Well, here's a first draft. (sigh) it looks like GOTDK may be delayed, if
I can't get 10 out more promply than this one.
Many thanks to Strata812, who MST'd cp 8 - It was great help, and great
C&C - A revised 1-8 will (I Promise!) come out tomorow.
Youma Blues: Jadeite Days 9
Power Supply (& demand)
The next day I woke up to the sound of someone pounding on my front
door, and Catlinite screaming something about how 'if you don't open the door
and help me *this instant* you'll die in horrible agony.' Waking up after a
severe bout of mind-blasting and cold-induced shock on top of not-quite healed
wounds is never fun; However, from experience I can say that it's quite a bit
worse if someone wakes you up...the net effect is that I was already in
horrible
agony, and (as I believe I mentioned previously) I have an aversion to
dieing, so
I complied.
That was when a rather scorched looking Catlinite staggered in bearing a
thoroughly roasted looking youma Tetis.
Now, Tetis is fairly well known in the dark kingdom - actually she's fairly
important too - as the only youma with effective, large scale water control
powers, she's somewhat in demand. The dark kingdom has been locked into a
permanent drought since Atlantis was exiled from the universe in general at
the
end of the silver millennium. This makes water powers vital to our continued
survival...
And the Demi-humanic knows it too. She keeps most of the rest of the
population of the kingdom at an arms length, avoiding relationships so as
to have
an edge in negotiations, except for the real high-ups, like Beryl (whom she
works
for directly), and Jadeite (Whom she has a serious crush on; That much is
obvious to everyone but the general himself.).
Of course, the fact that behind her carefully maintained oriental mystique
she's also a high level member of the youma underground *isn't* commonly
known. The Mistress of water generally keeps her faceless guise as perfectly
blank as only someone who's only facial features are eyes can, and makes very
sure than no one catches on that she's communicating with 'rebels' on a
constant
basis, using her water powers.
Right now she looked like someone had decided to use her as the
centerpiece of the barbecue.
I groaned and pulled myself out of bed (having used a simple force
projection on the door), filling the fact that I had no clothes on away
with various
other things that were to be meditated on later - such as the question of what
Catlinite had been doing while wandering around the city by herself...Right
now I
had something of an emergency to deal with.
"What happened, Cat?" She shook off the question until we had Tetis in
the bathtub (contact with water would definitely help, as her powers were
water-
based), and I dug out the last of my reserved energy storage to use for
healing
spells.
"Jadeite tried to gather energy from a captive audience...somehow the
senshi were in it; They'd used an old boat, glamoured up to look like a
cruise
ship...Mars and Moon showed somehow, then that Tuxedo mask character as
well - If I hadn't been able to pull Tetis out, she'd have been incinerated by
Mars."
"Sounds bad." I thought a moment over the implications of this and
cussed; If the cruise had already gone into...wait. I had assumed that there
would be at least another week..time enough for Umino to actually win the
cruise
contest...
"Catlin..how long did I sleep after the Ice incident?" She swallowed and
refused to look at me as she said, "Three days. I didn't want to bother
you with
that..."
"Damn damn damn...Catlin, we're in trouble."
"Tell me something I don't know! We were just lucky Mercury hasn't
recovered completely from what you did to her... " I felt that that was
another
thing to ask about, but filled it away for later, as well. " I just hope I
managed to
loose Tuxedo mask, he was trying to follow us.."
"No Cat. I mean, Jadeite won't be around in a bit, and I can't be sure
that Beryl's displeasure won't fall on me as well. I have a certain
foresight into
these maters, but I don't know everything by a longshot.." As she jerked her
head up to stare at me I frowned in consternation. "Worse, I don't know
what's
happened to the three shipments of energy I should have been ferrying..."
Catlin
shook her head.
"There havn't been any shipments since the park was closed down. For
some reason Mars and moon are out in force - I probably has to do with
Mercury's extended absence..."
I snarled. "Great. That means they're looking for me..." And began
rummaging through my things, taking all the containing gems I'd made (and
recently emptied, all fifteen of them), before heading to the door.
