Knights Without Armour XOver

by S.Hagen

A Shadowrun Crossover which presents the Knights Sabers (Original Flavour) as a mercenary team in FASA's game universe.

1. Knights Without Armour 1

Knights Without Armour
A Bubblegum Crisis/Shadowrun Crossover
by Shawn Hagen (2001)

Bubblegum Crisis is the property of Toshimichi Suzuki, Artmic and Youmex and is used without permission.
Shadowrun is the Property of FASA and is used without permission.

According to the Mayan calendar, 2011 was the year that the world was to end.

It did.

Yet its ending was also a beginning, as trite as that might sound. It was a brave new world baby, with new rules and new players. The Japanese were the first to get a 'slap in the face' wake up call. After all, in December 24th of that year, Christmas Eve if you will, it was the passengers on a bullet train that spotted the first dragon, flying near Mount Fuji.

For almost fifty years after that, changes kept coming, for the good and for the bad, and humanity, metahumanity, weathered it all as best as it could, survived and thrived. Of course with the changes still coming, one wonders if they can survive the next fifty years. One wonders if they can survive the next week.

-

Tokyo 2060 Year of the Dragon January 15, Adults Day

A light, grey rain, almost a mist, fell upon the grey streets and grey buildings. The light pollution from the city reflected off the clouds creating a night sky that was also grey. Cool winds blew through the canyons of the city, whispering tales about that which was grey.

The people were not grey. There were the young women in beautiful, many coloured kimonos, and the young men in suits, celebrating their coming of age. The salarymen, in their plain suits made slight statements with coloured ties and handkerchiefs. The gangs of Yankee Boys, Little Girls, the Genjis, the Kaoris, the Posers, and others all filled the damp streets with their own forms of colour.

The neon sign of a new club flashed and buzzed as an electric limousine hummed up to the curb in front. The rich and beautiful of the corporate world were ushered from the car, right into the club's entrance, past the line of the desperate.

As an older woman began to close up her computer shop, a younger man opened up the magic shop beside her. The street was in constant flux, always active, always in a different phase. In that way it was much like the city itself.

A red street bike, its gasohol engine roaring, raced down the street, weaving between the slower moving traffic. Its rider was dressed in tight black jeans, and black riding boots, a burgundy, leather jacket and a red helmet. On the side of the bike were the katakana characters spelling out 'Purisu'.

The bike and its rider were recognised by some, and they called out to the speeding woman, waving in hopes of being noticed. There were many different calls, some yelled out 'Priss', others 'Asagiri-sama', there were calls of 'Replicants' and someone even yelled out 'Lady of the Morning'. Priss had many names, given to her by friend and enemy alike.

If she heard the calls she ignored them. She just continued down that street until she turned off of it some distance farther on. The new street was much like the one she had left, just a little less busy at the time.

She downshifted, the bike's engine roared louder as the bike slowed down. A short time later she was pulling into a parking spot near a Lawson convenience store. Priss undid her jacket, revealing a white blouse, then removed her helmet, revealing her long, brown hair and the delicately pointed ears that were the surest sign of her elven heritage. Her proud, according to some, elven heritage-being one of the beautiful elves had not done her a lot of good.

Priss shut her bike off, activated the alarm, and then put the kickstand down. After she dismounted she locked the helmet to a clip near the seat, then turned, and walked to the store.

The clear, bulletproof plastic of the doors slid open as she approached, letting her enter. The Lawson was like all Lawsons all over Japan, which was the point. The shelves were neatly laid out, with everything in its place, the coolers at the back held beverages and some foodstuffs. Behind more of the bulletproof plastic was the shop's single clerk, as well as all the items that were likely to be shoplifted.

She ignored the clerk and walked to the back of the store. Along the way she grabbed a few bags of crisps, some rice crackers and a bag of soy-based jerky. Two young men, dressed in a variation of the boys' school uniform, their hair combed into outrageous pompadours, watched her. After a moment they began to walk after her.

Priss saw their reflections in the plastic doors of the coolers. She pretended to ignore them as she looked at the contests beyond the plastic.

"Hey, Elf, why don't ya go back to the Tir," one of them said, badly pronouncing 'Tir'. He moved to stand beside her.

"Yeah, get out of this country," the other one said. "We don't want no Bakeko here."

Bakeko, Priss thought; Monster child-She had heard that many times. She had learned to not hear it, to not remember things best forgotten. She reached out to open one of the coolers and one of the young men reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" he asked, roughly pulling at her.

Priss grabbed hold of the doors handle and yanked it open. The metal frame caught her assailant on his arm, hard enough to make him let go of her. She continued swinging the door open, slamming it into his head. The impact resistant plastic caught him hard in the face, breaking his nose.

She spun about, letting the bags of snack food fall to the ground as she did. The second one had his hands raised, as if to hit her. Priss moved fast, her open palm slamming into the underside of his jaw, driving him back. She lashed out with her elbow, catching him across the jaw. He dropped heavily to the ground, moaning and crying.

Priss turned on the first one. He was on his knees, his hand pressed to his face in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. She stared down at him, her red-brown eyes staring into his. He whimpered softly as he began shifting backwards on his legs.

Priss did nothing for several seconds, and then she knelt down and picked up her fallen junk food. From the cooler she grabbed a six-pack of Asashi and a six-pack of Coke. She left the two men, bleeding and crying on the tiled floor, and walked to the front of the store where the watching clerk stood.

She placed the things on the counter, watching as the total came up on the screen: seventeen point six nuyen. From her jacket pocket she pulled out a handful of bills. Three of the bills went into the tray on the counter, the rest back into her pocket.

"A bag please," Priss said.

The girl grabbed a bag from under the counter, pulled the tray through the barrier, removed the money, put the bag in it, and pushed the tray back through.

Priss shoved everything into the bag and then turned to leave.

"Your change," the girl said, sounding unsure of herself.

Priss doubted that the girl actually had change. Almost everyone would have paid with cred-sticks making paper and metal currency almost unheard of. She just walked out of the store, not worrying about the money. It was not like she was going to miss two or three nuyen.

Not long afterwards she was riding down the street again, the food and drink strapped to the back of the bike's seat. She passed a police car that was driving in the direction of the store. The clerk had probably hit a panic button when the fighting started.

Priss was not concerned; she knew that the police would not be interested in bothering her. Of course the two young men would not be in any trouble either. It was not as if they had assaulted a human.

She twisted the accelerator and the bike leapt forward, speeding down the street, much too fast.

-

The world had changed completely in 2011, and afterwards. The people of Japan, who had been among the first to see the proof of this, knew this very well. Magic had hit the world with something of a vengeance, and just when people felt they were beginning to understand things, they were introduced to another change.

In 2050 Ueno had started to become a jungle. It was as simple as that. It had started in the zoo and the park; the plant life had just begun to grow, soon moving out to cover the rest of Ueno. A number of attempts had been made to stop it, with no real success.

Over time people had begun to abandon the area, unwilling to deal with the vegetation, or that which lived in it. Many buildings had become completely covered with plants. Some of the structures had crumbled as roots had worked their way through concrete.

Ueno was not completely empty, however. Amongst the Magic community of the city, Ueno was considered very valuable real estate. While Magic had been unable to stop the greening of Ueno, as some had called the phenomena, it could control it, a little. Thus there were a few buildings, even in the very middle of the area, that were mostly untouched by the phenomena.

One of those buildings housed one of the leading fashion shops in the city. The Silky Doll brought many people into Ueno, at least during the day. There were some who would visit after the sun set, but they usually had some form of protection.

That was the case with the woman who was standing in front of a mirrored wall, turning about, looking at herself and how the tight, red dress made her look. She was a mature woman, but quite beautiful. Her long, blonde hair swept down to the small of her back, and her eyes were an electric blue.

"I don't know," she said after a moment. "I'm not sure it is me. What do you think Sylia?" She turned to look at the woman who was standing near by.

"It looks very good on you," Sylia told her. The owner of the Silky Doll, and the entire building, was a tall woman, with long, blue-black hair. She had brown eyes and was very beautiful, as well as being dressed very sharply.

The other woman smiled and nodded. "Well, as they say, Cat is stylish."

"Yes," she replied. Cat was not necessarily stylish, but Sylia allowed that to go by without correcting it. Most of her business was based on the belief that she, as a Cat shaman, was somehow the first and last word in style.

"I'll take it."

"Very well," Sylia told her. "Is there anything else?"

"No, that should be enough for now." She walked into one of the changing booths, closing the door behind her.

Sylia walked over to the counter and began to package the woman's purchases. Three other dresses, a skirt suit, a number of articles of lingerie, and a few other odds and ends. It would be rather expensive, but she knew that that would not be a problem. Many people were willing to pay Sylia Stingray outrageous sums of money, just so they could say that a shaman of Cat had put together their ensemble.

There were two men standing by the front doors. One was a troll-one of the more intimidating metahuman races-so tall he had to stoop over slightly inside the shop. The other was human and average looking for the most part. Sylia was quite aware he was a mage-his aura was quite obvious.

She walked over to the counter and began to package the rest of her customer's purchases. Clothing went into cardboard-recycled of course-boxes and the boxes went into paper bags with 'Silky Doll' written on them.

When the woman exited the changing room several minutes later, dressed in a skirt suit, the red dress in her arms, Sylia had everything packed away.

"Is there anything else I can do for you Mrs. Randall?" Sylia asked as she took the dress from her.

"No, I'm certain that I have everything that I need."

Sylia nodded as she opened a cardboard box and then began to lay the dress into it.

"Tell me Sylia, what do you think of those new Vashon Island coats?"

Sylia folded some paper over the dress, carefully creasing the paper. "The material is a little too thick, it does not hang nicely. It's the effect of the armour cloth."

"I see. Well, do you have any suggestions?"

"Magic." Sylia closed the box and then looked up and smiled at Mrs. Randall. "The proper spell will give the material the pliability it needs."

"I see." Mrs. Randall looked over at her bodyguards, a speculative look on her face. She then shook her head and looked back at Sylia. "Is that something you could help with?"

"It is not something I usually do." Sylia slid the last box into one of the bags.

"I see."

"For a valued customer however..."

"Thank you. The next time I come in?"

"I'm sure that would be fine."

"Wonderful." She reached into her purse and removed a golden credstick.

Sylia turned the small screen on the counter so Mrs. Randal could read it. The size of the transaction was quite large, but Mrs. Randal did not seem to notice. She slotted the pen-sized credstick into the reader, entered her pass code, and then leaned in close. "Virginia Randal," she said.

Several seconds later the reader made a soft, pleasant chime, indicating the funds had been transferred.

As Mrs. Randal put her credstick away, Sylia gathered up several of the bags and carried them towards the door.

It did not take too long to move the purchases into the trunk of the limousine, even as it was only Sylia doing the work. Mrs. Randall was not about to do any, and her bodyguards were more concerned with watching the area. Usually Sylia would have had one of her shop assistants handle that sort of thing, but she had already dismissed them for the night.

She stood in front of her shop, holding an umbrella against the rain, and waved farewell to the car as it pulled away. Once it turned a corner and was out of sight she walked back inside the store.

Sylia lowered the wire gates down over the front of the store, then decorative, protective shutters over the windows. The sign above the store winked out, and the security lights came on. After turning off most of the lights in the store, she left through the exit.

The eight-story building had once held a number of clubs, bars, restaurants and even a fitness centre, all stacked on top of each other. That was all gone now, leaving the building empty but for Sylia-officially at least.

She actually rented the second to fifth floors out to tenants who preferred to live anonymously. They paid in cash, or certified credsticks, and they did not bring their work home. Sylia did not ask any questions, permitted rent to be paid whenever convenient, and did not blink at the dried blood that she sometimes found on those credsticks.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

She took the elevator up to the eighth floor, where the fitness centre had once been. While the various pieces of exercise equipment had been removed, the sento still remained. It was not the largest of public baths, but it was certainly enough for Sylia.

She undressed, carefully placing her clothing into a basket in the change room. Taking a towel from a shelf, she entered the brightly lit room.

After cleaning herself quite thoroughly, Cat was clean after all, she slid languidly into a large tub of hot water. The tiled bathtub was large enough to hold three or four other people, and was just one of three. There was also a small tub full of cold water.

Maintaining a sento for herself-her younger brother had the sixth floor to himself-was expensive, but Sylia was willing to bear that cost for the comfort.

"Lights off," Sylia called out. A moment later the lights went out, but for a few left on for safety. "Shutters up." The privacy shutters rolled up, allowing Sylia to look out over Ueno as she soaked in the hot water.

-

The wheels of a pair of inline skates splashed through a shallow puddle of water on the sidewalk. The skater weaved on and off the sidewalk, dropping off the curb to the road, then hopping back to the sidewalk as needed.

The skater was dressed in loose pants of ballistic cloth, and a jacket that almost looked like real leather. Kneepads, elbow pads, wrist guards and a helmet offered further protection. Goggles and a filter mask completely obscured the skater's face. The filter mask was an integral part of the helmet, which was the only reason it was worn. Winter might be cold, but at least it brought clean air to the city's populace.

At an intersection the skater slid to a full stop and waited with the others as the cars passed, waited for the 'walk' signal to flash. When the 'walk' signal came up the wheels of the skates hummed as the tiny electric motors drove them. The skater took off at speed, cutting the electric motors after a few seconds.

Several minutes later the skater cut sharp to the right, dragging the left skate to brake before bouncing down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was a door, and a tall, bald man who was guarding that door.

The skater released the helmet and pulled it off, revealing shoulder length red hair, slightly curly, as well as green eyes and a very cute face.

"Has it started yet?" Nene Romanova asked the bouncer.

He nodded. "Jun had the doors opened about thirty minutes ago. Go in." He stood aside and pulled the door open.

Nene nodded as she pushed off, rolling through the doorway. The room beyond the door was dimly lit by a number of lamps scattered about. The bare concrete floor was clean, but showed the stains of years. Conduits and pipes ran up the bare walls and along the ceilings.

The people in the room sat in simple, plastic chairs. They were in groups of ten, gathered around hubs, plugged into the system in a star topology. The hubs were hooked together and into the servers in a ring. Nene knew all this because she had helped set it all up.

The individuals were silent, their eyes closed, sitting somewhat slack in their chairs. They were all elsewhere.

A few more bouncers/technicians moved about the room, checking the people, looking over the equipment. Nene nodded to them as she skated by.

The centrepiece of the room were the servers. Sitting amidst them, at a workstation, was a small man. He was Japanese, his black hair in dreadlocks. He wore a rumpled suit, and was plugged into the workstation. Standing nearby was an Orc. He smiled at Nene, showing his tusk like teeth. Nene nodded back as she skated to his side.

"How are things going, Junpei?" Nene asked as she stopped just in front of him.

"Good," he said. His teeth made his voice sound slightly flat.

Nene knelt down and began to release the catches on her skates. "What about the bandwidth?"

"Have'n trouble with the connection to North American and Europe. Jun said he'd get it figured out."

"I think that Renraku has a dedicated line we can use." Nene removed one of her skates.

"Cool it Romanova. Jun don't want that kind to trouble."

Nene looked up at him and smiled. "They'd never know. Or is the big, bad Orc scared of the megacorp?"

Junpei laughed. "Damn right little girl."

Nene removed her second skate, then stood up, socked feet on the floor. "Keep an eye on the bridges, I think we'll be getting a lot of talk between the servers."

Junpei nodded. "I'll keep it all together out here."

Nene nodded and moved to take a seat beside the man, Jun, at the workstation. She rummaged through her jacket pockets and removed several data cartridges. She slotted each one into an external multi-drive and waited a few seconds to make sure that the computer was reading them. Satisfied, she picked up an interface plug and jacked herself into the system.

There was a moment of disorientation, a rush of information, dizzying, wonderful confusion as the computer matrix opened up to her. And then she was standing beside Jun.

Jun was at a pair of turntables, sampling music and scratching out a beat. Around them was a throng, dancing. Jun's persona did not look much like he did in the real world. For one thing his persona was African-a tall, muscular man with ebony skin. His dreadlocks remained, however.

Nene's persona looked much like she did in the real world; though she was in her rave wear. Hair in pigtails, a Hello Kitty T-shirt and a short skirt, she was pushing the kinderpunk look.

"Nene-chan!" Jun called out. "Glad you could make it."

"I told you that I'd be here Jun," Nene told him.

While the music was very loud, and the base so deep that they could feel it in their bones, they were able to speak without raising their voices. After all, it was not the real world. Certain rules need not apply, at least to the two deckers who had created the world they were in.

"So," Jun asked, "get that code we were talking about?"

"As if there was any doubt. It's all plugged in, ready to go."

"How's it going to work?"

"Cleanly. No one should notice what is happening, though once it is done they'll know."

"Let's do it then."

Nene smiled as she moved behind the turntables. "You keep everything running, I'll monitor the updates."

"Whatever you say Nene-chan."

The club was a computer construct, housed in the servers that were around Nene's meat bod. The dancers came from all over the world, jacked in, using ASIST (Artificial Sensory Induction System Technology) interface drivers, and experienced the club almost as if it was real life.

There was nothing new about the idea, but a year before Jun had sold Nene on trying it themselves. He had come up with the ideas, Nene had written the code.

It had started out as a simple dance floor, but had grown quickly. Jun kept wanting more and more. He had asked for a bar, for cool down rooms, bad lighting in certain parts of the club, even bathrooms. The bathrooms had been interesting as it had required Nene to write utilities that would actually allow their patrons to make use of them, if they chose. They even smelt like stale urine-that had been another of Jun's ideas.

All those things had made the virtual club very popular with the visitors. For the last two months they had become the premier club, the place that one had to go.

As Nene reached out to the soundboard she wondered what the patrons would think about the changes that she and Jun were about to introduce.

She began to download her code and unzip it, beginning the first part of the installation process. Jun stood beside her, keeping everything together. She overwrote the old code with the new and added in the patches. Around her she could see small changes taking place. The bar changed, the oak top replaced by one of black marble-it had taken her hours to get the feel of marble coded. The lighting altered slightly, adding a few more dark corners and several too bright areas. A few new semi-autonomous personalities were added-they walked in through the front doors.

More and more of the small changes occurred, altering the entire club, the three separate dance floors, the bars, the cool down rooms, the private meeting rooms, the basement, the rooms upstairs where some very odd things went on and the bathrooms.

"Everything is loaded and running," Nene said as she looked over at Jun.

