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The duo storm open the door, the two men inside startling and turning towards the sound. Cherry lay within, sprawled on a hobbyist tech table, a few pieces cleanly on the side, and her chest wide open. The circuit glows deeply and violently inside.

BUSHOUHIGE: (wide-eyed) Ahh! I told you somebody'd come looking for it! (drops to the ground) Please don't hurt me! I didn't mean nothign wrong! Please sir!

AKKEI: (slaps his forehead in embarrasment at his comrade) Umm...excuse me, but who are, barging in my door unannounced?

 

AKKEI: (jumps back a step, almost scared of Otaru biting) Wait! We didn't mean nothing! We just saw her pass out and we thought we'd try and fix her up...maybe find out who owned her, if anyone...

BUSHOUHIGE: (gets up) Sorry...It wasn't my idea...it was Akkei's. In any case, I can't make heads or tails out of her system... whatever that extra "thing" is you have installed is going haywire... I can't even remove it neither...it's overheating like mad!

 

[END SCENE...START SCENE]

After waiting for an extended period of time, their eyes began to agjust to the dim lighting in the Japoness lab rooms. Lorelei had been hard at work for a while now in the other room on Cherry, and enclosed in provacy as it was, none of them had any idea of what was going on in there...

Finally, the sole human female of Terra II walked out, her lab coat looking well worn. Her face was downcast.

"L-Lorelei..." Otaru started, unable to form the question he wanted to ask.

"Is Cherry fixed now?" Lime asked with high hopes.

Lorelei's attention turned from Otaru to Lime. She made an attempt at a smile. "Cherry is going to be just fine, Lime. Don't worry about a thing. Otaru, I- I need to see you for a moment in there...alone."

Normally, Lime would jump in as well, demanding to be let in... but the fact that it was Lorelei changed it for some reason... it was strange, but she always felt trust set in around the good doctor.

 

The Cherry we know and Love...

Cherry's body was lying amid a large assortment of probes and monitoring equipment. Though she was sleeping in a slient, powered down state, she still looked calm and content. Her chest lay open, her Otome Kairo nestled within. Judging from the number of extensions coming from it, Otaru had to conclude that the source of all her problems this morning had come from it - from her emotions.

"Otaru, I don't really know how to explain this situation," Lorelei ran a hand through her hair. "It's not really all that tangible."

Otaru felt a small ache in his heart as he dared to take a glance at the lifeless Cherry. "It's alright, Lorelei. Just try your best."

She hesitated. "When the Otome Kairo were first under design, I developed them as a way to complete the Mesopotamia. With the first shows of emotion I could tell that all was not right within the computer's core. The Mesopotamia lacked stability. Its emotions were present, yet it often got confused with how to use them. I know that sounds terribly strange, but it would feel in a way that we, as humans, would never be able to understand. The feelings of the Mesopotamia were in constant competition, each trying to bring itself to the fore as the dominant emotion."

"They were fighting for dominance? Emotions?"

"Well, not exactly, but it's the only real way I can explain the idea behind it. In the end, I opted to create three circuits to balance these emotions - three circuits that would make him whole."

She paused as he bit his lip in remembrance of what could have been.

"The circuits were originally intended for the Mesopotamia project, Otaru. They weren't designed with the thought of independence in mind. Otaru...Cherry- Cherry's Otome Kairo has become the first to prove that thought..."

His eyes opened wide and her jerked closer to her. "Lorelei...what are you saying?"

She took a deep breath, looking at the marionette at the center of the room. "Cherry's emotions have become unstable...just as the Mesopotamia's did. Somewhere...somehow along the line, she...she has denied a part of herself. She had locked away a portion of her feelings and refused to allow them to surface. And now that they've broken free..."

His breathing was now erradic, and he tightly clapsed his eyes shut as if refusing to see the situation could protect him. "So...what does that mean, Lorelei?"

"She's fine for now, Otaru. I managed to reconstruct some of her data from an old backup I had. However, there's no telling how things will go from here..."

He smiled deniably. "Then she's okay? That's great Lorelei!"

"Yes...but I don't know how long she..."

But it was useless. He had already gone over to her and started up her system.

Lorelei worriedly looked on at this man she had come to know. The impetous, youthful Otaru, who had such a carefree spirit. At the same time remembering, she saw just how much in contrast he was to- but there was no comparison in the end. Otaru was his own self. Perhaps Cherry would be okay, after all...

 

Distraught during a happy reunion...

Cherry slowly walks away from the group, staring at the wall in order to hide the tears slowly streaming out of her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry about all of this, Otaru-Sama...I'm sorry, everyone...I've been nothing but a burden to you all this time."

The huggle group loosens up as they all stare dumbfounded.

"Cherry..." Lime and Marine whisper.

Bloodberry's eyebrows slip down into a menacing stare. "What do you mean, burden?! Get a grip on yourself, Cherry! We've finally gotten everything back to the way it should be, and you go into self-pity drivel. I mean, just who-"

A stare from Otaru cuts her off, and she swallows, realizing her anger was far from the cure.

He opened his mouth to rebut everything Bloodberry had said, but was cut off as Cherry started again.

"Otaru-Sama, for a time I've deluded myself into thinking I could live this way. Amid dreams, there you were, to help me along my path any way you could. But in reality, it could never be that way. You have all of us to care for. It seems selfish to me, and for that I'm truly sorry, but I just can't- just can't live as a third or a fourth in a game of love... I..."

She breaks down into uncontrollable sobs.

 

Halted.

The two guards appear from nowhere, shadowing the door, and blocking her exit path.

Cherry turns back, her face tear-struck and depressing. "If you don't wish me to go, I suppose I shouldn't leave. After all, that would make it seem like nothing were wrong, wouldn't it?"

Lorelei opens her mouth to speak, but Otaru steps up first. "Cherry, I...I don't know what to say. I've always found it hard to truly speak my feelings for you guys...after all, I'm...well, I'm split between you..."

Cherry sighed lightly, unable to look at his face. "And I thought so myself...but now I've come to thinking that maybe it wasn't what I really thought. Maybe...perhaps, somehow...you're not the one for me..."