Masaki Family Secrets...
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All original characters and ideas are the property of the author...
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Masaki Family Secrets...
Chapter 07... Time and Vaults...
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( The Masaki Home... )
Professor Washu Hakubi had noted that it was about mid day and thought she'd take a break and see what little Sasami was fixing for lunch...
With every thing going on with the expanding Masaki family, she'd been spending less time in her Lab of late and more time in the 'Real World'...
Upon exiting the door leading to her lab, she heard a good deal of noise coming from the living room...
Checking the time, she noted that the morning soaps that some of the girls watched were over and there wouldn't be any more until later in the evening...
This aroused her curiosity...
And so she moved to a point where she could get a better view of the living room...
To her surprise, she discovered that most of the couch and all the chairs seem to be occupied...
She could make out the back of a head of yellow hair, sitting next to a head of bluish-green hair...
There was also a head of dark purplish hair and one of spikish silverish hair...
All seem to be watching something on the large screen TV...
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Moving closer, Washu was able to see the screen better and there was a young male, dark hair and mustache talking in what Washu believed was called English, a language spoken by a large number of the population of this planet...
Especially on that large landmass across the sea to the East of them...
If she concentrated, she would be able to understand what he was saying, but it wasn't really necessary...
Across the top of the screen, the TV's translator was already printing out his words in Juraian, a language most of the house hold understood and spoke...
A similar line was being printed across the bottom of the screen in the local language, Japanese...
From what she could make out, it was a "LIVE" broadcast for a city in the northern portion of the country that occupied a good deal of the landmass directly East of them, the United States of America...
A young country that had been involved in most of the events that was shaping this world in the past hundred years or so...
Some one she was keeping her eye on...
It was alway the "young" that tended to cause and get into the most trouble...
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Unwilling to be left in the dark, Washu waved her hand in the air and her keyboard and screen appeared before her...
Rather than check the TV schedule, which listed several thousand channel, both on this world and off it, she just connected to the TV control it's self and checked the name of the program playing...
Some thing called The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault...
A quick check of the TV guide, brought her up to date...
It seem that a large vault was discovered in an old Hotel in the American city of Chicago and was believed to been once owned by a famous local gangster/criminal by the name of Al Capone...
There was speculation that it might contain items long hidden and forgotten since his death 4 decades before...
An announcer, the young male, was making a production out of the opening on the vault...
Giving the viewers an entertaining history of not only the former owner, but of the times he lived in and even a few suggestions as to what might or might not be in the vault...
Washu smiled, there seem to be some talent there...
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Her attention was captured by a tap on her shoulder...
Turning, she came eye-to-eye with Princess Sasami, the young female who's skills in the kitchen kept the whole family alive and healthy...
Leaning close to Washu, she whispered a request into her ear...
Sighing, Washu raised an eyebrow and typed a number of keys on her keyboard, opening up a small black hole nearby...
Smiling, she reached in and pulled out a paper bag and handed it the the smiling young girl, who turned around and returned to the kitchen...
Soon the soft sound of popping drifted from the kitchen and Washu shook her head, it wasn't often that the greatest scientific genius in the universe was asked if she happen to have a couple of packs of 'popcorn'...
It seem that in the past hour, while watching the show, Mihoshi and the others had consumed all the snacks Sasami had gotten on her last shopping trip and the program was now into it's second hour...
A short time later, the small figure appeared with two large bowls of white puffy stuff and quickly and quietly replaced the empty ones at each end of the couch...
Washu couldn't help smiling...
With Mihoshi there, that should hold them for 10-15 minutes...
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Using her system, she did a quick check on the gentleman who was the source of all this activity, a Mr. Capone...
What she came up with was a bit of an eye opener...
For his time and era, he had been a successful and infamous criminal, it seem that most of the program, leading up to the opening of the vault, covered his history and events associated with him, based on both facts and rumors...
Like the rumored, yet unproved story of his famed removal of a rival gang on Valentine's day...
Lined up against a wall in their own busness, almost the entire gang had been gunned down in a few minutes, not only removing rivals, but also sending a message to other gangs who might want to stand in his way...
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre would forever be fore ever considered the bloodest point in local criminal history...
In the end it hadn't been his known or suspected crimes that had been his down fall, but an ancient part of the government that took him down...
Taxes...
And a human weakness, a stroke, that had killed him...
For a moment she thought of another criminal being brought down by such a simple thing...
But for that to happen, they had to have a heart and Kagato had shown little signs of ever having one...
Then she smiled as she recalled the image of Kagato, split in two and then slowly disintegrating...
It was one of her fondest and earliest memories of the young male who had then come into her life, Tenchi...
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As her systen began to access sources that were not available to the locals, her eye brow went up...
She wondered if she should let them know that the vault was empty!...
That there wasn't any thing in there and hadn't been since just after his death...
That is, other than a very large load of earth and trash...
