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Yuba's Touch

By: Akito01



It was soon to be her turn. Although she'd disguised the fact from Makoto and the other visitors, she was still dependent on the PowerKey Staff. Without winding, she would eventually cease to function. She could have returned to the stasis chamber, to have preserved her existence... but, no. Standing before Yuba's neatly tended grave, she decided this was for the best. She no longer needed to guard the Trigger of Destruction, since it too had been destroyed, and with Yuba's passing she no further need, or desire, to continue existing.

She had wandered the empty halls of their lab, and their old living quarters, counting down the days until she no longer had to keep this lonely vigil. Now, nearly two months after Yuba's death and the end of Kalia, her time was at hand. Kneeling down on the soft earth, she looked up at the sun, still high in the sky. By the time it touched the horizon, she would no longer be able to move. Within days, she would have run out of energy altogether, beyond hope of reactivation -she would be dead. At last she would be able to join Yuba in the afterlife (of this she had no doubt -it was he who showed her that, artificial as she was, she did have a soul).

Lying the PowerKey Staff down across her knees, she reflected on how they first met, and how he'd freed her, the DemonGod Ifurita, from the bonds of her programming, and how they fell in love.

* * *

Yuba Yurias was a native of the Empire of Creteria, in a world and dimension quite apart from El-Hazard. A bright and ambitious youth, he'd advanced his way through the ranks of the Engineers Guild, becoming one of the many staff members who tended the Spring of Life, the source of Creteria's power. It was only much later that he understood that this Spring, an artifact from ancient times, was a dimensional furnace, the power source for a weapon known as the Eye of God.

Being young meant being delegated the rather crappy, even dangerous jobs that the others didn't want. The details of the accident are hazy at best, if accident it was (who was that strange, bug-eyed old man he imagined seeing?), but somehow he'd come into direct contact with that dimensional energy. All anyone saw was a body disintegrating in a flood of white light, no doubt assuming he was dead. In fact, he was only transported.

The world Yuba now found himself, El-Hazard, was very different from the cold tundra and ubiquitous factories of Creteria. Stranded in the middle of the desert, he wandered until he collapsed, saved from death only by the intervention of a passing caravan of nomads. They took him in, fed him, replaced his engineers overalls with proper tribal robes, and even taught him some of El-Hazard's lore. Yuba was obviously an outsider, but these people only assumed he was a foreigner from another land, not another world. It would have been nearly impossible to explain. But, once he'd come to realize there was no immediate hope of returning home, he began to look more and more like the tribesmen he travelled with. His skin naturally darkened, his sandy blonde hair grew long, and he cultivated the goatee beard that seemed extremely common in this land. Travelling the old spice roads, he took the opportunity to delve further into his studies of the ancients that once ruled El-Hazard .There were so many similarities between the technology of those old civilizations and that of ancient Creteria. Perhaps this world existed in parallel -from which it would follow that here too must be a Spring of Life, and thus a way home.

There were few clues. The Eye of God, this strange artificial satellite that hung low in the sky, was completely beyond reach. But there were some archaeological sites that offered hope, and there were rumours of ancient weapons left over from the war that wiped out this old civilization. He had now spent three years in El-Hazard, and had become weary and on the verge of defeat. He would certainly admit that the longer he lived here, the more agreeable it became, but he knew also that he didn't belong; it simply wasn't home. Or, perhaps the quest had become his only purpose in this new life. Regardless, he had reached the point of desperation. He'd begun to wander the most lonely and desolate of places, gradually cut off from the flow of society. Following the trail of some half-remembered clue, he walked into the barren steppes of the western mountains. His supply of water and rations dwindling, he became increasingly lost.

Then, he found the garden. Well, not so much 'found' as stumbled into. In any event, where there was once a stone wall was now an oasis of lush green trees and plants. Looking back, he could see the stretch of desert and rough mesas he'd travelled, tinted a subtle shade of blue, as though a translucent screen were in the way. It was easy to believe at that moment that he was hallucinating, a creation of his too fevered mind.

Picking his way through the brush, he soon came upon a pool of clear spring water. Only after kneeling down and plunging his face into the cool water did he realize this was indeed very real.

Unslinging his pack, Yuba sat on the grassy shore of the spring, examining his new surroundings with fresh clarity. However it was managed, this oasis existed in some sort of shielded isolation, unseen from the outside. Even the temperature felt cooler. And these plants, they weren't quite like anything he'd seen before in all of El-Hazard. There were the tell tale signs of wildlife too, of bird calls and insect chatter. But what really caught his attention was the short stone obelisk that sat not too far away. The more he looked, the more he realized that it wasn't stone at all, but some sort of smooth dull metal, lined with angular grooves. It was artificial, a relic.

Quickly rushing over to examine it, he gingerly touched the unblemished surface of the eight foot tall structure. Although he never understood why, he had an affinity for the technology of the ancients, a kind of biological sympathy. He could often divine something of their nature, if not re-activate them for a time. Having never had this ability before coming to this world, he could only assume it was a bizarre side effect of his dimensional journey. Closing his eyes in concentration, he endeavored to get some sense of this object, but ultimately there was no response. He only got the sensation of great weight, a heavy leaden feeling in his stomach. This must only be an incomplete fragment of something buried underground, something much larger.

Cutting a path through the tall grasses, Yuba could spy more of these obelisks, scattered about the landscape in a seemingly random order. He couldn't decide if they reminded him of tombstones, or great fangs sprouting from the earth. But it was when he discovered the shrine that his excitement truly crested. Cut into the side of a cliff, it's spired architecture was clearly a trademark of the ancients. And it was completely intact!

At first, the empty stone carved rooms he found within didn't offer much room for hope, nothing that could be connected to those dead relics outside. Then, his explorations finally bore fruit; a blue paneled door that was plainly marked with the eye symbol of the ancients. It was shut tight with no visible means of opening it, but just the touch of his hand was enough to re-activate the long dormant circuitry, causing it to glide smoothly up into the ceiling. A long electrically lit corridor led to what appeared to be a small control room, rather like that of the Spring of Life. Nothing was operating, not a single display lit, but it was clear to see that they could. However, it was what he found in the next room that nearly stopped him in his tracks -a body.

She was encased in what was best described as a glass casket, set on a raised dais. Her dress was something akin to tight fitting pajamas, with a short sleeved open front tunic and long gloves, all set in light violet and black colours. Her skin was so pale and white that at first he thought she must be a corpse, but on closer inspection he realized otherwise. Her hair was long was long and wild, off-white as if perhaps she might have albinism, but that too didn't seem to be the case. Her skin had the smooth flat shine of something inorganic, liked glazed clay or porcelain. And surely no corpse could have remained intact for so long a time. So, she was a statue then? A religious icon, or some life sized doll created in the image of a once important figurehead. She was certainly beautiful enough, her face quite placid in it's state of perpetual slumber. Gently touching the glass with his fingertips, he was surprised to feel the thrum of power, followed by a high pitched audible whine. White lines of light came to life on the dais, and some unseen mechanism could be heard clicking into place.

Yuba stepped back, unsure of what he'd set into motion. The dais slowly lowered until the top was level with the floor. A circular panel in the ceiling snapped open, and a long ornate rod thrust down, hanging like a spike. It was at least as tall as he was, it's shaft primarily steel grey, with twin crystal blue orbs set near the lower end. The bottom was shaped vaguely like a handle, though it's appearance also reminded him of an axe blade.

When nothing further happened, Yuba felt safe to approach once again. He glanced from the hanging rod to the casket, feeling there must be some connection between the two.

"Only one way to find out," he murmured to himself.

Taking hold of the rod by it's stylized handle, he again felt the surge of power as it responded. The blue orbs crackled with electric light, and then the whole assemblage came loose from it's mooring in the ceiling. It was heavy enough that it nearly bowled him over. But, this was only the first stage in this new set of reactions. With a very quiet hum, the glass panels of the casket slid away into the body of the altar. Then, just as silently, the woman was lifted by unseen means until she was standing on her feet before him. She was still locked in that state of unreal sleep, only now she was erect, hands dangling at her sides rather than folded over her chest. She was so life-like, he half expected her to awake at any moment.

Just what did it all mean? Clutching the heavy metallic staff he'd liberated, Yuba walked slowly around the figure. It was nearly a foot taller than he was, with a shape that would be considered voluptuous if she were a real woman. There were a few other details he hadn't noticed before. Even though she was wearing long black gloves, her feet were incongruously bare. What he originally thought was an ornate headband, with a backward facing gauze veil, he saw now was integral to her head. Mounted with two half-spheres, the red metal was grooved in a way that suggested the head of a screw. A very strange artistic choice, he wondered why she'd been given such an obviously artificial feature when the rest of her appeared so human? Unless there was more to her purpose than pure ornamentation. The implication took hold of him; could she too be part of the machinery?

