An Alternate Story of the Knight Sabers
2034 Year of the Tiger
Neo No Armour Against Fate (Section 3 of 5)
Satisfaction For a Sin (7 of 8)
by Shawn Hagen(1999;2005)
Based on situations and characters created by Suzuki Toshimichi.
Friday, March 10 10:10am, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
It was a small house on the outskirts of Sudbury. There was certain amount of security and privacy to be found in the town. Strangers stood out, and yet were not greatly commented on. The SNO observatory brought in a number of scientists every year.
"Any news of Mr. Lecoix?" Michelle Danielson asked. She was sitting in a large chair behind a large desk. Behind her a window looked out on the blasted landscape of Sudbury. The blinds were partially closed, cloaking her in shadow.
"No Mistress," a woman with long brown hair said. Her eyes were a clear blue and she was very beautiful.
"It seems likely that he was captured. If so, he has most likely talked. This will effect our plans."
"Perhaps not Mistress. Mr. Lecoix did set up some well thought out plans, recruited some useful people. It may still work."
"Perhaps. Do we have any other options?"
"It will take five days for us to move people in and have them working on this."
"Are you sure of that?"
"Yes. Genom has denied and cost us a large number of our assets. We may have to turn to the other sources. Are you certain he is worth the time or trouble?"
"Cassandra," Michelle said, a hard edge suddenly in her voice.
"Yes Mistress?" Cassandra said, suddenly looking tense and a little afraid.
"Do not question my orders in any way, ever again. It is not for you to do so."
"Yes Mistress, I'm sorry."
"As you should be," she said, shifting forward, into the light. Her revealed face was handsome, with a sharp quality to it. She had dark brown eyes and straight, slightly faded red hair, worn long except in front where it was cut sharply at eyebrow level. "Do everything you can to ensure that Dr. Andrews and the information he carries ends up with us."
"Yes Mistress," Cassandra said, her head bowed.
"Now go."
Cassandra turned and left.
The other woman shifted back, once again hidden in the shadow.
Saturday March 11th, 12:10am, MegaTokyo, Japan
Priss fumbled with the key, her fingers still a little stiff. She unlocked the door, pulled it open and entered the house, closing the door behind her. She locked the door, then turned and sat down on the hardwood floor, leaving her feet in the genkan. She slid her feet from the boots, then placed them together, neatly, on the floor.
She got to her feet and walked towards the kitchen, being as quiet as possible. While she had learned that the Romanova family were prone to keep odd hours, there seemed to be a rule of sorts that demanded quiet after a certain time.
Priss found Ali in the living room, a computer on the kotatsu, as well as several pieces of paper.
"Good evening," Ali said, looking up from the computer.
Priss nodded. "Late night?"
"Not originally, but suddenly the clinic needed me to get all my records in order."
"Think that you are being sued for malpractice?" Priss asked as she entered the kitchen.
Ali smiled slightly. "No. But the clinic is being inspected."
Priss opened the refrigerator and removed a bottle of water. "Want anything?" she called to Ali.
"Could you pour me a cup of coffee?"
"Right," Priss said. She filled a mug up with coffee from the machine, then carried it into the living room. "Here," she said, placing the cup on the low table.
"Thanks," Ali said, looking over at Priss. She saw the blood spotted handkerchief tied around her left hand. "What's this?" she asked, reaching out towards Priss' hand.
Priss drew her hand back a little. "Nothing." She took a drink from the bottle of water.
"I'd like to look at it."
"It's really nothing," Priss told her, doing her best to keep her voice even.
"As a doctor I tend to have a problem with blood leaking from a body. As part owner of this house, and the person who picked out all the towels and sheets, I have an aversion to excessive blood stains."
Priss smiled at that. "When you put it that way." She unwrapped the handkerchief from her hand, tearing away some of the clotted blood in the processes. She held it towards Ali.
Ali got to her feet and took Priss' hand gently between hers. "Any pain?"
"A little, and the fingers are a somewhat stiff, but that will go away by tomorrow."
"I take it this is not the first time you abused your fists."
"What can I say?"
"What is this from?" Ali asked, indicating the cut on the index finger.
"A tooth I think."
"Not yours I take it."
"No."
"You should have that closed. It will heal faster, and without a scar."
"Scars don't bother me," Priss said, taking her hand from Ali.
"Well, they bother me. Go into the kitchen and wash your hands up. I'll be back in a moment," she said it all in a no nonsense manner. She did not even give Priss a chance to object, just turned and walked away.
Priss was not sure what to do, she did not like being told what to do, especially like that, but she could not bring herself to object to what was kindness. Shaking her head she decided she would be glad when she had moved out and there was no one to object to her bleeding all over the place.
She walked into the kitchen, removing her jacket as she went. She rolled up her blouse sleeves then washed her hands in the sink, opening a number of the other, smaller cuts on her hands. The water running down the drain was soon tinged with red.
Ali came in carrying what looked like a toolbox. She placed it on the table, opened it up, and then pulled out a cloth that she lay across the table surface. "Okay, let's see them."
"Now I remember why I avoid hospitals," Priss said. She took a seat at the table and placed her still wet hands on the cloth.
"A good thing you are here then," Ali said, opening the trays and removing an ultrasound scanner. "I want to see just what kind of hard tissue damage we might have."
"What do you mean 'we'?" Priss asked. "I was the one punching."
