Shattered Ice: Super Sailor Mercury
Chapter 49
"This is fascinating," Ami noted as she studied the readings from the monster creating machine they had fought a week ago. She had downloaded the data from her PDA to her home PC, which she had upgraded with Moon Kingdom tech.
"Oh?" Chibi-Moon asked, the smaller girl having breakfast nearby. She wasn't paying THAT much attention to her, really, but Ami liked to be prompted when thinking aloud, so she and Luna often traded off doing it. It was a bit like hanging out with a mad scientist, tho she wasn't dumb enough to say that out loud...
"If I'm reading this right it pumped out drones based on parameters it's users added," Ami explained to them thoughtfully, "we could have used it ourselves to custom make Moon Kingdom soldiers, or something."
"That's a bit of a moral slippery slope," Luna pointed out reasonably, the black cat lazily sipping from her bowl of milk.
"Point," Ami conceded, deflating a bit. "Did the Moon Kingdom have a policy on artificial life?" she asked curiously.
"If it was sentient, we extended rights to them," Luna remembered a bit sadly, "and creating non-sentient soldiers was banned. Which, sadly, didn't stop Beryl."
"Sadly we didn't know she had broken the law until she attacked," Ami noted absent-mindedly as she typed. She stopped and blinked, wondering where THAT memory had come from. Every now and then a piece of information from her past life would pop up, often unpredictably.
"It's like these Phages that Galaxia's people are making," Luna said, "They don't seem to be fully human any more, and blindly follow orders."
"Thankfully we can cure that," Ami said, thinking of the staff and sword she could use to reverse such changes.
"Do you think it will effect the other Sailor Animates?" Luna asked curiously, though really Ami should have been asking her that. However, having the mixed Sailor abilities residing in Ami had left things rather unpredictable.
"They've been careful not to let me have another shot at them," Ami growled. "It takes a few moments to set up the attack, and once I do they're gone."
"We should ask Iron Mouse if she had any suggestions on how to get them restrained, somehow," Usagi noted.
"It's a idea," Ami admitted. She remembered Iron Mouse was shadowing Hotaru as she went out, and made a note to call her later.
"How's your mother?" Luna asked brightly.
Ami gave the cat a look.
"That bad?" Luna asked, still looking amused.
"Mother is still in a tizzy over Kakyuu," Ami checked things off on her fingers, "the Three Lights are constantly bothering me about it AND Kakyuu herself thinks she needs to get to know me better, too."
Usagi snickered softly at that while Luna smirked, in her cat-way.
"Your sympathy overwhelms me," Ami sighed as she finished her bowl of granola.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into," Seiya Kou quipped as the black haired young man sprinted ahead.
Taiki Kou raised a eyebrow, "How is this MY fault?"
"Well, don't look at me," Yaten noted as they all raced around a corner.
Behind them, a small mob of screaming fangirls hurried after them, waving posters and other Three Lights items. It was supposed to have been a low key appearance, but there was a larger crowd than expected, security lost control and the three decided fleeing was a good idea.
"You DID suggest this kind of small event would be a good idea," Seiya noted.
"Any luck calling the manager?" Yaten changed the subject.
"She's on her way, but not sure how long she'll be," Taiki said dryly.
"Oh lovely," Seiya muttered as the screaming horde tried to catch up. For once he was actually happy he had to stay in shape for their stage costumes.
"Any place we could, I dunno, hide for a bit?" Yaten asked sarcastically as they tried to get a bit farther ahead of the girls.
"The city hospital is reasonably close..." Taiki noted thoughtfully. "The security might help us, at least..."
"Lead on," Seiya declared.
The security guard blinked as the three young men raced right by him. "SHUT THE DOORS!" Yaten yelled at him and the man obediently did, sealing off a very disappointed and loud group of young women.
A few moments later a manager for the hospital appeared, who assessed the situation. "We've called the police to disperse the ladies," he sighed, "but until then you're imposing on us, it seems."
"I'm very sorry," Taiki bowed slightly.
