Chapter Seven - Family matters

Location: Tokyo, Japan
Time: AD 2040, 13th December, 23:42

    "Are you really sure this is the place?" Nene hissed to the
strange girl called Kelly as they finally pulled up outside the
complex where the brunette claimed Sylia was holding her husband.
    "Yip," Kelly turned off the motor bike and pointed to the front of
the hospital. "This is the place."
    "But its a hospital," Nene spluttered.
    "And what better place to do research than in plain sight," Kelly
laughed getting off the bike. "Come on, let me park and then we'll go
in."
    "What? Just walk in? Just like that?"
    "Why not?" Kelly replied.
    "But... but Sylia... That's no plan!" Nene exclaimed.
    "The best plan is always the most unexpected plan," Kelly said
with a grin. "And the most unexpected plan is no plan at all."
    "What?!" Nene exclaimed turning on the woman. "We can't do that!
It's completely..."
    "Crazy? Unexpected? Unpredictable perhaps?" Kelly replied. "The
perfect stratagem for someone who is logical and infinitely subtle.
Trust me Nene," she laughed. "I learnt from a master - it'll work.
Come on, just follow my lead."
    Nene shook her head in disbelief, but considering the fact that
she had no choice she just gritted her teeth and followed the nutter
inside.
    "After all," she muttered to herself as they entered the main
reception area. "What do I have to lose? Sylia can only kill me once."
    Kelly was actually enjoying herself for once. It was not often
that she could really make use of what she was in such an obvious
fashion - at least not without Sam tagging along. She grabbed Nene's
hand and sidled up to the receptionist's desk.
    "Good evening," she said pleasantly to the boomer.
    "Good evening," it replied. "How may I be of service?"
    "I was wondering if you could ring Sylia Stingray on extension 212
and tell her that Nene Stingray and Kelly Duval are here to see her.
Could you also say that we would like to pick up her brother Mackie as
well? She will need to get him ready."
    Nene was making strangled noises behind her as the boomer looked
at Kelly for a moment and then spoke. "I am sorry Miss Duval but there
is no one here by that name, or on that extension."
    Kelly smiled and winked, "she's being shy again isn't she, the
little tease. That's all right - it doesn't matter. I'm sure we can
find our own way there. Thanks anyway." Kelly turned and began to lead
the spluttering Nene towards the main elevators. She had not gotten
more than two meters when an orderly, another boomer, interposed
itself in front of them.
    "That's interesting," Kelly remarked to the wide-eyed Nene. "See
how a hatred of boomers changes when you learn how useful they can
be."
    "I am sorry Miss Duval," the boomer stated. "But you cannot
proceed any further. The police have been informed and are on their
way."
    "I'm sure they have," Kelly commented in a friendly tone. "Now,
move aside like a good little pet."
    "Yes Miss Duval," the boomer said pleasantly and stepped aside.
"Have a nice day."
    Kelly shook her head as she pulled the goggled-eyed Nene into the
lift. "I really do wish they would change that. Always so artificial
sounding - 'Have a nice day'. Yuck!"
    Nene took a couple of deep breaths and tried to understand what
the hell this woman was doing. "Are you a boomer?" she finally managed
to get out. "Is that how you overrode its neural command paths? Is
that..."
    "Nene-chan," Kelly held up her hand. "We are being watched
remember." She pointed to the security camera. "Hello Sylia-chan,"
Kelly waved. "Be with you shortly."
    "Ah, forget it," Nene said and just sat back for the ride.
    "Forget what?" Kelly asked with an innocent expression on her
face.
    Nene did not even bother to even attempt an answer to that. This
was just too... She took another deep breath and waited for what would
happen next. When Kelly saw that no answer was forthcoming she started
to whistle. The lift rose rapidly up to the floor that was of interest
to them. Kelly made no comment about the fact that the lift had never
been built to reach this floor as she had more important things on her
mind. Miss Sylia Stingray had been very busy indeed. Although,
technically they were not her "sisters", Kelly still did not want to
have to destroy the young clones that she could sense gathering
outside the lift door that she had just created. They were after all
only children and it was not their fault that they had been bought
into existence just to serve as Sylia's stooges.
    Kelly almost smiled as she savored the panic that Sylia was now
experiencing. It was not easy to accept the concept that matter,
physics, and the laws of the universe could be as easily manipulated
as a human might mould a piece of clay. Considering things, Sylia was
extremely lucky to be treated to the experience - although Kelly
doubted that the human quite saw it in that fashion.
    "We're here Nene-chan," Kelly commented as the lift door opened
onto an empty corridor.
    "Fine," was Nene's bland reply.
    "You'll find Mackie down that way, in room 2819," Kelly pointed.
"He's safe just a bit doped up. Sylia would never really harm him.
She's not quite that inhuman - unlike me." The irony of the comment
was lost on Nene as the young redhead was already running down the way
Kelly had indicated.
    "Ah... Young love," Kelly commented with a giggle and then
suddenly she stopped. She just realized that she was acting exactly
the same as Sam would in this situation. The same mannerisms,
comments...
    - Sam! - she sent furiously. - Let me do this by myself! -
    Silence. Not even a giggle.
    "I know you're around here somewhere Samantha De'Naime," Kelly
muttered under her breath and stormed angrily towards the wall.
    Sylia looked up as her unexpected visitor suddenly emerged from
the shadows. "Let me guess," she said looking at the young woman.
"You're from the same race as Sam, right? I must say that I am MOST
impressed by your little... tricks... Is this common to all your kind
or did Sam just not have these... gifts?"
    Kelly smiled, "actually it was Sam that taught me these... little
tricks."
    "Ah," Sylia nodded. "Then I must assume that she and Linna are
still alive somewhere as I doubt that someone with that kind of power
would fall victim to an explosion."
    "That is a secret," Kelly winked and patted her nose.
    "Now what happens?" Sylia asked. "I can't fight you and I am
obviously not much help to you. So what are you going to do to me?"
    "Nothing," Kelly replied simply as she turned. "It's not for me to
tell you how to run your life. Do whatever you wish. I only came to
help Nene. The only thing I will say is that Nene and Mackie are out
of your plans as of now. Oh, by the way, you really did a good job on
those clones. For a human I am MOST impressed, most impressed. Well,
have fun..." Kelly raised her hand and with a flourish vanished.
    "Most... interesting...." Sylia said as she sat down. "Question is
- what do I do now?"
    "Whatever you like," Kelly's head reappeared by itself. "As I said
- it's your life."

