For whatever reason, I had been let loose today, with the only directions being to 'mingle' with the populous. Sensibly, I automatically gravitated towards the 'better' part of Sanctuary, but beyond that there were no instructions whatsoever. It made very little sense; I never found out whether they were monitoring me while I wandered the city, but it would not have been out of the question. The results thus far had been... mixed.

Dressed in a simple gray hoodie that hid most of my distinguishing features, I wandered into a local park out of sheer disinterest in dealing with the information overload. There were still a few people with various devices here or there, one or two glancing at the young lady passing by them, but otherwise my presence went unnoticed. Except for one.

She stood before a large tree, and initial ident traces were coming up negative. Then again, I had been informed that recent events had rendered the central records unreliable. Perhaps this was a recent arrival? I had not taken a biological sweep yet; such a search was considered somewhat invasive, even if not physically.

And yet, something was not quite right. No doubt most would refer to it as "a hunch", but for me it was an data inconsistency. It left me standing there awkwardly, unsure whether to approach and reproach, or to give it a pass. That moment stretched longer than it probably should have, no doubt becoming uneasy for the other party; I, of course, felt nothing of the like. One of numerous advantages from having no emotions to agitate.


Loner。

It took some time -- long enough to be noticed and spoken to -- before I realized my actions could be considered rude or uncouth. A glance upwards made eye contact with the person, and though I continued running my linguistics subroutine, no definite statement was forthcoming. The best answer I could give was "I am... uncertain how to reply to that. I know not of anything I require."

Some timbre in the woman's voice made her sound far older than she looked, though I had no reason to believe she was anything but human. If it were possible, that along with her unusual appearance would have made me uneasy; as it was, it only compounded the inaccurate data. With what amounted to an annoyed huff, I finally admitted "Forgive me, Citizen, but my sensors are currently functioning erratically. It is causing a considerable amount of distraction at the moment."

A short bow followed, programmed out of simple respect no doubt, and a query; "I am a prototype combat and police unit, codenamed 'Murasaki'. May I ask your name, Citizen?"

"Hrmph. One has to wonder if they truly want order sometimes." My thoughts likely sounded unusual, perhaps even contradictory, given I should be programmed against such a mindset. And yet, there it was...

And yes, her name was unusual. But even if it was a more common surname, I would not have forgotten. My positronic brain remembered everything since the day of my first activation, in one form or another. It was literally impossible to forget anything, barring having it erased, whether by choice or by force.

I should have found the woman's Kohaku's casual demeanor unsettling, given how most citizens thus far had reacted to my attempts to interact with them. However, I found myself overlooking such wariness, instead replying "Perhaps, although I am... unfamiliar? unknowledgeable? unknowing? whether naming one after a color is commonplace or not."

A stiff breeze abruptly took hold of the hood, exposing the rest of my head as it yanked the cloth back. I, myself, remained unaffected, lost in thought as to how I should word what I wished to ask without sounding too authoritarian or demanding.

Glancing about the small park, I finally quested "You seemed rather interested in that tree as I arrived. If I may, what purpose was there in such attentiveness?" Given my current technological misgivings, perhaps there was something crucial that I was missing.

Kohaku's answer to my second query was inadequate. Perhaps there was some truth to her explanation, but it certainly wasn't the whole store. Perhaps she thought me incapable of detecting sound, or having seen her mouth moving when I first approached. However, it didn't seem to be an issue worth pressing -- just an oddity.

Attempting to access the network again met with middling success, but I managed a quick search of the citizen registry. Suspiciously, there were no matches for 'Kohaku', but I suspected there were many citizens that remained unregistered, for one reason or another. However, it was still unusual, just one more anomoly to add to the list of anomolies about this woman.

"There is currently one other individual with the name 'Murasaki'," I mentioned, idly surfing various tidbits out of sheer boredom. "Also, there are fifty-three other trees, one-hundred shrubberies, twelve fields of grass under one square kilometer, and five plots of flowers in the current sector. Do any of those factor into your ...traditions?"

Slight increases in perspiration and heartbeat, a minor shift in body language towards a defensive stance, and a tendency towards stroking the bark of that tree she so favored. There was something Kohaku wished to hide, I was sure of that now. Still, there was no definite proof of falsehood as of yet, as I had certainly encountered some similar reactions in other humans upon meeting them, and that was easy to put down to initial fears. But the accumulated information and Kohaku's response were equally strange in some manner that I had yet to deftly pin down.