"You caused it, I have to heal it," she told Priss as she ran the scanning wand over Priss' left hand. "Nothing alarming here." She switched to the right hand. A look of concern passed over her face and she moved the wand to Priss' wrist and then up her arm. "There's a lot of little microfractures here. They look a few months old."
"I probably fell off my bike," Priss said offhandedly.
"Well there is nothing serious here," Ali said, putting the wand aside. "Mind you, I would not mind getting you looked over completely and properly deal with all your injuries. I suspect I'd have to tie you down to a bed for a month to make sure everything healed properly, however."
"I'm not sure I would like being tied to a bed."
"I suppose it does have some dangerous connotations," Ali said, removing items from her medical kit as she said that. "We'll start with the deep cut, glue it closed." She placed a tube on the table.
"Glue?"
"Surgical glue. Easier than using sutures." Ali pulled on a pair of latex gloves. "I'll close it up, and I want you to put the glue where I tell you."
"Fine," Priss said as she picked the tube up from the table.
Ali began, pushing the sides of the wounds closed, then having Priss apply the glue where she wanted. It took a few minutes, but when they were finished the cut had been closed, the only evidence of it was some puffiness.
Ali leaned back. "Give a that few days and it will heal fully, without a scar. While you can use the hand for normal actions, don't hit anyone with it, at least two or three days."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Good. I might as well close up all the other cuts."
Priss just shrugged her shoulders.
"So what was this fight about?" Ali asked as she took off her gloves.
"Nothing really."
"I find that hard to believe." She began removing the things she would need to treat Priss' hands.
"Well, if I am to believe a friend of mine it was about me wanting to explode."
"Do you think your friend is right?"
"What, are you a psychologist now?"
Ali smiled. "Perhaps a little. You don't like rules much."
"There are a lot of stupid ones out there."
"Like not getting into fights?"
"That's one."
"What exactly are you rebelling against?" Ali asked as she cleaned a small cut then used a drop of the glue to seal it.
Priss said nothing for a time, just watched as Ali tended to her hands. "Things really sucked after the quake."
"So I've heard."
"Buildings went down, fires started, things fell from roofs to crash onto streets, there was flooding, and more stuff. I know people who ran for shelters only to be cut off from them by flame or rubble. A lot of people died."
Ali nodded but said nothing.
"It was weeks before there was any sort of normalcy. I spent those first few weeks in a tent city, an army hospital. Then I was sent to the orphanage. Orphanages now might be nice places, like they were before the quake, but right after it was a different story. There were a lot fewer buildings than before, and living space was very tight.
"The room I spent a year and a half in should have held four people, but they had twelve of us in there. Triple bunk beds. I had a middle one. I remember sitting in the dark corner of that bed, feeling the metal netting above me digging into the top of my head. A lot of the time I just sat there and listened to the people who ran the place going on and on about the rules and how they should not be broken.
"Sometimes they were angry at me, but I certainly was not the only one they felt was not behaving properly and following the rules."
"Who was 'they'?"
"Some of the staff were professional care givers, some were of religious background, some were just people who needed work, or who were trying to help. All of them had a big thing about rules; at least that is how I remember it. I spent a lot of time wondering just what the hell they were thinking.
"We had lost our parents, been terribly hurt, and had our lives turned upside down and they were worried about whether a bed had been made, or if the lights were on past a certain time. It was all so stupid." Priss shook her head. "The truth was they were just as messed up as us, and all the rules helped them feel like they had some control over the situation.
"A year later I was moved to one of the newly built places with a lot more room and better staff. Still, by then I had decided that rules were stupid and went out of my way to break them."
"Sounds like you were angry," Ali said.
Priss laughed. "You could say that."
"Don't you think it is time for you to stop being angry?" Ali said, knowing she was taking a chance.
"You do nice work for a brain surgeon," Priss said, looking down at her hand.
"I did my residency in a busy emergency room."
"You get down into Tokyo after the quake?"
"No, not until a year after actually."
"Things were busy in Sendai I guess. You got a bit of a shake up there as well."
"Not as bad as here. But yes, I was busy. Even after the casualties from Sendai had been dealt with I still had patients from all over the Kanto region."
For a time neither said anything, Ali continued to treat the many small cuts on Priss' hands. She finished up and put the tube aside. "The surgical glue has both an antibiotic and a minor painkiller in it."
Priss nodded. "I was wondering why they stopped hurting. Can I play guitar?"
"Well, while some people might disagree, I think you can."
It took Priss a moment to realise that Ali had just made a joke. She smiled. "Seriously."
"As I said, avoid punching people for a few days and everything will be fine."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"You're right, I should stop being mad."
"So why don't you?"
"I have, to an extent." Priss got to her feet. "But it is never easy." She picked up the bottle of water. "Goodnight," she said.
"Good night, sleep well," Ali said.
Saturday March 11th, 6:43pm
The setting sun came through the window, casting long shadows throughout the restaurant. The staff had not yet turned the ceiling fixtures on. There were patches of shadow all about. The customers were just beginning to notice it. Not so much that they knew what the problem was, but many of them were looking about, as if trying to understand what was wrong.
Sylia sipped at her white wine, noting the way those around her were acting. Even her dinner companion, Justin Bestar, seemed a little put off by the increasing shadow.
"What do you think about the guest list?" Justin asked her, picking up his glass and taking a drink of the wine.
