“The solution is here, somewhere... I feel it!” Zenigata murmured as he twisted the controls of the holographic projection system again. “I just need to find it.”
When the catgirl had shown him and his colleagues the ‘reconstruction’, they had forgotten to mention that it was just one of the reconstructions they did together with their AI Cortana. One of dozens, each of them with an assigned probability value... and all of them with quite some guessing involved.
While the central mechanism was easy to recognize, the outer support structure was a mess. Too many tiny pieces that could be assembled into different configurations and none of them fitting perfectly.
They had all looked at the pieces for the last three days, giving small samples to the catgirls who provided an analysis of the material. The only big discovery was still the waved but hardtech superconductor.
A mixture of seven elements in a complex three dimensional lattice. Waved for some unknown additional effect. The catgirls never had seen something like this in Fenspace, it was just too difficult to make in large quantities. Superconductivity was easier to achieve with Handwavium.
They had sent a sample of it to Prometheus Forge with a Warsie courier, maybe they would be able to learn more about it this way.
“Just a few more combinations... I should really go to bed like Arthur and Jürgen” he said as he assembled the larger pieces of the support structure of the weapon into a new pattern. “No, thats still wrong, something is missing.”
A door behind him opened and a catgirl he didn’t recognized entered and sat down on the bank next to him.
“Hi, I am Mizuki” she introduced herself, “are you Ichikawa Zenigata?”
“Just a moment” he murmured and quickly finished his latest reconstruction attempt. “Damned, its wrong again... oh, hello Mizuki... yes, I am Ichikawa Zenigata from the Japanese National Police Agency.”
“Its already very late, ” she asked, looking curiously at him. “you are still working on your puzzle here?”
“Yes, it is late” Zenigata replied and nodded, “but someone has to get this job done. And I am pretty sure I saw something in this data... I just have to grab it!”
He smiled at the catgirl at his right and grabbed the controls in front of him again, starting another variation of his reconstruction attempts.
“May I ask you a question?” the catgirl asked and Zenigata sighed mentally.
“Another one? Okay.” he said, maybe getting a short break wasn’t that bad.
“Have you ever tried to throw handcuffs?”
Zenigata stared at Mizuki for a moment, then he started laughing loudly.
“No, I definitely have not” he said after he managed to stop laughing, “I think they are not good for hitting something at range.”
“Yes, I think you are right” the catgirl said and nodded, “a few of us tested it yesterday. They don’t fly well at all, but I thought you would know a trick!”
“Oh, you should not forget I am from Earth” he explained. “I had never any contact with Handwavium before this mission. I cannot throw handcuffs in any useful way, it just cannot be done.”
The catgirl looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded. Zenigata went back to work.
“Oh look there, this fits right into that hole” Mizuki suddenly said and pointed at the small holographic panel. The gesture based interface reacted instantly, shooting a few objects through the rest of the holographic image and scattering it all over the screen.
“Ups...”
“I am trying to work here” Zenigata said and rolled with his eyes. “I am happy for some company, but please do not touch the console.”
Just as he wanted to continue his work, the catgirl jumped up. “I will get myself a coffee. Do you want one too?”
She didn’t even waited for a response and raced out of the room.
‘Strange girl... but maybe I can now get my work done.’ he thought.
But just after a minute the catgirl was back with two large mugs of hot coffee.
“Here, I brought you a coffee too!” she said and put one of the mugs in front of him, directly into his holographic console. The catgirl grinned and sniffed at her coffee, purring loudly.
Zenigata took a few deep breaths to stay calm while looking at Mizuki who was squirrelly moving back and forth.
‘This one drank too much coffee’ he thought and put his coffee mug to the side, trying to salvage his current work while keeping an eye on his guest.
The catgirl suddenly began to giggle.
“Hey, I know where this part belongs to” she said and tried to reach for the control console again, but Zenigata quickly grabbed her wrist.
“What did I say about the console” he asked with a smirk, but Mizuki just giggled and instantly reached out with her other hand. It took a short brawl until he finally managed to hold her.
“You are a really naughty cat” he said, carefully trying not to begin laughing. Mizuki smiled happily and began to purr.
