Koji sat at his desk looking blankly at the monitor before him. It had been over a week since he had awoken alone in his bed with Shinta gone. The nights alone had been unbearable as he thought of the golden escort. Worry if he had made the right decision to let the man go mixed with desire for the man’s exquisite body left him sleepless and aching inside and out. The days were even worse for the practical business man who, for the first time in his life, couldn’t concentrate on his work.

His lack of concentration as he worried about Shinta had been noted by many. The worried glances from the people around him made him wince inside even as he continued to blunder through the day. He had finally, after a week of mistakes and whispered comments, made the decision to call in three of his most trusted assistants and turn over the operation of the corporation to them until he could resolve his complex emotions.

Officially he was going to take a vacation, although he doubted that many would believe it. Already the news had spread along with rumors and even panic. With a sigh he turned in his chair to look at the rainy grey cloud that covered sky, wondering what he was going to do.

Aya had assured him that he had made the right decision to let Shinta leave and was sure the man would be back. Still her words did little to ease the ache in his heart or even stop the worry that threatened to overwhelm him. Each day he restrained himself from going to Black Heaven and demanding to see Shinta, even though it was what he really wanted to do. The thoughts of the man he loved with another tortured the normally practical Koji more than he could bear now that he knew the escort had feelings for him.

Lightening spread out across the sky as Koji heard the door open. Soft footsteps approached his desk and Koji remained still, watching the dancing light. The minutes slipped by until finally he heard the intruder walk around his desk.

"Want to go on vacation with me?" Ito asked as he moved up next to Koji’s chair.

"No," Koji said softly as his black eyes remained fixed on the sky outside his window that mirrored his heart.

"Didn’t think so. This isn’t about Aya’s father like everyone thinks. After all, the funeral was two days ago. It’s about that gorgeous young man who came to the lab isn’t it?" Ito asked, looking out of his round glasses.

"He’s gone, and might never come back," Koji said in a dead voice lacking the emotions he was battling with, even as his eyes closed.

"Thought so. Well go after him. Where’s that drive and passion that you usually have to obtain your dreams? Sitting here feeling sorry for yourself accomplishes nothing." Ito said, looking down at the pale face of his boss and friend.

"He wants time to think about things. I can’t intrude on that," Koji said softly.

"Bullshit," Ito said bluntly. "Nothing can be solved unless you talk to each other, especially now when you both know so little about each other. I know you want to go to him, so go," Ito said firmly.

"What more can I say to him? I don’t have the words my friend. Hell, Aya had to bail me out and explain our marriage," Koji laughed bitterly.

Ito grabbed Koji’s shoulder in a firm grip, spinning the man towards him and leaning down to face him. "Get off your ass and go. Stop thinking about what you can’t do and what you can do. You might not be good with words but you are one hell of a passionate person when it comes to the things you truly love. Use that and win him over. That is, if you want him," Ito said with a shrug, letting go of Koji’s shoulder.

"Of course I want him back," Koji said indignantly.

"Then go," Ito said.

Koji stood for a moment looking down at the white haired old man who had over the years become not only his employee but his teacher and friend. Ito had told him exactly what he wanted and needed to hear.

"Thank you Ito," Koji said simply.

"Sure, can I go to Vegas now?"

Koji laughed as he took off for the door leaving Ito. With newfound determination he got in his car and drove for Black Heaven. Drumming his fingers impatiently on his steering wheel he waited through the traffic, his mind firmly fixed on Shinta. His mind thought not of the words but simply focused on what he felt.

Walking through the doors of Black Heaven he was once again greeted by the lovely black sex android.

"I need to talk to Takumura," Koji said determinately.

"Of course, please follow me," came the deep, seductive voice as the android walked slowly down the red carpeted entranceway.

Koji followed behind her hoping that Takumura would tell him where to find Shinta. He knew so very little of the escort other than his work at Black Heaven and his old lover. He knew that without Takumura’s help it would take longer to find Shinta and his new found resolve might disappear among his doubts and worries.

"Enter," Ebony said as she opened the wooden door leading to Takumura’s office.

Koji walked in to see the large, brown haired man sitting behind his desk. Surprise spread across the man’s face as he looked up as Ebony announced Koji.

"What are you doing here?" Takamura asked.

"I need to know where Shinta is," Koji said as he walked into the room.

"Isn’t he with you?" Takumura asked his brows furrowing.

"No, he left me a week ago."

"Yeah, I know, but yesterday he finally finished up all the paperwork terminating his contract with Black Heaven. He was going to be with you, in fact he was going to stop by some café or something then go to your place. Didn’t he arrive?"

"No, I haven’t heard from him in a week. Where could he have gone?" Koji asked, his mind going in a hundred different directions, as happiness and worry warred within him.

"Are you sure he was coming to my place?"

"Positive. He spent about three days at his place canceling all his appointments, then he popped in and said he wanted free of his contract with Black Heaven. He paid the forfeit on his contract. I talked to him for a while and I know with certainty he was in love with you and was leaving Black Heaven to be with you," Takumura said, folding his hands on the table in front of him, gazing directly into Koji’s worried black eyes.

