For the Love of Enchanted Pistons

[Haruka Suzuki]

"Well.  At least we now know we need better locks."

Haruka knew she was in for trouble when the normally cool Katashi came to her, eyes wide and just a little bit panicked.  He had led her to one of the storage rooms, the one Katashi had been placed in charge of.  The lock dangled helplessly on the handle, the door slightly ajar.  Haruka folded her arms across her chest as she surveyed the damage.  "It's crazy," he said, "The outer doors were fine.  How does this sort of thing even happen?"

"Maybe one of your girlfriends let the burglar in," a passing mechanic said, hefting a toolbox and grinning a mile wide as he walked by, "You haven't done anything to piss them off lately, have you?  Maybe they found out about each other and decided to take joint revenge."

"Shut up, Gorou!" Katashi snapped, "You wouldn't be laughing if it was your ass on the line!"

"Both of you, enough!"  Haruka bellowed, fixing a hard stare on both of them in turn, "This isn't helping the situation."

Gorou shrugged in response, continuing on his way.  It wasn't until he had rounded the corner and disappeared that Katashi let out a large sigh.  "Mr. Suzuki's gonna hang me from the ceiling.  Or maybe he'll be merciful and just kill me."

That was how her father always portrayed himself when he was with the boys, Haruka thought to herself.  If only they could've seen him when he lets Momo use him to wind yarn.  "That depends on what was stolen.  How much did we lose?"

Katashi rubbed the back of his neck.  "Just one thing.  The pistons from Mr. Satsuma's car."

Haruka groaned inwardly.  The one thing they couldn't afford to lose, simply because they were one-of-a-kind.  It was a rare day you came in possession of magically charged car parts (and also one hell of a day, she thought with an inward shudder.  At least he had paid them well.).  The fact that they were the only things stolen meant it had to have been someone specifically looking for them.  The problem was...

"I don't know that we can go to the police for that," she said, her tone pragmatic, "We may have to just accept them as lost and move on."

"What?  We can't!" Katashi exclaimed, before remembering his place and bowing apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I was going to use them.  I wanted to see what they could do.  They could make one hell of a custom.  We could possibly make a serious pile of cash or rule the racing circuit with them.  Not to mention Mr. Suzuki was really interested in them, and I think he'd be pretty upset if they were gone for good."

"I'm not disagreeing," Haruka replied, mild irritation creeping into her voice as she remembered she had other things to do beyond debating whether or not to chase after lost-beyond-hope car parts, "but filing a report would be somewhat difficult.  'Car pistons, possibly still alive.  Handle with extreme caution, do not taunt.'  We'd be laughed out of the station.  Unless you have another way to get them back, our time would be better spent looking for more durable locks."

Katashi lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, defeated.  Thinking the matter had been settled, Haruka turned to leave, her mind already buzzing with new lock possibilities (for the moment, a quick and subtle time turn-back would tide the old ones over) when she heard a small cough behind her.  "Ah, Haruka?"

She turned to find Taichi, a short, thin man, standing before her, shifting uncomfortably.  "I think I know some people who can help us.  They helped me get back some, ah, objects I was quite attached to that disappeared."

*

Haruka stared up at the shop facade, her hands deep in her pockets--an insecure gesture, she told herself, chiding.  "Remind me again why we're in one of the fanciest parts of Chiyoda about to go into an antiques store?"

Taichi grinned shyly.  "We can find someone to help us find our thieves and save Katashi from the wrath of Mr. Suzuki?"

The lady mechanic grunted in response.  Silently, she thanked herself for thinking to change out of her coveralls before meeting with Taichi for this excursion.  At least it felt nice to be out of them for a little while.  There were days she wondered if she should just wear them to bed so she'd be already dressed for the next day.  "I hope you know what you're doing," she said, skepticism in her voice.

"Oh, I do!" he replied, "They were very good!  I got my things back the very next day."

She pursed her lips.  "Their competency isn't my only concern."   Resigned to her fate, she strode up the steps and pushed the ornately carved door open.

[Sarabakari Zousei]

Sara took one step into the back room and felt like a fifty foot tsunami crashed right over her head and pulled her feet right out from under her. Eyes wide and sputtering as if she’d accidentally swallowed a mouthful of seawater, she retreated back out the door, away from the veritable wall of water energy pooling in the storage area. Damn it … Ryoushi could have told me the mirrors Yamagata requested had been delivered.

“Oh! Sara! Wait! The mirrors …” Ryoushi’s words died away as he rounded the corner, realizing his message was two seconds too late when he caught sight of Sara glaring daggers in his direction. “They just arrived … I actually was looking for you to tell you, but, well …” Her boss gestured apologetically towards the backroom door and then at his lovely psuedo-drowned assistant, head bowed.

