Episode 3: Soldier Girl...
Sean, in a form-fitting bodysuit, was walking into a
rectangular chamber in the back of Raven's Garage. [Oh, well,
at least now I know why Doctor Raven got too busy to fix my
bike,] he thought. It had been just last night when he'd
agreed to join the Knight Sabers, and when he'd come to the
garage today, Sylia had said she wanted to assess his combat
ability. Sean had suggested asking Linna, who had just come
in, and Sylia and Linna had both laughed. Then Linna had
explained about Sylia's holographic simulator and its ghostly,
amorphous 'adversary'. Sean now knew that Linna could reach
Level Seven, but had yet to exceed it, that Nene was stuck
at Level Five, and Priss was at Level Six. No mention had
been made of Sylia's level, which Sean thought fit the
mystery woman perfectly.
"Sean? We're ready to begin here," came Sylia's voice over
the loudspeakers. "We'll start at Level One and work upward
from there. The entire surface counts as a vulnerable
point - just strike the 'adversary' to win. Ready?" Sean
nodded to the one-way glass that Sylia and Linna were
behind. "All right, begin!"
*** ***
Some fifteen minutes later, Sylia and Linna were watching as
Sean challenged Level Six. He'd beaten Level One in seconds,
and worked his way through Levels Two through Four with an
almost casual ease. He'd simply evaded all the adversary's
attacks until he got an opening, then struck. At Level Five
he had needed to cope with only temporarily available
vulnerable spots, but had slid under the adversary to hit
the third available one. Now he was dodging and blocking six
flailing limbs while watching for his chance to strike. A
target point appeared, but it was on the far side of the
adversary from Sean, so neither woman expected the level to
end yet. Sean suddenly ducked a thrust he'd been preparing
to block, leaped over a low sweep to land in a handstand,
and swung a hook kick (that looked very familiar to Linna)
into the target, 'killing' the adversary and completing the
level. Sylia gasped. "Linna, where did he learn _that_?"
Linna smiled at her friend. "Remember, Sylia, while he knows
several conventional martial arts, he was originally training
as a pro wrestler, the airborne kind with a lot of unorthodox
moves. He's used that before, on a training Mannequin at the
Fitness Bee." Sylia just looked at her. "Hey, it's true, and
I watch wrestling - I've seen weirder moves."
Sylia 'hrmphed' and turned back to the window. "Sean, Level
Seven is ready. Are you prepared?" she asked.
Sean looked to the glass. "Refresh... my memory. How... many
opportunities will I... have here?" he panted.
Sylia smiled. "I don't blame you for being confused. I was
too, and so was Linna. At Level Seven, you will have four
chances to strike, but each one will last only a few seconds,
so don't waste any time. Ready?"
"Anytime!" Sean called, though he was still breathing heavily.
Sylia shrugged and pressed the 'engage' key...
*** ***
Sean was not happy. The level of the simulator seemed to be
approaching the difficulty of the assassin Boomer that had
almost killed him a few months ago in April, when he'd saved
Irene from it. The adversary was now wickedly fast, with six
attacking limbs and a reaction speed that nearly equaled his
own. It had been two minutes since he had begun the level,
and three chances to strike had already gone by. He could
see why Linna hadn't passed this level yet. He jumped a sweep
and twisted to evade two thrusts from the upper 'limbs', then
landed and leaped back for breathing room. At that moment, a
target dot drifted to the surface of the adversary, and Sean
reversed his momentum, lunging back in with one arm extended,
the hand stiffened into a spearpoint.
He yelled in triumph as he connected on the dot... but it
didn't break apart, and the adversary didn't dissolve. He
looked down then, and saw that he had been hit twice in the
torso on the way in. "*F##ing damn!*"
Outside, Linna blushed. "Well, he certainly knows how to
swear."
Sylia was looking at the readouts. "He knows how to do more
than that, Linna. Look at the recording." Linna stared down
at the time readings of the hits. Sean's double leap had
surprised the adversary, and the two thrusts it had thrown at
him were a last-second reaction. By the readouts, less than
a quarter of a second had passed between the adversary
hitting Sean and Sean striking the vulnerable point. It was
still counted as a defeat for Sean, but it was far closer to
a draw. Sylia gave Linna a small smile. "I'd say someone
needs to practice if she wants to stay on top."
Linna was about to protest - she'd improved a lot since her
last evaluation, after all - but Sean came out of the
training room, still muttering under his breath.
"I just wasn't *thinking!* If I'd only been alert, I could
have twisted my torso on the way in and I'd have won! Damn!"
he muttered. Then, looking up at the ladies, he asked, "So,
how did I rate?"
Sylia tore off a sheet of printout and looked at the results.
Reading from the paper, she recited; "Your official maximum
combat level is Level Seven, equivalent to Linna's last
evaluation. Your scores are Arm Strength 8.0; Leg
Strength 8.6; Running 7.2; Reflexes 8.1; Agility 8.2. The
Reflexes and Agility scores are actually slightly lower than
mine or Linna's; you've just learned to use most or all of
what you have. You seemed to be somewhat faster while with
your partner, so I have to assume that there is some sort
of reflex-boost involved there. Overall, you are in excellent
condition."
Linna looked at Sean somewhat jealously. "Those are better
scores than I got when I started out," she complained. "I
thought _I_ was the sensei here." Sean turned red, rubbing
the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Well, Linna, I have been doing this for a few months.
Fighting for one's life is a great incentive to practice."
Still vividly embarrassed, Sean headed for the locker room.
Linna stared after her student. After a moment, she broke
into giggles.
"I don't know if you'll get any more examinations out of him
today, Sylia. He didn't even ask if you needed him for
anything else before he headed for the showers!" she said
after recovering her composure.
Sylia sighed. "No thanks to you, Linna... but I did get all
the data I needed. I had to know if he was suffering any ill
affects from using an advanced form of a Synchro-system to
control his armor in Iczelion mode. I should know by
tomorrow, thanks to the sensors in the room." Sylia waved
goodbye as Linna headed for the exit.
*** ***
Sean, back in his bed at home, twisted and turned in the grip
of a nightmare. The darkened bedroom was filled with the
sound of his moans and groans. Suddenly, he bolted awake,
gasping and throwing his sheets off of him. It was a few
moments before he recognized his surroundings and relaxed.
