"Come and inspect my personal stock, Priss." Sylia cooed as she took Priss to a far corner of the store.
Priss was not impressed. "Well this side has rather poor lighting eh, Sylia? So what is this particular stock here for?"
"Look I know you'll love it." Sylia giggled like a child.
"I hate it when you say that - the last time you said that, I ended up wearing a coconut-coloured cocktail dress." Priss muttered.
"Eh what was that?" Sylia pretended.
"Nothing, ma'am. Just a statement by me, the not-so fashion conscious."
"You mean, street demon who seems to wear leather all year around." Sylia smiled.
"Yea I think so. So what is this newfangled stuff you're about to show me? If it's anything leather, I guess I'll take it...in moderation..."
"Oh it sure is." Sylia laughed, and Priss could not help noticing that this time it was more like a cackle.
________________________
"So...Tell me about this women's institution girl again?"
"It's "women's intuition," Leon. Learn to say things properly for once, would you ever?" Daley rolled his eyes.
"Well whatever. They're both the same anyway. So what is her this "intuition" that is so important to you?"
"Dunno. Sounds almost like a psychic." Daley muttered, but his eyes looked kinda...glazed.
Leon sighed, and followed Daley into a restaurant. People talking, glasses clinking, forks and knives clattering upon plates. Steakhouse.
Daley moved through the tables to a corner one where three ladies were sitting. A brown-haired girl, and two blondes. One of them was...
"Nene! Nice to see you here! So, gotten over the strawberry peperos kiddo?" Leon greeted Nene, and subsequently a thud landed upon his head.
"Ah, LEON-CHAN! DARLING! So glad to see you!" Nene responded, sniggering.
Leon was about to make some comment back, but Daley held him back.
"Look Leon we didn't come all the way here to smash Nene, we came here for the girl. Look, See? This blonde here." Daley pointed at Tienx.
Leon adjusted his collar. "So this is the..."
"Amazing psychic? I tell you, advanced science has the appearance of magic." Tienx answered.
Linna was in the middle, all confused.
"What's going on? You know this girl, Nene? Who are these people?"
________________________
Mason looked around the room, the shattered glass and the slip of paper.
The shards were being vacummed by a cleaning unit, and the slip of paper lay still on the desk, exactly where the woman had put it.
Mason smiled at the woman's foolishness. Did she not know that she had just issued a death warrant to her employees?
He turned over the paper to show the writing, and raised his eyebrow in surprise.
The page was completely blank, except a sentence.
Mason took it up and scrutinised it.
I love disappearing ink...do you favor it in documents too, sir?
Mason grunted in disgust as he scrunched up the paper and threw it to the floor.
The boomer vacummed it up.
_______________________
The child now stopped in front of a door, and nodded to a construction boomer.
The boomer stepped forward and bowed its head down long enough for the child to caress it.
Then the boomer started to...work on the door.
As the workers watched with sheer terror upon their faces, the child melted the rest of the door down and walked through it, the boomers following her.
Sounds of heavy, metallic footsteps were echoing in the hall as guards pushed in and started to attack the boomers.
The child just smiled and stretched out her hand, making the guards' armour and weapons melt away into thin air. The heat created by this action made the guards scream in agony.
Then her expression changed, and she immediately stopped, and stood in the same place for a minute. A sulky expression was apparant upon her face.
The child huffed, and haughtily turned her nose up in the air and started marching with the boomers again. A new line of guards had come and fired, but their shots were absorbed into boomers.
_______________________
I sigh, and feel glad that I am let off the hook.
Miss Yamazaki is feeling left out and confused - perhaps I should explain.
"My name is Tienx, and Miss Romanova does not know me, although Mister Wong has met me before briefly."
Nene and the brown-haired man nodded. I guessed his name...After all, Wong IS a popular surname of Chinese descent.
Then I pointed to the more largely-built, darker-haired man called Leon.
"Is this your partner?" I asked Wong.
"Yes," he replied. "and I will not ask how you knew my surname. Now tell me about him."
