Another Fortunate Accident
Ch. 15 – Grace to Grace
The red bike roared through the sunrise, heading out of the city and towards the unknown. I can't believe I'm doing this… Priss thought to herself. She recalled the confused state she had awoken to earlier in the morning… much earlier in the morning actually.
The clock read out 2:42 a.m. when Priss had been roused by some rather intense dreams… or at least that's what she decided since she couldn't remember everything that they involved… except that Linna was a part of it. She had stared out into the dark wall off the side of the bed as she tried to remember for a few minutes. Unsuccessful at retrieving those memories, she settled on ones she would never forget. Her restless mind had reread the words again and again from the pictures in her head… mental images of the computer screen from the library. Why Linna? Why did you write those words… you can't really feel that way… not after all I've done to you… Residual doubts growing from her extended depression threatened to derail the message that had been so clear to her when Priss had first read the words. The tide of emotions had swirled high and low through her head, the lows of guilt, regret, failure, loss… contrasted with the highs of friendship, hope, dreams, and forgiveness. Her mood had shifted almost predictably like night and day alternating from those highs to the lows and back again… arguing with herself over her possible courses of action.
Should I answer her?… Does she love me?… Should I call her?…
Haven't I hurt her enough…
Finally deciding for a change of scenery to help escape her conflicting thoughts, Priss had taken off on her bike and into the false-lit streets of MegaTokyo. However, she quickly discovered the conflict followed her there as well. Every twist and turn of the road led to a shift in her emotions. As recourse, Priss tried to form the words in her head to respond to Linna's soul-bearing letter to her. As before when she tried to plan out how to first tell Linna in the hospital just how she felt then, she couldn't find the right words now to express just how her heart felt either. Frustrating wouldn't begin to describe the sensation eating away inside of the normally expressive singer. Not that she would verbalize the ideas that materialized in her head, but she could almost always write them down on a notebook or music sheet, letters flowing straight from her heart to the pencil in her hand. With that realization, an avenue opened up before her… and a song began to mold itself from long dormant parts of her soul. However, she knew when she finished the song that there would only be one way to convey it… not via letter… not via phone… but only one way…
… and Priss found herself back on the highway again, back in the present, headed off to see Linna in person. Not that she knew exactly where she was going. She had gotten some directions with a little help from one of Jaid's hacker friends using Linna's E-mail address. She figured Nene could have done a better job, but asking the current Knight Saber for any assistance was simply not an option. I'd give up singing and riding my bike before I'd ask either her or Sylia for help she had reasoned bitterly at the time… and she wasn't about to quit either any time soon.
So the street machine roared into the countryside, leather-clad rider beginning to look more out of place by the kilometer. Her speed wasn't the usual breakneck pace she used to clear her head… rather she was almost buying time as she put the pieces of the song together, carefully changing and rearranging sections on the blank paper in her mind. She knew that she was working on the easy part though. Once finished, she would have to decide how to deliver the message. Improvisation wasn't her strong suit on stage, but she was betting she could make it work in this case… as long as Linna was willing to listen to her…
Masaki walked with the young woman's arm tucked in under his own. They headed down a quiet sidewalk away from the simple food court and towards the quaint center of the village. He was a bit surprised that she was as forward with contact this time as reluctant as she had been to even speak to him the day before during their walk to the pond. He recalled all of her strange behavior in the week he had known her and tried to put the pieces of the puzzle that was Linna Yamazaki together. After a short time, he realized he didn't have all the pieces to work with yet. They still hadn't spoken much, Linna still lost in thought most of the time from what he could tell. In addition, he still wasn't sure how to broach some of the more sensitive topics himself, namely her recent medical problems. With no clear starting point, he decided to start off small. "So, did you have a favorite Chinese restaurant in Tokyo?" he asked referring to her choice of lunch just an hour prior.
"No. Actually I never ate any Chinese while I was there," Linna said as she discovered the truth herself.
"Really? Why Chinese now?"
"I guess… I was just looking for a change of pace from my Tokyo lifestyle." In a lot of different ways… she realized as she tugged a bit on Masaki's arm to draw him closer.
"I see," he said, noting the extra meaning from the increased pressure on his limb. "You seemed pretty determined to go back to Tokyo. Do you mind if I asked what happened to you when you went back?"
"I'd really rather not talk about it," Linna lowly responded, head bowing apologetically.
I know it had something to do with a boomer attack… it must have really shaken her up… "I can understand if it still hurts to think about it."
"Actually I just wanted to stop dwelling on the past and start looking towards the future," she announced, perking her head up and gazing up into his blue eyes. She saw the same compassion and understanding in them now as when she had asked for the money for the ticket back to Tokyo just a week ago.
"Isn't it hard to look at the future now… at least since it's been so radically changed for you?" he asked, seizing the opening he had been searching for.
"Actually it's much easier since I know how you feel about it."
"Wha… What do you mean?" Masaki responded, thrown off balance by the statement.
