Won't Get Fooled Again

by Sean Gaffney

A sequel to my fic I Am One, this is a crossover between the Dirty Pair, Robert Heinlein's Future History, and certain characters from Evangelion. And lots of other stuff. It's big. I wrote it in 1997. Enjoy.

4. Part 4: The Real Me

WARNING: A scene about two-thirds of the way through this part contains graphic violence and death, more so than the previous parts. Be warned, it may be considered disturbing. In addition, please note that a popular anime character is killed in that scene. I bear her no malice, I have not even seen her show. I'm just using her name.

Part Four: The Real Me

Organised chaos was perhaps the best way to describe what Kei and Yuri saw when they entered the landing bay. Hilda and Ishtar were shouting instructions to various people, while Zeb, Deety, and Maureen seemed to be clustered around Gay Deceiver, trying to manoeuvre a person outside the vehicle.

Getting closer, the nature of the difficulty became apparent. A girl seemed to be nailed to a section of wall, impaled by various implements, and they were trying to remove her from the ship carefully with as little jostling as possible. To the Angels' amazement, she appeared to be conscious, despite her position and the presence of head and thigh wounds.

Following her closely were Maureen, Lazarus, and another girl with pale skin and white-blue hair. Both she and the injured girl were 3WA agents judging from their outfits, but neither Kei or Yuri recognised either of them. In any case, the other girl was obviously in a state, hanging on to the injured girl's hand, and struggling briefly when Hilda gently pulled her away.

Cory was the last out of the cab, following a quiet young man who was quickly whisked away by Lazarus. Kei and Yuri ran up to her.

"Cory, are you all right? What happened?" Kei asked.

"Who were they? Are they on our side, or prisoners?" Yuri added.

Cory stared past the two of them for a moment, her eyes unfocused. Then she turned towards them, her face turning sombre.

"I hate this. I really do."

Kei and Yuri blinked. "Cory?"

Cory continued, not even acknowledging them. "I'm not going to do this anymore. That's it. I've had it with going into dangerous situations and getting my ass shot off. You guys have about six or seven of 3WA's most talented agents on your side now. Let them go out and risk themselves. I'll stay here and fold a thousand cranes, or something."

Kei grabbed Cory's shoulder, and noticed she was shaking slightly. "Cory, we won't ask you to do that. I promise."

"Oh, SURE!" Cory's voice got louder, and her shaking became visible. "Sure, you promise that now, but as soon as you need someone who's above suspicion and can look around without running the risks of getting caught, it's always, 'Cory, would you mind?' or 'Cory, we need you' and I'll be right out there again, getting into trouble again, because despite what you guys tell me they *always* seem to catch me anyway and I'll end up finding out about crazy clones of me and women pinned to walls and more of the fucking *shit* that I never signed up for in the *first* pl... huh... pl... "

Cory's monologue ended in a choked sob, and she swung her fist at Yuri, who caught it automatically.

"I... "

Whatever Yuri was going to say was cut off when Cory suddenly closed her eyes and fell forward, landing rather awkwardly in Kei's cleavage. The Angels looked at her, then at each other.

Lazarus walked up to them, for once looking rather haggard and serious. "She's been awake now for over 24 hours, and has had some experiences that would have traumatised people without her strength of will. Give her time to sleep and get back into the right frame of mind, she'll be better."

Yuri nodded. "She's not going to be going on this raid, though."

"I never said she was," Lazarus said, rubbing his temples. "Bringing Cory along was perhaps not a good idea in hindsight, but I don't pretend to be perfect."

A round of giggling made Lazarus turn his head, but he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"In any case," he said, glaring at the room in general, "Miss Emerson will not be asked to go anywhere near the final operation, and would probably be refused if she did ask. We need soldiers for the final battle, not spies."

Kei blinked. "Cory's not a spy."

Lazarus shrugged. "If we did put her into a mission like this, that's where we'd put her. She's good at getting information out of people, and can act innocent if captured."

"LAZARUS!" Hilda's cry made him jump momentarily; he must have been almost as tired as Cory.

"We're about to have a meeting to discuss what Cory and I discovered back at 3WA headquarters, and what to do about it. You two are welcome to participate. In fact, I think that you should. A lot of this information might explain certain... irregularities you two have already brought to our attention."

Kei and Yuri looked at each other. "So that's why all those people came back with you?" Yuri said.

Lazarus nodded. "The meeting is, in part, to try and find out what to do with them... and whether they can help us."

"We'll take Cory to her room and then find you guys."

Nodding once more, Lazarus made his way back towards Hilda, the two of them falling into a deep discussion. Occasionally they pointed at the young man who had accompanied them, who merely looked twitchy and nervous.

Kei looked at Yuri and sighed, hefting Cory's unconscious frame over her shoulders. They then made their way over towards the area where Cory had been given a room.

Yuri glanced at Cory. "Kei?"

"Mmm?"

"Should we have said something? I mean, I feel kinda bad that we got Cory into this in the first place."

Kei sighed. "Yeah, we probably should have. But Lazarus was right, we aren't perfect. We let Cory go, and now have to deal with that. All we can do is be there to help her and make sure she's able to deal with whatever happened."

Kei got Cory into her room and set her down on the bed. The young woman muttered slightly and shifted into a curled-up position, then smiled.

Seeing this, Kei and Yuri's mood brightened a bit. They closed the door quietly, leaving Cory to her slumber.

***

Bast looked around the large room they'd taken him to. It seemed to be a combination conference room/conversation pit, with large sofas and armchairs scattered around. He wondered if he should sit down, but people were still arriving, so he decided to continue to stand awkwardly and wait for his fate to be decided.

He wondered, for about the tenth time in the past ten minutes, if this had been such a great idea. True, staying with Jimmy had become a suicidal option, but was he really better off here? He'd been Jimmy's executive assistant for over a year, and to be honest, hadn't done much to change that state of affairs. If they liked, his captors could simply decide to throw him in a cell to rot.

He sighed and rubbed his temples. Thinking like this wasn't going to get him anywhere. He had to believe he'd done the right thing, and that he was with friends now.

Still, he felt like a coward. Rather than confronting Jimmy, or attempting to foil his plans, he'd run away. He could feel guilt pressing down on him, eating away at any confidence he still had. He wanted to do something about that... *needed* to do something.

He looked up to see that everyone had arrived, and all of them were staring at him. He coughed.

"Um... hi."

The short brunette woman that had met them earlier smiled. "Hi there. Don't worry, this isn't a trial or anything. We're here because we need information. You have it. Lazarus said you were offering to help us. Is this true?"

Despite the pleasant tone in her words, Bast still felt that he was dealing with a hostile audience. Looking around, he noticed the Lovely Angels in a corner, staring at him and whispering. Presumably these were the genuine article, rather than the clones that Jimmy had created later on. Zen sat next to them, so apparently the Angels had recruited a few of their friends to help. Bast noticed with some relief that Zen didn't seem to be wearing the despairing look she had been sporting for the last couple of months. Next to her... Good Lord, was that *Deirdre*? And if she was here, then where was Shasti? If anyone needed to know what he was about to tell them, she did.

Bast cleared his throat and pulled himself together. He decided to look at the short woman... Hilda, he remembered... and just spill as much as he knew.

"Some of this is already known to you. And some of it I'm not really supposed to know. I did a lot of research into this, especially after my suspicions of Jimmy worsened. And, I might point out, there's still a lot that I *don't* know."

Lazarus spoke up. "That's fine. As much as you can."

Bast sighed, and muttered to himself, "As you know, your father, the King..." Straightening up, he began. "Well, I suppose I should begin a few years ago... before Jimmy was even created..."

~~~

"Within a few years of its creation, the Worlds Welfare Work Association had become more successful than anyone could have imagined. That success was due in large part to the Central Computer, which moved from being an aid in briefing agents on their missions, to actually selecting the agents for the missions. By the time this whole story starts, the CC was, in effect, running 3WA.

"Back in 2135, the higher-ups in the organisation, along with the Central Computer, decided to try a bold new experiment; an artificially created bioroid, designed to be the perfect 3WA agent. She would have a tetrad mind which could simulate four distinct types of personalities, in addition to her central processors. The project, as I'm sure you've guessed, was Shasti. Experiment 101-E.

"Shasti's initial tests were wildly successful. She was paired with another outstanding agent, Deirdre, and everything seemed to be working out. Therefore a second bioroid was created, this one a male. He would only have two distinct personality types, as Shasti's four had proven to have a few bugs. He was codenamed Jimmy.

"Unfortunately, Shasti and Deirdre's first mission was somewhat less than successful. In fact, it was pretty much a disaster. 3WA decided to cut their losses, and ordered that Jimmy be scrapped. Shasti was repaired to the best of our ability... well, actually, it was mostly thanks to Deirdre. The Ultimas continued, and eventually became our most successful team.

"I'm not too sure about the next part. Maybe someone in the organisation had an ulterior motive, but I haven't been able to trace it. In any case, Jimmy wasn't abandoned. He was completed in secret, and quietly put into the organisation. Then, it would appear, almost everyone forgot about him.

"Then came the LaCombe case. I presume I don't have to tell you what happened there. It ended with Shasti insane and on the run, Deirdre dead, and the Lovely Angels severely injured. Shasti continued a reign of terror that lasted four years.

"Eventually, the handling of her case was given over to one of 3WA's better psychiatrists, Dr. Joseph DeFeo. He was the one who eventually succeeded in her capture, mostly because he changed the mission objectives from killing her to taking her alive. He was assisted by Jim Daltrey... the logical half of Jimmy's persona.

"Here's another place where I can skip over things, as I imagine you know most of it. The Central Computer brought in Cory Emerson to assist in helping Shasti recover her senses. Unfortunately, Jimmy had ulterior motives. He killed DeFeo, and sent in a clone of Deirdre he had brainwashed to infiltrate and kill Shasti and Cory. When that failed, he mindwiped a dozen agents and sent them in to massacre everyone. This failed as well. Finally he tried to kill Shasti himself, but he was killed instead.

"What happened next I'm unsure of. Perhaps we can chalk it up as a tribute to Jimmy's paranoia. In any case, Jimmy had been experimenting with cloning for a while. It wasn't perfect... as far as I can tell, the logical half of his persona was destroyed in the new clone. But apart from that, it was a success. Jimmy Daltrey lived again.

"What's more, he suddenly came out from behind the sidelines and his plans got broader. He cloned the Pai... er, the Angels, as well as Miss Emerson in order to cover up his mistakes. He arranged Goulet's 'accidental' death, which left him as the next candidate for 3WA. He was very thorough, as well as quite clever. Don't make the mistake of thinking Jimmy is just a typical madman. His mind is excellent, especially when it comes to ensuring his own survival.

"As for the Central Computer, who knows what it was thinking. You have to understand, 3WA had gotten used to the CC being the final word on any subject. I imagine it had its own reasons for keeping Jimmy alive.

"That didn't, however, mean that the CC sat back and watched this happen. While Jimmy was doing this, the CC had its own project prepared... a third bioroid. This one, as I'm sure Lazarus has figured out, was codenamed Rei.

"I don't really know much about Rei's creation... what I do know is either conjecture, or things I learned from Jimmy. Rei had only one base persona with no need for different personalities. However, it soon became apparent after she awoke that her emotional growth was severely stunted. Her reaction time and deduction skills were unparalleled, but she couldn't function as a 3WA agent without arousing suspicion.

"However, a new wrinkle emerged. I had just been hired by Jimmy, and he asked me to investigate this 'anomaly', to see what was happening. At the time, I didn't really understand what I was investigating, but Jimmy did. He confronted the CC, who was forced to admit what Rei really was.

"Thereafter Rei's development was handled by both Jimmy and the Central Computer. The CC was the one who came up with the idea of assigning her a partner for training. That had worked for Shasti, whatever the end results had been. However, Jimmy wanted to maintain Rei's secrecy.

"So, they compromised. The CC had selected an agent, Asuka, who was technically excellent, but had an attitude that made it extremely difficult for anyone to work with her. Pairing her with Rei would introduce Rei to the extremes of emotional reactions while at the same time giving Asuka a partner who wouldn't react poorly to her.

"They then took Asuka and gave her and Rei special training over the course of the next few months. Asuka's memories were wiped after each encounter, but her subconscious would remember the training. A few days ago... um, relatively speaking... Asuka was officially 'introduced' to Rei by Jimmy.

"Rei... I'm not sure what to make of her. Certainly Jimmy had designs on her use. I suspect he saw her as a tool to kill Shasti and get his revenge, with Asuka not even figuring into it. He certainly had warned Rei about Asuka being a 'bad influence' on her. But Rei's behaviour, especially now, leads me to believe that she has had that emotional breakthrough that the CC originally sought.

"I think Rei's automaton-like behaviour, combined with her artificial origins, led everyone to think of her as less than human. They considered Rei a tool. Certainly Jimmy saw her as less than human... just as he saw himself.

"As for the Cory Emerson clone... and keep in mind very few people knew she was a clone... theirs was an odd relationship. Jimmy wasn't really a lothario... from what I saw of their relationship, the Cory clone was the aggressive one. If the thought of children had occurred to him, he'd probably do it artificially. In any case, it's never been proven... or even tested... that bioroids can procreate.

"In any case, let me back up. Jimmy has always been fascinated with Shasti. Jealousy doesn't even begin to cover it. He had a total obsession with finding Shasti and destroying her life. Hence his reason for joining DeFeo in locating and bringing the rogue Shasti to justice.

"When that failed... and Shasti seemed to disappear, along with the Angels and Miss Emerson, Jimmy began to broaden his search. Or rather, he had me broaden it. Jimmy spent the next few months working his way to the top of 3WA while I gathered together every piece of data I could find on Shasti, Deirdre, Kei and Yuri, and Cory Emerson.

"One bit of information was the first time they met you. That was especially hard to uncover, as the CC had made a thorough attempt to hush it up. But it did provide a clue as to where you might have gone.

"Naturally, Jimmy couldn't follow you there. The best that he could do was hope that you returned. And you did."

~~~

Bast sighed. Now he was getting to the dangerous part. "I already mentioned this next part to Lazarus and Cory, and I don't think they really believed me. Hell, I wouldn't believe it either. Jimmy called me into his office, and explained to me that he wanted me to be a spy; to infiltrate your group, pretend to get on your side, and then report back with your weaknesses.

He paused, noting the silence and dubious looks he was getting.

"I had pretty much the same reaction you did. See, I had been uncomfortable working with Jimmy for some time. Jimmy trusted me, and that meant I got to see more of the real him... and I didn't like what I saw. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot I could do about it. I didn't have all that much pull, and I couldn't quit, because nobody could. 3WA has, for the past month or two, not been allowing any agents to leave the organisation.

"What I could do... and this was almost as dangerous... was find out how to contact you, and ask for sanctuary in return for information. I began to make plans to do this, setting up ways that I could locate you if you ever decided to return."

Bast wasn't sure whether he was making his point or not. He wished that someone would react, instead of just standing there.

"When... when Jimmy met with me to tell me what he wanted me to do, I almost panicked. I felt certain that he was finally going to get rid of me... had found out about my plans and was toying with me before he killed me. But he seemed to be genuine. Jimmy is an excellent actor, but after a year of being his right-hand man, I believe I can see when he's really telling the truth. He was.

"Finding the clones of the Angels dead did not help, I'll admit. Whose bright idea was it to leave them just outside his door?"

Perhaps he had worded that a bit strongly. In any case, he got his first real reaction, as Kei and Yuri jumped out of their seats.

"What?!"

"They're dead?"

Bast blinked. This was unexpected. "Um... you two didn't kill them?"

Hilda raised an eyebrow. "No one here did."

"Now that is odd. When Jimmy and I emerged from our meeting, we found the clones of Kei and Yuri lying in front of us, their throats slit, and 'fake' carved on their foreheads. It was quite a statement. We'd assumed it was a calling card from you that meant the battle lines were being drawn."

An uncomfortable silence followed, and Bast decided it would be wisest to change the subject.

"In any case, I'm sure by now you're all wondering what to do with me. Certainly it'd be impossible to trust me. I'm not asking you to. I'm just letting you know what I know, and you can do with it what you like.

