Well, this is long-delayed (partly due to Final Fantasy 7 and some computer
games, not to mention not having a working computer for several weeks), and
still far from complete. But I do need comments, which may help me figure out
just what to do with it next....
BUBBLEGUM FLASH
by Ken Arromdee
Chapter 1
Tokyo, 2033.
Reading newspapers in Megatokyo was a continuing battle, between the big
corporations, who liked the media to go their way, and the people, who if they
had retained enough cynicism to not believe everything they read, soon grew
expert at reading between the lines.
The story about the shuttle accident at the Genaros space station was buried
on page 23. The space station was owned by a corporation. Therefore, any
minor accident would not be in the news at all, and the fact that the story
got even an inch of column space meant that something important had happened.
The article claimed that the shuttle which left the station and crashed near
Tokyo was empty. Of course, it wasn't.
* * *
Sylvie took a look at Anri's injuries. They were beginning to show some
signs of healing, but boomers like them really couldn't heal like human
beings. "I'm going out, Anri. I hope I don't have to do this too much
longer... we weren't designed to be on our own, and there are things that
must be done if we're to stay free...."
Sylvie left the room, threw the door shut, and walked to the curb where her
motorcycle was parked. It was unlicensed, of course, but then that was the
least of the laws she was breaking. She had to take human blood for the sake
of Anri's survival, and she knew there would be someone out there, among the
polluted skies and electric lights, to serve as her next victim. There was no
choice but to do it; they had been through too much and could not just give up
on survival now. She mounted her motorcycle and prepared to ride to another
district; it wouldn't do to have all the mysterious vampire killings all be
centered around her and Anri's low-rent flat.
A blonde woman riding an older motorcycle stopped besides her at the next
traffic light, waving at her. "Hi! Traffic's really heavy tonight, don't you
think?"
Sylvie absentmindedly nodded. She wanted to be friends with people--in fact,
it was virtually built into her--but she also had a job to do, one which would
set herself even farther apart from the humanity that she and Anri were hoping
to blend into. "Hai. I think it's the wreck."
The blonde agreed. "It's been heavy around here ever since that shuttle
crashed and they rerouted most of the westbound traffic. Say, it's rare to
see another woman who rides bikes. Do you live around here?"
"Not really. I'm just visiting the area", answered Sylvie. The light changed
to green. "Bye", said Sylvie. "Maybe we can meet for coffee somewhere later
when I'm not so busy."
Sylvie zoomed off towards a drainage ditch a block away, and drove right off
the road. The DD suit that she and Anri had escaped with was good for military
use. And of course, good against civilians too. She had hidden it in an
obscure place, but there was always some chance it would be discovered. Still,
she would use it while she could.
As Sylvie walked towards the machine, her sharp ear sensors picked up the sound
of a motorcycle engine. She looked out onto the road. It was the blonde, the
one she just met. The woman had been following her! If that woman saw her
enter the machine, she might be in a lot of trouble. Maybe she only happened
to be coming this way, though, and would pass by; she seemed like a nice
person and Sylvie didn't want to hurt more people than absolutely necessary.
No luck. The blonde stopped her bike and got off, then leapt down into the
ditch. She was only about twenty feet away from Sylvie and would catch her at
any moment. There was one chance.
Sylvie looked directly into the approaching blonde's eyes and did something.
For her, it was as natural as moving an arm or leg is for a human being. The
effect was a slight eye glow, and a wave of psychic energy which could
arouse... or deaden. She waited the few seconds for the woman to drop
unconscious, still not sure what to do with her.
The woman didn't drop. Her eyes widened in surprise, but not only didn't she
drop, she didn't even seem fazed. She reached out and grabbed the equally
surprised Sylvie's arm. "Hold it."
Sylvie struggled to break free. She was much stronger than a human--strong
enough that she could land on her feet after jumping ten meters straight
down--even though she was no match for a combat boomer. But somehow she
couldn't break this woman's grip. Must be cybernetically enhanced, thought
Sylvie. Or maybe even a renegade boomer herself. But if that woman was a
boomer, she must be a 33-S or similar model, since she didn't seem capable of
combat expansion, and all 33-S's were outlawed years ago almost everywhere on
Earth.
"You're coming with me", said the woman. The look in her eyes wasn't one of
distaste, as Sylvie expected most humans to feel when they realized that
someone who passed for human wasn't at all, but... curiosity. "Don't worry",
she continued, "I'm not going to turn you in, if you can explain this to me."
Explain... that was impossible. "No!" cried Sylvie. "Let me go!"
"Take it _easy_. It's obvious you're a boomer, considering that little eye
trick you just used. That doesn't matter to me. If I didn't think you could
explain anyway, I wouldn't ask. You don't realize it yet, but I suspect that
meeting me may be the luckiest break of your life."
People did not talk to boomers that way. They just didn't. But this one
did. "All right", answered Sylvie. "I'll explain. Oh, and my name is
Sylvie." Sylvie bowed. "It's... it's nice to meet you."
