(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
MAFREY@charter.net
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307
HARD QUESTIONS
By
Eirc Thorsen and Stacko
LEGAL STUFF:
** The characters and concepts used in this story are the property
of their creators. Their use here should be seen as a sign of
respect. Everything else is ours.
NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!
CHAPTER THREE
"Say What?"
Part One
* * * * * *
"I can't really tell." Skuld said, nervously licking her
lips.
"Come on Skuld, I'm counting on you." Urd said pleadingly.
"Well?" Kevin said impatiently, his elbows propped on the
table. "Come on, I don't have all day."
"Quit pushing her Kevin." Ami said in exasperation. "It's
only a silly bet."
"There is nothing silly about this bet." Urd growled,
insulted. "Our family honor is at stake."
"It's Ghirrideli's Dark Chocolate-macadamia nut." Skuld
said finally, taking another bite of ice cream. Urd squealed
happily and collected her five thousand yen from Kevin.
"How did you figure that out?" Scott asked in surprise.
"I only found out it existed when Kevin told me about it this
morning."
"I tried it once in San Francisco." Skuld replied, savoring
her treat. "It's one of the best flavors." She smiled down at the
huge bowl in front of her.
"Is there any flavor of Ice Cream that you haven't tried?"
Kevin asked in disbelief as Belldandy served some of the rich ice
cream to everyone else at the table.
"Not that I know of." Skuld said seriously, then shivered.
"There are some I wish I hadn't though, like roast beef." She
stuck her tongue out in distaste at the memory.
"I can believe that." Keichi said, shivering in sympathy.
"Who would come up with a flavor like that?"
"Probably the same ones who invented Sashimi ice cream."
Scott replied in disgust.
"Hey, I like Sashimi ice cream." Ami protested, laughing
when everyone looked at her as if she were crazy. "It's great
for driving away unwelcome guests." Everyone responded to that
with deafening laughter.
"Has Makoto shown any signs of improvement?" Ami asked
once everyone had finished their ice cream. "Has she regained
consciousness yet?"
"No." Kevin sighed sadly. "She's still alive, and her
mind and spirit are still there, but something is keeping her
from waking up. Belldandy and Skuld asked some kind of specialist
to come check on her, but he hasn't arrived yet."
"Really?" Urd asked in surprise, turning to her sister.
"Who is it?"
"Me." A man said from the door. He was of average height,
slightly built with reddish blonde hair in a military style
haircut. His clothes resembled Belldandy's formal robes but had
a distinctly military appearance to them.
"What are you doing here, Zelph?" Urd demanded angrily.
"Is the muckraking business slow these days?"
"Urd, I invited Zelph to examine Makoto." Belldandy said
reprovingly. "She is in a state of dimensional flux, and he is
the God of Dimensions."
"I can't believe you invited the head of internal affairs
to visit us." Urd replied nervously. "Knowing my luck, he'll
get me suspended for another millennium."
"Actually, before I came down here, the Almighty gave me
something for you. He said you've improved a lot since you started
hanging around mortals." Zelph handed Urd a box which she accepted
gingerly as if expecting something to jump out at her.
"What is it?" She asked suspiciously, looking at the box
carefully.
"Why don't you open it and find out?" Zelph sighed
impatiently.
With a suspicious look at Zelph, Urd opened the box, and
then gasped at its contents, looking at Zelph in shock. His
only response was a smiling nod. Skuld looked over Urd's shoulder
curiously and gasped as well.
"They're making you a Goddess First Class?" Skuld said in
disbelief. "That's not fair!"
"Come now Skuld." Belldandy said gently, hugging her
younger sister. "We should be happy for Urd, she's waited a
long time for this."
"Well okay." Skuld replied, still not happy about it.
"Congratulations Urd." Urd nodded and smiled understanding Skuld's
feelings.
"Are you just going to leave them in the box or are you going
to put them on?" Zelph asked. Urd blushed and took her earrings
off then put the new ones on.
"What's the big deal?" Kevin asked, looking at Urd's earrings
curiously. "Are those earrings signs of rank or something?"
"No silly." Skuld replied, giggling. "Those are power limiters
and receivers. They determine how much power we can draw."
"Can anyone use them?" Ami asked, looking at Urd's old limiters
speculatively.
"No, not really." Urd replied seriously. "Each set of limiters
is keyed to each individual's energy signature as a safety precaution
in case they are captured by demons. That way they can't be used
against us."
"So the goddesses wear earrings to control the power they use."
