Bubble Gum HYTE (Fan-fic)
Source: Bubble Gum Crisis/Crash
Author: LV426
Chapter 12: Information
Nene yawned as she stretched before sitting at her desk. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Linna and the personal hell Kou was putting her through, or even worse, Priss' personal hell. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose someone you cared for that much. No, Priss had never admitted how she felt, but knowing her, it didn't take Nene much to figure it out.
It also made her wonder if she should be glad for now Mackie was so far away. She blushed a little at the thought. They had last seen each other only before he went to study in Germany. While, yes she liked him, she always thought of it as some stupid crush, and time seemed to put it in the back of her mind... she just stopped worrying. Now with what happened to Leon, the questions returned, as well as a little worry.
"Plus," she whined low enough that no one else could hear more then a mumble, "how could anyone sleep with all this going on?" She rubbed her eyes and leaned forward on the desk. "This is just getting too insane." Her head, which was now resting on her elbow-supported hands, slumped down to the desk.
"You even alive?" The voice made Nene jump about ten feet before she saw her Mitsumme looking down at her. Mitsumme was grinning, entertained by Nene's sudden state of alertness. "Guess so..."
"Sorry," Nene mumbled just clear enough to be heard before she spoke up, "just been a sleepless night."
Mitsumme blinked before going on. "Apparently your not alone on that one."
"Wha?"
"I doubt that delivery crew will have a restful sleep for at least a few weeks."
"What delivery crew?"
Mitsumme blinked at Nene in disbelief. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Last night a delivery crew for Genom reported finding a body in the Wiz-Labs..." Nene froze solid, all tiredness forgotten immediately. "...the body is supposedly Dr. Miriam Yoshida's, but I think someone messed up. He is still in jail, right?"
Nene wasn't even listening anymore and nodded her head absentmindedly. What she had just been told changed so much of what was going on, but why or how there is no way she could know yet, and that bothered her.
"Hello? Earth to Nene..." Mitsumme's voice took on a more impatient tone as Nene snapped out of it and focused on her friend again instead of what was running around in her mind. "The way you were staring at me, I would swear you saw a ghost."
Nene chuckled, "Yeah well, it might as well be. Who would work in the Wiz-Labs nowadays?"
Mitsumme nodded, "I know. But I gotta run. The chief has already been up my ass about being late last week."
Nene smirked, "I know... Well see you later," she waved happily, Mitsumme returned it and ran off to her own desk. As soon as she was alone, Nene got up and left her desk. Her destination, the main computer station. She would find out for her self if this rumor was right, and anything else the system might offer her on it.
* * *
A yawn was the closest thing she was going to do to welcoming the world. She opened her eyes and saw the now all too familiar hospital room around her. Still, Priss had to admit being able to sleep this late was at least a small perk to go with her confinement. "Yeah, but what else is there to do in here but sleep and watch TV?" she reminded herself. She wasn't held down in any way, but if she left the room, she could count on at least three attendants coming to "guide" her back.
With that thought, she turned around in an attempt to get back to sleep, but sleep had escaped her, and it seemed it would not return till the night did. Like it or not, she was stuck in this room once again, and bored out of her mind for the next several hours.
Grumbling to herself, Priss picked up the remote and turned on the TV. She looked at it, not really paying attention to anything at all as she methodically flipped through the channels. Between stupid kids shows that were on because no one but kids would be watching at this time, and movies no one would want to se, there was really nothing to draw her in, even as a distraction.
However, the lack of attention ended when she came across a news station. She clicked right by it not realizing at first, but the text below the reported she had let by as a blithering idiot grabbed her by one word, Yoshida. Her eyes went wide as she clicked back a few times to bring back the news report.
The reporter came on, her tone being more matter of fact then anything. She was collecting a paycheck for this, and that was all. "Police, as of yet, have no leads as to who committed the murder, nor why Dr. Miriam Yoshida, an ex-boomer scientist for Genom, was doing here. Considering..." zzzt
The broadcast was interrupted abruptly by the telephone being thrown at the TV. Priss now stood before the smoking monitor, furious at what she just saw. Part of her was glad the asshole was dead, but the majority of her wanted the satisfaction of taking his head off herself. "You BASTARD!" She yelled at where the TV was, "HOW DARE YOU DIE NOW! YOUR HEAD WAS MINE!"
