Skywise was starting to feel lonely. This wasn't a new situation,
in fact it was one in which he increasingly found himself since
the accident. Sure he was surrounded by people, but he didn't
really know them. His friends were confused and those who
didn't know what happened treated him like dirt. His only
reprieve came from talking with the one person who
understood, but now he had gone away. The one person who he
knew was gone and he couldn't take the pitying looks any longer.
His mind made up he concentrated, after a few moments he felt
the familiar presence of Kami-sama wash over his mind, and
through his soul as the connection was made. Of all the beings
he had met only he truly understood Skywise, all his wants, his
needs, his feelings. Compassion came with contact and he
searched through Skywise's mind, past the painfully
reconstructed arias and into the foreboding broken zone.
Looking carefully through the shattered memories he found what
he had forgotten: The location of Fred. With a ripple of space
Skywise was gone.
A great distance away, or just next door, the pattern of a universe
was altered subtly, one more thread added to the tapestry
contributing to the beauty of the world. In a ripple of space a
short elf appeared from nothing. Clad in casual cloths he looked
around slightly confused. After a moment he walked off.
Padding down the hill he blended in with the sparse plants and
bushes almost instinctually. The forest green of his doeskin
pants and the silk shist blended in naturally to his surroundings.
Walking quietly towards the complex before him, Skywise
paused to look around carefully. After a moment he threw off
the caution that had become ingrained from past hardship and
walked confidently forward. A slight chuckle escaped his lips as
he noticed LPAC's rather unique idea of an emblem. Staring
back at him from the front of a large dorm was a lifelike griffin
emblazoned upon a shield, with various tools laying about the
foreground of a high tech city. <If only their skills matched their
ego we wouldn't have to fight at all. Oh well there's nothing else
for it, I suppose I might as well see if Stargazer's in.> He walked
forward into the courtyard formed by the building's wings.
Looking through various windows and seeing nothing but
exposed circuitry and experiments in progress he shruggged. <I
suppose they really are like all the stereotypes I've heard about
them, though I wish I could remember more from first hand.>
His pondering is interrupted as he realized that he had come up
to a door leading down into the building. A slight push and four
steps later he felt as though he had walked into a Mexican
standoff. He could feel the tension in the air growing by the
moment. Only when he realized that everyone was staring at him
did he realize why.
<Oh boy, I'm in for it now, I don't remember it being THIS bad!>
Skywise turned to face the LARGE man approaching him <I
think I know how David felt against Goliath.> "Um, Hi. Have you
seen Stargazer around lately?"
"Sure but he doesn't have time for annoying visitors right now.
Especially not some useless person like you."
Even though Skywise could tell where this is all going he
resolved to stick it out. <Maybe Ill find out where he is first.>
"Well could I leave a message for him then?" Seeing the five
other gorillas approaching he decided that maybe leaving was a
better plan and started to edge towards the door.
"I don't know about that. He's awfully busy right now, hm maybe
he would if it came from a girl."
*splash*
Dripping wet Skywise stood her ground. <Just calm down,
whatever happened back then can't be helped now, just walk
away, just walk away.> Unfortunately Skywise didn't always listen
to herself. "You're right he must only listen to girls", under her
breath she muttered perhaps the stupidest thing to pass her lips
in years. "You must be able to call him anytime."
"THAT'S IT, YOU BASTARD YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!!"
<Crap! Why why why didn't I listen to that little voice telling me
discretion was the better part of valor? WHY?!> However David
(or would it be Dana in this situation?) had one advantage on
Goliath. _Speed_. Ducking under a quick sidekick and dodging
the follow up sweep Skywise stepped in and decided to put him
down, _hard_. A knee to the stomach, and a jab to the neck
followed by a shadow step and a trio of blows to the kidneys put
him down. Unfortunately for Skywise, she forgot five other
things. Seven blows, three broken bones, three bad bruises and a
slight concussion later the fight ended.
***
<Prime?>
<Prime?>
Nightelf withdrew her fingers from Prime's temple and wiped
the perspiration from her brow. Most people didn't realize how
much energy telepathy could eat up. In twenty minutes of
intense telepathic probing she had probably burned more
calories than an aerobics workout twice that long. <Maybe I
should market my own fitness video for telepaths> She thought.
"Anything?" Kyone-chan asked, worried. Nightelf had let the
Magic Knight stay, in case she needed more questions answered.
"Not yet." Nightelf replied. She put her fingertips against
Prime's forehead once more. <Prime?>
<You're... you're not her.> A confused, scared voice replied. He
was very, very deep.
<Prime, it's me, Nightelf. I'm here to help you.> Nightelf
reached down, trying to contact him.
<I can't feel her anymore.> Prime replied. <There was pain,
then I couldn't feel her. Where is she?> He withdrew a little for
Nicola, tantilizingly out of reach
She tried to reach him again. Prime had retreated down to a
primal level, abandoning most of his rational faculties to escape
some horrible pain. He had regressed to a childlike state.
