Sailor Moon Expanded presents a Crystal Tokyo Saga Side Story
The Babe wore Blue
another case from the files of Magnesite, PI
by Mark Latus
Part 1 - The Client
There's a light drizzle outside but the black sky doesn't darken the
streets. After all this is Crystal Tokyo, the city of lights. This burg's
always illuminated. The only real darkness around is the kind that lives in
human hearts but there's still no shortage of that. I should know, my name's
Magnesite and I'm a PI.
Okay I'm overdramatising. It's hell being a grim and gritty kinda guy in
a warm and cuddly society. Utopia is a rotten place for a seedy business like
this. I'm just lucky divorces still tend to be messy or I'd be starving.
Those and the really minor lost property cases the police won't touch keeps me
going. Probably won't touch them because there's so few of them in this city.
Not that CT really needs any more than it's got. Why the hell won't the
crime rate rise?
I don't even have a decent adversarial relationship with the cops.
Whenever my investigations cross theirs they don't warn me not to interfere.
They tell me to go ahead if it makes me happy and to cheer up a bit.
Darkness! Sometimes they even share their evidence with me! Whatever
happened to hate, prejudice, envy and intolerance? Now those were human
traits I could respect. There's no shortage of them outside CT but I'm not
allowed to leave the city. It's like after I died instead of hell they sent
me to Disneyland. If it wasn't for the few decent cases I've had over the
centuries and the occasional feud with Mars the tedium would have finished me
off years ago.
People are too damn trusting these days. A delegation shows up from a
previously unknown world and do the papers start screaming about invasions,
abductions, experiments or any of that other stuff aliens are supposed to do?
No, it's all gushing over them like they're celebrities and reminding people
to be extra nice to these Nemesians (or Nemesites, or Nemes or whatever else
you're allowed to call them). Makes me sick.
I suppose technically I'm an alien though no one ever calls me one.
I wasn't born on Earth but in another dimension on a world that doesn't
exist anymore. But does that panic people? Hell no. Matter of fact one of
the Senshi isn't human and another of them's married to a Dark Kingdomer.
Does that upset people? Nope, it's just minor trivia in a magical kingdom.
Makes me long for the 20th century when people around here were xenophobic,
paranoid and scared of outsiders.
Metallia! I was a big shot in the Dark Kingdom, I could have been a
General! Now I find missing puppies to keep body and soul together and the
SOB who stabbed me in the back is a royal advisor. Where's the justice? I
need a drink.
I tipped the cheap whiskey back and felt it burn through the mucus lining
of my throat on the way down. At least I should have except I don't have a
mucus lining. Hell I don't even have a real body anymore. This stuff can't
get me drunk, I don't need any kind of physical sustenance. But it's part of
the image, like the cigarettes, the fedora and my trenchcoat. Even if I'm
almost the only one left who remembers that. I can't believe how few people
these days have heard of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.
I dropped the bottle back on the desk. As always it was cluttered with
newspapers and paperwork. Somehow the paper free society never quite caught
on. The bottle sits next to the replica Maltese Falcon. Calcite's less than
subtle hint to keep my nose clean. Some guys really carry a grudge. It's
been nearly 1000 years for Metallia's sake! Ok so I tried to take out him,
the rest of the Renegades and the Senshi. But I didn't actually kill anyone
and I still feel 700 years in that lousy crystal was excessive. Hell if it
wasn't for me would he ever have met Venus? I'm sort of their matchmaker.
Speaking of which I saw in the paper the other day his wife skewered
him in some sort of sparring accident. An unconfirmed report said he was
hospitalized and near death which makes me feel cheerful.
Who am I kidding? I'll never get that lucky. Yet as I think that I'm
glancing from the replica falcon to the framed Casablanca poster. Behind
there is a safe holding the real stuff that dreams are made of. A pearl
beyond price. I was lucky once. Partially anyway. I lost the girl but I
got the bird. Not the best ending but a very Bogie one. But I doubt
Calcite's going to croak. Just like the Senshi those damn Renegades have a
habit of surviving.
Only one of the other Kingdom survivors I've got any respect for is
Margrave. Now she is something, the last real youma. The Renegades don't
count, they're genetic freaks who should have been strangled at birth. I'm
not flesh and blood anymore. Whatever I've become I don't count as a youma
anymore. I've been called a solidified psychoplasm ghost. That's about the
best description I'll get.
Margrave's been a real inspiration to me. Like her I need human energy.
She needs it to stay alive, I need it to stay corporeal. Without it I fade
to a phantom. And that gets old real quick. So like her I set up a business
offering humans my services in exchange for some of their energy. Different
services from hers obviously.
Want someone shadowed? Find out if your spouse is cheating on you?
Track down the lowlife who ran out on you? I'm your man. I've got a bag of
tricks that make me the best PI on the planet. Certainly the best in Crystal
Tokyo. Okay the only one in Crystal Tokyo. Anyway by the terms of my
parole I'm confined to happyville here. Lousy spoilsports, just once I'd like
to visit California. San Francisco, LA, Chinatown ... it'd be sort of a
pilgrimage.
Well it had been a while between cases and I was starting to feel kind
of hungry when the babe walked in. Just cause I'm made of psychoplasm doesn't
mean I don't appreciate women. Especially this one. I've always been a leg
man so I appreciate those outfits. Whoever designed the Senshi uniform either
felt the same way or figured most of their opponents would be male so the
added distraction would help.
She was wearing her hair longer than she used to, it's a nice complement
to the blue outfit. A lot of people say it's between Mars and Jupiter for
best figure. Me, I think she's got the best overall proportions. Long tanned
legs that you can imagine wrapping around ...
"I'm aware people tend to fantasize over the Senshi but they're usually
a little less blatant about it." She didn't look amused. Damn! I was
narrating out loud again. Her stern expression suddenly dissolved into a
coughing fit and she rushed to the window. Ignoring the rain she stuck her
head out and breathed deeply. She left the window open as she ducked back
inside. Running a hand through her damp hair she asked, "How can you breathe
in smoke this thick?"
"Breathing's for wimps!" Well that sounded tough enough but the truth is
I didn't notice. Like I said the cigarettes are just for effect. I don't
notice the smoke as I don't need oxygen these days. A side effect of being
composed of psychoplasm. I'll have to watch that. I must have been
overdoing it lately. Now I knew why my last potential client went green when
he walked in and then fled the building.
"I see. A smoke detector would be a good investment."
Dammit! I didn't mean to say that out loud. This is what comes of
spending centuries in isolation reliving every Bogie film ever made. Lucky
I didn't go nuts. Though I occasionally suspect my memory has been a little
warped. For example I remember my final farewell to Queen Beryl while the
Senshi were invading the Kingdom. We looked at each other and you could she
was ready to stay with me rather than go with Endymion to ambush the Moon
Princess. But I told her that if she did she'd regret it. Perhaps not today,
or tomorrow but one day she'd regret it for the rest of her life. In a crazy
place like the Dark Kingdom the problems of two youma didn't amount to a hill
of skulls. So she went off with Endymion to fight the Senshi. I went
looking for Calcite to find out why he wasn't on the front lines and ran into
Titanite. Which is how I got stabbed in the back, literally.
Now I know that some of that definitely happened but parts of it are way
too close to "Casablanca". Then there's the fact that my memories of the
quest for the silver crystal are a close parallel to the hunt for the Maltese
Falcon. I've seen artists impressions of Queen Beryl and she doesn't look a
thing like Mary Astor in those.
"Excuse me, are you done with your introspective brooding yet?"
Damn, I've been ignoring my client. "Sorry about that. Take a seat."
"With a skirt this short I prefer to stand."
"Suit yourself." Time to get my brain in gear. She's here in Senshi
uniform but Sailor Mercury retired as an active Senshi before my revival.
Lately she's been better known as Lady Mizuno, Dean Emeritus of CTU. That
doesn't change what she is, just her dressing habits. So she's wearing that
to hammer home how important this is. But why would she need to hire a PI?
Particularly one who tried to kill her back in the twentieth century. Could
be she's looking to set me up for the big sleep. Except why wait so long?
Revenge is a dish best served cold as somebody once said. Play for time.
"It's your nickel, babe."
She looks puzzled for a moment then remembers pay phones. After a moment
she says, "I need someone ... investigated." She sounds hesitant. Is it
hiring a PI or hiring me? Or is it just disclosing she thinks her husband is
stepping out on her? That has got to be embarrassing after that, "Till death
do us part stuff". But happily ever after is a lot longer than you'd think.
"That's why most people come to me sweetheart." Her marriage isn't
exactly common knowledge but I've learned a few things over the years. Which
means I know that this will be a tricky case. Not only does he live outside
Crystal Tokyo most of the time he's got powers to contend with. Better charge
double. "Cleaning up people's romantic messes is what keeps me going ..."
"It's not a personal matter, it's a criminal one!" She sounds offended
at my suggestion. Or maybe she didn't like being called sweetheart.
Something really doesn't add up here.
"So why come to me? Why not go straight to the police? You may not be
active as a Senshi but you're far from without influence. Besides say the
word and I'll bet her gracious majesty would put you back on the duty roster
in an instant. Which would give you full authority to get whatever it is
officially investigated. Hell, you don't even have to rejoin officially,
active or not you're still Sailor Mercury which means the masses damn near
worship you. All you'd have to do is show up at police HQ dressed like that
and they'd be falling over each other to help you out." Matter of fact I
think there's an adult video using that premise. There's still a small hentai
market for animated simulations of the Senshi performing a variety of indecent
acts. Part of Sailor Polaris's job as Palace PR director & media liaison is
coordinating with Rei to stamp them out when they creep in from outside CT.
But close down one source and another one sprouts up again. My personal
favourite is the one with Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, the tentacle monster and the
bathtub full of lubricant.
Well I can't watch Bogie films all the time. As Mercury's still choosing
her words rather than glaring at me it looks like I'm not narrating out loud
anymore.
"This is a matter of some delicacy ... and not without risk. While
Crystal Tokyo's police are dedicated men and women they are ill equipped to
deal with paranormal criminals."
This is getting intriguing but still doesn't add up. "So why not have a
word with our old buddy Rei? She's in charge of internal security, well
equipped to fight paranormal goons and probably eager for a little action
after centuries of sitting on her duff." Matter of fact I know she is. Rei
was very quick off the mark when she got wind of that mess three years back.
The fact I'm still walking around proves she never figured it out. I start
to think about someone I met back then but squash the thought as unyoumalike.
She's gone, forget her! If I look a little wistful Mercury doesn't notice.
She's too busy considering how to answer me.
"I ... would rather not involve Rei at this time. There are certain
tensions among the Senshi right now and she might act prematurely. Also there
is the risk of a security leak at the palace."
"So what? Even someone as paranoid as me finds it hard to credit anyone
in the palace working against Serenity. Especially after all this time."
"That isn't exactly the problem." She's looking for the right way to
phrase this, there's things she doesn't want me to pick up. "The man I want
investigated has both personal power and top level connections ..." There
aren't many men in this town with para-abilities and political clout. I can't
see the King being a suspect so that leaves ... oh boy! If it's who I think
it's a mixed blessing. On the one hand I'd like to get Calcite busted. On
the other he could reshape me into something truly unpleasant and lock me in
that form for centuries. I don't want to wake up tomorrow as a urinal.
Mercury plows on, "... he's also a pillar of the community. No one's about
to suspect him of treason."
"Errr this man ... does he by any chance have a sister in the Senshi and
a Senshi wife?"
"No!" So it's not Calcite. "But he has two cousins who match those
descriptions."
My jaw hit the desk. I hate losing control of my body like that, it
makes me look like a cartoon! Guess I'm really surprised! I stuffed my
tongue back in quickly, grabbed my chin and slotted my jawbone back into
place. Mercury's face seemed to have acquired a very large sweatdrop. I'm
truly astonished ... him?!!
"Pyrite?" That weakling? Ok so he's not weak by human standards, matter
of fact he could break a human in two with little effort. If he did that kind
of thing which he doesn't because he's Renegade and they're a pack of wimps.
I shook off the automatic Renegade distain, perfectly natural youma
viewpoint though it was. Fact of the matter is I wouldn't want to tackle the
other three Renegades these days even if I was running on full power. Which I
haven't in centuries as I can't drain lifeforce at will to energise myself.
I can still shapeshift and teleport though the latter takes quite a bit of
juice. I could do one or two maximum power energy bursts before I became
immaterial so I'm not much on heavy offensive capability. On the positive
side I'm very hard to kill and can reshape parts of my body into edged
weapons. I'd like to carry a gun but in Crystal Tokyo the best I can have is
a replica .45 that does sound effects. Which I'm not allowed to display in
public anyway. I really hate this town. Anyway the point was that Pyrite's
a different case from the rest of the Renegades. His powers are better suited
for R&D than combat.
Mercury was waiting for me to calm down. I put my brain in gear, this
could be very good for me. I couldn't see Pyrite doing anything treasonous
but I'd get paid for the investigation anyway. Senshi energy would last
longer than the human variety and it's been a very long time since I had the
chance to taste it. "I'll take the case." She didn't look very grateful,
matter of fact she looked like she thought she might be making a big mistake.
A quick rummage around in the pile on my desk produced a dogeared contract.
"Read this over and if the terms are agreeable we can get down to specifics."
My terms are well known but you've got to be careful when you feed on life
energy. Another thing I've learned from Margrave is humans can doublecross
you. Which is why I always get it in writing.
"This looks fine." She hands it back, not being dumb enough to sign it
without the specifics of the investigation filled in."
"So what can I do for you lady?" I leaned back in my chair and gave her
my best cynical look.
"Where to begin ... you've heard about the delegation from Nemesis that's
visiting?"
"I read the papers ..." Glad they still do hardcopy, video doesn't fit
my style. "... mainly big shots and a few followers; Rubeus, Saffir,
Emaraldess. Sounds like a jewellery exhibit! Why don't they have sensible
names?"
"Like Magnesite, Jadeite or Nephrite?"
"Right!" She looks amused, must be some Senshi thing. "So what's the
connection?"
Here we go, she's looking apprehensive. "A member of the Nemesis
delegation visited CTU yesterday. Their technical consultant, a man named
Ambir. I took him on a tour which included the research labs. In hindsight
a mistake but we've always included those and I couldn't let on that we knew
anything was wrong ..." She clams up suddenly, looks like she just let
something slip. but what? After a moment she resumes talking. "While we
were in Pyrite's lab he mentioned some potential implications of his
omniversal unification theory..." Pyrite's been working on that thing for a
very long time. I hear it's so esoteric that aside from Mercury maybe three
other people in the world can understand it. My client's still going,
"... Ambir was very interested and Pyrite would elaborated if I hadn't invoked
research security. Then Ambir said he'd heard Pyrite was interested in
crystal magic, took out a gemstone and invoked a droid."
"Droid?"
"It's an AI construct centring on the energy matrix created by the
crystal. The matrix field forms a pseudomatter within its containment grid."
"Huh?"
"You turn it on and you've got a servant."
"Oh. Sort of instant youma."
"If you like. Now Pyrite was acting very interested but Ambir said the
technical details were classified. Then Pyrite suggested trading his research
for droid technology. I blocked that by saying all research exchanges would
have to go through the Palace and require royal approval. I said I would
pass the request on but a full review would take some time." I got the
feeling Mercury didn't want an exchange, period, and was just stalling them.
While I was mulling over that she was saying, "I thought that was the end of
it but I noticed them talking together later."
She pauses for a moment so I make a guess at what she wants. "So you
want me to see if Pyrite's planning on ignoring the red tape and making his
own swap with this Ambir?" She nods. "And stop him if he is doing a trade!"
"No!"
"No?"
"If he is selling that research then I don't dare stop him. It's
possible that it's the final key to ... certain events. Normally I wouldn't
worry about him doing anything foolish but things are ... a little more
complicated than usual. I'm not sure how much he knows ... if he thinks it's
all predestined he might think, 'where's the harm?' No, there's no way he
know about ... " She clams up suddenly. There's something going on I'm not
supposed to know about. She tries again, "What's worse, if it is part of the
sequence then he has to be allowed to sell us out."
I'm not following this at all. Best I can figure is Mars has had a
vision and Mercury's trying to make sure things go the way she saw.
Alternately she's trying to prevent something from happening. The way I
understand it the future isn't fixed so all a seer gets is possibilities.
Maybe she doesn't want to involve Rei because they disagree on which future
is best so Mercury's working on it behind her back. Intriguing.
"So if you don't want him stopped then what do you want me to do?"
She's composed herself and she's got a cold expression. "I want to know
if he does trade information with Ambir or any other Nemesian. Maybe it's
inevitable but that doesn't exclude responsibility. I want a report on what
he does during the next week and I want it 100% honest!"
"I'll ignore the insinuation (like I'd be dumb enough to do something so
blatant. Last thing I want to do is give the Senshi or the Renegades
justifiable cause to get me purged by Serenity). If that's what you want then
I can handle that. When do I start?"
"Within the hour."
"Fine. While I'm filling in the details you can give me a description
of this Ambir ..." She drops her trademark minicomputer on the table. It's
displaying a man in his mid 30's (assuming normal aging) with green eyes and
short curly purple hair. I wonder if this machine's an antique but she's
hanging onto it for sentimental reasons. Or is it still impossible to
duplicate? "... I may need access to secured areas of the campus so if you
can provide a security override ... sorry I forgot, Crystal Tokyo, everything
on the campus is open."
"Actually no, we keep the research labs secured. That's mainly to
prevent anyone wandering in, accidentally hitting the wrong button and ruining
months of work." She tosses something on the table, a ticket sized card about
as thick as a piece of paper. "This will get you into anywhere ... it'll also
log your usage so don't try anything funny."
Good. It'll save me having to walk through walls. Besides Pyrite
might have sensors up to watch for me. In case I ever try to finish what I
started back in the 20th. No, that's not really paranoid. Grow up in the
Dark Kingdom and you know everyone else is out to get you. Old habits die
hard, or not at all.
She's about to write her name when something belatedly occurs to me and
I say, "Hold it!"
"What's wrong?" She looks honestly puzzled but it could be an act.
"One thing you didn't mention. You are married to the head of the
Starhunters and they specialize in covert infiltration. Why not have him
send you some people."
"Because under the terms of the Hunter Pact with the Reunited Nations
they are to have no official connection to Crystal Tokyo. It was the only
way to convince them that the Starhunters were responsible to the RN rather
that working for Serenity. So they have no authority to enter, let alone
investigate. Besides they can't hide from Serenity, she'd sense them the
moment they entered and pass word on to Rei. Rei would take it as a grave
insult that outsiders were brought in, security is her responsibility. It
would also trigger the very complications I'm trying to avoid by hiring you.
I want this done discretely. Before you ask I'm not about to have Tom visit
and investigate under cover of seeing me. I have my reasons for keeping him
out of this matter but those don't concern you and will remain my secrets.
All you have to know is I what this matter investigated quietly."
With that she signs the contract and snaps the computer closed. "I'm
counting on you." With that she heads for the door. I watch her backside
until she's though the doorway. As she didn't turn and slap me I guess I'm
still staying quiet.
Soon as the door closes I head for the filing cabinet. Yeah I know I
could store a global library in the same space but that's not my style. I
slid open the "R" drawer and begin looking through the Renegade files. There
it was, "Azurite/Pyrite". I didn't bother giving them individual entries.
After I was freed and started this office I began tracing what the other
youma had been up to over the centuries. Naturally enough I was curious. I
flipped open the file. Starting from the beginning here's what I know about
the two of them since our Dark Kingdom days. The older records are a bit
sparse, a lot of them were lost in the chaos but I think I've reconstructed
it well enough.
Following my ill fated revenge scheme there were sporadic sightings of
Sailors Polaris and Arcturus along with Calcite's secret ID. There was quite
a bit of Arcturus merchandising and even a quickie movie which the critics
panned. Then they all dropped out sight for years. Gone without a trace.
Supposedly those Sailor Polaris Dark World movies tell where they were but I
figure those things are pure misdirection. Upshot is they vanished and the
number of Senshi in Tokyo decreased temporarily.
Not that there was any shortage of Senshi back then. At one point there
were about a dozen running around. Anyway skipping ahead to the 21st century
we have the Great Darkness and the records get very sparse. From a speech
Serenity made after the fact it appears the DKR did something important but
unspecified that helped the senshi beat the Acolytes. Exactly what they did
seems to be a state sectret. Anyway Crystal Tokyo gets founded and starts
cleaning up the mess the Acolytes made of the planet. A cynic might wonder if
the senshi let them smash the old world so the senshi could introduce their
own ecofriendly, bringing the magic back agenda without anyone capable of
significant opposition. With the old superpowers fractured internally along
regional lines and everywhere in chaos it's not as if there was anyone capable
of resisting them. Not that I'd suggest any such slanderous thing, you
understand (at least not anywhere Rei might hear about it) but there are some
real cynics out there. Whatever happened to blind trust in the senshi's
intrinsic goodness? When I think about this it gives me hope for the future.
Anyway Crystal Tokyo was founded things and things calmed down a lot
around here. We're back to the original five Senshi ... actually four Senshi
and Queen Neo-Serenity. Technically those other two, Uranus and Neptune, are
part of the court but they keep heading off to explore the ravaged world and
report back so they're not active in day to day operations. Guess they felt
cramped in perfectville. About a century or so later when the outside world
was, relatively speaking, stable they got positions in CT. Arts related, I
think. All the good stuff was already taken and no one who had it wanted to
cede authority. Guess they didn't care for it as they both got the hell out
of CT about a century and a half back. Whereabouts unknown but nobody here
seems too concerned. After all, as many enemies learned the hard way, Senshi
are tougher than cockroaches. Soon as you think you've wiped them out they
pop up again.
Getting back to the other survivors of the Dark Kingdom about a year
after the founding there's an announcement that Sailor Polaris is joining the
Senshi officially and Serenity's named Calcite a royal advisor. Both have
been given titles! Lady Titanite takes charge of the palace's media relations
and Lord Calcite is constantly being sighted alongside Sailor Venus. No word
on Sailor Arcturus. Pyrite and Azurite have disappeared again but both are
proclaimed citizens in absentia. Margrave surfaces the following year and
manipulates Serenity into letting her suck lifeforce without penalty. Which
set a useful precedent for me. Anyway back to Azurite and Pyrite.
Far as I can tell they spent the next century travelling the world.
Azurite was working as an actress under a variety of names and glamours. As
for Pyrite ... back then the world was struggling with the reappearance of
magic. A researcher who understood it was worth his weight in gold. If I've
figured out his aliases correctly then he helped at least half a dozen
countries convert to a mixed technology/magic based economy peacefully.
At any rate it's a fact they reappeared in CT about a hundred years
later. Coincidentally just as Calcite and Venus's first (and longest)
marriage was self destructing. Ironically they decided to hold their own
wedding. A little pointless as they'd been living together over a century by
that point but they made their union official.