Priss' door opened and she glared at the new comers, only to be taken aback. Before her was her doctor and Sylia, both with an expression of shock that such venom would be in her eyes while no one was in the room to piss her off.
"Uhhh, Mrs. Asagiri? Are you ok?" The doctor asked cautiously. He knew of her temper already, as did most anyone who knew of her.
Priss for her part, said nothing. She just sat down and did her best to calm down. She knew Sylia was here to get her out of this little slice of hell called a hospital, and she also knew her chances of getting out would not be helped by continuing to just explode on anyone, no matter how much she felt the need. She looked at the TV quickly, knowing that too, wouldn't help.
"Well, if your feeling up to it, you have been permitted to leave. Ms. Stingray already signed all the papers, though admittedly if I knew about this..."
"It's nothing, doctor," Priss quickly cut him off. She really didn't want to have to explain herself and knew he would have her do that if he could.
"Well, if you're sure."
"I'm sure she is just eager to get back to work," Sylia added in, making both heads turn quickly.
For his part, the doctor was silent this time, but Priss could see both sympathy and understanding in her leader's face. Course, she would never say she understood. Hell Priss herself wouldn't do that. But it was there all the same, even if you had to know her to read it. Priss smiled quietly and nodded. "Damn straight." She walked calmly out the door and into the hallway.
Sylia, however did not follow right away. She watched the doctor a moment longer, as if unsure if she should be amused or sympathetic to his confusion at the moment. "Thank you, doctor." And without another word, she left the room as well, the doctor now really having no idea what to think.
* * *
Linna looked to the paper in her hand then back to the building in front of her. The engine of the bus hummed now a little in the distance. She had not taken her van, but then that was at the request of Sylia. It was best not to give anyone who might be watching another way to identify where she might be. She may have wanted to drive so that if things went wrong, she might have a better chance of getting out of there, but she could not argue with her leader's reasoning.
Almost nervously, she tapped the pin on her shirt. It was a small memorabilia pin that was meant to be sold at the Vision concert that seemed so long ago, yet so life altering. How Sylia had ever gotten a hold of this pin, Linna would never know. But not it was also a switch to turn on a radio for Sylia to listen in on, hidden in her headband and under her hair. "You ready, Sylia?"
The smile was almost visible through the voice, giving a little bit of confidence to Linna. "Of course. I wouldn't have you go in till we were, anyway."
"Alright.... Well, lets get this over-with." Without another word, Linna opened the door and made her way to the staircase. The creaking of many of the steps did not help her keep her mood, as they reminded her of old horror movies she had seen. Still, she knew what she had to do, and she would not be deterred by something so small as a few steps. It didn't take her long to find the floor.
Looking around, she could see the place was run-down. Not that she couldn't tell that from the floor below, but it was just as obvious here. The paint was yellowing with age, and a faint smell of mildew hit her from it. She was only getting used to it now. "Why would anyone want to live in a place like this?" she asked herself aloud, but barely loud enough to be heard from ten feet away. There was no one in the hall to hear it, but the quiet in the hall seemed to demand the same quiet from her.
She jumped as she hear a second voice on the other side, "I don't think he would care from what he has shown to me."
"Priss?" the surprise in Linna's voice was seconded only by her volume, which she promptly covered her mouth because of.
Priss brushed it off. "Yeah, yeah, good to hear from you too."
"What do you mean, has shown you?" The tone had changed again. This time, it was questioning and perhaps with a little dread.
It was Sylia that answered. "Don't worry about it, Linna. He is a boomer, but from what I can gather on him, he has no violent past, and in fact seems to be hiding this fact from the general public. You are perfectly safe in asking a few questions, which is all we need."
Linna was silent for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. Yes, it could be that Sylia only got this information today, so she wouldn't have revealed it to the others. However, it seemed more then odd that Sylia would tell her that over the radio before she entered the building. "Still, Sylia would never send me off to do something dangerous without a warning," Linna thought to herself. She blushed slightly, embarrassed to doubt her leader like that, and responded the best she could. "Alright..." she let her voice trail off, even in low tone she took over the radio.
