Shards
A Story of Bubblegum Crisis
By Shehulk
Warning: The following story contains adult scenes between women. It also
contains scenes of non-consentual sex.
If you are not of a legal age or a liberal mind, then this is not the story for
you.
This takes place after Changes and I've now entitled the whole series 'BGC
Blues' making this part
BGC Blues 4 : Shards
Part 2
It was the clatter of the breakfast tray rolling past that woke Sylia. She
blinked at her surroundings and tried to remember how she had come to be there.
Dull pain throbbed through her head and Sylia raised a cautious hand to find a
wide strip of bandage wrapped around her head. < Taisei? >
= I’m here, Sylia. How are you feeling? =
“Confused. What happened?”
= Actually I’m not sure. Our memories are strangely jumbled and I can’t seem to
recall some very large patches of time. = Taisei reviewed the physical readings
that she had been taking for the last few hours. = I can tell you that some
kind of surgery was performed on you roughly ten hours ago. =
“Can you do anything to recover the lost memories?”
“You might not want to do that.” Nene spoke from the doorway. She carried a
large bouquet of roses and she set them on the table next to Sylia before
turning to study her. “You look better than the last time I saw you.”
Sylia had so many questions that she wasn’t sure where to begin. “What
happened?”
Nene sighed deeply and pulled up a chair. “I should have known it’d fall to me
to tell you. Remember that boomer fight a couple of weeks ago?” Sylia nodded.
“Well apparently when you got shocked and the nanos were knocked offline you
also thumped your head. When the nanos came back online, for some reason we
haven’t figured out yet, they didn’t detect the beginnings of a blood clot.”
Sylia raised her hand to her head again.
Nene nodded. “So it grew worse over time and began to effect your behavior
until we finally realized that something was wrong.”
“Why didn’t Taisei see it after it began to grow? And why am I in the hospital?
Couldn’t Taisei repair it?”
Nene shook her head. “Taisei was as effected by the hematoma as you were. We
didn’t have any other choice, but to bring you here.”
Sylia digested this and then asked, “Why wouldn’t I want to remember the last
few weeks?”
Nene felt like crying. How on earth was she supposed to tell her what she had
done? “You… weren’t yourself.”
Sylia didn’t like the way Nene was avoiding her eyes and suddenly she thought
of something. “Where’s Priss?”
Nene swallowed hard. “Uh, she’s at Mackie’s.”
“Mackie’s? Why?” The look on Nene’s face made Sylia tense. “I take it that
she’s not going to be coming to visit me?” The slight tremor in her voice
annoyed Sylia and she schooled her features into a mask, one that she had
unknowingly stopped wearing when she and Priss had started seeing each other.
“No. Probably not.”
< Taisei, find those memories and restore them. > Sylia had to know what she
had done. “Tell me Nene. I have to know. What happened between me and Priss?”
“Damn it, Sylia. I don’t know what happened exactly.” Sylia waited patiently
and Nene plunged on. “I only know how Priss was we found her.”
“Found her? Please Nene just tell me what happened.” Sylia was growing more
afraid with every passing moment that Nene hedged. “Is Priss all right?”
Nene looked Sylia in the eyes for the first time since entering the room and
Sylia was disturbed by what she saw there. “I don’t know. Physically, yes I
guess so. But up here,” She tapped her forehead. “I just don’t know.” She
looked back down at the floor. “You started to act very odd about a week ago.
You were forgetting stuff and you would blow up over anything no matter how
small. You started to hound Priss, not letting her go anywhere without you and
getting jealous for no reason. Anyway, a few days ago and you and Priss fought
rather violently.”
“I didn’t hurt her, did I?” Sylia was visibly upset at the thought and Nene
winced.
“No, not… not then.” Sylia felt her heart clench tightly and wanted to cry. “Go
on.”
“I’m not sure what happened after Linna and I left, but the next afternoon we
got a strange message from Arashi, just images really, but they were enough. We
got Mackie and broke into your apartment.” She didn’t mention the fact that
they had been armed and that the images were going to be in their nightmares
for a long time to come. Nor was she going to tell Sylia that she had tried to
kill them. If they kept making her be the bearer of news then she was going to
choose what she was bearing.
Sylia buried her face in her hands and murmured softly. “What happened?”
“We went into the apartment and found Priss in the bedroom…damn it Sylia, it
wasn’t you!! It wasn’t your fault!”
“Damn you Nene! Tell me what I did!”
Not wanting to say and knowing she must, Nene spoke harsher than she had
intended. “You raped her.”
Sylia could actually feel her soul tear at her words and she clutched at her
chest. No.
“She… she had been cut up pretty bad.” Sylia’s low moan made her pause and not
under pain of torture would Nene tell her how Priss had been cut or that Sylia
had taken her arm from her. “We untied her,” Another soft cry. Sylia was
rocking back and forth, tears streaming down her face as a silent litany ran
through her mind. No no no no no no no no.
Nene sat on the edge of the bed and gripped Sylia’s shoulders. “It wasn’t your
fault! You weren’t in control of your actions, Sylia!” Sylia looked at her
blankly. “I hurt her. I…oh god.”
“It wasn’t your fault!”
Sylia shook her off. “Tell that to Priss!”
Nene hesitated. = She might as well know it all, Nene. She’ll find out
eventually. = Seiki didn’t want to tell her anymore than Nene did, but
sometimes there was no choice. “I can’t tell her yet. She’s still unconscious.”
“What?” The word was barely audible, but Nene heard.
