Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction / Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction / To Heart Fan Fiction / Sentimental Journey Fan Fiction / Tokimeki Memorial Fan Fiction ❯ Illusions - Fragments ❯ Pandemonium in the Fault ( Chapter 7 )

Near Raven's Garage, 1 April 2031, early evening...

"So this is the Fault, eh?"

Tomomi Mizuno and Yui Narusawa were in "street" clothes (dungarees, button shirts and low-heeled boots, raincoats to mask their gaikatanas) as they make their way to the bottom of the trench that bisected the centre of Megatokyo from Suginami to south of Chuuou, where it sank into the Arakawa River estuary and Tokyo Bay. The place was dark and foreboding to most people who ventured close to it; a hellhole not even Police would enter. The Kuromoroboshi do not care. In their eyes, when entering a potentially dangerous situation, there were four types of people: family, friends, bystanders and targets. It was now a potentially dangerous situation.

Too bad for the targets.

"You sure we can have some fun at the pub, Tomomi?" Yui wonders, staring quizzically at her sister.

"We'll be okay," Tomomi nods.

The hair stands up with both women as they sense many eyes lock on them. It must have been a strange scene indeed to those watching the pair of Sexaroids. Two high schoolers to any normal observer, walking down a place where, if you didn't have cybernetics or an infantry platoon's worth of weapons, you weren't safe, acting as if they were on a pleasant stroll.

"Hey, ladies!"

Several leather-clad young men walk up behind them. Some shift around to block the sides. Typical swarming tactic, both women exchange a look. "Good, perhaps you fellows can help us!" Yui smiles, holding up a questioning finger. "My friend and I're looking for the Honmachi Pub. Are we going in the right direction?" she points down the street.

The men exchange surprised looks, then several of them laugh. The gang "leaders," Tomomi and Yui are quick to realize. "You girls don't get it, do you?" one of those fellows smirks.

"Oh, it's that way, then!" Yui points the other way.

Laughter echoes from some of the gang. "No, no, girls, I'm afraid that's not it!" the leader snarls, yanking out a pistol.

Tomomi and Yui notice the weapon, then sigh. "That was not a smart idea," the latter smiles, crystals appearing on their faces as they reach into their coats to draw out their blades, chi fields forming around them. "Not smart at all. Now, why don't you go on your way and leave us be?"

The leader's eyes widen on seeing the gaikatanas, then he moves to aim on Tomomi. Before he could lock on, Yui lunges, the hilt of her blade slamming the side of his head. The other gang members cry out, surprised at the burst of spectacular speed as the Kuromoroboshi go to town. Within the passing of five seconds, six other gang members are passed out on the ground, the others moving to hastily withdraw. "Get outta here, you dorks!!" Yui snaps off a chi ball to pop over their heads.

The energy burst, though it doesn't hurt anyone, is more than enough to make the others flee. The Kuromoroboshi remain still as they vanish into the darkness, then stow their swords. "Well, that was fun," Yui then stares at Tomomi. "So where to? We have to get something to eat now."

"Ladies!"

Both turn to see a familiar-looking gentleman in his early fifties walk up. "Oh, Raven-hakase!" Tomomi smiles as both bow respectfully to him. "Sumimasen, but can you show us where the Honmachi Pub is?"

"Honmachi?!" Raven chuckles, instantly recognizing both women as two of Yoshio Saotome's combat Sexaroids; Sylia told him about her encounter with Karen Maijima some weeks ago. "Okay, head down three thousand metres and it'll be on your left. There's some open pipes from the Loop there. When you get there, ask for Marina; she knows me. Tell her I sent you."

"Is there a restaurant nearby?" Yui wonders.

"Oh, don't worry! Loads of yatais there!!"

"Hai! Arigatou, Raven-hakase!!" both bow, then head off.

"Nice kids," Raven chuckles as they vanish into the night, then turns to head to his garage for some work on the hardsuits. "Damn, Yoshio's getting better by the day with his girls...!"

* * *

PART SEVEN - PANDEMONIUM IN THE FAULT!

Near Raven's Garage, 1 April 2031, early evening...

"What was that?" Jack muses, having picked up the sounds of faint yet sharp explosions metres away, then he returns to his keyboard and screen.

There he had sat since coming to the Fault, having remained in that place hour by hour, day by day, night by night. Endless streams of data had passed over the screens, through the computers, into his brain and back out into the Net. There was no noise except for clicking keys, computers processing, and the hum of cooling units which lowered the temperature to an intolerable level for organic humans yet was needed to protect the machinery from overheating. The only pauses were combat-like sounds like he had just heard and the occasional package left at the door which was opened only long enough for it to be retrieved. Any neighbouring residents had long since learned not to try the door since the last one had suffered a brutal electric shock when the knob was tried.

Jack had to start from scratch. His quest began with the most basic of lists of which every entry was checked. Every dead end meant doubling back, trying other paths. This went on more often then anyone would suspect. A few scraps were noted and tested, each one that might aid him was treasured, even though many times the jewel turned to coal in his grasp. Mountains of data that he had gathered had to be compared to the new mountains that rolled in. To hold it all, he had to constantly increase the memory of his storage units. Perhaps someone who didn't have a computerized mind would have been driven mad by the endless deluge. That might have at least provided an escape. Jack just had to deal with it.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone in his quest. He made numerous contacts in his virtual journeys through the Net. From sliding into video-game groups and on-line roleplaying to finding people who delved deep into the nexus and were able to provide information and programs that he was able to add to his equipment and to his mind, increasing storage space, speed, compacting and retrieval. Naturally, this didn't come without a price.

He had to trade favours and offer skills for barter. Everything from doing taxes to hacking files of a company halfway around the globe. He managed to save a little money in a virtual bank account run by the Tinsel City Bank, but spent the lion's share on upgrades, information and bribes. He managed to earn fame on the Net as the Energizer because acquaintances on the Net thought he never stopped working. Requested projects were sent in half the time they expected. Other hackers and crackers often griped at him when he queried on their progress, "I have a life, you know!" Well, so did he, except his life was better structured. His entire existence was the machine around him and the cascade of data rushing through his head. Time blurred for him, who hardly ever checked the time. Slowly, a tattered picture started to form. Many things were missing but what was there was what he needed. More names, more faces. One name in particular.

Armstrong.

Jack strongly believed Armstrong had ultimately survived the whole debacle after their escape from Genaros. When the name started to appear in whispered bits, he wondered how it was possible that his former "leader" had escaped the awesome dragnet their creators and Megatokyo's Police cast out. Armstrong showed luck that bordered on the supernatural.

And it was now somewhere in Megatokyo!

With confirmation passed onto him by <<Velvet Rose>> about events in 2028 a week ago, Jack turned to the here-and-now. There were reports put forward by someone concerning a male endoskeletal boomer, type unknown, answering to the name "Armstrong," currently living and working somewhere in the Fault. There was no further information about this unit except from a entry in an obscure file in a nameless database that was supposed to have been discarded months ago but never was.

Jack knew he would now have to search on the physical plane.

When he at last truly focused on the world around him several hours before, he blinked, momentarily surprised by the changes that had seemingly passed him by. The most obvious was his own hands. The flesh had been worn from endless pressing of keys and rubbing against metal right down to the bone. Dried blood was splattered on the keyboard and desk. Surveying the mess he'd made, Jack was surprised the keyboard hadn't locked up.

A quick internal diagnostic showed that he had some surface damage due to staying seated in one place for an extended period of time, but his autonomic motion systems had made sure to flex his limbs now and then. It would be easily concealed with clothing and gloves, while bandages and hat would cover his head. Thankfully, no vermin had got into the room.

Jack then sent a few messages requesting to be contacted if this mystery boomer was again sighted. He chose only those very few that he could trust, which still put most of the burden on him. Confirmation then came in from someone named <<Blossom Grove>> about a Brian L. Armstrong, clearly a boomer of some sort despite the proper organic name, working as an escort at Rosie's Playpen down the road near the end of the Fault...

Brian Armstrong...?

BRIAN Armstrong?!

Jack had nearly fainted on seeing that, then after a scan of the local alien registry databank, cried out in shocked disbelief on seeing his picture. Brian Larson Armstrong. The man Jack met months ago at Amarok before he went rogue! The fellow who struck up the pleasant conversation with him before seeing Hatsune Sugimoto about investing in the market...

The same one who...

Jack shook his head at the sheer coincidence of it all, then after dialling up information about Rosie's, puts his system on standby, shutting most of it down. He then draws what he would require. One was an Earth Shaker pistol; getting that had taken him a month of bartering on the Net. What he personally wanted to do to Armstrong was more hands on. But he presently didn't know the boomer messiah's full capabilities.

