Subject: [FFML] [fanfic][Patlabor][REPOST in honor of Y2K] Episodes 04-05 of Patlabor Personal Files
From: "David A. Tatum" <desaix@sysnet.net>
Date: 12/30/1999, 4:59 PM
To:

In honor of the Upcoming Y2K (when Patlabor and this fic will definitely
become altuniverses...) I decided I'd repose the two episode story I wrote
which dealt with the Y2K bug... (hey, so far, there's been a problem with
credit card readers in England...)  So, here we go...
(comments are welcome, btw, though I may not make corrections for quite
some time- next scheduled revision of any of the currently written P:PF
episodes is after Episode 22, when I'm planning to repost all of the 'first
season' in weekly installments)
Patlabor:  Personal Files
An Episodic Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum
Disclaimer:  Insert legal junk here...

Episode 04:  Birth of a New Millennium, Part 1

December 30, 1999

Kanuka walked through the door and up to Gotoh's desk.  "Captain, can I
talk to you?" she asked.

Gotoh blinked.  Kanuka didn't usually barge into his office and ask him to
talk without knocking first.  In fact, he was somewhat surprised she was in
the building- by his watch, her plane was leaving in a few hours, and she
barely had time to get on it.  "Well... Unit Two doesn't go on active duty
for another couple of hours, and things have been quiet so I doubt we'll be
needed for other reasons, so yeah, sure."

"Sir, my grandmother is... ill.  I want to ask you for a job in your unit
for a while, so I can stay in Japan and take care of her."

Gotoh thought about it for a moment.  "Hmm....  Ill, you say?  Ill in what
way?  How long do you need to stay here?"

Kanuka was silent for a moment before sighing.  "She's... dying.  She's got
a year, maybe a little longer, but she isn't expected to recover..."

Gotoh's eyes widened.  "What is her problem?"

"Heart condition... and bronchitis, but that's treatable.  She'll be able
to live normally for a while- after she gets over the bronchitis, that is-
but she's got a year a most.  I... just want to be around her as long as I
can."

Gotoh looked at his one-time subordinate for a full minute before replying.
 "I can't give you a job in Unit 2, and I'm not sure there's a job
available in any labor unit right now.  The rookie class of 1999 was just
sent to fill in all available slots.  If anyone decides to return to the
academy, there might be an opening, but it almost certainly wouldn't last
for a full year.  However..."

"Yes?"

"Do you think you'll be able to deal with an assignment to the Academy? 
They're always looking for experienced labor pilots as instructors, and
your time with us will make you an even better candidate.  You wouldn't be
able to get the position for another three months- the Academy doesn't
re-open until the first Monday in April- but I might also be able to swing
you an intermittent assignment with the street patrol until it does."

"Street patrol?" Kanuka said, her nose wrinkling in disgust.  "You mean as
a traffic cop?"

Gotoh shrugged.  He turned to look out the window at the gathering storm
clouds approaching- it was supposed to snow sometime that day, but hadn't
started yet.  Looking outside, all Gotoh could do was think about how
inadequate his offer was.  "Essentially, but it's the best I can do on
short notice."

"I would never...."  Kanuka's voice trailed off.  No, she wouldn't ever
have considered going to the traffic cops- she was a labor pilot, after
all.  That was all she was good at- and she was one of the best out there-
and she would never have considered being a traffic cop even if it meant
resigning... except, in this case, she didn't have much choice.  If she
didn't get SOME job here, she couldn't stay with her grandmother...  "I
guess I don't have much choice.  Do you mind if I borrow your phone and
call my captain in New York?  I'm going to need to get his permission, and
I might need you to talk to him as well..."

Gotoh nodded.  "Go ahead, I'll back you up as much as I can."  He paused. 
"I pretty sure all of the old gang will."

Kanuka stopped for a moment.  A small tear was forming in her eye, and she
couldn't afford to let anyone see it or her reputation would be ruined, so
she forced herself to stand still for a moment to recover.

*	*	*	*	*

Shige was looking through the engine of the labor transport for Unit Two's
Labor 2 when he heard it- a thumping sound followed by a distinctly female
yelp of pain.  Quickly dropping everything (including a toolbox that landed
on his foot and forced him to hop around on the other for a few seconds
while recovering from the pain) he made his way to the sound.  There he
found the cute labor officer which he and most of the rest of the
maintenance crew had only seen at the tournament, and even then they'd
barely gotten a glimpse at her.

