Magnesite and Margrave in ... ?
by ... ?

Pick a title.  But first a little background might help.

Okay here's the scoop.  Most applicants to SME can be broken down into two
types.  Type 1 has a concept that blatently disregards the continuity and 
expect us to fit it in anyway.  Suggested changes to make it workable are 
ignored and the applicant eventually goes away muttering about elitism and
how we're impossible to work with.  My personal favourite was the one who told 
us evil dripped from our very pores.  Anyway that sums up Type 1.

Type 2 is somewhat more puzzling.  They show up with a workable and promising
concept, we tell them to give it a go after which we never hear from them 
again.  A few examples follow; During the war with Nemesis a droid's AI gets 
hacked so it becomes a free agent; One of Zoisite's minions (his jester)
escapes the Dark Kingdom, being a troublemaker rather than truly evil she 
becomes a thorn in Sailor Polaris's side.  Or to put it another way a real 
pain in the butt.  There are a few others but the real point of this page is 
the following concept.

David Johnston {rgorman@telusplanet.net} wrote in asking about a Magnesite
story with him having to clear Margrave of a murder charge.  He had a story
outline and a few questions about how to make it workable.  I answered the
questions and wrote up a scene for the hypothetical story inspired by the
outline.  I told him to incorporate it or ignore it as he pleased in his 
story.  I was too busy to write a mystery being already backlogged with my 
own stories and only wrote the scene from a spur of the moment inspiration.
It was merely intended as a guide for him as to how things could go

That was in early November '97 and I didn't heard anything from him until 
September '98.  So I came up with the bright idea of throwing the snippet open 
to anyone who wanted to try writing a Magnesite story.  Several people chose
to give it a shot while Ron Inn used it for the inspiration to create his 
own unconnected Magnesite PI adventure.  Here are the original instructions 
on how to enter.

Come up with a story outline inspired by or incorporating the
snippet and email it to me at mark.latus@msvu.ca


I'll add it to this page and if it'll work within SME you can become
a member of our merry little group.  I realize that's not much but I'm on a 
tight budget here.  Best prize I can offer is a cameo in an SME story.
Please specify if you'd like to be
 
(A) A goodguy/girl/other

 or

(B) a villain (The Acolytes of Silence and Fairie both have openings)

Also mention your preferred era; 20th Century, 30th Century {pre, during or 
after the war with Nemesis} or Golden Millennium.


Okay without further ado here's the scene.  Fade in on Magnesite's office 
circa 2850 AD so we're predating "Babe Wore Blue" & "Case of the Missing 
Senshi" by at least a century...

