A/N - Hello… I don't know what to say here, other than this takes place after the disbandment of Section Nine near the end of the Stand Alone Complex, season one.
I do not own GitS -- literally. My friends introduced it to me, so I have no way other than my very poor memory as to the exact events around this time frame and as I don't even own any of the GitS episodes and I am on dial-up so I can't watch them on-line, so the events in my fanfic might not be accurate to the real thing…
Anyway, I do happen to own the poems. In fact the first one shown I wrote about myself (the first six verses are original to what I wrote) when I wasn't feeling good and just added a few more verses.
Please read and review, but be nice as this is my first attempt at GitS fan fiction, or any other (so far). Any and all signed reviews will be answered as soon as possible. I think that a writer who does that shows how much they appreciate readers who review, and that is the kind of writer I will do my best to be.
Rated for bad language (mainly from Batou, the naughty boy - erm, cyborg) and some angst, as this is an angst fanfic. (That makes sense, right?)
Anyway, enjoy and please review!
Chapter One
The Messengerless Message
"How much longer do we need to stay here in hiding?" Batou demanded from his position against the wall, arms folded across his broad chest. "We've been here for ages, and there is absolutely nothing to do. Nothing at all."
Ishikawa laughed from his spot in front of the computers. "Well, if you're that bored, Batou, I can always bring up the satellite videos and we can watch you bawling your eyes out over… Motoko."
"Shut the hell up!"
Saito, Boma, Pazu and the other part- and full-cyborg members of Section Nine chuckled from their various locations around the room.
"Batou can't bawl his eyes out, Ishikawa." Saito pointed out casually, making sure Batou was still in his spot against the wall across the room from him and not close enough to be in hitting range of the full-cyborg. "He doesn't have eyes. Real ones, anyway."
"Don't you guys have anything better to talk about?" Batou spat, pushing himself off of the wall.
"Uh, oh. You two are dead meat," Pazu observed, a small smile on his normally impassive face. "This will be interesting."
A sudden beeping from the computer interrupted anything Batou or the others might have said, either in retort or in defense. Frowning, Ishikawa turned to the computer screen, pulling down the overhead viewer and placed it over his head. He began typing. "It's an e-mail file entitled, 'To the Members of Section Nine. May your Good Deeds Never be Forgotten.'" He glanced back at the others. "Someone other than the Major and Aramaki knows we're not dead or in prison. And that we're all here."
"Who's it from?" Batou asked as he leaned over the back of Ishikawa's chair, their argument momentarily forgotten. The others gathered around. "And what the heck is in it?"
Ishikawa's fingers danced over the keyboard as he checked the file for traps, viruses and any other unpleasant things; it was clean. But there was one thing that bothered him, however…
"There's no sender name, and no way to track who sent it or even where from without it taking an hour or two." Ishikawa said, leaning closer into the viewer as if by doing so the answer would become apparent. It didn't. "It only has traces from this computer. I'm impressed."
"So in other words whoever sent this is very good," Saito finished. "They must be to impress you."
Ishikawa nodded. "Yeah. But there's nothing bad on it or in it, so I guess it should be safe to open, hmm?"
Murmured agreements came from the men behind him. Hitting enter, three pages came up on the screen.
"What the frickin' hell-" Batou started, but cut himself off as he read what was written on the screen.
"A poem?" Saito said incredulously. "Who would send us poetry?"
"Read it. And there's three poems, by the way, though none of them really give any clues as to who sent the e-mail other than they don't agree with what was supposedly done to us. What they believe was done to us. It also conveys that they're going to do something about it." Ishikawa trailed off as he scrolled down the first page. "That or they think we might do something."
It was hand-written on a plain piece of paper with only a slight imperfection from the scanner of the sender's computer. The handwriting was normal-looking enough, but the words of the poem soon answered any questions the gathered Section Nine team had about what Ishikawa was talking about.
Empty windows
closed shutters
behind those pale eyes
Where have you gone?
What has become of you?
Why did you leave this lifeless shell
behind?
Where did you hide your soul?
Empty heart
Shattered spirit
White skin
Pale scars
What could've happened
to make you this way?
Who left you to fall?
Who left you to cry
all alone?
Empty eyes
No tears
Not anymore
You can't cry
For those you loved
and lost
No one sees as you
hide your fears and sadness
from the world
even yourself
Empty soul
Voiceless ghost
Marked wrists
Standing on the highest story
you spread your broken wings
think you can fly?
If you fall, will someone catch you?
Or will you jump with your wings tucked in?
No more can you hide
From what has happened
You are empty
Empty of everything
that makes you who you are
Nothing is left
But a spark
Will someone come
and bring back the fire?
Will someone lay their hands on
your broken wings and broken heart
and heal them?
You are empty
Empty yet no one sees
your life fire is dwindling
a lone candle fluttering in the wind
Blood has been spilled
Lives are gone; lost
You can't take it anymore
There is only one thing left to do
You are empty
Empty of all emotions
But despair and revenge
Wasting your life
To put to right
What you lost
Paying the price
with your life
"Are you sure there's no way to trace this e-mail quickly?" Pazu asked, arms crossed over his chest. "It sounds like whoever sent this is in a very unstable state of mind. They wrote this suicidal-sounding poem, and even wrote it from a third-person perspective. That is spooky."
"The person who wrote this might not even be referring to themselves," Saito pointed out. "They might be referring to us, thinking that we're free to seek revenge. But is there any way to trace it?"
"No, there isn't any way to trace this quickly. At least, not one that won't take a long time to track back to the original source." Ishikawa said, reading the second page on the small screen within the headpiece, his frown deepening. "If you thought the first page was bad, wait until you read the second page. It gets worse."
A/N - Yes, I know, it's painfully obvious WHO sent the e-mail, but this idea wouldn't get out of my mind until I got it down so here is the first part. What do you all think?? Review, please!!!