There she was, rubbing away the pain in her derriere.  Shige's eyes
widened- this cute little girl would be WORKING here?  Every day?  In the
same building as HE was?!  He was almost speechless.

"Uh... are you okay, miss?" he finally got out.

"Ow... yes, I think so.  I fell trying to climb into the transport's cab-
that step is too high..."

Shige looked at the cab and noticed that it probably was, in fact, too high
for the girl.  Shinshi had never complained about it, true, but then again
this girl was nearly a half foot shorter than he was.  "Hmm... I think
you're right.  Tell you what- give me about a half hour to finish the
tune-up I'm giving to the engine, and I'll mount a small step ladder for
you."

Her face brightened.  "You will?  Thanks!" she squealed, giving Shige a
brief but powerful hug.  With that, she dashed off in the direction of Unit
Two's lounge.

Shige didn't start moving again for another ten minutes.

*	*	*	*	*

A couple of hours later, Shige strolled into the Maintenance Squad Lunch
Room (really, just an empty storage area with tables set up) and sat down
with a happy sigh, a smile on his face.  He seemed to be just picking
through his food, and those in the room who knew him well figured something
weird was going on.

"Hey, Shige, what's going on?" one of the junior mechanics asked him.

"Oh... you know that new female labor officer?"

"The cute one?" another of his friends asked.

"Yeah... well, I offered to install a step ladder for her Labor Transport,
and so she... she HUGGED me!"

"Wow..." said a third mechanic.

More questions about the incident followed, but there wasn't really much
else that Shige could say.  So, with that, the rumors started to circulate.

*	*	*	*	*

"Did you hear?  Shige got hugged and kissed by whatsername- Natsume, the
new female labor officer!"

"No way... Shige?  Ah, man- that girl must be desperate!"

"Well, she could just be very friendly- maybe she'd hug and kiss anyone!"

"Maybe that would mean WE could get her to give US hugs and kisses!"

The exuberant whispering continued until Chief Sakaki showed up, at which
point things became dead silent.  When Sakaki left, conversation picked up
again... but was a bit more subdued.

*	*	*	*	*

When night fell that day, so did the snow.  Winter had finally arrived in
Tokyo, and soon the ground was blanketed in a soft white carpet.  Things
were quiet for the SV2- most of the time, snow tended to pacify criminals,
and the only problems were with traffic accidents.  That made it a
difficult night for some traffic cops, but not for labor units.  The next
morning, however, Kanuka was thankful her transfer didn't take effect until
January 1st when she read the paper and saw exactly how many accidents
there were.

December 31, 1999

Gomioka sat down in the captains office, and started writing.  Absolutely
nothing had happened during his active duty period, and he was just about
to collapse in boredom.  Funny, when he was a labor pilot, he at least had
something to do most of the time- he'd ordered his own unit to do the
dishes and clean the kitchen, then to trash out the cafeteria.  Just busy
work, yes- something he'd done a millions times and found boring himself-
but at least something to do.  The only work he had was to sit around at
the phones and wait for a message to come in.  Hopefully, he could get
suggestions from Shinobu for things to do to kill the time, but not right
now- she was out with Unit One supporting the rescue squad as it attempted
to save a construction labor that had lost its traction and slipped off of
the building it was working on, holding on to a girder to keep it (and the
pilot) from falling to its demise.  He made a mental note to ask her when
she got back, though.

Now, of course, he had to write a report SAYING nothing happened during his
active duty shift- how in the world was he supposed to do that?  He could
always ask Captain Gotoh how he did it, but Gomioka wasn't exactly sure how
useful he would be- Gotoh always struck him as being a bit shady- not
corrupt, exactly, just not very by-the-book.  Gomioka prided himself on
being a model officer, and would NOT look to Gotoh as an example of how to
do things, if he could avoid it.

He was a little surprised when Kanuka Clancy came into the office- he
thought she was back in New York already.  She looked at Gotoh's desk
before walking over to him.  "Did Captain Gotoh leave a note for me?"

"Um, no- or if he did, he didn't give it to me.  What are you looking for?"

Kanuka absently brushed a hair from her eyes.  "My grandmother is very ill,
and so I've asked for an assignment here until... until she gets better. 
I'm eventually being transferred to the Patlabor Academy, but until classes
open there I need an intermittent assignment- probably as a... TRAFFIC
COP," she said with obvious disdain.  "Gotoh is supposed to have a listing
of some openings for me today."

