Saber Marionette is the property of people not myself. Don't shoot me.
Galateia 1.4
Two months before Otaru encountered Lime…
Shogun Ieyasu the Fifteenth placed a Mah Jhong tile on the board before looking up at the young man before him. "You're sure?" he asked.
The man fiddled about for a second, looking unsure of himself. "Well...I can't say, 'sure.' I'm...reasonably certain that a...um...that progress has been made and that it's *possible* that this prototype will work."
Ieyasu sat back in his chair. Could it really be? Could this young man have done what no else had been able to for centuries? He studied the young man for a moment. Dr. Toshio Yamada was considered the brightest in his field. His theories on marionette design had been lauded as the cutting edge. Ieyasu had recruited him right out of school to work in the Imperial Marionette Research and Development. He had been one of designers of Baiko and Tamasaburo, as a matter of fact, but he often lacked confidence. On more than one occasion, Ieyasu had caught some other scientist trying to claim the credit for Toshio's work. While he would punish the scientist severely, what worried him most was the fact that Toshio had never even tried to defend himself from such thefts.
He watched as the young man adjusted his glasses and took a breath. "A 'reasonably certain,' from you has always been enough for me," he told the young man. "What do you require?"
"Well...um...Shogun sama, we need a marionette to test it."
"Is that all?" Ieyasu asked in surprise. "You could've just taken one of the cleaning dolls..."
"Um...Not one of those, Shogun sama," Toshio informed him. "It will only work with marionettes past a certain class..."
"I see. One of the Sabers, then..."
"Yes, Shogun sama. I realize they're both very expensive and vital to your protection...not that you can't protect yourself or that your other marionettes are in any way deficient, because they're not, but I..."
Ieyasu laughed. "Relax, Toshio. You will have what you need. I'll send one of them down to you this afternoon. Will that be acceptable?"
"Er...More than acceptable, Shogun sama. Thank you...Really, thank you...This is..."
"A great day, if you're right," Ieyasu finished seriously.
Toshio only nodded. "Yes, Shogun sama."
"Good, now on your way."
Toshio bowed several times as he backed away. Ieyasu watched him go and sighed. Dare he hope? Could Toshio really have done it?
"Could that young man *really* have built a maiden circuit?"
Ieyasu gave the matter a great deal of thought and finally decided that the best way would to be to ask one of them to volunteer. He sat on the ornate tatami mat and waited for them to answer the summons he had issued.
He didn't have to wait long. Almost as if out of nowhere, the two Imperial Sabers, Baiko, with her aquamarine hair and double swords, and Tamasaburo, with her light lavendar hair and pale skin, appeared and kneeled before him.
They said nothing and waited for the Shogun to speak.
"Baiko, Tamasaburo, what could be a great moment for Japoness and even the world has come about."
Neither moved. No shock or happiness at his words.
"I require one of you to volunteer for a special task," he told them.
"Hai!" both of them cried, immediately volunteering.
"Just one," he said.
"Shogun sama," Baiko spoke up, "If you require only one of us, then it may help to know the nature of the task so that the most qualified of us may accept it."
Ieyasu nodded. "The task is an experimental one involving new circuitry. There is a danger to the volunteer, and she will not be able to perform her regular duties for quite some time."
"In that case, Shogun sama," Tamasaburo interjected, "I should go. Baiko is the most skilled of the Imperial Sabers. I am the more expendable."
Ieyasu smiled tiredly. "Neither of you are expendable, but if that is your state of mind, then I give you the assignment, Tamasaburo."
"Yokai."
"Yokai," Baiko added.
"Report to Dr. Yamada's office, Tamasaburo," Ieyasu ordered, "And obey his orders as you would mine."
"Yokai."
Toshio popped a rice ball into his mouth and chewed as he scribbled something on the notepad in his hands. The lab was dark. It was rather late in the day, and most of the staff had gone home.
He went over a few more equations and turned...
Only to bump into a rather well endowed marionette.
He blinked and gasped in startlement. Looking up, he saw the face of the marionette that had frightened him and recognized it immediately. "Tamasaburo....um...hello..."
"Dr. Yamada, I've been ordered to assist you," Tamasaburo said deadpan.
"Oh! Oh...That's wonderful...Please, please, come...have a seat." He cleared some junk off a nearby chair and gestured to it. The Imperial Saber sat down and awaited the next command. "So..." Toshio said, clapping his hands in front of him and sitting on the edge of the desk, "How do you feel?"
The marionette looked up at him. "Adequate, Doctor."
Toshio waited for more, but it appeared that he wasn't going to get any. "Well...um...How much did Shogun sama tell you about why you're here?"
"Shogun sama informed me that this was an experiment involving new circuitry."
"What kind?"
She said nothing for a moment. "I assume new combat functions and command protocols."
"Not quite," Toshio said with a bit of excitement. He hopped off the desk and turned on a computer screen in the far wall. A diagram of a rather complicated computer circuit appeared. "This," he said with an air of flourish, "Is the MC Mark One." He smiled at her.
"And?" Tamasaburo asked.
"It's a maiden circuit."
She said nothing. Then, "What is a maiden circuit?"
"Well," Toshio said, "It's a circuit that allows a marionette to feel emotions." He studied her face for some trace of the excitement he felt.
Nothing.
"Um...Alright, let's get started, okay?"
"Hai."
"If you would just hop up on this table here and lie down..." He waited while Tamasaburo obeyed, lying down on what appeared to be a medical lab table.
"Okay..." Toshio stepped away from the table and returned with a narrow, metal instrument. "Now, I'm going to deactivate you while I place the circuit. This won't hurt a bit."
"Understood."
Tamasaburo closed her eyes as the doctor deactivated her.
She woke up screaming.
She couldn't describe what was happening to her. All she knew was that it was unnatural. She wasn't supposed to feel like this! Every circuit in her body was going crazy on her. She thrashed about on the table, screaming as loud as she could. Her command and combat protocols weren't kicking in. She flailed about. That's when she heard it.
"It's okay! It's okay! Shhhhh!" It was Dr. Yamada's voice. "Tamasaburo! It's alright! Calm down!" She felt his hands on her shoulders. "Shhhhh...."
His voice seemed to soothe her, and she stopped struggling. She breathed quickly and couldn't seem to control her own functions.
"Shhhh," she heard again. Then she felt it. He was stroking her hair. Her breathing began to stabilize. "It's okay," he said quietly.
She searched out with her eyes, looking at everything around her. Objects were familiar, yet different somehow. It was as if she were looking at things through a prism.
"What...has....happened?" she gasped out.
She saw him smile above her. "It's not a malfunction, Tamasaburo. What you are experiencing is fear of the unknown. It's natural. It'll pass soon. Remember that you have no frame of reference for this. Things are going to be scary, but it's okay."
"Explain!" she cried fearfully.
"The operation was a success," he said with a gentle smile. "The maiden circuit is working. You're feeling your first emotions."
"Remarkable!" Ieyasu cried. "Are you sure?!" He regretted asking that question a moment later when he realized what kind of answer he'd get from Yamada...
"Well...*Reasonably* sure...After all, it's only been three hours....I'm almost, fairly, confident that..."
"Never mind, but it *is* working, correct?"
"Yes, Shogun sama. Would you like to see her?"
"Yes, of course!"
"She's down in the labs," Toshio explained. "We're keeping her under close observation so we can make certain that the...um...that the circuit is working...within...well...normal parameters."
"Well, then, take me to her!"
"Yes, Shogun sama!" Toshio turned and began leading Ieyasu to the palace elevator that would take them to the labs. Baiko fell into step behind him. The trio entered the lift and proceeded downward. On the way, Toshio turned to Baiko. "Curious to see how you're friend is?"
"Tamasaburo is my partner, and a valued warrior. I am curious to know when she'll be fit for duty again."
"Oh...Well...Not for awhile, at least."
The lift stopped, and the three of them exited. The lab was a very different place than what it was last night. The entire floor was crawling with scientists, checking over readings and notepads. Toshio led the Shogun and Baiko through the throng and down another hall. This hall ended with a long window that allowed them to see into a room on the other side. In this room was Tamasaburo.
Playing with a puppy.
Ieyasu blinked when he saw it. Before his eyes was one of his most viscious Sabers smiling while playing tug-of-war with a small puppy with a sock in its mouth. Tamasaburo giggled, *giggled*, as the puppy growled at her.
"Doctor," he breathed, "It's truly remarkable."
"Can she see us?" Baiko asked.
"No, this is the..um...observation room. It wouldn't do...if she could...you know...observe us back."
They watched as Tamasaburo growled playfully at the puppy and grabbed it, hugging it to her chest as she laughed.
"We're testing the circuit emotion by emotion to make sure she has the proper balance," Toshio told them.
"I see," Ieyasu commented.
Toshio turned to a nearby aide. "Alright, take it away."
The aide nodded and walked to the door to the observation room. The three of them watched as the aide approached Tamasaburo and explained that it was time to take the puppy away. Instead of immediately complying, the Saber held the puppy closer to her and backed away a step.
"Reluctance to obey an order?" Baiko asked. "Is that normal?"
"In this case, yes," Toshio told her. "Because she's feeling these...well...feelings for the first time, they tend to be more extreme..."
They watched as Tamasaburo hung her head and nodded, handing the puppy over to the aide. The aide thanked her and left the room. A few seconds after he left, the observed marionette fell to her knees, her shoulders shaking.
"What is she doing now?" Baiko asked.
"She's crying," Toshio whispered. "I don't believe it."
"I don't see tears," Baiko pointed out.
"She wasn't designed with tear ducts," Toshio pointed out. Tamasaburo's shoulders were shaking harder now, her hands went up to her face.
"Okay," Toshio told the aide, "Give it back." The aide gave him a surprised look. "I said give it back," Toshio repeated a little more harshly. The aide nodded and reentered the room, the puppy in his arms.
Tamasaburo looked up and smiled as the aide offered the puppy to her, explaining that he had been mistaken and that there was some more time left. Tamasaburo wasn't listening. She was busy hugging the puppy.
"Why did you do that?" Ieyasu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say I don't like seeing her cry," Toshio told him.
Toshio looked through the window and saw Tamasaburo sitting on the bed, tapping the edge with her fingers. The expression on her face was not a happy one. It had been a whole day since the Shogun's visit. Toshio and his team were still scanning Tamasaburo, monitoring her as closely as possible.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked an aide.
The aide shrugged. "No idea."
Toshio picked up the tray he had brought with him and entered the room. The Saber Marionette looked up at him almost gratefully.
"Hi," he said.
"Good afternoon, Doctor."
"I brought you some dinner," he said.
"It's not necessary," she told him. "I replenish my energy through other means."
"But you *can* replenish your energy through food," he pointed out. "And I think you'd enjoy this." He showed her the food made by one of the Shogun's gourmet chefs.
Tamasaburo sniffed the tray experimentally and blinked in surprise. "May I?" she asked, pointing to the tray.
"Of course." He handed her the tray and some chopsticks. The pale- haired woman looked at the chopsticks curiously. She had never eaten before, and so had never used chopsticks before. Even so, she had stood guard over Shogun sama while he ate and had watched him closely. How hard could it be?
She grasped the chopsticks in her fingers and tried to emulate Shogun sama. She growled in frustration as the sticks refused to obey her and promptly fell from her fingers. Resolute, she tried again, and again they fell.
"Here," Toshio said softly, reaching out to her hand. He adjusted the chopsticks in the marionette's fingers. "There," he said. "Try it now."
Tamasaburo tested the sticks in her fingers before placing them in the bowl containing some fish and rice. The sticks dropped again.
