Here comes another chapter. As much as I want to give more detail on each chapter, I don't want this to be longer than my old fic, so I'm hoping I can get this right. So going back to the future world of DW!
At Mary's Cafe, the Koogari checks on the birds neck and sees its coil attached to it. "That is quite the haul!" Mary states. She is a hard person to impress, but in her first night, the rookie she employed just two nights ago aced it. "You got them all on your own?"
"That's right!" Mira said, very proud of herself. "I checked all of them down and collected them myself!"
The cricket of Mary's Cafe checks more on the dove with a grin. "Impressive. That Loser guy must have a good engineer working for him."
"Oh yes! I was especially surprised when I realized a child was controlling them!" Mira expressed her experience with a smile.
"Yeah?" Showing more interest with the engineer.
Just then Mary snaps her fingers. "Four, bring the briefcase over here. Immediately Four walks in with a briefcase, and reveals the neatly stacked dollar bills. "Your payment for this job. Six Million. Would you like to count it?"
Mira couldn't believe the amount. "Wow! That much for me?! What am I going to do with all of it?!"
Her innocent nature makes Koogari chuckle when usually other guys would revel in this kind of treatment. "You don't see cash too often these days."
"New Telsa was impressed that you saw through the pigeon charade, and found the devices." Mary states.
Koorogi turns to see Minato sitting alone from the other side of the room. "No wonder Minato looks like a kid who was sent to bed without desert." Said in a mocking tone. The blue hair collector tries his best to ignore them, but its easy to see he's annoyed.
Mira stares at him, unable to shake his bad mood. Mary then taps Mira's shoulder. "You did well, but don't let that make you cocky or complacent. If they find out what you really are we will all be in trouble. You can't let your guard down, even for a second. Understand that?"
"Yes ma'am..." Mira silently said, knowing how serious she is.
Both Minato and Mira walk through the streets with moderate people walking around. Mira smells the fresh money, and couldn't help but smile at the accomplishment she did and the reward she has gained. But she opens her eyes to see Minato walking in deep thought. It's clear last night was still on his mind. Little did she knew, it wasn't what she thinks.
"Damn it Albert..." Minato was thinking about his former teacher and how much he values more his company than human lives. He likes to say he protects, but is it protection when innocent lives are sacrificed? Then what's the point? The thought made Minato angry. But just then he got back to reality and notices a pile of dollar bills on his side. "Huh?"
"It's for you." Mira explains as they both stop. Then she decides to better explain herself while Minato still stands there confused. "Its the rent."
"Rent?" Minato would move his eye to her direction, still like a statue.
"Even if it is half of the roof, I'm still renting half of your home. It seems only right that I'd pay for it. Minato would wonder what gave Mira the idea of this, but then she continues. "Although to be honest, I'd really appreciate a bed and a closet and maybe something private to change."
Minato's brow raise in confusion. "I never thought robots would need those things."
"I need the same basic living conditions everyone does so I can keep my parts clean and in good working order. My body is filled with nano-machines that circulate through it like blood circulates through your veins and arteries. In order to keep me in peak condition, those machines are continuedly making repairs. Of course the nano-machines themselves are also detaching and re-configuring. You may not realize it, but repairs could only be made so quickly. That's why its recommended that I take regular breaks for sleep. Though the amount I need depends on my activities." Minato's then goes half lid, expressing his fatigue with just listening to her lecture. "So you see, I need sleep just like you. And just like you I prefer to sleep in a bed not standing up. I can't rest well when I'm standing u-"
"YOINK!"
The wad of cash Mira was taken by a crook. "Hey! That's not yours!" Mira shouts out to the thief.
"Ha Ha Ha!" The crook laughs out loud. "You never should keep your money out in the open toots! Wah Ha Ha Ha!" Just then he trips hard, and lands on his face. He realizes a grappling hook is grabbing his feet.
Minato would be the one who has him in his grip as he walks slowly towards him. "And you shouldn't be laughing like an idiot when you steal something." He then steps on his back as the thief shouts in pain. The people notices the commotion as Minato takes the money away from his hand. "And that's mine by the way." He quickly puts it on his jackets pocket and walks off. The crook quickly gets up and runs away in fear. He walks over to the astonished Mira. "Okay, short version. You need sleep like a human?"
Mira was startled by the sudden question. "Um, yeah!" More optimistic seeing Minato understanding what she meant.