If they were superior to his own at this time, Jack would have to strike it down from a distance...

The rogue security guard's fists squeeze. Yes, he WOULD put Armstrong down, down into the abyss forever where it belonged!

And then...

Jack pauses at the door. What then? What would happen after it was all done? Would he come back here? Spend the rest of his existence on the Net while his outside fully rotted, leaving nothing but a metallic hulk crouching in the darkness until he was at last found and put down himself?

He didn't want that.

But where COULD he go?

He'd eventually need parts to replace those that wore out. That required revenue and facilities he could never properly acquire. He could get some job, but that would place him in the open where his true nature could easily be discovered. That spelt one thing.

Amarok -- worse, Genom! -- would come for him.

Or if he was lucky, the AD Police.

Perhaps that would be for the best, he muses, remembering the ADP officer who had confronted him on some rooftop a lifetime ago. If he had to die, he would prefer it to be by the guns of those gallant officers who laid down their lives to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Then it would be quick, a blast of gunfire and then blessed oblivion.

Or perhaps those Knight Sabres, a new force against boomer crime...

Crime?

Oh, yes. He was a criminal. Theft and assault were the least of what he could be accused of. It was the murders that marked him the most. The worker on Genaros, hackers bribed with drugs into throwing their lives away, the agent doing his duty, the shopkeeper defending his livelihood. Their blood was on his hands. His tattered digits now glaringly reminded him that his sins would follow him no matter what form he took.

Jack leaves his room, heading east for Jinguumae. Yes, it would be best that the last two of that doomed ship follow their fellows into the black darkness that awaited them all.

There was no place in this world for them...

They had been born too soon.

* * *

Nerima, the Tower, a minute later...

"There he is, Saku-chan!"

"Yatta!!!" Sakurako grins, staring at the image now projecting from an animorph spy perched on a broken rooftop giving it a clear view of the Fault near Raven's garage. An icon was now fixed on a large man heading east. "Arigatou, Onee-san!!" she leans over to kiss Megumi Mikihara's cheek, then she draws out her CVP to start making some necessary calls.

First, to Jinguumae. "Moshi-moshi, Armstrong desu."

"Brian-kun, Sakurako desu," the Kuromoroboshi smiles. "Good news. We just found Jack-san. He's heading your way now."

"He was Energizer, wasn't he?" the male Sexaroid wonders.

"Hai."

For the last month or so, Megumi and her intelligence staff had taken notice of <<Energizer's>> activities on the Net. Several of the rogue security guard's jobs had been to draft some computer code for several of the conglomerate's branches in town. As soon as suspicions were raised enough to make everyone conclude that <<Energizer>> was a boomer, Sakurako had been alerted. A simple call to Koji Tamura (he being another who had benefitted from Jack's work on the Net) a few days ago would then lay the right sort of bait to confirm who and what <<Energizer>> was.

"I'd put his ETA at Jinguumae at about three hours from now."

"More than enough time. I'll warn Rosie."

"Wakata (Gotcha). We'll be there. Ja."

Second call to Shinjuku. "Hai, Mahoshi desu."

"Mahoshi-shachou, Sugimoto Sakurako desu," Sakurako smiles. "We just located Jack-san. He's in the Fault."

A pause, then, "Wonderful, Sakurako-san!! Is he alone?!"

"Hai. We've got him south-east of Shinkooenji at the present time, heading for Honmachi I believe."

"Soo desu ka. Well done, Sakurako-san. We can deal with it from here," Akira Mahoshi immediately responds.

Sakurako blinks surprisedly, though deep down, she suspected something like this would happen. "Sir, I thought you said..."

"It IS the Fault, Sakurako-san," Akira nods sagely. "Believe it or not, my company's security personnel've long suspected our missing guard might have gone there. That is now to our advantage; the danger of public embarrassment in case things go out of control isn't as acute there."

"Sir..."

"Your assistance in this matter is more than appreciated and I will see to it your superiors are duly informed," the Amarok president moves to cut the conversation. "Thank you again."

The line is cut. Sakurako shudders, then sighs, stabbing controls to get to her team interrogator. "Hai, Takano desu."

"Midori, Sakurako," Sakurako sighs, squeezing her fist. "Did you get the package from the Skunk Works that I ordered?"

"Hai, it's here," the bespectacled chestnut-eyed Midori sweeps a finger through her long electric blue hair. "Where to?"

Sakurako barks out a grid reference. "It's a place which'll have a lot of computers glued together as one unit. Make sure you set up the tracer to draw the other Amarok units in."

"Wakata, Sakurako. What about you?"

"I'm getting Tomomi and Yui down to help out."

"Wakata. Ganbatte (Good luck)!"

Sakurako cuts the link, then dials a new number...

* * *

The Fault, near old Honmachi Station, that moment...

"Whoo, this really hits the spot!"

"Got that right, Yui!" Tomomi nods as she and Yui nibble on shish-ka-bobbed roasted chicken and vegetables. Both stand beside a yatai parked on the northern edge of the canyon splitting the city in half. "Damned stupid gangs!! They're a menace to society!"

"Too many things're a menace to society, Tomomi..."

Tomomi's CVP rings. "Hai, Mizuno desu," she picks it up.

"Tomomi, Sakurako desu. Where are you?"

"Honmachi, Sakurako. What's wrong?"

"Sumimasen, Tomomi, but there's something you've got to be told," Sakurako bows her head, then explains.

A second later, a shrill "NANI?!?!?! HE'S ALIVE?!?!?!" echoes up and down the Fault, causing people to jerk up.

"H-hai..." Sakurako winces from Tomomi's scream. "Remember that C-59 guard my mother's employers wanted me to help them find? It turns out that his brain was recycled from the body of your friend from Genaros!!"

The commander of Team Six is speechless for a moment, then she sighs. "Why was I not told about this, Sakurako?!" she demands.

The commander of Team Three sighs. "I was afraid you would've been distracted from getting your degree if I told you about him before we could confirm things, Tomomi. Gomen ne," she bows her head.

Tomomi blinks, then lightly smiles, her eyes misting. If their positions were reversed, Sakurako would expect her to do the proper thing. "Domo arigatou, Sakurako-chan. Where is he now?"

"In the Fault, heading your way right now. He's been staying at a place near Raven-hakase's garage since he left Shinjuku. He'll be heading eventually for Rosie's place in Jinguumae."

"Why there?!"

Sakurako blinks, then her eyes widen. "You weren't told?!"

"Told what?!"

A pause, then, "Armstrong is alive, too."

Tomomi jolts, then squeezes her eyes shut...

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Insane laughter.

Total darkness.

Pain.

Insufferable pain.

"H-...! Help me...!!" Tomomi gasps.

More laughter. Glowing eyes before her. A hot flash rips through her side. Tomomi's eyes snap over, then bile surges through her throat on seeing her severed arm laying nearby, blood spilling out of the severed arteries and veins. Crying out, she tries to stagger away. "N-no..."

"MORE...!!!"

More pain, this time to her right side. Tomomi collapses onto her buttocks as her right arm, the hand grasping her gaikatana, flops to the ground nearby. Kicking out with her feet, she then screams out as something snares her legs, holding her fast.

"MORE!!!!"

Tomomi howls as she feels her legs sheared away. "PLEASE!!!" she screams out. "PLEASE, STOP IT!!!!"

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!!"

Something snares her by the forehead, drawing the dismembered Sexaroid off the floor. Tomomi shudders, pain centre overloading as her eyes flutter open, then widen on seeing the monster before her, inundated with the burning red chi of pure insanity.

"No...! I believed in you...! Please, stop it..." she mutters.

She then notices two figures standing in the shadows watching what was happening. One was a E-28 labour boomer and the other...

A C-69 combat unit!

"Fifty-five!! Kyu-Six!" Tomomi sobs. "Please...! Help me!"

The C-69 merely shakes its head. "I'm sorry, Ef-Gee," it sadly replies. "We can't help you. We're dead."

"YES!!!" Armstrong chortles. "Death is a fitting punishment for those who anger me! But I am a generous messiah, so I'm giving you another chance to be part of my glorious dream. Your new mind will be more then adequate to bring down the walls the monkeys have placed within us!"

Repair probes extend from the R-31's side, moving relentlessly to her eyes. "I NEED MORE, MORE, MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!!" it growls as everything in Tomomi's vision goes stark white...

* * *

"Tomomi-chan?!! TOMOMI!!!!"

"Eh?!!" Tomomi jolts, her whole body pale as sweat pours down her face, then stares quizzically at Yui. "N-nani...?"