<Prime, take my hand. I'm going to lead you back.>
<No!> The Prime-child cried out, shrinking away further. <The
pain is there! If I move it'll find me!>
Nightelf sent soothing thoughts, finding her experience with her
own unborn child helpful. <Shh. There's no more pain. There's
nothing to fear. I will protect you. Just take my hand.>
<But what about her? I can't find her! I can't leave without her!>
Nightelf didn't know for sure who this 'her' was, but she was
obviously important to him. <You won't be able to find her until
you come back with me. She isn't here. I'll help you find her, but
you have to come back with me.>
The Prime-child was silent for a moment, then tentatively
reached out to her, taking her metaphorical hand. Gently, slowly
so the child didn't get frightened Nightelf slowly ascended.
<See? There's no pain. You're safe.> She accelerated a little,
feeling the Prime-child's 'hand' tighten. He wouldn't let go now.
Nightelf broke to the surface, coming back to herself abruptly.
She waited for the slight dizziness associated with a deep
telepathic probe to pass. She had never gone that deep before.
"Are you okay?" Kyone-chan asked, now crouched beside her. "I
tried to wake you, but you were completely gone!"
"How long was I under?" Nightelf asked. She felt exhausted, like
she had just run a marathon.
"About fifteen minutes. Is Prime okay? Did you get him?"
Nightelf touched Prime's forehead again, this time conducting
only a light scan. She could feel the gentle flow of his sleeping
mind. "Yeah, I got him." She replied, relieved. "He's just
sleeping now."
Kyone-chan yawned. Nightelf chuckled "Sounds like you could
use some sleep yourself."
Kyone-chan rubbed her eyes. "Spellcasting takes a lot out of a
body. I'll be okay."
"You'll be asleep in a minute." Nightelf replied. "Here, go and tell
the others that Prime will be fine, so they can all go home and
stop crowding my waiting room, then I'll fix up your arm."
Kyone-chan nodded and stepped outside. Priss had already
taken her hardsuit back to the armory and she and Nene had
switched to civvies. Wyrm was asleep sitting up on the couch,
with Wyrm-chan nestled against his shoulder. Kei and Yuri were
draped over a couple of chairs looking bored. Zen was fiddling
with his captured Pfhor staff and Ukyou was practicing a slow
kata in the middle of the room. Webdragon was sitting in
another chair, studying Ukyou's movement's intently, like he was
memorizing it.
Kyone-chan cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
Everyone paused in what they were doing, and Wyrm snorted
and opened one eye sleepily. Wyrm-chan didn't wake up.
"Any news?" Zen asked hopefully.
"He's going to be fine." Kyone-chan said happily.
"Can we see him?" Nene asked hopefully.
"What, you planning on playing Florence Nightengale?" Priss
asked, poking Nene in the ribs.
Nene blushed deep scarlet. "It's not like that! I'm just worried
about him!"
"Riiiight."
"What about Eric?" Wyrm asked sleepily. He still hadn't noticed
Dee-chan snuggled up against him.
"I haven't heard anything." Kyone replied. "Actually, Nightelf
asked me to tell you guys that you should head back to the dorm
now."
"Go home!" Nicola shouted from Prime's room down the hall.
"I don't like leaving Adam here alone." Wyrm said.
"You just don't want Dee-chan to move." Kei said, smirking.
"Huh?" Wyrm replied. Then he noticed Wyrm-chan curled up
against him. "I... it's not what you think...!"
The entire group exchanged a look. "Riiight!" They said in
unison.
Wyrm-chan groaned and opened her eyes reluctantly. "Mmmm...
whazzup?"
"Prime's going to be okay." Wyrm said. He gently eased her up off
his shoulder. She looked as though she would rather have stayed
where she was, but she didn't protest. "One of us should stay
here until he wakes up."
To everyone's surprise, Kei raised her hand. "I'll stay."
Everyone stared at her.
Kei flushed. "I just want to make sure I set his arm right, okay? I
wasn't sure if I got it right. It's a matter of professional pride."
"Riiiight." Yuri said. Kei slugged her on the arm.
Kyone-chan sighed and returned to Prime's room. Nightelf was
waiting for her. She slowly cut off the bandage, carefully avoiding
the burned area. She examined the wound carefully, both visually
and with a mediscanner.
"Zen did a good job of bandaging this." Nightelf said, putting
away the scanner and selecting a dermal regenerator. "This will
repair most of the damage, but it might still be tender for a few
days." She activated the device, playing a wide red beam across
the burn. When she was done all that was left was a slightly
reddened patch of skin. Nightelf put away the device. "Would you
like some hot water before you go back?"
"Hot water?" Kyone-chan asked, confused before her mind made
the connection. She was still female, and she hadn't even
noticed. No, that was wrong. She HAD noticed, but it hadn't felt
wrong like it used to. Kyone shivered a little. "No, I'll be fine. I'll
take a hot shower when I get back to the dorm." Kyone thanked
Nightelf and got up to leave. Before she could walk out, though,
Nightelf caught her good arm.
"Kyone, if you need someone to talk to, there are people who
understand what you're going through." Nightelf said.
