All The Colors of Yesterday

Chapter 9

by Elliot Bowers

_____Swish… The metal hatchet came up, while the man-sized android teddybear remained on its cotton-padded knees, bowing its big fluffy brown head. Standing close was the girl…a dark and angry look in her ceramic eyes while she stood poised, her slim arms and hands holding up the sharp-headed metal object. Sneering, she tensed, then brought down the metal hatchet with both hands gripping…

_____Swish-clunk! That sharpened, diamond-headed hatchet head bit through the cottony exterior of the fluffy brown head, cutting into the tin skull beneath. The teddy bear was designed to be hugged and befriended, not to be abused with weapons.

_____The damage was brutal. With a buzz of cut circuits, it shuddered and fell over, twitching on the smooth black floor--sparks beginning to char some of the cottony exterior. The girl's eyes went wide, taking in the sight of this toy-thing she had broken, seen by the glow of the video monitors on the wall.

_____Somehow, she didn't think that was enough! Again, using her inhuman strength, the synthetic girl again raised the metal hatchet. It went up…raised in the air…and then brought back down with terrible speed. Chumk! Again, the sharpened head of the diamond-edged hatchet bit into the head of the already broken teddy bear. This time, it went deeper, cleaving new damage.

_____And she hit again… And again… To the shoulders, the chest, the belly… She was getting into it, her eyes wide and glinting with something like madness. The hatchet came up again, her body tensed, and she struck yet again! It was a sadistic rhythm noted by a brutal and steady beat--each beat making for another fraction of destruction. The girl was so immersed in her activity, destroying the robotic teddy bear, that she failed to notice the view of a left-side monitor--a dark figure walking out of one glass-doored luxury home, then appearing on another monitor--walking into the next building.

_____Some would think that a human being wouldn't be capable of such cruelty. Yet human beings have killed and mutilated others before. It was a sign of insanity and murderous intent. For the synthetic girl of this palace, however, it was simply the way she was. She had to assert authority over her kingdom. And to do that, her subjects had to be punished.

_____When she was done, there was nothing but a battered metal hulk with stuffing everywhere. Finally relaxing, holding the hatchet in her left hand, she kicked some of the stuffing, the remains. Then she pivoted to face the metal-bodied robotic maids standing stiffly along the right-side wall--pointing her hatchet in their general direction. She also knew that her message, in the form of electronic signals from her electronic mind, was being transmitted throughout all of this dead city in the sky.

_____Maintenance and security robots everywhere throughout the sleek, beautiful city stopped to listen. They were standing along the pristine pedestrian-friendly streets and in sleek office-like towers of glass and steel, in the park-like gardens… Most were not moving anyway. But those that were, they ceased their operation to tune in to the network message from their mistress.

_____Bzzt… "Do you know what I've just done to Teddy-Poo? Yeah, you do… And if you keep messing up, I'm gonna make the same thing happen to all of you, one at a time! I don't know which one of you eight-bit stupid-heads is messing up, letting that creepy old stranger come up into my city, but you're not gonna let it happen again! The next time I see that guy dancing along my streets, walking into my buildings, I'm gonna mess up two more of you!" Thump! She again kicked the remains of the giant robotic teddybear. "Now clean up this mess!" Bzzt! Hiss…

_____Showing no fear or remorse on their plastic faces, the gynoid-maids stiffly moved over to the wide pile of scattered fluff and steel. One of them opened the door while the others knelt to gathered up large armfuls of the teddy bear. It took two of them to lift up the mutilated metal robotic frame. When all of the large pieces were removed from the floor, two of the maids licked the floor clean with their artificial tongues.

_____A-a-ahh yes! It was another day in the city. It was noon-time, and everyone was on their lunch-break. In the downtown area, cyborgs and fleshies were sitting outside of shops and Black-Market office buildings, enjoying all the kinds of food they ate and the drinks. The sky overhead was a nice pretty blue, the sun seemed to be just so bright and warm, and the day itself was so pleasant and smiley! If birds hadn't gone extinct, they would be singing--perched atop buildings, neon signs and on streetlamps, lamps left dark during the day.

_____With the music playing and the people sitting outside, there was a sort of celebratory feeling in the city air! Cyborgs laughed easily and drank beer with their metal hands while admiring the bodies of beautiful people who walked by. Outdoor cafes were doing brisk business while some trucks eased slowly by. There was also an awful lot of air pollution. That was beside the point. This wasn't some kind of holiday. There were no holidays in the city! It was just a kind of…feel-good sort of day. Too bad this feel-good sort of ambiance didn't last.

