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Ripples
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a serial experiments lain/perfect blue crossover fanfiction
by Leaf-Chan (leaf_chan@excite.com) 2-9-2000 to 2-9-2000
Author's Note: I could not resist. Watch for spoilers; do not read further if
you have not watched either anime in question.
1:0 - lights
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There were lights. Some glowed a sickly green overhead from the muted glare of
the streetlights. Others were present in the flood of automative activity that
marked the rain-speckled streets of an active Japanese town. Still more made
their luminous presence seen in the twists and turns of small alleys strewn
with ripped newspaper that held fragments of words.
Some alleys eluded the lights. They were hushed and tucked in the recesses of
the wide, wet streets, alive only for brief moments at a time as a pedestrian,
riding a bicycle and clad in a slick raincoat, would pass by on his way home. A
brief swish of water and nothing more was the only indication.
Overhead, were the wires.
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Her fingers found the keys, slowly, one at a time. She had never particularly
been good at typing. In the back of her mind, she was convinced that this was
Rumi's idea of a joke--a twisted sort of joke that only she would pull. The
computer screen in front of her remained stoic and indifferent. Slowly, she
found the key with the colon punctuation mark and pressed it.
On the wall was a poster. It had three young girls on it, each with
progressively-longer hair from left to right. They were all wearing smiles and
ribbons; it had been a requirement from the company that had done the picture.
The girl in the middle stood out. She had a red ribbon that was tied in a small
but adequate bow atop her head.
The Enter key was bigger than most, and she found it with relative ease. She
pressed it.
White, sheeting light flickered and disappeared, to be replaced by a plaid
background consisting of light pastel blues and pinks. Black letters began
appearing from the top down.
"Welcome to Mima-den's Room!"
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Click.
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"And now, breaking news: yesterday, a body was found in the district outside
the Kanzuki district. Police reports have identified the victim as one Chisa
Yomoda, a second-grade student at the--"
"Are you ready, Mima?" Her face was pudgy and round; a second chin jutted out
frankly behind the first, wobbling slightly as she spoke.
Mima, who was drinking coffee, set the cup down and nodded. "I guess so," she
said. "I mean, how bad can it be, right?" She laughed slightly, nervous.
"Right." The pudgy woman smiled. "I'm sure you'll do great, Mima. You're a
beautiful young woman."
"You're so silly, Rumi," Mima said. She began to giggle.
"I just want the best for you," Rumi said solemnly. "And if we don't go now,
we're going to be late."
"Right." Mima stood. She adjusted her hair so that it curled just the right
amount. Her fans liked that.
Rumi stood, slipping on an old, worn pair of shoes. "I'll be in the car. You go
on and finish the cake up."
Mima nodded.
Her friend was nearly out the door before she poked her head back in the room.
"Say, Mima. Did you check your email today?"
"E... mail?" Mima murmured.
Rumi nodded once, then stopped as if she remembered something important. "I'll
tell you about it in the car," she said, walking out.
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"E... mail?"
"You get messages from other people," Alice explained. "It's very cool. You
should try it."
The girl nodded slowly, once. It was blurring to her. Email? It must have been
one of the things that sensei had gone over in passing during class one day.
She probably forgot about it. She remembered a lot of things, but sometimes it
was dark to her.
"Lain, are you all right?"
She looked up. Alice was standing in front of her, looking on with a worried
expression on her face. Behind her were the two other girls. What were their
names again?
"Don't worry if Reika and Julie act a little mean at times," Alice continued.
"They're just teasing you."
Lain said nothing.
"I'll show you how to use a Navi, if your dad can't," Alice offered. "Then you
can get email from people."
"All... right," Lain said slowly.
Alice seemed satisfied with that. She turned and walked back to her desk.
Lain looked back at her notebook. There were lines there, and a scrawl of black
where she had taken the pencil and had just drawn what she was feeling. Black
on blue. Nothing different from before.
Maybe she would ask Daddy tonight.
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The crowd's noise was deafening. Bright lights shone in her eyes, and Mima
could feel sweat beginning to run down her forehead, spoiling her makeup. She
quickly wiped it off with a tissue, only to elicit a yelling fit from one of
her makeup artists. The man took out a powder puff and rapidly began applying
the whitening material to her face; not enough to make her look like a ghost,
but just enough so that there was that added veneer atop her face.
"Going on in three!" someone bellowed.
"Ready, Mima?" someone else asked. She appeared from the right. Mima smiled;
she liked working with CHAM, and CHAM couldn't be what it was without--
"Yeah, this is gonna be our last performance!" the other girl chimed in. Mima
turned. The girl was smiling brightly. "You better do good, Mima."
"I will," Mima promised.
"Two!" the same faceless person bellowed.
CHAM turned and made final preparations.
"ONE!"
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We are all one in the Wired.
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Lain's room was, for the most part, shrouded in a dusky shade no matter what
time of day it was. She was never home in the afternoon, when it was bright;
the clock's hands were only visible when it was six o'clock. A row of stuffed
teddy bears lay on the window sill, behind the venetian blinds. Next to the
wall and underneath the window was a low, wide bed.
Why don't you come to this world?
She was waiting for Daddy. He came home fairly late most of the time, after
dinner. Her mother and sister were already downstairs, eating. She didn't feel
hungry this evening. Alice had told her about email, and she was intrigued,
even if she didn't particularly appear to be. The fur lining of her pajamas
were itching. She didn't move.
Excuse me... who are you?
Her sister was calling her. Mika. Lain looked up in mild surprise, then
walked to the door and opened it.
"Mom's askin' if you're goin' to come to dinner," she said in a way that
showed she could care less.
"I... I'm not hungry."
"Alright." Mika shrugged, then sauntered off down the hall.
She saw something flickering. Mommy was watching TV. Padding over to the edge
of the railing, Lain peered over to see what it was.
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"ONE!"
Lights shone. The curtains rose, revealing three girls dressed in white
ballerina skirts fringed with pink behind. They ran out, bathed in the screams
of the crowd, as the strains of a peppy song cued up over the loudspeakers that
were set up all over the small arena.
Mima took a deep breath, tightened her grip on the microphone, and began to
move.
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"Are you going to come down, dear?"
Lain moved her eyes from the television set where three girls were dancing
and singing to the music that was being streamed through the loudspeakers that
were set up around their living room. She started.
"Um... I'm fine," she said. She turned and went back into her room, closing the
door quietly behind her.
She continued to wait.
You feel only what others want you to... ha ha ha.
It was just time. She had too much of it.
Eventually, the sound of tires scraping against the rolling gravel of her
house's driveway reached her ears. She stood up again, to walk downstairs this
time.
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Comments, criticisms, and constructive advice can be emailed to leaf_chan@excite.com.
Flames will be stored in my collection and subsequently mocked, unless they bear some
semblance of intelligence.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Perfect Blue nor Serial Experiments Lain. I am writing this
fanfiction without express consent from their creator(s). I am not making profit from
this story (if I was, I'd have it really easy).