Mario Di Giacomo <digicom@conan.ids.net>
8<------------------------------------------------------------------------


                             DIGICOM, INC.
                          IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 
                          TCS.PRODUCTIONS.LTD
                               Presents
               A Virtual Experience of Epic Proportions 
                 The _Other_ Untitled Geek War Epic:
                       OTAKU FILES #1: GENESIS
                             Written by
                          Mario Di Giacomo
                  Copyright 1994 by Mario Di Giacomo  
                       Chapter One copyright 1994 
                by Mario Di Giacomo and Jon D. Govoni 
                                 CAST 
                                 ====
                             (Of Dozens!)

J. Daedalus Govoni............................................Corinthian 
Mario Di Giacomo..............................................DigiCom/DC 
Thomas L. Carney....................................................Wolf 
Michael R. Frost II...............................................Frosty
Carley Paynting.....................................................Kali
Mike Stewart......................................................Marius
Sheila Lippitt....................................................Sheila
Maxim-3..............................................Jess/Jessie/Jessica
Annapuna.......................................................Anna Puma
Unipuma.........................................................Una Puma
Catherine Dai........................................................Cat

and introducing the Troops For The Day:
the Jester of the Gods, the Duck Lord, Crowley, and the Mad Persian  
"OTAKU RISING", the Original Story, available by anonymous FTP from  ftp.std.com
as /archives/anime-fan-works/Otaku_Rising/otaku.rising.gz

Author's note:  The following diverges from "official" Otaku Rising continuity
after the first chapter, which is taken in part from OR2.  Further stories in
the OR continuity are the province of my partner-in-crime, the Corinthian.
Stories in this continuity will be prefixed by "OF:" to avoid confusion.
Now...on with the story.

Changes______________________________________________________________ONE

  Corinthian and Wolf were looking at the UPSTruckFromHELL(TM), when a subtle
shift in reality caused them to pause.  Cor straightened up and said, "Did you
feel that, Thom?"  He looked at Thom for a second.  He really should get a
haircut, Cor thought.  Thom's shoulder-length brown locks hung limp over his
plaid flannel shirt. 
  "Yeah," Wolf replied.  "I felt dizzy for a second.  What was it?" 
  "I'm not sure," Cor said, instantly armoring up.  It was a strange effect to
watch:  it looked as if his black AC/DC T-shirt and blue jeans grew and changed
on his body, "retooling" themselves until he was encased in a jet black HardSuit
that crackled with energy.  Cor called it the STELLARIS Affect.  "I got a touch
of Vertigo (tm) myself.  I'm going down to see if Mario or Frosty noticed
anything down where they are." 
  Cor headed for the 'lift doors.  

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RHODE ISLAND

  Frosty and Sheila were outside, enjoying the brisk October sunshine on a
wooded path north of campus.  The scene was sickeningly sweet and romantic.
Sheila was wearing a light blue cashmere sweater and matching hat over her dark
brown hair, with a long white scarf wrapped loosely around her neck.  Frosty...
was Frosty.  Generic college sweatshirt, jeans, ragged sneakers.  The two of
them kept looking at each other as they held hands.  
  "Sheila," Frosty said gently.
  "Mmmmmm?" she purred, looking up at him.  She didn't have to look up very
far--she was tall for a woman at 5'9", while Frosty stood at 6'1".  He looked
into her large brown eyes.
  "I've been meaning to ask you something..." 

