----
Copyrights, etc: Tenchi Muyo! and all corresponding characters are the properties of AIC and Pioneer. 
Joseph, Mizra, and Loknar belong to me. They're bored because I didn't write for a month due to various 
reasons.

Mizra (with wand-sword): Write or I'll break you.

O_O

Then write I shall....

Notes, etc: This chapter takes place directly after Locked In - TM OAV 22, OC Chapter 9.

There will be some violence in this chapter, but probably not as much as the last.  First, it will concentrate 
on the home front, with Washuu, Loknar, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, etc before getting to the Lock Sector.  
This chapter will end with an action scene, the next chapter beginning at the Masaki house, like this one.

The next part will be the last in the Lock Sector trilogy.  However, I might make small minifics about this, 
that I will insert in when I have spare time.

It'll be a bit serious in parts of it.
Also - Sorry I didn't write for a month...

::Crowd boos and throws fruit at him, he dodges most of them::

School has been harder than ever, driving in assignments and reports that seem so useless that there are 
times where I go home and just sleep. -_-  

Hopefully, this will work...

Loknar, 3/27/02

Fanfic Began: 3/27/02. Fanfic Finished: 4/27/02

BTW, the Orion Chronicles are one year old today! :D
http://www.loknaroforion.org
Email: loknar_kun@hotmail.com
AIM SN: XLoknarX

----

Tenchi Muyo!  OAV 23 - Nagi's Key

(Orion Chronicles, Chapter 10)


Katsuhito smiled, sitting on a hill overlooking the house.  Soft music came from him, as ancient and as 
majestic as the land on which he sat.  The strings that he plucked sounded much like the words of the 
Earth, reverberating through time.  He had fashioned the koto fairly recently, in an attempt to occupy 
himself.  The wood was still unsanded, and the strings weren't tight enough, but it still worked.  He looked 
off into the sky, still playing quietly.  He remembered the ships a few days before, flying overhead, 
battling each other like mad hawks, Mizra's ship picking off the GP ships as if she was a wolf among 
lambs.

"Tenchi..." He thought, playing a soft chord.

"Morning, Lord Katsuhito." Loknar said, coming down to sit by him.  "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Hello, Lord Tassixar.  You aren't disturbing me at all." He replied, smiling briefly.

The wind rustled quietly, the grasses moving like waves in a sea of green.  A ladybug fluttered about, 
zipping from plant to plant; a flash of red on the lilies, two on the grass, finally coming to stop on a Royal 
Teardrop, stationed at the bottom of a hill.

Katsuhito's eyes narrowed.  How he hated that flower, the shade of the setting sun, the death of the day, 
the birth of the night.  If there was one thing which he despised, it was that flower.  A flower of sorrow, 
always there when it shouldn't, interrupting happy times with war, prejudice, and sadness.

But how could he hate a flower for what it was associated with?  The flower itself was not sentient, nor 
did it cause such things.  It was mere superstition getting the best of him once more.  He sighed, and 
turned to Loknar.

"From one man to another, why is it like this?" He asked, a question not spoken since he had left Jurai.

There was a brief silence, as Loknar thought of a suitable answer.

"It is because it is.  For every thing, there is a reason.  You know that as much as I, Yosho."

"I know, I know." Katsuhito said in response, sighing, and looking over the landscape, his eyes setting on 
the house.

A feminine figure stood in the fields, attempting to do something with an old, rusted hoe.  A soft 'Damn it' 
flew through the air, and the two men cracked a smile.

"Since he's been gone, its' been driving her insane, you know.  Washuu has told me that Ryoko's thought 
patterns are empty and bored - Without him, there is nothing to do."

A softer 'That's not how you do it, Ryoko!' followed, as another figure raced onto the fields, grabbing the 
hoe.

"Ayeka, leave me alone!  I want to do it!" Ryoko called back to Ayeka, trying to grab the hoe back, the 
both of them pulling on it.

"Girls, that thing looks pretty rickety.  It will break in a matter of seconds if you keep pulling on it like 
that!" Loknar called from the top of the hill.  The absence of Tenchi had caused them to butt horns once 
again, a usual reaction for the two.

"I'll be fine, Dad." Ryoko called back, cupping one hand, and emphasizing the word 'Dad', using her 
fingers to quote the word.

Loknar smiled, and continued to watch, until a small silvery, almost shining cabbit landed on his 
shoulders.

"Mya!" Kii-Ohki called, purring, then jumping down and sitting on his lap.

"Someone's happy to see ya." Washuu said, walking up with her, and sitting down by Loknar, who kissed 
her gently.  She looked toward Ryoko and Ayeka, smirking.  "They're going to break it, and it isn't going 
to be pretty."

"I told them that, but do they listen?  Kids these days." Said Loknar, his long, cloud-white hair shining in 
the sun of the early afternoon, just after lunch.  He was startled suddenly, but relaxed as Washuu arranged 
his hair in a ponytail, and he began to pet the young cabbit.

"Why do you like playing with my hair so much?"

"Because." She said, putting a hair band in.

"Women.  Science still hasn't found out why they act this way." Loknar said jokingly, Washuu gently 
pulling his hair as a retort, and grinning.

The hoe that Ryoko and Ayeka were fighting over finally broke, sending Ryoko into the field and getting 
muddy, while it sent Ayeka onto the grass, leaving a stain.

"This is one of my best dresses, you monster!  Now it's all green!" Ayeka yelled at her.

"No it isn't!  Mine's dirtier than your attitude, Princess!  It was my damn good dress, and I had just 
washed it!" Ryoko replied, the two of them seemingly ready to fight.

Washuu sighed, rolling her eyes, then getting an idea.

"Kii-Ohki, can you do something for us?" She asked.

"Cao!" She replied, transforming.

"I'm gonna beat the crap out of you, Ayeka!" The space pirate yelled, ready to strangle the princess.

"Not if I annihilate you first!" Ayeka responded, ready to do the same.

They both stopped as they saw Kii-Ohki's spaceship form flying overhead.

"Myao!" She cried, the ship looking very metallic, sleek, and powerful.

"What the hell...." Ryoko mumbled, seeing the faint outline of a small Lighthawk wing on the top of her, 
the beginnings of two more appearing soon after.  The two women stared at it, as suprised as Loknar, 
Washuu, and Katsuhito by the odd addition to her.

Sasami, Ryo-Ohki, Ken-Ohki, Funaho, Misaki, and Noboyuki came out of the house, and watched it, 
quietly.

"She's cute and she has Lighthawk wings!  She's amazing! ^_^" Misaki bubbled, the only one who seemed 
oblivious to what was before them.

"I bet she's related to Mihoshi." Loknar said after awhile, referring to the eccentric Juraian queen, who 
now hugged Kii-Ohki tightly, in her cabbit form.  

"Probably.  We need to do some tests on Kii-Ohki first.  This was certainly unexpected." His fiancee 
replied, getting up, followed by the two men behind her, and walking down the hill.

Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki cocked their heads and looked at their daughter, unsure as to why she possessed 
a Lighthawk wing, yet they had no such power.

"Cao?" Ken-Ohki asked her about the wing.

"Nyao." She replied, not having even been aware of it.

"Kii-Ohki, can you come with us for a bit?  We need to perform some tests about your Lighthawk wings." 
Loknar asked, as Misaki passed the cabbit to him.

Kii-Ohki cocked her head, just like her parents, not understanding.

"We'll show you inside, 'kay?" Washuu asked, the two genius scientists walking into the house, and going 
straight to the lab with the young animal.

"Myaaa?" Ryo-Ohki asked Sasami, wondering if Kii-Ohki was allright.

"She's okay, Ryo-Ohki.  She has some kind of Jurai power, though, so Tassi and Washuu are going to see 
why." She replied, picking up both cabbits, and hugging them, reassuringly.

Katsuhito thought to himself for a moment.  He had thought of training Sasami in the art of the sword, 
like he was doing with Tenchi, but now he certainly couldn't do it today, after this discovery.  She would 
be worried about the little cabbit, and wondering how it acquired such power.  He knew every princess of 
Jurai should know how to defend herself: Ayeka already certainly knew, but Sasami had very little 
experience in such things, besides some Zeraian martial arts training with Joseph.  He sighed, his mind a 
jumble of mixed thoughts, and went back to the shrine to rest for awhile.  An old man like him didn't need 
this to think about, did he?

Loknar placed Kii-Ohki down on a cushion on a small examining table, petting her gently.

"May we do a spectral and astral analysis of you, Kii-Ohki?" Washuu asked.

"Cao." She replied, nodding.

"Okay.  We just need to put a little hat on you." Washuu continued, Loknar placing a small plastic device 
on her head, which attached a few harmless sensors onto her.  A control panel nearby automatically began 
to blink.

"Results already?" Loknar asked, rushing to the panel.

"What does it say?" Washuu replied, following him.

"She definitely has some kind of Juraian power.  I'm not sure what, however.  She has one fully developed 
Lighthawk wing, and two that are almost finished.  If we turn on the Astral wave lamp, we can see them 
growing."

Washuu turned on a small lamp, and sure enough, the very faint outline of a tiny Lighthawk wing could 
be seen in back of Kii-Ohki, and two smaller ones, still growing, nearby.

"Remarkable..." Washuu said quietly.

"This will take some further testing." He said, then putting his hand on his forehead for a second, as if to 
condense his thought process.  "On a hypothesis that I am getting off the top of my head, I think it has 
something to do with Funaho, Ryu-Oh, and Miri-Oh."

"Exactly what I was thinking...Would it be possible for a tree to partner itself with a non-humanoid entity 
as well as a normal humanoid, in a trinity perhaps?"

"The thought is intriguing, my dear.  We may have just stumbled onto a Rosetta stone of knowledge on 
the secrets of the Juraian trees and their properties!" Loknar beamed, kissing his fiancee deeply, who 
kissed back.

Kii-Ohki was still confused as to what was happening, so she took this time to wash herself, as the two 
scientists got romantic for a bit.

---

Ryoko mumbled under her breath about Ayeka, as she flew toward her room, phased out of her dress 
which dropped onto the floor, and phasing into another one, still mumbling loudly.  Ayeka was always 
like this - Flirting with HER Tenchi, annoying her, bothering her, and causing foolish setbacks.

Ayeka mumbled under her breath about Ryoko, as she stomped toward her room, took off her dress and 
put it on the dresser, then quickly putting on another one, still mumbling about that 'demon girl'.  Ryoko 
was always like this to her - Trying to steal HER Tenchi, insulting her, berating her, and spreading idiocy 
throughout the house.

The two of them came back downstairs, and sitting down on the couch.  They looked at each other and 
glared for a minute, but then stopped, oddly laughing.

Noboyuki stood nearby, and he looked perturbed by this.

"What's happening?" He asked, cocking his head just like the cabbits did.

"Just a silly fight, Lord Noboyuki.  Ryoko broke a few things and I cleaned them off."

"No, my-future-father-in-law.  Ayeka did some stupid crap so I put it away."

"Stop lying, Ryoko!"

"You first, your royal sap."

"But it was just a rake." He said, turning his head counterclockwise.  "Anyone seen my shoujo manga?"

"Misaki has it.  She and Funaho are raiding them and hiding them away for some reason." Ryoko said, 
turning on the TV, and putting her feet up on the table.

"What?  DEAR GOD NO!  I LIKE THEM, BUT THE MANGA IS GOOD TOO!" He cried, desperately 
trying to find them.

"Hentai." The two women said at once, then laughing.  They looked at each other, and laughed harder.

"WHERE ARE THEY?  WHERE ARE THEY?!?!?!?"  Noboyuki called, until he saw Misaki and Funaho 
holding two of them.

"But...Why?" He whimpered.

"You're a bishounen now.  You won't need those anymore." Funaho replied, hugging him.

"You've got us." Misaki added, hugging him too.

"...You've got a point." He replied, grinning, and hugging back.  A thought then crossed his mind.  "If I 
got together with one of..."

They released him, and glared.

"Both of us." They said.

"Well...the both of you..." He gulped, the two hugging him again, "Would I be a king of Jurai?"

"Not really.  Illegitimate boyfriend of the two queens of Jurai, to be specific." Funaho whispered in his ear.

He smiled.

"Sounds good to me." Noboyuki said, blushing as the two queens glomped him.  "Will I still have to work 
as an architect?"

"I don't know.  What ever you want." Misaki responded.

"Ah well.  Still sounds good. ^_^ "

----

Sasami sat at a chair next to the kitchen counter, the two elder cabbits beside her.  In her hand was a 
photograph of the group - her family - right before almost half of them disappeared into the Lock Sector.  
It had only been a few days, but she already missed them desperately, like her soul had traveled with 
them.  She specifically missed Tenchi and Joseph, who acted like the two kind big brothers she never had.  
She also wanted to meet Arti and Nagi, who she hoped would become part of her family as well.  Arti was 
very much like Joseph and Tenchi; warm, empathetic, strong, and intelligent.  He also had little cat ears 
and a tail, so he looked quite cute.  Nagi seemed to be like Ryoko yet acted the opposite; withdrawn, 
somewhat quiet, hiding her feelings.  She might be able to get her to open up, once she came back with 
them.

"Caao." Ken-Ohki said softly, trying to say that they will be back soon.

"I know, I know...I just miss them so much."

Ryo-Ohki looked toward the lab, where she sensed Loknar and Washuu feeling very joyous, and doing 
some unscientific things with their lips, while Kii-Ohki sat there, bored silly.

"Mya?" She asked, wondering if Sasami could hear what they were saying.

"They said she had Juraian power." She said, remembering to what she heard moments before, behind the 
door.

The cabbits' ears perked.

"I know it sounds impossible...I'm not really sure about it either.  We'll just have to wait and see."

She sighed as she saw her mother, her aunt, and Noboyuki walking by, arms around each other.

"Father never did know how to deal with people.  Mama and Auntie Funaho could never really get that 
close to him." She thought, shaking her head.

Katsuhito came inside, and smiled at Sasami.

"Hello Yosho!" She said, smiling back.

"Hello, Sasami.  Would you like to learn how to use a sword, like Tenchi was?"

A warm smile came across her pretty little face.

