ON:
Yukari returned from the kitchen area, having stowed the other riceballs in the fridge and finished off her milk. She pushed her ponytail behind her. She smiled to Miyoko as she made a mental query to Miharu, who replied with the necessary answer. "Ashitaka-Heisho is sleeping. We will have to be quiet."
"He's sleeping in the medlab?" Miyoko believed in getting to know one's workspace, but not that well. She'd just have to be extra quiet--she was in no mood to deal with the medical officer at the moment. "I also made an inquiry about the Chui's backups. It looks like she has one on board."
Yukari paid mind only to the last statement as they started to walk to the med lab on Hoshi. "The agreement that led to her assignment to our vessel involved her leaving the NH-27 body she had and transferring to an NH-29 body. I do not know if we can restore her to the NH-27 she had before."
"Well, I doubt she's going to be very pleased... though she could always use the 29 until she's able to get access to her previous version again." Miyoko didn't seem particularly concerned, but then, she'd willingly traded off her NH-17 body for a Yamataian one... she saw the change from NH-27 to the less warlike 29 as a good thing. "I'm sure she'll understand that we're working with what we can do at the moment to get her back on her feet as soon as possible."
Yukari and Miyoko touched down on the main deck and continued to the medical lab. "I also hope so ... but she was quite adamant about her 27-type body. It is common enough for SAINT to lend its personnel more powerful bodies than regular Star Army." Yukari recalled how Aoiko's dull goldish eyes had hardened at the idea of giving up her stronger body.
"I expect that there are restrictions that make it practically impossible for us to create one for her?" Miyoko actually wasn't that familiar with such things, having little experience with creating new bodies for people. "If we can't give her one, we can't give her one. I'd expect that a trained soldier can accept that."
"That is what I do not know ... and our medical officer is not in a position to tell us." The door to the lab opened quietly. Several patients were still inside, a couple of them talking, but mostly they had the room to themselves. The patients talking noticed Yukari's pin; she relieved them of attempting to bow before she approached one of the hemosynth tubes. It was not in use. "Can you prepare her soul back-up, Heisho-san?" Yukari said to her.
Miyoko nodded in response to the question, trying to remain quiet, given the circumstances. She crossed over to the Soul Transfer machine and began the slow process of retrieving the Chui's backup... though, admittedly, most of the reason it was slow was that it had been a while since Miyoko had used the machine. Finally, she found the most recent one. "All set."
Yukari nodded, as she was quietly attempting to manipulate the hemosynth machine. However, there quickly appeared to be a problem, one Yukari frowned at. "Shimatta," she said quietly. An inquiry went to Miharu, and returned with a very unsatisfying answer — Aoiko had not Soul Transferred to an NH-29 body; thanks to SAINT, she had created a copy of herself. The old one still existed, somewhere. She cursed again before telling Miyoko this.
" ... Well, that's inconvenient. And highly illegal, to my understanding. Is this something we'll need to direct to the Taisa?" Miyoko tapped her chin thoughtfully, eyeing the backup.
Yukari frowned. "It is a personnel matter. I will not bother the Taisa with it, but now we must handle it with caution." She looked at the volumetric projection of controls hovering above the tube's surface. "The back-up we have now is an illegal one. That we now know. But Miharu discovered this through passive means; we have yet to fully connect with PANTHEON. I am not sure we should, even for this."
Miyoko nodded. "Well then, shall we proceed as planned, or call it off for now over the nature of the backup?" Miyoko was in no particular hurry to risk her career by dealing with an illegal backup.
The Shosa's frown deepened. "We must do something ... she is a comrade, even if she engaged in an illegal act." Another passive probe by Miharu indicated the body was likely still at Kyoto Base, stored in much the same way as Yukari's NH-22C body. "Hm."
Miyoko shrugged. "We have a backup... we can always have Miharu erase her memories of finding out about the other body and proceed. If anybody asks, we can just claim that we were unaware that she had an existing body. Plausible denyability."
"That does not eliminate the other body, and we will know we have committed an illegal act." Yukari's intentions, while laudable, were restraining in this situation. "We also do not know if there are conditions under which the other body will 'wake up.' ... " The look in Yukari's eyes harkened back to the situation with Kotori and her Empress counterpart.
