Less Than Human: Harpuia's story

by K. Pepper

Sage Harpuia has his hands full running Neo-Arcadia after Omega-X's death. What will happen when a mysterious newcomer reveals an outside threat that makes the war with the Resistance appear petty? This fic is from the point of view of Sage Harpuia.

11. Chapter 11

Hey, I'm posting this today in honor of my 20th birthday! I wanted to let you all know that I've posted a new bio with a link to some of my artwork. I also wanted to say thank you to all of my reviewers; I would name you all, but there's so many, I'd probably forget someone! Anyway, happy holidays, and for those of you who are, like me, in the colder regions, don't let the snow get you down! Oh, and as for the ever-present disclaimer; you know I don't own anything of Capcom's. Not even Sage. Sniff

Sage: Thank the creator for that.

Rioni: That's it! Get back into your chibi form and get on my shoulder, muse!

Chapter 11

Paperwork. If I ever filed it all, I would have a library full. It was piled high on every available inch of my desk, and had been so bad that I had been forced to put several stacks on the floor as well. What was worse was the fact that I was expected to read all of this. Page after page of mundane reports, many of them stating the same thing week after week. These, I had to sign and file away, and occasionally answer a request or question. In the case of many of the others, I was expected to write a report of my own and add that to our great archive that no one would ever bother to look at again.

I was an exceptionally fast reader, of course, being a reploid, but even if all I had to do was page through everything here and not even look at it, I was convinced that it would still take me the better part of a week. That, of course, was dismissing the next boatload of documents that arrived in my office/quarters daily. My head hurt. It did not particularly help that I had neglected the paperwork for the last few days, in light of recent events. Fefnir and Leviathan, too, were probably having similar problems.

A violet light darted in front of my eyes and continued its flight about the high corners of the room. Here was another problem; Li would not go away. She was not particularly good company to start with, but she was insistent that she owed me a "life debt" for saving her. I was beginning to wish that I had left the crate just the way I had found it; unopened. I still was not sure what her function was- other than to apparently annoy everyone around her- she simply would not tell me, insisting that she did not care what she was supposed to do; she just wanted to live. It went directly against the programming of a cyber-elf, but it was hard for me to simply tell an individual- even a two-inch tall individual- that her lot in life was to die.

Cyber-elves were generally illegal in Neo-Arcadia. Their usage was restricted to military function only, and even then they were only available for those who were authorized. The initial crackdown had been before my time, shortly after the Elf Wars, and probably in response to them. Although I could technically allow whatever I wanted, the thought of having a volatile creature such as Li running- or flying- loose wherever she pleased made me just a bit uneasy. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing I could do about her; Li did what Li pleased, and not I nor any of my colleagues could do a blasted thing about it. She was small, fast, and made of pure energy. She was not going anywhere unless she wanted to.

In that case, I suppose I should be grateful that she is insistent on staying within sight of me... But why not Fefnir? Or Leviathan? I don't think I was programmed to put up with Li's level of insanity. I suddenly realized that I had just read the same paragraph five times. Great. Even when she's quiet, she makes it so I can't think. I re-read the page again, this time retaining most of the meaning, and scribbled my signature at the bottom. All that just to write my name on it and never think about it again. What a waste of time. At least I didn't have to write a report on this one. I tossed the sheets onto the mound on the floor, which had become my "done" pile. sighing, I grabbed the next paper.

"Wow... it's dusty in here! And there's a really big spider up in the corner..."

I ignored Li's chatter, mentally readying myself for another barrage of her attempted conversation. "Hey, let me help!" She landed on top of a stack of documents and looked at me cutely- at least, that was what I thought she was trying to do. Since I did not look up, I could not really be sure.

"I'll help, really! Please? I wanna do something; I'm bored!" The stack she was on tipped dangerously and she hopped off, hovering in the air again as I, without even bothering to look, shot a hand out and steadied the pile from falling. Li continued talking at me, but I was becoming well accustomed to tuning her out.

Apparently, she noticed this and decided to do something about it. I suddenly found my view of the report blocked by her tiny back-side as she shook it mere inches from my face. "Li, stop that!" I sputtered, now beginning to get irritated. I'm never going to get this done.

"Well, stop ignoring me! I said I'll help."

"These are here because I need to read them, not a cyber-elf." I scribbled my name on another paper and tossed it on the floor. "Li... please just go away."

She shook her head, a gesture that somehow ended up including her whole body. "Nope. I'll stick with you no matter what. You saved me!"

I groaned. "And why, again, am I being punished for this?"

"Hey, what?!" She flew in my face, glaring angrily at me from about two inches away.

I sighed and went back to my paperwork. "Let me help...please?" she begged.

"Fine," I grumbled, and cast about for something on my desk- anything- that could keep her occupied. I picked up an ornamental pen that I never used, and, in fact, had no idea where I had gotten it. "Go in that drawer," I instructed, "and find a pen that looks exactly like this."

"Okay!" she beamed, diving fully into the junk-filled compartment, which I seriously considered shutting and locking. I doubt that would shut her up, though. Oh well, she'll be there for awhile, anyway- I don't have another pen that looks like this.

Left in relative peace, I continued my work, quite sure that I could get another handful of reports out of the way before she discovered what I already knew. A knock sounded at my door, and, not bothering to wait for my response, Fefnir opened it and came in.

"Can I help you?" I queried disinterestedly. Suddenly, my reports seemed more interesting.

"You. Briefing room. Now."

Great. Second in command, and he can't even speak in a coherent manner. "Why?"

"Mayu."

I sighed. So much for getting my work done. "Why are you talking like that?"

"Because it's fun," he smirked. "You should try it sometime."

I gave him a stony glare that was not entirely without humor. "You. Out. Now."

Fefnir rolled his eyes and made a poor attempt to hide his smile. Turning to go, he glanced back at me. "Yer comin,' right?"

I nodded. "She'll have to wait, though. I'm up to my ears in this- this-"

"That's all the evil of the universe right there," he amended for me, gesturing to the papers. "I feel your pain." With that small amount of empathy, he left, failing to shut the door behind him. I picked up the paper that I had been reading. Now, where was I?

"I found it!" Li buzzed around happily, waving the pen in the air. A pen exactly like the one I had shown her. I didn't know I had another pen like that...

Mayu was not in the briefing room; indeed, it was completely empty. Since Fefnir was the one who had told me to go there, I decided to find him and ask why she was not present. As it turned out, Fefnir was in the maintenance room, and was not very hard to find. I could hear him from halfway down the hall.

"That's pink! I don't wear pink; what'rya tryin' t' do to me here? I ain't Elpizo..." I poked my head into the room to see Fefnir contemptuously staring down the poor reploid who was trying to repaint his armor. To the worker's discredit, I noticed a discolored area on Fefnir's shoulder pad that was obviously fresh paint. I glanced down at my own armor, scuffed, scratched, and discolored. The prideful part of me wished that I had the time to get a new paint job.

Fefnir looked up and noticed me. "Look at this, Harpuia. Tell him this is pink!"

