Another Fortunate Accident

Ch. 4 – Dreams of a Salvage Operation


"Unnngh!" The grunt was exactly as Priss remembered it from her past. Looking up at the body lying over the top of her, she could see His face again.

"Why? Why didn't you save yourself instead? The shot would've probably hit me in the shoulder. You could've lived dammit!" The words finally flooded out as she rolled over, cradling Him in her arms. Darkness and silence surrounded them both as Priss watched his chest heave in its last few breaths once again, tears streaming down onto his bloody shirt. Priss closed her eyes to try and block out the painful memories.

"Priss, why do you hate the AD Police so much?" a much different, older masculine voice spoke to her now. It was distinctly familiar, although it didn't seem to belong with this memory for some reason.

"What?" She opened her eyes to the sight of Leon lying across her lap, bullet wound in the heart. "Leon! Why?"

"Can't you grant a dying man one last wish?"

Priss felt herself drawn into the fallen ADP officer as he pulled her down for one last (or was it first) kiss. Her head swirled in the altering confusion of her thoughts. The comforting feeling of shared closeness warmed over her entire body from the embrace. Pulling away nearly breathless, a feminine voice shocked her anew.

"Why pick me Priss…"

Linna! I kissed Linna!

"…why pick me to join the Knight Sabers…only to kill me!" Linna's face was full of accusations as Priss held her dying teammate, now in hardsuit, sans helmet. Blood ran out of several gaping holes in her armor, exactly where Priss' knucklebomb had impacted the gray and green suit. Priss held up her right hand in disbelief. The blue-gray fist was nearly unrecognizable under the red coating it was now covered in. Linna's body suddenly convulsed twice wildly as her eyes fluttered within deathly throes of agony.

"Linna! No! Don't give up on me! No, God please don't die… You can't die like Katsuro!"

Despite her pleas, Linna's body fell still, eyelids still open, staring up into the infinite darkness…

"LINNNNAAAA!"

"PRISS…PRISS… come on! Wake up dammit!"

Her eyes opened like a shot, Sylia's distraught face just inches away from her own. "Li… Li… Linna… Oh my God…" Priss heaved ragged breaths through her sweat-drenched softsuit.

"Priss, its okay… you were just dreaming."

Her vision gradually adjusted to the light of the pit. The fuzzy shapes just beyond Sylia's unmistakable face began to take form, much to Priss' bitter recollection. She could plainly see that the Knight Sabers' leader was wrong… it wasn't just a dream. Linna's bloodied hardsuit hung like an albatross from the maintenance hooks. Where exhaustion had brought weary rest before, panic took over in the extreme. She shoved Sylia off to the side and tore out of the pit, running for the change room as fast as her feet would move. "Priss…wait!" she heard Sylia's voice faintly cry out as the door to the pit slid shut behind her.


A few hours of sleepless rest later, Sylia approached the lounge again. Priss had disappeared after running out of the pit. All attempts to contact her weren't working… not that Sylia expected her to respond yet anyway. She knew that the longer Priss dwelled on the guilt though, the harder it would be to overcome. Her thoughts shifted once she reached the door to the lounge. Time to think happier thoughts for a few minutes anyway she encouraged herself as the door opened for her to enter.

Daylight was beginning to filter through the windows, but the two occupants to the room hadn't noticed. Sylia crossed the room to the still sleeping Mackie and Nene, a genuine smile forming on her face for the first time this morning. She first quietly roused Mackie who still had a hold on Nene's hand. Waking Nene first had crossed her mind, but causing trouble just for fun's sake wasn't on her list of priorities this morning. The temptation to see her reaction to Mackie was intriguing, but perhaps another time and place.

"Huh, What? Oh… Syliaaaaa" Mackie woke with a yawn. Nene said you'd be in to talk about Linna.

"Yes, but that was about three hours ago."

"Three hours!"

Mackie's voice stirred the blond haired girl as she rolled over to face the cushion, snuggled into the arm of the couch, and fell back asleep.

"Seems as if we'll have to try harder if we want to get her up. What do you suggest?" Sylia turned with a smile to face Mackie.

"How about a hot cup of cocoa? She likes that a lot."

"Excellent suggestion. Go find Henderson and have him prepare some. He should be in the kitchen now preparing breakfast."