        *       *       *       *

Location: Tokyo, Japan (Alt)
Time: AD 2031, 13th July, 01:02

    "Sam - get some rest," Yuki ordered laying her hand on the ashen
faced redhead's shoulder. "I'll let you know if anything happens."
    Sam looked up and her two faded green eyes locked on Yuki's face.
The normally glowing emerald depths were dead and Yuki felt her throat
tighten. Slowly Sam shook her head and turned her attention back to
the ICU ward and the figure that lay within.
    "Sam..." Yuki tried again but the redhead was not even paying any
attention to her. Yuki sighed and gave Sam's lank hair a ruffle before
turning away and leaving the girl to her vigil. She needed rest
herself and from the agitated kicking that her baby had been giving
her he thought so too. Yuki glanced down at her watch - 01:01. Aru
would be here in an hour or so and then maybe Yuki could finally try
and get some sleep. She doubted if she would be very successful but at
least she could try. She walked slowly across the room and stopping in
front of the Perspex glass looked in. Linna was wired up to so many
machines that she looked almost like an extension of them rather than
a human being. However, at least she was alive - that was the main
thing. Yuki yawned and ignored the pain from another kick. She was
fucking exhausted and badly needed some fresh air. It was highly
unlikely that Sam would be going anywhere in her present condition so
Yuki quietly slipped out to tend to her own needs.
    Sam did not even notice when Yuki left. Her attention was too
absorbed in her worry over Linna. How the hell could she have let
something like this happen to her pawn? Samantha was simply furious -
the human was HERS! How _dare_ someone use _her_ Linna as a pawn in
yet another Game! Samantha had been suspicious that someone might be
Playing a Game against her but she had not believed that anyone would
be insane enough to try. Well, now it appeared that someone was mad
enough, someone did fancy themselves. She had no idea who the hell
that Player was but at least she now knew that her suspicions had been
correct. This latest Move had proved that fact beyond a shadow of
doubt. The boomer incident had obviously been an opening shot to get
her attention and Sera had been a follow up. However, what concerned
Samantha was why had both attacks been focused at Linna? Why the hell
would anyone be interested in her? The human was only a pawn. Yes,
Samantha knew that Sam cared for her but that should not have
caused...
    "..." Samantha swore softly. She hated guessing Games and this
looked like it was going to be a long one. The main question however
was what to do next. She could not Play when she did not know the
rules to the Game - that much was obvious. No, for the moment, there
was only one thing she could do, only one stratagem she could Play  -
a waiting Game.
    In the meantime however, with Samantha off fuming about other
things, Sam was left worrying over her mortal lover. She was not
bothered about Linna dying, Sam could deal with that simply enough.
No, what she was more concerned about was who exactly was threatening
her lover and why? Samantha might worry about the bigger picture but
all Sam was primarily concerned with was how to keep her Linna safe.
There were somethings not even she could stop. And if, Sam shuddered,
_He_ was involved in this then... Linna...
    Sam shook slightly as she forced the... fear... to one side. She
had to keep control. She had to...
    Samantha looked up and stared intently through the glass at the
unconscious form of her pawn. She had made sure that the human
remained alive at least. Unfortunately, for now that was about the
only thing she could do. She doubted that the unknown Player wanted
her human dead - or they would not have Played Sera. If Linna remained
in this condition then Samantha could at least buy both of them some
time. And time was something she desperately needed, not "Time", but
just simply time. She had to pick up the pieces and plan a new
stratagem. It looked like the importance of this Game was far more
than she had originally planned. If Players who were capable of hiding
their movements from her were involved then she had to tread very
cautiously indeed. However, that was one thing the Darkness was very
good at - hiding things. Samantha knew that sometime soon her
opponent(s) would have to make a Move and when they did...
    A hungry, almost predatory look settled on the Corrupter's bone
white face. When they did - then, oh yes, then...  She shivered in
anticipation - she could wait.
    Samantha got up and walked over to the window. She pressed her
face against the cold hard substance and looked at her human.
     "Oh Linna..." Sam whispered sadly. She truly did love Linna, as
did Samantha in her own peculiar fashion. Linna was hers, just as
Kelly and Loria were hers, and Samantha always loved what belonged to
her. They were after all her Family, and it was difficult not to love
them, even when she had to punish them.
    "Sam..." a voice said timidly behind her and a hand gently pulled
her back from the cold glass and into a warm human embrace.
    Sam sighed, and let the warmth of the human's tender love wash
over her as she submitted to Katsumi's embrace. The woman was
instinctively trying to soothe what she perceived as a child's
emotional distress. She gently rocked the teenager in her arms and
made meaningless comforting noises that were as old as the race
itself.
    Pressed against Katsumi's body Sam could feel the pulse of warm
life that flowed through the woman's unborn child. It had a purity, an
innocence, that made Sam almost want to weep. It reminded her of...
no... not that path. Sam concentrated on the life within the child and
followed it like a master weaver through all the future warps and
wefts of the girl's life. In an instant, she knew with crystal clarity
all the twists and turns that this child's fate would take - and the
sad doom that this world would have to pay as a result.
    "Oh, Katsumi..." Sam said sadly as she rested in the woman's arms.
    "It's all right Sam," Katsumi said softly kissing the top of the
girl's head. "Linna will be fine - I am sure of it..."
    The redhead did not answer, and after a while Katsumi slowly
pushed the teenager back and looked down into her sad emerald eyes.
"Love, everything will be all right. Trust me. The doctors say Linna
will be fine..."
    "Yeah, right," Sam muttered in a dead voice as she pulled away and
turned back to the glass. "I'm sorry... I... just don't really feel
much like talking at the moment. I sort of have other things on my
mind..."
    Katsumi slowly let her hands drop. She could not think of anything
else to say so she just nodded and left the redhead alone. An
embarrassed cough at the entrance to the room announced the return of
Yuki. Katsumi turned and smiled sadly in greeting. Taking a quick
furtive look at Sam Katsumi moved over to speak with the other woman.
As she approached Yuki another small group of anxious people quietly
entered the small ICU waiting room. Sam gave them a momentary glance
before she turned her attention back to Linna. She had far more
pressing concerns than the goings on around her. She had to....
    The yawn caught her totally by surprise and she suddenly realized
how exhausted she really felt. The elfin form she was currently so
fond of was still organic, and as such it had its own needs. After
nearly two days of completely ignoring them, those needs pushed for
her attention with avengeance.
    An arm caught her as she swayed slightly and a tired concerned
voice said, "are you all right Miss?" Sam regained her balance and
silently cursed herself for being so careless. She pulled back from
the human and turned.
    "I am sorry - thank you..." The rest of the sentence died in her
throat as she saw for the first time who the old man was. Or perhaps
better - what the old man was.
    "That does it Sam," Katsumi said as she and Yuki crossed over to
stand by her and the stranger. "You're coming home with me now. I
don't care anymore - you need sleep. Sitting here hours on end
watching Linna is not going to do either of you any good." She turned
and bowed slightly to the old man. "Thank you, I must apologize
for..."
    The old man smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "There is
nothing to thank me for. I'm just doing my job." He looked at the
three figures and his eyes widened in recognition. "Forgive me for
asking, but aren't you Katsumi Liqueur?"
    Even despite the circumstances of the moment Katsumi could not
help but flush at being recognized. "I was," she said. "I am Katsumi
DeVice now." Her hand went unconsciously to touch her abdomen. "My
presenting days are behind me now, Father."
    The old man's hand went up to touch the white band around his neck
as if to acknowledge the salutation. "I provide what little comfort I
can to those who need it." His voice tone dropped, aware of the
discomfort that his next question might bring. "Do you have a reason
for being here Mrs. DeVice?"
    Katsumi turned to look at the glass-viewing screen. "Yes," she
said softly. "A very dear friend of mine was involved in an extremely
serious accident about two days ago. She's still on the critical
list..."
    "Ah," the man replied and paused for a moment before continuing.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
    Katsumi was slightly embarrassed by the question. She was not of
the Christian faith, but was Sam? She turned and pulled the
underdeveloped redhead into her arms. "It's not me you would need to
ask Father. Sam here is the one that your question is best directed
at." Katsumi gently pushed Sam towards the old priest.
    "Katsumi... Don't make me..." Sam shook her head and resisted the
push. Her eyes stared hostilely up at the old man and she pushed
herself further back into Katsumi's protective embrace.
    Father Masato looked down at the openly hostile white face and
smiled in what he hoped was a disarming fashion. "You are not
comfortable talking to me are you child?"
    The "child" did not answer but simply continued to stare. She
could almost taste the faint sense of Him that lingered around the
mortal. Her hands clenched as she fought to control the bile rising in
her stomach. Him...
    "Sam?" Katsumi prompted the redhead with a nudge. "What's wrong?
Answer the..."
    "No," Sam suddenly replied in a cold voice. "I'm not comfortable
speaking to you... _priest_" Her voice twisted the title into an
insult.
    "Why?" Masato's lips tightened as he saw the black fury sparkling
in the girl's dark eyes. It was an anger that he had seen many times
before but... His breath caught slightly. Those darkening pools held a
depth and clarity of the like he had never seen before. If it were
ever possible to truly say that the eyes were a window to the soul,
then this was that time. Those eyes... they showed... anger...
madness... hate... and something else - something that was almost...
alien... Instinctively he took a small step back in fear, then he
realized what he had just done and swallowed.
    "Do... Do you blame God for your friend's situation?" he said
uncertain of what was the source of this girl's seething hatred. "Oh
my child, our Father is a God of love. Trust in Him and He will..."
    "SHUT UP!!" Sam suddenly yelled surging forward. "Don't you even
DARE..."
    "SAM!" Katsumi grabbed wildly at the enraged girl. "Stop it!
Please!"
    Masato was completely shocked by the violence of the girl's
reaction. He jumped back and held up his hands to show that he meant
no harm. He watched disbelievingly as the furious little redhead
struggled against the larger woman's hold. He could almost sense the
violent hatred in her straining to reach him, straining to... He
shuddered - what the hell was this girl?
    "Sam! PLEASE!" Katsumi tried once again as she struggled with the
teenager. "Stop it! Plea... Ouch! YAAHH... Sam! You're hurting..."
    "Samantha!" Yuki bellowed angrily rushing into the room. "You're
hurting Katsumi! Her baby! STOP IT!!"
    As the human's words slowly filtered through her building
bloodrage Sam froze and she realized what the hell she had just done.
"No...." she gasped and her face went completely ashen.
    A moment later, Yuki grabbed the frozen redhead and dragged her
away from the pregnant woman. She thrust Sam violently out of the way
and helped Katsumi to steady herself.
    "Katsumi?" Yuki ignored everyone else in the room and turned her
full attention on the violet eyed woman. "Are you okay? Is the
baby..."
    Katsumi shook Yuki off and turned to face the stricken redhead.
"Sam..." she said and held out her hands. "I'm fine - please love...
Don't worry. Nothing is wrong, I'm not angry..."
    Sam took a step back and her eyes were red. "I'm so sorry..." she
began. "Please, I didn't mean... Oh Gods... Is everything I do..."
    "Sam!" Katsumi closed the space between them and grabbing the
younger girl pulled her into a tight embrace. "Oh Sam..." she held the
girl close and tried to put everything that she felt for her young
friend into that name. "Please Sam, don't try and blame yourself for
everything that happens..."
    "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Sam repeated again and again.
Then, she twisted and somehow she was free of Katsumi's hold. "I'm
sorry... Please..." she turned and ran out.
    "Sam! Wait!" Katsumi began to go after the girl but then she
thought better of it. Sam had to sort this one out herself. She sighed
and turned back to the old priest. "I am sorry Father. But..." she
shrugged to show her helplessness in this matter.
    "I'll go and get Roy," Yuki said in the uncomfortable silence that
followed. "I think that you're right, Sam needs to get out of here.
She's growing more and more... unstable just sitting here - looking.
And to be honest Katsumi, I don't think that Labyrinth would be the
right place for her just at the moment. She needs to be away from all
the familiar reminders. Look, I know it's an imposition, but do you
mind looking after her? At least until Sam is a bit more..." she left
it hanging. After this little display of Sam's mental stability she
did not need to finish her sentence for Katsumi to understand.
    "Of course," Katsumi nodded in agreement. "I was going to suggest
it myself. Sam needs something to take her mind off Linna." She rubbed
her face where Sam had scratched her, "I understand that fully
enough."
    Yuki smiled with relief. "I don't think I fully appreciated what
they meant to each other," she said softly. "I have never seen Sam act
this way..." Yuki shook her head sadly. "Well, I'll go and find Roy.
Thank you again." She bowed and then went off to find both Roy and
Sam. With both her friends now gone Katsumi turned her attention back
to the old man.
    "Once more I must apologize for Sam's rudeness," she said. "But
considering what the last few days have been like for her I hope you
can understand."
    "There is nothing to forgive but that..." Masato suddenly wondered
if he should mention what he had seen burning in those green eyes. The
hate, the rage, the... sickness...
    "Father?" Katsumi asked politely.
    "Nothing," Father Masato replied shaking his head. "It's
nothing..."

        *       *       *       *

Location: Tokyo, Japan
Time: AD 2041, 2nd July, 21:37

    The green eyed brunette sat back and observed her mark. She could
almost smell the strong alcohol that the man was drinking and the
cheap perfume that his date was wearing. The trigger of the cheap
scent bought back a flash of memory to Mina. A memory of a time that
she had never personally experienced and yet a memory that was as
clear as day. A memory of a party in which a young man had smiled at
younger version of her and called her by a name that was not her own.
Mina examined this new memory with excitement. She was fascinated with
the life that her mother had lived. It had been so much richer than
those led by so many other people and Mina was honored that she had
been given the privilege of experiencing it. She knew that she owed
her existence to her mentor Sylia, but she had always thought of
herself as primarily the daughter of the woman who had been called
Linna Yamazaki. Sylia had told her and her sisters of their mother's
death, or possible death, and Mina was hopeful that one day she might
just possibly be able to meet the woman whom she aspired so much just
to be like. Linna had been a warrior and a dancer. She had lived her
life for everything that it had had to offer and Mina truly wanted to
carry that tradition on.
    Linna had never had the opportunity to have any real children of
her own. No sons or daughters to carry on her name, or her hopes, or
her dreams. Linna had had so much to offer but fate had...
    "Mina," a voice said faintly through the pickup in her ear causing
her chain of thought to break. "Any action yet?"
    Mina almost smiled at the enthusiasm in Rina's voice. This was her
younger sister's first real mission and the excitement that the auburn
haired girl felt was obvious. "Calm down sis," she whispered tenderly.
"He's not doing anything yet. Just sitting and drinking. So just try
and relax, okay?"
    "Well, I bloody hope he hurries up and does something!" an annoyed
voice followed Rin's acknowledgement. "I'm freezing my butt off out
here!"
    Mina sighed and shook her head. Celine had exactly the same
temperament as her mother. The same temperament that Mina's mother
remembered so fondly. "Calm down Cel," she murmured into the pin that
served as a mike. "Remember why we are here..."
    "Then I wish this contact would move it..." the voice faded into
barely audible mutterings.
    Mina could almost see her chestnut haired sister's delicate face
redden with anger at having to stay on watch outside in the cold wind.
However, as field commander for this mission Mina could not allow that
reaction to affect her priorities. Priss's children were always very
loyal but they did tend to overreact and be too unstable for command
duties. That was usually why Mina and her sisters or Sylia's daughters
were generally primarily responsible for field missions. There were
exceptions of course. Darline for example, was an excellent strategist
and commander. The girl had inherited her mother's flair for action
but it was tempered with a brilliance that had completely surprised
even Sylia. That girl could see patterns in events almost
instinctively. It was a gift that made Mina almost drool with envy.
She could still remember the surprise she had felt when her younger
sister had casually solved a problem that had had Mina stuck for days.
    Sylvie had explained it to her once - something about how the
first three months of initial life and the experiences caused by it
subtly moulded their imprinted engrams to create unique individuals.
To be honest, it was beyond Mina's understanding. She was a warrior,
not a techie. All she knew was that each of her extended family had
the same core of memories and experiences, but at the same time each
was a distinctive individual - a unique life with a soul. And it was
that uniqueness that made the brutal and senseless murder of Eline and
Leina affect all their family so hard.
    Elina and Leina had been the first of Sylia's family to truly
exist independently in the outside world. Sylia had even enrolled them
as students at the prestigious private school - Omniu. The two girls
had been extraordinarily bright and wonderfully gifted far beyond
anything their respective mothers had originally had. They had been
the brightest stars of the family, and Sylia had decided that those
gifts would best be served being nurtured in an environment where such
wonders were prized. Mina could still remember the farewell party that
had been thrown for the two girls only four months ago. It seemed so
completely unreal that her two older sisters were now dead.
    Mina's face clouded with grief as she remembered the wrenching
pain she had felt upon learning that the two who had taught her so
much had been so senselessly killed. A terrorist attack on a little
known ambassador at the UN had caught them at the same time. It had
been a senseless case of the two young students being in the wrong
place at the wrong time. Mina and her sisters were _extremely_
difficult to kill. Their bodies could usually withstand a great deal
of abuse and their regenerative abilities were nearly miraculous.
However, what had been left of the two girls when the bomb had
exploded was far beyond even the gifts that had been bestowed on them
by their most mysterious mother. The sisters had died very hard and in
a great deal of pain, fighting all the way. And for that alone all of
Sylia's family had agreed - the perpetrators must pay.
    As a result of that attack a vengeful Sylia had called a halt to
all their current non-critical missions and focused instead on
discovering who had been responsible and whom they would pay back. The
result of those investigations had bought Mina and her team here. The
group that had claimed responsibility for the attack had called
themselves simply - "The Culture". Who they were and what they wanted
no one knew. Before the attack no one had even heard of them. Sylia
had only managed to get the name of this man they were observing
because of her own extensive contacts within the underworld. Even with
that kind of backup the only thing she had managed to discover was the
name of the contact from which the explosives had been bought; the man
Mina was currently watching.
    Sylia had felt that since they had used this contact once it was
more than possible that they would use him again. She believed that
this "Culture", whatever their objectives, would be unlikely to stop
just after one hit. After all, why strike at a little known ambassador
without some sort of reason. Personally, Mina thought Sylia was
reaching but given the fact that this was the only lead that they had
it was something they had to follow up.
    Mina finished off the last of her fruit juice, a great love of
which all her family oddly shared, and looked at her watch. The
display read 21:56. Mina sighed, for the moment she was of a similar
mind to Celine. They knew that this man would be making contact with
someone some time tonight but they did not know who it was or when it
would be. It was even more than likely that this meeting tonight had
nothing whatsoever to do with Culture, but as Sylia had said, this was
the only lead that they had.
    "Waitress," Mina called out holding up her hand and looking
around. Her signal got a result when a very sexy looking black gaijin
came over.
    "Your fruit juice Miss," the woman announced with a warm smile
before Mina could even speak. "And if I maybe so bold, I have prepared
a blend that I know you will love."
    Mina frowned, but something about the woman's clear smile made
Mina implicitly trust her, so she tasted the blend that the waitress
had given her. As soon as the first sip passed her lips her senses
exploded with delight and Mina's eyes opened wide. "That's...."
    "Good?" the luscious looking woman asked with a frankly inviting
smile that made Mina suddenly feel hot. The woman was... a living
Venus...
    "Just like her," Loria commented in amusement before turning away
to respond to yet another call of "Waitress!"
    "Mina! Mina!" The excited sound of Cel's voice exclaimed loudly in
her ear.
    "What is it Cel?" Mina winced as she turned the volume down.
    "I think something is happening. One of our friend's goons has
just bought his car around front. Get ready Min, I think he maybe
getting ready to leave."
    "That can't be right," Mina hissed angrily. "He's only been here
45 minutes and he hasn't seen anyone yet!"
    "Maybe he's meeting them at a different location?" Rina chipped
in. "Or maybe the information was wrong..."
    "Question is - what do we do about it?" Cel asked. "Do we follow
them?"
    "I don't want to have to do that unless it's really necessary,"
Mina muttered. "You know how Sylia feels about having no back up."
    "We may have to sis," Rina commented. "Look."
    Mina looked up and swore softly. Rin was right. One of the
contact's security boomers had just walked in. That meant that the man
was leaving. She had to make a decision about what they were going to
do - now. Did she dare follow them? And if she did and they got into
trouble then what would they do? It was far too late to get backup
now. If on the other hand they didn't do anything and the contact
actually met someone then the whole stakeout was pointless.
    "We're going to follow them," Mina decided after a moment to
consider the options. "I don't think we really have any other choice."
    "You sure sis?" Rina asked quietly. "We'll be on our own. We don't
have time to arrange any backup now."
    "Just like THAT time..." Mina murmured almost to herself.
    Rina did not answer. All of her sisters, Linna's daughters were
well aware of what THAT time was. It referred to the mission that had
marked the end of their mother's association with the Knight Sabers.
It was also the point that marked the last memory engrams that Sylia
had ever made of Linna. From that point on the intimate connection
that her daughters had to their mother was gone. Everything that Linna
had learnt, experienced, or been, after THAT single event was lost to
her children. They could only guess what she must have felt after she
had pulled the trigger and realized what she had done. The same could
be said for Priss's daughters, but it had been Linna who had actually
killed...
    "Can't be helped Rin," Mina concluded bringing both girls back to
the present. "We are following them. Cel, notify Sylia about the
change in plan. We might not be able to arrange cover but at least we
can let the family know. what's happening."
    "Hai," Cel replied briskly like the trooper she was and cut the
comlink to follow Mina's orders.
    "Sis..." Rina began uncertain of what to do next.
    Mina got up. For a moment her eyes wandered over the full glass of
"nectar from the Gods" that she was leaving undrunk and cursed
silently. If only...
    "Sis! They're going!" Rina's urgent voice sounded in her ear.
    "Coming..." Mina sighed and left the glass untouched as she
carefully followed the arms dealer out of the club. Maybe if she was
lucky she could come back later and ask that gorgeous waitress her
secret. Mina's face twitched slightly in an odd half smile as she
remembered that inviting twinkle in the woman's dark eyes. Maybe she
would just come back for that waitress anyway and damn the drink.
    Loria watched thoughtfully as the pixy like girl followed her mark
out of the club and into the night. She had been right in returning
here after all. She licked her lips as she remembered the pretty
little blush on the girl's pale face. Things might not be quite so
boring now...