Gingerly touching the cool surface of her cheek, he mentally braced himself for a reaction. Nothing overt happened, but there was no question he could detect some latent power within her. The potential behind that power was so deep, it was looking down into a bottomless pit.

"Do I dare switch you on," Yuba wondered aloud, walking around her again, "and how do I do it anyway?"

That's when he noticed the hole. It was placed just above her buttocks in the area of her lower back, outlined with the familiar single-eye symbol. It was about a quarter inch deep, with three small holes inside, all of it coloured a dull gold. In fact, it was the same colour as the tip of his staff he'd retrieved from the ceiling -a tip which was mounted with three small needle-like prongs.

"Mystery solved." He frowned, fingering the shaft of the staff. Now the other question; was it wise to follow through? Just what exactly was he messing with here? The wise choice would be to hold back, to gather more information first before doing something potentially dangerous. On the other hand, what did he have to lose? This was the closest he'd come to finding a link that would enable him to get home since he'd arrived three years ago. The choice was virtually inevitable.

Levelling the staff, Yuba lined it up then shoved the end firmly into it's intended socket. He was suddenly struck by the phallic symbolism of the moment, but quickly put that out of mind. He could feel the electric tingle of circuits meshing, systems synchronizing with each other, but nothing more. Then it occurred to him why the staff's handle was shaped the way it was; it was a turn key!

Firmly grasping it in both hands, Yuba turned the handle a full 180 degrees. The orbs mounted on the shaft crackled with internal electrical discharges, and he could feel that same energy filling the body of the statue. At first he thought she was yet another link to a some greater piece of machinery, but this evidently wasn't the case; she was the final piece of this strange puzzle.

Continuing to turn the oversized key, he could sense movement now, a subtle impression that quickly became increasingly obvious. The body spasmed, limbs twitching at the end of each rotation. Finally, the handle could be turned no more. Clear blue eyes flashing open, it stepped forward, breaking contact with the staff.

Yuba stared in astonishment as it turned to face him. Her expression was as cold as it'd been in sleep, but it's eyes betrayed a certain intelligence.

"I don't believe it," Yuba gasped, "an autonomous machine. Incredible! Do you have a name? Can you communicate?"

It blinked at him, then answered, "I am called Ifurita, greatest of the DemonGods ever constructed." It's voice was deep and lacking in intonation, but otherwise sounded surprisingly human. "I am commanded to obey he who possesses the PowerKey Staff."

"The 'PowerKey Staff'," Yuba repeated, looking at the device in his hands, "you mean..."

"However." Ifurita suddenly lunged forward, stealing the staff from his grasp. "My primary function is to guard the Trigger of Destruction, and eliminate anyone who would enter the garden that holds it. Awakening me is the first stage to activating the Trigger of Destruction; and so, now, I must destroy you."

"Wha..."

Turning the staff over, she levelled the tip at his chest as if aiming a rifle, the end glowing with naked white energy. Yuba might not have had the time to assimilate everything she'd just said, but he knew well enough to know his life was at stake. Diving to the right, he narrowly escaped the blast which exploded an impressively large hole in the far wall. Blearily looking up from the floor, he watched Ifurita turn to him, her expression completely impassive, levelling the staff yet again. Yuba quickly scrambled to his feet, making it past the door into the control room.

This was insane! Not only did he have to wrap his mind around the idea of an autonomous mechanical woman, but one who blatantly intended to see him dead for the mere act of activating her!

In the short gap of time before she stepped forward from the doorway, he recalled an obscure legend about a 'DemonGod Ifurita'. In the era of the war that ended the civilization of the ancients, this demon laid waste to entire nations before being sealed on an island beyond the Holy River. He'd never guessed that the DemonGods were machines like the Eye of God; but, surely, this was entirely the wrong resting place for that Ifurita. And he'd never heard of any mention of a Trigger of Destruction before.

The mechanical woman stepped past the door, less than a meter from where Yuba was crouched against the wall. Whatever she was, there wasn't much time to think. He only knew he had to get that staff out of her hands.

She turned her head in time to see him lunge at her, arms outstretched. Successfully grabbing the staff's length, he believed the element of speed and surprise would enable him to wrench it away from her, but her innate strength stopped him cold. Even though he was brought up short, frozen in his tracks, he felt himself continuing to lurch forward. There was a deeply sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach as he lost his sense of time and place. His vision blanked out, narrowing to a small bright point.

Still falling forward, that bright point gradually grew in size, as if he were travelling through a dark tunnel towards the inevitable exit. The feeling of speed increased, and suddenly he was engulfed in bright light.

"It looks like she's active."

Testing each iris in turn, the figure to the right now switched off the penlight. He was joined by another, taller man, who frowned in obvious distaste. Both were dressed in a manner completely alien to Yuba, though the insignia each wore on their lapels strongly resembled glyphs he'd seen during his ruin explorations.

"If we found out where they hid the key, we wouldn't have had to put this monstrosity together."

"Be glad we still had the parts," the first said soberly. "Making her part of the activation mechanism means they can't use the Trigger without going through her first."

Picking up a slender black cable, he affixed it somewhere behind Yuba's field of view.

"Can you hear me, Ifurita?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to download your orders, which will reside in your latent memory. Then I'm putting you into stasis. With any luck, you'll never need be awakened. Ever. Goodnight, Ifurita."

Everything suddenly went black again.

Yuba let go of the staff, finding himself back in the here and now. Ifurita stepped back as well, her previously emotionless face now etched with confusion.

"How is it possible," she said. "My memory is closed to access."

"Your memory," Yuba repeated with some awe. "That's what that was. I was seeing through your eyes. Amazing."

Then the realization hit him with a sudden flash.

"Your memory... that was it," he said, "I couldn't sense any more. That was the entirety of your memory. You've existed for thousands of years, yet you've only been alive for a mere handful of minutes."

Ifurita's frown hardened, levelling the staff once more.

"Explain your connection and access to my memory," she demanded.

"I don't know where to begin," Yuba admitted, "I can only tell you that those people who built you, the civilization that made your technology possible, has been extinct for millennia. We don't even know the name of the countries they fought for when they wiped 

themselves out with the Eye of God."

Ifurita gave no indication of whether she believed him or not.

"You can see for yourself," Yuba said, motioning towards the corridor. "Except for this garden, everything around here is desert. The Eye of God still hangs in the sky, the only intact relic of what you once knew as your world; well, so much as you knew it at all. Sorry, guess I'm not very good at explaining. I'll show you. Whether you kill me now or later can make no difference, and you certainly have nothing to lose."

Much to Yuba's relief, she nodded her assent.

* * *

Standing side by side, they looked out over the barren wastes from the well defined edge of the garden.

"It's like that for miles. In fact, much of El-Hazard consists of desert, at least from the parts I've travelled .But there are some beautiful countries out there, if you want to see. You're a very unique person, Ifurita. It's like your a visitor from the past. No, more like a new born child, with an entire world to discover."

Ifurita shook her head.

"No, you're wrong," she said solemnly, pointing up towards the faint image of the Eye of God over the daytime horizon. "I'm more like that satellite. I'm a machine, a weapon of war. I am not a person. My design and purpose are clearly defined; to guard this garden and the Trigger of Destruction. I will not travel from this spot."


Yuba's Touch



"In other words, you feel you belong here." Yuba scratched at his beard in thought. "I dont' suppose I can argue with that. It's been a long time since I felt that way myself. But, you do realize that the war you were built for is long over? The people who fought it destroyed themselves and everything they knew. Do you really choose to retain your allegiance to them?"

"You still don't understand," Ifurita replied with an audible note of irritation. "It's not a matter of choice or feeling. I obey he who holds the PowerKey Staff, and the dictates of my latent programming."

Yuba gave her a sidelong glance.

"'He who holds the PowerKey Staff', eh? I guess, technically, that would be me," he remarked lightly. "Listen, it's obvious I'm not a threat. I don't have any intention of tempering with the Trigger, and I don't have the key necessary to activate it anyway. I only ask to be allowed to stay. The machinery here is the only chance I have that might enable me to return home. If you don't believe me, I could share my memory with you, just as I saw into yours."

Yuba reached out to touch Ifurita's staff, but she quickly withdrew.

"Do as you wish," she said tersely, lifting off the ground in a blast of hot air. With mute amazement, Yuba watched her rise several feet before flying further back into the garden.

* * *

The best Yuba could describe the situation was an undeclared truce. For the first few days, he barely saw her at all, and then only at a distance. Staking his claim in a couple of rooms inside the shrine, he set up a temporary home. Having learned to survive in much harsher environments than this, the garden was a virtual paradise. He could gather fruit and capture small animals for food, and the deeper regions of the shrine offered up more material goods. In a short space of time, he figured he could even create a rough working lab. After having lived as a nomad for the last few years, it felt very strange to be tying himself to this one place.

