BUBBLEGUM SHOCKWAVE: MEMORIES

SHOCKWAVE: The aftereffects of any event happening, the larger the event,
  the larger the aftereffects

Less than one hour ago he had learned just exactly what he was, and he was
still absorbing that fact. He was too busy now to worry about much more than
the next patient, he was surprised at how many wounded there were, both ADP
and civilian. But he knew his job, and he didnt flinch from it, for some it
was too late, the only thing he could do was comfort them, for others he
worked hard to save them. He didnt realize how long they had been busy until
he looked up and saw some officers come in for morning duty, he looked at
the clock, 9 am, he had started working at about 6 am. He was about ready to
get back to work when he saw a young lady entering the building, a memory
of a redhead came to mind. She had meant something to him, something deep,
but he couldnt quite place it.

He didnt know just how he knew her, but he did, he was sure of that. His
emotions told him that she had meant alot to him, a brief memory came to
him, her face, bleeding, she was dying, and it was his fault. He had
promised her husband that he would keep her safe, he had failed, she was
dying, and he couldnt do anything about it. He couldnt remember anything
else of what had happened, but it hurt, not knowing made the pain even
worse than it already was.

        NENE

Nene looked around and saw that the place looked like a warzone, the lobby
had been converted into a miniature hospital. Most of the patients still in
the area were sleeping, they had a variety of wounds, everything from stabs
to gunshots, considering what Sylia had put them through last night with
helping the ADP clean up the streets of a rash of boomers it wasnt
surprising that they had converted the lobby into a hospital. 

Only a couple of doctors were tending the patients now, most of them were
stable and probably waiting for transportation to the hospital. One of the
doctors standing there, just stared at her, and the look on his face
unnerved her. She didnt recognize him, but it looked like he recognized her
or thought he did, she wasnt sure she wanted to know which. She noticed that
his eyes seemed to change after a minute, they seemed to refocus, and he
looked at her. He smiled a bit, and his demeanor changed instantly, he was
once again 'the doctor'.

She was about to head to her desk but he stopped her, "Ma'am, would you
mind giving me some help here? Would you mind letting Dr Manaris know that
the rest of the patients up here need to be transported to a hospital, they
are still in pretty bad shape. I've done all that I can considering and
they need to be taken care of by professionals with the proper equipment."

She smiled back, the doctor looked bone tired, maybe thats why he seemed
shocked at seeing her for some reason. She agreed to let the doctor know
the situation, he thanked her profusely and then went back to making sure
that the patients stayed stable. She left the area quickly to let the doctor
know so she could start her day as normally as she could. Seeing the tired
look on everyone's face she was sure that she would be busy today.

As she headed down to let the doctor know she saw Leon asleep in his chair,
his office looked like a waste dump more than anything. She continued down
to the doctor's office and let him know the situation, he seemed happy,
tired, but happy that they could be transported. She headed back up to her
desk, stopping only long enough to get some coffee for Leon and waking him
up so that he could actually drink some.

Less than five minutes later he brought a stack of reports out to her,
"Thanks for waking me up, I still got reports to fill out, here, file these,
and this one," handing her a seperate envelope, "make sure this one gets
placed in the missing persons drawer." She looked at him wondering but didnt
ask for details, she saw him shuffle back to his office to continue filling
out paperwork.

NOON ....

Her morning had not gone too well, half of the paperwork needed to be
rewritten, it was obvious that Leon wrote half of them while half awake.
But she had managed to get a good start on the work, she was interrupted
from her work by the doctor she had seen that morning. "Good afternoon
ma'am, Im sorry if I startled you this morning, I just didnt realize how
long I had been working. You looked almost scared as you ran off to let 
Doctor Manaris know, Im sorry about that, you seem kind of bushed, is it
possible if I can make it up to you by buying lunch?"

She looked at him closely, he looked a lot better now, he had apparently
cleaned himself up, gotten into better clothing and made himself look
halfway presentable. She saw that he was trying his best not to look like a
mean sob or anything, that he was sorry for scaring her. She smiled, "All
right, lunch then, give me another 10 minutes to finish this report, ok?"
He just smiled, "sure, no problem. Did someone send Leon home yet, he's been
up since at least 8 PM last night. I would hate to have to see him in the
hospital for overexhaustion."

