Bubblegum Crisis: Stage Three
Part Nine
Linna Yamazaki felt a odd thrill of satisfaction as the rogue boomer secretary was hauled away, waiting till her new pistol cooled down enough to safely put it in the holster under her arm. The brown haired woman looked good in the sleek, dark green business suit, sunglasses shading her eyes and a small communications rig mounted over her ear.
"I'll lead the way into the office," Priss Asagiri said as the darker haired woman lead the way down the hall. Like Linna she wore a fine suit, though hers was in dark blue. The office was clear of any obvious threats but both women swept the room like they had been trained to while Sylia looked on, faintly amused.
"I don't think I quite expected you two to be so gung ho about all this," Sylia noted mildly as she took a seat at her desk, calling up a keyboard and holographic view screen for the computer built into her desk.
"If you die, Reika's out of a job," Linna said in a half serious, half joking manner. Reviewing the data she had been stunned at the near misses that had already happened around Sylia, including at least one possible attack before she even returned to Tokyo.
Priss looked out the window warily, seemingly trying to guess how well a aerial attack might go. "Besides, you're paying me several times my usual daily wage," she offered as she touched her sunglasses, bringing up the magnification function.
"Trouble?" Sylia asked her curiously, feeling fairly certain that Priss would have shoved her onto the floor in a actual emergency.
Priss snickered softly as she said, "Nah, it's just apparent that someone in the next building over likes morning quickies."
"Peeping tom," Linna laughed.
Sylia made a mental note to get a download from Priss' sunglasses for possible blackmail purposes later, then went to work. "I'm opening a link to Nene's remote station," she said, "she's going to attempt a deep dive scan of Genom's mainframe."
Priss opened up her coat again to free the heavy grade rail-pistol that she now wore in a underarm holster as she said, "And someone took a shot at you every time you tried messing with the system, right? We'd better be prepared."
"It's why I wanted you here," Sylia agreed. She touched her ear-bud style communicator and murmured, "Nene?"
"I'm ready to go here," Nene answered on the group link they were all using. It was all tight band encrypted military tech, technically not on the market yet, and Nene dearly wanted to know how Sylia had gotten it.
"Opening connections," Sylia said as she set up the link between her computer and Nene's rebuilt personal computer.
"Connection made," Nene said briskly, the soft whisper sound of her finger's connection mono-filaments extending in the background. "Running system analysis now....."
"Why a system analysis?" Linna wondered, taking a look out the window too. She saw the traffic control drones hovering above the streets, the roads packed with the pollution-less hybrid cars that were required b y law nowadays.
"There's something strange going on in the Genom system," Sylia said as she monitored Nene's search, "and it's clearly connected to the boomer attacks. We have a download of the official system architecture, I want Nene to map the system and see if they match."
"And if they don't?" Priss wondered.
"Then we investigate where they don't match," Sylia shrugged.
The minutes dragged on as they all waited, watching the holographic display as Nene burrowed deeper and deeper into the computers at Genom. Nearly ten minutes later there was a soft buzz and Linna drew out one of the new secure phones Sylia had provided them all. "Reika?" she smiled as she saw her lover's face.
"I hate my new assistant," Reika sighed dramatically as she casually added, "she can't even get my appointments right."
Linna's eyes widened slightly as she schooled her expression, knowing that was a code phrase they devised for this operation that meant someone already knew about their hack. "Have you talked to anyone about it?" she asked.
"Just Mason, but he wasn't very helpful," Reika answered simply, then signed off.
Turning to Sylia Linna told her, "Mason already knows someone is in the system."
"Huh," Priss grunted thoughtfully, "either Mason is a better cyber-cop than he looks or he's in on whatever is going on."
"I'm tempted to assume he's in on it," Sylia admitted, "but that may be my own bias speaking." At the others' questioning looks she added, "Mason not only handles network security, he also does odd jobs for Quincy. Often semi-illegal odd jobs."
"Lovely," Linna blinked, mentally reassessing the seemingly studious older man she occasionally had to deal with.
"Tracking systems have engaged," Nene reported after another minute or so, "I've successfully diverted the first wave. Should I continue?"
"Have you got the system layout yet?" Sylia asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Nene agreed, "and it's not what's on file."
"Disengage," Sylia decided, "we have enough to start with."
"Done," Nene answered briskly. "Should I send the data right to you," she asked curiously, "or just to our hideaway?"
"The hideaway,' Sylia said, turning to see Priss staring out the window with a frown on her face. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Did Nene route her hack through a local building?" Priss asked, reaching up and using her sunglasses magnification function again.
"To avoid lag in the hack she used a empty warehouse nearby as a relay," Sylia relayed after checking with Nene.
