"Good morning, Mayor!"
Capella Burnham glanced up over the top of her newspaper. A short black-haired boy with bright eyes, a wide grin and a red robot dog galloping next to him was dashing across the park toward City Hall.
She removed her weight from the white Roman-style pillar next to the doors, folding up the paper and tucking it under her arm. "Rock! How are you doing?"
The Lightbot skidded to a stop in front of the Mayor. "I'm getting along well, thank you." He checked over his shoulder to make sure that the rest of his family was coming; they were, although they were taking their time about it.
"I hope you brought an appetite with you." The Mayor of Lazuli Island smiled.
"Of course I did!"
"Good. While we wait for everyone else, I'd like you to read something."
She handed him the Friday issue of the city-wide newspaper, the Lazuli Island Sentinel. The front page was dominated by a picture of a police-taped building with pair of officers standing around outside. In huge black letters across the top was the word 'Resistance?'.
Masou Parts Shop, Lazuli Island-The Lazuli Island Strike Team has done it again, but this time they were opposed.
Moonlight washed the scene as three figures headed across the city. They were all famous, yet they were not plagued by reporters or autograph-hungry fans. Instead, these three had extensive criminal records that could have put them all on death row four times.
Spectre, Rast and Takegao Mizuri were on their way to the Masou Parts Shop, a small but well-stocked electronics store at the corner of Jordan Street and Hudson Street East. It probably would have been a smooth getaway for the trio, but someone showed up to hinder their progress.
In burst two boys in full armor. The first was Thor, a powerful and old Strike Teamer. The second has never been seen before in Lazuli Island.
A small scuffle erupted inside the building. Thor and the mystery robot seemed to be fighting the LIST members instead of helping them.
Could this be the first stage of an anti-LIST movement or is it simply a ploy to drop the city's guard?
Full story on page A9
Roll skipped up behind her brother. "What'cha reading?" she inquired casually, peering over his shoulder at the newspaper.
Rock didn't say anything. His sister's eyebrows were several notches higher than they had been when she was finished reading.
The boy laughed when he saw her expression. "Looks like I've got some help."
Dr. Thomas Light and a very mature-looking boy wearing sunglasses and a yellow scarf finally reached the doors of City Hall. Mayor Burnham shook the doctor's hand when he entered range.
"Hi. Thanks for coming."
"If we said it would happen, it would happen. I read the story on what happened last night at that parts shop."
Capella Burnham nodded. "Good, that saves an explination." She shifted her dark eyes to the scarf-wearing boy. "Sorry...I don't think I know your name."
"Blues," he responded simply, extending a larger-than-average hand. The Mayor took it.
"Oh, right. Pardon me."
Rock gave the newspaper back to her. "Where are we going for lunch, ma'am?"
"First of all, please call me Capella." She grinned down at the robot. "Mayor or ma'am sounds too stuffy to me. I've got us a reservation at a pretty good diner a couple of blocks away that I usually eat at. Are you ready to go now?"
"Yes, please!"
Roll watched as the rest of the party started along the walkway that skirted the side of City Hall and ended at the street. She looked up at the eleven-storey building. Roll might have been a robot, but she could still feel it when somebody's eyes were on her.
Then she saw him.
He was in the window on the fifth floor. Roll squinted against the midday sun to get a decent look at him. He had scruffy black hair and seemed to be of Japanese origin. As soon as she found him he smiled, nodded, turned and walked away.
"Hey, Roll!" Rock called. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" She ran off to catch up with everyone else, not seeing the black-haired man named Takegao Mizuri return to the window.
"Do you think it's a trick, Capella?"
Mayor Burnham chewed thoughtfully. "It's hard to say," she remarked once she had swallowed. "They put up one heck of a fight, if the newspapers have their facts anywhere near straight. However, a LIST member is involved with this resistance effort. What do you think? You've got to have an opinion."
Rock launched a second attack on his plate of lasagna. "Maybe. It doesn't make much sense for the LIST to put on a show. They're not encountering many problems, from what I've heard."
"You're right, they're not." She smiled at him over her water glass. "That's why you're here-to become a problem."
"Do you know where their headquarters are?"
Mayor Burnham shrugged. "We would assign some men to picking through the back corners of the city, but we're having enough fun with the mundane crime right now. Our best guess is the West Side."
There was relative silence at the table while the group was busy with their lunches. The Mayor suddenly stared past Rock. "Robert! Get over here!"
A man in his early twenties crossed the restaurant and dropped into an extra chair next to Mayor Burnham. Roll stared at him, her spoon balanced in her fingers.
"What's up?" Blues muttered in her ear.
"He was watching us back at City Hall."
Capella Burnham put a hand on his shoulder. "This is Robert, my intern. Rob, with any luck you'll know who these people are."
"You know it." The intern had a marginal Eastern accent. "Dr. Light, Rockman, Roll and Blues. The LIST doesn't stand a marshmallow's chance in a campfire."
It took several minutes and half a can of Coke for Robert to figure out that somebody was gawking at him. He put his drink down and grinned at Roll. "Is there something on my face?"
"You were spying on us from the fifth floor, first window on the right," she shot back plainly.
Mayor Burnham fired a sidelong glance at the intern. "What were you in my office for?"
"Dropping off a couple of forms. You know, intern work. I noticed you guys outside and went over to the window to look."
"Robert, my door was locked." Everyone was staring at the man by now.
"It wasn't when I got there." Nobody saw Robert's grip on his Coke can tighten ever so slightly. "The janitor must have emptied your garbage and forgotten to lock the door on his way out."
"Maybe...sorry. You're right." The Mayor's voice dropped a couple of levels. "There's something I haven't told anybody-not even you, Rob. I've been receiving...notes."
"From who?" Dr. Light asked.
"From...I don't know how he manages to get them to me, but they're from Takegao Mizuri."
Robert had to fight very hard to keep a lopsided grin off his face. "What were they about?" he inquired, managing to shove some concern into his voice.
"He was mainly talking about how the LIST can't be stopped. Mizuri's just a huge balloon of bluffs and empty threats. Don't worry, Rock-nobody doubts your ability to beat them stupid."
The Lightbot put down his fork and nodded. "I don't either."
I do, 'Robert' thought darkly. I do, you little loser.