"Yes!"

Katsuhito smiled as well; he now had something to do other than brood, pray, and play with his koto.

Ryoko and Ayeka, curious about the place where Tenchi, Joseph, Mihoshi, Kiyone, Nagi, and Arti were, 
walked into Loknar and Washuu's lab, unfortunately while the two geniuses' lips were locked, the two 
young women blushing deeply, and a bit of blood coming from Ayeka's nose.

"Miss...Miss Washuu.  Mr.  Loknar.  Can we bother.....bother....bother.....bother you for a moment?" 
Ayeka asked, barely able to spit out the words, as she was quite embarrassed.

"Yes?" Loknar asked, smiling at her.

"Could you two tell Ryoko and I about this 'Lock Sector' where Tenchi, Joseph, and the others are?"

"Surely!" Washuu beamed, a small screen coming down, and a movie beginning to project on it, narrated 
by the both of them, movies of the Lock Sector on the screen.

"What is this, one of those cheesy school movies?" Ryoko asked.

"Shut up and watch, young lady!" Washuu pointed.

"The Lock Sector.  Its' very name suggests a sector of space completely separate from the rest of the 
galaxy.  This is true, but it has not always been this way.  Before a hundred years ago or so, this block of 
about 1000 stars was part of the Galactic Union, and a major GP base.  However, an unknown entity 
installed hyperspace dampeners on the area, preventing ships from entering or leaving its' out perimeter, 
thus 'locking'  it from the rest galaxy.  The criminal Mizra Akaji Zonah got through using an unknown 
hyperspace technology (we assume), while GP forces followed her." Loknar's narration spoke, showing the 
sector, the old GP base, and a picture of Zonah.

"After this sector was separated from the rest of the galaxy, a small period of anarchy occurred, in which 
the GP base was wiped out, replaced with a faux security force.  The sector is genetically made up of a 
mix of species, some of the majorities being Juraian, Seniwese, Mirsanese, and Nikzarian.  The Sukiani 
star system is the capital of this sector, and its' main planet, Kanraz, is home to Utopia City, in which one 
of the main governmental bodies of the dominant nation of the sector, the United Dominion of Sukiani, is 
housed." Washuu's narration spoke, showing a graph of the genetic makeup, a diagram of the Sukiani 
government, and its' flag: A large blue circle on a white field, with something akin to a double-sided tilted 
version of the Earthly peace sign made of white in the middle of it.

"Well, at least they're in good hands." Ayeka said, referring to the heavy Juraian population there.

"It should also be made clear that the entire sector has high crime, due to the lack of a real, official police 
force.  Organized crime is strong here, especially among the Juraian Mafia, known as the Pirate Guild, 
which was influential in the establishment of the Juraian Royalty." Loknar's narration added.

"I knew you were a Mafia princess!" Ryoko laughed at Ayeka, who get very angry.

"That was thousands of years ago when the rest of the galaxy was uncivilized!" She exclaimed, fighting 
with Ryoko while the movie continued to roll, and Loknar and Washuu laughed.

----

Back in the Lock Sector, Arti sighed as he stood in a long line at the supermarket, with a cartful of food 
and other goods.  Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Nagi stood by him, smiling at some of the things that they had 
picked out which weren't really needed.  Mihoshi had bought a large amount of candy, parfait mix, ice 
cream, and a lot of other junk food, as well as a hefty amount of pop culture magazines.  Kiyone bought a 
lot of caffinated soda, CD-R discs, rice crackers, mints, as well as a few romance novels and shounen-ai 
mangas.  Nagi had ironically picked out a few humor magazines, some weights, music, a small radio, and 
a toolset.

"Uh...This line is ten items or less, guys.  We have like....500." Arti whispered.

"Doesn't matter." Nagi responded, smiling.  "They won't care."

"I bet they'll kick us out of the line, and we'd have to find another."

"If they do, I'll kick the crap out of them, and they'll have to find another job."

Arti sighed, his recent knowledge of Nagi's logic already beginning to set in, telling him that it was futile 
to argue with her.  Arti only bought a few things that were off the list of needed supplies - Hard lemonade, 
one or two engineering and scientific magazines, as well as a Maxim-esque magazine that Kiyone 
repeatedly had tried to put back, saying that it was 'perverted', and that he was a hentai.

"Kiyone, can we buy this too?" Mihoshi asked, pointing to a tabloid.

"It's trash, Mihoshi." Kiyone replied, knowing how it would end.

"I know, but it's fun to look at!  Here, this one says that we're all just part of some elaborate anime or 
movie!"

Kiyone smirked at that.

"That is about as shameful as they get, Mihoshi.  We aren't buying it."

"But..."

"No."

"I won't tell Arti about the shounen ai magazines in Yukonojo if you do." She whispered.

"I hate blackmail.  Fine, Mihoshi." Kiyone mumbled.

Mihoshi happily put the cheap tabloid into the cart, as they neared the front of the line.  Eventually, they 
got through the line, checking out, and putting the groceries into Yukonojo.

"What's next on the list, blondie?" Nagi asked Mihoshi.

"We all need new clothes."

The three girls smiled, and Arti sighed.

"Women, clothes, and the universe - Three things which I will never understand." He muttered, steering 
Yukonojo to a nearby mall.  They got out, and headed toward a popular clothing store, Arti stopping at the 
store right next door to it.

"New lingerie sale, eh?" He said to himself, his tail flipping mischievously, as he looked at the video of 
the models.

"C'mon, neko-hentai!" Nagi yelled softly, pulling him into the normal clothing store with the others.  
They were already trying on new outfits.

"Let's not get too expensive.  We're on a budget, allright?" He said to the others.

"Mm-hm." They replied, obviously not really listening.

He finally decided to try something on, to stave off his developing boredom; It wasn't polite to look at 
women trying on clothes, and he couldn't see what was going on in the dressing rooms, anyhow.

"Does this make me look like my butt is fat?" He asked, wearing some new jeans as they came out, having 
made most of their selections.

"Actually, buy it.  It allows us to see more." Kiyone told him, blushing.

Arti flushed bright red, and ran back into the dressing room, changing out of them, and getting normal 
clothing in his size.  As they stood in line once more, there was a small TV mounted above them, most of 
the sound drowned out by the pop music in the background.

Arti suddenly got a chill on the back of his neck, the hairs standing up.  It was a feeling that something 
terrible had just occurred, something of the magnitude of the slaughters that had taken place during the 
Galaxian-Melkarian Civil War.

However, the TV remained the same, displaying a poorly-made sitcom from the backwoods of the galaxy.

He breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that he had just imagined what he felt.  That hope was shattered a 
moment later, as the music stopped, and televisions all over the store displayed a horrific scene.

A large library in the heart of Ersatz City was on fire, with a large number of victims being pulled out of 
it.  Blood stained the passageway, as emergency crews rushed to the scene; fire crews desperately trying to 
put out the blaze, while 'security forces' rushed in to see who was still alive.  The security could be heard 
yelling inside, and bringing the few wounded out, followed by the many, many dead.

A beleaguered news correspondent, his clothes a bit ripped, and his hair ashen, turned to the camera, 
breathing heavily.

"There has just been a huge shooting at the Zorit Neighborhood Library.  There are at least dozens dead, 
very few survivors.  The building has been set on fire by whoever committed the attacks.  From what has 
been spoken by the survivors indicates that a woman with long red hair burst in, and shot up most of the 
people with an odd weapon that set them on some kind of black fire, the missed shots hitting the walls, 
and causing those to be set ablaze as well.  This is breaking news, and one of the worst scenes that I have 
witnessed in my life." He spoke, becoming a bit teary.

Kiyone and Mihoshi put their hands to their mouths, while Nagi glared at it, Arti just shutting his eyes 
and trying not to think about that odd feeling that he had earlier.  Many other people in the building were 
screaming, the people ahead of them just running off, leaving their purchases at the store.  It was then that 
Arti realized that Joseph and Tenchi were supposed to be around there.  His eyes widened as this 
realization occurred, and he slammed the exact amount needed for the group's clothing, took the clothes, 
and left, the two GPs following in stunned silence, while Nagi just looked on ahead.

Yukonojo had heard the news already, and instantly opened the door for them.

"Let's go!  Hurry!" The ship called, the four of them racing in.  They flew off, scanning the landscape 
nearby with their eyes, frantically, especially when they got to the Zorit neighborhood.  The burning 
library was soon in sight, with the throngs of people gathered around it, and the victims being pulled out.  
Arti winced as part of the building collapsed, Mihoshi and Kiyone shuddering.  There were tears in 
Mihoshi's eyes, and some in Kiyone's as well.

Nagi looked in the direction of their apartment building, and saw Joseph and Tenchi trudging towards it.

"There they are!" She called.

"Yukonojo, please land!" Mihoshi exclaimed.

"Yes ma'am." He said, setting down right by the two young men.  They were sweaty, and looked 
exhausted and obviously very upset.

"Tenchi!" Mihoshi called, running up and hugging him, then his brother.  "Joseph!"

Kiyone smiled weakly at them, in the hopes that they were all right.

Joseph had a look in his eyes, one of horror, rage, and fatigue.  It was a look that Arti had seen before, 
when Joseph came back from the war.  A thousand mile stare, it was called.  Without speaking, Arti knew 
that Joseph and Tenchi had seen the slaughter up close.

"I'm going to kill Mizra." He said to his friend.  His already dark hair was now a deep black, as if the 
atrocities that he had seen made him so angry that his emotions physically manifested on his body.  Arti 
noted that when he had seen pictures of Joseph when he was very young, his hair was almost blonde.

Arti knew that Mizra had to be behind the mass slaughter of innocents.  It just seemed natural that if she 
was as ruthless as she sounded, she probably would do something like this.

Tenchi had a look of absolute exasperation on his face, his mind unable to determine what to do.  His 
hands seemed to shiver, his pupils the size of pinholes.  His mouth was wide open, the absolute epitome of 
horror upon it.

"Let's go back to the apartment.  We all need time to think." Nagi said, her voice like the wind.  Her fists 
were clenched very tightly, as she thought of Mizra.  She then whispered: "I shall kill her, too."  She 
turned away from the others as a lone tear came from her right eye, which she promptly wiped away.

Ako-Ohki had been with them all this time, sitting on Nagi's shoulder.  As usual, he was quiet, observing 
the world and thinking.  He could perfectly understand the situation, as he was slightly more intelligent 
than most cabbits, and in his opinion, more mature, even though he was still quite young.

"Myao." He said quietly, pointing with his paw at the faint wisp of a figure.  Nagi turned, and looked at it.  
It was a phantom woman, looking at Nagi oddly.  She seemed to be a mix of the appearances of Tsunami 
and Ryoko.

Joseph turned, and saw it as well, closing his eyes and then nearly grinding his teeth.

"Miri..." He said quietly, before it disappeared, then yelling  "Get the hell away from me, damn you!  I do 
not know what you are or why you do this!  I do not need to be haunted by the ghosts of my past!"

"Who is Miri?" Nagi asked Arti, audible only to him.

"Joseph's dead fiancee.  It's a long story, and I'll explain it to you sometime soon.  Now is really not a good 
time."

As they got back in the apartment, Joseph went straight to his futon, getting in it, and putting the covers 
over his head.  He didn't know what else to do at that moment.  He had seen this kind of slaughter before; 
in the Battle of the River of Blood, it had happened countless times, and he had seen the Melkars do the 
same thing as he fought them.  However, he knew that such things would happen there, knowing the 
reputation of ruthlessness that the Melkars showed.  Even during the liberation of Tsaniko, months ago, 
he was prepared to see many dead civilians, but thankfully there were few.  This time, he was unprepared.  
He had not anticipated such a mass slaughter.  He did not think that such a thing could occur again, in a 
place so remote from the hated battlefield?  It was as if he thought that hell was only relegated to the 
darkest places in the universe.  After the slaughter, the specter of Miri showed up again.  She hadn't for a 
long, long while.  Why did she...or whatever it was follow him around?  He sighed, and tried to rest.

Tenchi sat on a chair, staring at his hands.

"...I don't know what to do." He told the others, barely able to speak.

Everyone was silent, also unsure of what should be done now.

"Joseph and I saw all of it.  The firing of the bullets, the splatter of the blood, the screams that are still 
echoing..."

"We'll get her, Tenchi." Mihoshi said after awhile, putting a hand on his shoulder, and trying to ward off 
tears.

Kiyone went over to Joseph, who lay in the futon, using the sheets to cover him from head to toe.

"I didn't expect it.  I've seen such things before, many times, many of them probably as bad or worse than 
this.  The times I did, I expected such things to happen.  Here, I did not.  I had not emotionally prepared 
myself.  I had not allowed my brain time to get used to the fact that there would be death here.  It was a 
mindless slaughter that Mizra committed.  I don't think she hated anyone there, let alone know them.  I 
think she is just a tool of someone." He whispered, his head still under the covers.

"Who?" Kiyone asked the depressed man.

"On Mizra's escape ship, there was an emblem that Tenchi had seen before.  He said it looked very much 
like that of Dr. Clay."

"He wouldn't have the guts to do anything like that." Mihoshi said, standing up, remembering the feeble, 
idiotic, octopus-headed villain from a few years ago.  Mihoshi looked defiant, and very strong when she 
said this, definitely sure of what she knew.

"I wouldn't be too sure to think that of him." Nagi said, looking out the window.

"How do you know?" Arti asked, intrigued.

"I have the unfortunate quality of being that rotten bastard's great niece.  For a long while, he forced me to 
do his dirty work, as I was a bounty hunter, and as usual, short on cash.  He had me sabotage things, harm 
people, sometimes kill them.  I hated doing it, but I couldn't get a job elsewhere.  The same from the other 
clients that I had.  I hated bounty hunting for soulless barbarian jerk bastards.  I wanted only to capture, 
not kill evil bastards who made life hell for others.  I never wanted to do that to innocents or political 
rivals.  A month and a few weeks ago, I quit.  Leoi Clay burned my house down, stole all of my money, 
and falsified a warrant for me.  I had seen Mizra before.  She's a heartless bitch with no sense of dignity, 
and little emotion.  She'll do anything she is asked to, even atrocities, like you saw today."

