Hey all, Here is Part 2 of Alternate Life, if you read
the Prologue then the same stuff applies. Original
Fiction, Original Characters (They really are), and so
forth.
Enjoy
----------------
Alternate Life Part Two
"So, you have changed the agreement on us." says
Ritsuko as she and Kaji debate with the person that
agreed to turn over US ARC to REISON. "That's right,
I want to be sure you are the right ones for this
thing. It does hold our history." says the contact.
"You said that the deal was finalized over the phone."
"Well, I found out that you may use it for your
personal alterations of the city instead, so I want to
be sure you give this thing a good home first." "I
don't see any way to prove that we will not use it for
another purpose." "Then, the deal is off." Kaji,
having been silent after the wipe from that morning,
steps in, "But how do you know we won't use it for
what you want us to?" "I want to be certain that it
doesn't fall into the wrong hands." "Then you will
just have to trust us." The contact thinks about this
for a minute before he gives his reply, "Okay...I
don't see any reason not to trust you, but I am going
to raise the price up another hundred dollars."
Ritsuko pulls out the key for the box her and Kaji
brought along and hands it to the man, "Agreed then.
Nice doing business with you." She signals for Kaji
to grab the other side of the device as she begins to
lift it into the van. "Hey!" says the man, "How do I
know this isn't fake money?" "You don't." replies Kaji
as he gets into the van.
That evening, after Ritsuko and Kaji have dropped off
US ARC and headed home, Jon, Yohko, and OPERATIONS 1
work on getting the system installed and running for
Blue Nexus. At this moment, Ami and Jon are in the
core of Nexus Core making the right connections for
the cables. "Ami, can you hand me the 6 mm. flat?"
"Sure." Ami grabs the 6-mm. Flathead screwdriver and
passes it to Jon. "Ami, what do you think about
Junta?" "Huh?" "Junta. I asked what you think about
him?" She remains silent as she finishes installing
an interface card for the parallel port, then replies
to the question presented, "He is a nice person,
someone that I believe I can count on if I need to."
"But I can tell you see more in him then that." "How
so?" He slides out from under the data block and
looks at Ami, "Ami, you know that Nuku Nuku and I are
in love, right?" "Well, yes." "So I should be able to
tell if someone is in love with someone. I even saw
how your eyes lit up a week ago when he asked you out
to dinner, even though you didn't go anywhere..."
"There were no restaurants open so we couldn't go
anywhere." "Don^�t you think it was odd that the tables
were setup in a certain way that night?" "Yes, now
that I think about it, they were..." "Well, I made
sure that your dinner was perfect, because you both
make a good pair." He slides back under and finishes
the installations for the cabling, "But you don't need
to thank me for that, just seeing people in love helps
me remember why I am doing all this killing. I want
to remove the problems from society so that people may
be free to move about again at night without fear."
"Jon, may I ask you something?" "Sure, as long as it's
not about sex." "Why not sex?" "Well, I am not the
best person to ask about sex, Nuku is the right one to
ask." "Well...I just wanted to know why all the
killing? Some of the people we kill are just trying
to live..." Jon finishes the connections and slides
out, then sits up before he answers, "Ami...Rei has
asked me that question a few times as well. But to be
perfectly honest, I am not sure...I guess I just want
to make society safe again, even if I am part of the
problem in some way." "Jon, you are not part of the
problem..." "But I am...don't tell Rei this, but I do
know why she was abandoned with my family as a child,
I found out the same night you and Junta had dinner
together. They were trying to do the same thing we
are right now, but they were found out and ended up
running. They were forced to leave Rei behind because
they didn't know what to do next. I am scared for her
now, she is about to do the same thing her parents
did. I hope we don't end up doing the same thing they
did..." "Jon, we all trust you to do the right thing,
and will back you up till we are all dead if needed."
"Thank you Ami, that helps a little."
One level up, in the room assigned for US ARC, Mana
and Junta are currently making the connections at the
other end of the cables. "Junta, I have noticed that
you have taking a liking to Ami." says Mana. "Well, I
consider her a really nice person, and with all that
is going on in the world, I figure I might as well try
to comfort her when needed." replies Junta. "Ahh, do
you love her?" "3/16 wrench please, thanks. Well, I
think so, I see her as a person that shies away for
others, why?" "Well, you both seem like a nice
couple." "Huh? I didn't mean it like..." "Yes you
did, you can't hide that look in your eyes when you
talk about her." "But..." "Besides, you don't need to
deny it around me, I won't tell anyone else."
"I...err...thank you Mana..." "Sure." Shinji, who was
working in the floor panels, pops his head up "Mana,
did you get the Ethernet card in yet?" "Yup, you can
hand me the line now, Shinji." He reaches down and
grabs a brown cable then hands it to Mana, "Don't
forget that this one is the output line, here is the
input line when you are ready for it." He grabs a
black cable next, then slides back in for the last of
the connections to the power line.
Down the hall, Karin and Yohko are working on the last
few links to the new system. "Karin, hand me the
cutters please?" asks Yohko. "Large or small?"
replies Karin. "Small, I only need to clip this one
wire." "Here you go." "So what do you think is on that
thing?" "Good question, from what I have heard, it
hold all of the public data systems from before the
war." "But it's so small..." "Well, back then, stuff
was encoded and this system may be as well." "So we
need a key for it?" "Nope, just our system, all the
data was made to be publicly accessed if needed." A
moment later, Shinji enters into the room, "I am ready
here for startup, shall we test out the power leads?"
"Stand by for activation." Karin finishes clamping
down the last connection and turns on the power.
Instead of the quiet hum she was expecting, she is
started by the sound of the Master Alarm for the
complex sounding instead.
Jon and Ami have just finished the last of the
connections when they see a bright blue flash come
from the parallel interface port card and 58th address
bus card. "Shit!" shouts Jon as the Master Alarm
starts sounding, "Ami, pull the fifth junction line
out and turn off the power to this grid!" The cards
start to smoke as Jon rushes up the ladder to grab the
fire extinguisher. "Understood!" replies Ami as she
severs the data lines and power to the affected
system, "Power feed three is now off, data lines have
been disconnected as well!" "Good, hurry to US ARC and
make sure it is under control up there!" Jon comes
back down the ladder and puts out the flames the have
popped up in the room while Ami hurries up and to the
new computer system. When Ami arrives outside of the
room, she sees a lot of smoke coming from the room and
Junta attending to Mana who appears to have been
burnt. "Junta, what happened?" she asks. "Don't
worry about her yet, the system is on fire! Hurry!"
yells Junta. "Hai." she replies as she rushes into
the room with a fire extinguisher in hand. After
about a minute, she comes back out, coughing from all
the smoke as she falls to the floor. "AMI!" says
Junta as he rushes to her and props her against the
wall, then grabs his phone and enters the number for
Yui's phone, "Yui, grab Kei and get here quick, fire
and medical emergencies active!" "What levels?" "I
only know of one level, but there may be another, hold
on." He sees Jon running up and gives the phone to
him, "Jon, I have Yui on the line." Jon takes the
phone and reports all problems to Yui, "Yui, situation
will be codes fire-3 medical-7 and damage unknown,
hurry here." "Understood Jon, I will put out an alert
to all members as well to be ready for incoming data."
"I understand, just hurry!" He hangs up the phone and
hands it back to Junta just as Shinji, Karin, and
Yohko come running up. "What happened?" asks Yohko as
she sees the heavy smoke still in the air. "I don't
know." replies Jon, I was dealing with the small fire
in Nexus Core. Junta, can you explain?" "Yes." he
replies, "We heard a slight buzz when power was
applied, then a huge explosion followed and Mana got
burned, then the system started on fire. Ami went in
with an extinguisher and collapsed when she came out."
"Yohko, check US ARC, make sure the fire is out
completely." says Jon. "Right." she replies as she
goes into the room. "Shinji, attend to Mana until Kei
gets here. Karin, you will have to open the side door
for Yui and Kei when they get here, the keypads have
been disabled since the line has been disconnected."
says Jon as he helps Junta attend to Ami.
"Understood." replies Karin as she heads for the
stairs. "Jon, help me move her away from the door
here." says Junta as he starts to move Ami. "No, it's
best to let her stay here. The hallway is full of
smoke and moving her would be bad for us. How about
you see if the ventilation system is working right, I
don't think it has activated yet." "We disabled it so
we could run the electrical lines through the same
conduit." "So the relays have been disabled for it?"
"Yes, the power was turned on, but the relays were not
restored yet." "Then you will need to get to terminal
8 right now so when Yui gets to control, the system
can be restarted right away." "Understood, on my way."
Junta hurries to the stairwell and heads down one
level while Jon continues to watch over Ami.
Five minutes later, Karin hears the sound of tires
screeching outside and opens the door to see Kei and
Yui rush up, "Kei, you are needed right away, we have
at least two down. Yui, head to the control room and
call Jon!" "Understood, Karin." replies Yui as she
rushes ahead to control. "Karin, how bad?" asks Kei
as she and Karin start to descend in the direction of
the smoke smell. "Mana has been burned, and Ami has
passed out from the smoke." replies Karin. "Anyone
else?" "I am not sure, it's possible..." They
continue the descent until they reach Level 4 and
enter the smoke filled hallway. When they reach the
area outside of the room, they find that Yohko has
been dragged out of the room and propped against the
wall next to Ami. "Jon, what's wrong with the fans?"
asks Kei, they are not online, Yui, is about the
restore the system. I have asked Junta to put three
gurneys onto the elevator as soon as the fans start
up." Jon hears his phone ring and pulls it out, "Yui,
we are ready, go!" "Got it, hold on to something, the
suction will be strong." "Everyone grab onto someone
here, NOW!" Jon, Kei, and Shinji get a good hold onto
each one of the limp bodies that have piled up in the
hallway, "Do it!" "Here we go, top level activated,
Level 7 activated..." they suddenly feel the air
start to move before the last system is turned on,
"Level 4 emergency and normal systems...ACTIVE!" They
finally feel a huge rush of air as all of the fans
turn on at once for Level 4, clearing most of the
smoke within minutes. "Yui, we need some fresh air
down here, transfer the vents to intake." "Done."
"Thanks, now cancel the Master Alarm so Junta can send
up the stuff." "I can't cancel the alarm, something is
still locked on for that level. Sever the monitor
line for US ARC, I am reading a false signal from it."
"Yui, cut primary power to this level, the system has
shorted out, then turn on the low lights and keep the
fans on." "Jon, are you sure? Turning off the power
will mean severing the power to Nexarray's 12-13." "We
don't have a choice, the batteries will last for an
hour at most, by then we should have the power back on
to them." "Okay. Standby for darkness." Moments
later, everything goes dead, then the bluish lights
near the floor turn on with the fans. "Alarm still
active, but silent." "That should do for now, just as
long as the locks are released for the elevator."
One level down, Junta sees the red light on the
elevator turn off, indicating that it is usable again,
he punches the button for Level 4, then the Door Close
key. Once the doors have locked, he feels the car
start to ascend. When the doors start to open, he
grabs the first gurney and rushes out and down the
hall to Kei. "Junta, you and Karin load Mana on
first, she takes priority and leave the other two
gurneys in the hall, take her down to the medical bay
and keep an eye on her until I get there, also, set
the base code the Blue-2, that should get everyone
else here." "Understood, Kei." replies Junta as he and
Karin finish loading Mana onto the gurney and rush her
back to the elevator where they ditch the other two
gurneys and head down.
Shinji, get Yohko onto a gurney and bring her down
next, hook her up to an Oxygen line and attend to Mana
next, I will be down soon." "Right." Shinji and Jon
load Yohko onto a gurney and Shinji brings her to the
elevator as the doors open. "Kei, why did you have
Yohko go first?" "Ami is not breathing, that^�s why."
"WHAT?!" "Jon, she stopped breathing a moment ago,
help me load her on fast, I am not about to lose her!"
They both load her onto the remaining gurney and Kei
starts the CPR while Jon pushes them to the elevator.
"Kei, what about Mana?" "I think she will be fine, but
we have to get her checked ASAP for possible bleeding
internally, I saw what looked like a bruise near her
shoulder." "I understand, I will help you with Ami
here while Shinji attends to Mana, until the rest of
the medical crew get here, I think you I and Shinji
will need to take a break from the smoke." "Wise
precaution, but until then, we are all they have. PUSH
Jon!" Jon sees that they are on Level three and the
doors have opened again, "Crap, how is Ami?!"
"Breathing again, but she may be out for a few hours
at least." "Then, let see what we can do for her right
now. Hold on, turning." He opens the door and hurries
inside the bay as he hears Shinji notify him and Kei
that the rest are near the base.
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
30 minutes later, the rest of the medical crew and
Ritsuko have arrived and are currently examining the
three patients, while Jon, Shinji, and Kei have headed
up to the dining area so they can be out of the way
during their recovery. Soon, Ritsuko enters the room
and takes a seat at the table. "I have some good news
for everyone. Yohko has woken and is currently in
recovery room one, she is just a bit dizzy still from
the smoke. Mana has first degree burns but that's it,
the bruise she has is just a bruise, and is sleeping
in recovery room two. As for Ami, she has stabilized
and will be fine, but may not wake up for a few hours,
she inhaled a lot of smoke and will be feeling the
effects for a while after she wakes. But the reason I
am here is to make sure you are all doing good since
you were in the same smoky hall." says Ritsuko. "We
are doing good, the dizzy feeling has passed and we
have drank some water as well." replies Jon. "Good
idea. Rei is ready to talk to you three and Junta
about what went wrong. As soon as you feel up to it,
head to the control room." "Thanks Ritsuko. Shall he
head up Kei, Shinji?" "Might as well, the sooner we
compare notes, the sooner we will know what caused
this." replies Shinji.
Five minutes later, the trio has arrived in the
control room where Junta, Yui, and Rei finish up going
over the setup process for US ARC. "Father, how do
you feel?" asks Rei. "Better then before. I think
the hall will need some cleaning though..." replies
Jon. "Well, have a seat, Yui and I have done an
inspection of the whole system and have discovered
what is offline." The group walks up to the table and
sits in some empty chairs brought in from the meeting
room below. "According to the sensors, we have lost
the keypads for the perimeter and Level 7, protocol
103 has been put in place for Level 7 until they are
restored. Power cannot be restored to Level 4 due to
a communications problem with the bus controlling the
grids, so when we head down, manual activation will be
done at that time. As far as US ARC is concerned, we
will have to cut the data lines to it for now and run
new ones later. Power to the 58th bus is still off as
well. Jon, I want you and Yui to inspect the damage
there after Level 4 has been looked at. Now, instead
of going over the events first, I suggest we take a
look at the damage at the same time, lets head down
now." finishes Rei as she stands up from her spot and
walks to the door.
Soon, everyone has arrived on the fourth level and
proceeds with caution to the room that holds US ARC.
After the wires have been cut to the system there and
everyone has exited the room, Yui enters the room next
door and starts the manual activation of the power
grid, "Lights in 3...2...1..." Instantly, the low
lights in the hall turn off as the red ones come on,
symbolizing that the alarm is still active. "Yui, can
we restore the normal lights as well?" asks Rei. "I
can restore some, but with the alarm still active
here, it will take too long to restore all." replies
Yui. "Well at least restore some lights in the hall,
feeder room, and the affected room." "That I can do."
Yui punches in a few commands, causing some hall
lights to turn on. "Let get a look at the damage to
the hall first." says Rei. She turns and looks at the
soot colored ceiling, "Well it looks like the ceiling
will have to go, and the wall will need some paint.
Aah!" she grabs her chest as she grunts in pain from
the bullet that hit her two days prior. "Rei, are you
feeling okay?" asks Jon. "I am fine, just a little
reflex action..." she replies, shall we take a look at
the room?" "I don't see why not." They all go back to
the room holding the now disabled US ARC system and
see the problem with the unit right away, "DISABLE THE
FIRE SYSTEM!" yells Rei to Yui. After a few moments
Yui responds, "DISABLED!" "Yui, go to the feeder room
and cut the power to US ARC right away!" Seconds
later she replies, "Done!" "Come back here and take a
look." Yui comes back to the room and sees the power
supply is on fire again, "So, it was affected by the
EMP..." Yui grabs the extinguisher from the corner
and uses it for the last time on US ARC, "I guess the
whole thing was shorted out, that would explain what
happened." "Can it be fixed?" "Easily fixable, I just
need to do a few tests on it, this may be the reason
for the problem in Nexus Core." Jon adds his bit to
the conversation as well, "Ami and I saw a flash right
before the parallel card and bus card blew out and the
alarm started blaring." "I think I know why the alarm
cannot be cancelled, there may have been some damage
to the bus interface card for the sensor controls."
"Then I am guessing that you will want to see the
small fire damage in the core next?" "Lead the way,
Jon." replies Yui.
When Jon and Yui have reached the affected junction,
he shows her the damaged cards that he knows about, "I
put the fire out as soon as I could, but there may
have been more damage then I thought." "Jon, I think
you did a good job. By the looks if it, this could
have been worse, but there is some wire damage for the
alarm controls, it looks like it melted the wires for
the sensors so they are now shorted." "How many hours
will be required for the repair?" " A good days worth,
the affected wires were the ones going to the alarm
control card for this bus. I have to run a whole new
cable to the relay cards, plus replace the damaged
cards as well before I can restore everything." "You
take as long as needed, I will put Rei in charge of
the repairs to the structure." "Sounds good." They
both head up the ladder to the exit to reports the
last of the findings.
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
The next day, in one of the recovery rooms, Junta
sits. He isn't there to do a job, instead, he is
there to take care of a close friend. "Ami, please
wake up soon, I didn't mean to send you into that
room..." Just then, he hears the door to the room
open and sees Jon enter, "Junta, how is she doing?"
asks Jon. "I am not sure..." replies Junta. "I have
an idea, how about you, I, and Rei get something to
eat." "What about Ami?" "I will have Karin look after
Ami till we get back." "But...what if something goes
wrong?" "Nuku Nuku will be here as well, she is
working in her office right now." "Well, I guess I
could get some food in the dining area..."
"Umm...actually, we are going to the place with the
soggy food, I am meeting someone there." "Who?" "Asst.
Tech. She has the results of the tests with her."
"You need me to verify them?" "No, I just wanted to
get you out of here after what happened yesterday."
"I...I guess I could use a change of scenery for a
short while..." "Good. Karin will be down soon, so we
can go now." They both head out of the room to Jon's
car where Rei is already waiting. Once everyone is
inside, they head in the direction of the fast food
place everyone visited three nights ago.
At the restaurant, Asst. Tech waits for her brother to
arrive while at the same time is being harassed by the
owner, "Hey, you ordered a burger and fries, I expect
you to pay for them in full!" "Why should I, the fries
were cold!" "Hey, we can't guarantee perfection!" "Is
there a problem here?" asks Jon as he enters the
building. "Nothing to be concerned about, Sir!"
replies the owner. "Umm...you do know that you are
bothering my sister, right?" "I knew she sounded
familiar, you are both jackasses." "Rei, you do have
the grenade, right?" "I do, Jon." "Hand it to Junta
and get ready to start shooting if needed." "I
understand." Rei hands over the grenade she brought
along just in case to Junta and withdraws her gun,
"Where should I start?" "Lets get everyone out first.
If they give you trouble, shoot them in the leg."
"EVERYONE OUT, NOW!" yells Rei to the employees in the
kitchen area, "Feel fref to grab any money you need
to, but you have five minutes before this place is
toast!" Jon withdraws his gun and aims it at the
owner's head, "Now then, any last words for this
place?" he asks. "Fuck you!" the owner replies.
"Bad idea to say that." replies Jon moments before he
shoots him in the head, "Sis, lets get out before this
place blows, we can find a better place." "Okay
bother, I hated this place anyways." After the five
minutes have passed Junta hands the grenade back to
Rei and follows Jon out. Rei damages the gas line,
then runs out of the place as she pulls the pin and
throws the grenade into the kitchen. Once she has
gone about 200 feet, she feels the shock wave from the
explosion slam into her, then proceeds to the car
where the rest of the group has gathered. "I say we
head to the house this time, I can make a few
sandwiches for the four of us." says Rei.
A short while later, everyone can be seen sitting at a
table in the kitchen of Jon and Rei's house talking.
"So sis, how did the tests go?" asks Jon. "We have
recovered the needed data, but the sampling will take
longer, Dad is working on the blood samples right
now...but we do have some bad news already..." Asst.
Tech replies. "Bad...news? Does it concern all of
us?" asks Junta. "No, just one person...Nuku Nuku."
she replies. "Sis, what did you find?" "Jon,
she...she has cancer..." Rei, who was silent the
whole time, turns pale the moment the words hit her,
"What?" "Rei, I am sorry, we have gone over the
results three times, and every time we come up with
the same result." "Sis, what kind of cancer?.." asks
Jon. "Brain cancer..." Asst. Tech replies. "Maybe I
should head back to the base now, Jon. I will place a
call to Misato to come and pick me up, maybe she can
even bring your sister home as well." says Junta as he
reaches for the phone, "You and Rei need some time
alone right now..." "Junta, don't let Nuku know,
please..." "I understand, Jon." He places a call to
Misato, then asks for Asst. Tech to join him outside
of the house after he says goodbye to Jon and Rei.
Out on the steps, Jon's sister and Junta wait for
Misato to show up. "How long does she have?.." he
asks. "We are not sure, maybe a few months..." she
replies. "You know that this could kill both of them,
right?" "Yes...I didn't tell him this, but BIOSYS is
working on a treatment for her right now. We have
made it our top priority." "Well, I am sure anything
you do will at least prevent other deaths in the
future, even if you don't make it..." "Junta, I
promise we will all be working on this situation until
the very end. My parents are at BIOSYS as I speak
going over the results." "Well, I will let everyone
else know at REISON to pray for her and you." Moments
later, Misato pulls up in her car and the two on the
steps get in. "So where can I drop you off, Asst.
Tech?" asks Misato. "My house will be fine." she
replies. "Junta, why is it Jon or Rei could not drop
you both off?" "Misato, we have some bad news..."
"What is it?" "Nuku Nuku has brain cancer, Jon's
sister here just told him today..." Misato pulls the
car over once Junta finishes and turns around, "How
long?" "We have given her a few months at BIOSYS."
replies Asst. Tech. "DAMN! This is going to kill Jon
the most." "Misato, we can talk about this back at
base, right now I think the best thing to do is to get
his sister home." says Junta. "Right..."
Two hours later, Nuku Nuku has headed home for a short
while to get some rest, leaving Yui to cover for Mana
since she was still recovering. "Attention all
members, an emergency meeting has been called for all
divisions. Please report to the primary meeting
room." says Misato over the intercom system. Minutes
later, except for Ami, all of Operations 1, 2, and 3
have arrived in the room. "Okay, who called the
emergency meeting?" asks Ritsuko. "I did..." replies
Junta from the end of the table, "I have some news for
everyone that is not good. It has been discovered by
BIOSYS that Nuku Nuku from OPERATIONS 0 has brain
cancer. Jon and Rei are aware of it, but have asked
that Nuku not know about it. Karin, I have given you
the responsibility to relay this into to Ami when she
has woken again." "Understood." "As for the rest of
you, you are not to discuss any of this with OPERATION
0, they are to remain in the dark about this meeting.
Is that understood?" Everyone nods in compliance,
"Meeting adjourned." replies Junta. Everyone except
for Junta and Ritsuko stand and go back to what they
were all doing. "Junta, did BIOSYS say whether they
were going to work on a cure?" asks Ritsuko. "They
have labeled it a top priority." "Then I will consult
with them on it when needed." "Remember though, do not
discuss this with OPERATIONS 0." "I remember..."
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
A few days later, Yui has just finished the repairs in
Nexus Core, and has replaced the power supply for US
ARC. "Mana, I have connected the last of the data
lines. Get ready to activate the downed systems."
"Hai, Yui." Yui does one more check of the affected
systems then gives the all clear, "Go on all systems
in the core." She stands back as she hears the hum of
the primary power supplies feeding power to the
interface cards connected to the computer, then a beep
as everything checks out for startup, "Everything is
good here, Mana. Moving to US ARC next." says Yui as
she moves up the ladder and proceeds to US ARC one
level up. Once she reaches the room, she makes
another call to Mana in the control room, "Mana, here
we go, get ready to start up the system, turning on
the power now." says Yui as she reaches for the
switch, then pushes it into the on position. When
nothing happens she tries again, getting the same
response. "Mana, is power active for the feeder
panel?" "I am reading nominal power for the section."
replies Mana on the other end. "I am not reading any
power here. Stand by for further instructions." Yui
places the phone on the table and opens the cabinet up
on US ARC, "Oh, I forgot to connect the output
line..." She reaches in to the cabinet and plugs the
power supply output in to the first board, but since
she forgot to turn off the power, she gets a moderate
shock when the connection is made, "AAAAAAAH!" This
in turn triggers the safety system and trips the panic
alarm. "Mana, cancel the alarm, I forgot to connect
the power to the system." "Canceling alarm in
3...2...1..." The alarm stops sounding as Mana hits
zero. "Okay, restarting power-up, standby..." Yui
walks over to a terminal set up in the room and enters
the commands for US ARC to turn on, she hears a soft
hum as power begins to pulse through the old circuits
once again inside the system, "Mana, power-up
successful, you may start the startup process at
anytime." "Understood. Making first level connections
now. Second level connections. Low power
connections. Auxiliary connections, done.
Connections complete, setting up public level access,
done. Setting up full access, done. System is ready
for use, you may proceed with data indexing when
ready." "Thank you, Mana, I will contact you when I
have finished." "Understood" Yui hangs up the phone
and gets to work on finding out what REISON has been
given, "Let's see what you hold..."
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
Days later, Ami has awoken from the sleep she fell
into during the first test process of US ARC, and
Junta has decided to try to make up for the dinner
that he wanted the first time he asked. "Ami, how are
you feeling?" asks Junta. "I am still having trouble
breathing, but otherwise I am okay." she replies.
They find a nice place to sit down and begin to eat
their meal. "Did Karin speak to you yet?" "Yes, I
have heard about Nuku..." "Good, I just wanted to be
sure you were up-to-date..." They both eat their food
in silence as they sit there. So far, this 'date'
hasn't been too eventful. "Ami, do you ever wish for
something better in life?" "What do you mean?" "Well,
have you wished for an easier life..." "Well,
Sometimes I wonder how the world got to be this
way..." "Maybe we can find out from the archive
system. It is supposed to hold our history, right?"
"I think so..." "Ami...umm...would you like to stay
with me for the night...possibly?" "Junta...I don't
know. My parents my not agree..." "Oh...well, at
least allow me to walk you home." "Sounds alright."
A short while later, after they finish dinner and ride
the bus to Ami's area of town, they walk down a dark
street as they continue talking. "Ami...I-I hope you
don't think of me as being too forward, but would you
like to go to a movie soon?" "I...I would like that
very much, Junta." "Good, I will be sure to ask Jon
for a few passes to that nice movie theater tomorrow."
"Junta, we don't have to go there." "No, it's okay, my
treat." "Junta, that's so...sweet..." They both are
crossing a street just as Junta notices a familiar
smell, "Ami, do you smell smoke?" Ami stops once they
have both reached the other side, "Yes...now that I
think about it, I do..." she replies. "I think it's
coming from the direction of your house..." As soon
as Junta finishes speaking they both start running in
the direction of the smell. Since Junta is faster
then Ami, he reaches the house first and sees
something that horrifies him, the sight of Ami's
parents in the burning house lying in their own blood
just before the ceiling falls in. He turns and sees
Ami getting closer, so he runs back up to her and
leads her away for the house as fast as he can.
"Junta, what's wrong with you? Why are you leading me
away from my house?!" "Ami, not right now! Please
just trust me..." Ami has no idea what is going on,
but chooses to follow Junta away from the house as he
pulls out his phone, "Jon. I need you to come to the
corner of Spring and Brice right away and pick up Ami
and I. I will tell you when you get here." He hangs
up the phone and leads Ami to the bus shelter on the
corner as she begins to go numb.
Minutes later, Jon pulls up in a car. While Ami gets
in to the back seat, Junta signals to Jon that he
doesn't want Ami to know what he is about to say. Jon
gets out of the car and follows Junta a few yards away
from the car, "Junta, what's going on?" asks Jon. "Do
you smell smoke, Jon?" asks Junta. "Yes, why do you
ask?" "Ami's house just burned down, she knows that
part already..." "Junta, what haven't you told her?"
"Jon...I...I saw her parents were dead right before
the ceiling fell in...I don't know about her
sister..." "What?!" whispers Jon. "I think they were
dead before the fire, but I can't be sure." "Shit!
Okay, here is what we are going to do. You and Ami
are going to go to Base, I want you to do your best to
keep her mind off of her family for now. I will have
Kaji get over to the house ASAP to find out about her
sister. When the time comes, I will let you know what
he has found out." "Jon, if...if her sister is dead as
well...do you think you could break the news to her?"
"Junta, it may be better to have you do it" "But I
don't think I can tell her, I...I just won't be able
to..." "I understand, but then I will leave it up to
you to take care of her afterwards." "I understand."
"Good, now you get in the car while I place the call
to Kaji. When we get back to base, tell Rei to call
me, and that I have issued a Code Yellow-3." Junta
nods and gets into the back seat with Ami while Jon
places the call.
"Hello?" asks Kaji over the phone. "Kaji, its Jon. I
have a priority mission for you." "Jon, I am a little
busy with Misato at the moment..." "Kaji, Code
Yellow-3" "Yellow-3?" "Yes, Ami's home is the
location, I need a report on her family ASAP. Junta
has told me that he know the parents are dead, but he
does not know about the sister." "Oh god. Are you
thinking that it was an attack?" "I am not sure yet,
but I do know that if the parents were dead before the
fire, that this was no accident." "I see what you
mean. Okay, I will let you know what I have found out
within two hours time." "Very good, and please do not
tell anyone else what has happened..." "Understood."
He hangs up the phone and walks back to the car where
its current occupants continue to wait for their ride
to base.
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
About 90 minutes later, Jon awaits the arrival of Kaji
to hear his report on the fire. He sees the figure of
a man approaching his car, but the streetlight has
stopped working overhead and he pulls out his gun at
the same time he blinds the person with the
headlights, "Who are you?" "Kaji, code-word apple."
"Just making sure, Kaji. I hear that you have some
info for me." "I'll drive, you need to read this."
Jon nods as he moves to the back seat, allowing Kaji
to slip behind the wheel as he hand a folder over to
him. "Kaji, what is this?" "The report concerning the
fire, I had a copy made right before I slipped away."
"You were always good at that." "Hey, I'm the best.
According to the findings, the parents were shot right
before the fire was started, someone witnessed it and
tried to call the police, but the lines to the
neighborhood were cut." "Hmm, .45 caliber, I am
surprised they already know." "Well, a gun was found
near the house, so they are thinking that is the
weapon." "What about the sister?" "She was in the
basement when her parents were killed. The fire
department found the body of a girl that had been
burned to death when they were forced to pull some of
the debris away to get a fire still burning in the
basement. They are guessing that she was trapped when
a cocktail was thrown down the stairs, I am guessing
it was thrown at her so she wouldn't escape."
"Damn..." "Jon, I don't know what else to say...except
that it may be a good idea to tighten security at the
complex and have all the member's families moved out
of their current residences until we can be sure there
is no threat to anyone else." "Kaji, that is the exact
thing I am going to do, plus I am going to have
everyone moved to the base for at least one day so we
can be sure everyone is accounted for. I hope this
won't make thing go bad for your time off." "Well, I
would personally like to avoid the base, but if people
are after REISON, then I will agree to it." "Good to
hear, I will let you and Misato spend the night at
home so you can at least try to make up for the time
lost." "Thanks, but I am sure the night has been
ruined by now..." Jon closes the folder and looks in
the rearview mirror at Kaji, "Kaji, you know I didn't
really want to pull you away, but you are the best spy
I have...and Ami needed to know quickly..." "Jon, I
understand the reason, I would have done the same
thing."
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
After dropping off Kaji, Jon has headed back to the
base to deliver the bad news to Ami and Junta. The
moment he enters the bases secured area above, he
hears his phone ring. "Hello?" he says once he hits
send. "Jon, its Rei." is the reply from the other
end. "Rei, what's wrong?" "Jon, we have two active
Yellow-3's" "I know what the first one is, but what's
the second one for?" "Shinji and Yui were almost
killed when their place blew up." "Then, I see that we
have a problem here. Okay, we need to talk, where are
you right now?" "I am on Level 2 waiting for you, by
the elevator doors." The elevator doors open up as he
reaches Level 5, "I just stopped on 5, I am coming
down now." he replies as the doors close and he
continues the ascent. A few moments later the doors
open again and he steps off, Rei leads him to her
office, "Brother, we may have a larger problem..."
"What do you mean?" "Yui said that right before her
apartment blew up, she received a basket of fruit from
a very young boy who said it was for her neighbor, and
that her neighbor wasn't home at the time. She took
the basket in, even though she knew she didn't have a
neighbor." "I am guessing the basket held the bomb?"
"Yes. She didn't bother to check on it at that time
because she wanted to get Nagisa over there first to
take a look at it, but Shinji found the basket and
pulled the cover off." "Light bomb?" "Yup, Yui wasn't
able to stop Shinji in time and they both got out
right before it went off." "That's a relief..." "But
she said that the kid looked like Lori." "What?"
"Exactly what I said..." "I hope she was wrong." "As
do I." They close the subject as Jon sets a folder
onto Rei's desk, "Rei, I had Kaji pulled from R&R,
this is the results he found on Ami's family..." Rei
picks up the folder and begins to go over all of the
info, "Her parents were killed?" "Yes, looks like they
were shot before the fire." "And her sis...ter is..."
"Yes..." "Jon, does Ami know yet about any of this?"
"Only that her house has burned down, I am on my way
now to tell her the bad news..." "Jon...I..." "Rei, I
know what you are going to say, but remember, this was
one of the risks...and now I must do one of the
hardest parts of the job..." He turns and walks to
the door, "Rei, can you turn off the locks for room
609...I think I will let Ami and Junta use our room
tonight..." "Consider it done."
Ten minutes later, after going over exactly how to
approach the situation, Jon finds himself standing
outside of the door to the recreation room, 'I really
don't want to do this, but what choice do I have...'
He finally opens the door and walks inside as Junta
and Ami turn around. "Junta, can you turn off the
TV?" "Sure Jon." Junta picks up the remote and pushes
the power switch. "Thanks..." "Jon, did you find my
family?" asks Ami. "...Yes, I am afraid so, Ami..."
"Jon, what's wrong? Are they okay?" "Ami, I have some
bad news for you...your family has been killed...Your
parents were shot before the fire...and your
sister..." "What?.." replies Ami, "What about why
sister?" "...Your sister was burned alive...I'm sorry,
Ami..." Ami doesn't say a word as the shock sets in,
she just continues to sit on the couch next to Ami.
"Ami, if you need anything at all, you can let either
Rei, Nuku, or I know tonight, and I think I will have
you both stay here tonight in room 609, I will sleep
in one of the beds reserved for long nights..." says
Jon. "Thank you...Jon." replies Junta as he hugs Ami.
"I will let you two be alone for a while, remember to
call if you need something." He turns and exits the
room as he closes the door, then heads to the dining
area where he plans on getting something to eat.
A minute later, he arrives and sees Yui and Nuku
drinking some cocoa at the table, "Hey Yui, sorry to
hear about your apartment." says Jon as he gets his
own mug. "Well, I guess it comes with the area..."
she replies. "So, where did Shinji end up?" "I sent
him over to Asuka's for the night." "Good, then it
will be easy to locate him." "What do you mean?" "As
of this second, due to the two attacks that have
occurred tonight, I have decided to bring in everyone,
with the exception of Misato and Kaji, for an
emergency meeting. I have also decided to exclude
Junta and Ami due to the situation Ami is facing."
Jon pulls out a chair as he finishes and sits down.
"By the way, what happened? All we know is that a
Code Yellow-3 has been called twice tonight, and I
know about one of them." asks Nuku Nuku. "I will tell
you when you get back, I still can't drive the van
with a bad shoulder." replies Jon as he takes a sip
from his mug of cocoa, "Nuku dear, can you go pick up
everyone that Kaji and Misato usually do?" "I guess
so. Is everyone going to stay here tonight?" "Yes,
but don't tell them yet, I want to be sure they get
here first."
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
An hour later, everyone has been brought to REISON for
an emergency meeting concerning the night's events.
"Thank you for coming everyone, I am sorry for pulling
you all out of bed at this time of night. We are
currently under a double Code Yellow-3 at this time.
One of them involved a bombing of Yui and Shinji's
place, the other involved Ami's family which is why
she and Junta have been excused from this meeting,
Kaji and Misato have been excused as well for personal
reasons." explains Jon right before he sits down.
"Jon, can you fill us in?" asks Nuku. "We do know how
the bombing was done. According to the occupants, it
was delivered by a small child." "Who is the source?"
asks Ritsuko. "Yui is the source for that attack."
"What about for Ami?" asks Nuku. "We have two sources
for the one, Junta and Kaji, but neither source is
able to comment right now." "Can you fill us in on a
few details at least, so we know why we have this
meeting?" asks Asuka. "Well, I have been given some
bad news tonight. There were three casualties in the
situation involving Ami." Jon stops for a few moments
to take a few breaths, "...Ami's family was murdered
tonight...Parents were shot then burned when the house
was burned down...and her sister was burned alive when
a cocktail was thrown at her..." He hears the sound
of everyone gasp once he finishes, "She was notified
of the news a short while ago and when I left her and
Junta, she was in shock. I have given them both
access to Room 609 for the night so they can be alone,
I will need at least one person to stay up tonight and
watch the complex." Nuku quickly speaks up before Jon
is able to continue, "Jon, I will stay up tonight, I
am in need of a few hours of watch right now." "Sounds
good then. Rei and I will join everyone else in the
normal sleeping quarters tonight. As of right now, I
have put this facility on alert, that means if you are
all going to have to stay here until we find out who
is responsible for the deaths of Ami's family." "HEY!
Why don't we all have to be locked up?! And what
about our families?!" shouts Kei. "Kei, I am just as
worried as you are, but right now my priority is to
keep all of you safe!" "BULLSHIT! I want to be sure
my fam..." "KEI, SHUT IT! YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE
RIGHT NOW! WE HAVE ATTACKS BEING DONE AGAINST US
RIGHT NOW AND I AM NOT ABOUT TO LOSE ANYONE HERE! DO
I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!" yells Jon, "Look, I know you are
worried about your family's safety, I am too, but
right now I need to be sure that you are all safe,
meaning you are all to remain here! I have already
formed a plan involving your families, but I thought
we should wait until morning when I can get Kaji,
Misato, and Junta involved as well!" He puts his head
down on the table as he continues, "Kei, I don't mean
to be mean about this...but I have a huge problem here
that I must deal with the best way I can...okay?"
"Jon...Look, I don't like what you have forced upon
me, but if you think that this is the best way to
handle the problem...I will go along with it if you
can at least make sure my family is under guard for
the rest of the night. I don't care how, but I would
like them to be watched in case they go nuts."
"Kei...Okay, I guess I can have the police keep an eye
on them until morning." "Deal."
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
After the meeting has been finished, Kei and Jon
remain in the meeting room for a few minutes longer to
talk about the discussion earlier. "Jon?" "What is it
now Kei?" "Hey! I just wanted you to know that I do
agree with what you have done, I may have done the
same. But I wanted to be sure that my parents don't
start fighting again, and don^�t forget my brother
little brother is there with them. If a fight were to
break out, he would be vulnerable." "Kei...hmm...do
you think your brother is in more danger with your
parents?" "Well, it is possible..." "How old is he?"
"He's 8 years old." "Hmm...Since Kaji and Misato are
not here, and Nuku will be on watch...Let's go pick
him up right now." "What?" "If you really think he is
in danger, then I will allow him to stay here
tonight." "Jon, are you serious? I thought you didn't
want anyone you didn't know down here?" "Well since
tonight has been a totally chaotic night, and you
really don't want him to be hurt, that I could make an
exception this time." "Thanks Jon, this means a
lot..." "Hey, I owe you a little for blowing up during
the meeting." says Jon as he and Kei proceed to the
elevator used for cars. "Jon, you had good reason.
You are under stress at the moment due to the murder
of Ami's family." "True, but I usually don't blow up
like that." They both step on before the doors begin
to close and the lift descends. "Jon, don't worry.
Let's just pick up my brother and call it a night, I
am guessing you could use the sleep by the looks of
it."
Minutes later they arrive at Kei's apartment building
and run up the stairs to retrieve the person they have
come for. As they enter the apartment, they see that
Kei's parents have been arrested again since a
uniformed officer is waiting inside in a light brown
officer's uniform, "Can I help you two?" he asks.
"Where are my parents?" asks Kei. "They have been
arrested for disturbing the peace and fighting a
police officer while drunk." "Figures. Is my little
brother here?" "He is sleeping in the next room." "We
will be taking him with us then, so you can go if you
wish." "You two have a nice night then." replies the
officer as Kei goes to retrieve her brother. Leaving
Jon alone with him. "Sir, how long have you been
here?" "Three hours, why?" The officer hears the
click of Jon's gun as he points it at the cop,
"Because I don't think you are really a cop." says Jon
as he yells to Kei, "Kei, stay in the bedroom for a
few minutes longer." "Why?" she calls back. "Because
I have to take care of something first." Jon moves
closer to the fake cop and jams his gun into the mans
neck, "The police stopped wearing that uniform color
years ago, if you were a real cops, you would have
known that." "So then, you know what I am about to do
then..." "I already knew before you said your first
words to us." Jon preps the gun as he reaches into
the man's shirt pocket and pulls out a small remote
control device, "You won't get the chance to do it
though." Jon shoots the man in the head as he yells
for Kei to cover her brother's eyes and clear out.
Once she is gone, he too leaves the apartment and
pulls the fire alarm for the floor, then blows up the
apartment so that it looks like everything went
according to plan, at the same time destroying any
evidence that remained of the man. Soon he is back on
the ground floor where Kei and her brother meet him.
"Kei, a good thing you were insistent on getting your
brother." "Jon, why did you shoot the cop and blow up
my place?!" "He wasn't a cop, Kei, he was going to
blow us up if I hadn't stopped him." "But why trigger
the bomb?" "Because I want the people that hired him
to think we were inside and that they succeeded."
"Well, at least we were able to clear the floor
first..."
- A L T E R N A T E L I F E -
After Jon, Kei, and her brother made a quick retreat
to avoid any questions by the fire department, they
have arrived back at REISON to get some sleep. Before
Kei and Jon head off to sleep, they have a quick chat
outside of the sleeping quarters. "Kei, I am sorry I
destroyed your place tonight, I just thought it would
help out some..." "Jon, don't worry, as long as you
did your best, I can accept the loss. But I want to
thank you for making sure my brother didn't see the
body. That could have been bad thing for him if he
had seen it." "Hey, I like to keep it clean, and he
didn't need to be shown my mess." "Well, we might as
well get to sleep. Goodnight, Jon." "Night, Kei.
Talk to you in the morning some more..." Kei enters
the room as Jon continues to think about the group he
has not talked to yet as of late, 'I hope my family is
doing okay...'
T O B E C O N T I N U E D . . .
----------------
for more information, you can go to the site at:
http://www.geocities.com/quizered/index.htm
or email the author at:
quizered@evafan.com
ICQ#: 77294434
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