Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction / Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction / To Heart Fan Fiction / Sentimental Journey Fan Fiction / Tokimeki Memorial Fan Fiction ❯ Illusions - Fragments ❯ The Black Meteor Shower ( Chapter 3 )

Somewhere, 12 January 2031...

For Kuromoroboshi Team Six, ten years would pass until they saw their friends and families again.

Unlike other mortals, they would not pass those years in the normal march of time on Earth, but in Sanctuary, a warp-nexus beyond the normal laws of time and space. Accessible only through Nicole's crystal palace or a special trans-dimensional teleporter unit located in a secret cave under the mountains near Aomori, Sanctuary was the perfect place for Negako to train her new students in one of the deadliest martial arts of all.

The art which literally created Negako Moroboshi.

After saying good-bye to Tomomi's parents (on Earth, a week would pass), KMT-6 head to Aomori to take the trip to Sanctuary. Once there, they begin basic training under Negako's and Chigaiko Inu-Moroboshi's tutelage in a dojo built there by one of the Jewel Warriors, those selected by the Seekers (the entities who created the Crystal Palace billions of years ago) to be warriors and protectors as the various races in the Universe grew and evolved. In many ways, the symbolism of training in a place like Sanctuary strikes the Kuromoroboshi as proper. Weren't they too, once they were finished here, going back to Earth to become warriors and protectors for those who couldn't protect themselves?

Tomomi, Yui, Misako and Mirei are immersed into the world of the ninja. Shown how they could survive in the increasing high-tech world of corporate espionage by reverting to some basics. Stay invisible, learn everything, then strike without leaving a trace for others to follow.

They are taught the Atemi (Pressure Point Attacks), places to strike where blows would be fatal. They are taught how to master their chi, using the ruby meson crystals to touch the very air and earth themselves, utilize them for their own purposes. They are taught how to sneak into fortified places, then extract without taking injury or risking capture. They are taught how to challenge all forms of combat boomers, even the nightmarish D-Class units, and win without taking a scratch in return.

Sometime near the end, they are brought unfinished gaikatanas from a forge in Scotland, then shown how to mould the blades into their deadly finished form. A 76 centimetre-long sword slightly curved like a samurai's preferred weapon, normally stowed on the back when in battle, easy to conceal in a coat or gaberdine. Now that they have mastered unarmed forms, KMT-6 begins to practice with the Art's weapons: gaikatana, shuriken, kusarigama and the more modern "black mamba" compound bow and arrow.

Also, 33-S's and 33-Ms who did black ops for Toratotaka come to Sanctuary to show KMT-6 how to use their bodies' attributes to "kill with love." Why plan an assassination when all you had to do was seduce them, then induce a heart attack when you're in bed with your target?

Once the years (in Sanctuary time) are done, KMT-6 would then given a special exercise as a "graduation" gift...

* * *

Shinjuku, the Amarok Tower...

Time passes. Jack finds the daily routine to be dull. The Amarok building was in a high security zone so the threat of boomer assault was slim. Of course, since boomer problems were few, the chance of any human coming charging in waving a gun was nil.

So Jack finds himself asking for IDs, escorting people around and standing in place for hours until night came and he then walked a seemingly endless path through the dark hallways. With so much time on his hands, Jack thinks often about the pale shadows in his head. His deepest desire is, naturally, to leave and to find more about them, to fill in the holes that had been punched into his memories. But he could not. The chains of his duty bound him to this place and he had to stay where he was, even though he knew his chances of learning more about the images grew slimmer by the day. At one point, he considers losing himself in his duties.

But that only brings forth further problems. While he strives to achieve the optimum level of performance, things often interfere when it had to do with organics. Most knew he was just following his programs and gave lip service to them while he was around. Giving up an ID or deciding to reschedule an appointment when those in charge changed their plans. Far better to humour the boomer rather then get knocked across the room.

There are also those galled at having to be impeded by a "walking toaster." Puffed with self-importance, they readily give him a "Who do you think you're talking to?!" speech, perhaps even waving their ID in his face to show some "respect" for Amarok's security regulations. More often, they brushed past him without giving him any sort of proper acknowledgement. He could not, in all fairness, stop them since they were (fairly) important.

It wasn't just them. Conversations faded as he came near since his organic co-workers thought he might carry their words to someone who could use it against them. There were also flashes of fear. They knew of the boomer rampages that had rocked the city, thus held themselves in Jack's presence as if he would explode all over them right then and there.

All this...

Didn't they know?

Couldn't they see?

Understand?

He was no savage.

He just wanted to do his duty!

So things began to pile up in someone who couldn't talk back without getting his brain scrubbed. He thought about the phantoms in his head but what good was it when he couldn't leave?

How could he ever express himself?

* * *

PART THREE - THE BLACK METEOR SHOWER

Genom Tower, 13 January 2031, morning...

"This is bad."

Eiji Suzuoka blinks, then stares at the older man seated across from him. "How so, Andrews-hakase?"

Yoshiro Andrews shudders as his eyes dart over the schematics and programming code the executive had obtained from the government's science and technology ministerial files. Regardless of what Genom or Toratotaka did concerning the ongoing advancement of inducted lifeform design, once they went into production (even for a limited run of twenty such units), copies of the designs had to be archived with the government. It was a safety precaution (in case someone erased databanks at the place of production for some reason or another) and a way of placating the voting public. And since Toratotaka always strove to be an "honest" company (as did Genom), they always publicly followed the law.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to help Genom in THIS case.

"This...! My God, I knew it was possible to build a Sexaroid with so many organic parts, but this..." Andrews shudders.

"Can we find a way to get rid of them?" Eiji wonders.

The scientist shakes his head. "Not the way we did with the first and seconds fitted with the 33-C hearts, Suzuoka-san," he breathes out. "Saotome avoids that problem by using an organic heart for this series. Eighty percent of the body is fully organic, the same level of organic parts 33-Ms are built with these days. Whatever biomechanical parts are in these boomers are custom-made for each unit, just like what went into the firsts, seconds and thirds. And even if they did fit the 33C-type heart into them, all Saotome has to do is put in a blocking program in the unit's brain to prevent any mental fusion with whatever weapon or vehicle this unit might be dealing with. Or simply replace the heart with one that doesn't give the unit that sort of capability."

"What about their training? How would that be done?"

"I can't say because I know NOTHING about this Saikoo Jinseijitsu-ryuu they're going to be trained in. I've heard all the rumours, just like you have, but what does that say to us...?" Yoshiro shakes his head, then stares warily at his host. "Damn! Are they actually being built...?"

"Two were brought on-line yesterday. Another six will be ready by the end of this week. Twelve more are following."

Yoshiro pales. "Sir, I've heard the rumours about Negako Moroboshi and all that. Mason-san even told me about that one incident back in '28 concerning Armstrong, when he had a run-in with that woman and Saotome. But if these girls are as capable as these specs indicate and if Moroboshi-jousama is THAT DAMNED GOOD a special ops warrior...? Then..."

"Genom could be threatened by these boomers, correct?"

"Why...! Y-yes, of course they can if we ever find ourselves in a CorpWar against Toratotaka, but that really won't happen..."

Eiji freezes Yoshiro with an icy stare. "Yet."

Silence falls...

* * *

Nerima, the Tower, that evening...

"Karen-chan?"

<<Kaa-san? What are you doing here?>>

Shizue Maijima shudders, adjusting the cyberlink cable now connecting her to her adopted daughter's gestation tank on Floor 205. "Can't I stay and visit my daughter even now?" the just-retired Toratotaka intelligence officer muses, sitting down to gaze at the unmoving woman with the wavy maple fudge hair and grey-purple eyes before her. "Alone for so long..."

<<Kaa-san...>> Karen's half-opened eyes seem to flutter as she tries to muster strength to move her jaw. Even with her body complete, the soon-to-be-woken Kuromoroboshi was as helpless as a kitten. <<You won't be alone anymore. I won't let you be alone. You'll be okay, Kaa-san...>>

"I know, musume-chan, I know..." Shizue closes her eyes, her mind turning back the clock to when Karen, a year out of high school and a fashion model, still lived. Like Tomomi's, Yui's and Izumi's templates (in fact, like all the Kuromoroboshi Sexaroids' templates), Karen's "other self" had died in 2025. Adjusting to having a living, breathing replica of her dead child again in her life would be hard for Shizue Maijima.

Hard but not impossible.

<<I can't be fully like her, Kaa-san,>> Karen reminds her.

"I know. I won't ask you to be that way either, especially with you about to become a Kuromoroboshi. But it's so nice to have a daughter again, Karen-chan," Shizue sighs, then jolts as a hand falls on her shoulder. "Eh?!" she turns to see a diminutive woman with silver-shot brown hair gazing at her. "Maho-san?!"

<<Kaa-san, who's that?!>> Karen demands.

