SIXTEEN:Patterson's story.
A slight rain was falling. The tiny droplets of water tapped against the windows in varying succession. Amy Anderson didn't mind the sound. It was tranquil.
She sat at her computer staring at the screen.
Since I realized I was Sailor Mercury I've been keeping this diary of everything that has happened negaverse related. My hope was to use it as a scientific resource in case the need should arise. Now I have another chapter to add. She thought and began to type.
It has been two weeks since our battle with Coardite. The peace has relaxed
all of us and we're getting used to not having an enemy to fight again. This
story of the Coardite attacks is not one that is fully completed however. In
fact there are some pieces of it that may never fully be explained. A week ago,
many of our questions were answered however.
The night after the battle, I had travelled to D.V. Patterson's house to check on his state. His uncle had greeted me and explained that D.V. wasn't in such good shape. I had asked why he hadn't taken D.V. to the hospital. Mr. Patterson explained that D.V. was very self concious and that he never liked hospitals.
I offered to have ask my father to come and see him. Patterson's uncle agreed
and we crafted a story to explain that Patterson and his uncle had been sparring
with some weaponry and an accident had occured. My father arrived promptly and
didn't question our explanation. He said that Patterson should get an X-ray.
Patterson's uncle explained D.V.'s disliked for hospitals again, but my father
persisted and D.V. was taken to Tokyo General Hospital for an examination. He
was kept in there for several days before he woke up and from what his uncle
said, wasn't too pleased.
The scouts had been very anxious to find out what the deal was with Patterson. After all he had risked his life many times to come to our aid and posessed somehow a transformational power stick. We had gone to his house the day he was set to come home from the hospital. His uncle explained that he was staying a day longer for some reason, but he invited us in case we had any questions we could ask him. This is where we all discovered the Database.
Mr. Patterson was a very cordial man if not very paranoid. He served us some cookies that apparently D.V. liked. Raye expressed her surprise that Patterson actually consumed food.
Lita in the meantime had noticed a metal door with an electric key pad in another room of the house and had to ask what it was. Patterson's uncle said it was D.V.'s War room and left it at that. I thought nothing of it, but Lita got curious.
"Amy, could your computer break into that thing you think?" she asked me in a whisper.
"Um...I don't know," I whispered back.
"Can I um...see it?"
"I don't think so Lita," I said realizing that Lita was determined to find out what was inside tht room.
"Come on, Amy...."
"It's invasion of privacy," I said.
"You're just as curious as I am. Do you honestly think Patterson will just tell us all we ask?"
Lita had a point. Patterson, who had could hardly manage to say one sentance to any girl he ran into without breaking a sweat was going to be asked to answer questions by not one, but five girls? How could we expect good answers. In a bout of weakness I acquiesced. Lita said that both she and I had to go study and lead me out of the room. Serena continued to indulge herself in the free food, and Raye and Mina apparently didn't mind it either.
We found the door. Since my computer was created with magic it had a universal cable capable of interfacing with any other computer device. In a few seconds it had located the passcode. Lita tapped it in and the door slid open. We crept down a flight of stairs. The door clanged shut, but it didn't startle either of us. Well maybe me a little. Lita found a light switch and pressed it. The room was lit with dim red light revealing a massive array of computer systems and various other electronic objects like radar controls. A large table in the middle of the room was covered with a map of Tokyo and various spots were marked. I noticed on closer inspection that some of the markings was that of my own and Lita's houses. Along with the other scout's homes, Crossroads Junior High, and various other sites.
"Where'd he get all this stuff?" Lita asked in surprise. I was equally surprised and didn't have an answer for her.
A large computer occupying the far wall caught both of our attention. Lita pressed the power button, but nothing happened. After trying again she realized she probably shouldn't be messing with this as it could be booby trapped knowing the paranoia of the Patterson. She instead thought my computer might get us in safely and that since I was the only one who could use it I should make the next attempt.
It's humorous now, but at the time I didn't think so. Once again in a moment of weakness I let my curiosity get the best of me and I linked my computer to Patterson's. The computer flickered on and asked for a password. My computer figured it out after a minute. It happened to be forty-two characters long. Apparently that's all the security Patterson thought he needed. Lita typed in the password and we were soon into the Maverick Database.
This ended up to be a major surprise. Apparently Patterson as Maverick felt it necessary to keep a diary of his activities. We learned that he had been "observing" us since Serena first learned she was Sailor Moon. He had an endless supply of footage of all the battles we have fought including the ones he had participated in. Every battle had a file with his various thoughts and his own personal summary as well as a file on each of us. Serena did not come out well.
