by James Darcey
She actually laughed at that remark, and then winced as the laugh brought pain, "The FBI is an American special police. They will not come to Japan, even for you."
"I did not know that you were injured so gravely. You will not cease functioning on me, will you?"
"I will get better, but it will take a few weeks I'm afraid."
When the elevator door opened once more, we were in an underground area full of hundreds of cars. One of them was sitting right in front of us with the door held open by a man.
"I'll have you to the hospital in no time. I owe your husband a favor, but I would do this anyway."
He pulled the car around and up a ramp into the open air. The paved path took us around to the front of the building where many of the local police were rounding up the members of the crowd. I only saw one body still lying on the ground, surrounded by orange tape. I guess my fan of lightning worked like I had hoped and only stunned them.
Our driver had to tell one of the police that he needed to get us to the hospital before they would move a barricade out of the way. As soon as he was beyond the milling people, he accelerated. In moments we were dodging back and forth between the other cars on the street, with occasional screeching tires as we came to intersections.
This hospital was far different than the one they'd taken me to in Yellowstone. For one thing, there were quite a few more medical staff running around working with the people that had all sorts of minor injuries, and some not so minor. While our driver was yelling at the lady behind the desk, they wheeled in a man that looked as though his chest had been torn open.
Blood had already soaked through the bandages wrapping him, and his wheeled bed had a bottle to drip blood back into him. The lady who was clinging to the corner of his bed wailed at him to not die on her.
"You promised me, ya was done with them masks. Them Shinjin Oni gonna make me widow before ya marries me."
I turned to Sakura, who was leaning half her weight on me to keep standing, "I thought you said the Oni were imaginary? How could an imaginary thing shoot that man?"
"The Shinjin Oni are not imaginary, nor are they really Demons. They just took the name of Demon Masks. They sow fear and pain to steal money and worse. I'm sorry to say that not all Humans are good."
Our driver had grabbed a nurse that he brought her back over to look at Sakura. The woman had been protesting until she caught sight of the bandaged head and swelling eye. The nurse turned on our driver, telling him to get out of her way and go do something useful like move his car so the ambulances could get in, "They are on the way with the first victims from the terrorist attack at Saikou Industries."
I had to hurry to keep up as she shoved Sakura ahead of her through the doors going deeper into the building in a wheeled chair. Between yelling at people to move out of her way, she was talking soft assurances to Sakura that everything would be fine. We ended the mad rush at a door marked with the same tri-foil symbol as the scanner room from the Yellowstone hospital.
Immediate panic set in as I recalled my bout with the scanner, "Those machines are dangerous!"
The nurse looked right at me, "Miss, this is just a simple X-ray. We do them all the time. It'll let us see about her arm.
Despite her assurances it worried me that I was shoved out of the room so they could scan her. The way she described it was taking images of the inside of the body by sending energy pulses through. Maybe that had been my problem.
In about ten minutes we were on our way to yet another room -- this time with a bed surrounded by monitor machines. Somehow they managed to fit two more guys in that room to lift her from the chair to the bed. As the men turned to leave, one of them turned on the view screen in the corner of the room. It brightened to a man discussing the near disaster still happening at Saikou Industries.
'While nothing is certain now, I have just received word that a statement had been delivered to our station mere moments before the explosions rocked through the crowd. Sakari Jinteki, the anti-robot group that made news with the hacking of two industrial dozers last year, claimed that they would prove how dangerous the Saikou robots were.
We now know that the blast which claimed the life of a security man, and injured Mr. Atsuura himself, was due to an explosive device hurled out of the crowd. It had been coordinated with a rush toward the building that was stopped with the aid of Sendai Police Department's latest crowd control gadget.'
The image on the screen changed to one taken just before the initial surge. It was focused directly on the new robot as it walked out of the doors and across the platform. Even as we watched, a slightly wavering line stretched out to connect to the robot's head in a fiery explosion.
'It will take some time to pick up the pieces because the prototype in question was destroyed by what seems to be a rocket propelled grenade. Another man died when he fell on the explosive device strapped to his chest. It is believed that the crowd control taser had paralyzed him, as he was running through the mass of people.
Police are still denying any knowledge of the taser; most likely trying to keep their newest toy secret. Several others have joined in with cheering their timely action that certainly saved many lives today.'
It was hard to read Sakura's face, "You did that, didn't you? You shocked that whole crowd. And your dress..."
"You fell down, and the kicking, and screaming, and then getting shot, and people running, and... And I tried not to hurt them. I didn't know about any explosives. I had to keep you safe. You're the closest I have to a mother now."
"So you used some wacky alien device to zap everyone? If you really got shot, where's the wound? Huh? The bullet must have just torn your dress a little."
"This blood stain is mine. The bullet went right through me. Luckily it hit nothing vital, and healed quickly. Remember how I told you I ran into a bear? That bear bit me, and tore up my side pretty bad. When I fell down in that camp it was from blood loss. I told you that I had other components used in the making of me. One of the minor ones was a Denevian snail that is named with a vulgarity due to its ability to heal so fast that they are nearly impossible to cut apart. Not one of my prouder claims to heritage, but still."
