Another Chance to be Free
     Priss awoke with a start.  The knock at the door echoed through her 
darkened apartment once more.  
     "Coming, hold on a sec," she shouted groggily as she sat up and 
flipped on the light.  She slipped out of bed and pulled a bathrobe on 
over her sleeping clothes.  She stumbled across the room and looked 
through the peephole.  Linna was standing outside.
     "Good morning, sleepyhead," Linna said with a smile as Priss opened 
the door.  
     "Yeah, whatever.  What'd you have to wake up me up so early for?" 
Priss grumbled.
     Linna's smile flickered for an instant.  
     "Don't you remember what today is?" she asked.
     "Yeah, it's Tuesday.  So what?" Priss replied.
     "It's your birthday, silly.  I just wanted to come wish you happy 
birthday and invite you to your birthday party over at Sylia's place at 
noon," Linna answered.
     "You could've called.  After I woke up," Priss complained.  "I'm 
not in the mood for a party.  There's nothing to celebrate," Priss 
continued.
     Linna's face fell.  "Come on, Priss.  Nene and I spent a lot of 
time preparing it for you, so did Mackey and Sylia.  Please," Linna 
begged.
     "I'm gonna go for a ride.  If I get back in time, maybe I'll show 
up," Priss responded.
     "Okay, hope to see you there," Linna sighed as the door closed in 
her face.

     As she put on her helmet, Priss considered again what had happened.  
She had lost one of the closest friends she had ever made.  Sylvie, the 
name raced through her brain as the roar of her motorcycle's engine 
reminded her of the S-33.  She could still see the sorrow and fear on 
the boomer, no the woman's face as the blast from Priss's cannon 
destroyed her.  Priss had killed her own friend.  As she flashed pass a 
limousine, another face popped into her mind.  Anri, she had failed 
Sylvie.  She had let Anri die.  The image of Anri, dying in her arms as 
Largo laughed coursed through her mind.  
     A startled driver swerved out of the way as the motorcycle raced 
pass.

     Sylia glanced at her watch and then nodded to the others in the 
room.

     Priss glanced down at her watch.  12:19.  <So much for the party> 
she thought to herself as she weaved her way through several crowded 
lanes of traffic.  She glanced down at her spedometer.  It read 165 kph.  
Then she glanced back up at the road in time to see another motorcycle 
flash past her.  She thought she recognized the colors but then decided 
it was only a coincidence.  
     The other vehicle maneuvered itself directly in front of Priss.  
Priss took this as challenge and pressed on the accelerator.  Her engine 
groaned in response and the spedometer slowly crept higher.  She swung 
out to the left of the other rider and gave the person a better look.  
Again, she could swear she had seen that bike and rider before and then 
it hit her.  That bike was exactly the same kind of bike that Sylvie 
rode and the riding suit was astonishingly similar to Sylvie's as well.  
It had to be a coincidence.  The other rider matched Priss's every move 
as the pair raced past a ADP patrol cruiser.  

     "Whoa, those two are speeding just a tiny bit, don't you think?" 
Daley asked.  Leon looked over.     
     "Perhaps.  We have better things to do," Leon replied.
     "Not really.  I mean, look at that.  They are going more than 
double the speed limit," Daley observed as he looked at the display.
     Leon sighed.  "Alright, fine.  Hold on," he said as he abruptly 
switched lanes and put on the flashers.  
     What little traffic there was on the road scattered as the 
cruiser's engine roared as it accelerated quickly to match the speed of 
the motorcycles ahead of it. 
     Daley started to call in the speeders when Leon waved him off.
     "Don't call in just yet.  I'm bored so let's have a little fun with 
these two," Leon said.

     The other rider was the first to see the approaching cruiser.  The 
rider waved at Priss and pointed backward.  Priss glanced over her 
shoulder and then pressed the gas even further.  Her spedometer crossed 
the 200 kph mark and she began to leave her companion behind.  The other 
rider quickly regained the pace however and the two bikes continued to 
ride parallel to each other as the cruiser continued to get closer.

     "These two are really booking.  We just passed two hundred," Daley 
said.  His knuckles were white from holding on to the arm rest as Leon 
swerved past another, slower vehicle.  
     "It's sure beats doing paper work.  Although, it is fun to hit on 
Nene," Leon observed as he watched the two motorcycles growing steadily 
in the windshield.  
     "I don't understand you, Leon.  How can you like something weak and 
soft like her.  What you need is something hard and firm," Daley said.
     "Too much resistance takes away all the fun," Leon responded with a 
smirk.  Daley chuckled as they approached within a thirty feet of the 
motorcycles.  
     Daley started to make another remark when his jaw dropped as the 
two bikes executed a perfect braking, spinning u-turn at the same time 
with a loud screech of tires.  
     He saw Leon smirk again as the rider on his right side waved as the 
two motorcycles flashed past them going in the opposite direction.       
"Hold on" was all the warning he got from Leon as Daley suddenly 
found himself plastered against the side of the cruiser.  The cruiser's 
tires squeeled and they both smelled burned rubber as Leon also executed 
a 'bout face.  Before Leon could step off the gas, both motorcycles had 
disappeared onto separate off ramps.  The oncoming traffic swerved every 
which way as Leon slowly turned the car around again and they resumed 
their course down the road.
     "I don't know if I should even bother to ask whether or not I 
should report this?" Daley asked.
     Leon gave him a look before turning back to his driving.