Catlin gave a startled yelp and whiled to face me as it became clear I
was leaving, screaming,"Hey! Where are you going!?"
"Out." I replied, shortly. "We'll need energy, and soon, so I'm going to
go get some."
She didn't like that at all. Not one bit. "You intend to go power-
grabbing on the streets? With the senshi after your head?! What happens if
they
show up here?"
"Bar the door. If the bash it in, run....they're the type that won't harm
someone who isn't an agressor..mostly." The sound of her growling obscenities
faded behind me, and I moved on out into the city.
It was past time to start work.
I hadn't even got six blocks before I realized that I was being followed.
To me the energy aura of a Senshi is very obvious...at least, it is when
they are
(paradoxically enough) -not- transformed.
Perhaps the transformation pens are really just disguise magic items...a
cloak of sorts, and a memory trigger..It's fairly obvious to me that they
don't
really need them for their powers.
It was a pity that I didn't dare try to tap the energies they radiated...it
would have obliviated the need to do some of the reckless and reasonably
foolish things I was about to do...but I wasn't about to get into the
equivalent of a
magical tug-of-war with someone who was backed by a planet.
With Mars and Tux-boy tracking me, though, I'd never be able to try a
few experiments, or recharge...I'd have to be tricky and loose them
somehow...without seeming to. I therefor exerted a bit of willpower and
carefully did not look around for them - I knew where they were, after all,
and
didn't need to alert them to that fact.
After trying to get rid of Catlin's friends for three days, loosing two rank
amateurs didn't prove to be that hard.
These two still had a lot to learn about following people.
I had a lot to learn about underestimating house pets though....
Elsewhere, Ami Mizuno had 'recovered' from a 'fainting spell' -
Ami smiled with studied steadiness at her mom, and insisted, "Mom, I'm
fine. I'm even made up the homework I missed and more - and Usagi really
does need the help."
"Okay, honey. Just be sure you be back by ten - you have a test
tomorrow, you know." The final bit of paternal worrying now out of the way,
Ami shyly promised that yes, she would be home by ten, and then headed down
the street towards the bus stop.
It wasn't until she was sure that her mom was out of sight that Hermes
allowed the carefully copied mannerisms of Ami Mizuno fall away and her face
smoothed out to the blank, machine-like expression that had frightened Usako
nearly senseless when she'd first 'awakened'.
Hermes wasn't sure precisely what had happened - but there had been
an attack of some sort, on the archives of the Mercurial scientists, which
she/it
oversaw, and the attack had somehow fed back to damage the mind of the
Mercury senshi, through the interface that Senshi Mercury inherited. It had
taken several days simply for the Archivist to repair the basic neural
damage -
the more complex matter of healing the trauma suffered by the girls mind when
she was attacked would take nearly as much as a week more. Because it
would be best if her body was not simply left during that time (which might
compound the damage to the neurons)
and also because the nerve-repairs would have to be monitored to make certain
they'd worked, Hermes had taken up residence in the younger Senshi's body,
while the girl's shattered ego knit itself back together.
Working 'her' way up the steps to <> temple, Hermes was puzzled by
the fact that Usagi wasn't there as promised....but then, the current Senshi
Mercury's memory indicated that 'Sailor moon' (a confusing reference: there
had
never been a moon senshi) was prone to being late.
It was while she pondered this point that the current Mars (apparently
younger Mars, and reincarnated just as Mercury had been) rushed from the
temple, staring towards the east...and the power grid for the city failed.
Hermes realized that taking control of this body was probably a mistake:
If the enemy were attacking now "she'd" have to fight in it, and Hermes hated
combat of any kind.
It was an archivist AI, not a guardian.
In the years since, I've thought a lot about power.
Because, in the end, that's what it all comes down to.
Humans - and Senshi too, interestingly - have a tendency to take power
for granted...They just assume it's there, never really paying attention to
-what- it
is that they create in the form of technology, what they use in their day
to day
lives, and ultimately, what they wield.
Not so Youma. As a race, we are preternaturally aware of power -
every twist, every shift in the energy in our surroundings ..If anything, I
of all of
us, embody that awareness.