"An interesting mix. You certainly managed to convince a large number of important people to attend."
"Your father was well respected," he told Sylia.
Sylia nodded. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I can be. This is proving to be much more work that I had thought. Every day something new comes up."
"Like what?"
"New guests, people who demand to be included, Genom wanting to talk about security, and more." He smiled. "It will be worth it though."
"I'm glad you are willing to do this," Sylia said, surprising herself a little. "I think my father would have appreciated it."
"I hope so."
For a time they sat in silence, a not quite comfortable lull in the conversation. The staff brought the lights up slowly, chasing away the shadows. Few people noticed, but they all seemed to relax with the increased light.
"So, have you decided what you are going to say?" Justin asked her.
"No."
He nodded. "I guess I can't complain."
"Is it that important?"
For a moment he said nothing. He picked up his glass and finished off the wine. As he placed the empty glass down he looked at Sylia. "I don't want this to become a reason to attack Genom, or anyone else who might be using boomers in a way your father would not have approved of. This is a night to honour him, not to shout accusations." While his voice had started off even enough, it had risen in volume and passion as he finished. A few people close by looked towards the table. Justin did not notice them.
"I do not plan to do that." Sylia thought about it for a moment. "Why would you think that I might?"
"Not just you, but others. When you said you would not tell me what you were going to say, well, I assumed the worst."
"I'm sure that you will not have any problems with what I say."
"Then why not tell me in advance?"
Sylia picked up her wineglass and twisted the stem between her fingers, watching as the wine within the bell of the glass swirled about. "The truth is that I do not know exactly what I am going to say at this point."
"I see."
"I hope you can understand."
Justin nodded. "I guess I should be happy that you are going to be there and talk. I don't think it would be the same without you."
"You are overestimating my importance, I think," Sylia said, then she took a drink of her wine.
"No, not really. Katsuhito's daughter gives us a link to him. And you look like you will be following in your father's footsteps soon. Your article was brilliant."
Sylia was not sure what to say to that. It seemed a bit much, but she could tell that Justin was sincere. "Thank you for you kind words."
He nodded.
Not long afterwards Justin had to excuse himself. He still had a lot of work to take care of. After he had left Sylia ordered a cup of coffee. Once it arrived she took her NAVI from her purse and checked the progress on the search for Andrews-hakase.
Yoshiro pulled the blanket around his shoulders, shivering slightly. The old electric heater that had kept the chill away had broken down earlier. From the looks of things the apartment's previous occupant had been accomplished at repairing it. For all of Yoshiro's knowledge, repairing the simple heater was beyond him.
There was a beat up kerosene heater in the apartment that still worked, but he could only run it so long before chancing carbon monoxide poisoning, and he had a limited amount of kerosene. So he pulled the blanket about him to keep warm and worked at the computer, which produced some heat at least.
His research was going slow, even a little slower than he had expected. The information he needed was well protected in almost all cases, so he had to hack the systems first. It meant a lot of work, often to find out in the end that he had found nothing of any value, to him at least.
At least he still was safe. While it was obvious he was being searched for, no one had come close to him yet. He felt confident he would have the time he needed to find a new safe haven. All he had to do was survive the stay in the apartment.
He got to his feet and walked to the part of the apartment that served as the kitchen. He stopped at the refrigerator and opened the door. It, unlike many of the appliances, was not old. It was almost new, with an emergency battery pack on it. It was obvious why. Inside were a number of drugs that had to be kept refrigerated. He pushed aside several vials of Valine Beta-an anti-AIDS medication-and grabbed a package of gyoza.
The gyoza went into the microwave, another appliance that looked as if it had seen too much use. It worked though. As the gyoza warmed in the oven, he poured himself a cup of coffee. It was bitter and stale, but he did not feel like making a fresh pot. Instead he added several packages of sugar and stirred it in.
He leaned against the counter and drank the sweet, thick coffee. All he needed was enough time and he would be safe.
Sunday March 12th, 10:36pm
Linna sat on one of the benches in the dressing room. Beside her were the mask and the sword she had been using. It was time to return them to the costumer for the last time. She smiled, realising she would miss the hot mask. Well, soon they would begin practising for the next performance, and Linna would get a new role.
"Linna-san," Mako called out. "Free tonight?"
"Yes. Why?" Linna looked over at Mako.
"Wrap party tonight."
"Oh. That sounds fun."
"I just want to be sure you don't have another date with Okami-ojisan," she said, smiling.
"Not tonight." Linna returned the smile. "I guess he realised that there would be a wrap party."
"Hurry up and shower then."
Linna nodded and stood. She began to peel off the costume, pulling the cold, sweaty garment from her skin. Maybe she would not miss the costume so much after all. She certainly would not miss the smell of excessive perspiration that the costume held in.
Soon she was in the shower room, letting the hot spray wash the sweat from her body. After washing her hair she simply stood in the spray for a minute, enjoying the warmth. Clean, she left the shower, grabbing one of the towels from a shelf just out side of the shower room.
By the time she was back at her locker she was mostly dry, except for her hair which was still damp. She wrapped a towel around her hair, then opened her locker and began to get dressed.
"Hurry up Linna-san," Mako said. She was already dressed.
"I still have to take my costume to the costumer," Linna told her. "Where is the party."
"Second floor of the 'Akanbo Club'. Do you know it?"
"I've seen it."
