Disciplined Breakdown
By Harris, Mitch, Shaine, and Shatterclaw. Individual rating:
PG.
Damn it...why did I ever agree to do this? Shaine fought her way past a sea of rugrats with Technicolor hair. Bell's successors-in-training, it would seem. They'd turned the mall into a living labyrinth.
She wrinkled up her nose as she made her way toward the comic shop. Omar and the rest were there; she could already see them.
"Hi."
"Hey there!" Omar grinned.
"Dark tidings," Deis smiled.
Shaine smiled a little and nodded. "LL and P." Poe offered a Vulcan salute, which she nervously returned. So what the hell do I say to them? They're worse than those scum Val used to hang out with...
Fortunately she didn't have to think about it for too long. Omar handed her a bag; she thanked him and hurriedly dug in her pocket for the money. Coming up with a small wad of fives, she handed it to him.
"Thanks. Hey, where's your friend Han?"
"He's at work." She winced. "He's one of those suit types, y'know?"
"Bummer. He seems too cool for that."
"Yeah, I know..."
Poe held up one of the shirts. There was a black figure in the center with red and yellow wings flaming out of its back. "Whaddaya think? It's the new design. Only made ten of 'em so far."
"Yeah, we think that's what they look like," Mav said.
"We have two of them for you. One for you, one for Han...for the ride, last time." Omar smiled at her.
"Oh...thank you..." They're too nice. I shouldn't have to do this!
"You're welcome!"
"Um...you know last time, how I was telling you about Val...? Well, I kind of lost track of him, but if you want his cell phone number..." And then I can "bump into" him next time Crim sends me to play spy. Convenient - if not what's best for them...
"Sure. You think he'd do an interview?"
"I don't know..." She handed a piece of paper to Omar. "Tell him Scully sent you."
"Thanks. Hey, walk with us out of here?"
"Okay..."
Poe looked at her curiously. "I thought you were Mulder."
"Well, no. This goes back further than Han has known me, and he's not on very good terms with Val to begin with."
Omar grabbed his things from beneath the table and shoved the leftover shirts into a black bag.
"Well I can't say I blame him," Poe continued. "As far as I know of, only two kinds of people have seen an ebony knight of the sky: the victim who was saved, and the crook who was trying to rob him."
"Val's not a thief!"
"No, maybe not...but he's not the best kind of person, I'm betting."
Shaine stubbornly refused to say anything.
"I'm sorry if I offended you and your friend..."
"He didn't mean any harm, Scully."
"Yeah. I know."
"Heyy!" Omar's face lit up. "Want to see a place where we think the Ravens fought?"
"All right."
"Cool!" Omar flagged down a cab and they piled inside.
"Made a bundle on shirts today," he mused as they headed downtown, near the trench that ran out to O'Hare. Once the cab stopped, Omar pulled out a flashlight.
"We found this one night when we were at Chi req...see, the Bruha and the Gangrel had a base out here. So when we were in time stop, I went looking around."
"Huh?"
"Oh. Sorry. It's a game - you dress up and pretend to be a vampire."
"Oh. Okaaayy..."
"There's a huge underground," he assured her. "Anyway, down here is where we found it." He and Mav led her down a ladder into the trench while Deis and Poe stayed above.
The floor was littered with refuse, and Shaine didn't much like the looks of the cave that they were headed toward. "See the black scoring here? Seems to be a heat-based weapon."
"Yeah." Oh shit oh shit ohshitohshit...
"And you can see where the ground is melted! Oh, and this is so sweet..." He gestured toward a pile of rocks. "This is Excalibur."
Kicking the rocks away, he revealed a larger stone in which was embedded the blade of a sword. Its hilt stood straight above the rubble. "We think this might be one of their weapons. See, it's melted into the rock but the sword looks like it hasn't been hurt."
Omar shone the flashlight on it. "And none of us can pull it out. So whoever put this here must've meant it as a test."
"Yeah."
