All hail Saotome Ranma! ;) (Way to go WW!)

To those who are following BG Cross, I've added a section to the prologue
that might help explain some of the questions I've been getting about
the story. I've also included the rest of Part 1 for the benefit of any new readers who would like a taste of the story. The other 7 chapters are available on the remailer. Part 9 will not be available for a while yet as parts 1- 8 are undergoing another revision in light of recent new information, as well as the fulfillment of an obligation to a friend (I hope he still is anyway<g>). Enjoy!


                                          BubbleGum Cross

                                      Volume 1- Metal Heart

                                    (c) 1996 by Andy Skuse

             Based on characters copyrighted by Youmex, AIC, Artmic


                              Prologue -  Mega Tokyo, May 2022

     In the dimly lit corridors of the Uizu Laboratory, a man's shadow appeared from around a corner, watched closely by a system of electronic eyes that monitored the entire building. The shadow walked slowly, stopping occasionally to look up at a few of the video surveillance cameras
to inspect their running status.
     "Raven-hakase . . . " the man whispered into a tiny microphone hidden inside his lab coat. "I am at the laboratory. Everything appears to be functioning properly. It is now twelve-thirty p.m. I just spoke with Mason a few hours ago. He has accepted my invitation and will arrive here at
one-thirty a.m. I hope everything is functioning at your end, or this will all be for nothing my friend."
      Katsuhito Stingray turned away from one of the surveillance cameras and walked toward a large window that opened into what looked like an operating room. A handful of technicians milled about, fussing over a mass of wires and cables connected to a blue metallic torso mounted to a pillar in
the center of the room. Watching the activities from the darkness of the dim hallway, Katsuhito cocked his head again to aim his voice into the pocket of his lab coat. "The work is proceeding slowly on the cybernetic labor model, but it is my sincere belief that the project will come to fruition within the next few days. While this new technology will hopefully evolve into endless applications, as you know it is the *other* project that concerns me at the moment."
     Dr. Stingray paused for a moment to gather his clouded thoughts and then continued his whispered dictation. "Since Mason seized the prototype cyborg "Largo", I have not been able to divulge its present location. No
doubt he intends to use the cyborg to further his own ambitions to undermine the chairman. It now appears that our fore-sightedness has served us well. But I still fear that if Mason gets wind of our deception, that he may retaliate against me in a violent manner. That is why it is
imperative that you cut this link as soon as Mason has confessed his plans. He is the most dangerous man I have ever met. We must not
underestimate his ability to-"
     The door to the laboratory suddenly swung open and a young technician's head poked out, his voice calling down the corridor.
"Dr.Stingray? We need you in the lab sir."
     Katsuhito flushed at being interrupted in his secret dictation and pretended to cough. "I'll be right there," he responded. The young technician nodded, and ducked back into the lab letting the door draw to a close by itself.
     Katsuhito watched the door close, and then hastily added a last addendum to his running dictation to his distant accomplice Dr. Raven. "Well my friend, work calls. The next time you hear my voice I will be in my office. It will be tricky to get Mason to talk, but I believe the weeks of preparation have convinced him of my loyalty to his cause. Once he has divulged his plans, store the recording in a safe place until our meeting tomorrow. Then we will decide on our next move." 
     He paused for a moment to consider his next words, that lay heavily upon his conscience. "In the event I do not show up at our arranged meeting site, please follow the instructions I spoke of earlier very carefully. The backups must be sent anonymously, and the two recipients must
never-  I repeat, *never* find out about each other's existence. Any contact between them would create a risk to the knowledge they would each be protecting. And please make sure that the video footage that you are recording goes onto the data units as well. If I fail tonight, then someday someone must know the truth. And please take care of my son. I may not
be his father by birth, but he is of my blood, and that is enough for me." Katsuhito flicked off the power switch for the microphone's transmitter and moved toward the laboratory doors.
     The doctor thought to himself about the events of the last few months while staring through the huge glass panel into the eyes of the blue boomer that waited patiently for its first 'jolt of life'. Because Mason had 'procured' the "Largo" prototype cyborg before its testing was completed, many things were still uncertain about its function and performance. Mason had simply walked in when Katsuhito was not at the lab, and took Largo away, with no explanation afterward. 
     Powerless to recover the 'stolen' prototype, Katsuhito vowed that this 'procurement' would not happen to the second cyborg. Secret testing had recently been completed, and the being was deemed physically and mentally stable. Then, under the cloak of night, the cyborg was moved to a 'safe' location in the industrial section of town, until Katsuhito could plan his strategy to deal with the amibitious Mason.
     Now, the plan was reaching its climax, a confrontation between Brian J. Mason and the finest scientific mind that Genom had ever contracted. Katsuhito knew that his research was valuable, and he was betting that Mason understood this fact; and was planning to pass it off as his own somehow. Katsuihito however, would not be cast aside without a fight.