I looked at it. "It's uh... lightish red," I commented, wondering if he would pick up on the irony of that statement.

"Yeah. There's a name for that... It's called pink!"

"I'm sorry! The unfortunate object of Fefnir's ire cried. "It was just a mistake in the mixing. I can fix it," he pleaded.

"Yeah, right," Fefnir scoffed. "You didn't even notice until I said somethin,' then you didn't believe me until Harpuia said so."

I glanced from one to the other and sighed, shaking my head. "You," I directed at our color-blind companion. "Go get your optic sensors checked."

"Y- yessir!" he squeaked and ran off.

"Well, that's great... Now I'm stuck waiting here or walking around with a pink blob on my shoulder," Fefnir complained.

"Stop whining. One of the other staff will do it. Now, where's Mayu?" I crossed my arms.

"Mayu? Oh, she's in the training room." He picked up a rag and began rubbing the wet paint off his armor.

"That's going to make it worse, you know," I stated blandly. "Why is she in the training room?"

"'Cause she got bored waiting for you and I told her to go down an' beat on stuff. It always works for me." The pink smudge on Fefnir's armor was beginning to smear over a larger area. Oblivious, he continued to rub at it.

"Fine. You'd better stop that if you don't want to repaint your entire shoulder pad." I took a step toward the door.

Fefnir looked down at his shoulder. "What the? Oh, bloody..."

I left Fefnir to his pink and red armor and made my way quickly to the training room. Ignoring protocol, Fefnir, I grumbled to myself. Really, you know she should've stayed in the briefing room.

Mayu was idly kicking a punching bag when I arrived, apparently fully recovered from her last battle.

"Glad to see you're doing better than the last time I saw you," I said in greeting.

She turned and smiled slightly in answer, and then looked puzzlingly over my shoulder. "Picked up a friend, huh?"

I glanced back and saw Li buzzing determinedly along behind me. "Oh, Li," I sighed. "Yeah... she's... insistent she's going to follow me." I smirked at the orange-clad woman. "Never save a cyber-elf unless you want a life-long companion."

"Ah." She gave the bag one final punch and walked toward me. "I hope it's okay that I'm down here. Fefnir told me I should... and that he wanted to spar me later."

I shook my head. "He's constantly looking for someone to fight with. Don't feel obligated to comply just because he said so."

"I don't feel obligated," she smiled. "I want to. A good sparring match sounds like fun."

"You won't be saying that after he puts you into a wall a few times. He's done it often enough to Leviathan." I began walking, headed back to the briefing room "Your choice if you want to get a little messed up... right now, though, I need to collect the other two Guardians so you can tell us what you've found out."

She was silent for a moment, and then said conversationally, "So... been keepin' yourself busy?"

"You could say that," I groaned. "I was beginning to think that you were bad luck... I only seemed to run into demi-dragons when you were around." I allowed myself a short, sarcastic chuckle. "Turns out, maybe you're good luck. At least with you it was two and not two dozen."

"Dozen?!" she interjected. She looked disturbed and thoughtful for a moment. "This is getting bad. Could you tell me exactly what happened later?"

"Later," I agreed. "Right now, we have other concerns." I knocked on the door in front of me.

"Yeah?" Leviathan's voice came faintly through.

"Meet us in the briefing room. Mayu's here with a report."

"Oh, right." I turned to walk away, Mayu following, but Leviathan was already opening the door.

"Who's 'us,' anyway?" she queried.

"Everyone here plus Fefnir," I informed her. "I'm going to get him since I don't think he has a com on him and I don't feeling like paging him over the loud-speakers."

She shrugged. "Whatever. I'll meet you there."

I turned to go back to the maintenance room.

"So where is Fefnir, anyway?" Mayu wondered.

"Getting his armor painted," I replied. And then, with a hint of laughter in my voice, "Pink."

"What?" Mayu laughed. "You can't be serious. Fefnir would never let himself be seen in pink."

"Pink, pink, pink," Li chirped in a singsong voice. "Big, tough Fefnir wears pink."

Mayu glanced at the cyber-elf. "That, I doubt." To me, she said, "Okay, so what's the deal?"

"Ask Fefnir," I said conclusively. As it turned out, we did not even need to go into the maintenance room to find him; he was already on his way out.

"Hey!" he called, cheerfully enough that I knew the color problem had been fixed. He walked toward us. "Y'see this?" he asked Mayu, pointing to his shoulder pad.

"Uh... yeah..."

"New paint job," he grinned.

Mayu nodded. "Very nice."

"Nice 'n shiny," Fefnir continued.

"And not pink."

"That's right!"

This is the most pointless conversation I've ever heard. I led the two back to the briefing room. For now, I had decided to limit it to just the four of us until I knew exactly what Mayu had to tell us. Leviathan was already waiting for us inside, and Fefnir and I took our seats at the table, leaving Mayu to stand before us, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

"I'm not much good at this kinda thing," she mumbled, shuffling her feet.

"Oh, well," Li said, flying from me to Mayu and back again. "You probably don't have anything interesting to say, anyway."

"Li," I said angrily, having not realized that she was still with me- although I supposed I should have. "You're not even supposed to be here."

"Tough, Harpy-boy. You're stuck with me." She stuck her tongue out in my face.

I groaned. "Why not Fefnir?" I muttered to myself. Li flitted over to Fefnir and flew back and forth in his face before coming back to me. Fefnir just looked confused.

"Nope!" Li proclaimed. "You're way cuter!" I glanced around to see my three companions attempting to hide the mirth on their faces- and doing a rather poor job of it.

"Hey," Fefnir grumbled. "I'm cute..."

Leviathan looked at him incredulously. "In who's mind?"

"Enough," I growled. "Li, Out. Now." I gave her a fierce glare.

"Oh, have it your way," she said scornfully. "Probably just some dumb old tactical discussion, anyway." She slipped through the tiny crack under the door. Since she was made of pure energy, if air could fit through it, so could she. I hoped that she could stay out of trouble on her own- doubtful with her pixie-like nature.

"Now," I started again, feeling much calmer this time. "That taken care of, Mayu, please proceed with your report."

She coughed once before beginning, glancing at us nervously. I supposed that giving a report to the three Guardians would be nerve-racking for most people, but it surprised me a bit coming from Mayu; she certainly had no trouble acting casual and speaking her mind when it was just the two of us.

"Um... okay," she started. "Basically, the long and the short of it is that the Resistance is planning a string of small, strategic attacks. Some of the later ones seem to be unclear on the details thus far, but I do know this; the first will be two days from now, on the area code-named the 'Wind Shrine.' In other words, the air force base. You're territory, Master Harpuia."

Again, I'm not used to her using titles, although I know that she does it just to not seem impolite when we're around others. Out loud, I said, "How much more can you tell us? How many men? How well equipped, and with what weapons? What time of day, perhaps?" I realized that I was drilling her with more questions than she could answer all at once, but I need every ounce of information that I could get to defend against this potentially crippling attack, and my mind was near bursting with questions waiting to escape my lips. In short, for all I asked, I was holding back much for the time being.

