Disclaimer: No money has been or is intended to be made off of this story and
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Compliments warm the heart......
Criticisim Strengthens the Soul.....
Flames Shall Be Used As Target Practice. :-)
****************
"Logic and practical information do not seem to apply here."
"You admit that?"
"To deny the facts would be illogical, Doctor"
-- Spock and McCoy, "A Piece of the Action", stardate unknown
****************
It took her a moment to find her voice as her mind clutched at the imagery of
the vision, finally holding onto the image of the shadowy figure and the
tidal wave of blood
"Well?" Stingray asked quietly.
"I. . .I. . ." Satori trailed off. Her head hurt, and she was suddenly very
tired.
"I'm waiting," Stingray said quietly.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Satori blurted out. "I couldn't sleep so I started
exploring and stumbled across the lift by accident. Besides, what do you care
if I found some shrine to the Knight Sabers?"
"It's not a shrine," Stingray said tersely and left the room.
"God, what did I do to deserve this?" Satori asked as Raven lifted her to her
feet and guided her back to her room, where she fell asleep as soon as her
head touched the pillow.
*******
She dreamed.
She stood in the middle of the street. Rubble littered the asphalt, and the
buildings on either side were cracked and falling apart.
Behind her, someone chuckled softly, and she spun to see a woman in a suit of
armor not unlike the ones she had seen in the cave. It was dark blue, almost
black and waves of mavolence poured off it like water. Slowly, almost
casually, it raised a foot and stamped it. Once.
Reacting instinctively, she leapt back as the ground under the armored woman
surged upwards, sending asphalt, dust and rebar into the air. Blinking the
dust out of her eyes, she found herself looking at a mountain made from
corpses and rubble. At the summit was the armored woman, laughing insanely.
Gritting her teeth, she started forwards only to freeze as one of the bodies
turned it's head, it's eyes meeting hers. In those eyes, she saw everything
she had ever loved, would love, or hold dear.
Slowly the corpse's mouth began to move, telling her the name of the person
responsible for this atrocity.
She leaned closer to better read the movements of it's mouth when a loud buzz
shattered her concentration and she found herself staring at the ceiling of
her room.
"Bloody hell," she groaned as she forced herself to throw the covers aside.
"Today's gonna suck worse then a hooker with a lollipop addiction."
*******
Breakfast served only to reinforce Satori's opinion that Mr. Stingray
possessed very little in the way of food sense. 'My dog could cook
breadsticks better then this,' she thought to herself as she spooned some of
the liquidy eggs into her mouth.
"Dress warm. We're going to Izumo today," Stingray told her as Raven gathered
up the dishes.
"Why?" Satori asked. 'And where the hell is it?' She added silently.
"There's something I have to do," Stingray said as he stood. "Get your coat
while Raven brings the car around."
*******
Izumo, according to the automap, was the birthplace of many of the old
Japanese myths. The local weather was cold and foggy, reminding Satori of
mornings at the home of her paternal grandmother, who lived high in the hills
of Ireland. Oddly, it refused to give her any more information. As they
stopped at a light, Satori noticed a profusion of official looking sorts
going about their business.
"What's with the suits?" She asked.
"There was a series of. . .incidents in Tokyo back in the nineteen-nineties.
Another series of the same kind of incidents happened in 2035 and my sister
and her friends got involved. They eventually fixed the problem, but the
solution required an enormous sacrifice. It falls to me to maintain it." With
that, he fell silent except to give her directions which eventually led them
to a massive wrought iron gate at the end of a small, but well-maintained
road. At the side of the road was an honest to goodness watchtower, complete
with guns and two figures in combat armor.
"Shiiit. . ." Satori breathed as the watchtower guns came to bear on them.
"Please shut off your engine and keep your hands on the steering wheel unless
otherwise instructed," an amplified voice ordered as one of the armored
guards approached her window. Fortunately, it was rolled halfway down. Satori
wasn't sure what they'd do if it had been rolled up.
"Can I help you?" The guard asked, his gun casually pointed in her direction.
"Um. . .I. . .er. . ." Satori stammered, unable to take her eyes off all the
firepower trained on them.
"You want to talk to me," Stingray replied as he rolled down his window.
"Mr. Stingray!" The guard exclaimed, snapping to attention. "Sir!"
"At ease," Stingray replied. "Just get on with it."
