Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ A BOOMER LIFE ❯ i am when? oh great what am i going to do? ( Chapter 2 )

A BOOMER'S LIFE

 

 

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Iridia Sunheart.

 

Notes: We have a winner. Thomas Drovin has found the terminator reference in the last chapter. Thank you for your reviews and I hope that this chapter will please you.

 

You know what is strange? My difficulties with this story. It seems that the more my character is like the original protagonists of the anime, the more I have problem to write. Am I addicted to insanely powerful characters or completely opposed genre heroes to the series?

 

Well, at least here I can test a theory. The saying goes, as `knowledge is true power'. The character KNOWS what is going to happen. Is his knowledge (sorry her) enough to prevent or minimize the dangers or not? At what cost? And what about the burden to know who is going to die and how?

 

All in all, I have here a nice background for a very angst story. I wonder how it will develop. You have ideas? Send them to me.

 

 Thank you to Aeroprime for pre-reading and his corrections.

 

 

Chap 2: I am WHEN? Oh! Great, NOW what am I going to do?

 

 

I opened my eyes slowly and reluctantly under the insistent buzzing of Esin, my internal computer programmed, to do just that. I knew something was not right but I was not awake enough yet to figure out what. Then it hit me, a wave of panic sending me bolt upright as I looked around the room with startled eyes, not registering what I saw, as for a few seconds I could only remember the awakening in the Genom lab and my escape. The sight of my own feminine hand grabbing the sheet looked strange as if it didn't belong to me. Feminine? Oh God! I was a she now. I was a damned BU-33S sexaroid.

 

I sat up a bit more, looking sadly at the slim hand raised in front of me. If only it could have been a bad dream. I sighed. No, it was only too real. According to my internal watch, it was also the moment to take a little breakfast. Joy. Welcome to the future. You can nourish yourself from automatic distributors. It was strange that I still need ordinary nutriments in a boomer body. Stop that! It is MY body now and I must remember that I was an organic boomer created specifically to emulate a human.

 

Pushing the sheet the rest of the way off me, I sat up, yawning as I rubbed my eyes and went to the small bathroom. Oh great. First problem, how a male is going to pee in a female body? I groaned and tried… Well the idea to do the business in a sitting position worked but god! It was very embarrassing. I paused to admire my lithe body in the mirror. Hum…not bad, not bad at all. If only I was still male and admiring my girlfriend with such a body. I regained the bed and fished for the TV command.

 

After a bit of playing around, during which I rapidly came to the conclusion that morning TV had absolutely not changed at all, I managed to find a news channel that also indicated the time. 9am, exactly what my computer said before. That meant I had to be out of here in two hours or paid more to stay. The news channel was of no use what so ever. Without a proper reference with the timeline that I know about Bubblegum Crisis, I couldn't even begin to plan and I need one if I wanted to survive.

 

I groaned again, and sat up, feeling my back pop as I stretched slowly and sensuously. God, but that felt good in this sensitive shell. At least I had enough time for a long shower before I had to leave. I needed one badly. Running one hand through my thick black mane of hair, I hoped the hotel provided shampoo. I grinned. Well, it was time to check completely all my goodies.

 

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I blushed again as I stirred a large dose of sugar into my breakfast tea. My `exploration' in the shower had been informative, pleasant and…embarrassing. The reactions of a female body were…confusing for a spirit configured for a male brain. And of course, this damn computer provided graphs, comparisons and others trivia about my fellow sexaroids and me. There were even…sexual techniques in the data banks. I really hoped that nobody…heard me…when I tried some.

 

It was only after a little wandering that I found what I wanted: A phone booth with a computer access. Feigning to phone to somebody, I activated my interface link. I didn't want to use my internal com-link to access the Net yet. With the help of Esin, it was child-play to find exactly when I was… I was right at the beginning!? I couldn't believe it. There were recorded interventions of the Knight Sabers but not those about the anime. The first episode `Tinsel City' has not begun yet.

 

All right genius, now what…hmmm?

 

I knew what I would NOT do. I will not attempt to contact any of the Knight Sabers right now. None of them, except maybe Nene or Linna, will be able to help me. At worst, they will probably…kill me. After all I was a walking security risk in one package. I knew EVERYTHING about them and I was a boomer to boot. Oh yeah! They'll be thrilled by my mere presence.