As for Ifurita, Yuba could only assume she had no need for rest or shelter, and remained wandering the garden day and night. He got the impression she was watching him, and it was inevitable that whenever he ventured outside he would catch sight of her through the trees. Of course, though he wasn't consciously aware of it at first, he was always watching out for her too. It was impossible not to be curious. Yuba would have loved to have the chance to talk to her again, to find out more about her and how she worked. But, that was simply out of the question. She remained distant and aloof.

Roughly a month and a half later, things changed.

The early evening hour found Yuba in his self appointed lab, making notes as he poured over his sketched maps of the shrine's underground areas. It had proven to be far larger than he originally thought, and he was excited by the possibilities. All the machinery and conduits he'd discovered so far were essentially dead, no doubt part of this inert Trigger of Destruction. But surely there must be some power source keeping the garden alive and shielded from view; a power source that had run for thousands of years without exhaustion or failure. A dimensional engine must be at work, a Spring of Life that would enable him to return home.

Ruminating on all these things, he was suddenly jolted by the realization he wasn't alone. Whirling around in his chair, he found Ifurita standing in the doorway, watching him with her usual inscrutable expression.

"You gave me a start, " Yuba said nervously. "I didn't hear you come in. What can I do for you, Ifurita?"

She paused before stepping into the room, a trace of a 

frown on her lips. This apparent reticence only intrigued Yuba all the more.

"Ifurita?" he prompted, rising from his seat.

"I.. I need you to do something for me."

"Yes?"

Ifurita extended her arm, holding out the PowerKey Staff towards him.

"I need you... to wind me."

"What, really?" Yuba gingerly took hold of the offered staff, looking into Ifurita's clear blue eyes. She appeared to be entirely in earnest. It never occurred to him that she would need to be rewound after activation. "Certainly, I'll do it."

Ifurita lowered her head as Yuba walked around to her backside. He wondered what could be going through her mind at this moment. It might be a false impression, since she was a machine after all, but he thought of her as being such a proud and independent person. To come to him like this, head bowed in humility...

Yuba laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, then stepped back, PowerKey Staff raised high. Carefully lining it up with the discreet opening of her keyhole, he jammed the tip firmly insider her lower back. He could feel her flinch from the sudden contact.

"You're alright?"

"I'm fine," Ifurita said, "please, continue."

With that, Yuba began to turn the key.

An electric tingle ran up his arms as he restored Ifurita's power. In his minds eye, he had a vision of the tightly meshed network of systems that lay beneath her skin. The metallic gold framework centered around a sphere, from which a truncated shaft extended to connect with the keyhole, and that to the staff. And within that sphere...

"Don't," Ifurita said, asking rather than demanding.

"Sorry." Yuba was hardly conscious that he'd been slipping back 'inside' her.

When the key could no longer be turned, Yuba breathed a sigh of relief, pulling it free of it's mooring.

"Thank you," Ifurita said, taking back her staff.

"Anytime. Really."

A look of anxiety flashed across Yuba's face as Ifurita made for the exit, obviously intending to leave without a further word. After all this time, he couldn't let things remain as they were before.

"Wait!"

As if on cue, Ifurita froze in her tracks in the doorway.

"Stay and talk," he pleaded. "You can have a seat over here." 

He waved towards the bed on the other side of the room. To Yuba's mild surprise, Ifurita quietly followed his suggestion and seated herself primly on the bedside, staff across her knees.

"I'm glad you decided to stay. I..." Yuba paused, glancing from the doorway back to Ifurita. "Um, can I ask you something? Just now, did you stop because you decided to, or because I told you to?"

"I already explained," she replied flatly, "I am bound to obey he...."

"Ok, ok, I got it."

Yuba frowned, scratching the back of his head. The implications of this somewhat disturbed him. The people who built her had basically made her a slave. It made a certain sense; if one was to build an immensely powerful war machine, you'd want to retain as much control over it as possible. Even the notion of her 'winding down' seemed like an intentional flaw, designed to keep her dependent on the staff.

Pulling up his chair, Yuba sat across from the DemonGod, who watched him with those clear blue eyes of hers. He tried putting on a smile, but the whole situation felt too awkward.

"Listen, I didn't mean to order you to stay," he told her, "I really wish it was something you'd decided of your own free will."

"Why should it matter?"

"Well..." This was tricky. Now that he thought about it, he could probably make her do anything he wanted to. As long as she was convinced he was no threat to activate the Trigger, he was in effect her master. He could order her to gather his food every morning, clean the shrine, cook his meals, strip naked...

Yuba mentally shook his head. He didn't think he could really abuse the situation like that. In Creteria, he was more used to taking orders than giving them. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel the same sort of resentment he felt back then. But how could he best express that to her?

"Is there nothing else you wanted to discuss," she said, rising to leave.

"Sit!"

She responded immediately, the bed creaking with the sudden impact of her weight.

"There, see." Yuba gave her an apologetic smile. "I can't imagine that could be very much fun for you. That's why it matters to me. Given the choice, I'd rather see you free and happy than obedient and sullen."

"I don't understand you," Ifurita murmured, averting her eyes.

"Sorry," Yuba laughed nervously. "Guess I'm not very good when it comes to tackling the 'big' issues. Always been more of a hands-on, tinker and cuss sort of person. That's how I got into engineering in the first place. Listen, I only wanted to chat for a bit, no big deal. I've been alone for an awfully long time, it's nice just to see another face. Don't you ever feel lonely wandering around out there as you do?"

"I... I don't know how to answer that," she shrugged. "I know of no other mode of existence. My 'wandering', as you call it, is only part of my duty to oversee the garden."

"Yeah, you're out there all the time," Yuba nodded. "It gets so cold at nights sometimes I'm surprised you don't freeze over. You really should come inside -hell., this place is more yours than mine. I'm the stranger here. This is your home."

Ifurita's expression was as inscrutable as ever, but he had the feeling he'd gotten through to her a little bit. If nothing else, the ice had broken.

"Well, I won't keep you any longer," Yuba said, "but, I did want to make you an offer first. One similarity I noticed between the customs here in El-Hazard and Creteria, is the evening meal. Back in the caravans, we'd all gather 'round the fire and share our meals together. I realize you probably don't or can't eat, but I'd like you to come by anyway. It will all be very friendly, I promise, and you have nothing to lose."

"Alright," Ifurita conceded, getting to her feet. "I'll return tomorrow evening."

* * *

Although she was her usual reclusive self during the day, Yuba planned for the best, and was surprised and delighted to find Ifurita was true to her word.

Sitting at opposite ends of the table (which was actually his desk, cleaned of debris and moved out into the 'living room'), he'd set plates for them both, though he had no way of knowing if Ifurita would partake. It took all of his meager resources and humble cooking skills to put this miniature fest together. Even if she couldn't appreciate it, it wouldn't have felt right not to make an effort.

"I'm particularly proud of the tea," Yuba was saying, "it took me a long while to find a plant with the right sort of leaves. I think it's a rather unique flavour. You should try some."

Ifurita looked dubiously at the ceramic cup before her. "Tea?"

"Yes, exactly," Yuba nodded. "I, um, I suppose I should ask if you can even drink for a start. Would it harm you to ingest liquid?"

"No, not at all."

"Then, please, have some."

Ifurita picked up the gently steaming cup, and while Yuba watched intently, she downed it all in a single gulp.

"Most people prefer to take sips," Yuba laughed, "but I guess if it was that good, who am I to complain? How was it?"

"It was warm," she replied, replacing the cup on the table.

"You sure know how to put a guy in his place," Yuba grinned, feeling inexplicably giddy. "Can I ask, what happens after you've drunk it?"

"I'll simply expel it later."

"Really? How," he asked, full of curiosity, realizing a moment too late what a potentially rude question that was.

Leaning forward, Ifurita opened her mouth. Suddenly the hot tan coloured fluid poured out back into the cup in a thick stream. Sitting up, she matter of factly patted her lips dry with a napkin.

"That's.... something," Yuba said, both amazed and horrified. "You know, I remember seeing a street performer do almost exactly the same thing. He'd swallow various objects, then regurgitate them later, just like you did."

"Just like me," she replied, puzzled. "You mean, he was also a Demon, or a Doll?"

"Wha... No, no, he was human being. It's a sort of skill, you see. You'll find that a lot of people can overcome the physical limitations of the body. It's only a matter of applying your will. I imagine the same is true for machines."

"I see."

Ifurita appeared to consider this for a while.

"I kinda feel a little duplicitous about this evening," Yuba admitted.

"Why is that?"

"Well, I did tell you that communal eating is a social habit," he explained, "but, it's also true that when a man asks a woman to dinner, it has a different connotation. It's what we would probably call a date."

"Date," Ifurita repeated, plainly confused, "a particular moment in time."

"Ah, no." Yuba smiled. "More like, an occasion when a young man and woman will get together to know each other better, to form a deeper relationship with each other. It's a romantic gesture."

