A Knight in the Raven's Nest
By Ada, Shaine, and Shatterclaw. Individual rating: PG-13.
2:14pm, the day before.
The sun shone thorough the grey-streaked sky as rain threatened yet again. Luna's foul mood darkened at though of having to drive in the rain yet again; it seemed every driver in the city slowed to a stop when it rained. She knew she'd been out gathering information for far too long and she knew Artemis would throw a fit over that. The tall, lean blonde was her right hand man, and knew more than humanly possible about the team's gear and tech, but when it came to the business end of things he didn't have a clue. He was a scientist, and every thing was trivial to him unless it had to do with hardsuits or computers.
"Come to Chicago, track your mortal Enemy, get lost at ever other intersection," She muttered to herself. Luna managed to pull into the parking lot of the rented office building only ten minutes late. The windows had been painted black and the door had been replaced with a steel reinforced security door. Home sweet temporary home. Luna looked around the empty street. With no one in sight, she leaned into the door and spoke: "By the power of the Moon, I will punish you." The steel door rumbled and swung open. Luna knew that there were guns above her head, and had she misspoken they would have left her dead.
The walls were bare but for a coat of hospital-like, puke green paint. Didn't matter. After they found Hase, they would head back home. The hall led into a dead end, with only a painting of a moonscape to mark the wall as drifferent from any of the other pale green walls. Luna pulled out her headband. Another one of Artemis' toys, it was adorned by a crescent moon which fell at the center of the forehead. It transmitted one's thoughts - in this case, the codeword to proceed further - and the wall open to an elevator. Unlike the door and the "thought band," the elevator was old and nearing the end of its days. It took her down to the basement, where they had lived for the last few days. Van Allen was sitting at a used kitchen table, feet propped up on a second chair and reading a local news paper's sports page. Artemis was playing with one of the hardsuits.
"Well As-I-Live-And-Breathe, look what the cat dragged in. Any mice today?" Van Allen called from behind the sports page.
"No, and it's rabbit were after... Did you find anything? Or just waste more time?" Luna said tartly as she took off her coat.
"Oh, ouch," Van Allen used his best "hurt" face. "But as a matter of fact..." He pulled out seven large, glossy pictures from a folder hidden behind the newspaper. "Hase's hotel room - heavily guraded.. .Hase going to Genom Chicago...a few police reports, a few rumors of something called a "Steel Raven" and a few local places where genom tried to buy out their land, and were stopped."
"How?" Luna frowned.
"Aahhh, it seems I've found the right treat for Miss Kitty!" Van Allen's smile widened. He folded his hands in front of himself.
"Cut the crap, Van. You know something."
"Seems there were a few places that Genom wanted for one reason or another; each one was nearly sold only to be saved at the last minute. I'm going to take the Dreammobile and see if any one comes up to take the bait."
"You think they might have an involvement with the "Steel Ravens?"
"That's my thinking, that any group working in the city needs a base, and Genom has never lost a buyout unless something stepped in with a higher bid."
"What about your contact in Tokyo? Did they tell you any more that would point to groups in Chicago?" Luna said, leaning against a post near the table.
"No, wouldn't tell me a thing for some reason. Something's going on in this city: Hase is here, Genom's here, and a guy named Kohl is here; we know Kohl and Hase have a thing going on, the hotel room she was staying at is in his name. And he happens to be the VP of R&D at Genom Chicago.
"Great, and the police reports?"
"Even less to go on. There've been reports of vigilante activity, on and off, but the ADP's kept that locked up. The n-police has three reports; the most recent is about a girl named Shaine Kohl."
Van Allen smiled as Luna looked at him curiously.
"Yep, one and the same. Two muggers were found at her hotel tied up with cables after she got away. The other one dates back to the late '30's; it's less believable, but a sceintist swears he was saved from a "harpy" by a "balck clad brid of prey," who called out 'caw caw' and then saved him."
"I assume this scientist has been checked out?"
"Yes, and his grave is looking mighty nice for this time of year. Heart failure, 2039, two years after the report."
Van Allen stood up. "If they're out there, they have to be invisible."
"Or they're that much better than us," Luna said with a bit of venom.
"Now, now. We have a great team and we're getting better ever day."
"Not the point. Hase is a danger, and we've got a clear shot at her. We only need to have her out in the open long enough to get that shot, and now we're wasting time trying to track a myth," Luna fumed.
"But if we can find them they might be able to help us. At any rate, the others are out gathering more data. We'll nail her, trust me."
"You underestimate her, Van Allen."
"Or do I place more faith in you then you like me to have?" Van Allen shot back as he walked to the elevator and stepped in.
///
4:35pm
Hours later, Luna found herself restlessly staring at a computer screen. The police band was going but had become a background noise of near useless information.
She was looking at a web site dedicated to the "Steel Ravens," and it was filled with legends and myths - most beyond any reasonable belief. In one the Ravens were "avenging angels with fiery wings;" another had them pegged as dead souls come back to do justice. They epainted Genom as a house of monsters, with horror filling the halls and every employee some kind of half Boomer half monster waiting to steal the souls of the city.
At least they got something right, Luna thought.
There was even an eyewitness acount from some kid who saw a raven; from what he said they were some kind of Boomers. The more Luna read, the more uncomfortable she became.
What if Genom had made a group like the Moonlight Knights and the Sabers, to throw off any real group forming in Chicago?
She looked at the clock. Van Allen had been gone for more than four hours. Jupiter had returned, with next to nothing...
Moon and Kamen had had no better luck; Luna believed that was more due to Moon's whining, but let them slide this once. The last thing she needed was a argument right then.
"You've been looking at the screen a long time," Artemis said.
"It's like a needle in a haystack," Luna griped. He handed her a steaming cup of coffee. "Thanks."
"You know, maybe they don't want to be found. They could have a lot to hide."
"That type of positive thinking, we don't need," Luna muttered. She took a sip of the coffee; it tasted like chocolate and cinnamon. She sighed.
"Attention all units: rogue Boomer at Printer's Row, repeat rogue Boomer at Printer's Row." The voice over the intercomm was slightly tinny.
Artemis' eyes lit up. "Let's go!"
"You've been messing with the suits again, haven't you?" Luna asked without amusement.
"Just fine-tuned them using the data from our last battle. They should show a 10% improvement in speed and dexterity, as well as increased power output. You see I--"
"Artemis, if you want to go then skip the tech speak and get suited up, please?"
///
The next night: 6:45pm, Kit's Garage
The rain had finally stopped, leaving the ground slickand puddles in backed-up sewer drains. Inside, Kit was bent over a customer's car; the 2028 Chevy had been an easy job. A quick lube and some new gaskets. One of Priss's songs was playing on the radio and the splashes from passing cars somehow accentuated the sound.
The old air house bell rang out at the best part in the song. Kit looked up from under the hood of the car. There in the grey, rain-stained parking lot was a Cadellac Ceville 2019. It was from a time when big as boat was back in style. Kit whistled, impressed.
