On the Run
by Ryan Carroll
"Slow down! You're going to get us killed!"
"We're not going under 75 until I can tell they've stopped following us!"
"Why didn't you take a back road?"
"This car can't handle off-road driving! A humvee CAN! As soon as they're gone, we'll stop for a bit."
"Mind if I switch the radio on? Maybe it'll take my mind off the car engine. And the fact I'm running for my life."
"Be my guest." The radio clicked on and began blasting "Can You Feel the Sunshine". The pace of the song prompted me to floor the accelerator.
"How fast can this thing go?" my passenger inquired. I looked at her.
"As fast as possible. We're going to need to stop for gas soon. I want to get as much distance as possible before we do. They may miss us completely, and we can head back the other direction."
"How do you know they didn't put a tracer on the car?"
"If they did, we're toasted. Let's pray they didn't have that much forethought."
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"Chris, calm down. You don't know all the details about what's going on."
"He just ignored me! Said he 'couldn't get me involved', like I've never been in danger before!"
"There has to be a reason. With Ryan there's always a reason."
"Slash, you're not helping. He left town with some other girl. He didn't want to face me after what he did."
"Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll go track him down and find out what's going on. I'll let you know when I get back, okay?"
The raptor's cool voice calmed Christine somewhat. "All right... but you be careful. It's not very safe for you to fly around here."
"I know. I'll just run... really fast."
With that the raptor took off.
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That night, at a motel near the state line...
"Have a good night."
"You too, Ryan." With that she entered her room as I entered mine.
I feared for her safety, but I wasn't so paranoid as to insist we sleep in the same room, and neither was she. We'd agreed that if anything happened, she'd secretly dial my room on the phone to wake me and alert me to trouble.
I was just about to turn out the light when a large shape landed on the balcony. I immediately tensed. I waited until the silhouette slid open the glass door a crack...
"Mind if I come in?"
I let out a sigh of relief. "Come on in, Slasher."
The winged velociraptor slid the curtain aside and stepped into the room. "I almost passed you up. The car cover fooled me for a sec."
"Let me guess. Christine freaked and you came after me to find out what's going on."
"Good guess. Where's the girl?"
"One room over. I'm not that kind of guy."
"Good for you. So, care to tell me what's going on?"
"I don't even know the whole story myself, Slash, but I'll tell you what I do know..."
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"Class, this is my newest TA, Miss Gainsborough. I expect you to treat her the same way you'd treat me."
I didn't have any problem with that, since I always treated my profs with a great deal of respect. I mean, shoot, they knew a heck of a lot more than I did.
There was something about this girl, though. Something that really caught my attention. She treated us with more respect than most of us treated her. And she didn't seem to care.
After the semester was over, I discovered that she'd talked the professor into raising a couple of our grades. We'd really been trying hard, she'd said, it was just one of those difficult topics. The prof actually agreed!
Even Chris was taken aback by this whole thing. She told me afterward she wished she'd gotten more help in some areas of the class. She'd taken the same course with a different prof, a really strict, by-the-book kinda guy.
Anyway, that's beside the point. I hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary around campus, really. Wish I'd been able to see this coming. Anyway, Aeris (as she insisted we call her) came to me about a week ago and explained her dilemma.
She was a G.U.N. experiment. They'd pulled her out of her home dimension and tried to do some tests on her. She managed to escape, but she needed cash to make a living. So she took a couple jobs at the college.
Then G.U.N. found her again. I don't know why she came to me or how she knew to come to me for help, but I agreed to help her get out of the state.
Thing is, there's something diferent about this girl. She's not a normal human, I think. Maybe that's why they wanted her for testing. But I'm not about to just hand her over to them. I'm just afraid someone's going to accuse me of kidnapping her. Then what would I do? I can't really point a finger at G.U.N., because people would call me a liar and a conspiracy theorist.
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"Which is worse?"
"I'd have to say liar."
"I agree. Anything I can do to help?"
"Besides explain the situation to Chris? Could you check my car for a tracer?"
"Not a problem. Anything else?"
"Well, uh, to be perfectly honest, there is one thing..."
The raptor nodded. "I knew there would eventually be a time. You know the signals?"
"One, three, five."
"Good." The raptor placed a cool metal object in my hand, then turned toward the balcony. "You know, you could make this a bit easier on yourself..."
"Huh? How?"
"Light bends easily. Use your stone to create an illusion, should you get caught." With that, the raptor took off, leaving only the wind to blow at the curtain...
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The next morning, I watched the news as I got ready to go. It was during the time I was getting my breakfast that my heart sank.
"The FBI is currently looking on the lookout for an 18-year-old male accused of kidnapping an Arizona State University employee..." I looked at my half-eaten donut, threw it away, down a glass of orange juice, and got out of the motel with Aeris as fast as was humanly possible.
Despite the rush, the girl was definitely observant. "What's with the whistle?"
"It's a gift from a friend of mine. C'mon, let's get going."
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I managed to sneak us back into Phoenix by masquerading my car as something completely different from what I was actually driving. I knew that my best bet to get Aeris someplace safe was to get to a different dimension.
Several months before I'd "invented" the teleporter, cutting travel time to a miniscule fraction of what it had been before. Certain stations had been set up as control centers, designed to prevent travel outside specific parameters.
What few others knew is that I had created the teleporter by setting limits on the Dimensionalizer. I had also limited the control centers to watching the traffic between points on Earth. No one would detect a portal linking outside the local dimension.
I had also set it up so I could use this feature from any teleporter by simply swiping a keycard. To anyone watching, I would merely be exercising inventor's privilege of unrestricted travel... which was true, to some extent.