The two repeated this process several times, and yet she couldn't even pick up a single piece of fish.
She growled again and threw the sticks down.
"It's all right," Toshio said. "You'll get it."
"I'm one of the most advanced Sabers in the world!" she cried. "So why can't I do it?! Even having never done it before, I should be able to mimic the movement perfectly! So why can't I?!"
Toshio hmm'd in thought. She was right. She *should* be able to at least use them. He saw Tamasaburo reach up and rub her temple. He blinked as he saw this. An idea occurred to him. He stood up and picked up a nearby throw pillow.
"Tamasaburo," he called, getting her attention. She looked up just in time to catch the pillow he had thrown...
In her left hand.
"There it is," he said.
"There what is?" she asked, blinking at him.
He approached her again and picked up the chopsticks. He placed them in her hand again, but this time, in her *left* hand. "You were mimicking the Shogun, right?" he asked. She nodded. "The Shogun is right handed," he told her. "You're *left* handed."
She blinked. "What?"
"It's odd," he admitted. "Saber marionettes are supposed to be ambidextrous, but for some reason, the maiden circuit has made you left handed." He hmm'd in thought again. He shook it off and readjusted the chopsticks in her left hand. "Try now."
The marionette reached into the bowl again and blinked as she got hold of a piece of fish. She smiled and leaned down, placing the piece in her mouth. She closed her eyes and chewed happily.
"Good?" he asked with a smile.
She nodded. "Vrrn gmmm!" she replied with her mouth full, too happy to care about etiquette.
He watched as she devoured the meal like a hungry bear. "If you like," he told her, "You can replenish your energy that way from now on."
Tamasaburo swallowed the last piece and nodded. "Yes, please!"
"You looked a little unhappy earlier," he told her. "Is something wrong?"
She took a breath. "I can't describe the sensation. But I have an urge to do something...anything, but there's nothing to do."
He smiled. "You're bored, Tamasaburo."
She blinked. "Bored?"
"It's my own fault. I apologize. I should've realized that we can't just keep you on standby like a regular marionette anymore."
"It's...all right," she told him.
"I'll find something for you to do, okay? In the meantime, you should go to sleep and get some rest."
"Thank you, Doctor," she told him. "Good night."
"Good night, Tamasaburo."
As Toshio was stepping out of the door, he saw one of his aides about to walk by. "Masao," he called out. The aide turned, and Toshio approached him. He dug into his pants pocket and removed his wallet. "Tomorrow on your way in, I want you to stop by that little kiosk on the corner...the one run by that sandy-haired Mamiya kid. I want you to pick up a copy of every piece of literature there. Newspapers, books, manga, everything. Understand." He handed the aide a wad of Ryo.
"Sure thing, Sir. This for Miss Tamasaburo?"
"Yeah. So try to get things she'd like, okay?" With that, Toshio walked off.
The aide blinked. "Um..." he muttered, "What do women like?"
Toshio walked back into the lab the next day and looked through the window at Tamasaburo. She was sitting on the very edge of her bed, reading something intently. Toshio blinked when he realized that it wasn't a book or a magazine, but a group of papers that were simply stapled together. He looked around and found the aide he had assigned the task of finding suitable reading material for the marionette.
"Oh, that!" the aide said. "Well, I didn't really know what to get for her, so I asked the main computer about literature oriented toward females."
"And?" Toshio asked with a blink.
"Well, the computer core is left over from the shuttle from the old Mesopotamia, so there was still stuff in the databanks for females, including some literature. I found all sorts of good stuff and had it printed out. Took all night. Books, magazines, even some manga." He handed Toshio a stapled collection of paper.
He read the cover page. There was a picture of a young female with two long ponytails and an odd creature at her feet. "Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.
The aide shrugged. "I don't get it either, but she seemed to like it."
Toshio threw another look at the Saber, who was reading a thick pile of papers. "So what is she reading now? 'Art of War?' Machiavelli?"
The aide looked around on his desk and found a copy of the book Tamasaburo was reading. Toshio read the cover.
"'Sins of Passion?'" he asked with a startled look.
The aide nodded. "A bunch of those came up in the search." He began to count off on his fingers. "'Sins of Passion,' Angels of Lust,' 'The Temptress,' 'The Scottish Lord...'"
"And?" Toshio asked, interrupting him.
The aide smiled. "She hasn't put that book down since she started it."
"Well...I'm going to go check up on her."
"Sure thing, Sir. Let me know if I can be of any more help."
"Oh, one last thing." The aide turned back to him and waited. "G...Good job, Masao."
Masao smiled with pride. "Thanks, Sir."
The young aide walked off, and Toshio knocked on the door as he entered the observation room.
Tamasaburo jumped in surprise and quickly put the book down, trying to cover it so he couldn't see the page she had been reading. Her face turned a bright crimson. "Doctor!" she said in embarrassment. "Um...Hello."
"Hello, Tamasaburo. I've been told that Masao found some stuff...for you to...well...read," he said nervously.
The color of her face actually got redder. "Yes...Doctor."
"Are you okay, Tamasaburo?"
She only nodded, but the blush wouldn't leave her face.
"Well, um..." He snapped his fingers as he tried to remember something. "Oh! We'd like to run some scans on you today. Would that..er..be alright?"
She nodded. "Yes, Doctor." She was still looking at him and blushing furiously.
"Well...Okay. I'll get those tests set up." He backed into a chair before righting himself and exiting quickly. Tamasaburo sighed and picked up her novel again.
Tamasaburo's eyes followed the scanner anxiously as it moved over her body. She tried to lay perfectly still on the lab table, but couldn't help fidgeting a bit. The scanner moved up her body, bathing her in a soft, green light. She didn't feel any different.
Feel.
She could feel.
It didn't really dawn on her until just then that she was feeling things. She smiled without realizing it.
She could feel all those things she had seen humans feel.
She could smile and be happy. She could enjoy a simple meal.
Her smile turned into a grin.
She could feel anything.
Like those things in the book she read...
She found herself blushing.
Could she...really feel those things?
She turned her head and looked through the observation window. Toshio and Masao were looking down at their computer terminals, studying the readings they were receiving from her scans.
"Is it just me," Masao asked, "Or did the pulses from the maiden circuit just increase?"
Toshio wasn't paying attention. He was looking at another terminal. "Take a look at this," he said. Masao leaned over to get a better view. "Her signal graph is fluctuating."
Masao blinked. "Yeah, but only by about point-oh-two percent. That could be anything. Keep in mind she's been under some stress lately."
Toshio tapped the computer with his fingertips nervously. "It could be the maiden circuit," he said worriedly.
"It could be a lot of things," Masao reassured him. "Look, the only way to see if the circuit works is to test it over the long term, right?"
Toshio sighed and nodded.
"It really isn't much to worry about," Masao said again.
Toshio only nodded.
Masao decided to try a different tact. "I still can't get over how advanced she is. Even without the maiden circuit, she's decades more advanced than anything I saw at school."
Toshio smiled in pride. "Thanks. She's designed primarily as a Saber, but Shogun sama also wanted her to be able to fill a variety of roles. She's stronger, faster, and her CPU is more advanced than even the Baiko class."
"What kind of roles?" Masao asked.
"Espionage marionette, for one," Toshio told him.
"Is that way you made her look like that?" he asked.
Toshio nodded. "I felt since she'd be working in the Imperial Court close to Shogun sama, she had might as well be aesthetically pleasing."
"Well, she's certainly that," Masao told him. "So what do we do with her now?"
"Shogun sama is curious to see how she'd handle her regular duties. I guess we'll do that."
Masao nodded. "Okay. The scans look clean. I say we discharge her for observation."
Tamasaburo looked up as there was a knock on the door to her room. "Yes?" she asked.
Toshio entered her room and smiled. "Good news. You'll be able to return to your duties tomorrow. I thought we'd celebrate a little." He held up a bottle of sake.
"Celebrate?" she asked.
"Oh, come on," he said gamely, "You've seen the Shogun...er...celebrate during special occasions, right?"
"Hai," she told him. She hopped off the bed and approached him.
"Well," he said, "This is a special occasion." He removed the cork and began to pour two cups of the beverage. He offered her one, and she took it. "So," he asked, "Looking forward to getting back to work?"
"Hai," she said deadpan.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"No," she said unsteadily. "I'm just a little...uneasy."
"Nervous?"
"Hai."
He smiled. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much. You'll see." He took a sip of sake and savored the taste. He saw Tamasaburo lift the cup to her own lips. "Now, be careful with..."
She gulped the whole cup down in one swallow.
Toshio's eyes went wide. Tamasaburo covered her mouth with her hand and ran to the bathroom.
"Yeah," he said with a sympathetic wince, "You shouldn't do that..."
He could hear her coughing from the bathroom. A minute later, she returned, wiping her mouth with a towel. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.
He smiled. "Want to try again? Slower, this time?" he asked.
"Hai."
He handed her another cup. "Slow," he cautioned her. Tamasaburo sipped and closed her eyes.
"It's warm," she noted.
"I have something for you," he told her. "Kind of a graduation gift. It's not much."
"What is it?"
He took a small box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside was a red silk hair tie. "Turn around." Tamasaburo obeyed. She felt him untie her own hair braid and replace it with the new tie. "There. How's that?" he asked.
"Thank you," she said with a blush. "Doctor," she began, still not facing him, "I'm curious."
"Curious about what?"
"Can I feel...*every* emotion?" she asked.
"Well...I suppose so, yes."
She turned to him. "All of them?" she asked again.
"Hai."
She took a step forward. Toshio took a step back. "Even the more...intense emotions?"
He gulped. "Miss Tamasaburo?" he asked nervously.
"Doctor," she said, "Toshio..." She took another step toward him.
"M..M...M...M...M..." Toshio stuttered.
"I've been reading a lot in the past few days," she told him, taking another step closer. "Are there not emotions that are meant to be shared? Affection? Desire? Love?"
Toshio tripped over the back of a chair and fell to the floor. He looked up and found Tamasaburo standing over him.
"Um...Miss Tamasaburo...Really, I...Um......You see..."
She blinked. This wasn't going like it did in the book. "Toshio, when I awoke from the operation, you were there. You touched me, remember?"
"'Touched you?!' Now wait a sec! I'm a professi..."
"Here, remember?" She touched the side of her head. "You stroked my hair."
He didn't say anything. She leaned down next to him.
"At first, I didn't know what it implied. I just know that it comforted me. It was only after reading the educational materials that Mr. Masao brought for me that I began to understand that you had applied the concept of affection to me."
He blinked.
"I have since learned that affection can be mutual...and reciprocated." She reached out and touched his hair, gently running her fingers through it.
Toshio gulped. This was certainly unexpected. He knew the maiden circuit might make Tamasaburo unpredictable, but this was beyond anything he had considered.
"Toshio, what is a kiss?"
"Huh?" he asked, snapped out of his analytical reverie. "A kiss?"
"Hai. I've read of them, and I *think* I could reproduce one, but I don't know the significance."
"Well, it's...um...That is..." He started crawling away. Tamasaburo followed on her hands and knees. "Miss Tamasaburo, really...This is hardly...um...The uh..."
"Toshio," she whispered softly, just as the heroine of the books she read would do. "I have...strange feelings...whenever you and I are together. I feel warm inside..."
"Um...inside?"
"My bosom," she informed him, citing from her book.
Toshio began turning a bright red. Tamasaburo was looking at him in a very odd way, as if she had locked onto a target and was preparing to move in for the kill.
Only *he* was the target.
