Hello folks, sorry to keep you waiting. I was out for work and was unable to update, even though zero-damage on reddit was being awesome and did his bit days ago.
But, we're back on track and I am actually ahead of publishing schedule. Currently, chapter 16 is being worked on. :)
If you're cross-reading with 'The Shortest Distance from A to B ' (and if you're not, why on earth not?!), Distance Formula, Chapter 13 takes part right after Chapter 7, Interlude 1. Go ahead and read there, then continue here.
Thanks again for your feedback, I love seeing how you feel about the stuff I scribble. This one made rZD 'creeped out', so I'd be happy to see what you guys think. Alright, let's do this!
... September? ... 2011?
Slowly her senses started to report back her current situation.
She was on a hard, cold, smooth surface. Perhaps a concrete or metal floor.
The air felt both cool and clammy. Possibly a basement.
The illumination was dimmed, but it was not fully dark through her closed eyelids.
She heard beeps, clicks and humming in the background. Possibly the air conditioning unit of a larger building.
Her tongue seemed to have a metallic taste to it. Almost like earth ... or blood.
She felt no restrains, not on her hands, not on her feet.
The area around her mouth and nose felt unpleasant. Possibly a mild reaction to chloroform.
Naoto Shirogane, the detective prince, slowly assembled all of these facts into a greater image. The abduction had succeeded. She was no longer in her apartment, nor anywhere she was familiar with.
Without moving or opening her eyes, she stayed where she was; how she was. She was curled up on one side. She noticed a small pang of pain if she breathed too deeply. The faint memory of hitting the ground hard after she was taken surfaced, but vanished again immediately.
Chloroform. She remembered the sickeningly sweet smell of the substance as a cloth was pressed to her face. If I had not been so irrational and had not taken that first deep breath when I gasped, it would have taken much longer to take effect. But she should have woken up in moments, minutes at the worst, after passing out from it. It did not, as shown in soap-operas, make you unconscious within moments and for a longer period of time.
She gingerly tried to give each limb a gentle move. No, no restraints. Whoever had taken her must have felt she was not a great a threat to them. Yes, someone had caught and carried her, quite likely much larger than herself. …not like that was too difficult. But if they had been the same person who took Tatsumi…
Naoto opened her eyes, just slightly, and peered forward.
The darkness before her moved. "Oh good! Good! You're awake! Oh, I am so happy, I was starting to worry. To feel alone!"
Going limp again on impulse, she analyzed the voice. It sounded... off. Too young, for starters. And female. Like a little girl. And...
"Oh, are we playing? You keep closing your eyes. Do you want me to go hide first, so you can seek me? That sounds like so much fun!"
Perhaps whomever had taken her, had abducted another, too? Was she too late then? Had the murderer stepped up his pacing?
A hand grabbed her shoulder and shook. Naoto could not help but flinch and suck in air through her teeth. It hurt. She must have hit her entire side hard on the impact she remembered.
The hand jerked back. "Oh no! Are- D-did that hurt? I didn't mean to hurt you! Please, I'm sorry!" The voice sounded ready to break any moment.
Playing possum was no longer an option. Naoto opened her eyes and ... looked into the anxious face of Naoto Shirogane. The one in front of her bit a quivering lip; her eyes glistened and... She wore an oversized lab coat. When at first she had assumed she saw a mirror, she realized she did not. Especially now, that she realized the eyes had an eerie, golden glow.
"Yay, you seem better!" The tears that had been brimming its eyes vanished at once. The creature before her clapped her hands joyfully, causing the overly long sleeves of the coat to slip over her hands fully and muffling the sound. "Oh, I have been waiting so very long for you, Naoto! We will have such a good time!"
The detective slowly eased herself up into a seated position, the clone happily babbling away.
Now that she could look around better, she found the room to be even stranger. Bright, directed lights illuminated consoles and machinery, but for the bright halogen lamps apparently used, the illumination seemed too low. Long rows of green neon lights lit the area under numerous consoles. The only real brightness was clustered around what looked like a large metal table. And still, she could barely see from where she sat to the other side of the room. Based on acoustics alone, it was not that large. She should have easily seen the other side.
Along the walls she noticed huge banners, showing some kind of sigil or logo. It looked similar to a stylized like a Phoenix or a Fenghuang. She could not think of any place or organization that used this logo and nothing in Inaba came close to this.
"Naoto. You are not paying any attention to what I have to tell you."
Her head snapped back to the other person. Their demeanor had fully changed. The submissive, child-like motions were replaced with aggressive, dominate posturing. The voice sounded different to. Masculine. Raw. Commanding.
"While you were being your useless self and slept, I attained the clearances to fortify the security of this locale. What you provided was a good first draft, I'll admit, but if we are to fulfill your dire need for change, we must not be disturbed. I'll let them watch, but I will not allow any interferences. I will not allow it. I won't!" The voice suddenly slipped back into the high, childish pitch and the creature stamped a foot, flinging its arms. "You came to me for help! I'll make you happy!"