Gomioka blinked.  What kind of illness would last so long she'd need to be
here until April, at the very earliest?  It was none of his business,
however, so he chose not to pry.  Instead, he made a suggestion.  "Don't
take any assignments in either the Bokuto or the Nerima provinces."

She blinked.  "Why's that?"

"Well, Bokuto has the reputation of having the WORST traffic violators in
all of Tokyo.  Real nutcases- very dangerous stuff.  Also very boring- you
almost never get anything BUT traffic violations.  Nerima, on the other
hand... well, a lot of cops call it a 'grey area.'  So many weird things
are rumored to have happened there- monsters, epic battles of martial
artist which cause millions of yen in property damage, and..." he blushed
slightly, "Panty thefts.  However, that precincts cops are specifically
ordered NOT to arrest those involved- some have political connections, some
have too much money and are able to BUY the connections, and some are
considered to be undetainable- mostly the martial artists.  But, like I
said, you can't arrest any of them, so most people assigned to that
district get frustrated at not being able to do ANYTHING."  He sighed.  "If
those two are your only choice, choose Bokuto- at least there you have
something to do.  I know right now I'm suffering from near terminal
boredom."

"Ah- slow day?"  He nodded in response to Kanuka's question, to which she
smiled slightly and continued, "Well, I'd suggest you try doing what Gotoh
does to pass the time, but you're married."

Gomioka frowned.  What did being married have to do with anything Gotoh
could do on the job?  "What is that?"

Turning to walk out the door, Kanuka looked back at him, the same little
smile on her face.  "Hitting on Captain Nagumo... and getting rejected
every time"

Gomioka sighed, turning back to his report.  Yep, he would definitely avoid
asking Captain Gotoh for advice any time soon.

*	*	*	*	*

Chief Sakaki waited at the terminal for a while.  Finally, Shige showed up.
 "Ah, Shige- you're here.  Good.  There's something I've been wanting to
ask you..."

Shige sighed when he noticed the computer was on.  Ever since the Chief
decided to start learning computers, he'd come up with questions commonly
associated with those 'Funny Computer Support Line Questions' he'd found so
many copies of on the internet.  Things like people using their CD players
as cup holders, and people thinking something was seriously wrong with
their computer when it was just unplugged.  Fortunately, Sakaki had done
nothing like that yet, but he'd come close- Shinohara had mentioned
something about reformatting some storage disks before each use, and he'd
personally seen him mess up the computer's configuration files about a
dozen times.  This was not going to be fun.

"Yes, Chief?  What is it?"

Sakaki pointed to the computer screen.  "I was... how do you kids put it? 
'Surfing the Web,' and I found this site.  It mentioned something about the
'Y2K Bug' effecting almost anything with a computer in it.  What is this
bug, and how does it effect our labors?  Should we be making preparations
for tonight?"

Shige looked at the screen- the web page Sakaki was looking at was a couple
of years old- though probably accurate for the time.  "Don't worry about
our labors- their computer systems were built after this person put up this
information.  The worst that can happen to them is to find that data from
outside sources, like satellite uplinks, a little unreliable.  Nothing to
worry about."

Sakaki nodded and turned back to the computer.  "Okay, thank you, Shige."

Shige turned away, not wanting to see the chief typing in URLs instead
using his bookmarks- why did he make them if he didn't use them, anyway?

*	*	*	*	*

It was about ten minutes till midnight when Shinobu walked in to get ready
for standby duty.  Gotoh's unit was on active duty, and Gomioka's was
preparing to go on active duty.  It was the first time all three captains
had been in the office at the same time that day.

"I haven't seen you since I went on active duty this morning," she said to
Gomioka, smiling.  "How was your first full day as captain?"

"Actually," he admitted, "It was quite boring.  What do you usually do on
those quiet days when nothing is happening?  I was able to give my labor
officers some busy work, but I didn't really have anything to do myself
except sit around and wait for a call which never came."

Shinobu laughed.  "Well, usually I just sit around and chat with Captain
Gotoh, or read a book, or do the crossword puzzles in the paper...  There
really isn't much that can be done as far as work is concerned, unless you
wanted to 'supervise' your subordinates in their busy-work, if you're not
on a case.  It doesn't really matter what you do, as long as you're near
the phone, and you don't let you hobbies interfere with your professional
work.  I understand Captain Mamoru Oshii scribbles down notes for this
manga he's been working on.  I could give you some more suggestions, but I
think it would be better if you were to just come up with something to do
on your own."

