Wahoo!  Another chapter of the post second-fall era.  Gotta luv it!

Some specific reactions:

Beth's growing confusion:
  Nicely handled.  The bit with the cat impulses was a bit...
disturbing.  Look forward to seeing how that particular thread develops.

"Bento the Cat, aka Sailor Neko"
  C'mon, it'd make a decent spin-off, don'tcha think?

It could go right alongside the year-4200 anime adventures of Queen
Serenity and her Senshi versus the Zentraedi and the Dread Space Pirate
Ryoko (from chapter 2) ...

The Church of Serenity
  Ahh, nice to know that another 2000 years of evolution won't
eliminate this particular strain of idiocy from the human genome....
I'm not talking about the religious impulse, but rather the ability of a
small portion of humanity to take things utterly out of context and
build a new theocracy out of it.

True.  Additionally - fiction in general (not just fan fiction) is so full
of religious hypocrites and bigots that I wanted a character whose beliefs
are perfectly genuine and sincere ... and nonsensical.

Mercury and her Computer
  Some chilling implications here, especially those last two names.  I
do like her growing proficiency with the thing.  So when does she
finally wise up and ask if it's got a tutorial?
  (Oh, and I loved the bit with Nephlyte's voice.  Very creepy.)

I have a sister who, armed with all the manuals and assistence in the
world, still has enormous difficulty performing very basic functions on
an ordinary PC.  It's not that she's stupid - it's just that she isn't
a computer person.  And the Mercury computer is specifically designed
for _smart_ people...

The "outing" of Sailor Jupiter
  Hmmm... Not sure I found her father's reaction all that plausible.
The first anger, at the lying, sure, but the business with kicking her
out of the house was, I dunno, less than satisfactory.  Maybe if we had
seen more of his personality in previous chapters.
  In the meantime, I've got a room in the dungeon for him, right next
to the one I use for Genma....

On top of finding out that his daughter is a Senshi (which, in the world
of 4200, is a Very Big Thing indeed), he's just found out that, at least
in a sense, she isn't even his daughter.  He's confused, angry, and afraid,
and it makes him screw up big time.  He can't look past the fact of her
previous lives, to see that in _this_ life she is still most definitely
his daughter.  What can I say?  I don't think it's implausible behaviour
(though having it out in front of the rest of the family was, as one of my
pre-readers points out, very heavy-handed).  Just sad and, definitely,
wrong.

The Council
  *shudder*  Number 12 is... inspiredly evil.  I think the other
Council members are coming across a bit too meek, though.  In my
experience, any corrupt politician worth his weight in graft has a few
back-up plans ready, just in case.  Do you mean to tell me that none of
them has thought of finding other sources of supernatural power?

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the other Council members are
necessarily corrupt.  When the 'Master' commands, they have little choice
but to obey.  In other matters, they mostly have free will, and at least
some of them are genuinely interested in running the country as best they
can.  They all started out as ordinary, undominated politicians, remember.
(Whether that makes them automatically corrupt is of course moot. :)  )

The newest Senshi
  Oh, man, Bendis really screwed this one up, didn't she?  I've been
thinking about it, and I've come to the conclusion that Iku is probably
Sailor Moon.  Or maybe Sailor Rupert.  (Hitchhiker's Guide reference).

You don't think I'm going to answer this, do you? :)  Hitchhiker's Guide,
eh?  Well, I've had Red Dwarf and Captain Scarlet references, and even
Battlestar Galactica, so why not...?

Ending
  About Bloody Time!  Seriously, I was going to be very annoyed if the
quintet managed to go their separate ways _again_ after a fight.  It's
time to get serious.

Oh, I assure you, things are starting to get serious.  Heh, heh.  But you're
right -- as several others have also pointed, it was high time to get the
two groups together.

Themes:
  You know, between all the legends, lies, rumours, half-assed
assupmtions and outright goofs, it's a wonder anyone has any idea what's
going on at all.  Kinda fun, actually.  ^_^

The only problem I find with your writing is, of course, the fact that
it isn't fast enough.

A problem that is much on my mind, as well.  *sigh*

Finally ... thanks for the comments and the praise!

Cheers,
Angus

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Angus MacSpon                                                Allen Gainsford
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/          http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/