"Cool, huh? To think we might've found a weapon they used to defend the city..."
"Well, we'd better get going. Trenchers don't like too many people after dark."
"Trenchers?"
"Yeah, there's still people that live down here. They're kinda overprotective of it...it's their home. They don't have the money to move into Genom-controlled places, and they can't move away from the city. So most of them have jobs in the undercity or the trench." He frowned. "Funny...I wonder if the Ravens live here."
Shaine shivered uncontrollably.
"I always assumed they had, like, the Batcave or something. But they could be here right now, watching us..." he said as he climbed back up the ladder.
As Shaine reached the top she saw Poe and Deis talking to a beggar. Omar looked back at her and winked, then walked over to the others, handed the beggar a pair of crumpled five dollar bills, and patted him on the back.
"Noble deed," Poe said, arching a brow. "But do we have enough coin of the realm to make our way home?"
"Yeah, plus we still have to pay for the new round of shirts!"
Omar just smiled, then related his new theory to them. "So you see...it could have been one of them."
"A wondrous idea," Poe breathed, "But not at all impossible."
"I like the one where they're angels sent down to prepare the way."
"What do you think, Scully?"
"Huh? Uhm...uh...I don't know..."
"Yes, it is overwhelming..." Poe said in a 'tree pretty, fire bad' sort of way.
"No more Buffy reruns for you, Poe!"
"Dark Shadows?" Poe begged.
"No."
Deis looked at Shaine. "Oh, no, they would take them away and lock them up!"
Shaine looked up at her blankly. Omar looked too, then kissed Deis and said, "Let's get going."
Poe leaned toward Shaine and whispered, "She does that sometimes."
///
Shaine was still dazed when she arrived back at the Nest, last to arrive for the briefing. As she tore into the room, Crimson was already beginning the briefing.
"Oliver has a background in electronic warfare and ECM devices. He's ex-military, with a shady background before his work with the ADP. So far his record's been clean, though. He's been buying land at an alarming rate...
"You already know about the chip, and the MO. As for our ADP friends from your last mission, they were set free. They blamed it all on a handful of rogue Boomers that had trapped them in the building. Luckily for us, their story doesn't hold water.
"Our Mr. Oliver also owns that building. I've been following his paper trail and tonight I want you to investigate another of his acquisitions. Saki will be going along as backup. If you can get your hands on Oliver, I want him knocked out and brought back alive. Understood?"
"Yeah," Shaine said. ...but...Saki?
"No problem."
Harris took a bite of an apple. Food? I missed food to play with some vampire wannabes? Does this have any silver lining at all? "Alive...ok..."
"That means not in plastic baggies, Harris." Shaine smiled darkly. Mitch grinned at that.
"Or in small bloody parts," Crimson added.
"How about large pieces?"
Saki walked to the front of the room. "One piece would be preferred."
"All right...so I put him back together when I'm done. Tape, or glue?"
"We can only get the information out of him if he is alive," Saki said sternly. Harris took another bite of the apple. "So whole. Suit up; we have little time as it is."
The Nestlings left; as Mitch was climbing into his suit Harris tossed the core of his apple inside. Mitch heard the thunk as it hit and fished it out, muttering, "Punk..."
///
"We will disembark in this order," Saki declared. "Snakebite, Wolverine, myself, then Freefall."
"Snakebite will secure the perimeter and set cover fire; Wolverine will also set cover fire and Freefall will cover communications. Understood?"
"Yeah." I understand that there's only one other person to set cover fire for...
"And what are you going to do?" Harris asked.
"Keep you alive." If you don't get me killed first!
Shaine shook her head. Not going to worry about it. She began idly humming the love theme from Blade Runner.
Harris started running through a weapons check, then heard the humming over the comm. He turned to her, but she was looking in the other direction. The back door of the Wing opened, and she stopped.
"Go, go, go!" Harris shook his head and walked to the door, launching himself outward. The others followed. Beneath them was a vast asphault parking lot, and an even more immense warehouse.
