BUBBLEGUM SHOCKWAVE: CHOICES

SHOCKWAVE: The aftereffects of any event happening, the larger the event,
  the larger the aftereffects

He opened his eyes and knew that he was in an unfamiliar place, he wasnt in
his own bed where he should be. Every muscle in his body ached, and he heard
the sound of gunfire nearby, somehow that didnt bother him. He looked around
and saw that he was in a warehouse of some kind, a deserted one at that. He
then realized that he didnt know who he was or where he was, and that was
the worst part of this whole situation.

MEANWHILE ....

Leon looked on as a K-11 was trashed by the boomer's laser blast, damn it!
he thought to himself, there is another dear mary letter he had to write.
For what happened this evening he would be filing reports for the next three
days, the reports weren't so bad, it was the letters that stung. There had
been way too many deaths tonight, and there wasnt a damn thing that he could
do about it, that is unless he could convince the Diet to give the ADP more
funding, but he knew that wouldnt happen. So they had to fight boomers with
firepower and armor that just wouldnt cut it, all in the interests of
saving the public money.

But such thoughts would have to wait for another time, the boomer was still
up and running, and that is what he had to worry about. The boomer seemed
somewhat disoriented, apparently it had been damaged and it was trying to
figure out where the enemies are. Leon never gave it a chance to recover its
wits, he loaded his magnum with the last of the pistol grenades he had and
took careful aim and fired. His shot hit the boomer dead on in the head, the
resulting explosion knocked the boomer back and it hit the ground with a
loud crash. He looked around at the devestation done and hoped that this
night was almost over, it had been a long evening, a very long evening.

Leon saw the approaching boomers and knew that he had stepped into a
hotzone. Leon got on the CB, "We are going to need some more backup out
here. We have one remaining K-12 and we have indentified at least another
5-6 boomers that are heading our way, they are still some distance off, but
we are low on ammo and people. Send some more backup!" The squelch he heard
back was not a good one, "Negative, we cannot send additional backup, all
units are involved in problems elsewhere in the city. Attempt to withdraw
from the area, two blocks back there is another group of officers, they
should be able to give you some aid and some ammunition."

He thought to himself, damn it! A fighting withdrawl, that would mean he
was going to have to lose the K-12 to save his men. And most likely the
pilot too, the guy was good, but not good enough. He didnt have much of a
choice though, he yelled the commands, and they complied and started packing
everything up to begin to move back. He noticed that the pilot seemed a bit
nervous, he tried calming the guy down, it worked, but he didnt know how
long the guy would stay calm. But he didnt have any other choices right now,
no other choices.

They had finished preparing themselves to withdraw when they saw the
boomers heading their way, he gave the orders and they began to move out,
several of the officers volunteered to stay here and provide cover fire for
the rest of them. He didnt have a choice but to agree, this had become a
battleground, he hadnt signed up to become a soldier, he signed up to fight
crime. He told the pilot to move in, not to engage full force, but to
provide them cover fire while they retreated.

For a minute or so it looked like everything was working fine, the K-12 was
doing a good job, his people were moving back, and the cover fire had
managed to actually disable a boomer. But then one of the boomers connected
with a lucky shot with some kind of arm blade to the chest that sent the
K-12 flying into a nearby warehouse. He didnt see the pilot emerge by a
minute later, he had to assume the pilot was dead, so he had no choice no
but to order a full scale withdrawl. The boomers took out another car before
the rout had begun, they were moving as fast as they could, which
considering the terrain wasnt very fast at all. He wasnt sure that he would
actually live to write those reports, and somehow he hoped that he would, as
much as he hated those reports, he hated dying even more.

BACK IN THE WAREHOUSE ...

The young man stood up and began inspecting himself for damage, anyone
looking on would have seen the experienced look of a doctor checking for
injuries. Having found none and having heard the firefight right outside
calm down for a minute he decided to poke his head briefly outside to see
what was happening. Having heard the firefight erupt again he decided to sit
it out until things cleared up, he wouldnt be given that chance. He saw a
K-12 fly through the warehouse and land near him, he wondered how he knew
the suit was a K-12, but he put such thoughts aside for the moment. He saw
the cockpit open up, the pilot inside was injured and he had to help him,
but when he saw just where the blood was coming from he knew that is was
already too late.