Power is what we live for...it's more important to us than food, rest, or
even air, more vital than blood, and far, far more useful. Even simple power
over others through fear can keep one of us alive...and the more powerful we
become, the longer our life-spans become - that's the entire secret of our
longevity, after all. The greater our skills, the stronger our abilities,
the longer we
live...and past a certain threshold, time ceases to have a hold over us.
That's how the race survived in the time of imprisonment, when Mettilla was
sealed away by Serenity in the blighted subspace where the general rule is one
meal a week...the native wildlife disintegrates upon death too, you see.
Interestingly, if you can eat enough in the human world, that doesn't
happen quite so fast -I theorize that we disintegrate because most of our
bodies
aren't, in fact, material at all, but constructs of the energy we consume,
binding
together the minute amounts of mater that remains from infrequent physical
meals.
For most of us, power means energy - more specifically life energy - but
not all of us are that...short sighted.
Me least of all.
Of course, I can sense life energy - all Youma can do that, at least
enough to gather energy from animals. But I sense more than that, more
precisely, and at a greater range...I can feel power in anything that
lives...even
trees, plants, and fungus..things most Youma would claim had not the
slightest bit
of 'energy' to feed them.
And, I'd discovered, I can feel power in things that don't live. Rocks,
water, wind..., heat, movement...electricity. Jadeite and the generals
can do this
to, of course, but I don't think that they can tap into it very well...even
Jadeite
never went beyond simple machine control..
and he never considered non-living things as a possible powersource - only
as an
endpoint, like his lightning, did he use 'elemental' energies.
Me, I needed a recharge in a hurry, so I intended to harness the main
powerstation for a few minutes, and black out town.
Oh, it would be harder than using living energy, certainly. Much more
difficult to gather, since it would have to be filtered through a living
(or, in this
case, formerly living) thing to 'refine' it into something resembling life
force...but I
had a plan. Actually, I'd already tested the basic idea, and the process was
sound.
Expensive - it totally incinerated the catalyst within a few minutes, and
amber doesn't come that cheap (especially in japan) - but sound. It's
actually
quite simple, if you're equipped to think of it.
Doesn't even really involve true 'magic' - just a basic bit of power
transformation, and a tool to make it much easier. Okay - it did involve
one little
spell, but I could even have done a fair amount of power without using the
amber
to shift the aura of it, but that would take more effort from me than I'd
really get
back.
All things considered, the operation went as smoothly I really consider
possible.
I'd even managed to pack ten of my 'storage cells' to the -brim- and
optimize the conversion efficiency somewhat, before Mars showed up..and
Mercury with her..Ami still looked a little frazzled, and had this
strange...precision of movement that had previously been lacking, but it sure
made her more dangerous.
They even almost managed to sneak up on me - they got within fifty feet
of the main transformer switch before I noticed them, and grabbed stuff up,
shoving it in a bag in preparation to vamoose.
I probably should have abandoned it - it would have been safer - but I
was on something of a deadline.
That almost got me barbecued. It did give me a little freezer burn - I
only dodged the 'Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!' thing by inches - I didn't think she
could do that yet, and supprised, I was a sitting duck for Mars, so I did the
prudent thing and teleported. Fast.
Returning home (after to a few business trips), and moving Catlin and
Tethis to a much more remote apartment near the sea (Tethis to recover, Catlin
to lay low) I decided to do some shopping for my 'next trick' - setting up
a more steady power supply that I didn't have to dodge Senshi to use.
I'd enjoyed
quite a bit of success at bank robbery since spending the last of my 'perk'
money, after all...teleporting is good for that.
Now it was time to spend it. Never mind I'd only stolen it that
afternoon.
I had a very -good- idea.
Simply put: I can sense energy in plants..And I can even draw it from
them. It just takes longer to do...it's not particularly harder, you just
have to be patient.
I'm not, you might notice, really patient..but I understand the usefulness
of the virtue..and I'd devised a use for my little talent.