Naoto pinched her eyes shut for a moment. This place seemed bizarre. Any shadow cast appeared to be a mix of red and black lines, slowly scrolling forward. Here and there the surroundings flickered, as if seen through the bad reception of a television set. In some areas the floor was just laid with thick metal grates; the actual floor going down a story or more.
She needed to add further facts to assemble the picture of this situation. "Who and what are you. Where is this place?"
The creature giggled joyfully, like a child presented with sweets, but the voice that replied was the cool commanding one. "You should recognize me. And you should know this place. But I did make some small changes. Come, let me enlighten you." The being hopped to its feet and held both hands out. "I hope you'll like it", the childish voice squeaked, "I wanted to make sure it's all nice and pretty for you!"
Keeping her eyes on the being, Naoto ignored the offered hand and slowly pushed herself up.
She was in what seemed to be a foggy command center. Air vents high in the walls spilled forth thick white clouds, cascading down to the floor. Dry ice? Using it as a coolant seemed extravagant. The room was filled floor to ceiling with monitoring equipment of some sort or another. Closed-circuit TVs showing hallways of similar style to this room; old and outdated ticker-tape machines and endless-paper printers; armatures with blinking lights, levers and pullies.
The dominating voice spoke up again. "Your groundwork was here when you invited me in, of course, but I made sure we would be safe and alone. I have made some additions to the security. I further added some changes to the layout. And of course, I had to prepare for the changes you need to undergo."
Naoto chose to ignore the clone. It was senseless babble right now and she still needed to know where she was. She pinched her eyes shut again. She kept feeling waves of dizziness cascade onto her. The chloroform should have long since worn off, especially if she had slept or been unconscious for a while.
Her hand was grabbed roughly. "You should not ignore me. I do not like being ignored." The harsh voice clashed with the tear-filled yellow eyes of the clone. The voice shattered into that of a little scared girl. "I hate being left alone. Won't you play with me? Just for a while?"
Considering her options, Naoto concluded this might get her access to an escape route. "Yes, why not."
A huge sleeve slapped her clone in the face as it lifted its hand to wipe quickly at its eyes. "Oh, yay, what do you wanna play?"
"Play. Certainly... How about you show me what we can see on these TVs?"
Skipping to a console, trying to pull Naoto along, the clone happily started to talk about the technical specifications of the closed-circuit system; how every corridor was linked and send its data to this very room; it also pointed out how they could zoom in and out of things and how it had built all of this on its own.
"How big is this complex?"
"On the surface," the smooth, dominating voice replied, "it is only a few square meters. Think of this as your ultimate defense for the ultimate changes in your life, Naoto." When the creature (or maybe automaton?) turned, there was a gleeful smile on its face. "It's the best place to hide! No one will find us here!" It turned back to some ticker tape and happily scooped up a small pile of paper band.
No one will find me? So then it is up to me, as I suspected. "Impressive. Can I see what that looks like? How about a camera showing the outside?"
The clone stopped and when it turned around, the childish mannerisms were gone again. "Do you take me for a fool? I know what you are thinking. You will not escape. You cannot escape, not me, as I am linked to you." It smiles and whispered. "Forever." It stepped closer to her, their eyes locked. "You will grow to thank me for all I am doing for you." An almost tender hand tried to caress her cheek, but Naoto jerked back furiously. The clone smiled sweetly. "You will love me for it."
Naoto suddenly felt dizzy and the mild pressure she had sensed on her temples felt like an ice pick pushed into her head from both sides. She squeezed her eyes shut, only to hear "What is wrong, Naoto Shirogane? Can you not handle this world? Your world?"
When her legs gave way, she felt arms catching her, sinking with her to the ground. "It's okay... shhh. You just need to rest a little." The voice smoothly changed. "You must be so tired." The childish voice had returned, but even though she wanted to pull away, she could not even open her eyes. Nor could she react verbally when she felt warm lips on her forehead and the arms that had caught her cuddling her closer. "We will never be alone again. You and I have each other now.".
Naoto woke up lying on the metal operating table. She sat up swiftly, felt nausea seize her and dropped back onto her elbows.
"Ah. The detective prince graces us yet again." The voice sounded like it was on the other side of the room, and when Naoto finally managed to sit up, she saw the clone work on some machinery using futuristic-looking tools. Or as futuristic as a children's morning show would make a five-year-old believe. "Are you able to continue the tour then, or do you wish to waste more time sleeping?"
Naoto slowly swung her legs off the table and slid off it. Holding on with one hand still, she looked towards the controls the clone was working on, noticing how a small lever she pulled seemed to connect to a large robotic arm over the table. "I am quite well. You need not concern yourself with me."
"Oh, wish that I could, but I know why you are here. I understand what your concern is, so it also is mine. And I also know why I am here. You need me to help you." The clone turned and a much smaller voice continued. "And I need you to not leave me alone anymore. This will fix us both."
The changes pointed to a schizophrenic complication with the clone. How someone could have cloned her so perfectly, but gotten the demeanor so wrong... It was less likely to be a biological clone and more likely to be some kind of construct. "Tell me who made you."
"Made me? You big silly! Mom and dad and grandpa made me. And you made me most of all!"