I'd guess they did it for two reasons. Firstly for Serenity's sake,
she's somewhat old fashioned and a great believer in marriage. Secondly it
was their way of proclaiming they were through hiding and back to stay. Far
as I can tell they're as stable as Serenity and Endymion. Assuming that's
not just a PR facade and I really have to wonder what happens behind the
scenes. Enough cynicism, back to the case.
Pyrite joined the faculty of CTU, and Azurite decided to try the academic
life. She enrolled, got her PhD in Anthropology and wrote that book. She's
picked up a few other degrees since then and been through a few careers.
Pyrite's pretty much stayed in the same field, magic research and
dimensional studies except for a century he spent doing genetics work,
reason unknown. One child born in the 25th century, dropped out of sight age
18, whereabouts unknown. No death certificate and he should have his parents
longevity so he must be around somewhere. Nothing else worth noting.
Doesn't tell me a lot about why Pyrite'd suddenly go wild over ET
technology. Assuming Mercury just hasn't leapt to some paranoid conclusion.
What I'm really wondering is why she's so worked up and what she's hiding
from me. Why doesn't she just invoke security and have Pyrite's access to his
research suspended? Or have this Ambir deported. Why not just block the
whole thing and leave me out of it? Why let this potential research swap
happen when she so obviously doesn't want it to occur.
A lot of questions, no answers and no guarantees of finding any. Plus
there's the risk that I'll find out too much and set myself up for a fall.
I'm probably way out of my league here, when you mess with the giants you risk
getting stepped on. I'm just one little guy against something that reaches
into the highest echelons of Crystal Tokyo society!
Finally! I've wanted a case like this for years. Hell I'd probably do
it for free just so I could be a real PI again. I got a taste of what that's
like a few years back and I liked it. Let's get over to the campus and see
what's cooking. This town is finally getting interesting.
Down these clean streets a youma must walk ...
end of part one
Next : We backtrack to the 27th century and the revival of Magnesite
Part 2 - The Flashback.
Credits
Sailor Moon and related characters created by Naoko Takeuchi
Crystal Tokyo Saga created by Andy Combs
Magnesite, Margrave & the DKR created by Mark Latus
Ferrite created by Frank Barr
Philip Marlowe created by Raymond Chandler
Sam Spade created by Dashiell Hammett
I think that's everyone
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Sailor Moon Expanded presents a Crystal Tokyo Saga Side Story
The Babe wore Blue
another case from the files of Magnesite, PI
by Mark Latus
Part 2 - The Flashback
I could teleport to the campus in a second but I don't like to waste
power unnecessarily. It's been a millennium since I could risk draining people
at random to recharge. During a very few of my more serious cases I've had
the chance to ... best not to think about that. Around here you never know
when you'll run into a telepath. There's public transit but I'm not really
in a hurry. It's a long walk to CTU but that gives me time to think. I still
can't work out what's going on. Course it's still hard to believe I'm working
for a Senshi. Except for my old buddy "Don't-Call-Me-Rei" for the most
part they've left me alone since my revival. Which is fine by me. Much as I
hate to admit it these days they're way outta my league. What I've never
been able to figure out is why they revived me in the first place. They
could've just torched the statue or left me locked in it forever. Instead
Serenity says I've suffered enough, cuts me loose with a full pardon for past
crimes and just a few restrictions on my movement. Why'd she do that? How
do you figure out a queen like her? Beryl was easy to understand; obey and
don't fail or else! That made sense to me. Serenity? I'll never understand
what makes her tick. Just what happened back then anyway?
*****************************************************************************
Crystal Tokyo throne room -- Closed session -- October 17 2688 AD
"Excuse me your majesty, would you mind repeating that?"
From her place at Serenity's side Sailor Polaris had to admire her
brother's composure. In his place she'd be fighting a losing battle against
loudly asking Serenity if she'd completely lost her mind.
Serenity smiled brightly and said, "I've remembered that Magnesite's
containment crystal is due for renewal. Instead of reinforcing it I'd like
you to set him free."
Calcite maintained his respectful stance and nodded. "That's what I
thought you said." After a moment he added, "...your majesty." Serenity
wasn't too keen on the excessive formality that protocol forced on her and
tried to make the closed sessions of the advisory council as informal as
possible. However Calcite had an automatic tendency towards formality. A
side effect of spending his formative years under a monarchy where disrespect
to the throne was synonymous with committing suicide. The bombshell Serenity
had just dropped had shaken him enough to forget any casualness.
At any rate while he'd sounded calm enough she'd known her brother a very
long time. She could sense the apprehension behind the controlled expression.
It was also obvious to her from the way the brother and sister-in-law were
ignoring one another that they wouldn't be getting back together again anytime
soon. Titanite suppressed a sigh, well it could be a lot worse. At least
they weren't shouting or fighting.
There were just the six of them in the chamber, Luna and Artemis being
absent on some errand of their own and Endymion occupied with routine
administrative matters. She stood with Makoto to Serenity's left,
Rei and Minako flanked Serenity on the right. Calcite stood before the
throne silently wishing he wasn't in Crystal Tokyo. It hadn't been his
intention to return for several more years but Ti had contacted him to let him
know that Katrina, the youngest daughter of their most recent family, had
decided to get married. She'd asked her aunt to get her father to attend the
ceremony. Katrina was 30, her parents had separated about 8 years earlier,
and had been hoping her marriage might help reconcile them. Titanite had
managed to talk her out of seating them together. One thing she'd learned
over the centuries was that trying to get Calcite and Minako back together
prematurely was a very bad idea. The last thing you need during a wedding was
a crossfire starting. Verbal or otherwise. They'd been seated on opposite
sides of the cathedral with a lot of family members between them. That had
kept the peace. The marriage had been a big affair, like all Aino clan
family gatherings. Given the longevity inherited from Calcite you got quite
a crowd with children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great
grandchildren and so on. Not to mention all their spouses and significant
others.
The ceremony had gone smoothly and Calcite had been preparing to resume
his wandering once he had taken care of an old chore. The crystal imprisoning
Magnesite would remain secure for at least another five years but he might as
well take care of it while he was in the city. But before he could deal
with the matter he'd received an invitation from Serenity to attend this
session. Serenity's request had been about the last thing he'd expected.
"If you don't mind my asking ...?"
"... Why bring this up all of a sudden?" Serenity smiled. "Simple
enough. Frankly I'd forgotten all about him but I was doing one of my sweeps
a few days ago when I sensed something odd." Calcite nodded, while Serenity
was linked to the city and could sense anything serious happening there were
a lot of minor things she'd miss. So she'd periodically do what she called
a "Deep Sweep" and scan the city in depth. She'd found she was unable to
verbally explain what she did to anyone other than to call it "interfacing
with Crystal Tokyo". But after each sweep she'd have a host of suggestions
for small things that needed repair, replacement or improvement to make life
better or easier. Suggestions rather than orders but people tended to treat
them that way. It was very hard to refuse her anything which was currently
giving Calcite some distress.
Serenity continued, "I sensed an unusual mind which seemed to be thinking
in black and white images. So I took a closer look and saw a statue of a
glass bird with a little figure embedded in it. It was sitting in the
palace's secure vault. I was curious so I asked Rei about it. She checked
the records and found out what it was and who'd put it there."
"But you haven't sensed him in sweeps before now?"
"No. It could be something to do with the timing."
Calcite nodded again. "The crystal is approaching renewal time. It must
leak telepathically towards the expiry point." A real eternal sleep crystal
was designed to permit mental emanations. Queen Beryl had enjoyed the despair
and horror given off by the crystal's occupants. The copy Magnesite had
created sealed in everything. No one knew what he'd been thinking about all
these centuries.
"That's my theory." Sailor Mars grimaced slightly and Serenity amended
her remark. "Actually it was Rei's theory."
"Your majesty I would recommend that it is in the best interests of
Crystal Tokyo for me to reinforce the crystal and for you to forget about
this matter."
"Rei recommended the same thing." Mars nodded emphatically. "But I've
chosen to ignore her advice and follow my conscience." A slightly pained
expression crossed the face of Crystal Tokyo's internal security director.
"Her advice is sound, your majesty. I still advise the same actions."
"I'm afraid I'll have to ignore both your council." Titanite shot Rei
a quick glance. If she'd had advance warning she could have come up with a
dozen great reasons to leave Magnesite exactly where he was. Rei made a
palms up gesture, it was out of her hands. Serenity continued, "He's been
in there since ... well whenever it was back in the 1990s. It seems cruel
to keep him a perpetual prisoner."
"You do remember how he got stuck in that crystal in the first place?"
"Yes (actually no but Rei reminded me while saying we should keep him
sealed away) but that was a long time ago. I'm giving him the chance to
reform." Calcite tried to marshal a new argument. Before he could speak
Serenity said, "Calcite, please don't try to tell me that non Renegade youmas
can't live peacefully in Crystal Tokyo. After all Margrave's being living
here without causing problems for centuries." Rei muttered something
uncomplimentary under her breath. She'd never liked having the catwoman
running free and considered her lifestyle immoral if not actually illegal.
But she couldn't deny the youma wasn't a threat to Crystal Tokyo and had long
ago downgraded Margrave's security status from "Class 1 Potential Security
Risk" to "Basic Pain in the Butt".
"Margrave's a lot smarter than Magnesite ever was. Of course who isn't?."
That got a brief chuckle. "Seriously Margrave knows very well she's not now
and never was a match for the Senshi. That's why she'll never make herself
more than a nuisance. Besides as long as she doesn't rock the boat no one
tries to block her barter system and she's very keen to keep extending her
life. Magnesite's a different case."
Serenity shrugged, "According to the records you were able to immobilize
him singlehandedly once you knew what you were dealing with. Considering
how much your powers have grown since then are you really saying you can't
handle him?"
"... ah, that's true your majesty but ..."
"Calcite I can understand you don't want to do this. If it's really a
problem for you I can ..."
Calcite sighed. "Serenity, I pledged my loyalty a long time ago and I
have never regretted it. If this is truly your wish then I will free him."
He paused a moment. "However as an advisor to the throne I must again ask you
to please reconsider. Not on my behalf but on behalf of the welfare of the
citizens of Crystal Tokyo."
"I appreciate your concerns but I'm afraid my mind is made up."
"Very well your majesty. With your permission I'll wait two days before
releasing Magnesite. I'd like to warn Azurite and Pyrite beforehand as he
bears both of them a grudge. Also I'd like to consult with Pyrite about
setting up some security precautions."
"Of course."
Calcite noticed Sailor Polaris trying to catch his eye. "Additionally if
you can spare my sister for the day it'll be handy to have another psychoplasm
manipulator on hand."
"Certainly." No one caught the slightly mischievous glint in Serenity's
eye. "In fact I'm sure I can spare Minako which would mean three psychoplasm
shapers on hand." A very large sweatdrop appeared on Sailor Venus's forehead.
Calcite's cheek acquired a brief tic but his voice was firm. "That's ...
very generous of your majesty but I'm sure Sailor Polaris will be more than
sufficient."
"Still ...."
Minako's voice cut Serenity off. "I'm sure Lord Calcite knows what's
necessary and would request my presence if necessary." Minako thought for a
second. "In fact I have Wednesday free so I can fill in for Ti while she's
busy helping my husb .... her brother."
Serenity sounded thoughtful. "Hmmm, if you already have the day free
it'd make more sense to send you." Another crack appeared in Calcite's
composure, Minako's sweatdrop was back.
"I ... uh .... oh Wednesday, you said Wednesday didn't you! I'm sorry
I was thinking of Thursday. How stupid of me, I have no end of things to
do Wednesday! I'm sorry but I'm far too busy to help out, much as I'd like
to. I'm so silly, what a scatterbrain!" Both Makoto and Rei nodded which
didn't improve her mood. Minako glared at Calcite, daring him to comment.
He didn't rise to the bait. Instead he simply said, "I think Titanite
would be the better choice. Especially considering her personal stake in the
matter." Old memories had resurfaced for Titanite and she suppressed a slight
shiver. No, you'd never forget the man who tried to murder you when you were
a near powerless teenager. Well a lot had changed since then. Just let
Magnesite try something and she'd be glad to show him what she could do these
days.
Calcite noted the uncharacteristically vengeful look on his sister's face
but didn't comment. It was, after all perfectly understandable. Serenity
sighed and murmured, "Obviously it's way too early for you two." Somewhat
louder she proclaimed, "Very well. Titanite's obviously eager to serve."
"Very good your majesty. If there's nothing further ...?"
"No, that should be it."
"Then I'll set the wheels in motion. With your leave ...?" Serenity
nodded. Calcite bowed low then straightened up and vanished. Minako scowled.
"Showoff! He could have just used the door." Everyone ignored the remark.
"Do we have any other business or am I free for the rest of the day?"
Titanite shook off her memories. "There's the dedication of the new
shuttle to Crystal Station. But it's not essential for you to attend.
They'll be happy to settle for any of us. If you like I can take care of it
as I'll be coordinating the coverage onsite."
Serenity snapped her fingers. "That's right you reminded me about that
yesterday. I better attend." She vanished. Titanite didn't notice as she
was using her palm computer to call up all the details.
"Ok, well I've arranged a schedule if you'd like to ..." She realized
Serenity was gone. "What the ... it doesn't start for an hour yet! We need
to finalize the setup for a royal public appearance ..." Titanite stopped
addressing the empty throne and, wearing the exasperated look that the former
Sailor Moon could still easily induce, teleported without bothering to add
special effects.
The three remaining Senshi looked at each other. Rei chuckled. "Guess
this audience is done."
"Good. I've got a lot of stuff to do. Very important. I'll be busy for
days." Minako stalked off wishing she could fling open the palace doors
instead of them unobtrusively receding.
Rei watched Minako go and shook her head. "Guess our favourite on-again
off-again couple won't be together again anytime soon."
Makoto looked thoughtful "Oh I don't know. I'd say give them a few
years and they'll be declaring themselves inseparable again."
"Yeah, right! You're still a hopeless romantic. It'll be at least a
decade."
Makoto smiled. "Care to bet on that?"
Rei grinned back. "You never learn do you? You're on. Usual stakes?"
"Fine by me. What's your wager?"
"Oh no. You proposed the bet. You declare first."
"Okay ..." Makoto briefly considered the wisdom of betting against a
psychic but dismissed it. Rei needed time to get a future vision and even
then it was only a probability. Still better allow some leeway. "Five years
and they're together again. What do you say?"
"Ten. At a minimum but I'm saying ten."
"The closest to the time wins, same as always."
"Sure." They were shaking hands to seal the bet when the door slid open.
Minako stalked in.
"Forget my palmtop." She grabbed the cardsized device from a side table
and stalked out again. The door slid shut silently. There was a brief
embarrassed pause broken by Makoto.
"Think she overheard us?"
Rei shrugged. "Impossible to tell, she was already worked up."
As it was exactly seven years and six months later that Calcite and
Minako were living together again Titanite would suspect that she had
overheard them gambling. Rei and Makoto were still bickering over who had won
a century later. The reason Titanite heard about the bet at all was lying on
a window ledge overhead.
The white and purple cat was relaxing, enjoying the feel of sunlight
through the window. It didn't carry a crescent moon mark and would have been
assumed to be one of the several dozen ordinary cats that prowled the palace.
Which was exactly what she wanted. Margrave opened an eye and regarded the
two Senshi. This had been a most interesting afternoon, she wondered if
anyone else was in the betting pool. However Serenity's decision had the
possibility of being potentially dangerous on a personal level. She'd have to
have a word with Titanite later on. In the meantime she was feeling indolent
and going to take a short nap.
That evening in Titanite's apartment Margrave (having resumed her normal
form) told Titanite what she'd overheard. Ti had to admit it topped her story
about spending the afternoon preventing the well meaning Serenity from
creating a public relations fiasco.
"Wonder how long that's being going on? And why they never invited me to
place a bet?"
Margrave shrugged. "Probably afraid you'd have inside information. Or,
more likely, that you'd blow the game."
Titanite shook her head. "Well let's keep quiet about it for now. With
those two they might stay apart longer than normal out of stubbornness. Or
get together way too early to spite them."
"If you like."
Titanite studied her visitor. "You gave in way to easily. You should
have spent the next few minutes implying you'd try to drive Minako ballistic
by telling her. So the question is, what do you want from me?"
Margrave looked shocked, "Kitten, how can you think I'd be so
manipulative?" Titanite maintained her gaze and Margrave laughed. "Okay
getting serious for a moment there is something I want." She paused for a
moment and her expression became serious. "I'd like to be present when you
wake up Magnesite."
Ti started. Keeping her voice casual she asked simply, "Why?"
"A variety of reasons, first ... this doesn't go beyond these walls?"
"Do I ever gossip about our private talks?"
"Sorry, silly question. Guess I'm a little edgy. Well first of all I
feel a little sorry for him." Margrave was very careful to keep her softer
side under wraps. It didn't fit in with her self image. Titanite was the
only one who saw her like this. Calcite had got close but she'd managed
to distract him from seeing her like this. Besides that had ended a very long
time ago. She plowed on, "He's going to be waking up one of the last of his
kind, actually the only one of his particular kind, in a city run by the
Senshi. Senshi whose power level is about 1000% greater than he remembers.
Talk about a stranger in a strange land. I can ... relate to that to an
extent." Margrave fell silent for a moment then grinned. "Of course I don't
expect any pity to last long beyond his revival. Far as I can remember he
was your basic arrogant mid-level youma boss. Back in the Dark Kingdom I was
waiting for the day Calcite took him out and seized his territory. Which
brings us to the second reason, I want to see his face when this sinks in."
Titanite didn't look amused which was unusual for her. Margrave
remembered a few things she'd been told after the fact. She was wondering if
she was alienating Ti when her friend asked, "So what's the main reason?"
"I've got a pretty good life these days. I'm free to pursue my pleasures
without interference, the Senshi ignore me and since I'm regarded as exotic
rather than dangerous I never lack for donors. That could change rapidly. If
Magnesite does something stupid he could cause a panic regarding youmas. The
Renegades are above suspicion. I'm not. I don't want to live my life with
every move scrutinised. And I definitely don't want men scared of me so they
won't give me life energy. Immortality has to be the biggest addiction of
all time. If I can't get energy given voluntarily I'm scared of what I might
do. I'm even more scared what would happen when the Senshi found out. Even
you! The welfare of the citizens has to be your first duty, right?"
"Margrave, I ..."
"That's okay. Sorry for sounding so serious."
"I'm in a serious mood right now."
"I gathered. Anyway the upshot of all this is Magnesite has no reason to
attack me on sight. Which he does for the rest of you. So he might be
willing to listen to reason. The fact I've thrived in CT might get through
to him."
"It could be dangerous. Very dangerous."
"Compared to some of the things we've been through? Besides you'll all
be waiting to bail me out of trouble. Even Azurite would do that if it means
getting a shot at Magnesite."
Titanite sighed. "All this time and two you still can't get along. I'll
never understand why."
"Inertia for one thing. Why change after all these centuries? For my
part I can't understand why Cal sticks with Venus. Or vice versa."
"Love's complicated."
"So I found out ..." By unspoken agreement they dropped the topic. Ti
was the next to speak.
"I don't really have many memories of the Dark Kingdom. There's nothing
I really want to remember. Except for the food ..." She managed to stop
herself before she got distracted into talking DK cuisine. She paused a
moment as she considered what she really wanted to say. Then resumed, "I
always had big brother, Azure, Pyr and you as a buffer. So I never lived in
it the way you guys did. I guess it shaped you all in a way I avoided so it's
part of you the way it never was part of me. But a few things stick in my
mind. Magnesite is one of them." Her eyes lost focus as the ancient memory
resurfaced.
"That last day in the Kingdom he came very close to cutting my throat.
Our first few weeks in Tokyo I woke up screaming almost every night. I kept
having these terrible nightmares. A mix of fear and guilt, the guilt cause
Cal had to kill again to protect me. At least as far as we knew he'd killed
Magnesite. That and because I thought I'd abandoned you to die. With me in
the state I was in four was all the gate could handle and he didn't have any
time to look for you. When Cal had set up our warpgate I kept pestering him
about bringing you along. He told me he was going to bring you in at the last
minute so Azure couldn't object and you wouldn't ... well doublecross us."
Margrave nodded, a perfectly reasonable precaution. "Looking back I think he
might have been lying to me. He wanted to bring you but the gate was a rush
job and it could barely manage the four of us. So I don't know ..."
"He did the best he could. Old news, not worth bothering about. Besides
everything worked out." That was definitely the sort of thing Margrave could
never say publicly. "Go on."
"Well the nightmares faded and I started sleeping through the nights.
Must have been a relief to Cal as I'd begged him to let me sleep in his room
which he let me do as I calmed down a lot quicker if he was handy."
"Wonder if you made Azurite jealous? Sorry, go on."
"I moved back to my own bedroom, got on with my life and learned to face
the occasional bad dream. I was busy learning to fit in so I stopped thinking
about the Kingdom. After Magnesite attacked I stopped having the dreams all
together. It was impossible to be scared of a paperweight." Margrave smiled,
remembering a few uses she'd found for the immobilized youma boss. "But I've
never forgotten him. I'm half hoping he does try something Wednesday so I can
pay him back."
"Ti ..." Margrave's voice was low and urgent. "...if anything happens
when he's freed let Calcite handle it. He's better at this sort of thing and he
won't make it personal. I don't doubt you can wreck Magnesite if you have to
but that's not the problem. A vendetta may not do Magnesite any good but it
definitely won't do you any good."
"But ..."
"Ti you don't want to let the Kingdom into your heart at this late date.
Like you said it shaped the other Renegades. But they turned out all right
despite that. Even, though I hesitate to say it, Azurite."
"I ..." Margrave was looking worried. "Okay if it'll make you happy
I'll let Cal have first shot if something happens. By the way you turned out
all right as well."
Margrave put on an expression of mock amazement. "Me? I'm a vampiric
nymphomaniacal catwoman. Ask anyone."
Titanite had to laugh. "If you insist. Despite that I'll get Calcite
to let you attend the awakening."
"I owe you one."
"Forget it. What are friends for?"
Two days later Calcite and Sailor Mars were walking through the lower
levels of the palace. Neither looked happy. As they walked Rei studied the
bookslate Calcite had given her. Grudgingly she said, "Well if this all works
as it's supposed to everything should be secure."
"Pyrite says it will and he's usually right about this sort of thing. We
moved his equipment in yesterday. Everything's functioning fine but he's
rechecking it for the tenth time right now."
Rei grunted an acknowledgement. Hidden security devices unobtrusively
scanned them down to the molecular level and let them pass unmolested. They
stopped before a huge set of doors that appeared to be gold tinged steel. In
fact they were far stronger and could shrug off mage level magic assault. At
Rei's command the forceshields deactivated and the doors swung open silently.