DIGICOM'S LAB

  Cor paused as the doors slid open.  The room was quiet...too quiet.  DC was
hunched over his workbench, tinkering with YANT [Yet Another Nifty Tech -ed.].
An evil glint echoed across Cor's lenses, as with a mental command, he created a
Super Soaker 5000 on his right arm.  He raised his arm, and aimed... 
  "Don't even think about it, Jon."  DC called.
  "Who me?" Cor replied, reabsorbing the Squirt-Gun-from-Hell[tm], "I'm not
doing anything," he continued innocently. 
  DC turned to face him, "Right....OK Jon, what's up?"
  "Wolf and I just felt something weird.  Did you feel it down here?"
  DC paused dramatically.  Seeing Jon tapping his foot, he continued, "Nope. Let
me check something." 
  He turned to a panel on the side wall. "Sam, access R.O.V.E.R."
  Cor looked at him blankly as Sam's melodic voice replied, "Complying, DC." 
  "Remote Operated Variable Energy Recorder," DC said, "A cloaked orbital probe.
We need the sensor coverage."
  Cor nodded, "A network of probes might be more useful.  We could even use them
to piggyback the 'slide signals."
  "Good idea." DC checked his readouts.  "No odd radiation, or subspace
anomalies, but quantum flux is way up.  I'd say we hit another reality shift."
  Cor paused, "What changed?" 
  "No way of knowing, really." DC replied simply.
  "Oh."  He walked over to the bench. "What are you working on, anyway?" 
  DC smiled thinly, "A new piece of Tech.  I call it GENESIS."
  "Uhhh, Captain Kirk, Give me the Genesis Device." Cor Lloyd-ed.
  "Wrong device.  This is the Graviton Enhanced Nano-Electronic Symbiotic
Infantry System."
  Cor stared blankly, locked into Ignatowski mode. 
  "It's body armor, Jon." 
  "Uhhhh, okey-doke!" Shaking his head, he continued, "What did you base it
on?"
  "Your STELLARIS armor.  Your suit is fine, but it violates the KISS
principle." 
  "Why?  It doesn't rock and roll all night?" 
  DC shot him.  After the smoke cleared, he said, "No, I meant Keep It Simple
Stupid.  STELLARIS is too complex." 
  "Ah.  Well, *I* like it." Cor snarked,  "Enjoy your toys, Mario." 
  He stormed out of the room.  

THE DEMOROOM  

  Kali looked up in time to see Marius drop what looked like a huge slab of
steel on her.  She remedied this situation by not being there when it crashed
into the floor where she was standing.  Looking at the side, she could see the
words "400,000 TONS, This Might Hurt" stenciled on the side of the black steel.