However, I couldn't just waltz up to any old portal frame and swipe my card. That would be advertising my precise location to anyone trying to track me.
Thus was the reason I was sneaking into my own house and keeping as low a profile as possible. Once inside, I switched on the Dimensionalizer, pulled out the camcorder, and began taping a message.
Minutes after I finished, I heard someone beating down the door. I locked down the Dimensionalizer controls and hurried Aeris through the portal, following immediately after.
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"All the SWAT team found was a videotape."
"And?"
"Project Cetra is with him."
Colonel Ferris waited for the general's blue streak to finish before continuing. "He also is getting too close for comfort."
"How so?"
"Our contact managed to get this audio recording of the tape's content."
The tape player in her hand began playing at the push of a button...
"I'm leaving this tape for anyone who tries to find me. Chris, if you're watching this, I advise you to get out of there as quickly as possible. They may come after you next. Take the teleporter to our usual meeting place.
"For anyone else who may be looking for me, namely federal agents or local law enforcement, I'm going into hiding, and recommending anyone close to me to do the same. Why am I doing this? Because there's something underlying all this, something I can't quite pinpoint. It might be nothing, or it might be the key to this entire so-called kidnapping allegation.
"Miss Gainsborough is with me, but in no way, shape, or form did I kidnap her. She came to me, asking for help. There are people who want her, for whatever reason, and I suspect I may have run into these people before.
"I wouldn't try to trace my teleporter, nor would I try to use it. Only those with the password can unlock the controls, and there are very few of us. You can't trace it because I designed my own system to be untraceable. I can't reveal every little thing about my technology, now can I?
"I'm not going to return home until I have enough information to clear my name and implicate those who are truly responsible.
"I have to reveal the truth about my teleporter..." --here came a banging sound; the SWAT team pounding down the door, actually-- "but I can't do it now. We're going somewhere safe, where I can freely investigate the crimes committed against myself and others. I will leave another videotape here in a week." The sound cut to static, at which point Colonel Ferris stopped the tape.
"Someplace safe? Where does he think he can hide from us? We'll hunt him down with the teleporter network, turn him in, and continue with our project. Now, where is the Cetra? I know you put that tracer on her person..."
"The tracer has been silent for over a day. Like she's disappeared off the face of the planet."
The general's face darkened for a moment. "So, he's going to be that tricky, is he? Cycle through some alternate dimensions with the portal and see if you can pick up the signal. That should work."
"Yes, sir."
"And prepare a report on the Shadow Project."
"As ordered, general."
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Aeris scratched at her arm absently. Chris didn't notice; she was too busy berating me.
"How could you be so careless as to let this happen? Don't you realize that most people consider fleeing the law as an admission of guilt?"
"What was I supposed to do, turn myself in and get railroaded? There's an undercurrent here, and I think the Dimensionalizer is the key." I glanced over at Aeris. "You okay?"
The girl looked up, realizing what she was doing. "I'm fine. Just an itch."
"You sure? I've noticed you've been scratching that spot an awful lot lately."
"I'm okay, really."
I glanced over at Chris. "You care to take a look?"
"What am I, your personal microscope?" she replied with a smile. She walked over to Aeris' chair, held the girl's arm, and peered at the spot where she'd been scratching. I saw Chris's pendant glow slightly as she used the Chaos Amber's sensory enhancement.
"Did they give you any shots?"
"Yeah, a couple. Why?"
"Uh, oh. That's what I was afraid of."
"What? What is it?" I inquired.
"There's a microchip embedded in her arm. Most likely a tracer."
"Oh, no! That means all they have to do is use their dimensional portal and--"
Several shots rang out in the common area in the midst of Knothole. Then a voice called out, "Bring us the Cetra and no one else gets hurt!"
"Track us here," I finished. I took a quick peek out the window to see a uniformed soldier with a gun in one hand and Tails in the other. Sonic lay in a heap on the ground.
I whipped around to face the others. Aeris was ashen-faced, while Chris looked concerned. "Where's Slasher?" I asked.
"Last I knew she was on a recon mission."
"Well, I always wondered how this thing worked. Now's as good a time as any..." With that I raised the silver whistle to my lips and blew. And blew. And blew. Twice more. Feeling better knowing that backup was on the way, I signaled the others to stay inside and opened the door.
The gun swung around to aim at me as I stepped out into the open. "Well, well, if it isn't the kidnapper. Where is the Cetra?"
"Who? I have no idea what a Cetra is, much less who you think is here."
The attacker laughed. "You obviously have no idea of the girl's potential. No closer! One step closer and the fox here gets it." The barrel turned to aim straight at Tails' head.
Oh, man!, I thought. One wrong move and we'd have two casualties... I could try to use my elemental abilities, but which one to use? Most of them would probably hurt Tails in the process...
An extra-sharp claw rested on the soldier's shoulder. "You wouldn't be threatening my friend, would you?"
The ice in Slasher's voice was cold enough to freeze my blood where I stood. For a second I almost pitied the man. Almost.
"Uh, I uh, that is... er..."
"Finger off the trigger. Fox on the ground. Gun in my hand. You have two seconds. One..."
Never in my life have I seen the human body move so fast. Tails fell to the ground and ran to a safe distance. The soldier, however, had no intention of following through with relinquishing his weapon. He whirled around, aimed the gun at Slasher...
And received a blast of hot air in the face as Slasher unleashed a scream right in his face. The look of sheer terror on his face was almost comical. He slumped to the ground in a dead faint. Slash picked up the gun. "Two," she finished.