“You… drugged her. Arashi says that the exhaustion and long sleep is a normal
reaction to the drug. She should be awake in a few hours.” Which was why she
had to leave soon. She and Linna had decided that when Priss woke up she wasn’t
going to be alone.
Sylia laughed shortly, the sound like brittle glass. “And you think she’ll
forgive me?”
Nene couldn’t answer and Sylia resisted the urge to throw back her head and
scream from the pain that was ripping her apart. “How can I ever face her
again?”
Her whispered words brought Nene’s head up with a snap. “You face her with your
love. And with patience and right now, distance.” Sylia was shaking her head
and Nene scowled fiercely as she moved to the bed and perched on the edge.
“This isn’t about you right now. It’s about Priss. This is going to be the
worst thing that you’ve ever had to go through together, but you will get
through it because we’re going to help you both.” So saying she wrapped her
arms around Sylia and just held her.
****
Priss curled into the pillow and ignored the faint ache in her shoulder.
<’Rashi! Fix that, will you?> Having taken care of her immediate discomfort she
settled back into slumber, only to be roused again by the nagging sense that
something was wrong. She let herself drift back toward consciousness and
wondered what was bugging her. The pillowcase around her pillow had just been
laundered according to her scanners, but the faint trace of aftershave was
still present. Priss thought about that for a while. The chemical makeup
matched that of one she had picked up before and she realized that it was
Mackie’s. Priss opened one eye and stared at the unfamiliar navy colored
sheets. She opened the other eye and focused on the framed motorcycle poster
that hung over the bed. While part of her mind approved of his choice, another
was wondering what the hell she was doing in Mackie’s bed. Sylia would kill-.
The cold sweat that broke out over her skin made Priss begin to shiver, but she
was not aware of it. With the thought of Sylia, the floodgates of her memory
burst open and Priss knew that she was drowning.
Linna heard the strangled cry from Priss a second before the terrified young
woman bolted upright and struck out with her artificial arm. The energy saber
barely missed Linna as she ducked, but managed to graze Nene across her left
bicep. Priss froze at Nene’s cry of pain and stared at her blankly. Linna
stayed out of range as she moved into her line of vision. “Priss it’s okay!
It’s all right. You’re safe now. Priss?”
Nene awkwardly bandaged her arm and watched as Linna carefully approached
Priss. < Seiki? Remind me to be happy with my role as the team’s brain… often.
Seiki numbed the area around the small cut. = Will do. =
Priss was vaguely aware that Sylia was not in the room, just Nene and Linna.
The memories were still returning and she retracted the blade and hurled
herself into Linna’s arms. The sobs that escaped their usually hard mannered
friend were painful to hear and Nene joined them on the bed, wrapping her arms
around Priss as well, offering what comfort she could.
When her tears began to lessen, they could hear what she was whispering over
and over again. “Why? Why? Why?” Linna rocked her slowly and smoothed the hair
away from Priss’ face. “She was sick Priss. She wasn’t herself.”
Nene nodded, rubbing Priss’ back in long, firm strokes. “She was hurt when she
went through the wall. She didn’t know what she was doing.”
On some level deep within herself, Priss heard them. But she was nowhere near
ready to accept.
****
Pain filled every corner of her being and Priss thought that she might go mad
at any moment as Sylia continued to wield the blade on her. Blood covered her
skin and soaked into the sheets. The metallic sting filled Priss’ nostrils and
she felt her stomach turn. It was the smile that was the worst. That happy
little grin as she carved one word over and over into Priss’ flesh. She chanted
it in rhythm as she worked, almost singing. “Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
Mine.” Priss screamed at her to shut up and Sylia paused long enough slap her.
“That’s not what you’re supposed to say, Priss. You belong to me.” She waited
expectantly and Priss spit at her. Sylia laid the blade against her face and
moved it swiftly. “You ARE mine!” Priss cried out as the blade continued to
slice into her. Sylia was growing frustrated by her resistance and dropped the
blade down to Priss’ shoulder. She pushed the tip into her flesh, just under
the collarbone and twisted. “You belong to me!” Priss screamed, “YES! Stop!
Please stop! Please!” Sylia withdrew the blade and smiled down at her. “Now was
that so difficult?” She brushed the hair back from her face and Priss shrank
away with a whimper. “Shhh.” Sylia pressed a bloody finger to Priss’ lips. “I
don’t want to hurt you, Priss. But you have to stop fighting me. Now tell me
again.” Priss felt part of herself break away as she surrendered. “Yours. I-I’m
yours.” Her words were the barest whisper, but Sylia was satisfied. She rested
the blade against Priss’ already bloody stomach. Sylia frowned at the sob that
escaped Priss as she admired her work. “Lovely. Now we can play.” She sheathed
the sword and Priss had a single moment to feel relief before Sylia shattered
it, holding the weapon aloft. “You’ll never guess what else I can do with
this.”
Priss screamed again.
And woke up screaming as the nightmare continued to play in her mind. Priss
clamped her hand over her mouth and held her cries down to whimpers as the
dream faded. Forcing herself to take deep breaths, Priss gradually regained
control. The red glare of the clock beside her bed told her that she’d be
greeting the dawn soon, but that did little to comfort her.
Linna and Nene had protested her returning to her trailer alone, but Priss had
been adamant. She needed to get away and it wasn’t like she was really alone.
Arashi could contact them in an emergency, but she needed some space from
everybody.
