Ami stood gazing out across the river towards the sun setting behind the distant mountain range. Brilliant reds, oranges and yellows seemed to ignite the sky, giving one the impression that the entire horizon was aflame. Ami wasn’t actually seeing the beautiful sunset though. Her sight as well as her thoughts were turned inward, concentrating on the problem at hand.

She and Usagi were machines, marionettes by name. From the technical readouts stored in her mechanical mind they appeared to be highly advanced machines, not like the simple robots being experimented on when she was human, however long ago that had been. On top of their advanced design they also had the ability to feel emotions, something that others of their kind seemed to lack.

It was all very strange and even with her intellect Ami couldn’t come up with a viable explanation for what had happened to them.

A small stone landed in the river with a soft ‘plunk’ and Ami looked down at her companion. Usagi was sitting on the ground listlessly tossing rocks into the river. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears and Ami knew this whole situation was very hard on the emotional girl. It had taken herself most of the day to regain her composure.

Glancing back to where the sun was dipping behind the mountain she noted that it would be dark soon. Looking off to her right she also saw dark clouds massing on the horizon. Plasma clouds, her sensors told her. A window appeared before Ami, giving her information concerning the weather phenomenon. A quick scan of the information provided was enough to tell her that Usagi and she wanted to be nowhere near them when the storm broke.

"We need to find shelter for the night Usagi."

The blonde looked up at her friend, but didn’t move from where she sat. "What about the others Ami?"

Ami sighed. She had been hoping Usagi wouldn’t have thought about that yet. "Well, I’m here and you’re here so that means the others must be here as well."

"But how are we going to find them?"

"I found you didn’t I?" That didn’t seem to do much to ease Usagi’s mind. "Look, I’m not entirely sure what happened to us, but I’m sure it was done for a reason. I can’t see anyone turning us into marionettes simply for fun. All of us will probably be needed to accomplish whatever goal has brought us here and therefore sooner or later we’ll all be together again."

Usagi took a few moments to digest this line of logic. Finally she smiled and stood up. "So where do we start?"

"With somewhere to spend the night. Where did you sleep last night?"

"In an alley."

Ami frowned. That didn’t sound particularly enticing. "We’re outside of the city limits so maybe we can find an abandoned house or barn or some other form of shelter."

Usagi nodded. "Sounds good to me. Up river or down?"

"Down. I don’t want us to risk discovery by being too close to the city."

Usagi only nodded again and the two misplaced girls began walking along the riverbank. As they walked Ami studied her companion. It was difficult to tell that she was anything other than she appeared to be, a young human girl. In fact, it was hard for Ami to distinguish any difference between the marionette Usagi and the real one she remembered from before. The same could be said for herself.

More confusing than the fact that they had somehow been turned into machines was the question of how someone had managed to incorporate their personalities into these metal bodies so perfectly. It was as if someone had plucked their brains from their bodies and placed them inside of machines. Except of course, a quick scan showed that no part of their new bodies was organic.

"What’s the last thing you remember before waking up as a marionette, Usagi?"

Usagi thought about the question for a moment before answering. "I remember getting up in the morning and being late for school. I went to class, had lunch, talked to you and the others. After that everything begins to get fuzzy though. I think it was a Tuesday."

Ami nodded. Her own memories ran along those same lines. So what had happened to them that day after school and why couldn’t they remember it?

"What do you suppose this used to be?" asked Usagi and Ami pulled herself out of her thoughts in order to study their surroundings.

They were in a large open area filled with burned timbers and blackened concrete blocks. Obviously a large building of some type had stood here at one time, but it had apparently been consumed in a large fire. The remains of a nearby sign denoted that it had been a museum of some type.

Something in the middle of the destruction caught Ami’s eye and she moved to investigate. Usagi followed after and the two picked their way through the ruins in silence. At last Ami came to a halt before a pair of iron doors set into the ground. A quick study showed that they weren’t locked and they opened with little resistance revealing a set of stairs leading down into darkness.

"Someone’s taken care of this particular place since the fire," stated Ami pointing out the lack of dust on the stairs and smoothly operating hinges. "I was hoping we could spend the night here, but if someone uses this place on a regular basis…" She left the thought unfinished.

Shadows were growing longer by the minute and both girls knew that once night descended it would be that much harder to find shelter.

Usagi said, "If it’s deserted now and we just spend the night we should be fine."

