BG Cross Part 5

Here's Part 5 for your reading enjoyment! C & C are very welcome. Enjoy!

BubbleGum Cross

Metal Heart - Part 5

Based on characters copyrighted by Youmex, AIC, Artmic

Part 5. A Distant Whisper

Sylia Stingray stood quietly in front of the huge window that overlooked
Mega Tokyo's downtown core from her apartment. Hundreds of headlights
moved haltingly through the main streets as the night took hold of the city.
Serpentine files of pedestrians wound their way along the jammed
sidewalks to their destinations amid the bright flicker of neon light and
constant traffic noise. A media barge moved slowly through the skyscraper
canyons just overhead, spewing its never-ending loop of announcements and
news clips. Bright spears of white light emanating from the barge's belly
scanned the streets and buildings below in a sweeping, circular pattern. No
sudden, abrupt changes. No strange, violent occurrences. Just life as usual.
Smooth and uninterrupted. She continued to watch the relatively calm scene
as a vague feeling suddenly swept over her. Like someone whispering her
name in the distance.
While Priss' instinct could unveil immediate dangers that usually
manifested themselves in the form of Boomers, Sylia's inner vision was
focused on the arrival of impending danger. Nene jokingly called it her
'women's intuition' but it was more than that. A nagging feeling that
something was interfering with the normal flow of things. That feeling had
saved the Knight Sabers more than once and now that feeling was
resurfacing, almost unrecognizable in the wake of years of inactivity.
She turned away from the window and looked carefully at the faces
of her friends assembled in her living room. Nene sat upright on the couch
with her fingers laced and one foot under the other, staring into space in the
direction of Sylia's brother Macky, who tapped away at a computer console
in the corner. Linna laid back against the chair she was seated in, and
looked blankly at the TV which spewed out the evening news. Vandalism,
burglary, rape, murder. AD police cars in hot pursuit down the main
parkways of the city. The same as the night before and the night before that
and the night before that. The surprising fact was the crime rate had plunged
to what it had been twenty years ago. Before Genom showed up.
Sylia regarded her brother at the computer console, noting the similar
features that she saw each morning in her own mirror. Brothers could be a
pain sometimes but they could also be extremely loyal and helpful in their
own way. Sylia watched him type on the computers keyboard slowly and
erratically, as if searching. Searching for something to happen.
Linna looked up as Sylia approached and sat down on the couch beside
Nene who continued staring at Macky. Linna sat up, her gaze intensifying
until she could stay quiet no longer.
"Syl, is there something on your mind? You look a little worried."
Sylia turned and smiled faintly at Linna, "No, I'm fine. Just wondering
where Priss is. Late as usual."
Linna returned the smile and switched her gaze to Nene who was
now staring at Sylia with concern in her eyes. Linna caught Nene's eye and
they volleyed glances of quiet confusion between each other until Nene
spoke up, "Sylia, do you think we'll ever have to fight a Boomer again?"
Macky's head snapped around to the middle of the room at the
sound of Nene's voice while Linna groaned and fell back into her chair,
rolling her eyes.
"I hope not Nene. I really hope that we never have to face another
Boomer as long as we live. Genom is long-gone and things have been quiet
for some time. I really hope it's over."
Nene smiled grimly at the last remark and looked back to Macky
who was now watching his sister. The worried look on Macky's face stole
Nene's fleeting smile and replaced it with a frown. It was now clear to all
that Sylia was bothered by something but what? Linna, Nene and Macky
watched from the corners of their eyes as Sylia stood restlessly, and then
returned to her self-imposed post at the window.
Sylia stared thoughtfully after the hypnotic spotlights of the media
barge as it slipped between several tall buildings a few blocks away and
disappeared. 'If they could see my face now', she thought, continuing to stare
out the window at nothing, 'they'd know there was something really wrong.
How long has it been since we've had to stop the rampage of another out-of-
control, prototype boomer?'
Genom was officially bankrupt but she felt there was more to their
demise than the media reported. Genom's swift rise to power had put
scheduling pressure on most of the corporations that Genom relied on for
discrete projects. The dissolving of many of those corporations eventually
left Genom standing as the lone target amid a growing wave of dis-
satisfaction with their moral conduct in local and international circles.
Coincidental changes in the AD Police hierarchy led to more freedom to
investigate the activities of the corporate giant, finally resulting in an
intense investigation. Commenced two years ago on a tip that the Genom
corporation was involved in the kidnapping of lower-income citizens of
Mega Tokyo for horrible human tolerance experiments, the AD Police soon
found enough evidence to effectively shut down the cybernetics mogul. As
the AD Police began to dig through the thick layers of information that
filled Genom's vaults, the charges of human brutality and mistreatment
against the company mounted until there was no use in filing any more
charges. They were beyond acquittal, no matter who defended them in the
courts. This much was known publicly. The lowdown on the net and in the
underground was that, before their downfall, Genom had developed some
kind of new 'weapon' that would have furthered their cause by tenfold. No-
one ever offered any suggestions as to what this weapon might be, but Sylia
had her suspicions. They were later confirmed by Fargo, that it had
something to do with Boomer mind control. And Fargo had added, rather
dramatically as she recalled, that the weapon had never been recovered by
the police or any of the investigating teams brought in by the government.
So, the rumored mind controlling device remained at large, waiting
somewhere for someone with the wrong intentions and the right skills to
find and misuse.
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the vague feeling that she
had experienced a few minutes ago, a distant whisper calling her name. She
refocused her eyes to stare into the window, looking at the reflection of the
room behind her. Her guests were all quietly engaged in the activities they
had been occupied with when last she looked. So where was this voice
coming from? Had she really heard something?
Her eyes turned from the reflection of the room to stare at her own
image gazing back at her. She smiled at herself weakly and chided herself
for her foolishness, 'Voices- right. You're just looking too hard for
problems my dear. Maybe you should worry more about the problems
closer to home.'
Her conscience was right. The Knight Sabers had changed over the
years along with the police and Genom. Unfortunately not for the better.
They weren't training regularly anymore- it was getting harder to convince
the others that it was still necessary. She and Linna had kept in shape but
Nene was getting good at creating excuses and Priss- she sometimes didn't
show up at the meetings at all. There was something going on with Priss that
she could not fathom, and she refused to talk about it with anyone. That was
not a good sign. They were all used to Priss' inner turmoils but sooner or
later the source of her problem would surface, whether Priss wanted it to or
not. This time the problem lay buried beneath her friend's cool exterior,
making for very short and intense appearances at the meetings that she did
show up for. If there was ever a time that a new enemy should strike, it
would be now. Of all the things that were on her mind, this troubled her
most. They were vulnerable now, the result of complacency. It would not be
easy but she thought it might be prudent to change her recent unofficial
policy of letting people excuse themselves from basic training and meetings.
As long as there was some shred of information existing, that proved that
Genom or anyone could still use her father's ideas to further their own
greed, then the Knight Sabers must be ready to intercept them.

