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
n