Chapter 9: Old Stories and New Beginnings

It was strange to be walking without the marionettes.

Faust had grown so used to having at least one of them by his side, usually all three. He had come to count on Tiger, Luchs, and Panther for both protection and companionship, things he knew he needed as the ruler of Gartlant. Now, strolling through the gardens of Castle Japoness with only the shogun, he felt oddly alone.

Ieyasu led him to the koi pond, and picked up a small paper bag from a nearby bench. He took a handful of fish food out of the bag, and began dropping pieces into the water. Faust watched as the brightly colored fish swam near the surface, grabbing at the bits of food.

"The koi are always hungry," Ieyasu said, sounding as though he could have been talking to anyone. "I try to come out here every day."

Faust tried to smile at that, but couldn't help wondering if Ieyasu was trying to change the subject. "You said you wanted to tell me about the Maiden Circuits, shogun," he said.

Ieyasu chuckled, and Faust frowned. "You seem to be in a hurry to learn," Ieyasu said. "I remember what it was like to be your age." He looked up from the pond, and gave Faust a significant look. "Are you really that eager to know? You're not going to like it."

"I'll be the judge of that," Faust said tersely. Ieyasu was starting to sound like the old man had, like he knew what was best all the time and would make sure Faust thought the same. That wasn't going to happen, Faust thought. If he'd learned anything as Gartlant's leader, it was that things almost never worked exactly as anyone thought they would. "Tell me."

Ieyasu tossed some more food to the koi, and sighed. "I have to admit," he began, his voice heavy, "I'm surprised that you've managed to make your marionettes grow so much in such a short time."

"A short time?" Faust asked, drawing back. "It's been almost a year since I awakened Luchs and Panther, and Tiger's been with me since I was a child."

"Perhaps I should be more blunt," Ieyasu said. He turned and looked Faust in the eye. "I didn't think that you would be able to make them grow that much in so short a time."

"Why?" Faust asked, his voice flat.

"You're not like the one before you," Ieyasu said, though he was starting to smile. "I'm not sure why, but you seem to care about your country, about your people, and especially about your marionettes. It's good to see."

Faust paused, wondering if he should tell Ieyasu why he was so different from the old man and all the Fausts who'd come before him. After a moment, he decided against it. Some things were better kept to himself, were better kept within his homeland. "I learned from others' mistakes," he said, leaving it at that. "But I still want to know what this has to do with the Maiden Circuit, and what you mean about making the marionettes grow."

Ieyasu sighed, and looked back down to the pond. "The Maiden Circuit is supposed to emulate a heart," he said, "though it might be better to say that it's meant to give them a soul. Over time, a marionette with a Maiden Circuit will learn a greater range of emotions and feelings, and will mature, just like any other person. But the Maiden Circuit makes them dedicated to only one man, the one that they call 'master.' Only that man can make them grow."

Faust drew back. He remembered how Tiger had called him 'master' when he was younger, and how Luchs and Panther had called him the same when he'd awakened them. Telling them not to call him 'master' had been the first real order he'd given all of them. Could it be. . . . "I told them not to call me master," Faust said quietly.

Ieyasu laughed loudly, and Faust frowned at him. "That's probably the best thing you could have done, Faust," Ieyasu chuckled. "If they don't see you as someone they have to serve, but someone they want to serve, that'll make them grow more quickly. The more they grow, the more human they'll become. I see why they've come so far."

Faust relaxed, and started to smile a little. "It wasn't right," he said. "They're marionettes, but they're not slaves. They should be treated with respect."

"If you give them that respect, then they'll continue to grow," Ieyasu said, and the laughter disappeared from his eyes. "And if they do, then things will only be more difficult for you."

"Tell me the whole story, Ieyasu," Faust said, taking a step toward the other man. "You're not a diplomat, so stop dancing around the truth."

Ieyasu nodded, and stepped over to sit on the bench. "Very well," he said. "How much do you remember about the Mesopotamia?"

"Some," Faust said, recalling the images from his dreams and what he'd read about the ship when he was younger. "I know the history, but the memories aren't as clear."

