Back in the Castle, Lorelei went straight into the laboratory and inserted the chip into the computer and begun analysing it. As she did so, Faust, Tiger, Luchs and Panther looked on intently.
"Just as what I thought. He is not about to let this matter rest that easily..."
"What chip is that?" Faust looked forward and peered into the contents of the computer analysis report. Luchs did so too.
"How could it be? All this... ... day one, program start. First voice heard - Otaru ... ... boku otaru daisuki? But wait a minute... ... how could all this information... ... unless... ..." Luchs who read the contents of the analysis report, got a shock.
"Yes, you're right. This is the memory chip of Lime. As marionettes with otome kairos, you all have the ability to remember the things that you want to remember and forget those you do not want to remember. Thanks to this chip. It has the amazing ability to delete and store information according to the otome kairo."
"What? But how can that be possible?" Tiger by now also came forward and looked at the data.
"If Lime's memory chip has been taken out, then what was that we saw just now? Lime looked very normal just now, didn't she?" Panther asked.
"No... ... every otome kairo has two of such chips. One controls memories of the daily activities of the marionette's daily lives, while the other contains more important information within. The one we have with us now is the 2nd chip. As information between these chips can be interchangeable, the otome kairo would still be able to function without the 2nd chip. However, this chip cannot function alone for long... ..."
"What?" the Saber dolls cried in unison.
"Hmm... ... without the 2nd chip, the first chip alone would not be able to bear the burden of all the information generated from the otome kairo... ... hence, it would wear out..." Faust spoke, his eyes still on the computer.
"Then we have to put this back into Lime as soon as possible!" Panther exclaimed.
"Yes, you're right. We have to do that, but what are we going to tell Otaru? How would he react if we tell him we have to take Lime's otome kairo out again? And besides... ..."
"We do not know the reason why he wants to take it out... ... and we do not know what he plans to do next... ..." Faust, still looking intently at all the data on the computer.
"Yes, I'm afraid it might be a trap... ..."
-------------------------------------------------------------------"ITADAKIMASU!" After a good sleep, Lime awoke refreshed and energetic. Seeing the good spread that Cherry has prepared, she sat down immediately and tucked in the food joyfully. Things seemed to have gone back to normal, thought Otaru. I ought to give you guys a reward... ...
"Hey! The fireworks festival is round the corner. Do you all want to go?"
"Fireworks? What is that?" Lime asked, her mouth crammed with food.
"Don't you remember? I've brought you to watch it before... ..."
"Brought me to watch it before... ... can it be eaten?"
"No, remember the second day after I found you we went to watch it... ...its very beautiful... ...there's red and orange and green and... ..." Otaru suddenly broke off, surprised to see Lime trying hard to recall.
"We went to watch it... ...we went to watch it... ..." As Lime tried very hard to recall, she suddenly lost control of her limbs and she fell, sitting on the floor. This has scared Otaru out of his wits, and as he rushed over to support Lime, he shouted, "Lime! What's wrong? Don't scare me! Hey! What's wrong!"
"Otaru, its strange. I can't seem to remember any... ..."Lime managed to stutter these words out, holding her chest as if she's in great pain, and before long, she fell into a state of semi-consciousness and closed her eyes in Otaru's arms.
"Bloodberry, quick, get Lorelei here immediately!"
"Hai! Otaru," Bloodberry dashed out of the house, while Cherry quickly prepared a damp towel and helped Otaru carry Lime back into the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------"Lime... "
"Lime!"
When Lime awoke, she found everyone next to her. Surprised, she asked, "Ne, Lorelei, why are you here?"
"Lime, can you recall what happened just now? Before you fainted?" asked Lorelei, with a serious look on her face.
"What happened just... ...what happened just now... ...what happened? I don't seem to remember. I was eating?"
Frustrated, Otaru exclaimed, "Lime! This is no joking matter! Why can't you remember it at all? Why..."
"Lime, do you feel tired?" Faust, who hasn't uttered a word since coming back, now sat at the edge of her bed and spoke.
"Tired? I don't think so". While she said that, Faust came up to her and swung a pendulum like object in front of her, muttering,
"Yes, you must be tired ...
you must be tired ...
you should be tired ...
you just spent a great deal thinking ...
thinking ... thinking...
you need a long sleep...
a real good long sleep... ... SLEEP!" As he uttered the last word, Lime automatically fell into a deep slumber.
