Chapter 3, first part

Chapter 3
---------


Iczer pulled the collar of her coat up against the wind, feeling a few
errant drops of almost slushy rain patter against her. Her already low
opinion of MegaTokyo wasn't being improved by the wintry weather it
was currently enjoying. Frost or snow she could live with, but
freezing rain and wind she'd always hated. Somehow, however, it seemed
reasonable for this place. She sighed, and continued walking down the
street, hoping absently for a coffee shop or something similar to give
her an excuse to get out of the wind. She still hadn't any idea what
to do about a job, and she didn't have funds to waste; after obtaining
the cheapest apartment she could find, in the still-ruined area of
MegaTokyo, she was nearly broke. She should be there now, at least it
would be better that being out with the weather the way it was, but it
wasn't a thrilling prospect. Anyway, she had a couple of job prospects
to check out, both of them modelling jobs. She wasn't looking forward
to it even if she did have no other options, she was pretty sure
_what_ sort of modelling they entailed, and while neither she or
Iczer-2 had any objections to posing nude, she was seriously worried
about what the thoughts and emotions of the people watching her would
do to her. It really didn't seem like the best of career moves for an
empath who was still having trouble maintaining her shields, but it
looked like either that or starve.

The alternative seemed to be finding some other 'means of support' in
the 'old' area of the city, the part never really fixed after the
earthquake. The problem with that was that it was _not_ a nice area,
and the sort of difficulties she'd run into on her own were the sort
she'd much rather avoid. She couldn't go around beating up everyone
who tried something on with her, eventually word would get around, and
she didn't want to be noticed. Anyway, she had to sleep sometimes, and
sooner or later someone would get her. No, that didn't seem practical.
But what were the alternatives? She'd have to have a serious talk with
Iczer-2 tonight, they needed to come up with some ideas. She'd never
thought before her merge that having the body of a beautiful young
girl would cause these sort of problems. She sighed again, her
thoughts still circling randomly around her limited options, unable to
make a decision on which seemed least unattractive. 

At least the weather was keeping the crowds down to a reasonable
level. She'd never liked crowds even before her 'change', and the fact
that she was now both an empath and not in her proper body made them
even more of a strain. She wished she had more practice in keeping a
mental shield up, but until she improved she was just going to have to
suffer the splitting headaches she acquired after a while. She
couldn't even take aspirin for them, she had no idea what they would
do to her current body, and it wasn't worth the risk unless there was
a real need. 

Her musings were suddenly shattered by the sound of a large explosion
that sounded fairly near. Startled, she looked up, trying to locate
the source, as the sound of police sirens started in the distance,
rapidly growing nearer, wondering what on earth was happening? Her
head turned as she tried to work it out, as a series of smaller
explosions hurt her ears, followed by the chiming crash of breaking
glass. The effect on the crowd around her was significant, though. The
light traffic had cleared with miraculous speed, and the pedestrians
were streaming away from the noise with a panicky desperation.

What could be causing all this, she wondered? Some sort of accident?
But why are all the people running away like this, you'd think a few
would try and look, some people always do...? The sirens got louder;
it looked like whatever was happening was going to happen nearby.
Curious, she started to walk slowly towards the nearest intersection,
convinced that the disturbance was coming from around it.

Still trying to work it out, she reached the t-junction, looking up
and down with interest. And froze. To her right was a bunch of police
cars, blocking the street. ADPolice cars, behind which was a squad of
heavily armed and armoured police. To her left was a scattering of
civilians, running fast towards the cars, and behind them... big, mean
and blue. A Boomer. NOW she realised why everyone had been running
_away_ from the noise. A Boomer rampage. Yet another fun-filled part
of the joyous pageant of life in MegaTokyo. And she'd been stupid
enough to walk right into it.  

