Story "Ministry of Confusion" created by Stefan Gagne.
In in infinite universe, there's an alarming amount of possibilities.
-
It was a rainy Thursday night in the city. The grey skies seemed to be a reflection of the people down below as they moved emotinlessly through the alleys and streets that made up the great big rat race called Tokyo. It was raining hard enough to make seeing difficult, and there were quite a few wrecks already in main street.
In some darkened alley, a Ryouga was dragging some trash, grumbling about the injustices of life in general and ticked off at a certain customer that really ticked'em off. Ranma Saotome was the kid's name. Just looking at his face got Ryouga irritated for some reason. Ryouga sighed, took in a few deep breaths, and decided to forget the matter. He knew he had quite a temper, and he really did try to control it.
"You there," a voice said, from somewhere nearby.
Ryouga turned around, looking for the source of that voice. It had an echo to it. Whoever it was must've been on the fire escapes.
"Hello Ryouga," the voice said in a cold, flat tone.
Ryouga's temper flared. He didn't like being messed with like this. No Ryouga ever did. "SHOW YOURSELF!" he yelled, "COWARD!"
"Coward? No." There was a sound of movement in the darkness. Ryouga looked up to see, but the rain poured into his eyes.
Suddenly there was a dark form in front of him. He heard several swishing noises and suddenly there was a burning sensation on his chest. Ryouga looked down at the gashes that were there. The stranger's fist suddenly glowed and Ryouga was struck in the jaw with incredible force.
He crashed to the floor, bleeding and dazed. His jaw was probbably broken too, it definitely was in pain.
The stranger sighed. "Not much of a fight."
He looked up and wondered what he did to deserve this.
"W-why..." Ryouga said. "W-why me..."
There was a pause.
The figure bent down. He whispered into Ryouga's ear...
"If you have to ask, you'll never know."
And with a final stab, Ryouga was dead.
-
Converging Series Prelude: Deviations from the Norm.
-
The time: a future near you.
The place: Tokyo, Japan.
There was a time when revolution, disaster, and radical change had hit Japan. There was a change in the very face of the nation. With earthquakes, floods, and typhoons, the casualties were alarmingly high. There was a labor shortage in Japan. And so, to solve this problem, the ministries selected various persons and themselves for cloning. Basically,
there were some very familiar faces out there, mostly because there were several thousand copies of those faces.
With such drastic times came drastic changes in the government of Japan. The democracy was replaced eventually by a system of four "Seperate but Equal" ministries. The Ministriy of Economics, which controls the financial parts of govornment. This branch was governed by Nabiki Tendo until recently, when a government scandal revealed illegal operations which she had overseen. Then there was the Ministry of Data,
headed by Minister Mousse, which regulates information. The Ministry of Peace, which handles military affairs, was until recently overseen by Kodachi Kuno, until her demise. And then there's the Ministry of Sanitation, operated by Kasumi Tendo. It cleans, maintains, and recently,
it upholds the law in Japan.
This is a story of one of their cases...
ERM Case file 6902.6991.04.01
It was another lazy red-tape Monday. He was at his desk, as usual, filling out forms instead of doing his job. God only knows WHY they make fill out all these nonsensical paperworks. The coffee wasn't helping much either. There's just something not right about coffee beans grown in Japan, he really believed. Has to be from Colombia or France, or it just wasn't right.
Hiroshi walked by his desk, carrying a box of his own little paperwork hell to fill out. "Hey, Ed, how's it going?"
"Not much. You?"
"Prowler suspect. Some guy's hopping across the skyscrapers at night. Woo-hoo, how danerous," he said emotinlessly.
Then the phone on the desk rang.
"Ed Ryouga Marlowe, Homicide," he answered.
"Marlowe? S'me, Taro. We've got another one."
"Ryogua murder?"
"Ryouga murder."
"Damn. Alright, where's it at?"
"1135 Tai, in the alley."
"Any-"
"No witnesses, sorry."
He hung up the phone, angry. This case case always got him mad. It had been happening for the past four weeks now, SOMEONE out there was killing Ryougas. Sometimes it was just one, sometimes it was a damn bloodbath of Ryougas. They had nothing in common, except for the hansome face and that ever-so-classy middle name.
He sighed, got up, put on his Ministry of Sanitation uniform (Ministry of Sanitation? Why on earth did they ever move us to their jurisdiction?
he often wondered) and headed out.
It was raining.
"Great," he muttered. I hate rain.
The crime scene was just like all the others, an isolated place where no witnesses would be likely. Down on the floor was the unlucky man of the day, carved up severely. If he didn't die of those cuts, he probbably died of blood loss. "Marlowe, what're you doing here?" This was Shinnosuke Sawada. Ed's partner.
"It's a crime scene, Shin."
Shinnosuke still looked a bit clueless.
"I'M A COP!" yelled Marlowe.
"Oh! Oh yeah! Right, right. Sorry'bout that."