"Getting on with it", proved to be a search of the car and it's occupants,
fingerprint, retina, and some kind of full body scan. Stingray passed with
flying colors. Satori didn't, since the scanner had oh so helpfully matched
her fingerprints and retinal patterns with her police records, and then, just
because it was such a nice little electronic device, produced her criminal
record from England as well. However, Stingray apparently outranked the
officer in charge and Satori was granted clearance.
"Guns, full-body scans, car searches, even blood tests." Satori grumbled when
they were back in the car. "Yeesh, you'd think something that could destroy
the world was up here."
"Just the opposite actually," Stingray replied as they exited the grove of
trees. The road continued on another few hundred feet before ending at the
base of a flight of steps that led into a cave high on the hill. Nearby, a
path led to house next to a hot spring.
"Help Raven with the cases," Stingray instructed as he got out. Grabbing a
case in each hand, Satori followed Raven and Stingray up the steps to the
mouth of the cave, where they were met by a woman dressed in a kimono and a
man in a hooded robe. The hood was up, casting his face in shadow, but it
seemed to Satori that his skin was orange, and his eyes were silted like
cat's After a brief exchange of pleasantries between Stingray and the woman,
she turned and led them into the cave. At the far end, was a massive set of
doors.
"Stay here," Stingray told Satori as the man took the bags from her.
"Why?"
"Because I said so," he snapped and opened the door just enough for him to
slip in. The others followed suit. However, because of his size, when Raven
opened the door, Satori caught a glimpse of what looked like two women
floating in some kind of glowing blue liquid before the door slammed shut.
"Bloody hell," she grumbled, pulling her jacket tighter around her. "Why
couldn't I have gone to jail? It would be less stressful." Sighing, she
looked around. The shrine was built into the cave, utilizing sculpted rock
rather then wood for its structure. Vaguely remembering the Shinto ceremonies
of her youth, Satori walked to the shrine sanctuary and quickly washed her
hands and rinsed out her mouth at the small waterfall before approaching the
small box and tossing in a small offering. Hoping she did it right, she
clapped her hands twice before bowing her head and praying to anyone who
might be listening for help in understanding the dreams she'd been having.
That done, she headed over to a small pool and sat on a bench, watching the
water ripple as the water bugs skipped across the surface.
It was several hours later that the doors opened and Stingray, followed by
Raven, left the room with the orange skinned man and the woman. Standing,
Satori moved to meet them.
". . .and everything seems to be fine," Stingray was saying as she came close
enough to hear.
"So the seals are holding?" The woman asked. Stingray nodded.
"The repairs are advancing quite nicely," he said.
"How. . .much longer?"
"Hard to say at this point. I should be able to give you a firm time frame
next time. Say, six months from now?"
"We'll be waiting," she replied and shook hands with Stingray before the
older man turned and led Satori and Raven back down the steps to the car.
"So when are you going to tell me what that was all about?" Asked Satori when
they were all back in the car.
"When you need to know."
"An' when's that?"
"Not today." Hearing the unspoken "12th of never", in those two simple words,
Satori started the car, muttering unkind words about the elderly under her
breath.
******* It was two nights later that she dreamed again.
This time, she was running across the rooftops of Tokyo, leaping and bounding
across the cityscape. She had never really liked heights, but it didn't seem
to matter now. She was free, freer then she had ever been and she was loving
it.
"This is yours," whispered a voice. "You are the Heir."
"Huh?" Satori asked as she skidded to a stop. "What do you mean?"
"You must finish what we could not. She must be stopped."
"Who? Who must be stopped? I don't understand."
"You are destined to wear the suit, you are our revenge."
"I'm what?" Satori gasped as the black suit from the cave appeared before her
and reached hungrily out for her. "No!" Satori shouted at the voice as she
backpedaled, trying to stay a way from the suit. "I'm nobody's tool! I'm me
own person!"
"That's what I thought once too," the voice replied sadly, as Satori hit the
edge of the roof and plunged downwards towards blackness.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Satori screamed as she sat bolt upright in bed. Just then the
door banged open and reacting instinctively, she launched herself at it.
After a few moments of struggling, she realized she was being gently
restrained by Raven.
"Are you all right, Miss Satori?" Raven asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I think so," Satori said, sagging against him and taking slow,
deep breaths, waiting for her heart to quit beating hard enough to crack her
ribs.
"Were you attacked?"
"No, just the most God-awful nightmare ever."
"I see," Raven said as he released her. "Is there anything else I can get for
you? Some warm milk, perhaps?"
"Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice, thanks," Satori replied as she walked back
into the room on shaky legs. 'Whatever I had to have that dream, I do not
want it again.'
