Author's Notes:
Right well, I had some massive writer's block coming into this chapter, so I apologize for taking so long. I guess I just needed time for my brain to develop the plot enough for me to actually be able to sit down a type it up. College finals are finally over as well and I'm on summer vacation, so that was another roadblock I had to get through.
Anyway, I think I like this chapter a lot better than my first, mainly because we have some interesting developments and A LOT more dialogue between the characters - which I'm sure we'll all enjoy. In case any of you are wondering, this takes place in the OVA Universe, not any of the spin offs. I want to stay true to the original story, while of course throwing in a few twists of my own.
Like last chapter, this one will probably take you anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes to read casually through, so make sure you have some time to kill. Again, thanks for reading this and be sure to leave me some feedback!
Life As I Knew It
Chapter Two: "Home"
[][][]
Ryoko continually stirred in her queen sized bed, unable to find a comfortable position to try and fall back asleep. There was something in the house, something new that she hadn't ever sensed before. The pressure was faint, but constant. She could feel it earlier this morning when she had gotten up to use the bathroom, but paid no attention to it while she dragged herself back into bed. But now the small shimmer of energy was getting in the way of her sleep. Twenty minutes passed by, but Ryoko was still just as attentive to it and ignoring it no longer became an option.
This would be the first time in months that Ryoko would be up before the day had officially started. Nearly a complete one hundred day cycle of sleeping in past noon will be broken in mere moments – all thanks to a tiny flicker of energy. On any given day, Ryoko would waste half of it sleeping in, and then the other half troubling the residents of the Masaki house all through the night. It had gotten to be a routine habit for the space pirate that no one dared contest. Everyone knew Ryoko's schedule by this point, so no one would even bother anticipating her to help out with the morning rituals, let alone join them for breakfast. That's why when Sasami made her rounds this morning waking everyone up, she ignored Ryoko's room entirely; and Ryoko wanted it that way.
She tossed around in her bed once more, wrapping herself up in her comforter in the process, but then rolled around onto her back. Laying there with her hands clasped behind her head, Ryoko stared blankly into the ceiling. She was waiting for a sign to see if her body would allow her to go back to sleep, but after five minutes of silence it was clear Ryoko had no hope in sight of returning to her slumber. The entire upstairs half of the Masaki house was dead quiet, with only the small sound of air being pushed through the vents. By now, the others would have already gotten dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.
Ryoko closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and released a large and drawn out sigh, knowing now that rest would not find her this morning. She was fighting a losing battle with curiosity, and when she finally yielded she knew she would have to get up and investigate the source of the presence that nagged her relentlessly. Finally fed up, Ryoko threw the covers off of her naked figure and swung her legs around to the side of her bed. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stared down at the hardwood floor, waiting for her brain to finally wake up and kick into gear.
The sun glared through the gaps in the blinds behind Ryoko, creating a warm glow behind her and casting a shadow headed towards her bedroom door. It was still very early in the morning, so early that it almost seemed alien to Ryoko. From her position beside her bed Ryoko could see her reflection in the mirror that was suspended on the wall to the right. She stared at herself; the effects of her body being up this early were already recognizable even from this distance. Standing up, Ryoko began searching her unorganized room for some clean clothes to throw on. Underwear obviously took priority, so she rummaged around her pile of clothes for some of those first. After finding a satisfactory pair, she reached for her traditional green and pink dress and slipped it on.
Ryoko walked up to the mirror and starred into her golden hazel eyes. Her life had taken several unfortunate turns recently and the strain she was putting on her emotions showed through her complexion. Ever since Tenchi had gone off to college, Ryoko had felt distanced from him, with each day tearing them further and further apart. Everyone in the house has shown some signs of depression since Tenchi left, yet no one could bear to admit it at this point. After all, three years is a long time to build up a relationship of this caliber, just to have it go on hiatus for who knows how long. It wasn't a desirable realization to ever think about, so Ryoko buried that thought into the back of her mind. She didn't want to start her morning off with any unneeded negativity.
The faint energy was once again brought to Ryoko's full attention. What could it be? She controlled her breathing and concentrated on the aura. It pulsated out in waves, almost like a sonar beacon, but the strength of each wave varied almost every time. A second later and she could definitely pinpoint its location: the living room. The Living Room? Where everyone else is right now? The sudden thought struck right through Ryoko. Her eyes widened and she made her way towards her bedroom door. She couldn't make any sense of it. The energy that poured out from this entity was so foreign that it was just enough to cause alarm; just enough to cause suspicion.
Without hesitation Ryoko phase shifted her body straight through the wall, completely ignoring the door not even three feet away. Was this another experiment by Washu? What could she have possibly done this time? To avoid detection, she floating several inches above the hardwood flooring and slowly made her way towards the stairs. As Ryoko drew closer to the steps, the signal became stronger. She could hear chatter coming from the living room. The tone of the voices indicated no sign of distress or any other sign of emotional anxiety. Ryoko stopped at the top of the staircase to listen in more attentively. She needed a better look at the situation without being noticed. She stuck her head through the wall and stared down into the living room to get a bird's eye view. Everyone was gathered around Washu. A young looking boy stood beside her. The curiosity inside Ryoko peaked. She needed to know now more than ever. The energy source was coming straight from him.
