The old woman and the little girl made an attractive 
picture, huddled together as they were over a worn and 
dented storage case brought down from the attic of the 
family home.
	"Grandmama, what's this?"
	"I don't know, honey.  Let me see," the child's great-
grandmother replied as she reached for the old-style magazine 
that had been removed from the chest.  The silver-haired 
woman paged swiftly through the dog-eared volume, coming 
to a sudden stop about a third of the way though.  "Well, I'll 
be..." she muttered under her breath.
	"What _is_ it, Grandmama?" the youngster at her side 
repeated impatiently.
	"Well Ingrid, this is a magazine interview, from a 
long time ago," she answered slowly, eyes scanning the pages 
intently.  "About another lifetime," followed softly under her 
breath, too softly for the girl to hear.
	"Oh, cool!" the girl enthused.  "Read it to me?  
Please?" she demanded as she climbed into the lap of her 
family matriarch.
	The woman looked up sharply, trying to stifle the 
impish grin threatening to spread across her face.  "You 
should be able to read it for yourself.  Aren't you learning 
English in that school of yours?" she teased, all the while 
settling her great-granddaughter more comfortably in her lap.
	"Aw, Grandmama, I just started and it's so _hard_!  
Why can't everybody speak easy languages, like Swedish or 
Japanese?"
	"You should ask your mother or father to help you, 
then."  At the downcast look on the child's face, she 
relented.  "All right.  Here's what it says--"
	"Read it in Swedish, Grandmama," the girl ordered.
	"I'll do no such thing, young lady.  You need the 
practice, so I'll read it in English.  Now then.  It says....."

			*     *     *

Music-Media / September 2080
42





	In this issue, "Music-Media's 10 Questions" are 
answered by one of the music industry's most surprising 
success stories of the century.  Thirty-five years ago, a little 
known singer in MegaTokyo purchased an abandoned 
garage and converted it into a recording studio.  From those 
humble beginnings, AI Unlimited has grown into a highly 
diversified multinational entertainment conglomerate, with 
annual earnings surpassing the GNP of some countries.
	The driving force behind this phenomenal 
achievement lies within one woman.  It was her over-riding 
vision that led to AI's place as one of the top five corporate 
giants in the world today.  Now approaching seventy, 
Priscilla Asagiri-Olafsson, President, CEO, and Chairman 
of the Board of AI Unlimited, recently announced she will 
be stepping away from the day-to-day operation of AI at the 
end of the year.  Never one to talk publicly about her private 
life, she nevertheless agreed to this interview about her life 
and the founding of AI, her first interview of any kind in 
fifteen years.



		     10 QUESTIONS
	an interview with Priscilla Asagiri-Olafsson


	Music-Media's Peter Fontana recently met with Ms. 
Asagiri-Olafsson at her modest, almost spartan, apartment in 
the hills overlooking Tokyo Bay.  A child of the apocalyptic 
streets of MegaTokyo in the 20's, turned multi-media mogul 
of the 80's, she is also well-known for her continuing 
support of charitable organizations, such as her own 
foundation for the rights of children, Shining Knights.
	After an exchange of greetings, Ms. Asagiri was 
asked what it was like growing up in MegaTokyo in the 
years after the Second Great Kanto Earthquake (2025).

PA:  It was pretty bad.  I lost my entire family in that quake.  
Well, I wasn't the only one, thousands of kids were 
orphaned that day.  The city was almost flattened.  What I 
remember most was how hard it was to breathe.  All the 
smoke from the fires, and all the dust and other things in the 
air from building collapses.  Of course, the city government 
was gone, and things were just too overwhelming for the 
police or fire departments to cope.  Assuming they had 
anything left to do their jobs with.  By the time the national 
government got help in, the gangs had almost taken over.  
Total chaos.  It was years before the police were able to put 
the gangs under some sort of control.  (pause)  Of course, 
that's all said with the benefit of hindsight.  All I knew at 
the time was that I wanted my parents and couldn't have 
them.

