Chapter 4 – Yuuki (Courage)
"Yuuta," I look up from my desk perched on the chest high wrap around balcony surrounding the Brave Police headquarters where Deckerd and the robots of his team have their desks. Deckerd is standing, looking at me with a strange expression, one that has become more common these months since my return to duty.
"What is it Deckerd?" I ask brightly, knowing that something is troubling my friend, something that has been growing since I was injured.
"Why is a new unit being stationed with us?" I look to Deckerd's face watching the flexible metal bend and crease like skin as he frowns, worry lining his face despite all that he leaves unspoken.
"The Brave Police Alpha Squad is designed to protect the city alongside our unit. They will train with us, how we move, operate and being capable of acting on duty without getting under your feet." I reply easily, maybe too brightly, but I have to remain honest without divulging everything. The truth would only make the bots sad.
"I know this; the Superintendent General explained their function. Yuuta, I am asking why we need a unit trained so in addition to the regular Brave Police who already function admirably beside us in the field." Deckerd scowls; he hates repeating himself, and hates it more when I force him to do it. I want to tell him, but would he understand?
"They're –" I nearly cave until the alert klaxon sounds overhead. We turn in unison, our conversation shelved as we run to the ammo lockers. We gear up swiftly and run to the staging area. The Superintended General is waiting, along with six other units plus the new Alpha Squad. All together there are thirty officers and we all know something bad is happening.
"Gentlemen," Sejima begins, "The Nobunaga Gang is returning, they are en route and will be hitting the outskirts within minutes. They killed thirty civilians and three officers their last attack, and nearly cost us a forth." Our Superintendent sets his steely brown eyes on me tinged with the familiar overprotective fierceness we all feel when any of our own is jeopardized. I want to swallow, to step back and let everyone forget that I had been the weak link. Instead I only stand firm, letting his gaze light on me then shift to the others, they know I could have died that day, know it was one of those miracles that nothing vital was hit.
"They go down this time. Dispatch is downloading your assault data to your private communicators. Gentlemen, this ends today." We turn as one, the humans racing down the many ramps to ground level while Deckerd's unit collapse down into their vehicle forms save for Gun Max riding his massive motorcycle. We regroup outside headquarters and split off into our designated teams. I ride in Deckerd as I fit the monacle-like display over my right eye. Immediately details of our opp begin to scroll down the red Plexiglas eyepiece providing a map overlay displaying each unit's position and the Nobunaga Gang approaching as little blips on our personal heads up displays.
Despite the momentary dizziness that comes with viewing the world through one interactive screen that taints the world a bloody red, the monocles have become a major factor in our response times, and have saved several lives since they were introduced the week I returned from sick leave. Now we get to finally put these to their best use, helping up protect our city and our people with all the intel we can get. As we scream down the roadway sirens blazing a small part of me does a giddy fan-boy dance for the cool tech we get to play with.
The rest of me though feels a new cold-iron weight lodged in my gut. This job is not for the faint of heart, now I finally understand what that term means. Deckerd is running for us, his engine roaring as he continues to accelerate, but I – I just sit here, reading over our data and keeping tabs on the other units. Everyone has checked in, ammo loaded, safeties have been checked and double-checked. Each unit pulls into position and still I only sit while others do everything, and a tiny traitorous bitter-bile tinged nauseated part of me just wants to stay here safe within Deckerd's cab.
I want to reach for his door handle, I want to jump out and join the others but, I can't. I look into the rearview mirror and I see pure, unbridled terror deeper than anything I have ever felt before. As a kid I nearly died on a regular basis, but back then I still thought I was invincible, safe with Deckerd. Now, I know that they were given a heart because of me. They have a mortal's heart and just like us they are fallible.
I look past the rearview mirror and see the other bots rise to their feet, leaving behind their vehicle modes. The other officers are clustered near their feet standing like tiny mice at the feet of giants. Mice. Somehow, that thought takes away the fear. We, the human police are little more than mice scurrying under the feet of mechanical giants, we may be mortal and we can be crushed without a care. But, when one falls more will rise. We are the Brave Police. We are the children of Japan. Our ancestors were not broken by the armies of the West, in the long distant days of the Empire. We will not be broken by mere gangs.
I finally sit tall, unaware until just then than I had hunched in on myself like a wounded animal. Finally, my courage rises and I know I will fight. Fear is still there lurking like the tsunami waiting to devour the shore, but I will not back down. I open the door and jog to my position near my team, my bots. This time I will not be the weak link because now, finally I know how to be strong.
He is afraid. I idle silently as fear and terror and so many human emotions I know so well play across his features. He is human, and like all of their kind, he is so fragile. I sigh internally; Yuuta gave me my heart, allowed me to pass this great gift on to others. He gave me purpose, and offered me friends beyond what he himself could offer. He overcame jealousy and insecurity to give me my friends, allies and so much fear by becoming our boss.
The injuries Yuuta suffered weigh on his mind and heart terribly. That is why he fears, such injuries are not survived by everyone, and now Yuuta realizes that he too is only mortal. That thought chills me. I am afraid to lose Yuuta, and truthfully, we all are. None of us have known a world without Boss, I nearly did and it was terrible.
I alone remember being designed as a non-sentient police android. I was a mere robot capable of aiding human handlers against criminals bearing massive arms. If not for Yuuta, I would have merely been a weapon. My debt to him is great, Power Joe and Dumpson are getting worried, Boss should have been in place six point two microns ago. Yet still he sits.
The humans are in place now, and something about how they move catches Yuuta's attention. In the instant he sees them he straightens and his normally shinning eyes that have dulled over the past weeks suddenly glow as he steps from my cab. Whatever he saw in his fellow officers was enough, now Boss is back. As Yuuta stands at the front of his unit I unfold from my car mode standing tall in my place right behind him.