Nerima Park
Carrot stood behind his host watching a large black man type on a rather
bulky looking computer lazily with various screens surrounding him. A
glass door slid open in front of him allowing access to the control
center as the tour group walked into the room. The fat man turned and
smiled broadly at them as they entered the room. "Hello, welcome to my
dungeon."
"I certainly hope this isn't part of the tour," grumbled West calmly as
he walked up behind the group.
On the screens were various parts of the park, one area looked a lot like
Tokyo, the area they had gone through to find the visitor's center. Other
areas looked like European villages from the thirteenth or fourteenth
century, still other areas looked like Japan in various stages of
history, including the future.
Carrot turned towards Chin with mostly disinterest in the room. "How do
you give them their powers?" He pointed at an area of the park where
several young girls battled against a large monster throwing energy beams
almost casually. The girls were dressed in sailor fuku of various colors
that seemed to match the powers they used.
The man raised his eyebrow and smiled. "Various techniques are used,
magic, genetic tampering, even training."
The boy nodded and turned back towards the screen watching carefully.
West coughed into his hand and stepped up behind the old man. "I have a
question for you."
Kon smirked again and looked as if he was patronizing a child. "Yes Dr.
West?"
"Do they know?" he asked casually as he glanced at the screen.
"Do they know what?" Kon didn't seem to understand the question, or most
likely pretended not to.
"Do they know what they are? I mean, do they think all of this is real?"
asked the man patiently. "Do they have any idea what they are?"
"Of course, they know almost everything," said the old man patiently.
"A-almost?" West seemed irritated by the answer and stumbled over his
own words as he scratched at his temple and looked away from the old man
impatiently.
"We don't give them all the details about how they were created, no; if
they so wish the information is available to them," replied the old man
defensively.
"And how do they feel about that?" asked the other man calmly.
"How do they feel about what?" asked the old man with a chuckle.
"The knowledge that they are nothing more than an attraction, that they
exist only as an entertainment showcase, as a farce for the enjoyment of
others, a freak show if you will?" West was calm as he said this and
watched the old man's reaction carefully.
"I doubt any of them has thought about it that way, they seem happy
enough," replied the old man casually.
"You'd be surprised," replied the man as he adjusted his glasses and
slicked his hair back in slight frustration.
"Why don't you ask them yourself? You will be given a tour of the island
Dr. West," the old man turned towards the man seated at the computer and
put his hand on his shoulder as he peered at the program he had running.
"I intend to," replied Carrot earning a surprised look from everyone in
the room.
Kon turned away from him and spoke to the fat man cheerfully. "What are
you working on Carl?"
"Just running some system checks," replied the man as images of the
various areas of the park flickered on his screen. "Making sure the
surveillance system is up to speed. You said you wanted it done today."
"I said I wanted it done before the tour started," said the old man with
a small flicker of disappointment appearing on his face.
"It'll be done before then, it took longer than I expected and it's just
finishing up now," replied the man with a small laugh. "Relax you old
slave driver."
"Make sure it's finished," said the elderly man as he stood up straight
again and turned towards the guests.
Jackson frowned as he looked around. "I don't see much in the way of
security here. What's keeping the attractions away from the guests?"
"Keeping them away?" replied the old man calmly. "I don't think you
quite understand the nature of this park Daniel. The guests interact
freely with the characters."
"Characters?" asked West with a small frown.
"It's how we refer to them here, we don't call them that to their faces
and they know what their jobs are. It's all a part of the experience.
Besides, what do we need fences for? These are sentient beings after
all."
Carrot snorted and turned his attention away from the screen again.
"What about the Saiyans? Some of these characters are aggressive in
nature, I see Lina Inverse here," he pointed to the screen indicating a
red head. "She's an extremely unstable personality and prone to violence,
it might seem comical on television, but a normal human could be
seriously hurt. What about Hibiki, or even Ranma? Japanese animation
isn't exactly known for how tame it is."