[][][]
Every face that stared at me was recognizable in some way, and yet because of this relentless state of half-assed amnesia I couldn't put my finger on any of them. It was becoming another annoyance at this point, just like having a bug bite that taunts you every so often and the only thing you can really do is wait it out. Sasami and Washu I already knew from this morning, but the three strange faces in front of me I didn't have a clue about. I needed another bailout from Sasami, I needed her to work her charm on these people so I can stop standing here looking like an idiot. When I looked over at Washu, she was already looking back at me with her arms crossed and a slight grin on her face. Her stance suggested that she was waiting on me to say something to the group.
"You're pretty bad with meeting new faces aren't ya, kid?" Washu said sarcastically.
I rubbed the back of my head, trying to come up with an excuse. "Well it's not like I'm in my element or anything."
"Well now's your chance to work on that." Washu replied as she extended her hand towards the direction of the strangers.
Whatever, let's just get this over with. "Alright well, long story short: I'm Justin and I have absolutely no clue how the hell I got here. Washu has promised me that my memory will eventually return to me, but she's not sure how long that will take. So for now, just bear with me during conversations because I may be drawing blanks when it comes to remembering things. Um…Yeah," I guess I could have been a little more formal and less of an ass. I looked back at Washu; she just smiled and rolled her eyes at me.
One of the strangers stepped forward. Her long purple hair and magenta colored eyes stood out immediately. "Greetings Justin, I'm Ayeka. You met my little sister, Sasami, this morning." She finished her introduction with a slight bow.
I shot a fake smile her way, "It's good to meet you Ayeka." Something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. I just wish I knew why. She seemed too proper for my liking, and her accent didn't help.
Stranger number two stepped up to the plate. She was a blonde with blue eyes, the most normal thing I've seen this morning. "Hi there!" she said waving her hand at me. "I'm Mihoshi and…" Mihoshi turned around and grabbed stranger number three, shoving her in front, "…this is my partner Kiyone!" Kiyone looked severely surprised by Mihoshi's random and spontaneous action, she also looked slightly annoyed.
Kiyone tried to regain her composure, "Yes well…thanks for that Mihoshi," She turned my way and extended her hand, "I'm Kiyone, it's good to see a new face every once and a while." I extended my own hand and gave hers a firm shake. At least some formality remained in this awkward acquaintance.
"Thanks for the warm welcome. And that's to all of you." I said. It's rather strange at how well I'm being treated around these people. Maybe wherever I was from, there was a huge lack of hospitality. There are still so many questions that I need answers to. But right now, I needed to keep my head cool so I don't stress myself out.
"Can we eat now?" Mihoshi blurted out.
"Yes I've got everything ready," Sasami said, "but just don't eat everything Mihoshi, we have Justin here with us as well."
Everyone started making their way into the kitchen. As to not be rude, I waited for them to finish entering. Washu stood right next to me; it appeared to me as if she was doing the same. That was until she looked straight at me again.
"Justin." Washu said to get my attention. Her voice was stern; I knew she had something important to say.
"Yeah?"
"After we're done eating breakfast, I really need you to come back into my lab. There are some tests that I'd like to run. Nothing life threatening of course. But to be completely fair, just know that I'm not forcing you into anything. It's your choice."
I was puzzled by Washu's response. Her tone of voice revealed some anxiety deep down that she was trying to hide. "Washu it's no problem. I've still got so many questions to ask you, and I'm sure you have several for me as well. Just let me know when you're ready and we'll do anything that you feel is necessary."
Washu simply smiled, "Thank you. Now let's go eat."
"After you," I said, prompting my hand towards the kitchen.
It looks like my only choice is to go along for the ride, for lack of a better phrase, until I figured out what exactly is going on. According to my watch it's only been an hour since I arrived in this house, but so much has developed in that short amount of time that I couldn't keep up with it. I feel like I just need to take a step back and soak all of this in. But right now I could feel my stomach doing all of the talking. I started walking towards the kitchen until something out of my peripheral vision caught my attention. At first I brushed it off as being a curtain blowing in the wind; that is until I realized the curtains weren't pink and green. The sudden realization stopped me in my tracks, and I quickly turned my head around to see if anything was there.
Nothing. Maybe a pinkish-green blur? It has hard to tell.
"Right then…" I said to myself. The last thing I need right now is to be seeing things that aren't there. But…I could have sworn there actually was something there.
I walked into the kitchen to see that everyone had already sat down in their seats. An empty chair was left in the middle of the table, obviously for me. It looks like they wanted me to be the center of attention. It's not like they would be able to get much out of me at this point, I could carry on a conversation to an extent – but if you ask me to talk about myself or my past you'll get nothing out of me. It's a troubling thought to realize that you have been severed completely from your own memories. They are really the only thing that makes you a person. And it brings up an interesting question: Am I still acting like myself, or have I adopted the persona of someone entirely different? I felt powerless after pondering such a thing.
"I take it that empty chair in the middle is mine?" I asked.
Sasami gave me a nod, "Yep, go ahead and help yourself."
I pulled the chair out from the table and sat down next to Washu and Ayeka. I didn't have much room between the two of them, if I didn't know any better I'd say they did that on purpose. It seemed like Sasami had already gotten my plate of food ready for me; and boy was there a lot of food. Not that I'm complaining or anything considering that I haven't eaten in however long it's been, but I hope she doesn't mind if I can't find myself to eat all of this rice. The shit fills you pretty fast after all.