For whatever reason, I found myself entertained by the shift in the conversation. It was actually... fun? Yes, that had to be the correct word; some of the mild irritation and smug superiority I normally experienced had lifted temporarily when I sensed what I perceived to be her initial falsity. Even if it wasn't on purpose, she had lied or hidden part of the truth from me, trying to guard something. Some pathological circuit or another made me want to know what that was all the more now, even if it ended up being nothing serious or important. Our conversation had subtly turned into a session of mind games, and it appeared I was holding the upper hand.

Acting on my suspicions, I glanced momentarily to the tree itself. Indeed, a quick query (which required several ) showed that this particular tree was the only one in the area for at least twenty-five square blocks. However, more intriguingly, a comparison to satellite imagery from the previous evening within a similar timeframe showed that it had not bloomed anywhere nearly as much as it currently was -- even several hours ago it was significantly less vivid. That could be important for the immediate future, but I required yet more information before making a fair judgement.

The current conversation was beginning to stale, so I tried another approach once she finished. "Are there other practices with such traditions, or is it all sightseeing and tree-hugging?" It was a straight-forward question, if oddly worded and possibly offensive, though I had not seen bluntness deter Kohaku yet. Her response would likely give me the final piece to solidify my suppositions.

Even a different angle on the conversation ran dry rather quick. Perhaps I was overestimating the complexity of such idle chatter, and that I was looking for something that did not, in fact, exist.

No, there was something. But my approach must have been wrong. I was looking at this like an interrogation. With so few experiences to draw from, I was rather ignorant of common social norms.

Briefly my reception grew worse when Kohaku removed her hand from the sakura, enough to get a visible reaction out of me, albeit a slight one. Thankfully the moment passed swiftly and all of my systems returned to relative normality, but that episode certainly said more than anything the mysterious female had stated thus far.

Glancing around, I noticed that no one was currently nearby; the other patrons had since moved on, and this area was empty except for us. Curiosity became conviction as I pressed further, hints of what could have been taken for anger or disgust creeping into my tone, "And that is all you are doing, Citizen Kohaku? Perhaps you would like to explain why this tree just so happened to flower more vigorously in recent hours than it has on previous days. Or your altered physical state, when my questioning became more pointed. If you think it possible to withhold information from me, you have severely misjudged my capabilities."

If she was committing some act of terrorism, something that could knock the grid off or interfere with electronics, it was my duty -- whether i was currently patrolling or not -- to respond immediately. If I felt it necessary, I could call down a police squad or even a special tactics team in a matter of minutes, even with the abnormal interference. Maybe even the hanatenno would be mobilized, if the leaders felt the threat were great enough.

I did not wish to fight; yet, all the same, I began booting up my combat routines, just to be prepared for the worst.

Moving towards a more populated area would not spare Kohaku if she had some hidden agenda behind her actions and words. The government's rule in Sanctuary was absolute (or at least that's what was programmed into my memory at that time), and any threat -- however minor -- needed to be addressed. The woman's dodginess only reinforced my hypothesis that she had something to hide.

She was being overly-calm in her demeanor -- a rather abrupt change from before. Between the evidence I already had, and her previous actions, however, the facade wouldn't work. I sped up my pace to step ahead of her, spinning a full one-eighty as I stopped abruptly, blocking her way in such a manner as to prevent her from passing without stepping off the path. I kept my tone quiet so as not to scare those nearby, even though part of me wanted to hurry up and attack already; it was still possible there was a misunderstanding that I had missed somehow.

I was built for combat, not conversation.

"Side-lining tactics and mind games will not work on me. Your uncooperative responses are proof enough of your guilt. No matter what schemes you may be devising, I won't allow the citizenry to be harmed by them. I won't ask again; What. Are. You. Planning?"

Silently, I had contacted the police and reported Kohaku's description and suspicious behavior; instead of requesting immediate backup, I asked them to wait on standby until I knew for sure. If she tried anything brash, or attempted to run for any reason, I felt confident that I could hold her until assistance arrived. Additionally, I had activated my passive countermeasures, in case she had any sort of technology-disruptive methods; they didn't improve the external signals, but any assault against me would likely fail.

One human against an android? Not much of a contest, even with subdermal enhancements. Any scuffle was likely to end quickly, unless I had severely misjudged my quarry.