Chapter 1 - Naota’s Home
I’m not getting up today.
Naota reached over to snooze his alarm, but his Doraemon clock escaped him.
That dumb cat.
The ringing intensified. It wasn’t an alarm clock. It was static in his head.
Naota groaned and Haruko’s bass thrummed in the corner.
She’s out there living it up. Doing anything she wants. Adults are so lucky.
Naota ran through the events from yesterday again for the hundredth time, stuffing his face into his pillow.
She fought me. And I let her win. And she left. Atomsk left too. And like a little kid I took the toys home and went to bed before curfew. Not that I could sleep.
The bass thrummed again in the corner. As if to say that the boy was a loser.
Naota had slept in his clothes. His room was a mess, especially the top bunk. The blue rickenbacker bass was reclining against the window sill; its usual spot.
Naota rolled out of bed cringing when his head erupted in a second of static.
He kicked off his clothes and threw on some sweats and his hoodie.
“Nothing special happens here, the steam from the medical mechanica plant, everyday same time, it makes the adults dumb."
Naota looked out the window at the off-kilter iron shaped medical mechanica plant. The sky was clear. The sun beat down on the streets, unobstructed by the city’s usual steam.
Or it used to. This is going to be a hot summer.
The bass thrummed again.
Haruko used to tune that thing all the time. Up there, on my brother’s bunk. Well it’s not his anymore. And it’s not hers either.
The static surged and Naota brushed the bass’s strings. The vibrations calmed his static but it didn’t leave completely.
Was she manipulating my head?
Naota tuned the bass for a while. But nothing he did made a difference.
Pawing at the door caught his attention. He opened the door and found Miyu, the family’s cat.
“What?” Naota asked. “Are you going to talk today?”
Miyu gave him a dirty look and sauntered away.
“Dumb cat. Dumb adults.” Matias grumbled.
The bass twanged and he stepped out into the hall, shutting the door on the unruly string instrument.
-
Naota paused in the hallway down stairs. Unable to look into the family room.
What am I worried about? She’s gone, and she’s not coming back a third time. She's never coming back.
He stomped into the room and nearly tripped over Canti. The lanky robot sat dumbly beside the tv, reflecting the news.
“Hey TV Boy!” Kamon whined. “Change the channel already!”
“He’s dumb now, like everyone else.” Naota said.
“Quiet!” Grandpa shouted. He was ogling the news woman on the TV.
“…according to the mayor’s office, clean up and construction crews will be hired to rebuild the city. Anyone without a home, if you have not called the city planner yet, the number is at the bottom of the screen. If you are looking for work the city is paying for people to clear rubble and you could be contracted to help rebuild when the time comes.”
They’ve never talked about the giant robots before. Or the damage done to the city. Is it because this time it was so much worse? I mean the whole city was devastated.
The news feed switched to a view of the medical mechanica plant, construction robots were erecting a scaffolding around the building. They were the same model and Canti but yellow with black stripes. Each one wore an over sized black hard hat.
Now that’s different. They’ve never shown the robots on TV.
The broadcast showed a few more locations while the new woman walked in front of a green screen. They panned past the school, blocked roads, downtown full of rubble. For a moment they saw Naota’s teacher shouting into her phone with half her car scrapped in the background.
“Surprisingly there were no reported casualties. Anyone who would like to file a property damage claim against MM can join a class action at city hall. Be prepared to show proof of purchase and a total itemized list of the damages.” She said.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Static buzzed and Naota had to look away.
-
A figure crept up to their uraguchi.
Is someone at the back door?
Naota threw the door open and Mamimi stared sheepishly at him. When grandpa looked over he scowled.
“What do you want?” Naota asked as he stepped out onto their back porch and closed the door.
Mamimi hiked a small duffel bag up on her shoulder and looked at her feet.
“Well my house was destroyed yesterday.” She said. “So we are leaving town.”
“Oh. Where are you going?”
“To my aunt’s. She’s a photographer.” She said and brandished her camera.
“Cool.”
“Is Canti-sama home? I was going to say goodbye.”
“He’s watching TV. But he’s dumb now. He doesn’t do anything anymore now that everything happened.” Naota said.
Mamimi looked sad for a moment and then looked back over her shoulder.
“When are you leaving?” Naota asked. “You looked packed.”
“We are walking to the bus stop after this.” She replied. “By Naota.”
She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks for saving the town chief!” She called back over her shoulder as she ran away.
Huh, she sure seems happy.
-
Naota stood in the kitchen staring into the fridge.
Nothing in here but grandpa’s Ramune.
Naota grabed a bag of chips from the counter and broke them open. He scarfed down half the bag and the static in his head calmed down a notch.
Dad's supposed to run a bakery but he spends the whole day glued to the TV. When a customer walks I'm the one that answers the bell.
Naota stood in the hallway watching to the mayor talk on the television.
“…the terrible disaster yesterday, a gas explosion originating at the medical Mechanica facility cascaded along gas lines throughout the city.”
The mayor clasped his hands together in a moment of silence before continuing.
“Many of you lost your homes or place of business. Many of you are without working water or electricity. Rest assured we are responding to the situation.”
The mayor gave his winning smile.
“And if you are looking for work, the city is hiring folks to work to clear the rubble.”
“How unlucky! Our house wasn’t damaged at all. We even still have power and water?” He whined. “We can’t get any of that class action money!”
