Monthly Archives: May 2008

Alicia and Her Experiment

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“Alright, clothes off. Get in,” Alicia demanded of Lily as she stripped out of her blouse and pants. Lily stood abreast of Alicia fumbling with the buttons of her dress and stared into the brownish water in the corroded porcelain tub leaning against the wall of their inn room. “It’s no time to be shy either. Come on, quickly now!” She helped Lily undress and move into the tub and began to scrub her raw with a sponge.

“Ow! Why are we doing this?” Lily asked as she squirmed.

“Either two things are happening right now. First, Kessel could have figured out how to start the plane, in which case I’d have heard it, but I didn’t. So that leaves the second option: He couldn’t figure it out and he’s coming after me. You saw how friendly that lot was. I’m sure they can track a scent and we need to lose ours,” she said. She had led Lily all around the industrial sector of town leaving their scent all over and acquiring new ones before picking an inn to rest in for the night. “All clean. Now, put those new clothes on.” She pointed Lily to the garments laying on the bed. Alicia finished scrubbing herself, toweled off, and dressed in an itchy wool dress too. Alicia threw her necklace over her head and tucked the keys under her collar. She shoved her pistol and her university seal into a satchel and dumped their old clothing into a burlap sack and asked Lily to bring it below to be incinerated.

While Lily was away, Alicia drew the curtains shut and checked her gun. She loaded a fresh magazine into the Luger and holstered it. As soon as Lily walked through the door, Alicia said to her, “Get some rest. I’ll keep watch.”

While Lily slept, Alicia stayed by the window watching the city. In the early hours of the morning a cacophony of howls broke the night’s silence. Lily awoke and joined Alicia at the window sill. In the distance, men, transformed into wolves, stood on rooftops calling to one another. Atop their inn they heard the scratching of claws against the stone as one of them ran and jumped off the rooftop to another. Lily gripped Alicia by the shoulder; she was shaking and mumbling a prayer in a tongue Alicia had never heard before. All through the night Alicia could see silhouettes of the wolves running and crawling about the roofs trying to place their scent. “Go back to bed.” Lily slept against her shoulder for the rest of the night.

When dawn broke, Alicia and Lily dressed in traveling cloaks that Alicia had purchased the night before, and headed to the pub below for breakfast. As they ate bread and cheese, several men entered the pub. The muscular man leading the troupe pulled up to the bar and in a boisterous voice announced: “Round of drinks for me and my men!”

“What’s the occasion?” The barkeep asked as he filled a stein.

“This fat fellow, some Doctor, asks us to move this big ruddy thing that he’s got hidden under a tarp. He says he’ll pay us double to do it now instead of in the morning. I say fine. He won’t say what it is. So I ask for double that. We’re moving it through the town square to the train yard, my men are tired and we stop. Hey, it’s late, right? Well he triples the double on the double. We’re rollin’ in it!”

Lily and Alicia made eye contact but neither girl said anything. When they finished eating, Alicia led Lily past the drunken movers and headed down the noonday street. She dragged Lily through a bazaar and then to the cobblestone streets of the main part of town and followed the signs to the train yards on Morgan Street. Across the road, Alicia recognized the human form of one of the wolfmen from the previous night. He entered a door with the number “137″ whitewashed over it.

“That must be the warehouse,” Alicia said as she put her coin purse in Lily’s hands. “There’s a train coming for Atolari. I want you to buy two tickets. I’m going to take a look inside. Go on.” Lily hid herself beneath her hood and walked with a brisk pace down the street. In front of Alicia was a growing queue of horse-drawn carts with boxes of merchandise. They were heading into warehouse “134″. Alicia walked alongside one of the carts and kept her eyes peeled. Once she was certain that no one was looking she jumped into one of the covered carts and tucked herself under the tarp. She waited to be caught but no one noticed.

Once inside, Alicia took a quick glance around, but everyone was busy working to notice her. She made a beeline for a door with the number “134″ over it. She exited into the train yard. Locomotives whistled hello and goodbye as they sped by one another blowing big billowing towers of steam. Warehouse “137″ was a couple of buildings down. She pressed herself against the the brick wall, and spied on two bald men in cloaks guarding the door. The guards growled as they pushed the doors open to allow a flatbed car inside. Alicia winced as the metal doors scraped their way along the rails, but she took the opportunity to open the side door and slip inside.

From behind some shelves, she saw her plane, wrapped and tied, hovering over the floor held up by several ropes. Underneath, Doctor Kessel gave instructions for loading onto the flatbed. She counted a dozen bald men in traveling cloaks – all wolves in sheep’s clothing. She had enough bullets but one shot would give her away. With the plane loaded and wheeled out, Kessel and his men left the warehouse. Alicia hurried to the train platform and found Lily.