Sakura laughed a bit at that observation, causing another bout of pain. The images on the viewer kept cycling back to the one of the robot's head exploding. They weren't saying much that hadn't already been said. I was only partially listening to the announcer as my focus was on Sakura, but the next words drew both of us back to watch it once more.
'My wonderful viewers, we have just obtained footage from one of the cameras recording the event for an independent station. I'm told that it will be a shocking revelation about the reported crowd control device, and why the police aren't saying much about it.'
The view switched over to a scene obviously recorded before the crowd went wild. Panning along the front of the mass of cheering people until it caught one man pulling a pistol from his coat. It wasn't hard to see that we had been the people right in front of that man. The view was only a brief one, as his shove knocked Sakura over the cameraman. The image swung wildly before settling back toward the crowd as seen from the ground. In the edge of it was an outstretched yellow-green arm. A fan of lightning leapt from the fingers, spreading through the crowd. Then the image flared and died.
I heard the sharp intake of breath, and the gasp as it caused her pain. The narrator continued on, totally unaware of the shock that it had caused to Sakura. His overly excited voice rambled on to tell us that the image had been from a front line camera, burned out by the electrical surge.
The reporter rambled on with his story. 'It brings me back to stories I heard sitting on the steps of my grandmother's cottage in Takakura. She told us tales of the ancients, and how Raijin would send his pet down among the mortals. Nowadays such tales are thought to be nothing more than folklore, but can we be sure?'
Before she could say anything, the doctor arrived with black plastic pages in hand. She held them up to a li
ght where it revealed images of rib bones, two of which had faint cracks showing. After poking Sakura's side for a moment, she finally spoke up with her thoughts.
"I'll need to wrap those ribs up good, but the eye will just have to heal on its own. Can you believe the mess out there? Terrorists right here in Sendai. I can hurry this so that you'll be out before they start bringing all of those guys in here. The ambulances will be arriving shortly."
She was given instructions to go home and rest. No cooking, cleaning, lifting, or intimate encounters for at least two weeks. While the nurse was waiting for the men to come help her stand, I lifted Sakura back onto her feet. That earned me another of her concerned looks. What had I done now? Everything I did seemed to be the wrong thing. At least once she was standing it was no trouble to walk. Back out at the main desk, we learned that Mr. Atsuura had called with instructions for the hospital to treat all of the victims on his expense. There was nothing more for us to do. The only ones exempted from that were the ones that the police arrested for causing trouble.
The trip home was hard on Sakura. We had to transfer trains along the way to make it back to where the bus would take us up the hill. It seemed like every jolt of the train brought a new bout of pain with it. When we stopped in the market place, she pointed out a shop that specialized in medicines.
"Let me stop in there to fill this prescription. I need something for the pain."
They had medicines for every type of ailment anyone could imagine. It made me wonder just how fragile most other Humans were. I couldn't ever remember a time that my intestines had moved without being cut open, so they were definitely not irregular. And just what was a wart? My fellow Humans needed a lot of special care.
Sakura was still explaining to the man behind the counter about which medicine she needed when Mr. Masema called. Her voice sounded totally relaxed as she promised to have dinner waiting for him, but as soon as she ended the communication she leaned on the counter. I could tell that pain was getting to her.
I insisted on buying the pills that promised to ease her pain with my own currency. It seemed the right thing to do after getting her involved in that mess with the mob. I knew it wasn't my fault, but Akita's words still rang in my ears. I had shortened the truth and trampled his hospitality.
"Can you really believe that?"
I turned at the voice to find some strange woman talking to me, "They actually want us to believe that the sorry excuse of a police force has some new weapon to handle crowds. They can't even handle the Shinjin Oni. Then they try to cover it up with a wild tale about some lightning god straight out of bedtime stories. I'm telling you it's them Saikou people making it all up. They don't want us to know their robot doesn't work."
I thought perhaps she was confused, "I have no idea who you are."
She didn't bother replying, merely turned on her heel to walk away rapidly. It gave me the chance to look at the other things displayed by the counter. The girl trying to work the money machine was on her fourth attempt to get an answer that she liked from it when I interrupted to ask about something on the counter that seemed very odd to me. They were colorful boxes with images of strange looking animals eating sticks. Either the box held micro sized animals that ate sticks, or these were boxes of sticks that animals came into the shop to purchase. Neither idea seemed plausible.
"What is pocky?"
"fifty yen for vanilla, and seventy-five for chocolate and strawberry."
Sakura came up beside me, "They are sweet sticks that children like."
"Then why picture animals eating them? Never mind, put six of each on the bill please."
Sakura got mildly upset, "You can't give them so much treat stuff."
"I wanted to try them myself. If Hiro and Sai like them, they must be good."
"Alright, but no more than one box for the children."
I should have known better than to confuse a woman who couldn't get a machine to agree with her, especially by tossing further confusion into the mixture. The first part was to settle on two boxes of each flavor, and the second part was to add those numbers into the total with the pills. Really simple mathematics.