**********************************************************************
**

Even now, seeing the menacing advance of the Boomer, she stood frozen,
watching as the remaining people ran towards her, passing her as they
raced for the safety of the ADPolice barricade, a few sparing her
scared, puzzled glances as she stood there, unable to fully convince
herself this was real. She shook her head, as a growing sense of
urgency from her partner woke her from her confused, almost shocked,
state. Looking about, she started to turn to run back down the alley
she had come from when the Boomer raised the huge gun it carried
casually in one arm, stopping and bracing itself as it let loose a
volley of rapid, heavy-calibre rounds at the surrounding buildings,
shattering glass and cement and creating a deadly rain of fragments
that sent her diving clear as a shower crashed to the ground behind
where she had been standing.

She rolled, cursing as she nearly tripped on her hair, thankful that
at least she'd tied it; loose, she'd have fallen flat on her face.
Turning, she glared at the battle robot, which stood, small sensors
protruding from its face and moving slowly, almost like the questing
antennae of an insect as it stared at the barricade with what she
could have sworn was a calculating look. The police were standing
prepared, and as she watched they fired, loud rattles of gunfire that
made her wince and automatically try and cover her sensitive ears
against the noise, as a hail of bullets pounded the Boomer, the impact
making it stagger and fall back, dents appearing in its smooth
metallic skin. Some heavier rounds actually seemed to penetrate its
armour, as she saw smoke and fluids seep from a number of 'wounds',
but it didn't seem seriously damaged apart from one arm that hung
limply.

She quickly looked around her. All the civilians but herself and a
younger girl had managed to get safely behind the police during the
distraction caused by the police fire. She wondered why the girl
hadn't made it, then realised that by her movements it looked like
she'd hurt her leg or ankle, she was cowering next to a pile of rubble
left from the Boomers shots, obviously hoping she wouldn't be noticed.
Iczer could relate to that feeling. Her own hope that either the
Boomer would go away, or maybe get taken out by the police, faded into
insignificance as it braced itself, then swept the barricade with a
burst of heavy-calibre rounds, shattering the cars and sending
armoured police staggering and falling back, crimson blood spraying
from their shattered bodies and pooling in scarlet lakes on the dirty
tarmac of the street. The Boomer opened its mouth in a gesture that,
in a human, she would have said was a triumphant smirk, as the
uninjured police dived for cover, trying to find new and safer
positions from which to fire upon the rampaging machine. Slowly, to
Iczer's growing horror, it turned to face her.

Iczer stared at the Boomer in front of her. Although battered by the
previous assaults of the ADPolice, it was still a terrifyingly
powerful combat machine. And she was in its way. She tried to think,
to move, but couldn't. She had already seen the horrible efficiency
with which the Boomer treated armed and armoured police officers, and
knew with a paralysing certainty that she was next, that this was
real, not anime, and that this combat machine was going to kill her.
She could see every dent and hole in its armour with merciless
clarity, smelling the reek of lubricant and gunfire, her mind refusing
to think past the instant in which she felt herself trapped in like a
fly in amber.

The Boomer grinned at her. With a small part of her mind she knew it
wasn't humour; the open mouth revealed the mechanism for the oral
cannon it possessed. She tried to make herself dodge before it
incinerated her, but it must have considered such an attack
unnecessary, for instead of firing its undamaged arm snapped down into
some of the scattered rubble, coming up with a short section of
reinforcing bar from one of the damaged buildings. It hefted it, its
arm swinging back into a throwing position. 

She watched, still unable to tear her eyes away, her heart pounding as
inside her she felt a determination and anger grow. But not hers, this
was coming from Iczer-2. In slow motion, the Boomers arm whipped
forward, the broken steel rod launched straight at her chest - as she
felt her body hurl her sideways, clear of its trajectory, Iczer-2
overriding her frozen muscles to throw them to safety. She grunted as
she dived clear to one side, whipping upright from a roll to land in a
crouch. She felt a satisfaction from her 'companion' as the shock
finally broke her paralysis, a satisfaction which ceased abruptly as
she heard a bubbling scream of agony from behind her.