I looked across the table, "Sasami, thanks for getting my plate for me."
Sasami looked up from her own meal and greeted me with a warm smile, "Oh it's nothing, you're a guest here; do you have enough to eat?"
"Uh..." I looked down at the massive spread of food in front of me, "Yeah I think this will do for round one," I said jokingly.
Alright well, where do I even begin? I know I've seen this food presentation somewhere, but of course my stupid self can't remember. Let's see, I've got a bowl of rice on the left side, some pickled vegetables directly above that, some grilled fish at the very top with some soupy looking liquid on the right. They all looked so ridiculously inviting. I took the chopsticks lying in front of me and tried placing them in my hand. Oh god that's so awkward, someone needs to give me a spoon and fork before I end up hurting myself.
Ayeka looked over at me and my never ending struggle to hold the chopsticks correctly in my hand, "Justin, do you need some help with those?" She said with a slight giggle.
"No no no, I got this. Just give me a second I'll figure it out," I replied.
Washu took a sip of her green tea and turned my way, "She's saying you have terrible manners."
"Miss Washu!" Ayeka gasped.
Washu started to laugh, almost hysterically. She's definitely quite the joker isn't she? "Yeah yeah I know I'm socially awkward and a bit of a goof right now," I said between the two of them, "just give me a day and I'll get back into the swing of things."
There we go! The chopsticks were now successfully positioned in my right hand; the only problem was picking up all of this rice. I looked around the table to observe how the others were handling their breakfast. Ayeka was eating her food extremely carefully, almost like the food needed tender and loving care. Okay, there's no way I'm eating it like that. Washu on my right side was already done with her rice and working on her soup. Sasami was eating the fish on her side of the table; Kiyone was sipping on her tea and Mihoshi…holy shit. Five, no…six empty rice bowls sat in front of Mihoshi, with the seventh held up to her face while she shoveled the rice into her mouth with the chopsticks. What an animal. I honestly can't compete with that. That's fine though, it's not like she's going to come over to my side of the table and start taking my food; at least I hope she doesn't start doing that. I picked up the bowl of rice and started scooping portions of it into my mouth. Delicious. It felt fantastic to finally get some nutrients back into my system. Let's just hope I'll be able to tackle the rest of the food as successfully.
Kiyone turned her attention my way, "So Justin, I'm curious…do you know exactly why you can't seem to remember anything? It just seems so odd considering you still have a personality."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well let's see. You know your name, you have a sense of humor and it looks like your common sense stuck with you as well. But other than that, you can't remember anything from your past?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I can still distinguish shapes and objects and all that other fun stuff, but if you ask me to remember something specifically connected with my past nothing rings a bell," I responded.
Washu put her soup down to join in on the conversation, "It's actually quite impressive that Justin is acting the way he is considering the circumstances. Any other person would have probably lost their mind by now, well figuratively speaking at least."
"Well it's still early for me; anything could happen in the next day." I responded comically.
"There's still something that's been bugging me though," Washu paused, "This déjà vu that you claim to have, it doesn't add up."
"Déjà vu? What does she mean Justin?" Ayeka asked.
"Okay well…" I took a sip of some tea to clear my mouth of food, "I feel like I've been here before…to put it lightly." Everyone's faces were suddenly covered in perplexed looks; it appears that the dramatic pause did its job. I could feel their desire for me to continue. "I wish I could somehow help you all understand what I mean, because right now I can't really articulate into words exactly what I'm feeling. But imagine yourself feeling like everything you touch and feel around you have some significant meaning, to a memory that's long been stripped from your very being. I'm not trying to sound too dramatic but that's basically what I feel about this entire house right now, and that's including all of you as well."
"But you've never been here before." Kiyone said.
"That's right. Well…I assume that I haven't." I replied with a nod.
"You know, I have that feeling sometimes as well!" Mihoshi randomly interjected.
"You do?" I said puzzled.
Mihoshi nodded, "Yep sometimes I'll be doing something and then completely forget where I am or what I was doing." Wow. That wasn't at all relevant.
"Just…ignore my partner," Kiyone said slightly embarrassed, "She isn't completely there at times."
"That must be a maddening feeling to have," Ayeka said, her face looked somewhat gloomy over the thought, "I can't imagine ever going through something like that."
Maddening? That's putting it mildly I'd say. I've had to talk myself down from going crazy so many times now, even THAT is becoming somewhat 'maddening.' "Yeah well, I'm hoping Washu will be able to help me solve that little problem of mine. After seeing her lab I can say I'm confident in her abilities."
I noticed Washu crack a smile, "Well what do you expect from the universe's greatest scientific genius?"
I looked at her with a grin, "Is that a self-proclaimed title?"
"Not even." She said, shooting me a look.
I laughed at her response, "Fair enough."
I looked back over at Kiyone, "So Kiyone, you said that Mihoshi is your partner? I can only imagine you mean in some type of job relationship and not…any other kind right?"
Kiyone was thrown off by my sexually undertoned comment. "Uh, yeah she's my partner in terms of our job together. We're both employees for the Galaxy Police."