"I was awake when you first stopped by earlier this week. I heard what you said when my mother told you about the extent of my injuries. You really meant what you said, didn't you?"
More than I can even tell you now… "Of course. I just didn't think you heard that, or that your mother would have told you."
"I never told her I was awake, or that I heard you, and she never discussed it with me. Just remember the walls in my house are fairly thin…" Linna said with a sly grin across her face.
"I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm over."
The couple found themselves at the center of the small village, a familiar sparkling fountain in the middle surrounded by several empty benches facing towards it.
"Care to sit and talk for a while?" Masaki asked, nodding in the direction of the centerpiece.
Linna answered with a smile. "I'd love to."
The two locals crossed the surrounding roadway and sat down on a bench, losing themselves in conversation about whatever the future might hold for both of them… separate or otherwise...
The Red Saber stretched out on the reclining chair, face down, wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around her body. The towel only covered to just above her thighs… but that was the idea. Better access to those problem areas… Nene thought to herself. The door slid open to allow Mackey to enter the room. He approached the blond girl from the side, noting that her head was turned towards the opposite wall.
"Better hurry up before I fall asleep," the exhausted teenager announced from the folded down chair.
"Don't you have to be at work in an hour?" Mackey replied sarcastically.
"Exactly! Times wasting. Get to work slave!" she joked in return.
"Yes my mistress… as you command," he added, keeping in tune with the running gag. With a towel hung over one shoulder, Mackey uncapped the bottle of lotion and squirted some of the silky fluid onto his open palm. With gentle, learning hands he began to apply the lotion to Nene's right thigh, carefully working out the persistent knots that had been troubling her for the last few days.
"Mmm… feels good…" she whispered dreamily to his vastly improving touch. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's been taking lessons…
I wonder if she can tell I've been researching this lately… Mackey thought to himself, focusing squarely on the task at hand… innocent mind not considering any other pursuits. "I hope Sylia's feeling better now. She wouldn't let me help her when she got back this time."
"Dunno… she's been acting kind of strange the past couple of days. And those headaches…"
"I know. I just wish she would talk to me about it," he said with a hint of frustration pushing out of his voice. " I think Nigel knows something, but he's not talking either."
The topic reminded Nene of another concern she had. "I'm worried that if something happens to Sylia while we're underground, I won't have enough battery power left to go help her out."
"Nigel and I have been talking about your battery problem. I think we've come up with a solution, but Nigel wants to talk to Sylia about it before we proceed."
"Probably doesn't want to get on her bad side."
"Would you?"
"No way. I've seen what that's like…" the young girl recalled some not so pleasant memories.
The growing dull ache in Linna's abdomen began talking to her. She looked at her watch, confirming that her medication should be wearing off now. Add to that the fact that she was growing very tired from being out nearly all day, and the still recovering woman knew her time was up. "I'm sorry, but if you don't mind too much I need to be getting back home now. I didn't exactly plan on being out this long so I didn't bring any medicine with me," she added with a slight giggle.
"That's OK. I hope I haven't caused you any undo pain."
"No! No, not at all. I've really enjoyed this today." God did I ever need something like this now!
Masaki smiled in return. "I'm glad you did. There is one other thing I wanted to tell you though if you wouldn't mind waiting for just another minute or two."
Linna rubbed the bandage through her shirt as she answered, gauging how long she could wait. "No, I wouldn't mind. What is it?"
The blond haired man looked at the ground, contemplating exactly how to phrase what he wanted to convey. "I just wanted to tell you how glad I am that you came back, albeit not under the best of circumstances."
Linna smiled in return, blushing slightly at the personal turn the conversation was taking.
Masaki continued to look away, still thumbing through his jumbled thoughts. "Actually, when you left, I considered buying a ticket and following you to Tokyo."
Linna's smile turned cross as confusion replaced the happier thoughts of a moment ago. "Why on Earth would you do that? I thought you came back from Tokyo just so you could work for your father."
"Yes, I did. But I saw something in you last week… something very special." Masaki looked up into Linna's eyes, now open wide with surprise, to speak directly into her. "I didn't want to just let you go and give up on what I saw there. It took a lot of courage to do what you did… leaving home… heading out on your own… even asking for money for a ticket so you could attend to things you considered important."
Linna's face turned beet red as Masaki's words bore into her like a drill, piercing her heart and driving home the message of just how much he thought of her.
"I admired you for everything I saw then and even some things that I remembered from your past."
"M… My past?"
"You were a very popular track star here for a couple of years… you were hard not to notice back then."
"Well, not that many people noticed," she recalled some particularly unpleasant moments during school.
"But I did. And that just helped to solidify my beliefs about you when I met you in person."
Linna didn't know how to answer him any more. The shift in conversation was one she hadn't expected… and she wasn't quite ready to deal with everything at the moment. "I… I'm surprised you didn't mention this before," she finally stammered out with a stress filled laugh.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't think of the right way to say it before, and I'm not sure if I did right now either. But I do care about you deeply," he said placing one arm around Linna's shoulders and pulling her close, gazing directly into her eyes.
