What now?
When Lihn opened her eyes, it took her a moment to remember where she was. The dingy ceiling stared back at her as she thought about what had happened the night before. Her head was a little sore where she'd hit it the night before but the bump was already gone. She'd jumped dimensions too many times to count but she couldn't remember even one other time like this. Why had she only jumped a few years away from where she'd been? Usually, she end up in a completely different world. It certainly was a mystery.
She sat up in the dusty bed and sneezed. Why hadn't she at least given a different name? NoriLihn was exactly what she'd been trying to escape. There were only a few people she'd been that she was glad to forget and NoriLihn was one of them. She knew what she'd done was necessary but that didn't mean she'd enjoyed it. "All those poor little girls, it wasn't their fault…"she shook her head and made her way unsteadily across the room to bathroom. Flicking the light on didn't improve this room either, but Lihn wasn't in the mood to play human. She waved her hand in annoyance and the bathroom was spotless, complete with fluffy toilet paper and clean towels. A shower would do her a world of good.
The hot water felt good. Lihn stood under it, not even washing, just enjoying the heat. So she'd managed to acquire a niece. The little girl seemed totally convinced but it was her brothers she needed to impress. Of course, she could always just move on, or try to make another jump but she was intrigued. Maybe there was a reason she ended up here, it had happened before. But even if there wasn't, musicians always proved to be interesting. Besides, that Russel wasn't half bad looking AND he had someone in his head that wasn't him. This place could be very interesting.
"Obachan!" Lihn's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Noodle's voice. "Obachan, come to breakfast. Russel is cooking so it will be good!"
Lihn sighed, "I'll be right there, just let me finished washing."
"Oh, yes! Your bag was found as well. I brought it in the room. See you in the kitchen!" Lihn heard the door bang shut. She supposed she could at least have breakfast before decided weather or not to stay. She washed quickly emerging from the bathroom naked, letting the air dry her skin. Stepping over various objects, she grabbed up the black leather bag Noodle had left on the floor and dropped it on the bed. It looked as though someone had gone through it, as she'd expected. She opened it finding all the sorts of things you'd expect to find in an overnight bag. She pulled out some under clothes and another skirt and blouse similar to the ones she'd been wearing the day before. After dressing, she checked the pockets on the bag making sure the proper papers had actually incarnated.
"There they are." she pulled out pictures of a little girl that HAD to be Noodle, and of course, one of the two of them together, and here was a newspaper clipping about a missing family. It was Japanese but Noodle would be able to read it.
And there in another pocket was a wallet, complete with an I.D. , credit cards, and "why is that here?"it was her I.D. badge from the Lab. She didn't want to think about that place. Lihn shoved the badge down in the bag, grabbed the pictures and after wrestling with the door a bit, headed for the kitchen.
Lihn walked into the room to the sounds of laughter and the smell of pancakes and sausage. Russel was at the stove and Noodle and the blue haired man, 2-D were at the table. "Oh no! Don't eat me, little girl! I'm just a little sausage. Argh!" 2-D was waving a sausage on the end of a fork and Noodle was trying to snatch it from him.
It was a moment before anyone noticed she'd come in, then Russel turned with a plate full of pancakes. "Well, I got mine, what you all gonna eat?" he laughed. "Oh! Good morning. Sit down, have something to eat." Russel gestured to the plates on the table and Lihn sat down. "Thanks."
"Ohayou, Obachan" Noodle said and when 2-D looked toward Lihn, she snatched the fork from him and took a large bite from the sausage.
"Hey! Little sneak." he chuckled then turned back to Lihn. "I don't think we've met. I'm 2-D" he gave a little wave. There were large dark bruises round both his eyes making it difficult to tell what he was looking at, but Lihn was sure he was checking her out. She tried not to grin as she spoke, "My name is Lihn. I am kin to your Noodle." She took a plate and began eating.
"You can speak English ?" Noodle asked surprised.
"Hai. I worked with people from many countries and English was the common language we often used." she replied in Japanese.
"You're related to Noodle?" 2-D asked, "I should've guessed, you look just alike! Don' 'ey, Rus?" he was looking back and forth between them, but Russel only had eyes for Lihn.
"Yea, they do. Both of 'ems cute as buttons." he winked at Lihn before turning back to his plate.
Lihn couldn't help grinning this time. Her decision was becoming easier to make by the minute.
"What did you do at your job? Are you a doctor?" Noodle cut in.
Lihn switched back to Japanese, "Well, yes, but probably not the kind you are thinking of. I am a biophysicist, a scientist." why was it getting harder to leave her past behind?
