A Different Place

Chapter 6 - Back to the Kitchen

"Now, stir the curry sauce slowly but firmly," Number Twenty-One was saying.

MegaMan grunted neutrally and did as he was instructed. Not only was he stuck back in the kitchen, of all places, but he was getting lessons on things he'd been doing for years! Still, at least Number Twenty-One was being nice about it.

The Servbot cook beamed at MegaMan. "You're doing wonderfully!"

"Thanks," MegaMan said without enthusiasm. "Look, really, I can do this on my own. You don't need to be here if you don't want to---you can go take a break, or work out, or something."

"Well..." said Twenty-One, "I have been meaning to lose a few pounds..."

It just at this precise second that Number Twenty-Nine, who was scrubbing out pots and pans in the sink before moving them to the industrial-size dishwasher, managed somehow to make the tap explode. While it did keep the Servbot from leaving the kitchen, it also kept him from further commentary on MegaMan's food preparation. As Number Twenty-One struggled to turn off the spurting water beneath the sink, MegaMan secretly added some lemon juice and extra curry powder to the sauce he was making for lunch.

As the boy had suspected, the forty Servbots gave him a bevy of compliments, or at least, those who ordered the curry rice did. In fact, they heaped so much praise on him that he hoped Number Twenty-One wouldn't be jealous.

"You must be pretty good," said the Servbot as he and MegaMan were finishing the post-meal cleanup. "I hope I don't have to worry about losing my job!"

"Don't," the boy said quickly. "No offense, but I'd rather be doing almost anything than cooking. I've been ship's cook since my sixth birthday."

"Okay!" Twenty-One said, apparently dropping the subject completely. "Do you like soft drinks?"

"Do I like what?"

"Soft drinks," said the Servbot, "you know, Lizard Cola, Berry Burple, Goo Gel-rific?"

"No," MegaMan said, "I've never heard of any of those."

The Servbot scratched its head in thought. "Umm...Berry Burple's what we use for Burple Bowling, remember? The empty bottles, at least."

"Oh," MegaMan said, thinking back to his sleepless night, "right. Maybe I'll taste that sometime."

"Here," said Number Twenty-One, reaching into the icebox. "Try one."

MegaMan looked at the purple label, which was covered in bubbles and labeled, "Berry Burple: Taste (and re-taste) the Carbonation!" Shrugging, he unscrewed the plastic bottle's cap and tossed the beverage back. The flavor was amazing; he'd never tasted anything so sickeningly sweet before in his life. Still, he found that he immediately wanted another sip as soon as he finished swallowing the first taste. MegaMan began drinking as fast as he'd ever drunk anything before in his life. When the drink had been drained, MegaMan found he could not control the minutes-long belch that emerged from his gullet.

"That's where it gets its name from," said Twenty-One.

"I was wondering," MegaMan said, also wondering if he should procure another Berry Burple, "where was Tron for lunch? Doesn't she eat with you guys?"

"Usually," said Twenty-One, "but I think she was out trying to get some money today."

"Oh. Tell you what, I'm going to go see if she's here!" With that, MegaMan jogged out of the kitchen before the Servbot could say another word.

MegaMan decided to look for Tron on the residence level, so he rode the elevator to Floor Two and, forgetting where Tron's room exactly was, popped into the first door he found. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. MegaMan was actually not sure that he he had entered another room at first, as the room was the same color as the hallway, but once he passed the long bookshelf and massive painting, he knew. Fortunately for him, there was one of the diminutive Servbots cleaning the floor.

"Which one are you?" he asked.

"Number Twenty-Eight, Mister MegaMan, sir," replied the Servbot.

"Where am I?"

"This is Master Teisel's room."

MegaMan scratched his head. "Who?"

"Master Teisel. He's Miss Tron's brother. He and Master Bon..." the Servbot sniffed.

"What?" MegaMan demanded, but the Servbot was already to engrossed in his own crying fit to coherently answer.

The boy shrugged. After failing to find Tron in her own room, he rode up to the bridge and waited for her to return from wherever she was. This took quite a while. In fact, after two or three hours, MegaMan tried playing around with the ship's controls. After a several reprimand from Number One, he decided not to attempt that again until after he'd received at least a bit of instruction. He'd begun teaching the bridge crew how to play paper-rock-scissors when Tron finally returned to the Gesellschaft.

MegaMan politely requested an explanation from Tron on what exactly was going on. When Tron revealed how her brothers had been taken prisoner by a local crime syndicate, MegaMan was taken aback. When Tron told him what she'd been doing all day, MegaMan was flabbergasted.

"You were exploring ruins while your brothers are missing? How is that helpful?!"

Tron's reaction was somewhat more subdued than MegaMan had come to expect. "Look, I have to get enough money to pay their ransom, okay!?" She pointed to the large color map of Ryship Island. "We have several different money-making opportunities on the island, here, and I've got to use them to---"

MegaMan snorted. "Are you guys pirates, or what? Pirates don't pay ransoms, they just take what they want. Why don't we just go and kidnap your brothers right back?"

Tron's cheeks flushed and her lip began to quiver. "You just don't understand, I---ooooh! You make me so angry!" She turned completely away from her new servant. "There's nothing that...the plan doesn't...!" After an instant of complete silence, Tron growled and began crumpling up the map, which she then threw the wad of paper directly at MegaMan. It bounced harmlessly off his chest.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"The problem," Tron said, "is that you're absolutely right! All right, boys, ready the Gustaff! We're going in to get my brothers back post-haste!"

"Roo--gerrr!" sang the Servbots in unison.

"Don't make a habit of this," Tron warned MegaMan, not unfondly.