Ed sighed. Shinnosuke was a part of the price for the police moving from the MoP to the MoS. He was one of the 'new breed' of cops: kinder,
gentler, and more suited to being a social worker than a law enforcer.
Marlowe looked around and found his partner, 'Pantyhose' Taro, who was at the moment gloved and examining the crime scene. "Hey, Pantyhose..."
"Call me that again and I'll break your nose," moodily replied Taro. He'd acquired the nickname after a sting to bust a rampaging pervert backfired and Taro ended up tied up in, bound by, and wearing pantyhose.
It was a hillarious sight to the officers who rescued him, until he got free and let them know how much he appreciated their sympathy. From that day was born his unfortunate nickname. It was also how he became infamous for being a bit short-fused when people were joking about it. The only one that ever got away with teasing him was his partner, Ed.
"C'mon, just joking!"
"I'll kick your butt later for that," grumbled Taro.
"Ah... right. Is there ANYTHING we can get outta this?"
"No fingerprints, no witnesses, nothing under his fingernails, no signs of a struggle. We do have footprints."
"Better than nothing. Must've been a tough guy to have been slaughtering up Ryougas like that. We're a pretty strong bunch."
"Actually, the shoe size is kinda average."
"What?"
"And by the depth of the impression of his footprints... I'd say he's a little on the light side. No guarantees, but looks like a man's shoe. We'll run a match down at the lab later."
"Alright then, a fast punk with a thing for razors."
"Possibly."
Marlowe sat at his desk, looking over the evidence gathered so far. The case had them stumped. Either the perpetrator... or perpetrators were damn lucky, or they were professionals. No witnesses, no clues.
What did they have so far?
The first Ryouga that was found... the first one that they think the perp did, it was a sloppy job. Blood everywhere. Looks like he put up a struggle. It was obvious that the murderer took time to cover his tracks, wipe off prints, all the little things. Clean enough to leave no clues, but definitely a sloppy kill with signs of panic. But after that,
the murders got more savage. Well, not so much savage as... well...
sadistic. Lately, he'd been really carving up his victims, cutting where it'd definitely hurt. As if he was intending to inflict some serious pain before they died. Not only that, but he's been damn clean about it. Getting almost clinical now. It was as if he was practicing.
This new one though... something was different. The perp always slashed his victims to death. This one had a busted jaw. Significant? To add to the weirdness, a few of those Ryougas had a funny burnt spot,
right in their brain. Once our forensic man reported it in, a squad from the MoD came by and took all the corpses. What did the MoD have to do with this case?
The police put out an alert about the Ryouga situation to all branches,
and Ed's group became a task force dedicated towards finding the serial killer. Any situation that may have anything to do with the Ryouga killings was referred to them.
One day a call was sent to their department. Apparently, a Ryouga in an apartment complex had been late several weeks for the rent. The apartment was a dark, cramped, with unreliable hallway lights and the only bright sources of illumination being from the ends of the hallway. It looked, quite literally, like the lights at the ends of the tunnel. Ed stepped in front of the apartment door while Taro backed him up. "Ready?" asked Taro.
"Of course." With a little hesitation, Ed unlocked the door and flung it open. They immediately looked for a target to shoot as they carefully made their way into the apartment.
The place was clean. No mess lying on the floor. There was a pleasant smell coming from the kitchen. Apparently, someone had been here within the last hour, smelled like yakitori.
They finished walking around the rooms, finding each one empty.
"Looks like nothing," muttered Taro.
"Yep. Seems like it." As they walked out the door, Ed muttered,
"Let's lock this place up and put it under sur... uh-oh."
"Uh-oh?" wondered Taro.
Ed nodded his head down the hall, where a dark sillouhetted person in a raincoat was standing there, seeming to watch them both. They couldn't see his face, hidden in shadows, but they could sense he was surprised to see them.
"You think that's..." whispered Taro.
"Got a feeling," mumbled Ed. "Take a step towards him."
They stepped towards him.
He immediately bolted down the stairs.
"FREEZE! THIS IS THE POLICE!" they yelled, chasing after him.
As they came to the stairs, they heard a strange gutteral yell of some sort, and suddenly there was a loud explosion. Dust and debris flew out and they ducked for cover. Once the debris settled, they peered over to where the staircase used to be. "Damn," muttered Taro, "he's packing bombs!"
Ed pulled out his portable phone and dialed in to the station. "Get the bomb squad and analasys boys down here. We've got the perp's abode."
Days later, much to the bafflement of everyone, the analasys showed nothing. There was no traces of explosives or ammunition on the staircase. There were fingerprints all over the apartment, but they didn't match anything on the MoD records. However, they did find the Ryouga that owned the apartment.
"Hey, think we found the missing Ryouga," said Taro, looking at the shelf above the small fireplace.
"Oh? Where?"
Taro held up an urn and opened it. Bits of bone and ashes rattled about. Either there was a heavy smoker in the house, or the resident Ryouga had become incinerated.
It was after the fifth week that they finally got a significant lead as to the identity of their suspect.