Gomioka blinked.  When he'd heard from Kanuka that Captain Gotoh spent his
time flirting with Captain Nagumo, he'd assumed that not only was it
something that was very unprofessional, but it was something unwelcome as
well.  He certainly couldn't imaging someone as serious about her job as
Shinobu would encourage such a thing on the job, but as she just said,
their 'chats' were just a way of getting rid of the boredom.  He also was
astounded to learn that she did things like read books and fill in
crossword puzzles on the job.  Well, he had much to learn.

His thoughts were interrupted by a banging from the door.  Without waiting
for any of the three captains to give their permission, the door opened and
Shinohara strolled in, carrying a television.  "Hey, Captain Gotoh!  I have
the TV set you wanted to watch the New Years celebrations on!" he bellowed.
 "I split Unit Two's dorm room's cable from the antenna upstairs so that
you could get a clear channel, since we have the best reception, I think." 
Noa followed him with the cable line.

Gotoh smiled.  "Ah, good, you got it.  Set it down on my desk, facing the
door, would you?  That way, there'll be more room for Captains Nagumo,
Gomioka, and myself to sit around it."

Asuma and Noa, working together, hooked up the television in under a
minute.  Shinohara turned the TV on and set the channel to the appropriate
station.  Assured it was working properly, he turned to the captain.

"Everything's set up now, sir.  I hope you enjoy the- ack!"

"Come on, Asuma- we have to get back to the dorm room before midnight!  I
don't want to miss this!" Noa said, dragging him by the back of the shirt
and inadvertently choking him as she scrambled out the door.

Gotoh chuckled at the departing chuckle.  Gomioka smiled at the humor of
the situation, as well, but wasn't entirely sure that the relationship of
the two labor officers was appropriate for people in their position, and
how everyone decided through unspoken agreement to keep their relationship
a secret.  In fact, he was a little uncomfortable with keeping secret the
fact that Noa had smuggled in a few bottles of her family store's champagne
to help her, Asuma, and the rest of Unit Two celebrate the New Years
with...  However, even he had to admit that Noa and Shinohara were largely
responsible for Captain Gotoh's unit being as effective as it had been- of
course, now that Ohta was one of the labor pilots in HIS squad instead of
Gotoh's, it should be easier for Unit Two to gain much of the
respectability that Unit One had.  Gomioka sighed- Ohta would be trouble
when they were called in to assignments.  Things were going to be pretty
rough for the new Unit Three.

"Hey, come on," Gotoh was saying, breaking in on Gomioka's thoughts. 
"Aren't you going to join Shinobu and me around the television?  It isn't
every day you see the birth of a new millenium."

"Uh, what?  Oh, yeah, of course!  Thanks for arranging this," Gomioka said
politely, and joined him and Captain Nagumo on the three chairs in front of
the television.  Shinobu sat between the two of them- something both men
were happy about.  Gotoh, because it meant he was sitting next to her, and
Gomioka, because it meant he DIDN'T have to sit next to the man who'd
foisted Ohta Isao on him.

"...commonly felt that the new millenium will bring with it many advances
in society," Momoko Sakurayama, the reporter for SNN, was saying, standing
in front of a fenced off zone with a small labor about twenty feet behind
her.  A light snow had covered the ground, and her hair had been frosted
lightly.  "Including the development of faster and stronger labors- such as
the one that will be sending out the signal of the new year in Japan two
minutes from now.  We have with us Mr. Jitsuyama, a plant manager for
Shinohara Heavy Industries, who will explain how this prototype labor
will-"

Suddenly, the picture disappeared and all that was heard was interference
as the signal disappeared.  "What happened to the picture?" Shinobu asked,
concerned.  She wanted to see this just as much as Gotoh did, and it was
actually her suggestion that he bring the TV into the office.  Of course,
she didn't think he'd actually take her up on it, but since he did, he
wanted to see the turning of the millenium.

"Hmm, I don't know," Gotoh frowned, examining the back of the television
where the cable was plugged in.  "Maybe it's the antenna."

"How about another station?  Maybe they're having technical problems..."

Gotoh half-smiled.  "Well, I hate to turn it off of someone who actually
gives us good press on occasion, but I guess we don't have much choice." 
He flipped the station to where a male reporter was televising from some
party, with a clock showing a little under a minute until midnight.  "There
we go."

"I wonder what happened at SNN?" Gomioka pondered.

"I dunno- but let's not worry about it until after midnight, okay?" Shinobu
asked, smiling.

Niether Gomioka nor Gotoh could say anything in response to that plea, and
settled down to watch the television.  Everyone kept quiet until the
countdown began, and then they echoed it with their own voices.

"Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two...
one... HAPPY NEW YEARS!"  They all cried.  Gotoh puckered up in the hopes
that he could entice a New Years kiss out of Shinobu, and approached.

*	*	*	*	*

Noa looked at Asuma as she popped the cork on the cheap champagne,
celebrating the New Year.  If he was her boyfriend, then he'd probably try
to get a midnight kiss or something.  He looked back at her, with something
like regret on his face.  Was he interested?  Was he scared of her
rejecting him?  Just in case, she leaned in, hoping to show her interest. 
Shinohara's eyes widened when he noticed.

*	*	*	*	*

All over the SV2 Headquarters, seconds before two kisses might have
happened, power went out.

*	*	*	*	*

Gotoh fell on his face in the dark, missing Shinobu completely.

Nagumo herself was walking over to the phone.  "I'm going outside to see if
anyone's  trying to start up the backup generator."

Gotoh picked himself up off the floor and searched his desk with his hands.
 "I'll come with you," he said, turning on a flashlight he picked up.

Shinobu nodded, and the two went outside to see the generator.  There, they
found three members of the maintenance squad, led by Shige, trying to get
the dusty old gasoline generator started up.  Shinobu was about to suggest
they return to the office and report the power outage when she noticed
Gotoh staring across the bay.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Tokyo is powered by multiple power plants, right?" he replied.

"Yeah, so?"

"Even if a whole plant went down, Tokyo should have power from the
generators in the other plants.  So why are the only working lights in
buildings which have their own independant generators?"

Shinobu looked across the bay as he pointed, and noticed that, except for
at a hospital, there wasn't one building she could see which had any lights
on at all.  Tokyo was in blackout.

-------------------------
Next Episode:  The SV2 helps to stop several riots caused by the blackout. 
Yuhki shows he still gets nervous.  A plane crashes into Tokyo.  And a
number of other things that were supposed to happen in THIS episode.

Patlabor:  Personal Files
An Episodic Patlabor Fanfic by David A. Tatum
Disclaimer:  Insert legal junk here...

Episode 05:  Birth of a New Millennium, Part 2

In this episode, {...} means speech in Russian

January 1, 2000

At an airport in Vladivostok, the passing of midnight went without
incident.  Shortly after the arrival of the new millennium, a turboprop
aircraft belonging to Aeroflot Airlines left, bound for Manilla in the
Philippines.  The one hundred thirty four passengers and crew settled
themselves in for a VERY long flight- their first stop- in Seoul, Korea-
wasn't for another twelve hours.  They'd heard that a number of large
cities had been hit by the computer bug known as the 'Y2K Crisis,' but
midnight had come and gone, and the airports were still intact- even in
Tokyo, the hardest hit major city, the Airport had restored service in less
than a minute, and was experiencing no problems- it was even still
accepting incoming flights (though they weren't sending out any additional
flights).  The autopilot was set after reaching ten thousand feet, and the
pilot leaned back.  His only job for the next nine hours was to keep an eye
on the autopilot and make sure it didn't malfunction.

Sighing, the cabin crew of Aeroflot flight 201 sat back in their seats.  It
was going to be a LOOONNG flight.

*	*	*	*	*

The three captains, Sakaki, and all the residents of SV2 Headquarters all
assembled in the labor hangers.  "Okay," Shinobu began.  "This is what we
know so far.  The phone works, and we were able to get in touch with the
power company.  Apparently, a serious computer problem- which they thought
they had taken care of but hadn't had time to test before this crisis
occurred- has crashed everything... including the backups.  They are
manually restarting the plants, but so far they've only gotten a few
stations working- Tokyo won't have enough power to run even in brownout
conditions for another forty-eight hours.  It'll be weeks before they've
restored every plant."

Gomioka stepped up.  "That, believe it or not, is the good news- things
will be fixed before too long.  However, the blackout has led to a severe
panic in the public.  Riots are breaking out in the streets- mostly just
unarmed citizens, but there are too many of them for the regular police to
handle.  They've asked us to go in and help with crowd control- and there's
also the possibility that the rioters may gain control of heavy vehicles
like labors, which would also be our jurisdiction.  We were asked to go in
with tear gas guns, however, so the only anti-labor weapons we will have
will be our electromagnetic batons.  We want ALL functioning labors in the
city- that includes the third labors of Units One and Three.  Sakaki tells
me that Unit Two's third labor was cannibalized for spare parts, so it is
excused.  The other two units will be needing manpower- and fortunately
we've got an extra labor pilot on base.  However, assemble with your
captains for assignment- some of you will not be performing your usual
function."

