Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species
Part 1: Stripes in the Jungle
Chapter 6: Bull's Eye
by P. Kristen Enos (bgcpost2040@aol.com)
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A Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 English Dub Version Fanfic. All rights belong to AIC, ADV Films and the other creative powers that be. I just want credit for writing the story. Contains spoilers! Rated PG13. Yuri warning! Nothing in here should be a shock if you've watched the episodes and paid attention. All I'm doing is filling in the gaps with my own interpretation of events! Special thanks to egret for betaing!
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Linna stared at the numerous stacks of boxes labeled with a variety of apparel items in the space that was once, and will soon be again, The Silky Doll.
"My God!" she declared out loud in amazement, "Is Sylia opening a clothing store or a warehouse outlet?!"
When she agreed to help, she hadn't expected that such a huge volume would be involved. No wonder Sylia was taking such a long time to move back to Tokyo.
"Silly, most of it's lab equipment," Nene remarked as she walked by with a box marked 'Lingerie'. "I think I finally understand why she has a storefront. She couldn't ship all of this stuff here without causing suspicion otherwise."
Linna wisely kept her mouth shut as she looked at the transparent wall separating the interior of the building from the large aquarium that Sylia also used as a personal pool. The exotic fish swam around in their own bliss, creating the surreal but soothing atmosphere that hid well the building's darker secrets.
"Hi, Linna!" Mackie Stingray called out as he appeared from the women's dressing room, which was the front for the secret elevator to the laboratories below. As usual, the apparent teenager with the bushy, dark brown hair greeted her with genuine cheerfulness. "I like your haircut!"
"Thanks, Mackie. I was afraid I made a mistake but now I'm already used to it. So where's Sylia?"
"Down in Lab Three. She said to send you down there as soon as you got here."
"Lab Three? I thought there was only one lab."
"Sis decided to make some modifications since she had to rebuild this place from scratch anyway."
"Yeah, like making sure the swimming pool cover shuts automatically when this place is in defense lock-down," Nene commented, referring to the unfortunate oversight in the original design that had allowed rampaging boomers to invade and destroy the building.
"Don't remind me," Linna said with a nervous giggle. "I still have nightmares about that one. Is anyone else here?"
"Just Henderson," Mackie answered as he easily picked up a suspiciously heavy looking box. "He just told us lunch should be ready soon so you arrived just in time."
"Good! I love his cooking," she declared as she walked to the dressing room. "I'm off to see Sylia."
She walked through the dressing room to the large mirror. After pressing the hidden button, the mirror slid aside, revealing the familiar glass elevator, ready to take her to the floors down in the depths of Tokyo.
The new labs were apparently two additional floors below the main lab, where Sylia had housed her former Knight Sabers operations, and where Linna had met the team as a whole for the first time four years ago. Curiousity getting the better of her, Linna pushed the button for Lab Two, but it didn't light up, showing Sylia's ever present security precautions. Realizing she would just have to be patient because the answer would come sooner or later, Linna pushed the button for Lab Three and waited in the elevator as it descended.
The elevator opened to reveal a spacious room with a low ceiling and numerous unopened crates and boxes patiently waiting in the middle. Long, silver hair loosely pinned up and dressed in coveralls over a tank top, Sylia stood in the middle, focused on operating a motorized dolly by remote control to move a large box from the freight elevator. Ever aware of her environment, she was not at all surprised to see Linna appear from the elevator, greeting her with a pleased smile.
Like Priss, Sylia wasn't a phone or letter person by nature so their quality time together over the past three years had been a personal visit every three or four months just to catch up with each other's lives and confirm the fact they were indeed friends. Of all of the Knight Sabers, the Galatea crisis had been the hardest personal challenge for Sylia. After all, it had been her personal cross to bear ever since she was a child, when her own father used her brain as the foundation for the experiments leading to the creation of Galatea and Mackie. Linna noticed that even though on the surface Sylia had always presented a bubbly, overtly friendly charm to strangers, in private she was a source of hatred and rage at her imposed legacy.
