Hi there!

Well, it's been a _real_ long time since I've posted to the list; school and
the Revenge Wars have sapped my fic-writing time.  If anyone actually cared, I
will get to writing on "Double Life" when the muse hits me with a mallet
again; hopefully this summer ^_^.

In the meantime, here's a short story which I wrote a while back.  It's not
really anime...but it is anime related in a nifty sort of way :).  As always,
C&C is welcomed.  Flames are responded with "Thank you for your comments."

PX

---

"Contract"
By Jonathan Lung

It was one of those corner restaurants that seemed to be 
everywhere in the city.  It was slightly dirty, had a glaring neon 
sign outside, and menus pasted to the entrance window declaring 
their reasonable prices; one could have gone to any restaurant 
like this and gotten the exact same thing that you would have 
from the one down the next block.  Inside, at one of the few 
booths that the establishment possessed, a pair sat across from 
each other, a cup of cold, black sludge that passed for coffee 
between them.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" the man asked, taking a sip 
of the coffee, then putting it back down after the bad taste 
registered in his brain.

"Well, why not?" the woman said, tapping her pen against the 
table, looking down at the piece of paper next to her.  "The 
numbers look good enough; more than what we're paid 
normally."

The man, a fairly young looking Asian, ran his fingers through his 
short, messy hair.  "But, Kate, it's in Vancouver.  We've always 
worked where it was close.  Not only that, but you _know_ how 
I feel about jobs like these."

"Listen, Jim," Kate started, stopping her tapping and placing the 
pen on the tabletop, "all the jobs are in Vancouver now, so we 
don't have a choice, now do we?"  She adjusted her wire-frames 
with the flick of a finger and leaned forward towards Jim slightly.  
"We _need_ the money."

"Okay, okay, I'll grant you that there aren't many good contracts 
here.  I'll even admit that there weren't any to start with.  But, I 
still can't believe that you're even considering a job like this.  It's 
even worse than that three-shot OVA we did with A-V Magic."

"You were just pissed that they needed a voice actor instead of a 
translator."  Kate grinned a bit.

Jim laughed a little at that.  "Well, here I am, a perfectly decent 
translator, and they ask me if I can perform a 'deep' voice."  

Suddenly, his face became slightly darker.  "But, you know it 
wasn't that.  It was the fact that you were asked to play a 
girl...that wasn't even one in the original series.  You know how 
much I hate it when they try to pull shit like that?"

"Yes, I do, Jim."  Kate's grin faded slightly.  "Listen, we needed 
the money.  Not only that, how the hell were they supposed to 
present that bishonen she-male stuff to a bunch of twelve year 
olds?  Frankly, I can understand why they would change the 
character like that."

"Well, I _could_ understand if it was a TV series, but it wasn't.  
They didn't have to sell it into syndication or to a network, just to 
whoever wanted to buy or rent it from the video store."

"But still, they were aiming for the younger 
demographic...anyway, we're drifting from what we have to deal 
with."

"Right, right.  The contract...so, they want us to fly to 
Vancouver, possibly live there since this is extended, and work 
for them on the new TV adaptation that they're planning."

"Yes, that's what it says."

"And they want you to play a..." Jim stared down at the upside-
down contract.  "...bubbly blonde named Suzie, who turns into a 
'super-soldier' whenever she uses her magic credit card?"

"Yeah, that's about right," Kate replied.  "Kind of like slashing 
your card through the machine when you get a whole new 
wardrobe."  The description of the character presented an utter 
contrast to Kate, a brunette who was anything but bubbly.  "I 
believe the term they're using is 'Way Cool Super-Soldier 
Wardrobe Magic,' or something."

Jim shook his head slightly, laughing a little.  "Well, _that_ one's 
certainly original," he said, sarcasm flowing through the words as 
he read the contract some more.  "Now, they want me to work 
with them on finalizing the scripts, and..." Jim gulped, "adapt 
them for an American audience, demographic nine to twelve year 
old females."

"Yep..."  Kate looked directly at Jim.  "So, after reading it again, 
what do you think?"

"The more I read it, the more I detest it.  To quote a certain dub, 
'Well, I still think the whole thing sucks!'"  His voice hit a high 
pitch as he said it, mimicking the quote uncannily.  "They're 
changing the whole purpose of the show!"

"Seriously, Jim, do you _really_ think the audience would pick up 
on that?  I know that that was its original intent, but..."

"The whole thing's obvious!  Bubbly blonde, cash up the wazoo, 
cliche catch phrases, all in the name of frivolity and the freedom 
to buy...the whole thing's a satire targeted at the magical girl 
genre and materialism!"

"Well, I know that, and you know that...but would anyone else?  
Besides, satires don't sell advertisements, children shows do."

Jim shook his head in frustration.  "So much for trying to stay 
true to the spirit of the creator."  He leaned forward.  "It was 
never like this before.  Do you remember when we first started?  
We didn't take a job that involved changing the story line in any 
significant way, even if it meant eating instant ramen for a month 
straight or even taking temp jobs in the meantime."

Kate frowned, as though the weight of reality pressed down on 
her soul.  "Yes, I remember, but, we can't go on like that.  Let's 
face it, this is not a career that we can live on unless we find 
something constant, like this contract."

A silence louder than any noise fell between the two, the line 
having been drawn.  Around them, the restaurant was quiet, with 
few customers within its walls.  A lone waiter leaned against the 
counter, waiting for the next customers, and the next tip, to 
come, while scribbling on a small notepad.  The cook in the back 
smoked a cigarette as she waited for the next order to be yelled 
out.

The couple stared at each other, silent communication starting 
where semantics had stopped.  The two knew what their views 
were; there was no point in arguing their motivations further.

"Check, please," Jim said, breaking the sonic void.  He took out 
his wallet, pulled out a ten, and placed it on the table.

"So that's it, huh?" Kate asked.

"Yep.  I'll reserve the seats and start looking for listings in 
Vancouver."  Jim took a deep breath, exhaling it in a hefty sigh.  
"Ah... one can't really live on idealism alone, hmm?"

"Well, we can always negotiate the when we get there," Kate said, 
"and we do have some control over the project."

"Yeah, there is that, I guess..."  Somehow, the tone did not 
provide comfort in the slightest.

***

Note:  Yes, I know that "bishonen" is not really "she-male" stuff 
per se; it is more of a connotative definition and suitable for the 
purposes of the story.