She made her way to the door of the apartment she had been directed to, doing her best to at least appear calm even as her heart raced in fear. The unknown was here to swallow her up, for good or bad, and she had no way to know which was going to happen. "Alright, I'm at the door." She whispered.
"Good luck, Linna." The voice was Sylia's Priss could only be assumed to either be nodding slightly in the background or looking the other way as if to say "I cant believe you are doing this." Then nothing. Stealing her courage together, Linna knocked on the door.
* * *
Astis sat as he normally did. The lights were off, but his vision was perfect as it fixed on the door. Since Kou had called him, he had been trying to formulate the best way to handle the Knight Sabers, whom he had no doubt would either call or visit. From what Armstrong had told him, he was going to be in danger the moment they arrived, but from what Kou demanded of him, he was going to have to work along side them.
"So they will be my partners for now," he thought to himself, "dangerous partners, but partners none-the-less. But how dangerous will they be and in what way? Kou wouldn't send someone who would want to kill me instantly to work by my side. He has a use for me, so it would not be in his best interest to have me destroyed. On the other hand, Armstrong seemed to consider them enemies of us both. Why? What contacts could he have had with the Knight Sabers since we last spoke?" The thoughts continued, getting to more and more complex questions as time went on. It was interrupted, however, as he heard a knock on the door.
In one fluid motion, he was up and walking toward the door. "Who is it?" he asked just before reaching the door and looking in the peep hole. The sight before him was a young woman with black hair held up in a bandana and worried looking blue eyes.
Her voice confirmed that last part easily. "Linna Yamazaki... I'm here to ask you about the boomer you helped save a friend of mine from," she said almost timidly, as if by saying that she was accepting any trouble coming her way. This at least, brought a little ease to Astis. He would still keep his guard up, but at least if he was dealing with someone who wasn't sure of herself, he was also dealing with someone who was less likely to get the drop on him should she pull anything.
With all the fluid motion being a machine gave him, he unlocked the door and opened it. "Yes, I have been expecting you. Please, come in."
The girl wasn't expecting that as her eyes went wide. "Been expecting me?"
Astis smiled, hoping it would be taken as a friendly one. "Well, at least someone. Kou told me he called on the Knight Sabers to help and to cooperate with them. I figured they would send someone to contact me sooner or later." Linna smiled back nervously. She didn't reply immediately, but nodded and walked inside. Astis shut the door, cutting off the outside world. "So, what may I ask, do they need of me?"
Linna did not respond right away. After a moment, it seemed he question sank in, and she replied. "Well, a few questions to start. It seems you are the only one to fight this boomer and live, so maybe you can give us some information on it?" Astis looked at her for a moment, not answering. He wasn't exactly sure what he was being asked, but he hadn't quite decided to ask yet either. He didn't have to. Linna caught on to the silence. "I was told you faced off with it and managed to do some very serious damage."
"Yes," Astis interrupted. "I suppose your friend then also told you the nature of that weapon?"
Linna nodded. "As much as she could. She was understandably not in the mood to pay much attention. Still, some things could not be ignored."
Astis nodded solemnly. He felt that sounded a little forced... or perhaps rehearsed would be the word he would pick. Still, it didn't sound natural and he was instantly suspicious. Linna was obviously an intelligent girl to catch onto his own uncertainty, but the way she was now dancing around the topic just did not sound like it belonged to her. Before he responded, he scanned the room for radio signals and was not entirely surprised to find one connected to Linna.
* * *
"Linna? LINNA!" Sylia yelled into the microphone, but all she got now was static. Linna's voice, as well as the voice of the boomer talking to her, were now gone, replaced by an ugly buzz of audio white static. Nothing was getting through.
"What happened?" Priss asked. For the moment she was calm, but that would not last if Sylia wasn't careful... and she already knew tact would be the better choice with one of her team stuck in the middle of this.
"I'm not sure... the signal went dead."
"WHAT?!?!?"
"Don't start, Priss. It could be the battery in her set, as well as any number of things."
"That's BULLSHIT! Who knows what that... that THING is going to do to her." Priss turned to the door of the van, intent to kick it open.
