HOME | DD

Description
Loveless 0- Chapter 3: Reversed Roles

Sethra sat quietly listening to the heavy stomping going around outside.  She looked to Juno and shook him awake.  “I think we have company.” Sethra whispered.
      Juno looked at her half asleep and said “Nah…there are always mecha stomping around town at night.”  Juno rolled over and went back to sleep, until he heard a knocking on his door.  “…that’s not normal though…”  Juno said as he walked half awake to the front door.  He unlocked it and saw a police officer at his door.  “What is it?  It’s like 2 in the morning.”  Juno said wryly to the officer.
      The officer smirked and said in a deep voice, “We are here to reclaim the defective robot you gave sanctuary here.”
      Juno suddenly looked scared and said, “Robot?  What do you mean?”
      The police officer spoke more menacingly, “We know it’s here, several people said they saw a green haired girl come into the apartment building, and your neighbors heard a woman’s voice.”  The officer also looked at he women’s clothing scattered on the couch.  “And you also seem to have some woman’s clothing there behind you as well.  Just give the robot to us, and there won’t be any trouble.”
      Juno quickly tried to play it off and said “Oh those…well it’s kind of embarrassing, but I am a transvestite.  When my wife died I…”  Juno was cut off by a quick jab to the stomach which knocked him out cold on the floor.  The officer walked into the house and into the bedroom.  Sethra slammed her fist through the door and sent the officer flying backwards into the opposite wall.  The officer screamed for backup.
      “The XX-7 is acting weird!  It’s fighting back!  I need back up!”  the officer screamed into his head set.
      “Understood, reclamation is now secondary.  Destroy it if it resists.” the head set blared back at him.  But unfortunately he was in no place to fight back.  Sethra came out and looking menacingly at the officer and then picked up Juno and jumped out the nearest window.
      “Don’t worry Juno, I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Sethra said as she took off running down the alley.  As she approached the end of the alley a slightly larger than human mecha rounded the corner and ordered her to halt.  She looked around and only saw a large dumpster and some trashcans.  She carefully sat Juno down, and then proceeded to lift the dumpster and launch it at the mecha.  The mecha ran to get out of the way and Sethra simply ran the opposite direction.  She then ran into a large group of officers who blocked her way, and the robot she had just assaulted with the dumpster was heading back her way.  The officers leveled their guns at her and Sethra demurely slipped down her shirt and flashed them.  The pent up men lowered their guns just long enough for Sethra to make a mad dash through them scattering them in all directions.  Sethra started running away from the apartment complex when Juno woke up.
      “Sethra…”  Juno gasped.
      “What?”  Sethra said in mid stride.
      “My car…get us to my car.”  He said pointing back towards the apartment complex.
      “No Juno, the entire place is surrounded.”  Sethra said shaking her head.  “Lets take that one!”  She said pointing to the shiny black sports car.
      “How Sethra, we don’t have the keys.”  Juno protested.
      “Leave that to me” she said as she closed her eyes.  She glowed briefly and then the beeping of a car security system deactivating was heard.  Then she simply opened the door.  She sat Juno in the passenger seat and then sat in the driver’s seat.  “Ummm…Juno…”  Sethra asked embarrassed.
      “What is it Sethra?  We need to get out of here fast!”  Juno said impatiently.
      “How do you drive?”  Sethra said.  Unfortunately there was little time for a driving lesson as the officers made their way to the vehicle.
      “Just start it, put it in drive and go!”  Juno screamed.
      “Don’t yell at me…that’s not nice…”  Sethra said looking like she was ready to cry.  With that Juno reached over and started it and put it roughly into gear.
      “Just step on that thing down there and steer with the wheel.”  Juno said.
      Sethra smiled sheepishly and slammed on the accelerator bumping Juno’s head into the dashboard.  “That’s what you get for yelling.” Sethra said giggling as they sped off down the road away from the law.  “Juno…where are we going to go now?”
      Juno thought about it, and although he hated the thought of going back, he looked at her and said “Let’s go to my mom’s house…in Dusseldorf.”  With that they started off to find a way out of town towards Juno’s childhood home.  How ironic that she saved him despite the notion he was going to protect her.  She didn’t need protection at all.  She was stronger than ten men.  Sethra noticed the look on his face.
