Adventures in Parodyverse: Exploration Part 2


    Anna listened intently while Visionary explained what he heard and saw in the tunnels under the Lair Mansion.  She didn’t reply until he was finished speaking.  He was speaking to her in the Lair Mansion kitchen.

    She had straight, stringy hair which ran down below her shoulders, and occasionally hung down across her face - when she noticed that, she would push the errant strands to one side quickly.  Her hair color was a very dark blue, almost black.  She had bright blue eyes, several shades lighter than her hair, so that they almost glowed by comparison.

    Of course if they did actually glow, it would be the powerful and deadly blue-green lasers hidden behind her pupils.

    That day, she wore light blue jeans and canvas sneakers, and a buttoned-up blue shirt that was untucked and quite a bit too long, including the sleeves.  It was obvious that she borrowed it.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sounds exciting,”  she replied quietly.

    For a battle-designed android, she was always so remarkably quiet, calm, and polite.  Which is why she lived at the Lair Mansion - as far as SPUD and the military were concerned, she was a failure.  To her creator, Dr. Lia Anne Paul, Anna was her greatest success.  The scientist and the military had very different goals.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where did you get that shirt?”  Visionary asked.  Then he suddenly recognized it.  “Hey, wait...that’s my new shirt!”

    Anna’s smile disappeared, and she blushed.  “I’m sorry...Kerry gave it to me, she said oversized shirts were in fashion.  I’ll go change and give it back if you wish.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, no, it’s okay for now,”  he reassured her.  “I’ll...talk to Kerry later.”

    Anna nodded.  “I’ll make sure it’s cleaned and ironed before I get it back to you.”


---


    Visionary watched her walk past him and head down a long hallway in the Lair Mansion, headed toward that room with the vending machine.  He followed her, and thought to himself that Anna looked a lot better in that shirt than he would have.

    The android walked confidently down the concrete steps and past the vending machine.  Visionary tiptoed past it quietly, looking a little apprehensive as she reached for the metal door at the far end of the room.

    She took his arm gently with her small fingers, and looked right into his eyes.  “Are you okay?  I can go down there myself if you’re afraid.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No,”  Visionary replied with a false bravery, “I can’t let you go alone.  I’ll worry about you.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay.”  She smiled, and handed him a flashlight.  “Follow me closely, I don’t want to lose you.” 

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Don’t you need one too?”  he asked.

    Anna pointed at her own eyes.  “Infrared.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh, right.”

    The large, dim room with the huge water pump felt even more creepy to Visionary this time.  Not because it was doing anything more than it was before, but because it felt like a prelude to what was deep down that dark hallway.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“This is curious.”  Anna noted as she stepped off the staircase and examined the large piece of machinery.  “I wonder who put this in?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Can we um...look at that later?”  Visionary asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh, sorry.  I’m making you more nervous, aren’t I?”  Anna turned away from the pump and continued into the dark tunnel.  She stopped to examine the drop-off into the gravel pit that Chiaki showed Visionary earlier.  

    Then she turned to look at Visionary.  “Which way?”  she asked.

    Her response was a roar from far down the left hallway.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh,”  she responded.  Then she repeated that with a longer inflection.  “Ohhhhh.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What is it?”  Visionary asked.

    Anna took a few steps into the tunnel to get a closer look.  “A very large lizard.  Looks like a gecko.  It doesn’t seem to have teeth.”

    There was a violent sound of an impact, and Anna was hurled out of the tunnel.  She screeched as she tumbled into the drop-off, and grabbed onto the edge with one hand so she wouldn’t fall to the bottom.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“A powerful tail, apparently,”  she mumbled quietly, but in the quiet her voice echoed.  She glanced up at Visionary as he took her hand and lifted her to safety.  She was very light and easy to lift.

    After she was safe, he looked at her, shocked, and turned away his flashlight.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s wrong?”  she asked.  She looked down to see if she was bleeding or something.  The shirt was torn open, and her black bra was exposed.  She pulled the halves of the shirt together and frowned at him, and she was slightly red-faced.  “Oh, grow up, will you?  Shirts get torn in a fight--”

    Then she realized that it wasn’t her shirt, either.  “Oh.  Um...I’m sorry, I’ll buy you a new shirt.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, it’s ok, really,”  he said.  “If you didn’t tear it doing this, I probably would have.  Except I don’t have those...er, I mean, it’s great that you have them.  They’re really nice.  Really.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Let’s get rid of this lizard first, you can stare at my chest later,”  Anna said.

    Visionary looked surprised.  “Really?  I can?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, I meant that--”  She sighed.  “You know what I meant.”  She looked back into the tunnel with the lizard.  “I think it probably crawled in here from the sea when it was smaller, and now that it’s all grown up it can’t get out.  I could break out a wall--”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The cavern would flood.”  Visionary pointed out.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh yeah.”  Anna replied.  “I’m going to have to borrow some tranquilizer, make a hole from above, and then drag it out.”

    Visionary supplied, “Why don’t we just ask Liu Xi to make a hole in the ground from above?  She can put it back.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Great idea.  Let’s try that.”  Anna replied cheerfully.

    The android led the way back to the bigger room, and then up the stairs into the much better lighted vending machine room.  “Want a snack while you’re here?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sure.”  he replied.  “Got any change?”

    Anna touched the panel that accepted money, and it clicked.  Then she pressed one of the buttons, and handed him his snack.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How did you do that?”  he asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Powerful magnet,”  she replied.  “I should also change this shirt while you get Liu Xi.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Um...yeah.”  he replied distantly.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hey Vizh.”  Anna prodded him to get his attention while he tried focusing on opening the bag of chips.  “I’m sorry about the shirt.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, really, it’s fine,”  he insisted.

    Anna headed up the steps, leaving Visionary to enjoy his snack.  She met Chiaki sitting just at the top of the steps.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Were you able to help Visionary?”  the Samurai asked.

    Anna looked down at the torn shirt, and shrugged.  She then sat down too.  “I didn’t want to harm the creature, but I couldn’t remove it, either.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You kept Visionary safe as well.”  Chiaki pointed out.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah,”  Anna agreed half-heartedly.  “I feel like I failed though...because I was designed for killing, not to rescue a powerful creature without hurting it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“But you didn’t want to hurt it,”  the Samurai noted.  “Anna, do you know what the most difficult thing a Samurai trains for is?  Do you know what natural attribute is considered the most valuable?”

    The android thought for a moment.  “Speed?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Compassion.”  Chiaki replied quietly.  “It is something essential for Samurai.  It cannot be easily trained, so it’s considered a most valuable skill to have already.”

    The Psychic Samurai rose to head upstairs.  “Don’t ever let go of your compassion, Anna.  It’s a rare and valuable gift indeed.”  She then bowed to Anna, and then again to Visionary as he came up the steps, before leaving.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I heard what you were talking about,”  Visionary said.  “Chiaki’s right, you know.”

    Anna perked up at him saying that.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I saw the gentle side of you that didn’t want to harm that lizard a long time ago.  Do you think I’d let you near my kids if I didn’t?”

    She bit her lip and replied, “I guess not.”

    Visionary offered her a potato chip, and she took one.  They were sea salt and vinegar flavored.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Let’s find Liu Xi and rescue that lizard your way,”  he offered.  “The lizard will be happier, and so will I.”


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