"Masaki…" Linna whispered out, becoming slightly unnerved by his encroaching proximity.
The man could see the hints of fear in her eyes, and backed away a couple of inches in response. "I'm sorry. I've just been thinking the past few days that all this is happening for a reason, that's all."
"What reason?" Linna asked, although she thought she already knew what he was going to say.
"Maybe… Maybe we were meant to come together like this. My meeting you before… remembering you from the past… helping you leave only to have you come back a couple of days later… you overhearing my conversation with your mother… helping you on the walk to the pond… and now…" As Masaki worked through the logic of his thoughts, he subconsciously edged closer to Linna, moment by moment.
Linna wasn't expecting such an involved answer to her question. However surprised, she was still drawn in to every syllable he spoke, allowing herself to be pulled into him as he showered those golden words onto her soul. The truth of the words and his calm demeanor disarmed any lingering doubts she had about agreeing to the date… and about the unasked advances he now approached with. She tilted her head, closed her eyes, lips parting slightly in reflexive anticipation of contact. When it came, she was instantly reminded of a single sensation… from a recent, vivid dream she had. The dream didn't involve Masaki though… it was of someone else.
Linna's thoughts turned briefly to that person even as the kiss lingered, his hand reaching behind to gently caress her neck. His touch reminded Linna of how she remembered another touch… in the hospital. An image of that person tried to project itself onto her mind, but she blocked off the attempt. Just the past trying to hold me back… she convinced herself as she continued to return the kiss. The hissing sound of the nearby fountain coupled with the increased beating of her heart formed a duet of harmony… a harmony that placed her under a dreamlike trance. That trance finally blocked out the disrupting images vainly trying to project themselves from deep within her torn soul.
Another sound drew out of the background… faint recognition disturbing the harmony, enough to break the trance… but not quite enough to cause her to pull out of the lingering kiss just yet. As the sound increased in intensity to match the level of the rushing water nearby, another image superimposed itself in Linna's fragmented mind… an image of a certain red bike, with a certain brown haired woman sitting atop it. The picture was a frame from her memory… from one of the first times she had seen the woman… one she could never forget. The starkness of that picture caused her to open her eyes… only to blink twice to make sure she had really opened them.
Linna's whole body snapped rigid from the sight in front of her, instantly breaking the kiss. She didn't hear the rushing fountain anymore, nor could she hear Masaki's panicked questions. Her beating heart was silent, stopped by the visions her eyes were transmitting. The only sound she heard was of the machine now parked just a few meters away… and even that fell silent as the rider turned off the ignition. As the leather-clad person removed the red helmet revealing her face, ice-cold daggers penetrated every square-inch of her body sending shivers of agony throughout Linna's stone-frozen soul.
The only word she could speak was one Masaki barely recognized.
"Priss?"
Any hope of forgiveness was destroyed the instant Linna saw into her eyes… the same eyes that had spoken so much to her since they had first met. Anger, compassion, intensity… all emotions the two windows into the singer's soul had shown her. This time however the two spheres reflected a different message… not one Linna had seen before… the twin mirrors merged that message into one single devastating word… one the former track star knew she could never run fast enough to escape from…
Betrayal
Priss was certain she was getting close. If the small map displayed on her HUD didn't show it, her pounding heart definitely was giving it away. Somehow it knew… knew she was almost to Linna's home. The biker compared the map with the alien scenery around her and tried to make sense of it. Up ahead she could see the beginnings of a village appearing from the wilderness currently around her. Look's like I'll have to go right through the middle to get to Linna's house she noted idly.
As Priss entered the quaint village, she gazed appreciatively at the serene surroundings. Nice, quiet place… She briefly entertained a passing thought about what it might be like to live in such a place… before realizing what one of her shows would look like to the locals. They'd run me out of town and throw some silly cleansing ritual in for good measure I bet she joked to herself. Up ahead she could make out a beautiful fountain, spraying crystal clean water high into the clear blue sky. She wondered why Linna hadn't mentioned it in her E-mails as she slowed the bike down while approaching the circling road around the centerpiece. Priss caught a faint glimpse of a few couples sitting on benches around the fountain. One couple in particular seemed very close, as they drew her attention away from the road for just an instant… an instant that changed everything.
Her hand recognized the problem before she did, idling the bike reflexively at what her eyes saw in the intimate pair. The brown hair… the very familiar brown hair intermixed with the blond hair of her partner… Priss circled behind the bench to see into the face of the person who she didn't want to believe was sitting there.
No… No, it can't be…
Coasting around the other side of the bench, she pulled the bike into a parking space facing the woman that Priss didn't want to recognize.
She can't be here… not like this…
Priss watched in detached fascination laced with dread as the two lovers continued their embrace… until one of them noticed her presence. The agonizingly familiar eyes of Linna Yamazaki shot wide-open, her partially hidden red face full of a single expression… Discovery.