      “Is something wrong Juno?”  Sethra asked.
      Juno looked embarrassed and asked “Why did you protect me.”
      Sethra smiled at him “Because…I want to stay with you Juno, I have to protect you.”
      Juno blushed and said “But I feel so weak…I was supposed to protect you.”
      Sethra looked at him warmly and said “But you did…you tried to…that’s when I knew…”
      Juno looked at her confused and asked “Knew what?”
      Sethra looked back to the road and said “I knew…that I had to stay with you no matter what.  Everything will alright Juno.”
      Juno nodded but disagreed “We still have to escape the city Sethra.  The police will be looking for us, and even if they fail to find us, the check point for leaving the city will be under heavy surveillance now.”  Sethra simply nodded.  “But…there is another way out.”  Juno said as he thought about the large drainage tunnels that ran out to the river from the city.  “We could take the drainage tunnels, but we would have to swim…and I can’t swim.”  Juno said frowning.
      Sethra smiled and said “I have a better idea.”  She immediately laid a hard turn right and drove towards one of the city walls.  The city walls had several gates in and out of the city.  These gates were composed of 100ft tall, 3 feet thick steel gates.  The particular one she pulled up to hadn’t been used in ages, so naturally it was abandoned.  Sethra stopped the car by the gate and got out.  She walked up to the door leading to the control room and began pounding on it with her bare fists.  The metal finally started buckling and eventually fell off its hinges.  Juno looked more frightened than when she pulled his apartment door off its hinges.  Sethra went into the control room and out of Juno’s sight.  After a couple moments the steel door started to move, setting off a very loud alarm.  Sethra ran back out and fired up the car.  “We need to go!  They know we are here!”
      “How?!”  Juno asked her.
      “Well…I was pressing buttons and well I kinda hit this big red one that was under a glass thingy.”  Sethra said blushing obviously embarrassed.
      “Oh crap…we will have the whole city barring down on us if we don’t leave now!”  Juno said nervously.  As soon as the gate was open enough Sethra peeled out through the smallest opening scaring the bejesus out of Juno.  They flew off down the road and saw flashing lights in the distance at the gate.  For about a mile everything seemed fine.  But to their despair they heard a heavy pounding of pavement.  They looked back to see a Goliath mecha chasing their tiny vehicle.  They were screwed…there was no way to fight back against this thing.  The mecha swung its fist back preparing to crush their car.  But suddenly a flash of light from the opposite direction of Neo Berlin lit up the sky.  The sound barrier broke as a uranium slug sung through the air and pierced the Goliath.  It flew back and landed with a crash.  Then coming up the road they saw a small green jeep with a mammoth rail gun mounted to the back of it flying up the road towards Neo Berlin.  Several others soon appeared over the horizon and followed it towards town.  Apparently that red button also alerted them that one of the gates to the city was open.  Juno looked at them in surprise and said “I never thought I would say this, but thank god for the extremists.”
      “Extremists?”  Sethra asked.
      “Yeah…they have some crazy conspiracy theory about the Bitri Corporation starting the war with America or something…they don’t attack the people, only the Bitri corporation and their creations.”  Juno explained.
      “So…they would want to kill me?”  Sethra said upset.
      “Don’t worry Sethra, I won’t let them hurt you…besides…we are in the country side now…no one is going to be looking for us.”  Juno said patting her head.
      “Even though I am the one protecting you?”  Sethra said laughing.
      Juno then told her how to get to his old home in Dusseldorf.  The trip was long, and they almost ran out of gas.  Nobody and nothing lived out here anymore.  So it was going to be a one way trip.  Not like the extremists would give them gas.
      They arrived at his home.  It was exactly the way he left it.  He had cleaned it up before he left, even cleaning the rugs and furniture.  It almost hurt to be here, but atleast he wasn’t alone.  They entered his house, and strangely Sethra stopped dead in her tracks.  Juno looked over at her and asked “What’s wrong?”  When he looked at her though, he noticed something was very, very different.  Her hair was soft like a human, and her eyes were now moist and shining.