  "That...was...not...nice," Kali said slowly with emphasis for dramatic effect
as she took careful aim on the spot where he should be with her small, yet
effective backup pistol.  The first one had fallen prey to a  large, ravenous
group of metal eating gerbils.  Marius had a really sick sense of toon humor.
She fired and then rolled to the side as three beams of death lanced out of the
shadows. 
  "Nice try, but no cigar," Marius said from behind her.  She whirled to come
face to face with a large CyMech wearing a red Starfleet tunic.  She blasted it
on mere principle.  This action however, distracted her long enough for another
CyMech to appear and clock her with a large cricket bat.
  "Ouch," she ouched as she crashed through several large buildings and a
crowded concert hall.  The concertgoers were sleeping through a
fourteen-hour-long recital from Wagner's Epic-To-End-All-Epics
Das_Flatulence_Der_Ubermensch_.  The only being still awake in the hall was a
huge grey figure with bone spurs protruding all over who was trying like mad to
get at the lead character. 
  Kali shook off the blow.  Fortunately her R.O.A.C.H. armor absorbed most of
the force of the blow(s).  She looked cautiously around the area in the alley
next to the theatre.  No threats present.  That soon changed as she heard a
sound behind her.  Whirling to face the sound, she saw a long, furry appendage
extending from a trash can near the door to the Chinese restaurant next door.
It was unclear on first glance whether the can was coming in or going out. She
relaxed as she saw that it was merely the tail of a stray feline.  It did seem a
bit large, though.  As she turned to head out of the alley, the "feline"
withdrew it's bulk from the trashcan and hurled itself the full length of the
alleyway at Kali.  Kali was crushed flat against the tenement house across the
streetlamp-lit road with an audible *splat*. 
  Kali threw herself backwards away from the brick sandwich she'd been enjoying
and did a neat backflip over the beast.  Her eyes widened when she saw it's
reddish-brown mass crouched to pounce again, a toothy grin on it's
semi-intelligent face.  The grin faded as Kali pointed her pistol at the
creature's furry mug.  Kali's finger did not touch the trigger, however.  This
big fella was kinda cute. 
  "Heel," Kali said through her teeth.  "Good monster, _nice_ monster."
  "Oh, he's not a monster," Marius said next to her in the form of a
anthrophagous bovine (read: Man-Eating Cow).  Kali shot the heifer just to be
rid of it.
  "That's twisted, Mike," Kali said as her attention snapped back around to
Mughi, who was raising a giant paw to playfully mosh her.  Kali threw up her
hands reflexively and the furred extremity bounced harmlessly off of the air in
front of her.  Mughi looked puzzledly at Kali for a second and crossed and
uncrossed his eyes.
  "Better," Marius said from inside a discarded coffee can near them in the
alleyway, which Kali punted over the fence at the other end of the alley.
"Temper, temper.  Remember, you _asked_ for this training session  today."  This
time the voice came from the fire escape above her.  She snapped off a couple of
shots with her pistol at the spot where Marius would be standing, if he had been
stupid. 
  Mughi crouched in front of her, aware that he'd been forgotten for the
moment.  _Not_ a smart thing to do.  He rocketed himself at her chest in an
attempt to knock her down.  Kali turned back just in time to see Mughi leave the
ground.  That's as far as he got.  His look of playfulness quickly turned to one
of puzzlement and then one of frustration as he found himself encased in an
invisible force bubble two meters above the ground. 
  "Very good," Marius said from beside her.  he saw her eyes flick towards him
for only a fraction of a second.  Mughi's prison started to drop and break up
around him.  She redoubled the effort, and the bubble held.  Marius calmly
placed a short-barreled pistol against her right temple and said, "bang."
  "Damn," Kali hissed as she unceremoniously dumped Mughi into a pile of wadded
newspapers.  "What did I do wrong?"  
  "You let your concentration go to far," Marius replied.  "Remember, it takes a
lot of willpower to use your abilities, but it doesn't have to be difficult.
You're still trying to use it like a tool instead of an extension of your self."
As he spoke, a bright red helium balloon appeared in his left hand.  Mughi's
ears perked up and what could pass for an anxious smile crossed his face.
Marius let the balloon go and Mughi bounded away after it, leaping to the top of
a dumpster and then onto the fire escape in pursuit of the playfully bouncing
spheroid. 
  "It was that simple?" Kali asked as she pulled off her helmet and let down her
chestnut curls.  "I thought it was going to make lunch of me." 
  "Nah," Marius smiled with a vampiric grin befitting his nomenclature, "Mughi
wouldn't eat you.  Too much cholesterol.  He does love a good balloon though.
He's very playful.  Smart, too."  
  "Ah.  Good.  I think." 

