Okay.. since you all seemed to want me to continue, here's
a repaired, modified, and just much better version of the
prologue chapter! Give special cheers to the following
people for prodding--err convincing me to continue the
project! This one's for you guys!

SkyKnight, Twister, Wing/Nagisa, Aaron/Kendra, WWolf, Jody,
Joshua, Skywise, Sapphire, Foxtrot, Magami, Jeanne, and all
the others I know I missed!

Now, on to the show!

Unlimited Moment     ---    Prelude Chapter ZERO

(Special thanks to Twister for the stolen paragraph..)

The sun streaming through the windows illuminated the room. An extremely 
cluttered room, sounds of light snoring eminated from the bed. Next to the 
bed, several dozen empty Mountain Dew cans testified to the caffeine intake 
of the young man on the bed.  Upon a desk next to the bed, a computer sat, 
silently contemplating with its cover off, a screen saver. Cables of every 
sort were attached to the computer -- a sure sign the man in question was 
into computers heavily. Across the floor, a sea of cables, cords, books, 
clothes, and papers floated, a mute testiment to the man's bachelor 
tendencies.

With an audible ring, the old-fashioned steel clock sitting atop the 
computer began
to protest the fact that John was still sleeping.

John was average, really, teetering on the brink between manhood and 
teenager. He was 18 years old, with black hair, and hazel eyes. Standing 
about 5'6, he seemed to have an aura of power around him whever he stood at 
a terminal-- he was at home with any kind of PC.

The clock's immensely annoying ringing continued for about 15 seconds 
before John even twitched a foot. The ringing didn't stop, and John 
blearily opened a bloodshot eye. One glance at the clock explained it all, 
and an instant later the clock was introduced to Mr. Wall one more time, 
denting it yet again. The ringing stopped.

John reached to the floor, searching for an unopened Mountain Dew.. 
"Grargh.. There HAS to be one here somewhere!", he muttered aloud, 
"Grarrrrgh.."

Finding none, the morning seemed a lot worse than it was-- which was 
considerably bad, mind you! Crawling to his feet, he glanced at the 
'screensaver' on his PC.. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo ran on Demo Mode on 
the PC. <Hmm.. Ryu VS Sagat.. A good battle.. I bet my odds on Ryu.>

He didn't stay to watch the outcome of the battle-- instead, he exited his 
room (tripping over only 30 or 40 items along the way), and headed to the 
kitchen. Opening the refridgerator didn't reveal any Dew in the house, much 
to John's chagrin. <Ohno! We're out of 'Spew! AARGH!!! I can't start my 
morning without my 'Spew!>

A note on the table read, "Found this card at a yard sale yesterday.. looks 
to be PC compatible.. try it in your PC, it might be interesting. -- 
Andrew" and beside it sat a small halfcard.

<Hmm.. I wonder what it is.. no external ports on it..>

Careful examination of the card showed it to have a processor of some sort 
on it,
and several other chips, but oddly enough none of the chips were 
recognizable.

<I guess the only way to check out the card is to actually put it into my 
machine and
see.. I hope it doesn't fry my PC..>

He carried the card over to his PC, and flipped the BigRedSwitch(TM). He 
glanced
warily around.. "What, no sirens? No flashing red lights?"

Finding an empty slot among all the cables running out of every imaginable 
orifice
was a difficult-- no, NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE-- task. His skill prevailed against 
the cable
beasts and he was able to install the card into an open slot. John 
proceeded to
power the machine up.

The screen blinked to life and filled with jumbled ascii characters, then 
the
overwhelming smell of burnt electronics filled the air. Panicking, John 
grabbed the
card with one hand and flipped the power switch with the other. His vision 
filled to
white, an immense explosion rocking the room, then there was nothing...

His mind burst into white flame, consciousness falling to pain. He 
screamed, but
nothing came out of his lungs-- he couldn't see it, but every cell in his 
body was
losing cohesion. As his last thoughts themselves lost cohesion, the world 
had
blacked out to his remaining senses.

