BGC: Life's Prices
By Kain the Seeker (Aka Andrew Graham, Kaintskr@aol.com)
October 15th,2036
Mackie thrashed around in his bed, his head ringing with pain, and finally got free of the sheets. The
room swam in and out of focus as he reached around for the bottle. It was just out of reach and he
fell to the floor with a dull thud. He picked up the bottle. It was empty. There would be more in the
den, he told to himself. Half crawling, half walking, he made it to the door. On his hands and knees
he pushed through the door and staggered down the hall only to fall short of the den. Something
made him look up. A bottle swam into focus.
"Is this what you are looking for?" a voice asked. Linna.
"Thanks". Mackie reached for the bottle only to have it snatched back at the last second. Linna
threw it across the room and grabbed his wrist in a lock. She pushed him across the room roughly,
and grabbed him just as he started to fall. Another shove sent him reeling across the room and into
the pool. He landed in the pool and went under with a loud splash. Rough hands pulled him up by his
shirt. Linna scowled at him as she shook him roughly.
"Why take the slow way out Mackie? How about just finishing it real quick right here?"
She shoved him under and held him down for several seconds before bringing him back up. "Ready
to die? " Mackie croaked incoherently as she shook him violently, before throwing him onto the side
of the pool. He threw up, then fell unconscious.
Linna looked at him and sighed. The thing of it was that she had simular desires, ever since the last
job she had wanted to wash the screams and blood away with a bottle. She sat down by the
younger Stingray and pulled him into her lap. She wiped off his face- even passed out his pain
showed clear. Tears blurred her sight as she pulled him close. "I miss her too, Mackie, but we got to
keep going. She would have wanted it that way."
Leon lounged by the gateway and kept an eye open for his target. The flight from LA arrived on time
and he spotted her as she debarked with the rest of the first class passengers. Her smooth stride and
grace jived with the Saber he was looking for. He fell into step beside her as she walked by.
"I need to talk to you."
She looked at him over her glasses. "What can I do for you, Detective McNichol?"
They both knew what he was there for, but they had to play the game through first. Or so the
woman thought; Leon was past that. It had been two long months and he was tired of butting heads
at every turn. "Look, Doctor Stingray, we both know why I am here." He grabbed her by the arm
and pulled her to a halt in the middle of the terminal. "Is she dead?"
Sylia Stingray looked into the eyes of the detective, and found that she couldn't lie to him. Not about
this. "Yes. I will be home tonight. Come by and I'll tell the whole story." She pulled free of his grasp
and disappeared into the crowd. Leon watched her go, and didn't even bother to follow. Years of
investigative work taught Leon how to read people, and what he saw in the retreating woman was
very surprising from he had read on her. She was running from something, and that wasn't what he
had expected of Sylia Stingray.
Priss stumbled out of the bar and tripped over a knocked trash can. She tumbled clumsily to the
ground cursing. She sat up and picked up her bag. The bottle fell through the soggy paper and
shattered on the concrete. "Shit!", she screamed in rage at her luck. She needed that bottle really
bad and now she would have to go buy another one before she went home. The Dream would come
tonight, she could feel it. Not that it wasn't hard; it had been haunting her most nights for the last two
months. She struggled to her feet and staggered down the alley. Should have been me. Why does
everyone that I care for die, she asked herself as she ambled into the night.
Leon pushed the intercom button and opened the door as it was buzzed open. He took the elevator
up and entered the penthouse. Sylia was sitting at a table by the pool with a bottle of wine beside
her. She motioned for him to take a seat. "Would you like a drink?"
He sat and waved aside the offered glass. "What I want to know... is she dead? "
"Yes, she is." Sylia looked away, guiltily, and sat there looking out at the city.
"She was a Knight Saber wasn't she? You were the one were we called Swordsman. It took me a
while to figure it out, but then I wasn't really looking to figure out who the others were after I
discovered Priss' identity." He looked at her, and saw again the guilt and sadness that she struggled
to hide from the world. "The guilt is eating you alive, Sylia. Tell me how it happened." He took her
hand and looked into her terrified eyes.
She took a deep breath and stood up. "I think you deserve to that. Come on, I will show you how it
all happened. From the beginning."