"I'll meet you there then," Mako said, turning to leave the locker room.
Linna finished dressing, then combed out her slightly damp hair. She grabbed her headband and slid it on, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Grabbing up her costume she headed out of the locker room, making her way to the costume room where she handed everything over. And that was everything taken care of for the performance. It was over for her now.
That made Linna a little sad, then she shook her head and smiled. There was going to be another soon enough, and Kikuchi-sensei was going to kill them all getting them ready for it. She sped up her walk, wanting to get to the club before the party got into full swing. Kikuchi was giving the dancers three days off starting the next day, and everyone was going to take advantage of it.
Priss tossed the bouncer in front of Club 666 five thousand yen. He did not ask for it, and Priss was fairly certain she could get away without paying it, but she paid the cover anyway. When she entered the club she was seized by the sensation that nothing had changed since she had left the last time. Perhaps nothing had.
As she walked through the club, towards where Ritsuko told her she would be waiting, she saw Genji and his brother sitting at a table. Neither looked like they had found a doctor with Ali's skill to fix them up. Obvious bandages covered them, and Maike's arm was in a sling. They did not seem to want to continue the fight, looking away from her when she looked over at them.
Ritsuko was dressed much as she had been before, this time the cocktail dress she wore was dark blue, and her fishnet stockings were black, ripped in a few places.
"Oi, Priss-san," she called out as Priss approached.
"Ritsuko-san," Priss said. She pulled a seat away from the table and sat down.
"Going to get into another fight?"
"Depends who provokes me," Priss told her, smiling.
"Probably no one willing to play that game tonight. Got my money?"
"Don't you want to do this in private?"
"This is just an exchange, it doesn't matter."
Priss reached into her jacket and pulled out an envelope. It contained another half million yen, given to her by Sylia. She placed it on the table.
Ritsuko reached over to her coat and looked through it. A moment later she produced an envelope. She placed it beside the other.
Priss reached out and took the later. She slid it into her jacket.
Ritsuko picked up the envelope Priss had placed on the table. She held it in her cybernetic arm. A nod and one of the club employees was at her side. She gave him the envelope. He bowed then moved off.
"Where's that going?" Priss asked.
"Club safe, that which isn't used to pay my bar bill." She smiled at Priss.
"I should probably be going now."
"What's your rush? It's not like anyone on that list is going anywhere."
Priss smiled. "True."
"And do you really want to go back to the real world?"
"Do you?"
"What?"
"Why not leave here? You could survive outside, no matter what you might say to the contrary."
"I think you are overestimating me," Ritsuko told her.
"I don't think so."
"I can't leave this place, at least not until the party is over. That would be rude."
Priss nodded. "It looks like it is just settling in though."
"As long as they got alcohol I'm here."
"Let me see them," Priss said.
"Why play this game Priss-san?"
"Why not. Please."
Ritsuko reached up with her cybernetic arm, grasping her sunglasses. "This is pointless," she told Priss, then removed her sunglasses.
She had no eyes, at least in the real sense. Where eyes should have been were two, grey disks. In each disk was a slot of sorts, running almost the complete diameter of each disk. As Priss watched the disks rotated in their outer housings, both slots taking on the same orientation, parallel to the ground. It was a little disturbing.
Priss looked at the fine web of scars around the eyes; the lack of eyelids and the eyelashes that would have went with them. Just Ritsuko's delicately arched eyebrows above them. "I'm sorry," Priss said after a moment.
"Why? You had nothing to do with it."
"I'm not so sure."
Ritsuko smiled. "Hey, sometimes you just got to change the rules when things get too hard. When you've seen just one too many horrible things. Oedipus had it right."
"Why those?"
Ritsuko reached up and tapped one of the disks with a cybernetic finger. There was a sound of metal on metal. "Hey, real eyes come out too easily."
Priss just shook her head.
Ritsuko put her glasses back on, hiding the cyber eyes. She stood, reaching out to Priss with her real hand. "Come on."
"Where?"
"Onto the dance floor. Let's pretend we're sixteen again and none of it has happened yet."
Priss remained sitting for a moment, then reached out and took Ritsuko's hand. She let the other woman pull her to her feet and then lead her out onto the dance floor.
She had noticed that Ritsuko had said to pretend that it had not happened yet, not to pretend that it was not going to happen.
Monday March 13th, 2:15am
Linna stumbled and almost fell as she stepped up from the genkan into her apartment. She wasn't so much drunk as exhausted, though she was a little tipsy as well. She had left her car where she had parked it and taken a taxi home instead. She would worry about retrieving her car in the morning; at that point she just wanted to sleep.
She checked to make sure that she had no messages from Sylia, then she dropped down onto her couch. A good night's sleep and a day spent just lying around would be a nice change. Of course it was quite possible that something would come up with the Knight Sabers, but she'd take that chance.
She dozed for a time, not quite asleep, not really awake. She was thinking and dreaming about her dancing and how good it made her feel. It was like she had finally found what she had been looking for.
At a little after 4am Linna was feeling a little more alert. The alcohol had worn off, mostly, and the couch was no longer as comfortable as it had been. She straightened and looked around the dark apartment. She reached forward and grabbed her purse, pulling it onto her lap. She removed her NAVI and flipped it open.
The number she wanted was in her directory. Just before she pressed the dial button she stopped to consider what time it would be there. A little after eleven in the morning she thought. She pressed the dial button.