"Biophysicists work with DNA and stuff, right? 2-D and I watched a movie about a scientist that made a clone and it escaped. Do you know anything about cloning? I saw people on the news talking about it, they think it should be illegal, what do you think?" Noodle asked a startled Lihn.
"Um, yes, well…I." she cleared her throat, "It is a difficult subject, is it not?" Noodle seemed about to unload more questions so Lihn cut her off. "I almost forgot." She said brightly, "I thought you might like to see these." She put the pictures on the table within Noodle's reach. "Baby pictures." she explained to 2-d and Russel. Noodle's expression was thoughtful as she went through the pictures.
"There are no pictures of my parents?" she half stated, half asked as she passed the pictures to 2-D.
"No. Most of the pictures were sent to me by your mother, and the one of the two of us was taken when I came to visit when you were four." Lihn lied. After so many years, lying was easy. "I'm sorry."
Noodle looked sad for a moment then her face brightened, "No matter. It is hard to miss someone you do not remember." Lihn smiled at her but her heart tugged in her chest. She knew too well that it wasn't hard at all. "When you've finished eating, I will show you around. You will love it!"
Lihn had to admit, Kong Studios was pretty impressive. The first thing Lihn noticed was that it was Huge. The second thing she noticed were the people. There were people in almost every room. They just seemed to hang around. They must be real celebrities to have all these hangers on.Lihn thought. Some of them were very strange, but Lihn reminded herself that these were just the sort of people good musicians seemed to attract. Noodle seemed to ignore most of them as she gave her tour.
There was, of course, a full recording studio on the ground floor. Lihn had spent plenty of time in recording studios, under a different name in a different place, but she knew her way around the equipment pretty well. Noodle was pleasantly surprised and said that they should work on some music together. Noodle then played some of the bands music for Lihn and she had to admit, she really liked it. Next, Noodle took Lihn into the cinema. It was a real cinema with the big screen and projector reels and the fold down seats and all. There was also a bowling alley. Lihn had heard of the game and seen it played, but had never actually played before. She tried to play a game with Noodle but found that she was terrible at it. Noodle tried to be encouraging but after the fifteenth gutter ball even her optimism was wearing thin. On the other end of the building was a shooting range which they spent a hours in trying to outshoot each other. This was a sport Lihn could get into, she'd had plenty of practice with guns of all types and Noodle was a great shot as well. They finally ended up calling a draw when they realized it was past lunch time.
Noodle led Lihn through Kong to a café. They had a lunch of ramen and beef and Noodle went on about life at Kong Studios. It definitely didn't seem dull and the more she spoke, the more Lihn adored the girl. She was quite intelligent for her age, had a wonderful sense of humor, and had a streak of independence that reminded Lihn of herself.
After lunch, they wandered the halls, Noodle giving brief descriptions of what lay behind each door. Noodle was good company. Better than most of the adults Lihn'd been around for the past decade. Finally they wandered into a large T.V. room where they found 2-D napping on a couch in front of an old black and white movie. Noodle snatched up the remote, plopped into a chair and started flipping through stations when the door opened.
"Where's Rus? I got big news!" it was Murdoc. He was barefooted and bare-chested, had a lit cigarette between to fingers on his right hand, a bottle of something strong smelling in his left, and was grinning from ear to ear.
"Huh, What?" 2-D sat up and looked around. "Oh, it's you Murdoc. What are you doing up so early?" he patted his pockets looking for a cigarette.
The grin melted off Murdoc's face, "It's Six o'clock, Spike head, been taking double doses again, 'ave you? Sleepin' all day while ole Muds is workin'?" Noodle tried to stifle a chuckle.
"You workin? Hell must be freezing over!" Russel walked in the room past Murdoc and plopped into a chair. "Heard you was lookin fer me."
Murdoc's 'go to hell' look quickly changed to one of self importance. "Yes, While you lot was screwin' about all day, I was talkin to a movie producer." he paused waiting for the gasps of surprise that didn't come. Everyone simply looked at him waiting for him to continue. Lihn was quite amused by the look of disappointment on his face. "Anyway, This producer wants to make a movie about MY bad! I mean OUR band, of course. Gorillaz, The rise to Success, and all that. So, who's up fer a trip state side?" he clapped is hands and rubbed them together looking at the others expectantly.
"You serious? Did you sign us up fer something without talkin to any of us? Again?" Russel asked angrily leaning forward in his seat..