Ami nodded. "I don’t think people come around here very often despite the upkeep. If they did then I’m sure the surrounding area would have been cleared of debris."

Despite these reassurances they continued to stare into the dark hole before them with a sense of trepidation. At last Ami took a deep breath and began to descend the stairs leading in. Usagi trailed after, throwing nervous glances back over her shoulder every three steps.

Ami had been worried about finding their way in the darkness, but a short ways in she noted a soft blue light at the end of the stairway. Thinking that maybe the place was occupied after all, she paused in her decent. Usagi, continuing to look back over her shoulder, didn’t notice that her friend had stopped and barreled into her from behind. Both girls let out startled yelps as they went tumbling down the remaining steps.

Once she had extracted herself from the tangle of limbs that was her and Usagi, Ami stood up and made a quick scan of the area. It was deserted as she had first thought; several lights embedded in the walls and ceiling were generating the soft blue light. The room itself was filled with all kinds of interesting, if mostly unknown, equipment. The only thing she recognized was what looked like a large computer set against the far wall.

"Oww," groaned Usagi as she sat up rubbing her head. "Where are we now?"

"Some type of lab I think," said Ami as she made her way around what was either a bed or a comfortable operating table and headed for the computer.

The computer’s console consisted of a basic keyboard, a few gauges, several buttons with unknown uses, and a small port for some type of cable. After a quick study of the controls, Ami hit a large green button and the machine sprang to life. Ami’s pleasure at having made the correct choice of button quickly faded as the words ‘Please enter password:’ appeared on the screen. She couldn’t even begin to guess what that might be.

Usagi blinked as she glanced at the screen and then said, "That’s not Japanese." Ami only nodded. "How come we can read it then?"

"I’m assuming we’ve been programmed with full knowledge of all known languages on this world. In case you haven’t noticed, we haven’t been speaking Japanese."

Ignoring Usagi’s stunned expression, Ami glanced over the controls again with the distant hope that something missed would be revealed and her eyes fell on the port. Idly she wondered what it might be and without any real conscious thought, began a brief scan. The results of that scan made her smile.

"What?" asked Usagi who was now standing next to Ami. "Did you manage to figure out the password somehow?"

"Not quite. But I might have a way of figuring it out." Without saying any more, Ami set her hand next to the port and gave the needed command to her bodies internal systems. A small section of her wrist slid aside and a thin cord snaked out and attached itself to the port.

"EWWW!" exclaimed Usagi backing away. "That’s icky!"

Ami had to admit that it wasn’t the most wonderful thing in the world, but it would definitely prove useful.

Ami had never hacked a computer before; she had always been opposed to such practices. However, with direct access to the system she was able to bypass the security system in no time despite her inexperience. The password message on the screen was quickly replaced by rapidly scrolling data as Ami accessed the computer’s files.

To Usagi it was all just a mindless blur of images flashing across the screen. Ami on the other hand was scanning every piece of data and storing what she thought useful for future reference. Although she considered these abilities very useful, she would have traded them all to have her real body back or even for an explanation of what had happened to them. The process of storing information in her mind like a computer was slightly unsettling.

Suddenly an electric shock raced through her link to the computer and Ami leapt back with a cry of pain. She quickly unplugged herself and then stood there staring at the smoke rising off of her arm. It tingled all over, but there didn’t appear to be any real damage. That small shock had only been a simple warning.

"Are you okay!?" exclaimed Usagi. "What happened?"

"I tried to access a folder marked ‘Maiden Circuit’ but the security lockouts placed around it are virtually impenetrable. I’ll be fine though."

Usagi nodded, but she didn’t look completely convinced. Her eyes kept straying to the small amounts of smoke still rising into the air from around Ami’s wrist. "Did you find out anything?"

"Lots. As I suspected, this planet is not Earth, but a distant world known as Terra II. About six hundred years ago the Earth was beginning to have problems with overcrowding. As a result millions of people journeyed into space seeking new planets to live on." Ami paused for a moment. "There are no dates I understand in the data banks, but I would estimate that the time and place we are familiar with was about eight hundred years ago."

Usagi’s eyes bulged at this revelation. "Eight hundred years ago! What happened to us?!"

Ami shook her head. "There is no information regarding us in this computer. However, I did find a few interesting facts concerning marionettes. It seems that the colonists met with an unfortunate accident upon their arrival here. Their landing ship crashed and only six people survived. They were all men. You see the problem they faced."