Sylia looked at her team, as the display finished up. The others looked nervous and eager at the
same time. Pre-mission jitters she told herself as she watched them go through their motions, just like
the butterflies in her own stomach. Priss was lounging back with her feet up. Cool and collected,
Sylia envied the quality in her. Linna talking about her new boyfriend while Nene sat in Mackie's lap
listening. Her brother and Nene had hit it off quite well in the last two years, and Sylia suspected that
before long she would be adding Nene to her family in a very official way. Her brother had grown
up well, and she was sure that her parents would be proud of him. Linna and Priss had done quite
well in the last year or so, and from what she had been hearing they would be getting the recognition
that they wanted, and soon. She had known that the day would come when the Knights would go
their separate ways. This would most likely be the last mission that the whole team participated in.
Surprisingly, she wasn't too upset. The Knights had become her family in many ways and she wasn't
really ready to risk them in the feud with Genom any more. She watched as Priss and Linna teased
Nene and Mackie. It was time to move to a new battle plan. She cleared her throat loudly, and
broke the mood. "Time to move out folks."
Sylia watched as the team pulled on their suits. Nene had gone into the complex an hour before, with
her new suit's enhanced camouflage suite and ECM she should be close to getting ready. She sat by
her brother at the front of the plane. "Where is she?"
"She should be in place soon." Mackie glanced at the computer screen by his knee. "Everything is
still green."
The radio hissed loudly for a second, then Nene's voice came in loud and clear. "This is Nene. I'm
in."
Sylia picked up the microphone and replied. "We're on our way in." She put down the mike and
looked at Mackie with a smile. "This won't take long." She stepped into her Motorslave and coasted
out into the moonless night.
Priss rolled backwards and came up shooting. The boomer took several of the hits to it's chest and
went down. Linna flipped over hers, slamming her fist as she went. It's head exploded as the
knucklebomber detonated on impact. "Mackie where the hell are you?" Priss screamed as she shot
off a burst of rounds towards the two boomers that landed just in front of her.
"I'm coming in now," came the reply as the Knightwing dropped into the courtyard with it's wing
pods unloading on the boomers. She and Linna grabbed Sylia and all but carried her into the bay.
She had taken a big hit to her suit and favoured her right arm and leg. Mackie lifted off as soon as
they got in. Nene's alternate route was to leave by the roof. She came through the rooftop door at
full speed. "Nene, move your ass!", Linna yelled over the radio. Suit's sensors showed a squad of
boomers right on her tail. 20 yards to go before they could grab her and leave.
"Coming moth......", Nene started, but only to be cut off by a blast to the back. Everyone in the jet
screamed as the she dropped to the ground with a smoking rent in the back of her suit.
"Speak to me Nene," Priss said. "Tell me where you are so we can come and get you."
Seconds passed before the radio hissed and Nene replied. "Forget it Priss, I've got a hole in my suit
from back to front and.." a terrible hacking sound interrupted her for a second before she continued.
"Leave me."
The finality of it shocked everyone in the plane. Priss ran into the back of the plane and was heading
for the hatch. "No! I won't do it." The rocker screamed as she got ready to leap into the battle once
more, only to be knocked backwards into the plane as the front of the building exploded and the
blast knocked the plane away from the landing zone. Priss screamed in anger and rage as she sat up.
"What the hell are you doing, Nene?" There wasn't anywhere to land on now.
"Saving your ass for a change," Nene replied calmly, but her voice started to break as she continued,
"Mackie, I love you.... and I'm sorry." Then the radio cut off. The plane rocked violently as Mackie
switched to autopilot and ran into the bay for his suit. Sylia grabbed for him and missed. "Linna,
Priss stop him!" Linna grabbed Mackie and slammed him to the floor. Priss jumped on him and help
hold him down.
"Let me go, damnit! She going to die if I don't ...."
Priss cut him off angrily. "Mackie, she's already dead."
"NO!", he howled and tried to wriggle out from under the two women. The building erupted into a
cloud of flame and smoke and slowly fell into itself.
"NENE!"
Sylia set the glass down with a shaky hand as the playback finished, and looked over at Leon. Tears
ran from her eyes as she spoke. "Now, you know the whole story."
"How's Mackie handling it?" Leon had known the younger Stingray for over a year from meeting him
when he came to get Nene for a date.
"Not well at all. He's taking her death very hard, and I think that he blames me for it."
"Do you think it's your fault?"
Sylia looked away, and Leon already knew what she thought. "No... Yes." she whispered, " I was
the one that sent her into that building, but she was the only one of the team that was capable of
breaking the computer security system. I didn't make the call lightly, and she knew the risks." Leon
listened to the woman as she tried to convince herself that she had done the right thing. Still, the
woman was sure that she had killed Nene.