*******
It was a few days later that Satori, having learned that Stingray's house
included a gym, was on her way there to do some weights. As she passed by the
den, she heard music coming from it and curious, poked her head in.
Stingray was sitting in a chair, eyes closed, one hand gently tapping the arm
of the chair in time to the beat. Politely, Satori waited until the song was
over before speaking.
"What are you listening to?" Stingray opened his eyes and looked at her for a
moment before handing her a CD case. The picture was a woman, staring
hungrily at the camera, the corners of her mouth turned up in a sultry smile.
Scrawled in the corner was "Mackie, keep tinkering and thanks for everything.
Vision"
"Woah," Satori said, staring at the autograph. "You knew my Grandmother?"
"She was good friends with my sister and her friends," Stingray confirmed.
The five of them were very close."
"Tell me about her," Satori said, sitting on an ottoman. "I never met her and
mom won't talk about her much. Which kinda sucks. I mean, how do I know where
I'm going if I don't know where everyone else has been?"
"I'm not surprised your mother won't talk about her. Vision and your
grandfather were killed when Reina was about six." Satori was silent as she
digested this information for a moment and then she looked at him.
"Were you one of the Knight Sabers?" For a moment, Stingray seemed as though
he would ignore the question, and then, he slumped in his chair.
"No. But I did work on the suits. Helped maintain them and such."
"Wow! Hey, tell me some stories about them. I mean, I've been from one end of
the net to the other and I've collected everything about them I could find.
But it's all just conspiracy theories and stuff. But you knew them. Couldn't
you just tell me a few stories?"
"No," Stingray said flatly. Satori nodded and stood up as Raven entered the
room.
"Excuse me, Mr. Stingray," Raven said, stepping aside to allow her to pass.
"But it's time for your medicine."
"Maybe you should have the prescription checked," Satori said as she headed
for the gym. "It seems to be mutating him into a jackass."
*******
The Next day. . .
Mackie's coniense was bothering him as he returned home after his customary
walk around the grounds in the mid afternoon sun. His refusal to tell Satori
any stories had widened the gulf that had been slowly closing as they had
gotten to know each other on the trip back from Izumo, and he was feeling
just a bit guilty.
There she was, someone who knew about the cave, and wanted to learn more, and
he had turned her down. He hadn't wanted to, but he wasn't sure that he was
ready to face those demons yet. Still, maybe one or two stories from the
early years-his train of thought broke off as a loud, warbling scream
followed by what sounded like someone banging on a keyboard and a full set of
drums while using a drill to play the guitar came from upstairs.
He was halfway up the stairs, intent on rescue, when he realized that the
noise was actually alternative techno-rock. Slowing to a walk, he continued
up the stairs and followed the noise to Satori's room. Since the door was
open, he peered inside.
Satori sat cross-legged on the bed, nodding her head in time to the beat as
she rummaged through a large box. Various knick-knacks were strewn on the bed
and a large, overstuffed teddy bear sat on the pillows, somberly observing
the proceedings.
As she reached over to place a something on the nightstand, she saw him
standing in the doorway, and fumbled for the remote, turning the music down,
but not off.
"Sorry," she said, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Too loud?"
"A bit," he replied as he entered the room and sat on the bed. "Actually, I
wanted to talk about my behavior yesterday."
"Hey, no," Satori said, making a dismissive gesture with her hand. "It's
okay. I mean, you've been sitting on this for years and here comes someone
you don't even know trying to pry into your past."
"No. It's not that." Mackie sighed. "For you, the Knight Sabers are heroines,
legends. But I knew them. I bandaged their wounds, listened to their secrets,
loved them. Thirty years doesn't take that away, especially when you've
buried those memories. They will take time to dig up." Satori nodded, and
Mackie smiled. "Now, who was that lead singer you were listening too?"
Satori's eyes lit up.
"That was Jun Seiya, the most totally sub-zero singer ever!" She started
rummaging around her. "I got the case right here somewhere." After a moment
she pulled it out and showed him the cover as she looked around for something
else. "I have a better picture here somewhere." Mackie picked up the cover
and, because Satori was looking away, she did not see him clench his teeth,
nor his eyes narrow as they blazed with anger powerful enough to frighten
even a boomer.
The cover was of a woman, her blue-black hair hanging straight down to her
shoulders and streaked with red and black. She wore a red leather jumpsuit
and her hand was making an obscene gesture at the camera.
"Here it is," Satori said, turning back to see him studying the cover
thoughtfully.
"She seems. . .outspoken," he said, handing the cover back.