Usagi thought about it for a moment and then turned bright red. "Oh…yeah…"

"Anyway," continued Ami, "instead of admitting defeat the colonists used their knowledge of technology to clone themselves. And that is where this planet’s population comes from. They were, however, unable to produce a female clone and so they invented the marionette as a sort of placeholder. The marionettes on this world amount to little more than unfeeling robot servants."

"But what about us then?" interrupted Usagi. "We have feelings."

Ami sighed. "I don’t know. I couldn’t find any information concerning marionettes and emotions. We could be part of some sort of experiment, or it could be that it’s because we were once human." She sighed again. "I still don’t have enough information."

Usagi opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off when her stomach grumbled noisily. Ami’s made an answering growl and she flushed in embarrassment. "Did you at least find out why we have to eat when we’re robots?" asked Usagi.

"We’re equipped with a highly advanced matter conversion system. The food we eat is converted into the energy needed to keep us going. I’d assume the belly rumbling is there to make us seem more…human."

"Oh, well my matter conversion thingy is telling me I’m hungry."

"So am I, but unfortunately we have nothing to eat."

Usagi frowned. "So what do we do?"

Ami sighed. "We go to sleep and try to find something to eat in the morning. You still have some money left right?" Usagi nodded. "Then tomorrow morning we’ll go shopping."

"But I can’t sleep well when I’m hungry."

Ami seemed to recall Usagi being able to sleep no matter what the circumstances. "Sleeping will conserve our energy reserves. If we don’t sleep now than I don’t think we’ll have enough energy to get to the market in the morning." She gestured to the bed like table. "You go ahead and use the table for a bed. It looks comfortable enough."

"What about you?"

"The floor will be fine." Usagi started to protest, but Ami forestalled her with a raised hand. "I’m not the one that slept in an alleyway last night nor will I have difficulty sleeping because I’m hungry. You use the table."

Usagi looked as if she was still going to protest, but at last she simply smiled. "Thanks Ami."

Usagi lay down on the table while Ami found a light switch and turned it off, plunging the room into darkness. Then she lay down on the floor with her head propped up on her arm and tried to fall asleep. It was not cold in the room and the floor was not so hard that sleep was an impossibility. In fact, she was so exhausted mentally and physically that she felt herself drifting off to sleep almost immediately. Ami was nearly asleep when she heard Usagi whisper into the darkness.

"Goodnight Ami."

The blue haired girl smiled. "Goodnight Princess."

* * * * * *

The average marionette does not dream. Several scientific studies have proven this and many philosophical debates have ended in the assumption that a creature without a soul cannot dream. Machines do not have souls and like all machines, when the average marionette ‘sleeps’ she is simply off and not in the state humans know as sleep. Therefore it is impossible for the average marionette, which is little more than a machine, to dream.

Michie was not the average marionette.

She watched the images unfold from a distance. Her vacant eyed stare taking it all in despite the fact that she comprehended none of it on a conscious level. Subconsciously though, the part of her that gave her the ability to dream took some note of the brief images playing out before her glassy stare.

An old man moved down a crowded street. He was bald with a long white beard and bushy eyebrows. Despite his old age he walked with a spry step and had a ready smile for all those he met along his path. At one point he stopped to talk to a girl with long blue hair who seemed excited about everything around her. When the girl went on her way the old man’s eyes followed her with a slightly longing gaze.

Once again the man continued on his way, the strange girl out of sight if not out of mind. His mind was caught up in deep thoughts as he passed through an area marked as unsafe due to construction. A warning shout came too late as he looked up to see an entire crate of shingles fall from a roof to strike him on the head. Blood flowed from beneath the pile of roofing material and the marionette knew the man was dead even though the average marionette had no comprehension of death.

Of course, Michie was not the average marionette.

* * * * * *

Cherry was preparing breakfast for her beloved Otaru when a rap at the door pulled her away from the kitchen. Drying her hands off on her apron she hurried over, wondering who would be calling so early in the day. If it was Hanagata she would send him into orbit. Cherry was fairly surprised when she slid the door open and found Baiko standing there.

"Is Otaru here?" asked Baiko without preamble.

"Good morning to you too," muttered Cherry. Louder she said, "No, Master Otaru is out getting me spices I require from the market. He should be back in the next ten minutes if you wish to wait."

"No. I will give my message to you and you will give it to Otaru upon his return."

It was not a question, but Cherry still nodded. "Okay."