Minato heavily sighs. "So...in short...you want to go shopping..."
And again she was startled. Thinking about it, it got her a bit excited. "Well...yes!"
Minato shifts his body to the other way they were heading. "Then follow me."
"Huh? Wait! Where are we going?" Mira not used to how spontaneous and quick Minato can be with how he decides on things and just does it without warning.
"The mall. But if your going to be in the same place with me, we have to have our own territory. Got it?" Minato says as seriously as he can. He wants no trouble with her if she is gonna be essentially her roommate.
"I suppose it makes sense." She said, trying to appeal to him as much as she could. After all, he is responsible for her. Minato could already tell that this could be annoying.
Mira looks to a glass window to see a mannequin wearing a bright blue dress. "Ooooooooh..." Completely enamored by the color. "I wonder what I'll look like wearing that..."
"We're not here for clothes. We can do that another time. We're here for the essentials for your room." Minato reminds her.
She would turn around to see him already walking away from her. "H-Hey! Wait for me!" She makes a run for it to keep up.
Eventually they get the equipment they need for a bed and a shelf for her lamp and other things. It would take awhile for the process of setting things up would be done. While Minato set up a room for Mira, she would buy herself any essentials for herself to make things faster.
"Here you go miss." The man giving them everything it would give Mira her change.
"Oh why thank you." Mira takes it happily.
"I don't think I remembered the last time I gave someone coins." He said with a warm smile.
Mira bows. "I really appreciate it."
Mira's couch, shelf, and even stuffed chicken she took an attraction for is set up behind her. "I got all the things you purchased out here like you asked. Are you sure you don't want them delivered?"
"Thanks. I should be fine though. Someone is coming to pick me up."
"Oh, well that's nice."
"Yes." Just then, they notice Minato walking in with his hand on his neck as he rolls around. "Minato?"
"I got all the stuff done. Had to move like every furniture to get it done but..." He stops once he sees what's in front of him. "What's this?"
"My...stuff?" Mira would explain.
The man chimes in. "So you're her friend? I'd assume you'd bring a car to carry all this."
Minato walks up closer to her to whisper to her. "I thought we just settled for a bed. I made it all on my own after all. Why do you need your own couch for?"
"Look, the room you gave me was very spacious. I felt it wouldn't feel right without it. I'm sorry for not telling you, but you didn't seem to be in a talking mood." Mira tries to get him to understand. Besides, I'd assume you'd bring one of the cars in the station to carry all of this."
The stoic young man was almost in a loss for words. "Well...I...don't...know how to drive..."
"What?!" Mira almost broke her whisper, as both of them looks back to the nice man, realizing they are pretty much stuck. After some awkward silence, Mira thought quick. "AAAAAH!" She screams as she is pointing to something.
Startling the man. "Huh?! What's wrong?!" He looks to the direction she was pointing, only to see nothing. "That's strange, why did you..." Just then, both the girl and boy, including the stuff they purchased were all gone.
A few blocks away, Minato was carrying Mira's stuffed animal, while Mira carries the whole couch and shelf without struggle. "Honestly...you know how to waste money like most people here."
"I'm not used to shopping like this. It seems inconvenient to use cash for everything." Mira states her thoughts.
Minato sighs. "This is how everyone spends money before things went digital. If you ask me, I prefer it this way."
"Why is that?" Mira asks.
"Can't tell you. I just do." They make it home as Mira sets up the couch. Minato can't help but be a bit irked at this robots strength. It goes without saying that she'd be strong, but the way she handled the couch on her own while he was carrying a stuffed chicken. He hoped no one was there to stare at them. Although, it kinda gave him a sense of nostalgia for some reason.
Just as the finishing touches were done, Mira looks at her own room and it filled her with awe and excitement. "Wow...my very own room."
She looks around her room. It has more space than her old one. Plus more color thanks to the money she spent. And Minato sharing a little, which she appreciated a lot. "Wow...So this is my room." Her room has a bookshelf and a bed with green streaks. Without thinking she lays in her bed, and it feels so comfy. "This is soooo soft!" She proceeds to roll around it as she relishes the softness while laughing in joy. Just then she notices Minato in her room, staring. Nothing can describe how awkward she felt. " Ahh...Its...soft. haha..." She letting out an awkward smile.