"You forget that these are mere simulations, they are programmed to act
more civil towards guests," replied the old man calmly. "They literally
can not hurt you."
"Humans are well known for ignoring instinct, which is nothing more than
extra programming," replied West.
"Animals too, if the situation calls for it," agreed Jackson.
Carrot looked at the man calmly and smiled. "I hate to sound like we're
all ganging up on you Mr. Kon, but have you actually tested this? I mean
have you seen the limits of the 'characters' tempers? Have they been
exposed to stressful situations for extended periods of time? Such as
hoards of screaming children pawing on them for long periods of time, or
upset parents; even troublemaking children?"
"You speak as if from personal experience," said Jones with a smile
appearing on her face. She kept her eyes on the monitor for most of the
conversation.
"I worked the state fair one year, it was...not pleasant," replied
Carrot with a shrug.
"I assure you that they are all quite stable, we do have psychologists
here to monitor them," replied the old man.
"Then why am I here?" asked West a little impatiently.
"We required your expertise for the evaluation of the Saiyans. You'll
get your chance to spend a little time with them later," replied the old
man calmly.
"I already gave you my recommendation, I agree with Mr. Glace here
completely. Destroy them as soon as possible," replied the man calmly.
"That might not be as easy as you think, those things are tough, you saw
the way they hit that shield," noted Jackson as he crossed his arms.
"They are fast, agile, and extremely tough."
"We have our ways," replied Chin with a knowing smile, he turned towards
Dr. West and spoke again. "We would like you to evaluate them anyway and
see if there is anyway to salvage them before then Dr. West, they are
extremely expensive to create, and the containment field was not cheap or
easy to build either. We do have to at least have the appearance of
trying to salvage them to our investors."
The doctor nodded and looked away as he finally understood. "You only
wanted me here to confirm so you could kill them without red tape."
"You are correct," replied Hugo as he returned from a small workstation
that he had immediately headed for when they entered the room. "The
shield is still damaged by the way," he handed a report to the old man
and sighed.
"What did he say?" asked Carrot with a small panic in his voice.
"Relax Mr. Glace, we are referring to the sun shield. A shaded dome that
covers the Saiyan compound from the sun during particularly warm days,
it's automatic. The Saiyans are quite well contained," said the old man
in a reassuring voice.
Carrot relaxed slightly and pulled down the tip of his hat as he flushed
with embarrassment.
Those damn monkeys keep breaking the damn thing, we can't figure out
why. I think they just do things to annoy us, in fact I'm sure that's
probably why," Hugo sat down on a chair next to the fat man. The man was
singing gospel music quietly with a small pair of headphones while he
worked.
"Well, they haven't done it for a while, I think they must have been
waiting for guests to arrive before they started to bother us again,"
quipped the old man merrily.
Something about the situation seemed wrong, Carrot couldn't put his
finger on it yet, he was sure it would come to him later.
"Come it's time to start the tour," said Chin calmly as he walked back
towards the entrance.
The group found themselves standing in front of the large building with
a limousine waiting for them. "Hardly an electric jeep," said Jones with
a small laugh as the old man gracefully opened the door for her.
"Mr. Glace, I give you the honors, you are the most knowledgeable person
after all." Chin handed him the keys and smiled.
"Me?" replied the man in confusion. "I thought this was a guided tour."
"It is, just follow the directions on the computer console, you'll find
it's an electronic map of the park. Various sensors around the park and
inside the vehicle run it. Even that Hibiki boy didn't get lost when we
let him use it," said the old man calmly.
"You're joking right?" asked Carrot with a shocked look on his face.
"Of course I am, that Hibiki would get lost in his own bathroom. Don't
worry the car runs on gas, and it has a full tank. If you need to there
are several filling stations around the park. I think you'll probably
want to walk around a bit as well, the true joy of the park comes from
this. We supply transportation merely to minimize the time it takes to
get from scene to scene. Most guests here will be on foot."
Carrot looked at the keys and shrugged his shoulders as he got into the
car.
