Moving right along.  Chapter 4.  The points of view go in a cycle, so
you should be able to tell who's coming up next.  As usual, all previous
parts and all of SM: Gray are at
http://bloodgod.pc.cc.cmu.edu/smgray/index.html.  

Django Wexler (khaine)
khaine@mindless.com

_Insanity_

A question is asked.
'Who's in here?' and of course it's
No one but chickens.


Chapter Four
    Tsunami


    "Did you see it on TV?"

    I smiled and pulled Kyoko into a conspiratorial huddle.  "I saw it
in *person*!"

    "But..."  She stared.  "You snuck out?  What if the troopers had
caught you?"

    "Not very far.  You can see the cruiser from my roof, so I climbed
up to have a look just before they started firing."

    It had been *loud*.  That was what I remembered, mainly.  The Sa'an
hadn't fired their big guns once during the Arrival -- they hadn't
needed to, since there was nothing in space worth shooting at.  When the
beams had stabbed upwards from the cruiser, a delicate tracery in the
distance, the hollow boom had rattled the windows of my house, miles
away.

    "What do you think they were shooting at?"

    I shrugged.  "Who knows?  Maybe the Americans tried to pull
something.  They've still got a lot of nukes."

    "The first time they tried to nuke the cruisers they didn't even
bother to fire."

    "Maybe they've come up with something better."  I glanced at the
clock and jerked Kyoko by the arm.  "Come on!  We'll miss the train!"

    We didn't, by about half an inch; the two of us slumped together
once again in the nearly-empty car, breathing hard.  

    "I...am...*so* out of shape.  What ever happened to our exercise
program?"

    Kyoko blew out a long breath.  "You gave it up when it got cold."

    "Why didn't I start again?"

    "Too lazy."

    "And why didn't you make me?"

    "Too nice."

    I pulled myself to a seat.  "Thank you for that concise summary of
things, Kyoko."

    "No problem."  She sat next to me.  "So how are things?  How's Ryu?"
The unspoken question was obvious.

    "Fine.  He's barely been home the past week.  Some new girl sank her
claws into him."

    "Good.  You ready for the math test?"  She shuffled in her backpack,
looking for a notebook.

    "Of course."

    We lapsed into silence as Kyoko started reading, and I rested my
head against the metal guardrail, feeling every bounce and twist of the
track.  It wasn't a circumstance I could normally fall asleep in, but
somehow I managed it.

 

    "Tsunami."

    I opened my eyes.  This didn't help much -- it changed the world
from a black blur to a white blur.  The voice had come from behind me,
but I found myself unable to turn, or in fact to move in any way.

    "Tsunami, listen to me."

    "I'm here."  Somehow, I wasn't afraid.  I knew it was a dream,
another one of the weird ones that I could feel and smell and touch.  I
was getting curious, and also kind of annoyed.  "Where are you?"

    "You are in danger, Tsunami."

    "What?  What do you mean?  Who are you?"

    "I am you."

    "Really?"  I couldn't help grinning.  "Then who am I?"

    "Nothing.  You're a cipher, a chrysalis."

    "Great.  That makes me feel special."

    "You are in danger."

    "From what?"

    "They're coming for me.  We must not be taken."

    I rolled my eyes.  "Well, gee, thanks for the mysterious warnings
and vague threats.  Think you could provide anything a bit more
specific?"

    "Let Kyoko die."

    "*What*?  Look, mysterious voice, this isn't funny anymore.  Who are
you?"

    "I am Power Incarnate."

    

    "Tsunami!  Wake up!"

    My eyes shot open with an odd sense of urgency.  "Kyoko!"

    She started.  "What?"

    The train was just as I'd left it, and I looked around slowly
feeling more and more foolish.  Kyoko leaned forward.

    "What is it?  You sounded...kind of scared."

    "Nothing.  Weird dream."

    "Again?"

    I nodded.  

    "Do you think it means anything?"

    "Do you plan on dying anytime soon?"

    "No."  She looked sort of shocked.  "Why, do you?"

    "I'll have to check my Dayrunner."  I caught her glance and shook my
head.  "No, no.  Just a dream."

