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Of Light, Shadow and Love: Volume 2 Chapter 3 Assistance
Outside,
Tohru and Lightsider shared a smile and a kiss, and Tohru went back inside.
The doctor lingered, though. He wished he could go back in with her. When he
was with her, everything was perfect. It was only when he was alone did he
feel the weight of his centuries again. A sound
by the street caught his attention. A man was standing there, seemingly lost
in thought. Lightsider’s face broke into a grin. “Caduceus-san!
What brings you to the UFL?” “Hmm?”
Upon hearing the voice behind him, Iain Caduceus turned from regarding the
morning sky. “Oh, hey, Lightsider! I’m here because my roommate is, I’m
afraid.” Lightsider
looked concerned. “Renee? What happened? Is she all right?” Caduceus
sighed. Lightsider could see that he was unusually pale, even considering the
fact he spent almost all his time indoors. “She got hurt during our
expedition into the OCSB basement. Tohya-san couldn’t heal her because of her
magical origins. I can’t imagine what I was thinking when I brought her.” Lightsider
rubbed his chin. “The OCSB basement? I don’t even want to think about it.”
Lightsider looked back into the hospital. Vacation or no, if Caduceus-san’s
friend was doing badly... “Is she doing well under standard treatment?” “Oh,
yeah, she’s doing fine. She wasn’t hurt that badly, but she’s never been
injured before, so they’re keeping her pretty drugged. She likes the CPAE...”
the technomancer smiled wanly. Lightsider
relaxed a bit. It was always hard to be away from his work. “Everyone likes
CPAE. It’s mildly addictive, but. . . .” Lightsider shrugged. “Renee should
be fine.” “I
figured as much. The Hospital has always had the highest standards of medical
care in the city, as far as all the records go.” Iain yawned briefly, and
said, “What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be working?” Lightsider
gave a weak smile. “I’m on an enforced vacation. They think I’m overworked. I
had to sneak in to see . . . uh . . . to check on some things. Nearly got
caught, too.” The doctor gave a small chuckle, and glanced at the lobby doors
a little nervously. “Doesn’t give me much to do with my time, I’m afraid.” “Oh, I see.
That would explain that request for the VR adaptor you wanted put in at One
Yen. I was wondering about that.” Caduceus’ customary smirk returned briefly,
before being overtaken by another yawn. “My people should be installing it
any time.” Lightsider
suddenly had the aspect of a puppy that had heard kibble falling into its
dish. “Yeah? I’m dying to try that out! Heh. That’ll be some good practice!” The
technomancer blinked. “Practice? Practice doing what, dodging pies? I thought
they had a no pie zone around the hospital now.” He looked at Lightsider
quizzically, his curiosity piqued. Lightsider
shifted uncomfortably. “Well, they may lift that restriction at any time, you
know,” he said hesitantly. “I need to keep in practice if I don’t want to
change clothing every ten minutes.” “Ah,
right.” The smirk was back. “And of course there’s when you’re not in the
hospital. I’d think you’d get enough practice dodging pies in real life,
though. If you need to practice medical stuff, I think some of the guys over
at Kuan-Yin have some programs of that sort.” Lightsider
looked at Caduceus for a moment, and then sighed. “It’s for combat
simulation,” he admitted. “After the kidnapping incident, I felt like my
fighting skills could use some updating. It’s been a long time since I’ve had
to fight.” Caduceus
raised an eyebrow at the doctor. “A long time? How long could it have been?”
He paused, then shrugged. “Well, if you want any large-scale combat sims, I
could have them installed, too.” “That
would be great, Caduceus-san,” Lightsider said, real appreciation in his
voice. “Some variety might be nice.” “No
problem. You want long arms or small?” the technomancer reached into his
flapdoozy and pulled out a cell phone. Lightsider
seemed confused for a moment. “Long arms?” he asked. “You
know. Rifles, shotguns, Link Guns, Rotary Cannons?” “Oh, of
course!” Lightsider said. “As I said, variety is nice. You never know what
you’ll come up against in this town, eh?” The doctor smiled a bit. “Oh. So,
both? Any heavy weapons?” Iain was looking curious again. “Like
explosives and missile launchers and stuff?” Lightsider asked. “Aw, why not.