He tried backing up again, but his back hit the wall. He looked back at the wall blocking his path, then back to find that Tamasaburo's face was only an inch from his own.
"I feel affection for you, Toshio," she told him. "Isn't affection supposed to be shared?"
He gulped as he felt his heart beat quicken. "Tamasaburo," he said, "It's not that easy....You...You...You're a marionette..."
"No," she told him, "I'm a woman. With all the feelings, emotions, and desires that that entails." She closed her eyes and moved closer to him.
The back of his head hit the wall. She moved closer, and he ducked under her. "Miss Tamasaburo! Please! I...I...I...I...Have to go!"
He managed to climb to his feet and duck quickly out the door.
Tamasaburo remained on her hands and knees in shock. She had done everything the heroine in the book had done, so why did he run away? She didn't understand this at all. She rose to her feet. She felt so horrible, she thought she would be sick again.
He had shown her affection when he had implanted the maiden circuit in her, so why now did he flee from her when all she was trying to do was reciprocate that affection?
Kami sama, she felt so awful. That warmth, that comforting warmth she had come to enjoy had been replaced by ice. Her throat was tightening up just like before, when they had taken the puppy away from her.
She sat on the bed and looked up. The sake he had brought for her was still there. Absently, she reached out and poured another cup. She had felt warm when she drank it. Perhaps....
"You're kidding me, right?" Toshio asked.
"Nope," Masao told him, "Symptoms indicate alcohol poisoning."
"She's *drunk*?!" Toshio cried out.
"Yep. *Really* drunk considering it was only one bottle of sake. We recorded some of what she was moaning about." He grinned. "Hey, Doc, did you know you're the one who, and I quote, 'makes her loins burn?'"
"Kami sama," Toshio swore. "How is she?"
"Hung over." Masao turned, "Perhaps we should..." Only to find that Toshio was gone. "Hmmm."
He walked down the hall towards Tamasaburo's room and swore to himself again. It was his own fault for not watching her closely enough. He shouldn't have left her like that. She had obviously been in an odd emotional state, and it was wrong of him to abandon her like that.
He paused midstep. She hadn't been the only one in an odd emotional state last night. He took a breath.
(She's just a marionette,) he thought. (She's just a marionette.)
He wondered vaguely if this would happen with every marionette with a maiden circuit. Would they all suffer from the same affliction and latch onto to the nearest man? That wouldn't go over well.
He entered Tamasaburo's room and found it empty. He blinked a moment later when he heard the sounds of wretching coming from the bathroom. He walked in and found the marionette kneeling over the toilet. Her clothes were covered in vomit, and she looked even paler than usual.
"Kami sama!" he hissed. "Didn't someone come in here to help you?!"
He kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. A second later, her body heaved forward, and her head went into the toilet again as she threw up. Toshio winced and reached out, holding her hair back for her.
He shook his head in disgust.
"To...shio?" her voice came from the bowl. "I'm...sorry...Make it stop...please...I'm sorry."
"Kami sama," he whispered again. "I'm sorry, Tamasaburo san." Tamasaburo placed her hands on the rim of the bowl and started to push herself up. He took her shoulders and cradled her as best he could.
"Make it...stop...Toshio," she whispered. "I won't...insult you again...I'm sorry..."
"Shhhh," he whispered. "It's all right. You didn't insult me."
"I hurt...Toshio..." she murmurred. "Make it...stop...please..."
He held her and sighed. "I'm sorry, Tamasaburo san. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're going to have to just sleep it off like the rest of us."
He absently began to stroke her hair. She closed her eyes.
"Toshio," she murmurred, "Daisuki..."
He picked her up and placed her on the bed. He quickly undid her kimono and pulled it off her. Marionette or no, she didn't deserve to have to sleep in her own vomit. He finished pulling the kimono off and paused.
She really was beautiful.
He shook his head. What was he thinking? This wasn't the first time he had seen her this way. He had *designed* her for Kami sama's sake!
He quickly covered her with a blanket and tucked her in. She was already out like a light.
He watched her for a few moments, feeling ashamed for leaving her like that. He grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists. He stalked out of the room and looked down either hallway.
His target wasn't far away.
Masao was practically skipping toward him in glee. "We got some *great* readings!" he announced. "Imagine, the first marionette hangover! That alone is worth enough in research grants to..."
Toshio reached out and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. "Get out," he growled.
Masao blinked. "Huh?"
"You left her in there in *agony* so you could watch!" he growled again. "You left her alone in there to try to figure out what was happening to her on her own! Get out! You're fired!"
Masao's eyes went wide. "You can't!"
"I just did! I want you out of my lab and out of this palace!"
"Only the Shogun can..."
"Get out," Toshio hissed. "Or so help me, I'll call Baiko down here and have her drop kick your sorry ass to New Texas!"
Masao stammered. "I..I..."
"OUT!"
Toshio threw the young researcher to the ground. Masao looked up at him in awe. "She's just a marionette," he whispered in confusion.
"Not anymore," Toshio hissed. "Out."
"I see," Ieyasu said from his seat in the Imperial throne room. Baiko stood just behind him.
"Yes, Shogun sama," Toshio replied. "I apologize. It was stupid of me to forget to run such an important diagnostic. She'll be able to return to duty tomorrow. I apologize for the inconvenience, but such a test has to be run. It's my fault, Shogun sama."
"Hmmm..." intoned Ieyasu. "Well, she'll be ready tomorrow, and as you've noted, these tests are crucial. It's all right, Toshio, as long as you promise to be more aware in the future."
"Thank you, Shogun sama. I will."
"You may go, Toshio."
Toshio stood up, bowed, and started for the door.
"And do be more aware," Ieyasu called out at his back. "It'd be a shame if Baiko were forced to 'drop kick someone's sorry ass to New Texas.'"
Toshio froze.
"Wouldn't it?" Ieyasu said with a smile.
"Hai, Shogun sama," Toshio replied. He continued out the door. Ieyasu smiled.
"Baiko," he said, "I want you to place yourself at that young man's disposal. If he calls you asking for assistance, give it to him."
"Yokai."
Ieyasu looked at the door Toshio had left through. "Could he be the one?"
Tamasaburo opened her eyes and found Toshio looking down at her. "Toshio?"
"Feeling better?" he asked softly.
"My head hurts," she said.
He smiled. "You're hungover. It happens when you drink too much."
"I know, I just didn't think it would be so awful," she told him.
"You rest, okay?" he told her.
Her eyes went wide. "Shogun sama! I completely forgot! I..."
"It's okay. I took care of it. You can start tomorrow."
"Thank you, Toshio," she told him.
"Rest," he said.
"You touched me again," she whispered as he was turning for the door. "This morning," she clarified. "You stroked my hair again."
He didn't know what to say.
"I liked it," she whispered.
With that, she rolled over onto her side and fell asleep again. Toshio watched her for a moment before walking quietly out the door.
"So tell me, Tamasaburo," Ieyasu began, "How are you feeling?"
"Well, Shogun sama," Tamasaburo replied with a slight smile. She was sitting across from on the tatami mat. He poured some tea for her and handed her the cup.
"That's good to hear," he told her. "Doctor Yamada does good work, ne?"
Tamasaburo blushed and nodded. "Hai, Shogun sama, he does."
Ieyasu smiled slightly. The two were alone in the throne room. "What do you think of the good doctor, Tamasaburo?"
"He's...nice," Tamasaburo told him.
"Well, it's good that you think so, since he falls under your protection."
Tamasaburo blinked. "Shogun sama?"
"Tamasaburo, in centuries past, the protection of the Shogun was paramount because it was thought that his value exceeded that of anyone else. This has just changed. The ability to produce maiden circuits was lost centuries ago. Now there is only one man who can build them. If that man is lost, so is the greatest hope of our world."
The marionette blinked in shock. "You mean...Toshio?"
Ieyasu nodded. "I've ordered that Dr. Yamada remain in the palace and have guards detailed to watch over him. Would you like to volu...."
"Shogun sama! Please assign me to be Tos...Yamada sensei's bodyguard!"
Ieyasu arched an eyebrow. "I was thinking of assigning Baiko, actually..."
"Please, Shogun sama!" Tamasaburo begged.
Ieyasu pretended to consider the idea. "Can you remain close to him?"
"Hai, Shogun sama!" she cried. "If you order it, I will never leave his side!"
"Hmmmmm...Very well, Tamasaburo. You are ordered to protect Dr. Yamada."
"Thank you, Shogun sama!"
Ieyasu smiled gamely. "On your way, then, Tamasaburo."
"Hai, Shogun sama!" The marionette stood up and dashed from the room.
Once she had left, Ieyasu raised his voice and called out. "You can come out now."
A shoji door opened nearby, and Hikozaemon stepped out.
"You're wondering why I did that," Ieyasu concluded.
The Shogun's long time aide and advisor nodded. "Hai, Shogun sama."
"It would appear that Tamasaburo has *chosen* Yamada. If that is so, then in order for her to grow, she has to remain with him."
"I see, Shogun sama."
"We'll see what becomes of this."
"Thank you, Tamasaburo san, but I don't need a bodyguard."
"Toshio, I have been ordered to remain close to you by the Shogun, and that's what I inted to do," the marionette informed him.
Toshio scribbled something on his clipboard and handed it to another aide. He sighed. "Tamasaburo, it's okay. I don't need you to babysit me." He started for another lab. Tamasaburo fell into step behind him. He stopped. "W..what are you doing?" he asked.
"Escorting you," Tamasaburo told him.
He sighed. Again. "Miss Tamasaburo san...Please..."
"I cannot disobey Shogun sama," Tamasaburo told him with a smug smile. "You're stuck with me."
"Fine," he sighed. "Come on."
Tamasaburo smiled and followed Toshio around as he performed his duties in the lab. She watched him work with the other researchers, some younger than him, others years older. She didn't say a word the entire time. Simply being able to stand next to him was enough for her. That warmth had returned. Even so, her newfound sense of curiousity got the better of her.
"Toshio, what's that?" she asked, pointing at some errant object on the lab table.
"It's a handheld micro scanner," he told her as he checked the readings on another computer.
"And what's that?"
Toshio looked up. "My lunch."
"Oh..." Tamasaburo put the small box down. She watched as Toshio typed in a few commands into his terminal. "What are you doing?"
He looked up at her and smiled. "You *are* the curious one, aren't you?" he commented. Tamasaburo looked away in embarrassment.
"I'm running a baseline for a test I need to run."
"Oh...Can I help?"
He nodded. "As a matter of fact, you can. Hop up on that table, would you?"
"Hai." She obeyed and sat on the exam table.
"Okay, now lie back."
She lowered herself onto the table until she was staring up at the ceiling. She heard the scanner whir on and tried to stay perfectly still. The scan worked up and down her body, concentrating mostly on her chest.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Hmmmm..." he intoned. "Your signal graph is still fluctuating."
"Signal graph?"
"It's a visible representation of the distribution of the energy pulses from your fusion cell to the rest of your systems. When the maiden circuit was installed, it had an effect on how those pulses were distributed. It's just off by a little."
"Oh...Am I...okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it's just off by a percent."
"Am I done?"
"Yeah, here..." He reached out and helped her off the table.
"Toshio," Tamasaburo began. "What would you like for dinner?"
"Huh?" he asked, blinking.
"Dinner. What would you like me to prepare for you?"
"Um...Tamasaburo san...you don't...um...have to do that..."
Tamasaburo looked at him. "It would be my pleasure. Isn't that the role of a female in a monogamous relationship?"
"Huh?!"
She clarified it for him. "The role of a human female in a monogamous relationship with a male is that of nurturer, isn't that right?"