Nene answered while looking through the report, trying to make sense of
exactly what Leon had written. "A couple of the guys drug him out of his
office a couple of hours ago and tossed him on one of the sofas in the break
room. He's been sawing logs since, speaking of Leon, this report, it doesnt
make sense, it makes mention of a K-12 being used by a civilian, but I cant
make out the rest of it."

She saw that he looked a bit embarrased, "Well, Im that civilian, and yes I
did use a K-12 to bail them out of the fires that half a dozen boomers were
putting them in. What information is missing from the report?" She looked at
him for a second and then decided not to ask for the details, "Not much,
just the man's name is missing, and how he acquired the suit in the first
place. Leon's work is normally better than this, but seeing the way this
place looks this morning, its not too surprising how lousy his work is."

He chuckled, "No, its not surprising at all. The name is Johnathon Winthrop,
and how I acquired the suit was the fact that I was in a warehouse that the
suit had crashed into, the pilot was ... " Nene held up her hand, "Slow
down, Im putting all this into the report. The pilot was ....?" He
continued, "the pilot was dying, a boomer had put a sword through the suit,
it went right through his heart, nothing that could be done for him. The
last thing he said was that the ADP still needed help, so since I was
available and knew quite a bit about the usage of K-12s I hopped in and
proceeded to make sure that the ADP in the area didnt get any unwanted
ventilation. After I gave them time to retreat I turned the suit over to
Officers McNichols knowing full well that I was going to jail. Considering
the reasons that I did it the chief was rather lenient on me, Officer
McNichols is supposed to make sure that I dont even think about commiting
a crime for the next three months. I'm a partial amnesiac, thats probably
part of the reason the chief was so lenient on me."

She finally managed to get all the information down that she needed. She
looked at him, "So you are the John Doe mentioned in the other reports.
I'll have to go back and put in your full name later, I take it you
remembered your last name earlier today?" He nodded, "Yeah, I've remembered
quite a few things, but there are still a lot of holes. Things like where I
was born, who my parents are, where I currently live, a lot of things.
Well, I'll let you get back to finishing that report, I'll be down in the
breakroom making sure that Leon doesnt try to sneak back up here to write
some more reports."

She smiled at the comment, and somehow suspected that Leon would do such a
thing. Of course it would be kind of difficult with the office locked and
the key in her desk. She looked at the rest of the paperwork and groaned,
she wasnt sure that lunch out was such a good idea, but the guy wanted to
apologize, and she wasnt about to pass up a free lunch.

THE BREAK ROOM ....

He saw Leon laying on the couch, half awake, but not completely awake yet.
Another memory came to him, a friend of his was like this all too often, he
could sleep anywhere, he had even fallen asleep in his armor on a somewhat
regular basis. But this one memory showed him sleeping fitfully, that was
something that was unusual, but considering what had happened it didnt
really surprise him. He was having trouble getting used to the prosthetics
and he was having trouble sleeping as a result, they had done everything to
help him sleep, but it wasnt working. At the time he just hoped that he
would recover, his friends needed him, he just hoped they had done the
right thing. 

His thoughts returned to the present as he looked at Leon and he was amazed
at how well Leon did with so little sleep, probably came from being a
police officer and being woken up after 3 hours of sleep. He cleared his
throat and Leon finally snapped back to the real world, "Oh, John, you
still awake? Or did you actually get some sleep yet?" He just nodded, "Nope,
no sleep yet, but doctors are used to it, trust me. And dont even think
about finishing those reports today, you are exhausted, and if I have to I
will have Doctor Manaris send you home with two bodyguards who will make
sure that you get at least 6 hours of sleep."

Leon just looked at John and thought to himself, he knows me too well, how
the hell does he know what im thinking about. Oh well, he is probably
right, I'm sure Nene is having a lovely time trying to decipher my
gibberish. He realized that he was exhausted, he would tell the chief that
he had better go home and get some sleep. He was interrupted from further
thoughts by Daley showing up, "Hey Leon, lying down on the job again?"

Leon looked at his partner, "Oh you are so funny Daley, so absolute funny.
John, this is Daley, my partner. Daley, this is John, the man I get to watch
over like a mother hen for the next three months. Chief's orders, he thinks
that I screwed up last night in some way, so this is how he's teaching me. 
John by the way, has the chief gotten you an apartment and all that yet?"

John just nodded, "yep, and in about 5-10 minutes Im taking Nene out to
lunch." Leon smirked, "You move fast dont you, you've only been here what,
less than one day and you are hitting on the girls already. Forget Nene,
she's hopeless, if she ever gets married then I will personally wear a skirt
for a month. Heck I'd wear it for a week if she got a boyfriend."