[Another nightmare... this one wasn't real, thank God,] he
thought. [That Mason guy... I've gotta find out more about
him, maybe Sylia has some info... was in his armor, except
with no headpiece. He was chasing me over this desolate l
andscape, with craters and dead trees and red soil, and
boxed me into a crater I couldn't climb out of. Then his
head exploded, and his disembodied voice accused me of
murdering him while he fired his arm guns, I remember
getting hit... and then I woke up. Still, this is the least
I deserve. I should've _run_ the sword in, way less risk
that way...] Still thinking to himself, Sean laid back on
his bed. Sleep was not even considered, but it found him
anyway.
*** ***
The next day, Sean was in an unfamiliar place, pulling on
combat fatigues. He walked out into Survival Shot's waiting
room to see Priss and Linna there waiting for him. "It sure
took you long enough!" Priss called.
Sylia had arranged this excursion to get a look at how Sean
worked as a team with the other Knight Sabers. He, Priss,
and Linna were the attacking team, while Sylia and Nene were
the defending team, having already gone into the paintball-
style playfield to prepare their defenses. Each person got a
paintball Uzi and several clips of ammunition, and a team
with a handicap - lower numbers or lower skill levels - got
some extras, but Sean couldn't remember the options Sylia's
team had. Linna had told Sean when he arrived that she and
Priss were usually the losing team despite having better
combat skills than the team of Sylia and Nene. Sylia had an
uncanny talent for anticipation.
"So," Sean asked, "what's our strategy?"
Linna stared into space for a few seconds, then answered,
"We stick together and use covering maneuvers to get into
the building. Sylia usually holes up on the second floor, so
we work our way up there and try to box them into a room. I
don't want to pay for lunch *again*!"
Sean had to smile. As an incentive to perform, the losing
team paid for a meal at the restaurant on the floor below
the playfield. He had a sneaking feeling, though, that he
was going to be footing a third of the bill...
*** ***
"Sean, do you always have so many desserts?" Sylia asked. She
was not pleased at being on the losing team, and Linna and
Priss were encouraging their teammate to stuff himself. She
had used Nene in a sacrifice gambit and lured Linna into
stepping on a land mine ("Lift your foot, and it goes off,")
while Sylia shot Priss. But Sean had dived out from cover
and had made a moving target of himself. Sylia had shot him...
but Linna, who had not yet lifted her foot, had shot Sylia,
and the game 'officially' ended when one team had no
surviving members. Linna had survived, it didn't matter that
she would 'die' the moment she moved. Sylia's team had lost,
and now she and Nene were going to share the bill for the
meal, including Sean's fifth dessert of the night.
"Actually, Sylia," Sean answered her, "I'm rewarding myself
right now. I was behind Priss when you shot her, and the idea
of sacrificing myself came to me when Priss complained that
you sacrificed Nene. Linna caught on, and here we are!" He
grinned. "Besides, after the St. Regis' bill, this shouldn't
seem so bad."
Sylia frowned. "Yes, it's just that..." she let her voice
trail off.
Nene joined in. "The jobs have stopped coming, haven't they?
Well, no jobs for us means..."
Priss got a sour expression as she commented, "...Peace on
earth? Yeah right."
Linna looked mildly upset. "But no work is no good. I need
to get some new clothes, fix my car..."
Sean grinned at Linna as he swallowed a mouthful of cake.
"Sensei, did you toast *another* van?"
"It's not *my* fault! They keep breaking down!" Linna
responded. "Besides, the new models are just coming out."
Sean's grin got a little bigger. "You go through cars and
boyfriends like Priss goes through motorcycles." Sylia's
expression became bemused.
"That reminds me, Sean: Mackie wants you to go down to
Raven's Garage and take a look at something from, and I
quote, 'a friend of a friend'. I tried asking him what it was
about, and he went silent except to hum 'Burning Highway'."
Sean looked thoughtful. "Hmm. I wonder what Mackie wants now.
Hey, Priss, you like motorcycles, d' you want to come with me
to see what's up?"
Priss, who'd been looking annoyed since Sean's earlier
wisecrack, lightened up. "Hey, great! I needed a tankful of
Raven Special anyway; I'll drive by tomorrow afternoon." Sean
grinned at her.
"OK! I'll see you there, and on that note I think I'll head
out, since _I_ am not part of settling the bill. Better luck
next time, Sylia!" And with that, Sean headed for home.
*** ***
That night, he bolted awake in a cold sweat. [AAAHH!], he
thought. [Mason again! Only this time, he didn't shoot me,
he kept saying I was no different from him or his weapons,
and there was blood on my hands and Iczel and I turned into
a Boomer and went toward the Ladys 633 building where Sylia
and Mackie work... Oh man, am I ever glad I woke up then.]
Calming down slightly, he thought, [I suppose I deserve
this. I'm glad this is the worst I get for the killing,
though. I wonder why I'm not as bothered about it as I
was... maybe because of all my thinking about what makes a
person. Iczel certainly turned my world around in more ways
than one. Yeah... sure did...] Less disturbed, Sean drifted
off to sleep.
*** ***
The next afternoon, Sean hitched a ride with Priss down to
Raven's Garage. It would have been a long walk otherwise:
public transit didn't go into the Canyons. Sean was almost
wishing he _had_ walked by the end, though; Priss' bike had
a small seat, and she teased him unmercifully about "wanting
to get closer." Sean had learned what it was all about some
time ago, but he was flushed bright red by the time the pair
arrived at the Garage. Mackie was standing by a *huge*
motorcycle off to one side, and the two riders walked over
to him.
"Hi Mackster!" Sean called. "Is this what you wanted me to
see? Looks a bit bulky."
Mackie shrugged. "Actually," Mackie replied, "This is the
Highway Star, a pet project of mine. It's not the reason I
called you here, though. That's in the back room, off to
one side." As Mackie talked to Priss about his pride and
joy, Sean walked into the back room. A motorcycle was
covered up in the center of the room, so Sean walked over
and whipped the cover off.
And there, showing no sign of the impalement and clawing it
had received in April from an assassin Boomer it had run
into, was Sean's custom motorbike, the Mackiecycle. Only
one thing was different - the bike was now colored in a
yellow-and-red pattern that reminded Sean of Iczelion.
[What the...]
A quiet voice spoke from behind him. "Dr. Raven mentioned
that you'd lost the bike while trying to save someone from a
Boomer. I was recently helped by someone who fights Boomers,
but I have no way to repay him. This is sort of a 'thank you
for caring.'" As Sean turned, there behind him was J.B.
Gibson, Dr. Raven's favorite protege, in a mechanic's apron.
Suddenly, Sean thought back to July and the couple he had
saved from the motorcycle gang. [No way,] he thought, [It
couldn't have been...] His musings were interrupted by a
loud crash from the main garage, Dr. Raven saying "Ippon!"