"I..I...suppose...But..."
"Then it is only fair that I cook for you." she smiled.
"Um...Do you even know how to cook?"
She blinked. "I'll learn."
"Ah...well...er...That still doesn't mean that you're...that you're...my...um..."
"Lover?" she asked innocently.
The blood drained from Toshio's face. "Lo...Lo...lo..."
"Are we not lovers?" she asked curiously. "We've shared affection for one another on several occasions. Doesn't that term apply?"
"Miss Tamasaburo..."
"I should go start on your dinner. Excuse me."
With that, the marionette walked regally from the lab.
"Huh," he blinked. "That's odd. I thought she said she wasn't supposed to leave me un..." He took a step backward and hit something...
Well...two somethings...
Attached to the front of a larger something...
He turned and found Baiko standing there.
"Oh! Um...Miss Baiko..."
"Doctor," Baiko said in greeting.
"Um...Can I help you?"
"No."
Toshio nodded. "Ah..."
He began walking from the lab. Baiko followed him.
"So..." Toshio began uncertainly, "What do you think of Tamasaburo?"
"She's...less efficient." Baiko told him flatly.
"Oh. Well...She's still getting...you know...used to the circuit."
Baiko said nothing.
"If it turns out to be successful, Miss Baiko, you would also be a candidate for...well..." Baiko waited for him to finish. "You know....a maiden circuit."
Baiko arched an eyebrow. "Since being given one, Tamasaburo's efficiency rating has dropped to less than fifty percent. She's become distracted by unimportant things and, at times, blatantly irrational."
Toshio just blinked in surprise.
"If that is what it means to have one," Baiko told him, "Then why would I want a maiden circuit?"
"Well...I....That is...."
Baiko waited patiently for him to answer.
"You'd just have to experience it to know," he finally told her.
"Thank you, Doctor, however I believe I will pass on your offer."
"Hmmmmmm...." Tamasaburo thought to herself. "Perhaps it needs more salt..."
She picked up the salt shaker and began shaking it over the fish she had been preparing. Cooking was harder than it looked, but she found she was enjoying it. She looked at her creation and felt a sense of achievement.
"This will work for sure," she told herself. "It's ready!" she called out, picking up her creation and walking into the tiny dining room in Toshio's apartment with it.
Tamasaburo had decided to try a different approach. It was obvious to her now that Toshio wasn't looking for a steamy romance, so she had searched through the educational material she had been provided and had found an alternative.
Toshio wanted a nurturer.
She found the whole thing fascinating really. She had been disappointed when he had spurned her advances earlier. He *seemed* to like her, so his retreat had been questionable. She had researched, and now understood that he was looking for something more subtle.
So she decided to try a new tactic.
She entered the dining room, decked out in her red apron and white dress. She smiled brightly and placed the tray in front of him. She sat across from him the smile on her face growing.
Toshio looked down at the...dish...and gulped. He couldn't readily identify it. He looked up at the marionette and tried to smile.
"You *really* shouldn't have..." he said.
"I don't mind at all!" Tamasaburo told him with a wave of her hand. "Here, let me help..."
"Um...help?"
She moved around the table until she was sitting next to him and picked up a pair of chopstick with her left hand. She snagged a piece of fish, coated in some unidentifiable sauce, and brought to his lips.
"Er...Miss Tamasaburo..."
"Open up," she ordered.
"Really, I...Oomp!" His protest was cut off as Tamasaburo shoved the fish into his mouth.
Pools of water welled up in his eyes. His throat threatened to close up. He desperately tried to keep from vomitting.
"Well? How is it?" Tamasaburo asked.
Toshio gasped.
"Be honest. I want to please you," she implored.
One thing that has to be remembered, is that Toshio had never met a woman, had never been close to one...
And had no idea that the proper course of action in a time like this was to lie his ass off...
"Well...It's...um....a little salty..."
Tamasaburo's face fell.
"And...well...it's a bit too spicy..."
Her face fell further.
"I...I see," she whispered.
Toshio blinked. "Is something wrong?"
She turned away. "N..Nothing." Her shoulders began to shake.
He blinked as he realized something was wrong. "Tamasaburo san?"
"It's...It's okay..."
He looked down at the food and wondered how long she had been working on it. "It's good! I swear!"
"No...No, it's not..."
"Yes, it is!"
"Please don't lie to me, Toshio."
He sighed. "Tamasaburo...I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you?"
"Toshio...could we....would you..."
He waited for her to finish.
"Could we cuddle?"
He blinked and began to stammer. "Cud...cud..cuddle?"
"Hai," she whispered, moving closer to him.
"Um..."
"What's...What's...'cuddling?'" he asked, unsure that this was a good idea.
Tamasaburo smiled and reached around, putting her arm around him. She scooted forward until she was nestled up next to him. "It's like this," she told him quietly.
"O...Oh..."
She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Toshi chan?"
(Toshi chan?!)
"Um...yeah?"
"Could you do something for me?"
"Errr..." he blushed bright red as Tamasaburo moved against him.
"Could you call me..." She moved her finger in little circles on his chest. She leaned up and whispered in his ear. "Tama chan?"
He gulped. "'Tama chan?'"
"Yes?" she replied, resting her head against his shoulder again.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, his voice in a squeak.
She sighed. "Hai..."
"Um...Tamasaburo san?"
"Tama chan," she whispered, correcting him.
"Maybe I should..."
Her hand moved downward...
"GO!" he cried, shooting to his feet. "I should go! I have a lot to do in the lab! Burning the midnight oil, and all that!"
He rushed from the room as fast as his human legs would carry him.
Tamasaburo sat on the pillow at the table and stared down at it. Baiko entered the room from outside.
"Dr. Yamada has left," the green-haired marionette noted.
Tamasaburo felt a warmth in her breast. No...not warmth...heat...fire... She grit her teeth.
She was so...so....so....
She growled and punched through the table!
Baiko arched an eyebrow.
"THAT...THAT.....THAT.....IDIOT!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Baiko stared down at her partner. "Your dinner did not go well," she declared.
"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH HIM?!" Tamasaburo yelled. "I'M KIND! I'M CHARMING! I'M BEAUTIFUL! WHAT'S WITH HIM?!"
"He's a man," Baiko told her.
"And I'm a woman!"
"You're a marionette," Baiko corrected her. "You are a machine."
"What difference does that make?!" Tamasaburo demanded, glaring up at Baiko.
"I imagine, to a human, it makes a world of difference," Baiko told her calmly.
Tamasaburo sighed and looked down at the floor. "Why should it?" she asked quietly. She sniffled.
Baiko arched another eyebrow. "Do you require assistance?"
"Yes," Tamasaburo replied pitifully.
"What do you need?"
"Come here," Tamasaburo told her. Baiko approached and knelt next to her. Without warning, Tamasaburo grabbed her and hugged her.
Baiko wasn't sure how to react, so didn't as Tamasaburo began to cry into her kimono.
Toshio stared down at the koi in their watery prison and envied them. They had no idea what it was like to have to deal with ambitious researchers, the Shogun, or an overly amorous marionette. He sighed.
He really didn't know what to make of Tamasaburo. Was this a malfunction? Was this *his* fault? Maybe the timing chip in the maiden circuit was bad. He didn't know.
He turned as another reflection joined his in the pond.
"Shogun sama," he greeted Ieyasu with a bow.
"What keeps you out here this late at night, Toshio?" Ieyasu asked him.
Toshio sighed. "It's Tamasaburo, Shogun sama. I think...I think I've failed."
"Oh?" Ieyasu arched an eyebrow. "She seemed perfectly normal to me."
"How can that be normal?" Toshio asked him sadly. "I took a top of the line saber marionette and turned her into a...a...a *basketcase*! She's overemotional, erratic, weepy..."
"Yes, she's normal," Ieyasu told him. Toshio looked at him in confusion. "She's normal for a typical, human female."
"Oh, no, no, no!" Toshio said, turning away in disbelief. "I refuse to believe that half the human population used to act like *that*!"
Ieyasu laughed. "You would be surprised. Toshio, I have some of my progenitor, the real Ieyasu's, memories with me. Some of those include his dealings with females...One in particular. You'd be amazed at how two seemingly totally different *species* could exist and be absolutely lost without having each other."
Toshio was silent.
"Think for minute how *she* feels, Toshio," Ieyasu went on. "She is now the *only* woman...artificial or otherwise, in all of Japoness. Think about how...utterly *alone* she must feel." Toshio bit his lip. "And the one man who no longer treats her as a machine...is beginning to think she's a mistake."
"I...I see."
"Toshio, I won't lie to you. I know how difficult a position you are in right now. Other men in your position have faced discrimination, insults, even violence..."
"What position?" Toshio asked.
"One where a man is closer to a marionette than is...socially acceptable." Toshio blinked in shock. "But it's important that you keep an open mind. Very important."
"I...I think I...understand, Shogun sama."
Ieyasu smiled and nodded. "Good, Toshio. I tell you what. Why don't you and Tamasaburo come to dinner tomorrow night? The New Texas ambassador will be there."
"I don't know, Shogun sama. I...I mean...well...Tamasaburo san can be...well..."
"I'm *insisting,* Toshio," Ieyasu told him.
Toshio paused. "Love to," he said simply.
Ieyasu's smile broadened. "Good! Be sure the two of you wear something nice." With that, the Shogun turned and walked away. Toshio said nothing and watched him go.
Toshio returned to his suite to find Tamasaburo kneeling on the floor in front of the door. Her eyes were cast downward. She wouldn't look at him. He noticed that the table was almost completely destroyed.
"Um...Tamasaburo san?"
"Doctor Yamada," she began quietly. "I...I wish to apologize for what happened earlier. I..." she broke off. "I became angry at you...and destroyed your table. Gomen nasai."
Toshio took a deep breath. An angry marionette. That was not something he wanted to see. Yet he knew that he carried the bulk of the blame here. He slowly got on his knees and faced Tamasaburo, whose eyes were now wide with shock.
"No, Tamasa...Tama chan," he corrected. "*I'm* sorry. I haven't..um...been taking your...your...feelings...into account. Gomen nasai."
She didn't say anything for a whole minute, then she seemed to come back to her senses. "No, Toshio sensei! I'm at fault! I should have...I shouldn't have....I..."
"It's okay, Tama chan," he said quietly. He smiled for her benefit. "It's just that...our little experiment is a little more...unexpected than expected..."
Tamasaburo just stared at him. "What does this mean?" she asked.
"It...well...means that we should...um...be more open...about our feelings...and well...not be afraid to express them. That's...that's the...um...mistake I made, you see. You were expressing your new emotions, and I...well..." He searched for a word, "Squashed them," he finished.
She smiled at him. "No, Toshio sensei. You've helped me realize them."
"Well..." he began, "Now what?"
"Are you hungry? I could cook..."
"No, Tama chan," he said. Tamasaburo's face fell. "I'll cook for you," he said. He smiled. "And if you like, you can watch me, and I'll teach you how to make a sandwich....It's...um...the only thing I know how to make."
Tamasaburo smiled and blushed.
"Oh!" Toshio said, suddenly remembering, "Tomorrow night we're invited to a dinner with Shogun sama and the New Texas ambassador."
Tamasaburo blinked. "You mean a...*date*?" she asked hopefully.
"Date?" Toshio asked, no grasping the concept.
She smiled. "I'll explain it as you cook."
Author's Notes:
Okay, I found this lying around in a folder in an old diskette and thought it was a shame I never published it. I've been finding a lot of files like that lately that I intend to publish, just to see which stories are worth finishing and which aren't. Let me know, okay.