Mayu just glanced at me with confusion in her eyes, not sure which inquiry to answer first.

"Ease up, Harpuia," Fefnir advised. "Let the poor girl breath." To Mayu, he said, "All right, do you know how large a force they're sending?"

Mayu puzzled over this for a second. "I heard a few different figures; I think about three-hundred all together, but they're coming in waves."

"Explain," Leviathan prompted. "What kind of attacks should we expect to defend against?"

Mayu nodded, as though reassuring herself to continue. "The first wave is going to be small; maybe about fifty men or so, and covert. They're going to try to sneak into the hanger and take out the aerial defenses there; fighters, jets, whatever."

I bit my lower lip. "With a force that small? How?"

She shook her head. "I'm ... not clear on all the details. Sabotage and explosives, I think."

"Fifty men," Fefnir said thoughtfully. "They shouldn't be too hard to take care of, especially if they aren't prepared to fight us directly. What about the next wave?"

"It's an aerial raid," Mayu answered with growing confidence. Fefnir's just easy to talk to. He's only intimidating before you get to know him. "After they take out your fighter jets and whatnot, they're staging an air-based attack, hoping to hit you while you're relatively defenseless."

"They have the resources to do that?" Leviathan asked, surprised.

"I think they've scraped together everything they have for this," Mayu continued. "About twenty fighter jets, and another fifty men armed with jet packs and RPG's."

"That won't be hard to counter now that we know about it," I stated. "With my air forces, the Rekku army, we will crush them easily." I allowed myself a moment of scorn for my enemy. "Those Resistance dogs won't even have a chance to retaliate."

Mayu swallowed, looking decidedly uncomfortable, and I recalled that she had once called herself a neutral party, for both sides and neither side at once. Perhaps she still harbors that sentiment in her heart. If that's the case, she'd better get over it really fast. There's no room for mixed loyalties here.

"So, what about the rest of the soldiers?" Fefnir wondered. "So far, you've accounted for only a hundred and twenty. That still leaves a hundred and eighty troops waltzin' around."

"That's going to be a ground assault," Mayu replied. "Including land chasers, a few ride armors, and perhaps a tank or two. Most soldiers will be on foot, though."

Fefnir seemed satisfied with this and leaned back in his chair. "Sounds like my forces could take care 'a that easy." He glanced at me. "What'ya say, Harpuia; you have your Rekku army in the air, and I'll have my Jin'en army on foot. That'll take care of our Resistance problem." He glanced at Leviathan. "Oh. And you can push papers or something while we're gone."

The woman gave him a cold, aqua-eyed stare. Unfortunately for her, her special forces, the Meikai army, had little use where water was not involved. We all had our specialties; hers simply was not needed at the moment. At least it's not like the Zan'ei forces; lying dormant and useless since Phantom died. As "elite" as they were, there is no one here to lead them who doesn't already have enough responsibilities.

"What time of day is this all taking place?" I queried, bringing the discussion back to more important topics.

"In the middle of the night," Mayu answered, "Or technically early in the morning, I guess."

"You said that the first wave was going to sneak in and disable us," Leviathan began. "Do you know how?"

"By destroying the jets. I already said that."

"No, Leviathan shook her head. "How are they sneaking in? Or where."

Oh." Mayu thought for a moment. "They're coming in through the front, since that would be more unexpected. They were using the cover of darkness to sneak up on you and take out the guards with silenced guns."

Fefnir crossed his arms. "That don't make sense. They have to know that they'll be detected long before they get to the base."

"I think they have stealth suits of some sort that will at least delay detection."

"Well," I nodded. "I think we have all the information we need for now. We will easily turn back their attack and devastate their forces, as well."

Fefnir and Leviathan agreed, and the meeting was dismissed. "Mayu," I said to my brown-haired friend, "you don't have to leave right away. You may stay on base for awhile if you wish."

"For a little while," She agreed. "I owe Fefnir a sparring match."

"That's right!" called the person in question from outside the door, apparently waiting for his challenger. "And I promise; no walls, no power-bombs."

I smiled slightly, about to say something sarcastic to the red warrior when a familiar glowing figure flew into the room and soured my mood.

"Anything interesting? Anything fun?" Li asked energetically.

"No," I snapped. "All business; as I wish you were."

Mayu placed one hand on my shoulder and gave it a pat. "I'll leave you to your... friend."

Li dive-bombed her hand and then flew angrily about her face. "I didn't say you could touch my Harpy-boy! Get away, you ugly wench!"

Mayu looked startled for a moment, staring at the fuming sprite, and then she laughed hysterically. I thought I saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Glad to see you're having fun at my expense," I said darkly.

"Isn't she... a little small... for you?" she queried in between fits of laughter.

"Yeah, ha, ha. Funny. I thought you had to go spar Fefnir." I scowled, twisting my face into as humorless an expression as I could manage. True, perhaps it was somewhat amusing- either that, or Mayu's laughter was just contagious- but I was not about to let her know that, or Li especially, for that matter.

Mayu calmed down and gave me a knowing smile. "Crack a smile once in awhile, Sage. It won't kill you."

"It might," I grumbled sarcastically.

"I'll send flowers to the funeral," she responded dryly, walking out of the door and into the hall. I watched her go for a moment and shook my head.

"I hate her!" Li proclaimed loudly, landing on my shoulder.

"Well I don't," I muttered. "In fact, I much prefer her company to yours."

This started Li buzzing around my head like an angry hornet. "You take that back! You don't mean that!"

"I mean that from the bottom of my heart," I growled caustically.

"Why you... You're mean! You're a rotten person!" She stopped for a moment to hover in my face and then resumed her flight.

"Here's a news flash; I've been that way." I waved her away with a flip of my hand- as though she were an annoying gnat. "Now, will you leave?"

She landed on my head. "No! That would mean you win! I said you're stuck with me, so you're stuck, Harpy-boy!"

"Will you stop calling me that?" I would have given her an angry glare, but since she was on my head, it was a bit difficult to look at her.

"Should I call you Sage like that ugly girl?" She hung upside-down to stare at my face.

"My name is Harpuia. And if you don't start calling me that, I'll find some pretty colorful names to call you." This time I did scowl at her, since she could see me. "And stop calling her ugly, by the way. She happens to be a friend of mine."

"Ooh, getting defensive, are we?" She slid off my helmet, somersaulted, and faced me. "Are you hiding something, Har-pu-ia?"

I looked at her evenly. "I hide nothing. You annoy me; I don't want to hear your voice. Now I'm going to see the outcome of this sparring match, and if you're insistent on accompanying me, you'd better keep your mouth shut."

Li perched on my head again and began muttering to herself, but I tuned her out.

I knew that I should probably go back to my office and work on paperwork, but I was curious as to the results of the sparring match. Mayu was very small, and Fefnir was, well, Fefnir. The Big Guy. A match between the two had possibilities for a very interesting outcome. I also wanted to take advantage of the fact that Mayu was actually on base for more than a few minutes. Some part of me wanted to get to know this new-found friend a bit better; although she seemed open and honest, she was still a bit of an enigma, having revealed nothing about her past or how she had gotten started fighting the demi-dragons. I wanted to know how well I could afford to trust her, and the small amount that I knew did not quite cut it.