*****************************************************************************

    Margrave's looking a lot twitchier than usual.  Still finding you 
just turned a client into hamburger is the sort of thing that can 
really upset dames.  Definitely ruins the mood.
     "If you're done with the brooding monologues can we get back to 
my little problem?"
     "Sure doll, but what do you expect me to do about it?  Open and 
shut case, you got a little excited and tore him apart.  Maybe you 
can get away with manslaughter but ..."
     "Dammit, I didn't kill him!  I ..."
     "Not on purpose, sure.  Bad for business.  But while my memories 
of the Kingdom are a little hazy I seem to remember when Calcite 
worked for me he'd sometimes show up with your marks on him.  Nothing 
he couldn't handle but humans are a lot more fragile."
     "Idiot!  I've been in business for centuries.  Have you ever 
heard of any of my clients turning up dead?"
     "No.  For that matter if they did you'd never have lasted this 
long."
     "Right.  Nobody gets hurt ... well not unless that's what they 
want and even there I know where to draw the line."  
     Makes sense but I'm wondering how she manages that.  Like I said 
humans break easily and loss of control is something of a given.  "So 
how ...?"
     "How do I manage it?"  I nod and she tells me, "There's what 
I call a supressor reflex ... well reflex is the wrong word as 
you have to consciously engage it.  I think it's a leftover from 
Metallia's engineered evolution.  Keep the breeding stock from 
tearing each other apart.  End result is part of my mind stays in 
control and minimizes the biting and clawing.  Accessing it is almost
second nature to clawed types like me.  I learned how to engage it 
pretty young but I had to teach Titanite ..."
    "Titanite?  What's this got to do with her."
    "Think it through, dolt.  She's a youma, her partners are human.
Someone had to teach her how not to injure them and it never occurred 
to her relatives.  Azzie and Pyrite never had the problem and while 
Calcite's self control kept him from injuring his human partners it 
never occurred to him that his sister was in the same boat.  Idiot 
kept thinking of her as the sweet and innocent kid he watched over and
didn't notice she'd grown up.  So I taught her a few things."
     That creates a few interesting mental pictures.  "What exactly 
did you teach her ..."
     "Get your mind out of the gutter!  She got theoretical 
instruction not practical demos.  Don't ever suggest otherwise!"  
Hmmm, definitely a little twitchy about Titanite.  Still Polaris is 
her major defender so she can't get stories circulating that might 
alienate Titanite.  Not after all this time conning her into thinking 
she's got a heart of gold.  
     "Okay so you've got some mental switch that keeps you from 
injuring a weaker lover.  I take it you didn't have to worry about 
this with Calcite."
      "Right.  No more than he has to worry about Minako.  Or vice 
versa."
      "So you've been stuck leaving the switch on for centuries which 
must be aggravating.  So last night you finally hit your limit, got 
fed up and switched it off.  End result was you turned that poor slob 
into ..."
     "Dammit, I didn't!  I've been framed.  Someone used me to kill 
him!"
     "How's that?"
     "Someone shut down the suppressor.  Maybe a psychic, maybe they 
used magic but they did it.  They wanted to get rid of [client name]
and turned me into their murder weapon."
     "Interesting theory.  So why not go to Rei and have her read your
mind.  That would establish you're innocent ... relatively speaking."
     She shakes her head.  "Two problems.  That'll only prove I 
believe that's what happened.  If I've gone loopy then my sense 
of reality is gone and my memories can't be trusted.  Besides I 
really don't want her in my head again."
     "Could mean life or death."
     "Yeah but not in the way you mean.  That's the other problem.  
The reading would have to be done at a public inquest.  Publicity is 
the last thing I need!  Even if I get found innocent it's the charge 
that'll be remembered.  How many clients am I going to get if rumours 
start that I might kill them?  This could ruin me.  I'm not ready to 
start getting old!"  She's getting a little hysterical but stops and 
takes a deep breath.  When she resumes she's under control again.
"Now, if I can prove I was manipulated and produce the real killer 
then this need not come to trial.  I've got enough connections 
to get this quietly swept under the rug, same as that Adamite mess."
      "That what?"
      "Before your time and not important.  That's where you come in."
      "Why not tell your story to the police."
      "Because I have zero proof and can't trust them to investigate
seriously.  On the other hand you owe me quite a bit which should 
motivate you."
      I have to smile.  "Except that if you get Flame Snipered ..."
      "... All your IOUs pass to Ti according to my will."  She's 
smiling but I'm not anymore.  I really don't want to be in debt to
Titanite.  She'd love an excuse to ruin me!  Aren't they supposed to 
forgive and forget?
      "I get the point.  Okay so if I find the killer ..."
      "I'll cancel all your debts for the 28th century."
      "I was thinking more like all of them."  I owe her quite a bit 
from when they brought me back plus a few favours this century.
      "Not a chance."  I study her and realize she's not bluffing.  
Her life's on the line and she's not going to give and inch.  Hell of 
a dame.  Makes me wish I was still flesh and blood.
      "You're a real hardcase, lady."
      "Takes one to know one, Maggie."
      "However that crack just cost you another 25 years.  Take 
it or leave it."  She glares at me before muttering, "Fine, solve 
this and we're clear 2700 to 2825."  I figure that's the best I'm 
going to get so I tell her, "Congratulations, you just hired the best
PI in Crystal Tokyo."
      "I just hired the only PI in Crystal Tokyo."
      "Details.  Now I'll just revise my contract, you can sign it and
I'll get to work.  While I'm doing that you can tell me about the 
late Mr [client name]."
      Time to get my brain in gear.  So far I'd say there are three 
possibilities.  First, Margrave slipped up and is either trying to
set up a good story or has supressed the memory.  Second, she's 
telling the truth and someone had it in for [client name].  Or, 
something that hasn't occurred to her yet, she's the real target and 
[client name] is just the innocent bystander.  She's made to rip the 
guy apart and the senshi fry her for it.  Margrave is dead, the 
killer has what they wanted and no one is any the wiser.  Question is 
who hates her that much ... apart from a lot of jealous wives and 
girlfriends.  Could be trickier than I thought.  Whoever did it I'd 
better find an answer fast.  The clock is ticking.

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