Bubblegum Crusade (Ch. 6 of 24)
Jul. 10th, 2009 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fanfic_mausoleum_n_grillChapter Six
KIZUDARAKE NO WILD (WILD AND SCARRED)
Silver droplets
Of the shattered prism of sadness
Drench my smile.
All who swim in the ocean of light
Hold the pain close..."Midnight Dreaming."
Through the noise of the bustling city
May sneak up and knock on the door of my memory,
I don't want to be defeated
By the speed of time.
Therefore, I will now change teardrops into bravery,
And run off, because I was born with a wild heart.
On a peeling movie poster, pelted by rain,
The hero levels his gun at the darkness.
I want a soul that won't be
Swept away by loneliness..."Midnight Flying."
Everyone overcomes unseen walls
In the search for love.
Remember things that hurt
And you will come to know true tenderness.
"Never Mind..." I will fly with scarred wings,
Because I was born with a wild heart.
Everyone overcomes unseen walls
In the search for love.
Remember things that hurt
And you will come to know true tenderness.
"Never Mind..." I will fly with scarred wings,
Because I was born with a wild heart.
Priss and the Replicants -- The bootleg tapes.
Bonn, 11, October, 2034
The road to Cybernetics Lab # 7 from the main highway going
south out of Bonn was a twisty narrow snake which made its way
HOUGH/CRUSADE-151
into the forested hills. Gottendam Research bought 3000 acres
the complex sat on in the middle of the cold war in the 20th
century, originally to do chemical research for NATO. With the
eventual banning of all chemical weaponry, the area was converted
to computer R. & D. in the early '80s.
There was only one spot on this road, which needed to be
repaved but wasn't since most people came and went by chopper to
the lab, were the top of the GENOM Tower in Bonn could be seen
over the horizon of intervening hills, like the white top of a
snow-capped mountain in the distance.
The company issue car, a two door black sporty roadster with
horsepower to spare, took the road aggressively, assertively; a
tension releasing exercise of controlled concentration, movement,
and reflexes. It was just light enough so Sylia didn't need to
use her headlights. She accelerated through the curves with an
ever quickening desire to return. A chopper from Bonn would have
been faster, but since it was a company chopper with a company
pilot, they wouldn't have let Sylia fly it, and she knew she
didn't want to sit still.
Her three days in Bonn put her on edge; the drive helped,
but her stomach still churned with nervousness. As the lab came
into sight around the last bend, the early morning rays of
sunshine sent shafts of light through the canopy of trees the
complex of labs was almost hidden under. She pulled to a stop in
the nearly empty parking lot, a few meters away from the doors.
For six months this tranquil and secluded place had been her home
HOUGH/CRUSADE-152
as she struggled with her father's legacy. After the trip to
Bonn, this place felt isolated, vulnerable as she opened the gull
wing door.
"Good morning Dr. Stingray," intoned the boomer doorkeeper
as she approached. It was a standard R-class boomer from ten
years ago who came off of the assembly line to be stationed
there. It greeted everybody as they came and left, kept the
parking lot clean, and tended the immediate grounds around the
main entrance.
Sylia Stingray glanced over head at the gathering clouds
which threatened to cut short the start of another beautiful day
in Germany. She was dressed in navy slacks with an equally dark
blouse. The small golden necklace Mackie gave her for her last
birthday added an air of elegance. She stopped by the door and
looked at the boomer for a moment.
How many times have I walked through this door and never
even noticed this boomer? She asked herself. The slight breeze
ruffled through her shortish curly dark hair. The soft brown of
her eyes intently sized up her father's dream in the form of this
simple boomer attendant.
"Is there something wrong Dr. Stingray?"
"No, no, nothing wrong."
"Have a pleasant day Dr. Stingray."
Sylia nodded absently as she got her ID card out. A pass
through the scanner and she was striding down the deserted early
morning corridors.
