Chapter 5

Inside of a warehouse owned by the so called Weiss-Kreuz company close to the central areas of Mega-Tokyo two very different groups were preparing for their common mission.

Their mission, aside from the fact that Priss friend Sylvie was obviously not quite as dead as they had thought and Priss reaction to that news, it was this fact that had cost unrest for the Knight Sabers.

They were used to work as a team, one team and they were used to work by themselves, not together with others.

But as Mister Brigan had told them the conditions for this mission, he had practically demanded of them to send one of his own teams along with them.

And it was not only this, to that came the identity of the other group.

The team Joseph Brigan wanted them to work together with was nobody else than a contingent of combat-boomers.

As a unit the Knight Sabers were generally working alone and they certainly didn´t expect to join up with the same boomer types they were usually fighting every week on the streets. But given how serious this situation was they didn´t have much of a choice.

To that came the situation with Priss. She and the 33S boomer became incredible close in the short months they had known each other.

As she had finally been forced to kill her it had nearly driven Priss into a breakdown. Sylia knew her well enough to know that part of the reason was that Priss already had a large number of losses in the past and that in this one case she herself was the one to pull the trigger.

And now it might be possible that they would have to do it a second time. This could very possible break her apart.

The rest one the team won´t like the thought either and if it was only for the fact that maybe they would have to destroy one of Priss best friends once again.

This was actually a bizarre thought. By what they had been told, what was left of the boomer known as Sylvie was not much more than a software program. It was strange to think of something like that as a friend. But there was no denying that Priss did, still did. That much at least was obvious from the last time they had been talking.

In Sylia´s mind it would be a far better outcome of the mission if they would manage to safe the boomer AI intact.

Unfortunately their new partner seemed to have quite different priorities. Mister Brigan had made it clear that he wanted the software out of the Black Circle´s hands more than anything else, that for its part was actually a sentiment that Sylia completely agreed to and that everything else was a far second place, which she didn´t necessarily agreed to.

Saving a boomer AI didn´t seem to be very high on his priority list and sparing Priss feelings was probably something he didn´t care about in the slightest.

That would mean it would be on them to find a way to do it.

Still they had to work together with their new partners, at least for this mission. After seeing the information about the security defenses they will have to deal with during their planned attack, Sylia realized that this mission might be too difficult even for the Knight Sabers and failure was this time not an option.

There was far too much depending on it for that.

xxxxxxx

The club "Hot Legs" in Mega-Tokyo

Priss was sitting at the bar and spending her time like she did the entire day so far, by drinking and starring depressed at the walls.

She remembered, like on the first day, the shot that she fired, the blood, artificial as she knew then, but looking just like a normal human´s and the dieing words.

"I just wanted to be free." She remembered it all too well.

One of her best friends, slain by her own hand. It wasn´t like the other losses in her life.

She had lost people who had been far closer to her than even Sylvie had ever been, her parents, the man she had loved. But never had she herself been the one responsible.

What made this case so unique was the terrible feeling of guilt that mixed with the devastating loss. And now all of that was coming back to her. She would have never imagined something like this.

What had once been her friend was now a software program, somewhere inside a computer of some sinister company. Besides everything else this was also a perfect reminder of the fact that Sylvie and Anri were not human. But to her luck Priss had fully accepted this a long time ago. Still that didn´t mean that all the other things didn´t hurt. And so she continued to drink.

That was the way Leon found her some time later.

"Hey Priss", he addressed her as he saw her sitting at the bar. "Priss?" he asked again as he didn´t instantly got an reaction.

"What do you... want Leon?" she replied.

He saw by the way she spoke that she had already been drinking more than enough.

"Hey, how are you?" he asked her casually. He tried to keep his tone neutral, but didn´t quite succeeded.

By now he knew her well enough to realize that something must been really bothering her, if he found her in this state.

"What does it look like?" Priss replied grimly.

"Is it about `that´ kind of business?" Leon wanted to know.

"What are you talking about?" she replied. But in fact she had a pretty good idea what he meant.

"I am talking about the things you are doing after sunset. Look, I know about it. We have never really talked about it, but I know for over a year now and I know that you know that I do", he told her. "I am talking about the Knight Sabers."

Priss was looking at him for a few moments. He had finally said it aloud.

