Well, my first C6 fic, and amazingly is not a post Final Confrontation!
This is set some time after the 'Lori is missing' episode. It bases itself
in one of the facts from the comic, but since in the animated series never
explained some things, I'll take the comic version as the right one.
Legal stuff: Even if I DO speak Spanish, I don't own Cybersix. All related characters belong to Carlos Trillo & Carlos Meglia, TMS & NOA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Adrian By Elihice
It could had been his constant insistence, or the fact that the atmosphere was far more relaxed being friday, or because his friend had left all his books at home. Or maybe this unlikely fact was the first of series of events all pointing that the end of the world was indeed coming. Nevertheless, whatever the reason of his success was, Lucas Amato couldn't help but to smile at himself.
He had finally got Adrian interested in soccer.
It didn't matter if 'interested' mean 'listening without yawning'. At least they where back at talking, things had been awkward for some time after Lucas had accused Adrian of having an affair with Cybersix.
Hurt and betrayed he had just said what had come to his mind. And it hadn't been pretty. Whatever the truth was, he was sorry for most of the things he had said and didn't want to elaborate any further. She had asked him to trust and that was exactly what he was doing... by trying not to think at what his best friend and the woman he loved had or hadn't done.
Both teachers sat at their usual table, Adrian sipping his coffee while Lucas excitedly told him about the upcoming final of the South American cup. The dinner was half-full with the usual customers, some of them already on their way to deeply regretting tomorrow what they where drinking tonight. Groups of teenagers, couples and others wandered outside in the street, talking about their plans for tonight. As any friday night, the whole city of Meridiana seemed to be in a better mood. He surely was.
"And when is this final?" Adrian put down his now empty cup, the corners of his mouth twitching in a grin the mild-mannered professor couldn't completely hide.
Well, Adrian already knew what he was going to ask. Better. With some luck maybe he could convince him. "Sunday afternoon. The thirty."
Somehow the grin faded completely. "Th.. the thirty... already?"
"Yes, this Sunday. September 30" He took a small pause to eat a handful of fries. Better ask now before Adrian started to remember whatever appointment he could use as an excuse for not going. "So, want to go to see the game with me? A friend of a friend I know can sell me two tickets in the- "
" I don't think that would be such a good idea" The voice was now cold and serious.
"Come on, it'll be fun. I bet you have never done the wave. We could-"
"-No, I really can't. I'm going out of town this weekend." Lucas opened his mouth to respond but, as always, Adrian was much faster and cut his unspoken question with a line that had become more and more common in their conversations. "Well, look at the time! I have to go! See you on monday, Lucas."
With his mouth still open. Lucas watched Adrian grab his trench coat and let out a deep breath.
Ah, yes. A normal meal with Adrian Seidelman:
Hasty retreat: check
Some things just can't be fixed from one day to another. It would probably take weeks before things went back to the way they were; it would take some more time to drag him to the stadium. Well, he was not giving up. Biting a slice of pizza he noticed the empty cup of coffee and the half-eaten hamburger in front of him.
Unpaid bill: check
"Not again!"
* * *
How could she have forgotten? Mixed feelings twirled in her head, guilt being the strongest of all. Almost mechanically, she hanged her brown treanch coat and removed the glasses, leaving them on the table which was already cramped with books and school work. Tossing the tie somewhere in the dark corners of the room, she ran her fingers trough her hair and let it fall in front of her face.
The bed made a small squeaking noise when she threw herself in it. She was tired. Staring at the ceiling she started thinking how her life had changed ever since she had first set foot on Meridiana. And lately things had been more complicated than usual. With Lucas, with her life and sustenance getting harder to find because Jose do-jour plans to kill/capture her.
Maybe this wasn't the right time to keep promises.
Her head turned to the right, towards the table. A single glow of light was reflected on the surface of the glasses.
Adrian Seidelman glasses.
She had to. She owned him that much.
* * * *
"Here? Are you sure? "
" Yes, I'm sure. Thank you for the ride. "
The truck driver looked at him oddly. "Well, is not my problem pal, but we are in the middle of nowhere. Is a long way to the nearest town."
"I know."
"It's your choice." With a small grunt that Adrian could understand as "Meridiana freaks", the driver started the engine and quickly disappeared behind a curve in the highway.
It was here.
He gave one last look to the road before entering the forest. For a while he walked stopping from time to time to remember the way. Finally he stopped in a small clearing in the forest. In front of him, covered by grass, there was a small mound of rocks.
It was here.
It had been here.
"Hello Adrian."
It had been here, on that day, when she had become Adrian Seindelman.
******************
The spring nights where becoming warmer, a relief after the cold nights crossing swamps and fields. Yet she was tired. She hadn't sleep well that day, nightmares of those men, the ones that had killed daddy, tormented her. Those men where out there somewhere, and they where looking for her. She had to escape. She needed time to grow, to be strong, to start a war against them. That one thought made her to continue walking, ignoring her exhaustion.