"But you remember Lorelei, of course," Ieyasu said. He was starting to sound sad.

"Of course," Faust echoed. "She's the one who built the ship's main computer."

"Among other things, yes," Ieyasu said. "She made the emotional system for the Mesopotamia's computer, which our ancestors duplicated for the Maiden Circuits. But do you remember why the Maiden Circuits were necessary?"

A single line from the texts he'd read back before he'd awakened Luchs and Panther flashed into Faust's memory. "To assist in bringing Lorelei to Terra II," Faust recited. He looked over at Ieyasu, who nodded. "It's been most of a year since I even thought about that," he said quietly. "I didn't understand it then, but I had a feeling I didn't want to."

"You probably don't," Ieyasu said heavily. "If you want, I'll spare you, but you said you wanted to know everything."

"Tell me," Faust said before he lost his nerve.

"Lorelei is alive," Ieyasu said, gazing into the pond. Faust wondered what the other man was really seeing. "She's being held hostage by the Mesopotamia. It loves her."

"How can a machine love--" Faust stopped before finishing the sentence. If the Maiden Circuits were based off of Lorelei's work on the Mesopotamia, then a machine could indeed love someone.

"However," Ieyasu said, continuing as though Faust hadn't spoken, "the cold sleep that it holds Lorelei in isn't perfect. She is aging, slowly. When the marionettes' Maiden Circuits have reached full growth, the Mesopotamia will be able to sense this. We're not sure what it will do, but it knows that the Circuits were created to be a replacement for Lorelei. When that time comes, the marionettes will have to go to the Mesopotamia and set Lorelei free. They will have to take her place."

Faust staggered, and caught himself on the back of the bench. He sat down so he wouldn't fall down. "I'm going to lose them?" he asked quietly. "No matter . . . no matter what happens, in the end, I'm going to lose them to the ship?"

"They'll have to stay, so that women can finally be part of Terra II," Ieyasu said. "It's not natural to have a planet with only men, I'd hope you understood that."

Faust nodded, though the cold feeling that was growing inside him made it difficult to think of anything else. All that he'd done, he'd done with them at his side. Imagining life without them felt so . . . blank. So empty. He turned and looked at Ieyasu, trying to keep himself from crying at the thought. "I can't," he whispered. "There has to be another way. I can't let them go. I'll have Hess clone the circuits, or--"

"Faust," Ieyasu said calmly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're young, I know this has to be difficult for you. But we don't know how long it'll take for the circuits to reach full growth. It could take years, even decades."

"Or it could happen tomorrow!" Faust snapped. "What's the point of doing all this if it's just going to take them away from me?" He stood, throwing off Ieyasu's hand, and started to pace. "There has to be another way."

"There isn't," Ieyasu said, shaking his head. "Tell me, in all the research that went into creating the Maiden Chips, were you ever able to duplicate the emotions that were already there? Or did those have to be created separately?"

Faust paused, thinking back to what Hess had told him. "I'm not sure," he said after a moment. "I know Hess came up with the different personality types based on what he found, but I don't know what he did to get there."

"I hope you won't take that risk, Faust," Ieyasu said gravely. "Trying to trick the Mesopotamia could have consequences for the whole planet." He gave Faust a stern look. "Would you sacrifice all of Terra II just to keep your marionettes?"

Faust turned away, and didn't answer.

When Faust and Ieyasu returned to the shogun's chamber, they found the three marionettes and Hikozaemon sitting in a circle, playing what looked like some kind of game with tiles. Faust and Ieyasu both stopped in the doorway. All of the marionettes had shed their coats, and Luchs and Tiger both had one boot off, while Panther had taken off both of hers. As for Hikozaemon, he was sitting there in his underwear.

"Tiger," Faust said calmly, "Luchs, Panther. . . . You know I don't like to make demands, but you are going to tell me what's going on."

"Hiko said he could beat us in any game we wanted," Luchs said matter-of-factly.

"Strip mah-jongg was my idea!" Panther said, giving Faust a grin.

