Misfit's Trial

Two youngsters embarking on a multidimensional journey

Steward Manor's Gallery of Destiny

"Mylady, Mylord, please enjoy yourselves by freely investigating the myriads of secrets and mysteries in Steward Manor. Yet may I advise you for your own welfare that certain... mysteries best be left untouched." Pierrot the bald headed chamberlain elucidated with a wink towards the kids, placing special emphasis on the spiky haired boy. "Please be aware that old buildings with a history such as this one tend to have eyes and ears everywhere...and you would not want to upset its true owners, wouldn't you?" Jet Tailong glared back at the haughty chief servant. Are you implying something, old man?, he thought to himself.

"Now, should the need for anything ever arise," continued Pierrot, "do not be too bashful to call me or any other member of house service via comlink. He stepped forward portending them to enter the room. "Dinner will be served in the west wing dining hall at exactly eight o'clock. That is four hours from now. Lord Wilbur Curtis Apharesius Estrange Darlington Steward IX will be awaiting you. Mademoiselle, Monsieur...May I now excuse myself. " The servant swang around on his heels to take his leave, while an expectant boy and a girl remained.

The door fell shut with a metallic clank and chafing and clicking noises suggested it being locked from the outside.

"Wow, Mariko!" Jet exclaimed in awe as his eager eyes mustered the diverse inventory of the large hall in which both teenagers were standing in this moment. "These things are really amazing. And I first thought this vacation was going to suck badly."

The boy's hand slid over the surface of an antique mechanical contraption, a scale model of the solar system, briefly snatching a finger against one of the colorful spheres that represented the celestial bodies. That move sent it and the other 'planets' swirling around their respective trajectories within the ecliptic plane.

Mariko's corners of her mouth slightly twitched upwards to something resembling almost a smile, though Mariko barely ever smiled . "I knew you'd like it." the black haired girl said. "And every single piece of it is an original." she added. "No replicates at all."

He nodded acknowledging the interesting collection of curiousities anew. "Pretty cool stuff. Where the heck did your gramps dig up all those thingies?"

His gaze went upon a shelf stacked with various medieval melee weaponry, a vast collection of swords, axes, warhammers, maces, flails besides other strange killing and maiming devices he could not even name.

He stepped closer to the rack as one particular item garnered his interest, a curved longhilted blade inside a red sheath which was intricately ornamented with golden dragon designs. Skillfully Jet drew the blade, flourished it with a few quick slashes through the air and promptly sheathed it in a swift, fluid motion.

Mariko shrugged. "Well...I guess he found those things on his countless travels. He's not only a businessman but also a professor and inventor well known in the solar system. And when the economy on Terra totally got busted, he cheaply bought many of the secret artifacts held by the regional governors who tried to get their countries running again, beside other things..."

Jet nodded thoughtfully. "That might be one explanation. A man with many fields of interests..similar to my dad. No wonder they know each other so well." The boy ran his fingers through his pointy mane. "Still it's kinda... weird, my father having something like a friend."

Mariko curiously raised an eyebrow. "Weird? Why? Shouldn't your father have a lot of friends? He's the founder and CEO of Tailong Enterprises, the largest leading mega corporation on Mars after all..."

Jet Tailong shook his head. "Him? Friends? He's more likely to have competitors and enemies, trying to be ahead of him all the time. The best he could wish for are allies and business partners but that's a far cry from true friendship. And the people who work for him....well...they rather keep their distance from a strange guy who just does his work, barely talks to anyone except of barking orders, and who has no private life with...his family whatsoever. Were it not for the money...they'd all be running for the competing firms..."

Jet grimaced trying hard to offer Mariko a casual grin after speaking the last word, concealing the apparent pain it caused him. Mariko, not knowing what to say, just did what she was good at and kept silent.

For several minutes they wandered in complete silence past the vast array of artifacts which comprised the inventory of the hall. Most of the numerous relics and obscure items that were stacked in the shelves to the very ceiling, probably derived from former planet Earth's rich historic heritage. As such they came across plated suits of armor, bookshelves laden to the brim with mysterious books, tomes, papyri and slates, cabinets and displays containing stuffed animals, preserved organs, bones and skeletons resembling partly humans and partly something else, not to mention all the technical contraptions and machines that looked likewise primitive and cutting edge at the same time.

When both kids stopped at a peculiar altar like structure, a kind of pillar that supported a circular shaped basin which contained a silvery, metallic fluid, Mariko finally broke the silence.