The driver's door opened and a man in a white tailored suit and sun-bright yellow shirt stepped out. For a moment he reminded Kit of the lawyer from Genom.
"Hiya. Anything I can help you out with?" Kit called out as she walked around the Chevy.
The man played with his white silk tie. He flashed Kit a killer smile. "Hello, yes, I was wondering if you'd take a look at my car. She's starting to pull to the left...I was driving by and saw you were open. Figured you might be able to handle it."
Kit had a funny feeling about him: expensive-looking suit, bad part of town...that probably meant trouble.
"I'll see what I can do." Kit smiled back at him, then popped under the hood and started giving it a once-over.
The first thing she noticed was that the car's heavy modifications had been covered up to look normal. The engine was oversized even for a car of its time. After poking around for a moment, she could tell that the frame and body was made of titanium. No one in their right mind would build something like it. Somehow Crimson and the Ravens came to mind. Okay, this guy's definitely not just an enthusiast. As Kit walked around the car, she saw how well-armored it was and again was reminded of quite a few others she'd seen recently. This car wasn't built for outright speed, but it was build to be a tank; there was no cyberware, but it was reinforced with polymers and compound metals that weren't even found in new cars, yet.
It looks like a hardsuit on wheels.
"So do you think you can fix it?" The owner called out.
Kit's hand moved over a panel near the front; it dropped down to reveal front-firing anti-Boomer guns. Yup. Hardsuit on wheels.
"Piece of cake. All I need to do is a simple re-alignment...shouldn't take too long." Black market, obviously.
"How long?"
"Two days, tops."
"Two days? That's a bit long, don'cha think?" He walked into the room - fortunately after she'd gotten the weapons concealed again - and flashed that smile again...it ought to be considered a weapon in and of itself. "How much more would it take to have it in a day?"
She hesitated. She could feel his eyes on her..."Just a second. I'll be right with you."
"Sure, sure." He popped a breath mint into his mouth.
Kit went into her office, closed the door, and called Crimson. He answered on the first ring.
"Crimson here."
"It's Kit. I got a situation here... There's a guy here who wants his car done, only it's more a tank than a car."
"How long did you tell him it'll take?"
"Two days. He wants it faster."
"Cut it down to one, but make it sound like it wasn't easy. Tell him you had to change your day around for him. I'll be over to see it."
Good. I don't have to figure out what the heck to do with this... "Okay. See you when you get here." She hung up and walked back outisde. The man was looking around the far side of the garage, as if trying to find something. "Sir? I've just had a cancellation, so I can get it done sooner if you'd like." He looked up at her with a jerk, and composed himself.
"Really? That's great. But say...do you happen to know anything about Boomers? There was this construction model that made me swerve and hit a pothole... Someone should really do something about them."
"I know. It's like they're taking over the town."
"Yeah, but not just Chicago either. They're just everywhere." He smiled. "Ah, well. What's a perosn going to do, you can't live with them and you can't live with out them."
Kit started getting the car ready. "Don't I know it...and the ADP seems to be doing more harm than good..."
"Oh yeah, yeah, but you know they're just Genom puppets, no real backbone."
Although all of it looked new, she could see faint signs that tools had been used on the car before. Someone was being very careful. Then she got to the tie rods. There was a Boomer hand stuck between one of them and the wheel. It was stuck in there pretty good, too.
The man called out from the other room: "I'll be right back, my cell's dead. Need to find a pay phone."
"There's one right outside the garage."
"Thanks!" She heard him walk away. Too bad I can't keep an eye on him...
Setting that thought aside, she got to work on dislodging the Boomer hand. Then she heard a familiar cawing noise. There was a ravensitting on the edge of the pit, looking at straight at her; it ruffled its dark feathers, hopped closer, and continued to stare. She heard more footsteps. "Kit?"
About time... The raven's head bobbed as it looked from her to the door and back again.She walked to it, and peeked outside to see Crimson standing there, dressed in coveralls. "So what'cha doing, boss?" he said, loud enough to be heard by the man outside. Then Crim slid underneath the car and said more quietly, "What have you found?"
"We've got something stuck in the front axle here..."
He moved around to look. "I see. Can you remove it?"
"I can try, but it's gonna take a bit of work." Pretty much have to take the car apart.
"No, don't go to the trouble; there's something not right here...the hand is too far into the well, and there's not that much damage, meaning that the Boomer didn't jam its hand in here, or he didn't run the thing over."
"Ahh, yes..."
Crimson got out from underneath the car and walked around to the other side, then went back under. "He's using the same armor as most APC carriers." Kit whistled. "Not that impressive; I've seen Boomers go through them before."
"Geez..."
"Where are his guns?"
"Here." She pointed Crim toward the front of the car. He looked, and then opened the panel.
"Now this is impressive. Two nitro-cooled, anti-Boomer stompers, with caseless ammo." He wiggled one of the shells out of the belt. It was about the size of a small can of shaving cream.
"Yeah. Obviously this guy knows where to get the exotic goods..."
"It has to cost him..." Crim hid the shell in his pocket. "Slip a tracker in, tighten some bolts, and we'll see where this clown goes. And don't forget to overcharge him."
"Gotcha." Just then the raven began to caw again.
"He's coming back." Crimson slid out from underneath the car quickly, and Kit closed the hood just in time.
"How's it going?"
"Well, it took a little bit of work, but we managed to get it back to normal." She started writing up the bill.
"Oh? What was wrong?"
"There was a Boomer hand stuck in the axle, but we managed to jimmy it out." She finished writing with a flourish, and handed the bill to him. It was twice what she would normally charge.
"Oh, wonder how that got there..." He looked it over, looked again, then smiled at her and handed her a credit card. She ran it through, then gave him the slip. He signed it Van Allen. Taking the card back from her, he started the car up and left.
"Have a good one!" Kit called as he pulled out. Once he was gone, Crimson reappeared.
"Interesting. He didn't even flinch at the bill."
Kit wiped her brow and grinned feebly. "You know, that was the first time I overcharged anyone...felt kinda good, to be truthful..." She snickered.
"For shame. Shaine must be rubbing off on you!" Kit giggled at that. "You know, though, I really don't think he's got any worries about money..."
"Right; any normal person would haggle - or complain. And he was a little too calm when you told him about the hand..."
Kit nodded. "And did you see those teeth?"
"Yeah, you could blind someone with those. Wonder how much he spent on them." Crimson thought for a moment. "You have any other pressing matters today?"
"Other than the usual cleaning up, not much else."
"I'll get someone from the Nest to do that; we're going to tail Van Allen."
"Gotcha."
Half an hour later, they were in Crimson's tank of a car. "Does this guy do anything besides drive around? Must be his night off or something." Kit groaned."Or he knows we're following him..."
The white Cadillac pulled into a parking lot. "Oh, I get it: fight Boomers, fix car, get milk..." Crimson muttered. "Must have an easy life."
"A little too easy if you ask me."
"I think you're right. He's looking for something. At your place, did he seem to be checking things out more than he should? Too curious, looking around, picking through your files?"
"I think I saw him snooping around." Crimson tapped on the steering wheel, then suddenly spun it. He nearly ran another car off of the road.