SEVERAL MINUTES LATER 

  They all gathered in the Communications Center.  Frosty fiddled with  his
boards, lots of buttons, blinkies, and machines that go "Ping" doing their
thing.  Cor scowled at the reams of hard printout strewn across the conference
table that had been added in the recent months, and looked askance at Wolf, who
shrugged.  
  Marius and Kali were sharing tales of derring-do and belly-button lint.  DC
was mumbling to himself in a corner in between fits of banging his head against
any handy flat surface.  Zebediah just sat with his feet up on the table,
sipping a Shirley Temple through a swizzle straw, while Sam and Sheila chatted
about human  suffering.  
  Cor slowly stood and planted his hands on the table, which shook a bit under
his armor enhanced frame, "People, we have a problem.  We've saved the world,
and in the process made more technological advances than the entire computer
industry."  He paused for a moment,  dramatically, "Now what should we do with
it?" 
  "Go to Disney World!" Marius said over his shoulder.  This received an
answering par-beam from one of Cor's forearm guns that  scorched his hair and
vaped his pen.  "TouchY-a-pet." 
  "Quite," Cor Commander McBragg-ed.  Sam pooh-poohed his outburst, and effected
a new pen for Marius.  A blue Bic. 
  "Can I flick your Bic, baby?" Marius leered. 
  "Masher!" Sheila said, belting him with a Hollywood-Balsa-Chair(tm) that Sam
handed her, breaking his new pen. 
  "Sigh," Marius sighed.
  "Look!" Zeb cried gleefully.  "A running gag!" 
  "Where??" Kali asked as she drew a pistol and started looking under the table
for the offending creature.  Most of the pens left in the room ran and hid.  Cor
sighed mightily.  It was all his fault, you know.
  "Do you mind?" Cor asked.
  Sorry.  Anyway, Cor cleared his throat with a basso profundo rumble which
shook the room, "Mario and I came up with an idea.  Pinky?"
  "Gee, thanks," DC snarked, "We thought we might set up a network of satellites
to give us planetary coverage.  That way, we could pick up any trouble spots,
and 'slide our equipment there."
  Marius stopped hunting for pens and said thoughtfully, "A space station might
be useful too.  We could use the Magna-Flame Gun for spare parts.  And  move the
ships up there.  And pirate cable transmissions!  And .."
  "We get the idea, Mike," Cor said.  "I want you and DC working on this.
Frosty, you keep monitoring... whatever it is you monitor in here.  You really
should get out more.  Zeb, you and Wolf do that voodoo that you do so well.  We
may need some new transport and I _know_ you're probably fuquing with the
UPSTruckFromHELL(tm) yet again." 
  "Who, me?" Wolf sarcasmed.  "Never." 
  "Right," Cor smiled.  He knew he could count on them.  "Oh, Sam, I almost
forgot.  You said you and Sheila had something you wanted us to see?  Now is as
good a time as any."
  "All right, Cor," Sam smiled at him warmly.  He always melted when she did
that.  Sam was their resident A.I., an artificial being brought to 'life' by way
of countless Omnidirectional Holographic Diodes located throughout the complex.
She had originally been his STELLARIS armor's onboard computer, but took over
the Lippitt Complex mainframe when Sheila vacated the position and gained
flesh.
  She shook her straight, white-blonde, shoulder-length hair fetchingly at him
and wrinkled her nose with a smile.  Marius had made a few cracks about her
being too "cutesy", as he put it, to run the battle computers.  Though she did
resemble a younger version of Ann Jillian, she had a head for battle that
quickly quelled his concerns.  Marius sometimes called her "Ice" after the DC
comics character of the same name. 
  The door to the room opened and in stepped a pair of identical twins.  Well,
almost identical.  They both had very long flowing hair, but one of theirs that
was a slight bit shorter than the other and a shade darker than the other's very
pale white shade of blonde.  A hush settled over the room as they all stared at
the two fems.  They stepped into the room and smiled all around them.
  Both were tall for women, standing close to six feet, and were dressed in
identical HardSuits.  The one with the darker hair's suit was dark green, the
other's was deep purple.  All present noticed that they both had rather feline
looking ears.
  "Hubba hubba, call me Bubba," Marius drooled.  Both were rather attractive, in
an Anime sort of way.  Cor recognized them.
  "Why, Sam, that's the Puma sisters," Cor said simply with a satisfied smile.
  "Well, that was the design I was given," Sam replied coldly.
  "Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Cor asked with a feigned look of shock.
  "Absolutely not," Sam denied a tad too quickly.  She regained her composure.
"Members of the Otaku Group, may I present to you Annapuna and Unipuma.  The
Puma Sisters."  They bowed and curtsied respectively, the shorter haired first,
then the other one. 
  "HENtai, hentai hentai, HENtai, hentai hentai," Marius chanted.
  "Very nice, Sam," Cor said.  "Gang, these are the first of the Series I-AI30
Positronic Androids we've kludged together.  I figured a few extra pairs of
hands around here couldn't hurt.  I think 'Anna' and 'Una' will work for
nicknames." 
  "Of course!  Jane Royal!" Marius exclaimed gleefully.  He was the first of
them to make the connection.
  "Got it in one, Mike," Cor agreed.  "She was the base chassis we had to start
with.  I did tweak the basic design a little bit here and there.  All in all,
I'm pretty happy with the results."
  Una Puma had moved over to the conference table and was idly toying  with
Marius' long shock of brown hair.  He smiled contentedly.  "I like this one
already," he said.
  "Just don't get her mad," Cor said with an evil grin.  "We beefed up the
battle frame and increased the top-end load limits."
  "Ah, beautiful _and_ deadly, my favorite combo," Marius said. 
  "And don't let her cook for you," Zeb chimed in. 
  "No, that's C-Ko," Cor corrected.
  "Or Akane," Marius giggled.  Una quickly had him in a headlock. 
  "Um," Frosty said tentatively.  They focused their attention on him, noticing
that Sheila was holding his left hand.  "We have an announcement  to make,
everyone."  Frosty looked nervous.  "I've asked Sheila here to marry me."
  "And I've said yes," Sheila said as she smiled up him.
  The applause was deafening.

