here's it is -- my first fic to the FFML. It's a Boku no Marie fic, and I
think it's the first one publically transimitted (or not... I don't much
care). ^_^ C&C welcome.
--Matt
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For the sake of convenience in this text format, the two
Maries will be known under different spellings. Hiroshi's
creation will be known as Marie, while the human version
will be known as Mari.
NOTE: This text was produced without the consent of the
original copyright holders, and, while it is intended as
tribute, in some areas it is considered an illegal work.
* * *
Saturday, 1:28 PM.
"Hiroshi!" Marie called from inside the front door. "This package
just came for you!" Before Hiroshi could stumble from bed, Marie had
brought the small brown cardboard box into his room. Hiroshi grinned
nervously, and stuttered a thank you.
"He he he... oookaythanksyoucangonowgoodbye!" Hiroshi shoved his
cybernetic creation out the door, and slammed it behind her. Marie heard
the door's lock click as she turned around.
"How rude," Marie mumbled. "If he weren't my brother, I'd... I'd..."
Her thoughts caught up with her before she could finish her sentence.
'You'd do what? What? C'mon, Marie, tell me. What would you do?'
Marie was silent. 'I thought so.' Marie wondered how her own mind could
mock her.
"I'd do nothing." Marie finally sighed.
'And we both know why, don't we?'
"Who are you?" Marie asked herself, a little too loud. She shushed
herself and walked back to the kitchen, waiting for her response.
'You. The real you. You know, the one who's there only when the
lights are out.'
"Well, the lights are on. Please, go away."
Her other self chuckled. 'I can't until you let me.'
"What's that supposed to mean?" Marie covered her mouth as her other
self continued to chuckle lightly. She couldn't believe she was yelling
at herself, and yet, there she was in the kitchen, staring at the table,
wondering if her brother could hear her yell at nobody in particular.
"Marie? Are you okay?" Hiroshi had heard, all right. He was
calling from the bedroom. If she concentrated, Marie could pinpoint where
in the room he was, but she didn't try.
"...I'm fine! Just watching TV!" Marie yelled back too quickly.
"So how do I get rid of you?"
'I don't know. You're the genius here.' The sarcasm in the voice
was a little too obvious.
"You know, I could just go back to sleep."
'I'd be there with you.' Marie was afraid she'd hear that.
"But you weren't there last night..."
'Oh, that's true, I suppose. You probably didn't see me, but I was
there. And I'll be there when you go to sleep tonight. And the next
night and the next and..."
"I get it, I get it." Marie kept her voice to a grumble. Somehow,
she couldn't keep from talking. No matter the statement, if she wanted to
say it to the other her in her mind, she said it aloud. It was beginning
to get a little disconcerting. She tried thinking to herself, and not her
other self.
'I'm thinking of a fork,' she began.
'...Oh *very* good.' Her other self interrupted. 'I could talk
through your voice, you know, but I'll save us both the embarrassment.'
Marie felt a little strange at that remark.
"How do you mean?" She waited, but her other self was quiet.
"Finally, a little peace." Marie started preparing breakfast.
* * *
Your Own Personal Ahab Productions Presents
B O K U N O M A R I E
Music-Box Angel
Episode One: Voices
The anime (c) 1996 Sakura Takeuchi/Goro Sanyo/Shueisha/
Victor Entertainment/Studio Pierrot.
Licensed by Victor Entertainment, Inc., Japan.
Released in North America by A.D.V. Films
under the title "My Dear Marie."
For more information, contact A.D.V. Films at: info@advfilms.com
Boku No Marie: Music-Box Angel (c) 1998 Matthew Johnston.
All Rights Reserved.
* * *
Tuesday, 3:45 PM.
"What are you listening to?" Tanaka had to yell above the stereo
blaring in the tennis club office. Hiroshi instantly turned the stereo
down, but not off. Tanaka noticed something a little different about
Hiroshi. Nothing directly noticeable, but he was definitely different.
"What am I listening to? The greatest musicians on Earth!" Uh-oh.
Tanaka realized what was wrong. Hiroshi was confident about something.