The three captains ran off, and were followed by their units.  Gotoh went
into his squad room, and was followed by Unit Two's people.  "Okay, we're
the only unit which is going to have just two labors in the action.  We're
also the first unit to get duty- Shinohara, your labor's got the patrol
around the Imperial Palace.  Kumagami, your labor's to deal with the bridge
into the reclaimed land.  Any questions?"

As usual, about everyone's hand went up.

Similar assignments were given out to the other units- Unit One, with
Kanuka Clancy piloting the third labor, Shige from the maintenance squad
driving the transport, and Shinobu taking the command car, managed to
outfit all three of its labors with full crews, and quickly placed
themselves into position.

The Third Unit, however, was in much worse shape, personnel-wise.  Gomioka
almost took the third labor for himself, but looked at his assembled squad
and remembered his promise to the hopeful-looking Yamane Seiroku. 
Remembering his promise to make Yamane the de-facto pilot of the third
labor, Gomioka took the position of command car operator for all three
labors.  Akito was asked to drive the transport, and off they went.  Their
was only one command car, so all three labors had to go to the same area-
for that reason, they were assigned to the area with the largest number of
rioters.

Just before getting into the cab of the third labor's transport, Seiroku
showed up in front of Captain Gomioka.  "Sir, thank you sir!" he gushed. 
"I promise not to let you down!"

Gomioka nodded.  "Just don't disappoint me."

With that, the Third Unit went on its first assignment- riot control around
the newly-completed tallest building in Tokyo, the Tower City project,
Tower 1.  The building which rose almost six thousand feet into the air.

*	*	*	*	*

Most of the rioters retreated at the sight of the three hulking Type 97's
that showed up around the Tower City project.  Those few that remained ran
off when Ohta started shooting most of his tear gas cartridges into the
crowd, their eyes burning.  Peace was restored for the moment.

It did not last long, however, as one of the retreating rioters got it into
his head to hot-wire a nearby construction labor that was supposed to be
used to begin construction on Tower 2 in a few days, and turn it against
the cops.  Soon, that man's friends started to do the same to a couple of
other labors in the same lot, and soon five construction labors charged in
against the three Patlabors, an army of rioters behind them.

"Oh, god," was all Gomioka could say before Ohta started firing at them. 
The tear gas did nothing to the labors, which continued charging.

"Stupid gas guns!" Ohta snarled, tossing the device he cursed at the
labors- and actually taking the knees out from one of them.  "If we had
REAL guns, they'd show more respect for the law!"  Pulling out his baton,
he charged in, followed by the other two patlabors (which lobbed gas
cartridges over the rioting labors and into the crowd behind them), and
engaged them hand to hand.

Unfortunately for Ohta, he'd completely forgotten how stiff and
unresponsive the Type 97s were compared to his old Ingram, and soon found
himself on the ground and at the mercy of the construction labors.

Or he would have been if Seiroku hadn't used his labor to pick up one of
the construction labors and toss it into the two others standing over the
fallen Ohta.  Kenji Iguchi engaged the final labor, and managed to get it
into a standoff while Yamane helped Ohta up.  Finally, all three labors
were up and ready, and surrounded the final labor.  Without any support,
the last of the rioters surrendered.

*	*	*	*	*

A beloved Ingram stood sentry duty at the Imperial palace.  The labor crew
had heard of a number of riots in other areas, and some looting in the
Ginza (which was supposed to be covered by Kanuka's labor) and some other
shopping districts, but so far there was nothing happening in the area
patrolled by the labor known as Alphonse.

"Say, Noa," Shinohara began softly into his radio link, after having spent
a lot of time in thought.  There were several questions he wanted to ask
her, but he wasn't sure if it was the appropriate time.  Without anything
else to keep him busy, however, and not being able to concentrate on
anything but those questions, he couldn't ignore them.  He just had to have
an answer.

"Yes, Asuma?" Noa replied, wondering why he wasn't using his normal voice.

"About the party..." he said, trailing off because he wasn't sure he knew
how to go on.

Suddenly, she realized what he was trying to ask her.  Still, she would
wait for him to finish before she answered.  "Yes, Asuma?"

"Were you... I mean did you try... I... oh, never mind.  It wasn't
important," he said, unable to get it out.  'Chicken!  I can't even ask her
if she was trying to kiss me or not!' he thought to himself spitefully. 
'But it's probably for the better that I not know, anyway....  I mean, if
she WAS, then...'

