Adventures in Parodyverse:  Catch and Release Part 2


    Chiaki stood in the hangar-like personnel exit from SPUD’s headquarters.  It masqueraded as a hangar, actually - there wasn’t much there except for a couple of armored personnel carriers, a desk with an old computer on it, and a long metallic sliding door that hid the elevator to the compound below.

    And at the moment, it also housed two dozen masked SPUD agents with automatic rifles, Dan Drury, and a nine foot tall SPUD Mech.

    The Samurai moved backwards a little, forcing Anna behind her.  “This is ridiculous,”  she whispered to herself.  “I suppose I have to find a weakness in this machine.”

    Her instincts and her ‘sight’ told her then that the Mech had firepower of its own.  She had just enough time to shove Anna behind one of the vehicles and dive for cover right beside the android before the APC was rocked violently and loudly by minigun fire.

    Anna heard Chiaki use the f-word for the first time ever, though it was almost drowned out by the noise.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Stay down, we have to draw it closer.”  Chiaki said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It knows that.”  Anna pointed out.  “It’s going to wait until we’re dead if it has to.”

    The Asian looked at Anna and whispered, “Please tell me you have a better idea.”

    Anna nodded.  “I’m far faster than you, and I have far less possibility of critical organ damage.”

    There was another shower of minigun fire, shredding some of the solid steel of the APC, sending it flying.  Chiaki instinctively covered her face, but a piece of shrapnel nicked the back of her hand.  She shrieked almost imperceptibly and covered it quickly.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you think it’ll continue to attack if I kill Dan Dury?”  Chiaki asked painfully as she put pressure on her hand to stop the bleeding.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It will become even more aggressive.”  Anna replied.  “It’s a bodyguard robot.  I remember the prototype.”  She smirked a little when she realized, “I know it’s weakness.”

    Chiaki nodded.  “I’ll run to the other APC and draw his fire.  You leap over this one and attack from above.  We can take this thing down, perhaps.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Maybe.”  Anna replied nervously.  “It has advanced threat assessment software.  It may target me because I’m closer.”

    The Samurai sighed.  “Then don’t get shot.  Wait...I have another idea.”

    Chiaki took a deep breath, and called out as loudly as she could, “Dan Drury!  Shut it off, I surrender!”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What?”  Anna asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Now!  Go!”  Chiaki urged her.

    Anna leaped high and almost straight into the air, landing on top of the APC.  Her weight crashing down on it from such a height shattered one of the portal windows.  She leaped again, with both legs, powering through the air toward the robot.

    The SPUD Mech raised its minigun and turned on Anna, firing blindly as it had trouble tracking such a fast moving object going such a short distance.  It clipped her with one bullet, and then dodged aside.

    Anna tumbled to the floor, skidded into a wall, and crashed into it as she cried out in pain.  She’d never been shot before - it hurt.  The Mech had much faster reflexes and tracking than she anticipated.

    Chiaki became frightened as the Mech trained its minigun on Anna.  As tough as she was, those high-speed bullets would shred her into salvage in seconds.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Dan Drury!”  Chiaki called out louder, rising to her feet suddenly.  “Shut it off, please!”

    Anna wailed even louder when she saw the gun train on her.  She curled into a ball, squeezed her eyes shut, and covered her head.

    Then the lights went out, and the Mech fell silent.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Well, what do you know?”  Dan Drury asked as the hangar was plunged into near complete darkness.

    The SPUD agents tried to take aim at someone, something...but their night vision had failed, and the electronic targeting on their rifles had shut down as well.

    Drury tried using his cell phone as a flashlight, but it was frozen with some sort of error message.  He could see it by the glow of his cigar.

    He felt a small arm surround his throat, and then a blade settle just above it.  His cigar fell to the floor, scattering ashes over his shoes.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“All right, Chiaki, you win.”  he mumbled reluctantly.  “But before ya run off, I gotta show you something.  Guys, get lost would you?”

    Finally, the Samurai removed her her arm from Drury’s throat.  She kept the sword drawn and hovering near his neck, however.

    The door to the outside opened, and the SPUD agents filed out into the sunlight.  In the sudden brightness, it was apparent that the SPUD Mech had was silent because it had shut down.  It was standing there, mid-motion, now a lifeless hunk of metal.

    Anna climbed out of the corner, and limped after Chiaki reluctantly, like she knew what Drury was going to say.  Chiaki offered her shoulder for support anyway.  She could feel the android shaking.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You’re bleeding.”  Chiaki told Anna.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“My body will repair itself...soon.”  Anna replied.  “I wish it were sooner.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I think I know what you’re going to say.”  the Samurai told Drury, turning her attention back to him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You know Anna’s secret now.”  he said, holding up his still broken cell phone.