His explanation assuaged some of Sara’s anger, but it didn’t help the fact she still felt soaked -- like waking up from a horrible dream that felt way too real for comfort -- and her knees were still wobbly from the experience. She hid it well by propping herself against a sturdy marble-and-metal table, which held her up more than her own two feet at the moment. Sighing, Sara ran a hand down her powder blue pencil skirt in an attempt to extricate some of the water chi that still clung there. “You know what happens when a bunch of mirrors are put in one place with nothing to balance them out …”

Luckily Ryoushi was saved from any further chastising by the soft, soothing sounds of the antique wind chime at the front door. Customers. Placing a hand gingerly on Sara’s shoulder, he turned her in the direction of the chimes while giving her another apologetic smile. “Why don’t you go help them and I’ll clear out the back room for you? And lunch is on me today.” He gave her a quick, reassuring pat, then ducked into the back room before she had a chance to respond.

Shaking her head, Sara steadied herself and affixed her best I’m-here-to-help smile on her lips before making her way to the front.

“Hello! Welcome to Gizoku Gallery and Antiques!” Sara greeted warmly, bowing to the two mechanics. “Oh! Hello again Taichi-san. It is always good to see a familiar face. What can I do for you today?”     

[Haruka Suzuki]

The mechanics bowed in return, Taichi's face suddenly turning several shades redder.  His companion, who had been very absorbed in examining a graceful sculpture of a young woman when Sara initially entered, waited respectfully while he made the initial greetings.  "Ah, hello again, Zousei-san.  I'm glad to see you're well.  This is my co-worker, Suzuki Haruka," he said, gesturing awkwardly to his fellow customer, "I've recommended your shop to her."

Haruka stepped forward, her gaze flickering slightly, seeming to evaluate the woman before her.  After a bare moment, she spoke, holding herself casually as she did so, despite the seriousness in her voice.  "I understand your business also offers retrieval services," she said, "I'm afraid our shop has lost a rather unique set of pieces."

[Sarabakari Zousei]

“A pleasure to meet you, Suzuki-san.” Sara bowed to the young woman, finding herself quietly evaluating Haruka just as much as the lady mechanic watched her. “Well, Taichi-san brought you to the right place. Our retrieval service has successfully reclaimed every item that our customers have asked us to locate. We’ve retrieved things from the more typical painting-of-a-specific-type to things of a more unusual nature. We once had to find a wrought-iron toasting fork that was made as close to the year 1899 as possible and still in usable condition. And I’d also be happy to give you references, though I‘m sure Taichi-san already told you about his experience with our services.” Sara spoke matter-of-factly, getting the impression Haruka might prefer facts and figures rather than the usual shiny, perky sales pitch.

Sara excused herself for a moment to collect the clipboard that Ryoushi normally left on the welcome desk near the front door. She wanted to at least take down some of the information; that way, even if Haruka left skeptical, Sara could start a little preliminary work to better convince the mechanic they could do the job. “What pieces are you needing us to retrieve? If you’re not in a hurry we can go to my office and get all the details and maybe a cup of tea? If it is more urgent, I can get the necessary details to move forward now and we can start right away.”

[Haruka Suzuki]

Haruka nodded, apparently willing to take a chance at least, and pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket, carefully folded.  She opened it and presented it to Sara.  It wasn't a photo of the object in its place of honor, as most of the more unique objects were depicted.  In fact, it wasn't a photo at all; instead, it was a printout from a Mercedes website, showing what appeared to be several metallic canisters.  "A set of pistons was stolen from one of our storage rooms last night.  We didn't find any evidence of the outer doors to the shop having been forced open, and nothing else was stolen, suggesting they were targeted.

She shifted a moment, seeming to confer quietly with herself before continuing in her slightly gruff tone.  "Normally, we would have gone to the police, but these pistons have rather unique properties that suggest...the police wouldn't be the best for the job.  This is something we would rather keep low profile, for the sake of the shop."

[Sarabakari Zousei]

“Ah, I see. Very understandable.” Sara spoke in earnest, sympathizing with Haruka’s rather delicate situation. Police didn’t take well to explanations that something magically disappeared or terms like magic or enchanted in general. When they’re trained to deal with facts and evidence, magic to them was … well, a bit of a cop out.