She turned to Tenchi.

"I've been through this same kind of thing when I was your age.  Get him some sake or beer or something 
alcoholic and sit him in front of the TV.  It'll get his mind off things." 

"But..." Tenchi said, still looking at his hands.

Arti got some of the hard lemonade from Yukonojo, Nagi helping him get the clothing and the food from 
the ship as well.  During this time, he summarized Joseph's life, and who Miri was.  She nodded her head 
and understood, not interrupting the story.  She spoke only when he was finished.

"Why does she haunt him?" She asked as they got back inside, as the computer monitor flicked on, a 
worried Loknar and Washuu on the screen.

"I don't know.  Neither does he, Washuu, or his father." Arti replied briefly replied, turning his attention 
to the screen.

"We saw the news report through the portal.  We are sorry to hear what happened." Loknar said solemnly, 
Washuu by his side, Kii-Ohki asleep on the table.  "Is everyone all right, Kiyone?"

Kiyone turned to the screen, sadly.

"Joseph and Tenchi saw it as it happened.  Mizra did it.  The both of them are very shaken up, Tenchi 
especially."

"We assumed that they would." Washuu replied.  "Did they talk to you at all?"

"Tenchi said a little bit to us, and so did Joseph.  Nagi's going to try to get Tenchi's mind off of it with 
hard lemonade and television.  Joseph's lying in his futon, trying to sleep."

Ako-Ohki hopped up to the screen, a solemn meow as his greeting.

"Who's this little guy?"

"Ako-Ohki, Nagi's cabbit."

Kii-Ohki woke up as she hard Ako-Ohki meow, hopping over to her side of the screen and greeting him, 
too.  Just by the look on his face, she understood what had happened.  She hopped down, and went out of 
the lab.

"Considering how Tenchi is, Nagi is doing the correct thing.  He has talked about what he saw somewhat, 
so getting his mind off of it is the next step.  He can talk about it more tomorrow or in a few days.  For 
now, he needs rest, and distraction.  Joseph knows what he has to do." Loknar responded.

Kiyone was a bit suprised by Loknar's response.

"Joseph and Tenchi also think that Dr. Clay hired Mizra to do it."

Loknar and Washuu blinked.

Washuu laughed a bit.

"Clay?  He isn't that stupid.  He wouldn't slaughter people for no reason.  Kagato, maybe, but not Clay.  
Kagato's dead, and Clay's in the slammer."

"They saw his emblem on Mizra's escape ship."

Washuu sighed, and turned back to Kiyone.

"It might be him then, but I doubt it.  We'll have to look at this a bit closer, soon."

Meanwhile, Loknar pulled up a file on Dr. Clay.  He smirked when he saw his picture.

"What's he trying to be?  An octopus-head?" He asked, trying to brighten up the situation.

"He acted like one, too."

Loknar thought for a moment.  "I think I met him before."

"You did?" Washuu was intrigued by this.

"I think so.  While I was teaching at Utop University on Orion, he showed up one day, in a poorly-made 
portal.  He claimed to know all knowledge in the Multiverse, so I challenged him to a game of wits.  He 
got far, but absolutely failed in some parts, such as the section on ethics.  Enron executives would have 
done better on that part.  Not satisfied when I beat him, the fool had the idiocy to waltz into my house and 
try to abduct me.  In response, I got him in a headlock, and showed him some Orion hospitality towards 
foolish bastards.  It sent him crying into his stupid portal.  I have pictures of it all somewhere."

"That's my Tassi." She said, kissing him gently.

Kiyone cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Does anyone else at home know about what happened?"

"Not as of yet."

"Good.  I suggest not to tell them, yet.  It would greatly upset Sasami, who I'm not even sure could 
comprehend such a tragedy, and it would get Ayeka and Ryoko in a mad rush to try to get here."

"We agree, Kiyone.  We'll tell them once things get back to normal...Somewhat.  How are you guys on a 
financial standpoint?"

"We're all going to get jobs.  We'll be able to live comfortably while we're here, at least."

Washuu's eyes became the size of suns as she saw a new update that had recently been placed on the 
automatic file that they had on Clay.

"Oh......Crap." She said, showing the file to Loknar, who did the same.

"What - What is it?" Kiyone asked, concerned.

"The jail that he was placed in was broken into almost as soon as he had been put in it.  Someone broke 
him out.  We were so busy with everything else going on that we didn't check the updated online files."

"Then it is Clay?"

"Probably is.  Call us in a few hours, all right?" Loknar asked Kiyone.

"I will." She said, turning the screen off.

"What channel should I set it on for him?" Arti called to Nagi.

"Comedy, teenage male humor, cheap sitcoms, the like.  Give him a puff of your weed pipe too." She 
replied, putting some of the clothing in drawers.

"It's not a weed pipe!  I'll give him some anyway."

He handed Tenchi some of the hard lemonade, and switched onto a comedic channel.

"Drink it, Tenchi.  The whole thing.  It's for your own good."

"But I don't drink, Arti...I..."

"It's either this, which tastes somewhat drinkable, or pure alcohol that is the byproduct of Yukonojo's 
engines, which, in the words of a great man, 'tastes like burrrrrrrnnning'."

Tenchi reluctantly gulped down a large portion of the bottle.  His eyes instantly glazed a bit, and his 
muscles relaxed, his cheeks flushing.

He then handed him his Narwaj pipe, lighting it for the intoxicated youth.  Tenchi took a few puffs, then 
smiled oddly.

"Washuush never letsh me do thats...She saysh I'd be a luuusssshhhh like 'Yoko and Ayyyyka if I did dish 
sthuff." Tenchi rambled, then burping, causing him to laugh loudly, watching the television.

Arti sighed.  Tenchi's mind was off of the attack by Mizra and the slaughter that she caused, at the cost of 
his soberness.

"Told ya it would work." Nagi continued, helping Mihoshi put the food in the refrigerator.

Arti sat with Tenchi and watched the TV for awhile, trying to get his own mind off of what had happened.  
He took a hard lemonade, and walked over to Joseph.

"Would you want one of these?  They taste great!" He asked, trying to cheer his friend up.

"Meditating.  Trying to clear the mind." Joseph replied, still under the covers of the futon.

Arti sighed.  "All right.  Come out later, okay?"

"Possibly."

---

Mizra stared at Clay, a look of anger and slight disinterest in her eyes.

"Everyone wants my head now, Sir." He said to him, angrily.

"It's fine, Ms. Zonah.  They won't get it.

"Why the hell did you want me to do that, anyhow?"

"That council's next vote would be for establishing a permanent police force.  We can't let that happen."

"Why not?"

"I run this place, Ms. Zonah.  Most of the mayors, most of the governors, and a lot of the higher-ups are 
on my payroll.  They do what is asked of them and get paid for it, or they die.  If there was a police force, I 
wouldn't have a sector of the galaxy to rule."

"Whatever.  When the hell do I get paid?"

"Soon, Ms. Zonah."

Zonah looked toward a dartboard, with a picture of Washuu on it, none of the darts able to hit her face.

"Who the hell is that, your ex-girlfriend?"

Clay laughed.

"Her?  Hell no.  She's an old rival of mine that tried to make me look bad."

"You aren't doing that bad a job of that yourself." She muttered.

"What was that?"

"I didn't say a damn thing."

Clay blinked.

"Meh.  Go rest or something else that will occupy your puny little mind.  I need to do some more research 
of the hyperspace dampeners."

Mizra mumbled something about him under her breath, and went into a small, dimly lit chamber.  In the 
middle of it was what looked like a transparent coffin.  She got in, and closed the door.  Gas filled the 
chamber, and she began to sleep, tiny nanobots repairing small imperfections on her, healing her injuries, 
and replenishing her energy.

----

Around 1AM, Tenchi fell asleep on the couch in a drunken stupor.  Nagi's plan had worked; he was 
feeling much better.  The disasters of the previous day left his mind for a moment, the dancing images of 
sitcom stars, humorous anime characters, and Saturday Night Live reruns filling his head.  He fell asleep 
stretched out, his right arm off the couch, holding a half-empty bottle of hard lemonade, and his left 
draped over the back of the couch, his feet on the pillow.  A bit of drool came out of his mouth, as his 
body was bit unsure of how to take a large amount of alcohol.  A test pattern was on the television, a quiet 
10 MHz tone coming from the speakers, while the eternal glow stayed the same.

"Just like Ryoko." Nagi thought, smiling.  She looked at him, and grinned.  "I sort of see what she likes 
about him, but I'm a bit more fond of others."

She turned off the TV, Tenchi's faint snoring becoming audible.  Arti was asleep on a chair next to him, 
wearing the same clothes as he had worn earlier.  Joseph was under the covers of his futon still, except 
now the faint sounds of Mozart, Bolero, Rachmanioff, and other classical composers coming from his mp3 
player.  He was trying to clear his head, in the best way he could.

Mihoshi and Kiyone were still awake, looking at shounen ai manga with a flashlight, on their side of the 
main room.  Nagi grinned, and walked over.

"Which issue is this?" She asked.

"Amangasaki-kun and Lord Fujisawa." Mihoshi whispered, giggling as she read it.

"I've only known you two for awhile, and I already know you read this too much."

"It's a hobby of ours in between missions for the GP." Kiyone replied.  "C'mon, read with us.  Let's just 
finish this one last issue, and then fall asleep."

Nagi sat down with them, and read.  The 'one last issue' turned out to be about twenty more, and the three 
girls were up until 6AM.

"Kiyone...::Yawn::...We should be waking up by now." Mihoshi said, poking her partner.

"It's just so addictive...^_^" Kiyone replied, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Nagi fell asleep hours ago.  Let's just try to sleep now."

"In a bit." Kiyone replied.

Mihoshi unexpectedly took the magazine, throwing it across the room, and it landed near Ako-Ohki, who 
looked at the cover, promptly walking away.  His eyes seemed to say 'That kind of thing ruins your mind.'

"Mihoshi, you shouldn't...." Kiyone mumbled, then finally falling asleep, Mihoshi doing the same.

They slept for an hour or two, as the sun began to rise.  While it was becoming light outside, it was 
becoming darker in Tenchi's dreams.  His night terrors had seemed to cease for a long while, leaving him 
for good.

He suddenly found himself in a huge, darkened throne room.  Massive chandeliers of dark glass hung 
above him, the glass sharp as knives.  The black marble floor seemed to ripple as he stood, as if it was 
breathing.  Tapestries of impossible, insane, or things that could not be covered the walls, while a huge 
window showed the outside.  He was in some kind of ship, staring out into space.  Things were scattered 
around outside the ship; An uprooted Juraian tree, a moon covered in Nazca-like lines, a gigantic ocean 
filled with whale-like creatures, floating waterfalls, odd runes floating about, disembodied entities, wrecks 
of old ships, old equipment, and many other things.  The window soon darkened, replaced by many giant 
black statues, one looking like Tsunami, another like Washuu.  In the middle of them, She stood, towering 
above him like a giant among a village.

Tenchi was scared stiff, his whole body tensing.

"Greetings." She spoke, smiling.

"Who...Who the heck are you?"

"I am Tokimi, Goddess of the Shadow." She replied, staring at him.

"What do you want with me?  I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"You have not committed any specific crime against me, Prince of Jurai.  I simply wish to let you know 
that I am watching you.  Do not stray from your path."

"...What?"

"You have heard what I have said, did you not?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"Then why do I need to restate it?"

"I...I..."

"You what?"

"I don't know what you are referring to by my...'path.' "

"I am referring to your quest to defeat Clay.  He has disregarded my orders for the second time.  I am too 
preoccupied with my other 'duties' to deal with him.  That shall be your job."

Tenchi got angry after hearing that.

"What orders?  The orders to abduct Washuu, and nearly kill Ryoko?"

"As I said, he disregarded orders, and tried to complete that mission like a barbarian in his mad lust for 
power."

"What now, though?"

"For his last chance, he was ordered to keep watch over the specific sector that he was assigned, as per my 
experiment, after the past guardian that I hired failed obscenely.  He is failing much worse than that."

"What experiment?"

"That is none of your concern.  I shall leave you now." She spoke, the whole room going dark, and 
anything visible disappearing.  His dream shifted to something worse; the past day's events finally 
catching up with his mind.  Mizra stood before him in the emptiness, her scepter dripping with blood.

"Not this kind of dream again!" Tenchi exclaimed, trying to run out of the way of what he knew Mizra 
was attempting to do.  He could already feel the black fire on his back, burning into his skin.  He 
screamed, unable to run anymore.

He woke up with a start, staring into the early morning sunrise, breathing heavily.

---

Back on Earth, it was around midnight.  Cicadas chirped outside, the normal soft music of the night 
wafting around.  The stars twinkled in the night sky, like a glowing, sparkling blanket for the world.  
Birds sat in their nests, cuddled up together, sleeping soundly in the early spring night.  Squirrels lay in 
their small holes, almost asleep.  An owl watched over the area like a sentinel, oddly not hooting on this 
night.  It sat on Miri-Oh, even higher than it was before, almost half the size of a full-grown Juraian tree.  
The house creaked a little bit, settling itself, as normal, but no other noise permeated the gentle quiet that 
filled the landscape.  Most everyone had fallen asleep by now, all silent.  Ryo-Ohki lay next to Ken-Ohki 
on the foot of Sasami's bed, while the young girl slept, albeit restlessly.  Her eyes were still wet with tears; 
she had listened into the news report of what had happened before Washuu and Loknar could realize that 
she was there.  She cried for all the people who had been killed; Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, 
uncles, cousins, teachers, friends...She had been crying and praying silently for the past two hours.  She 
hadn't told Ayeka, Ryoko, or anyone else about it.  When she had gone to sleep, Ryoko and Ayeka hadn't 
gone to bed yet, the two of them watching goofy sitcoms and cheap soap operas on TV, as if nothing had 
happened.  They had a right to act that way, she knew; they did not know what had happened.

She tossed and turned in bed, the memories of what she had seen on the television flickering back and 
forth like some diabolical film loop.  The princess was unable to get it out of her head, the sheer horror 
something she had not seen in a long, long while.