Rei preceded Calcite into the vault. They hadn't been in here together
since he'd last renewed the prison crystal about 300 years ago. Around them
pedestals of various sizes held artifacts the Senshi had accumulated
throughout their careers. All of them had one thing in common, they were
dangerous, too dangerous to be kept anywhere less secure. But there might be
greater danger in not having them available if the need arouse.
Rei stopped before what appeared to be a transparent crystal statue of a
falcon with a tiny figure frozen where its heart should be. She sighed,
"I still think this is a really bad idea."
"You're not alone, none of the Renegades like this. But it's what
Serenity wants and she's generally right."
"I know that! I've known her longer than you!" She sighed. "Sorry, I
didn't mean to yell. It just gripes me letting a potential menace loose."
"Look on the bright side. At least if he does do something stupid we
can take care of him permanently."
"True." Calcite picked up the statue and unsealed the canister he'd
been given. Dropping it inside he closed the lid and checked the indicators.
Contents secure. A bit of overkill but he wasn't taking any extra chances
today. He nodded to Rei and they headed out on foot. Until they were out of
the security fields teleporting was impossible. A necessary precaution
against anyone sidestepping the security system. He noticed Rei was quietly
studying him.
"Something wrong?"
"No, just speculating. I envy you and Minako."
Calcite snorted, "Come on. Half the time, like right now, we're either
actively avoiding each other or at each others throats."
"It's the other half I envy you. That and your family."
"You'd be better off envying Serenity and Endymion, or Azurite and
Pyrite. They make much better couples. Certainly more stable." Of course
neither of them had kids. With one exception that nobody spoke about.
Azurite and Pyrite was understandable, they'd chosen not to have any more. At
least until they understood what went wrong. The King and Queen were another
matter. He'd never been able to understand how the Silver Crystal could
enable a human and a Renegade to have children despite vast genetic
differences but couldn't cure Endymion's sterility. As it wasn't public
knowledge he didn't talk about it but he wondered sometimes. Only thing he
could think of was Endymion was immune to the Crystal's effects somehow. That
his own powers blocked the ginzuishou's influence. At least to the extent
that repairing the damage would require draining Serenity's lifeforce enough
to kill her. He shook off the speculation.
"I'm not the easiest person to live with, but neither is she! Frankly
it'll be years before we're back together again."
Rei nodded, "That's what I thought."
"Why so happy?"
"Huh ... er ... private joke."
A minor mystery but he had enough to concern him today. He took his
leave of Sailor Mars and teleported to the chosen site. She shook her head
and headed back to her office by more conventional means. She'd never
understand how anyone could maintain a single relationship for centuries.
Especially one as problem filled as those two had.
The training center stood on an artificial island constructed on the
outskirts of Crystal Tokyo. It was the size of an olympic stadium. In fact
it was occasionally used as a stadium but it hadn't been built for sports.
The walls were nearly unbreakable and reinforced by several layers of
forceshields. The domed roof and the floor beneath the artificial floor were
the same. It had been built centuries ago so that those with paranormal
abilities had a place they could hone their powers without risk to the general
public. Occasionally there would be a demonstration of Senshi abilities
which was why there was seating available. Today the spectator stands were
retracted and the center was empty except for a figure in the middle of the
practice field.
Pyrite rechecked his equipment yet again. Everything was running as
smoothly as it had been half an hour earlier. It looked more like an art
exhibit than a security device. Four green crystal pillars two metres tall
arranged in a square formed the central element. Gems of various sizes
orbited him then shifted to prearranged positions at his command. He realized
he was being excessive, even if Magnesite somehow emerged at full power,
combat ready and the others didn't react, this would hold him. If it didn't
... his hand brushed the device strapped to his left forearm. He'd reviewed
his old recordings and custom made this. If need be it would disrupt
Magnesite's matrix and turn him into a rapidly dispersing energy field. He
wasn't a violent man but in the two days since Calcite had told them about
this he'd been remembering an unpleasant incident a long time ago. One he'd
avoided thinking about for centuries. Nearly being beaten to death qualified
as one of his worst memories. Indeed without Renegade resilience he'd have
been crippled, assuming he'd survived the assault.
He felt Calcite's teleport signature and turned to greet his cousin.
Calcite nodded in response and placed the canister within the square. After
staring at it suspiciously for a moment he stepped back to talk to Pyrite.
"Azurite's not here yet?"
"She had a few things to take care of. She'll be along in a few
minutes. She's definitely not going to miss this."
That was an understatement. Azurite's response to Serenity's decision
had been rather vocal. Boiled down it was that while, she would reluctantly
admit, Margrave fit in without causing major problems Magnesite was a
different matter. It hadn't been merely her own dislike of her one time boss,
she'd also discussed the different psychologies. Margrave was a low level
youma, used to knuckling under to more powerful individuals. She might not
like it but had enough survival instinct to stay under control. Magnesite was
a different matter. He'd spent much of his life playing dominance games with
the others at his power level. He chafed under the control of others and
schemed endlessly to advance himself. Not the sort of individual to emerge
ready to live quietly. Assuming he didn't emerge totally mad after centuries
of isolation. Valid concerns but this was what Serenity wanted. Hopefully
she'd have sensed if he was insane. Which reminded Calcite, she'd said he was
thinking in black and white images. What did that mean?
Titanite (in full Senshi regalia) and Azurite materialized in a swirl of
cherry blossoms. Azure didn't use special effects so she must have let Ti
handle the jump. Looked like Margrave was a no-show. Fine, they could
activate the teleport blockers and get ready for the awakening. Pyrite looked
up from his equipment and nodded to the new arrivals. "Morning Ti, Margrave",
he muttered distractedly. Calcite did a double take, both Titanite and
Azurite froze.
"Impossible. How could he know from over there?" Calcite blinked,
Azurite had acquired Margrave's voice.
Pyrite turned to look. "Oh I see, you're using a glamour. It's a good
likeness."
"Uh thanks." Azurite dissolved to be replaced by Margrave. "How did you
know I ... How you know Margrave not Azurite?" Calcite sighed, all these
years and she still kept using that cute third person speech pattern.
Pyrite didn't seem to notice. "I've got my perceptions highly focused
as I don't want to miss anything today. So I looked through your glamour
straight to your real self. So I didn't even see the illusion, all I saw was
Margrave."
"Margrave see ... Pyrite stronger in own way. Has true sight. No can be
fooled by illusion anymore."
"Margrave, there's nobody here but us so you don't have to overdo the
cute. Besides it really grates on Azurite's nerves."
"Calcite spoilsport. That damn fine reason Margrave keep talking like
this." She caught his look and sighed. "All right, all right. By the way I
understand you're still on the outs with Minako. Maybe it's time to indulge
in a little nostalgia?" Few could resist her when she looked and sounded like
that. Calcite was one of the few. "You know it's things like this that shake
my self-confidence. You don't have to act you're under a vow of celibacy when
you're not with her. Particularly with me."
"You're right, I don't have to. I choose to."
"I am never going to understand you two."
"Not surprising, no one does. I don't think we understand it either."
Azurite flickered into existence and she immediately locked gazes with
Margrave. After a brief mutual glaring contest they fell into their normal
pattern of ignoring one another apart from the odd random comment.
Pyrite activated the blockers and Margrave disappeared in the direction
of the toilets. Azurite walked over to join her fellow Renegades.
"Sorry I'm late. A minor conflict with my publisher."
Titanite frowned, "I forget. What exactly are you doing these days?"
"Historical romance novels. He felt my portrayal of 20th century life
was too unpleasant and the people were politically incorrect."
"In short they weren't living by CT standards?"
"Right. Looks like it's rewrite time. Or maybe I'll just drop it and
try something else. I've been thinking of going back to painting. Maybe
acting, haven't done that in centuries."
Titanite looked thoughtful a moment then beamed. "Hey how about a new
show. "The Adventures of Sailor Arcturus"? We set it in the 20th and recycle
your book into the run of the series. Besides everyone's heard of the other
Senshi. Outside of us who remembers her?"
"Probably no one but that's fine with me. I never synched into the
Senshi lifestyle. Not that I wouldn't help defend this place if the need
arose but I don't need a costume for that. I haven't worn that outfit in
centuries."
Pyrite was still giving most of his attention to the containment system
which was why he muttered without thinking, "At least not in public." Calcite
forebode to comment and one look at Azurite convinced Titanite not to ask.
"Everybody ready?" At the others' nods Calcite re-entered the square and
opened the stasis cylinder. Placing the statue in the exact center of the
cage he stepped out. Pyrite made a minor gesture and the pillars glowed to
life. The forcefield made a faint shimmer in the air on the five open sides.
Pyrite verified the sixth field was active just below the turf. The cube was
secure. Calcite summoned his shaping abilities almost without effort. His
mind reached out and touched the statue. The pattern was obvious, to unbind
it would be the work of moments. He looked over to his sister. Her
expression was one of total concentration. He "felt" her touch the crystal
then move away. She was ready. Titanite took a deep breath. Time to face
her personal demon. Margrave loped back but stopped several metres behind
her.
"Let's do it!"
Her brother nodded and the statue rippled. It became translucent and
then simply disappeared. At least visually, the energy remained sealed within
the field. The tiny doll sized figure began to expand as it absorbed the
power. Magnesite's protomatter form expanded to its original size. Injuries
inflicted on the body centuries earlier and frozen by the crystal began to
close. His clothing (actually just part of his body) began to change becoming
a very old fashioned white jacket and shirt. Sprawled on his back the figure
remained still. A minute passed ... then five. No sign of any movement.
Still as a statue. Then the eyes flickered open. He stared upwards but
showed no other sign of reaction.
"Why's he studying the stadium roof?"
"He isn't. The field's opaque on the inside. All he's seeing is the
barrier above him."
Azurite frowned. "Do you suppose he's catatonic? He might have been a
vegetable for centuries."
Calcite answered without looking away. "No, Serenity detected some form
of mental activity. However he hasn't perceived anything new for a very long
time. How long before the outside world registers is anyone's guess."
"Yeah. Calcite smart. Azurite stupid as always."
Azurite turned to glare at the catwoman and missed seeing Magnesite's
mouth open. He drew in his first breath in centuries and spoke.
"You played it for her you can play it for me." A pause. "If she can
stand it I can. Play it."
The voice rolled on talking to somebody who wasn't there. At least not
outside of Magnesite's mind. All five watchers had the same thought. It had
been a very long time but he didn't sound right. Pyrite raised a hand and a
hovering bookslate flew into his grasp. He studied it and nodded.
Titanite looked away from the cage to ask the equally bewildered Margrave,
"What the hell is he talking about?"
"Casablanca." Everyone turned to look at Pyrite. He turned the slate
so they could all see the words crawling across the screen. An underhand
toss sailed it over to Calcite. He glanced at it to see the name Rick
highlighted in red. Besides it glowed a line of dialogue that matched
Magnesite's. There was a pause as Magnesite awaited an unheard answer.
Calcite glanced down the screen to find the next line of Rick's dialogue.
Magnesite began to speak again. Parroting the line word for word.
"Guess this explains the black and white imagery Serenity saw."
Azurite shook her head in disbelief. "I knew he was obsessed with Bogart
but this is ridiculous! He's reliving old movies instead of his own memories.
Wonder if he's even capable of thinking about anything else anymore?"
Pyrite studied the sprawled figure. "It's been a long time since he had
any outside stimulus, not that there's much in there. I suggest we wait and
see if there's any change. I also suggest we keep the dome sealed just in
case this is some sort of master plan to make us underestimate him."
Calcite looked at him. "You do remember who we're talking about?"
"Yes but I'd rather overestimate him just to be on the safe side. I have
no intention of giving him another shot at Azurite or anyone else."
Several hours later Magnesite was nearing the end of "The African Queen"
when his voice began to waver. He trailed off in the middle of asking the
german captain to marry him to Katherine Hepburn's character and began to look
around the enclosure in puzzlement. After a few minutes he stood up and began
to pace around the cage banging on the shieldwalls. From the way his gaze
darted around it was obvious he couldn't see beyond the walls.
Margrave ditched the pizza she'd been holding and joined the others who'd
also abandoned lunch. No great hardship. As the dome was still sealed there
wouldn't have been anything to eat had Pyrite not had the foresight to pack
them. Unfortunately he'd forgotten the lack of cooking facilities. Azurite
had warmed them up with a carefully modulated plasma ball. She'd somehow
managed to make Margrave's both burnt and stone cold. Margrave had silently
added another point to Azurite's tally in their centuries long oneupmanship
contest and stoically eaten the pizza. Complaining would have given Azurite
another point. Instead she'd just begun plotting her comeback move.
Magnesite's expression changed as he kept hammering on the cage.
Initially confused he swiftly shifted to anger. Shortly after that he began
looking worried. Now he'd stopped and was standing there staring at his
hands. Titanite frowned, had she just seen through Magnesite? "Is he looking
kind of insubstantial to anyone else?"
Pyrite nodded. "He's shifting been solidity and transparency. It looks
like we overestimated his energy reserves. Repairing himself then simply
existing must be using up the last of his power. I'd estimate he'll be a
phantom in 30 minutes and continue to degenerate from there."
"Not quite what Serenity wants."
Calcite shrugged. "Unfortunately there's not a lot we can do to stop it.
I won't break the seal to the outside while he's still potentially lethal but
it looks like he'll fade out before we've convinced him of the value of
peaceful coexistence. He needs human lifeforce to stabilise and that's
something none of us can provide."
"Luckily one of us has some foresight!" Margrave grinned and bounced a
small clear crystal in one palm. Yellow light flickered within. Titanite
made an "ah" of comprehension which left Calcite no wiser.
"What's that?"
"Part of my reserve against want. I prefer to take my lifeforce fresh
but I've always thought it handy to have some spare around. So every now and
then I ... gorge. The energy I can't use right away gets stored in one of
these battery crystals. Just in case I ever have a stretch where I don't feel
like entertaining. They were very useful a few centuries back while I was
recovering from some major injuries."
Azurite's face twisted and she looked away. Pyrite hurried to her side.
Margrave threw the pair a contemptuous glare. You didn't think I'd really
forgotten the little psychopath, mommy dearest? Only reason I never mention
him is because I don't like to think about him either. She suppressed the
automatic rage as the old memories returned. Shouldn't have said that, in
truth she knew it wasn't really their fault. But she couldn't ignore the
fury when she remembered him. Or the helpless fear. Some things were far
too serious to use in her feud with Azurite. This was the worst of them.
Fortunately someone would seek to distract her and she could let it drop.
Calcite decided a quick change of subject was in order. "Where'd you get
that anyway? It doesn't look like the batteries you brought back from New
Camelot."
"Those things? They ran dry about fifty years after we got back and I
couldn't recharge them. No, these were built for me."
"Who by?"
This should be fun. "Pyrite."
"WHAT!" Azurite had just snapped out of her funk and was glaring at
Pyrite. Margrave awarded herself a point. Time to increase the tally.
"I asked your dear husband nicely and he agreed to make them. I'm good
at being persuasive." She gave one of her excessively smug grins which
increased Azurite's temperature. Azurite took a moment to slam a lid on her
temper before speaking.
"Why haven't I heard about this before?!"
"Because you overreact when Margrave's involved in anything."
"I DO NOT OVERREACT! ... Ahem ... Why did you make them in the
first place."
"Oh it wasn't for nothing. I promised him future considerations." As
Margrave had rather expected Azurite was giving Pyrite a very hostile look.
"You had better have a damn good explanation and I'd like to hear it in
the next ten seconds."
"Look it was nothing like that ... I was just thinking that a few
centuries from now ... that is a few centuries from now back then so anytime
around now really ... " Pyrite decided to ditch the multiple tenses. "As
Margrave's a unique case in life extension a future study comparing her
biologically to my original study would be very useful. But due to the
mutual antipathy between you there's no reason to think she'd cooperate with
me. She'd refuse hoping I'd blame you for losing the opportunity to compare
the data. I swear that's all and after all this time you should know me
better than that." Azurite's face softened and she looked embarrassed. So
Margrave decided to throw a little gas on the fire.
"It's true I'm in your husband's debt. Over the years I've made a few
offers to discharge it by other means. I'm sure he'll accept one of them
sooner or later."
"You little ... you really think any man's going to just jump into bed
with you if you so much as wink at them!"
"Most will. There's a few holdouts ..." Margrave nodded at Pyrite and
Calcite, "... but that won't last. My extended lifespan has given me a
certain perspective, a patience most of my kind lacked. I can wait. Sooner
or later Calcite will realize Minako just isn't worth all the trouble. As for
your husband ... it must be getting boring sleeping with the same woman for
centuries, right."
"Uh ... no. I ..."
"No need to dissemble, we're all adults here. If it'll help I'll wear a
leather Senshi costume." Azurite looked pretty close to exploding and
Margrave got ready to dash behind Calcite.
"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Titanite rarely yelled so that got everyone's
attention. "Fascinating as this all is we've got more important things to worry
about." She jerked a thumb at the cage. "You do remember Magnesite, right?"
With a few embarassed mutters the others shuffled back around the enclosure.
Magnesite was flickering between solid and translucent with increasing
frequency. Margrave handed the battery to Titanite. "Hang on to this until
I signal." She took a deep breath and moved to the wall behind Magnesite.
"Okay I'm ready." Pyrite nodded and began doing something to the floating
stones then gave the thumbs up signal. The wall was now permeable from this
side but still solid on the inside. "Do me a favour Calcite?"
"What?"
"If I scream toast the bastard."
"Count on it."
Margrave eyed the wall for a moment. Don't want to back out with Azurite
watching. I'm a cat not a chicken. She stepped forward and everything went
orange. Then she was through and surrounded by featureless orange walls.
Magnesite sensed her entry and turned to face her. He studied her for a
few seconds before speaking. "Pardon me, but can you spare some energy for a
fellow youma who's down on his luck?" The voice was a near perfect match.
"I think I see a pattern developing. Spare? No. Charity's for humans
and Renegades. Loan? Well that I can manage but you're in my debt and we're
surrounded by witnesses. Willing to take it on those terms?"
Magnesite didn't have enough time left to argue. Even with a low class
youma. "Yes."
"Then we have a deal." She raised a hand and a crystal sailed through
the wall behind her. She caught it and set it to discharge. A gentle toss
lobbed it towards Magnesite. It passed straight through his hands, hit the
floor and glowed. "Bon appetit!"
Magnesite shifted from fading ghost to solid. He began prodding at
himself to ensure he was material. Margrave smiled at him. "Welcome to
the 27th century. I'm here to tell you the facts of life ..."
Several minutes later Magnesite was regarding her with total disbelief.
"You expect me to swallow all of that?!"
"Not right away. But once you're out of this cage and you see who and
what is out there I expect you'll come around."
"I beat them once. I can beat them again."
"Uh huh" Margrave didn't look impressed. "Way I heard the story you
only succeeded because you used a misdirection strategy, drained a lot of
humans to gain power, learned the Senshi's secret ID's and finally attacked
them one on one. Now everybody knows who and what you are and you're running
on very low reserves. Not to mention everyone's got a lot more experience and
a helluva lot more power." He wasn't convinced. Margrave grinned, she
couldn't wait to see his expression when he found out just how outclassed he
was.
"You have no idea what you'll be up against. Let's start with the
Renegades. Unlike the Senshi they didn't get quantum leaps in power then
have to learn to use them. Instead they've been slowly but steadily growing
in power all along. There's a theory that 'cause of their bloodlines they're
serving as the Terran guardians by default but I've never really bought that.
As to how tough they've got ... now how to put this in terms you'll
understand? Got it! If Kunzite somehow returned from the dead and took on
Calcite one on one I would not bet on the guy with white hair." Magnesite
paled. "Next there's Titanite ... not quite as powerful as her brother and
hasn't developed her abilities with the same intensity but she's still no one
you want to cross. Ti's one of the least vindictive people I know. But she's
willing to make an exception in your case. She gained her psychoplasm
manipulation abilities a long time ago. I guess it's between her and Minako
as to who's number two after Calcite. The important point is she's way beyond
where Calcite was in the 20th. Back then I hear he froze you singlehandedly.
Azurite ... I imagine it's difficult to maintain a solid form in the middle of
a plasma hurricane. Pyrite'll have a dozen ways of tracking you and at least
a half dozen of destroying your matrix. Without that you're just a fading
cloud of energy."
Magnesite just stared at her. This was going to be good. "Now for the
bad news. Remember how we thought the Senshi were dangerous back in the Dark
Kingdom? Well if we'd had any idea what they were really capable of we'd
have sealed the dimensional gates and spent all our time praying they didn't
come looking for us. As for Serenity ... her Sailor Moon days were a long
time ago. You don't even want to think about challenging her now."
"So to summarize, go out there fighting and the only way you get out of
here is through the Renegades. That's nearly impossible. Beat them and
you'll have the Senshi on your case. As Titanite's become official as Sailor
Polaris they'll be looking for blood. Killing friends, comrades and, in one
case, an in-law isn't going to sit very well with them. Not to mention Minako
thinks she's the only one allowed to blast Calcite. In the incredibly
unlikely event you beat them, the odds of which are too infinitesimal to
calculate, you'll have to face Serenity. If Metallia herself couldn't do the
job do you think you can even last a second against her?" His expression was
one of total disbelief. A little shock therapy was called for. Margrave
turned to face the wall. "I think it's time to let him see what's he's up
against!" There was a momentary pause then the walls disappeared. The
Renegades had spread out to each cover a side.
His senses no longer blocked Magnesite sensed the power levels of the
foursome. His jaw dropped. Literally.
His head remained in place, features fixed above the upper lip. His
stunned gaze was locked on Calcite in shock. His chin fell like a stone
stretching his pseudoflesh after it. On impact his tongue darted out and
unrolled to a length of about a metre, passing between Calcite's feet. For
a moment nobody said anything. Then Titanite spoke.
"You know, this always looked cute in cartoons. But actually it's
fairly disgusting."
Calcite nodded, "At least his eyeballs didn't pop out of their sockets."
Margrave looked to the ground. "That's got to be the second longest
tongue I've ever seen."
Azurite winced a little. "I don't really think we want to hear the
rest of that story."
Through all this Magnesite had stayed frozen in place. Now his senses
seemed to return. The extended tongue slithered backwards into the gaping
maw. Magnesite knelt down. His stretched flesh sliding back as he did this.
He grasped his chin and shoved upwards. His face snapped back like released
elastic and returned to its normal dimensions. He glanced around at the
hostile looking Renegades trying to form a coherent statement. Then he flung
himself to the ground in the traditional youma posture indicating both a plea
for mercy and sheer terror. As it had never worked on Beryl no one knew why
it had become traditional. It seems hope springs eternal even in the breast
of a youma. Calcite considered leaving him like that for a few hours (or
days) but remembered he was supposed to be one of the good guys.
"Get up Magnesite, there's no need to grovel. I have a few things to add
to what Margrave told you. Then we'll take you to the palace. I'm told Queen
Serenity wants to give you a personal welcome at her convenience.