"So, are you playing chauffeur?" asked West as he smiled bemusedly at the
situation.
"I guess so, Mr. Kon isn't accompanying us," replied the boy with a
shrug.
"He's not?" asked Hugo as he looked over his shoulder in shock and saw
the old man walking back up the steps.
"Just relax and enjoy the ride," said Jackson calmly as he pushed the
man back into his seat. The man complied and muttered to himself.
Carrot noted it was something about how he'd never taken the tour anyway
and he might as well go.
"I'm kind of glad, I get the feeling that old man was undressing me with
is eyes," commented Jones as she poured herself a glass of champagne.
"See that?" said Carrot as he pointed to a small, black plastic ball on
the ceiling, "That is a camera, and this," he pointed to a small lump
just behind it. "This is a microphone. They can see and here us while
we're in here."
The woman blushed profusely and downed her drink with one swift motion.
West laughed out loud and leaned into the window poking his head in on
Carrot. "I think she's just angry he wasn't using his hands to undress
her."
"Really Dr. West!" exclaimed the woman as if she had been scandalized
completely by his words.
Several moments later they found themselves in the middle of the little
Tokyo. Carrot looked on the screen and noticed several blinking red
blocks. Smiling to himself he turned the wheel and moved towards the
nearest one. The group stopped in front of a home in the middle of an
urban street. All the signs were in Japanese, and Carrot recognized the
location easily without trying to make out the Kanji on the small sign in
front of the home. "Tendo Dojo, we'll park here."
"Where?" asked Jones calmly as she leaned forward and brushed her hair
back.
"We'll park here for now and walk around a bit. How many of you can
speak Japanese?" said the man as he exited the car and opened the back
door. The others filed out and looked around in confusion.
"I do," replied Jackson calmly as he fixed his gaze on the large wooden
gate.
"I know a little, but I can't read any," said Jones warily.
"I don't speak any at all," replied West as he strolled out and brushed
at the shoulders of his jacket.
Hugo merely walked towards the gate and pushed it open. "I know my way
around this area pretty well, most of the human employees spend our
breaks here, there are a few good restaurants, the medieval period is
popular too."
"What about the rest of the park?" asked Carrot hopefully.
"Don't know, I don't wander far from the visitor center, I don't really
work here. I just come on business from time to time. Anyone you see
wearing a pair of gray overalls is a human employee, we keep anywhere
from twenty five to fifty on island at a time."
Carrot knocked on the door and smiled as Kasumi Tendo appeared to greet
them. "Hello, can I help you?"
The group looked at her dumbly and Carrot quickly took the initiative.
"Hi, we're guest on the island. Mr. Kon wants us to look around the
park."
"Oh my," replied the girl with a blush appearing on her cheeks. "Please
come in won't you?"
They all entered and took off their shoes, West had to get a little
prompting from Hugo before he realized that he had too. Within moments
they where sitting around the Tendo's table with Soun.
The man sat rigidly, seeming almost nervous in their presence. "How can
I help you?"
"We're a team of scientist sent here to evaluate the park," said West as
he accepted the hot tea the girl set before them. "We'd like to speak to
all the residents of the home."
"I see, what exactly is this about?" inquired the man.
"Well, we're sort of safety inspectors," said Jackson with a shrug.
"Safety inspectors?" said Soun in confusion.
"Mr. Kon sent us," replied Carrot.
"I see," he seemed to understand now. "What can I do for you exactly?"
"We need to talk with you, and the others of course," said Carrot
pleasantly.
"What do you want to know?" asked the man patiently as he adjusted his
seat and made himself more comfortable.
"Well, for starters, you are aware of what this place is?" said West as
he pulled out a notepad and pen.
"Of course, this is the Tendo Dojo," replied Soun cheerfully.
"I mean this island, you know what the island is for," said the
psychiatrist in a calm monotone voice. His face was completely serious
and Carrot guessed it was a professional tone he used with patients.