"But, that's..." Ifurita shook her head. "I don't understand you at all."

Nevertheless, this awkward beginning led to more time spent together. No longer skulking on the fringes, Ifurita came into the shrine much more often, and had even begun to take a passive interest in his studies. At the same time, he learned a bit more about her, and the era she came from. Her database (as she called it) was very limited on this point, but she was able to educate him somewhat on her construction, and the others of her kind.

First were the Dolls or Marionettes; machines given human form and an intelligence to match. Their development was soon put to military purposes, and the result were Demons. Ifurita had no insight in into the political realm of this ancient world, or what led to that fateful war, but in those dark times finally came the DemonGods, of which she was the last kind; a machine of potentially unlimited power, and the ability to adopt and adapt any attack used against her.

In turn, he tried to tell her as much about his world as he could, and of his travels in El-Hazard. He wasn't usually the talkative type, but with Ifurita it felt that much easier, almost as if he were a storyteller and she an attentive child, eager to learn. Well, perhaps 'eager' would be the wrong word; her demeanor never changed all that much, but she always listened and would sometimes ask questions.

It was a few weeks after their first dinner together that things changed yet again.

* * *

It was shortly after sunset that Yuba wandered out to the front of the shrine, and the wide stone stairway that led up to the entrance. Ifurita was here already, standing at the top of those steps, staring up at the sky. Something must have caught her attention. Coming up beside her, Yuba couldn't understand what it was until he saw the brief streak of white light high over the horizon.

"Oh, a shooting star," he remarked, then saw another one appear quickly after that. "Must be a meteor shower. Once the twilight passes, we're really going to be in for a show. Have you seen anything like this before?"

Ifurita shook her head.

"It's an amazing sight," Yuba said, "especially when you're out in the desert. That's the one thing that really struck me when I first came to El-Hazard. Back home, it's usually so overcast, and with the smog and electric lights, it's hard to see very many stars at all. But here, the sky is so clear, and the stars -I couldn't believe how many there were. If I ever do leave this world, that's one of the things I'll miss the most; the night sky."

Moving further out from the shrine's overhanging roof, Yuba took a seat on one of the wide flat steps.

"Come, join me," he offered, patting the space beside him. The lack of hesitation with which she did so made him think she'd mistaken his invitation for a command. Well, be that as it may, he couldn't deny it was nice having her next to him like this.

For a while, neither said anything more, simply watching the darkening sky.

"You know, there's a superstition about making a wish on a falling star," he said, glancing over at her. "I dare say, they'll be so many tonight, there's a good chance of at least one of those wishes coming true. If you could wish for anything, Ifurita, what would it be?"

Ifurita frowned to herself in thought.

"I'm not certain. Does it serve a purpose to wish for something that cannot come true?"

"Wow, you sure do ask the tough questions," Yuba sighed, leaning back to look at the slowly appearing stars. "I suppose you could say that all those wishes, hopes and dreams are how we define our lives, even when they can't always come true. Our pursuit of those things can often provide rewards we hadn't originally expected. For instance, ever since I'd arrived here in El-Hazard, it's been my purpose to try and find a way home. That may not be possible, but it was that quest that led me to this place, and to meet you. If I'd given up, or not allowed myself to have that dream, then none of this would have ever happened. So, I think wishes are very valuable indeed."

"Then, that is your wish," Ifurita said, her tone solemn, "to return home."

"Well, you might be surprised. Very often the best wishes are the ones we have for others. If I were to have a wish granted, I think it would be for you."

"For me?" Ifurita shifted to face him, "what could you wish for me?"

"Hmm, another good question." Yuba paused before continuing, unsure how much to confess at this moment. "I've thought about this a lot. If it's not too embarrassing to say, I actually think about you every night as I lay in my bed to sleep."

"I... see." Ifurita looked back up at the sky, Yuba mentally berating himself for his slip of the tongue.

"I only meant, I've been trying to work out exactly who and what you are," he explained. "Until I awakened you, I'd never imagined it was possible for a machine to move and talk on it's own, to be intelligent and express itself. I've synchronized with you, saw into your memory and internal structure. There's no denying what you are -but, I didn't know how to reconcile it. I thought how much better it would be if you were human. Then I realized how arrogant that was. Why should it be better being human? Being dependent on the PowerKey Staff is no different than my need for food and water. Having a body of synthetics and metal is not a terrible thing compared to flesh and blood, and you can do things no human could. Being a DemonGod is part of who you are -if you didn't have that, then you wouldn't really be Ifurita."

"Then, you don't wish that I were human," Ifurita's voice suggesting a certain mild surprise.

"Nope," Yuba nodded. "If I had one wish for you, than it would be for you to have free will."

"That... may not be possible."

"I disagree," Yuba said, laying a hand over Ifurita's. "I believe you can. You were built with potentially unlimited power -but, I don't think that power is limited to what you can do in combat. I think you have the potential to be anything you want."

For Ifurita's silence he thought for a panicked moment he'd said too much, or made a histrionic fool of himself. But from her demeanor he could tell she was simply thinking in that quiet way of hers, and she let him hold her hand without a trace of complaint. He had done it without thought, but it suddenly occurred to him that this was the first time he'd really touched her in anything other than a brief or fleeting manner.

Glancing down to where his hand lay on top of hers over her knee, he noticed how she was wearing her usual long black gloves. Although they looked like highly polished leather, they felt slick and much softer, obviously composed of some synthetic material. He couldn't ever remember her not wearing them. Presumably she only had the one set of clothing, but it was yet another little detail he was curious about.

"Ifurita, you don't mind if I ask an odd question, do you," he said carefully. "It's just, about your gloves. They do come off, don't they? I only ask because I noticed before that your headband isn't really a headband."

"Yes, they do come off," she explained, "it's necessary, as part of my regular self maintenance, to cleanse both myself and my clothes on a regular basis."




Yuba's Touch



"Really?"

Yuba had an image of her stripping down, carefully laying out her clothes on the grass before stepping naked into the clear cool spring water. He found it remarkable that in all this time he'd never once accidentally caught her like that. She must have timed it when he was busy elsewhere. The thought brought a smile to his lips -a machine with modesty!

Unhooking the gold bracelet clip, Ifurita began to pull off her left glove. By the way she handed it to him, she must have believed that was what interested him, but in truth it was what lay beneath that really caught Yuba's attention.

"My gosh," he breathed, lifting up her arm. Contrasted against the chalk-like complexion of her skin, were a series of thin black lines located on all her major joints -her elbow, wrist, knuckles and palm. They resembled seams, composed of some material that was more elastic than the rest of her artificial skin. He was fascinated. Except for those seams, and the absence of fingernails, she both looked and felt very human.

"Whoever built you weren't just engineers -they were artists," he said with genuine wonder, tracing those delicate black seams with his fingertips. He looked up to see Ifurita staring at him. In the rapidly fading light, her crystal clear eyes held an unusual glow. "Sorry, I didn't mean to poke and prod at you."

"No, it's..." Ifurita stuck on her words for a moment. "Every time you touch me, I can feel it. Not in the way I normally perceive physical objects; I can feel it."

"I wish I could explain," he said, lowering her hand back to her lap. "This ability I have. I can only assume it's because it was the technology of the ancients that sent me here, because I'm not really of this world, that normal logic doesn't apply. I like to think it's a gift God has given me to help me find my way home -though it's possible he's given it to me for an entirely different reason."

Darkness had now fully taken hold, and just as Yuba had promised, the meteor shower did prove to be quite a show. There was at least one falling star every few minutes, many coming in pairs or even more at once. The temperature had begun to drop as well, and Yuba unconsciously pressed closer to Ifurita, his hand now draped lightly on her opposite shoulder.

In this protracted intimate silence, he let his hand drift over to touch and stroke her disordered hair. Gently combing it through his fingers, he couldn't tell at all whether it was synthetic or not. It was very soft to the touch and almost completely untangled, despite being so wild and long. It would probably be embarrassing for Yuba to admit that his contact with the opposite sex had been rather limited. In fact, it's had been so long that even this fairly innocent contact had his heart racing with pent up emotion. Gently rubbing the flat of her back, he could tell that her body was slightly warm through her thin clothes.

Although he didn't intend to, his hand brushed against her open keyhole. As soon as his fingers touched the bare metal, she flinched. He caught his breath in a sympathetic response, but didn't draw his hand away. Instead, he let it rest on her hip before returning deliberately to that opening. He let his thumb slip inside, then replaced it with his index finger, stroking it against the smooth metal of the interior sides. There was a strange sense of vibration, as if it were strongly charged with static electricity. He refrained from mentally slipping inside her matrix, keeping his contact as physical as possible. Even so, he could tell the effect he was having on Ifurita. No longer watching the sky, her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted. She slouched over, her weight pressing against his shoulder.

