…
…
"…Mmmmm…"
"Mmmm…"
"Hmm? Huh?"
…
It's dark…
Where is Gensokyo?
Where is the land? Am I floating? Where am I?
"Hello?" My voice echoed in the pitch black void.
"Hello?"
…
But a certain sound captivated my attention, as I began to feel a gust of wind behind me, the peculiar sound of cloth flapping in the wind like a flag.
I turned around to see what could be making that noise, I glimpsed a very long path of cloth flowing, slowly moving as ocean waves on a summer breeze. Then I saw more, more strands of cloth, slowly creeping up towards a complete area, like a big tarp with ripped ends.
And when I had my face in front of the opposite direction…
To describe it as big was an understatement, it was outright gargantuan.
the more I looked at it, I managed to see the form of it. A cloak that appeared to have life of its own.
I towered for who knows how high, to which I could faintly see a dark circled section in the top, a hood covering, watching me with a pitch black "face".
Then suddenly… and without warning…
A strange Symbol immediately was shining in its "face" as it made a sharp sound. with a light as bright as a supernova exploding.
"AAAAAAAAAHH!"
*Pant *Pant
*Pant *Pant
*Pant *Pant
"Renko are you ok?!"
…
A nightmare?
"Is everything alright?!" Maribel exclaimed in surprise, as she was very startled from my scream.
But I could not respond, the shock had consumed me.
Well, now that all that debt run was finally Over, I now have time to go around Gensokyo freely, only thing I do have to complain about is that monthly report Yukari requires us to do, and although Ven will take care of it, what do we Even write? "This month was interesting, I had eggs for breakfast often, we visited this and that place, and the weather was nice.'' What do we even report? But Yukari had said that she might not require it anymore whenever she feels like it, so maybe she'll get off our asses eventually.
Anyhow… First thing I'm doing on my free roam is to visit that shop around the forest of magic. I still want a Kotatsu!
"Kourindou… this oughta be the place" I look at the sign
"IT'S RATHER QUAINT, PERHAPS A LITTLE RUNDOWN." Ven stated as he looked at the building.
When we entered, we heard a small bell clanking as we fully opened the door. It has one of those eh? At first glance, It was packed to the brim with lots of objects, and many familiar things too! Much of the inventory was things from the outside!
"Coming!" we head the owner's voice exclaim behind the counter beyond a room in the back
As we waited we walked towards the counter slowly, as we looked and turned to observe more of the shop. It's far more packed than I thought, I guess customers rarely come around here.
The door behind the counter opens and out comes this relatively tall white haired man, I could point out that he also had glasses but what got my attention was a red pouch locket in his waist.
"Pardon me, how may I-" He paused as he looked at both of us.
"Hey, aren't you that Youkai everyone is talking about?"
"Umm, yes?" I responded.
"What a surprise! What brings you to my store, young man?"
"Oh, well, Reimu told us you may have a spare Kotatsu around."
"Hmm, I don't know, as you can see, I have a bit of disorder around the store, You just caught me in the middle of an inventory check."
"how do you even get these things?" I expressed my awe at some of the objects around.
"Wow, look!" I picked up a Ramune themed Mini Fridge, "I thought these were no longer made!"
"Most of these objects are, Gensokyo not only can make people stray from the outside, sometimes objects wind up around here, I just collect them for the shop." the shopkeep explained
"Are you an outsider by chance?" He then asked.
"Let's say I came to Gensokyo by my own will."
"Interesting… Tell you what, Help me with the inventory just a bit, and If you find the Kotatsu, I'll let you have it free of charge. I am just finishing the back so I can focus on the main part of my store." The shopkeep proposed.
"Mind giving the mister a hand, Ven?" I tapped Ven with my elbow
"GLADLY."
"Oh! A machine. Will get this done in no time." the shopkeep exclaimed.
"I'm Rinnosuke by the way, Morichika Rinnosuke." He extends his hand to shake it.
"Plyush Canmoore, and this here is Venetian." I obliged at his handshake.
"PLEASURE TO MEET YOU."
"It's been a while since I've seen a machine, Gensokyo is full with a bit of everything, is it not?."
Well I guess a little bit of work can't kill the soul.
Wow, and here I thought I only saw just Russian relics!
Back in my old Raider days, I used to collect lots of Soviet relics and objects, ranging from guns to bakelite memorabilia, silverware and domestic stuff, once in a blue moon I would even bump into imperial Russian relics.