"This is Liquid Tension Experiment. These musicians, in a matter
seven days, wrote and recorded this album, an opus to the intricate
stylings of progressive composition and avant garde improvisation. These
great men are to be revered for their incredible accomplishments. I was
merely attempting to absorb, in the best way I could, as a non-musician,
the lovely webwork of music and rhythm, to sip, if you will, the milk of
paradise." Hiroshi laughed and mumbled happily. "The milk of paradise.
Ooh, that was a clever reference. Neil would be proud..."
Tanaka cringed. Hiroshi wasn't merely confident, or enthusiastic; he
had stepped across the fine line into zealotry. Hiroshi cranked the music
again, and the piercing noise of guitars and drums shoved themselves into
his temples.
"Heh... Yeah, well, Neil would be proud if you kept it to a minimum,
okay?"
"Oh, of course! You're absolutely right! Now that Neil's changed
his style to the 'less-is-more' approach, especially in Counterparts, he'd
probably like it if I kept that type of reference to a minimum..."
"Well, actually, I meant..."
"Are you a Rush fan? You didn't strike me as the type, but you know,
the lyrics and music attract all types so maybe I'm just not being open
enough. As Neil says..." Tanaka gritted his teeth.
'Oh no, he's not going to...' But it was too late, he had already
started.
"Philosophers and Ploughmen, each must know his part! To sow a new
mentality, closer to the heaaaaaaart!" Hiroshi belted the lyric out with
enthusiasm Tanaka had previously seen only in the truly weird. But then,
what was Hiroshi if not truly weird?
"That's good. Ooookay. You can stop now. Let's use our inside
voices, shall we?" Tanaka was edging towards the door when Hiroshi gasped
and turned around.
"I'm sorry! I'll turn it off." He hurriedly turned down the music.
"I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay." Tanaka had opened his mouth to say something a little
different, but the voice wasn't his. It was Mari's.
"Okay?!?" Tanaka only mouthed the word as he turned to strike a
confused look.
Mari saw the look, and made a point of not responding, turning her
chin up as she passed Tanaka. Tanaka backed away further, but didn't
leave the room. He had to see this, or he'd never believe it.
Hiroshi had quite nearly curled in the fetal position in the corner.
The stereo was off, the CD in its case, and the case gripped tightly in
his shaking arms. Tanaka noted with a little guilt and a little malicious
joy that Hiroshi was on the verge of tears.
"What'cha got, Hiroshi?" Mari smiled gently, but Hiroshi's
expression of absolute fear didn't change.
"N-n-no-no-nothing. Nothing important. Nothing worth hearing.
Nope, nope! Nothing at all." Hiroshi tried smiling, but could only come
up with a strange grimace as he leapt up and tried to will himself out of
the room. He laughed for a long moment, and then bolted.
Mari caught him by the back of his shirt collar. "Oh no you
don't. You seemed pretty happy playing that CD a moment ago. Why don't
you play it now?"
'Why do you curse me, oh Lord?' Hiroshi tried to keep from breaking
down completely. After a few moments of mortifying silence, Hiroshi
exhaled deeply.
"Okay. If you really want to hear it." Hiroshi stepped slowly to
the stereo, and removed the CD from its case. "It's nothing really. You
wouldn't like it."
"And who are you to say what I like and don't like? Don't deny me an
opinion. I might just be the one to save you from Tanaka over there."
Mari turned in time to see Tanaka stifle an "Oh, please."
Hiroshi sighed and reluctantly inserted the CD. The first track
began, instantly filling the room with a shower of tom-tom hits and guitar
notes of all shapes and sizes. Tanaka covered his ears dramatically, but
Mari remained as she was. After a few moments, the guitar clicked into a
speedy rock riff, and Hiroshi could have sworn he saw Mari almost smile.
After three minutes, Mari leaned over to Hiroshi and yelled a
question over the stereo. "When does the singer come in?"
"There is no singer!" Hiroshi yelled back. "Only the music!"
Hiroshi beamed inside. If Mari could like the same music as he could,
then maybe, just maybe...
At four minutes, the keyboard solo started. At five minutes, the
music took a turn for the subdued. Mari closed her eyes. Hiroshi prayed
to every god he could think of, and a couple he made up on the spot, just
in case.
As the song ended, with a flurry of notes much like the first flurry,
Mari opened her eyes. "Are all the songs like that?"
Hiroshi cursed his luck. 'What a question to ask!' He couldn't
readily tell if she liked it or not, and of course that would affect his
answer dramatically. He decided to play it as safe as he could.