"Gah!"
"Sorry. Hang on, going to see how badly this guy wants to find us." Crimson nodded. "He has anti-Boomer weapons on his car, brought it to a known site of Genom's interest, and he's looking for something..." A light blinked on the dashboard. "Crap."
Crimson grabbed his cell phone. "Crim here. ...Yes, Kit and me. Yeah, yeah, got it." He snapped the phone shut. "Van Allen's off the hook for now. Some kind of insanity going on down by the art museum."
"Hmmn...but why would he be interested in my garage...?"
"Genom tried and failed to buy it. They usually get their way, and any time they lose you have to ask yourself why. I hate to say it...but it draws suspicion."
"You don't suppose...?"
"What, that he's looking for the Ravens? It had crossed my mind." He pulled into an alley. "Hope you don't mind, but this looks like a good spot to change."
Kit nodded. Crimson pressed a button on the dashboard and the alley's walls shimmered. "The cloak won't hold for long..." He then popped the trunk to reveal two hardsuits folded up inside. Kit jumped out and changed as quickly as she could; he followed suit. "We're about four blocks away right now. Let's go."
///
Later that night, after leaving the art museum.
The flight back to the Ravens' base was short. The Knights were split up into groups at the end of it, and Luna found herself waiting in an office with Artemis - for half an hour.
"I wonder if they'll let us look at their suits," Artemis wondered aloud. "They've got some pretty advanced stuff. I wonder if they're even using Stingray tech at all..." He looked at her as if expecting some oracular answer.
"I don't know," she answered bluntly. "Is it possible?"
"Anything is possible. Probability is the thing. But...they look too sleek for that, you know?" He went silent suddenly as the door opened. Crimson walked in wearing a hooded sweatshirt. His hair was wet, and he looked tired. Luna suddenly realized that he was the one whose helmet had been shattered in the fight.
"Sorry about the wait. There were a few matters that needed tending to." He sat down behind the desk, looking completely at ease and in control despite the obvious fatigue. Luna shifted in her seat, bristling. "I'm sorry...can I get you something to drink? I forget my manners sometimes."
"No, I'm fine," Luna said curtly.
"Oh, um..." Artemis thought better of it, deciding it would be easier to follow Luna's lead. "No, no thanks."
"I'm Crimson, the leader of the Steel Ravens, and this is our home base."
"I'm Luna, and this is Artemis." She stood and stepped forward to offer him her hand. He shook it firmly, but not any more firmly than she did...he didn't want any fights breaking out because of a perceived loss of control.
"You have some impressive suits," he continued.
"Thank you. Artemis has put a great deal of effort into them. And your own...I suspect not all of that was Stingray technology...?"
"No. Like most of the groups out there, we do use Stingray tech." And a little extra, but I don't really feel like telling them that just yet...
"I see." Luna seemed not to believe him.
"There have been advancements, and upgrades that are ours alone," Extensive ones, "But the base technology is the same old thing."
"Ah." Luna still seemed distant, but Artemis looked like he was about to start drooling.
"If you don't mind my asking, how is it that you came across yours, and found an interest in this cause?"
"You'd have to ask Van Allen about the suits. And as for Hase...we've been following her for quite a while now. She hunts Replicants in the burnt-out shell of Detroit. We've been trying to recruit a group there as well."
"Detroit's pretty rough."
"Indeed."
"Van Allen...that's the gentleman in the white suit and the Caddy, right?"
"Yes," Luna said calmly.
"He was driving some pretty heavy hardware in my city. How long have you been doing this?"
"About a year now."
He nodded. "Something seems to be going on here, but you have no idea what it may be. The Ravens happen to be one of the two largest groups in America at this time, and we also happen to be the oldest. I feel that that brings along with it a certain responsibility. Wouldn't you agree?"
Artemis looked blankly at Luna.
"Well...yes."
"Good. You see, while we still all use the same hardsuit base, there is only a loose connection between groups. The Knight Sabers, the Ravens, the Bright Lancers, Knights of the Round Table, so forth... Until this point we've all been running around doing our own thing."
"Section Nine..." Luna said softly. "We've even been approached by a German group called the Imperial Guard."
He nodded. "I'm not sure about S-9; they're still too new and too shady...I don't want you having the same kind of trouble that I've seen in new groups."
"Really. So you'd suggest caution. The Guard was able to give us some rather good information about Hase's cousin and her weaknesses...I wouldn't be so hesitant."
"Might I ask what information they gave you?"
"At about the same time we began operating in Rochester, she underwent a procedure to transfer her brain into a Replicant body."
"I see..."
"Nexus-6 prototype revision 5, 420 pounds, heavy armor, HV sniper gun in right arm... Reaction time is something a human in a hardsuit could only dream of." Crimson smiled at that. "Fortunately the information came in time and we've been smart enough to get out of her way ever since. We've tried to trap her on occasion but she seems to realize it just before we have her."
"They're quite advanced, and dangerous," Artemis added. "In fact, they could be the next big step in Boomer evolution."
"I'm sure." Don't laugh, Crim, don't laugh...
"The major types of projectile weapons commonly used with Boomers don't seem to be compatible yet, but beam weapons are quite common. The Guard stole its 'pulser' technology from them."
"Beams are cheaper in the long run," Crimson said.
"But harder to maintain."
"It varies."
"And they still require charges, at least the pulser-type ones, even if they are small."
"With ammo-based weapons, there is the replacement factor--"
"As well as friction. But with energy weapons you have the wear from the chemical reactions. 'Caden' is always bitching about having to clean out his ports."
"We could argue this all day," Crimson said, "Which I'm not going to... Here's what I'm offering: work with us, and we'll trade technology and information on a one-to-one ratio until we trust each other. That way, we can help each other. I've seen groups fight each other over one Boomer, run into each other on missions and act as if the other group's the enemy, let both of their missions go to pot because of the other team. We may share a common heritage but we don't share information and there is no true leader in this fight. Granted Sylia has her hands full and I don't know if I agree with her fully, but there has to be some kind of order or we will waste too much of our strength in power games that aren't really necessary."
"Agreed. You've got a deal...and I'll see what I can do about putting you in touch with Kusanagi and Lord Caden."
"Sounds good. Now, how about I show you around?"
Luna smiled. "Of course." Artemis nearly jumped out of his chair at the suggestion.
Crimson looked at Luna. "He doesn't get out much, does he?"
///
They spent nearly two hours in the hardsuit room going over weapons. Crimson finally called Jinks in to talk to Artemis. He leaned over toward Luna. "Should we let them be?"
"All right...but I have one request first. Make sure the two of you look at Sailorpluto's time key later and see if you can do something about the power drain?"
Jinks looked at Crimson. "Sure. We can do that." Crimson nodded at her and she went back to answering Artemis's questions.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"It's capable of transporting the suit wearer about fifteen feet in any direction, instantaneously, but it nearly drains the suit's battery dry."
"Teleportation?"
"It seems like it."
"Seems?" This is beginning to sound dangerous...