Minato ignores that silly moment and goes towards the shelves. Letting out a sigh. "Been a hassle moving things around in this room." He mostly used this extra room for his book shelf, and DVD collection. Although he moved the last ones for his own room. "Okay, this is next..."
Mira notices Minato is still exhausted from the massive amount of work he put today. "Um...Minato. I think its fine to leave it in my room."
This got him to stop. Then turn to her direction. "Are you sure?"
She lets out a smile, knowing this is something Minato was hoping for. Plus books doesn't seem too bad to have. "Of course!"
After time of thinking, he lets go of the shelf. "If you say so."
"Ah! Thank you so much Minato!" Mira cheerfully said. Minato sighs, still weirded out by having a roommate like this. Technically she is only a robot that is serving him. Yet he feels like he's the one serving her. Although if it means she wouldn't bother her, its fine by him. He feels like he could finally have some rest. Although remembering Loser, he is reminded of what he mentioned.
"I seek the numbers. If you want to know more about them, you will."
This has him to open his eyes and walk out of the room. "Huh? Where are you going?" Mira asks.
"Forgot something important. Be right back." He leaves the apartment.
"Wait, what is-" He already closed the door. "Huh...should have at least specified where he's going..." Mira looks in confusion then slight annoyance. While she is here alone, she proceeds to wash the windows, and dusts out the shelves. While also changing in her red tracksuit that was left behind by the previous owner for female workers. (she wouldn't want to dirty her new clothes) Despite this room used to be Minato's extra room for his books and Blu Ray collection. She could even see a few DVD cases. He seems to prefer old fashion stuff. Mira wonders why. She checks on the fridge and notices that there's a lot of soda. "Oh my. That can't be healthy...Maybe I can give him some nutrients, he'll thank me!" As much as he keeps telling him to communicate with him before doing things without his permission, she feels this unhealthy habit is something she can't ignore. As she goes outside and walks past the already cleaned cars, she notices something behind the bushes. She scans the area and notices two heat signatures hiding over an abandoned trailer that was there the whole time. "Kids?" Just then she hears her phone ringing, she pays the kids no mind for now. "Oh, Mary?"
"Do you have a sec?" She asks.
"Yes, of course I can talk now." Mira said happily. Not noticing a boy in an orange shirt and slightly plump and a girl with a white sweatshirt and white hat watches.
"We got another job lined up. You and Minato pay me a visit tonight." Her boss explains.
Mira nods. "Sure. We'll see you then." Before she hung up, she remembers something in her mind since she became Minato's partner. "Oh. Before you go, there is one thing I wanted to ask."
"What is it?" Mary asks.
Mira thinks hard on it. Then looks at the old garage Minato owns. "Why doesn't Minato use coils? I even discovered he owns old DVDS and books when he could have used the newer updated replacements."
"Couldn't say. Why don't you ask him?"
Mira gets nervous. "Well...here's the thing. He seems to dodge the answer whenever I mention it."
"Well he's always been an old fashioned kid. Ever since I first seen him. I'm hanging up now." Mary bluntly said.
This would annoy the robot girl a bit. "Don't you think he should be more honest with me? I am his partner after a-" Then she hears a beep. "Aaaand she hung up on me..." She slouches in defeat.
Back with the kids, they hide behind the gas station. "It seems they didn't notice us! Infiltration successful!" The girl in the hat said with enthusiasm. "Come on! Lets look around!"
The boy with brown hair shows more worry than her. "Come on! Lets go home! If someone finds us, we're gonna be in serious trouble!"
"Don't be such a chicken! Follow me!" As soon as they are going to another hiding spot, Mira gets in their way.
"Ah! She saw us!" The boy panics.
The Collector leans down to their level in curiosity. "What are you two doing? This property belongs to Minato Arisato. Coming here is trespassing." She explains to them.
Not wanting to look scared, the girl responds. "What are doing here? Who are you?"
"My name is Yuri-" Just then she remembered she is trying to be stay in low profile. And corrects herself. "Mira is fine." Said with a smile.
The blonde little girl smiles, feeling like this girl is a lot more friendlier than the other guy with his creepy stares. "Okay! I'm Shiora!"
"Very nice to meet you Shiora." Mira feels a lot better now that they seem to be in an understanding. "Now listen to me, this place is no off limits. You understand? You can't come here unless your invited."
"Why are you allowed here then?" Shiora said with a bit of bite, showing she wants to know what makes this girl the exception than them.