Four Ryougas, working on underground systems, all killed and buried in some massive explosion, were the latest victims. The crime scene, as usual, yielded nothing much, except for more footprints, but there was an automated teller nearby, and THAT had a camera. The police had taken the surveilence tape and bring it over to the labs for examination. Ed and the others of the squad at the station watched with serious intensity. They all wanted to nail this guy. Of course, a fair amount of them were Ryougas, so the feeling was understandable.
The image was all fuzzy, and off to the corner, since the ATM wasn't built for anything but near-distance visuals, but in the background was the manhole where the four Ryougas went in. 1:35 A.M. unknown subject enters the manhole. Carrying some object, maybe a crowbar, maybe a long sword. Can't say for sure.
Between 1 and 2 in the morning was the coroner's estimated time of death.
1:50 A.M. mysterious explosion occurs.
2:00 A.M. subject leaves manhole. And looks -right- into the camera.
"No way," muttered Ryouga.
"Whoa," said Taro.
"Haven't I seen this guy before?" asked Shinnosuke.
"It's Hikaru Gosunkugi! That guy that brought down Nabiki Tendo and set off that big Ministry shakeup!" said Taro.
The other officers mumbled their agreements as to WHO was on the screen, and their various paranoid theories on the matter.
"Alright, so our suspect is probbably one Hikaru Gosunkugi. Anybody know the whereabouts of this guy?" yelled Ed.
"Dunno," said one officer, "heard he went into seclusion after the media attention died down."
"So... where is he?" wondered Taro.
"Okay guys, get out there," barked Ed, suddenly taking the leadership role, "get in contact with his former employers, his neighbors, get into the MoDnet, I wanna know where he is!"
"Um... Ed..." said Taro.
"C'mon, people, LET'S GO!"
"MARLOWE!"
"What?!"
"The, ah, prints? remember those?"
"The fingerprints? What about'em?"
"They don't match, remember?"
Ed paused. "Ah... he could've altered the records at the MoD. He used to work there, y'know."
"His motive?" wondered Taro.
"I DON'T KNOW! JUST GET HIM!"
"Okay, Ed. But I dunno..." Taro shrugged and went off to his desk terminal.
"SHINNOSUKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" yelled Marlowe.
Shin blinked. He looked around. "I dunno, what am I doing?"
It took several officers to hold Ed back, while some others ushered Shinnosuke out of the room. A Ryouga extender with a temper tantrum was a thing to behold indeed. Afterwards, Marlowe took massive dosages of headache medicine. Lately, when his temper flared and he was about ready to hit someone, the nagging headaches would come back strong.
Price of the job, he always thought.
Somewhere within the offices of the Ministry of Data, a computer alert beeped. Another program activated, sending a signal across Tokyo's telecommunications lines. And finally, in an office somewhere, where a computer screen flickered to life. A pair of eyes twinkled with glee. "Well well well, they're looking for _him_?"
Data scrolled across her screen.
"For murder? Oh, this is rich."
There was a malicious grin.
"Ah, he's on vacation right now, 'tired of the constant questions and the price of fame' he says. The little rat! Well... I know where you are, DT, and so will the police. After an anonymous tip..."
Taro stared suspiciously at his screen. After four hours of searching through the net and contacting former associates, he'd drawn a blank.
And then someone e-mailed him an anonymous tip.
GOSUNKUGI FIVE_SEASONS_
An incredibly bad pun on e-mail adresses, but a tip was a tip.
Warrants were drawn up and the squad headed to Okinawa, where they unceremoniously dragged Gosunkugi out of his penthouse suite and had him behind bars in a matter of hours.
"W-what's going on?!" yelled Gosunkugi from behind iron bars.
"Why'd you do it, Gos," asked Taro.
"We've got video placing you at the scene," Ed followed.
"No use denying it," said Taro.
"Might as well confess," Ed suggested.
"Who's this guy?" asked Shinnosuke. He was quickly thrown out of the questioning room.
"I didn't do anything!"
"C'mon, Gosunkugi, we've got camera footage and everything," I added.
"Nabiki's behind this isn't she," accused Gosunkugi, "I'll get her for this."
Ed punched at the cage, next to his face. He was ready to tear his lungs out. There goes that headache again... dammit. Ed winced and rubbed his temples, wondering if he had any tylenol lying around amongst the lint in his jacket.
Something weird is up thought Ed as he thumbed through the report.
The sixth week, the sixth set of murders.
And they had Gosunkugi under surveilence the whole time. He was behind bars while the murder occurred. Either Gosunkugi was innocent, or he had a partner in crime out there somewhere. With much embarrasment, he released Gosunkugi, who was threatening to sue for wrongful imprisonment. With that lead gone, the search went on.
He sighed and took a sip of the freshly brewed coffee.
And frowned.
Something wasn't right. He had PERSONALLY ordered and paid for several cans of COLUMBIAN coffee, the real stuff, with REAL creme and REAL sugar.
This... swill... whatever it was, was NOT the coffee that he had been using lately.