The phone rang twice before it was picked up. The screen on Linna's NAVI lit up, displaying Reika's face.
"Hello," Reika said, then she said, "Linna."
"Ohayo Reika-san," Linna said. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"No, not at all. I'm just getting a little work done."
"Good. I think we need to talk."
"I've been waiting for this call," Reika smiled. "I can arrange for a plane to come and pick you up if you want. It will be easier than a commercial airline."
"I'm not taking the job," Linna said, a little abruptly.
"Of course we'll have to make sure you have the..." Reika looked at Linna. "Pardon?"
"I can't accept this job offer. I'm sorry."
Reika looked as if she did not know what to say. "Why? I mean, I thought that this would be what you wanted."
"It is, but not now. I still have a lot to learn, and I can't learn it working for you. I am sorry, I know this was never really about my dancing skills."
"Of course it was. I needed someone to handle choreography."
"You can hire someone with a lot more experience than me easily enough. You wanted me there to be a friend, and I can understand that, but I'm sorry, it won't be good for me to leave Japan right now."
Reika said nothing for several seconds. "I need a friend, someone I can talk to." There was a plaintive quality to her tone.
"I know, and this is hard for me, but you have friends already. You have Kou, and everyone else who cares about you. You just have to give them a chance."
"It's not that easy. They are my protectors first and foremost. It makes it hard for them to be my friends."
"You're just going to have to change that."
Reika looked at Linna, staring at her screen. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
Reika nodded. "You have to do what is best for you. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut this short, like I said, I have work to take care of."
"I understand," Linna said.
"Goodbye Linna."
"Goodbye Reika-san."
Reika cut the connection and Linna's NAVI screen went blank. She sighed. That had been hard. Of course it was no where near as hard as it would be if she had to say goodbye to the Knight Sabers.
She leaned back in her couch, letting her head roll back so she was looking at the ceiling. She hoped she would not have to say that goodbye.
Domino sat in her office, looking over the latest reports she had been sent by Akiko and Rebecca. Akiko had been on the ground, searching places within the city, while Rebecca was searching through the computer net. Neither had found anything solid yet, but both had turned up some useful leads.
She also had a few organisations under quiet observation. Lecoix had provided information about the measures that he had taken in respect to Andrews-hakase. He had several groups looking for Andrews, including the Knight Sabers. It was a mistake on her part in not thinking to put them on retainer herself.
And Lecoix had added a clever twist to it all. If one of the groups found Andrews they were to report back to his superiors-whoever they wereas opposed to him, and let them know what was about to happen. Whoever had run Terrence-Domino suspected it might be Miss Danielsonwould then get all the groups moving to confuse any watchers, like Domino.
She had to give Lecoix credit, he had been a very good operative.
She put the printouts aside and leaned back in her chair. She had not slept since Andrews had escaped. While she could go much longer than any human without sleeping, she did need rest periods or she would suffer. Hopefully things would work out in the next few days before exhaustion started to take its toll.
She got up from her chair and walked towards her office door. She exited her office, and then the office suite, stepping out into the quiet corridors of the executive level. While there was never a time when the Tower was empty, or when work was not going on, it did get quiet in the hours before dawn.
Not far from her office was the executive lounge. Staffed twenty four hours a day, though after midnight until seven in the morning that staff was just one man who kept the coffee and tea fresh and who could prepare some basic dishes. He greeted Domino when she entered. "Good morning Odotte-sama."
"Good morning Ichinosei-san. I would like some coffee."
He quickly poured a cup of coffee as Domino took a seat. He placed the cup in a saucer, then put both on the bar in front of her. She picked up the cup and took a drink. She smiled slightly at the taste.
Coffee was another thing she did not really need, certainly not the caffeine, but drinking it helped maintain an illusion. She placed the china cup on the saucer and looked over at Kentaro Ichinosei.
He was an older man, mid fifties she guessed. She knew a little about him, like she knew a little about everyone who worked on the executive levels. He had lost his family in the quake, like many others. She supposed that he had fallen into depression over it, but she was not sure. Perhaps she would look over his file and see for sure.
Why he had ended up tending the executive lounge in the late evening and early morning she did not know, but he seemed happy enough. There was probably a lesson in that, but it was not one that Domino wanted to learn.
She picked up her cup, leaving the saucer on the bar, and got to her feet. She wandered around the lounge, looking about. There were a lot of pictures on the walls, of various people and places. She found one of Mason standing beside Quincy at the dedication of the Tower's site. Domino remembered that day, how it had been hot, and the smog had been particularly bad. She, well Mason actually, had been surprised that Quincy acted as if the bad air did not bother him at all.
She could remember that Mason had looked at the huge site where the Tower was to be erected and thought that one day it would be his. She wondered if he had been feeling desire or fear at that moment?
She passed by the picture and stopped by the grand piano that sat in the corner of the room. A gift from someone or another to Genom, if she remembered correctlylikely she did. It did not see much use. Few of the executives had the talent, and if they did, then they lacked the time. When receptions or parties were held in the lounge it was not uncommon for someone to be hired to play the instrument.
Domino thought about the other executives, her other problem. They had sensed that she was not held in the same place of respect as she had been. They were circling, looking for weakness. It was the way things were done in the Tower.