"Jimmy is a very intelligent man, with a knack for seeing solutions where there aren't any. He's also needlessly cruel, and has a tendency to want people to suffer before he kills them. Also, of late, he has gotten increasingly paranoid. There was always this element in him, but after losing the 'Jim' half of his persona, it's gotten very bad. I would say that the clone of Cory Emerson and myself are the only people he trusts these days. Ironic, considering I'm selling him out." Bast twitched a bit when he said that, but soldiered on.

"After finding out as much information as I could, I was to meet him at his new base of operations, where I'd brief him."

"And that base is?" Lazarus asked.

Bast didn't flinch this time. "It's a planet called Gauda Prime, which Jimmy seemed insistent on choosing for some reason..."

Zen threw her head back in what appeared to be great pain. "Arrggh... great, he's not only a psycho paranoid sadist, but he has an AWFUL sense of humour."

Everyone seemed to find this odd, so Bast didn't feel left out. After a few moments, Zen looked up and said, "Sorry. Do go on. If you want my opinion, though, Zen suspects Mr. Daltrey is choosing Gauda Prime solely for reasons of personal amusement."

Bast wanted to wrap this up. He was getting tired, and wanted nothing more than to go to the cell they would assign him and sleep until this was all over.

Unfortunately, Lazarus and Hilda appeared to be pointing at him and whispering a lot. Then they waved over a third person, a short brunette who'd assisted in getting Asuka out when they arrived.

All three then got to their feet and stared at Bast, who began to sweat.

"Um..."

Hilda spoke up. "Mr. Weinberg, we're not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do..."

"But we believe that you are telling the truth, at least as you see it to be."

Lazarus walked over to Bast. "And since you said that the only two people Jimmy trusts are the Cory-clone and yourself, and Miss Emerson will not be participating in this mission..."

Bast began to feel a little faint. "You want me to go to Gauda Prime, pretend to be reporting in, feed Jimmy false information, and then you'll pull me out before the chaos begins?"

Seeing Lazarus and Hilda pull faces at each other, Bast smiled for the first time since his arrival. "I might not sound like it, but I am fairly quick. Why do you think Jimmy hired me?"

"Can you do it?"

Bast shrugged. "I could. Just because I've been in administration my whole career doesn't make me less qualified as a 3WA agent. I'll admit I'm nowhere near as good as the others in this room... by the way, how many people *did* you end up stealing from under our noses?"

Lazarus ignored him. "Will you help us? We can't guarantee you won't be caught... but on the other hand, if you do succeed, we'll have a much better chance of ensuring Jimmy's downfall."

Bast opened his mouth to respond, and realised he didn't know what to say. They were playing on his guilt, he knew... but that didn't mean it wasn't working. He did feel guilty. Asuka's body, pinned to the wall like a butterfly, floated in front of his face. Rei, accusing him of allowing it to happen. In a sense, he had. He was too cowardly to stop Jimmy, and so Jimmy had run amuck. If he returned, even if it led to being caught, he'd have done something.

"...all right. I'll do it."

Lazarus smiled, and patted him on the back. "Thank you."

Bast smiled wanly. "I don't suppose I have time for a quick nap?"

***

Cory sat back and frowned. Most of the preparations were done, the 3WA agents were starting to arrive and be debriefed, and the base was fully equipped. Now all she had left to do was sit back and watch Jimmy.

Jimmy was worrying her more and more. He'd always been fairly flighty, switching from one topic to another with blinding speed. But he'd always done so with an eye on the big picture. Each tangent he introduced turned out to be something they'd missed, or hadn't thought of.

But lately he'd been missing things, something totally unlike him. Cory had had to get an assistant to run the briefing after Jimmy had suffered a panic attack a few minutes before. Last night she'd discovered him in the bathroom. He'd broken the mirror and was attempting to slash his throat with the pieces. She'd grabbed him and talked him down, and then a few minutes later he pulled her into the shower and fucked her senseless. He seemed totally focused on her, and she'd been left exhausted afterwards.

Something was going to have to be done about this soon. Jimmy needed to be focused on getting their revenge, or else Shasti and the others would walk all over him.

It wasn't much better when he was lucid. His plan of attack was far too passive for her liking. He was relying on Shasti and her friends to make the first attack, and he would lure them into exposing themselves so that he could deal with them. She'd tried to point out that this gave Shasti's group a number of advantages, including that of surprise, but Jimmy had brought up her own failures, caused by aggressiveness, and she'd been forced to concede his point.

So she sat here, watching Jimmy play with a pencil, and waited for the first of the many random elements of Jimmy's plan to come into play.

"Sir? I'm, um, I'm back."

Looking up, Cory growled. Weinberg, the first and most random of those elements. For some reason, Jimmy had total faith that Bast would be able to get all sorts of inside information of their enemies, and then report back to him. Cory was a little more realistic. Either they'd discover what Bast was trying to do, in which case he wouldn't be coming back at all, or else they'd convert him, and he'd come back to betray them.

Cory privately suspected that Bast wouldn't need much converting. From what she'd seen, he was a spineless little twit with a conscience problem. His presence meant that she'd need to take a few more steps to ensure that this battle *did* go their way.

Jimmy was delighted to see Bast. He seemed to have returned to his normal behaviour, with all traces of the madness that was plaguing him gone. Cory wondered if Bast had this effect on him.

If Bast *had* turned traitor, she was going to need some evidence. She didn't want to have Jimmy questioning *her* loyalties, not after everything she'd done to get where she was. If she placed irrefutable proof before him, though...that would strengthen their bonds even tighter. He'd need her more than ever. There was also a danger it might exacerbate his madness, but Cory let that slide. If that happened, she'd be there for him.

She stood up, decisively. "Jimmy, if you don't need me while Mr. Weinberg is debriefing you, I'm going to look in on some details that need attention."

Jimmy barely nodded. Bast, on the other hand, twitched and glanced over at her. He covered it up fairly quickly, but it was enough for her. The man was guilty, and she'd make sure Jimmy knew it.

She walked out of the office quickly. She was already planning ways that she could get Bast to trip himself up. It had occured to her that if Bast had been with Shasti and Deirdre, he had probably met with the original Cory Emerson as well. And knowing her template as well as she did, that Cory was probably into this little war up to her neck.

With that in mind, Cory stepped into a nearby restroom, getting out a penknife. *Need to make myself look the part, after all...* she mused.

***

Bast left Jimmy's office with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the meeting itself had gone splendidly. Jimmy welcomed him with open arms, putting to rest Bast's secret fears that the whole mission was an elaborate set-up to get rid of him. In fact, Jimmy was almost embarrassingly ebullient, hanging on every drop of the false information Bast was feeding him.

That was also the other problem. Bast had avoided looking at Jimmy during the meeting, because when he did he saw the madness that had finally escaped Jimmy's eyes. Jimmy had always been cruel and sadistic, but he was in control of himself, even as Jimmy. It was a loose, easygoing kind of calm that Bast could rely on.

Now all of Jimmy's true emotions were plain to see on his face. The rage, the manic euphoria, the sadness and desperation. When Bast had described Jimmy to Lazarus and the others, he'd said he was insane. But that was due to a year of really getting to know Jimmy. Outsiders, people who didn't know him well, just saw the dynamic leader of 3WA. Now, however...

Bast wondered why he was so bothered by this. After all, he had already thrown in his lot with the others. Jimmy was not only a madman, but a sadist who had killed over and over again to achieve his aims. And yet...looking into his eyes, Bast felt pity for him. Shasti and Rei had achieved something that Jimmy hadn't been able to, and the man just wasn't able to cope with that.

Now, however, was not the time for such thoughts. He looked around to make sure that no one else in the corridor was around, and then slipped into a side corridor. The drop point had been arranged with little room for error, and he had to make sure he was there for pickup.

Rounding the corner, however, he came upon something that surprised him. It was Cory Emerson, lying on the floor. Moving as close to her as he dared, he noted that she was bleeding from a cut to the side of the head, fairly deep looking. For a moment he wrestled with himself as to what to do. This was the clone of Cory, after all. She was just as sadistic and nasty as Jimmy was, in her own way. Still, when all was said and done, Bast was not about to leave someone lying wounded in the middle of the floor.

He kneeled down by her, wondering why she'd changed her clothes recently. Closer, he could see that the cut wasn't as bad as he'd thought, and that she wasn't totally unconscious. She seemed to be murmuring something under her breath.

"Don't worry, Miss Emerson, I'll get you to somewhere safe." *And close,* he added to himself, knowing he didn't have much time.

Her eyes flickered open. "...Bast?"

"Yeah, I know, but no matter what I may think of you I'm not going to let you sit in the hall bleeding."

She tried to sit up, but didn't get very far. "Mr. Weinberg! Something went wrong! You have to tell the others!"

Bast paused, momentarily confused. "Huh?"

"I was sent to tell you, but I ran into that other me. You have to find Kei and Yuri. They'll know what to do."

It finally dawned on Bast that this wasn't the clone. This was the original Cory, sent back here. And she'd apparently run into her double, which meant that his cover was now very, very blown.

*Shit. What now?* he thought. If they'd dropped Cory off, it probably meant that the drop *wasn't* going to happen. That meant he had to grab Cory, find a place for them to temporarily hide out, and then try and find some way of contacting the Angels. If Cory had mentioned them, it seemed a reasonable assumption that they were here.

Cory seemed to be recovering from the blow to her head, and was now leaning up against the wall. He bit his finger, then decided. "Can you move?"

She steadied herself and then staggered to her feet. "I think so."

Bast nodded. "Good. We need to get out of the open. I'm gathering that the drop point isn't going to happen?"

An odd look passed over her face just then. "No, you could say that," she replied.

Bast sighed. "I wish Hilda had let me bring some kind of communicator. They wouldn't even let me take a watch."

He turned to look down the side corridor, checking to see if any guards were around. Suddenly a beam tore through his bicep, neatly severing his left arm. For a moment he just stared at the arm, now lying on the floor, and then the pain hit and he dropped to his knees screaming.

He looked up, to find Cory standing over him. She was holding a gun in one hand, and seemed to have a small device in the other.

"Thank you, Bast. I was wondering whether you'd ever say anything useful for the recorder."

Then she swam out of focus, and everything went dark...

***

The first thing Bast noticed as he returned to consciousness was a disconnected feeling in his left shoulder. There was something odd about it, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

The second thing he noticed was that he seemed to be naked. As Bast always slept in a T-shirt and briefs, this was decidedly wrong.

Bast decided to make a vague 'I'm waking up now' grunt, to warn anyone in the immediate vicinity before he opened his eyes. This worked up to a point, as he was suddenly hit viciously across the face. He bit his tongue, and tasted blood. With it came memories of the past few hours.

*Oh no...*

"Jimmy, wait. I know what you're feeling, but if you break his jaw he'll be unable to tell us anything. We need information."

*Oh God, no...*

Bast opened his eyes. He appeared to be in the middle of a medical area, strapped down to a gurney. A quick glance to the side told him what he already knew: his arm was gone, burnt off at the shoulder. There appeared to be a pain blocker on it, however. Presumably they wanted him coherent enough to crack.

Looking further down, he noted that he was indeed naked, and furthermore he was unable to feel anything below his waist. For a moment he thought he was paralysed, then reasoned that they'd probably given him something. The reasons why they would do this made him shudder.

He tried to remember what 3WA had told him about not cracking under torture. They never seemed to mention you might be naked. They certainly didn't talk about missing limbs. The only thing he could remember was someone saying to divide the pain into brief but manageable segments, so that it was just another hump to be over, rather than an eternity of agony.

Then Jimmy walked into his line of sight, and all other thoughts went out the window.

Bast assumed he had seen Jimmy at his angriest. He had seen Jimmy rant about the unfairness of existence, the petty and closed minds of bureaucrats, and had even seen him throw a reporter through a wall. But this was not that Jimmy. This Jimmy stared at Bast with a furious look of betrayal in his eyes. His hands clenched spasmodically, and his mouth was twitching.

This was the Jimmy Daltrey who had nailed Asuka to a wall.

Standing some ways away was the Cory Emerson clone, who was almost the polar opposite of Jimmy. Instead of rage, her eyes showed amusement. She was delighted to see him in this position. Bast wasn't sure which of them he feared more at the moment. He cursed himself for a fool for falling for her trick.

Cory walked up to Jimmy and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I promise that after I get what we need out of him, you can do whatever you want."

Jimmy snarled, his attention still locked on Bast. At that moment, Bast would give anything to hear Jimmy made a cruel wisecrack, or have a sadistic glint come into his eyes. This...animal hatred was almost more than he could bear.

The sadistic glint, unfortunately, was in Cory's eyes. "Mr. Weinberg, I see you're awake. Good. We need information."

*Reduce the pain to manageable segments,* he thought once again. "Good luck. I'm not going to tell you anything."

Cory smiled. "Good, I was hoping you'd say that. Let me tell you exactly what we're going to do. I've given you a spinal block, so that you won't be able to feel anything in your lower body. So don't ever let it be said that I wasn't merciful." She smiled at him, a cold, hard smile, and moved towards a counter.

"Now, normally we wouldn't have to resort to physical torture. 3WA is a kind and generous organisation above that sort of thing. Unfortunately, we don't have the time for nicer methods. We have to find out where your people will be picking you up and when, and we have to find out now. It's your own fault, really. All of this could have been avoided if only you'd stayed loyal to us."

The clinical, matter-of-fact tone of voice she used made Bast want to scream.

"So we have to resort to physical torture. That's a lot more dangerous, of course. I'm not really trained in all the aspects, and have to be very careful to avoid killing you. Do you see this?" She held up a couple of wires. "Electrocution is very effective and rather painful. But I have to be very careful not to cross the paths near your heart, or you'll die. I can also only use a little bit of electricity, or you'll die. Very tricky...maybe I'll save it for later."

She moved to the other side of the room. "There are, of course, far simpler means of torture. Heat, for example. Humans have an instinctual fear of fire. So I imagine that if I held this flame," here she picked up a mini-blowtorch, "and burned some of the skin off of you it would have far more effect that just a simple beating. Fear of the elements is always more powerful than fear of your fellow man."

Cory put down the torch and sighed dramatically. "Decisions, decisions...there are just too many things to do to you! I could give you drugs to make your skin sweat blood. There's lots of fun to be had with razors. And let's not forget you're naked. A particularly vulnerable area, don't you think?"

Bast was desperately trying to remember the rules for surviving torture they had taught him. He knew this was only a psychological stunt meant to freak him out, but knowing that didn't prevent it from working. He was scared out of his mind. He knew it, and Cory definitely knew it.

Cory smiled, and moved back to the small torch. "Let's get started. After all, I did say we were on a schedule." And with that, she snapped the torch on and moved towards him.

He lasted five more minutes before he cracked. It wasn't so much the pain, there wasn't much. It was watching what Cory was doing to him and not being able to feel it or do anything about it. He wasn't a field agent, he wasn't supposed to deal with this. So he started talking. Telling them as much as he knew, which admittedly wasn't a whole lot. Telling them the time he'd arranged to be picked up and the place. Confirming the agents who had defected to the other side.

When it was over he felt as though he'd been flayed alive. Not physically, but mentally. He lay limply on the gurney, feeling loathing washing over him. Now in addition to his missing arm and the fear of being tortured, he had to deal with the fact that he'd just sold everyone out.

Cory was whispering to Jimmy at the side of the room. He nodded occasionally. His eyes were where they'd been for the past half-hour, fixed on Bast's face.

Finally she turned and headed out of the room, presumably to co-ordinate with the other agents. Jimmy walked slowly over to Bast. He no longer had the mindless expression of hatred he'd possessed earlier. This was the old Jimmy, the crafty Jimmy. The Jimmy Bast was most familiar with. He smiled. It was a hideous, mirthless smile, and the look of it made Bast want to throw up.

"Cory tells me that we're using you as bait to kill Shasti and Rei. I thoroughly approve of that, so I won't be killing you now. But she did say we'd gotten enough information out of you now. So I'm free to tell you exactly how I felt about your betrayal of me."

Bast didn't say anything, he just closed his eyes. So he didn't see the blow that broke his jaw.