"There have been a rash of marionette attacks recently. The council believes that there might be several rogue marionettes wandering around Japoness. Lorelei believes that they might not be rogue, but instead be in possession of maiden circuits. In any case, the council requests the help of Otaru, you, Lime, and Bloodberry in discerning the true nature of what has been happening. You are to use whatever method you deem appropriate in dealing with the situation, but Lorelei asks that you do not act in haste. That is all."

Cherry blinked. She had recorded everything Baiko had said, but had stopped really listening when she had reached the part about the possibility of more maiden circuits in existence. That meant the possibility of more battles like the ones they had fought against Faust’s marionettes. If that were the case it would ruin all the plans she had made recently concerning her and Otaru. This did not make for a very happy Cherry.

She nodded. "I’ll give your message to Otaru when he returns."

"Good. The council would like a return message saying that they will receive Otaru’s help in this matter."

Cherry nodded again and Baiko took off in the direction of the palace. Cherry watched her go and then returned to her cooking. She tried to return to the fantasy she had been having involving her and Otaru, but dark, nameless shapes kept intruding on her thoughts. At last she gave up trying to fantasize and gave breakfast her full attention. Not before she had vowed that no rogue marionettes were going to ruin the plans she had made for her and Otaru though.

* * * * * *

Gennai studied the marionettes displayed in the merchant’s window. They were high quality of course; no salesman would put less than his best wares in his storefront window. And, of course, since they were of such high quality they were beyond the old man’s price range.

Sighing to himself, Gennai was about to turn away when something caught his attention, as if someone had just whispered into his ear. Looking back into the store window his eyes were immediately drawn to something in the very back. From between two of the marionettes in the window he saw another far back in a corner of the store barely visible from here. He was unsure as to why this marionette had caught his attention, but with his curiosity piqued he entered the store.

Gennai picked his way around the many fine displays of marionettes until he at last found himself standing before a marionette that didn’t seem to be well cared for. She wore a red kimono that was common garb for marionettes, but hers was dusty and unclean. Her long black hair seemed as if it had shimmered once, but now it had lost its luster due to lack of upkeep.

The owner of the shop approached Gennai with a greasy smile. "I see you have a very good eye for marionettes sir. This fine specimen can be yours for only five hundred ryo."

Gennai snorted. "That’s what I would pay for one of those in the window. What’s wrong with this one?"

"Wrong sir? There is nothing wrong with her. Michie here is one of our highest quality models. If you do not like the price then I suppose I could be talked into letting you have her for four hundred ryo."

"She’s not one of your highest quality models or else she’d be in the front and not crammed back here in a corner. It looks as if no ones taken any care of her since she was built. Now, what’s wrong with her?"

The salesman’s smile disappeared to be replaced by a frown. "She’s slightly defective. Michie has a tendency to drift off. When she does she simply stands there staring straight ahead. Won’t obey a single command when she’s like that."

Gennai studied the marionette again. He couldn’t say why, but he felt that there was something special about this marionette. He’d learned to pay more attention to these feeling since meeting Lime and the others. Marionettes, even those without maiden circuits, were more than just talking toasters or pretty decoration pieces.

"I’ll give you fifty ryo for her."

The salesman balked. "That’s hardly decent for a marionette that’s fit for scrap."

"By your own words she’s defective." That didn’t bother Gennai since he could fix just about anything, including marionettes. "This is probably the only chance you’ll ever get to sell her."

"I couldn’t let her go for less than one hundred ryo."

"It was nice talking to you." Gennai moved to leave.

The salesman caught his arm before he had taken more than a couple of steps. "Seventy five."
Gennai made the appearance of considering this offer for several moments before nodding. "Sold."

Despite being defective, the marionette followed Gennai out of the store with no problems. Once outside he gave her an impromptu cleaning session, dusting off her kimono and making some attempt at bringing back her faded beauty. Without the proper tools though, this was pretty much an act in futility. Sighing to himself, Gennai ordered Michie to follow him as he headed towards home.

Gennai was warned that she acted up about once every other day, but he wasn’t worried. He hoped that by tomorrow he would be able to isolate the problem and fix it. Perhaps there was a short in her motion actuator or maybe someone had forgotten to calibrate her logic center.