PF:  And this terrible experience led you into music?

PA:  Like most of the kids, I ended up in a _very_ 
overcrowded orphanage.  At first there were so many of us, 
and so little in the way of facilities, that we lived in tent 
camps.  Each group of tents had a counselor of sorts 
assigned to it, one person for about thirty of us.  The 
counselors were responsible for us, seeing that we stayed out 
of trouble and didn't get in the way while recovery was 
going on.
	At first, all of us were so shell-shocked that we just 
sat around all day and did nothing but cry.  After some time, 
we started getting into fights with each other.  Can you 
imagine, thousands of kids going through all this grief, and 
no constructive outlet for any of it?  Now, can you imagine 
an entire _city_ doing the same?  They were very edgy 
times.
	Anyway, the counselor for my group came in with 
the relief force, and she brought a guitar with her.  
Whenever she wasn't chasing us down for one thing or 
another, she would sit outside her tent and play.  I'd learned 
to play the piano a little, because my mother wanted me to, 
but I'd never known anybody who could play the guitar.  I 
was fascinated, and she knew so many songs....  Whenever 
she found the time to play, I was right there.  I guess she 
became my idol, because I just followed her around and 
tried to do things for her.  Then one day she showed me how 
to play a couple chords, and then a simple song, and I was 
hooked.

PF:  So how does a twelve year old guitar newbie become an 
eighteen year old retrothrasher?

PA:  Practice.  (laughs)  One thing about an orphanage: you 
mix with kids with upbringings just _slightly_ different from 
your own.  My parents had liked traditional music.  The kids 
I hung with were into more modern sounds.  One kid got me 
interested in the metal bands and grunge bands from back in 
the last century.
	Once I left the orphanage I got involved with a group 
of people who were into thrash, and they helped me put a 
band together, and I started trying my hand at a bit of 
songwriting.  We were pretty successful on the club circuit, 
and came close to signing a couple times, but...  (shrugs)

PF:  Stories say Priss and the Replicants were never signed 
because of political reasons.

PA:  Actually, we _were_ signed at one point, but the 
company wasn't really serious about it and it ended up 
leading to the Reps break-up.
	As for politics, I _was_ pretty outspoken on some 
things in my younger days.  And there were rumors at the 
time that we were being actively blackballed by a 
conglomerate because of my opinions.  This was a different 
company from the one that eventually signed and dumped 
us, by the way.  Anyway, at first we didn't care about the 
blackballing.  Later, though, it caused some problems in the 
band, and we lost quite a few people.  Who wants to play 
when it's strictly dead-end?

PF:  Did you ever find out who was doing this and why?

PA:  Yes.  (pauses)  Next question.

PF:  (pause)  All right.  You were seriously injured during 
the last major boomer rampage of the 2040's.  Being injured 
by a boomer must have been quite a shock to you.

PA:  Well, that was the chance you took living in 
MegaTokyo in those days.  The only reason I survived was 
that I was with friends who were able to keep the shock and 
blood loss under control until I could be taken to proper 
medical attention.  A couple of my other friends were killed 
that night, so I think I came out of it all right.

PF:  You broke up your band and founded AI within months 
of your injury.  Were the three related?

PA:  Yes, but not quite how you might think.
	We'd been talking about permanently breaking up 
Paper Unicorn for several months.  It was pretty obvious we 
weren't going to get anywhere either, and I wanted to try 
some new things by then.  I'd been testing the waters a little 
as a solo for a few years as well, and had gotten some 
nibbles, including an ill-conceived attempt to turn me into 
an idol singer shortly after the Priss and the Replicants 
broke up back in '34...  (laughs)  ...but nothing ever really 
came of it.
	When my legs were amputated, I had a long period 
of rehabilitation ahead so I could learn how to get along with 
the prosthetics.  Since I wouldn't be able to perform for a 
few months, we decided that it was as good a time as any to 
go our separate ways.  The guys in Unicorn picked up a new 
singer and kept at it, and after I got AI going they were one 
of the first groups we signed.  They did quite well for us too.
	So here I was, trying to decide what I wanted to do 
with myself.  One of the things I had been considering was 
trying to start my own label to record on.  I had some money 
stashed away, and had some friends who were willing to 
make a risky investment.  Another friend was retiring, and 
sold me his automotive repair garage as a place to set up 
shop.  After some pretty major renovations to the facility, AI 
was in business.