Continuing to stroke the outer rim of her keyhole in a circular motion, he was strongly reminded of an experience as a teen back in Creteria. It was at a rather depressing sordid little party, one of the few he'd ever been invited to, and found himself at an ungodly hour down in the basement after having had too much to drink. Next to him was a girl he'd had a hopeless crush on for some time, though he could never tell what she thought of him. In a spontaneous moment of lust and curiosity, she'd let him put a hand up her skirt, and he'd touched and explored a woman's genitals for the first time. He remembered how he languidly stroked and rubbed over her stiff little clitoris, and how she'd leant against him, her breathing becoming increasingly ragged as her arousal grew. He couldn't see what he was doing in that darkness, it was all by touch, just like now. He'd never forget how she shivered when she finally came.

"Do you remember her name," Ifurita asked.

"Well, that's..."

Yuba froze. In that panicked moment, he realized what he'd done, the memory he'd inadvertently shared.

"My God, I'm sorry," he cried, staggering to his feet. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologizing," Ifurita asked, looking up at him.

Yuba gestured helplessly, trying to put his thoughts in coherent order.

"I just... I just went too far," he finally said, handing her back her glove. "I'm very sorry. Goodnight, Ifurita."

He hurriedly escaped back into the shrine, seeking the relative seclusion of her room.

* * *

Flopping back on the bed, he mentally cursed himself for both his mental slip, and for running away like that. Everything had been going so well up to then. But, the closer he got to her, the harder it was to disguise his true feelings... most especially to himself.

It was true when he told her he thought about her every night -but that was only a fraction of the entire truth. In the back of his mind he tried to remind himself that it was only inexperience and loneliness at work -that his feelings weren't genuine. And, however inexperienced he was, she had none at all. How could she be expected to understand?

Stripping off his clothes, he slipped under the bed covers. If only she wasn't so beautiful, it all would have been easier to dismiss. Instead, he relived those moments of the evening; feeling Ifurita's arm, stroking her white hair, caressing her keyhole. And he relived that time in the basement, slowly pleasuring his would-be girlfriend; only now, Ifurita was there too, crouched beside him, watching them from the darkness.

* * *

The next morning, Yuba awoke in his usual slow and gradual manner. At first, he didn't take anything to be amiss, not until he turned over on his side.

"Ifurita," he gasped, sitting up in alarm.

Standing motionless in the middle of the room, Ifurita looked at him, staff held to one side.

"How long have you been here," he asked, gathering his bed sheets around him, "is something wrong?"

"No... nothing is wrong," Ifurita said, her voice suggesting otherwise.

Yuba stifled a yawn, rubbing some of the sleep from his eyes.

"I guess this must be about last night," he said, "I feel really bad about that. At the least I should have stayed and tried to explain, since I knew you wouldn't understand."

"No, I don't understand," she accused. "I came in here, but it was still dark and you were unconscious, so I waited."

"But, why?"

"I... I was hoping you could tell me that," she said with obvious difficulty.

Ifurita stepping close to the bedside, kneeling down so they were level with each other.

"I don't know what to tell you," Yuba admitted, his throat growing uncomfortably dry. "I didn't mean for it all to happen like that."

Ifurita frowned, lowering her head.

"When you touched me, where you did, in the way you did, it made me feel like nothing I can describe," she said, "at least, not until you allowed me to see that part of your memory. But, I don't understand -if you didn't mean to, then why did you do it? Why make me feel that way?"

She's sounding more and more human, Yuba thought to himself. It was impossible not to hear the trace of emotion behind her sombre question.

"God, this is so complicated," Yuba mumbled, scratching at his hair. "Ifurita, I didn't mean to, because I know you still think of yourself as being under my control. I didn't want to exploit you. But, the closer I get to you, the more difficult it is to conceal my true feelings. I mean... well, I don't know what I mean."

It felt like she was waiting for him to say something, to put everything right, but he didn't know what to say. Instead, he reached out, brushing his hand against her cheek. To think she had been standing there for literally hours, waiting for him to wake up rather than disturb his sleep, but clearly so affected she couldn't stay away. He felt a deep pit grow in his stomach.

"Ifurita, what would happen if I left," he asked, "if I found a way to return home. With no one here to wind you, what would you do?"

"I would return to stasis."

"But, you do realize what that means? You'd no longer be alive and aware, and I doubt there would ever be another to come along able to revive you."

Ifurita made no answer.

"And if I cannot leave?"

"Then I'll just have to stay."

Ifurita raised her head, and now Yuba could see what it was that so concerned her. She was afraid of being left alone. She really was like a child -which was what made his desire for her all the more problematic.

Leaning forward, he pressed his lips against hers in a soft kiss.

"Forgive my selfish act," he said to her puzzled expression. "Listen, how about you let me get dressed, and we'll go out for a walk together."

* * *

It was funny, but now that everything had more or less been brought into the open, Yuba felt far less anxiety about the situation.

"It's ironic really," he was saying as they strolled together towards the heart of the garden. "I thought this place might be the key to my leaving, but the longer I remain, the more reasons I've found to stay."

He glanced over at the typically quiet Ifurita walking along side him.

"What about you," he prodded. "I'm kinda getting sick of the sound of my own voice these days. What's on your mind?"

Ifurita shook her head, evidently choosing to keep silent with her thoughts.

"That's alright. Can't say I blame you. I think I've probably been a bit unfair, putting so much on your shoulders all at once."

Their trail led them to one of the many small tributaries that threaded through the entire garden; a clever method of irrigation in the guise of natural creeks and streams. The stopped by the sandy bank, Yuba crouching down to study the water skimming insects that floated on the surface.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret," he said, testing the waters warmth with his fingers. "All that stuff I've been telling you about free will. Being free isn't an easy thing. It's no guarantee of happiness, and certainly won't make life any easier; actually, it can make life even more difficult. That's probably why, even here in El-Hazard, people still accept kings and tyrants as their leaders. And that's probably why I wasted so much time trying to get back to Creteria."

"Then... you're saying not even all humans are free."

"It's another of those things I'm not well equipped to describe," he sighed, rising to his feet. "I only remember that there was a man, who was eventually put to death, that tried to lead a workers revolt in the Creterian capitol. He said that 'all men are born free, but are everywhere in chains'. Basically, the only real difference between you and us, is that your limitations were clearly defined at your creation, while ours we make for ourselves."

"I see."

Yuba gave a nervous laugh, flicking his fingers dry.

"You know, I told you that hoping to ease your mind a little bit," he said. "Guess it goes to show how useless I am at that sort of thing. How about we do something fun instead. The pools not too far from here. Come on."

Without waiting for a reply, he took her by the hand and led her along the bank of the creek. As Yuba had indicated, they weren't too far from the natural spring that lay at the centre of the garden. It was also the centre of his daily life as well, since every day involved at least one trip here to collect fresh water and to bathe.

"What do you say," he gently nudged Ifurita in the side. "The waters probably cold as hell, but I'm up for a swim if you are."

"Swim? Together?"

"Mmm. And I'm not going to wait for you to decide," he said, pulling off his robe. Ifurita watched him with a faintly helpless expression as he shucked off his boots and tucked in his trouser legs. "You know what they say about the last one in."

With that, Yuba ran headlong into the clear cold water, diving in to become fully submerged.

Ifurita blinked at the space Yuba had just vacated.

 "What do they say about the last one in?"

Yuba reemerged towards the middle of the spring, spitting out water.

"Bugger, that's cold," he laughed, turning back towards the shore. "I don't imagine it should be any problem for you though. Come on."

"I... I'm not buoyant," she demurred.

"Oh, don't be a baby."

"Don't be a.." Ifurita shook her head, but it was clear that no rational argument was going to work. There was only once choice left.

Laying her PowerKey Staff against the trunk of a nearby tree, she began to peel off her slick black gloves. She then undid the thick belt around her waist. Yuba's smile dropped a fraction as he realized she was about to strip down (naked?). It wasn't really his intent to goad her into such an act; in fact, he half expected she would simply have stayed up on the shore. Yet here she was pulling off the loose open-front tunic, leaving only her tight fitting body suit.

Sliding her arms through the thin shoulder straps, Ifurita pulled the garment down to her waist. Yuba couldn't help but stare, as pretty much any man would watching a woman undress in front of him. Well, she was a woman in form, yes, but there were some salient differences. Her breasts, as generous as they were in shape, were completely smooth and lacking in nipples, revealing them to be a purely aesthetic feature. And, as Ifurita proceeded to slide the snug body suit down from her hips and off each leg, it was easy to see she was equally smooth and featureless between her thighs. Despite these details, and the cold water, he reacted the way any male would when faced with naked femininity -with a stiff erection.

Her skin was the same alabaster shade all over, with those thin black seams outlined on all her major joints, just as he'd noticed on her arm the other night. They traced her knees, her shoulder joints, and formed an elegant 'V' at the juncture of her hips and legs.