"Um... okay," Noa replied, confused.  'Wasn't he going to ask me if I liked
him?' she wondered.

*	*	*	*	*

"Requesting permission to fire the gas gun!" Kanuka screamed into the
radio.  Nearly fifty looters were still on the streets, stealing clothes,
televisions, anything they could get their hands on.

"Permission denied," Shinobu answered.  "If you get tear gas on those
products, then they won't be recoverable.  Save that option for the last
resort- try to cow them into submission first."

"Affirmative," Kanuka replied.  She stormed into the middle of the melee,
and turned on her loudspeakers.  "Attention- this is the police.  Drop the
stolen goods and return home.  If you fail to comply, you will be
arrested."

Some people did as Kanuka ordered, but several remained and continued
looting.  With as much precision as possible, the Type 0 Labor began
picking people up with one hand and trapping them in the crook of its arm. 
By the time the regular police had arrived, she had nearly a dozen people
so entrapped, and soon they were carted off to holding cells.

"Situation normal," Kanuka reported.  "Anything I should be aware of?"

"Hmm... Riot police have stabilized most areas already.  Unit Three may
require some help, however... I understand that their labors were somewhat
damaged- though still functional, they might have trouble if some more
labors show up.  Why don't we head to assist them?"

"Affirmative."

*	*	*	*	*

By eight-fifty in the morning, the riots were over.  A hard snow was
starting to fall throughout the area.  Partial power had been restored to
some of the city, and the police were out in force.  Unit Two, which had
been up for twenty-four hours, was sent home and given an extra shift off,
and things seemed to have finally calmed down.

That was when it started to hit midnight, Greenwich time.

*	*	*	*	*

"Um, sir," an air traffic controller said to his boss.  "We seem to have a
serious problem.  Suddenly most of the transponder codes disappeared from
the radar- I have no idea what caused it, but now we don't know which plane
is which."

"Odd," his chief said.  "Well, get on the radio- ask all planes in the area
to send you their flight information and position- try to keep track of
them that way.  And get them in here as soon as you can.  Hopefully, we can
cut down on the confusion that way."

"Yes, sir."

"Good.  While you do that, I'll find out from the runway crews if that snow
will force us to shut down the runway."

*	*	*	*	*

"{Dmitri!}" the pilot of Aeroflot flight 201 yelled at his navigator. 
"{Why didn't you tell me we were off course?!}"

Dmitri blinked, looking at the old navigation console.  The device was
obsolescent, but he maintained it fairly well and it never failed him.  Oh,
sure, the new Global Positioning Systems were nice, but they required
connections to various new satellites which his system had no access to,
and it would cost too much money to replace the old system.  It should
still be good until the old satellites died, after all.

"{Sorry, sir- didn't notice it.}"

The pilot nodded.  "{That's okay- it was a malfunction of the autopilot,
apparently.  Just keep an eye on that navigation system- visibility is
almost zero in this snowstorm.}"

"{Yes, sir,}" Dmitri answered.

About two and a half hours later, they went down to five thousand feet and
started looking for the Seoul airport's radio signal.

*	*	*	*	*

"Sir, I'm detecting another plane coming into the radar," the air traffic
controller said.  "Coming in from the Northeast.  IFF Transponder not
responding."

The chief sighed.  "Very well.  Let them know we've closed the airport-
direct them to Nagasaki."

*	*	*	*	*

"Attention, unidentified flight," the radio crackled.  "This is Tokyo
International Airport.  All airstrips in Tokyo are shut down due to snow-
please head to Nagasaki, instead.  Repeat, unidentified flight- the Tokyo
International Airport is CLOSED.  Divert to Nagasaki."

"{Heh... sounds like this snow storm is huge, to be effecting Tokyo as
well.  Any luck contacting Seoul?}" the pilot asked, looking intently at
the altimeter to make sure they weren't going in too low.  They were still
at five thousand feet.

Dmitri shook his head.  "{Nope... doesn't appear we're on their radar
yet.}"

"{Odd, they should have picked us up by now.}"

"{Hmm... I wonder if- hey, what's that ahead of us?}"

*	*	*	*	*

"Hey, Madoka," a man said to his wife as they stood at the observation
window on top of Tower 1 of the Tower City project.  "How do you like the
view?"

"Lovely, Kyosuke.  This has been a great second honeymoon, despite the
blackout," his wife said.  She leaned in for a kiss.