She awoke from her dream, the loop still playing in her head.  She cried softly, Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki 
waking up to try to comfort her, rubbing into her, and attempting to calm her with their gentle purr.

"Why?" She asked softly.

"In order for good things to happen, sometimes bad things must come first." Said Tsunami, appearing by 
her bed.

"Tsunami!" She said, hugging her and crying into her, the Goddess's body becoming corporeal enough to 
hug, holding her softly.

"It's allright, Sasami."

"Why, why must people be killed in such a horrible way?  What good thing would make that right?"

"That I cannot tell you as of yet, Sasami, but please know that there is a good reason."

Tsunami rocked her back and forth, calming the young princess down.

Sasami looked toward Ayeka's bed; her older sister was not there.

"Where's Ayeka?" Sasami asked, worried.

"Tenchi's room."

"Why?"

"Take a look.  I'll come with you." She whispered, taking the young girl's hand.

They walked down the hall for a brief while, the cabbits following them, their little paws not making a 
sound.   Sasami slowly turned the knob, and looked inside.  Ayeka and Ryoko lay on Tenchi's bed, right 
next to each other.  It wasn't anything sexual; they just simply missed Tenchi so much that they fell asleep 
on his bed.  Ryoko lay on the left half of the bed, on her side, under the covers, hugging a pillow like she 
would a person, probably Tenchi.  Ayeka did similarly on the right half, hugging it tighter, resting her 
head on the middle of it.

Sasami smiled at the scene.  It did look very cute, the two adversaries falling asleep together over Tenchi.

"We should get a picture of this..." Sasami said to Tsunami, who was already holding one.

Tsunami took a few shots, with a silent flash, and gave the camera to Sasami, the two of them giggling.

Tsunami went off after awhile, Sasami falling back asleep, and putting the camera on the nightstand.

As they lay on the bed of the boy that they were infatuated with, Ryoko and Ayeka dreamt as well.

Ryoko found herself in a huge library, similar to the one that had hosted the murdered Ersatz City 
Council.  She had not seen the news footage, or even heard of what happened.  She was having a sort of 
premonition.  She sat at a table, reading a book, when Tenchi walked into the room, smiling and waving 
at her.  She smiled back, and went up to hug him when Mizra burst into the room, spraying people with 
bullets, Tenchi diving under a table.  Sadly, a few of the bullets flew through the table, and struck him, 
leaving him dying on the ground.  Ryoko was unsure of what to do, her whole body quivering as he lay 
dying on the ground.  Mizra simply grinned at her, slaughtering others as she did.  Rage finally caught up 
with Ryoko, and as she was about to blast Mizra into the lowest level of hell, her eyes blinked open.  She 
tried to hide from herself what had happened in her dream, but she was unable to do so.  Tears filled her 
eyes, but she tried to hide them, her exhaustion leading her back to sleep, despite what she felt.  She fell 
asleep hugging the pillow again, whispering Tenchi's name to herself.

Ayeka had a much different dream, seeing herself at a royal ball with Tenchi, dressed and dancing 
formally with him, the two very happy together.  The room in which they were in was similar to the 
library in Ersatz City, the only difference being the absence of bookshelves, and much more decoration.  
They were slow-dancing, the two pressed close together, causing them to blush.  Her father, Asuza, glared 
at Tenchi from the back, where he watched, alone.  There seemed to be some kind of unexplainable hate, 
the kind that only madmen seem to get.  It radiated off him like gamma rays from an atom bomb, causing 
those nearby him to stop dancing.  Ayeka and Tenchi tried to ignore him, however, and kept dancing.  
Suddenly, there was a blast from the ceiling, and Mizra jumped through, slashing Tenchi's abdomen, the 
Prince almost instantly beginning to die.

"Tenchi!" She screamed, running to him, only to be stopped by her father.

"He is worth nothing, Ayeka." Asuza said coldly, unemotionally, physically holding her back.

"Let me go, father!"

"No.  Let him die."

"I love him!  I demand that you let me go!" She cried.

The man refused, holding her harder, until she began to ache.

"Azaka, Kamidake!  Save Tenchi!" She yelled.

"We cannot." They replied, as the king's order seemed to overrule hers.

"I hate you, father!  I hate you ordering me around, trying to make me what you view is a daughter!  I hate 
how you hurt me, how you are so insensitive of my emotions!  I hate how you treat Mother and Auntie 
Funaho!  I hate you, you bastard!" Ayeka screamed, as something snapped within her, her rage flying out 
of her, as her father was suddenly pushed back, thrown against the wall, by some unknown force, as 
Ayeka seemed to glow as she ran - or rather flew to Tenchi, who was nearly dead.  She tried to save him 
with all her might, but it did not work.  As he took his last breath, she screamed, waking up, breathing 
heavily.  She hadn't screamed in real life, but even Ryoko felt the sheer force of her sudden movement.  

Ryoko woke up, and looked at her, seeing something different about the princess, and the expression on 
her face.  She didn't even notice that they had fallen asleep in the same bed.

"Ayeka...Are you allright?" She asked, a concerned look on her face.

"I...I had the most horrid dream, Ryoko." Ayeka replied, a tear falling from each eye.

"So did I."

"Tenchi was murdered by Mizra, and..." They said at once, tears falling from their eyes, then hugging 
each other and crying softly.

"I miss him so much.  I hope to God that it was just a dream." Ayeka whispered.

"So do I, Ayeka."

After awhile, they calmed down a bit, starting to get sleepy again.  In the dark, it was hard to see each 
other, but Ryoko did notice something different.

"Ayeka...Something is different.  Take a look in the mirror.  I'm not joking." Ryoko said, quietly.

Ayeka nodded, and slowly got up, turning on a light and looking into a mirror.  What she saw completely 
surprised her; her normal long, purple hair, the color of the royal teardrop, separated into two long 
ponytail-like strands, was replaced by long, ocean-blue hair, in a similar hairstyle, except it was a bit more 
curly on her bangs.  Her hair now looked like a mix between her mother's and Sasami's.  She put a hand 
to her mouth in suprise.

"My God..." She said quietly.  "Something happened to my gene alterations."

"...You mean that purple wasn't your natural color?" Ryoko asked, staring at the new hairstyle in  
wonderment.

"No.  When I was very young, I tried to get my father to appreciate me more by altering my genes to his 
color.  I was very young, and very ignorant, and was only told recently that my usual hairstyle was not 
how I naturally was.  I dreamt that I had pushed him away, and had some kind of odd power flowing into 
me when he tried to stop me from saving Tenchi.  Finally telling him how I really felt must have brought 
my true self through, and my genes somehow reverting back to their natural state." She said, looking it 
over.  She then smiled a bit.  

"I must say, I should have kept my hair this way." She mused.

"Oh well.  Everyone's going to have a big suprise in the morning.  Let's get some sleep." Ryoko replied, 
getting back in Tenchi's bed.  "I don't mind if you sleep here too...Just no Yuri crap."

"Fine by me." Ayeka replied, getting back in.

--

Meanwhile, at that late hour, Loknar and Washuu worked furiously on breaking the encoding on the Lock 
Sector's hyperspace dampeners.  A small hill of caffinated soda cans had accumulated over the past few 
days, while they had been working on the problem.

"Parameter 87272A states that only 622822U can change the variable of 28428C." Loknar read, 
mumbling the rest.

"Whoever wrote the code for this made sure to give the codebreaker a big run-around.  This looks very 
impossible to crack." Washuu mumbled, sighing.

"But we still don't know who made this, though."

"They have to be diabolical, sadistic, and lowly."

"We might be able to find out.  We haven't found any comment tags yet."

"There are some here, I know that, they are just embedded too tightly."

"It's a sidetrack to our goal, but that looks impossible.  If we track down whoever did this, then we might 
be able to find the answer."

They spent several hours looking through the code, filtering out unembedded tags and parameters.  Their 
hands were numb by then, their eyes tired, and their patience weak.  The eternal beeping and booping of 
their computers and control panels were the only things that kept the two geniuses awake, as the hill of 
soda cans became a mountain.  Kii-Ohki slept on a chair nearby them, having fallen asleep nearly eight 
hours before.

"I found a comment tag." Loknar mumbled, at 4AM.

"Where?  Lemme see." Washuu said, trudging over.

"It isn't in a language that I can read."

"It looks pig latin, oddly.  The only person I know who put his comments in pig latin is the biggest pig of 
them all: Clay." She spoke, quietly translating it, and then grinning.  "It is the biggest pig of them all.  
Clay, that stupid bastard!  Tenchi and Joseph were right!"

Loknar smiled, and hugged his fiancee.

"Job well done, my love."

"You two."

A thought then crossed her mind, and she then feverishly located a single scrap of a comment at the 
bottom, disguised as a command.  She glared, and nearly tripped when she saw it, a sudden rush of data 
re-entering her mind after being unused for so long.

"That baka stole my code!  I had wrote this thousands of years ago with the rest of the academy!  We were 
working on a unified dampener field when he barged in and stole all the data.  That was one of the major 
reasons he was kicked out.  I remember this all now!  We can stop the major force of the dampeners, but 
we need the approval of Jurai, Seniwa, the academy, the Galactic Union, the GP, and all other large 
organizations in the galaxy in order to do it.  It requires knocking out relay stations and the like." She 
said, yawning.

"How long will it take in the beauocracies?"

"A few months.  They are all caught up in their own business, except the academy, which is conveniently 
on a hiatus. -_-" She sighed.  "We won't see Bubblehead, Kiyone, Joseph, or Tenchi for at least months, 
and we won't be able to meet Arti, Nagi, and Ako-Ohki until then, either."

The two of them sighed sadly, turning off the light.

"At least we know what we have to do now, though.  We'll crack the remaining bits of the code, and 
submit request forms tomorrow." Loknar said, getting into bed with her.

"Yes.  I just hope that Tenchi, Joseph and the others are allright."

"So do I." He whispered, kissing her goodnight before they fell asleep.

Noboyuki slept happily, with Funaho and Misaki, in their underwear, lying next to him, their arms around 
him.  For the first time in at least ten years, he had a female (or two) romantically interested in him.  He 
had accumulated hentai, shoujo manga and the like over the years in order to keep himself sane, but it 
hadn't exactly been working, especially recently.  He felt he had begun to lose it, and had been very lonely.  
He weirded out everyone with his insane attitude and actions, and he was upset with himself for that.  
Though he liked being humorous in that way, he was a mature adult, so he had to set an example.  His 
love for Achika still had not died over the years, but only made him more and more depressed, causing 
him to stay in his 'library' for most of the time.  Now, however, he could finally be himself again.

Katsuhito stared up at the ceiling of the shrine, at the blank emptiness.  Tenchi and half of the others were 
far away from him.  Half of his family was away, and he knew he would not be able to see them for 
months.  As he usually did around this time, he got lonely, much like his son-in-law.  He covered his head 
with the covers of the futon, trying to sleep.  He was happy that his son-in-law now had a love life again, 
but he didn't understand why it had to be with his mother Funaho, and his Aunt Misaki.  He didn't even 
want to think about how his father would react to it.

Tomorrow, he would continue training Sasami, hopefully getting her up to where Tenchi was in skill very 
soon.  

He closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

----

The bright orange sun rose over Ersatz City the next morning, amid the sadness and rage of the slaughter 
at the library.  The dark fire had long been put out by morning, and most of the bodies and the injured had 
been pulled out.  Some of the injured were now dead, due to wounds suffered during the attack.  Wreaths, 
prayers, letters, pictures, and other objects were laid at the scene, a throng of people surrounding it.  Some 
cried, some screamed, some prayed, some watched, song sang, and some held on.  The previous day, it 
was announced that there would be an election to replace the city council members killed in the attack.  
Their first objective, once elected, was to pass the bill allowing a police force for the city.  Many more 
cities on the planet, as well as the rest of the sector, enraged by the magnitude and horror of the attack, 
were about to pass similar bills.  

Clay's plan had backfired horribly.

----

Tenchi awoke first, with a slight hangover.  His head seemed to be ringing, every sound echoing, his 
whole body numbed.

"Remind me not to drink again." He said to no one in particular, getting up, but falling back down again.  
"Crap."

He wobbled his way toward the fridge, only to fall on Mihoshi and Kiyone, instantly waking them up.  All 
three of them blushed furiously, as they were in their underwear, the two girls screaming, waking 
everyone else up.

"Sorry!" Tenchi exclaimed, trying to get up, but falling backwards, but caught by an angry Nagi.

"Can everyone just shut up for a bit?"  She asked, angrily, holding his shoulder.

"We all need some sleep." Joseph said, still under the covers of his futon.

Mihoshi's stomach rumbled, loudly.

"When's breakfast?" She asked.

"After we get dressed.  Let's see how much money we have left." Kiyone replied, then checking the 
group's joint bank account online, and frowning.  "We will all need to get jobs soon, probably within the 
week."

"I have no problem with that." Arti replied, smiling.

"Neither do I." Nagi added.

"Good.  Let's get dressed, eat breakfast, and try to find some jobs, allright?" Kiyone asked.

"Could we take a nap after breakfast, because Kiyone and I were up late reading Shounen-" Mihoshi 
spoke, only to have her mouth be covered by Kiyone's hand.

Joseph, Arti, and Tenchi groaned at the very mention of Shounen ai.

"Fine.  We can take naps after breakfast.  Will that make you happy, blondie?" Nagi asked.

"Yes, Ms. Nagi." Mihoshi responded, smiling.

They all got dressed in their new clothing, purchased the previous day, looking normal; they had seemed 
to have forgotten about the past day's events for awhile.  Joseph, reflecting his darkened hair and his 
mood, wore all black; black shoes, black socks, black jeans, a black shirt, a black jacket, and a dark 
expression on his face.  The mood of the entire group sunk after they saw that.  Tenchi's memories of the 
day before returned, and he got a little sick, and had to sit for awhile.  Joseph's mood was the same as 
before, not decreasing at all.

Nagi watched it all, getting a bit depressed herself.  She dressed as she normally did, but she too had 
chosen dark colors for that day.  She looked to her left, and saw Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Arti trying to 
comfort Tenchi.  Joseph was helping out too, but he was too depressed to do much.  Nagi went over to 
him, taking his hand.