"This ditz is all that stands between humanity and anilihation. We're doomed," was one of the various quotes he had. There were many many more. At the time I also remember worrying what would happen if Raye saw this. She would not be pleased. Patterson had seemed to have a lower opinion of her then he did of Serena. He couldn't understand Raye's constant anger and the fact that she could be a bully at times. In fact he seemed sympathetic to Serena in most cases.
"Raye is more stubborn than a donkey to the point that she sometimes acts as she was its rear end," sums up Patterson's opinion in so many words. I knew Raye would kill him if she saw that particular quote. Fortunately for Patterson she didn't see that one, but unfortunately she did see some of the others.
Lita became a bit flustered at Patterson's description of her, though she came out all right. Patterson wondered, much like I do, how every boy on the planet could look like her old boyfriend.
"What does he know?" Lita had said angrily in response.
Of course Patterson also wondered why Mina and Lita sometimes had fights with each other.
"It makes no sense why they go at it. Girls can be awfully silly some times," was his quote on that one. Of course when Lita saw this she wasn't happy. Mina was also less than pleased.
Much to my surprise, Patterson didn't say one thing critical about me. This lead Lita to some annoying conclusions.
"Maybe he has a crush on you Amy," she said. Like I needed that. I already have enough trouble with one relationship. It was about a minute after this that the door slid open and Mr. Patterson came in. He mentioned that he had noticed the second that we had broken in, but that he was as curious about what was on that computer as we were so he wanted to see if we could break in. Then he laughed which only confirmed to Lita and the other scouts who were with him too that the Patterson family was filled with nutcases. Patterson explained that we should leave the room, but Raye demanded to know what was there. Knowing she'd probably throw a fit if we didn't show her something, we showed her the better parts of the critique. Serena and Mina were also curious and after about fifteen minutes, the scouts all had been sufficiently satisfied, but also sufficiently angered. Patterson was in trouble. Even Patterson's uncle believed that maybe D.V. had gone too far, but said that would be for them to decide. He promised us that as soon as Patterson was well enough that we would be called and then whatever happened happened.
I still don't know if it was right enough for us to break into that room. I mean we were doing no worse than Patterson had been doing to us, but I don't know if morality would bear us out anyway. Besides, as we were to learn later, Patterson was acting out disparity, not frivolity.
A few days later we got a call and all of us arrived at Patterson's house. Interestingly enough the first two words we heard out of Patterson's mouth were,
"I understand."
He wasn't talking to us, but instead amazingly to Luna and Artemas were sitting in his room as we entered. Patterson stiffened. His right hand held a wooden cane he was using. His damaged leg was partially in a cast I learned, but it was hidden under his clothes. It was obvious he was not about to show any weakness if he could avoid it. Here's what followed,
"Luna, Artmas, what are you doing here?" Serena asked.
"We've come back, but don't mind us. You've got a lot to talk about," Luna said.
"You're dang right we do," Raye said her eyes narrowing.
"The Maverick Database, correct?" Patterson muttered staring at the ceiling.
"Yeah!" every scout, but myself, said.
"I'm sorry," Patterson said.
"Girls, why don't we start at the beginning of this story and then work things out?" Artemas suggested hoping to prevent and more anger than necessary.
"I can wait," Raye said.
"That's a first," Serena said.
"Hey!" Raye said and the two of them gave each other an evil eye.
"Has nothing changed since we left?" Luna muttered.
"Let's hear your story Patterson," Lita said somewhat less begrudgingly, her curiosity had come before her anger. Patterson continued to stare at the ceiling and began.
"When I was five years old, my Father was working for the Tokyo Police Department, my mother was a part time Nurse at the hospital so both of them had built up a tradition of helping others.. They were good people. The three of us were walking down a street one night when we all heard a shout in a nearby alley. My father thought it must be someone getting mugged or something so he pulled out his gun and hurried to the alley. He let out a cry of surprise and then fired and fired again. Suddenly he was pulled inside. A woman ran out of the alley and down the street screaming, apparently she was the intended victim. I heard another shot fire and then my father yelled again. My mother couldn't hold back and she raced to the alley too. I followed, not knowing better. There I saw my father lying on the ground, his energy completely drained. My mother was soon hit with a similar attack and she fell. Standing there in uniform was a negaverse officer. His hair was spiked and whiter than anything I had ever seen. His eyes were redder than blood. He stared at me.