"No, No, mate, nothing like that." Murdoc waved his hands placating, "We just go meet this guy and talk to him. Nuthin's set in stone yet. We'll fly over to Cali 'ave a chat wif the producer and see what's up." he turned his eyes to everyone in the room looking for their excited approval but his eyes fell upon Lihn they narrowed, "oh, yea." he said mostly under his breath, as if he just remembered her existence. "I'm sure you're all eager to start packin', we're leavin' day after tomorrow. You," He said pointing at Lihn, "We need to have a chat."
Lihn slid from the arm of Noodle's chair and gave her a wink, "I'll be back." She grinned and followed Murdoc out of the room. He didn't say anything as he led her to the car park. Lihn followed curiously until he flung open the door of his Winnebago, then she paused uncertainly. "You comin' or not?" he asked from inside. Lihn took a deep breath and pulled herself up into the motor home. The inside was pretty much like any motor home she'd ever seen. A bench-like couch, a chair, a small table, a countertop and cupboards, a small stove and fridge all cramped into a small space. She could see a large bed at the back of the vehicle, past what she assumed was the bathroom and maybe a closet. There were animal skins on the floor and pictures and posters covered every available space. The front of the Winni had two captains chairs, the passenger seat was turned around, the second chair at the small table. Looking up she saw a television. The picture was split into four screens that changed every minute to show a different room in the studio building.
Murdoc was leaning into the fridge, "Beer?" he didn't wait for an answer, tossing one to Lihn. Her hand flicked out and caught it, "Nice catch." he said raising a eyebrow. He looked at her as if he were appraising her. The moment lasted just long enough to begin making Lihn uncomfortable, then he took a breath and look her in the face, "Welcome to me abode. 'Ave a seat." He sprawled on the sofa and took a pull of his beer.
Lihn eyed the couch beside him then gingerly sat in the chair by the small table and looked her bottle. She didn't recognize the brand but she twisted off the cap and took an experimental drink. "Not bad."
"No cheap swill for Murdoc Niccals." He shifted on his seat, "Now to business. Question one, Why 're you 'ere?"
"I told you, I was seeking my niece." she took another drink.
"Yea, but why? She musta been gone, three, four years and you just pop up now?" His tone was casual but there was something in is eyes that was almost threatening.
Lihn took a sip from her bottle. "I wanted to find Noriko, er, Noodle, from the beginning. But I didn't know where to look, and my job didn't allow for much free time." Lihn's eyes arrowed at the thought of her 'last job' and she took another drink before continuing. "But then, a few months ago, I saw a poster promoting your band. I recognized her right away. I asked some questions, did some research and found Kong Studios. I got on a plane and here I am." she shrugged.
"Why"d you pretend you couldn't speak English?" he shot at her.
Lihn was ready for this one, she managed to look sheepish, "I wasn't really pretending. I was frightened and I was not paying attention. It is hard to find the words when my mind is scattered." she gave an embarrassed grin. Murdoc stared at her hard as if he could suck truth out of her eyes. After a moment, he relaxed.
"So you've come to save your niece from the big bad rock stars, 'ave you? Or perhaps to save her bank roll?" he growled this last sentence and took another swig from his bottle.
Lihn laughed, "You think I'm a fraud looking for free money?" Lihn chuckled again, "Mr. Niccals, I was the top Biophysicist in acompany that received large grants from the government. Money is NOT an issue with me." she leveled her eyes with his, "AND, I find 'big, bad rock stars' to be VERY interesting." she gave him a flirtatious grin tough she hoped fervently that he wouldn't take her too seriously.
He smiled and visibly relaxed, "What about papers, proof? You are who you are, that sort of fing?"
She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out the pictures and few papers she had. "It's not a lot, and it's all in Japanese, but there you are." she leaned forward and handed it to him. He made a show of looking through them tough she knew he couldn't read any of it. He spent more time on the pictures, looking closely at the fronts and the backs as if he would find a label that said "fake picture".
Finally, he seemed satisfied and handed them back with a grunt. "So, what now? If you aren't planning to take her away, what are you planning."
What AM I planning? she thought to herself, "I do not know." she said quietly, looking at her hands. "I am tired of being alone." she said honestly. "It would be nice to have a family again." she looked back into his face. "I'd like to stay here. If that is all right. At least for a while."
Murdoc scrunched his face in thought, "I dunno, 'nother mouth to feed, course, I did see you inna studio this morning'. You could be useful. Oryou could be inna way. Hmmm." Abruptly, he stood and crossed to the door, opening it. Lihn stood surprised. "You may wanna go shopping. You ain't goin' to L.A. in THAT."
Lihn smiled hugely, "Thank you." she stepped out of the Winnebago and turned to say something more but Murdoc cut her off just before he slammed the door.
"You're paying for own ticket!"