Scott said, noting that all three goddesses wore similar earrings,
though Skuld's had fewer hoops on them. Looking at Zelph he smiled.
"If you don't mind my asking, what do Gods get?" Zelph looked
questioningly at Belldandy, who smiled and nodded. With a shrug,
he pushed his sleeve up his left arm revealing a jeweled armband at
his wrist.
"Cool." Kevin said with a smile. "Since you're the
specialist Belldandy called in to help my wife, why don't we
take you to her so you can figure out what's wrong?"
"Lead the way to the patient." Zelph said, chuckling
when Urd stopped in front of a mirror to look at her new
limiters. "Don't forget you still have a limited license
Urd. I wouldn't go blasting mountains just yet."
Urd nodded, still smiling, and continued to look at
her reflection while Kevin and Belldandy led Zelph to
Makoto's room. Once there, Zelph pulled a hand scanner out
of his jacket and swept it over Makoto. With a mild curse
he scanned her again.
"What is it?" Belldandy asked, concerned.
"It's a good thing you called me in Bell." Zelph
said, putting his scanner away. "Another day and she would
have been anchored in Three-Fifteen, permanently."
"Three-Fifteen?" Kevin asked in confusion. "What's
that?"
"Sorry, I forgot you don't know things like that yet."
Zelph said smiling at Kevin's confused look. "Three-Fifteen
is a Universe designation. It's one of the one's that are
governed by a triumvirate, thus the three. Our own
designator is One-Seven."
"So you're saying her 'Dimensional Anchor', whatever
that is, is shifting to another universe?" Kevin asked
worriedly. When Zelph nodded slowly, he almost panicked.
"What can you do to stop it?"
"Excitable, isn't he?" Zelph said to Skuld, who looked at
him with a frown. "What I'm going to do is a little magic. But
first I have to take a blood sample to make sure I don't kill her
by giving her an overdose of the treatment. That would kill her."
"I doubt that." Kevin replied. "There's not much that
could kill either of us." Zelph looked at him for several
seconds, then shrugged and analyzed the sample. His eyebrows
rose at what he saw.
"You're right about that." Zelph muttered, performing
a full analysis on the sample then storing the results. "But
an overdose of anti-matter would annihilate her body, and
that's what could happen if I'm not careful about how fast
I do this."
"So now what?" Kevin asked impatiently.
"Now for the magic." Zelph replied, whisking the
comforter off the bed. He began chanting in Old Norse as a
blue light, similar to the one Kevin had seen while the Norns
were chanting, surrounded Makoto's body and she floated into
the air. A meter off the bed, she stopped and the light changed
to a bright red. She floated that way for almost five minutes,
then the glow turned blue again and she floated back to the bed.
After the glow faded, Zelph put the comforter back over her, and
then nearly collapsed. "Wow, that can really take it out of you."
He groaned leaning against the wall. Belldandy helped him back
to the living room and handed him a canister of peppermint
candies, which he almost finished before he recovered.
"Thank you for helping Makoto." Kevin said with a smile.
"I can't imagine what life would be like without her."
"Don't worry about it." Zelph sighed. "It's my job.
Now, you said you had something else you wanted me to take a
look at, right Belldandy?"
"It's a group of files." Skuld explained, leading him back
to her room while Kevin explained what had been going on to Scott,
Keichi, and Ami. "We found some unauthorized operator changes."
After entering a thirty-six-character access code, she brought up
the Senshi's files. Choosing Scott's file, she brought up the
parameter details.
"This is a mortal?" Zelph said, checking the parameter's
that had been changed. "These settings are all wrong."
"That's why we wanted you to look at them." Belldandy
replied. "Most of these changes are system alterations, but some
aren't, like these." Five parameters started flashing after she
typed in a command.
"Do you have any observational information on these people?"
Zelph asked after they showed him Kevin and Makoto's files. "I'd
be interested to know what this kind of heavy handed modification
would do to their lives."
"Why don't you ask them yourself?" Urd asked from the
doorway. "Two of them are waiting in the living room, while the
third is your patient."
"Really?"
"Of course." Urd said in exasperation. "Do you think
Belldandy would call you without making all of the preparations?"
"Let's get to work then, shall we?"
"I think you know Kevin." Belldandy said as they came back
into the living room. "The others are Scott and Ami. You just
treated Kevin's wife, Makoto."
"His wife?" Zelph asked, looking at Kevin in surprise.