Her bare feet walked over the hard highway asphalt while her eyes searched the road for any lights. The bag in her hands seemed to weight more every mile, but that was good. She wouldn't had any chance of surviving if it was lighter.
Her future was in that bag. Sustenance.
She stopped.
Not very far away, passing a close curve, there was a light.
Without thinking twice about it, she run quickly to some nearby bushes and hide. Minutes passed without her hearing anything except the thumping of her own hearth and her breathing. No car. Nothing. They where no voices in the distance, or engine sound.
Nothing.
Little by little she gained enough courage to come out from her hiding place. Stopping and thinking again, she went back to the bushes and retrieved the bag. She didn't feel calm if the bag was somewhere out of her sight.
Step by step, she slowly walked towards the light.
In front of her there was scene that would had terrified any child. But not her.
A car had crashed in the right side of the highway. Probably that closed curve, along with the darkness and not enough sleep had caused the accident. The car was now turned upside down, burning in flames. It's occupants lifeless corpses lay scattered on the floor, their burned clothes smoking.
The smaller form of one of them called her attention. It was a boy about her age, his features to much obscured with burns to see them in the dark. There was something sticking out of his pockets: identity papers. " Adrian Seidelman, passport: 13289668, male, 11 years". The photo showed a young boy with glasses and black hair, as hers. In a second an idea grew in her head.
She couldn't do that.
No, she could. She had to. It was her only chance.
*** Once the last rock was put on the grave, she began to fully understand what she was doing. Adrian Seidelman was dead and she was alive. She couldn't live without an identity and he wouldn't need his. It was obvious: without a body, everybody would think Adrian was alive. She could be him. A boy. The bad men would never look for a boy. She would be safe.
Once again she studied the picture in the passport. Mmmm... the fire had darkened it, but it was quite clear. She would have to burn the passport a little more later. Right now she had to take care of one important detail: the glasses. Thankfully the boy had only a small prescription, yet they made her feel a little dizzy.
Combing her hair with one hand she gave a final look at the passport.
"Hello Adrian Seidelman!"
************
What kind of person would he had been if he had lived? What would he look like? What would he like doing? What would he think of her? Would he approve that something- someone like her had taken his name, his identity? Would he hate her for taking away the chance to rest besides his parents?
Thousands of questions. Only one answer.
Adrian had given her a chance to live as a normal person, to have what most people in the world took for granted. School, university, work: all of them possible. Possibilities when she had none, peace when she was at war.
Friends.
" I own you a lot."
She slowly placed the flowers in the grave and murmured "Thank you" before turning and heading for highway.
" I'll try my best to make it worthwhile..."
It would be a really long walk to the bus station, but maybe with a little luck she could get to Meriana in time to see the game in TV with Lucas.
Yes, that would be nice.
--------------------------------------------- The end ------------------------------------------------ started: November 7, 2002 finished: February 12, 2003
----------------------------------
A not so small note: (It started out as two lines, honestly!)
I had quite some doubts on using the word 'soccer' instead of 'football', but end up using it (much to my distaste) to avoid confusion. Just for the record I think it makes more sense to call it football since you play with your FOOTS and a BALL. I just can't understand why people would call football (just in north America, the WHOLE rest of the world calls it by its right name.) a game you play with your HANDS and a ball that isn't even round!
But if you are writing a fic that mentions football (I'm talking about the one with the ROUND ball here) and your knowledge on that is zero, you should at least know this.
There are eleven players per team.
You can touch the ball with any body part( head, hips, foot...) EXCEPT for arms and hands.
The game is played on two times of forty-five minutes each, with a fifteen minutes half-time.
Besides the players there's a referee which decides if something is against the rules. And once he decides, that's it. Believe me, most of the swearing in the stadium goes to him.
The organization that controls everything is the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which means International Federation of Football Association in French.)
The most important event in football is the World Cup, played every four years. To even play at the cup, the team (national ones, there are other events for privates) must be amongst the best in the continent, the number of teams that go depends on the number of countries in the continent. (for example in South America is 4) If the team has won the last cup, or is the national team of the country which is hosting the cup, they are included without any preliminary round.
And now we get to the part you can use on your fic.
In Argentina football is by far (as in the rest of world, except North America) the most popular game. Their team is one of the bests and they have been in almost every world cup in the past fifty years. They have been twice world champions (1978-1986) and hosted the world cup once (1978).
Just in case you where wondering, Brazil is the country which has won the cup most times: five. (including the last one, Korea-Japan 2002) After Brazil, Italy ( azurri!!!**) and Germany have won three times, Argentina and Uruguay twice.
--------------------------------------------
**---"azurri" is what the Italian team is called because of the color of their shirts." Azurro" means in Italian sky-blue . Plain blue is just "blu". And yes, they are my favorite team...