***

Laz and Lor were beginning to worry. Bast still hadn't left a note in the prearranged pickup place, and it was getting close to the deadline for retrieving him. They were beginning to fear the worst, but continued to check regularly to see if there was anything different.

This time there was. Leaning against the wall, with a bright yellow ribbon tied around it, was a human arm. Laz and Lor knew even before looking at it that it would be Bast's. Shivering, they walked over to it, keeping an eye out for ambushes.

There was a note next to it. It read:

Go back and tell your people that we're through waiting.
In three days we will begin our attack, and if you're not
here to fight it I'll just have to leave you another
message, this time attached to Mr. Weinberg's heart.
Three days, at 12:00 noon, no later.

Have a nice day.

Jimmy Daltrey

***

Asuka lay in bed, trying not to think about what had happened to her. According to Ishtar, she'd been very lucky. The wounds in her hands and feet were fairly minor, and her side would heal fairly quickly. The only major problem was her shoulder, and the doctor had seemed fairly confident that with therapy, she should regain full use of it.

To Asuka, however, that was not the issue. The issue was that she had let this happen. She had let her rage gain control of her, and the result was Jimmy pinning her to the wall like a trophy. She had trained more than any other 3WA trainee, and now she knew why. They couldn't give her an assignment because she wasn't good enough. She'd proved that. Flown off the handle, abandoned her partner, attacked wildly and without thought, and now she lay here.

In her mind she could hear her mother, screaming at her, saying how she was a disgrace to her family. Those screams were getting louder and louder in her mind.

Fortunately for her peace of mind, she was distracted by the door slowly opening. Then she saw who was behind it.

The last time she'd seen Rei, it had been through a haze of pain. She wasn't even sure if what she remembered was real. She remembered Rei staring at her in horror, and then breaking down in tears. She remembered Rei attacking Mr. Weinberg, her face twisted in a rage that seemed all too familiar to Asuka. She remembered Rei's worried face, looking down at her as they loaded her onto the ship for transport to this hospital.

She wondered now if it had all been some sort of fever dream. Rei stood there, as placid as ever. Her pale face betrayed nothing. She might as well have been a doll or robot. *Just like when I first met her,* Asuka thought.

Asuka stared at her, determined for once not to be the first to speak. Perhaps if she lay there and looked pathetic enough, she could shame Rei into speaking.

It seemed to work, as Rei coughed and started to talk.

"The doctor says that my emotions have swung back in the other direction now. Apparently I'll continue to move between emotional extremes until I've stabilised."

Rei paused. Asuka began to realise that some sort of response was required of her.

"Is it permissible, perhaps, to tell me why all this happened?" She hadn't meant her tone to be as nasty as it sounded, but she couldn't help it. She still felt betrayed.

Rei must have caught the tone as well. Even though she was back in her robot girl phase, her cheeks still managed to colour.

"When I first awoke, they discovered that my emotions were severely stunted. There were various arguments about what to do about it, but in the end it was agreed that interaction with others would be the safest way to have my emotions brought forth without any unforeseen consequences. Unfortunately, my existence was not well-known, nor did they want it to be."

Asuka felt the need to interrupt. "They? Who are we talking about here?"

Rei sat down on the edge of the bed. "The Central Computer. And Jimmy Daltrey."

Asuka felt herself get dizzy for a few seconds. "TOGETHER?!"

To her startlement, Rei made a sound which could be considered a laugh, were it not Rei making it. "Not really. To Jimmy, I was an instrument of revenge, a way to accomplish what he himself was unable to. To the Central Computer, I was an experiment, a third attempt to prove to itself that it could create life. They had totally different agendas. I was...confused as to what I should be doing or feeling."

Asuka didn't know how to take this. She was beginning to lose her anger. She decided to move the conversation back to safer ground in order to get it back. "Where did I come in?"

Rei continued to speak in her usual monotone, though her face was showing signs of life. "Jimmy and the Central Computer both decided to use you as an emotional template I could study. Jimmy, of course, wasn't all that interested in you. He told me to study your rage and anger, and put those emotions to good use when the time came.

"The Central Computer told me that anger and revenge was not my goal. It asked me to study your enthusiasm and optimism, the energy and cheerfulness you brought to all your tasks."

Asuka blinked. "What did you think?"

Rei shrugged. "I tried to do both, and studied every move you made. I didn't know any better. It never occurred to me to wonder what you thought of me, or of the situation you were in. After all, you had your memories altered after every session. Every time I met you, it was for the first time."

*This isn't working. I'm not getting mad, I'm getting depressed,* Asuka thought.

For a few minutes neither of them spoke. When Rei next opened her mouth, the words came out haltingly.

"I think I'm swinging back in the other direction now. I'd better go. But I...I need to ask you something."

Asuka's heart sank. She had a feeling she knew what the question would be. "Go ahead."

Rei turned, and there were tears coming down her cheeks. "Can we still be partners? Please, I...I want to be your partner. Your friend. I've never had a friend, never been able to give friendship back. It comes so easily to you, and I want to know how that feels. I want to spend time with you. I want to work as a team with you, I want to -- "

"STOP!" Asuka tried to spin around and face away from Rei, but she merely succeeded in sending a shock of pain through her shoulder blade. "Why are you asking me this now? Can't you see that it's too soon? How am I supposed to respond? Sure, let's forget about it and let bygones be bygones? I was a lab rat for your experiment!"

She was crying as well by now. "How can I be sure that all they did was erase my memories? The Central Computer said we were the perfect team. So did Jimmy. What if they arranged that? How do I know if I ever work with you again that it was my choice or the conditioning?"

Rei had gotten up. She was no longer making any effort to stop crying. "I'm sorry. I'll go now."

Despite the emotions storming inside her, Asuka raised an arm to stop her. "Wait!"

Rei turned, a desperate look on her face.

"I meant what I said. It's too soon to be asking me this. Just...come back later and we'll see what can be done, OK? I don't think either of us is in the right frame of mind to make decisions now."

Rei shuddered for a moment. Asuka thought she saw a grin break across her face, but then Rei had turned away again.

"I'd better go see the doctor," Rei said. "I think I'm definitely shifting back."

Nodding, Asuka shifted on her bed, returning to a more comfortable position. "I'm sorry to hear you're going through this."

Rei giggled, then stopped. "I'm not. This is what I've been trying to do ever since I first woke up. I savour every emotion, even the painful ones. It means I'm alive. I...I need to be alive, Asuka. I need to be real."

Then she was gone, and Asuka was left with her thoughts once again.

*Failure,* shouted her mother.

But now there was another voice as well.

*I want to be your partner...your friend.*

***

Shasti flopped down on to the grass with a happy sigh.

The last three days had been some of the happiest in her life. She could relax around the people and animals and...things here with no fear of losing her mind and going berserk. She could have fun. She'd gone on a picnic with Tik-Tok, sailed down a river with a girl named Dorothy and a cat named Eureka, and gotten to beat up Professor Wogglebug a few times (he didn't really seem to mind, oddly enough).

Still, she was starting to feel restless. Oz was a wonderful place, but...much as she liked it, she didn't want to stay here permanently. Her friends were back in her own universe, and she wanted to get back and help them.

She felt guilty as well. Jimmy was still alive, and making her friends' lives miserable. He was her fault as well, in a way. It was because of her 'success' that he had been created in the first place. And his insanity was all too familiar to her. LaCombe or no, she'd been just as psychopathic for five years of her life. It was something she'd have to carry with her the rest of her life. She wasn't going to let Jimmy get away with what she had.

No, she'd made up her mind: it was time to go back. She was just laying here, trying to soak up one last chance for relaxation before going out into the real world.

"Shasti?"

It was faint, but she'd recognise that voice anywhere. "Deirdre! Over here!" she waved.

Her friend brightened and jogged up the hill towards Shasti. She was relieved to see that Deirdre had also recovered from the horrors that she'd been through. She had resolved to herself that getting Deirdre back after she had killed her, even if it was a clone, was the greatest gift she would ever receive. She wasn't about to be ungrateful.

Deirdre lay next to Shasti, looking up at the sky. "God, have you, like, ever seen a sky that blue?"

Shasti smiled. "Nope. It's almost like a storybook here...the sky, the clouds...it hasn't rained all the time I've been here, but everything seems healthy. It's wonderful."

Deirdre's forehead creased a bit. "Shasti...are you gonna stay here?"

Shasti saw the look on Deirdre's face and felt unsure of herself. She'd always been able to hold on to the fact that she and Deirdre were perfect partners. They knew exactly what the other would do, and could almost read the others thoughts. But that was five years ago. Now they were both different people, in a sense. Deirdre was dealing with the fact that she was a clone, however perfect that clone was. In addition, she had the guilt of allowing Jimmy to manipulate her. Shasti had barely gotten rid of the rogue personality in her mind and started to deal with her own guilt when she'd been given a new body, entirely human, and had to learn how to control it.

No, she could no longer say with certainty that she knew what Deirdre thought. And that scared her.

She looked at Deirdre, who looked rather tense herself. "Do you want me to stay here, Deirdre?"

Deirdre sat up and looked the other way. "This isn't about what I think, Shasti! I mean, you're finally getting a chance to decide things for yourself, y'know! You're finally getting to really have a will of your own! I don't want to get in your way just because I don't want to get hurt!"

Shasti felt herself getting annoyed. She grabbed Deirdre's arm, turning her around. "And since when does having free will mean I have to only think of myself? Why can't I think about what my friends want! I want to see you happy, Deirdre! And if that means that you want me to stay here so you can go on with your life, then...then I'll accept that."

She saw the stunned look on Deirdre's face, and it was too much for her to take. She ran down the hill, trying not to collapse right there.

Halfway down, she felt someone tackle her from behind. Her Trouble Consultant instincts kicked in and she manoeuvred her fall to the side, coming up and lashing out with a kick. She knew it was Deirdre who'd tackled her, but her emotions were colouring her thoughts at the moment and she needed to lash out.

Much to her surprise, Deirdre grabbed Shasti's foot before it could connect and spun her back towards the tree. Shasti did a midair somersault and landed lightly on her feet, then did a forward roll and tried to trip Deirdre up. She was only partially successful, as Deirdre fell but was able to get back up again. Shasti hit the bottom of the hill and turned, just in time to catch the fist headed for her.

For a moment, the two of them stood like that, trying to catch their breath. Then, to Shasti's surprise, Deirdre smiled.

"Not bad, partner. Guess we aren't as rusty as we thought."

Shasti's eyes lit up. "Partner? You mean..."

"Shasti," Deirdre said, "the whole reason I came here in the first place was to come and get you. Why in God's name do you think I'd abandon you here. We're partners, forever. You're my best friend. I can't imagine a life without you in it."

Shasti took a breath to say something, but no words were adequate enough to express the joy she felt. She grabbed Deirdre and hugged her tight, inadvertently sending them both to the ground.

For a few minutes, they were content merely to lie there and hold each other, relieved that the bond between them had not been shattered. After a while, Shasti heard Deirdre chuckle.

"What is it?"

"We'd better be careful who sees us like this, or else, like, even more rumours will fly."

"Hm?"

"Kei and Yuri have recovered, and now they seem to have some empathic bond between them. They're always together, and really close, and...well, Tertius is already a pretty sexually free place, so everyone is assuming they're..."

Shasti nodded slowly. "Makes no difference to me. When I was...on the run, I slept with men and women."

Deirdre's eyes bulged, and Shasti giggled. "Speaking of Kei and Yuri, how are things going out there?"

The change of subject worked, and Deirdre relaxed again. "Not so hot, frankly. We sent in an inside man to feed Jimmy some false information, but it looks like he was captured. We can't wait any longer, Shasti. We're going to try and add a plan to rescue him, and then we're going to attack. Jimmy's going down."

Shasti's face darkened. "Good. I'm there."

Deirdre got up, helping Shasti to her feet. "Um...Shasti, I dunno whether their plans included you. I mean, three days ago you were a basket case."

Shasti started down the hill. "I'm better now. And they'll have to hog-tie me to get me to stay behind. Jimmy is mine."

Deirdre gave Shasti an odd look, but said nothing.

"Come on, "Shasti said, not noticing Deirdre's expression, "Let's go say goodbye to Glinda and the others. We'd better head back before it hits the fan."

She started off when Deirdre grabbed her arm. "Shasti?"

"Hm?"

"We're gonna have plenty of excitement soon. I wanna rest here for just a little bit more. We can go back in an hour or so, Tertius is on a different timeline."

Shasti looked at Deirdre, and noticed for the first time how tired she looked. She wondered how long Deirdre had been awake before coming here.

"All right. For now, we can relax."

The two of them walked back up the hill, and lay down by the tree. However, staring at the azure blue sky. Neither of them were really thinking of the beauty of it anymore, however.

***

The relaxation turned out to be a good idea. When Shasti and Deirdre returned to Boondock, they were met with a carefully controlled chaos that was close to being a full-blown panic. Nobody was yelling and screaming, but the two TCs still felt as if things were very touchy.

"Um...hi, everyone, I'm back!"

Everything momentarily stopped as the group turned to look at Shasti. She smiled and gave a small wave, suddenly a bit self- conscious.

Lazarus looked at her closely. "Shasti, how do you feel? Be honest."

She and Deirdre walked over to sit down at the other end of the table, facing Lazarus. "I feel fine. None of the problems I was experiencing before my...sabbatical are happening now. I can control my various impulses, and more importantly, I feel like one person. I'm ready to do whatever you need me to." *And if you tell me to stay here, I'll follow you anyway. Jimmy is mine,* is what she didn't add.

Lazarus cocked his head slightly, and then nodded. Hilda noticed this and jabbed him in the gut.

"Lazarus, what have we learned about using unfamiliar people in dangerous situations?"

He leaned back. "Hilda, we don't have much of a choice. Bast was going to be our trump card, because he knew so much about Mr. Daltrey's mindset. Now he's been captured, and we have to factor in a rescue on top of that. We need experience, and we don't have much. We can't use time travel, as that would draw attention from other enemies such as the Sceen Changers. Miss Emerson is not involved in this mission. That leaves the Angels, and Shasti and Deirdre. They've fought Jimmy before, and won. Deirdre is familiar with Jimmy's mindset to a certain point, and she works better with Shasti. We're running out of options."

Hilda glared at him for a while, then she put her head in her hands. "I hate working like this. Nothing's gone right on this entire project."

Lazarus made the mistake of glancing briefly at Kei and Yuri, who were catching up with Laz and Lor in the corner.

"IT'S NOT OUR FAULT!" all four responded in perfect unison.

Lazarus pretended to look wounded. "Now when did I ever imply - erk!"

Shasti glanced down, but couldn't see Hilda's heel grinding down onto his toe. She knew it must be there, though.

"Let's move on. Shasti, you're provisionally pencilled into the operation, but I hope you understand that we're going to be careful."

Shasti nodded. "Wouldn't expect anything else."

Having settled that, Hilda turned to Deirdre, who had remained silent to this point. "Deirdre, I realise this might be painful for you, but is there anything you can remember about Jimmy training you that could improve our odds?"

Deirdre winced slightly. "That's just it, I wasn't trained by Jimmy. You have to remember, Jimmy, until last year by his timeline, was a split personality, just like Shasti. He had a logical and emotional split, supposedly controlled by a central mind. These two halves had very different views. I was Jim's project - the logical part of his mind. Simple and quick. Train me to hate Shasti, send me to kill her. But I rarely dealt with Jimmy. My mindset was...fragile enough without exposing me to his outbursts. And from what we know, Jim was destroyed when Jimmy moved into his clone body."

She shrugged. "I'll tell you what I know, but I don't know how helpful it would be."

Lazarus looked up at the ceiling. "So, to sum up. We're going into an unfamiliar situation. We know there will be heavy opposition, but we can't be sure if they will be mindwiped zombies or just normal agents who've been fed misinformation. In addition, the enemy is led by a completely unpredictable madman. And we just sent our one asset into the enemy camp, where he was captured and maimed. We didn't tell him much, but even so, we have to assume he told them everything he knows about us." He sighed. "We're really batting a thousand here."

"I can help."

The entire room turned to see Rei standing in the doorway. She was leaning against it, her face pressed into the side. Her arm was crossed around her chest, as if trying to restrain herself. She straightened up, and stumbled into the room, collapsing into a seat near the middle of the table.