    "If you say so."  She leaned back in her seat.  "One more stop."

    I looked at her, and couldn't help considering.  [Let Kyoko die.]
To accomplish what?  Saving my own life, maybe?  I wondered if, should
it come down to it, I could make that choice.  Give up my own life for
my best friend.

    "Yikes."

    "Hmm?"  Kyoko didn't look up from her notes.

    "Nothing.  I'm just feeling morbid this morning."

    "I noticed."

    I could, I decided.  If I really had to.  It would be a worthwhile
way to die.

    Another voice seemed to come from somewhere far away.

    [There are worse fates than death...]

 

    Biology, for one.

    We made it to school, as usual, roughly thirty seconds after the
final bell rang.  And, as usual, Dr. Mercek fixed us with his patented
killer glare, which normally pins students to the chalkboard in roughly
the same way a collector pins a butterfly in his book.  It didn't work
on me.  I was in the habit of hanging around the school after hours, and
had once chanced to see the good doctor wandering through the bio lab,
scotch bottle in hand, talking to the preserved specimens.  I'd never
told him, and he always seemed puzzled he was unable to intimidate me.

    "Please take your seats, ladies."  He smiled thinly.  "With your
permission, I'd like to begin today's lesson."

    "By all means, doctor."  I picked my way to my familiar desk,
flopped into the chair, and waved a hand imperiously.  "Do continue."

    You could almost hear the old man's teeth grinding as he turned back
to the chalkboard.

    Kyoko leaned over from her desk next to mine, her voice low.  "You
really shouldn't tease him."

    "Aww.  It's so easy.  And if I didn't I'd have to tease *you*."

    "Shh!"

    This last was from Rebecca, an American girl who'd been stranded
here when the Sa'an grounded all air traffic after the Arrival.  She sat
in front of us and wasn't particularly happy with the position; she kept
going to school out of some twisted sense of loyalty and wasn't happy
with people disrupting it.

    *I* kept going because there was nothing else to do, and because it
gave me time to think about my plans.

    "So we come," said old Mercek, "to the quite interesting example of
the cockroach.  Now, cockroaches do not have a 'brain' as we understand
it; instead, their central nervous system is distributed throughout the
body in a loose network of ganglia.  An individual cockroach is capable
of surviving the loss of its head quite handily, and only eventually
dies because it can no longer eat.  Roaches have been shown to display
problem solving ability after decapitation, proving that..."

    I let him fade to a distant background buzz.  Whatever the Sa'an
wanted, whatever the magic key that would get me onto the cruiser was, I
was pretty sure it wasn't biology.  So Mercek and his roaches just
washed over my head as I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes to
slits, constructing elaborate fantasies.  Suppose the Sa'an surrounded
the building and told us we'd all be atomized within the hour.  Who
would I want to screw before I went?  I looked thoughtfully at the blond
guy in the front row, Ryan or Ray or something like that.

    The clock ticked onward.  Dr. Mercek continued to drone.  I decided
I'd give Kyoko a shot, just to see what that was like.

    Then the Imperial Legion busted down the door.

    

    There were six of them, just like on TV.  The Legions operate in
multiples of six, for some reason.  They wore the black armor
Legionnaires were never seen without, fanning out across the front of
the room without a second glance at the befuddled doctor and leveling
their rifles at the class as though we were a pack of dangerous animals.

    Once the six of them had established that none of the high-schoolers
were likely to pull out weapons and open fire, *she* walked into the
room.  Tall, long brown hair, and a school uniform of the type that went
out of style years ago.  Plus high heels and make-up.

    My first thought was, [I don't believe it.  An actual Sailor
Senshi.]

    I didn't have time for a second thought, because someone inside me
was screaming her head off.

    The Senshi, if that's what she was, was not one to beat around the
bush.  She strode up to Dr. Mercek, who backed away until he was almost
up against the chalkboard, and stared him down.

    "We're looking for a girl named Tsunami.  She's in this class.
Don't make this difficult."