The pilot tried to crawl out of the suit, it surprised him the the pilot
got halfway out before falling to the ground. The pilot said one thing
before dying, "They need me, the ADP, my team, too many dead, too many
.... " He sat there for a second looking at the pilot, a memory of someone
else cradled in his arms and dying flashed into his mind for a second, but
it dissappeared just as fast. He looked at the K-12, still relatively
intact, still capable of fighting, memory of how to pilot K-12s came to
mind, and something in him told him to get inside and fight. Like many other
things that bothered him, he didnt know how he knew, he just knew, he put
such thoughts aside for later. Right now he was going to fulfill a dying
man's last request, and he was going to help the ADP.

He hopped inside the suit and then closed the canopy and prepared to get
the show on the road. The design was slightly different from what he was
familiar with, but it was close enough that he was able to handle it. He
engaged the suit and moved out of the building, ready to take on the
boomers, he saw them and they looked like they were ready to engage him. He
smiled to himself as he proceeded into the fray, they had done too much
damage tonight and it was payback time.

    LEON

Leon looked on as the K-12 came out of the warehouse a minute or two into
their withdrawl from the area. He was glad the pilot survived, apparently he
had been damaged a bit because he wasnt fighting very well, but at least
they still had the K-12. The rest of them seemed a bit cheered up by the
K-12 returning, it gave them the time to finish their retreat. As they
approached the new group he saw that they were faring pretty badly too, but
not quite as bad as his own group had fared so he ordered his men who were
still capable to give assistance or replace downed officers. It had been
ugly, it was almost like these boomers had been sent out to find something,
and he wasnt sure what they wanted, nor was he sure he wanted to know.

    JOHN

While he was busy fighting the boomers a name came to mind, John, his name
was John. At least he was beginning to remember solid things, not just
things that he knew and had no reason for, like his knowledge of the K-12s
among other things. The fight wasnt going to well, but he was determined to
give the ADP time to withdraw, he had managed to take out two of the 5
boomers, and a few seconds later a missile impacted with another one. He
turned and saw that the ADP had managed to withdraw and were trying to
provide him cover fire so that he could withdraw also. Unfortunately his
only option for a withdrawl was to run, his thrusters had been damaged in
the fight, better his thrusters than his bowels. He took a risk and fired
point blank at one of the boomers, it worked but he wasnt sure that the
weapon would fire again without some massive repairs to the barrel.

The remaining boomer was a different style than the rest, it took one look
at him and took to the air. He aimed at it and fired, but the boomer managed
to avoid being hit and flew off. Seeing as how the boomers in this area were
gone he figured he had better turn this suit over to someone who knew more
about handling it. He headed in the direction that the ADP had went, knowing
that the evening was far from over.

    LEON

Leon saw the K-12 finish off all but one of the boomers, it took to the air
and jetted off. He thought that the behavior of that boomer was very odd,
very odd indeed. His weaponry was also nonstandard, but that didnt surprise
him too much, after all Genom was always designing new boomers. He tried to
hail the K-12 and get a status report, the answer he got back was not what
he expected, someone else was piloting the suit.

"Officer, I know I'm going to get into a lot of trouble over this. Your
pilot, he was dead, the blade went right through his heart. The last thing
he said was that you still needed help, so I did the only thing I could do,
I got in the suit and came out to help. As soon as I get there I will
relinquish the suit to you so that it can be used by the ADP properly." Leon
could tell the man was being honest, it was obvious in his voice. This man
was willing to pay the price for bailing their bacon out of the fire, and
the man knew that the price would be rather steep. Leon answered,
"Affirmative, I will be taking control of the suit, so stop the suit near my
vehicle. Your actions to help the ADP will be taken into consideration when
this is discussed later."