"Van Allen told us he got it from a woman with dark red eyes...that's all he's ever been willing to say."
"Great... Did he ever tell you he sold his soul for it?"
"Heh. I think he did say that."
Crimson chuckled. "I'll hold the stake and the holy water if she ever comes back..."
"I am not!" Bell's voice screeched down the hall. "Look here, Miss Moonpie--"
Luna raised an eyebrow.
"I've been at this longer..." There was a long string of Japanese insults, highly pitched - presumably from Sailormoon.
Crimson sighed. "That would be Belladonna."
A male voice howled in pain. He looked at Luna, then ran down the hall. Tuxedo Mask emerged from around a corner, Bell on one arm and Sailormoon on the other, trying to hold the two apart.
"When I get done with you there won't be enough left to make a Smoothie, much less a Boomer!" Bell windmilled her arms at Sailormoon, landing another punch on Tuxedo Mask's chest.
"Now that's it! You hurt my boyfriend--"
"You mean sex toy!" Belladonna bellowed.
"Lun-a-a-a-a-a-aaaaa! Waaah!"
Crimson walked up behind Bell and peeled her away from Tuxedo Mask. "Do I dare ask what this is about, young lady?" She cringed. He looked at the other two.
Bell just hung her head. He nodded. "Okay. In the conference room, all of you. Now." That last word was not said loudly, but with just as much force behind it as if it had been. They silently filed toward the conference room.
He sat them down far enough apart that they wouldn't be able to reach each other, with Tuxedo Mask in the middle again. Crim didn't like putting him in a position to become a punching bag again, but he seemed the most levelheaded.
"Now, in calm voices...what happened?"
"She was teasing us about running away from a Nexus-6," Tuxedo Mask said.
"Bell, why is this man limping and why did I find him in the middle of a catfight?" Bell looked down and just swung around in the chair.
"And then..." Tuxedo Mask just stared at Sailormoon.
"Is this true?"
"Well, not teasing...it's just we never ran from a Nexus-6..."
He nodded and then looked back at the Knights. "Go on."
"Next thing I know I'm trying to keep them off of each other. I don't even really know what happened."
"Who threw the first hit?"
Bell pointed her finger at Sailormoon. "I did not!"
"Did too! Did too! I would never hit a strong handsome man!"
"I did not hit him even once!"
"Did either of you hit each other?" Crimson interjected. "Or just Mask?"
"I didn't hit him!" Sailormoon fumed.
Crimson could barely keep from laughing. If he broke up... "Bell?"
"Me?"
"I saw the windmill; you got him, but why was he screaming before that?"
"She started it, the big baby," Bell mumbled.
"I did not. Lunaaaa!"
Crimson gave Luna a look of sympathy. "Okay, Moon, was it? You tell me what happened."
"Nooooo! It wasn't my fault!" She was already in tears.
"I'm not asking you whose fault it was. Just tell me what happened."
"She t-tuh-tried to hit meeee...a-and, and, I couldn't really do anything..."
"Bell, why did you try to hit her?"
"She called me a liar!" Bell howled. "She said that there was no way anyone could take on a Boomer alone, without a hardsuit...and well I told her that you can take on even a Nex-6 without a hardsuit, and she called me a liar!" She started crying too. "Tell them you can, Crimson, tell them!"
"Bell, this is neither the time nor the place." He noticed that Luna and Mask both had expressions that screamed, why me? "It's a hobby, okay?"
"See, I told you! He's taken on Boomer and Nexus-6's..." She stuck out her tongue at Sailormoon.
"This is what this is about?" Sailormoon and Tuxedo Mask said nothing. "Is this what this is about?" he repeated. Sailormoon glared at Bell and sniffled. He let out a sigh. "You two do understand that we're all on the same side and it doesn't matter who can do what?"
"But she...she called me a fat liar...and she called you an old man," Bell whimpered.
"Old? I see." He walked behind Sailormoon. "And Miss Moon - may I call you that?"
"Uh-h-h...yes..."
"You think I'm old, do you?"
"Ah-ah--" She started bawling uncontrollably.
"Stop it," Crimson ordered. "You think that age has something to do with a hardsuit's enhancements? You think that just because I'm older than you I'm too old to be in a hardsuit?" She just sniffled. "Hmmm...let's test this theory of yours, Miss Moon. You, me, and Bell, in the training room. We'll put this matter to rest - and give Arty a chance to see the suits in action. --If you approve, Luna?"
"Of course."
Crimson stalked toward the door, not waiting for the others, and went to suit up. The others followed dumbly.
"See, now you've gone and gotten him mad!" Bell squeaked.
By the time they reached the training room, Crimson was already in his hardsuit. He wore one of the older helmets. "Ladies, get suited up."
Bell gave Crimson one last look before she climbed into the suit. Why do I not like the sound of this?
"I'm setting the suits at the same level; it will make us all equal aside from physical differences. We're going to play tag. You two against me, and the first one to tag out wins. Three tags per suit. Any questions? --Oh, and just for fun...we'll be using antigravity."
Belladonna looked at Sailormoon through her helmet, her face pale and harried.
"Ready?"
"Ready," Sailormoon said in a tiny voice.
"Yeah, ready," Bell sighed. "You know, Moon, you could save us this humiliation right now and tell him you're sorry."
"Too late. Enable antigrav!" Crimson floated upward, letting the room take him, and watched Sailormoon howl and flail her arms as she drifted off of the floor. Bell, having done the same thing exactly one time before, had a very little more grace.
"I am not liking thiiiiis," Bell whined.
Sailormoon aimed a potshot at Crimson, missed, and flew halfway across the room due to recoil. "Waaaaaahhhhh!"
"Come on! I'm just one old man!" Crimson fired at the missile, detonating it harmlessly in midair. Bell saw her opening and charged him, her cable dagger flying out toward him. He ducked under the line and grabbed it. "Bell, I didn't know you were a swinger..."
"Huh? Oh no, please don't - oh, please please not again..."
Crimson spun her around in a wide arc and tossed her into Sailormoon. Moon laughed, until she saw Bell careening toward her. Then she began screaming again, in unison with Bell this time. She howled in anger as Belladonna hit, driving her back into the wall.
"Move it, you fat cow! Our reputation's on the line!" Bell screamed as she fought to untangle her cable. Sailormoon shoved her. Crimson just floated serenely out of their reach, darkening the viewport on his helmet just a bit more so that they couldn't see his ear-to-ear smile.
"I'm only one man, be gentle..."
"He's waiting for us to do something," Bell hissed.
"You triiiiicked us!"
"Trick you? Me?"
"No shit," Bell muttered under her breath. She ignored Sailormoon, who wailed in anger again as she flung one arm out to aim at him and fired again. "What do you think he'd do? He's trying to teach us a lesson and we, as lame as it is, walked right into it."
Crimson used his jet verniers to lift himself above the shots and toward Sailormoon.
"Aiiii!"
"Tag, you're it." He tapped her on the shoulder, sending her flying. "Oh, I'm so old and frail..."