‘I am doomed’ he thought, ‘cat is on coffee overload and is enjoying this game. I need a creative solution to this, otherwise I will be always the Spoilsport from Earth here.’
He looked around and suddenly he began to grin himself. Carefully he twisted her arms on the back of the bench.
“So you think you have already won our little brawl” he asked and Mizuki grinned widely, visibly enjoying the attention she got.
*click* *click*
“Maybe then you shouldn’t have brought the cop your handcuffs” Zenigata continued as he locked her hands together behind a beam that was holding the back of the bench.
“Hee... cheater!” Mizuki protested as she failed to free her hands again.
“You see, now we can both work on our big puzzle without constantly fighting for the controls” Zenigata said, putting his left arm around the shoulders of the catgirl. “If you have a good idea you just have to say it. Sometimes two hands are one hand too much.”
Too much...
He blinked a few times as he looked at the holo screen in front of him.
“YES... too much! Thats it! Too much!” he shouted. Mizuki just gave him a puzzled look.
“You see, I have been trying to find the right place in the machine for a group of metal loops, but it always looks strange” he tried to explain excitedly. “One of them is not from the machine, thats why!”
He waved to an Exocomp who was sitting on a chair close to him. “Hey you... get me this seven loops and put them into a small box each” he said and marked them on the holoscreen, “I have to get them to your labs!”
The Exocomp beeped happily and rushed through the airlock into the room with the weapon system parts.
“Ahh, that was the key” Zenigata said and smiled at the catgirl. “Thank you very much.”
The Exocomp was quickly back with a stack of boxes. Zenigata took the boxes and rushed towards the door.
“I have to bring this to the labs, I will be back in a moment!” he said and left.
“Hey!” Mizuki shouted and looked around. “Our coffee will get cold.”
She tried to get her hands free again, then looked at the Exocomp.
“Do something, help me!”
The Exocomp beeped an acknowledgement and rushed out of the room, only to bring back two small hot plates. It snickered and put them below the coffee pots, then sat down on Mizuki’s lap.
“Traitor” the catgirl murmured.
When the catgirl had shown him and his colleagues the ‘reconstruction’, they had forgotten to mention that it was just one of the reconstructions they did together with their AI Cortana. One of dozens, each of them with an assigned probability value... and all of them with quite some guessing involved.
While the central mechanism was easy to recognize, the outer support structure was a mess. Too many tiny pieces that could be assembled into different configurations and none of them fitting perfectly.
They had all looked at the pieces for the last three days, giving small samples to the catgirls who provided an analysis of the material. The only big discovery was still the waved but hardtech superconductor.
A mixture of seven elements in a complex three dimensional lattice. Waved for some unknown additional effect. The catgirls never had seen something like this in Fenspace, it was just too difficult to make in large quantities. Superconductivity was easier to achieve with Handwavium.
They had sent a sample of it to Prometheus Forge with a Warsie courier, maybe they would be able to learn more about it this way.
“Just a few more combinations... I should really go to bed like Arthur and Jürgen” he said as he assembled the larger pieces of the support structure of the weapon into a new pattern. “No, thats still wrong, something is missing.”
A door behind him opened and a catgirl he didn’t recognized entered and sat down on the bank next to him.
“Hi, I am Mizuki” she introduced herself, “are you Ichikawa Zenigata?”
“Just a moment” he murmured and quickly finished his latest reconstruction attempt. “Damned, its wrong again... oh, hello Mizuki... yes, I am Ichikawa Zenigata from the Japanese National Police Agency.”
“Its already very late, ” she asked, looking curiously at him. “you are still working on your puzzle here?”
“Yes, it is late” Zenigata replied and nodded, “but someone has to get this job done. And I am pretty sure I saw something in this data... I just have to grab it!”
He smiled at the catgirl at his right and grabbed the controls in front of him again, starting another variation of his reconstruction attempts.
“May I ask you a question?” the catgirl asked and Zenigata sighed mentally.
“Another one? Okay.” he said, maybe getting a short break wasn’t that bad.