('One point!') and Mackie groaning.
He bowed quickly to Gibson, saying, "Thanks - this means a
lot to me," and then ran out to see a dismayed Priss
standing beside an overturned Highway Star. Sean walked over
to where Mackie was sobbing on his knees.
"Mackie, if *Priss* can't handle it, I think you _may_ have
made the bike a bit too powerful..."
*** ***
Once again, Sean bolted awake in the middle of the night.
[Good God, this has to stop.] Sean thought. [Mason again,
this time standing beside me as I was tied to some kind of
throne and watching as people were led in front of me and
asking me if each one should live or die. All the ones I
spared did horrible things and the ones I said should die
screamed about me playing God... Oh, man. I am seriously
messed up. I need to sleep - but not yet. I think I'll go
get a snack... maybe if I bribe it with food, my subconscious
will let me rest.]
*** ***
Almost a month later, in October, Sean was checking his
morning E-mail. As he worked, he thought, [Well, Linna
telling the Knight Sabers about my birthday last week was a
nice surprise. With the emphasis on *surprise*,] he thought
wryly.
The phone call asking him to Sylia's penthouse had been
unexpected, as was finding the place dark. When he'd turned
on the lights, all the Sabers (including Mackie) had jumped
out and yelled "SURPRISE!" They'd almost had to peel Sean
off the ceiling, but the party had been fun. Sylia had
surprised him with a peck on the cheek - [What's with her
lately?] Sean thought.
He looked down at his E-mail list. [Hmm. Spam, Spam, Spam, a
hello from Nene, Spam, a billing notice - I'd rather have
Spam - hey, what's this? The address is from Sylia's private
computer! Hmm, I wonder what she wants...] He opened the
large file and began to read it. It was very disjointed, but
it seemed to start out with a personal diary entry saying
that Sylia felt she was getting too personally involved with
'the new member' and worried that it might affect her
leadership to care this much about one team member. The
rest...
...Sean finished ploughing through the mass of disjointed
files and sat back, mind reeling. [Oh, man,] he thought. [If
I'm reading this right, Sylia is starting to really care
about me but the older files - the ones dating from 2031 -
implicate that Dr. Stingray... 'changed' Sylia somehow! Why
would she send me this stuff?! If she was going to tell me,
why not face-to-face!? And if it wasn't *her*, who or what
could have sent the file from *Sylia's* address?!? Man, I
better go talk to her...]
*** ***
Later, Sean walked into the penthouse at Ladys 633 and looked
around. Seeing only Mackie, Sean walked over to his friend.
"Mackie! Hi, um, listen, I gotta talk to Sylia. Is she here?"
The younger Stingray looked up. "Hi, Sean. She's out right
now. You can get her tomorrow-"
"No, Mackie. NOW. Or as soon as possible. This is really
important from both a personal and - ahem - 'business' point
of view. If she's not here, where can I find her?"
"Uhm... Sean... I don't know her schedule for today... but
you _can_ find her this evening at the big cemetery. It's
the anniversary of, y'know..."
Sean cursed inside as he remembered that Dr. Katsuhito
Stingray - the father of both Sylia and Mackie - had died
eleven years ago to the day.
"Sorry. Yeah, OK, I'll let you be. Just check the _private_
computer, will you? You may have had an unauthorized access."
Leaving Mackie openmouthed, Sean turned and stalked out of
the penthouse.
*** ***
That evening, as Sylia was walking back to her car from
visiting her father's grave, she was surprised to find a
perturbed Sean waiting beside her Mercedes-Benz replica. He
looked up as she approached.
"Hi, Sylia. Um, I have to ask, could you come with me to my
place? I got a _weird_ E-mail today and I think you need to
see it." Now Sylia was worried - Sean was as stiff as a board.
He'd _never_ been that nervous around her before, which was
why she found herself able to lower her emotional barriers in
his presence.
"Certainly, Sean. If you will lead the way?" Sean swung onto
his motorcycle and drove ahead of her. Soon they had arrived
at Sean's suburban house. After walking upstairs in silence,
Sean brought up an E-mail on his computer and motioned her to
sit in the chair and read. As she read, she realized what
must have happened, and she went white.
[The Skorpion 19,] she thought. A semi-aware mecha that had
been part of a 2031 operation to kidnap rumored 'advanced
intellects' created by GENOM, it had discovered that Sylia
had been enhanced by her father to battle GENOM's certain
abuse of his Cyberdroids. The Knight Sabers had been mauled
in the final confrontation of that saga, but the Skorpion's
human operator/partner had been killed, and Sylia had taken
the head and memory files of the mech and used its
incredible infiltration of the Tokyo Net to aid her
operations. Now a program it had obviously implanted into
her computer had deduced from her log entries that she cared
for - [Admit it, Sylia, _loved_] - Sean Kai and had sent him
this information to destroy their relationship, as a final
revenge. [And now, it's too late to do anything about it.]
She shivered. [I may as well tell him now - it can't do any
more harm.]
Shutting off the computer, she began to speak, hearing
herself in a detached sort of way. Her voice telling Sean of
her alteration, and of Mackie's, about the near-disaster with
the Skorpion, and how the E-mail came to Sean's attention.
Finishing, she stood shakily and turned to leave - Sean would
almost certainly need time to think this over--
"Sylia, don't go!" he cried. She turned to him and saw no
signs of distress.
"Sean... don't you need time to think about this? About me?"
Sean gave her a serious look. "I've thought about this sort
of thing a lot since Iczel came into my life, Sylia Stingray.
I don't *need* time for this. You shut your eyes and stand
right there, and I'll make it clear exactly how I feel." She
dimly worried about that statement - was he going to hit her?
Her shock and the resulting detachment made it hard to care,
though, and she shut her eyes. She could still hear him,
though, pacing back and forth as if nervous or angry.
Finally, he came to a sudden stop in front of her, and she
felt his hands move over her shoulders - [Is he going to
strangle me?] she thought - and something pressed over her
mouth. But it wasn't smothering her, it-- he--
He was kissing her, holding her close and kissing her! [My
God,] she thought wildly as her eyes flew open, [he knows,
he knows and he still cares about... still loves... me...]
She stopped thinking things through at that point. Just for
once, she let the barriers down, perhaps for the first time
since she was mentally enhanced. She kissed him back, held
him tight, and as they broke the clinch, she stared into his
eyes. [If only for one night,] she thought, [I want to love,
and be loved, and have no other cares in the world.]