John noticed Daley smiling, "Leon, I think you would look ravishing in a
skirt, you know that?" John smiled a bit at the thought himself, "Leon, no
I'm not hitting on her, when she came in this morning I practically scared
her half to death because I didnt realize what time it was and I just stared
at her for a minute or two. I'm taking her out to lunch to apologize to her,
and be careful about making statements like that, I can guarantee that if
your partner doesnt remember, I certainly will."

Any further conversation between them was interrupted by Nene entering the
room. "Leon, your awake, thats good, I hope you are going home soon. I dont
think I could put up with rewriting ALL of your reports, they are bad enough
right now. And dont even think about entering your office, I just gave the
key to the chief, and Im sure that he will tell you to go home." She saw the
smirk on John's face, "Whats so funny?"

He laughed a bit, "Simple, Leon said that if you ever actually got a
boyfriend that he would wear a skirt for a week. Im just trying to picture
Leon in a skirt, that is what is so funny. So Mrs Romanova, shall we go to
lunch?" He held out his arm for her, she smiled a bit and then took it.

Leon looked at him as they left and turned to Daley, "Ive been asking her
out for something as simple as lunch for quite some time, and not once did
she bite, and this man who she doesnt even know asks once and she leaves
with him arm in arm. What does he have that I dont?" Daley just smirked,
"Well for one, Nene on his arm, for two, I dont know. Its too bad that he
doesnt like men, he's handsome."

A SHORT TIME LATER AT A LOCAL RESTAURANT ....

Nene sat there eating lunch, wondering just who this man really was, he was
a civilian who was being watched by the ADP because of his involvement in a
battle the previous evening. The way he talked with her unnerved her a bit
though, it was like he knew her, and quite well. At least he was polite
enough to apologize to her for startling her that morning, but she noticed
a similar look in his eyes now, almost a sad look, but it was probably just
her imagination. She finished off lunch and he asked if she would like some
desert, she smiled a bit, "Are you sure you can afford buying me desert?"

He just chuckled, "Well seeing as how the ADP is paying for it, yes. But Im
not sure I want to see just how much desert you can eat. Then again, I dont
want to push my luck with the chief. He doesnt exactly trust me, and I dont
blame him, if the situation were reversed I wouldnt trust him either. I'm
sorry if the lunch does not include desert, I should have thought of that
before offering to take you out to lunch."

She liked this guy, he was a bit odd, but she liked him. "I'll pay for
desert, I should have mentioned that I like sweets before accepting your
invitation." She got the attention of the waiter and ordered desert, a large
slice of chocolate cheesecake, she knew she would regret it later, and her
paycheck would regret it also.

He smiled and told the waiter that that would be all. "So Ms Romanova, I
imagine that the ADP keeps you busy. Its kept me busy the last 10 hours
thats for sure, is life in MegaTokyo always this noisy? If it is I just
might have to invest in a K-12 so that I can get to work safely. Either that
or sleep at the ADP like I imagine some officers do on occassions."

She just smiled back, "No, its not always this noisy, its usually a bit
quieter, but from what Ive heard on the rumormill the boomer incident last
night was related to a missing boomer, supposedly one that killed quite a
few people. The odd thing is, Genom wont let the Npolice or the ADPolice
investigate the murder scene, sounds kind of fishy doesnt it?"

He began to relax, "It does at that, you think the reason for the incident
last night will ever be found? I doubt it, from what I hear, too many boomer
incidents never get explained properly. I imagine the detectives get way too
many cases shut down because of pressure from upstairs, maybe one of these
days the police will be able to enforce the law and not play politics." He
realized that he was treading dangerous ground so he quickly changed the
subject, "So are there any good clubs you reccomend a visit to? I'm going
to need some way to relax when Im not busy working." 

She knew he was changing the subject, politics and the ADP were not a very
safe topic to discuss out in public. She answered calmly trying not to sound
nervous, "I dont get out to clubs all that often, Leon might be a better
person to ask about that, but there is one good one, not my tastes though,
but good enough. Its called Hot Legs, ask Leon about it, he could probably
drive you there with his eyes shut."

She noticed that John relaxed a bit, "I take it he has a crush on one of the
members of a band that plays there regularly? Somehow that doesnt surprise
him, Leon seems like the sort who would hit on anything in a skirt. Am I
right, or am I right?"

