Bubblegum Crisis Fan Fiction ❯ Bubblegum Avatar #2 – "Born to be Killed" ❯ Chapter 1 - "Changing The Rules" ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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ShadowKnight Productions Presents:
A SI Fanfiction, not associated with SkyKnight Productions

Presents:

Still Another Story of Knight Sabers 2031

Bubblegum Avatar :

Book 2 – “Born to be Killed”

By C. A. Reed, Jr. (trboturtle@aol.com)

Disclaimers:

Bubble Gum Crisis and it’s characters are copyrighted by Artmic Inc. and Youmex, Inc. I am borrowing the characters for a while, with no intent of making money off of this.

SkyKnight and Bert Van Vliet are...I guess the correct term is a copyright.... of the real Bert Van Vliet – At least they’re his characters....And this version of Largo is also from his creation ......Much of his C&C is in this too....did I mention he pre-read this? If you’re familiar with his work, you will recognize where my inspiration for this series came from. If you haven’t read his series, why are you hanging around here? Go read that, then come back here. His series is located at GOTOBUTTON BM_1_ http://www.bgcrisis.com/, and be ready to read A LOT.....

This is a Self-Insertion fic, which means that my Ego has over-ridden my common sense and has forced my Muse (who sometimes acts like Priss with a hangover) to come up with this at gunpoint. I’m still working on my other BGC fics, but these stories ideas grabbed me by the throat and forced me to write them. Any other character, including me, appearing in this story that aren’t either from Artmic & Youumex, or Bert Van Vliet are from me. I can be contacted at the Email address above. C&C will be accepted, out and out flames will result in a Boomer or two being sent after you, as soon as they get around to developing them.

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“There is nothing wrong with design of Boomers.”

Doctor Gordon McNarma, VP, R&D, GENOM Boomer Manufacturing Corp.

“I wonder if the good Doctor would feel the same way if he was on the wrong end of a boomer rampage.....”

C.A. Reed, Jr. May 15th, 2032

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Chapter 1 - “Changing The Rules”

The sound of something heavy hitting the floor was accompanied by an “Oomph!” Craig rolled to his feet and glared at Linna.”That was sneaky,” he growled.

They were in the workout area of Craig’s apartment, their only audience being the four dogs who sat at the entranceway to the rest of the apartment. Both Linna and Craig were wearing white karate uniforms, headgear, gloves and padded boots. Linna wore a black belt around her waist, while Craig wore a red belt with a black stripe near each tip. They had been sparring each other for the last ten minutes, going almost all out against each other. Of course, Craig was losing....

The dark-haired woman smiled at him from behind her facemask. “I’ll take that as a complement.”

Craig didn’t bother to answer, but launched another attack at her. Linna dodged the first kick, sideslipped a second, and ducked below the third kick and swept Craig’s supporting leg out from under him. For a split second, Craig was horizontal a full meter above the floor, parallel to the floor, before gravity reasserted itself and he bounced twice when he hit the mat.

“Had enough?” she asked, leaning over him. A pair of hands reaching up to grab her uniform top and pulling her down onto the mat was her answer. Before Craig could twist on top of her, she rolled away and into a defensive stance. “Now who’s being sneaky?”

“Just reminding you about your center of gravity,” replied Craig scrambling onto his feet.

“Shall we continue?” asked Linna.

Craig glanced at the clock. “It’s getting late. You still have to go to work.”

She glanced at the clock herself. “Right. I’ve got the bathroom first!”

Craig pulled off his headgear. “I’ll start on breakfast.”

*****

Linna emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed and sporting a green hairband in her still damp hair. As she did so, the strong smell of bacon and eggs tickled her nose. Craig was at the stove, his uniform top replaced by a black t-shirt, a towel over his shoulders, poking at eggs frying in a large frying pan. “Be ready in two minutes,” he said, not looking up from the pan. “Orange juice is on the counter and tea will be ready in about five minutes.”

Linna walked over to the bar that formed the border between the kitchen and the center of the living space. She perched on a stool and sipped from a large glass of orange juice. “That was a good workout,” she announced.

“You weren’t the one who had to keep getting up again,” Craig replied. “If this workout is any indication of what I have to look forward to, I’m going to start ordering Tiger Balm by the gallon.”

“Gallon?”

“By the kiloliter.”

“Oh.” Linna sipped some more orange juice. “Aren’t you bored being cooped up in here all day?”

