|||Bubble |||Gum |||Crisis FEAR Original story by Sean Gaffney Part 4 by Chris Davies for Improfanfic (http://pixelscapes.com/improfanfic ) ********************************************************************** Somewhere deep beneath the surface of MegaTokyo, a dark and twisted mind was scheming quietly. "This is only the beginning," it whispered to the darkness. "But soon everything will come crashing down upon them, and I will once again rule this pathetic city! Revenge will be mine!" Sinister laughter commenced. "If you're *quite* finished giggling, Miriam, would you mind if I turned on the lights?" asked a sardonic voice belonging to a rather less twisted mind. The sinister laughter cut off suddenly, and a gulp ensued. "Of course ... sir." The lights flickered on, revealing the sources of the two voices. The first, responsible for the sinister laughter, was that of Dr. Miriam Yoshida. Some years ago, the decidedly-not-good doctor had caused a brief amount of trouble for the ADPolice and the Knight Sabers by taking over the ADPolice building with special boomers of his own design. His motives in doing so had been quite simple: he wished to demonstrate to his employer, a Genom subsidiary, that he was the most brilliant boomer engineer in the world, so that they would grant him an increase in salary. Genom, unimpressed with his tactics, had let him rot in jail. But that had been some years ago. He had been freed via legal maneuverings begun by the other man in the subterranean chamber, who insisted on being called Mr. Johnson, although Miriam was fully aware that was not his name. Miriam was sufficiently well-read to recognize such a prominent executive in the giant multinational that had taken Genom's place. "I have told you before, Miriam, this has nothing to do with revenge," Johnson lectured. "OCP is doing wonderfully in this community ... we don't feel any need to engage in terror tactics to reduce land prices in the way that our *former* competitors did. No, this is preventative medicine." "Yes, you've said that before," Miriam replied, feeling his oats after directing the Utopian's rampage. "But you've never bothered to *explain* what you mean by that." He turned in his seat to glare at Mr. Johnson. "True enough," the mustachioed man acknowledged. "Well, since the operation has already begun ... who beat you, Miriam?" Miriam blinked. "Those Knight Sabers bitches, of course. Especially that blonde ni--" "That's enough." Mr. Johnson's tone was firm. "I've checked our surveillance data on Ms. Vanette several times over, and not *once* is there any indication that she has *anything* to do with any other operations conducted by the Knight Sabers. She was simply in the right place at the right time. And furthermore, I will *not* tolerate bigoted commentary like that, are we quite clear?" "Yessir," Miriam replied sullenly. "Very well. The Knight Sabers defeated you. And how many other operations by our former competitors? Unknown ... the most conservative estimates place it at *four*. And yet, by all indications, they seem to have had a particular hatred for our former competitors." Following OCP doctrine, Johnson never referred to Genom by their proper name. "It was well-known on the street that if you were going to do an operation against our former competitors, they were the best insurance money could buy." "I know all this," Miriam interrupted. "But what if all this is a pack of lies, Miriam?" Johnson asked suddenly. "In the seven *other* documented operations of the Knight Sabers, they acted against potential threats to the competition's primary interests in this city. Both Largo incidents were only the tip of the pyramid -- even foiling your plans could be seen as an act to protect something of use to our former competitors, by preserving the ADP. OCP attempted to hire them when we were beginning our attempts to destroy the competition -- and they never replied." "What are you suggesting?" Miriam demanded in a startled voice. "There are two possibilities. One, the Knight Sabers were idealistic terrorists -- i.e. freedom fighters against our former competitors. As such, the Sabers could potentially be threats to OCP, should public opinion ever turn against us in the same way that it did against them. And we would do well to lure them out of their hiding, and deal with them in as public and as permanent a manner as possible. "But it is the other possibility that interests me." Johnson got up from his chair behind Miriam and began to pace. "Don't you think that a corporation with as many dirty tricks operations as our former competitors would most certainly have known the names and other relevant information concerning a group so apparently opposed to them as the Knight Sabers were?" "Naturally!" "But they *didn't*," Johnson snapped. "Or at the very least, they didn't record that information anywhere in their mainframe. Our data recovery experts went over the computer core with tools far more exacting then a comb with the finest teeth. And there was nothing about them." "I don't understand," Miriam replied as Johnson let the lull in his explanation pass the minute mark. "What if ... the Knight Sabers were Quincy's personal special operations group? For operations that our former competitor's president wished to keep secret from all his other agents. And he took their identities with him to the grave." Miriam gaped at Johnson as the explanation sank in. "In which case ... the Knight Sabers will also come out of hiding," Johnson continued. "But their actions will be different. Rather than seeking to stop the utopian rampages, they will first extend feelers to determine if they might have any connection to a faction of the competition which has survived our take over -- in order to determine whether it is worth their while to take command of the situation. That's where *you* come in." "Me?" Miriam asked, suddenly very uncertain. "Of course. You used to work for the competition, after all. If they're idealists, they'll be expecting someone like you to be responsible, and if they're special operations, they'll be expecting an organization like the one you and I have deliberately constructed. And seeing someone like you at the head will make them see an easy opportunity to take control. And then we will have them. And who knows what secrets of the competition they might have?" Johnson turned away from Miriam and headed for the door leading out of the chamber. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a luncheon date on the surface." He paused, and adjusted his shaded glasses. "Oh, and Miriam. Just so you understand that I can be melodramatic myself -- should you betray me ... the authorities *might* find your corpse. But I assure you that they would *never* be able to identify it." ********************************************************************** Author's Notes Yes, Mr. Johnson (make up his real name if you so desire) is the spitting image of Dr. Stingray. (Make up a reason for this yourself. *I* think he's Sylia and Mackie's half-brother, son to the wife he left behind for their mother, but you have the complete freedom to make it up.) Have fun, next-type person. Chris Davies, Advocate for Darkness, Part-Time Champion of Light. "You did well." -- Katsuhiko Jinnai, The Wanderers: El-Hazard, Episode 26 http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/banks/277/index.html