Priss climbed out of bed and into the shower, letting the water pound away the
last remnants of the nightmare. At that moment, she missed Sylia fiercely,
longing to have her wrap her arms around Priss and comfort her. She had come to
rely on Sylia being there when her fears chased her in the night and now that
wasn’t possible. If there were tears mixed with the water swirling down the
drain then no one knew it but her. And Arashi.
< Arashi? >
= Yes, Priss? = Arashi had shared Priss’ nightmare, but had been unable to stop
it. She wished that there were something more she could do.
< Could you talk to Seiki without letting Nene know? > Priss wasn’t sure why
she didn’t want anyone to know that she was finally asking about Sylia. < See
how Sylia’s doing? >
= Of course. = Arashi contacted Seiki and let Priss hear them. = How is Sylia?
=
= She came through the surgery fine and went home yesterday. Taisei had to slow
down her healing until she was released so that no one would suspect anything.
But she says that after they got home she was back to normal in a few hours. =
< Has…has she asked…? > Priss wasn’t sure she wanted to know but Seiki answered
her anyway.
= Nene told her everything that she knew. =
Priss rested her head against the cool tile. < Oh. >
= Sylia was horrified at what she had done, of course. I think that’s she’s
also terrified. =
Priss straightened. < Terrified? Of what? >
= That she’s irrevocably separated you two. From what I’ve heard from Taisei,
she’s sure that you’ll never want to see her again. =
Priss stepped from the shower and reached for a towel. <She might be right. >
Arashi wasn’t pleased. =Priss, I know you’re frightened and with good reason.
But remember, the person who hurt you is gone. Sylia, the true Sylia willingly
die before she would hurt you. =
< Logically I know that’s true, but emotionally…the thought of seeing her again
scares me silly. >
To that there was nothing Arashi could say.
****
Sylia sat on the couch in her living room and stared at the bedroom door. She
had been home for two days now and she had yet to set foot across the
threshold. This morning she had managed to open the door but she had quickly
slammed it shut as soon as she saw Priss’ boots tossed into the corner. So now
she sat, knowing that she would be sleeping on the couch again. Knowing that
she was a coward. Sylia knew that she could sleep in the guest room, but it
seemed too easy an answer and she was aware that she was looking for ways, no
matter how small, to punish herself.
= Aren’t you being a little hard on yourself? = The low murmur of Taisei’s
words smoothed over Sylia’s raw nerves and she shook her head in response.
= You need to get through this and face the more important issue here; Priss’
well being. =
“I hardly think that I’m going to be much help in that area. Besides I don’t
think that she’ll consider it my concern now.”
Taisei thought about that for a moment. When she did reply she was terse. =That
is the stupidest thing I’ve every heard you say. Unless I’m in the wrong body,
you’re still in love with Priss, which makes her health and happiness very much
your concern. And it works both ways. I seriously doubt that Priss wants you to
punish yourself in this manner. =
Sylia ignored this and went to the small desk in the corner and punched in the
number for the decorators that she had used in the redesign of the Silky Doll.
“Hello Hitomi? I was wondering if you might be interested in a small job.”
****
Music pounded through Priss’ chest and she gripped the microphone like it was a
lifeline. Never had she needed the charge that she got from performing more.
She was disturbed to find that she had to force images out of her mind as she
sang. They slipped into her consciousness now whenever she let her mind wander
and Priss struggled to ignore them.
After her last set, Priss left the stage, changed and went to the bar instead
of taking off like she usually did. Tonight she didn’t want to go home and
killing a few hours here would help prolong that. She ignored a come on from
the guy seated next to her and ordered a straight whiskey. He left in search of
more willing prey. She told the bartender to leave the bottle and began the
slow process of getting drunk. Priss didn’t really enjoy getting drunk, mainly
because it took so much to do it. She could and would down this entire bottle
of whiskey, but would still be sober. The number of bottles it would take to
get truly drunk wasn’t worth the expense and so Priss usually didn’t bother
trying to drink to excess.
But tonight she’d drink everything they had in stock if that’s what it took to
be able to forget for a while. She poured another shot and downed it without a
flicker of reaction. The bartender let her go, knowing how much it took to make
her drunk and just smiled as she refilled her glass.
The crowd hadn’t thinned much, even though the music now came from a jukebox
instead of the stage and Priss was just another body in the mass and very happy
to be so. It had been a week since Sylia’s surgery. Priss promptly shoved the
thought into the back of her mind and lifted her glass again.
= Do you have any idea how much extra work you’re making for me? = Arashi was
teasing, but Priss simply ignored her. = Your liver is going to hate you in the
morning. =
“Shut up.” The bartender looked up from wiping the counter to see whom she was
talking to. There was no one sitting near her and she was staring into the
mirror behind the bar. He shrugged and moved away to fill someone’s glass.
= People are going to think you’re loopy if you keep that up. =
< I don’t care. >
= Hmmph. You will when-oh hell. = Arashi broke off as a familiar presence
entered the club.
< What is it? > Arashi was saved having to answer when Sylia appeared in the
mirror behind Priss. The shot glass skittered across the bar and crashed to the
floor on the other side. Priss felt the blood drain from her face and if she
had been looking she would have been surprised at how ghostly she appeared in
that moment.
Sylia met her shadow-filled eyes and wanted to turn around and run as fast as
she could. Instead, she slid onto the stool next to Priss and tried not to let
it hurt too much when she flinched. The bartender brought Priss another glass
and asked Sylia what she wanted. Sylia ordered a glass of white wine and
watched Priss in the mirror.