                                                  1:00 a.m.

     Sylia stared into her father's face on the screen of the vidphone,
listening to his words as he explained why he wouldn't be home until later. Again. 
     She was still just a young girl, but she thought she detected an overtone of fear in her father's voice. As he said good-night to her, she wondered why he would be afraid of anything, when he was so smart and so gentle-hearted. 
     Fear would not introduce itself to her in its most extreme form, until
later that morning,  stealing her father away from her, and a childhood she had barely begun.


                                          Mega Tokyo - 2036

     Deep inside the darkened Genom Tower, a faint pulse of artificial life 
beat in time to the footsteps of three shadowy invaders. Noiseless and 
graceful in their movements, they made their way quietly through the
lightless corridors and hallways of the empty research complex to arrive at
a thick, metal door labelled, 'CHAIRMAN'. Across the door, a wide, yellow tape, coated with dust, with the words, 'AD POLICE CRIME SCENE LINE - DO NOT CROSS' on it, vainly attempted to bar the way. 
     The trio dropped their black, canvas enclosed burdens on the floor 
softly and began to remove various small, metal items. Working quickly, the 
smallest of the three shadows placed a gray, palm-sized, rectangular box at 
each corner of the door's frame and then stepped back, motioning his 
companions to do the same. Pressing down on a keypad strapped to his
forearm, the leader took another step back and covered his eyes as the
door vanished from view in a sharp, silent flash of blue light. The four gray boxes held their position around the three inch strip of door frame that emained visible while the three figures scooped up their duffle bags and slipped through the now open doorway like liquid.
     Moving in a straight, unerring line across the outer office's length, 
the leading figure reached into his canvas bag and produced four more of the gray rectangular boxes. Before him was the energy-locked door to the 
chairman's main office and the route to their prize. He placed the devices 
around the door's frame as he had done before and in the space of a few 
seconds the dark, dusty, inner office beckoned to the three shadows through the open door frame. The intruders passed through as quickly and as gracefully as they had before while the energy lock along the door's edge 
continued to monitor the door for any attempt to open it by conventional
means.
     Once inside, the figures shook off their pattern of  preparedness and 
began a frantic, random search of the room's walls. Minutes ticked by as the 
intruders groped along even the tiniest lines in the walls surface.
     The tallest shadow suddenly cried out in triumph as he forced a large, 
metal panel to slide along the west wall of the office. But before he could 
turn to his companions and reap their praise he suddenly felt something 
burning his lungs. His companions watched as he slowly turned to them,
his face twisting in agony, and fell to his knees. Instead of rushing forward to aid their fallen accomplice, the two standing shadows calmly reached
into their canvas bags and each removed a black gas mask. Once they had them fitted over their faces, they marched over the body of the tall, still shadow and entered the room beyond.
     Inside, they found what amounted to a small TV studio. In front of
them, a large, ornately carved, wooden desk faced an array of video monitors mounted along the back wall. Amid the bank of screens, mounted at eye level with anyone seated at the desk, a video camera stared
lifelessly. An expensive high-back leather chair lay on the floor beside the desk suggesting that the last occupant of the room had either fallen or
made a hasty exit from the room. The entire room and its contents lay under a fine layer of dust. The two shadows shrugged at each other and moved deeper into the strange inner sanctum. 
     The shorter shadow moved slowly around the room as if searching for 
something that was not readily apparent. The other shadow stood in the
center of the room and watched his companion carry out the visual search,
waiting for a signal. 
     The scanning figure suddenly stopped and then smiled behind his gas
mask as he spotted a crude metal panel underneath the desk that looked like a power outlet. He dropped to his knees and reached into his canvas bag, producing a chrome-plated cube about the size of a man's fist. He crawled underneath the desk and placed the cube on the plush carpet just below the panel. Touching the cube's topmost face triggered a low cyclic hum that both figures could feel in their feet. They became aware of the minutes passing by again as they waited for the device to perform its task. 
     The humming stopped abruptly, sending the shorter shadow forward to
pry at the panel until it popped open, its energy lock little more than iron 
filings now. He reached into the magnetically shielded enclosure and grasped the smooth, slender metallic box that lay hidden within. Rising to his feet slowly, he stood with the object outstretched in his hand for his companion to see. 
     Along the top of the surgical-steel box were the letters 'OMS' finely
etched in the otherwise flawless face of the container. The shorter shadow's 
hand trembled slightly as he worked the mechanical latch of the box. As the 
lid hinged outward the shorter shadow suddenly began to shake violently 
until he dropped the box from his flexing grip and fell to the floor in a 
still heap.
     The remaining shadow casually reached under the desk and popped the 
chrome cube into his canvas bag. Ignoring his dead companion, he pulled out a small set of plastic, non-conductive tweezers and flipped the steel box into an upright position on the carpet so that he could view its contents. Inside the box was a vaguely heart-shaped metallic object bristling with tiny 
electrodes and connector pins. Its shiny, black finish gleamed briefly in his 
eye as he pressed down on the lid and then quickly picked the box up and 
deposited it in his canvas sack. Without a backward glance the shadow
passed through the inner office and set about removing the four gray boxes
from the door frame. As he removed the last one, the inner section of the door reappeared, looking exactly as it did before he and his companions
had entered. 
     Shifting the boxes in his satchel he quickly crossed the floor of the 
outer office and through the metal doorway. He removed the last four 
matter-displacers attached to the metal door's frame and placed them
carefully alongside the others in his bag. With a final mocking glare at the 
surveillance camera that stared lifelessly down at him, the remaining shadow moved off down the dim corridor and passed out of sight around a corner, leaving the now tomb-like Genom Tower as it was, but forever more without a pulse.