"Hey Birdman!" Belladonna called. Her laser gun was aimed at his back, with point blank accuracy. Crimson swung one leg around and roundhoused her, sending her flying as well. He dove after her and tagged her.
"That's one each...gee, I sure am tired now..."
"Ouch...real funny, boss...real funny..."
"Come on! You're both better than this."
Bell turned on the suit comm. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said and did, but if you want to live this down then we've got to put it aside and try to do this right. 'k?"
"All right..."
"Now, Crim likes to come from above or below. He's a lefty, so if we hit him from his right we should get him. Don't use the missiles; they, um...they send you flying all around. Ready on three. One...two... Go!"
Sailormoon leapt toward Crimson from the right, and Belladonna headed in from the left. Bell fired her laser at his legs and he turned. Sailormoon fired her rail guns toward his head and one of them hit. A moment later, Bell leapfrogged over Crimson, tagging him as she went.
"Yeeeah!" Sailormoon threw her arms up in triumph, sending herself careening across the room again.
"You know you just may be getting too old, Crimson..." Bell laughed - until she saw the cables lurching toward her midsection. There was another pair headed for Sailormoon, who screamed as she fought to get out of the way.
Sailormoon managed to squirm away, but Bell was wrapped up in the cable. "Hold the line with your verniers! I'm going to try somethi--" Bell cut off as Crimson began to spin her around. "Aiiiieeeeeeee I'm going to be siiiiiick!" She activated her own verniers and snapped the line taut. A ripple headed down the line toward Crimson's arm. "We don't have much time! Grab the cable!" Sailormoon did it. "Now when I say so, fire your right side jets; it'll send him into the wall. ...Now!"
Crimson was startled at first and went careening toward the wall. He quickly recovered, getting his legs underneath him and using them to push off of the wall and go flying back toward Belladonna and Sailormoon.
"Now tag him!"
Sailormoon's armored fist slammed down onto his suit, and they floated to the ground slowly. "Nice job. See? You can have different opinions and still work things out." He pulled off the helmet, which still had a rail embedded in it.
"You set us up!"
"Yup." He bent the rail into a "U" shape. Bell's eyes grew wide. "Bell, show her where we keep the ice cream. --And try to get along; you have a lot in common."
"Yes, sir. ...See, told you he wasn't old!"
Crimson walked back over to Luna, who had simply stood there silently the entire time, and said, "We should go check on Arty and Jinks." He stepped out of the hardsuit and put his jeans and sweatshirt back on over the measuring suit, then led her back down the hall. "Mind if I ask you something, Luna?"
"Go ahead."
"Moon's a good kid, but why did you pick her for combat?"
"Van Allen is the one who chose us..." He could tell by the tone of her voice that she had never thought to question, before.
"So you were handpicked by him?"
"Yes."
"And what's your role in this? I had you pegged as their leader."
"I am."
"But Van Allen calls the shots..."
"To a certain extent. He finances the group and supplies all of our equipment."
Crimson nodded. "I see...has he ever been called 'the General'?"
"Not that I know of."
"When we got started, the General founded what was to become the Ravens. He died in our birth, so to speak, from what we know. But it's the same pattern: someone gave us the suits, the cloaking devices, and everything else; we improved on it, but it was still just handed to us. Sometimes I've wondered where the General got it from, if there might not be someone higher who gave it to him and to Van Allen."
"Who? Stephen Stingray? This red-eyed woman of Van Allen's? Caden claimed to have had a vision of some fictitious goddess..."
"I'm not sure," Crimson admitted. "If it was Stingray, he hid it well; I speak to his daughter often and she's given no clue. But what about this goddess?"
"He said he saw 'Dani Immortal' with a pair of black wings...I take it that wasn't one of you."
"Not that I know of. I've traveled; I used to be a US Marshall - some still think I am - but Germany's still out of my range. I've never been that far, and Jinks didn't have a hardsuit back then."
"Sometimes I wonder if they're both crazy. And Kusanagi's never said a word about how her group got started."
"Nor have the Lancers," Crimson said, "But I've found out more about them than anyone else. Do you ever wonder if we're crazy, for all of this?"
"I don't know," Luna said honestly.
"I know there was a time when I questioned everything about it..."
"Kick Genom ass, save the world, it seems pretty reasonable," Luna mused. "But then when all of this intrigue bullshit gets mixed in, I start to worry."
"That always makes it hard. There's always someone out there pulling the strings. Hell, our fight may not even be with Genom, but with the people who think they can use Genom for their own benefit. Who try to control it. --But at the same time, at least here in Chicago, Genom itself's got enough crime and vice to keep you thinking they're evil. I can't prove it yet, but I think the president and VP of research had a hand in a few murders..."
"That wouldn't surprise me."
"No, it wouldn't. Or it shouldn't, really."
"I've heard plenty to prove that Kohl is a pansy, but I don't think he slept his way to the top like Carter."
"It's a front. Kohl may not like getting his hands dirty, but he can call for a murder in a hearbeat. And Carter's a real piece of work, too. She's so deep into Genom, I'm surprised she's not brown."
"Or maybe it's not a front...maybe someone is pulling the strings for him in order to make sure he stays on top."
Crimson stopped short. "Good insight."
Luna looked at him. "Think about it. He's too visible to be the real leader of that coalition of his. Too likely to get shot."
"Boomer doubles and bodyguards," Crimson reminded her.
"I've thought about it often. Hase's got too many enemies to be calling the shots herself...or maybe they're both smarter than we give them credit, and they really are in charge. Playing ice queen and political man-whore just to make everyone think they're figureheads. And Carter, now...I haven't given her much study but I've heard that she might have been behind Sansweet's fall from grace."
"I've heard the same thing." They stood at the doorway to the lab when a ripple shot through the air, and for a split second Crimson saw a hardsuit melt into nothing. Then it slipped back into being, fluid yet thick like molasses, on the other side of the room. He looked at Luna. "Did you feel that?"
"Um, yeah, and the colors...! It always gets me like that!" Artemis jumped up and down like a hyperactive child.
"Let me guess: the time key?"
"Don't be so surprised, Crimson," Jinks said. "But it is quite impressive, I'll admit."
He looked at Luna. "Stops time, doesn't it?"
"Not stop time, but operate outside of it...or at least that's what we think..."
"It's very complex," Jinks interjected. "It could operate on one of a hundred principles--"
"No no no! You gotta watch Star Trek, I'm telling you! They talk about this Very Exact Thing..."
"Will you stop it with the Star Trek nonsense?" Luna growled.
"Yes, please. I deal in the real world."
Artemis gave her a dirty glare. Crimson quickly stepped in: "Okay, new ground rule. If another Raven and another Knight start fighting, they will both be cleaning out the birdcages with a toothbrush." Jinks looked dumbly at Crimson. "Your daughter and Sailormoon."
"Why does that not surprise me, Crim?"
"No, I'm serious...it opeates on a fundamental instability in the spacetime continuum, either tearing the fabric of space or else simply moving through it - my Athmari ain't so good when it comes to physics - and it simply takes the mass around it to wherever the exit point of the flow happens to be!"