HOUGH/CRUSADE-153
Sylia paused when she got to the main computer work center
in Lab 2, noting that Mackie was right were she last saw him
three days ago. He was sprawled out on a counter asleep. The
glow from the active computer terminal threw twisted shadows
among the accumulation of Coke cans, a bag of Doritoes, stacks of
data pads, CD roms, the scattered innards of a torn apart input
terminal, a left over microwave dinner, and an outdated boomer
hand.
Sylia moved into the lab to wake him but changed her mind
and proceeded down the corridor to the pool room. The complex
was designed with the expetation that cold war chemists would
stay for months at a time. There was an underground bomb shelter
with food and rations, bungalows for the scientists to stay in,
with a pool and tennis courts for their relaxation. The only
thing that really changed here since the cold war was personnel
and the R. & D. they were doing.
Sylia entered the pool room, which was built underground at
half Olympic size. Crystal was at the far left end of the pool,
climbing up the high dive.
Crystal always swims in the nude when she's alone, though
Sylia as she moved closer to the edge of the pool and began to
observe her closely. The interplay of muscles under the light
brown skin tone as she climbed the ladder, the way Crystal pushed
her shoulder blade length curly black hair back, pushed some back
around her left ear, the smile and wave when she noticed Sylia,
the smooth flawless backwards walk to the end of the diving board
HOUGH/CRUSADE-154
without looking, a trim athletic body, ample breasts without
being gigantic, firm thighs, tight ass, it all added to the
conclusion that she was a gorgeous young woman.
Sensational dive, thought Sylia. Perfectly executed and it
must be at least a four in difficulty. Total control of form and
movement from the end of the board to the barest hint that
anything hit the water. It would be close to a ten in Olympic
competition, not that she could ever compete. My dear sweet
Crystal doesn't even exist, legally. She's SINless and
therefore, she doesn't exist.
Crystal stayed under for a full minute, leisurely going in
circles at that end of the pool before surfacing.
"Hey there," she called and waved before breaking into a
strong gliding stroke that cut through the water at a world-
record-breaking pace past Sylia to the other end of the pool.
Perfection of motion, thought Sylia. The mechanics of human
movement controlled to the tenth decimal place. Passion and joy,
rage and indifference, intelligence and a wondrous naiveish
outlook on the world; Crystal, Crystal, Crystal, what have I
done? Is this the way my father felt when I was born and as I
grew? It's so wondrous.
Crystal surfaced with a splash and laughed as she got Sylia.
"You're back, you're back."
Sylia tossed her a towel as she pulled up from the water.
"Morning, of course I'm back. It just took a little longer than
I thought."
HOUGH/CRUSADE-155
Crystal gave her a wet hug and a big wet kiss on the cheek
before starting to dry off. "I missed you."
"Oh?"
"What do you mean "oh"? Sylia, I missed you. It hurt."
"Emotional pain?"
"Not now. Sure, there are plenty of people here for me to
interact with, but they're not my special friend, the first
person I ever saw."
"Well, put your robe on. We have lots to do today."
"I know, Sylia, I know. Artificial and outdated morality
constraints from the society I've been brought into." Crystal
slipped into a deep sea blue robe as she giggled softly. "I
don't physically need them, but...oh well. What's going on
today?"
They started for the exit. "We have to get out of here."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Oh, how glorious. My fondest dream." She hugged Sylia.
"Are we going into Bonn? To stay? Tell me, please, please."
"Slow down Crystal. We have to get out of here because it's
not safe anymore. We have to leave Germany."
"Where are we going then?"
"Mega-Tokyo."
"Ah, all the way to the big city."
They made their way back to the main computer lab for lab 2.
Mackie was still in the same spot. Crystal leaned on the door
HOUGH/CRUSADE-156
jamb and looked at Mackie in an endearing way. She sighed
softly. "He works so hard for one so young. He usually thinks
of me as a reward for his hard work."
Crystal giggled as Sylia gave her a sharp look.
"Don't be mad at him Sylia, he'll learn. What, have I done
something wrong? Oh, I understand. But Mother, it's my most
basic programming and I love it. Besides, since he's right in
the middle of his sexual peak, it would be cruel not to. And not
very rational either."
She's probably been with almost every guy here, if not half
the women as well, thought Sylia. "You're going to have to
control yourself a bit better when we leave here."
"If you say so."
"I do." Gods, thought Sylia. Here I am being judgmental
with my human standards of expectations. Sheesh, talk about
artificial and outdated morality constraints that really don't
apply. "I mean, to make your self unobtrusive you're going to
have to blend in; your situation is more precarious than you
realize."
"I...Sylia, am I monster?"
"A monster?"
"Like from that book you gave me to read. I read it, and
then several others that dealt with the same subject. I got into
the legal decisions made around the world after that; there
wasn't much. When it comes to trends in human legal battles and
basic rights..I...it doesn't look good for my kind." Tears
HOUGH/CRUSADE-157
started to well up in her slate gray eyes.
"Crystal, Crystal," shushed Sylia as she hugged her.
"You're not a monster to me, or anybody that knows you. But the
hard truth is that the religious right and people who don't
understand will fear you. You are something that all the
scientists have said couldn't happen, like a heresy come to life
in this religion of science. You'll probably be equated into
something evil, a soulless mockery of life. I'm sorry Crystal,
but that's the world you have come into."
"Humans can be such fools. To judge hurriedly and without
all the facts; to condemn without even knowing me. Shit, to fear
the unknown."
"That's why you have to blend in, it's your greatest chance
for survival. Why don't you wake Mackie and tell him we're
leaving. Both of you pack up, then load everything into the car.
Make sure he cancels all his running programs so I can copy and
delete them from the main system."
"Ok," said Crystal sullenly.
"Crystal, where's that smile. Don't think about the fools,
think about going to Mega-Tokyo, the best city in the world.
Think of all that you can see and do. Things you've never even
thought of."
Crystal started to smile and then giggled. "Mother, is it
hypocrisy to feel a little fear at all those possibilities?"
"Only if you retreat from them."
"I've never been anywhere. I've wanted to go from here so
HOUGH/CRUSADE-158
bad at times. When do we leave?"
"As soon as everything is ready to go. The sooner you get
busy, the sooner we're out of here."
"Ok," said Crystal as she kissed Sylia on the cheek and went
into the computer lab to wake Mackie. Sylia watched her shake
him from an exhausted sleep and turned to go to her office.
Six hours later Sylia stretched and yawned in her office
chair, which she rarely sat in at all. The computer signalled
that the copying was completed. She took out the CD ROM, marked
it, and put it in a data storage case that already held 54 full
ones.
She gulped the last of a cup of tea, which was close to a
half hour cold after she told the computer what needed to be
copied next. As it did so, she ideally fingered the new passport
and the citizenship papers. Crystal Magami, the printing read.
Age, date of birth, citizenship in Germany, all lies to help
protect her freedom; it's best to hide her in plain sight.
"Sylia?" Dr. Richard Geary poked his head into her office
before coming in. "What's this about you leaving?" Dr. Geary
was a thin, balding man in his late fifties; a competent
researcher who slogged through his work, doing things step by
tedious step because he didn't have the touch of genius that
brought the tough and quick breakthrough.
"I sit here and I can't help but think about old Dr.
Frankenstein and what he went through. Today she asked me if she
was a monster."
HOUGH/CRUSADE-159
"What did you tell her?"
"The truth. She isn't to me or to anyone that knows her.
The rest of the world is the problem."
"You're leaving and taking her with you, I suppose."
"Richard, I'm taking it all."
"All of it. You can't. That's my life's work."
"Your life's work," hissed Sylia. "Was completed before my
father died. Dr. Haynes life's work was complete before my
father died 17 years ago. We've just been able to salvage most
of it now. This place has the dangerous illusion of being safe.
It's not."
"Sylia, be reasonable."
"Reasonable, I am. I'm thinking about her survival. I bet
you've all but forgotten GENOM's role in this." A typical
fuck'en scientist, losing himself in his work with no idea what
the big picture is. "She is vulnerable here. All we've worked
for is vulnerable here. Where in the hell do you think I got
Crystal from? I practically stole her off a GENOM assembly line.
They've tried for 17 years to subvert and demolish the truth
about what my father did."
Dr. Geary sat down wearily. "It's a hard thing to
understand that all you could ever hope to accomplish has already
been done. Sometimes I just sit and stare at his programming,
the elegance, the simplicity at where it all starts. It's like
Mozart, inspired. Sometimes I even feel jealous, but then I
remember what happened to him and how we're reconstructing what
HOUGH/CRUSADE-160
he did. GENOM."
"GENOM. We have to move fast. A friendly voice inside told
me that they should finally traced her to you by tonight. The
scheduled inventorying found her missing from their prototype
storage facility in Zaire. You better leave the country and take
a long vacation somewhere.
"Where will you go, Sylia?"
"I better not tell you."
"Ok. I want to thank you Sylia."
"For what?"
"For coming in here and turning this project upside down.
We were at a standstill." He chuckled. "All avenues of
advancement in the simulation for the R. and C. class weren't
even hopeful anymore. We settled them down from going berserk,
but nothing else."
"Going berserk, the onset of full awareness. The transition
into full sentience." Sylia took the last CD rom out of the
computer and put it into her case. She rechecked the storage
data and sealed it up. "I've already pulled the back up memory
core. It's ready to transport. You should hide it somewhere
before you go where ever you're going. I've got all the copies
right here. So that just leaves one thing to do then."
"What?"
"Purge the system's memory."
"Purge it? Science doesn't like to purge things."
"Only heretics, Richard, only heretics. It will help
HOUGH/CRUSADE-161
protect her. I'm just thinking about her safety. You want to
protect your lover don't you?" Dr. Geary looked at the floor not
saying a word. "I understand, Richard. It's her most basic
programming and that kind of interaction helped tremendously with
her development. Please, come over here and do it."
Dr. Geary moved to the computer screen. He hesitantly
punched several keys, gave the computer his authorization, spoke
a code word, which the computer did a voice scan on, punched in
another code, and hit the `return' key three times. Close to
half of everything in the computer's memory vanished in seconds.
"It's done."
Sylia reached into her handbag and gave him a small metallic
box. "Here. It's a magnetic pulse generator. You should put it
into the main computer's data storage hardware room. Just to be
absolutely sure. It has a timer."
He took it with a smirk. "Industrial espionage anyone. I
have the weirdest feeling. It's positively exhilarating."
Sylia patted him on the shoulder. "Turn that exhilaration
into motion. Two of the most brilliant men in the world have
been killed over this. Run, run, for all your worth." She
picked up her handbag, the data storage case, put on her shades,
and strode from the room leaving Dr. Geary staring at the
magnetic pulse generator which he tossed into the air and caught.
He was whistling an old tune from his childhood as he headed for
the data storage hardware room.
HOUGH/CRUSADE-162
* * *
Mega-Tokyo, 12, October, 2034, 4:45 am.
The nature of the gas they gave him was to knock the subject
out in seconds and keep the subject under for forty five minutes
at the most.
Leon awoke with a snap. It seems to him that one second he
was grappling with a boomer and the next second he was lying on a
cold metal table with a bright light shinning in his eyes. He
squeezed his eyes shut and tried to role away from the light. He
couldn't move. He turned his head to the side and opened one eye
to get a look. The steel straps that held him were padded so
they wouldn't hurt whomever they held. He tried his strength
against them; he realized he wasn't going anywhere. His ankles,
mid-thigh, lower abdomen, upper chest, wrists, and upper arms all
had a gleaming padded steel band holding him to the table. Leon
noticed that the bands were designed to slide up from inside the
table meeting together to hold him down. His jacket, gun, and
shoulder holster were gone.
Ah shit, he thought as he squeezed his eyes shut before
looking into the light again. He turned his head the other way,
but all was darkness beyond the edge of the table. These people
are pros', he told himself. This is a bitch of a set up, like
they do this all the time. Ah shit. "What do you people want
from me?" He yelled. "What do you want?"
HOUGH/CRUSADE-163
Leon fell silent and listened to the short echo; the silence
descended. This isn't a big room, all metal. No outside noises.
The table's probably in the center and all the nasties are in
neat little rows inside this table. Probably even a hose and a
metal grating, so they can easily hose'er down. Aw shit, don't
think like that; don't think like that. Daley's on his way right
now. Yea right. He's probably shaking his head in bafflement.
Shit, what have I gotten myself into? I think I'm alone, but a
boomer would be totally silent. I wonder were the vid' cam' to
record my confessions is?"
Leon turned his head to the opposite side again and notice
the little vile of clear liquid down by his left hand. It was
sitting beside a small metal valise on a little metal stand.
Leon gulped as he saw the hypodermic neatly laid out beside the
vile.
True serum, probably. Shit, what would I know that anyone
would want? The Gambrellie case? Naw. Shit, I've handled
nothing big since the Knight Sabers saved the fusion reactor and
that was six months ago. I can almost make out the label on that
vile. 42...ah...M...black something...Shit.
Leon gasped and furiously struggled against the padded
steel. He lay back panting and sweating after a minute. Oh God
not that, not that. Black Magic M-42, not that. Anything you
want to know. I'll tell, I'll tell.
Leon's only experience with Black Magic M-42 was in the
Special Forces unit years ago in the Philippines under Col.
HOUGH/CRUSADE-164
Lando. Leon was a guard when they used the Black Magic on an
informant. It worked all the time, the first time, but
unfortunately it left the subject's mind a fried vegetable. Yea,
thought Leon. The information they got out of him was so useful
too. It lead the whole platoon into a death trap.
Black Magic M-42 was a brilliantly simple combination of
extremely powerful hallucinogens and sodium pentathol. It worked
by putting the subject's mind into a dreamy fantasy world, were
the truth could easily be expressed without bumping directly into
the mind's desire to keep the information secret. Black Magic M-
42 was something only the information retrieval personnel from
the most elite of the world's secret services was suppose to know
about.
Leon's eyes got wide. Sweat trickled down his face as a
door opened and calm steady footsteps approached him. He looked
into the coldest blue eyes he had ever seen, short metallic
silver hair, a woman.
"Awake I see."
"You're in alot of trouble. I'm with the AD Police force.
They don't take kindly to their people being kidnapped."
"Nice bluff Mr. McNichol. Please drop the charade. We both
know who is in charge here."
"What do you want from me?"
"Information."
"About what?"
"The Knight Sabers, Mr. McNichol. Who are they?"
HOUGH/CRUSADE-165
Leon paused and then said: "I don't know anything about
them. What makes you think I should know their identities? I'm
just a cop, they're heavy hitt'en mercs'. They're way out of my
league."
"A typical wrong answer, Mr. McNichol. Your silence spoke
volumes."
Shit, who is this bitch?
"I've studied the various AD Police reports on the Knight
Sabers. Your name has come up alot. The battle with the D.D.
battlemover, the engagement with Largo at the top of GENOM Tower,
the engagement with some D-series boomers at Tinsel City Bank,
two incidents at AD Police headquarters, the conflict with Largo
out in Tokyo bay at the power plant, please stop me anytime. You
were close to them on many occasions. What do you know?"
"All I know is that all of those incidents weren't in the AD
Police files."
"True. I have many sources."
"Then use them. I know nothing."
"I see." Fazul reached for the Black Magic M-42 and noticed
that Leon got a shade paler. "Do you know what this is? My, my,
that is impressive Mr. McNichol."
"No, don't use that, no."
Fazul pushed the hypodermic into the serium to fill it
before tapping the end. He felt a few drops hit his cheek and
roll down to his ear. "What do you know?"
She grasp his forearm and rubbed his inner arm with her
HOUGH/CRUSADE-166
other hand before he felt the needle trace over his skin.
"Last chance."
"Priss."
"Priss? Priss who?"
"Priss Asagiri." Oh god, Priss. Please forgive me.
"That's all...that's all I know, I swear. It was just an
accident that I found out at all. You've got to believe me."
"Hmmm." She put the hypodermic on his stomach and pulled
out a data pad from one of the drawers. She made a notation and
set the data pad aside. This seems to confirm what USSD said
about them being women, she thought. "Tisk, tisk, betraying a
friend like that. Not very good form at all."
"Bitch," screamed Leon.
She smiled as she picked up the hypodermic and plunged it
into his arm. "That's for calling me a bitch."
Leon winched as it went in. He felt fire squirt into his
arm. Seconds latter he felt his body get heavy as his mind
started to fill with cotton. The light into his eyes became
disfused, multicolored. He couldn't feel his body anymore.
"Ah, the beach, the sun in your face," said a soft and
pleasantly female voice from along ways away. "You've left the
city far behind, to relax on your all expenses paid vacation on a
island in the south tropics. Ah, feel that sun as you stretch
out on a sparkling beach that you have all to yourself."
Leon stretched out on a blanket; he was almost asleep, but
he roused himself to turn over onto his back. "This is great.
HOUGH/CRUSADE-167
I've never had a vacation like this. What'll they see this tan."
Have to go up to the club tonight and find a woman.
Slowly he realized that there was a noise disturbing him.
He sat up and shaded his eyes before gazing into the cloudless
blue sky. It finally dawned on him that the sound was rather
common, he just didn't expect it here in the south tropics. The
thruster packs seems to be coming closer. He got up when he saw
several dots in the distance. They were coming closer.
"The Knight Sabers? What are they doing here?" All four
were coming straight at him. They broke off and started doing
somersaults, back flips, laughing and shouting with glee as they
moved through the air before they landed in a semi-circle around
him. "Ah...hi there. What are you doing here?"
The Knight Saber in blue stepped forward as she tossed aside
her helmet. Priss smiled and locked Leon into a passionate kiss.
He felt himself get hard as she massaged him through the flimsy
material of his swimsuit with her metal incased fingers.
"Ok stud, howzabout a little action."
"I've wanted you for along time, Priss." They kissed again.
Priss broke the kiss. "Not just with me; do you think you
can handle all four of us?"
Leon was astounded as they turned toward the others. His
hand was on Priss's ass.
The one in red giggled. "No way," she said.
"You got that right," said the one in green.
"But I thought you guys wanted to," said Priss
HOUGH/CRUSADE-168
"We said nothing of the kind," said the one in white. "You
can have him. Knight Sabers, Go." They took to the air and were
gone in seconds.
"That just leaves you and me," murmured Leon as he kissed
her; they sprawled onto the sand. "How do you get into this
thing anyway?"
Fazul scowled at Leon. It would seem that he did tell the
truth, she thought. Her scowl changed to a wire smile. "Who are
Priss's closest friends? Tell me. Do you know who she hangs out
with?"
Leon and Daley had run out to MTX to ask a few questions to
a suspect. He proved to be worthless so they didn't even bother
taking him in. On the way out of MTX they noticed Priss with a
couple of her friends. Leon remembered seeing them together
before.
"Howdy," said Leon as he and Daley walked up. "All together
I see."
"Shut up and take us out somewhere," said Priss as she
grabbed his arm and put him in a devious little arm lock.