After a pause, she spoke again. "I knew Jimmy. Very well. I can help." There was another pause, and her voice could barely be heard. "Please let me help."

Shasti could gauge the mood of the room, and knew what was going to happen. She couldn't let it happen. She knew what Rei must be going through right now - it was the same thing she had gone through. Deirdre had told her about the agent's origins. They were sisters, of a sort. And Jimmy was their brother. Rei needed to go on this mission. It was family business.

She stood up and moved over to Rei. "She's right. Even if she's not up to fighting, she can still tell us more about Jimmy. She worked with him closely right up till a few days ago."

Hilda shook her head. "It's pushing it to have you on this mission, Shasti. Rei coming along is totally unacceptable. We've only known her for a couple of days, we have no idea how loyal she is to 3WA or Jimmy, and she's undergoing severe emotional trauma."

Shasti wasn't giving in, though. "Look at it this way: you are at the point now where any advantage, no matter how small, will help you. Rei is an advantage. She's not ideal or perfect, but she can help. Leaving her behind would, at this point, be a mistake. If you had more time, fine. But you don't. I can tell you don't because you're letting me go so easily, which tells me how desperate you are. Deirdre and Rei are the ones who can best tell you about Jimmy's thought processes, and Rei and I are the ones who can give you insight into his physiology. Hell, right now Rei is a bigger advantage than myself *or* Deirdre. She needs to come."

Shasti paused for breath. Then she stopped, realising that she'd said what she wanted. She put a hand on Rei's shoulder. The young woman tensed for a moment, then relaxed and moved her hand to grasp Shasti's.

Hilda and Lazarus appeared to consider Shasti's words for some time. Lazarus was the one who finally spoke. "What would you suggest the three of you do?"

Suddenly Shasti realised she had no idea. *Think fast, girl,* she said to herself. But before she could reply, Deirdre walked up towards them and grasped Rei's other shoulder.

"Divide the force into one main team and two smaller recon units. The main one will be led by Jubal, with Kei, Yuri and Zen as liaisons. Their job will be to battle the 3WA agents, find out what their mental condition is, and take care of them - be that through talking, capture, or killing as a last resort. The second team will be composed of Lazarus, Hilda and the twins. They'll go and find Bast and get him back here for Ishtar to look at. The third team of Shasti, Rei, Minerva, and myself will be responsible for finding and killing Jimmy Daltrey."

Shasti blinked. Apparently Deirdre had shifted into her 'computer personality'.

Then Deirdre grinned. "Then, like, Lazarus calls for pizza, and we all meet up back here." The twins laughed and the serious mood was broken. Even Lazarus was hiding a smile.

"Why did you have Lazarus and me on the second team? It would make more sense tactically to have us running things here."

Deirdre smiled again. "True. But I took into account the fact that the two of you feel responsible for Bast's capture and would want to rescue him personally."

Lazarus leaned back and groaned. "Sometimes I feel I should give all of this up and -- "

The rest of the sentence was filled in by Hilda, Minerva, the twins, and Jubal. " -- go back to Missouri and spend the rest of my years fishing in the creek." Shasti giggled.

Jubal was still concentrating on Rei. "Rei, answer honestly. Can you help us? Do you want to? And what are your feelings about Jimmy?"

Rei looked up at Shasti for a moment, her eyes seemingly vacant. Then she turned back to Jubal. "I will help you. Jimmy killed my father. I will do anything to stop him."

Shasti let go of Rei's shoulder as if it was on fire, backing away from her. Rei turned, her face suddenly twisted in confusion.

Shasti turned towards the wall. So much for thinking that she was magically better after her stay in Oz. She took a deep breath, and heard Deirdre's voice whispering in her ear. "Just because she believes it doesn't mean you have to."

Shasti nodded and turned back towards the group. "Sorry," she said. She looked down at Rei. "I keep forgetting that you had a different relationship with the Central Computer than I did. I shouldn't let it bother me." *But it does,* she thought to herself.

Rei's eyes widened, as she realised what Shasti meant. "I..."

Shasti took her shoulder again. "We'll discuss it later," she said. Rei nodded and looked back down. Her body was starting to shiver again, and Shasti and Deirdre moved closer to try and relax her.

Hilda stood up. "I think we'd better get moving. Lazarus and I have provisionally approved Deirdre's plan, provided that the three of you understand that Minerva will be in charge once you get to Gauda Prime." The agents nodded.

"Lazarus, Laz, Lor and I will go first, attempting to sneak into Jimmy's little compound and rescue Mr. Weinberg. An hour after we leave, whether we've returned or not, the main force will go in and subdue the 3WA agents Jimmy has brought there. While that is happening, Minerva will lead her team in and attempt to ascertain Jimmy's location. Once Jimmy has been taken care of and Weinberg rescued, we pull out. Does everyone understand?" There were nods all around.

"We'll start in two hours then. Let's hope everything goes smoothly."

As the meeting broke up, Shasti and Deirdre helped Rei to her feet. Rei was still staring off into space, but at least her shaking had stopped.

"Rei, we need to talk," Shasti said.

The girl shook her head violently, then turned to Shasti. "I have to talk with Asuka."

Deirdre smiled. "We'll go with you. It'll save time, and we'll see if she can help us with any information about Jimmy."

Rei nodded, then smiled. "Thank you...for understanding."

Shasti grinned. "Hey, been there, done that," she joked.

***

Asuka stared at the wall and tried not to scream.

She was incredibly bored. You'd think with all of the futuristic technology she'd seen in her short time in Boondock, they would be able to wave a saltshaker over her and make her magically better. But Ishtar had explained that technology may get better and better, but the human body was still essentially the same, and needed time to heal itself.

Besides, this was penance. If Asuka just waltzed out of here with no repercussions, she'd just make the same mistake again next time. She needed to sit here and realise that her hot temper and loss of control had once again taken over, and made it easy for Jimmy to defeat her.

In any case, if she didn't keep castigating herself, she'd have to start thinking about Jimmy. That just brought back the anger again. Asuka had a lot of anger in her, right from her childhood. Anger at her mother, for forcing her to constantly succeed. Anger at 3WA, for keeping her from moving on, constantly reminding her of her failure. Anger at Rei, for being an experiment of which Asuka was essentially a negligible part (although that wasn't Rei's fault, admittedly). Anger at herself, for listening to her mother and 3WA and regarding herself as a failure.

But all of that seemed to pale before the white hot rage she felt for Jimmy. The way that he'd used her, used Rei, used everyone he'd ever met. The smug grin on his face that showed he enjoyed every minute of it. And the insane gleam in his eyes as he'd nailed her to a wall like a trophy.

She despised Jimmy with a pure and righteous rage that would never be stopped until he was dead.

Which meant that she could never be the one to do it.

She looked up as the door opened. Two people stood in the doorway, familiar to her even though she'd never met them in person. Shasti and Deirdre, the original perfect 3WA team that all others were measured against, even after Shasti's breakdown. The two that Jimmy had asked her and Rei to find any information about, and bring to justice.

Rei was hovering behind them, looking apprehensive. Asuka tried to smile, though it still felt forced, and waved them in.

Shasti and Deirdre walked in and sat down by Asuka's bed. They looked friendly enough. *More of Jimmy's disinformation,* Asuka mused to herself.

Rei remained at the door, not daring to look Asuka in the eyes. Asuka remembered the last conversation they'd had, how with the raw pain and emotion still within her, she'd lashed out at Rei. But looking at the girl in the door now, Asuka was rather surprised to discover that that anger was gone now. Rei was as much a victim of Jimmy as she was, and it would be petty of Asuka to hold it against her.

She turned to Shasti and Deirdre. "It's really you, isn't it?"

Deirdre spoke up, "Well, depends on your definition of 'real', but yeah."

Asuka looked back at Rei, and found herself able to genuinely smile for the first time. "Well then, mission accomplished...partner."

The expression on Rei's face was wonderful to behold. For a moment, there was disbelief, and then a look of such happiness and relief that Asuka almost cried in sympathy.

To her relief, Rei did not rush over and hug her or anything like that. But she did move into the room and sit by the side of the bed, reaching out to grasp Asuka's hand. "How are you?" she asked.

Asuka considered this for a few seconds before answering. "Better. Still laid up, though." She sighed. "You're all getting ready to go take him down, aren't you?"

They nodded. "Rei wanted to come see you, and we came along as well to introduce ourselves and see if you knew anything that could help us," Shasti said.

"Best I can do, I guess," Asuka sighed. "Not gonna be doing much else here."

Suddenly Rei's hands squeezed hers. She looked up to see Rei staring at her sombrely.

"Don't," she said quietly.

Asuka knew what she was talking about, and shrugged. "You're asking me to change the habits of a lifetime. Beating myself up is what I do best." She'd meant her tone to sound light, but none of the others seemed to find it amusing.

She blinked, realising something. "They're letting you go on this mission?" she asked Rei.

Deirdre answered. "Asuka, we're at H-hour here. We don't have that many options left to us, and we have to use all of them. We'll be with Rei to make sure she's all right, and Minerva's with us as well."

Asuka straightened up a bit. "Is there any way I could have a link with Rei? One way audio, maybe, to help her out a little."

"We thought of that," Shasti replied, shaking her head. "But there's really no reliable communication between here and the universe you come from. That's why Bast had to go in blind as well."

Well, so much for that, Asuka thought. That left only one option. "OK. One thing, though. I've fought with Jimmy, and lost, badly. The reason I lost is because I lost my temper. I wasn't thinking anymore, I was just reacting. That's how Jimmy works. He'll try to drive you into that state, and then he'll use it. Don't let him make you mad. Ignore him, stop him, whatever it takes. But don't let him get under your skin."

Shasti nodded. "That's what he does best, though."

"I know. No one ever said this would be easy," Asuka replied. She turned to Rei. "Will you remember what I said?" she asked pointedly, referring to Rei's emotional variances.

Rei took a deep breath. "I'll try," she said. Her eyes looked troubled, though, and Asuka knew that it wouldn't take much to make her snap.

"I wish we had more time," she said, after a long silence. "I wish I could go with you. Get that bastard for me, will you?"

They stood. "We will," Shasti promised.

Shasti and Deirdre smiled at Asuka, then left the room. After a moment Rei stood up as well.

"I want you to be there," she said.

Asuka smiled. "I want to be there. But that's not gonna happen. So just do your best, and I'll be here when you get back."

Rei smiled weakly, and Asuka thought she saw some moisture behind her eyes. Then Rei stood, turning away again.

"Thank you," she whispered, and ran from the room.

Asuka lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. *Well, inner demons, I guess it's just you and me again,* she thought.

***

"The one thing all of you have to remember is that *you* have the advantage here. They are bringing the battle to you. We've been here for over two weeks now, and have drilled until all of you know Gauda Prime like the back of your hands."

Jimmy turned, and almost overbalanced, but caught himself in time. It could just be seen as overexcitement, if no one really thought about it much.

He wiped an arm over his brow, and found it was already getting slick with sweat. Better wrap this up quickly, it was getting to the point where he wasn't sure he'd be able to make it back to his office.

He stopped, and smiled warmly at the trouble consultants before him. Though they weren't the all-time best (most of those had been snatched away by Shasti), but they were still good people. He'd been in charge of the Worlds Welfare Work Association for over a year now, and it had never looked better.

"This is gonna be a big one, folks. We're battling a madwoman to secure our future. Not all of us are going to make it back. But I think most of us will. You people are the best 3WA has to offer, and seeing all of you in front of me, I know you won't let this organisation down. Let's do good, people."

He grinned as a cheer rose up. He knew, looking at some of the younger ones, that they were a bit in awe of him. They rarely dealt with him, seeing him and the Central Computer as the invisible figureheads.

But he still trusted them. As much as he trusted his lover. As much as he trusted himself. As much as he had trusted Bast.

That is to say, not at all.

He needed to get back to the office. Back to the silence, out of the range of prying eyes. Where he didn't have to dissemble, didn't have to pretend this was something different than it was.

Revenge. Revenge on Shasti.

He smiled as he walked through the agents, nodding to a few of him. Inside though, he knew it was getting bad. He needed to do something, and he suspected that something drastic would be the only solution.

He stopped next to one of the newer pairs, two girls who looked as if they'd barely reached legal age. Miaka, his mind told him. He thanked whatever powers watched over him that he still had a few of his faculties left. Not many, but enough to keep him going until this was done.

He touched her arm, and smiled disarmingly when she jumped. "Miaka, is it?" he asked, trying to look unsure.

She blushed. "Yes, sir! Miaka and Yui, the Heavenly Hosts!"

He chuckled. "Interesting choice of names. In any event...Miaka, would you mind if I used you in a tactical side mission? It's vitally important, understand."

If anything, her blush deepened. "Of course, sir! We'll take on any mission you give to us!"

"Ah, that's the problem. This has to be secret, you understand. I can only use one of you."

Miaka boggled. "But sir, then why choose me?!"

Jimmy lowered his voice, as if imparting some great secret. "I can't tell you that right here in the open, Miaka. But I can assure you that you were the first choice I had for this."

While her mouth remained open, he turned to her partner, a slightly taller blond girl who was looking a little upset. "Yui, I apologise for being forced to do this. I know that the structure of 3WA encourages working with your partner. But it is necessary, believe me."

Yui looked as if she was about to object, but nodded. "Does...does this mean I'll have to sit out the mission?"

He slapped her on the back, a little too forcefully. "Of course not! Lots of teams here would be glad to have you as a third!" He quickly looked around, seeing if he could spot anyone that wouldn't have a violent apoplectic fit at the very thought.

"Lina! Naga! Could you come over here for a moment?" He removed his hand from Yui's shoulder when he noticed it was shaking. He'd better wrap this up quickly.

The two agents who walked over were enough to make any sane person run away from them screaming even when spotted from a distance. In training, they'd been voted 'Most likely to surpass the Lovely Angels' record for destroyed worlds'. The two of them appeared to deeply despise each other, constantly spouting abuse. But in spite of it all, they were one of the best teams to come out of the 3WA since the Angels. The only thing working against them was their inexperience.

That did not, however, make them any less annoying.

"Naga, I am not going to tell you again. SHUT UP!!!"

"Ohhohohohohohoho!!! I understand, Lina! Very well, I admit my intellectual superiority over you to save you doing it yourself. Ohhohohoho--"

"Ladies," Jimmy said, putting steel in his voice.

To their credit, they stopped immediately. "Sorry, sir," they said in unison.

"Lina, Naga, this is Yui, part of one of our newest teams, the Heavenly Hosts. Now, I need her team-mate, Miaka, on a special mission, so she's going to be joining you. Is that understood?"

Both of them looked as if they wanted to object, but didn't say anything. "Yes sir," Naga answered.

He turned back to Yui, and was amused to see that she looked vaguely ill. "Yui, these are Lina and Naga, also known as the Slayers. I presume you've heard of them?"

"..."

"Good! They'll take you under their wing, and between the three of you, this mission will be over in no time! Good luck!"

"..." Yui continued.

He turned, putting Yui out of his mind. He was amazed people weren't staring at him now. He could feel his body shaking, and was starting to get a cold sweat pooling in the small of his back.

"Miaka, if you'll come with me, I'll let you know what you'll be needed for."

She nodded and followed him as he walked back down the hall towards his office. It was only about a hundred feet, but it seemed like an age to Jimmy. He wanted this to end. He wanted Shasti dead, Rei dead, Cory dead, the Angels dead...then he'd be happy. Honest.

As he entered his office, the strain became too much for him to bear. He fell to his knees near the desk, clutching his head in pain. He felt like his brain had little worms in it, writhing to get out. He giggled for a moment at the image, then bit his tongue, trying to retain some modicum of control. A few seconds more, he told himself. Just a few seconds more.

He heard a gasp from the doorway. Miaka. "Oh my god! Sir, are you alright?"

He held a hand up. "I'll be fine. Just help me to my seat." He needed to make sure she didn't leave.

"Sir, I should get help!"

He shook his head vehemently. "I don't want to take anyone away from the preparations. I'll be fine in a few minutes." Well, that much was true anyway. This time he couldn't stop it, and felt a laugh bubble in his throat. He stopped after a few seconds. "Help me up."