They broke off the kiss a moment later, and turned to look out the window.

"Kyosuke, is that a PLANE heading for the window?"

Kyosuke looked out the window.  "Oh, my god!  Hold on!" he cried, grabbing
on to his wife.

Aeroflot Flight 201 crashed through the window moments later.  Somehow- the
method of which some might think could only be magic- the couple had
escaped seconds before it hit.

*	*	*	*	*

"What was that?" Ohta asked, looking up.  He wasn't in his labor at the
moment- he and Shinshi were in the process of replacing the battery.  Just
as they had finished securing the pack, a loud explosion came from above.

"Oh, my god!  An airplane crashed into the tower!  It's spinning out of
control!" Shinshi cried.  Ohta glanced in the direction Shinshi was
pointing, and saw a passenger plane spiraling downwards, its nose and one
wing crumpled beyond recognition.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Shinobu cried.  Ohta looked up directly above him, and
saw a piece of a wing descending upon him.  Shortly before it would have
splattered him, Shinshi drove him under the cover that the trailer allowed.
 Burning wreckage collapsed around them.

"That was close," Ohta gasped.  "Thanks."

Shinshi nodded, breathing heavily.  "Yeah... no problem."

They stepped out from behind the trailer as soon as they were certain that
the debris had finished falling, just in time to see Kanuka's Type Zero and
Seiroku's Type 97 running off towards the crash site.

Ohta turned to get into his labor and join them, when he saw the damage
that was inflicted by the falling debris.  He growled.

"Bah... looks like I'm out of the action for a while."  His Type 97 was
buried, and Kenji Iguchi's labor had already moved to dig it out.

*	*	*	*	*

The two labors tag teamed to rip open the wreckage and search for
survivors.  The 97 was working effeciently, but from time to time it would
slow or a limb would tremble.  As they sorted through the grisly remains,
Kanuka checked up on the rookie.

"How are you doing, so far?" she asked over the radio.

"Uh... well, ma'am, I think I'm able to handle it.  I've never seen a dead
body before, though, and this...."

"Don't worry about it.  I've never known a labor unit to be called in to a
situation like this before, and most of the situations where they ARE
called in rarely have any casualties- a labor can take a hell of a
pounding, and the pilot will still be safe, and if you perform properly in
your rescue missions it's unlikely you'll ever encounter a body without a
labor fight first.  Just keep your head for this situation, and I'd be
surprised if you needed to deal with another death for the rest of the
year."

"But what about now, ma'am?"

"Just realize that there was nothing you could do to save these people, and
keep working.

"Yes, ma'am," Seiroku replied.  "Thank you, ma'am."

As they continued to work, Kanuka noticed a definite improvement in the
work of the young rookie, and smiled.  'So, I'm going to be teaching at the
Academy in a few months, eh?  Well, maybe I can use this experience to help
me prepare for it...'

*	*	*	*	*

About a half hour into their clean up, shortly after the REAL rescue teams
got the message and arrived, a moaning was heard.

"{Dmitri... Dmitri, what's going on?}" the dazed voice said.

"We've got a live one!" came the enthusiastic shout of one of the rescue
workers.  "He's buried here- in the COCKPIT area!"

Using the two labors, they dug the injured but alive pilot from the cockpit
assembly, and he was rushed to the hospital.

*	*	*	*	*

January 2, 2000

"...and so it turns out," Shinshi was saying, reading the paper in Unit 3's
work room, "That the airplane crash was caused by an obsolescent computer-
the same bug that led to the blackout that covered this city last night."

"The rescue," Seiroku read aloud from a different paragraph in the same
article.  "Was accomplished with the aid of two members of the much
maligned SV2 Section 2, which also assisted successfully in crowd control
during the riot."

"Finally," Ohta bellowed.  "We get a little respect!  Who's the reporter
who wrote the article?"

Seiroku checked the top of the column.  "Special correspondant Momoko
Sakurayama, based on interviews with Captains Nagumo, Gomioka, and Fujimoto
of the riot squad."

Shinshi sighed.  "Of course- she ALWAYS supports us.  You think one of
these days we could find ANOTHER reporter willing to tell our side of
things?"

Gomioka sighed, staring at Ohta.  While he had done fairly well for this
assignment, he knew that much of the SV2's bad reputation was caused by
him.  "I doubt it- not for a long time," he said, thinking 'As long as Ohta
was still a labor pilot, we never will find one.'  He sighed.  'Maybe I'll
be able to get rid of him one of these days.  Just maybe...'

--------------------------

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