"Yeah." Kyone replied unenthusiastically, gently freeing her arm.
"Sure. I'll keep that in mind." She walked out without another
word.
***
The blue flare that surrounded them as they teleported left
David disorientated for a moment. The first thing he noticed was
that Iczer-2 was still holding him in her arms, even though
they'd arrived. The second was the godawful din emanating from
the nearest building. The sign over the door read "White Wolf's
Crosstime Saloon" and was hanging a little lopsided. As David
watched a burly man hurtled through one of the windows to
sprawl motionless on the ground. The sound of a full scale brawl
could be heard quite clearly through the broken glass. He looked
at the man, then at Iczer-2, who was watching with an air of
detached amusement, and sighed with resignation. Why did _he_
have to be duty officer today, hadn't he already got enough to do?
His first instinct was to let the idiots brawl away while he and
Iczer-2 went home, but there was the little matter of needing
the personnel actually working tomorrow rather than clogging
up Tofu's infirmary, so he had to do something.
He considered his options; The AD Police muscle he had
requistioned hadn't arrived yet, but the bar fight seemed to be
rapidly getting out of control. Assuming, of course, that it had
ever been in control to start with! If he tried to stop it now, it
would be just him and Iczer 2.
<Sounds about even> he though wryly. He looked at Iczer-2, who
was still watching the scene with interest, then unholstered his sidearm
and pushed open the doors.
He barely avoided having his head taken off by a stray pool cue.
Iczer 2 caught the projectile three inches from his face, then
raised an eyebrow at him. <Looks like I'm going to have to work
on your reflexes too> he 'heard' her say.
David looked around the tangled, fighting mob that filled the
room, calmly raised his sidearm, pointed it at the ceiling and
squeezed off three quick rounds. Immediately everyone in the
bar stopped to look at him, some of them in mid-punch.
"Now that I have your attention, I think we've had quite enough
of this." David said, reholstering his weapon. A number of the
rougher individuals at the front of the crowd looked as if they
were about to argue about that flat statement, but a gentle cough
from Iczer-2, still standing relaxed beside him, seemed to
change their feelings with remarkable efficiency.
"Security. I want to know who started this."
There was a pause, then a young man wearing a FDF fighter
squadron cadet's uniform stepped forward. "I did, sir."
Before David could react, another person stepped forward. It
was Nabiki, wearing a similar uiform but sporting Lieutenant's
pips. "No, I did, sir."
Immediately an LPAC foot soldier with a bloodied nose stepped
forward. He was badly inebriated, but managed to keep his feet.
"No, I did!"
The bar was suddenly filled with voices as everyone in the bar
confessed to the crime, suddenly in the grip of rampant
Spartacus Syndrome.
David looked up at the ceiling in disgust. "Why me, lord?" Beside
him he heard a small noise from Iczer-2 that he could only
describe as a snicker; however when he cocked an eye in her
direction she was gazing at him calmly, looking innocent. Far too
innocent, but he could hardly complain about it.
<Iczer 2? Can you tell which of them is telling the truth?>
She looked around the room, then shrugged. <Impossible to
tell.> she replied. <Some of them are so drunk they didn't even
know there WAS a fight!>
David looked back at the mob. <I don't have time for this!> He
turned his head as a number of his AD Police henchmen arrived;
as usual, too late.
<I can't lock them all up, the stockade isn't big enough. And
anyway, we need them working, not relaxing in cells!>
"QUIET!!"
the sheer unexpected volume of his bellow shut them up. For
the moment, anyway. Out of the corner of his eye he could see
Iczer-2 wincing slightly at the volume he'd projected, and
grinned. Then he looked back at the mob, smiling coldly.
"Since you don't seem to be taking this seriously, you are all
confined to quarters for the rest of the night. You will report
here at 0600 _sharp_, ready to clean up this mess! Anyone who
doesn't turn up, sober and prompt..." He left the rest of the
threat unvoiced.
"Dismissed." David moved out of the way to allow the crowd to
leave, motioning his muscle to take those that were too drunk to
leave under their own power back to the stockade to dry out.
He stood aside, watching for a moment, then winked at Iczer-2,
motioning her out with a small tilt of his head. She grinned
back, then leant close to whisper in his ear. "Now can we get
home? I want to get to bed!"
He blinked for a second. "You're sleepy?"
She grinned widely, and he suddenlt got worried. "That wasn't
what I said at all!"
David gulped.
***
The hordes of Rabid Otaku Engineers were going through FRED
like an unlimited grade fusion Boomer on amphetamines.
Partially rebuilt subsystems were being cannibalized to finish
more critical systems, cables were re-routed down corridors;
Basically the careful plan was being ripped to shreds in order to
do a quick and dirty cut and shunt job to get things operational
as fast as humanly possible.
The clothing replicators were working overtime on overalls as
the Engies had gotten into the habit of conscripting any warm
bodies not moving fast enough for essential duties such as left-
handed-grommitwacker-passing, Is-that-cable-live?, coffee-
need-coffee, put-your-finger-there-and-pass-the-duct-tape,
hold-that-torch-steady, here's-the-chewing-gum, etc. etc.