While Calcite was giving Magnesite a brief overview of Crystal Tokyo and
the severe consequences of breaking certain laws Titanite retrieved her
communicator. Her signal to Mars was answered immediately. She must have
been waiting for it.
"Everything's under control Rei ... Yeah I wasn't counting on how long it
would take him to snap back to normal. I suppose I should say awareness I
think he's a few bricks short of a full load ... Well he looks like he's in
shock and that's just from sensing us. Meeting the original Senshi should
finish him off. Hopefully anyway ... You're right I do sort of resent this,
but I trust Serenity so I'm sure she knows what she's doing ... That doesn't
count ... Okay that was an error in judgement but she meant well ... I'm sure
she's not trying to complicate your life ... Frankly Rei you'd be unhappy if
she didn't give you anything to complain about ... Uh huh, right. Well I
guess we're about ready to bring him over. So where ...? You're kidding!
But what about security? ... No I'm not trying to tell you your job! ...
Couldn't talk her out of it huh? ... Yeah I know. Well with everyone present
there won't be a lot he can do. Okay I'll tell them."
Titanite sighed and folded the communicator back into its hyperpocket.
Calcite had finished talking to Magnesite. His former boss looked like one
unhappy camper. Her brother turned to her, "So what's the word?"
"Seems Serenity's eager to greet the new addition to CT. We're to
teleport directly to the throne room's transport chamber."
Calcite just nodded. He looked resigned but not really surprised. He
turned to the very nervous looking Bogart clone. "It's time for you to meet
Queen Serenity. I'd advise you to show her the same respect you'd show Queen
Beryl. Ti, we'll both take him?" She nodded and they both seized an arm.
Something occurred to Titanite.
"Azure ... on second thoughts Pyr, could you bring Margrave along. If we
all teleport she's stranded out here."
Margrave grinned and slunk towards Pyrite. Until she was intercepted by
Azurite. "I'll bring her." Margrave pouted.
"Everybody ready? Then let's go!" A moment later the center was empty.
They rematerialised in the alcove set aside for visitors arriving via
teleportation. Titanite stepped out and headed to her post. Calcite allowed
her a few moments to get into position then nodded to the major domo.
"Potential citizen Magnesite, Lord Calcite and party to see her majesty
Serenity I of Crystal Tokyo."
"Enter and be welcome."
Still gripping Magnesite's arm Calcite marched him toward the thrones.
It was a full court, Serenity and Endymion on their thrones flanked by
Sailors Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Polaris. Luna and Artemis had taken their
traditional posts before the King and Queen. Ami was in the first row but she
was there as Dean Mizuno not Sailor Mercury. Pyrite, Azurite and Margrave
slid into the empty spaces beside her, the first two whispering greetings to
to her while Margrave glanced around with undisguised curiosity. It wasn't
often she got to attend these sessions in her own form.
Calcite made a respectful bow to Serenity and Endymion then moved back
three paces behind Magnesite. Magnesite's nature made it easy to sense the
power they possessed. With difficulty he kept his form from falling apart
from the shock. That could get him executed for disrespect. At least as far
as he knew. The youma stood there frozen somewhere between amazement and
terror. His flesh and clothing rippled like turbulent water. Serenity
smiled. "Please don't be afraid. Come closer."
For a moment he stood locked in place. Then he muttered, "No more
begging. Bogie wouldn't cring!", and stepped forward to meet his fate.
"Welcome to Crystal Tokyo." It looked like the queen would be doing all
the talking. Endymion's face showed a weary resignation, like it or not he
was stuck with this situation. But he'd learned to trust Usako's instincts
so hopefully this would all work out. Or at least not end in disaster.
Magnesite tried to think of the appropriate response. There was always
begging for mercy but that had never worked on Beryl so why bother? He might
as well salvage the little dignity he had left. Of all the throne rooms in
all the world he'd had to walk into this one. He realized he was muttering
and said quickly, "Thank you, your majesty." Now what? Lay on the flattery
and she wouldn't vaporize him?
"Hopefully that won't be necessary." Damn, he hadn't meant to say that
out loud. "I imagine it's a side effect of your long imprisonment." Or
that. Serenity kept talking so he must have stopped narrating. "Now I
imagine you're wondering why you've been freed?" Well yes. Did they need an
expendable assassin or something along those lines? "As you've been
imprisoned for nearly 700 years I've decided to give you a second chance."
"A second chance?" He tried to work this out. It just didn't make any
sense to him.
"We've found that youma can integrate peacefully into Crystal Tokyo
society so I decided to give you the chance to do likewise." Rei's expression
darkened a bit at this statement and she glanced involuntarily at Margrave.
Magnesite digested this for a moment then spoke, "In case you don't know
Ser ... your majesty I need human life-energy to maintain my existence. Which
rather limits the possibilities of my fitting in."
"Not at all." Magnesite started in amazement. "Margrave also requires
human life-energy to maintain her longevity. While it is a violation of
our laws to steal it, which qualifies as assault with intent to kill, there is
nothing preventing someone giving you part of their lifeforce. It is a
central tenet of Crystal Tokyo that citizen's lives belong to them alone.
What they do with them is their business."
Magnesite tried to work this out. "Why would anyone willingly give a
youma their energy?" Serenity coloured slightly.
"Uh, you'll have to ask her yourself." Rei scowled at Margrave who gave
her a self satisfied grin in return. "At any rate if you can get them to
donate energy to you there is no problem. I realize that it might take you
some time to work out suitable arrangements. Fortunately there is a short
term solution. Ami ... Dr. Mizuno?"
Ami rose to her feet and addressed Magnesite. "After I heard of your
impending revival from a long term colleague ..." She indicated Pyrite. "...
it occurred to me that you are a unique entity, sentient psychoplasm. There
is very little data about your nature let alone how you can even exist. So
as a temporary solution in exchange for letting us study you at Crystal Tokyo
University's xenobiology department we have volunteers who will supply you
with energy." Pyrite avoided making any cynical comments about the
volunteers. Promising extra credit in exchange had brought a wave of
interested students. However all except the ones hovering near the failing
point had walked away when they heard Margrave wasn't the subject of the
study.
Serenity beamed as though everything had been worked out. "So you should
have plenty of time to think about what you'll do after that." Magnesite
nodded as he tried to absorb all the implications. One think was clear, he
needed an answer fast. "Oh there is one more thing. As you have the
potential to be very dangerous I'm afraid we have to limit you to living
inside Crystal Tokyo. It's purely a precaution and hopefully unnecessary but
until you've demonstrated your trustworthiness you're confined to this city
for the public good.
"I'll always have Paris."
"Uh ... yes."
With that comment Serenity dismissed Magnesite to Ami Mizuno's custody
and moved on to the next item on the day's agenda.
Several weeks later Margrave was prowling through the corridors of CTU's
Biological Sciences building revelling in the attention she attracted. The
scent of male hormones filled the air, at least for one with her enhanced
senses. There were also quite a few hostile looks from girls whose boyfriends
were paying far too much attention. She purred as the gazes followed her.
Dream on boys, you just might get lucky. Still she wasn't trolling today,
she had a destination in mind.
What no one knew was that she was a frequent visitor to the campus.
Under a variety of glamours she'd been reading her way through the more
mind bending books and journals. Similarly she'd gone through a wide variety
of classes over the centuries. None of which she could do as herself without
ruining her reputation. Lately, since she'd got her cat form stabilised she'd
begun observing Ami Mizuno's personal lab. She'd have done the same to
Pyrite's but he knew about her other form. As he was the expert in youma
biology she'd had him check that shapeshifting wasn't going to cause her
unforseen side effects down the line. All the tests came back fine.
The door ahead opened and both Pyrite and Ami emerged along with a
graduate student. The student was guiding a hoverchair with a beefy young
man slumped in it. While he looked like he worked out regularly he currently
looked weak and tired. Energy drain! She recognised the signs well. To her
experienced eye she'd say a rapid drain technique. Pyrite nodded towards
the door, "He's waiting for you." He was sliding a small crystal rod into his
shirt pocket. Margrave considered flirting but as Azurite wasn't around to
get worked up she decided not to bother. No sense in unnecessarily alienating
her doctor. She made a quick goodbye and stepped inside.
Magnesite was regrowing his fingers. At her inquiring glance he said,
"I got a little carried away so Pyrite broke the contact with the drainee
rather forcefully. Didn't think he was that violent."
"Remember you aren't flesh and blood. That's just a temporary
inconvenience to you. Beside if he hadn't Mercury would have invoked her
powers to stop the drain. Would you have preferred that?"
Magnesite shuddered, "No!"
"You're learning." After a pause she said, "I see you use a rapid
draining technique."
"You don't?" He seemed skeptical. Surely the smart thing to do was get
their energy before the human changed his or her mind.
"Nope. I prefer a slow drain over a longer period. It's less of a
shock to the system and handled correctly it's an erotic experience for both
involved. Which keeps them coming back for more." She gave a sultry smile.
"Matter of fact I've developed this theory about vampires ... well no matter
that's not why we're here. You've thought about my advice?"
"Yes. It's not my lifestyle. And without feeling anything myself it'd
be purely mechanical and get mind numbingly boring."
"Pity, with your shapeshifting I'll bet you'd have been popular. So any
other ideas?"
"You're still willing to help me?" She nodded. Suspiciously he asked
simply, "Why?"
"As I've said purely out of self interest. If you start rampaging it
reflects badly on me. I'm just keeping my furry butt covered."
"Beryl would never have lowered herself to your level to survive."
"True. You will note Beryl has been dust for centuries while I am still
young, desirable and enjoying life. Plus I get to drive Mars crazy simply by
existing and being beyond her grasp. The thing to remember is their laws
bind them as well as us."
Magnesite might have continued the argument but instead, with a bit of
effort, he said, "I require your assistance." At her inquiring look he
continued, "I've thought about what I can do to ... earn energy" He stumbled
a bit over the last bit. It was difficult to give up on the idea of simply
stealing it. "But it's going to need some ... help to set up."
Margrave considered. If he'd managed to admit this much maybe, just
maybe, he'd fit in enough to at least enough to survive. Which would
certainly be in her best interests. "What are you planning?" He told her.
After a few moments she said simply, "I see." Keeping her face straight
with some difficulty she said, "If I get this set up you're in my debt. Not
just for the energy you already owe me, I may want the occasional ... favour."
"Tell me who and I'll break his legs for you."
"Keep your voice down! Nothing like that!" I can handle my own
legbreaking if it comes to that. I'm going to have to remind him that we're
probably being recorded in here. Aloud she said, "We'll leave the favours
undefined for now. But you'll owe me." He nodded in agreement. "Good. Now
there's a week or two left in the study? Excellent. That'll give me time to get
this set up." She knew just who to ask.
"A private investigator? Magnesite?" Calcite sounded very surprised.
Heads turned in their direction then swung away as the other patrons tried
to pretend they weren't interested. Margrave picked at her salad and
reflected that there had been no shortage of covert observation. This
restaurant wasn't one of her usual haunts, she preferred smaller, more
intimate cafes. But Calcite wanted a large, open, well lit one so there
would be no hint of misinterpretation if the vid tabloids tried to make an
issue. It'd also make it clear they'd arrived and left separately. Not
wanting to mess up this meeting she'd agreed to his terms.
Funnily enough Calcite was the co-owner of her favourite restaurant.
With Titanite he'd been operating "Renegades Haven" at a loss since it opened
centuries ago. It was the only restaurant in Crystal Tokyo, in fact on Earth,
to specialize in Dark Kingdom cuisine. When they'd returned to this dimension
in the 21st century they'd brought samples of Dark Kingdom flora and fauna,
once believed lost forever, with them. After settling into Crystal Tokyo and
establishing a farm for the special conditions it required Titanite had begun
her campaign to introduce Dark Kingdom cuisine to the world. Apart from
Jundroot none of it had ever caught on. Attempts to convert her fellow
Senshi to the joys of traditional youma cooking could be best described as
mixed. Disastrous might be a better choice of words. Still Titanite never
gave up. She remained convinced that if people just tried the food with an
open mind they'd experience the unique flavours and like it. While the former
was certainly true there was very little repeat business. Every now and
again it became chic for the adventurous to eat there but the craze never
lasted.
Titanite had personally trained several generations of chefs.
Fortunately Keiichi Aino, one of Calcite and Minako's children had come of
age about two and a half centuries earlier and become head chef at the
restaurant. He liked both the challenge of correctly preparing the unusual
dishes and the light workload as the restaurant had very few regulars. Given
his long lifespan and assuming he didn't get bored they wouldn't need a
replacement for centuries. Calcite had long ago given up both trying to
interest Minako in Dark Kingdom food or even mentioning it out loud in her
presence. He generally only ate there when on his own for one reason or
another. On the rare occasions they ate there together Minako stuck firmly to
the small alternate choices menu. Margrave was one of the very few regulars.
At any rate Calcite had turned down the Haven as not public enough so
she'd settled for this place. Which was taking its sweet time in bringing her
the stuffed salmon she'd ordered. But she hadn't asked him to meet her so
he'd treat her to a meal. Money wasn't a problem for her, her instructional
videos always sold well abroad. Back to the issue at hand.
"That's right, Magnesite's decided to try being a PI. If you think
about it he'll have few advantages in surveillance what with shape shifting,
teleporting, being able to walk through walls and a few other parlour tricks."
"Don't know if the other PIs will take kindly to us dumping an
overpowered amateur in the market."
"What market? I checked and the profession's gone extinct in CT. So
starting up he'll have novelty value going for him. Hopefully that'll last
long enough for him to learn the ropes and become a real detective. Also
I've got a client to throw his way."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, guy I know who's afraid his wife's being unfaithful."
Calcite looked at her for a moment. "A guy you know who's afraid his
wife's cheating on him?"
Margrave shrugged. "I don't make moral judgements. Bad for business."
Calcite muttered something noncommittal so she added, "A girl's gotta make a
living. Which is literally true in my case. I stop working, I stop living."
"You generally tell people it's recreation not work."
"True. I'm a firm believer in mixing business and pleasure."
"So to paraphrase an old expression; 'Some are born immortal, others have
immortality thrust upon them.' Then there's a select few who steal
immortality and have fun doing it."
Margrave laughed. "Not bad. Mind if I use that?"
"Feel free." He paused to sip his wine, a dry Pinot Chardonnay, 2639.
"None of which answers the question, 'why are you telling me this?'"
Margrave stopped toying with the salad (which was too heavy on the
dressing for her tastes anyway) and got serious. "Because you've got the
right kind of influence in both the palace and the police department to set
this up. He's gonna need various licenses, a couple of contacts on the force,
startup funds and who knows what else. You can set this up a lot easier than
Ti. Besides I'd rather not impose on her for this given her extreme dislike
of Magnesite."
"She doesn't have a monopoly on that."
Margrave looked him in the eyes and said simply and without guile,
"Please Cal. For old times sake?"
Because she'd simply asked rather than trying to seduce or manipulate
him into agreeing Calcite sighed and nodded his consent. He'd have to pull a
few strings, call in a few favours and avoid his sister until the deed was
done. Margrave gave a genuine warm smile and raised her glass in salute.
Two weeks passed.
Calcite carefully opened the door labelled "Magnesite : Discrete
Investigations Ltd." ready to drop the packages cradled in his other arm at
the slightest hint of trouble. Nothing abnormal happened and the
trenchcoated Magnesite glared at him from behind the empty desk. The place
was littered with packing materials from the furniture boxes Magnesite had
spent the morning opening.
"You call this a PI's office?"
"What's wrong with it?"
"What isn't? Look at this place!"
"Seemed fine when I chose it. Bright, spacious, nice view ... though
it's hard to find a bad one in CT. Brand new furniture. Perfect for a new
business."
"Exactly! Who's going to come to a PI who looks like a corporate exec?
People are going to mistake me for a motivational councilor. There's no
ambiance. Where's the stained couch? The battered desk? The cigarette
burned carpet? The cramped rundown office? The murky watercooler? The
empty whiskey bottles, the cockroaches the size of rats, the general
atmosphere of disillusionment and betrayal? How am I supposed to operate
like this? Has living in happy-happy-joy-joy-land turned your brain to
mush?"
Calcite kept a reign on his temper. "The only reason you've got an
office at all is a mutual acquaintance talked me into setting you up in
business. She convinced me you'd be a lot less trouble this way. So I'm
doing this for her sake. If you want other quarters arrange them yourself
when you've got some money. Though small and grubby's a little hard to come
by in CT. The fact is I have absolutely no obligations to you and quite a bit
of malice."
"The feeling is mutual."
"That being said I've been asked to convey Queen Serenity's appreciation
of your attempts to become a useful and productive member of Crystal Tokyo.
She sends her best wishes for your future endeavours and hopes you enjoy your
new life. Personally I think you'll last a year max before you freak out
and do something stupid."
"And when I do you'll be waiting, right?"
"I considered it. I was planning to cancel my travel plans and stick
around watching you. But I thought about it and realized that would mean I've
got no faith in Rei's ability to handle you. Internal security's her job and
I have no wish to insult her. Besides I imagine she's rather glad to have a
potential security risk to watch. Things have been fairly quiet the past few
centuries so I doubt she wants to share you."
"The past few centuries?!"
"You're in the same situation as Margrave. Potentially immortal as long
as you keep getting energy. You'll learn to adjust to the new timescale. In
the unlikely event you last that long."
"I'll survive. If only to rub your nose it!"
"Well I don't exactly wish you luck, but I thought I'd bring you an
office warming present." Calcite gently placed the cylindrical package on the
desktop an slid it over. Magnesite eyes it dubiously.
"What's this?"
"Just a little something to help with the atmosphere." Magnesite didn't
look reassured. "Just open it, it won't explode."
"Alright, let's see ... too heavy to be a bottle but it's about the
right size. Just tear this off and ..." Magnesite gaped openmouthed at the
black birdshaped statue. Calcite chuckled.
"One of my granddaughters is a sculptress so I had her carve this. It
was a bit of a rush job but it's as exact a scale as we could manage. I'm
not sure the weight's right but ..."
"Haha, very funny." Magnesite looked distinctly unamused.
"Just think of it as a reminder of possibilities if you step off the
semi straight and narrow. Like Margrave you're in a bit of a gray area so
you'd better find the boundaries quickly."
"Why do you care if I get myself zapped?"
"I don't. But you might hurt a few people in the process and I'd prefer
that not to happen. Anyway this should help with the ambiance. This won't."
With that he dumped the remaining package on the desktop. It was obviously
lighter and bent a bit. "This is from Titanite."
"She sent me a present?" Magnesite looked amazed.
"Yes. Now open it."
"I don't know ..."
"Just open it. NOW!"
Magnesite reached for the wrapping paper dubiously. It probably wasn't
a bomb, not with Calcite in here with him. But what could it be? According
to Margrave Titanite bore him a grudge and wasn't leaving CT anytime soon.
The last of the paper slid away to reveal ... a light brown teddybear in a
green trenchcoat and fedora.
"His name's Sam."
"My ... how adorable." Magnesite was studying Sam with loathing.
Calcite nodded, ignoring the tone. "Yep, Sam's got two purposes. First
is he's a mascot for this place." Magnesite resolved to tear it apart as
soon as Calcite left. "Second, he's another possible future."
"What?"
"I believe you've been told Ti has psychoplasm shaping abilities? Well
if she hears you've stepped over the line she's planning to reshape you into
a copy of Sam then lock you into that form. Which'll probably have a negative
impact on your business." Magnesite's expression had switched from disgust to
horror. "I'd advise you to take care of Sam. Don't want to upset Ti, right?"
Magnesite nodded mechanically. "Well I must be going. I'm sure you're
anxious to settle in and get to work." Calcite headed for the door, the
reflection in the glass showed Magnesite frozen in place, staring at his new
mascot. A strange payback but not unsatisfying.
The door closed behind him and he started down the corridor. Then Rei
stepped round the corner in full Senshi costume.
"Afternoon Rei, here to hire Mr. Spade?"
Rei looked blank for a moment then nodded. "I've read the overview
Titanite provided. To answer your question I'm here to introduce myself, I
suppose I should say reintroduce myself, to our new model citizen and make
it very clear he doesn't want to cross me."
"In short put the fear of God into him."
"Fear of the Senshi actually. To be more specific the fear of me."
Calcite looked solemn. "I'm sure you'll succeed wonderfully. While you
might not appear so the casual observer I know you are, without doubt, the
most terrifying member of the court."
Rei looked a little puzzled. "Uh thanks, I guess."
Calcite shook her hand and headed up the corridor. Now the trick was to
keep looking serious then get around the corner and teleport before the penny
dropped.
Rei was opening the office door when it hit her. She turned around and
bellowed, "WHADDA YOU MEAN I'M SCARY!". No one there. She shook her head.
Contrary to popular opinion Calcite had a healthy sense of humour. No one
who didn't would have lasted a week with Minako. She turned back to the
office which appeared to be deserted.
Magnesite's head emerged from behind the desk, "Dropped my pencil." He
slid back into his hastily vacated chair and studied his visitor cautiously.
After a few moments it became obvious he wasn't going to start a
conversation so Rei took the initiative.
"Nice teddybear."
Magnesite scowled and dropped Sam into a desk drawer which he closed far
too hard. "Been a long time Rei."
"That's Sailor Mars, director of Crystal Tokyo Security to you."
"Gotcha. So what can I do for you Rei?" She fumed but didn't blast him.
Magnesite started to feel his confidence returning. Okay so he was stuck
living in this lunatic asylum under their idiotic rules. On the positive side
Margrave was right, it worked both ways. They were constrained by their own
laws. Long as he didn't break their rules they couldn't touch him. "The
trick", she'd told him, "is to learn how far you can bend them and stop just
short of breaking them."
"For starters you can stop calling me Rei."
"Sure. Say I never thought to ask before but why exactly do you
champions of justice and all that's good dress like cheerleaders? It doesn't
exactly strike fear into evildoer's hearts. Fantasies maybe but ..."
Rei reached across the desk, grabbed Magnesite by the collar and pulled
him towards her. She glared into the startled youma's eyes and said coldly,
"This is not going to be the start of a beautiful friendship!"
She was right.
End of part 2
Next : Enough background, back to the plot.
Jundroot created by Sam Ashley for "Encyclopaedia Metallia" but the rest of
this mess is my work.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sailor Moon Expanded presents a Crystal Tokyo Saga Side Story
The Babe wore Blue
another case from the files of Magnesite, PI
by Mark Latus
Part 3 - That Yellow Eyed Bastard!
(With apologies to Frank Miller)
Being inorganic I don't sleep but I need to enter a dream state about once
a week. Otherwise being permanently aware and active starts to get on my
metaphorical nerves. When I dream I have this recurring nightmare that Walt
Disney has taken over the world and turned it into a bright and happy place
where people burst into song at the drop of a hat. Then I wake up and I'm
living in Crystal Tokyo. I can't decide which is worse.