"Galaxy Police?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That's right," Kiyone responded with a smile, "The Galaxy Police is responsible for maintaining order throughout the Milky Way. Mihoshi and I were just about to be promoted to detective class officers until this numbskull here ruined it for the both of us – and now we live here, trying to pick up the pieces to get our lives back together."
This was a little confusing for me to understand, "Wait, so Earth has a Galaxy Police force? Since when?"
Kiyone looked at me quizzically, "No, the Galaxy Police Force has no connection with Earth at all. This planet is actually considered a no fly zone for all officers."
"So where exactly is your headquarters then?" I replied.
Kiyone pointed up towards the ceiling, "Space."
I looked at her with a blank face, "Space?"
"Yeah, that's right."
I needed a second to think about that one, "So where are you from…Space?"
Kiyone nodded.
"Uh-huh," I murdered rhetorically.
Washu butted in once again, "Justin, no offense but this may be a little over your head in your current state. But the people of Earth don't exactly know about us."
"Please elaborate," I said, holding my fingers up to my chin.
"We're aliens." Washu responded with a straight face.
"Aliens…"
"Well technically speaking yes, we're aliens because we aren't from this planet. Every one of us here at the table is an alien." Washu replied.
I blinked a few times, trying to process what Washu had just said. Okay this is definitely news to me, but my brain honestly isn't sure how to respond. "I guess that would make sense, so at this point I'll just go along with it until I have time to figure it out later. So…is there anyone around here that isn't an alien?"
Washu looked around the table, "If you want to get super technical: no, there isn't. But Tenchi and Nobuyuki are probably the closest things to Earthlings you're going to get around here."
"Who's Tenchi?" I asked Washu.
"He's Nobuyuki's son. The reason you haven't seen him here is because he's currently attending his first year of college," Washu replied.
"So is there anyone else around here that I don't know about?"
"Well, there's Katsuhito that lives in the shrine up the mountain, and then of course the fun and lovable Ryoko who's probably still asleep upstairs. Katsuhito is Tenchi's grandfather, and Ryoko is," Washu paused, "…my daughter."
Wow. I didn't realize Washu was a mother. "Do you think I'll be able to meet either of them today?"
Washu laughed, "If you want to walk all the way up the mountain, sure you can go see Katsuhito. And if you want to wait until later this afternoon for Ryoko to finally wake up, you can meet her as well."
Ryoko? The name definitely meant something for me. "I take it waking her up now would be a bad idea?"
"Yes, like waking up a sleeping bear during its hibernation." Ayeka said with a snide tone. I don't know why, but I didn't really appreciate that random comment from her. It seemed unnecessary.
Sasami looked up from her food and over at me, "So, do you have an idea of what you're going to do?"
"I don't really know," I replied, "Right now I figure I'll just wait until my memory starts to come back and see where I can go from there. But I mean, if I'm in a different place entirely – a different universe even – how will I get back? Can I get back? That's where Washu comes in."
A large grin swept across Washu's face from my compliment, "Trust me, we'll get you back to your world in no time. Until then, I'm going to convince Nobuyuki to let you stay here. There isn't a room in the house that you can sleep in at the moment, so I hope you enjoy doors that lead into other dimensions.
"If it's anything like your lab then there shouldn't be a problem," I said. It was easy to tell by Washu's expression that she was satisfied with my response.
"I must say that you're handling all of this quite well," Ayeka said.
I looked over at her, "Yeah well deep down inside I'm probably screaming at the top of my lungs and going into a massive panic att-" Something suddenly felt wrong. I could feel my body being thrown off of its equilibrium. I squinted my eyes to try and focus them, but to no avail. My head began pounding.
"Are you okay?" Sasami asked, sensing that something was off.
"I…I don't know…does anyone else feel that?" I said. I put my hand over my head, trying to discern just what exactly was going on.
"Feel what?" Ayeka asked.
Heaviness. Nausea. Vertigo. What was it exactly? It was painfully similar to what I experienced when I first woke up on the hardwood floor. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, something was deep inside my conscious trying to communicate with me. A presence? What was it? Could it be a memory? Not even a few seconds later it was gone without a trace.
I took my hand away from my forehead, "Hell if I know. But I think it's gone now." That was strange and highly unexpected. The sensation sent a cold sweat down my entire body and I could feel my throat drying up. Everyone at the table was looking at me, but I wasn't sure if I could say anything to ease their troubled minds.
"Justin," Washu said after a few seconds of silence, "I think we're going to have to cut breakfast a little short and get you into the lab this instant. We need to figure out what that was just now while it's still fresh."
"Yeah, I'll think you're right. Sasami, I promise I'll be back for this food later so it doesn't go to waste, okay?"
She looked at me what that innocent smile and simply said, "Okay." It was easy to see that she was concerned for my well-being. Why would she care for a complete stranger though? Perhaps she has always been this compassionate, almost the polar opposite from her sister.
Washu got out of her chair and started making her way to the closet door in the living room. I got up as well and followed closely behind her. I took a glance behind me, sure enough the rest were still watching, their faces filled with curiosity. I'd be the same in their situation. It's not every day a complete stranger from the future, with amnesia mind you, just randomly shows up at your house and all of a sudden becomes the center of attention. In no way I'm I asking to be the center of attention; I just want to remember who I am, but most importantly why I'm here.