"System integrity at ninety-six percent, Jun reported.

"We'll have to tweak some things after we shut down," Nene told him.

"Right. What about hardware?"

Nene moved away from the soundboard. "We'll have to put some new processors in soon, and more memory, but that can wait. I'm going to wander."

"Have fun," Jun said, and then turned his complete attention back to the music.

Nene stepped down from the raised DJ island and set off through the crowd of dancers. She pushed by people who were probably like her, their personas a fairly true representation of what they looked like in the real world. Then there were those who were just a little too perfect, or those who did not really act like they looked. And as always, there were those who were right out there. They looked like anime characters, or techno-beings, or anything that was too weird to be believable.

Some she knew. Many she did not. More of them knew her. Nene, the owner, the coder, the goddess of this little part of the net; it was her domain.

"Nene-san," a too tall man called out to her from one of the new, too dark corners. "New changes?"

"A few."

"I like it."

"It's too bad that you don't pay for it," Nene said coyly.

"It is against my beliefs to pay." He stepped from the darkness, moving in an oddly jointed way. "What would people think?"

"That you want to help keep this place up?" she suggested.

He laughed. "You're tying to make me feel guilty. Tell you what though, how about I write up some new security protocols for you? Keep some of the less able people from slipping in without paying the cover."

Nene thought about that for a moment. "All right, that sounds fair."

"Always willing to be fair."

"Thank you Raifen. If you'll excuse me..."

"Of course," Raifen said as he stepped back into the darkness.

Nene turned and moved back into the sea of people, wondering whom else she might meet.

-

A kick, followed by an elbow, a reverse punch, two jabs, a knee, another knee, a sweep, followed by a snap kick. All the attacks flowed into one another, each one so fast it was nearly impossible to pick the individual movements out from the whole.

That sort of performance had made the crowd cheer when the fight had first begun. Unfortunately the target of those attacks was not providing much entertainment. The glowing field of energy around the blonde mage was simply stopping all those attacks. She just stood there, holding the spell up. It was rather boring for the spectators.

The one making all those attacks, a woman of average height, well muscled, though not excessively so, was doing her best to break through that field, and to keep the spectators interested. She kept attacking, her short black hair whipping about her, a fine spray of perspiration trailing in the air with each of her high speed moves, but nothing she did was breaking through that damn spell.

Then the buzzer went off, signalling the end of the round. The mage simply turned and walked back to her side of the ring. The other woman stared at the retreating mage's back for a moment, then walked over to where her coach was waiting.

"Linna, you've got to stop trying to break through," the older woman told her. "She's pulling the 'Rope a Dope'."

Linna Yamazaki removed the guard from her mouth. "Tell me something I don't know Ayeka," she said as she grabbed a bottle of Pocari Sweat from a cooler by the side of the ring and took a drink.

"How about the boys in back have changed the odds. They don't think you can win this."

"Damn it," Linna said, hurling the bottle back into the cooler.

"Stop going in so fast and hard. Hold back and wait her out. She is waiting for you to get tired before she makes her move. Don't get tired."

Linna stood there, taking deep breaths. She wore a pair of cycling shorts, the word 'Kick Hazard' on each leg, and a tube top. Her hands were covered in very light gloves, a little padding over the knuckles. She was covered in a sheen of perspiration, the lights of the arena making parts of her body glow white. She shook her head. "I can crack that armour spell. I just have to hit it hard enough."

"That is what she wants you to do," Ayeka told her, angrily, through clenched teeth. "Trust me. Just wait until she makes her move."

The buzzer went off again. Linna turned, without acknowledging Ayeka's advice, and moved back into the ring. Her opponent, the mage, just took her place, as she had before, the glow of the spell still about her. Linna slid her mouth guard back into place and then charged.

For the full round she kept hitting the other woman, kicks, knees, punches, elbows, anything she could manage. There were no rules in Freestyle, anything went, and Linna tried just about everything short of biting. When the round was over Linna made her way back to her side of the ring, wiping sweat out of her eyes.

"Damn it Linna, are you trying to lose?"

Linna dropped to her knees and spat the mouth guard out. "I can break through that spell," she said, breathing heavily.

"You'd need a rifle to break through that thing. Now cool it! You try that again and you'll drop to the mat from exhaustion."

Linna grabbed some ice from the cooler and ran it over her brow, then shifted it up to the crown of her head, letting the cold-water trickle through her hair to her scalp. "I can make this work. I just have to hit her harder."

"You've hit her as hard as you can!" Ayeka snapped.

"I've still got some punch left." Linna dropped the ice, grabbed the mouth guard from the ring's surface and then got to her feet. "I'll show her."

Ayeka sighed and shook her head. "Do it your way then."

Linna pushed the guard back into her mouth and then turned around, starting back into the ring. She stood there, still on her side, bouncing on her toes, waiting for the buzzer.

The mage moved out as well, standing there, shifting back and forth on her feet. Linna was a little surprised by that. Always before she had simply stood there, impassive, almost serene, but now she looked ready to go.

When the buzzer went the glow around the woman faded even as she leapt forward, right at Linna.

Linna managed to block two rapid kicks, but a punch caught her in the shoulder, driving her back. Damn mage had just jiggered up her reflexes, probably her strength as well. Linna launched into a counter attack and watched as all her moves were blocked. A reverse punch seemed to come out of nowhere and caught her right in the solar plexus, almost causing her to drop right there.

Linna knew she was faster, but she was tired now, while the mage was basically fresh. Linna had not expected her to have such a powerful set of spells to call upon. She had thought, well, maybe hoped was the better term, that the armour spell was her main weapon.

Unfortunately that was not so.

Still, Linna was a well-trained fighter, in excellent condition, and sporting some of the finest reflex boosting cyber in the entire city. That, and the fact her bones were laced with high-grade aluminium made her tough to take down. If it would not have put her into a higher weight class she would have put titanium in her bones instead.

The two fought, moving so fast that the spectators were often viewing nothing more than a blur of hits. This was what they had come for, this was what they had expected. As the blood splattered on to the mat they cheered.

When the buzzer finally sounded the two combatants made their way back to their own sides of the ring. Both were limping, both were bleeding. The crowd loved it.

"Next time you listen to me," Ayeka said as she moved up onto the ring with a med kit.

"She's hurt just as bad as me," Linna said around a swollen and bleeding split lip.

"And right now she is healing that. You better hope those spells have taken it out of her." Ayeka sealed Linna's split lip with a steristrip and then treated the cut above her right eye.

Linna did not say anything. She just waited for Ayeka to finish up her work, and then she got to her feet. Across from her the mage stood. As Ayeka had predicted, her wounds were healed. The blood on her was the only sign that they had been there.

Linna gritted her teeth, biting into the mouth guard. One of them was going down hard, and Linna was going to do her damnedest to make certain it was not she. Then the buzzer sound and the two fighters charged each other.

Linna fought with every ounce of strength and skill she had, but it was not enough. Her opponent might have been tired from all the spells she had been casting, but she was not hurting from the burn of pulled muscles, from the stings of a myriad of small cuts and the sweat that got in them. She was not blinking the blood out of her eyes from the cut that had reopened.

Linna went down twice, and both times she got up, ready to continue. The third time she dropped to the mat, felled by a crescent kick, she heard the high-pitched chime that ended the match. Ayeka had given up for Linna. She lay there, bleeding, breathing hard, and knew that Ayeka had done the right thing.

She lifted her head from the mat and stared at the mage. She stood in the middle of the ring, hands raised above her head in victory, playing to the crowd. Oh, they had been angry with her for making the earlier part of the bought so dull, but everyone loved the victor.

"Next time," Linna said softly as she moved onto her knees. "Next time you're the one on the ground."

-

The skyscrapers of Shinjuku soared high above the streets, in the daytime they cast long shadows over the area. It was a forest of steel and glass, a monument to the corporate world. Amidst the buildings was a one-hundred-story structure, black, like a finger of obsidian. It was the corporate headquarters of the Genom Corporation.

The building was quiet, most of the staff gone home for the evening. Those that remained were the security, and the custodial staff, as well as a few people, working late. The man taking the express elevator to the top of the skyscraper was one of the later.

His name was Brian J. Mason. A tall, handsome man, with short, styled black hair. His eyes, some might call them cruel, were a dark brown. The suit he wore was well tailored. He looked every inch an executive of the sixth world.

He looked at himself in the elevators mirrored wall. Reaching up he straightened his tie and folded the tips of his collar back slightly. It was important that he present the best image to Quincy. Anything less could be dangerous.

He turned away from the mirror a moment before the doors to the elevator opened. Outside the well-lit cab was darkness. Mason stepped forward, quickly moving out of the pool of light that spilled from the car. He would not show any fear of the unknown.

A moment later the doors of the elevator closed and plunged the room into near complete darkness. Mason stood still, waiting for Quincy to show himself. The room, he knew, occupied the top five floors of the building. The glass around him could be made clear, allowing the room's occupant to see all about him. At the moment those windows were completely opaque.

"Mason, what do you have to tell me?" a deep voice, so deep Mason could feel it in his bones, asked.

A light came on high above Mason, putting him in a circle of brightness. He could see a hint of movement in the shadows, movement of something big. "Dr. Fujiwara has found the tomb. We have sealed off the area and moved security teams in."

"And how long until he opens it?" Quincy asked.

"He said that he should be able to open the main chamber in a few days. I can have him rush the work if you wish."

"No," Quincy told him. "I have waited a long time. A few more days will not concern me. There is no need to upset Dr. Fujiwara prematurely."

"Yes Quincy-sama."

"I want you to take care of this Mason. This is something that Genom needs. More importantly, it is something that I need."

"Yes," Mason said, bowing deeply towards the voice.

"You know what to do. Now go."

Mason nodded, turned, and walked towards the now open elevator. The spotlight winked out, leaving only the bright portal of the elevator, a point of light, a destination. Mason glided into it, glad to be out of the room. No matter how he prepared himself he could not completely resist the fear that the chairman of Genom, his Master in a way, instilled.

The elevator doors closed, sealing out the darkness. Mason visibly relaxed, an unnatural stiffness leaving his body. He looked up at his reflection in the mirror. He took a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, and then carefully wiped the perspiration from his forehead.

-

In the chamber that was the top five floors of the Genom Building the windows were lightening, becoming transparent. The light of the city, some of it reflecting off the clouds above, came into the room, dispelling the darkness that Mason had just recently fled from.

Within the shadows the light picked up the form of something huge. It glinted off the scales, and the claws of the dragon that lay on the floor.

He stared out his windows, looking out at the city beyond, and seeing so much more. Were the lines finally intersecting, twisting into the patterns that he had waited for? Would the pattern hold, or would it come apart as it had before? He had asked those questions in the past. He hoped that this was the last time that he would have to ask them.

He moved his head closer to the windows, opening jaws that had snapped fully armoured trolls in two, breathing in, causing the windows to buckle ever so slightly. "Soon," he said in a voice that made the windows reverberate. "Soon I will be able to move. The time of hiding will be over." For a time he said nothing, just stared out at the city, and the world. "Perhaps," he finally added.

-

Near the Central Tokyo Station, not far from the Imperial Theatre, was a shrine. It was a rather large shrine, taking up an entire block of very expensive real estate. It was something of an anomaly, though it's position, near the Imperial Palace, made it seem right. The Babasaki moat separated it from the Palace's Outer Garden. In fact tourists often thought the shrine was part of the palace.

Priss drove down the street, approaching the shrine, noting the guards who stood near the entrance to the Palace. She had seen them, almost every day, for a year, as they had seen her. Priss was fairly certain they considered her a potential threat. She did not let that concern her. She would not be surprised to learn that they viewed everyone, including their fellow samurai, as potential threats.

She turned into a small cul-de-sac near a shrine, driving down the surprisingly clean alley, until she reached the end. There was a small shack there, built around an aluminium frame and covered in ballistic plastic.

After shutting down her bike and putting the kickstand down, she dismounted and walked to the shack. While it looked beat up, it was in fact in very good shape, and very sturdy. Priss ran a key card through the magnetic lock that kept the door sealed. Within were several bicycles, a scooter and a damaged motorcycle. Priss walked back to her bike, grabbed it by the handlebars, rocked it off its kickstand and then walked it into the shed.

The bike safely within, Priss closed and locked the door. She walked out of the cul-de-sac, turning and continuing towards the entrance to the shrine.

The shrine was surrounded by a wooden fence, taller than Priss, with a rock Torii spanning the entrance. There were gates beyond that that could be closed, but Priss could not remember that they ever had been. There were ways that were much more formidable than simple gates to keep those who were unwelcome out.

As soon as she entered, one of the Miko, the Shrine Maidens, was running across the stone flagstones that covered the ground, coming towards Priss.

"Priss-sama!" she called. "We need you!" There was a note of panic in her voice.

"What's up?" Priss asked calmly.

"It's Hijiwa-san!"

"Where is she Ann?" Priss was suddenly quite serious.

"In the south anteroom."

Priss ran across the grounds of the shrine, her riding boots pounding on the stone. Ann followed, her geta 'click-clacking' on the stone as she ran. The south anteroom was one of two small rooms, not actually part of the shrine. It was where the sick would wait, so their sickness might not contaminate the shrine.

She opened the small gate in the wall, passing under a small Torii. In the room beyond were two women. One, who lay on a thin futon, was very old and was moaning in pain. The other, who was a little older than Priss, was kneeling beside the older, wiping the woman's brow with a damp cloth.

The younger looked up at Priss, her eyes and posture communicating her fear. "Asagiri-sama, she's sick again."

"Its gonna to be all right Ebiko," Priss told her as she knelt down beside the older woman, across from Ebiko. Ann had entered the room and stood by the door.

"Please Asagiri-sama," Ebiko said, near tears.

Priss gently put her hands on the old woman, feeling her frail body and the surprising amount of heat radiating from her. Shifting her perceptions to the astral told Priss all she needed to know. The cancer had come back, stronger than before.

The first spell was a simple one to take away the pain. The old woman suddenly stopped moaning and lay still. Priss remained as she was for a moment, softly singing under her breath, centring herself so as to better resist the drain of the spell. Then she cast the healing spell, directing the powerful energies through the woman's body, repairing damage the cancer had done.

Finally Priss cast a spell that might help the woman fight off the cancer. It was not the first time Priss has used the spell on the woman, but she hoped that it would finally work.

She took her hands from the woman and wiped at her forehead with the sleeve of her jacket. Three powerful spells, cast in such a short time, had taken a little out of her. She was tough though and in a moment she got to her feet.

"Keep her here until morning Ebiko. Let her rest. Ann," she looked over at the Miko, "bring them some tea, and another futon."

"Yes Priss-sama."

"Thank you very much Asagiri-sama," Ebiko said. She was crying openly. "Thank you so very, very much."

"It's alright Ebiko," Priss waved off the thank you. "Just take care of her." Priss turned towards Ann. "I'm going to bed."

"Priss-sama, Tokugawa-sama wants to see you."

Priss sighed, but nodded. "I'll go see her now. Take care of Ebiko and Hijiwa." She left the anteroom, walking towards the central building of the shrine.

She stopped short of the steps and turned towards a small basin overflowing with water. The water ran from a stone next to the basin, a constant flow of cool, fresh water. Priss held her hands in the stream, shivering slightly from the cold. She then picked up a dipper, filled it from the stream, then washed her mouth out.

Purified, she put the dipper down, stood, and continued towards the building. She removed her boots before starting up the wooden stairs. At the top of the stairs she opened the sliding, paper doors and moved into the structure.

She walked forward, opening another set of sliding doors, entering the outer chamber. As she crossed the room she could feel the pins and needles sensation of the spirits that moved about her. She often wondered what might happen to anyone who managed to get this far into the shrine with ill intents. She did not think much would be left of anyone, or anything for that matter, that foolish.

She did not stop in front of the next set of doors as many might. Priss was never completely as respectful as she should have been. The mistress of the shrine never complained, but some of the others in service did not find Priss' behaviour to be completely proper.

The inner chamber was warmer than the outer chamber had been, and almost crowded with things where the outer chamber had been stark and empty. Priss stepped in and closed the doors behind her.

Two, bronze braziers stood on either side of the door, radiating heat. Along the walls, from the front of the room to the blinds the formed a temporary wall three meters from the door, were Buddha statues, each one suggesting a different aspect. Kneeling in front of the blinds were two women, dressed in the red hakama and white blouse of the Miko.

Priss looked between them, noting the weapons they had laid out on the floor in front of them. The one on the right knelt before a katana; the one on the left before a Chinese long-sword. The two women were the guardians of Tokugawa Natsume. Priss could just make out the shine mistress' form behind the blinds.

After several seconds Priss moved forward, no longer looking at the guardians. One of them raised the blinds, but only to a level equal with Priss' waist. A rather respectful height, but it ensured Priss would still have to enter in a submissive posture.

For a moment Priss thought to just push the blind up and enter, but she decided not to, as much as it might have been fun to upset the guardians, again. She dropped to her knees and crawled under the blinds, not seeing any problems with showing respect to Natsume. At least to a point. The blind lowered behind her, 'clacking' softly on the floor.

The woman who knelt amid cushions behind the screen was perhaps the most beautiful woman that Priss had ever seen. She had an ageless quality to her that made it impossible to put an age to her. Her long hair was as white as snow and her eyes a pale, icy blue. She was small, perhaps in some compensation for the great power she wielded.

She turned to look at Priss though she was blind.

"Priss, I'm am glad you came."

"You wished to see me Natsume-san?" Priss asked.

While such a familiar form of address caused the guardians to shift slightly, obviously upset, Natsume just smiled. "I did. Come closer."

Priss moved onto one of the cushions, moving directly in front of the smaller woman. Though Priss was looking down at her, she did not think for a moment that she in any way held sway there.

The blind human reached up to touch the face of the elven mage, running her gentle fingers along the planes of Priss' face, drawing them over Priss' eyes, finally resting them on either side of Priss' neck. She stared directly into Priss' eyes. While blind, Natsume saw everything she needed to.

Priss stared into those pale, blue eyes, almost seeing what lay beyond them. Wanting to know the secrets that Natsume had access to, and at the same time, fearing them.

Natsume Tokugawa was a shaman, if such a term really had meaning, of Amaterasu Opo Mikami. The only such person as far as Priss knew.

"It has been some time since you last came to my side Priss," Natsume said.

"I don't wanna upset your guards too much Natsume-san."