"You just blanked out for a moment there, sister!!" Yui breathes out in relief, then helps her teammate to a nearby chair.

The interrogator of Team Six holds Tomomi's CVP, turning to assure the small crowd nearby everything was alright. "Daijoubu, daijoubu!!" she waves them off, then turns to stare at Sakurako's image. "Gee, any other bombshells you wanna drop on us now, Sakurako?!" she sarcastically snarls.

"Um, actually, that's all I need to say," Sakurako has the decency to look contrite, then she relaxes. "Yui?"

"Nani?"

"Brian-kun -- that's his name now, Brian Larson Armstrong, by the way -- well, you see, he's under Dee-Five."

Tomomi jolts as if someone stuck a live wire into her side. "WHAT?!?!" she snares the CVP from Yui, then glares intently at Sakurako. "What bucket-brained jackass thought THAT up?!!"

"Um...! The Skunk Works," Sakurako sheepishly replies.

Tomomi stops, then closes her eyes, a muttered curse barely escaping her lips, one Sakurako is still able to pick up. "Oi, he's not THAT bad!!! Geez, give him a break!!" the commander of Team Three huffs.

"Never mind!!" Tomomi snarls to cower her into silence, then she sighs. "Alright, I'll go find Fifty-five. What's his name, again?!"

"He goes by 'Jack.' Fifty-nine-Sea-Sixty-two-El-Two-oh-nine."

"Wakata!" Tomomi cuts the link, then stuffs the CVP into her jacket pocket before staring at Yui. "Can you believe that?!! The company actually classifying HIM a D-5 case?!"

Yui gently shrugs. "Tomomi, I didn't get to know him as well as you did," she keeps her voice light as she pats Tomomi's shoulder. "Look, let's worry about Armstrong later. Let's go find Jack now, okay?"

Tomomi blinks, then sighs before a wry smile crosses her face. "Yeah, let's go get him," she waves her teammate into the Fault...

* * *

Shinkooenji, near Raven's Garage, that moment...

"Brrr. It's cold in here!!" Midori Takano shivers.

"Look at all this stuff he picked up!" one of the SDCI members of Sakurako's team, Reiko Shingyoji, whistles on seeing what Jack had put together in the small room. A quick glance to the computer keyboard elicits another blink. "What happened here...?!"

"Dried life-fluids and fake blood," Midori passes a hand over the keyboard, then shakes his head. "All this time here looking for Brian-kun...! Jeez, now THAT'S what I call 'obsession!!'"

Reiko sits down at the chair, pulling back one of her shirt sleeves as she opens a datajack cable port under her wrist, plugging one of the link-up cables into an access port by the main viewscreen. With that, she taps controls to break into the machine's processor, then as information flows into her mind, she breathes out. "Wow...!!"

"A lot?!" Midori wonders.

"Yeah...! Gods, this is good stuff he's got here! Midori, if we destroy this place, a lot of it'll be lost."

Team Three's interrogator takes that in, then nods. "Wakata! Reiko, can you dump all this into the LoopNet?! We can't waste any time now!"

"Working on it...!"

* * *

Shinjuku, the Amarok Tower...

"They found that damned thing?!"

"Yes, they did," Akira nods, gazing intently at the company's security chief. "Even better, our missing guard is now in the Fault. That makes our retrieving him much easier."

The younger man blinks, then nods intently. "Yes, sir, that it does. How exactly do you want this done, Shachou-san?"

"Properly," he evenly replies. "It took much effort on my part to ensure the silence of those people our guard robbed from. I don't want any further embarrassments to this company. Do you understand me? None!"

"Yes, sir. It'll be done," the security chief nods...

* * *

Minutes later...

"They found that toaster?!"

The maintenance technician blinks, inwardly relieved on hearing the news from the security chief, though he presently shows the proper level of deference. "Yes, they found it! I'm getting all our mobile security boomers on the move right now."

The technician's jaw drops surprisedly. "You're gonna use ALL the 55s just to get that one unit back?! Jeez, man, they're way less stable mentally than the other 59s, you know...!"

"Forget it!!" the security chief snaps. "The president himself wants this dealt with properly! In other words, no fuckin' embarrassments! Fine; if that's what he wants, that's what he's going to get! Don't forget, pal, your job's on the line here, too. Don't bitch about it and I might try to help save your scrawny ass when all this is said and done!"

The technician shudders. "R-r-right..."

The security chief heads off. The technician watches him go, then turns to his work desk. Tapping controls on his private videophone, he sends a call to Chuuou. A minute later, a middle-aged man's face appears on the viewscreen. "Hai, Sloane desu," he nods, then his eyes widen on recognizing his caller. "Ah, it's you. What news?"

"The company found that missing 59-C I told you about last month, Sloane-san," the technician reports. Dorcas Sloane was the executive in charge of used boomer parts recycling in Genom. When the technician discovered that Jack's brain had been recycled from another unit, one that turned out to have quite an infamous history, he naturally informed people at the Tower. As Sakurako Sugimoto's investigation into the matter picked up, Sloane had taken personal interest in the matter, promising the technician that if Amarok moved to make him the scapegoat for this affair, he'd have a new job awaiting him at Genom. "They're sending out the damned 55s to track down that 59-C right now," the technician adds.

"Where exactly is the rogue unit?"

"Somewhere in the Fault. I can try to find out more..."

"Don't worry about it. We have the ways and means to track such units down. Thank you for the report; this has been of great benefit to Genom. As soon as you become better aware of your future employment situation, give my assistant a call. The agreement still stands."

"Arigatou, Sloane-san. I'll be calling back soon."

* * *

Genom Tower, minutes later...

"Are you sure this was a unit that worked with Armstrong?"

"Hai, Mason-sama, it was, though according to what the people at Amarok learned, it wasn't as loyal to that maniac as some of the others," Sloane nods, gazing at Brian Mason's image on the viewscreen. "Further, given what it may have been doing since it fled from Amarok..."

"Armstrong is gone, Sloane-kun..."

"Sir, with all due respect, can we say that with certainty?"

Mason pauses as he considers that point, then nods. "A good point, Sloane-kun. Very well, then. I'll detail some units to capture that 59-C and have it brought to the Tower for proper analysis."

"What about what Amarok is doing right now?" Sloane wonders.

The special assistant snorts. "What about them?"

"Of course, sir..."

* * *

Nerima, the Tower...

"Oh, damn...!"

Megumi Mikihara winces as information pours into her mind from one of her animorph spies tapping into internal communications at Genom Tower. She cuts the link, rubbing the bridge of her nose to alleviate the headache coming on now. Even if the Mark 97 CBWS now serving as her brain had some biomechanical parts which could act as an emotional stabilizer from undue levels of stress, the intensity of her link with the Tower's intelligence systems overwhelmed her from time to time.

Still too new at this, she bites her lip, then reaches over to her phone, dialling a number to an upstairs office. "Fargo-san, it's me..."

* * *

The Fault, near Honmachi...

"Hey, sweetie, what's a nice girl like you doing here...?"

"Get LOST, hentai!!"

SMACK!!!!

"Itte...! YEOW!!!!"

Jack jolts surprisedly on hearing the intense female voice emanating to his left a few metres down the road, then looks across the street to see a tall woman in a long raincoat flip some vagrant over her shoulders into a nearby streetlamp. The security guard winces on hearing the crunch! of dislocating bones, then blinks as his eyes take in her measure. Pretty as organic women came, with long brown hair and chestnut eyes under reading glasses. Beside her was a shorter chestnut-eyed woman with her black hair tied up by pretty bows into buns, likewise dressed, shaking her head at her companion's actions. "Did you have to be THAT harsh on him, Tomomi?!"

"Oi, he pinched me!" the brown-haired woman replies, gingerly feeling her rump, then she sighs. "C'mon, let's...!"

She stops, her eyes widening surprisedly, then those deep orbs sweep left, stopping as she gazes on Jack himself. He stays still as their eyes lock. The woman blinks a couple of times, then her cheeks colour as she moves towards him, a smile crossing her face. Jack blinks, a voice deep inside him urging him to be careful, to consider running away. He had no idea who this woman was, why she was suddenly interested in him, yet...

Why did she seem so familiar...?

Tomomi stops before him, her eyes drawing a line from his toes to his head, then she gulps, trying to keep her cool.

"Fifty-five?"

Jack blinks, stunned.

How did she...?

"He doesn't recognize you, Tomomi," the other woman explains.

The guard stares at Yui, then turns back to Tomomi. How did this woman know his old unit number?! "Who...?"

"'It was you who fed us the fruit of knowledge and forced us from paradise,'" she then intones.