She whirled round, not understanding, then understood all too well.
Kneeling on the ground, hands pressed uselessly against a gash in her
abdomen that spurted crimson, was the young girl. She looked up, eyes
unseeing in a white face as she looked at the Boomer, her unspoken
question of 'why?' beating against Iczer like a physical force, her
pain a lash that sent jags of pain splintering through her empathic
sense.

Oh God, she thought, that girl was behind me... when I dodged that rod
went straight through _her_!!!

The shock left her feeling physically sick for a moment, then she felt
Iczer-2 take more direct control of her, feeling a hard and brittle
determination grow as she glared at the Boomer. The machine ignored
her, turning again to the police as they started to fire at it again,
not a solid broadside this time, but slower, steady fire that seemed
designed to attract the Boomer away from the helpless civilians in its
path. She crouched, running over to the injured girl, one eye on the
Boomer as it ignored the bulk of the police weaponry, returning a
burst of fire only when some minor damage was caused to it.

Shaking despite Iczer-2's control, she tried to help the girl up, but
stopped immediately as another burst of pain sent a ragged flare of
sympathetic fire through her empathic sense, and saw the gaping wound
that was feeding the pool of blood under the girl. Looking back to
check the Boomer was still uninterested in them, she ripped off her
coat, pressing it against the wound in a futile attempt to staunch it
as the cloth instantly turned crimson, trying to block off the
transmitted pain enough to pick the girl up and carry her to cover.

Her ears caught the clatter of running boots. Whipping around, she
realised as she turned that it couldn't be the Boomer; instead she saw
that one of the police had broken from behind the barricade, and was
running for them, looking like he intended to help them. With one part
of her mind, Iczer grinned in ironic self-recrimination at the thought
of him running out here to help _her_, as he skidded down beside them,
his eyes meeting hers for an instant before looking down at the young
girl bleeding her life away onto the concrete.

**********************************************************************
**

Priss sat on her motorcycle as she watched the ADPolice try in vain to
bring down the rogue Boomer. She winced as she heard one of the two
girls trapped on the wrong side of the barricade scream as she was
impaled on a metal rod hurled by the rampaging machine, but she knew
that without her battlesuit there wasn't anything she could do to
help. She wasn't even sure why she'd stopped to watch, not willing to
admit to the masochistic feelings that made her unable to tear herself
away and ride to safety. It couldn't be the fact that Leon was
directing the operation, of course, she knew she didn't have any
feelings for him. Still, he and his men _were_ trying their best, it
was just that their best wasn't very good... Again she cursed Largo;
if it hadn't been for him, not only would Sylvie still be alive, but
Priss would be fit and able to help right now. Growling under her
breath, she moved her cycle back a bit, getting a better view but also
able to move away fast if the Boomer broke through the police lines.
She didn't have much faith in their ability to stop it, and there
wasn't any point in getting herself caught by it when it broke
through.

**********************************************************************
**

The officer's attention was all on the injured girl, a small part of
Iczer's mind admiring the way he could seemingly ignore the nearby
Boomer, as he tried to slide his arms under her to lift her. Iczer
winced in sympathy as the movement tore another cry of pain from the
girl, fainter this time, as she helped him take the girl into his
arms. With a grunt of effort, he stood up, carrying her, blood running
down his combat dress as he turned. Iczer stood slowly from her
crouch, then turned suddenly towards the Boomer as she realised the
police fire had slackened off. The Boomer was looking straight at
them, not looking much more damaged than before. She looked at it,
snarling,  as it took a few steps closer, its mouth opening again,
slowly revealing the mouth cannon, almost as if wanting to let them
appreciate that it was about to incinerate them. With one hand, she
yanked a long piece of reinforcing bar from the wreckage, as she
motioned to the officer holding the girl to go. He looked at her for a
second, as if unable to decide what to do, then she pushed him
slightly, hissing "Go!" at him harshly, as she glided towards the
Boomer, rod held in both hands like a staff. Behind her she heard the
movement of feet, and she hoped he would get back safely. Meanwhile,
she had a killer robot that was about to get a nasty surprise - her.