LATER THAT EVENING

  Marius and DC sat at a table in DC's lab, snarfing down pizza and trading tech
ideas.
  "We'll need an AI to run it..." Marius was saying around a mouthful of
pepperoni.
  "Null sheen.  Thanks to our work here in Lippit, all we need is a personality
profile, and a copy of Sam's mainframe."
  "Redhead this time?"  Marius leered, drooling ever so slightly.
  "Leash your hormones, monkeyboy.  I was thinking of someone more like Alfred
Pennyworth."
  "Oh.  Movie, TV, or comics version?"
  "Well, the comics version is a Rush Limbaugh fan, but the movie version is
so...efficient."  Mario paused.  "Really, that's the last thing we need to worry
about.  First thing we need is a name.  How about, the Orbital Global
Reconnaissance Emplacement?"
  "NO ACRONYMS!" Marius thundered.  Calming down, he continued, "I prefer
Avalon."
  DC shook his head, "I refuse to design a station named after a giant
upside-down teacup."  A glint came into his eyes, "Oh, that's perfect."
  Marius stared blankly, "What is?"
  "You should have thought of it yourself, considering your handle."
  "Marius?  What, you want to name it after Lestat?"
  "No...TALAMASCA.  Remember it's motto?"
  Marius riffled through his memory, " 'We are watching.'  I *like* it."
  "Good.  Now let's get to work..."
  The jargon began to fly fast and furious, as the planet spun towards dawn.

War and Peace________________________________________________________TWO

SUBLEVEL G, LIPPIT COMPLEX

  Wolf was bored.  This was a dangerous state of mind, since when he got bored,
he got creative.  Similar events in the past had lead to the Hangar Annex, the
new Orbit Cannons mounted on top of the biological sciences building, and his
most recent incarnation of the WOLF battle armor.
  His SO., Jessie, had noticed his mood, and fearing for national security,
suggested a game of Bash-the-Bot.  B-t-B, as the OG crew called it, was a
periodic test of  new battle systems, at an abandoned quarry.  Basically, Sam
would run several varieties of drone, and the players would blow them up.
Violently.  With a lot of dramatic poses.  And a heavy metal soundtrack.
  But you really needed more than two players to have fun.  So Thom was looking
for a few good psychotics.  Cor had gone to Peregrine Bluffs, to visit their
associate, Silver Falcon, muttering something about raising yams.  Frosty and
Sheila were planning the upcoming nuptials, and staring sappily at each other.
Marius and the Sisters were in orbit, starting work on the new station.  Next on
his list was Kali.
  He found her in the gymnasium, reading the newest Grisham novel, undistracted
by the clanking of a nearby Nautilus machine.  At least that's what he thought.
  A closer look revealed that no one was actually *in* the machine, but the
overhead press attachment was moving on its own.  
  "Pumping iron, Kali?"  he asked.
  Kali whipped her head up, and the weights crashed to the floor.  And through
it, to the level beneath.
  "Don't *do* that, Thom!" she snarled.  As the self-repair systems began work,
she put down the thriller.
  "Sorry.  Wanna do some B-t-B?" he asked, with a blatantly insincere contrite
pout.
  "You know me," she sighed, "I'm not much into the combat thing anymore."
  "It would give you a chance to flex some brain cells..."
  "Well..."
  "C'mon," Wolf prodded, "No one can get hurt.  You *know* you want to."
  "All right. Who else is playing?"
  Wolf counted on his fingers, "You, me, Jessie, and maybe DC."
  "You sure you want him?  He's been a bit snarky lately."
  "A bit?  A lot, I'd say.  He always says its just a headache."
  Kali thought for a moment, "Could be stress.  I've been dreaming a lot about
Deslock lately."
  "Blue dreams about the blue dude?" Wolf leered. A telekinetic slap rocked his
head. 
  "More like nightmares."
  "Oh.  Do you know where DC is?"
  "Haven't seen him.  Did you ask Sam?"
  Wolf duh-ed himself in the forehead.  Then he did it again.  He liked it.
Eventually, he stopped, and spoke to the air, "Sam. Babe.  Where's DC?"
  Sam shimmered to life before him. "DigiCom is located in DemoRoom M."
  "The Medical wing?" Kali asked concernedly, "Is something wrong?"
  "That information is restricted, security clearance Otaku-1."  Sam pouted, "I
hate it when he does that."
  "He's probably just cooking up some really twisted tech." Wolf  chimed in,
"Remember the PREDATOR suit?"
  Kali shuddered, "How could I forget.  Let me know what he's doing, 'kay?"
  "No prob," Wolf  replied with a nod, "See you in the Danger Zone."
  "Not if I see you first." she retorted.

