Adventures in Parodyverse: Precision Instrument, Part 4


    Previously:  Anna and Yuki discuss some of the android’s history, as it would apply in court.  Anna wins her decision, and is granted citizenship by Judge Nancy Connor, after motions filed by Arnie J. Armbruster.  The lawyer is then banned from her courtroom.  Afterward the Lair Legion had a briefing on Anna.  Then, Hallie had an uplifting conversation with the android.


    The Lair Mansion wasn’t a bad place to hide out.  Chiaki told Anna of a few times she had to hide out in her apartment.  While the Samurai’s apartment wasn’t exactly small, it was really just a few rooms, and not terribly entertaining in itself.

    This home, however, had so many weaving passages, cozy rooms, perches to watch what was going on outside.

    One such spot, Anna headed to immediately, guided there by a vivid memory of a chat with Liu Xi.  That girl seemed to have mastered the vast number of rooms and corners in the mansion.  It was no wonder - she lived there for even longer than Anna before she moved to her own place.

    After speaking to Hallie, she and Anna parted ways - and as the android walked the halls of the Mansion, Flapjack excitedly told her that the press was camped out on the front lawn, and they were asking about her.  Anna’s first instinct was to leave the press to the professionals, and flee deeper into the mansion for safety.

    But then she was also curious about what was going on outside.  So she raced up one of the Mansion’s staircases to the tower at the top.  That tower had windows that were taller than she was, and those windows were recessed on both sides.  That meant she could stand in the window well and look straight down, and she couldn’t be seen from below.

    Just as Flapjack promised, there was a crowd just outside the gate.  They had lights, cameras, trailers, and live satellite broadcast uplink dishes.  

    One of the down sides of borrowing someone else’s observation spot was that the other person knew where it was, too.  It was no surprise, really, when Liu Xi came racing into the room, pausing momentarily when she spotted Anna standing in the window.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You see that?”  Liu Xi said to try to cover up her surprise.  She leapt into the window next to Anna - there were three in a row on that wall, side by side - and looked down.

    Anna leaned around the pillar between windows to ask Liu Xi, “Aren’t you afraid of heights?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No,”  the Chinese girl replied.  “Not since I started to learn Void.  If I fall I can just relocate myself somewhere safer, or turn the ground into water.  It’s nice to have a second chance.  What about you?”

    The android shook her head.  “If I fall from here, I won’t sustain much injury.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s...even more convenient.”  Liu Xi laughed.

    There was a long pause while the two of them watched Sergeant McHarridan, the Lair Legion’s Detonator Hippo head of security, go outside to have a discussion with the press camp.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How do you keep such a low profile?”  Anna asked.  “While I keep getting myself in trouble?”

    Liu Xi leaned against the inside of the window well.  “It won’t be that way for long.  I think the Lair Legion will start to insist I become more active.”

    Anna sighed and leaned against the opposite window well.  “Logically that means they’ll ask the same of me.  These are turbulent times, they can’t afford to keep hiding and protecting me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s kind of funny.”  Liu Xi replied with a chuckle, “We’re both growing up, I guess, in our own ways.  We’re both becoming something other than an accessory to the Lair Legion.”

    The android nodded in agreement.  “I suppose there’s nothing like no choice.  At least that’s what Yuki says before she shoves someone into the practice room.”

    Liu Xi laughed quietly at that mental image.  Then there was a long pause while Anna thought things over.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The alias is a good idea.”  Anna finally spoke up.  “Perhaps I’ll go to college with you, and learn a new trade.  There isn’t much of a market for a five-foot-two female bodyguard or bouncer, even though it’s the only thing I’m qualified for right now.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Anna, I’m sure the Lair Legion will give you something to do.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Maybe,”  Anna replied with a shrug.  “But I want to feel...like there is something I can do.  A skill that’s mine, that I had to work for.”

    The Chinese girl nodded again.  “I understand completely.  It’s the same reason I’m going.  I didn’t just want to be what I was born with.  And I want to know more about the world besides here and where I came from.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Knowledge I have, I had an endless supply of information in my first few weeks.”  Anna noted.  “It’s the application of it I need to learn.  I guess what I’m saying is, I need a challenge.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Well,”  Liu Xi hopped out of the window well.  “You sure got one with this citizenship thing.  Maybe you should study more on that.  Maybe you should become a lawyer.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Maybe,”  Anna whispered thoughtfully as she watched the crowd outside some more.


-- 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