Across the room, Macky stopped typing for a moment to consider
his sister's mysterious concern . He knew that whatever it was that
bothering her, it was something more than Priss not showing up on time.
Anything that worried her sister had a habit of showing up in a big way.
No sooner had he finished his thought when the police scanner frequency
suddenly erupted to life, "Hey I think we got somethin'!"

"Central, we've got a break and enter and possible hostage situation at the
Matsumi Military research base. Four boomers of unknown origin are
suspected of entering the base and killing at least a dozen security and base
personnel. They are still on the premises and are ignoring all contact to
negotiate for the release of the remaining personnel. Rooftop officers report
that all attempts to enter the building have been repelled by unknown heavy
weapons fire. Please send backup, I repeat please send backup!"

Linna and Nene stared at each other with open mouths, disbelieving what
they had just heard. Macky adjusted the scanning equipment trying to get a
better signal. Sylia continued looking out the window but cocked her head
as the reports of the break-in continued to flood in over the scanner. She
looked down at the street and the heavy traffic as it continued to flow
through the intersections, realizing that her wish to get the Knight Sabers
back into shape may be too late. Turning slowly to face the dazed and
expectant looks of her companions she began issuing instructions, the
immediacy of the situation just now solidifying, "Macky get the van
prepped. Linna see if you can locate Priss. Nene see if you can get a better
description of these 'unknown' boomers from someone on-scene. I'd like to
know more about what we may be dealing with." Nene's face brightened as
she sat down at the now vacant computer console and began her search. At
least we don't have to wait around any more, she thought.
Sylia watched the others worriedly, as they set about their tasks with
new energy. Turning once more to regard the view of the darkening city, she
had only one other immediate problem left to deal with. Where was Priss?