"Very," Satori agreed. "Hey, can I go see her when she comes to the Hino
Memorial Arena here in Tokyo next month? It's gonna be for one night only,
and I won't be there when she comes to London. I know there's the curfew and
all, but couldn't you lift it? Just for one night?"
"I suppose so," Mackie said, standing up. "As it happens, I'm on the Hino's
board of Trustees. Let me make a few calls and see if I can't get us some
tickets." With that, he left.
*******
When Mackie entered his study, Raven was already there, cleaning. As he
walked to his desk, he could feel the boomer's eyes on his back.
"Is there something wrong, Raven?" Mackie asked as he sat in his chair.
"There is blood on the handle of your cane, sir. Did you suffer a hand
injury?"
"Hm?" Mackie looked at his hand, still wrapped tightly around the teakwood
handle. "Oh, yes, I suppose I did." With that, he released his grip and the
handle came away, most of it falling to the ground in fragments, leaving only
massive splinter embedded in his hand. "Treat that, would you, Raven?"
"Of course, sir," Raven said, and went to a cabinet to retrieve the medical k
it.
"And when you're done with that, I'd like you to get me Mori's phone code. As
much as I hate to owe him a favor, that pompous idiot is the only one who can
get me tickets to the Seiya concert next month."
"Sir?"
"I've found her, Raven. After thirty years, she's surfaced again." Slowly,
Mackie smiled. It was the smile of a predator. "And now, I'm going to bury
her."
*******
Hino Memorial Arena.
One month later.
As they were escorted backstage, Satori turned to Stingray.
"You never did tell me why you're here. Chaperoning?"
"Business. Stingray Enterprises owns a record company and according my
sources, Ms. Seiya has expressed. . .dissatisfaction with her current label
and I thought I might see if I couldn't convince her to switch."
"Oh," Satori replied as a tall, thin man dressed in an expensive suit came
running towards them. "The Hino's manager," Mackie murmured in Satori's ear.
"He's a complete ass, so just smile and nod."
The manager, who had a weak handshake to go with his even weaker chin and bad
haircut, barely gave Satori a second glance as he babbled incessantly about
how nice it was for one of the Hino's most valued patrons to be here tonight.
Rounding the corner, Satori saw a Japanese woman in her early twenties,
standing near some steps talking with one of the crew members.
"Oh Ms. Seiya? Ms. Seiya!" The manager shouted. "Would you come here a
minute? There's someone here I'd like you to meet." Grabbing her arm, he
escorted her back to where Satori stood. "This is Mackie Stingray, senior
vice president of the Hino's board of Trustees, and this is Satoshi McKenny,
one of your fans."
"It's Satori," Satori corrected, holding out her hand.
"Nice to meet you both," Seiya replied, shaking hands with them.
For the next few minutes, Satori was in heaven as she talked with her idol.
"Heh. I like you, kid. How would ya like a seat on stage during the concert?"
"Would I? I mean, sure."
"Take care of it, would you?" Jun said to the manager.
"Of course. Follow me please, Ms. McKenner."
"It's Mackenzie!" Satori shouted as she followed him.
Jun watched them go until they were out of sight before turning back to face
Stingray, her manner turning suddenly hostile.
"What are you doing here, old man?"
"Why to congratulate you, of course. I also wanted to wish you well.
Performing music does wonders for one's health, I'm told. Provided one stays
in the business, of course."
"That's the best threat you could come up with?" Jun sneered. "If my mothers
couldn't stop me, what chance do you think a ninety year old man like you
has?"
"They drove you and the Magi underground, as I recall," Stingray replied as
he reached up and patted her cheek insultingly. "And besides, I'm
eighty-seven."
"Big difference," she shot back. "I've been busy, 'Uncle Mackie', I won't be
making the same mistakes twice."
"I haven't been idle either," Stingray replied with a smirk. "Whenever you're
ready, you know where to find me." With that, he turned and left the
backstage area.
"Pompous old fool," Jun snarled as the thirty second warning bell went off.
"You'll get yours soon enough."
*******
The next day
Block. Block. Fake. Punch. Kick. Ding!
"Fourth target struck," the scoring computer announced. "Difficulty level
raised one grade. Begin."
"Come on, you hunk of metal," Satori said under her breath as she and the
sparring boomer began to circle, looking for an opening. "Show me what you
can really do."
Without warning, the boomer lashed out with a side thrust kick, narrowly
missing her head as Satori rolled to the side. Getting to her feet, she leapt
over a sweep kick and chopped the boomer in the side of the head.
