"Okay, let me get this straight: You can't remember your real name, but you're called Inspector Gadget. You live in Metro City where you're a…a…" Lina stumbled to remember the word.

"Policeman" Gadget offered.

"Policeman," Lina continued, "you were on your way to a case involving a terrorist named Dr…. Claw?"

The inspector nodded.

"And finally, you can't sell me your medallion because it's actually a… badge," another nod,"…that tells people who you are."

"Very good," he replied.

"Now it's your turn," said Lina.

"My turn?" The inspector looked puzzled. "Oh, right. Your name is Lina Inverse, you're from Zephillia, and you're a famous… sorceress who has saved the world several times."

"Right on." She studied the inspector for a moment before stopping. "So how were you able to do that thing with your arms earlier? I've even been to the New World, but I never saw anyone who could do that. Are you a golem or something?"

"A golem? Hmmm." Gadget stopped for a moment, putting a hand to his chin in deep thought. Finally he concluded, extending his index finger, "I can't remember!"

After picking herself up off the ground, Lina asked, "What do you mean, you can't remember?!"

"As far as I know, I've always been this way." The inspector had an interesting way of stating everything as though it was an announcement.

"Well, you can't have been born like that," the sorceress decided. "Can you do anything besides make your arms long?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "Go-go Gadget…"

"Wa-wa-wait," Lina interrupted. "Do you always have to say 'Go-go Gadget' before everything?"

"Of course not. Only when I want to use one of my gadgets," he replied, as Lina fell to the ground for the second time. "Now, then…Go-go Gadget Police Light!"

A red dome rose from the top of the inspector's head and began flashing. Lina recognized the light from earlier. Is this a new kind of magic or something? Can't be, I'd at least have heard of it. "Anything else?"

"Go-go Gadget Legs!" In the blink of an eye, Inspector Gadget grew to about 40 feet tall as his legs extended to several times their normal length, much like his arms did earlier.

Lina cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted at the stilted man. "What else?"

"What?"

"I said 'What else?'"

Gadget withdrew his legs until he was normal height again. "What?"

Lina grabbed his ear and shouted into it. "WHAT ELSE?!"

He pulled away, wiggling a finger in the offended ear. "You didn't need to shout." He then looked at his hands. "Well, there's the Gadgetphone." He pulled a short wire from the end of his left thumb and tapped the pad of the pinky on the same hand. Putting his hand to his head, he appeared to listen for a moment before deciding, "Nope. I seem to be out of range." Pulling the end of the index finger of his left hand off, he presented it to her, saying "Go-Go-Gadget Flashlight?" Lina angled her head with an expression that read Get Real.

Remembering her earlier demonstration of fire-tossing, he smiled while recapping his finger, then pulled the fingertip of his right hand, where a small nozzle resided. He pointed the finger at a nearby rock. "Go-go Gadget Laser!"

A beam of light shot from his finger and into the rock, neatly splitting it in two.

Lina was ecstatic. "Whoo-hoo! Now you're talking! Sell that to me."

Gadget looked at her incredulously. "I can't do that; it's part of my hand!"

"Hmmm." Lina pondered the possibilities. At least he's on my side, so it's mine in a sense… Shaking off yet another sense of déjà vu, she changed the subject. "But you don't remember how you ended up like this."

"That is correct."

"Hm, sounds like amnesia. The only people who know how to cure amnesia are white magic practitioners, and the only one who would know how at this point would be…" Sylphiel. Gods, I'm not ready to deal with her again.

"Who?"

"Hmm?" Lina was jarred from her thoughts.

"Who?"

"Who? Oh, Sylphiel." Lina tried to keep the pain out of her voice, but the puzzled expression on the inspector's face told her that she failed. Smiling weakly, she added, "An old friend."

"I see. Well, where is she now?"

"On her honeymoon," Lina ground out, "but she should be back in New Sairaag by the time we get there."

"I hope I'm not causing you any trouble, Lina," said the inspector, noting her distress.

"No, it's just that I, uh…haven't seen her in a while, yeah," Lina chuckled nervously.

The journey to New Sairaag was fairly uneventful…by Lina's standards, at least. Gadget received a tutorial on the region including the kingdoms, ruling bodies, and the like. He seemed fascinated, although he earned a confused look from the sorceress by referring to it all as 'medieval'. Between Lina's sorcery and the inspector's unusual abilities, they managed to rout a few bandit gangs and gain a little money.