"ALRIGHT, who's been screwing with the coffee brewer?!"
"Hey, wasn't me," said Taro. 'Pantyhose' had a bad temper about his nickname. Ed was even worse when it came to someone messing with his coffee.
"WHO THE H... WHO MADE =THIS= COFFEE?!" yelled Ed, holding up the offending pot of coffee.
"S'cuse me, Ed, gotta refill the coffee machine," said Shinnosuke,
apparently oblivious to Ed's mad rant. Upon digesting this request, Ed became deadly quiet, then opened his mouth.
"Did you say... _refill_?" asked Marlowe.
"Yeah, we were out this morning and I had to put in some more grinds."
Ed was beginning to look a little more capable of violence than usual,
seeing as how apparently Shinnosuke had as much talent with making coffee as an Akane extender did with cooking. Before he could begin to start violence on the unsuspecting and absent-minded officer in question,
Shinnosuke turned to Ed and said, "y'know, this weird coffee stuff tastes awful. Where'd you get this stuff?" He lifted the can up high.
Ed looked at the odd looking canister. "I didn't buy anything in a can like that." He looked around. "Hey! Who bought this coffee?!" After a while of silence, Ed asked, "Shin... where'd you get this stuff anyways?" "I got it at the... I got it at... y'know, I forgot."
Meanwhile, in Evidence Storage...
"Hey, where'd those Ryouga ashes go?"
Another week, another murder. The murderer had some variety in his technique this time. One Ryouga beaten to death, one bled to death, and one was killed by internal explosion. The forensic team was baffled. Apparently, there was an explosion _inside the Ryouga's body_, and bits of bone tore through his organs. However, there was no trace of explosives of any type on the body. The fourth one was hit repeatedly with some sort of energy. Again, the forensic team was at a loss as to exactly what it was.
Ed, Taro, and Shin lounged at the Hollywoood Diner, mulling over the case. Ironically, everyone forgot why Shin was along for the ride.
"Well, obviously," said Ed, munching on a donut, "this guy hates Ryougas."
"Obviously," agreed Taro.
"Certainly," added Shin. "Ah... who?" They managed to ignore him.
"He's a skinny young man, with black hair and large eyes."
"He's Hikaru Gosunkugi."
"Or looks like him."
"Um... did I order something yet?" wondered Shinnosuke.
"Oh COME ON! We've got his face on camera!"
"But Ed..."
"It was HIS face on the film, and you're saying it's not him?"
A Ryouga extender passed by and asked, "need anything else?"
"Refill on the coffee," said Ed Ryouga Marlowe.
"Okay, sir." The Ryouga waiter walked off.
"AHEM." Taro smirked.
"Ahem? Ahem what?" asked Marlowe.
"Think I've got an idea of what's going on. Call me crazy, but... well... hear me out."
"Go on, I'm listening..."
"Gosunkugi extender."
Ed blinked. "It... would explain a few things... wouldn't it."
"C'mon, the Ministries have done illegal extender production before. We had Gosunkugi under surveilence and STILL someone gets killed. I think... I think..." "Go on..."
"I think they've made another line of extenders. Supposed to have been secret, like, I dunno, assasin extenders, or something. I mean, who'd expect a wimp like Gosunkugi to be able to kill you? Anyways, they made a bunch of assasin extenders, let'em loose with us citizens, and were planning to use'em later, for, y'know, dark ops."
"Dark ops?"
"Undercover operations and such."
"Riiiight."
"Yeah, anyways, something must've gone haywire. The extender freaked. And maybe now his designated target was a Ryouga."
"Taro."
"Yeah?"
"Start drinkin' decaf."
Ed turned away from his partner and took another deep sip of coffee.
Despite his words, Ed had a look of doubt in his face.
"Um, hey, did I order anything yet?" asked Shin.
Ed dropped Taro and Shin off at their apartments and headed back to his own little cube-in-the-tower for some well-deserved rest. He parked the car in the garage, stepped out, and got clubbed in the back of the head.
Hours later, he woke up, tied to a chair and with a damn lamp in his face. He reacted as any Ryouga would...
"You're gonna PAY for this!" They were, if he ever got free. Ed Ryouga Marlowe fueled by donuts and coffee was a nearly unstoppable force.
"Listen up, Marlowe, and listen up good," somebody said, "Lay off Gosunkugi, alright?"
"Ah... right."
"Trust us, he isn't. He's got an airtight allibi, understand?"
Ed understood. No matter what, Gosunkugi wasn't to be touched. He was beginning to think that maybe Gosunkugi was innocent anyways. Although at the moment, after being kidnapped, bound, and put under a spotlight, his opinion was swinging the other way again.
"Why the big fuss over him?"
"Let's just say that if something unfortunate happens to him, it'll cause a rather unpleasant chain of events. Everybody loses. Got it?"
"And... even if he IS somehow connected to these killings?"
Someone sighed.
"He ISN'T the killer, you thickheaded moron."
"Well, there's this footage..." baited Ed. He just wanted to see how they'd respond to that.