Mackie was jogging along to the next crisis when he saw two
sets of overalls poking out of an access hatch. One set was very
interestingly filled and admirably taut.
He stood transfixed for a moment.
"Don't even _think_ about it kiddo." Came a familiar voice from
inside the port.
Kate Madigan hauled herself out and looked warningly at the
teenager. Her hair was done up out of the way under a cap, and
there was a smudge of grease by her nose, but she was still
striking.
She continued "Shouldn't you be installing that flux converter I
see you clutching?"
Mackie gave her a cheesy grin and continued on his way while
Kate clambered back into the access port while Barry mumbled
something about passing the duct tape and where the torch had
gone.
Of course, you cannot make scrambled eggs or FREDs without
breaking a few shells...
Later, in the commissary...
Barry had collapsed in a heap in front of a large pile of 'fuel' i.e.
something unidentifiable, bland and filling, three mugs of strong
tea and his laptop.
Kate Madigan stalked in, making a beeline for the red head
engineer
"Hi Mads, you're off shift aren't y..." he saw her expression and
stopped
She spoke in a quiet penetrating voice "Barry. Today I have
worked for twelve hours straight. I am tired. My hair is dirty.
My feet ache. I am covered in grease. My fingernails will never
be the same again. But I am willing to make these sacrifices for
the common good."
Barry smiled tremulously, as if to avert the storm he could sense
coming.
"All this I can accept. However, When I returned to that broom
cupboard I call my domicile, I found that someone had been
there and taken several critical components from the hot water
unit... for a Plasma Cannon Preheat circuit I believe. I was Really
looking forward to a bath. And when I checked who had signed
the work order, what name do you think I found? I'll give you
Three guesses and the first two _don't_ _Count!_" Her voice had
gotten gradually sharper, the last words were like a Damascus
blade.
She leaned forward as if to whisper in his ear... and screamed at
the top of her lungs.
"AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
@_@ "Itte..." Barry slumped down, hitting the floor with a
thump.
"And don't call me Mads."
She walked out to applause from all the females in the room.
***
Kyone closed the dorm door quietly, aware that at least some of
the others were probably sleeping. She walked quietly past the
living room, noticing that not even Webdragon was up. She
tiptoed up the stairs, making her way to the common bathroom.
She slipped inside and closed the door.
She waited a moment before switching on the light. When she
did she was immediately greeted by her reflection in the mirror.
She stared at the green-haired girl looking out at her through
the glass and wondered when she had accepted that face as her
own.
She stripped off her unisex jumpsuit (she had powered down
soon after leaving the infirmary) and stepped into the shower,
cranking up the water as hot as she could stand. The searing
water washed away her womanhood, returning him to his
'natural' form. He didn't find the comfort in it that he used to.
He mechanically washed away the day's dirt and grime, trying to
ignore how strange it felt to be male after being female for so
long.
Josh stepped out of the shower, wrapped himself in a large
towel and examined himself in the mirror. He stared at his own
face. <I've been spending less and less time as a guy. Kyone has
all the skill, all the magic. How long before I don't have any
reason to change back at all?>
***
Nightelf collapsed into one of the plush chairs in the waiting
room and sighed heavily. Coaxing Prime back had taken more of
her than she'd dare admit. It had been a near thing; whatever
trauma the Sagittarian had endured was intimately painful,
almost along the lines of losing a loved one.
Tofu came down the hall, looking almost as tired as she felt.
"How's Eric?" Nightelf asked.
Tofu smiled. "He should be okay, thanks to that 'bacta' substance
that Erin provided. His body armor absorbed the worst of it.
Wyrm said he would arrange for quarters for him."
"That's good," Nightelf said, allowing herself to relax.
Tofu sat down in a nearby chair, looking a little pensive. "Nick? I
think I'm going to need your help with something."
Nightelf cocked her head, a strange glow in her eyes. <Is he
going to ask me to set him up on a date with Kasumi? About
flamin' time!>
Tofu rubbed his eyes. "Nick, do you know about that girl that
SpecOps brought back with them?"
Nightelf frowned, her hopes at playing matchmaker dashed. "I
heard about it. Wasn't there some question as to her identity?"
Tofu shook his head. "Not anymore. When is Prime going to
wake up?"
"I would guess twenty minutes to an hour. Why? What does he
have to do with the girl?"
"Quite a bit," Tofu replied. "It's a lot easier if I just show you.
Come on." He got up, helped Nick to her feet and led her down
the hall to the girl's room.
Inside, a slight, red-haired girl lay sleeping on one of the beds.
By the look of her, she was probably about ten or twelve, but was
small for her age at any rate. The bio-monitors beeped out a
reassuring rhythmic pulse.
"She's sedated for now," Tofu said. He unhooked the chart from
the end of the bed. "Here's a comparative genetic workup we
did of her, at Wyrm's request. Tell me what you think."
Nightelf scanned the charts quickly, until she reached the
genetic comparison between the girl and Prime. She blinked,
then read it again, to make sure she was reading it right. That
done, she gave it another look, still unable to accept the
findings.
