RPG-The Ochanomizu/Tenma Files: The Early Years

[Prettywitchiusaka]

(Later that night, O'Shay is in his study. He is looking over a commission report that Tenma has written. In all honesty, the paper is profound; truly the work of either a genius, or perhaps a madman even. But Ban's words have not left his head since dinner)

(Frustrated, he lets out a small sigh. He then looks over to a picture of his dead wife. He smiles at the picture and takes it into his hand. He begins to stare at it lovingly)

O; Sometimes, I wish you were still here Sachiko. Maybe you would know what I should do.

(Suddenly, the phone rings. O'Shay picks up the receiver)

O; Hello?

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

“Dr. O'Shay?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked. It was late and he was tired so it took him a few moments to recognize the voice on the other end.

O: “Yes Dr. Becker, this is O'Shay, what can I do for you at this late hour?”

B: “I have some news for you.” came the voice over the line. “Dr. Pavillion passed away a few hours ago. He suffered a heart attack while eating dinner and was rushed to Metro City hospital, where he expired.”

O: “I'm sorry to hear about that. I'll have to send his family my condolences.”

B: “You don't have to shovel the B.S. With me. I know you hated Pavillion's guts, and you wanted his job.”

O: “That's a bit cruel. I did have my differences with the man, and I believe I could do the job better, but I hardly hated him!”

B: “Whatever. In any case the Ministry's board of directors will meet in the morning to consider the nomination for a new director. Your's is one of the names on the short list.”

O: “Oh. Well thank you for the vote of confidence.”

B: “Actually, I think I'm siding with Tenma for the position. But you have some friends on the board as well. Good luck Dr. O'Shay. You'll need it.” CLICK!

O: (to himself) “Of all the nerve! That Becker is even more of an idiot than Pavillion was!”

[Prettywitchiusaka]

(Meanwhile, Tenma is in his study at home. An assortment of documents are scattered all over his desk in front of him, but he has not payed attention to them for awhile. On the contrary, Tenma is asleep. His head is resting on top of his folded arms, and a pair of glasses are pearched on his eyes)

(A hand suddenly wraps itself around his shoulder and begins to shake him)

Off-Screen: Tarou-chan?

(Tenma is startled awake. He checks his surroundings, only to find his wife right beside him)

T: Hoshie...Oh, I must have fallen asleep at my desk again.

H: I'll say; you never came to bed.

(Tenma sighs)

T: I'm sorry, Hoshie. It's just that I have this big presentation tomorrow, and it needs to be perfect.

H: I know; I just wish you wouldn't stress out over it.

[Astro Forever]

T: I need this project to be accepted. I can't live with "no" as an answer. I just need it.

Hoshie sighted. Tenma was an intransigeant man, she knew it, but she still struggled when he expressed it explicitely.

Suddenly, the phone rang. She picked up the phone.

H: "Oh, really? I see... I will tell him."

T: "What's up?"

H: "Dr. Pavillion just passed away."

Tenma remained silent for a few seconds, and then his mouth made a strange, scary rictus.

T: "Well, well... I guess this presentation may not matter as much anymore!"

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Dr. Becker banged his gavel on the podium and called for order. The small conference room was crowded, extra chairs had been borrowed from neighboring offices for the overflow crowd.

Be: I apologize for the venue, but this meeting was called at the last minute due to the sudden death of Dr. Pavillion. The first order of business is to elect a replacement director for the Ministry. Dr. Pavillion brought Dr. Tenma on board with the idea of him being his replacement when he eventually retired. I therefore support Dr. Tenma's nomination for the position.

From the back of the room a hand was raised, and recognized by Dr. Becker.

Be: The chair recognizes Dr. Boyton.

Bo: I second Dr. Tenma's nomination.

Be: Thank you Dr. Boyton. Dr. Tenma's nomination is so accepted. Any further nominations?

Another hand went up.

Be: The chair recognizes Dr. Kawashimo.

Ka: I would like to nominate Dr. O'Shay.