The blonde bowed back. "Honey Kisaragi. Nice meeting you too."
* * *
Honey led Sylvie into a small cafe after both parked their motorcycles
outside. "We want a booth", she explained to the waitress. "Some place
where we can talk in private."
The waitress led them to a booth. Honey began to make small talk until after
their coffee arrived; as soon as the waitress was gone, she stopped talking
about traffic in mid-sentence and began to ask what she had come here to find
out.
"That was the shuttle crash site you were at. You were looking for something
over there. If I don't miss my guess, you're from the Genaros station, right?"
Sylvie sipped her coffee, thinking of how best to answer. How much could she
trust this person? "Yes, you've guessed it. I escaped. My friends gave up
their lives so that I could be here on Earth. That was me flying that crashed
shuttle, and it was also carrying the DD Battlemover, an illegal weapon.
It wasn't empty, far from it. So now you know. What about your story?"
"Not so fast", replied Honey. "There's a lot you're not telling me. For
one thing, you're still trying to pretend you're human. I know better. You
must be a 33-S model."
"Yes", answered Sylvie. "You've found me out. What now? Turn me in to the
police? Dangerous escaped rogue boomer, I believe the expression is."
"Are you dangerous?"
"I... Are _you_ dangerous?"
"But you're not going to ask if I'm an escaped rogue boomer?" Honey smiled
slightly. "I'm not a boomer in the normal sense. I was created three fourths
of the way through the twentieth century. My 'father', as I refer to him, was
fifty years ahead of his time. Not so much, when you think about it.
"So", continued Honey, "I've been living in Tokyo ever since then. Hiding,
blending in. I did it... you can do it too, if you want to."
Sylvie's jaw dropped. "The twentieth century... Prove it!"
"I can't prove it, Sylvie. Maybe I just happen to be cybernetically enhanced
in just the right way to do what I did. Maybe I just happen to have no living
relatives. It could all be a huge convenient coincidence. You're going to
have to trust me, unless you happen to be carrying a portable X-ray machine.
Can you trust me, Sylvie?"
"I... I'll have to. Honey-san, I _am_ dangerous. I came in the shuttle with
a companion, named Anri. She's injured. I've had to attack humans to get the
blood that she needs to recover, and most of them have died. I have no
choice in order for her to survive."
Honey thought it over. Unlike almost every human, Honey wouldn't think any
less of a boomer for being a boomer. But she wouldn't think any more of one,
either. Honey was sure that, if boomers ruled the world, there would be boomer
criminals and madmen, not so different from humans, after all, in whose image
they were made. But this person didn't seem evil. She sounded desperate.
Desperate people--human or not--could easily make mistakes, do wrong, and yes,
even kill. And if Sylvie was a 33-S and had achieved full sentience long
enough ago, she could easily be very traumatized in addition to all the
problems of a renegade boomer. She may need a friend badly.
"Sylvie... I believe you. And I won't turn you in for that."
"Thank you..." said Sylvie. The hard edge in her voice faded slightly, but
she remained very wary.
"There's one thing I'm wondering if you ever thought of, though, Sylvie...."
"Go ahead, ask."
"Have you ever considered robbing a blood bank?"
"Excuse me?"
"It's a standard joke about vampires. It's also something you could do, to
help your friend without having to kill anyone."
"I... I never considered. No, that's not right. Honey-san, I'm afraid. I
can't just barge in to a big place full of hundreds of people and expect to
take what I want. I'd get taken down by the AD Police if I used the DD, and
if I tried going in alone, I wouldn't last five minutes. I have to keep on
going until we can..."
"What is it, Sylvie? Come on, please speak to me."
"The data's stored somewhere by Genom. There's a way to negate the dependency
of a 33-S on human blood for healing. It was never used... all 33-S's were
officially discontinued before that. I've been trying to find out where it is,
and I'm getting close, but I'm not quite sure where just yet. Maybe in
another week or two I'll have found it."
"Sylvie, you could hire a hacker."
"I don't have very much money. And I don't know anyone."
"But I do, Sylvie. There are several people on the net who owe me favors.
I'd like to help you out of this mess you're in, Sylvie."
"Why?" asked Sylvie. "Why are you doing this to help me? And I don't believe
it's just because you're not really human."
"That may be part of it", answered Honey. "But I've been helping people, in
various ways, for a long time. Would you believe I was the original magical
girl? Even if the magic wasn't so magical, the menaces were real. The
problems were real. Now here's another one, just dropped into my lap after
I've been out of the loop for decades. I'm not giving it up, even if it's not
the kind of problem I can solve by cutting things up."
Sylvie thought a bit, and said "Whatever you're talking about, you seem to
have had an interesting career, Honey-san. I give up. I'll accept your help.
But could you please explain a little bit more later on?"
* * *
Mackie looked over Nene's shoulder. "What's that?"
"Oh", answered the redhead. "it's a girl on the net. She wants me to do a
hacking job in payment for some, ah, old valuable information."
"You still do outside hacking jobs? With that and the Knight Sabers _and_
the AD Police, I'm surprised you have any spare time for anything else."