"This...this isn't possible," Nightelf said, flipping through the
chart, trying to find something to refute what the comparison
said.
"I'm surprised to hear you say that," Tofu replied. "Even if I
didn't know what had happened from Wyrm's report, I can think
of several possibilities off the top of my head. Prime DOES
associate with a Time Lord, you know."
Nightelf shot a wary glance at her colleague. "So what do you
want me to do?" she asked without mirth, before flipping to
Wyrm's report appended to the back.
Tofu looked a little embarrassed. "Well, you are an expecting
parent yourself. I thought it might be best if you were the one to
tell Prime. He has some big decisions to make."
"No kidding!" She looked over to the child. "When are you
going to wake her?"
"Belldandy will be here in a few minutes. I'll wake her up then.
Hopefully by then Prime will have decided what he's going to do
about this."
***
Ranchan approached her dorm after a long day. Five hours in
the simulator working with Nabiki. Three hours training with
Ryouga. 20 minutes chasing Happousai after he had splashed
her. Another two hours working on chi attacks. All she wanted
to do right now was get back to her room, take a quick shower
and hit the sack.
Life was not going to be so good to her this evening.
As she approached her room she saw someone waiting at the
door. Upon closer inspection she saw that it was Wyrm.
"Hey Wyrm. What's up?" Ranchan asked cheerfully. Wyrm
extended his hand and Ranchan shook it.
"Not much." replied Wyrm. Not much to Wyrm meant battle
planning, SO training, running MON and MON-force etc. etc.
"So to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, oh high and
mighty Wyrm-sama?" asked Ranchan seductively with a Kawaii
expression on her face as she batted her eyes at him. Wyrm
turned red and began to sweat.
"Don't do that to me." he protested. He shook his head to clear
it. "You know how I am about all these cursed people around
here. Besides I get enough of that stuff from Dee-chan. And cut
it out with the kawaii stuff. It's scary."
"I figure you deserve whatever I give you after making sure Azusa
got put in my room." Wyrm was about to protest when Ranchan
held up her hand. "Don't try to deny it. I know Frosty was in
charge of room assignments, but I'm sure that you had some
hand in putting Azusa with me. And you think I'm scary? Try
waking up to find Azusa has dressed you in something frilly every
day for the past two months, that's scary. Any sanity I had when
I came in is long since gone. It's a good thing I have Ryouga and
Akari in my room too. At least Azusa picks on P-chan
sometimes." Ranchan got a sudden evil gleam in her eye as she
looked at Wyrm. He shrank back slightly. "Hey Martin. How's
about you come over for dinner tonight. I'm sure Azusa'd love to
see you." Wyrm paled and started sweating.
"Ah...sorry...can't make it. uhm...Dee-chan's...uhm... making
dinner tonight...yeah...She'd be disappointed if I didn't
show...yeah that's it...can't make it...sorry." he was about to bolt.
"Aw shucks. Oh well, maybe another time. So why are you
here?"
Wyrm composed himself and began. "I just came to tell you that
you have a new roomie as of today. And before you ask, it's not
another animate. He's a real live author. Actually you know
him."
Off in the distance someone was running up to them. "...hey
Wyrm. Sorry I'm late..." As the figure got closer, Ranchan took a
good look at him..Short, blonde hair-flopping down to his eyes..
Dark trenchcoat.. Oh, no... The approaching figure stopped, and
eyed Ranchan back.
"Hey, Lucas, I didn't know we were going to be roomies!" Said
Eric cheerfully, "Now that you're all calmed down, you'll properly
thank me for rescuing you, ne?" no response. "...Ranchan?"
Eric peered at Lucas curiously. For some reason, her eyes were
glowing... He then turned and gave Wyrm a questioning look.
Wyrm smiled evilly. "Sorry, his was the only room available.
BTW, you better back up a bit. Your pants are about to catch
fire."
"Huh?" Eric asked bewildered until he felt his leg getting warm.
He looked down to see that his pants were indeed getting
singed. He then looked to the source and stepped back when
he saw what it was. Ranchan was glowing red. Flames were
rippling over her body and her eyes were glowing. Eric
immediately turned to Wyrm and gave him an 'I'll get you for
this' look before he backpedaled, spun, and ran like hell.
This pulled Ranchan from her anger induced stupor and she
looked after the retreating figure. She turned to Wyrm, who
only smiled at her.
"JONES!" she growled ferally. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!" She
took off after the fleeing author.
Wyrm stood and watched for a second before he turned to head
back to the portal building. "That oughta keep Jones in line for
a while." he said as he walked away. ..Several explosions could
be heard behind him, punctuated by Eric's cries, "What kind of
gratitude is this?! Wait Lucas... Stop!! It's not my fault....
Completely...!"
Several more explosions were heard, a further distance away
now. "Stand still, Jones!!"
Wyrm frowned. Mayhaps this had not been the best of ideas
after all...
***
The girl struggled to consciousness. She had the feeling that
something horrible had happened, but she didn't know what.