"You ever think that he might've been cloned?"
There was a fairly tense pause.
"The MoE, they used to have cloning tanks, you get my drift?" said the voice.
"Are you saying the MoE is doing illegal ops?"
"Just maybe. Or... you know where Nabiki Tendo is nowadays, right?"
"The former head of MoE? Heard she was running some small time company."
"She's running TENDOM now. Modest factory on Tanuki and 84th street. High tech stuff she's working on, we all hear. High Tech. Y'know? Be sure to check for hidden spots now. See ya." "Hey! Wh-" was all Ed managed before he got hit by a spray and took another quick nap.
Somewhere in town...
"Did you get it done?"
/Yes, Mr. Mousse. He oughta be looking her way about now./
"Good. Last thing we need is Gosunkugi raising hell. We all know what happens if he ever gets in trouble..." Mousse frowned. Gosunkugi had lots of information on lots of people, and Mousse was one of them. As 'insurance' he'd told all the current heads of Ministries that if he was hassled in retaliation for his part in uncovering the scandal involving Kodachi Kuno and Nabiki Tendo, he'd need, no, demand their assistance in getting out of whatever trouble was sent his way. Mousse really regretted hiring Gosunkugi.
/You want me to keep an eye on Marlowe?/
"No. That's alright."
/Alright then. G'night boss./
"See you tomorrow."
/And good luck with Shampoo, boss./
"Shut up."
Ed and Shin headed down to the TENDOM corporation building, a relatively small tower in the sea of buildings that was downtown Tokyo. Once they went beyond the steel doors, the high level of taste that the former director of the MoE had was showing. There was quite alot of mahogany and wood decor, and nowadays that sort of thing was expensive nowadays. A Nabiki extender greeted them. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked, making sure they didn't feel welcome. "Marlowe and Taro, MoE Homicide," said Marlowe, flashing his badge. "I see." With frigid calm that could only be done by a Nabiki extender, the secretary turned away from Marlowe, as if he was Just Another Person, and had a brief talk with someone unseen through the vidphone, then turned her attention back to them. "Through those doors,
please."
Marlowe and Taro made it a point to ignore the secretary as they passed. They weren't in the mood for snooty secretaries, and had to blow off steam somehow.
"Marlowe and Taro, MoE Homicide," said Marlowe. Taro just stayed quiet and tried to look tough. It seemed to be the appropriate thing to do.
"Gentlemen, have a seat," said Nabiki, "what seems to be the problem?"
"Miss Tendo," began Marlowe, "do you recognize this man?" He pulled out a photo.
"Who that is," said the unamused Tendo, "and what connection he has to me are public knowledge, Mr. Taro. Please don't waste my time with redundant questions."
"I'm Marlowe, he's Taro, and there's no need to be rude." Reminding himself that he doesn't hit girls, Marlowe continued. "I'll be blunt,
Miss Tendo, do you have equipment to generate extenders here?"
Nabiki looked somewhat insulted. "Please, officer, it'd be foolish of me to make the same mistake twice. I'm out of the extender business,
thank you."
"Oh? So... what's TENDOM about then?"
Looking a bit more relaxed, Nabiki said, "TENDOM is just this little company, as you see, a project to get me financially back on my feet."
"And TENDOM is in the business of...?"
"We're developing replacements for extenders. No offense meant."
Nabiki smiled, pleased that the statement had mildly offended the present company.
"Replacements for extenders? WHAT can you use to replace extenders?!"
"Why, robotics, of course." She leaned back, a look of self-satisfaction on her face. "Imagine, no more extender rampages! No more questions on morality of labor conditions! Lower production costs!"
"We're obsolete now, is that what you're saying?" asked Marlowe, his Ryouga fangs becoming a little prominent.
"Not so much obsolete but morally questionable."
"You sayin' I've got bad morals?!"
"No, I'm saying that it's become morally questionable to continue the production of human beings merely to fit in as a gear in the clockwork of society. We've created a slave class, and that's becoming unacceptable to society. You can't tell me that you've got all the same rights as 'naturally born' people, even if you are an officer."
"Maybe not now, but things are changing," grumbled Marlowe.
"Yes, things are changing! There's going to be no more POINT in making extenders, now that they're going to eventually get the same rights as humans. What's going to stop an extender from refusing to do the job that he was bought just to do? Nothing, if the extender rights movement keeps going the way it is. Robots, on the other hand, don't have any desires,
no dreams, no complaints, no demands, and if you're cruel to a robot then who's going to complain? What's so immoral about kicking around a robot?"
Marlowe was about to say something in an angry response, but a quick kick on the shin by Taro reminded him of the matter at hand. "So... have you had any success so far?"
"Oh, we're doing very well, in the mechanics phase. We've got a humanoid frame that's capable of mildly complex movements. Probbably find a niche in the construction industry."
"Are these robots strong?" asked Marlowe.
"Very strong." Tendo didn't like where these questions were headed.
"And their AI?"
"They do what they're told. Nothing more."