"Hacking jobs are how I joined the Knight Sabers. Besides, if it wasn't for
her I would never have gotten prime seats to last month's Vision concert."
"Your valuable information was about a Vision concert?
"Well, like you said, I don't get a lot of spare time, so anything that helps
me use it better has to be _really_ valuable!"
* * *
Honey took Sylvie to her house and explained. "It's an old house... twentieth
century. It was rebuilt in the twentieth century after it was burned down,
but it was about as earthquake-proof as it could get, and it survived the
quake in one piece. Some of what's in this lab, exists nowhere else anywhere
in the world."
She pointed to a sealed-off area. "In there is where I was created. I was
the crowning achievement of Dr. Kisaragi's work, before he died. Anyway...."
Honey walked over to a computer, spent a few minutes pondering her message,
typed it in, and then clicked a mouse button and sent it through the net,
encrypted and signed with the key of her nom-de-plume "Norimaki Arare". "Well,
that's it", Honey told her new acquaintance. "This Little Miss Cyberpunk
girl is _good_, probably the best in the whole city. If she takes the case,
it'll be a day at most to get everything."
"Even if it's Genom's computers?" asked Sylvie skeptically.
"Even if it's Genom's computers", answered Honey. "You were very lucky that
she owed me a favor... I stumbled onto some inside information about a concert
a month ago, and I knew she could use it."
"A month ago... that's so long a time."
"Sylvie, things are different now. You may have been aware just for days, but
what's ahead of you is months and years. It's life, Sylvie. It's what being
free means. You have all that time, and whatever happens with it is your
decision."
"So we just have to wait for this hacker's answer."
"Hai. Do you think you could introduce me to Anri in the meantime?"
* * *
Sylvie unlocked the door and entered, with Honey. "Hello, Anri. I have some
good news. We have a chance... a chance coming very soon.
"Honey-san here", she said, indicating the blonde with her, "is going to help.
She has a hacker tracking down the location of the data. We should have it
within a day."
The girl in the bed spoke to Anri weakly. "You can't... you have to tell
her too much. You already brought Honey here... did you _already_ tell her?"
"Anri... She knows everything. There are special circumstances."
Anri worried when she heard this. Sylvie, reprogrammed? It could happen.
That was the only explanation, because there weren't any circumstances that
could possibly make it safe. "There's no such thing! Sylvie... what
happened to you?"
"Nothing happened! I'm fine! Soon it'll be all okay."
Honey took a step towards Anri. "No, get away!" cried Anri. "You're going to
take us back to the station...."
Honey immediately stopped. "Wait. I'm not taking you anywhere. I don't work
for SDPC or Genom. I just met Sylvie. Now watch this... no Genom employee
can do this."
Honey yelled--but not too loud--"Honey FLASH!" Her body emitted a blinding
burst of light, which overloaded even Anri's optics for a second. When Anri's
vision cleared, she could see that Honey was suddenly redheaded, dressed in a
tight red and purple outfit, and carrying a sword.
Honey leaned her sword against the wall and took a few more steps towards
Anri (now so surprised she didn't say a word in objection) and sat down.
"Like I told Sylvie, I was the original magical girl without the magic. I'm
an android, created long before boomers... though a lot of the technology in my
"father"'s patents worked its way into the boomer industry. And I was a force
for good long before the Knight Sabers or anyone like them were around. At
the end of last century, I was known as Cutey Honey.
"I don't know if you've heard of me. Cutey Honey was a nine day wonder, and
this is the tenth day. But believe me, I would _not_ just hurt people like
you think... even people like you."
Sylvie asked, "Will you trust Honey-san now?"
Anri didn't answer, but reached out to hug both Honey and Sylvie in turn.
She smiled, something she had never done before as a free being.
* * *
What was a long and difficult search for Sylvie was child's play to Nene's
brilliant if unevenly exercised mind. The next day, Honey, Sylvie, and Anri
all had their information. The data was not online; it was stored on a disk
at the GPCC building, for which Nene helpfully provided a map. The thought
did pass through Nene's head to wonder just why someone would want a piece of
information like that about 33-S boomers, but she paid it little heed.
Nene left a voice message for Sylia explaining the request, just in case, and
then went to work.
* * *
Honey knocked on Sylvie's door. "Hello, it's me..."
"Oh, come on in." said Sylvie, who had already reached for the door to open
it before Honey finished her sentence. "So what's the verdict?"
"Well", started Honey as she entered the apartment, "I have some good news and
some bad news. The good news is that our hacker knows where the information
is. The bad news is that it's not online, so both of us are going to have to
go in and get it. It's stored in the GPCC building." She handed Sylvie a
computer printout.
"Both of us?" asked Sylvie.
"Yes. Both of us. I'm coming along... unless you want me to stay here
with Anri?"
"No, no, I need all the help I can get! As long as we can stay unnoticed,
anyway."