_____Kablam-m-m! The Adversary exploded its way up to the surface, the city street. Oh no, not again, thought some of the city people as they all started to run away. By now, everybody knew about the Adversary--either by rumor or by seeing it in action. How many people were killed by that thing now?

_____If the monster looked bad before, it looked even more sinister now. The garish red-and-white paint-job given it weeks ago was beginning to streak in places, the paint ruined by toxic pollutants in the sewers, and the chunky metal torso now had black patches and pitted marks where ceramic bullets and other kinds of projectiles had hit it. Dark stains of cyborg circulatory fluids now permanently stained its huge claw-hand. Clomp-clomp-clomp… Its metal hooves made those stomping noises as it began to stride towards a building.

_____Yeah, if bounty hunters were still around, they'd be able to stop that monster-thing! They would dash right up to that monster, leap up and sink their weapons right into its optical sensors or something before lopping off those construction-machine arms. Then they would cut off its machine legs. Even if the Adversary didn't seem to have a head, the bounty hunters would've found a way to stop it. What was that? Some of the Black Market enforcers are ex-bounty hunters? So what!

_____It didn't even bother to try and open the glass doors to that nine-story office building over there. Heck, it just strode right on into the first floor--chunks of annealed glass and strips of steel tinkling everywhere. There were screams coming from inside and some people tried to make their way out before something… Fwoosh! A fluorescent pillar of plasma energy burst out the top of the nine-story structure. That was a blast of energy from the Adversary's arm-cannon, no doubt: absolutely holing the building from the inside.

_____With a terrible roar of smoke and chaos, the building came crashing down, all nine stories of it. The roaring and the crashing of concrete and steel drowned out the screams. None of the human workers could have survived that. Even a few cyborgs would be lucky enough to get out of the rubble alive.

_____When the massive pile of rubble settled, the dust clearing, the Adversary freed itself with a mighty sweep of its claw-hand. This metal-bodied beast emerged from all the destruction and all of the chaos with no new dents at all. Muttering darkly in a robotic growl, the thing stomped a part of the street and again exited to below. There was no telling where it would go next to find whatever "Target" it was seeking.

2.

_____Dr. Sera had long gotten used to the loud roar of the big engine and the vibrating hum of the big tires on the city streets. At first, she was somewhat against the idea of riding in this big and rough-looking wasteland vehicle--what Scotch called a "dune buggy," now fitted with smooth wheels for urban driving. Even adjusted down as far as it was, the seatbelts still didn't feel secure enough. This seat was designed for a much larger person than Dr. Sera--someone three times the width of her body. She sometimes had to hold on to part of the vehicle's tube-framework as Scotch made these sharp turns--wheels screeching and heavy electric motor thrumming. Earlier, he had told her the power supply was micro fusion batteries and radiochemical generators wired together in a parallel circuit.

_____Microfusion packs? Dr. Sera almost asked Scotch if he and his brother were crazy, using that kind of power supply in a vehicle. Radiothermic generators were extremely safe, but a ruptured micro- fusion pack could explode, perhaps take out half a city block. Yes, she almost lectured him on the dangers of using such a power supply in a vehicle, but then she remembered the dangerous creations she made in her own dark moments: handguns, energy rifles, the Adversary…

_____"We're almost there, Dr. Sera!" Scotch yelled above the loud thrumming of the engine. She nodded, looking down at the dark little compact weapon she held in her lap. He glanced once more at the pretty female scientist and again saw the sad, downcast look in her eyes. If she was feeling down, then he couldn't help but feel the same way. "Is everything okay?"

_____She suddenly put on a smile before she yelled her answer back. "Oh, yes! Everything is quite all right! Just take me there, and I'll see to it that the Adversary is no more!" She waved the dark pistol. "This is my ultimate weapon, capable of making matter itself disappear! You saw what it did during my demonstration!"

_____Grimly nodding, Scotch acknowledged Dr. Sera's answer. He had indeed seen what that dark pistol was able to do. He had to. Some business suit-wearing ex-bounty hunters had come by his place of work, put him in a car, and drove him to the nearest warehouse where Black Market executives were organizing this little plan. Everyone at that meeting saw Dr. Sera fire the dark pistol and make chunks of metal disappear; anything hit with that pistol was covered over with an eerie, glowing sunset-colored haze…before it vanished. To show how easy it was to use it, some Black Market executives (a few of them being ex-bounty hunters) were given chances to fire it at other pieces of junk--with the same strange and ultimate results. After Dr. Sera used the dark pistol against the Adversary, she hoped nobody ever used it again.