Yoshiki Yaegashi, a recently promoted player to the upper executive level had recently gone after her. He had tried to slide in and take a company that Domino was working on. She had stopped him of course, slapping him down hard in the process. She had also finished the take over, resorting to some rather dirty tactics she normally would have avoided.
She did not expect Yoshiki would try anything like that again. She was not even sure he would be a member off the upper executive in a month's time. She also was fairly certain the other executives would not try anything, for a little while at least. With a little luck everything would be resolved in her favour by that time and her position would once again be secure.
Domino moved away from the piano and walked over to a glass case near the doorway. Within the case was a scale model of MegaTokyo. A gift from the city for all Genom had done to rebuild it.
It was quite the model. While the scale was too small to be able to make out too much, it was very detailed. With a magnifying glass it was possible to spot the tiny cars that had been put on the streets. Only the largest of buildings were easily visible, which of course included the Tower.
Domino looked the model over. "Where are you Andrews?" she asked softly.
"So, do we know where he is?" Nene asked as she took a seat on the couch.
"Not yet, but we have some places to look," Sylia told her.
"So how do you want to look?" Priss asked. "Should we go down there and start looking around?"
"I do not think that is the way to go. I do not wish to enter the area until we've confirmed his location, if he is even there."
"I could get some people to do the looking, actually knock on the doors and that kind of stuff."
"As could I," Sylia told her. "But I would like to avoid that. It might send him running again, or give something away."
"We could use Neko," Nene said.
On hearing its name the cat raised it head from the bag Nene had brought with her. It let out a meow.
"Did you get a cat?" Linna asked, who had until that point not been paying much attention to the conversation. She was still a little tired. "So cute."
"In a way," Nene said, reaching down to gently scratch Neko between its ears. "It's a boomer."
"That's a boomer?" Priss asked.
"A cat boomer."
"You're kidding?"
"She is quite serious," Sylia said. "And the idea has merit."
Nene smiled. "Who is going to notice a cat wandering around District 24?"
"Anyone who tried to eat it?" Priss suggested.
"That's just cruel!" Nene said.
"Just a fact."
"I doubt that would be a problem," Sylia said.
"How can the cat help us?" Linna asked.
"It can send us back transmissions of what it sees. It can go where we need it to, and let us see what is there."
"It can do that?" Priss asked.
"And a little more," Nene told her. "I think we'll bounce the signal off the FJ3, it's stationary, so I can keep the signal clean, and private."
"That might be getting a little excessive," Sylia told her.
"I don't think so. From what I know about District 24 it is a bit of a mess, transmission wise. I certainly won't be the only person bouncing signals off that satellite, so no one should notice. Even if Neko gets into a real bad area it can power a signal through." She picked the cat up and put it on her lap. "Right Neko?"
The cat let out a meow, and then, suddenly, a set of sensor booms rose from under its fur on either side of its shoulders, looking like wings. The booms expanded out, increasing their surface area to appear even more like wings.
Priss and Linna stared at the cat sitting on Nene's lap. Neither had any idea of what to make of Nene's pet. Nene was smiling broadly. Sylia shook her head.
"Neko can generate a powerful jamming field if necessary, and can punch through them as well, if necessary. Neko is perfect for this."
"Stop showing off," Linna told her.
"Maybe we should replace Nene with the cat," Priss suggested.
The cat hissed at Priss.
"What was that about?" Priss demanded.
"Neko likes me," Nene told her.
"I think that Nene's plan has merit," Sylia said. "We'll set up in Raven's garage and send the cat into District 24 to see if we can find Andrews-hakase."
"And if we do?" Priss asked.
"We go in and get him."
The scenes presented on the monitor were often confusing, flashing by too quickly for either Nene or Priss to be sure of what they were seeing. The view was from the cat's eyes as it ran across the roofs and leapt the gaps between buildings, moving so very fast.
"Don't you think that you might be attracting attention?" Priss asked.
"It's keeping to the shadows," Nene told her.
"I'm not sure if that will make a difference."
"Fine," Nene said, reaching over to toggle the communication system. "Neko, cut your speed a little."
The views being presented on the monitor became a little more orderly as the cat began moving at a more sedate pace.
"Which one is next?" Priss asked.
"This one," Nene said, placing her finger on the list.
Priss looked over Nene's shoulder. "A writer, suffering from severe agoraphobia and ochlophobia." Priss read. "Why is someone like that living in District 24? Why not just some place in MegaTokyo?"
"I don't know," Nene said. "Looks like it is getting close."
"What's ochlophobia anyway?" Priss asked.
Nene turned to her computer and tapped in an inquiry. "Fear of crowds," Nene read.
They watched as the cat moved towards a lighted window, leaping onto what had probably been a fire escape at one point and was now just twisted metal. It leapt from there to a nearby windowsill.
"That's it," Nene said.
"Can we get a look inside?"
"Neko-chan, look inside if you can," she told the cat.
The cat moved along the windowsill, then climbed up the wall, moving to the top of the window. There it found a gap through which it could look.
The room beyond was small, and well kept. Sitting at a computer was a thin woman. The cat zoomed in on the screen without being asked. Nene and Priss could she what was writing. It looked like a bad romance novel.
"Looks fine," Nene said.
"Yeah, let's move on."
The next place they checked out was not what they were looking for, but the place after that looked promising at first. Nene had the cat break in so they could get a better look around the apartment.
At a still active computer they found the body of a man who had obviously been dead several days.
"Glad I'm not in there. The smell would probably gag you."