She walked over and tried to help him to his feet, but for some reason he couldn't keep his balance enough to stay upright. For the moment, he remained on his knees, Miaka's arms around his shoulders. He reached up for his desk, and managed to locate the door lock mechanism. One problem solved, thank goodness.

He looked up at the young trouble consultant. She was actually quite pretty, her brown hair tied up on her head with two white ribbons. She was looking at his with an expression of concern and worry, and despite everything, he felt the need to reassure her.

"Don't worry," he said hoarsely. "I've been having these attacks for the past few days. Probably comes from lack of sleep. There's a lot I have to take care of for this mission, you know. It can't afford to go wrong."

"But sir," she asked. "Surely your health comes first! I mean, what happens if you end up collapsing during an attack?"

Jimmy smiled. "That's a very good point, Miaka. And you're right, I do need to take care of this problem. But I think I've figured out what I need to do. That's why I've asked you here."

He almost laughed again as her confusion was replaced by bewilderment. "Um...I'll do whatever I can, sir, of course."

"Good. You see, you were perfect for this, Miaka. You're a good agent, but inexperienced. In other circumstances, I might actually regret what I have to do. But I'm sure you'll understand, my needs as the head of 3WA have to come over the needs of others."

She nodded, clearly not understanding. "Are we talking about a blood transfusion, sir?"

He couldn't take this anymore. He couldn't continue to lead her on while his mind was screaming out.

Screaming for a life.

He grabbed the back of her neck, as if to lift himself into a standing position, and then smashed the side of her face against his desk.

He heard a crack as her jaw met the oak, and knew that it had probably been dislocated. He then pulled her back and slammed her against the opposite wall, following up with a kick to her solar plexus.

Already his head felt like a dam had burst, releasing the pent-up rage and anger he had been holding for so long. Trying to keep this operation together, trying to keep himself looking like the capable head of 3WA when all he really wanted to do was to find Shasti and beat her to death with his own hands.

Miaka wasn't Shasti, but she was making a nice substitute. He leaped onto her body, which was only just beginning to rise from the floor, and aimed a fist at her face.

Amazingly enough, she blocked it. He stopped, giving her an appraising look. She looked as if she was in agony. "You must have been better than I thought. A shame." He grinned at her, enjoying the look of pain and suffering she was giving him.

Then he grabbed the arm she had blocked with both hands, and snapped the bone neatly in two. A small whimper escaped her lips, and the offending limb fell to the ground.

Jimmy didn't give her a chance to react, but grabbed her chin, paying no attention to the blood dripping down his fingers. "Did I give you permission to speak?" he asked her politely. Then he began to pummel her face, using both his hands to pound her eyes, nose, and mouth into a big bloody mess. His grin got wider and wider as he felt all of the energy he had lost over the past few days come back to him. He felt like a new man.

He felt Miaka's legs trying to kick him off of her, but by now she was far too weak to accomplish much. Still, it was the thought that counted. He bent over, carefully standing on her left leg, and grabbed her foot. Then he yanked up, hearing yet another bone snap. He did the same with her right leg. By now any signs of struggling had ceased, and looking down he noticed that she had finally fallen unconscious. He sighed and kicked her once again, sending her broken body into the centre of the room.

By now he was positively burning with energy. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? This was what he was really like, the true Jimmy Daltrey, not the pretender who was forced to follow the rules of an organisation that had decided to abandon him at his birth.

He almost fell over, but this time it was from feelings of power, not fatigue. He wouldn't be getting any more fun from Miaka, but that didn't stop him from any of the others. He sprang for the door, ready to find someone else to help his cause.

It was locked. Thinking back, he remembered locking it in order to keep the girl from escaping, and quickly walked back to his desk to reset the switch.

Running back to the door, he threw it open -- and was met with the face of Cory, staring back at his with a combination of shock and disgust.

"Oh, Jesus Christ!" she said, shoving him back into the room. She slammed the door shut and locked it from there, then turned to face Jimmy.

"Have you any concept of what you just risked, Jimmy? My God, look at yourself! If you'd gone out there, everything would have been lost!"

Jimmy looked down. He had to admit, there was an awful lot of blood. And some white fragments - was that bone? He couldn't be sure. He wandered over to check the desk and see if he found any there.

"Jimmy." Cory was using her don't-fuck-with-me voice, and Jimmy sighed, giving up on his investigation for now.

"Cory, listen to me," he said, walking over to her. "You yourself have been saying how run down I've been lately, how I need to be in top shape for the coming battle. I knew it too, of course. This was a desperate measure. I had to wait till the last minute. But it worked! I am in absolute tip-top shape, and it only cost us one agent! Don't you think that was worth it?"

Cory didn't seem to be all that impressed. "Then where were you going when you opened the door just now?"

He was saved from having to answer that by a small grunt from the floor. He stared down at the mangled body of Miaka in amazement. "You mean she's still alive? Good Lord!"

Cory sighed and got out her pistol. Jimmy raised a hand to stop her. "No, wait, I've got a brilliant idea! We'll go off and leave her here, tenaciously clinging to life! Shasti and the others will find her and nurse her slowly back to health, though she will of course carry a few scars of the fight with me - deliberately, so that she doesn't forget. Then, years later, when we've finally relaxed and are sure nothing is going to happen, she'll quietly sneak into my apartment and reveal herself to me the second before she kills me, thus gaining the vengeance and respite she has long sought!" He grinned, looking at Cory maniacally. "What do you think?"

Cory sighed and walked over to the body. She put the gun to Miaka's temple and pressed the trigger, vaporising half of her head. "Jimmy, please try to keep serious."

For a moment, Jimmy stood still, staring at Cory standing over the corpse. Then he moved quickly, grabbing her arm and throwing her against the wall. Before she could move, he hemmed her in with both arms, staring directly into her eyes.

"Cory, do you love me?"

He was rewarded by seeing her face move from anger to confusion. "Jimmy, what kind of question is that?"

"Well, you have to admit that I have a right to be paranoid. After all, 3WA has betrayed me, Shasti has betrayed me, Bast has betrayed me...it would make perfect sense, don't you think?" He reached out, stroking her face lightly, barely touching it. "Now, let me repeat myself: Do...you...love me?"

There. There was the expression he had been waiting to see, the one he so rarely saw from her but desired the most.

Fear. She was afraid of him.

"Jimmy, of course I love you," she said quietly.

He remained where he was for a moment, savouring the emotions he now felt. It was almost a transcendent experience. Sadly, he couldn't let it go on for very long. Cory was right, there were more important things to deal with right now.

Things like Shasti. Her death mattered over everything else.

He quickly let Cory up and began to pace across the room, thinking aloud to himself. "Alright, we've got the agents primed and ready to move. Hopefully they'll react as we've suggested and shoot before asking questions. If not, we have our backup plan. Cory, did you secure the crew?"

She nodded. "Yes, though I'm still not sure of the wisdom of that. These aren't your trained agents, Jimmy, they're press. I'm the reporter, but they do have minds of their own."

Jimmy laughed. "Then we'll have to make sure that they see the right things. In any case, that's a backup plan. I have full confidence that our agents will be able to destroy Shasti's forces."

Looking back, he noticed Cory was looking slightly sick. "What's the matter, dear?"

She motioned downwards. "Jimmy..."

He looked down and smiled. "Whoops. Shows where my mind is." He bent down and ran his hands through the gore that had once been Miaka's head. "Say, there *is* bone here!" he cried in glee.

"Jimmy, *please!" Cory shouted.

"In any event," he said, straightening up, "we've no more time to be wasting around here. By now the battle should have started, and I don't want to let anyone else get their hands on Shasti." His voice dropped menacingly. "She's *mine*."

Cory nodded. "So what do you need me to do?" She was deferring to him, that was a good sign, he mused.

Jimmy thought for a moment. "Go check on Bast. They'll probably try to make some sort of rescue attempt, and I want to make sure it doesn't succeed." He smiled warmly at her. "I trust you."

She grinned. "I know. I trust you too, Jimmy."

*Bullshit,* he thought to himself. But he did walk over and give her a deep kiss, one last taste of her before the end. He had no illusions that Shasti's forces probably would rescue Bast, and kill Cory as well. But he didn't really care. They could rescue anyone they chose to as long as he got to kill Shasti.

He walked over to the wall behind the desk and slammed a fist against it. It dropped down, revealing a secret cache of weapons. Jimmy grabbed one of the larger guns and brandished it like a sword, pointing it straight up in the air.

"Wake up!" he shouted. "Time to die!"

***

Yui was hanging as far back as she possibly could from her fellow agents, trying to figure out what god she had annoyed to end up in this particular situation.

She had spent her entire training learning to work with Miaka. It hadn't been easy at first, as Miaka was a bit more cheerful and outgoing than Yui would have liked, but eventually they learned to function as quite a good team. They'd even managed to become good friends, and this mission was going to be their first chance to prove themselves.

Unfortunately, Jimmy had picked Miaka for some secret mission, and stuck Yui with another team. Yui didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was more than a little annoyed at not being picked for whatever Jimmy had planned. She had had slightly higher scores than Miaka all through the training for 3WA. What sort of mission did he need her on?

*Maybe it's some kind of PR thing,* Yui thought to herself. *They needed someone to be cute and perky...* Then she mentally slapped herself. *Stop trying to blame Miaka for this! It's not her fault! Get focused!*

Trying to concentrate on the pair in front of her, however, was not exactly the best way to go about it. Especially as they didn't seem to be paying any attention to their surroundings anyway. The two girls seemed to spend equal time striking poses and sniping at each other. She tried to listen in on what they were saying.

"So, what, we essentially walk around until we find someone trying to kill us, then we kill them? Sounds kinda pointless to me," Lina was saying.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Yui winced. The instructors at 3WA had been so impressed with the raw pain inspired by Naga's laugh that they had allowed her to classify it as a weapon, and it was considered capable of shattering eardrums if used at full power. Naga was in a good mood though, so it only served to make Yui feel like someone was running a razor blade down her spinal cord.

"Lina, you're assuming that Jimmy even *had* a plan in the first place! Did you listen to him? He has no idea what's going to happen, so he's sending us out randomly in hopes one of us will trip over the enemy!"

Yui stared openly at Naga. She'd never heard anyone criticise Jimmy openly. There was never a reason given, but it was one of the great unwritten laws that you just DIDN'T. To her amazement, Lina was nodding and making sounds of agreement.

"Yeah, even for Jimmy, this is one sucky plan. I keep wondering if he just plans to use us all as cannon fodder and start off 3WA fresh."

Naga snorted, making her chest perform even more aerodynamic impossibilities. "I doubt that it's even that complex. He's trying to play the whole thing down, but I get the feeling this is just Jimmy out for revenge. For some reason, he's got a big grudge against Shasti, and is using the whole 'She's a threat to our organisation, do it for 3WA, win one for the Angels' type thing as a ploy. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up calling us all off so he can kill her himself."

By now Yui was scanning the corridors ahead and behind her, sure that this was some twisted plan to test her loyalty. She would speak, but she was afraid her voice would come out as a squeak.

Lina was growling. "So what are we supposed to be *doing*? You're really good at talking about *why* we're doing nothing, but not about what to do!"

"OHOHOHOHO-coughcough..." croaked Naga as an elbow to the gut cut her laugh off in mid ho. "Lina, face up to facts. We have to march around and look for bad guys. If we try anything fancy, Jimmy might think we were getting weird. You *know* what happens in that case..."

Lina shivered and nodded. Yui began to relax as she noted that while the two of them might say traitorous things, they were smart enough not to act on them. She decided to try venturing an opinion.

"Um...well, I imagine they'd need to find an open area...at least if they're planning to unload a lot of people...we could try some of the larger areas?"

For a moment, Lina and Naga stared at her.

"...good plan," Lina grumbled.

"...nicely thought out," Naga muttered at the same time.

That appeared to be all the compliments they were going to give her, as they quickly strode down the hall, being as loud and obnoxious as they were before. Yui sighed, and made a mental note to never become a promising 3WA agent, as it appeared to involve going insane.

They were headed into a junction where four corridors converged, and quickly drew out their guns in case of an ambush. Unfortunately, the precaution did them no good at all, as when they arrived in the centre of the junction they were immediately surrounded by a force wall.

Lina, doing what came naturally, decided to take a shot at it. Naga and Yui immediately fell to the ground and covered their heads. "Lina, you IDIOT!" Naga screamed. The bolt from her blaster bounced off the wall and immediately began to ricochet around the force walls, narrowly missing the three agents. Lina squeaked and dove to the ground, cowering as the shot missed her shoulder by only an inch or two. Eventually it burnt itself out, amazingly not having done damage to any of them.

Naga and Yui stared at Lina for a moment. After a second or two she raised her hand to the back of her head. "Aheheheheh...guess I kinda forgot...um...hey, aren't we trapped or something?"

The three of them looked up to see who it was that had captured them. Standing about ten feet above them, balanced perfectly on what appeared to be nothing at all, were the Lovely Angels. Or at least some incredibly accurate duplicates.

"Hi there!" Yuri (or her clone) said. "We're the Lovely Angels!"

Next to her, Kei grinned. "And we're here to lead you to paradise."

Unseen by the 3WA agents within the field, a small redhead was standing to one side, operating a complicated control mechanism and muttering to herself.

"Feh...we need you to work the force-field, Zen...it wouldn't look the same with three of us, Zen...you'd just mess up the symmetry, Zen...Zen has had enough...she's moving to Australia when this is over..."

***

Minerva had her team dropped off on the outskirts of the battle, almost opposite from where Lazarus and Hilda had gone. She suspected that Jimmy would be trying to get at Shasti more than any of the others, and therefore wanted to give them as much of a chance to get to Bast and get him out as possible.

Their mission was simple on paper. They were to track down Jimmy and kill him. Asuka had already told them of the clones they had found and killed; with any luck, if they managed to kill *this* Jimmy he would stay dead.

Minerva held no sympathy for him at all. Like the others, she had her own personal reasons for wanting him dead. She had studied the Central Computer's history. Some of its motives may have been questionable, but it was undoubtedly sentient. Its pointless slaughter by Jimmy angered Minerva, even without considering her own past.

They now had to consider what plan of action to take. They didn't want to draw attention to either Jubal's or Hilda's teams, but on the other hand they wanted to try and find Jimmy as quickly as possible. Minerva checked to make sure the corridor in front of them was clear before holding up a hand.

"We're not going to simply walk around and wait for Jimmy to come find us. Thoughts on what actions he might take?" She was looking at Rei and Shasti as she said this. She wasn't altogether comfortable with either of them being on this mission, but if they were supposed to be experts in Jimmy's behaviour, she wanted them to start theorising.

Rei didn't seem to be paying attention, staring down at her feet. Shasti was more attentive, but she seemed to be staring in the opposite direction, up at the ceiling. After a moment she spoke.

"When I was at large, I remember that looking good was even more important to me than getting money. That was one of the ways that LaCombe was able to keep my various selves appeased, playing on my vanity and ego. I was always ready to take the flashier, more flamboyant way of doing things. From what I've seen of him, Jimmy might be the same."

"He is the same," Deirdre continued. Minerva was relieved to see that she didn't use her airheaded Valley accent while on a mission. "Remember that he used to have a split personality as well. Jim was the logical, abrupt part of him. He used me as his plan. Let me get to Shasti, then kill her while she had her guard down." Minerva could see Deirdre's face colour at this, and Shasti placed a protective hand on her shoulder. "But Jim's dead now, from all the information we have. And Jimmy...hell, you remember the fight with the mindwiped agents. It didn't make sense at all, and could have easily been traced back to him, but he used it anyway. It was flashy and flamboyant. And now that he's the sole personality, it can only have gotten worse."

Rei hadn't reacted through all of this, but now she spoke, though she still didn't lift her eyes from the floor. "We also have to remember that he is now insane."

Shasti nodded. "Right." She was the one colouring now, being forced to draw on her own memories and experiences, the ones she had done her best this past month to suppress. "That means he is totally unpredictable. He is capable of things that we wouldn't even consider, and his mind can make leaps that would seem incomprehensible."