Priss' heart shattered in that moment, millions of fragments splintering into nothingness. In it's place, the hardened shell that the reclusive singer had so carefully molded and shaped wrapped around her like a second skin, trying to shield Priss from the cold truth sitting on the bench in front of her. The biker pulled her helmet off, still fighting to regain control over her emotions as she did. Priss looked down into her helmet, the dirt smeared into the top of the red dome only adding to her own worn and weathered reflection. What the Hell was I thinking coming out here anyway? I should know better by now! the jaded soul chided the other woman visible in the helmet. After a moment of struggle, she hammered the steel cold calm through her whole body, managing to hide the bitterness from eyes looking back at her from the red object in her hands. Priss lifted her eyes back into Linna's with that same cold calmness.
Linna recognized the transformation in the other woman and knew she was in serious trouble. Her mind tried unsuccessfully to formulate any kind of response. The only suggestion it offered was to try and bury herself into the ground on the spot. If she really believed she could have obliged, Linna would have started digging with her bare hands… anything to avoid the piercing glare ripping her apart internally.
Priss saw the fear and smiled internally. Message received then. She started the engine and lifted the helmet back over her head only to put it back down at the call of her name.
"Priss! Wait!" Linna yelled out after her, jumping off the bench and past her blond haired companion. However, the combined effects of the medication wearing off and the adrenaline rushing through her body dealt a dual hammer blow to her midsection. She was able to take all of two steps before almost collapsing over in a heap, holding her aggravated injury with both arms and groaning in physical and emotional agony. That didn't stop her though. Linna still managed to hobble over to stand behind Priss' bike before she could leave. "Please… we need to talk," she begged through the pain.
Priss turned her head around to stare at the casually dressed woman now blocking her path. Her eyes bored a hole through Linna's impeding body. "I think your actions have said enough, don't you?" she spoke with just a hint of dark sarcasm to her voice, barely able to hide the greater part of the pain below the surface of her words.
Linna still noticed. "Priss… I… Why didn't you call me or E-mail me back?" she threw out bitterly, trying in vain explain the unexplainable.
"Sorry. I didn't realize you were so pressed for time," Priss responded with a icy glance over in Masaki's direction.
Linna knew she was running out of options. Without thinking, she reached out to touch Priss' left arm… a critical mistake on her part. "Priss… please… I'm sor…"
"No, I don't think you are… so don't even try and say it," the singer threw back at her as she jerked away from the touch. Priss could tell that her words visibly shook the other woman, still holding her abdomen with one arm. Priss began to doubt the truth of her own words but didn't relent, instead concentrating on the darkness protectively covering her broken soul.
"Why… why did you come here?" Linna choked out, desperately trying to hold on to the person slipping away from her.
The first notes of the song that Priss had so meticulously crafted in her mind began to play for a second.
NO!
She shattered them with a mammoth effort and hid the broken pieces within the shell. "Just wanted to go for a little country drive," she lied instead.
Linna saw the conflict within Priss' eyes even as she struggled to hide it. Instinctively, she reached out to try and help out that part of Priss that she saw. She gently laid a hand on Priss' shoulder as she spoke through watering eyes. "That's not like you. Look, I meant everything I said in those E-mails… I just… I didn't know what to think… I didn't know why you left the hospital… and then… you never e-mailed me back…"
"So you jumped at the first person you met back here? Is that all it takes with you Linna?"
"No! Priss… It's not like…"
Priss' fury grew with every word Linna spoke. Lies! all lies! With a blur, she shifted her body sideways and reached back with her left hand to grab the front of Linna's shirt, pulling the other woman off her feet and embedding her stomach in the back of her bike.
Linna nearly screamed at the pain of having her midsection impaled on the hard metal tail section of the machine.
Masaki rose off the bench to protest before an icy stare from the woman atop the bike stopped him dead in his tracks. Something about that stare caused him to fear for his own life more than the woman she had a hold of.
Priss glared back into Linna's agonized face. A dual sense of shock quickly washed through Priss' body. It wasn't intentional, but Priss didn't exactly feel guilty at the effects. On one hand, the lingering effects of the damage she herself had caused still haunted the remains of her heart… on the other, the anguish written across the casually dressed woman's face brought a twisted sense of pleasure to Priss' darkened soul.
"ppprisss… pleassse… your… hhh..hurting me…" Linna squeaked out as Priss continued to pull on her shirt unmercifully.
"Not as Goddamn much as you hurt me just now!" she growled back.
The prone woman strung across the bike shut her eyes tight to block out the truth gripping her.
Priss relaxed her hold but didn't release the shirt as she worked through her jumbled thoughts running rampant through her mind. "I don't open up easily… but I thought I could trust you… trust your words… those Goddamn words you wrote me," she added as the darker part of her soul stoked the coals of bitterness burning brightly in her eyes. "You said you were looking for something… someone you could believe in… you said that you thought I was that person. You made me believe you wanted to be with me… that you'd do anything to come back to Tokyo… to see me again. I thought back to when I first met you… the determination in your eyes… it made me believe what you said. I wanted to believe you could forgive me for what I had done… that you really needed to be with me…"
Linna tried to interject. "Bu… But I do…"
"Like Hell you do!" the leather-clad woman roared out, throwing Linna by her shirt to the hard asphalt beside the bike, partially tearing the thin fabric in the process.