"That's horrible," Nene said, looking at the image of the dead man.
"You have an object lesson Nene-chan."
"What?"
"Look what can happen to hackers. Dying alone like that because the only people you knew were on the other end of a computer."
"Thank you," Nene said crossly. "Neko-chan, get out of there."
"I wouldn't worry about it though. It is not as if your mama would let that happen," Priss said the last teasingly.
Nene smiled. "You are probably right. What do you think of her?"
"Pardon?"
"Well, you have been talking to her a lot. I'm just curious."
"I don't know." Priss shrugged her shoulders. "She's a hard woman to ignore, and she actually cares about people. It's hard not to like her. Of course it is hard not to just tell her to shut up and mind her own business."
"You think so too?"
Priss smiled. "I'm a little jealous of you."
Nene was a little surprised by that statement, but realised she should not be. Priss, Linna, Sylia, they had all lost their parents. Nene wondered what it sounded like to them when she complained about hers. "She likes you as well."
"Probably why she nags me so much, right?"
Nene smiled and nodded.
"Where to next?" Priss asked her.
"Another hiding hacker," Nene told her.
"Let's hope he's more lively that the last."
Nene gave Priss a hard look.
Three more places after the dead man's and Priss was beginning to get a little tired of it all. Nene wasn't so bothered, but even she was beginning to question whether they would turn anything up. It was a long shot after all.
"Look at this," Nene said.
"What?"
"Security bars on the windows."
"Do they look new?" Priss asked hopefully.
"No."
"I guess that was too much to hope for."
"I don't think he'd upgrade the security as soon as he showed up."
"I guess not."
"Neko-chan, get a look inside."
That turned out to be much harder than any of them had been suspected. All the windows were covered over so it was impossible to see inside. The cat climbed up onto the roof and after a little searching found a way into the roof. From there is pulled itself through the small space, making its way towards the area of the building where the apartment they were interested in was.
In the end they had to settle for a small hole in one of the walls.
"You can't see much," Priss said.
"It's enough," Nene told her. "Neko-chan, use the fibre optic cable."
The cat shifted about, twisting itself around so that the cable could slide into the gap.
It was an odd way to look at things, but they had a good view of the apartment, and its occupant.
"That looks like him," Priss said.
Nene nodded. "Sylia-san," she called out.
Monday, March 13, 7:36am, Toronto, Canada
Cassandra looked at the screen as the phone rang for the second time. Secure line, bounced off some satellites, no visual feedof course. It would be difficult to trace, though not impossible. She knew it came from MegaTokyo, and it was from the Knight Sabers. The number was the one Terrence had assigned themand that Genom had put a tag on.
She picked up the phone on the third ring and listened as the person on the other end gave the proper codes.
"Have you found the package yet?" she asked. She listened to the reply. "I see. Wait one hour before making your move. Will there be any problems with that?" She listened again. "Good. I'm sending the co-ordinates for the pick up point. How long do you think it will take to get there?" The person on the other end made Cassandra wait as the information just sent was decrypted. Cassandra nodded when she was told the expected time frame. "The pick up vehicle will be waiting. Final payment will be transferred as soon as we have him."
The other person hung up, leaving Cassandra listening to the dial tone. The people trying to trace the call were getting close. For a moment she thought she would let them, almost wanting it all to end. Only for a moment though. She reached out and cut the connection.
She leaned back, sighing loudly. She shook her head; there were still things for her to do. She had to contact the other groups Terrence had hired and get them moving. It might throw Genom off their game.
Of course it might not.
Monday March 13th, 10:03pm, MegaTokyo
Sylia looked over a map of District 24, considering her options. She would have liked to grab Andrews-hakase in a quiet manner, but she was not sure if that was an option. Once contact was made, anything could happen, and if anything happened, she wanted the hardsuits close by.
Using the hardsuits in 24 was bound to attract attention, so things would have to be done very quickly. She could gain the quickest evacuation by using the Sky Carrier, but that could be dangerous. It was not that difficult to shoot an aircraft down, no matter how much ECM it had.
No, it would be better to stay on the ground; there was more cover available. That could complicate things, but Sylia felt they could deal with it.
"What's the plan?" Priss asked, walking into the small office.
"Is everyone ready?" Sylia asked her.
"Give the word and we'll be on the streets in a minute. You sure you want Mackie-kun on this?"
"We may need the firepower of his motoroid, and he will do a good job taking care of Andrews-hakase once we have him."
"If you say so," Priss said, still not sure of him being on the team. "So, what is the plan?"
"We go in fast, grab him, and get out."
"Works."
In District 24 one might see anything. It took a lot to get a rise of real interest from the inhabitants. An armoured figure on a motorcycle, zipping along the streets at over one hundred kilometres an hour, was enough.
And it was not just one. Throughout the district five motorcycles were roaring along the streets, garnering a lot of attention. That was how Sylia had wanted it. Since there was no way to do it quietly, she was going to make it loud and confusing.
Priss lay low on her bike, leaning hard to avoid hitting a slow moving car. She appreciated Sylia's plan. She had not been able to drive so recklessly in several years. Just like old times, before all the bad things happened.
She could hear shouts around her, some of surprise, but others of excitement. Whether they recognised the Knight Sabers or not, people knew when something exciting was happening. Perhaps not the most exciting things in their lives, but entertaining nonetheless.