PF:  What was the make-or-break event for AI?

PA:  We'd been doing OK, getting by as a small label for a 
few years.  We had several new artists in the catalog, but 
nobody who had really broken through.  A couple of majors 
were sniffing around, thinking of us as a target for 
acquisition, and I was considering taking the first reasonable 
offer made.
	One day, word came from San Francisco that Vision 
wanted to talk with us.  She'd been making films for a few 
years and had let her recording career go to concentrate on 
that.  But she'd decided it was time to try to make a 
comeback.
	This was a make or break deal for us, so two of our 
Directors flew over to try to work something out.  One had 
been a friend of Vision's family for several years, and the 
other had had some... informal business dealings with 
Vision's family in the past.
	Two corporate Directors to perform simple 
negotiations may have been a bit of overkill, but we felt that 
we needed to show some measure of respect for what she 
was trying to do for us.  It worked out well too.  A week 
later, we had Vision under contract, and managed to help her 
revitalize her career.  The work we did with her made our 
reputation in the industry, and we never looked back.
	The only downside to this was the plane our 
representatives were returning on crashed in the Pacific.  
There were no survivors.  The company managed to recover 
from the loss eventually, but those of us who knew them as 
friends still miss them.

PF:  What will you be doing after your retirement?

PA:  Oh, I'm not retiring, just cutting back a little.  Poul and 
I will be going back to Sweden for a while, and then we 
have other plans.  (smiles)  And we'd both like more time to 
enjoy our grandchildren while they are young.  Our oldest 
son, L.D., will be taking over as President and CEO of AI, 
but I'm staying on as Chairman of the Board.  And I'm not 
relinquishing any of my other corporate responsibilities, so 
I'll still be around.

PF:  In conclusion, I'd like to ask a simple question.  What 
do you consider to be the most important thing to happen to 
you in your life?

PA:  (pauses)