"Stop ignoring me!" Li shrieked from her vantage point on my helmet. I had tuned her out so well that I had completely forgotten that she was talking. I wished I could have kept it that way.

I chose to continue ignoring her, and turned to enter the training center. Mayu and Fefnir were already going at it pretty good, and I sat down against the wall to watch the entertainment, draping my arm over my bent right knee.

"Slam her! Put her through a wall!" Li crowed, although I doubted her voice reached the two combatants.

Fefnir was obviously holding back in strength, although whether consciously or subconsciously I was not sure. He made up for it with technique, however, and speed that few people realized he had.

He threw a jab at Mayu, and she agilely dodged around him and attempted to throw a knife-hand at this neck. He countered by blocking the strike with a sweep of his forearm and attempting to bring a knee up into her stomach. She ducked away and rolled between his legs, coming up quickly behind him. He turned, but not before she landed a solid hook kick to his ribs.

The kick did nothing to slow him down, and he linked his elbow under her bent knee and attempted to dump her on the ground. She reached her hands back over her head and suspended herself off the floor, bent nearly double, and when Fefnir gave her legs a push, she merely flipped over and stood up, jumping immediately into a spin-kick that nearly caught Fefnir in the side of the head. He jerked his head to the side and swiped her other leg out from under her, causing her to fall. She recovered and jumped up again quickly, but was met with a palm-heel in the stomach. She stumbled back and coughed, clutching her abdomen and barely avoided the red Guardian's follow-up punch.

Fefnir tried to push his advantage and plant a low kick into her knee, but she twisted, taking the hit in the back of the leg instead. She allowed her knee to buckle and went down, continuing her momentum into a forward roll. She came up in a crouch and sweep-kicked at Fefnir's feet, intending to take him down. The blow, however, was not quite enough to sway the steady-footed Fefnir, and he leaned over, picking up her petite form and holding her over his head.

"No body-slamming, you promised!" she wailed, kicking vainly to get free.

"Oh, fine." He moved to set her down, accidentally poking a couple of fingers into her ribs and causing her to emit a strange sounding squeak. "What was that?" he said, looking at her quizzically after setting her on the floor.

"N-nothing..." She backed away slowly.

"You're ticklish, aren't you?" he grinned gleefully, taking a step toward her, and then another.

"No!" She yelped in an obvious lie. Fefnir reached one hand out to her, and she scurried away, attempting to hide behind me. "Sage, you can't let him get away with this- this immaturity!"

I looked at her, feeling unusually mischievous. "What immaturity?" I smirked. She looked at me pleadingly, trying to keep myself between her and Fefnir all the while.

"C'mon, you wouldn't let him harass me, would you?"

I narrowed my eyes sadistically. "Not necessarily..." I poked her in the ribs with my index finger.

"Eep!" she squeaked, cutting herself off and turning red. She glared at me, betrayal written across her face.

I decided that tormenting my rather enigmatic ally was surprisingly fun, and opted to continue. I poked her again, and again she emitted an awkward noise.

"You sure make some strange sounds," I commented, one eyebrow raised.

"You-you-" Mayu stuttered, as though looking for a proper insult and not finding one. She attempted to bolt, but Fefnir caught her and held her fast.

"I dunno, Harpuia, this could be more fun than harassing Leviathan..." Pressing my advantage, I jabbed both sides of her ribs and she shrieked, unfortunately drawing Li's attention, who had formerly been exploring some unknown corner of the room. She came down swiftly and flew into my face, pounding at me with fists the size of pin-heads.

"You're awful! You're such a shameless flirt!" She cried, enraged. "I swear you hit on every girl you see, Harpy-boy!"

"Harpuia?" Fefnir asked incredulously, and then laughed loudly. "That's a good one! Man, I think yer elf-friend there is a little nuts."

"You stay out of this you- you big red... ogre!" Li began flying around his head instead of mine.

Mayu used the temporary distraction to try to tickle me back, worming her way out of Fefnir's grasp. In truth, it was affecting me every bit as badly as it was her, but I was much better at controlling my facial expressions- and the sounds I produced.

I looked at her nonchalantly. "Doesn't work on me." I continued to poke her sides, hoping it would discourage her from pursuing any further reaction from me. Unfortunately, it did not. She managed to hit an especially sensitive spot just below my ribcage, and I made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a cat's growl.

"Thought you weren't ticklish?" she smiled slyly. Fefnir let go of her altogether and she came after me. "Let's see how you like it..."

Fefnir chuckled. "Never knew you're ticklish, 'Master' Harpuia. Thought you were too tough for that."

I avoided Mayu's advance and ducked out the door, Li close behind. "Ooh, you don't deserve to have someone like me around," Li grumbled.

"No, I'm not quite sure what I ever did to deserve that ," I mumbled sarcastically.

"Sage, wait!" It was Mayu. "You still haven't told me what happened with that large group of demi-dragons you encountered."

"Obviously, I survived," I answered absently.

"Well, duh," Mayu retorted, far from satisfied.

I rubbed my temples. "Why don't we discuss it back in my office, if you really want to know."

"We're not discussing anything!" Li hollered, dive-bombing Mayu's head. "Just leave, you filthy little miscreant!"

Mayu caught the elf between two fingers before the tiny creature made impact with her skull. "Okay, now I'm starting to get a little miffed. You really need to stop that."

Li easily shot free of Mayu's grasp and flitted back to me to land on my head. The sprite looked at the reploid with a scowl and said simply. "I hate you. Go away."

Mayu glanced at Li. "Well, that was profound. At least you're honest.

I caught a slight reflection in the wall to see the cyber-elf leaning casually against one of the fins on my helmet.

"My helmet is not a lounge you know," I growled, but she ignored me.

Before we could enter my office, one of my soldiers trotted up to me. "Sir," he said, "I was told to inform you that the reconstruction of Aztec Falcon is complete. You may see him now if you wish." He turned and left quickly the way he had come. I turned to Mayu.

"I'm sorry... you're going to have to excuse me for awhile."

"That's alright," she nodded. "Is it okay if I return to the training center? I left rather suddenly, and Fefnir and I were having some... interesting conversations."

"That's fine," I nodded back. Her and Fefnir seem to get along famously. I hope that doesn't mean disaster for the maintenance staff. She left for the training center, and I continued past my office to the reconstruction lab.

I made my way hurriedly, eager to speak to Falcon again. Other than Fefnir, Mayu, and Leviathan- if I could call her a friend rather than something akin to a nagging sister- Aztec Falcon was truly the only friend I had. I had trained him personally, especially in aerial combat, and when I had initially heard that he had been destroyed by Zero, I had allowed my emotions to overcome me and fought my foe carelessly. I was lucky to escape our first battle with my life; I had been so enraged at the legendary reploid that I had not thought about the consequences of my actions. My second battle with Zero had gone little better, but somehow I was more satisfied with the outcome. Perhaps it was because I had been thinking more clearly. The red reploid remained an enigma to me, but given the chance I would fight him again, although I knew it could cost me my life. He's the single largest threat the Resistance holds against us. If they ever prevailed... I'm not sure what would happen. It's fortunate that he left the Resistance, but the radar and the scouting teams have picked up signs that he's still out there- and he hasn't stopped fighting us.