"Especially if we do anything drastic."
Priss stopped briefly. "What the hell does that mean?"
"This boomer has already saved your life, so I doubt it has an interest in killing someone without being shown a threat. It also knows Linna is working with the Knight Sabers, whom it has orders to cooperate with. Now that doesn't sound very cooperative to destroy a contact, now does it? Linna will be fine, but it is best we wait for now... rushing in may cause a panic and then Linna may really be in danger."
Priss looked at Sylia. Her anger showed through her eyes, but she couldn't argue with what she was being told, that is of course, unless. "How do you have all this figured out?"
Sylia smiled quietly, "Have a little faith, Priss. You know I have my ways of knowing."
* * *
Linna jumped in slight pain from the static now blaring through her ear-piece, but that was only a small part of the jump. She threw her head-piece off to get away from it, then realized what she did. She looked up at the boomer standing before her, terrified. She was unarmed and if this thing wanted this to be her end, then she was as good as dead.
Astis smiled quietly, though looking elsewhere. "Now we can speak in quiet. I really don't like being eves dropped on." He only now looked at Linna, who was watching him in fear. "Don't worry. Your not in danger. I just wanted to hear from you... not your prompter."
Linna looked like a dear in the headlights of an oncoming car. She had no idea Astis knew about the radio, and now she was alone with a machine she had no idea about. Still, that shocked words from her. "You... you knew?"
Astis nodded and tapped his head. "Of course I did. You didn't sound like you were talking for yourself very well. But now that we are really alone, ask me what you like."
"I'm not sure what you mean..."
Astis nodded. He knew that he would have to get the ball rolling if he was to do as Kou said. Keeping a friendly tone to his voice, he began. "Well I suppose even if you asked me for someone else, you still asked about my arm cannons... perhaps I can explain things for you. It would be easier if I started from the beginning..."
* * *
Nene tapped at the keyboard in front of her, her eyes glued to the screen in front. After looking at the results a moment, she hit a few more and investigated what passed at the moment as an acceptably promising path to follow. However, as with the past several paths she tried, this one two lead to a dead end. "GRRR!" she managed to growl, frustrated. "Why is there no trace of whoever killed Dr. Yoshida? No camera link-ups, no audio, no time frame for when the doors to the lab opened and shut... its like no one was there!" With a sigh of complaint, she put her head down and covered her face in her arms. "Why does it have to be so difficult?" she whined. After a moment, she looked back at the screen, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand.
Resolution all over her face, she breathed deep and began speaking to herself. "Ok, so whoever did this has covered their traces. There is nothing left in the computers at Wiz-labs to hack into from here..." as she said this, her voice got quiet and a very large grin spread its way across her face. "Perhaps he left something there though.... Unconnected from the rest." Without another hesitation, she closed off her intrusion programs and brought up a more commonly used one... e-mail.
* * *
The camera in the corner of the room was not close enough to give him a good view of what she was typing, but he didn't need to see to know. Brian knew Nene and the others far too well by now to miss what the young girl was up to. Not that he had a reason to be worried. He was aware of every key and every click Nene had typed at, as well as the results. Still, something now troubled him. She had changed her demeanor entirely between her search for information and bringing up this e-mail she was writing. Had she realized something he had somehow missed?
"Impossible," Brian thought to himself. "Since when do gods miss things that mere mortals pick up on?" He laughed from his realm of the network, sending ripples of minor disturbance down the lines. He watched each letter being pressed, an agonizingly slow process for one who reads time at the speed of a binary pulse. He already knew who it was too, and perhaps that's what disturbed him the most. The message didn't say much, but to send it to her meant this girl may have something. "Still, perhaps I underestimated Ms. Romanova," he mused to himself.
Taking only a small part of his attention away from the girl at the e-mail, he turned to view another camera... this one within the Genom facility. From the perspective, he could see several human-looking boomers waiting to be sent to whatever destiny each had waiting for them. He smiled to himself as he saw the one he was looking for. The blood was cleaned up and it had the synthetic skin back in place, as if it had never been brought here to be refinished, but was just coming off the assembly line. "Still, we have ways to handle threats, don't we?" Brian laughed once more as he supplied orders for Genom freight divisions.