Even after she landed hard on her side, scraping one bare knee not covered by the tan shorts she wore, Linna still wouldn't quit. She picked herself up off the pavement and limped back towards Priss. "I do need you Priss…"
Priss stared hard into Linna as she stopped her with words. "You still don't get it, do you? I don't trust you anymore Linna… I can't trust you. Just like Sylia… You're just trying to use me… using me so you can find an excuse to leave this place."
"That's not true!"
"Isn't it though? Look at yourself…. you BELONG here Linna… not in Tokyo…" The dark part of her soul did something next Priss never thought she would do. The virtual knife plunged deep into Linna's heart stood out like a beacon, calling to Priss. With one verbal spar, she twisted that knife in a way she knew would tear that heart out of the woman standing before her. "…besides, you never did quite fit in with us anyway, country girl."
"You… you don't mean that!"
"Are you sure about that?" Priss remarked with an unreadable smirk, throwing Linna's mind into fits of doubt.
"I… I know you don't feel that way," she tried to convince herself.
"You don't know that for sure though, do you? Really, you don't know me at all."
"But I want to…"
"Just Shut Up already! Linna, you don't know what the hell you want. Until you figure it out, just leave me alone. In fact, just leave me alone… period! Don't try and call me, e-mail me, or see me again… Ever!"
Those words finally did something that no physical blow could have… they brought Linna Yamazaki to her knees… literally, wobbly legs failed her causing her to fall to the ground in a heap. no… she doesn't… not… ever… The weight of those words crushed the life from her body, leaving her unable to respond to the woman perched atop the bike.
Priss looked down onto the slumped over form on the ground, a hint of regret flashing through her thoughts for a second. An urge to jump off the bike and gather up the woman rose from deep within Priss' broken heart… only to be choked off by the darkness settling in over the remains of her courage. Linna's other 'lover' ran over to the fallen woman, ending any other gallant ideas lingering in her mind.
As Masaki finally acted, he was still unsure of most of what he had just witnessed. Now that he had seen this Priss person with his own eyes, he had more than a few questions he wanted to ask Linna. However, from looking at her current pained state, he was more than willing to wait. Masaki looked around at the crowd standing off in the distance, watching the proceedings. He could only imagine what their take on the situation would be. And with a small town, there would be no way to hide from all the rumors that he knew would fly after this.
Priss thrust the helmet onto her head, fired up the engine and, without bothering to back out of the slanted parking space, recklessly shot over the top of the curb, turning onto the grass for an instant before shooting back onto the pavement and out into the open road, leaving the former Green Knight Saber broken in her wake… just staring at the ground in shock, inconsolable even by her male companion.
The skidding tires tore out part of the well-manicured lawn surrounding the fountain. With time, grass would grow once again even in the deep rut left in the ground. However, even if the surface appeared healed from a distance, the permanent scarring would still be visible the closer anyone dared to look.
After a few kilometers of anger and bitterness, the shield protecting her battered soul weakened enough to let the reality of what had just happened sink in. With that reality, the tears finally came to Priss. Even with the road before her blurred through watery eyes, she didn't dare slow down. All she wanted to do was to get away from Linna as fast as she could.
With the tears came another problem for the singer… the song she had meticulously assembled on the course she was now reversing. That song began to play itself to her, seemingly mocking her shattered heart for being so foolhardy as to open up to someone again. She shook her head in reaction to the unwanted accompaniment. Stop it… Just stop it! she pleaded with the haunting lyrics, but found it no use. The song wouldn't stop repeating itself in her mind. Finally Priss thought of a solution. Turning on the infrequently used stereo system in her bike, she blasted whatever disk happened to be inserted through the speakers in her helmet. Her ears were rewarded with a near mind-numbing blast of an electric guitar followed by some badly off key screaming masking itself as singing. The quality didn't matter, just the fact that she had a welcome distraction was enough. When she began listening to the lyrics, she had to smile at the random choice selected by the electrical component. Sometimes it made her wonder if the damn thing wasn't really alive after all…
So I'm headin' out to the highway
I've got nothin' to lose at all
Gonna do it my way
Take a chance before I fall
…a chance before I fall
Even when the cover from some foreign band ended, the translated words played on in her mind as the meaning lingered as well… "Take a chance before I fall…" No reason to hold back now… she resolved to herself, gunning the accelerator as hard as she could towards the distant Megalopolis ahead. She knew she was already falling… the problem was Priss had no idea just how far she would fall before this night would end…
The first thing Linna became aware of was her mother's panicked voice screaming at her. She looked up and realized she was standing alone on the grounds of her home, Masaki's jacket covering her around the torn shirt she had on. She hadn't passed out… not physically anyway. Mentally, she was in a different world… a world of cold emptiness.