I decided to give my thoughts a rest as I entered the lab. I had never liked the reconstruction laboratory; the sight of spare, skeletal reploid parts and jars of still-liquid synthetic flesh, along with the smell of artificial blood always made me feel uneasy. No one, reploid or human, cares to be reminded of what their insides look like when they're out. Despite my slight discomfort, I had long ago become accustomed to it after seeing so many battlefields. That did not mean, however, that I enjoyed it in the least.

Aztec Falcon was standing in the far corner of the room, awaiting my arrival. "Master Harpuia," he said in greeting, in his usual dead-pan voice. With a face which was, like Magnion's, incapable of showing expression, and a manor of speaking which displayed no emotion, it was easy to think that Falcon was as cold and dead as a Pantheon, but after knowing him for as long as I had, I could read the subtle changes in his voice and his body language. He was glad to see me.

"You know there's no need for formalities with me," I chided. "To you, I'm just 'Harpuia,' or even 'Sage,' if you so desire."

Although he could not smile, I knew he was inwardly. Small things, such as the way he stood with one leg minisculey in front of the other, or the way he tilted his head slightly to one side displayed his mood to me. It seemed to me that all of the bird-type models shared this peculiar trait, but I had never cared to get to know Magnion any better.

"Very well, Harpuia. I trust you are well?"

I nodded. "For the most part. I've had a few skirmishes here and there, but nothing that a few days in maintenance couldn't handle." I grinned. "You're most certainly looking better than the last time I saw you."

He shifted, leveling his head and bringing his arm up slightly- his equivalent of making a face. "I most certainly feel it, as well."

I chuckled. "Yes, I supposed you would. I hate to do this to you so soon, but how long until you will be able to perform normal duties again?"

"Do not worry about it, Harpuia. That is my job." He tilted his head to the side again, a friendly gesture to those who knew it. "The laboratory's employees wish to keep me here for the remainder of the day and run some tests to be certain that I am functioning properly. Now please, tell me, what has happened while I was absent?"

I sighed. "Well, I can tell you right now that this will be a long story."

He nodded. "I am listening."

When I left the reconstruction lab, my throat felt raw from talking. there was so much that I had had to fill my comrade in on; everything from the deaths of the generals and many other soldiers to Phantom's destruction and Master X's demise at the hands of Zero, along with Zero's unknown whereabouts and the relocation of the Resistance base. He was a bit surprised to note that I was in charge now. After that was my explanation of the demi-dragon activity, the rising of Elpizo as the new commander of the Resistance, and the temporary base of unknown origin that Fefnir had discovered in the north-west forest. And of course, Mayu and her contributions of information.

After all of that, everything seemed to loop around in my head at once. I was grateful that Li had disappeared somewhere, and hoped that she would remain missing indefinitely. And I've still got to brief Mayu on that last encounter we had with the demi-dragons, unless Fefnir took the liberty already. I found myself hoping that was the case, having done enough explaining for one day already. It would be nice if I could just have a normal conversation with her or Fefnir without discussing tactics or threats or politics... I was so sick of this. My life centered around all of the things that I was either trying to end or never wanted anything to do with in the first place.

If I was hoping for peace when I arrived at the training center, I was sadly disappointed. Leviathan and Mayu seemed to be having some sort of heated argument while Fefnir stood by with his arms crossed looking rather vexed. Li buzzed around the scene excitedly. At least I know where she disappeared to.

"It's your fault we lost so many soldiers in that last battle!" Leviathan was screeching, red in the face.

"My fault?! It would have happened anyway! At least I tried to do something about it!"

"And you did a really poor job of it, too! If it were my decision and not Harpuia's, I'd say just go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under!"

"Yes, well, there's a reason Harpuia's in charge and you're not."

"Oh, glad to see you're so chummy with the pretty boy. Gonna hide behind him every time you make a mistake?"

The argument went on, and I approached Fefnir, now understanding the reason for his dark expression. This could put anyone in a sour disposition. "What's all this about?"

Fefnir snorted. "I dunno. Ask Fairy; Mayu and I were just hangin' out chattin' and beatin' the crap outta some drones an' stuff, and she just came in ready to pick a fight. They've been over every possible subject at least three times. It's not even about anything, for Pete's sake; they're just arguin' for the sake of doin' it." Fefnir eyed to two women forlornly. "I was havin' fun before she came in, too..."

I groaned. This was just what I needed; on top of everything else, Mayu and Leviathan apparently hated each other. I idly wondered if they would duke it out if I waited long enough. However long "long enough" is, I'd better do something about this before then. I glanced at Fefnir. "Maybe we all need something to do besides paperwork. Otherwise, this happens. I gestured to the girls to illustrate my point.

"I could start training Arcan," Fefnir said hopefully.

What could it hurt? I certainly don't feel like arguing about it. "Fine."

Fefnir, who had appeared as though he were preparing for a verbal battle, looked surprised. "R-really? No joke?"

"I don't joke," I said grouchily At least not out loud. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to pull these rabid women away from each other's throats before the claws come out." I turned to the two in question. "Mayu, come on." They both looked up. "I still need to brief you on what's happened."

"But Fefnir already did," she shrugged.

"Well, aren't we privileged," Leviathan scoffed, but I held up my hand to forestall any further comment.

"Either way, you're coming with me. You two need to get away from each other."

Mayu shrugged and followed me. Leviathan glared at us. "Fine, just run and hide, little girl! You two- you two love birds!"

I spared a glance at Leviathan, mouthing an incredulous "What?" but she was obviously beyond reason. Something's got her livid, and it's a good bet that something has to do with Mayu. I looked at Fefnir, but he only shook his head. Please don't tell me she's jealous of the attention Mayu gets from me... that's just stupid.

As soon as we had left the room, I could hear Fefnir and Leviathan start going at it, and I cringed inwardly. She's bound and determined to argue with somebody. Being stuck in my office for paperwork suddenly doesn't seem so bad.

Once we were well away, I gave Mayu a stern glare. "Do you really think that was appropriate behavior for a military base?"

"Tell that to your little girlfriend," she said snidely, rolling her eyes.

I stepped in front of her and stopped short, causing her to stop with me. "Listen to me," I snapped. "I have no need for your sarcasm or your disruptive behavior." I narrowed my eyes. "Stop acting like a child and start treating me with some respect, or I'll reduce your privileges to that of a maintenance drone while you're here."

Mayu looked slightly hurt, but shrugged it off, masking her face again with a lopsided smile. I hated reprimanding a friend this way, but being a military leader, I had to treat everyone with the same amount of strict discipline. I was fortunate that Mayu seemed to realize this and did not hold it against me.

