On Wed, 18 Feb 1998, Jeanne Hedge wrote:

Opening Shot:  The earth slowly revolves, revealing a shining sun.  On the
earth, we can see a city which looks vaguely like a pentacle.

NARRATOR:  Behold!  Da mahvellous woild of da fucha!  Thanks to da 
creation of Cristal Tokyo, which brought about da Thoid Age of Mankoind,
yumanity has entered an era of prospairity.  But behoind da shadow of such
glory-us peace, dere are --

MISA:  Are you *still* here?  What do we have to do, shoot you?

The image freezes.  The caption, Experts of Fanfic Review:  The Text File
appears.

Open on the usual theatre.  Seated in the front row are RITSUKO, HIROE, and
RYOUKO, who is glaring up the aisle in irritation.

RYOUKO:  Where *is* she?  Must she be tardy as well as being --

HIROE:  Oneesan, *please* don't fight with oneechan, she's been having some
real problems.

MISA walks slowly down the aisle, alone.  RYOUKO blinks.

RYOUKO:  Just a minute, where's Sheila?

MISA:  <shrugs> She heard that it was a BGC story, and decided to cut out.
She's still got ... issues, you know.

RYOUKO:  <cattily> And you *don't*?

MISA:  <leans in close; voice is even> Mizuno Ryouko, I am doing my
damnedest to be civil to all sides in this little soap opera, but you are
seriously trying my patience. <beat>  I *like* Sylia.  I *respect* Priss.  I
*love* Sheila.  *You*, I don't like or love, and you are pushing it for
getting the respect due your rank and lineage, *sir*.

She sits down, while RYOUKO stares at her -- seemingly genuinely startled.

RITSUKO:  Are you finished, then, Major von Fogler?

MISA:  I've said all I have to say.

RITSUKO:  Well, then, I'd suggest we commence watching this story.  Ahem.
Please Initiate Projection.

    Firelight.
    Warming.  Comforting.
    Consuming.  Destroying.
    Obscuring.
    The truth does not live in the light.  Light is not truth.  Light 
can be manipulated to conceal the truth.  To blind us.  To trick us.  To 
divert our eyes away from what is really going on.
    For me, the truth lives in the shadows.
    To expose the truth, I must place my trembling hands into dark 
corners, and step into the blackness wearing armor made from knowledge, 
and a helm to shade my eyes from the light.
    Like an unpolished sword still blackened by the forge, I will fight 
the sun, and not shine.

HIROE:  Ooh, that's *great* symbollism.  Clearly conveys its message, and
lyrically too!  Yum!

MISA:  Hiroe-chan, you're the only person I know who gets turned on by well
executed literary techniques.

HIROE: <grin> Misa-san doesn't know Hiroe-chan's new boyfriend yet ...

they continued to grind, rumble and churn through the night.  For me, 
the day was finally over, and all I wanted to do now was rest my tired 
old bones.  But I had a visitor, and she needed my advice.  My tired 
bones would have to wait.

HIROE:  Um, you use "tired bones" twice in as many sentences.  Different
metaphor for the second one, please?

    "Give me back my gun."
    "No."
    "Then at least give me my knife!"
    "Asagiri-san, civilized people don't carry weaponry into public 
places."

RYOUKO:  And so they met ...

    "Please sit down, Priss."  She asked, this time.  "I really think 
you'd be interested in what I have to say."  She paused for a minute, 
then took a sip from the cup of coffee that had sat untouched since it 
was delivered.  "Besides," she said into the cup, "you might find that 
you and I have more in common than you think."

HIROE:  I think that should be, She made it a request, this time.

RITSUKO:  I have to wonder if Dr. Stingray --

MISA:  She doesn't like it when people call her that, y'know.

RITSUKO:  Yes, I'm aware of that.  -- if Dr. Stingray would really be able
to admit, even to herself, that she saw herself reflected in Ms. Asagiri,
this early in their relationship.

    "No, but it's what you meant."  I grinned.  I loved putting people 
off-balance, and this lady was no exception: the look on her face was 
priceless.  Now, to find out what she was really after.  "Why me?" I 
asked, my question echoing her expression.

MISA:  Heh.  Enjoy it while it lasts ...

    "A certain amount of personal danger is also involved."  Eh?!  
_Personal_ danger?  What does a hacker do that's personally dangerous?  
Nothing, that's what.  I like to daydream about it, but I guess I'm not 
really cut out for a life of--

RITSUKO:  I would argue with this; data piracy, of the sort Romanova-san 
engaged in, does entail a certain amount of risk in being arrested or ...
otherwise dealt with by corporate security forces.

    But now we were at a crossroads.  The designs could go no further 
until we knew exactly who would use the designs.  For months I had had 
several people under observation and investigation, and I chose who I 
thought best from among those.  In one case I had to nudge events a 
little to make her more receptive to my proposal, but in the end all 
agreed to join me.

RYOUKO:  Vague, but if you think about it, what is meant is quite clear.
<beat>  She obviously had Asagiri's boyfriend killed.