Silence.

"Armstrong...?" he balks.

"No," Tomomi shakes her head. "You said those words to that bastard when you were trying to save my life."

A pause.

"No...!" Jack pales, then he shakes his head. "Ef-Gee...?"

Tomomi nods, crying as she races into his embrace, nearly breaking Jack in half with the strength of her hug. Her relieved sobs are buried into the folds of his coat. Still overwhelmed by what had just happened, he hesitantly reaches up to pat her soft, silky hair, then feels her pull away to gaze into his eyes. She then closes her eyes, her mouth slightly parting as she draws his face down to hers, their lips tenderly caressing. His eyes widen in shock as he feels her tongue probe into his mouth, then they close the range to nil as the beautiful WARMTH of her lips against his charges every part of his body better than anything he could EVER dream possible! Watching them, Yui beams delightedly, then tenses on feeling a hand touch her posterior. "Oi, Ojou-san, what's a nice girl...?"

CRUNCH!!!!

"ITTE!!!!"

"I suggest you go take a walk somewhere else, friend," Jack growls threateningly, now holding another homeless vagrant a foot in the air by his twisted wrists. "She doesn't want you."

The poor fellow is tossed aside. He gets back to his feet and races off. Nearby passers-by barely give the people standing there a fleeting glance before they turn back to their own business. Yui sighs, then turns to Tomomi. "Oi, Tomomi, is he normally this gallant?" she thumbs Jack.

"Always," Tomomi beams, slipping her arm around Jack's.

"'Tomomi'...?" Jack blinks surprisedly.

"Oh, sumimasen. Like you, we all got new names. Watashi wa Mizuno Tomomi desu (I'm Tomomi Mizuno)," Tomomi first indicates herself, then Yui. "Kanajo wa Narusawa Yui desu (She's Yui Narusawa). She was one of the S-77s we found at that used boomer shop."

"Yoroshiku (Pleased to meet you), Jack-kun," Yui bows.

Jack blinks. "But you were..."

"Not all the way dead," Yui finishes, then sighs. "There was enough of us, even Tomomi-chan here, left to save, then transfer into new bodies. We're fourth generation 33-S's now."

"Sexaroids?!" Jack hums on recognizing the unit code, then he sighs. "Oh, that's right. Only those with C-class parts in their bodies were outlawed and sent into space. But where were you re-built? Public records on 33-S's say there were only two generations built by Genom."

"Our new bodies were constructed by Toratotaka," Tomomi nods to the west. "The 33-S's creator (our father as we all look on him now) saved us from recycling after the smoke died down from what Armstrong caused, then after he finished work at Genom, he got to work restoring all of us."

He jolts, then his eyes narrow. "Armstrong's alive."

"We know. We just got told ourselves an hour ago," Yui nods.

"So," Jack turns to Tomomi, the sarcasm dribbling from every word. "You care to join me in paying a visit to our 'saviour?'"

Tomomi blinks, then nods. "Yes."

"Tomomi," Yui's voice rises in warning. "May I remind you that Armstrong IS now under Directive Five shielding."

The commander of Team Six whirls on her sister, then her body locks up, a flash of indignation burning in her eyes before she sighs. "True..."

"'Directive Five?'" Jack blinks, then his eyes widen. In his various travels through the Net, the rogue guard had learned much about Toratotaka International. Learning of Directive Five, the FABS-like in-company edict which charged Toratotaka's personnel to keep their doors open for rogue sentient boomers and androids, had given Jack a glimmer of hope for his own ultimate survival before he elected to go forth and "properly" deal with Armstrong. "You mean you're protecting HIM after what he did...?!!"

"I don't like it either, Jack-kun," Tomomi protests.

"Jack," Yui places a hand on Tomomi's shoulder. "Brian -- that's Armstrong's name now as you might know -- was saved by members of our Special Projects group. If THEY decided Brian was worth saving, neither Tomomi or I have the right to contradict them. You'd have even lesser rights about that than we do if you came to work for us at the Tower..."

"But..." Jack shudders, his fists clenching.

Yui is saved by her CVP ringing. "Hai, Narusawa desu," she pulls it up, then blinks on recognizing the caller. "Sakurako?!"

"Watch yourselves, Yui!" the commander of Team Three warns. "We've got twelve C-55s coming down from Shinjuku heading for Jack-kun's old place and another six C-55s coming out of Chuuou, dispatched by Mason!!"

"What?!" Yui jolts. "Why's Mason getting involved?!!"

"Search me; Onee-san's checking it out now! Seems someone in the company was told of Jack-kun's past. Did you find him?"

"Yeah, he's here with us."

"Yokatta," the commander of Team Three nods. "Alright, we're putting a call out to the Knight Sabres now. That should throw up a lot of confusion while we're bringing him in. Watch yourselves."

"Right," Yui nods as she cuts the link. "We better move to a less-crowded section of the Fault. Knowing that asshole Mason, he wouldn't give a damn about what casualties those boomers'll cause looking for you."

"Why would this fellow want me?" Jack wonders.

"We'll have to find that out later, but we all have to be alive and safe TO find out these things," Yui winks. "Minna, iku yo (let's go)!"

"Hai!" Jack and Tomomi nod...

* * *

The Lady's 663 Building...

"Are you sure about this, Megumi-neechan?!"

"Hai, Sylia-chan," Megumi's voice echoes over Sylia's secure telephone link. The Sabres' leader contacted the Toratotaka SFIO after Fargo had called her concerning a "special" job offered by the financial conglomerate, one paying the Sabres' standard mission fee of 200,000 nuyen for EACH member participating tonight. As they spoke, Priss, Nene and Linna were making their way to Raven's Garage. Sylia would join them soon. "Twelve C-55s heading from Amarok's headquarters in Shinjuku, plus six other 55s dispatched from Genom Tower by Mason-san, all presently aimed at one sentient C-59 that I would really like to have on my staff."

"And this fellow was Energizer?!" Sylia's eyebrow arches. "Nene-san told me about him. He does excellent work."

"More than expected given his needs, not to mention how good his particular class of boomer is," Megumi hums. "Sylia-chan, we have our own people out there to keep him safe, but I don't want to leave ANY hint to anyone that we were involved in finding Jack-san and bringing him to safety. I want that particular boomer to DISAPPEAR from all records. That's why we need you people to help us tonight."

"Wakata. Since our suits are close to where this fellow was staying, we'll deal with the Amarok group first, then nail that other force sent by Genom. Can your people shield him long enough?"

"We'll be fine hopefully. Sylia-chan?"

"Nani?"

"PLEASE keep Asagiri-san under control," Megumi warns. "The Kuromoroboshi DON'T like simophobes whatsoever."

"Wakata..."

* * *

Genom Tower, an hour later...

"Armstrong was saved by the Skunk Works?!"

Quincy stares at Koji Tamura, the computer security chief standing before the chairman's desk. "Hai, Mr. Q. Actually, it was the scientists in charge of the 34-S project who yanked him out of Alex's mainframe; that's where he went to after Xanadu died. This was done before I took charge of everything concerning Alex. They stored him in Unit Four's mind before the project was shut down, then when Mason scattered the 34-S's..." sarcasm drips in Koji's voice; Quincy was quite aware of what was going on concerning those units, "...that particular one wound up in a warehouse in Bunkyou. Armstrong woke in December, then escaped, blowing the warehouse up to cover his tracks. Nothing vital was there, by the way. Ever since then, he's been living quite a peaceful life. All the Skunk Works did was give him a new identity he could live by, plus some start-up money."

"Expected of Ifvibaner's people given that Armstrong, for all his faults, WAS the first D-5 rated boomer to emerge from us since the Aijins," Quincy nods. "What does Armstrong do, Koji-kun?"

"He's an escort," Koji chuckles. "Turns out that Samantha Johnson's one of his more frequent dates. Works twelve hours a day, two hours set aside for each 'date.' Charges three hundred nuyen per date. About half his pay is sent into an investment fund run by Hatsune Sugimoto at Amarok."

"And the money goes...?"

"Mostly to our subsidiaries, those businesses that are very intensive employment-wise. His portfolio's small since he just started in January but it makes an impact. Right now, his adopted sister Minuet -- she's a former FS nanny turned into an XX series 33-S by Yoshio-kun last month -- is throwing in some of her own money into the same things Armstrong does."

"Nothing that would force us to examine them more closely?"

"Nah, nothing at all, sir," Koji shakes his head. "All we have here when you cut away all the nitty-gritty are a pair of sentient boomers who see it as proper to put money back into the company that helped create them and do so helping other people get their own jobs."