As if he had heard her, Sean slowly began to walk toward his
bedroom, with Sylia still in his arms.
Iczel, down in the basement, turned toward a wall and closed
down her mental link with Sean as much as she was able. Years
ago, Nagisa had made it very clear that there were _some_
times a person wanted to be alone with someone, and this
seemed like one of those times. However, as it had been with
his mother, some of Sean's thoughts filtered through.
{Ohhh, **SYLIA!**}
*** ***
The next morning, Sean woke to the sun shining in his window.
[Hmm,] he thought, [I usually close the drapes. Must have
been tired last night.] As was his custom, he slowly
stretched.
And abruptly stopped as he brushed against another warm body
under the covers with him. For an instant, [Wha-] was all he
could think, and then memory came flooding back. Yesterday --
the Email -- confronting Sylia -- her confession -- the full
realization of his feelings for her as he saw her so
vulnerable -- the kiss -- and then -- and then --
[Oh, man.] he thought *very* quietly to himself, as if afraid
that even thinking too 'loudly' would wake her. [I hope I did
the right thing here. I _do_ love her - I understand that
now - but she may feel I took advantage of her confusion. Oh
well, better make her waking as pleasant as I can... ahem,
short of 'that', of course,] he finished with a blush.
Concentrating on 'sending,' he called to his partner. {Uhm..
Iczel?} As the feeling of 'contact' washed over him, he
continued. {Sylia- err- spent the night here, and I can't get
out of bed without disturbing her. Could you maybe start
breakfast? I can tell you where the food is and what to do...}
Sylia stirred in the bed beside Sean. "That's nice of you,
Sean, but it's really not necessary."
Sean looked down and replied, "Oh. Well, all.. right...
then...." his voice trailed off.
Sylia looked up at him. "Sean? What's the matter?"
"Sylia, I was 'sending', not speaking aloud. Did you *hear*
me?"
"Quite clearly. Are you sure you didn't speak?"
Sean paused, then pressed his lips together. {Absolutely.}
Sylia's eyes widened in shock. "You didn't speak... but I
didn't exactly _hear_ you either. It was more like the
memory of you saying something. Interesting."
"That's not what I'd call it. *Do you think I've become
telepathic?!?*"
"It's obviously a possibility. There is a way to test it,
though. Try to call Linna. You know her quite well and if
you are a telepath in the usual science-fiction sense, you
should be able to contact her."
Sean concentrated for several minutes but without success.
"Nope. No reply, no 'contact' feeling, nothing."
"Then it may be because I was intellectually enhanced. Try
to contact Mackie."
More concentration, and another failure. "Hmm," Sean said.
"There's one other possibility, Sylia. I've read several
stories that described two people discovering both strong
feelings for each other and the ability to communicate
mentally. It fits - Iczel is, I would say, my closest friend
on Earth, but it wasn't until we were friends that I could
'send' to her from farther than across a room. You - I -
we - um," he trailed off, turning pink. Sylia finished the
thought for him.
"We are in love, and now your 'link' has been expanded to me
too? It does seem to fit the facts. We can test that
hypothesis later. You mentioned breakfast to Iczel, and I
think that would be an excellent idea - after we get dressed,
of course." Sean went from pink to crimson. He turned away
as Sylia recovered her clothes from beside the bed where
they had been dropped. After she was dressed, he pulled on
his own clothes and went downstairs to help prepare a meal.
*** ***
Later that morning, Sean accompanied Sylia to Ladys 633,
where she went up to the penthouse and _very_ thoroughly
separated the head of the Skorpion 19 from her system and
then wiped all programs it might have influenced.
Explaining to Mackie about where his sister had been last
night was also notable. Mackie's reaction, despite his usual
hentai urges, had been what you might expect from a brother,
and Sean had spent several minutes evading Mackie's wrench
until the younger Stingray finally calmed down. Mackie had
then declared that he was going down to Raven's Garage and
left. Once they were alone, Sylia took the opportunity to
ask Sean a question.
"Sean, you said last night that you didn't need time to
think about me. Did you realize that I might not be human
anymore? That I may be more Boomer now than human?" Sean
turned around to face her.
"Sylia, I told you last night that I've thought a lot about
this since Iczel came into my life. I finally came to the
conclusion that just being 'human' isn't enough to make
someone a *person.* I wasn't sure at first what it _did_
take, but Iczel was obviously a person, so humans didn't
have a monopoly on being people. I read and reread my old
science-fiction novels to help find an answer, but a lot
of them were just gobbledygook, and once I read your files
on Mason a few weeks ago I realized I was looking for more
than just sentience or intelligence. Mason was a smart
s.o.b., but I don't think of him as a _person_ anymore. It
wasn't until after realizing this that I figured out what
I was looking for." He paused for a moment, and Sylia
waited patiently. After a few seconds, Sean continued.
"To be a person, you have to care. You have to really care
about someone or something other than yourself. And Mason
didn't; he was all 'me, me, me.' If someone, be they human,
Boomer, or strange artificial life from outer space,"
{HEY!} Iczel sent indignantly;
"...cares about others and has human intelligence, then they
are a person in my book. And Sylia, you care. I've talked to
Linna, and I know you timed your offer to join the Knight
Sabers to pull her out of an emotional low after she was
washed out of that dance audition. You tried to keep me too
busy to think about how I killed Mason," [and would have
succeeded if not for my nightmares,] he added silently, "and
you deploy the Sabers for free to save lives from Boomer
attacks. You care, Sylia, and you are not just a person,
you're the best one I know. And physically, well, (ahem)...
you're human enough for me," he finished with a light blush.
Sylia was astonished. "You *have* thought it through! I
never carried it to that conclusion, but I never had the
evidence of an alien individual to add to my consideration."
Sean's blush deepened.
"It took me months and the realization that not all humans
deserve to be thought of as 'people' to get me to the
conclusion. I admit, the news of your 'alteration' was a
surprise, but I had been thinking about that all day.
Besides," and he laughed, "I don't suppose *I* qualify as
an unaltered human any more." Switching to 'sending', he
called, {Isn't that right, Sylia?}
She laughed quietly. {Yes, I suppose you're right. You _can_
hear me, correct?,} she replied silently.
{Yes. I guess that confirms a two-way link. Oh, man, what
will we tell the others about this?}
{The truth. Fargo called to say he has job offers lined up,
so when one is finalized I'll call a meeting and we can tell
them then.}
Sean spoke aloud. "I guess that's okay. Well, I guess I'll
see you later. I look forward to my first mission as a
Knight Saber!"