The Void between universes is not quite the empty nothingness it is
believed to be. Forces beyond most beings contend here for supremacy
over the others. Some are mindless, some are not, and some are not even
able to be described on those terms.

Powers from some planes spill out here and are tapped by other
universes. The reality-warping forces changing the "normal" ways of those
places. Natural or not, in whichever universe, the power behind the throne
is located here.

Two such forces, well known to mankind, can be found in the Void. The
spillage from their planes can be found relatively nearby each other
and travellers going from universe to universe witness their mighty
clash. For these forces, siblings of a sort if you will, are both attracted
and repelled by the other.

They collide in an area where they meet and separate, for natural
laws are absent in one yet entrenched in the other. The energies stay in 
that
spot before going to other universes where they are tapped or dissipated.
Many beings have tried to control this spot when they discovered it, but in
vain. When either of the forces can control the controllers it becomes
a hopeless task. Experienced races merely leave this spot alone, knowing
what it is and gaze in awe over the power involved.

Only one man has ever actually tried to enter this area. The powerful
energies there are random and capricious. Only the insane would attempt 
such a
feat. Or perhaps...someone with no choice at all....

The story of that man, originally Darren Steffler, who became Twister, is 
related in the story Twisted Path.



John's energy form entered the Void, the rip closing behind him. His 
consciousness
was still lost, as he had no physical mind. Passing by the famed Event, a 
few swirls of magic and psionics mingled with him then went on to their 
destinations.

A new rip opened in front of him, and he was pulled in. Then, nothing.

The dull sound of acid rain splashing among dying buildings filled the air, 
then a crash of thunder filled John's ears as his consciousness began to 
revive. <Odd.. it wasn't raining when I got up this morning..>

His eyes opened to a dark blur. Slowly, everything focused among his 
vision. A dead metropolis, crumbling, lied all around him. Building after 
building, shattered, crumbling, lie in silent testamony to the death of 
this city. The tallest building caught John's eye. He peered at it through 
the rain. The faint markings on the building were burned into his mind 
forever... Genom... This was MegaTokyo! How had he gotten into an anime? 
Or... could this be real? The MegaTokyo John knew was a thriving world, 
protected by the Knight Sabers and AD Police. Why was this so... dead?

The whole scene lying before his eyes was overwhelming. He shivered, the 
eerie desolation making him nervous. He looked down, rubbing his arms. 
<It's cold.. What happened here?>

He noticed a small computer expension card sitting by his foot. The card 
jolted his memory and he remembered. <The explosion.. could I really be in 
MegaTokyo?>

John reached down and picked up the card. It was still intact and 
completely undamaged. He looked quickly around for the closest shelter from 
the rain. About 10 meters away, a building sat, fairly intact. His mind was 
set.

He sprinted to the building and forced the metal door open. The musty smell 
of an ancient tomb rushed to his nostrils, causing him to wince slightly. 
Bile rose into his throat, fear threatening to overtake him. He swallowed 
hard and walked inside.

John's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the building. The hall was 
in perfect condition-- no spiderwebs covered the walls. <That's odd.. if 
there was any life, you'd see some sign.. but this seems completely devoid 
of life!>

He cautiously walked through the hallway, the surrounding areas growing 
darker. He reached an intersection. To the right, a faint glow.. Forward, 
utter darkness. John thought a moment and headed right. Entering a small 
room, the glint of a terminal caught his eye. A terminal? Still running? He 
frowned and walked to the terminal. A message warning of low reserve power. 
Of course! The PC was running off a battery backup of some kind. In front 
of the terminal, a lone chair sat. He sat at the terminal and pressed the 
spacebar.