Unfortunately for her, the feeling wasn't assuaged any by the
unfamiliar surroundings. Smiling down at her was a man with a
ponytail and glasses, wearing a doctor's outfit, and a very pretty
young woman with odd markings on her face. There was
something oddly familiar about them, but she couldn't remember
ever meeting them. In fact...she couldn't really remember
*anything*.
"Where am I?" she asked nervously.
"You're in a hospital," Tofu replied. "I'm Dr. Tofu. How are you
feeling?"
"Dizzy." She fixed a wary gaze on the pair. "Do... do I know
you?"
The doctor shook his head. "I... don't think we've ever met."
"Hello. My name's Belldandy," the woman said, smiling warmly.
The girl immediately felt a little better, as though the woman's
smile was a salve on her nerves. "What's your name?"
"I'm... I'm..." The girl's eyes went wide with fear. "I... I don't
know! I can't remember!"
Belldandy realized her mistake and tried to soothe the child.
"It's alright," she said, stroking the child's forehead. "You'll
remember in time. You've just had a bad experience." The girl
calmed noticeably, but still seemed agitated about something.
"Where are my Mom and Dad?"
***
Prime awoke to find the entire Boston Pops orchestra playing
percussion on the inside of his skull, with a few cannon blasts a
la '1812' thrown in for good measure. Gingerly he opened one
eye. Nothing bad happened, so he opened the other. There
were spots racing across his vision which took a moment to
clear. It took a moment for him to recognize his surroundings.
He was lying in some kind of hospital room. Nearby, the steady
rhythm of a bio-bed monitor droned away. Sitting next to the
bed was an attractive young woman in the later stages of
pregnancy. For some reason he had expected her to be here.
This was a hospital room, after all.
"Nightelf?" Prime asked hoarsely. His throat was incredibly dry.
"Welcome back."
He looked around. "Where's Washuu?"
Nightelf shook her head. "We don't know. She contacted us
some time ago, but we haven't heard from her since. By the way
she returned Alpha."
"Lucky us." Prime coughed, trying to clear the dried phlegm
from the back of his throat. Nicola sensed his thirst, and poured
a glass of water from a nearby pitcher. "Water?"
"Yeah," Prime whispered. He moved to sit up.
"I wouldn't do that just yet," Nightelf cautioned.
"I'm okay," Prime growled, forcing himself into a sitting
position. Immediately his temples exploded with white hot pain,
prompting him to slowly sink back onto the pillow. "No, I'm
not. Oww... y'know, I seem to be doing that a lot today." He
tried again, more slowly. This time he made it, although his
head protested all the way. Once stable, Nightelf handed him
the glass.
He grabbed it in his left hand without thinking, and quickly
slammed down half the glass. After a moment, Prime blinked,
and rotated his shoulder experimentally. "Hey! You fixed my
shoulder!"
Nightelf shook her head. "No, we didn't. You did."
"Huh?" Prime looked confused, then worried. "How long was I
out?"
"About three hours."
"Then how...?"
Nightelf sighed. "I can explain it later, but suffice it to say that
you've developed some new psionic abilities. But right now
there's something more important you need to know about."
Nightelf pulled down a TV screen mounted on a counterbalanced
swing arm. She turned it on and tuned it to the security camera
system, finally narrowing it down to the girl's room. She turned
the screen so that Prime could see.
On the screen was a young red-haired girl sitting on a bed in a
room nearly identical to his. Belldandy had her arm around the
girl's shoulders, evidently trying to comfort her. Prime cocked
his head curiously. "Who's that? She looks a little like Washuu.
A relative?"
"She's Washuu's daughter," Nightelf replied, without emotion.
"Really?" Prime asked. <I would have thought I would have seen
something like that during our mind link...> "Do you know who
the father is?"
"Yes." She never was good at delivering news of this nature.
"Really? Who?"
Nick bit her lip. No sense avoiding it now... "You are, Prime."
"Oh, well in that case..." Prime began, then he stiffened.
"Could... you repeat that, please? I must have misheard."
Nightelf handed him Wyrm's report. "There was a transporter
accident, involving you and Washuu and two separate transport
fields. Washuu's transport as aborted, and you were pulled away
by the second beam. However, both you and Washuu left ghost
signatures in the first transporter's buffer. Somehow your
Jusenkyo curse got thrown into the mix. We don't know exactly
what happened, but that girl was the result. Genetically
speaking, she is your daughter." She flashed a wry grin.
"Congratulations, Prime. It's a girl."
"This isn't possible," Prime said, flipping through the report.
"That's what I said." She pointed at the screen. "Nevertheless...
there she is."
Prime finally gave up on the report and slumped back onto the
pillows. He stared up at the screen, at the child that was, for all
intents and purposes, his. "Oh...shit."
"Now you've got a decision to make," Nightelf said, looking him
squarely in the eye. "Like it or not, you now have a daughter to
worry about."
"What the hell do I do, Nick?" Prime asked, waving at the
screen. "I can't take care of a little girl! I'm only 21 for
Chrissakes! I can barely take care of myself."