Minerva nodded, pleased at the team's response. "That can be both an advantage and a disadvantage," she said quietly. "He might decide on something on the spur of the moment without thinking of the ramifications. But from our point of view, we have to go about this rationally. Assume Jimmy's main goal is to kill Shasti in as grand and flamboyant a way as possible. How would he do it?"

Rei spoke up again. "I'll go keep watch. It's best that Jimmy doesn't find me. I want to keep my promise to Asuka, and I don't think I could if I saw him." With that she walked further down the corridor, keeping her weapon trained.

Shasti and Deirdre stared after her, mostly amazed that she had spoken so much at one time. Then they turned back to Minerva.

"As for what he might do, he's already done it, to an extent. Look around us," Deirdre said. "We're in a complex on the outskirts of this solar system, in a maze of old, faded metal corridors, and trying to kill Jimmy before he kills us. You must admit, he set this up perfectly. We even helped him, sending Bast in there as a decoy that Jimmy could use against us. It's the perfect action movie plot."

"With Jimmy as the hero," Shasti pointed out.

Suddenly an explosion sounded, and they saw Rei run off towards the sound. Minerva sighed. "Stay together, people. With Jimmy, anything and everything could be a trap."

They headed more cautiously down the corridor. Shasti's mind was racing, trying to figure out how Jimmy might try to get to her. He'd not only want to kill her, but probably personally torture and humiliate her as well. In order to do that...he'd need to know where she was and what she was doing. A cold thought struck her. She and Deirdre, despite everything they'd just said, had assumed the fight would be fairly clean and above-board. But if they took nothing for granted...

"We're bugged," she burst out. "Jimmy's heard everything we've just said."

Deirdre and Minerva turned towards her, surprised. And at that moment Shasti saw a glimpse of something high above, just a flash of glinting metal.

*Oh my God. The ducts. He's in the goddamn ducts.*

"GET DOWN!" she screamed, firing up into the ventilator above her. Even as she said it, a shot came out of nowhere, missing Deirdre's head by a quarter of an inch and taking off a lock of blonde hair. She tucked into a ball and rolled down the corridor, jumping up again with her gun out and ready.

Unfortunately, this meant that she wasn't close to Shasti and Minerva. A large metal door, looking much stronger than the aged metal of the corridors, fell down in front of Shasti, cutting her off from her partner. Minerva quickly spun and headed towards Rei's last position, but another shutter fell, blocking her.

Shasti cursed and kicked the metal. "How many stupid plans does he have, anyway?"

Minerva grabbed her wrist. "Come on. We still have one way open to us."

"Of course we do," Shasti spat. "He doesn't want to trap us, he wants to split us up. It's a lot easier to fight his way individually than in a group."

Minerva paused, thinking that over, and then nodded. "In that case, we need to rely on Rei and Deirdre to defend themselves as best we can while we try and stop Jimmy. Remember, his primary goal is you...Shasti, are you all right?"

Shasti was standing stock still, her eyes wide. She was remembering something Asuka had said not long ago.

*Don't let him make you mad,* she had said. *Ignore him, stop him, whatever it takes. But don't let him get under your skin.*

"It's not me at all," she whispered. "He's after Deirdre. He's going to kill her in order to make me lose control."

***

Lazarus and Hilda stared at the small doorway with no small measure of disbelief. According to Gay Deceiver, this was where Bast was being kept, but there wasn't a soul anywhere near it. The entire floor seemed to be deserted.

Looking around, Lazarus raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised there isn't a giant glowing neon arrow pointing to the door with the words 'TRAP'."

Hilda smirked. "Actually, this isn't as surprising as it looks. Think about it. If the 3WA agents Jimmy is using *aren't* mindwiped, then it makes sense that he wants to keep their loyalty. And he's not going to keep their loyalty by showing them one of their own being brutally tortured. Therefore Mr. Weinberg is probably a well-kept secret, as we can see." She walked up to the door, trying to find any alarms or booby traps. "Besides, I rather doubt that he's going to be in any condition to stroll out of here. Lazarus, there is nothing stopping us from opening this door and walking in."

Lazarus ran his fingers through his hair. "Fine. Let's go in, see how far we can get, and when the trap springs, deal with it then. OK?"

Hilda nodded. "Sounds good to me," she said. She raised a hand to the panel, and the door slid open.

It was very easy to spot Bast; the room was entirely bare except for his slumped figure shackled to the wall. He had iron cuffs around his ankles and remaining wrist, but was otherwise naked. His stump where his left arm had been seemed to have cauterised, luckily. He appeared to have a broken jaw, as well as numerous tiny cuts to the chest and stomach area. He was breathing heavily through his nose.

Lazarus and Hilda ran over to him. Hilda noted the pan of water within reach. "He's been able to drink. I'm rather surprised. Jimmy must be getting soft."

"More likely that they needed him alive to be able to use him as bait," Lazarus said. Fingering the chains, he decided to blast them off a ways down, not wanting to take the chance of hurting him further before Ishtar could take care of him.

Bast stirred, and moaned quietly. Hilda moved up to his face, smiling gently. "Take it easy, Bast. We're going to take you back to Boondock and get you fixed up." She paused. "I'm sorry that this happened to you."

Lazarus cut the chain off of his right leg and looked up at the two of them. "We've got our best people out there right now, making sure as few of the 3WA agents are hurt as possible. Don't worry, everything's being taken care of." His face, too, held the guilt that Hilda's had.

Bast stared at them for a few seconds, seeming not to comprehend. Then he looked down at the blaster in Lazarus' hand, and motioned for it with his free hand.

Lazarus frowned. "Mr. Weinberg, you're in no shape to stand, much less carry a gun."

Hilda sighed. "Lazarus, if it makes him feel better, give him a gun. It'll only be a few hundred yards."

Lazarus considered arguing, but thought better of it. He took out his extra blaster pistol and slipped it into Bast's hand, waiting till the agent's fingers tightened round it. Then he manoeuvred Bast into a modified fireman's carry, trying not to jar him. With a nod at Hilda, they stood and made their way back to the door.

"About time. I was wondering if you were going to sit there and mother him until I got bored."

Lazarus looked up, startled at the voice. While he'd expected a trap, this was another matter. He frowned, ready to give Miss Emerson a long lecture on knowing when to stay put in the middle of a battle. Then he noticed her eyes.

Hilda didn't even pause, and had her gun out, even as Cory had her own gun levelled at Hilda. "So, you're the clone we've been hearing so much about."

Cory sighed. "No evil speeches, I'm not Jimmy. We're at a stalemate. You're covering me, I'm covering you, your companion can't reach his gun, and Bast is unconscious." Lazarus glanced down to see that Bast had indeed fallen limp, gun loosely clutched in his dangling right hand.

Hilda's eyes narrowed. "So what do you recommend?"

Cory smiled. "First, put Mr. Weinberg down. Then I'll shoot the both of you. After that, I'll kill him as well, then meet up with my camera crew to take care of the rest of your little gang."

"You'll understand why I'm not entirely happy with that plan," Hilda added dryly.

Cory shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere. It's a matter of stamina. Who can keep their gun pointed longest. I think I can win."

At that point a beam of energy shot out of nowhere. It hit Cory right at the neck, neatly severing her head from her shoulders. The head rolled to a stop some feet away, still looking smug.

Hilda and Lazarus looked down in surprise. Bast still looked unconscious, but his hand was turned so that the gun aimed directly at where Cory had been. He looked over at them and his eyes crinkled. Then he seemed to faint for real, the gun slipping out of his hands to the floor.

Lazarus adjusted his hold on Bast so that he could weild his own weapon, then picked up the other gun. "Well, one problem solved. At least Cory will be happy."

Hilda looked down at the body. "Relatively."

They made their way back to Gay Deceiver unaccosted, met by Laz and Lor, who had a gaggle of questions for them. Lazarus and Hilda were more concerned with getting Bast ready to be seen by Ishtar, however.

Upon arrival, they were met by Ishtar and Maureen, who started to take Bast's vitals. Cory was also lurking in the background, looking bored. Lazarus found her look of irritation upon seeing him curiously reassuring. He decided to go amuse himself a bit.

"So, Miss Emerson, I thought you assured all of us that you didn't ever want to get near this sort of thing ever again."

Cory snarled. "I'm not here for any sense of fulfilment, Lazarus. And I thought we were done with taunting me, remember?"

Lazarus did, and raised his hands. "I'm sorry. Reflex. So you're here to see what information you can get on your friends?"

She relaxed slightly, and nodded. "Kei and Yuri have been in and out of here for a while now, bringing various 3WA thugs with them." She ignored Lazarus' frown and continued. "But Shasti, Deirdre, Minerva and Rei have been quiet. And last time, Yuri said something about hearing a firefight going on in the distance."

Lazarus frowned. "Could be Jubal's group. We did realise coming in that we might have to fight, Miss Emerson."

"Jubal just reported in. They're having similar results to Kei and Yuri. It's not them."

Hilda walked over. "I just told Laz and Lor to go back and see what assistance they could lend Jubal. I think we're going to have to let Minerva and her team handle Jimmy on their own. They have the experience working with him, we don't."

"Did you mention what the Cory clone told us?"

Cory turned. "You met the clone?" she asked.

"She's dead now, Cory. Bast killed her."

Cory looked a bit askance at this but said nothing. Lazarus had a feeling she'd wanted to kill the clone herself, and was rather relieved she hadn't gone along on this mission for exactly that reason.

Getting back on topic, Lazarus asked, "What do you think she meant by meeting with the press?"

Hilda frowned. "Some sort of faked publicity, I'm guessing. They could have things set up so that the 3WA would look honourable in case we win. A way of allowing Jimmy to rise from the ashes."

"Do you think we can do anything about it? Maybe have Laz and Lor try to locate the camera team?"

She frowned. "No, I want them to help Jubal. I'm not trying to be unkind, but Laz and Lor tend to get overexcited when they're near a camera. Besides, I don't think it affects the overall plan...where did Cory go?"

Lazarus looked at the space where Cory had been a minute ago, then back at Gay Deceiver. The car rotated away before he could say anything.

Hilda sighed. "She does like to get involved, doesn't she? I'll contact Laz and Lor. As long as she's there, I want her to let us know whatever she plans on doing."

Lazarus was just staring at the ceiling. "I'm cursed, that's what it is."

Ishtar smiled as Bast was wheeled away to the operating theatre set up in the corner. "Who told you? It was supposed to be a secret?"

***

Deirdre ran down the corridor, hearing the sounds of footsteps behind her, along with the occasional giggle. The giggles bothered her. It meant that Jimmy had finally lost it, and no one would be able to return him to reality. Certainly not her.

On the other hand, she thought she understood what he was doing. It made a perverse kind of sense. He wanted to get to Shasti and make her lose her cool. What better way to do so than to kill her partner and best friend? Plus Jimmy had his own reasons to dislike her. He probably considered Deirdre to be an even worse traitor than Shasti, as she was Jim's pet project. She briefly wondered what Jimmy thought of his other personality, or if he ever mourned his loss...

Suddenly she saw a flash of red coming towards her, and rolled quickly to the side. A bolt missed her head by about three inches. She quickly leapt to her feet and ran faster, telling herself to stop thinking about the inner turmoil she was going through and start thinking of a way to get away from Jimmy and back to Shasti. She'd lost her gun right at the start, and only had a few grenades as her arsenal. *Dammit, why aren't Kei and Yuri here? They always seem to be able to pull weapons out of nowhere,* she thought.

She winced at the cuts on her elbows and knees where she'd hit the concrete. Unfortunately, there was no time to stop and bandage them...concrete?

Deirdre focused more closely on the corridor she was fleeing down, and noticed that the construction had indeed changed from metal to concrete. *This has got to be the most patchwork-constructed base for an evil plot to take over the world I've ever seen,* she mused while taking out a mini-grenade. Risking a glance back over her shoulder, she noted that Jimmy was at last out of her line of sight. She could still hear him, though, laughing to himself somewhere further back.

*Junction, junction...why are there never any doorways when you need them?* she thought. Finally coming to a doorway, she concealed herself in it, pulled the pin to the grenade but held back from removing it, and waited.

She didn't have long to wait. About ten seconds later, she could hear Jimmy's footsteps tramping down the corridor. He was moving more silently, which worried Deirdre. She was hoping that he had finally lost his mind, thus proving to be easy to predict and manipulate. This silent running was showing she couldn't count him out yet.

She freed the pin and rolled the grenade down the corridor, trying to time it so that he'd arrive at its position as it went off. Unfortunately, Jimmy appeared to pause once, perhaps checking behind him before continuing. This delay was enough, and the grenade went off a few meters in front of him.

It was far more powerful than Deirdre had thought. The entire corridor collapsed in on itself, almost burying her in rubble. She tried to run from the avalanche of concrete, but was hit with a large chuck of it, throwing her against the floor hard. Vaguely, on the other side of the rubble, she heard Jimmy cursing. At least she's managed to trap him on the other side. That probably bought her a minute or two.

Trying to get up, she gasped, feeling a sharp pain in her left wrist. She must have broken it in the fall. *So much for gaining time,* she thought as she stumbled down the next corridor.

She needed a way to get away from Jimmy and find Shasti again. The corridor idea might work, but she'd have to control it this time, maybe hook the grenade to the ceiling. Plus she doubted Jimmy would fall for the same trick twice, and he was too determined. The only way she'd lose him is if he were to kill her...

The corridor was getting more populated now, with the occasional door on either side. *The battle must have come down to here,* Deirdre thought sadly, looking at the body of a dead 3WA agent leaning up against the wall. The girl didn't look much different from her, in fact. Hilda had told them that casualties would be unavoidable, but nothing brought home the reality like this.

Deirdre pulled out another grenade, looking up at the walls. *Well, if it took out the walls and ceiling back there...and if I time it right...* she mused. She checked the nearest door, ensuring it wasn't locked, and lay in wait, waiting for Jimmy's footsteps.

After a few moments, she heard Jimmy, who seemed to be taking the corridor at a slower pace than she had. *He probably thinks that he can take his time down here, let me wander around until something goes wrong and he can kill me at his leisure.* He still was moving quickly, though, so she pulled out the pin and rolled the grenade out into the hall, hoping she'd timed it right.

Jimmy's face appeared around the bend just as the grenade went off. Snarling, he dived back the way he'd came, managing to avoid most of the damage. *Shit,* Deirdre cursed to herself. Then she was thrown back into the room by a cloud of debris, jamming shut the door she'd been looking out of.

She moved further back into the room now, waiting to see if he'd spotted her. She almost stumbled, tripping over something in the dark. She quickly bent down to move it, struggling awkwardly with her good hand while keeping her ears open for signs of Jimmy opening the door. Then she noticed what it was she was moving. Despite herself, she gasped quietly.

It was another corpse, but this one couldn't have been made by Hilda's people. The girl appeared to have been systematically beaten to near-death, then shot in the head point-black. Her head was near dissolved, and her chest was half caved-in.

More to the point, however, she was still carrying her gun. Deirdre grabbed it, wondering why the girl hadn't used it to defend herself. She didn't waste too much time worrying about it, however, instead going for the door with a running leap, intending to blow Jimmy's head off before he could do anything. The only person she could imagine killing the girl in this fashion was him. He was going to die.

She slammed into the door at full velocity, nearly breaking her leg. She threw out a hand to stop herself, and gasped as her broken wrist smashed into the barrier as well.

Cursing, she realised what must have happened, She'd not only taken out much of the corridor, but buried herself in here. Luckily, the door was of the old-fashioned hinge type, so she set to work cutting it down. It was arduous, however, especially with one broken wrist, and she realised that with all the noise she was making, it would be simple for Jimmy to simply wait with his gun and shoot her the moment she got out. And with his sanity seemingly gone, he might not even pause to gloat.

When she finally got the door off its hinges and shoved away most of the debris, however, Jimmy was nowhere to be seen. Deirdre looked around, puzzled. Had he chosen to abandon her, chasing after one of the others instead?

Then she noticed the rubble near where she had thrown the grenade. The corpse of the other agent was still there. Deirdre had forgotten all about her. Her body was buried beneath the rubble, except for one arm stretching itself out towards where Jimmy had been.