"I want a strawberry sundae," cried Nene. She and Linna
started towards resturant row.
"I could go for roast leg of lamb in orange sauce," said
Linna. Priss stated to pull Leon after them.
"Uh, hey, I'm on duty right now," complained Leon.
HOUGH/CRUSADE-169
"Italian for me, of course," said Priss.
Leon was waving his free arm about. "Daley, help."
Daley shrugged. "I could stand a hamburger."
Priss released him.
"So," said Leon after the boomer waiter took their orders.
"What brings you out to MTX?"
"We just saw Sylia off," said Priss. "She go'en to Germany
to work with a professor friend of her's on boomers."
"Yeah, Dr. Geary," said Linna. "He was one of Dr. Haynes's
research partners after Dr. Stingray died. He created boomers,
you know?"
"Don't remind me," Leon groaned. "Those damn boomers are
more trouble than they're worth. But at least it's been a little
quieter around here since that incident at the power plant. It's
Linna, isn't it?"
She nodded.
"This friend of yours, Sylia," said Daley. "She must be
really smart if she knows and works with heavy hitters like Dr.
Geary. He's on the cutting edge when it comes to boomers."
"Well she should be," commented Nene. "Since she's Dr.
Stingray's daughter."
Fazul put on her shades and left Leon to his dreaming. A C-
class boomer stood by the elevator as Fazul approached. She ran
her GENOM ID through the scanner and summoned the lift. "There
is a disposal in room 12. Use method D."
HOUGH/CRUSADE-170
"Yes ma'am," it said. It turned to go as the elevator
arrived and Fazul left.
* * *
Beep, beep, beep ran the vid' phone.
Nene curled up and tried to burrow deeper into the covers to
get away from the horrible noise that threatened to shatter her
awesome dream about dancing down an endless staircase. There
were boomers everywhere and she was going through them all
without a scratch. The boomers shattered on the third beep and
she stared at her pillow.
"Hello?"
"This is Inspector Daley. I need to talk to Nene."
"What? Oh, hold on." Taki prodded Nene and got little
response. "Nene, it's inspector Daley, he wants to talk to you."
Taki yawned. "Nene."
Nene sat up and realized she was in the vid' phone's pick up
range; she was nude. She gasped and clawed at the covers until
she realized Taki had blanked the vid' screen.
"Inspector Daley?" Gods, what is so important that he has
to call me at 5:25 in the morning?
"Nene, Priss and Leon were involved in an incident this
morning, just over an hour ago."
Nene snapped fully awake.
"My god, is she ok?"
HOUGH/CRUSADE-171
"Her injuries were minor," said Daley with all the
reassurance he could put into his voice. He had never been very
good at these types of phone calls. "She's at Hirohito Memorial
Hospital. You should come pick her up and take her home."
"Yes, yes, of course. How's Leon?"
Daley paused and Nene felt a shiver run down her spine. "He
was kidnapped by four boomers. Priss just happened to be there
with him when they struck. She managed to kill one before nearly
getting herself killed."
"My god."
"Yea. Well, I'll see you later today."
"Yes Sir, thanks for calling me."
"Good-bye."
"Bye. Oh Priss." Nene got up and headed down the hall,
scooping up her AD Police uniform from the floor. "Taki, would
you call Linna? She's the one with a car."
"Yea. So Priss was with Leon tonight. I thought you said
Priss didn't like Leon." Taki turned the picture for the vid'
phone back on and hit the button for Linna's preset number.
"She doesn't," called Nene from the bathroom. "It's more
like she tolerates him."
"Oh."
"Hel..lo."
"Linna, Linna, wake up. It's me, Taki. Priss ran into a bit
of trouble tonight."
