Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Fanfic Series

Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 File 1: Dominant Species

Part 5: Blood Trails

Chapter 61: Square One

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 Greenegret for betaing!

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Sylia leaned back in her chair and watched the datastream fly across her terminal. From her position in the command booth, she glanced down and watched Mackey maneuver the scanner over the boomer's form while Nene watched the readings on the nearby monitor station.

Per Sylia's instructions, Reika would hold off contacting Quincy until the very end of the three days, hopefully allowing the addition of a couple more days for "delivery" time, which would be sorely needed. So for the time being, Quincy still thought Reika and her sources were "looking", and for the moment that was good enough.

The sound of the elevator door opening as well as the pleasant aroma of much needed coffee piqued her senses.

"Thank you, Hen--" she said but stopped when she turned around and saw Nigel carrying a tray instead. "Well, hello."

He smiled and handed her a cup of coffee while taking a sip from his own. "Henderson is dealing with cleaning out Sylvie's room, not that she left any mess to begin with. But he's a little depressed by the whole thing."

"Aren't we all?" she mused as she returned her attention to the view below. "It's just a cold reminder that with all of the money I have at my fingertips, the one thing I can never buy is time."

"Well, getting a complete download as she is now is a start," he said, referring to the screen of blurred text.

Sylia sighed and said, "You know as well as I do that even with the data-file snapshot, it's still a long shot to making a perfect recreation of her. All of the nuances that made her personality were embedded in her core and the cell-matter that formed the base of it."

Nigel frowned as he mulled over the puzzle as well, his eyes never leave the activity in the pit below. "Is it part of the deal that we have to return her to Genom intact? After all, they don't know how the battle actually ended because of the blackout."

Seeing where he was leading, Sylia suddenly sat up, her mind starting to buzz with an idea. "That is true. And it is our M.O. to crush cores, isn't it? And we'd have to keep her core in a stasis chamber until we can create a body to house her. But it's not a guarantee since so many things can still go wrong."

"But it is a chance," he pointed out with a quirk of a smile. "And I've never known Sylia Stingray to pass up on a chance. We don't have the time and resources to create a dummy boomer, but we do to create a small stasis chamber."

The woman continued to mull over the options, her mental wheels clearly spinning faster as her enthusiasm level increased. "We'd have to keep it confidential though, especially from Priss. I'd hate to give everyone hope and then disappoint them, either because she didn't survive the transfer, or because she didn't turn out to be exactly Sylvie in the end. At least we can deal with the last option by giving her a completely different exterior design if we have to and just accept that she's a different person."

"I'm sure you'll come up with the best option, one that'll make it work," he said as he stood behind her chair and gently hugged her shoulders. "I have faith in you."

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Sylvie looked around, confused by the realizations that she was in the Pit and that she was still sentient. She turned her head to see Sylia standing over her.

"Yes, Sylia?" the boomer asked, not sure of what else to say given that she had resigned any hope of every being truly conscious again.

The woman smiled down at her and said, "I have one final chance that I'd like to offer you before we continue with the downgrade process."

The boomer tilted her head curiously, intrigued by that opening.

"Nigel and I think there may be a chance to recreate you but it's not a fool-proof method. At the very least, your core would have to be put in a stasis chamber until we can create another boomer shell for you. As you've heard before, this could take a year at the most, six months at the least. There's also a strong chance your core will not survive being in stasis that long, or even the transfer process itself. Another risk is that when you are finally embedded in a new body, you may not be the Sylvie you know yourself to be, even though we'll try our best to download the snapshot of our data files as they are now. That would mean you'd become someone else."

Sylvie was quiet as she absorbed those words, her eyes never leaving the woman's face as she spoke. Finally, she said, "It sounds like I have three possible scenarios: I could die later rather than now, I could become someone else, or the desired goal is that I could become me once more but at the earliest six months."

"That's why I wanted to talk to you now before we did anything. This choice is yours, as it always has been. And like before, I don't want to force the hardships of living on you without your consent. Especially for a process that even I don't feel extremely confident will work and that may cause you to suffer unnecessarily painful repercussions."

Sylvie smiled softly and said, "Yes, you did warn me the first time that there are bad things to living, however, you also told me there would be the good things. And since I've experienced both, I would like to take this chance, no matter how slim the odds may be. But this time I do have one request if it is at all possible."

"Yes?" Sylia answered, her own curiosity now piqued.

"If I'm to be in a stasis chamber, I would like to see if there is some way I can still be aware of the world as time goes on. A year is a long time to be away from the people you care about, and so much can happen to them during then. I would still feel as if I was a part of their lives by being an observer if I can't actually participate."

Sylia nodded and said, "I'll see what we can do."

"And, Sylia, if we really never speak again with me as Sylvie, thank you for everything."

Sylia smiled and squeezed her hand. "You're very welcome. You've taught me a lot as well. Now relax because I will have to turn you off again…"

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"And so she's back?" Madigan asked over the phone as she called from her sister's home in Germany.

"Yes, in pieces though. But of all four of them, she was the most salvageable. Dr. Yuri estimates they should be able to have her up and running in two months time and no one else will be the wiser," Quincy explained from his office as he watched the view on his terminal of Dr. Yuri and his team fussing over their new delivery. "Ms. Chang said she didn't know why they kept her, but I think it's pretty obvious they were planning to study her components in the hopes of getting as much technology information possible without her being fully functional. By her escape, she obviously proved too much for them to handle the first time around."

"This ultimately means of course that Ms. Chang also knows who the Knight Sabers are. Should we keep an eye on her?"

Quincy thought about that for a moment and then shook his head. "Direct surveillance on the head of the Hou Bang Clan is almost impossible, as you know from your own experience with the late Mr. Chang. And finding out such information that way almost feels like someone else filling out a crossword puzzle for you in that the sense of accomplishment is gone. No, I'd rather we figure out something when we're ready to deal with them once and for all. In the meantime, it's just good to know she's a source of information if we need to go that route."

"Then what now?"

He grinned at her and said, "Say hello Fred Jr. for me and enjoy the rest of your vacation, Madigan. Meanwhile, Iris and I are going to take the kids to Australia for our own getaway. Like I said, there will be plenty of work to do when we get back."

Madigan smiled back at him and said, "A hello to Iris as well. And have a good trip yourself, sir."

-- End Chapter 61 --

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