                                        1. Artificial Instinct

Mega Tokyo - 2038

     Dr. Leomund Sholtan pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose 
and guided the robot-mounted, stainless steel probe deeper into the exposed cerebrum of his conscious patient. The doctor turned and stared at a display screen watching for the results of the probe. Adhesive sensors placed on the patient's limbs and spine relayed a continuous stream of data through multi-colored cables connected to the computer terminal. As the numbers flicked down the screen's length the man's wrinkled face
remained void of emotion. 
     He turned back to the inert form and coaxed the robot probe a few 
millimeters lower and this time the patient's shoulder shifted ever so 
slightly. The doctor released the probe and the contracted shoulder
relaxed. As the numbers came back he wiped the sweat from his brow and
a smile began to form on his thin lips. The doctor probed again and this
time a black, metallic arm shot out to the side in a lightning reflex that sent an instrument table crashing into the wall narrowly missing the scientist's 
legs. Ignoring the instruments as they clattered onto the floor, the doctor 
smiled again and switched off the robot probe. In a swift, fluid motion the 
metallic arm returned to its owners side without a sound. The prone figure 
stared impassively through softly glowing, blue lenses at the laboratory 
ceiling.
     Calling to an assistant to clean up the mess, Leomund removed his 
overcoat and hung it up on a hook near the door. Speaking again to the 
crouching assistant, he advised her that he would return shortly.
     Leomund walked the length of the windowed hallway to his office in 
anxious silence. Outside the mountain research complex a clear evening
sky was beginning to darken prematurely. Leaden clouds hovered threateningly on the northwest horizon of the city. Hues of royal blue, violet and amber mixed like vaporous paint streams underneath the cloud bank. 
     The doctor turned to his left and glanced through the doorways as he 
passed by the various research labs that lined the corridor. Inside the 
make-shift departments, scientists peered through welding goggles at thick 
plates of steel as blue beams of energy pierced through the plates in a 
fraction of a second. In an operating room, a cheetah lay motionless on a 
steel table as surgeons gathered around it stared up at a micro-camera
view of the animal's brain. Behind them along the wall, several refrigerator 
cabinets held hundreds of labelled vials containing blood, spinal fluid and 
DNA samples. 
     Other sealed rooms sheltered technicians who labored over laser
welding equipment and gleaming, alloy body parts. The hollow limbs were graceful and  curving, not bulky or heavy. The metallic-black, epidermal layer was smooth and sleek with no protruding joints. The technicians hurried about in hygienic uniforms, attempting to assemble the completed sections.
     The doctor reflected on the last ten years as he walked the unlit 
corridor. Started primarily as a military contract, "Project Darkmatter" began as a naive exploration into DNA mixing. While corporations like Genom focused on the commercial market and the possibilities of social control, the military's goal remained true to its name. Animals, insects, reptiles and fish were all used for research into the possibilities of a superior human-animal soldier. Many strange and horrifying abominations were born inside secluded laboratories. All of them died there as well due
to mishandling by amateur geneticists who failed to understand what it was they were tampering with.
     Leomund had been doing his own privately funded research on genetic 
blending when the military approached him. They were desperate to produce results. Too much government funding was at stake. Leomund had been a pioneer in the field of genetic research for twenty years until Genom set up for business. Leomund's private investor's lost interest in the benefits of genetic abominations. They wanted results now. And that meant Boomers. Genom cashed in quick and fast but their short-lived success was based on that very principle. The Boomer style cyborg had become a volatile