"I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice, making me wonder if it had gotten to her this time. "I guess it's in my nature to automatically get defensive when someone picks a fight. I was mad, too, because Fefnir and I were getting along pretty good and she had to go and spoil our fun." Her shoulders slumped. "I don't have fun much anymore."

I nodded. "I know the feeling. And being defensive is understandable, given the situation, although there are quieter ways to do it. I am going to speak to Leviathan about this," and here I punctuated my sentence with a sigh- "If I ever feel like facing the wrath of the sea-dragon."

Mayu let out an abrupt laugh. "That bad, huh?"

I looked at her from the corner of my eye. "You have no idea."

We entered my quarters, which doubled as my office, and I sat down at my desk with a loud exhaled breath. Phasing off my helmet, I allowed my unbound hair to fall over my shoulders as I rested my head briefly against my arm. Mayu seated herself in a chair which was placed before my desk and slumped against the back, looking rather relaxed.

"Letting your guard down, 'Master Harpuia?'" Now I could tell that she was using the title only to tease me rather than to make any move toward formality. I supposed it did not matter; it was nice to be on a first name basis with somebody.

"I'm tired," I mumbled in answer. "I'm only grateful that you, at least, presently aren't attempting to spar or argue with me. I'm really not in the mood for either one." I glanced around suspiciously. "Where's Li?"

"I think she stayed to watch Fefnir and Leviathan's little spat. She seems to think of life as a reality TV show."

I nodded. "Well, good riddance. At least I'll have some peace while she's gone."

Mayu smiled and shook her head. "Glad to see our opinions of the little bugger are the same. Anyway, why did you want me in your office? Keeping me out of trouble?"

I shrugged. "Partially. Frankly, I'm not sure what else to do with you at the moment, especially if you can't seem to get along with the other Guardians."

"Hey, I get along with Fefnir just fine," she protested, and I had to agree. "It's just Leviathan who has a chip on her shoulder."

"Either way, you weren't exactly helping matters," I pointed out.

"No, I suppose not," she agreed easily. "I'll just have to hang out with Fefnir some other time."

I raised an eyebrow. "This is a military base, not a lounge."

"We'll train," she said simply. "Why? Is 'hanging out' too loose a term?"

I sighed. "Maybe I'm just a little on edge lately. Frankly, I envy you."

She looked surprised. "Envy me? Whatever for?"

I gave her a half-hearted, thin-lipped smile. "You and your leisure time. Despite the work you're doing for Neo-Arcadia, somehow you still manage to have fun. All I have time for... is this." I waved a hand over my paper-covered desk.

"You have time for whatever you deem most important," she advised. "If there's something you want to do, just do it." She stopped herself with a grin. "Of course, that's probably why I'm a grade-A procrastinator."

I laughed quietly. "Maybe I should procrastinate once in awhile. I honestly have no idea what it feels like to just do what I want." Why am I opening up like this? I never talk to people, other than Fefnir, and the subject matter is usually... less subtle than this.

Mayu interrupted my thoughts. "So, you're telling me that the hard-nosed General Harpuia wishes he could have fun?"

I caught a flash of teasing in her eyes, but it did not seem malicious, so I opted not to get defensive.

"'Fun' may be putting it strongly; I just wish I could take a break, however small." I unconsciously rubbed my fist up and down on the side of my face.

She smirked. "In that case, doesn't this qualify? You're not working."

I smiled and finally chuckled. "I guess you're right. How sad is it that my idea of taking a break is sitting here talking about taking a break?"

Mayu laughed outright at that. "Did anyone ever tell you you're really funny when you just say what you're thinking?"

I looked at her with a small amount of surprise on my face. "Me? Funny?"

"You don't take offense to that, do you?" She asked, half joking, half serious.

I shook my head and finally laughed out loud- a sound strange to my own ears. "No, I supposed I don't."

"Good, 'cause it wasn't meant to insult." She rested her hands on her knees. "So, this is really your idea of a break?"

"About as much of one as I ever get," I shrugged. "I supposed I'm satisfied with that."

"Why don't you play a game?" she wondered, pulling off her helmet and running a hand through her hair, which looked a bit tangled.

"A... game?" The concept was foreign to me. The only thing that I ever did that could be considered game or sport was spar Fefnir, and that was not very often. I suppose it is kind of fun, though.

"You know, a game?" she continued, since my response had not been much of an answer. "Like a game of cards, or -heaven forbid- a video game?"

I shook my head. "I've never played a game. I just don't have time."

"Make time," she ordered. "You're playing a game."

"Are you telling me what to do?"

She looked me straight in the eye- something that few people ever did. "Yes."

"You have some nerve, " I muttered. "I may consider that a good thing- if it didn't seem to be constantly directed toward me."

"Oh, come on," she protested. "Am I really that bad?"

I pretended to think for a moment. "I... am going to utilize my right to remain silent."

She snorted. "See? That would have been funny- if it wasn't an insult."

I grinned. "I thought it was anyway." I ignored her answering glare. "Y'know, you're not very good at pretending to be mad."

Her scowling visage broke into a broad smile. "No... it's hard to keep a straight face- especially when I'm looking at the likes of you."

I raised an eyebrow. "That may be the first time that someone under me has dared insult me."

"Don't worry. It won't be the last," she answered smugly. "Anyway, I said I was going to make you play a game; you're not sneaking out of it that easily."

"I was hoping you forgot." I began shuffling some papers around on my desk. "There are no games here, anyway."

"No even a pack of playing cards?" she wondered.

"The most interesting thing there is to find in here is a paperweight that somehow managed to get a paper-clip embedded in it." Just how did that happen, anyway?

"That sounds interesting enough to me," she commented. "What kind of paperweight? Can I see?"

"I don't remember, and I have no idea where it is." I re-stacked another pile of documents. "You're quite easily amused, aren't you?"

"Sometimes," she shrugged. "I'm going to find Fefnir and see if he has a pack of playing cards."

This got my attention. "I think you'd better stay here."

"Oh, give me a break. I'm not gonna start another fight." She got up and headed for the door.

"No, maybe not, but if Leviathan is in as poor a disposition as you seem to think, then she might." I moved to get up. "I'm ordering you to stay here; I don't want any blood loss between you two."

She scowled, sat down, and crossed her arms. "Yes, Mother."

I sighed. "Can't you ever keep your thoughts to yourself?"

"I suppose I could... but where would be the fun in that? It keeps you on your toes." She rocked the chair backwards on two legs.

"If you fall, I'm going to laugh," I said dryly.

"That would be a rarity," she answered. "Anyway, how are we supposed to play cards if you won't let me go get some?"

"We're not." I looked around my desk. "Here's that paperweight, by the way." I tossed it to her.

"Hey, that - that is weird. How the heck?"

"You'd be amazed what goes on in the bottom of a desk drawer," I shrugged. She laughed silently.

"Okay... so... Sage, the cards?" she asked, tossing the paperweight back to me.