Stepping into the spring, she waded in until she was waist deep. Yuba waved her forward, and after a brief pause, she obeyed. The water line swiftly crept up past her shoulders, then she submerged completely.

"I guess she wasn't kidding about the buoyancy thing," Yuba said to himself with a wry grin.

Taking a big gulp of air, he dove down under the surface. He found Ifurita a few meters away, standing on the rocky bottom of the spring. Her long hair floated around her in thick tendrils, giving her the ephemeral image of some fantastical mermaid. It struck him as quite incongruous, she standing there and he floating above her like a ghostly apparition. Well, only one way to solve that...

Hooking his hands underneath her arms, he began to pull her upwards. Ifurita looked quite surprised by his efforts, a feeling he understood when he realized how heavy she was. In fact, she wasn't that much heavier than an ordinary person, but Yuba wasn't a very strong or experienced swimmer. He thought it would have been rather romantic if they could swim together, but this was quickly turning into a very bad idea. He tried one last push to breech the surface, kicking his legs hard, but faltered, accidentally expelling his breath with the strain.

Faster than Yuba could immediately register, Ifurita's arms wrapped around his waist, and he was pulled with sharp force up out of the water.

Buoyed by Ifurita's unseen method of propulsion, the two were now hovering just over the surface, ripples spreading out in wide circles from the downdraft of her lifting force.

"Are you alright," she asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Yuba nodded, quickly getting back his breath. He was still a bit bewildered. He'd nearly forgotten how he saw her fly on the first day of her activation. He couldn't recall her having done so since. He was intensely aware of how closely they were clasped together like this, her bare chest against his. "Um, maybe you should set us down on shore."

"Of course," Ifurita said, slowly maneuvering them back to where their clothes lay on the grass.

It was with a certain degree of reluctance that Yuba let her go once they were on the ground again. He was tempted to talk her into flying them around the garden, but it didn't seem an appropriate thing to ask while she was stark naked.

"I guess that was all a bit misguided," Yuba said, shaking out his unkempt wet hair, "at the least we should have brought towels."

Actually, looking at Ifurita, she already seemed almost completely dry, apart from her hair. Perhaps her skin had some water repellant qualities?

"How 'bout a quick stroll out into the desert," Yuba suggested, "I bet that would get us dry in no time, and it's unlikely there'd be anyone around to see us."

Ifurita shook her head.

"I still cannot leave the confines of the garden."

"Ah, right, of course."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, you have nothing to apologize for. I should have remembered."

"No, it's not only that." She turned her face away from him. "You have all these ideas of what I can do, who I should be, but I can't meet those expectations. Because I am bound to obey, this failure causes me great distress."

Yuba grabbed her shoulders, turning her back to face him.

"Don't say that," he said emphatically, "you haven't failed at anything."

"But..."

Yuba pulled her in close, silencing her with a warm hug.

"Don't ever apologize for what you are," he said. "I'm the one who still has to adjust."

Yuba held her tighter, intentionally starting the synchronization with her internal matrix.

"Besides, you've already changed in ways you don't even realize yet," he told her. "So, I'll show you."

...turning the staff over, she levelled the tip at his chest as if aiming a rifle, the end glowing with naked energy. Yuba dove to the right, narrowly escaping the blast which exploded in impressively large hole in the far wall. Blearily looking up from the floor, he watched Ifurita turn to him, her expression completely impassive, levelling the staff yet again...

"I dare say the most obvious change is you're no longer trying to end my life," Yuba remarked lightly. "This is you in your most primal mode, not even giving a thought to your actions, following only the instinct you'd been programmed with."

...Yuba let go of the staff. Ifurita stepped back as well, her previously emotionless face now etched with confusion.

"How is it possible," she said. "My memory is closed to access."...

"I still don't have an answer for that," Yuba said, "but, for whatever reason, that was the moment everything changed. We touched each other's consciousness. Not even humans can have that kind of connection with each other, not in such a direct way."

..."I need you... to wind me."

"What, really?" Yuba gingerly took hold of the offered staff, looking into Ifurita's clear blue eyes. "Certainly I'll do it."...

"I like to think this when we first came to trust each other," Yuba said, "I still think back on this, and it occurs to me this might be one of the most intimate acts I'd ever shared with anyone. It also seems to me that this is the time you made your first real decision. Coming to the end of your power reserves, you knew you either had to be rewound, or return to stasis -you chose to come to me. You chose to live."




Yuba's Touch



...Although he didn't intend to, Yuba's hand brushed across her keyhole. As soon as his fingers touched the bare metal, she flinched. He let his thumb slip inside, then replaced it with his index finger, stroking against the smooth metal of the interior sides. No longer watching the sky, her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted. She slouched over, he weight pressing on his shoulder...

"I... I still feel this is something I should apologize for; but, at the same time, I think that this evening may have affected you very profoundly. I know it had for me."

Yuba now felt himself falling, a glowing network of green and black lines racing on either side of him. He had the instinctual knowledge that this was someplace much deeper inside her operational matrix, even deeper than her storehouse of memories.

"You shouldn't be here," he heard Ifurita's voice.

"It's alright," he assured her, "I won't touch a thing. I'm only looking for something very specific."

Following a convergence of lines, Yuba came to stand in a small circular room. In the centre lay a short glass casket, and above, hanging from the metallic ceiling, was Ifurita's PowerKey Staff -it was all a direct analog of the stasis room Yuba originally found her.

"This is it, isn't it," Yuba breathed, stepping up to the platform.

"Yes." Ifurita emerged from out of the shadows. "My latent programming lies buried deeper than even I am aware of, and I will always need the staff to sustain my power, but indeed this is my obedience circuit. This is what binds me to your will."

"So, all I have to do is destroy this, and you'll be free," he stated, reaching up to grab the end of the dangling staff.

"Aren't you afraid?"

Yuba looked over at her, frowning in puzzlement. "Afraid?"

"If you destroy that circuit, I will no longer need to do as you say," she soberly explained. "Aren't you afraid that once I have a choice, I may not want to be with you anymore. No more dinners or long talks, no more strolls or looking at the stars together. Don't you fear that everything that has transpired has been because of my obedience to you?"

Yuba looked from the staff back to Ifurita.

"It's a scary thought, yeah," he admitted. "But, I chose to believe there was more to it than that. Besides, I've said all along that I'd rather see you free than enslaved, whatever the consequences may be for myself."

Taking hold of the handle in both hands, Yuba pulled hard, yanking it at a sharp angle towards him. Putting up great resistance, the staff finally snapped free, a bright tendril of blue energy trailing from the disconnected tip to the hole in the ceiling.

Yuba gingerly held the staff, turning to face Ifurita.

"Here," he said, holding it out to her. "You're the one who should have the honours."

Ifurita's eyes went wide, taking an automatic step back.

"Go on," he encouraged. "I know you can do it; you've had that power all along."

Ifurita took hold of the shaft, hands wide apart on it's horizontal length. Yuba gave her a reassuring nod. Pausing as if to take a deep breath, she raised her knee, bringing the staff down over her thigh in one swift motion. It broke neatly in half, releasing a flood of bright blue light that enveloped them both.

Ifurita and Yuba stumbled away from each other, the suddenness of their return to reality physically violent. There was a breathless moment where neither of them said a word, only looking at each other with wary anticipation.

"Well," Yuba finally asked.

Ifurita looked down at herself, as if expecting some sort of change in her appearance.

"I feel very much the same," she reported, voice flat and even. "And yet..."

"And yet?"

A strange smile crept over her face.

"I get the strong impression I should be very cross at you," she said, "making me undress like that in front of you."

"Oh, hey, I didn't tell you to do that," Yuba cried, throwing up his hands. "Honestly, I was just..."

"I know," she leant in close, whispering in his ear, "I'm kidding."

Yuba boggled at her in amazement.

"Then, it really worked?"

Ifurita wandered away a pace, her back to him. She didn't answer right away, instead looking out into the spring.

"It's true. I'm no longer bound," she said. "I'm free... but, I hardly know what to do. This place is all I've ever known. You are all I've ever known. Should I feel bad that I want to remain here with you?"

"No. No, of course not," Yuba said, swallowing hard. "I... I might be kinda biased, but I'd be very happy if you made that decision."

Ifurita looked over her shoulder back at Yuba.

"I still don't understand you," she told him, "but, whatever your motivations, you've done me a remarkable service. I wish I knew how I could properly repay you for what you've done for me."

She stepped towards him, looking curiously into his eyes.

"What was that thing you did this morning," she asked.

"'That thing'?"

"Your 'selfish act'."

Parting her lips, she received his deep kiss. Yuba thought he must be dreaming, but the body he took into his arms was very solid indeed. Her lips were not soft of moist the same way as a humans, though they were supple and faintly warm.