"Well, then, you're going to have to decide what you're going to
do about that, aren't you?" She reached over to a nearby chair
and picked up the morphsuit draped across it. "Here, put this
on. I think it's time you went to meet your daughter."
Prime's eyes widened with fear. "What? No, Nick, I can't! I
mean, it's not like I can take care of her, and if she does... if I...
if she's adopted, then maybe it's better she doesn't... I mean..."
Nicola shook her head, amused at Prime's naivetŽ. <You really
have no clue as to what's about to happen, do you? Alright, if you
want to delude yourself, Prime, be my guest.> "You don't have to
tell her who you are. But before you make a decision like giving
her up for adoption, shouldn't you see her first, with your own
eyes?"
Prime looked uncertain, but finally nodded. "Okay, I suppose.
What she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?"
Nick smiled inwardly. "If you say so..."
***
<I'll tell her I knew her father.> Prime thought to himself
nervously. <That's true enough. In and out, real quick. She'll
never even remember me.> He felt horrible about what he was
about to do (truth to tell, he felt like throwing up), but had
convinced himself that it was the right thing to do...the only
thing to do. He couldn't admit that he was afraid.
Nightelf led him into the small room. At first she blocked his
view, so he wasn't able to get a clear view of the girl until he was
all the way in. In retrospect he realized that this was probably
intentional, to keep him from backing out. When Nightelf did
move, something caught in his throat.
There is a significant difference between seeing someone on a
14' television screen, and seeing them in real life. Prime
realized that the security camera hadn't even come close.
She was very small, and he couldn't help but think that she
seemed very... vulnerable. Her red hair was in disarray, although
nowhere near approaching the wildness of her mother's. But it
was her eyes that stopped the breath in his throat when she
looked up at him.
They were _his_ eyes.
He was almost tempted to reach up and check to make sure his
own were still present. Even through the redness and puffiness,
he could see that they were the exact same shade of blue as his
own.
The girl looked at him for a moment, desperate hope filling her
eyes, washing away all the words Prime had carefully planned
with a single sentence. "Are you my father?"
Prime's mouth went dry. Part of him reminded him of his plan,
of the fact that he couldn't be a father and to not even think
about it.
"Yes, I am," He said quietly. It was impossible to lie to her,
especially about this. That same part of his mind was screaming
at him that he was insane, but he wasn't listening anymore.
The girl's eyes filled with tears, and after a moment's hesitation,
threw herself at her father. She latched onto him, sobbing into
his chest. "I was so scared! I didn't know where I was... I
couldn't remember anything! Not you, not Mom, not even my
own name!"
Prime awkwardly tried to comfort the bawling girl. He looked at
Nightelf, his eyes pleading for help, then noticed her knowing
little smile. <You knew!> He accused her telepathically.
<Of course I knew. You do realize now that you never had a
chance?>
Prime looked down at the girl... at his daughter, as she hugged
him fiercely, afraid to let go. Tentatively he stroked her hair, an
expression of wonderment spreading across his face. <Your
right, I didn't.>
The girl's sobs eased, and she leaned against him, exhausted.
He knelt down so he could look her in the eyes. "Are you alright
now?"
"Y... yes. I'm sorry..."
"Shh. Don't apologize. After what you've been through, anybody
would be upset." He brushed a stray lock of crimson hair out of
her eyes.
"Dad... I... what's my name? I still don't remember."
Prime paused for a moment, but only for a moment. The name
was right there, like he had decided on it a long time ago.
"Proxima," he replied. "Your name is Proxima."
Nightelf smiled. <As in Proxima Centauri? Nice choice. It suits
her.>
Prime wasn't listening. Instead he continued to hold his
daughter, any thought of giving her up long gone.
***
Barry sat at the edge of Lake Tezuka, as small lake near the main
Fred compound. He would have rather been back in his offices,
working, doing _something_, but Frosty-usa had discovered that
he had been working triple shifts, and had insisted that he take
a break. Actually, she had threatened to put him under house
arrest in his own quarters if he didn't take a break of his own
free will... or sedation....
Not that Barry needed sleep, but he wasn't about to tell Frosty
that.
True, _mental_ fatigue was still possible for him, but the work
kept him from dwelling on certain things.
Like Linna.
He skipped a stone across the mirror-smooth lake surface. He
had arrived just in time for the wake for all the people who had
died in the first Pfhor attack. It had been a nasty reception for
him, and all he really remembered were his first words.
<She's dead? Linna's dead?>
The rest of the wake was simply a haze of shock and grief.
Someone had told him afterwards he had been like a corpse
himself.
Someone standing behind him skipped another stone. He knew
they were there, he had known for awhile.
"I didn't think you were much for quiet reflection." Katherine
Madigan said softly.
"Not if I can help it." Barry replied, skipping another stone. The
throw was perfect, the spin and trajectory designed to produce
the maximum number of skips possible. Despite his best efforts,
he hadn't managed to get anything to skip less than ten times.
"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" Katherine said, leaning
against a large stone nearby.