I squint my eyes. This person was a bit harder - because this person was a bit simpler.
I soon picture the links his form tells, and reply.
"This person is simple-minded, and originally worked in normal police before joining the ADP.
Also, this person is flirty, easily annoyed, can ride a motorbike..."
I trailed off, mumbling the rest.
Miss Yamazaki stood up.
"Well I certainly do not have a psychic for a long-lost relative, so you had better explain yourself or else."
I raise my eyebrow. This person was determined, hotheaded and jumps to conclusions too often.
"The or else, meaning you'd have ripped out my core if I was a boomer?"
A silence fell upon the table, and thinking better, I stood up.
"Well, I do not like to talk about myself in such a mess. I will meet you later."
Then I walked out, but Mr Wong clutched my arm and followed out, then took me into a dark alley.
"What are you doing?" I asked as a blindly walked on.
"I am going to now ask you." He said.
"Don't. Because I will not answer." I reply, snatching my arm away from him.
But as I walked back out of the dim alleyway, his voice rang out:
"How can I be like you? Could I ever be like you...A woman?"
________________________
"Oh yea, and I love those whips that you display over there," Priss muttered.
"Ah, you have seen it haven't you? You are very observant. In fact, I am wondering if you were just looking for it now."
Then Sylia and Priss stopped in a corner, and Priss stood with her arms akimbo.
"Ok Sylia, what do you want me to do this time? It's not every day I offer my help voluntarily you know."
Sylia smiled, her eyes now piercing Priss and making even Priss feel uncomfortable.
"Can you cope in a rogue hardsuit, Priss?"
Priss hesistated before answering.
"I don't know."
________________________
It was nearly evening now, and dusk was settling in fast.
But in this padded cell you could not see anything. Not even a bird flying home, not even the sound of the afternoon rush hour traffic.
Adrian groaned. How long will this last before he really WAS driven into insanity? He hoped that someone would come and free him of this living death.
Now that it was getting dark, his mind drifted to Sara Estella, and how her limp body had tried to breathe helplessly.
Langley's daughter. His daughter.
But who was he? Adrian did not know, and did not want to know.
His mind drifted now to all the people he had killed in his time. Some old scheming cobras, some HIV-positive prostitutes, some were proven innocent only after death...
Adrian stood up, and walked to the mirror. The mirror showed a haggard, tired-looking man.
But it was not him, Adrian realised.
He screamed.
But the reflection in the mirror did not scream.
It in fact did not even open its mouth, and its lips were formed into a cold sneer.
The face looking back at him...it was him, Adrian realised.
The father of the daughter he just killed. Langley's lover.
But who was he? He did not kill this man!
Adrian leant closer to the mirror to study the man's face.
A cold shiver ran down his spine as he reaised who this man was.
It was Adrian himself.
Adrian jumped back in surprise, uttering a sound incomprehensible to the mind.
Now, the reflection shimmered, as though upon a liquid surface, and this time Sara Estella was smiling at him through the mirror.
She was not sniggering. She was smiling, and mouthing a single word.
"Father."
Her hand stretched out, out of the mirror. The mirror's surface shimmered as the limb came through.
Adrian suddenly found strength in his legs to run to the door.
Banging upon it, he shouted repeatedly for help, help he knew would not come.
__________________
The guard flipped through the newspaper as he glanced every now and then at the screen. Ring 3 was playing, and he did not want to miss the ghosts coming out of the computer now.
No, he could not miss it. After all, this was the highlight of the movie: virtual into reality.
He grimaced, but was still smiling as the ghost walked out of the TV screen in the room and choked the female character to death.
There were convulsions running up and down her body, then all was still.
The guard grunted as more irrelevant talking came up with a change of scene. Horror movies. Those talkings made it seem so unreal, so stupid. It should be pure action and gore.
He heard a sound of a door banging and a man screaming for help in the distance, but could not be bothered to move. After all, insane men saw things, and he was not the counsellor.
The banging noise continued, and seeing that the next five or so minutes would be pure talk, the guard stood up and decided to see what the commotion was.