    On the other side of the city Kelly sat watching Priss finish her
set piece and frowned. Over the past few months the nature of the club
had slowly been changing. It was almost as if there had been a slight
change in the nature and atmosphere of the place. It was becoming far
more serious, although Kelly was not sure if serious was the right
word, intense was perhaps slightly better. It was almost as if
something was beginning to happen and Kelly could only detect the
faintest edges of it.
    Kelly joined in the sporadic applause for "Priss mark II" as she
was privately calling her little creation. She had given up trying to
locate the original. Since that odd one off encounter with her older
"sister" Priss mark I had gone missing, and despite all her efforts
Kelly had no idea what had been done to the human. Additionally, since
neither Loria or Sam seemed to be answering her calls she had had
little alternative but to put in a substitute. Maybe when Sam or Loria
finally did deem to turn up she might be able to get the original
back. Those two had a lot more experience with the subtleties of the
Power than Kelly did. That was something that only came with age.
    In the meantime, Kelly was left holding down the fort so to speak.
To be honest, she was beginning to get extremely annoyed with the
cavalier fashion in which Loria had just dumped this duty on her. This
world was so completely and utterly boring it was a joke! Oh, it had a
few redeeming features, such as the presence of some wandering Nobles,
but on the whole it reflected the dead end nature of its location.
While that quiet nature might interest some of the Nobleborn it did
not interest Kelly. She was young enough to actually want to enjoy
life - not rot away. However, since the head of her own Family had an
interest in this world there was little she could do but remain.
    "So," Priss II said as she came over and grabbing a chair sat down
next to Kelly. The human was still slightly sweaty from the exertion
of the performance and Kelly's nose twitched sensitively at the smell.
"How was I?"
    Kelly shrugged, "I'm not the one to judge I'm afraid. I really
just cannot get into your sort of music."
    Priss pouted for a moment and then sighed. "Well, there's no
accounting for taste in some people." She grabbed Kelly's
half-finished glass of booze and drowned the rest of the contents.
    "Ahh... I needed that," she said smacking her lips. "I'm either
getting too old for this, or I'm losing my touch. The audience here
seems to be getting steadily more hostile. I was giving it my all
tonight but it was like singing into a void. I was getting no response
from the audience whatsoever - no form of feedback at all. It was
almost as if they did not care. There was a time when I could actually
read an audience but with this lot..." She shook her head, "maybe I am
getting old."
    Kelly raised an eyebrow. So even her human was detecting the
change. If it was that obvious then _something_ was up and Kelly would
be extremely surprised if others had not noticed it as well. Sophia
must be planning something and publicly broadcasting that fact. The
question was - what and why? Kelly shook her head despondently - all
these damned Games! What did those such as Sam see in them? Surely
there had to be more effective ways of getting what you wanted? Okay,
sometimes it could be fun, such as with Sylia, but the lengths that
some Players went to was just plain stupid. Loria had told her of
Players who had nurtured entire civilizations just so that they could
be involved in some little Move in some greater Game - crazy... Surely
that time and effort could be better invested in some more productive
activities.
    "Kelly?" Priss repeated in an annoyed tone. "Will you stop
ignoring me. I asked you what you thought."
    "Eh?" Kelly turned her attention back to Priss. "Sorry, what was
that?"
    "Why do I even bother?" Priss muttered to herself. "I just asked
you if it was just me or have you noticed that things seem to feel
different in here as well?"
    "Yes, it has changed," Kelly replied. "And I'm not sure I like
it."
    "Neither do I," Priss agreed. "But it's my job, so I'm stuck with
it. Look, I'm finished for tonight so why don't we go out and get a
burger or something. My treat, just to show you that I really do
appreciate you coming down here now and then." She smiled, "even if
you can't stand my music."
    "You're my friend," Kelly said simply. "And besides, Loria asked
me to keep an eye out for you."
    "Have you heard from her recently? It's been..." Priss's face
frowned as she tried to do a quick mental check.
    "Well over a year," Kelly supplied in an annoyed tone. "And no,
she has not been in contact at all."
    "Is that usual for her?" Priss queried. "The impression she gave
me when she left was that it would only be a month or so. I mean, do
you think she's okay? Shouldn't we try and give her a ring or
something?"
    "I have already tried to contact her on several occasions but I
keep getting no reply," Kelly's annoyed tone made Priss raise an
eyebrow. "I suppose it is possible that she has moved. Loria does tend
to lose track of time fairly easily. I can..." The rest of her comment
was lost as four youngish teenagers suddenly rushed up to the table
and stood looking worshipfully at Priss.
    Priss blinked and looked at the four sets of young faces and the
large wide-eyed stares that they threw at her and felt slightly
uncomfortable. The twin sets of brown and blue eyes looked at her as
if she were some sort of Goddess and for a moment she was uncertain
what to do.
    "Ahh... May I help you?" she asked in a hesitant voice. The four
girls blushed at the words and one of them, at some prompting from the
others, slowly took a step forward.
    "May... May we get... your autograph please?" the girl began and
then her face lit up with an excited smile and all four erupted into
babble.
    "We just loved your singing!"
    "...You are really good..."
    "Are you putting out any new records soon?"
    "We have all your old ones and play them again and again but
we..."
    "All our family love you! Do..."
    "Please, please..." Priss held up a hand to try and stop the mad
rush of words. At the gesture all the girls immediately went silent.
Priss smiled and stood up. It was amazing! She still had it!
    "I would love to give you an autograph," Priss said turning to the
browned-eyed, chestnut haired girl first. "Please, why don't the four
of you sit down. Would you like anything to drink? Soda? Coffee?" For
a moment the girls looked like they were in heaven and then as one
they all obediently sat down.
    "Could we... could we have some orange juice please?" the self
appointed leader of the four asked timidly. "If you really don't mind
us..."
    "Orange juice?" Priss smiled in amusement. "Is that all? For all
of you? Nothing perhaps a bit stronger?"
    "Please, orange juice will be fine..."
    Priss shrugged. It had been different in her day but different
times, different tastes. She signaled one of the familiar waiters over
and requested the drinks.
    "Do you want anything else? Something to eat perhaps?"
    The chestnut haired girl blinked and then glancing over at the
other three said hopefully, "a burger?"
    Kelly almost smiled to herself and spoke up. "Priss and I were
just thinking of going out to have one. We would be happy to treat you
if you would like to tag along."
    "Really?" all four faces looked startled at first then their
expressions changed to wonderment.
    "Okay, I think I can take that as a yes then," Kelly commented.
She held out her hand, "my name is Kelly, Kelly Duval. I'm very
pleased to meet you."
    "My name is Mayline," the chestnut haired girl said taking Kelly's
hand in her own fair skinned one. "I'm really pleased to met you...
and... Priss..."
    "I'm Arline..."
    "Daina..."
    "And my name is Reina... Kelly..." the black haired girl smiled
warmly holding out her hand.
    "And we are really, really, pleased to met you..."
    Priss blinked under the rush of names and exuberant energy flowing
from these 16 year old teenagers. She took a moment to look at them.
They were all slender, athletic and had faces that were all thrown in
the same delicate elfin like cast that reminded Priss somewhat of...
Sam... Their hair was ranging from black to russet brown and all of
them looked at Priss as if she...
    "Well, if you would like to come along then I'd be happy to buy
you dinner," she said and all four heads nodded in unison.
    "Your drinks," the waiter said as he placed the four glasses down.
"Will there be anything else Priss?"
    "No thanks Jon," Priss said as she paid the bill. After Jon had
left she sat back and watched while the four girls attacked their
fruit juices.
    "We'll have to go to that joint that's about 20 minutes walk from
here - 'Rayo'," Kelly said looking at the others. "It's probably the
easiest thing at this time of night. That sound okay?" All four heads
nodded again in unison
    "By the way," Kelly said innocently. "You girls look a bit too
young to be out at this time of night. Are you sure you have transport
back home? I don't want to take you out if..."
    "No! No! That's fine!" Mayline burst out. "We have someone picking
us up here at 01:00. It's not a problem really. Besides, we don't..."
    "Mayline!" Reina nudged her and gave her a stern look.
    Mayline blushed and returned to her juice embarrassed.
    "We'll be fine thank you... Kelly," Reina said with a shy smile as
she looked at the very attractive brown haired woman. "Just fine...
really."