    Why did I go after her?  She'd lost everything that had ever been 
dear to her, and she was definitely not thinking straight.  She was 
going to be nothing but trouble and I really didn't have time for it.  
She had already tried to kill me once; I would need to watch my back.  
But if I could direct her rage at the world to more appropriate 
targets....

RYOUKO:  See?  See how ruthless she is?

MISA:  Ryouko, shut up.  Ever since you wrote those articles, it's been
nothing but "we're harboring a megalomaniac" ...

    This girl was going to be the key player in this organization, I 
thought.  If someone didn't kill her over this 'cute' bit of hers first.  
She was not really a fighter, in the physical sense, not like the other 
two.  But she was smart, a _lot_ smarter than she lets on.  She had to 

HIROE:  ... than she let on.

    ....Five minutes.

MISA:  Brr.  Am I the only one who gets chills when I hear that expression?

HIROE:  No, I get them too.

RITSUKO:  I will admit that I become a bit nervous ...

RYOUKO:  <quivering> I don't know what you're talking about.

    Who cares about clients.  I wanted Genom.

HIROE:  Who cared about clients?

    "Rule number eight: Do keep in contact with the other members 
regularly."
    Yeesh.  Just how many of these things _were_ there, anyway?
    "Rule number nine: The members do not know each other outside of 
this organization."
    Wait a minute!  How do you keep in contact with someone you're not 
supposed to know?  "Hey, uh...."  I tried to break into her little 
speech, but she went on over me.

HIROE: <plaintive> Are we *ever* going to get an explanation for what she
had in mind when she came up with those rules?

    "Rule number ten: Do not get involved with a man."
    Staring at Yamazaki again.  Hmmm... this could be interesting.

RYOUKO:  Starting already, I see ...

    Weapons loaded and in hand, we got our final instructions.  Me 
against Yamazaki.  I was going to kick her sorry ass all over the field.
     "All right, _ladies_," Sylia said.  Did she always have to 
emphasize 'ladies' like that?

MISA:  Standard drill-sergeant behavior.

    Over the past few months the one thing I'd learned about Priss was 
that she wasn't much of a team player.  Oh, she'd help you out if you 
ask, but something weird was going on inside her head, and everything 
else is secondary to that.  One of these days I'll figure out what her 
problem is, but it didn't take a mind reader to figure out what her 

HIROE:  ... everything else was secondary to that.  One of these days I
intended to figure out what her problem was, but ...

    My anger came flooding back to me, but as I lay there resting, my 
anger faded, and I could hear the wind, and the songs of the birds 
outside.  As I turned over onto my back, I could see the shadows from my 
Master's feet as he stood over me with his hand extended to help me up.
     "Ya know something?" I asked, as I continued to lay there on my 
back, ignoring his hand.
     "What's that?" he replied slowly.
     "I can hear the birds, and I can hear the wind.  But, for some 
strange reason, I can't see your shadow anymore Master."
     He looked down at his feet momentarily.  Just long enough.
     THUMP!

MISA: Heh!  This is good!

     "And if I am?"  It was hard to not laugh at the look on his face 
then.  "Oh, you!"  I leaned forward and kissed the end of his nose.  
"You know there's nothing going on between Taki and me."

MISA:  <mildly horrified> "Oh, you!" ?

was still some friction, but now they _are_ beginning to work as a team.  
My team.  And now, perhaps, my friends?

HIROE:  now they _were_ beginning 

    Daybreak.
    The city was so much more beautiful at night.  So many tiny lights, 
like millions of distant stars dotting the sky, each struggling to burn 
against the darkness.  And in the heat of battle, they would inevitably 
forget about the coming morning light.  A blinding tide that would 
illuminate those places where shadows had lived the night before.  
Snuffing out the torches of a million smaller lights with one powerful 
sweeping wave of luminance.
    Obliterating a million dreams, and moving on to obliterate a 
million more without ever looking back.
    Fire with fire.
    I closed my eyes, trying to remember exactly what my father had 
looked like just before he was murdered.  I did not have long to wait.  
I could never forget.  His image was forever burned into my mind, along 
with all of his dreams.  Dreams that would never see the light of...
    Day.
    When I opened my eyes again, I tried to focus on the fading lights 
below, but my tired eyes were brimming with tears that would not fall.  
I wiped them and tried to look out at the city again.
    In the glass, I saw my own reflection, staring back at me.
    I smiled, as the first warming rays of morning stretched out over 
Tokyo Bay.
    Four candles against the sun.
    I sat down on the window sill with my back against the cool glass, 
letting the last flickers of street light from the city wash over me.
    Daybreak.
    We would fight against the hungry light, come what may.

HIROE:  Oooooooohhh ...

MISA:  Very nice.  I think Sheila will regret not seeing this one.

RITSUKO:  I agree.  I think it can be safely said that this "take", as it
were, on the Knight Sabres early personalities is greatly superior in form
and in execution to "Grand Mal".

MISA:  The "Oh, you" thing was over the top, though.

RYOUKO:  <grudging> Despite my dislike for the Sabers on a personal level,
I'm forced to concur with my colleagues.  An excellent piece of work.

Fade out.

Chris Davies.