Chapter 1: My New Partner
"Detective Takahashi, it's a pleasure to have you here again."
Sora took off her sunglasses. "Boris. What's up?"
Boris Manwell, the CEO of Manwell Industries, started walking down a hallway, leaving Sora to follow. "You're the greatest mind I can think of. Besides, after you help solve my daughter's case, you deserve to see this before anyone else in your agency."
Sora frowned. "Boris... this better not be something stupid."
"Stupid!?" Boris repeated, sounding greatly offended. "This is the most sophisticated thing anyone has ever made!"
"Uh-huh." Sora said, her gray eyes half-closed in disbelief.
Boris stepped into the elevator and beckoned her in. He pressed two buttons on the bottom and the elevator began to slowly descend. "What I'm about to show you is something that has never been done before. It's quite outstanding really."
"Are you going to tell me what this is or are you going to just keep talking?" Sora asked.
Boris sighed. "Detective, please, you'll understand when you see him."
Sora's mind clicked. "Him?"
"Ha, yes." He ran a hand through his white beard as the elevator began to slow. "I suppose it's a him, but there is a slight problem."
The elevator stopped and the giant metal doors opened up. The room they were now inside looked like an interrogation room, except the room inside the glass looked like an inside playground for children.
The playground consisted of a swing, a table with a game of checkers placed on it, and a large bin that had large blocks visible from the open lid. The weirdest thing, however, were the two fountains beside the slide.
The playground consisted of a swing, a table with a game of checkers placed on it, and a large bin that had large blocks visible from the open lid. The weirdest thing, however, were the two fountains beside the slide.
"What.. is this?" Sora asked, stepping toward the glass as the researchers checked their monitors.
Boris walked around the perimeter and pressed a button. "This... is the first synthetic human."
On the far side of the playground, the wall split in two and opened slowly like a door.
There was light from the other side, decorated with the copies of famous paintings like Starry Night and The Persistence of Memory. Then, the blanket on the bed inside moved. And then again.
The cover fell off and what Sora had originally thought was a child that lived there, turned out to be a 20-year old male in white pajamas.
The male put his hands in his russet brown hair and shook it around till it was sticking up a bit. He stretched his arms up and then opened his bright turquoise eyes.
"I was in the middle of a great dream," He said, snapping Sora out of her rushing flow of thoughts. "Is there something going on?"
Boris opened the door to the playground and stepped inside, Sora slowly following him. "Yes, you have a visitor."
The male, who Boris had still not addressed by name, looked at Sora with innocent eyes, although she could tell that something was up with this guy. "A visitor?"
"Yeah, I guess you haven't had one of those before, huh?" Boris joked.
Sora held a hand out to greet him and the feeling she had about him not being normal finally made sense.
The seemingly harmless synthetic human grabbed her hand in an incredibly swift action and had her pinned to the floor by his foot in a matter of seconds.
"N, N!" Boris said, pulling him back. "She's friendly, it's alright!"
N moved his foot off of Sora's chest and stepped back, before politely bowing. "Sorry, I haven't shaken hand before..." He stopped and looked down, as if confused by his words.
Sora stood up and dusted her knees off. "It's fine, you're quite extraordinary to be able to do something like that."
Boris nodded. "N here is trained in many different types of combat."
"I guess so, it wasn't that difficult to learn..." N said, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Well, we've been training you for a specific reason, my boy." Boris patted N on the back gently. "Starting tomorrow, you're going to be joining Ms. Sora here as her partner."
"What!?" Sora and N both shouted.
Boris looked down at them. "Yes, I've already talked to my team and the bureau about the partnership and they've agreed to this. N, sorry for the short notice but you're gonna need to pack your belongings."
"Oh... ok, I'll get started on that." N walked over to the drawer in the wall and then stopped, looking back at Sora. "I need to change."
Sora's eyes widened. "Oh my goodness, sorry, sorry!" She rushed out of the room as Boris followed suit.
"I'm trusting you to keep an eye on him, alright detective?" Boris asked.
Sora hesitated. "Fine. I'll pick him up tomorrow morning."
Boris smiled. "Thank you, Detective."
Sora sighed as she got back into the elevator alone. "What am I getting myself into..."