    Mio Amano glanced up as the odd looking group walked into the bar.
Two women in their mid to late twenties and four teenagers - a strange
mix indeed. She continued to watch them for a moment as they sat down
and started to browse through the menu. Although she was no longer an
ADP officer Mio still found it difficult to curb her instincts and
those instincts found this group odd. However, that was not her job
any longer. She ran a hand self consciously down the cybernetic leg
and arm that she now had on her left side. No, she shuddered. Ever
since that impossible night...
    One of the girls as if alerted by some preternatural instinct
suddenly jerked her head up and focused her eyes on Mio. The
expression on the girl's face was strange, as if half caught between
concern and amusement. The cold blue eyes bore into Mio's own and just
for a split second the ex-ADP officer saw something completely inhuman
flicker in those sapphire depths - utter hatred. The girl blinked and
dismissed Mio from her stare returning to laugh with the others. Mio
was so shocked and surprised by what she had just seen that she could
not accept it. It had been a frozen dark hatred that was an anathema
to life... Something completely alien and it reminded her of...
    A rush of fear ran through her as she still remembered the dead,
cloying smell of the nightmare that had killed and then eaten her
partner - and nearly her. She tightened her grip on the glass and felt
the horror begin to rise again as she played back once more in her
mind the... HELL she had been forced to watch. She gulped down the
rest of her drink as her right hand started to shake violently. Her
breath came faster... faster... The smell, the screams, the sounds of
wet tearing... the gibbering insane twittering.... The frozen
caressing touch of liquid Darkness... the...
    Kelly and the others looked up as the woman at the bar suddenly
started to laugh hysterically. Then, getting to her feet the innately
giggling woman bolted for the door. She whimpered like a trapped
animal and then stumbled out into the night.
    "What the fuc..." Priss started to say and then she remembered her
guests. "Ah... must be a vagrant or something."
    "Yeah perhaps," Kelly commented dismissively before turning her
attention back to the menu. "Well, let me guess that you four would
probably prefer something hyper spicy. That's what I usually have and
I can guarantee that the burgers here are... mmmm.... How about a
double chilly burger with extra peppers and..." Kelly's voice faded
into a soft chuckle of amusement as four almost drooling faces looked
at her hanging on her every word. She grinned and stood up, "let me
order then. It's Priss you really wanted to talk to anyway." Grinning
she turned and walked away.
    "Kelly..." Reina sighed softly to herself as a dreamy look settled
on her face.
    Daina shot her sister a _look_ and opened her mouth to say
something when Priss suddenly spoke up.
    "How can you eat that foul stuff?" she exclaimed with a scowl.
"It's absolutely revolting!"
    Arline looked at Mayline and shrugged. "We love it," she said
apologetically. "But our Guardian does not approve of what she calls
junk food so..."
    "Almost as bad as Sam was," Priss commented with a shudder. "She
had the most appalling tastes for spicy food as well - when she was
able to get hold of it. Linna and I were _always_ having to stop her
from..." Priss stopped. Although it had been long enough now that she
could talk about both her friends without getting too emotional the
memories still hurt - especially regarding the simple every day
things.
    "Was this Sam an old friend of yours?" Mayline said very
carefully. She, like the others, desperately wanted to know more about
the mother for which they had no memories but from whom they had
gained so much.
    "Yeah," Priss said with a fond smile. She was so caught up in her
memories that she did not notice the almost hungry expressions on the
four young faces. "Sam was a _good_ friend I had who died over a year
ago in that bomb attack that destroyed the north western sectors. She
was a real character, about your age and..." Priss's voice faded away
as the memories overcame her.
    "And..." Mayline gently prompted her mother. The Priss that they
were seeing now was the one that Mayline knew was only shown to a very
few. This was the Priss that Mayline privately aspired to be the most
like. The one who had been so kind to the boy Sho, the Priss who had
put so much of her heart into those few friendships that she had ever
made, the one that Mayline simply called mother.
    "I only knew her for a short time but she was one of the best
friends I have ever had," Priss finished softly feeling her eyes
beginning to mist over with tears. "And I miss her..." Priss's breath
caught. "Gods, I miss them both so much... I...""
    "Here we all go," Kelly suddenly broke the mood by placing a tray
of warm crisp smelling buns down on the table. "I hope... Priss?
What's wrong?" Kelly saw the misted brown eyes, the haunted look, and
reached over to her human.
    "Nothing, I'm fine," Priss said rubbing her eyes and forcing a
smile. "Just me being silly." She turned her attention to the tray and
tried to force a lighter tone into her voice. "That smells
interesting. Did you get me my usual?"
    Kelly's face tightened and slowly she pulled back her hand and sat
down. "Yeah, it's there - a simple old fashion beef burger. Or perhaps
it would be better to call it a Soya burger as the price of the real
stuff is far beyond our paychecks." She looked at the four clones and
gestured, "tuck in girls. They're just getting cold otherwise."
    "Domo arigato Kelly-sama," Reina said politely. "Itatakimasu."
    "Itatakimasu," Arline and Daina echoed as they swooped down on the
burgers like predators. Reina paused as she waited for her younger
siblings to take their prizes. She tilted her head slightly and then
smiling warmly at Kelly reached gracefully over to take her burger.
Only Mayline's was now left and she was more worried about Priss than
unnecessary junk food.
    "Priss... I'm sorry I made you sad," Mayline said softly. "I mean
I..." she blushed. She could not find the words to say how she felt.
The sorrow that she had seen glimmering in those warm brown orbs had
confused her badly and she did not know what to do to comfort the
singer.
    Priss blinked. The confusion on the younger girl's face startled
her. Why was the girl so genuinely concerned about her? Priss put down
her burger and leaned forward.
    "That's all right," she said smiling at the earnest looking
teenager. "Death is something we all have to cope with in the end.
It's just that I seem to have encountered far more of it than anyone
else I know..." Priss sighed and tried to push off the black feelings.
She reached over to get her burger but met Mayline's hand instead.
    "I'm sorry Priss," the girl's warm blue eyes focused on her as the
hand tightened possessively. "I really am sorry. If I can do anything
for you..." the other hand joined the first, "anything..."
    Priss flushed and was at a complete loss for words. What she saw
in the girl's face...
    Kelly felt a faint _rush_ coming from the blue eyed girl opposite
and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. So, this was the true
legacy that had come from the most unique of these girls "mothers".
And was almost certainly the reason why Sam had let Sylia have some
cell samples in the first place. But why? Sam was obvious planning
something and these...
    Kelly gasped as she suddenly realized that these girls were truly
her sisters. They were members of the Family! Sam was extending the
Family! These troopers that Sylia was developing, were troopers for
Sam.... Sam was using Sylia to create Enforcers! But why? Why do
something that she had never done before...
    Kelly suddenly felt the Darkness at the core of her own being stir
and send a rush of coldness throughout her immortal body. She took a
deep breath and shuddered. Sam was telling her to leave it alone. This
was something that was none of her business and Sam was warning her to
let it go.
    Bloody hell! Kelly thought as she realized the difficult situation
she was now in. Enforcers had a rather unique position in a Family.
They were the Voice and Law of the Master - Samantha. What they said
went - full stop. Their word was absolute Law, and apart from the
Master, all the Family had to obey them - even Consorts like Kelly.
And while Kelly had the Power to wipe these budding Enforcers off the
face of the planet she could not touch them. She HAD to obey them. She
had no choice in the matter and neither did the human she had created.
    "Oh joy..." Kelly whispered as she saw the almost possessive
expression on Mayline's face as the girl held Priss's hand in a tight
grip. "Just what I need..."
    "Kelly?" a concerned voice said as a hand took her own. "Are you
all right?"
    "Sorry?" Kelly turned and looked into the reddish brown eyes of
Reina. "What..."
    Reina's grip tightened and she leaned forward. "Are you okay?" she
asked again worry flickering over her face. "Your face is as white as
a sheet..."

        *       *       *       *

Location: Tokyo, Japan (Alt)
Time: AD 2031, 23rd December, 09:22

    "Hello Sam," nurse Miya nodded at the familiar elfin form of the
redhead as she exited from the elevator. Every visitor's day at
exactly the same time, the teenager was as regular as clockwork.
"Merry Christmas."
    The girl nodded in reply as she usually did and gave that same sad
smile before heading off towards room 2032. Miya watched her go and
sighed.
    "What's up Miya?" the young receptionist looked up. "Why the big
sigh?"
    Miya pointed at the disappearing girl. "Just that girl, I feel for
her."
    The receptionist followed the finger to the redhead and he
frowned, "why? What's so great about her?"
    "You don't do this shift Karu, I do. And for the last 5 months
that girl has never yet failed to come in and stay a couple of hours
with the coma patient in room 2032. Every visitors day she comes,
brings fresh flowers, sits and talks - that is friendship."
    "Waste of time if you ask me," Karu sniffed. "Nothing in this ward
but the long-term living dead. She should get herself a real life."
    Miya glared at him for a moment and then picked up a case folder.
Men! she thought and began her rounds.
    "Ohiyo!" Sam said brightly as she walked into the sunny room. "And
how are we today?" As per usual the only response to her morning
greeting was the quiet blip of the support bed.
    "I bought you your Christmas present you know, and the flowers
that I promised. I hope you like them. The smell is rather unusual but
the woman who sold them to me said that they came from a newly
cultivated species. It's rather too cloying for my tastes but for
you..." Sam giggled, "for you it's probably just right."
    When she got no witty response to her joke Sam sighed and then
shrugged. She went over to the vase on the bed stand and taking out
the old flowers she had left yesterday carefully placed in the fresh
ones. She spread them out a bit and then smiled pleased with the
result. She had a quick hunt around for the bin and then threw the old
flowers into it.
    "I'm afraid I won't be able to stay that long today Linna," Sam
said apologetically. "I really do need to get the rest of my Christmas
shopping finished or Yuki is going to crucify me. And believe me, that
is not a fun experience - unless you are a masochist." Sam walked over
and grabbing the chair pulled it up against the bed. "I know it's a
bit of a bummer what with the hospital closing for Christmas but
that's the way things turn out I'm afraid." She took Linna's chilled
hand in her own and then looked around the room.
    "You know," she said in a hushed voice. "I really do envy you the
peace and quiet you are getting here. That baby of Yuki's, Rin, has
been a right little monster over the last few nights. He's had Yuki,
me and Aru up to Chaos knows what time with his crying." She shook her
head, "it's difficult to believe that one little baby can make so much
damn noise. Katsumi's daughter is such a sweet and quiet child in
comparison. I've almost been tempted to swap them around just so that
I can get some rest. However, I don't think that either Katsumi or
Yuki would appreciate that subtly. Oh," Sam snapped her fingers, "some
other news. Did you know that both Katsumi and Yuki have named me the
God Mother for their first born." Sam grinned happily, "they have
actually named _me_ as the one to protect their..."
    "Excuse me Sam," Miya said apologetically tapping at the door and
walking in. "I'm sorry for interrupting but I thought you might like
to look at this." She waved the case folder she held in her hand in
Sam's general direction. "We've got the latest test latest results
in."
    "Hello Miya," Sam nodded her head in greeting and got to her feet.
She grabbed the present she had bought for Linna and walked over to
the door. "Do you think you could give this to Linna on Christmas day
for me? It's my Christmas present for her."
    "Of course," Miya took the small box and carefully put it in her
pocket. "Sam, I thought you might be interested in the results of the
latest neural scans that were run. You know, the one I told you about
last week."
    "What does it show?" Sam said excitedly pushing forward. "Is it
good news?"
    "Yes," Miya nodded. "I won't go into all the technical details but
Linna is effectively still at home. The maps of her neural activity
are positive on that front."
    "Then why isn't she waking up?" Sam asked. "The doctors say that
physically all the damage that the car did has been repaired. Why is
she still in a coma?"
    Miya smiled apologetically, "I'm no neural expert. All I know is
that the neural paths have been damaged. The old patterns used for
things like muscle control and movement are no longer working."
    Sam looked thoughtful. "So, she needs to learn new ones - is that
it?"
    "Something like that."
    "But how long does that process take. I mean, it has been five
months already."
    "We know virtually nothing about the way these things happen,"
Miya replied with a small shrug. "It could be months, years or never.
But at least there is hope."
    Sam's face did not exactly look overjoyed at the news and Miya
patted the redhead on the shoulder. "I know it's not an open and shut
answer but at least it brings hope for Linna. And that is a hell of a
lot more going for her than the majority of the other cases in this
place. So try and look on the bright side okay?"
    Sam smiled slightly and nodded. "I'll try," she said. "But its not
exactly easy you know. All this waiting - it's doing my head in."
    Miya smiled and gave the short red hair a ruffle. "Welcome to the
real world kiddo." She gave the pale cheek a soft stroke and then
walked back to the door. "Are you in all day today?"
    Sam looked back from Linna and shook her head. "No, I've really
got to finish my Christmas shopping and today is the last chance I
will get. So I've only popped in for an hour or so."
    "Oh, well I'll see you on the 27th then okay?"
    Sam smiled, "have a good Christmas Miya."
    "You too Sam," Miya said to the girl as she walking off. "You
too."
    When Miya passed room 2032 an hour or so later and looked in on
its patient she found that the young redhead was gone. Linna was
alone.