__________________
Priss was not impressed. "Well this side has rather poor lighting eh, Sylia? So what is this particular stock here for?"
"Look I know you'll love it." Sylia giggled like a child.
"I hate it when you say that - the last time you said that, I ended up wearing a coconut-coloured cocktail dress." Priss muttered.
"Eh what was that?" Sylia pretended.
"Nothing, ma'am. Just a statement by me, the not-so fashion conscious."
"You mean, street demon who seems to wear leather all year around." Sylia smiled.
"Yea I think so. So what is this newfangled stuff you're about to show me? If it's anything leather, I guess I'll take it...in moderation..."
"Oh it sure is." Sylia laughed, and Priss could not help noticing that this time it was more like a cackle.
________________________
"So...Tell me about this women's institution girl again?"
"It's "women's intuition," Leon. Learn to say things properly for once, would you ever?" Daley rolled his eyes.
"Well whatever. They're both the same anyway. So what is her this "intuition" that is so important to you?"
"Dunno. Sounds almost like a psychic." Daley muttered, but his eyes looked kinda...glazed.
Leon sighed, and followed Daley into a restaurant. People talking, glasses clinking, forks and knives clattering upon plates. Steakhouse.
Daley moved through the tables to a corner one where three ladies were sitting. A brown-haired girl, and two blondes. One of them was...
"Nene! Nice to see you here! So, gotten over the strawberry peperos kiddo?" Leon greeted Nene, and subsequently a thud landed upon his head.
"Ah, LEON-CHAN! DARLING! So glad to see you!" Nene responded, sniggering.
Leon was about to make some comment back, but Daley held him back.
"Look Leon we didn't come all the way here to smash Nene, we came here for the girl. Look, See? This blonde here." Daley pointed at Tienx.
Leon adjusted his collar. "So this is the..."
"Amazing psychic? I tell you, advanced science has the appearance of magic." Tienx answered.
Linna was in the middle, all confused.
"What's going on? You know this girl, Nene? Who are these people?"
________________________
Mason looked around the room, the shattered glass and the slip of paper.
The shards were being vacummed by a cleaning unit, and the slip of paper lay still on the desk, exactly where the woman had put it.
Mason smiled at the woman's foolishness. Did she not know that she had just issued a death warrant to her employees?
He turned over the paper to show the writing, and raised his eyebrow in surprise.
The page was completely blank, except a sentence.
Mason took it up and scrutinised it.
I love disappearing ink...do you favor it in documents too, sir?
Mason grunted in disgust as he scrunched up the paper and threw it to the floor.
The boomer vacummed it up.
_______________________
The child now stopped in front of a door, and nodded to a construction boomer.
The boomer stepped forward and bowed its head down long enough for the child to caress it.
Then the boomer started to...work on the door.
As the workers watched with sheer terror upon their faces, the child melted the rest of the door down and walked through it, the boomers following her.
Sounds of heavy, metallic footsteps were echoing in the hall as guards pushed in and started to attack the boomers.
The child just smiled and stretched out her hand, making the guards' armour and weapons melt away into thin air. The heat created by this action made the guards scream in agony.
Then her expression changed, and she immediately stopped, and stood in the same place for a minute. A sulky expression was apparant upon her face.
The child huffed, and haughtily turned her nose up in the air and started marching with the boomers again. A new line of guards had come and fired, but their shots were absorbed into boomers.
_______________________
I sigh, and feel glad that I am let off the hook.
Miss Yamazaki is feeling left out and confused - perhaps I should explain.
"My name is Tienx, and Miss Romanova does not know me, although Mister Wong has met me before briefly."
Nene and the brown-haired man nodded. I guessed his name...After all, Wong IS a popular surname of Chinese descent.
Then I pointed to the more largely-built, darker-haired man called Leon.
"Is this your partner?" I asked Wong.
"Yes," he replied. "and I will not ask how you knew my surname. Now tell me about him."
I squint my eyes. This person was a bit harder - because this person was a bit simpler.