Source: Bubble Gum Crisis/Crash
Author: LV426
Chapter 12: Information
Nene yawned as she stretched before sitting at her desk. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Linna and the personal hell Kou was putting her through, or even worse, Priss' personal hell. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose someone you cared for that much. No, Priss had never admitted how she felt, but knowing her, it didn't take Nene much to figure it out.
It also made her wonder if she should be glad for now Mackie was so far away. She blushed a little at the thought. They had last seen each other only before he went to study in Germany. While, yes she liked him, she always thought of it as some stupid crush, and time seemed to put it in the back of her mind... she just stopped worrying. Now with what happened to Leon, the questions returned, as well as a little worry.
"Plus," she whined low enough that no one else could hear more then a mumble, "how could anyone sleep with all this going on?" She rubbed her eyes and leaned forward on the desk. "This is just getting too insane." Her head, which was now resting on her elbow-supported hands, slumped down to the desk.
"You even alive?" The voice made Nene jump about ten feet before she saw her Mitsumme looking down at her. Mitsumme was grinning, entertained by Nene's sudden state of alertness. "Guess so..."
"Sorry," Nene mumbled just clear enough to be heard before she spoke up, "just been a sleepless night."
Mitsumme blinked before going on. "Apparently your not alone on that one."
"Wha?"
"I doubt that delivery crew will have a restful sleep for at least a few weeks."
"What delivery crew?"
Mitsumme blinked at Nene in disbelief. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Last night a delivery crew for Genom reported finding a body in the Wiz-Labs..." Nene froze solid, all tiredness forgotten immediately. "...the body is supposedly Dr. Miriam Yoshida's, but I think someone messed up. He is still in jail, right?"
Nene wasn't even listening anymore and nodded her head absentmindedly. What she had just been told changed so much of what was going on, but why or how there is no way she could know yet, and that bothered her.
"Hello? Earth to Nene..." Mitsumme's voice took on a more impatient tone as Nene snapped out of it and focused on her friend again instead of what was running around in her mind. "The way you were staring at me, I would swear you saw a ghost."
Nene chuckled, "Yeah well, it might as well be. Who would work in the Wiz-Labs nowadays?"
Mitsumme nodded, "I know. But I gotta run. The chief has already been up my ass about being late last week."
Nene smirked, "I know... Well see you later," she waved happily, Mitsumme returned it and ran off to her own desk. As soon as she was alone, Nene got up and left her desk. Her destination, the main computer station. She would find out for her self if this rumor was right, and anything else the system might offer her on it.
* * *
A yawn was the closest thing she was going to do to welcoming the world. She opened her eyes and saw the now all too familiar hospital room around her. Still, Priss had to admit being able to sleep this late was at least a small perk to go with her confinement. "Yeah, but what else is there to do in here but sleep and watch TV?" she reminded herself. She wasn't held down in any way, but if she left the room, she could count on at least three attendants coming to "guide" her back.
With that thought, she turned around in an attempt to get back to sleep, but sleep had escaped her, and it seemed it would not return till the night did. Like it or not, she was stuck in this room once again, and bored out of her mind for the next several hours.
Grumbling to herself, Priss picked up the remote and turned on the TV. She looked at it, not really paying attention to anything at all as she methodically flipped through the channels. Between stupid kids shows that were on because no one but kids would be watching at this time, and movies no one would want to se, there was really nothing to draw her in, even as a distraction.
However, the lack of attention ended when she came across a news station. She clicked right by it not realizing at first, but the text below the reported she had let by as a blithering idiot grabbed her by one word, Yoshida. Her eyes went wide as she clicked back a few times to bring back the news report.
The reporter came on, her tone being more matter of fact then anything. She was collecting a paycheck for this, and that was all. "Police, as of yet, have no leads as to who committed the murder, nor why Dr. Miriam Yoshida, an ex-boomer scientist for Genom, was doing here. Considering..." zzzt
The broadcast was interrupted abruptly by the telephone being thrown at the TV. Priss now stood before the smoking monitor, furious at what she just saw. Part of her was glad the asshole was dead, but the majority of her wanted the satisfaction of taking his head off herself. "You BASTARD!" She yelled at where the TV was, "HOW DARE YOU DIE NOW! YOUR HEAD WAS MINE!"
