "I'll deal with you later." With that, he stomped out of the café.
Emishi watched his friend storm out without him and then turned to the GetBackers. "I don't know about you, but I've got first dibs on Mugenjou. I'm pretty sure some of those parts will be headed up Babylon City."
"Hehe… No problem. Ban says we won't be going back to Infinity City anytime soon. Not even for a million bucks," Ginji bubbled brightly.
"Shut Up! Don't tell him that!" Ban hissed, twisting Ginji's ear.
"Ow! Ow! But you said…"
"Great!" Emishi grinned and gave them a wink. He shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled out. "I'll catch you later, then. Happy hunting!"
Paul, Natsumi and Ginji all watched a whistling Emishi leave. They then looked at Ban, whose head was propped up on his hand, distractedly spinning the scanner on the table and no doubt concocting some far-fetched Goldbergian scheme in his freak mind.
Paul jerked a thumb in the direction of the clock. "Not unless you plan on digging up robot parts under the floorboards, you two better get a move on…" Damn straight he had a stake in this - 500,000 yen worth.
"Yeah. Yeah," Ban muttered impatiently. "I think I'll start by borrowing your laptop. Paul?" Paul rolled his eyes and made his way to the basement.
Suddenly Ginji gasped and his expression went crestfallen.
"Gin-chan!" Natsumi exclaimed, alarm crossing her face. "What's wrong?"
Ginji's seal-pup eyes filled with tears. "I just realized… Does this mean lunch at Madoka's is out?"