Bubblegum Crisis:  Fear

Created by Sean Gaffney

Continued by Will McDuff

Segment [ 6 ]

For Improfanfic @ http://pixelscapes.com/improfanfic/

-==-

"But, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof-"

The television had been left on in Sylia's room.  This was not as odd as it
seems, being standard procedure for the room of a comatose patient.  It
gave the patient something to concentrate on, to pull them back to the real
world, if they wanted to.

"That show of such an exercise may color your loneliness. We are oft to blame-"

Sylia wanted to go the other way, sink deeper into a veil of nothingness,
away from herself, this world, and her betrayals.  But she could not do
that voluntarily, no matter how she tried.  Her senses betrayed her, the
betrayer.  So she simply lay and listened.

"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune-"

She felt betrayed by the machine.  Time would less hold if she heard
nothing.  With only the light on her face to mark the passing of the day,
it would seem endless.  She would be tormented by the time, and didn't she
deserved to be punished for being so untrustworthy?

"For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor's wrong-"

But no, they wouldn't let her.  Half hour, an hour, sometimes longer, the
television was her clock, holding her to this world, marking the length of
her torment as effectively as tally marks on a prison wall.

"Be all my sins remem-We interrupt this program for an important news
broadcast."

And keeping her aware of the world around her.

"For the first time in two years, boomers are going wild and destroying the
city.  We have confirmed thirteen dead, and many-"

And for the first time in two years, Sylia Stingray sat up, setting off
alarms and beepers at the nurse's station, which turned out, in this case,
to be unnecessary.

"WHAT?!?"

-==-

"Nene!  Where are they?"

Priss stormed into van, nearly scaring Nene and another young detective out
of their respective seats.  Nene was the first to recover.  She held up a
hand and yelled quickly into her mouthpiece.

"I don't care how much is in your bank!  Get everybody out of there!"

Before a fuming Priss could interrupt, she threw her headset onto the
counter of the van, she turned to the other officer.  "Keep up the
evacuations, Muhashi.  I've got something to deal with."

Grabbing Priss by an arm, she hurried out of the van and headed away from
the action, toward the tape.  She hadn't got more than a quarter of the way
before Priss tore her arm out of her grip.

"Where are we going?" Priss demanded.

Nene turned on her.  "OK then, we'll have it out right here.  First, I
don't know where 'they' are.  And even if I did, I wouldn't bother telling
you.  This is the first time in three years that this sort of thing has
happened, and you go flying off the handle.  It's a isolated incident."

Priss went red in the face.  "Five Boomers an isolated incident?"

"They're not Boomers, Priss," said Nene calmly.  "They're Utopians.  This
isn't two years ago, it's not Genom, and it's going to be handled by the
normal police.  We're going to nail the bastard that did this, and close
the back door he crawled through."

Priss looked ashamed of herself.  "But...what if you're wrong, Nene?"

"Look, Priss.  There's only two people who know where 'they' are, and one's
a vegetable at the hospital, and the other was last seen in Germany.  Now
do what you want, but I've got work to do."  With that, Nene spun on her
heel and marched back towards the van.

-==-

The clock read 6:30 as a ringing began echoing off the walls of the room.
Underneath the thick quilt, some movement became evident, and with a groan,
a hand snaked out towards to the clock.  Fumbling around with the buttons
on top of the device produced little respite, so the hand moved over to the
small cellular beside it, and receded with the devise back into the
comforting warmth.  A slightly higher groaned protested.

"Mm, whosis?"

"S'okay, phone was ringin'."

"Huh?  Whaddya want?"

"WHAT?!?"

"Thank you for waking me.  I'll be on the next plane."

-==-

Hmm, here's hoping someone else takes this and runs.  Sloth, denial,
impetiousness, greed, lust...the dark side is certainly well represented,
eh?

Will McDuff

Proud member of the Sound & The Furry, who wouldn't be caught anywhere near
anything this serious.  http://sound.maison-otaku.net/