I soon picture the links his form tells, and reply.
"This person is simple-minded, and originally worked in normal police before joining the ADP.
Also, this person is flirty, easily annoyed, can ride a motorbike..."
I trailed off, mumbling the rest.
Miss Yamazaki stood up.
"Well I certainly do not have a psychic for a long-lost relative, so you had better explain yourself or else."
I raise my eyebrow. This person was determined, hotheaded and jumps to conclusions too often.
"The or else, meaning you'd have ripped out my core if I was a boomer?"
A silence fell upon the table, and thinking better, I stood up.
"Well, I do not like to talk about myself in such a mess. I will meet you later."
Then I walked out, but Mr Wong clutched my arm and followed out, then took me into a dark alley.
"What are you doing?" I asked as a blindly walked on.
"I am going to now ask you." He said.
"Don't. Because I will not answer." I reply, snatching my arm away from him.
But as I walked back out of the dim alleyway, his voice rang out:
"How can I be like you? Could I ever be like you...A woman?"
________________________
"Oh yea, and I love those whips that you display over there," Priss muttered.
"Ah, you have seen it haven't you? You are very observant. In fact, I am wondering if you were just looking for it now."
Then Sylia and Priss stopped in a corner, and Priss stood with her arms akimbo.
"Ok Sylia, what do you want me to do this time? It's not every day I offer my help voluntarily you know."
Sylia smiled, her eyes now piercing Priss and making even Priss feel uncomfortable.
"Can you cope in a rogue hardsuit, Priss?"
Priss hesistated before answering.
"I don't know."
________________________
It was nearly evening now, and dusk was settling in fast.
But in this padded cell you could not see anything. Not even a bird flying home, not even the sound of the afternoon rush hour traffic.
Adrian groaned. How long will this last before he really WAS driven into insanity? He hoped that someone would come and free him of this living death.
Now that it was getting dark, his mind drifted to Sara Estella, and how her limp body had tried to breathe helplessly.
Langley's daughter. His daughter.
But who was he? Adrian did not know, and did not want to know.
His mind drifted now to all the people he had killed in his time. Some old scheming cobras, some HIV-positive prostitutes, some were proven innocent only after death...
Adrian stood up, and walked to the mirror. The mirror showed a haggard, tired-looking man.
But it was not him, Adrian realised.
He screamed.
But the reflection in the mirror did not scream.
It in fact did not even open its mouth, and its lips were formed into a cold sneer.
The face looking back at him...it was him, Adrian realised.
The father of the daughter he just killed. Langley's lover.
But who was he? He did not kill this man!
Adrian leant closer to the mirror to study the man's face.
A cold shiver ran down his spine as he reaised who this man was.
It was Adrian himself.
Adrian jumped back in surprise, uttering a sound incomprehensible to the mind.
Now, the reflection shimmered, as though upon a liquid surface, and this time Sara Estella was smiling at him through the mirror.
She was not sniggering. She was smiling, and mouthing a single word.
"Father."
Her hand stretched out, out of the mirror. The mirror's surface shimmered as the limb came through.
Adrian suddenly found strength in his legs to run to the door.
Banging upon it, he shouted repeatedly for help, help he knew would not come.
__________________
The guard flipped through the newspaper as he glanced every now and then at the screen. Ring 3 was playing, and he did not want to miss the ghosts coming out of the computer now.
No, he could not miss it. After all, this was the highlight of the movie: virtual into reality.
He grimaced, but was still smiling as the ghost walked out of the TV screen in the room and choked the female character to death.
There were convulsions running up and down her body, then all was still.
The guard grunted as more irrelevant talking came up with a change of scene. Horror movies. Those talkings made it seem so unreal, so stupid. It should be pure action and gore.
He heard a sound of a door banging and a man screaming for help in the distance, but could not be bothered to move. After all, insane men saw things, and he was not the counsellor.
The banging noise continued, and seeing that the next five or so minutes would be pure talk, the guard stood up and decided to see what the commotion was.
__________________