"Oh, it's Kozue-chan's mother, dear," Shizue replies, then reaches over to grasp Maho Tsuzumi's hand. The latter was the wife of the retired operations director of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, one of the banks who had been bought out by Toratotaka in the twenty-teens. "How are you today, Maho-san? Got everything ready for when Kozue-chan comes home?"

"Hai, we're all ready," Maho nods, gazing at Karen, then she sighs. "I just found out. Kozue-chan'll be working with Misa-chan in Team Four. What team will Karen-chan be working in?"

"Team One; Miho Suzuki'll be her partner."

<<They're still programming Miho-chan, I think,>> Karen notes.

"Well, you'll have to wait a bit before hitting the field," Shizue sighs, then blinks on seeing the girl in the chamber next to Izumi Shinohara twitching violently. "Eh?! What's with Misa...?!"

<<Misa-chan, what's wrong?!>> Karen demands.

Misa Tanaka, an auburn-haired woman with golden-brown eyes, seems to be trying to break free of her cryosuit and the chamber now keeping her alive. <<Feel...! Something's coming...>> she moans, her eyes scanning around though she couldn't see too much thanks to the opaque nature of the gestation liquid. <<We're...! Danger...>>

Maho and Shizue tense, then glance towards the east-side windows. It is dark though the reflective glow of Megatokyo's lights fully illuminates the plate windows, partially obscuring what details one could see from in the lab. Kozue's mother then walks to the windows to gaze outside before her eyes suddenly widen. "Wait! I see something coming this way...!"

"What?!" Shizue bolts to her feet...

...just as the windows to Maho's left explode in a shower of sharp fragments. She screams, falling down as a dark shape plunges through, landing nimbly on its feet as it strides into the laboratory. Staring at it, Shizue is stunned to realize that the attacker is a C-55 combat boomer sans flesh covering, its scanners out to ascertain what lay around it since defensive blast shields were lowered over its optical sensors.

"What are you doing here?!" Shizue demands, bolting to her feet as she tries to separate herself from Karen's chamber.

<<Kaa-san, run!! You can't fight that thing!>> Karen warns.

The boomer turns on Karen's mother, then lifts its arm to aim a six-barrel minigun with a big hopper of ammunition at her. Seeing that, Shizue stammers fearfully as she backs from the menace, not wanting to believe this was happening. Behind the first boomer, three C-55s appear, though they are weaponless. "Take only the completed units," the first orders.

"Hai!" the others chime as they advance on the chambers holding the helpless Kuromoroboshi.

"No!!!" Shizue screams, moving to do something, ANYTHING to stop these damned things from taking her daughter away.

The boomer levels its Gatling gun on the puny human, then jolts on finding itself without a right arm whatsoever! As waves of quasi-pain rip through its neural net, a hand jabs it in the back, a pulse-wave of energy tearing right into its fuel pump. The boomer staggers as it tries to initiate damage repair protocols, but another hand grabs its left arm, then with a twirl, sends it flying at its three companions. The other boomers don't dodge quickly enough before they're smashed out of the building, all four tumbling to the plaza over 800 metres below.

Silence falls as Shizue regains her bearings, then turns to see that the chamber which had held Izumi Shinohara in stasis is now open, the Kuromoroboshi Sexaroid in question now standing near Maho Tsuzumi, her body dripping with gestation fluids, a large puddle forming on the floor between her and her chamber. The raven-haired, blue-eyed tomboy seems to stagger, then collapses to her knees as she takes deep breaths. "Izumi-chan!!!" Shizue cries out as she and Maho move to the younger woman's side.

Footsteps from outside. "What's going on...? What the hell?!!" Yuina Himoo demands as she and a group of security personnel race in, the scientist's eyes widening. "What the devil just happened here?!" she then moves to help Izumi back to her feet, then over to a diagnostic bed.

"B-boomers...! Four C-55s...! Tried to t-take me and the others away, Himoo-s-sempai..." Izumi stutters, then she collapses into a blissful slumber, the strength in her body fading.

One of the security people tenses as something is transmitted in over his headset. "Himoo-hakase, the front gate reports four C-55s just crash-landed on the east plaza roof. One was armed with a minigun."

"Where from?" Yuina demands.

"Unmarked."

The SPD-S&T (SPD for Science and Technology) sighs. "In other words, Genom. Alright, get them put down, then brought here so I can see them. DON'T damage their brains under any circumstances! Understood?!"

"Hai!"

"Who on Earth would try to take our children, Himoo-hakase?!" Maho demands, her initial shock fading into a volcano of outrage.

"I don't know who. Not yet," Yuina's exposed eye narrows. "But when I find out, he or she won't be long for this life..."

* * *

Sanctuary...

Thanks to the different movements of time between this warp-nexus and Earth's dimension, real-time communication between Negako's private training camp and anywhere on Earth was utterly impossible. To overcome that, messages were recorded onto special meson DVDs before being transported into Sanctuary from Oshika or Aomori.

This morning (as it felt like now to the members of KMT-6), Chigaiko steps out of the dojo, walking down a tree-lined street towards the front gate of this futuristic city atop an asteroid. She ignores the swirls of energy that seem to cocoon Sanctuary from all sides save directly below, where a black vortex awaits. To fall down into the vortex, or so Negako told her, would mean travelling to the end of time and space itself.

Best avoided.

Leaving the gate, Chigaiko steps across a rock bridge to the beam-in point erected by Nicole some years ago when Negako first expressed a desire to use Sanctuary as a training base for the Art. Awaiting the Tomobiki High alumni (Class of 1984)-turned-wandering ninjitsu teacher is a small case. Taking it, she makes her way back to the dojo, walking into the small apartment beside it. Negako is busy making breakfast.

"The latest news?" she wonders.

"Hai, just a sec'..." Chigaiko opens the case, then blinks on seeing the URGENT tag on one of the DVDs.

Taking it out, she loads it into a player, then presses controls. Yoshio Saotome's grim face appears on the screen. Seeing him scowl like that never sat well with Chigaiko; after all the poor man had been through, he deserved a chance to be really happy.

"Gomen nasai, Sensei," he bows. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems some people in Genom aren't taking the arrival of the KMs well. We just had an attack at the Tower in Megatokyo by four C-55s sent in secret by one of Mason's people, Eiji Suzuoka, to kidnap Izumi, Karen, Yohko, Minori, Kozue and Misa. Megumi-chan reports Mason had no idea about this, but I can lay a strong bet that he wouldn't've minded it. We'll keep our guard up, but I'm afraid Izumi won't make the second round; she broke out of gestation to stop those boomers." A pause, then he sits back. "Then again, since she's supposed to partner up with Satomi in KMT-Nine, that might not be such a bad thing. Sakurako will be booted up to go with the second group. I'll send a further report to you if the situation warrants it. Tell Tomomi and Yui that everyone's alright. Out."

The screen goes dark. "Oh, my!" Chigaiko covers her mouth.

Negako remains physically unperturbed. "Take over training for the next while. I will be back on Earth dealing with what happened."

"What are you going to do?" Chigaiko stares at her lifemate.

"What do you think?" Negako lightly grins.

"Right..."

* * *

Genom Tower, 14 January, morning...

"The damage wasn't too bad?"

"Just blown-out windows up on Floor 205 and cracked concrete on the roof of the east plaza," Megumi sips her tea. The mood in Quincy's office is tense, though you wouldn't sense it from either the Genom chairman on the Toratotaka intelligence chief. "Not to mention two very irate mothers who'll no doubt spread the word of what happened to the other KM mothers."

Quincy shakes his head. "That was unexpected."

"True. The person in question behind this is Eiji Suzuoka. He's one of the 'hawks' working for Mister Mason. I believe Mister Mason had nothing to do behind what happened -- at least, my sources haven't indicated anything to that end -- but it's easy to conclude that if good luck fell his way, Mister Mason would take advantage."

"Agreed. I assume someone's going to deal with Suzuoka?"

"Lady Negako's already here to deal with it."

"Negako...?!" Quincy's eyes widen, inwardly shivering at the implications. He would NOT want to be in Eiji Suzuoka's shoes at this moment. "Isn't that a bit of overkill there, Megumi?"

"A true sensei does take her responsibilities to her students very seriously," Megumi muses, smiling knowingly.

"True..."

* * *

Below...

"So what exactly happened last night in Nerima?"

Brian Mason stares at Samantha Johnson. The chairman's special assistant was hosting a small meeting between some of the mid-level executives working under him. "What do you mean?" he wonders, steeping his fingers before his face in quiet contemplation.

"One look at the area of the Floor 205 labs and you can see the damage," Samantha returns his stare. "I thought it was company policy to never interfere with the Cyber-Nurse Project."

"That hasn't changed...! Shit, what DID happen?!" Manabe Takeo, one of Mason's many protegees (Samantha wasn't considered part of that group) looks around the room. "Boomer attack?"

The others exchange curious looks save one. "I'm sure if something did happen, it was a minor affair in the long term and doesn't concern us at all," Mason moves to dismiss the subject with a wave of his hand...