"Did he say he was going to Sakura Café?"

"Yeah, that’s it."

Koji turned and strode out of the office. Walking quickly down the corridor to the exit his mind whirled. Shinta was going to be with him, yet where was he? Koji wondered if Shinta had left Black Heaven to avoid him. After all, the escort service was one of the few links he had to Shinta, yet Takumura had seemed so positive that Shinta was coming to him. Confusion and worry warred within him.

Without even thinking he got in his car and sped to the Sakura café. It was absurd to think Shinta would still be there but Koji was desperate. All of his logic and reason seemed to desert him and all he could think of was finding the man he loved. Speeding in his car he made it to the café in less than ten minutes. Striding into the smallrestaurant he quickly spotted the balding Yoshi wiping down a table.

"Have you seen Shinta?" Koji asked as he approached the man.

Yoshi turned to Koji, a startled look on his normally cheerful face.

"You’re Shinta’s friend aren’t you? Shinta, yeah he was in here yesterday, strange too. I don’t suppose you know what is going on?" Yoshi asked, wiping his hands on his white apron.

"What do you mean strange?" Koji asked urgently.

"Well these two men dressed up in real fancy suits came in, and went to Shinta’s table. They flashed him some sort of badge but I couldn’t see what it was. Then they escorted him out of here real quick like. Shinta couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong, but he went quietly with those two men," Yoshi said, worry reflected in his own eyes.

"Thanks Yoshi. I don’t know what is going on but I’m going to find out," Koji said determinedly, once again going out to his car.

Placing an outgoing call through the panel in his car his secretary’s voice echoed through the car as he started to drive back to his estate.

"How may I help you Mr. Oshimuru?"

"Put me through to Yamagata at the investigation department," Koji said briefly.

Moments later a light, airy voice filled his car. "What can I do for you Mr. Oshimuru?"

"I need you to find someone for me. I need it done now, it is now your top priority. Pull people from wherever you need to and contract outside if you have to, but I want this man found by the end of the day," Koji said as he sped down the road through the driving rain.

"I presume you mean the man called Shinta?" Yamagata asked.

"How did you know?" Koji asked in surprise as the rain began to pelt down harder on the car.

"Mrs. Oshimura asked us to investigate him as soon as she heard about him. She was concerned for you. What’s the situation?"

"I just visited the escort service and they said he voided his contract with them and was going to come to me. Yet he has disappeared. A man at the Sakura café said two official looking men flashed him some sort of badge and he left with them" Koji said.

"Sir, this isn’t a good sign. I don’t know if you know this, but the man Shinta is a bio-android. I suspect that the government might be changing their mind about letting them run lose," Yamagata said.

Koji mind went blank at the words that echoed through his car. The words bio android bounced through Koji’s now empty mind. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard, the shock leaving him paralyzed. Suddenly he realized that he was still driving his car. Looking up he saw the headlights of a car approaching straight at him; panicking he swerved and a street pole came into focus seconds before his car crashed, throwing him forward.

"Mr. Oshimuru! Mr. Oshimuru!"

"I’m fine," Koji snapped after a few moments as he angrily looked up at the offending pole. "Don’t worry, what else do you know?"

"He was commissioned on 2102 about two years after production began on them. He was sold to a Takumi Honda, a painter with a great deal of standing in the art world, about fifteen years ago. Apparently Mr Honda allowed Shinta to pursue his own goals, treating him more like a lover than a machine even before legislation was put into effect. Mr. Honda died two weeks after legislation was put into place declaring bio-androids sentient beings. After that we are unsure of what happened to him until he appeared at Black Heaven two months later."

"Nothing there would explain why he was taken away unless it is the fact that he is a bio android," Koji said with a frown.

"I would guess that the government has changed its policy on bio androids for some reason," Yamagata replied.

"Find out quickly," Koji said decisively.

"I do have a few connections within some government offices. I will get back to you in a couple of hours," Yamagata said.

"Very well, please hurry. I have a bad feeling about this," Koji said, looking out into the pouring rain from his cracked windshield.

Koji walked into his house to find not only Hajime but Aya waiting for him at the entrance. He looked at his diminutive ex-wife in surprise as he handed his jacket to Hajime.

"Aya I thought you had decided to go home yesterday," Koji said with a frown.

"I’m worried about you Koji. Ever since that blonde man left you have been in a daze. Now you have wrecked your car. It’s not like you at all. I can’t just leave you alone now can I?" Aya said shaking her head.

"Aya, I don’t know what to do," Koji said with a sigh as walked slowly into the living room.

"So you didn’t hear from him today?"

"He’s a bio-android and he is also missing. I think the government took him," Koji said flatly, sitting down in the mahogany chair next to the window as he heard Aya gasp.

"You can’t be serious? Oh Koji, I’m sorry. What are you going to do?" Aya asked as she put a hand on his shoulders.