"Yeah, your right, he's tried hitting on me on a couple of occassions, he
probably thinks Im a cold fish or something. I hope he's given up any
thoughts on me, he's nice enough, but he's not the kind of guy I would care
to date. Im just not interested in him, thats all there is to it."

He smiled back, he knew exactly what she meant, she just wasnt interested
in him, nothing wrong with that. He did wonder just why she didnt have a
boyfriend, probably too busy with work and her other activities. He wanted
to get to know her, there was no doubt about that, she was nice enough, and
he'd always had a thing for readheads, but figuring out the best way to do
it would be another issue altogether. He knew that if they dawdled too much
longer she would be late back to work, so he decided on wrapping things up
for lunch.

"Well Nene, I must thank you for agreeing to come with me to lunch. I have
few friends in the here and now, I would appreciate it if I could consider
you a friend. Shall we be back to work, you still have plenty of reports to
finish, and I have to go get used to my new place, pick up some clothes and
all that. Have to look 'respectable' while I'm out looking for work."

She nodded and waved the waiter down again and got the bill, when she saw it
she knew her paycheck would regret it, her stomach certainly didnt though.
John just paid for it with the card, and left a moderate tip, he didnt even
make any mentions about her paying for the cheesecake. She figured it would
be polite not to bring up the fact that she said she would pay when he
already had paid for it.

After he dropped her off at work he went shopping, picking up some nice
clothing, some casual clothing, a mixture of stuff, and then went to what
would be home for quite some time. It was small, but considering the size of
MegaTokyo and the number of people living there it wasnt surprising. He had
bought a couple of notepads for ideas, he decided to use one of them as a
diary. He proceeded to write the first page of the diary, putting in the
diary the things that triggered memories.

He wrote the following in his diary.

  NENE: emotions of regret, friendship, sorrow, and grief, but mainly grief,
	also a memory of her in my lap, bleeding and dying. But it wasnt
	Nene, of that much I'm sure, it was someone else.

  CATHOLIC CHURCH NEAR SETAGAYA: emotions of happiness, friendship, regret,
	images of a redhead in a wedding dress. Images of another man who I
	know, like a brother, but not one.

  THE GENOM TOWER: mixed emotions, emotions of hatred, loyalty, betrayal,
	all mixed into one. 

  HOT LEGS: A place that I used to visit, of that much I'm certain, perhaps
	actually going there will trigger more memories.

He decided to call Leon at home, was surprised that he was awake, he did
sound a lot better though. He talked to him for a few minutes, let him know
where he lived and told him that he was planning on heading over to Hot Legs
to relax and asked if he wanted to join him. He smiled as he saw Leon perk
up immediately and told him that he would pick him up about 6, the club was
dead before the evening. He knew that would get Leon's attention, from what
Nene said he had a crush on one of the band members, and it would give him
an excuse to see if it brought any memories back to him. He smirked a bit
and figured it would be a good way to relax, a very good way indeed.

5:59 PM ....

There was a knock at his door, he didnt think it was Leon, from what he had
heard Leon wasnt know for being on time. But miracle of all miracles, it was
Leon, and Leon looked dressed to kill. He smiled as he waved him into his
small little apartment, "Welcome to my humble abode, I shall be ready in a
couple of minutes." With that he went to finish getting ready, knowing that
Leon was taking a look around, probably taking a look at his choice in
clothing, things like that. He yelled, "Dont touch the notepads Leon!", he
heard a quick movement and knew that Leon had been examining them.

He came out a few minutes later, blue jeans, tshirt, very relaxed style of
clothing. He opened the drawer and took out the keys and looked at Leon, "So
Mr McNichols are you going to drool all over Priss this evening or are you
going to behave yourself?" Leon looked at John with a glare, "And what do
you mean by that?" 

He smiled, "I asked Nene for a good club to visit, she mentioned that a
decent one was Hot Legs and that you could practically drive me there with
both eyes closed. I figured you had the hots for the singer, common sense
really. Am I right or am I right? And besides I checked out who played
there on a regular basis, when they told me the name of the group I figured
you had the hots for Priss."

Leon just shot back, "Is there anything about me you dont know?" John
replied flatly trying not to sound amused by the look on Leon's face, "Lets
see, hhmmm, yes I believe there is something about you that I dont know. I
dont know your parents or if you have any siblings. I do know how you think,
its a requirement for being a doctor, didnt you know that? Just like its
required that a police officer be somewhat suspicious." He noticed that Leon
groaned at that comment, "All right Mr wise guy, lets go. And one
reccomendation, try not to make a fool out of me and try not to get into
trouble, ok?"