Davner
Galateia 1.4
Two months before Otaru encountered Lime…
Shogun Ieyasu the Fifteenth placed a Mah Jhong tile on the board before looking up at the young man before him. "You're sure?" he asked.
The man fiddled about for a second, looking unsure of himself. "Well...I can't say, 'sure.' I'm...reasonably certain that a...um...that progress has been made and that it's *possible* that this prototype will work."
Ieyasu sat back in his chair. Could it really be? Could this young man have done what no else had been able to for centuries? He studied the young man for a moment. Dr. Toshio Yamada was considered the brightest in his field. His theories on marionette design had been lauded as the cutting edge. Ieyasu had recruited him right out of school to work in the Imperial Marionette Research and Development. He had been one of designers of Baiko and Tamasaburo, as a matter of fact, but he often lacked confidence. On more than one occasion, Ieyasu had caught some other scientist trying to claim the credit for Toshio's work. While he would punish the scientist severely, what worried him most was the fact that Toshio had never even tried to defend himself from such thefts.
He watched as the young man adjusted his glasses and took a breath. "A 'reasonably certain,' from you has always been enough for me," he told the young man. "What do you require?"
"Well...um...Shogun sama, we need a marionette to test it."
"Is that all?" Ieyasu asked in surprise. "You could've just taken one of the cleaning dolls..."
"Um...Not one of those, Shogun sama," Toshio informed him. "It will only work with marionettes past a certain class..."
"I see. One of the Sabers, then..."
"Yes, Shogun sama. I realize they're both very expensive and vital to your protection...not that you can't protect yourself or that your other marionettes are in any way deficient, because they're not, but I..."
Ieyasu laughed. "Relax, Toshio. You will have what you need. I'll send one of them down to you this afternoon. Will that be acceptable?"
"Er...More than acceptable, Shogun sama. Thank you...Really, thank you...This is..."
"A great day, if you're right," Ieyasu finished seriously.
Toshio only nodded. "Yes, Shogun sama."
"Good, now on your way."
Toshio bowed several times as he backed away. Ieyasu watched him go and sighed. Dare he hope? Could Toshio really have done it?
"Could that young man *really* have built a maiden circuit?"
Ieyasu gave the matter a great deal of thought and finally decided that the best way would to be to ask one of them to volunteer. He sat on the ornate tatami mat and waited for them to answer the summons he had issued.
He didn't have to wait long. Almost as if out of nowhere, the two Imperial Sabers, Baiko, with her aquamarine hair and double swords, and Tamasaburo, with her light lavendar hair and pale skin, appeared and kneeled before him.
They said nothing and waited for the Shogun to speak.
"Baiko, Tamasaburo, what could be a great moment for Japoness and even the world has come about."
Neither moved. No shock or happiness at his words.
"I require one of you to volunteer for a special task," he told them.
"Hai!" both of them cried, immediately volunteering.
"Just one," he said.
"Shogun sama," Baiko spoke up, "If you require only one of us, then it may help to know the nature of the task so that the most qualified of us may accept it."
Ieyasu nodded. "The task is an experimental one involving new circuitry. There is a danger to the volunteer, and she will not be able to perform her regular duties for quite some time."
"In that case, Shogun sama," Tamasaburo interjected, "I should go. Baiko is the most skilled of the Imperial Sabers. I am the more expendable."
Ieyasu smiled tiredly. "Neither of you are expendable, but if that is your state of mind, then I give you the assignment, Tamasaburo."
"Yokai."
"Yokai," Baiko added.
"Report to Dr. Yamada's office, Tamasaburo," Ieyasu ordered, "And obey his orders as you would mine."
"Yokai."
Toshio popped a rice ball into his mouth and chewed as he scribbled something on the notepad in his hands. The lab was dark. It was rather late in the day, and most of the staff had gone home.
He went over a few more equations and turned...
Only to bump into a rather well endowed marionette.
He blinked and gasped in startlement. Looking up, he saw the face of the marionette that had frightened him and recognized it immediately. "Tamasaburo....um...hello..."
"Dr. Yamada, I've been ordered to assist you," Tamasaburo said deadpan.
"Oh! Oh...That's wonderful...Please, please, come...have a seat." He cleared some junk off a nearby chair and gestured to it. The Imperial Saber sat down and awaited the next command. "So..." Toshio said, clapping his hands in front of him and sitting on the edge of the desk, "How do you feel?"
The marionette looked up at him. "Adequate, Doctor."
Toshio waited for more, but it appeared that he wasn't going to get any. "Well...um...How much did Shogun sama tell you about why you're here?"
"Shogun sama informed me that this was an experiment involving new circuitry."
"What kind?"
She said nothing for a moment. "I assume new combat functions and command protocols."
"Not quite," Toshio said with a bit of excitement. He hopped off the desk and turned on a computer screen in the far wall. A diagram of a rather complicated computer circuit appeared. "This," he said with an air of flourish, "Is the MC Mark One." He smiled at her.
"And?" Tamasaburo asked.
"It's a maiden circuit."
She said nothing. Then, "What is a maiden circuit?"
"Well," Toshio said, "It's a circuit that allows a marionette to feel emotions." He studied her face for some trace of the excitement he felt.
Nothing.
"Um...Alright, let's get started, okay?"
"Hai."
"If you would just hop up on this table here and lie down..." He waited while Tamasaburo obeyed, lying down on what appeared to be a medical lab table.
"Okay..." Toshio stepped away from the table and returned with a narrow, metal instrument. "Now, I'm going to deactivate you while I place the circuit. This won't hurt a bit."
"Understood."
Tamasaburo closed her eyes as the doctor deactivated her.
She woke up screaming.
She couldn't describe what was happening to her. All she knew was that it was unnatural. She wasn't supposed to feel like this! Every circuit in her body was going crazy on her. She thrashed about on the table, screaming as loud as she could. Her command and combat protocols weren't kicking in. She flailed about. That's when she heard it.
"It's okay! It's okay! Shhhhh!" It was Dr. Yamada's voice. "Tamasaburo! It's alright! Calm down!" She felt his hands on her shoulders. "Shhhhh...."
His voice seemed to soothe her, and she stopped struggling. She breathed quickly and couldn't seem to control her own functions.
"Shhhh," she heard again. Then she felt it. He was stroking her hair. Her breathing began to stabilize. "It's okay," he said quietly.
She searched out with her eyes, looking at everything around her. Objects were familiar, yet different somehow. It was as if she were looking at things through a prism.
"What...has....happened?" she gasped out.
She saw him smile above her. "It's not a malfunction, Tamasaburo. What you are experiencing is fear of the unknown. It's natural. It'll pass soon. Remember that you have no frame of reference for this. Things are going to be scary, but it's okay."
"Explain!" she cried fearfully.
"The operation was a success," he said with a gentle smile. "The maiden circuit is working. You're feeling your first emotions."
"Remarkable!" Ieyasu cried. "Are you sure?!" He regretted asking that question a moment later when he realized what kind of answer he'd get from Yamada...
"Well...*Reasonably* sure...After all, it's only been three hours....I'm almost, fairly, confident that..."
"Never mind, but it *is* working, correct?"
"Yes, Shogun sama. Would you like to see her?"
"Yes, of course!"
"She's down in the labs," Toshio explained. "We're keeping her under close observation so we can make certain that the...um...that the circuit is working...within...well...normal parameters."
"Well, then, take me to her!"
"Yes, Shogun sama!" Toshio turned and began leading Ieyasu to the palace elevator that would take them to the labs. Baiko fell into step behind him. The trio entered the lift and proceeded downward. On the way, Toshio turned to Baiko. "Curious to see how you're friend is?"
"Tamasaburo is my partner, and a valued warrior. I am curious to know when she'll be fit for duty again."
"Oh...Well...Not for awhile, at least."
The lift stopped, and the three of them exited. The lab was a very different place than what it was last night. The entire floor was crawling with scientists, checking over readings and notepads. Toshio led the Shogun and Baiko through the throng and down another hall. This hall ended with a long window that allowed them to see into a room on the other side. In this room was Tamasaburo.
Playing with a puppy.
Ieyasu blinked when he saw it. Before his eyes was one of his most viscious Sabers smiling while playing tug-of-war with a small puppy with a sock in its mouth. Tamasaburo giggled, *giggled*, as the puppy growled at her.
"Doctor," he breathed, "It's truly remarkable."
"Can she see us?" Baiko asked.
"No, this is the..um...observation room. It wouldn't do...if she could...you know...observe us back."
They watched as Tamasaburo growled playfully at the puppy and grabbed it, hugging it to her chest as she laughed.
"We're testing the circuit emotion by emotion to make sure she has the proper balance," Toshio told them.
"I see," Ieyasu commented.
Toshio turned to a nearby aide. "Alright, take it away."
The aide nodded and walked to the door to the observation room. The three of them watched as the aide approached Tamasaburo and explained that it was time to take the puppy away. Instead of immediately complying, the Saber held the puppy closer to her and backed away a step.
"Reluctance to obey an order?" Baiko asked. "Is that normal?"
"In this case, yes," Toshio told her. "Because she's feeling these...well...feelings for the first time, they tend to be more extreme..."
They watched as Tamasaburo hung her head and nodded, handing the puppy over to the aide. The aide thanked her and left the room. A few seconds after he left, the observed marionette fell to her knees, her shoulders shaking.
"What is she doing now?" Baiko asked.
"She's crying," Toshio whispered. "I don't believe it."
"I don't see tears," Baiko pointed out.
"She wasn't designed with tear ducts," Toshio pointed out. Tamasaburo's shoulders were shaking harder now, her hands went up to her face.
"Okay," Toshio told the aide, "Give it back." The aide gave him a surprised look. "I said give it back," Toshio repeated a little more harshly. The aide nodded and reentered the room, the puppy in his arms.
Tamasaburo looked up and smiled as the aide offered the puppy to her, explaining that he had been mistaken and that there was some more time left. Tamasaburo wasn't listening. She was busy hugging the puppy.
"Why did you do that?" Ieyasu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say I don't like seeing her cry," Toshio told him.
Toshio looked through the window and saw Tamasaburo sitting on the bed, tapping the edge with her fingers. The expression on her face was not a happy one. It had been a whole day since the Shogun's visit. Toshio and his team were still scanning Tamasaburo, monitoring her as closely as possible.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked an aide.
The aide shrugged. "No idea."
Toshio picked up the tray he had brought with him and entered the room. The Saber Marionette looked up at him almost gratefully.
"Hi," he said.
"Good afternoon, Doctor."
"I brought you some dinner," he said.
"It's not necessary," she told him. "I replenish my energy through other means."
"But you *can* replenish your energy through food," he pointed out. "And I think you'd enjoy this." He showed her the food made by one of the Shogun's gourmet chefs.
Tamasaburo sniffed the tray experimentally and blinked in surprise. "May I?" she asked, pointing to the tray.
"Of course." He handed her the tray and some chopsticks. The pale- haired woman looked at the chopsticks curiously. She had never eaten before, and so had never used chopsticks before. Even so, she had stood guard over Shogun sama while he ate and had watched him closely. How hard could it be?
She grasped the chopsticks in her fingers and tried to emulate Shogun sama. She growled in frustration as the sticks refused to obey her and promptly fell from her fingers. Resolute, she tried again, and again they fell.
"Here," Toshio said softly, reaching out to her hand. He adjusted the chopsticks in the marionette's fingers. "There," he said. "Try it now."
Tamasaburo tested the sticks in her fingers before placing them in the bowl containing some fish and rice. The sticks dropped again.