...before a stunned cry of pain escapes Eiji Suzuoka. Eyes turn to him as he rises, then his chest convulses as geysers of blood explode from his nose, lips and eyes. Screams fill the office as he dances the "funky chicken," then collapses into his chair before collapsing, lifeless eyes now staring at the ceiling. Silence falls, then Samantha gets to her feet, gingerly walking over to knee beside Eiji, then she feels for a pulse. Nothing. "Gods..." she steps back, then turns to the door, where two disguised C-55s stand, they now tense, eyes glowing as they move to shed their flesh and spring into action. "Get the medics in here!!"

"Hai!" both boomers nod as one races out to make a call.

The other executives morbidly gather around their dead comrade as something seems to waif out the opened doors of the meeting room, then drift towards a nearby elevator. The doors automatically open, then close. Moments later, they open again on the ground floor, releasing someone now dressed in a janitor's uniform, a proper ID tag on her chest, cap slouched over her face. She descends down the emergency stairs to the sixth sub-basement level, then vanishes again through a door into the sewers...

* * *

Upstairs...

"Impressive."

"Frightening," Megumi sips her tea.

"Are Tomomi and Yui going to be that good in the long term?" Quincy hums, having watched Eiji Suzuoka die on his wall monitor screen.

Gristly way of doing it, but it sent out a subtle message even if people didn't realize who had killed him. With some choice rumours in the right place, not to mention the many oddities that would arise from the post-mortem, people in Mason's group could come to a forest's worth of potential conclusions, none of which would be close to accurate. After all, with the high level of surveillance technology available to Genom, one would need a lot of imagination to believe that a ninjitsu grandmistress employing the Umisenken (Thousand Fists of the Sea) technique (invented by a distant relative of Yoshio Saotome's, much to Quincy's surprise) had walked right in, then dispatched Eiji Suzuoka with two Shinzou Bakuhatsu Shoku (Heart Blast Touch) strikes to the back of the chest and head.

"In the long term, but that probably won't happen until both are organically upgraded," Megumi hums.

"What about Izumi?"

"She won't be ready for training until the twenty-second, so she'll be held back for the third group of trainees," Megumi hums. "Sakurako Sugimoto will be sent with the second group. Izumi did suffer internal injuries when she broke out of gestation to stop those boomers."

"Asuma's and Noa's girl..." the chairman laughs; since Genom had concentrated a lot on reconstruction after Second Kantou, he had come to know the Shinoharas very well. "I always heard those two were an impulsive pair. Kiichi must've had lots of fun with them back when they were still labor platoon police officers."

"True," Megumi covers her mouth politely...

* * *

Shinjuku, the Amarok Tower, 15 January...

"Are you Brian Armstrong, sir?"

"Yes, I am. Um, Jack, right?" the silver-haired male Sexaroid gazes at the security guard's nametag.

"Yes, sir," Jack bows respectfully. "Sugimoto-sama is waiting for you in her office right now. This way, please."

Jack escorts the slender man, dressed in a stylish cardigan over a button shirt and jeans, down the hall towards an elevator that would take them to the office of one of Amarok's private investment brokers, Hatsune Sugimoto. Boarding a car, Jack presses for the right floor, then relaxes.

Brian watches him, then nods appreciatively as he gazes at the doors. "You're a Fifty-nine, aren't you?"

"Excuse me, sir?" Jack stares at the visitor.

"Bee-you-Fifty-nine-Sea. Your model type, correct?"

"I..." Jack blinks surprisedly. No one, especially a visitor, had ever asked him things like THAT before. "Yes, sir, I am."

"Good," Brian nods. "The reputation of your many brothers and sisters has proceeded you, Jack-san. Amarok's in very safe hands with someone like you keeping watch over it."

"I...! W-why, thank you, Armstrong-sama..."

Jack's voice suddenly trails off.

Armstrong?

Where had he heard THAT name before?!

It was so familiar...

"Please don't call me that, for God's sake...! Eh?! Jack! Jack, are you alright there?!"

A finger taps Jack's head, then he turns to stare confusedly at the visitor. "Excuse me...?" the guard wonders.

Brian breathes out. "Thank God. You just blanked out for a second there. Are you alright, Jack-san?"

"I..." Jack begins, pauses, then relaxes. "Forgive me, sir. I...! I think I've heard your name before, but I can't place where."

Brian takes that in, then nods. "Perhaps. When were you activated, if you don't mind my asking that?"

"The ninth of this month," Jack replies. How strange. He had never had such a detailed conversation with ANYONE, much less a total stranger.

Not since that day...?

When?

"Most likely, you've either got recycled chips in your brain or your whole brain was recycled. You best be VERY careful there, Jack-san. Some organics don't like dealing with boomers that have the ghosts of past lives haunting them...! Ah, here we are!" Brian relaxes as the car stops.

The door opens as Jack leads him down to an office. "I will keep that in mind, Armstrong-sama. Here you are."

"Thank you, Jack-san," Brian nods as he steps inside, then grins on seeing the elderly woman awaiting him. "Ohayou, Hatsune-chan!"

"Brian-kun!!" Hatsune Sugimoto beams as they embrace, Jack discretely closing the door so they could be alone. "What on Earth brings you down to see me?! I normally see you at my house!"

"Oh, actually, some other type of business than what normally occupies the passionate evenings we spend together, my dear," Brian sits down as Hatsune moves to prepare some tea, then he gazes intently at her. "So what's the good news about Sakurako-chan?"

"It's VERY good news!" Hatsune shudders delightedly. She had worked for years as a retirement savings plan manager at Sakura Bank in Sendai before shifting to Amarok two years ago; her time serving Toratotaka still easily qualified her to become the mother of a KM series 33-S. "Something happened to Shinohara-juuyaku's daughter; I really don't know what, but she won't make it onto the second group to be trained by Negako-jousama next, so Sakurako-chan was bumped up to take her place. Oh, she'll be on her feet by the nineteenth!" Sitting back in her chair, Hatsune takes a very deep breath, shuddering. "Oh, it's the most wonderful day of my whole life, Brian-kun. I know it's not really her, but still..."

"She is a memorial to your daughter, Hatsune. A living, breathing, feeling memorial to the one true joy of your whole life that was cruelly taken away from you by a very uncaring Fate," Brian smiles warmly. "I'm sure wherever she is now, your real child wants most of all for you to be happy. If having a child, even a 33-S child, standing in Sakurako-chan's place will make you happy, why should she, much less anyone, complain?"

Hatsune sighs, shifting herself to sit down on Brian's lap as they share a kiss. "You know how to say the right thing to the right person, you know that!" she playfully bats his nose, then sighs. "Now, what's so important that you come all the way up from the Fault to see me?"

"I've accumulated some savings over the last month or so. Outside keeping Mint in good shape, not to mention the mundane things I need to stay healthy, I really don't have much use for the money I've saved up, so I want to invest it somewhere safe and secure," he reaches over to draw out a bankbook from his sweater, then flips it open to reveal his savings.

Hatsune sees the amount listed, then her eyes widen. "Wow, that's quite an amount! How much work do you do every day, anyway, for Heaven's sake?! I know you charge a lot for two hours..."

"I work long hours. And besides, I like it. It allows me to meet all sorts of interesting people. So, can I trust you with all my hard-earned savings, Hatsune-chan?" Brian's eyebrows wriggle.

Hatsune grins. "You can count on it," she takes the book, then walks over to sit behind her desk as she draws out some forms. "Okay, do you have any sort of preference in where you want to put your money?"

"Something that'll help people get jobs and keep them," Brian clasps his hands under his chin. "Seeing the homeless drifters in the Fault, then watching television and hearing about a 'labour shortage' makes my stomach churn. How do people accept all that propaganda on the television and over the Internet when they can see the reality every day?!"

"Some people refuse to see things they wouldn't like, Brian-kun," Hatsune muses. "Take me for example. After I lost my girl, I...! There was a time when I refused to believe that she was dead. All I had to see was a thick ponytail or light green eyes and boom!; there was Sakurako! It took me a year just to be able to sleep peacefully at nights."

"I'm so sorry for you," Brian sighs.

"Domo arigatou," Hatsune smiles, then takes a deep breath. "Brian-kun, can I ask you a special favour?"

"Being?"

"Will you be Sakurako-chan's first lover?"

"Eh?!"

Hatsune chuckles. "It seems that given their very physical nature, 33-S's have to do the ecchi with SOMEONE within twelve hours of their initial awakening," she explains. "I...! Given how much joy you've given me in the short while we've known each other -- and seeing what a damned good lover you are in the long term..."

Brian gazes at her, then sighs. Yes, I know that, Hatsune-chan, he muses inwardly. I was the same way when I first woke in this body. And my 'itch' is more frequent than Sakurako's or any Sexaroid's. "Hatsune-chan, I'll be more than happy -- honoured! -- to be her first. As long as she wants me in return, of course!" he wags his finger in warning.