 

Well now I had a decision to make. Stay low, hide and live like a rat until…something happened or prepare for a full-scale war with Genom. I sighed. Even if I was scared about the dangers of this universe I knew I couldn't let innocents died when I could at least warn them if not saved them. It was a question to be able to look at myself into a mirror in the future. Beside in order to go back home I needed a powerful backup. Genom has the technology to help me but I will be damned before I asked their help. Sylia was my best hope for a ticket to home.

 

Sipping my tea slowly, I pondered on what would be best to do today? I hadn't got enough money for more than a few nights at a hotel especially in view of the prices they charged. My resources were limited and I had other things to buy, starting with the basic of living. I needed to find somewhere I wouldn't be disturbed and still had no solution to the problem of no papers and no identity. Which meant, of course, that I couldn't get a job even if I had any skills that would be useful. There was a market for sexaroids or comparable boomers in MegaTokyo but I did NOT want to get involved with it. At least the tea was wonderful. I wasn't quite sure why my little addiction had carried over now that I wasn't even in my original body, maybe because it was psychological? Although it tasted so good with my enhanced senses, I certainly wasn't going to give it up, especially as it was achieving its normal purpose of allowing me to face another morning. Not to mention the help that the familiar ritual of drinking it gave me in trying to pretend that everything was normal.

 

The information I had acquired from the Net had been interesting, and the search and retrieval abilities were a revelation to someone used to 2000's software, but even so there was a limit to what I could extract in an hour even with the help of a nano-computer. Still, it seemed my memories of Bubblegum Crisis weren't that far off, at least on the surface, and I'd better stick with them until I got more detailed information. The most worrying part had been the almost complete absence of legal unskilled job opportunities and the bulk of what had been posted seemed more than a little dubious, particularly the female ones, especially since I'd have to ask to be paid in cash. I sighed. I didn't think the local banks would be very pleased at the idea of a boomer opening an account...

 

The data concerning the Knight Sabers and Boomer activity had been interesting, though. There was something truly absorbing in reading about the real-life version of what I'd only seen in the anime. It was very similar, but it was very obvious that the anime had only covered the highlights. There was a plethora of missions handled by the Sabers before the episodes of the anime. I must not forget that the group was first known as mercenaries. It reminded me when I read the book after seeing the film inspired by it: It was not the same things that were highlighted.

 

It wasn't as if I had the intention of getting involved immediately. The last thing I needed with all my current problems was to get involved with a group of trigger-happy battle-suited mercenaries. Well it was true for Priss but Sylia will also never hesitate to protect her only true friends. My knowledge of the future events might enable me to help and prevent or just simply survive. The word `might' must be stressed here: I was NOT in an anime. This Universe just happened to resemble it so far. I'd just have to keep a careful eye on the news, and see what turned up that I recognized. Hmmm…a little reconnaissance wouldn't hurt also.

 

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Well, the public transport system by maglev trains wasn't bad. For a few bucks you can go almost anywhere in MegaTokyo. Tinsel city or District 3 was the busiest region of the city. One can really find anything he or she wants in this anthill. Armed with a little book for the average tourist I began to map my progress during the day. The only problem to me was the omnipresence of the Genom Tower. The constant reminder that there were those who would gladly enslave me at the first opportunity was NOT good for my nerves.

 

Akihabara was the paradise of the kit-basher. Standard electronics were sold at low prices in this area. Dozens of projects were dancing in my mind when I saw that. When I'll have received a basic formation in super-tech I was almost sure to be able to construct low level battle-suits with all of this. My senses, helped by Esin, were also detecting dealers with access to custom or new-tech work. The jungle of neon-signs and laser ads gave the sector a proper ambiance.

 

Shinjuku was extremely cosmopolite and a Yakuza stronghold. The signs of different clans were present everywhere, sometimes even in the same building. This area was the place to go to find black market goods. Just by bluffing my way and using my mesmerizing eyes I managed to gain access to two auctions about illegal cybernetics and military-grade weapons. The price was black market although. Impossible to buy anything with the little resources I had at the moment.