"And you are willing to upset me? I do enjoy your presence."

"Your time is valuable. Neither of us can live completely for ourselves," Priss stated flatly.

Natsume said nothing for several seconds, then moved forward and kissed Priss gently, chastely, on the cheek. "You know me more than anyone else ever can." She shifted back, taking her hands from Priss. "As I know you. There is danger coming Priss-san. More so than you have ever faced. It will follow you here eventually."

"Do you wish me to leave?" Priss asked, her voice still flat.

Natsume laughed at that, a pure laugh that rang out softly in the room. "No Priss-san, I do not wish you to leave, Lady of the Morning Star, Child of the Steel Forest, this is your home."

Priss dropped her gaze slightly, never one for titles, as she found them embarrassing, she did not like them.

Natsume sighed softly. "You need not leave here Priss-san. Were my selfish wish to come true you would never leave here, but such protection would choke the life out of you, and neither of us would really want that." She picked up a fan from a cushion beside her and flicked it open. "This place is a fortress Priss-san, it has stood against many threats for almost forty years.

"The greedy land developers, with their money and political power cannot touch us. Those who fear and hate us for the power we wield, they have never been able to breach our walls. Those who sought to destroy those who we gave shelter to, they could not enter to harm our charges. What will one day come after you will not enter. This place will be your refuge Lady of Secrets. When all else falls, I will be here for you."

There was a sense of finality to Natsume's words, as if the entire weight of a Goddess' power were behind them. And it was quite possible that that was the case. It made Priss very uncomfortable, almost afraid.

"Let's hope that it never comes to that," Priss told her after several seconds of silence had passed.

"We shall see. You are tired. Go now and get some rest."

Priss nodded as she turned, watching as the blind was lifted again, then moved under it. She was walking towards the door when Natsume called to her from behind the blinds.

"Priss-san, you may not be able to beat that which is trying to claim Hijiwa."

Priss turned and looked towards the figure silhouetted behind the blinds. "I'm sure as hell going to try."

-

Sylia, dressed in a Yukata, took the elevator down to the basement. The doors slid open on a somewhat chaotic scene. A little more than half of the basement was space that was used by Mackie. There were a number of vehicles, few in one piece, including three motorcycles and a Yellow Jacket helicopter that was currently stripped down to its frame.

She navigated between the vehicles, the tools, canisters full of lubricants and other things, and an assortment of items that Sylia could not identify. Sylia did not know how Mackie kept everything organized, but he did. He had inherited their father's talent for mechanics. Sylia, it seemed, had picked up his ability for magic.

At the far side of the room was a heavy, metal door with three deadbolt locks and a maglock. Sylia fished the keys and card from a small bag she carried and then set about unlocking the door.

Beyond the door was a small maze of sorts, a series of twisting corridors and small rooms. Most of the doors within were guarded by doors similar to the one Sylia had just passed through. She made her way around the maze, finally stopping in front of a door that looked as if it should have been on a bank vault.

A car key opened the small cabinet that held the retinal scanner. The retinal scanner opened the vault. All part of what might be excessive security, but Sylia felt more confident knowing that some things were locked up tight. Her father's library was one of those things.

Sylia turned on the lights, revealing a large room, ten meters by five meters, which seemed small. There were several shelves-all packed full of various books-stacks of boxes, and a number of things shrouded in drop cloths. Katsuhito Stingray had been a mage; he had looked at magic as a science, or close to it. Sylia, was a shaman, her power came to her through Cat.

Her father's library, while very interesting, and quite possibly a priceless repository arcane knowledge, was of little real value to Sylia-as a shaman her studies into magic often required mediation and hallucinogenic fungi and the vision quests that followed. Still, she did occasionally like sitting down with one of the books, reading up on the ideas that drove her father.

She walked along the length of one of the shelves, running her fingers along the spines of the books, cleaning away some of the dust that had settled on them. She stopped near the end and looked over the titles there. Then she found it. It was an old manga volume, by some artist who had been forgotten. Sylia pulled it free, looking over the art inside, being careful with the brittle spine and slightly faded pages.

It always amazed her what had turned out to be informative and powerful when it came to magic. There had been people who had had the tiny spark in them, but in the world before the change, that was all it had remained, an ineffectual spark.

They had understood though, on some deep level, and they had put the knowledge into works, like the manga. There was much of value there, if one knew how to look.

She turned and started towards the door, then stopped, looking at one of the shrouded objects. It had been some time since she had last pulled that shroud aside. Suddenly struck by the desire to do so, she moved forward, grasped the cloth and pulled it away from what it covered.

Sitting upon a chair was a life-sized doll. Or perhaps it was more than a doll. Sylia had never been certain. It was made of wood, each piece perfectly carved and fitted together. Its long, black hair might have been real, or it might have been some sort of synthetic, but each strand had been placed into the doll's scalp, one at a time.

It was dressed in a blue kimono, its hands resting in its lap. Sylia reached down and picked up one of those hands, marvelling at the smooth, almost warm feel of the wood, and how perfectly it was constructed. She ran her hand over the fingertip of the index finger, remembering.

-

Twelve Years Ago

"Father!" a nine-year-old Sylia called out as she ran into her father's library and workroom. The huge windows let in bright light, and they were open, letting in a fresh, spring breeze. It was a good air day; the wind was fresh and clean, mostly.

"Sylia," Katsuhito did not look up from his work. He was carving a piece of wood, the shavings falling onto a cloth at his feet, "what have I told you about coming running in here?"

"I'm sorry, " Sylia said, trying to sound sorry. She did so love her father's library, full of all its magical things.

He looked up at her, smiling. He was a handsome enough man, with straight, brown hair that hung to near his shoulders. His moustache was looking a little untidy, Sylia thought, and he was not wearing his glasses.

"Well Sylia, why did you come running in here?"

"Dr. Andrews called. He said," Sylia paused as she tried to remember exactly the message that her mother had told her to relay. "He said that the initial stage of the project is finished, and that everyone wants to move onto the next stage," Sylia said, proud that she had repeated it exactly as she had been told.

"I see," Katsuhito went back to his carving. "I guess when I finish this I'll have to rush over there."

"Is she almost finished?" Sylia asked, her tone excited, as she rushed over to her father's side.

"Soon," he said, the small knife shaving away another peel of wood.

Sylia looked at what he was working on, then over at the doll that sat nearby. "You just have that little bit of the finger to do?"

"Yes."

Sylia walked over to the doll, reaching out to take its still incomplete hand. She thought it was wonderful how the hand moved just like hers did. She gently curled its fingers into a fist, then straightened them. The wood made a soft clicking as it moved.

"This is all that tree you took from Hokkaido, isn't it?"

"Yes. Taken with permission of the forces that lived in it, not a scrap of it has been wasted." Another peel of wood fluttered down, onto the sheet at his feet. "That is important to remember."

Sylia was paying attention to what he said, but she did not look away from the doll. She reached up to touch a wooden cheek, it was so smooth under her fingers. She knew its eyes could open, but she did not try to open them. The glassy orbs that rested in its eyes sockets upset Sylia a little. They looked so unreal when the rest of it looked, well, alive.

"What will you do when it is finished?"

Katsuhito held up the finger joint, turning it in his hands, looking at it from all angles. He used the knife to gently carve some lines into it. "I'm not entirely sure," he told Sylia as he put the knife down and reached for a piece of sandpaper.

"Is it magic?" Sylia asked, almost demanding.

Katsuhito laughed. "Everything is magic Sylia." He ran the fine grade paper over the wood, smoothing out the few rough spots.

Sylia moved closer to watch him finish. Finally he put the sandpaper aside and held up the finger joint. He stood, brushing a few bits of wood from his pants, then walked over to the doll. He picked up its hand and carefully slid the last part of the finger into place. There was an almost inaudible click as it slipped home.

He held the hand in his and carefully moved it about, making sure that everything was correct. Smiling, he put its hand into its lap, placing the other one over it. "There we go," he said, perhaps to Sylia, but maybe to the doll.

"It's finished?" Sylia asked. She had expected that something would happen when it was finally together.

"Nothing is every truly finished Sylia," he told her as he reached out to take her hand. "Now, come along." He led her towards the door. "I have to go into work, and you are not allowed in here when I'm not home." He passed through the door with Sylia in tow. "And you should not be going in there even when I am." He closed the door.

"Yes father," Sylia said, sounding disappointed.

"Don't worry," he said as he reached down to tap her nose. "We'll have plenty of chances to talk about the doll later."

Sylia nodded happily at that.

-

The Present

Sylia placed the hand back in the doll's lap, carefully arranging things, and then she pulled the shroud back over it. She still did not know what her father had planned for his creation.

Soon after that day when he had left to start the next stage of whatever project he had been working on, things had changed. His work had begun to consume his time so he was almost never home, and then mother had died. It had seemed that he had stayed away from home after that, leaving her and Mackie in the care of a governess.

She could still remember that night she had called him, hoping that he could come home, but he had told her that he was too busy. He had promised to get home that weekend, however.

That was the last time she had seen him.

Hours after that call Wiz Labs had blown up and her father had died.

Sylia remembered how at almost the same time she had suddenly been wracked with pain, as if her head was about to explode. She still did not know what had happened that night, just that she had had a sense of being, well, perhaps violated.

For a moment she had felt as if she was about to be lost, but then Cat had come to her. Come on silent paws, a warm presence, one that had chased away the confusion, and had embraced Sylia as one of her own.

She shook her head and walked towards the open door. The past was a dangerous place at times. Regret could kill.

-

January 16

The sub-compact crept along the crowded, damp street, weaving in and out of the obstacles of pedestrians and stopped cars. Its driver put her hand on the horn, the pathetic bleat barely registering on the mob of people crossing in front of her.

"It's a road," the driver said. "Walk on the sidewalk." She was a young woman, attractive, with Chinese features. Her straight, brown hair hung down to her shoulders, her eyes were also brown, with tiny ouroboroses, the serpent that devoured its own tail, circling around the irises.

Her name was Irene Chang, though she had a more colourful sobriquet of 'If it bleeds, it leads Chang'. She was one of the higher rated reporters in the city, and was doing a very good job of convincing people that Tokyo was a much more dangerous city than it really was.

Sometimes she hated herself for that.

"Calm down," Linna said from the passenger seat beside Irene. "We'll get there eventually."

Linna worked with Irene, mostly as hired muscle. The reporter often got herself into trouble. The kind of trouble only a Street Samurai with jiggered reflexes could deal with. It was a beneficial relationship for both women. With Linna's help Irene could get the kind of stories that allowed her to pay Linna and get the high ratings. Linna also was able to sell the occasional bits of footage, from her other jobs, to Irene.

"I am calm," Irene told her. "I just want to get out of here." She hit the horn again. "I need a real car," she said forlornly.

"Who can afford a real car?" Linna asked her.

"It's not affording it. It is finding a place big enough to park it."

"You've got an opening!" Linna suddenly shouted. "Gun it!"

Irene did not ask, she just slammed her foot down on the accelerator. The tiny electric motor in the tiny car did not give them much acceleration, they certainly did not leave any rubber on the street, but it was fast enough to move through the opening that Linna had spotted.

"Finally," Irene said, relaxing slightly.

"Can you stop by Chun's place?" Linna suddenly asked.

"Sure. Going to get some work done?"

"I have an idea."

"Still upset that Aefeon beat you?"

"She didn't beat me, I beat myself." Linna frowned. "That makes it worse of course."

"Doesn't Ayeka have some rule about doing this sort of stuff?" Irene took a corner as speed, the car slid a little on the damp road, but she corrected for it.

"She's all big on not getting new ware unless you have to. She figures there is no need to get something new if a little more training and being smart will do it for you."

"So she doesn't like short cuts?"

"Not really, but I figure I need more of an edge, especially if I'm going to be fighting more of the spell slingers. You know, before Aefeon showed up, there was no one in my weight class I could not take down. It's just not fair."

"And the delta grade ware you pack is fair?"

"Shut up," Linna told her.

Irene smiled at that. "No rules mean no rules. That is the entire point of Freestyle."

"Really?" Linna asked sarcastically. "Why, in the entire two years I have been fighting I never realized that."

"No surprise there. You know, I'm curious about something. Doesn't the fact that you might die in a match bother you?"

"A little. I try not to think about that too much."

"It is wasn't for the fact that my own line of work was so dangerous, I might criticize you."

"We all have to do what's required when we follow our dreams," Linna said, trying to sound deep. Unfortunately it came across as a little trite.

"I guess." Irene took another corner at speed, in so much as possible with an electric car. Again the tires slid, but she was ready for it and brought the car quickly under control.

"It's hard to put into words."

Irene nodded as she slowed the car down. Cutting across traffic and pulling into a small space between two bigger cars. "Here we go."

"Thanks." Linna opened her door. "I shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

"No problem," Irene told her.

Linna exited the small car and then closed the door. She took a moment to stretch, glad to be free of the tight confines of Irene's vehicle. She walked away from the car, making her way to a small shop. The sign above the shop identified it as 'New You'. Entering it, Linna found herself surrounded by a wide array of cosmetic cyberware.

She walked by fibre-optic hair, fashion fingernails, cyber eye mod kits and other things. Two teenaged girls were looking through a display case full of sub-dermal makeup packs; the clerk was leaning against the counter, looking bored. No one was paying any attention to Linna.

Near the back of the store was where the clearouts were kept. Various bits of cosmetic cyberware that was no longer fashionable. Linna pushed several tails out of the way, revealing a small keypad. She tapped in a code, hoping that Chun had not changed it. It would take her at least a day to get the new code, and Linna did not feel like waiting.

The locks clicked, letting Linna know she had nothing to worry about, and she pushed the door open and entered the room beyond. The door closed behind her, the locking bolts sliding back into place. She was standing in a short corridor, at the other end was another door.

"Name?" A flat voice asked.

"Linna," she said.

A moment later the door she was facing opened and Linna moved forward to step through it. On the other side was a large troll who was cradling a large machinegun. His horns were tipped in sharp, steel caps and the calcium protrusions across his body looked almost as if they had been polished. He looked Linna over for a few seconds. "Take yer jacket off," he ordered.

Linna slipped out of her jacket, revealing a white T-shirt with the logo 'Kill Kid' on the front. "Happy?" she asked.

The troll nodded and then pointed his chin to the stairway, indicating that Linna should go on.

"Thanks Hal," she said, walking by the troll, heading towards the stairs.

"Saw the fight last night," he said. "Got yer ass kicked."

Linna did not bother answering; she just walked down the stairs. As upset as she was about the loss, she had got her ass kicked.

At the bottom of the stairs was a room full of coolers and tools and a cluttered workbench. Behind that bench was a small, old Chinese man who was working on something that Linna could not see.

"Chun, I need some work," Linna said as she tossed her jacket over the banister.

"This something to do with Aefeon hand you your ass?" he asked in broken Japanese. Linna suspected that he spoke that way out of choice rather than an inability with the Japanese language.

"She didn't hand me my ass," Linna told him as she moved closer.

"That what I hear," he said, looking up at Linna, smiling. "Magic lady beat on fast lady ass. That what I hear."

Linna sighed. She could see what he was working on. It was an eye, an eye that just rested on the table. Linna found that to be slightly disturbing. "I want to get my muscles augmented, you know, the Gortex weave into the muscles."

"I know. Expensive."

"I'm aware of it, and I can pay."

"Have friend in Chiba, can set up."

"And I want it cultured."

"More expensive."

Linna nodded. "It's not a problem."

"Need sample." He reached under the workbench and removed a small case.

Linna watched as he opened the case and removed a gun shaped object. He slid a capped tube full of a red liquid into the object, then took a needle, encased in a sterile wrapper, from the case. The wrapper came off and nimble fingers slotted the needle into the barrel of the sampler.

"Arm," he ordered.

Linna held out her left arm towards him. Chun pulled the needle cap off and then pushed the needle deep into Linna's arm. It was a large bore needle, so of course it hurt, but Linna clenched her right fist tight and did not say anything.

After a few seconds a green light lit up on the sampler and Chun pulled the trigger. There was a tiny hiss as a bit of Linna's muscle tissue was sucked through the needled and into the liquid filled tube. Chun pulled the needle out, handing Linna a piece of gauze to press over the hole. He then removed the tube and held it up to the light.

"Good," he announced. "Send friend in Chiba soon."

"How long?" Linna asked him.

"Two week, maybe little more."

"You'll arrange for the surgery?"

"Like always."

"Good." She reached into her pants pocket and produced a credstick. "Twenty five thousand nuyen as a deposit. I'll pay the rest when I come in to have the surgery." She put the stick on the tabletop.

Chun nodded as he began to pack away the sampler. "That fine." He looked up after a moment. "Interest you in cyberarm? Have built in stabilizer. Fire rifle, one hand."

Linna walked towards the stairs and grabbed her jacket from the banister. "Sounds fun," Linna said as she looked back at him. "Almost enough to make me want to lop an arm off, but not this time."

He nodded. "Maybe next time, yes?"

"Probably not." She started up the stairs, leaving Chun behind.

Not long afterwards she left the store. The girls from earlier were gone. The clerk still looked bored.

Outside she discovered that Irene was not in the car. She looked around and spotted the reporter some distance down the street. She was talking to a tall man. At that distance Linna could not make out much about him, beyond that he had dark hair and was wearing sunglasses.

Linna opened the car's door and got inside, pulling the door closed, content to wait for Irene.

Several minutes later Irene pulled open the driver's door and slid inside the car.

"What was that about?" Linna asked.

"Talking to this guy I know," Irene started the car up. "He's a Captain with Tokyo's Corporate Investigations Unit. I was asking him about Genom."

"Genom? Isn't that that small corp, deals in magical research and stuff?"

Irene nodded. "There's been some talk about Genom as of late. A week ago two professors of magic were killed at the Imperial University, and the word is that Genom might have had something to do with it."

"So, another bloody story?"

"Actually, I'm hoping that this one might feature my reporting skills." Irene put her foot down on the accelerator and sped away from the curb, cutting off a much bigger vehicle in the process. "Maybe this time I'll actually win an award, get some respect, as well as ratings."

"It sounds like it might be safer, with a corp that small."

"That's the problem," Irene told her. "There is a lot of talk that says Genom is bigger than it lets on, that it has a lot of secrets." She paused. "Did you know that it is owned by a Dragon?"

Linna's eyes widened slightly as she shook her head.