"We could try to report it to SAINT and let them deal with it. If they're the reason she has two bodies, perhaps they care enough about her to handle it themselves if we provide our backup to them... or can at least provide some guidance."
Yukari thought about that. "I am not sure we can risk connecting to SAINT in any fashion. Especially with her on board." Her meaning was clear. "We should first find out about the other body."
Miyoko nodded, giving a bit of a sigh. "As usual, we're on our own. Well then, what do we know about this other body?"
" ... The medical facility in Kyoto Base is substantial. If we contact them, perhaps they can assist us. They are not SAINT-affiliated, and we can mask the source of our transmissions." Miharu confirmed this. "You, as a Heisho, would not raise suspicion."
"I suppose that if it's SAINT's doing, then, there's a cover story in place saying that it's just a soulless body."
Yukari nodded at that. "That is likely, yes. I had not considered it ... perhaps we will need to be more careful about this. We cannot allow the body to come alive before the soul backup here is given to them."
Miyoko nodded. "If they're using that cover story, then it should be rather easy to find out if the body's there... rather more difficult to find the circumstances that are supposed to lead to it being woken up."
The Shosa left the hemosynth tube, making sure the patients who were awake were not paying attention, which they thankfully were not. "If it is in storage, we might have the opportunity to load the soul backup into her mind without waking her. We will not know unless we try."
"Right..." Miyoko followed behind Yukari. "In that case, is the plan to try finding its location so that we can do so? It seems like the easiest way to avoid breaking the law while still preserving the most recent backup."
Yukari paused, holding her upper arms as if she were hugging herself. Her eyes looked up at the ceiling, but she turned to face Miyoko. "It is all we can do. At least we have only one body to be concerned with." A glance to Sanjuro confirmed he was slumbering soundly. Yukari felt pity for him; combat and healing other combatants had wasted him far more than the others. "You are ready to try?"
Miyoko nodded. "I can just say I'm medical staff on a starship... it's close enough to the truth, and it will give me a good enough reason to be asking." She followed Yukari's glance to Sanjuro rather less empathetically, briefly considering just how she could take advantage of the situation... unfortunately, most of her plans would require Yukari to not be present.
"Miharu, please connect us to Kyoto Base's medical facility, and mask our location." The computer complied without any thought. Yukari moved out of sight as a small projected screen came up for Miyoko's benefit. On the other end was a Yamataian man with reddish hair, a clean-shaven face and freckles below his greenish eyes. He turned his gaze from a panel, presumably on his desk, and looked at Miyoko. "Kyoto Base Medical, how can I assist you."
Miyoko dipped a shallow bow to the man's image. "Hello. I'd like to inquire about a body that one of our crew members may have left in your care... She's in need of restoration from her previous backup, but we're trying to decide whether to create a new body for her or use the one that she left in storage." It was pretty close to the truth, really. "Would you be able to check on its status for me?"
The man — a Joto Hei in green, just like Miyoko — nodded. There were small circles under his eyes; he didn't look very good. "Name and rank?"
"Nitô Heisho Saito Miyoko." She idly hoped that her records weren't hidden away thanks to black ops buggery.
The Hei shook his head, rubbing the tiredness from one of his eyes. "The deceased's." He had looked at her rank pin. "Unless you're looking for your copy." Yukari, off-screen, tensed.
"Ah, no, I'd just assumed there would be more verification. Chui Murasaki Aoiko." Miyoko almost added the secretive nature of Aoiko's usual missions as a possible explanation if her rank was a few levels lower in thepublically-available records, but decided to let it go for the moment. Hopefully seeing her line of work would be enough to make the man realize.
"Verification? Don't have time for that anymore," the Hei said, getting up from his chair. He kept the screen in front of him, giving Miyoko a very partial view of the background, which was filled with hemosynth tubes and beds. "I think I know that name, though. She's a spook, right? The ones with crazy eyes are always spooks."
Miyoko nodded a bit hesitantly. "You could say that. So you'll understand if I must decline to answer certain questions."
"Yeah," he replied. "SAINT's always like that. I remember when this body came in; I didn't even get to check it. Just logged it and shoved it in a corner." The Hei's lips formed a crooked grin. "Hey, you got almost crazy eyes. You a spook, too?" More patient beds passed by, but when a wall passed in the background, there were many rows of faintly glowing tubes, bodies vaguely visible inside.