John said under his breath, "No problem, you do it well enough for the both
of us." Leon just looked at him, "What was that?" John smiled, "Nothing,
just clearing my throat, and I wont cause any trouble. I'll make sure that
you are in the path of the bullet instead of me."

Leon looked at him, "Thanks, you really know how to boost my confidence
dont you?" John didnt respond as he left the apartment, followed by Leon,
he made sure that the apartment was locked up tight and then followed Leon
downstairs to his bike. He felt safe with Leon driving, he couldnt place
the name, but there was a lady who he knew who rode a bike also. He knew
that he had told her way too many times that she lived on adrenaline and
would only slow down when she couldnt ride a motorcycle anymore.

THE HOTLEGS ....

The ride was short, uneventful, other than some lady going roaring by them
like they were standing still. And he saw the same bike at the club when
they got there, the place wasnt too shabby looking, it needed some repairs,
but what place didnt. Actually seeing the place stirred up more memories,
memories of good times, bad times, a lot of things, and a face, a brunette,
a woman who he had loved. He had met her here, of that much he was sure of,
but he couldnt remember anything else about her. Slowly, oh so slowly his
memories were returning, but they were extremely disjointed, he just hoped
he could put the pieces back together. It seemed for every answer he found
he found more questions, he put that all aside, he was here for some rest
& relaxation that was all.

He followed Leon inside, the bouncer just looked them over as they entered.
Probably checking for weapons or other signs of danger, the bouncer moved
aside so they could pass. The place was already filling up, it still wasnt
quite full, but it was getting there quickly. He found a seat near the
stage, Leon flagged down a waitress, apparently she recognized Leon and
asked if he wanted the usual, he just nodded. She looked at John and asked
what he wanted, "Pepsi, thats all." She smiled, scribbled their order on a
sheet of paper and moved off to get their order.

He knew that he would find some more answers tonight, he hoped that they
would make more sense than the previous memories that came back to him. Leon
seemed to have relaxed quite a bit, he leaned over and began to talk with
him, just general chitchat. Leon talked about various things for the next
15 minutes, not telling him a lot, just general chitchat.

Finally the lights began to dim and he knew that the Replicants were about
to start the show. The lights hit the stage, and he saw her, Priss, he was a
bit more prepared this time for the memories that came flooding toward him.
He remembered the brunette, she was his wife, her lying on a couch, she was
complaining about how he was acting more like a mother than a husband. He
remembered her complaining about having to get all dressed up for the
wedding, and he calmly asked if she wanted to dissappoint Shara. She just
said no and kept on complaining, his reveries were interrupted by seeing a 
man make a move that didnt seem right, he saw the gun a second later and he
knew who the target was, Priss.

He stood up, ran toward the man, hit him dead on, heard an explosion,
thought that he was too late. The guy tried to get up and get away, but he
didnt get more than two steps before a fist connected with his gut. He told
Leon to cuff him, and he went to check on Priss, to find out just how bad
off she was. He feared for the worst as he saw her flat on her stomach, but
she groaned and he knew that she was still alive, and he had work to do.

He rolled her over to look at the damage, thankfully the guy missed her
chest and had hit her arm, it didnt look like it was too serious, but the
way that she looked and the sounds that she made indicated that there was
more damage than just a winged arm. He began checking for other injuries,
he noticed that her ribs were injured, probably bruised, and her foot, he
could see quite a bit of swelling. He took command of the situation, told
the band players just what to do, where to hold, where to press. After a
couple of minutes he was able to verify that the ribs were not broken, just
bruised, the leg on the other hand was broken and she would need to be
taken to a hospital.

He had to move her off the stage to a more comfortable spot so that he could
at least bandage up her ribs. He couldnt do anything about the leg, but at
least he could take care of the ribs and the bleeding. With help he managed
to get her back to her dressing room, somehow he knew that she wouldnt take
kindly to him telling her to remove her shirt. 

Priss looked at the guy who had just saved her life, "Im fine! Im sore, but
I'll live, its not like wacko fans havent shot at me before. I dont need to
go see a doctor!" He just looked at her, "Ms Asagiri, trust me, you need to
see a doctor, your leg is broken, you should be thankful that it is a clean
break, nothing serious, but still .." She interupped him before he could
continue, "Fine! I'll go see a doctor, my doctor, does that make you happy?"

