ELDT - The funeral

Electrive Detective 1 - Chapter 5 - The funeral

News about the accident quickly spread across the state. People were shocked and there was a lot to clean up, even after two days. A lot of money was payed for the damage, but the vehicles couldn't be saved. The blast was so severe that it was impossible to repair them. It wasn't easy to let this sink in for a lot of people. Paul was arrested for trying to attack Alisa by using Sniper Joes and is now suspicious of being the one behind the event. Elecman was able to buy a Hudson Hornet, but it was little comfort.

 For the detective agency...a scar was left deep within them. Having to loose a member of the company...wasn't uncommon since it's a dangerous job to be a policeman. let alone a detective. But everytime this happens, the pain is hard to deal with. People gathered around the gates of a cemetry. The sky was grey but the rain was tolerable. Faint sounds of thunder could be heard from far away while friends, family members and colleagues of Michel were standing together, dressed up in black funeral clothing. Elec and Alisa were wearing their rain jackets, while Crashman had a black suit since he was able to tolerate low tempratures and didn't mind the rain that much. He looked to his friend, just staring ahead with an unhappy expression.

 He was clearly trying to hide his tears by showing a strong, yet sad face. The thing is, Elecman hasn't said a thing since he woke up. Finally, the hearse arrived and it was time to honor a friend. A little later, people stood around the hole where the coffin was put into. Gerald was about to give a speech.

"Michel...was an excellent detective. I've always forgiven him for making a small mistake. He never bothered others too much by helping him with a case, or gave himself too much pressure while working...to make sure he solved the mistery. Find the culprit and bring him to justice. But most of all, he was a great friend. A friend, you can always rely on. One...you can share stories with...laugh and cry with...and most of all, appreciate his efforts."

A few people, incleuding his parents and girfriend were crying. Crashman, along with Alisa shed a tear, but tried hard not to make a sound or give in like the others did. They both looked at Elec, who was staring at the coffin with the same expression he had earlier. As if he was trying not to show any movement. The raindrops gently ran down his face while his eyes glinstened.

"On behalf of myself and the family...I want to thank all of you. He wouldn't have made it this far, without our help. May he rest in peace."

A few moments of silence passed when Elec closed his eyes and tears ran down his face. Still not showing any movement or other emotions. Only deep sadness, held back by his strong appearance. A soft rumbling of thunder broke the silence; after a while, people had left the spot where the coffin was located. But Elec was still there while people were entering the building where they all could comfort each other, having drinks and some snacks while talking to ease their pain.

Shortly after, Crashman along with Alisa appraoched him; his friend stood next to him, looking at the coffin and put his left non-hand on his back for comfort. His head lowered when Alisa layed her hand on his left shoulder. Elec rested his face on his right hand; trying not to show how much pain he was going through.

"I know it's hard." She said.

"...But everything will be alright. After all...he doesn't want to see us cry all day, doesn't he?" Crash stated. Elec said nothing and still stared ahead.

"...No one expected you to save every single life. This pain won't last forever." She replied.

"But he is gone forever." Elec said with a calm, yet sad tone in his voice.

"...I know I can't be there for everyone...and I made a promise to never let this happen again. But I should've prevented this..." He took a deep breath while tears ran down his cheecks.

"...But I didn't..."

"There are some things in life you can't prevent." Alisa said.

There was no response from either of them. After a few seconds, Crashman decided to go back to the building. But Elec looked to his right and walked into another direction. Alisa decided to follow him and after passing by a few headstones, he stopped and stared at one. It said: In loving memory of Dr. Thomas Light. Died Febuary 5th born in May 1891.

The robot stood infront of the person who created him...which suffered a terrible fate long ago. A wonderfull man who wanted to make life easier and bring peace by building machines. But Elecman never had the chance to see him alive. Alisa stood next to him, knowing why he came here.

"It's been a while since you visited his grave." She said.

"...I know he's here." He replied.

"But most of the time...it doesn't feel like it. ...Do you think he's dissapointed?"