"Western Dragon. Some claim that Quincy, not that that is his real name, is in fact one of the Great Dragons."

"Sort of like how Lofwyr runs SK heavy industries."

Irene nodded. "But of course SK is a megacorp."

"Maybe Quincy wants to run for Prime Minister?" Linna suggested, and then laughed.

Irene nodded, smiling. "Maybe the United Canadian American States thought that electing a Great Dragon was a good idea, but it won't happen in Japan." Her mood grew sombre. "Still, even if he is just the run of the mill dragon, this is going to be dangerous."

"No doubt. So, is that what we are doing today, looking into Genom?"

"Not yet," Irene told her. "Now we are just looking into a potential gang war between the Genjis and the Sekitan Yakuza."

"So just regular stuff."

"More or less." Irene cut into oncoming traffic and passed a truck in front of them. Many of the other vehicles had horns that were much louder than the one in her car.

-

"Nene, wake up," someone said.

"Don't wanna get up," Nene said softly, still half dreaming.

"You have to get up." This time there was shaking with the words.

Nene opened her eyes and found herself looking into Naoko's face. "Naoko?" she said. She felt a little out of it. She was lying on her desk, her head cushioned by her arms.

"Come on Nene, you've been asleep for nearly an hour. You're going to have to get some work done."

Nene sat up, looking around the office. Her desk was next to Naoko's, across from them were two other desks, forming a grouping of four. The usual occupants of those two desks were not presently there.

There were four other groupings of four desks, belonging to the other people in the office. It was quite busy that day, Nene was a little surprised that she had managed to sleep at all. Then again, she had been late at the club.

"What were you doing last night?" Naoko asked.

Nene took a deep breath, hoping to clear her head a little. "Nothing special," she said after a moment. "Just some work."

"Well, we have some work to do now," Naoko told her, indicating the data cartridges and several pieces of paper on the desk.

"Wonderful," Nene said, a touch of sarcasm in her tone. She picked a data cartridge at random and slipped it into the computer. The data came up on her screen, more budget projections. She picked up the interface cable and slid the plug into her data jack.

Naoko watched Nene for a few seconds, perhaps to be certain that she did not fall asleep again, then said, "Want to go out for dinner and a movie tonight?"

"Who else is going?"

"Jennifer, Kimiyo and Mari."

"As long as I can get this work done," Nene told her.

Naoko frowned. "Don't think we're going to help you. You're the one who decided to nap," she said sternly.

"Yes Naoko."

"Bad Nene," Naoko said as she lightly tapped Nene on the top of her head with a ruler.

While Nene's mind still felt a little foggy, she was soon able to get to work. Fortunately she had coded a few applications that did a lot of the work for her. She just had to give them a few little prods every now and again to keep them on track.

She was a few hours into the work, and feeling like she might be able to get everything done on time when Captain Leon McNichol leaned over her shoulder. "Hey Nene-chan," he said. "I need a little help."

"I'm a little busy Captain McNichol," she said a little nervously. Leon was tall and handsome, with short brown hair and incredible blue eyes. Having him leaning over her, standing so close was a little intimidating, in many ways.

"Come on Nene-chan," Leon said, giving her his best smile. "I just need a little help."

"We would appreciate it," Daily Wong told her. Leon's partner, Captain Wong, was just as handsome as Leon. His curly, orange-red hair was worn long, and his eyes were also blue. Nene was not so intimidated by him, mostly because he was gay and that kept everything on a purely professional plane.

Nene sighed and looked over at Naoko.

Naoko simply shook her head. "If you hadn't been napping you wouldn't have a problem."

"Thanks," Nene said softly. "Okay, what do you need?" she asked Daily.

"Come on," Leon said. "We need to talk in private."

Nene got to her feet and Leon led her and Daily into a small conference room off the main office. The Corporate Investigations Unit was housed on the sixth floor of the Tokyo Police Bureau Building. Most of the officers felt they did not have enough resources, including space.

Leon directed Nene over to the computer in the corner of the room.

"What do you want me to find out?" she asked as she turned the system on.

"I want you to make a run on the Genom Company's computer."

"Do you have a warrant?"

"This is not a fact finding mission. I just want you to get in and take a look. Give me a run down on the system architecture and stuff."

"Why?"

Leon looked upset. "Because I want you to."

"We might as well give her a briefing on what might be going on," Daily said. "She is helping us, and a fresh perspective can only be of benefit."

"Fine," Leon said. "What do you know about Genom?" he asked Nene.

Nene removed a data cartridge from within the jacket of her winter uniform. "Small company, deals mostly in magical research." She slotted the cartridge into the computer.

"Good, that's a start. Genom did not exist until nine years ago. It showed up, fully formed as far as I can tell, almost right after Wiz Labs was destroyed."

"The fact that we still don't know how Wiz Labs was destroyed just adds to the mystery," Daily told her.

"Genom came out of nowhere," Leon continued, "and basically just took over all the contracts that Wiz Labs had. Within a month Genom had basically fitted itself, comfortably, into the hole left by the destruction of Wiz Labs.

"They were pretty good at things, so I've heard. Daily could tell you more about that."

Daily nodded. "Genom has contracts with all the MegaCorps. They supply some of the hotter new spells, various variations on wards, a few more mundane magical defences. They may not be a very visible player on the corporate scene, but they have an impact.

"While I'm not sure what it means, it is worth mentioning that about five years ago Genom ran some kind of deal with Aztechnology. No one knows exactly what the details were, but people suspect that Aztechnology paid Genom at least five hundred million nuyen."

"And no one knows why?" Nene began working at the keyboard, tortoising her way towards Genom's system. It was as no where near as effective or fast as being plugged directly into the matrix, but Nene did not have a proper deck.

"Whispers of rumours, not much else."

Nene nodded. "Maybe Genom is just part of another corporation."

"I've thought about that," Leon told her. "And maybe that is it. Genom might just be a puppet of one of the bigger corporations, used for what they can't touch. It would explain a lot."

"What if Quincy really is a dragon?" Daily asked.

"A dragon?" Nene looked up, shifting her gaze between the two men.

"If he really is a dragon that changes things," Leon told them. "As I see it no Dragon is going to be anyone's puppet, unless the puppet master is incredibly powerful, and that thought scares me."

Daily nodded at that. Nene turned her attention back to the computer. She knew a little about Genom, but it seemed a lot had been left unsaid.

"No matter who or what Quincy is, over the last month there has been a lot of quiet talk, rumours that something was up at Genom. Then last week, two professors at the Imperial University, both Shamans I think," Leon looked up at Daily who nodded, "were murdered. The prevailing rumour is that Genom was behind it.

"All things considered, it sounds like Genom is getting ready to make a move."

Nene nodded as she turned her full attention back to the computer. It did not take too long to get to Genom's site, a little more time to slip through the firewall, but Nene found a hole she could exploit. Once inside the first layer of defence she went to work, taking a look around. After several seconds she frowned.

"Something is wrong here," Nene said, reaching out to the touch sensitive screen, tapping it, her other hand on the half-board.

"What?" Leon asked.

"The set up, the defence programs," Nene fingers were moving faster over the half-board, she was stabbing at the screen rapidly. "It's hidden, but it is all too good." She shook her head. "This is the sort of stuff you'd expect to see protecting the core of a Triple A MegaCorp."

"Expensive?" Daily asked.

"Very." She continued working, but was backing out of the system, making sure nothing got a trace on her. "And some of this stuff looks unique."

"Unique?" Leon moved to look over her shoulder.

"Made by Genom, I would assume."

Leon looked over at Daily. "Not the kind of work you'd expect from a magical research company."

"How well is this hidden?" Daily asked Nene.

"Pretty good, but if you know what you are looking for you can spot it."

"Looks like they are less worried about being discrete," he told Leon.

Leon nodded. "Probably going to get messy eventually."

Nene had backed far enough out of the system that she could leave her programs to cover her trail. She looked over at Leon. "What do you mean?"

"None of the corps like the idea of someone else getting bigger. Genom will probably become the target of runs. If Genom is hiding power, like we suspect, we could end up with another corp war on our hands."

"And we just got finished with that business with Fuchi," Daily said, shaking his head.

"Thanks Nene-chan," Leon said. "And forget about all this."

"Right."

"Let's go Daily." Leon started towards the door.

"Where?"

"We'll talk to some of our friends, see what they can tell us."

Daily nodded and followed after Leon. A moment later they were gone, and Nene was left by herself.

Nene made sure that her trail was clean and then began to delete her programs from the computer. She wondered if another corp war was going to start. The last one had been rather unpleasant, though profitable.

-

Sylia took a handkerchief from her purse and used it to wipe the seat of the stool before she sat. Cat was fastidious. She then wiped at the bar counter, just to be sure. The bartender watched her, not saying anything until Sylia took a seat.

"Can I get you anything?" the woman asked.

"Just a coffee," Sylia told her.

She nodded as she went to pour Sylia's coffee.

Sylia looked around the bar, not being too obvious about it. There were not many people there. Two men wearing knock off Armani suits-she could easily pick out fakes-sat near a back table, speaking in hushed tones. Minor level company men, working on something or another, not anything that Sylia was concerned with.

The woman sitting near the window attracted and held Sylia's attention. The woman was a body sculpt job, a cat girl. The cat ears sat on top of her head, her cyber eyes were feline, and a tail lashed, jerkily, behind her. Sylia had heard that cyber tails were something of a troublesome modification.

She was of two minds about the woman. Part of her felt a little insulted over the fact that Cat was being used by a woman who was likely a prostitute. At the same she felt a little amused by it. Cat would be flattered and Cat did like to be flattered.

Her thoughts on the cat girl were interrupted by Fargo's entrance into the bar. He crossed the room and took a seat beside her. At almost the same instance the bartender placed a cup of coffee in front of Sylia.

"A scotch and soda," Fargo said to the woman. Fargo was a man of about average height, average weight, well, a lot about him was average. His dark blonde hair was unkempt, his eyes blue. Sylia knew that his eyes were cybernetic, though only from examining his aura. He wore a grey suit that was as average as any suit could be. He was an older man, and some of that showed on his face. He was not handsome, but he had a certain confidence and charisma. Some people might find that to be attractive.

Sylia did not.

"So, what is it?" Sylia examined her coffee cup, making sure it was clean.

"Just a little work."

"Not terribly interested." That was true. Sylia had been very busy during and immediately after the collapse of Fuchi. She did not really need to work any jobs.

"Maybe. We should continue in private."

The bartender came and placed Fargo's drink in front of him. He picked it up and got up from his stool. Sylia left her coffee behind and stood as well. Fargo led her into a small, private room beside the bar. He locked the door and then removed a bug scanner from his pocket.

As he swept the room for listening devices, probably to convince Sylia that the room was clean, Sylia examined the room in her own way. She cast a simple spell that would allow her to pick up any listening devices. She discovered none.

Fargo held the scanner up towards Sylia so she could see the negative result. "We can talk."

Sylia nodded as she used her handkerchief to wipe the seat of a chair before sitting down. "So, what is this job that you think is so important?"

Fargo leaned up against the wall. "Simple job. Recon and report back."

"The target?"

"An archaeological dig near Komaga-take Mountain, the one in Akita prefecture. A day ago the place was put under something of a lock down. The company running the dig is Genom. The company interested in it is Mitsuhama, I think."

"You think?"

"The contact was pretty good at keeping his background fuzzed. I'm about ninety-nine percent certain he was with Mitsuhama. This is what I got." He took a data cartridge from his jacket and tossed it to Sylia.

Sylia reached up and caught the cartridge. "Why would Mitsuhama be interested in Genom."

"Because Genom is starting to throw around more weight than a company its size should be able to. That has got some people worried."

Sylia looked at the cartridge in her hand for several seconds. "How much are they offering?"

"Thirty thousand nuyen."

Sylia got to her feet and tossed the cartridge back to Fargo. "Not interested." That was a lie, she was quite interested for a number of reasons, but she knew that Fargo was holding back on her.

Fargo caught the cartridge. "I might be able to get some more," he said a little too quickly.

"How much more?"

"Say, sixty thousand nuyen."

Sylia smiled. She did not mind that Fargo tried to keep some of the fee back. Usually he never tried for so much, but it gave Sylia an idea of how easy he thought the job would be, and how much Mitsuhama wanted the information. "I want basic expenses covered as well."

"We can do that."

"When do they want it done?"

"Within in two days."

Sylia nodded. "I will need the standard package for this."

"It'll be ready."

Sylia walked over to Fargo and took the data cartridge from his hand. "I'll look this over and get back to you in about three hours to give you some details."

"Gotcha."

She put the cartridge into her purse and then opened the door. "Good day," she said as she left the room and Fargo behind.

-

Nene did not like coming to Ueno at night. The jungle within the city, rumoured to be full of paranormal animals that had once been normal animals in the zoo, disturbed her. She also did not like having the cancel out on the dinner with Naoko and the others, especially after working so hard to get caught up on her paperwork. Still, when Sylia called her, Nene made time for her.

Once she was in Sylia's building she felt much better. The jungle was shut out, as were the imagined and real threats. She found Sylia up on the sixth floor with Mackie.

"I'm here," she called to Sylia as she stepped out of the elevator.

Sylia looked over at Nene. "Good to see you. I need some information traced."

Nene took the courier bag from off her back as she walked into the room. "Hey Mackie," she said to Sylia's younger brother.

"Hey Nene," Mackie said from where he was working on his computer. "I almost got things set up." Mackie looked a little like his sister. They had the same coloured hair and eyes. Nene was fairly certain that his slight resemblance to Sylia would fade somewhat as he got older.

"Good," Nene said as she put the courier bag on the computer desk. "What do you need me to trace?" she asked Sylia.

Sylia held up a data cartridge. "I want you to check out the details on this. I also need you to run the system of the Genom Company."

"Genom?" Nene said, surprise in her tone.

"Is there a problem with that"
Nene shook her head. "It's just that Leon asked me to take a look at them today." She reached out and took the cartridge from her.

"Really?" Sylia looked thoughtful. "Very interesting. I take it that Genom's increased activities have interested him?"

"That, and he suspects that Genom might have had something to do with the murder of two shamans at the Imperial University."

"I heard about that," Mackie said. "Owl and Raven. It was big on the news nets for a day or two." He looked at Sylia. "Anyone you knew Sis?"

Sylia shook her head.

"So we're going to be doing something involving Genom?"

"A recon mission, up in Akita."

"Is there a chance I might get some skiing in?" Nene asked hopefully.

Sylia shook her head. "This is going to be a very fast mission."

Nene nodded as she released the catches on the bag and opened it up. Within the bag, cradled by foam packing, was Nene's deck. The casing was made of dull-grey, impact resistant plastic. There were no maker marks on it at all, though on the bottom, revealed as Nene removed it, was a sticker. The sticker was of an anime style cat girl, bearing the legend, 'When the Going gets Tough, The Tough get Cute.'

"I'll run it quiet," Nene said as she placed her finger against the scanner on the deck. "No one will know I was in the area."

"Good," Sylia told her. "I also need to set Mackie up with some solid false ID."

"Usual deal?"

"We'll need something with VTOL capabilities. I think I know the place where we can grab one without anyone noticing," Mackie told her.

"It's going to be a busy night." Nene pulled some leads from the courier bag.

"I have everything set up for you." Mackie moved away from his computer. "I've fuzzed the LTG, and the jack point will appear to be outside of Ueno."

"Which will be useful," Nene said with a smile. "Assuming the very off chance that I screw up."

"Cat appreciates confidence, but one must be careful about arrogance," Sylia warned Nene.

Nene's smiled faded slightly as she nodded. She had always felt a certain attraction to things feline, as the sticker on her deck attested. Sylia had often told her that Cat might indeed be interested in her, but that Nene would have to be careful. It was easy to piss Cat off.

Nene connected her deck to Mackie's computer and then plugged a lead into datajack behind her ear. She slotted the data cartridge into place, pushing it gently until it clicked. Nene dropped down into the chair and then closed her eyes. The familiar rush washed over her as she slid into the matrix.

Standing in the data plane was a persona of a woman who looked a little like Nene. Her hair was orange, striped with back, and the striping patterns seemed to cover her whole body. Her fingers ended in dangerous looking claws, and she was balanced on the toes of oddly jointed legs.

The persona icon sniffed at the air as sensor programs were run, then she was off and running. It was time to hunt.

-

Priss was seated at the bar of the empty Live House. In front of her a nearly empty glass of whisky rested on top of the bar. Around her the cleaning staff worked to put the club, Hot Legs, into order. The owner, a short, nearly bald man, gave Priss the thumbs-up sign from where he was on the other side of the club. Priss nodded to him, but remained where she was.

It had been a good night, lots of energy from the audience, lots of energy from the band. It had all come together in a wonderful way. It was great to look at normally, but amazing when assensed, looked at, astrally. Knowing that she had a major part in creating that scene made it even better.

She picked up her glass from the bar and lazily swirled the remaining liquid. The almost melted ice cubes hit the sides of the glass resulting in a dull 'clunking' sound. After a moment she raised the glass to her lips and finished of the watered down whisky that remained.

After placing the glass on the bar she turned about, looking over the club again. The bright lights robbed the place of much of the wonder it had when it was full of people, but only when looked at normally. Looking at it astrally showed her a rainbow of emotions, each one a residue from the past.

It was while she was looking around she spotted a familiar aura. Priss shifted her perceptions back to the real world and looked towards the newcomer. He was tall, and heavily built, though he walked in a hunched up manner, with a slight stoop. Priss knew he did so to try to disguise some of his size. The long coat and the hat were another part of his disguise.

Priss knew racism herself, being a metahuman in Japan, but as an elf she was considered better. The orc approaching her was not so fortunate. A fearsome appearance and a rather unfortunate history-with tales of goblins and such that had filled fantasy literature of the previous century and into the new one-made him a target for stupid people.

"Heya Priss," he said, mumbling around the tusks in his mouth. He straightened up slightly, letting Priss see under the shadow of his hat. He was not an attractive man, probably even by orc standards, but there was something about his brown eyes that some might consider pleasing. His skin was a dark gold, as if he had recently got a tan.

"Evening Yube," Priss replied.

"Heard some of your earlier set. You're great."

"Thanks," Priss said, keeping her tone neutral.

"I thought I'd come by and tell you that Brandine died, she was murdered."