"Faust! What do you think you are doing!" Unable to understand all that is happening, Otaru was in a rather agitated condition and seeing what Faust did infuriated him even further.
"I merely hypnotised her and made her go into sleep. Now, Mamiya Otaru, we have important things to discuss." Faust, cross at Otaru's ignorance, replied sternly.
"Yes, Otaru, this is highly urgent and we need to discuss this with you. Will you go back to the castle with us?" The look in Lorelei's eyes were so serious, it almost frightened Otaru.
"Oh...all right. Cherry, Bloodberry, please stay and take care of Lime. I'll be back soon."
"Hai, Otaru sama," Cherry said, while seeing Otaru out.
As Cherry saw the outlines of Otaru and the others disappear, she went into the house. It was just then when Bloodberry saw a figure flash by the windows. "Hey! What do you think you're doing! Cherry, look after Lime, I'm giving that fellow a chase." With that, she ran out of the house, barely hearing the "take care!" that Cherry said.
After Bloodberry has left the house, there was a knock on the door and as Cherry went to open the door, she saw Senmai standing outside the door.
"Senmai Ojii! Are you here to look for Otaru sama? He's just gone out..."
"I heard Lime is not feeling too good. May I come in and take a look?" Senmai has always looked upon Lime as his own child, and the look on his face certainly was very upset. In fact, everyone had been treating Lime as a member of their community and such an incident happening really roused the concern of many neighbours.
"Sure, Lime has just fallen asleep. Do come in." Cherry quickly opened the door and invited Senmai in.
Senmai went straight to Lime's side, looking at her intently. He then beckoned Cherry to his side, taking an amulet out from his pocket, and pressed it into Cherry's hand.
"I got it from the temple... ...this is for Lime's recovery. I'm sure everyone would want to see Lime sitting up and jumping again..." Senmai turned away, hiding the tear that he shed from Cherry.
"Arigatou, Senmai Ojii..." Cherry was touched by the simple action of Senmai, and was certainly at a loss of words.
Senmai kept Lime company for a while before getting up to leave. After he left, Cherry went back in to keep the amulet in a safe place. But at this time, the amulet suddenly released a flash of light and a numbing sensation passed through Cherry's hand.
"Oh... pl ... plasma ... " Bringing all of whatever remaining energy she had, she let out a scream which sent Senmai running back to the house.
"Cherry!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------On arriving in Japone Castle, Otaru was led straight into the laboratory by Baikou and Tamasaburou. As he became nearer and nearer to the lab, he felt a queasy feeling in his stomach.
As he entered the Lab, Lorelei switched on the computer and showed him the information which the chip taken from Lime contained.
"What? B ... but how could these..."
"This will explain why Lime is in this state now. Otaru, I hope you can listen to what I am going to say now with a clear mind...
The kidnapper, whatever his intentions were, they were certainly targeted at your marionettes. What I can deduce is that he needed to retrieve something from her information bank and that is why he took it out. In order to help Lime, we'll have to insert this chip immediately back into Lime's otome kairo before it breaks down..."
"Uso! And this means... ...this means... ..."
"We'll have to take out her otome kairo again in order to insert this back. Otaru, I hope you realise that this is for Lime's good. And for the next few days, you cannot leave your marionettes unattended. I'm afraid Lime will not be his only target..."
"Sonna... How could all this be..."
At this point of time, Tamasaburou walked in with urgent information.
"Lorelei sama, something has happened to Cherry. Bloodberry brought this message to us. She is with Faust now."
"What! Cherry..." Otaru lost whatever control he had and he rushed out of the Lab and begun to run towards the direction Tamasaburou pointed to. As he ran, he collided head on with another person. When he looked up, he saw Bloodberry in front of him. He grabbed Bloodberry and asked in a half hysterical tone. "Bloodberry, what happened? What happened? Weren't you together with Cherry? How could that have happened? Cherry should be able to detect hostile people, shouldn't she? How did that happen? How..." he stopped, seeing Bloodberry kneeling in front of him.
"Gomenasai, Otaru..."
*E*N*D* *O*F* *P*A*R*T* *2*
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