"Alright, be right back." Mackie left the lounge, leaving Sylia to watch over the still sleeping girl. A few minutes later Mackie returned with Henderson in tow. "Cocoa's ready."

"Good. Now let's see if we can get our fine ADP representative up today." Sylia looked over at Mackie and nodded.

"Who me?" She nodded again reassuringly. Mackie stood still for a minute, contemplating what to try. Finally deciding on a course of action, he picked up a cup of cocoa from the tray and walked carefully over to the head of the couch. Leaning down close to Nene, he lowered the cocoa close enough to her face to cause her to begin to stir.

Nene's breathing quickened in response to the aroma enveloping her senses. "Hmmm… cocoa…" she whispered dreamily.

"Nene… Nene… its morning," Mackie spoke softly into her ear.

The teenager suddenly drew up her arms to stretch, catching the cup of cocoa with an arm, spilling the hot contents directly onto Mackie's clothes.

"Ah. Ah..ah.. Owwwww!" he shouted, jumping wildly away from the couch as he held his shirt away from the skin, trying to keep from getting burned.

Sylia covered her face with one hand and just shook her head. "Even the best laid plans…" she commented dejectedly.

"What the… Mackie! Sylia!" Nene shouted as she sat up on the couch, obviously wide-awake now.

"Sorry Nene," Sylia apologized, "we were just trying to give you a good send off this morning after all the help you gave us last night."

"Mackie, what happened?"

"Oh, nothing Nene… I mean Miss Nene! Excuse me, but I've got to go change," he spat out nervously while running out the door.

"What a strange boy," Nene commented, staring at the now closed door.

"Would you like some hot cocoa Miss Nene?" Henderson asked.

"Yes, thank you," she replied stretching out the kinks from sleeping on the couch.

"Well now that you're up, care to update me on Linna?" Sylia asked.

Nene took the cup of cocoa from Henderson and gently held it between her hands. Pulling her thoughts together, she mentally reviewed the data she had retrieved from the hospital's computer system. "The last update I was able to get said she was out of surgery and being placed in a recovery room."

"Any news on the extent of her injuries?"

"Not much more than we knew before. The doctors think she had a pretty serious concussion, although they were able to confirm no spinal injuries. We were pretty dumb for moving her around like that."

"We didn't have much of a choice. Do you really think the ADP would have checked her injuries out carefully knowing she was a Knight Saber, or do you think they would have shot first and asked questions later?"

Nene looked down into her cocoa and sulked. She knew the risks involved, but the reality of the situation wasn't making things any easier. The fact that she worked along side of many of the very people who carried that 'shoot first' mentality made it even worse. "I suppose not."

"How about the injuries to her abdomen?"

"Still no new news there. They logged two hours of surgery time, but the computer files weren't specific on what they found or had to do. Also, after the surgery, her status was listed as stable."

"That's good news indeed."

Nene sipped from the cup in her hands as she looked down in thought once more. "I'm going to try and visit her after I get out of work this evening," she said, lifting up her head to look into Sylia's eyes almost as if asking for approval.

"I'm sure that would help to lift her spirits up some if she's awake by then."

"That's what I was thinking. So, when are you going to visit her?" Nene asked innocently.

The question surprised Sylia a bit as she thought about her response. "I'm not planning on visiting her myself," she spoke, breaking eye contact and looking down into her own cup of cocoa. "I don't think that would be a very wise decision."

"Why? You just said that…"

"I know what I said. But, as leader of the Knight Sabers, it's not good for me to be seen around all of you outside of the shop."
"But Sylia, Linna doesn't have any other friends in Tokyo!"

"I know… and I'll see that she gets other visitors."

"You mean Priss, don't you."

Sylia recalled the nightmarish turn of events in the pit a few hours previous. "Yes. But, I think Priss may need the support more than Linna at this point."

"Why? I know she was taking it awfully hard, but it's not that bad, is it?"

"I'm afraid it is." Sylia explained about Priss running out a few hours previous, intentionally leaving out the exact reasons for her actions.

"But why run away like that?" Nene interrogated intently.

"I'm not sure," Sylia said untruthfully. Sylia was pretty sure she knew why Priss had run off, although she was sure there was more to the story than she was aware of. Also, she had her reasons for keeping secrets from Nene… the least of which was her tendency to meddle in affairs she had no business being involved with.

Nene looked up at the clock and nearly threw her cocoa on Sylia in shock. "OhmyGod! I've only got thirty minutes to be into work! I'll never make it home in time to change!"