investment to say the least and now they were all but extinct. The rare
domestic model still entertained patrons at nostalgia-theme bars and the odd robotics convention, though they were few and far between. Since Genom's demise, few places could service the surviving Boomer population. Like the cold-ware superconductor computer chip introduced at the turn of the century they became obsolete.
     But a military contract was no guarantee of steady work. With
preliminary research complete, the brass pulled the plug on Sholtan when
information about Project Darkmatter leaked out to the public. Journalists
were willing to die to cover a story these days and a few did while attempting to flee the military bases with their laser disc evidence. Dr. Sholtan was publicly chastised by his respected colleagues who for years had thought he had retired. Public outrage over human and animal rights ascended to all time heights, and with his notes in hand Leomund hid himself away among the mountains to retire in obscurity. 
     After a year of inactivity he was contacted by an anonymous investor. 
Through a simple phone call that he would never forget, Leomund accepted a  contractual agreement from an unknown but wealthy and persuasive
benefactor that allowed him to continue his research with whatever supplies, machinery or human assistance he required. There were no clues given as to what was to be done with the results of the doctors work. Only the verbal agreement that upon completion the new cyborgs would be tested in a fashion of the benefactors choosing.
     The work was slow but breakthroughs were made and over the years he
had perfected techniques for DNA mixing that could create a cybergenetic
being that rivalled humankind in its will to survive. It surpassed the most
agile animals in speed and reflexivity tests and established strategy and
reasoning results that challenged human capability. Its alloy enforced 'skin'
and skeleton made it nearly indestructible; if you managed to hit it in the first place. 
     By the end of 2038 the only remaining hurdle in Leomund's research was to instill an instinct into the being. The sixth sense that all other creatures possessed. Somehow the process of DNA blending suppressed
the instinct characteristics of the donor strands, rendering the cyborg a  dependant slave. Tonight had seen the final hurdle struck down in the
form of a stainless steel instrument table under a black, metallic fist.
     Leomund entered his office and flicked on his desk lamp, dimly 
illuminating the rooms meager furnishings. Picking up the phone he inserted his telnet card, pressed a single unmarked button and sank back into the leather padding of his high back chair, waiting for the other end to pick up. A man's clear, steady voice responded, "Hello." 
     Leomund sat up, "It's Sholtan."
     "Well? Are the modifications complete?"
     "Yes Sir.  I have a few more minor tests to run but I think we've done 
it."
     "Hah! Well done! And what about the alias modifiers?"
The doctor sat back, "Final testing was completed this afternoon."
     "Excellent. When will the prototypes be ready for their field test?"
     "If all goes well tonight then I think we should be ready by tomorrow
evening."
     "Incredible. Well done Leo. I'll contact you tomorrow. Good night."
     "Good night, Sir."
     Leomund gently placed the hand-unit back down into its cradle and
pushed his glasses back up on to the bridge of his hooked nose. He swiveled
the chair slowly to gaze out the tinted glass at the flickering lights of Mega
Tokyo's downtown core in the distance. Smiling, he looked out further at
the horizon and the grey clouds that had now devoured the setting sun. Soon he would know. Soon . . .

End of Part 1

Andy Skuse

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BG Cross
The Dark Traveller
askuse@execulink.com
Co-Maintainer of the Fanfic ML FAQ
BG Crush Home Page and Raven's Garage
http://www.netzone.com/~ozymand/
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