Fear

A Round Robin ImproFanfic
(http://pixelscapes.com/improfanfic)

Segment One by Sean Gaffney

     The three of them met at the hospital at noon, each coming from 
different directions.  Priss rolled up on her bike, of course.  She still 
kept her old one, even though she'd now made enough money to upgrade.  She 
didn't want to abandon this bike, though.  It was a reminder of the past, 
both good and bad times.
     Linna, on the other hand, drove up in a gorgeous expensive sportscar.
Her hair was styled, her clothes the essence of class.  Linna did not want 
to remember the past.  She did this once a year because Priss and Nene 
made her feel guilty, but that was it.  Priss stared at Linna's impassive 
face, and sighed.
     *No matter how much she denies it, she's still trapped in the past.  
And she will be until she allows herself to let go.*
     Priss found herself thinking more philosophically these days.  It was 
showing up in her lyrics too.  Her last album had been called a sellout by 
those fans who still wanted the hard, bitter words she used to sing.  
Well, tough.  She'd changed, and her music had changed with her.  The band 
understood, and she'd gotten both critical respect and audience accolades. 
Selling out, to her, meant going against what you believe in for money.  
She had never done that, and wasn't about to start.
     That was the main reason why she'd quit the Knight Sabres, after all.
     A motorcycle screeched to a halt next to them, the rider bouncing off 
almost immediately.  "Sorry, I know I'm late, I was held up!"
     Priss grinned.  "Still sore, huh?"
     Nene blushed, though it was with a shy grin.  She'd only been married 
a month, and was still discovering the exciting possibilities inherent in 
sex.  She had called in 'sick' to work quite a few times, and her fellow 
officers were beginning to rag her on it.
     Falling in love had done wonders for Nene.  Everyone had assumed that 
if she was going to end up with anyone, it would be Mackie, but after... 
what had happened, Mackie had left for Germany again, and this time did 
not appear to be coming back.
     Nene had moped around for a while, but to her credit, she had gotten 
over it and gone on with her life.  She'd shot up through the ranks of the 
AD Police, as with the demise of the Knight Sabers she no longer had as 
many 'unexcused absences' to explain.  She also found that she could still 
take advantage of her inside position to 'unofficially' deal with certain 
problems in MegaTokyo, though more often with retroviruses than hardsuits.
     And then she'd met Kenjiro, who'd taken an immediate liking to her.  
The phrase 'whirlwind courtship' was perfect to describe their 
relationship.  They'd gotten engaged only two months after meeting.  Priss 
and Linna kept expecting a backlash, but so far their appeared to be no 
problems.  Maybe some fairy tales do come true.
     Nene frowned now, glancing towards the hospital entrance.  "Are we 
ready?"
     Linna huffed.  "No.  But let's do it anyway."  She walked quickly 
towards the doors, letting Priss and Nene trail behind.
     Nene drew up next to Priss.  "She's going to break soon."
     Priss nodded.  "We'll be there for her."
     "But what if it's not enough?  I don't want to be visiting two people 
in here."
     "We'll worry about that when it happens.  Let's deal with one patient 
at a time."
     Nene nodded worriedly and looked back towards Linna, who had been 
momentarily stopped by an orderly.
     "I'm sorry, Miss, but you'll have to remove the sunglasses in the 
hospital."
     Linna paused, and then lowered the sunglasses ever so slightly, 
revealing a gleam of something metallic within.
     "No."
     The orderly backed away slowly.  "Um...sorry to disturb you, Miss..."
     Priss walked up to them, putting a hand on Linna's shoulder.  "We're 
here to visit Miss Stingray."
     "Of course!"  The orderly grabbed on to Priss' presence like a life 
preserver, and focused her attention entirely on her.  "I'll take you to 
her.  Right this way."
     The orderly chattered on, making idle conversation as they walked 
down the hall.  "Are you writing a book about her father?  We had a couple 
of people come in last month and try to interview her.  I'm afraid you 
might very well be wasting your time.  She doesn't seem to -- "
     Linna interrupted.  "We're friends.  That's all."
     Nene smiled, trying to relieve the tension.  "We won't be here long.  
This is just...we do this every year.  It's a tradition."
     Priss snorted.  "It's only been 2 years."
     Nene pouted.  "Traditions have to start somewhere!"
     Priss smiled, and the orderly giggled.  Linna, of course, ignored it 
all.
     "Here we are."  She'd been in the same room for her entire stay.  It 
was a point Priss intended to bring up during their visit.
     The orderly opened the door, ushering them in.  "I'll leave you 
alone, I'm sure -" she glanced briefly at Linna - "pretty sure everything 
will be fine.  Um...good luck."  And with that, the orderly took off in a 
fast walk for the other side of the hospital.  Priss felt sure that 
another orderly would be there to show them out.
     She lay in the middle of the bed, staring at the ceiling.  She hadn't 
aged a day.  Still looking as if she was planning the Knight Sabres' 
latest plan of attack, trying to figure out how to bring about the 
downfall of a corporation they couldn't possibly defeat.
     Priss was the only one who walked right up to the bed.  Linna walked 
over to the window and stared out, while Nene sat down in a chair and 
opened a magazine.  Neither of them wanted to see their friend reduced to 
this.
     They were both somewhat surprised, therefore, when Priss reached out 
and slapped Sylia across the face.
     "Wake up.  You can't possibly keep up this act forever, you know."
     Sylia did not seem to react to the slap at all.  So Priss slapped her 
again, a backhander that almost qualified as a punch.  It left a welt on 
Sylia's cheek.
     This time Nene and Linna reacted, grabbing Priss' arms and preventing 
her from doing further damage.  It proved to be unneccesary, though, as 
Priss was back to her calm, collected self.  She gazed at Sylia's face, 
looking desperately for any reaction at all.  There was none.
     Shaking off the others, she moved back to the door.  "We're done."
     Nene was startled.  "What?"
     "If she wants to insist that she belongs here, then I'm not gonna 
stand in her way anymore.  We have no more reason to be here."
     Linna nodded curtly and left the room.  Nene looked back and forth 
between Priss and Sylia, then reluctantly followed.
     Priss wanted to just walk out, but she couldn't stop herself from one 
more try.  "Why?  Dammit, Sylia, why are you here?  Why did you commit 
yourself, why are you pretending to be this vegetable, just...why?"
     There was no answer.  By this time Priss hadn't expected one.  She 
sighed, took one last glance around the room, and left.
     For the rest of the day, Sylia lay there, her cheek swelling up from 
Priss' blow.  Into the evening, while the orderlies came in and changed 
her bedpan and IV, she stared at the ceiling, her eyes blank.
     Finally, at three in the morning, a response.  Whispered, so that the 
cameras and microphones, couldn't pick it up.
     "Because I can no longer trust myself."