    "How's Linna doing?" Katsumi finally asked the pensive girl
walking at her side.
    "Much the same," the teenager replied. "She's living, but that's
about it."
    "It must be very difficult going in day after day and not seeing
any response from her," Katsumi replied as she pushed the baby
carriage slowly along. "How are you taking it?" She knew that she was
walking on dangerous territory but everyone was extremely concerned
over the direction the girl seemed to be taking with her life. Over
the last five months the girl had been becoming evermore cut off and
withdrawn. This was not the Sam that Katsumi knew. The girl just
seemed to be, well, waiting almost. Aru, Yuki and especially Lebia had
commented on it. In fact, it was Lebia who had suggested that Katsumi
knock some life into the child.
    "Sam?" Katsumi repeated when she got no answer to her question.
    "I love her," Sam finally replied. "This is just part of the
price."
    "But for how long?" Katsumi said looking over at the redhead. "The
doctors say she might never wake up at all. Are you just going to
throw away the rest of your life because of this?"
    "What do you mean Katsumi?" Sam asked slightly confused. She
stopped walking and her dark green eyes locked on Katsumi's violet
orbs. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
    Katsumi sighed. "What I mean is that you are young Sam. What has
happened to Linna is horrible but I don't think she would blame you at
all for trying to move on with your life. You love her, and that's
wonderful, but its been five months since the crash now, five months
in which you have put your own life completely on hold. Do you intend
to do that for the next 10 years? 15 years? If the crash had, God
forbid, been fatal then at least you could mourn and move on. But
being like this..."
    "Katsumi!" Sam cut her off harshly. "I love Linna! I will not cast
her aside like some broken toy! I have never abandoned what is mine
before and I _don't_ intend to start doing that now. I'm sorry, but I
cannot listen to this sort of nonsense. I'm going back home." Sam
turned angrily around and started to walk off.
    "Wait!" Katsumi exclaimed and grabbed hold of Sam's arm. She
pulled the teenager around and stared down at the angry young face.
She tried again to explain what all of them were so worried about but
the words died in her throat as she saw the stubborn rage simmering in
those green depths.
    "All right Sam, all right," Katsumi held up her hands in
acknowledgement of defeat. "I've said my peace. It's just that we are
all so worried about you, but you're right - it's your life; I just
think that you should try living it for a change."
    Sam's angry expression softened at the concern in Katsumi's voice
and she looked sheepishly down. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blown up
like that. I'm not being angry with you. It... It's just all this
damned waiting. I hate it!"
    "Oh Sam..." Katsumi whispered raising a hand and gently wiping
away the tear that traced a silvery track down the young face.
    Sam blinked and brushed the hand away. She wiped her eyes and
turned away. Katsumi was unsure how to react. It was almost as if Sam
were embarrassed by the display of emotion.
    "Sam..." Katsumi began.
    "Look," Sam broke in. "I'm sorry okay. I shouldn't have said what
I said, but I am not made for waiting. It tends to make me edgy."
    Katsumi did not believe a word of that. Something was wrong,
something that Sam was either trying to hide or deny.
    "Well," Katsumi changed tack. "I don't really think there is much
more you can do at the moment _but_ wait. If you actually intend to
follow the course that you have planned then I think you had better
get use to waiting, because waiting is something you are going to be
doing a lot of. It's a long and lonely path Sam  - just waiting. I
sincerely hope you are strong enough to walk it."
    "Perhaps and perhaps not," Sam replied with a nervous laugh. "It's
not like I haven't walked in dark places before."
    Katsumi's violet eyes glazed over for a second and a wave of
certainty unlike anything she had ever known before washed over her.
"Your path will always be Dark Sam. And in the name of that path you
will drag all those you love into the Darkness as well and lose them
as a result. Until you are willing to let that Darkness go, your path
will always be one alone."
    Sam's eyes widened slightly as she felt the faint _rush_ of Power
whisper in Katsumi's voice. The woman's gift was beginning to show.
"Again, perhaps and perhaps not," Sam repeated with a shrug. "We'll
have to wait and see won't we Katsumi-san."
    "Ah... What..." Katsumi blinked. What was going on?
    "Don't worry about me Katsumi," Sam continued. "Walking in the
Darkness is just something I have to do." She smiled crookedly, "I
don't really have much choice in the matter I'm afraid. I am what I
am, and I always will be."
    Katsumi blushed. She was seriously losing it and had to get a grip
on herself. She took a deep breath.
    "Well, there is one thing you can do, something that may help to
take your mind off things. Roy and I would love to have you come along
with us to Roy's Christmas bash. We can bring a guest so we
thought..."
    "I don't know Katsumi," Sam said uncertainly. "I think Yuki and
Aru maybe planning something..."
    Katsumi grinned, "they are. That's why Yuki... well..."
    "Oh," Sam flushed as she suddenly realized what Yuki had been
hinting at when they had spoken this morning. "Trying for number
two..."
    "Ah, something like that..."
    Sam nodded and slowly smiled, "I'll come."
    "Good," Katsumi said pushing the carriage forward again. "Then let
me buy you something decent to wear."
    "But I have..."
    "It's my Christmas treat. So shut up and let me get it."
    "But..."
    "Obey."
    "Yes master..."

    "Katsumi... I'm not really that sure about this you know," Sam
complained as she pulled down once again at the tight fitting short
white one piece. "How the hell did you talk me into it? Damned thing
seems to have a mind of its own - a hentai mind."
    "Sam! Leave it alone!" Katsumi exclaimed knocking the girl's
fiddling hands away from the expensive designer outfit. "Believe me,
it looks great on you."
    "And besides," Roy said with an appreciative smile as Sam squirmed
about in the... ah... "interesting" number. "It's a bit too late to
change your mind now, unless of course you want to go in your
underwear. Personally, I'll be happy either way."
    Sam stuck her tongue out at him and made an unlady like noise. She
turned rudely around and presented her back to the man who smiled
evilly as the hemline inched up yet again at the movement.
    "Roy..." Katsumi growled in warning.
    "Yes my dear?" Roy said innocently turning to look at his wife.
    "Stop teasing her."
    "Me?" Roy looked hurt. "Why would I do such a dastardly thing like
that to such a noble lady like our little Sam?"
    Katsumi's eyes flashed and she opened her mouth to speak.
Fortunately, at that point the lift came to a smooth halt and the door
slowly opened.
    "Well ladies," Roy said stepping out. "Shall we make our
appearances?" He waited for a moment and then slipping an arm around
his irritated wife the couple walked off towards the sounds of distant
merriment. Sam took the final opportunity she had to try and sort out
her "dress" but gave up in disgust. She sighed and rushed off after
the two humans.
    Roy led them into a wide and rather plush reception hall. Sam was
pleasantly surprised by the actual sedate nature of the party and by
the class of people present. The officers, such as Roy, were all in
their formal attire while scattered here and there were what looked
like civilians - possibly local politicians.
    "This isn't exactly what I was expecting a SWAT party to look
like," Sam whispered to Katsumi as they walked into the hall on
opposite sides of Roy.
    Katsumi looked at her and winked. "Roy's a captain, and his team
usually move in the big city social circles. They are primarily
responsible for the safety of the Mayor and other bigwigs. As such,
this is considered to be a useful PR exercise." She looked around and
whispered back, "I wouldn't have invited you if this was just a
drunken SWAT rave up."
    Sam grinned, "well I did wonder at first."
    "Roy! You made it!" a very well decorated gray haired man walked
over to them with a smile on his face.
    "Sir," Roy unconsciously straightened slightly. "It was nice of
you to invite us."
    "Nonsense," the man said as he looked at Katsumi. "This is the
first chance that I have had to meet your famous wife. Mrs. DeVice,
allow me the honor of introducing myself. My name is Superintendent
Samuel Coltrain. I am very pleased to meet you at last. And may I say
that you are as stunning as Roy often boosts. He is an extremely lucky
man."
    Katsumi blushed politely and smiled at the complement. "Why thank
you Superintendent. It is nice to know that the art of polite
conversation is still alive and well in law enforcement." She took the
offered hand and lightly shook it. The man then turned and looked
expectantly at the younger girl who was standing slightly behind the
two. His eyes moved up the slender form that the skimpy white outfit
portrayed. As the girl stepped forward he watched excitedly as the
material tightened around her body leaving little to the imagination
and just for a moment he wondered what the elfin form would look like
without the clothing.
    "Sir, this is my guest Samantha De'Naime."
    Coltrain put the uncharacteristic thoughts out of his mind and
slid into the familiar routine of the host. He nodded in greeting and
took the white hand in his own. His eyes lingered on the girl's
exotically beautiful face and the shining emerald eyes. Her rose red
lips looked strange set in that ivory white face; strange, but at the
same time oddly right. Once more he felt an urge pass down his body.
    "Miss De'Naime," he said marveling at the softness of her
lily-white skin. He could not help but compare that softness to the
harshness of his own aged wife's parchment like covering. It left a
lot to be desired. He held the slender hand as much as was polite
before he let go. Once again he look a quick glance at that face. The
girl was almost too perfect in appearance. She seemed more like a
living statue rather than a human. The white flesh and the high set
bone structure was...
    Sam repressed the urge to shudder as the man's lustful thoughts
washed over her. She kept her face polite and did nothing that might
draw attention to herself. The human was just indulging in the
instinctive reactions involved with mating. It was nothing to get that
excited about. She could not afford at this point in time to indulge
in any stupid reactions as she might have done in the past. The
unknown Player was still out there waiting for her to Move. If she was
going to Play this waiting game then she had to Play it - not indulge
in the petty destruction of stupid mortal vermin.
    "Please to met you Superintendent," she said in a neutral tone and
pulled her hand back.
    "Well Roy, I'll let you go and mingle with the other guests. It
was a great pleasure to meet you Mrs. DeVice, Miss De'Naime, and I
hope we can talk later." He smiled one last time and with a slight bow
left to return to where his wife was speaking with one of the Mayor's
City Councillors. However, out of the corner of his eye he kept
watching the girl in white as she followed behind Roy and his wife. He
could also see the lingering glances that some of the other men in the
room made as the trio moved towards the food table. For a moment he
felt angry, almost jealous. She was not for the likes of them! The
mere thought of their eyes crawling over her body disgusted him but
there was nothing he could do about it and that thought alone made him
even more angry.
    "...and this is my partner in crime - Keiji Otsuki and his long
suffering companion Leia."
    "Nice to meet you Samantha," Keiji shook the odd looking girl's
hand.
    "Sam please," the girl smiled back. "Samantha tends to be too
formal for my tastes."
    "Sam it is then," Leia greeted the teenager. "Any friend of Roy's
is a friend of mine."
    "Thanks," Sam replied warmly. "I've never met any of Roy's or
Katsumi's friends before."
    "Have you known them for long?" Keiji asked out of interest.
    "Sam and I have known each other for quite a number of years
actually," Katsumi replied. "Before even Roy and I met."
    "Nearly five years I think," Sam piped up. "Ever since we both
worked at Cheyenne Industries."
    "Cheyenne?" Keiji looked surprised. "But I thought that company
was investigated for huge tax fraud well over five years ago. I
remember the scandal at the time involving its principle shareholder
Rally Cheyenne. I would have thought you were too young to be working
there. I mean, aren't you still in college?"
    "Of course not," Sam snorted indignantly. "I'm 21, nearly 22 now."
    Both Keiji and Leia looked very surprised at that.
    "Sam seems to age very well," Katsumi put in staring at the young
redhead. "In fact, surprising well."
    Sam flushed at the attention and then shrugged, "can I help it if
I'm doomed to be forever short and underdeveloped?"
    "Nonsense," Leia said trying to change the topic of the
conversation. "I think you look very attractive. Don't let anyone tell
you otherwise. And besides, that dress looks devastating on you."
    "Does it?" Sam was glad to move away from the dangerous topic onto
a safer area. "I thought it was a bit too, well, short myself."
    "Sam," Katsumi shook her head. "When are you going to learn? Use
what you have."
    Keiji turned to Roy and said with a shared smile, "women and
clothes."
    "Hey," Leia hit back. "At least we're not as bad as you two when
you discuss work."
    "Touché," Keiji admitted defeat. "Well, perhaps we should chose a
more neutral subject that we can all agree on for discussion."
    "Such as..." Katsumi raised an eyebrow.
    "Ah," Roy thought for a moment. "That's a good point - any ideas?"
    Sam was rapidly growing bored of this mortal small talk so citing
the need to "take a powder" as the locals put it she left the humans
to their banter. Skirting her way around the gathering she followed
the signs for the ladies. It was located just outside the busy
reception hall and apart from an oldish looking women adjusting her
makeup it was virtually empty. Sam entered a cubical and flashing a
look of disgust at the dirty toilet decided not to bother. She walked
out and went to the row of wash basins.
    "Hello," she said giving the gray haired woman a polite nod.
    "My Master sends you greetings Samantha De'Naime," the woman
causally replied.
    The words were so completely unexpected that had Sam been human
she would have jumped back in shock. As it was, she spun around and
glared at the woman using every ability that she had to examine what
the hell this woman was and why the blazes she had not detected
anything odd about her when she had first entered the room. The human
simply continued to tidy herself and Sam's eyes narrowed as every
sense that she had told her the same thing - this woman was perfectly
normal AND mortal. Sam's breaths became slightly sharper as somehow in
a fashion that was completely unknown to her this woman was being used
as a channel.
    "You do not need to worry Samantha De'Naime," the voice continued
sounding rather amused. "I have no desire to do anything other than
talk - at least not for the moment."
    "You have me at a disadvantage Sir," Samantha said coldly.
        "Do I?" the woman replied as she continued to fix her hair.
"Well, it will only be temporary I assure you my dear Samantha. We
will both be _very_ well acquainted with each other in the not too
distant future. So try not to let it over concern your pretty little
head too much."
    Samantha's lips twitched at the vibrations of sentiment that she
detected behind that statement. "Yes, I'm sure we will," she said in
dark anticipation as a malevolent look came over her face. "In fact,
I'm beginning to look forward to it already."
    "Ahhh Samantha..." the voice hissed in pleasure and intense
longing. "You have no idea how long I have waited for someone like
you. No idea at all..."
    Despite herself Samantha shuddered at the grotesque images that
she could just barely sense behind those words. She tried not to show
it but a sensation of something almost like fear rushed through her.
    "Fear? My dear Samantha?" the voice said somewhat tenderly. "You
need not fear me my child. I have absolutely no desire to harm you,
not you..."
    "Then what?" Samantha shot back her eyes now completely black.
"Bore me to death?"
    "Oh, hello," the woman suddenly replied turning to the young girl
at her side. "Merry Christmas."
    Sam blinked at the sudden change. "And to you too," she managed to
say as the woman left.
    "Well," Samantha said with a dark smile. "That was... different."
She turned on the cold tap and washed her face. It seemed that the
unknown Player had tired of her waiting Game and made its Move. In
that way at least Samantha had been successful. She had learnt the
rules of this Game as she had wanted and they were simple - very
simple. Samantha giggled and there was a slight hysterical edge to it,
an edge of fear. This Game had just one very simple goal, just one -
and that goal was her. This Player just wanted her.
    Sam shuddered and once more splashed the cold water over her face.
It seemed that her waiting was over. Her opponent had made its Move
and now it was time for Samantha to make hers. Her eyes sparkled with
an almost mischievous joy. Finally, after so long, it seemed that she
had found a Game that was worth Playing after all.
    "You certainly took your time Sam," Katsumi said. "What were you
doing?"
    Sam grinned, "sorry - I got into a fascinating conversation with
someone that's all."
    "Anyone..."
    "No, it's no one that you know. It was just an old friend of
Linna's and mine you might say," Sam said. "A very... interesting old
friend."
    "Ladies! Ladies!" Keijii came over rubbing his hands. "What are
you two still doing here? You should be joining us. The dances are
just about..."
    "...To begin," Sam hissed in a viscous tone.
    "Ahhh... Yes, that's right," Keiji frowned slightly but said
nothing else. The girl did not need to snap his head off!
    "Katsumi?" Sam glanced up and offered her hand. "Shall we?"
    "Do you want to Sam?" Katsumi said slightly worried that the girl
was being forced into something that she might not want to do. The
look on the girl's young face was...
    Sam nodded and her expression relaxed to its more normal state. "I
don't mind, and it will be good practice for my next spar with Linna."
    "Oh," Katsumi could not think of a reply to that so she just took
the offered hand and joined her friend on the dance floor. Something
had just happened that had shaken Sam up badly and knowing what her
young friend was like Katsumi was worried. Sam was never frightened
about anything. Katsumi knew that the girl had demons in her past but
Sam had always hidden them well - until now.
    Katsumi's hand tightened around Sam's and for the first time she
actually wondered just who the hell this young girl really was? And
what was it she seemed to be spending her whole life running away
from?
    Sam looked up at Katsumi and both their eyes locked for a moment.
Katsumi almost staggered as a wave of intense loneliness and ancient
pain washed over her. The terrifying depths of what she say flickering
in those eyes almost threatened to engulf her and she tripped as she
completely lost sense of everything around her.
    Darkness swirling...
    Pain... Light... Fear... PAIN!!
    Hate! Rage!
    Katsumi staggered as inhumanly intense emotions swamped her mind.
She was losing herself...
    Losing herself...
    Losing...
    Drowning into the Darkness...
    Pulled into the frozen embrace of an endless Void...
    Falling...
    Dying...
    "Katsumi! Katsumi!" a voice exclaimed in concern as a pair of
strong arms caught her and held her in a protective embrace. "Are you
all right?"
    The frozen Darkness fled and suddenly she was back.
    "Katsumi! Katsumi!"
    Katsumi gasped in shock and tried to clear her mind. She was
frozen! That Darkness had...
    "Katsumi?" the warm, soft, concerned voice said again and Katsumi
hungered for that warmth. She was _so_ cold...
    "Cold..."
    A strangely sweet spicy like scent clung to the figure protecting
her. The arms were so warm, soft and secure. Katsumi wanted to lose
herself in that warm softness - to give herself to it. She wanted to
let it surround her and embrace her forever. To warm her...
    "Cold..." she muttered. "So cold..."
    "Katsumi?" the voice said yet again and at last she recognized who
it was - to whom that voice belonged.
    "Roy..."
    It was Roy. He had saved her. He had called her back. He was the
warmth she so desperately sought. Roy...
    "Katsumi? What's wrong?" the concerned voice asked yet again as
Katsumi tightened her arms and pulled the soft form of her husband to
her.
    "Roy..." she whispered in a husky voice as she surrendered herself
to the warmth and gave her beloved a passionate kiss on his so soft
lips.
    "Mmmm...." Katsumi felt herself melting away. She was lost,
falling into the sweet sensation of those moist lips. Thought,
sensation, need - they all swirled combining with that sweet spicy
scent.
    "Oh... Roy..." Katsumi groaned in pleasure as she drank on the
sweet nectar of those lips. "I love you...."
    The heady rush of sensation and longing was such that Katsumi
forgot everything but her need. She pulled Roy harshly against her and
like someone desperately starving she attacked his lips. Her hands
moved possessively over the familiar soft form. Roy was hers - he
would always be hers and she would never love anyone else but that
figure in her arms. She would swear her soul to it, the soul of her
daughter. This figure was hers, now and forever. Hers...
    "Roy..."
    "Mmmm!!" a high pitched voice squawked and Roy tried to push her
away. Katsumi, however, was having none of that. She pulled back with
all her weight and dragged her husband down onto her. This was what
life was all about. The flood of hot sensation and the rush of sweet
victory that followed - it defined all that she would ever want of
life. With a building urgency Katsumi started to pull at her husband's
clothes.
    "MMMM!!!" the figure was now struggling and Katsumi's teeth bit
soft flesh. A warm, sweet and salty taste flooded her mouth and a
sharp blow hit her across the face. The sudden jolt of pain killed the
passion that was overwhelming her and reluctantly she opened her eyes.
    "..." she yelped as she looked straight down into two very wide
and deep sea green eyes. Sanity and reason sharply returned as with a
panicked cry she let go of Sam and scrambled madly to her feet.
    "Sam?!" she squawked in mad disbelief as her eyes took in the
figure sprawled out on the ground. "What the hell?!?"
    Sam's face was almost as red as her hair and she seemed to be
completely shocked by what had just happened. Katsumi's eyes widened
in panic as she saw the smear of red blood leaking from the girl's
lips and that her expensive white dress was pulled up around the
girl's slender white stomach.
    "Sam!" Roy exclaimed as he pushed himself passed the stunned
figure of Katsumi. Yanking the still numbed girl to her feet he pulled
the dress down over her exposed white panties. He did not believe what
he had just seen his wife do....
    "Katsumi!" Roy exclaimed angrily turning on his wife. "Have you
gone completely mad!"
    Katsumi could only shake her head in disbelief. She did not know
what the hell was going on. For some insane reason she had thought Sam
was Roy. Even now she could still vividly remember that sweet spicy
scent and the lingering honey of the redhead's lips. The taste of them
had been so...
    Katsumi shuddered as for one insane moment she suddenly envied
Linna with all her heart. She understood now why the brunette was so
possessive about her prize. Who would ever want to share such a
treasure. However, Katsumi realized, Linna was out of the picture now
and Sam was alone. The girl was a perfect target for Katsumi to....
    "NO!" Katsumi shook her head in horror and grabbed at Roy afraid
she might be losing her mind.
        "Katsumi?" Roy forgot his anger and pulled the shivering woman
to him. "What's wrong love? What's the matter? Shhh..."
    "I... I don't feel very well..." Katsumi managed to say trying to
focus all her attention on her BELOVED. "I need some air..."
    Roy shot Leia a look and nodded towards Sam. Turning, he then led
his bemused wife slowly away.
    "Sam?" Leia reached out and awkwardly patted the still stunned
girl on the back. "Are you okay?"
    Sam's head jerked up in Leia's direction and slowly she focused
back into what was happening around her.
    "You pathetic fool!" the girl swore angrily to the thin air. "Do
you seriously think that such a childish Move will concern me?
Imbecile!"
    "Sam!" Leia grabbed the girl's hand. "What are you doing?"
    The redhead pulled herself free and ignoring Leia continued to
speak to thin air. "That was feeble," she said scathingly. "No Player
is..."
    "Sam! Stop it!"
    "...stupid enough to..."
    SLAP!
    "Ittai!" Sam winced and raised a hand to her stinging cheek. She
turned angrily to look at Leia. "What did you..." her voice died away
as she suddenly realized everyone was looking at her. Her face went
bright red again and she edged behind Leia.
    "Go away!" she hissed. "Leave me alone!"
    Leia breathed a sigh of relief. The girl was back.
    "The excitement is over!" Leia stood protectively in front of the
redhead and addressed everyone. "Just Mrs. DeVice having a small panic
attack, that's all. Thank you for your help." She glared
authoritatively at the crowd as if daring them to say anything. "You
can all go back to the party now, thank you."
    People shifted about nervously and then gradually, with much
murmuring the crowd broke up and returned to the party. Leia gave a
sigh of relief and turned to face the girl still standing behind her.
    "Thank you," Sam said with a nervous grin. "I kind of lost it
there for a moment. The crowd..."
    Leia smiled to try and put the girl at ease. "Hey! If I had just
been half stripped in front of a large crowd I think I would 'lose it'
as well. Now, how do you feel? Are you okay?"
    "Fine, really," Sam replied. She looked down at the ground and
tried to understand what it was that had just happened. It seemed that
her opponent was well aware of her past. This sick childish Move had
been Its way of letting her know that. But why? That was what confused
Sam the most. Why would a Player with such Power do such a… childish
Move? And that's exactly what the Move was - childish.
"Childish," she cursed again.
    "Sorry?" Leia asked. "What was that?"
    "Nothing." Sam ran a hand through her hair. She needed to decide
what she was going to do about this. If her opponent was going to be
Playing little tricks like this on her then she needed to cover
herself. The problem was how?
    Roy came back over to stand by Leia. He looked at the redhead for
a moment. "Sam, I'm going to take you home. I think you've had more
than enough for one night."
    "Where's Katsumi?" Sam asked. "Is she all right?"
    Roy flushed. What could he say to make up for what had just
happened? This party had been intended to bring some color back to
Sam's cheeks. It had not been intended to embarrass the hell out of
her.
    Sam sensed what Roy was thinking and smiled. "It's all right Roy.
I'm not going to wilt away and I'm definitely not going home. Now,
stop worrying about me and get back to your wife. I'm sure she's
feeling far worst about this than me."
    "How so?" Leia queried. "Katsumi... well... almost..." she
flushed.
    "What? Ravished me?" Sam finished. "Hardly, she just thought I was
Roy and got a bit carried away. Although," Sam touched her lip gently,
"she's a bit viscous with the kiss. What do you think Roy?" she
grinned.
    Roy did not bother to answer that. "Tell me what happened Sam.
Katsumi has not had a drop to drink all night. What made her suddenly
think you were me?" He looked down at himself, "it's not like we are
similar."
    Sam shrugged, "all I know is that she stumbled and when I caught
her and asked her if she was okay she laid that huge kiss on me. I
don't really remember too much after that. Look, it's just one of
those things. I'll grant you it's not something that happens all the
time but I'll survive. Now, go and see to your wife!"
    "But..."
    "Go!"
    Roy turned and left in the direction of the balcony where Katsumi
was trying to recover herself. He could feel the eyes of the crowd
following him but he tried to just ignore them. Now was not the time
to be concerned about his public image.
    "You're taking this very calmly," Leia remarked casually.
    "What else can I do?" Sam asked calmly. "And a kiss isn't going to
kill me - even if it draws a bit of blood."
    "Well, it did at least liven things up a bit," Leia ventured.
    "That's one way of putting it," Sam acknowledged. "I'm just glad
Linna wasn't here to see it. She would have probably knocked Katsumi's
teeth out."
    "Linna?" Leia frowned. "Roy mentioned that name as well. Who is
she? Your sister?"
    "Lover," Sam corrected watching how Leia would react. "She's my
lover."
    "Oh," Leia replied and smiled nervously.
    "I'm not going to jump you," Sam said with an amused expression on
her face. "Linna and I have a monogamous relationship. We may not be
able to get legally married in this country but that's only a bit of
paper."
    "No, no," Leia shook her head. "It's not that. It's..."
    "What?" Sam said still amused.
    "Oh..." Leia gave up. "You're right. Sorry... I..."
    "Don't worry," Sam smiled. "I know that it's not common in this
world but it does happen."
    "Yeah," Leia frowned. "So where is Linna now? Why is she not
here?"
    Sam did not answer and the smile faded from her face.
    "What is it?" Leia asked.
    "Linna," Sam said softly and then turning walked away leaving Leia
staring stupidly after her.