Leon saw the suit stop right near his car, the suit had taken damage, but
considering what it had taken on it wasnt surprising. The canopy opened and
the previous pilot got out, removed the helmet and handed it to him. Leon
didnt have time for pleasantries, he took the helmet and hopped into the
K-12. Leon did tell the man to go assist the wounded, they needed every
able hand they could get to fire weapons. The man nodded and moved off to
assist the wounded.

Leon saw that the boomers had almost been wiped out, but there were still
several remaining, the firepower of the K-12 quickly took them out, but not
before one of the machine guns blew. At least no one else was injured that
was the important thing, the number of Dear Mary letters were going to be
atrocious for everyone involved. If it hadnt been for this guy who outright
broke the law to save them then who knew how many more Dear Mary letters
would have been written. As much as Leon wanted to thank this guy, he had
still broken the law, and he had to be punished, he was sure that the chief
would go easy on him considering what happened.

AT THE AD POLICE HEADQUARTERS LATER ....

Leon looked at this man, John and wondered just who he really was. The guy
knew quite a bit about handling K-12s, and that was knowledge that one
couldnt exactly acquire off the streets. The guy was a partial amnesiac, he
remembered his name, the language, and a few other things. He didnt remember
his last name though, nor HOW he knew how to pilot the K-12s, there were a
lot of questions he needed answers for. But in about two minutes he would
have to be answering to Chief Todo, and he didnt exactly care for that. At
least it got him away from filling out reports for a few minutes, it looked
like his office was a waste disposal zone more than an office right now.

Leon entered the room, he noticed that John was already sitting there, in
handcuffs no less. Leon looked at the chief, and the chief didnt look very
happy, he knew that the evening had just started. "What the HELL happened
out there? A war or something? The informal reports I've gotten so far
indicate that we trashed over 30 boomers within a 5 block area. And this man
here," waving at Johnathon, "absconded with police equipment, maybe to save
you guys, but that doesnt change what he did. I'm surprised that you didnt
handcuff him after he got out of the suit! That is what I want to know,
WHY DIDNT YOU CUFF HIM?!"

Leon looked at the chief, "Sir, the situation was bad, you'll see just how
bad it was when you get the reports, we needed every able man to be up and
fighting. Officers were with him the whole time, he was tending to the
wounded, and from what I've heard doing a very good job of it. If we had
more officers who were still able to fight I would have handcuffed him and
locked him in my car, but the situation required that we use all able hands.
He turned himself over to me willingly, no questions asked, and was willing
to pay the price for bailing us out of the fire. I think that says something
about him."

The chief glared at Leon, "Damn it! At least you brought most of the men back
alive. Have you sent some people out to recover the body and the remains of
the K-12 at least?" Leon answered crisply, "Yes sir. After we finished taking
care of the boomers I dispatched several able officers to retrieve the body
of the pilot, and as for the K-11s that we lost, the trucks have been sent
out to recover the remaining parts." He noticed that the chief had begun to
calm down, but when he spoke there was still an edge to his voice, "So what
do YOU propose we do with this man?"

He looked at the chief and knew this was his punishment for just how he had
handled the situation, apparently the chief thought that he could have
handled it better. "He did steal and use police property, however he did
return it afterward and turned himself over to us. So in that aspect we
should be lenient on him, especially the reasons that he stole the
equipment. Another question of course is, what do we do with him, he doesnt
remember much of who he is or anything."

The chief never got a chance to answer Leon because the phone rang, "AD
Police, Chief Todo. No, we have not picked up any 'rogue boomers' in the
past several hours. Just what does this boomer look like, I'll have my
officers keep an eye out. Yes, I see, I understand sir. Thank you, and if we
do find him we will contact you." The chief hung up, "That was Genom, they
have a rogue boomer on the loose, one looking similar to this man here. Does
that answer your question Officer McNichols?"