Gennai was so lost in thinking of what might cause Michie’s malfunction that he nearly had a heart attack when a familiar face suddenly appeared inches in front of his own. Jumping back in surprise he bumped into Michie who had been following just a few feet behind. Fearing that she might fall down and damage herself further, Gennai spun around to try and catch her. He needn’t have bothered however, since she seemed in no danger of falling down. She was simply standing there, her lifeless eyes locked straight ahead. Once he was assured that his new marionette would be fine, he turned back to the one who had surprised him.

"Why hello Lime," he greeted. "You scared me."

Lime gave him a broad grin. "You made a funny face! Make it again!" Gennai obliged the carefree marionette by scrunching up his features in what he assumed he had looked like when Lime startled him. Lime laughed. "You’re funny!"

Gennai smiled. "What brings you out this day Lime? Is Otaru with you?" A quick glance around showed that he wasn’t in the immediate area, but that didn’t mean Lime hadn’t simply outdistanced him.

Lime shook her head vigorously. "I’m carrying a message to Lorelei from Otaru."

"Oh?" replied Gennai. "What message would that be?" He knew it was probably none of his business, but he had a curious, sometimes nosy nature.

"Umm…" Lime’s features scrunched up in concentration. "We haven’t seen any sign of rogue marionettes, but um…but we’ll keep an eye out for any."

Gennai had heard rumors of rogue marionettes causing problems around the city, but he had figured they were just that, rumors. The fact that Lorelei was concerned meant that the rumors were probably true. Of course, it might just be the council being cautious.

"Otaru told me I have to hurry or he’ll be mad," said Lime.

Gennai smiled and waved Lime on. "You’d better hurry then, you don’t want to make Otaru mad."
"Bye bye!" said Lime, waving. Then she was gone, shooting off down the street.

Gennai watched her go and his smile faded. He envied Otaru and the marionettes that had become his best friends and most trusted companions. Although he had never felt alone before, watching Otaru with Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry made him long for something beyond his solitary existence.

Despite his somewhat lecherous attitude all Gennai really wanted was a friend. A friend like Lime, or Cherry, or even Bloodberry. Someone who could bring a smile to his face like the ones he saw when Otaru looked at the three marionettes who lived with him. He wanted someone who would be like a grand daughter to him.

Sighing he looked at Michie and a sad smile crossed his face. "You’ll never be like Lime, but with a little cleaning you’ll be one of the more beautiful marionettes around."

Letting out another sigh, Gennai began walking towards his home again, his mind lost in a fantasy where he would be greeted at the door by a smiling marionette of his own. He was so caught up in this fantasy that he didn’t realize he had entered an area designated as unsafe due to construction on a nearby building. He was extremely startled when someone shoved him hard from behind, sending him sprawling.

Jumping to his feet and spinning around, Gennai was surprised to see his marionette with one arm extended. It was obvious that she was the one who had pushed him to the ground. Anger, more at the salesman than Michie, welled up in Gennai. The clerk hadn’t said anything about Michie attacking her owner.

Gennai was about to demand why Michie had shoved him, but a shout from above stopped him. Looking up he saw a crate of shingles come flying off of a roof to crash down on the exact spot he would have been had his marionette not shoved him out of the way. As it was, Michie’s still extended arm was ripped from its socket and now lay at her feet among the clutter of broken crate pieces and scattered shingles.

"Are you okay?" called out a concerned construction worker.

"Yeah…" began Gennai staring at his marionette in astonishment. Michie simply stared straight ahead with her normal vacant eyed gaze. "Yeah," he said again louder, "I’m fine. Watch what you’re doing up there!"

"Real sorry about that, but there are signs telling you to stay out of the area. We’ll still pay to fix the marionette though."

"No, no that’s okay. I’ll fix her myself." Gennai picked up the severed arm and ordered Michie to follow him. She obeyed, showing no sign that she even comprehended what she had just done. Gennai couldn’t understand how or why, but this marionette had just saved his life.

Gennai’s home was not far from the construction site and they reached it in a matter of minutes. His house and workshop were essentially one and the same. Gizmos and gadgets as well as the tools he used to work on them were scattered everywhere. One corner of his house was no more than one huge pile of what most people would consider scrap, but he thought of as works in progress. The upper torso of a busted up marionette stood out like a figurehead upon the pile of garbage. Next to the garbage pile was his weapons locker where he kept various interesting and destructive items.