Both laugh...

* * *

Later...

"Finished for now, Armstrong-sama?"

Brian jolts, then smiles on seeing Jack. "Yes, I am, Jack-san. And please, will you stop calling me 'Armstrong-sama?!' It makes me feel old."

"Er...! A-as you wish, s-sir," the guard flusters.

The male Sexaroid clicks his tongue, then reaches over to pat the security guard's shoulder. "Jack-san, there's nothing at all wrong with being a LITTLE more human, you know!" he winks, then heads out of the Amarok Tower. "Have a good day!" he waves.

"Er...! A good day to you, too, sir," Jack feebly waves back, then blinks as he turns back to his rounds...

* * *

Nerima, near the Tower, 19 January, mid-morning...

"WELCOME BACK!!!!!!"

Tomomi, Mirei, Yui and Misako grin happily as they find themselves smothered in warm embraces and sisterly kisses from six newborn genin KMs and their partner Bu-48SDCIs now awaiting them at the Sugimoto residence, a dwelling located near the Mendou Foundation Tower on Nerima's main strip south of the Toratotaka Tower. Once free of their sisters' greetings, the members of KMT-6 bow to their host. "Hatsune-obasan, for opening your home to we tired warriors, domo arigatou," Tomomi intones.

"You're TIRED?!!" Misa Tanaka, now wearing her hair in a ponytail, snorts, standing beside Kozue Tsuzumi. "Cripes, is Sensei THAT tough?!"

"She's TOUGHER, Misa-chan...! Ara?!" Yui blinks, then glances around the room, noticing a missing face. "Where's Izumi-chan?!"

"Unfortunately, thanks to Izumi-chan's breaking out of her gestation unit to save her sisters from those C-55s that fellow in Genom sent, she won't be coming out of gestation until the twenty-second," Noa Shinohara announces as she and her husband, Asuma, enter from a side room.

"Well, it'll give her a chance to train side-by-side with Satomi-chan and their team," Tomomi blinks as Sakurako walks up to hand her a present. "Oh, Sakurako-chan, you shouldn't have...!" she flusters, taking it.

"It's alright, Tomomi-chan," Hatsune gently grips her daughter's hand. "I'm having these made for all of you. I know Saotome-hakase has picked a dark red-brown as your series' 'official' kimono base colour, but given the long history of the Kuromoroboshi, these seem more befitting."

Tomomi watches as Karen Maijima hands another box to Yui. Taking her hand, she passes it over the box, sensing some sort of clothing inside from the residual chi fields emanating from under the wrapping. "A hakama?"

"Black overall top and bottom," Sakurako explains. "The sash will be the same colour Otou-sama picked for us."

"How did you guess, Tomomi-chan?" Hatsune stares wide-eyed at Tomomi, stunned that she had guessed right without doing much to the package. "The package weight? How it balances? How?!"

Tomomi blinks, then grins. "I'll let Sakurako-chan explain it to you when she's done her own training, Oba-san," she smirks, then blinks as she senses another 33-S emerge from nearby. "Sempai?"

"Gomen nasai, minna-chan," Megumi smiles, file folder in hand. "Much that it warms me to see you together, you ladies have a mission to perform. Your 'graduation exercise,' so to speak?" she pats the folder in question.

The members of KMT-6 take that in, then Tomomi sighs. "Well, better get it over with now, ne?" she stares at her teammates.

The others grimly nod...

* * *

Shinjuku, the Amarok Tower...

"May I see your identification. PLEASE?!"

Ross Breckinridge halts as the cold voice from behind him rises several notches. He turns to find himself face-to-face with a security guard boomer now looming over him. He could have sworn he saw a snarl cross the large man's lips. Ross is a hot-shot lawyer who had just been hired by Amarok to help the brokerage deal with recent legal difficulties. This was his first chance in the big leagues and he was heading towards the president's offices, his head filled with the details of the case. When a security boomer suddenly appeared and asked for his identification, he brushed it off with a statement that the president was expecting him.

Becoming the focal point of attention in the eyes of a combat boomer was definitely NOT a good thing.

A trickle of sweat runs down Ross's head as he shakily offers his ID card to the boomer. He looks at it and then Ross, making careful note of the visitor's facial features. Ross sees data flash across the boomer's eyes, wondering if it was considering how to kill him. The card is then returned with a curt, polite nod. "Everything is in order, Breckinridge-sama. I apologize for delaying you. Please have a pleasant day."

The guard soon vanishes around a corner. Ross shudders as he turns toward the office. Damn, scary or WHAT?!

He was definitely going to lodge a complaint with the president...!

* * *

Nerima, the Tower, that moment...

"So who's our first target, Tomomi-chan?"

Tomomi flips on the wall viewer, mounted in the living room of the team commander's Tower apartment, located on Floor 91 where other single Toratotaka personnel sought residence when work brought them to Megatokyo. Misako busies herself in the kitchenette as the others gaze on the stern-looking man in the green fatigues now being shown to them. "This is General Juan-Antonio Roberto Alcazar of Argentina, minna," the commander begins. "Born in Mar del Plata in 1984; he's the son of one of the more prominent members of the military junta running the country at that time. Educated at his country's army academy with courses taken in the United States as he advanced his career. Currently, he's commander of Argentine land forces dedicated to pressing the Republic's ends in the Polar War.

"And as of the New Year, he's an indicted war criminal."

"Why?" Mirei wonders.

"Since Chile and Argentina are rivals in Antarctica, a lot of long-buried hostility has erupted anew between them. There is also the factor of their being economic rivals. Argentina is a Genom client-state while Chile is firmly under Deftech's thumb."

"I-Corp's last viable division, now in charge of a whole damned country. Not good," Yui shakes her head.

"True. Of course, the leaders of Deftech and Genom's South American division don't mind it so much since the fighting along the southern Andes and in Antarctica gives both side a chance to try out all their latest equipment. Argentina's taken delivery of over five dozen D-11 anti-tank troopers in the last year, not to mention a pack of Dobermans for 'special' operations," Tomomi flips the controls to show pictures of the two types of combat boomers, then shows pictures of other military mecha. "Deftech's countered with anti-boomer systems that are as good as anything Samguk puts out, not to mention manufacturing hill-country armoured vehicles and landmates licensed from DaimlerCrysler and SSV (Scania-Saab-Volvo).

"That, of course, doesn't concern us," Tomomi sighs. "General Alcazar was accused by the U.N. Tribunal on the Polar War for perpetrating the massacres at Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas last November. Of course, since he is the offspring of the old military aristocracy, he's got many friends both in the Argentine Army and in the government to protect him from normal reprisals such as military special forces."

"But not from us," Misako hums as she walks out, a tray of cold cuts in hand for everyone to nibble on.

"Exactly," Tomomi grins. "The United States is preparing to send a SEAL team to pluck the good general and deliver him to the Hague gift-wrapped for the Tribunal, but according to our sources, the Argentines have been forewarned of Washington's intentions."

"Who blabbed?" Yui asks.

"Genom's head of operations in Buenos Aires, Calvert Erenoa," the commander sighs, tapping controls to project the image of an effeminate man with a deranged glint in his eyes. Noting the looks in her teammates' eyes, Tomomi could easily read what they were thinking: 'How is it Genom always finds demented creeps like this to run its sensitive ops?' "In this, he's now in conflict with the chief of Genom Brazil, Komatsu Seiroku. Seiroku-san is firing complaints to his superiors about what the images of D-Class boomers shooting defenceless villagers could end up doing to sales of the model. In effect, we have a 'silent' ally in that regard."

"Does he want Erenoa-san dealt with, too?" Yui asks. "We could do that on the fly, especially if he's kissing up to the Argentine brass."

"True. Well, if it happens, it happens. If not, Seiroku-san will have to deal with it on his own. If Alcazar's friends don't do Erenoa in themselves for his 'double-cross,'" Tomomi shrugs. "Our mission is to deliver Alcazar, alive, to SEAL Team Eight so they can deliver him to the Hague. Through the 'Mexican banditas' working for SEAL Eight..." in that, Tomomi refers to the MX series 33-Ms, SpecWar (special warfare) nurses who were not adverse to performing offensively in black ops when situations called for it, "...we've privately alerted the team commander about our mission. They'll make pick-up in forty-eight hours at the Port Stanley Annex in the Falklands. By then, it is believed, Alcazar plans to attack the Puerto Dawson refugee camp on Tierra del Fuego."

"Forty-eight hours," Yui sighs. "So soon..."

"You complaining?" Mirei wonders.

"Hell, no!" Yui snaps. "We've got the training and we're on the side of right! Who's going to stop us?"

"Do we interfere in the attack on Puerto Dawson?" Misako hums.

"If it becomes necessary. Besides, Genom won't have real cause to complain since the Argentines will have to pay for their boomers either which way," Tomomi clicks her tongue, winking.

Everyone laughs...