"I have permission." Mira said proudly as she stands tall with her hand on her chest. "I live here and I'm Minato's partner."
Hearing this got the girls mind stirring in amusement. "Is that like saying you're his wife?"
Hearing this made Mira flinch. "His wife? No..." Then Mira thinks about it hard. Thinking about them being a couple. Making her look more like a deer caught on lights. "I mean..." It begins to get to her mind as she places both hands on her cheeks to hide her large smile. "Why do you ask, does it look like I am?"
"Hey, I got another question." The kid asks.
Mira gets off her fantasy to focus on the question. "What is it?"
Shiora does an inappropriate gesture with her fingers, with her finger going through a hole she made. "Does that mean your 'doing it' with him?"
"Are we doing what?" Mira asks innocently. It doesn't take long for her brain to look up any definition of the phrase 'doing it.' And it'd take shorter for her to realize what the dirty minded kid means. She blushes hard, covers her mouth in shock, and sweats uncontrollably.
"Oh! what's this?" She points to the garage that used to be the home of a car repairman years ago. "Is this the place where you and Arisato shack up?"
"Oh no, that's my space actually. It's a part of my share. Now listen up." Just as she speaks, the kids ignore her as they go inside. "Which gets me to my next point. I think its important for you kids to understand that Minato and I are work partners. Its nothing personal." Said it as seriously as she can. But as soon as she notices, she sees that they are already gone.
"Wow! So big!" Shiroa spins around the place with the many cars around her. "We can make a clubhouse with this!"
Mira goes inside to get close enough to her. "Hey! Aren't you listening to me?! I'm trying to explain something to you!"
The orange kid was still outside, as he hears Mira and Shiora play around. Feeling like this is only fun for Shiora, he decides to walk off. While Shiora stays to mess with Mira, he then notices two other kids playing with a beat up car with other beat up cars on top of it. One with spiky black hair and the smaller one wearing a green hat in yellow stripes. "Vrooooom! Vroooooom! EEEEEEH!" Really ending his play along.
"What are you doing?" The orange kid frantically reaches to them. "Are you crazy?!"
"Sorry! Can't talk now! Can't you see I'm driving here? A spiky kid in a blue shirt then plays with the stick over and over. "Chi-Chik! Vroooooooooom!"
"Oh man, if someone finds us, we are totally dead!" The orange kid said in a panic. Not knowing stacked cars on top of the car the kid are in slightly wiggled.
Back in the garage, Shiroa runs out laughing and having fun. "Well that was fun! Lets play again sometime!"
The robot girl liked the sound of that. "Oh, okay! But about that misunderstanding earlier-" Mira then hears a large clank. She turns around to see the stacked up cars beginning fall apart. The three boys hear the noise and even feel the car they are in collapsing. The orange shirt boy struggles to break the old door open, which he eventually does, to free his two friends as they all fall hard. They then look up to see the cars that towers over them begin to fall down on them.
"What th-" Before Shiora could finish, Mira leaps towards the danger, with the girl seeing her gone before she even noticed.
Mira scans the boys, and the already falling cars, looking at the numbers, and its against her. "I'm not going to make it!" She reaches out her hand. The tons of metal is literally on top of the boys, as even they knew its over for them.
A huge crash can be heard with dust covering the street in between Minato's home and what was once a pile of cars. Shiora tries to run there to check what happened, until the dust blocks her vision. But the only thing she could see is something being flung on the air. It made her scream.
Downtown, there is a small store unnoticeable for any casual walker. Minato goes downstairs to this small repairs store. A scrawny man is with little white hair on his back of his head and a tiny beard can be seen screwing a coil. "I'm looking for a coil that can be run on a battery." The young man simply said.
The old man moves his eyes to see him. "Looks like you're still avoiding the coils like the plague aren't you kid?"
Minato decides to explain a little bit. "I wanted to see how fast the internet is. Turns out not by a whole lot." A small smile, came over him. Not sure why he did it, but he felt like it after taking a jab at coil powered phones. Truth be told, he could have switched awhile time ago, but it was rather convenient he had an excuse to recently.
The modifier then turns his body to go face to face with Minato. "What else? We both know you didn't come here just for that." The young man's eyes turn away, unsure of asking this. "Out with it! What do you want to know?" Not liking Arisato's indecisiveness.