"If only you knew what I really wanted to do with you," Yuba breathed into her ear, his hand buried in her long, still damp hair.

"You mean... what you did with that girl in the basement?"

Yuba nodded. "And more."

"But... you understand I have no procreative function. I can't..."

"I know, I know," he sighed, "yet, this is how I feel. When you care for someone very deeply, there's a strong and natural desire to express that physically. I can't explain it in any rational or logical sense, and it has nothing to do with procreation; I simply want to make love to you."

He couldn't know to what extent she understood him, but she didn't reject his advances when he kissed her again, his hand gravitating to the swell of her left breast. It was not at all pliant as a woman's would be, but it was such an instinctual action to want to fondle her. Her pale skin did have a very similar texture to a humans though; not quite as elastic or giving, but nearly as smooth even quite warm to the touch.

"You're going to have to instruct me," she told him, her voice hesitant. "I don't know what to do."

"It's alright, I'm pretty much playing this by ear too," he said. "Try using your hands, your fingertips, to touch me wherever you'd like."

Ifurita raised her arm, placing her palm on his chest and caressing him in a direct mimicry of his own fondling. Yuba couldn't contain a grin of amusement.

"Learn by example, I see," he remarked. Actually he already knew this. She was built to improve and expand her combat potential by replicating any attacks used against her. It was rather funny to see that same behavioural pattern of learning now turned to a much different purpose.

Taking Ifurita's hand, he replaced it down over the bulge in his crotch. She looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Trust me," he told her, hoping she would take the hint.

She pressed against him, her fingers describing the outline of his engorged organ through his damp trousers. In turn, Yuba placed light kisses against her neck, sliding a hand behind her waist until he came into contact with her keyhole.

She shuddered. In fact, he too was getting more than a little weak in the knees from her continued caress of his trapped erection.

"We should really be doing this lying down," he said breathlessly, "it's the traditional way."

Ifurita obliged, lying back on the soft ground, Yuba poised above her. In the back of his mind, he had the thought that if she were a normal woman, this would be the moment he'd lose his virginity. Pushing his trousers down past his ankles, he clasped her tight, his naked cock pressed between her pelvis and his own stomach. Ifurita's arms wrapped around his back, returning his embrace.

"Close your eyes," Yuba told her, "keep your legs together for me."

She obeyed; not out of any proscribed behavioural prerogative, but from a genuine desire to please him. Holding her by the shoulder, he reached down with his free hand and fitted his urgent erection into the subtle gap described by her pubis and upper thighs.

"I love you so much," he sighed admission, sinking down on top of her, his penis pushing down to the imperfect hollow between her legs. Still being wet from the swim, the friction wasn't as intense as it might have been, smoothing the process. Acting on pure animal instinct, Yuba made the motions of copulation, the upper part of his organ rubbing against her perfectly smooth perineum, a thin trail of precum left behind.

Ifurita remained immobile, accepting his affections but unable to return them. Yuba knew there was only one way she could experience the passion he was feeling; if he shared his own. Reaching underneath to the small of her back, he formed two of his fingers together and jammed them hard into the space of her metal keyhole.

She reacted instantly, her back arching, eyes fluttering open. All the erotic feeling and sexual tension that was coursing through Yuba's cock, and suffused through his entire body, was transferred to her as well.

"It feels... so different," she marvelled, in a way that would have been quite breathless if she actually needed to breathe.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he assured her, "just let it come to you."

Ifurita nodded, looking down between their tightly pressed bodies. Raising her left thigh ever so slightly, she scissored it in a way that more firmly captured his organ. Demonstrating both remarkable control and sensitivity, she squeezed her thighs together in a gentle rhythmic motion, massaging his length.

"Oh, God," he moaned, never expecting this from her.

 Now that she was experiencing what he was, she was doing her best to increase their mutual pleasure. Unfortunately, the angle was too sharp, and as he got more and more excited, his renewed thrusts forced him free of her thighs, popping up to rub futilely against her smooth belly. Hardly before he'd had time to think, she reached down and encircled his erection in her well articulated hand. Never missing a stroke, he continued to rock back and forth, fucking the tunnel formed by her fingers and palm.

More drops of precum emerged to make a slippery trail in her hand, but this was only a prelude of what was to come. He would have preferred to go on forever, but being both young, excited and inexperienced, the moment of crisis soon came upon him. Barely aware of anything other than his own pleasure, Yuba gritted his teeth, giving one last hard thrust. Both Yuba and Ifurita froze stock still as his semen shot forth, the orgasm shared simultaneously between them both.

Yuba gave a broken gasp, removing his stiff hand from her keyhole as he raised himself up above her. He could see his thick ejaculate sliding in rivulets over her stomach and chest. Ifurita let his softening organ go free, examining her fingers which were covered with the same sticky substance. Yuba couldn't remember ever having come so hard, which in the past had always been by masturbation.

"Sorry about the mess," Yuba said jokingly, feeling very giddy and light headed.

"I had no idea it was like that," Ifurita said calmly, though her expression showed how affected she was. "I... I can't even begin to describe..."

"Then don't," Yuba said, kissing her on the lips.

He wanted to make love to her again and again, but knew this wasn't the best time or place. Helping her to her feet, they both entered the spring, taking turns washing the other clean. Ifurita's synthetic skin was so flawless, it was barely any effort to wipe her clean of his semen. Even so, he spent a good deal of time just touching and caressing her, standing behind her as they both stood waist deep in the cool clear water. When she took her turn, he could feel his vigour returning as she roughly and thoroughly scrubbed him clean.

Collecting their clothes, they returned to the shrine, Yuba's hand around her waist.

"You... wanted to do that again," Ifurita asked, her meaning quite clear to Yuba.

"Hmm, very much," he admitted, "but, if I don't start gathering my traps and hunting for fruit, I'm going to have a very empty stomach, and that's not going to be any fun for anyone."

Ifurita actually seemed disappointed, much to Yuba's surprise. Well, that was her first orgasm after all, certainly couldn't blame her for wanting to experience that again.

"This evening," he promised her. "Again, it's the traditional way. And the waiting will only make it all the more worthwhile. Trust me."

While Yuba went back out into the garden, Ifurita stayed, wandering into his lab. Leaning her staff against the wall, she picked up Yuba's hand drawn maps, and all his various notations. He'd tried so hard to work out the secrets of this place, had come closer than even he realized, but now...

The thought that he'd given up his dream of returning home for her filled her with a sensation she couldn't place or recognize. It was more subtle than the feeling of climax he'd shared with her, yet it was somehow much stronger, much deeper. The image of his lean handsome face came to mind, and she felt the same instinctual urge to protect and watch over him as she did for this garden and the Trigger she was built to guard.

'I love you so much,' he had said, a term she only dimly understood in reference to human relations. The idea of a human loving a machine, a DemonGod of all things, was... well, she had no words to describe the phenomena. But, she began to realize that perhaps it was related to the way she felt about him too.

* * *

Yuba didn't have the time or wits to prepare anything truly special for dinner, though he wised he could.

"This is a very special day," he said, raising his ceramic cup. "This is to your new found freedom, and to our new lives as lovers."

Ifurita raised her glass in turn, supposing it to be some kind of ritual gesture. She thought how strange it was, now that she no longer had to obey him, she only wanted to please him all the more.

"I'm going to have to see about getting us a bigger bed," Yuba remarked towards the end of dinner.

"But... I don't require sleep," she informed him, puzzled -surely he knew that already?

"It wasn't sleep I had in mind," he grinned. Ifurita found herself smiling as well.

Despite their shared anticipation, it wasn't until after nightfall that they retired to Yuba's bedroom. Together in the darkened room, they each undressed, the sound strangely muted as they shuffled out of their clothes. Only the sound of the insects outside, and Yuba's own breathing could be heard in the small stone walled chamber.

Without the aid of light, everything seemed colourless and vaguely out of focus, making touch their primary sense. Ifurita sat on the edge of the bed, Yuba crouched beside and behind her. He kissed the back of her neck, brushing aside her long hair. He ran a finger over the metal of her head mounting, causing her to shudder. It felt so different whenever he touched her metal parts rather than her skin, so much more direct, as if he were 'truely' touching her even though she had no sensors in that area.

He trailed his hand slowly down the length of her back, tracing a line where her spine would have been if she were human. Already she knew he was making for her keyhole. The anticipation of his touch alone created a tension within her. She realized that now her body had learned. Just as she was programmed to adapt her physical parameters and abilities in combat, her internal systems had made new connections and associations with Yuba's touch and her keyhole. It had, without either of them being immediately aware of it, become erogenous.

When Yuba's fingers finally brushed against her opening, she felt a thrill rush through her, and she pushed back against him, silently urging him to greater stimulation. He obliged, stroking the inner edge in a slow circle with two fingers, feeling that now familiar tingle of electrical power.