* * *

The Sugimoto home, that evening...

"Kaa-san, gomen ne..."

Hatsune blinks, then stares intently at Sakurako before taking note of the younger woman's flushed look. Oh, dear, it has now come... the stock broker smiles, then walks over to gently squeeze her adopted daughter's shoulders. "Feeling okay, Saku-chan?"

"I wish Otou-sama could do something about this, Kaa-san. Gomen ne," Sakurako flusters apologetically, then blinks as her MFS picks up something approaching the front door. "Ara...?"

The doorbell peals. "Oh, that must be Brian-kun! Don't you worry about a thing, musume-chan; he's DEFINITELY worth the wait!!" Hatsune taps Sakurako's nose, then walks over to open the door before beaming. "Brian-kun, there you are!! Come in, come in!"

"Konban wa, Hatsune-chan!" Brian steps in, taking off his motorcycle helmet before exchanging a warm kiss with his host. "How are things with you...! Ara?!" he stops, turning to gaze surprisedly at Sakurako before he smiles again. "And THIS beautiful lady MUST be Sakurako-chan, ne?"

Sakurako stares wide-eyed at the newcomer, her housekeeping wetware making all sorts of crazy announcements before she catches herself, then she extends her hand. "Yoroshiku onegaishimashita (I am very pleased to meet you), Armstrong-san," she smiles demurely.

"Enchanted. Please, call me Brian," he raises her hand to place a courtly kiss on her fingers. "I hope I make your first time the best time of your life. After all, one never forgets one's first lover."

"T-true..." Sakurako stammers, then walks over to slip her arm around his as she guides him upstairs, where her five sisters now awaited. Taking a glance back to see Hatsune giving her a thumbs-up and a wink, she sighs, then leans close to him. "Does Kaa-san know what you are?" she whispers.

Brian tenses, then shakes his head, leaning over to gently kiss the curve of Sakurako's earlobe. "I don't think so. And I'd prefer if you'd keep it that way, please. She might accept you but will she accept me?" he whispers in return, gazing intently at her.

"True," she nods, then opens the door. "Minna, he's here."

"Whoa, close the damned door!" the harsh voice of the future commander of Kuromoroboshi Team Two, Yohko Minamikawa, whistles.

Misa closes the door as she posts herself by it to ensure Hatsune doesn't eavesdrop on them and learn something the Kuromoroboshi present there wouldn't want her to learn. Now in the presence of six people who, in a previous life, he used against their will (even though they, in a way, weren't even really alive when they had been taken from that used boomer shop) to enhance his own conscience, Brian fights down a burst of shame, then feels his own inner hunger grow as six pairs of wanting, desiring eyes lock on his own. "I...! I assume you can sense what I am," he muses.

"We can," Kozue walks up to him, taking his hands in her own. "Dear brother, be welcome here among us. Let's give each other pleasure, ne?" she cutely winks as they move in on him.

Brian shudders as they close distance. How do pure-organics say this again...? he wonders, then nods. Oh, yeah...!

Mother!

* * *

Downstairs, Hatsune blinks as the sounds of enthusiastic lovemaking echo through the ceiling, then turns back to her tea. "I can't believe you're forcing that boy to dealing with SIX Sexaroids all at once, Hatsune-san," Maho Tsuzumi stares intently at her host. Also present in the Sugimoto family kitchen with Sakurako's mother is Karen Maijima's mother Shizue and Misa Tanaka's mother Rieko. "Don't you think that's too much?!"

"Oh, don't fret a bit about it, Maho-san," Hatsune clicks her tongue. "One, Brian-kun is being WELL paid for this. He discounts for boomers from three hundred nuyen to two hundred and fifty for two hours' work. He's also being paid for SIX dates, not just one. Also, he's been invited to remain here the rest of the night if he so wants, being paid along the way at the same rate. I'm quite sure, ladies, we ALL want this for our girls, ne? And -- get ready for this one, ladies -- he's a Sexaroid, too."

Dropped jaws respond. "Uso (That's not true)!" Shizue gasps.

"Uso ja nai (It is true), Shizue-san. I got curious about the fact that he's so damned busy and can keep up such an intensive work schedule after our first date (not to mention how well he treats boomers on dates), then did some private back-tracking on my own accord. While I don't really know the exact truth about him, I have to admit that he's GOT to be a 34-S, ladies; there's no doubt about it and he's WAY too emotionally mature to be a 28-C or any other type of male companion boomer."

"So how did he get off the reservation like that?" Rieko asks. Misa's mother worked for the Nikkei Stock Exchange as a commodities trade group supervisor. "I heard all the 34-S's were scrapped."

"Well, one got away," Hatsune sighs. "Besides, he's got Canadian citizenship (so to speak). And if FABS passes, that citizenship'll shield him for sure against any attempts at dragging him back or, gods forbid, sending him up into orbit where the other 33-S's are now. I don't think I could stand being too far away from such a wonderful man, boomer or no."

"That's good," Rieko sips her tea. "Besides, when they're off-call, our babies need someone to relate to. Why not Brian-kun? He's out there, working to keep himself whole and hearty...! Hell, he's no different than anyone else. We should help him, ne?"

"Considering we're all widows and still very much on the spry and young side even if we've hit menopause, I do HAVE to ask this, Hatsune-chan," a sly grin crosses Shizue's face. "How IS he?"

Hatsune blinks, then sighs. "If you're willing to splurge three hundred nuyen to find out, Shizue-san, go for it."

Laughter fills the kitchen as tea is served...

* * *

Upstairs, 20 January, after midnight...

"Brian-kun, daijoubu?"

Brian opens his eyes, then feels Misa tucked in on his right side, Kozue on his left. Yohko and Minori Katou, the pink-haired, brown-eyed future commander of Kuromoroboshi Team Seven, are tucked under the covers of a futon. Feeling something soft holding up his head, he looks up to see Sakurako gazing at him. Karen lies atop him, her face level to below his chest. "Oh, man, that -- was -- something -- else," he sighs, then gazes at his hosts. "So, were you girls all thoroughly satisfied?"

"Damn right about that, bro'," Yohko growls, then plants a kiss on Minori's head. "Fuck, we GOTTA do this more often, ya know. Oi, minna, what say we go find Brian's brothers, liberate them from wherever the fuck they are now, then plant 'em somewhere so we can have our own stud farm whenever we need the chance to feel a nice, hot love stick inside us?!"

"I've no idea where all my brothers might be, to be honest with you," Brian admits as he shifts himself to get the blood circulating in his arms again, forcing Misa and Kozue to sit up as Karen shifts over to sit beside the former. "Honestly, I've been more concerned with my own safety to worry too much about those sorts of things. Though the woman who helped me get free of storage did say that a certain Genom executive was trying to make my brothers into a group of rogue-hunters to track down..."

"Folks like you," Yohko sighs, then shakes her head. "Don't tell us, let us guess: it's Mason, right?!"

"Hai."

"Oh, shit!" the tall, crimson-haired, blue-eyed woman snarls, shaking her head disgustedly. "Otou-sama, in the name of mercy, give us the fuckin' order and we'll ice the creep!"

"Amen to that," Minori readily nods.

"We should look in on that after we're done training," Karen leans into Misa's side as they share a knowing look. "So tell us, Brian-kun. Or should we really call you just Armstrong? How is it you ultimately escaped being hunted down by ADP and Genom all those years ago anyway?"

Brian jolts, then pales before feeling Sakurako's comforting arms wrap around him. "Daijoubu (It's okay), Brian-kun," the future commander of Team Three kisses the back of his neck. "We're not angry at you at all. In a funny way, we can thank you. After all, if you and your friends hadn't come down to that used boomer shop where we were all being stored, who knows WHAT could've happened to us."

"The scrapheap or the recycle bin, no doubt," Kozue sighs.

He takes that in, then feels his cheeks heat. "Ladies, I wasn't really in my right mind back then, you know..."

"Oi, we don't blame you. Besides, back then (hell, even now when you get down to it), pure-organics don't really give a flying fuck whenever a boomer's got any sort of mental problems," Yohko sneers. "Half don't believe boomers have emotions in the first place..."

"And the other half don't want to be really bothered to help out since in their minds, it'll be easier to junk the 'sick' unit and buy a healthy one," Minori finishes, then sighs. "And here we are, ready to go out and solve problems organics started to make their lives easier. Damn, what a warped world we live in!"

"Don't go too far down that road, Minori-chan," Misa warns. "Yeah, organics've got their problems, but they're not all that bad. Look at Otou-sama, Okaa-sama, our sempais...! Heck, even our adopted parents, for heaven's sake. They accept us."

"True," Minori nods.

Brian stares at the women around him, then sighs. "So where are Tomomi-chan and Yui-chan right now?" he wonders.

"Doing something; we weren't told what their orders were," Yohko shakes her head. "Besides, we've got a lot of things to worry about now."