“May I?” Sara collected the picture, paperclipping it to the sheet on her clipboard after studying it for a moment. She then made a few notes, the last one being the word unconventional -- the gallery’s code name for items of an extraordinary nature -- which she underlined a few times. Sara had to admit, though, this was the first time she’d ever seen car parts fall into this category. Normally the item tended to be an antique and usually something a bit more mundane, like a fan or a hand mirror.

“Given that the pistons are highly unique, I wouldn’t be surprised if their disappearance was cause by something or someone unique, as well. We’ve actually located a few items similar to this one and that was the case for those, so I’m going to assume for now that it applies to the pistons, as well.” Sara tapped her pen against her lips as she considered her next course of action. If the pistons were stolen within the last twenty-four hours, there would be a good chance some residual energy may still be in the area. If she could take a peek that could seriously help expedite the retrieval of the car parts.

“I'll need to know exactly what special properties the pistons have if possible. That may narrow down what happened to them. Also, with your permission and if it won't interfere with your work, may I inspect the car and the garage it is located in? Sometimes clues are left behind that may help.” Sara put on her best I’m-here-to-help smile once again, silently willing Haruka to agree.   

[Haruka Suzuki]

Haruka pursed her lips, frowning as she considered. "Part of the reason why we had acquired the pistons was to study them further," she said, "We're still not entirely sure what they're even capable of.  Right now all we know is that they seem to have the capacity for a lot of energy output, and that they glow purple.  A lot."  She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.  "They're likely something we can't afford to have running about, especially when we don't know what they can do.  Someone could get hurt if they didn't know what they were doing.

She glanced over at Taichi, who was shifting a bit uncomfortably as the two women spoke.  Frequently he lifted his gaze, only to immediately send it crashing to the floor when it caught Sara's.  "I can show you the room where they were stolen from," Haruka said finally, "Perhaps you will see something we've overlooked."

***

Haruka seemed to turn into a different person when she was returned to her element.  She moved easily between the cars suspended in mid-air and the ones with half their guts on the garage floor, manuevering so that she and Sara didn't stray too close to a job in progress.  Nevertheless, more than a couple of the mechanics raised their heads in interest as the pair passed.  One let out an appreciative whistle.  "Haruka, who's your friend?" he called out, "Not a new employee?  We so rarely get fresh meat.  I'd be more than happy to personally show her the ropes."

"Mind your work, Osamu!" Haruka bellowed in return, "I'll give you some ropes to worry about!"

Osamu merely grinned harder.  "Is that a promise, Haru?"

Haurka scowled in his direction.  "Dirty old man!"  Despite the irate tone, there was some apology in her voice as she spoke to Sara.  "They're good people," she said, "But some are more tactful than others."

[Sarabakari Zousei]

Sara took extra care threading her way through the garage behind Haruka, making sure not to stray too far from the blue-haired mechanic. She was use to tight spaces, especially considering how packed the gallery could get, but the garage was a much different character what with the loud noises, the occasional sparks flying about, and car parts dangling from every which way -- and causing a lot of metal chi to concentrate in the area. First water, now metal. Sara groaned inwardly. It seemed like today was turning into One Of Those Days for her, though she could handle large amounts of metal energy much easier than water, since it tended to make her feel more invigorated versus drowned.

Sara also noticed the abundance of metal energy had a similar affect on the mechanics given the way she and Haruka were received. “Are they always like this?” she asked with a laugh. “And don’t worry, I can tell they’re good people. Besides, you’ve got them under control, right?” Sara smiled, appreciating the fact Haruka did take charge within the garage.

“Now let’s see this car, shall we?” Then more quietly, “Oh, and does everyone know about the pistons’ … properties?” Sara didn’t want to be discussing potentially confidential information out in the open, nor did she want to concern any of the mechanics when she spoke of purple energy. She had enough problems appearing normal already …

[Haruka Suzuki]

Haruka's gaze shifted away momentarily, as if a memory pulled her aside for a moment.  "Well, it's no secret that we've been experiencing some...unusual events lately," she said, clipping around a disassembled engine, "But we've tried to keep the pistons on a need-to-know basis.  We removed them from the car shortly after it came into our possession, and kept them in a locked room.  We've been wanting to study them further, but obvious circumstances have dictated otherwise."

She led Sara into the back rooms, to the storage area in question.  The lock currently on the door was sturdy, but looked as if it had been in service for some time.  Outwardly, it looked like it was in one piece.  The mechanic produced a key and unlocked the door, opening into a small room lined with miscellaneous car parts, each tagged with identifying information and carefully organized.  Haruka kneeled and pointed to a corner of one of the shelves, where there was a distinctly empty space.  "The pistons were kept in a box, here."