Chris and Aeris came running out. Slasher had already put down the gun and bent down over Sonic's body. Tails came running up soon after. "Is... is he..."
"No, but he might as well be," Slasher replied. "He's lost way too much blood. Only a transfusion can save him..." She trailed off.
Suddenly a breeze blew through the clearing, swirling around each of us. Sonic opened his eyes. "Anyone hungry?" he said weakly. I know I am..."
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"Well, we've finally filled in some gaping holes in this plot," Chris noted.
I nodded. "Yeah, Mr. GUN was highly cooperative while being interrogated by Slasher. Turns out Aeris is from a different dimension, and they pulled her through because they found out she had 'special abilities'. I think we may have seen some of these abilities in action, eh, Aeris?"
She shrugged. "It's something I've been able to do for a while. When someone is hurting, I do what I can to help."
"And yet, no normal human is capable of doing that. The guy kept calling you 'the Cetra'. What the heck was he talking about?"
"It's the name of my race. Actually, I'm only half-Cetra, and I'm the last one at that. I have no idea what they wanted with me. It reminded me of the time Shinra caught me."
I sensed that was a sore subject, so I diverted onto a different topic. "There's only one problem. Now the people at GUN know where to look. We need to get rid of that tracer and we need to get to another dimension, pronto. Not only that, but this is another incident that will go unnoticed should I end up going to trial..."
"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Chris replied.
"Huh?"
"Guess who got a video of the entire confession?" she replied, holding up a camcorder.
"Including the part where he explained how they got a hold of my Dimensionalizer plans?"
"Oh, you know I got that. I feel like the portal is just as much mine as yours, lately."
"That's why I love ya. So, any ideas as to where we can go to hide?"
Aeris spoke up. "Why don't we head back to my home world? That's the last place they'd think to look."
"Yeah, but if that tracer still works, couldn't they just use that?" Chris cut in.
"Not if I can get rid of it," I replied.
"Yeah, and how are you going to do that? The thing's implanted in her ARM, for crying out loud."
"Like this," I shot back. I looked at Aeris. "This may hurt a bit."
The Cetra nodded. "Do what you have to."
I concentrated, then sent a small zap of electricity through Aeris' arm. The circuitry was shot, Chris verified, which was just was I'd hoped. Now GUN couldn't track us down.
"Now, how to get the coordinates for our destination..." I mused. My chuckle brought strange looks in my general direction. I looked back at the girls.
"I'm going to do a little hacking," I replied with a grin.
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"A little hacking, you said. You didn't say you were going to go Metal Gear on me."
"C'mon, Chris, this is the easiest way, you know that."
"True, but I don't like the idea of you d-warping into their computer system to go nosing around. What happens if they notice something?"
"There'll be nothing to trace. It's virtually impossible to track a hacker if he's not actually connected to the system. In my case I'm in, I get the info I need, and I get out. It's like hacking in, but with a greatly lessened risk of detection."
"I still say you should've asked Squall to do something like this."
"What, and risk him getting taken in for 'aiding and abetting a criminal'? Not gonna happen. I've taken great pains to keep those guys out of this. It's my fault they're on Earth in the first place."
"All right, but you be careful."
"Just hit 'send', sweetheart. I'll get back to you in one whole byte, I promise."
In reply, the bay doors on the other side of the Virtua Lounge opened into the data stream, and I rushed into cyberspace.
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The next day...
"None of this looks familiar. Are you sure you picked up the right set of coordinates?"
"I specifically went for the Project Cetra file. For all I know some computer-illiterate desk jockey got the files swapped."
The three of us were surrounded by Japanese city buildings. Aeris was as lost as I was. Chris was no help.
"Well, maybe this is just a city you've never been to, Aeris. Could that be it?"
The Cetra shook her head. "I've been all over my home world, and besides, I don't recognize the language. I think Ryan's right."
"Hmmm," I thought aloud. "The Project Cetra file _was_ right next to the Masaki Project file..."
"You mean you might have pulled the wrong one?"
"No! I'm saying that it's possible the data got swapped. Who knows how often they defrag around there."
"Say, while you were in their system, did you do any other espionage-like things?"
"Like, maybe, pulling up their roster of high-level officers? Right there on the hard drive."
"How about high-level projects? Any of those?"
"Unfortunately, no. They've got Fort Knox 4.0 as their security system for that sorta stuff. I did tell you I was coming back in one piece, so I said forget it."
"Aw, how sweet of you to think of me."
"Yep, that's me, Mr. Considerate. Hey, Aeris, you okay?"
Aeris had seemingly dropped into a trance, and had started whispering to herself. Suddenly she looked up. "We need to head to the mountains. There's someone who can help us there."
"How do you-- Oh, right, Cetra heritage and all that..."
"Ryan! That was just plain rude!" Chris admonished.
I shrugged, albeit apologetically. "Hey, I'm Mr. Considerate, not Mr. Tactful. Well, let's head for the mountains..."
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"I should've known."
"What, the fact that this was a dead end? The fact that no one's home? The fact that there's obviously something wrong with this picture?"
"The fact that this dimension is anime."
"...Oh."
We stood at the front door of a house that obviously lacked occupants at the current moment. The place seemed to be totally deserted.
"Excuse me..."
I shot into the air about three feet and came back down with my sword at the ready. Don't ask me how, but this woman had defied physics by coming up behind us, through a yard filled with dry leaves, without making a sound.
"Hey, take it easy, I live here. You wouldn't by any chance have seen a guy, 'bout this high, short black hair, would you?"
Aeris cut in while I focused on returning my hand to normal. "No, we haven't, but we were here looking for him, too."