By the time I turned around Washu already had the door to the lab opened, she was waiting on me to enter first. Without saying anything I stepped back through the portal that lead into her domain of raw imagination – turned into reality. Once my eyes had adjusted to the bright light, I noticed that her lab had taken on a whole different feel than before. Was this a different portion of it altogether? Hundreds of holographic displays danced above my head in synchronous orbits around the empty volume. Each monitor was churning out terabytes of processed information, parsing each piece of data from one monitor to the next in a continuous loop. I couldn't help but look at the elaborate charts, diagrams and super complex mathematical calculations being done at what seemed like light speed. What could Washu be working on? What could she be searching for? What was the purpose behind all of this work?
Washu closed the door behind me, "Still staring at the pretty colors, huh?"
Realizing that I was indeed, drooling a bit, I looked over at Washu, "I'm just having a hard time figuring out the reason behind this elaborate set up."
Washu joined me in observing her own creation, "I've had these computers running for three straight years at full capacity, and I'm still not even close to finding the answers I'm looking for."
"Where are the actual computers?"
"I keep them inside a cold vacuum to prevent overheating. What you see up here are just user interfaces that feed me real time updates from the computers. This entire lab is designed to be completely wireless and fully interfaced. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"So…how do you even power all of this?"
"Would you believe me if I told you it was through a pocket-sized form of nuclear fusion?"
"Totally believable." I said, bobbing my head.
Washu walked over to her chair and hopped into it, "Anyway, the reason I asked you in here earlier was to dig a little deeper into your situation. What looked simply like quantum tunneling at first may very well be something more complex than you and I can understand right now. And I'm sure you have a plethora of questions you want to ask me."
I turned her way; Washu was flying through lines and lines of systems reports, "Right, where do I even begin?"
She wiped her hand in front of her and a few seconds later a keyboard manifested itself, "Well, let's start with the basics. Empty your pockets. We're going to do some basic scientific observation with deductive reasoning."
Washu tapped a button on her keyboard and a floating circular platform started to construct itself in front of me. She never ceases to amaze me with the technological capabilities of this lab. I reached into both of my pockets and pulled out all of their contents: my cellphone wrapped in my headphones, a pack of Stride spearmint gum and a set of car keys. I then reached into my back right pocket and pulled out my wallet, which contained about three hundred U.S. dollars and my driver's license. Once I was done the table floated its way towards Washu.
"I tried earlier this morning several times, but I couldn't get my phone to work." I said.
Washu picked up the BlackBerry and began looking at it with intense curiosity, "Do you have an idea why it won't work?"
"Another result of quantum tunneling?" I said ignorantly.
"Not exactly," Washu said cryptically. She begun to take the phone apart, revealing the circuitry within.
"Do you think you can access the memory on it?" I said as soon as the thought emerged.
Washu let out a small laugh, "That's actually what I'm about to do. For our first test, we're going to see how well your mind responds to psychological and emotional connections with your past. If I didn't know any better I'd say that you have tons of personal data revealing all kinds of information about who you are. We're going to see if what I find will trigger any mental response from you."
"And what if that doesn't work?" I said shrugging my shoulders.
"Then we'll keep testing!" she stated bluntly.
Two identical spheres, much like the ones that scanned my body earlier, descended down from the ceiling and made their way towards Washu. They took a curious liking to my BlackBerry, almost as if they had a slight intelligence of their own. Washu pressed another button on her keyboard, and the orbs began to scan my device. Another click, and a monitor revealed itself in front of both Washu and I.
"This might take a while," Washu said, "considering this technology doesn't exist on Earth yet."
"Does it exist anywhere else in the universe?"
"Yes and no," Washu paused to look over my phone again, "Yes because we already have a very advanced form of knowledge similar to this, but it was derived from different means. No because our universal timeline took a different evolutionary turn altogether in terms of life and technological advancement."
Another universe altogether? I guess that answers one question then, "So do you think this is a parallel universe to mine, or something completely different?"
Washu went to work on her keyboard once more to complete the data transfer, "I can't be sure simply because I don't know which actual universe you came from. More importantly, I'm having a hard time telling at this point if your material composition is even compatible with this universe yet. Right now you seem to be stable."
"Stable?" I asked.
"In other words, your body isn't trying to reassemble itself over and over to try and compensate for universal differences in atomic arrangements," she responded.
The thought was somewhat unsettling, and Washu could see my discontent. "I'm sorry," she sighed, "I didn't mean to worry you."
"No problem," I reassured her, "it's probably best that I know these things anyway." Deep down the thought of my body "reconstructing" itself terrified me.
She smiled back at me, "Thanks for being so understanding, now let's take a look at what's on your phone."
Washu swiveled her chair towards the monitor in front of us and pressed another key. A series of files popped up on the screen, all sorted by format and categorized in terms of file size. She went to the section labeled "pictures" and pulled up the first photo on the list.
"Recognize anything?" Washu said as she studied the picture.
"No," I said being completely honest, "I can tell that's a picture of me and some other people, but I don't ever remember having the picture taken."
Washu went to the next picture, "What about now?"
I shook my head.
She let out a sigh, "Well, then prepare yourself because we're going through all of these."