(well I'm half-italian... what else did you expect?)
Legal stuff: Even if I DO speak Spanish, I don't own Cybersix. All related characters belong to Carlos Trillo & Carlos Meglia, TMS & NOA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Adrian By Elihice
It could had been his constant insistence, or the fact that the atmosphere was far more relaxed being friday, or because his friend had left all his books at home. Or maybe this unlikely fact was the first of series of events all pointing that the end of the world was indeed coming. Nevertheless, whatever the reason of his success was, Lucas Amato couldn't help but to smile at himself.
He had finally got Adrian interested in soccer.
It didn't matter if 'interested' mean 'listening without yawning'. At least they where back at talking, things had been awkward for some time after Lucas had accused Adrian of having an affair with Cybersix.
Hurt and betrayed he had just said what had come to his mind. And it hadn't been pretty. Whatever the truth was, he was sorry for most of the things he had said and didn't want to elaborate any further. She had asked him to trust and that was exactly what he was doing... by trying not to think at what his best friend and the woman he loved had or hadn't done.
Both teachers sat at their usual table, Adrian sipping his coffee while Lucas excitedly told him about the upcoming final of the South American cup. The dinner was half-full with the usual customers, some of them already on their way to deeply regretting tomorrow what they where drinking tonight. Groups of teenagers, couples and others wandered outside in the street, talking about their plans for tonight. As any friday night, the whole city of Meridiana seemed to be in a better mood. He surely was.
"And when is this final?" Adrian put down his now empty cup, the corners of his mouth twitching in a grin the mild-mannered professor couldn't completely hide.
Well, Adrian already knew what he was going to ask. Better. With some luck maybe he could convince him. "Sunday afternoon. The thirty."
Somehow the grin faded completely. "Th.. the thirty... already?"
"Yes, this Sunday. September 30" He took a small pause to eat a handful of fries. Better ask now before Adrian started to remember whatever appointment he could use as an excuse for not going. "So, want to go to see the game with me? A friend of a friend I know can sell me two tickets in the- "
" I don't think that would be such a good idea" The voice was now cold and serious.
"Come on, it'll be fun. I bet you have never done the wave. We could-"
"-No, I really can't. I'm going out of town this weekend." Lucas opened his mouth to respond but, as always, Adrian was much faster and cut his unspoken question with a line that had become more and more common in their conversations. "Well, look at the time! I have to go! See you on monday, Lucas."
With his mouth still open. Lucas watched Adrian grab his trench coat and let out a deep breath.
Ah, yes. A normal meal with Adrian Seidelman:
Hasty retreat: check
Some things just can't be fixed from one day to another. It would probably take weeks before things went back to the way they were; it would take some more time to drag him to the stadium. Well, he was not giving up. Biting a slice of pizza he noticed the empty cup of coffee and the half-eaten hamburger in front of him.
Unpaid bill: check
"Not again!"
* * *
How could she have forgotten? Mixed feelings twirled in her head, guilt being the strongest of all. Almost mechanically, she hanged her brown treanch coat and removed the glasses, leaving them on the table which was already cramped with books and school work. Tossing the tie somewhere in the dark corners of the room, she ran her fingers trough her hair and let it fall in front of her face.
The bed made a small squeaking noise when she threw herself in it. She was tired. Staring at the ceiling she started thinking how her life had changed ever since she had first set foot on Meridiana. And lately things had been more complicated than usual. With Lucas, with her life and sustenance getting harder to find because Jose do-jour plans to kill/capture her.
Maybe this wasn't the right time to keep promises.
Her head turned to the right, towards the table. A single glow of light was reflected on the surface of the glasses.
Adrian Seidelman glasses.
She had to. She owned him that much.
* * * *
"Here? Are you sure? "
" Yes, I'm sure. Thank you for the ride. "
The truck driver looked at him oddly. "Well, is not my problem pal, but we are in the middle of nowhere. Is a long way to the nearest town."
"I know."
"It's your choice." With a small grunt that Adrian could understand as "Meridiana freaks", the driver started the engine and quickly disappeared behind a curve in the highway.
It was here.
He gave one last look to the road before entering the forest. For a while he walked stopping from time to time to remember the way. Finally he stopped in a small clearing in the forest. In front of him, covered by grass, there was a small mound of rocks.
It was here.
It had been here.
"Hello Adrian."
It had been here, on that day, when she had become Adrian Seindelman.
******************
The spring nights where becoming warmer, a relief after the cold nights crossing swamps and fields. Yet she was tired. She hadn't sleep well that day, nightmares of those men, the ones that had killed daddy, tormented her. Those men where out there somewhere, and they where looking for her. She had to escape. She needed time to grow, to be strong, to start a war against them. That one thought made her to continue walking, ignoring her exhaustion.