They sat in silence for a time, neither wanting to be the first to speak. Sylia
sipped from her glass and glanced at Priss in the mirror. Priss was staring at
her as if she was trying to read her soul and Sylia wished that she could. “I
miss you.” The words fell unbidden from Priss lips and she wished she could
call them back. She watched the tears well in Sylia’s eyes at her words.
Sylia dashed them away with a quick hand. “I miss you, too.”
Silence descended again and they continued to watch each other in the mirror.
It was easier somehow, to see Sylia like this. As if the glass filtered some of
the fear. “How are you?”
“I’m better. I feel a little disconnected, but I’m better.” Sylia wanted to ask
how Priss was, but was afraid of the answer. “I… I’m sorry, Priss.”
Priss made a sharp motion with her hand. “It wasn’t your fault.” But she would
only look at Sylia in the mirror.
“Logically I know that, but…”
Priss made a harsh sound deep in her throat. “It wasn’t your fault, Sylia. I
know that, I accept that.” Sort of. “You should too.”
Sylia shook her head. “How can I when we’re like this?” She waved at the
mirror. “How can I when it’s driving us apart?” She put her hand on Priss
shoulder without thinking and was unprepared for her reaction.
Priss leapt away from her, knocking the stool over and staring at Sylia with
frightened eyes. She was breathing heavily and the fear that radiated from her
twist like a knife in Sylia’s gut. Priss forced herself to calm down. She threw
a few crumpled bills onto the bar and spoke softly. “I do love you, you know.”
She turned to leave and spoke over her shoulder. “I just can’t make myself
trust you again. Not yet.”
Sylia watched her walked out of the club and out of her life.
****
Priss saw the neon sign and tapped the cab driver. “Pull over here.” She paid
him and stepped onto the sidewalk, ignoring the slight way that the world was
wobbling. She had finally managed to consume enough alcohol to effect her and
had left her bike at the last bar she had gone to.
Arashi had continued to grumble about the damage she was doing to her brain
cells, but had let Priss go, knowing that to argue would be useless. As Priss
stared at the collection of pictures taped to the business’s window, Arashi
tried to talk some sense into her. = Do you really think this is a good idea? =
< Sure is. See that? It’s perfect. I think that clearly defines my whole
situation, don’t you? >
= Priss, you’re drunk. Clear is the last thing that could be used to describe
anything about you right now. =
She snorted and tapped the glass. “Nope. That’s it, Arashi.” Priss opened the
door and stepped inside.
****
In the next few weeks, Sylia under went a dramatic change in behavior. She
began to aggressively and methodically acquire companies, foregoing her usual
caution. She dismantled business and split their assets between her more solid
companies, restructuring them each time so that they would become a stronger
competitor with Genom. She made reckless decisions and was forced to move
quickly to repair the damage. On two occasions she actually had to break into
some smaller Genom subsidiaries and remove data that might trace back to her.
But that was minor in comparison to the Knight Saber side of business. She
began to take jobs and ran them solo, save for Mackie who she would only let
drive the van. Any job that came up was taken, regardless of the risk and most
of the times because of it. She was driving herself hard and Taisei was working
franticly to keep her from crashing.
In desperation, Taisei contacted Priss. =I need your help. =
Priss continued to work on her bike and ignored the intruder. The tip of the
cigarette hanging from her lips flared brightly as she inhaled and Taisei
questioned Arashi privately. = When did that start? =
= The night Sylia came to the club. = Arashi had argued, nagged and pleaded
with Priss to not pick up her old habit again, but had to admit that the minor
addiction calmed Priss’ nerves greatly. She’d stopped jumping at shadows and
had even had a few dreamless nights of sleep. = I’m hoping she’ll let it go
when she doesn’t need it anymore. =
= Sylia’s trying to kill herself = Priss shrugged. Linna and Nene had already
told her what was happening with Sylia. She was still trying to decide how she
felt about it.
= Don’t you care? = Taisei understood that Priss was upset, but surely she
still cared enough to be interested?
Priss stopped and thought about her question. Did she? Maybe deep within the
ice that was protecting her she might still feel something. In truth, she’d
been afraid to look. Because if she did… if she did then she would have to see
Sylia again and she didn’t feel ready for that yet.
Taisei tried for a while longer and then gave up. Whatever happened to Sylia,
Priss seemed indifferent.
****
Sylia sat in the kitchen drinking her morning coffee and trying to muster up
enough energy to go to work. A sliced bagel lay open and untouched in front of
her but that was as far as she had gotten in the way of breakfast. Watching
Priss walk away, that night was probably one of the most painful things that
she’d ever felt, but now she felt nothing. The absence of emotion seemed to be
complete, as she didn’t seem to care about anything, feel about anything. It
was probably something she should be concerned about but she wasn’t. Sylia
wondered if she had died inside and was now only breathing because of the
nanos. She supposed that they’d tell her if she were dead.
She heard the electronic page from the next room and sighed. Maybe it would be
another job. She cheered a little at the thought and even managed a smile as
she saw the coded message from her Genom mole. She accepted the link and saw
with amusement that the screen was nothing but static. “You’re paranoid. You
can’t be traced through this link and you know it.”
“Aye, you’re probably right, but I’m not one for taking chances.” The softly
accented voice was distorted slightly, but Sylia didn’t have the heart to tell
her that she needed to hide her way of speaking more than the sound. “I wish I
could say the same for you. Have you gone daft? There’s a hornet’s nest
stirring through Genom right now and you don’t look too innocent standing there
holding the stick!”