Saki scanned the area as they landed, cloaked. "Move toward the factory. Freefall, scan the building."
"Five to ten humans, some heavy trucks...shitload of static..."
"Jammers?"
"Yeah, maybe. Can't tell."
Saki turned to Mitch. "Wolverine, would you open the door for us?"
"No prob." He sliced through the door easily. It was old, maybe pushing fifty, and made of steel, and gave way leaving white trails of hot metal where the lock and hinges were. Mitch turned around once he was done, keeping Saki and Harris in his sights.
"Snakebite first. Wolverine, you bring up the rear." Saki tapped Shaine on the shoulder. "Keep scanning and follow Snake."
Harris stepped forward slowly, laser sword engaged, as he readied his laser rifle. It was an open walkway, with pipes running overhead. He killed his sensors for the moment, not trusting them, and began relying on his instincts. Right or left? ...Right. He turned down the hall; Shaine and Saki followed. Mitch lingered at the intersection, then began to examine the left hallway.
There was a loud banging noise coming from the right hallway. Harris listened to it carefully as he followed the hallway. The sound issued from a door five feet down, through which he could see six ADP officers working on an APC. They seemed to be modifying it to hold something.
"There are six men up here. Orders?" There was a large tank turret hanging above the APC. Looks like they're trying to get that thing attached to it...
"Freefall, record this. And Wolverine, make two cuts along this wall." Mitch turned around and walked into the room; she gestured where she wanted him to make the marks.
"My orders, Saki?"
"Proceed. We'll deal with them later."
He shook his head. I'm getting tired of this...
The hallway went on for another fifteen feet, then opened up into the back of the warehouse. Inside was a group of maybe fifty men, dressed in black tac armor as the Boomer hijackers had been. A man on a makeshift stage was making a speech, and the rest sat there rapt, listening to him.
"And we shall take back the streets; we will show those Boomers who is the rightful master race!" Oliver cried.
"You listening to this, Saki?"
"Yes..."
Further back, Mitch said, "Report! Five guards are headed this way."
"Freefall, record. Snakebite, enter. Wolverine...do not engage them. Yet."
"Your orders, Saki?"
"Spread out along the door. Wolverine will make for the speaker; you will give cover. Freefall, with me."
"So be it." Harris sighed. "Your show, Mitch."
Saki opened a private comm to Shaine. "When I give the signal, I want you to start knocking them out of their chairs. Understood?"
"Yes."
She moved toward the center of the room, with Shaine following. Harris scanned the room for a more advantageous position, then disengaged his sword, bringing up his second laser instead.
"Now!" Saki called out as Mitch reached the platform. He jumped up onto it, firing a low level laser burst at Oliver.
At the same time, Saki and Shaine were kicking the audience out of their chairs as quickly as possible.
"Aw, shit," Harris muttered, firing several laser bursts just above the crowd's heads. Mitch, struggling with Oliver, started heading toward a nearby exit. He shot Oliver with the laser again.
Harris disengaged his cloak and continued firing as Saki aimed at the overhead pipes. "Run!"
Shaine stumbled after Saki and out the door.
Can't leave yet, damn it! Who's going to keep these idiots occupied? The men in the audience were rushing Harris, now that they'd gotten over the initial shock. He held his ground.
Outside, four K-11's had spotted Mitch and Oliver. "What's the plan now?"
"Keep them occupied. Shaine and I will get Oliver out of here."
"Gotcha!" He passed Oliver's limp form to Saki, then began firing on the K-11's. The closest two were attacking already; he dodged them and counterattacked. One managed to hit Saki, who was swearing up a blue streak. "Darn! Sorry, girls, but I have my hands full..."
Meanwhile, the men inside had managed to get some anti-Boomer weapons. Harris narrowly evaded a rocket fired from a launcher, then returned fire. But just as quickly as the officer with the rocket launcher had fallen, one with a saw gun had taken his place.