This pushes Minato to finally reveal his question that lingered onto him since last night. "Okay. What do you know about the phrase 'Numbers?'"
"Aren't you still working for that scary witch?" Implying Mary. "Why don't you ask her?" He said spitefully due to his history with her.
Minato's eyes squints, knowing how much trouble he's going to be if he knew he was looking for something as mysterious and potentially dangerous as Numbers. She threw a fit when Mira almost jeopardized them when they first had her on their base. "You know why..." It was all he could say to satisfy him.
"Alright I'll tell you..." He gets done with the coil he was working on and explains. "Before the towers were completed, researchers around the world given experimental coils ranging in size. Some call them Beta Coils, some called them Micro Gates. But nowadays, it's simpler. They call them Numbers due to the numbers on them." As he explains he goes to one of his boxes to find what Minato first asked for. "Whatever you want to call them though, they are a big deal. Considered top secret collection targets."
"And what makes them different from other coils?" Minato asks.
"Coils these days rely on the towers. They're built to pull energy from the surface from Dimension W. Designed to get the power they need without penetrating the top layer. Numbers are a different beast entirely. They reach into the abyss deep inside Dimension W. A region unknown and unexplored. Obviously if something goes wrong down there, it goes really wrong." He said very seriously. "In fact, most of the large scale accidents that New Tesla covers up are said to be caused by Numbers."
This has Minato thinking. "Makes sense...yet...why am I so shocked about it...Albert covered up so many accidents and expects people to feel safe? How many times you cover up tragedies until the people realizes that something is terribly wrong?! That bastard...all of them...they are seriously gonna play like heroes while everyone suffer...I can't just-"
"Here." Just then Minato is off of his trance, and notices the phone he asked for is in front of him. Without hesitating, he takes it. With no coils on it now, he doesn't attend to lose it like the last one. Turning and walking away. "If you ask me, those things are far too dangerous, and something our world doesn't have any need for."
Before exiting, he would say something. "That I agree on..." He quietly said. So much danger comes from these things. It makes him rethink his place as a Collector. He often fights people who doesn't comprehend what the coils can really do in the wrong hands. Makes him wonder if he is content doing it for the rest of his life. People will never learn. He seen it many times how petty and one sided people can be when they feel powerful. Although it also got him thinking that he is at least preventing them from doing real damage. That's something. Although is it worth the hassle knowing this could keep going and going until he inevitably dies? The walk back home was long, and he was going back and forth on this for what felt like hours. He eventually reaches his home, but notices police cars around. Something happened.
He gets close to see barricades surrounding the area. The scene is the stalked cars that were across his street all fell down. He sneered, feeling something happened. He probably should have done something with those. Just then one of the police officers approaches him. "Hey, does this gas station belong to you?"
Feeling a bad feeling, he answers anyways. "Yeah?"
The officer continues. "And what about those scrapped cars over there? Are they yours too?"
Not wanting to continue this, he just says this. "Not really...what happened?"
"We got some call from some kids saying a few of those old cars have fallen over and pinned someone underneath." This had Minato flinch. He almost panicked on this. "Well we didn't found anyone under there. So it looks like everything is just fine." This would have the young man a little relieved, although he made sure no one know it. "You know how kids can be about this. They probably just panicked and thought the worst has happened. We treated them light injuries and minor shock and sent them all home. They'll be okay."
Minato would feel less heavy weight on himself hearing that. Although he wondered if Mira was involved. Knowing how valuable she is. "Right. Good to know..."
He walks off only..."Actually sir, I'm afraid there's the issue liability." The officer states. "You're responsible for managing your property that doesn't pose a risk to the community." Like a deer on headlights Minato pauses, cursing himself on being in this situation.
Hours later and it's already night. All that time wasted on the police station, and all the questioning. Minato is glad he got off as soon as he did. He would quickly go back to the gas station and into this small house. Looking at it, it reminds him of how he was given it. He shakes his head, trying to forget it. He enters inside to find Mira's room closed. He assumes she's there and softly knocks. "Come in..." Her voice said softly.
Minato opens the door and an image he thought he never would see ever reveals itself. His stoic demeanor would slightly break with his eyes widen and mouth in a small gap. "What...happened?"
Mira is sitting on her couch, holding her own disconnected head on her lap. "Can you help? I seem to be a little broken at the moment..." Despite this, she is still talking and is more sad than anything.