He just smirked at her, "Absolutely, but I must insist on at least bandaging
your chest up. You have several bruised ribs and I want to keep them from
causing any further injuries. And I also insist on staying here until your
doctor shows up, I want to make sure that you are being taken care of."

She just glared at him, "You are NOT going to bandage up by chest! And that
is FINAL!" He just looked at the ceiling with a look of 'why me?' and then
turned back to her and said in a dry tone, "You know, with how tight your
chest is bound up already I dont think you need it to be bandaged up. So
what is your doctor's number, I'll give him a call and let him know what
happened tonight."

She looked at him, "Her number." He smiled, "Sorry, HER number then, what is
her number?" She told him the number, he called it, expecting to be put on
hold forever when he got an answer right away, and not from a hospital
either. "Stingray residence. Can I help you?", the voice was from a male,
probably about 18 or so he figured.

He paused for a second then spoke up, "Yes, Ms Asagiri was injured and she
told me to call this number to get her doctor to come take a look at her."
The voice on the line paused, "How bad is she hurt?" He replied calmly, "Not
too serious, she was winged in the arm, has several bruised ribs, and
unfortunately a broken leg. She insisted that I call her doctor rather than
take her to the hospital. Is her doctor available at the moment?"

"Yeah, sure, is Ms .. Asagiri at Hot Legs I take it?", the voice asked, he
noticed that he paused before saying her last name, he probably knew her by
the first name though. "Yeah, she's at Hot Legs, in her dressing room. I
will stay here until her doctor has arrived. I want to make sure that she
doesnt accidentally make the injuries worse." He heard a bit of a chuckle,
"Knowing her, she probably wants to toss you out and forget to open the
door. The person who shot at her, are they in custody?"

"Yeah, they are in custody, about how soon can I expect the doctor to get
here?" The voice on the line answered, "About 10 minutes, maybe less. Its
good to know that a doctor was available to attend to the immediate
problems." He answered back, "No problem, no problem at all. Thank you."
With that he hung up, "Ms Asagiri your doctor should be here in about 10
minutes, maybe less. Is she your family doctor?"

As soon as he said it he knew he hit a nerve, but she covered up fast,
"Yeah, she is. You dont have to stay here, I'll behave myself, besides my
doctor will yell at me if I make the injuries any worse than they are." He
replied in what he hoped was a soothing tone, "I AM going to stay back here,
you dont seem like the sort who is very patient. Besides you are in a mild
case of shock and I want to make sure that it doesnt get any worse. Thats
the main reason I am staying here until your doctor arrives."

He was interrupted from any further conversation by a knock on the door.
Leon poked his head in, "Hey John, I gotta go, boomer incident. Can you get
a ride home from someone else? Its an emergency." He looked at Leon and
waved, "Go ahead, I'll find a ride, you've got work to do." He then turned
back to Priss and tried to find something to say, she beat him to the punch.

"So you know him?" He chuckled, "Yeah, he's not a great friend, only known
him for a couple of days. He's nice enough, once you get past his ego that
is." She laughed a bit and then groaned, "Dont make me laugh, it hurts, a
lot. So just how did you meet him? You dont seem like the sort who would
associate with people like Leon." He chuckled, "No, I guess I dont, its a
long story. Lets just say that I broke the law and he was there to arrest
me. There is more to it than that, but thats the gist of it."

She smiled at him, he figured that he had calmed her down somewhat, he
could tell that she was in a bit of shock. He poked his head outside and
got someone to get her something to drink, non alcoholic. He then turned
back to her, she seemed to be taken getting shot at pretty well, anyone
else would have been suspicious but right now he didnt particularly care. 

There was a knock at the door a couple of minutes later with two glasses,
apparently they figured he'd want some. He thanked them and handed her a
glass. "Do you get many fans that devoted?" She frowned a bit, "Thankfully,
no. What I want to know is how the hell he got past the bouncer, Im gonna
have a long talk with him later." He answered calmly, "Simple, cybernetics,
it was a polymer gun concealed inside of his arm. The bouncer probably saw
the arm and didnt think anything of it, cybernetics do still exist in areas
even today."

He noticed that she seemed a bit relaxed at knowing how the guy got in with
the weapon. He knew that he had to keep her thinking, he didnt need her
going any deeper into shock than she already was. He opened his mouth to
say something but realized he couldnt think of a damn thing to say. She
chuckled and said very slyly, "Doc, your bedside manner leaving you?"