Priss' door opened and she glared at the new comers, only to be taken aback. Before her was her doctor and Sylia, both with an expression of shock that such venom would be in her eyes while no one was in the room to piss her off.
"Uhhh, Mrs. Asagiri? Are you ok?" The doctor asked cautiously. He knew of her temper already, as did most anyone who knew of her.
Priss for her part, said nothing. She just sat down and did her best to calm down. She knew Sylia was here to get her out of this little slice of hell called a hospital, and she also knew her chances of getting out would not be helped by continuing to just explode on anyone, no matter how much she felt the need. She looked at the TV quickly, knowing that too, wouldn't help.
"Well, if your feeling up to it, you have been permitted to leave. Ms. Stingray already signed all the papers, though admittedly if I knew about this..."
"It's nothing, doctor," Priss quickly cut him off. She really didn't want to have to explain herself and knew he would have her do that if he could.
"Well, if you're sure."
"I'm sure she is just eager to get back to work," Sylia added in, making both heads turn quickly.
For his part, the doctor was silent this time, but Priss could see both sympathy and understanding in her leader's face. Course, she would never say she understood. Hell Priss herself wouldn't do that. But it was there all the same, even if you had to know her to read it. Priss smiled quietly and nodded. "Damn straight." She walked calmly out the door and into the hallway.
Sylia, however did not follow right away. She watched the doctor a moment longer, as if unsure if she should be amused or sympathetic to his confusion at the moment. "Thank you, doctor." And without another word, she left the room as well, the doctor now really having no idea what to think.
* * *
Linna looked to the paper in her hand then back to the building in front of her. The engine of the bus hummed now a little in the distance. She had not taken her van, but then that was at the request of Sylia. It was best not to give anyone who might be watching another way to identify where she might be. She may have wanted to drive so that if things went wrong, she might have a better chance of getting out of there, but she could not argue with her leader's reasoning.
Almost nervously, she tapped the pin on her shirt. It was a small memorabilia pin that was meant to be sold at the Vision concert that seemed so long ago, yet so life altering. How Sylia had ever gotten a hold of this pin, Linna would never know. But not it was also a switch to turn on a radio for Sylia to listen in on, hidden in her headband and under her hair. "You ready, Sylia?"
The smile was almost visible through the voice, giving a little bit of confidence to Linna. "Of course. I wouldn't have you go in till we were, anyway."
"Alright.... Well, lets get this over-with." Without another word, Linna opened the door and made her way to the staircase. The creaking of many of the steps did not help her keep her mood, as they reminded her of old horror movies she had seen. Still, she knew what she had to do, and she would not be deterred by something so small as a few steps. It didn't take her long to find the floor.
Looking around, she could see the place was run-down. Not that she couldn't tell that from the floor below, but it was just as obvious here. The paint was yellowing with age, and a faint smell of mildew hit her from it. She was only getting used to it now. "Why would anyone want to live in a place like this?" she asked herself aloud, but barely loud enough to be heard from ten feet away. There was no one in the hall to hear it, but the quiet in the hall seemed to demand the same quiet from her.
She jumped as she hear a second voice on the other side, "I don't think he would care from what he has shown to me."
"Priss?" the surprise in Linna's voice was seconded only by her volume, which she promptly covered her mouth because of.
Priss brushed it off. "Yeah, yeah, good to hear from you too."
"What do you mean, has shown you?" The tone had changed again. This time, it was questioning and perhaps with a little dread.
It was Sylia that answered. "Don't worry about it, Linna. He is a boomer, but from what I can gather on him, he has no violent past, and in fact seems to be hiding this fact from the general public. You are perfectly safe in asking a few questions, which is all we need."
Linna was silent for a moment, not sure how to respond to that. Yes, it could be that Sylia only got this information today, so she wouldn't have revealed it to the others. However, it seemed more then odd that Sylia would tell her that over the radio before she entered the building. "Still, Sylia would never send me off to do something dangerous without a warning," Linna thought to herself. She blushed slightly, embarrassed to doubt her leader like that, and responded the best she could. "Alright..." she let her voice trail off, even in low tone she took over the radio.