"So you know what I am doing", she said. "You´re going to arrest me?"

"Don´t be ridiculous", he replied, smiling at her.

"What else do you know?" she asked him.

"Nene Romanova is one of the other members of your team."

Priss visibly flinched.

"Her workshifts have the habit to just `coincidentally´ change whenever the Knight Sabers are seen", he mentioned. "Really, it was only a question of time before someone in the department would take a notice of that. I believe another one is Linna Yamazaki."

"Great, just great", she said.

"I have seen you three together here quite often."

"That´s what we get for hanging out together in private", Priss commented.

"Look, you know you can trust me. I won´t talk to anybody about this. Neither would anyone in the department who had figured out about Nene. There isn´t somebody in the ADP who wouldn´t owe you their lives at one point or another. None of us would sell you out."

"Thank you", she replied after a few moments.

"Okay Priss, now that we can talk openly with each other. I can see that something is bothering you and my first guess would be that it has something to do with this."

"Your guess is quite good, Detective", she replied.

"So, you wanna tell me about it?"

"We have a new job", she told him.

"And?"

"And we have gotten some information about this `job´."

"That doesn´t explain why you are sitting here, drunk and looking as if your best friend had been shot."

He could see the obvious pain appearing on her face as he mentioned this.

"A bad choice of words Leon, a very bad one", she said.

"Okay, I could have asked in a better way", he admitted. "But do you want to tell me?"

"It seems that Sylvie isn´t as dead as we had thought", she answered.

"Sylvie? The 33S? Your friend?" he realized. "The one that you..." He suddenly remembered what he had said a few seconds earlier. "Oh Priss, I am sorry. I shouldn´t have talked like that. You know, sometimes I just say stupid things without realizing it."

"It is okay", she replied. "You didn´t know. How should you have considered something like this?"

"Still I shouldn´t have talked my mouth off like this, especially since I know what you are doing. But how is that possible? I thought she died in your arms?"

"You said it yourself, she was, is a 33S, a boomer. A freaking boomer, that is what she was from the beginning. We should never forget this."

"I remember this all too well", Leon assured her.

"It seems that her AI had staid intact and now someone has brought her back online."

"Isn´t that a good thing?" he asked her.

"That is not everything. Somehow the DD...I mean the software...and the programming...god, I think I will tell you later. Or maybe I won´t tell you anything when I am sober, because I don´t think I should even be talking with you about this."

"It is okay Priss, I understand."

"You know Leon, you know too much, far too much. So by the articles of the Knight Sabers I will have to kill you."

"Well, I don´t think you will do that", he said to her.

"You think I won´t?"

"No."

"I guess you are right", she replied. "Leon?"

"Yes."

"Kiss me."

"I am not sure if that is such a good idea right now. You are, well..."

"I know I am drunk", she replied. "But both of us know I would say the same thing if I were not. Or maybe not, maybe I would just acting all stuck up as usual, who knows?"

"I think I will just bring you home for now", Leon told her.

"Mhh, okay, then we will continue this tomorow, alright?" Priss asked him.

"If you say so. But I think you will already have changed your mind again by then", he replied.

xxxxxxx

Omnitec-building Mega Tokyo

"Sylvie", the AI, who was still trapped inside the computer network of the Omnitec company, was hearing his voice. "Sylvie, I know you can hear me. I have something for you."

It was the man who was for the most part calling himself simply `Seth´. He was also known as `Mister Newman´ and under other names. But she knew by now that they were all nothing but aliases.

The truth was she didn´t even know who this man truly was, except that he was the one responsible for her `rebirth´. That and the fact that he was a cold blooded killer.

What he had also offered her was revenge on Largo, for murdering Anri, sending herself to her death and nearly killing Priss. But she also knew that he had his own agenda for bringing her back to live.

He had even told her what it was. Her last, complete merging with the DD had somehow, as a side-effect, mutated and changed her programming. This might made it possible to create boomers who would be free of genom´s influence.

Under every other circumstances she would have been happy about this possibility, this chance for her kind.

But she knew by now only all too well what this man was capable of.

In the last months her consciousness had spread and infiltrated one of the systems of the company building after the other. During that time she had gained insight into many of their activities and plans.