"Linna! Linna, what happened?" Misa frantically yelled out to her daughter as she ran to her from the front stairs of their home. "Oh My God! Did… Did that… that… man to this do you?" she stammered out, assuming the most likely horrid scenario from her torn shirt and dirty appearance.
"no. no not Masaki…" Linna answered weakly, barely recalling the brief conversation they had had after the incident just a short time ago. She remembered through the mental fog telling him at least twice that she would be OK and that he didn't need to see her to the door after parking just outside the entrance to her home.
Now she wished Masaki were here so she wouldn't have to explain any of what happened to her mother… especially recalling just what her mother had asked her the previous night. "Is that really what you want?" a warning about going on the date with Masaki when her heart seemed to pull her another direction… those words like some accursed prophecy that had come to life just to ruin her own.
"What happened then?" her mother pleaded with her for an explanation. She threw an arm around Linna's shoulders for support, fearful that a strong breeze could blow the weary girl over right now.
Linna's glassy eyes stared straight ahead as she spoke. "she came… she came to see me…"
"She? She who?" When Linna didn't answer the wheels began to turn in Misa's head for a second… before stopping on one name in particular… a name that would explain Linna's condition. "Priss? Did Priss do this to you?"
"…she's gone now… not coming back…" Linna answered distantly, hearing her mother but not truly 'hearing' her. She methodically pulled away from Misa's arm and plodded zombie-like up the stairs, into the house, and into her room where she closed the door behind her. Linna didn't come out the rest of the night… leaving her distraught mother wondering exactly what had happened and if she could do anything at all to help.
The two-wheeled behemoth roared into the outskirts of the city limits with its driver oblivious to the world. She hadn't noticed the several separate police vehicles that had vainly attempted to chase her, nor did she notice the beginnings of a roadblock ahead of her. The leather-clad rider was simply lost in the music playing in her helmet, concentrating on nothing but whatever song was on at the time. A flash of blue lights just to the side of the road finally brought her senses back to reality. Priss realized with a smile just what they had been trying to do. Guess they want to play… Well, I'm game! she planned out despite her aching body and nearly empty gas tank. Priss looked ahead and took note of the darkening evening skies being hidden by very ominous clouds ahead. Looks like there's going to be a storm on the highway tonight…
Leon wasn't paying much attention to the surrounding city moving around him. From within his patrol car, he was in his own world, ignoring even the idle attempts at conversation from his partner… until Daily began talking to the totem pole about a certain chase underway somewhere else in the city.
"So how long have they been chasing this biker now?"
"At least an hour from the way the traffic guys are bragging about it," the distracted dispatcher relayed to Leon's partner.
"Do they know who it is?" Daily asked.
"I don't think so. All they keep talking about is just how fast that red monster is going. They don't have anything on the ground that can keep up with it, and the choppers aren't maneuverable enough under the tunnels to watch it all the time."
"Red monster?" Leon asked, curiosity peaking.
Daily began to follow his lead. "Thanks Joel," he replied shortly, cutting off the channel and switching to another frequency. "Go ahead. I know you want to ask," he punctuated by looking over at his partner who was now pulling their own patrol car over to the side of the road.
Leon queued the radio. "Nene, this is Leon. You there?"
"Yes Leon-poo. What is it this…"
"Cut the crap for a second and listen," he interrupted harshly. "There's a chase the traffic guys are all over right now. I want to know who their chasing and where they are."
"What do you think I am? Your personal…"
"NENE! The word is they're tracking a large red bike that's outrunning everything they've got short of helicopters…" Leon clarified.
The dispatcher on the other end acknowledged his request with one word. "Priss…"
"Just make sure. That's all I'm asking."
"Hold on a sec," she replied as the channel went silent. After a few tense moments, Nene's screaming voice exploded through the radio's speaker. "They just ID'd the plates on the bike! It's Priss! And she's headed towards the North side on the Bayside expressway!"
The patrol car spun around before Daily even realized Leon had taken it out of neutral. "Hang on, it's gonna get bumpy now. Nene, give me the fastest route to intercept."
"Need I remind you that you're not in the regular police any more detective McNichol," Daily spoke with a hint of sarcasm to his voice.
"You can jump out anytime you want Wong. I'm not just going to sit here and listen to Priss destroy her life."
"I don't recall her asking for your help."
Sometimes you don't realize you need help until it's too late… Leon kept that thought born from personal experience to himself as Nene's programmed directions began to feed into the road chasers navigational display.
