Now they were into the first Japanese national Lo/Rez convention, snapshots flashing on the white paper walls, little girls in jeans and t-shirts drinking Coca-Cola in some function room in an Osaka airport hotel, a few obvious parents standing around in the background.
Forty-five minutes later, by the red read-out stuck to Hiromi Ogawas blank metallic face, Tomo Oshima concluded: Which brings us to the present, and the historic visit of Chia McKenzie, the representative of our sister chapter in Seattle, in the State of Washington. And now I hope that she will honor us by recounting the history of her own chapter, how it was founded, and the many activities it has undertaken to honor the music of Lo/Rez
There was a soft burst of applause. Chia didnt join in, uncertain whether it was for her or for Tomo Oshima.
Sorry, Chia said. Our historian put all that together for you, but it got corrupted when they ran my computer through that big scanner at the airport.
We are very sorry to hear that, the silver robot said. How unfortunate.
Yeah, Chia said, but I guess it gives us more time to discuss what brings me here, right?
We had hoped
To help us understand this whole Rez thing, right? We know. Were glad you do. Because were all really worried about this rumor. Because it seems like it started here, and this Rei Toeis a local product, so if anybody can tell us whats going on, its you.
The silver robot said nothing. It was expressionless as ever, but Chia took the clock away just to be sure,
Thats why Im here, Chia said. To find out if its true he wants to marry her.
She sensed a general uneasiness. The six girls were looking at the texture-mapped tatami, unwilling to meet her eye. She wanted to look at Mitsuko, but it would have been too obvious.
We are an officialchapter, Hiromi said. We have the honor of working closely with actual employees of the band. Their publicists are also concerned with the rumor you mention, and they have requested that we assist them in seeing that it not spread further.
Spread? Its been on the net for a week!
It is rumor only.
Then they should issue a denial.
Denial would add weight to the rumor.
The posting said that Rez had announced that he was in love with Rei Toei, that he was going to marry her. There was a long quote. Chia was definitely starting to get the feeling that something was wrong here. This was not what shed come all this physical distance for; she might as well have been sitting in her bedroom in Seattle.
We think that the original posting was a hoax. It would not be the first.
You think? Doesnt that mean you dont know?
Our sources within the organization assure us there is no cause for concern,
Spin control, Chia said.
You imply that Lo/Rez employees are lying to us?
Look, Chia said, Im as into the band as anybody. I came all this way, right? But the people who work for them are just people who work for them. If Rez gets up in a club one night, takes the mike, and announces that hes in love with this idoru and swears hes going to marry her, the PR people are going to say whatever they think they have to say.
But you have no evidence that any of this occurred. Only an anonymous posting, claiming to be a transcription of a recording made in a club in Shinjuku.
Monkey Boxing. We looked it up; its there.
Really? Perhaps you should go there.
Why?
There is no longer a club called Monkey Boxing.
There isnt?
Clubs in Shinjuku are extremely short-lived. There is no Monkey Boxing. All of Hiromis smug satisfaction came through in the Sandbenders translation.
Chia stared at the smooth silver face. Stonewalling bitch. What to do? What would Zona Rosa do if she were in Chias place? Something symbolically violent, Chia decided. But that wasnt her style,
Thank you, Chia said. We just wanted to make sure it wasnt happening. Sorry I hit on you that way, but we had to be certain. If you say its not happening, well accept that. We all care about Rez and the rest of the band, and we know you do too. Chia added a bow of her own, one that seemed to take Hiromi off guard.
Now it was the robots turn to hesitate. She hadnt expected Chia to just roll over that way. Our friends in the Lo/Rez organization are very concerned that this pointless hoax not affect the publics perception of Rez. You are aware that there has always been a tendency to portray him as the most creative but least stable member of the band.
This last, at least, was true, though Rezs style of instability was fairly mild, compared with most of his pop-cultural forebears. He had never been arrested, never spent a night in jail. But he was still the one most likely to get into trouble. It had always been part of his charm.
Sure, Chia said, playing along, relishing the uncertainty she was sure she was causing Hiromi. And they try to make Lo out as some kind of boring techie, the practical one, but we know that isnt true either. She tagged it with a smile.
Yes, Hiromi said, of course. But you are satisfied, then? You will explain to your chapter that this was all the result of some prank, and that all is well with Rez?
If you say so, Chia said, absolutely. And if that settles it, then Ive got three more days to kill in Japan.
To kill?
Idiom, Chia said. Free time. Mitsuko says I ought to see Kyoto.
Kyoto is very beautiful.
Im on my way, Chia said. Thanks for putting this site together for our meeting. Its really great, and if youll save it, Id love to access it later with the rest of my chapter. Maybe we could all get together here when Im back in Seattle, introduce our chapters.
Yes Hiromi definitely didnt know what to make of Chias attitude.
So worry about it, Chia thought.
You knew, Chia said. You knew shed do that.
Mitsuko was blushing, bright red. Looking at the floor, her jelly-bag computer on her lap. I am sorry. It was her decision.
They got to her, right? They told her to get rid of me, hush it up.
She communicates with the Lo/Rez people privately. It is one of the privileges of her position.
Chia still had her tip-sets on. I have to talk with my chapter now. Can you give me a few minutes alone? She felt sorry for Mitsuko, but she was still angry. Im not angry with you, okay?
I will make tea, Mitsuko said.
When Mitsuko had closed the door behind her, Chia checked that the Sandbenders was still ported, put the goggles back on, and selected the Seattle chapters main site.
She never got there. Zona Rosa was waiting to cut her out.
15. Akihabara
Low gray cloud pressing down on the sheer gray city. A glimpse of new buildings, through the scaled-down limos tinted, lace-curtained windows.
They passed an Apple Shires ad, a cobbled lane leading away into some hologram nursery land, where smiling juice bottles danced and sang. Laneys jet lag was back, in some milder but more baroque format. Something compounded of a pervasive sense of guilt and a feeling of physical distance from his own body, as though the sensory signals arrived stale, after too long a passage, through some other country that he himself was never privy to.
I thought wed done with all of that when we got rid of those Siberian neuropaths, Blackwell said. He was dressed entirely in black, which had the effect of somewhat reducing his bulk. He wore a soft, smocklike garment sewn from very black denim, multiple pockets around its wide hem. Laney thought it looked vaguely Japanese, in some medieval way. Something a carpenter might wear. Bent as a dogs hind legs. Picked them up touring the Kombinat states.