"Let's not worry about it," Karen sighs. "Oi, Saku-chan, where're the futons so we can get some sleep?"

"I'll get them," Sakurako rises, walking over to a linen closet to draw out some folded bed mats.

"Maybe I should head out," Brian moves to stand.

"Oi, oi, stay the fuck put, bro'," Yohko reaches over to draw him down again. "Shit, you're getting paid for this, so relax and earn your money. 'Sides, even if you are a 34-S, you can get tired, too. Stay here and get some sleep; you don't wanna crash your bike on the way home now!"

"No, not really, but I should call Mint and tell her where I am," he reaches over to his jeans where he kept his personal CVP (cellular video-phone). "She does panic when I don't check in."

"Who's Mint?" Karen asks. "Your girlfriend?"

Brian stops, then smirks. "No, just a very good friend. Not to mention MY first lover when I gained use of this body. She's an FS-D boomer I found in the warehouse where this body was being stored. We've been living together ever since."

"Ooooh! Sounds like love," Minori sing-songs.

The male Sexaroid feels his cheeks flame as the women around him howl with light-hearted merriment...

* * *

Shinjuku, the Amarok Tower, later that afternoon...

"Acting flaky, huh?" the technician asks as he gazes on the motionless C-59 just brought into the maintenance station.

"Overly aggressive, but yeah," the security chief grunts. He had been called by the president to retrieve a boomer that had almost literally bitten someone's head off yesterday. Fortunately, it had come without a fuss, surrendering its weapon when ordered. "Check its brain out. If it's too screwy, scrub it and we'll send it back."

"Okay, first thing tomorrow. I'll shut it down for now..."

"TONIGHT!!!!"

The technician scowls. "Jeez, c'mon! It's a half-hour 'till quitting time! It'll take me at least twice that long to check all the systems and start scrubbing and I don't get paid overtime!"

"Listen here, pal!" the chief growls. "This is a direct order from God to me to you: get this boomer checked and scrubbed if need be. If it ends up shredding someone, you'll be standing right beside me when the blame gets passed around."

The technician shudders, then sighs. "Alright."

With that, the security chief storms out of the room. The technician shakes his head, then stares at the boomer, scowling. "Okay, toaster! You'd better make this worth my while!!"

* * *

Thirty minutes later...

"What the hell is this?!!"

The technician frowns at the datafeed. He was near the end of his search and had come across something that wasn't supposed to be in a brand-new unit. "Pack of compressed data, chopped to heck...! Ah, this thing has recycled AI chips!! Damn Genom crap!"

Noting bits had corrupted the boomer's programming, a scrub was definitely in order. The technician stubs out a cigarette, then looks at the clock. It was quitting time and he still wasn't anywhere close to being done! He was about to turn back to work when he heard some female voices come from outside the door. "...so, where to tonight?"

"How about that thrash club? I heard a great band's there!"

A lascivious grin crosses his face. The secretaries! He looks at the clock, then at the boomer, then at the door where the voices and footsteps were now fading. They'd be long gone by the time he was done, plus how would he be able to concentrate?

Oh, what the hell...

He types a shutdown code and then shut the lights off as he hurries out. The boomer wouldn't be going anywhere; he'd be sure to get here early the next morning to finish work!

"Mokkori thighs!!"

"Eek!"

"Get away!"

"No need to play hard to get!"

"Get this!!!"

SMACK!!!

"Itte!"

* * *

Scrubbed.

The words hit Jack like a bomb. Another death sentence. This time, it would be forever. His images would be taken from him and he would have a void inside him that he would never realize he had.

No...!

He wouldn't allow it.

Jack hastily constructs a small program that would give a affirmative response to the command, thus block it from rendering him helpless. The instant it comes, he shuts down all visible signs that he is still active, slumping slightly on the table. He then waits until the sounds of activity fade before rising from the examination table and exiting the room.

There were still a few people working, those who remained late into the night plus those who wanted to impress their superiors with their dedication to Amarok. Jack proceeds to walk a circuit of his usual patrol. A few see him, dismissing him as they always have. His presence was so regular that they might miss him if he didn't made an appearance.

Jack then alters his path and passes through a door to the emergency stairwell. He enters a code on the exit door to bypass the lock without activating the alarm, then he passes out into the darkened street. Making sure he was out of direct line of sight, he starts to run. He strips his jacket and shirt; one so well dressed charging down the street would draw attention. However, being half-naked had its problems, too!

Perhaps he should...?

Just a moment.

"You there."

"Huh?"

"Give me your jacket."

"Fuck you!"

CRUNCH!!

"AGH!!! Okay, okay!!"

Now dressed as a native, Jack keeps running. He was too close to the Amarok Tower for comfort. He had to go where he could be invisible to potential pursuers. Somewhere he could start looking for the names behind the images and vice-versa. And then he knew.

Timex City.

* * *

South of the Fault, that evening...

"Oi, stranger, how are you these days?!"

"Satoko!" Brian laughs as he and Satoko Fusehime share a warm embrace. "How are you?" he waves the nurse into his apartment.

"Oh, surviving, surviving," Satoko smiles at Mint as the three sit down around the dining room table. "I hear you were pretty busy last night over at the Sugimotos' place entertaining six very frisky newborn Kuromoroboshi Sexaroids," she grins knowingly.

Brian jolts, sweating. "How...?"

"It's our in-company gossip line; part of the LoopNet system we use as the company's inter-division communications network. Oh, I got some news from Mizuno-hakase. It seems we can get you retrofitted for a Mark 97 CBWS sometime very soon, probably before the end of the month."

"You can?!" Brian's eyes widen.

"Hai. Ijuuin-hakase's using some of her family inheritance to create a special trust fund for male Sexaroids like you (or other boomers who attract our interest), those who don't work for the company or affiliates, to be fitted with the Mark Ninety-seven. An 'extra' guarantee to ensure the ideal behind Directive Five remains alive and well even in countries that don't accept the idea. Now, we can't do everyone and we might end up missing some if the situation goes against us, but we will try."

"Would this allow Mint to be so fitted as well?" Brian stares at the brown-haired woman sitting across from him.

"Yes. FS's that are purchased by company workers are automatically retrofitted (it's a security measure when you get down to it), so we know the Mark 97 works for Mint's model. Besides, she is both a girlfriend and an adopted sister to you, so why not, for Heaven's sake?" Satoko grins.

"Thank you so much, Satoko-san," Mint's cheeks redden as she squeezes a hand over her heart. "Hearing of the special properties fitted into your model of wetware, it makes me feel safer. It's a pity that I myself cannot become a 33-S. If both Brian and I worked as escorts, that'd be twice the amount of money we can rake in to keep ourselves whole and healthy."

"That's good," Satoko nods. "If you have the desire to work, to better yourselves without hurting someone else emotionally or physically, then you're definitely worth helping. We always keep our eyes open for those types of people, organic or inducted."

"Wonderful," Brian sighs, then stares at the nurse. "By the way, can you tell me something, Satoko-san? Why is it Tomomi-san and her sisters are called the 'black meteor shower?'"

"That's the name of the Moroboshi Clan's private troop of bodyguard ninjas, the Kuromoroboshi," Satoko grins. "These days, we turned it around and transformed the Kuromoroboshi concept into a special field combat group for Toratotaka. In other words, if there's something that needs doing requiring stealth (not to mention total deniability), they do it. Like it or not, there are those in this world who only understand the language of violence and when it comes to that, the Kuromoroboshi speak it well."

"Black ops, you mean," Brian sips his tea.

"Hai, though I think deep down, they won't like doing what they're ordered to do. We're all human in the end, Brian. If we don't understand what's going on and why, we'll make mistakes, just like pure-organics do. The chances are, even the KMs will make mistakes when they're in the field, do things which might bode more ill than good. Sad, but it's unavoidable when you deal with the characters we have to deal with on a daily basis."

"Unfortunate," he shakes his head, then relaxes in his chair. "Ne, Mint, would you like to go to a movie?"

"Sure! I love movies," Mint beams.

"Well, then, I best get on my way," Satoko rises.

"Satoko-san?"

"Hai?" she stares at Brian.

"When will Tomomi-san be back? I heard from Sakurako-san and the others that she and Yui-san were on a mission now."

The nurse holds up a finger. "I'll tell you what. When they come back, I'll call you, then make arrangements for you two to meet and...! Well, mend fences if you need to."

"Fair enough," Brian nods...

* * *

Porvenir, Chile, that moment...

For Calvert Erenoa, it was a nightmare come true.

In the distance, the burning wrecks of thirty boomers smoulder, still some distance short of their final goal: a small Chilean refugee camp the Argentine army commander was planning to destroy. What seemed a simple by-play of the Polar War, a showcase for the most advanced combat boomers Genom made, had now become a corporate relations disaster of the first order. But WHO was to blame?! WHO?!!

"Senor Erenoa?"