Fifty seven pictures later and I was still drawing blanks, I could make basic connections with each picture, but in terms of memory nothing was coming to mind. I could easily tell that I was the person in each picture, but that's just because of my self-awareness. Beyond that, I had no idea who I was in those pictures, and as we went through each picture I could feel the anxiety and frustration building up inside of me. The only links to my past were the clothes on my back and the contents on the table in front of me. Both of us sat there in deep contemplation, but something didn't quite add up in my head. Washu told me this morning that due to quantum tunneling, I couldn't remember some things. However, that effect would eventually wear off. So why was she trying to stimulate my mind with pictures from my past? It seemed rather counter-productive, and I knew that Washu knew better than that.
"Washu…" I said in a low tone.
"Yes?" She hesitated, possibly sensing my upcoming question.
"What's the point to all of this? You told me earlier that it would take time for my memory to return. So why are we going through with these trivial tests?" There was an obvious distressed pitch to my voice, but I couldn't help it.
"I know…."she said pausing for a second. Washu leaned back into her chair and starting rubbing her eyes, perhaps what she had to say wouldn't be said very easily. I stared at her while she gathered the courage to tell me what was on her mind.
After some silence Washu finally looked back up at me, "You see those monitors up there?"
"Yes," I responded, not sure where she was going with this.
"Earlier this morning, when I asked you to step back into the lab after breakfast, I had gotten a message from my computer saying that it completed the scan that I had done on you. On one of those monitors are the results of that scan."
"So what did the scan reveal?" I asked.
"The scan was inconclusive." She said coldly.
"Meaning?"
"It means, at least technically speaking, that you don't exist."
The words twisted my stomach in a terrible contortion, "But I'm right here," I said merely choking on my words. Should I laugh or cry at my disbelief of her last sentence?
"I know…" she responded, barely able to look me in the eye.
"Where are my memories then?" I said, getting a little hysterical.
Washu took her index finger and pointed straight towards her forehead, "They're exactly where they should be."
I shook my head, "In my brain? Then why the hell can't I remember anything!" At this point I just wanted to scream.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out, and that's what these 'tests' are for." She said.
"Washu, you're not making any sense!" I screamed, feeling my vocal chords straining.
Washu jumped out of her chair and glared right at me, "Look who's talking! Nothing about YOU makes any sense!" She stopped to regain her composure, closed her eyes and dropped her head towards the ground, her hands in a tight fist. "Quantum tunneling accounts for how you got here, but it doesn't even begin to explain anything else about you."
I sat there, soaking in her condescending words.
"And not even my instruments can begin to understand you." She said finally looking up at me, "You're different."
Her words cut right through me, but I couldn't find myself to yell at her any longer. I knew this was equally frustrating for the both of us.
"So how exactly am I different?" I said, remorse overshadowing my words.
"The simple fact that you survived the journey here is enough," The scientist replied, "And now I've got to figure out why you can't access your memories."
I stared at her with colorless eyes; I couldn't help it, rage swept through my very essence even though I knew better. "And let me guess," I said sarcastically, "you're so agitated because the greatest mind in the universe can't solve a problem?"
Washu's eyes lit up with fire, "And so what if it is! Or perhaps it's because I see a genuine person in front of me who is in need of my help, someone who just might be the answer I've been looking for!"
She caught herself, realizing that she just said something that she would soon regret. Could it have anything to do with what she mentioned earlier?
I exhaled deeply and swept my fingers through my hair. I needed to stop our acts of aggression towards each other quickly; neither of us needed to be so hot headed right now.
"Washu, you're right," I finally said, revealing subtle regret in my voice, "I'm sorry." It was important for me to take the total blame here, it would not only ease tension between us but it would open the floor for later conversations.
"No," she replied, "I should be the one who apologizes. I deliberately hid information from you, and of course I know that's not right, but please try to understand that I'm not sure what will happen if I'm fully open with you right now. You're stable for the time being, but any kind of emotional event could trigger something deep inside you."
Her words felt so sincere, I felt awful for having acted out against her. Even though she lied to me, her actions were justified and I'd probably do the same in her situation. Her last statement reminded me of the small episode earlier during breakfast. What could she mean though?
"And because you don't know what would trigger such a thing…" I said rhetorically, "you wanted to be as careful as possible."
Washu nodded, her eyes returning to their gentle state. I can see it clearly now, she has the eyes of a caring mother, as well as the actions. She was acting on both maternal and scientific viewpoints. A perfect balance between logic and emotion, if only I could have seen it sooner.
"Now," Washu said as she sat back in her chair, "if it's okay with you…would you like to continue searching for the answer? Your answer?"
I felt as if my entire body smiled at her. "Of course, whatever you need Washu." She returned my smile with a warm one of her own. I'm glad that situation was turned around and we reached a mutual understanding, the last thing I need to be on bad terms with the people here.
"I honestly thought that pictures would be the best route to go, but you didn't respond to really any of them, did you?" Washu said while navigating the monitor in front of her.
I shrugged my shoulders, "No, I guess not."
She pulled up another folder, this one labeled music. "Alright, let's see if music will serve as proper stimuli."
Washu starting browsing through the selection of music, while she was doing that I walked over to the table and picked up my wallet. Upon opening it I pulled out my driver's license and studied it. "Born Christmas of 91'," I said, "Hell at least I can still remember my name and age."
