Forgotten Tales I - Nene's Last Journey PRIVATE

This story is part of the "Forgotten Tales" series set in the world of
the 2090 BGC series.

The name Bubblegum Crisis and characters within are copyright of
Artmic & Youmex.


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Location: Tokyo, Japan
Time: AD 2079, 23rd December, 23:03


    I am dying.

    It is wonderful how such a simple statement can focus the mind.
How it can clear all the clutter of the years and bring everything
into stark clarity. I do not regret that statement. I have lived a
full life and have experienced both wonders and horrors of the like
few others have ever known. I have looked upon the face of death so
many times that I now truly welcome him like an old friend; a friend
who has come to take me home after a long and arduous journey. A
friend in whom I can shelter and at last know peace.

    Now, when I look back over the course of my life I wonder just how
much of it was actually real and how much of it was just a dream. Some
of the things I have experienced, some of the things I have seen, seem
impossible to me now. The only proof that I have that these events
ever happened are the vague memories that insist I have done what I
have done and that I have seen what I have seen.

    I'm no storyteller, my dearest Nina, so I hope you will forgive me
if I ramble during this tape. The full story of my life would seem
impossible to you and I seriously doubt if you would even listen. All
I can ask of you, my daughter, is that just this once you put aside
your hatred of me and listen. This is the last thing I will ever ask
of you Nina, so please, just this once - listen and accept.

    As I said, I am no storyteller but perhaps the only way to try and
explain to you something of my life is to tell you part of the story
of it. I have no ulterior motives in doing this, you are my daughter.
I just want you to at least try and understand why I did what I did
and what the events were that drove me to it. Ah, but I get ahead of
myself. A story cannot be told from back to front, nor can the journey
that I wish to show you be started in the hatreds of the present. No.
This journey, like all journeys, must start at the place where it all
began.

    For me, the true beginning of my journey started late one Sunday
night when as a foolish and proud girl of 16 I responded to a
challenge that proved to be THE critical event in my life - the point
where everything changed. I cannot even remember really why I did it.
There was no money, no fame, no glory. It was just a challenge, a
game. I did not even stop to consider why that challenge might have
been placed or what would happen if I solved it. I was just a 16 year
old child trying to prove to the whole world, and my parents, that I
was special. And I succeeded... Oh, God, did I succeed...

    She introduced herself originally as just Sylia. Someone who had
placed a challenge in the newspaper just to see who could and who
would respond. Personally, I think she was more than a little
surprised when she first saw me - I know I was.

    The first time I ever met her I remember thinking how strong she
was in herself. Of all the people I had ever met in my life up to that
point she was the first I felt really believed in something. Here was
someone who would move Heaven and Earth for that belief and never
falter. She was the foundation, the anchor that I had never known I
needed until the day we first met. I know this must sound strange,
Nina, but there are such people in this world. People who can inspire
just by being who they are. If you are ever lucky enough to meet such
a person then may be you will be able to understand just something of
what I am trying to tell you. She gave my life purpose and despite
what happened later I still remember her fondly for that - even though
to her I was only a tool.

    But I digress, Sylia is an important player in this story but she
is not the only one. She was the candle, the prime mover, but there
were others who also played a part in this journey. Like me, Sylia
gathered them from the places that their own journeys had taken them
and forged them into something new. One was a singer, a fighter, a
biker and a warrior. She had become lost on the path of her own
hatred, the path that she had chosen when her lover was murdered.
Sylia took that hatred and moulded her into a weapon.

    The next was a dancer. A young woman whose dreams and hopes were
never fulfilled - at least not in the way that she thought. In an odd
way, this dancer is the focus of my story as it was her who first
attracted the attention of the _thing_ who bought such misery and
horror into our lives. However, I move ahead of myself. To get to the
point where _that_ one became involved I need to cover some ground
first.

    I told you that my story began when I first met your father's
sister Sylia. In a way that is true and in a way it is not. This
meeting was the beginning of the tale - the tale of those forgotten
vigilantes who were called the Knight Sabers. Of all the times in my
life this is the period that I look back most fondly on. It was a time
when I felt that I was making a difference. A period when I actually
felt that I was one of the good guys. This may seem strange to you now
but back then I felt that we were a beacon of light in the world. An
example of hope for the rest to follow... Ah, what it is to be young
and idealistic!

    For over six years the Knights were my life, my family. I came to
love each of them far more than any sister or lover. They were my
team-mates, those who I entrusted with my life on far too many
occasions to count. Together we fought against what we saw as the
evils of Genom. We were the counterbalance that stopped the pendulum
swinging too far in their direction. We were the crusaders fighting at
the fringes to stop... In short, we were foolish naive children lost
in our own pride.

    Even now I remember the events of that night - the events that
woke me up to the truth. The events that woke all of us up to the
truth of just who and what we were. How ironical that only the night
before we had just finished celebrating our sixth year together as a
team. At that time we were the closest we had ever been my sisters and
I. We had faced death together so many times that we were beyond
family. We had almost become like extensions of the same person, each
of us sensitive to the moods of the other parts. I do not know if you
will ever find yourself in a situation that like Nina, but if you do,
treasure it more than anything else - for nothing that follows is ever
quite the same. I still cannot believe that it only took one event to
shatter our family beyond repair and fill my sisters which such
bitterness.

    By now, you are probably wishing that I would just shut up and
describe what that event was. I will not apologise for rambling Nina,
as even now it still brings me pain to think about what happened...
About what Sylia forced my sisters to do. It was the one action that
shattered all our illusions about who and what we were. The one action
that showed us the true nature of the one who had called us together
and what a farce the whole thing had been. Betrayal is not an easy
emotion to deal with Nina, and I hope that you will never have to face
it in quite the same way that I did.

    And what was this event? This action that shattered all our
beliefs and filled my sisters with such disgust. Well my daughter, the
answer to that question is simple - murder. With all the death that I
have seen in my life you might be forgiven for thinking what was so
different about one more. And in a way you would be right. It was not
the death that had such an impact on us but the way in which it came
about - the reason behind it.

    His name was Leon. He was a friend, an ally and very nearly the
one to whom one of my sisters had given her heart. He had known about
us for almost four years, and during all that time he struggled to
accept what it was we were trying to do. He was an officer in the ADP
you see - a very good one. And as such, there was always a quiet
discomfort in the way he regarded us, even in the way he felt towards
my sister. Perhaps, it was that discomfort that bought the two of them
closer... I do not know, and I do not suppose it matters now anyway.
However you look at it, we were the ones who killed him.

    A simple mission was all it was supposed to be. At least, that was
what Sylia told us and why should we question her? She had been our
guiding force for over six years. We all believed in her and we
trusted her. The thought of her betraying that trust never crossed our
minds. Now, if I look back with hindsight, I can understand in part
why she did what she did, but even so I will never, ever forgive her.
We trusted her and she repaid that trust with betrayal. We were the
pawns in a game to her...

    Game... Oh, Gods... I wonder... Was SHE involved? No...
impossible... but...

    Sorry Nina, my mind wanders more than it should. I must remember
to focus on the story, not speculate about what could have caused it.
The actual mission you see was a fake, a deliberate deception on
Sylia's part to draw out much larger prey - the head of Genom itself,
Aaron Quincy. And my sisters and I were to be the bait, and the prize.
Of course, I did not find this out until much later. My sisters knew,
they were the ones who watched it happen. I only found out once Sylia
was gone, and by then, it was too late.

    If you remember, I said that we fondly saw ourselves as the
counterbalance to Genom's influence in the world. How little we really
understood the events in which we were involved. I had said that we
were the tools that Sylia had forged to help in her fight against
Genom - I was wrong. We were the tools that she had forged to gain her
revenge - just that. She was never really truly concerned with the
effects that Genom was having on the world, no. Her true motivation
was revenge - pure and simple. And we were the instruments that she
had been using to get it.

    Our activities over the years had hurt Genom, far more than I or
my other two sisters truly realised. Sylia had trained us well. We had
gone from far more than a simple nuisance to a personal threat to
Aaron Quincy's authority. A threat that he had to remove. That was the
desire that Sylia manipulated against him, just as she manipulated us
to draw him out. The mission was a trap from the very beginning and we
all walked straight into it.

    It was Leon who saved us, Leon who saved us all. It was him who
put two and two together. It was him who saw past Sylia's guise and
him who paid the ultimate price. What exactly happened in that
warehouse I cannot say. I was on watch outside when Leon, Daley, Steel
and Nena crashed their police patrol car through its gates. I heard
the screams of Linna and Priss over my intercom. I heard their curses
at Sylia and I heard the fire fight that followed. I tried to help
them, but it was then that the boomers appeared and all hell broke
lose. I do not remember much of the time that followed. It was
fighting, pain, blood...

    That was the last of the Knight Sabers. Whatever happened in that
warehouse drove my sisters, Linna and Priss, mad with grief and rage.
I never learnt the truth, and even now I still can only guess at what
it was that made our family shatter in such a drastic fashion. And
perhaps... perhaps it is better that I do not. All I know is what I
have tried to lay out before you so that you will understand that this
was one of the defining moments of my life. With the break up of our
family that was the moment I truly turned to Mackie, your father, for
support.

    Oh, Nina, one of the only true regrets of my life is the fact that
you never really knew your father. You are so much like him, more than
you can ever imagine. Perhaps that is why we have always had such a
painful relationship. Every time I saw you I saw him. That always hurt
me in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine. When I saw you show
the same mannerisms, the same quirks as he had I no longer saw you but
him. And every time I saw him I tried to punish him for leaving me. I
know this seems a pitiful excuse for treating you like I have, oh but
Nina, I loved him so much... so very much...

    He was the one solace that I had. Priss and Linna had abandoned me
and only Mackie seemed to care, only Mackie seemed to want to
understand. He and I were married less than six months after the break
up. I sent Linna and Priss invitations to the wedding but they never
showed up. At that point, I felt they almost hated me as much as
they hated Sylia. I was wrong of course but at that point in time I
just did not understand. I did not know what they had seen her do.

    Two blissfully happy years passed and then in 2039 a message
suddenly arrived from out of the blue - a message from Linna. She
begged that I go and meet her to talk. At first I was unsure how to
respond to this request. I had thought that my dancer of a sister had
hated me, hated me like she hated Sylia. However, one set of emotions
overrode another and I went. What a mistake that was... For it was at
this meeting that I encountered the final player in this story - the
puppet master.

    The first time I saw her I remember thinking how vulnerable she
looked - a pretty, timid, redheaded street girl. I remember the
hesitant look on her face, the way she seemed to look at Linna. I
should have surmised even then that something was looming between
them. I remember how startled I was to hear that this young girl
had... how did Linna put it... "kicked Sylia's arse"... Yes, that was
it. That as well should have warned me that this girl was a lot more
than she first appeared to be.

    You have met her too Nina, although I am not sure if you remember
who she was. You were if I recall, only about eight or nine during
those last times she ever visited us. She called herself Samantha,
Samantha De'Naime. She seemed to be quite fond of playing with you
during those visits so perhaps you do recall something of her. I do
not known. I only pray to God that you never meet her again.

    True evil exists Nina. Evil and Darkness, and they are called
Samantha De'Naime. You may think I am mad but I assure you that I have
looked upon the face of Corruption and it has her eyes. She was there
the day your father was killed. The day Sylia, Priss and so many
others also died. I have no doubts in my mind that she was the cause
one way or another.

    Beware my daughter. Do not think that all the ills of this world,
all the wars and the acts of corporations like Genom are unrelated.
They are all part of a plan... a Game... And at the dark centre of
that web is the being known as Samantha. No my Nina, I am not insane,
although you and others have called me such - I have simply seen the
truth. The truth behind that Evil which seduced Linna and changed her
into the monster that killed thousands.

    That Corruption is like a Hunger. It seeks out the warmth and
lives of the innocent and feeds on their desecration. I know the
truth. Sylia was able to tell me that much before she too fell victim
to the Darkness. Before her own children, corrupted as they were by
the sickness, slew her. Sylia was cold yes, but even she did not
deserve what they did to her... It was... unholy...

    I fear for you Nina. I fear for you and Raina... Why did you have
to leave me? Why did you not see that I was only trying to protect
you? You never listened... and now... now the best I can to is leave
you this message and the hope that you will believe me. The Darkness
is not gone Nina. SHE still lives and breaths in our world, as do
those who have been seduced by it. I know that somewhere out in the
world one of my sisters still lives, and I curse her with everything
that I am for what she has become. It was her who killed your father
Nina. It was her... and I will _never_ forgive her that even though I
know the woman who was once my best friend is long since dead.

    Oh... shit... this is a mess... Nina... I tried to use this tape
as a way of telling you I was sorry. As a way of telling you how much
I still love you. And finally, as a way of telling you of my life...
But I have failed haven't I? I told you I was no storyteller and how
much this rambling speech shows that to be the case. Instead of the
consistent tale that I had hoped for the best I could manage was this
mess.

    Nina, I love you. That is all I most want to say - I love you. If
you remember nothing else of me then just remember that. I have tried
to tell you something about my life but in this, like all my attempts
to tell you how I feel, I have failed. Forgive me. Perhaps in time you
will at least come to understand this.

    Oh... my throat is tired and sore. How long have I been talking to
this damned machine? It seems almost forever, let me check my watch...
23:47. It has been almost an hour, no wonder I feel so very tired...
But I must continue. I have so much more to tell you. Of your father,
of Sylia, of Priss, of the truth behind Linna, and of course of the
truth behind the events that killed your father. You must know these
things Nina because they will help you in the time that is to come and
you will need that help. You will...

    Forgive me, my throat hurts and I need a drink. I need it to
help me continue as this is going to be a long night and you need to
know the truth. I will be back in a moment.

Click.

** End of Nene's Last Journey.