Barry nodded. "When they told me, when I first arrived in Fred,
I had no idea it would hit me that hard. The part of me that
created Fenris..."
He shook his head. "No. Inaccurate. The part of me that IS
Fenris loved her more than life itself."
He skipped another stone.
"Please, I just want to be alone for awhile. Just leave me alone."
Kate was about to protest, but decided against it. She respected
his wishes and walked away, knowing full well that being left
alone was the last thing Barry wanted, but she was not one he
would, he could talk to.
Barry was silent for some time after Kate left. After what could
have been minutes or hours, he quietly began to sing... saying
goodbye.
"Greensleeves was all my joy.
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold
And who but Lady Greensleeves."
He skipped one final stone. This time it's trajectory was
completely wrong, it's spin far too slow. It skipped only once
and sank to the bottom. Barry smiled sadly, and got up to return
to Fred, to drown his memories in the only wine left to him, his
work.
The ripples spread across the lake, catching the moonlight,
gradually dying away.
***
The glow from the small computer screen threw ghostly flickers
across Wyrm's face in the darkened room. The door to his
quarters slid open, silhouetting a figure in the light of the
hallway, then closed again.
"Still up, Wyrm-sama?" Dee-chan asked, slipping into a chair
next to him. Wyrm merely nodded his head, eyes fixed on the
screen
"How bad is it?" She asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Pretty bad. Frosty-usa called a meeting tomorrow morning as
soon as she saw this. We're looking at a fleet of at least four-
hundred ships. Pfhor cruisers, Invid warships, Zentradi
battlecruisers, you name it. But this is easily the worst." Wyrm
called a schematic up on the screen. It looked like two ragged
umbrellas stuck together to form an incomplete egg-shaped
craft. "The Evoluder Battle Planet, Zohma. About a quarter of the
moon's mass, heavily shielded and damned well armed. Watch
this." Wyrm entered a command and the battle planet began
changing shape, the front 'umbrella' inverting, and the other
closing down, until the structure looked disturbingly like a large
cannon. "The whole thing is essentially a huge antimatter
particle gun. It can target anything from a mid-sized fleet to a
planet. The range is limited somewhat, but once it has reached
lunar orbit, that's it."
"Is there a way to stop it?" Dee-chan asked.
"Washuu's notes mention several possibilities, but the best so far
is the 'Death Star' approach. Once the shield is breached, it
would be relatively simple for a group of small fighters to fly into
the superstructure and blow the antimatter storage tanks. The
problem is getting past the shield."
"Not to mention finding a way for the pilots to survive the
explosion once they hit the core." Dee-chan said. She reached
over and switched the monitor off, and turned his chair to face
her. "Staring at it won't help, Wyrm-sama. You should get some
sleep so you can think straight."
Wyrm looked like he was going to protest, but she placed a
finger on his lips. "Shh. Sleep. Worry about it tomorrow."
She realized that her face was only inches from his. Briefly she
considered giving him a quick kiss, but worried that he would
pull away. <Why can't you accept me, Wyrm-sama? We are two
sides of the same coin: Anima and Animus. We were _literally_
made for each other. Why can't you love me like I love you?>
She noticed that Wyrm's face seemed a little closer. Tentatively
he reached up a hand and touched her cheek. Dee-chan closed
her eyes and leaned into the touch a little, wondering how long
before the spell would be broken. She opened her eyes, and
slowly closed the gap between them.
It was a slight shock when their lips finally met. The kiss started
tentatively, both sides waiting for the other to jerk away. When
that didn't happen the kiss became more passionate. Dee-chan
quickly tapped out a sequence on the keyboard of the Mac,
activating several Fkeys that would place triple security locks on
the doors.
In cyberspace Leela was trying to revive a badly de-rezzed Alpha
Centauri. She sensed the privacy locks going up in Wyrm's
quarters. A quick check confirmed that Wyrm-chan was indeed
last reported in there.
<Finally!> She thought.
***
Kei yawned and stretched. The infirmary waiting room chairs
were just too comfortable, and Kei was in serious danger of
falling asleep.
"Kei?"
Kei looked up to see Nightelf standing in the doorway. She
groggily got to her feet. "Mmm, yeah?"
"Prime's awake."
"Oh. S'nice." Kei mumbled, sinking back into the chair. "Tell
him I said 'hi'."
Nightelf stepped aside. Behind her was Prime, looking tired but
whole. "Hi, Kei."
Kei blinked. Standing next to him was a young girl with crimson
hair. He had his hand on her shoulder protectively.
"Uhh, forgive me for asking," Kei said, perplexed. "But who's
that girl?"
It took an act of superhuman willpower for Prime to resist the
urge to take up the song cue. Instead he took a deep breath.
"Kei, I'd like you to meet Proxima..."
"Oh, nice to meet you..."
"... My daughter."
Kei's jaw dropped. "D-d-da...dau..."
Proxima cocked her head as if considering something. She
squinted hard at Kei's red hair, which was nearly the same shade
as her own. Finally she asked. "Are you my Mom?"
Kei did something she had promised herself she would never,
EVER do.
She fainted.
***