     Priss pulled up outside of the club where her band had last played.  
The fading 'Priss and the Replicants!' could still be seen spray-painted 
along one wall.  She walked up to the bar, sat down, and ordered a 
drink.  When it arrived, she hunched over it and sipped it quietly.  
     A couple minutes later, she heard someone sit down at the end of 
the bar.  In the dim light, she could barely see the person.  It was the 
same biker who had rode next to her.  The biker had not yet removed his 
or her helmet which Priss found odd.  Priss watched as the bartender 
walked over and spoke to the rider.  He nodded and then reached under 
the counter and pulled out a small cup.  He carried the cup over to the 
drink mixer and filled the cup with a red liquid.  Then, he brought it 
back over to the rider and then walked away.  As the rider's helmet came 
off, Priss turned back to her own drink.  
     After she took another sip, Priss looked back over at the other 
rider.  The helmet was now lying on the bar next to the rider.  Priss 
could not believe her eyes.  After she overcame the shock, she stood and 
walked deliberately over toward the rider.  The woman seemed completely 
oblivious to her presence and continued to face the wall.  
     "Excuse me," Priss said.  The woman turned around.  
     "Sylvie!  Is it really you?" Priss whispered as her voice struggled 
to overcome her shock.  Priss knew that she had not drunk more than 
three sips of her drink so she was not intoxicated but this was 
impossible.  Before her, sat the woman that she had killed with her own 
hands not a month before.
     Sylvie smiled and tears came to her eyes.  She stood and Priss 
continued to stare at her.
     "Sylvie, how?" she asked, her voice still a whisper.
     "Doctor Raven," Sylvie answered.  
     "I'm sorry, Sylvie.  Anri, she...she died.  There was nothing I 
could do to stop it," Priss's words suddenly flowed out in a jumble.  
"Largo had tricked her and she didn't realize it till it was too late.  
I tried to stop her but she saved my life.  She jumped in front of me 
and took the shots meant for me.  I'm so sorry I failed you," Priss 
continued as she burst into tears.  Sylvie hugged her and held her while 
she poured out her sorrows.
     "Priss, I forgive you.  But Anri's alive, too.  Dr. Raven repaired 
both of us," Sylvie said as she forced Priss to look at her.
     "Anri...is...alive?" Priss stuttered.
     "Yes, Priss.  She's waiting for us at Sylia's place," Sylvie 
answered.
     "But Sylvie, how is it possible for you to be alive.  I saw you 
die," Priss persisted.
     "I'll let Dr. Raven explain that," Sylvie answered.
     "I guess we'd better get going then," Priss said.

     Sylia heard the roar of engines and then the screech of tires.  
Then, she heard the slam of the front door as Nene ran in, breathless. 
     "They're here," she announced.
     Sylia smiled slightly as she heard the thump of biking boots on the 
stairs leading up to the Knight Saber's hideout and then Priss ran in. 
     "Happy Birthday!" everyone shouted as Priss skidded to a stop.  She 
glanced around and then saw Anri sitting shyly at the back.  She 
completely ignored everyone and headed straight for Anri.
     Again, she started to weep when Anri stood.  
     "Priss, don't.  There's no need to cry," Anri said as she laid hand 
on Priss's shoulder.  Priss looked up at her and then engulfed the S-33 
in an embrace.  Anri returned the embrace and her eyes met those of the 
entering Sylvie who had followed Priss up the stairs.  Sylvie smiled at 
Anri.
     Eventually, Priss broke the embrace and then she turned to the rest 
of her friends.  "I want to thank each and every one of you.  If it 
wasn't for you, I don't know where I'd be right now," she said.  
     The smiles that she saw in every one of the faces told her just how 
much her words had meant.
     "And now that our guest of honor has concluded her speech, let the 
festivities begin," Mackey declared in his best announcer's voice. 
Everyone laughed and then the party commenced.

     That evening, Priss, Anri, and Sylvie were all at Priss's 
apartment.  They were going to stay with her for the time being.  
     "So, we're all back together again.  I'll sleep out here and you 
two can have the beds," Priss said.
     "Priss, even if we are recently resurrected, we aren't going to 
force you out of your own bed," Sylvie responded.  
     "No, don't worry about it.  You have to let me do this.  If not 
because you two need your rest, than because I owe you everything," 
Priss said.
     "No, Priss.  You don't owe us anything.  We owe you everything 
because you'v given us another chance at freedom," Sylvie said.

This is just a quick fic I wrote.  Hope you Enjoy.  C&C is appreciated.

da drew-meista
kun_tow@hotmail.com
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com