John heard the conversation, "Hey wait a minute, I'm not a boomer, I may not
remember much, but I know that I'm not a boomer. I'm human, of that I'm sure,
and I dont want to be turned over to Genom, I dont trust them." The chief
looked at him, "How do you intend to prove that your not a boomer?" He
answered, "Got a knife? Boomers dont bleed, do they? They may have hydraulic
fluid, but not blood. Cut my arm, enough to draw blood, will that be proof
enough for you?"

The chief looked at him, "No, that wont be necessary. Leon, take him down to
the doctor, have the doctor run some tests on him, xray, the works. If any of
the test say anything but human, stop the tests and ship him to Genom. Genom
says that he is responsible for the murder of 37 people, and if he is a
boomer, I'll be happy to hand him over on a silver platter."

Leon looked at the chief, and at John who had just saved the lives of at
least 20 officers. He doubted that he was a murderer, he hoped that the
doctor said that Johnathon was human, otherwise he wasnt sure just what he
would do. The walk down to the doctors office was short, John didnt say
anything at all, but Leon could tell that he was angry that the Chief
thought about turning him over to Genom. Before they entered the doctor's
office Leon stopped, and looked at him.

John just looked at Leon, "I know that Im human, dont worry Leon, I'll come
through this just fine. In the meantime you have some reports to fill out
and some letters to write, in ways the life of an officer is never pleasant.
Never forget that you are human, its the humanity inside that matters, not
what our body says that we are." And with that he turned to walk into the
doctors office.

Leon explained the situation to the doctor, told him that if any of the
tests showed him as less than 40% human to stop the tests and inform him.
If the tests showed 100% boomer, let him know, just to let him know about
anything unusual. The doctor told him he would, and then Leon left to get
back to the reports that were waiting.

John looked at the doctor, the doctor seemed nice enough. His bedside manner
wasnt too shabby either, he didnt treat him like a criminal, just treated
him like another patient. He knew the procedure and drew up his sleeve so
that the doctor could begin the tests, he knew the procedures and how to
perform them. That bothered him, there were too many unknowns in his life,
he didnt know who or what he was, but he knew that he was human, there was
no doubt about that. He was human, regardless of what the doctor would tell
him he was.

30 MINUTES LATER ....

The doctor looked at this, he was a puzzle, there was no doubt about it, he
was human, but there were some very puzzling things. His blood was unlike
any blood he had ever seen, by all accounts he should be sick and in bed and
not up and walking. His temperature was 102 degrees, his pulse was a bit on
the fast side, everything about him was running higher than normal. But it
didnt appear to bother him at all, but he was still human, no doubt about
it, the only possible answer that came to mind was genetic engineering. That
was the only explanation for the anomalies in the man's system, but at least
he could tell Officer McNichols that he was human, the way that officer
McNichols brought him in meant that he wanted a positive verdict.

The doctor had one of his assistants take John back up to Officer McNichols.
The doctor then began to examine the differences and tried to figure out the
reasoning behind the alterations, he sighed to himself as he got to work.
Even though he was human, he had to know in what ways this man was different,
that was important.

Leon was surprised when there was a knock on the door, it was John, and
without handcuffs or anything, he did have a folder in his hand, probably
the medical report. John looked at him, "Well Leon, the doctor says that
I'm human, enhanced, but definitely human. At least Genom cant 'legally'
claim that Im the boomer that they want, that is unless they put livers in
boomers these days." John smiled at that last comment.

Leon looked at him, "At least that is one worry off of my neck, of course
you will probably be in jail for some time, even considering the reasons.
The facts of the matter havent changed, lets go see the chief and let him
know, get one problem straightened out. I hate paperwork, and I hate Dear
Mary letters, those hurt, can you imagine just how hard it is ..."

"Yes I know what its like, believe me, its even worse when you know the
relatives personally. Be thankful that you didnt know most of them, makes it
easier that way. In the meantime, lets put one worry of the chief's to rest,
he's got enough of them as it is."