_____That would have to be soon now. A right turn, and they were soon in the very same area of the Adversary. And there it was, tearing open another car with its mighty claw-hand. There were ruined store-fronts all along this city street, and one small building had been completely obliterated. Then they heard the deep roar of that thing echoing among the buildings…

_____He put on the brakes and forced the dune-buggy into a "fishtail" maneuver--the kind of tire-squealing stop that left the vehicle turned halfway around. When this dune buggy came stopping half the street's length, several buildings away, the Adversary's massive upper body rotated around on its armored waist. The optical sensors were pointed in this direction, and it seemed to hesitate. Scotch and Dr. Sera now knew that they were spotted.

_____"Gol darn it…!" grunted Scotch, turning his head right and looking past Dr. Sera in the passenger's seat. The Adversary seemed bigger this time, much more horrible. He was about forty meters from the thing over there, and he could see every grotesque, sharp detail of the big thing--worse than he remembered it. The armored chest seemed made of square blocks, assembled vaguely into the shape of a muscular man's torso--streaked with nightmarish red and white paint-stripes. Its arms were thick as telephone poles, while the legs were jointed electromechanical pillars--the feet being silvery hooves. He saw every chunk of metal that was its armored chest--sections of it still open. The thing was painted all the wrong colors, and its torso was a chunky chaos. It was a monster, plain and simple. How could such an intelligent, wonderful and beautiful woman like Dr. Sera make something so horrible?

_____Now it was time for her to destroy it. Dr. Sera unbuckled the adjusted seatbelts and got out of the dune buggy's seat. The compact dark pistol seemed to be lighter now, though the insides of the heavy little weapon was made of something more dense than ordinary metal. Standing with her legs slightly apart to give herself balance, she was aiming with the dark pistol.

_____"TARGET" boomed the amplified voice of the metal beast. It then began to turn itself fully in towards Dr. Sera and Scotch, pivoting on silvery hooves. That done, there was suddenly a street-shaking how-w-wl of raw anger. It sounded so that Scotch couldn't be sure if it was the roar of an animal or of a machine. The massive arm-cannon was then….aimed…in…this…direction…

_____A lot can blur through a person's mind when faced with the prospect of a sudden, violent and fiery death. Scotch was thinking about how stupid he had been all of his life. Their father was such a great guy, knowing so much about vehicles and machines--dying sick in bed. His brother would criticize him for being so goofy so often, often not taking anything seriously. Only after his brother died did Scotch take life for real. It was too late to make up for everything now, though. He'd tried his best…

_____Target indeed, thought Dr. Sera, staring through the sights of her compact dark weapon. For a moment, she was distracted by the Adversary's charge-up: swirling, ghostly plasma energy beginning to build up within the arm-cannon. Something was wrong here, something that didn't feel right… "Shoot it, Dr. Sera! Shoot it before it blows us away!" Blinking once, she fine-adjusted her aim and squeezed the trigger.

_____Crack! A bright glowing streak of neon red snapped out from the pistol and struck the Adversary. The results were just as eerie and as sickening as before, giving Dr. Sera a sickening feeling just watching it. That familiar sunset-colored glow, that eerie haze, began to cover over the Adversary. In several seconds, the Adversary was completely lost from sight.

_____There was a beastly growl coming from within the haze, a terrible monstrous sound of anger--and triumph. What was this! Dr. Sera saw the top and bottom of the Adversary become free of the sunset-colored haze. Then its left claw-arm was free. The sunset-colored haze was dissipating, apparently not having an effect…

_____What was this! The Adversary's arm-cannon was still aimed in this direction. But instead of firing, the metal beast's arm-cannon was actually sucking in that sunset-colored haze. It was charging its arm-cannon with her shot from the dark pistol.

_____"No, Oh no," moaned Dr. Sera. She dropped her aim, lowering the dark pistol. Then she went to her knees, feeling weakened. "Oh, no-no-no…" Everything was all wrong now. The dark pistol was supposed to be strong enough to send objects out of this reality, capable of destroying entire city blocks. But if even this could not stop the Adversary…

_____Using the strength and agility of synthetic muscles, Scotch grabbed Dr. Sera around the waist and put her in the passenger's seat before he himself hopped into the driver's seat, twisted the steering wheel to the left and put his foot to the accelerator. "We've got to get the heck outta here, doc!"

