The False Marionette
Chapter one.
The Awakening of Haruna.
Sixteen-year old Okami stood in front of the small house and frowned, he
was a plain looking boy with short brown hair that sat unkempt on his
head, his bangs stopped just above his green eyes and his clothing was
scruffy looking and dirty. The building was nice, it wasn't much too look
at, but it was his. Unfortunately he didn't really understand why.
Sixteen years ago he had been cloned after the inhabitants died, no one
was certain why it had happened, apparently some sort of accident
involving an illegal gun.
His parent had left the home to him in an unusual, but not completely
unheard of, last will and testament. He frowned as he fumbled for the
keys on his belt and stepped forward with his guardian standing behind
him. "Humph, western style doors? Looks rather uninviting if you ask me."
He was a gruff looking man in his late sixties, he stared at the building
with a sour frown on his face; it was quite obvious it was the expression
he usually wore.
"Hey, can't complain, it's free," replied the boy with a shrug.
"Well, we can fix the doors later," replied the man as he looked away.
"You aren't old enough to live on your own just yet, I'll help you move
in though."
"Come on, my birthday is next week! I can move in a little early!" said
the boy confidently as he turned towards the old man.
A swift fist belted him on the back of his head. "So eager to leave my
home are you?" replied the old man as he watched the boy twitch on the
ground.
"Come on Gramps, you know it ain't personal. I just got my own place!
Most people gotta wait years before they can do that!" the boy beamed
proudly as he stood up instantly.
"Don't act like you earned the house boy," snorted the man with a small
smile appearing on his lips.
"Come on, most people my age only get those crummy apartments or
somethin, I gotta take what I got and run!" said the boy as he dusted
himself off and looked around at the area.
"Hmm, you know owning a home is expensive," said the man as he brushed
at his beard and gave the boy a sidelong glance.
"It's cheaper than owning an apartment," was his answer.
"You're right about that, but I certainly hope you'll keep your job and
not go around foolishly wasting your time. You could lose this house as
easily as you got it if you're not careful." The old man turned towards
the door and smiled as Okami walked into the home and frowned. It was a
dusty, but fully furnished and homey looking house. There was a small
kitchen ahead of him and a small living room to his right. On the left
side of the main hallway was a stairway that led up to the two bedrooms.
He also noticed a door on the right that looked like it might be a
closet, but it seemed a little too large and heavy for that.
"That must be the basement," said the older man as he walked by the boy
as he stood staring at the home.
Dust covers sat on top of most of the furniture and a few scattered
magazines and books could be seen on the table in the center of the
living room. "Man, everything is still here?" gasped the boy in shock.
"The terms of the will said nothing in the home should be disturbed,"
replied the old man with a shrug. "I'm surprised he managed to save up
enough money to cover the taxes and expenses on a piece of property like
this for sixteen years before he died."
"I'm not real worried about it," replied the boy absently. "It doesn't
really matter now."
"Hmm," the old man nodded his head and didn't bother to look back at
him. "We'll get your things over here tonight." His thoughts drifted away
slightly as he looked at the door to the basement. "Perhaps there was a
reason he planned ahead that way?"
"What's the big hurry old man? We only live three blocks away," Okami
smiled at the man and turned towards the door.
"You have to work today boy, don't forget that," replied the man lazily
as he started out the door.
"Yea, yea, it ain't like you're my boss or nothin," he followed his
guardian out of the home and gave one last quick glance into the home
before closing the door behind himself.
About an hour later Okami walked into a small run down looking garage
near the edge of town. Sitting behind an old looking wooden desk was a
tall, skinny boy about a year older than he was. He had short cut blonde
hair and a thin pair of eyeglasses resting on his nose.
"Hey, what do we have for today?" asked Okami as he strolled into the
room and sat down in the chair opposite the boy.
"Just a repair job on some guy named Hanagata's car, nothing really
special today. Don't forget tomorrow though, we have to do maintenance on
the Kurobawa farm," replied the boy casually as he pushed his glasses
further up onto his nose.