Seiya exchanged glances with the other two. "Do you have a children's unit?" he asked. "If you allow, we could visit with them, possibly sing a bit...?"
The hospital staff brightened up at that suggestion. "We'll check with Doctor Mizuno, but I think it's a wonderful idea..."
Seiya's eyes widened slightly in surprise, 'Doctor Mizuno...?'
In fact it WAS Nicole Mizuno, the older woman looking rather amused to see the three idols there. "My colleague explained the situation," she said as she lead them upstairs, "the kids will be glad to have company."
"Thank you for having us," Yaten said dryly. He smiled slightly as he asked her, "How is Kakyuu doing?"
Nicole blushed, a surprisingly sweet reaction from the normally very serious doctor. "Well, thank you," she answered. "I'm on rotation for the children's ward today," she explained, "usually I'm over in surgical. You've done hospital visits before?"
"Gowns and gloves," Taiki remembered, "masks if needed. Do we need to do the eye protection too? I find the visors look kind of creepy."
"No visors," Nicole agreed, "thankfully no infectious cases are in, and no one with compromised immune systems."
"Poor kids," Seiya murmured.
The ward visit was several hours, the three singers deciding to put their all into it. They chatted with the children, played games with them, and sang several songs. Even the very sick children roused enough to smile at the visitors, which was heartbreaking in it's own way.
"Don`t you wish we could just... magic all of this away?" Yaten asked as they got the protective gowns and gloves off.
"We tried that at home," Taiki shrugged, "it didn't turn out that well."
"Hmm," Seiya agreed, but he could also see where Yaten was coming from. Seeing this suffering... it hurt. Deeply.
They signed autographs for nurses in the ward, and a couple of doctors too, then met Dr. Mizuno out in the halls again.
"Thank you again for doing this," Nicole noted as she lead them back to her office. "A positive outlook can have as much of a effect as any medication," she noted.
"Really?" Yaten asked curiously.
"Yes," Nicole nodded, "I've seen patients rebound even after serious illness, based on pure determination. And in other cases perfectly healthy people just decline once they lose their will to live."
"Huh," Yaten murmured thoughtfully.
Seiya cleared his throat as they went towards the offices of the various doctors. "I'm rather glad we ran into you here," he admitted, "would you object to our stopping by your home to see Kakyuu again?"
"And we promise to be subtle," Taiki added, "unlike today."
Nicole snickered at that comment. "Come into my office, we'll talk about it," she said as she waved them in.
The secretary smiled at them warmly. "Hello, nice to see you," Kakyuu winked.
"Dwah?" Yaten managed, surprised.
"Chibi!" the little girl nearby offered sagely.
"What." Seiya looked at Nicole.
She smirked. "Well, she wanted something to do, and I do need a secretary so...," Nicole shrugged.
"Clever, very clever," Taiki conceded as they warmly greeted their wayward princess...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Setsuna Meiou's position as school nurse was useful in several ways. It let her keep a eye on Ami, Haruka and Michiru, it kept her nearby in case of emergency, and she was able to get information on school related events very quickly.
Which was why, looking at the flier the principal was handing out, Setsuna was nearly certain it was a trap...
"Galaxy Broadcasting Student Challenge!" the headline read. "Galaxy Broadcasting will be sponsoring a special game show in two weeks! Students with top academic skills and athletics are encouraged to enter for prizes and the possibility of fame and fortune!" And at the bottom it mentioned at participating schools would also be rewarded for sending students with exceptional GPA or athletic achievements.
"We are, of course, sending a team to compete," the Principal beamed at the morning staff meeting. "I want all teachers to go through their class registers to look for likely candidates."
"Volunteers, I assume," Setsuna said dryly.
There was a long beat of silence as several teachers shifted uncomfortably. "Set-chan," the music teacher sighed, "with the incentives, we could actually get new music stands!"
Setsuna sighed, KNOWING this whole thing was going to be a train wreck...
To be continued
Notes: Pulled a 'Hard Days Night' bit with the Three Lights. Heh. Moving plot bits forward a little plus some characterization. Next chapter will be villain focused, I think...