"C'mon, war-boy.  We're going for a walk." She said to him.

"No thank you, Nagi." He replied, his voice somewhat shaky.

"We're going." She added, pulling him up with amazing strength.

"Why?"

"To clear all that crap out of your head.  That's why."

"But Tenchi needs...-"

"He'll be fine.  It's you that I'm worried about.  Let's go downtown for half an hour or so."

"Go with her, Joseph.  You'll feel better afterwards." Arti told him, while Mihoshi and Kiyone looked 
slightly jealously at Nagi.  She jokingly stuck her tongue out at them as they walked out the apartment.

They stayed silent until they got out of the building, Joseph just looking at his feet as he walked.

"If you've seen this kind of thing a buncha times before, why are you so damn depressed?" She asked.

"I don't know.  I've seen such atrocities so much in military conflicts that it should no longer affect 
me...Yet it still does.  It's probably because it happened here so unprovoked, so unexpected, so random."

"Random stuff happens, Joseph.  No one knows why."

"It's also that Tenchi and I were so close to it when it happened.  We could see the blood flying out of 
people, the fire consuming their flesh.  We could hear the screams, smell the stench of horror.  We could 
see the unspeakable look on Mizra's face.  We could-"

"I get your point.  Spare me the details." She mumbled, spitting on the ground.

They walked by an electronics store, the TVs in the window showing the first funerals for the victims, as 
well as the wounded mayor making a speech at a emergency-provisional city council meeting.

"I promise that the person that committed such a vile act will be severely punished.  I will have her 
hanged, executed, or something similar.  She will not die painlessly, for she did so much evil yesterday...I 
will make sure that she will burn forever in the 23rd circle of hell!" The mayor exclaimed, holding her 
badly-burnt left arm.  Many in the crowd cheered to agree with her.  "The Sukianian Defensive Security 
Army is now on full alert, and is accepting applicants to help defend our sector, our homeland, and our 
families and friends.  We will ensure that such a thing does not happen again!"

The two continued walking, stopping at a shrine.  The shrine was small, like the one that Joseph and 
Tenchi had prayed by earlier the previous day.  It was a small room of white marble, about the same width 
and length as a car, held up by an strong overhanging pole, so the room was about two feet from the 
surface.  The outside was decorated with Juraian artwork of patriarchs, matriarchs, kings, angels, and 
legendary figures.  The door was made of a polished, very pure wood, so it seemed very pale.  Joseph 
opened the door, and stepped inside, Nagi following him.  As they closed the door, they looked around 
inside.  Stained glass covered the walls, each lit by a small internal light, the patterns displaying the same 
sort of religious figures as the outside.  In the middle was a small Juraian tree.  It wasn't like the sentient 
Juraian trees - It had blue leaves, and looked much like a miniature oak tree.  Joseph took a Xeriumian 
holy book from his pocket, and began to pray silently.

"What book is that?" Nagi asked.

"Efan Mizikya ki Niwo.  Book for the mourner."

"And what religion is that?"

Joseph showed her the word 'Xeriumia' on the book.

"How do you pronounce that?  Zeri-yum-iyah?  I'm not really knowledgeable about religions, so I don't 
mean to offend you."

"Yeri-Oou-Mii-Ah.  It's no problem, Nagi." He said, smiling at her, the first one he had had since the 
Mizra's attack the previous day.

She blushed, smiling back.

Joseph continued praying for a bit, standing up the whole time and reading silently, while Nagi attempted 
to do the same in the best way she could.

They soon finished, both heading back outside.  They walked a ways, until they reached the desert, near 
the city limits.

Joseph smiled as he saw a small mesa.  It looked very much like those in the American southwest, with 
the large flat tops, and the layered rock structure below them.  He went up a metal staircase on the south 
side of it, and went up, Nagi following, reluctantly.

"Why are we going up this thing?"

"It reminds me of the city where I was born.  The people there weren't always kind to me, but I was at 
peace with the land."

"Where was that?" Nagi asked.

"A small suburb south of Tucson, Arizona." He replied, showing her the great view of the city, once they 
got to the top.  He looked around, smiling at the huge living city, Nagi doing the same.  "I love Mesas like 
this one."

They stayed there for a bit, taking in the sights as the sun fully rose into the sky.  Slowly, they climbed 
down, and headed back into town.  Joseph was feeling a little bit better now, the depression slowly going 
away as he got his mind on other things.  As they walked further into the city, however, his mourning and 
his depression caught back up with him.  There were pictures everywhere of the horrific scene of the 
previous day, people crying, people yelling, people screaming.  As they got even farther, the whole area 
got much more familiar to Joseph, making him angry.

"This...This is like Earth." He said after awhile, pointing to a slummy area a few blocks down.  "This is 
like how Earth was when I was growing up."

"I've never been to Earth before."

"The only part you'll really want to go to is the Okayama prefecture, where me and the others live.  Most 
of Earth is full of idiots."

The atmosphere seemed to suddenly get thicker, as if someone had injected it with stagnant air.  They 
passed by an adult store, Joseph glancing into the window.  He saw a picture of a character from a 
children's anime, twisted and contorted into an object of perversion by one with a sick mind.  He clenched 
his fists, his pupils shrinking.  A look of rage came upon his face, a feeling of absolute hate for whoever 
would do such a thing.  He closed his eyes, and tried to stop himself from getting angry, but it was hard 
not to.

Nagi saw how he was feeling, and put her hand on his shoulder.  She realized why he was so angry, but 
she didn't want him to get too upset.

"The same rejects, the same bastards, the same perverts, the same fools, the same barbarians, the same 
idiots.  This is Earth.  I had hoped that the rest of the galaxy wouldn't be so barbaric and idiotic as the 
world on which I was born; I was wrong about this area." Joseph continued, his rage about Mizra 
contributing to his anger over the habits of the city.  In his rage, Joseph kicked the window on which the 
picture was pasted, very hard.  The glass shattered, and the picture was cut to pieces.  He took a pen out 
from his pocket, and wrote a note on the remaining part of the glass:

"You should be more civilized than to enjoy such perversions.  A child's entertainment is not to be used 
for such purposes.  Rot in hell. - Sir Lighthawk."

Luckily, the store was closed, and there was no alarm set up.  No one else on the street noticed.

Nagi sighed.  She could tell for sure that Joseph was a very stubborn man, much like her.  When he had 
an opinion, he was very zealous about it, especially if it was of an ethical issue.  She turned to him, and 
saw his rage leaving him.  At first the walk was working, but now it wasn't.  It was making him only more 
depressed and riled up.  They headed back to the apartment, gloomy and down.  They stopped for a second 
when they saw a recruiting station for the SDSA.  It was a small table in front of a mayoral office, a little 
man with a stack of paper and pens sitting at it.  Nearby him was a small mailbox in which to put the 
forms.

Joseph brightened.

"Now we can get back at Mizra, on the side of the closest thing to the law here." He thought out loud, 
sitting in a chair, and filling out a form for a special operations officer.  He made sure to sign his name as 
'Joseph Masaki', rather than his past name.  Nagi sat down and filled one out for a ship mechanic, as she 
was essentially done with the bountying business.  The forms were very detailed; the questions ranging 
from personal questions to expertise, to history, to ideals, emotional history, even getting into one's past 
relationships.  They filled the forms out, and turned them in, getting four extra for the rest of the group.

"I hate personal questions on applications." Nagi spoke, looking at her wand-sword as Joseph filled out 
the last of the questions on his form.

"So do I.  I guess its' probably just to fill some stupid statistic that this area's government has." He replied, 
the two going back to the apartment.  When they got back, they found Tenchi and the others asleep again, 
the two of them sweatdropping as they saw it.  Nagi poked Arti a few times to get him up, the Mirsan 
flicking his tail about in annoyance.

"We were getting some extra sleep, okay?" Spoke Arti, yawning.

"We can sleep later.  We need to get some food.  We also got some applications for you guys." Nagi 
explained, handing them all applications from the SDSA sign-up station.  "We're getting jobs, whether 
you like it or not."

Kiyone and Mihoshi quickly filled out theirs, as they had great expertise as detectives, and were familiar 
with the type of form.  Tenchi blinked as he saw his.  He had never had a real job before, so he was unsure 
of how to go about doing it.  He didn't even know what kind of job he wanted, let alone how he should act.

"What should I do?" He asked the others.

"Clerk or receptionist, for now." Arti replied, helping him with the form.

Tenchi stared at the question that asked for his marital status.  He knew that sometime in the recent 
future, he will have something to put in there.  He gulped, and prayed quietly for a second, Arti grinning.

---

The sun softly came into being in the sky of rural Kurashiki, drifting in like a breath going out, the night 
retracting like a breath going in.  As the sky slowly breathed, it got higher and higher in the sky, the light 
waking up the animals and people that lived below it, as if it was restoring their own breath.  The light 
drifted onto the Masaki pond, the still waters soon coming alive, reflecting the early morning like a 
grandiose mirror.  A fish or two jumped out of the water and into the air, as if to experience the new day, 
though a second later they landed back in.

Ryoko and Ayeka came down the stairs an hour or so late, somewhat grumpy.  The dreams that they had 
had the night before certainly had kept them up for awhile.  Even after they got back into bed, the 
memories of the dreams still haunted them like invisible phantasms.  Ayeka was feeling a bit odd herself, 
as her hair and its' style had reverted back to its true form, something that was very rare for physical gene 
alterations.

She came down with Ryoko to see Sasami, Noboyuki, Katsuhito, Loknar, Washuu, Funaho, Misaki, and 
the cabbits eating breakfast, stopping as they saw her restored blue hair.  Misaki's mouth hit the floor 
when she saw this, and so did Sasami's.  Ryoko had seen Ayeka's restored true form the previous night, so 
she grinned and laughed at the responses everyone gave.

"Ayeka, your hair!  It looks like mine and mommy's!" Said Sasami, suprised, but very happy.  She went 
right up to her, and hugged her, tightly.  "How did this happen?"

"Well, I was having a dream, and-" Ayeka replied, interrupted by her mother hugging her even tighter 
than Sasami.

"Ayeka, Ayeka!" Misaki beamed, "You look beautiful!  How did your hair change like this?  You look 
prettier than ever!"

"Mother...You're crushing me." Ayeka whispered, turning blue herself.

Misaki let go a little bit, but was still hugging her.

"Oh, I remember when you had the gene alteration done, to impress your father." Misaki continued, 
realizing it after a minute.  "But he still acted...like himself."

"I know, Mother.  I realize now that it was a terrible mistake to have done that when I was so young."

"Do you know how the gene alteration thingy reversed, dear?"

"I had a dream about Tenchi..."

The whole group blinked, most of the girls blushing, assuming it was a romantic dream.

"...and my father.  He had done something which I could never forgive him for, and my anger reached its' 
peak.  Then, I woke up, and I saw that I had changed."

"What did Azusa do?" Funaho asked, curious.

Ayeka sighed, and whispered the answer in Funaho's ear.

Funaho nodded solemnly.

"What is it?" Misaki asked, turning her head.

"Nothing, sister.  I'll discuss it with you later." She responded.

Loknar and Washuu were solemn, too.  Ryoko had telepathically told Washuu about what had happened, 
and she relayed the message to Loknar.

"You look wonderful, Ayeka." Washuu said, brightening.

"Thank you. ^_^" She replied, blushing.

"Hey, why does Princess over here get all the compliments?" Ryoko grumbled.

"Don't get jealous, Ryoko.  You're wonderful, too." Washuu replied, knowing how her daughter got in this 
type of situation.

Ryoko and Ayeka sat down with the others and started eating the great food prepared by Sasami.  Funaho 
and Misaki had added some of their own dishes, so the food was even more elaborate than usual.  While 
they ate and talked, Ayeka and Ryoko wondered if their dreams were a sort of warning that something had 
happened in the Lock Sector.  After the meal, they knocked on the door of the Lokubi lab.

"Come in." Washuu called as the door opened, the familiar jingling sound of the door crab and swallow 
filling the air for a second.

"What is this, Kwik-e-mart?" Ryoko mumbled as she went inside.

"Ryoko told you about last night telepathically, did she not, Miss Washuu?"

"Yes she did!  But she didn't tell us about this." Washuu responded, grinning as Loknar held up a copy of 
the picture that Sasami had sent them.

"You're both so cute in this!" The two geniuses cooed.

Ayeka and Ryoko growled, Ayeka trying to tear up the picture, Ryoko then blasting it.

"Nice try guys, but we've got it all over the Lokubi network." Washuu said, sticking out her tongue 
playfully.

The two girls rolled their eyes again.

"Anyway, was there something that happened to Tenchi, Joseph and the others?" Ryoko asked, sitting 
down.

"Yes.  Mizra attacked a large library in Ersatz City, murdering over a hundred innocents.  Joseph and 
Tenchi witnessed the attack.  They saw Mizra flying off in a ship with Clay's emblem, so it is highly 
probable that he is involved in this." 

"Damn." Ryoko rasped, snapping her fingers.

"So it wasn't just a dream...It was a premonition of some sort, correct?"

"Sort of.  You were seeing something that had happened recently, so it is the same kind of thing."

"...Why did our dreams show Mizra killing Tenchi, though?"

"Tenchi's emotional state was severely battered by the experience.  He hadn't seen anything like that up 
close before, or even imagined himself seeing it.  Perhaps it was an interstellar cry for help, transcending 
space, using thought as a mechanism of travel.  He wanted to be with you to, and to talk to you about it."

Ryoko and Ayeka blushed at the thought of Tenchi wanting specifically to speak with them.

"We don't know if he still does want to discuss it, however." Loknar added, "They're all comforting him 
over there."

"You mean Mihoshi and Kiyone are helping Tenchi?" Ryoko asked, jealously.

"Yes.  Don't get angry, though.  They have their minds pretty preoccupied with Arti and Joseph, anyhow."

A screen blinked, the words 'Incoming Transmission' on it.

"That'll be them now." Loknar beamed, pushing the button for transmission to begin.