"Don't say that. He never expected such things from you. Nor did he know that part of your mind fell into the wrong hands."

This left Elecman silent for a moment; thinking back, it still hurts him to this day.

"...You couldn't have seen it coming. The people you've killed in that horrible state, wasn't your doing. Mistakes are there to learn from."

This made him look towards her, knowing she had a point and it made him feel a little bit better.

"Atleast they immediately knew who was beind his death. I wasn't so lucky when my master was killed. It was very hard for me to move on. But when you helped me find the one who was responsible, I was able to accept what happened. And promised myself to prevent as many bad things as I can. But that doesn't mean I can save everyone."

"...I wasn't going to let you suffer like that." He replied.

"And I don't want you to dwell on this. I won't leave someone like you behind."

He looked down when she lay her right hand on his shoulder, then came closer to him to give him a hug. He gently wrapped his arms around her back, feeling better in her embrace.

"You can always visit me if you need anything." She said.

"...Thank you..." He replied. "Thank you for being there for me..."

"I always will be." She said and they looked into each others eyes. A few seconds passed as he stared into her powder blue iris, while she looked into his bright cyan. He cleared his throat and looked a bit nervous, now trying not to make direct eye contact.

"I uuhm..I think uh...we should get back." He said. She smiled and nodded yes. The two walked away while he took one final glance the headstone.

-

Two hours later, both robots drove back home. The rain had stopped, but there were still grey clouds hovering in the sky. Elecman didn't say a word all the way home. Crashman noticed but didn't want to say anything; Knowing he would make it worse, or he wouldn't help him at all. Finally they arrived and they stepped out of the car. Crashman watched his friend walk up the stairs to get to the front door. He couldn't help it anymore; Feeling sorry for his pal, he wanted to cheer him up. He ran towards the front door as fast as he could.

"Wait! Uh, let me open the door. You've had a lot to deal with today." He insisted and grabbed the keys with his metal grabber. Put it in the keyhole and turned to open it. But his eyes widened when he realized that the lock didn't respond.

"The door...the DOOR. Oh my god Elec the DOOR! It's not opening!" He paniced. But Elec stayed calm, keeping the same sad and tired looking expression he had all day.

"The lock is broken! We can't get in! Elec the door is-"

But then, his friend grabbed the keys and turned them the other way; And the door opened.

"Oh! Eh, heh, heheh...heh, turned the wrong way. Eheheh. Eheh..Ehh?" He said, embarrassed to know he did it wrong while his friend entered his home. He closed the door and started to take off his rain jacket, hat and scarf.

"Hey, here's a suggestion. You're going to relax for the rest of the day, play some guitar while I do all the chores! And I promise not to mess up! It will take a while but you can just lay down on the...cough and..uhm..." He attempted to cheer him, but it wasn't working. Elec ignored it and began walking towards the living room. But Crashman wasn't about to give up so easily.

"A new case can wait. We need some time to process all of this after all! Let's just sit back, grab an E-tank put some blankets over our legs and watch I love Lucy! Alright? ...Elec?"

But again, he did not respond and sat down on the couch, looking to his right with crossed arms. His friend stood infront of him, looking down at the sad detective. A few seconds passed before he broke the silence.

"Hey! My name is Crashman and welcome to the guesing game! Since you're a detective, this game won't last long since I'm going to say a famous qoutes from famous celeberties and your job is to say what person I'm refering to! Let's begin!"

He happily said, making funny poses while talking.

"Acting is experience with something sweet behind it." He said, But again, Elec did not reply. He was looking at Crashman, but didn't show any emotion; Only blinking with his eyes a few times.

"....Humphrey Bogart! Wasn't hard to figure out! Next one...

"Know your lines and don't bump into the furniture! "

...Spencer Tracy! Very good my friend! Next one...

"We'd dub the one that came off best into the final transcription. It gave us a chance to ad lib as much as we wanted, knowing that excess ad libbing could be sliced from the final product."

And again, no reply.