"Right." answered Honey. "We can't go until after dark, anyway. Do you two
want to come over to my place? It'd be a lot more comfortable to plan things
there, and besides I can show you some old news recordings featuring Cutey
Honey."
Sylvie grimaced at the last part and said "We need to plan, true, but I'm not
sure..."
Anri interrupted and smiled at Honey from the bed. "We'd be glad to."
* * *
At 3 AM, Honey and Sylvie snuck into the GPCC building. Security really
wasn't that great; 33-S technical data may not have been public information,
but it wasn't exactly maximum security either. Honey, dressed in riot control
gear through one of her transformations, hid in the bushes with Sylvie and
threw a rock through a window. When the guards came out to examine it, she
tossed a gas grenade at them. It exploded in a cloud of vapor, and soon both
guards passed out.
"Now we go see if there are other guards", said Honey.
Sylvie wondered. "Honey-san, we got them, right?"
"Yeah, we did. But if those guards were trained right, they wouldn't all
run out where they could be taken out all in one shot. There has to be
someone else."
Honey and Sylvie walked in through the door that the guards left open, just
in time to see another guard, barely two feet away, with a shocked expression
on his face. As the guard assessed the situation and decided to run for the
alarm, Honey threw another gas grenade at her own feet. When the cloud
cleared, Sylvie and Honey remained standing, though Sylvie was coughing a bit,
and the guard had collapsed unconscious on the floor.
They followed the corridors on the map and came to a room full of file cabinets.
Honey and Sylvie started opening up drawers--they weren't even locked--and
searched for the file. Sylvie found the 33-S file in a drawer labelled
"Design", and soon had her hands on the data disk that would be her and Anri's
lifeline. She stuffed the disk into her cleavage (Honey grimaced at that from
behind her helmet). "Whew... it's still here. All we have to do is go home.
I don't feel like sticking around here, do you?"
Honey shook her head, then opened up the window and motioned to Sylvie, and
they both jumped down several stories to the ground below.
Honey whispered "Honey Flash!" and transformed, appearing with long bluish-
black hair, atop her motorcycle, which wasn't there just a few moments before.
"Handy trick", said Sylvie as she got on behind Honey, who zoomed off. No
doubt the alarm would be going off once the guards woke up, but Sylvie
didn't care. Honey was wearing a mask, and Sylvie's identity was known
anyway. They really had no more reason to look for her than they had
already.
* * *
The first order of business was to read the documentation. The core of the
information was a new set of parameters for the artificial circulatory system,
one which responded properly to certain biochemical imbalances. The file was
80K in size.
Honey made an incision in Anri's back. "Hold still." Her blade hit hard
metal. "Good, this is the right spot." The circulatory system on 33-S's used
a cheap jack that was also part of many human-computer interfaces. It was so
common a part that Honey already had an interface in the lab, so all she had
to do was plug it in and download everything.
"Here, want to press this?" asked Honey. Anri nodded and took the keyboard
from Honey, and hit the return key. In less than a second, all the parameters
were downloaded.
Sylvie unplugged the jack from Anri's back. "Now", she said to Anri, "we'll
know how well this worked in a couple of days...."
Slowly, Anri indeed began to recover. She looked less pale the next day.
The day after that, she got up from her bed. "Sylvie..."
"Hai?" answered her companion.
"Thank you for everything. And Honey too. Now we're free, completely. And
now..."
"Hm?"
"I don't know, Sylvie. What do we do now?" replied Anri. She stared out the
soot-covered window, down at the streetlamps, and up at the skyscrapers. "It's
a big world out there and I never thought about what to do next."
Author's notes:
This is pretty much based on the Cutey Honey television series. Cutey Honey
Flash took the series in ways I really don't want to use, and I haven't seen
all the OAVs and can't use them.
BUBBLEGUM FLASH
by Ken Arromdee
Chapter 2
"Another strange case", Leon told Nene. "There seems to have been some kind
of break-in at the GPCC building."
"Oh?" Nene wondered... that Arare girl had wanted to know about information
stored in that very building. Nene knew, of course, that there was a chance
the girl would break in to get the information. She was a member of the police
and in theory was supposed to oppose that kind of thing, but neither hacking
nor being a Knight Saber was really quite on the right side of the law. But
Nene hoped that that girl hadn't hurt anyone. If it was her, anyway.
"Earth to Nene?" Leon waved his hand in front of Nene's face.
Nene blinked. "Oh. I was just thinking... you said there's a break-in?
Was anyone hurt?"
"Yeah. We got jurisdiction because they do some boomer research there... but
the strange part is this. You know how the chief gets when there's some kind of
case that some bigshot doesn't want us to work on? Well, he did it again.
First I hear about this break-in and I'm all ready to drive there with Daley
to investigate. And _then_ the chief says I should take a day off and just
forget anything happened."
"Was anyone hurt, Leon?"
"I don't think so, Nene-chan. Is something bothering you?"
* * *
Sylia had left a message on Nene's answering machine. As usual, Sylia's
notice gave few details, just a message about a "lingerie sale". It
reduced the chance of hostile surveillance (not that there was any other kind).