On my way to Crystal Tokyo U. I made a few changes. The rain had stopped
and the sun was back out so the trenchcoat would be very conspicuous. Wonder
if it's just Ferrite and me who still wear them? At any rate by the time I
arrived I no longer looked like the trenchcoat wearing Bogart clone that's my
normal guise. Just another bright clean cut young man wearing one of those
ugly puffy shirts that's the latest fad. Or at least they were, there aren't
as many as I expected.
It's easy to pick out the locals on campus. Look around at the faces and
you'd think they were all clones. You can tell the students from outside the
city easily enough. They're the ones who cluster together and keep looking
around distrustfully. Wondering why everyone else is so carefree. Or what
drugs produce that braindead, euphoric expression and where they can get them.
The Crystal Tokyo look is known worldwide. See it outside the city and you
know you've got an easy mark. But Metallia help you if you try to pull a
scam on one of the immortals.
I took a quick glance at the bulletin board. Concert listings, club
announcements, graphics by the art students and personal ads scrolled by. No
sign of anyone complaining about issues. Whatever happened to activism?
There's got to be something left to protest in CT. Or hidden multinational
conspiracies to unearth.
Actually there are those Berylist loonies. They've got a few local
converts but they're mainly found outside Crystal Tokyo. But I find it very
hard to take seriously any group who claims my former Queen was a benevolent
monarch. Even weirder that if she'd won she'd have saved the world from the
excesses of the 20th century through technology rather than magic. At least
according to the true believers.
Still they have a great conspiracy theory about how the Senshi set her
up through a group of rebel youma. The rebels smuggled an H-bomb into the
Kingdom then cleared out before it blew. The Senshi made up the story about
attacking the North Pole and death and resurrection after the fact when all
they really did was lie low in Tokyo for a few months. In exchange for nuking
Beryl the rebels were rewarded with positions of power when the Senshi
reintroduced magic and conquered the world. I forgot to mention the Senshi
are supposedly running the whole world from behind the scenes through a
variety of secret societies. When I look at these theories I remember why
I'm so cynical about humans. They're all crazy.
Serenity makes no effort to ban those cretins from exporting their
idiocy to CT. All she's said on the subject is "People are free to believe
whatever they like. No matter how stupid." The exception to this the nasty
version which postulates an affair between Calcite and the 13 year old Sailor
V under the cover of their "battles" in England. There's an even nastier
version which claims it resulted from a frustrated incestuous desire for his
sister. Funny thing is that's one rumour Margrave won't spread. Must figure
it'd backfire on her somehow. At any rate those two get banned under the
obscenity laws and Titanite's legendary for her diligence in tracking media
promoting those ideas down. That and the "Sailor vs the
Overfiend" video series. Takes them very personal for some reason. Places
outside CT that publish hardcore Berylist material seem to suffer accidents
while Calcite's out wandering the world. But that's just a coincidence,
right?
Long as I'm here I punch a couple of general inquiries into the board.
Nothing that will set off any alarm bells. Just offices and the hours of a
few profs. Here we go, Interdimensional/Extraterrestrial Studies, Advanced
Magsci and a little Xenobiology. Must keep him busy. Speak of the devil ...
my timing seems to be just about perfect. I click the board back into random
display and watch the pretty pictures flow by.
Loitering here seems to have worked. There's my man right over there.
From over here there's nothing to distinguish him. At first glance you'd take
him for some sort of assistant prof/technomage geek. Walking across the
campus without noticing anything around him, all his attention on the
bookslate in his hand. Occasionally he drops it and grabs one of the others
hovering beside him and the old one takes its place. Only the freshmen still
gawk and it won't take them too long to get used to him. He's a definite
fixture on this campus. Hell, he's been on the faculty longer than all the
centuries old trees that line the walkways. That's a lot of tenure.
From a distance he looks unremarkable. Short dark hair, no ornamentation
beyond a gold ring with a blue stone (azurite, what else?) and a yellow and
black outfit that's meaningless to anyone who doesn't know late 20th century
pop culture. The last of the Trekkies. Praise the Abyss. How any youma
(even a Renegade) could mould their life around a human fiction is beyond me.
Bogie's different. And I'll mangle anyone who suggests otherwise. With
that thought I return my unobtrusive attention to my pigeon.
Get a bit closer and you'd wonder if there's any significance to having
painted his fingernails black but that won't tell you anything. It's the eyes
that do it. Get close enough to look in those golden orbs and you'll know.
Once you get past wondering about the colour you'll see the ages in there. All
the centuries he's witnessed come and go while remaining virtually unchanged.
If you're human you'll experience a sudden knowledge of your own mortality as
you contemplate how brief your existence is to him and the others who span the
centuries.
That's why there's a campaign to make all immortals wear dark glasses in
public and why his students try to avoid making eye contact. They also stay
out of the front rows in his lectures but that's an even older tradition.
He's walking along undisturbed. Even if anyone wants to talk to him they
all know when he looks like that nothing can distract him. At least that's
what I think until the girl heads on an intercept path.
She's obviously an outsider, definitely not the good girl type CT is so
famous for. Still if she got into CTU she's either very bright, magically
gifted or both. Girls like that make me wish I was still flesh and blood.
Short spiky orange hair, a figure hugging red halter and skintight green
leggings. I'd guess her 18-19 somewhere in that range and definitely looking
predatory. She plants herself firmly in his path and waits. I think he's
going to walk straight into her but he stops at the last minute and looks at
her quizzically.
"Scuse me Dr. Pyrite, I was wondering if I could talk about my grades
..." Her voice is smooth as honey and has an Osaka accent. She's radiating
her intentions loud enough to dazzle a blind man. Not that's she's going to
have much luck as he's been pairbonded for centuries. Even if he's interested
he's not stupid or crazy enough to step out on Azurite.
At least that's what I think until I hear him respond. He knows what
she wants and he likes it. Not exactly a shock to someone in my line of work.
First thing you learn is undying love's a joke. Which is good because it
generates a lot of business. What's shocking is that Pyrite is willing to
doublecross a woman who can throw plasma hurricanes. Guess centuries with
the same lover get incredibly boring. Interesting and I'll have to mention
it to Margrave. A juicy bit of gossip like this should cancel one of my debts
at least. Also she can get the rumour into circulation without it backfiring
on us.
I don't try to eavesdrop directly. Just drift by while glancing at my
bookslate as though I'm reviewing something. I'll miss some of it but I hear
enough to confirm this isn't the setup for a document swap. Transcribed it
would sound pretty dull. It's all a matter of listening to the tone of voice
and for the double entendres. Wonder if I can get Azurite to hire me for the
divorce work? Assuming she doesn't just barbeque him on the spot.
At any rate I don't want to show too much interest in them. It's not
what I'm being paid for and I don't want to compromise my real investigation.
If Pyrite thinks he's being watched that will make him harder to track. Right
now I think Mercury's jumping at shadows more than ever. If Pyrite's started
messing around with co-eds then it's no wonder he's acting different. If ...
when Azurite finds out about this there'll be hell to pay. Yes I'm definitely
going to talk to Margrave.
One interesting thing. He's agreed to tutor her tomorrow evening. She
was clearly after tonight, mentioned already having a study room booked. But
he claimed to have unbreakable plans for this evening. Some big faculty
meeting he can't get out of. She pouts (she does a very god pout) and he
promises to make it up to her tomorrow. With that she slinks off and he heads
on his way looking a lot more alert than before.
From my look at the board earlier it's time for him to get back to his
office and listen to his students. Who undoubtably are the technomage geek
elite you'd take him for. I suppose I should give him a little regard. He
did survive 24 years in the Dark Kingdom. Of course that was a very long time
ago and even back then he was the wimp among the adult renegades.
For what it's worth I know where to find him for the next little while.
So I'd better go acquire a few faces. I begin to amble in the general
direction of Administration.
The sign on the Human Resources Office says closed for lunch and is
counting down the time until it reopens. A cheerful recording repeats the
message for benefit of any illiterates who somehow got on campus. I do a
quick aura scan to see if there are any eager beavers still inside. No life
signs. Good.
The door's locked but that's not a problem. Normally I'd just ghost
through but that shouldn't be necessary. It'll also make for a test of this
passkey. The door hums open without delay and I lock it behind me. All the
computers are still on and linked. No password lockouts, just a variety of
excessively cute screensavers. Guess they're depending on the locked door and
people's decency to prevent them doing anything to CTU's database. My they're
trusting.
The computers are voice activated and probably encoded to each individual
user. Luckily by law they still have keyboards. Wouldn't be polite to make
machines that discriminate against the mute and stutterers. A little typing
and I'm into the personnel files. Here we go, today's absences. Forget anyone
with anything serious or long term. Just the goof offs and 24 hour flu types.
That gives me five names to choose from. I memorize the vital stats and
images and as much of the notes as I can. I can't help noticing the security
guard, Yuri Angel, is down for chronic absenteeism. Given just how little
happens on this campus it's one of the cushiest jobs in the world. Goofing
off from it takes some doing, probably more effort than showing up for work.
There's a note he's missed two appointments with the employee motivational
counsellor and to remind him to attend the third. Anywhere else in the world
they'd just say, "Fire the lazy bum!". Still it could be a useful identity.
In the meantime I reset the screen and head out five minutes before
lunch ends. I head over to the dimensional studies building and make it to
the janitorial storage & administrative section [largish closet]. A moment's
concentration and I'm Yoko Kimua, who's at home resting with a mild flu. Or
rather a serious flu which has been treated by a university healer. Why
they're so concerned about the health of menials is something I've never quite
grasped. It's one of those human things. However I notice they didn't
restore her to full health. As they don't let high magic out of the labs
instantaneous recovery isn't an option. I've noticed there are definite
limits to Serenity's benevolence. Like Margrave I exist in something of a
gray area. So it's always been in my best interests to learn just what and
where those limits are.
I've never been able to decide if assuming female form qualifies me a
cross dresser. Even if it does I can't afford to be squeamish. This is a
tough business and you work hard to scrape up enough energy to keep going.
You do what you have to survive in this business. Sam would have understood.
Funny thing, what with both magic and technological surveillance and
countermeasures becoming so advanced plain old eavesdropping is back in vogue.
Unobtrusive listening is once again the most certain means of spying and
most people still act like staff are deaf. Which is why I'm currently looking
like an early 40's woman with a bowl haircut.
I power up a pair of floor polishers, squat white cylinders about a foot
wide, and they rise to six inches off the floor with a soft hum. I grab the
keypad and punch in the fifth floor then follow them to the elevator. Once we
get there they start gliding over the almost spotless hallway eradicating any
dirt foolish enough to let itself be tracked inside. I amble along checking
the cleaner's flawless work ready to provide human reasoning power if the
crystbots run into something they aren't programmed for. Wonder if Kimua ever
gets the urge to get her own hands dirty and actually clean anything herself?
Probably not, 20th century fiction to the contrary people enjoy magic doing
most of the drudge work. A life of leisure seems preferable to backbreaking,
"self validating" work. So far there's no sign of people getting sick of our
little paradise. Maybe if they lived for centuries it would get a bit tedious
but the average human lifespan isn't that extended from a thousand years back.
Think it's about 100-110 something like that. Humans just aren't built for
longer, at least not without massive redesign. And after that genewar mess in
the 23rd efforts to improve the human genome are banned everywhere. Seems
they've caught on that designing their successors is a bad idea. Morons! The
youma derived from humans (though we didn't like admitting it) and we had
no love for our ancestral stock. Anyway humans don't have anything to
complain about when it comes to aging. They don't get senile anymore (at
least in CT) and they get about double the average youma lifespan. Of course
I always thought Margrave was an average youma but she learned how to cheat
her limits a long time ago.
While I've been doing my philosophical musing I've managed to get myself
close enough to see Pyrite's office. The door's open but there's no sign
anyone but him. About what I'd expected. A desk covered in printouts and
bookslates, various crystals (some glowing) serving as paperweights and a
few framed pictures. Azurite and his fellow Renegades I'd imagine. Packed
shelves lined with ancient musty texts with names like Hawking, Einstein,
Rosen, Godell and others. I wonder if I was still breathing when some of
those were written? A wallscreen in back displaying some constantly changing
image. No sign of trek memorabilia apart from his cup which is labelled,
"Archcharns di mroph paw Scotty, maneri uyrel'kt ompari uvarnei" Which
translates literally from youma'shak as "Warpgate me [from] now-place
Scotty, sentience there is none evidence here." Must have been a gag gift
from a colleague with a translation program. Maybe someone who helped
translate his magic/physics texts. As for the man himself? He's sipping
coffee from the mug and pondering over some journal. Occasionally he hums a
snatch of music. Very relaxed. Doesn't look like a man on the verge of
committing high treason. Fine by me. Mercury's paying the bills so I don't
mind wasting time on this investigation.
Speaking of whom guess who emerges from the elevator? She ignores me as
I start the second sweep of the hallway and heads for Pyrite's office. I
figure I can do one more sweep then start on the ceilings. Normal stakeout
I'd just get close enough to get an aura lock then follow that from a
distance. But normally I'm not tracking an energy sensitive. Luckily I know
from past experience he can't see through my form shifting. This isn't
disguise magic, I meet someone and I can replicate them exactly. I can fool
thermographics, retinal scans and a host of other sensors. Blood tests,
DNA scans and soul reading are a different matter as those require either
flesh and blood or the right soul. No disguise is perfect.
Meantime I'm in the perfect position to overhear their little exchange.
Hope she's not about to complicate things. What am I saying? Bright as she
is she's still a dame. Of course she'll muddy the waters. While clients are
essential they're also the main source of aggravation. Luckily I can't get
ulcers or any other stress related problems. Being psychoplasm has definite
advantages.
"Afternoon Ami." He sounds cheerful and relaxed. Getting used to the
informality people take with their superiors was a struggle. If he'd talked
to me like that back in the Dark Kingdom I'd have ... well I wouldn't have
killed him as Calcite my loyal (Hah!) deputy found him very useful but I'd
definitely have hurt him. Not that he ever gave me reason to, he always gave
me the expected, "you're tougher and meaner than me so I hear and obey"
deference we expected from our subordinates. Now he's talking to his boss,
one of the Sailor Senshi, with a familiarity that would have got him crippled
back then! What's worse is she shows no sign of offense. Name of the Abyss
how does this crazy city keep running?
"Good afternoon Pyrite." She sounds cool and formal. From the glimpse
I steal of his quizzical expression that's not normal. Great! She's going
to put him on guard and make my job a lot harder! Dames!
Wait a minute there's nothing to put him on guard over. Mercury's just
gone paranoid, remember? I was starting to take this seriously when it's
just that Mercury's a little cracked. Centuries of putting up with Serenity,
Venus and Polaris would break anyone's sanity.
"Something bothering you?"
She flinches at the question then answers, "Just a few variables I can't
nail down. Also my new assistant is ... a bit of a trial. Highly intelligent
but her outlook's a bit ..."
"Twisted? If we're talking about who I think we are."
"Yes, it's her."
"Finally decided to stop playing dumb. Good luck. You're going to need
it with her working for you." He's sounding amused and Mercury seems to be
loosening up a little. She looks a little mischievous.
"Maybe I should loan her to you. She mentioned she's been following your
work for a long time."
"No thanks. I'd prefer not to die at my wife's hands. Besides do you
really want to give her access to my tools?"
"Perhaps not." There's a momentary lull then she says, "About Ambir ..."
"Friendly guy." He holds up the bookslate he'd been studying. "He sent
along some general information on Nemesis technology. It looks fascinating.
I'd guess it's a blend of Silver Millennium leftovers and what they've evolved
for themselves. I can't wait for Serenity to approve scientific exchange!"
He turns off his enthusiasm long enough to ask, "Is that why you're here?"
"In a sense ... I understand there are a few hangups on the diplomatic
end. Questions are being raised about if the Nemesians know anything about
the lost space expeditions. They don't feel they need to answer to us about
their spacial activities, seem to think it's a resurgence of terran
imperialism or something equally ridiculous. So it'll be some time before we
negotiate any scientific or cultural exchanges."
"Pity. Shame we have to go through all this rigmarole. Science should
be above this petty bickering. Just one big union people striving to
understand the universe. Otherwise you fall into the same trap as the Dark
Kingdom with nobody cooperating and people continually reduplicating the same
work as they won't share their discoveries for others to build on. I had a
hell of a time working in that situation. I'll never know how many of my
discoveries had already been made centuries earlier by someone who hid their
research so it was lost when they died. Or else got themselves killed
somehow before it got to the archives. I'm just glad the basics were
available to access so I didn't have to start right from square one."
Mercury was studying him. "You've got a sizeable body of work already.
There's no shortage of things for you to explore in your chosen fields. Why
are you so entranced by droid technology?"
"Several reasons. Firstly Ambir claims droids are fully sentient AIs.
I'd like to test that. If it's true that's a great leap forward. We both
know that to date both terran magic and technology have failed to replicate
human consciousness let alone develop something new. Unless the RH program
was true AI but I was never able to replicate the results and without the
prototype to study ..."
"I am not going to apologise about disposing of that ... that thing
again!"
"Of course, it was perhaps a good thing we didn't produce more of them or we'd
be facing a shortage of female programmers. Anyway returning to the subject
of droid Ais ..."
"Pyrite, I admit that its tempting to investigating those claims ..."
"Secondly (he didn't seem concerned about interrupting her) having droids
would have a number of advantages to both Crystal Tokyo and the outside world.
There are a number of hazardous occupations that could be done by droids and
prevent a lot of death and injury. Deep space exploration has turned out to
be extremely dangerous. So much so that there aren't any efforts to expand
further out into the system. Except for that maverick Irons corporation but
no one takes them seriously. Ridiculous considering back in the days of
Silver Millennium our mutual ancestors could travel the whole system. We
should be moving to reclaim the other worlds then aim for the stars ... sorry
I'm getting off track."
"I still think you've watched too much Star Trek."
"No doubt, but the sentiment is heartfelt. Besides if Earth doesn't
begin efforts to reclaim the system there's nothing to stop the Nemesians
from getting there first."
"WHAT!"
"Well it makes sense. They've already got spacecraft capable of
traversing the system. If they want to expand and they don't have FTL
capability then it's simpler to recolonize the solar system. If it's possible
to restart the ancients' life support systems on the various worlds then it's
easy to establish settlements. Even if they're unworkable terraforming
... I should say nemesisforming should be possible with existing levels of
technology. Transport ice from the asteroid belt, use it to provide water
and make air on Mars ... let's see orbital mirrors to warm things up and melt
the ice, crack water for the oxygen, use the hydrogen for fusion reactors to
add to the planetary heat ... Well I'm getting sidetracked again but you get
the idea." He paused when he noticed the stricken look on Mercury's face.
"My God you're right! I've been thinking all along that they'll have to
steal it but they can take it from us just be outpacing us! Dammit I should
have supported Ferrite when he pushed for a space program but the risk of
premature contact seemed too great. I should have been planning for
afterwards!" While meaningful to her it's gibberish to both me and Pyrite.
"I'm sorry I don't quite ..."
"Huh! Oh it's nothing. Just ... old business. You think droids would
be useful for Crystal Tokyo?" a fairly obvious attempt to change the subject.
Mercury was mixed up with Ferrite? He didn't mention that. Of course we
didn't exactly spend much time discussing our personal lives.
"There would be uses. For example we could replace Jupiter's soldiers
with droids. In case they were ever needed which would you rather sacrifice,
droids or people?" Mercury looked a bit twitchy, Pyrite didn't seem to
notice. "Or we could use them for police, at least for the officers
dispatched to reports of violence. Save lives if there was ever any trouble
they had to put down."
"Pyrite this is Crystal Tokyo. Our police are mainly there to provide
directions to tourists and make people feel secure."
"Still things happen occasionally. I remember one time a few centuries
back they got a report of an assault and ..." His voice had hardened before
trailing off.
"Is that what this is all about? Pyrite, it wasn't your fault! Or
Azurite's. He chose his own path."
"Did he? I wonder if he ever had any real choice. Funny, my one time
playing Frankenstein. I wanted to create life and I produced a monster." His
laugh was hollow and I figured I'd milked this cleaning routine for all I
could. I shut down the 'bots and directed them back towards the elevator.
Pity, it sounded like something had happened some time back that messed him
up seriously. Something Mercury knew about but didn't bother telling me
about. Question is just how much did it (whatever it was) screw with his
head? Enough so he'd do something stupid to get hold of technology that could
prevent a recurrence without delay?
Hard to say. Pyrite's a near immortal, very long lived rather than
unaging, but still accustomed to taking the long view. What's a few years ...
Hell! a few decades ... to him? Me? I've never been part of that mindset.
Probably 'cause I have to hustle to keep going. I didn't get immortality
handed to me at birth. I still can't believe that the youma least likely to
survive in the Dark Kingdom got the longest lifespans. I figure it was some
sort of sick joke on the first Serenity's part. In which case she had a sense of
humour I could appreciate.
Anyway the point was he wasn't likely to be in a hurry about anything.
Odds are still Mercury's paranoid. Even as I tell myself that I'm remembering
that she was obviously hiding things from me. Lots of clients don't give you
the full story. Biggest example has to be Ferrite not mention that his
missing person was ... No! I'm not going to think about her. Out of sight,
out of mind. That's the way to play the game. She never really meant
anything to me, all I wanted was her energy. It was that simple. That's all.
End of story.
I've got to stop distracting myself like that. Lucky I didn't start
narrating out loud again. Focus on the case. Clients often conceal stuff.
Not that I really care about their failings but leaving holes complicates
things. So just what does Mercury know about Pyrite that's got her so edgy?
What if she's not crazy? What if he's really thinking treason? a chance to
bust Calcite's cousin and rub his nose in it. That would be sweet. Meantime
best to put the 'bots away and use a new face. I'm going to be sticking to
you like glue Pyrite. This could pay off bigger than I thought.
It's that thought which keeps me going through a very long and boring
afternoon.
The day wears away slowly and Pyrite does nothing more interesting
than look over some journals and talk to a few grad students. I wonder if the
terms they keep throwing around actually mean anything or are just there to
impress the uninitiated? I also wonder how you can do this for centuries
without losing your mind? Maybe you can't. Perhaps I finally have a
motivation for his alleged betrayal. Meanwhile I run through most of my
staff faces and borrow the guises of a couple of students. Still nothing
interesting happens. Mercury's paying me anyway but I have to say that it's
a big disappointment.
Office hours are ending and Pyrite's starting to pack up. This could get
complicated. If he teleports home then I'll have to follow. Problem is, for
me, teleporting burns up quite a bit of energy. Mercury's paying expenses
(wonder if she understood that clause) but until I collect I'm draining my
own reserves. What's worse is tracking teleports is difficult with my current
status. If he goes home fine, I know where he lives. If he teleports
anywhere else how do I follow him? Anyone else I could aura tag but he's an
energy sensitive. It's quite possible he'd be able to spot one of my energy
markers. Should have hit Mercury up for some sort of undetectable spy gizmo
... what am I saying? This is Crystal Tokyo. They don't make those kinds of
things here. If they did Rei would have used them on me and that mess back
in '78 would have landed me in a world of shit. Not that she didn't try to
bug me but those things were detectable. Think about the present idiot! The
problem is tracking Pyrite. Who could probably sense any bug planted on him
anyway. Maybe I'll have to risk tagging him and just pray to Saint Humphrey
that he doesn't sense it.
I'm still thinking along these lines when the kid shows up. Dressed in
an illfitting sweatshirt and jeans, looks like one of the outsider students.
Red hair, blue eyes, dubious look, typical outsider freshmen. Nothing
particularly distinguishing about him. And yet ... It's unnoticeable to the
casual eye but he's carrying a lot of muscle behind those baggy clothes.
If you know how to look there's a balance to his movements that doesn't fit
with the obvious sloppy walk. He's put a lot of effort in appearing careless
and harmless but I'd say he's trained in some form of martial arts. a
definite wolf in sheep's clothing. Look at that he's heading straight for
Pyrite's office. This case could be getting interesting.
Currently I'm hanging around the lobby looking like an edgy student
waiting for his prof to arrive and wondering if he's got the right day. Which,
in case anyone asks, I haven't. I was careful to pick one who's gone to a
conference in Tahiti. There was a note about that on her door but I removed
that first time I went up to knock. At any rate I've given this body a great
set of ears. So I can hear everything from down here. Pity I can't see much
apart from the odd glimpse but I don't want to seem interested. Just a guy
absorbed in his own problems, that's me.
"Dr Pyrite ..." Something a little odd about his accent. Reminds me a
bit of those goons I shot a few years back. Never did find out just who the
hell they were. If Ferrite knew he kept it to himself. Meantime the kid's
saying, "I was wondering if I could talk to you about some of these
assignments?" I risk a glimpse and see him produce a bookslate which Pyrite
waves away.
"I make it a point to know my students at least by sight if not by name.
I've never seen you before."
"Quite true ..." the hesitancy's gone from his voice and there's a
definite control in his tone. "... My name is Rhineston (is there a pattern
developing here?) I've been sent by a mutual acquaintance. If you'd examine
this slate all will be explained."
I guess he does 'cause the next thing Pyrite says is, "I see. Well this
all seems fine but why didn't Ambir come himself?"
"He decided it best to minimize his appearances on campus. He felt your
Sailor Mercury was paying him a little too much attention."
"Really? Sounds a little paranoid but Ami is a bit close to the palace
to approve of sidestepping a few of the rules. Even if it's not going to
hurt anything. So why didn't you bring the crystals and schematics with you?
We could have run the exchange right now?" Sonofagardinel! She's not crazy!
I might have known a career academic wouldn't have any concept of real world
consequences. Especially after centuries cocooned in CTU. This is great!
Hold on ... he hasn't actually done anything wrong yet. There's still the
chance this is some sort of sting operation Rei's running. Pretty unlikely
as I can't see her leaving her old buddy Ami out of the loop but it could
happen. Besides Rei is nowhere near that subtle. Calcite maybe but he's not
running internal security. Rei's the "blast first, think later" type. I've
often wondered if they've had to cover up her accidentally frying the odd
innocent bystander. So odds are this is for real, it simply hasn't happened
yet. Anyway I'm not here to stop this, just to witness it.
"I'm simply Ambir's bodyguard. He'd like to examine your data and
determine it's genuine before handing over any of our technology."
"That will take him a few years but I'll provide a few choice equations
to take a look at. However the background material's very dense and until
he's mastered that the full applications are highly limited."
"I'm sure that will be fine. If you'd like to fetch your material we can
proceed to the exchange site."
"It's down in the main lab. I imagine you'd like to accompany me?"
"If that won't arise suspicions."
"This is Crystal Tokyo. There's nothing odd about me giving students
tours of the facilities. Particularly this one."
"Really? I would have thought an interdimensional research facility
would be high security." He sounds a little suspicious.
"Many people would. At least anyone from outside Crystal Tokyo. High
security isn't a well regarded concept around here."
"I've noticed." Definite hint of contempt there. a man after my own
heart. Or whatever I used to have to pump blood. Youma anatomy tended to be
highly variable.
They head for the stairs at Rhineston's insistence. Everyone takes the
elevators so they'll be less likely to be seen together. Soon as the door
closes behind them I shift to the Yuri Angel identity and use the passkey to
call an elevator. Security override gives me an express to the lab section.
It's underground but that's not going to make a lot of difference if they blow
holes in the fabric of reality and something with lots of tentacles and a
name with very few vowels crawls through. I'm surprised Serenity lets them
mess around with this sort of thing. The elevator pings and I've arrived.
Time to look like a semi-conscientious security guard doing his minimum on his
appointed rounds. The passkey opens the door and I head inside. I waste a
moment gawking at the hardware then duck behind a console for a nap. Anyone
who knows Angel won't be surprised at this behaviour.
I hear the door open and two sets of footsteps. "Incredible!" Rhineston
sounds impressed.
"Looks very advanced doesn't it?"
"Indeed. What does all this do?"
"Not a damned thing."
"Excuse me?" Pyrite's statement seems to have surprised him. It
certainly surprises me.
"This is all just a stage set. We're an Interdimensional Studies
Department so we needed a lab full of weird and wonderful equipment. But
Queen Serenity has decreed dimensional travel dangerous and sealed Crystal
Tokyo's dimensional gate point. Which was the nexus point in this solar
system. The only point from which you could access every other reality is
closed."
"Then dimensional travel is impossible?"
"Only in Crystal Tokyo. It's possible at the other gatepoints around the
world but they're a lot harder to use. Also you can't access all the other
universes. You'd get about a dozen or so to choose from. The equipment would
be a lot bulkier or would take high level magic abilities. That level of
technology and/or magic is not yet found outside of Crystal Tokyo. At least
not in this dimension, anyone arriving from outside is a different matter. We
aren't allowed to run dimensional experiments outside of the city. Due to a
large number of side effects associated with dimensional travel I'm happy to
obey that injunction. So all our work here at CTU is theoretical based on
data I gathered prior to Serenity's sealing off the nexus point. While it's
something of a loss to science personal experience makes me agree with her
decision."
"But we needed a lab to look good so I designed this one based on the
engine room of a fictional starship. That's the warpcore in the center of
the room, over there's the dylithium ..."
"You mean this is all for show?"
"That's right. But it certainly looks impressive doesn't it?" He
doesn't wait for an answer. "And it puts on an impressive array of special
effects. Gives us something to scare the first year students with. How
quickly they see through the facade helps us evaluate them. The depressing
thing is the number who don't question it and simply take our word as gospel.
People around here are just a little to credulous. Still that's what comes
of living in paradise." He crosses over to a wall panel and slides it to the
side to expose a safe.
"Then you don't have a functional dimensional warp technology?"
"No. All the warpkeys were dismantled and destroyed a long time ago.
Besides they were useless with the nexus point closed."
"Closing this nexus point didn't cause any problems?"
"Not at all. While it's been there all along it never had to be opened.
But quite a few centuries ago an ... accident caused a dimensional tear. Now,
thanks to Serenity, nothing short of the Ginzuishou can reopen it."
This is not necessarily a bad thing for any dark powers out there. If I
was an extradimensional invader I'd want to manifest anywhere in the world
except Crystal Tokyo. Around here the powers of darkness have a lousy track
record.
Pyrite removes what looks like a black lacquered briefcase. As his hand
touches the handle there's a small flare of red light. Rhineston starts,
losing his cool for a moment. "What was that?"
"Aura bonding. If this case leaves my possession or anything happens to
my lifesigns the case automatically destroys its contents. It'll also
trigger the destruct if forced open or on my command."
Rhineston definitely doesn't like that. He sounds a little surprised
when he comments, "That sounds a little paranoid for around here."
"I wasn't born here. Let's just say that in my homeland I learned it's
a good idea to take a few precautions when making a trade."
"A sensible attitude and not one I expected to encounter. I will not
underestimate you again." Which makes me wonder if he was thinking of a
one-sided exchange and walking out of here alone in possession of Pyrite's
data. Pyrite doesn't seem too concerned. He either missed the implication
or he hasn't forgotten everything he learned in the Kingdom. The life of
research scientists was a little more exciting back home. And getting
tenure was murder ... or took a few at the least.
Just after thinking that I made a mistake. I shifted position slightly
to get a better look. I thought no one would notice but I'd underestimated
Rhineston. "We have company." His voice was quiet and he'd stepped back so
he could watch both Pyrite and my position. Careless of me but I'd
anticipated discovery and provided a few props of my own.
I unfolded myself from my position holding half a donut and a coffee
while dropping a slate playing a lurid (by CT standards anyway) video. I
nodded to Pyrite, "Evening doc."
He frowned for a second as he searched through his memory. "Ah yes ...
officer Angel. Hard at work keeping the campus safe as always." Definite
touch of humour. Obviously didn't see the need for campus police period so
why worry about a goofoff like Angel?
"Yep, just keeping an eye on your gizmos. Wouldn't want anyone walking
off with one of them." The smallest thing in here has to weigh 300 pounds.
"Well keep up the good work. Shall we go?" The last part was addressed
to Rhineston. He was looking at me with definite suspicion.
"One moment doctor." He was sounding like a deferential student again.
The man could move quietly and quickly, he was almost on top of me before I
realized how close he'd got. "If I could just ask you why ..." His hand
slid inside his jacket then straight at my heart in one smooth motion. I
barely dodged the humming needle, he was that quick. I grabbed his wrist and
twisted. Or tried to, while I'm stronger than human so was he. The point
began edging back towards me. I was close enough to read his aura. Just like
those other freaks two years back. Not quite human. Something different,
something alien. Nemesian? Perhaps. I'd never met one. Or maybe I had but
I hadn't known it back then. Meantime I had other worries. I didn't know
what effect that needle would have on me but I didn't want to find out it was
lethal the hard way. I drew more energy to increase my strength and the
held him in place. His free hand slammed for my face and I barely blocked it
with my other hand. Stalemate. It looked like we were stuck here until his
endurance ran out or my energy reserves faded and I couldn't hold him anymore.
Then a sledgehammer caught me in the chest and spun me halfway across
the room. I went down hard and gasped for air. What the hell just happened?
I forced myself to my knees and saw Rhineston gliding towards me with his
needle ready. Before he got there the sledgehammer struck again. a lot
harder. My ribcage buckled inward as something tore through my chest. Bony
spears imploded and shredded my lungs into bloody fragments as one of my
aorta's ceased to exist except as mush. On it's way out my back several of
my vertebrae went with it leaving an exit wound you could toss a softball
through. Blood sprayed everywhere. Somehow I stayed on my knees long enough
to see the pen sized crystal rod that ripped through me return to Pyrite's
hand. It doesn't have a drop of blood on it.
"Sorry but this is necessary." He sounded apologetic as he tucked the
rod back into his shirtcuff. Thank you Pyrite, I'll bet that would be a great
comfort to the real Yuri Angel. I tried to give him my opinion of his
necessity but all I did was bring up a mix of blood and my lungs. I guess he
decided to put me out of my misery because suddenly there was another rod in
his hand. Before I get a chance to get a good look a beam from it ripped my
front open. I rain intestines then slump over into the spreading blood
puddle and just stare up at him from the ground. I stop moving but I keep
leaking fluids.
Rhineston (who'd somehow avoided the spray) turned to Pyrite with a
barely contained anger. I suspect his self-control was more a product of a
newfound appreciation of Pyrite's capabilities than respect. His voice is
icy. "Why did you do that?"
"You were trying to kill him weren't you?" Doesn't sound concerned about
turning me into chopped meat. Maybe he's finally beginning to act like a
youma.
"He knew too much. Even if he had no idea just what he'd learned anyone
who talked to him might have deduced what's going on. But this would have
killed him without any mess!" He was gesturing with the needle. "It would
have looked like a natural death from heart failure."
"You didn't seem to be having much luck."
"He was stronger than I thought."
"Humans can demonstrate hysterical strength in life threatening
situations."
"I've heard that but this is the first time ... Well no matter he is
dead. I'm surprised by your ruthlessness."
"This exchange will save countless lives in the future. Against that
what's the life of one man? I can't afford to jeopardize this." Sounds like
a human viewpoint, youma never bother with justification for killing. Guess
it's true, Renegades think like humans. "I'll seal the lab and cleanup the
... remains when I get back."
"Don't bother." Rhineston's just removed something the size of a
cigarette box from his belt. "I never got a destruct implant so I've had to
carry this damn thing around with me all the time. I'll be glad to be rid of
it. Ten second fuse. When it detonates it'll destroy all organic matter in
the vicinity. I've already adjusted it for a wide field. I planned on taking
as many of my killers with me as possible. If you please doctor, Ambir is
waiting."
Pyrite takes a last look at me then leaves shaking his head and
muttering something about cruel necessity and rewriting security records when
he gets back. Rhineston looks for signs of life but seems convinced I won't
be running away. The device splashes into the blood right before my
unblinking eyes. "Ten, nine, eight, sev..." Rhineston's counting down as he
leaves. It's funny really, I would have said Pyrite was the least dangerous
of the Renegades. It's always the quiet ones.
I'm still reevaluating him when the bomb goes off in my face.
To be continued?
For anyone who's wondering about that comment after the title here's the
explanation. The title of this chapter was inspired by one of Frank Miller's
"Sin City" comic series, namely "That Yellow Bastard". For that matter the
overall story title was inspired by another Sin City comic, "The Babe Wore
Red". There's no particular significance to this beyond the fact I like the
series. Which belongs firmly to the grim, "Mike Hammer" style tough guy
school of writing and seemed appropriate for the overly dramatic Magnesite.
Beside I couldn't think of any place less like Miller's [Ba]Sin City than
Crystal Tokyo giving it a certain irony
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sailor Moon Expanded presents a Crystal Tokyo Saga Side Story
The Babe wore Blue
another case from the files of Magnesite, PI
by Mark Latus
Part 4 - The Tough Guy
Some days life is good. You meet the girl of your dreams, blow a few
people away, stick your client with a lifedebt to Margrave (did I ever mention
that to him?), assist some major property damage, drive Sailor Mars wild and
get away with it all scot free.
Some days life is bad. The girl you've fallen for (against all logic and
youma nature) leaves the city with another man and you can't follow. Leaving
you with nothing but a song and the memory of a kiss.
Some days life is really bad and you wind up lying in a pool of your own
blood, your intestines spilling out, a hole in your spine you could drive a
truck through and a bomb goes off in your face.
This was a really bad day. All things considered this wasn't shaping up
to be one of my more successful cases.
I'm glad it takes more than massive traumatic blood loss, paraplegia and
disembowelment to slow me down.
Soon as my eyes cleared from the bomb's flare and I was sure Rhineston
wasn't coming back to check his handiwork I began reabsorbing the blood.
After all this stuff was simply psychoplasm like every bone and organ in
my body. So a bomb designed to vaporize organics doesn't even rate a tingle.
It's a side effect of the shapeshifting. I've never met Angel so I
couldn't replicate him. Instead I turned into a human male, copying some guy
I met centuries ago then replaced his face with Angel's. I shifted the
external appearance a little to match my model's profile and the job was done.
Thing is it's an exact replication so I get insides filled with a copy of the
source's organic bits. So I'm full of organs that don't serve any purpose
and pseudo blood. Which was handy because it made it look authentic when I
got shot. Now all I have to do is shove everything back in, close the hole
and get moving. This mess'll shift back into position and repair itself
automatically unless I shift again in which case it'll melt and become part of
my new form.
I grab a handful of goop and start tossing it back inside. Wonder what
this thing with all the tubes hanging off it is? The pancreas maybe? Well
who cares, I'm in something of a hurry so I stuff it back in without trying
to find where it fits.
I'm a little engrossed in my chore so I don't hear the door open.
However I do hear the shriek. I look up, my hands full of intestines to see a
genuine CTU security guard screaming her head off. Then, in the best cliche
tradition, she faints. I drop my piping and dash for her, managing to catch
her before her head hits the ground. Last thing I need is her cracking her
skull or anything along those lines. I don't know, these CT kids are really
wimps. Think I was five years old when I saw my first disembowelling and all
I did was wipe the mess off my face then go on playing. "Beat the runt",
"Kick the loser" or one of our other childhood games. Happy, simpler days.
Anyway I'd got myself refilled and closed the wound. Time for a fast
exit. "Hi-my-name-is-Yagami-I'm-here-to-help-you" was still out cold which
would simplify things. When she comes round she'll see no sign of a dead
coworker and decide she dreamed the whole thing. Or she'll be traumatized for
life and be seeing an analyst for the next ten years. The citizens of our
fair city have always struck me as a little on the fragile side. Long as
everything stays perfect then no problems. But if paradise ever ends there'll
be a city full of basketcases. Perhaps I'm underestimating them and they'll
show unacknowledged strength under fire. Not that anything's likely to
happen. I know Ferrite implied hard times are coming but I don't buy it.
Maybe in the rest of world but I can't see anything scratching Crystal Tokyo.
Not as long as Serenity's got the Ginzuishou. A millennia ago she took out
my homeworld and our race's god. I don't like to even think what she's
capable of doing by now.
Yagami's no concern of mine. Must have heard the commotion and come to
check it out. Or she was doing her regular rounds. Lucky for her she didn't
come by earlier or she'd have got the same treatment Rhineston tried to give
me. Still that had a definite up side. I "tagged" him during the fight so
I'm able to track his aura. They've got a lead of about a kilometre so it
looks like they aren't teleporting. Excellent, that'll make my job a lot
easier.
I revert back to my initial student guise and focus on the tag. Good,
I've got a clear location. It's time to follow. I could teleport directly
to Rhineston's location but that would be pretty stupid. Instead I have to
match my mental map of the city to it and hope I've got a teleport point
nearby. As jumping blind is the sort of thing only a complete idiot or a
Senshi (is there a difference?) would do I've memorized a lot of reentry
points around Crystal Tokyo. There's a teashop nearby. That should put me
within 50 metres of them. A thought and I'm there. Just wish I'd remembered
exactly what my emergence point was.
The door bangs open as I fall out of the closet in a tangle of brooms,
mops, sponges and with my foot stuck in a bucket. Seems to be my day for
custodial artifacts. Whoever runs this place must be a traditionalist. I pry
the bucket off my foot ignoring the bemused looks of the five old ladies. I
could try to distract them with a "coming out of the closet" joke. Perhaps
not, the expression might have become meaningless centuries ago. Instead I
toss everything back inside and close the door then saunter to the washroom.
I walk through the empty toilet and continue straight through the outside
wall. At least I try to but my pockets catch. I slid back and remove my
cigarettes, the passcard and my audiorecorder. I can only ghost myself and
these aren't parts of me. The windows open and there's still no auras in the
alley so I toss them through. Then complete my walk and scoop up my junk
outside. During all this the source has moved on a bit. From the speed it
seems they're walking. Now I just have to find them.
I miss them the first time but spot them on second glance. Over there!
The native in the blue tunic showing the tourist around! Pyrite's using a
glamour to blank his distinctive eyes and fingernails. Apart from that and a
small addition to his nose he's unchanged. Just enough for any acquaintance
to take him for someone who resembles Pyrite but not very closely.
Rhineston's playing tourist and gawking at everything. The perfect way to
cover his outsider appearance. Everyone knows all outsiders who visit Crystal
Tokyo look like that. That amazed look will be all anybody asked to describe him later
remembers because all tourists look alike.
They don't seem to be in any hurry as they amble along. I follow them
for three blocks then take a left as they go right. I step into a receiving
alley and shift to an unexceptional female form. Make it too attractive and
you make yourself noticeable. For clothing I add one of those sailor suits
that are all too common. This is what comes of making Senshi into role
models. If I inspired people to wear trenchcoats Rei would probably charge me
with corrupting youth. Wonder what my least favourite senshi's up to right
now? Probably watching the Nemesians like a hawk and praying they'll do
something wrong. No, that can't be right. Rhineston's not being followed by
anyone other than me and if he'd been under surveillance they'd have grabbed
him soon as he "killed" me. But he's not human, at least not exactly.
Definitely far stronger than normal and the brief glimpse I got of his aura at
close range could indicate paranormal abilities. Well paranormal for humans,
they could be commonplace on Nemesis.
Half an hour and four faces later we arrive at our destination. The
"Tsukino Shingo Memorial Park", one of the dozens of immaculate green spaces
that dot this city. All of them perfectly blended into the urban environment
for maximum aesthetic value and suggesting the harmony of man with nature.
Just one of many things that I really hate about this city. Everything has to
be so damn ... perfect! If at least one of them was full of broken pop
bottles, discarded chip packets and had a pond filled with used condoms maybe
I could stand it. Looks like the deadly duo don't share my opinion as they
walk through the gate (beautiful wrought iron suggesting a rosebush) without
pausing to retch. The name of this park rings a bell vaguely ... probably
named after one of Serenity's non-immortal friends or family.
As it's become a very a nice day there's no shortage of people around.
But because of the large number of parks it's not overly crowded. The usual
idyllic scene; couples pushing babies in carriages, young lovers on the park
benches making the seniors wish for their youth back, kids playing with balls
and other non-negative toys (most CT kids have never even heard of toy guns
let alone seen them), two homicidal maniacs heading to the west ... Damn, I
nearly lost them. I can't believe I was starting to take this stuff
seriously. Soon as I'm done I dig out those Senshi porn tapes Margrave
smuggled in and try to think very nasty thoughts. It's getting bad when you
have to work on keeping a negative attitude to utopia. This should come
naturally to a youma. I light a cigarette and inhale the smoke. Nasty habit,
now this is more like it. I remember to exhale before anyone notices I'm not
actually breathing. That's usually second nature. Think I'm a little shaky.
Getting blown apart like that messes with the part of my subconscious that
still can't accept I'm not flesh and blood anymore.
I manage to keep my people in sight while avoiding any noticeable
surveillance. Which is how I catch a glimpse of Pyrite doing something to the
infoplaque beside him. Those things are the closest things we have to
security devices around here. They monitor the park and flag any potentially
life threatening situation. Around here that consists of toddlers walking
into the ankle deep ponds and old farts pushing themselves too hard. They also
let parents locate the kids after they wander off. They're tied into the main
CT network but all they access is weather predictions and sports/cultural
events/entertainment information. I wonder if Pyrite's using it to check the
park for anyone he knows when the synthesised voice comes over the unobtrusive
hidden speakers.
"Your attention please ladies and gentlemen. We regret that health
regulations require us to temporarily close the park while we check the water
for a possible algae infestation. This poses no threat to either humans or
animals but could damage the plantlife. Therefore we ask you to please exit
the park in an orderly fashion while the matter is investigated." I notice
both Pyrite and Rhineston are now wearing badges proclaiming them members of
the CT health and hygiene board. There's some grumbling but everyone packs
up and start flocking quietly to the exits. Bunch of sheep. In my day ...
No! I can't distract myself now. I have to witness the exchange! This must
be it. A public place Pyrite chose with good visibility for Ambir and no
concealed police hidden among the people around them. Better conceal myself
before the crowd thins out and Ambir arrives.
I don't think I'll use the audio recorder. No saying what kind of
detection technology the Nemesians have so I'll have to settle for witnessing
it. If necessary I'll undergo soulreading to verify my story. For a chance
like this it's worth the unpleasantness. Let's see, no people are going to be
left here apart from those two so I'll need a complete transform. With that
in mind I dump the inactive recorder and my cigarettes in a nonrecyclables
bin. Think stuff in those gets collected, converted to energy (without
pollution of course) and added to the central powergrid. There's a definite
rattle as non recyclable garbage is in short supply these days. At least
around here. Maybe I can retrieve them later. I check my pockets for
anything else that isn't part of me and come up with the passkey Ami gave me.
I'd say its usefulness has ended so I pitch it.
There's an empty planter nearby that will be perfect. Soon as it's all
clear I jump in, absorb my clothes back into my body, raise my arms above my
head and change. My toes extend and become brown roots digging into the soil.
My feet and legs fuse together to form a thin trunk as my chest contracts and
becomes circular. My arms become main branches as my fingers grow and become
sub-branches tipped with green leaves. As this is happening my facial
features disappear and my skull grows upward becoming a tapering trunk. The
brown from my roots spreads over the rest of my body as my skin roughens.
There we go, a perfect oak sapling. Just awaiting a little more growth before
its transplant to along the walkway. It's a little tricky to describe how I
perceive things (you gotta be bark covered to truly appreciate it) but I sense
Pyrite and Rhineston nearby as they finish checking the park.
"Nobody left but us." Pyrite sounds confident. Sensing auras is one of
his speciality. Nothing to sense here except plants.
"So it seems." Rhineston agrees cautiously while waving an eggshaped
blue crystal around. Looks like it doesn't pick me on though he does stop
walking long enough to glance at me. "What's this thing?"
Pyrite takes a quick look and tells him, "It's a tobacco plant."
Tobacco plant? Guess botany's really not his field. The important thing
is they pass me by without notice. The two of them cross to the clearing
where a few kids were playing soccer earlier. Pyrite stands there holding
his briefcase and looking as though he's patiently waiting for a bus.
Rhineston rechecks the whole area before he's finally convinced it's all
clear. He produces something which has to be a communicator because there's
a swirl of light and Ambir appears before them. Pyrite and Ambir exchange
greetings and commiserate each other about how unfortunate it is politics
gets in the way of scientific exchange, how science is above such petty
bickering, academic brotherhood ... yadda, yadda, yadda. It's almost like
listening to one of those egghead conferences. So far nobody's mentioned
killing anybody while setting up this exchange. Either Rhineston's got his
own reasons for keeping it quiet or this sort of thing's common on Nemesis
when you want to preserve secrecy. Rhineston does make some comment about
Pyrite being worthy of being a Nemesian scientist which startles Ambir
momentarily. He recovers fast but he's watching Pyrite with a bit more
respect.
In response to Pyrite's inquiry Ambir produces a flat box about six
inches long. Inside the box are three small jewels (green, red & blue)
nestled in grey foam and a larger translucent crystal. Ambir pulls the
green gem free and tosses it into the air shouting something like, "Come
forth droid Marsellis." There's a flare of light and we're looking at a
green woman wearing a leotard made of sheet music who's left arm ends in a
trumpet. Ambir explains that this is a battle droid capable of ultrasonic
attack. The red gem will produce a hazardous environment/exploration droid
while the blue one is a general purpose unit. Pyrite shows a lot more
interest in the crystal which Ambir says is a data storage unit. He's
obviously surprised when Pyrite nods and picks up the crystal. It glows
faintly and Pyrite smiles then asks some sort of technical question which
amazes Ambir. Pyrite tells him he's seen encoded crystals before. I guess
that means both Nemesis and the Dark Kingdom derived the technology from
Silver Millennium's. I gather he's only had time to skim the surface as he
looks unhappy when Ambir takes it back. Must be time to keep his end of the
bargain.
The surface of his case ripples and extrudes a bookslate. He hands it to
Ambir and says it contains a few choice samples of his research. He's still
holding onto the case very tightly. I guess it's good stuff because Ambir
looks ecstatic. He displays what I guess is some sort of equation and starts
talking in gibberish. Pyrite seems to understand and starts talking the same
sort of nonsense. I make out the terms dimension, quantum interface, warp,
Einstein-Rosen and few others but none of it seems to make any sense. The
two of them continue to jabber away and Rhineston's expression changes from
wary alertness to boredom.
That changes suddenly. I get a faint tingle, close to what I get when
there's a Senshi nearby. Either my range has increased and I'm picking up a
Senshi some distance away or it's a Senshi operating at low power. There's
only one Senshi I know of who doesn't keep her powers constantly armed and
ready. What's she doing here?
I'm not alone. Pyrite glances sideways just before Rhineston does. He
mutters something to Ambir then disappears towards the trees. Ambir produces
another gemstone with swirling colours. He tells Pyrite not to worry as no
other unexpected guests will be arriving. Then he resumes asking questions.
Pyrite shrugs, turns back to Ambir and answers him.
Meantime the tingle is getting closer. Ami storms down the walkway
looking very unhappy. She's ditched her senshi fuku in favour of a blue
sundress. If she didn't look so mad it would be rather an attractive
picture. She grabs the trash can and hisses, "What the hell are you playing
at? I've got a hysterical woman who's claiming to have seen a dead man in the
labs about the time you left! This isn't why I hired you!"
She's talking to a trash can? I was right the first time. She has gone
nuts. Then it strikes me. She thinks that's me transformed into a garbage
can. But why? Wait a minute that's where I ditched the passkey! The
passkey she had ready for me and gave me so willingly. She planted a tracer
in it so she could track my movements! That little Machiavellian little blue haired
minx! Acts so cute and innocent but ... you know my respect for her has just
gone up a notch. Didn't count on this at all.
Meanwhile she continues to berate the trash can for it's failings and
I'm finding it all rather amusing. Until Rhineston glides up behind her. She
doesn't notice and starts to shake the can for not answering back. Rhineston
silently produces his needle and continues towards her. Looks like he favours
the professional underhand thrust upwards with a blade to the amateur's
overhand downward stab. I doubt the blade leaves a physical mark if its
effects are to simulate natural death but it must be a habit. Definitely a
man used to weapons. Seems so much better than those goons Ferrite and I
ran into. They were cannon fodder, this man is an expert killer. Mercury's
still showing no signs of having noticed him. He's taking a lot more care
with her than her did with Yuri Angel. But there he was expecting a quick
kill of a very weak opponent. He knows not to take chances with a Sailor
Senshi. He's about to kill my client. And she hasn't paid me yet!
My left branch shifts back to an arm and aims at Rhineston. I reform my
mouth and yell "BEHIND YOU" at the same instant I throw a hasty energy pulse.
Rhineston reels back dropping his needle but looking unhurt. Ami's just
turning around looking very confused and sees Rhineston behind her. She opens
her mouth to ask what's going on as I blast Rhineston a second time. At least
I try, the bolt splashes harmlessly off a shield. He pulls one of those
crystal guns out of nowhere and returns fire. I manage to dodge his shot
but my dive to the side just succeeds in tipping over the planter. Right now
I'm Magnesite PI from the waist up and tree on the bottom half. So I'm still
rooted to the damn planter. I manage to roll away from his second burst
dragging the pot with me as I frantically retract my roots back into feet.
He shifts aim and it looks like he has me cold with his third shot. I'm
about to find out if I can survive this particular energy weapon.
There's a flare of light to the left and I see Ami's clothing melt away
and replaced with her sailor fuku. I'd probably enjoy it a lot more if I
wasn't about to die. Luckily Rhineston's seen it too. He spins from me to
drop the more dangerous opponent. "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" For an instant
she seems to be ... playing a harp? Then Rhineston goes spinning down the
path in a blizzard of snow and ice. Ambir and Pyrite have turned towards the
confusion. Pyrite has Ambir's box and Ambir's holding Pyrite's case so it
looks like the exchange was made. Pyrite takes in the scene then gets that
narrow eyed concentrating look that means he's about to teleport. Nothing
happens and he turns to say something to Ambir. Then he goes flying as Ambir
fires his gun (where'd that come from?) into Pyrite. Pyrite sprawls on the
grass but the lifeglow indicates he's still alive. Ambir looks towards us, a
gun in his right hand, that glowing crystal in the left and the briefcase that
caused all this mess at his feet. He studies us but doesn't fire.
Beside me Mercury triggers her visor and the blue band covers her eyes.
"The crystal blocks teleports and is projecting a forcefield over this area."
Ambir's comment about no more gatecrashers makes sense. The lights in the
crystal are flickering faster now. I'll bet it's running out of power.
Large forcefields need a lot of juice and there's got to be a limit what you
can pack into a crystal that small. I figure I've got a couple more medium
energy bursts left. If he's got a personal shield I probably can't hurt him
but it should distract him.
"I'll break left. When he tracks me you deepfreeze him!" Mercury
gasps in sudden realization. Her voice is low and urgent.
"No, wait! He's got to get away or the whole sequence could collapse!"
I have no idea what that's supposed to mean but I nod. At which point I
start to think instead of just reacting and the true horror of what I've done
strikes me. I just saved the life of one of the sailor senshi! What the hell
was I thinking about! Sweet Chandler if anyone ever hears about this my youma
credibility will hit zero! I can't believe I did that. Sure she owes me
energy but ... yeah that's it! I just reacted instinctively to save my
dinner. It doesn't indicate any kind of nobility on my behalf. Any other
day of the week I'd happily have watched Rhineston stab her. Besides who's
gonna believe I'd do something heroic? Now if I can just keep Mercury from
saying anything then I'll be all right.
Speaking of Rhineston it seems he's not out of action after all. He
suddenly comes flipping past us in one of those multiple somersaulting leaps
ninjas keep doing in the movies. He comes to rest between us and Ambir. His
hair seems frozen in place and there's frost on his clothes but otherwise he
seems fine. "Ambir get out of here! I'll hold them!" He's weaving his gun
between the two of us.
"Very well!" Ambir drops his crystal and twitches his gun slightly to
the side before firing. The back of Rhineston's head explodes and he begins
to topple forward. We're gaping at the sight when the crystal hits the ground
and shatters. There's a massive flare of light and the park goes white.
My eyes adjust to the glare almost instantly. No Ambir! Instant exit
meaning teleports work again. Rhineston's sprawled on the grass and obviously
won't be getting up again. Pyrite's still down but he's beginning to move.
Either Ambir underestimated his shield (if he raised it) or he wasn't trying
to kill him but simply wanted him out of the way. Didn't Pyrite say something
about his case self destructing if he died or gave the order? Maybe Ambir
didn't want to take the chance he'd fry his papers and try to bluff us. But
he couldn't risk Pyrite's death having the same effect.
I've used up more power than I like on those energy bursts but I decide
to expend a little more. Hey I'm on an expense account and Mercury has to
reimburse me (I rewrote my contracts slightly after dealing with Ferrite,
not that I regret the bonus I accepted in the least) for energy expended on
her behalf. My senses extend to try and track Ambir's teleport.
Damn! Nothing but static. He's set off something that scrambles any
traces. Rhineston won't be talking. Must be why Ambir dropped him. Dead
men tell no tales. Well I'd say Rhineston was the type of fanatic prepared
to die on behalf of his planet. Probably wasn't expecting to do it this way
though.
Mercury stumbles and grabs my elbow. She holds on for a few more seconds
until her vision returns then releases her grip. I give her a brief rundown
on what I've learned. She nods then says, "I shouldn't have planted that
tracer on you but Rei had raised some doubts in my mind about your
credibility. I nearly ruined everything by following you. I'm sorry" Yeah
that's what it's like in this game. Your clients don't trust you and you
spend your days tracking the worst kinds of scum. It's a lousy way to make a
living. "Surely it's not that bad?" Damn! I'm talking out loud again. And
I was doing so well.
Meantime Mercury's looking at me and her expression's hard to read. "If
you hadn't intervened Rhineston would have killed me. I owe you my life."
"Only parts of it. Reread the contract." I do that with a Bogie sneer.
Hopefully she'll drop the subject. No such luck.
"That's not what I mean. I shouldn't have been here at all and you saved
my life. How can I repay you."
"Don't mention it." She doesn't get it so I try again. "Don't mention
it. TO ANYONE!" She stares at me for a moment then smiles slightly. "I
believe I understand. Your secret is safe with me." I'll just have to hope
her word's as good as Ferrite's. But I don't see anything funny about this.
Meantime I see movement.
Pyrite sits up looking a bit dazed. It takes him a moment to notice us
towering over him. He looks up at Mercury who's got a very cold expression.
"Ami ... that is Sailor Mercury ... Uhm ... I imagine you'd like an
explanation for what's going on here?" She doesn't say a word just holds out
her hand. After a moment of staring upward in confusion Pyrite realizes he's
holding Ambir's box. He hands it up to her and she snatches it. Ignoring
him she turns to face me.
"Magnesite, watch him!" With that she stalks over to the late Rhineston.
I haul Pyrite to his feet and Ami calls, "I said watch, not rough up!" I
nod and keep a grip on his collar. Pyrite steadies himself and I sneer, "Make
my day, try to escape!"
He seems to be regaining his self control. "I won't run. I'm not the
type to try great escapes. Looks like I'll have to face the music."
"That's right!" I'm relishing this. "High treason. You'll get the
chair for this."
He looks at me and says mildly, "Magnesite, this is Crystal Tokyo. We
don't have the chair."
"Okay then you'll get the Cutie Moon Rod. That's better. It's time to
take the Big 'Moon Princess Halation'!"
I was wrong earlier. This is going to be a great day.
End of part 4
To be concluded
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sailor Moon Expanded presents a Crystal Tokyo Saga Side Story
The Babe wore Blue
another case from the files of Magnesite, PI
by Mark Latus
Part 5 - Time and Punishment
It's a small select crowd in the throne room this time. Serenity's on
her throne facing us looking as clueless as usual. Pyrite's not restrained
but he isn't going anywhere. He's surrounded by Mars (who's looking very
hostile), Jupiter and Venus (who look very confused) and Polaris. Titanite's
obviously thinking this is some sort of misunderstanding that'll be cleared up
in a few minutes. It'll break her heart when she finds out we've got him cold
on high treason. Thoughts like that give me a warm feeling inside.
As for the rest of our merry little crew we've got Mercury and me to
their right while Calcite and Azurite are to the left. My client can't seem
to decide between anger and disappointment. As for Pyrite's better (or at
least more dangerous) half? It's pretty obvious Azurite's not going to just
stand there and watch Serenity vaporize her husband. To the trained eye it's
equally obvious Calcite's positioned himself to block her if she tries
anything. Now unless Azurite's forgotten all her combat skills she's got to
know this. Meaning she'll have to choose between dropping her oldest friend
or trying to save Pyrite. Which also means fighting through the Senshi so
it's a lost cause before she even starts. Not that she's going to let common
sense get in her way. True love ... I always said it'll earn you the big
sleep. After all love's the prime cause of tragedy. It outta be outlawed.
I'm smarter than them. I don't need it. I don't need it all.
Calcite's expression is hard to read. My opinion? Much as he loves his
cousin if Pyrite's guilty then he's going to stand by his oath of loyalty to
Serenity. No matter how much it tears him apart inside. It's hard not to
smile. Life doesn't get much better than this.
The only alarming thing is that two people in here don't look worried.
Serenity and Pyrite. In Serenity's case that could be attributed to her
total disconnection from reality. But why isn't Pyrite scared?
He made no effort to resist (which was a shame) and surrendered to
Mercury without a struggle. She brought us (along with the late Rhineston)
into the palace through a restricted transport pad (which I'll have to
remember) and called for a closed session. She also had the park cleaned up
and reopened. The good citizens of CT will never know anything out of the
ordinary happened there. Makes you wonder what else has been covered up over
the centuries. Probably nothing but I can dream can't I?
Aside from the people in this room no one in CT knows Pyrite's a traitor.
At least none of the locals. Wherever Ambir disappeared to he'll have passed
the word on to his lords and masters. I doubt he's still in Crystal Tokyo.
To much risk Serenity could find him. Unless he's become valueless and got
the same treatment he gave Rhineston.
Ami's just finished her account of what happened in the park. Without
mentioning my little blunder thankfully. Looks like Serenity's ready to
pronounce judgement. This is going to be good.
"Well Pyrite it appears you have betrayed both Crystal Tokyo and myself,
turned research over to a potentially hostile power which could enable them to
cause great havoc in the near future and temporarily deprived the citizens of
the use of Shingo memorial park." I can't help noticing she didn't mention
his blowing large holes through me.
Pyrite doesn't seem particularly worried. "That's all true your majesty
..." Titanite gasps and Azurite's about to interrupt his confession, "...
but I'd like to point out this is a first offense and I've been a model
citizen until now." Azurite starts to say something about stress and a
psychological exam when Serenity raises a hand. Azurite shuts up not wanting
to make things worse and we all lean forward to hear her judgement.
"It's certainly true that your record has been spotless until now so it's
a shame to spoil it over this one incident. So I'm letting you off with a
warning ... ahem; Don't do it again. Case dismissed. Any other business?"
Serenity beams at us and looks around the room. I think Pyrite's the only
one not frozen in shock.
Calcite breaks the silence after a few moments. "Your majesty ...
Serenity, I have the funny feeling this isn't exactly news to you."
Serenity simply smiles. "Calcite, you do have a tendency to paranoia."
"A side effect of my upbringing." His voice is dry. "While your mercy
is well known this is a little too extreme. You have always balanced it with
accountability." Everyone else, myself included is still looking bewildered.
Next to me Mercury is muttering "But ... but ... but..."
Serenity spreads her hands. "You know me well, Calcite. You're quite
right I did know all this was going to happen. I had a private meeting with
Pyrite and ... an old friend recently to discuss his betraying us."
Rei snaps out of her confusion. "I didn't know about any meeting. And
I keep track of everything that happens in the palace. If Pyrite had arrived
unannounced or you'd gone to see him I'd have known."
She turns to stare at Pyrite who answers mildly, "I didn't get here under
my own power. It seems she can evade your detection systems." He gets an
abstracted look. "I'd like to review the palace security systems if I could.
Perhaps I can suggest a few improvements?"
Serenity looks a little a little guilty. "I'm afraid Rei that your
sensors aren't exactly accurate about watching me. I know you're just doing
your job but I like my privacy. So I used the ginzuishou to ensure your
sensors give you readings that make you feel secure."
Rei twitches slightly. "I don't believe this! How long has this been
going on!"
"Ummm ... since sometime in the twenty-second century when I discovered
just how closely you were watching me. Sorry."
Rei's looking very twitchy. Eight hundred years of watching shadows.
I'd laugh but I think she'd incinerate me on the spot. Rei contains her anger
(Hey, Serenity is her queen after all) and decides to changing the subject
fast. "Who's this mystery woman you two are hinting about?!"
"Me." All eyes turn to the dame at the back of the room. Dressed in a
senshi costume and carrying a staff taller than herself. Except for me it
seems everyone here recognises her. Most look surprised except for Rei who
mutters, "Figures!" She strides through the gawking crowd toward the throne
and gives Serenity a respectful bow. Then at Serenity's nod she joins the
queen on the dias and turns to face us.
I thought I had this whole thing worked out. A nice straightforward case
of a fuzzy headed academic screwing up cause he never thinks about the real
world. Except if he did it by royal order then nothing adds up. I'm trying
to put all the pieces back together. Who the hell is she? The only other
true senshi are Uranus and Neptune and she doesn't look like either. Anyway
the costume's wrong. Next to me the dazed Mercury says, "Pluto?" and I've
got a name.
Sailor Pluto!
Never heard of her.
She addresses us all and things get more confusing. "As you've all just
guessed I arranged with Serenity for Pyrite to trade with Ambir. I'd visited
him shortly before their first meeting and asked him to show extreme
enthusiasm for Nemesis's droid technology."
"Which wasn't hard as it's fascinating stuff. A whole new field of
crystal magic ... sorry didn't mean to interrupt." Pluto smiles faintly and
continues.
"After that I brought him here for a meeting with Serenity. I'd already
met with her concerning not telling Mercury the Renegades were now aware of
what is to come in the near future." Mercury makes a choking noise and grinds
her teeth.
What was that supposed to mean? She's a more powerful psychic than Mars
perhaps? What are the attributes of Pluto anyway? I'll have to do a little
research. Assuming I get out of here intact.
This time Rei interrupts. "Wait a minute! Ami already knew that."
"No I didn't!" Mercury sounds royally pissed. Perhaps appropriate
considering the source.
Rei's looking bewildered. "But ... Serenity told me she'd told you. I
was feeling this tremendous relief because it wasn't just us anymore. Also I
wouldn't have to watch myself saying the wrong thing around Ti and Calcite."
She turns to Serenity, "That's what you said and I always know when you try
to lie to me because you're so bad at it!"
Serenity's embarrassed. "Actually Rei I told you I was going to tell
her which was true. I just didn't say when."
Rei's standing there with her mouth hanging open and Mercury seems to be
reaching the boiling point. Jupiter says, "But I assumed Ami knew!" Venus
and Jupiter nod and Pluto says, "That was the whole point."
Mercury gives Pluto a very cold look. "You wanted me to make a fool of
myself?!"
"No." Pluto seems complete unruffled. "I needed you to perform certain
actions to ensure the sequence of things to come. The Black Moon Family needs
some of Pyrite's dimensional research. With it added to their own theories
they will be able to construct a crude timegate. Very crude as it will be
extremely limited in where and when it can access."
Calcite asks, "By that you mean twentieth century Tokyo?" What the hell
is going on here? What in Chandler's name is a timegate? She nods and
Calcite just looks more confused. "But that means this whole sequence can't
begin without that betrayal. Which wouldn't have happened without your
intervention. And if they don't build the timegate then none of your historical
conflicts with the Black Moon Family happen so the whole timeline's different
and Crystal Tokyo as it exists now never happens so there's never anything to
betray?!"
"That's essentially right." Are they talking about time travel?
Calcite looks like he's getting a headache. "But that means there's this
whole self contained loop in time. How the hell could it start in the first
place."
"I'm afraid you wouldn't understand. That's not a slur on your
intelligence. I merely mean than you perceive time in a linear fashion so
events like this are very difficult to comprehend."
Calcite sighs and massages his forehead. "I've known about this stuff
for under a week and I already hate it." Venus seems to decide there's no
need to keep guarding Pyrite and steps over to join her husband. Azurite
swaps places with her. From the way she's glaring at Pyrite I'd say she's not
happy.
