Volume 2 (Light Novel)/Chapter 1

Plucked Petals

## Synopsis

Bigga invites Echika and Harold to go shopping with her. Echika had moved from Lyon to Saint Petersburg after being transferred to the Saint Petersburg branch. When they drop Bigga off at the airport after they finished shopping, Bigga apologizes to Echika for her harsh words from before and asks her to hang out again sometime. After Bigga leaves, Interpol shows up and arrests Harold on behalf of Scotland Yard as a suspect in a serial assault case.

Echika and Harold are brought to an interrogation room at Scotland Yard. The lead investigator in the assault case, Detective Brown, tells them about the case. There have been four victims so far, all of them working for Novae Robotics Inc. and involved with tuning the RF Models. All of them testified that the perpetrator resembled an RF Model in appearance. With Steve shut down and Marvin missing for many years and presumed broken, Harold is the only viable suspect. Echika tries to appeal for his innocence, but the detectives refuse to listen to her. After Harold's questioning is finished, they meet up with Darya, who has followed them to London, and Peter Angus, the deputy head of the Special Development Department at Novae Robotics Inc. He escorts Darya back to her hotel. Echika visits Harold in the interrogation room and the two discuss the case, but are suddenly interrupted by Brown, who tells them that Darya has been attacked after parting ways with Angus.

Echika and Harold rush to the hospital just as Darya is brought there. She tells them to Brain Dive into her before going into surgery. While for her surgery to end, Echika joins a conference with Totoki, Angus, Assistant Commissioner Haig of Scotland Yard, and Chairman Talbot of the International AI Ethics Committee. The conference is discussing the RF Model assault case and whether or not Harold should be shut down. Talbot and Angus argue over whether or not the RF Models have some sort of mysterious code that overwrote their Laws of Respect. Angus reminds him that the Amicus, even ones as advanced as the RF Models, are only presenting themselves as human and are just following their programming at the end of the day. Talbot tells Totoki that the Electrocrime Investigation Bureau should replace Harold with an Amicus matching his specs, even though that is unrealistic.

Just then, Professor Carter joins the conference late. She tells Talbot that she will not be making that new Amicus. Haig interjects and announces that Scotland Yard will begin searching in earnest for Marvin tomorrow, even though his location information has been offline for six years. Talbot still wants Harold to be shut down until they find the culprit. Echika, angered, cuts in and tells him that Harold is an indispensable part of the bureau, and Totoki backs her up. Echika declares that she will keep an eye on Harold, and that she will solve the case in place of Scotland Yard.

Darya is out of surgery but remains unconscious. As Harold sits by her bed, he recalls the day when they laid Sozon to rest and he promised her that he will never leave her alone. Detective Brown wants to question Darya and send Harold to the analysis laboratory, but Echika interrupts him and tells him that the Electrocrimes Investigation Bureau is now taking over this case.

In the afternoon, Echika and Harold go to Brain Dive into the victims. Echika Brain Dives into Darya's memories of the attack. When Darya was stabbed, she called out the name "Harold" because the culprit looked exactly like him. This seemed to have surprised the culprit. Echika confirms that the culprit is an RF Model, most likely Marvin, but Harold refutes her because the culprit didn't have a mole, which all the RF Models have. The two speculate that the culprit hadn't known that Darya was Harold's owner beforehand and only attacked her because she was with Angus. They observe that the hilt of the knife used to stab Darya had a unique design, and find out that it was the campaign shield of Cambridge University's Elphinstone College, which was Professor Carter's alma mater.

## Characters

* Echika Hieda
* Bigga
* Harold W. Lucraft
* Elias Taylor (mentioned)
* Clara Lie (mentioned)
* Matoi (mentioned)
* Brown
* Steve H. Wheatstone (mentioned)
* Marvin A. Allport (mentioned)
* Darya R. Tchernova
* Peter Angus
* Haig
* Talbot
* Lexie W. Carter
* Sozon A. Chernov (mentioned)
* Clara Lie (mentioned)
* Aidan Farman (flashback)

## Locations

* Saint Petersburg, Russia
* London, England