Priss said nothing for a few seconds. She remembered Brandine, a dwarf who played the taiko drums. She had been quite skilled when it came to the drums-Priss had seen a few of her performances. She knew why Yube had come to her. Priss had picked up a reputation of a crusader for metahuman rights, not that she was. She just never backed down and always stood up for herself. She let people assume what they would.

"How?" she asked.

"Some bastards from Alamos 20,000, or some other racists skags. They cut her throat and cut out her heart!" His voice had risen and he had straightened to his full height. Several members of the cleaning staff were giving him worried looks.

Priss did not really notice. The description of Brandine's heart being cut out had caught Priss' full attention. "What did the police say?" Priss asked softly.

"The police?" Yube looked at her. "Do you think the police really care about some dwarf get'n killed?"

Priss thought there might be some that would, but she did not say that. "Do you know where it happened?"

He shook his head. "Heard something about it being in or around Shinagawa or Ikebukuro, but don't know for sure."

"Do you have any plans?" Priss knew that Yube had come looking for some help.

He nodded. "If we find who did it, we're going to take care of things," he said in a soft tone. "Think you might be interested in giving us a hand."

"If you're sure you got the right people, let me know."

He smiled as he nodded again. "Thanks."

Not long after Yube left, once again slouching over as he walked out. Priss asked the bartender to get her a coffee as she thought about what Yube had said. Cutting out the heart was a little much for even Alamos. They tended to simply kill metahumans, and as many as they could.

Removing the heart was a powerful statement, and one that could be used to great effect in magic. It was quite possible that it was some twisted, serial killer with a hate on for metas, and Priss hoped it was something simple like that. Magic involving sacrifices always worried her.

She was still thinking about that half an hour later when she exited the club and walked towards her bike.

"Asagiri-sama," she heard someone say from behind her. The voice sounded timid, tinged with excitement.

So caught up in her thoughts, Priss had not noticed the person until he had spoken. She turned to see a thin teenager. He looked like most of the kids his age, except for his ears. He had had an ear job done, giving him points. Not the best job Priss could recall seeing, but not the worse.

Looking at the young man she had to resist the urge to shake her head. She never cared much for the elf-posers, for many reasons. In fact, she was almost certain that she preferred the racists. They were a sad bunch of course, but the posers were sadder. The kid standing in front of her obviously thought that being an elf was the best thing that could happen to him. That it would solve all his problems. Priss knew people like that could never be happy.

"Yeah?" Priss asked, keeping her tone neutral.

He looked a little nervous, as if he was not certain what he should say. "You shouldn't be here," he finally blurted out.

"Pardon?" Priss asked him.

"What are you doing in this city?" he asked, sounding as if he was begging. "Why aren't you where you're supposed to be. You should go to Tir Tairngire, or Tir na Nóg, it is the best place for you."

Priss nearly laughed. It was almost the exact same thing the racists had said to her the day before. "This is my home," she simply told him.

He shook his head angrily. "No! This city is dead. It is all wrong for you. The music you play is all wrong." He looked like he was near crying. "I hate this city, I pray that I become a real elf so that I can leave."

"I'm not about to live my life according to your dreams," she told him, then turned and walked away.

"Don't walk away from me!" he yelled at her back. "You have to listen to me!"

Priss was considering turning and facing the kid. She thought it was likely that she would have to do it sometime. He had all the signs of a potential stalker. Before she made up her mind she heard a dull thump, a cry of pain and surprise, and the sound of something hitting the ground.

She turned. The poser was lying on the ground. He moaned softly. Behind him was a tall man, with short brown hair. The man looked up at Priss-she thought he looked familiar-and smiled, then shifted his gaze back down to the kid lying on the ground.

He reached down and picked up the kid by his jacket, yanking him to his feet. He gave him a hard shake. "You shouldn't be so rude to people," he said, giving the kid another shake. "Now get the hell out of here before I hurt you." He pushed the kid away from him.

The poser stumbled away, and almost fell. Once he got his feet under him he glared angrily at the man. Priss could not see, but she was certain that there were tears in his eyes. Then he turned and ran off into the darkness.

The man watched him go, and then turned back to Priss. "You're Priss, aren't you," he said, smiling broadly as he approached her.

As he got closer Priss could see more of him. His eyes were blue, and he was handsome enough. He was dressed well, in a pair of new jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket. She was certain that she had seen him before, but could not remember from where. "You didn't need to hit that kid," she told him.

The man looked a little surprised. "I was just trying to help," he said, sounding a little disappointed. He reached into his jacket pocket. "My name is Leon McNichol," he said as he took a slim wallet from his pocket. "I'm with the CIU." Leon opened the wallet and showed her his ID. "You could say that I was just doing my job back there."

Priss looked at the ID for a moment, then she looked up at Leon. "I don't like cops," she told him.

Again his confident look switched to one of surprise. "I guess a lot of people feel that way," he said after a moment, his confident look back. "We sometimes get a lot of bad press, especially the CIU."

Priss turned away from him and began walking towards her bike. She could hear the sound of Leon's footfalls as he followed.

"I'm a real big fan. I try to come to all your shows."

Suddenly Priss knew why he looked so familiar. She had often seen him, glimpses of him really, in the crowds while she performed. "Thanks," Priss said simply, not turning to look at him.

Leon was obviously not deterred. "Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to get something to eat? I know a small place nearby, they make a good burger. It's mostly soy of course, but they get the texture and taste perfect."

Priss had reached her bike and unlocked the helmet from the seat. She swung her leg over the bike so she was straddling it. She looked at Leon. "I don't eat meat, and I don't care for anything that tastes like it." She put her helmet on.

"Yeah, of course," Leon said. "Well, there is a ramen place close by. You can get a vegetable bowl there," he offered.

"I'm not hungry," Priss told him, then she started the bike up.

"Maybe next time," Leon nearly yelled to be heard over the sound of the bike's engine.

Priss did not answer. She shifted the bike off its stand, kicked the stand back with her heel, and then toed it into first gear.

"What about it?" Leon yelled again.

Priss released the clutch and took off with a slight screech of the rear tire. In her side view mirror she could see Leon calling after her. She could not hear him, but he did not look angry. He looked hopeful. She shifted her perception to the astral, to see his aura. That looked hopeful as well.

Sighing softly, Priss returned her full attention to the road and the real world. She was fairly certain that Leon was harmless, but she was just as certain that he was going to be annoying.

-

January 17

"Catch him!" Irene called out. She was running along behind Linna, trying to keep up.

"I will," Linna called out, picking up speed. Up ahead of her was a high wall that their quarry had gone around. Linna leapt at the wall, tips of her sneakers giving her some purchase. It looked almost as if she ran up the wall, but that was not quite true, she just climbed it really fast.

At the top, a little more than five meters above the ground, she vaulted it, and dropped to the street on the other side. She hit the ground and rolled, kicking off at a sprint, moving towards a doorway. The man she was chasing came out a few seconds later. He was looking back the way he had come, as if he was certain that was where any danger lay.

Linna hit him on the run, her fist and its aluminium reinforced bones slamming into shoulder. She would have hit him in the face, but Irene needed him alive and conscious. The man was knocked hard to the side, he hit the door jam, bounced off of it and then fell to the ground.

She moved in and kicked him hard as he was fumbling under his jacket for something. She followed that up with another kick, then dropped her knee into his stomach. Not too hard, but hard enough to drive the breath from his lungs.

Satisfied that he was sufficiently pacified, for the moment at least, she quickly searched him, removing a small pistol from within his jacket, as well as a knife and his cel phone. She kept a good watch on him as she waited.

Irene came running out the door almost a minute later, breathing heavily. "I see," she gasped, "that you got him." She took another few deep breaths. "Did you leave him alive?"

"He's fine," Linna assured her.

Irene walked over to the man and knelt down beside him. "I want you to tell me what you know about Sekitan's likely response to the Genjis' recent attack. If you don't tell me then my friend will beat you up some more."

For a time the man said nothing, mostly because he was still trying to draw air back into his lungs. Finally he managed to ask, "What do you want to know?" There was fear in his tone.

As Irene began what passed for an interview, Linna moved back, but watched carefully. Usually at that point the interviewee was not willing to try anything, but she kept a watch, and made sure that the man could see her.

The talk had been going on for several minutes, Irene had moved onto the part where she was offering money, when Linna's cel phone began to vibrate. She reached into her jacket and removed the handset unit. Flipping the cover off, she put it to her ear.

It was a recorded message that informed Linna that several books she wanted were in. She took note of the information and then flipped the cover back over the phone.

She returned the phone to her pocket and waited for Irene to finish.

-

Priss swept the stone tiles of the shrine, the straw broom picking up bits of dirt, dry leaf matter and the occasional bit of trash that had blown over the walls. She was not really thinking about what she was doing. She was not really thinking about much. In a way she was meditating.

Around her were a number of other Miko, also cleaning up the shrine. Priss did not consider herself one of them, nor did anyone else-she never wore the traditional clothing of the Miko for one thing-but she lived there. Since she lived there she was willing to take part in the upkeep of the shrine: Whether that was magical aid, or sweeping the grounds.

Her thoughts, that had been drifting unformed, suddenly focused on the death of Brandine. Did it mean anything that Brandine had been a metahuman? Maybe it had just been because no one was likely to care that much if a dwarf were killed?

There were too many unknowns. She was going to have to find out more. The best place to start would be where Brandine had been killed. That would mean calling in a favour or two, but Priss would be willing to do so.

Priss put Brandine out of her head. It was something she would have to come back to later. She settled back into the act of sweeping, once again not thinking of anything. She crossed the grounds, sweeping a growing pile of dust and other things towards the wall. She was brought out of her no-mind state of sweeping by the chime of her cel phone.

She stopped sweeping and reached into her pants' pocket, removing her phone. She clipped it to her ear, adjusting the flexible boom mike so it was in front of her mouth. "Pick up," she said.

There was a click, and then Priss heard a recorded message telling her that several pieces of music she had ordered were in. She listened as the message repeated, taking note of several things, and then said, "Hang up."

Priss pulled the phone from her ear and then put it back in her pocket. For a moment she just stood there, enjoying the winter sunlight, the slight warmth it brought with it. After a minute or two she grasped the brooms shaft again and once more resumed sweeping.

-

Sylia looked around Shinjuku station, taking a moment to get her bearings. The station was huge, servicing trains, monorails, and busses, as well as helicopters and dirigibles. The number of people who passed through the station is a single day was simply staggering. It all worked well, however. After several seconds Sylia set off through the crowd.

On the east side of the station were a block of lockers. Sylia reached into her purse and removed two keys. She looked at the number of the nearest locker, then made her way to the number on the first key. The first one, the largest size of the lockers, held a large suitcase. Fortunately it was built with a gyro-stabilized carriage and was easy to pull along behind her.

The second locker was a smaller one. Inside it was a small bag, only a little bigger than her purse. Sylia put it over her shoulder and then set of, pulling the suitcase behind her, towards the nearest exit.

-

The apartment building was located near the old Tokyo Bay Bridge. It was full of small, single person units, each one slotted into a steel framework. It was a design that allowed individual units to be removed from the whole, or placed into it. It also offered greater protection against fire and other disasters.
Sylia had arrived at the apartment a little after Linna, which was fortunate as far as she was concerned. Linna was able to help her carry the larger of the suitcases into a unit on the third level. Nene showed up next, Priss was the last, though just on time.

Soon all four were seated in the apartment's main room, its only room really. Sylia gave everyone a few minutes to exchange greetings, and then started the meeting.

"We have been hired for a recon job," she told them. "It should be a fairly simple run. We go in, collect some data and then leave. Hopefully there will be no reason for it to get loud." Sylia waited a moment to see if any of the others would ask any questions. "We've been hired by Mitsuhama. The target of the run is an archaeological dig up north. The dig is run by Genom."

"Are you sure that Mitsuhama is hiring us?" Linna asked.

Sylia nodded. "Fargo seemed fairly certain that the man who contacted him was from Mitsuhama. Nene backed that up."

"Why?" Priss asked.

Sylia reached for the small bag she had taken from the locker in Shinjuku. She opened it up and removed several sheets of paper, and then looked through them. "This is a satellite photo of a site north of Mount Komaga-take, the one in Akita. The site is roughly halfway between the peak of the mountain and the hot springs at Nyuutou. It was taken last year."

The picture showed an unremarkable piece of ground, covered in pine trees, with a few open spaces that showed water or rough ground.

"This picture was taken last month."

The next picture showed the same area, but a space, four hundred meters across according to the notation on the photo, had been cleared of trees. It was just possible to make out the people in the area, and a few large vehicles.

"Two weeks ago."

The site was busier, with even more heavy vehicles and more people. There was a helicopter off to the side. About half of the area had been excavated.

"This picture was taken on the 12th of this month. Just so you know, one of Mitsuhama's communications satellites altered it course three weeks ago. That took it over this site once every sixteen hours."

Even more of the ground had been excavated, and one area was receiving a great deal of attention. Priss leaned in close and looked at the area. She put her finger on it. "A tomb?"

"Keyhole tomb, Kofun era most likely," Sylia told Priss. "It may be one of the biggest in the country." She put another photo on the table. "This was taken on the fourteenth."

The photo now clearly showed the keyhole shape of the tomb. Most of the heavy, earthmoving equipment had been moved away from the area. There was something being built around the tomb.

"The fifteenth."

It was obvious what had been built. A large dome now covered the site.

Sylia tossed two more photos onto the table. "The sixteenth and today, today's photo is about six hours old. They show the dome, and some of the activity going on around the tomb. Genom sealed the area off, with permission from the prefectural government and the Bureau of Archeology and Antiquities. They threw around a lot of weight and money to do that."

"Chang-san is looking into this," Linna said. "Well, not this," she amended, "but Genom."

Sylia took note of that, but did not say anything about it. "A number of people are interested in what Genom is up to. While I don't think that we will have to worry about it, it is not impossible that we could run into another team on the same type of run we are. Something to keep in mind, if we take the job."

"What does it pay?" Linna asked.

"Sixty thousand nuyen. After some basic expenses, I suspect that we will each get ten thousand each."

"Not bad for a couple hours of work," Priss said. "Any idea why they came t'us?"

"Genom is well known for its magical research. Our team has been known to handle high magical threats."

"How're we getting there?" Linna asked.

"Mackie has arranged that," Nene answered. "He's got a helicopter."

Sylia looked between Priss and Linna. "Are you two interested?"

Priss nodded. "Yes."

"Well, even though I'm not actually interested per se, I do need money, so I'm in."

"Good." Sylia removed several more pages from the bag, including photographs of some of the personnel involved. "This is what I was planning..."

-

The helicopter, A Hughes Wk 2, put down on a helipad near the bridge. The four women ran to it, Linna pulling the large suitcase behind her. Priss and Nene each carried two gym bags. They climbed into the cargo section and Sylia pulled the sliding door closed.

In the cockpit section Mackie, who was plugged directly into the aircraft, brought the engine revolutions up and altered the angle of the rotors, all with a thought. The helicopter lifted off the ground, rapidly climbed to a height of four hundred meters, then set off along the coast, heading north at high speed.

In the rear section bags were unpacked. The gym bags contained clothing, dark grey, military style clothing as well as lightweight armour jackets. The large suitcase was opened to reveal weapons. Packed neatly within were three submachine-guns, seven heavy, automatic Predator pistols, a large revolver, one sawed off shotgun, a sliver gun, and an assault rifle. It was a lot of weaponry that hopefully would not be needed.

Nene hung a simple screen up between the rear section and the pilot section for some privacy. The four of them removed the clothing they had been wearing and then dressed in the items they had brought along.

Sylia pulled a mask over her face, and then pushed it up so it was just around her forehead. She took one of the automatic pistols and several magazines as well as one of the SMGs. Priss took an automatic and the revolver, as well as several speed loaders and a spare magazine for the pistol. She also took an SMG as well. Nene grabbed the sliver gun. One of the pistols would be left for Mackie and Linna took the rest of the weapons and ammunition.

After that they simply sat back and waited until they reached Akita. Linna and Priss, well versed in that sort of thing, slept. Nene looked over her deck, running diagnostic programs and double-checking all her utilities. Sylia looked over all the data that Fargo had sent her, making sure that there was nothing else she needed to know.

-

When the helicopter reached the coast of Iwate Nene went to work. She sliced her way into the air traffic control system and removed the initial flight plan that Mackie had filed-a run up to Hokkaido-and replaced it with one that would allow them to fly across Iwate to Akita.

When they reached the prefectural border between Akita and Iwate Nene again swapped flight plans about. As a result the helicopter's disappearance from the radar, thanks to Mackie's dropping the copter low to the ground, went unnoticed.

Sylia woke Priss and Linna up as the helicopter approached Mount Komaga-take. The team quickly got ready, pulling on their armoured jackets and making sure their weapons were stored properly. While there were several places to land the helicopter near the dig, they were all unacceptable as they were too close. Since Sylia did not want to hike in over a long distance, they were left with one option.

Under Mackie's deft control, the helicopter hovered a few meters above the treetops. The door to the cargo area slid open and two lines were thrown out. Linna and Priss rappelled down the lines first. Once they touched the ground they released from their harnesses and moved out to make sure the area was secure.

Nene and Sylia followed, sliding down twenty meters of rope to the forest floor. Once they were down Mackie released the lines and moved the helicopter off. Sylia listened to the aircraft moving away, the Doppler effect making the sound of the rotors drop in pitch. He would land the helicopter some distance away and refuel. Then he would wait for the call to come and pick them up.

Nene was already gathering up the harnesses and line. Sylia moved to help her and once they had everything gathered up they hid them, sinking them in a nearby stream.

Linna and Priss returned and reported that everything was all right, no sign of physical or magical security in the immediate area. Sylia had them form up, putting Linna on point, and they moved off. There were a number of hiking trails that wound around the mountain and the four quickly made their way to one. Once on the open path they set of at an easily maintained jog.

It took them almost half an hour to reach the outskirts of the dig. The area was surrounded by chain-link fence, raised on concrete blocks. It was not much of a barrier, though it was not supposed to be. It was just something to keep most people out of the area. Those who went beyond would be dealt with by more effective security.

Once they were over the fence Sylia reached into her jacket pocket and removed a loop of string. While the others waited patiently, she began to weave the string between her fingers, forming shapes. Ayatori, Cat's cradle. Sometimes she felt ridiculous for using it as a centring skill, but it worked well, and it did feel right.