    Chiaki looked at hers.  Its screen was black and non-responsive.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“EMP?”  Chiaki asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Drury puffed his cigar some more.  “Much simpler, much less power needed.  She can attack any digital device with language it doesn’ understand, so it crashes.  Or--”  he looked around the darkened room.  The power came back on as he was talking.  “--or everythin’ in range, all at once.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It makes no difference.”  Chiaki stood firm.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It does to her friend Hallie, I bet.”  Dan Drury chuckled.  “Anna gets mad, gets real scared, and she kills her A.I. friend dead by accident.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s not true.”  Anna spoke up.  “Hallie speaks that language.  She evolved far beyond her base components.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“‘Cept we still don’t got a clue what that language is.”  Drury said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s because you don’t feel.”  Chiaki replied coldly and angrily.  “But I do.  That’s why I’m going to spare your life.”

    She took the sword away from his neck.  As she backed away, she also took his sidearm and handed it to Anna.

    Dan Drury slowly moved into the doorway as Chiaki got onto her motorcycle, and Anna climbed aboard behind her.  The android threw away the pistol at that point.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You still attacked two men,”  he said.  “That’s a fact ya can’t escape.”

    Chiaki stopped, and frowned, staring at Drury.  “What do you plan to do about it?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hang it over yer head, maybe.”  he said with an chilling smile and a puff of smoke from a new cigar.  “Wherever you go, your ass is mine now.”

    The Samurai quietly said something very unkind in Japanese, under her breath so only Anna heard it.  She started up the motorbike, and drove off, squealing the tires a little as she did, to make her feelings clear on the subject.

    She knew Drury was watching her, and hoped her words and intentions stayed with him.  It’s what he deserved.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What did he mean by that?”  Anna asked as she hung on tight.

    Chiaki didn’t answer.
    

---    


    Chiaki led the limping android Anna through the doorway of her apartment.  She lowered Anna into a chair next to her dining room table.

    The side of the android’s shirt had a hole ripped diagonally through it, and it was soaked in a viscous red-orange liquid that passed for blood in her body.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Let me see.”  the Samurai said, kneeling next to the chair.

    Anna pulled up the torn side of her shirt slightly.  There was an orange-soaked streak a few inches long cut just above her waist.  It was pretty deep, but it looked like it was sealing off already.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Those nanobots in your body are very efficient.”  Chiaki observed as she stood again.

    Anna nodded and put her shirt back down.  “It still hurts.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Welcome to the world of humans.”  Chiaki laughed.  “It will hurt until it’s repaired, most likely.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Thank you for rescuing me.”  Anna finally said.

    Chiaki bowed slightly, and smiled.  Then she asked the question she was dying to know the answer to.  “Would you care to tell me about this secret ability of yours?  Why did you keep it secret?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m not proud of it.”  Anna replied softly, as she watched Chiaki begin heating up water for tea in the open kitchen.  “I...would rather not be known for it, either.”

    The Samurai nodded.  “I would keep your secret.  But it’s going to be hard to keep everyone who saw it quiet.  Sooner or later Dan Drury will use it to blackmail you.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I see your point.”  Anna sighed, and she laid her head on the table.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I won’t undermine you, that much I promise.”  Chiaki pushed a cup of tea in front of Anna, and sat down with her own.  She gave the android a look like she expected a lot from her, but didn’t need to say what that was.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“But you expect me tell people I trust.”  Anna summarized.  She raised her head picked up the teacup, but her hands were still shaking, so she used her other hand to stabilize it.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That was your first battle experience, wasn’t it?”  the Samurai asked with a smile.

    Anna nodded slowly.  “I didn’t do too well, did I?”

    The Asian shrugged.  “Depends on your point of view.  You heard what I said to Dan Drury...that he doesn’t feel.  I believe that to be a terrible state for a person to be in.  So I think you did well.  But...I can see why a military organization would retire you.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Because they value a heartless killing machine, like the bodyguard robot,”  she guessed.

    Chiaki nodded, and slowly sipped some tea.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I think I’ll tell Yuki first.”  Anna thought out loud to herself.  “She’ll understand, and help me break it to Jay.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And she’ll be jealous.”  Chiaki joked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes, probably.”  Anna replied with a nervous laugh.

    Chiaki placed her cell phone in the middle of the table.  “You know, all it took was a reboot to get it working again.  Unlike EMP, your ability doesn’t cause permanent damage.  So don’t worry about it so much.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s...very dangerous to artificial life, though.”  Anna admitted.  “Hallie will be okay because she learned to understand my abstract data stream.  Other robots, though...it would be like killing a person’s brain.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I see.”  Chiaki commented.  “You can focus it, can’t you?”

    Anna nodded, then stared silently at her tea for a moment.  “It took so long for Visionary to trust me.  He was afraid of me at first, you know.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And now he would fight anyone to protect you.”  Chiaki pointed out as she smiled.  “Don’t be afraid, Anna, it takes a lot more to lose a friend than that.”

    The android rose, and then winced and gently pressed her hand against her wounded waist.  “It still hurts,”  she said.  “I don’t want to delay any more, though.  I want to tell Yuki before I start to doubt again.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s an intelligent idea.”  Chiaki complimented.  “I’ll go with you, if you wish.”

    Anna nodded.  “I’d like that.  It would make me less afraid.”


TO BE CONTINUED?
    

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin