At long last, here's chapter two. Sorry it took me so long.
I'll probably keep working on this fic series rather than my Ranma fics
that no one remembers. This one is shorter and a lot more fun for me to
work on.
I think I've got the characterizations figured out, such as they are,
and just as soon as I get the tone straight we may actually see a decent
fic.
C&C is always appreciated, suggestions are always listened to, and I'd
be happy to get a flame.
Ryunosuke pulled her school clothes out of her gym bag and put them on.
Many other girls around her were doing the same thing, although a few of
them
hadn�t made it out of the shower yet.
Her best friend, Yoshimi, was also getting dressed. Ryunosuke glanced
at
her to confirm size one last time, then back to her task at hand. She
then
reached into her bag and rummaged around with one hand. She snorted
softly to
herself. (Nice present, old bag. Like I�d ever wear something like
that.)
Then she smiled inwardly. (But I know someone who would...)
�Hey, Yoshimi?� she asked.
Yoshimi looked up. �Yes?�
Ryunosuke pulled her hand out and handed something to her friend.
�Here,
check this out.�
"Oh, wow! This must have cost a bundle!" Yoshimi cooed as she
caressed
the blue silk bra.
Ryunosuke blinked and took a second look at it. "Really? How can you
tell?"
One of her other friends, Mitsuko, stared at her. "You mean you
can't?"
Ryunosuke shrugged. "No, they all look pretty much the same to me. I
mean, I know this one looked pretty good, but it's just a bra."
A few of the other girls in the locker room gathered around to join in
the
conversation.
Yoshimi looked back up at Ryunosuke, "Where did you get it if you don't
know how much it costs?"
"This old woman that lives in my building is always giving me clothes
and
stuff, it was in that."
"Wow! She must be really nice to give you something like that!" There
were murmurs of agreement from the other girls.
Ryunosuke snorted and mumbled something under her breath. "Well,
anyway,
I don't like it, but I bet it would look good on you, Yoshimi. You can
have
it."
"Thanks!" Yoshimi smiled and promptly started trying it on.
(No really, it's the least I can do,) Ryunosuke snickered mentally,
never
taking her eyes of her friend. "You're welcome." She turned back to
one of
the other girls. "How did you know it was expensive?"
"Well, look at what it's made of. Silk isn't cheap you know. And then
there's how it's made. And the designer, some of the top designs only
come from
certain stores and they have the highest prices." Mitsuko pulled her
skirt up.
"Take a look at these and guess how much they cost."
Ryunosuke was all to glad to look, but confessed ignorance of the
price.
Mitsuko told her. Ryunosuke's eyes widened in shock. "Wow."
Mitsuko smiled grimly. "Yeah, wow. Mom is real cheap and wouldn't
give
me the money for them, I had to save up."
One of the other girls laughed. "I bet it was worth it though, you
haven't
complained about your boyfriend cheating on you lately."
Everyone laughed.
(I was right,) thought Ryunosuke triumphantly. (It is a perfect fit.)
Yoshimi looked good.
The girls left the locker room in small groups. Ryunosuke let the
conversations delay her exit for a while. She still didn't say much,
but she
listened intently.
It was fortunate that she was devoting so much of her attention to her
audio sensors, otherwise she might have missed the sharp crackle of
machinegun
fire muffled by many concrete walls. Ryunosuke left the locker room in
a
headlong sprint before the burst had even finished, her earlike external
sensors
swiveling out into place in order to better track the noise.
Kyusaku had also reacted very quickly to the noise, although his
reaction
was more of a self-preservation instinct. He dived to the floor on the
other
side of his desk a second after large caliber slugs smashed through the
top of
his outer wall.
After destroying several square feet of wall, the assault stopped. A
loudspeaker came on. "KYUSAKU! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! GET OUT HERE
SO WE CAN
HAVE A HUSBAND TO WIFE CHAT!"
Kyusaku uncovered his head and peeked cautiously over the desk. He
could
just barely see part of the distinctive Poison One. "Akiko?" he
asked. (What the hell is she doing here?)
Sensitive microphones had relayed his answer to the women at the
controls.
"YOU ONLY HAVE ONE WIFE, UNLESS YOU FORGOT TO TELL ME SOMETHING!" she
screamed.
With the loudspeaker off, she yelled, "FIRE!"
Another long burst of machinegun fire caused him to duck once again.
It
abruptly shut off and a small feminine form barreled through the remains
of his
wall.
"Dad! Are you okay?" Ryunosuke asked, concerned.
"Just fine son, but it's going to take me hours to get my office back
in
shape."
"As fine as you ever are I guess." She looked back out into the
copter's
windshield at the arguing women inside. "That's the same thing that was
chasing us isn't it?"
Kyusaku nodded as he stood up carefully.
"That's Mom�s, that�s Poison One. And that's Mom in there."
"Yes. Your mother wants to have a talk with me."
Ryunosuke turned and looked back at her father. "Well then. It's
disrespectful to keep her waiting." She unceremoniously grabbed her
father and
dragged him outside to the waiting craft.
Inside Poison One, a small argument was under way. Arisa wanted to
just pull the trigger on both Kyusaku and the girl, but Kyoko was
preventing her
from doing it. Akiko was clearly tempted, but she wanted to talk to
Kyusaku
more than she wanted to kill him for being an unfaithful husband.
She would settle for screaming at him right now.
"AND WHO IS THIS? YOUR LATEST CONQUEST? A DAUGHTER BY SOME SLUT YOU
NEVER TOLD BE ABOUT?"
Kyusaku winced at the volume. "Could you maybe turn it down a few
notches? You're hurting my ears."
Ryunosuke ignored her father and attempted to ignore the insults thrown
her way by her own mother. She decided to take control of her father's
end of
the conversation.
"I am NOT his 'latest conquest'! That's sick!" Okay, maybe she wasn't
so
successful at ignoring the insults.
"KYUSAKU! GET IN THIS HELICOPTER RIGHT NOW! I WANT TO CHOKE YOU TO
DEATH
IN PERSON!"
He shook his head slightly. "Why don't you come down here so we can
talk
about this?"
Inside Poison One, Arisa was getting impatient. She had a ton of
weaponry
at her disposal and everything was turning into a shouting match. She
absentmindedly scratched an itchy trigger finger.
Ryunosuke grabbed her father and jumped back about 10 feet as the
triple-
barreled cannon chewed the ground in a short arc where they had both
been
standing. They all stared stupidly at the incredibly deep holes where
armor
piercing rounds had punched through the ground like butter.
"Oops."
"ARISA!"
Ryunosuke had enough. She knew the capabilities of her body now, and
it
wasn't more than 20 feet off the ground. An easy hop.
From a standing start she easily jumped the distance to the hovering
plane, impacting just to the left of the big gun. It was an even
simpler
matter to wrap her right arm around the barrels and pull.
The gun bent and twisted until she was able to rip the mangled mess
free
of the housing and fall lightly with it to the ground.
"NOW," she screamed, "ARE YOU READY TO TALK?"
"How...?" began Arisa.
"Damn..." whispered Kyoko.
"I thought so!" yelled Akiko. "It's that android Father was griping
about!"
"It just attacked us!"
"It appears to be angry," commented Kyoko.
"I knew no other woman could take him," Akiko said quietly. "Except
the
woman from his dreams."
"Lady?" Kyoko asked.
"Ma'am, we have to defend ourselves," said Arisa hopefully.
She sagged.
"Ma'am?"
Outside, Kyusaku and Ryunosuke were being ignored. Being unaware of
this,
they carried on a very moving speech, if one sided, on how much they
wanted to
sit down and talk about it like any other family.
Akiko resisted her subordinates' efforts to talk to her. After a few
minutes, they gave up. And perhaps it was that very realization that
they gave
up that spurred her to action. Akiko NEVER gave up.
"He chases after a dream, when he has me. It's time to show him why
I'm
better than a dream." She turned to Arisa. "Destroy that horrible
creation of
his. I don't care what Father says."
"That's our Boss!" the two women chorused.
"Missile away," Arisa said, almost as an afterthought.
Ryunosuke shoved her father to one side and quickly jumped to avoid the
incoming projectile.
More concrete wall crumbled as the missile hit, but fortunately didn't
blow up.
Ryunosuke's first thought was to run. Her second thought involved
Yoshimi
but probably wasn't relevant. It finally occurred to her to protect her
father,
after all, it's not like she could be hurt.
She darted away from her father and waved her hands. "HEY! OVER
HERE!"
Poison One obligingly turned and fired another missile. It did
finally occur to her that she was the target, not Kyusaku.
Speaking of targets, Ryunosuke twisted to avoid the latest missile.
Akiko screamed in frustration. "Why didn't they explode?"
"Umm, you did say not to use live explosives in the city. Without the
guns most of our real offensive power is gone."
Arisa fired another missile, and this time Ryunosuke simply leaned to
the
side and deflected it.
Akiko screamed in frustration. "Don't we have anything? The power
suits!
They're in the back, correct?"
Kyoko nodded.
"Keep it busy! I'll take it from there!" Akiko disappeared into the
back.
Ryunosuke was getting annoyed. Poison One didn't seem to be a real
threat. So much for her Mom's favorite toy. It was time to end this.
She calculated nine possible angles of attack, and, choosing one,
jumped
backwards to the side of a building to rebound and fly directly at the
front of the assault plane. Arisa fired two more dummies in quick
succession
but Ryunosuke was above the angle of attack, Arisa had tilted the nose
too far
down in order to keep a visual.
Avoiding the blades proved trickier than she had thought but it was
helped
by Arisa pulling the nose back up at the same time she was firing.
Ryunosuke wrapped her legs around the windscreen and waved inside.
Then
she squeezed. Powerful electric muscles in her legs exerted tremendous
force
against the cover, causing a myriad of cracks to appear in its surface.
She relaxed her hold and slipped down as Arisa franticly attempted
evasive
maneuvers, only to grab hold once more and punch straight through the
glass and
into the control panel.
Then she jumped back away from it, not bothering to let go of
the fist full of wires she held in her hand. She landed lightly on the
ground
thirty feet away.
Poison One didn't land so lightly. It didn't explode, but there was a
finality to the crash that indicated that it wasn't likely to move under
its own
power again.
Ryunosuke was barely able to contain the impulse to do a victory pose
and
make a speech. It was so tempting, especially when she could see it in
her
mind's eye, but the nagging worry that other people would see it kept
the
twisted impulse in check.
She looked around for her father, only to see him seated on some rubble
some distance away. He clapped politely.
She shrugged and turned back to the crumpled metal. "Let's see if
they're
ready to talk now." She walked over to the mostly intact body. A brief
search
around the side door revealed enough dents that she was able to pry the
door out
of its mountings.
Dozens of small caliber machinegun slugs smashed into her torso for her
trouble.
Ryunosuke was thrown back several feet from the impact. A light blue
humanoid mecha stumbled out of the door, one arm raised and pointed
at her.
Ryunosuke rolled to one side as another burst tore the ground where she
once was. She flipped to her feet and examined her new opponent. A
small rack
of rockets was mounted on the left shoulder, while the right arm moved
to point
the attached machinegun again. The mecha's legs didn't move fluidly
like the
arms, and it seemed to shift it's weight from leg to leg without cause.
It was a relatively simple matter for her to evade the slow response of
her untrained mother, but she nearly dodged right into the path of one
of the
little rockets.
Explosion-driven rock fragments tore at the remains of her school
uniform
but did nothing against the armored flesh beneath.
Ryunosuke rolled with the blow, once again evading the machinegun. The
mecha paused to bat at a bit of cloth that flapped across it's
veiwplate.
She took a little bit of time to examine the cloth. It appeared to be
the
lower half of some sort of one piece jumpsuit, although it was hard to
tell with
most of it disappeared into the canopy.
She evaded the attempts to attack by running back and forth and ducking
the shots that came her way and studied the cloth. It was the pants
part of a
jumpsuit, and had apparently been left hanging through the door to the
mecha
when her mother had jumped in. It was getting in Akiko�s way now,
occasionally
flapping across her vision.
For Ryunosuke though, to see is to act. She was wrapped around the
back
of the mecha before the pilot could even begin to turn around. A sweep
of one
arm smashed the rocket housing while the other stretched the cloth
across
Akiko�s vision.
Ryunosuke held on easily as the mecha turned back and forth, using the
distraction to work her fingers into the crack between the canopy and
the frame,
where the cloth went inside. After that, it was just a matter of
strength.
Akiko watched in a mix of horror and amazement as the thickly armored
cover to one of Mishima Heavy Industries most popular single pilot mecha
was
ripped off and dumped to the ground.
Ryunosuke clambered up and stood on the shoulders of the mecha, then
using
the cloth she still had in one hand, pulled her mother out of the mecha.
Gently, but not near as gently as she might have.
Akiko dangled seven feet off the ground, at least until she lifted her
arms and allowed them to slip out of the sleeves of the uniform. She
fell
heavily to the ground.
Ryunosuke was about to speak when her sensors swiveled and informed
her of
another mecha still inside the cabin. This one moved faster and surer
than
her mother's. This one was driven by a better pilot. This one had also
just
fired a rocket, which was just about to hit the back of the one she was
standing
on and explode.
Akiko was very lucky that the bulk of the mecha was between her and the
explosion, but she was still knocked sprawling.
Ryunosuke was thrown against the side of a building so hard the wall
cracked, and she came as close to fainting as she had ever came before.
It took
her a few moments to stand up.
By that time, however, Arisa had crossed the distance between them and
had
picked her up by her head. This time in was Ryunosuke's body that
strained
under the pressure exerted on it.
Arisa moved the machinegun around to point into her torso, then pulled
the
trigger. Hundreds of bullets flattened against the incredibly resistant
flesh.
Ryunosuke screamed for the first time. While the bullets didn't
actually
cause any damage, and it didn't actually hurt much, it did cause more
than a
little discomfort.
It took two try's, but by twisting and kicking with all of her force
Ryunosuke was able to break free. She backflipped away.
Arisa turned and fired the machinegun again. Ryunosuke heard her
mother's
startled gasp as a few of the bullets came a little to close for
comfort.
Just like what had cause him to become her. And it was all caused by
the
same person.
Ryunosuke growled, and finally, real threat showed through the cute
little
fangs.
Arisa didn't even have time to blink before the pink-haired missile
slammed into the left knee joint of her mecha. It toppled forward.
Ryunosuke helped gravity along the way as she used her leverage to
speed
up its fall. Arisa was stunned from the impact.
Ryunosuke scanned the joints and seams of the powered armor, searching
for
weak spots on a near instinctual basis. Then she took it apart,
scattering bits
of metal for yards.
Arisa shuddered as she heard the sounds of rending metal above and
behind
her head, helpless with the controls no longer responding to her
commands. She
gurgled in surprise when a powerful hand wrapped around her neck and
lifted her
into the air, facing away from her opponent.
Ryunosuke pointed her captive at her mother, still sitting in roughly
the
same place as she landed. "Do you see that?" Ryunosuke growled, giving
Arisa a
shake. "Huh? Do you see who you nearly hit with that gun? Just
like..." She
shook her, and tightened her grip slightly.
Arisa choked as her air supply cut off.
Ryunosuke also appeared to be choking. Dim memories of her own
accident
as well as the thought of what might have happened to her mother filled
her
head, and a migraine hit her so hard she clutched at her head with her
free
hand.
Akiko and Kyusaku stared dumbfounded. Neither one could quite believe
it,
but both were sure that someone was about to die.
"Atsuko!"
Ryunosuke was jerked back to the present. "Wha?"