They not only got modern stuff here, there is also Japanese stuff from WW2, Letter stamps, Insignia,medals, crates, various photographs, pilot issued Wakizashis, and even a Nambu pistol. But Rinnosuke says that whenever a firearm appears, he always deactivates them to be only used as decorative pieces, ouch…
Hell there's even US surplus from their stay!
But anyhow, I was tasked with checking all paper related, Books, tomes, magazines, posters, everything that was either a photograph or had something printed on it. Surprisingly, the majority was not literature from the old days, but rather gossip magazines. I hope this is not how Gensokyo gets their news from the outside…
Bunch of literature books, school textbooks, some manga, hmm, not shabby.
"I think I got all the magazines here, that should be all for the books section."
"Great, can you now begin with the carpets and futons?"
"Sure."
Alright, if a Kotatsu is mainly a futon, perhaps it should be there!
I glimpse a bunch of these stacked vertically by the wall, but lots of things in the ground, so gotta hop over these…
"Hup!" I exclaimed as I landed.
but I almost lose my balance, and begin to fall backwards, without thinking, I grab one of the carpets and it startles the rest by its sides.
"AYYYYYYY!" I naturally fell backwards, without a stable pillar in my hand, landed on my full back to the ground, and while thankfully a futon in the ground absorbed most of the fall, the rest of the towering carpets came down upon me.
1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 old dusty carpets landed on me, and with all the weight of them spread over my body, I could not move. One last carpet was balancing my tip toes back and forth, awaiting balance or fall…
and as it reached an edge, it finally started falling down to my direction.
"NOO-" *SMACK!
Right in the "snout"
"AH-OWW!" I yelped in pain, sneezing violently as the dust peppered my face entirely.
"Plyush-Sama? Is everything alright?!" Rinnosuke came as heard the noises happening.
"Arrgh! They're heavy, get them off me!"
"Rinnosuke helped me with each one by one, as he removed the carpets off my hands I started aiding him to get the rest off.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, that futon over there compensated the la-"
but I suddenly stopped when a certain thing catched my attention behind Rinnosuke, and apparently behind all those dusty carpets.
A woman?
"Hey what's that?" I asked Rinnosuke as I pointed behind him.
Rinnosuke turns around to look at what I am referring to.
"Oh! That old thing, I totally forgot Reimu gave me this."
After that sentence, he then aids me up my feet, now standing I come closer to inspect this figure.
A mannequin?
It wore a maid uniform, but not quite like Sakuya's; this one had a shorter skirt and small puffed sleeves that only reached around the shoulders, and a more bright blue hue than Sakuya's uniform. Typical apron and decor, white socks that reached its calves, Mary Janes, and green hair held by a headdress.
Something notable was in its knees, elbows and hand joints, they had small gaps like of an articulated mannequin, even some around her eyes.
"What is it?
"It's a robot"
"Oh?"
"Remember I said It's been a while since I saw a machine? This is what I meant by. It was a gift by a powerful ruler of Gensokyo to Reimu for beating them in combat, this is before the Spell Card rules! Sadly, It's been a long time and it ran out of battery long ago, no one in the land at the moment could charge her up, so Reimu ended up giving it to me."
After that explanation, I began inspection around the robot, as I began looking around for anything that could resemble a twist hatch or a valve to open her up.
Then I grabbed the robot's shirt and slightly pulled it up to reveal its tummy, and I found a circular hatch where its belly button would be.
"What are you doing?" Rinnosuke asked
"Hey Ven!" I yelled.
Loud steps are heard creaking the wooden floor, and Venetian is standing a side from us
"WHAT IS IT?"
"Take a look at this." I wave at it to get closer and see in between the gap of carpets to take a closer look.
"It's a robot apparently."
Ven only looks at it up and down.
"She seems like a good girl for ya!" I jokingly tease Ven
"I CANNOT FEEL NOR SIMULATE HUMAN EMOTION." Ven coldly responds.
"Anyhow, care to take a look in her?" I ask mildly annoyed.
"ALLOW ME." Ven says as he moves forward for a closer look, Rinnosuke and I step back.
"IT IS VERY CRAMPED HERE, DO YOU HAVE A TABLE?" Ven asks Rinnosuke.
"Let's try my counter."
Ven slowly lays the robot into its back on the shop counter, as both Rinnosuke and I stand in front of Ven to observe the process.
Venetian then lifts the robot's shirt up, just enough to show its "belly button" entrance or intake or whatever.
Ven then lifts its left arm up, to which it slightly opens wide, and out comes this thin line of metal and cables, it resembles some sort of soldering Iron and multimeter probe.