An arm that was currently missing its hand.

In a flash, Deirdre realised what must have gone through Jimmy's mind. He wanted her dead so he could torture Shasti with that knowledge. This was his own way of 'proving' that fact.

Deirdre took off down the corridor, trying not to jostle her broken wrist. She had to find Shasti before Jimmy did.

***

Rei stared at yet another metal shutter in front of her, and kicked it sullenly. She considered trying to cut through it with her gun, but considering that hadn't worked on the last ten shutters she'd seen, it was unlikely to have much effect now.

She remembered what Asuka had said to her before they left. *Don't let him get you mad.* But it was so hard. For a long time she'd longed to feel emotions the way Asuka had. All through their training, she struggled to find it within herself to shout, to laugh, to cry. She envied her partner so much, even considering the memory erasures and other atrocities committed on her by the Central Computer and Jimmy. Asuka was real, she was human. Rei looked at her and felt like some sort of doll, just a toy Jimmy used and threw back in the closet. Even talking with the Central Computer didn't help for long.

Shaking her head, Rei tried to throw off her melancholy and follow the path she was being forced down. It was that that was so frustrating. If she's been trapped here, she could try to logically find a way to escape. But she wasn't trapped, she was just given the most meandering path possible through Jimmy's complex. It made her feel like a lab rat.

*Don't let him get you mad.*

Rei stood still, again trying to calm herself. She was unused to the concept. She'd always been perfectly calm before, never needing to rein in her feelings. Getting emotions was what she'd always dreamed of, but she didn't need them out of control. Especially not now, when there were more important things to worry about.

One of the first things she'd done when they'd arrived was get on the network. It was something she'd been told not to do, for fear of a virus or other debilitating attack. Rei didn't care. She needed to know, needed to confirm for herself what they'd already told her. That the Central Computer had been killed by Jimmy.

It was her mentor. Much more than Jimmy, it was the one she thought of as a parent. In a very real sense, in fact. Creating her had been its own idea, unlike Shasti and Jimmy, which had been 3WA projects. But she was the Central Computer's baby. Its dream, and hope for the future.

And now she was his legacy, because he was truly gone. Nowhere on the entire system, not even in the places Jimmy could never find. Jimmy had eradicated him. Oh, the system still ran, programs still functioned...but it was truly soulless. There was no consciousness there anymore, no sentience.

She was its legacy. And she had to find its killer.

She began to run, bouncing off shutters whenever they came down in front of her. It didn't matter now, they were leading her to him. She was sure of it.

She could hear Asuka's voice, telling her to calm down, but it was fainter now, and easier to ignore.

Finally, she ended up in a large room, empty except for a screen above. Here. Jimmy would want to meet her here, make his stand. This was where she would get revenge on him, tearing him apart piece by piece.

The screen lit up, showing Jimmy standing there, looking rather smug. "Hi! Suppose you're looking for me. Well, frankly, I couldn't care less about you now. I tried to get you to kill Shasti for me, didn't work, so now I have to do it myself. Still, I wanted to leave a little something for you, to make sure you felt you'd accomplished something." He held up a paper streamer. "Congratulations!" He bowed, and the screen went black.

For a few moments Rei simply stared at the screen, dumbfounded. Then she screamed. It was a primal, throat-tearing cry of pure and utter rage.

Shooting out the screen, she ran down a hall at random, screaming out her rage and grief. She would find Jimmy now. It was inevitable. Find him, and torture him. Make him pay for what he'd done to Asuka, to Shasti, to Deirdre, to Cory, to the Central Computer...she felt free now, as if something had been holding her back.

She screamed again, and kept running.

***

Cory stopped at another junction, trying to remember the layout Hilda had given her. It was hard. She'd always been a little wary of dataplugs, but not having one made her memory a *lot* less reliable. And this was not the best time to be opening her mind to new experiences. Still, she picked what she believed was the correct path and set off, moving as quietly as possible through the corridors that were now mostly silent.

Hopping into Gay Deceiver just as it was ready to leave was not, in retrospect, one of her brightest moves. She'd sworn blind to Kei, Yuri, *and* Lazarus that she was going to stay behind this time. She'd done enough. A lot of people were saved because of her. She didn't need to be there at Jimmy's final moments, she could relax.

And now here she was, searching out a camera crew that her twisted evil clone had brought to the planet so that she could find Jimmy and show his downfall to the world, and perhaps do a little bit to redeem herself in the process. She had no idea why the actions of some evil clone would bother her, but they did. Maybe it was when Kei and Yuri had told her about what the Wildes had said. The Kei and Yuri clones weren't all that different from the originals. A bit more callous, less caring...but not much.

It disturbed Cory that a twisted, evil version of her might not take that much manipulating. She'd always been a go-getter, striving to get noticed, to get better, more meaningful assignments. She'd thought it was a need to show people the truth, to tell them how things really were. What if it was just a power trip? A chance to show people how important she could be? And if she could be like that, well...

That was why she was here. She wasn't like that. Even deeper down, below her doubts and fears, she knew that. She had her beliefs, and she would not compromise them. And she was here to prove that to the universe she had, in a sense, abandoned.

She paused again. She was getting close to the top of Gauda Prime, near the shuttle bays. *Now, if I were a nasty, evil, manipulative version of myself, where would I hide a camera crew? And how well would they know me?* she mused.

Not very well, she decided. She'd probably try to appear like some kind of vid star, haughty and professional. She threw her head back, walked purposefully, and headed straight for the first room in the bay, throwing the door open.

A row of vending machines stared back at her.

*Rats. This never happens to the Angels,* the thought sourly.

The third door in, she was rather surprised to see a vid team sitting around, smoking and looking generally bored. They looked up at her expectantly.

She recovered quickly. "Time to go. Follow me."

To her considerable relief, they did. She marched down the corridor, feeling more and more like the journalist she thought she'd abandoned so long ago.

Now to put those investigative skills into use, she mused. She subvocalised, barely whispering. "Got a trace on him yet, Lor?"

An almost inaudible voice buzzed near her ear. "No, but he's on Level Twelve. Go there, and I'll see if I can get you closer."

Cory smiled to herself. She could almost get used to this spy stuff...

***

Shasti resisted the urge to start breaking things as she came to the top of the ladder. Another catwalk, leading across the chasm under them and ending at yet another ladder. For the past five minutes, all they had been doing was climbing, and Shasti was just now beginning to get a real sense of how large Jimmy's complex was.

They'd gone in assuming it was mostly a temporary base of operations for 3WA, as Jimmy had claimed. However, the more Shasti and Minerva saw of it, the more it became apparent that Jimmy had designed the base, making it perfect for not only a pitched battle but his deranged sense of drama as well.

The outer complex, including most of the public areas, were the gleaming metal corridors you would expect from the Worlds Welfare Works Association. As you went in further, though, the walls gradually changed to a concrete base. The explosions the two of them had heard earlier made the reason for that obvious: collapsing tunnels and live burials made easy.

Shasti had been adamant about going after Deirdre, but Minerva had stood her ground. She pointed out that they were the ones who needed to take Jimmy by surprise now, and running after her just gave him the advantage. Deirdre was a trained, capable 3WA agent, now removed of any devices which Jimmy might use to re-establish control over her mind. She could take care of herself.

Logically, Shasti knew this. But lately logic hadn't been ruling her thought processes. She was as close to fully human as she could get now. That included the unpredictable emotions that went along with it, which were far more volatile than the simple ones her four personas had been installed with. She wanted to protect Deirdre. She wanted her to be safe. It was similar to what she'd felt when making sure that Cory wasn't going on this mission.

Eventually, though, Shasti had given in to Minerva, and they'd headed as best they could to the centre of the complex, taking a roundabout route whenever Jimmy's bulkheads blocked them. Shasti rationalised it by admitting that if she ever admitted this to Deirdre, the woman would likely scream at her. Deirdre was not the sort to let Shasti protect her. Neither was Cory, come to that.

The innermost part of the complex, when they arrived, proved to be a real piece of work. It was almost factory-like. Ladders, rickety metal stairs, transoms, catwalks, I-beams...it was like the ending to every action holo Shasti had ever seen. She stared at Minerva in disbelief, but the other woman merely shrugged, and started to climb.

Shasti was startled out of her reveries by something she was beginning to think she'd never see...the top of the structure. There was no connection to the outside, no airlocks or other means of escape. Just a rounded metal roof, smooth and flawless. The catwalks extended all around the edge...with several key slats missing, Shasti noted idly. In addition, Jimmy appeared to have suspended a large vehicle near one end, with a polearm device. Shasti walked carefully over to it, trying to figure out what it was.

"Any idea who Chapman Nike is?"

Minerva joined her. "It's a crane. God knows what Jimmy wants with it...maybe it's here as muscle? If controlled properly, I suppose it could be used to shove someone over the side. I suspect we can just add it to the growing list of Jimmy's delusional tendencies."

Shasti nodded to her companion. "You've got to hand it to Jimmy, he thinks big."

"Thank you. How ironic, I was just about to give *you* a hand."

Shasti and Minerva spun around, seeing Jimmy standing at the top of the ladder. He smiled at them, and waved what Shasti realised with disgust was a severed hand. A cold feeling welled in her stomach as she realised who that hand might have belonged to.

Minerva wasted no time in firing. Jimmy ducked, but the bolt still managed to clip his head. He dropped and rolled along the catwalk, body checking himself against a support to keep from falling into the central chasm. He got to his feet with a glare, rocking back and forth in case he needed to move again. "No, no! You're not supposed to shoot right away! You have to let me talk, gloat over my victory! *Then* we--gah!"

Shasti had moved as quickly as possible, hoping to catch Jimmy with enough force to throw him over. He twisted again, however, falling limply to the floor and kicking backwards. Shasti found herself flying over Jimmy, heading for the rail. She tried to force herself down, but her momentum was simply too great. She hit the rail hard, feeling her shoulder twinge in agony. Her gun fell from her, spiralling down into the depths below. She lashed out and caught another part of the rail, trying to give herself enough leverage to fall back to the other side.

That was when the hand that Jimmy had been clutching hit her in the face.

It didn't distract her for long, but it was long enough for Jimmy to kick her over the side. She desperately grabbed for any kind of purchase as she started to fall...

And was hit with a crane hook. Hard.

For a second or two, she slid down it, dazed. Then she realised what was happening and gripped the hook tightly, allowing it to pull her up and over to the opposite side.

Gasping, she fell to the deck. She didn't allow herself too much time to recover, staggering to her feet and preparing for Jimmy's next manoeuvre.

Jimmy, however, was looking towards the crane and clapping wildly. Following his gaze, Shasti saw Minerva in the cockpit of the crane, manipulating the controls. The crane hook slowly moved back to the centre of the chasm, still wobbling slightly.

"Yes! Bravo!" Jimmy was shouting. "Now *that's* the sort of thing this is all about! Daring last-minute rescues, impressive stunts! I must admit that Shasti's form was off...quite frankly, I think Deirdre would have been more graceful. But you make do with what you have, I suppose."

Mention of Deirdre annoyed Shasti. She started to shout something back, when a flash caught her eye from below. Puzzled, she looked down.

A mobile camera unit was headed towards the top. Two, in fact, with some sound equipment as well. And at the head of this makeshift arrangement was a familiar dirty-blonde figure.

*What the hell is she doing here?* Shasti thought. Then another nasty thought occurred to her. *What if it's the clone?* In fact, that made a lot more sense. The clone was the one who would bring the camera crew, utilising her new-found TV fame to its best advantage.

Glancing back up, she saw Jimmy was still pontificating, apparently telling Minerva all about how he'd constructed this place to be perfect for a final epic battle. She took the opportunity to move back towards the ladder, ready to take out the clone quickly. Hopefully after she was killed the camera crew would get the hint and take off.

The clone's voice drifted up to her.

"Going live in five...four...three...two..."

Shasti tensed.

"Hi, folks! Greetings from the top of a ridiculously dramatic superstructure! I'm Cory Emerson, formerly of the magazine High Sense, now working for whatever corporate whores I sold my soul to this month. We're here to show you the downfall of one of the most powerful organisations in the known galaxy."

Shasti blinked. This was not what she was expecting. She wondered if this was meant to be merely a diversion to distract her from Jimmy. She risked a glance behind her. Nope, he was still talking. She returned her focus to the clone (was it a clone?) and her crew, now only a level below her.

"...Daltrey, the man who effectively runs 3WA now that the Central Computer has been destroyed, has apparently lost what little sanity he had left in the first place. Turning the remaining 3WA agents into his own personal strike force through a propaganda campaign, he immediately went to work trying to gain revenge on one woman - a woman whom he had become convinced was the sole cause of all of his failures."

It was a good speech. Shasti's eyes narrowed. It was exactly the sort of thing she'd expect the clone to do to gain her trust. A clever mixture of words and smiles. She raised her gun again, getting more angry at this woman trying to pervert her friend's image.

At least until she tripped on the last ladder, and went sprawling.

"Gyah! Who put that there? Look, we'll edit that, OK?"

"Right, ma'am," the cameraman said.

"And stop trying to keep from laughing."

"Ma'am?"

"...Oh, skip it. Come on."

Shasti sighed, and put her gun away. The clone might be good, but she wasn't that good.

"Shasti!"

Shasti spun, hearing Minerva's voice. Jimmy had gone over to a wall while he was chatting and opened a panel. Now the crane appeared to be slowly tipping over, with Minerva still in the cab.

Cursing herself, Shasti ran towards Jimmy, who seemed totally unfazed. "You were ignoring me, that wasn't right either. You're not supposed to ignore me. I really wish you'd do what you're supposed to do."

Shasti glared at him. She needed more time. "Where's Deirdre?"

Jimmy blinked. "She's *dead*. Didn't you see the hand I threw at you? My God, I thought you were supposed to be clever."

Shasti felt her stomach clench, but kept coming. Cory and the crew were at the ladder now, but to their credit weren't trying to get involved. Besides, she didn't believe that Deirdre was really dead, in any case. She was sure she'd have felt it immediately, even without any psychic link like the one Kei and Yuri shared.

Instead, she concentrated on giving back to Jimmy what he was trying to do to her. She was in control of herself now. She wasn't insane, or fragmented, or an emotional wreck. This was her battle.

"Oh, but I am clever, Jimmy. I'm clever, and talented, and beautiful. I'm the best agent 3WA ever had. Their grand success. There were a few bugs, sure, but they worked through them because they believed in me. Because Deirdre believed in me."

He rushed her, as she thought he might, trying to throw her off balance again. She was ready for him this time, however, and threw her weight to the right, against the wall. She reached out and caught his arm as he went by, throwing him down to the ground roughly. She smiled as she heard it snap.

There was movement behind her, but she didn't dare look up. Instead she tried to leap over Jimmy to get to the crane controls. Jimmy boosted himself upward, catching her between the legs and sending her sprawling. She gasped as he aimed a kick at her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs. He followed up by leaping on top of her, and wrapping his hands around her neck.

A moment later, however, she was free. Deirdre had appeared, kicking Jimmy off of Shasti and shoving him back towards the stairs. Thankfully Cory and her crew had moved a little further down. Deirdre turned to follow up on the attack when Shasti stopped her, noting her broken wrist.

"Deirdre! Get the crane. I'll take care of Jimmy." She smiled at Deirdre, a glint in her eyes. Her partner nodded and moved to help Minerva.

Shasti turned back towards Jimmy, who was looking almost rabid, little flecks of white appearing around his mouth. "Gee, Jimmy, where's your corpse? See? I knew she wasn't dead. I trust her, and I know she's better than you."

Jimmy glanced at Deirdre, trying to decide what to do, but in the end must have decided he wanted to kill Shasti more. He moved again, aiming for her legs. This time she didn't leap, but instead tucked into a somersault and rolled backwards. He ended up sprawled on the deck. Shasti immediately delivered a snap kick to his face, spinning him around and pushing him further down the catwalk, towards the crane.

"You've never been able to trust anyone, Jimmy. Because you just don't have it in you. You're not capable of trust, of hope, of love. You thought you trusted Bast, but you betrayed that trust. You're not human."