      Sethra responded, “I know this place…”

Description
Loveless 0- Chapter 3: Reversed Roles

Sethra sat quietly listening to the heavy stomping going around outside.  She looked to Juno and shook him awake.  “I think we have company.” Sethra whispered.
      Juno looked at her half asleep and said “Nah…there are always mecha stomping around town at night.”  Juno rolled over and went back to sleep, until he heard a knocking on his door.  “…that’s not normal though…”  Juno said as he walked half awake to the front door.  He unlocked it and saw a police officer at his door.  “What is it?  It’s like 2 in the morning.”  Juno said wryly to the officer.
      The officer smirked and said in a deep voice, “We are here to reclaim the defective robot you gave sanctuary here.”
      Juno suddenly looked scared and said, “Robot?  What do you mean?”
      The police officer spoke more menacingly, “We know it’s here, several people said they saw a green haired girl come into the apartment building, and your neighbors heard a woman’s voice.”  The officer also looked at he women’s clothing scattered on the couch.  “And you also seem to have some woman’s clothing there behind you as well.  Just give the robot to us, and there won’t be any trouble.”
      Juno quickly tried to play it off and said “Oh those…well it’s kind of embarrassing, but I am a transvestite.  When my wife died I…”  Juno was cut off by a quick jab to the stomach which knocked him out cold on the floor.  The officer walked into the house and into the bedroom.  Sethra slammed her fist through the door and sent the officer flying backwards into the opposite wall.  The officer screamed for backup.
      “The XX-7 is acting weird!  It’s fighting back!  I need back up!”  the officer screamed into his head set.
      “Understood, reclamation is now secondary.  Destroy it if it resists.” the head set blared back at him.  But unfortunately he was in no place to fight back.  Sethra came out and looking menacingly at the officer and then picked up Juno and jumped out the nearest window.
      “Don’t worry Juno, I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Sethra said as she took off running down the alley.  As she approached the end of the alley a slightly larger than human mecha rounded the corner and ordered her to halt.  She looked around and only saw a large dumpster and some trashcans.  She carefully sat Juno down, and then proceeded to lift the dumpster and launch it at the mecha.  The mecha ran to get out of the way and Sethra simply ran the opposite direction.  She then ran into a large group of officers who blocked her way, and the robot she had just assaulted with the dumpster was heading back her way.  The officers leveled their guns at her and Sethra demurely slipped down her shirt and flashed them.  The pent up men lowered their guns just long enough for Sethra to make a mad dash through them scattering them in all directions.  Sethra started running away from the apartment complex when Juno woke up.
      “Sethra…”  Juno gasped.
      “What?”  Sethra said in mid stride.
      “My car…get us to my car.”  He said pointing back towards the apartment complex.
      “No Juno, the entire place is surrounded.”  Sethra said shaking her head.  “Lets take that one!”  She said pointing to the shiny black sports car.
      “How Sethra, we don’t have the keys.”  Juno protested.
      “Leave that to me” she said as she closed her eyes.  She glowed briefly and then the beeping of a car security system deactivating was heard.  Then she simply opened the door.  She sat Juno in the passenger seat and then sat in the driver’s seat.  “Ummm…Juno…”  Sethra asked embarrassed.
      “What is it Sethra?  We need to get out of here fast!”  Juno said impatiently.
      “How do you drive?”  Sethra said.  Unfortunately there was little time for a driving lesson as the officers made their way to the vehicle.
      “Just start it, put it in drive and go!”  Juno screamed.
      “Don’t yell at me…that’s not nice…”  Sethra said looking like she was ready to cry.  With that Juno reached over and started it and put it roughly into gear.
      “Just step on that thing down there and steer with the wheel.”  Juno said.
      Sethra smiled sheepishly and slammed on the accelerator bumping Juno’s head into the dashboard.  “That’s what you get for yelling.” Sethra said giggling as they sped off down the road away from the law.  “Juno…where are we going to go now?”
      Juno thought about it, and although he hated the thought of going back, he looked at her and said “Let’s go to my mom’s house…in Dusseldorf.”  With that they started off to find a way out of town towards Juno’s childhood home.  How ironic that she saved him despite the notion he was going to protect her.  She didn’t need protection at all.  She was stronger than ten men.  Sethra noticed the look on his face.