Ven directs his hand towards the hatch, and the probe thing then moves on its own and touches the hatch. Ven's eyes then turn green and have this wavelength diagram playing on them, It's analysis mode to be exact. for a while it goes analyzing and eventually he opens the hatch.
Everyone in the room then goes to take a closer look and we can see a certain circular slot now exposed. Ven then moves his probe and inserts it to the middle of the slot, Ven's eyes turn to analysis mode again and for a while begins tweaking with the robot.
Then suddenly the upper chest of the robot "breaks" open revealing its internals to us, and in the middle, where its heart would be, laid an enclosed capsule.
"IT IS OPERATED BY FISSION ABSORPTION, THIS IS FAR BEYOND THE CURRENT TECHNOLOGY."
"I knew that it was nuclear operated but never got too into it, how far you say?" Rinnosuke asks
"Current nuclear energy is just boiling water with the heat of nuclear material to power steam-powered turbines. And judging by the looks of it, I do not see any water there."
"THE CAPSULE SEEMS TO ACT AS A SORT OF SOLAR PANEL, EXCEPT IT'S NOT CAPTURING UV, BUT ALPHA RADIATION. THIS MATERIAL IS FAR DISSIPANT THAN LEAD AND CONCRETE COMBINED." Ven goes on to try and explain
"THEORETICALLY, THE RADIATION CAPTURED IN HERE IS CONVERTED TO ELECTRICITY, STORED TO THE BANKS HERE," He points at what appear to be it's lungs but more so as big batteries, "AND DISTRIBUTE THE ENERGY TO THE ENTIRE MACHINE. THEORETICALLY, THIS REMOVES THE DANGERS OF RADIATION EXPOSURE."
"But wait, if it generates way too much energy and heat, wouldn't it create a mini scaled chernobyl?"
"WHOEVER DESIGNED THIS MACHINE, USED ANOTHER THEORETICAL AND SAFER OPTION TO FISSION, THIS IS A THORIUM POWERED REACTOR. THORIUM IS A FERTILE MATERIAL, IT NEEDS THE FISSION REACTION OF ANOTHER ELEMENT TO ACT ON ITS OWN. IF THE HEAT REACHES A CERTAIN POINT, OR ENERGY FINISHES CHARGING UP THE BANKS, A CIRCUIT OF SERVOS SEPARATE THE MATERIAL FROM THE THORIUM TO LET IT REST AND COOL, USING THE BATTERY BANKS AS BACK UP."
"How the hell do you know this?" I asked him after he explained far beyond my understanding of nuclear power.
"I AM ACCESSING THE MEMORY BANKS /COMMENTARY CODE."
"So… What appears to be the problem?" Rinnosuke asks Ven.
Ven then uses his probe to open the capsule and reveal a really scaled down machine in it. He carefully uses the probe to extract a pair of tiny rods.
"THE ONLY LIMITATION TO THIS DESIGN, IS THE FISSILE MATERIAL ITSELF, THESE RODS OF PLUTONIUM ARE FAR FROM DEPLETED, FAR BEYOND HALF-LIFE, AT THIS POINT IT IS JUST, ROCKS."
At this point, we would've probably just thrown the towel and called it quits, how the hell are we gonna even find Radioactive material in a magical land? Even Rinnosuke wanted to say something but kept himself from doing it.
"PERHAPS…"
Ven suddenly opens his chest and reveals his Philosopher's core (Began calling it that after Patchouli's Lecture), with his free hand begins to reach deep into it and carefully grabs it with its fingertips. The core is released from a hold mechanism, and drags the core capsule to the rods; a sort of cage with cables coming from various ends is protecting it, perhaps to avoid accidentally shutting itself down.
"THIS AMOUNT OF PLUTONIUM IS VIRTUALLY HARMLESS, BUT I'D SUGGEST YOU STAND BACK" Ven expressed as he began to bring the rods towards its core.
Rinnosuke and I oblige and we hide behind a pile of books and furniture.
The rods come into contact with the core, and after a while of idling, the core begins to pulse brightly and constantly. From a Darker red to a brighter red, like the lights of the tips of an airplane's wings.
Venetian's eyes then change color to a grayish hue and appear to play a static animation of sorts. or perhaps it was actually static from Ven.
After a while, the pulse stops. Ven's eyes return to its yellow color, and… nothing?
The rods seem to be the exact same as before, honestly.
But regardless, Ven inserts the rods back into the open reactor, and an audible click is heard as he inserts them back in.
Immediately the mechanism and capsule shuts violently and returns to its original position. The chest begins to close back into place and the belly button hatch returns back in. A weak blue hue shines alongs the gaps of the robot, and stays on for a while.