"Ah." Jinks did not seem convinced.
"Whaaat? I'm serious! They talk about it all RIGHT IN this one episode....uhm...oh which one was it..."
"I believe you, Artemis," Crimson said. "Now what about the power drain it causes?"
Artemis jumped up suddenly. "The one where they're escaping from the Jem'Hadar prison planet and Shanin's uniform gets all ripped! Gawd I'm so good!"
"Grow up, kid," Jinks snapped.
"Oh, I don't know about the power drain. The way I figure it, they have it too...they're always complaining about how there's not enough power for this or that because of the spacetime flux equipment and the temporal shielding..."
"And your suits have both?"
"No, not shielding. Uhmmm...that's how they manage to be impervious to all of the regular phasers and photon torpedoes from Old-Trek."
"I was saying that before we went to Never-Never Land," Jinks sighed. "They're using the old Stingray batteries; that might be one of the reasons. This thing sucks up so much juice that I had to hook it up to the base power grid to get the light show. Or, of course, you can believe him; might as well believe that we're the ghosts of dead people while you're at it."
"Some of us are, Jinks," Crimson said with a smile. "So it's hooked up to our grid now? Okay, Arty, tell me how you use this thing in battle."
"You're kidding," Jinks said. "This thing is a one-way-only escape route. There's no way they're going to drag this thing into battle and then out again."
"We were told that our batteries were deliberately underpowered to reduce the chance of the suits going rogue," Luna said evenly.
"It's a myth. We've been able to run our suits for far longer without any problems. I can have Jinks give you the specs. And Jinks, do you think you can find a way to increase Pluto's power? Maybe give her something extra? I don't want her injured due to Sylia's pride."
"Sure. I think we can give her life and maybe one weapon... If we configure it to use cloaking that's a little different, but I'm sure we can do something."
"Yeah, she can still move and fight, barely..."
"And she's the best we have. No one else could have taken it." Luna said.
"I see." Crimson looked at the key, then nodded. "We'll do our best to help her."
If I can keep the base from exploding or a civil war from breaking out at the same time...
///
Damn, that Boomer is even more annoying than most, Ada thought. She was beginning to hate Erik's redheaded secretary more by the second. She ignored the Boomer and walked into his office without knocking.
"Miss Inho."
"Nice to see you again."
"A pleasure as always."
"I've made some headway..." she said, but was quickly cut off.
"I take it you have a good reason for reporting in a day late...after intentionally interfering with a Genom employee's attempt to capture the Ravens." Erik's voice was softly threatening.
"She was going to fail miserably." Ada lit a cigarette.
"True. However, she is still owed all due cooperation."
"If I had cooperated, you would have never gotten this vid." Erik raised an eyebrow. She popped the casing of her recorder. "Audio-video recording of the fight, and the aftermath."
"Thank you..." Ada sat down across from his desk and blew smoke into the air. "Anything else to report?"
"They trust me a little. Just watch the video."
He slid it into his laptop. Ada watched Erik's face assume practically every expression of emotion possible as the video played. "Well?"
"I...see." Going to have to find that ADP officer later. What was his name? Jenkins? "Did any of the ADP see her face?"
"Not so far as I know. I could hack in and find out...?"
"Do it." He thought a moment, then added, "Erase any recordings if you can find them. We've already got someone claiming to have seen a dead man...with any luck they won't pay much heed to unsubstantiated reports."
Ada slapped in her cybermodem. The environment of the ADP mainframe was very structured and organized, a room filled with filing cabinets. "Oh, please..." She first checked for references to Hase Kant. The ADP had already checked with her home in Michigan and found 'her' there, and so they were assuming that the woman responsible for the destruction was a rogue Boomer duplicate of her.
"I've found something mentioning a 'Boomer duplicate'. Shall I delete them?"
"Of whom?"
"Hase Kant."
"No. That's our cover story."
Then it's clean."
"Good. References to the identities of the Ravens?"
"Yeah. A Shaine Kohl, and an Omar Melendez. Relative?"
He didn't answer. "Delete the information on Shaine. Remove the information on Melendez as well if you have to to make it clean..."
She took the papers out of the cabinet and burned them, then wrote "Hedgemon" with the ashes. "Done."
"Are you familiar with Melendez at all?"
"Never met him."
"Ah."
"Now... is Kant here?"
"Not at the moment."
"Hmm... Lemme guess. She left in a huff because your agent helped to foil her plan."
"Not...quite."
"Am I close?"
"...Somewhat. I had to order her three Boomers this time."
"For what? Sexaroids, or... dinner?"
"Ms. Kant has late-stage Boomer syndrome. It takes...considerable stimulation to get her in the mood." From the sour look on his face, she assumed that he had personally found that to be a problem. Ada chuckled.
She took a long drag on the cigarette and let the ashes drop on the floor. "Heh. Thank you for not breathing while I smoke..."
"I was just wondering when I should schedule my lung replacement."
"I'm sure that's not a problem... Just hope you don't get a ripperdoc."
"That should not be a problem. My med-Boomer is qualified for everything and up to a full-body transplant."
Ada suddenly sat up very straight. "Ooh, now I know where I've seen you before! Have you ever been to Night City?"
"Yes..." Oh, dear God.
"I remember you from the Totentanz!"
"Erm...yes. Mardg talked me into that." May Mardigian burn in hell. His hand twitched.
"Heh. I waited your table."
"It was...quite an experience."
"Gods, wasn't that a long time ago..."
"That would have been right about when Shaine started dating that Shang fellow..." There was a thoughtful look on Erik's face. "I about wanted to drink myself under the table during that."
"That's not the place to do it. They slit the throats of the intoxicated."
"Good thing I stopped, then." A Cheshire Cat grin slowly appeared on his face.
"Now what passage of the Book of E-Ville hast thou read this time..." Ada caught herself.
"Remind me sometime to show you the results from series 84-RPM sometime...codeword is 'ashes of dead lovers'..."
"Certainly. What is it?"
He blinked. "Well. I can't tell you exactly what it is...but the interesting part is how we got it..."
She facefaulted. "Who did you hire?"
"We bought out the entire FBI for that one. ...And Ginny Lee had a hand in it too..."
"G-Ginny L-Lee?"
"Yes..."
"Can you bring in a Boomer?"
He puzzled over that for a moment, then pressed a button on his laptop. The secretary walked in.
Ada blasted it several times with her MA rounds. Erik looked down at the bleeding, twitching pile of Boomer wordlessly. Ada handed him a check. "Sorry."
"I take it I said something wrong."
"Oh, nothing major... Did Ginny have a message for me?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"She usually leaves stuff encoded," Ada pressed.
"Hm. I'll have to check, then." He didn't look very pleased. Ada smirked.
Erik absentmindedly picked up the phone and punched a few buttons. "Yes...yes. I've been notified of a potential contamination of 84-RPM. Have the subject checked. --Yes, the bodies too. Now. Thank you."
"She's almost as good as myself."
He put the phone down. "I can only hope so. Though that may be why most of the subjects failed..."
