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Echoes
Story: Revisited
Anime: Cowboy Bebop
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Angst, Adult themes
Advisory: Tildes are scene changes; a star encapsulated with tildes is a temporal change. I have also altered into a First Person View with Jet as main POV
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I Echoes of a time forgotten; always reverberating and never clear enough to be recognizable.../I
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He was alone. Cold, tired and always alone. He dipped the mop back into the bucket of steaming water in a vain attempt to remove the grime that had built up on the mop's head. He wiped the icy perspiration off his forehead as he checked his watch - an antiquated affair it was. The hazy digits read 2:15am. Good, he thought, almost time for a break...
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I jumped slightly as a cool wind carried a long forgotten voice down the hill. My mind was sluggish in remembering it - as if I had intentionally buried that memory a long time ago; deep in the chasm that is my mind. As it scrounged through the names and places long forgotten; I spun around; my hand instinctively grabbing for the pistol that once sat in the modified pocket of my white coat, the handcuffs once sat neatly next to them. At reaching air in the pocket, I gulped. My main self-defense was non-existent; again forgotten in the times long past. I neatly chuckled to myself, if I was to be killed by my past, so be it. I lightly spun on the balls of my feet, lightly for a man of my age and raised my fists. Then I noticed them. Those eyes were a piercing green, and tunneled urgently into that recognition center of my brain. Tired, rusted gears clanked over. She must have heard them, for she stared at me quizzically, hurt even.
"Don't you remember me?" Her face reflected the pain that she was feeling. My brain was still clunking over, placing that voice, those eyes into a memory.
After a few seconds, she piqued up, disgust heavy in her voice "I can't believe it... you have forgotten who I am! You're fucking senile!" Her face screwed into a scowl. That triggered the brain into finding that last piece. It was so unique… My brain went into overdrive, flashing names with increased vigor, until one clicked into place.
"Faye? Faye Valentine?" My voice was quiet with hope. She was the only person who could do that.
A bright smile lit up her features as she playfully clapped her hands "You remembered! Yay!"
I crossed my arms and grimaced, until she gave me a peck on the cheek, which caused me to blush like a schoolboy. "Come on! I know of a good coffee house nearby" She said quickly, grabbing my cybernetic arm in the process. All I could think was… here we go again…
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We sat in a cramped cafe, its dilapidated facade backing onto an overcrowded car park. I sat there, quietly sipping my espresso, scanning the disharmonious array of spaceships and land vehicles crammed tightly in the car park for no apparent reason, while she idly stirred her mocha; her green eyes laid transfixed at a point that was only unique for her. For what seemed like an eternity, we sat, continuing to be in our own, albeit separate, worlds. She snapped out of her revere, whatever it was, and her green eyes flitted about nervously. I was concerned, but not overly; she was always in trouble with some person or organization. She cleared her throat and piped up "How have you been, Jet?"
"Recovering from that fright you gave me!" I responded, with a light chuckle thrown in for good measure. She didn't seem impressed.
Without skipping a beat, however, she lowered her voice to a dangerous level "How is the Bebop?" With the utterance of those few words, I knew she was in trouble.
"A syndicate? The ISSP? Who have you double crossed this time?" I sighed in resignation "you know I don't want any part of that life anymore, you understand?" As I stood, preparing to leave, she dropped in something that was irresistible to me…
"Them, plus more…" She half-heartedly smiled, probably at her ingenuity, less at who was after her. With my interest piques, I dropped my right elbow on the table, rattling the crockery that was strewn along the table, head in hand. I leered toward her, my grey eyes prying.
"You may remember that" She paused, and drew back; hesitant to what she should say next, fear backlighting her eyes.
"Go on" I pry, my eyes erode through that barrier that she had so well erected.
Her lower lip trembled slightly, as if there was a massive secret; one which she wasn't willing to share. She darted her head about and continued "It's about the cryogenics labs that have been operating for some time now…" As abruptly as she had started; she stopped. A strange notion washed over me. I knew not to press for more.
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The Bebop; a 500 meter long ex fishing trawler-cum-interstellar bounty hunting space ship lay disused; suspended dangerously close to the rotting decking; and with that, the turbulent ocean below. I cringed at ever creak the old girl reverberated from the aging line and pulley system. The dock space was cheap – as an old associate of mine from the ISSP once owned it, God bless his soul. The old girl; my old girl reeked of stale disuse and of blossoming rust on the exterior hull. I dragged my hand across the corridor's walls, feeling the aging brown pain chip and flake away at the slightest touch; I yelled to the retreating figure
"Again, why are we here?" I whined. It's hard to see her like this.
Completely ignoring him, Faye sighed, "It's still a dilapidated pile of junk..." her voice faded as she rounded a corner
Indignantly I yell to the retreating figure "Junk? JUNK! Your asking for it Faye! And you want me to go where?" Small flakes of insulation peel from the pipes overhead
"You were saying?" Faye ducked her head from around the corner
A bead of sweat formed on my brow as I crossed my arms "I didn't say anything about dilapidated"
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I grunted with effort as I yanked another decayed component from a fused socket. "Great… another part to replace" I cynically said to the gravity generator as I let it drift from my fingertips. It smacked itself noisily against the bulkhead until it joined the drifting array of other disused components and lost tools. As I analyzed the options of un-tightening a bolt using the wrong sized spanner, a figure wearing a dressing gown floated into view.
"Jet… when will the gravity get fixed?" She whined as she drank a squeeze package of orange juice… my favourite orange juice.
"Soon" I replied in monotone
"Oh… and the shower is broken. When will it get fixed?" She added
"Soon" I replied, my eyes narrowing slightly as my eyebrows quivered
"And the fan in the lounge isn't spinning and the cooling seems to…" I cut her off by smacking my artificial hand against a nearby object… mainly the gravity generator, frying another component.
"Enough! I'll fix it all soon! Jesus, it wouldn't hurt for you to do something around the ship!" I sarcastically yelled back at her. It received a small grunt of dissatisfaction as she shot me a venomous look. She mimicked my words as she floated out of the room; discarding her empty juice container.
"Oh yeah… that was the last one." She sniped back.
It was going to be a long trip…
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I apologise for the delay; I have been quite busy and very preoccupied. So here is the next chapter. And I promise, you will want to see the next chapter, Ed-lovers…
Maelgwyn
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY!