[FFML] [Fanfic][BGC] Frozen Butterfly 5.0

[skychan]

Hi,

Here's another chapter, I'm hitting myself right now as I had a very nice
ending written, then managed to save over it.  I couldn't get the dialogue
right on the second go through but as I've spent the last half hour
frustraighting myself over it I'm going to give up and post it for comments
and opinions right now.  Please feel free to offer sugestions and
comments.  The previous chapters in their 'final' versions can be found at

http://www.fanfiction.net/~skywiseskychan


Frozen Butterfly 2 a story of Bubblegum Crisis

Chapter 5.0 – Cat's Cradle/Tsunami Time

When I woke up it was as always with startling rapidity.  One moment I was
almost there, in that blissful place with the sun just shining through my
eyelids, mind on, body off, before it was stolen away by full awareness.

I lay there, closing my eyes and breathing in deeply.  I could still smell
it, the odor of the club, just tickling my senses.  I didn't want to get
up, my bed was warm and if I tried hard I could just barely make out
Ne-chan's distinct scent on my skin, and in my cloths, almost like
spearmint the sensation a teasing echo of the real thing.

Finally though I couldn't put getting out of bed off any longer, getting up
I stumbled my way into the shower.  A brief rinse and check of my status
later, *Fluidics at 79.4% Ocular systems 81.2%, *nothing I didn't expect,
and I was getting dressed for my second full day off of work since I
started, and the first one I would have entirely to myself.

Feeling a bit down I went to my mini-fridge and cracked open a bottle of
Fiji water.  Curiously of all the designer brands I had tried it was the
old familiar one from my last life that was both best for my systems and
tasted the best.

The next step in my increasingly depressing weekly routine was some quality
time with my dialysis machine.  No matter how hard I tried I hadn't been
able to find a legal way to purchase fresh blood, or plasma, on the open
market.  The best I could do was sterile saline solution.

Hooking myself up, thankfully through maintenance outlets in my wrists
rather than having to rely upon the needles *master* had supplied for
subterfuge's sake I gave a little shiver as the chill solution began to mix
with the poor tired blood in my fluidics system.  A half hour later and
another small brackish bag of expired cells went down the drain.

It made me tired just to watch it go.  I needed to do something soon,
before I stood helplessly by watching the last of my life swirl into the
disposal, irrecoverable.  Lighter on my feet now I hauled away the dialysis
machine tucking it into the back of the closet.  Flopping onto my back I
rested a moment staring up at my scant clothing trying to decide what to
wear.

Settling on a new pair of jeans, I had to get them to be comfortable
somehow, and a light yellow t-shirt.  Standing up with a huff I was halfway
to the door, destination still undecided when my phone rang.

Glaning at the display I brushed a lock of blond hair behind my ear as I
answered with a smile in my voice and on my lips.  "Hey Ne-chan, I wasn't
expecting to hear from you today, what's up?"

"Well, I um, I need a favor…" her voice sounded unusually subdued on the
other end of the line.

"Of course, you need only ask."  I paused leaning against the door so that
my phone could continue to use the apartment's wireless rather than
switching over to the very expensive minute by minute plan I was on.

Sounding a little more confident but strangely furtive Nene spoke quickly
voice soft, "Meet me at the Starbucks across from ADP headquarters, it's
important."  With that the phone went quiet and I had to actually check to
be sure she had actually hung up on me.

That was certainly new behavior, both because she usually texted rather
than called, and certainly hadn't ever been quite so cloak and dagger
before, I wondered what she wanted.  Glancing towards the cupboard beneath
the kitchen sink where I had hidden my illegal firearms for just a moment I
shook my head.

I was just letting my imagination get away from me, she was probably just
trying to get away from work and under the eyes of her boss or
something.  Dismissing
the concerns from my mind I pulled on a windbreaker, tucked a collapsible
umbrella into my pocket and locked the door behind me.

Getting off the subway at the ADP station still sent a nervous thrill up my
spine.  Hearing sirens in the distance I checked my pocket for my MPI card
stroking the hard plastic for reassurance it was there as I rode the
escalator to the surface.  It gave me a little thrill to wave as a low
slung predatory looking police cruiser went past before crossing the street
in its wake.

Pushing my way into the Starbucks I looked for the familiar mane of red as
I winded my way deeper in.  Seeing a hand wave from a booth near the back I
smiled and quickened my pace, my good cheer falling when I came even and
stomach starting to drop a little as I slipped into the booth across from
her.

As I looked up I could tell something was wrong, *subject behavior
indicative of nervousness 89%.  *Where was the smile, the cheerful
greeting, the crumb covered plate from the cake she loved to buy?  The mood
seeming to grow heavier by the moment I tried a cheerful greeting but even
to my own ears it fell a little flat and certainly didn't get the
exasperated smile I was hoping for.  "Hey Ne-chan, what brings a cute girl
like you to a shady bar like this?"

"Kari," Nene took a moment to center herself rather than snip at me.  "I
need your help."  Before I could say anything she hurried on.  "You can't
tell anyone else I'm asking or what you find out either."  Nibbling on her
lip she looked up, "You promise it will be a secret?"

Caught off guard, and unused to seeing the weight of the world in those
emerald green eyes I nodded.  "Of course Nene," my voice dropping I leaned
over and took her hand.  "You can trust me, I owe you more than I could
ever say, of course I'll help you, no questions asked."

She relaxed a little letting out a pent up breath.  "Thank's Kari, you’re a
life saver."  Reaching into her jacket she pulled out a pair of photos.  "Here,
there's been a kidnapping and I need some help running down leads on the
internet."

I almost missed everything else she said as my eyes widened as I took in
the pictures.  One was of an auburn haired man with an ugly green suit, but
he wasn't the one that made my heart want to stop.  That picture was of a
four year old girl, *image 99.9% match for file footage of USSD command and
control interface codename Cynthia.*

Looking up and taking in my suddenly pale face Nene's words tumbled to a
halt and she waved her fingers slightly before my eyes.  "Kari, hey Kari, I
thought you would be okay with a little net research," Her tone gentle as
if afraid to startle me growing in nervousness and uncertainty as she
finished.

"Nene, do you know who this girl is?" I asked my voice a harsh whisper
finger slamming down onto the picture between us with more force than sense.
My gaze snapping up to capture hers, only the sight of her nervous swallow
enough to make me realize I was alarming her as she shook her head in
answer to my question.

Looking around to make sure we weren't being watched I went on.  "How did
you get mixed up in this, no never mind," running back over what she had
said when I fixated on the picture told me enough, "this isn't a simple
kidnapping case Nene.  This girl… she's a boomer, codenamed Cynthia."  Licking
my lips nervously I went on even more quietly.  "She's a secret USSD
project for controlling the laser satellites.  I saw it in Flint's files
before I escaped.  Whatever the AD Police looking for her was told it's a
lie.  You need to be really careful."

As I watched Nene's face went through a series of changes, the first of
surprise, eyes widening as what I said sunk in, but she snapped back much
quicker than I expected.  Eyes narrowing thoughtfully and nodding a little
with what I said as she processed the new information.  "It makes more
sense now, why, never mind.  Kari, that, this information means it's even
more important that we find her.  Will you help?"

There was a certain determination now in her tone, her posture almost
trembling with suppressed emotion as Nene drew herself up to her full
sitting height looking down into my eyes.  All I could do was nod.  "Thank
you Kari, this means a lot."

Splitting up, Nene hurried back across the street to AD police headquarters
leaving me to sit and contemplate the job she had given me.  It wouldn't be
easy, in fact it would be nearly impossible to check all the web accessible
camera's in MegaTokyo for a single man and a boomer masquerading as a
little girl.  No wonder she needed the help.  So much for my day off…

I had spent all day diving through the net and the strain was beginning to
show.  I had a headache a first since my transformation, and as I forced
myself to continue running through the internet I only felt it growing
worse.  Even though Nene and I had been careful enough to split up our
areas of responsibility and she had given me a fancy bit of code that
helped eliminate any clips without human motion on them it was still a
nearly unimaginably large task.   I felt like a butterfly flying twelve
miles an hour into a twenty mile wind.  No matter what progress I made
every minute left me further from the goal.

Then it happened.  I didn't even consciously recognize the tremble before
the shockwave rolled over the city.  Already hooked into countless video
cameras I had a ringside view in mere moments.  The laser satellites
hanging over our heads, forgotten in the vastness of space had fired, on
MegaTokyo.

I spent a few moments simply lost watching the devastation.  It was
incredible how clearly I could see everything.  I was used to war footage
showing explosions that were smaller in real life than Hollywood, full of
dust and grit, where you couldn't see much of anything at all, or the same
old film footage of atomic weapons tests.

A laser strike from orbit is different.  The destruction is still there,
but everything is lit up as bright as day, dust and debris in the target
zone itself burning to ash, and less than ash in that super-heated beam.  Only
after the first concussive strike as secondary effects began was the view
obscured, dust beginning to rise around what I belatedly realized was the
aqua city construction project.  Thinking it was over I started to contact
Nene when over a dozen additional strikes all centered on the man-made
island struck home.

By the time the dust, grit, and water turned instantly to steam had settled
enough for the camera I was watching through to get a clear view there was
nothing left but a swirling maelstrom as water rushed in frenzied currents
around the sinking skeletal frame of the once impressive technical marvel.

I watched as AD Police rapid response teams, regular police, ambulances and
fire departments responded to the destruction pulling up onto the pier
overlooking the sinking remains.  My body taking a deep breath and giving
myself a few moments to compartmentalize the tragedy I began pulling
footage of the strike, and the area in and around aqua city as quickly as I
could, dumping it all straight onto the private server Nene had established
in case I found something.

Somewhere out there was a person with access to a killer doll, and they had
just shown they had no compunctions about using it.  Aqua City might have
been an abandoned industrial experiment, but who knows where they would
choose to hit next.  I could only hope that somewhere in the footage I was
pulling the police would find a clue.

By the time Nene had time for me – I didn't begrudge her the delay, after
that incident the fact she had time at all was a miracle – it was late
enough to be considered early again.

Pinku Neko: Sorry I'm late, ty for the info, it helped, really.

I snapped myself back to full attention out of the quasi fugue state I had
fallen into, parts of my scattered consciousness focused on tracking down
more footage of that evening, while another part watched the clips I had
secured.

Galatea: It's alright Neko, I understand really I do.  I'm just sorry I
wasn't able to find her for you before this happened, but, there's
something you need to know.  The Knight Sabers were there.

Pinku Neko: What?

Pinku Neko: Are you sure?

I wasn't surprised at her shock.  It had been a rude awakening when I
discovered it myself.

Galatea: Yes, I managed to track down some good footage before the incident
and a camera caught them crossing the bridge to Aqua city.   I have several
shots showing some kind of battle taking place as well, but whatever else
they have a really good hacker working for them, or more than one.

There was a pause, one heartbeat or two as she digested my latest message
before I saw her response.

Pinku Neko: Are you sure, what happened?

Galatea: There should have been more footage of the incident.  As near as I
can tell they started erasing information before the satellite even struck.
Somehow they jammed some of the camera's in Aqua City, and corrupted the
stoplight cameras for at least five kilometers around the incident.

Pinku Neko: Wow…

Galatea: Wow indeed, but that's not it.  They also have been cleaning up
records made beforehand and anything else connected to the net.  The only
reason I have some of the footage I do is because I just happened to get
there first.  I rechecked a few places and the original data is gone, like
it never existed, and Neko, I think they might work for Genom.

Pinku Neko: WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

I had to giggle a little at the exclamation marks.  Sure Nene was excitable
but I could just imagine the look on her face as she read my last message.  No
one thought that they worked for Genom.  The main thing that they seemed to
do was kill boomers after all but to me there was a certain sense to having
a group eliminating any rogue product with full deniability.  Nodding to
myself I tried to infuse my words with the seriousness I couldn't put into
my tone.

Galatea: Yes, I managed to backtrack one of the virus' used back to the
secure Genom net.  Either they're really really good, or they really are
working from within Genom.

I waited anxiously for a long minute.  The kind that would have seemed
endless before, but thank's to an internal chronometer synched with the
atomic clock I knew was just the same length as each one before it and
every one that would follow.

Pinku Neko: I want you to get offline

Pinku Neko: Now

Pinku Neko: It's not safe and you've done enough.

When our connection shut down a moment later I knew that she was serious,
not even willing to give me a chance to argue I could do more good if I
kept looking, besides I hadn't found anything new in nearly two hours.
 Accepting
her judgment as my own I carefully disconnected and lay back on my futon
and let myself fall asleep.

That morning I woke slowly for the first time.  'Awake' I lay there under
my covers imagining myself riding a horse sized Pekinese wearing a white
ballroom gown slit up the front to my waist so that the glittering tights
fit for a production of Snow White on Ice could be seen.  I even knew it
was the height of fashion as I fired a repeating carbine at a horde of
green frogs trying to overrun our lines.

Trying to hold on as coherency slipped further away from my addled mind I
realized with a jolt I was dreaming.  And that was the end of that.  The
light blue of my blanket taking over for the odd hazy sky and the sounds of
traffic for the baying of war hounds.  I was wrong, apparently I could
dream, all it took was the efficiency of my systems to drop to dangerous
levels.  *Fluidics at 78.1%, warning decreased capacity detected,
increasing flow rate to maintain operations.*

Going through my morning routine of shower, small salad and tall glass of
purified water I tried to get used to my faster heart rate, it was up from
75 to 100 beats a minute and I was starting to feel a bit like a humming
bird.  On the other hand it did seem to help, I certainly felt better than
I had the last few days, I just hoped I wouldn't simply expire from over
use or something.  **

When I got to work I started to experiment with manual control over my
heart rate.  I could drop it down to around 88 beats a minute if I was
resting before my mind started to wander off.  I wonder if that's the
normal level for people, I know I used to lose focus at work fairly
regularly so keeping it at 89 just to be safe I soldiered on through the
day.

After work I met up with Nene at Starbucks.  Giving her my best smile I had
our drinks ready and waiting when she arrived.  Leaning out of the booth I
waved her down, "Hey Ne-Chan, over here." Voice cheerful as ever but she
must have noticed the seriousness in my eyes.

"Hi Ka-chan," her tone was uncharacteristically subdued.  "Thank you for
your help."  Bowing deep forehead to the table my old western sensibilities
kicked in and I had to reach over and lift her back up.  "Nene, it was
nothing, really," slight pink spots rising to my cheeks as I looked around,
"Your drawing attention."

That at least got her to sit up and gave me a chance to push her mint
chocolate cappuccino double Frappuccino, latte, whaptaccino over to her.  It
was an incredibly sugary caffeinated thing that I had no doubt would give
me an instant heart attack if I tried even a sip.  Dropping my voice so it
wouldn't carry I asked, "What happened yesterday, do you know, is Cynthia
still out there?"  I almost said, in the hands of terrorists, but given we
were in a public place common sense held me back.

She shook her head and reached out holding her phone angled so that I would
be the only one to see before pressing play.  There in full 2.5" x1.5"
glory I saw one of the video clips I had pulled for her last night.  It was
just after the first satellite strike, lit orange from the fires below it
looked almost like the island was shifting, and growing for lack of a
better word.

"This is the raw take, before enhancement."  Her tone was serious and I
looked up meeting her emerald eyes and a chill went down my spine when she
went on her voice dropping even lower.  "You're never going to hear this on
the news but those satellite strikes probably saved the city."

Pressing a button and the image zoomed in to show that the island was
liberally swarming with tendrils of metal, snaking twisting and curling
around each other as they consumed the metal island growing and reaching
outward to consume everything in their path.  "Nanites?" I asked softly.

"Yes, from some kind of fusion boomer.  Whatever it was it looks like the
central processing unit lost control after a general order to grow."  She
shook her head, "But that's not all."  A few moments of deft manipulation
and the screen now showed the grainy image of a little girl, curly blond
hair blowing in the wind and pseudopods from the island piercing her legs.  I
almost thought I saw an expression of panic cross her face just before the
image was washed out by the second satellite strike.

Playing it back a second time I watched with fascinated horror, could that
happen to me, could something just, latch on and start to take me over?

Nene's voice was soft not catching the real cause of my horror, "I feel
sorry for Cynthia, I know she's just a boomer, but, in the end she was
alone, and scared, and the satellites were the only thing she had left, I
guess."

I slowly nodded.  "It must have been awful, to be alone, the rest of the
world out to get you."

Nene looked up catching my morose mood.  "Your right, but, I just wanted to
thank you, and let you know what happened.  So whatever else happened, it's
over.  Cynthia's been destroyed I'm fine and you don't need to worry about
it anymore, but I've got to get back to work."

Getting up she stepped out of the booth, I could almost feel the dark cloud
the depressing conversation had left over us like a shroud.  "Alright, bye
Nene, I'll see you tomorrow at aerobics with Linna and Irene."  Seeing her
slightly dismayed expression at the reminder I actually perked up slightly.


"Don't think you can get out of it, I've seen your schedule and I know
you're off Ne-chan."  My tone lightly teasing as she glowered further.

"Hey, those files aren't public…" and a moment later she gave me a little
chagrined look.  "I guess this is the reward I get for having a hacker for
a friend…"  Still as she turned and headed back out the doors there was a
little bit of spring to her step.  My teasing having helped improve her
mood a little, and in the process lifted mine as well.

A friend, I wasn't as alone as Cynthia, and the world wasn't out to get me.
Rising from my seat I too left heading home.
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