He grinned, "I wanted to keep you alert until your doc got here. I was
trying to think of something to say, but I'll be damned if I could think of
anything to say. Im not used to dealing with patients, most of my experience
with them was on the field. Im more of a field medic than anything, so my
bedside manners arent quite as good as most doctors are. So do you do
anything besides sing?"

He realized it was a lame excuse to talk but he couldnt think of anything
else. She smiled, apparently she knew it was lame but talked anyway, "My
music keeps me busy a lot, I ride bikes a lot, in fact I think I saw you
when I was on my way here. What do you do when you're not taking care of
rabid fans or fixing the damage they do?"

He grinned, "Well lately not much. I just got into town recently myself and
am looking for work. The problem is, there aint much demand for field medics
in cities for the most part. That is unless I go to work for either the ADP
or as much as it galls my stomach, Genom." She had a bad look on her face 
as he said Genom. He chuckled, "I take it you dont care for Genom either?"

She answered, "Is my opinion THAT obvious?" He smiled back, "One of the
requirements of being a doctor is that they know what their patients are
thinking. Having a good beside manner and supple hands helps also, oh yes,
and a very high tolerance for what some of my colleagues call, 'the
yuckiness factor'. Now the boys in the ADP who get to examine boomers, I
feel sorry for them, I've seen destroyed boomers. No wonder they call it
'the spaghetti syndrome', its not surprising at all."

"But Im boring you with talk of my opinions about medicine and all that.
Perhaps we can talk a bit about music, I cant call myself a musician or
anything like that, but at least I know which of the guitar is which." He
was saved from trying to figure out what else to say to keep her awake and
thinking by a knock on the door. He opened the door to see a young lady,
about 20, she didnt seem like the sort to cross. He didnt know how but he
knew her, her name was Sylia Stingray, he remembered her father talking a
lot about her, about how he regretted having to let her think that he was
dead. A flood of memories came back to him, and what he remembered was
shocking, very shocking.

He remembered that fateful day, Dr Stingray had sent him, Jaedis ahead to
contact Sylia and let her know that he was alive. Katshito had told him that
he would follow in about 2-3 days, just had a few loose ends to clean up
and then he would leave. They hadnt been in the air long when he looked down
at the lab where Katshito was and saw a large explosion. Somehow deep inside
he knew that Genom had found the doctor and had made sure that he didnt
escape this time. He had no choice now but to continue with the work the
doctor had planned, he had all the files in his memory banks on a new style
of boomer. A type of boomer that was much more mentally stable and didnt use
the current technology, a type of boomer that was cheaper and more efficient
than the current model of boomers. It would allow Sylia to fight back
against Genom, it would allow her to compete with Genom in a very direct
manner, he had to get the information to her. He didnt really remember much
after that, he knew he got to MegaTokyo, but that was all that he could
remember at the moment.

He jerked his head, he wasnt prepared for such intense memories, he saw
Sylia look at him, wondering. "Sorry, you reminded me of someone I once
knew. You are Ms Asagiri's doctor I take it?" She looked at him, almost
with a look of curiosity, "Yes I am, I most certainly am, and you are?" "I
am Johnathon Winthrop. It was nothing more than luck that enabled me to spot
the gunman who shot at Ms Asagiri" Priss interrupted him, "My name is
Priss! Priss! Why does everyone call me 'Ms Asagiri'?"

He smiled at Priss, "My pardons, Priss. I didnt mean to upset you, and you
should keep your volume down, your ribs wont appreciate that volume for
long." He turned back to Sylia, "The damage done to her was thankfully
minimal, her arm was winged by a flechette gun, unfortunately when she fell
she bruised several ribs, mainly on the right side, and she broken her leg,
just above the ankle, and she is in shock. Considering what happened, I'd
say she came out fine, a hole in the chest is not a good sign of health."

Sylia looked at him again, he knew she had questions about him, and not
about the damage done to her. But it looked like she would let it pass and
get her answers later, "Mr Winthrop, would you mind giving me a hand at
getting Priss into the wheelchair." "Of course, that is not a problem at
all.", with that said they got Priss complaining somewhat into the
wheelchair. He then checked her leg one final time to make sure that they
hadnt accidentally made anything worse in moving her and everything.

"Doctor, I must make one request though." He paused, a bit embarrassed,
"My transportation had to leave suddenly, he's a AD Police officer, and I
am stuck without any means of transportation. I just got in town and am not
very familiar with the way things work, is it possible if I could get a
ride with you?"

