Another Fortunate Accident
Ch. 21 – Subterranean Signal Crossings
By Analogk37
(AN: For this short chapter I take a first person look at the characters involved. Hope its not too confusing!)
Aug 30, 2040 6:47 p.m. - Somewhere in Underground Tokyo
"I'm at the point Syila."
"OK, go ahead Nene."
click ... (sigh)... "Not here either. Are you sure these things really work?"
"Of course I'm sure!"
"Um… sorry… Sylia, are you still mad at us?"
"No. sigh No Nene, just tell me next time before you decide to suit up."
"Sorry Sylia. It's my fault. I talked Linna into it, so please don't blame her."
"It's alright Nene, I decided to start the search early too. I'll make sure to OK it with you first next time Sylia."
"Good. Honestly though, I'm glad both of you feel so strongly about the importance of this."
"Its no problem Sylia. We are trying to save Tokyo, after all."
"That's right Sylia. It's "Super Linna" to the rescue. I wonder if Nigel could put a cape on her hardsuit?"
"Heh, I suppose I could ask him about that. Would dark green be your color of choice Linna?"
"You two can stop with the superhero jokes any time now."
"What's that? OK. Ladies, Henderson has dinner prepared now, so I'm going to leave you for a few minutes. Nene, you do remember how to page me if you need me, right?"
"OF COURSE I do Sylia!"
"Good. I should be back in half an hour."
Aug 30, 2040 7:04 p.m. – Somewhere in Underground Tokyo
"Linna?"
"Yes Nene."
"Do… Do you want to talk about Priss?"
"No."
"Oh. Maybe later?"
"Maybe."
8:37 p.m. – Somewhere else in Underground Tokyo, while Sylia is out on a 'break'
"Linna?"
"Yes?"
"Do you want to talk about Priss now?"
"No I don't."
"Maybe later?"
"I doubt it."
"Will you get mad at me if I bring her up again?"
"Probably."
"Oh… (sigh) …ok..."
10:42 p.m. – Still Somewhere Under Tokyo
"Ladies, I have another call I have to attend to for a few minutes."
"It's almost 11 at night Sylia!"
"Running a store is a 24 hr a day job Nene. Now if you will excuse me…"
(silence)
"Linna?"
"What Nene!"
"Did Priss come to visit you back at your home?"
"NENE! I don't…"
"It's just… there was this night."
"… want to… wait… 'This night?' What do you mean? What night?"
"Leon asked me to check on a chase the NP were engaged in. Turned out they were chasing Priss."
"WHAT! Why?"
"The police files said she had driven in from the west at over 200 kph… she was driving like a maniac, ignoring roadblocks, weaving in and out of traffic, nearly killing several cops, then Leon caught up to her…"
Oh my God "Wait, who's Leon? Isn't he the one that…"
"Yeah, the same one I thought would make such a great couple with Priss. I think he's still really got the hots for her myself…"
"Nene!"
"Oh! Sorry. (snicker) Anyway, when he caught up with her, she headed off on this bridge… but it was still under construction…"
"And?"
"She drove right off of it."
"She did WHAT!"
"She just drove right off the end of it… never slowed down, tried to stop, or anything according to Leon and Daily."
"Wh… What happened? Was she hurt?"
"Despite her best efforts, she apparently survived without a scratch… although Mackey said her bike wasn't so lucky."
"But… But… Wait… Nene! What day was that?"
"I think… it was Sunday. Yeah, last Sunday."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I was there listening to it while it was happening! Anyway… what happened Linna? Did something happen between the two of you then? Is that why she was so out of control?"
"Nene… I… just can't believe… she…"
"Did Priss talk to you about the E-mail's? Is that what happened?"
"E-mail's? Wait… NENE! What did you see!"
"Um… Sorry Linna! I… I just… I was curious… and… while I was waiting to go catch the bus, I had a few minutes… so I…"
"So you hacked into the mail servers and read MY E-mails to PRISS!"
"Well, I didn't exactly 'read' them. I just peeked at a few of the more 'tame' lines since I was in a hurry and all. So, um… is that why Priss is so mad at you right now?"