The two repeated this process several times, and yet she couldn't even pick up a single piece of fish.
She growled again and threw the sticks down.
"It's all right," Toshio said. "You'll get it."
"I'm one of the most advanced Sabers in the world!" she cried. "So why can't I do it?! Even having never done it before, I should be able to mimic the movement perfectly! So why can't I?!"
Toshio hmm'd in thought. She was right. She *should* be able to at least use them. He saw Tamasaburo reach up and rub her temple. He blinked as he saw this. An idea occurred to him. He stood up and picked up a nearby throw pillow.
"Tamasaburo," he called, getting her attention. She looked up just in time to catch the pillow he had thrown...
In her left hand.
"There it is," he said.
"There what is?" she asked, blinking at him.
He approached her again and picked up the chopsticks. He placed them in her hand again, but this time, in her *left* hand. "You were mimicking the Shogun, right?" he asked. She nodded. "The Shogun is right handed," he told her. "You're *left* handed."
She blinked. "What?"
"It's odd," he admitted. "Saber marionettes are supposed to be ambidextrous, but for some reason, the maiden circuit has made you left handed." He hmm'd in thought again. He shook it off and readjusted the chopsticks in her left hand. "Try now."
The marionette reached into the bowl again and blinked as she got hold of a piece of fish. She smiled and leaned down, placing the piece in her mouth. She closed her eyes and chewed happily.
"Good?" he asked with a smile.
She nodded. "Vrrn gmmm!" she replied with her mouth full, too happy to care about etiquette.
He watched as she devoured the meal like a hungry bear. "If you like," he told her, "You can replenish your energy that way from now on."
Tamasaburo swallowed the last piece and nodded. "Yes, please!"
"You looked a little unhappy earlier," he told her. "Is something wrong?"
She took a breath. "I can't describe the sensation. But I have an urge to do something...anything, but there's nothing to do."
He smiled. "You're bored, Tamasaburo."
She blinked. "Bored?"
"It's my own fault. I apologize. I should've realized that we can't just keep you on standby like a regular marionette anymore."
"It's...all right," she told him.
"I'll find something for you to do, okay? In the meantime, you should go to sleep and get some rest."
"Thank you, Doctor," she told him. "Good night."
"Good night, Tamasaburo."
As Toshio was stepping out of the door, he saw one of his aides about to walk by. "Masao," he called out. The aide turned, and Toshio approached him. He dug into his pants pocket and removed his wallet. "Tomorrow on your way in, I want you to stop by that little kiosk on the corner...the one run by that sandy-haired Mamiya kid. I want you to pick up a copy of every piece of literature there. Newspapers, books, manga, everything. Understand." He handed the aide a wad of Ryo.
"Sure thing, Sir. This for Miss Tamasaburo?"
"Yeah. So try to get things she'd like, okay?" With that, Toshio walked off.
The aide blinked. "Um..." he muttered, "What do women like?"
Toshio walked back into the lab the next day and looked through the window at Tamasaburo. She was sitting on the very edge of her bed, reading something intently. Toshio blinked when he realized that it wasn't a book or a magazine, but a group of papers that were simply stapled together. He looked around and found the aide he had assigned the task of finding suitable reading material for the marionette.
"Oh, that!" the aide said. "Well, I didn't really know what to get for her, so I asked the main computer about literature oriented toward females."
"And?" Toshio asked with a blink.
"Well, the computer core is left over from the shuttle from the old Mesopotamia, so there was still stuff in the databanks for females, including some literature. I found all sorts of good stuff and had it printed out. Took all night. Books, magazines, even some manga." He handed Toshio a stapled collection of paper.
He read the cover page. There was a picture of a young female with two long ponytails and an odd creature at her feet. "Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.
The aide shrugged. "I don't get it either, but she seemed to like it."
Toshio threw another look at the Saber, who was reading a thick pile of papers. "So what is she reading now? 'Art of War?' Machiavelli?"
The aide looked around on his desk and found a copy of the book Tamasaburo was reading. Toshio read the cover.
"'Sins of Passion?'" he asked with a startled look.
The aide nodded. "A bunch of those came up in the search." He began to count off on his fingers. "'Sins of Passion,' Angels of Lust,' 'The Temptress,' 'The Scottish Lord...'"
"And?" Toshio asked, interrupting him.
The aide smiled. "She hasn't put that book down since she started it."
"Well...I'm going to go check up on her."
"Sure thing, Sir. Let me know if I can be of any more help."
"Oh, one last thing." The aide turned back to him and waited. "G...Good job, Masao."
Masao smiled with pride. "Thanks, Sir."
The young aide walked off, and Toshio knocked on the door as he entered the observation room.
Tamasaburo jumped in surprise and quickly put the book down, trying to cover it so he couldn't see the page she had been reading. Her face turned a bright crimson. "Doctor!" she said in embarrassment. "Um...Hello."
"Hello, Tamasaburo. I've been told that Masao found some stuff...for you to...well...read," he said nervously.
The color of her face actually got redder. "Yes...Doctor."
"Are you okay, Tamasaburo?"
She only nodded, but the blush wouldn't leave her face.
"Well, um..." He snapped his fingers as he tried to remember something. "Oh! We'd like to run some scans on you today. Would that..er..be alright?"
She nodded. "Yes, Doctor." She was still looking at him and blushing furiously.
"Well...Okay. I'll get those tests set up." He backed into a chair before righting himself and exiting quickly. Tamasaburo sighed and picked up her novel again.
Tamasaburo's eyes followed the scanner anxiously as it moved over her body. She tried to lay perfectly still on the lab table, but couldn't help fidgeting a bit. The scanner moved up her body, bathing her in a soft, green light. She didn't feel any different.
Feel.
She could feel.
It didn't really dawn on her until just then that she was feeling things. She smiled without realizing it.
She could feel all those things she had seen humans feel.
She could smile and be happy. She could enjoy a simple meal.
Her smile turned into a grin.
She could feel anything.
Like those things in the book she read...
She found herself blushing.
Could she...really feel those things?
She turned her head and looked through the observation window. Toshio and Masao were looking down at their computer terminals, studying the readings they were receiving from her scans.
"Is it just me," Masao asked, "Or did the pulses from the maiden circuit just increase?"
Toshio wasn't paying attention. He was looking at another terminal. "Take a look at this," he said. Masao leaned over to get a better view. "Her signal graph is fluctuating."
Masao blinked. "Yeah, but only by about point-oh-two percent. That could be anything. Keep in mind she's been under some stress lately."
Toshio tapped the computer with his fingertips nervously. "It could be the maiden circuit," he said worriedly.
"It could be a lot of things," Masao reassured him. "Look, the only way to see if the circuit works is to test it over the long term, right?"
Toshio sighed and nodded.
"It really isn't much to worry about," Masao said again.
Toshio only nodded.
Masao decided to try a different tact. "I still can't get over how advanced she is. Even without the maiden circuit, she's decades more advanced than anything I saw at school."
Toshio smiled in pride. "Thanks. She's designed primarily as a Saber, but Shogun sama also wanted her to be able to fill a variety of roles. She's stronger, faster, and her CPU is more advanced than even the Baiko class."
"What kind of roles?" Masao asked.
"Espionage marionette, for one," Toshio told him.
"Is that way you made her look like that?" he asked.
Toshio nodded. "I felt since she'd be working in the Imperial Court close to Shogun sama, she had might as well be aesthetically pleasing."
"Well, she's certainly that," Masao told him. "So what do we do with her now?"
"Shogun sama is curious to see how she'd handle her regular duties. I guess we'll do that."
Masao nodded. "Okay. The scans look clean. I say we discharge her for observation."
Tamasaburo looked up as there was a knock on the door to her room. "Yes?" she asked.
Toshio entered her room and smiled. "Good news. You'll be able to return to your duties tomorrow. I thought we'd celebrate a little." He held up a bottle of sake.
"Celebrate?" she asked.
"Oh, come on," he said gamely, "You've seen the Shogun...er...celebrate during special occasions, right?"
"Hai," she told him. She hopped off the bed and approached him.
"Well," he said, "This is a special occasion." He removed the cork and began to pour two cups of the beverage. He offered her one, and she took it. "So," he asked, "Looking forward to getting back to work?"
"Hai," she said deadpan.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"No," she said unsteadily. "I'm just a little...uneasy."
"Nervous?"
"Hai."
He smiled. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much. You'll see." He took a sip of sake and savored the taste. He saw Tamasaburo lift the cup to her own lips. "Now, be careful with..."
She gulped the whole cup down in one swallow.
Toshio's eyes went wide. Tamasaburo covered her mouth with her hand and ran to the bathroom.
"Yeah," he said with a sympathetic wince, "You shouldn't do that..."
He could hear her coughing from the bathroom. A minute later, she returned, wiping her mouth with a towel. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.
He smiled. "Want to try again? Slower, this time?" he asked.
"Hai."
He handed her another cup. "Slow," he cautioned her. Tamasaburo sipped and closed her eyes.
"It's warm," she noted.
"I have something for you," he told her. "Kind of a graduation gift. It's not much."
"What is it?"
He took a small box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside was a red silk hair tie. "Turn around." Tamasaburo obeyed. She felt him untie her own hair braid and replace it with the new tie. "There. How's that?" he asked.
"Thank you," she said with a blush. "Doctor," she began, still not facing him, "I'm curious."
"Curious about what?"
"Can I feel...*every* emotion?" she asked.
"Well...I suppose so, yes."
She turned to him. "All of them?" she asked again.
"Hai."
She took a step forward. Toshio took a step back. "Even the more...intense emotions?"
He gulped. "Miss Tamasaburo?" he asked nervously.
"Doctor," she said, "Toshio..." She took another step toward him.
"M..M...M...M...M..." Toshio stuttered.
"I've been reading a lot in the past few days," she told him, taking another step closer. "Are there not emotions that are meant to be shared? Affection? Desire? Love?"
Toshio tripped over the back of a chair and fell to the floor. He looked up and found Tamasaburo standing over him.
"Um...Miss Tamasaburo...Really, I...Um......You see..."
She blinked. This wasn't going like it did in the book. "Toshio, when I awoke from the operation, you were there. You touched me, remember?"
"'Touched you?!' Now wait a sec! I'm a professi..."
"Here, remember?" She touched the side of her head. "You stroked my hair."
He didn't say anything. She leaned down next to him.
"At first, I didn't know what it implied. I just know that it comforted me. It was only after reading the educational materials that Mr. Masao brought for me that I began to understand that you had applied the concept of affection to me."
He blinked.
"I have since learned that affection can be mutual...and reciprocated." She reached out and touched his hair, gently running her fingers through it.
Toshio gulped. This was certainly unexpected. He knew the maiden circuit might make Tamasaburo unpredictable, but this was beyond anything he had considered.
"Toshio, what is a kiss?"
"Huh?" he asked, snapped out of his analytical reverie. "A kiss?"
"Hai. I've read of them, and I *think* I could reproduce one, but I don't know the significance."
"Well, it's...um...That is..." He started crawling away. Tamasaburo followed on her hands and knees. "Miss Tamasaburo, really...This is hardly...um...The uh..."
"Toshio," she whispered softly, just as the heroine of the books she read would do. "I have...strange feelings...whenever you and I are together. I feel warm inside..."
"Um...inside?"
"My bosom," she informed him, citing from her book.
Toshio began turning a bright red. Tamasaburo was looking at him in a very odd way, as if she had locked onto a target and was preparing to move in for the kill.
Only *he* was the target.
He tried backing up again, but his back hit the wall. He looked back at the wall blocking his path, then back to find that Tamasaburo's face was only an inch from his own.