"Of course," replied the man simply his features seemed to tighten
slightly.
"Well, could you explain it to me?" asked the man.
"It's an amusement park, we were all created from fictional characters,"
said Soun calmly.
"And how do you feel about that?" continued the doctor as he looked
between Kasumi and her father.
"I am content, I haven't really known anything else," replied the man.
"I agree," said the girl sweetly.
Carrot spoke up earning a glare from the doctor that he ignored
completely. "Have you ever seen the stories you're based off of?"
"I have," replied Soun calmly. "Mr. Kon thought it best we were
knowledgeable."
"Able to answer questions and stay in character," said Carrot with a
small nod. "That makes sense I guess."
Kasumi smiled and nodded.
"As I was saying," said West as he returned to his notepad again. "You
are aware that the way you live will change dramatically once guests
start to arrive?"
"Only too aware," replied Soun as calmly as ever. "It doesn't worry me,
some of the more important guests will be able to board with us. I am to
understand that will be very expensive though."
Carrot frowned at the next question. "Are you aware of what Mr. Kon
plans to do for some of the more...expensive packages?" He looked at
Kasumi as he said this.
"I will endure," replied Soun simply as the girl looked away with a
heavy blush. If he didn't know better he suspected that Kasumi didn't
seem all that upset about it.
"How do you feel about this?" he asked looking at the girl.
"I was created for this," she replied simply.
Carrot didn't like the answers he was hearing, they seemed a little
forced, but neither Soun nor Kasumi seemed to have much awareness about
them. "Programmed responses I suppose," he muttered under his breath
earning an inquisitive look from Jones.
"Tameda!" cried a cheerful voice as someone entered the home. The group
turned to see Akane and Ranma waltz into the house. Both of them froze
and stared at the newcomers in shock.
"Who are you?" asked the girl in English.
"Ah, Akane, these are Mr. Kon's guests, they are here to evaluate us,"
said Soun with a bright smile. The girl looked at them and nodded. Both
of the teens walked up the stairs and Carrot stood up and went after them
calmly.
The rest of his group looked on in confusion and turned their attention
back to Soun and Kasumi.
Ranma heard a knock at his door and sighed heavily. "Come in."
"Hello Ranma," said the strange man as he walked in and stood in front
of him.
"What do you want?" asked the boy impatiently.
"Well, you don't have to stay in character for me," he replied with a
smile. "I want to talk with you alone for a moment."
"About what?" said the boy in confusion as he sat down on the ground.
Carrot followed his example and relaxed. "Well for starters, how do you
feel about this place, are you happy here?"
The boy looked surprised, "I guess so, I mean my family is here. It's
all I've ever known."
Carrot nodded and leaned back against the wall casually. "That's good to
know, tell me what do you think of your enemies?"
"Enemies?" said Ranma in confusion.
"Ryoga, Mousse, Saffron, Herb, I'm assuming they all have counterparts
here," replied the man with a small shrug.
"Their great guys, we spend a lot of time together," replied the boy.
"We work a lot and do the acts and stuff. Me an Ryoga don't get along
well cause we both have a thing for Akane, but I suppose that's not an
accident," said the boy with a small smile appearing on his face.
Carrot smiled at this and continued. "I'm interested in how you feel
about life here on the island. Do you think you'll like it once guests
start arriving?"
"Guests?" Ranma looked confused for a moment and then a strange look
crossed his face as he seemed to remember something. "Oh, I suppose it
will be a little more hectic, but nothin I can't handle."
"What about the others, do they ever lose their temper or express worry
about it?" Carrot leaned forward. His expression remained neutral
throughout the conversation.
"Well, some of us have short tempers because we were made that way, I
don't think it will cause any problems though, Mr. Kon said something
about a safeguard," replied the boy as he looked a little uncomfortable
with the situation.
"I see, do you see a lot of Mr. Kon?"
Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment. "I see him on TV sometimes, nothin
really special. He does a lot of speeches and sends people to check up on
us all the time. We have to go for medical and stuff every month or so."