"What can I do? I have Yamagata trying to find out what the hell is going on. Shinta’s boss said he had left Black Heaven and was coming here before he was taken. He has made his decision. At least I don’t have to worry about him not wanting to be with me. Now all I have to do is take care of the whole damn government," Koji said angrily.

"So you still want to be with him even though. . ." Aya started but trailed off as she looked into Koji’s black eyes.

"It doesn’t matter. Shinta is Shinta. This isn’t a philosophical debate for me anymore. I was never sure before but now that I’m in love with him it doesn’t matter. He is someone I love and he isn’t just a machine," Koji said with passion. "I just wish he had told me."

"I wouldn’t have told you if I was in his shoes. After all, you are a scientist Koji, and obsessed with androids. How could he know what you would do? You might just have wanted to take him apart once you found out. I’m sure more than anything he wants to be seen as a individual and human, not a machine to be taken apart. Sometimes Koji your passion for androids is scary." Aya said, sitting down in a chair across from Koji.

"I could never do that to him. Before yes, if that first night I met him I had known I might have wanted to, but now. . . " Koji sighed. "It’s just different."

"Yamagata will find out what is going on. After all, he is one of the best," Aya said reassuringly, looking worriedly at Koji.

"Even I might not be able to do anything Aya," Koji said as tears started to leak out of his eyes.

Aya looked at her ex-husband, concern written in her very posture as before she went over to hold the man she had never seen cry in her life.

Koji looked at the array of notes Yamagata had collected in a short two days and was impressed with the amount of information that had been collected. Looking up at the unassuming black haired, wiry man with small glasses he frowned.

"Is this all of them?" Koji asked.

"Yes, all of the bio-androids in Japan at least. I have interviewed all of their friends and families. Most were like you and didn’t even know that their friends were bio-androids, and didn’t know why they were taken away," Yamagata said, his tone serious.

"What about the one that started this whole mess, Seji?" Koji asked.

">Seji actually had a girlfriend and worked as a salary man. He led a normal, everyday life, he was well respected and had many good friends and coworkers. He just ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had been human he would have been applauded for saving that girl from rape and maybe death. Yet the government is afraid it will get out that a bio-android actually killed a human, even if it was a criminal who was trying to rape a girl and also pulled a gun out and threatened to kill Seji. If Seji hadn’t been shot and what he was exposed, it might have even gone unnoticed.

"Still, it is an election year and the officials are afraid of any kind of scandal. They panicked and rounded up every bio-android in Japan. The incident with Seji has been covered up but they are still panicking. They view the bio-androids as a liability." Yamagata reported.

Koji sighed, looking at a picture of a woman and child. This wasn’t something that his money was going to help much. The very fact that he was the president of a robotics company hurt his position more than helped. He didn’t know how to get Shinta out of the situation he was in.

"So are they going to try to dismantlethem?" Koji asked, looking up into Yamagata’s face, his voice breaking a little.

"I don’t know. There isn’t any leaking going on, only a very few know what is really going on with the bio-androids. When the whole situation fell out over a year ago with bio-androids the government quietly rounded them all up from their owners and no one heard anything more about it. Despite all the pressure put on by various groups, the only comment was no comment. Since there was so few of them in Japan, focus turned to other countries other than our own. It left the whole mess in the hands of a small committee that is now dealing with this new situation," Yamagata explained.

"Who is in charge?"

"Ironically, Hideki Kamiya, who is running for Prime Minister, is the head of the committee. That’s why the extreme measures I think."

Suddenly an idea came to Koji as the picture of the family below him focused in his mind. Looking through the pile of materials he picked up a pad and began scanning through it frantically.

"Mr. Oshimuru?"

"You interviewed all of the families and told them what was going on right?" Koji asked as he concentrated on the pad in front of him.

"We didn’t tell the people who didn’t know that their loved ones where bio-androids, but we did interview everyone," Yamagata said.

"What about . . ." Koji started then stopped as he found what he was looking for. He played the file, watching as the woman in the photo below him pleaded for her husband’s return despite the fact he was a bio-android.

"There are a few more like that. Of the hundred and sixty people interviewed about fifty people knew the truth about the bio-androids. Most of them were married to the android in question or in a serious relationship. There are a few with adoptive children as well who knew," Yamagata said as he looked at the video.

"That’s perfect. How would it look if it got out that the government was tearing apart families? After all, they released these people to go free. They created friendships and families, and now the government is yanking them from their loved ones when they have done nothing wrong. We can also put forth the angle that Seji actually was a hero and is being punished for his act of heroism. Don’t you think that would cause a scandal?" Koji asked archly.

"Yes, a big one. But this might also backfire on you Koji. Kamiya will win this election and he could cause problems for you, not to mention your own connections to Shinta might very well come out," Yamagata said looking at Koji.

"It doesn’t matter. I will set up an appointment with Kamiya. After all, I’m also one of his backers. He will not refuse since he will have no idea what I want to meet him for. He might even think I will offer him more money for his campaign." Koji said darkly, looking down at all of the photos of yet another relationship broken just as his was, for nothing more than greed and power.