"I feel affection for you, Toshio," she told him. "Isn't affection supposed to be shared?"
He gulped as he felt his heart beat quicken. "Tamasaburo," he said, "It's not that easy....You...You...You're a marionette..."
"No," she told him, "I'm a woman. With all the feelings, emotions, and desires that that entails." She closed her eyes and moved closer to him.
The back of his head hit the wall. She moved closer, and he ducked under her. "Miss Tamasaburo! Please! I...I...I...I...Have to go!"
He managed to climb to his feet and duck quickly out the door.
Tamasaburo remained on her hands and knees in shock. She had done everything the heroine in the book had done, so why did he run away? She didn't understand this at all. She rose to her feet. She felt so horrible, she thought she would be sick again.
He had shown her affection when he had implanted the maiden circuit in her, so why now did he flee from her when all she was trying to do was reciprocate that affection?
Kami sama, she felt so awful. That warmth, that comforting warmth she had come to enjoy had been replaced by ice. Her throat was tightening up just like before, when they had taken the puppy away from her.
She sat on the bed and looked up. The sake he had brought for her was still there. Absently, she reached out and poured another cup. She had felt warm when she drank it. Perhaps....
"You're kidding me, right?" Toshio asked.
"Nope," Masao told him, "Symptoms indicate alcohol poisoning."
"She's *drunk*?!" Toshio cried out.
"Yep. *Really* drunk considering it was only one bottle of sake. We recorded some of what she was moaning about." He grinned. "Hey, Doc, did you know you're the one who, and I quote, 'makes her loins burn?'"
"Kami sama," Toshio swore. "How is she?"
"Hung over." Masao turned, "Perhaps we should..." Only to find that Toshio was gone. "Hmmm."
He walked down the hall towards Tamasaburo's room and swore to himself again. It was his own fault for not watching her closely enough. He shouldn't have left her like that. She had obviously been in an odd emotional state, and it was wrong of him to abandon her like that.
He paused midstep. She hadn't been the only one in an odd emotional state last night. He took a breath.
(She's just a marionette,) he thought. (She's just a marionette.)
He wondered vaguely if this would happen with every marionette with a maiden circuit. Would they all suffer from the same affliction and latch onto to the nearest man? That wouldn't go over well.
He entered Tamasaburo's room and found it empty. He blinked a moment later when he heard the sounds of wretching coming from the bathroom. He walked in and found the marionette kneeling over the toilet. Her clothes were covered in vomit, and she looked even paler than usual.
"Kami sama!" he hissed. "Didn't someone come in here to help you?!"
He kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. A second later, her body heaved forward, and her head went into the toilet again as she threw up. Toshio winced and reached out, holding her hair back for her.
He shook his head in disgust.
"To...shio?" her voice came from the bowl. "I'm...sorry...Make it stop...please...I'm sorry."
"Kami sama," he whispered again. "I'm sorry, Tamasaburo san." Tamasaburo placed her hands on the rim of the bowl and started to push herself up. He took her shoulders and cradled her as best he could.
"Make it...stop...Toshio," she whispered. "I won't...insult you again...I'm sorry..."
"Shhhh," he whispered. "It's all right. You didn't insult me."
"I hurt...Toshio..." she murmurred. "Make it...stop...please..."
He held her and sighed. "I'm sorry, Tamasaburo san. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're going to have to just sleep it off like the rest of us."
He absently began to stroke her hair. She closed her eyes.
"Toshio," she murmurred, "Daisuki..."
He picked her up and placed her on the bed. He quickly undid her kimono and pulled it off her. Marionette or no, she didn't deserve to have to sleep in her own vomit. He finished pulling the kimono off and paused.
She really was beautiful.
He shook his head. What was he thinking? This wasn't the first time he had seen her this way. He had *designed* her for Kami sama's sake!
He quickly covered her with a blanket and tucked her in. She was already out like a light.
He watched her for a few moments, feeling ashamed for leaving her like that. He grit his teeth and balled his hands into fists. He stalked out of the room and looked down either hallway.
His target wasn't far away.
Masao was practically skipping toward him in glee. "We got some *great* readings!" he announced. "Imagine, the first marionette hangover! That alone is worth enough in research grants to..."
Toshio reached out and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. "Get out," he growled.
Masao blinked. "Huh?"
"You left her in there in *agony* so you could watch!" he growled again. "You left her alone in there to try to figure out what was happening to her on her own! Get out! You're fired!"
Masao's eyes went wide. "You can't!"
"I just did! I want you out of my lab and out of this palace!"
"Only the Shogun can..."
"Get out," Toshio hissed. "Or so help me, I'll call Baiko down here and have her drop kick your sorry ass to New Texas!"
Masao stammered. "I..I..."
"OUT!"
Toshio threw the young researcher to the ground. Masao looked up at him in awe. "She's just a marionette," he whispered in confusion.
"Not anymore," Toshio hissed. "Out."
"I see," Ieyasu said from his seat in the Imperial throne room. Baiko stood just behind him.
"Yes, Shogun sama," Toshio replied. "I apologize. It was stupid of me to forget to run such an important diagnostic. She'll be able to return to duty tomorrow. I apologize for the inconvenience, but such a test has to be run. It's my fault, Shogun sama."
"Hmmm..." intoned Ieyasu. "Well, she'll be ready tomorrow, and as you've noted, these tests are crucial. It's all right, Toshio, as long as you promise to be more aware in the future."
"Thank you, Shogun sama. I will."
"You may go, Toshio."
Toshio stood up, bowed, and started for the door.
"And do be more aware," Ieyasu called out at his back. "It'd be a shame if Baiko were forced to 'drop kick someone's sorry ass to New Texas.'"
Toshio froze.
"Wouldn't it?" Ieyasu said with a smile.
"Hai, Shogun sama," Toshio replied. He continued out the door. Ieyasu smiled.
"Baiko," he said, "I want you to place yourself at that young man's disposal. If he calls you asking for assistance, give it to him."
"Yokai."
Ieyasu looked at the door Toshio had left through. "Could he be the one?"
Tamasaburo opened her eyes and found Toshio looking down at her. "Toshio?"
"Feeling better?" he asked softly.
"My head hurts," she said.
He smiled. "You're hungover. It happens when you drink too much."
"I know, I just didn't think it would be so awful," she told him.
"You rest, okay?" he told her.
Her eyes went wide. "Shogun sama! I completely forgot! I..."
"It's okay. I took care of it. You can start tomorrow."
"Thank you, Toshio," she told him.
"Rest," he said.
"You touched me again," she whispered as he was turning for the door. "This morning," she clarified. "You stroked my hair again."
He didn't know what to say.
"I liked it," she whispered.
With that, she rolled over onto her side and fell asleep again. Toshio watched her for a moment before walking quietly out the door.
"So tell me, Tamasaburo," Ieyasu began, "How are you feeling?"
"Well, Shogun sama," Tamasaburo replied with a slight smile. She was sitting across from on the tatami mat. He poured some tea for her and handed her the cup.
"That's good to hear," he told her. "Doctor Yamada does good work, ne?"
Tamasaburo blushed and nodded. "Hai, Shogun sama, he does."
Ieyasu smiled slightly. The two were alone in the throne room. "What do you think of the good doctor, Tamasaburo?"
"He's...nice," Tamasaburo told him.
"Well, it's good that you think so, since he falls under your protection."
Tamasaburo blinked. "Shogun sama?"
"Tamasaburo, in centuries past, the protection of the Shogun was paramount because it was thought that his value exceeded that of anyone else. This has just changed. The ability to produce maiden circuits was lost centuries ago. Now there is only one man who can build them. If that man is lost, so is the greatest hope of our world."
The marionette blinked in shock. "You mean...Toshio?"
Ieyasu nodded. "I've ordered that Dr. Yamada remain in the palace and have guards detailed to watch over him. Would you like to volu...."
"Shogun sama! Please assign me to be Tos...Yamada sensei's bodyguard!"
Ieyasu arched an eyebrow. "I was thinking of assigning Baiko, actually..."
"Please, Shogun sama!" Tamasaburo begged.
Ieyasu pretended to consider the idea. "Can you remain close to him?"
"Hai, Shogun sama!" she cried. "If you order it, I will never leave his side!"
"Hmmmmm...Very well, Tamasaburo. You are ordered to protect Dr. Yamada."
"Thank you, Shogun sama!"
Ieyasu smiled gamely. "On your way, then, Tamasaburo."
"Hai, Shogun sama!" The marionette stood up and dashed from the room.
Once she had left, Ieyasu raised his voice and called out. "You can come out now."
A shoji door opened nearby, and Hikozaemon stepped out.
"You're wondering why I did that," Ieyasu concluded.
The Shogun's long time aide and advisor nodded. "Hai, Shogun sama."
"It would appear that Tamasaburo has *chosen* Yamada. If that is so, then in order for her to grow, she has to remain with him."
"I see, Shogun sama."
"We'll see what becomes of this."
"Thank you, Tamasaburo san, but I don't need a bodyguard."
"Toshio, I have been ordered to remain close to you by the Shogun, and that's what I inted to do," the marionette informed him.
Toshio scribbled something on his clipboard and handed it to another aide. He sighed. "Tamasaburo, it's okay. I don't need you to babysit me." He started for another lab. Tamasaburo fell into step behind him. He stopped. "W..what are you doing?" he asked.
"Escorting you," Tamasaburo told him.
He sighed. Again. "Miss Tamasaburo san...Please..."
"I cannot disobey Shogun sama," Tamasaburo told him with a smug smile. "You're stuck with me."
"Fine," he sighed. "Come on."
Tamasaburo smiled and followed Toshio around as he performed his duties in the lab. She watched him work with the other researchers, some younger than him, others years older. She didn't say a word the entire time. Simply being able to stand next to him was enough for her. That warmth had returned. Even so, her newfound sense of curiousity got the better of her.
"Toshio, what's that?" she asked, pointing at some errant object on the lab table.
"It's a handheld micro scanner," he told her as he checked the readings on another computer.
"And what's that?"
Toshio looked up. "My lunch."
"Oh..." Tamasaburo put the small box down. She watched as Toshio typed in a few commands into his terminal. "What are you doing?"
He looked up at her and smiled. "You *are* the curious one, aren't you?" he commented. Tamasaburo looked away in embarrassment.
"I'm running a baseline for a test I need to run."
"Oh...Can I help?"
He nodded. "As a matter of fact, you can. Hop up on that table, would you?"
"Hai." She obeyed and sat on the exam table.
"Okay, now lie back."
She lowered herself onto the table until she was staring up at the ceiling. She heard the scanner whir on and tried to stay perfectly still. The scan worked up and down her body, concentrating mostly on her chest.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Hmmmm..." he intoned. "Your signal graph is still fluctuating."
"Signal graph?"
"It's a visible representation of the distribution of the energy pulses from your fusion cell to the rest of your systems. When the maiden circuit was installed, it had an effect on how those pulses were distributed. It's just off by a little."
"Oh...Am I...okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it's just off by a percent."
"Am I done?"
"Yeah, here..." He reached out and helped her off the table.
"Toshio," Tamasaburo began. "What would you like for dinner?"
"Huh?" he asked, blinking.
"Dinner. What would you like me to prepare for you?"
"Um...Tamasaburo san...you don't...um...have to do that..."
Tamasaburo looked at him. "It would be my pleasure. Isn't that the role of a female in a monogamous relationship?"
"Huh?!"
She clarified it for him. "The role of a human female in a monogamous relationship with a male is that of nurturer, isn't that right?"