She looked up at Leon. "I need to ask something of you, Leon."
"What?"
Sylia sat down and started to explain the situation and what she needed to do.
Mackie woke up with a throbbing headache, a result of his drinking binge and the sedatives that
Linna had given him. She was asleep in a nearby chair, apparently she had spent the day watching
over him. He pulled a comforter off the bed and tucked it around her, and the walked quietly out of
the room. He was tired of the pain. Linna was right, he had to move on with his life. It was just so
hard- he kept thinking about Nene and his loss. He walked up to the terminal in the den and typed in
a query. He read the screen for a few seconds, then quickly walked to the elevator and rode it down
to the workshop in the sub-basement.
The elevator opened into the staging area. He smelled the oily smoke before he entered the storage
area. What he saw made him stop short. The three remaining Hardsuits and the Motorslaves were
all in their bays- smoke boiling out of them. A quick check on the monitors showed that the charging
systems had been over-amped and the resulting powerload was too much for the sensitive
electronics and motive systems.
Mackie felt like crying. Six years of his life had just been destroyed. What was worse was that the
Knight Sabers were finally done for. It would take a year or more to rebuild and millions in money to
do it.
He walked into the lab beyond. The two new testframes in the center of the room were in a simular
state. His sister sat in a chair in the center of the room watching countless hours of work burn itself
out. He stopped at the door and looked at her. "Why did you do it sis?"
Long seconds passed before she replied. "I can't lose any more of my family Mackie. I just can't do
it any more." She turned around to face him. "I won't sacrifice anyone else in my war with Genom."
Tears flowed down her face, and Mackie finally understood what Nene's death had meant to her.
She was terrified that she was becoming as cold as those that she had fought. He wrapped his arms
and held her as she cried. All his life, Sylia had been there for him. She had been his mother and
father, even before his father's murder. She had taught him all he knew in engineering and helped him
grow up. She had held him when he had nightmares and told him what to say and do when his
feeling for Nene had finally made sense. Now it was his turn to give comfort as she cried in his arms.
It was the least he could do.
October 17th, 2036
The captain looked up from the papers, tears showing from his eyes. "It's really her?"
"Yes, the bridge collapsed during a running battle with a boomer about two months ago," Leon
replied. "Apparently she was taking cover on the way to traffic when a blast shattered the bridge
supports. Death was instantaneous. The repair crew were a little behind schedule and they only
reported finding the bike and her body last night." Leon paused. First time I've ever seen him
speechless, the captain mused. "Ah- I was wondering, sir...."
"What?"
"Would you mind if I notified the girl's family for the department? She was a friend."
The captain frowned. Technically he was supposed to do it, but Leon had done it before and the
captain really didn't like that part of the job. He nodded and waved the detective out of the office.
Sergeant Romanova was a well-liked part of the department, and maybe it would help Leon get
over her death if he made the notification to the parents. He hoped that it would give Leon the time
he needed to let her go. He watched the detective walk out of the office and waited till the young
man had walked out of the wardroom before picking up the phone and dialling a number. "Yes, is
Lisa Vanette there? This is her uncle Todo, I have to talk her if she is available. Yes, I will hold."
Leon stepped out of the elevator and walked into the parking garage. He walked past the Road
Chaser that was his assigned vehicle and continued over the visitor section. He opened the door of
the antique Mercedes and slid into the passenger seat. Sylia looked over at him, and waited for him
to speak.
It had been two hard days for both of them. She had gotten a body that fit closely to Nene's and in
the proper state of decomposition. Leon had provided the site, and she had hacked into the proper
sites to ensure that the girl's medical data and Nene's meshed.
"I appreciate you letting me come along Leon." She looked at him. "This really means a lot to me."
"Yeah, well you were just as involved in her life as I was." Maybe more, he thought bitterly to
himself.
Sylia laid her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "I considered you for the Knights,
Leon. You were simply too visible a figure in the ADP to be recruited. I picked Nene because she
was a skilled programmer and her job made her almost invisible." She started the car, and pulled out
of the parking space.
Lisa sat at her desk for almost a minute before she realised that her uncle was still on the line. She
took a ragged breath in and answered his question. "Yes, uncle. I'm fine, just a little surprised. Nene
was a good friend, I wish that we had more time to see each other. Yes, I will be there if I can. I
have to go now, but I promise to keep in touch. Bye." She put down the receiver and got up from
her desk. She muttered something to her editor as she walked out of the newsroom and headed out
onto the roof.