The Boomers mouth was now wide open, and again she felt time slow down
around her, as she saw the faint tracery of energy flow across the
mechanism as it prepared to fire. She grinned, and allowed Iczer-2 to
take full control of their body. With an agility she knew she couldn't
even approach yet, Iczer-2 leapt forward, the staff blurring even in
her eyes as she smashed the end straight into the Boomers open mouth,
dodging as an aborted blue beam of light snarled past her for a
moment, uselessly impacting the pavement with an explosion of
vaporised tarmac as the Boomer staggered back, half its jaw hanging
off as the cannon disrupted in its mouth.

Iczer grinned savagely, sparing a momentary glance for the officer,
who had nearly made the barricade line in a shambling run with the
girl in his arms, then whipped her makeshift staff around and back,
slamming it into the Boomers side and lifting it bodily off the ground
as it was hurled sideways, landing heavily. She noted with detachment
that although dented, it wasn't badly hurt. That wouldn't last. Her
intent to slice the Boomer into conveniently-sized fragments with her
energy sword was, however, distracted by a loud throbbing whirr.
Glancing up, she saw a one-man police helicopter hovering, a large
multi-barelled gun tracking the Boomer in front of her. With a muffled
'Oh shit...' she dived backwards, as the chaingun opened fire,
bracketing the staggered Boomer before targeting accurately, the
rounds sending the robot staggering back as they penetrated its
armour, small explosions finalised by one huge one, as the rampaging
machine shattered with a deafening noise that sent splinters whining
above her head. She looked up, and almost cursed the pilot; that
Boomer had been _hers_! then she sighed, as Iczer-2 slowly, almost
reluctantly out of control of her body, realising that there were
other things she'd been ignoring as she heard the shouts of police, as
she slowly turned and walked towards them.

Police gathered around, some going over to examine the wrecked Boomer,
but she ignored them, brushing past them as she walked over to where
the injured girl lay, a paramedic hovering helplessly next to her. She
knelt down onto the ground, looking first at the still, pale face of
the girl, then at the medic, hoping that somehow he would tell her the
facts weren't what she knew them to be. He merely looked back at her,
an expression of sadness and a small shake of his head confirming it;
the girl was dead. 

She looked down, one hand touching the girls clothing as if to brush
it back over the wound, then she jerked her hand back, standing
jerkily, ignoring the noise and confusion which the attempts of the
large policeman in charge hardly seemed to control, as she moved back,
unable to tear her eyes away as she felt the guilt within her flood
over her and take control. With a barely-muffled sob, she turned and
ran blindly away from the scene, brushing aside the hands that tried
to touch her or hold her back. She didn't see the tall girl on the
powerful motorcycle, let along notice as she took her helmet off,
holding it absently in her hands as she gazed after the running figure
with a puzzled expression on her face.

**********************************************************************
****

Iczer stood looking out over the water, the freezing rain beating
against her face, blurring the reflections of the lights on the river
into a dripping daliesque kaleidoscope of light as she gripped the
bridge railing. She made no attempt to protect herself against the
bitter cold, letting the wind whip the sleety rain against her,
feeling the icy clamminess of her soaked clothes embracing her skin,
hair a heavy sodden weight that pulled back against the muscles of her
neck. She was glad of the cold, refusing to deny it by pushing it away
with an energy field, letting its frozen honesty match her inner mood.
If she hadn't been so obsessed with secrecy, protecting something that
didn't mean anything, that girl would still be alive. Iczer-2's powers
could have torn that Boomer apart with ease, and no-one would have got
hurt, but instead...

She felt the anger and bitterness at herself burning inside her,
letting it grow, wanting to feel it, treasuring it as it fed on
itself, punishing her for what she had let happen. Deeper, she felt
Iczer-2's presence, a mix of sadness and uncertainty, as if she wanted
to hold her but was unsure if she should. She let the pain build,
using it to form a barrier, not wanting sympathy yet, no matter how
well-intentioned.