      “Is something wrong Juno?”  Sethra asked.
      Juno looked embarrassed and asked “Why did you protect me.”
      Sethra smiled at him “Because…I want to stay with you Juno, I have to protect you.”
      Juno blushed and said “But I feel so weak…I was supposed to protect you.”
      Sethra looked at him warmly and said “But you did…you tried to…that’s when I knew…”
      Juno looked at her confused and asked “Knew what?”
      Sethra looked back to the road and said “I knew…that I had to stay with you no matter what.  Everything will alright Juno.”
      Juno nodded but disagreed “We still have to escape the city Sethra.  The police will be looking for us, and even if they fail to find us, the check point for leaving the city will be under heavy surveillance now.”  Sethra simply nodded.  “But…there is another way out.”  Juno said as he thought about the large drainage tunnels that ran out to the river from the city.  “We could take the drainage tunnels, but we would have to swim…and I can’t swim.”  Juno said frowning.
      Sethra smiled and said “I have a better idea.”  She immediately laid a hard turn right and drove towards one of the city walls.  The city walls had several gates in and out of the city.  These gates were composed of 100ft tall, 3 feet thick steel gates.  The particular one she pulled up to hadn’t been used in ages, so naturally it was abandoned.  Sethra stopped the car by the gate and got out.  She walked up to the door leading to the control room and began pounding on it with her bare fists.  The metal finally started buckling and eventually fell off its hinges.  Juno looked more frightened than when she pulled his apartment door off its hinges.  Sethra went into the control room and out of Juno’s sight.  After a couple moments the steel door started to move, setting off a very loud alarm.  Sethra ran back out and fired up the car.  “We need to go!  They know we are here!”
      “How?!”  Juno asked her.
      “Well…I was pressing buttons and well I kinda hit this big red one that was under a glass thingy.”  Sethra said blushing obviously embarrassed.
      “Oh crap…we will have the whole city barring down on us if we don’t leave now!”  Juno said nervously.  As soon as the gate was open enough Sethra peeled out through the smallest opening scaring the bejesus out of Juno.  They flew off down the road and saw flashing lights in the distance at the gate.  For about a mile everything seemed fine.  But to their despair they heard a heavy pounding of pavement.  They looked back to see a Goliath mecha chasing their tiny vehicle.  They were screwed…there was no way to fight back against this thing.  The mecha swung its fist back preparing to crush their car.  But suddenly a flash of light from the opposite direction of Neo Berlin lit up the sky.  The sound barrier broke as a uranium slug sung through the air and pierced the Goliath.  It flew back and landed with a crash.  Then coming up the road they saw a small green jeep with a mammoth rail gun mounted to the back of it flying up the road towards Neo Berlin.  Several others soon appeared over the horizon and followed it towards town.  Apparently that red button also alerted them that one of the gates to the city was open.  Juno looked at them in surprise and said “I never thought I would say this, but thank god for the extremists.”
      “Extremists?”  Sethra asked.
      “Yeah…they have some crazy conspiracy theory about the Bitri Corporation starting the war with America or something…they don’t attack the people, only the Bitri corporation and their creations.”  Juno explained.
      “So…they would want to kill me?”  Sethra said upset.
      “Don’t worry Sethra, I won’t let them hurt you…besides…we are in the country side now…no one is going to be looking for us.”  Juno said patting her head.
      “Even though I am the one protecting you?”  Sethra said laughing.
      Juno then told her how to get to his old home in Dusseldorf.  The trip was long, and they almost ran out of gas.  Nobody and nothing lived out here anymore.  So it was going to be a one way trip.  Not like the extremists would give them gas.
      They arrived at his home.  It was exactly the way he left it.  He had cleaned it up before he left, even cleaning the rugs and furniture.  It almost hurt to be here, but atleast he wasn’t alone.  They entered his house, and strangely Sethra stopped dead in her tracks.  Juno looked over at her and asked “What’s wrong?”  When he looked at her though, he noticed something was very, very different.  Her hair was soft like a human, and her eyes were now moist and shining.
      Sethra responded, “I know this place…”