Faust put a hand to his forehead, then looked over at Ieyasu. "I'm sorry," he said. "They're usually better-behaved than this."

Ieyasu chuckled. "You're usually a better player than that, Hikozaemon," he said. "What happened?"

Hikozaemon grumbled, but said nothing more.

After the game was declared over and everyone was given time to put their clothes back on, Faust and the marionettes again sat with Ieyasu and Hikozaemon. The older man looked embarrassed, but Faust noted that he seemed a little less disagreeable than before.

"If we can," Faust said, "I'd like to discuss some trade agreements. I think our countries could benefit each other, I can tell that Japoness has a lot to offer." He paused, and glanced at Hikozaemon before continuing. "And I'd like to see about making the G-Model marionettes available here."

"We could arrange that," Ieyasu said, "though I'm not sure how well they'd be received. Most people here don't see their marionettes as anything other than tools."

"Most people in Gartlant didn't either," Tiger said, sounding quite confident. "Faust-sama helped change their minds."

"Perhaps," Ieyasu said. "We'll see what happens. As for other arrangements, I'm sure we can--"

There was the sound of people yelling outside the shogun's chamber, along with what sounded like a hyperactive female voice. The doors flew open, and a marionette with long blue hair sped into the room, just short of bouncing off the walls. She was clad in a blue and black bodysuit, and her eyes were open very wide. A moment later, before the marionette had even slowed down, Obiichi entered. He was smiling.

"Shogun Ieyasu," Obiichi said, and bowed deeply. "I would like to--"

"Hey, Obiichi!" the marionette said, skidding to a halt at Obiichi's side. "Who're the old guys? And who's the guy with the funny hair? And what about the other three marionettes? Huh? Huh?"

Tiger leaned over and quietly asked Faust, "Was I ever like that?"

"Not at all," Faust whispered back.

"Old guys?" Hikozaemon said, starting to rise. "He is the shogun! You must address him with respect!"

The marionette stuck her tongue out at Hikozaemon, and looked back to Obiichi. "What's a shogun?"

"He is the leader of Japoness," Obiichi said calmly. "Now, sit, as I told you." He and the marionette both kneeled, though the marionette kept looking around at everything. "Shogun Ieyasu," Obiichi began again, "I would like to introduce Lime."

Faust took a good look at this new marionette, and started to smile. She was different than his own, that was for sure, but she definitely had a Maiden Circuit. She was still looking all around the room, like she was seeing everything for the first time - which, Faust supposed, was true. He remembered how Luchs and Panther had been after they had first been awakened, and knew that they were nothing like this. They had been given orders before awakening, somehow. Faust found a small comfort in knowing that the shogun hadn't done anything like that with the Japoness marionettes.

"Welcome, Lime," Ieyasu said. He was smiling like he'd just been given a great gift. "Did Obiichi awake you?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, and nearly jumped into Obiichi's lap while giving him a very enthusiastic hug. To his credit, Obiichi managed to remain composed. "Obiichi found me, I was asleep. He said we had to come back here so we could find the other ones like me. I didn't understand that, but he said it's important."

"It is, Lime," Obiichi said. "Shogun, if you could introduce me, I would like to meet the others."

"Of course," the shogun said with a nod and chuckle. "Come, everyone."

The shogun led them down to the third floor of the palace. Lime asked questions all the way down, and managed to break at least one door in her enthusiasm to get where they were going. She didn't calm down until Obiichi said that he would like her to stay by his side, and she took that as a chance to leap onto his back and ask for a ride.

"It's very strange, Faust-sama," Tiger said. She and Faust and the other marionettes were walking a ways behind Obiichi, Lime, Ieyasu, and Hikozaemon, so that they could talk. She glanced up at Faust, a questioning look on her face. "Something doesn't seem right about how she's acting. I don't remember being like that."

Faust sighed, and held his arms out for the marionettes to gather close to him. "I was thinking about that," he said. "Do you remember how you had to call me 'master' when you first woke up?" he asked, looking down at Luchs and Panther.