"Oh, just great. Seems he's been missing for like two weeks now. What is it with Tenchi and disappearing, anyway?"
The name rung a bell. "What did you say his name was?"
"Tenchi. Tenchi Masaki. You're looking for him, I thought you knew his name."
"Masaki..." I muttered. "Oh, no!"
Everyone gave me strange looks. "The Masaki Project! They had the files there in their computer system! Oh, this is crazy! Those people keep messing with the continuum and they're going to make a mess!"
"Excuse me, but could you mind backing up and explaining this from the beginning?"
Before I could comply, another girl came running up, this one wearing a somewhat regal outfit. "Ryoko, have you found him?"
"No, Ayeka, but I was just about to find out where he is. Seems this guy has an idea," she added, jerking a thumb in my direction.
The purple-haired girl who'd just shown up grabbed me and got right up in my face. "You know where Lord Tenchi is?!?"
"Well, it's a possibility--"
"I don't need possibilities, I need answers!"
"Hey, calm down; I'll tell you what I know..."
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"I don't know about you, but I'm tempted to go busting into this place and getting Tenchi outta there."
"Right, and have them capture you, and run tests on you, and implant a tracer in you..."
"Hey, they wouldn't be able to touch me!"
"Ryoko, he does have a point. You can't just waltz into the place and rescue Lord Tenchi just like that. There's bound to be all kinds of guards and such."
"So what, YOU want to go rescue him, princess?"
"Perhaps we should all go," Aeris cut in.
Everyone looked at her strangely. "Well, I mean, we all have abilities that will come in handy, right? And not only can it be a rescue mission..."
"But a sabotage mission," I finished. "Nice thinking!"
"Hey, you mean we get to blow stuff up?"
"To your heart's content."
"All right! When do we start?"
"First we have to formulate a plan. I managed to pull some files from GUN's computer that should help us with escape routes and such..."
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There were two ways we could do this. We could go the quiet, stealthy route, doing only what was necessary, or we could go in with guns blazing, doing as much damage as possible.
These people were trying to ruin my life. They were using my invention to kidnap and experiment on innocent people, they had framed me for kidnapping, and they had committed all kinds of horrendous acts prior to my experience with them.
I was going to thrash anything that came within reach.
We were just about ready to head through the portal into enemy territory, but I still had some tasks to delegate. "Ryoko, you're with me on assault detail. Chris, Aeris, you go with Ayeka and find Tenchi. When you get to him, use the emergency portal generator I gave you to get outta there. We'll follow once it becomes too dangerous for us to hang around. Everyone got the plan?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. I activated the gateway and stepped through...
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I never knew destruction could be so fun.
I wisely pulled a file dump of the main database from the computer system... then proceeded to trash everything in sight. I made quick work of the computer, then went to work on the equipment.
"Hey, don't you think that's enough damage for one day?"
I didn't answer. I was too busy taking out my frustrations on anything with a GUN logo on it. I heard myself say, "We have to give them more time," but I don't think I was conscious of the fact that I said it at the time.
"Well, I wonder how the others are doing..."
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"Here he is."
"It took us long enough to find him. How many guards have we taken out now? At least half a dozen."
"The door's locked tight. It won't budge."
"Step aside, Aeris." Ayeka pulled out what looked like a sword handle, focused on it... and split the door in two with a blade of energy.
"Niiiiice," Chris murmured. "I don't think Ryan could've done that with as much style."
"Hello? Who's there?"
"Tenchi! It's so good to see you! Come on, we have to get out of here!"
"Ayeka! You came to rescue me!"
"Yes, Ryoko's here too, creating a diversion. Where's the best place to get out of here?" she added, directing the question at Chris.
"End of the hall. It's wide enough for a decently-sized portal."
They rushed to the end of the hall as a portal opened up. Chris was lagging behind a bit, as she'd had to concentrate on punching in the coordinates.
In a split-second, disaster struck.
Guards stepped out of a door that they hadn't seen before right in front of Chris. She tried to slide beneath them, but they grabbed her as she tried.
"Aeris!" she cried out, pitching the portal remote towards the Cetra. Aeris turned and caught the remote, then saw Chris' predicament. "Chris!" She took a step towards the guards, trying to help. Two more guards stepped in her path.
"Aeris, go! Save yourself!"
"No! Not while you're in trouble!"
"It's not worth it! I'll find some way to escape!"
The guards closed in on Aeris.
"Let me help you!"
"I won't let you get caught because of me! Now GO!!!"
"Chris!"
"Tell Ryan... I love him!" she called out as the guards dragged her away.
Aeris hesitated for a moment, then turned and dove through the portal, sealing it behind her.
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"Well, I've got Sally's computer working on decrypting the file database I pulled," I commented as I exited the portal. "I tell ya, that was satisfying, toasting that stuff--"
I broke off when I saw everyone's downcast faces. "What's wrong?" I looked around, noticing someone was absent. "Hey, where's Chris?"
Aeris looked up, sorrow and apology evident on her face. "Ryan... I'm sorry..."
No. No, this couldn't happen. She couldn't be...
"They got her. I tried to help, but..."
Somehow this was worse. I dropped to my knees in shock. "No..."
"I'm so sorry..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
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Chris glared at the back of the chair in front of her. She had no idea who this guy was, but she didn't care. Whoever this was was in charge of the group who had tortured her new friends, framed her boyfriend, and otherwise made life miserable for those around her.
The chair began to rotate. Time to give this guy a piece of her mind...
Her jaw dropped as she recognized the chair's occupant.
"...Dad?"