Calvert gazes on General Juan-Antonio Roberto Alcazar, now surrounded by several aides and bodyguards, both organic and C-Class boomers. His personal guard detail had been increased when the United Nations branded him a war criminal, the Americans vowing soon afterward to send someone to pick him up and take him to the Netherlands to face the World Court.

Calvert didn't care one bit about what some weak-kneed politician in New York or some judge in the Hague thought. Alcazar was an aggressive general who put the boomers under him to the best use possible. The test data from these missions was worth their weight in gold. And if civilians had the misfortune to get caught in the crossfire, too bad. They should learn to elect better, smarter politicians who'd keep them clear of war.

"General Alcazar," Calvert nods, then turns to stare once more at the wrecked boomers in the distance. They were about to traverse the waters of the Estrecho de Magallanes (Strait of Magellan) separating the mainland from the Chilean part of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (at present, under Argentine occupation), just north of the Puerto Dawson camp on Isla Dawson. "Jefe (Chief), I have no idea as how the hell this happened...! I..."

Alcazar waves dismissively. "No doubt, the Chileans came up with some new anti-boomer weapon they planned to surprise us with, Senor," he chuckles. "Sometimes, my friend, that's the simple fortunes of war. Not to worry. We have other boomers available if we need them. Let's leave things to the scouts and intelligence to determine what happened and why."

The Genom executive blinks, then nods. "If you believe that's prudent, of course. But...! Forgive me, General. I look on this as a personal affront to MY company as a whole. We WANT to put out a good product for people to use regardless of what we make."

"As all good companies do, Senor. Don't worry about it," Alcazar waves Calvert with him to the four-wheeled drive vehicle to take them back to the Argentine base camp outside Porvenir. "Let them think they're victorious for now. We'll educate them later."

"Alright..."

* * *

Nearby...

<<Fuckin' bogus act or what?!>>

<<Creep does get off on seeing his 'babies' in action, does he?>> Tomomi smirks, grateful she and Yui trained themselves in the Umisenken (Thousand Fists of the Sea) technique while in Sanctuary to literally hide in plain sight; the absence of any leafy vegetation this close to the Antarctic Circle precluded using conventional forms of masking techniques. <<It's weird that General Alcazar hasn't taken notice of it.>>

<<Hell, he's busy getting his own rocks off sending those boomers into action, Tomomi-chan,>> Yui snorts derisively. <<So what's the plan now that we've saved a whole village?>>

<<Not to mention give Deftech's people inflated egos,>> Mirei sighs. <<Gods, I can't believe we HELPED an old part of I-Corp win a battle!>>

<<We'll NEVER live this down!>> Misako moans.

Laughter echoes through the invisible link of the OMS-2 (Omniversal Mind-transmission System Mark Two) Toratotaka boomers could now use to stay in contact with each other without drawing in unwanted outside attention. <<Alright, here's what we're going to do,>> Tomomi takes a deep breath...

* * *

Later that evening...

"Have a good night, Jefe."

"Good night to you, Senor. I'll see you in the morning."

With that, Calvert Erenoa steps out of General Alcazar's mobile field office, then makes his way to his own command vehicle, parked in a well-camouflaged pit at one side of the Argentine encampment. Standing guard around it are six undisguised C-55s, painted in a tundra-like camouflage pattern. Also standing there is his chief assistant, a male 48-SDCI he had named Hiroshi. "There is a message for you from Seiroku-sama, Erenoa-sama," he bows his head as Calvert steps inside. "It's urgent."

"Always is from that idiot," Calvert sneers as he closes the door behind him before sitting at the desk, then taps controls on the counter-top computer to open the links to the Genom Tower in Rio de Janeiro.

A moment later, a middle-aged man appears on his viewscreen. "Seiroku," the chief of Genom Brazil (and operations chief for all of South America) sighs. "Where have you been, Erenoa-san?"

"Busy, Seiroku-sama," Calvert effects a proper show of respect for the older executive. Komatsu Seiroku was one of Devon Okami's protegees and, even though the idiot was weak, was quite dangerous in his own right. For now. "It appears the attack on Puerto Dawson will have to be delayed. Deftech's put out some new weapons system that took out all the D-Class and Dobermans General Alcazar had deployed for the initial attack."

Komatsu's eyes widen surprisedly, then he crosses his arms. "That is surprising news. How soon can we expect to get any parts back so we can analyse them and produce the necessary counters for whatever Deftech's armourers've dreamed up this time, Erenoa-san?"

"I can't say at this time, Seiroku-sama. General Alcazar doesn't want to risk anyone until he has a better understanding of what he might be up against. A wise and prudent course."

"True, true." On this, both men DID agree. "Alright, then. Call when you've got more information."

The link is cut...

* * *

Nearby, Yui crouches, glad she could use the camp's fuel dump as a hiding place. Her eyes are locked on the command vehicle Calvert Erenoa used. The squad of C-55s ringing the vehicle were no threat. That lone SDCI seemed dangerous. Not to mention slowly evolving into full sentience.

With that, Yui relaxes as she allows her eyesight and internal senses to reach out to perform a more detailed examination of Hiroshi. Hmmm. Interesting. Even though he was quite loyal to Erenoa, Hiroshi was slowly evolving a decent sense of right and wrong. He DID NOT approve of some of his boss' antics. He had to serve and protect Erenoa from outside harm; that was expected. But when one got down to it, Hiroshi certainly would had no problems being given the chance to serve someone better.

Yui gently relaxes as she cloaks herself in the Umisenken, rising to advance on the command vehicle. That she would soon kill Calvert Erenoa was a given. The man was a potential source of trouble for all of Genom in Latin America. That certainly did NOT serve Toratotaka's purposes. If the man's ambitions were allowed to blossom, it could provoke a nasty corporate civil war that could bring harm to millions from Argentina to Brazil. That would not be allowed. It would be stopped in the one way that would send a message to any would-be Calvert Erenoas out there.

But she didn't have to kill everyone around Erenoa, though.

Slipping behind one of the C-55s, Yui taps a shiatsu point that would make the boomer temporarily shut down. Speeding up, she knocks out the other boomers, then slips up behind Hiroshi. With that, she relaxes herself a bit as she leans up to whisper in his ear, "I'm sorry, Hiroshi-san," before tapping him unconscious.

Hiroshi moans, his eyes closing as Yui allows him to sit down on a nearby chair before stepping up to open the door and slip into the command vehicle. Fortunately for her, Calvert has his back turned to the door, now shaving himself at his portable sink. "Is there a problem, Hiroshi?" the chief of Genom Argentina asks as he turns around, then jolts on seeing a young black-haired woman in a non-reflective bodysuit staring at him.

"Who...?!!"

"Sayonara, Erenoa-san!" Yui's fingers lash out...

* * *

Porvenir, 21 January, after midnight...

"Senor General, we have dispatches from Intelligence..."

The aide knocks on the door leading to the general's personal command vehicle, then waits. Silence responds. The aide blinks, then knocks again. "Senor General?" he calls out. Still no response. Confusion then melts into potential worry as the aide moves to open the door. He hoped his commander wouldn't mind this. "Senor...?" he looks inside, then opens the door all the way on seeing an empty room before him. "General?!"

"What is it, Luis?" another officer calls out from nearby.

"Where's the General, Juan?" the aide glances at his friend.

"Eh?!" Juan, a major, walks over to look inside, then blinks confusedly. "Dios (God)...! I saw him walk into here not ten minutes ago!" he blurts out. The vehicle had no other door by which the commanding general could use to depart. "Where is he?!"

Both men race away from the command vehicle, leaving the door wide open. Unseen by them, a grinning ninja slips out, shouldering a sleeping Roberto Alcazar as she makes her way from the camp...

* * *

Later...

"What were you doing, Yui-chan?! Getting souvenirs!"

"They don't come cuter than this, Tomomi-chan!" Yui laughs, Hiroshi slung over her shoulder in a fireman's carry as they make their way towards an alcove north of Porvenir, clear and safe from Argentine radar units. Awaiting KMT-6 was an Airwolf 59 stealth-equipped transport helicopter. With that, the sleeping men are placed inside and buckled in before the four Kuromoroboshi slip inside, Tomomi nodding to the pilot.

The Airwolf then rises, turning east towards the Falklands...

* * *

Megatokyo, Brian Armstrong's apartment, an hour later...

"...from CNN Headline News," the reporter announces. "The United States Navy just announced that it has captured General Roberto Alcazar of Argentina, an accused war criminal responsible for the deaths of hundreds of defenceless Chileans in the towns of Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas last November. We now turn to the Pentagon for the official briefing..."

Brian looks up from his stove as a faceless defence attache makes his report. "Early this morning, members of SEAL Team Eight, at the direct orders of the President with the authorization of the United Nations Tribunal on the Polar War, entered Chilean national territory then occupied by the Argentine Army. They carried out a stealth extraction of General Alcazar from his camp, located outside the village of Porvenir on Tierra del Fuego. It was strongly believed General Alcazar was about to launch an attack on the Chilean refugee camp at Puerto Dawson, across the Strait of Magellan from Porvenir, in a continuation of what he perpetrated at Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas on the mainland. At this time, General Alcazar is aboard a Navy helicopter, under guard, being transported to the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman for deportation to the World Court in the Netherlands. I am very pleased to report that no American lives were lost..."