"You're not going to drop it, are you?" I grumbled, pretending to be irritated.

"Nope."

I let my shoulders slump. "All right; you win," I sighed in resignation. "But you're staying here. I'll ask Fefnir if he has any cards."

I left the office to her playful grumbling and marched myself back down to the training center, not entirely sure of what kind of scene I may find there; the thought of Leviathan imbedded in the wall entered my mind. Thankfully, she was no longer present, and only the large, scarlet warrior remained, staring off into space with baleful eyes.

"Fefnir," I said, attempting to get his attention.

"Huh?" He snapped out of his daze and looked over at me. "Oh, good. At least you're not her."

There was no doubt in my mind as to who "Her" was. "I'm sure she'll forget what set her off soon enough."

"Oh, I know what set her off; the question is why? Mayu didn't do anything deserving of that sort of welcome from ol' Bubble-head." He snorted and lurched away from the wall where he had been leaning. "So, I s'pose Mayu's gone, then?"

I shook my head. "No," and I chuckled. "Actually, she's... forcing me to play cards with her."

"You? Cards?" Fefnir grinned toothily. "'Bout time you did something fun. Y'need a pack of playing cards, then?"

"Yeah..." I glanced around. "Not that I really care, but where's Li?"

"Oh, that little elf-thing. She followed Leviathan, tellin' her to stay away from you, or somethin' like that. I've decided that bug just doesn't like other females." He grinned. "And she's claimed you as her own."

"Wonderful," I said darkly.

"Hey, look at it this way; you get to hang out with a cute naked chick."

I gave him a disdainful glance. "You do realize that she's two inches tall."

"Well, still," he shrugged, then he caught my glare and turned toward the door. "Oh, yeah, the cards..."

I followed him to his quarters, and waited in the doorway while he hunted through his belongings. The floor was strewn with weight-training equipment and a few random, scattered articles of clothing. Other than the relative disorder, it was a tad impersonal, devoid of most leisure items such as books or games, or even pictures. We did not have time to put much of ourselves into our rooms, despite some twenty or so odd years living there. Still, we all had our own quirks, I living wholly out of my cluttered desk, Fefnir apparently from his bedroom floor, and Leviathan from her bed- which I was never certain how she slept in, since it seemed that it provided storage for all of her worldly possessions. Phantom's room had been the only one with a personal touch to it, in the form of a meticulously trimmed Bonsai tree. Unfortunately, no one else seemed to have much of a green thumb, and it died not long after he had.

"Found 'em," Fefnir informed me, tossing the pack in my general direction. I was not paying attention, and it hit me between the eyes, although I grabbed it out of the air before it hit the floor.

"Ow," I muttered, rubbing my forehead.

"You were supposed to catch it before it hit you," Fefnir pointed out needlessly.

"Thanks for the warning... What is this?" I asked incredulously, staring at the box. A heavily muscled man in boots and a speedo stared back.

"That would be a pro-wrestler. Why?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. Thanks." I walked purposefully back to my office, cards in tow.

"There you are, Harpy-boy!" I cringed. Just the voice I had not wanted to hear. I continued as though I had not, a pitifully poor defense. She plopped herself on top of my head- which was still un-helmeted, I realized. "You need to put your helmet back on, Harpy-boy. Your hair's too slippery- whoa!"

Hmm... does that mean if I leave it off, she possibly won't sit up there? I shook my head a bit, and a colorful whirl of light slipped down and dropped a few feet before regaining her flight to hover next to me and thankfully not in front of my face.

"Is the ugly wench gone yet?" she wondered haughtily. "She better be; her and that horrible fish-lady have to stay away from you."

I was about to protest to her insulting of Mayu, but my curiosity opened my mouth first. "Fish-lady?"

"The nasty blue girl!" she proclaimed, bobbing up and down.

Oh. Leviathan. Fish-lady. I'm sure she'll love that. Out loud, I said, "I suggest that you stop insulting both of them, since those are my friends and coworkers you're talking about. I won't tolerate it."

"You 'won't tolerate it?'" She giggled, a sound like sleet on glass. "What are you going to do about it? You can't make me do anything!"

"I'll seal you in an energy crate again," I growled. This was really getting old.

"Like you'll ever get me near one," she shot back defiantly. I opened my office door.

"We have an unwelcome guest," I informed upon my entrance, startling Mayu who appeared to have been either zoning out or dozing. She looked up and saw me- and the tiny, glowing individual who seemed to be attached to me by an invisible cord.

"You're still here?!" Li shrieked in dismay. She turned to me, eyes flashing indignantly. "I told you she'd better be gone!"

"Hey, you don't like it, leave," I fired back, trying to hide all traces of hopefulness in my voice.

Li ignored me and began swooping and diving at Mayu's head like an angry hornet. To Mayu's credit, she managed to act as though nothing were going on at all.

"Did you find any cards?" She had pulled the chair up close to the desk in preparation for the game.

"Yeah." I plopped the little box down in front of myself and slid it across the surface to her.

She stared at it for a moment. "...Wrestling?"

I shrugged. "Fefnir's. Didn't ask."

Li rammed into Mayu's forehead, whether on purpose or a misjudgment of her flight, I did not know.

"Ah!" Mayu yelped, rubbing the sore spot. Li tumbled to the desktop in a daze and sat there for a moment. We both stared at her.

"What?" Li grumbled, standing unsteadily and then taking flight again. Mayu gave me a wary look, expressing her very reasonable distrust of the cyber-elf. She removed the cards from their box and began shuffling them while watching Li cautiously.

Li, however, was apparently in no state to attack again- indeed, she must have hurt herself a great deal more than she had my dark-haired friend, for she proceeded to fly directly into a wall and then fell to the floor to remain there for an indefinite period of time.

"I didn't know cyber-elves get dizzy," Mayu commented, dealing the cards.

"Neither did I." I glanced at the glowing figure on the floor. The light shifted slowly and endlessly between orange and violet, although to colors were not as bright as usual. "Apparently, they can sleep, too. Or this one can, anyway. She seems a bit... unorthodox for a cyber-elf."

"Are all elves that annoying?" She finished dealing, five cards each, and examined her hand.

Leviathan burst through the door uninvited, stepping on Li in the process who, suddenly awake, shrieked in protest. Leviathan glanced at both the elf and Mayu with great distaste featured unmasked on her face. She looked at me, however, and I grit my teeth, wondering what was just so blasted important that she not even knock.

"Harpuia, there's a big honking spider downstairs in our weapons testing facility," she said testily.

"A... what?" I felt as confused as Mayu looked. "I know you don't like bugs, Leviathan, but..."

"No!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms indignantly. "I mean one of our big spiders; y'know, the security 'bots? And it's honking."

I scowled. "Then have someone fix it; it's not my problem."

"But... it's so... odd," the blue-clad woman mused. "I mean, I didn't think they could emit sound; they have no speakers or vocal-cords of any kind..."

"Leviathan, I don't care!" I exploded. This is just too much. A honking spider? I have better things to do. I glanced guiltily at the cards in my hand. Well, I do... I'm just not doing them... Leviathan was still glaring at me expectantly. "Fine," I spat. "But this better be good."