Jimmy was limping now, and eyed her warily, not ready to try for another attack. Shasti kept coming at him, driving him further around the circular pathway, back towards the ladder.

Suddenly another figure appeared at the head of the ladder. *Boy, this has really become a tourist trap,* Shasti mused. Then she saw who it was and grinned, sending a punch towards Jimmy as he continued to back up.

"Rei and I are both human, though. Not because of anything done to us by others. Because we were able to surpass what we had, do more with it. Because we could make friends, despite everything. We transcended what we were. You stayed put. You can't come up with original ideas or feelings, can you? This whole epic final battle is straight out of cheap holos and books. I get the feeling you're listening to me because it's part of the big final speech the hero gets to make."

She had almost backed him to the ladder now. Now all she had to do was talk for a few seconds more, keep Jimmy from noticing the girl who stood behind him like the vengeance of heaven.

"Well, guess what, Jimmy, we can think for ourselves. We don't have to pay attention to your cliches and your little mind games. In fact, I don't even have to stand here listening to you. Now, Rei."

Jimmy straightened up, but didn't even get to turn. Rei lashed out, kicking him with such force that he rose nearly ten feet in the air. For a moment, he hung there, reaching out towards Shasti. Then he fell, carried along the arc Rei had sent him. He tumbled down three stories before he hit the opposite catwalk, falling against it with a sickening crunch.

Deirdre walked up to Shasti. "You OK?"

Shasti didn't say anything, she just hugged Deirdre, clutching her tightly for a few seconds.

Minerva was heading down the ladder. "Speaking of cliches, I'd better go down there and verify that he's dead. After that, I think we should head back to Boondock and see how Jubal and the Angels did with the other 3WA agents."

Shasti, an arm still around her partner, walked over to Cory, who was busy trying to convince the camera crew that they'd been working with an evil clone for the past year. "Oh, Cory?"

Cory suddenly locked up, and turned to the pair looking much like a deer caught in headlights. "Um...hi, Shasti...good job."

Deirdre smiled sweetly. "Cory, why are you here? Didn't everyone, including Shasti and I, tell you you didn't have to participate? Didn't you say you never wanted to do this again?"

Cory was looking at her feet and blushing. Shasti really wished she had a camera.

"Well, y'know, I wasn't just gonna sit there...I mean, you guys hadn't reported in...and there was an opportunity...I didn't want to see...oh, stop that?"

Shasti blinked. "Hmm?"

Cory seemed to be back to her usual self. "Don't give me that big gooey look! You know it makes me uncomfortable!"

Shasti smiled. "Then this should really embarrass you." She leaned down and kissed Cory on the cheek. "Thank you for caring about us."

"Gyah!" Cory said, blushing. She looked down at her feet. "Anytime," she added quietly.

Minerva came back up to the top. "Well, if he wasn't dead before, he certainly is now. I just cut him into little bits."

The camera crew looked fairly disturbed by this remark, but Cory just shook her head. "Don't worry. We have quite a few things to show you about the late Mr. Daltrey. Everything will become clear. Hell, you'll probably get an Emmy or two..."

Shasti headed for the ladder, then stopped. Rei was still standing where she'd kicked Jimmy, tears streaming down her face.

"Rei, it's OK. It's all over."

The pale girl kept shaking her head, however, harder and harder. Shasti came over and grabbed her, trying to get her to stop, but she couldn't seem to keep still. "Minerva!" Shasti shouted.

Minerva rushed over with a hypo of some sort, expertly holding it to Rei and sending her into unconsciousness. Minerva then touched a spot behind her neck. "Laz, could you home in on my signal? We're done, and need to get Rei back to Ishtar."

Shasti looked down at the girl. "Is she relapsing?"

Minerva shook her head. "It's probably just a minor emotional breakdown...they've been getting shorter, but she still has them. Don't worry, she'll be fine." Minerva looked at Shasti curiously. "Are *you* all right?"

Shasti smiled, looking over at her best friends.

"I'll be fine."

***

Shasti sighed. She and Deirdre had come here to wish those of the 3WA agents who were going back a pleasant goodbye. However, since most of those agents still weren't speaking to her, if not actively trying to kill her, she didn't expect it to be a pleasant experience.

Most of the 3WA agents, when told the truth of Jimmy Daltrey's manipulations of their organisation, believed it implicitly. It made sense, and explained many things they'd always wondered about Jimmy but had never dared voice. There was not a problem getting them to accept it.

Accepting that Shasti was better, and was now reasonably sane...that was harder. Jimmy hadn't invented Shasti's criminal period, he'd just used it in his propaganda. He hadn't even needed to embellish events. Shasti was a symbol, to the entire organisation, of the agent gone bad. Pure, unadulterated evil. Seeing that she was not only their saviour but hadn't even seemed to be punished for what she had done...that did not sit well with them at all.

Truth to tell, it didn't sit all that well with Shasti either.

Walking out to the dry-dock, they saw that most everyone had left already. Most of the agents were returning to clean up the wreckage of 3WA and try to start things up again. It wasn't going to be easy. They'd gotten used to giving the Central Computer a lot of control, and now it was gone. But they were trying anyway. That was good. Shasti wished them luck, even if they wouldn't take it from her.

Asuka and Bast were standing by Gay Deceiver, talking with Laz and Lor about the final preparation. This was the last trip the ship would be taking back to Pacifica. Bast had asked that Lazarus and company cut off contact with their people unless it was an emergency, and Lazarus had readily agreed.

Asuka smiled as they walked up. She had recovered from the injuries Jimmy had given her, and seemed ready to go back to being a full-time agent. More than her physical injuries, though, she seemed an almost totally different person mentally. She'd always had self- confidence, but it was the nervous boasting of someone who expects the facade to be ripped away at any moment. This Asuka was comfortable, both with herself and with others. Several agents considered it eerie.

"Hi there! Come to say goodbye?"

Shasti sighed. "Yeah. Guess it is really goodbye. Are you sure you want to do this, Bast?"

Bast nodded. He too had managed to recover from the injuries Jimmy and the Cory clone had inflicted on him, though it wasn't as obvious in how he carried himself. He was rather startled that Ishtar was able to put his arm back on without much trouble, and kept flexing it thinking that it would come loose again.

It startled him when the agents voted to have him take over running 3WA itself. He'd tried to argue against it, but it was clear that they wanted someone *without* grand plans or ambitions in charge, to avoid situations similar to the one Jimmy had set up, or even what the Central Computer had done. Bast didn't know whether to be pleased or insulted, but he eventually took the job.

"I don't want to always have Boondock as a safe haven in case of danger. We've got to be able to stand on our own two feet, without calling for help."

"But that doesn't mean you need to totally cut off any links," Deirdre pointed out.

"No, but I think it would be too much of a temptation for me," Bast said. "The agents are putting a lot of faith in me, and I don't know how much of it I deserve. I was the one who sat around while Jimmy played his little games, too scared to say anything or do anything about it. Even my going back to confront Jimmy was just guilt."

Asuka responded by whacking Bast in the back of the head. "Dummkopf. Everyone has their own reasons for doing things, and not all of them have to be great and moral. If you'd run away, or stayed behind, *that* would be something to be shamed about. But you didn't. You went to confront him, and that took guts. We all know that, or we wouldn't have voted you in."

Bast smiled ruefully. "Well, I suppose I'll have enough time to accept it." He paused. "It would help if the two of you came back with us."

Shasti's eyes narrowed slightly. "I will not return to 3WA. Beyond what they may have done to me in the past, I'm a symbol of evil to most of your agents. My criminal record has been held before them as the ultimate betrayal. It's impossible to change that kind of opinion without a tremendous amount of work, and frankly, I just don't feel like making the effort. Especially when I have so many friends here who can help me begin to atone for my past."

Bast sighed. "I know. You're right, of course."

Rei came running up, grinning. "Got everything! We're all set, I think, unless anyone else is coming."

Shasti rolled her eyes. Rei, too, had recovered, though hers was taking longer. She had benefited greatly from talking to Asuka, and the two of them now seemed to be very close. Her mood swings were getting farther apart, but also seemed to be longer in duration. Right now she must have been at the high end of her emotional spectrum, as she seemed incredibly happy and hyper.

Rei gave Bast a quick once-over, and snuggled up against him. "Are we still going back with you, Mr. Weinberg?"

*Ah. And horny,* Shasti added to herself.

Asuka's reaction was immediate. "Knock that off!" she shouted, pulling Rei away from the flustered Bast. "You're making a spectacle of yourself!"

Rei pouted and turned to her friend. "I'm sorry, Asuka."

Asuka threw her head back. "Better."

Rei then reached over and pulled her partner close. "You're feeling neglected. I understand. But just because I like Bast doesn't mean I don't like you too."

Asuka's head dropped momentarily, then she took Rei's hand. "We need to talk. Sir, we'll be in the back."

Bast was still recovering from being the subject of Rei's amorous attentions. 'Um...right, off you go."

Rei was gleeful. "Oh, we're going somewhere more private?"

"Would you get your mind out of the gutter?!" Asuka screamed, dragging Rei inside the ship.

Rei turned back to Shasti and Deirdre. "Bye! Oh, could you tell Hilda that I was the one who killed those Kei and Yuri clones? I feel kinda bad about it now..." Then she disappeared.

Deirdre and Shasti had stood watching this with bemused looks on their faces, even with that last startling revelation. "It's gratifying to see that 3WA isn't losing all of its character."

Shasti nodded. "You know, if those two play their cards right, they could be the next Dirty Pair."

"Lovely Angels!" came a faint cry from somewhere down the corridor.

Bast blinked. "How good is their hearing?"

"When it comes to that phrase, almost infinite," Shasti sighed.

Bast finished his checks. "Well, we're off. I still wish more of you were coming back...I can't help but think that we're leaving with bad blood between us."

Deirdre sighed. "It's not you, Bast, it's what you represent. Look at the facts. We have no reason to love 3WA. Even without Jimmy, they treated us like an experiment. Kei and Yuri are staying because they still need to work with Tamara and Minerva to hone their empathic powers, and they're getting a better deal working with the Time Corps. Zen is staying with his Angels no matter where they go. Jamie and Bridget wanted to retire and raise Rachel anyway, and here they can relax without worrying about any issues that may come from their former profession. Cory's staying here because all her friends are here, plus she's having more fun annoying Lazarus than she has in years. Lots of people are saying she'll end up opting into the Long family in a year or two.

"Other than that, *everyone* else agreed to come back with you. That's a pretty good track record, Mr. Weinberg, especially considering what some of them had been through."

Bast nodded. "I'll try to think of it that way. Still, it's tough when the top agents of your organisation unanimously decide to quit."

Shasti snorted. "Just means you have some new top agents."

After grabbing his bag, Bast turned and bowed slightly to the pair. "Good luck, you two. Not everyone gets a second chance on life." Then he walked into the ship, ignoring the sounds of screaming coming from the rear.

Shasti and Deirdre retreated back into the safety of the corridor, watching as Gay Deceiver pinged out of existence and went on her way.

Deirdre turned to her partner. "So, where to?"

"Good question."

"Hmm?"

Shasti looked down, deep in thought. "Bast was right, you know. This is a second chance for you. Heck, it's a *first* chance for me. What kind of life have I ever had? A pawn for 3WA, a insane criminal, an emotional basket case. But that's all over now. I'm as stable as I'm going to get. I have a normal body, not dependent on computers or data downloads. I'm free. Free to choose whatever I want to do."

There was a long pause, then Deirdre said, "So what *do* you want to do?"

Shasti blinked. "I've no idea."

They both laughed, destroying the sombre mood. "Well, partner, why don't we go talk to our friends and see what we can come up with?" Deirdre finally said.

Together, the two walked back down the corridor, ready to find out what awaited them in this new and exciting universe.

THE END

Author's Notes:

Wow. This took a long time. A *long* time. And got much bigger than I thought. And far more complex. And with a *lot* more gratuitous cameos than I'd ever planned. In a sense, this was a fic where I could relax and just throw in the kitchen sink if I felt I could get away with it. I hope it ended up being fairly readable as well.

This is Shasti's fic, so it's fitting that she gets the last couple of scenes to star in. I first ran into her when I read Larry Mann's Experiment 101-E (which Larry was kind enough to let me refer to for background and history), and really felt for her situation. Later I read Reunions, and enjoyed it even more. I finally picked up the original Adam Warren last year (after this was started, oddly enough), and it's OK, but it was Larry and Ryan Mathews who left the biggest impression on me when I wrote Shasti and Deirdre here.

Deirdre is hard to write. For one thing, the Valley accent can be a pain, especially in prose writing. I ended up using it sparingly. She also tends to function as 'Shasti support' a lot in this fic. Maybe if I ever write anything else with her, I can give her something meatier to do.

Cory is, as I mentioned in I Am One notes, a breeze for me to write. I fell in love with her in the process of writing this, as many have been wont to do. She's such a wonderful person to do dialogue for, and I've never forgiven Warren for abusing her character in Fatal But Not Serious. That, more than anything, was the reason for the 'retcon' I did.

The Angels had a larger role to play in this fic than I Am One, but still ended up essentially playing second fiddle in what is still titled a 'Dirty Pair' story. Despite that, I felt they grew a lot in this, both emotionally and psychically. ^_^

Heinlein's Future History series has always fascinated me, and the concept of World as Myth enabled me to be able to work it in with only a few problems (such as writing Lazarus without my readers wanting to throw him through a wall). I don't know how faithful I ended up being, but it was still a lot of fun to write, and let me abuse a few deus ex machinas without being taken to task for them. Certainly it was easier to write than L. Frank Baum's Oz, which was something I wanted to do but ended up mostly dropping. Baum was a true original, and I urge everyone to read his books, especially if they've only seen the movie.

Now, the cameos. Hoo boy. It all originated with Greg Sandborn, whose 'Nabiki: New Horizons' series makes use of a few authors in small roles, including myself. I decided to write him into I Am One as the guy that Cory kept irritating. Unfortunately, his role expanded, and he became the villain, and eventually morphed into Jimmy Daltrey. In return I offered Greg a minor mention in WGFA.

Well, then my brain started getting wonky on me. I remembered Zen's stories in the Revenge Wars, and put him into the fic. Then Richard Lawson, Mike Loader, Sebastian Weinberg, Chris Davies...let's face it, it got really gratuitous.

I also included a few cameos from other anime series. Evangelion was the most obvious, with Asuka and Rei having major roles, and Ritsuko and Maya appearing in small parts. I was intrigued at the thought of Asuka and Rei forced to work together as TCs, and wondered how their backstory might be altered to fit the 3WA universe. Slayers appeared because Lina and Naga were the *most* obvious pair to be TC's. Fushigi Yuugi ended up in this fic, even though I've never seen it, because I needed a character to die graphically at Jimmy's hands, and didn't want to use Chibi-Usa, so Miaka was the next most obvious choice. ^_^

More obscure things...the Blake's 7 refs are mostly Zen's fault. The Chapman Nike Crane is purely gratuitous, and is a ref to SCTV. The phrase 'big gooey look' is (C) 1999 Gina Dartt, who writes the best Janeway/Seven fanfics I've read. Oh, and 'Wake up! Time to die!' is not only a quote from Blade Runner, but a great song by Pop Will Eat Itself. ~Glass jaw, alcohol whore...~

So as you can see, this is perhaps my biggest, most sprawling work. But hey, it's done. It would not be done without the persistence, nagging, comments, criticism, and support of: Zen (first above all), RpM, Jeff Hosmer, Richard Lawson, Nicholas Leifker, Sebastian Weinberg, Greg Sandborn, Chris Davies, Ed Becerra, Christian Bremer, David Lindquist, and Trisha Sebastian. Thanks to all, especially Zen and RpM for doing pre-pre-reads and Jeff for taking time out from being really sick to tear this apart and point out the gaping plot holes. Special thanks to Jamie Wilde for giving me advice on some of the aspects of Bast's torture. Here's hoping this fanfic's Jamie, Bridget and Rachel can now like happily ever after.

And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention The Who. My fics have always been influenced by what I listen to to a greater or lesser degree, but Quadrophenia was the foundation for this fanfic, as well as its predecessor. If you haven't heard it yet...you need to.

It's DONE! Yeeha!