"Morning." Joseph said, Tenchi by his side.  The two young men and the others were in the restaurant, 
using Arti's laptop and webcam as a communication device.  They blinked when they saw how Ayeka had 
changed.

"Ayeka?" Tenchi asked.

"Y-Yes, Lord Tenchi?" She replied, unsure if he was about to say it looked hideous, or if it was wonderful.  
Her muscles tensed, and she began to sweat.

"You look great!" He said, smiling at her.

"I agree." Joseph added, quietly.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Lord Tench-" She was interrupted by Ryoko.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Ryoko asked, annoyed.

"You look beautiful too, Ryoko." He continued, smiling at her.  Both girls were blushing deeply by now.

Loknar looked at Joseph, and saw how his hair had changed as well.  He understood what had happened, 
and so did Washuu.  They both silently nodded.  Ryoko and Ayeka did not know, though.

"What happened to-"

"A physical manifestation of the effects of something that I saw." Joseph replied to Ryoko, quickly.

"Don't worry, Joseph.  They know what happened." Washuu told him.

"We were so worried about you all." Ayeka and Ryoko whispered, coming close to the screen.

A certain red-headed genius's hand came on screen suddenly, showing another copy of the picture from 
the night before, Ryoko and Ayeka growling loudly, almost generating electricity, as normal.  A small 
amount of blood appeared in the noses of Joseph and Tenchi.  Arti, in the background, simply grinned.  
Ryoko and Ayeka once again destroyed the picture a second later.

"Morning, Arti." Washuu spoke, the Mirsan Mechanic responding with a salute.

"Oh, yeah.  We're all getting jobs." Arti beamed as he came closer to the camera.

"SDSA?"

"How'd you know? ^_^"

"Just a wild guess." Loknar grinned.

"Nagi and I are going to be mechanics, while Joseph is working with Mihoshi and Kiyone.  Tenchi's 
going to be a clerk."

Ryoko saw Nagi standing in the background, getting a drink at the bar.

"Hey, Nagi!" Ryoko called, the bounty hunter dropping her drink.

"Good morning, Ryoko." She grumbled.

Ryoko looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry about what I said yesterday to make you so upset." She mumbled.

"It's allright, Ryoko." Nagi replied, smiling faintly.  "When I get to you, we'll have a real duel, allright?"

Ryoko blinked.

"God, you scare me with all this stupid duel crap."

"I won't kill you, and I know you won't kill me.  It'll be a friendly duel, okay?"

"Fine." Ryoko said, putting her hand up to the screen to make a virtual handshake, Nagi doing the same.

Misaki burst in the door, instantly hugging Ryoko and Ayeka tightly as she came in, Funaho quietly 
following behind.

"Oh, crap." Ryoko thought.  She now knew that Sasami, being a bit mischievous, had e-mailed Misaki 
and Funaho that picture, and that the eccentric Juraian queen would make a big shebang out of it, while 
Funaho remained mostly quiet.

"Ooo!  You two are so CUTE in this picture! ^O^" Misaki bellowed, nearly squeezing the two girls to 
death, "You've finally made peace and are best friends!"

As Misaki continued rattling on, jumping up and down, hugging them, and frequently making the V 
symbol with her fingers, Funaho looked at Nagi as the former bounty hunter got another drink.  The 
rough young woman seemed oddly familiar to a quiet little girl she had met in the past.  She remembered 
a specific photograph of that little girl, being held by her parents, who promptly disappeared a year 
afterwards.  But they looked quite different; the little girl was smiling, wearing a traditional dress, next to 
her very religious parents.  The girl's mother was Funaho's great-great-granddaughter.

"Can't be.  She's too tough for her to be who I think she is." Funaho thought, turning her head away from 
the screen.  While Funaho contemplated this issue, Misaki was still making a huge deal out of the picture, 
forcing Ryoko and Ayeka to hug each other for her, despite their objections.  Misaki only stopped when 
she saw one of Loknar and Washuu's scientific instruments.  It was a light, small thin silicon box, several 
electronic diodes on it, the lights turning on and off as it checked its' data.  Its' purpose was to act as a 
portable hard drive, but Misaki didn't care.  She also saw a large paper shredder nearby.  Curiosity was 
unfortunately one of her characteristics.

"Misaki, no!" Loknar and Washuu cried as the queen put the box into the shredder, wondering what 
would happen.  The result was a small explosion, and shredded silicon, paper, and plastic being thrown 
about the lab, right as Sasami and the others came in.

"Oh darn.  We have a substitute Mihoshi." Loknar mumbled.

"Did someone call my name?" Mihoshi asked.

"No, Mihoshi.  They just found someone who wrecks scientific equipment, like you." Kiyone replied, 
sighing.

"Huh?" Misaki and Mihoshi asked at once.

Loknar, Washuu, and Kiyone put their heads in their hands, and sighed.

"We'll continue this conversation some other time.  Things need to be cleaned up.  Goodbye." Katsuhito 
said, turning off the screen, having seen what had happened right as he had come in.


----

Over the next two months, things began to stabilize a bit.  Everyone began to settle into their new jobs; 
Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Joseph easily adjusted to Special Ops Detectives, halting an attempted robbery on 
their first day on the job.  The three quickly gained the respect of fellow SDSA agents, despite Mihoshi's 
constant blunders.  

They had soon gotten Yukonojo approved as their ship, and soon repainted as an SDSA vessel, despite the 
computer's stubborn objections, which Mihoshi curved by blindfolding him.  Nagi was a beginning 
mechanic, but she did a fine job, solving problems which Arti did not notice.  The two worked for the 
SDSA as official mechanics, and worked mainly on the Yukonojo, but commonly did repaired the other 
SDSA ships in their area.  Fixing the results of Mihoshi's blunders was their specialty, which were soon as 
regular and on time as they were at home.  

Tenchi began his work as a front desk clerk for the SDSA's Ersatz City office, which was quite a big job 
for a first time worker.  He struggled at first, but soon got the hang of it, easily able to take someone 
anywhere in the Ersatz office.  As they continued their investigation into the incident at the library, the 
SDSA frequently brought up the crime being linked to Clay, but their statements were almost instantly 
retracted, due to the corruptness of the upper leaders.  Joseph, Tenchi and the others clearly saw the cover 
up, and were angered by it, but the general population of Ersatz City, and most of their fellow officers 
brought little protest of it.

Back on Earth, things began to adjust.  Everyone tried to accept Funaho and Misaki being Noboyuki's 
mistresses, but it was quite hard, especially for Katsuhito, Ayeka and Sasami, who frequently tried to talk 
their mother and aunt out of it, which ultimately failed.  They eventually stopped protesting once they saw 
the two queens and the architect begin to get quite attached to each other.  Washuu and Loknar continued 
their analysis of the warp dampeners, all the while filling request forms to be sent to various agencies and 
governments to allow them to destroy the dampeners.  As they had thought, the beaurocracies took a very 
long time to send a response, some of them positive.  The ones that came back negative had to be 
reproposed, much to the chagrin of Washuu and Loknar.  

Katsuhito continued training Sasami in Juraian sword technique, who became quite good at it.  Ryoko and 
Ayeka talked less during the day than they used to, and fought a lot less.  When the daily message from 
the Lock Sector came, they acted much like their normal selves, and greeted Tenchi very cheerfully.  
During their spare time when not working on the dampeners, Washuu and Loknar did more analysis on 
Kii-Ohki, confirming that she had a partner tree, and an unknown humanoid partner.  She grew very 
rapidly, soon the size of Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki in about a month or so.  Ako-Ohki remained much 
quieter than any of the other cabbits that the group knew, being oddly mysterious, and very protective of 
Nagi.  He was still affectionate like the others, taking turns sleeping next to everyone, as well as being 
fond of carrots.

----

As the sun set over Ersatz City, Joseph looked for the files for Clay in the SDSA's electronic criminal 
databanks.  The man was not part of it, however.  He tried different spellings of Clay, different names, 
even searching for the 'octopus-head'  nickname, and just getting a picture of a long-dead comedian.  He 
grumbled, laying his arms on the desk and putting his head on them.  He wanted desperately to find more 
information about Clay, such as where he was currently located, more on his past history, and the like.

"How goes the search?" Kiyone asked him, Mihoshi behind her.

"If you count the comedian Zolas Nakayamo as Clay, that's it." Joseph replied, his voice muffled.  The 
three of them wore the SDSA officer's uniform, much the same as the GP's, except for a few different 
color alterations.  "The SDSA ripped their uniform design from the GP.  They hate them, yet they model 
themselves after them.  What a world."

"Yeah, I know.  SDSA uniforms look so tacky." Mihoshi replied, looking at herself in the mirror, and 
frowning.

"I swear to God that I'm going to kill Mizra and that octopus-head." Joseph continued.

"We all want retribution, Joseph.  I don't think killing them would be the correct way to go about it." 
Kiyone replied with a heavy sigh.

"They deserve it, though."

"Yes, they do.  But if they are kept alive, they can go through the courts-"

"The courts here are corrupt and full of idiots."

"I know.  Once the dampeners are destroyed, the GP can march right in and restore order to this area, and 
bring those two to justice."

"He has friends in high places.  They'll find some way to get him out of it."

Kiyone frowned, sitting down next to him.

"We'll get some leads soon."

"Thank you." He said, looking up and smiling at her.

Tenchi sat at the front desk, looking around.  The huge spartan entrance was its' normal gray tile, the 
statue of the SDSA's founder sitting in the middle of the room, thanks to poor planning.  The flags of the 
Sukianian Federation, Ersatz City, and SDSA flew above it, waving only slightly with the artificial 
windmaker placed by 'city beautifiers' that couldn't beautify a paper bag.  He looked around, seeing 
nothing that could ease his boredom.  He had only seen a few new visitors that day, and got one or two 
calls.  He went online for a bit, looking at his email, surfing the web, and trying to stay awake.  He turned 
on the TV for a bit, checking the news.

"Around 5:00 AM today, a mysterious figure rescued a schoolbus full of children that was stuck on bullet-
train tracks near the intersection of Wacovia Avenue and 373rd Street.  He accomplished this by using his 
vehicle of an unknown manufacturer to push the bus off the tracks.  The figure declined to comment, and 
quickly flew off in his ship.  In other news-" The TV blared.

The videophone rang, startling him.  He switched off the television.

"SDSA Ersatz Office Front Desk, Private Tenchi Masaki speaking." He said as he picked it up.

"Hello, this is Agent #74753, Lieutenant Ghicardi, Bravo group.  I'm having some trouble reaching 
dispatch." The woman on the phone said.

"I know.  A friend of mine accidentally shut down the dispatch's server during an unfortunate incident 
involving coffee and a box of chocolates."

"The work of Detective Mihoshi?" The lieutenant laughed.

"Yup.  They're working on getting it back online.  I can relay your message, if you'd like."

"Okay.  I want to report some suspicious activity near an old warehouse on Mimicachi street and 
Chesterson road, belonging to an individual known only as 'Leoi C', as we have been told."

Tenchi brightened.  As Clay's first name was Leoi, it could be possible that the owner of the warehouse 
was him.

"Anything else you can tell me about the name?"

"On the record we found, his last name was smudged.  It was either Clap, Cracc, Cyan, or Clay.  It was 
really hard to read, as you can see."

"I'll get this right to dispatch!" Tenchi was sounding very happy now, as it probably was Clay's 
warehouse, and therefore some possible clues to his location.

"Mr. Masaki?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you sounding so happy all of a sudden?"

"No reason."

"Allright.  Goodnight." The Lieutenant said, then quietly hanging up.

He quickly phoned the SDSA dispatch about this information, and then jumped out of his chair, and ran 
towards the mechanics division's area of the building.  As he ran, he wasn't looking very well, and 
accidentally caused a Mihoshi-style collision between himself and a janitor, his soap bucket spraying 
everywhere.

"Watch where you're *&%%ing going, kid!" The janitor yelled, soaking wet, and smelling like a pine 
tree.

Tenchi tried to ignore it, and kept on running down the gray-tiled halls, until he reached the machine 
shop.  He opened the heavy doors, and looked inside.  The huge room looked much better than most of the 
building; It had painted, non-tiled walls, a hard cement floor, and a high roof.  Spaceship parts were 
pinned on parts of the wall as decorations, as well as thousands of photographs and papers.  The place was 
filled with people working on ships large and small, most ships on a gurney, some on gantries.  Sparks 
flew everywhere, mixing with the sound of metal against metal, people talking, motors starting, and 
vehicles moving.  The huge garage doors of the room would allow a ship ten times the size of Yukonojo to 
easily go through.  A nearby wind tunnel provided an eternal static hum, which was barely audible with 
all the noise.

Tenchi went through the garage, finally getting to where Nagi and Arti were, doing repairs on Yukonojo.  
Both were somewhat dirty, with oil on parts of their mechanics' uniforms.

"Arti, Nagi!" He called.

"Hey, Tenchi.  Tell Mihoshi not to leave shounen ai near the vent.  It got sucked in and caused some 
problems with the steering component." Arti spoke, wheeling out from under it, along with Nagi.

"I will.  I got a call from a Lieutenant a few minutes ago.  She and the rest of her group saw some 
suspicious activity at a warehouse belonging to a man named 'Leoi C.'  I think its' Clay."

"Where is it located?" Nagi asked, concern in her eye.

"Near Mimicachi street and Chesterson road." He replied, wondering what her response would be.

"Just as I thought; it was around there."

"What was?" Arti asked, now quite interested.

"What could be Clay's warehouse.  During my free time lately, I've been looking for it."

"That's where you go every day?" Joseph asked, having just come in with Mihoshi and Kiyone.

"Yes.  Looked all over the damned huge city.  I was going to look there today, anyhow.  I guess I have 
some company." Nagi said, getting up.  "When I was really young, I saw him going in there, bringing 
things in and out.  It was when I was 7, before I could read, so I didn't know the street names.  Right 
before my parents disappeared."

"You still have never told us about that-" Arti asked, stopping when Nagi glared at him.