I rose and gestured to Mayu to follow, but she shook her head in refusal. "I'd better get back to the Resistance before they miss me. Gotta keep up the facade, y'know." She set the cards down face-up on the table. "Two-pair, by the way. What've you got?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know how to play this." She tipped my cards down and snickered. "Nothing. Well, it's been fun. Do try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone." She was halfway out the door before she turned and grinned at me. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do..."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I said with mock severity, but she was already gone, so I did not know if she had heard me or not.

"She's so weird," Leviathan complained, loud enough that she apparently did not care if Mayu heard.

I crossed my arms and looked at her sideways with a frown. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?"

She ground her teeth together forcibly. "I don't like it when you're around her; you start forgetting to keep your thoughts to yourself."

I shrugged, my face an impassive mask. "Perhaps so, but I only state the truth." We left my office and the door closed with a whoosh of air behind us.

"See what I mean?" she huffed, then she growled, "Ooh, men..." It was my guess that she and Fefnir had had "words" prior to this, thus her present attitude toward the male gender. They fight like a married couple... not that I know how a married couple fights. The problem with their spats was that I invariably became the secondary target of Leviathan's wrath. I guess I'd better appease her and see whatever she's talking about, or I'll never hear the end of it.

I could hear the culprit long before we reached the room; a low, metallic clanking sound that I supposed, by a stretch of the imagination, could be called a "honk." Great. That's just what I want a stealth security 'bot to do; make excessive noise. The intent of the spiders was to sit in an out-of-the-way place, such as a dark corner on the ceiling, or a small crevasse, and detect intruders. It was capable of shooting a sticky web-like solution to hold the unwelcome guest until someone could get there to investigate the situation. Having one that honked like a dying car-horn would simply not do.

I rounded the corner into the room, taking my lead in front of Leviathan at this point, and stopped to stare at the offending machine. It crawled back and forth, metallic claws clicking lightly on the concrete floor, and intermittently let out its loud croak like a drunk, staggering and belching and staggering some more. I slapped my forehead.

"Leviathan, why did you drag me down here? This isn't my concern." She glared. "It is... but it isn't," I amended. "This is why we pay our employees; to fix problems like this. I have much better things to worry about"

"Like playing cards with Mayu?" she scoffed.

I clenched my teeth. "Leviathan, when was the last time you saw me take a break?"

Her face fell. "...Point taken." She paused. "But seriously, nobody can figure out what's wrong with it. What if more of this shipment starts acting up?"

"Fine. I'm not a blasted mechanic, but I'll look at it." I lifted the malfunctioning automaton from the floor and flipped it on its back, preparing to open it up and have a look. The sound it was emitting changed.

Leviathan and I both stared at the spider, startled.

"Wh- what was that?" Leviathan managed. "Did that spider just... bark?"

"It... would seem so." I stared incredulously at the mechalinoid. It barked all right; just like a dog. Now, instead of a honk, it produced a sharp, tenor, "woof." I deactivated it.

Leviathan stared over my shoulder as I opened the panel to look inside. the problem was evident; a small micro-recorder set to play back its given noise at regular intervals. It barked at me again, followed by another metallic honk. I crushed it in my fist.

"And your engineers couldn't figure this out?" I growled, dropping the remains of the micro-recorder into a nearby trash bin. I reactivated the spider and it clicked back to its proper place, immediately reverting to standby mode.

Leviathan held her hands up in defense. "Don't shoot the messenger! Someone told me I should go get you."

I turned and strode from the room. "Find him and fire him. I'll be in my office reading paperwork."

Fifteen minutes later found me in a curious position of deja vu, attempting to peruse a document while Li verbally berated me and I ignored her. Life doesn't change much. My straying attention fell on the deck of playing cards that had never made it back to the box. Wonder if Mayu and I will ever really get the chance to play? Oh, well. Don't know why I care. Maybe I should play Fefnir sometime. If anyone ever bothers to tell me how."

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Li yelled in my face, waving her arms. "Someone's at the door, I think." As if in answer, a heavy knock alerted me that she was right.

"Come in." I set my report down.

"Y'want th' good news, or the bad news first?" Fefnir greeted, swaggering into my office. "Oh yeah, and gimme my cards back."

I shoved the cards into their box and threw it at his head- revenge for the way I had received them. He caught it easily. "The bad news, I guess."

"Well, you're getting the good news first because the bad news comes after it," he informed me, seating himself in the chair.

"Then why bother asking?" I asked dully.

He shrugged. "I dunno. Jes' felt like sayin' that." He grinned, crinkling the dark red tattoos under his eyes. "Anyway, we fired yer prankster, so that should make you happy."

I nodded. "Happy, no. Satisfied, yes. And the bad news?"

"He was scheduled for next patrol, and he was one of the jet-pack users. We're fresh outta those right now, and no one wants to got overland in the desert."

"Harpy-boy has a jet-pack," Li exclaimed brightly. "He should go!"

"I'm too busy," I muttered disdainfully. "Otherwise, I just might."

"In that case, go anyway," Fefnir advised me. "Clear your head; it'll be good for ya. And besides," and he looked sheepish- as much as he ever could. "We can't find anyone else so spur of the moment."

Well. This day just keeps getting better, I thought wryly. When will the fun ever end?

I walked wordlessly to the elevator and rode it to the ground floor. The occupants of the guard house snapped to attention at my arrival. "At ease," I muttered tonelessly, walking up to the man in charge.

"I'm terribly sorry about this, sir." He may have been ill at ease, but he did a good job of keeping his nerves in check. "If I had had any inkling of the fact that one of my number was-"

"Don't concern yourself with it," I told the level-headed- if not dull- reploid. "It's over with now. Just give me the patrol coordinates and I'll be off." He complied quickly and efficiently, and I was away as soon as I could managed it- of course, first confirming that my fuel cells were full.

It was not long before the golden-brown wasteland of the desert flowed beneath me like a tawny, prismatic ocean. It could almost have been called beautiful- for about thirty seconds. The monotony dulled my mind quite quickly, and I began to understand why the desert patrolman had performed such a practical joke- anything to forget the boredom of his job. Even the vague rocky outcroppings which jutted from the sand were a welcome, if crude, change of scenery.

I went on like this for fifteen or twenty minutes, keeping my speed fairly slow and watching with eyes keener than a hawk's. I became so accustomed to the unchanging blend of golden sand and brown rock that when a new color flashed into my vision, I nearly gave a startled cry.

It was a red speck, insubstantial as an ant on a sidewalk; but my vision quickly picked out the details as I slowly circled and began to lower my flight; the figure was unmistakable. Here was the one who had destroyed my master, my generals, my comrade. Here was the legend who once had been sung as the great maverick hunter and close friend of X. Here was the single greatest threat to Neo-Arcadia and all she stood for. I dropped in front of him, and he glared up at me with empty, flat, cobalt-blue eyes that spoke worlds of hatred, but nothing else. Zero.