BUBBLEGUM CRISIS / BIO-BOOSTER ARMOUR GUYVER:
THE HEART OF THE BEAST
BY JEREMY PHILLIPS
(AKA: SAILOR URANUS)
Original Character designs by Sonoda
Kenichi and Yoshiki Takaya
_________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER ONE
The fiery orange of sunset slowly
melted away as the sun sank below
the skyline of Mega-Tokyo. The
countless solar panels covering every
available space of rooftop switched
their electrical systems over to
internal, releasing the power they had
spent all day slowly gathering.
Even Genom tower, the massive arcology
that lorded over the sprawling
city, finally relinquished its hold on
the light as the last of the
sun's rays left the top of the tower.
Even as the city of day went to sleep,
the city of night came to life.
Street lamps and window lights winked
on all over the city in no
apparent order, mirroring the stars
that slowly appeared in the sky.
Neon signs glowed more fiercely as the
sunlight no longer upstaged
them in intensity. Numerous clubs and
other, seedier establishments
began opening up, as people gathered
to escape the drudgery of the day
and enjoy the atmosphere of the
night.
In one of the quieter sections of the
city, still in disrepair from
the great earthquake, stood a large
industrial complex. The sign at
the main gate carried the logo of
CryoTech, a subsidiary company of
Genom. The well-lit grounds served as
a parking area for numerous
transport vehicles, trucks, tanker trailers and even armoured
transports. The rest of the complex
consisted of a quad of
multi-storey buildings, linked by
numerous enclosed catwalks and all
heavily sealed. One of the buildings
also encompassed a set of huge
cylindrical storage tanks.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout
the complex. The grounds came to
life with previously-unseen security
guards, dressed standard
uniforms. In a dark corner of the
compound, four men in black
jumpsuits could be barely made out,
sprinting at top speed from one of
the buildings. Clutched firmly in the
hand of one of the men was a
small, unremarkable metal cylinder.
They had almost made it to the
outer perimeter fence when a voice
called out to them.
"Right, that's far
enough!"
The four men whirled around to meet
their opponents, five securty
guards. None of the guards visibly
carried any weapons, but stood
firmly nonetheless. One of the guards
held out his hand.
"We can't let you leave with the
sample cylinder," he explained
simply. "If you hand it over, we
won't kill you."
"We can't let them slow us
down," one of the four men hissed under his
breath to the others in the group.
"More guards will arrive any moment
now."
The man holding the cylinder tossed it
to one of the other men.
"Vamore! Cover us," he
instructed.
As the man called Vamore caught the
cylinder, the guards approached
slowly, their eyes beginning to glow
an erie red.
At that moment, Vamore exploded. Or
rather, he appeared to explode.
With surprising speed, he increased
greatly in size to nearly one and
a half times his original height,
ripping out of his jumpsuit. His
skin took on a reptillian texture. His
face elongated to a pointed
snout and ears, with deep red eyes and
a wide mouth. Two large pods
also ballooned out from his shoulders.
The guards stopped in momentary
shock at the transformation that had
just taken place.
"Now," commanded the group
leader.
In an instant, the other three
performed a similar transformation.
They doubled in size, their skin
taking on a dark, chitinous
appearance. Their eyes also became a
deep red, and their heads
sprouted numerous horns. Their final
appearance resembled some form of
bipedal demonic rhinocerous.
The guards' moment of shock was brief,
however. They quickly
activated, ripping out of their
pseudo-flesh shells and attaining full
size. The squad of Boomers quickly
moved into action, striking before
before the trespassers could make a
move. As one Boomer launched
himself into the air towards the
group, the pods on Vamore's shoulders
sprang open, revealing two gelatinous
lens arrays. With a momentary
hum, two intense beams lanced out, burning
a large hole through the
chest of the airborne Boomer. As the
inoperative cyberdroid crashed to
the ground, the mouths of the other
Boomers streched open as their
laser cannons were brought to bear on
the group. As they fired a
salvo, the four beasts scattered out
of the way.
Unbeknownst to the combatants, an AD
Police aerodyne was performing a
routine patrol over the are at the
time. The pilot quickly radioed in.
"ADP HQ, this is Spotter seven.
There is a firefight in the southeast
corner of the CryoTech complex. Looks
like eight combatants involved.
Four are BU-55C class Boomers, four
are unidentified. More Boomers are
approaching the fight. Please dispach
ADP ground units ASAP.
Repeat..."
In another part of town, action of
another kind was taking place. The
club known as 'Hot Legs' was a
favourite meeting place for people from
all walks of life. The only reason for
going to the club was for the
bands that played there, and that
night was no exception. After a few
months of not being allowed to play at
the club because of the lead
singer's nasty habit of pulling
disappearing acts before and even
during performances, the owner bowed
to public pressure and allowed
Priss and the Replicants to play there
again. The group was playing
only occasional gigs at some of the
smaller clubs, and so agreed to
playing at 'Hot Legs' again.
The gig that night announced their
return to 'Hot Legs'. The floor was
completely packed with loyal fans,
moving and pulsating as a single
entity to the music. The performance
was drawing to a close, and both
crowd and band were still full of
energy. Priss was wearing her
favourite outfit, consisting of a
short leather skirt, short red top,
arm length gloves, biker boots and
blonde wig. She pumped all of her
emotion into her singing, playing the
crowd like another instrument.
"When the odds are stacked
against you,
When you're backed against the
wall,
When the rising darkness engulfs
you
And you're sure that you will
fall.
"Just remember you have the
power,
Burning deep within your
veins,
The power to make a difference
And to keep hold of the
reins."
The pounding beat resonated throughout
the club. The atmosphere was
electric as the music poured from the
centre stage.
"There's a beast that lives
within us,
That's fighting to be free,
You must forget all of your
fears
To be all that you can
be."
Priss raised her fist up, beating the
air in time with the music.
"Release the power, unchain the
beast."
The crowd chanted in chorus, fighting
to make themselves heard over
each other.
"Release the power, unchain the
beast."
The drummer built to a rising
crescendo as the song came to a finish.
"Release the power, unchain the
beast!"
The crowd cheered their appreciation.
Priss stepped back from the mike
and wiped her forearm across her brow,
mopping up the sweat that had
begun to build. It was then that she
chanced to hear a beeping sound
over the audience. She glanced at her
bracelet and noticed a small
flashing red light. Cursing under her
breath, she pressed a small
button to acknowledge the signal. She
quickly turned around to face
the rest of the group.
"I'm sorry, guys," she
spoke, "but I have to go. You're going to have
to do the last number
yourselves."
"Again?" grinned Kowalski,
leaning forward over his drums. "You better
not pull this stunt too often, or
we'll be kicked out again."
"Don't worry, Priss," smiled
Roy in reassurance. "Just try to make it
back as soon as possible. We still
have to celebrate after the show."
Priss smiled in gratitude.
"Zhora, the mike's yours,"
she said as she quickly moved off-stage.
"Thanks," replied Zhora at
Priss' retreating figure. She swung her
bass guitar to her side as she stood
up to the microphone.
As Priss moved briskly down the
hallway to the back exit, she could
hear Zhora's voice behind her.
"Priss has to go now, but we're
not done yet! This last song is
called..."
The rest was lost in the cheering of
the crowd.
"Priss!" called a voice
behind her.
She scowled as the club owner caught
up with her.
"Remember that little talk we had
on your disappearing acts?" he
growled.
"Yeah, well it can't be
helped," she replied coldly. "This is an
emergency."
"You can't just up an leave in
the middle of a concert like this! You
have a responsibility to me and the
people who pay to get in here."
"You don't give a shit about the
people anyawy, just their money. If
you did, you'd serve better liquor for
a start."
"I'm warning you, Priss. You keep
this up, and I'll see to it you
never get to play
anywhere!"
Priss whirled around to face him,
making him shrink back a step.
"I may play here, but don't ever
think that means you own me," she
snarled. "And if you don't get
off my back, I'll see you to it you
never have any customers
again!"
With that, she stormed through the
back exit, slamming the door shut.
It was a few moments before the
manager reacted.
"You can't do this!" he
shouted after her. "If you give a shit about
the people, you should be out there
singing!"
Not hearing a response, he walked up
to the door and yanked it open.
"Dammit, Priss -".
He stopped short as he stepped
outside. Priss was gone. Her motorcycle
was still parked outside, but she was
nowhere to be seen. Scratching
his head in bewilderment, he went back
inside.
Above the nightclub, Its twin rotor
noise dampers engaged at maximum
cancellation, the Knight Wing sped
away to the other side of town.
The headless body of the last Boomer
crashed to the ground. Standing
over the remains was one of the
demonic creatures, the Boomer's head
still firmly clutched in his large
clawed hand. His breath rasped
heavily in his throat, but was
otherwise untouched. Nearby, two other
identical creatures lay on the ground,
one with a hole burned through
his head, the other with his chest
melted open. The acrid smell of
burnt flesh still hung in the night
air. Behind them stood Vamore,
shimmering waves of heat slowly rising
from his open shoulder pods.
"Gregore!" hissed Vamore.
"We have to get out of here!"
Gregore slowly surveyed their
location. No streetlamp lit the scene,
but with his heightened senses, the
area appeared as it would in
normal daylight to him. They were in
the ruins of what once was a
suburban area, several blocks away
from the CryoTech complex. The
bodies of over half a dozen Boomers
littered the place, all twisted,
broken and in other various states of
non-functionality. No doubt
still more security Boomers were on
their way. And things would become
even more problematic if the AD Police
eventually showed up.
As Gregore studied the area, the
bodies of the other two creatures
began to dissolve away. Their body
chemistry had been modified so that
when their life signs were terminated,
a fast-acting enzyme was
released into their system that
completely broke them down, leaving
nothing but dark vapours and a puddle
of black residue. Once the
process was completed, Gregore turned
to face Vamore.
"Let's go," he
growled.
As they turned to leave, a voice
called out behind them, stopping them
in their tracks once more.
"Right, that's far
enough."
Gregore and Vamore turned to face the
new opposition, and froze. They
were not Boomers, rather they appeared
to be humans in power armour.
However, the armour looked much more
sophisticated than what could
normally be found. The armour appeared
surprisingly form-fitting, the
shape of which indicated that the
occupants were female. There were
four of them - one blue, one green and
orange, one pink and red, and
one steel grey.
Gregore snarled. This new interruption
would cause further problems if
they slowed them down enough for more
Boomers to arrive on the scene.
They simply couldn't take the time to
stay and fight them. With a
quick motion of his hand, Gregore and
Vamore moved into action.
Gregore dashed for a side street,
while Vamore, still clutching the
container, sprinted towards an open alleyway
in the opposite
direction.
"Nene, you're with me!"
called out Priss, pointing towards the larger
of the two fleeing creatures. Sylia
watched Priss and Nene dash off in
pursuit of the monster, then motioned
for Linna to come with her after
the smaller one. They both leaped into
the air, and Sylia's boom
mounts snapped open and the thruster
jets fired to carry her further
into the air and guide her approach to
the alley entrance. After a
brief flight, Sylia landed and her
boom mounts retracted. She stepped
cautiously into the alley, unable to
find any sign of the monster.
Switching her visor display to
infra-red, she made a quick sweep of
the alley, but was unable to find
anything. It was at that moment that
she thought of checking for any
catwalks above. She looked up in time
to see a large heat build-up directly
above. She threw herself into a
forward roll just as two bolts of
energy smashed into the asphalt
where she was standing just moments
ago. The creature then dropped
down to the ground, its shoulder pods
open. Sylia, still crouched on
the ground, swung around and extended
her arm cannon, Bringing it to
bear on the creature. At the same
time, the pods on the creature's
shoulders charged for another
blast.
Before either could react, however,
two ribbons lashed out from behind
the creature. One of the ribbons made
contact, cutting the creature's
arm off and slicing one of the pods in
half. The creature screeched in
pain, involuntarily clutching the
stump where its arm used to be with
its other claw. The gelatinous
membrane from the pod's lens array
oozed out. Sylia took the opportunity
to finish it off. Leaping to her
feet, she rushed up to the creature
and rammed her arm cannon against
its abdomen, discharging two rounds
into it. The creature was thrown
backwards from the blast, falling to
the ground with blood and other
bodily fluids pouring from the gaping
hole.
Linna landed beside Sylia, her ribbons
falling harmlessly down her
back. The two cautiously approached
the still form lying on the
ground. "What do you suppose it
is?" asked Linna absently.
"It's not a Boomer, that's for
sure," noted Sylia. "It looks organic.
It's most likely some form of
genetically engineered creature."
"But who would make a thing like
this?"
"I don't know. I don't believe
Genom is involved in this kind of
research."
Linna glanced around the alley.
"What was it doing here,
anyway?"
They both looked down at the severed
arm. There, still clutched firmly
in its grasp, was the metal
cylinder.
The pounding of gravel echoed down the
street as Priss and Nene chased
after the lumbering creature, Nene
running a little behind Priss.
Halfway down the street, the creature skidded
to a halt and reversed
its direction, charging straight at
the girls. Unable to raise her
rail gun in time, Priss threw herself
to one side. Nene, however, was
not so lucky. She could only manage a
shriek before a quarter ton of
muscle and armour plating slammed into
her, knocking her to the
ground. The creature jumped to its
feet and charged at Priss, who was
getting quickly to her feet. It swung
a huge fist at her. She ducked
to one side, but still caught the blow
on her left shoulder. The
impact knocked her back, but she rode
with it and brought her right
leg around, smashing it into the
creature's side. She fought to
maintain her balance as the creature
stumbled past her. She stood
ready to face it again as Nene got
unsteadily to her feet just behind
her. The creature whirled about, and
was about to charge them again.
Suddenly, the blast of a sub-sonic
shockwave echoed down the street,
and the creature's head exploded in a
shower of dark blood. The
headless creature dropped to the
ground with a heavy thud.
"What the -" started
Priss.
Standing in a slight crouch a short
distance behind the creature was
another humanoid, its hands cupped in
front of itself as if it were
pushing something at the creature. It
was completely blue, with what
appeared to be a short curved blade
protruding from each elbow and a
long fin extending from its forehead,
arcing back over its head. It
was covered from head to toe in armour
plating, and appeared to be
some kind of power suit. Priss quickly
raised her rail gun at the
newcomer.
"Who the hell are you?" she
called out.
The humanoid lowered its hands and
stood facing her.
"You gonna answer, or what?"
she demanded.
In response, a bolt of energy fired
out from a point on the humanoid's
forehead, glancing Priss' arm and
knocking off her aim. It quickly
jumped into the air, appearing to defy
gravity as it landed on the
rooftop of a crumbling three-story
building. Priss quickly raised her
arm again and fired the rail gun. The
slender metal spine caught the
humanoid in its left shoulder, causing
it to tumble out of view. Priss
went in pirsuit of it, activating the
thrusters in the back of her
suit and taking to the air. She landed
on the rooftop to find that it
was gone. All she could see were a few
traces of blood - human blood,
or so it appeared.
"Priss!" cried out Nene from
below.
Priss looked looked back over the ledge
to see Nene staring at the
fallen creature. Its body was rapidly
dissolving away into
nothingness.
"What the hell's going on
here?" muttered Priss to herself.
"What are... were they?"
asked Nene hesitantly.
Priss looked down at the large dent
the creature had made in the
armour plating on her shoulder.
"They're tough, whatever they
are," she answered.
The sound of thrusters firing made
Priss look up suddenly, just as
Sylia landed on the rooftop beside
her. Linna also came flying briefly
through the air, landing next to
Nene.
"Yours melt too?" asked
Priss.
Sylia nodded.
"Nene, signal Mackie for a
pick-up. The AD Police will be here any
second now."
"OK," responded Nene.
As if on cue, the wail of police sirens
could be heard in the
distance. "What's that?"
asked Priss absently, pointing at the
cylinder Sylia held in her gloved
hand.
"I don't know yet," Sylia
answered simply.
A searchlight swept down the street as
the Knight Wing came into view.
It touched down in the middle of the street
and lowered its entry
ramp, allowing Nene and Linna to climb
on board. Priss and Sylia
leaped from the rooftop to the street
below and quickly boarded also.
Within seconds, the Knight Wing was
back in the air again and speeding
across town, moments before the first
AD Police cruiser arrived on the
scene.
Some hours later, Priss was leaving
the 'Hot Legs' club. She had made
it back to the club in time for the
party afterwards, where the band
celebrated their return with the rest
of the partygoers. Several
drinks and a couple of embarrasing
karaoke songs later, Priss had
managed to extricate herself from the
rest of the group and make it to
the back exit, where her bike was still
parked. She had packed her
stage gear in a battered gym bag she
carried with her, and was wearing
her bike leathers as she climbed on
her bike.
Suddenly, someone stepped out from the
shadows of an alleyway.
"Priss?"
Still seated on the bike, Priss
twisted around and pulled out a
handgun, aiming it at the shadowy
figure.
"Who's there?" she
demanded.
The figure paused momentarily at the
sight of the gun, but continued
walking forwards.
"I'm not armed," the figure
said calmly. "I'm just a fan of yours."
The figure emerged from the shadows,
revealing himself to be a boy in
his late teens. He was dressed in
faded blue jeans and a plain white
shirt. He had medium-length, unkemp
black hair and piercing blue eyes.
Priss lowered her gun.
"I don't remember seeing you at
the party," she noted.
"I... had to leave early. I just
wanted to talk to you about your
music."
"You could have come inside to
talk to me," she suggested. "Then you
could have enjoyed the party while you
were there."
"I wanted to talk with you
alone," he answered simply.
Priss shurgged and reholstered her
gun.
"You said you had to leave
early," she started. "That means you were
there for the concert?"
"Yeah. That's what I wanted to
talk about. That last song that you
did..."
"I... wasn't there for the last
song," she admitted hesitantly.
He shook his head.
"No. I meant the last song that
you did, before you had to leave. I
just wanted to say thank you for
it."
Priss looked at him closely, unsure of
what he was talking about.
"I've been going through a lot
lately," he explained. He lowered his
head as he continued. "I lost my
own sense of identity a long time
ago, and I started getting tired of it
all. After hearing you sing
tonight, I've realised that I can't
help what's happened to me. I can
only keep going doing the best I can.
I know it all sounds like
nonsense to you, but you've helped me
understand myself better. I just
wanted to thank you for
it."
He looked up to see Priss smiling at
him.
"What's your name?" she
asked.
"Sho... Sho
Fukamachi."
"Sho..." she repeated.
"You know, I know a kid called Sho. You may
want to meet him sometime. You
probably both have something in
common."
"Somehow I doubt that," Sho
replied wryly.
"Where are your
parents?"
"They're both dead."
"So, where are you
staying?"
"I don't have any place to
stay."
"Then you can stay at my
trailer."
Sho looked at her quizzically.
"Why are you going out of your
way for me?" he asked.
Priss smiled at him again.
"You interest me," she
admitted. "You're a strange kid, and I've had
enough experience in that department
to know what I'm talking about. I
want to find out more about
you."
"You don't want to know about
me," said Sho softly.
"Try me," she replied.
"In any case, all I can offer you is a sleeping
bag on the floor. It's not much, but
it's better than a cardboard
box."
Sho was silent for a few moments.
"I... appreciate it. Thank you,
Priss."
Priss extended her hand to him.
"Well? Let's go."
After a moment's hesitation, Sho
accepted her hand and she pulled him
onto the back of the bike, and he
grabbed hold of her waist. She
started the bike, the heavily modified
engine responding with an
initial roar and settling down to a
deep rumble. They took off into
the night, leaving the alley quiet
once more.
CHAPTER TWO
Roger Arquin, head of security for
CryoTech, shifted nervously on the
spot he was standing. He had always
wanted to enter Genom tower, but
not under such circumstances. He stood
in a spacious office at the
summit of the arcology. One wall
consisted mostly of numerous screens
that were presently flicking through
production and stock reports. The
far wall was made completely out of
high-impact bulletproof glass,
through which the morning sun came
flooding through. Sillhouetted by
the sun, seated at his large oak desk,
was Quincy, chairman of the
Genom corporation and one of the most
powerful men on Earth. Arquin
could not see his face for all the
light behind him, but he did not
need to see it. He knew that the
chairman was displeased, and to anger
Quincy was to invoke the wrath of
God.
"It seems we had some trouble at
the CryoTech plant last night."
Quincy broke the silence, his words
sounding like a death sentence.
"Y-yes, sir," was all Arquin
could manage for a response.
"Anything missing?" asked
Quincy absently.
Arquin silently cursed the old man. He
knew perfectly well what was
taken. He had read the full report
from CryoTech earlier that morning.
He just wanted him to say it purely
for the psychological effect, like
a cat playing with a mouse.
"Our research labs were broken
into. The intruders made off with our
new chip prototype."
Quincy was silent for a few moments as
he read some reports on his
desk, his attention seemingly
diverted.
"And what of the intruders?"
he spoke again suddenly, his eyes not
lifting from the reports.
"There were four of them."
explained Arquin nervously. "We believe we
were successful in eliminating two of
them -"
"You believe?" repeated
Quincy, looking up.
"- and the other two, we believe
were intercepted by the Knight
Sabers," continued Arquin after
only a moment's hesitation.
"How could you not be sure if two
of them were eliminated by your own
security?" asked Quincy.
"The seven security units
involved in stopping the intruders were all
destroyed. Also, we could not find the
bodies of the two believed to
be eliminated."
"And the prototype?"
Arquin swallowed hard.
"It... was not
recovered."
Quincy leaned forward slightly in his
seat.
"How many security units do you
have at the CryoTech plant?"
"Twenty BU-55's patrolling the
buildings and perimeter."
"And seven of those were involved
in attempting to stop the
intruders?"
"Yes, sir."
"So where were the other
thirteen?"
"We - we feared it was only a
diversion," stammered Arquin. "The rest
of the units remained to guard the
compound from further attack."
Quincy stood up quickly, slamming his
hands down on his desk.
"What kind of diversionary raid
steals a major project prototype?" he
barked.
Arquin backed up a step. Even in the
carefully climate-controlled
office, he was beginning to develop a
sweat. Quincy rapidly regained
his composure, sitting back
down.
"How is it possible that seven
BU-55's were no match for four men?" he
asked, a tone of annoyance clearly in
his voice.
"We believe that the four
intruders had been altered, possibly through
cybernetics. They might have even been
genetically enhanced."
"Are you suggesting that someone
has developed bio-engineering beyond
present levels in Boomer
technology?"
Arquin fell silent once again.
Quincy placed his fingertips together
in thought.
"It seems someone is after our
research." he mused aloud.
"Could it be that the Knight
Sabers are involved?" suggested Arquin.
"Perhaps they rendezvoused with
the intruders to collect the
prototype."
Quincy shook his head.
"For all the annoyance they have
caused us, they would never involve
themselves in corporate warfare, even
secretly."
"But sir, when it comes down to it, they are mercenaries, after
all."
"Whatever the reason, the Knight
Sabers are involved anyway. We can
only assume they now have the
prototype. I will get my own security
taskforce involved in retrieving it.
And as for you..."
Arquin paled visibly.
"Y-yes, s-sir?" he responded
shakily.
"You will find out how anyone
outside of CryoTech could have found out
about that project. Your secury
measures to date have been far from
impressive. Do not give me another
reason to call you to my office,
Roger Arquin."
Unable to respond verbally, Arquin
gave a curt nod and moved as
quickly as possible through the great
double doors without appearing
to be fleeing in terror.
Sylia opened the door to Mackie's room
to see him seated at a video
editing console on a swivel
chair.
"What is it, Mackie?" she
asked him.
Mackie looked over his shoulder at her
and smiled.
"Hi, sis. I got some footage you
may want a look at."
"From last night?" she said
dubiously. "I thought the Knight Wing's
surveillance cameras were switched
off."
Mackie turned in his chair to face
her.
"I had them on to monitor your
fight," he explained. "They were still
on during the flight back."
"And they caught something on the
ground?" she finished.
"Only just."
Mackie quickly swung around and
displayed a short video segment from
the forward view camera of the Knight
Wing as it sped away from the
fight scene. A panorama of burned-out
buildings and twisted roadways
passed before the screen, still in
disrepair from the great
earthquake. At one point, the display
showed a figure scrabbling over
a pile of rubble, pausing to look
directly at the Knight Wing before
it passed overhead. Mackie froze the
image at that point. Sylia leaned
closer to the screen in an attempt to
get a better look. After a
moment's study, she stood back and
shrugged.
"So, it's just some vagrant
wandering in the area," she said finally.
"But not even vagrants live in
that area," countered Mackie. "The
buildings are far too unstable. They
could collapse without warning.
Besides, he looks like he's running
from something."
Sylia took another close look at the
figure.
"You can't make out any detail
from this, not even gender," she
commented. "Were the night vision
scopes also running?"
"No. Not even the thermal imaging
camera. All we have to go on is this
piece of video."
"It's most likely not even
connected with the incident last night."
"He was heading away from the
scene. He may have seen something before
we arrived."
Sylia thought for a moment.
"Can you enhance this
image?" she asked.
"I can try. It shouldn't take too
long. How much detail do you want?"
"I want enough detail for an
ident computer to make a positive match
for his facial features."
Mackie punched a few keys on the
console and after a moment a computer
disk was ejected, containing the still
image from the video. He moved
over to his computer and powered it
up.
Sylia looked away from Mackie to take
a quick look around the room.
She had hardly ever been in his room
before. It was furnished mostly
with A/V equipment, including the
video editing console and his
computer. There was hardly any room
left over for a bed. She took note
of an open wardrobe door, inside which
were stacked several video
tapes with diagonal yellow and black
striping - security tapes.
"What are those tapes from?"
she asked inquisitively.
"They're from the internal
security camera in the equipment van," he
answered absently, too engrossed in
his work to even look up from his
computer.
Sylia walked over and picked up the
top video from the stack and
proceeded to place it in Mackie's VCR
machine. Mackie looked up from
the computer in shock as realisation
quickly set in.
"Sis! No, don't!
Uh..."
His words trailed off as she turned on
the TV and set the video
playing. She was greeted by the sight
of herself, Priss, Linna and
Nene, all in various states of undress
as they changed from their
normal clothes into the support suits
worn inside their hardsuits.
There was a few moments of tense
silence as neither Mackie or Sylia
even moved.
"Mackie," Sylia finally said
resignedly, "why can't you buy magazines,
like normal people?"
On the other side of the city from the
Genom arcology, in a
redeveloped sector, stood a recently
constructed building. The
building belonged to a company called
Max Pharmaceuticals, which was
re-opening its Japan branch after it
was demolished over forty years
ago. It was a modest-sized building,
only ten storeys high and
consisting of plain, spartan
architecture.
The entire top floor of the building
served as a control centre.
Numerous control and communication
panels were arranged to partition
the floor into numerous sections, and
each panel was manned by people
in yellow jumpsuits and visored
helmets. On a throne-like seat in the
main section sat a dark-skinned man
with thick silver-white hair. He
was immersed in reading some
freshly-printed reports when the elevator
doors at the centre of the floor
opened.
"Commander Gyro!" called out
a deep voice.
The dark-skinned man looked up as a
heavily-built man wearing a dark
suit strode towards him.
"Did you get the chip?"
asked Gyro expectantly.
"Sir our CryoTech informant was
correct. Our team broke into their
labs and stole the chip. However, our
team was intercepted and we no
longer have the chip."
Gyro was silent for a few
moments.
"Was it Fukamachi?" he asked
finally.
"No, sir. It was a group of
people in power armour."
"The Police?"
"They appeared to be vigilantes,
sir."
Gyro cursed under his breath.
"The Knight Sabers," he
hissed.
"That is what we believe,"
agreed the suited man.
"How did we attract their
attention?"
"It seems that any activity
involving Genom attracts their attention."
Gyro thought for another moment.
"We could find their home base
and strike there with several Zoanoid
teams," suggested the suited
man.
"No," replied Gyro quickly.
"We can't afford to get involved with
them. It would slow us down too much.
Have all agents keep alert for
the whereabouts of the chip. Avoid
conflict where possible for now.
And for God's sake, look out for
Fukamachi. We can't have him
complicating things
further."
"Yes, sir."
Gyro leaned forwards.
"We must have that chip at all
costs. It could prove to be the missing
link we're looking for."
"We'll recover it,"
reassured the suited man.
Priss awoke to the smell of something
cooking. She turned her head to
see that the sleeping bag on the floor
was sitting folded up on the
couch. Pushing the covers off, she
swung her legs off the bed and sat
upright, ducking her head slightly as
she did so. The trailer was
actually a converted truck transport
container. The truck cab, still
connected to the container, had long
since given up the ghost, so it
had more or less become a permanent
residence. The outside was adorned
with numerous pieces of graffiti, the
most prominent of which read
'Priss and the Replicants'. Inside was
a compact living area. Priss'
bed was set up in the ledge that sat
above the cab, making it
something like a bunk bed. The rest
consisted of modest furniture, a
large Hi-Fi unit, and a kitchen area
at the far end. Her motorcycle
was parked between the kitchen area
and the rest of the living area.
At that moment, Sho was busy toiling
over the small gas stove in the
kitchen.
Priss quietly got up and walked
towards the kitchen. She half sat and
half leaned on the motorcycle seat and
studied him from behind for a
moment. She noted absently the presence
of a hole in the left shoulder
of his shirt, but thought nothing else
of it.
"You look like you've done that
quite a few times before," she
commented. Sho smiled at her over his
shoulder.
"I used to, but I haven't cooked
in almost fort-"
He stopped suddenly, and his gaze fell
to the floor.
"In a long time," he
finished in a barely audible whisper.
Priss studied him for a moment longer,
then made a quick look around
the trailer. The place looked neater
than it had in a long time. All
her tapes and discs were stacked
neatly by her stereo. The various
clothes she normally had draped across
the floor and couch were folded
up and sitting in a pile next to the
sleeping bag on the couch.
"I didn't invite you round here
because I needed a servant, you know,"
she told him.
"Oh, this is just my way of
saying thanks for letting me stay here."
"For a street kid, you sure are
domesticated."
"I haven't always been without a
family. Besides, I'm not really what
you would call a street
kid."
"What would you call yourself,
then?"
Sho was silent for a moment.
"I'm... hard to
classify."
Priss grinned.
"You got that right. How old are
you?"
Sho thought about it for a moment or
so.
"Seventeen," he responded
quickly.
Priss raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure?" she
asked.
He blushed slightly.
"Hey, don't worry about it,"
she smiled. "I hardly remember my own
birthday sometimes."
"Can I ask you something?"
he asked hesitantly.
"Go right ahead."
"How long have you lived like
this? Lived alone?"
Priss paused for a moment.
"I lost both my parents in the
'quake when I was young. I spent a
while at an orphanage, but no family
would take me." She smirked. "Not
that I'd blame them. I ended up
running away. Being alone, I was
bitter and angry. My tendency was
towards violent solutions. The only
other release I had was through my
music."
"You don't strike me as the
exceedingly violent type," he commented.
Priss grinned again.
"I nearly shot you when I first
saw you, didn't I? Just like another
friend of mine. I have a great
technique for meeting people." Her mood
returned to sombre. "No, I am
different now. I have friends now,
something I thought someone like me
could never have. We're like a
family now. I have three sisters
now." She paused for a moment. "And a
pervert brother. You know, it's funny,
but when you're on you're on
your own, you get so pissed off how
no-one gives a damn about you,
until you realise you don't have to be
alone."
"Do you still sing for a
release?"
"Sure. Music's a great form of
expression. When I sing, I'm generally
expressing that I'm pissed off about
something. When I can't do
anything about it, I tell others about
it through my singing."
"When something annoys you, have
you ever wanted to do something about
it?"
Priss stopped herself. For a moment,
she almost felt like telling him
all about her involvement with the
Knight Sabers. She studied the
youth standing in front of her again.
He spoke and acted more mature
than a seventeen year-old. She knew
nothing about him, and yet she
felt she could trust him. But she
couldn't tell him. Only one other
person knew of her involvement, and
she didn't want to make a habit of
telling everyone she met.
"I can do something about
it," she answered finally, "through my
music. If there's at least one person
out there listening that can
make a difference, then I've done
something useful."
Sho nodded in understanding.
The smell of burning sausages quickly
brought Sho's attention back to
his cooking, and he turned back to
saving what wasn't burned. Priss
sat and watched him for a few moments
before breaking from her trance
and standing up.
"I have to leave right after
breakfast to meet up with my friends,"
she told him. "I'd invite you
along, except it's sort of a private
get- together."
"I understand," he replied
over his shoulder. "I'll be gone before you
get back."
"That's not what I meant. You're
free to stay here if you want."
Sho turned the gas stove off and
turned to face her.
"I'm sorry Priss, but I can't
stay here," he said finally. "I have to
keep moving."
"Why? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
He raised his hands defensively.
"I'm not a criminal, trust
me," he reassured her.
"I never said that. You just
sound like someone is after you."
"You could say that."
Priss stepped closer.
"Who?" she asked.
"Forget it," he said
quickly. "There's nothing you can do about it."
"It wouldn't hurt to tell me who
it is," she pursued.
He thought for a moment.
"It's a company," he
answered finally, "called Max Pharmeceuticals."
He looked at her closely. "Please
don't try to get involved."
"I'll only do what's within my
power," she promised him. "I won't get
in over my head."
"I'd rather you didn't do
anything at all."
"I tell you what," she
decided finally. "I won't get involved if you
stay for longer."
He thought about the offer.
"I won't be staying here
long," he said resolutely. "One or two days
at the most."
"If you move on, I
understand," she answered.
"Thank you, Priss."
Priss stepped away.
"Well, I'm not chaining you up
indoors. And if I come back to find
you've ironed my underwear, you're
gonna see how violent I can get."
Sho smiled.
CHAPTER THREE
"Sorry I'm late," apologised
Nene, closing the front door to Sylia's
apartment behind her as she
entered.
"Slept in again, Nene?" goaded Priss.
Nene shot Priss a look of
indignation.
"It's all right," smiled
Sylia reassuringly.
Nene hurriedly sat down on one end of
the sofa next to Linna.
"Very well then," began
Sylia, Picking up a small pile of looseleaf
papers from the table next to her.
"I'm sure you all understand that
last night's events were somewhat
unusual."
"It was definitely the cleanest
fight I've ever had," smiled Priss.
"If only we could train the
boomers to clean up after themselves after
we've finished trashing
them."
"If Genom were able to implement
such technology, they would do so,"
commented Sylia. "Imagine if a
Boomer failed in a sabotage or
corporate espionage mission and was
terminated. The body would be
conveniently disposed of, leaving no
evidence as to who or what was
responsible."
"So, what were we fighting last
night?" asked Linna.
"We have nothing further to go
on, so I can only stick to what I said
last night. They were organic creatures,
most likely artificially
created."
"I'd hate to think things like
those exist naturally," shuddered Nene.
"I agree. However, who created
them is still uncertain."
"What are the AD Police doing
about all this?" asked Priss.
"McLeod and Daley are in charge
of the investigation," informed Nene.
"They don't know anything other
than someone broke into the CryoTech
labs and stole something. Genom aren't
being very informative on who
the thieves might be or what was
stolen. Also, by the time they
arrived at the scene of the fight,
there was nothing but broken
Boomers."
"Why did they take so long in
getting there, anyway?" asked Linna.
"The CryoTech plant was clear
over the other side of town, in one of
the derilect districts," answered
Mackie, who was sitting on the
corner of the bed. "We only made
it in time because we used the Knight
Wing."
"And what about this mystery
person?" asked Priss. "He shows up out of
nowhere, blasts one of these creatures
to kingdom come and takes off.
How's he involved?"
Sylia sighed.
"The last thing we need right now
is more mysteries. I'm afraid I have
no idea on how he may be
involved."
"We could have asked him if Priss
hadn't have shot him," commented
Nene.
"He was running from us anyway!" snapped Priss. "Besides,
he shot me
first."
"Only because you were about to
skewer his brain -" Nene's response
was cut short by a pillow hitting her
in the face.
"Old habits die hard,"
grumbled Priss, lowering her arm.
"Besides," added Linna,
"it sounds to me like he wasn't aiming to hit
you, just to knock your aim off so he
could get away."
"Don't worry," said Sylia.
"I have a feeling we'll run into him again
sooner or later."
"Okay, then," reviewed
Linna. "These creatures stole this 'thing'. So,
since we've got it now, do we know
what it is?"
"I've done some preliminary tests
on it," replied Sylia. "The cylinder
contains a computer chip that utilises
organic material for its
processing and memory functions. It
appears to have been assembled
using a modified application of
existing nano-technology techniques."
"Modified? How?" asked
Priss.
"The normal process involves
augmenting an existing organic base by
introducing artificial components.
This modified technique appears to
involve starting with an electronic
base and introducing organic
elements to it."
"Haven't Genom been working with
that technology for a while now?"
asked Nene.
"They've applied it to musclature
and rudimentary neural systems for
some of their more advanced Boomers,
but they've never tried it on so
detailed a level before."
"So, what is it used for?"
asked Priss.
"As near as I can tell, it's some
form of control system.
Unfortunately, we need more powerful
equipment to give a better
analysis."
"Seems like a lot of trouble for
just a control system," commented
Priss.
"I have a feeling it's more than
that," returned Sylia.
"Is there any way we can take a
better look at it, then?" asked Linna.
"We could use the analysis labs
at AD Police headquarters," suggested
Nene. "The equipment there's
pretty much top of the line."
"What does the AD Police need an
analysis lab for?" asked Priss.
"AD Police is confiscating more
and more black market technology these
days. The labs were set up to analyse
and document the stuff as it
comes in."
"What happens to the tech once
it's gone through the labs, then?"
"It's all placed in high-security
storage underground, while the
reports on it are locked in a
top-access file."
"Which you've already hacked into
and read, I'll bet," smirked Priss.
"Hey, I've gotta keep myself
entertained somehow," replied Nene
matter- of-factly.
"I don't know," mused Sylia.
"You might get caught using the labs."
"It's all right," reassured
Nene. "I can arrange access with very
little fuss."
"Very well. But keep your use of
the facilities discreet."
"Anything else we need to
discuss?" asked Priss.
"Yes," added Sylia. "We
have someone I would like to find, someone who
may know more about our opponents last
night."
She held up a colour enlargement and
handed it to Nene to look at.
"This is a picture taken from one
of the surveillance cameras on the
Knight Wing. We don't know who he is,
or even if he's involved. But he
may have seen something that may help
us in finding out... what is it,
Priss?"
The picture had been passed around the
girls. When Priss saw it, she
stared at it intently with a look of
shock on her face.
"It's Sho!" she
exclaimed.
"The boy from the
orphanage?"
"No! It's a kid I met last night.
Sho Fukamachi." She studied the
picture again. "But that's
impossible!"
"What is it?" asked Nene
curiously.
"He was there for the last number I played at the show. That means
he
must have left about the same time I
did. But the fight only lasted
ten minutes, tops. There's no way he
could've gotten there that fast,
not even if he hitched a lift. The fight
was clear over the other side
of town!"
"Maybe he flew," suggested
Nene.
Priss glared at her.
"Hey, it was just a
suggestion," Nene shrugged.
"In any case," responded
Sylia after a moment's thought, "Sho may be
involved. However, we can't risk
spooking him, so I don't want a
confrontation with him just
yet."
"I'll have a word with him,"
spoke Priss. "One thing you may want to
check out, though. Sho mentioned
having trouble with a company called
Max Pharmaceuticals."
"Fine. I'll have it checked out.
In the meantime, Nene, I want you to
organise a time when you can use the
AD Police labs to analyse the
chip. And remember, we have to keep
this quiet."
"No problem. I can arrange it
this afternoon."
Sylia stood up.
"Well, that's all for today,
then. We'll meet up again tomorrow
afternoon. Until then, be
careful."
"So, what's the occasion?"
asked Sho.
Priss continued to cut a piece off her
steak.
"The occasion? I guess it's
because I'm hungry," she answered.
"It's just that I'm not used to
being invited to a restaurant with a
beautiful girl."
She smiled as she swallowed her
mouthful.
"I come here occasionally. They
serve the best steaks here. It would
be terrible of me if I didn't invite
you along."
"Well, thank you again,
Priss."
Both ate in silence for a short while.
Finally, Priss looked up at
Sho.
"Can I ask you something?"
she asked.
"What is it?"
"Why are you on the run? Is it
something you did to this
pharmaceuticals company?"
Sho looked down.
"I can't tell you," he said
dejectedly.
"Why?" she demanded.
"Dammit, Sho, I want to help!"
"You can't!" he
exclaimed.
Noticing they had begun to attract the
attention of some of the other
restaurant patrons, he quickly lowered
his voice.
"You can't," he repeated in
a near whisper. "I'm too dangerous to
those around me. If you get involved,
they'll come after you, too. I
like you, Priss. You've been kind to
me. I don't want to drag you into
this."
"Sho," began Priss. "I
can help you. I want to help you. But I can't
do zip unless you tell me what's going
on."
Sho shook his head.
"Forget it, Priss. It's too big.
There's no way you can help."
"And you think you can do it on
your own?"
"It's like you were saying
before. If only one person out there who
has the power to make a difference
listens to you, then you've helped.
Well, I have the power. Up until I
heard you sing last night, though,
I've been reluctant to use it. What
you've already done is enough
help."
"Sho, I don't know what kind of
power you have, but that doesn't make
you invincible. I was also talking
this morning about being alone. Do
you remember? Doing things on your own
can only make it harder for
yourself, especially if others are
willing to help you."
Priss leaned closer.
"You don't have to be alone.
Remember that."
Sho's attention to Priss was broken as
his gaze snapped to something
behind her, and his eyes widened in
fear.
"Oh, shit!" he
exclaimed.
"What?" asked Priss.
"They've found us!"
Priss turned around to see two large
men in dark suits striding
forcefully towards where they were
seated. Sho jumped to his feet and
grabbed Priss' arm.
"We gotta go! Now!" he
cried.
Priss leaped to her feet and ran
towards the kitchen, with Sho right
behind. The two men threw tables and
diners alike from their path as
they made a beeline for the fleeing
couple. Priss and Sho burst
through the kitchen door and ran for
the back door, tearing past
several bewildered kitchen
staff.
The back door was nearly knocked from
its hinges as they stubled into
the alley. Taking a moment to regain
her bearings, Priss pointed out
the alley entrance to Sho. By the time
the door slammed open again and
the two men emerged, Priss and Sho had
made it to the alley entrance
and were running out into the street.
Priss' bike was parked in front
of the restaurant. In one fluid
movement, she mounted the bike and
started it up with one kick. As Sho
clambered on the back behind her,
she turned around to see the two men
running out of the alley. She
reached behind her and pulled out her
gun with one hand, firing a
warning shot at their feet. Ignoring
the shot, the two men continued
to run at them without even slowing
down. Priss quickly turned back
around, still holding the gun in one
hand, and took off rapidly, Sho
remembering at the last moment to hang
on before he fell off the back
of the bike. The two men came to a
halt, watching the retreating
motorcycle.
CHAPTER FOUR
It was still only mid afternoon when
Sylia walked up to the front door
of 'Cest La Vie'. As she entered, the
early evening air gave way to
the smoke-filled atmosphere, slowly
circulated by an overhead fan. She
walked purposefully to the bar and sat
down next to a man with dirty
blonde hair and wearing a crumpled
suit. She proceeded to reach into
her handbag and pull out a
cigarette.
"I must say I'm impressed,
Fargo," she said to the man nonchalantly,
lighting the cigarette. "It only
took you half a day to get some
information."
Fargo, still staring into his drink,
gave a smile.
"It's not so hard, when someone
else has done the foundation work."
He pushed a disk across the bar to
Sylia, still not looking across to
her.
"These are the notes from a Mr.
Masaki Murakami, a freelance reporter
who seemed to have a vested interest
in Max Pharmaceuticals."
"Is this information
accurate?"
"I have no reason to distrust the
source."
"That's enough for me,
then."
"The lowdown," began Fargo,
"is that the only drugs Max
Pharmaceuticals would deal in is those
of the black market variety.
It's actually a front for the Japan
branch of an organisation known as
Chronos."
"Never heard of them,"
admitted Sylia bluntly.
Fargo nodded slightly.
"I'd never even heard of them
myself, until I dug up these files.
They're a world-wide organisation
that's set on world domination. To
that end, they deal in the genetic
'enhancement' of people, turning
them into creatures of inhuman
strength and abilities."
Sylia quickly recalled the creatures
they fought the night before.
"I've already met their handiwork,"
she stated. "How long has this
organisation been
operating?"
"It's hard to say. These files
are close to forty years old. Even when
they were written, Chronos already had
agents infiltrated into several
major organisations and government
bodies around the globe. They
probably even have agents inside
Genom."
"I don't get it," mused
Sylia, pausing to draw on her cigarette. "If
they've been running this long and
have agents in so many places, why
haven't they fulfilled their agenda
yet?"
Fargo smiled again.
"Ah. That's because someone's
been hampering with their plans."
"Who? This reporter?"
"Partly. The main reason is a
boy, called Sho -"
"- Fukamachi," finished
Sylia.
"You know him?" asked
Fargo.
"One of my associates is taking
care of him. How old is he now?"
"The files date him as being
seventeen years old, but that was forty
years ago."
"It seems," smiled Sylia
wryly, "that he is still seventeen years
old."
Fargo looked at her for the first
time.
"But that's impossible!" he
exclaimed.
"What else do the files say on
him?" asked Sylia.
Fargo regained his composure and
turned back to his drink.
"Very little else, except to say
that he's 'special' in some way. I
tried looking at his records, but very
little survived from the
'quake. All I could find was that his
mother died when he was very
young, and his father, Fumio
Fukamachi, disappeared under mysterious
circumstances. Other than that,
there's no record of his activities
less than forty years old. Basically,
he's a big question mark."
"I see," said Sylia.
"But it can't be the same Sho
Fukamachi," stated Fargo. "It must be a
relative, perhaps his son."
"Somehow, I doubt that," she
responded.
"In any case," he continued
undeterred, "one kid on his own couldn't
do much damage."
"In my line of work, it's not how
much damage you can do, rather it's
how annoying you can be."
Fargo gave a throaty chuckle.
"You thinking of taking them
on?"
"You know I can't answer
that."
"Well, read those files carefully
before you decide. These guys make
Genom look like Good Samaritans. They
may be a ruthless,
powermongering corporation, but at
least they have some morals. They
draw the line at genetic tampering of
unwilling human guinea pigs.
Chronos don't."
Sylia extinguished her cigarette in
the ashtray and stood up.
"Thank you for the
information," she said. "I'll deposit your fee in
the usual account."
Her phone rang just as she was opening
the car door. Pulling the phone
from her handbag, she switched it
on.
"Yes?"
"Sylia, it's Nene."
"Excellent timing, Nene. What
have you found out?"
Nene on the other end sounded
breathless.
"It's a bio-chip for mech linkage,
but it's much more than that. The
feedback control on it is amazing! It
makes the linkage systems on
33-S boomers look like kids' toys! You
could use this to to have any
weapon system contolled by
anything!"
"Or anyone," proposed
Sylia.
"Yes! It even provides precision
control for even large mechs! And you
can synchronise with any number of
weapon systems with the one chip!"
Sylia paused for a moment to consider
this.
"Nene, when you're done with the
analysis, I want you to destroy it,
as well as all records of
it."
There was a stunned silence at the
other end.
"But why, Sylia? We could use it
in our own hardsuits. It would
increase their performance by a
hundred percent or more!"
"Nene, this is black market
technology. USSD made those killer dolls,
and look at the trouble that caused.
This kind of technology must not
be allowed to exist."
"But why can't we -"
"If we're fighting to eradicate
this sort of thing, what does that
make us if we stoop to using it
ourselves?"
"Alright," replied Nene
dejectedly. "I'll get rid of it."
"Thank you. And report back to me
when it's done."
"Okay."
Sylia switched off her phone and
proceeded to get in the car.
"Sir!"
Reichmann Gyro looked away from the
console he was studying to see the
approach of a man in a simple
one-piece grey jumpsuit.
"What is it, Thancrus?" he
asked.
"Sir, our agent in AD Police
headquarters has located the chip. It is
currently in the analysis lab with
another officer."
Gyro turned to face Thancrus.
"Excellent. Tell him to recover
that chip at all costs."
"Also, Ramothis reports having
sighted Sho Fukamachi. He is with a
woman on a motorbike, heading to
sector three."
Gyro thought about this.
"Very well," he said finally.
"Capture the woman. If she is with
Fukamachi, holding her may give us
some leverage against him."
"Yes, sir," responded
Thancrus.
"Finally, everything is coming
together," said Gyro firmly.
Nene finished powering down the last
of the instruments, just as the
diagnostic computer began spewing
forth a detailed printout of the
results. She carefully collected all
of the printouts, and walked over
to a hatch labelled 'incinerator'.
Pressing a button, the hatch slid
open and she tossed the printouts into
the chute. She walked back to
the diagnostic computer and quickly
typed up a simple re-routing
algorithm to prevent the computer from
updating the master data file.
Once done, she deleted all local
records that the analysis labs were
ever used that day. She reached
underneath the computer and removed a
single diskette from the drive.
"The only copy of the analysis
data," she said to herself, turning the
disk over in her hand. "I'm sure
Sylia won't mind this momento."
Placing the disk in her pocket, she
walked over and tentatively picked
up the chip from the analysis
bench.
Suddenly the door whisked open.
"Who's in there?"
Fervently clutching the chip to her
chest, Nene spun around to see
Simons, a new recruit, standing in the
doorway.
"Oh, I... I was just running a
quick analysis on something we picked
up in sector three," she
stammered.
Simons smiled.
"I see. Well, I'll take it down
to the vault for you, then."
"It... it's alright," she
responded hesitantly. "I've been authorised
to take it there myself."
Simons' smile fell away.
"But I insist," he said
firmly, holding his hand out. "Give it here."
Nene backed up a step.
"Don't worry, I'll do it,"
she said tensely.
"Give it here, now!" he
snapped.
He made a desparate lunge at her, but
Nene leaped to the side,
slamming her palm down on a large
wall-mounted button. The lighting
switched to red, and an alarm sounded
throughout the building. She
quickly turned to face him, her back
to the wall.
"Who are you?" she demanded,
her voice shaking.
"Someone who's going to get very
angry if you don't give that chip
back," he replied venomously,
taking a step towards her.
She quickly dashed towards the still open incinerator and threw
the
chip in.
"Now you've done it!"
snarled Simons.
He ripped out of his AD Police
uniform, metamorphosing into a large
insectoid creature with a black
chitinous covering and two pairs of
multi-faceted eyes. Nene screamed. The
creature made a grab for her,
but she dropped to the floor and made
a mad scramble for the door.
At that moment, the door opened again
as an armed AD Police officer
rushed in. He stood in momentary shock
at the sight of the creature.
That moment was long enough for the
creature to spit a stream of
acidic liquid at the officer. He
dropped the rifle and fell back
screaming as his chest was eaten away
impossibly fast, lost in a cloud
of noxious vapours. Nene scampered for
the still open door, but was
clubbed from behind by one of the
creature's pincer-like hands. She
blacked out and went sprawling across
the floor. Picking her up and
slinging her across one of its
shoulders, the creature quickly exited
the lab. It entered the corridor to
the sound of more officers running
towards the lab. It spat more of the
corrosive liquid on the floor,
rapidly creating a new hole which it
promptly clambered down through.
By the time the officers had arrived,
the creature was gone, along
with Nene.
Priss drew her motorcycle to a halt in
a deserted side-street. She
quickly dismounted and turned to face
Sho.
"All right, what the hell is
going on?" she demanded. "I'm tired of
all this screwing around. Who were
those guys, and why were they after
you?"
"Let it be, Priss," pleaded
Sho, climbing off the bike. "I don't want
you involved."
"You don't get it, do you?"
she snapped. "It's too late for that. I've
already been dragged into this. Now
tell me what's going on!"
"What good would it do?" he
responded desparately. "There's nothing
you can do about it."
"Appearances can be
misleading," she said grimly. "I have more power
than you credit me with."
Sho studied her for a moment.
"Just who are you?" he asked
hesitantly.
"I'm a Knight Saber," she
responded firmly.
His eyes widened in shock.
"Then you were the one who shot
me!" he exclaimed. "I thought I
recognised your voice outside the
club!"
Priss hesitated.
"What the hell are you talking
about?" she asked, perplexed.
Sho took a step towards her.
"You want to know about me? Fine,
I'll tell you! I'm a monster, Priss!
I don't have any friends, because
they're all dead! I even killed my
own father! Are you happy, now that
you know?"
"Sho..." spoke Priss
apologetically, but she couldn't think of
anything else to say.
"Just leave me alone!" he
cried out, running blindly down the street
away from her.
"Sho!" called out Priss, just as he ducked into an
alleyway.
Cursing, she took off on foot after
him, leaving her bike parked out
on the street.
She reached the alley to find it
deserted. The alley was quite wide,
and opened at the other end onto
another street. Priss started running
down the alley after Sho.
"Going somewhere?"
She stopped and spun around to see the
same two men that had been
chasing them before, standing at the
alley entrance. Priss pulled out
her gun.
"What do you want?" she
demanded, aiming at the two men.
One of them stepped forward.
"Why, we want you," he said
simply. "As insurance, you understand,
against Fukamachi."
"You leave Sho out of this,"
she threatened. "He's just a boy."
Both men laughed.
"Forty years ago, he may have
been," spoke the other man. "Right now,
he's the biggest nuisance ever to
cross our path. Now, come quietly or
else."
"I think I'll... else,"
responded Priss, firing a shot directly
between the eyes of the first
man.
Instead of dropping dead, the man
began to increase in size, tearing
out of his suit. His face developed
large, jet black eyes and a short
snout, while thick hair sprouted over
his body. The end result looked
like a giant, humanoid bat. The other
man underwent an identical
transformation. Priss took a step back
in shock as the bullet wound in
the forehead of the first one closed
up, showing no sign of injury.
Then both creatures leaped forward,
one of them grabbing her gun and
the other pinning her to the
ground.
"We gave you the opportunity to
come quietly," he growled. "But you
will come with us,
nonetheless."
"Leave her alone!"
Priss and the two creatures looked up
to see Sho standing before them
in the alleyway.
"It's Fukamachi!" cursed the
one holding Priss. "Kill him quickly,
Ramothis!"
"Sho!" yelled Priss.
"Run for it!"
The creature called Ramothis stood
ready to fight Sho. After a short
pause, Sho charged in a blind run at
Ramothis. Ramothis stood with his
arms apart, ready to crush him in a
killer embrace.
"Sho!" called out Priss in
desparation.
"GUYVER!!" screamed
Sho.
At that instant, an invisible sphere
of force shot out around Sho,
cracking the asphalt beneath him.
Ramothis, caught inside the sphere,
was blasted backwards into a bloody
pulp, splattering against the
alley wall. Within the sphere an alien
suit of armour appeared from
nowhere, engulfing Sho. When he stood
up, he appeared as the blue
armour-plated humanoid Priss saw the night
before. Irritated, the
other creature jumped up and charged
at him. Sho jumped backwards and
cupped his hands together, aiming at
the creature. A silver globe
embedded in his belly began to shine
and a hum filled the air as a
globe of dark crackling energy
appeared in his hands. The globe shot
out with a shock wave, punching a
large hole through the chest of the
creature. The creature crumpled to the
ground, its body forcibly
bereft of life. Sho dropped his hands
and turned to face Priss. She
was sitting up on the ground,
speechless at the events that had just
unfolded before her.
"Sho..." said Priss.
Sho stood facing her for a moment
longer, then turned and ran down the
alley.
CHAPTER FIVE
The elevator door to the top level
opened, and Nene was escorted by
two large men in suits to a large
thronelike chair. Gyro smiled at her
approach.
"Ah, Miss Romanova. Welcome to
our reigonal headquarters."
"Who are you?" asked Nene
indignantly.
Gyro stood up and slowly walked
towards her.
"My name is Reichmann Gyro. I'm a
member of the council that runs
Chronos. I must say, you've been most
annoying. You destroyed the only
working prototype of that control
chip. Fortunately, the data you
saved on disk for us will assist us in
constructing one for
ourselves."
"What do you want with that
chip?"
"Don't concern yourself with
that. You will see for yourself later on.
In the meantime, I'd like for you to
enjoy our hospitality."
He nodded to the two men, and they
escorted Nene back to the elevator.
"This is not good," muttered
Sylia aloud. "Sho's disappeared, and
Nene's been abducted by one of
Chronos' agents."
"We have to rescue Nene!"
exclaimed Linna, perched expectantly on the
edge of Sylia's couch.
"But we don't know where they've
taken her," countered Mackie.
"I went back over the disk,"
informed Sylia. "Their original Tokyo
headquarters was demolished by Sho
some forty years ago. The area
where it used to be shows no sign of
reconstruction. They could be
based anywhere."
"But someone must know where they
are," reasoned Priss, who was
leaning against a wall.
"I do."
Everyone turned to see Sho standing in
the open doorway.
"I've been tracking Chronos'
movements in and around Japan. When they
set up another base of operations
here, I had to find it eventually."
"How did you get here?"
asked Priss.
"I followed you," he
answered simply.
Sylia took a step forwards.
"Do you know who we are?"
she asked.
Sho nodded.
"You're the Knight Sabers. Priss
told me." He lowered his head. "I'm
sorry about your friend. Had I known,
I would have tried to save her."
"Why?" asked Linna,
perplexed. "You didn't even know her."
"I've been protecting people from
Chronos for the last forty-two
years." He smiled weakly.
"It's sort of my job description."
"Who are you really?" asked
Priss.
Sho took a deep breath.
"I guess I did lie to you in a
way," he explained. "I'm not Sho
Fukamachi. At least, not the original
one. The real Sho died forty-two
years ago. Maybe I'm a clone, maybe
I'm something else. In any case,
I'm not Sho anymore. I'm a
Guyver."
"A Guyver?" repeated
Sylia.
"Forty-two years ago, I found
this strange object up on Mount
Narisawa. It turned out to be some
kind of living thing. It attached
itself to me, like a parasite, only
different. I can call on it any
time I want to protect me and give me
superhuman strength and
abilities." He gave a short,
mirthless laugh. "Not that it did much
good. I couldn't save my friends from
being killed. I couldn't save my
father from Chronos. All I could do
was kill him when it was too late.
At least it's been good at protecting
me. I've died more times than
I'd care to remember. I've been
dissolved, lobotomised, vapourised,
dismembered, and worse. Each time,
I've been completely regenerated by
it. It's a part of me, now. It even
prevents cellular degredation.
That's why I've been seventeen for the
last forty-two years."
There was a tense silence.
"So," began Linna,
"you're immortal?"
"Not exactly. I can be killed,
and a lot easier than you think. The
Guyver has to be activated in order to
regenerate me. If I'm killed as
I am now, that's it. Also, a control
medallion attaches to my brain
when I activate it." He tapped
his forehead. "That is what allows me
to control the Guyver. If that is
removed, the Guyver goes rogue and I
am absorbed into it."
Sylia considered what had been
said.
"How does this tie in with
Chronos?" she asked.
Sho turned to face her.
"How much do you know about
Chronos?" he asked inquisitively.
"We know that they are a secret
world-wide organisation bent on world
domination."
Sho nodded.
"That's essentially correct.
However, they are aiming for more than
that. Chronos were the first to learn
of a race known euphemistically
as the Creators. The Creators had
arrived on Earth millions of years
ago to conduct genetic experiments in
the creation of a new race.
Their end result was the human
race."
"We were created?" said
Priss incredulously.
"So it appears. Anyway, one day
they simply vanished, leaving behind
several artifacts of their work.
Chronos had dug up some of these
artifacts. They believe that it was
not the Creators' intentions to
finish there with the human race,
rather they were a solid base for
the next evolutionary step. It is
Chronos' intention to accelerate
that step by employing the same
genetic engineering used by the
Creators to change all of mankind into
Zoanoids."
"Zoanoids?" said
Sylia.
"Those creatures that you fought
last night," he explained. "They were
once human, but have since given up
that 'disability'" - he spat the
word out venomously - "to become
stronger and faster."
"And uglier," added Priss
wryly.
A chill ran up Sylia's spine.
"They intend to turn all of
mankind into these creatures?" she asked
fearfully.
Sho nodded.
"They intend to ultimately stage
a global coup, with their agents
infiltrated into key installations all
over the world. Once that's
done, they can begin the task of
converting all of humanity into
Zoanoids as the next evolutionary
step."
"That's horrible!" exclaimed
Linna.
"However," continued Sho,
"there is one bio-engineering feat that
Chronos have been able to replicate, a
technology superior to their
present standards. The Creators left
behind three prototype units.
These units are a kind of organism
that attaches to a host and
basically turns them into a
near-perfect fighting machine."
"And you stumbled upon one of
them," finished Sylia.
Sho nodded slowly.
"What happened to the other
two?" asked Mackie.
"One was used by an agent of
Chronos. But the control medallion for
that unit was damaged, and he became
consumed by the Guyver."
Priss shuddered at the thought.
"The other is being used by a
person called Agito Makishima. He's
somewhere in America, I think,
fighting Chronos there."
"So, he's a friend of
yours?" asked Linna.
"Uh... sort of."
Another moment of silence passed.
Finally, Sylia spoke.
"Sho, as you already know, one of
our members has been kidnapped. We
must rescue her, but we don't know
where she is being held. I'm asking
for your help to get in there and get
her out."
"Of course I'll help you,"
replied Sho promptly. "But on one
condition."
"Which is?"
"That you assist me in destroying
the Mega-Tokyo branch of Chronos."
"Agreed."
Sylia extended her hand, and Sho shook
it firmly. She then turned to
Mackie.
"Mackie, I want the Knight Wing
prepped and ready to go ASAP. Kit up
the suits, including
yours."
"Right, sis," responded
Mackie, jumping off the bed to the door.
"The rest of you," continued
Sylia, "I want to meet up at Doctor
Raven's garage in one hour. Don't all
leave here together. Sho can
travel with Priss. Once we
re-converge, Sho can give us details on the
location and we will discuss our plan
of attack then. Any questions?"
There was a short pause.
"Right, then. Let's
go."
As they got up to leave, Sho walked
over to Priss.
"Sho," began Priss uneasily,
"about last night. When I shot you..."
Sho smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry about it," he
said.
He pulled his shirt down off his left
shoulder and showed his back.
There wasn't even a scar to show where
the spine had hit him.
"I've had far worse injuries than
that before," he explained.
"I wish I could recover from
injuries that fast," she said
appreciatively.
Sho's face darkened.
"It's not worth losing your
humanity for," he said grimly.
Priss looked up at him in
surprise.
"What makes you think you're not
human?" she demanded.
"Do humans come back from the
dead? Do they fire energy beams and
crush skulls?"
"Sho, you have to stop looking at
the things that make you different
and start looking at the things that
make you the same as everyone
else. Being human isn't just about
having the DNA of one. It's also
about feeling like one. You're a damn
sight more human than some
people I know."
Sho sighed and smiled at her.
"Thanks, Priss."
Priss slapped him on the back.
"Well, come on then! Let's kick
some Zoanoid butt!"
The recently redeveloped sectors of
Mega-Tokyo were teeming with
people, all on their way to their
local evening hangouts. Far above
them, hardly a sound marked the
passage of the Knight Wing. The dark
shape moved effortlessly across the
night sky, heading unerringly in
the direction of Chronos' new
Mega-Tokyo headquarters.
On board the Knight Wing, the Knight
Sabers made final preparations
for the assault. They were seated in
the carrier bay on one of the
benches, suited up but with their
helmets off. At one end of the bay
Mackie's power armour was stowed. It's
design was based on the AD
Police's own K12 armour, only scaled
up. Heavy armour plating was
used, and the frame strength was
increased. A large case was also
mounted on its back, which presently
held Nene's hardsuit. Its primary
role of support could easily be
misguiding, however, if one focused
their attention instead on the 20mm
cannon carried on one arm. Sho sat
next to Priss, listening as Sylia gave
last-minute instructions.
"Once we're inside, split up to
cover as much ground as possible. That
should keep their security forces
thinly spread out also. Priss, you
and Sho enter from the ground floor.
Linna, you make your own entrance
from the fifth floor. Mackie, you're
with Linna."
"Right, sis," replied Mackie
from the cockpit.
"And I'll enter from the
roof," she finished.
"I need to go down to the
basement," added Sho. "The Zoanoid
processing tanks should be there, and
I have to make sure they are
destroyed."
"Okay. Make sure Priss stays with
you, so you can keep in touch with
the rest of the group. Now, our
primary objectives are to rescue Nene
and destroy that chip. According to
Sho, the holding cells should be
on one of the middle floors. We also
need to find the lab, or wherever
it is they are keeping the chip. We
have to destroy the chip and any
records they have on it. Once that's
done, we must withdraw from the
building. I will send the control code
and the Knight Wing will be
called in for a tactical strike on the
building."
"Please be careful of Gyro,"
warned Sho. "He is a Zoalord, able to
telepathically control the minds of
all Zoanoids. He is more than a
match even for me."
Sylia nodded.
"We all have to be very
careful," she noted. "I would have liked to
use the Motoroids, but fighting within
the building is simply too
close quarters for them to be of any
use. Watch out for any
surprises."
"Sis! We're coming up on the
building," informed Mackie.
"Okay. Set us down on nearby,
then get into your suit."
The building itself appeared
relatively unguarded. In fact, the entire
building appeared highly unremarkable,
its simple countenance hiding
the dark identity of its occupants.
The Knight Wing touched down on
the roof of a nearby building. The
entry ramp lowered, allowing the
Knight Sabers to disembark. With
Mackie the last to exit, the ramp
closed. Under remote guidance from Mackie's
power armour, the Knight
Wing took to the air. Sho stood away
from the group as they studied
the building.
"GUYVER!!" called Sho.
As before, there was a rush of air as
the alien suit of armour
appeared around him. After a brief
moment, the Guyver walked back
towards the group. Everyone watched
the transformation in amasement.
"Wow," was all Mackie could
say.
Sylia simply shook her head in
appreciation. As everyone turned back
to face the building, she stepped
forward.
"Knight Sabers - go!"
To be continued...
Hi there, everybody!
Well, as you might have guessed by this posting, I'm back from my
holidays over in England and trying to get back into the swing of
University. *sigh* This also means I can get to work on finishing this
story. For those of you who have waited patiently for this story's
continuation, thanks for waiting so long.
Anyway, this is the second last installment of Heart of the Beast. As
always, comments/criticisms/praises/flames are welcome. If you have
missed any chapters, you can find the entire story (as written so far)
at http://www.cage.curtin.edu.au/~jphil/fanfic.html
As always, enjoy. :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bubblegum Crisis /
Bio-Booster Armour Guyver:
THE HEART OF THE
BEAST
By Jeremy
Phillips
(aka: Sailor
Uranus)
Original Character designs by Sonoda
Kenichi and Yoshiki Takaya
CHAPTER SIX
A klaxon sounded throughout the
building. In the control centre,
Reichmann Gyro stepped towards one of the console operators.
"What's going on?" he
demanded.
"We have a security breach, sir.
Someone has forced their way into the
building from the ground and fourth floors, and another has landed on the
roof."
"Who?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Give me visual," he
ordered.
One of the monitors flickered to a view from one of the security cameras
in the lobby. It showed two figures tearing several Zoanoid guards apart.
One was encased in a blue combat suit, firing some sort of high-speed
kinetic energy weapon mounted in one arm, while the other was busy
slicing
guards apart curved blades extending from its blue armour-clad arms.
"Fukamachi," cursed Gyro under
his breath. "Alert all Zoanoid teams!
Intercept those two before they reach the basement!"
And then part of the ceiling exploded.
Linna and Mackie arrived at a
T-intersection in the corridor. One
direction led to a stairwell going up.
"You go up," said Mackie.
"I'll work my way down from here."
"Okay," said Linna, taking off
down the corridor.
Mackie made it as far as around a
corner when he was sprung upon by a
large Zoanoid, looking for all the world like a pit fiend from the lowest
levels of Hell. It squirted a green liquid at him from its horns. Mackie
twisted to one side, the liquid hitting him on the arm. It began
furiously eating away the armour there. Mackie hurriedly detached the
corroded armour plate with a quick release system before it could spread,
leaving the underlying frame exposed. The Zoanoid leaped at the
opportunity, making a grab for the damaged arm. Mackie evaded by falling
on his back. Just as the Zoanoid was about to fall on top of him, he
pivoted his jump jets and fired.
Power armour the size of Mackie's was
never meant to fly. Ignoring the
fact that it had all the aerodynamics of a brick, its mass was simply too
great. Thrusters were nowhere near effective enough. As a consequence,
jump jets were used to provide short periods of flight. Their principle
of operation was simply brute force over gravity. The main drawback with
this approach is that the surface from which the power armour launches
itself from can be compromised if insufficient care is taken. When the
launch surface is organic, things can get messy. This was clearly
demonstrated as the charred remains of the Zoanoid were blasted backwards
down the corridor, and Mackie was propelled in the other direction. After
his momentum slowed to a stop, he picked himself up and checked down the
scorched corridor. Not seeing any sign of more Zoanoids, he continued
down the corridor.
Priss and Sho arrived in the basement
with no sign of resistance. The
entire basement had a high vaulted ceiling, giving it an almost
cavern-like feel. The floor was lined with row after row of cylindrical
glass storage tanks, each holding a person suspended in a
hyper-oxygenated fluid. Several electrodes were attached to various parts
of their bodies, displaying readouts on the front of each tank. The most
shocking part was that none of them were even human. Some exhibited only
minor differences; the development of horns, discolouration of the skin,
or elongation of the face into a snout. Others were no longer even
humanoid in shape. Priss stepped off from the base of the stairwell and
slowly looked around, her visor hiding the look of horror on her face.
"What the hell is this place?"
she exclaimed.
"They're Zoanoid processing
tanks," answered Sho. "Volunteers and guinea
pigs alike are placed in these tanks. The fluid contains enzymes that
sustain them and alter them at the genetic level, turning them into
Zoanoids. They can control the end product by altering the fluid
content."
"What do you intend to do? Reverse
the process?"
Sho shook his head slowly.
"The process is irreversible. I
wish it wasn't. Then maybe I could have
saved my father."
"That's what they did to your dad?
Turned him into one of these...
things?"
"And no ordinary one at that, He
was designed to dissolve the bio-booster
armour and kill me?"
"He was made to kill you?!"
exclaimed Priss.
Sho nodded solemnly.
"But you killed him instead,"
she finished softly.
"He actually had killed me. But
when I died, the Guyver took over while
it repaired the damage to me. By the time I regained consciousness, the
Guyver had already killed my father."
He clenched his fists in anger.
"Up until then, I only used the
Guyver to protect myself and my friends
and family. When they killed my friends and I killed my only family, I
swore that I would see to it that Chronos was destroyed for good."
"Sho..." whispered
Priss.
Sho looked up.
"Zoanoids are an abomination of
humanity. We must destroy all these tanks
and their occupants."
Priss looked solemnly at the tanks as she walked past them.
"I can't believe that someone could
do this kind of thi-"
The words stuck in her throat as her blood froze in her veins. Nene
Romanova floated in one of the tanks, oblivious to the outside world.
"NENE!!" screamed Priss as she
charged towards the tank.
"Priss, wait!" warned
Sho.
Priss smashed into the side of the tank, causing the fluid to come
flooding out. She gingerly picked up Nene's naked form and placed her on
the ground, removing those electrodes still attached.
"Will she be all right?" asked
Priss expectantly.
"I can't tell without a close
examination," admitted Sho. "There are no
signs of physical mutation, so she should be okay."
Priss detached her rail gun to free her hand and placed it against Nene's
skin. It felt cold and clammy. She quickly opened her comms channel.
"Mackie," she instructed
sharply, "we're in the basement. We've found
Nene. Get your butt down here, now!"
"But Priss," crackled the
reply, "I'm five floors above. It'll take some
time to get down to you."
"Then take a shortcut!"
She switched off the comms channel back off before Mackie could protest.
She looked down to see Nene resting on her hands and knees, coughing the
fluid out of her lungs.
"You all right?" Priss asked her,
deeply concerned.
Nene looked up at her.
"P-Priss?" she said softly.
"Yeah, I think I'm okay."
She tried to stand up, but fell backwards when she caught sight of the
Guyver.
"It's all right," reassured
Priss. "It's Sho. He's on our side. Sho,
help her up please."
As Sho bent over and picked her up, two silver globes mounted either side
of the Guyver's head swivelled in their grooves to point behind him. He
quickly spun around, still carrying Nene.
"Zoanoid!" he hissed.
Priss looked over her shoulder to see a reptilian beast with large
shoulder pods, identical to the creature they had encountered the night
before. It's shoulder pods were open and the bio-lasers were charging to
fire. Priss glanced down at her rail gun, still lying on the floor, and
realised she would not be able to grab it and fire in time.
Before the Zoanoid could fire,
however, the ceiling above it was blown
asunder as a one-ton power armour performed a three-point landing on top
of it, crushing the Zoanoid. Mackie stood up and faced the trio.
"I got here as fast as I
could," he said.
Priss stepped forward and looked up where Mackie had made his entrance.
Directly above, similar holes had been blasted through four other floors.
"Nice shortcut," smirked
Priss.
"I passed Zoanoids like you
wouldn't believe on the way down here,"
informed Mackie, "In a few moments, this place is gonna be a war
zone."
Priss nodded.
"Mackie, open the case," she
instructed.
Mackie detached the container attached to the back of his power armour.
It popped open, revealing Nene's hardsuit. Priss turned to Nene.
"Nene, things are gonna get ugly
soon."
She quickly glanced around at the half-formed creatures in the tanks.
"Make that uglier. Can you
fight?"
Nene nodded her head slowly.
The smoke and dust cleared as Sylia
stood up slowly, facing Gyro.
"You are Reichmann Gyro, one of the
Leaders of the Chronos?" she asked
flatly.
Gyro stepped forward, taking a gracious bow.
"It seems my reputation precedes
me. You are, I presume, the Knight
Sabers. I trust this is not a social visit?"
"I am here to destroy you,"
she responded, raising her arm cannon.
Before she could fire, a hum filled the air, A large Zoanoid landed
before
her, bringing one of its sword-like arms down on her cannon arm. The
sword pierced metal and flesh alike with little resistance. Sylia
screamed
in pain, the sword feeling as if it were red-hot. The Zoanoid pulled its
sword back and Sylia fell backwards, clutching her wounded arm. Gyro
simply smiled.
"I cannot let you kill me," he
said simply. "I still have much more work
to do. And I can't let some pathetic group of vigilantes in high-heeled
power armour slow me down."
"You don't have the chip anymore,
though," hissed Sylia through the haze
of pain.
Gyro laughed.
"Ah, but your compatriot was kind
enough to give us a full analysis
of the chip's construction. It won't be long before we can build it
ourselves."
"What do you want with
it?"
"You don't even know that? Very
well. That chip means a lot more than
Genom even knows. Our analysis indicates it could even be used to link a
human host to control another biological system. There is only one other
device in existence on this planet which can perform this function, and
this is the Guyver's control medallion." He tapped his forehead. "This
bio-chip is very primitive by comparison, but it is a very important
starting point. By gradually improving its design, we will be able to
mimic the Creators' success with the first three unit-G prototypes. With
the Guyver perfected, Chronos will finally control the world."
"I'll be damned if I let that
happen!" exclaimed Sylia.
"And so you will be damned. For now
you must die. Thancrus, dispose of
her."
He snapped his fingers, and the Zoanoid called Thancrus stepped towards
Sylia, swords raised and humming. Sylia stood ready, her uninjured right
arm raised as if to block a sword swing. Just as Thancrus was
about to deliver the killing stroke, Sylia activated her Kotetu blade.
The
sturdy blade hummed as it swung out from its protective housing in the
forearm, snapping into place just below her power hand. She blocked
Thancrus' swing, a high keen sounding out as vibroblade met vibroblade.
Perturbed by the change in events, Thancrus brought its other sword
forward in a stabbing motion. Sylia ducked to one side of the thrust,
knocking the other sword away with her own. Before Thancrus could strike
again she jumped backwards, landing in a fighting stance. Snarling,
Thancrus charged in.
All hell was breaking loose in the
basement as hordes of Zoanoids
fought against one of the most frightening fighting forces imaginable: a
Guyver, a power suit with a 20mm cannon, and a pissed-off Priss. They
were
pinned down in one corner of the room by sheer numbers, assaulting them
from all directions. Nene remained in the background for support, taking
pot shots at the occasional Zoanoid with the machine gun pod mounted on
her
left arm. By this time all of the tanks had been destroyed, caught in the
crossfire and in some cases by stray fire. The floor of the basement was
covered in a mixture of fluid and blood, and littered with fragments of
broken glass.
"This is great!" exclaimed
Priss, punching a hole through another
charging Zoanoid with her knuckle bomber. "We can't keep this up
forever!
What do we do now?"
"We have to make a break for it and
regroup with the others," replied
Mackie. "All we need is an opening.
"I'll make us an opening,"
said Sho. "Just be ready to run when it
appears."
Priss, Mackie and Nene watched with morbid fascination as Sho grabbed his
two front chestplates and pulled them open. The organic membranes holding
them together pulled apart to reveal two large circular lenses. The air
around him seemed to crackle with unseen energy as the lenses pulsed with
an inner light. Suddenly, an intense column of energy shot out, cutting a
path through the main Zoanoid force. Those unfortunate enough to be
caught in the beam were instantly vaporised. Those nearby shrieked in
pain as their skin cracked and bubbled from the intense heat emanating
from it. In an instant the destruction ceased, leaving a clear path
across
the basement level littered on either side with dead Zoanoids. Priss,
Mackie and Nene stood agape as Sho staggered from the exertion.
"Go! Now!" he gasped.
As Mackie and Nene dashed for the other side, Priss helped Sho up and
activated her suit thrusters, propelling them along the path. Some
Zoanoids rose to prevent the group from escaping. One of them made a leap
at Mackie, but he fired at it with his 20mm cannon. The shot messily
severed the top half of the Zoanoid from the bottom half, the remains
falling unceremoniously to the ground.
The group finally made it to the other
side of the basement, near the
stairwell. Priss looked over at Sho, who still had his arm around her for
support, then towards Mackie.
"Where's the rest of the
group?" she asked.
"Linna should be on the fifth
floor, and sis is on the top floor."
"Okay. Let's head up to
fifth."
As they moved to leave, an explosion knocked Priss back. Blood sprayed
across her visor, coming from next to her. She looked over to see Sho
blown backwards, his chest blasted open and spilling blood onto the
ground.
"Sho!" she cried out.
She looked up in time to see a dark figure firing a projectile at her.
She
threw herself sideways just as the projectile exploded, tearing her side
armour and cutting into her flesh. She fell to the ground, grunting in
pain. Mackie swung around to bring his cannon to bear, only to catch
another projectile in the chest. The heavy armour managed to absorb most
of the blast before it penetrated the internal structure, but he was
still
blown off his feet. The figure stepped forward, revealing itself to be a
Zoanoid with large pods on its forearms from which the projectiles of
biochemical explosives were launched. It briefly looked over Sho's
motionless form, then over at Priss as she struggled to stand up. It
raised one of its arms, aiming a pod at her head, and prepared to fire.
Nene had been unable to move. When the
Zoanoid had killed Sho and
injured Mackie and Priss, she had become flooded with a mixture of
conflicting emotions, so much so that she thought she would burst. Just
as it was about to deliver the killing blow, something inside her
clicked.
She screamed.
It wasn't a scream of pain, rather it was a scream of pure rage. Priss
looked up in time to see the Zoanoid knocked down by a flying pink and
red form. It tried to throw her off, but Nene smashed it in the with the
machine gun pod, firing at the same time. It thrashed momentarily, then
stopped moving. Nene got up slowly, her breath coming in shallow gasps as
she remained trapped in a paroxysm of anger. She turned to see those
Zoanoids still alive from the other side of the basement rising to face
them again. Without a word, she charged headlong into the group.
"Nene!" cried out Priss,
getting unsteadily to her feet.
She looked behind her to see Mackie, a large section of his chest armour
blown away, getting up.
"Mackie, help her!" she called
out to him.
"Okay!" he responded, running
into the fray.
Priss looked down at Sho, lying in an ever-increasing pool of blood.
There
was a large hole in his upper torso, gouged past where his heart used to
be. There was no doubt that he had been killed instantly. She fought back
the tears as she knelt down beside him.
"I guess that makes another friend
lost," she whispered. "I'm sorry,
Sho. I wish I could have saved you, at least."
She leaned over to pick up his body.
The Guyver's hand shot up to grab her shoulder.
"Linna!"
The sudden call on her comms channel brought her up short near the corner
of a corridor.
"What is it, Sylia?" she
responded.
"Chronos doesn't have the
chip," informed Sylia quickly, "but they have
an analysis disk on it. Don't waste you time trying to find the chip, get
the disk."
"Sylia, are you okay? You sound out
of breath."
"My hands are full at the moment.
Hurry, we have to be out of here soon."
Sylia's comms channel turned off in an instant, leaving no provision of a
further explanation. Linna picked up her cautious sprint down the corridor
again, surprised at the lack of resistance. She had decided it was better
to move swiftly to avoid detection, than to move cautiously to avoid
getting trounced. All the while , the alert siren continued to whine.
She finally arrived at the door to the
laboratories. The steel
reinforced appeared to be locked securely. Ensuring no-one was around to
surprise her, she walked up to the door and punched the lock with her
knuckle bomber. The door swung violently open, smashing into the wall. As
she stepped inside, her audio receptors picked up the faintest trace of a
noise behind her. She leaped forwards just as a large Zoanoid smashed
into the spot she was just standing, cracking the concrete. She spun
around to see the monstrosity charging at her. She did a somersault over
the Zoanoid's shoulders, activating her ribbons as she did so. The
ribbons became energised, inducing a mono-molecular filament edge. As
they
fell across the Zoanoid, Linna jerked them with her own momentum,
slicing its torso into three neat
sections. The Zoanoid collapsed, its
internal organs spilling out onto the ground. Linna looked around for
more
Zoanoids. Unable to see any more, she proceeded to the lab terminal,
where a disk lay upon the console. Grabbing the disk, Linna buried her
knuckle bomber in the console. A flurry of sparks exploded from the
remains, showering the lab. Satisfied at the results, Linna ran back out
of the room.
Straight into a waiting squad of Zoanoids.
"Sho!" cried out Priss in
surprise, trying to pull away.
The Guyver froze, then released her shoulder. Priss fell backwards, and
watched in horror as the Guyver started to get to its feet. It's chest
was still blasted open, but it was as if it simply wasn't aware it should
be dead.
At that moment, a Zoanoid broke away
from the fight nearby and charged
at the prone duo. The Guyver leaped into the air from a crouch, extending
a blade from one of its elbows as it brought the elbow down upon the
Zoanoid's head. The blade hummed as it sunk through the creature's skull,
killing it instantly. The Guyver tore the blade from its head in a spray
of blood as the corpse fell to the ground. The Guyver looked to see if
any other Zoanoids were coming to attack him. Not seeing any other
threats, it turned to leave.
"Sho! Wait!"
Priss scrambled to her feet, grabbing the Guyver's arm to stop him from
leaving. The Guyver responded by extending its elbow blade again and
whipping its arm around. Priss quickly withdrew her arm before her hand
could be sliced off. The Guyver turned to face her in a fighting stance.
Priss backed off a step.
"Sho! Snap out of it! I can't fight
you!" she exclaimed.
It charged.
Even with the number of opponents
reduced considerably from the first
fight, things were going downhill. With his chest armour blown away,
Mackie was unable to fight properly, spending most of his time defending
blows. His cannon had already been emptied of shells, so he had begun
using it as a club. As one Zoanoid charged at his side, he swung the
cannon at it. It connected with the creature's head with bone-crunching
force, snapping its neck and knocking it backwards. His armour became
more and more battered as the fight wore on. His right arm no longer
functioned, the control circuitry having been torn from the hole in his
shoulder armour.
Mackie caught a glimpse of Nene during
the fighting. She was getting
stuck into one Zoanoid with an arm torn from one of the hapless creatures
being used as a club. She finished beating it into a bloody pulp,
ignoring the assaults of the other Zoanoids upon her. Her hardsuit was
worn and battered almost beyond recognition, and thoroughly splattered in
blood.
Suddenly, as if in answer to an
unheard summons, the Zoanoids broke
off the attack and made a hasty retreat up the stairs. Mackie stood
bewildered for a moment, then quickly turned to Nene. She stood rooted to
the spot, the rapidly-dissolving bodies of Zoanoids scattered around her.
He started to move towards her, and she spun to face him aggressively.
"Nene!" exclaimed Mackie,
backing up a step. "It's Mackie!"
Nene froze, slowly straightening up.
"Ma... Mackie..." she spoke
softly, as if in a daze.
She then collapsed on the spot. Mackie rushed forward and scooped up her
unconscious form. He looked over to Priss, just as she dodged another
energy bolt thrown at her by the Guyver. The hole in its chest was much
smaller than before, and had already almost completely closed up. He
looked on momentarily in bewilderment.
"Priss!" he called out.
"What the hell's going on?"
"This thing's... on
auto-pilot..." she panted. It was taking all her
concentration and energy just to avoid getting hit, and the Guyver didn't
appear to be slowing.
"Get Nene... out of here... I'll...
keep him... busy."
"No way!" he retorted. He lay
Nene on the ground and started to rush
towards them.
"Mackie! Get... out of here!"
she cried out breathlessly, looking over
at him.
In that moment of distraction, the
Guyver fired a narrow bolt of energy
from its forehead. It connected with Priss' shoulder, piercing the armour
and emerging the other side. Priss cried out in pain, falling backwards
onto the ground. The Guyver cupped its hands together, and the silver
globe embedded in its abdomen started vibrating again as a globe of
black energy began to form.
"Priss!" yelled Mackie.
Throwing his cannon at the Guyver, he
broke into a thunderous dash
towards Priss. The Guyver redirected its aim at the incoming projectile,
blasting it before it could even get near it. It turned back to see
Mackie
scoop up Priss with his power armour's remaining functional arm and
continue running away from it. The Guyver summoned forth another globe of
energy, this time aimed at Mackie. Knowing he could not dodge the blast,
Mackie threw Priss in front of him and activated his suit's emergency
release. The emergency bolts blew, popping open the front of the power
armour and thrusting Mackie forwards. He dived behind Priss just as the
Guyver fired. The shot hit the power armour before it even had time to
fall to the ground. It tore through the suit's primary systems,
destroying
the power plant. The suit exploded, showering debris in all directions
across the room. Priss sat up slowly, propping herself up with her good
arm as several sharp fragments bounced off her hardsuit. Mackie looked up
from behind her at the smoking remains of his power armour.
"Well, sis is gonna be pissed off
about this," he said solemnly.
On the other side of the basement, the Guyver stood rooted to the spot,
staring in their direction. It quickly sprang into motion, breaking into
a run towards them.
"I've had enough of this
shit," moaned Priss, trying unsuccessfully to
stand up.
"Why's Sho trying to kill us?"
asked Mackie, bewildered.
"It's not Sho. It's the Guyver.
It's in charge while he's out of the
action."
They both looked back to see the Guyver stop in front of them. They drew
back as it extended its hand towards them.
"You okay?" asked Sho.
Thancrus collapsed to its knees, one
of its sword-hands pressed against
a gaping hole in its chest. It toppled forwards to lie motionless at
Sylia's feet. She breathed in ragged gasps, her hardsuit covered in cuts
and knicks, and her blade dripping with dark ichor. She looked up at the
sound of clapping to see Gyro in mock applause.
"Oh, well done," he
patronised. "I am impressed that your technology
fares surprisingly well against an enhanced Zoanoid. However, this tirade
must end now."
He snapped his fingers, and every door to the main chamber burst open.
Within moments, the entire perimeter of the room had been filled with
Zoanoids of almost every shape and form. They stood ready to attack on
Gyro's command. Sylia quickly glanced either side of her, then turned
back
to face Gyro.
"All this for one woman?" she
said dryly.
Gyro waved his hand in the air dismissively.
"I could be chivalrous and fight you one-on-one, but I have no desire
to
waste my time with you."
"If you kill me," she warned
him, "I'll make sure that you come with me."
Gyro smiled evilly.
"That is something I would like to
see," he retorted.
As he raised his hand to signal the attack, Sylia activated her remote
guidance unit and transmitted the strike command to the Knight Wing.
"Sir!" called out one of the
few remaining people manning the monitoring
consoles. "We have four... five... six incoming missile locks. All
on
this floor!"
Gyro's hand faltered as he stared in shock at Sylia.
"You were warned," she said
coolly.
Before anyone could react, a series of
explosions tore through the
room. The ceiling and walls were blown inwards, as the entire room was
swept in a wall of flame. Sylia was blown backwards off her feet just as
a section of ceiling collapsed on top of her. The rest was lost in the
fiery conflagration.
To be concluded ...
At last, the final chapter! It's not as big as the others, but it rounds
off the story (sort of). Well, I just want to say thanks to all those who
wrote to me with words of encouragement (you know who you are). Also, I'd
like to thank megazone for the thankless service he provides in r.a.a.s
(well, hey, he asked for thanks, and he deserves it. :) ).
Anyway, on with the show.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bubblegum Crisis /
Bio-Booster Armour Guyver:
THE HEART OF THE
BEAST
By Jeremy
Phillips
(aka: Sailor
Uranus)
Original Character designs by Sonoda
Kenichi and Yoshiki Takaya
CHAPTER SEVEN
Linna finished off the last of the
Zoanoids with a blow to the head,
dropping it to the ground. She quickly looked down the corridor at the
fast-dissolving remains of the other Zoanoids. Suddenly, the building
shook violently as the fluorescent lights flickered briefly. An
earth-shaking rumble echoed down the corridor.
"What the - " started
Linna.
The rumbling slowly died down. She quickly activated her comms channel.
"Sylia, what's going
on?"
The silence at the other end was deafening.
"Sylia!"
A chill crept up her spine. Activating her suit thrusters, she sped down
the hallway to the elevator shaft.
Sylia awoke in total darkness. Unable
to move her sword arm, she
reached over with her wounded arm to feel a section of concrete on top of
her. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she slowly moved the massive
weight sufficiently to free her arm. Scrambling out from underneath the
concrete block and climbing unsteadily to her feet, she found she was
still unable to see anything. Realising her helmet screen had been
smashed, she removed her helmet and was met in the face by a cool breeze.
She slowly looked around the smoking ruins.
The entire floor had been destroyed.
The roof had totally collapsed,
and large sections of the floor had fallen to the level below. With the
walls blasted away, the entire floor was open to the night air. Only the
occasional charred husk of a large computer console remained standing,
everything else having been either consumed in the explosion or crushed
by falling debris. Aside from the occasional pockets of flame, nothing
else moved.
Sylia looked down at her helmet.
Noticing a large gash down one side,
she looked back down at the floor to see part of a twisted steel beam
impaled in the rubble next to where her head had been. The same steel
beam
which had almost split her head open was also responsible for supporting
one side of the large concrete section from the ceiling that had fallen
on top of her, having prevented it from crushing her flat. She leaned
wearily against the beam. Her hardsuit was severely battered, and she
ached all over.
Suddenly, a pile of rubble at the
other end of the floor shifted. Sylia
watched in horror as the debris was pushed away and a large figure got to
his feet. It had dark skin and was of massive build. His head was crowned
by a set of horns, with an oval-shaped crystal mounted in his forehead.
One arm hung limply at his side, and dark red blood coursed down one side
of his face. His demonic visage stared at her in pure hatred.
"Gyro!?" gasped Sylia.
"Sorry to disappoint you,"
snarled Gyro. "I've survived explosions and
collapsing buildings before."
He reached out towards her with his good arm, and a ball of crimson
energy began to form in his outstretched hand.
"Chronos will not tolerate your
group's actions against our Mega-Tokyo
branch. For that, I command that you die."
Before Gyro could fire, he was hit in
the side by an intense beam of
searing white energy. He grimaced as he staggered from the blast. Both
Gyro and Sylia turned at the same time to see Sho standing before one of
the holes in the floor. One of his hands was holding a chestplate open to
reveal one of the mega-smasher cannons, as waves of super-heated air rose
from the lens. His other arm was around Priss, who was leaning against
him
for support. Her uninjured right arm was raised, aiming her rail gun at
Gyro's head.
"That was to get your
attention," said Sho flatly. "The next blast will
incinerate you."
Gyro heard the sound of thrusters firing, and looked over to the other
side to see Linna fly up through another break in the debris and land
nearby. He turned back to glare at Sylia.
"I won't forget this, Knight
Sabers," he snarled resolutely.
With a quick leap, he took to the air, disappearing into the night sky.
The four of them stood in silence for
a few moments. The hush was
broken by the sound of approaching police sirens in the distance.
"AD Police," drawled Priss in
a flat monotone. "We're saved."
Sylia sagged to the ground, breathing a sigh of relief. Linna rushed over
to support her. Sho slowly released Priss, who remained unsteadily on her
feet. She looked over at him.
"Sho, why didn't you kill him? He
may come back and try again?"
"Because I didn't have the energy
for a full-power shot. Right now, the
Guyver is the only thing that's keeping me standing."
There was a light pop, and the armour
fell away from him and
disappeared into nothingness. His blood-soaked shirt was torn away at the
front, but his chest bore no scars or sign of injury. He stood
momentarily
unsupported, then promptly fell face-down in the rubble as he slipped
into
unconsciousness.
"There's no sign of genetic
mutation. I'd say you're suffering from
mild Zoanthropy. The psychological effects should only be
temporary."
Sho leaned back from his inspection. Nene looked over at the other girls
and smiled. Priss and Sylia stood next to each other, both with their
left arm in a sling.
"You done this often?" Priss
asked him.
"I've tried to save a countless
number of people from Zoanoid
conversion," he explained. "I've become good at identifying the
various
stages of development. Nene has only gone partway through the first
stage, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."
Nene turned back to face Sho.
"Thank you for saving me," she
said. "All of you," she added, looking
back at the others.
Sho smiled.
"Glad to be of
assistance."
Priss shook her head in relief.
"Nene, I take everything back I
ever said about you being useless in a
fight."
Sho looked up at Sylia.
"What about your equipment? Can it
be repaired?"
Sylia nodded.
"Mackie and Dr. Raven will begin
work as soon as possible," she explained
to him. "Priss' suit requires only minor repairs, but Nene's and my
own
need extensive work done on them. Mackie's needs to be completely rebuilt
after he lost it saving Priss' life."
Mackie, who was seated on a chair next to Priss, looked up at her.
"I guess that means you owe me
one," he grinned.
"Don't let it go to your
head," she replied, ruffling his hair with her
right hand.
Sho looked sadly over at Priss.
"I'm so sorry I endangered your
life like that," he apologised.
"What happened back there,
anyway?" asked Mackie.
"The Guyver can regenerate its host
if he is killed, but it still takes
time. While that happens, it takes over in order to protect him from
further harm. It can't differentiate between friend or foe, and so it
will attack either if obstructed." He lowered his head. "I should
have
warned you all, but I didn't think I
would be killed that time."
"Well, you sure took me by surprise
when you got back up after you were
killed," remarked Priss.
"I did tell you about that,"
reminded Sho.
"Yeah, but you don't believe it
until you see it for yourself!"
"True enough," he
agreed.
"Anyway, let's just say we're
even," she said finally, slightly raising
her injured arm. "Now we've both shot each other in the arm."
Sho smiled weakly.
"I'd better be going," he
said finally.
"Where are you going?" asked
Linna, sitting on her usual spot on the sofa.
"I'm not sure yet. The Mega-Tokyo
branch of Chronos may have been put out
of commission, but there are many other branches to tackle. I can't rest
until all of Chronos has been stopped."
"Will you ever come back?"
asked Priss.
"I don't know. I hope so, but
hopefully not under the same circumstances."
Sylia stepped forwards.
"Sho, we realise the task you carry
out is to save all of mankind. We
want you to know that you are not alone in your struggle, and that you
can
always call on our help if you need it."
"Thank you. You don't know how much
that means to me."
"I would also like to make you an
honorary member of the Knight Sabers."
Sho looked up at Sylia. She was smiling, the same smile Priss showed him
when he first met her. A smile of friendship. He stood up to face her.
"I accept. I am happy to call you
my comrades, and my friends."
Priss stepped over and extended her right hand.
"Welcome to the club," she
smiled.
Sho clasped her hand firmly. The others stood up and placed a hand on top
of theirs, Mackie being the last.
"Well, if you're leaving us for a
while, we'd better have a party
first," proposed Priss. "I have a concert at 'Hot Legs' tomorrow
night.
How about it?"
"I'll stay for the concert if you
do," he grinned.
"Forgive me, my Lord."
A dark-haired man looked up from the report on his desk. Despite the desk
lamp being the only source of illumination in the darkened room, he wore
sunglasses. Before him on one knee was Reichmann Gyro, his arm already
completely healed and now looking much more human once again.
"The Mega-Tokyo branch was
destroyed," said the dark-haired man. It was
a statement, not a question.
"Sho Fukamachi teamed up with a
local vigilante group called the Knight
Sabers," explained Gyro.
"And the entire Mega-Tokyo branch,
not to mention one Zoalord, were no
match for them?" asked the dark-haired man acidly.
Gyro looked up at him with hatred in his eyes.
"I barely escaped with my
life," he replied evenly.
"A duty which you have performed
superbly, I see."
Gyro opened his mouth to give a sharp retort, but the dark-haired man cut
him off with a wave of his hand.
"No matter. We can wait no longer
in attempting to remover the random
element Fukamachi poses from the equation. We must establish Mega-Tokyo
as a new conversion centre."
Gyro grew noticeably concerned.
"My Lord, I must advise against
this. We have taken over small towns
before, but if we take over a city the size of Mega-Tokyo, we will draw
too much attention to ourselves."
"Once we have taken over
Mega-Tokyo, the stage will be set for a global
take-over. By then, it will be too late for anyone to do anything about
it."
"Understood."
"Good. We can begin by establishing
a firm Zoanoid population base in the
city, then taking the rest of it by force. And make sure that both the
Genom arcology and the AD Police headquarters are the first targets."
"Yes, Lord Murakami."
Murakami removed his sunglasses and stared at Gyro through yellow,
cat-slitted eyes.
"And if Fukamachi or Makishima
should interfere, I will personally see to
it that they are permanently destroyed."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note:
So, waddya think? This fanfic sure took me a while, but I sure enjoyed
it.
I hope you all enjoyed it also. Anyway, as always, all comments,
criticisms,
praises and flames can be sent to jphil@tartarus.uwa.edu.au.
As the more perceptive of you may have realised, I have left the ending
of
this story rather open-ended. This is intentional, as I intend to write a
sequel/follow-up. I have already written down some ideas, and I hope to
get
some work done on it in the near future. But, alas, I also have a
University
degree to complete, and that also requires work. So the story will
probably
come in trickles. I will try to put the parts I complete in WWW form when
I
complete them, and post the entire story when completed to r.a.a.s . Keep
an
eye on this web page in the future for where to find it.
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