Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Fan Fiction ❯ A Goddess Comes to Call ❯ Chapter 11

Interlude the Third

Fairchild knocked softly on the office door, and upon hearing a response, she walked inside. Jacobson sat behind the older style desk, his feet resting on top, looking over at a poster he had put up on the wall. It read simply, "I want to believe," and had a picture of a UFO on it. The edges were just a bit singed, as if it had been through a fire.

Jacobson noticed her odd look, and laughed softly. "This," he said, gesturing over to it, "used to belong to a legendary, or maybe infamous, FBI agent. Everybody thought he was totally nuts, until he was finally proven right."

"There were no new energy spikes," Fairchild said a bit apologetically, adding "There was a small reading, but it faded too quickly for us to lock on to."

"Hopefully we can get some results soon," Jacobson sighed. "I understand Quincy himself has expressed an interest in this department," he said a bit worriedly.

"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked, sitting down across from him. She passed over a data file to him, and he put it in his scanner. "We've been studying the data from the construction site," she reported, "and I think we can duplicate the disruption effect."

"It's good," he said with a wry smile, "if we can actually produce some results." Jacobson read the file, nodding thoughtfully, "This data may be the key. We can use it to modify the force fields to work like a binding circle." He sat up, hearing another knock, "Come in."

Megumi walked in, and both Jacobson and Fairchild cringed a little bit. The tech was covered in grease, her coveralls totally filthy. There was even some grease in her short, graying hair. "I've just finished modifying the next generation K-suits," she calmly reported. "The electromagnetic shielding is in place to protect us from the pulse weapon, and I think I'll have the van modified in a day or so," she said with a shrug.

"Good work," he said, giving her a approving nod. He noticed the smile Megumi gave Fairchild, and the shy smile the young woman gave her in return. "Why don't you two clock out early?" he suggested.

Megumi beamed at him, grabbing her girlfriend's hand. "Thanks, boss," Megumi grinned, and all but dragged the mildly protesting Fairchild off.

"Ah, love," he laughed. The two were an odd couple, but certainly an interesting one. Caitlin Fairchild was a MIT graduate, an expert in Physics and only in her early twenties. Megumi Morisato was a tech savant, in her mid fifties, who could build almost anything they designed, and usually add a few improvements, too.

"I really expected you to be shut down," a amused voice said from behind him, "after I destroyed all your precious data."

Jacobson turned around, glaring at Mara. "No thanks to you," he growled, "but I was able to sell my superiors on the obviously supernatural attack you pulled on our computer systems." He reached, carefully, to a button hidden under his desk.

"I know you have the place rigged," Mara said calmly, "and I also know I can hurt you very badly before you hit that switch." He moved his finger away, and she nodded. "I'm asking you to shut this down," she said, waving her arm around to indicate the wing where his department was based, "stop trying to catch the supernatural."

"That's not going to happen," Jacobson said, shaking his head. "I've spent far too long being a laughing stock," he said to her intensely, "to give this up now. I will scientifically prove the existence of the supernatural."

"At whatever the cost?" Mara asked him softly, with just a bit of respect in her voice. She liked to see ruthlessness in people.

"Yes," he answered her shortly.

A grim smile crossed Mara's face. "Quincy is not the sort of man I'd hand this kind of power to," Mara pointed out to him reasonably.

Jacobson frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not handing the power to him, he's just my employer," he answered defensively.

Mara sighed, and she began to fade away. "Just think about it," she urged him, before she was completely gone.

Jacobson hit the switch under his desk, but it was too late. The force field kicked in just after she was gone. He shut it down, then got his scanner out of his desk, taking readings before the energy completely dissipated. He smiled, happy at the data he was getting, and tried not to think about what Mara had said to him.