Her bare feet walked over the hard highway asphalt while her eyes searched the road for any lights. The bag in her hands seemed to weight more every mile, but that was good. She wouldn't had any chance of surviving if it was lighter.
Her future was in that bag. Sustenance.
She stopped.
Not very far away, passing a close curve, there was a light.
Without thinking twice about it, she run quickly to some nearby bushes and hide. Minutes passed without her hearing anything except the thumping of her own hearth and her breathing. No car. Nothing. They where no voices in the distance, or engine sound.
Nothing.
Little by little she gained enough courage to come out from her hiding place. Stopping and thinking again, she went back to the bushes and retrieved the bag. She didn't feel calm if the bag was somewhere out of her sight.
Step by step, she slowly walked towards the light.
In front of her there was scene that would had terrified any child. But not her.
A car had crashed in the right side of the highway. Probably that closed curve, along with the darkness and not enough sleep had caused the accident. The car was now turned upside down, burning in flames. It's occupants lifeless corpses lay scattered on the floor, their burned clothes smoking.
The smaller form of one of them called her attention. It was a boy about her age, his features to much obscured with burns to see them in the dark. There was something sticking out of his pockets: identity papers. " Adrian Seidelman, passport: 13289668, male, 11 years". The photo showed a young boy with glasses and black hair, as hers. In a second an idea grew in her head.
She couldn't do that.
No, she could. She had to. It was her only chance.
*** Once the last rock was put on the grave, she began to fully understand what she was doing. Adrian Seidelman was dead and she was alive. She couldn't live without an identity and he wouldn't need his. It was obvious: without a body, everybody would think Adrian was alive. She could be him. A boy. The bad men would never look for a boy. She would be safe.
Once again she studied the picture in the passport. Mmmm... the fire had darkened it, but it was quite clear. She would have to burn the passport a little more later. Right now she had to take care of one important detail: the glasses. Thankfully the boy had only a small prescription, yet they made her feel a little dizzy.
Combing her hair with one hand she gave a final look at the passport.
"Hello Adrian Seidelman!"
************
What kind of person would he had been if he had lived? What would he look like? What would he like doing? What would he think of her? Would he approve that something- someone like her had taken his name, his identity? Would he hate her for taking away the chance to rest besides his parents?
Thousands of questions. Only one answer.
Adrian had given her a chance to live as a normal person, to have what most people in the world took for granted. School, university, work: all of them possible. Possibilities when she had none, peace when she was at war.
Friends.
" I own you a lot."
She slowly placed the flowers in the grave and murmured "Thank you" before turning and heading for highway.
" I'll try my best to make it worthwhile..."
It would be a really long walk to the bus station, but maybe with a little luck she could get to Meriana in time to see the game in TV with Lucas.
Yes, that would be nice.
--------------------------------------------- The end ------------------------------------------------ started: November 7, 2002 finished: February 12, 2003
----------------------------------
A not so small note: (It started out as two lines, honestly!)
I had quite some doubts on using the word 'soccer' instead of 'football', but end up using it (much to my distaste) to avoid confusion. Just for the record I think it makes more sense to call it football since you play with your FOOTS and a BALL. I just can't understand why people would call football (just in north America, the WHOLE rest of the world calls it by its right name.) a game you play with your HANDS and a ball that isn't even round!
But if you are writing a fic that mentions football (I'm talking about the one with the ROUND ball here) and your knowledge on that is zero, you should at least know this.
There are eleven players per team.
You can touch the ball with any body part( head, hips, foot...) EXCEPT for arms and hands.
The game is played on two times of forty-five minutes each, with a fifteen minutes half-time.
Besides the players there's a referee which decides if something is against the rules. And once he decides, that's it. Believe me, most of the swearing in the stadium goes to him.
The organization that controls everything is the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, which means International Federation of Football Association in French.)
The most important event in football is the World Cup, played every four years. To even play at the cup, the team (national ones, there are other events for privates) must be amongst the best in the continent, the number of teams that go depends on the number of countries in the continent. (for example in South America is 4) If the team has won the last cup, or is the national team of the country which is hosting the cup, they are included without any preliminary round.
And now we get to the part you can use on your fic.
In Argentina football is by far (as in the rest of world, except North America) the most popular game. Their team is one of the bests and they have been in almost every world cup in the past fifty years. They have been twice world champions (1978-1986) and hosted the world cup once (1978).
Just in case you where wondering, Brazil is the country which has won the cup most times: five. (including the last one, Korea-Japan 2002) After Brazil, Italy ( azurri!!!**) and Germany have won three times, Argentina and Uruguay twice.
--------------------------------------------
**---"azurri" is what the Italian team is called because of the color of their shirts." Azurro" means in Italian sky-blue . Plain blue is just "blu". And yes, they are my favorite team...
(well I'm half-italian... what else did you expect?)