To Be Continued...
by Ryan Carroll
"Slow down! You're going to get us killed!"
"We're not going under 75 until I can tell they've stopped following us!"
"Why didn't you take a back road?"
"This car can't handle off-road driving! A humvee CAN! As soon as they're gone, we'll stop for a bit."
"Mind if I switch the radio on? Maybe it'll take my mind off the car engine. And the fact I'm running for my life."
"Be my guest." The radio clicked on and began blasting "Can You Feel the Sunshine". The pace of the song prompted me to floor the accelerator.
"How fast can this thing go?" my passenger inquired. I looked at her.
"As fast as possible. We're going to need to stop for gas soon. I want to get as much distance as possible before we do. They may miss us completely, and we can head back the other direction."
"How do you know they didn't put a tracer on the car?"
"If they did, we're toasted. Let's pray they didn't have that much forethought."
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"Chris, calm down. You don't know all the details about what's going on."
"He just ignored me! Said he 'couldn't get me involved', like I've never been in danger before!"
"There has to be a reason. With Ryan there's always a reason."
"Slash, you're not helping. He left town with some other girl. He didn't want to face me after what he did."
"Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll go track him down and find out what's going on. I'll let you know when I get back, okay?"
The raptor's cool voice calmed Christine somewhat. "All right... but you be careful. It's not very safe for you to fly around here."
"I know. I'll just run... really fast."
With that the raptor took off.
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That night, at a motel near the state line...
"Have a good night."
"You too, Ryan." With that she entered her room as I entered mine.
I feared for her safety, but I wasn't so paranoid as to insist we sleep in the same room, and neither was she. We'd agreed that if anything happened, she'd secretly dial my room on the phone to wake me and alert me to trouble.
I was just about to turn out the light when a large shape landed on the balcony. I immediately tensed. I waited until the silhouette slid open the glass door a crack...
"Mind if I come in?"
I let out a sigh of relief. "Come on in, Slasher."
The winged velociraptor slid the curtain aside and stepped into the room. "I almost passed you up. The car cover fooled me for a sec."
"Let me guess. Christine freaked and you came after me to find out what's going on."
"Good guess. Where's the girl?"
"One room over. I'm not that kind of guy."
"Good for you. So, care to tell me what's going on?"
"I don't even know the whole story myself, Slash, but I'll tell you what I do know..."
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"Class, this is my newest TA, Miss Gainsborough. I expect you to treat her the same way you'd treat me."
I didn't have any problem with that, since I always treated my profs with a great deal of respect. I mean, shoot, they knew a heck of a lot more than I did.
There was something about this girl, though. Something that really caught my attention. She treated us with more respect than most of us treated her. And she didn't seem to care.
After the semester was over, I discovered that she'd talked the professor into raising a couple of our grades. We'd really been trying hard, she'd said, it was just one of those difficult topics. The prof actually agreed!
Even Chris was taken aback by this whole thing. She told me afterward she wished she'd gotten more help in some areas of the class. She'd taken the same course with a different prof, a really strict, by-the-book kinda guy.
Anyway, that's beside the point. I hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary around campus, really. Wish I'd been able to see this coming. Anyway, Aeris (as she insisted we call her) came to me about a week ago and explained her dilemma.
She was a G.U.N. experiment. They'd pulled her out of her home dimension and tried to do some tests on her. She managed to escape, but she needed cash to make a living. So she took a couple jobs at the college.
Then G.U.N. found her again. I don't know why she came to me or how she knew to come to me for help, but I agreed to help her get out of the state.
Thing is, there's something diferent about this girl. She's not a normal human, I think. Maybe that's why they wanted her for testing. But I'm not about to just hand her over to them. I'm just afraid someone's going to accuse me of kidnapping her. Then what would I do? I can't really point a finger at G.U.N., because people would call me a liar and a conspiracy theorist.
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"Which is worse?"
"I'd have to say liar."
"I agree. Anything I can do to help?"
"Besides explain the situation to Chris? Could you check my car for a tracer?"
"Not a problem. Anything else?"
"Well, uh, to be perfectly honest, there is one thing..."
The raptor nodded. "I knew there would eventually be a time. You know the signals?"
"One, three, five."
"Good." The raptor placed a cool metal object in my hand, then turned toward the balcony. "You know, you could make this a bit easier on yourself..."
"Huh? How?"
"Light bends easily. Use your stone to create an illusion, should you get caught." With that, the raptor took off, leaving only the wind to blow at the curtain...
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The next morning, I watched the news as I got ready to go. It was during the time I was getting my breakfast that my heart sank.
"The FBI is currently looking on the lookout for an 18-year-old male accused of kidnapping an Arizona State University employee..." I looked at my half-eaten donut, threw it away, down a glass of orange juice, and got out of the motel with Aeris as fast as was humanly possible.
Despite the rush, the girl was definitely observant. "What's with the whistle?"
"It's a gift from a friend of mine. C'mon, let's get going."
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I managed to sneak us back into Phoenix by masquerading my car as something completely different from what I was actually driving. I knew that my best bet to get Aeris someplace safe was to get to a different dimension.
Several months before I'd "invented" the teleporter, cutting travel time to a miniscule fraction of what it had been before. Certain stations had been set up as control centers, designed to prevent travel outside specific parameters.
What few others knew is that I had created the teleporter by setting limits on the Dimensionalizer. I had also limited the control centers to watching the traffic between points on Earth. No one would detect a portal linking outside the local dimension.
I had also set it up so I could use this feature from any teleporter by simply swiping a keycard. To anyone watching, I would merely be exercising inventor's privilege of unrestricted travel... which was true, to some extent.