     "Achoo!" Linna sneezed and raised her hand to rub at her itchy
nose. She opened her eyes and immediately closed them gasping with
pain. The light was like blinding needles piercing her eyes.
    "Fuck that hurts!" she hissed as the pain slowly subsided into a
dull ache. Slowly she tried again but this time far more carefully.
    "Ah..." the light still hurt but by squinting she found that she
could just about look around. It took her a moment to determine where
she was. Her mind felt like it was completely full of tofu. Slowly,
ever so slowly, her brain processed the details of what she saw. She
appeared to be in some sort of hospital ward. A machine of some kind
was bleeping quietly next to her bed and wires and other plastic
looking things were attached to various parts of her body. Linna's
face frowned as she tried desperately to remember what had happened to
her.
    "Car..." she whispered as slowly the memories began to return. She
had been running across the street. Chasing Sam... She had wanted to
tell... Blue eyes suddenly widened as the tofu abruptly evaporated
from her mind.
"SAM!" she yelled and tried to sit up. The effort of the movement
exhausted her and she fell back, her head spinning. Linna took a deep
breath and tried again. She had to find Sam! She just had to!
    Miya was just preparing to settle down for the night when one of
the desk monitors suddenly gave a startled bleep and lit up like a
Christmas tree.
    "What the..."
    It took her a moment to realize what was happening. One of the
"living dead" had just woken up! Miya scrambled to her feet and rushed
over to the monitoring desk. She looked down at the room number that
was flashing for attention. It was...
    "SAM! SAM!" a scream followed by a loud crash echoed down the
hall.
    "Linna..." Miya did not need the panel to tell her which room it
was whose occupant had just risen from the dead. "Shit!" Miya slammed
her fist into the red stat button. "Recovery unit to level 23, room
2032 now! Repeat - recovery unit to level 23, room 2032 stat!" She
released the button and ran down the corridor to the room in question.
She had just reached the entrance when the dark haired patient from
within had just about dragged herself through it.
    "Sammm..." the brunette spluttered trying to focus on the spinning
figure standing in the light. "I need you... I won't let... let... you
leave... me... Love..." The spinning was getting too much and the
effort of dragging her dead weight body across the floor had
completely exhausted her. Linna fainted.
    "Horus!" Miya blasphemed as she rushed over to the fallen figure.
Who knows what damage Linna may have done to herself with this stupid
act?
    "Hold on love," Miya said as she knelt down next to the
unconscious woman. "Don't you _dare_ go and die on me now! Not after
so long! Sam will never forgive you if you do..."

    "Achoo!" Sam sneezed and raised her hand to rub at her itchy nose.
    "You're not cold are you?" Leia said glancing over at the redhead
who stood next to her.
    "Me?" Sam rubbed her bare arms and shivered. "A bit. The wind's
pretty fresh out here you know."
    Leia grinned and took off her jacket. "Here," she said offering it
to the girl. "That dress was designed to catch the eye, not protect
against the middle of winter."
    "Thanks," Sam gratefully took the offered jacket and slipped into
it. "That's better."
    "So," Leia said. "How do you feel now? Better?"
    "Definitely," Sam replied as she looked down from the outside
balcony onto the glowing city below. "Anything to get away from all
those staring eyes."
    "You should have taken Roy up on his offer to get you home," Leia
handed the girl her glass of fruit juice. "I would have."
    Sam shook her head. "No, I can't be seen to be running away.
Appearances are far more important than any slight embarrassment I
might have felt. Besides, I wouldn't have felt quite right intruding
on Roy and Katsumi at the moment. She was far more affected by her...
confusion than I was. She needs to have some time alone with Roy."
    "I'm not sure confusion is the word I would use," Leia snorted.
"She completely lost it! If she had tried something like that on me I
would have decked her one!" She took a drink from her own glass.
    Sam chuckled at the indignation in the woman's voice. "Oh, I don't
know," she said looking coyly up at Leia. "Katsumi is quite a looker.
You might actually enjoy it - sweet cakes..."
    Leia suddenly coughed and spluttered as she swallowed the wrong
way. Sam burst out laughing and gave the gasping woman a whack on the
back.
    "You sort of walked into that one," Sam giggled in merriment as
Leia recovered herself.
    "You..." Leia tried to be angry but it was difficult. She gave a
rueful sigh. "I imagine that Linna has her hands quite full with a
evil little minx like you.... Sam?" Leia frowned as the amusement
slowly leeched away from the girl's pale face. She took a hesitant
step forward. "What's wrong? Did I say something..."
    Sam looked up at the black clear sky overhead and pulled the
jacket tighter around her body. "Linna was hit by a car over five
months ago," she said slowly. "She's been in a coma ever since."
    Leia gasped and silently cursed herself. "Sam... I'm sorry...
I..."
    The redhead turned her white face to look at Leia and the woman
felt the rest of her words die in her throat. The girl's face was
almost otherworldly in the soft light reflected up from the city
below. For a weird moment Leia swore the young woman-child looked more
like some marble statue of fallen divinity rather than a human. The
girl's deep-set eyes and white face seemed to bare the stamp of all
the sorrows of the world tempered with an infinite wisdom. It was
almost impossible to describe.
    "Sam..." Leia whispered and felt like she was committing sacrilege
just by speaking the figure's name.
    The wind blew gently across the balcony and ruffled the girl's
fiery red hair. Leia swallowed and took a step back. This girl did not
belong here. She was something... beyond...
    "Leia! Sam!"
    The man's voice broke the spell and suddenly Sam was Sam - a girl
with a sad expression on her face.
    "Ah! There you are!" Keiji came hurrying over. "I have been
looking for the two of you everywhere. Roy has finally managed to get
Katsumi to rejoin the party and he wants the two of you to join them.
Katsumi wants you to come back as well. She says that she is really
sorry and wants to make up for...."
    Sam turned her back on him and looked down at the glowing city
below. The wind picked up again and Keiji almost missed the words that
the girl spoke.
    "Please Keiji, not yet. I need a few minutes..."
    "Sam," Keiji began. "You can't hide out here..."
    "Don't," Leia gently grabbed her companion's arm and shook her
head. "Let her be."
    "But Leia..."
    "Come back to us soon Sam," Leia said pulling Keiji away.
"Christmas is not for being alone."
    "I know..." Sam whispered as the woman and the other left. "I
know..."

