Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Fan Fiction ❯ Conspiracies and Lies ❯ Introducing the Hacker ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Note: Long time no see! Sorry `bout the absence… But, the story's back. I-er, um, the chapters are trying to make themselves longer, but for some reason just can't seem to get it right. But please read and review anyway. The chapters would like to know what you think of them. ^_-

 

 

The first thing she noticed was an annoying ringing in her ears. The second was that her body hurt like hell, which led to noticing the third thing: she was still alive. Steeling herself for the pain she knew would come with any movement, Priss cautiously opened her eyes and found that not much had changed.

 

She was still lying face-up on the floor of the training room, armor and all. Her helmet was lying shattered a few feet away. Not far from that, Sylia stood in her old silver armor over the still body of the gigantic red and purple boomer. A dull blue liquid was slowly seeping over the bright white floor. Nene was nowhere in sight.

 

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Priss sat up, wincing in pain. Taking great care not to fall over again, she managed to stand up and shake her head to make the room stop spinning. Sylia, as always, quickly noticed and rushed over to put her arm around Priss' shoulders. Priss was quietly grateful for something to lean on. When she opened her mouth to speak, Sylia shook her head.

 

“Don't talk; save your energy. I'll explain everything later.” Her tone clearly said `Don't argue, or I'll drop you here'. Listening to her years of experience working with the woman, Priss said nothing and allowed herself to be guided into what Nene liked to refer to as `The Exhaustion Room'. In short, it was where the Knight Sabers went to rest after training.

 

The door opened and revealed Nene sitting on the plush green couch in the middle of the room in the tight suit worn under the old hardsuits. The way she looked fit what she called the room perfectly: she looked exhausted. Surprisingly, Leon sat a few feet across from her in a barstool taken from the bar across the room. The person sitting on the other side of the couch was a surprise as well. Linna. She had a box of tissues in one hand and what looked like several wrappers from cough drops in the other, but it was Linna none the less. When Priss and Sylia walked in, Leon looked up and smiled, Linna sighed in relief, and Nene managed to jump up like her usual perky self and scream,

 

“Priss! You're alright!” Priss smiled slightly and replied hoarsely,

 

“I am?” The simple act of talking sent her into a merciless coughing fit. Nene cringed and said once Priss had her breath back,

 

“Yeah, that's what I said. You might want some water. It helps.” Priss wisely didn't reply, but looked at Sylia who nodded. She ejected her battery, which Sylia snatched from the air and placed on a nearby table, then climbed out of her armor and scooted it with her foot against the wall where Nene's hardsuit also sat. Then she staggered over to the couch and collapsed with a sigh between Nene and Linna.

 

“So,” Linna whispered with a mischievous grin. “I heard you got your ass kicked.” Priss just narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. She would have hit her for that one, but she really didn't have the strength at the moment. Linna stifled a giggle then reached behind the couch and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler that always sat there. She handed it to Priss who gratefully drank half of it within the first thirty seconds it was in her hands. The four sat in silence as Sylia climbed out of her armor as well and Priss finished off the water. Sylia took a seat in a second barstool near Leon's and started to explain.

 

“Well. Priss, Nene, you certainly missed a lot. Now, even I don't know all of the details because we didn't have enough time to talk. But, here's what happened.

 

“While the two of you were getting ready, I was sitting in here searching through the police's files to find and delete anything on the Knight Sabers; a simple clean up. All of a sudden, a hacking alert went up. The hacker was trying to get into the communications system, which is unusual enough. What was most unusual, however, was this hacker's skill level. It rivaled even our dear Nene's. I couldn't stop her.

 

“That was when Mackey alerted me of that boomer's break in. By then, the hacker had breached the firewall and was actually giving advice.”

 

Sylia picked up a remote from the coffee table sitting in front of the couch and aimed it towards the ceiling. Near the door, a panel in the ceiling swung open and from it was lowered a small desk with several holographic monitors and keyboards. A large screen followed and rested suspended above the desk. Sylia hit another button and on the screen appeared what was clearly a playback of the hacker's advice.

 

“She's just a kid?” Nene said, looking doubtfully at Sylia. It was true: she looked to be only seventeen. Her brown hair was straight and reached to her shoulders and her icy blue eyes glittered with…what, was that worry? But why would she worry about US? Priss wondered. Then the girl began talking, waking Priss from her thoughts.

 

“Damn, that thing's fast! I've been tracking it for eight blocks. The only way to kill that thing is to hit it from below: that's its weak spot. But that'll only take it out for a little while. It should be enough, though, to get Priss and Nene to safety. The boomer'll come back online then, and you'll have to take out its second and third core. Go, Sylia, now!” The screen went blank. The three Knight Sabers and Leon simply sat blinking.

 

“Okay…” Linna began. “How did she know all of your names?” Priss was feeling better by then and managed to say,

 

“Why don't we ask her?”