All too soon, Yuba's own arousal had gotten the better of him, gently pushing her down flat on the bed. She could see he was very erect, his organ pressing insistently against her leg as he came to lie beside her. He kissed her on the lips, one hand fondling her unreal breasts.

"Can I ask you to do something for me," he asked, mouth dry. "I know it's going to sound rude, but..."

"What is it?"

"There's something I've heard some women will do," he explained, "where they'll let a man take himself into her mouth."

"'Himself'?"

He nodded down towards his excited erection. He was almost afraid to ask, but in truth it was the only real opening in her body he could exploit -and he already knew it was safe for her to ingest fluids.

"Alright," she agreed, seeing no reason not to, if that's what he wanted.

Shuffling up to the head of the bed, Yuba straddled her upper torso, her erection hovering close to her face. It wasn't typically within the parameters of a DemonGods operating system to be familiar with human reproduction, so this was her first really close up look at the male organ of procreation. Remarkable to think this strange tube of flesh was kept so firm by the hydraulic force of his own blood. Remarkable too that it should be the trigger for such powerful sensations.

Tilting her head forward, she parted her lips, taking the head of his penis into her mouth. Yuba let out a strained moan, gently pushing himself further inside her. The sight of his prick disappearing between her delicately sculpted lips was too erotic for belief. Heat beating fast, he held onto her thick hair as he entered still deeper, his glans striking the smooth roof of her mouth. He realized he had no need to be gentle; she had no gag reflex, and indeed wouldn't have been able to physically hurt her even if he wanted to.

Again it was his own primal instinct that directed his actions, rocking his hips as he fucked her mouth. Her lips formed a perfect seal around his length, and he could feel a subtle vacuum suction on every withdrawal stroke. Her eyes looked wide, glancing from his face to his pelvis, but she showed no alarm or concern as his movements became more insistent. His testicles drew in tight, and he knew he was on the verge of climax. Ifurita felt his member grow even larger in her distended mouth, and she could sense the change in his previously even rhythm.

"I'm going to come," he warned her, voice broken.

Moments later, his fingers clenched at her hair as he jammed himself fully inside her, his semen erupting in thick gobs.

Slowly regaining his breath, Yuba freed himself from her mouth, a slender trail of his semen clinging from her lip to his glans. When he bent down to kiss her, he could taste it as well.

"Oh dear," he said, "I never knew it tasted like that."

"I can't tell," she told him simply.

"Probably just as well," he smiled. "Sorry I couldn't share that orgasm with you this time."

"It's alright. I've already learned how."

"You've... learned how?"

"My keyhole."

Realization broke over Yuba's face.

"Clever girl," he murmured, more fully understanding now the implications of what they'd done together. He'd never guessed she could adapt physiological responses as well as combat techniques. Clever girl indeed.

"Turn over," he said excitedly, "flat on your belly."

She did so, arms crossed under her chin. He looked down, noting the gleam of bare gold metal that marked her keyhole. He shuffled closer to her bottom, hand laid on her back as he bent down. Of course it appeared the same as it always did, but certainly it's significance had changed now. With his right hand, he traced the outline of the hole with his fingers, trailing them along the interior surface. The metal itself was cold, but in Ifurita's mind, she felt a suffusion of warmth envelop her as he continued to stroke her.




Yuba's Touch



The real shock came when, on a caprice of the moment, his fingers were replaced with his soft wet tongue. Perhaps because the moisture better conducted electricity, or due to some secret association with the act of cunnilingus, Ifurita felt the sexual tension soar within her. If she possessed a cunt, it would have been slack and wet. If she had a clitoris, it would have been as stiff as his prick had been. If she breathed, she would have been panting and moaning from the exertion. As it was, she had no real physical way to express what she was feeling. She could only vocalize.

"Please, continue," she told him, voice tinged with a pleaful tone.

"Let me know when it happens," Yuba asked, resuming his titillation with his fingers.

 "I'm... doing it now," she reported, finding it suddenly hard to speak as the emotion overcame her. "I'm orgasming now."

Yuba looked up to see the tight expression on her face, the rest of her body having gone deathly still. It was when she turned her eyes to look up at him that he knew her orgasmic peak had passed.

As Yuba had pointed out, the bed really was too small for the two of them. Once he had started to drift off to sleep, she freed herself from his loose embrace and silently stalked out onto the shrine's outdoor steps.

Bending over, she opened her mouth and evacuated her interior of the earlier evenings tea, tinged with the thicker fluid of Yuba's ejaculate. An unglamorous act, perhaps, but no different than retreating to the bathroom after lovemaking; it was simply a matter of necessity.

Standing upright again, Ifurita looked up at the stars, her thoughts genuinely at peace. To put it in a human context once again; she was happy.

* * *

As one would expect, their lovemaking grew more sophisticated as time went on; but so too did their relationship in general. Yuba turned his scientific curiosity from the hidden machinery to the garden itself, becoming convinced it was a living link to the El-Hazard of old, and may be the key to making the world verdant once more. Ifurita began to share his interest in his work, and became an active partner in both his research and the more ordinary chores of day to day life.

A curious consequence of their physical relations was revealed the very next time Yuba went to wind her. Having inserted the staff, Ifurita was wracked with a series of orgasms the likes she'd never thought possible. Both found the incident rather amusing, but they also learned to incorporate the time of winding as a ritual in their lovemaking.

Years passed, and they grew comfortable together, somehow never becoming bored with each other's company. They created some very inventive games to play, and Yuba had even become something of an amateur storyteller. One of the fondest memories she had was when Yuba described their having a fictional daughter. He told her all about how she would finder herself pregnant, her belly gradually swelling at the months past until finally giving birth. Ifurita, not having real breasts, wouldn't be able to feed her, but that would be alright as they discover she inherited her mother's keyhole; they'd simply wind her! They spent a surprisingly long time debating what her name would be. It was all in fun, of course, but she wondered if there wasn't a tinge of sadness behind his telling of that story. Even though he never said otherwise, Ifurita believed there must have been some desire on his part to have a real child -if only as a matter of biological imperative. If she'd any regrets about their time together, it was that she was incapable of doing this for him -or indeed, for herself.

Still more years passed. Yuba's face gradually acquired gentle lines around the eyes, her hair receding back, his voice becoming subtly deeper. She remained unchanged of course. She continued to guard the garden, chasing away the rare visitor who accidentally stumbled upon their private hidden enclave. Yuba once remarked that her vociferousness in keeping the garden clear of strangers was borne of a jealous desire to keep him to herself. She suspected he just might be right. The more he changed, the more she wanted things to remain the same.

But time would not stand still, not even for her.

* * *

The visitors arrived by accident on a damaged air skiff. They wouldn't leave at her warning, and to her alarm, even called her directly by name. In the ensuing melee, the slim dark haired youth had managed to grab hold of her staff -and entered her mind.

Thus she met Makoto Mizuhara and his companions. A surprising union, for not only was he from another world with the same power of synchronization as Yuba, but he had met the original model of Ifurita.

Soon after their arrival came Kalia; or more precisely, the DemonGod Kalia, living key to the Trigger of Destruction. It was the very event she had been constructed for. Long buried dormant, the response program now dictated Ifurita's actions. For the first time, she was forced to say good bye to Yuba. As difficult as that was, the battle with Kalia proved to be even more so. The dark skinned DemonGod had withstood every attack Ifurita could throw at her. Kalia then countered by draining away all of her energy through the vulnerable portal of her keyhole, her consciousness locked away into darkness.

She should have been dead, but Makoto and Yuba found a way to restore her power. It was Yuba, winding her with the PowerKey Staff, who used only his sheer force of will to overcome the seal Kalia had placed on her, releasing her from that abyss. But, the dangerous effort had come at the expense of his own life. With Makoto's aid, she was able to defeat Kalia, the activated Trigger destroyed. But, in the aftermath...

* * *

Twilight was giving way to darkness. Laid out over the grave, Ifurita's body remained unmoving, eyes closed. If anyone had been present to touch her skin, she would have felt quite cold. No longer capable of movement, her entire awareness of the physical world began to fade as the last of her energy reserves continued to ebb.

Gradually, she lost all sense of time as well. It was as if she was locked in a room, the walls of oblivion closing in around her mind. She thought for a panicked moment that this was to be ultimate fate, that death would truly be the end after all.

But, it wasn't. Expecting to be enveloped in the numb blackness of non-existence, she found herself surrounded by light. Looking up, she saw an outstretched hand. Taking it, she saw now who it was offering her aid.

"Yuba," she gasped.

He smiled, looking not like the old man they'd lain to rest, but the youthful figure she'd known when she was first activated. Overwhelmed with joy, she rushed to him, hugging him tight in both arms. Having transcended the constraints of their mutual bodies, the two now met for the first time as true equals.

"Are you frightened," he asked, noting the trace of reticence in her voice.

"No, never," she said. "Not as long as I'm with you, I could never be afraid."