Adventures in Parodyverse - Saving the Future Part 6.1


    Anna sat perfectly still, in a black sweat suit with a single white stripe running down each side, and each sleeve and leg.  Her deep blue hair and eyes contrasted with her outfit wildly.  And if anyone were close enough to her, they would see her shaking ever so slightly out of fear.

    She was in a familiar place, though.  It was the meeting room at the Lair Mansion, though the only Legionnaires attending the meeting happened to be Al B Harper and the Librarian.  The former insisted on attending to represent Anna’s interests, and the latter to keep a record of it.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s only going to work if I can tell you what has to be off the record.”  Drury growled at the Librarian as he chewed his cigar.  “Some of the stuff we might discuss about Anna might be classified.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I assure you, my records are not accessible by anyone who lacks the proper authorization.”  the Librarian said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hmm.”  Drury grunted.  He sat down at the meeting table across from Anna.

    The android stared at him, appearing to be strong and calm, but beneath that she was anything but.  She looked down at a device that Drury placed on the table between them.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Voice stress analyzer.”  Drury said.  “Works as good with you as it does on a human.  So no lying.”

    Anna nodded, but didn’t respond.  Al B Harper remained silent as well.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are you able to bypass the cameras and sensors that Al B Harper placed in the cell downstairs?”  Drury asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Objection!”  Al B Harper called out, making both Anna and Dan Drury jump.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You can’t object!  This isn’t a damn courtroom!”  Drury growled.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s an unfair question.”  Al pointed out.  “Are you going to arrest her just because she can mess with cameras?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.  Now can we please move on?”  Drury was becoming angry.  “Anna, answer the question.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I can.”  she whispered reluctantly.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How would you do that?”  Drury gave Al a threatening look in case there might be another loud objection.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I could...place it on pause.  Or record a few seconds of image and replay it for a time.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Which is what Hallie said was what happened.”  Drury pointed out.  He stopped himself when he noticed Al was about to object again.

    Drury glowered at the Librarian as he asked his next question, implying the next part was sensitive.  “Anna, what was your original purpose?”

    Anna looked at Al, and then reluctantly answered.  “Infiltration.”  she replied.  “To enter an enemy stronghold and either neutralize or bypass any entry security.”

    Drury leaned back and folded his arms, his body language saying he was making a point.  “Now tell us...what do you know about Lyle’s removal from the cell?  How was it done?”

    She glanced at Al again.  He looked like he was curious, yet cautious, ready to stop the conversation at any time.  She opened her mouth, at first not speaking.  But then she finally said, “I don’t know.  I thought about it...but I haven’t figured it out.  There are things about it that make no sense, or are beyond my ability to understand.”

    Drury frowned.  It annoyed him more that Al B Harper was smiling.  He decided to go for the showstopper.  “Anna, do you still remember your trigger phrases?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Trigger phrases?”  Al B Harper asked.  He moved his chair a little bit farther from Anna.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  Drury explained.  “Some of our androids have shorthand phrases programmed into them that are supposed to trigger them to do certain things without remembering.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“They don’t work.”  Anna replied, sounding sure and determined.  She seemed satisfied that Drury’s glance at the voice stress detector recorded nothing.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Not even--”  Drury paused dramatically before saying, “Turtle in a hot spring?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Anna replied instantly.  “The triggers were never more than shorthand memes.  I can’t be programmed to respond to phrases, as I have no software.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hah!”  Al exclaimed excitedly, antagonizing Dury further.

    Drury frowned and stood.  He continued to eye Anna.  “Good thing she’s with you then.”  he told Al.  “If my guys would have found out she was lying during her training...that she was only learning what she chose to...she’d be in a junkyard in shredded pieces by now.”

    Anna cringed as Dan Dury pushed his chair noisily, obviously intending to be intimidating.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You might think this is funny.”  Drury directed his comment at everyone else in the room.  “But remember, Hatman stays in jail until we get a satisfactory result in our investigation.”  He eyed Anna again and said, “So think very carefully, Anna.  Think carefully about whether information you might be keeping secret is more important than Hatman.”

    Anna looked sad again as Drury scolded her.  “I’m sorry.  I’m only a spectator in all of this.”  she said as she lowered her eyes.

    Drury grunted and opened the door to the meeting room.  Standing there was Herbert Garrick.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How did it go?”  Garrick asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You don’t want to know.”  Drury growled.  He pushed past Garrick and vanished into the hallway.