"Nene, I could kill you right now…"
"Um, gee… guess it's a good thing there's a kilometer of concrete between the two of us right now, heh heh…"
"It's going to take more than that to keep me from ringing your neck!"
"Uh oh… Um, hey, look at that! I'm at my last target for the night." Click "Darn. Would you look at that, not there either. Oh well, guess I'd better go now."
"NENE!"
"See ya Linna! Don't have too much fun down here."
"Get back here you little…"
"It really amazes me sometimes how you two can worry about such trivial matters."
"Sylia! ...umm... how long…"
"... have I been listening? Oh, not very… By the way Nene, which server did you find those E-mail's on?"
"You wouldn't dare…"
"I can show you when I get back to the pit Sylia. I'm on my way now."
"Not before I rip you out of your hardsuit first."
"Not now Linna… we've still got over thirty points to search."
"Sylia, you can't…"
"Besides, now that I know about them, you know I'd just find the E-mail's on my own anyway."
"Sylia!"
"So are you going to save me the trouble of reading them myself, or do I need to start surfing through mail servers until I find them?"
"…this just isn't fair…"
"By now I would think you would know that life isn't always fair Linna. Now, what did you send our little Priss that sent her into such a rage?"
"Nothing you need to be worried about Sylia."
"PRISS! My, so you're early too."
"Yeah, looks that way doesn't it. So where are these search points you started to talk about yesterday before you decided to wimp out on us."
"I was not 'wimping' out Ms. Asagiri! I think you'd know better than to start bringing up mental breakdowns right now."
"Fine. Just tell me where to go look."
"Linna and Nene have done these points so far this evening. Where would you like to start?"
"Where is the 'Green Hardsuit'?"
"Green…? Oh, she's searching right here."
"Ok. Then I'm starting over there."
"Oh… OK. Good, with you two searching, we should be able to wrap this up in a couple of days at the most."
"So what are we going to do if we find it?"
"WHEN we find her, Priss, I will take care of the rest. Your only concern should be identifying her location."
"Are you sure you'll be able… ab… a…"
"Priss?"
(silence)
"Priss? Are you OK?"
"Y… Yeah, I'm fine. J… Just a chill down here…"
"A chill? Are you seeing…"
"I SAID I'M FINE DAMNIT! Now… now where's that point again?"
"Priss… (sigh) … This one right here."
"OK, I'm on my way."
"Sylia?"
"Yes Linna."
"I'm at the next point."
"OK, I'm ready."
click. (groan) "I'm not seeing anything here either."
"Alright, which point do you want next?"
"This one."
"But isn't that taking you away…"
"I said THIS one! …oh… oh Sylia, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to yell…"
"It's OK Linna. sigh Just let me know when you get to the next point. How is your body holding up?"
"I'm OK Sylia."
"How much longer do you think you can go? Half an hour ago you said…"
"I'm ALRIGHT Sylia! I… I've just got my second wind now, that's all."
"Second wind… of course…" (sigh) "So just how long do you intend on searching then Linna?"
"As long as it takes."
"As long as it takes or just after Priss decides to stop?"
silence
"That's what I thought. (snarling) You two are so damn stubborn, you really do deserve each other!"
(in unison) "SYLIA!"
(snicker) "At least both of you agree on something.
11:06 p.m. – Still Searching Under Tokyo
(yawn) Listen ladies… I'm going to check on Mackey to make sure he's ready to take over. Don't have too much fun while I'm gone. And, Linna?"
"Yes Sylia?"
"Do you think you can find it in your heart to help Priss with using the detector if she gets in position before I get back?"
"I don't need any help figuring out how to use this gizmo of yours Sylia."
"Priss, this is important…"
"It's OK Sylia, if the 'Blue Hardsuit' feels she can figure it out all by herself, then that's fine by me."
(groan) "Alright. I can see this isn't going to work. Priss, if you need any help, just page me."
"Don't worry, I won't."
(growling) "Priss! Just… Oh, never mind! (huff) Just let me know if you find anything, OK?"
(silence)
"You two are impossible…"
To be continued…