"Relax… I had Henderson prepare your spare work uniform already. It's hanging in the guest room on this floor."

Nene was already off the couch and running for the door. "Thanks!"

"You might want to know that I raised your skirt up a few inches though."

Nene stopped dead in her tracks and turned with a crimson face towards the innocent looking owner of the Silky Doll. "What did you do!"

Sylia broke into a giggle, covering her mouth with one hand. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Your skirt is fine. You should know by now that I wouldn't make any alterations without asking you first."

Nene gave out a sigh and continued on to the door. "It's too early in the morning for that Sylia."

"Nene…" Sylia called out just as the door opened to let the teenager out to the hallway. "…thanks for helping last night."

"No problem!" the blond haired girl called out. "I'll keep you up to date if I find anything else out at work today," she added before the door closed to leave Sylia alone with her thoughts.

Those thoughts turned over in her mind as she planned her course of action for the day. The things she needed to do were plenty, but the highest priority remained the same… to try and salvage what was left of the Knight Sabers before current events took off into the dark realms of underground Tokyo.


Nene walked into the visitors lobby of the Kanto Memorial Hospital holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand. Signing in at the reception desk, she checked on the room number to make sure Linna hadn't moved in the last thirty minutes. Nene had spent most of her day at work inside the hospital computer system and keeping Sylia updated. She had even managed to get out early so she could have time to visit Linna, as visiting hours only lasted until 5:30 for non-relatives. Looking at her watch, Nene noted she only had thirty minutes left as it was.

Scurrying to an elevator, she hurriedly searched through the recovery wing, managing to find Linna's room in only five minutes. Good thing they keep the online virtual map updated she thought to herself. Nene knocked on the door and listened. Getting no response she knocked again, leaning her ear against the door. Nene sighed with resignation and looked down at the flowers. "I might as well put you in her room at least, even if she isn't awake yet," she told the unresponsive vegetation.

Cracking the door open, she peeked her head through the opening and looked around. The dimmed lighting revealed a still form lying in the bed nearest the door. Even though her brown hair more closely resembled the head of a mop, Nene instantly recognized Linna. A dividing curtain was open showing an empty bed on the far side of the room next to the window.

Nene approached Linna, careful not to disturb her rest. Her face was ghostly white with accentuating dark circles under her eyes. The sheet of the bed was drawn up just below her neck, tucked in under both arms. An IV was slowly dripping into one of her arms, the other situated with monitoring equipment quietly displaying vitals next to the bed. Her chest was barely moving, giving the impression of lifelessness throughout the room.

Nene brushed a stray lock of hair from Linna's face and gently stroked her pale cheek with her free hand. "I hope your going to be OK," she said softly, a stray tear rolling down her face.

"priss…" The voice was so weak Nene thought it was just her imagination at first. "priss… is that you?"

"Linna? Linna! Your awake!" Nene yelled, throwing her arms around the rousing woman. Nene heard a soft crunch off the side of the bed as she leaned over to hug Linna. "Ooops! Eh.."

"nene?"

"Yes?"

"i… can't… breathe…"

"OhmyGod!… Sorry Linna!" she frantically apologized pulling away immediately.

"thank you" Linna whispered weakly.

Nene leaned down and picked up the now crumpled flowers from under her feet. "Um…here. These were supposed to be for you," she apologized again, handing them to Linna.

Linna held the flowers in her hand as her arm rested across her chest, too weak to lift them to her face at the moment.

"Sorry. Let's see if I can find a vase to put these in," Nene suggested. After pulling a vase from under the sink and placing the flowers into them, she heard Linna whisper again.

"nene, where am I? a hospital?"

"Yeah. You're at Kanto Memorial… you don't remember coming here?"

"no. what happened? my stomach feels like a construction boomer jumped up and down on me."

"Do you remember fighting the boomer?"

"which one?"

"I think it was the office boomer from your work."

"how did you know that?"

"You told us that just before it attacked you."

"it attacked me, my accounting boomer… attacked me?"

"How's you head?"

"you mean the splitting migraine?"

"The initial reports said you likely had a concussion. That explains why you can't remember what happened."

"but… Priss was there with me."

"Um, yeah. What do you remember about Priss being there?"

"only her voice. she was… she kept saying she was sorry… and… i remember her telling me not to give up."