Everyone but Arisa searched for the owner of the voice. Arisa
continued
her efforts to pry Ryunosuke's hand off.
"Atsuko! What are you doing? What's going on?"
Ryunosuke spotted Yoshimi running straight for her. "Yoshimi! Stay
back!
You could get hurt!"
Yoshimi had to pause. She stopped away from Ryunosuke's
position on top of the remains of the powered armor. �What happened?�
she
repeated.
�That girl is killing my partner!� a new voice screamed. Everyone
looked
to see Kyoko struggling out of the assault craft and running up to them.
"Loosen
your hand! She's turning blue!"
Ryunosuke brought her arm around so she could look Arisa in the face.
"Ah, so she is." Ryunosuke shrugged and relaxed her grip.
Arisa gasped raggedly and slowed her frantic struggles. Suddenly she
jerked her body much like Ryunosuke had earlier, but failed to get away.
Ryunosuke moved her thumb and forefinger up to press painfully against
the
bottom of Arisa's jaw. Arisa stopped moving and hung limply.
"Why are you doing that? Let her go!" asked Yoshimi franticly.
Kyoko stepped forward and held out her hands in Ryunosuke�s direction.
�Listen, Atsuko? Please, just let Arisa go and we�ll leave. Please?�
Ryunosuke turned back to face her mother's direction. To Yoshimi she
said, "This stupid woman nearly shot m... that lady over there." She
waved at
her mother with her free arm. "That was very careless and someone could
have
gotten hurt!"
"But she didn't hit her. Calm down, Atsuko."
Ryunosuke looked down at Kyoko, who had walked up behind Yoshimi.
"Yes, just let her go," said Kyusaku.
Ryunosuke sighed and dropped her to the ground. Arisa lost no time
scrambling to her feet and backing away. She grabbed Kyoko with one and
started dragging her away. She froze when someone else grabbed her by
the neck.
She had a sneaking suspicion who it was too. "Um, sorry Ma'am?"
Akiko turned and marched the both of them away. "Your pay WILL be
docked
for this little incident. To say nothing of how upset Father will be
when he
finds out you managed to get Poison One destroyed." Her ranting
continued out
of sight, but carefully avoided mention of the android or her estranged
husband.
The pain was too fresh.
Yoshimi waved a hand at the surrounding destruction. "Now, would you
mind
explaining just what happened here? And how you managed to tear up a
robot? I
know you're strong but this is ridiculous!"
Ryunosuke collapsed to a kneeling position on the mecha and clutched at
her head. "My head hurts."
"Get down from there. I need to take a look at you." Kyusaku wiped
his
forehead.
Ryunosuke lowered herself to the ground, all of the fluidity and grace
was
gone from her movements.
Yoshimi watched, concerned, but didn't go over to give a hand.
Kyusaku was the one to support Ryunosuke with one arm and lead her to
his Land
Rover. He needed to get her back to his lab.
"Wait!" yelled Yoshimi. "What's wrong?"
Ryunosuke lifted her head and waved dismissively with one arm. "I'll
tell
you later, kay?" Her head lolled.
Kyusaku loaded her up in the back seat of his Land Rover and drove as
fast
as he could toward home.
Yoshimi watched them go, still standing there as curious people and
cursing janitors swarmed the yard. She didn't know what to tell her
friends
when they asked what happened.
****************
Kyusaku watched a mass of text as it scrolled across his computer
screen.
A small bundle of wires ran from the back of the computer to a socket in
Ryunosuke's head.
He typed furiously for a few minutes, adjusting nutrient flows to his
son's brain. Then he sat back and tried to figure out what had
happened. Being
mad was one thing, but to nearly kill...
He glanced at the graph showing neurochemical levels. Several of the
chemicals showed either far too much or far too little, particularly
when the
artificial adrenaline gland had kicked in. This was all too similar to
the
blind rage his son had exhibited when he first awoke as a girl.
Well, that was easily fixed. Kyusaku hit a few more keys. Now when
his
son woke up, he'd be able to match a Zen master for calm.
That wouldn't last though.
Kyusaku sat back and lit up a cigarette. Where was the problem?
He would like to be able to do a detailed scan of both his son's brain
and
the life support equipment inside, but without being able to 'pop the
hood' he
had to rely on sensors. He'd figure it out.
Kyusaku leaned back in his chair and stretched, sending a loud crackle
up
and down his spine. He glanced at the clock and did a doubletake.
(Five hours?
I've been working on him for five hours? He's got homework he has to
do!)
He quickly busied himself with the final checks and adjustments. A
slight
increase in some of the chemicals would keep his son a bit more
easygoing for a
while, at least until he could fix the problem permanently.
The cigarette had burned nearly its entire length before Kyusaku was
finished with his adjustments. He stubbed it out in an overfull ashtray
before
he disconnected the cables and tubes. He didn't want ashes to foul
contact
points, after all.
Ryunosuke once again looked just like a normal teenaged girl. A push
of
one final key completed the checkup, returning control to the brain.
Ryunosuke
continued to lay there.
That was okay, all was proceeding according to plan. The sedative
trickle
had shut itself off and it would be a few moments before Ryunosuke was
awake.
Kyusaku stepped back and watched benevolently. (Yes, this is my most
successful project yet! Damn I'm good. I don't even have to worry
about Akiko
now.) A soft moan startled him. (Maybe I should adjust the voicebox a
bit.
Don't want boys getting the wrong idea about my son,) he thought, trying
to
maintain the scientific detachment he used on most things in his life.
One of Ryunosuke's eyes opened slowly, blinked, and closed again. The
other one made it about halfway before giving up the fight. She shifted
slightly.
Kyusaku shook his head. (I know he's had a long day, but homework is
homework.) "Ryunosuke!"
Ryunosuke simply scratched herself and rolled over.
"Ryunosuke! Wake up!"
"Nng."
(Maybe the sensei can do what the parent cannot?) Kyusaku rummaged
around
until he found a metal meter stick and slammed it on his desk, sending
delicate
electronics and cigarette ashes flying. "Ryunosuke! If you don't wake
up
right now you've got detention!"
That got a reaction. Not much, as reactions to that statement
usually
go, but it was better than nothing. Ryunosuke calmly rolled over, sat
up
straight and looked attentive. "Yes, Sensei. I'm paying attention
now."
He watched her for a second, waiting for a response. When it became
clear
that she wasn�t going to start talking, he figured it out. His son had
learned
to program the body to act on it�s own.
(I'd suspected, but really. Who'd have thought he'd try that?) He
quickly put a pen and piece of paper in Ryunosuke's hands. Then he
stepped back
and rattled off a short math problem. Sure enough, Ryunosuke copied it
down
perfectly. (I'm so proud! He's figured out the programming already!)
He allowed himself a moment to indulge in parental pride. Then he
figured
he'd better wake her up. "Alright, class dismissed," he said, just on a
hunch.
Ryunosuke jerked a few times and then stood up, yawning. She stopped
self-consciously when she realized where she was at. It dawned on her
what had
just happened. "Um, I can explain?"
Kyusaku looked at her as sternly as he was able. "And how long have
you
been pulling this little trick in class? I never told you about the
programmable routines."
Ryunosuke scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. "Well, I
saw
it in the manual, and I got to playing with it in my head, and, well, it
was
pretty easy to figure out."
Kyusaku smiled. "Very good, Son. You had me fooled there for a
while."
"Ah, thanks... It wasn't much, really..."
"Now go do your homework. Classes tomorrow you know."
"Aww."
Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, it never occurred to Kyusaku to
ask
Ryunosuke about the fight and what nearly happened at the end. After
all, how
many people ask their computer why it just crashed and deleted all of
their
files? Most just curse it, fix it, and forget it.
***************
Kyoko hummed to herself worriedly as she bustled about the kitchen in
the
apartment she shared with Arisa. She made a cup of hot cocoa, then as
an
afterthought, added a splash of sake to the mix.
Arisa lay sprawled out on the couch nearby, in what could be considered
the living room. She lay face up, one arm covering her face to block
the light.
A dark bruise circled her neck.
Kyoko finished the drink and carried it to her friend. She nudged
Arisa�s
arm. �Arisa.�
�Hmm?� Arisa replied after a moment spent deciding on whether or not to
reply.
�Here. Drink this.�
Arisa spent another moment deciding on an appropriate response. She
eventually decided on a noncommittal grunt.
That was okay, she was prepared. She sat the ice cube she brought down
into the hollow of Arisa�s neck.
�Gah!� Arisa quickly grabbed the ice and threw it at her partner. She
sat up reluctantly. �What was that for?� she asked petulantly.
�You wouldn�t move. Now here,� Kyoko handed the cocoa to her, �it�s
cocoa.
It�ll make you feel better.�
Arisa accepted it and sat up, groaning slightly. She had really wanted
to
just relax and ponder.
Kyoko sat down nearby and watched her intently as she took a cautious
sip.
Arisa sniffed cautiously at the cup, then took a sip. She let the
taste
roll around in her mouth a moment, then sat back with her eyes closed to
wait
for it to cool.
�Well?� Kyoko asked.
Arisa opened one eye carefully and looked at her. She closed it again.
�Well what?�
Kyoko crossed her arms and leaned forward. �Well, don�t you want to
talk about it? Review the battle, make plans...?�
�No.�
�That�s it? No? You must be shook up more than I thought.�
Arisa took another sip, then, finding the temperature more suitable, a
longer drink. She declined to answer.
Kyoko was worried. This wasn�t like her partner at all.
�You were nearly killed. What do you have to say to that?� she asked.
Arisa took another drink and shrugged. �Happens.�
Kyoko went silent, not knowing what else to say.
Arisa drained her cup and turned over on the couch. Kyoko leaned back
and
massaged her temples, staring off into space.
Neither of them had much to do, having been dismissed earlier than
usual
by Akiko. Kyoko figured that she probably wanted some time to reflect
on the
day
as well.
Eventually, the silence started to get to Arisa. She hadn�t been
sleeping, just thinking with her eyes closed. It finally got to be too
much.
�Dammit, I�ve had close calls before!� she blurted into the cushion.
Although unintelligible, this was enough to start Kyoko out of her
reverie. �What?�
Arisa turned her head to the side and lay it back down, letting her
hair
fall down to cover her face. �You remember some of the stuff we�ve
done, right?
Remember that experimental jet pack they were trying to fit on the
infantry
armor?�
Kyoko snickered, remembering all too clearly the sight of her partner
screaming and pirouetting, apparently using a pretzel for a flight
plan. �Heh,
yeah. You couldn�t walk straight for a week!�
Arisa grinned a bit herself. She�d never been able to take a
rollercoaster seriously since. �And remember when that laser cannon
bounced
free? And aimed our direction while still firing?�
�You never did pay me back for those earrings,� Kyoko grinned.
�My favorite was when we were supposed to take care of that poodle for
Mrs. Yamamoto while she visited Lady Akiko.�
Kyoko�s face sobered immediately and she fingered a scar on her upper
arm.
�Yeah, I remember that one.�
�Only it turned out to be a bulldog! And it started chasing me around
and
around until it finally caught me while you hid in a closet!� Arisa was
giggling madly now, tears rolling down her face.
Kyoko sputtered indignantly. �Hey! That was ME!�
Arisa sobered briefly, �Oh yeah. That was you.� Then she started
laughing again. �We got in so much trouble over that��
�Did you really think she was going to believe that it ran away?� Kyoko
snorted.
�Well, I was just trying to avoid hurting her feelings.�
�So why is this latest bothering you?�
Arisa turned her face back down into the cushion.
�That had to be scary. That android girl really wanted to kill you.�
Arisa nodded and rubbed her neck, turning her face back to the side.
�Yeah. It was. I couldn�t breathe.� She sighed, as if reassuring
herself that
she wasn�t choking anymore.
Kyoko stood up and leaned over to look at the bruises. �Are the
painkillers still working, or do you want another?�
Arisa rubbed her neck and mumbled assent. Kyoko left to get some,
carrying
the previously emptied cup back to the kitchen.
A few minutes later she returned with a glass of water and a couple of
pills. Arisa gratefully ate the pills, waving away the water as she
didn�t
feel like shifting her position anymore than she had to.
Kyoko kneeled beside her and began a slow, gentle massage. Arisa
sighed
in relaxation, wincing when her bruises were touched, however lightly.
�You�re tense. Relax, go to sleep,� she said as she smoothed out the
muscles.
Arisa let herself be lulled to sleep.
****************
John Q. Smith was busy typing away on his desk computer when an
important notice window popped up on his screen. He always hated these,
they
always meant that something else had blown up in a residential area
again or
another test pilot had been cooked by untested machinery. He never got
the easy
jobs, nothing so mundane as advertising.
As head of public relations, he had to deal with the big stuff.
He paused and stretched powerful arms before turning his attention to
the
contents of the message. He was rather proud of being in such good
shape at his
age.
He read the message, stopped, read it again just to make sure. Now
HERE
was something interesting. Apparently the Vice President, the spoiled
daughter
of Mr. Mishima himself, had blown something else up.
She was good enough at her job, he supposed, but was far too reliant on
her father to protect her from the consequences of her actions.
John simply couldn�t abide by people like that. He may have gotten the
chance at a job in the company, despite being an American, by being an
old
friend of Mr. Mishima, but he moved up through the ranks on his own
ability
alone. He was still moving in fact.
Covering up this latest little escapade of the vice president wouldn�t
be
too hard, but that wasn�t what caught his attention.
�Wow. That husband of hers sure can build.� He read over the list of
damages. �Damn. Two power suits, and Poison One! All destroyed by one
little
robot!� He shook his head.
(That was some serious firepower.) The power suits were tough, but not
really that surprising. Most army units had enough firepower to take
out a
powered armor suit. And many of the tougher units put out by Mishima
Heavy
Industries could take on several of them at a time. But with Poison One
supporting the load of light mecha, that android should have been toast!
He shook his head again and put his hand on his chin. Poison One was
one
of the most powerful things to yet be produced by MHI. It alone was a
match for
many of the army units countries were so proud to own and with the load
of
powered armor it was the best selling assault team available. Fast,
powerful,
and well armed. Yet the whole team was destroyed by Kyusaku�s prototype
android.
He nearly drooled when he thought of the potential of an army of such
machines.
****************
Yoshimi stared at the phone. It wasn�t a particularly special phone,
cordless, a light tan almost guaranteed to make it inconspicuous, held
loosely
in her hand.
No, she wasn�t really staring at it, that just happened to be what she
was
looking at as she attempted to make sense of her previous conversation
with
Atsuko.
�An android?� she repeated for the tenth time, trying to work her mind
around the concept.
My best friend the android. It sounded like one of those crappy little
kid's anime that came on TV sometimes. It didn�t make any sense.
Only it did, kinda. What else would be able to rip steel like paper,
or
move that fast? She certainly looked real enough, even felt like a
normal
person. She even talked like one.
Oh yes, Atsuko explained that on. She was born a real girl, but had
gotten hurt and was saved by being put in the android body. She was a
cyborg.
That wasn�t so bad, she could handle that, she�d had a cousin with a
plastic leg once. There wasn�t much difference, really, when you think
about
it� Yeah, not much difference at all.
Except her cousin had never ripped through steel and nearly killed
someone.
Ryunosuke hadn�t explained that, but frankly, she hadn�t been too keen
on
asking in the first place.
Most of their classes were canceled the next day, maybe she�d ask her
then.
Yeah, she�d ask her later.
Thanks for reading!
--
Ragun P. Moody
AKA Kichigai
ICQ# 37606443
Visit my site!
http://lavender.fortunecity.com/clockwork/416/index.html