"Well, the nature of this type of music is variety. Some songs are
like this, others are softer, and others still are different altogether."
Hiroshi chuckled and hoped he had convinced her.
"Well, I'm not sure what to make of it. It's quite intense, isn't
it?"
"I suppose..." Hiroshi had a bad feeling about the conversation.
"Is all the music you listen to this intense?"
"Not all. I listen to Fates Warning, and they're pretty laid back
comparatively." Hiroshi was rather amazed at his ability to speak without
the debilitating pangs of paranoid fear. It was a rather interesting and
totally new sensation.
"Fates Warning? That's a little childish for a band name." Hiroshi
had hoped that, at worst, only Tanaka would say such a thing, but it came
from Mari. Hiroshi's shoulders fell forward, his head fell forward, and
whatever statement he had prepared to introduce dear Mari to his musical
world disappeared. He looked up one last time, expecting to see the
couple chuckling as she sauntered out. Instead, he saw Mari still looking
at him.
Mari chuckled, though her eyes seemed a bit nervous. "Well, you go
ahead and listen to your music. I... *we* don't care what you listen to,
but keep it down a little, okay? Thanks." Mari turned and left, Tanaka
close behind.
"Geek." Tanaka barely breathed the insult as he left.
"Geek?" Hiroshi turned to the stereo, and ejected the CD. "Dammit!
Why am I cursed with such precious little in common with Mari?"
And then it hit him. Hard. So hard, he reeled from it hitting him.
"Of course!" Hiroshi's world faded, replaced with a poster-like scene
awash with vibrant, epic colors. "If I can write the perfect song for
Mari, one that is the best of what she likes and what I like, I can bridge
the gap between us. And then, maybe..." Hiroshi grinned. "It's a
flawless plan! A wonderful concept! Dare I say, my greatest ever? Yes,
yes I dare!"
People walking by the room heard strange maniacal laughter.
The real world returned as logic entered his flawless plan. "But, I
don't have a band. I don't even know how to play." Again, inspiration
lightly tapped on Hiroshi's temples. "Maybe I could pro..."
Hiroshi ran from the room too fast to even give a second thought to
the fact that his CD was still in the stereo.
Several minutes after Hiroshi left, Mari returned to the club room.
She noticed the stereo was still on, and as she went to turn it off, she
also noticed Hiroshi's CD still in the player. With a quick glance behind
her, she turned it on.
Music blared for a brief moment before she cranked the volume knob
down. Again, checking behind her, much more embarrassed this time, she
clicked ahead to track 2. A much softer song indeed. She closed her eyes
and smiled.
* * *
[Insert Channel 22 Commercial Here]
* * *
"Hiroshi? Can I talk with you a minute?" Marie flopped into a stray
chair, one of many in her brother's workshop, and waited for her brother
to respond. Sparks showered from his micro-welder as he moved along the
crease of two pieces of metal.
"That should do for now. Now, what did you want?" Hiroshi sounded
busy, but not annoyed at her visit.
"I've been hearing... voices. In my head."
"Hrm. Is it random, or are they talking to you directly?" Hiroshi
turned to put away his tools.
"They, I mean she, talks to me. Directly. In my voice. I mean, she
sounds just like me. Only in my head. I mean... you know what I mean,
right?" Marie growled softly, then exhaled. "I'm sorry, I'm just a
little confused."
"Hmm. Maybe there's a bug with that new multi-tasking routine I put
in your last upgrade. I can take it out, if you want, but you won't be
able to think as fast."
"No, that's okay. I think she's gone. I haven't heard her for a few
days." Marie looked down at her feet. She noticed she was a little
pigeon-toed. "It was strange. The last thing she said was so out of
place. She was arguing with me, and really being patronizing, and then
she said that she could speak with my real voice if she wanted, but that
she wanted to save us the embarrassment."
"So your tormentor has a little self-confidence problem, eh?"
Hiroshi chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'll debug the routine, and by
this time tomorrow, you'll be back to normal." He smiled and flashed a
thumbs-up.
"Thank you!" Marie hugged her brother and skipped from the room.
'You know, I won't go away quite that easily.'
"You again?" Marie kept her voice down, but contemplated speaking
loud enough for Hiroshi to hear.