**********************************************************************
**

Priss walked quickly through the rain, hands buried deep inside the
pockets of her coat as she followed the girl. Something about her
reactions had twitched her curiosity. Not that she had knelt to hold
the dying victim; that was an all-too-often occurrence after a Boomer
attack, someone holding a loved one who was no longer able to return
the gesture. Nor was her running away afterwards, she had sympathy for
someone who wanted to deny the savage, careless brutality with which a
Boomer tore living people into bloody shreds. Sometimes she wished she
was able to avoid the truth in the same way, but she had her
responsibilities. What intrigued her was the two occurring one after
the other. Especially just when the ADPolice had been approaching the
girl. That seemed to indicate a far more complex situation than simple
fear or tragedy, and she wanted to find out more. It also gave her
something to think about apart from all the recent deaths, but she
wasn't ready to admit that yet, even to herself.

She shivered, pulling the collar of her coat up more closely, rivulets
of cold water trickling down her neck. This wasn't a fit night for
anyone to be out in, especially a young girl on her own who had left
her coat at the Boomer incident. She was glad of her bike leathers,
but wished she'd had time to get her bike; if nothing else, the warmth
of its engine would have been welcome. So much for spring... She
speeded up a little, not wanting the girl to get too far ahead, but
had to slow down again at a warning stab of pain from the stitches in
her abdomen, reminding her that while the injury Anri had given her
might have been fixed, it wasn't fully healed yet.

She stopped as she reached the start of a small bridge. Clearly
visible in the pale glow of the streetlights was the girl she had been
following, standing at the centre of the bridge, her hands clenched
about the top of the protective railing. She was staring into space,
her eyes blank as she looked out over the water, rain and slush
dripping down her soaked clothing and hair.

Priss hesitated for a moment. She didn't think the girl was going to
jump, her stance was all wrong; the way she was standing seemed to
indicate an angry despair rather than suicide, but you never knew. And
she didn't like the way she was disregarding the filthy weather, it
did nothing to give her more confidence in the girls current mental
stability. If she jumped in these conditions, there would be very
little chance of recovering a body at all, let alone one still
breathing.

Breathing in slowly to calm herself as much as possible, she started
to walk towards the girl, slowing her pace and walking slowly and
deliberately in what she hoped was a non-threatening manner. The girl
took no notice of her whatsoever, still staring blindly out over the
dark river, a fact which brought a flicker of annoyance to Priss; she
may have been trying to be discrete, but she hated being ignored as
much as ever.

She finally stopped a few feet away. By now she was certain the girl
was deliberately ignoring her, a fact which started a slow burn of
anger inside, which she tried to bring back under control, reminding
herself that the girl was probably in shock after the Boomer attack,
and would react badly to anger and its implied violence. Curiously she
examined her; she knew it was rude, but if she was being ignored she
could be annoying in return.

The girl was just standing there, wire-tense, her hands gripping the
railing with a white-knuckled grip Priss was certain wasn't entirely
due to the cold. Her thin clothes clung to her, outlining a slender,
well muscled figure that made her wonder what the girl did. She had
the appearance of a dancer or athlete, but her hair was way too long,
hanging a good metre down her back, a soaked crimson mass that slowly
dripped water onto the frozen ground. She didn't look that old, maybe
around 18 or so, no makeup, and from the look of things no bra under
that T-shirt. Priss wondered if she was a runaway of some sort, she
certainly looked like one. There was something odd about her ears,
too, although the thick hair was plastered wetly across them they
didn't look quite right.

She couldn't understand how the girl was managing to cope with the
weather; she was wearing leathers, and a coat and was still shivering,
the girl was wearing only a thin T-shirt and jeans, and from the way
they were plastered against her in this freezing wind she'd be better
off naked, yet only the occasional shiver ran down her body. Must be
still in shock. However, she couldn't just stand here and look at
here, she had to get her talking.