The robot then slowly opens its eyes.
It looked at the ceiling for a certain period of time, and still laid flat on its back, looking in all its directions.
After catching us in its sight, the robot slowly rises her upper body from the counter and sits back straight up.
"Oh! I didn't know Hakurai-sama had visitors. I am deeply sorry for sleeping off!" The robot apologizes.
"Astounding sight!" Rinnosuke exclaimed
"By Antioch's holy shit… Ven, how did you do that?"
"I RESTORED THE ELEMENT BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL STATE. THOSE NOTES YOU GAVE ME DESCRIBE OUR CORES TO BE SOME KIND OF "PHILOSOPHER'S STONE". ACCORDING TO ALCHEMY, THIS IS THE PRECURSOR TO ALL ELEMENTS, SO IT SEEMED PLAUSIBLE THAT I RESTORED AN ELEMENT BACK TO ITS PRIME."
The robot maid then rubs her eyes, as it were tired
"I am unsure of this, but I have a feeling It's been a long time for some reason…" She then says.
"Ruukoto, do you remember me?" Rinnosuke asks this robot maid.
"Oh! Rinnosuke-sama! It is good to see you once more!" the robot exclaims, "How's business been lately?"
The robot then looks to its surroundings and comes to a realization.
"Wait a minute, why am I in your shop?"
"Ruukoto… You've been turned off for a long time."
"Eh?"
"You've ran out of battery long ago, Reimu had me store you in my shop, It's been years since that."
This Ruukoto robot appeared to look conflicted to some degree, as if it felt confusion and sadness. This robot was no ordinary machine, It somehow felt things!
Ruukoto then looks to Venetian in the eyes.
"Excuse me, good sir? Are you a robot as well?" Said the maid robot.
" VnZtN.v3, DIVINE COMBAT MACHINE."
"Where are you the one who woke me up?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Ruukoto" then began to sob quietly, as small droplets of a black oily substance acted as tears in her eyes. She stood up and slowly approached Venetian. The robot then hugged him by the lower waist due to her short stature compared to Ven's big stature.
Venetian was looking as confused as both of us, and it also seemed to express confusion or syntax error of sorts, as his eyes changed to a Blue colored hue and a question mark symbol.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Thanking you" The robot maid muffled, as its face was placed in Ven's Belly.
"WHY ARE YOU… CRYING? MACHINES CANNOT CRY…"
"Am I crying?" it said as she began separating her face from Ven, it then moved her hand to its eyes and swiped them with its fingers.
She contemplated the black oil in her fingers to confirm it was indeed "tears"
"I don't know… I don't really question it either… It just happens when the moment is…"
"Oh how silly of me! Pardon me VnZtN.v3-sama! It's so unprofessional for a maid to lose her composure!" She said as she moved away from Ven, stood back a bit and bowed to us as apologies.
"Don't worry, we don't follow suit too much." I responded to appease the robot maid.
"I'm Plyush, and my friend here would prefer if you call him Venetian."
"Very well then Plyush-sama, Venetian-sama!" She shook off it's tears and composed herself in a hitch, "My name is Ruukoto, It's a pleasure to meet you both, and my deepest gratitude to you!"
"Are you a girl robot?" I ask "it"
"My creator fabricated me with a Human female body in mind to appeal to the maid trope efficiently, and Reimu-sama referred to me as her too often, So I guess so!"
"Neat. Hey um… mind giving us a moment?" I said as I signal Rinnosuke to come to me.
"Gladly Plyush-sama." She bowed as she began to move to the other room.
Venetian also approached us as I wanted to discuss the state of matters.
"Hey so uh… what the hell just happened?"
"This is a very unusual situation, your partner is full of surprises!" Rinnosuke expressed.
"Yeah but I don't expect to look out for another robot! I got other shit to do around Gensokyo."
"YOU SAID THAT RUUKOTO ORIGINALLY BELONGED TO REIMU? WE COULD INFORM HER ABOUT HER PROPERTY." Ven suggests.
"Don't say it like that, that's weird! But it seems to be the only logical option."
"Now hold on! Reimu hasn't seen Ruukoto in years, we don't know how she's gonna react…" Rinnosuke says in concern.
"Do you wanna keep her or something?" I press Rinnosuke.
"Well…No, Reimu asked me to store her, as a favor. Perhaps she forgot."
"Then let's remind her again!" I suggest.
"We still have a lot to organize!" Rinnosuke reminds me of our task.
"Ask Ruukoto for help then! while I get Reimu she will take my place."
"I CAN ASK HER ON OUR BEHALF."