But hanging around her "Guinea Pig" had also changed her, a bit...
As much fun as she might get, by spoiling the ending, she sighed...
Perhaps later she's let them in on the little secret that she'd just happen upon...
Looking up, she noted that the young male was putting a metal hat on and moving behind protection...
Another male leaned over a small box and turned a handle...
This was followed by a number of explosion and as the dust cleared, the vault was open...
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( later at Dinner... )
Washu smiled as they enjoyed Sasami's special meal to help the disappointed viewers from earlier...
It was Mihoshi's comment that caused her to smile...
" I was so hopping that there was some thing in there!... "
Washu couldn't resist...
" Well, it's your fault that the vault was empty!... "
As all eyes stared at her she turned to Sasami, who had just come in from the kitchen and lifted her bowl...
" Could I have some more rice, please... "
Sasami's eyebrow went up and her quickly refilled Washu's bowl for her, then took her place...
After nibbling on some fresh rice, Washu pretended not to notice all the eyes staring at her and she put on her innocent face...
" What?... "
It was kiyone who stood up and pointed at her...
" What do you mean, it was Mihoshi's fault that the vault was empty?... "
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Washu sighed, that hadn't been how she'd meant it, that was just how it came out...
" I'm sorry, Mihoshi... I didn't mean that you personally were responsible!... "
She saw the sadness disappear from Mihoshi's face and Tenchi raise an eyebrow...
" I meant that the Galaxy Police were responsible!... "
She nibble some more rice as several jaws dropped...
As Ryoko started to stand and say some thing, Tenchi put his hand on hers and as she looked his way, he smiled and shook his head...
She sat back down and Tenchi sighed...
" Washu... Would you be so kind as to let us know what you came upon, concerning the vault?... "
She was so proud of him and she nodded her head...
She took a sip of tea before she began...
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" It seems that as the clouds of war were forming far to the east, a certain green haired Galaxy Police officer approached this world... "
All eyes turned to Kiyone, who shook her head...
Washu spoke up before any one else could, smiling...
" Think, family, Tenchi... "
She saw his eyes widen, as did a number of other eyes, as Washu continued...
" Officer Airi Magma was on assignment as well as searching for some thing... "
She saw Tenchi smile and sigh...
" In simple terms, your... "
She stopped and looked around, to make sure the coast was clear before continuing, smiling...
" Grandmother was looking for your Grandfather, but while in the area she was to check on some thing for the Grandmarshal... "
She had every one's attention now...
" It seem that rumors had reached his ears that certain off-world guilds were showing an interest in this sector of space, it's raw resources and the brewing conflict... "
She smiled and took another sip of tea...
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" Needless to say, she discovered and foiled a plot to help the Germans win the conflict and then she discovered that your Grandfather was alive... "
Tenchi smiled, he'd recently been reunited with her, as well as a sister he never knew he had...
" She took up the position of local observer to stay with him as well as protect the world from further off-world influence... As it was they were already here... "
Washu sighed and poured some warmed sake in a small bottle into her tea cup before continuing...
" While investigating the disappearance of two fellow officers over a decade before, she made contact with and interviewed an ex crime-lord by the name of Capone... Using a GP truth serum, she was able to discover that the officers had been killed and their body hidden in a secret vault beneath a hotel in his home city... Also in the vault were files found on the men in a strange language, as well as unusual devices... Being superstitious he had it all sealed in the vault and disposed of the few who knew of the bodies or their hiding place... He was the only one who knew where the vault was and what was in it... "
She studied the wide open eyes around her and smiled...
" She reported her findings and recommended that they wait until after his death before retrieving the officer's bodies, just in case... Capone was dying of a disease that effect his mind and died of a stroke a few years later... A small strike team 'raided' the vault not long after, under your grandmother's watchful eyes and retrieved everything in the vault using experimental beaming technology... They then dumped earth fill and trash within the vault, just in case... Two other vaults were also raided, just incase and the contents studied... As it turned out, the documents on the officers exposed off-world contacts as well as the contacts on-world working for the criminal guilds... With the on-world contacts taken into custody, all organized criminal activity was removed... And it's been that way for the most part ever since... "
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With that every one seem more cheerful...
They chatted, ate and enjoyed the meal...
But Washu had one more footnote to add...
" If you're still a bit disappointed at the results of the treasure hunt, you're not alone... "
The table went quiet again and they were all looked at her again...
" It seems that the IRS, the American tax collectors, who caused Capone so much trouble were disappointed too... "
She paused for effect...
" It seem that they'd gone so far as to get a lean against any thing of value in the vault towards tens of thousands of dollars owed by the late Capone... "
She smiled as she continued...
" So, with the help of the GP, Capone got the last laugh on the guys who were able to bring him down... "
Looking across the table, she saw Ryoko smiling...
There wasn't any thing she liked better than a happy ending...
And sad governmental officials...
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To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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