"We taking the car this time Kintaro?" asked the boy with a wry smile on
his face.
"No, we have to use that beat up old hunk of junk you've got again. The
car won't hold all the equipment," replied the boy curtly.
"Yea, well..." started Okami in what was obviously an old conversation.
"I don't care if you can put jet engines on that thing, it's still a
piece of junk," said Kintaro calmly before he could say more.
"A piece of junk that can out run that wonderful vehicle you spent all
that money on..." boasted the boy arrogantly.
"Yes well, you know you aren't going to attract any chicks with that
thing like I can with mine," replied the boy with a smirk.
"Kintaro, there haven't been any 'chicks' for three hundred years.
Unless you're planing on programming some marionettes as groupies." Okami
let out a crude laugh as he said this and leaned back in his chair.
"You know, I can get a good deal on an older model. I got an old man
trying to make a deal with me..." he trailed off and looked at his
companion. "Thing is it needs some repairs."
"Don't look at me! I'm no good with all that electronic crap. You're
gonna have to take it to a service station or something," replied Okami
curtly.
"You're the mechanical genius here, I just run the books kid," snorted
the boy as he looked away in mock anger.
"Yea, those things aren't mechanics, they're engineering and
electricians and scientist. I'm just a guy who can turn a wrench." Okami
turned and saw the car sitting in the garage. His face turned into a
small scowl as he noticed the relatively poor condition of the tires.
"I see Hanagata's been up to the same old crap again, he's running this
thing into the ground. I hate those rich types, he's probably never even
changed the oil." He stood and walked over to the vehicle stopping
briefly to pop the hood open and inspect the inside.
"He's probably got someone working for him that does that for him," said
Kintaro as he walked over and peered at the engine.
"Naw, he'll drive this one till it explodes and then just buy a new
one," replied the boy in disgust as he poked around and inspected the
motor.
"Who knows, maybe it'll take him with it?" said Kintaro cheerfully.
"We can only hope," replied his companion as he hefted a small toolbox
up and set it on the car before poking around inside and pulling out a
ratchet.
"Hey old man! I'm back!" Okami waltzed into his guardian's home and
threw his overalls onto a hook by the door. He turned into the living
room and frowned when he saw the large number of packed boxes sitting in
the center of the room. "You tryin to get rid of me?" he asked as he
turned towards the man.
"You're the one in such a hurry to be on your own boy," he replied
coolly.
"Well, yea," he replied with a huge grin appearing on his face.
"Come on boy, we've still got an hour or two of daylight left!" said the
man, he walked up and pat the boy on his shoulder offering a small smile
before he lifted a few of the smaller boxes up in his arms and started
for the door.
Okami shrugged his shoulders and followed suit carrying a few boxes of
his belongings and walking out the door.
As the door closed Okami simply stared at the house in wonder, as much
as he'd been looking forward to living here all his life he now realized
the scope of what he had done. He slumped down onto the pile of boxes and
hung his head. "I'm on my own now."
After a moment of sitting in reflective silence he jumped into the air
screaming with joy, after a few moments he calmed down and stopped. "Hey,
I've got to clean all this crap up! By myself! D'ou!"
A moment of consideration told him it could wait until tomorrow; after
all he did own everything in the home now. He would have to explore a bit
and see what he could find.
He had known about the house all of his life, and was also aware that it
belonged to him. The old man had made him keep the yard clean and do a
little maintenance outside the home since he was old enough to do the
work. Not that he minded it that much, but the fact was yesterday was the
first time he had ever been inside the home. He knew everything about the
outside, where the paint was chipping, what was under the porch, how to
keep up the small flower garden that sat just outside the home.
Unfortunately that also meant that he knew nothing about the interior
other than what he had seen through windows, and that wasn't much.
He walked over to a wall and flicked on the light switch, the power had
been turned on a few days before and most of the utilities were working
as well.