The terminal came to life, displaying a still logged-in account. John 
studied all the login information. Sylia Stingray was the last user.. and 
she'd been logged in for... 30 years. <My god... The city has been dead for 
30 years...>

John shivered. Spending several hours on the terminal, he was able to at 
last piece together the final hours of MegaTokyo. The Knight Sabers had 
been killed, except for Sylia, on a suicide mission. She was wounded badly 
enough that she'd never be able to fight again. Several years passed, the 
boomer rampages becoming more and more violent. They turned against and 
destroyed Genom utterly. All of humanity was helpless to stop the advance. 
In one final battle, all life on the planet was destroyed, but all of the 
boomers were destroyed as well.. a dead planet remaining.

John punched up another file marked "Sylia's Emergency Design Note" in 
curiousity. A voice started behind him and he jumped out of the seat.

>From behind him, a holographic image of a remarkable woman stood regally,
her deep eyes seemingly looking into his soul. He shivered, recognizing her
immediately. Sylia.

"Knight Sabers, if you read this message, it means I was taken out in the 
line
of duty. I'm sorry I had to leave you, my friends, but we all die 
eventually. Contained
within this file is instructions and help on how to repair and build new 
hardsuits.
Without me, you'll be doing this by yourselves. Now, let's start..."

John paused the recording. <Hardsuit design? This could be interesting.>

Another issue thwapped at his consciousness. <John, this world is dead. 
There's
no food anywhere. If you don't find a way out of here, you're dead.>

He shivered and mumbled, "My only way out is to build a hardsuit and to try 
to
interface that card to it..."

Leaving the terminal, he walked back to the intersection and down the dark 
corridor. His footsteps echoed into his mind, the death march of an entire 
population weighting his soul. At the end of the corridor, another metal 
security door lay. Shattered. He stepped over the remains of the door and 
into the room beyond.

Glass cylinders, hardsuits inside, filled the room. Most of the hardsuits 
were severely damaged, to the point of uselessness. He studied each of the 
suits
and noted with disgust that they were for female pilots. <I don't have the 
figure
to wear one of these! Besides, they don't work..>

Shaking his head and sighing, he knew he had no choice but to get to work. 
He
began the long task of dragging suit parts down to Sylia's computer.

About ten minutes later, he looked down at the fair sized pile of parts 
he'd
moved. <I sure hope this works..>. He turned back to the paused hologram.

The hologram looked at him almost expectantly, and John unpaused it.

"Oh, one more thing. In case you need Mackie on the team, there's 
descriptions
of the necessary hardsuit modifications here, and I set aside some special 
parts
for his use."

John faintly grinned and paused the hologram yet again. <I'm saved! Now, 
where
are these parts she mentioned?>. John walked out of the lab to begin his 
search.

ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER...

John looked disgustedly at the hologram. He'd looked over the entire 
building
several times, and not a single part was found. Things were not going his 
way.
Thrown from his home into a dead universe, forced to wear a WOMAN'S
hardsuit to escape, and not a scrap of food or help anywhere! This was
humilliating. John sighed and looked back to the hologram, unpausing it.

"Now, let's begin with the fundamentals.."

SEVERAL HOURS LATER...

John looked up from the suit he had just completedm his head swimming with
formulas, ideas, concepts, and design theories.. <This suit looks like 
shit, but it
should be able to get me out of here>. The hardsuit was a motley mix of 
parts and
armour plates. It looked like something cooked up from a junkyard, which,
technically, it was. The leg pieces didn't match, nor did the arms, and the 
armour
plates were from different hardsuits, so the suit had a psychedelic style 
to it. The
worst part about the suit was the fact he'd only been able to salvage a 
small pulse
laser and a single swordblade -- very weak weapons. He'd installed both 
onto the
wrist of the right hand, wishing he had something more powerful. <Sometimes 
you
have to put up with what you can find, though..>

John smiled. <Time for the test run.. either it works, or it kills me..>

He stepped into the suit and started up the computer in it. The display lit 
up, showing
the room around him in startling detail. He didn't notice the suit close 
around him,
but he knew it had sealed when the suit tightened to his shape. The chest 
area
seemed a bit roomy, and the hips were slightly too snug. He grumbled to 
himself,
knowing exactly why that was the case, and knowing he had no choice in the 
matter.
The sound of seals locking into place, then the computer started 
diagnostics.
Everything was fine.