Sean, in a form-fitting bodysuit, was walking into a
rectangular chamber in the back of Raven's Garage. [Oh, well,
at least now I know why Doctor Raven got too busy to fix my
bike,] he thought. It had been just last night when he'd
agreed to join the Knight Sabers, and when he'd come to the
garage today, Sylia had said she wanted to assess his combat
ability. Sean had suggested asking Linna, who had just come
in, and Sylia and Linna had both laughed. Then Linna had
explained about Sylia's holographic simulator and its ghostly,
amorphous 'adversary'. Sean now knew that Linna could reach
Level Seven, but had yet to exceed it, that Nene was stuck
at Level Five, and Priss was at Level Six. No mention had
been made of Sylia's level, which Sean thought fit the
mystery woman perfectly.
"Sean? We're ready to begin here," came Sylia's voice over
the loudspeakers. "We'll start at Level One and work upward
from there. The entire surface counts as a vulnerable
point - just strike the 'adversary' to win. Ready?" Sean
nodded to the one-way glass that Sylia and Linna were
behind. "All right, begin!"
*** ***
Some fifteen minutes later, Sylia and Linna were watching as
Sean challenged Level Six. He'd beaten Level One in seconds,
and worked his way through Levels Two through Four with an
almost casual ease. He'd simply evaded all the adversary's
attacks until he got an opening, then struck. At Level Five
he had needed to cope with only temporarily available
vulnerable spots, but had slid under the adversary to hit
the third available one. Now he was dodging and blocking six
flailing limbs while watching for his chance to strike. A
target point appeared, but it was on the far side of the
adversary from Sean, so neither woman expected the level to
end yet. Sean suddenly ducked a thrust he'd been preparing
to block, leaped over a low sweep to land in a handstand,
and swung a hook kick (that looked very familiar to Linna)
into the target, 'killing' the adversary and completing the
level. Sylia gasped. "Linna, where did he learn _that_?"
Linna smiled at her friend. "Remember, Sylia, while he knows
several conventional martial arts, he was originally training
as a pro wrestler, the airborne kind with a lot of unorthodox
moves. He's used that before, on a training Mannequin at the
Fitness Bee." Sylia just looked at her. "Hey, it's true, and
I watch wrestling - I've seen weirder moves."
Sylia 'hrmphed' and turned back to the window. "Sean, Level
Seven is ready. Are you prepared?" she asked.
Sean looked to the glass. "Refresh... my memory. How... many
opportunities will I... have here?" he panted.
Sylia smiled. "I don't blame you for being confused. I was
too, and so was Linna. At Level Seven, you will have four
chances to strike, but each one will last only a few seconds,
so don't waste any time. Ready?"
"Anytime!" Sean called, though he was still breathing heavily.
Sylia shrugged and pressed the 'engage' key...
*** ***
Sean was not happy. The level of the simulator seemed to be
approaching the difficulty of the assassin Boomer that had
almost killed him a few months ago in April, when he'd saved
Irene from it. The adversary was now wickedly fast, with six
attacking limbs and a reaction speed that nearly equaled his
own. It had been two minutes since he had begun the level,
and three chances to strike had already gone by. He could
see why Linna hadn't passed this level yet. He jumped a sweep
and twisted to evade two thrusts from the upper 'limbs', then
landed and leaped back for breathing room. At that moment, a
target dot drifted to the surface of the adversary, and Sean
reversed his momentum, lunging back in with one arm extended,
the hand stiffened into a spearpoint.
He yelled in triumph as he connected on the dot... but it
didn't break apart, and the adversary didn't dissolve. He
looked down then, and saw that he had been hit twice in the
torso on the way in. "*F##ing damn!*"
Outside, Linna blushed. "Well, he certainly knows how to
swear."
Sylia was looking at the readouts. "He knows how to do more
than that, Linna. Look at the recording." Linna stared down
at the time readings of the hits. Sean's double leap had
surprised the adversary, and the two thrusts it had thrown at
him were a last-second reaction. By the readouts, less than
a quarter of a second had passed between the adversary
hitting Sean and Sean striking the vulnerable point. It was
still counted as a defeat for Sean, but it was far closer to
a draw. Sylia gave Linna a small smile. "I'd say someone
needs to practice if she wants to stay on top."
Linna was about to protest - she'd improved a lot since her
last evaluation, after all - but Sean came out of the
training room, still muttering under his breath.
"I just wasn't *thinking!* If I'd only been alert, I could
have twisted my torso on the way in and I'd have won! Damn!"
he muttered. Then, looking up at the ladies, he asked, "So,
how did I rate?"
Sylia tore off a sheet of printout and looked at the results.
Reading from the paper, she recited; "Your official maximum
combat level is Level Seven, equivalent to Linna's last
evaluation. Your scores are Arm Strength 8.0; Leg
Strength 8.6; Running 7.2; Reflexes 8.1; Agility 8.2. The
Reflexes and Agility scores are actually slightly lower than
mine or Linna's; you've just learned to use most or all of
what you have. You seemed to be somewhat faster while with
your partner, so I have to assume that there is some sort
of reflex-boost involved there. Overall, you are in excellent
condition."
Linna looked at Sean somewhat jealously. "Those are better
scores than I got when I started out," she complained. "I
thought _I_ was the sensei here." Sean turned red, rubbing
the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Well, Linna, I have been doing this for a few months.
Fighting for one's life is a great incentive to practice."
Still vividly embarrassed, Sean headed for the locker room.
Linna stared after her student. After a moment, she broke
into giggles.
"I don't know if you'll get any more examinations out of him
today, Sylia. He didn't even ask if you needed him for
anything else before he headed for the showers!" she said
after recovering her composure.
Sylia sighed. "No thanks to you, Linna... but I did get all
the data I needed. I had to know if he was suffering any ill
affects from using an advanced form of a Synchro-system to
control his armor in Iczelion mode. I should know by
tomorrow, thanks to the sensors in the room." Sylia waved
goodbye as Linna headed for the exit.
*** ***
Sean, back in his bed at home, twisted and turned in the grip
of a nightmare. The darkened bedroom was filled with the
sound of his moans and groans. Suddenly, he bolted awake,
gasping and throwing his sheets off of him. It was a few
moments before he recognized his surroundings and relaxed.