"Good! I'll be right back, won't be long!" I said before running out the door.
"I swear if Yukari asked you to do this, I will get mad" Reimu says
"You think I wanna collaborate with Gap lady here? Rinnosuke found something that will make you gasp in surprise." I responded back.
"You said that 4 times already, what is it then?" She insists.
"Come and find out!" I wave at Reimu to enter the shop.
Reimu comes in, the bell in the door naturally rings, and I can say that the place looks more ordered compared to when I first entered.
"What, Rinnosuke finally cleaned this dustpot? Will say, it's been a while since he cleaned around here."
"Ayy!" A feminine voice is heard by the left wing of the store.
What then? Who fell? Where is the rest?
"Marisa, is that you? what did you find this time…" Reimu said as she walked to the noise.
"Are you ok?" Rinnosuke is heard saying in the area.
"I think I bumped my butt…"
"What haven't you bumped with that a-" Reimu says as she turns into the room, but she is interrupted when she sees who actually fell…
"ay ay ay, my butt…" Exclaimed Ruukoto as she stood up and rubbed her behind.
But after composing herself once more, she notices the presence of Reimu.
"…o… o… ojo.."
"OJOUSAMAAAAAAAA!" Ruukoto rushes to Reimu to hug her. But she fails to watch over some pans in the ground, steps on one and slips fast on the ground, making her fall belly flat.
"Ow Ow! Reimu-sama it's so good to see ya!" Ruukoto says as she looks up while still on the ground.
But Reimu, on the other hand, was completely unamused… I was in genuine shock that she was this cold!
"Same. How long has it been…"
"Oh I am sorry for slacking off Reimu-sama!"
"No worries, all good."
"eh?" I exclaimed in perplexity
"Reimu, aren't you glad?" Rinnosuke asks.
"eh, sort of, it's not like Ruukoto here can do tasks that well."
"But, it's been like…?" I entered the conversation.
"What, you think you know lots about me? Think with a surprise you'll make me perplexed in awe? I have things to do, I have responsibilities." responds annoyed.
"I really did not expect you to react like that." Rinnosuke expresses.
"Time has passed, Not the same girl from 8 years ago…"
"That's all?" I just spouted out.
"That's all… are we done?" Reimu concludes.
"Reimu-sama, does this mean I can go back to assist you in the shrine?" Rukkoto asks her master.
"Sure, why not. I need someone to maintain the shrine while I go incident solving."
"Before we go, mind a little Plyush?" She said before exiting the store. Ruukoto follows suit and exits aswell
...
"What an A-grade bitch! And I thought Remilia was truly a piece of work!"
"Well, she is right, you know. I've known Reimu for a very long time, even met her mother before her birth, things have really changed ever since her mother's passing, and frankly, for the worse."
"hmm…" I grunted in thought.
I had not other thought in hand except what she was gonna say to me, perhaps I was gonna get whacked for trying to surprise her like that. But whatever it is, she is not amused one bit…
I exited the door of the shop, and I see Reimu talking to Ruukoto, then Ruukoto starts walking away from her.
"I'll catch up!" Reimu said before turning to face me.
"Look, I was just trying to do something nice, Venetian woke her up out of the blue, and I didn't know what to do, I just thought to do something nice and I jus-" I rambled as I really did not know what to expect.
but then Reimu hugs me out of nowhere.
"Shut up…" She grunts.
"No one's ever done something like that for me, Not even Okuu could figure out how to turn her on again…"
"Reimu…" I say as I hug back.
"Beyond you helping me with the shrine, this is the first time someone's ever done something nice for me…"
"It's nothing… sorry if I may have reminded you of something in the past…"
"Oh! sorry if I acted like that," She says as she moves out of the hug "I don't like to show weakness in front of others, but you are a special case. and take it as an apology for your little stunt at the Moriya ritual."
"How could you tell it was me?" I ask her.
"Well, I know of someone that can control others using tobacco smoke, but I had to deduce you could control all smoke of sorts given that… well, you are smoke."
"Fair enough."
"Anyhow, thank you. I do appreciate what you've done." Reimu responds.
"No problem." I respond back
But then she went to hug me once more, and before I knew it, I received a kiss on the cheek! Naturally I remain frozen.
"Tell anyone about this and I will wrap you in ofudas." Reimu says before leaving.
…
…
"Hey Plyush-sama! I found the kotatsu set, I'll leave it on the count-" Rinnosuke went out the door to tell me, but stumbled to my frozen figure.
"Everything alright?" He asks.
"Yeah…"
It really is mysterious Asia…