DEMOROOM M

  Wolf peered through the window in the Observation Room, baffled.  DC had set
up the usual Tank in the center of the DemoRoom, and he could barely see the
milky liquid within.
  "Hey, DC what's cooking?"
  "Come down here and see," crackled the intercom in reply.
  Moments later, Wolf stood next to the always cryptic DigiCom, trying in vain
to see if he could identify the Tank's occupant.  Exasperatedly, he straightened
up, "I give up, what's with all the secrecy?"
  "I wanted to be left alone until I was finished.  This is too important for
trivial interruptions." DC replied calmly, hands in his lab robe's pockets.
  "Why?  I mean, who's in the Tank anyway?  Walt Disney?"
  "No," DC replied, "I am."
  Wolf  nodded, then blinked, "Wait a minute, you CAN'T be in the Tank.  You're
here!"
  "Am I?" DC grinned.  His body flickered for a moment, reappearing on the far
side of the Tank, dressed in a T-shirt and Dockers.  Wolf  spun to face him.
  "I thought Jon was the only guy around here who went for the appear from
nowhere schtick.  What's going on around here?"
  "Relax, Thom, it's easy to explain.  I downloaded my personality and memories
into one of Sam's auxiliary 'brainframes'.  I'm a hologram."
  "Oh," Wolf said, "Dare I ask why?"
  "I needed to run this medical procedure myself.  You see, I had to operate on
my own brain."  Seeing Wolf's blank stare, he continued.
  "Remember the PREDATOR suit?  To give me a faster response time, I implanted a
control chip in my brain.  Wetware, so to speak.  Anyway, it worked like a
charm.  I became the perfect killing machine.  Then I turned it off.
  "The first thing that happened was a killer headache.  It faded away, but the
next day it came back, and since then, it's been coming and going at will.  I
figured out yesterday that it was the implant, after running through every
painkiller in the pharmacy.  So now I'm taking it out."
   "Why didn't you ask Carley or Sam for help?"  Wolf asked.
   "I don't know. I guess I prefer to do these sort of things myself.  I've
always been a loner at heart."
  "We've got to get you a woman," Wolf grinned, "It'll do wonders for your
personality."
  "No thanks.  I'll worry about that some other time.  Anything else?"
  "I was going to ask you if you wanted to do the BtB thing, but I guess not."
   "Maybe next time," DC replied. "I want to test out my new armor system
anyway."
   "Another one?  You gonna have this one blow up too?"  Wolf snarked.
   "Ghod, I hope not."  DC sighed.