[Another nightmare... this one wasn't real, thank God,] he
thought. [That Mason guy... I've gotta find out more about
him, maybe Sylia has some info... was in his armor, except
with no headpiece. He was chasing me over this desolate l
andscape, with craters and dead trees and red soil, and
boxed me into a crater I couldn't climb out of. Then his
head exploded, and his disembodied voice accused me of
murdering him while he fired his arm guns, I remember
getting hit... and then I woke up. Still, this is the least
I deserve. I should've _run_ the sword in, way less risk
that way...] Still thinking to himself, Sean laid back on
his bed. Sleep was not even considered, but it found him
anyway.
*** ***
The next day, Sean was in an unfamiliar place, pulling on
combat fatigues. He walked out into Survival Shot's waiting
room to see Priss and Linna there waiting for him. "It sure
took you long enough!" Priss called.
Sylia had arranged this excursion to get a look at how Sean
worked as a team with the other Knight Sabers. He, Priss,
and Linna were the attacking team, while Sylia and Nene were
the defending team, having already gone into the paintball-
style playfield to prepare their defenses. Each person got a
paintball Uzi and several clips of ammunition, and a team
with a handicap - lower numbers or lower skill levels - got
some extras, but Sean couldn't remember the options Sylia's
team had. Linna had told Sean when he arrived that she and
Priss were usually the losing team despite having better
combat skills than the team of Sylia and Nene. Sylia had an
uncanny talent for anticipation.
"So," Sean asked, "what's our strategy?"
Linna stared into space for a few seconds, then answered,
"We stick together and use covering maneuvers to get into
the building. Sylia usually holes up on the second floor, so
we work our way up there and try to box them into a room. I
don't want to pay for lunch *again*!"
Sean had to smile. As an incentive to perform, the losing
team paid for a meal at the restaurant on the floor below
the playfield. He had a sneaking feeling, though, that he
was going to be footing a third of the bill...
*** ***
"Sean, do you always have so many desserts?" Sylia asked. She
was not pleased at being on the losing team, and Linna and
Priss were encouraging their teammate to stuff himself. She
had used Nene in a sacrifice gambit and lured Linna into
stepping on a land mine ("Lift your foot, and it goes off,")
while Sylia shot Priss. But Sean had dived out from cover
and had made a moving target of himself. Sylia had shot him...
but Linna, who had not yet lifted her foot, had shot Sylia,
and the game 'officially' ended when one team had no
surviving members. Linna had survived, it didn't matter that
she would 'die' the moment she moved. Sylia's team had lost,
and now she and Nene were going to share the bill for the
meal, including Sean's fifth dessert of the night.
"Actually, Sylia," Sean answered her, "I'm rewarding myself
right now. I was behind Priss when you shot her, and the idea
of sacrificing myself came to me when Priss complained that
you sacrificed Nene. Linna caught on, and here we are!" He
grinned. "Besides, after the St. Regis' bill, this shouldn't
seem so bad."
Sylia frowned. "Yes, it's just that..." she let her voice
trail off.
Nene joined in. "The jobs have stopped coming, haven't they?
Well, no jobs for us means..."
Priss got a sour expression as she commented, "...Peace on
earth? Yeah right."
Linna looked mildly upset. "But no work is no good. I need
to get some new clothes, fix my car..."
Sean grinned at Linna as he swallowed a mouthful of cake.
"Sensei, did you toast *another* van?"
"It's not *my* fault! They keep breaking down!" Linna
responded. "Besides, the new models are just coming out."
Sean's grin got a little bigger. "You go through cars and
boyfriends like Priss goes through motorcycles." Sylia's
expression became bemused.
"That reminds me, Sean: Mackie wants you to go down to
Raven's Garage and take a look at something from, and I
quote, 'a friend of a friend'. I tried asking him what it was
about, and he went silent except to hum 'Burning Highway'."
Sean looked thoughtful. "Hmm. I wonder what Mackie wants now.
Hey, Priss, you like motorcycles, d' you want to come with me
to see what's up?"
Priss, who'd been looking annoyed since Sean's earlier
wisecrack, lightened up. "Hey, great! I needed a tankful of
Raven Special anyway; I'll drive by tomorrow afternoon." Sean
grinned at her.
"OK! I'll see you there, and on that note I think I'll head
out, since _I_ am not part of settling the bill. Better luck
next time, Sylia!" And with that, Sean headed for home.
*** ***
That night, he bolted awake in a cold sweat. [AAAHH!], he
thought. [Mason again! Only this time, he didn't shoot me,
he kept saying I was no different from him or his weapons,
and there was blood on my hands and Iczel and I turned into
a Boomer and went toward the Ladys 633 building where Sylia
and Mackie work... Oh man, am I ever glad I woke up then.]
Calming down slightly, he thought, [I suppose I deserve
this. I'm glad this is the worst I get for the killing,
though. I wonder why I'm not as bothered about it as I
was... maybe because of all my thinking about what makes a
person. Iczel certainly turned my world around in more ways
than one. Yeah... sure did...] Less disturbed, Sean drifted
off to sleep.
*** ***
The next afternoon, Sean hitched a ride with Priss down to
Raven's Garage. It would have been a long walk otherwise:
public transit didn't go into the Canyons. Sean was almost
wishing he _had_ walked by the end, though; Priss' bike had
a small seat, and she teased him unmercifully about "wanting
to get closer." Sean had learned what it was all about some
time ago, but he was flushed bright red by the time the pair
arrived at the Garage. Mackie was standing by a *huge*
motorcycle off to one side, and the two riders walked over
to him.
"Hi Mackster!" Sean called. "Is this what you wanted me to
see? Looks a bit bulky."
Mackie shrugged. "Actually," Mackie replied, "This is the
Highway Star, a pet project of mine. It's not the reason I
called you here, though. That's in the back room, off to
one side." As Mackie talked to Priss about his pride and
joy, Sean walked into the back room. A motorcycle was
covered up in the center of the room, so Sean walked over
and whipped the cover off.
And there, showing no sign of the impalement and clawing it
had received in April from an assassin Boomer it had run
into, was Sean's custom motorbike, the Mackiecycle. Only
one thing was different - the bike was now colored in a
yellow-and-red pattern that reminded Sean of Iczelion.
[What the...]
A quiet voice spoke from behind him. "Dr. Raven mentioned
that you'd lost the bike while trying to save someone from a
Boomer. I was recently helped by someone who fights Boomers,
but I have no way to repay him. This is sort of a 'thank you
for caring.'" As Sean turned, there behind him was J.B.
Gibson, Dr. Raven's favorite protege, in a mechanic's apron.
Suddenly, Sean thought back to July and the couple he had
saved from the motorcycle gang. [No way,] he thought, [It
couldn't have been...] His musings were interrupted by a
loud crash from the main garage, Dr. Raven saying "Ippon!"