<Now comes the hard part..>

He opened the expansion area on his chest, and inserted the half card, half 
expecting another explosion. He was wrong. The computer merely studied the 
card
and printed a readout on it. <Wow! Talk about plug'n'play!>

The readout was astonishing-- the card had been DESIGNED for hardsuits! It 
was a 'warpcard'. With it, a hardsuit pilot could switch universes in a 
flash. The hardsuit's computer could store the relevant data for a universe 
in its memory for later travel, but to FIND a universe, however, he had to 
cross his fingers and randomwarp. Meaning, it'd be quite some time before 
he got home (which incidently, was where
he REALLY wanted to be right now, as he wasn't the hero-type.)

John closed the expansion bay, sealing it, and took a deep breath. This 
experience
was completely new to him, yet oddly titillating. An odd thought occured to 
him, and
he could but smile. Could it be possible a fanfic was being created in his 
home
universe about him? <Hi Mom! They're probably reading my mind this very 
instant
if that's the case. Scary thought. Perhaps I should put it out of my mind.>

John stepped to the computer and hooked his hardsuit up to it. He let the 
hardsuit
download the logs and the design files, knowing they would be useful. John 
walked
carefully out of the building. He was about 50 feet from the building when 
his sixth
sense buzzed a warning at him. He ignored it, knowing that the world was 
dead.
Nothing was there to harm him.

John was knocked out of his reverie by a sudden particle beam shot to his
midsection, throwing him to the ground. John gasped as pain flooded his 
nerves. He
didn't even have time to think as a grey shape dashed forward. He looked 
down just
in time to see a sharpened claw punch through his already weak armor and 
enter
his stomach.

Screaming in agony, few coherent thoughts were possible.. <Thought... 
boomers...gone. How? Pain...too..much!>

In desperation, he fired his pulse laser, but it didn't even dent the 
armour of the grey shape, now obviously a boomer. It laughed at him 
mercilessly, then lifted him by the chestplate using the claw already 
imbedded into him. It was holding John several feet off the ground. Blood 
dripped from the gashes in the armour, punctuating the haze he was swimming 
in.

"I haven't seen a human in a very long time. I used to enjoy hunting. Are 
you ready to die?", the boomer caustically remarked.

John was too far gone to respond.

"Oh well.. I'd hoped to have some more fun with you before I killed you, 
but you're too weak."

Somewhere in John's brain, a spark flickered, a memory forgotten in the 
suddenness of the attack. At the same time, the boomer's other claw reared 
back, ready to finish the job the boomer had started. The spark reached 
John's consciousness and he gave the command. A moment before the claw 
would have reached his heart, he was gone. He had randomwarped, lucky to 
still have any life left to live. The boomer was left there howling in 
anger at his escape.

His last thought before he left consciousness.. <going .. come back and ... 
right this wrong.. swear it!>

...more to come...




Hoped you liked it so far.. C&C, people!
Please, no flames though. If you think John is too powerful,
then tell me so I can fix it.

<smile> Thanks again, everyone.

John "Firehawke" Peasley                      /|
  ___________________________________________| |
 /___________________________________________|8888888888888]
               firehawke@bbs.yab.com         | |
            |\ firehawk@tendo-dojo.ranma.net |/
            | |___________________________________________
[8888888888888|___________________________________________/
            | |SF2,TP,BGZ,SFA,R1/2,KOR,BGC,SNES,PC,C++,ASM
             \| "What's wrong? Why do you hold back?"
____________________________________________________________________
"A Paladin shall protect the weak, his words only speak the truth.
He speaks with action and not words, but should be holy and just.
A Paladin is humble above all things, and a symbol of justice.
He must never willingly participate in an act of evil, and a Paladin
must love God, a woman, the world, and himself; in that order."