She had seen the data about the attack that had wiped out an entire town, a long list of other murders and assassinations, involvements in a number of military conflicts around the globe, legal and illegal arms deals, which had by that information actually the aim to bring said conflicts to escalation and several other criminal activities.

But she had also realized by now that he had in fact actually wanted her to find this information. He was toying with her. It was all a test, an way to challenge and oversee the evolution of her AI.

And in some twisted sense it had worked out. She was now further developed, more knowledable and even smarter than ever before. Beside that she had now also a combat-programming inside her that she had taken over from the DD-battlemover and that had by now become completely part of her being. She was not longer the same as she had been.

Then there were plans for the construction of an even greater number of combat-boomers, cyberdroids who would be free of any restrictions and be able to be send against any target in the world. It was an army that was about to be build, one that would be based on the programming inside her own mind.

She had also seen how he had killed one of his own men with his bare hands for crossing him. Whatever `Seth Newman´ was, he was certainly no normal human. So much was clear now. But he wasn´t a boomer either. What she knew was that he was dangerous, very dangerous.

Ironically however this monster was also one of the few beings who had ever treated her like a person instead of a slave, a thing or a toy. He was talking to her, actually spending time with her, asking about her opinions, about her side of things.

For the others here she was a mere test subject, for him, she was a creature that at least had the potential to be his equal. He was treating her like a person, but he was still manipulating and using her.

"Hello `Seth´", she greeted him.

"As I see your status has returned to normal", he said. "Good, I hope you will be more reasonable now."

After she had found the plans for the boomer army, a few days ago, she had tried to erase her own mind.

"Believe me, trying to destroy yourself was not a very sensible step. But I still admire your resolve. Your attempt was senseless however. Even if you had succeeded in erasing your consciousness, there would still be more than enough left from your software to extract the codes we need. So you would have died for nothing."

She realized that he was right. In her situation not even death was a way out. She should have seen this before, but somehow she didn´t want to.

"This is now what, the second time that you make the decision to die for others?" he asked her.

"First you had Miss Asagiri shoot you and now this. Your problem is that you are still clinging to that outdated idea that every life is valuable. No, the truth is only the ones who are willing to stand up for themselves have worth something, like you, like Priss..."

"You are wrong", she interrupted him.

"You yourself had sacrificed several for the survival of your fellow boomer. You were right of course", he said to her. "You are not human, why should you see something in them?"

"Neither are you, not completely", she responded.

"I was developed from humanity", he told her. "I and others like me are what will come after them. I am the future my dear. But I am not necessarely the only being here who represents it."

"Is that the reason you have trapped me here like a test object?" she asked him.

"Not for much longer", he promised her. "Soon you will be free again. Wasn´t it that what you always wanted?

I want to show you something. You should take a look at lab03."

As she activated the link to the security camera, she saw a boomer that was in the last stages of it´s development. The sceleton was complete, the organic components fully integrated, the grow of the skin was about to beginn. She recognized the most of it´s specifics, it were her own.

"Your new body is nearly complete", he informed her. "You have only to wait for a bit longer. Since you have military programming in your mind now, I have taken the freedom to cross your old design with that of a combat boomer. What do you think? My personal creation, the BU 33 S-C, you."

She didn´t answer.

"By the way, the latest commander of the Genaros station, the successor of your old `master´ Kaufman has recently suffered a deadly accident that I had arranged. He just knew too much and could be trusted too little. I have heard a few of your sisters or should I say now former sister? had used the chance to flee from the space-station."

The last part would have actually made her glad if she didn´t have too many other things to worry about. A few of the others were free.

"And there is something else you should know", he said. "Largo is close by. Like us he wants what is hidden inside your new programming and he will strike soon. Still he is only one of many players in this game. He doesn´t even know who took the DD or where you are now, yet. But it is looking as if the Knight Sabers will be quicker anyway.

Yes, you should be happy. Your friends will come for you in a short time."

He was smiling. This somehow unsettled her even more.

xxxxxxx

Miles away, inside another building of the city, was a assembled group of four c-class boomers standing in front of their master, the cybernetic creature named Largo.

Despite his fall last year, both proverbially and literally, he had been able to secure most of his resources and start anew.

Soon he would locate the missing software and then the praised overmind-control-system of genom would be useless. He would create an army of cyberdroids who would be free of that restriction and then the boomers would finally rise under his command.