Once inside he had Michie sit down near his work bench and he laid her arm down next to her. For several minutes he did nothing more than stare at her, wondering why she had acted like she did. Finally he decided it was just part of the glitch the salesman had told him about and that it was just coincidence that she had saved his life. Still, the problem had been described to him as a lack of motion and Michie had shoved him.

Grabbing his tools, Gennai set about reattaching the marionette’s arm. The damage to the area was extensive, but he had no problems hooking up the torn cables once the outer layers of synthetic skin and the metal panel around the shoulder and upper arm had been removed. Upon close inspection of the severed area he noted something odd though. The metal cover surrounding the inner workings was thicker and made of much more durable stuff than what was commonly used in household marionettes. It seemed more like the kind of material used for combat marionettes. A quick check showed that the skeletal structure was also much sturdier than that of a normal marionette.

This struck Gennai as very strange, but it didn’t worry him any since it simply made the marionette that much better. When he was done he decided that he might have to remove more of Michie’s outer paneling as he searched for her glitch so he just left the circuitry of the arm exposed for the time being.

Gennai started with the head, where he suspected the problem to be. After almost two hours of checking and rechecking the various components in Michie’s brain unit though, he could find absolutely nothing wrong with her. That was most odd in his opinion, since the problems described by the clerk should have originated in the marionette’s processors. They seemed to be functioning perfectly though.

Deciding that it was possible, albeit unlikely, that the problem stemmed from another part of her system, Gennai began a full diagnostic. He had gotten no further than Michie’s chest when he discovered something out of place. Just below her throat there was a piece of unknown equipment and it seemed to be connected to all parts of her body. Gennai guessed that someone had been tinkering with the marionette in an attempt to improve her and instead had managed to foul her up. That would explain the extra strong metal covering.

Muttering about idiots making more work for him, Gennai opened the section of Michie containing the offending component. What he saw inside left him speechless.

It was a maiden circuit. Gennai had been allowed to see Bloodberry’s once and this one was almost identical. The only difference between the two seemed to be that this one wasn’t functioning. That and the fact that a brilliant ruby was imbedded in its center.

Overjoyed as well as puzzled by his find, Gennai took up his tools again and began to study the maiden circuit in an attempt to discover whether it was broken or just turned off for some reason. As he went about this investigation his thoughts were also turned to the question of how it had gotten here in the first place. There were supposed to be only six of these in existence, the technology having been lost a long time ago.

Gennai could explain that away. Perhaps someone had found a lost file or the descendant of one of the scientists who had originally worked on the project had found some of his predecessors notes. What truly puzzled him was why a marionette in possession of a maiden circuit had been found in the back corner of a shop. No one in their right mind would let something like this out of his hands.

His scan showed that the maiden circuit was in perfect working order, it just wasn’t on at the moment. To Gennai’s disappointment there didn’t appear to be an on button either. It seemed that something was supposed to act as a trigger for the circuit, switching it on when it was needed. And Gennai had no idea what that trigger might be.

He began to rack his brain for anything that might work as a catalyst for the maiden circuit. Gennai was so close to his dream of having someone to share his life with, so close to having a companion who would greet him at the door with a ready smile. All he had to do was figure out how to activate something that not even its creator, Lorelei, fully understood. Not an easy task.

His only clue was the ruby from which a soft red light was now pulsating. Gennai blinked. Pulsating red light? It hadn’t been doing that a second ago. Excitement welling up inside of him, Gennai reached hesitantly for the glowing maiden circuit. The sound of machinery clinking together from the direction of his work-in-progress-pile stopped him though. Looking over in that direction his eyes widened.

The eyes of the busted up marionette set on top of the pile were glowing with a dark light. She had no arms or legs, but as Gennai watched in horror she rectified that problem quickly. The junk surrounding her began to gather around her shoulders and waist, quickly taking on the appearance of twisted limbs. One hand was vaguely human in appearance, nuts and bolts making up the fingers and thumb. The other hand though, was formed from several pieces of jagged metal and looked as if its sole purpose was to rip things apart. Gennai tried hard not to think of what those things might be.

Throwing a horrified look at Michie (Was she the cause of all this?), Gennai turned back to the nightmare creature that was now lurching towards him. "Who-What are you!? What do you want!?"

"I want…bzzt…y-y-your life…ssshhh…energy!" The voice was broken and static made it hard to understand, but the menacing tone was not lost on the old man.

Gennai looked longingly at his weapon’s locker sitting in the corner beyond the monster advancing on him. The door out of the house was, unfortunately, also on the other side of the creature. Left with no other alternative other than to fight with what he had, Gennai began hastily searching for a weapon. He spotted a piece of pipe that could be utilized as a club, but before he could make a grab for it the monster attacked.

The clawed hand shot forward to seize the old man and he let out an involuntary shout of fear. Gennai was unsure as to whether he or the creature was more surprised when the arm stopped inches from its mark, the wrist clasped tightly in Michie’s grip. Deep within her eyes Gennai saw a spark of life appear.

"Initiating program…Rei."

It seemed to Rei as if she had suddenly reached the end of a long, dark tunnel. The darkness that had been surrounding her suddenly gave way to bright light and a very confusing scene. For several seconds she could only stare dumbly at the odd looking metal arm clutched in her hand. Her mind felt fuzzy and she couldn’t quite decide whether she was asleep and dreaming, or awake and drunk (this had only happened once during a New Years party when she was young and it was not something she had wanted to repeat ever again). Her gaze swung to the old man staring at her with a mixture of fear, confusion and joy. Well, the arm didn’t seem to belong to him.

Turning the other direction she found what was obviously the owner of the arm and the source of the man’s fear. She hadn’t noticed it before, but now Rei realized the entire area was awash with dark energy. The piecemeal droid like creature glaring down at her was apparently the source of the negative energy surrounding them all.

Youma, she thought calmly, her mind still too fuzzy to fully grasp the gravity of the situation. Her gaze returned to the arm she was holding. Wow, I bet I’m stronger than Makoto!

The silent tableau was broken then as the youma let out a deafening roar and ripped its arm free of Rei’s grip. "W-W-Who are…bzzt…you!?"

Rei glanced at the old man and realized she couldn’t transform into Sailor Mars with him watching. However, at the moment she couldn’t see much of an alternative.

"Who, me? I’m nobody really." Rei pointed behind the youma. "Those people over there look much more interesting than me anyway."
To Rei’s surprise and delight, the youma fell for the ruse and turned to look where she pointed. Getting quickly to her feet, Rei grabbed the old man and made a dash for the other side of the workbench in an attempt to find some cover. When she tried to do this though, she discovered two things.

The first was the fact that she seemed to be much, much stronger than ever before in her life. She had been intending to simply grab the man and push him in the direction of the workbench. Instead she found herself lifting him into the air and practically tossing him in the desired direction. Her second discovery involved her coordination, or more precisely, her lack there of.

Rei tripped over her own feet and hit the ground with a dull thud.

By this time the youma had realized the error of listening to its intended quarry and turned back to Rei and Gennai. Grumbling about becoming a dizt like Usagi, Rei flipped herself onto her back and found herself gazing up into the visage of a very angry youma. This was not a pretty sight and it caused her heart suddenly leap into her throat. She had no choice now. Old man or no old man, only Sailor Mars could get them out of this situation.

Words began to scroll across her eyes and Rei stared at them in confusion, wondering if maybe she had hit her head on something. She didn’t notice the ruby that seemed to grow out of her chest. In fact, she didn’t even notice that a small portion of her chest seemed to be missing. The words passed by her vision again and she felt compelled to utter them.

"Mars Marionette Power, Make Up!" Rei seemed to erupt into flames and the youma leapt back with a snarl of rage.

Picking herself up off of the ground, Sailor Mars was about to give an inspiring pre-battle speech, but almost fell down again and had to steady herself with one hand against the workbench. When she was sure she could stand unaided, Sailor Mars struck a pose. And almost fell down again. Mumbling curses under her breath, she contented herself with simply crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don’t know what you are, I don’t even know where I am. I do know one thing though. Evil scum like you should be burned to ash! I am Sailor Mars, the maiden of fire, and you’re about to become toast!"

The youma muttered something about stupid speech giving weirdoes and then hurled a fine selection of razor sharp gears at Sailor Mars. Luckily the Senshi had finally regained most of her coordination and managed to dodge the majority of the gears, but one grazed her shoulder and another clipped her leg. Ignoring her injuries, which for some odd reason seemed to have stopped hurting after the initial jolt of pain, Sailor Mars counter attacked.

"Mars Burning Mandala!" The burning discs slammed into the youma, ripping its arms apart and tearing into its body. Mars put on a cocky smile. "Hot enough for ya!?"

The youma laughed. "Bzzt…It’s not…bzzzzt…t-t-that simple l-l-little girl."