"Aren't you a little young to be married?" He looked around in
confusion when everyone burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't know how many times people
have asked me that." Kevin said after a few moments. "But then Urd
thinks I'm too old for Makoto."
"How could that be?" Zelph asked Urd. "They look like
they're the same age."
"That's one effect of the file changes Bell showed you."
Urd said with a sneer. "Because of the manipulations, Kevin
looks seventeen, but he's actually seven hundred."
"Seven hundred and twenty-one." Kevin corrected, smiling
at Zelph's confusion. "Makoto is almost nineteen."
"I must admit you're well preserved for someone who's over
seven hundred." Zelph said looking at him closely. "I gather
that Mr. Schwartzstern is the other person whose file has been
changed." Urd's gasp of surprise caused Zelph to chuckle.
"How did you know?" Ami asked with a smile. "It could
have been me."
"I could say that you don't have the same 'ancient' look
in your eyes that Mr. O'Connell has." Zelph laughed. "But to
be completely honest, I noticed that the files were two men and
a woman. Since Urd told me that the woman was Mrs. O'Connell,
that left Mr. Schwartzstern as the other man. So how old are
you, if you don't mind my asking? You look to be about twenty-
two."
"That's basically right if you add two millennia and
some change." Scott laughed.
"And how old is your wife?" Zelph asked archly, then
smiled at Ami apologetically when she blushed. "Never mind,
that's none of my business."
"So have you come up with anything, Oh great Zelph?" Urd
needled from her chair.
"Well, the manipulation produces an extremely long life
span with no apparent aging." He pointed out. "This indicates
several worrying things about the person performing the
manipulations. First they are very powerful, at least Class C.
Second, they are very patient."
"Actually, I'm not the oldest Immortal currently living."
Scott pointed out. "I know of several others who are older than
I am, ones over five thousand years old in fact, and one of them
has stated that Immortals have been around since before history
was recorded."
"Okay, extremely patient." Zelph amended nervously. "You
call yourselves Immortals? Does that have to do with the amazing
resistance I discovered in Mrs. O'Connell?"
"You could say that." Kevin said with a shrug.
"Don't let him fool you Zelph." Skuld said glaring at
Kevin. "He took a level five Levin Bolt and survived the
experience."
"More than I could say." Zelph said in a tone of respect.
"That's even more worrying though. That compsination of long life
span, resistance, and lack of aging only Class A and B deities have
the power to create. If we have a Class B or higher deity
altering records, either you've stumbled on one of Kami-sama's
secret projects, or someone is getting ready for an incursion.
Is there anything else you can think of that is unusual about
Immortals?"
"Well, I don't really know if it's all that unusual, but
they seem to be constantly at war with each other." Belldandy
replied, remembering the fight at the mall.
"Is there a reason for this war?" Zelph asked Scott.
"Survival." Scott replied. "Because of an unusual energy
discharge at the death by beheading of an Immortal, some Immortals
begin hunting others. In order to defend ourselves, those of us
who don't hunt each other must practice constantly."
"Does this energy produce a profound euphoria?" Zelph asked,
and then swore when Scott nodded. "Definitely not one of Kami-sama's
projects. That's a probe signature."
"What's a probe?" Ami asked curiously, as Zelph made several
notes in his PDA. He was about to answer when Kevin jumped out of
his chair and ran out of the room.
"Was it something I said?" Zelph asked, staring after him
in shock. Ami and Scott shrugged while Belldandy followed him.
* * * * *
Kevin jumped out of his chair and ran to Makoto's room as
he sensed her regaining consciousness. As he burst into the room,
he saw her jump in surprise and slowed down.
"How are you feeling Mako-chan?" He asked as he sat down
on the edge of her bed.
"Like someone has been shoving an ice pick into my brain."
Makoto replied softly. As she saw Kevin's worried expression, he
felt a wave of shame and guilt wash over her and she tried to move
away. Hugging her tightly, he sent waves of love and reassurance
over their bond. As they registered, Makoto started sobbing like
her heart was broken.
"Shh ... it's alright Makoto." Kevin said, rubbing her
back soothingly. "Everything will be alright."
"No it won't." She sobbed, finally releasing the hold she
had on her emotions. "I'm worthless as your wife. I can't even
give you children when I try to."
"Shh ... it's okay Mako-chan." Kevin said softly, sending
more love and reassurance across their bond. "You're not
worthless, in fact, you're more important to me than my own life."
"Then why didn't you say something to me?" She demanded.
"All I wanted was to make you happy. Even when I made a mistake
you ignored me."
"Oh Mako-chan, what gave you the idea I was ignoring you?
Was I angry or disappointed?"
"No, you were always happy. Even when I failed miserably,
you were happy." Makoto said accusingly. "You never even
noticed that I was miserable."
"Makoto, the reason I didn't notice how miserable you
were was because our bond was blocked somehow."
"It was me, wasn't it? I was blocking you out, purposely
isolating myself."
"It wasn't anyone's fault Makoto, our bond simply wasn't
fully active yet."
"But ..." Makoto gasped in shock as she felt Kevin's misery
over their bond.
"Damn it, I should have realized how you were feeling even
without the bond. What good is seven hundred years of life if I
can't even tell when the woman I love is miserable." Makoto
stared at him for several seconds, then squealed happily and
tackled him.
"Wow, that was quite a mood swing." He said when she stopped
kissing him long enough for him to speak. "What was behind it?"
"I just realized that everything I've been worrying about
doesn't matter anymore." She replied softly, snuggling into his
shoulder. "Since we love each other, we can fix anything that's
wrong. Don't leave me, okay?" She asked as she dozed off.
"No problem Mako-chan." Kevin sighed relieved as he felt
peace come over her. "Beryl herself couldn't drag me away." He
lay there several minutes until he also fell asleep.
* * * * *
Belldandy smiled when she heard Kevin and Makoto talking
then shut the door silently and returned to the living room.
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Zelph asked in
frustration. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No Zelph, it was just that Makoto woke up." Belldandy
said reassuringly. "They need some time alone though."
"But how did he know?" Zelph asked in confusion. "I'm
closer than he was and I didn't hear a thing."
"It has to do with something that happened over two thousand
years ago." Scott explained.
"Do you remember the attempted incursion from Three-Twenty-
five?" Urd asked, then smiled when she saw that he did.
"I was pretty busy with Fenrus back then. What about it?"
"Fourteen people from several planets were put into the
unborn rolls when something forced a subsystem reset." Urd
replied. "The power came from the deaths of most of this
system's population."
"But that would mean they have permanent file corruption."
"Exactly." Scott sighed. "Now what do you know about
Soul Bonds?"
"Mainly that only Freya can form them." Zelph replied.
"Any of us can activate one after it's been formed, but only she
can lay the ground work."
"Well, that's how Kevin knew Makoto was awake." Ami said
with a smile. "They have a Soul Bond, but it's not fully active
yet."
"But a partially active Soul Bond is ..." Zelph stopped
and stared at Scott and Ami. "Tell me, do you all have eleven
friends who think they were prince and princesses two thousand
years ago?"
"No." Ami replied, not noticing his disappointment.
"We know we were royalty two thousand years ago. Why?"
"Nothing important." Zelph said excitedly. "But I need
to go check on something. I'll be back in a little over a day.
If you and your friends will meet here, I'll explain why I
asked." Without another word, he opened a portal and stepped
through it.
"Would someone mind telling what that was all about?"
Skuld asked from the doorway with a bowl of ice cream in her
hand. "I leave you alone with him for two minutes and he wigs
out. What were you talking about?"
"Our Soul Bonds." Ami replied, confused.
"You're Soul Bonded?" Skuld gasped. "Who to?"
"Scott why?"
Skuld ran to her room and came back with a hand scanner
and swept it over Scott and Ami then moaned.
"What is it?" Scott asked, worried.
"Your bond is already active." Skuld said, and then sighed
when they gave her a questioning look. "Because of your Soul
Bonds, your files are linked and the chances of cross
contamination are extremely high."
"What does that mean?" Ami asked, confused.
"It means that if you happen to die before you reach twenty-
six you'll become an Immortal." Urd said realizing the implications.
"Soul Bonds are only allowed with Kami-sama's approval because of
the likelihood that if one partner dies, the shock will kill the
other. In your case though, your death would cause Yggdrasil to
duplicate the operator changes in Scott's file in your's to maintain
the bond intact."
"Then we definitely have to stop the person making these
changes and correct our files." Scott said angrily. "I wouldn't
wish this life on my worst enemy and your saying that the woman
I love is almost certainly going to become Immortal?"
"She could even without dying Scott." Skuld replied. "Soul
Bonds are highly vulnerable where corruption is concerned. If
you die it could even force the change."
"Not while I'm around." Scott growled.
* * * * *
To Be Continued ...