"That was in the mobile pit." Nene added, trying to help Linna put the pieces of her memory back together.

"nene, what happened? why was Priss apologizing?"

"I… I don't really know. It all happened so fast… I'm not sure."

The hospital announcing system woke up with an automatic notification. "Normal visiting hours are now over for non-relatives of our guests at Kanto Memorial Hospital. If you do not have a pass identifying yourself as a relative, please proceed to the reception area to sign out at this time. We thank you for your cooperation in keeping Kanto Memorial the most open and accessible hospital in all of MegaTokyo."

"Jeez, if they're so 'accessible', then why am I getting kicked out after ten minutes!" Nene angrily yelled at the overhead speaker in the room. "It's not even 5:30 yet? What's…"

"Nene!" Linna finally interrupted, some strength finally returning to her voice.

"Yes Linna?"

"Bring Priss next time… please?"

"Linna…" Nene started, not sure just how to tell her about Priss' actions of late. "… I don't know if I can."

"Why?"

"I… well… we don't know where she is. Priss ran off this morning in a hurry… we haven't heard from her since."

"That doesn't sound too unusual for her?"

"Yeah, but Sylia seemed to think it was different this time… I wish I knew why."

Linna's foggy memory produced more voices from Priss… begging with her not to give up, soothing her almost motherly, saying she was sorry for… for… something. That part of her mind was still locked away in the cloudy portions of whatever had happened during the boomer incident. "Find her Nene… for me… Please!"

The pleading look in Linna's face was heartbreaking for the teenager. "I… I'll try my best. Promise!" she emphasized, squeezing Linna's hand reassuringly. "Get some rest and I'll be back as soon as I can tomorrow."

"Nene… thanks," Linna smiled weakly, a lone tear rolling down her face.

"Bye Linna!" Nene cried out as she closed the door to the room. Walking briskly down the hallway, tears also flowed from the blond girl's eyes as well. "Too short… Just too short." Resolving to find a way to get off work earlier the next day, she headed back towards the Lady 633 building. Maybe I could forge one of those IDs for me tomorrow. That probably wouldn't be to tough to do, and I could stay for as long as I want that way. With the matter addressed, her thoughts turned back to Linna's request. She had to try and find Priss… and for that, she would definitely need Sylia's help.

Nene was lost in thought when a loud screaming voice broke her concentration in the hospital lobby. A loud crash was followed by the distinct sound of breaking plastic as Nene flew through the air in the opposite direction of thundering footsteps and a silver blur.


Watching Nigel and Mackie work on the hardsuits wasn't Sylia's idea of a good way to spend dinner. Mackie had flatly refused to eat as long as Nigel was working on the suits though, and she didn't feel like eating alone right now.

Nigel hadn't said much after hearing about Linna. He had, however, given Sylia a very reassuring hug. It was while recalling waiting for news from the hospital computer system via Nene that she completely broke down emotionally. Those events brought back even more distant, more painful memories for Sylia to deal with… more than she could handle. Nigel shared those memories with her. It was a part of their very complex relationship, the shared pain of past failures. That pain helped to keep them together.

Mackie stared at the bloody hardsuit as Nigel worked diligently on it. "Linna's lucky the armor is tougher than it looks." The sound of a turning wrench answered his comment. "Even though most of the midsection is caved in, there's only a couple of small holes through the suit."

"1/4" flat spanner Mackie."

"Right! Here you go Nigel." The experienced technician took the tool from the boy and continued to disassemble the remains of the green hardsuit while Mackie continued his analysis. "I never thought one office boomer could do that to one of the hardsuits. Sylia tensed up at the direction of Mackie's comments.

She hadn't told anyone about the true nature of the 'accident' yet. Recalling how Priss had run out early in the morning troubled her deeply. Add to that the fact she hadn't heard anything from the singer all day, and Sylia's concerns were getting more serious by the minute. Besides, to explain what had happened would mean facing the reality that Priss may never put on a hardsuit for her again. She wasn't ready to deal with that possibility just yet. Not with the dark possibilities looming in the depths of the quake destruction…

"Funny thing,…" Mackie continued on oblivious to Sylia's inner turmoil. "…that impression on Linna's suit resembles one of Priss knucklebomb attacks."

"Mackie! That's enough!"

"Sylia?" he questioned, unsure if he really heard what his ears were telling him.

