Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Fanfic Series

Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Files

Part 2: Hunters

Chapter 13: Eye of the Beholder

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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Quincy bowed deeply as he kissed the woman's hand. He was obviously pleased by the sight of the young woman, who was dressed in a fashionable dark suit with her hair stylishly pinned up to both accentuate her natural beauty and yet maintain an aura of a true business woman.

"I am extremely pleased to meet you, Ms. Chang," he declared, ignoring the curious looks from the other guests, a collection of the world's most powerful men from various governments, organizations and businesses. "I've heard many interesting things about Chang Enterprises as well as the Hou Bang Clan under your new leadership. I'm certain your father would be proud!"

The last comment almost seemed to crack the young woman's cool veneer but didn't completely succeed as she removed her hand and bowed in response. "I am certain all of my ancestors would be pleased to hear praise from such a prominent man as yourself, Mr. Rosenkreuz. We Changs take our duties seriously."

"Ah yes! And then I must also congratulate you on your engagement," he said, motioning to the diamond ring on her left hand. "You are truly the most dutiful daughter through and through."

There was something about his tone which made her slightly narrow her eyes at him but then the look passed as she bowed again and said, "Thank you, Mr. Rosenkreuz. Now, because all of us are busy people, shall we proceed with this mysterious demonstration?"

"Yes, of course!" he responded, unphased by her change of subject. "Sylvie, please escort, Ms. Chang to her chair."

Reika's eyes widened slightly as an extremely tall, beautiful Caucasian woman with wavy red hair and dressed in a green kimon stepped forward to make her presence known.

"Ms. Chang, this way please," she said in a naturally deep, sexy voice. Sylvie bowed briefly and motioned to the empty chair at the end of the row of prominent guests.

Once Reika sat down, she noticed that Sylvie remained beside her. There were three other similarly dressed, beautiful young woman who were positioned throughout the gathered crowd in the large and clean Tokyo warehouse.

Reika glanced at Kou, who sat nearby with the other bodyguards and assistants, motioning for him to remain alert. He gave a barely noticeable nod in response.

Quincy stood before his audience and spoke into the microphone he carried. "I thank you, gentlemen, and my fair lady, for your attendance this day. You are here to witness first hand the unveiling of our latest model which will revolutionize the concept of personal security as you may know it today. Anri, please pass out the data pads to our guests."

The head of Genom Corporation waited patiently as one of the kimono girls, this one was more petite with shoulder length brown hair, did as she was ordered with extremely efficient but pleasant demeanor.

Reika watched her and realized that there was just something odd about the girl, but she couldn't put her finger on just what, whether it was her movements, her demeanor, her looks, or all of them. Perhaps it had just been a while since she had allowed herself to really notice a beautiful woman. But then she thought to herself that can't be it because only a month had passed since Linna.

The last thought caused a slight spasm of pain which the woman immediately tried to suppress by refocusing on the situation at hand.

Sensing something odd, she glanced up to find that Sylvie had been watching her with a passive facial expression. When Reika openly looked back, the other woman continued to stare, but the slight movement in her green eyes showed that she was studying her guest, taking in every detail, no matter how minute. Feeling like she was under a microscope, Reika chose to ignore her as best as she could given the circumstances.

When Reika finally received a pad of her own, her eyebrows almost shot up at the title on the screen, which read 'Project: Human Target'. None of the buttons worked to display more info, which left the tantalizing title dominating the screen. From the murmurs coming out of the other guests, she could tell she wasn't the only one surprised and intrigued by what she saw.

Seeing that he once again had command of their attention, Quincy continued his speech, "When my grandfather led Genom Corporation, he made the mistake of ultimately ignoring the human factor in the evolution of boomer technology, which I have no intention of ever doing for myself or for the new Genom Corporation. It is for our purposes and needs that boomers were created to begin with. With that being stated, I ask you to imagine the ultimate bodyguard: trained in every combat and defense skill you require, always on alert, and unquestionably loyal. And those are just some of the highlights of our latest model. Sylvie, please come forward."

Reika breathed a silent sigh of relief that the woman with the unblinking stare was now occupied with something else.

With smooth strides, Sylvie took her place by Quincy as the center of attention.

"Sylvie, give me your robe."

There was a response of confusion mixed with even more intrigue from the audience as the young woman did what she was told, revealing that she wore nothing underneath to hide her lean, athletic body which nevertheless had curves in all the right places.

Reika arched her eyebrow but remained quiet, a contrast to the other audience members who uttered murmurs of approval.

"Sylvie, turn around."

The crowd, even Reika, let out a gasp of surprise at the sight of the woman's back, which was devoid of skin, showing a smooth covering of metal shaped with the appropriate bumps and lines to mimic the human anatomy. Quincy pulled out a small remote control from his pocket and pushed a button, causing the panel covering to flip open, revealing an extremely sophisticated display of circuitry.

"As you can see, my dear guests, Sylvie is a prime example of our new model, which combines the latest versions of our recreational boomer and combat boomer lines. She looks, sounds and even feels real. Sylvie, turn towards me and take ten steps back."

When she did what she was told, Quincy pulled out a pistol from within his blazer.

Seeing what was coming, Reika wanted to yell at him to stop, but she kept still, forcing herself to think over and over 'She's just a boomer. She'll be all right!'

With the aim of a marksman, Quincy fired three shots at his target. Sylvie stumbled back a step with each shot from the force of the impact. Otherwise, her expression and movements remained passive and still.

"Sylvie, turn to face our audience and bow."

She did what she was told, causing a large murmur of approval from the audience. Clearly oblivious to her lack of clothing and to the three black marks on her sternum, she stood by Quincy as he continued his presentation.

It was then that Reika noticed that the data pads now showed more information about Project: Human Target, namely a list of specifications which were labeled as required and customizable features, each model pitched as being built to order.

Again sensing something odd, Reika glanced up to see that Sylvie was staring at her once more. She glanced at the other kimono girls, which she assumed were also boomers, but each had a blank expression on her face as she stared forward, awaiting the next command.

This time, the woman felt considerably more unnerved as she tried to ignore the attention and refocus on reading the data pad.

-- End Chapter 13 --