Washu looked over at me, "A nineteen year old from the year 2011, traveling through several universal dimensions and astonishingly entering a new one – alive – in the past of all things. Quite the résumé if you ask me."
"Yeah, quite a culture shock isn't it?" I said.
"Indeed," she replied, "Here, choose a song at random for me. Choose five songs altogether."
"Another test?" I asked.
"Sort of. The five songs you chose will help me put together a decently accurate personality report on you."
"How would that even be accurate? I'm choosing these songs at random without knowing any of them."
Washu began scratching her nose, "I have a hunch that the songs you choose will actually be your subconscious communicating with you, even through the current memory barrier."
She sounded confident in her prediction, "Alright let's do it," I said eagerly.
Washu got back out of her chair and walked up next to me, "The monitor in front of you is fully interactive, just treat it like you would a touch screen."
I walked in front of the monitor and began surfing through the massive collection of songs. Without any form of context to go on, I wasn't exactly sure which songs were the right choice, or if there even was a right choice. I guess the idea that the songs I pick will reveal something about my personality made me a little anxious. After about a minute of cruising through each song, artist and album – I finally had five songs chosen.
"Well, there you go," I said stepping away from the monitor.
"Right, well let's have a listen then."
Washu selected the first song titled, "Murmaider II: The Water God," and hit play. An incredibly eerie sound echoed through the lab, followed by the thunderous gallop of guitar notes. Washu and I stood there looking at each other, both of us deeply confused by what we were hearing. For me at least, the music was incredibly aggressive but enchanting and calming at the same time. Washu on the other hand didn't really seem to be enjoying it all that much.
Washu stopped the music about a minute into it, "Next song," she said with haste.
Washu played and listened to the next four songs: Holy Diver, The Root of All Evil, Blood Brothers and finally Tank. After the fifth song was done Washu sat in her chair, deep in thought.
She took her hand off of her chin, "Well, that's certainly interesting."
"Yeah." I said in agreement.
"My first impression would be that you have such a well-rounded personality that there isn't a way to just 'label' you based on your preferences. It makes the whole situation much more complicated, but at the same time it should give you some optimism knowing that you're so developed as a person."
"Thanks," I said with a laugh, "Isn't there something else you can do – like poke around in my brain or something? I mean just look at this place, you can't tell me that the possibilities are actually endless, right?"
Washu started navigating the monitors in front of her again, "I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not saying it's easy even for somewhat like me. It will take time to do it, and do it right. Huh? What's this…?" Washu looked at the screen with squinted eyes.
"What's what?" I asked.
"I was looking through some more recovered data from your phone. It's a saved GPS location. And do you know what it's called?" She replied, looking at me with a sly smile.
The way she worded her question shot a considerable amount of interest throughout my mind. "I have no honest idea," I finally said.
Washu paused for dramatic effect, "Home."
Home: Finally something that had considerable meaning to me.
"If there is one place that could trigger anything, it would definitely be your home. However," Washu said changing her tone, "be aware that because of where you are - what universe you're in – that his "home" of yours may not even exist."
"Just like me…" I said, laughing to myself, "Well Washu….it's wortha shot isn't it?"
She gave me a reassuring nod, "It is."
"Then do it, please. Find out where my home is."
"This might take a minute; Earth doesn't have the infrastructure for accurate GPS locations yet."
"Then how will you find my house?" I asked with curiosity.
"Well, like I said, Earth doesn't have the technology yet. They also don't have strong enough firewalls on their satellites to protect them from geniuses like me," She replied with a snicker.
The monitor in front of me grew until it was nearly the size of a chalkboard. A satellite representation of Earth digitized itself into plain view. "Oh god, don't tell me this is real time." I said once I realized that Washu had already hacked into a satellite.
"Of course it is," She said without hesitation, "Alright, well we know that you're from the United States and based on your driver's license you're also from South Carolina. So that should help us narrow our search.
"Doesn't my phone have the exact coordinate location though?" I asked.
"Unfortunately not, it only gave me an address." Washu replied as she zeroed in on the location of my house.
Through all the excitement this morning I had forgotten that I still had several questions to ask Washu. Things were moving fast for me right now and I was having a tough time keeping up. I was no longer in control of my life; instead I was leaving it all in the hands of this redhead sitting in front of me. Honestly though, I probably wouldn't ever find someone as capable as Washu in my given situation. I couldn't help but smile knowing that of all the shit that I'm going through, she's the one who would go through it with me.
Washu stopped for a moment and stared at the monitor, "I think I have it," she said.
I turned around and walked towards the monitor to take a look, "How sure are you?" I asked.
"Sure enough to where if I repeated the process again I'd just end up back here."
"Fair enough," I responded with a smirk, "So how will we get there from…where are we exactly?"
"Japan." She quickly answered.
"Of course….that would explain….everything," I said, finally realizing how stupid I was for not connecting the dots earlier.
"To answer your first question though: We'll use Ryo-Ohki."
"Ryo-Ohki?"
Washu looked at me, "A small cat-like animal crossbred with a rabbit? Ryo-Ohki spends most of her time with Sasami so you couldn't have missed her."
"Now that you mention it…"I said, thinking back to this morning. Yep, I definitely remember that exact animal resting on Sasami's shoulder earlier.