Seems to be typical around here anyway. If it’s not too much trouble, give it
the works. It’ll be fun to play with.” For an instant, Lightsider seemed much
more confident and self-assured than he had previously been. Only for an
instant though. “If it’s not too much trouble, that is,” he said meekly. “All
right...” the technomancer paused in mid dial. “Works meaning... melee weapons,
too? Unarmed combat simulations?” “Oh,
especially melee weapons,” Lightsider said, almost too hastily. “Uh, I mean,
they can be the most dangerous of all. Oh, by the way, does the mental
interface and feedback include negative feedback, like fatigue and pain? I,
uh, would like the best simulation possible.” “If it’s
not too much trouble,” he added, almost as an afterthought. Megatokyo’s
premier magitech developer looked a little offended. “Of course. Who do you
take us for, Sega? Yeah, it has all that. You’ll hardly be able to tell
you’re in a simulation.” He dialed the phone, and quickly gave whoever was on
the other side a quick but thorough description of what Lightsider wanted.
Several moments later, he hung up, looking satisfied. “There. All set. I
guarantee they’ll be done before you could possibly arrive. Unless you
teleport.” For a
moment Lightsider looked like a kid in a candy store. “That’s perfect! It’s
far more than I’d hoped for.” The doctor seemed to have a thought, then.
“Hey, will it allow more than one player?” he asked. “Oh,
yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. You asked for it to be set up in one of the
private rooms, and those usually support eight players. It should support
however many the original equipment supported.” “Thanks,
Caduceus-san. I really do owe you one,” Lightsider said with a grin. “No
problem,” Caduceus replied, looking satisfied. “It’s what I do. You paid us
enough for it, certainly. Anyway, I probably better get….” He paused, as a
thought seemed to strike him. “Oh, Lights….” Lightsider was struck by the
sudden change in his friend’s tone. It was neither his usual business-like,
straight-to-the-point tone, nor the dry inflection he used whenever he was
teasing someone. It sounded apprehensive, something Lightsider had never
heard from the man before. “I just
wanted to mention,” Caduceus went on, “the other day, when the nurses were
kidnapped. You clearly figured it out, but the information I gave you was
wrong...” “Oh,
that. It’s okay, Caduceus-san. We do all make mistakes, and it turned out all
right in the end.” Lightsider smiled slightly. “It actually probably would
have turned out better if we had listened to you. A lot of people wouldn’t
have died unnecessarily.” Caduceus
looked away. “Actually, probably not. I would have been sending you into a
trap. A Mihoist was forcing me to give you false coordinates. It was a good
thing you ignored me, and that the YLF didn’t follow their original plan.” Lightsider
put his hand on Caduceus’s shoulder. “A lot of us did things that day we
regret,” he said gently. “All’s well that ends well, as they say. It sounded
like you didn’t have a choice, anyway.” Lightsider could feel the man’s
fatigue and pain radiating from him. He sent a small pulse of Light through
the technomancer, just enough to give him strength to deal with his friend’s
injuries. Not enough that he would notice, though. Iain
subtly relaxed, but stayed quiet for a while. Finally, he said, “Yeah, there
really wasn’t a choice. My security system’s better now, at any rate.” He
smiled at the doctor, then stretched, and said, “Well, if I’m not there when
Renee wakes up, I’m afraid she might go Magical Girl again, and that wouldn’t
be pretty. I better head back in.” “Thanks
again, Caduceus-san.” Lightsider said, bowing. “You don’t know what it means
for me to be able to practice again. My regards to Renee, eh? Oh, and stay
away from that OCSB food from now on. You should know by now it’s unfit for
human consumption. Not to mention the other way around.” Caduceus
sighed and shook his head. “I would, Lights, I really would. But Renee’s
always wanting to see her ‘Asimov-sensei.’ Still so much I don’t understand
about this whole situation. Anyway, I’ll tell her you said hi; she has fond
memories of you from when you let her eat those pies while she was visiting
me during my duct tape adventure.” Lightsider
grinned as the technomancer went on. “And enjoy the VR. It’s a good system;
the Errant Knights train using the same one.” He paused. “The instructors are
very realistic, and very good.” “I hope
so,” Lightsider said, almost to himself. The remark was so soft that Iain
would have never heard it, if the traffic in front of the UFL hadn’t stopped
for a red light right about then. Caduceus raised an eyebrow, but didn’t
remark. “Ja ne, Caduceus-san!” Lightsider said, and started down the street,
with a final, worried glance at the UFL lobby doors. “Have
fun, Lights. And I’ve told you, you can drop the formality! Just call me
Caduceus. Or C-kun!” Iain yelled after him. Then, still smirking a little, he
headed back inside. As he did, he summoned up his holo-top. On the screen