After all the Knight Sabers gathered in Sylia's living room, Sylia began to
explain. "Okay, everyone. The mission this time is to recover the DD
Battlemover. It was taken by two 33-S boomers from the Genaros station.
You've all heard of the crash, and it should be obvious that the story in
the newspapers wasn't everything. This is it."
"33-S boomers?" asked Nene.
Sylia shushed Nene and continued, answering Nene's question deliberately or
otherwise. "The 33-S boomer, the sexaroid series, is an older type created to
satisfy human pleasures. It's virtually indistinguishable from a human being
externally. They were outlawed many years ago, the main reason being that they
used certain parts which let them interface with military equipment. Like
the DD."
Nene gaped. "A sexaroid boomer? Virtually indistinguishable from a human?
So this boomer has a perfect body and can replace cute girls in all ways?"
Sylia giggled slightly, a major outburst for her. "That's right, Nene-chan."
Priss added "I didn't know you were interested in that sort of thing."
"I'm not!" answered Nene. "I mean not in that way! But I just got a hacking
job a day and a half ago. My, er, client wanted to know where to find
information about circulatory systems of 33-S boomers."
"And of course you gave it to him", said Priss.
"Her", corrected Nene. "It was a legitimate request. But she can't be the
33-S. I knew her for too long, though it's always possible she might have
recovered the 33-S. Anyway, just the other day there was a break-in at the
building where the data was stored."
Nene looked around, to notice Priss, Linna, and Sylia all staring at her.
Priss's glare reminded Nene of a targeting laser.
"Hey wait!" exclaimed Nene. "Nobody was hurt."
Priss eyes continued their icy glare. "You *helped* a *boomer*?"
I can stare too, thought Nene. She valiantly looked back at Priss and said
"I did not! I just gave out information."
Priss began to yell out something unladylike. Sylia lifted her hand an inch,
and Priss stopped in her tracks. "Nene's right", said Sylia. "She had no
way to know about the connection to any military theft. And if working
outside the law was an outrage for a Knight Saber, Nene would have to arrest
us all."
Priss grudgingly nodded. "But what about those berserk boomers? I don't
like them. At all."
"The mission is supposed to include recovering or destroying the boomers if
possible", answered Sylia. "However", she added, "none of you are to do so
unless they're a direct threat."
I hope the boomers are in the DD then, thought Priss. Just so they wouldn't
get away.
* * *
Honey and Sylvie walked out of the Hot Legs club, and spotted a girl cleaning
her bike. Hmm, thought Honey, that girl looks very familiar... that was it.
She was the lead singer in the Replicants band! Honey hardly recognized her
without the Blade Runner wig.
Honey walked around, to almost directly behind Priss, silently motioning for
Sylia to follow. When they were less than a yard behind her, Honey abruptly
said "Looks like a custom job. From the engine you're using, I'd guess that
it could go as fast as..."
Priss didn't jump. She continued cleaning the bike without turning, explaining.
"The engine is made from LSH-247 ceramic invented only three years ago. The
bike can run at up to 260 klicks per hour because of the..." Priss went on
for several minutes, and when she finished added "You're not fans, are you?"
"I've never heard your music before", replied Sylvie. "But it's full of a
lot... a lot of energy. And it's not bad."
Honey made another offhand remark about the engine, at which point Priss
decided that no fan could possibly talk like that, or listen to her chatter
about bikes, for that matter. She was relieved at that, though something
inside her was also a bit disappointed. Priss turned and smiled. "Well, I'm
still hoping to get my big break someday." As she faced them, she noticed that
they were both wearing helmets and protective clothing. "You two both ride?"
"Hai!" replied Sylvie. "It's nice being out in the open... such a sense of
freedom. Like you can go anywhere, do anything you want."
Honey introduced herself. "I'm Honey, yoroshiku." She bowed, then indicated
Sylvie, who bowed too. "And I'm Sylvie."
Priss returned the bow. "Priscilla Asagiri. You can call me Priss."
"Let's be friends!" said Sylvie. Priss blinked at the unexpected outburst.
Honey explained. "Sylvie is very new to this area and she really doesn't
know a lot of people. I'm showing her around. Want to come join us?"
* * *
Later that night, Priss explained to her new friends that she had to go. "The
tourist trip is over. I've got to go meet somebody. Hey, feel free to drop
by any time, though."
Honey smiled. "A boyfriend?"
"No", replied Priss. "It's not even social." Odd, thought Honey. A casual
brushoff, but said in a way hinting at the presence of a secret of great
importance. To Priss, anyway. But then, few things in 2033 were what they
seemed to be on the surface, a fact which Honey understood very well.
Priss checked her watch. Damn, she thought. If I'm late and Nene isn't, she
won't let me hear the end of it for a month. Better hurry.
* * *
The Knight Sabers all met at Sylia's apartment. Sylia powered up a screen
showing them a map. "The shuttle carrying the DD crashed here." She pressed
some buttons and the map zoomed out, showing several yellow points of light
connected by lines. "These are the locations of the known DD incidents.