 

Kanda was a heavy Academy zone. Hordes and hordes of university students lived in it. But the jackpot was the books. Old and new, books were omnipresent. For me, it was a treasure trove. I could learn anything I want just by reading. My eidetic memory would do the rest. Man! It was great! The sector also catered to all the needs of a young population in the domains of sports, foreign publications and music.

 

Ueno was the next nice surprise for a future vigilante. The area was full of stores selling surplus military goods. The dealers in here worked with false ID, which was good for me for a later date. I also find that synthetic foods and drinks were sold low in this sector. That's always a bonus for those people in the low-income bracket like me.

 

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During my exploration of Tinsel City I tried to find a decent job. Try was the operative word. It was a nightmare. I was not only accosted regularly by men AND women about various illicit and/or perverted propositions I had to also deal with what were under the few ads that I could apply for. As I expected most of the various modeling offers required you to show a fair amount of skin when it was not nude poses all the way. Three of the offers were simply prostitutions operations by the Yakuza. The jobs in various bars or entertainments centers revealed themselves to be cover for striptease joints. In some cases I have been forced to rely on my martial arts skills to make them understand that the word no means `NO': The curse to be a beautiful girl in such a city without any support.

 

The worst of all was when I was accosted by, of all people, LEON MCNICHOL!! I couldn't believe it. I stayed a good five minutes staring with wide eyes as the AD Police officer delivered what was supposed to be a good proposal for his company tonight in the jungle of MegaTokyo. When he finished I blinked, blinked again then turned away from him and walked away without acknowledging him. As I walked off I could hear Daley teasing his partner about his getting shot down.

 

There was a silver lining to this encounter, I found the Hot Legs, the club where Priss and the Replicants sang. I risked an eye despite the danger but the singer was not there that night. Well that was I thought until I hit someone as I exited the club. I straightened with an apology on my lips and froze as I dived into red-brown eyes alighted by an internal flame. Priss, it was Priss. I thought I stuttered some more apologies before I ran away, my cheeks in fire. Oh great! It was just great. Blushing like a schoolgirl in front of Priss. I just hoped she would think that I was a shy fan of hers.

 

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It was during my search of the fiefdom of Sylia Stingray: the Ladys633 Fashion building and the Silky Doll lingerie shop that I found my first serious problem of the night. My audio system picked up and amplified a scream of female distress in the vicinity. It was drowned by the ambient sound and not very perceptible except for those with boomer boosted ears.

 

I jumped into a darkened back alley. My normal vision shifted automatically to the night-vision setting. A group of four punks were dragging a struggling young girl in an abandoned building. I didn't think it was for the conversation. Rapists were one of the few beings that I would gladly kill without a second thought. I ran, shifting my systems into combat mode.

 

The surprise was total. They were too taken by their lust to react to my approach. I did not try to be subtle. The first kick hit the jaw of one of them and sent him a few meters away. My right hand buried herself in the guts of the second. He let go of the girl more interested in throwing up his last meal and attempting to breathe. The last two were street-hardened veterans. They immediately backed off taking the girl as a shield and one of them drew a blade.

 

I narrowed my eyes. “Let her go and I'll let you live!”

 

They started as they finally distinguished me in the darkness of the building. “Hey it's just a little bitch!”

 

“Good! I always wanted a threesome. Guess I'll have one tonight.” They laughed.

 

I was becoming mad. I could see the tears of their victim. I activated my emergency enhanced speed booster. They didn't know what hit them. My left leg took the one with a blade into the groin, rupturing the testicles. My strength was not boosted but the ceramic-coated bones of my body could inflict a great deal of damage.

 

As the first punk simply fall to the ground like a log my right hand flicked to the eyes of the second. The fingernails of two of my fingers morphed into cyber-claws on the way. The man lost all interest in the young girl as I pierced his eyes. I silenced him by a final roundhouse. Esin scanned them as requested to prevent a sneak attack but they were all knocked-out for a good long time and they will not be able to attack anybody for months at the very least.

 

I gently took the young girl in my arms. She broke down as I embraced her and cried into my shoulder. When the crisis settled down I nudged her to the exit murmuring soothing nonsense. It was only when we were outside and back in the lighted zones that I looked at her for the first time. My mako green eyes plunged into shinning green ones. A delicate face framed by pink hair gazed into my black-haired one. My eyes widened as I recognized Nene Romanova.