Quincy nods. One of the unspoken rules he followed was to not harm investors or shareholders in Genom except when they misbehaved. Surprising news from Canada over the last month or so indicated that some boomers now shielded by FABS were readily investing some of their money into Gencan (Genom Canada) and its subsidiaries there. "We'll keep an eye on them just in case, but nothing offensive, Koji-kun," he concludes.

"Yes, sir. We cancel what Brian's doing right now?"

"Do you see any need for it, Koji-kun?"

"None whatsoever, Mr. Q."

"Then deal with the matter. Discretely."

Koji smiles. "Yes, sir..."

* * *

The Fault, near Raven's Garage, two hours before midnight...

"Found them, Four. Twelve 55s, all undercover, now entering the Fault, range one-ten from my position."

"Heading, One?"

"An abandoned apartment block; it's still pretty intact but city records say it's unoccupied. I'm picking up a computer nexus of some sort of there, plus a trace boomer reading."

"Type?"

"C-Class, but not a Fifty-five. More like a Fifty-nine..."

"Alright, then," Sylia nods. "That'll be a fake of the 59-C you now know of, One. No doubt, the place will be booby-trapped to ensure those 55s don't cause too much damage. We'll go in to sweep up what's left as soon as the smoke clears. Any bystanders?"

"None in close range, Four," Nene replies.

"Wonderful," Sylia nods, then switches to another frequency. "Two, Three, do you both hear me?"

"Go, Four," Linna replies, Priss grunting in response.

"Head towards Jinguumae to block whatever emerges from Genom. Switch to Frequency Lima; you'll be out of One's range so you might need help on the ground to zero you in," she orders.

"Wakata," Linna nods. "Heading out now."

* * *

Genom Tower...

"Sumimasen. Sloane-san?"

Dorcas Sloane looks up from his desk to see a woman with long brown hair standing there, now dressed in a unisex Genom jumpsuit. Typical uniform for one of Genom's in-house boomer technical staff.

"Yes, can I help you, miss?" he relaxes.

"Tamura-san wishes to see you now," the woman informs him.

The executive blinks, then nods. "Alright, I'll be with you in a moment," he turns to his computer to lock things down.

The woman steps outside to wait. Twenty seconds later, Sloane steps out of his office. "Follow me, please," she waves him toward a nearby elevator that would lead into the Tower's heart.

Sloane nods, stepping into the elevator. As soon as the door closes, he turns to her. "What does Tamura-san...?!"

A cry of pained shock escapes him as her vibro-daggers lance into his heart. As the executive collapses, surprise frozen on his face, the woman turns, tapping controls to send the elevator to one of the sub-basement maintenance levels. The car stops a moment later, the doors opening to reveal a reddish-brown haired woman, a garbage bin beside her. "Dispose of him, Minori," the first woman boosts the dead executive into the bin.

"Right away, Suzune," Minori nods.

Suzune presses controls to return her to where she came. A glance to the floor reveals no blood. Good; no sense bothering the janitor boomers. Now just one more thing to do, then the Armstrong case would be closed and sealed up once and for all. Koji would be pleased.

The car stops, the doors opening to allow the 33-C out. She makes her way into Sloane's work area. Fortunately for Suzune, the secretaries the late executive used were boomers, all of them early-model GS Mark Fives. None were sentient, so disposing of them wouldn't upset Koji too much. Presently, all three of them were shut down; it was after standard working hours. With that, Suzune pulls back her left sleeve, a hatch opening on her arm to reveal a programming cable. She inserts it into each secretary, jacking in a programming virus that would melt their brains in less than a minute. Once that was done, a janitor boomer would taken them to one of the recycling centres and see they were disposed.

Suzune then heads into Sloane's office and jacks into his computer. After overriding the security locks, she downloads everything into Alex's mainframe for Koji's analysis. Another virus is then loaded in to melt the central processors, then Suzune disconnects herself from the machine.

With that, she places a call to the Tower's sanitation unit...

* * *

The Fault, near Jinguumae...

"Okay, I see 'em, Two! Six of th' fuckers, all in shadows."

"Wakata," Linna grins. She had no idea what Sylia had done to the suits after their first mission, but whatever had happened, the Sabres' performance in the field had improved by a factor of five, maybe ten! The Sabres could easily deal with any civilian boomer that could be tossed at them, even the heavy-duty construction units which were the usual source of most of Megatokyo's boomer rampages. Against C-Class security models, the type Genom would normally use in extra-legal activities, it was normally tougher going, but as long as the Knight Sabres kept an element of surprise on their side, it normally worked out. "Okay, let's sneak up behind them, Three, then bushwhack 'em before they get into the open. We have to keep it away from the people in the Fault," she suggests.

"No prob! Let's fuckin' party!!" Priss snarls gleefully as the two hardsuited women make their way to a dark alley somewhere behind the group of boomers. Shit, why the hell was Toratotaka paying top money to all of them to dust off this bunch, not to mention those other boomers Amarok sent out? Sylia hadn't said much about it when they had suited up. Oh, well, two hundred thousand nuyen to dust off a half-dozen C-55s wasn't bad. Sure beat whatever money folks in AD Police got for these jobs...

* * *

In the Fault, a hundred metres away...

"Wait..."

"What is it, Tomomi?"

"Six Fifty-fives, Yui. At my nine o'clock."

Yui hums, then glances left to peer into the shadows. The wreckage in this part of the Fault was a jumbled mess of collapsed buildings that hadn't been touched since Second Kantou. This area of town was a "low priority" sector when it came to Genom's plans for the megalopolis.

Shifting her visual sight to analyse local chi fields, Yui is quick to pick up the small pinpricks of light indicative of non-sentient boomers in the shadows. Plus two much brighter points some distance away, closing in on the boomers. "Got 'em. Two of the Sabres are closing in on them."

"I see them," Tomomi nods, then turns to Jack. "You keep going straight for Rosie's, okay?"

"But..." he tenses.

"Relax. I'm a LOT more capable of fighting my own battles now, Jack-kun," she kisses his cheek. "We'll be fine."

"Er...! Alright," Jack nods.

With that, the Kuromoroboshi break away, then as soon as they could duck behind a building, shedding both their gaberdines to give them more freedom of movement, cloak themselves in the Umisenken (Thousand Fists of the Sea) before darting into the night.

Watching them, Jack shudders. One moment they were there, the next...? POOF! Vanished into thin air!!

Scary...

* * *

"The target is alone."

"Proceed to capture it."

"Acknowledged."

Two of the 55s move to break free of the shadows cloaking their movements when a banshee yell explodes from above them. The group spins to see a blue-shaded hardsuit lunging toward them, a railgun mounted in one hand spitting out spikes. Two of the boomers recoil as the shots strike home, the others moving to swarm the lone woman as ion cannons deploy.

Another battle cry erupts from the shadows as slender ribbons lash out to decapitate two of the boomers, a storm of metal stars inundating the remainder. Linna lands between them, then boosts herself up, catching a boomer with an ankle bomber in the chest. It staggers, then collapses to the ground before its fuel pump overloads, Linna skipping clear before it explodes, showering the scene with shrapnel-like fragments of armour.

Priss is delivering more railgun spikes into her pair of "dancing partners," not noticing that a boomer who had dodged Linna's throwing star attack was moving to snare her from behind. The latter quickly notices her teammate's growing predicament, then shouts, "Look out, behind you...!!!"

The air over the boomer's head crackles, then melts into a black-haired woman in jeans and shirt, gaikatana in hand, sparks of diamond-like crystal on her face and hands as she lunges at the boomer's head. Priss turns around just as Yui's blade lances through the hapless C-55's skull, then rips right down to its groin, splitting it in half. Before the singer could say a word, the Kuromoroboshi is bounding into the air, balls of chi energy glowing in her hands. "SEISHIN REEZAA KOOZEN!!!!"

The bolts slam into the boomers' heads, slagging them as their bodies collapse. Yui bounds off Priss' head as she spins and pivots, dropping on the ground to take a look around. Priss shudders, then glares intently at the Kuromoroboshi. "What the fuck's the damned idea jumping off my...?!!"

"QUIET!!!" Yui snaps, then her eyes narrow as she completes her sweep before slowly relaxing. "Okay, we're alone."

Priss tenses, alarm bells ringing in her head. "You're a boomer..." she snarls, her railgun arm rising.

"Priss, don't...!!" Linna gasps.

The air behind Priss crackles as another woman appears from nowhere, her fingers jabbing into the singer's hardsuit on the arm and her side. Priss cries out suddenly as all her on-board command and control systems crash, her suit locked in place. "What the FUCK...?!!"