She made her way to the door of the apartment she had been directed to, doing her best to at least appear calm even as her heart raced in fear. The unknown was here to swallow her up, for good or bad, and she had no way to know which was going to happen. "Alright, I'm at the door." She whispered.
"Good luck, Linna." The voice was Sylia's Priss could only be assumed to either be nodding slightly in the background or looking the other way as if to say "I cant believe you are doing this." Then nothing. Stealing her courage together, Linna knocked on the door.
* * *
Astis sat as he normally did. The lights were off, but his vision was perfect as it fixed on the door. Since Kou had called him, he had been trying to formulate the best way to handle the Knight Sabers, whom he had no doubt would either call or visit. From what Armstrong had told him, he was going to be in danger the moment they arrived, but from what Kou demanded of him, he was going to have to work along side them.
"So they will be my partners for now," he thought to himself, "dangerous partners, but partners none-the-less. But how dangerous will they be and in what way? Kou wouldn't send someone who would want to kill me instantly to work by my side. He has a use for me, so it would not be in his best interest to have me destroyed. On the other hand, Armstrong seemed to consider them enemies of us both. Why? What contacts could he have had with the Knight Sabers since we last spoke?" The thoughts continued, getting to more and more complex questions as time went on. It was interrupted, however, as he heard a knock on the door.
In one fluid motion, he was up and walking toward the door. "Who is it?" he asked just before reaching the door and looking in the peep hole. The sight before him was a young woman with black hair held up in a bandana and worried looking blue eyes.
Her voice confirmed that last part easily. "Linna Yamazaki... I'm here to ask you about the boomer you helped save a friend of mine from," she said almost timidly, as if by saying that she was accepting any trouble coming her way. This at least, brought a little ease to Astis. He would still keep his guard up, but at least if he was dealing with someone who wasn't sure of herself, he was also dealing with someone who was less likely to get the drop on him should she pull anything.
With all the fluid motion being a machine gave him, he unlocked the door and opened it. "Yes, I have been expecting you. Please, come in."
The girl wasn't expecting that as her eyes went wide. "Been expecting me?"
Astis smiled, hoping it would be taken as a friendly one. "Well, at least someone. Kou told me he called on the Knight Sabers to help and to cooperate with them. I figured they would send someone to contact me sooner or later." Linna smiled back nervously. She didn't reply immediately, but nodded and walked inside. Astis shut the door, cutting off the outside world. "So, what may I ask, do they need of me?"
Linna did not respond right away. After a moment, it seemed he question sank in, and she replied. "Well, a few questions to start. It seems you are the only one to fight this boomer and live, so maybe you can give us some information on it?" Astis looked at her for a moment, not answering. He wasn't exactly sure what he was being asked, but he hadn't quite decided to ask yet either. He didn't have to. Linna caught on to the silence. "I was told you faced off with it and managed to do some very serious damage."
"Yes," Astis interrupted. "I suppose your friend then also told you the nature of that weapon?"
Linna nodded. "As much as she could. She was understandably not in the mood to pay much attention. Still, some things could not be ignored."
Astis nodded solemnly. He felt that sounded a little forced... or perhaps rehearsed would be the word he would pick. Still, it didn't sound natural and he was instantly suspicious. Linna was obviously an intelligent girl to catch onto his own uncertainty, but the way she was now dancing around the topic just did not sound like it belonged to her. Before he responded, he scanned the room for radio signals and was not entirely surprised to find one connected to Linna.
* * *
"Linna? LINNA!" Sylia yelled into the microphone, but all she got now was static. Linna's voice, as well as the voice of the boomer talking to her, were now gone, replaced by an ugly buzz of audio white static. Nothing was getting through.
"What happened?" Priss asked. For the moment she was calm, but that would not last if Sylia wasn't careful... and she already knew tact would be the better choice with one of her team stuck in the middle of this.
"I'm not sure... the signal went dead."
"WHAT?!?!?"
"Don't start, Priss. It could be the battery in her set, as well as any number of things."
"That's BULLSHIT! Who knows what that... that THING is going to do to her." Priss turned to the door of the van, intent to kick it open.