('One point!') and Mackie groaning.
He bowed quickly to Gibson, saying, "Thanks - this means a
lot to me," and then ran out to see a dismayed Priss
standing beside an overturned Highway Star. Sean walked over
to where Mackie was sobbing on his knees.
"Mackie, if *Priss* can't handle it, I think you _may_ have
made the bike a bit too powerful..."
*** ***
Once again, Sean bolted awake in the middle of the night.
[Good God, this has to stop.] Sean thought. [Mason again,
this time standing beside me as I was tied to some kind of
throne and watching as people were led in front of me and
asking me if each one should live or die. All the ones I
spared did horrible things and the ones I said should die
screamed about me playing God... Oh, man. I am seriously
messed up. I need to sleep - but not yet. I think I'll go
get a snack... maybe if I bribe it with food, my subconscious
will let me rest.]
*** ***
Almost a month later, in October, Sean was checking his
morning E-mail. As he worked, he thought, [Well, Linna
telling the Knight Sabers about my birthday last week was a
nice surprise. With the emphasis on *surprise*,] he thought
wryly.
The phone call asking him to Sylia's penthouse had been
unexpected, as was finding the place dark. When he'd turned
on the lights, all the Sabers (including Mackie) had jumped
out and yelled "SURPRISE!" They'd almost had to peel Sean
off the ceiling, but the party had been fun. Sylia had
surprised him with a peck on the cheek - [What's with her
lately?] Sean thought.
He looked down at his E-mail list. [Hmm. Spam, Spam, Spam, a
hello from Nene, Spam, a billing notice - I'd rather have
Spam - hey, what's this? The address is from Sylia's private
computer! Hmm, I wonder what she wants...] He opened the
large file and began to read it. It was very disjointed, but
it seemed to start out with a personal diary entry saying
that Sylia felt she was getting too personally involved with
'the new member' and worried that it might affect her
leadership to care this much about one team member. The
rest...
...Sean finished ploughing through the mass of disjointed
files and sat back, mind reeling. [Oh, man,] he thought. [If
I'm reading this right, Sylia is starting to really care
about me but the older files - the ones dating from 2031 -
implicate that Dr. Stingray... 'changed' Sylia somehow! Why
would she send me this stuff?! If she was going to tell me,
why not face-to-face!? And if it wasn't *her*, who or what
could have sent the file from *Sylia's* address?!? Man, I
better go talk to her...]
*** ***
Later, Sean walked into the penthouse at Ladys 633 and looked
around. Seeing only Mackie, Sean walked over to his friend.
"Mackie! Hi, um, listen, I gotta talk to Sylia. Is she here?"
The younger Stingray looked up. "Hi, Sean. She's out right
now. You can get her tomorrow-"
"No, Mackie. NOW. Or as soon as possible. This is really
important from both a personal and - ahem - 'business' point
of view. If she's not here, where can I find her?"
"Uhm... Sean... I don't know her schedule for today... but
you _can_ find her this evening at the big cemetery. It's
the anniversary of, y'know..."
Sean cursed inside as he remembered that Dr. Katsuhito
Stingray - the father of both Sylia and Mackie - had died
eleven years ago to the day.
"Sorry. Yeah, OK, I'll let you be. Just check the _private_
computer, will you? You may have had an unauthorized access."
Leaving Mackie openmouthed, Sean turned and stalked out of
the penthouse.
*** ***
That evening, as Sylia was walking back to her car from
visiting her father's grave, she was surprised to find a
perturbed Sean waiting beside her Mercedes-Benz replica. He
looked up as she approached.
"Hi, Sylia. Um, I have to ask, could you come with me to my
place? I got a _weird_ E-mail today and I think you need to
see it." Now Sylia was worried - Sean was as stiff as a board.
He'd _never_ been that nervous around her before, which was
why she found herself able to lower her emotional barriers in
his presence.
"Certainly, Sean. If you will lead the way?" Sean swung onto
his motorcycle and drove ahead of her. Soon they had arrived
at Sean's suburban house. After walking upstairs in silence,
Sean brought up an E-mail on his computer and motioned her to
sit in the chair and read. As she read, she realized what
must have happened, and she went white.
[The Skorpion 19,] she thought. A semi-aware mecha that had
been part of a 2031 operation to kidnap rumored 'advanced
intellects' created by GENOM, it had discovered that Sylia
had been enhanced by her father to battle GENOM's certain
abuse of his Cyberdroids. The Knight Sabers had been mauled
in the final confrontation of that saga, but the Skorpion's
human operator/partner had been killed, and Sylia had taken
the head and memory files of the mech and used its
incredible infiltration of the Tokyo Net to aid her
operations. Now a program it had obviously implanted into
her computer had deduced from her log entries that she cared
for - [Admit it, Sylia, _loved_] - Sean Kai and had sent him
this information to destroy their relationship, as a final
revenge. [And now, it's too late to do anything about it.]
She shivered. [I may as well tell him now - it can't do any
more harm.]
Shutting off the computer, she began to speak, hearing
herself in a detached sort of way. Her voice telling Sean of
her alteration, and of Mackie's, about the near-disaster with
the Skorpion, and how the E-mail came to Sean's attention.
Finishing, she stood shakily and turned to leave - Sean would
almost certainly need time to think this over--
"Sylia, don't go!" he cried. She turned to him and saw no
signs of distress.
"Sean... don't you need time to think about this? About me?"
Sean gave her a serious look. "I've thought about this sort
of thing a lot since Iczel came into my life, Sylia Stingray.
I don't *need* time for this. You shut your eyes and stand
right there, and I'll make it clear exactly how I feel." She
dimly worried about that statement - was he going to hit her?
Her shock and the resulting detachment made it hard to care,
though, and she shut her eyes. She could still hear him,
though, pacing back and forth as if nervous or angry.
Finally, he came to a sudden stop in front of her, and she
felt his hands move over her shoulders - [Is he going to
strangle me?] she thought - and something pressed over her
mouth. But it wasn't smothering her, it-- he--
He was kissing her, holding her close and kissing her! [My
God,] she thought wildly as her eyes flew open, [he knows,
he knows and he still cares about... still loves... me...]
She stopped thinking things through at that point. Just for
once, she let the barriers down, perhaps for the first time
since she was mentally enhanced. She kissed him back, held
him tight, and as they broke the clinch, she stared into his
eyes. [If only for one night,] she thought, [I want to love,
and be loved, and have no other cares in the world.]