Carrot nodded carefully and stood up. "Does your curse work?"
Ranma froze and looked even more uncomfortable for a moment. "Yea."
"Do you like it?" asked the man as he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't mind it really, it doesn't hurt anything really. We've all had
our curses since we were made, so it's not so bad. We are supposed to act
like it bothers us," said Ranma as the shamed look vanished from his
face.
"I told you I don't need to see the act Ranma, I'm not here for that,"
said the man with a light smile on his face,
"It's kind of a habit," replied the boy sheepishly.
"I would like to see the curse, if you don't mind," said Carrot.
Ranma nodded and stood up leading him down the stairs. He walked into
the kitchen and poured a glass of cold water over his head initiating the
change. A slight look of discomfort crossed the boy's face as it
happened.
"Does it hurt?" asked Carrot.
"No, but it feels a little weird, takes a moment for me to get my
balance if you know what I mean," replied Ranma as she wiped the excess
water from her forehead.
"I can't say I do," admitted the man as he turned away. "Thank you
Ranma."
"No problem," she replied as she put a teakettle on the stove. Carrot
walked out of the room and rejoined his companions.
Akane was now sitting with her family and Nabiki had come in as well.
West was still questioning them while Jackson carried on a pleasant
conversation with Kasumi. He coughed into his hand catching everyone's
attention.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we do have a long way to go yet."
The others stood and Soun bowed politely as they exited.
"We may come back through, we're here for about a week," said Carrot as
he returned the bow.
"You are welcome here anytime," replied the man simply.
Once outside they started walking down the sidewalk. "I would have liked
to spend more time here."
Carrot smiled. "I want to do the whole route today, we can spend more
time later on when we decide what places interest us the most."
"Professionally?" asked Jones with a smirk.
"Of course," replied Hugo, he seemed to be enjoying himself so far.
"Don't feel like walking with the group?" asked Carrot as he turned to
West and smiled, the man smirked and adjusted his glasses as he jogged up
to the front of the group, he had been lagging behind.
"Anything to be away from the black widow," replied the man with an
equally amused smile.
"I heard that!" said Jones playfully as she hit him in the back of the
head.
Jackson looked skyward and addressed the group. "So what do you all
think so far?"
"They seem stable enough, something bothers me about them though. I
don't think they really have minds," replied West. "If that's true we
don't have much to worry about."
This caught Carrot by surprise. "I know they do."
"What do you mean?" asked Jones with a small laugh.
Carrot's usually calm face turned dark suddenly as he frowned. "You
didn't look into that Saiyan's eyes. There was definitely intelligence
there. I also noted that Ranma seemed more aware than the two we met at
the door. I didn't speak with Akane or anyone else in the cast though."
West smiled. "You noticed it too? I'm not really all that concerned with
those two at the table, but those other two are more interesting indeed."
"What are you talkin about?" asked Jackson in confusion. "They where a
bit more active I'll admit, but I didn't see any real difference."
"I'll have to look into it a bit more I'm afraid, but it seems that not
every one of these things is the same. Some of them are definitely more
aware than others. I wonder if that was an accident?"
"I'm getting really uncomfortable with this island, I'm not sure why
yet," said Carrot in a serious tone. He pulled down at the tip of his hat
and scowled.
"What are you talking about? It seems fine to me, I was pretty
entertained," said Hugo with as shrug. "Where are we going now?"
"There's a high school that goes with this show, it's nearby; but to be
honest I think we should move on for now. There's plenty of time for that
later," said Carrot as he looked down at the map screen in his hand and
punched a few buttons, he had removed the electronic device from the
dashboard. It was a small portable LCD screen with a few function buttons
along the right side.
Jones nodded in agreement. "I'd like to see more diversity here myself.
They seem to live a lot like Homosapien, but I'd like to get a better
understanding of the various environments around us."
"Well, we have another stop in modern Tokyo first," said Carrot
cheerfully as he turned a corner.