Miyoko liked to think that her eyes weren't crazy. Well, maybe a little. Perhaps people would be a bit less likely to mess with her that way. "Well, spook scientist. I'll just say this--three-headed Nekovalkyrja. Wave of the future." She added it in a quite dry tone, hoping the man would pick up on the sarcasm. "Once you're to the body, could I please have a visual of it?"
It seemed a fair enough request... and could be quite useful if they had to find it later.
The man laughed loudly, but nothing stirred behind him. He was far into the storage area. "Oh man. A spook with a sense of humor. Heisho, I'm asking you on a date if I ever see you again. Even if you have to kill me afterward!" He laughed louder.
Another triumph for Miyoko's winning personality. Fortunately, the picture of the place she was getting from the discussion was making their job look fairly easy--it didn't seem like there was a lot of security. "Good thing you're in a room full of sound sleepers," she added at the laughter.
"You have no idea," he replied with the crooked grin. He turned the screen so Miyoko could see — a row of tubes on both sides of a corridor perhaps four meters wide. They were all glowing in the some otherworldly light. "We're getting more of these now, from Geshrin upgrading to better bodies. Yours is one of the few Neko we have."
"Well, that ought to make her easier to find, at least..."
"Yeah," he replied, the tiredness creeping into his voice again. A few more seconds passed, and he stopped. He then turned and faced one of the tubes; its glow was the only light visible. The screen adjusted to filter some of the light, revealing Aoiko's face with eyes closed and arms crossed over her body. "Chui Murasaki Aoiko, I presume."
"Ahhh." Miyoko scrutinized the image for a second to make sure that it was their target. "That would be her, yes. Thank you for your assistance. We'll need to decide just how to handle things now that we're certain she has an existing body, but I'll get back in touch if we need anything."
"Heisho, with all due respect ... if ya need a hand, I can help." The screen came back to the Hei. "You got a soul backup, right?"
"Yes, we do. Are you suggesting that we send it and have you take care of uploading it if we decide on that course of action?"
"Can do you one better. Her chamber's hooked to our transfer network, so you can send it remotely from your ship over PANTHEON. I can give you a dedicated route for it." He rattled off a sequence of numbers that Yukari and Miharu memorized. "It's safe, I think. I know you spooks worry about that."
"Of course, thank you. Wouldn't want somebody intercepting the soul transfer and making a copy of her, after all." The irony was delicious. "Well then, you've been quite helpful. Is there anything else?"
"Ahuh ... well, shit. How about your next leave date? I'll pick you up." He grinned.
"Well, I could tell you, but then I really would have to kill you... which would be a bit awkward, since I imagine we've both taken Hippocratic oaths. I think I have a fairly good idea of where you work now, though, so perhaps the next time I have leave on Yamatai..." Miyoko left the implications hanging.
The Hei's grin broke out into something going beyond joy. Working with the injured, dead and inanimate might do that to a person. "You're on. I work the evening shift. Take care then, Miyoko." He winked at her.
Miyoko chuckled a bit. "You too. And keep an eye out for the three-headed nekos... might be a good time to buy stock in hat companies." With that, she terminated the transmission and turned to Yukari. "Well, that was rather easier than I expected."
Yukari smiled sheepishly, rubbing her cheek. "You are a better actor than I would have been," she said. "And for him to — to pursue you that way! Some men have no sense of professionalism."
"Well, it was rather easier since 90% of it was basically the truth if you squint at it long enough. Should we proceed?"
"Yes, though I believe there is little to do. Miharu, will you transmit it, please?" The ship affirmed, and all was completed. The backup left the ship.
"Easy enough. That's one crisis averted."
Yukari gave a firm nod. "Nn! It is good to have solved it so quickly, and with the least amount of intrusion. Now we must worry about restocking the ship, which should take longer, but be less stressful."
"Of course." Miyoko nodded. "Is there anything else you'll be needing from me?"
Yukari shook her head. "You have done your duty well for the day, Heisho-san." The Shosa bowed. "Thank you for your assistance."
"My pleasure." With that, she turned and left the room, eager to get as far as possible before Sanjuro awoke.
END