“Not really,” Craig replied. “I have my books, access to the Internet, and a satellite dish. Though you would think with seven hundred channels, I’d find something to watch...” He lifted the eggs out of the frying pan and onto two dishes, where there was already bacon waiting. He carried the dishes over to the bar and placed on in front of Linna. “The tea should be ready now,” he said, then turned and went back to the stove.

“Don’t you want to get out more?” Linna asked him, picking up a piece of bacon, but she was looking at him.

Craig picked up the tea pot and poured out two large cups of tea. “Do you take milk and sugar in your tea?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “I don’t think I could stand being cooped up in here for days on end.”

“I’m not much of a party animal,” Craig replied over his shoulder. He added milk to both teacups, then sugar. “Besides, Mason wants me dead, and that’s enough incentive to stay out of his sight.”

“I know.” Linna frowned. “What did you do to him now? Nene mention something about ‘Operation Cry-Baby’, then started giggling, but wouldn’t tell me what it was, only that Mason was enraged over it.”

He brought the teacups over to the counter, placed one in front of Linna, then sat down next to her. “All right. Nene and I reprogrammed some of the maintenance boomers in the Tower, and when we sent the signal, the boomers redecorated Mason’s private office.”
“What did they do to the office?”

“They converted it into a nursery.”

Linna looked at him in shock. “They what?”

“Yep. Took out all his office furniture and replaced it with baby furniture, repainted the walls and replaced the canned music with music more in keeping with the new decor.”

“You....” Linna’s expression was one of amazement. “I can see why he’s pissed at you.”

“I also left him a letter that was mildly explanatory.”

“Huh?”

“The letter pissed him off even more.”

“Oh.” Linna nibbled on the bacon. “Why are you doing this to him?. He’s going to kill you if he finds you.”

Craig eat some of his eggs, then washed it down with some tea. “I’m using psychological warfare. Mason is obsessed with Sylia, and I think he suspects that Sylia is the one behind the Knight Sabers. What I’ve done is shift his attention to looking for me, and maybe give Sylia some needed breathing room. I’ve made myself annoying in order to attract his attention and keep it focused on me. Also, angry people don’t think straight, and we don’t want Mason thinking rationally. Angry people make mistakes, and the more mistakes he makes, the better off we’ll be.”

“That’s not going to help if he finds you.”

“I know. Nene’s been making sure that I’m not sticking out like a sore thumb, data-wise. She’s back-dated my paperwork so it predates the time Largo showed up, and she’s keeping an eye on the data search for Bert Van Vliet. In the meanwhile, I’m keeping a low profile.”

“How are the businesses doing downstairs?”

“Great!” Craig said with some satisfaction. “I still prefer the real book to the electronic version, but both seems to be selling well. The music store is jumping and the coffee bar is becoming a local hangout for some interesting people. Speaking of which, do you think Priss would make a personal appearance at the music store?”

Linna snorted. “She has a ‘hate-hate’ relationship with her fans.”

“I’ll pay her a good fee.”
“It would have to be a very large fee.”

Craig eyed her as he took a mouthful of tea. He swallowed, then said, “Money isn’t an obstacle. It’ll be good for her. She gets some cash that isn’t from the Knight Sabers, meets some of her fans, and pretend she’s enjoying it.”

“Priss isn’t that good an actress.”

“I don’t need an actress, I just need Priss to show up, scowl at some of her fans, scrawl her John Hancock on some photos, and refrain from punching anyone out. She should be able to do that for a couple of hours.”

Linna giggled. “I don’t know if she’ll be able to restrain herself that long.”

“If I don’t pay her until afterwards....”

They both chuckled at that. They finished the rest of the meal quickly. As Craig picked up both plates, he asked, “Are you going by Sylia’s anytime soon? Before the meeting Wednesday?”

“I was going by the Silky Doll after work today to pick up a gift for a friend. Why?”

Craig put the dishes into the sink, then went over to his office. He returned after a minute and handed Linna a small package. “Could you see that Sylia gets this?”

“What is it?” Linna asked, taking the package from him.

“Oh, just the hard drives from Mason’s personal computer.”

“What?”

“The hard drives from Mason’s personal computer.”

“But how did you....”

