Hmm... now, I'm starting to think it'll be four or five parts- but no more
than that! I swear! Really! Honest!
Part 3 is already complete, I guess, and I'm working on part 4... this will
STILL be re-constituted as a oneshot when I finish the thing. Oh, well...
enjoy...
* * * * *
Gotoh looked through the folder, shaking his head.
"Any word on where Alphonse has gotten to?" Shinobu, filling out a form,
asked.
Gotoh shook his head. "No. Lost track of them at a fishing port."
"We could ask for satellite tracking, you know. An active labor gives out
signals that can be located from space, which should stand out pretty
easily in the middle of the ocean."
Gotoh merely grunted noncommittally.
Shinobu looked at him from her desk, curious. "What's wrong?"
He held up the file, pointing out the cover. "I have the notes about
Asuma's case here, and things just don't add up. I mean, they say that the
murder weapon was a Patlabor revolver, and that Asuma was one of the few
who had access to such a weapon. That's only partly true- he wouldn't have
access to it unless he got the key to the weapons' locker from you or me.
He certainly hasn't checked out any guns like that as far as I'm aware of.
Did he get a key from you?"
Shinobu blinked. "No... but wasn't there a lot of other evidence?"
"Not as much as the news media's been lead to believe," he said. "There
was evidence that Asuma was there that night, but that's not in dispute.
He'd been spending the night eating dinner there, working on some sort of
family reconciliation. He and his father got into an argument, but they
had been having fights for years before, and it's never escalated to
violence. Beyond that, the servant gave some testimony about Asuma saying
he wasn't planning to come back, then Mr. Shinohara answering the door with
the words 'I thought you weren't coming back', but the servant never saw
the face of the person at the door. Still, the investigators ramroded the
case against Asuma through."
Shinobu chewed on the end of her pen in thought. "Perhaps they were just
lazy. Maybe you should take it up with their superiors- if you can clear
Asuma, then maybe this whole mess can be forgiven."
"IF I can clear him. Just exposing the lackadaisical efforts of the
investigators won't be enough, though. And I'm not sure that it was just a
case of laziness. Some of the details behind Noa's break-out make me
wonder."
That caught Shinobu's attention. Before, it had just felt like one of
their usual idle conversations, even if they were talking about a case that
had been on their minds a lot lately. "You think he might have been framed
by someone in the police?"
"Now that you mention it..." Gotoh smirked, showing that was what he
suspected all along.
Shinobu smiled and shook her head. "Okay, I get the hint. So, what do we
do about it?"
"Us? Nothing."
There was a knock on the door, and Takeo Kumagami came into the room. "You
sent for me, sir?" she said, saluting.
Gotoh nodded. "I have a job for you. I have a few questions about Asuma's
arrest, and was wondering if you could talk to the investigators for
me...."
* * * * *
"I hadn't known you could sail a boat, Asuma," Noa said, working on
tightening down the construction labor shell that they had fashioned around
Alphonse to camouflage it. Somehow, between the two of them, they had been
able to scrounge up enough material and financial resources to recharge the
battery, rent a small fishing boat (that was just barely big enough for
Alphonse and the two of them), and grab the shell of an old construction
labor from a junk yard. Asuma had felt it was a bad idea for them to go
traipsing through town with a Patlabor, considering they were going
somewhere that there WERE no Patlabors. Noa was uncomfortable with the
idea (especially since it meant that Alphonse would be getting rather
dirty), but had agreed it was probably for the best.
The end result, however, of those purchases was that they couldn't afford
to hire a boat crew. Asuma, however, had shown a surprising talent in
navigating the boat, and now they were navigating through a port just
outside of another small fishing village- this one on Hokkaido.
"Heh... one of my few somewhat HAPPY memories of life with my father. We
used to go boating as a family together- him, me, and my brother." He
sighed nostalgically.
Finishing up with the panel, she moved to sit next to him at the rudder.
"Just you guys, huh? What about your mom?"
"I never knew my mom. She died giving birth to me."
Noa decided not to stop asking him questions about his past. 'Sheesh,' she
thought to herself. 'He never had a mother, his brother killed himself,
and he was framed for the murder of his father. Talk about a hard life.'
Unconsciously, she reached over and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.
He didn't seem to notice, his mind elsewhere. "Say, Noa..."
