Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Fanfic Series

Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species

Part 3: Casualties

Chapter 29: Invisible Chains

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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"There's no doubt about it," Nigel mused as he manually navigated the giant x-ray scanner over the boomer's torso. "It's definitely your father's design. The more sophisticated parts, anyway."

Standing nearby, Sylia's frown deepened more as she critically watched the intricate network of wires and components show up on the monitor. She then glanced up at the command booth overlooking the giant pit bay. "Nene, is this recording?"

The blond nodded through the window and said into the speakerphone, "I've tested the playback and it's being captured."

Mackey meanwhile was sitting next to his girlfriend and watching the monitors over her shoulder.

"You can tell that she started off a lot less sophisticated than where she is now," Nigel mused as he kept an eye on his scanner readings. "But even her base is pretty sophisticated by standards for pre-Revolution models. Whoever spearheaded her design and implementation knew what he or she was doing."

"What about the pieces that look they were directly from my father's design work?" Sylia asked, now looking at the boomer's body stretched out on the worktable.

In her shutdown state, Sylvie was completely still and staring blankly at the ceiling, looking like a dead body. She was still dressed in her casual outfit, which was dirty and torn in some places, and her hair was still bound in its ponytail although definitely not as neatly as before the fight. Some patches of her skin had been torn and cracked from the fight that early morning but they were minor cosmetic flaws in an otherwise perfect appearing woman. The only other thing which appeared unusual were the cables plugged into the adapter holes in the small, open panel on neck in order to keep her internal bio matter alive.

Sylia looked forward to pulling the plugs permanently once all of the necessary information had been retrieved.

"From what I can see right now," Nigel remarked, "Whoever implemented your father's design didn't completely know what he or she was doing, even though they probably had a good idea. There are some distinct pieces missing that will keep some of the added components from functioning at their full capacity. But they do have a lot of the important parts there; they just need to be tweaked a bit and fully connected."

"Then you think they were trying to develop a boomer which would match the sophistication level of Galatea?" Sylia asked, more than a little unnerved by the prospect.

"Obviously I can't tell if they were necessarily using her as the benchmark, but I'd say they're 75 percent there in terms of basic appearances and functionality, even with embedded components which make up the combat and recreational functionalities. They'd be up to 80 or even 85 percent if everything was hooked up properly."

Sylia clenched her fist and struggled to keep from slamming it through the monitor. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt calmer, barely, but her frustration remained. "Where did they get that information?! I personally swept through their entire network of databases and made sure all references to Galatea and myself were removed!"

Nigel frowned himself as he tried to think of how the information could have been uncovered. "Genom is good at keeping secrets from parts of itself. I wouldn't be surprised if there are independent networks to house such information, ones that you wouldn't have had access to unless you knew exactly where to look, if they're even externally accessible."

Sylia didn't like that answer but it probably had a lot of truth to it. "Nene, have you uncovered anything in your last sweep?"

"Nothing so far," the blonde's voice reported through the speaker. "There's no mention of this boomer or Project: Human Target anywhere. However, I did find something referring to a Data Recovery Project for the Tokyo Databases that were destroyed during the Galatea crisis. And that they found some files a few months ago that were apparently valuable but it wasn't documented as to exactly what was in them. Genom's concept of Top Secret puts a lot of governments to shame."

Sylia shook her head adamantly. "I swept through that data too and made certain the information was unsalvageable. I even went through their back-up databases in Berlin and New York," Sylia insisted as she hugged herself, taking extra care to gingerly avoid the injured side of her rib cage. "Galatea and I should not exist anymore as far as Genom is concerned."

Nigel noticed her careful movements out of the corner of his eye but said nothing as he continued to pilot the scanner. "Well, it's possible they could have found someone who was extremely knowledgeable about the project and is still alive. But I can't think of anyone who fits that last part - besides me, of course. And if your sweep got rid of all documentation, that person would have to produce the design specs from memory, which would be impossible."

"Sylia, what about me?" Mackey asked through the microphone. "Did you do a file sweep for references to me?"

Sylia took in his question with a stunned silence that was emphasized by the embarrassed blush on her cheeks. She then leaned wearily against the table as she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Of all things..." she murmured to herself.

Nigel gave her a brief look before returning his attention to scanning, while Mackey let out a deep sigh.

Confused by the pause in the conversation, Nene frowned and looked at everyone. "So are we saying that Sylvie is actually based off of Mackey's design and not Galatea?"

"Now that I'm looking at it from that angle," Nigel admitted, "There are some components and wiring specs in her core structure that we had considered to be superficial and unnecessary that we identified in Mackey and therefore purposefully cut from our design of Galatea. We considered them to be 'too human.' I am seeing some traces of those in Sylvie."