'Don't try it. It won't work.'
Marie tried to speak up, but when she spoke next, it was only in a
whisper. "What did you do to me?"
'I'm just keeping you in line, like a good sister. You wouldn't want
to bother your brother, now, would you. I mean, he's awfully busy these
days, what with that new project he's working on.'
"New project?"
'Don't tell me you didn't notice -- I got the same picture you did.'
Her other self was smiling. Marie could hear it. 'He's welding
something. Another body, perhaps?'
"Nonsense." Marie was back in the kitchen, though she didn't
remember walking upstairs. "Why would he do that?"
'Oh, no particular reason, I suppose. Maybe he just thinks you need
an upgrade.'
"An upgrade?" Marie tried chopping some cabbage to keep herself from
shaking.
'Or, he's just making a new sister.'
"New?" The knife in Marie's hands fell to the floor, piercing her
left slipper, and the toe underneath.
"Ow! Ah, cheese and crackers!" Marie grabbed the nearest towel and
wrapped her damaged toe. It seeped various translucent liquids. She was
bleeding, though not badly. After a few moments, the shutoff valve to her
toe activated, and she stopped bleeding. Marie limped downstairs to the
workshop.
"Maybe he can let me preview a new toe," she chuckled darkly. There
was no response from her other self.
* * *
"Hiroshi? Hiroshi, I hurt my toe. Can you fix it?"
'Can you fix it? Can you fix it? I'm completely helpless and have
to bug my brother for everything.'
"Would you shut up?" Marie seethed at the back of her mind as she
gingerly descended the staircase.
"Your toe? Did the shutoff valve trip?" Hiroshi was yelling from a
corner in the room.
"Umm, yeah, but the..." Marie peeked around the corner of the
staircase. Her brother was hunched over something, soldering and watching
a monitor of some sort.
"...Then you should be fine for now. I'm very busy, okay? Keep the
weight off the toe for a while, and I'll look at it tomorrow morning. And
be more careful, okay?" Hiroshi lifted his visor and looked towards
Marie.
Marie was too shocked to move.
"Marie? Are you okay?" Hiroshi's voice sounded as much perturbed as
concerned.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Nothing!" Marie smiled a little too wide,
shook her hands a little too nonchalantly, turned and ran upstairs, trying
desperately not to break down and cry in hearing range of her brother.
Once in her room, she ran and buried her face in her pillow.
"What's going on with me?" She rolled over in bed, and stared at the
ceiling. She couldn't feel her other self. It felt a little different
when she was around. Like having two heads on one pair of shoulders, or
being able to hear another person breathing in a silent room.
"What's wrong with me?"
* * *
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Well, there it is, episode one. Not much going on right now, eh? ^_^
Okay, I'll give you the skinny on some of the references and such, in case
you wanted to know.
Liquid Tension Experiment: It's real. It came out in May or June of
1998, and was a supergroup of sorts, with Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci
of Dream Theater on drums and guitars respectively, Jordan Rudess of Dixie
Dregs on keyboards, and Tony Levin of King Crimson fame on bass and
Chapman stick. They recorded the album in seven days, as Hiroshi said,
and they did improv, as Hiroshi said. Hiroshi didn't mention that the
last song was 28 minutes long and *all* improv, entitled "Three Minute
Warning."
"Closer to the heart...": The song quote is from the second verse of the
Rush song of the same name ("Closer to the Heart"), from the album
"Hemispheres." The "Neil" mentioned is Rush's drummer and lyricist, Neil
Peart (pronounced like the fruit with a "t" at the end), who, when he
wrote the song, had his nose stuck in the ultimate "do-it-yourself" guide,
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
Fates Warning: A Connecticut-based progressive metal group. They have
two eras, one being very Iron Maiden-ish (the first era, from 1983-1988),
the other being more mellow and intricate (1989-present). One of the
fathers of modern progressive rock (along with Dream Theater -- I'm sure
I'll have an opportunity to give them an endnote later!)
My take on the characters is, unavoidably, a little different from the
anime and the manga, mostly because the anime was too short IMHO, and I
haven't read the manga yet (I can't even find it!). As always, feel free
to give C&C, both on the technical and creative (though I ask you focus
more on the technical and plot holes, though plot holes may fill as the
story unfolds). Flames will be cheerily ignored.
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