“Did you find it?” Lily asked.

“Did you get the tickets?”

“I had enough for two. I saw Doctor Kessel board one of the noble cars up front.” Alicia peeked over Lily’s shoulder at the green cars at the head of the train.

“His entourage?”

“He was alone,” Lily said.

Alicia took both train tickets. “You’re not coming aboard. I want you to fly after the train. Keep an eye on the last car. You’ll know it when you see it.”

“But where are you going?”

“To test a theory.” Alicia hid under her hood and boarded the train. She took a seat on a bench by the window. It took another twenty minutes to fill the car to maximum capacity before it pulled out of the station. Alicia turned her eye to each passenger. Most of the travelers were families with young children – she hoped that she could pull this off without causing anyone harm. Not a sign of the bald men that guarded Kessel were in sight. The train cut through the woods surrounding Lebenwald, but as far as Alicia could see much of the wood was floating down a river to a lumber mill. Alicia waited a little longer for the train to pick up speed and did some mental calculations. “That ought to do it,” she mumbled and excused herself. She pushed the door open for the next car, a cargo hold filled with boxes and luggage. Two of Kessel’s guards turned towards her.

“Ladies room?” she asked. The guards snarled. Alicia backed out of the car and opened the door leading outside. The trees whipped by in a blur. Alicia found a ladder on the side of the train, swung herself onto it and climbed up. On top of the car she crouch walked across the flat center of the roof. She could see her beautiful mechanical bird on the flatbed at the end of the train.

Two giant claws gripped the side of the car and a wolfman swung itself onto the rooftop. It roared at her, narrowed its eyes, and swiped at Alicia. She fell backwards; the wolfman shredded her cloak sleeve. Alicia pulled out her Luger and fired twice. The wolfman twisted left and right as the bullets impacted in his chest. She closed one eye and shot him in the foot. His foot slipped, split his legs, and he slid off the curved side of the car’s roof crying all the way down. Alicia crawled along the top to the end of the car. As she climbed down the ladder, she saw the other wolfman on the roof heading towards her.

On the flatbed, Alicia undid the knots tying her plane down to the car.

“Hold it right there!” She turned to face Doctor Bartram Kessel and his Luger. He stood in the doorway of the luggage car.

Alicia kept working. “You won’t shoot me!”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You can’t fly the plane.”

“Because you still have the keys! All I have to do is shoot.”

“I’ll fall off the train. How will you find my corpse?”Alicia undid the last of the bindings and the tarp billowed and peeled off the plane and flung itself into the distance. “I’ll be taking this now.” The wolfman jumped down onto the flatbed and growled at her.

“She’s got the keys, get them from her!” Kessel screamed before closing the door.

The wolfman’s mouth salivated for her flesh and the claws glistened in the high sun. Alicia fired two rounds at him but the wolf was faster and shucked and shimmed around them and lunged at her. Alicia dived under the plane’s fuselage and the wolf smacked his head hard against the wing. He shook it off and reached for her with a claw. She dodged and rose on the other side. As she stood, the wolf crashed on her and flattened her to the floor again. The gun popped from her hand and bounced across the flatbed.

She twisted to the side and got a face full of the wolf’s teeth and a nose full of a rotting flesh stench from its mouth. She tried to move but the wolfman sat on her. The wolf raised its arms ready to dig its claws into her. She shut her eyes. Was this the end?

A whiny, whimpering yelp came from her executioner. Alicia opened her eyes to see the wolfman flying into the blue sky. Caw! Caw! Alicia stood up. “Lily!” She smiled. The wolf thrashed at the bird but the giant talons held on to it. Lily reached down with her beak snatched the wolf’s head and rent it from the body and spit it into the woods below.

Alicia got to her feet, gripped the side of her plane, and climbed into the cockpit.

“Kill her! Kill her!” She could hear Doctor Kessel scream. Alicia pulled the two keys from around her neck and insert them into the dashboard and fired the engine up. The propeller at the nose spun up. A new wolfman jumped onto the nose of the craft. Alicia glanced out the slide window. The trees were whipping by fast now. Maybe seventy miles per hour she figured.

“You’ll never get away!” Kessel shouted. “You’re trapped. You’re dead!”