"A little?" Minato still can't believe Mira is still functioning despite literally missing a head. He quickly goes to his phone, having enough of this gruesome image in front of him. "Gonna need Koogari for this..." As he mutters to himself.
As he turns around to make the call though, Mira's thoughts leaks out of her mouth. "I can't stop thinking about the children's eyes...when they saw what happened they were so frightened..." Her sadness fully expressed from her voice.
Mira then remembered that moment. When she tried to save the boys. She knew she had too little time to save them. But managed at the last possible millisecond to throw them out of the way. But it left no time for her to get out of the way. She felt the cars extreme weight of the cars crushing her at that moment. Her neck felt it the worst, then everything went dark. The next thing she knew, she was on the air spinning. Only a disembodied head. Her vision was blurry, full of static. Yet she can still notice the kids looking at her confused and frightened. Then she saw Shiora back at the gas station. Her face full of fear, and screaming. Her eyes told the whole story before Mira's own vision darkened.
Despite that, Mira managed to get away while everyone was gone. Although she would still think about that moment. "They were in shock...but it made me a bit sad." Hearing that, Minato felt something inside of him. Her voice told so much than what a robot would normally say. "Whatever they saw, they must have not said anything to the police...if they did there would have been an investigation and New Tesla would be coming for me..." Feeing more bad about this.
Minato is unsure what to say about this. Except assure her something else. "They'd come for me and Mary too..." As harsh as it was, he felt like she needs to know what's at stake here.
"Mary warned me but I still allowed myself to be complacent." She lets out a sad smile, feeling like a failure and accepted it. "I never had any contact with humans besides Father. It was such an incredible feeling to interact with people and feel accepted..." Minato's eyes widen a little, wondering what he is listening to is really a human, but remembers he is literally talking to a disembodied head right know. Does she really mean any of these words? Mira's eyes turns to her partners direction, a little more happy, being reminded of her time with them. "I should thank them...if I see them again, I'll thank these kids for treating me as a person and keeping my secret..." There was nothing else to say, as Minato walks off the room and closed the door, leaving Mira alone to her thoughts.
As he dials the numbers he thought about what he heard. She mentioned something about those kids treating her as a person. It almost like she said he never treated her like a person. He was told robots don't have their own thoughts or feelings and shouldn't bother himself with that kind of stuff. Mira is different. She clearly wants to be respected and treated like any other person. Not like him anyways. It baffles him how such a robot could exist. But it got him thinking about that blonde girl again. He can't fathom why or how this blonde has connections with his current partner. He must be missing something here. But he shakes it off and dials in the numbers on his new phone. It felt weird, calling Mary when she's the one calling him.
"It's me Minato." Assuring her from the start.
"You're the one calling me? That's a shock." Mary stating the absurdity of this role reversal knowing Minato's introverted nature. "I assume it's about her."
Not wanting this to go longer, Minato would cut the chase. "Nothing happened?"
"Well I'm alive and not under New Tesla custody." Mary responds.
This made the collector sigh a bit of relief. "She's gonna need repairs. ASAP. Koogari should do."
"He's all yours."
This made Minato feel better about this. Which was odd. He never felt this way before since becoming a Collector. He never thought he'd be happy to have Koogari around to help. Again, he shakes it off. Just then he remembers earlier. "Oh, and thanks for sorting things out earlier."
"Sorting what out?" Mary asked in confusion.
This confuses the bluenette as well. "Didn't you got me released from the police station?"
"No. As much as I like doing business with you, I'm afraid I can't take credit for springing you from jail."
Minato's brow raised. "Then, who was it?"
"Believe it or not, the COO of New Tesla Central 47. Claire Skyheart."
This made Minato's eye widen in shock. "W-What?!"
"It's shocking I know. But keep calm Arisato. Well, have a good night." Mary hangs up. Hoping he would heed her words, knowing his history with New Tesla.
The next day and Minato had a long way from Central 41 to 47. Had to take an Uber ride there, but other than that, not that far. He'd have to learn some short cuts there next time. As he waits on the tower itself, he hears someone walking in heels. He turns around to see something that made him gasp. A girl in a white dress and plink hair with violet accents. And her face looks exactly like Mira.
"If you will come this way please." She said politely.