[Sarabakari Zousei]

Sara nodded, silently filing away the new information Haruka gave her about the pistons. If only a few mechanics were aware of the pistons’ properties, that would limit the number of people who might have potentially taken them. She had a funny feeling, though, that the thief -- if there was one -- would end up being a more unusual character than one of the mechanics. She also wondered just how well Haruka would take to finding out the pistons might have literally grew legs and walked out all by themselves. Enchanted things tended to have a mind of their own after all.

Taking note of the empty space in the storage area, Sara then looked around, taking in what she saw with the eyes of a thief. (Which was not exactly a stretch considering her alter ego …) Nothing else in the room seem disturbed in any way, so the thief either knew exactly where to find the pistons or spent an awful lot of time tidying up after searching around the parts closet. Not to mention the lock was locked, as well, so the thief would’ve taken a few precious seconds to secure it back into place. (Again, assuming a thief stole the pistons, which she still doubted somewhat).

Once finished with her professional analysis as a thief, Sara set to work examining the room with her powers. Immediately, she caught sight of the purple energy Haruka spoke of earlier in the spot where the pistons used to sit. What struck her as strange, though, was the energy trail stayed low to the ground and disappeared out the door. Either the culprit dragged the parts on the floor or he or she was incredibly small. Or, well, the pistons really did grow legs. Sara turned to the lady mechanic and asked, “This may sound odd, but … do you have any very short people on staff? And, um, what is your take on inanimate enchanted objects -- like the pistons -- becoming animated on their own?”

[Haruka Suzuki]

"Absolutely not," Haruka replied bluntly, folding her arms across her chest.  Whether or not the declaration was one of certainty or false hope was another question entirely.  "That, at least, is one thing it hasn't done yet."  She let out a controlled sigh, rubbing her mouth with her hand.  "But since we're running out of more logical options...you haven't heard of anything like this calling out to others, have you?  Maybe it helped its thief."

[Sarabakari Zousei]

“That is quite possible,” Sara agreed. “Enchanted objects tend to be attracted to certain things or people, so it may have been silently signaling for someone that matched its user profile -- for lack of a better term. Also, some types of creatures are drawn towards enchanted objects because they can sense its power and want to either use it or hoard it.”

She drummed her fingers across her lips, giving herself a moment to figure out just how to broach her theory with Haruka. “I believe,” Sara began, choosing the simple and direct route, “The pistons were taken by a goblin or a gremlin. You know how Western dragons tend to hoard enchanted and not-so-enchanted treasure? Well, goblins and gremlins especially like hoarding machinery. The saying ‘gremlin in the machine’ is actually accurate a lot of the time.” She walked over and tapped the shelf where the pistons had once been. “Something like this would be akin to the Hope Diamond for a gremlin.”   

Sara pivoted on her heel and faced Haruka with an apologetic smile. “I hope this isn’t too far-fetched. The good news is gremlins don’t stray too far from home, so it either came in with the car or has always been in the garage. Do you all ever notice things mysteriously going missing or find things in unusual places?”

[Haruka Suzuki]

Haruka's expression darkened, her brow furrowing as she softly repeated the words "...came in with the car...".  She then addressed Sara again.  "Gourou's tools have been occasionally disappearing.  We've found them hidden in other places in the garage, but I thought it was just Katashi getting revenge.  Although I did wonder how he managed to get his gear puller wedged so neatly against one of the rafters."

There was a rattling noise behind Haruka, prompting her to whirl about, as if to accuse the noise's maker to try doing that again.

[Sarabakari Zousei]

“Sounds like it could be a gremlin,” Sara confirmed both Haruka’s observations and the noise. “They are small and tend to pull enough metal chi from objects around them to blend with their surroundings -- a camouflage tactic of sorts -- so they can steal what they want without any notice. And this place is chock-full of metal chi, given it’s a car garage. But,” she held up a finger and gave Haruka a sly grin, “I know a trick to make it appear.”

“First, though, we’ll need something to contain it -- preferably something non-metal because it may just eat through it or go into camouflage mode again. We’ll have to catch it quickly too. If we don’t it’ll probably be hopping mad that I blew its cover and may start, um, well, throwing things at us to get away. They’re a bit feisty.” Sara did her best to sound as if gremlin wrangling was part of her usual job description, keeping her voice as professional as possible given the unusual topic they were discussing. Customer assurance and all.

“Are you all right with catching it once it appears?” She needed to know -- and hoped the lady mechanic would be comfortable with it -- or else they’d have a cranky, potentially vindictive little bugger on their hands. Quite frankly, Sara had been bombarded with enough extraneous chi today to not want to deal with that at all. (And it wasn’t even a Monday!)