The wolfman growled at her. There was no time to check the flaps to make sure everything was working. Now or never. Alicia grabbed the yoke and pulled back. Up, up, they went off the flatbed. She glanced out and saw the wolfman panic and latch onto the hull of the plane. They were flying. It worked! “Bye,” Alicia said as she flipped the plane upside down. Everything inside crashed against the roof of the plane. The wolfman yelped and disappeared from her view. Alicia righted the plane and put on her goggles. She saw the train below and an angry Kessel shaking his cane at her. Between the train and the plane was Lily. Caw! Caw! Alicia turned the plane around and with Lily at her side they flew back to the Watchmaker’s home.

The Fandom

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I’ve watched all 29 episodes Live-Evil fansubbed of the 113 episode series of Galaxy Express 999. I am eager for more. Like, NAO. I love the music from the TV show too. Isao Saski sings the opening and ending theme of the TV show and let me tell you it’s great to hear a voice that’s not another girlie girl j-popstar.

I’ve watched all three movies: Galaxy Express 999, which retells the story of the manga and anime in a super-abridged format, Adieu Galaxy Express, and Galaxy Express: Eternal Fantasy.

I watched all of Space Symphony Maetel and Maetel Legend.

I’ve gone to Youtube and scoured it looking for any bits and pieces of Galaxy Express I could find like the weird video of Maetel pimping some bizarre Japanese sodapop or the video a guy took while sitting through the 3D Galaxy Express amusement park ride. There’s more disturbing and bizarre shit, and let’s just say my fandom has not gotten that far. I’ve watched the Godeigo performances of the Galaxy Express 999 movie theme — not just the original 1980s version but the reunion version too. I don’t know why, but that song "Salad Girl" just amuses the hell out of me.

I’ve read the Wikipedia entry…a couple of times. I’ve actually noted when new images were added to it.

I’d love to go to Japan and see the Maetel robot, she supposedly dispenses travel information. Maetel, Tetsuro, and the Conductor also host a boat tour of Leiji Matsumoto’s hometown, in a tour boat he designed.

img 5796 thumb The Fandom Galaxy Express 999

This is my collection of Galaxy Express 999 comics. I went and found the five graphic novels Viz translated back in 2001-02 and bought all of them used. I believe I bought the hard to find volume 2 for about 30 bucks. Those two GE999 books in front are from my friend Genevieve who bought them for me when she went to Japan (I’m indebted to her). She also got me the Maetel/Tetsuro statue I was eyeing online for the longest time. What an incredibly pleasant surprise it was to receive that! Now, see those 17 books stacked on top of one another and the 18th one that’s standing by the lamp? Those are all of the original Galaxy Express 999 manga. In Japanese. Which I can’t read, but that doesn’t matter, because I own them. I’m one step closer to being completely immersed in that universe and having physical property that is Galaxy Express.

I got the comics from the Japanese Yahoo auction site using a 3rd party bidding company called Celga, my co-worker’s wife works for them, so I figured should be really, really dependable and it is. Actually, I got two sets of the original Galaxy Express manga through Celga, which totaled to 30 books in all. It cost me 113 bucks to buy them all and $109 to ship them to the States. Crazy you say? It’s one of the few things in my life I’ve actually gone out of my way to drop money on like that. I rarely buy into the fandom of things.

Why, though? Why am I a fan? It’s sci-fi. It’s something that’s entirely new and different to me. It carries a different sensibility than today’s animes. Thirty years really shows a difference, and I like it. But, I think the biggest reason is that I found Galaxy Express on my own. It’s my own little discovery. I feel like I have partial ownership of it. I love the quirky stories, the tragic characters, and Tetsuro’s heart of gold. I love the whole space train thing, of course, one of my other favorite animes, despite falling asleep through it, was Night on the Galactic Railroad, which partially inspired GE999. I like the Romanticism; it’s the whole idea of the journey into the unknown and the journey being more important than the destination. Maetel’s much more elegant and beautiful than any of these modern anime chicks, and she sure as hell could whip them into submission too (she’s actually got a light saber whip like the one Zero-Suit Samus uses in Smash Brothers). Her parting scene with Tetsuro in the movie is fantastic. She says to him, "From now on, I will be a woman who lives on only in your memories. I will be nothing more than the illusion of a young boy’s heart, a phantom of your youth (from the fansub)." She’s every boys’ first crush, a woman that makes a boy want to become a better man, and ultimately, she’s the one you can’t have. It’s bittersweet. I eat that shit up. It’s awesome.

On that table (in the picture), you don’t see the other 12 books comprising the second set of Galaxy Express 999 because I’ve boxed them. I originally thought that the books were actually from the two different series of Galaxy Express. The new GE999 is from 1996 and those are the ones Viz translated. I was hoping that the 12 volume set was actually the continuation and finale of those 1996 comics, but it wasn’t.