Although she had never witnessed it personally, Linna had heard from Nene and Mackie that Sylia used to have dangerous and spontaneous tantrums at the time Galatea was starting to resurface. Now that Galatea was gone, Sylia seemed to have reached a deep peace within herself, and it showed in a genuine easy manner which was her standard demeanor for everyone now.
"Hello," Sylia said, greeting her friend warmly with a long hug. Then she ran her fingers sensually through the other woman's hair, causing Linna to blush, before saying, "It's good to see you."
"You look incredible, as always," Linna commented genuinely as they parted. "Are you sure you want to move? The country life was apparently good for you."
Sylia just gave her the usual enigmatic smile as she shrugged and said, "I'm a city girl at heart. And I miss my shop."
"Oh, yes. Your hobby," Linna teased as she leaned against a nearby box marked 'Undergarments.'
"One of them," Sylia added as she turned her attention back to the dolly. "By the way, you can help me with unpacking these boxes. I want to make certain the movers didn't damage anything. You can use this packing knife and check off the items listed on this pad. But be careful when you open the boxes. The contents are extremely special to me."
"Of course," Linna said as she took the offered knife and began the task of helping her friend settle back home. "So why the extra lab space?"
"My latest hobby."
As soon as she said that, Linna lifted the cardboard flap to find a neatly packed assortment of pistols. She almost jumped back in surprise. "Sylia, these are guns!"
"They're not loaded," she answered, with the slight quirk of a smile on her lips, as if Linna had stepped right into a set up for a personal joke. "But that doesn't mean I want you to drop them either."
Linna assessed the surrounding boxes and crates with new wonder. "Are all of these guns?"
"Most," she answered casually. "An assortment of rifles and handguns. The rest of the boxes contain either display shelves or the equipment for a shooting range."
Her friend was at a momentary loss of what to say. She knew she shouldn't be shocked by a woman who single-handedly designed and developed combat armor but the concept of being interested in such weapons still eluded her. "B-But, why?"
"I've developed a certain scientific fascination with the mechanics of firearms. Plus, I realized it's a skill that could be handy to have. You never know." Then seriously assessing her friend's stunned reaction, Sylia tilted her head curiously at her and asked, "Are you all right with this? You could go help Nene or Mackie instead if that would make you more comfortable. I just wanted your company since it would take me a while to unpack and set everything up. And having two of us would complete the job that much faster."
Linna shook herself out of her amazement and said, "No, I'm fine. Just a little startled is all."
As she began gingerly to pull out the pistols, checking them for potential damage and placing them in an organized fashion on the floor, Linna chuckled to herself at her own reaction.
Even though Sylia was the epitome of femininity most of the time, she was a person who could hold her own in a physical fight. When Linna had first met Sylia, she had thought the other woman was the brains, strategist and financial backer of the Knight Sabers, leaving the actual fighting to the rest of the team. Linna remembered the time when the A.D. Police had ambushed her, Priss and Nene, apparently setting them up for the kill. Sylia shocked everyone by appearing on the scene in her own hard suit and single-handedly sending the A.D. Police running for their lives. Combat was obviously something Sylia was quite familiar with, so extending her interests and skills to firearms shouldn't have been too shocking. A part of Linna thought that perhaps Sylia's weapons oriented interests would have disappeared with the closure on Galatea but apparently not, adding to the enigma which was Sylia Stingray.
Once again, Linna thought Nigel was an extremely brave man to be involved with such a woman. It's probably just as well that he didn't talk much because she couldn't imagine what an argument between the two of them would be like, or if he would survive one, especially when her temper was more volatile.
"You know," Linna mused out loud, "I've always envied your ability to be curious about things and create your own passions."
Sylia quirked an eyebrow before commenting. "Everything I do has a purpose. I am never interested in something just for the sake of it."
"Do you ever miss the Knight Sabers?"