			*     *     *

	*Oh, man...* the old woman mused, not showing any 
sign of her discomfort to her great-granddaughter, *that little 
prick wasted all my time asking about stuff that'd been 
talked about and written about and had films made about, 
and all of a sudden he had to ask about _that_?  It's not like 
he knew the truth, but still...
	*The most important thing that ever happened to me, 
and I _still_ can't talk about it to anyone.  Well, not exactly 
true, Nene's still around.  Then again, she wasn't there.
	*I wonder what would have happened if Sylia hadn't 
run me off the road that night?  If I'd pulled my gun instead 
of that knife?  If I'd taken a different road toward Genom 
Tower?  How long _had_ she been watching me, anyway?  
It couldn't have been all that long, but she never said, just 
gave me one of those looks that made me feel about 3 years 
old whenever I asked.
	*Linna got the same deal.  Sylia was just _there_ 
when she was at a really low point, made an offer, and Linna 
grabbed at it.
	*Oh Linna, why did that damn plane have to go 
down?  You were having so much _fun_, and then a $2 seal 
has to blow out at 45,000 feet and ruin everything.  _Shit_!  I 
don't know if I'll ever forgive you for dying on me like 
that...
	*It's kind of funny, though.  The first time I saw 
Vision's "Say Yes" video I was sure someone had been 
talking.  It was almost like what happened to me, and you 
had been close to Reika's sister.... what was her name?  
Arlene?
	*The most important thing....
	*_He'd_ just died, and the cops were blowing it off.  
Funny, how the cop at the scene ended up as a fanboy of 
mine and a major thorn in the side.  Still, we both knew how 
to play the game, and we had some good times.  Poor Leon... 
what a way to go.  Did they ever find all the pieces?
	*I guess I had a death wish back then; I sure 
wouldn't have survived what I planned.  I probably wouldn't 
have gotten past the first security checkpoint.  When I saw 
that red Benz pull up behind me I thought it was _them_.  
When I ran....  Who knew a four-wheel street machine could 
move that fast.  That thing rode right up on my ass, and I 
lost it.  No excuse... I shouldn't have.  I guess I had other 
things on my mind.
	*Thank God the Benz didn't run me over.  With the 
headlights in my eyes, the only hint I had that anyone was 
coming for me was the sound of the wing hatch opening.  And 
when I _did_ see something, it's this fashion model coming 
toward me from the driver's side.
	*And then she stopped, and smirked at me, and... 
well... I just reacted.  You never did blame me for doing it, 
did you Sylia?  You never even said anything about it ever 
again.  You just did _something_, and next I knew I was 
face down on the hood of the Benz, and you had my knife, 
my gun, _and_ my holdout.  And then you ask if I'm OK, 
say I'm not going to get away with it, and ask if I would go 
with you for some coffee.
	*_Jesus_, Sylia, as smart as you were, you could be 
so naive about some things.  I could have had you seven 
ways from Sunday then.  I still have no idea why I went with 
you. Maybe I just wanted my stuff back.  Maybe I was 
hurting too much from the wreck, and needed a ride.  Maybe 
you just made me curious.  You sure seemed to know what I 
was up to, and I guess I needed to find out about that.  I 
needed to find out who you were working for, and how you 
knew.
	*And later, you made this unbelievable offer... I 
thought you were nuts.  I decided that if you came through 
on your promise to help me get mine, I could use you and then 
get rid of you.  I've no idea why you trusted me, that I wouldn't 
pull something.  I never realized I'd still be doing field work for 
you fourteen years later.  Still be your friend.
	*I don't know if I'll ever forgive Linna for dying, but 
Sylia, I _know_ I'll never forgive you....  And I'll never 
forgive myself either.  You didn't even _want_ to go on that 
goddamned trip.
	*Well, it's taken me long enough to decide, but 
maybe you _weren't_ as naive about some things as I 
thought.  You sure took me in.  In more ways than one.

	*God, I miss you.*

			*     *     *

PA:  (pauses)  The most important?  Why, my family, of 
course.

PF:  Thank you for your time, and for consenting to this 
interview.

PA:  You're very welcome.

			*     *     *

	The sudden silence was broken by a child's voice.  
"Is that the end, Grandmama?"
	"That's all there is, sweetie," she replied as she 
closed the fragile paper pages and returned the issue to its 
place in the chest.  She sat quietly for a moment, then looked 
down into the child's face, into the brown eyes with reddish 
highlights, so much like her own.
	"What does it mean, 'enjoy your grandchildren?'" 
Ingrid asked.  "Do you enjoy me?  I'm a grandchildren!"
	"No, little one," Priss answered, cuddling the little 
girl close.  "You're a GREAT grandchild.  And I enjoy you 
very, _very_ much."

			*     *     *

Author Notes:
Firstly, while Peter Fontana may have an interview with 
Priscilla Asagiri-Olafsson in another 83 years, I wrote this one, 
the one done in 1997.

Why write this?  I've given several reasons in answer to this.  I 
guess I felt a little sorry for Priss -- really awful things always 
seem to happen to her in 'fics, and I'm as guilty of that as 
everyone else (I mean, here I am, trying to be nice to her, and I 
_still_ manage to make her a double amputee).  I guess this is 
my attempt at giving her some sort of a future, at making her a 
success in life.

This was reposted because the first "final" version was posted 
while most folks were away for the holidays.

Any questions/comments can be sent to me at 
jhedge@waterw.com or 75512.1214@compuserve.com.

Jeanne Hedge
http://www.accsyst.com/jhedge/

Assistant System Operator
Compuserve Anime/Manga Forum