_____Somehow, the two got out of there just before the Adversary let loose with that newly charged shot. They were speeding away from that street and going around a corner when a thick and fierce-glowing pillar of energy blasted out towards where they once were. The blast struck a building, and the entire structure collapsed halfway before it dissolved in that sunset-colored haze. Vanished…

_____Later, they were in a ground-floor café of a Black Market office-building. This building was once a center for Zalem's control over the city--where bounty hunters could give the heads of criminals to cylinder-bodied Deckmen for cash. Now it was a place from which the Black Market gladly kept control. But with that monster still out there somewhere, their control was coming under question.

_____Scotch and Dr. Sera were in this building, on the ground floor. They stared at the dark pistol on the table, the dark metal glinting in the light coming in from the window. She said to Scotch, "After I made this, this was the weapon I feared all of my life. I never wanted to make it again…" A tear came down her right cheek. "And I never wanted to use it again. I never wanted anyone to use it ever again. I was just…so afraid of its power. A small group of people armed with weapons like this could destroy cities--leaving nothing but craters in the ground. I almost wanted to die so this thing wouldn't be made ever again. But, well… You know of what I had done to myself before to prevent it from coming back."

_____"Now that you're one person again, the dark pistol came back," said Scotch. "But still, it wasn't enough to stop the Adversary. So this thing isn't as scary as you thought it was. I wish I didn't yell at you, making you shoot an' all…when you knew you shouldn't have."

_____"No, it is not a fault of yours," said Dr. Sera, wiping stray tears from her cheeks with her fingertips. "You had no way of understanding the capacitating properties of the Adversary's weapon. It is not so much an energy cannon as it is a high-potential, high-yield cylindrical capacitor. That is why it requires that amount of time between firings. When I shot at it with the dark pistol, the Adversary just sucked the energy right in and used it against us. Ha-ha… Funny irony! My own creation using my own offense against me. My best attempt, and a failure." Then tears began to flow from the rims of her ceramic eyes--easily sliding down the smooth synthetic skin of her cheeks. Though her body was synthetic, her tears were real. They were the real tears of failure…and frustration.

_____A gasp escaped her lips when a solid hand gripped her left shoulder--the metal hand belonging to a professionally dressed female cyborg with fluffy brown hair. "Hi there! My name's Lyn, and I'm going to be your escort today! You'll come along, not making any trouble, right? Goody…! Let's go!" The grip almost lifted the female scientist out of her chair.

_____"H-hey!" blurted Scotch, raising a hand in protest as Dr. Sera was being taken away from this table. Some people at other tables went quiet and looked in this direction. Surprisingly, the female enforcer turned her head to look back. Scotch

_____The enforcer's head actually turned all the way around on her metal neck--facing backwards. Then she smiled, her metal teeth being sharpened razors. Any sort of courage Scotch might have had was wiped away just then; the sight of that smile was enough to stop him. He could just watch as Dr. Sera was being "led" out of this restaurant.

3.

_____Dr. Sera looked out the rear right-side window, looking past the male cyborg that was gripping her right wrist. On her left, another male cyborg was holding her other wrist. They were making sure that she didn't try to get out of this dark car. This vehicle stopped in front of her own research facility--the six-story building she purchased from the sale of the new synthetic-flesh type bodies.

_____Shutting off the heavy electric engine, the female enforcer up front spoke up. "Here's how the cards are laid out," she said. Cards? That particular expression caught Dr. Sera's attention. "There are some very important people who don't want you hurt. It turns out that you made so many important people happy with your work that they don't want you to ever stop working! With the Adversary stomping around, my bosses don't want you in any danger--not even the kind of danger you put yourself in."

_____The male cyborg holding her right wrist added something else. "Yeah… That's right, doctor. If the Adversary gets you, you can't work anymore, can you? You won't be able to make synthetic-flesh type bodies for important people…" He pulled the wrist closer to his eyes--looking at the smooth "skin." "Your skin looks almost real."

_____Dr. Sera smiled bitterly. "Certainly! However, I would find it rather difficult to continue my research in synthetic flesh with the likes of you and your colleagues inspecting my body." The cyborgs released her wrists, and she rubbed. "Given our current agreement, I am not to leave the building, correct? And I understand that you have all of the exits sealed off, welded the windows shut, and have even closed off the basement access to the sewers?" The cyborg smiled. "Then, there would be no need for you to step into my building during the course of my work."

_____Speaking in a too-cheerful tone, the male cyborg on her left answered. "Certainly not! Okey-dokie… You can go play now, doctor. Just don't try to leave the building. We don't get to kill you, but we can hurt that nice-looking synthetic body of yours so that you won't try to do something stupid…like trying to get out."