"No," Sylia answered, not looking up from her own task of piloting the dolly through the maze of boxes. "It was a cross I bore for far too long, and I'm quite pleased to have that chapter of my life over with. It's nice to do things which are important because I created that importance for myself instead of having someone else create it for me."
"I'd be happy enough to have just one hobby at this point, regardless of how I got into it to begin with."
"I hear a tone of discontent."
Linna sighed and admitted, "I'm feeling frustrated, I guess. Without the Knight Sabers, I feel like I'm at a loss for something to strive for."
Sylia was quiet for a long time, seemingly occupied with maneuvering the dolly. "What kept you motivated when you were in Osaka?"
"The idea that I would be coming back to Tokyo. Now that I'm here, I don't know what else to look forward to. I just want to be something other than be an O.L., where I serve tea or do boring computer work all day."
"Ah. Well, you could always work in my shop. I've always found it to be a fun past time. A lot of sexy women are my customers," she added with a sly grin.
"A fun past time? I thought you didn't do anything without a reason."
"It's a safe outlet for me to make certain I behave myself otherwise."
Her friend smirked and said, "I often wonder if you'd be completely lesbian if Nigel wasn't in your life." Of course, part of that assessment was due to the fact that even though Sylia openly flirted and teased women, she never gave the same treatment to any man - save her Nigel, and only in private.
The woman in question said nothing but a mild smile curved the corners of her mouth in response.
"You know, while we're on the subject, I wish you would come out to Nene one of these days," Linna remarked. "I used to think it was cute that she's clueless but it's starting to become... awkward."
"I would say something if it was ever relevant. I have no reason to, and she's never asked."
Linna frowned. "You'll tease her by threatening to kiss her, but you won't just say that you're bisexual?"
Sylia turned and focused completely on the other woman, planting a hand on her hip for emphasis. "Dear, if she hadn't figured it out after I threatened to kiss her, then I would think that stating it so blatantly would be an insult to her intelligence."
"Oh, so you'll only do it if you can make her squirm in the process?"
Sylia paused as if to contemplate that statement for a moment before the most devious glint sparkled in her eyes. "Well, I could say it this way when we sit down for lunch: Nene, I just want to let you know that night during the Galatea crisis, when I pretended I was going to kiss you, Mackie was wrong to give you the impression I was only kidding. In fact, I actually had a drunk make-out session with Linna three hours later. -- " The other woman whipped up her head in alarm as Sylia continued her mock speech, "-- By the way, Mackie, please pass the soy sauce. -- And while I'm telling you this, I do want to say that when she's tipsy, Linna's quite the incredible ki-"
"ALL RIGHT! YOU MADE YOUR POINT!" the other woman blurted, but not quick enough to stop her entire face from turning crimson. She actually had rather fond memories of that moment. It was something that unexpectedly happened and was mutually stopped before it got too out of hand, but it was one thing she definitely didn't think Nene needed to know.
Linna paused and lifted her head questioningly. "Wait a minute, you're actually suggesting I work in the Silky Doll?!"
"I've seen you read those fashion magazines so you can't tell me you'd be unknowledgeable," she responded with the faint hint of a tease. "Or do you just buy them for the pictures?"
Linna felt herself blush from head to toe as a reaction, even though she wasn't willing to entertain just how accurate Sylia's comment may be. After all, even though she did dress up on occasion, the idea of comfort usually dictated her own personal fashion sense. Since she wore an office uniform all day, she didn't want to spend her personal time in skirts and hosiery any more than she had to.
"Thanks but I don't think I have the sales girl demeanor in me. Actually, I've been thinking taking about taking up judo again."
Sylia mulled that over and remarked, "Handy skill to have. Always room for growth. But no guarantee of the sexy women. I pass."
"Oh and where are the sexy women when it comes to your latest hobby?" Linna said with a pointed wave at the surrounding boxes.
"You're here, aren't you?"
Sylia chuckled triumphantly to herself as Linna once again blushed but then reacted with a laugh of her own.
-- End Chapter 6 --
