Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species
Part 3: Casualties
Chapter 26: M.I.A.
by P. Kristen Enos (bgcpost2040@aol.com)
* * * * *
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!
* * * * *
Having been up most of the night, Kate Madigan let out a weary sigh as she walked into her dark office. There was one thing left to do before she could finally go home, unless this last task provided additional work, which was very possible. Once she sat down at her desk, she took off her glasses to rub her tired eyes and indulge in a yawn.
Before continuing with business, she paused and indulged in a moment of reflection on the two framed photos on her desk. The first one was only a month old, the latest picture of her son as he proudly posed in the full dress uniform of his military academy. The second photo was four years old, and even though it certainly wasn't the best picture, it was the most recent of her and her husband, Frederick, taken at a casual dinner party. Two weeks afterwards, Fred Sr. died suddenly of a heart attack.
Madigan remembered that period well since it was such a turning point in her life. Her entire world had felt dumped upside down, but she was determined not to suffer any of the emotional charity and pity given to widowed mothers. Her pain was a private matter, and the world didn't need to stick its nose in to any of it. She also didn't allow Fred Jr. to milk any of the similar pity given to only sons who lose fathers early in life. In Madigan's opinion, her son had become a stronger young man for it. She knew Fred Sr. would have approved.
And though she had always had a strong respect for Quincy, having been his executive aide for her ten year career at Genom Berlin, her appreciation for him tripled during this period, since he never lowered his expectations and standards for her job performance. In fact, he almost seemed to challenge her with tasks and seemed pleased that she fulfilled them. Even though Quincy himself was a strong family man, he also understood and accepted the harsh reality that the rest of the world didn't hold still while one overindulged in public weaknesses and vulnerabilities. He often said that humans are incredibly pompous to think they are really more civilized than animals in the jungle.
It was also good timing that the Boomer Revolution happened shortly after Fred Sr.'s death. The Genom Tower in Tokyo was destroyed, along with key executive personnel. Since it was the international headquarters, it was natural that the facilities be rebuilt and that Quincy would be the successor to replace his grandfather as head of the corporation. When Quincy told Madigan of the news that he would indeed relocate to Tokyo, he also asked her to relocate with him and continue her role as his executive aide. Madigan immediately accepted the offer, knowing that leaving the country would also be a chance to start her emotional life over with new challenges, especially since her son lived at the military academy and therefore she didn't feel held back with raising obligations for him. Even with this new chapter in her life, however, she would never give up Fred Sr., quite content in the knowledge that she had had the best husband and father possible and that anyone else would be a poor replacement.
With a deep sigh, Madigan finally turned her attention from the photos to the task at hand as she picked up her datapad. She then hit the buttons of her speakerphone to dial the phone number she had memorized, though rarely used.
Three rings passed before Quincy answered the line in an expectedly tired sounding voice for three o'clock in the morning call, "Hello?"
"Sir, it's Madigan. We had an unexpected turn of events."
There was a brief moment of silence before he answered in a much more alert tone, "Where are you calling from?"
"My office, Sir."
"Give me five minutes to call you back," he said, clearly not wanting to disturb his wife any more than was necessary.
"Yes, Sir."
So Madigan waited, feeling her personal sense of dread increase with each passing second. She had no personal tolerance for failure, and she knew Quincy had the same high standard. Still, what was done was done, and it was only a matter of moving forward.
Four minutes later, according to her desk clock, her phone rang.
"What happened?" Quincy immediately demanded in a low and clearly not happy tone.
"We're not quite certain, Sir," she answered, feeling herself wanting to squirm and fighting every instinct against it. "Everything progressed as planned with the deployment of Sylvie to the hospital. However, once she reached Yamazaki's room, her transmission feed went dead."
"What?!" he blurted in a clearly frank reaction. "How is that possible?"
Madigan grimaced, expecting the question. "Some transmission jamming device is the only thing we could conclude given how abrupt it was. And when we went to satellite monitoring, we found our network links to our satellites went down five minutes before. There is a separate team that has been trying to troubleshoot the matter and they're still not able to get a link established."
"And Sylvie?"
"We don't know yet, Sir. At the same time she stopped transmitting, our monitors tracking her vitals and location also stopped registering anything. I had a car dispatched to the hospital to do an onsite visual assessment. We have also been monitoring both the hospital communications as well as the police. Both networks confirm some sort of destructive and noisy disturbance but no clear details have surfaced yet. The dispatched team confirmed that there is a lot of activity at the hospital, including clear damage to some of the courtyard grounds as well as to the drainpipe next to Yamazaki's window. But there is no sign of Sylvie. At all. And none of the police transmissions indicate any awareness of her even though they're searching the hospital grounds for the cause of the disturbance. Even our police sources confirm that she's not in their custody."
Quincy was quiet for a long time before stating out loud, "How is it possible to lose a boomer like that?!"
While Madigan knew this was a question which bordered on the rhetorical, she wasn't quite confident in how she should answer, sensing the accurate signs of her boss's growing but still retained temper. "We're putting together a van of tracking equipment which should be ready within half an hour. We plan to have it search the hospital grounds and nearby neighborhood to see if we can pick up any boomer-type signals that Sylvie would emit."
"Do that. Dispatch as many vans as you need to comb the city if she's not found by daybreak," he said with a fierce determination. "And first thing in the morning, I want a team assigned to research ANY possible technology that is capable of defeating and retaining a boomer, plus any connections to who would have such technology. Someone managed to make complete and absolute fools of us! And I will not tolerate that! -- Madigan, once you've made all of the arrangements, go home and get some sleep. I don't plan to see you until after lunch at the earliest. I need you in top condition for this!"
"Yes, Sir."
She noticed that he hung up before she had completed her reply. Madigan finally let herself relax in her chair as she felt all of the tension start to release. It wasn't as bad as she feared, but it still wasn't the best.
She then picked up the phone to make more calls.
* * * * *
Quincy Rosenkreuz III stood in his private office at home and poured himself a glass of scotch with white-knuckled and shaky hands. He downed the glass in one gulp and then threw the thick container at his heavy oak desk, causing shards and wood splinters to fly upon impact. He followed up with a couple more throws of full decanters, leaving a mess of alcohol, glass and oak chips.
He then took a calming breath and smoothed back his hair and straightened his bathrobe. He emerged from his study to find half of his newly-awakened staff approaching in alarm.
"Sorry for waking all of you," he said with genuine sincerity. "Mr. Hino, make certain the mess is cleaned up in the morning. Now all of you go back to sleep."
The head servant bowed in acknowledgement as the onlookers made their way back to their respective rooms.
Quincy began his own walk back to his bedroom to find his alarmed wife Iris standing at their doorway.
"I'm sorry, Love," he said as he took her into his arms for a reassuring hug. "Just business matters. Nothing that concerns you."
-- End Chapter 26 --