"Especially if we do anything drastic."
Priss stopped briefly. "What the hell does that mean?"
"This boomer has already saved your life, so I doubt it has an interest in killing someone without being shown a threat. It also knows Linna is working with the Knight Sabers, whom it has orders to cooperate with. Now that doesn't sound very cooperative to destroy a contact, now does it? Linna will be fine, but it is best we wait for now... rushing in may cause a panic and then Linna may really be in danger."
Priss looked at Sylia. Her anger showed through her eyes, but she couldn't argue with what she was being told, that is of course, unless. "How do you have all this figured out?"
Sylia smiled quietly, "Have a little faith, Priss. You know I have my ways of knowing."
* * *
Linna jumped in slight pain from the static now blaring through her ear-piece, but that was only a small part of the jump. She threw her head-piece off to get away from it, then realized what she did. She looked up at the boomer standing before her, terrified. She was unarmed and if this thing wanted this to be her end, then she was as good as dead.
Astis smiled quietly, though looking elsewhere. "Now we can speak in quiet. I really don't like being eves dropped on." He only now looked at Linna, who was watching him in fear. "Don't worry. Your not in danger. I just wanted to hear from you... not your prompter."
Linna looked like a dear in the headlights of an oncoming car. She had no idea Astis knew about the radio, and now she was alone with a machine she had no idea about. Still, that shocked words from her. "You... you knew?"
Astis nodded and tapped his head. "Of course I did. You didn't sound like you were talking for yourself very well. But now that we are really alone, ask me what you like."
"I'm not sure what you mean..."
Astis nodded. He knew that he would have to get the ball rolling if he was to do as Kou said. Keeping a friendly tone to his voice, he began. "Well I suppose even if you asked me for someone else, you still asked about my arm cannons... perhaps I can explain things for you. It would be easier if I started from the beginning..."
* * *
Nene tapped at the keyboard in front of her, her eyes glued to the screen in front. After looking at the results a moment, she hit a few more and investigated what passed at the moment as an acceptably promising path to follow. However, as with the past several paths she tried, this one two lead to a dead end. "GRRR!" she managed to growl, frustrated. "Why is there no trace of whoever killed Dr. Yoshida? No camera link-ups, no audio, no time frame for when the doors to the lab opened and shut... its like no one was there!" With a sigh of complaint, she put her head down and covered her face in her arms. "Why does it have to be so difficult?" she whined. After a moment, she looked back at the screen, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand.
Resolution all over her face, she breathed deep and began speaking to herself. "Ok, so whoever did this has covered their traces. There is nothing left in the computers at Wiz-labs to hack into from here..." as she said this, her voice got quiet and a very large grin spread its way across her face. "Perhaps he left something there though.... Unconnected from the rest." Without another hesitation, she closed off her intrusion programs and brought up a more commonly used one... e-mail.
* * *
The camera in the corner of the room was not close enough to give him a good view of what she was typing, but he didn't need to see to know. Brian knew Nene and the others far too well by now to miss what the young girl was up to. Not that he had a reason to be worried. He was aware of every key and every click Nene had typed at, as well as the results. Still, something now troubled him. She had changed her demeanor entirely between her search for information and bringing up this e-mail she was writing. Had she realized something he had somehow missed?
"Impossible," Brian thought to himself. "Since when do gods miss things that mere mortals pick up on?" He laughed from his realm of the network, sending ripples of minor disturbance down the lines. He watched each letter being pressed, an agonizingly slow process for one who reads time at the speed of a binary pulse. He already knew who it was too, and perhaps that's what disturbed him the most. The message didn't say much, but to send it to her meant this girl may have something. "Still, perhaps I underestimated Ms. Romanova," he mused to himself.
Taking only a small part of his attention away from the girl at the e-mail, he turned to view another camera... this one within the Genom facility. From the perspective, he could see several human-looking boomers waiting to be sent to whatever destiny each had waiting for them. He smiled to himself as he saw the one he was looking for. The blood was cleaned up and it had the synthetic skin back in place, as if it had never been brought here to be refinished, but was just coming off the assembly line. "Still, we have ways to handle threats, don't we?" Brian laughed once more as he supplied orders for Genom freight divisions.