_____That said, the two male cyborgs got out of this car and led Dr. Sera to the front entrance of her own building. They also nodded to the other expensively dressed cyborgs standing at the front. Dr. Sera knew that they were not only there to try to "protect" her from the Adversary, they were also there to keep her from keep her in.

_____In the white-tiled reception area, the petite, blonde secretary quickly stepped out from behind the desk and quickly stepped over to the female scientist--her long flaxen hair fluttering. She gently put her left arm around the scientist's waist. Like the scientist herself, the secretary had a synthetic-flesh body: shown off with the open collar of her blouse and the shortness of her skirt. "Dr. Sera! Oh my gosh…! What happened! Did they try to hurt you? Those bullies…!"

_____"No, Maureen… They didn't harm me. However, they promised to do so if I ever left this building," she said. Maureen gave a squeaking gasp, her fingers quickly to her lips--blue eyes wide with surprise. "They said, it was for my own protection."

_____"Oh my gosh… They didn't say they were gonna make you disappear or anything bad like that, right?" asked Maureen the secretary. "Oh… They would've just taken you away, then--making sure you don't come back. I hope they don't lie and take you away, anyway…" By now, the security guard--an ex bounty-hunter in dark clothes--had take interest and was looking over here.

_____"All the same," said Dr. Sera. "I may have to disappear again, after all. If you will excuse me, I have work to do." She walked over to the elevator with the secretary staring. Just before the elevator doors closed, she said, "And goodbye, Maureen."

_____Several hours later, Lyn and several other enforcers were in a nearby factory--the clanking of the heavy machinery somewhat audible through the floor. Earlier, this group had "convinced" the senior manager to let them use his security room. All Lyn had to do was smile at the short man, and he was glad to oblige.

_____They weren't really interfering with Dr. Sera's work… Sure, this razor-toothed female enforcer had promised not to "interfere" with Dr. Sera's work by putting guards in there. Instead, it was easy to put up a few security cameras in her building and keep an eye on her. So long as the good doctor didn't notice a few extra cameras in certain places, things would be fine: no hurt feelings.

_____Hmm… Where was Dr. Sera? Lyn frowned. The doctor hadn't shown up on any of the video monitor-screens for the past few hours. They had seen the scientist doing a great deal of boring things like setting equipment, writing out technical notes and talking to other people in white lab-coats. She seemed to be doing typical scientist-stuff right until she went into one particular room on the sixth floor…

_____"She could not have gotten out of that building," said Lyn, thinking aloud. The other enforcers, sitting at the video monitors, looked back at her. "Not jumped, not climbed, not anything. I mean, we covered all the exits, right?" They nodded. "She didn't jump out a window, because we've even sealed those up… Hey! Don't look at me! Keep your eyes on the monitors!"

_____Surprised, the other cyborgs turned to look at the monitors. Their attention was solely on looking out for a certain red-haired female scientist. But if they had been paying attention to other people in the building, seen on the monitors, they would have noticed something else. They would have noticed the new presence of two more cyborgs.

_____Two more scientists? The enforcers didn't notice, didn't care. Ranging from gnarly faced freaks to nice-looking cuties, all of those science-and-technology people in the building started to look the same after a while. They all wore lab-coats and worked with computer-machines and technical papers and all that kind of fancy stuff. Even if those two female scientists on that monitor were rather cute, they were yet more of the same: lab geeks. They even looked the same, may as well have been twins.

4.

_____Life was finally settling into a routine for Scotch. He worked in the West-Side Arena garage during the day, did some relaxing reading during the afternoons, then went to a performance by Aikasa at sunset. Then he would drive back to his apartment--fully capable of driving due to his artificial organs filtering toxins. If he was a fleshie, this would have been impossible; it took a square head to drive his custom-made vehicle. There, back home, he would catch up on newsprint reading and eat some glucose-rich foodstuff before going to bed, maybe with the radio on. A night's sleep and he would be up again to do the same thing over again… Nice and predictable.

_____Dr. Sera was gone, probably never coming back again. He saw them take her away. All that he had heard about her from there was just rumors. Not lies, because nobody really knew the truth. Maybe she was chained to a factory machine or some kind of robot, forced to do technical work for the rest of her life--however long that would be. The people at her former place of work outright refused to tell him she had gone.

_____When he became too persistent in his questioning, they angrily told him, Go away! So that was done. Dr. Sera was done and gone… He didn't want to even think about that anymore, not think about his friends, his father, his brother, or that beautiful woman. All of them were dead some way or another. He was alone now, alone in a city full of people.

