"Kyohei?" Mrs. Genji said. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Certainly." Kyo came over from hanging up his chef's uniform.

"Do you have a few minutes before you go home?" Genji asked.

"Why?"

"Eriko would like to meet you."

"I.." Kyo stammered in surprise. "Sure!"

"Follow me, please."

She led Kyo to her office. There was a cup with some green fluid in it on the desk.

"Wait here," the old woman said. "Eriko asks you have the drink first." She left.

'And I thought Sei and the girls were weird,' Kyo thought. He's considered Eriko normal compared to Sei and the others, but the lengths she was going to to conceal her identity were beginning to bother him. But he supposed he could play along a little longer.

He tried the drink. It was minty and burned its way down, like alcohol but not quite. He drank it all and waited.

After fifteen minutes, he was beginning to get impatient when he heard Eriko's music playing from some hidden speakers.

"Hi, Kyohei," said her synthesized voice.

"Eriko?" she said. "What's going on? Where are you?"

"I'm close by. I just wanted to be sure you were ready."

"Eriko…you know, I like you, but I'm getting tired of these games. Whatever else you can say about the girls, they wouldn't put me through something like this."

"I suppose. I just had know I could trust you. My appearance will shock you, and I wanted to be sure you're ready. I don't want you to run away."

"I won't. Promise."

"All right. Don't say I didn't warn you." A bookcase behind the desk slid aside. Kyo could see a spiral staircase in there. "I'm waiting for you at the bottom of the staircase."

Kyo crept down the staircase. It led to a room with a plush carpet and wood-paneled walls. It reminded him of a little girl's room: Stuffed animals, boy band posters, and a massive home entertainment system. There were two metal doors in one wall. There was a table and two chairs to one side. And in the middle of the room…

It was floating there on some kind of metal platform with tentacles hanging down from it: A glowing brain slightly smaller than his head, but it still seemed … odd, the wrong size … but compared to what?

Kyo slowed his pace down the steps, freezing in mid step just short of the bottom. "What…the…"

"Hello, Kyohei." Eriko's electronic voice came from a speaker in the platform.

"Eriko!?"

"It's me," a girlish giggle entering the synthetic voice. "I told you I was the ultimate quadriplegic."

"To put it mildly." He crept towards the brain on its platform. "I'm guessing your drink is why I'm not pooping in my pants right now?"

"You guess right. I just wanted you to be relaxed."

"No kidding…What's keeping you off the ground? I can't see any motors in that thing."

"I don't know. I think I'm doing it."

"How?"

"No idea. The files have something about nanobots and zero point energy. I don't understand it."

"Huh…Eriko, my friends-"

"No, Kyo, please, they won't understand. And Bailan wants to turn me into soup." One tentacle reached out and touched his hand. "I…I promise I will reveal myself to your friends when I'm ready. Just not yet. I have to be sure I can trust them, too. Ok?"

"Ok." He sat on one of the chairs.

The brain - Eriko - drifted closer. "Not what you expected."

"No. It's….I thought you were normal, Eiko-"

"I am normal, Kyo! It's just I misplaced 99% of me."

He chuckled. "Good one."

"It's either laugh or go crazy." The brain dipped a little as her voice turned more somber. "I'm sorry I misled you. No, I'm not 'normal,' but I have the same thoughts and feelings any girl would. And I'm not half insane or out to kill you. I would never do anything to hurt you, Kyohei. If anything, I've helped you, haven't I?"

"Yeah, you have. My first day with the girls was a nightmare. This place is heaven. And you … yeah, so what if you're just a brain. You can be nice."

"I'm glad you think so, Kyo. But what happened your first day with the girls?"

"I got kidnapped because these goons thought I was their friend, Eriko. Then Meg helped me and she got kidnapped. And Django almost landed on me. Then Jo almost shot my junk off-"

"That's terrible."

"Yeah, and then I have to go to them for help… never bothered me before."

"You shouldn't have to rely on them."

"That's a point."

"Would you like to learn how to defend yourself, Kyo?"

"Yes, Eriko. I would."

"Come with me."

One of the doors opened, and Kyo followed Eriko through it into a large room about twenty meters on a side. The walls were lined with martial arts weapons, and there were all sorts of guns locked in cage at the back. The floor was covered with crash mats, punching bags in the corner. A robot with padded targets on its body stood at the far end of the crash mat, raised its head, and walked into the middle.

Eriko asked, "Do you think you could stay a little while longer? I can get you started."

"Ok."

"Take your shoes off."

Kyo did. He stepped onto the mat, and the robot stood next to him, facing the same direction.

"We'll start with stances and footwork exercises," Eriko said. "Just imitate what the robot does as best you can…"