She had to start the process of adding them all together once more. A quick glance was enough to know the total, and it was the amount the machine had told her twice so far. I dropped the currency with a little extra, and we departed before either her or the machine tired of the game and dismantled the other.
By the time we stepped off the street and through the gate, she was tired and the pain was evident in the creases around her eyes. The children must have been watching, because they came running before we were even halfway to the house. They stopped a few steps away to look at me as I helped her along.
"Who are you? Oh, wow. So this is what you look like without makeup."
"I uh... We can talk about that that inside. Just watch your mother. She feels pain right now."
Hiro grabbed Sakura's other arm to help her along, "What happened? We heard all about that bomb, but the reporters said it was just some chijin robophobic that blew hisself up. Was you there when it happened?"
Sai got a puzzled look on her face, "What's a robobophobic? You made that up!"
"I can tell you all about it while I fix dinner."
I couldn't let her get hurt further on my account, "Oh no. The medical person said that you needed rest. No fixing dinner, no cleaning, no close encounters, and no lifting for two weeks. I'll take care of the meal preparation."
This was the perfect chance to help out for all the trouble I had caused. I had Hiro and Sai help her sit down and keep her occupied while I figure out how to make a dinner. How hard could it be? I'd learned how to fix food in only a few minutes on the ship when I discovered the instructions. Surely food here had instructions on it too.
Hiro and Sai had seated themselves on either side of Sakura like guardians. They kept trying to fluff up the pillow she leaned on, or move something closer to her. Every time they did it jolted her a bit, and I started to shoo them away, but she said they were fine right where they were. So, I left her sitting in the living room chair with Hiro turning on the television, as I went off to the kitchen to prepare... something.
I was discovering just how different her food preparation area was than the common room of the ship. All of the cabinets held various forms of cooking dishes. Only a couple had anything resembling possible food.
All of the food I found either had multiple versions of instructions, or had no instructions at all. The packages with instructions weren't even comprehensible for my limited experience. Perhaps there was another name for re-hydration. Boiling water? One tenth kilo butter? Some of the instructions were even for things not contained within the package.
I was beginning to suspect that I would have to manually assemble food from individual ingredients, but how? I didn't dare ask her after telling her that I could do it. I decided that rice balls might be an easy one to start. That would only require a few ingredients, mostly rice. I should be able to manage that much.
I located the rice in a sizable bag that had a picture of a rice plant on the side of it. There were no instructions on the package anywhere to indicate how to prepare. The only instruction was to store it in a dry place. These grains were dried out, so it should be really simple to rehydrate them. I could try thirty seconds and see if that worked. Better yet, I'll ask. A question couldn't hurt her. She wouldn't have to know that I couldn't figure out the directions.
I stepped into the other room to ask Sakura how to prepare the rice, and she offered to come assist me, "Just stay there like the medical person said. I'll do it." I hurried back into the kitchen before she could get up. How did these dried grains become the fluffed balls we had found for lunch? I spent ten minutes trying to convince the bag of rice to tell me its secret by staring at it.
I filled a small pot with the rice and stuck it in the re-hydrator, only to have the door not close because of the handle. I had to dump it all into a bowl th
at did fit. This thing was completely different despite the similar look to it. Cook time, power setting, defrost..., and one that looked like it was automatic. I pressed the start button, and it worked! Yay me! It hummed louder than the one on the ship, but that wasn't a bad thing was it? I could even watch the food through the little window as it... popped? Arcs started jumping from the metal bowl to the sides. That wasn't normal was it? One more really loud pop and the whole machine went dead.
Sakura called out from the next room, "Is everything alright in there? Do I smell burning?"
Sticking my head out the door, I tried to assure her that everything was fine, "I uh... it's nothing."
Back inside the kitchen I stood staring at the smoking ruins of her re-hydrator, wondering just how I was going to manage now. There was fish in the chilled cabinet, that I had no idea on the proper method of charring. Vegetables and fruit in another cabinet that I could cut up, but no rice to go with them. Or charred fish either. Finally I got frustrated enough.
How difficult could it be to repair such a simple device? I began searching through the cabinets hoping to find some sort of tool kit. Success! In one of the drawers I found what might be considered simple manual tools. Nothing so sophisticated as the mag-torque inducer on the ship, but hopefully enough to fix Sakura's machine.
It took me only a moment to pull the fasteners, and open her machine on the counter. It truly was simple with only a few components. The biggest one seemed to be an energy modulator. Wait, looking through it I could find no way to induce water molecules into the food. The only thing this would do is to add energy, and thus heat the food.
My tracing fingers found a spot where the electricity still worked in the machine, and a bright arc melted another piece of it beyond recognition. I borrowed a word from Panzo's repertoire to express my frustration, "Gadrolef!" I had no idea what the Kanari word meant, but it suited times when things blew up in his face.
"Are you sure everything is fine in there?"
I didn't wait for a response as I headed for the front door, mumbling somewhat, "I have to go get something. I'll be right back. No! Don't get up."