_____Right now, he was in that part of his daily routine following Aikasa's performance. She had done her thing at this pub and was being driven to another place to sing tonight. And of course, about half the crowd here was already piled in friends' cars or on trucks and going to wherever the beautiful little enchantress was going next. Some people, like him, were just content to have heard her sing once--the lingering memory of her delicious singing voice and wonderful melody lingering like a remembered dream.

_____The waitress--a female cyborg in in dark pleated skirt and white blouse--walked up to this table and saw the half-empty mug of beer. Scotch shrugged and raised the mug once. Nodding, the waitress went away to get some more. As he saw her walk away, he wondered why he bothered to drink beer at all since his artificial insides filtered out and flash-vaporized most everything. All he did was taste the thick smoky-flavored liquid as it went down his mouth and gullet.

_____When the waitress returned with another full mug of beer, he gave her another minor-denomination credit-chip. She smiled and accepted the chip--went away again on hard-heeled dark shoes. He was going to finish off this mug and the fresh one when something surprised him. Someone kissed him on the right cheek with soft, cool lips. When he turned his head to see who planted that one on him, someone else kissed him on the other cheek with lips that felt the same way.

_____What the…? His "attackers" then came around from behind, sat at the two other seats of this table--sitting side by side. "Hi, Scotch!" said the twin females in unison--young and athletic-looking cyborgs, dressed in tee shirts and form-fitting jeans--small purses slung over their shoulders. Even if they were metal-bodied, they looked beautiful. "How've you been?" They both smiled at him, matching smiles on their pretty faces--faces framed with long, silken dark hair.

_____"Harrah… Kyrie… You're back?" he asked. They nodded and smiled. "I thought you two were both separate halves of Dr. Sera's brain. So if you two are here, then she's…" Their smile faded, and they nodded again. They confirmed the news.

_____"But don't think of it that way, okay? It's… Its…not accurate, you know?" said the cyborg-girl sitting on the left. "It's not like the person you knew as Dr. Sera, like, put a gun to her own head and blew her own brains out. I'm still Dr. Sera."

_____"Me too. I'm also Dr. Sera," continued the other cyborg-girl. "I remember most of what's been happening, too. We-e-ell… Most of the important stuff, anyway. I don't have all the memories. Some stuff is a little foggy, and some stuff just isn't there at all." She looked at her sister. "Maybe Harrah remembers it, and maybe not."

_____"I sometimes remember the color of the tee-shirt somebody wore the other day, and my sister won't," explained the other twin. But no matter how hard we try, some memories are just…gone. Like, we both don't remember how to make guns. Funny thing is, we don't remember the details of how to make a synthetic flesh-type body, either."

_____The cyborg-girl on the left rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Yeah! The scientists back at the research facility really tried to get us to remember more. But…we don't! It's not like they don't already have the schematics and notes for making myogel muscle and stuff! They were just so nasty towards us! Eww! It's like they were trying to teach us to be laboratory people or something, trying to make me remember everything…"

_____"Then one guy said I was a stupid! " complained the cyborg-girl on the right. "Could you believe it? He didn't just say the word stupid. He said I was 'a stupid,' like some kind of mutant creature born without a brain! I can't believe that I was actually friends with those people! They may know all that freaky stuff about converting brains for use in cyborg bodies, but my sister and I both know more about electromechanics and machines than those guys do. So…"

_____Scotch listened to the enthusiastic chatter of the twins. This was what was missing from his day! Being with familiar friends, listening to them talk, that was better. There was something that felt good about being in the company of these two beautiful, cheerful and friendly girls he had known for so long, something pleasant and…proper. It was almost the same feeling he felt when listening to Aikasa sing. Everything was just alright with the world again!

_____While they chattered, the waitress came over to this table. The twins ordered tea and chocolate, talked some more. "But, you wanna know the real reason why I split again?" said the twin on the left. "Some Black Market creeps wanted to keep me trapped in the research facility and keep inventing new and snazzy things."

_____The twin on the right laughed, "Ha-ha-ha…! They had the whole building surrounded with guys in those expensive-looking black business clothes. The sewers, the windows, everything was sealed up. But they didn't even think that I'd leave as somebody else!"

_____"Or two other somebodies," commented the twin on the left. "I mean, they were trying to keep me trapped in a hospital-place that makes cyborg bodies...probably the most realistic kind of bodies in the whole city. The Black Market's executives are good with money and beating up people who make trouble for them, but they're not too smart when it comes to technology."

_____"Which is why so many mechanics were being kidnapped," added the other twin. The waitress came back with trays of chocolate and tea for them. "Thanks!" she said to the waitress. Both twins reached into their small purses and gave credit-chips.