“Don’t worry. Things are calming down now. The acquisitions are over for the
moment and in a few weeks Genom will wonder what all the fuss was over.”
“You’re not listening to me girl. Quincy’s got his dander up! He’s got orders
out to find the buyers who’ve been snapping up Genom’s leftovers. I’ve been
blowing smoke, but I’m running out of it.”
Sylia rubbed her forehead and cursed silently. To go off on a tangent that put
herself in danger was one thing. To endanger her contacts was another. “I’m
sorry. I’ll get started on covering my tracks better. Do you want to pull out,
just in case?”
There was a brief silence and Sylia was afraid that she had hung up. Finally,
she answered. “Now there’s a daffy thing to suggest! We aren’t finished yet,
are we?” With that, she terminated the link.
Sylia stared at the blank screen and wondered when this… she searched for a
word before settling on the truth, this pain would leave her. She got to her
feet and went to repair the damage that she had done.
****
Linna had thought that Nene was asleep the first time she found her. Eyes
closed, hands folded across her stomach, she had looked utterly peaceful and
Linna had been hesitant to wake her. She had knelt beside her chair and
touched Nene’s arm. “Nene? Time to wake up.”
Nene had been flying through the system, tracing strand after strand, searching
for the shadow that she had seen. She heard Linna and bit back a groan. Nene
didn’t break the link, but spoke to Linna. “I’m not asleep Linna. I want to
check a few more data strands and then I’ll stop, okay?”
Not quite knowing how to respond, Linna had agreed and sat down on the chair
opposite to Nene. She looked at the blank screen of Nene’s computer and back to
her lover. She was doing this without a computer. Seiki must be directly
linking her to the system. < Is that dangerous? >
= I don’t think so. But then I don’t think this has ever been done before. =
Inji asked Seiki who seemed unconcerned.
= We’re just playing, Inji. I won’t let her get into trouble. =
Linna had waited for two hours. Then she had demanded that Nene break her
connection. They had had their first real fight that night and Linna had been
disturbed by Nene’s fierce defense of what she was doing.
“It’s completely safe, Linna and I’m not going to stop!” She’d tossed her hair
back and glared up at the taller woman who had been at a loss as how to deal
with her. They had wound up not speaking to each other the rest of the night.
Linna shut the door behind her and leaned back against it, wishing that the
trembling in her limbs would go away. She saw that Nene was surfing again and
felt a surge of anger. Linna strode across the room and yanked Nene up from her
chair. “Damn it Nene! Come back to me!”
Nene was been furious at the interruption as she had finally found one of the
dark strands and had been in the process of tracing it back. “Linna! Why did
you do that?!”
“Because I wanted to speak to you, not the God Damn System!” Linna released her
hold on Nene, knowing that she was too angry to be that close to her. She
stepped away and turned back to face her lover. “I don’t like this, Nene. You
spend too much time in that place. I’m afraid that you’re losing track of
reality.”
Nene shook her head quickly. “Come on, Linna! That’s crazy! I know the
difference between cyberspace and reality.”
“Oh really? Then tell me, when was the last time we made love?” Her voice was
low, but Nene could still hear the pain threaded through it.
She scrambled to recall, but to her embarrassment, she couldn’t. Linna watched
her face closely, her suspicions confirmed. “You see? You’ve been living in
there,” she waved at the computer. “Not out here. I need you out here, Nene.”
“You don’t need me. You’re too busy making money and wining and dining your
clients. When was the last time that you took me out to dinner?” It was Linna’s
turn to flush. She had been meeting clients more and more for after hour
business meetings, but the sudden rise in her production had caused problems…
big ones. Linna remembered why she had been so upset when she’d gotten home and
looked at Nene helplessly. “Nene, I’ve been fired.”
Nene blinked and stared at her in confusion. “What? Why? You’ve been making
money hand over fist, why would they fire you?”
Linna sank onto the couch and buried her face in her hands. “Because I’ve been
making money hand over fist. No one has a three hundred percent increase in
production that quickly without something nefarious going on. They audited my
accounts, both personal and business, but they couldn’t find anything wrong.
That didn’t convince them that I wasn’t doing something illegal though and they
said that they couldn’t take the chance. So I was laid off.” She straightened
and glanced at Nene. “I suppose I’m lucky that they didn’t have me arrested for
insider trading.”
Nene sat down beside Linna and hugged her fiercely. “Screw them!” That startled
a laugh from Linna and she kissed the top of Nene’s head. Nene grinned up at
her. “You can just get a job somewhere else, or better yet, go into business
for yourself.”
Linna had considered these options on the drive home, but she knew that it
would be impossible. This kind of thing left a taint that would follow her and
she knew that her time as a broker was over. “No. I think that I’ll take a
vacation before I decide on what to do next. I might just decide to retire and
make money for myself.” She buried her face in Nene’s hair and inhaled deeply.
The familiar desire swirled to life and she pressed her lips against Nene’s
throat, her hands sliding down to grip her waist and pull her closer. Linna let
her teeth scrap along the skin of Nene’s neck, waiting for the shiver that she
always gave at that particular caress. It never came. Linna pulled back and was
stunned to see Nene staring blankly at the wall behind them. “Nene!” She had
linked to the system again. Linna felt incredibly hurt and she shook Nene
forcefully.
Nene returned and scowled at her. “Stop it, Linna! I was just-.”
“Just pushing me aside when I needed you.” She held up a hand to stop Nene’s
protests. “I don’t care, Nene. You… you hurt me. I think I better find
somewhere else to stay tonight.” She went into the bedroom and began to throw
some things into an overnight bag.