Hold on…. "So Washu, how exactly is a 'cabbit' going to help us?"
"She transforms into a ship."
"Ah well…," I blinked a few times, "of course that's how we're getting there!"
"Sorry for being so blunt with you," Washu laughed, "I'm just making sure that the United States Government didn't detect my hack into their servers just now. And just in case, I'm erasing any possible traces."
I rested both my hands on my hips and looked around the lab once more, "Yep, best be safe than sorry I suppose."
Washu didn't respond, instead she intensively typed away on her holographic keyboard with hellish speed. I decided to walk around the lab a bit just to pass the time. The monitors still orbited above me and they were still churning out the same pieces of data from before. I tried looking for the monitor that had my scan results on them, but the symbols were moving too fast on each monitor for me to differentiate anything that could relate to me specifically. For a brief moment it seemed like time had finally decided to slow down for me to allow me to think. I took in a deep breath of air and held it in for a few seconds before calmly exhaling. I wonder what happened to me at the breakfast table this morning, what exactly was it that I felt? Could it have been my subconscious trying to kick my brain back into gear? Washu reacted to it, so it must have meant something to her. Maybe she was just waiting on the right time to tell me what it was about.
"Okay," Washu said, cracking her knuckles, "I think we're all set."
I turned around to realize how far I had actually walked from Washu. The lab was filled with so much white light that I honestly couldn't tell if there were any walls, so distance was hard to gauge without some sort of reference.
"I take it you're coming with me? I'm not trained to fly an animal," I joked.
Washu cracked a slight smile from my humor, "Actually I'm not coming with you, there's too much data I need to analyze here and I don't want to make up for lost time."
"Alright then," I said putting my hands in my pockets, "So who will be my pilot for today?"
Washu stopped typing but kept her hands on the keyboard, "Ryoko."
"Ryoko?" I said confused.
"What? Me?" said a voice from behind me.
The new voice in the room completely startled me; I quickly swung around to figure out who it was. Ryoko appeared behind me, floating several feet off of the floor with her legs crossed and her hands behind her head. We locked eye contact and just stared at each other. I wasn't quite sure how to react or what to say, so the two of us just sat there (well…she was floating) in awkward silence. Her hair was wild and untamed; I could only imagine that it somehow suited her personality perfectly. Her eyes? Absolutely mesmerizing. I've never seen such a color before. It didn't take long for me to classify her as a real looker.
"That's right," Washu said, finally breaking the silence, "You're going to fly Justin to the exact coordinates you see on the display in front of you."
"And why the hell would I want to do something like that?" Ryoko replied snidely.
Washu looked up from the keyboard and over at Ryoko and I, "Don't play dumb with me, you've been spying on Justin for the entire time we've been in here."
"Say what?" I interjected. I looked at Ryoko, who turned away the second she noticed me turn my attention towards her. That immediate reaction of hers told me all that I needed to know: she was guilty.
"Washu, why the hell didn't you tell me I had a stalker?" I asked sternly.
Washu looked around, reaching for an answer, "Honestly, it was probably the best way for Ryoko to get to know you before actually getting to know you."
"Ah, perfect then." I replied sarcastically.
"Besides Ryoko," Washu said, "You still owe me a favor since last time, doing this will make us even. Clear?"
Ryoko's face dulled to a frown, "Fine, but only if this makes us even," She looked my way, "C'mon kid, grab your things and follow me." Ryoko floated lazily towards the lab's exit.
I made my way back to the table with all of my items and began putting them back into their proper place. Washu was still typing away furiously at the keyboard. She might end up breaking a finger if she's not careful.
"Justin," Washu said, still paying most of her attention to her work, "I want you to be careful with what you say around Ryoko, she can be short tempered at times."
"I'll keep that in mind," I replied.
Washu stopped typing again and looked at me, "However, there are also times that she can be just as sweet and compassionate as Sasami – in her own way of course. I want you to try and make Ryoko open up. I think you're charismatic enough to make a solid connection with her. Perhaps sincere dialogue between the two of you will be beneficial for both parties." There it was again, that maternal instinct Washu had shown me earlier. She really was Ryoko's mother, I could somehow tell.
"Is this a favor of yours, Washu?" I asked smiling.
Washu smiled as well, "Yes. Do this and consider things even between us two. I'll continue helping you out and you'll continue doing what you do best."
"Oh please, you know you're helping me because I'm so damned interesting to you," I said joking once more.
Washu laughed, "Go. You don't want to keep Ryoko waiting. Don't worry about your phone, I'll keep it safe here and keep studying it."
I nodded at Washu. She pressed a button on her keyboard and a door revealed itself directly to my right. I looked at it, and saw behind the threshold the living room back to the Masaki House. I turned and started making my way towards the door. The monitors above me were still dancing in their beautifully choreographed orbit, data was still being processed, and I still didn't have a clue what any of them were saying. I walked through the door and let my eyes adjust to the lighting change. Ryoko awaited me at the front door, her attire changed to a black and red skin tight uniform. On her shoulder sat Ryo-Ohki, who now looked at me with less fear and more curiosity.
Ryoko stared at me, "Ready kid?"
I nodded in reply, "Let's do it."
Ryoko…if only I knew what significance your name held…if only I could remember…