"I..I...suppose...But..."
"Then it is only fair that I cook for you." she smiled.
"Um...Do you even know how to cook?"
She blinked. "I'll learn."
"Ah...well...er...That still doesn't mean that you're...that you're...my...um..."
"Lover?" she asked innocently.
The blood drained from Toshio's face. "Lo...Lo...lo..."
"Are we not lovers?" she asked curiously. "We've shared affection for one another on several occasions. Doesn't that term apply?"
"Miss Tamasaburo..."
"I should go start on your dinner. Excuse me."
With that, the marionette walked regally from the lab.
"Huh," he blinked. "That's odd. I thought she said she wasn't supposed to leave me un..." He took a step backward and hit something...
Well...two somethings...
Attached to the front of a larger something...
He turned and found Baiko standing there.
"Oh! Um...Miss Baiko..."
"Doctor," Baiko said in greeting.
"Um...Can I help you?"
"No."
Toshio nodded. "Ah..."
He began walking from the lab. Baiko followed him.
"So..." Toshio began uncertainly, "What do you think of Tamasaburo?"
"She's...less efficient." Baiko told him flatly.
"Oh. Well...She's still getting...you know...used to the circuit."
Baiko said nothing.
"If it turns out to be successful, Miss Baiko, you would also be a candidate for...well..." Baiko waited for him to finish. "You know....a maiden circuit."
Baiko arched an eyebrow. "Since being given one, Tamasaburo's efficiency rating has dropped to less than fifty percent. She's become distracted by unimportant things and, at times, blatantly irrational."
Toshio just blinked in surprise.
"If that is what it means to have one," Baiko told him, "Then why would I want a maiden circuit?"
"Well...I....That is...."
Baiko waited patiently for him to answer.
"You'd just have to experience it to know," he finally told her.
"Thank you, Doctor, however I believe I will pass on your offer."
"Hmmmmmm...." Tamasaburo thought to herself. "Perhaps it needs more salt..."
She picked up the salt shaker and began shaking it over the fish she had been preparing. Cooking was harder than it looked, but she found she was enjoying it. She looked at her creation and felt a sense of achievement.
"This will work for sure," she told herself. "It's ready!" she called out, picking up her creation and walking into the tiny dining room in Toshio's apartment with it.
Tamasaburo had decided to try a different approach. It was obvious to her now that Toshio wasn't looking for a steamy romance, so she had searched through the educational material she had been provided and had found an alternative.
Toshio wanted a nurturer.
She found the whole thing fascinating really. She had been disappointed when he had spurned her advances earlier. He *seemed* to like her, so his retreat had been questionable. She had researched, and now understood that he was looking for something more subtle.
So she decided to try a new tactic.
She entered the dining room, decked out in her red apron and white dress. She smiled brightly and placed the tray in front of him. She sat across from him the smile on her face growing.
Toshio looked down at the...dish...and gulped. He couldn't readily identify it. He looked up at the marionette and tried to smile.
"You *really* shouldn't have..." he said.
"I don't mind at all!" Tamasaburo told him with a wave of her hand. "Here, let me help..."
"Um...help?"
She moved around the table until she was sitting next to him and picked up a pair of chopstick with her left hand. She snagged a piece of fish, coated in some unidentifiable sauce, and brought to his lips.
"Er...Miss Tamasaburo..."
"Open up," she ordered.
"Really, I...Oomp!" His protest was cut off as Tamasaburo shoved the fish into his mouth.
Pools of water welled up in his eyes. His throat threatened to close up. He desperately tried to keep from vomitting.
"Well? How is it?" Tamasaburo asked.
Toshio gasped.
"Be honest. I want to please you," she implored.
One thing that has to be remembered, is that Toshio had never met a woman, had never been close to one...
And had no idea that the proper course of action in a time like this was to lie his ass off...
"Well...It's...um....a little salty..."
Tamasaburo's face fell.
"And...well...it's a bit too spicy..."
Her face fell further.
"I...I see," she whispered.
Toshio blinked. "Is something wrong?"
She turned away. "N..Nothing." Her shoulders began to shake.
He blinked as he realized something was wrong. "Tamasaburo san?"
"It's...It's okay..."
He looked down at the food and wondered how long she had been working on it. "It's good! I swear!"
"No...No, it's not..."
"Yes, it is!"
"Please don't lie to me, Toshio."
He sighed. "Tamasaburo...I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you?"
"Toshio...could we....would you..."
He waited for her to finish.
"Could we cuddle?"
He blinked and began to stammer. "Cud...cud..cuddle?"
"Hai," she whispered, moving closer to him.
"Um..."
"What's...What's...'cuddling?'" he asked, unsure that this was a good idea.
Tamasaburo smiled and reached around, putting her arm around him. She scooted forward until she was nestled up next to him. "It's like this," she told him quietly.
"O...Oh..."
She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Toshi chan?"
(Toshi chan?!)
"Um...yeah?"
"Could you do something for me?"
"Errr..." he blushed bright red as Tamasaburo moved against him.
"Could you call me..." She moved her finger in little circles on his chest. She leaned up and whispered in his ear. "Tama chan?"
He gulped. "'Tama chan?'"
"Yes?" she replied, resting her head against his shoulder again.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, his voice in a squeak.
She sighed. "Hai..."
"Um...Tamasaburo san?"
"Tama chan," she whispered, correcting him.
"Maybe I should..."
Her hand moved downward...
"GO!" he cried, shooting to his feet. "I should go! I have a lot to do in the lab! Burning the midnight oil, and all that!"
He rushed from the room as fast as his human legs would carry him.
Tamasaburo sat on the pillow at the table and stared down at it. Baiko entered the room from outside.
"Dr. Yamada has left," the green-haired marionette noted.
Tamasaburo felt a warmth in her breast. No...not warmth...heat...fire... She grit her teeth.
She was so...so....so....
She growled and punched through the table!
Baiko arched an eyebrow.
"THAT...THAT.....THAT.....IDIOT!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Baiko stared down at her partner. "Your dinner did not go well," she declared.
"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH HIM?!" Tamasaburo yelled. "I'M KIND! I'M CHARMING! I'M BEAUTIFUL! WHAT'S WITH HIM?!"
"He's a man," Baiko told her.
"And I'm a woman!"
"You're a marionette," Baiko corrected her. "You are a machine."
"What difference does that make?!" Tamasaburo demanded, glaring up at Baiko.
"I imagine, to a human, it makes a world of difference," Baiko told her calmly.
Tamasaburo sighed and looked down at the floor. "Why should it?" she asked quietly. She sniffled.
Baiko arched another eyebrow. "Do you require assistance?"
"Yes," Tamasaburo replied pitifully.
"What do you need?"
"Come here," Tamasaburo told her. Baiko approached and knelt next to her. Without warning, Tamasaburo grabbed her and hugged her.
Baiko wasn't sure how to react, so didn't as Tamasaburo began to cry into her kimono.
Toshio stared down at the koi in their watery prison and envied them. They had no idea what it was like to have to deal with ambitious researchers, the Shogun, or an overly amorous marionette. He sighed.
He really didn't know what to make of Tamasaburo. Was this a malfunction? Was this *his* fault? Maybe the timing chip in the maiden circuit was bad. He didn't know.
He turned as another reflection joined his in the pond.
"Shogun sama," he greeted Ieyasu with a bow.
"What keeps you out here this late at night, Toshio?" Ieyasu asked him.
Toshio sighed. "It's Tamasaburo, Shogun sama. I think...I think I've failed."
"Oh?" Ieyasu arched an eyebrow. "She seemed perfectly normal to me."
"How can that be normal?" Toshio asked him sadly. "I took a top of the line saber marionette and turned her into a...a...a *basketcase*! She's overemotional, erratic, weepy..."
"Yes, she's normal," Ieyasu told him. Toshio looked at him in confusion. "She's normal for a typical, human female."
"Oh, no, no, no!" Toshio said, turning away in disbelief. "I refuse to believe that half the human population used to act like *that*!"
Ieyasu laughed. "You would be surprised. Toshio, I have some of my progenitor, the real Ieyasu's, memories with me. Some of those include his dealings with females...One in particular. You'd be amazed at how two seemingly totally different *species* could exist and be absolutely lost without having each other."
Toshio was silent.
"Think for minute how *she* feels, Toshio," Ieyasu went on. "She is now the *only* woman...artificial or otherwise, in all of Japoness. Think about how...utterly *alone* she must feel." Toshio bit his lip. "And the one man who no longer treats her as a machine...is beginning to think she's a mistake."
"I...I see."
"Toshio, I won't lie to you. I know how difficult a position you are in right now. Other men in your position have faced discrimination, insults, even violence..."
"What position?" Toshio asked.
"One where a man is closer to a marionette than is...socially acceptable." Toshio blinked in shock. "But it's important that you keep an open mind. Very important."
"I...I think I...understand, Shogun sama."
Ieyasu smiled and nodded. "Good, Toshio. I tell you what. Why don't you and Tamasaburo come to dinner tomorrow night? The New Texas ambassador will be there."
"I don't know, Shogun sama. I...I mean...well...Tamasaburo san can be...well..."
"I'm *insisting,* Toshio," Ieyasu told him.
Toshio paused. "Love to," he said simply.
Ieyasu's smile broadened. "Good! Be sure the two of you wear something nice." With that, the Shogun turned and walked away. Toshio said nothing and watched him go.
Toshio returned to his suite to find Tamasaburo kneeling on the floor in front of the door. Her eyes were cast downward. She wouldn't look at him. He noticed that the table was almost completely destroyed.
"Um...Tamasaburo san?"
"Doctor Yamada," she began quietly. "I...I wish to apologize for what happened earlier. I..." she broke off. "I became angry at you...and destroyed your table. Gomen nasai."
Toshio took a deep breath. An angry marionette. That was not something he wanted to see. Yet he knew that he carried the bulk of the blame here. He slowly got on his knees and faced Tamasaburo, whose eyes were now wide with shock.
"No, Tamasa...Tama chan," he corrected. "*I'm* sorry. I haven't..um...been taking your...your...feelings...into account. Gomen nasai."
She didn't say anything for a whole minute, then she seemed to come back to her senses. "No, Toshio sensei! I'm at fault! I should have...I shouldn't have....I..."
"It's okay, Tama chan," he said quietly. He smiled for her benefit. "It's just that...our little experiment is a little more...unexpected than expected..."
Tamasaburo just stared at him. "What does this mean?" she asked.
"It...well...means that we should...um...be more open...about our feelings...and well...not be afraid to express them. That's...that's the...um...mistake I made, you see. You were expressing your new emotions, and I...well..." He searched for a word, "Squashed them," he finished.
She smiled at him. "No, Toshio sensei. You've helped me realize them."
"Well..." he began, "Now what?"
"Are you hungry? I could cook..."
"No, Tama chan," he said. Tamasaburo's face fell. "I'll cook for you," he said. He smiled. "And if you like, you can watch me, and I'll teach you how to make a sandwich....It's...um...the only thing I know how to make."
Tamasaburo smiled and blushed.
"Oh!" Toshio said, suddenly remembering, "Tomorrow night we're invited to a dinner with Shogun sama and the New Texas ambassador."
Tamasaburo blinked. "You mean a...*date*?" she asked hopefully.
"Date?" Toshio asked, no grasping the concept.
She smiled. "I'll explain it as you cook."
Author's Notes:
Okay, I found this lying around in a folder in an old diskette and thought it was a shame I never published it. I've been finding a lot of files like that lately that I intend to publish, just to see which stories are worth finishing and which aren't. Let me know, okay.
Davner