_____They sipped their cups of tea at the same time, set them down. "Mmm…" they said simultaneously. Then they looked at Scotch, their faces showing embarrassment. The twins tried to be separate people, but odd moments of synchronicity like that still happened: They realized how their moments of simultaneous behavior sometimes "creeped out" other people.

_____For some moments, Scotch looked at them before speaking… He finally said, "I've gotta to tell you something… Something that's been bothering me for a while. I know you two were both Dr. Sera. But even when she was… When you were both in the same body…" They nodded, understanding his confusion of words. "Anyway, even when the woman I knew as Dr. Sera was around, I've had a few really strange dreams.

_____"They go like this. You're riding in a burning bus. The thing's really full of fire. The cushions are all burning up, the aisle is covered with flames. But none of the passengers really care. Aikasa's bouncing up and down in a seat, laughing and giggling like she's having the best time in the world while there's some old guy shuffling blue playing cards. A blond-haired man in a business suit was talking to you. The guy driving the bus is wearing red, and has thick dark shoes.

_____"Then I notice that everybody except you is wearing red. Aikasa's in a red dress, the old man is in red coveralls, and even the bus-driver is wearing a red uniform. That's not all that's weird about the dream. I noticed that it was really dark outside the bus. There were some dim lights around, but they're not real lights. They were some kind of lights from outer space or something. That nightmare was really scary… And it just gets scarier every time I have it."

_____Listening to Scotch, they were munching chocolate. But as he made those last few comments, they were paused with pieces of chocolate in their metal fingers. "Wo-o-o-w… Creepy!" said the twins, in chorus.

5.

_____"Umm… Barabbas? Do I, like, have to wear this outfit?" she asked, tugging at the hem of her too-short pleated skirt. It barely covered the double-curve of her butt and hips--leaving the full lengths of her new legs exposed. Too exposed, she thought. Her flat and slightly muscular midriff was also left bare by her truncated, sleeveless white blouse--also baring her lean arms. The outfit left a lot of her smooth, cream-toned skin showing. "I feel kinda…" She looked around the small kitchen and whispered, "Kinda naked, you know?"

_____Barabbas just smiled and crossed his bulging, beefy arms--bared by his new tank top. His outfit was complete with jeans and brown boots. He looked her up and down. "Oh, come now, Mai!" he said in that refined deep voice of his. "Do have some confidence about yourself, dear! Modesty was never a factor before with your previous body. A synthetic-flesh type body is but another type of cyborg physique." He put a strong hand on one of her slim shoulders, looked into her large dark eyes. "Why-ever should it matter now? Hmm?" With the other hand, he stroked a few wayward strands of her straight green hair away from her forehead.

_____"Well…" She leaned with her back to the wall--feeling the coldness through the material of the too-shirt skirt. Mai really didn't want to undergo the operation. She wanted to stay in her metal-type body--a strong body. A body of metal really did not feel like a vulnerable human one, felt more like armor. Compared to the machine strength of metal, flesh bodies are weak and vulnerable. Skin can be burned and ruined by sunlight and pollution, muscle can be torn, and bones can be broken.

_____This new body felt too vulnerable one. Her legs, torso, neck, arms…everything felt as "real" as the one she had been born with--having the flexibility of muscle and the sensitivity of skin. Sure, her skeleton was still metal: made of a silvery alloy having the tensile strength of a metal-type. And they said that the artificial muscle tissue had over ten times the strength of the same in humans. All the same, she felt too vulnerable.

_____Barabbas lifted his hand off of her left shoulder. "I can see the doubt in your eyes… But please, remember why you do this. Remember why you have been by my side for all of this time, through all of the travails through the wasteland thus far. All of the struggles, all of the acts of liberation, all of that is leading up to this time!" He clenched his hands together. "Mai, the time of triumph is approaching! Once we take this city from the great evil oppressors and seize the resources for the people, the rest of the land shall fall to us. But to do that, we must secure people's attention and confidence. A beautiful and confident young lady like you would bring vigor and charm to our cause…"

_____"I'm…charming?" asked Mai. She didn't think about it that way. "Like, people are really gonna see me as a kinda leader?" She stopped tugging at the hem of her short pleated skirt. "Wow…!" She put on a tentative smile, then the other few people here did the same.

_____"Certainly!" responded Barabbas. "Now… Off we go to celebrate the liberation of this city block. Leaders of the local populace is in waiting. We should not be rude in testing their patience yet again…" He put one of his long thick arms around her shoulders and led her out of this restaurant's kitchen. When the door swung open, there was a loud cheer from the main room.