"Yeah?"
"Do you see that ship over there?" he said, pointing to a tanker that was
docked in the port.
Noa looked over where he was pointing. "Yeah... seems kinda out of place
at a little shipping port like this, doesn't it?"
Asuma nodded. "Yeah... not just that, but doesn't it look a little
familiar, maybe?"
Noa squinted, trying to see what it was he saw. "I dunno... maybe. All
those ships look the same to me, though, so I wouldn't be able to tell.
Why?"
"I think I remember seeing it at the Babylon Gates."
Noa went quiet. She had been certain she wasn't going to survive that
incident. She was facing the Black Labor- the Griffin. Not only had it
torn up Ohta's labor just days before, but it had also severely injured
Asuma and then... it just escaped, totally unharmed.
Noa fought her damnedest against the Griffin, but it still escaped again.
She'd had a genuine nervous breakdown because of that incident, and had
spent several more months trying to prove to herself that she was really
good enough to pilot Alphonse. Then the brass started to threaten to take
Alphonse away from her, and Noa was so panicked with fear that they would
that she went AWOL, going home- to remind herself what it was like to say
good-bye to past Alphonses. Asuma had actually tracked her down, and come
to meet her. For some reason, just his presence gave her what she needed
to return, and when the next battle between her and the Griffin came, she
was able to handle it confidently.
And she'd won. Which made his statement seem rather curious. "Could they
have rebuilt it?" she asked.
"Maybe," Asuma replied. "But we don't need to worry if they did. We've
got our own problems to deal with right now."
"So why did you worry ME about it!?" she cried, grabbing him in a choke
hold.
"Ack! Noa- I gotta steer the boat! Leggo!"
* * * * *
Takeo shook hands with Inspector Matsui before sitting down across from him
at the desk. "Captain Gotoh said you'd probably be... helpful... in this
case."
Matsui nodded. "Yeah, he phoned me before you got here. I assume he gave
you the files I requested."
She nodded, indicating the box she had with her. "Yes, sir. Lots of stuff
to go through- what are they?"
Matsui lifted the box she'd indicated, setting it down on his desk and
pulling the top off. Taking out one of the hundreds of folders she'd
indicated, he replied, "Records from the SV2's weapons locker. I'm trying
to track down where the gun which killed Mr. Shinohara might have come
from."
Takeo's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course! Asuma COULDN'T have gotten
the weapon out, so it had to have come from somewhere else!"
Matsui nodded. "If we can find the actual murder weapon, we might be able
to clear him."
Takeo gestured towards the box. "Need any help?"
Matsui shook his head. "Two people would just confuse things. You could,
however, get started on another track for me."
"What?"
He handed her a piece of paper. "There's a warrant to investigate the
phone records of the people involved in the initial investigation and
decision to arrest. Get the records from the phone company and see if you
can find anything... unusual... in them."
"Like phone companies from people who might have an interest in ruining
Shinohara Heavy Industries?"
"Right."
Takeo nodded. "Will do. Anything else?"
Matsui nodded. "One more thing, but keep this under your hat. I suspect
you'd advice Noa and Asuma to surrender to the police if you ever got in
touch with them, hoping that the system would bail them out." He looked up
at her meaningfully. "Don't. Gotoh's right- something weird is going on
around here, and they aren't safe with the police. If you DO make contact
with them... do anything you can to make certain no-one ELSE will,
understand? And give that piece of advice to anyone else from your unit
who you trust." He sighed. "Sad as it may sound, they're probably safer
being fugitives on the run from the law than they are co-operating from the
law."
* * * * *
Asuma piloted Alphonse through the snowy woods under Noa's careful
directions. They had been taking shifts piloting the labor so as to avoid
fatigue, and his shift was almost over. Suddenly, the screens all turned
red and a word in English started flashing on the main monitor. "Noa, the
battery's running down. We've got no more than ten minutes of power left."
Noa, wearing the headset radio while she sat on Alphonse's shoulder,
nodded. "That's all right. We're almost there- we'll make it without any
problem."
"We will?" he asked, surprised. "It certainly doesn't LOOK like there's
anything around here- especially not with all the snow and trees and
things. Where are we going, anyway?"
