Distant Land... (Open)

Saori nodded slightly, but came over to Saber, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, sir... you have no idea how much this all means to me...." She kissed his cheek gently, then walked over to the bed, slipping under the covers and falling asleep quickly, for once feeling rather safe.

Saber blushed when she kissed him. For a while he just sat there looking out the window. His gaze wandered to the bed where Saori was sleeping. He wanted to sleep. One of his favorite things was dreaming. However Saori needed him to be vigilant. He cocked his head to one side. I wonder why Doctor Caine didn't make us more human... I suppose he wanted to develop our human nature first. Who knows. He let the thought trail off. He returned his gaze to the window and remained lost in his thoughts until morning.

The sun came up and the parking lot lights went out. He hacked into the hotel computer and ordered breakfast. He noted where everything was in the room and watched the gentile rise and fall of the blankets. Then he began to take off his armor. Only certain parts cam off. His boots and gloves. His helmet and breast plate along with his sword harness. Even with the armor off he still weighed more that 300 pounds. It was his reinforced skeleton. Among other things. He was more robot than Saori. He shrugged and made his way to the bathroom. There he washed his face and hands. He needed a full sonic shower. Maybe he would put one together once he found a more permanent place. Until then he would have to settle for a shower. It wasn't as efficient as a sonic shower but it would work.

After 17 minutes of struggling with the shower and towel he finally gave up and decided to air dry. He walked out of the bathroom and started cleaning his armor. He had been in the river the previous night and who knows what kinds of things were on it. Saber waited for breakfast and Saori to wake.

Back at the labs, Saori had slept on a small, rather stiff bed. Not very comfortable at all. Once she was given to the Fulton's, she got to sleep in a comfortable bed, but she had to share it with that man. And that was only when he was too tired after sex to make her move to her 'true place', which was the floor at the foot of the bed, like a dog. So now, in a comfortable bed that she didn't have to share with a man she feared, it wasn't surprising that she slept nice and long, depite Saber moving around the hotel room. When she finally did wake, she was immediately smiling rather brightly. "No nightmares..." She looked around, and, spotting Saber, smiled even more. "Good morning, sir."

Saber looked over. "Good morning." He said with a smile and finished putting on the last of his armor. "Okay, we need a game plan." He said thinking. "Where does this James Fulton live?" he asked. He could have done an internet search however he thought it would be best and take less time if she told him. "I need information and he has it." He finished.

In an instant, Saori's good mood vanished, nervousness and fear showing on her face. "You... you shouldn't do that. He's dangerous... he's not strong, but he has connections... he can get some really scary people to do things for him... anything he wants..." For a moment, there was a rather haunted look in her eyes, before she shook her head quickly, as if to clear it. "A-anyway, you need to be careful. His estate is like a prison... camera's and guards everywhere. And now that he can't force me to do it, he'll have bodyguards with him when he goes out..."

Saber nodded. He saw how much this bothered her. He still intended to confront the man he would just have to do it without her help. For now he would have to make sure Saori was safe. He smiled. "Okay we'll put this on this back burner for now. We should think about getting out of London as soon as possible." he set his large case against the wall. "Go ahead and freshen up no hurry." He said and picked up the phone. He had been reading how to use it. He hit the "0" key and the front desk picked up. "'Ello, front desk." came the British accent. "Yeah this is room 131 B. I would like breakfast delivered here please. Just bring one of everything you got. Thanks." He finished and hung up. "I'll start searching for places. Any place in particular you wanna go?" He asked. He would have to rent a privet plain so he could take his weapons.

Saori paused in thought on that one. She'd never really been anywhere, so where could she possibly want to go? Then, it hit her. "Um... is it... possible to go to Japan? Miku Ando is doing a tour there, and... well, I've always wanted to meet her and her sisters... they are the only people like me and my sisters that I've heard of, that are free..."

Saber nodded. He would have to find a place to set her up at and then make his way back here and look for that sleaze ball of a human. "Okay give me a sec and I'll arrange it." He said and then used the internet to book a flight, arrange lodgings and transportation. After about 12 minutes he looked at Saori. "Okay we're all set." He said he didn't like the idea of leaving her but there was something going on and he couldn't turn his back on it. If he had some back up... His hand went to his ear and then fell slowly. Damn! This is going to be difficult. He thought. Breakfast arrived and he picked out some pancakes with a few biscuits and glass of orange juice. "Out plain will be ready for an hour. So we got plenty of time." He said as he shoved half a biscuit in his mouth.