Be: Thank you, Dr. Kawashimo. Are there any seconds?

Another hand went up.

Be: The chair recognizes Dr. Yamanoue.

Ya: I second the nomination of Dr. O'Shay.

Be: Thank you Dr. Yamanoue. The nomination of Dr. O'Shay for the position of Director is accepted. Are there any other nominations?

He waited a few minutes, but other than some quiet side chatter there was silence.

Be: The chair declares that nominations are now closed. We will vote using the time honored system of a secret paper ballot.

Dr. Becker passed a deck of 4x8 index cards around the room, each of the attendees took a card and wrote their choice on the card, and passed the card back to Dr. Becker. Everyone watched as Becker silently separated the stack of cards into two piles and counted them.....

[Prettywitchiusaka]

(Meanwhile, O'Shay and Tenma are waiting out in the hallway for the vote to end. O'Shay is pacing the floor. Will he get Pavillion's position, or won't he? He wasn't sure what to expect at this point)

(Suddenly, he hears a sigh. Curious, he turns around to see Tenma sitting in a chair. On the surface, he seemed to be himself. But O'Shay could tell that his body language seemed a bit too confident. Seeing this, O'Shay walked over to his younger colleague.)

O; You loook confident

(Tenma looked up to see O'Shay smiling at him. He just stared back.)

T; Well, of course. Pavillion was grooming me to take his place; it's only natural that I will have a good chance of getting picked.

(O'Shay was surprised; this was a side of Tenma he had never seen before, a side he wasn't sure that he liked. Either way, he shrugged it off)

O; Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions? You haven't even been here for two months.

T; I suppose. But in the end, what matters is that my discoveries will lead this Ministry to a bright future.

O; Even though you have nothing to show for it?

(Tenma just glared at him)

T; I'm curious, O'Shay. What do you hope to accomplish? Assuming that you win the vote, that is?

[Astro Forever]

O'Shay: I want to promote this ministry, I want the world to know how amazing our work is. I want everybody to know that we can produce reliable robots which can make everyone's life easier. I want robots to evolve so that they are our equal, capable of understanding and interacting with us. I want to perpetuate Dr. Pavillion's work, which was always respectful of the environment.

Tenma: Nice goals. But you will need to make amazing robots to get there. And I'm the one who is going to bring robotic there.

O'Shay: You do have a lot of talent, but you can't do it all alone. We need to work in team to get there, and you seem more of a loner.

Tenma: I just need a couple of people to follow me, and I'll get everybody there. You see?

[Prettywitchiusaka]

(O'Shay sighs)

O; I just don't understand how you can be so confident at a time like this.

T; If one is to succeed, one must always have confidence in himself.

O; That still sounds very idealistic to me.

T; I suppose it would to you.

O; And just what is that suppose to mean?

[Astro Forever]

Tenma: Theories are nice, but practical concerns matter most. Sometimes you have to go straight to the point, and not just wait.

O'Shay: Hmmm, you think all I do is dream?

Tenma: No, no... Straight to the point is all I mean.

O'Shay was starting to worry. Who really was that man, and what was he going to do if he won the vote? As he was trying to sort his thoughts, a man came into the hallway and announced that the vote was over. Both men made it back to the room. Tenma suddenly seemed a lot less confident, displaying rare signs of anxiety. Meanwhile, O'Shay seemed very quiet.

Dr. Becker banged his gavel on the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen, here are the results of the vote. Undoubtedly, the results will leave some people dissatisfied, but I would like to remind all of you that the great things this ministry has achieved is due to our ability to work together. The task at hand is huge and nobody is perfect, but let's all unite behind our new leader and help him make a smooth transition. I would like to wish him the best of luck."

He took an enveloppe opened it, and cleared his troat. He unfold the piece of paper.

"And our new leader is... Mr. Umataro Tenma."

[Prettywitchiusaka]

(O'Shay just sat there in shock. Tenma on the other hand, had a big smirk on his face as he walked over to the podium)