Sailor Mars watched in horror as the youma’s arms grew back and the wounds inflicted on its body seemed to repair themselves. Glancing down she discovered how this was possible. Where the youma’s legs and feet should have been there was instead something that resembled a tail made of bits of metal and discarded machinery. The tail flowed back to the pile of junk and seemed to meld with it. The youma was assimilating the junk in the workshop and using it to repair the damage inflicted by Mars.

"That’s cheating," growled Sailor Mars.

Ignoring that comment, the youma lashed out with its left arm, which was suddenly much longer and thinner than it had been a second ago. The tentacle like limb wrapped itself around Sailor Mars before she could dodge away, pinning her arms to her side. Slowly it began to squeeze and Mars heard the sound of metal screeching in protest. Had she had time to think about this, Mars probably would have found it very odd that her limbs made sounds like metal bending as opposed to bones breaking. However, excruciating pain had impaired her reasoning capabilities and now her only concern was escape.

Gennai had not been idle during the fight. He had managed to keep his wits about him after being unceremoniously tossed behind his work bench and, after watching Rei’s startling transformation, had decided that no maniac marionette was going to destroy his workshop or this fantastic fire flinging, maiden circuit possessing, marionette he had discovered. In the chaos raging around him it had been easy to sneak over to his weapons locker.

"Hey!" shouted Gennai. The youma turned and its eyes widened as it realized it was staring down the barrel of a rather large plasma cannon. "Watch the birdie!"

BLAM!!!

The cannon’s recoil caused Gennai to fall backwards and land on his butt with a thud, but the blast had the desired effect of obliterating the youma’s shoulder along with a fairly large portion of its body. Gennai’s grin faded though as he watched the arm and body regenerate at an impressive rate. He reloaded hastily.

"The legs!" shouted Sailor Mars, having been freed from the youma’s crushing grip by the old man’s attack. "Blow away the legs and it’s done for!"
Gennai complied, aiming the cannon at what would have been the creature’s waist if it were human. This time the recoil sent the old man sliding backwards to crash into a wall, but once again his aim was true. The cannon’s blast completely severed the lower half of the youma. For a brief instant the upper half seemed to hang suspended in midair. It was in this instant that Sailor Mars attacked.

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

An inhuman scream rent the air as the fireball consumed the youma, but seconds later there was only silence. Sailor Mars glanced at the old man to make sure he was okay and then turned her attention to the injuries she had received. Looking down at her leg she noted that there was no blood, only a small gash across her calf.

"That’s odd," she muttered as she checked her shoulder. Here there was no blood either. There were, however, a few cut wires dangling out of the hole ripped in a shoulder that appeared to be entirely mechanical. Trying not to panic, and doing a bad job of it, Mars quickly examined her leg wound. From beneath the torn skin she could see the dull gleam of metal.

Sailor Mars’ mind was reeling as she tried to come to grips with what she was seeing. It was simply too much when both of her arms separated near the shoulder and released steam with a loud hiss. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and Sailor Mars fainted dead away.

* * * * * *

The man looked up as Setsuna stepped into the room, the panel behind her shutting quickly and silently, blending in so well with the wall around it that no one who didn’t know it was there would notice it. Setsuna walked over and sat down in the chair before the man’s desk, studying him for a long moment before speaking.

"Unit number three is operational."

The man nodded. He had assumed that was why she had come to see him. "Is she with the others?"

"No. She is somewhere within the city as are unit one and two, but they are not together."

The man chose to ignore the fact that Setsuna refused to refer to the Senshi by name. Picking up the paper he had been reading before his companion’s entrance, the man handed it to Setsuna. "Have you seen this?"

Setsuna glanced at the front page and nodded. "Yes."

"I wonder what they will do when it is discovered that this is not simply a case of several rogue marionettes attacking people."

"That’s why the Senshi are here."

The man turned away. "Here to fight for the sake of a world they know nothing about. Built for the sole purpose of combating evil." He paused. "Why do you try to distance yourself from those you once called friend, Setsuna?"

If the question surprised Setsuna she didn’t show it. "They are not those I once called friend. They are nothing more than copies."

The man arched an eyebrow. "They’re more than that and you know it. You yourself said that mere copies would not be able to fight the coming battle. That’s why you did what you did eight hundred years ago."
Setsuna said nothing, only stood. "I have things I must attend to."

The man simply nodded and Setsuna departed, leaving him alone with his thoughts.