As if he had heard her, Sean slowly began to walk toward his
bedroom, with Sylia still in his arms.
Iczel, down in the basement, turned toward a wall and closed
down her mental link with Sean as much as she was able. Years
ago, Nagisa had made it very clear that there were _some_
times a person wanted to be alone with someone, and this
seemed like one of those times. However, as it had been with
his mother, some of Sean's thoughts filtered through.
{Ohhh, **SYLIA!**}
*** ***
The next morning, Sean woke to the sun shining in his window.
[Hmm,] he thought, [I usually close the drapes. Must have
been tired last night.] As was his custom, he slowly
stretched.
And abruptly stopped as he brushed against another warm body
under the covers with him. For an instant, [Wha-] was all he
could think, and then memory came flooding back. Yesterday --
the Email -- confronting Sylia -- her confession -- the full
realization of his feelings for her as he saw her so
vulnerable -- the kiss -- and then -- and then --
[Oh, man.] he thought *very* quietly to himself, as if afraid
that even thinking too 'loudly' would wake her. [I hope I did
the right thing here. I _do_ love her - I understand that
now - but she may feel I took advantage of her confusion. Oh
well, better make her waking as pleasant as I can... ahem,
short of 'that', of course,] he finished with a blush.
Concentrating on 'sending,' he called to his partner. {Uhm..
Iczel?} As the feeling of 'contact' washed over him, he
continued. {Sylia- err- spent the night here, and I can't get
out of bed without disturbing her. Could you maybe start
breakfast? I can tell you where the food is and what to do...}
Sylia stirred in the bed beside Sean. "That's nice of you,
Sean, but it's really not necessary."
Sean looked down and replied, "Oh. Well, all.. right...
then...." his voice trailed off.
Sylia looked up at him. "Sean? What's the matter?"
"Sylia, I was 'sending', not speaking aloud. Did you *hear*
me?"
"Quite clearly. Are you sure you didn't speak?"
Sean paused, then pressed his lips together. {Absolutely.}
Sylia's eyes widened in shock. "You didn't speak... but I
didn't exactly _hear_ you either. It was more like the
memory of you saying something. Interesting."
"That's not what I'd call it. *Do you think I've become
telepathic?!?*"
"It's obviously a possibility. There is a way to test it,
though. Try to call Linna. You know her quite well and if
you are a telepath in the usual science-fiction sense, you
should be able to contact her."
Sean concentrated for several minutes but without success.
"Nope. No reply, no 'contact' feeling, nothing."
"Then it may be because I was intellectually enhanced. Try
to contact Mackie."
More concentration, and another failure. "Hmm," Sean said.
"There's one other possibility, Sylia. I've read several
stories that described two people discovering both strong
feelings for each other and the ability to communicate
mentally. It fits - Iczel is, I would say, my closest friend
on Earth, but it wasn't until we were friends that I could
'send' to her from farther than across a room. You - I -
we - um," he trailed off, turning pink. Sylia finished the
thought for him.
"We are in love, and now your 'link' has been expanded to me
too? It does seem to fit the facts. We can test that
hypothesis later. You mentioned breakfast to Iczel, and I
think that would be an excellent idea - after we get dressed,
of course." Sean went from pink to crimson. He turned away
as Sylia recovered her clothes from beside the bed where
they had been dropped. After she was dressed, he pulled on
his own clothes and went downstairs to help prepare a meal.
*** ***
Later that morning, Sean accompanied Sylia to Ladys 633,
where she went up to the penthouse and _very_ thoroughly
separated the head of the Skorpion 19 from her system and
then wiped all programs it might have influenced.
Explaining to Mackie about where his sister had been last
night was also notable. Mackie's reaction, despite his usual
hentai urges, had been what you might expect from a brother,
and Sean had spent several minutes evading Mackie's wrench
until the younger Stingray finally calmed down. Mackie had
then declared that he was going down to Raven's Garage and
left. Once they were alone, Sylia took the opportunity to
ask Sean a question.
"Sean, you said last night that you didn't need time to
think about me. Did you realize that I might not be human
anymore? That I may be more Boomer now than human?" Sean
turned around to face her.
"Sylia, I told you last night that I've thought a lot about
this since Iczel came into my life. I finally came to the
conclusion that just being 'human' isn't enough to make
someone a *person.* I wasn't sure at first what it _did_
take, but Iczel was obviously a person, so humans didn't
have a monopoly on being people. I read and reread my old
science-fiction novels to help find an answer, but a lot
of them were just gobbledygook, and once I read your files
on Mason a few weeks ago I realized I was looking for more
than just sentience or intelligence. Mason was a smart
s.o.b., but I don't think of him as a _person_ anymore. It
wasn't until after realizing this that I figured out what
I was looking for." He paused for a moment, and Sylia
waited patiently. After a few seconds, Sean continued.
"To be a person, you have to care. You have to really care
about someone or something other than yourself. And Mason
didn't; he was all 'me, me, me.' If someone, be they human,
Boomer, or strange artificial life from outer space,"
{HEY!} Iczel sent indignantly;
"...cares about others and has human intelligence, then they
are a person in my book. And Sylia, you care. I've talked to
Linna, and I know you timed your offer to join the Knight
Sabers to pull her out of an emotional low after she was
washed out of that dance audition. You tried to keep me too
busy to think about how I killed Mason," [and would have
succeeded if not for my nightmares,] he added silently, "and
you deploy the Sabers for free to save lives from Boomer
attacks. You care, Sylia, and you are not just a person,
you're the best one I know. And physically, well, (ahem)...
you're human enough for me," he finished with a light blush.
Sylia was astonished. "You *have* thought it through! I
never carried it to that conclusion, but I never had the
evidence of an alien individual to add to my consideration."
Sean's blush deepened.
"It took me months and the realization that not all humans
deserve to be thought of as 'people' to get me to the
conclusion. I admit, the news of your 'alteration' was a
surprise, but I had been thinking about that all day.
Besides," and he laughed, "I don't suppose *I* qualify as
an unaltered human any more." Switching to 'sending', he
called, {Isn't that right, Sylia?}
She laughed quietly. {Yes, I suppose you're right. You _can_
hear me, correct?,} she replied silently.
{Yes. I guess that confirms a two-way link. Oh, man, what
will we tell the others about this?}
{The truth. Fargo called to say he has job offers lined up,
so when one is finalized I'll call a meeting and we can tell
them then.}
Sean spoke aloud. "I guess that's okay. Well, I guess I'll
see you later. I look forward to my first mission as a
Knight Saber!"