"I'll explain it when we get to Earth or wherever.  I'll have a clearer head by then." She explained, "What 
struck me most about the place and his relationship to it was this metal case that he carried around with 
him when he went inside of it.  It was about the size of a laptop computer, made out of a dark metal.  On 
the front side of it was the engraving of a very old key, like the crappy metal ones they used before 
cardkeys.  The box itself seemed like a key to the building."

Joseph listened, and remained quiet for a moment, until he came upon an idea.

"We should try to see what is inside." He said, in a very low, quiet voice.  "We're all essentially cleared for 
assignments today.  After we're finished here, let's all go back to the apartment, go out to eat, then contact 
Loknar, Washuu and everyone else involved on Earth.  Then, after dark, we should quietly get over to that 
warehouse, and see what is going on inside, and if it gives us any clues."

"We should be careful, though.  The area is very slummy, full of crime, etcetera.  Clay usually puts his 
things in the richer areas, to boost his self-confidence.  That's why I didn't suspect that area at first." Nagi 
replied.  "We'll need to be well-armed.  What kind of crap did the Lieutenant say was going on around 
there?"

"Suspicious.  That's all.  I'm suprised it came up at all, due to the corruption."

"That could be anything then." Kiyone said.

"Well...Maybe they're just playing their music too loud.  That could be suspicious." Mihoshi wondered out 
loud.  Everyone sweatdropped at that statement.

Mihoshi checked her watch.

"Oh!  It's eight o'clock already!" She beamed, "Time to get off work!"

Tenchi checked his watch.

"You're right.  Let's get back to the apartment."

Yukonojo stretched his robotic head out of the window.

"Mihoshi, please do not leave mangas on the vents.  You nearly caused an accident." He said.

"I'm sorry." She said sadly.

"Yeah, I was meaning to talk to you about that, Mihoshi." Arti added.

Every day, she did something wrong.  She didn't know why she did it, or how.  She didn't like doing it, 
and didn't even know she was when she did it.  She hated always blowing up something, tripping over 
something, falling on something, forgetting something, saying something, breaking something, squashing 
something, or offending something.  Every day, it was something.  She tried not to let it all get to her, but 
Kiyone's constant scolding sometimes made it hard.  The homesickness didn't help either, upsetting 
everyone.  She knew Kiyone didn't mean to yell, but it did hurt her.  She wished that she could find out 
why these things happened, but they were as random as Mizra's attack.  Her blue eyes now had a sad look 
on it, a feeling of emotional pain.  She hated that feeling.  It was the only thing she hated, but it was the 
only thing that she could hate.  She loved everyone else, everything else.  Tears appeared in her eyes, but 
she wiped them off, hoping no one would notice.

Arti tapped her shoulder.

"Mihoshi?" He asked, concerned.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Arti.  I was just thinking about things."

"What things?"

"Stuff."

"What kinda stuff?"

"Just stuff."

"Well, it has to be something."

She gave him her usual glazed look, as she didn't want to discuss it.

"Huh?"

Arti sighed.

"Nothing.  Let's go."

They checked out of the office, and went back to the apartment, changing out of their uniforms, and back 
into their normal clothes.  Joseph, Tenchi, and Arti seemed in very high spirits, as they all wanted to get 
some leads as to where Clay was located.  While they were at the apartment, Joseph and Arti sang old 
Galaxian songs, bringing a smile to everyone's face for a bit.

Nagi watched Joseph, closely.  She was happy that he was in a good mood, but unsure as his reaction to 
the warehouse, once they got there.  She didn't know what was inside; it could just be filled with hentai.  It 
could be filled with guns.  It could be filled with Clay's failed inventions.  It could be filled with all of his 
old junk and personal records.  When she was young, and had seen him bringing things in and out, it was 
a variety of objects, all of them in boxes or crates, so she was unable to tell what they were.  She worried 
that Joseph and the others might just give up, thinking it was impossible, but she doubted that.

They ate dinner at the restaurant very quickly, as they wanted to spend some time talking with the others.

Joseph and the others sat around the table, Arti's laptop booting up.  Joseph quietly sipped some coffee, 
Mihoshi guzzling down her fifth soda.  She was feeling a bit better than before, but not as much.  She had 
forgotten about the incident with the SDSA's dispatch server by then, so a load had effectively been taken 
off her shoulders.  The sadness still lingered on, however.  She countered it by drinking a large amount of 
sugary soda, like most people.  Nagi stared at the screen with uncertainty, wondering how the others 
would respond to their plan.  They might find some huge flaw in their plan that might save their lives.  
They might come up with a more effective alternate plan.  They might even have more information on the 
warehouse.  Beads of sweat were on her forehead, but she wiped them off as the computer percolated, 
sounding like an earthly coffee maker.

Kiyone looked at Mihoshi, quietly observing her.  Since being scolded about her manga earlier that day, 
Mihoshi had been acting different than usual.  Instead of being bubbly, happy, and hyper, she seemed 
somewhat depressed.  Something had happened then, but she didn't know what.  It could have been a 
culmination of her yelling at the blonde detective so much, her frequent blunders, exhaustion, and 
homesickness.  The later problem was one she herself had.  She missed the beautiful Masaki house, the 
wide open fields, the relaxation, and the wonderful landscape.  Though Joseph, Mihoshi, and other friends 
were with her, it was still not the same.  She yearned to finally go back, to go home.

"Good evening, everyone." Ayeka said on her side of the screen, as the computer finished loading, 
instantly connected with the Masaki home via the tiny portal connecting the Sol system and the Lock 
Sector.  "How is everyone today?"

"We're fine.  We think we might have found a big clue - A building that is probably one of Clay's 
warehouses." Nagi replied, smiling a little.  "I saw him putting things in there when I was very young, but 
I am unsure what they were."

"Kill the octopusman!" Ryoko shouted, a little bit drunk.

"Ryoko, will you please quiet down?" Ayeka asked.

"No.  Shaddup."

Nagi grinned at her.

"Good afternoon, Ryoko."

"Yeah. Yello.  Whatdya want?"

"Can I speak with your mother?"

"Whatcha gonna do, tell on me?"

"No.  We just need to ask her and her fiancee about Clay's warehouse."

"Did someone call us?" Loknar asked, appearing on a split screen.

"Yes we did, we-" Tenchi replied, only to be cut off by Ryoko.

"Hey Tenchi!  Ayeka was going through stuff in your room *hic*"

"Ryoko, calm down." Tenchi said, sighing.  Ever since he had been in the Lock Sector, Washuu and the 
others had noticed that Ryoko had become much more depressed.  She stayed to herself most of the time, 
sitting on the roof, staring up into the sky, and drinking sake.  According to Washuu, the former space 
pirate had even started using Joseph's cigarettes, much to the displeasure of the two Juraian princes.  
Tenchi was very worried about her, as he knew that she cared about him deeply, probably more than 
anyone else in existence.

"We might have found Clay's warehouse." Arti said to the two geniuses, getting in front of the camera.

"Any details?" Washuu asked, Arti then filling her in on all pertinent information.

"Sounds like its' him.  I say go for it.  You know, though, that this is against SDSA rules."

"We know.  The whole damn agency is corrupt anyhow, so it won't make any difference.  Besides, we are 
doing this to avenge the deaths of more than a hundred people.  Mizra and Clay made this personal.  
Anyway, how are things going at home?" Joseph spoke.

"The same as its' been since you left.  Ryoko's depressed and drinking a lot.  Ayeka's worried sick, and is 
becoming obsessed with doing chores to keep her mind busy.  Sasami's having trouble concentrating, 
especially when Katsuhito is trying to train her on swordsmanship.  Noboyuki, Misaki, and Funaho 
are...Boyfriend and Girlfriends now.  The cabbits usually sleep in your rooms during the night.  We're 
holding on."

"How are things going on the political front?" Kiyone asked the two, who smiled slightly.

"Most of the agencies we contacted gave us license to destroy the dampeners.  Some refused, but we'll talk 
with them.  The GP and the Galactic Academy haven't responded yet; the GP is busy as heck, and the 
Academy is still on hiatus.  It might be a week or two until they get back."

"We can hold out until then."

Mihoshi looked outside, and then at her watch, comparing the two a few times.

"Uh...guys?  It's quite dark out, and its' about 11:30.  We should be heading out in a bit." She announced, 
looking up at the moons that orbited the planet.

"We'll rest and prepare for a few more hours.  We'll go at around 2, so it will be pitch black." Nagi 
instructed, an expert on such things.

"Allright.  You guys need your rest for when you go.  Call us when you get back." Ryoko said, coming up 
to the camera, feeling a bit soberer.  The main thing that sobered her up was seeing Tenchi; He was still 
alive, he had a job now, he was seeking retribution for the innocent, and he was now a fan of hard 
lemonade.  She smiled widely when she saw him, and blew him a kiss, Ayeka responding by fighting with 
her as the call ended.

For the next few hours, everyone prepared, and discussed plans for the attack.  Joseph, Mihoshi, Kiyone 
and Nagi quietly got some extra weapons from the SDSA office, and put them in Yukonojo.  Arti and 
Tenchi prepared the ship, making sure everything was working properly.  After that, they rested, and 
cleared their heads, so they wouldn't have much distraction.  Once everything was in place, they got into 
Yukonojo.  The night before, Nagi had bought a latex suit that was somewhat tighter than it should be, 
resulting in some looks and blood-drippy noses from Tenchi, Joseph, and Arti.

"Quit staring at it." She grumbled, sitting down.

"It's just...uh..." Arti stumbled about his words, unable to say much.

The girls sighed, the ship taking off.

Nagi went into a small closet in Yukonojo, finding something to do while waiting to arrive at the 
warehouse.

"Nagi, no distractions." Arti told her, not even having to look at her.

"This kind of thing clears my head.  Ah, here we go." She replied, pulling out a thick piece of Juraian 
holy wood, stuck in a large pot, filled with soil.  It was thick, about one fourth the size of a Juraian 
guardian.

"What kind of wood is this, and why's it planted?"

"Part of Azaka.  He tried to intervene in a fight between Ayeka and Ryoko a few weeks before you came, 
and he got half of his backside blown off.  Thankfully, Washuu and my father restored that part of him, 
but this part is left.  Interestingly, the wood itself is still alive, meaning that under the right conditions, it 
might spawn another tree." Joseph replied.

"Juraian guardian, eh?" Nagi said softly, pulling a box of circuitry from a bin recovered on their previous 
mission.  She took a knife out of her sheath, and carved a hole in the large scrap of wood.  She inserted 
the circuit within in, putting it in an oddly shaped indentation inside of the log.  The circuit instantly 
powered up, its' lights flashing briefly as the wood absorbed the circuit, converting it into a biological 
circuit.  She put a few more in similar indentations, the same process happening again and again.  She 
took an purple LED light from the bin of electronics, and put it in on the front of the small log.  She took 
a marker, which also happened to be purple, and drew a crude Juraian rune on it, much like Azaka and 
Kamidake's.

"What the heck are you doing?" Kiyone asked, curious.

"Making us a Juraian guardian."

"How?  Those things can only be made on Jurai!"

"Not this one.  I'm having it assimilate the silicon circuitry, and it will become like a normal guardian.  
There is some Juraian circuitry, so I'm figuring there might be a Guardian AI in it.  If it doesn't work, at 
least its' something to do."

"I didn't even know you were good with electronics."

Nagi frowned.

"When you're a bounty hunter, you learn the workings of weaponry, including defensive robots."

She put one last chip in, the purple light glowing.

"Wha?  Who the heck am I?" The new guardian asked, his voice sounding like a teenager's.  When he 
talked, his purple LED light blinked, just like Azaka and Kamidake's.  He was about one fourth the size of 
a normal guardian, but looked like a shattered piece of Azaka still.  

"Chibi-Azaka.  You will serve us."

"Whatever, lady.  Get me some antigravity booster things or whatever the heck they are, some kind of 
weapon, and for the love of God, finish carvin' me.  I look like a piece of driftwood here." Chibi-Azaka 
responded, sounding nothing at all like Ayeka's guardians.

Tenchi blinked.

"Are you sure you're a Juraian guardian?"

"Hell yeah, kid!  I sense you're a Juraian prince, and so is that other guy next to you.  I'll have to protect 
you and stuff, I guess." Chibi-Azaka continued, as Nagi pulled some of Azaka's spare anti-gravity 
generators, and mini-laser cannons, left over from when his back was blown off.  She installed them onto 
the anxious young guardian, who still did look like a badly-carved piece of driftwood.

Chibi-Azaka floated up, happily.

"Hehe!  I can fly!" He laughed, looping around, and shooting his laser at the ceiling.

"It's so cute!" Mihoshi beamed, hugging it.

"Hello!" Chibi-Azaka said, almost blushing, if he could.

"Calm down now.  We're here." Arti continued, Nagi putting a telepathic link chip into Chibi-Azaka, and 
putting a human one on her ear.  He instantly received all the information he needed about Clay, and what 
had happened.

"Okay.  Let's go through this warehouse or whatnot.  Promise to finish carving me when we get out, 
okay?" He asked.

"Fine." Nagi replied to the tiny guardian.

They slowly landed next to a dingy parking lot a block or so away from the warehouse.  They stepped out 
into a very bleak looking neighborhood.  High rise slum buildings towered above them, gray and rusting 
with disrepair, like dirty gigantic stones.  Overturned trash cans were everywhere, their contents spilled 
all over.  A dingy smell of rotting meat clung to the cool night air, perverting it from its' normal state.  
The gravely, cracked sidewalk was littered with trash, and stunk of beer and whiskey.

"Nice place." Joseph remarked, setting Yukonojo on high security.  In his left hand he carried a SDSA 
plasma pistol, made of a green metal, filled with highly-charged matter.  In his right he held the Orion-
ken, which hadn't been used for months.  The sword hilt looked drastically different from the plasma 
pistol, the two seemingly thousands of millennia apart.  Tenchi brought similar weapons, except he had 
the Tenchi-ken instead of Joseph's Orion-ken.  Arti held onto a high-powered taser and a locksmith's 
toolbox as well as a large suitcase, while Nagi brought her multi-purpose weapon, which looked much like 
a scepter.  Kiyone and Mihoshi brought their old GP pistols, and a few flash grenades, in case thing got 
sticky.  All of them wore dark clothing, in order to blend in with their surroundings.  Ako-Ohki had 
followed, despite Nagi's persistent warnings that he shouldn't.  The young cabbit looked stoically at the 
area, pit-pattering his paws as he followed the others, silent the whole time.