After several seconds she cast a powerful illusion spell, cloaking all four of them in invisibility. Again she wove the string into more shapes, and then cast another spell that would make their passage silent. She put the string back in her pocket and looked at the others-they could of course see each other as they were together in the field of the spell-and indicated that they should move on.

It was Priss who then took the lead. It was certain that Genom would include magical defences within the perimeter, so Priss was the best choice.

Watcher spirits and a few patrolling elementals were some of the things they had to avoid. At one point they found themselves in the middle of several geese. It was low tech, but very effective, and they had to move carefully through the birds to avoid the noise the geese would make if disturbed.

There was also physical security. While they were invisible to the cameras and other scanning devices, they had to watch out for trip wires and the like. Priss had learned a few tricks for spotting those. The people who set them usually left emotional traces on the devices. It was something Priss could use to spot them.

It took almost thirty minutes to cross two hundred meters of ground. They were forced to move slow, use dead ground to avoid being spotted-they were invisible and inaudible, but their auras would still be visible to astral assencing-and often they had to wait for a patrol to go by.

They crouched near the small security building, a prefab shack that had been put up to house the monitoring stations.

Priss looked at the building for several seconds then looked back to Sylia and gave her a thumbs up. Sylia nodded and signalled for Priss to move forward. Priss crawled up close to the building, setting herself just under a window. She looked back at Sylia, who had dropped both of the spells she had been maintaining, and waited for the go sign. When Sylia gave it, Priss stood quickly.

The four people in the shack had a moment to look surprised before Priss hit them with a powerful stun ball spell. The four people dropped to the floor a moment later, unconscious. Priss looked over to where Sylia and the others waited, she nodded to them to indicate that everything was clear.

Nene opened the door, bypassing the security system. Linna went in first to sweep the area, and to put tranq patches on the people inside, just to make sure they stayed unconscious. Nene moved in after her and took a seat at one of the consoles. Priss remained outside on watch as Sylia entered to take stock of the situation.

"How does it look?" Sylia asked Nene.

Nene looked up from the console. "Good. I can keep the system quiet from here and run over-watch."

Sylia looked at her watch. "You have at least twenty minutes before anyone comes by here."

"This isn't a good place to get caught," Linna warned Nene as she moved one of the unconscious bodies into a chair. "There's no way out, and the walls offer very little in the way of protection."

Nene nodded. "I know, but I have control of the security system, including the sentry guns, from here. I'll be all right."

"Good point," Linna said as she adjusted the man in the chair, trying to make him look natural.

"What can you give me on the security layout?" Sylia asked Nene.

"Give me a minute or two." Nene plugged herself into the system and looked it over. "Cameras mostly, the lethal stuff was located between the inner perimeter and the outer. I can keep you undetected form here."

"We'll keep in touch with you. Call signs only."

"Right."

"Ready to go?" Sylia asked Linna.

Linna was using a roll of duct tape, making an unconscious woman stand up. "Just a second." She wrapped a loop of tape under the woman's chin, making sure her head would stay up. "It's going to hurt to remove this stuff later," Linna said softly, noting the tape in the woman's hair. She stepped back from the woman and then looked at Sylia "Okay, let's go."

Outside Priss was waiting for them. "It's still quiet out here," she told them.

Sylia keyed her earpiece comlink. "Daisy, this is Rose, radio check, over."

"Rose, this is Daisy, you're coming in clear, over." Nene's voice sounded tinny over the radio.

"Good. Rose out." Sylia looked at Linna and Priss and indicated that they should move forward.

The three of them moved stealthily across the ground, making their way to the dome that covered the site. Nene kept on the comlink, telling them what part of the security they were approaching and how to deal with it. Most of the time Nene just shut the system down while they passed, other times she advised them to avoid it.

In short order they reached the side of the dome. It was a large structure, a steel frame, covered with reinforced nylon sheeting. Flaps were laid on the ground, sealing off the dome. There were several doors of various sizes around the structure, but they were not the best entry point for Sylia and the others.

"Under these?" Linna asked softly, putting her foot on the flap.

Sylia shook her head. "The light from inside will leak out. We are going to have to find a place with cover."

They circled the outside of the dome until they found an area that was partially obscured by a slight rise. Linna went in first, sliding under the flap, moving slowly so as to keep any possible leaks of light as small as possible.

Sylia followed next, Priss brought up the rear. The three of them found cover behind a nearby earthmover.

The area under the dome showed more excavation than the last picture they had seen. The tomb was almost completely uncovered, showing clearly the keyhole shape. It looked as if most of the heavy work was done. There were only a few people there, maybe twenty.

Sylia handed a micro-camcorder to Priss. Priss took it, cloaked herself with an invisibility spell, and moved off to get some closer views. Linna was using the sight from her assault rifle to examine the area, recording it all via the cameras in her cyber-eyes. Sylia took a pair of binoculars from within her jacket and began to scan the site.

There were a few security people wandering about, but the majority of the people there looked to be archaeologists, or their assistants. They moved around the burial mound, recording information, taking samples, doing a little digging in the soil. There were also a small group of people standing on top of the mound. Sylia's binoculars did not have a good enough zoom function for her to get a good look at them.

"Take a look at those people on mound," Sylia told Linna.

Linna shifted the sight around, using the smart link to zoom in on what Sylia wanted. "Three men, one woman," she said softly. "One of them looks like Doctor Fujiwara. I think the woman is Doctor Valentine."

"What are they doing?"

"Looks like something on the ground interests them, no idea what it is. They may not be sure either."

"Anything else?"

"No, nothing obvious."

Sylia scanned around with her binoculars, wondering if there was anything else of value. From the place she and Linna occupied there was little to see. She had to hope that Priss would get close enough to get some information of value. She was still looking around when Nene called her.

"Rose, this is Daisy, something is up, over."

"What is it?" Sylia asked.

"Three big helicopters just put down on the east side. Security troops are getting out of them, over."

"Something to do with us? Over."

"I doubt it. They are all heading towards the dome, though, and they are heavily armed, over"

Sylia looked around. They were almost directly opposite to the eastern side of the dome. There were no nearby entrances; Sylia thought it would be safe to stay, for time. "Orchid, this is Rose, did you hear Daisy's report? Over."

"I heard it," Priss' voice sounded in Sylia's earpiece. "I'm at a good place. I think I can stay here, over."

"Understood. Hold position, but get ready to move. Rose out." Sylia brought the binoculars back to her eyes.

-

The Genom security forces moved quickly to the dome. They wore security armour and carried assault rifles. A few were also armed with light machineguns and other support weaponry. Among them Brian J. Mason walked. He was wearing a suit with a long coat that covered it.

As he entered the dome he could see the security people rounding up the archaeologists and their assistants. Brian ignored them and continued to the tomb. Standing near the top of a set of stairs, which had been erected on the side of the tomb, was Doctor Fujiwara.

"Mr. Mason!" the doctor called. "What is happening? What is the meaning of this?"

Brain started up the stairs. "Professor Fujiwara, there is a problem. This area has become dangerous. You and your people will have to leave until we have secured the area."

"What? What do you mean by dangerous?"

"It is difficult to explain," Mason continued, climbing the stairs, "but you'll have to trust me. If you stay here I cannot guarantee your safety." He wondered of the doctor would accept his words and leave. It would be best for all involved.

"Well, you are going to have to explain it Mr. Mason. While I accept that your company is paying for this, we had an agreement that you would not interfere with my work!"

Brian reached the top of the stairs. He looked about, taking note of the other three people on the tomb with Fujiwara. "Please," he said, "I have to ask that all of you leave the area. There is a danger here."

"What kind of danger!" Doctor Fujiwara asked once again. "Explain it!"

Mason sighed. "I do not have time to explain. I will tell you that there is a threat here, that if you do not leave soon your lives may be in danger." He walked over to an area that had been recently excavated. "I suggest you leave now."

"I want to..."

"Professor Fujiwara, again I suggest that you leave now," Mason interrupted whatever else he had been about to say. "Stay and you take your life into your own hands. Neither I nor Genom will be responsible for what happens."

Fujiwara looked doubtful, but the other three seemed worried. "We'll be allowed back on site, once the crisis is over?" Doctor Valentine asked.

Brian looked down at the bronze plate at his feet. "Yes Dr. Valentine, you will be allowed back on site once the danger has been dealt with."

"I think we should leave," Valentine said to Fujiwara.

"You can go!" Doctor Fujiwara snapped at Valentine. "I'm going to stay here."

"As you wish," Brian said as he knelt down and placed his hand on the bronze.

Several of the security people came up the stairs, ready to escort Doctor Valentine and the other two out of the area. One of them approached Doctor Fujiwara.

"I'm not going!" Doctor Fujiwara told the armoured figure.

Brian looked up at the security officer and nodded. "Doctor Fujiwara has decided to stay. Allow him to do so." He then turned his full attention back to the bronze plate.

It was a perfect circle, the edges rounded and thick. There were characters inscribed on the metal, looking like a mixture of ancient Chinese and Korean as well as a suggestion of other characters. He traced his fingers over the lines of one of them.

Something deep within the metal resonated with Brian. He smiled slightly, welcoming the feeling.

-

Nene watched what was happening around her. Someone had called the security building requesting a situation report. Nene had given one; whoever was on the other end had not seemed bothered by her answer.

She had at first been worried that the increase in security people was going to increase the chances that she would be discovered. It turned out that she did not have anything to be concerned about. The security people were setting up along the edge of the dome, their attention turned inwards. That was odd enough that she was fairly certain that Sylia would want to know.

"Rose, this is Daisy, over," Nene transmitted.

"This is Rose, report, over," Sylia's voice came over the communications link.

"The security people are setting up along the edge of the dome. I think they are worried about something coming out, over."

"Are you sure of that? Over."

"It looks that way one, over."

"Keep an eye on that, let me know if anything changes. Let Pansy know that we might need a hurried extraction, over."

"Understood. Anything else? Over."

"That is it for now, Rose out."

Nene nodded, not that anyone could see her, then she switched frequencies to call Mackie. As she did so she looked over at the monitors. It certainly did seem like the security people were worried about something coming out.

-

Priss had climbed atop one of the larger earthmoving machines. From her high perch she was able to get a good look at the tomb. She had seen a man in a suit come up and speak to the four people who had been there before. She was not close enough to hear what was being said, but it looked like Fujiwara was quite angry.

Not long after that she had seen three of the people escorted from the top of the tomb by security. Several more of the security personnel had climbed to the top of the tomb, setting up some heavy weapons. It was certainly odd, and Doctor Fujiwara seemed to be of the same opinion.

It was not the security people that Priss was concerned about. It was the man in the suit. She did not know what he was doing, but she was fairly certain that she would not be happy about whatever it was.

-

Sylia had taken the sight from Linna so she could examine the newcomer to the top of the tomb. What she had seen had surprised her a little. Brian J. Mason, a man she had not seen in some time. He had known her father, had worked with him, had been behind some of the money that had funded Wiz Labs.

Sylia had never believed that the explosion that had destroyed her father's lab had been an accident. She had always been certain that Genom had been behind it, and that Mason had been a major player in what had happened.

"What are we going to do?" Linna asked softly.

Sylia gave the sight back to her. "I want to watch for a few more minutes, then we leave."

Just as Sylia said that, the ground shook slightly.

She and Linna looked at each other. "Earthquake?" Linna suggested.

Sylia keyed her comlink. "Daisy, this is Rose, over."

"Rose, this is Daisy, what's up? Over." Nene replied.

"Did you just feel a tremor, like an earthquake? Over."

"Rose, say again, over."

"I asked if you just felt a tremor, as if there had just been a small earthquake, over."

"Negative Rose. The security people look a bit nervous however, over."

"Thanks. Rose out." Sylia shut the com off and looked at Linna. "It might be something localized, due to the excavation."

"Do you really think that?"

Sylia shifted her perceptions to the astral and a moment later shook her head. "The background count is a lot higher than when we arrived."

"So, do we get the hell out of here?"

Sylia frowned and shook her head. "Not quite yet. I want to see if I can get anymore answers."

Linna nodded as she slotted the sight back onto her assault rifle and then chambered a round.

-

Doctor Fujiwara looked about as the mound shook. "That was an earthquake," he said. "Was that the danger you warned us about?"

Brian stood up and looked over at Fujiwara. "It was a not an earthquake. That was the defences of this place reacting to a little push on my part."

"Spirits?" Fujiwara asked, looking about.

"Perhaps," Brian said as he drew a knife from within his jacket. It was a double-edged blade, a third of the way up from the hilt the edge was serrated. He moved so he was standing over the bronze plate.

"What is that for?" the Doctor asked.

"Something of a wake up call," he told him as he took the blade and drew the tip across his left palm, opening a long, red line on his hand.

Fujiwara recoiled back from the action. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"As I said, it is something of a wake up call Doctor Fujiwara." He turned his cupped palm and let blood trickle down onto the bronze. As soon as the first drops hit the metal the tomb mound shook again, more violently.

Fujiwara fought to keep his feet. "I don't understand. This mound is two thousand years old. How could there be any magic here?"

Brian looked at him as he held his left hand out to one of the security people. The woman moved forward, taking a medical kit from her belt. "The mana levels today are high, but they were not totally lacking two thousand years ago." The woman took his hand and began to treat the wound. He looked at her for a moment before continuing.

"Think about it Doctor, the energy that the participants must have expended to lay the foundation for this, setting it up to take effect when the mana finally reached the necessary levels once more. Thousands must have died, each one giving up their life force. They are buried here." Brian looked around. "And they know that we have come to take away what they sold their lives to protect." He looked at Fujiwara, his expression deadly serious. "Is it any wonder that they are angry?"

-

The initial tremor almost caused Priss to fall from her perch. Partly due to the shaking, but mostly because of the magical spike she had felt. It had been very localized so she wondered if Sylia had felt it. She slid down the side of the vehicle, wanting to get a solid footing under her.

When the second tremor hit she was on the ground, but still almost fell. The magical spike was even greater that time.

She took off at a run towards the tomb.

Exactly what was happening she was not certain of, but she knew that she had to find out. Things had just gone beyond running a reconnaissance mission for Mitsuhama.

-

The second tremor and the sudden magical spike made Sylia stand up, putting herself in danger of being seen, and look around.

"What is it?" Linna asked.

"Trouble," Sylia said softly. "Daisy, this is Rose, did you feel a tremor that time? Over."

"Negative, over."

"Right. Orchid, this is Rose, where are you? Over."

"Making my way to the tomb. Something big is going on here," Priss paused. "Over," she added as an afterthought.

"Pull back, we have to regroup and rethink this, over."

"Sorry. I have to find out what is happening here. Take off without me; I'll link up with you later. Out."

Sylia wanted to curse, but she restrained the impulse. She was not that surprised by Priss' actions.

"So, what are we going to do?" Linna asked.

Sylia knew the right answer was to pull back and clear out, before whatever was going to happen happened. The problem with that was that she wanted to know what was happening as well. Cat was curious. Still, Sylia knew the saying about curiosity and cats.

She needed a better reason to stay other than the demand of her Totem, at least if she wanted to convince Linna.

"We stay," Sylia said after a moment. "Most of the security is focused inwards at the moment. We'd probably be caught if we tried to leave now."

"And when things blow that will provide us with a distraction for getting clear?" Linna suggested.

"That is what I was thinking." It was almost the truth.

Nene's voice suddenly sounded in her ear. "Rose, I just lost all feed ... within the .ome, are you ... there? Over." The transmission was garbled.

"Daisy, you are breaking up. We're still here. What is the situation out there? Over."

"Trans... br...ng up, could you s.. ag..., .ver,"

"Daisy, we are having problems," Sylia said then stopped when a painful burst of static made her shut off the comlink.

"This is going to be messy," Linna said.

Sylia nodded.

-

"Sir," one of the security people said to Brian. "We've lost communications with the forces outside the dome."

Brian nodded. "It is to be expected. Your people know exactly what to do, do they not?"

"Yes sir."

"It is not a problem." He looked over at Doctor Fujiwara. "Are you sure I can't convince you to leave Doctor?"

Fujiwara shook his head. "I will see this through to the end."

"Yes, I guess you will. Restrain the Doctor," Brian ordered.

Several of the armoured security people grabbed Fujiwara and dragged him over towards the bronze plate.

"What are you doing?" Doctor Fujiwara demanded.

"I apologise for this Doctor, but you chose to stay."

Fujiwara was forced to his knees in front of the bronze plate.

"You can't do this!" Fujiwara struggled in vain to get free. The people holding him were very strong.

"Gag him," Brian ordered.

Another of the security personnel removed a roll of tape and put a strip of it over Fujiwara's mouth, muffling him.

For a moment Brian thought to apologise again, but he did not. He was not sorry for what he was about to do, just that he had to do it. It was unfortunate, a waste really. He moved behind Fujiwara, grabbing the man's hair in his hand, pulling his head back. He could feel Fujiwara struggling against him, against the men holding him on his knees. He was not going to go quiet, Brian thought.

The spell Brian began to cast was an extremely powerful one. Quincy had taught it to him several days before, in preparation for that night. He had no doubt that power of the spell would kill him, if it were not for the sacrifice he was about to make.

As the force of the spell peaked, Brian slashed the knife across the Doctor's throat, cutting deep, almost to the bone. The blood flowed as the spell's effects expanded out around him. He directed the man so that some of his blood splashed across the bronze plate.

For several seconds he held the body over the metal, allowing the blood to flow down and pool over it, then he jerked the body back, letting it fall to the ground behind him.

He held the knife above the plate, and then dropped it. The knife fell, and then came to a stop, floating a few centimetres above the blood that had pooled on the plate. For several seconds the weapon just hung there, then, slowly, it began to spin along its length.

"Make sure you are ready!" Brian called out to the people around him. "It will start soon."

-

Priss could not see what happened on top of the tomb, but she knew something had happened. She could feel it deep in her chest, the sense that something was wrong. She knew that she was charging into danger and that she was taking a very large chance, but she did not stop. It was one of the dangers of having too many names.

Perhaps it would not have been so bad if she knew what some of those names meant. Maybe that was why she was charging into danger; maybe she was hoping to discover some meaning. Of course it was quite possible that she was insane, as some had charged. She could not deny the excitement she was feeling, as foolish as that might be.

She was just beginning to climb up the slope, towards the top of the tomb, when the ground shook again, and began to crack. Things began to rise up around her, but before Priss could discover what they were, the ground collapsed from under her and she was falling into darkness.