    "Excuse me Miss? Would you honor me with the next dance?" an
apprehensive young voice asked her.
    Sam stopped her conversation with a still slightly unnerved
Katsumi and turned her attention to the figure who had just asked her
to dance. He was a young looking officer who stood with a nervous
smile on his face offering her his hand.
    Katsumi mumbled something under her breath and politely excused
herself. She was still having great difficulty accepting what she had
done and the feelings she had felt. Sam had pushed it away as if it
did not matter at all but Katsumi was still very confused - to put it
mildly. Deep within her she knew that the feelings of easy friendship
she had long felt towards her young companion were evolving into
something quite different. It was almost as if something had reached
into her and twisted the love that she felt for her husband and
inserted the green eyed redhead in there as well. Katsumi DID NOT like
it. In fact, she hated it, but the feeling was still there. Katsumi
turned and hurried away. She had to get a drink.
    Sam looked at the flustered expression on the young human's face
and her lips twitched in amusement. "I am sorry Sir," she said with a
polite smile. "What was that you asked me? I didn't quite catch it?"
    The young man flushed and his face reddened as he drew up the
courage once more to ask this ethereally attractive girl to dance with
him. "I was wondering if you would..."
    "Ah, there you are detective Goto."
    Detective Goto and Sam turned at the voice as Superintendent
Coltrain and his wife came walking over.
    "Ahh... Good evening Sir," Goto said.
    Coltrain smiled and turned to his wife. "This is detective Hima
Goto my dear. He was one of the new recruits to join us this year."
    The older woman smiled and held out her hand in greeting. "I do so
hope you are enjoying yourself detective. We try to throw this little
party once every year just to show how much we appreciate the effort
that people such as yourself show in your dedication to duty. And of
course," she smiled, "it brings my husband a useful opportunity to
invite some of the city bigwigs around for a drink. It always helps
when the departmental budgets come around - is that not right Samuel?"
    Coltrain laughed. "And this is Miss De'Naime, Roy and Katsumi's
guest for the evening."
    The woman's eyes focused on Sam and they widened as she recognized
the girl involved in that... situation earlier in the evening. The
girl recognized that the woman knew her but instead of looking
embarrassed or ashamed the girl's piercing green eyes simply stared at
her.
    "Delighted to meet you my dear," the hand went out again. This
girl had guts.
    "Likewise I am sure," Sam smiled politely shaking the hand.
    "You are to be congratulated Detective," the woman added with a
smile.
    "How so?" Goto inquired politely.
    "You are the first young man who has gathered the courage to ask
the most beautiful girl here for a dance," she said focusing her eyes
on the redhead. She was pleased to note that the pale skinned girl was
still modest enough to blush at the comment. Gutsy and modest at the
same time - a very odd combination.
    "If my wife feels that that is the case then perhaps this dance
should belong to the most senior officer present." With that comment
Coltrain turned to the girl. "Miss De'Naime, would you allow me the
honor of the first dance?"
    Sam's smile grew slightly sour and she noticed the twitch on the
older woman's face. "I would be more than happy to Superintendent,"
she said. "However, it would be impolite of me to turn down officer
Goto here as I have already accepted his offer."
    "Oh, I am sure detective Goto would not mind," Coltrain said with
a meaningful glance in the younger man's direction. "Do you
detective?"
    "Of course not Sir," Goto was not that stupid. "Be my guest."
    "Then shall we Miss De'Naime?" Coltrain did not wait for a reply
but slipped his hand around the slender waist and led his prize out
onto the dance floor. The other dancers began to gather on the floor
as well.
    "I trust you are familiar with the Florin Waltz, Miss De'Naime?"
Coltrain inquired. "If not, then I will be most happy to take the
lead."
    "Oh, I am quite familiar with it. Thank you for the offer though."
Sam took up her position opposite Coltrain with the other ladies and
waited for the music to start - it didn't. After a few moments people
began to shift about uneasily and look over in the direction of the
music system. A man hurried over to it and began to fiddle. People
waited expectantly for something to happen. The moments dragged by and
the man was left scratching his head. Finally, he looked up and shook
his head in a movement that indicated that that was it as far as the
music was concerned for tonight.
    "What a shame," Sam said to the older man as the dancers
disbanded.
    "Yes," Coltrain replied as they rejoined Goto and his wife. "It
seems our dance was not to be."
    "These things happen," Sam replied with a shrug offering her arm
to the surprised Goto.
    "Maybe some other..."
    "Sam! Sam!" Katsumi's shout carried throughout the room as she and
Roy rushed over. "Sam, Linna has woken up! The hospital just
called..."
    Sam's face broke into an expression that was a combination of
excitement and worry. She pulled her arm free of Goto and took a
hesitant step towards Katsumi. "Linna's awake? You're sure..."
    Katsumi nodded with a big grin and grabbed the girl's hand. "Yes!
It's real! Come on!"
    Roy looked over at his superior's strangely angry expression and
bowed. "I am very sorry Sir but we have to go. Sam has a very dear
friend in hospital who has been in a coma for the last five months.
The hospital just called, they want us over there now. Forgive me for
rushing out like this."
    "Nonsense Captain," Shea Coltrain said. "You go, and the best of
luck to you all. It was delightful to finally met your wife and your
enchanting guest, but you do what you have to do. Now, go."
    "Sir," Roy bowed again and the three of them rushed off. Leia and
Keiji joined them and together they all headed for the lifts.
    "What a lucky man Roy is to have found such a... delightful wife,"
Shea said as she watched the five friends leave the room.
    "Yes," Coltrain replied. "We must invite them over for dinner some
time. Them, and Miss De'Naime of course."
    "Yes my dear," Shea said with a wintry smile as she saw the openly
lustful look on her husband's face. "Of course."

Location: Tokyo, Japan (Alt)
Time: AD 2032, 2nd March, 07:22

    "You can't Sam," Linna said close to tears. "You can't stay with
me when I'm like this. Please..."
    "You chose me and I chose you," Sam replied simply as she plumped
up the pillows behind the brunette. "That was the deal. The condition
of the goods was not mentioned."
    "But I'm paralyzed damn it!" Linna shouted as the pent up
frustration and despair of the last eight weeks rushed out yet again.
"I can't tie you to me when I'm like this! I won't let you!"
    Sam just shrugged and said, "you don't have a choice Linna. Its
not like you can get up and stop me now is it?" That calm statement
and the smug smile on the immortal girl's face caused Linna to go
white with rage. The reality of the situation had just been laid out
in front of her and she was helpless to do anything about it.
    "YOU BITCH!!" Linna screamed and she swept the breakfast tray that
Sam had placed on the bed all over the floor of their room. "You
BLOODY BITCH!! I HATE YOU!! GET OUT!!"
    "Oh dear, and just after I had finished clearing up as well," Sam
sighed and knelt down to start yet again.
    "GET OUT!!" Linna shrieked and with a huge effort she twisted her
dead body to grasp the bedside clock with her only working left arm
and threw it at her tormentor.
    "Ouch!" Sam complained as the poorly aimed object hit her feebly
on the arm. Sighing, she put it to one side and ignoring the shrieking
woman finished clearing up what she could. "Do you want anything
else?" she asked sweetly.
    "GET OUT! GET OUT! I HATE YOU! GET OUT!!"
    "I'll take that as a no then," Sam said and placed the abused
clock on the dresser table. She opened the door and walking through it
said. "When you're ready to go to the toilet let me know this time
will you? It's rather difficult cleaning you up when you insist on
doing it in the bed all the time...."
    Yuki grimaced at the foul curses and shrieking that was coming
from the top of the stairs - again. It was a good job that the cafe
was now situated in the new building at the end of the street. She did
not think the customers would have appreciated what was coming from
the top of the stairs.
    "Good morning Yuki," Sam said brightly as she entered the kitchen
they all shared. "How are you today?"
    "I see you started early," Yuki commented dryly.
    "Why not?" Sam put the splattered remains of the breakfast into
the waste disposal unit. "I was up most of the night."
    "I know," Yuki said with a dour look. "So were we."
    "Oh, I'm sorry Yuki," Sam flashed her an apologetic grin. "Linna
threw a real temper tantrum last night and then just refused to calm
down afterwards. You know how she generally is. One flare up every
couple of hours and then she usually gets more docile. Last night
however was just difficult for her."
    "How much sleep have you had Sam?" Yuki asked slightly concerned.
"You've been on the go for the last few nights looking after her."
    Sam shrugged, "I get enough. I think this week has just been bad
as a result of the shock of the news. Its not nice being told you're
going to be permanently paralyzed for the rest of your life."
    "No," Yuki agreed. "I understand how she feels. Isn't there
anything the doctors can do for her?"
    "Nope," Sam sighed. "Short of neural implants - nothing. The
problem is not so much the actual nerves but the commands the brain is
sending to them. It's all screwed up. According to the consultant we
talked to Linna's mind is the equivalent of a network were all the
signals are being incorrectly directed and stopped. Artificial limbs
would not help either because the signals to activate the muscles just
don't get through."
    "What about these implants then?"
    "20% chance of restoring some mobility. But the risk of the
surgery isn't worth the effort. So, she is stuck with the little
movement that she has." Sam started to wash up, "she had a difficult
time accepting that."
    "I gather that," Yuki said and then crossed over to stand by her
friend. "Just hang in there Sam. Linna does love you. She's just
having a tough time... Ah, but that's obvious isn't it? Oh, you know
what I'm trying to say."
    Sam giggled, "don't worry I've dealt with far more than just one
furious woman before. She'll come around - she just needs time."
    "Well, if you need a break today I can..."
    "No its all right," Sam shook her head. "I'm going to take Linna
out today - down the park or something. She usually feels better after
she gets out. Hey! I know! How about you bring your little monster
along as well. I would really be glad of the company."
    Yuki nodded her head, "all right with me. What time?"
    "After lunch?" Sam suggested. "It'll give both babies time to calm
down."
    "Yeah, suppose so."

    "There you go Linna," Sam said looking up at the warm sun overhead
and shielding her eyes. "I said it would be nice outside today didn't
I?"
    Linna had to admit that the fresh air and warmth did indeed feel
good and for the first time in a couple of days she actually began to
feel slightly better. She turned her head and looked up at the redhead
walking just behind her chair.
    "Sam... I'm sorry," Linna began. "I've been a real bitch over the
last few weeks haven't I?"
    "Something like that," Sam admitted. "But don't let it bother you
too much - I can handle it."
    "But I do," Linna made a huge effort and dragged her left hand
slowly across to place it on Sam's arm. "I just can't stand the
thought of you being tied to me for..."
    "Linna, let's not start that conversation again. We both know
where it ends up going..."
    "But I hate being like this!" Linna exclaimed helplessly. "I could
accept aging with you, but this... Sam, I can't even touch you... feel
you. I'm dead! I can't feel your caresses, your body... How can you
bear making love to a corpse! Damn it Sam! I want you to be happy! I
want you to love me, to make love to me! But... Oh Gods..." She burst
out crying. "How can you want..."
    "Fuck Linna!" Sam said angrily as the brunette began to sink into
her self despair again. "Is that what all this is about? Sex?"
    "But..." Linna started to say when she suddenly jolted as a wave
of pure sexual pleasure washed over her. "Ahhh..."
    Sam withdrew her mental probe and knelt down by Linna's gasping
face. She looked deep into the passion flushed blue eyes and giggled.
"You forget who your partner is old girl. I don't need your body to
give you a thrill."
    Linna was breathing deeply, "how... how the hell..."
    "World jumping ain't the only trick I know mortal," Sam said as
she gave Linna a light kiss on the cheek.
    "You mean..."
    "I'll show you tonight," Sam promised. "It's a bit public here."
    Linna's mind was spinning. She suddenly realized something.
"Sam... Can you... heal me? Use this... to cure me..."
    Sam's face fell and her eyes moved nervously about.
    "Sam..."
    The redhead looked torn almost as if one need was fighting with
another.
    "Tell me Sam!" Linna hissed trying to grab hold of her lover's
arm. "Can you _heal_ me?"
    "Yes..." the girl whispered with a forlorn look. "I could but the
price is too..."
    "What?!" Linna could not believe this. She could not accept it.
"Then for fuck's sake why..."
    "Because..."
    "You have to! Samantha please! You have to help me! You have to
heal me!"
    "I can't..." Sam's face was tortured. "She won't let..."
    "WHY NOT?!" Linna screamed with rage. She was no longer listening
to Sam. The girl whom she _had_ loved more than life itself had
BETRAYED HER!
    Still playing with her son quite some distance away Yuki suddenly
looked up as she heard the enraged shouting of Linna. "Oh fuck..." she
cursed softly. She knew that it had been too good to last. Jumping to
her feet she picked up her complaining son and tried to get back to
the girls before Linna went completely overboard.
    "HELP ME!! WHY WILL YOU NOT HELP ME!!!" Linna screamed out
incoherently. Her left hand was raised like a claw and her face was
filled with rage.
    "Because I love you too much!" Sam burst out. "I can't do it to
you! I won't let her! I won't bring you into our world!"
    "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!?" Linna snarled. "IF YOU LOVED ME
YOU WOULD HELP ME!"
    "You don't understand!" Sam cried out. "You don't know what you
are asking!"
    "HEAL ME!!" Linna commanded. "IF YOU LOVE ME THEN DO IT!"
    Sam shook, "Linna... Please... Don't ask this... You can't..."
    "I _HATE_ YOU SAMANTHA DE'NAIME!!" Linna screamed and for the
first time real loathing filled her voice. "I HATE YOU!! HATE YOU!!
HATE YOU!! FUCKIN' BITCH!!"
    Sam wilted under the words. These were different, for the first
time Linna really meant it. She shook her head in disbelief and took a
few steps back as Linna lost herself in her rage
    "...BITCH!! I _LOATH_ YOU! YOU DON'T LOVE ME! YOU JUST WANT TO USE
ME! A TOY! I..."
    Sam turned and fled. The hate ringing in her ears reminded her too
much of another hated voice, another hated time... She just ran.
    "Oh Horus..." Yuki was still trying to put her wailing son into
his buggy when Linna started raving at the top of her voice and Sam
bolted like a scared rabbit. "Linna... Sam... Oh you children - what
have you done now..."

        *       *       *       *