"Can they handle complex tasks?" he asked, giving a slightly accusing look to Nabiki.
"That... depends. Is there anything else you want?"
Marlowe gave a slight grin. It didn't mean anything but he hoped it'd make Tendo a little nervous. Looking at his watch, he said, "Well... I think I must be going now, Miss Tendo. Thank you for your time."
As they were striding out of the building, Taro pulled out a small portable phone and started talking. "We're out, guys. Find anything?"
/We scanned the place as best as we could./
"And?"
/No extender tanks around here./
"How about the ministries?"
/The places with the tanks are the only ones that have'em./
"Thanks. Well, Marlowe, looks like that one's a miss. What do you think?"
"What do I think? Well... let's see... someone was trying to line up Miss Tendo for a fall."
"Incredible lack of evidence, though, isn't it?" asked Taro.
"Yeah... but... think on this. Maybe we aren't looking for an extender."
"Oh. You think it's a robot?"
"Maybe. If Miss Tendo's being modest about how advanced their robots are, then yeah, could be a robot. OR... it could be someone with an interest in extender sales that wants to put an end to her project."
"Oh yeah... there is that. Say, I've been meaning to ask, but, how's it feel to be an extender?"
"You mean the feeling that you're not an individual, and are in fact one in every twenty faces out there?"
"Yeah."
"We all deal with it. S'no big deal. We get a manual to read when we're bored. Coping with clonehood. Wanna read it?" "No thanks."
Meanwhile, somewhere else...
*RIIIING*RIIIIING*RIII-
"Hello?"
/They just searched TENDOM, thoroughly./
"And?"
/They're clean./
"WHAT? But... but it has to be them! Who else could it..."
/Just telling you what happened./
"Did they scan the place?"
/From top to bottom./
"There... there has to be another lab somewhere... that's it..."
/Want me to start looking around?/
"Yeah, thanks."
/Don't worry, Gos, you've got an airtight alibi./
"And I'm innocent too."
/If you say so./
Somewhere, on the rooftops, it was a quiet, dark, neon & moonlight lit night. There was a shimmer.
A small spark of blue light.
Suddenly, the spark exploded into an oval shape, hovering in the air for a secod... then dissapearing. In it's place, a young pig-tailed man stood, gripping a flickering locket and wearing a grim expression.
Meanwhile...
The pawn shop owner sat in his small, crowded shop, watching the rain drizzle by his storefront window. It was a slow day, like every other day.
A few old computers sold here, some actual wood furniture sold there... profitable, but slow.
The front door opened, slowly. A pale, gaunt individual walked in, his eyes looking somewhat shifty.
"Hello! May I help you?"
The person glanced at him. "I'm... looking for jewelry... you might say."
a few minutes later...
As Taro drove back to the station, Ed mulled over the case. Seemed to be getting awfully political for a simple case of serial homicide. Ed pushed those thoughts aside and decided to try out some of those zen mental excercises to relieve some stress. He was finally getting into a nice, quiet, zen-like state of mind when...
#All units, all units, head to 82nd and Main, the MHI building, repeat,
all units head to 82nd and Main, the MHI building, first floor pawn shop. Two suspects, possibly armed and dangerous involved in street riot. Repeat...#
"Oh well, let's see what's going on," said Taro.
So much for meditation thought Ed.
They arrived on the scene somewhat late. In front of a small pawn shop on the first floor of the Meiji building there were already several squad cars.
"What've we got?" he asked a passing officer.
"Looks like petty theft, assault, property damage, and murder," he answered, pointing to a gaping hole in the side of the building. "There's a dead Ryouga extender in the building and we've got one guy in custody now. Says he's a Saotome, but he's got no identity on the MoD files."
"What's he look like? Skinny? Pale?" asked Ed.
"Nope. Kinda average, black hair, about five-seven, ponytail."
"Damn."
"But," added the officer, "the other guy was skinny."
"Other guy?"
"About five-six, black hair, short, skinny, pale.
"WHAT?!" Ed pulled out his cellular phone and started yelling...
From the rooftops nearby, a figure in the shadows grinned, spinning a cane-like object in his hands briefly, then ran off into the night.
The prisoner transit vehicle rolled silently towards the station, a solitary figure locked in the back. From a narrow slot, one of the officers looked at their prisoner. The resemblance to the fiancee of famous MoD head Akane Tendo was close, but it definitely wasn't Ranma Saotome. While he put up quite a fight when the officers had tried to apprehend him, at the moment he was looking extremely docile. Satisfied that the prisoner would try nothing, the officer was about to turn away when a sudden blinding flash of light struck. By the time his vision cleared, the prisoner was gone.
Thirty minutes later...
"Great... just great," Ed muttered, sulking in the passenger seat of Taro's car. "BOTH suspects got away clean."
"What d'ya think of the other guy we caught?" wondered Taro.