I don’t feel bummed about accidentally purchasing two sets either. One of them will make a great graduation present for my brother. Plus he can translate them since he’s got an undergraduate degree in Japanese, and now that he’s got a lot of spare time, maybe he should get crackin’ on that for me.

Alicia and the Three Keys

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Alicia crossed her arms and smiled when she saw Lily tiptoeing towards the circular stairs leading into the foyer. She stood at the top of the landing and glanced back down the hallway. “She’s saying goodbye to me,” Alicia thought. Lily crept down the stairs and strung a satchel over her shoulder – no doubt filled with her clothing and some foodstuffs from the kitchen. Alicia leaned against the double doors leading into the mansion’s courtyard and made a little cough.

Lily stopped in mid-adjustment of her satchel strap. She did a double take. “Who–” she began.

“The mechanical girl,” Alicia said still smiling. “I heard you in the kitchen earlier.”

Lily lowered her gaze. “I think it’s time I went.”

“Alright, but, could you wait one more day? I need your help. I need someone to come with me to Lebenwald and do some shopping for the mansion. Please?” She put her hands on Lily’s shoulders.

Lily pulled her satchel off and dropped it on the floor.

“Thank you,” Alicia said. “Go get some breakfast and we’ll be off. Let me fetch my keys.” She led Lily towards the dining room door and hurried up the stairs.

“How is she?” Alicia recognized the voice of the Watchmaker, Doctor Wilhelm Gottfried, as she emerged on the second floor balcony. He was already dressed in his slacks, shirt, tie, and vest ready to work in the laboratory.

“She’s still young,” Alicia said. “I remember being like that myself.”

“Thank you for making this run to town for me,” Doctor Gottfried said. In his hands he held a dancing canary. She had finished it and left it by his bedroom door in a bird cage. “I think when you return, you’ll be ready to help me fix my son.”

* * * * *

The town of Lebenwald was one of the larger cities Alicia had been too and as the name implied the taller buildings made it look like a forest of stone and steel. She circled over the city taking a good bird’s eye view of the town. Upon hearing Lily vomit, Alicia descended and made a landing outside the city walls. Once the plane slowed, Alicia cut the propeller and removed the two keys that turned on the plane’s engine. The keys were attached to a leather cord that she wore as a necklace. She tucked them under her blouse and climbed out of the cockpit. Two guards approached her with their hands on their sword hilts. She pulled off her helmet letting her hair free and waved at the guards. They relaxed.

“Traveler,” the head guard said. “What business do you have here?”

“I’m picking up supplies from the market. Something the matter?” Alicia said helping Lily out of the back and watched her head off to the woods with her pail in hand.

The guard began: “The town’s been on alert. Creatures have been spotted in the night. We ask that you be careful and report to a guard if you see or hear anything suspicious.”

“What kind of creatures?”

The guards eyed one another.

“A wolfman,” the junior guard said. His superior glared at him and grimaced.

“Thanks for the warning.” Alicia patted her holster. The guards nodded and walked off. Lily returned with a clean pail and sat down on a tree stump by the plane. Alicia pulled a list from her pocket and tore it in half. “I’ll go pick up the machinery, tools, and parts, and I’ll leave the produce for you.” She handed Lily a small pouch of money. “There’s a little extra for you as well.”

As both women walked away from the plane, a voice caught their attention. “Yes! Yes, this was what I saw flying through the sky! At first I thought it some strange demon or monstrous insect, but its nothing of the sort!” Alicia turned around and spotted a plump man shaped like the bell of a mushroom with a tuft of red hair examining her mechanical bird.

The plump man turned towards Alicia and his lips split into a wide smirk. “My dear is this your marvelous contraption?”

“Yes,” Alicia said returning to the plane. Lily bumped into her from behind.

“Brilliant craftsmanship! Who is your master? What is his name? I would like to meet him.”

“My name is Alicia, I’m my own master, and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister–”

“Doctor, my dear. Doctor Bartram Kessel, a scientist of all studies.” He bowed. “A woman as her own master?” He laughed. “This flying machine. I’ll pay you a thousand gold pieces for it!”

“It’s not for sale, Doctor.”

“Ten thousand, my love,” he said taking her hand.

“Don’t touch her!” Lily shoved Kessel away. For a brief instant Alicia thought she saw Lily’s hand transform into a set of talons. Kessel’s men stepped forward – they must have seen it too.

“I’m sorry,” Alicia said pushing Lily behind her. “It’s not for sale.”

“Everything is for sale, my darling. What would you trade for it?”

“I can’t dally any longer, Doctor. Good day to you. Come, Lily.”

As they walked away, Lily asked Alicia, “What about the plane?”