"Where?" asked Jackson as he looked out the window and glanced around
trying to get his bearings. The place looked a lot like Tokyo, but
nothing was really recognizable accept for Tokyo tower and a few of the
larger landmark buildings, even they seemed smaller than they should be.
"We're going to make a stop in Juban," replied the man simply.
"Isn't that a ways off?" asked Jackson.
"About a fifteen minute walk if memory serves me," replied Hugo
casually.
"Why don't we just drive then?" asked Jones a little angrily.
"Because we have to go through Tombuki to get there," said Carrot.
"Isn't that a little odd?" asked Jackson giving his surroundings another
quick scan.
"This isn't really Japan, I guess they just put things where they fit.
This version of Tokyo doesn't even take up an eight of the whole island.
The biggest area I see is the older areas," replied Carrot as he looked
at a full map of the island.
"Older areas?" asked West.
"Yea, the medieval periods. Western and Easter, they sort of lump
together," replied the man calmly as he showed him. "There's also a good
sized chuck labeled China."
"Ah, I see."
The trip through Tombuki was indeed a strange one. Several mobs appeared
in front of them and a small monk called Carrot's face ominous. The group
had to stop as a girl flew by chasing after a young boy in his teens
throwing sparks in every direction. The pair stopped to look at them for
a moment before moving on about their business.
"Perhaps we should speak with them?" asked West as he looked back at the
others.
"Don't bother, they're all crazy; that was kind of the point of this
one," replied Carrot with a shrug as they continued to walk.
After about fifteen minutes, just as planned, they arrived in Juban.
Another high school appeared on the horizon and they stopped to examine
the layout. Jackson snorted as they walked and started forward
continually watching everything at once.
"You seem a bit nervous Mr. Jackson," noted Hugo.
"I'm a hunter, I don't like traveling in unfamiliar territory without
learning my way around. You never know when you might have to leave in a
hurry."
Carrot looked back over his shoulder, the dome that contained the
Saiyans was still visible poking through the treetops from the top of the
hill they stood on. "Boy ain't that the truth."
A tall feminine man appeared in front of them in the middle of the
street. He smiled cruelly and turned back around ignoring them and took
up a ready position. He was dressed in what appeared to be a gray high
school boy's uniform, but was obviously too old to be in school.
Carrot smiled and waved the others back with a smile on his face. "Here
it comes."
A voice cried out from nowhere. "Evil being who would trick young girls
appetites! Using good food to tempt those weak of mind and heart! I
cannot allow this affront of tainted iced cream! On behalf of the moon I
shall punish you!" a blonde girl in a sailor fuku appeared on top of a
nearby wall pointing down at him with a scowl on her face as she posed
dramatically. Five other girls in similar dress began to appear
surrounding the gray clad figure in various other poses.
The man laughed and stood confidently. "You think you've won Sailor
Moon?" He held up a small crystal that glowed slightly. "I shall destroy
you!"
The others watched in confusion and awe, Jones had her head buried in
her hand as she tried to avoid looking at the spectacle. Carrot merely
smiled and leaned against the wall patiently.
"This should be interesting, we'll talk to them after their done I
think."
TBC...
I decided I'm going to finish Nerima Park up before I write anything
else. It's a good fic and if I break the flow any I'll get lost. There's
a good bit in this part that sort of points to the fact that the place
has more to it than Mr. Kon is letting on. You'll just have to read on to
find out. They'll go through the park for a little while before things
really get...out of hand. It will probably have a dark tag on it soon,
but it really won't be any worse than Jurassic Park was. I like using the
fact that everyone seems to have read the book as well; it makes for some
good lines later on, as well as a few in jokes. Not everyone will come
out of this happy, or even alive. Just a little word of warning now.
Next chapter will finish up the first day in the park most likely. I'll
try to get as much as I can in without wearing out the story too much. I
don't want it to end up a whole lot of psychological questions and
answers. The part after that is where the real action begins.
C&C to: Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203