“When Nene was programming the maintenance boomers for operation Cry-baby, I had her add a command to steal Mason’s hard drives and replace it with another set of hard drives that had been corrupted beyond recovery. The boomers then mailed it out to a dead letter drop I’d set up, and I picked it up last night.”

“That’s incredible,” said Linna slowly, looking at the disks. “Nene’s been trying to break into Mason’s system for six months now.”

“I know. But she forgot that there’s more then one way to break into a system.”
“Why don’t you take it over yourself?”

Craig looked uneasy. “I thought Sylia should get it as soon as possible. I don’t want to make myself a nuisance by popping by on a regular basis.”

“And you don’t want to go into the Silky Doll,” said Linna.

“I never said that.”

“But you were thinking it.”

Craig looked at her askance. “You read minds?”

“I don’t have to.” She shook her head. “What is it with guys and lingerie stores?”

“Sensory overload,” replied Craig, walking over to the sink. “The average male starts thinking about how their significant other looks in that stuff, and they start breathing heavily. After that, things go downhill. Their brains stopped processing data, and their subconscious runs amuck. At that point they either fall over in a faint because their bodies forget to breath, or their significant other belts them over their head because they’re drooling too much.”

Linna laughed. “Isn’t that rather cynical coming from a guy?”

“I’m a cynical type of guy.” Craig washed the dishes and put on a rack to dry.

Linna looked at her watch. “I’d better be going. Same time tomorrow morning?”

“I suppose saying ‘no’ would make a difference?”

“No.”

“Then tomorrow it is. Pancakes all right for breakfast?”

“Pancakes are fine.” Linna slipped the hard drives into belt pouch around her waist. “Are you sure you don’t want to help me pick out something for my friend?”

“Not unless you’re ready to explain to Sylia why I’m passed out on the floor of her shop with a nosebleed.”

“Chicken.”

“Realist. Who’s this friend you’re buying this stuff for?”

“Irene Can. She got engaged last week and we’re –“ She stopped at the strange expression on Craig’s face. “Are you all right?”

Craig looked at her blankly for a second, then said, “I just a whiff of myself and I need a bath.”

That’s a lie, Linna thought. How do you know Irene?

“Patton!” Craig called up. One of the K-9s came out of nowhere and sat down in front of it’s master. “Come with us.” The dog nodded.

“I don’t need an escort.”

“I’m not that tactless a host. I will make sure you get to your car safely.”

“I don’t need protection!”

“Patton isn’t for your protection, he’s for mine.”

“Oh.”

“Shall we go?”

“Sure,” Linna said, smiling. But her thoughts were less cheerful. What is he hiding from me and why? This is the first time that I know he’s lied to me. What are you protecting? Does he know Irene from this anime program from his dimension? Why doesn’t he tell me the truth?

But none of these thoughts reached her lips. She wanted something more then an uneasy feeling to go on, which meant talking to Irene and maybe Sylia....

*****

Captain Amanda Rowley, USSD opened the door to her office and walked in, a cup of coffee in one hand, a folder in the other. “Good Morning Sargent,” he said to the man sitting at the desk.

“Morning Ma’am,” Sargent Schildt replied, looking up at her from his paperwork. “Sleep well?”

They were a study in contrasts. Rowley, at a hundred and seventy centimeters, was tall and lean, her agile build making her look even taller. Blonde and blue-eyed, she carried herself with the controlled energy of a professional dancer, or a martial artist. In addition to her striking, model - like beauty, she was more then smart enough to have twin degrees in mechanical design and computer science. This combination and looks and intelligence had gotten her assigned to the Far East Headquarters of USSD, and until very recently, a position as the liaison officer for Project Hikigane.
On the other hand, Master Sargent Hiram Schildt was at least forty kilograms heavier them his commanding officer, all of it muscle, and stood a full head shorter them Rowley. While he didn’t have the formal education of Rowley, he did have the experience and contacts throughout USSD that only long serving NCOs can obtain.

Separately, they were both expects in their fields; as a team, they were formidable. The retrieval of Cynthia, Hikigane’s centerpiece, was another feather in their cap.

“Only fair,” Rowley replied, placing her cup on Schildt’s desk and picking up several other folders from the IN box.

“Has there been any decision on the final disposition of Hikigane?” Schildt asked casually.

“Not that I’ve heard, but you probably find out quicker then I will.”

“The General still angry that you didn’t eliminate the Knight Sabers?”