    The old man stared back at her for a moment, and I could almost see
the dilemma in his eyes; on the one hand, he didn't like me very much.
On the other hand -- well, it was the Imperials asking.  A lot of the
adults never really accepted the new world order.  I could tell he was
about to do something stupid, like deny it, and probably get himself
vaporized.

    "I'm Tsunami."  I stood up, chair scraping back.  "How can I help
you?"

    Surprised murmurs ran around the class.  I was trying to avoid
looking at Kyoko, who was staring at me with unabashed horror.  I was
also trying to keep my heart from beating so fast it leapt out of my
chest, and suppressing an inner tide of horror and rage.

    The Senshi turned around, unsmiling.  "You're going to have to come
with us."

    "I..."  I stopped.  What could one say, under the circumstances?

    "No!"

    Kyoko stood up, right in front of me.  She was almost shivering with
anger, or maybe fear, but her voice was steady.

    "What?"  The Senshi looked suddenly uncertain, for some reason --
I'm not sure why someone backed up by Imperial Legionnaires was afraid
of Kyoko.

    "You're not going to take her!  I won't let you!"

    "Kyoko."  I kept my voice low.  "Don't be an idiot."

    "I promised you!"

    "I know.  But this is not going to help.  You'll get killed, and
they'll take me anyway.  Be logical."  Somehow I knew this approach was
doomed to failure.  I could feel something creeping up the back of my
neck -- a cold sensation, metallic.  Somehow, I couldn't quite
remember...

    [Let Kyoko die.]

    She didn't move, and neither did I, but the Imperial had apparently
had enough.  Her voice was a flat monotone.

    "Jupiter Oak Evolution."

    I've seen the Senshi on TV.  Not that I watch that show, you
understand, but I've happened across it occasionally.  Their 'attacks'
always looked sort of...cute.  Twinkly.  No-one ever gets really hurt,
except for the monsters, and I guess they don't count.

    This wasn't cute.  A crackling ball of power caught Kyoko in the
chest and tossed her against the wall with casual force, hard enough to
crack the plaster.  The rest of the students cleared away from her in a
widening circle, and the troopers kept their guns trained on me.

    [Me.]  My thoughts circled, cold and slow.  [And Kyoko.  She never
hurt anyone.  She never did anything.]  I was kneeling at her side
before I realized it, holding her head up in one hand to check her
breathing and using the other to check her pulse.  Her leg jerked,
slightly, as electricity squirreled around inside her, but after a
moment her eyes shot open.  Her breathing was ragged.

    "Tsunami..."

    [Let Kyoko die.]  I felt whatever-it-was welling up inside me,
seething just below the surface.  A stream of raw power I could tap, if
I chose.

    [Run.  Leave her and run for the window.  It's only three stories
down, we can make that easily.  Then we'll be away from them, and now
that I'm awake...]

    The thought came so strongly it was almost like someone else's.  My
head throbbed.

    "Don't...worry about me..."  Kyoko's hand clutched at my shirt, as
though she were drowning.  "Tsunami..."

    I looked up, then back at Kyoko.  Her eyes were tear-filled,
forgiving.  The Senshi had stepped forward, watching me like a cat.

    "*ENOUGH!*"

    The sailor-uniformed girl seemed taken aback.  The soldiers didn't
even flinch.  I took a deep breath after shouting and rounded on her.

    "Everyone just stop.  I feel like you're all trying to execute some
dramatic scene without consulting me.  You"--I pointed a finger at
Kyoko--"are not going to die, so stop talking like that.  *I* am not
going insane.  And you"--my shaking finger made it around to the
Senshi--"you have to do something for me."

    "Really?"  She looked amused.

    I was really, really hoping Kyoko wouldn't hate me forever for this.
"She comes with me.  No matter what happens."  I hesitated.  "Okay?"

    Finally, she smiled.  It wasn't comforting.  "Okay."

    And that was it.  Two of the Legionnaires moved, without apparent
instructions, to collect the now-unconscious Kyoko.  Four more kept
their guns trained on me as I threaded my way to the head of a glass.
Dr. Mercek wouldn't meet my eyes, which was just as well.

    "Come on."  The Senshi led the way out the door, and I followed with
a shrug.  I didn't think it likely I'd be back here again.


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