Priss wasn't sure how long she had exactly been leading them around, nor did she know how long she would last. All she cared about was raising as much hell as she could before it all ended. Let's see if the bastards can make this turn . The red machine pitched wildly to one side, tires screeching in response to the shifting weight above as Priss maneuvered the bike around a tight exit ramp. She did a complete loop in order to head back the opposite direction for a couple of traffic filled blocks. Too crowded she decided and turned right sharply to head back towards yet another entranceway to yet another on-ramp. After a couple of weaves and bobs coupled with close calls, she found herself back on the open road again with no police cars in sight. Amateurs
As she sped down the highway, another car entered the road momentarily ahead of her from another on-ramp before she flew past it. The highway she was on was devoid of any traffic making the former biker-gang member suspicious. Looks like they're waiting for me… Sure enough, just around the next turn was a roadblock set up for her arrival… well almost set up. One side of the road had yet to be totally blocked off. At the speed she was traveling, Priss had a split second to make a decision. Not sure if there's enough room, but I'm not ready to quit yet… Hugging the right wall as close as she dared, Priss lifted both legs from the sides of the bike and threaded the space between the blocking patrol car and the wall. Narrowly missing the car and the tire shredders lain out in front of them, sparks briefly flew off the right side of the bike as she made contact with the wall. With a monumental effort, she kept her balance and the bike upright, moved away from the wall and replaced her legs back on either side of the machine. Priss' heart raced with the shot of fresh adrenaline washing through her blood at the close call. She screamed out a victory cry to the wind in her face, punching a fist into that wind for good measure. A lightning flash from the bubbling clouds overhead answered her call, momentarily revealing the entire city around her from the shadows they hid within.
Getting her bearings, Priss realized she had broken the police containment and was now headed towards very familiar ground… the earthquake-ravaged area of MegaTokyo. As she passed yet another on-ramp, yet another civil servant vehicle entered the highway just in front of her, flashing lights illuminating the concrete walls on either side of the still empty highway. Priss found it more difficult to pass this car… and it seemed vaguely familiar, especially when she noticed the ADP logo on the side. Pulling up alongside the right side of the road chaser, she looked into the window long enough to recognize the driver… who was looking right back at her with pleading eyes. Leon? I should've known he'd stick his nose in this! Priss matched his speed as she gave him her best "What the hell are you doing here?" look she could muster.
The ADP officer raised one hand up and brought a thumb across his neck and then gave Priss the thumbs down sign – Kill the engine now - trying to get her to stop while she still could.
The biker shook her head, refusing the order and began to accelerate past him.
Leon put everything the car had and then some into keeping up with the woman on the bike. Somehow the modified patrol car had just enough to stay with her for a few moments… before she hit the brakes and swerved behind him and onto an exit ramp to the right. He was so focused on catching up to her that he never even saw the ramp she took… until the next ramp came just a hundred meters later blocked off with some wooden planks and plastic construction barrels. He shot through the temporary barriers on both sides of the alternate ramp and wound up just behind the startled Priss on the elevating highway.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Daily screamed at him.
"Wherever she decides to try and go."
"What if that ramp wasn't finished back there?"
"I guess your family would find out how good the death benefits of the ADP are."
"Wait a minute… this ramp… looks familiar. This is supposed to go to a bridge…" the spectacled officer didn't finish the thought.
Leon caught onto that train of thought and tried to shove the accelerator through the floor. Not much road left then… "I suppose it's too late to lodge a complaint with the highway department over inadequate barricading."
"I vaguely remember a construction boomer going rouge around here a couple of days ago. I think it threw itself off of a bridge… What do you think the odds are that it took the permanent barriers with it?"
"Just my luck…"
"Not yours… hers," Daily said motioning to the red bike they weren't catching up to. "Do you think she knows that?"
"Right now, I'm afraid that's what Priss is counting on…" Leon spoke darkly as he prepared to meet the shortest, and at the same time longest, thirty seconds of his life.
Another pair of eyes 'watched' the chase as it proceeded through the dimly lit streets of MegaTokyo. …They like to play… I want to play too… the being followed them from afar… through the eyes of her children scattered throughout the bustling city above…
… just as someone else had thoughts of finding the being below. Brian J. Mason watched the darkening skies and swirling clouds through the windows of the GENOM tower, but wasn't concerned with the worsening weather in the least. How much longer will I have to wait? What is taking so long to find you my child… Where are you hiding? His thoughts turned to the group unknowingly aiding in his own quest. He turned from the window to his laptop, looking over at the set of four pictures displayed in front of him… four different women. With the break of discovering the truth about the Hugh Geit employee through her e-mail's, the others had been easy to identify. "Two current actives… two on the sidelines… What are you going to do Sylia? How can I help you help me?"
Sylia couldn't help herself at that moment, much less anyone else. Her body lay doubled over in the hallway of the Lady 633 building with shaking hands gripping both sides of her head. The migraines plaguing her while wearing her hardsuit were now following her out of it as well. This one had come on quickly, catching her completely off guard. Nigel's warning echoed through the waves of agony that crashed over her temples… "Your brain patterns have changed too much… you can't go out like you used to…"
But I have to… I've got to find her first…
Sylia tried to stand up but the second she lifted her head up, the hallway began to spin wildly around her… nausea threatening to overwhelm her. She fell back over in a heap, holding her head again. "… somebody… help… please…" she croaked weakly, hoping that anyone could hear her. "… Henderson… Mackey… anybody…"
While her trusted butler wasn't too far away in the building, Mackey was taking advantage of the break from the search to catch up on some work he was doing for Nigel. He was too lost in that work to notice the waves of clouds racing by overhead. Out in the garage, his greasy hands flowed over the machine before him, sensing all the ebbs and currents of the manufactured design. Not only could he 'see' the parts before him, he could also feel the intent of the design, including unintended shortfalls. He could even see faults in the hardsuit designs. He contemplated one such flaw and a possible upgrade to a certain red hardsuit.