"Strange, you say?" Mariko stirred the quicksilver-esque liquid with her index finger. "What about me?" she inquired. "Don't I seem strange to you? Be honest." she asked in her typical indifferent tone, her face showing not much change. And yet Jet could tell that his friend, the extraordinary girl he had encountered just a couple of months ago was a little tenser than usual as if she were expecting the worst from his answer.

Jet just calmly watched the silvery fluid morphing into a detailed three dimensional image of Mariko, about one foot in height, a glittering replica of the girl's features from tip to toe. The figure rotated slowly along its vertical axis, not much different from a figurine in an old fashioned musical clock.

Now Jet himself stretched out his arm, touching Mariko's smaller twin with his own index finger, just to observe it splitting up into two figures, the other one shaping itself after the image of his very own body. The kids watched the two miniature likenesses of themselves spin around each other within the pool of liquid metal just as if they were two little ice skaters dancing and skating on a surface made of silvery ice.

"Don't ever think of yourself like that. You are not strange but...well...special. Never depend on what others think about you " Jet's first survival rule!" he exclaimed lively.

The girl shook her head. "You still didn't answer my question. What is it to you?"

Jet snickered mischievously. "So what, if you were strange to me, Mariko Estrange?"

"I wouldn't be surprised at all, Jet Tailong. And I wouldn't even bother if you'd be hanging around with that 'angelic-blonde' Angela Heavensgate instead." She turned away crossing her arms before her chest almost in a sulky manner which seemed quite atypical to her.

The boy sighed. So that's where it's going...am I really that popular with the girls? he thought. "No worries, Miss Estrange. You're pretty awesome. If it were not for you, I'd be grinning a really, really toothless smile right now. But thanks to your...ah...special technique, whatever it was..I'm fine."

Mariko shyly glanced back at him from the corners of her eyes. "It was nothing." she said. "I could see you handle yourself quite well against those jerks. Impressive your ... Kung Fu, right?"

"Yeah.", Jet replied, not without some pride. "Tailong modernized family style including anti-cyborg and -reploid techniques. Still, I was pretty much outnumbered. And that fatso Digger Jenkins could really pack a punch. I couldn't have taken them without your help, Mariko." He shook his head as he recollected the remarkable events of his little brawl in the locker room. "You simply stared them down and those losers wet their panties runnin' for mommy... Dude, what kinda magic was that?"

Mariko turned around, shrugging at him. "Long story." she briefly said. "It's difficult to explain. It's something I was born with. Something I inherited from my parents or rather their bloodline. My grandfather regards it as a blessing...I regard it as a curse..at least sometimes."

Jet whistled in surprise. "A curse, hah? No kidding? At least you are no vampire, aren't you?" He smiled about his lame little joke. "Well..so where are your parents now?", the boy asked. "I suppose they must be dead by now...", Mariko said, her voice bare of any emotion. "Tried to peacefully settle a dispute between Neo-Terranian religious fundamentalists and the Solar League of New Worlds...Then they found themselves in the crossfire...ship crash landed, end of story."
Jet's face turned grim. "That's awful..sorry. I didn't know. I wish I hadn't come up with that topic."

She slowly shook her head, her dark eyes meeting his. "No need to fret, Jet. I can't remember them anyways. My mind is just a blank when coming to that time. A big sea of darkness...although sometimes I see fragments and pictures of them in my dreams."

The boy nodded hesitantly, unsure of what to reply and was visibly relieved when Mariko turned the conversation back to its former theme.

"Speaking about your father, " Mariko continued, "I think I get the impression. But there must have been at least one person who'd understood him. How about your mother? Must've been a pretty decent woman if their... product turned out to be someone like you."

"Gee thanks " product indeed!" He shrugged. "Sometimes when my father gives me that special look of his, I really start to think I'm nothing more than an unlucky genetic experiment, an overturned petridish in his eyes..." He sighed. "But to answer your question " honestly, it's just like your sad story. I have no idea where she's gone to, what she's up to. Father's no real help either. Told ya, he's not a natural talk master." He paused for a few seconds, then carried on. "There are times though when I have this very strong intuition that turns out to be correct almost every time, this whisper just at the edge of hearing, that mysterious person just barely visible at corner of my view.." Jet smiled, staring into the unshaken, fair face of the girl in front of him. "Sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

Mariko returned his gaze earnestly. "Not crazy at all...", she said in a soft voice.

He grimaced. "Well, perhaps you'd change your opinion, if you knew what special trait I've inherited from her..."

She rolled her eyes. "And that could possibly be? Let me guess...Your incredibly handsome looks " NOT!" Jet slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, I didn't know you could crack a joke. But believe me, it's closer to the truth than you'd expect."

(to be continued)