Nene followed her. “Linna I was only trying to see what the company files said
about you. I thought that maybe I could do something.”
Linna shook her head. “That’s not the point Nene. I don’t care what your
intentions were. I was kissing you and you left me to climb back into that
virtual playground of yours.” She could feel the press of tears behind her eyes
and refused to give in to them. “I had been wondering where we stood lately and
I guess now I know.”
Nene was flabbergasted. “Linna!”
“I won’t play second fiddle to an invisible world, Nene and you shouldn’t ask
me to.” She zipped the bag closed and brushed past Nene. “I’ll be back
tomorrow, but if you’re linked then I’m going away again and this time I won’t
come back.” She opened the door and turned to stare at Nene. “Choose Nene,
because I don’t share.”
“Who asked you to? Linna you can’t just leave. We need to talk.”
“I can’t right now. We wouldn’t be talking we’d be arguing.”
“That’s better than you leaving! Please, Linna. Stay here. Or better yet, we’ll
go out and have dinner and talk.”
Linna closed her eyes and gripped her bag tightly. “Nene, this is the most
selfish thing I’ve ever done, but I am going to do it. For once I am not going
to give in to someone else’s wishes, I’m going to do what I want to do. And I
want to leave this apartment, slamming the door behind me, and go somewhere to
think. I’m sorry.” She turned and Nene watched the door slam with a chilling
finality.
****
It had taken Sylia the rest of the day and into of the night to hide her
financial transactions so that they could not be found by Genom. As the clock
in the corner chimed midnight, Sylia decided to call it a night. She leaned
back in her chair and closed her eyes. Sylia couldn’t remember when she had
been this tired last and she hoped that she wouldn’t dream tonight. She was
about to shut off her screen when the message light blinked. < Almost made it
out. > She answered it reluctantly.
The pale and haggard face of Fargo peered out at her and Sylia bit back a smile
as he waved a little. “Got something you might be interested in. Seems that
Genom’s in a buzz about the possibility of an actual competitor out there
somewhere and is worried about some of their more secret stuff falling into the
wrong hands. They’re moving the Delta Complex to a new location.”
Sylia straightened in her chair, all traces of fatigue forgotten as she grasped
the implications of this move. The Delta Complex housed the most advanced
research data that Genom possessed. Incredibly protected and deep within the
earth, its security was something that Sylia had been trying to find away
around for years. If they could destroy it…
“When?”
“In about half an hour.”
“What?! A little more notice would have been nice, Fargo.”
Fargo shrugged, unconcerned. “You knew when I knew. Can’t help that. He winked
off screen and Sylia immediately buzzed Mackie.
****
Priss opened the door of her trailer and looked at Linna blankly. Linna stepped
forward and Priss had the choice of being knocked down or allowing her to
enter. Her curiosity was enough that she stepped back and watched Linna deposit
a grocery bag on her kitchen table. She pulled out two six packs of beer and
glared defiantly at her. Priss’ eyebrows rose and she shut the door. “Did I
miss something?”
Linna popped the top on a can of beer and took a long swallow. She lowered the
can and Priss could see the over bright and pain-filled eyes. “Oh hell.” Priss
grabbed a can and motioned to the bed. “Sit down and tell Priss all about it.
I’m guessing that you and Nene have had a spat?”
Linna curled up on the foot of the bed and proceeded to spill her guts in a
long lamenting ramble. There was humor in this situation, Priss thought as her
friend tearfully explained what had happened. She just hadn’t found it yet.
Priss emptied her can and crushed it absently between the fingers of her
cybernetic hand.
Linna watched the metal yield to her manipulations and it soon formed a small,
compact ball. The ball arched cleanly across the room and sank into the
recycling bin with a clatter as it met others of its kind. “Geez, Priss. Show
off why don’t you?” Priss retrieved two more beers and ignored her comment. “So
you’re afraid that Nene’s addicted to system surfing and you’ve been
fired…right so far?” Linna nodded.
Priss watched Linna finish her first beer and took the can from her before she
could attempt to throw it. She was already slurring her S’s and Priss knew from
past experience that Linna had a half a beer limit. But if you can’t get drunk
when you’re hurting, when can you? Priss refused to look at her own problems in
that light and focused on Linna. Better to let her have her night of excess
under a watchful eye rather than by herself or in a bar somewhere. God only
knows where she’d wind up. Linna was looking at her expectantly and Priss
wondered what she had missed.
= She asked you what you think she should do. = Arashi had no face, had no
body, but Priss knew in that moment she was smirking. < Thanks. >
Priss took another sip of beer and frowned as Linna threw her head back and
polished hers of in a quick series of gulps. Oh shit. “Well to be honest Linna,
hasn’t Nene always been addicted to surfing? I mean, this isn’t the first time
I’ve heard you complain about this, only the method has changed. As to your
job, well hell, you’ve been everything from a dancer to an aerobics instructor
to a broker, what’s one more switch?”
Somewhere in the alcohol-induced fog of her mind, Linna heard what she was
saying and understood. It made perfect sense really and suddenly she didn’t
feel as bad as she had when she’d first arrived. “You’re right, Prish! Shheez
jussht Nene! Alwayshz hashz been alwayshz will be. And I can get another job!
If I want one. I don’t know that I want one, Prish. Do I have to?”
Priss shook her head, trying not to laugh as her calm teammate spiraled into a
perfect drunken state. “No, you don’t have to, Linna but you do like to shop
and I understand that that takes money.”