"An old business venture of my late grandfather's that never got off the
ground," she answered. "He wanted to try and start a ski lodge. He
managed to get the lodge partially built, but ran out of money before he
could finish it- not to mention to pave the road they had built for the
construction equipment or the ski lift. The reason this place is so safe
for us is that the property is STILL in my grandfather's families name- "
"Won't it get cold?" Asuma asked, starting to get a little concerned. If
it was unfinished, then chances were that there would still be drafts in
the place. One of the big reasons he didn't like skiing was because he
never liked getting cold.
Noa shook her head. "No... after my grandfather passed away, my father
repaired it and supplied it with a snowmobile. There's a finished ski
lodge about a half hours ride away on a snowmobile, and so whenever we go
skiing we stay here." She paused. "Take a right when you get to the bike
path- that's the only way we usually can get up here."
"Roger," he said. "Does the place have electricity or heat?"
"It has a few propane tanks for heat and cooking and a diesel generator for
power," Noa said as Alphonse turned to follow the bike path. "As well as
some canned foods, some bottled water, and some other necessities. We'll
have to conserve what we've got, though- we only store enough supplies for
a couple weeks vacation at most, and we don't have any money to buy any
more."
"Hey, I think I see the building!" he noted. "Looks like Alphonse'll make
it, after all."
Noa nodded. "I told you so. Stop him here for a moment- I'll go on in and
start the heater up, you take him around the right-hand corner of the
house- there's a garage where we keep the snowmobile, and Alphonse should
be able to park there if he knelt."
"Sure thing," he said, bending Alphonse down slightly and touching the
ground with his arm so that Noa could just slide to the ground. When she
disappeared inside the front door, he moved Alphonse to where she'd
directed, parking it in the garage- seconds before the power ran out.
Asuma whistled to himself. "Nice timing," he said to himself, popping the
hatch and departing the labor. What he saw made him rather curious- Noa
had only mentioned one snowmobile, but there were three parked there.
"Hmm," he commented, glancing around. As he'd feared, there were tracks
into the garage from the other two snowmobiles. "And Noa's inside," he
remarked. "Damn!"
Running as fast as he could, he burst in after her, intent on rescuing her
from whatever group had captured her.
There she was, sitting (somewhat uncomfortably) and drinking tea with
Richard Wong and Bud Reynard. "Ah, welcome, young Shinohara," Wong
greeted. "It's about time you joined us. Bud and I have been waiting here
for the two of you for quite some time."
* * * * *
Ohta burst into Captain Gotoh's office. "Captain, I strongly request
permission for some emergency target practice."
Gotoh raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What emergency is it this time?"
Ohta looked at Gotoh like he was totally missing the obvious. "Izumi's
treachery, sir! You know that we'll have to have a tangle with her at some
point, and I have to be prepared!"
Gotoh sighed. "We currently aren't even certain that Noa still HAS a
usable labor which would require our involvement," he noted, trying to
placate him. "After all, she abandoned the labor carrier and her spare
battery, so she had no way to replace her old battery and, without the
carrier, it would be very difficult to recharge the current one. Even if
she didn't abandon her labor, it's unlikely that she has one which she can
use."
"But they could charge them in a town!" Ohta complained. "All it would
take would be a power socket and an appropriate extension cord, which they
should have with them!"
Gotoh nodded. "True, but it's unlikely they would be able to do that very
often. My guess is that she's merely trying to keep Alphonse with her than
to keep him effective to fight with. You know Noa...."
"I thought I did," Ohta muttered.
"At any rate," Gotoh said, "Your request is denied. We aren't able to
requisition more bullets until the new year, and the way you use them we've
only got a two months supply left."
"But, Captain-"
"Dismissed," Gotoh said, turning his attention to his paperwork.
Ohta clenched his fists and snarled, but he'd had enough arguments like
this to know that any form of protest was useless. "Very well, Captain,
but I KNOW you're mistaken. Noa and I will have to fight- it's our
destiny."
* * * * *
"I've already eliminated the evidence which allowed me to find you here,
and my delivery people have already left after supplying you with an extra
months worth of food, propane, spare diesel gasoline, and two spare
batteries for your labor- plus a specially designed battery charger to make
recharging the battery you already ran down charge more efficiently," Wong
was saying as Asuma sipped at the tea provided for him. "I've made
arrangements for one of my men to act as a messenger- he'll be staying at
the ski lodge a few miles from here- in case we need to contact each
other."