Exploring the home was surprisingly anti-climactic. He strolled through
the rooms pulling dust covers off of bedroom furniture, bookshelves, and
couches. One of the rooms was made up in a surprisingly feminine fashion.
He ignored this room and walked over to the one he would be using, it was
plain. A few scattered notebooks lay across the dresser top with various
books, some of the titles he could barely make out. "That's right, he was
one of those scientific types."
After his short trip he walked back down the stairs and slumped onto the
couch creating a large dust cloud that forced him back to his feet for
air. "Damn, stupid old crap," he turned to see the small television set
sitting on top of a stand and frowned. "Man, What a piece of junk!" after
a moment of reconsideration he realized that it was older than he was and
in excellent condition. "I guess it will do." He flipped the knob and
slowly lowered himself onto the couch to relax for a bit.
After staring at the mind numbing melodrama of sexual tension he flicked
it off and sighed. Suddenly a thought hit him. "I haven't checked out
that basement thing yet." Almost as an afterthought he stood and walked
towards the door turning the knob and pushing it open with surprising
ease. "I kinda expected more the way this door is built."
A small wooden stairwell led down into the cool darkness that was lit by
a single light bulb in the center of the room. Various pieces of broken
and ancient looking equipment lay on worktables, one wall had a wine rack
that held hundreds of blueprints, and various tools hung off the walls
and were strewn about on the worktables. One wall was completely bare
though and he leaned against it staring at the scene in shocked wonder.
"Man, I guess he was a pretty busy guy," Okami pulled one of the
blueprints off the rack and frowned as he realized he didn't understand
anything on it. The object pictured on the print sat on one of the tables
nearby and collected dust. "I wonder what it does?" Deciding not to mess
with it until he knew he tucked the scroll under his arm and started back
towards the stairs. He stopped and looked around one last time resting
his hand against the rounded top of the hand rail post.
A bright green light began to shine under his hand and he jumped back in
shock as the wall next to him slid open slowly revealing more machinery.
He recognized some of the components; a large long lasting generator was
the first thing he noticed, the second thing was the strange tubes that
lined the walls. Various mutated humanoid beings floated dead in the
liquid that filled them and he sucked in a quick horrified breath.
"My god! He was insane! Some sort of mad scientist!" he was about to
flee the room in terror when something caught his eye. On one of the
tubes a small monitor pulsated slowly and rhythmically. Inside the tube a
girl of about his own age floated in a sleeplike trance with her long
aqua blue hair floating around her like a halo.
"A marionette?" he stuttered as he stepped forward and peered into the
glass. A quick nervous glance at the failed experiments told him the
truth; he was looking at a girl, a real flesh and blood woman. "No way!"
His hand reached out and touched the glass tentatively as he peered into
the greenish blue liquid in wonder.
Her eyes shot open causing him to jump back in shock screaming at the
top of his lungs. She smiled and placed her hands against the glass
tubing causing a line to appear in the center of the tube as it split
apart down the middle spilling the fluid across the ground. Okami
scampered away from it in terror as the strange girl stepped out of the
tube and coughed violently. She lurched forward as her legs gave out
underneath her causing her to fall into his lap.
The boy found himself unable to move as he watched in complete shock as
she struggled to push herself up and looked into his eyes. "Hello daddy."
Her voice was soft and weak, she closed her eyes and passed out on top of
him.
"What the hell?!" screamed the boy as he struggled with the situation.
He had absolutely no idea what to do.
A new voice shocked him out of his thoughts as a flickering light came
on behind him. "Hello!" Okami slowly turned his head and stared at the
image that appeared on the screen he had not seen before on one of the
workbenches. "You're probably wondering what's going on aren't you? Well
you're in luck! I'm going to explain it to you!"
Don't you hate it when I say...
To be continued...
Boy, I know this ending is going to piss you guys off royally, but come
on now you had to see it coming. Next time we learn why Okami must keep
her a secret, and why his parent decided to plan ahead for the future.