Calcite's cheers up a bit after Venus joins him. Next thing he says is,
"One thing I still don't get is, if they go back and change history don't they
disrupt their own timeline? They have to know they'd be creating a paradox!"
Pluto shakes her head.
"There's a slight misunderstanding about what their initial intentions
were and will be ..." Huh? "Let's stick to past tense. Their intention was
not to conquer twentieth century Tokyo but to introduce a hidden corruption to
the mana well. The magical equivalent of a computer virus set to trigger at
a certain point. Crystal Tokyo is a city built on magic. By the thirtieth
century everything would be infused with the corruption. Then they'd simply
return to their own time and send the activation signal and Crystal Tokyo's
defenses and support systems would fail or simply cease to exist." Mercury
nods as though it confirms something she's long suspected. Other than that
there's quite a few blank expressions in here. Particularly Serenity's. "If
they simply wanted to destroy old Tokyo they could have just transported
high yield weaponary aboard Reubus's spaceship that twentieth century
technology could not defend against. Your younger selves would have been
equally capable of blocking a strike on Tokyo and the battle would have been
over in seconds, minutes at most."
"But Esmeraude ..." Whatever Jupiter is going to say is overridden by
more of Pluto's gibberish.
"The subsequent deployment of the dark henges was and will be an attempt
by Wiseman to prime his Dark Crystal. By then Demand will be enough in his
thrall to ignore the implications of what changing the past will do to the
history of his own people on Nemesis. Not being part of the terrestrial
timestream local paradox doesn't concern Wiseman." I'd say at least half
the people in here feel as lost as me.
Meanwhile Azurite's glaring at Pyrite. "So you didn't think you could
trust me with this! Well why should you? After all we've only been together
for about a millennium!" The sarcastic tone gives way to one somewhere
between worry and anger. "I've been going out of my mind worrying about what
you'd got your fool self into!"
"I asked him not to discuss this with anyone outside the three of us."
Azurite turns to glare at Pluto. "The best way to ensure everyone acted
normally was if no one outside of us knew anything."
Azurite's about to make some sharp rebuke (she probably resents the
implied insult to her acting skills) when Pyrite cuts her off. "I'm sorry I
couldn't tell you but you know I wouldn't have done this without good reason.
Just as I know you wouldn't keep a secret from me without a similarly good
reason." The mild answer seems to strike home as she flinches. For a moment
I expect her to make some sort of angry remark before she sighs and softens.
"You have this annoying habit of sounding reasonable before I can get
properly mad." At which point she kisses him and his remaining guards step
away. Looks like everything's forgiven. Damn! I was really expecting to
enjoy today. Pluto nods like everything's under control and vanishes.
"Just a minute!" Everyone turns to look at me and it occurs to me that
reminding them I'm present isn't the smartest move I've ever made. Bogie
wouldn't cringe, soldier on! "What everyone seems to be forgetting is Pyrite
put a lot of holes in one of the campus police.
That causes a few gasps but Pyrite says, "That was you Magnesite. So
there wasn't any harm done."
"You didn't know it was me!" Weasel out of that one.
He does. "If I hadn't known it was you I wouldn't have been so violent.
I'm not noted for my bloodthirstiness. Also there was a certain satisfaction
in blowing a few holes in you. Even if it meant only a temporary
inconvenience to an energy being."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He looks thoughtful. "Well, I seem to remember this youma who nearly
beat me to death while looking like Queen Beryl."
I'm suddenly on the sharp end of a lot of glares. As these people can
blast holes through mountains that's not good. There's a slight quiver in my
voice as I remind them, "That was centuries ago. Besides I was pardoned for
my ... activities back in the twentieth. Anyway that's avoiding the issue.
How did you know it was me?"
"The same way I knew you were that student in the puffy orange and purple
shirt. The one who was spying on me and ... another student who wanted to
talk about her grades." He's glossing over the jailbait. I'll bring her up
later. "Incidentally those shirts went out of style last semester. After
that you were the janitor sweeping the hallway outside my office, then you
were the ..." He goes on reeling of all my disguises. How the hell did he
spot me? I don't use disguise magic, I shift shape! It's impossible to tell
who I really am.
"Lastly you were that ridiculous oak sapling in the park."
"Hold it. I did a great oak sapling."
He gives me one of those superior smiles. "The average oak tree doesn't
have a lit cigarette clutched in it's branches. I'm surprised you weren't
wearing a hat." Everyone laughs except Mercury and me. Damn, talk about
amateurish. I was still holding it when I changed. I forgot it wasn't part
of my body so it wouldn't shift with me. Getting shot must have shaken me up
more than I thought. Looks like I drastically underestimated his sensory
powers. Evidently he can detect now no matter what form I'm wearing. That
also explains the "tobacco plant" crack.
Maybe I can still salvage this. "That doesn't change the fact it took
energy to repair myself. Which means you owe me."
He doesn't seem worried. "Not to worry. You still owe Margrave for the
lifeforce she provided on your revival. Now Margrave owes me a debt which
Azure has wanted cleared for a long time. So I'll have her cancel your debt
to her which'll end any obligation she has to me. Then everybody's happy."
I'm not happy but I'm stuck with this. Especially after Serenity says
that it seems fair. Metallia in Abyss I cannot believe things have turned out
this rotten. I'm not even really clear with Margrave 'cause I still owe her
a few favours. Which isn't so bad as every private eye should be entangled
with at least one femme fatale. But the point is I was looking forward to
seeing a Renegade vaporized today. Even if I'd have to endure a silly
catch phrase. I wonder if they ever topped, "Moon Starlight Honeymoon Therapy
Kiss"?
I've got one more chance to rain on their parade. "Well that clears
that up but there's one more thing I turned in this investigation that puts
a few blemishes on your character." I address the room at large but I'm
really aiming for Azurite. "If Pyrite's such an all around good guy why was
he messing around with that student? And don't try to tell me it was nothing!
The air was thick with double entendres!" This should be good. Stepping out
on a woman who can generate plasma hurricanes should get messy!
Everyone turns to look at Pyrite in confusion. Except I feel a sudden
sinking sensation when I realize Azurite doesn't turn a hair. She sighs and
says, "This student ..." She seems to change as a glamour activates, " ...
Did she look anything like this?" Yeah it's her all right. Standing there
wearing Azurite's clothes. Azurite's appearance flickers back to normal and
she mutters, "Moron."
Serenity looks confused. "I don't understand."
Azurite looks a little surprised. "Just a little game your majesty.
Every now and again I figure a little variety doesn't hurt so I'll show up
wearing a glamour. Lately I've been feeling more alive than I have in years
after ... Well anyway it's an old game of ours." She gives Pyrite a mock
glare, "And if I ever manage to seduce you and you don't give some hint you
know it's really me you're a dead man."
"Fair enough."
Serenity is still looking confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Uhm ... well over a long haul with a single partner a certain monotony
can develop. Some people fight it by raising families or having really
spectacular breakups." Venus is about to say something but Calcite stops her.
"We don't get quite that extreme but ... well you must know what I mean."
Serenity still has that puzzled look. "Not really. Why should I ever
feel bored with Endymion?" Sweet Marlowe preserve us! I think she's serious.
Can't be. Nobody, but nobody can be that content!
Azurite's looking somewhat awed. "Yes, well ... I guess we don't have
your ... uh ... strength of character. At any rate a little roleplaying
never hurts to keep things interesting."
Titanite chimes in, "That's absolutely true. I remember this one time
a while back I dropped in very unexpectedly on Cal & Mina ..." Both of whom
suddenly look very alert and are trying to signal Sailor Polaris to shut up.
"Anyway Cal had dug out his old Dark Lord outfit from his days in England and
Minako was wearing most of her Sailor V costume ..." Her voice trails off as
she finally registers the twin glares directed at her. "Uh right, I sorta
promised not to mention that. Ah ... could you all kinda forget I said that?"
From the grins around this room I'd guess not.
Venus is looking somewhat red. Calcite's got a much better poker face
but his eyes are promising his sister some unspecified retribution. Wonder
if she got any pictures? At any rate he decides a change of subject is in
order. "If we can return to the issue at hand we have a dead Nemesian to
deal with. To be more specific an unknown Nemesian as he wasn't part of the
delegation. Rei?"
"So do you still have that dark lord costume?" Calcite gives Rei a look
that could blister paint. "Don't be so grumpy. Well as Calcite said our
mystery man wasn't part of the delegation. Ami you examined him and confirmed
he was a Nemesite?"
"Not exactly. I just did a cursory examination. Enough to know he's
not a terrestrial human. There are definite variations from the human norm.
Hardly surprising as they've been cut off from Earth since the fall of Silver
Millennium and adapting to an alien world all that time. It's also conceivable
that they've used genetic engineering to speed up that adaption and boost the
percentage of powered individuals over the centuries. A more detailed
examination ..."
"No."
Everyone turns to look at Serenity. She doesn't raise her voice but
there's a definite hint of iron. "We have no idea of the beliefs of these
people regarding their dead and we will not commit sacrilege. He is clearly
deceased and that is all we need to know." She looks directly at Mercury.
"He is not to be treated as an experimental subject and will be returned
forthwith to our guests for transport home and the appropriate rites. Rei,
please handle this matter. You might also politely ask them why a member of
their delegation and an unknown Nemesian had a fatal disagreement and
disrupted the peace of our city." Rei nods, probably already speculating on
what their official story will be. Mercury is about to protest the loss to
science but Serenity looks unyielding. My client subsides and nods. Say what
you will about Serenity I have to admit she's a classy broad. On another note
it's a lot handier when the dead disintegrate. You don't need to worry about
beliefs or a fancy funeral. All you need's a dustpan.
Rei resumes, "I've discussed this matter briefly with Calcite prior to
the hearing. Security's my job but as it'll be his worry in a few years I
thought it couldn't hurt. We've come up with two possibilities for this
Rhineston's presence. The least worrying is he arrived here on Demand's ship.
While they were approaching Crystal Tokyo he teleported from the ship to a
secret location. You were scanning the ship after it entered our airspace so
you'd have sensed a teleport from it into Crystal Tokyo. So he landed
somewhere else. Perhaps elsewhere in Japan, perhaps outside. Then he entered
the city by more conventional means."
Calcite adds, "The bad news about this is he might not have been the only
agent they dropped this way. In fact sending in a single infiltrator wouldn't
make sense. Meaning there are others out there somewhere. However the
alternative is worse."
Rei nods. "The alternative is that he was already here. Perhaps he was
dropped on Earth years ago as a deep cover agent. In which case there's no
saying how many Nemesians are already at large on Earth or how far they've
infiltrated."
Jupiter breaks in, "Wait a second! Okay they may look human but they're
bound to make slips an earthling wouldn't!"
Venus chuckles. "Oh really? I know of a pack of youma who lived
undetected in Tokyo without anyone who wasn't a Senshi finding out. And
they'd have stayed undercover and undetected if Sam Spade over there hadn't
shown up pretending to be the generals."
Polaris chips in, "They could use our method. Don't try to look like a
local, be a foreigner. Then when you screw up it gets put down to because
you're an ignorant outsider rather than not a terrestrial."
Rei sighs. "Yeah, it's a security nightmare. Especially as we can't let
on we know anything's wrong yet. We're going to have to quietly check all
immigrants to Crystal Tokyo in the past century. Beyond our borders there's
not a damn thing we can do about it."
So the Senshi know the Nemesians are hostile but are putting up a front
of cordiality while plotting against them. I'm impressed. I had no idea they
were this youmalike.
Calcite tells Serenity, "We know that Nemesis is divided into a variety
of competing houses. I imagine our mystery man will turn out to be working
for another clan while Ambir will turn out to be a double agent infiltrated
into Demand's household by a rival family. No doubt intent on sabotaging the
establishment of peaceful diplomatic relations between Crystal Tokyo and the
Black Moon Family. At least that's what Demand will tell us very shortly.
Who knows? It could even be true and Demand will take be taking the data
from Ambir by force. Or Ambir's clan will trade it to the Black Moon in
exchange for an alliance. Or perhaps Ambir's a triple agent and the rivals
only think they infiltrated him. There's no end of possibilities. According
to what Ti's learned deception is something of an art form on Nemesis."
"Perhaps we can find him and ask him?"
Calcite manages not to laugh. "I would guess that he's long gone from
the city by now. Unless he has no further use to his masters in which case
I imagine we'll get an invitation to see his body. Killed resisting arrest or
whatever the euphemism is on Nemesis."
Rei concurs. "I agree. At any rate this whole trial was a farce Pluto
set up so we can cut Pyrite loose and get back to normal."
Calcite shakes his head. "I'm afraid not."
"Why the hell not?" Azurite sounds annoyed.
"Because whoever on Nemesis Ambir was working for believe Pyrite's been
arrested for treason and they've stolen valuable data. If he shows up back
at CTU they'll know something's wrong. They'll suspect the data is worthless
and junk it. Meaning everything falls apart." He sighs. "'Consider the
other three of you your trump cards' she said. So cousin it looks like you're
going to be our ace in the hole."
Pyrite frowns. "I don't like the sound of that."
"Then you'll hate the rest. Ami?"
"Yes?"
"I need you to announce that Dr. Pyrite has taken ill and will be
temporarily unavailable to teach his classes for the next little while. Don't
make a big deal about it, just find a few substitutes."
Pyrite doesn't get it. "I don't get sick anymore that you do Cal!"
"Exactly. Anyone who looks into the matter will learn this and realize
the story's fake. So obviously because you've got relatives in high places
we're trying to spare ourselves a scandal. They'll realized you must have
actually been imprisoned or executed and this is just a cover story for public
consumption. Now as to what you'll be really doing ..." He looks back to
Ami. "You have the droid crystals and data he traded for?" Ami nods.
"Cal, they wouldn't give us functional weapons we could use against them.
Those must be defective somehow! Either the droids they produce are faulty,
easily disabled or will turn on us if given the appropriate signal. The
data on the crystal's probably worthless too. Enough factual bits to make it
seem credible but mainly garbage."
"I quite agree. But they're examples of Nemesis technology. You're
going back to weaponry R&D just like the bad old days. We'll set you up in
a secluded lab. Everything you need supplied but no one outside this room
gets to see you for the next few years. You'll be taking those things apart
and deducing back to first principles. From there I want you to learn
everything you can deduce about Nemesis crystal magic and come up with
countermeasures. When the war starts and they send a droid army against us I
want to be able to press a button and make the damn things spontaneously
combust!"
"Tall order. Lock myself in a lab for years and come up with miracles?"
"Are you kidding? I can see you practically salivating over the chance
to mess around with a new technology. When you get like this it's dragging
from away from work that's the problem. Oh what the hell, we'll let Azurite
drop by for the odd conjugal visit."
"My, you're generous." Azurite chuckles and whispers something in
Pyrite's ear. His eyes widen and she nods in affirmation. Wonder what she
just said? After all I'm a professional eavesdropper.
Rei's looking my way. She shakes her head then faces Mercury. "Why the
hell did you hire him anyway? He's a troublemaking nutcase who thinks he's
living in a detective movie. You could have just come to me."
Mercury just looks at her for a moment. Then she explodes. "Like hell
I could!" Everyone's staring. This has been building for some time. You've
got to watch the quiet ones. She's ranting away loudly. "Ever since Demand
showed up you've all been on edge! Mako! You've been planning and cancelling
military exercises every five minutes. Minako nearly kills Calcite in one of
those idiotic duels they keep fighting. How the hell did you two lunatics
decide swords equal foreplay!" She's on a definite roll. "Serenity you've
been doing everything you can to avoid facing this mess. Rei, your entire
staff has been walking on eggshells around you. Anyone makes the slightest
mistake around you and you bite their heads off. God I saw how you treated
that lieutenant who had a button undone! Marine sergeants scream less! The
only really rational person I've met all week is a youma catwoman!"
She shuts up and the room is very quiet. After a few deep breaths she
says. "Sorry, I've been under a lot of stress lately." Various insincere
remarks about not worrying about it follow. "Getting back to your question
Rei, I couldn't run the risk that you'd overreact and interfere with Pyrite's
... with what I suspected was Pyrite's treachery. That could have caused a
time paradox. The same with everyone else who knew what was going to happen.
That brought it down to Calcite, Polaris and Ferrite. I had no idea Calcite
and Ti knew what was going to happen but because they're related to Pyrite I
couldn't ask them to look into things and Ferrite's left the city again. I
considered bringing in Tom under pretext of a visit but I was afraid he'd
realize you're all acting strange and start poking around the palace. There's
no saying what that could uncover or the consequences of whatever he
discovered. It's going to be hard enough keeping him realizing anything's
out of the ordinary next time I see him."
"Anyway I needed someone capable of investigating and countering
paranormal threats. Someone out of the loop and with no royal connections
whatsoever but bright enough to do the job. I remembered something Tom had
said once and realised Magnesite fit the bill perfectly. You see some time
back Tom got curious about our only private investigator and checked him out
unofficially. He concluded that demented as Magnesite is he's a first rate
detective."
Thank you so very much. I'm about to give my opinion of Starhunter
Prime's assessment when Rei looks up from her whispered conversation with
Titanite. Mars and Polaris start to stroll my way. Rei's smiling as she
says, "I can understand your logic Ami. However it leaves me a bit of a
security problem. There's one person in this room who has learned far too
much."
"You're crazy Rei! I have no idea what's going on. I haven't figured
out that time travel is possible ..." Damn! I just had to say that.
Titanite's looked a little more malevolent than usual. "Not to worry.
I'm sure a model citizen like Magnesite will be willing to agree to a few
precautions."
"I do believe you're right Polaris!" Rei turns to Serenity. "I'd like
you to erase Magnesite's memory of the past day or two. That will plug the
security leak."
Serenity looks uncertain. "I don't like to interfere with people's
minds. Especially if they haven't done anything wrong."
Rei just smiles. "Not to worry, Serenity. I'm sure Magnesite will
volunteer for the procedure. After all it's in the public good." She turns
back to me. "Isn't that right?"
Titanite's close enough to whisper, "It's that or the teddy bear option!"
Just as quietly Rei says, "You'd be amazed what I can get away with under
the state of emergency statues."
They could be bluffing.
No, it's too damn risky to call it. Better salvage what I can. I
announce (louder than I have to), "I'm agreeable under two conditions."
Both Senshi scowl as Serenity asks, "What are they?" I tell them the
first and everybody stares. Except Serenity who says, "Certainly. Ti, I
believe that would fall under your office?"
"Uh yeah ... I mean, yes your majesty. I'll set the wheels in motion
once we're done here."
Rei looks at me. "So what's the second condition?"
"There's the small matter of my fee ..."
She glares. "You are really pushing it!"
"Stop it Rei!" We all turn to Mercury. She's composed herself again.
"I made a contract with Magnesite and he's honoured his end. So I must
honour mine and give him what we agreed."
"But the investigation was worthless!"
"Not really. It's set Pluto's sequence in motion so both fortunately and
unfortunately events will unfold as they must." With that she crosses over
to me. "You'd better get on with this while you still remember."
One should never turn down a dame who offers herself. Pity I won't
remember this. Rei growls, "I'm watching you. Don't try anything funny." I
tune her out and place my hands on Mercury's shoulders. She nods and I start
the drain. Her energy carries a flavour of cool spring water. Refreshing.
She's delicious. Shame I won't remember this.
I'm feeling charged up as I let her go. She staggers a little but fends
off Rei and Titanite and stays upright unassisted. "It's been ...
interesting."
"Likewise. Maybe you can remind me about this after whatever exactly is
going to happen is over."
"Perhaps." Just like a dame. Never a straight answer.
Well let's get it over with. I look over to Serenity. "I'm ready."
*****************************************************************************
There's a light drizzle outside but the black sky doesn't darken the
streets. After all this is Crystal Tokyo, the city of lights. This burg's
always illuminated. The only real darkness around is the kind that lives in
human hearts but there's still no shortage of that. I should know, my name's
Magnesite and I'm a PI.
Wonder why I thought that? It's actually a clear evening. Must have
dozed off but I don't remember deciding to snooze. While I don't need sleep
physically I do mentally. Otherwise being aware twenty four hours a day
every day adds up. So I take a break now and then to dream. Can't remember
what it was about. Funny that. What's even stranger is I feel energised.
I've obviously eaten recently except I know I haven't. What the hell is
going on?
That's when I realize my desk is tidy for the first time in decades.
Someone has sorted through everything. There are three letters I don't
remember lying in front of me.
The first was in youma'shak which is pretty strange. It was from
Margrave and said I was square with her for the energy I borrowed way back
when. It also reminds me of a number of other debts I still owe her for.
One of which is really the responsibility of a former client who also favoured
trenchcoats.
The second is from the office of Sailor Polaris. According to this a
free festival of all the Bogart films ever made will commence on Friday at
the Juuban Civic Auditorium.
The last is from Sailor Mars and thanks me for agreeing to have my short
term memory erased in the interests of security. There's also some things
about the penalties for attempting to break the seal on my memory. Which she
doesn't think I can do anyway.
Well, well. This is very interesting. A quick rummage through the file
cabinet shows it's been searched. Anything pertaining to a recent case is
gone. I didn't expect it to be that easy.
I sigh theatrically and reach for the bottle. I'll bet I'm being
watched so it's best to act like I've given up. So I'm going to act beaten.
For now. Until surveillance eases up. Then I'll begin retracing my movements
the past few days and figure out what I learned that was so alarming. It's
hard not to smile. Perfectville has some deep dark secret that they had to
bury. Now that intrigues me. This town isn't as boring as I thought.
Down these clean streets a youma must walk. Who is not himself clean
or afraid ... I think interesting times are ahead. For all of us.
End
Afterword : That concludes the first adventure of Magnesite PI but it's by no
means the last. It turned out I wasn't the only Bogie and Sailor
Moon fan among the talented (if twisted) folks who make up
Sailor Moon Expanded. Throughout the story you'll have noticed
reference's to a meeting with Frank Barr's "Ferrite", perhaps
better known as "Trenchcoat Mask". If you're interested check
out "Case of the Missing Senshi" by Frank Barr, available on
the SME page at:
http://www.texas.net/~android/sme_main.html
There's also a story about Magnesite's exploits during the
war with Nemesis in the works. Watch for "Casablanca Revisited"
as life imitates art for our slightly demented protagonist.
Frank's also planning a post war story with the title, "The Power
Behind the Throne" that will reunite Magnesite and Ferrite once
more. But don't expect that anytime soon as Frank's got no
shortage of Trenchcoat Mask stories to tell first.
As for Magnesite it's funny how a character conceived as a one
time villain can take on a life of his own. Thanks to everyone
at SME for all the weird and wonderful inspirations. Check
out the page and look up their work. It's all good stuff.
You can also check out my other SME fanfics (shameless self
promotion!). That's all for now folks.
Mark Latus Jan 10 1997
Revised for RAAC posting Oct 28. 97
My fanfic homepage can be found at
http://www.oocities.org/Tokyo/Temple/1810
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