“Have you ever tried to throw handcuffs?”
Zenigata stared at Mizuki for a moment, then he started laughing loudly.
“No, I definitely have not” he said after he managed to stop laughing, “I think they are not good for hitting something at range.”
“Yes, I think you are right” the catgirl said and nodded, “a few of us tested it yesterday. They don’t fly well at all, but I thought you would know a trick!”
“Oh, you should not forget I am from Earth” he explained. “I had never any contact with Handwavium before this mission. I cannot throw handcuffs in any useful way, it just cannot be done.”
The catgirl looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded. Zenigata went back to work.
“Oh look there, this fits right into that hole” Mizuki suddenly said and pointed at the small holographic panel. The gesture based interface reacted instantly, shooting a few objects through the rest of the holographic image and scattering it all over the screen.
“Ups...”
“I am trying to work here” Zenigata said and rolled with his eyes. “I am happy for some company, but please do not touch the console.”
Just as he wanted to continue his work, the catgirl jumped up. “I will get myself a coffee. Do you want one too?”
She didn’t even waited for a response and raced out of the room.
‘Strange girl... but maybe I can now get my work done.’ he thought.
But just after a minute the catgirl was back with two large mugs of hot coffee.
“Here, I brought you a coffee too!” she said and put one of the mugs in front of him, directly into his holographic console. The catgirl grinned and sniffed at her coffee, purring loudly.
Zenigata took a few deep breaths to stay calm while looking at Mizuki who was squirrelly moving back and forth.
‘This one drank too much coffee’ he thought and put his coffee mug to the side, trying to salvage his current work while keeping an eye on his guest.
The catgirl suddenly began to giggle.
“Hey, I know where this part belongs to” she said and tried to reach for the control console again, but Zenigata quickly grabbed her wrist.
“What did I say about the console” he asked with a smirk, but Mizuki just giggled and instantly reached out with her other hand. It took a short brawl until he finally managed to hold her.
“You are a really naughty cat” he said, carefully trying not to begin laughing. Mizuki smiled happily and began to purr.
‘I am doomed’ he thought, ‘cat is on coffee overload and is enjoying this game. I need a creative solution to this, otherwise I will be always the Spoilsport from Earth here.’
He looked around and suddenly he began to grin himself. Carefully he twisted her arms on the back of the bench.
“So you think you have already won our little brawl” he asked and Mizuki grinned widely, visibly enjoying the attention she got.
*click* *click*
“Maybe then you shouldn’t have brought the cop your handcuffs” Zenigata continued as he locked her hands together behind a beam that was holding the back of the bench.
“Hee... cheater!” Mizuki protested as she failed to free her hands again.
“You see, now we can both work on our big puzzle without constantly fighting for the controls” Zenigata said, putting his left arm around the shoulders of the catgirl. “If you have a good idea you just have to say it. Sometimes two hands are one hand too much.”
Too much...
He blinked a few times as he looked at the holo screen in front of him.
“YES... too much! Thats it! Too much!” he shouted. Mizuki just gave him a puzzled look.
“You see, I have been trying to find the right place in the machine for a group of metal loops, but it always looks strange” he tried to explain excitedly. “One of them is not from the machine, thats why!”
He waved to an Exocomp who was sitting on a chair close to him. “Hey you... get me this seven loops and put them into a small box each” he said and marked them on the holoscreen, “I have to get them to your labs!”
The Exocomp beeped happily and rushed through the airlock into the room with the weapon system parts.
“Ahh, that was the key” Zenigata said and smiled at the catgirl. “Thank you very much.”
The Exocomp was quickly back with a stack of boxes. Zenigata took the boxes and rushed towards the door.
“I have to bring this to the labs, I will be back in a moment!” he said and left.
“Hey!” Mizuki shouted and looked around. “Our coffee will get cold.”
She tried to get her hands free again, then looked at the Exocomp.
“Do something, help me!”
The Exocomp beeped an acknowledgement and rushed out of the room, only to bring back two small hot plates. It snickered and put them below the coffee pots, then sat down on Mizuki’s lap.
“Traitor” the catgirl murmured.