And missed. His opponent was luckier; he felt two shots hit as he fell. His HUD was reading an armor breach in one leg; it seemed to be just a flesh wound.
He didn't care. Wincing in pain, he fired again and engaged his sniper rifle, firing into the crowd at random and hitting most of his targets.
A low rumbling came from the back wall. Aw, damn. Rocket.
What the hell is up? Harris managed to get to his feet then move forward, still shooting.
Harris followed the tank outside. Dammit, got to take this thing down now. It slowed and stopped, then the weapons magazine blew. He returned to the flaming wreck of the building, hoping for some sign of the rest of the team. Instead he found the ADP's reinforcements.
Harris engaged his cloak and opened fire again.
Meanwhile, Mitch had made fast work of the first two K-suits with his laser claws and was starting on the third. He sliced through its leg and it fell; the last of the four stepped forward to replace it and he cut off its arm. The arm flew through the air, hitting his suit, but did little damage. He finished off the suit, but three more had arrived to take its place.
"I don't know, dammit!" Harris snapped. He started scanning for the other hardsuits.
"Saki? Freefall?"
"I'm here, Rai," Mitch said. "Last time I saw Saki and Shaine, they were headed home with the package."
"So what the fuck happened down there, World War Three?"
"Rai, I see them." Harris hit his jet verniers and maneuvered toward the pair. Shaine's forcefield was up, and Saki was halfway inside it. Neither one was moving.
"Snakebite!" Shaine dropped her shield. "Aw, fuck, where have you been?" Not waiting for him to answer, she let out a colorful string of German.
"Where the hell is Oliver?"
"Fucking asshole hit me with something...can't move; piece-of-shit suits won't budge..." Saki was still motionless, lying on the pavement before her. Mitch ran up to the group and started scanning them.
"Hey, getting something here! About fucking time..." Shaine started slowly pulling herself up to her knees.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, think so."
Mitch smiled. "Good. I was worried."
"No fucking shit, Sherlock. I was worried too."
"Aw, shit..." Harris fired a few more wide shots at the approaching ADP. "Can you walk?"
"Fuck no! Can't even move anymore..." Her left arm wobbled a bit, but the rest of the suit was dead.
Mitch bent down to grab Saki, and Harris took Shaine by the arm. "Then let's go." She wisely bit her tongue as he lifted her and carried her back to the Wing.
The ride out was rough, with the ADP still returning fire. Harris opened the back hangar door and began firing without particularly caring what it was tailing them; a news helicopter behind them exploded. The doors closed swiftly after that.
"Sorry, cowboy, but I need to head into the strat to lose these guys. Hang on."
He sat down and pulled his helmet off. Shaine and Saki lay on the floor of the Wing, stiff and unmoving. He'd set Shaine face down in an attempt to keep her quiet; the only sound was Saki's soft laughter.
Harris reached down to probe the wound in his leg. There was a dull pain, and blood seeping from the hole in the suit soon covered his hand. He shook his head, dismissing the thought for a moment. Nothing I can do about it now.
Mitch turned Saki over. There was a boxlike device attached to the front of her hardsuit, its blinking lights garish against the soft black of the suit. "What's that?" He started pulling at it. Harris vaulted down toward Saki and helped him.
Just as they managed to rip it away from the suit, it began to whine. A two-digit clock on the front of it began counting down. "Shit...we shouldn't have done that..." Harris scowled. "Rai, open the back door, now!"
He ran toward the door, tossing the box outside as soon as it had opened. The counter was already into the single digits. A rush of air shoved the plane forward as it exploded.
"Snake!"
"Next time, pay attention, Mitch!" Harris stopped, seeing the second box on Shaine's suit. "Shit..."
"Shut up and help me!"
"Keep the door open, Rai!" Harris called out as he began pulling at the box.
"Shit, there's more?"
"Yes, dammit!" Another whine cut through the air, Harris tossed the box out of the Wing like the other one. Then he walked back to Mitch, who still knelt before the two suits.