As he did, his thoughts turned to the young woman that wore that hardsuit, and the feelings he had for her. He wasn't sure what to call it, although one word he had researched seemed to apply in this case. He just wasn't exactly sure how Nene would react if Mackey told her that he thought he loved her…
…not that Nene had time to think of her significant other at the moment. She was frantically trying to figure out where Priss and Leon were going since the map she was looking at said they should be driving in the middle of an office complex right now. "Leon! Where are you again?""I'm going up a bridge," he answered flatly.
"But there's not… oh no…" With a couple of keystrokes she brought up another map showing proposed road changes and additions. "LEON! You're on the Kanto Memorial Bridge!"
"Sounds about right," his partner answered for him.
"But… But it won't be finished for two years!"
"Hope they can finish early then… we've got about 15 seconds left of road from what I can see…" Daily remarked tensely.
Leon's whole body was sweating profusely as he tried to will every ounce of horsepower possible from the complaining metal block cranking furiously just under the hood in front of him. No, dammit! You've got to see it… This is pointless… Why are you doing this Priss? Can it really be because of that Linna woman?
That woman lay face down on her bed, head tucked in her folded arms around her tear stained pillow. The tears had long since dried up, but the lingering ache would last for a very long time… if not forever... Linna's depressed mental state convinced her broken heart. The only light illuminating her dark room was from the computer monitor still on. She had turned off the screen savers a few days ago so she could see Priss whenever she saw the computer. Even when she thought Priss would never answer her, she still didn't do anything to change the image. That was before Priss had come to see her though…
The image from the screen reminded her of the images from the fountain… torturing images of the woman she had fallen for… throwing her to the ground… driving off away from her forever… haunting words replaying themselves in her mind… "… just leave me alone… period!"
Linna threw her head under the pillow and covered her ears with the feathery lump, trying vainly to block out the sounds in her mind that wouldn't leave her alone… even as the tears began to flow fresh directly onto the bed.
Up in the rapidly approaching distance Leon saw the end… the end of the bridge construction anyway. True to form, any concrete barriers were pushed out of the way leaving the path to oblivion open to whoever wished to walk it… and in this case, that whoever was a young woman named Priss Asagiri.
Priss didn't exactly know where she was or where she was going anymore. The ramp she had taken wasn't one she had been on before. She began to wonder if it really should have been open at all as she started to pass obvious signs of ongoing construction. A few signs whizzed past too fast for her to read, but the color of them began to worry her. She considered turning around until she looked back to see the proximity of Leon, still chasing after her. She tried to see into his eyes… trying to find out why he was doing this… but she couldn't see because of the darkness blowing through the city… the storm about to spring its fury onto the concrete structures flying past her. Priss turned her head back around… only to find she couldn't see the road up ahead anymore. What?…Fog?
The pillow wasn't helping, so Linna sprang up out of bed and flung the pillow across the room, smacking with a pop against the far wall. She collapsed back onto the bed and stared at the screen… more images mocking her unmercifully. She couldn't do anything about the ones in her mind, but she could do something about this one. Linna moved her hand over to the mouse and with a couple of clicks, was given the choice to erase the image from the screen.
Leon's own self-preservation instinct took over as he slammed on the brakes, turning the car sideways in the process of stopping from joining the woman off the edge of the bridge. Daily was thrown hard against the passenger side door but continued to watch the progress of their car towards the end of the road with eyes wide open. As the car slowed the surrounding noise didn't relent, causing Daily to realize just how hard the wind had picked up on the bridge. His attention was diverted back to the horrid events unfolding within his field of vision. "oh god," he gasped at the sight of the red bike driving to the brink.
Leon wasn't watching however. He kept his head down even as the car skidded to a halt with just a few meters of finished road to spare. He didn't want to face his failure. Either I should have stopped her… or I should have gone over with her… his own heart chided him.
Linna paused for a second, thinking of the woman she had confessed everything to… only to have it thrown back in her face…With one click, the image of Priss was gone from the screen… "Just like you… gone from my life forever…"
Priss quickly realized it wasn't a fog bank, as the chasm below became visible below her now airborne bike. Momentary panic was strangely replaced with almost joyous relief as she welcomed the end… Looks like I'm coming to see you tonight my love… With open arms she plunged off the edge of the unfinished bridge and into the depths below, winds howling through the split open Earth below while lightning flashes lit up the sky above. To Priss, it seemed the perfect way to die…
To be continued…