Sylia looked wide-eyed and pale, but she kept quiet.

"So there's a chance she's really sentient?" Mackey asked into the microphone.

Sylia and Nigel paused and exchanged a look. The man gave a slight shrug.

"Well, we are going to have to turn her on to be able to download all of her programming and data information," Sylia remarked. "We'll find out if she's truly sentient then."

"Will that change your plans to destroy her after we're done?" Nigel asked softly to purposefully keep their conversation out of hearing range from the couple in the booth.

A flash of deep anger appeared on Sylia's face as she regarded the boomer. "She tried to kill Linna! If she had been human, I would have destroyed her on the spot," Sylia answered firmly. "Being a boomer only saved her life for as long as it takes to get information to help solve this Plaza Slaughter. The bottom line is she's an accomplice or she's evidence!"

"But if she was programmed to do it, then it wasn't her fault!" Mackey's voice blurted over the speaker, causing them both to jump. His boomer enhanced hearing apparently picked up the part of the conversation that Nene missed. "She can't be held accountable for obeying orders that were programmed into her! It's just like when Galatea controlled me and you knew I couldn't help what I did!"

Sylia slammed her hand on the nearby tabletop, rattling the monitor on top of it as well as leaving a dent in the metal surface. Mackey and Nene jumped as Nigel merely arched his eyebrow.

"Mackey, just because she's potentially sentient doesn't mean she's going to be a good guy!" she shouted, her rage fighting to be completely unleashed. "There are bad boomers in the world, just as there are bad people!"

"Yes, but you don't know that about her yet, do you?" her brother countered firmly. "If she was human and she operated under a post-hypnotic suggestion, would you still execute her?"

"If she was still a threat and there was no way to cure her, I would!" she declared. "Besides, if we turn Sylvie on and find out she's truly sentient, what then? Let her walk out the door with a full suitcase and a handful of money to go start a new life and hope she's not programmed to return to Genom?! I don't think so!"

"Why don't we take this one step at a time?" Nigel offered softly. "We'll make our decisions as we need to."

Both Stingrays remained quiet, showing their willingness to concede to his suggestion.

Done with his sweep, Nigel flipped off the scanner and said, "Give me and Mackey two hours to make the modifications to get rid of the white noise and replace her blown fuses. Once that's done, we can turn her on and begin the download."

"Fine," Sylia said stiffly as she turned toward the elevator. "I'm going to tell Henderson what to prepare for dinner…"

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"… Are the bindings secure?" Sylia asked as she stood and watched Nigel check Sylvie, who was held in place against the now vertical examination table with strategically placed metal braces over her limbs and torso.

Mackey stood besides Sylia, his anxiety evident by his mild fidgeting.

"She's not going anywhere," Nigel said as he stood back and wiped off his hands with a rag. "We can begin whenever you're ready."

She nodded and signaled to waiting Nene in the command booth.

At the press of a few buttons, a faint hum came from within Sylvie as electricity flooded into her. The hum eventually subsided but it was clear that her electronic processes were becoming active once more, which were most noticeable in the way her gaze suddenly focused and shifted around. She also made shifting movements against her bindings to assess her current surroundings and condition. She finally became passive as she now regarded the three humans before her expectantly.

"Hello, Sylvie!" Mackey greeted enthusiastically, causing a slight frown on his sister's face, as well as his watching girlfriend. "I'm Mackey. Can you speak?"

She scanned his appearance from head to toe, and then focused on his face for a moment. "Hello, Mackey," she answered. "Yes, I can. Do you have a request of me?"

"Are you sentient?" he asked anxiously.

She didn't move for a moment and then said, "I currently do not have enough information to give you an adequate answer. Please define what you mean by sentient."

"Excuse me," Sylia interrupted, already losing her patience with the conversation. "Sylvie, do you have any outstanding tasks or commands you have been programmed to do?"

The boomer regarded Sylia for a noticeably longer moment as she scanned in the details of her appearance, and then focusing on her face. Sylvie was silent for a moment before she answered. "You are an unidentified individual," she answered without infliction. "You do not have the authority to ask for such information. Request denied."

"Who does have the authority?" Sylia persisted.

"Again, you are an unidentified individual. You do not have the authority to ask for such information. Request denied."

Seeing where this was going, Sylia narrowed her eyes and took a step back. "Nene, begin the download," she ordered.

The other woman nodded and started tapping on the keyboard in front of her. To the casual observer, nothing seemed to change with Sylvie but the data on Nene's monitor screen flew by in a blur of text.

Sylia then turned to her brother and said firmly, "That boomer's not going anywhere."

There was dead silence as she grimly walked out of the lab, watched by everyone, including the boomer in question.

-- End Chapter 29 --