"Bing Crosby! Amazing! You're getting through this without breaking a sweat! Now here's an easy one...

"Here's looking at you kid"

  "...Yeah I mentioned Humphrey again but could you blame me? Casablanca is a fantastic movie!"

Elec just blinket towards his friend while he held up his drills with a happy expression.

"Uhh...uh how about I sing a song and you have to guess which actor or actress is singing it? Let me see uhh...um...

"I took one look at you~ Cupit took a good swing~ And wham! I heard the birdies sing~  Uuhm...Oooh, what a punch he threw I was uh...I was uhhhh...not knowing the lyrics from this point~

 But this song belongs to Betty Grable~"

Heh...

"when you're feeling loathsome, just remember there's still Bob Hope!" Get it? Hope? Because there's...always uh hope for...eh...yeah."

At the last part of his sentence, Elecman looked away. Knowing that his comedy act didn't help at all, he stopped dancing like a fool and thought of something else while rubbing his right non-hand against his head. Then, he got an idea and ran towards the bookshelf in the corner. A few books fell out and created a bit of a mess since it wasn't easy for him to grab one of the books with his metal grabber. Her then sat down next to his friend, placed the book on his lab and opened it.

"Heeey, look at this~ You've never seen this book before. So let's see what kind of pictures are in this." He said.

Elec showed some interest since it was true he had never seen this book before. he barely even had time to read  them.

"Ok. So there are obviously a lot of weird pictures here. I can see that this is a plane in a hangar, but it's not finished yet. Do you know what kind of plane this is?"

Again, he said nothing.

"Yeah I don't know either." Said Crashman.

"Here we see a whole group of children all in unniform. What do you think this is? ...A school photo. Very good. Now, here's a weird one. What is this?"

Then, it looked like Elec was about to speak up since the picture showed a fat woman with a dress and lots of make up. But...she seemed too ugly to be a woman.

"...An unfortunate woman." He replied. Crashman slowly nodded no, looking very serious at the picture.

"Nnnnoooooo. ....That's our boss Gerald dressing up as an unfortunate woman."

After he said that, Crashman finally got to hear what he wanted to hear. Elecman giggled.

"What?" He asked while laughing.

"He lost a bet and I told him that this picture should be featured in this book incase you get sad and need to get a good laugh."

"Did he had to wear a bra too?" He asked.

"And panties." Crash replied with a silly smile. Both robots began to laugh. Snapping out of their sorrow for a while.

"And..and that's not even the best part! I asked, no..begged him to dress up like Merilyn Monroe, put a wig on his head, pose like a lady and I was laying on the ground with a seductive pose!"

"Are you serious?" He asked. Crashman's silly smile appeared and skipped a few pages of the book. Showing the funny picture of him and Gerald. The two began to laugh even louder. So much that Crashman fell on the ground and rolled over, gasping for air.

"Even though I should've seen this coming, I'm glad I didn't!" He replied.

"Don't tell anyone!" Said Crash.

"I'll try! Oh my goodness!"

The two calmed down and the orange robot sat next to his friend, catching his breath. He let out a deep sigh and looked at his friend.

"...Feeling better?"

"Heh...not entirely, but...it sure helps."

"Laughter is the best medicane. Besides, I'd hate to see you sad all day. I mean, I'm mister swing from one mood to another so, I don't like sticking with one or two emotions the entire day."

"...I know. Though it is going to take a while for me to get through this...I promise not to dwell on it forever."

"You won't. I'll make sure to give you some time alone. And if there's anything wrong, just call me and I'll be there."

He smiled in return and looked away.

"So...do you need some time alone right now?"

"I think so. Just do whatever you like."

"Alright. See ya when you need me."

He said. The detective went upstairs and looked in his study room where he had stashed all kinds of important documents and paper work. On the wall was a huge map of North Carolina. He looked around, opened a drawer with old cases he solved. He then found a photo of Dr.Light, with text written on the back saying: Anything is possible if you make it happen.

He knew about this picture, but seeing it again made him feel a little better. Just a little bit.