HOUGH/CRUSADE-172
"It's a damn fuck'en good thing I'm irrelevant. Man those
cops are worse than the boomers. `Where did you get a gun like
that? It's illegal. A permit to carry a concealed weapon
doesn't cut it for a gun like that. Reckless endangerment of the
citizenry is a serious offence. Why do you carry a gun all the
time? Why were you with Leon? What did you talk about? Did you
notice anything unusual about those boomers? Carrying a
concealed illegal weapon. You're in serious trouble.' Fuck'en
dicks." Priss slowly stretched in the back seat of Linna's car.
She massaged her sore neck. "Fuck'en boomers. No
acknowledgement that I tried to help him at all. Shit, that
bitch was go'en to arrest me while the doc was still look'en me
over. Damn good thing Daley showed up."
"She was just doing her job, Priss," said Nene from the
front passenger seat.
"Tell me about it," retorted Priss.
"They just grabbed Leon, split, and tossed you through a
window because you tried to help him?" Taki looked puzzled as he
sat by Priss in the back seat. "I didn't know boomers could act
so purposefully like that when they went nuts. Or were these
programmed by someone to do that?"
Priss shot him a look of disgust and then a scowl as she
glanced at Nene. "You don't know shit about boomers, do you?
Each of us has friends who were killed by boomers. Well, almost
killed in Nene's case. But shit, they either work for someone
else or work for themselves, and always try to kill us lowly
HOUGH/CRUSADE-173
humans."
"You don't need to lecture us on how they've been misused,"
retorted Nene.
"Guys, guys, that's enough," said Linna. "Priss has had a
hard night. Cut us a little slack, Priss. We're not the ones
you're mad at." Linna maneuvered the car down an off ramp,
leaving H. 5 behind. She headed into the densely populated area
of junk were Priss lived.
Even after nine years, the Second Great Kanto Earthquake
still scarred the face of Mega-Tokyo. There was the rift, where
H. 5 ended in a cliff; a huge fault line running through the
city. It was close to 100 meters wide in some places and was
only now slowly being reclaimed. The rift formed a canal down by
the bay and a trench filled with rubble in the heart of Mega-
Tokyo were Sylvie died. Around the rift there were zones where
the massive reconstruction efforts GENOM did for the Government
still hadn't reached. GENOM concentrated on building for the
financially independent; they concentrated on a vast push upward
with their skyscrapers and leveled the modest homes of the
working classes.
Apartments that should have been condemned and torn down
were turned into the new slums for the working middle classes and
working poor that were left over in Mega-Tokyo. They compeated
for space with the masses who flooded into Mega-Tokyo like the
tide.
Linna stopped the car; the glow of her headlights shown
HOUGH/CRUSADE-174
against the semi cargo trailer that Priss called home. `The
Priss' was scrawled out across the trailer in red spray paint.
"Do you need anything?" Asked Linna.
"No." Priss was really starting to stiffen up as she
gingerly got out of the car. She took out a package of
transdermal Indomethacin patches and slapped another onto her
left wrist. It was all the hospital had seen fit to give her;
she was already planning to take something stronger if she needed
anything after some sleep. "Well, thanks for come'en and getting
me."
"It was no trouble Priss," said Linna.
"I'll get to work and find out what they've found out," said
Nene. "I'll give you a call this afternoon."
"All Daley has to do is look over there." Priss pointed
towards the 1,000 meter
"It's never that simple," said Linna. "We all know that
when it comes to GENOM."
This last exchange puzzled Taki. Why did she bring GENOM
into this? He thought. I don't understand the connection. Sure
GENOM makes boomers, but what does that have to do with rampaging
ones? And why did they seems to act like it was a natural
connection. There must be another level to this conversation
that just flew over my head. Like there was something unspoken
of go'en on. Is Nene involved in something that I don't know
about? But there's been nothing to indicate that since I've
known her. Cut it out man, you're jumping at shadows. This
HOUGH/CRUSADE-175
incident must just be unsettling me, and yet, Priss is calm about
it, and mad at the cops not the boomers. There must be something
here that I'm missing.