She squeezed the brake lever and turned the wheel, cutting around a corner, sliding neatly between two other vehicles. Priss smiled. It had been too long.
"Okay, let's do it," she said, informing the Typhoon II that it was time to get to work. She shifted about, then pushed herself from the bike, activating her thrusters a moment later. She climbed into the air as the Typhoon II underwent its transformation. Once completed Priss dropped down, latching onto the motoslave's back as it took to the air.
The Typhoon II climbed high into the air, lost in the glare from all the lights from below. Priss held onto it for several seconds as it brought her close to the target. Then she leapt free, the Typhoon II continuing on to confuse any possible watchers.
She was going to take the quickest route into the apartment that would not get the target killed. There was a boarded over window that led into the hallway on the fourth floor. Priss crashed through the boards over the window, landing on the cement floor.
Priss looked around quickly then made right for the apartment's door. From what Neko's camera had shown them the door was booby trapped, but it was a fairly simple trap-a shotgun rigged at chest level. While Priss was fairly certain her armour could take the blast, Sylia had told her to go in low.
So Priss crashed through the lower part of the door, the shotgun discharging above her head. She pushed herself up and onto her feet, looking about. She saw Yoshiro, standing by the computer. He looked terrified.
She ignored him for a moment and looked about the apartment, just to be sure that they were alone. She activated her transmitter. "One, this is two, target reached, preparing for phase 2. Five, move to rendezvous location. Two out."
Priss turned back towards Yoshiro. He had pulled open a desk drawer and was rifling through it. Priss moved up close to him and grabbed his wrist with her use hand, stopping him from bringing a large revolver to bear. "I'm here to get you out of here Andrews," she said, her voice altered by electronic distortion. "You are going to be fine." She reached over with her power hand and grasped the revolver, taking it from him. "Let's go," she said, tossing the weapon aside.
Yoshiro could not stop the armoured figurehe knew that the person was a Knight Saberfrom pulling him towards the door. He was not sure who had hired them. It might have even been Genom. Still, that he had not been killed right out bode well for his future. "Wait a moment," he said. "I need my briefcase. It contains important information."
Priss had just swept the shotgun and its stand out of the way. She turned back to look at Yoshiro, then looked over to where she had seen the briefcase earlier. It was beside what she was certain was a body bag. The previous occupant of the apartment, Priss guessed.
"Get it," Priss said, releasing her hold on him. She watched him carefully, just to be sure he did not try to run, or anything else. He picked up the briefcase and returned to her side.
Priss grabbed him again and pulled him from the apartment. She pushed him forward towards the broken window, then swung him up into her arms. He let out a surprised gasp as he gripped his briefcase tight to his chest.
She kicked the rest of the boards out of the way, then used her body to shield Yoshiro as she leapt out into the air. As soon as she was clear she activated her thrusters and rocketed up into the sky. She was not sure, but she thought the man in her arms might have screamed.
Cutting the thrusters, she continued up to the apex of her flight, then began dropping. She let the suit's computer handle the breaking thrust that landed her softly on the roof of a nearby building. She made another jump and landed on a roof one hundred meters from the first a few seconds later.
Two more jumps put her under an overhang on a roof some distance from where she had started. "Okay five, where are you?" Priss transmitted.
"Almost there," Mackie's voice sounded in her ears. A few seconds later Mackie and his heavy motoslave landed not far from Priss. She was not sure, but Priss thought that the roof might have shifted slightly.
Mackie took a large bundle from his motoslave and walked towards Yoshiro. "Andrews-hakase, remove your outer clothing."
"What?" Yoshiro was taken aback.
Mackie did something to the bundle and it seemed to fall open, becoming something looked like a hardsuit. "You have to in order to wear this," Mackie explained.
Yoshiro did nothing for a moment, and then he placed the briefcase down and began pulling his shirt off, popping the buttons in the process.
Priss turned away and looked about. "A2, report," she said.
"No sign of threats at this moment," the Typhoon II told her.
"Hold position and get ready to move."
"Understood."
Priss turned back to Yoshiro. He was beginning to remove his pants. Mackie was setting up the protector suit so that the man could step into it. While similar to a hardsuit on the outside, it was actually just a suit of armour. Sylia had designed it for just the sort of circumstances they were currently working under. It provided a lot of protection, and kept the wearer from being able to run away at any great speed.
Once Yoshiro had his pants off Mackie helped him into the suit, helping him pull the heavy armour up, and around him. Not a long time afterwards he was completely encased in the suit.
"Let's go," Priss called out, then shifted to a different frequency. "A2, move into position. We're coming down."
She did not wait from the reply, just leapt from the building to the alley below. The heavy motoslave moved and scooped up Yoshiro, and followed after Mackie, who was following after Priss.
A few seconds later all of them were in the alley, the heavy motoslave was shifting back into its cycle form, and the Typhoon II roared up beside Priss. Mackie got Yoshiro on his bike, making sure he was securely on the seat, then climbed on himself.
"One this is two, we're ready to go. Heading out," Priss transmitted as she swung her leg over the Typhoon II.
"We'll meet you soon," Sylia sent to her.
"Got ya," Priss said as she put the bike into gear.
"Until one reaches the age of forty it is better to put off wisdom and discrimination and excel in vitality. According to the person and the rank, though a person has passed the age of forty, if he has no vitality, he will get no response from others"
-Yamamoto Tsunetomo