"The guy that dissapeared while in custody? Yeah, that was suspicious. The guy matched the description and claimed to be a Saotome... although he got the first name wrong, and the iris scan didn't match at all." "Think someone's trying to set Akane Tendo's fiancee up for a fall?"
asked Taro.
"Could be... they tried to set up Nabiki Tendo already. Thing is...
WHO is behind all this? Is someone really out to scandalize the heads of them Ministries? Are they working with the killer? Or was it just a case of one bunch using another event to their own advantage?"
"Lotsa questions, Ed. Hey, we're at your place." The squad car pulled over to a nondescript towering apartment complex and slowed to a stop. "See ya tomorrow, Ed." "Yeah, see you tomorrow, Pantyhose."
"Right, whatever, coffee-boy."
Taro drove off, leaving the Ryouga extender to stand out in the sidewalk momentarily. Ed stopped for a moment to have a bit of idle chit-chat with the doorman. A little about the weather, some talk of that baseball pennant race, and a bit of politics. After a short while, he said goodnight to the doorman and walked up the stairs (he was enough of a health-minded person to make a point to use the stairs as often as possible).
Finally, he reached his apartment, some floors up. Later, he would criticize himself for allowing this to happen, especially with him being a policeman and such. As he unlocked his door, Ed sensed something behind him. He turned, but not quick enough as a severe blow to the back of the head knocked him unconscious.
A lean figure, his features obscured in the shadows of the doorway,
grinned. "Hello again, Ryouga," he hissed. "Let's make some art."
Marlowe woke up groggily, feeling a throbbing pain in his wrists and legs. His back seemed to be a bit stiff as well.
"Hello again," said a calm, cold voice. Ed opened his eyes and was met with a sudden attack of acrophobia. "Nice view, isn't it?" asked his captor, currently out of sight. Ed found himself tied to the minute arm of the grand clock across from his apartment and many many floors up.
"What the hell is this? Who are you?" asked Marlowe.
There was a sigh.
"Ryouga, Ryouga," sighed the figure, sounding genuinely tired, "if you STILL have to ask," he added, tightening the bonds on Marlowe's feet,
"then you are dense beyond belief."
"I'm warning you, I'm a MoS officer! Crimes committed against officers of the law will get you SERIOUS punishment! Do you hear me?!" yelled Ed.
The figure finally came into view, putting his face right next to Marlowe's in an angry scowl. "Policeman, plumber, delivery guy, ALL your little disguises, Ryouga, they don't matter to me." In the glow of the dim light, he could see clearly it -was- Hikaru Gosunkugi, or an incredible imitation of him. There was something different in his manner,
however. The way his eyes bore down on him, the way he sneered, the nature of his movements was, for lack of a better descrition,
somewhat snake-like. Also, he couldn't see exactly, but from the corner of his eye, Ed could see that the stranger was twirling a cane of some sort in one of his hands.
"My name is Ed Ryouga Marlowe, NOT just Ryouga, and you'd better untie me NOW, Gosunkugi." At the mention of the name 'Gosunkugi', the Gosunkugi-ish figure flinched. "WHY you keep on adding on names to your own I've never figured out,
Ryouga," said the Gosunkugi lookalike, "and I most certainly am not Gosunkugi." With that said, he punched Ed in the nose. There was a muffled snapping sound and Ed grunted in pain. "Offend me again and I'll do more than break your nose." The Gosnkugi-like figure glanced upwards, where the hour hand of the clock was up high. "You see that hour arm up there? You notice the time?
It's about... 12:17am right now." He paused, looking a bit meditative.
If this was a robot thought Marlowe, it had incredibly advanced AI.
It's either that, or an extender gone wild.
"You know, I've never talked to you much before... in all those times I've killed you, that is," mumbled the Gosunkugi-ish person. "But now... you see... I'm leaving. And I wanted to make a statement before I left. You see up there? There's a bomb in that arm. I know, I know, I've never done bombs before, not really my style... but I wanted to stretch my wings a little." Ed opened his mouth to say something, but a quick punch to the jaw ended that attempt. "Don't interrupt, I'm ranting. Now, where was I...
oh. The bomb. When next the minute and hour arms touch... there should be a big red spot on the clock face for all to see." The person peered at Ed, as if thinking things over. "Oh... I almost forgot, you could still call for help. Must fix that." Whatever was twirling in the Gosunkugi-twin's hand came to a stop and was lifted. Marlowe felt cold steel touching his neck.
"Any last words before I momentarily disable your ability to speak?"
If he managed to survive this experience, he'd want to know one thing... and he asked. "Yeah... why?"
"Why? Why what?"
"Why me? Why Ryougas? Why'd you do it?"
The Gosunkugi-person's face darkened. "Oh... oh oh oh... there's too many reasons... you were first just a thorn in my side... then you became a REAL PAIN... and then... and then you JUST HAD to kill her, didn't you? But... butbutbut... I cut you I stab you I choke you I beat YOUR BRAINS OUT and there should be only ONE of you... only one of you HERE, anyways,
but you STILL WON'T GO AWAY! WHY WON'T YOU STAY DEAD?!" His face turned red with anger, and then after a deep breath, the mask of calm and order returned to his features. "And there you have it."