“The guards will protect it just like these other carts and horses. That’s what they’re paid to do.” She fingered the key under her blouse.

Alicia and Lily split up once they entered the city. Alicia saw Lily off into the market and she entered into the industrial area of town. She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief. The air smelled of burnt fuel and the blue sky she had seen from above was covered in a brown haze. Workmen wore sooty faces and trudged through the streets with no mind as to where they went. The only women Alicia saw worked inside of the taverns and pubs. She went about her business and purchased the parts on her list – it was a list she and Doctor Gottfried had come up with as they worked. As night fell, Alicia rode back through the streets in a mule-drawn wagon carrying all of her boxed wares, and she began to load the parts and tools into the back of her plane. How Lily would fit in there would be another problem. Maybe Lily could spend the night in the city? It might do wonders for her morale to be uncaged from the mansion for a time.

Speaking of which, where was that girl? Alicia watched bodies enter and exit the city gate but not a sign of Lily. It couldn’t have taken her that long to select fruit and vegetables, could it? Alicia finished packing everything and closed the back hatch and locked it. Nailed to the back of the hatch, which she missed, was a wax-sealed folded slip of paper. Annoyed, she pulled the nail out of her plane and examined the letter.

It said: “If you would like to see your friend again, come to Marshal Square alone. – Doctor B. Kessel.”

Alicia stuffed the sheet in her pocket and ran through the city gates. With some help she found her way to Marshal Square. It was a secluded war-memorial park far removed from the hustle-and-bustle of Lebenwald’s nightlife. Each wall surrounding the square was covered with ivy vines and at the center stood the statue of a lone soldier leaning against a pole with Lebenwald’s flag swaying in the night breeze. The moonlight painted the statue in shades of blue but the torchlight standing nearby gave it an orange glow around the edges.

“I was once friends with Professor Elana Bellafore. She wrote to me of a new student who was interested in the flight of birds and human beings alike.” Kessel emerged by the statue and stood under the flickering torchlight. “You were her student.”

“Where’s Lily?” Alicia pulled her pistol on the doctor.

A growl emerged from the shadow and a wolf standing on its hind legs stepped forward. Tucked under his arm was Lily. The wolfman was draped in the blue moonlight and outlined by the orange warmth of the torch. Another appeared behind Doctor Kessel and a third to his other side.

“After our little exchange this morning, I noticed that my arm hurt.” He showed Alicia three scratches across his traveling cloak. “I thought, the peasant girl that took a swipe at me must have done it, but these looked more like claws from a bird. A girl that is a bird. I had read stories of such a creature. So I had to track her down, and there she was in the market purchasing tomatoes as if she were a commoner. So we snatched her.”

“Give her back!”

“I’m certain you must have read The Age of the Common Man. The world of magic, witches, wizards, and creatures of impossibility is over! The age of reason and the triumph of man has come! Man will weld science, technology, and industry and create a new world not governed by metaphysical forces! Your friend is not a friend of mine, nor does she have a place in this new world.”

“Hypocrite! What are those!”

“Men who have accepted a form of evolution.”

“You want the plane. For Lily.”

“Alicia, don’t give it to him!” Lily struggled in the monster’s grip. “Maybe he’s right. I don’t belong in this world anymore. Take the plane and run!”

“The plane’s yours,” Alicia said. “It’s beyond the city gates where you saw it this morning. Here’s the key.” Alicia pulled a key from her pocket and tossed it to Kessel.

“Show me how to fly it,” Kessel said looking at the key in his hand.

“You’re a scientist! You figure it out unless you’re inferior to me.”

“Kill the witch!”

“Kessel!” Alicia shouted. “The Age of the Common Man says a superior man should use reason and be fair and just! When you took the key you implicitly agreed to our arrangement! Are you saying that you’re not a superior man? Then I should kill you!”

Kessel wrapped his gloved hand around the key and narrowed his eyes at Alicia. “Drop the witch. Disguise yourselves.” The wolfmen shrunk, their muscles deflated, and they became human and wrapped themselves in garments and cloaks. Kessel being shorter than Alicia still managed to look down his nose at her as he walked by and said, “No one is more superior than me.” He marched past Alicia with his three guards. Once they were gone, Alicia ran to Lily and hugged her.

“Why? You spent your life on that mechanical bird! You told me so! And you just–”

“I can always replace a mechanical bird, but I can’t replace you, can I?” Alicia pulled a knife from her pocket and removed Lily’s bindings. Once she was free she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Alicia touched her blouse and felt the pair of keys dangling underneath. “Lily, do you mind staying longer? I’m going to need your help to get my plane back.”