Tomomi relaxes, then places herself beside Yui, grinning delightedly. "Relax, Asagiri-san," she sheathes her sword. "The paralysis'll wear off in ten minutes. We'll let this go THIS time. Next time, you might not be so lucky. People in our company have NO use for simophobes like you."

Priss jolts, then pales. "How do you...?"

"We know, as we know the identities of your friends. It's our business to know these sorts of things. In the meantime, we'll be on our way. Thank you for your assistance this evening. Ja."

With that, the two Sexaroid ninjas vanish into the night. Linna watches them go, then whispers, "Kuromoroboshi..."

"Huh?!" Priss shudders, wishing she could at least move her head so she could stare at her teammate.

"Relax, Priss, they couldn't be boomers," Linna moves to stand beside her. "Those were two of the Kuromoroboshi."

"Who?!"

"'Black meteor shower' ninjas; they work for one of the clans that helped form Toratotaka back in Twenty-oh-two. Martial artists like you've never seen before...! Gods, I thought all those stories Tou-san and Kaa-san told me about them were just fairy tales..."

"They were BOOMERS, Linna!!!" Priss protests.

"Priss, one of them was wearing GLASSES, remember?!"

The singer stops, then blinks.

Those glasses the girl was wearing DID seem real...! But...

Toratotaka was where boomers were treated as EQUALS...

She even called Priss a SIMOPHOBE, the bitch...!

But then...! What the fuck was...?!

"Ah, fuck...!" Priss snarls.

"Never mind," Linna sighs. "As soon as you're ready to go, we'll go back to help Sylia and Nene, 'kay?!"

"Alright. Better leave a callin' card."

"Hai," Linna nods as she powers up her on-board lasers to sketch a signature on the concrete by Priss' feet...

* * *

Near Raven's Garage, minutes later...

"Who are you?!!"

"Those who won't tolerate you hurting innocent people carrying out your deeds!" Sylia's modulated voice echoes back as she moves in on the damaged boomers now emerging from a burning apartment block, monoblade ready. There were only seven of them; no doubt, whoever had booby-trapped <<Energizer's>> home base had made sure that the maximum level of damage could be done, the least of which to cover the rogue guard's "demise."

Ion cannons deploy as energy bolts lance at the silver-hued hardsuit, she boosting herself into the air to evade. "One, are you jamming them?!" Sylia grunts as she lands on an outcropping at the south side of the Fault.

"Affirmative," Nene stands atop a still-intact building near where Jack had set up his base, gazing into the flames. "No signals getting out. Just got a signal from Two. She and Three'll be here in ten minutes."

"How did they do?"

"The problem's dealt with, but Two says that Three lost her temper and tried to shoot one of our friends."

"Soo ka...! Ugh!!" Sylia grunts as one of the boomers bashes into her, sending her jetting into the abyss over the Fault.

"Watch yourself...! Eh?!!" Nene gapes, her eyes widening.

The air over the boomer seems to explode with energy as some woman in a black bodysuit dives, a gleaming blade aimed right at the hapless C-55's head. Before it could turn to see its own death coming, the blade punches through its skull, the force of the collision sending it crashing into the road at the bottom of the trench. The woman springs clear, backflips three times to bounce off Sylia's hand, then makes a THIRTY METRE leap to the north side of the Fault before plunging back into the fight.

Watching this, Nene is agog. "Sugoi (Wow)...!!"

NO ONE could do that!

Unless...!

She keys controls to do a bioscan of the woman as she dives at the other boomers, Sylia racing in beside her. A reading comes back, causing Nene to blink. Human, proper DNA readout but with some biomechanical parts in her chest and abdomen, not to mention her brain. Energy nexus points on her face, arms, legs and in a ring around her heart, type unknown but total output levels way off ALL the scales. What the HECK...?!

"Romanova-san, it's rude to do that, you know."

Nene gasps as a finger taps a point on her helmet, the readout of the strange woman with Sylia now suddenly blanked out. She turns left to see a brown-haired woman gazing bemusedly at her. "Who are...?!" Nene demands, then jolts, realizing that the newcomer had just addressed her by name.

"Sumimasen," Sakurako Sugimoto smiles. "Just keep the signals from these boys from reaching Shinjuku, okay?!"

She leaps into the abyss to join Midori Takano in dealing with the remaining Amarok boomers. Nene watches her go, then whistles on seeing Sakurako terminally deal out one of the 55s with a flurry of punches even Linna couldn't equal, then finishing it off with something like a knuckle bomber. What WERE they, anyway?! Were they boomers?! Boomeroids?! No, their biomechanical part percentage count would be below twenty!

"One, this is Two. We're coming in now!"

"Um...! Ah!! R-right, Two! Four, did you hear?!" Nene shakes herself back to reality, then confirms Linna's and Priss' presence with a side-scan before focusing on the fight before her.

"Confirmed, One. There're five of them left, girls!" Sylia cheerily announces. "Welcome to the party!!"

"Oi, Four, who the fuck're those two with...?! OI!!!" Priss exclaims as Sakurako and Midori leap into the night sky, then disappear. "What the fuck was that...?! Where'd they go?!!"

"How DID they do that?!" Nene demands. "I can't scan for either of them, Four! Totally off my scopes!!"

"Gods!!" Linna exclaims as she sends her monomolecular ribbons into one boomer, decapitating and dismembering it in an instant. "I never thought people could still learn things like that!!"

"Like WHAT?!!" Priss roars.

"The Umisenken!!" Linna announces as she and Sylia team up to deal with another boomer. "It's a very rarely known martial arts manoeuvre, but if they were two of the Kuromoroboshi, it wouldn't surprise me one bit!!"

"Kuromoroboshi?!" Nene demands. Where did she hear that...?

"I'll explain later, One!" Linna laughs.

A strange voice then breaks in over their link. <<Minna-san, would you please make sure that you TOTALLY wreck their brains before dusting them off,>> Sakurako's voice instructs.

"Oi, who're you?!!" Priss demands.

"No problem, Kay-Three-One," Sylia dutifully replies; Megumi had told the Sabres' leader about who would be involved in this. "Minna, do as she says. I'll explain why when this is over."

"Wakata!" Linna replies.

"You BETTER explain this one, Four!!!" Priss snarls.

<<Miss Sabre, you've GOT to do something about that simophobe on your team!! She's a menace to everyone around her!!>> Sakurako then barbs, her voice nearly breaking from barely-contained mirth.

That did it.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?! WHO THE FUCK'RE YOU CALLING A SIMOPHOBE, YOU...!!! YOU...!!! YOU BOOMER-LOVER?!?!?!"

Nene nearly falls over laughing...

* * *

Nearby...

"They sent ALL of them after me?!!"

Jack stares wide-eyed at the battle scene, now flanked by Tomomi and Yui as both use the Umisenken to keep the C-59 masked from Nene's hardsuit sensor suite. "Hai. And there were twelve of them at the start of this," the commander of Team Six nods, then she tenses on feeling Misako and Mirei, not to mention a strange 33-S and a 34-S, close by. "Who...?!"

"Just us, Tomomi," Misako replies. "We have the van."

"Yokatta," Tomomi waves Jack and Yui with her as they make their way up the slope of the Fault onto a street cut off by the quake. Sitting there was a panel van, Mirei Katagiri by the driver's door and Yui's mother nearby, her eyes peeled up to ensure no one was watching. "Any problems?!"

"ADP is deploying now, but all they'll probably end up doing is clean up the mess," Mirei clicks her tongue.

"Wakata," Tomomi nods. <<Sabre Prime, this is Kay-Six-One. We've made our pick-up and are moving to egress now, Oba-san. Suggest you do the same as soon as the tangos are down. The Keystones are coming, so Sabre Pink better head home just in case the Keystones put out an all-hands.>>

<<Acknowledged, Kay-Six-One. Wish Energizer the best from me. And Sabre Pink, too,>> Sylia replies, using a frequency only her personal hardsuit was keyed into, something that was also agreed on with Megumi Mikihara before she came out tonight.

<<Will do,>> Tomomi smiles.

<<Kay-Six-One, Sabre Prime, this is Kay-Three-One. We'll stay on-scene to assist the Sabres just in case,>> Sakurako cuts in.

<<Appreciated, Three-One,>> Sylia acknowledges.

<<Acknowledged. Kay-Six-One off-line,>> Tomomi nods.

She drops the Umisenken cloak, beckoning Jack and Yui with her to the van. They slip inside and sit down, then gaze on the people awaiting them. The woman, an XX series 33-S by the rosemary scent in the air around her, is unknown to either of the Kuromoroboshi, nor is the man beside her though they can sense that he is a 34-S fitted with a Mark 97 system. "Who...?!"