were what looked like statistics for what may well have been a VR system.... Lightsider
headed down the street, momentarily happy. He was looking forward to this,
especially since he’d been captured so easily by Shadowdancer. Lightsider
shook his head. There she was again, in his mind! Couldn’t he stop from
thinking about her for five minutes? Lightsider was starting to really hate
himself for that. He’d just spent the morning with Tohru, but he still
couldn’t stop thinking about that damn Mihoist. What is wrong with me? Lightsider thought, for the umpteenth time
that week. ----- Lightsider
stopped by the little grocery store near his apartment on his way home. The
tiny old woman was tending the shop today. The good doctor gave a smile and a
casual bow at the woman’s cheery ‘‘Irasshaimase.”1
He poked around the cluttered store, and finally decided on some tofu and a mabodofu2 packaged mix. A little
old man came in the door, lugging a large case of nappa cabbage. Lightsider reached over automatically to help him,
and the old man grunted in thanks. He was the other half of the couple who
owned the shop. The man and the woman started a good-natured argument, she
insisting that he take it easy, and he suggesting that the cabbage wouldn’t
walk to their store to be sold on its own. Lightsider
smiled at the banter. It was as if they’d had the same argument every day
since they’d known each other. There was no animosity, no real argument
there. It was just their way of expressing their affection for each other. The good
doctor left the store, nodding at the couple’s joint “Arigato Gozaimasu!” as he left. Their argument picked up again
practically mid-syllable. Lightsider had a smile on his face all the way back
to his apartment. As he walked, he looked at the contents of his bag again.
Lightsider had learned to cook rather well over the years, and he actually
knew a few good recipes for this type of mabodofu,
but he rarely took the trouble. In any case, most of the recipes he knew were
a little much for a single person. And most of them weren’t very good for
you. Lightsider
chuckled to himself at this thought. As if he’d die of a heart attack. The Kami wouldn’t let him off that easily.
The
doctor’s expression darkened then, thinking about how many times the blade
turned away on its own, or the water refused to drown, or the poison simply
had no effect. Lightsider made a face at the memory. Well, no effect other
than to leave the most awful taste in the back of your throat for a week,
anyway. Eventually, he’d just given up and accepted his fate. No, the Kami never let you off easy. He shook
off the gloom as he fumbled for the keys to his apartment. The past was the
past. He put away his groceries, and flopped down on the couch, feeling
strangely restless. He got up and puttered around his apartment. He sat down
again, on the bed this time. Maki, the doctor’s tiny black cat, pretended to
wake, and gave a little chirping purr. Lightsider
scratched under Maki’s chin absently. He suddenly felt a little lost, a
little . . . empty. After a
moment, he got up and got Maki a treat. Then he left. It was a
strange feeling. Lightsider almost felt pulled along his usual wanderings
today. He wondered what . . . . He
passed in front of an alley when the good doctor heard a small squeak and a
scuffle. He looked and saw two punks assaulting a girl in a junior high
school uniform. The doctor rolled his eyes. This must have been why. “C’mon,
she’s a little young, don’t you think?” the doctor said, in a bored tone that
implied he’d said the line many, many times before. “Get
lost, you. We’re busy,” one of the punks said. Lightsider
sighed. Every time the same. He didn’t even bother to argue. The two punks
had stood up and were reaching for knives when the doctor became a blur of
motion. His targets didn’t even have the ability to track his movements as
the doctor closed the several meters between them. Both his hands came up,
and in a rapid, staccato and precise series of movements, made an identical
pattern of taps, pushes and presses against each man’s torso. The men
both froze, the expressions on their faces locked in disbelief. Lightsider
looked past them. “Let’s
go,” the good doctor said gently, making coaxing motions with his hands.
“They won’t hurt you.” The
young girl stared at him, and then at her two attackers. She suddenly broke
into tears and scampered away. Lightsider
smiled as he watched her run away. They almost never thanked him. But, that
was okay. He wandered off again, glancing back at the two punks. They’d be
locked for another ten minutes or so. He hoped they didn’t need to go to the
bathroom or anything. That was always embarrassing. Eventually,
he found himself in front of the One Yen Arcade. Lightsider smiled brightly
at the sudden memory of what Cadu… C-kun had done for him. He strolled into
the noise and brightness of the virtual worlds inside. 1 A common greeting by shopkeepers
in 2 A spicy Chinese dish composed of
tofu, pork and miso, as well as a variety of spices.
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