-

The ground shook, in some areas it fell away or cracked open. The people under the dome fought to keep their balance. Around them, seemingly from the ground, rose up man shaped creatures. They looked to be dressed in ancient style clothing, with armour and weapons. The best way to describe them might have been ghosts.

They were not intangible, however. The first people to find this out were members of Genom's security force. Swords that looked like mist cut through armour and the flesh underneath. A woman fell back, bleeding from a wound that had almost taken her left arm off. She fired on the thing that attacked her, a burst of wild fire from an assault rife that drove the ghost like creature back for the several seconds it took for the woman to empty the clip.

The ghost leapt forward, once the weapon stopped firing, and chopped at the woman again, killing her. It spun on another of the security personnel, cutting the man down. Before it could attack again, a fireball slammed into it. The spell's energy burnt away the substance that the ghost was made of, destroying it.

Sylia watched that, as well as other fights that were going on around her. She wondered if she was looking at spirits made flesh, or was it flesh made spirit? It was a question she would have to consider later. At the moment she had a group of three ghosts in front of her.

She hit them with a hell blast, a powerful fire spell that tore the ghosts apart, giving her an opening towards the main part of the tomb. Of course she did not know if she should continue on. No, she knew she wanted to continue on. She did not know if she would survive such a course.

She looked over at Linna. The samurai fired a short burst into one of the ghosts near her. She then leapt forward, moving so fast that Sylia was hardly able to make out the three individual kicks that slammed into the ghost, destroying it.

Perhaps they would be able to survive.

Sylia signalled Linna to move forward, then set off towards the tomb. To where she had seen Brian Mason, to where she was likely to find her answers.

-

Linna followed after Sylia, watching the area around them. The spirits, that was what she figured they were, were tough. Linna knew how to deal with such things. You could not run with a mage and a shaman without learning that kind of stuff. Firearms had limited effect on them-though it was possible to destroy a spirit with heavier, personal firearms. The best way was an attack of will.

Linna did not know exactly what that meant, except that she had better luck punching and kicking them than she did if she shot them. That was fine with her. It was playing on her strengths.

They crossed through an area of combat between the spirits and the Genom security forces. Not a terribly safe place to be, but no one seemed to be paying much attention to either her or Sylia. They moved quickly through the fighting, Sylia using spells when necessary, but most of the time allowing Linna to deal with the problems.

A larger spirit rose up in front of Linna, swinging a sword at her. Linna dodged back, bringing up her rifle, firing a long burst at it. The weapon jerked in her hands, but the muzzle brake helped her keep it under control, and the smart link kept the rounds on target.

The spirit looked as if it was screaming in pain, but it made no noise, as the rounds ripped through its body. Then it was gone, dead, dispelled, something like that. It was no longer a threat, which was what was important. She followed after Sylia, removing the almost empty magazine and sliding a full one into its place.

-

Nene stared at the screens around her. All of those that had been showing the interior of the dome, and a few that had been close to the exterior, had gone to static. It was all something of a mess, and there was no one to tell Nene what to do. She just had Sylia's last orders, and those had been garbled. She also was not sure what she would do if the others did not return soon.

Would she go in after them? Nene knew that she was not at her best in such a situation. Leaving, calling Mackie and just going, while smart, was not what she wanted to do either.

She would just have to trust that Sylia and the others would make it out. She would wait, and do what she was good at.

Nene went to work, copying records, deleting others, getting the paydata and cleaning up. She had noticed that the records were backed up on a system in Akita city. She might as well check those records out while she was at it.

-

The fighting around him was a little distracting, but Brian did not let it concern him greatly. The guards up on the tomb with him were the best of those that had come from Tokyo. Mages, physical adepts, and samurai trained in fighting spirits. If he had to he knew he could deal with the problems himself, but he chose to let his people do that. It left him to concentrate on what was important.

The knife was still turning above the bronze plate; now spinning so fast it was a blur. The blood that had pooled on the plate had drained off, leaving dark red stains on the metal. The spell was reaching its climax. Soon the way would be open, the true way.

After that the rest of the task would be easy enough.

-

"Shit," Priss said softly, pushing herself to her feet, something crunching under her as she moved. She was in darkness, unaware of what was around her. The sound of her voice seemed to echo about her for a moment. She must be in some sort of chamber. As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, which was not complete-some light was coming in from the hole she had fallen through-Priss was able to make out more of where she was.

It was a small chamber, made of stone, pillars in the room supporting the stone roof above her. At her feet, disturbing her slightly, were bones, quite a few of them. Skeletons, she realized. Full bodies, lain out on the floor, some gone to dust, some still wearing the decomposing armour they had been buried in.

Above her she could hear the sound of gunfire, of screams. Obviously something was up. She activated her comlink, but there was only a painful static. Karma for not listening to Sylia she supposed.

From a pocket she produced a small flashlight. The powerful beam cut through the darkness, the light playing across the walls and bones. There was a patch of shadow that her light could not pierce. She walked towards it, soon discovering that it was a passageway that led out of the chamber.

Priss considered her options for a moment, then entered the passageway. Someone was trying to get into this tomb. She would find their entrance and use it for an exit. As she walked she removed the micro-camcorder from within her jacket. Maybe some pictures would be of value, she could look at them later, perhaps do some research.

That there was something odd about the tomb was patently obvious. Exactly what it was was what Priss wanted to know.

-

Sylia spun about, avoiding the attack of one of the ghosts. She swung her SMG up and fired a long burst into the thing's face. It almost looked as if the bullets were peeling the skin from its face and for a moment Sylia thought she cold see its skull. However, before she could be certain the ghost faded away, destroyed.

She looked around, noting that Linna was close by, keeping any more of the ghosts from getting too close. It gave Sylia a chance to look around and make plans.

The sides of the tomb were too steep to make ascent easy so Sylia had been circling around it, knowing there had to be a way up. She found that way, a set of stairs built on scaffolding beside the tomb. Unfortunately there were about twenty members of the security force, and a larger number of ghosts trying to attack them, right at the base of the stairs.

Simply charging in was not a good option.

-

Brian watched as tiny lines began to appear in the bronze plate. They had started spreading out from the centre, moving across the metal, weaving between the characters inscribed on the plate.

Soon, he thought, kneeling down, watching the progress. Very soon.

-

The light from her flashlight played over the stonewalls, revealing ancient mosaics, covered in centuries and centuries of dust. The light also revealed more skeletal remains. Priss was wondering just how many people had been buried there.

She approached a set of doors. It looked as if they had been constructed of timbers and reinforced with metal. It had probably been a formidable obstacle when it had been put up. Two millennium of rot and rust had reduced the doors to a fragile web of corroded metal and dry, brittle wood. A kick snapped the door on the left off its stone hinges and it fell apart even before hitting the floor.

As Priss walked through the portal she felt an odd chill, like a thin blade, piercing her stomach. It actually made her gasp and she dropped the camcorder, putting her hand to her abdomen, expecting to feel blood. There was no wound there, and already the feeling was fading.

She was reaching down to pick up the camcorder when she felt them arrive. She could not say if they faded in, or of they had passed through the walls and the ceiling, just that when she straightened she found herself surrounded by ghosts.

The armour they wore and the weapons they carried were in perfect condition, unlike those which were with their remains. Priss had no doubt that she was facing the ghosts of those who lay buried there. For a moment she wondered why they had shown up. Perhaps by passing through the doorway she had attracted their attention? It was not really important, however.

There numbers would make more a standard battle tiring, if not impossible. Priss had no intention of fighting in such away. Under her breath she whispered a name.

Suddenly the ghosts, or spirits, Priss was not completely certain, caught fire. They silently screamed, writhing about as their forms were burnt away. Priss ran by them, no longer concerned. She was certain that she would find what was so important near the centre of the tomb as well as an exit.

-

Brian was still looking down at the bronze plate; waiting for the spell he cast to finish working. It was almost done.

A shout of surprise from one the people around him made Brian look up. It was immediately obvious what had caused that surprise. A number of the guardians were burning. He narrowed his eyes as he shifted his perception to the astral. The fire that was burning the guardians was the work of a very powerful spirit. He could not tell much about it, but it was obvious that it was a fire elemental.

He knew that none of the mages he brought with him could call up such a powerful being. It also was not part of the tomb's defences, obvious by the fact its targets were the guardians.

That meant, barring a very large coincidence, that there was another mage in the immediate area that he was unaware of.

He had not considered that there might be others in the area. The chief of security had assured him the site was locked down. He had taken the woman at her word. After all, she was very competent; there was no reason to doubt her.

Now it looked like that might have been an error on his part.

He shifted his gaze back to the bronze plate. The spell was nearly complete. He felt a sense of impatience he had not felt before. If there were others, it was possible that they were after what he was. If that were the case, well, he would have to move very fast.

It would not do to fail Quincy in this.

-

When some of the ghosts suddenly burst into flame Sylia did not think, she just acted. It was the opening she had been hoping for. The ghosts were not so large a threat, and the security personnel were distracted. She looked over at Linna to signal her to follow, but the samurai was already moving, drawing a pair of pistols from within her coat.

Some of the personnel were not as distracted by the burning ghosts, but those that tried to interfere with Sylia were dropped by fire from Linna. Sylia let Linna handle the threats, not casting any more spells for the time being. If she pushed herself too had magically she might very well knock herself unconscious-a bad thing to happen in the middle of a battle.

There was still a lot going on in the area, many of the ghosts were not on fire, and they were still attacking. Between that distraction and Linna's fire they were able to reach the stairs.

Sylia thought about the burning ghosts, knowing it was Priss who had been behind that. While Sylia had managed to uncover a number of things about her team's elven mage, there were still some secrets. Chief among those was how Priss had managed to get the services of an incredibly powerful fire elemental.

As she ran up the stairs she put such thoughts from her head. She was approaching a dangerous place and she would need her mind focused.

-

Brian watched as the last of the lines formed on the bronze plate, creating a number of symbols that were counter to those that were inscribed upon it. For a moment nothing happened, then there was an odd twisting sensation as things were altered ever so slightly. The plate suddenly fell down into the tomb, opening the way. The dagger, still spinning, rose up into the hair, floating a few meters above the opening.

He did not call for assistance form the people around him. What he would do he would do on his own. Shifting about, Brian slid into the hole that the plate had once covered. He hung there for a moment, suspended above the darkness within the tomb. Then he let go, dropping down into the unknown.

-

Priss was struck by a very uncomfortable feeling. It almost felt as if she were being pulled in two different directions. It lasted only a moment, not long enough to become too painful, but when it was over she knew things had changed. She just did not know how they had changed.

'Use care lady, you are between places,' a voice whispered in the back of her head.

Priss began moving forward, wondering exactly what that meant.

'Consider it a pocket dimension, if that helps.'

A pocket dimension? Priss had never heard of such a thing. She looked about, noting that the place looked different. The bones were missing, she realised. The stonework also changed.

'You are not where you were,' the voice told her. 'The place you were serves as a template for this.'

Priss supposed that made sense, but how could she have gotten there? Has she been caught on the periphery of some magical effect?

'Caught within it. It is dangerous, it could have torn your spirit from your body, permanently.'

"Who did this?" Priss asked, needing to hear her own voice at that moment.

'Over ten thousand sacrificed themselves long ago. They were directed by one truly powerful.'

Priss began to pick up her pace, knowing that she had to find an exit from the pocket dimension, or whatever it was.

'Yes, the centre. There you will find what this place was built to hide, there you will find the exit.'

That was good enough for Priss. She began running.

-

Linna came up the stairs, ahead of Sylia. Around them the spirits fought with the security. About half of the spirits were burning, but more showed up to replace those that were destroyed. How many of the damn things were there?

She turned and emptied her last clip into a spirit that had reared up behind her. She let the assault rifle fall to her side, held by its sling, and snatched up a fallen weapon. It was an assault shotgun, fitted with a drum magazine. It was a smart weapon, the targeting systems in it linked up to her through her smartlink. Data came up on her visual field. It was fully loaded and ready to go.

"Beautiful," Linna said softly as she turned and gave a spirit a burst of rifled slug. She smiled as she saw the thing torn apart.

Sylia came up beside her, looking around. "Over there," she said, pointing to an area farther off.

Linna nodded as she moved off, clearing a way for Sylia. One spirit went down to another burst of the shotgun. Another met is end as snap kick punched right through it. She punched a man who got into their way. Her first punch shattered the visor of his helmet; the second broke his jaw and nose, sending him stumbling on the ground.

Then they were standing over a dark hole in the ground. Above the hole, spinning rapidly, was a knife. Linna moved towards the hole, certain that was where they were going.

"Don't," she heard Sylia say.

Linna turned back towards Sylia. Sylia moved up beside Linna and shook her head. "You can't go in there."

Linna turned and fired on another of the spirits, watching it stumble back. She was not sure if she had taken it down, but it was no longer a threat, for the time. "Are you certain?" she asked Sylia.

"Yes. Stay up here, wait for me."

Linna was not entirely certain she liked that. It went against her sense of what was right to just let Sylia go on alone. She trusted Sylia however. "I'll be here when you come back."

Sylia nodded and walked over to the hole. She got down onto her hands and knees and then shifted herself into the opening. For a moment she hung there, then she dropped down out of sight. Linna watched for a moment, then turned about, watching the fighting that was going on.

It looked as if the security people were willing to leave her alone, as long as she spent most of her time targeting the spirits. At the moment she was quite happy to do so.

-

The transition from the world into the hiding place was a little discontenting to Brian, but he had been told to expect it. It was a little like astral projecting, but more intense. It made him feel a little nauseous for a moment.

He landed on the floor below, twisting his ankle slightly in the fall. He hobbled forward, walking off the most of the pain. From within his jacket he bought out a chemical glowstick, bent it to snap the glass capsule within, and then held it up. It cast a bright, green light about the chamber.

Not too far from where he stood was a simple pedestal, upon which rested a large rock. He moved towards it, but several of the guardians rose up through the floor, putting themselves in between him and the rock.

He lashed out with a bolt of pure, destructive mana. It ripped the guardians apart, but several more replaced them. Brian laughed, softly, and again a spell tore the guardians apart before they could approach him. They were powerful beings, in their own ways, but Brian had been trained by a dragon; as well as other great teachers. They were not that great of an impediment.

No new guardians rose up to stop him, so he moved forward until he stood next the pedestal, the rock on it at about the same level as his chest. He reached out and grabbed it, feeling an uncomfortable burning sensation in his palms. He tightened his grip and began to twist at its substance.

-

Sylia landed, stumbling slightly. The combat boots she wore gave her a great deal of ankle support, and she avoided the pain of a twisted ankle, or worse. A bright, green glow illuminated Brian J. Mason, and what he was doing. What he was doing, as far as she could tell, was twisting apart a piece of rock. No, not twisting it apart. It was more like he was tearing at a ball of taffy; it stretched before a piece would break off.

He did not seem aware of her presence. Sylia suddenly realised that she did not know what to do. She had been sent there to find information, not to attack Genom employees. She watched for several seconds, guessing that he was after whatever was in the stone, or whatever it was.

She moved closer, trying to get a better look.

The movement must have attracted his attention for suddenly Brian turned to look at her. He frowned, then raised his hand and unleashed a spell.

The powerful force rushed at Sylia, promising destruction if nothing was done. Sylia put up her defences, using the force of her will and her connection to Cat to resist the magic. The twisting energies washed over her, unable to find a hole in her defences, leaving her unharmed.

Brian was, however, very fast, and even as she was resisting the spell, he drew a light pistol from behind him and began to fire.

Sylia was hit twice; the armour of her jacket keeping her from real harm, but it did hurt. Not wanting to be hit again, she dove to the side, rolling to a crouch, and cast a spell of her own. It was a ball of shadow, and she dropped it right over her opponent, hopefully blinding him, and plunging the room into darkness.

A moment later a blast of lightning came from within the darkness, arcing out in all directions, forcing Sylia to go back on the defensive.

-

Brian was surprised and annoyed to find another person in the chamber with him. That security let people onto the site was bad enough, that they let someone enter the tomb was unforgivable and spoke of gross incompetence: Or a very skilled adversary. Probably both.

He decided to end it quickly, or at least gauge his opponents skill level. The fire bolt he cast was quite powerful. He noted that the woman-he was fairly certain that the masked person was a woman-easily resisted the power of the spell. That spoke of great skill.

Admirable, but he did not let that slow him. He drew a light, automatic pistol from the holster at the small of his back and began firing. He managed to hit her twice, but the bullets did not have much more of an effect than his spell had had. Armour, he thought, trying to shift his aim to her head.

She dove to the side, avoiding the next few shots, and then he was surrounded by darkness.

He quickly cast an area spell, focusing on what little he could see, hoping that he might manage to hit his opponent. Failing that, it would buy him some time.

Lightning cracked around him and he charged out of the darkness, bringing his green light back into the room. As soon as he was out he spotted movement, off to the side. She was not where he had expected her. He moved around, preparing another powerful spell, ready to end it.

It was then that he noticed that the woman he was targeting was not the woman he had first seen. She was a little shorter and moved a little differently. As he cast the spell he knew this was a newcomer. The woman he had been fighting was probably nearby, and ready to take advantage of his mistake.

-

The sound of gunshots and then the crack of lightening drew Priss on. A few seconds later she ran into a large, dark chamber. She was looking around, listening, when suddenly a bright, green light bloomed into existence behind her.

She was turning towards it when she felt the swelling power of a spell that was targeting her.

As she turned she saw it; a huge, rushing wave of acid, burning its way across the stone as it washed towards her. She reacted immediately, wrapping herself in protective energies as the wave of acid crashed over her. A few small drops managed to get through, setting small patches of her armoured jacket smoking, but fortunately none hit bare skin.

The wave washed by her, but the choking fumes from the corroded stone hung in the air, and the ground around her was covered in pools of acid.

She blinked her eyes against the smoke and answered with a spell of her own. Twisting air and water together, she formed several ice darts and sent them speeding towards her attacker.

-

Sylia stopped sustaining the shadow spell as soon as Brian exited and readied herself for another attack. He was not facing her, however, his attention was elsewhere.

Priss, Sylia realised, seeing the other woman, just on the edge of the bright, green light. Brian's attention was on her, giving Sylia a clear attack. Of course Priss was in danger, and Sylia knew that if she called out a warning she gave up the advantage she had just been given. She remained silent and prepared her next spell.