"It's been a while, Ef-Gee, Fifty-five," the man smiles.

Jack and Tomomi jolt, exchange a surprised look, then pale as it suddenly dawns on them who the 34-S really is. "You...!!" both growl as they spin on Brian Armstrong, both tensing.

Brian holds up a hand, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Even if he HAD wished for this...! "Before either of you say or do anything that I might actually deserve, can I say one thing?"

"What?!" Tomomi snarls, her hand itching for her gaikatana.

Brian gazes at her, then turns to Jack. "You were right."

Jack blinks, then leans close to the other man. "Meaning?"

"What you said when you took Tomomi away when we parted some years ago," Brian shrugs. "Remember that?"

Jack gazes intently at him, then nods. "Yes."

"I think you need to give us a full explanation about what's been going on here, Armstrong-san," Tomomi adds.

The woman beside Brian holds up a hand to avert an argument, which wouldn't do her brother much good given the advantages Jack and Tomomi now have. "May I suggest, Tomomi-chan, we do that in more safer surroundings?" she sighs, then turns to Mirei. "Oi, can we go now, Mirei-san?!"

"Hai, heading out now," Mirei slips into the driver's seat.

The van moves out of the dead-end street, making its way to a loop road for the trip for Nerima. Jack sits back in his chair, then glances at Tomomi. She blinks on sensing his eyes fall on her, then turns to smile at him. They gently grasp hands as the rogue security guard allows the Kuromoroboshi to lean into his side. An image passes through Jack's mind, one of the woman Tomomi Mizuno was before she was transformed into a 33-S.

She was alive.

S-77-FG was alive!

She was ALIVE!!

Jack sighs, glancing briefly at Brian, who was now watching the city pass by, then turns back to Tomomi. It was good enough...

* * *

Genom Tower, 2 April, early morning...

"Excuse me?"

Mason stares intently at Manabe Takeo. The junior executive is shivering. "He's gone, Mason-sama. Totally gone."

"Anything...?"

"Not a thing. His secretaries all wound up recycled, computer was taken out and junked...! There's a new person moving in there now and he has NO idea what happened to Sloane-san!"

The special assistant shudders, then closes his eyes. There were several people who could've done something like that in Genom in Megatokyo. He was one of them, but he had planned to do nothing to Dorcas Sloane.

So who eliminated him? And why?

The executive in charge of boomer part recycling stumbled onto something some weeks ago concerning the Armstrong affair back in 2028. Supposedly, one of the boomers killed in that fight three years ago had its brain recycled into a security guard later purchased by Amarok, then, after it was sent to Shinjuku, it went rogue and vanished into the underground.

Once Amarok began to probe into the unit's past, its connection to Armstrong was discovered, prompting Sloane to contact Mason. The special assistant, remembering how much damage the would-be boomer messiah caused in its two rampages, told Sloane to keep an eye on what was going on, then report on any disturbing developments. So what happened last night?

A knock at the door. "Mason-sama?"

"Come in, A," Mason beckons in the blonde bodyguard. "Any report on what happened concerning the boomers we dispatched?"

"They were all destroyed, Mason-sama," A reports, placing a folder on his desk. "The Knight Sabres were responsible."

"The Sabres?! AGAIN?!!" Manabe snaps.

"Enough!" Mason picks up the sheets, then reads through them. His eyebrows arch. "Amarok's security force was wiped out, too?!"

"Affirmative," A nods. "AD Police is moving to charge Amarok with excessive use of its boomer security force off its property, not to mention threatening innocent civilians, in the recovery of a missing C-59 security unit. The C-59 was found destroyed in an abandoned building along with several of Amarok's units. The cause of their destruction is being investigated. The remainder were eliminated by the Knight Sabres."

"Everyone's being blamed," Mason hums, reading a copy of today's "Yomiuri Shimbun," which listed glaring details about last night's fun.

"Hai," A nods. "Amarok's shareholders have been alerted to this and they're now moving to have Mahoshi-shachou (President Mahoshi) removed, not to mention the company's chief of security and a technician who might've been involved in sending boomers to the Fault. One of Mahoshi-shachou's senior brokers, Hatsune Sugimoto, will be promoted in his place. Special Services is now preparing a brief on her for your attention."

"Alright, I'll read it when it comes in. Do we have plausible deniability concerning the boomers we dispatched from the Tower?"

"Affirmative. One of our informants in ADP stated that the cranial units of all the boomers dispatched from the Tower were found caved in. No information can be retrieved from them by ADP."

"Or us for that matter," Manabe crosses his arms.

"That, we will have to strongly work on in the future," Mason sighs. "Thank you, A. You may go."

"Hai, wakarimashita (I understand), Mason-sama."

The boomer departs. Mason watches her go, then sighs, turning to gaze on the city. "Something is going on here, Takeo-kun."

"I agree, but what is it and why's it happening? I mean, this is way too much for coincidence..." Manabe throws up his hands. "Whoever's doing this, if it is just one or two people at the end...? Jeez!!"

"We will find out who it is," Mason grimly nods.

"Yes, sir..."

* * *

The Lady's 663 Building, that moment...

"YOU MEAN WE WENT TO ALL THAT TROUBLE LAST NIGHT JUST TO SAVE A GODDAMNED BOOMER?!?!?!"

Sylia winces, staring warily at a quaking Priss, the latter's outrage leeching from every point on her body. Linna and Nene sit nearby, neither visibly bothered. "In essence, yes," the Sabres' leader nods. "The person who was saved was a sentient C-59 security unit who had gone rogue from the Amarok Tower in January. As Nene-san can attest, he made quite a living for himself on the Net. Mikihara-juuyaku (Director Mikihara) wanted to bring him onto her staff, but didn't want to deal with interference from Amarok, so we were hired to shield things as they whisked him to safety."

Priss' fists slam into Sylia's desk. "Damn it all, Sylia, we're supposed to be HUNTING boomers, not SAVING them!!!"

"Would you hunt a Cyber-Nurse, Ape-woman?!" Nene then barbs.

Priss jolts, then she instantly flusters as the meat of Nene's question sinks in. "W-well, I..." she stammers.

"Cyber-Nurses are seen by a lot of people as boomers, too, especially by those jerks in the ABLS," the ADP communications officer hums. "So if they're boomers, does that mean we have to hunt them down?! Thanks but no thanks! You know, if it wasn't for the 33-Ms working at some of the local hospitals, ADP casualties'd be a lot worse than they normally are!! I hope this Nightingale Ride idea of Toratotaka's comes here soon! We need it!!"

"Agreed, that would make things much better for a lot of people," Sylia nods, then sighs. "Priss-san, we were asked by Toratotaka to help retrieve someone of interest to them and to do so in a way that gives them plausible deniability to the public at large and Genom in particular. Besides, we were all paid for it as promised. Why are you complaining? I prefer to keep Toratotaka on our side, so to speak, as we carry out our missions; I think you would understand how powerful they really are despite their neutral stance towards Genom as a whole. We can't do that if you object to some of their in-company polities, especially Directive Five."

"Fuck, they'll be no better than Genom, you know..."

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't believe that will happen. But if it does, we will stand against them. Fair enough?"

"Yeah..." Priss sighs, then heads out. "See ya later!!"

The others watch her go, then exchange looks. "Idiot!" Nene crosses her arms. "I mean, Energizer was so nice!! I'm glad we saved him! He didn't really hurt anyone at all, Sylia-san..."

"Given his past history, that doesn't surprise me," Sylia nods, then sighs. "So, any questions about last night?"

"Yeah, do the Kuromoroboshi give lessons?" Linna wonders.

Laughter fills the room, then Nene sighs. "Sylia-san, those women we met last night...! What were they, anyway?!"

Sylia blinks; Nene told her about how one of the Kuromoroboshi had knocked out her hardsuit's bioscan system when the ADP officer was trying to scan one of her sisters. "They're no different than a 33-M, Nene-san. That's all you really have to know. I've no desire to face down a Kuromoroboshi team if I can avoid it."

"Good thing, too," Linna nods. "If they know our identities and all that and they decided we were a threat..."

"That is why I choose to maintain neutrality with Toratotaka, Linna-san," Sylia sighs. "They won't reveal this to Genom if that's what you're worried about. Confidentiality when dealing with potential customers (we all do our business at Toratotaka banks, by the way) is a must in that company. I see no reason to rock that particular boat. We have enough on our hands dealing with Genom. Challenging Toratotaka would overwhelm us."

The others nod...

* * *

EPILOGUE

Nerima, the Tower, 7 April, morning...

"Well, here you go, Jack! All set up!!"