However, I couldn't just waltz up to any old portal frame and swipe my card. That would be advertising my precise location to anyone trying to track me.
Thus was the reason I was sneaking into my own house and keeping as low a profile as possible. Once inside, I switched on the Dimensionalizer, pulled out the camcorder, and began taping a message.
Minutes after I finished, I heard someone beating down the door. I locked down the Dimensionalizer controls and hurried Aeris through the portal, following immediately after.
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"All the SWAT team found was a videotape."
"And?"
"Project Cetra is with him."
Colonel Ferris waited for the general's blue streak to finish before continuing. "He also is getting too close for comfort."
"How so?"
"Our contact managed to get this audio recording of the tape's content."
The tape player in her hand began playing at the push of a button...
"I'm leaving this tape for anyone who tries to find me. Chris, if you're watching this, I advise you to get out of there as quickly as possible. They may come after you next. Take the teleporter to our usual meeting place.
"For anyone else who may be looking for me, namely federal agents or local law enforcement, I'm going into hiding, and recommending anyone close to me to do the same. Why am I doing this? Because there's something underlying all this, something I can't quite pinpoint. It might be nothing, or it might be the key to this entire so-called kidnapping allegation.
"Miss Gainsborough is with me, but in no way, shape, or form did I kidnap her. She came to me, asking for help. There are people who want her, for whatever reason, and I suspect I may have run into these people before.
"I wouldn't try to trace my teleporter, nor would I try to use it. Only those with the password can unlock the controls, and there are very few of us. You can't trace it because I designed my own system to be untraceable. I can't reveal every little thing about my technology, now can I?
"I'm not going to return home until I have enough information to clear my name and implicate those who are truly responsible.
"I have to reveal the truth about my teleporter..." --here came a banging sound; the SWAT team pounding down the door, actually-- "but I can't do it now. We're going somewhere safe, where I can freely investigate the crimes committed against myself and others. I will leave another videotape here in a week." The sound cut to static, at which point Colonel Ferris stopped the tape.
"Someplace safe? Where does he think he can hide from us? We'll hunt him down with the teleporter network, turn him in, and continue with our project. Now, where is the Cetra? I know you put that tracer on her person..."
"The tracer has been silent for over a day. Like she's disappeared off the face of the planet."
The general's face darkened for a moment. "So, he's going to be that tricky, is he? Cycle through some alternate dimensions with the portal and see if you can pick up the signal. That should work."
"Yes, sir."
"And prepare a report on the Shadow Project."
"As ordered, general."
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Aeris scratched at her arm absently. Chris didn't notice; she was too busy berating me.
"How could you be so careless as to let this happen? Don't you realize that most people consider fleeing the law as an admission of guilt?"
"What was I supposed to do, turn myself in and get railroaded? There's an undercurrent here, and I think the Dimensionalizer is the key." I glanced over at Aeris. "You okay?"
The girl looked up, realizing what she was doing. "I'm fine. Just an itch."
"You sure? I've noticed you've been scratching that spot an awful lot lately."
"I'm okay, really."
I glanced over at Chris. "You care to take a look?"
"What am I, your personal microscope?" she replied with a smile. She walked over to Aeris' chair, held the girl's arm, and peered at the spot where she'd been scratching. I saw Chris's pendant glow slightly as she used the Chaos Amber's sensory enhancement.
"Did they give you any shots?"
"Yeah, a couple. Why?"
"Uh, oh. That's what I was afraid of."
"What? What is it?" I inquired.
"There's a microchip embedded in her arm. Most likely a tracer."
"Oh, no! That means all they have to do is use their dimensional portal and--"
Several shots rang out in the common area in the midst of Knothole. Then a voice called out, "Bring us the Cetra and no one else gets hurt!"
"Track us here," I finished. I took a quick peek out the window to see a uniformed soldier with a gun in one hand and Tails in the other. Sonic lay in a heap on the ground.
I whipped around to face the others. Aeris was ashen-faced, while Chris looked concerned. "Where's Slasher?" I asked.
"Last I knew she was on a recon mission."
"Well, I always wondered how this thing worked. Now's as good a time as any..." With that I raised the silver whistle to my lips and blew. And blew. And blew. Twice more. Feeling better knowing that backup was on the way, I signaled the others to stay inside and opened the door.
The gun swung around to aim at me as I stepped out into the open. "Well, well, if it isn't the kidnapper. Where is the Cetra?"
"Who? I have no idea what a Cetra is, much less who you think is here."
The attacker laughed. "You obviously have no idea of the girl's potential. No closer! One step closer and the fox here gets it." The barrel turned to aim straight at Tails' head.
Oh, man!, I thought. One wrong move and we'd have two casualties... I could try to use my elemental abilities, but which one to use? Most of them would probably hurt Tails in the process...
An extra-sharp claw rested on the soldier's shoulder. "You wouldn't be threatening my friend, would you?"
The ice in Slasher's voice was cold enough to freeze my blood where I stood. For a second I almost pitied the man. Almost.
"Uh, I uh, that is... er..."
"Finger off the trigger. Fox on the ground. Gun in my hand. You have two seconds. One..."
Never in my life have I seen the human body move so fast. Tails fell to the ground and ran to a safe distance. The soldier, however, had no intention of following through with relinquishing his weapon. He whirled around, aimed the gun at Slasher...
And received a blast of hot air in the face as Slasher unleashed a scream right in his face. The look of sheer terror on his face was almost comical. He slumped to the ground in a dead faint. Slash picked up the gun. "Two," she finished.