These three spots here", she said, tapping the screen, which added more points
in orange, "are the best locations to hide it. They're all away from traffic,
and no occupied buildings are in viewing range.
"Of course", added Sylia, "it's possible that the renegade boomers are using
the machine. Nene's programmed all your suits with the specifications for the
signals emitted by the DD, so if the machine is operating, you'll have no
problem finding it. But this will also be the most dangerous possibility for
the mission."
Priss happily suited up with the others. It had been much too long since
everyone had had an official, paying, mission. And this one not only wasn't
high risk, but any risk that would come would give her a chance to give a few
more boomers what they deserved....
* * *
The boomers did not show up during the mission, because they were at Honey's
house, watching Twin Peaks '33, and then the late night news. Which had a
brief report about Knight Saber activity. No fights, but the story was that
the Knight Sabers were carrying a large piece of humanoid machinery.
"Well, we know what _that_ was", said Honey. "Looks like you two made it just
in time. Another day and you'd have been back on the station, or worse. I'd
guess that the GPCC doesn't really like you.
"We're never going to be slaves again." said Sylvie firmly.
Honey nodded. "That's the least of your problems."
"I don't understand", said Anri.
Honey explained. "You want to pretend to be human. It's going to take a lot
more than just being free of your past. The biggest thing you'll need is a
new identity. I know _all_ about those.
She continued. "I'm officially my own granddaughter. I was created in 1970,
and in 1972 I was officially a 16 year old schoolgirl going to St. Chapel
Academy. It wasn't hard to pretend to age in the decades after that, with a
little Honey Flash, but eventually it was time to start all over. It's a lot
harder to fake an identity now than it was sixty years ago. A lot harder, but
not hard enough to stop it from happening. You're going to have to do that,
too. And then, finally..."
Anri shook her head. "I still don't understand."
"And finally... you're going to have to be human. To not act like someone who
stepped off a space station. It'll come to you eventually. But you're going
to be making little mistakes all the time. What's your favorite musical
group, Anri?"
Anri thought a moment. "I don't know any. Unless you mean Priss."
"Exactly. You don't know any. There are people who don't ever listen to
music, but there aren't a whole lot who don't listen to music _and_ have all
the other similar gaps in their knowledge that you do. It shouldn't take too
long to learn what you need to learn--you've already gotten pretty far in a
week--but you will need to watch out."
* * *
Damned boomers never showed up, muttered Priss as she watched an unmarked
truck drive the DD away. "So that's it, Sylia? The mission is over?"
Sylia nodded.
Linna looked up at Priss and asked "You really wanted to blow up something,
didn't you? Look at it this way, we got 40 million yen. We really needed it;
too many of our recent missions have been for free."
"I didn't join the Knight Sabers to make a profit! I joined it because I
don't like Genom and I don't like the boomers they make. We're not doing any
good just playing U-haul for what's probably a Genom faction anwyay."
"Are you leaving?" asked Nene.
"No, I'm going to go to the practice room. You should, too, Nene. It's good
for you."
Linna turned to Sylia after Priss left. "Someday, I think she's just going
to leave for real. She's too close to the edge as is."
Sylia nodded. "It's impossible to defeat Genom. We can be a balancing
force, to prevent their excesses. We can stop schemes that get dangerous. But
we can't just destroy Genom. I'm not sure Priss has ever realized that, in
her heart."
* * *
Two weeks later, Priss drove around town with Honey and Sylvie. Anri wasn't
interested in motorcycles, and was at Honey's house listening to a stack of
about 30 CDs. Honey had laughed when Anri had asked to borrow them, noting
that she was only using music as an example, but Anri seemed very earnest about
it, and so Honey agreed.
Priss pulled over to the side, parking her bike near a bench. Honey and
Sylvie parked theirs too and got off.
Priss pointed at a large tower a half block away, which shaded a city block
and was so high that its top faded out into the smog. "Here we are. The
heart of the city... Genom tower. Makes you feel like it's going to fall on
top of you, doesn't it?"
It wouldn't do to just spout off about Genom to anyone, thought Priss. Nobody
really _liked_ Genom, but outright hating it as a menace was like hating the
government enough to be an anarchist. But these people seemed like her in a
lot of ways. That's why she brought them to this tower--it was a way to find
out just how they feel about Genom. Maybe they might even be kindred spirits
enough that someday, in the future, she could tell them about the Knight
Sabers. Unlikely that Sylia would allow it, but anything was possible.
Sylvie was staring at a stray cat. She approached the cat, reaching out a
hand in friendship. It suddenly growled and shied away as if about to be
thrown into a bath.
"Sylvie?"
"What, Priss?" replied Sylvie. "Oh, the tower. Yes, it's an impressive thing
to look at but I really don't like Genom a whole lot."
"How about you, Honey?"
"I don't go around this area of town much."
"What do you think of Genom?"