"Any more surprises?"
"I hope not!" Mitch replied.
Saki stood suddenly, ripped off her helmet, and tossed it across the plane bay. She started stripping out of her suit, then lost patience with that and hit the ejection mechanism. Small pieces of the suit landed all over the bay, some hitting the other Ravens.
"What the hell?" Rai's voice called. Saki staggered into the cockpit. Harris shook his head and started removing his suit.
The Wing landed gently within the base's hangar. Harris examined his leg more closely as the back doors opened and Saki raced through them.
"Need help?" Rai looked at him, a first aid kit in one hand.
"No, I'm all right." He stood and sighed, thinking of the report he'd probably have to give to Crimson.
"Okay, suit yourself... Any idea what all of that was about?"
Harris winced slightly. "Eh...on second thought..."
"Thought so."
"Saki fucked up..." He sat back down.
"Fucked up? How?" Rai poured rubbing alcohol over the wound, handed Harris a bottle of whiskey, and bandaged his leg.
"The mission was a failure." He winced, but didn't cry out. "All we managed to do was kill a shitload of people."
"Oh, that's good!"
Mitch shook his head. "I need a beer. Correction: more than one."
"Yeah..."
"Drink the whiskey. Beer will come after the boss chews us out."
"Hey, there's something to look forward to!"
"Heh yeah...nice to know he can still do it though. Means you're still alive."
"Well," Harris sighed, "The news van and chopper we took out in the process aren't going to buy us any brownie points."
"News van?" Rai's head came up. "Oh, crap. Hope they didn't get any pictures."
Harris ignored him and stood. "Well, time to go get it over with..."
///
"You wanted to see me?"
Crimson nodded. "Have a seat."
Harris tried not to limp as he made his way toward the desk. "Shall I give my report?"
"Yes, please do."
"Well, then." He began describing the mission up to the point at which they captured Oliver. "So Mitch left with him, and Shaine and Saki followed suit. I stayed behind to keep everyone busy. From then on, I don't know what happened to the others. I was too busy holding off the ADP to notice."
"By keeping them busy you mean what?"
"They started firing back. I was shot twice, and I returned fire. No one was there to tell me what to do and I didn't want to die, so I shot to kill. I managed to take out a K-11 and a tank--"
"And a news van and five choppers," Crimson interrupted. "Go on."
"I took to the air after that and tried to find the others. Figured they were gone. I kept firing at the ADP trying to keep them away. Then Rai showed up and said Saki and Shaine were missing, so I went after them. Both of them had been taken out by some sort of device...how it got on them I don't know. In any case, Mitch and I got them both on the Wing. It was under heavy fire so--"
"Stop. I know the rest."
"All right."
"Fifty-seven dead, a hundred ninety-eight wounded by our count. I can understand that to a certain extent, but you recklessly endangered the others. For now, you are confined to the base."
"I followed my orders."
"Yes, you did, and I'm taking that into consideration."
"I accept the responsibility, but I was doing my job."
"Which is why I want to speak with the one giving the orders before I take further action."
"And I must say that the one giving the orders doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground."
"You did your job, soldier, and you did it well. Dismissed."
Harris stood slowly. "One more thing."
"Yes?"
"If you want things done right...either find someone who can lead, or do it yourself."
"In your opinion, could you have done any better?"
"I couldn't have done it myself, but yes. We basically went to war--"
"I'll take that under consideration. I sent four, not one, due to the possibility of fighting."
"Understood. But four without proper leadership...they're good as dead. We're meant to be a team down there. And next time I see a teammate not helping..."
"Answer me this: when all hell broke loose, why did you go after the tank, and not help your teammates?"
"Because of the civilians. The others were nowhere to be seen, and these men were running. I took the chance because I thought I could save some lives. My mistake, I guess."
"You are to remain in the Nest for now. This is not a punishment as of yet, only a precaution."
Harris nodded. "So be it."
"Dismissed."