"Hello."

The girl started slightly, making Priss wonder for a second if in fact
she really hadn't noticed her standing staring at her, then very
slowly turned to face Priss, her eyes blank and staring for a moment
until they finally focused on her. She wondered for a moment; in the
orange glow of the streetlight, she could have sworn the girl's eyes
were red.

"What do you want?"

"To help you."

The girl grimaced, one side of her lips curling up, but Priss had the
feeling that the contempt wasn't aimed at her.

"I don't need help. Or deserve it. Please go away."

"Everyone needs help sometimes"

"Maybe they do, but that doesn't mean they ought to get it."

Priss wondered why the girl sounded so bitter. She was obviously
blaming herself, but for what? How was this tied in with the Boomer
rampage? There was more to this than met the eye, and now she had got
interested, there was no way she was going to let go of it until she'd
found out a lot more; especially since she was convinced it had
_something_ to do with Boomers.

"Wouldn't you like to talk about it? Sometimes it helps"

The girl grinned, baring her teeth in a gesture that didn't have much
humour in it, eyes glaring at Priss. She still seemed angry at
something, but now was transferring some of her emotion at Priss.

"Why should I? I don't even know who you are!"

Priss smiled to herself. She'd passed the first hurdle, the girl had
broken out of her introspection and was talking to her now. Now to
reel her in a bit, and hopefully get out of this damned cold. 

"My name is Priss. Priss Asagiri."

This time the girl's reaction was one Priss wasn't expecting. She'd
seen people react to her with interest if they recognised her name,
sometimes awe and excitement if they were fans of hers, sometimes with
the contempt of 'Oh God, it's a cheap singer', but this time she saw
eyes open wide in shock as the girl took a half step backwards, almost
as if she was afraid of her! Now why should she do that, especially
when she was so angry. Mentally, she licked her lips; this was getting
more interesting by the minute.

"You're... Priss? The singer??"

Priss smiled, and nodded, trying to look reassuring. Not the easiest
of tasks for her with a stranger, especially when her instinctive
reaction was to take control and push hard for more information, but
she wasn't going to let a mystery like this get away from her that
easily. She could be just as subtle as anyone when she wanted to be,
never mind Linna's and Nene's taunts!

"Yes, that's right. Have you seen one of my shows?"

The girl startled Priss again by suddenly grinning with amusement.

"Uh... no, I haven't. But I heard some recordings of your singing;
you're very good"

Priss tried not to scowl, not when she was getting through to her, but
spared a moment to mentally curse people who made pirate tapes of her
performances. Especially poor quality pirate tapes!

"Maybe you'd like to come to one some time? I'm a lot better in
person"

"Come and see... ah, yes, I'd like to...but..."

Priss smiled at the girl. This uncertainty was a more normal sort of
reaction, and certainly a lot more healthy. Now to get her out of this
rain and somewhere where she could ask the questions she really wanted
answering. And preferably get something hot to drink, the last thing
she needed was a cold to affect her voice, and this girl was going to
be suffering from exposure if she didn't get her inside soon. She
reached out one hand, slowly, touching her on the arm, carefully
making sure the gesture projected reassurance rather than a threat.

"Tell you what, why don't you come with me? We can get out of this
rain and talk, OK?

The girl blinked, looking down at the hand on her arm in confusion, a
very odd expression on her face, almost as if she couldn't understand
what Priss meant, then her face cleared and she half-smiled back at
Priss, head tilted slightly to one side as she sighed and gave a small
shrug.

"I guess I may as well be miserable indoors as out here. Sure, why
not."

Priss smiled inwardly in triumph at herself as she led the girl back
across the bridge in the direction of her bike. Trying to shelter her
face from the worst of the freezing rail slashing down, she didn't
notice the finger-shaped indentations in the steel railing where the
girl had been supporting herself...