"Uhh..." Honey was a little puzzled. Priss obviously had something on her
mind, but she hid it well. "I think, well, I think that it's a little too
big for its britches, but it does provide services that we can't get anywhere
else...."
"My boyfriend was killed by agents of Genom, three years ago. We were 17. I
don't like Genom at all, and if that tower was going to fall over, I'd be the
first in line pushing it."
"Oh. I didn't know."
"It's okay, Honey, Sylvie.", continued Priss. "I've found a way to deal with
it."
"Are you sure?" replied Honey. "It's obviously something very important to
you, Priss."
"No, really, it's fine. I know what I'm doing with my life now. I shouldn't
have brought the subject up; I was just wondering what you thought. Forget I
asked. Anyway, I have a gig coming up. See you later."
Honey nodded.
* * *
"So where does your friend live, Priss?" asked Sylvie. She (followed by Anri),
Priss, and Honey had already parked their bikes, and Priss was walking everyone
through a pretty good section of town, right on the border of the business
district.
Priss stopped at a seven story building with apartments on the top, and
several floors of stores on the bottom. "Right here!"
"You mean your friend lives here?" asked Honey.
"No, she owns here. Let's go in." Priss went right up to the lingerie shop
and rang the bell, even though it was 6:15, a little while past closing time.
A well-dressed blue-haired woman wearing a blouse, jacket, and matching
skirt answered the door and nodded to Priss, who she obviously recognized.
"I'm sorry, we're closed right now. You can wait here, or follow me to go
over your special order..." Priss scowled a bit at the joke, while following.
Anri sat down. "C'mon", said Priss to her.
"I can't... I don't have a special order."
Priss looked at Anri as if she had stepped off a space station. "This is
Sylia. There aren't any orders."
"Sure there are", replied Sylia. "You can order coffee with the pie that
Nene's mother baked, or you can order tea with it." She paused and added
"What's wrong?"
After Anri didn't respond, Honey answered for her. "Nothing. She's just a
little bit stressed right now, nothing really serious."
Sylia locked the door and took Priss and her companions to the elevator.
She inserted her key, not pressing any buttons, and announced "Next stop,
penthouse." as the elevator zoomed up.
"You're not kidding, Priss", said Sylvie. "She really does own this whole
place."
* * *
Everyone was sitting in couches and chairs spread around the living room.
There was a young redheaded girl, and a dark-haird woman wearing a yellow
band holding back her hair. As well as one teenage boy, who seemed very
happy at finding himself in the midst of seven beautiful women.
Priss pointed to the occupants in turn. "This is Nene, this is Linna, and
this is Sylia's brother Mackie. Sylia Stingray you've already met. And guys,
this is Honey, Sylvie, and Anri." Everyone bowed and greeted each other.
"Sylia _Stingray_?" asked Honey.
"Hai", replied Sylia.
"I'm Honey Kisaragi. We've never really met, but I've heard about your
father's work."
Sylia blinked. "Oh?"
"Yes, I'm very familiar with it. My mother Seira had a number of patents
relating to boomers and artificial intelligence, and I've gone over her work
lots of time since she died." Honey had used the same cover story for a long
time, and there was no problem being convincing. "Dr. Stingray was really a
pioneer in the field."
Sylia looked at Honey a little suspiciously. "So you've studied in the field,
then? What do you think of Argic-Cosar neural nets?"
"Oh, they're probably one of the less efficient forms of AI. I'm not sure
why you're asking, since they were replaced by..." Priss sighed, having not
expected this at all. Best to wait it out. She sat down with the others and
chatted a bit, while eyeing Nene's pie.
"They sound like you talking about bikes", opined Linna.
* * *
Nene cut the pie into eighths and served everyone a piece. She placed the
tea pot in the center of the coffee table, along with a tray loaded with
cups, and sat down. She glanced among everyone, telling them "Just take it
yourself." She then glanced a second time, and a third, her eyes lingering
slightly longer than usual on Sylvie and Anri. "Excuse me, just a moment."
Nene stood up and motioned to Sylia.
"What is it, Nene-chan?" asked Sylia. Nene looked distinctly worried.
"I just remembered something I needed to tell you about. Could you come
with me?"
"If it's not private, we have guests... oh, it's private."
Nene lead Sylia away into a computer room and closed the door, sitting down with
Sylia. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Two of Priss's friends are the
missing 33-S models."
"Really, Nene. You think so? Wouldn't it be a really huge coincidence for
Priss's friends to be the missing boomers? And she doesn't even like boomers."
"I'm serious! I have pictures of them. I got them from Kaufman's computer."
Nene logged in and brought up the display, which showed two low-resolution
faces. "We were going to go after them if they showed up. This is no
coincidence; they must know about the Knight Sabers."
Sylia studied the screen, comparing it mentally to the people she had just
met. "Hmm, possible. But it's hard to tell from those pictures."
Nene moved aside a box of tools from near a project of Mackie's, and then
threw off the stack of Playboys underneath it. She pulled out a machine,
about ten centimeters wide. "And I just _bet_ that Kisaragi blonde is Norimaki
Arare. Let's scan them to make sure."