“He’s mildly miffed, but since Cynthia is back and intact, he willing to overlook my ‘mistake’ this time.” She sighed and shook her head. “More crap,” she muttered as she started looking through the folders.

“May I speak to you in your office?” asked Schildt. “I have some new information on the Sangnoir matter.”

Rowley looked at him with interest, then glanced around the still empty office. “Let’s go.”

The Sangnoir matter. Major Douglas Q. Sangnoir, USSD special investigator sent out to look into the attack on project Hikigane. A man who had the credentials and the authority to go anywhere he wanted and ask anything he wanted.

A man who did not exist outside of a few computer records.

Schildt waited until Rowley closed her office door before he said, “I got word from my friend in Records. He confirms that there never was or has been a Major Sangnoir in USSD.”

Rowley frowned. “Does Sangnoir’s picture match up with anyone?”

“Not so far. We’ve got well over a hundred thousand people serving in USSD, and my friend can only check on the QT. Have you informed the General about this yet?”

“No,” the Captain replied. “I want more then suspicions to show him. What about the audit of Hikigane’s computer network?”

“We may have something there, but it’s going to take some time to unravel that knot.”

“How long?”

“Another couple of days. I sent Sanchez down there to ride heard on them.”

“Anything else I should know about?”

“Not at the present time.”

“Keep me informed of any new that turns up. Something stinks here, and I think we’re going to have to get to the bottom of it in a hurry.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I agree with you.”

Rowley glanced at her watch. “Damn,” she said softly. “I promised Doctor Takahari that I’d go visit him today.”

“How is he doing Ma’am?”

“He’s going to be in the hospital for another week. The boomer didn’t miss killing him by much.”

“What about Hikigane? Without Doctor Takahari, the project is dead in the water.”

“It’s on indefinite hold.” She glanced at her watch again. “I’d better get going. I’ve got a meting with Major Stern this afternoon about Hikigane’s security lapses, and I don’t need to be late for that.”

“Yes, Ma’am. You have your phone?”

She tapped a pocket on her uniform jacket. “Right here. Call me if something comes up that needs my immediate attention.”

“Understood.”

******
Largo had claimed an empty office ten floors below Mason’s own office, appropriated two boomer secretaries to man the outer office and requested two other female boomers as his aides. With a small part of his awareness already inside the massive GENOM computer network, the reassignment of the boomers to his office was absurdly simply. Also as part of his entourage were a quartet of BU-55 boomer assigned to keep an eye on him. He didn’t have enough control in the system to take them over completely, but he could send them away for a time without raising suspicions.
He also made sure false memories were uploaded into his guardian boomers when they went in for recharging every night. Meetings with Mason and others, handling some minor ‘problems’, and Largo generally becoming adjusted to life were the only things that anyone reviewing the boomer’s memories would see.

He was now standing at the window watching the skyline of the city. There was a knock at the office door. “Enter,” he said, not bothering to turn around.

Two women entered and stood in front of Largo’s desk. Both were tall and lean, dressed fashionable in expensive ensembles, and could have been high fashion models except for one thing.

They were both boomers.

C-class boomers were designed for infiltration, espionage and bodyguard work. Mason had gotten the bulk of the new series, but Largo, using the small part of his awareness in the GENOM system, had managed to have three more built and assigned to him unknown to anyone else. In short, these two and their sister boomer did not officially exist.

“Well, Cahira?” Largo asked, not turning from the window.

“I have located the target,” said one of them boomers, a blonde with grey-green eyes and wearing an outfit that would set back a normal wage earner three months salary.

“Good. I want her watched for now. You will receive word when I want her killed, but not before.” He looked at the other female boomer. “What about Sylia Stingray?”

“Gyda has the building currently under observation.” the brunette replied. “I will relieve her in three hours.”

“Excellent. I want data, not damage. There will be time for that later.”

“What happens if our paths intersect with Mason’s assets?” the brunette asked.

“Well, my dear Trivia, avoid them if at all possible. Do not interfere in their operations, but do not let them interfere with yours.”

“And if our operations are the same?”

Largo smiled and turned to look at her. “If they are in a position to complete the mission before you, allow them to try. If they are successful, consider the mission completed. If not....” He stopped and went back to looking out the window.”

“We understand,” said Cahira
“Then, don’t delay. You are dismissed.”

Largo didn’t watch them leave, but instead continued to stand and look out over the city.