Trees, you see, aren't really that affected by energy drain. Unlike
humans, they don't fall over, or run out..they just provide a steady stream of
(little) power. It might, over time, affect them as an extended drought,
but...
Normally, that trait isn't very useful - they don't provide all that much
energy...I tested it.
But if you could set up enough energy draining traps - basically,
something to contain energy with an energy drain spell slapped on it - and
just
leave them 'on', you could, conceivably, tap an entire forest.
The effect had the added bonus of not alerting the Senshi: the slower,
lighter draining that works on trees isn't really very noticeable - as long
as I
avoided tapping every tree in a water garden or something equally public and
foolish, they'd never realize the operation was happening.
Hopefully. Of course, come winter, I'd have to find another power
source, but that's life.
Unfortunately for my shopping trip, life had other plans for me that
particular afternoon.
The fifteen kilos of pure amber I needed - inclusions would be a bad
idea for this work - took a hefty chunk out of my wallet - thankfully the
Osa-P,
Naru's mom's Jewelry shop, did use a wholesaler that could do precious
stone in
bulk and in a hurry.
Unthankfully, I ran into a certain black-cat-weilding-sailor-suited-
soldier-for-love-and-justice while I was asking about one.
This was followed by "Catch him Sailor Moon!", "Not *again*", "Vile
warrior of the nega-verse, your rein of terror is at an end!", a groan of
"I've been DIC'ed.", and "Hey, come back here!" in approximately that order.
That is to say, I ditched my oh-so-convient Glamour of a rich business
man, took a business card, and ran like hell. It took me the rest of the
afternoon to loose the suprisingly unclumsey Sailor Moon and the damnably
sensitive cat.
At least I didn't run into her in my student guise - that would have been
a real disaster. The real disaster was scheduled for a week from then.
Later (but not that much later!) The three sailors had gathered at the
temple to talk about things...
"So, um, you're Ami's COMPUTER?" It wasn't quite a shriek, but it
would do, and Usagi wasn't about to turn the volume down.
Not about this.
"Close enough. I am Hermes, archive to the great library of Mercury. I
had been in standby mode for 1013 years and three days prior to younger
Mercury's request for information two months ago. My current assignment is:
protect and serve younger Mercury in any way she might require." The entire
sentence breezed by on a soft monotone, much like Ami Mizuno's usual shy
tone, with all the animation and emotion removed. It took even Luna a second
to work through the icy tone of her charge's voice.
"Wh-why are you here Hermes!? What's happened to Mercury?" Luna
paced in aggravation, wanting to know, but at the same time, not...
"Mercury is recovering from Psychically induced metal trauma. She will
be able to retake responsibility for managing this body within approximately a
standard day." Sweatdrops appeared, backs were shifted and Rei looked away
for a moment in confusion before asking,
"You mean someone attacked her mind?"
"Yes" The air temperature plummeted again..
"Um, any idea who did it?"
"No" Total silence reigned for a long moment, and then Usagi started
giggling.
"Hermes, did you know you talk just like Rei from Evangilon? Now we have
two rei's!" Even -Hermes- had to sweatdrop at that one, while Rei glared
hotly
at Usagi...
"Girls, the point here is we can't face Jadeite without all of you
together! We have to be able to stall him for at least a day!" The dramatic
and somewhat scary appearence of Jadeites floating head was definitely in
their
mentors minds...even if the senshi weren't really paying attention to it.
It was obvious they were more worried over Ami...Usagi's giggles were
more than a little forced, and Rei..Rei obviously blamed herself...
"Unnecessary. I can help Mercury through combat." Luna fell off the
steps.
"What?!"
"It's true, Luna..and I think Hermes is even better. Today she threw
some sort of Ice blast at that creep Tenshino." Rei threw a glare of
triumph at
Usagi. "We drove him off from the power plant, and meatball head didn't even
show up!"
As a particularly vicious glare duel erupted around the oblivious Hermes,
Luna gave an exasperated sigh.
One step forward...
Next time: Change of plans! Jadeite becomes a permanent resident of
sleepyland, leaving Aoi free to pursue other goals!