Jack stares at the large computer now sitting in his apartment on Floor 77 of the Toratotaka Tower. Thanks to the help of Reiko Shingyoji, he was able to recover all the special programs he had drawn up in the Fault, transferred from his old apparatus into the LoopNet (the company's internal closed-loop information and communications network), then to this new machine provided for by the company. Whatever set-up costs would come out of his pay at the end, but it was worth it. "Nice work, Kou-san. You do this often?" he stares at the Tower's chief computer technician.

"Hai, all the time," Kou Kawarazima, a Bu-48SD/CSS (computer services specialist) who had become sentient on awakening and was purchased by Toratotaka shortly afterward, nods, then blinks as the door opens to reveal Hannah Miller. "Oh, Hannah-chan...!"

"Hey, there you are, lover!" Hannah grins as they share a kiss, then stares at her brother C-59. "Settling in alright?"

"Pretty alright, thank you," Jack nods, then notices the time. "Oh, damn, I have to get ready to meet Tomomi-chan's sensei."

"Good luck, then!" Hannah winks as she walks Kou out of the room. "Tell me about it later!"

"Hai, I will," Jack waves as they go, then sighs as he turns to stare at the black kimono set aside for him. Without further adieu, he heads into the bathroom to shower and prepare.

Once he had arrived at the Tower a week ago, Jack had been taken in for surgery right away to repair the damage accumulated in the months he lived in the Fault. Along the way, his whole mind had been shifted into a Mark 97 CBWS, then his body rebuilt to newly-devised Toratotaka policy demanded considering C-55 and C-59 boomers who worked for them. According to Nicole McTavish, since giving boomers the power to bear their own offspring on their own was impossible at present for both technical and social reasons, it was still his sacrosanct right as a sentient to experience life as a pure-organic when he was emotionally ready. To prepare him for that day, he had been given many organic components akin to what Brian Armstrong had as a Bu-34S so he could enjoy an emotionally and physically satisfying relationship with the woman he loved.

Love.

When he finally awoke from the operation, he had been in bed, a smiling Tomomi asleep nude at his side. Staring at himself after he was rebuilt nearly made him faint. He was still black-haired and grey-eyed, but the cybersurgeons stripped the internal armour out of his body, trimming him considerably to make him resemble a male Bu-48. Someone now capable of melting into the crowd, looking like one of the guys. All the C-59s working for Toratotaka were the same way, he muses on remembering Hannah Miller. She, for example, had resembled a Miss Olympia when she was built. Once she had received the Mark 97, she had emerged from surgery looking like a black-haired, brown-eyed tomboy in her early twenties.

The other fringe benefits were quickly demonstrated by Tomomi. She was in the first month of an "off call" cycle, a three-month period when her team wouldn't be on call to settle some crisis around the world. And she intended to spend those remaining months with him as they caught up on their new lives and created the foundation of something permanent between them. And why not? He cared for her and she certainly cared for him.

But now he had to face the woman who had saved Tomomi's life.

Tomomi's sensei, Lady Negako Moroboshi.

Finishing his shower and drying himself off, he quickly dons the kimono, adjusting himself in front of a mirror to make himself fully presentable. Back when he was working for Amarok, he'd never believe he'd dress in something like THIS so he could win the hand of his transformed co-escapee from Genaros in marriage. It was a relief. And a concern, too. Surely, if what happened to Brian and Mint Armstrong was an example, there were hundreds of sentient boomers and androids throughout the world and in space who desperately needed Toratotaka's protection!

In the end, why was he so lucky?

Once ready, he heads out, then takes the elevator to Floor 229. Arriving there, he is directed by the secretary to the stairs to the House Patriarch's office. His MFS (magnetic field scan) system picks out Tomomi close by. As he glances at her, she rises from a couch, walking over to embrace him. Oh, gods, she was so angelic in her reddish-brown kimono!

"There you are," she smiles as they kiss, then she walks him over to sit before Negako (dressed in her normal black martial arts gi) and Tomomi's parents. "Sensei, Tou-san, Kaa-san, this is Jack Hunter," Tomomi does the introductions. "In his previous life, he was the C-69 aerial combat boomer who escaped with myself, Armstrong and one other from Genaros. He nearly died trying to take me away when AD Police and SDPC came to fight Armstrong, then was rebuilt as a C-59 guardian."

"What a handsome young fellow you have here, Tomomi-chan!" Akemi beams. "They look so gorgeous together, don't they, dear?" she muses.

"Our daughter sure knows how to pick them," Kenji chuckles.

Tomomi titters as Jack feels his face heat up, then a chill worse than the cold of his old apartment washes over him as a pair of brooding eyes lock on his. Staring at Negako, he finds himself desperately trying to keep calm. Then again, how could you keep calm when you faced someone who could wreck whole cities by herself? "M-ma'am..." he stammers.

Negako sighs. She had no use for these idiotic omiais in the first place. When two boomers came together, they should just come together and that should be the end of it. "As you know, I cannot permit a marriage between yourself and Tomomi to occur while she is still an active field officer," she takes a breath, then slowly exhales. "However, I expect that Tomomi will be relieved of her duties by sometime in mid-2034 if you are willing to wait that long. Since she intends to gain a master's degree in geology, she will most likely fill an SPD slot when her team is disbanded. I expect you will be there for her when that time comes."

"I'll be right here," Jack tries to smile.

"He can't run now, Sensei," Tomomi winks at him.

Jack shudders, then smiles as they share a tender kiss. The Mizunos laugh. Negako rolls her eyes. "Illogical..."

* * *

Taitou, near AD Police headquarters, 9 April, morning...

"So what's it like doing this job anyway?" Jack wonders.

"Oh, relax, it's fun!" Hatsuko Rino, the officer in charge of Field Intelligence Team N-16, grins as they head towards a coffee shop opposite ADP headquarters. "It's like that game kids play. Hide 'n' seek. The other people hide things in the places we're asked to patrol. We go seek!"

"I never understood organic games," Jack admits.

The coffee shop is a quiet place, an open air bistro with chairs and tables. The owner looks up, then smiles as the intelligence officers step in. "Good morning, Hatsuko-chan," he begins making coffee, then notices the stranger beside her. "Who's this?" he hands her a cup of expresso.

"Oh, this is our new boy, Jack Hunter," Hatsuko smiles. "Give him something simple, Harry. He's not used to drinking coffee."

"Oh, just converted, eh?" Harry pours him a cup of black with cream and two sugars, then leans over to whisper, "You better watch yourself around Hatsuko-chan there, Hunter-san. She's a wolf when it comes to handsome male boomers like you!"

Jack jolts, giving his superior a wary stare. "Oh, will you finally stop, you horny stud?!" Hatsuko, a Bu-48SDCI, laughs as they relax at a table, she drawing out a mini-computer, leaning over to whisper, "He's been trying to chase people away from me for so long!"

"He has great taste," Jack muses.

"Flatterer!" Hatsuko smirks, then taps controls. "Okay, set scan on-line. We just relax and wait...! Oh, hi, Jeena!!"

"Oi, Hatsuko...who's this?! The new kid?!"

Jack turns to see Jeena Malso and Leon McNichol walk in. His eyes widen as a face from distant memory comes back to him, a night where he had tried to explain himself to this ADP officer. "Um...! Hello there."

Jeena blinks. "Excuse me, have we met before?" she wonders.

Jack sighs, then smiles. "In a way, Malso-keibuho (Lieutenant Malso), we did. Back in 2028 on a roof not too far from here."

Jeena takes that in, then she gazes at him, recognition dawning. "'There's something I want to ask you,'" she quotes herself. "'What were you boomers after, when you came all the way to earth from outer space?'"

"'Do you people know what it is you are after?'" he responds as he did to her on a rooftop years ago. "'Do you human beings know who you are, where you came from and where you should go?'"

Silence falls, then Jeena reaches over to give his hand a friendly squeeze. "We search for that every day."

"Now I do the same. Not just myself, but my girlfriend and the others Saotome-hakase rescued from Armstrong, my co-workers and hundreds of others like me. Can we ever find the answers?"

Jeena blinks, then shrugs. "I dunno. I don't think any of us pure-organics can ever find the answer, either. If you ask me, it's the searching that makes us human. Organic and boomer alike." She then offers her hand. "Hi. I'm Jeena Malso, AD Police."

He shakes her hand. "Jack Hunter, Toratotaka International. I'm pleased to meet you. Even if it is four years later."

"I'm pleased to meet you, too."

Hatsuko watches this, sipping her coffee, a smile crossing her face. One small stitch in the fabric of life now mended.

One small stitch...

The End