"Another thing...I don't care what this means, but I want you to know. The next time I see a teammate not doing their part due to stupidity, they're done. The life of one means nothing compared to the lives of the team."
"I agree, Harris, but it's not your place to decide."
"Maybe so..."
"No. Unless I die on the battlefield, I have a final say. I do see your point of view on this--"
"If you're not there," Harris said, barely able to contain his anger, "And this person is getting others killed..." He shook his head.
"The death of a teammate due to rules being broken is something that falls upon me to be handled. And if I let you judge what happened today, how many Ravens would I have now?"
"Saki is the only one I have an issue with. She was in charge. And you're right, it's not my say..."
"You're right."
"But you had better take another damned look at the people you have working for you, before we're all killed."
Crimson stood and turned his back to Harris, who stood there for half a moment staring at him. Then Harris also turned and muttered, "I didn't come here to die. I came to do a job, and if things change then you'll be finding someone to replace me."
"Funny...you were sent here to kill me. That was your job then."
"Had I known..."
"Now I send you to kill others. Things will change, Harris. Things always change."
"That they do..."
"Can we be strong enough to change with them?" He turned back around to face Harris. "Next time, maim the officers and kill the criminals."
"Next time..."
"If you have to."
"Next time, put someone competent in charge."
"If I live that long..."
Harris turned around. "You?"
"I will."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not easy being the boss..." Crimson sat down wearily. "I've had more lead in me than I can ever measure, Harris. And I've seen some very big shit come down. If and when it happens, Harris, you won't have to worry about killing your own teammates. You'll have to deal with finding new ones.
"Genom is growing. They're up to something big, and at this point I can't even find out what it is."
"Well, then. Are you up for it?"
"Always."
"Good. Then there won't be any problems."
"I've been fighting since before you were born...but even I know it can't last. And as for Saki...she will be dealt with."
"She's a strong woman, I'll say that much. But she's not a leader."
"No. She was, though, at one time."
"I wouldn't have killed her, but her time is done now."
"I know." Crimson shook his head. "More than I can tell you, I know."
"Well, then."
"Get your leg looked at, and get off of it." Crimson ordered.
Harris shook his head. "It's all right."
"Bullshit."
"It was just a scratch. Though the hardsuit's a different matter."
"Sure, it won't kill you, but gangrene's a bitch. The suit's under repair; don't worry about that."
Harris sighed. "All right. I'll get it looked at...sir..."
"Do that. I'm not paying Branks to sit here and look pretty all day."
"Heh. All right. ...Anything else?"
"Yes, now that you mention it...although it has nothing to do with the operations of the group. Did you ask her out, or did she ask you?"
"She asked. Why?"
"From what I see, there's another who looks to you. Which would make matters worse if you had asked."
Harris sighed. Damn it... "Apparently I'm getting too many admirers here."
"Just two. Pick one. Either."
"Pick?"
"Or whatever you consider..."
"I don't understand."
"Saki, or Shaine. Pitting the two of them against each other is not going to help the working relations of this team."
Harris shook his head. "I'm not interested in Saki, if that's what you mean."
"No, I didn't think you were. She's a lot like you, in many ways..."
"Maybe so. But she's a lot different in others - as I have already seen."
"Agreed."
"Well, then...what is to be done?"
"Why didn't you relieve her of command?"
"I hadn't been given the authority, and by the time everything went to hell I was holding off about fifty soldiers by myself."
"I see. So if you had been given that authority, would the death count have been as high?"
"If I had been in charge, we would have gotten in and out and not had the time to get anyone killed. The big mistake was going after him in the middle of the speech. I would have waited until he was alone, outside, or at least until I felt the time was right."
Crimson nodded.
"We had the advantage of cloaking, but still went with a frontal assault. If I had known what was going to happen, I would have suggested that I go after Oliver, instead of playing pass the prisoner and giving him the chance to get away. And there was something else as well..."
"Which is?"
"The recording. The speech itself. There are recordings on the suits. Oliver...these men..."