Panther sneered. "Yeah, I remember," she said, "and I remember that your first order was that we didn't have to. You think that's why she's acting like a kid, Faust-sama?"

"Seems like it," Faust said. "I don't know if it was the old man or someone before him, but one of them programmed you three before you woke up. Maybe they thought it would help whoever ended up with you, but I think it's. . . ." He trailed off, and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wish they hadn't done it. I'd rather have you three be how you're supposed to be."

"But we can now, Faust-sama," Luchs said. "Your orders go against other programming, of course. And besides, if Tiger had been bouncing off the walls like that one, you'd have been in a lot of trouble when you were younger."

Faust grimaced. "Good point," he said.

"Still," Luchs said, "she has the same Maiden Circuit pattern as Tiger. It's strange that she'd be so different."

"She does?" Tiger asked, her eyes widening. "What do you mean, the same pattern?"

Luchs's eyes glowed blue behind her bangs for a moment, then went dark again. "It's hard to tell," she said. "It's just the same designation, but all it says is 'one.' I know that mine is 'two' and Panther's is 'three,' but that's all I can get."

"You think the next two are going to be like us?" Panther asked.

"Somewhat," Luchs said. She looked up at Faust and gave him the kind of smile he was used to seeing on her. "But Obiichi can have them, whoever they are. Faust-sama belongs to us."

"Oh, really," Faust said, but he was grinning. He pulled the three of them closer, and continued down the hall to where the others waited.

They were gathered around a bathroom, of all places. Obiichi was frowning at the shogun, who looked like he'd just finished laughing.

"My predecessors had a sense of humor, I guess," Ieyasu said as Faust and the other marionettes joined the group. "I'm not sure why they put her in a bathroom stall, but that's where she is." He gestured to the boarded-up door, and looked at Obiichi.

"There's a marionette in the bathroom?" Lime asked. "Why's she taking so long in there?"

There was a brief pause as everyone looked at Lime, who didn't seem to understand. After shaking his head, Obiichi approached the boarded-up door and studied it for a moment. He stepped back, then raised his fist and thrust it at the wood. There was a loud snap, and the door collapsed into a pile of rubble.

"Wow!" Lime yelled. "Hey, I can do that too! Watch--"

"Hold, Lime," Obiichi said, holding out a hand to stop her. "Let's see who was hiding in here."

The dust cleared, revealing a pod like the ones Luchs and Tiger had been sleeping in, though of a simpler design. The glass was partly clouded, but the outline of a short, slender marionette could be seen within. Obiichi took a step closer, and the pod started to beep.

"She's waking up," Ieyasu said, a hint of reverence in his voice. "Make sure that she sees you when she comes out, Obiichi."

"Yes, Shogun," Obiichi said, standing tall. "Lime, stand with me."

Lime jumped to Obiichi's side and stood the same as him, though she was giggling. There was the sound of rushing water as the pod began to open, and pale pink liquid poured out, pooling and rushing past their feet. Once the pod door was completely open, there was a strange wavering in the air, and the marionette opened her eyes.

She was, as Faust had seen, short and thin, and was dressed in a sleeveless and legless bodysuit that had ruffles around the cuffs. Her hair was purple, and mostly short save for two ponytails at the sides of her head that nearly reached her feet. She started to stand, and Obiichi took a step toward her and offered his hand.

Faust couldn't help feeling a strange sense of deja vu. Had it truly been less than a year since he'd done much the same for Luchs and Panther? Had he known what it would be like to have marionettes with emotions, marionettes with souls, would he have done the same? He knew that he would have, but from what he'd seen so far, the Japoness marionettes were not the same as his own, far from it. Though Obiichi seemed strong and capable, Faust wondered just how much the other man knew what he was getting into.

Then again, Faust thought, he was sure Obiichi would enjoy learning how to live with it. Faust knew he had.

The purple-haired marionette stepped out of the pod, taking Obiichi's hand, and looked around at the crowd. She blushed, and Faust blinked. In all the time he'd known his marionettes, never once had any of them blushed.