Saori had been rather sweet and almost demure, but the instant food was set in front of her, she tore into it like a starving woman. She seemed to be greatly enjoying her meal, and didn't seem to care how her cheeks puffed out and she had a bit of pancake stuck to her cheek. Then again, her former owner had seen fit to actually half starve her, so her appetite was understandable.

Saber smiled as he watched her eat. He didn't need food for the energy he just liked the taste. "Now that's a healthy appetite." He said and grabbed a sausage ring. He popped the entire thing into his mouth. He reached over with a napkin and wiped the pancake off her face. He had a feeling it would be replaced soon. "Sho, aphter we geph on da plane we shob be in Japhan 'n about ten or twelve hoursh." He said around a mouthful of food.

He glanced out the window in the parking lot to see if in fact this character had the contacts Saori said he did. This make Saber a little more paranoid. If there are being like Saori here than maybe he could be a threat. I'll have to keep an eye out. He thought.

Saori simply nodded, continuing to stuff food into her mouth. She was just excited about everything. She was going to Japan, might meet the Ando sisters, was eating good food, and had a new friend in Saber. All of this ontop of the fact that she was free. She was worried about her 'sisters', yes. But she also knew that there was nothing she could do at the moment. She had no idea where they were. So for now, until she could do something, she'd just try to enjoy her freedom.

Saber stopped eating for a moment. It just occurred to him that he couldn't leave her. Not in Japan not anywhere that isn't lead lined. He closed his eyes and mentally kicked himself. This was going to be harder than he thought. He wasn't about to let that genetic waste... he paused. Shaking his head. He didn't like thinking like that so he would have to be more mindful in the future. He'ed shattered his glass of orange juice and twisted the fork into an unrecognizable mess. "I-I.... uh... sorry about that. I was just thinking about something and I... um.... got away from myself." He chuckled for a moment and reached for a towel.

Saori had tensed up, freezing entirely at the sound of shattering glass. Fear showed clearly in her eyes, though it seemed to have nothing to do with Saber, as her gaze was unfocused, as if lost in her own mind. After a moment, she blinked, and shakily set her silverware down, swallowing hard. "I... think I just lost my appetite..."

Saber felt horrible. "I-i'm sorry." He said and dropped the towel. "I-i just let my emotions get away from me is all. I'll try not to let it happen again." He said quickly. Then he noticed her eyes. "Saori, what's wrong?" He asked. He made sure his jamming was working. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Saori flinched away from his touch, tensing again, then seemed to immediately sanp out of it, gasping slightly. "I... I'm sorry, sir, I just... I just remembered... I... it's nothing..." She bowed her head, shrinking in a bit as if ashamed. She was, a bit. She'd acted as if Saber was going to hurt her. Sure, she knew he wouldn't, but she'd just gotten jumpy.

Saber nodded. "I think it's time to go." He said and paused. "Is there a way he can track you?" He asked as he was getting his case. he debated weather or not it would be prudent to take his swords out. The he thought it was best. He felt bad if he was breaking any laws however he had to go by his authority for now. And it was time he acted on it in the interests of safety. He took his swords out and placed them in their sheathes. He looked to Saori. "I hate to ask, however in the interests of our safety, would you mind if I scanned you?" He asked almost embarrassed.

Saori simply nodded. "They said they had a way to track me, but didn't say what it was. And yes, you can scan me, I don't mind at all." What she didn't know at all, was that there were two tracking devices. The first actually worked to mask the second. The first was rather easily accessed. It was in Saori's forearm, where one of the manual link-up ports for her neural net was. THe second, was actually attached to her synthetic heart, it's presence masked by her heartbeat as well as the other tracker.