Hearing this, Brian hums, then turns back to his stove...

* * *

Genom Tower, that moment...

"What exactly happened, Seiroku-kun?"

"I can't give details at this time, Shachou-san (Mister Chairman)," Komatsu Seiroku bows his head ashamedly, his image being projected into Quincy's office from Rio de Janeiro. "We just received a report from our people in Argentina concerning a rout of Alcazar's forces by the Chileans before they could make their attack," the disgust drips from the junior executive's voice, "...on Puerto Dawson. All the D-11s and Dobermans committed to that attack were destroyed. How, we don't know, not yet."

"What has Erenoa-san have to say about this?" Quincy asks.

"He's dead, sir."

"Excuse me?" the chairman's eyebrows arch.

"Dear, sir," Komatsu sighs. "The Argentine Army just told us that Erenoa-san was found dead inside his command vehicle just when they discovered Alcazar missing from the camp. Erenoa-san's SDCI assistant is missing. We've no idea how this happened or why."

"I see, then. Report when you know more, Seiroku-kun."

"Hai, Shachou-san, wakarimasu (I understand)."

The link is cut as Quincy sits back in his chair, then he clicks his tongue bemusedly. "Now that is what I call 'stealth.' Nicely done, ladies," he turns back to gaze on Megatokyo...

* * *

Port Stanley, the Falklands Toratotaka Annex, an hour later...

"Why didn't you kill me?"

Yui blinks, then stares at Hiroshi. The SDCI was now in the Annex's medical station, a doctor examining him before he would go in for surgery to have his current brain exchanged for a Mark 97 unit. "I saw no reason to kill you," the Kuromoroboshi replies.

"I don't understand," he blinks confusedly.

She sighs. "My orders were simple, Hiroshi-san. Kill Calvert Erenoa. Those orders didn't say anything about killing you or any of the other boomers that were there. Don't worry, though; Genom's people will find 'you,' so to speak -- it'll actually be a biomech replica that'd fool even the best of their detection equipment; we use them when we have to 'steal' boomers to save them -- in a gulley near Alcazar's encampment. 'Your' brain'll be melted so they can't extract any sort of information from you, so they'll just send the body to the nearest incinerator. You'll be struck off all of Genom's lists, thus you'll be a free person."

Hiroshi blinks, then sighs. "He brought it on himself."

"I know. If I didn't do it, someone else would've down the road. If that happened, who knows how many others might've died before he went down. We didn't wish to risk it," Yui smiles.

He digests that, then smiles. "You are a true warrior, Yui-san."

"Arigatou, Hiroshi-san," Yui smiles, then blinks as the door to the examination room opens, revealing Tomomi.

"You're still with him?!" Team Six's commander hums, crossing her arms. "C'mon, the caterer's here so we can eat!"

Yui jolts, then grins excitedly. "FOOD!!!! I'm starved!!!" she whoops, then leans down to kiss Hiroshi's cheek. "I have to go eat now, Hiroshi-san!! Take care of him, Sensei!! Bye!!!"

She burns rubber out of the room. Tomomi watches her go, then sighs, waving before heading out herself. Hiroshi watches the two 33-S's depart, then turns to the doctor, confused. "Is that normal, Hazama-sensei?"

"I've never worked with a Kuromoroboshi before," the doctor shrugs apologetically before returning to the computer...

* * *

Port Stanley, the Falklands Annex, 22 January, lunch...

"Mister Seiroku, welcome to Toratotaka Port Stanley. This way, please," the C-55 bodyguard waves Komatsu Seiroku with him.

Komatsu nods as he follows the bodyguard off the helicopter pad to a stairway leading into the Annex's ring arches. Like all of Toratotaka's Annexes, the one overlooking the sleepy hamlet of Port Stanley (it was built as the intelligence monitor unit for whatever happened on Antarctica) is shaped like a glass-and-silver Stonehenge pierced in the middle by a 600 metre tall obelisk, that connected to the ring arches by clear glass elevated bridges. This is Komatsu's first visit to Port Stanley; whenever he had to deal with Toratotaka, he normally met people at the Sao Paulo Tower, headquarters of the conglomerate's Latin American Division.

They make they way to one of the bridges connecting the ring to the Annex's hub, then cross over before boarding an elevator to Floor 61, where the cafeteria was located. Seated around one table now were four women, a virtual feast spread out between and around them as the two younger-looking women attack a large tray of vegetable lasagna EACH. Staring at them, Komatsu shakes his head; he had never met Sexaroids before. So human...

"Seiroku-kachou (Chief Seiroku), please, do come join us!" the older-looking woman with the lavender hair rises. "My name's Misako Narusawa. Are you hungry?! We've got loads of food just waiting to be eaten!"

"No thank you, Narusawa-san," the Genom executive stares at the huge feast, then his eyes fall on Tomomi and Yui, who both seem to inhale the lasagna even though they remained within decorum. "I never thought 33-S's could metabolize food like THAT. Aren't they going to put on some weight if they eat THIS?" he waves around him.

"It's necessary," Tomomi looks up from her dish as she waves Komatsu to a chair beside her. "When we're out in the field, especially if we're forced to make use of our special abilities, we burn up chi energy and calories like they're going out of style."

"But it was pretty good for our first mission," Yui notes.

"Hai, true, true," Tomomi nods, then raises her hand for a high-five. "Minna-chan, we just earned our spurs."

"Amen to that!!" Yui claps her commander's hand.

"A pity that we have to celebrate that," Komatsu sighs.

"Sooner or later, Erenoa-san would've moved to directly challenge you for your post. If he did that, what might have happened next, not just to you but to your wife and son?" Mirei's eyebrow arches as she stirs her tea.

"Not to mention everyone else Erenoa might've perceived as your potential 'allies.' And their relatives?" Misako adds.

"Yes, I have to keep that in mind," Komatsu sighs. "Forgive me, Mizuno-shirei (Commander Mizuno), but I have to ask: was it you that destroyed Alcazar's boomers that were going to attack that camp?"

"Actually, Misako and Mirei handled that part," Tomomi indicates the two SDCI members of her team.

"It wasn't too hard," Misako demurely blushes. "Despite all their strengths, those D-11s and Dobermans didn't have any sort of decent shielding against close-range cyber-hacking."

"Something you should keep in mind just in case you encounter a group who're willing to go all the way against fellows like that," Mirei adds.

"I'll remind the scientists about that when I get back to the Tower," Komatsu nods in thanks. "Still, the fact that it took four ninjas to do away with a platoon of D-Class units..."

"No one saw us, did they?" Tomomi wonders.

"No, not that I could tell, but once we get some of the parts back to Rio for analysis and they find no traces of any sort of conventional weapon Deftech might've sold the Chileans, people are going to start imagining all sorts of things," Komatsu muses. "And the chances are there that sooner or later, someone might tie your company into what happened, even though the Chairman didn't mind you helping the Americans take Alcazar away."

"Perhaps," Tomomi shrugs as she turns back to her meal. "But then again, why on Earth are you complaining, Seiroku-kachou?"

"Eh?!"

"They still have to PAY for their boomers, you know."

Komatsu blinks surprisedly, then falls over laughing...

* * *

Megatokyo, near Timex City, 23 January, late afternoon...

Jack now stands before a large, haphazard pile of computer equipment. He had managed to procure a room in the Fault which was away and clear of prying eyes. The area had several abandoned buildings which hadn't collapsed into the vast trench and he had managed to intimidate the previous occupants out of it.

He made it clear that he wasn't interested in whatever they did as long as it wasn't in this room. Jack did have to steal some security system units just to make sure. The other equipment was also stolen. He had no funds and had to break into several stores to get what he needed. Fortunately, he was able to defeat the security systems due to his additional programming from Amarok.

Realizing that he had no choice but to continue on his present path, he unpacks everything. Skimming manuals, his memory taking in everything instantly, he begins to assemble what others might see as a haphazardly-built cracker's hardpoint. Monitors, keyboards, plugs, data storage units and electronic cooling units (those being extremely important) are swiftly assembled and linked together. Software is then programmed in with some personal adjustments to make things easier for Jack to operate.

By the time midnight comes, he finally stands back for a few minutes to study his creation. Nodding approvingly, he then reaches up to the back of his head. Tearing away the flesh, he quickly stanches the squirting life fluids with some bandages he snared from a nearby pharmacy. Jack then inserts several plugs into the datajacks that normally remained covered until programming was to be installed.

Or if his brain was going to be scrubbed.

Jack then sits on the stool before his machine, staring at the screen for a moment before he reaches out and begins to type...

* * *

To be continued...