"Uh huh," Asuma said skeptically, frowning. "Why, exactly, did you decide
to help us?"
Wong turned his smile up a notch, almost as if competing with Asuma's
frown. "Would you believe that I'm doing it because I think of you two as
friends?"
Asuma didn't even flinch. "This from the man who shot Takeo Kumagami at
Harumi after being her lover in Hong Kong?"
Wong's smile completely disappeared, and a slightly menacing expression
replaced it. "I did NOT, nor would I EVER shoot Takeo. That was my
security man, and I had him fired the next day. I also prevented Shaft
Enterprises from attacking her in the hospital- I would appreciate it if
you NOT bring that up," he growled. With some difficulty, he managed to
get the anger out of his face. However, he was unable to completely
replace his smile. "Yours is a case similar to that. Shaft Enterprises
has done something I totally disagree with- they murdered your father and
framed you, who I really DO consider a friend, for it. There was nothing I
could do to prevent that bullet from hitting Takeo, just as there was
nothing I could do to stop your father from being murdered. But I stopped
my associates from attacking her in the hospital then, and so I'll end my
associates crimes against you now."
Asuma couldn't help but believe him, though he was still cautious. "And I
should trust you about this because?"
Richard Wong laughed, his smile returning to what it had been. "My dear
Asuma, you have no choice BUT to trust me. But if you want to know my more
self-centered motivations, I should point out that my current job is spying
on and eliminating competition. They went over my head, and it appears
they may be trying to put me out of the job. You could always consider it
revenge."
That caused Asuma to become even more suspicious. "Are you sure you aren't
STILL trying to 'spy on and eliminate' competition?"
Wong laughed again. "Of course I am. It is always best to face a known
opponent than an unknown one. It is still uncertain who is in charge of
Shinohara Heavy Industries with your absence. Only if you're put in charge
will I be able to know what to expect from you."
Asuma opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn't form any words in
response. Noa, however, had her own questions.
"You aren't going to try and fight me again, are you?" she asked Bud,
shifting uncomfortably.
"Of course not, Sis!" he replied enthusiastically. "I don't hurt people
when they're down. Besides- you beat me fair and square last time. No,
now we're playing on the same team."
Wong finished sipping his cup of tea. "Well, time for me and Bud to go.
I'll begin an investigation to see if I can find who it is who framed you,
and then we'll see if we can find some other evidence together. You two
just hang out here and have fun together- Bud insisted I give you a care
package to entertain you."
"Um... okay," Noa said.
"Come on, Bud- time to go," he said, standing up. "We've got work to do."
"See you, sis!" the kid said, leaping to his feet and waving to Noa. "Hope
to see you again soon."
"Um, see you again soon," Noa echoed hesitantly.
Asuma stopped Wong before he left. "Suppose Noa and I want to conduct our
OWN investigation?" he demanded.
Wong just shook his head in amusement. "And how would you do that? I
mean, you can't do any investigating from here. If you really want, you
can leave here the way you came to conduct one- I'm certainly not holding
you prisoner here- but your best bet is probably to stay right here and let
me do all the work for you. Don't worry- we'll come and get you when it's
safe." He paused. "You're wise not to trust me completely, but you really
don't have much choice, now, do you? You two are safe here- take comfort
in that, and let me do the rest."
Asuma finally let him go, then turned to find Noa going through a couple of
boxes. "What are those?"
"I think it's the 'care package' Bud wanted us to have," she said, opening
up the first box. "Huh... this box is full of nothing but batteries.
Wonder what's in the other box."
Asuma knelt down next to her and opened the second package for her.
"Hmm... I think those batteries are for these things."
"Eh?" Noa asked, looking into the box he had opened.
"A portable TV set- powered by batteries. A lamp, powered by batteries. A
few manga. Oh, and a battery-powered Headgear (TM) MiniGame with... um,
Patlabor: the Video Game." He unpacked the box a bit further. "And a note
addressed to you from Bud."
He gave her the note.
"Hi, sis," it said, "Here's something to keep you in practice. Maybe
you'll be able to reach level 10 by the time all of this is taken care of.
Don't worry, sis- we'll avenge you!"
* * * * *
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