"Did she leave contact info?"
"Yes. A cell phone number."
"Might I see it?"
He went back to the laptop, and wrote down a number a moment later, then passed the slip of paper to Ada. She dialed. "The Black Hit of Space/Sucking in the human race/How can it stay at the top/When it's swallowed/All the shops? ...Whoo... Arigatou, Erik-san."
"Bitte." He leaned in slightly, a faint smile forming, and was about to say something when he saw Carter in the doorway. Ada lit another cigarette.
"Have a new play toy and forgot to invite me, Erik-poo?"
"I'm so sorry, Ms. Carter... I thought you'd prefer something new, not used. After all, even Mason doesn't like to share..."
Ada drew her gun and aimed at Carter. "Play toy?"
Carter sighed. "True. But oh, she's very feisty... So what are you up to, Erik?"
"Only a little family matter. No need to get involved."
Ada fired a parabellum round past her head. She barely flinched, but her eyes seemed to glow yellow.
"Heh. Boomer.Or at least enhanced." She tapped more ashes onto the carpeting.
"Genom family or personal?"
"Not 'your' family, don't worry." He smiled tersely.
"Mind if I sit in anyway?"
"Not at all. Was there anything more, Ms. Inho?"
"Not unless you want to tell me what 84-RPM is, and whether Ginny left a message or not."
"Heh. Fair enough. Why don't we go see if they've found one or yet..." He stood. "But you'll have to put the cigarette out."
"And the firearm; we are still a place of business," Carter added.
Ada put the cigarette out on her flesh arm, without flinching, and made it disappear. Then she followed him back into the labs. Erik used a handprint and retinal scan to open one; Ada recorded the serial numbers. Steel's going to have some fun with this recording.
She walked in with Carter practically glued to her back, and watched Erik pull up a file series on the Replicant series he'd mentioned. "Access restricted. Voice verification required," the computer droned.
He put his hand on the palmreader by the console. "Ashes of dead lovers." The screen blinked and then began running physical readouts of a male Replicant, with several codes at the bottom that Ada didn't recognize.
"As I said, I'm afraid I can't explain what the 84-RPM was designed to do. However, if you happen to run into Shaine again..."
"We seem to run in the same circle..."
Carter looked at Erik sternly. He tapped a few more buttons and a data screen appeared.
"You might ask her who he was."
"Hm." Former head of GenChem in Albuquerque. Wonder what he is to her.
Ada frowned suddenly. Arm feels funny... There was a tapping on the opaqued glass of a large viewing window, and she felt the Arm try to lift itself of its own volition, practically wrenching her organic shoulder out of its socket. The weapons systems inside it activated. Carter pressed a gun to her shoulder.
"Oh, God... Steel! Show yourself!" What the fuck is he doing to me?
"He has her, Erik!" Carter hissed.
"Steel?" Erik gave her a puzzled look.
"Let the woman go and I won't kill you, Shang. Or her," Carter added as an afterthought.
Ada looked at the window, and then tried to aim at it. Her Arm felt heavy, and she was barely able to swing it away from Erik. Carter snatched up the remote for the window in her other hand and the opaquing snapped off. A wiry young Asian man, hair dyed blond, stared intently at Ada.
"Kssou. Erik, down!" He scowled and went outside.
Carter shook her head and pushed a button on the console. He slumped against the wall and slid out of view.
"Carter!" Erik bellowed. "You didn't use the Omnitaser did you? You know what that does to him!"
"No. Local EMP; should keep him from being a bad boy."
From the tone and volume Ada had to assume that Erik was swearing, but she didn't recognize any of it.
"Now, now, none of that," Carter sighed. I wonder if he speaks that way to his Boomers? "And you, Miss Inho, you've been a bad girl."
She struggled to lower her Arm, which was still stiff but not fighting her anymore. It moved almost normally. "Fuck...off... ...Ite... What the flying fuck was that?" Erik said nothing. "Answer me?"
"Miss Inho, there are some things that even you and your Raven masters should not know."
She turned on Carter. "Are you trying to recreate the Brela?"
"Brela? God, no," Erik muttered.
Carter grinned evilly. "Even if we are, Miss Inho, we cannot discuss such matters or share them with you."
"Anything but the Brela again."
"That may be what you get, Erik," Ada said. "Anything." She heard a shuffling from the next room, followed by what sounded like Shang falling back to the floor.
"Well...he's not brain dead this time."
"There is nothing wrong with the project," Carter huffed.
"Except you hired Ginny. She's a cyberbiologist. She'd be able to recode some of...that...into a message. And it would fuck up your experiments."
"Yes...that reminds me." Erik walked back in and headed for the computer console. "If there is a message, our lab boys couldn't find it. Or it was damaged in the transferrance."
"Lemme look at the chromosomal sequence."
Erik frowned. "No...one of the others did contain a message." He turned the screen toward Ada: 84-RPM-3.2 seq 5 - YUAN. "That one died on the table."
"Yuan. Dear gods... Did she choose this target?"
"No."
Carter frowned at them. "Erik, I must warn you, you are coming dangerously close to jeopardizing your career."
"And you are being far too conservative to get results. You won't get anywhere hanging on to Quincy's apron strings."
"She's been seen with the Ravens, and as far as we know she's working for them and not us."
"They haven't paid me," Ada growled.
"And she has brought me a recording of the battle at the museum...and her experiences in the Ravens' base afterward. Not to mention destroying the ADP's recordings of Shaine in a Raven hardsuit."
"Both of those could be ruses. Yet you just lead her into a restricted area - one that, I remind you, only a few should have ever seen--"
"Goddamn... she's in... Kssou!"
"May I remind you how easily Shaine ripped through our firewalls? The Ravens could have this any time they wanted. Because of your lax security setup, might I add."
"Shaine's a hacker? Heh. Bet she uses keyboards..." Ada waved her hand.
"If you were serious about protecting this, it would be offline."
"She had your codes, Erik."
"And yes, Ms. Inho, she does indeed use a keyboard. I would still give good odds she's better than you, though."
"Heh. I'll have to judge for myself."
"You know the orders we have in regards to that--"
"And Ms. Carter...she does not have any of my current passwords, and all of them are codephrases she would not connect with me. It's been that way since she broke President December." And yes, I know you know about her getting into my personal files.
"I'll approve the changes," Carter said grudgingly.
Ada slid her cybermodem in. "Ah, ah, ah, Ms. Inho..."
"Monitor me if you want to. I've got to find Lee."
"I'll need approval to have Hase's security team granted access. And go ahead, Ms. Inho. All of your activities will be logged."
Tap... tap... tap... tap... tapwokwhopwhopwhopppppppp...
Erik sighed. "Remind me to take away his toys when he doesn't need them."
Ada blurred through Albuquerque, Night City, and Tokyo, subtly leaving messages for the Bright Lancers and BL Old Guard as she went. "Damn. She's not there, there, there... Le's try... No, no, no, no... ah-HAH!" She darted past Erik and toward the door. "Seeyoulater.Can'tstay,mustgoandstopLeefromleaving..."