Priss would be all right. Probably.

-

Brain watched as the ice darts sped towards him. He could sense another powerful spell coming from behind him as well. Not a good situation to be in, but he did not pause to think about it. A silent command called them. They rose up from the ground around him, manifesting themselves on the pocket plane he was in. Three large earth elementals, shaped like humans, large, muscle bound humans, but made of stone.

The ice darts crashed into one, tearing into its form and banishing it.

The spell was intercepted by another elemental, destroying it as well, but leaving Brian unharmed.

To the last one he tossed the glowstick. That elemental absorbed it into itself, once again plunging the room into darkness.

Magic required sight. While it was possible to see auras in darkness, Brian was betting the chamber had a high amount of astral background 'noise' that would obscure his aura somewhat. All the spells that had just been cast had probably muddied things as well.

He ran straight to the pillar, he knew where it was from memory, and began tearing at the rock. He had to get at the target and then get out as soon as possible.

-

The darkness created a problem for both Sylia and Priss. Priss still was not certain what was going on, though she knew that the exit was close. Why someone had attacked her was something of a mystery, but solving that could wait a bit.

Sylia's problem revolved around the fact she knew Priss was somewhere nearby, but not exactly where. If she just pulled out her pistol and started shooting-spells had been made very difficult by the darkness and the high background count in the chamber-she could very well end up hitting Priss.

Priss decided she had to know what was going on and cast a light spell. A globe of light came into being above her head, illuminating much of the chamber.

She saw a man charge right into Sylia, knocking her over. Before Priss could react he had leapt up into the air, buoyed up by a levitation spell, towards what was likely the exit. Priss ran towards Sylia, pulling the large revolver from within her jacket and aiming it at the fleeing man. The ice dart spell had been very powerful and had taken a little out of her. It was easier to use physical means.

When Sylia made no move to dissuade Priss from that course of action, Priss began to fire. She had a good shot lined up, the head of the floating man-she felt no compunctions about shooting to kill at that point. Then the remaining elemental rose up between her and her target, taking the bullets.

"Damnit," Priss cursed. Now she was going to have to deal with the elemental before she could get the hell out of there, and the bastard who had tried to melt her with a wave of acid would probably be waiting for her.

-

The stone finally came apart, releasing its treasure; two pieces of something that felt like metal. One was shaped like a triangle, with two straight edges. The other was squarish, with rough edges almost all the way around.

He grabbed them tight to his chest and ran for the exit. As he cast the levitation spell to lift him from the chamber, he called on the earth elemental for one more service. The sound of gunfire that followed him told him that he had made the right choice. He usually did.

As he floated free of the chamber he considered what to do with the two intruders below. He could have them captured by his security people, or he could just end the spell, quite possibly trapping them forever in the pocket dimension.

He was thinking about which option interested him the most when something slammed hard into his shoulders and then, with less force, into the back of his head. He fell forward onto the ground, the levitation spell failing when he could no longer concentrate on it.

The metal objects fell to the ground nearby, the larger one, the one that was roughly square, fell near his face. He shut his eyes, playing dead, and tried to put himself in the right frame of mind to cast a healing spell.

-

When Linna had seen Brian rise out of the hole she had done what made the most sense to her. She had drove the butt of the shotgun into his back, then whipped the weapon around, hitting him on the side of the head with the barrel.

He had fallen to the ground, apparently unconscious. She looked around; making sure that none of the security people had seen her lay out their boss, and then knelt down by the hole. "You down there?" she called as loud as she dared.

No answer or sound came out of the darkness below. Linna was thinking of jumping down there, despite Sylia's warning, when something came out. It was Sylia, and as she rose out of the hole Linna saw that she was pulling Priss along with her.

In a moment all three stood in a momentary island of calm in the middle of the battle.

"Time to go?" Linna asked hopefully.

Sylia looked around and spotted Brian lying nearby. She stared at his prone form for several seconds, making Linna wonder what she was thinking. Then she looked back at Linna and nodded. "More than time. Take point."

Linna nodded and started off. That was when things got a bit confusing.

Suddenly Brian exploded into action, grabbing a piece of metal that lay near him. The sudden movement brought Linna's weapon around to target him, just in case. He looked around, then suddenly dove towards another piece of metal, ignoring everything else around him.

Priss, who was just a little closer to what looked like a piece of garbage to Linna, stooped down and scooped up the metal a moment ahead of him. She had the big revolver out, pointed directly at the man. "Got another elemental around?" she asked him.

All the activity had, of course, finally attracted the attention of the security people, who were not about to let their superior come to harm on their watch. Or at least not any more harm. Linna looked about at all the guns, knowing it was about to get ugly, which it did, just not in the way she had expected.

It was at that moment the spirits launched a counterattack on the top of the tomb.

For a while it was pure chaos. Sylia moved close to Linna as Linna fired rapid busts of rifled slugs into the spirits around them. The spirits also washed between Priss and Brian, cutting them off. Priss turned and made her way to Linna and Sylia.

While the security people and Brian were fighting for their lives, Linna and the others, also fighting for their lives, slid down the steep slope of the tomb, getting clear of that pocket of fighting. They had a straight run to the edge of the dome, and then out to where Nene would be waiting. Straight except for the spirits and members of Genom security in their way.

Sylia put an invisibility spell over the three of them, which protected them from direct fire, but there was enough lead and other things flying around that they were all in very real danger of being hit.

Luck and skill worked for them, and they made it to the edge of the dome, and then passed through one of the holes that had been burnt into the covering material, out into the night. Priss had taken a hit in the abdomen that was bleeding badly, but she did not look like she intended to let it slow her down. Linna herself had been hit in the shoulder by something that had nearly dislocated her arm. Sylia had run out of it unscathed.

With everyone's attention focused on the interior of the dome, they had and easy run to the security building.

"Why aren't any of those spirits out here?" Linna asked.

"They're tied to the tomb," Priss told her. She held an arm over the wound in her gut, stemming the flow of blood.

That was fine with Linna, she had no real desire to fight a running battle with those spirits.

They linked up with Nene at the security building. The four of them left the site behind, moving to the pick up point. Nene told them that Mackie would be waiting for them. The sound of the gunfire faded behind them as they ran, bringing a certain sense of relief.

Of course there was still security to deal with, so they did not let their guards down. Linna had no intention of screwing up near the end because she got careless.

-

Brian held the rough bit of metal in his hands, trying to spot the intruders through the fighting, but it was impossible. Too much was happening and they were lost to him.

He reached out and grabbed the knife from where it spun above the hole. The hilt spun in his hand as he yanked it away. That broke the spell, sealing the pocket dimension off from the world once again. He turned and walked towards the commander of the security forces.

"We're leaving, pull your forces back," he told the man.

"Yes sir," he said, then began shouting out orders. They formed up around Brian to protect him as they began to move towards the stairs.

Brian moved along with them, looking at the metal in his hands. Quincy was not going to be happy about this. His mind was racing down various avenues of actions. Had communications not been out he would have ordered the sealing off of the area. Once he was out of the dome he planned to do just that, but he suspected that it might be too late by then.

Who had hired that team? Why had they been hired? Had they come specifically to try to get the pieces, or had that just been something decided on the fly? Too many questions at the moment, and no answers. There would have to be a full investigation, perhaps that would turn up something of value.

He could only hope.

-

The helicopter was back over the sea, flying south towards Tokyo. The weapons went out the door, along with all the ammunition, sinking into the Pacific. The clothing with all of its incriminating powder burns and other stains was put into the gym bags, which were weighted with rocks and followed the guns into the ocean.

Sylia sat back, once again dressed in her clothing from before the mission started, and looked at the triangular piece of metal in her hands. Priss had given it to her after Sylia had healed the gunshot wound that Priss had taken.

The metal seemed unnaturally light, and felt odd, almost like silk, she thought, running her fingers over the material. The rough edge was jagged, but not quite sharp. One side was completely smooth, unnaturally so she thought. The other side was engraved with odd, swirling lines.

After a time she put the metal aside and moved forward to take a seat beside Mackie. Sylia was thinking about the report she would give to Fargo, and that he would pass to Mitsuhama. She would include everything she knew, copies of the recordings, and the data that Nene had collected, but not the metal. That she would keep, at least until she had a better idea of what it was.

She leaned back into the co-pilots chair and closed her eyes. She had been casting a lot of spells and they had taken a little out of her. She wanted to get some rest before she thought about what would happen next.

Just a little rest.

-

January 18

Brian stood in the elevator. At his side he carried a briefcase. Since the activities at the tomb he had cleaned up, changed into a new suit, used a healthy glow spell to erase the effects of the night on him. He was presentable, everything perfect, from his trendy hairstyle down to the mirror like polish on his shoes.

Only his eyes showed a hint of the nervousness he felt. He had sent a report to Quincy while he had been aboard the helicopter, on his way back. Quincy knew exactly what had happened. Now he would see how the dragon would react to it.

He knew he might be going to his death, but he went without hesitation. He knew he could not hide from Quincy, could not run, so he did not try to do either. If he were going to die, he would try to manage it with as much dignity as possible.

The elevator doors opened into a room lit by the faint light of dawn. The windows were clear, letting in that little light, allowing him to see Quincy in his full glory.

The huge dragon lay on the floor, wings folded in close to his body, his tail trailed out behind him, lifting up and down, tapping lightly on the floor. Brian realised that soft music was playing, something old and classical, and that the dragon was moving its tail in time with the music.

"I've brought the object," Brian said, lifting the briefcase slightly.

Quincy's head remained on the floor, his eyes closed, almost as if he were asleep. "How goes the clean up at the site?" he asked.

That surprised Brian. He had expected a different question, some anger. After several seconds he found his voice. "The situation is contained. I suspect that the guardians will fade in a few hours."

"And what did you think of the defences there?"

"They were not as formidable as I thought they might be."

"It is to be expected," Quincy told him. "It was set up in a time of low mana. It would have been difficult to prepare everything right. You were also prepared for what was there. Remember that."

"Yes Quincy-sama."

"Make sure everything is ready for the next stage."

"What about the piece that was taken?" Brian asked, unable to hide his surprise.

"That will be dealt with, when the time comes. Now go."

Mason bowed deeply and stepped back into the elevator.

Several seconds later, as the elevator descended, he relaxed slightly. He had survived, and it would seem that Quincy was not angry with him. He wondered about the metal that he had delivered to Quincy. He was still not certain what it was for. He had hoped that Quincy might let him on in more of the secrets, and perhaps he might have, had both pieces been recovered.

And then again he might not have.

Mason never pretended to understand the dragon.

-

Quincy reached forward, the tip of one claw gently breaking the lock on the briefcase. He flipped it open and drew the case towards himself. Nestled inside was a flat piece of squarish metal, rough on all edges, except for a small bit of a straight edge on one side.

For a time he just looked at it, then he reached into the case, his large claws gently closing on the metal, removing it from the foam it had been packed in.

There was a vault in his office, the combination a complex series of actions only a dragon might perform. Once it was opened Quincy drew out a drawer that slid silently on bearings and steel runners. Within the drawer were three other pieces of metal, similar in colour and design to the one that Quincy held, though not in shape.

The pieces were set in black velvet, and it was obvious that they were part of a whole. Carefully Quincy placed the piece that Mason had brought into the puzzle. It completed the bottom edge. Fitting perfectly into place.

The object, once complete, would form a rectangular plate, seventy centimetres on once side, thirty on the other. Quincy pictured it in his mind as he looked down at what he had. Only two more pieces needed to complete it. Two more and it would be whole once more.

That Brian had lost a piece of it was annoying, but not an insurmountable problem. Quincy had four of the fragments he needed, those four would resonate with the remaining two, though using that resonance to find those two pieces would attract much attention.

He would wait and see if one or both might be found using mundane means. Time was not of the essence: At least not yet.

He pushed the drawer back into place and then shut and locked the vault door.

He shifted, catlike, away from the vault, and looked out the windows to watch the sun fully rise.

-

Late morning news seized upon the happening in Akita and ran with it. Fighting and death, it always meant for good ratings.

The initial story was that someone, probably supported by a foreign government-the xenophobia card was always useful to play in Japan-had attacked an archaeological site. The motive that was suggested most often was the theft of national treasures.

One of Japan's most famed archaeologists, Doctor Fujiwara, had been killed in the incident. It was most unfortunate. Genom, the company that had funded the dig, offered public condolences to the family and colleagues of the doctor.

Rumours ran wild about what had happened, every hour the story changed slightly. No one was quite sure what had actually occurred, but everyone had an opinion they were willing to share.

Then, around three in the afternoon, Irene Chang presented an exclusive on the Tokyo News Network. She had footage of the site taken during the attack. The quality was not good, but it did have lots of sexy visuals of people dressed in the armour of Genom Security, firing heavy weapons at a blurry enemy. That was when the story about guardian spirits started. Genom denied it.

All in all, for most people, it was just another day in the Land of the Rising Sun.

No one noticed that Nene Romanova took a sick day off.

While some people were disappointed that Sylia Stingray was not present in the Silky Doll, most were willing to accept the services of one of the several women who worked at the shop.

The Miko at the shrine were quite aware of Priss Asagiri's early morning return, and the fact she slept in past noon, but none of them said anything.

Ayeka was quite upset that Linna Yamazaki cancelled their morning training session, but many would say that Ayeka was always upset at Linna about something.

No one noticed Mackie Stingray's absence, but that was in part due to the fact he had nowhere to be absent from.

-

The sun had set, and it was raining again, a heavier rain, with strong winds, blowing off the ocean. Many people were muttering that the Typhoon season would start early. The darkness, the rain, the wind and the jungle of Ueno did not bother Priss at all. She rode through it, the tires of her bike splashing through puddles of water.

She pulled under an overhang at the back of the Silky Doll and shut her bike down. After setting the security, she dismounted and locked her helmet to the bike.

The doors were locked, but Priss had a key card, and her palm print was on file. She made her way to the basement where she was stopped by the door that led into Sylia's lab. She knocked and then waited for Sylia to open it.

"I'm glad you could make it," Sylia said when she opened the door, several seconds later.

"No problem," Piss told her, stepping into the lab.

Sylia closed the door, locked it, and then led Priss over to a worktable. On the table was a foam block, a space had been cut into it for the artefact they had brought back with them. Priss reached out and grabbed it, turning it over in her hands, feeling along the edges. She flicked her index finger against it, trying to get it to chime.

Priss looked at Sylia. "So, what's the story?"

"Well, I can tell you that it does not conduct electricity, nor does it conduct heat. It is, for what it is worth, a perfect insulator. If I knew what it was I could probably get rich."

Priss took the metal and tapped it against the table edge. "Tough I take it?"

"I could not even scratch it. A diamond drill broke on that. A laser had no effect. X-rays will not even pass through it. And it does not absorb radiation."

"It's magic," Priss said, putting the artefact back into the foam. "Cat have any hints?"

"Cat is being rather quiet. I do not know if it is because she wants it kept secret, or if she does not know and is not about to admit that openly."

Priss leaned over the foam block, looking down at the triangle of metal. "You know, in most cases, in this situation, many mages would tell you that it had to be Atlantean."

"You don't believe in Atlantis," Sylia said.

"Which is why I won't suggest it. It is old, and someone wants it badly and," a puzzled expression passed over Priss' face, "it has no astral signature."

"Another thing that it is proof against," Sylia told her.

"Very weird," Priss said as she straightened. "Have you told Mitsuhama about this?"

Sylia shook her head. "I did not think they needed to know. Oh, they were very pleased with our work. Fargo has told me that they are going to include a bonus of another sixty thousand nuyen."

"I guess they appreciate good work. What do you want to do about this?"

Sylia said nothing for a time. "For now, I think we'll just wait," she finally told Priss. "I'd like more information."

"We could always sell it to Genom," she said with a smile.

"Perhaps it will come down to that, but not yet."

"I'll take a look around the shrine's library, maybe I'll be able to find out something."

"Good. I'll do my own research. Perhaps one of us will find out something that will tell us what this is worth and why Genom wants it."

"Anything else then?"

Sylia shook her head."

"I'll catch you later then," Priss said as she walked towards the exit.

-

Ikebukuro was mostly deserted. The VITAS plague fifty years prior had reduced the population of Tokyo, and the world, significantly. A number of minor disasters had also occurred, both natural and man-made. The overall effect was that there were certain places in the city where life was scarce. Urban wastelands that most avoided. The kind of place where one could blow up a building and it was possible no one would notice, or care.

Priss was fairly certain that at least one of the buildings in the area had been blown up. Others showed damage from the many small quakes that had hit the area. And there was a lot of damage that Priss really could not identify. No surprise there.

She walked up the stairs of one of those buildings, it was leaning slightly, she had to walk against the almost imperceptible angle.

Her face was a little flushed; there was perspiration on her brow, even though the night was cool. She had come to Ikebukuro right after her set at Hot Legs and was still feeling it. She tended to put a lot more into her performances for a few days after she came back from a run.

She stopped on the eighth floor and looked down a dark corridor. The glass had long since fallen out of the windows, and there were puddles of water on the floor. She looked around, shifting her perceptions between the real world and the astral. It was not much to look at either way.

Walking down the corridor, her boots splashing in the puddles, Priss examined each door as she passed. It was not difficult to find what she was looking for. The door was sealed with police tape, and the astral signature around the door was pretty thick.

The tape came away easily, falling to the floor in a messy pile. The door itself took a few kicks before she snapped the maglock the police had placed on it. She moved through the doorway into the room.

Empty, with a bare concrete floor and glassless windows. There were puddles of water on the floor there as well, which was not really a surprise. The rain that had fallen since the body had been found had washed the blood into a depression in the floor where a large puddle, the water shaded by the blood there, took up half the floor.

Brandine had been killed in the room, her throat slashed, her heart cut out. Priss looked around, wondering why there? What was the point?

As she walked to the windows, stepping around the puddle, she examined the room astrally. Too many people had been in there, police mages casting their spells, it had messed things up. There was something there, however, almost an aftertaste.

It reminded her of that man, 'Mason' Sylia had named him, and of his magic. Did that mean that it had been him, or someone just using the same style of magic? She did not know, could not know at that time.

Staring out the windows, she looked at the area. Had it been a one-time ceremony, or was it something bigger?

She would have to find out.

-

My thanks to Jeanne Hedge who was once again kind enough to proof read my work and help me find a number of problems. Thanks Jeanne.