"Because sometime in between her starting the hack and a few minutes ago," Priss mused, "the AD Police mobilized and it looks like they're tearing a warehouse out there apart. Does anyone wanna bet it's not Nene's?"
"Holy shit," Linna looked out too, seeing several AD Police cruisers, an armor unit and others outside of the now broken-into building.
"Relay the data feed," Sylia ordered and got a three dimensional composite view from both their glasses. She counted the officers and equipment, estimating how much time it took to deploy them and comparing it to their hack.
"The AD Police aren't inefficient," Priss admitted as she studied the crowd, the singer having had a few run ins with them and the usual police in the past, "but how did that many officers get deployed that fast?"
Sylia nodded, "If my estimate is correct, they had to be deployed almost as soon as we began hacking the system."
"They must have really wanted to catch us," Linna said, then looked at Sylia, "Do you mind if I check in with Reika?"
"Go on," Sylia nodded. As Linna called she sat back with a frown on her face, musing, 'I'm going to have to be even more careful, it seems. Someone has a secret here in Genom that they do not with to come out.'
As Priss listened to Reika and Linna talk she looked at Sylia and asked, "So far, whatever we're dealing with has hit you with standard Boomers. What happens when they go to the next level?"
"Preparations are being made in addition to the light armored suits I acquired," Sylia said simply, "I assure you of that. In fact, the first items should be arriving soon."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The afternoon sun shone down as Nene drove, the little redhead handling her car like a precision instrument as she went to the little postal outlet. Parking out front she walked inside and up to the desk as she smiled, "Package for Nancy Mukahari?"
Because of her interests in somewhat gray market computer gear Nene had established a series of drops where she could pick up products she ordered under certain aliases. The ADP might love her hacking skills, but they probably would not be forgiving if she was caught with illegal or at least restricted computer technology. When Sylia mentioned she needed some items shipped discretely, Nene had volunteered her services.
The crate at her mid-town drop was smaller than Nene expected, but she raised her eyebrow when she recognized the 'Warwear' symbol. A leading supplier of military gear they designed and built custom equipment for private security firms and even presidential security forces. They were the best, and difficult to hire due to long waiting lists.
"You need a hand, hon?" the postmistress asked, her ash blond hair falling down her back in shimmering waves as she watched Nene's shorts clad but wiggle. That and the skimpy T-shirt gave her quite the entertaining view, well worth having to call the lady for the oversized box.
The box wasn't heavy, just awkward as Nene eased it into the back of her little car. "I'm fine," she answered cheerfully. Leaving the woman her usual large tip for not asking inconvenient questions about identification etc Nene got into the car and drove off, soon arriving at the converted warehouse they called home.
Factory Six looked abandoned to the naked eye, but within was a state of the art command center, along with a computer rig that made even Nene jealous. They had two light armored suits racked up on one side of the building, along with two custom motorbikes and a armored car.
Hiding her car under a em-spectrum camouflage net Nene unloaded the box and carried it inside before giving into curiosity and unsealing it. Within were a pile of light body stockings, and Nene sighed in disappointment as she looked them over. Digging out the documentation she began to read, then looked at the clothes once more in surprise.
According to the paperwork, the body stockings were a new kind of advanced light armor. Light weight and flexible the silver-white cloth provided neck to toe protection against fire, knives and even many modern projectiles. Reading the fine print Nene noted that the manufacturers did not say that a rail-gun round wouldn't kill you, but the suit would stop it from penetrating.
Digging through the pile she found one in her size and carried it off to the bathroom, feeling naughty. She stripped off her shorts and shirt and started to pull the light garment on, only to realize her panty line was visible. Blushing Nene took off her panties then pulled the garment on, wiggling till it sat snug on her body.
Nene tried to get a good look at herself in the small, old bathroom mirrors, then gave up in disgust. Instead she went outside and activated the main monitor, making it project a real time image of herself in three dimensions.
'Not bad,' Nene admitted after a moment, looking herself over. Obviously whomever designed the suit was a pervert, the way it clung to every curve almost like it was painted on, but it was surprisingly comfortable too. She was admiring the fit of the material over her ass when a footstep jarred her back to reality.
"Nice," Linna looked like she was hiding a smile, her girlfriend Reika chuckling beside her.
"Looking good," Priss agreed, whistling.
"Eep!" Nene blushed furiously as she ran for the bathroom and her waiting clothes.
Sylia Stingray was surprised to feel herself blushing too as she watched her run and thought, 'That really is a very nice butt.'
"I figure that isn't just high tech lingerie?" Priss offered dryly once Nene was gone.
"That's actually not a bad idea," Sylia chuckled, "but they're actually armor cloth under-suits. You can wear them with anything and they'll stop most weapons."
To be continued....