They soon got to the warehouse after a few minutes, and gazed at it.  The warehouse was medium-sized, 
about the size of a supermarket.  The building was made of gray stone brick, each brick weighing half a 
ton.  It looked very generic and unsuspecting, with a gravel walkway, a small fence, and a few small dirty 
windows.  The only thing that made it different from the other warehouses in the area was a small bronze 
plaque with the words "Property of Leoi J. Clay.  All trespassers will be arrested by Mr. Clay's personal 
staff." inscribed upon it in thick lettering.  On the door was Clay's logo, which was subsequently plastered 
almost everywhere in the warehouse.  In front of the entrance, there was a small security camera.  No 
lights blinked on it, and neither did it seem to move.

"It's octopus-baka all right." Arti whispered to the others.  He took his taser, and shot it at the camera.  A 
huge stream of light shot out of it, like thick bands of electricity.  The camera quietly disintegrated, 
seemingly leaving very little obstacles in their path.  He took out his locksmith's kit, and set to work on 
the electronic lock.  It was pretty advanced, but he was able to break it open after a few minutes, everyone 
a little bit tense as they watched for security personnel.  Arti noticed an odd port on the side of the door, 
possibly where the key that Nagi spoke of plugged into the wall, if it did. "Let's get inside."

Tenchi reluctantly went in first, and looked inside.  The whole place was almost completely dark, only a 
few very faint lights making things visible to the naked eye.  Boxes, crates, machines, papers, books, 
weapons, everything imaginable seemed stacked in ordered piles around the huge room.  Tenchi smiled, 
as the area looked very vaguely familiar to the storehouse back at his home.  Posters of pin-up girls 
covered parts of the walls, while expensive computer equipment dotted the area.  There was a large, 
crudely caricature of Washuu on the ceiling, with several darts, pencils, knives, and other objects stuck in 
it.  Tenchi laughed at the idiocy of Clay, and snapped a picture with a small camera.  A few rats scurried 
about as he had come in, afraid of the intruders.

"Clay's got everything in here." He whispered, staring at it all.  He went over to the section where the 
papers were, and looked in them.  He flipped through the files while everyone else went to different 
sections.  He eventually came to a folder with a huge amount of schematics for the dampeners, his 
accomplices in the area, and much more.

"Washuu was right." He thought as he put them in Arti's suitcase, "Clay is really stupid when it comes to 
hiding things."

"Kiyone, why doesn't Clay keep his rats away from people?" Mihoshi whimpered, about ready to jump on 
top of a crate to escape a few curious rodents.  "They're full of germs, like the ones that caused the Black 
Plague on Earth, and they could have herpes or warts or anthrax or other horrible diseasey things.  
They're dirty and smelly, too!"

"Mihoshi, stop complaining." Kiyone sternly told her partner, as she searched through some of Clay's 
books.  He had quite an extensive collection of hentai and shoujo mangas, the amount thousands of times 
larger than Noboyuki's.  He had every single one of those magazines in existence, and probably many 
much more perverse ones that he created himself.  There were a lot of handmade drawings, many of them 
with a sickening stain on them.  Kiyone turned green quite a few times; she made sure that she scrubbed 
her hands a thousand times once she got back to the apartment.

Arti looked through Clay's extensive array of machine parts, some of them so advanced and powerful that 
Arti's eyes became the size of planets.  He almost drooled a few times at the beauty of the machines, their 
components, and other peripherals.  None of them seemed to be illegal, and he was intrigued when he saw 
that Clay designed many of them.  He got angry when he saw that others belonged to Washuu, causing 
him to take a hammer to one of Clay's powerful cars.

Nagi inspected Clay's weaponry, most of it in a connected room.  Railguns, plasmatic rifles, neutronic 
shotguns, small tanks, missiles, battlesuits, ammunition, ships; If it was a weapon, Clay possessed it.  She 
looked them over, and even tried a few of the quieter ones out.  She cautiously watched out, arming 
herself with a few of them, Ako-Ohki staying close to her.

Joseph examined the computer system that Clay had set up for the warehouse.  The ten server nodes, 
scattered about through the warehouse, each contained an inventory for the category which they 
supervised.  There was extensive, very damaging information on there that could be very damaging to 
Clay.  He downloaded the lists, putting them on a small CDR disc.  Browsing the files, he found a few 
things on there that made his rage at the adult store seem like a little fight.  In response, Joseph destroyed 
many of the server's protocols, and quickly coded a program that would cause the network to destroy itself 
in a week.

While Joseph was working on this, Arti glanced over his shoulder, and grinned.

"You sure are you father's son." He laughed.

"Yes I certainly am.  I'm a Loknar allright." Joseph replied, smiling.

Mihoshi had been rummaging through a few crates of antiques and heirlooms for awhile, many of them 
looking quite beautiful.  The crates were marked by the names of their owners, who were long dead; the 
crates were collected up to a few thousand years ago.  Oddly, there was nothing perverse, hacked, cheated, 
stolen, or broken in the crates, like one would expect from Clay.  As her mother was an antique appraiser, 
Ms. Kuramitsu was quite adept at that art as well.  She put a few tiny, expensive objects into the suitcase, 
until she found something that might interest the whole group.  Buried in the bottom of a huge crate, there 
was a metal case, about the size of a laptop.  It was about a foot and a half long, one foot wide, and half a 
foot high, made of a stained, rusted metal.  On one of the smaller sides of the case there was a small 
electronic port, matching the one they had seen on the door of the warehouse.  On the top of the case was 
the engraving of a very old key, the kind that was used on Earth during the Nineteenth century.  Mihoshi 
opened it up, and was suprised by what was within.  Near the port was a small hard drive and modem, 
each brown with age.  Next to it was a large amount of critical written and electronic files, still intact, as 
they were in plastic cases.  On top of it was a small porcelain jar, with a name inscribed on it.

She took it out, and showed it to Arti.

"Great work Mihoshi!" He beamed, hugging her, causing her to blush a deep red, making Kiyone and 
Nagi a bit jealous. Unlike Ryoko and Ayeka, however, they held their cool.  Arti and the others looked 
them over, and the smiles got bigger.

"This has almost all the evidence we need to get Clay at least five life sentences in a GP jail." Kiyone 
spoke, grinning at her partner, hugging her as well.  Mihoshi was feeling much better now.  Finally, she 
had done something that was very helpful to the group, very productive, and hadn't made a big mistake.  
She hadn't committed any blunders, done anything stupid, or upset anyone.  Her happiness soared, and 
she felt like she wanted to sing, but stopped herself.

Arti looked at the small porcelain jar that was in the case.  It was made of an ivory-white kind of 
porcelain, very beautiful, shining even in the dim light.  It was a jar for a young girl, about Sasami's age, 
to put little trinkets and treasures.  It was decorated with handmade drawings by the girl it belonged to, 
who was a stupendously good artist.  In cursive writing was the girl's name: "Mirei H. Takahashi."  Arti 
looked it over, turning it about, inspecting it.  There was an odd sensation coming from the jar; it was 
warm, welcoming, and peaceful, but terribly lonely.  It was the kind of loneliness that Joseph had said that 
Ryoko experienced in that cave for hundreds of years.  Arti even thought he could hear faint crying, but 
no one else could.  He took off the lid of the jar, and inside there was a picture of the girl.  It was a faded 
photo of a girl about Sasami's age, in a small frame.  She had long brown hair and pretty brown eyes, 
wearing a dress that a girl would have worn in this sector thousands of years before.  Next to it was a lock 
of the girl's hair, in a small plastic bag.  It was taped to a boarding pass for the ancient Space Yacht SS 
Akane, en route to Jurai for a young physic's convention.  The stamp that was made for boarding was on 
there, but the stamp that should have been put when she was leaving the yacht was missing.

Arti knew that the young psychic's convention was a highly-publicized event in both the Galaxian 
Universe and the Juraian, where only the most gifted and ethically sound young people possessing Psionic 
abilities could go.  The name Mirei Takahashi and the ship SS Akane were familiar to him, but he didn't 
know where he knew them from.

"Nagi, do you know of any young psychic named Mirei H. Takahashi?" He asked, his voice seeming to 
echo through both time and space.

"She died a few thousand years back.  Her ship suddenly ran out of life support or something, and they all 
died.  A whole generation's young psychics were wiped out.  People say that might what have caused the 
upsurge in crime over the last few centuries, but I think its' just bad parenting." She replied, looking over 
a Katana.

He sighed sadly, knowing she was dead.  Something in his mind told him to take the jar with him.  It 
wasn't his own mind, his own counciousness.  Another entity wanted him to take it away from here, this 
storehouse of decay and loneliness.  It seemed insistent, causing him to briefly question his own sanity.  
Arti eventually obliged, closing the jar, and wrapping it with some packing material he had brought with 
in the suitcase.

Nagi inspected the key-case, frowning very sadly when she say a label at the bottom of it:

"To our little Nagi, who is eight years old now!  The little computer you wanted is in here, as well as 
many Pretty Sammy mangas!  This is just one of your gifts! - Love, Mommy and Daddy."  Her own name 
and the address of the old house, before her parents disappeared.

Nagi clenched her fists, and dropped her weapons.  She was trying hard not to scream.  She was trying 
hard not to yell bloody murder.  She was trying hard not to lose her sanity.  She was trying hard not to cry.

She dumped its' contents into the suitcase, and threw the key-case into the air, firing at it with her scepter, 
who shot bolts of plasma at it.  The metal was insanely strong, so the shots only dented it.  Everyone else 
watched at this happened, quickly reading the label when it hit the ground, realizing what was going on.

Around this time, the night watchman who had fallen asleep in front of the security monitors slowly 
awoke.  He did a few double-takes when he saw the security monitors.

"Clay's gonna kill me for this." He mumbled, hitting a small green button.

All around the group, sirens began to go off, while what seemed to be a group of soldiers quickly took off 
in a small ship a mile away, and headed for Clay's warehouse.

"Move!" Joseph shouted, Arti quickly putting the suitcase in Yukonojo, and bringing him closer, while 
Kiyone and Mihoshi covered the front door.  Chibi-Azaka, who had stayed by Arti for most of the time, 
had wandered off for part of it, assimilating a few weapons into his own personal armory.

The soldiers quickly flew in, crashing open the back door.  All of them wore black suits, with Clay's logo 
where their shirt pocket should be, as well as a black helmet bearing a remarkable resemblance to that of 
the kind used by the Axis powers in WWII.  The troops were armed with large clubs, a few with rifles; 
they  looked well-trained in using them effectively.  Nagi was still quite enraged by this time, her rage 
over the case that Clay had stolen from her parents boiling over from years of repression.

"You bastards!" Nagi screamed, firing her scepter at them as they entered the building, while Joseph and 
Tenchi stood beside her, firing their pistols, their Juraian swords activating.  Tenchi was quite nervous, as 
he hadn't been in a firefight before.  He had been trained only slightly of how to use one in the SDSA, as 
he was a clerk, after all.  Joseph and Tenchi charged at those who came up to them with their swords, 
easily defeating most of the soldiers.  Mihoshi and Kiyone took shots with almost sniper-like precision at 
the enemy forces.  Mihoshi's aim was oddly quite good, specifically knocking off a few of the troops' 
helmets, startling them out of commission to fight.

Then a few of the soldiers came in with robotic suits, making the troops much more powerful.  Nagi got in 
one, and fired at the troops, though her skill at this type of robotic suit was limited.  Right as Arti pulled 
over in Yukonojo, Chibi-Azaka dashed from the weapon room.

"Hello Claymen!  I can't come up with a good pun." He said, firing a huge barrage of untested neutron 
beams at the troops, knocking the weapons out of most of them.  With the others, he rushed into 
Yukonojo, which flew off, the troops trying to give chase.

"Oh crapiest of all crap." Arti told the group as a few fighters followed them.  "Someone get in the back, 
and work a turret."

"What is this, Star Wars?" Nagi mumbled, trying to calm herself by making an unfunny joke.  She 
climbed into a small turret, and fired at the fighters, each of them bearing Clay's logo.  This caused her 
only to fire faster and harder, one of them blowing up in a manner of seconds, as Arti and Kiyone drove 
Yukonojo as fast as they could.

"Yukonojo, get some more damn shells in here!" Nagi yelled at the computer.

"We're almost out, Miss Nagi.  I'm having enough trouble stocking the automated turret."

"Fine.  Link up wood-boy to a turret."

"I'm gonna be a cannon?  Cool." Chibi-Azaka beamed, racing over and linking with Nagi's turret.  She 
helped steer him in the right direction while he fired.

Very soon, the fighters were gone.  During the aerial battle, there had been very little communication, as 
everyone was fighting to keep Yukonojo flying.  He had suffered a few hits, though not major.  As soon as 
they were out of the range of the warehouse, everyone began to talk again.

"We did it!" Mihoshi exclaimed, hugging Kiyone, and then everyone else.

"Yes we did, Mihoshi." Joseph replied, hugging her too.

Nagi stared at the now bent and distorted key-case.  She had grabbed it right as they had taken off, but 
now she regretted it.  Her past, her history, her parents, her life...It was all coming back to her.  She hated 
it.

She opened a small gate on Yukonojo, and put the box in.  She shut it, and opened the door behind, the 
box flying out into the open air.  She opened the window and spit out of it, directly hitting the box.  While 
the others cheered and were joyous about the victory, she was not.

"Are you allright, Nagi?" Kiyone asked.

"I'll be fine.  I'll explain it all later." The bounty hunter whispered, staring off into the night sky.

At that time, Arti felt the voice again, this time a bit louder.

"Thank you." It said.

Arti was now very speculative, wondering if it was the spirit of the little girl who had died on the Akane.

"Mirei?" He asked, quietly.

"Yes." The voice responded faintly, sounding to him like a slight gust of wind.

Arti realized he had thus saved one who was long-dead; a dead entity that was still conscious.

"What a world." He mumbled.