    Garrick frowned as he looked at Anna, and then at Al and the Librarian.  “I suspect Dan Drury’s loyalties aren’t what they should be.”  he said.  “And when I can prove it, Hatman will spend more than just temporary time in jail--”  He pointed at Anna.  “And you go straight to the recycling plant...along with your silicon sisters Hallie and Yuki Shiro.”

    Al B Harper stood suddenly and vaulted over the table.  Before Anna could grab ahold of him, he punched Garrick in the nose.  Garrick stumbled, but recovered immediately and raised his fists, punching Al hard on the side of the face.  Al hit him again, so he punched back even harder, snapping the archscientist’s head back.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Stop, please!”  Anna pleaded, standing between them bravely.  She narrowed her eyes when both kept their fists raised, seeming not to listen.  “Stop this now or I bring CrazySugarFreakBoy! in here.”

    Both men lowered their fists.  As nice as CSFB! appeared most of the time, he wasn’t someone either one of them wanted to see angry.  Garrick simply grunted, and then wiped his bleeding nose on his sleeve and turned to leave the room.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Did you hear what he said about Yuki?”  Al was still fuming.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  the Librarian replied calmly.  “I recorded everything exactly, in case we need to use it later.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh?”  A smile slowly returned to Al’s now bruised and swollen face, showing a row of blood soaked teeth.  “Excellent.”


---


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Jay was arrested?”  Liu Xi Xian yelled in surprise, at first, but then her voice tapered off as she realized how loud it was.  She then sat open-mouthed, staring at the Psychic Samurai, in disbelief at what she was just told.

    The two of them were at the breakfast table in the penthouse apartment of Chiaki Bushido - the one place where government agents were reluctant to go to locate Liu Xi, simply because Chiaki was quite adept at quoting laws about searching a private residence at them and wasting their time.  She was usually third on their annoyance scale behind Sir Mumphrey Wilton and Akiko Masamune.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  Chiaki Bushido confirmed again.  “And without Hatman present, government types have free run of the mansion.  Therefore you must be careful if you visit.  If you do I should probably accompany you.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You don’t have to do that.”  Liu Xi said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s no trouble.”  Chiaki brushed off her objection.  “Besides, since I heard what was going on, and with Hatman imprisoned, Herb Garrick and Dan Drury need someone to put them in their places.”  She smirked as she said that.

    Liu Xi sat up and shook her head.  “That’s not a good idea.  They have armed troops, and a SPUD helicarrier.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And I am a private citizen, and a guest, with no part in the caper they are investigating.  They have no right to assault me with armed troops, especially if they wish me to help.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“They are already bringing in Champagne Cacciatore.”  Liu Xi informed the Psychic Samurai.  She felt proud of herself for getting that information first, even though she had it because Magweed sent her a text message from Visionary’s phone.  He would find later that it cost a dollar to send, since he had a rather predatory usage plan.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  Chiaki replied thoughtfully.  “She’s good.”  She stood, and nodded at Liu Xi.  “I have been eager to see her work someday.  Perhaps this is my chance.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are we going to the mansion?”  Liu Xi asked.  “I wanted to visit Jay first, and tell him everything will be okay.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Visiting Jay would be dangerous.”  Chiaki warned her.  “You must learn to recognize bait when you see it.  His imprisonment escalates things, so SPUD can draw out those they seek and locate them.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  the Chinese girl responded sadly.  “It’s my fault he was arrested.  I ran away and left him to face--”  she frowned, and looked at the table.

    Chiaki gave her a disarming smile.  “Have faith, Liu Xi.  Jay will be free sooner than you think.  He is a public figure, they can’t hold him in prison indefinitely.  You have no such privilege...running was what was best for you both.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Would you have run away?”  Liu Xi asked.

    The Psychic Samurai thought about that for a moment.  “No.”  she replied.  “But I don’t present a threat, and I’m in no danger of being investigated or deported.  They would place me in a local police station...you, they would lock in a protected room in the Safe.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I hope that’s not where Jay is right now.”  Liu Xi worried.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Chiaki replied.  “I have faith that Jay managed to negotiate himself into something less restrictive.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I trust you.”  Liu Xi said with a sigh.  “But I don’t like that he’s penned up just where all of his enemies can get him.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Neither do I.”  the Samurai replied much more seriously.

    Liu Xi cheered up at that reaction.  “Maybe we should get him out.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Not yet.”  Chiaki replied.  “Perhaps soon...I have a plan.  But things are not quite that desperate yet.”



TO BE CONTINUED?


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2008 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