**********************************

Blackie stood in the open doorway of his apartment with his hand on
the light panel and stared at the sleeping form on his couch. Her voice was
still in his ears as he stood there, wishing she would wake but wanting her
to rest. He checked to make sure that the note he'd left on her pile of clothes
hadn't fallen on the floor and then closed the door quietly behind him.

Priss awoke to find the apartment dark and herself the only
occupant. Her head felt sore but the pain had subsided to a dull throbbing.
She fumbled about in the darkness and finally found the switch panel for the
lamp beside the couch. Cursing the soreness as she sat up, she noticed a
small piece of paper on top of her clothes. Leaning over slowly, she
snatched the note and read Blackie's surprisingly neat handwriting,

Priss,

Hope you're feeling better if you read this before I get back. Gone to get us
some dinner.
Blackie

She smiled to herself and folded the note in half. After tucking it
in her jacket pocket she turned on the tiny TV at the foot of the couch and sat
back gently. The sound of a TV news reporter speaking frantically to a live
camera shook her from her pleasant state. Priss stared in growing disbelief
as the camera panned around the parking lot of a large military building
revealing dozens of AD police vehicles and a few military vehicles as
well. Armed officers positioned themselves behind their vehicles, weapons
pointed at the building they had surrounded. Helicopters thundered
overhead. The reporter's voice suddenly broke through the noise of the tense
scene,

"So far we can tell you that there are four unknown suspects inside the
Matsumi Military research base who are holding approximately thirty two
people hostage. No demands have been made yet for their release. All
attempts by the police to move in and end the standoff have been repelled
by heavy weapons fire. Police spokespeople have told us that the suspects
could be boomers. . ."

Priss stood up and winced as her head protested the quick movement and
reached for the vidphone handset. She fumbled hastily with her jacket and
upon finding her telnet card, inserted it into the vidphones console and
dialled a number. As she put on her jacket, Nene's face appeared in the
viewer. She greeted her with a look of anxiety on her face, "Priss? Is that
you?! Are you okay?"
"Yeah Nene it's me and I'm fine. What the hell's going on at the military
base?"
Priss watched Nene turn and inform the others that it was Priss that
was calling. She heard Sylia's voice mutter something in the background
and then Nene came back into view, "Priss, it looks like Boomer trouble.
But nobodies really sure. Where are you?"
"I'm at a friend's place downtown. Can you meet me over at The Legs?
I've got to pick up my bike there."
Nene turned away from the viewer again and mumbled something to
someone behind her. She turned back abruptly and nodding vigorously said,
"Yes! It's on the way to the base. We'll meet you there in fifteen minutes."
Priss yanked her telnet card out of the vidphone's slot and grabbed her
helmet. She then picked up her gun and headed for the door, checking her
pockets for her keys. It was then that it struck her that her departure seemed
a little hasty. She looked around the room searching for something to write
with and upon finding a thermal-ink pen, on the back of Blackie's note she
scribbled,

Blackie,

Thanks for the tea. I'm feeling much better thanks to you but I had to go.
I have your number and I'll call you soon. I promise.

Priss

Priss walked gingerly to the door and then took one last look around
the room her gaze coming to rest on the tapestry by the window. As the
moonlight filtered through the dusty window pane and illuminated the wall
covering, she could see the ancient setting depicted on its surface. Taking a
second to absorb the beautiful scene amid the grey, shambles of the
apartment she smiled briefly to herself and then locked the door and closed
it behind her.

**********************************

Inside the Matsumi Military research facility, four tall, human
figures stood silently in the darkness of the unlit main hall. Standing in a
circle, each figure faced a side of the building, watching, listening and
waiting. Thirty-one frightened hostages lined the walls of the hall, sitting
wordlessly and staring at their strange captors. On the marble floor before
them ,lay the shattered body of the thirty-second hostage, an example of
what to expect if anyone tried to escape. The intruders had repelled several
attempts by the police and military to enter the complex and after each
successful defense they returned to the main hall to wait. As the police
tiptoed about on the roof, the four figures would communicate the changing
positions of their targets, calmly using a rapid series of sharp, high-pitched
clicks and whistles. The exchanges were brief and without debate. The
movement on the roof suddenly ceased and now they stood silently once
again. Waiting, listening and watching with softly glowing, blue eyes.

End Of Part 5
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BG Cross
askuse@execulink.com
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