Linna grew excited at that and climbed further up the bed, closer to Priss.
“Can I tell you shomtheing?” She didn’t give Priss and chance to answer. “I
have money, loshtz of money. I mean l o t s.” She made a concerted effort to
say it correctly. “Ingee fixed me right up! I shee the money now, Prish.
Lovely, lovely money.” She fell forward on to her face next to Priss, who
sighed with relief. It was short lived, though as Linna rolled over and looked
up at her with wide eyes. “You’re lovely, Prish.”
Linna reached up and grabbed the front of Priss’ shirt, hauling her down and
locking her lips against Priss’. Shock kept Priss frozen and it was the hand
that tried to climb under her shirt that jolted her into action. Priss jerked
her mouth away from Linna’s and stumbled back off of the bed. Breathing as if
she had run a marathon, Priss watched in disbelief as Linna rolled on to her
side and issued a soft snore. “Shit.”
= Disappointed? = Arashi was being snide and Priss once again wished she could
find a way to strangle the collective. = Not possible, I’m afraid. What are
you going to do with her? =
< Get me Inji. >
Inji was remarkably sober and Priss was immediately suspicious. < I thought
that you guys were affected when something altered our personalities. Why
aren’t you drunk? >
= Because all of the collectives have taken steps to insure that doesn’t happen
again. We’ve each built a small series of logic chips within our hosts that
contain our personalities and will give us the ability to function in case our
host is impaired in any way. =
Priss fumed silently as she considered the implications of this, but after
looking at it from all sides, she realized that it was something that needed to
be done. Damn. < So what’s the story with Nene? >
Inji sighed, or at least the nanobots version of sighing. = Seiki has been
encouraging her to explore the system more than she would usually and Nene has
been listening. I’ve been discussing it with her and she’s promised not to lead
Nene astray again. =
= It wasn’t astray, just a little out of bounds. = Seiki wasn’t repentant in
the least and Priss scowled. < Well your ‘out of bounds’ just caused both Nene
and Linna a great deal of pain. >
Seiki was silent and Priss wondered why she could feel Seiki’s remorse.
= Another safe guard. In the event that one of the enclaves is… inoperable,
another can step in and organize things until they return. To do this we
established a limited, permanent connection. =
Priss resisted the urge to scream. < Didn’t it occur to you to ask first? >
= You would have refused. = Arashi answered calmly as if it made perfect sense.
Priss was about to reply when Taisei interrupted.
= Sylia would like to speak to everyone, including the hosts. Is that
acceptable? =
Priss stiffened and looked at Linna. < Sure, but Linna’s out of it. >
Inji spoke up. = I can take care of that. =
Seiki announced that Nene was here, so to speak and suddenly her voice rang in
Priss’ mind. <What’s Linna doing in your bed, Priss? >
Priss took exception to her tone. < Why do care? Is the system down? Looking
for a little diversion in between rides? > Nene’s hurt was a tangible thing and
Priss immediately felt bad. <You know damn well that I can barely stand to have
anyone touch me now, so cool your jets and apologize to Linna when she sobers
up! >
The abrupt silence was deafening and suddenly Priss knew that Sylia had heard
her.
Linna got off the bed and waved to Priss on her way out the door. “I’ll see you
there, Priss.”
Priss realized that she couldn’t hear what the others had said and she yelled
for Arashi, unexpectedly afraid of the absence of sound. “Arashi!”
= Yes, Priss? =
< Don’t yes me, damn it. What did Sylia want? >
= She said not to bother you with it. =
< Arashi. > The threat was evident and Arashi humored her by pretending to give
in even though she had been going to tell her any way.
= The Delta Complex is being moved and Sylia’s going to attack it in transit. =
Priss felt the familiar excitement heat her blood as she pictured the battle
that would occur. “When?”
= In fifteen minutes. = Priss cursed and grabbed her motorcycle helmet on her
way out the door.
****
Linna helped Sylia drag the large crate on board, wishing that her head didn’t
pound with every step. Nene followed, carrying two impulse cannons and trying
not to laugh at Linna’s obvious discomfort. Mackie helped them secure the crate
of ammunition and then went to load the motoslaves. He paused in the hatchway
and looked back at Sylia. “Should I load Priss’ bike as well?”
Sylia ignored the questioning looks that the others sent her and set the
cannons into their rack. “No.” Mackie hesitated like he wanted to say
something, but the emotionless expression on her face stopped him.
Linna was baffled. “What could be the final showdown with Genom and Priss isn’t
coming? I can’t believe it.”
“No kidding. I thought she had already gone ahead. Why wouldn’t she come,
Sylia?” Nene set her helmet on her seat.
“I didn’t ask her to.”
Nene froze and stared at her in disbelief. Linna was incredulous. “You what?
Sylia that’s crazy! Priss is our strongest fighter! How are we supposed to do
this without her?”
“You’re not.” They all turned to see Priss standing in the hatchway. She was in
her armor, her helmet tucked under her arm and a cigarette between her lips.
Nene and Linna were so glad to see her that they cheered, but Sylia had focused
on the cigarette and was adding another sin that had resulted from her actions.
Priss stepped aside to allow Mackie room to wheel Sylia’s bike in and smiled at
his excited grin. “Don’t forget mine while you’re at it, Ace.”
“You got it, Priss!” He whistled his way back to the hanger and Priss’ smile
lasted until he had gone. It slowly died as she glanced at Sylia. “Sorry to
gate crash, but you know how I love a good free-for-all.”