"Just a moment Ms. Inho!" Erik grabbed her flesh arm. "What is going on?"
"Ginnyishere,Imuststopher.She'sthereasonwhyyourexperimentsfail."
A voice came from behind the glass. "What... You... Say!"
"She's playing you for a fool, Erik." Carter put her gun to Ada's head; Ada grabbed it and crushed it.
Erik pressed the intercom button to Evon's office. "Halas, bring the leash."
Ada stopped. "Waittaminute... Is there an intercom into that room?"
"Yes."
"Give me a reason--"
"Lemme use it really fast!" Erik stepped back and she stepped up to the console. "How are you gentlemen! All your base are belong to us!"
"A...da... Make your time..."
"Erik, call security!"
"Zig! Forty-two!"
"You know what your doing! Take off every zig!" Well, he's awfully enthusiastic...wonder if he's still all there... "Someone set up us the bomb!"
Carter glared at Erik, but did nothing. Shang began to sing off-key. "You're not the boss of me noooow..."
He suddenly popped up at the bottom of the window, staring at Ada again. "Well...if you ever want a job as an animal tamer, Ms. Inho, we offer a competitive salary..." Erik started as the door chimed.
"They're boarding up the synagogues/Uzis on a street corner."
"I'm fed up with...small-time hustles...I'm too good to waste my talent for greed..." His voice was improving; he had to have had some sort of formal training before being captured by Genom.
Carter opened the door for Evon. "What do you want?"
"Brought the leash." He held up a headset made of some writhing, gunmetal grey material.
"So if you want my address, it's number one at the end of the bar!/Where I sit with the broken angels/clutching at straws, and nursing our scars."
Shang blinked. Ada nodded.
Evon stared. "I haven't seen him that tame in a while..."
"Never mind. We've got it under control...you can go now." Erik glared at him darkly; he shrugged and wandered out.
Ada tipped an imaginary hat. "Be seeing you." She turned around."I thought I recognized that... Arigatou, Carter-sama, and Kohl-sama." She bowed.
"I don't care, Inho! I don't trust you, nor do I like the fact that you're even here. But trust me, if you fail me - or Erik - you will not live to regret it."
"Let's get this straight, shall we? You. Are. Paying. Me. Me. Loyal. To. You. Not. Scary. Ravens."
"Pa-thetic Earthlingggg...your feeble words do not a-muse meeee..."
Carter's finger went toward the console again, an evil grin on her face. "No," Erik growled.
"We get signal. Move zig!"
Shang looked at her with childlike fascination, the first emotion he'd shown. "I've had people walk out on me before but not when I was being so charming."
"Sorry. You just took over my Arm, is all..."
"Well, I am fairly evil..."
"...But I've been happily married to my wife, Linda, for over six years now." Space Ghost! "You have no idea."
"Erik, darling, I suggest we move this to another part of the Tower - before I fry poor Shang for the hell of it."
"Who all here is evil? Sound off!" He looked at Carter. "You're as harmless as a baby's...butt."
"I'm 1/16 evil," Ada offered.
"I'm going to have to go with Shang on this one," Erik said.
"Seeeeeee?" He had stopped blinking and was simply staring intently at Carter. "I will eat your liver with some fava beans and a fiiine Chiantiiii... oh and some gum!"
Carter rolled her eyes. He started blinking like Zorak. "Not if I eat yours first."
Why do I get the feeling she really would? Erik thought.
"Thp-thp-thp-thp-thp!"
"Well, it's been fun, Erik, but I really ought to be going."
"Nah, nah, nah...I've never felt this way before - with a human. Swear!"
"Quiet, you, or I will find a way to make you feel a great deal of pain!" Carter stormed out.
Ada turned back to Shang and delivered her parting shot: "The Invasion of the Gabber Robots from the Laziest Men on Mars!" Then she left.
///
"I'm here." The Shaine copy was not his own personal one, but one of several kept for this sort of occasion. He figured Shang had earned it; it was the first time in days that he'd spoken.
And if Cryptography could just get a handle on it, he would at least have some clue as to what Inho was thinking. They'd never met before, so he couldn't be passing secret messages back to the Ravens - even if he knew where Shaine really was. He lead the Boomer back into the lab and let her in. Shang never bothered to try to kill him when he brought that visitor.
"Shaine...?" The transfer Replicant reached out to touch her face. He'd probably spend a good half hour just trying to convince himself of what he was seeing. One time he'd spent twice that simply examining her toes. Erik set a monitor to alert him when Shang fell asleep and walked out.
Now, if only he could figure out what to do with himself.
///
A couple of Carter's goons made sure that Ada's exit was swift and uneventful; after getting rid of them she used her rippers to write "Fuck off!" in Japanese on the concrete outside the building and headed for the coffeeshop where, hopefully, Ginny was still waiting.
At the shop, she quickly spotted Ginny near the back. There you are, bitch!
"Hello, Gin!"
"Hello, Ada." She smiled.
"I got the message. Really creative place to hide it..."
Ginny leaned over the table and smiled. "Well, it's been too long, and I knew you wouldn't just come look me up for old times' sake."
"I might have, but...well..." Ada laughed. "So..."
Ginny smiled darkly and sat back. "And I just knew you wouldn't be able to pass up what I've just found..."
"Really?"
She smiled even more. "I wonder if I should tell you..." The tips of her fingernails drummed against the table idly.
"Well, you do owe me for that rescue back at the Morellos'."
"Hmmm." She drew a slip of paper out of her jacket and toyed with it, pretending to be deep in thought.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ada saw two of the Genom security goons walk into the coffeeshop. "Uh oh..."
The paper went back into her pocket. "What?"
"Gin, you're gonna owe me again. Le's exit stage right..."
Ginny followed, frowning. "So are you going to explain or does that cost extra?"
"What do you think?" Goon Number One was still looking at the prices, while Goon Number Two surveyed the crowd. Two was about 6'3" and looked like he could bench press about what Ada weighed. One was dark-skinned and slightly smaller - but only slightly.
"Heh."
"Genom." Ada spared a brief, disgusted look toward the white-suited men. "Kinda makes you want to fight one, neh?"
"Ohhh, yeah."
She slipped into the bathroom and then dragged a chair underneath the window. It looked uncomfortably small...but no time to complain. Ada rammed her cyberarm into it, then swept away the glass shards and squeezed through, sucking in her breath. She landed roughly on the pavement below. "Ooof. C'mon!" She saw another man in a white suit at the end of the alley but he was looking the other way.
Ada slipped down the alley without looking to see if Ginny was behind her, then turned the corner and looked around again. "Hm...think we lost 'em. --Ginny? Fuck!" There was no one there.
She kept looking as long as she dared, but the whitesuits were making her jumpy. Finally, muttering under her breath, she made her way back to her apartment and tried to locate Ginny from there. She found no trace: no hotel, no car, no record of departure by plane or train that had Ginny's characteristic stamp on it. She wasn't back at the Tower. In fact, Ada found no record of her having been in the city at all.
She spent the rest of the day in a very bad mood.