_____People in clean, grand clothes of all kinds were sitting at restaurant tables--with two of his men standing at the door and along the wall. The people at the tables were in clothes ranging from expensive silken tuxedo-suits to grand leisure robes. Most of them were men--fleshie men and metal-bodied males. And, of course, the appearance of Mai had the predictable effect: They all took looks at her--with some taking longer looks.

_____Mai moved over to the wall and leaned against it, standing with her feet close together and her arms crossed while Barabbas stepped towards the sitting area. The applause quieted down. "Thank you, all! Thank you for coming to this little informal get-together. I know that you all are usually busy, running your businesses… But you must admit, your businesses have been noticeably more profitable without the so-called Black Market cutting into your profits!" That made for another burst of applause from the well-dressed people at the tables--which again quieted to let Barabbas speak. "That said, this is not really about me…but about us. We're here to talk business--an ancient term called 'networking.' And that we shall! I'll be at this table should anyone wish to talk to me in particular, but please… Talk among yourselves about furthering our plans!"

_____After that freshet of applause, he raised his hands above his head, nodded to the crowd and then had himself a seat. The woman who ran this restaurant whispered something in his ear. He nodded and told her something. She went away, organizing her waiters to serve the important local leaders here. Then he gestured to Mai, who moved away from the wall and sat in the seat next to him.

_____Edging close to the tablecloth-covered table, she crossed her legs--feeling skin on skin. At least she didn't have to stand up. She still felt too many eyes on her, men glancing and looking while supposedly talking business. She looked to her left and saw Barabbas give her a smile.

_____Two men came to this table. One of them was a male cyborg wearing a white business suit with a beige tie, dark sunglasses on. The other was a fleshie man dressed in a loose buttoned shirt and pressed slacks--a man who looked ready for leisure. "Mr. Barabbas," said the one in the white suit, "May we sit with you and the young lady?"

_____"Most certainly!" he said cheerfully. The two sat down, looking at Mai before forcing their focus back to Barabbas. "And please… We can do without formal titles. I am not Mister Barabbas--merely Barabbas. We are all colleagues and peers."

_____"Yes, then," responded the one in the loose leisure-style clothes. "We are pleased with the work you have done. You have swept in from the wastelands on winds of virtue, to purify our city of the great evildoers. For helping liberate the souls of the people, I thank you."

_____ Mai looked at the man. Gosh, this guy sounds like such a cornball, she thought. She saw him give a thick-toothed smile. She didn't want to ruin the moment for Barabbas, so she just smiled back. She hoped he didn't think she was making a pass at him--a date or something…. Ick!

_____"Odd how you should mention souls," said Barabbas. "It was not an act of liberation so much as it was an act of awakening. The people have been asleep for centuries, forever broken and oppressed under then yoke of labor for the sake of Zalem. Downtrodden and defeated, they could do little but bear down and accept their plight--working factories and farms, slaving away and getting pittances in return. Feh! Now the Black Market moves in where Zalem once ruled, replacing one yoke with yet another. However, the slave drivers are careless and more concerned with wealth than they are about control. And that, my colleagues, is where we come in. A careless slave driver is an easily upset one. We are freeing the souls of the people by freeing them of the evil ones."

_____Nodding once, the cyborg in the white business suit agreed. "It also allows us to follow our own plans. It is too difficult to get things done with a greedy corporation trying to take our wealth most all the time…"

_____"And our time is nearly here!" said Barabbas. "Gentlemen, as we speak, my people are actively participating in small gatherings of this very same sort--throughout the downtown regions of the city. As you well know, the Black Market rules the city from various power-centers--the main centers being a series of structures that rise high above the streets. By concentrating their power, they have also made themselves vulnerable to but a few sweeping acts. Between our planned acts and the random anarchy produced by the Adversary, the days and nights shall be ours…"

_____Mai listened to Barabbas' plotting and planning. Yes, she had heard all of his talk before. A lot of it was repetitive. But this time, his words were taking on importance. It was for real this time. Of all the farms they had taken over and the deeds they had done, this was the big time.

_____The alley was darker than usual. Of course, this was not just any alley. This was the alley. The old stranger and the shadowy opponent were again playing a game of cards, sitting at the low table. Then again, they were always playing cards. That light fixture attached to the wall, it was getting dim. Shuffling his deck, the old stranger took worried glances at the meager cards he currently had on his side of the table. Across from him, the shadowy opponent chuckled in the darkness…