"That does not answer my question. Who created you?"
A slick smile replaced the child-like wonder on the clones' face. "Why, Shirogane, you did. Just as you created this-" arms were flung wide, sleeved flapping, "and much like you created THAT." A flapping sleeve pointed at the detective.
"You are not making any sense." Her headache was getting worse again. Naoto rubbed her temples again and suppressed a groan. The air. There must be something in the vapors running into the room. Or rising up through the grates below them.
The clone shifted again. Excitedly it ran up to her, trying to grab her by the arm, which Naoto dodged. "Come, come! I am almost ready with the preparations. I made it so I can simply use the console to make the needed changes. Wanna see the laser-scalpel? It's so awesome!"
"I would really rather see the cameras showing the outside of the compound..."
The voice shifted oddly, as if the excitement of the creature made it jump between its two phases rapidly. "There are no cameras out there. No one can get close, however, because this is a secret location. No one knows about it! We're all by ourselves here. No one to tell us what to do or who to be. We can do anything; be anything we want!"
"You said we can. May I leave then, if I want to?" She squeezed her eyes shut again. The way the strange shadows all around moved made her dizzy and-
She heard a furious outcry. Her eyes flew open. Even before she could get into any kind of defensive stance, the clone spun around and slapped the detective straight across the face. "How dare you? How dare you? I am doing this for you, for us! I will make sure no one will ever again dismiss you and you will never again need to hide. And you thank me thus? Leave? No, you will not leave!"
With a shaking hand, Naoto reached up to her cheek, her eyes wide. The slap had been hard and unexpected. She tasted a hint of blood, likely she had bit her cheek or tongue. The clone spun around and hit a few buttons on a console near the metal table. Before she knew what was happening, Naoto felt being grabbed roughly by an unseen force and flung onto the operating table once more. Manacles snapped shut around her wrists and ankles before she could gather her senses.
"Wh-What? NO! Let me go!" She tried to lean up against the restraints, but stopped when her position on her back made the room swerve and she felt illness grab her by the throat.
The clone stepped beside the table and looked sadly into her eyes, a sleeve-covered hand brushing her hair back. "I know you are scared." The voice shifted into coldness, but the demeanor did not, still tenderly petting her hair while harshly continuing. "You are always scared. 'What if someone finds me out?' 'I am a fraud' 'I will never be able to lead a successful working career in that male-dominated world.' I know all your fears, Naoto-kun. And I will address each one of them, you will see."
The nausea was becoming consuming. But she felt like even if she needed to, she would not be able to produce anything worth expelling from her pained stomach. She must have shown her discomfort, as the cold voice continued. "Well, you are incapacitated. I suppose this will not be too much a risk..."
The creature vanished and short moments later, the table slowly tilted, presenting her upright. A shy, sad-looking clone returned and a child-like voice whispered to her. "It is all very difficult. But you have me, Naoto. We have each other." The clone leaned forward and very lightly kissed her lips. When it whispered, its warm breath caressing her mouth and chin, its voice was cold and critical again. "I will fix you. And you will be better than you have ever found yourself."
Darkness crept up and claimed Naoto.
Naoto woke up groggily, curled up on her side. There was someone close by her. An arm was slung around her midsection; she felt warm, steady breathing against her neck.
She felt tired and weak. A dull pain seemed to permeate throughout her body, as if she had been exercising vigorously for days. Breathing hurt, as if the air was impure somehow. And she felt that slow-throbbing headache that just would not budge.
She must have signaled being conscious somehow, as she felt the arm around her pulling her closer. She felt warm lips against her neck, placing a number of small kisses. Naoto shivered. And then she heard that cool, commanding voice. "You know, you could have this whenever you wish, Naoto. You would not even need to change too much about yourself."
The detective struggled weakly to escape, but the arm around her was like a steel cord.
"All you would have needed to do is allow friendship and companionship. Or even just the love of your own grampa."
Grampa. She had not accepted hugs from him in years now. She wanted to show him how strong she was. Physical contact is not something she saw adults exchange, so she denied needing it. It may have been pleasurable to feel an embrace from someone, but not at the cost of shattering the image she was working so hard to maintain.
"Oh, and with just that little bit extra, you could have had them recently, too. You made friends, did you not. Well. One friend." The creature produced the acoustic equivalent of molten chocolate poured into a silken cup. It was more than a laugh, it was warm and seductive and yet somehow not friendly.
"But you don't even see friends if they are begging you to be with them. You always push it away. And I end up alone!" The voice's change to the small and pitiful came so unexpected after that last laugh, that Naoto had to admit feeling a pang of compassion for this broken being. Especially when she heard and felt it sob deeply.
With that, the presence behind her vanished suddenly. Naoto felt the cool, clammy air replace the warmth of the other body. She also realized that she might end up falling victim to Stockholm syndrome if she let her guard down. She needed to re-steel herself. She needed to take control of the situation.
"Thank you for releasing me."
As much as she wanted to find a way to escape, she felt unable to formulate a plan or direct her thoughts. She possibly just needed to rest more. Just … a little while…