Sylia nodded and then resumed loading weapons. “I assume that Arashi briefed
you?”
So, we’re going to play it polite and distant. Okay, that works. “Yeah. Sounds
like you flushed your quarry with your little buying spree.” If there was an
edge in her voice, it was one that only she and Sylia heard.
Nene laughed. “You bet she did! I’ve never seen so many simultaneous search
strands from Genom to the web!”
Sylia halted her trip to the hanger and spun around on her heal to stare at
Nene in suspicion. “Search strands?”
Nene felt herself flush. “Uh…” She sent a panicked plea for help to Linna, who
merely shrugged. < Well she was going to find out anyway. > Nene nodded
reluctantly as Mackie brought in Priss’ bike. “Okay, I guess I’m caught.
Seiki’s been linking me directly into the system.” Mackie sent her a reassuring
smile as he ducked into the cockpit. Priss ignored them and checked her bike.
Sylia knew exactly what she was talking about. It had been something that she
had wanted to attempt, but hadn’t had a chance. “I see. Well that should make
this a little easier then. Nene, see what you can do about scrambling the
guard’s command codes, turn them against each other if you can.” It probably
wouldn’t work, but it might distract them for a few precious moments.
Linna gritted her teeth at the request and didn’t look at Nene.
Eyes narrowed, Priss watched Sylia check the seals on her armor and motion to
the others that they were ready to go. Priss wondered if Sylia realized that
she had forgotten to check her bike’s status. She knelt beside Sylia’s
motoslave and began a thorough check of its systems. Sylia flushed as she saw
what Priss was doing. She resisted the urge to kneel beside Priss and help as
she had so many times in the past. Priss had made it pretty clear that she
didn’t want Sylia near her. Instead, she stepped into the cockpit and told
Mackie to launch. Taisei was supportive. = She needs time, Sylia. = Sylia heard
her, but didn’t respond.
The quick flash of flame caught her attention and she saw Priss’ features
bathed in the glow of her lighter as she lit another cigarette. The flame
winked out and Sylia blinked at the shadow that seemed to fall over Priss’
face. She shivered as a weird sense of foreboding gripped her. “Nene? Can you
check the Genom system? See if anything seems out of place?” Nene nodded and
leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. Sylia realized that she was
connecting to the system and briefly wondered what it was like.
Linna shut the lid of the ammo crate with more force than necessary, making
Nene jump, who blushed at Linna’s glare and held up her hands in a ‘what can I
do gesture.’ Priss had been startled by the sound as well, but she recovered
quickly, drawing on her cigarette and letting the soothing bite of the nicotine
flood her system. Sylia had seen her reaction and cursed herself again.
Linna almost wished she had a knife so she could test the old saying ‘tension
so thick you could cut it’. She stole covert glances at Priss and Sylia,
wishing that she could just snap her fingers and everything return to the way
it was. = An interesting idea. = Inji was feeling the same sense of
unsettlement that Linna was. Arashi had recovered from the ordeal, but she
seemed quiet, even for her. Taisei had practically become a recluse and she
speculated that it was in response to Sylia’s own sense of self-exile.
Nene checked the data flowing in and out of Genom carefully, not wanting to
trip any security measures. She had yet to do so, but Seiki had warned her that
it could be dangerous if she did. Everything seemed fine, but she ran the
checks again just to be sure. She ignored the fact that Linna was glaring at
her and resisted the urge to stay linked. She broke the link and looked at
Sylia. “There’s a lot of activity, but considering what’s happening tonight,
it’s no more than I would expect to see.”
Sylia nodded and turned to the screen that illuminated the far wall. Several
targets were marked and she laid out the plan for tonight’s raid.
****
In the outskirts of MegaTokyo lived the lost souls that the city had claimed.
They were the homeless and the forgotten, the drug addicts and the cyber
junkies. Society’s cast offs, left to die in the cold shadows of the city that
loomed over them like a shroud. Business was conducted at the point of a knife
or the end of a club, and witnessed by the predators around them. A look could
get you killed and a question would get you killed faster. In a bizarre way,
this misplaced corner had been the perfect place to hide Genom’s most secret
research facility. Even if someone had suspected it was the there, they rarely
lived long enough to get to the apparently abandoned building that housed the
Delta Complex.
The actual complex was extended some thirty stories underground and spread out
under the city for over three miles. When the second great earthquake had
struck, no one comprehended the fact that it had been caused by the massive
underground excavation required to build the facility. It had taken over three
thousand boomers almost ten years to build the site and now they were going to
try and move it all in one day.
Not the building itself, but the massive amounts of equipment and research that
was now feared to be in danger. If the plan went accordingly then everything
would be relocated on their moon base by midnight tomorrow.
But Sylia Stingray had other plans.
****
In the continual twilight of cyberspace, It waited. Time had little meaning to
It now and if it had thought about it, It might have regretted the loss of
that. Once It had lived by the passage of time, had toiled by it and had
strived to outrun it, but in the end, its time had run out. Reborn into this
world It had struggled to survive and to learn, always to learn, because in the
last echoes of what it had been It knew that there was power in knowledge.
The multicolored strands that swept through the system would have once been
considered beautiful, but now they were nothing more than a means to an end.
And the end was coming. It could feel it. When the bright one had first
appeared It had fled, fearing that it’s enemy had discovered its existence.
Hiding in the places that the bright one could not follow, It had studied this
delicate invader and had finally comprehended what she was.
****
End Part 2
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