"I haven't reviewed it yet."
"They're vigilantes, from what I could tell. They want to rid the world of Boomers."
"Sounds familiar."
"Saki kept with her orders, though. Just went on with her original orders. And something wasn't right..."
"With Saki, or with them?"
"With the whole situation. We shouldn't have been there, at least not the way we came in..."
"Did it strike you as odd that they had a tank?"
"Yeah. It also struck me as odd that the media showed up so quick."
"I know there's more to this Oliver...would you say that he wanted the media there?"
"I think so. And even though we took them out - by accident - there's probably footage of the plane."
"And of the suits. I know. Rai radioed ahead."
"And he got away. That shouldn't have happened."
"No, you're right. It shouldn't have."
"Either he found out somehow..."
"Or we have a leak."
"Maybe. Or maybe not."
Crimson nodded. "And there is a third option."
"This may have been a setup against Boomers as well. And we just happened to step into it."
"I agree. Oliver was out to show the world how evil Boomers are, and we just happened to oblige him by playing the Boomer."
"Right...as far as anyone else knows."
"And that gives the upper hand to Genom."
"So we were 'Boomers'..."
"Don't be too certain about that. We do have our fair share of enemies."
Harris nodded. "True. So now we have the world to deal with..."
"And Carter and Kohl will know something is up. It's the fine line, Harris: save the world, stay out of the light...go into the light and be seen...be seen, and be hunted..."
Harris shook his head. "It was only a matter of time before it happened."
"True. But before, that time was ours to choose. Damage control...it's a whole new game. One which I need to get back on top of."
"All right, then."
Crimson walked Harris out of the office, then went back to his desk and turned on some music.
///
There was a knock at the door. Shaine turned the CD player down a little, then rushed to the door.
"Oh...Saki! Hi!..."
"Hello." She paused for a moment, listening to the music. I don't need nobody/I don't need the weight of words to find a way/To crash on through... "I...has Crimson been to see you yet?"
"No."
"Have you seen him around here?"
"I haven't seen anyone." Shit, she looks like she's about to face the firing squad...
"I'm sorry for putting you in danger."
"Yeah, well... I got stuff to get done. Anything else you wanted?"
"No. I should go and find Crimson. It was nice knowing you." She walked away.
"Huh." Shaine sat down and brought the volume up again, singing softly. "You're all I need/Yeah, and the water runs deep..."
A dialog box popped up, then her mail program. It was a message from Crimson:
You are invited to my office. Please come promptly at your best available time. With love, Crimson.
As she approached the office, she could hear another kind of music coming from inside: ...was born in Chicago, back in 1951/My father told me,/Son you better get a gun...
"Close the door." Crimson turned in his chair. "And have a seat."
He thumbed a remote and the music stopped. "Care for something to drink?"
"No, thanks."
"So. What happened out there?"
"I have no fucking clue. I did what Saki told me...I'm no tactician...and I didn't exactly get to see much of what was going on after it all hit the fan."
"Okay, what happened to your suit?"
"I'm not sure. Oliver put some sort of device on it... You'd be better off asking a hardware jock."
"Did it erase any of your readings?"
"No. It was probably an anti-Boomer weapon, not designed to trash the suits. Or if it wasn't, they still wouldn't have any idea of how the suits tick, not without an absolutely legendary hacker."
"I'm inclined to believe that it was anti-Boomer. From what you could tell, did the mess out there happen because of Saki and Harris's involvement?"
Her eyes widened.
"I know you don't know, I just want your opinion. A guess."
"I..." She shook her head.
"I see.
"I need you to keep an eye out for trouble amongst the team, when on a mission."
She nodded ever so slightly. Oh, shit...this is going to get me killed... Why couldn't I have just stuck with Boomers?
"At this point your function is to keep the comm open.. I think that this is a part of it. You're not going to be a snitch; just use your best judgment when someone is acting out of line. Harris has been very open as to how he feels--"
"No shit," she muttered.