She looked out into the night and tried to push the face of the intense young lady that she had know
out of her mind. And failed. Tears ran down her face as she pulled out the picture that she had kept
concealed on her for the last three years. It was only one of two in existence and she made sure that
no one else had ever seen it. With it she could have broken the Knight Sabers and revealed their
secrets to the world, but in the end she had given the other copy and disc with the original to Nene.
After all she owed Nene her life, and after much soul searching had come to the decision that
sometimes the truth should be concealed. If nothing else than to protect those who had to have some
amount of anonymity. She had gotten a part time job on the Metro/Crime desks from the power of
her article on the assault on the AD Police tower, and from what her editor told her she would have
a full internship after she graduated from college in a few years. She had always meant to thank
Nene for saving her life, but the right moment had never come up. Now she would never get the
chance. She put the picture back into it's hiding place and looked at the skyline.
"Goodbye Nene-chan," she said as the tears streamed from her eyes.
Leon sat and watched as Sylia held the sobbing woman in her arms. Nene's mother had not taken
the news well, and had fallen apart almost as soon as he had started to tell her. Nene had been the
only child of two professionals. She had run away from home when she was a teenager because they
had not given her a second of privacy, but over the last year she had contacted them and tried to
work towards a reconciliation. According to Sylia, she was planning to bring Mackie by the week
after the accident and spend the afternoon with them.
Leon sighed as he continued with the story on Nene's death. He hated lying to them, but what else
could he do? At least this way, they had a body to bury.
Leon slid the chair back in the car. Sylia started the engine and pulled out of the complex's parking
garage. Long minutes passed in silence as she drove back to the AD Police plaza. It was only as
they pulled up to the entrance did she speak.
"It never gets easier, does it?"
"What- telling the family, or living with your mistakes?" Leon asked as he looked at her. They were
much alike in many ways, willing to die but not to sacrifice others. He shook his head grimly as he
opened the door. "No, and if it does there is something wrong with you."
October 25th,2036
It was a quiet rainy day. More than a little appropriate to the occasion, Sylia thought. The body
was lowered into the ground and words were said over it. Linna and Mackie stood close by as she
dropped a handful of moist dirt into the grave. Priss leaned against Leon looking miserable; no doubt
she blamed herself for this. The singer was as hard on herself as Sylia, and Leon had told Sylia that
she was drinking hard now. It's all falling apart, she told herself as she gave her condolences and
left. Priss and Leon left together. He had taken it upon himself to spend as much time as she would
allow him. Sylia hoped that having someone to confide in would help her through the quilt. Mackie
performed the same role with her, though she still felt the guilt it wasn't as bad. Maybe, one day she
would even be able to stop looking in the mirror and seeing a killer in the reflection.
December 29th,2039
Linna let Mackie seat her and take a seat beside her. She took the opportunity to look the younger
man over. She had know him for almost 10 years and they had grown close in the last few. He had
grown up from the hormone crazy peeping tom to a good man. After a lightning trip through college-
he did possess the legendary Stingray genius- Mackie had retreated into a quiet research partnership
with his sister and the occasional class that he taught at the university.
He and Linna had become friends in the time that she had spent with him after Nene's death, and
something more had grown up between them. Somewhere down the line, she came to the realisation
that she loved him, and he loved her. She had been in Sydney doing a dance performance with
Vision on her world tour and Mackie had flown out to meet her. That night, under the stars on a
beach overlooking the Pacific, they had confessed their feelings to each other. She smiled at him
across the table, he was nervous and apparently was trying to say something. From long experience,
she knew it was best to wait and let him work it out himself. Finally, he gave up trying to say the
words and pulled a small box from his jacket and held it open to her. The ring's diamonds glittered in
the subdued lighting of the restaurant. She was stunned for seconds as the realisation of what it
meant dawned on her. "Yes, oh god, yes." She said through tears as he slid the ring on her finger.
May 12th, 2040
Warren watched her go through her katas one by one as he had taught her. Over the years, she had
developed a grace with the saber that surprised him almost as much as it had her. She continued
through the routine and into some improvised movements that were quite good. For someone that
had always protested that she wasn't any good at fighting, his student showed more promise than
anyone that he had seen in the one thousand, six hundred years that he had been alive.
Finally she stopped and bowed to him before rushing off to clean up. Yes, he told himself with an
experienced eye, this one would be long lived. He looked in the direction that she had gone and
whispered to himself.
"How will you fare at the Gathering, Nene Romanova?"