"You're not worth the effort child. Besides I'm done what I came to do," he said and disapeared. Patterson wiped his right eye and continued. That surprised me. Considering Patterson did his very best to conceal emotion, he still couldn't hide the one tear from us. It was this point that all five of us realized just what we were dealing with. Someone who had been traumatized at a young age. No wonder he was such an emotionless person.
"My parents were dead. You can imagine how that would make me feel. My uncle took me in at his place and I think Melvin filled you in on the details of my school history," Patterson said.
The five of us all nodded with some embarrasement.
"Now...when I was fourteen I found a watch lying on the street. I had no idea where it came from, but I took a liking to it. It turned out to be more than I expected. It had the ability to scan for when the negaverse showed up and it could pinpoint it exact location. I found that I could program it to do other things as well. It also had a couple of cameras that could hone in on things. Hence my reconascience photos. When the negaverse showed up, I learned pretty quickly. Then though I had no weapons, no nothing, only my watch. I was ready to confront them anyway, but Sailor Moon showed up and beat them. I realized that fighting them would only get myself killed and since there was a force to stop them, I let things run its course. Still..I watched all of you, I didn't care what your personal lives were like, that was your business, but I knew that you fought the negaverse so I wanted to learn about your powers, and theirs."
"You just happened to keep that other footage," Raye said.
"A mistake," Patterson replied.
"Let him finish Raye," Lita said.
"A little over two months ago the watch lead me to a crystal buried here in Tokyo. When I touched it I understood it's power. It allowed me to transform into Maverick. It also powered my sword which appeared the first time I used the crystal. Now the pent up anger I had felt at not being able to do anything could be let out. I could fight the negaverse. Hence I became much more amicable to people," Patterson had said. "Relatively," he added. "Then Coardite showed up and the rest is history. My uncle found out about my secret identity because he's as much of a spy as I am. I couldn't keep it from him forever."
"No you couldn't," Patterson's uncle said.
"What about Saturn?" I had asked.
"Saturn. To be honest I don't know that much. Apparently from what Luna and Artemas say though I won't be able to use that power for a while. It's some strange reason about how the Maverick and Saturn powers mixed or something. It's complex. Besides, with my leg in it's condition, I doubt I'd be much help," Patterson said.
"So he's the sixth sailor scout?" Serena asked.
"No, he's a Guardian Scout," Luna said.
"What?" the five of us asked.
"Guardian Scouts are the male equivalent of the Sailor Scouts. That's all. If you were a boy you were a Guardian, a girl, a Sailor," Artemas said.
"Okay...now that that's over, let's talk about this little database you have," Raye said.
"We have a solution," Patterson's uncle said.
"What kind of solution?" Raye said.
"Well...it could be argued that your as guilty as he is by looking at his file and breaking into his computer system, but we're giving you the benefit of the doubt," Patterson's uncle said to us and we all blushed with embarrasment again.
"The deal is that first, D.V. will no longer spy on you."
"My watch is broken anyway," Patterson said.
"And second, that each of you can have one request of Patterson or get one free hit," Patterson's uncle said.
The five of us were surprised, but Raye was the first to break out of it.
"Come ere!" She said and walked towards him. Patterson sat up and winced. Raye smacked him across the face with a great amount of force.
"I would have prefered to face Coardite again," Patterson muttered.
Lita stepped forward and smacked him.
"You deserve it," She said.
Mina walked up and did the same.
"Now we're even," She said.
Serena walked up.
"Um...Lita can you smack him again?" she said.
"Gladly," Lita said and did just that.
That left only me. I looked at him and for the first time our eyes met.
"Patterson.....there will come a time when I ask you one question and I will ask you to tell me the truth. My request is that when that time comes that you answer it truthfully," I said. He nodded.
"I promise," he said.
"Well now that that's over you can all start over all right," Patterson's Uncle said.
Everyone nodded.
"One thing Patterson. Why did you make those references to us when I was in the room?" I asked.
"Oh...that....I don't know...I was just being nutty. Besides I thought you'd get a kick out of it. Melvin's such a fool," Patterson said with his own embrassment.
After that we left. Things have settled down. The lack of a negaverse enemy hasn't made the issue of Patterson very blatant lately. Crossroads is still damaged, but we still go there. D.V. returned to school a few days ago and he still walks with a cane. We don't talk to him. He's very withdrawn. I can't blame him.
Hopefully I won't have to open this diary up again. I would like to think that the negaverse is gone for good, but we never know.
With that Amy saved her file and turned off her computer. The rain continued
to fall, and she just listened to it and cleared her mind of conflict. Now she
could have some peace. At least for a little while.