"But I think that he'd have half the team gone by now, if he had his way. Whether he needed them or not. Both of these things could have been handled in a different matter, if it was more forthcoming."
Shaine stared at him coldly, trying to keep all traces of emotion off of her face.
"Off the record, what are your personal feelings on what happened?"
"Saki...tried to control things too much. To do everything herself. That much was obvious even to me. She...she seemed to regard us as subhuman.
"Or maybe she just saw herself as being better."
"That is a possibility. She's been around for a long time, and she still can't let go of her past. Or her training. She was an assassin. A ninja. She's tough, strong, stubborn...and yet she's still too much like a child.
"At the time, she was perfect for this job: she tried to kill me. Jumped me after work. We fought, I bested her, and I set her free. Broke both of her swords... I had given her her life back, or so I thought.
"The next day it was the same thing, only with poison darts. And the next, with daggers. It went on for two weeks exactly the same way, though she did change the timing a bit. But she always tried to kill me by hand. A few nights after her last attempt, I was patrolling the city. Back then, Boomer attacks were days apart."
Crimson suddenly looked much older than he had before. "There were maybe ten ninjas, clad in black and straight out of a movie. Saki was in the middle, and the fight was getting worse. I stepped in to help her. She was badly beaten and dying...I somehow managed to get her back to the Nest. But it took three weeks to save her, even with the medical knowledge we had then. She was awake but bedridden, and I visited her every day.
"At first it was slow going." He chuckled. "I had a few meals thrown at me. But at last she began to talk, and to listen, and I found out what a scarred child was hidden inside that shell. You would think that after all it takes to become a ninja there would be nothing left. She was two when she began training to become a killer.
"You know...a week after she got out of that hospital bed...she tried to kill me again. Only that time, I was ready. I had her at swordpoint, waiting to finish what we had begun two months before...when I offered her a new life, a way away from her past. An out. It took her a week to figure out that I meant it.
"Until this time she has been steadfast. She has never failed, and never made a mistake when it counted. I wish I could say Erik and Carter had a hand in it...but unless they've gone to nanoprobes, there's another problem."
"I don't know. It looked like she was trying to prove herself to someone."
"She was. And I think it may have been between you, Harris, and her..."
Shaine's head jerked up. "That's none of your fucking business!"
"She went to kill Erik not for herself, but out of fear for you. She wanted you to be free of him."
"And she did kill him. Or at least a Boomer of him."
"Yeah, I know."
"...Which is a first. She can tell humans from Boomers--"
"Obviously not well enough."
"It's some ninja thing; they listen to the heartbeat or something. I believe the Boomer was some other kind."
"Yeah." You Nexus-6, huh?
"And this last mission...I think she was trying to prove herself to all of us. To me, for her mistake; to you, for not freeing you...and to Harris."
"I don't think she cares very much about 'freeing' me anymore. But again, that's none of your business."
"No, it's not. But then again...people are funny things. You can be the worst kind of person, and yet if someone cares about you...somewhere, in some way..."
"Take Sylia Stingray." What...?! "She's a royal pain in my ass..."
"Stingray?"
"Yeah."
"As in, Katsuhiro Stingray?"
"Yeah, his kid. She's a handful, overbearing, stuck up. But in the end, she cares only about putting right what her father unintentionally made wrong...and to see humanity live on after Genom. Noble idea, good intentions. But she has to do it her way, no exceptions. That's overshadowed everything she's tried to do.
"Did you ever meet Katsuhiro-sama?"
"No." I was nine when he died...gods, was Dad depressed when he found out...
"Neither have I. I know of his work, what he did...but if I had, I would've slapped him for letting Sylia loose on the world." He grinned.
"But the point which my rambling has brought us to...the best intentions sometimes bring the worst results." He looked her in the eye. "I'm sorry for keeping you this long."
Shaine stood and walked to the door.
"Shaine, thank you." She kept going, giving no response, as the blues began to play from Crim's office once again.