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Phoenix by Raye Johnsen Ai
No Kusabi is copyright The Author, June Magazine, June Video, and whoever
produced the radio drama(s). Not me. Background on Ai no Kusabi Far in the future, the barren planet Amoi was colonised by a group of scientists. They built a supercomputer named 'Jupiter' whose AI became sentient and took control. Jupiter built a society which was extremely male-heavy and stratified, with caste decreed and indicated by the colour of your hair: from lowest to highest, black, red, green, blue, silver and blond. She genetically programmed her elite, the blond caste (colloquially referred to as 'Blondies'), to be superhuman with much higher intelligence and superior strength to the other humans. She also programmed them to be sterile. They are not supposed to (nor desire to) engage in direct sexual contact; 'Pets' (adolescent boys) are bred and trained to copulate with each other for the entertainment of the elite. The guards of the harems are called 'Furniture' and are castrated. Some
time in the past, there was an attempted revolution against Jupiter
and her regime. Jupiter chose to simply release and erase all the records
of the protesters. These new non-persons found themselves unable to
get jobs or housing anymore, or even to leave (no RECORDS!) so they
had to build their own city, Ceres, now populated by their descendants.
A thriving black market soon sprang up to cater to their needs, but
Ceres was, and still is in many ways, a slum. Its inhabitants are always
looking for a way out; a job as a Furniture is considered one of the
better ones. Alone of all the areas on Amoi, its inhabitants reproduce
by the old-fashioned, natural method, rather than being genetically
created by Jupiter and so they are referred to by non-Ceres as 'mongrels'.
Chapter One Katse leaned back and took a deep breath. He fumbled his desk drawer open, picked up the cigarette box and worried out a cigarette, lifting it to his lips and lighting it in one fluid motion, all without looking down. Blowing out the lungful of smoke he'd just drawn in, he resisted the impulse to bury his face in his palms again. The legitimate, grey and black markets had all been thrown into chaos with the death of Iason Mink. Say what you would about the Blondie, he had known just how to keep everything running, and how to keep fingers in every pie. Without his influence, everyone was waiting, following the old paths, waiting for new leaders to assert themselves. Katse had arisen from the ashes of that white night, when Tanagura's leader and his lover had been killed, and had chosen to eradicate his grief in work. It had not been easy, but Katse didn't need easy; he needed hard, hard to force himself to think, hard to drive himself forward, hard so that he didn't have time to lose himself to tears and when he fell into his narrow - lonely - bed at night he didn't dream. He had wept out his grief during the end of the last night and dried the last of his tears watching the sun rise. To cry now would be to negate those tears. He had promised Riki he would look after Guy, and both keeping his business afloat and ensuring that the hotheaded idiot who had caused all the destruction stayed alive had kept him sufficiently busy during that first week. The second, though, had seen Guy begin to pick up his own pieces once more, which left a hole to fill. Katse had responded by working harder than ever. The frenzy of activity he now engaged in yielded bittersweet fruit: six weeks later, he controlled all the illegal and less than legitimate trade that passed through the city-nation of Tanagura. His greatest achievement, hoped and longed for for so long, but more bitter than the smoke of Black Moon cigarettes because the one he worked for, who he longed to offer this prize to and finally win his respect, was gone. Iason was six-week-old ashes in the ruins of Dana Bahn, and Katse lived on. But Tanagura herself still waited for her new master to come. Jupiter wept for her favoured son, and nobody had come forward to take control. It was time, Katse decided, to take action.
Raoul wiped his eyes as he sorted through the piles of paper on his desk. I can't believe Iason used to handle all this, all the time. I swear it breeds. Again, the thought of his superior brought tears to his eye. He blinked to clear them, and picked up a report. It was about the latest batch of Pets released from the Academy. Which brought the thought of Iason and his Pet to the forefront of Raoul's mind again. Damn that Riki! Overaged, a mongrel from Ceres, and not particularly beautiful either! Yet somehow he'd caught Iason's eye, captivating him for years and rendering him blind to the threats presented by both Riki's presence and his person. And now Iason was dead, because of that mongrel boy's past. He signed the paper and picked up the next. "You need a secretary." Raoul jerked, hitting the back of his head on the back of the chair. It was fashionable, not ergonomic, and not padded either. "Sorry," the strange voice came again, not sounding remorseful at all. "I came in my usual way; I should have known Iason wouldn't have told you about it." Raoul finally managed to extract himself from the chair. Standing and turning, he confronted the stranger. His red hair fell in uneven locks around his face, which had a long, thin scar running alongside one cheekbone. His body was whipcord lean beneath his trenchcoat and the way he moved bespoke both a great deal of fighting skill and practice at using that skill. His form and features were as delicate as a Pet's, but his vocabulary was of the streets. For his part, Katse saw a young man, soft of form and face, with long blond hair and vulnerable eyes. Dressed in the first stare of fashion, he didn't look like a leader. Looks can be deceiving. I certainly hope they are, in this case. He smiled. It would not do to start this meeting with bad feelings. "I am called Katse. I'm guessing that you are Raoul?" Raoul swallowed against mingled outrage and nervousness. A man obviously used to fighting who clearly knew much more than he did was standing in his office, introducing himself. He was not in control of the situation and he didn't like it. However, this Katse was making an effort to be civil, so good manners dictated he at least attempt the same. "Yes, I am Raoul. Why are you here?" "I control the illegal markets here in Tanagura. Iason and I had several professional arrangements and dealt with each other personally several times. I thought it would be appropriate to meet with his successor." Raoul turned his face away from Katse, towards the window, unconsciously pivoting to face Dana Bahn. "I am not his successor." "Someone must be." "Jupiter has not-" "Jupiter doesn't have any interest in Tanagura. If she picks a leader-" "I'M NOT HER CHOICE!" The blond man's voice cracked on the last word. "Iason- Iason was! Not me! Compared to him, I'm second-best!" Katse pulled out a cigarette, lit up and drew a deep breath of the soothingly rough blue smoke. He looked over Raoul, noting the shimmering of the sky-blue eyes, the shaking of the slumped shoulders. Poor boy, he thought, he's never been anything except a follower. And he'll become my follower if I'm not careful. "You're right. But that doesn't mean she's going to do anything about this situation." "Jupiter-" "-probably has never been in this situation before. She'll wait and see what happens, while the vultures circle Tanagura-" Katse noticed Raoul jerk, and decided to follow this datapack to its homefile. "-ripping away her people-" Raoul shivered. "-tearing away her status-" He jerked upright. "-pulling away her institutions-" Raoul swung back to face Katse again, a look of horror etching his perfect face. "-unless somebody takes charge. As someone who has an interest in this situation, I choose you to be the somebody." Raoul blinked. Then he realized what Katse had said. "WHAT? But-" Katse sighed. "We can't afford to mourn Iason any longer, Raoul. Our nation is in danger. Iason ran everything, which was good while he was around. But now he's gone, and we are vulnerable." "I don't-" "Listen to me. That's better. We're stronger together than apart, Raoul. Take charge, I will support you." Katse nodded, then swung on his heel, towards the door. "Wait!" Raoul called. "Why-? Why do you do this?" The other hesitated in the doorway. "Because you aren't second-best," he replied quietly, and then was gone.
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