Priss spoke up, apparently on his behalf, "His ride was Leon, he had to go
and make like a hero. And left the poor doctor without a ride home, beside's
he grows on you." He heard what she said under her voice, "like a fungus."
He smiled back, "Ms Asagiri, did I neglect to mention that excellent hearing
was another requirement of being a doctor?" She just glared at him, he
smiled back in the friendliest manner possible.

Sylia finally answered, "I dont suppose that would be a problem, where do
you live doctor?" He gave her directions, she just nodded and then turned
to leave the building, apparently giving him the task of wheeling Priss to
the car. He knew that Sylia had questions, but that she would wait until
they got to the car to ask them.

Getting her up the steps was not very pleasant, but he managed, with her
telling him that he was going to kill her before Sylia got a chance to
doctor her up. He ignored her comments and finally got her into the minivan
itself. He knew it was going to be a long ride, he remembered another
similar ride, but the patient was closer to him, it was his friend, Shara,
she was dying, and the doctors were doing everything that they could to save
her. But the look in her eyes said that it was too late, and that hurt him,
knowing that she was going to die, and that it was all his fault.

He heard Priss speaking up, "Yo, doc, you ok?" He blinked, "Sure, sorry, its
been a long day, a very long day. I was just thinking, thats all, anything
wrong with that?" Priss just looked at him, "It depends on what you were
thinking about." He just smiled, "Old memories, thats all, just some old
memories. Even now they still hurt at times." Priss didnt press and he was
glad, he didnt want to  explain them.

Finally they arrived at his place, he thanked them for the ride, he was
glad that nothing had happened. He wasnt ready to face Sylia yet, nowhere
near ready. As he headed upstairs he still had a lot of questions, but at
least some of them had been answered. He still didnt know who he was, and
the answers he had found gave him more questions. After he got inside he sat
down and looked at the pad where he was keeping notes on what he had
remembered, he began writing again.


He wrote the following in his diary.

   SYLIA: the name of the boomer who saved me? is Jaedis, he was created by
	Doctor Katshito Stingray. Doctor Stingray went into hiding after an
	attempt on his life. Eventually he planned on returning to MegaTokyo,
	Jaedis was sent ahead of him to let Sylia know. The doctor was
	killed shortly after takeoff, jaedis got to MegaTokyo, what happened
	after that is unknown.

   SHARA: A good friend of mine, she's dead, and I'm responsible for her
	death, she meant a lot.

   MY WIFE: I cant remember much of her yet, other than she was a bit of a
	rebel. I met her at Hot Legs, we eventually got married, I dont
	even remember the wedding.

   CURRENT CONCLUSIONS: Apparently I rescued Jaedis from unknown assailants
	and we were both injured, and the only way for both of us to survive
	was fusing with me. 

He stopped writing for a minute and thought about Genom, he wasnt sure just
what his relationship with Genom was, but it changed recently. He couldnt
remember why it had changed, but it had changed, he knew that it wasnt
something overnight, it was gradual. Something told him that Jaedis was part
of the reason, but he didnt have anything solid to base that thought on. As
he thought about it a memory of why Shara had died came to mind, it was a
simple assignment, get in, get the goods, get out of there.

But it wasnt so simple, they ran into some heavy firepower on the way out.
They were being fired at and Shara pushed him aside before the shots hit
him, they hit her instead. A voice in him told him to leave her, but he
didnt, he took her with him, and they got out. But it was too late for her,
he had done everything in his power to save her, but it wasnt enough.
Nowhere near enough, if he could have, he would have given his own life for
her, she meant that much to him.

At the time he hadnt connected it with Genom, but he connected it later,
years later, that was one of the reasons that his last few months with Genom
were shaky. He had begun to question more and more of their orders, their
reasons, they had used him, they had taken his code of ethics and twisted
it. And what made it worse was that he allowed his ethics to be twisted, he
had done many things for them, he couldnt remember just what he had done,
but he knew that they would make him sick to the stomach.

He made a decision then and there, no more killing, no more lies, its time
to make Genom pay. They only understand one coin, force, and it was time to
show them just what happened when a samurai went ronin. He would use the
knowledge that Jaedis had in him of hardsuits and began working on the
design of one. He knew it wouldnt be cheap, but he wasnt going to let that
stop him, they had to pay for what they had done.

Memories, they are part of what we are. We cannot deny them, we must accept
them and move on with our lives.