Chris and Aeris came running out. Slasher had already put down the gun and bent down over Sonic's body. Tails came running up soon after. "Is... is he..."
"No, but he might as well be," Slasher replied. "He's lost way too much blood. Only a transfusion can save him..." She trailed off.
Suddenly a breeze blew through the clearing, swirling around each of us. Sonic opened his eyes. "Anyone hungry?" he said weakly. I know I am..."
---------------------------------------------------------
"Well, we've finally filled in some gaping holes in this plot," Chris noted.
I nodded. "Yeah, Mr. GUN was highly cooperative while being interrogated by Slasher. Turns out Aeris is from a different dimension, and they pulled her through because they found out she had 'special abilities'. I think we may have seen some of these abilities in action, eh, Aeris?"
She shrugged. "It's something I've been able to do for a while. When someone is hurting, I do what I can to help."
"And yet, no normal human is capable of doing that. The guy kept calling you 'the Cetra'. What the heck was he talking about?"
"It's the name of my race. Actually, I'm only half-Cetra, and I'm the last one at that. I have no idea what they wanted with me. It reminded me of the time Shinra caught me."
I sensed that was a sore subject, so I diverted onto a different topic. "There's only one problem. Now the people at GUN know where to look. We need to get rid of that tracer and we need to get to another dimension, pronto. Not only that, but this is another incident that will go unnoticed should I end up going to trial..."
"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Chris replied.
"Huh?"
"Guess who got a video of the entire confession?" she replied, holding up a camcorder.
"Including the part where he explained how they got a hold of my Dimensionalizer plans?"
"Oh, you know I got that. I feel like the portal is just as much mine as yours, lately."
"That's why I love ya. So, any ideas as to where we can go to hide?"
Aeris spoke up. "Why don't we head back to my home world? That's the last place they'd think to look."
"Yeah, but if that tracer still works, couldn't they just use that?" Chris cut in.
"Not if I can get rid of it," I replied.
"Yeah, and how are you going to do that? The thing's implanted in her ARM, for crying out loud."
"Like this," I shot back. I looked at Aeris. "This may hurt a bit."
The Cetra nodded. "Do what you have to."
I concentrated, then sent a small zap of electricity through Aeris' arm. The circuitry was shot, Chris verified, which was just was I'd hoped. Now GUN couldn't track us down.
"Now, how to get the coordinates for our destination..." I mused. My chuckle brought strange looks in my general direction. I looked back at the girls.
"I'm going to do a little hacking," I replied with a grin.
-----------------------------------------------------
"A little hacking, you said. You didn't say you were going to go Metal Gear on me."
"C'mon, Chris, this is the easiest way, you know that."
"True, but I don't like the idea of you d-warping into their computer system to go nosing around. What happens if they notice something?"
"There'll be nothing to trace. It's virtually impossible to track a hacker if he's not actually connected to the system. In my case I'm in, I get the info I need, and I get out. It's like hacking in, but with a greatly lessened risk of detection."
"I still say you should've asked Squall to do something like this."
"What, and risk him getting taken in for 'aiding and abetting a criminal'? Not gonna happen. I've taken great pains to keep those guys out of this. It's my fault they're on Earth in the first place."
"All right, but you be careful."
"Just hit 'send', sweetheart. I'll get back to you in one whole byte, I promise."
In reply, the bay doors on the other side of the Virtua Lounge opened into the data stream, and I rushed into cyberspace.
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The next day...
"None of this looks familiar. Are you sure you picked up the right set of coordinates?"
"I specifically went for the Project Cetra file. For all I know some computer-illiterate desk jockey got the files swapped."
The three of us were surrounded by Japanese city buildings. Aeris was as lost as I was. Chris was no help.
"Well, maybe this is just a city you've never been to, Aeris. Could that be it?"
The Cetra shook her head. "I've been all over my home world, and besides, I don't recognize the language. I think Ryan's right."
"Hmmm," I thought aloud. "The Project Cetra file _was_ right next to the Masaki Project file..."
"You mean you might have pulled the wrong one?"
"No! I'm saying that it's possible the data got swapped. Who knows how often they defrag around there."
"Say, while you were in their system, did you do any other espionage-like things?"
"Like, maybe, pulling up their roster of high-level officers? Right there on the hard drive."
"How about high-level projects? Any of those?"
"Unfortunately, no. They've got Fort Knox 4.0 as their security system for that sorta stuff. I did tell you I was coming back in one piece, so I said forget it."
"Aw, how sweet of you to think of me."
"Yep, that's me, Mr. Considerate. Hey, Aeris, you okay?"
Aeris had seemingly dropped into a trance, and had started whispering to herself. Suddenly she looked up. "We need to head to the mountains. There's someone who can help us there."
"How do you-- Oh, right, Cetra heritage and all that..."
"Ryan! That was just plain rude!" Chris admonished.
I shrugged, albeit apologetically. "Hey, I'm Mr. Considerate, not Mr. Tactful. Well, let's head for the mountains..."
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"I should've known."
"What, the fact that this was a dead end? The fact that no one's home? The fact that there's obviously something wrong with this picture?"
"The fact that this dimension is anime."
"...Oh."
We stood at the front door of a house that obviously lacked occupants at the current moment. The place seemed to be totally deserted.
"Excuse me..."
I shot into the air about three feet and came back down with my sword at the ready. Don't ask me how, but this woman had defied physics by coming up behind us, through a yard filled with dry leaves, without making a sound.
"Hey, take it easy, I live here. You wouldn't by any chance have seen a guy, 'bout this high, short black hair, would you?"
Aeris cut in while I focused on returning my hand to normal. "No, we haven't, but we were here looking for him, too."