"Uh...sure..." He instinctively said. He follows her with his mind moving around uncontrollably on why she looks like Mira. It got him thinking how much did New Tesla took from Mira's parents. Or creators technically. It'd be a long walk up to the highest level of the tower. And once he got here, he looks around the area and sees nothing but green grass, healthy trees and birds with two long tails. Nothing he seen before. As soon as the robot assistant bows and takes her leave, he takes notice on a whitish blonde long twin tail hair, all connected at the end. Wearing a dark blue business suit. "I don't believe we ever met. Have we Mr. Arisato?" The lady's voice is near elderly. She turns around to reveal her face.
"I take it you're the COO of this place." Taking a good look at her slightly wrinkled but also smooth skinned face and purple highlights on the front of her combed hair. "Claire Skyheart..."
"I hope I didn't keep waiting long, but I'm a busy woman. I take it you are doing well considering recent events." She said.
Minato would get started on his question. "Okay then. Why did you have me released from the police?"
"Because it seemed to me the fault didn't entirely fall to you." She responds.
This got him to squint in suspicion. "I can't imagine someone like you would concern yourself with people below her." He bluntly said. "Seeing how your New Tesla and all..." He mutters to himself.
"Grandma!" Just then the two notice a little girl runs in. It's the blond girl in the hat Mira met before. She hugs Claire as both of them laugh joyfully. She then notices Minato and jolted.
"Okay..." Minato clearly didn't see that coming.
Claire explains as she rubs her granddaughter's head. "This is Shiora Skyheart. She happens to be my Granddaughter. I found out everything because of her. It would be an exaggeration to say I had you released. But Shiora and the others told me about you. They said you warned them many times to stay away from those cars. I asked the police to make a fair decision based on that information." This had Minato a little awkward on assuming the worse, but not completely. He kept his guard up. "And to be honest, I was rather interested in seeing this Wild Card I heard so much about." She said with a small smile.
Now Minato has enough. "Well I hope you're satisfied. I gotta go."
"Hey! Hold on!" Just as he was walking away, Shiora rushes to his side with something to whisper to him. "I didn't think Grandma didn't need to know 'everything' that happened. So tell Mira not to worry and hurry up and get better." She slyly whispered. Once she was done she rushes back to her Grandmother as Minato takes his leave, feeling a little better than he did before. It seems Mira found some interesting friends after all.
Time passes in the gas station home of Arisato, Mira would stand there alone with her head finally in tact. As she hears of news report talking about the explosion two nights ago and how it was covered up with a false narrative of illegal chemicals, she was rather depressed on her role as a robot. Feeling less human than she originally felt. She thought she could fit in just right as long as she played her cards right, but she felt no matter what she can never find her place in a world full of humans and their robot servants. As she begins her daily car washing, she notices what looks like a paper plane drifting to her eye sight. "Hm?" She wonders how it got here as she picks it up in curiosity.
"HEY! LOOK UP HERE!" Mira then notices multiple shouts coming towards her up stairs of a bridge above her. She turns around to see the kids she met before, waving to her and happy to see her. Greeting her. "Hi Mira!" "So you're feeling better?!" Shiora is there with them.
"Aaah!" Mira was very excited to see them, and how they are accepting her this quickly. But then wonders to herself if she deserves to be with them, being only a robot who could endanger them. Just then someone walks past her, startling her. "Huh? Minato?"
The young man would stay quiet, looking away. "I'm going out..." He then turns around to see Mira one more time. Her eyes has a light to them. Brighter than anything he has seen. Confirming what he was suspicious of. He then turns back. "Do whatever you want." This startled Mira. "Just don't do anything reckless. Okay?" He would give a half hearted wave as he takes his leave.
Mira wasn't sure of that kind of interaction, but she has sensed him caring for her a bit more. Which was enough for her to smile brightly. She seems to be accepted by Minato as well, even if its a little bit. Once he is gone though, she would run towards the kids with a big smile on her face. For awhile now, she can say she feels absolutely human.
In another time...another place...
A lone grave stone was seen over a hill in front of a town. Just then a young man in dark blue hair and a blue jacket walks over it. "Hey...sorry I'm late. But I figured something out...we found him...the bastard who did this to you...turns out to be still alive after all this time...the one who gave you those drugs...the one who killed you..." He tried his very best not to tear up. "I'm gonna find him...and then...I'll make him pay..." He furiously walks away from the gravestone with no name. Except for a left behind bag that says, 'Kurome's Cookies...'
To be continued...