Sylia nodded in agreement and walked back out with Nene. Sylia smiled at
Priss. "Priss, could you look at this?"
Priss got up, along with Sylvie and Honey. "No", said Sylia. "Just Priss."
"What are you doing with that sc--" asked Priss before Sylia shushed her.
Sylia plugged the device in as Priss watched, and Honey watched from across
the room. The screen began to glow, and the image on it resolved itself
into one of the room, overlaid by an image which correlated magnetic fields
and infrared patterns. Nene pointed to the screen and triumphantly said
"See?" to Sylia.
Priss gaped. "That can't be. They're--?"
Nene nodded, whispering. "The missing 33-S's. Ms. Kisaragi too. A type I
can't even recognize."
Priss quickly said "Your gun, Nene." When Nene didn't immediately respond,
Priss swiped it from Nene's belt, unlocked the safety, and took a step towards
Honey, Sylvie, and Anri. Not combat boomers, she thought. They won't be
immune to bullets.
Sylia reached for Priss's arm. "No, Priss!" Priss threw off her grasp and
approached the others. "Come around here, Linna. Quickly." Linna left the
group in bemusement, still not quite sure why Priss had started acting
strangely.
"I don't know why you've sent a boomer double here, Honey, or why you've
been tricking me with these boomers, but I can guess, and you're going to
confirm it. Nene, you can trace whatever signal the boomers are sending out,
and find the real Honey Kisaragi, can't you?" Nene nodded and went off to
another room, followed by Sylia's brother.
Sylia shouted at Priss. "Priss, stop that, _now_."
"You've already _got_ your revenge. Mason is dead. I didn't get mine. And
not only that, but I'm being _used_, through boomers pretending to be human,
boomers who've killed four people before. I started to open my heart to them,
and I came _this_ close to telling them about the Kni--mmghfppr." Linna
covered Priss's mouth just in time. Priss struggled with Linna, pushing her
hand away for long enough to say "Get off me!"
Sylvie eyed Priss, shocked. "No! You're misunderstanding completely!" Anri
was standing, halfway to the door, and shaking in fear as she backed away.
Honey charged Priss, punching her in the stomach and making her shot go awry
as she dropped the gun. Priss fell, clutching herself in pain. "Damn you
boomers..."
"Sit down, Priss.", said Honey, in a tone intended to calm her down. "Do you
realize what you're doing to poor Sylvie and Anri? Listen to me!"
Priss angrily waved in the direction of the two. "They're boomers. I can't
possibly..." For the first time she really noticed their reaction. It
reminded her of herself, herself when her boyfriend was killed and she was
running like a hunted animal down the dark alleys of Megatokyo. "... can I?"
* * *
Priss reached for the gun again, but Sylia picked it up first. "Let's hear
what Ms. Kisaragi has to say." About to struggle for it, Priss looked once
more at the faces of the frightened Sylvie and Anri and let Sylia take the
gun.
Mackie opened the door from the workroom and a redheaded face peeked around
him. "There aren't any transmissions, Priss. Oh, and the fight is over,
right?"
"Of course there aren't any transmissions", said Honey. "I'm really here. By
the way, why do you have a magnetic field and infrared imager and a radio
scanner in a normal penthouse apartment?"
Sylia shook her head, but didn't reply. "Priss was out of line. But you
still do owe us an explanation for what's going on. We're not going to shoot
first and ask questions later, but we're not going to dispense with the
questions completely. Those are the 33-S boomers, right?"
Sylvie was trying to comfort Anri, and didn't answer; Honey answered for them.
"You're right. They are. But they're human enough to think and feel and want
to be free, and I'm helping them."
"And it's a pure coincidence that they came here?" continued Sylia.
"Hai", replied Honey. "They're not out to kill you or spy on whatever your
company is. And there aren't going to be any more deaths. Those were the
acts of a desperate person, trying to keep her friend alive in the only way
she knew. You think they broke your trust... Priss, Sylvie _said_ she wanted
to be friends, and she _meant_ it."
Priss looked to Sylia for an answer. She _did_ trust Sylia's judgment, at
least when she wasn't acting on impulse, which did occasionally happen. Sylia
looked back to Priss and gave the answer she was looking for. "I believe her."
Priss thought a moment. "I... I'm sorry, Sylvie, Anri. It's hard to believe
that it's you two. All right? Let's... let's be friends."
Sylvie and Anri nodded.
"And what about you, Honey? Are you from the station too?"
Honey shook her head. "It's none of your business. You've got your own
secrets, I have mine. I'll say this much. I'm not a spy, I'm not from the
station, and you're not going to find me in any of your boomer design manuals.
Maybe I'll explain to Sylia later. Bye, Priss." She turned and headed for the
door.
"Wait!"
"What is it, Priss?"
"Please... please stay, okay?"
Author's notes:
Next chapter is Largo, of course. I also might have Honey, Sylvie, and Anri
find out about the Knight Sabers, which I couldn't figure out how to have
happen believably in here.