"Mackie," Nigel intervened, "go grab some dinner. It's getting late."

"But the hardsuits…"

"… will be here later," Nigel finished for him.

Mackie looked over at Nigel and then at Sylia, shoulders sagging in resignation. "Alright, I'll go now," he replied standing up and walking out of the pit slowly.

Nigel stood up and walked over to put a hand over the discolored fist of the blue hardsuit. "You're wondering if she'll come back, aren't you?"

"Why would you think that?"

"No reason." Nigel walked back over to the green suit and continued to work on the repairs.

"If she doesn't deal with this soon, she won't come back," Sylia answered belatedly, finally caving in to the subtle pressure.

Nigel continued to work away giving the appearance of ignorance. Sylia knew better. "I guess I should have expected Priss to react the way she did. I wondered why she chose Linna to be a Knight Saber. She's always been more of a loner, so it seemed odd she would ask for another teammate."

"Could you hand me the ratchet please?"

Sylia complied with the request as she continued to work through her thoughts. "The way Linna always tried to emulate Priss, and when Priss didn't seem to mind so much… like she wanted the challenge… it was if they became more than just teammates…"

Just then the door of the pit burst open to an out of breath ADP officer. "Sylia… (pant)… Linna's… (pant)… awake… (pant)… wants… (pant)… Priss… (pant)… find… (pant)… her…. (pant)."

"Nene, relax!" You're not making any sense."

Catching her breath finally, Nene explained to Sylia just what had happened at the hospital.

"Why didn't you just call?"

"I was getting ready to when I got ran over by some pregnant woman in a freakin' wheelchair."

"A what?" Sylia stared at her in disbelief.

"Some guy was pushing the wheelchair screaming 'her water just broke!'. I must have been thinking about Linna because I didn't hear him until after he ran me over. When I got up, I found my communicator busted into a million pieces on the floor of the lobby!"

"You're not hurt?"

"No, just my pride mostly," Nene replied, rubbing a sore spot on her rear.

"Why didn't you just find another phone?"

"I don't know… I was just so mad at the guy that I forgot all about looking for some other way to call you until I got here."

Sylia seemed to take all the news in stride. "Well, at least you're here now. It's good that Linna's awake now. She really doesn't remember the attack though?"

"Not yet. The boomer must have really done a number on her head based on how bad her concussion is."

"Did you find anything else out about her internal injuries?"

"I didn't have time to ask anyone. They were kicking me out as soon as I got in the room practically. I should've faked some passes so I didn't have to leave so early." Nene's thoughts turned to Linna's request. "Are you going to try and find Priss?"

Sylia quickly realized that this was the chance she needed to try and pull the Knight Sabers back together again. The key to keeping Priss with the team lay in Kanto Memorial in room 221. She just had to get Priss there somehow. One issue that might ordinarily be a problem though was already addressed. Looking over at Nigel, then to Nene, she began to walk towards the exit to the pit… dinner would have to wait a little while longer. "I'll do better than that… I'll ask her to go see Linna right now."

"Great!" Nene said, before realizing just what Sylia meant. "Wait, you know where she is?" Sylia looked back and smiled a response to her. "Hold on… why did you tell me you didn't know where she ran off to this morning. You don't really know where she is, do you?"

Sylia had stopped for a minute at Nene's questioning. "I can find her anytime I need to… in an emergency." Sylia glanced over at Nigel, still working diligently on the hardsuit, and then back to Nene. "You don't need to concern yourself on how. By the way, could you make one of those fake ID's for Priss?"

"Um… sure. But… wait a minute." Nene looked over at Nigel, then at Sylia, wheels turning furiously in her mind. "If you don't know where Priss is… you put a tracker in her bike!"

Too smart for her own good sometimes Sylia thought to herself as she headed back out of the pit.

"When Priss finds out, she'll go nuts Sylia!"

"I guess I'll have to just take my chances on that, now won't I? Besides, would you rather I wait until she decides to come back? We might lose both Priss and Linna from the Knight Sabers if I don't do this right now."

Nene answered with silent resignation. As the door closed behind Sylia, a question popped into her mind… What does Priss leaving have to do with Linna not coming back anyway, and why does Linna want to see Priss so much? What happened in that office building? Nene looked over at the hardsuits as an idea formed in her brain. If I can't get an answer out of the people in the hardsuits… why not ask the hardsuits themselves…

To be continued….