"We don't need the money!" Naota shouted. "We run a bakery. Go bake some bread and make some money!"
Is someone coming?
A bell chimed at the front of the house.
"Could that be a customer?" Kamon asked as he laid back on the floor and picked at his belly button lint.
Naota’s head buzzed and he turned towards the bakery, then he spun to look at the back door.
What’s happening?
The connecting door to the bakery burst open and agents in black suits and sunglasses stormed in with guns drawn. They flooded in from the back door and rushed down the stairs from upstars.
Did the come in through the bedroom windows?
"Nobody move!" They shouted.
"Naota! It's for you." Kamon said.
Two more agents came down stairs with Haruko's blue bass. They were wearing thick rubber gloves and holding the guitar at arms length.
The hallway was filled with agents. Amarao Kanrikan, Commanding officer of the Bureau of Interstellar Immigration stepped between the crowd and stopped a few steps away from Naota.
"Where is she?" He asked.
"She who?" Naota replied.
Amarao removed his sunglasses and gave Naota a heavy browed stare.
"You know who. Raharu." He said. "Haruko."
"She's gone." Naota replied again.
You saw her leave too.
"So she left you here all alone too. Same old story, Same old Raharu." Amarao said snidely. "Just a sad little kid without his housekeeper."
He gave a signal to the two agents holding the guitar.
"Bag it." He said. "And now you have nothing to show for your troubles."
-
Amarao and Naota are sitting at the kitchen table. An agent is standing behind Amarao holding a flashlight and shining it in
Naota’s eyes while Amarao reads from a file.
“Nandaba, Naota. Sixth grade, Mabase Elementary School. Over the last month you have been involved with several incidents my agency is very interested in.”
“I don’t recall.” Naota said, looking away.
“A known associate of one Haruhara Haruko, you harbored an intergalactic fugitive kid.”
“She was an ordinary housekeeper.”
“Didn’t seem so ordinary when she fed you to a doomsday robot.” Amarao said. “And when you two were flying around hitting each other with guitars, is that ordinary too?”
“Never had a housekeeper have you?” Naota said.
“Funny. So she taught you how to swing.” He said. “Then she took your guitar. She used you kid. That’s what she does. You are just evil X number 8 now.”
Naota’s head buzzed and he winced.
"What about that girl? Samejima." Amaro asked.
"Mamimi left town."
“I only want to help her, she is sensitive to N0. And she’s involved with Atomsk. She could be in danger.” Amarao said. “If you see her, you are to notify an agent immediately.”
Naota’s head buzzed harder and the flashlight flickered in the agent’s hand. Amarao smiled.
“Having an astral being come out of your head. Even for you that must have really hurt.” He said. “Should have listened to me. You should have kept your eyebrows on.”
Amarao placed a metal briefcase on the table. He turned it towards Naota and opened it dramatically. Inside was a pair of glasses and a bottle of Crystal Pepsi firmly outlined and held in place by black foam.An agent came forwards and took the contests out of the case and poured the bottle out into both glasses.
“Drink up.” Amarao said as he picked up one of the glasses.
“I’m not thirsty.” Naota replied.
“You like sweet things. Sweet drinks taste better. It will help with the static.” Amarao said. “And we will issue you some new eyebrows. Keep them on this time.”
Naota picked up the glass and looked at the Crystal Pepsi skeptically.
They don’t make this stuff anymore, is it safe to drink?
“Why do you care?” Naota asked.
He sipped on the soda and the pressure in his head went away some. He took another sip then gulped it down and the static went away completely.
“Yes. That’s it.” Amarao said and reached across the table to slap eyebrows onto Naota’s head. “Looks good on you. Keep them on this time.”
Amarao took another sip of his own glass.
“If you feel like your N0 is building pressure you tell an agent. Drink something sweet. Think happy thoughts. Be a kid dammit.”
“Yeah sure.” Naota said.
“Good. Now, you remember the the Galaxy Space Police Brotherhood and the Pirate Lord, Atomsk.”
Naota nodded.
“Well it’s my job to protect the entire planet from them.” Amarao said.
The agent behind him coughed and said something indistinguishable. The flashlight wavered until he got himself under control.
“I’ve had run ins with Raharu in the past, she’s been on our most wanted list, and on Medical Mechanica’s list for a while.” Amarao said.
“So what now? You going to send me to jail?” Naota said.
“Of course not. You are just a kid Naota. Stop pretending to be an adult. Let us handle things.”
“Seems like you needed my help solving problems more than once already.” Naota said. “I did save the town and all.”
“You were also part of the equation leading to those problems!” Amarao shouted, then calmed himself. “That guitar is dangerous, it was causing your N0 to build up.”
So it was true.
“The Bureau of Interstellar Immigration considers the Rickenbacker evidence against Haruko Haruhara. You are a victim in all of this.”
That’s it? Am I really a victim here?
“Because of your involvement in the event the Bureau is calling ‘The Climax’ you are sentenced to four hundred hours of community service.” Amarao said matter of factually.
“What? That’s ridiculous! That’s my whole summer!” Naota shouted.
“Exactly. You want to get involved with adult business? Then you clean up your mess like a responsible adult. You will learn from this Naota and be better for it.” Amarao said.
“That’s not fair.” Naota said.
“See that’s good. You sound more like a kid already.” Amarao said and stood up to leave. “You start your community service tomorrow. An agent will pick you up and drop you off.”