The inspector still had his misgivings. "Are you sure this is okay? This money doesn't belong to us."

Lina looked up from where she was filling her second bag. She gave him an impish grin. "It does now." She returned to collecting. "Seriously though, these bandits stole from innocent people, mostly merchants. I don't have any way to return it to them since none of it is marked, so I keep it." He still seemed unconvinced. "Look. I only steal from bandits, and the money I find is spent in restaurants and inns, so the money ends up back in the merchants' hands again anyway. Now is it okay?"

"Sorry, Lina. I can see that you're doing your best."

Lina hefted the last bag to her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If I were trained to be a policeman the way you describe, I'd probably react the same way. Now, carry this." She presented the bag to him and watched amazed as he took it from her one-handed. "Jeez, you're strong! I don't think even Gourry could…" A wave of nausea overcame her and she dropped to her knees, thoroughly annoyed. "All right, how long am I going to be like this!?" she shouted at the ground.

Strong, gentle hands helped her to her feet. She looked up into Gadget's concerned face. "Are you all right, Lina?"

"Yeah, I just had a dose of bad memory, that's all."

Gadget paused in thought. "You mentioned a… Gourry? What is that?"

"He…" Lina swallowed hard. "He was a…traveling companion of mine."

"It looks like he hurt you at some point."

She nodded. "He…did, but he didn't mean to." She sighed heavily. "Listen, can we change the subject?"

The inspector regarded her for a moment. Nodding, he said, "All right."

Lina noticed a hesitation. "What is it? Say it."

"If… you ever want to talk about it, I'll be happy to listen."

A blink. "Hey, thanks."

"My pleasure, young lady!" Gadget's usual gusto returned.

"I know," Lina chuckled, "you're 'always on duty'!"

"Right! You know, you remind me of my niece…"

Lina's face brightened. "I do? Ooooh tellmetellmetellme!"

This drew a laugh from the inspector as he lifted the bag to his shoulder again. "Well, her name is Penny…"

New Sairaag had to be one of the most resilient cities Lina had ever visited. Kopi Rezo had destroyed much of it when it was just Sairaag, Hellmaster Phibrizzo remade it in his 'own image', but the city remained, almost like a living creature fighting for its life.

Even knowing all that, Lina was still surprised when she and her traveling companion crested the last hill and saw… "Flagoon?"

The divine tree stood proud in the middle of the small village of New Sairaag. A smaller tree than last time, but present nonetheless.

Lina stared, dumbfounded. A voice sounded from her left. "What's the matter, Lina?"

"That tree was destroyed! At least, I thought it was…" The sorceress started running toward the village. "Ray Wing!"

Gadget ran after her. "Wait for me, Lina! Go-Go-Gadget Rocket Skates!"

Upon arriving at the outskirts of town, Lina grabbed a nearby villager, a priestess, pointed at the tree and asked, "What is that?"

The surprised priestess gently removed Lina's grip from her robe and smiled. "My dear, that is Flagoon."

A WHUMP! from a nearby tree announced the inspector's arrival.

"That can't be! Phibrizzo destroyed it!"

"Destroyed what?" Apparently, Gadget had arrived in time to hear the last part of her sentence.

"That tree!" Lina said, still dumbfounded. "That tree was destroyed, jeez, maybe a year ago!"

Gadget looked from Lina to the tree and back again before the priestess spoke. "I see you two have many questions regarding Flagoon. If you visit our Shrine, Mother Sylphiel will be happy to answer any questions you may have." The priestess noted Lina's clothing, blinked, then asked, "I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but would you happen to be Lina Inverse?"

Lina nodded dumbly, eyes still fixated on the tree.

The priestess clapped her hands together. "Thank goodness! So you received the message?"

Lina dragged her attention away from the tree long enough to talk. "Message?"

"Yes. Mother Sylphiel sent a summons request several days ago. Oh, you must hurry! She has been quite distressed!"

Lina hesitated until she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Lina, if someone's in trouble, it is my duty to assist them." Gadget informed her. "If you don't want to do it, I'll go in your place."

She shook her head as though to clear it, then smiled. "No offense, but if I'm asked to do something, it's usually because no one else can." She gently punched him in the shoulder. "Let's go."