The object of the exercise was fiendishly simple. In theory at least. The
boomer had nine circles on it's body. One on the chest, one on the abdomen,
one on the middle of it's back, one on the outside of each biceps, one on the
outside of each thigh, and one on the inside of each calf. Satori wore a suit
that was similarly decorated. To win, all she had to do was strike each of
the circles on the boomer in a specific order while preventing it from doing
the same to her.
It was her favorite exercise, and the weights on her wrists and ankles helped
her build speed and power.
Ducking, she dove between it's legs and came to her feet, delivering a swift
chop to the circle on its back.
"Seventh target struck," the computer announced. "No damage. Fourth target
once more viable and order of all viable targets rearranged. Begin."
Of course, finding that order was a sadomasochistic game of trial and error.
Knocking aside a punch, she kicked at its chest and leapt back, watching it
as it came to it's feet, and advanced. Wiping the sweat from her forehead,
Satori shifted her weight to her back foot, left hand held near her chin to
block shots to the face, the right held low, palm towards the floor to block
any kicks. Slowly, the boomer started forward, only to freeze as an alarm
went off.
"What the hell?" Satori asked. In the distance, something roared. Running out
of the gym, she paused, turning her head this way and that, trying to
determine the direction. She heard the roar again. 'The front hall!' she
thought, even as her feet were already taking her in that direction.
Emerging from the hallway, she looked down over the railing to see Mr.
Stingray being flung around like a rag doll by a boomer. It was a big one, at
least seven feet tall, with a short neck, and blazing red eyes.
Without stopping to really consider a strategy, she ran down the stairs,
jumped onto an overturned couch and launched herself into the air, delivering
a flying kick to the base of the boomer's neck, before back flipping off.
It was enough to get it's attention and the boomer turned, Stingray
momentarily forgotten. Slipping the weights off her wrists, Satori flung them
at the boomer's eyes, hoping to blind it. But the boomer's reflexes were
faster, and it knocked them aside.
Growling, it charged, grabbing her by the neck, picking her up and slamming
her into the carpet like a rag doll. Holding her there, the boomer raised
it's free hand, the fingertips reforming themselves into needle sharp points.
CHAM!
The boomer staggered and released her, growling questioningly as it looked
for whatever had hit it. Her head ringing, Satori scooted backwards as on the
landing, Raven smirked in a humanlike fashion as he raised his left arm,
which had shifted into some kind of gun, and opened fire.
CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM!
Still dizzy, Satori staggered to her feet and staying low, made it to where
Stingray was laying.
CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM!
Raven was advancing down the stairs, the bolts from the gun chewing the
boomer to pieces.
CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM-CHAM!
'Shit!' Satori swore. 'He's not breathing!' Her whole body was sore, but
nonetheless, she knelt and leaning over Stingray's prone form, began CPR. In
the background, she could hear the boomer's last growls as right up until the
end, it tried to attack the new threat. The floor shook slightly as it
collapsed into a pile of metal ooze.
At that point, Satori was rewarded as Stingray coughed and began breathing
again.
"Allow me, Mistress Satori," Raven said, stepping up beside her. "This is
part of my primary programming." With that, he formed himself into an some
sort of medical unit and proceeded to inject Stingray with all sorts of
fluids and stuff. Falling backwards, Satori lay there staring at the ceiling
listening as the sound of sirens drew closer.
*******
Night had fallen by the time the last police officer had left. Amazingly,
despite the force of the impact, Satori had not suffered a concussion when
the boomer had choke-slammed her into the floor.
Now she sat in one of the few unbroken and/or upright pieces of furniture,
watching as Raven and a few household maintenance boomers affixed plastic
sheets to the gaping hole in the wall that had been made by the boomer's
entrance.
Standing, Satori glanced at her watch. Her mother would just be getting up
right about now, and the phone call Satori was about to make was not on her
mother's list of ways to start the day.
It took her a bit of tinkering, but she finally got the phone to place an
international call and it was a few minutes later that her mother appeared on
the screen.
"Satori?" Reina asked, seeing her daughter's face on the screen. A moment
passed while she took in the expression on Satori's face and instantly, all
traces of sleep vanished as Reina's motherly instincts kicked in. "My God!
You're all banged up! Honey, what happened?"
"A rogue boomer broke in, beat up Mr. Stingray pretty badly."
"Have the cops asked any questions?"
"Just the usual. What happened, where was I, stuff like that."
"All right. I'm going to book the next sub-orbital to Tokyo. Don't say
anything else until I get there and for the love of God, stay inside the
house."
"Yes, mother."
"Good girl. I'll see you in a couple of hours. Bye." With that, the screen
winked out.
Yawning, Satori leaned back in the chair and fell asleep.
*******
Reina arrived at the mansion by sunrise, and almost immediately, both she and
Satori went to the hospital where they were met by no less then the chief of
staff himself.
"It's not good," he told them when they asked about Stingray's condition.
"Despite the fact that he's in better shape then a man half his age, his
health is very poor and being attacked as he was did nothing to help. It's
all down to a matter of time now. All we can do is keep him comfortable." The
chief rubbed his face with one hand. "One of you wouldn't happen to be Satori
Mackenzie would you?"
"I would," Satori said quietly.
"Good. He's been asking for you." Satori nodded and stood, looking
questioningly at her mother.
"You go on, dear," Reina said with a smile. Satori nodded and entered the
room, Raven close behind.
Stingray lay on a bed that seemed to large for him in the middle of a room
that was missing something. Surrounding him was a maze of wires and tubes,
making him appear to be the centerpiece of a sculpture created by an engineer
gone mad.
Going to his side, she sat on the stool next to the bedside and took his
hand, watching his face for any signs of movement.
Eventually, his eyes opened and he saw her, his mouth forming a smile before
looking behind her to Raven.
"White noise and jammers," he said crisply, though his voice was hoarse.
After a moment, he returned his attention to Satori. "I'm glad you came, my
dear. There's a great deal I need to tell you and very little time to tell it
in. Fortunately, everything you need to know is on a set of discs which are
kept in my private safe. Raven will retrieve them when you are ready. What
you won't find on the discs is that the boomer which attacked me was sent by
Saber."
"Saber? Who or what is Saber?"
"A mistake," Stingray replied before launching into a fit of coughing and
when he looked at her again, some of the light seemed to have faded from his
eyes. Satori was silent for a few moments and then she spoke, propelled by
some need.
"You know how when I went into that cave beneath the house, I found that room
with the five suits in glass cases?" Stingray nodded. "Well, when I saw that
black suit, I had a. . .I dunno, call it a vision." From there, Satori told
him about the three nightmares she had had.
"Hm, sounds like the Fuuu no Shukuen."
"The Wind of Destiny?" Satori asked. "What's that mean?"
"It's a bit of obscure Shinto doctrine. You won't find it anywhere in the
current texts." He paused to cough again before continuing. "Put simply, in
every generation there are those who possess the power, or perhaps I should
say, potential, to change, preserve or save the world. Many times, they are
not needed, and live out their lives in obscurity. But a few of them are
needed and it is these people that the Fuuu no Shukuen visits, bringing with
it a vision of what may or may not be depending on how the Chosen acts."
"Then the woman in armor. . .I'm supposed to stop her?" Mackie nodded before
setting off in another bout of hacking and coughing. "But how do I do that?
How do I stop her?" There was no answer, and it took her a moment to realize
that his eyes were closed and he was no longer breathing. Satori smiled sadly
and gave his hand one last squeeze before standing up as the chief and a
nurse entered.
"Time of death," the chief said, taking up Stingray's chart and glancing at
his watch. "Eight o'clock."
*******
One week later. . .
"And in local news, Mega-Tokyo's elite turned out to mourn the passing of
Mackie Stingray. Stingray, a noted philanthropist and recluse, was one of the
theater community's biggest supporters and patrons, personally financing a
number of plays and concerts by up and coming young artists and playwrights.
An engineer by training, he was the younger of the two children of Doctor
Kasuhito Stingray, who is credited with the invention of the Boomer, and was
later murdered by then Genom chairman Quincy Rosencroitz, who was killed by
the team of vigilantes known as the Knight Sabers.
Dr. Stingray's considerable personal fortune was placed in a blind trust for
when his children, Sylia, Mackie's older sister, and Mackie himself, came of
age.
After the mysterious disappearance of Sylia more then thirty years ago,
Mackie founded Stingray Enterprises, and labored tirelessly ever since to
improve the community.
As neither he nor Sylia ever had children, nor any living relatives, the
future of Mr. Stingray's considerable personal fortune remains an unanswered
question pending the reading of his will, scheduled for sometime later this
week. Mr. Stingray was eighty-seven at the time of his death."
****************
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Keep/5268/Fanfic/fanfic.html
Agreeable Komodo
(Otakus Nodateus)
He who buys it, uses it.
Just say yes to prophylactics.