Saber nodded and looked at her. His blue eyes glowed. Statistical data flashed through his vision. He instantly spotted the tracker in her arm and nodded. He pointed. "There." He said and continued to scan. His vision continued deeper into her. In his vision the epidermal layer flashed away and he went through her musculature structure. When he was satisfied with that he went deeper. He scanned her organs. He went up and down like he did her skin and muscles. Nothing unusual. On his second pass he felt something and went back to her chest he was staring intently. "Shit!" He cursed and his eyes stopped glowing. He could possibly get the one on her arm. However the one in her heart was impossible. He would have to modulate his jamming to change frequency every minute or so. He did just that. However he didn't know how long that would last. He analyzed the signal pattern to see of it was short wave or satellite based. "Shit, shit, shit." He said. "This is bad. You have a redundancy tracker linked to another in your heart." He said and grabbed her bags. "We gotta go, now." he said and started for the door.

Saori, during the scanning, was a little embarrased, but nothing too bad. Until he started staring intently at her chest. She started to turn a deep shade of red, but didn't feel dirty like she had with her 'owner'. It was more... tingly. Then he began cursing, snapping her out of it. Now, when he first mentioned a redundancy tracker, she was confused... until her brain took the information, processed it, and gave her the needed information in a little under a second. She paled. "But... but that means... that I can't get away... they'll always find me..." Saori's mind was flooded with images of being recaptured, and what 'Master' would do when he had her back. She collapsed to her knee's, wrapping her arms around herself.

"N-no... no, I can't go back... I can't go back to that, I can't... I'd rather die, I'd rather die than go back..." She was starting to ramble, eyes watering as image after image filled her mind.

Saber dropped the bags and rushed over. He took hold of her and held her for a moment. "Hey, hey, hey. Shhhh.... it's going to be okay. We'll figure something out." He said, he leaned back a bit. "Life is just going to be a little more exciting than you're used to." He said and lifted her chin so she would see his face. He smiled. "He may be able to find you for now. However he'll never take you. Not while I'm around." He said. Saber pulled her close and held her until she calmed down.

It took time, but Saori did indeed eventually calm down in Saber's arms, holding tight to him. She was still shaking, but she was thinking clearly now, and that's what was important. Thankfully, or not depending on your perspective, some of her playfulness surfaced. "...Sir? Did you like the view?"

Saber got a blank look on his face. "Er, I, wa, uhhhh....." he stumbled on his words "I-It wasn't like t-that. I was j-j-just." He stopped himself. Taking a deep breath he smiled. His first thought was to say You have very lovely guts. However he knew that wouldn't go over well. He wasn't good at telling jokes. He couldn't tell a decent joke to save his life. He wanted to say something but the words just wouldn't come to him. Then he released Saori and cocked his head to one side. "It was lovely." He said.

Saber stood and looked out the window in the parking lot. "Okay if they did find us they'll be watching the exits so we're gonna have to find another way out." He was back in protector mode. One of the human's he worked with often said he was like a paladin from one of his table top games. If the situation had been different he would definitely try and work up the courage to ask her out. Now it seemed it would have to wait. "I have an idea." He said and case her a side long glance with a half smile "Are you afraid of heights?" He asked.

Saori actually beamed a bit when he said it was lovely. Despite what had happened to her over the past week, she was perfectly capable of differentiating Saber from her 'Master', and so the idea of him looking at her didn't bother her in the slightest. At his question about heights, she shook her head. "Not at all. Or, at least, I wouldn't know. Never been very high up except on a plane, and then I was kept in the cargo bay."

The reploid nodded. "Well this should be interesting then." He said. He took the clothing she wasn't wearing and placed it in his backpack. He then took her hand and led her to the roof. The wind was a little chilly because of the early morning. Saber looked around and spotted his target. He walked over to the edge of the building and scooped Saori into his arms. "Hold on tight." He said and winked.

Suddenly Saber took a running leap off the hotel rooftop. He made half the distance to the other building a hundred or so yards away before he began to fall. Then his boots whined and energy shot out of them propelling the two the rest of the way to the other building. Once there he let go of Saori with one arm while still holding her with his other. He grabbed on to the wall and leaped up. The Maverick Hunter grabbed the wall and repeated the process. Once he was on the roof he set Saori down to let her absorb what just happened.

Saori blinked several times, then looked at Saber with slightly wide eyes. "...Well that was... cool. Doesn't it draw attention though? I mean, wouldn't doing something like that really grab the attention of anyone monitoring the buildling?" She wasn't trying to nitpick or anything, she just was curious.