With that Leon and John went up to see the chief, the chief was a bit calmer
this time and was expecting them. Leon handed him the doctor report and let
him scan through it. The chief probably didnt understand most of it, but
thankfully the ADP doctor always put a summary on the front in layman
language explaining the results of the report. "So you're human, an enhanced
one, genetic engineering and all that. At least I dont have to worry about
turning you over to Genom, the question still remains what to do with you."
The chief smiled and had a wicked grin on his face as he spoke, "Officer
McNichols, since he saved your sorry butt out there he is going to be your
responsibility. Im putting him on parole, he will be seeing a doctor weekly
until his memory has recovered. If he so much as thinks about committing a
crime, I will hold you responsible, do we understand each other?"

Leon looked at the chief, the chief had went easy on both of them. Just
parole, that was a slap on the wrist, "Yes sir, I understand. I take it that
we will be be providing a place for him to stay and all that?" He knew what
the chief's response would be, "Of course, as soon as his memory has
returned, then he will be expected to resume his old life. If he is a gene
engineered person created by Genom then he will have to find his own manner
of work. We will give him three months to recover his memory, if he has made
no progress in that time, then he is on his own. After those three months,
he is no longer your responsibility. For today, since he has medical skills
he will be assisting the doctor on patching up the wounded. By this
afternoon we should have him a place to stay. Now if you will excuse me, I
have work to do, so get out of my office."

Leon looked at the chief, everything would work out fine, he was sure of
that. In the meantime he had reports to fill out, and John had quite a few
wounded to attend to. So they both went their own ways to do their work,
knowing that the situation while still up in the air had stabilized.

Johnathon went down to talk to the doctor, the report was falsified, he was
sure of that, just the way the doctor took his time with it told him that.
He caught the doctor free, so he asked him in the calmest manner possible,
"All right doc, why did you falsify the report? You took way too much time
filling out the report, and you neglected to mention the anomalies in my
blood stream. You didnt mention how my blood was not any standard type of
blood, there were quite a few things you didnt mention. I want to know why,
why did you falsify the report?"

The doctor looked at him, he had assumed that John didnt know medicine.
"Simple, the tests show you as 40% human, the rest of you is some manner of
technology that I have never seen before. Have you heard of fusion? I'm
going to assume yes, well if my tests are correct, then the tests I ran
indicate that 60% of you is a fusion boomer capable of fusing with organic
material. Only 60% though, that indicates that something happened, either
the boomer itself was dying and the only way to save itself was to fuse with
you or you were dying and the only way to save you was fusion. Either way
it makes sense why you might have amnesia, being flooded with two seperate
and distinct mental patterns could cause amnesia."

The doctor continued, "However, it is safe to assume that you are the
dominant personality. The problem I have is if what Genom said is true then
the Boomer would have no reason to save you. Thats why I forged the
reports, I think that they are lying, I think that the boomer tried to
escape and maybe you helped it escape. That is why it tried to save you by
fusing with you, that is the only answer I have. Regardless of the truth,
there is no way to seperate you and the boomer now, aside from death anyway.
We all make choices, some of them are wrong, some of them are right, this is
my choice, the choice to give you a chance at life. Dont blow it, ok?"

John just looked at him, he still had few answers, but the doctor had
answered a few of his questions at least. Choice, it all came down to that,
he made the choice to use the K-12 to save that group of ADP, the doctor
made the choice to forge the reports, and he was going to make the choice to
keep quiet about it. It was funny in a way, to the doctor his percentage
didnt matter, it was what he did that mattered, it was the humanity that
mattered. Just like he had told Leon, it was what they did that mattered,
not what the body said they were.

While it gave him more questions than answers for once since this had all
started he stopped questioning his knowledge and accepted it. He had to
assume that the knowledge that he had no explanation for belonged to the
boomer, he just wished he could remember what happened that made the boomer
willing to give up his life for him.

He thought to himself, just like the doctor said, we all make choices, some
good, some bad. Did the boomer in saving him make a good choice or a bad
choice, only time would give him those answers. He had three months before
he had to make choices that would change his very life, it seemed like such
a short time, but compared to how much his life had changed in the past 5
hours it was an eternity. 

        Choices, we all make them, some good, some bad.