"Master?" the marionette asked, and Obiichi nodded. "I am Cherry, master. Thank you for awakening me. What shall I call you?"

"My name is Soemon Obiichi," Obiichi said, and smiled. "There's no need to call me 'master,' Cherry."

"But you are my master, master!" Cherry said, looking almost hurt. "If I don't call you--"

"Please," Obiichi said. "Just call me Obiichi." He nodded toward Lime. "This is Lime, she does the same."

"That's because Obiichi's my Obiichi!" Lime said, leaping toward Obiichi and hugging him.

"Must you--" Cherry stepped toward Obiichi, and took his hand in both of hers. "Obiichi-sama. . . ." she said, looking like she was about to plead.

"They learn quickly," Luchs said quietly to Faust. He chuckled.

"Come, come," Ieyasu said, grinning beneath his mustache. "There's still one more, Obiichi."

"Another one?" Cherry asked, her eyes wide. "Obiichi-sama, are you--"

"Hey, we come in threes," Panther interrupted, smirking down at Cherry. "You'll get used to it. Maybe."

Cherry frowned up at her, but said nothing.

The party made their slow way down to the first floor, and headed out toward the gardens in front of the castle. It took some time, as Lime was still asking questions about everything and Cherry insisted upon walking while holding Obiichi's hand. Once they were outside, they gathered around the statue of the woman with the urn. All five marionettes peered closely at the statue.

"The last one's held here," Ieyasu said. "From what I've read, the shoguns before me thought there would be some need to call her in an emergency, so there's a button in my chambers to bring the statue there." He laughed, shaking his head. "I don't know why they thought that would be necessary. Find the button and awaken her, Obiichi."

"Yes, Shogun," Obiichi said, and began searching the statue. A second later, Lime joined in.

"So that's why this thing felt so weird," Panther said, looking at the statue with her head cocked. "There's another marionette in it."

Faust nodded, and wondered if he'd ever understand why Japoness had gone to such bizarre lengths with their marionettes. As far as he knew, the shoguns didn't transfer memories from one to the next, so it must have all been written down. Looking at Ieyasu, he could understand why they hadn't used the same practice as Gartlant. He guessed that Japoness was the better for it. Faust sighed. There was still so much to fix, so much to undo. Now that Obiichi was set, it would be best for him to get back home.

"Obiichi, I found it!" Lime exclaimed, hanging upside down from the statue's vase. "Look, look!"

Obiichi looked where Lime was pointing, and nodded. "Thank you, Lime. Now, please get down. I don't think she'd like you hanging off of her when she wakes up."

Lime whined for a moment, then flipped down and landed at Obiichi's side. Cherry stood next to him as well, and Obiichi reached up and pressed the hidden button.

There was a bright flash, and the entire statue began to glow bright yellow, nearly outdoing the sun. Faust and the others shielded their eyes, and heard the crumbling as the stone fell apart. When the light dimmed, the shape of a tall, long-haired marionette was visible, crouched on the former statue's base.

"Amazing," Luchs whispered. "Her power level is off the charts. She's made for combat, Faust-sama."

"Maybe she can wrestle with the other two for Obiichi," Panther cracked.

The marionette stood to her full height, and shook out her long red hair. She was dressed in a bodysuit similar to Lime's, and her eyes were a dark red when she opened them. She looked around at the group, then stepped down and stood in front of Obiichi.

"You're the one who woke me up," she said. "What's your name?"

"Soemon Obiichi," he said.

"Obiichi," the marionette said with a nod. "I'm Bloodberry." She leaned in and kissed Obiichi on the cheek. "Thanks."

As soon as Bloodberry pulled back from Obiichi, Lime and Cherry started glaring at her. Fortunately, the shogun's laughter interrupted them all.

"Welcome, welcome, all of you," he said. "Please, stay here at the palace tonight." He looked from Obiichi to Faust and back, taking in all the marionettes on the way. "I'd like to invite you all to dine with me, we have a lot to talk about."

Faust nodded, but the significant look Ieyasu was giving him made him frown.