"What the hell are you?"
"Sorry, I've wasted enough time. Goodbye." The Gosunkugi-thing raised it's arm back, and the cane-like object became somewhat clearer... it was something black, with a curved handle... but the most obvious feature was the two inch blade at the end. Everything else was unclear in the dim light.
Not a good way to die thought Marlowe with much gloom. He shut his eyes and braced for the impact of metal on flesh.
Instead, there was a gunshot.
He opened his eyes and turned his head as far as it could go. He managed to see the Gosunkugi lookalike stagger back, clutching his shoulder, then falling off the edge of the ledge.
"Hey, Marlowe, that you?" came a voice from above.
"Hiroshi?!"
"Heya, Marlowe! Small world isn't it?"
Det. Hiroshi, on the ledge above the clock, looked down. He'd been waiting here on a hunch that the rooftop vandal would show up near here. In the process, he'd fallen asleep for a short while. But after a while the sounds of ranting woke him up. He peeked over just in time to see someone about to stab a Ryouga extender. Remembering about the case from talk in the office, Hiroshi realized what was going on and took a shot just before what appeared to be an attempt at murder took place.
"Get down here an' untie me!" yelled Marlowe.
"Hold on, I'm watchin' the guy drop!" Maybe it was sadistic of him,
but Hiroshi couldn't help but watch as the body flew through the air towads unyielding pavement below.
Down below, Ed's temper was ticking. "CUT THE CRAP AND GET ME OUTTA HERE!"
Meanwhile, Hiroshi was keeping track of the descent. "60, 50, 40 floors...whoa! Somethin' weird Marlowe," said Hiroshi.
"Yeah? What?"
"Your guy's glowin' blue!"
"What?!"
Far below, as the Gosunkugi lookalike plunged downward, he began glowing blue, then became a bright blue comet blazing towards the street.
And then...
"What the hell?!" yelled Hiroshi.
"WHAT? WHAT? UNTIE ME ALREADY SO I CAN SEE WHAT'S GOING ON!" roared Marlowe.
"Your guy just dissapeared."
Down below, a street urchin heard something clatter. He picked up a large, black stick-like object. Seemed to be relatively unscratched. The pawn shops oughta give him a decent amount for this...
A couple of days later, Marlowe was back in the office typing out the report for the case. His nose was bandaged up, getting him unwanted glances. To add insult to injury, Taro inked a piggy nose onto the cast while Ed was asleep. It wasn't a good start to the day. However, the coffee was good, and Shinnosuke managed to remember to get more plastic cups.
He took a sip of coffee and thought the case over. It started out as just another serial murder... then got messy when the name Hikaru Gosunkugi was dragged into it. After some anonymous tips, things were getting damn political.
Whoever the killer was, it was confirmed that it was definitely not Gosunkugi. While Ed was held captive, Gosunkugi was a guest at a very public party. His alibi was airtight.
Who was the killer? From blood samples at the clock tower confirmed that it wasn't likely to be a Gosunkugi extender... unless the DNA was altered in his growth stage so that he wouldn't be exactly like Gosunkugi.
If they had the patience to alter blood and DNA, why not just make him look like a non-celebrity... unless they wanted Gosunkugi blamed for the murders.
Which lead to the revenge factor, and Nabiki Tendo. Her robotics,
perhaps? No... robots don't bleed. Although... cyborgs do. A little plastic surgery, some robotic enhancements. But what would Nabiki Tendo gain by slaughtering Ryouga extenders? Nothing, really. She'd benifit by causing extender rampages, not killing them off.
The Gosunkugi lookalike mentioned a 'her' that was killed. Ed began wondering who. The only dead woman of any importance he could think of was Kodachi Kuno. Maybe this was a post-death arrangement she made just in case she met a premature end? But then what did she have against Ryougas?
And what about the way that Gosunkugi-thing dissapeared? Big blue glow, then nothing. Teleport technology wasn't a reality, unless the government was hiding something (and considering their past behaviour,
that was a possibility). Self destruct, perhaps? It could've been. The wind was a bit strong that night, and if he'd burned himself to ashes,
they'd be scattered all over the city. Even the weapon he was carrying wasn't found. "Screw it, screw it screw it screw it." He closed the file on his word processor and took another sip of coffee. Ah... a good brew today.
Marlowe had a feeling that this case was over and there'd be _no_ answers from the Powers That Be. Might as well close it out.
He took another sip of coffee, then stared at it... and then started glowing an intense red.
"SHINNOSUKEEEEEEEEE!"
Meanwhile, down at the lab...
"Hey, where'd those urine sample cups go?"
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-end prelude-
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What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time?
-W. Shakespeare
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Time to live Time to lie Time to laugh Time to die
Takes it easy, baby Take it as it comes Don't move too fast And you want your love to last Oh, you've been movin' much too fast
Time to walk Time to run Time to aim your arrows At the sun
-The Doors -