"Oh, just great. Seems he's been missing for like two weeks now. What is it with Tenchi and disappearing, anyway?"
The name rung a bell. "What did you say his name was?"
"Tenchi. Tenchi Masaki. You're looking for him, I thought you knew his name."
"Masaki..." I muttered. "Oh, no!"
Everyone gave me strange looks. "The Masaki Project! They had the files there in their computer system! Oh, this is crazy! Those people keep messing with the continuum and they're going to make a mess!"
"Excuse me, but could you mind backing up and explaining this from the beginning?"
Before I could comply, another girl came running up, this one wearing a somewhat regal outfit. "Ryoko, have you found him?"
"No, Ayeka, but I was just about to find out where he is. Seems this guy has an idea," she added, jerking a thumb in my direction.
The purple-haired girl who'd just shown up grabbed me and got right up in my face. "You know where Lord Tenchi is?!?"
"Well, it's a possibility--"
"I don't need possibilities, I need answers!"
"Hey, calm down; I'll tell you what I know..."
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"I don't know about you, but I'm tempted to go busting into this place and getting Tenchi outta there."
"Right, and have them capture you, and run tests on you, and implant a tracer in you..."
"Hey, they wouldn't be able to touch me!"
"Ryoko, he does have a point. You can't just waltz into the place and rescue Lord Tenchi just like that. There's bound to be all kinds of guards and such."
"So what, YOU want to go rescue him, princess?"
"Perhaps we should all go," Aeris cut in.
Everyone looked at her strangely. "Well, I mean, we all have abilities that will come in handy, right? And not only can it be a rescue mission..."
"But a sabotage mission," I finished. "Nice thinking!"
"Hey, you mean we get to blow stuff up?"
"To your heart's content."
"All right! When do we start?"
"First we have to formulate a plan. I managed to pull some files from GUN's computer that should help us with escape routes and such..."
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There were two ways we could do this. We could go the quiet, stealthy route, doing only what was necessary, or we could go in with guns blazing, doing as much damage as possible.
These people were trying to ruin my life. They were using my invention to kidnap and experiment on innocent people, they had framed me for kidnapping, and they had committed all kinds of horrendous acts prior to my experience with them.
I was going to thrash anything that came within reach.
We were just about ready to head through the portal into enemy territory, but I still had some tasks to delegate. "Ryoko, you're with me on assault detail. Chris, Aeris, you go with Ayeka and find Tenchi. When you get to him, use the emergency portal generator I gave you to get outta there. We'll follow once it becomes too dangerous for us to hang around. Everyone got the plan?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. I activated the gateway and stepped through...
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I never knew destruction could be so fun.
I wisely pulled a file dump of the main database from the computer system... then proceeded to trash everything in sight. I made quick work of the computer, then went to work on the equipment.
"Hey, don't you think that's enough damage for one day?"
I didn't answer. I was too busy taking out my frustrations on anything with a GUN logo on it. I heard myself say, "We have to give them more time," but I don't think I was conscious of the fact that I said it at the time.
"Well, I wonder how the others are doing..."
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"Here he is."
"It took us long enough to find him. How many guards have we taken out now? At least half a dozen."
"The door's locked tight. It won't budge."
"Step aside, Aeris." Ayeka pulled out what looked like a sword handle, focused on it... and split the door in two with a blade of energy.
"Niiiiice," Chris murmured. "I don't think Ryan could've done that with as much style."
"Hello? Who's there?"
"Tenchi! It's so good to see you! Come on, we have to get out of here!"
"Ayeka! You came to rescue me!"
"Yes, Ryoko's here too, creating a diversion. Where's the best place to get out of here?" she added, directing the question at Chris.
"End of the hall. It's wide enough for a decently-sized portal."
They rushed to the end of the hall as a portal opened up. Chris was lagging behind a bit, as she'd had to concentrate on punching in the coordinates.
In a split-second, disaster struck.
Guards stepped out of a door that they hadn't seen before right in front of Chris. She tried to slide beneath them, but they grabbed her as she tried.
"Aeris!" she cried out, pitching the portal remote towards the Cetra. Aeris turned and caught the remote, then saw Chris' predicament. "Chris!" She took a step towards the guards, trying to help. Two more guards stepped in her path.
"Aeris, go! Save yourself!"
"No! Not while you're in trouble!"
"It's not worth it! I'll find some way to escape!"
The guards closed in on Aeris.
"Let me help you!"
"I won't let you get caught because of me! Now GO!!!"
"Chris!"
"Tell Ryan... I love him!" she called out as the guards dragged her away.
Aeris hesitated for a moment, then turned and dove through the portal, sealing it behind her.
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"Well, I've got Sally's computer working on decrypting the file database I pulled," I commented as I exited the portal. "I tell ya, that was satisfying, toasting that stuff--"
I broke off when I saw everyone's downcast faces. "What's wrong?" I looked around, noticing someone was absent. "Hey, where's Chris?"
Aeris looked up, sorrow and apology evident on her face. "Ryan... I'm sorry..."
No. No, this couldn't happen. She couldn't be...
"They got her. I tried to help, but..."
Somehow this was worse. I dropped to my knees in shock. "No..."
"I'm so sorry..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
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Chris glared at the back of the chair in front of her. She had no idea who this guy was, but she didn't care. Whoever this was was in charge of the group who had tortured her new friends, framed her boyfriend, and otherwise made life miserable for those around her.
The chair began to rotate. Time to give this guy a piece of her mind...
Her jaw dropped as she recognized the chair's occupant.
"...Dad?"
To Be Continued...