FLINT STONE & GRAVEL

  In a long-deserted corner of the quarry, a strange sight met the eyes of the
squirrels, raccoons, and other lower life forms.  An eldritch light emanated
from midair, growing in intensity until it resolved into the familiar shapes of
Wolf, Kali, and Jessie.
  "Ladies, and ... Wolf," came Sam's voice over their comlinks, "Welcome to the
23rd Bash-the-Bot tournament.  Game begins in five minutes."
  "We'd better get ready, Thom." Jessie called. Unlike Kali, who already wore
her recustomized ROACH, Wolf and Jessie were unarmed.  They walked to the middle
of the clearing, and leapt upwards.  Wolf howled, while Jessie merely executed a
dazzling series of gymnastic flips.   From nowhere in particular, their personal
power armor appeared around them, snapping into place.  Wolf landed, garbed in
the truly vicious looking WOLF battle armor.  Jessie's was similar, although
slightly sleeker, and a whole lot better looking.
  "That's new," Kali remarked, "What do you call it?"
  "I hate to admit it," Jessie announced over her external speakers, "but Thom
calls it the Bio-enhanced Integrated Tactical Combat HardSuit."
  "B...I...T...C...H...," Kali muttered, "Wolf, I'm going to kill you."
  "Hey," his voice rumbled, "It's the what a female wolf's called."
  "That's no excuse."
  An alarm prevented further witty banter.  On the far side of the pit, several
forms 'slid into view.  As each combatant scanned them, they noticed several new
details.
  "Scaly skin." Kali commented.
  "Rotting flesh, yuck." Jessie added.
  "Black armor," Wolf chimed in.
  "Not to mention artificial parts.  They're my PUNC's."  Sam announced.
  "Punks?"  Jessie asked, "Is that why they've got fins?"
  "PUNC's.  Prehistoric Undead Ninja Cyborgs." 
  Kali thought to herself, "What is it with these acronyms?"
  Silently, the PUNC's spread out, as the OG crew dove for cover.  Well, Jessie
and Kali did.  Wolf...did what came naturally.  Launching himself into the air,
he performed a stunning series of acrobatic and aerobatic maneuvers, landing in
front of one of the drones.
  The drone shot him.  
  "Everyone's a critic," he sighed, ripping off his opponent's head.
  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jessie was showing off her hand-to-hand skills,
dashing from drone to drone, and disemboweling them with her fingertip
Nega-Blades.   To Kali's untrained eye, it looked like a deadly blur.
  "Hey Jess," she linked, "How come you didn't fight this well against US?"
  The blur resolved itself as Jessica pondered the question. 
  "Two reasons, really," she replied, bashing a drone which had snuck behind
her, "First, that was for money.  This is for fun."
  Kali blasted another drone, and interjected, "And the other?"
  "Those suits sucked, big time.  This is MUCH better."
  A chime interrupted their discussion.  The fallen drones shimmered, and
vanished.  Time for Level Two.  With eerie hissing cries, a second wave vaulted
over the rim of the pit, and began their assault.
  Their first move was to blast the targets in sight.  Their second was to
vanish.  The battle was joined anew, and this time, it wasn't going to be as
easy.  While Jessie and Wolf tried the "Stand back-to-back and slash anything in
reach" strategy, Kali tried the direct approach.  An idea she'd had, to mount
stun darts on her ROACH, seemed to be working. Any PUNC in range fell to her
sting.  Unfortunately, these cloaked bastards were harder to find.  After the
fifth consecutive hit and fade attack, Kali began to get a bit peeved.  And when
she got peeved, things tended to get broken.  In this case, after picking up a
PUNC, and dragging him telekinetically around the clearing, she'd managed to
wipe out a respectable number of the baddies.  Unfortunately, she was tiring,
and Sam wasn't running out of drones.
  Wolf and Jessie were building a fort out of fallen bodies.  But the PUNC's
soon notice the lack of ranged weapons, and began sniping from a distance.
  "It would be nice if removing their heads killed them", Wolf griped.
  "That's why they're called Undead," Jessie reminded him gently, dodging a
laser blast.  Kali, driven back by the phantom-like assault, soon joined them,
forming a defensive triangle.
  "I think maybe, just maybe, these guys are too good," she muttered, as the
PUNC's closed in.  Then one exploded.
  "Did you do that?" Wolf asked.  Both ladies shook their heads.  "Then who
did?"
  The unmistakable tones of the "Mighty Mouse" theme filled their heads, as a
chrome and black figure dropped from the skies.  It raised a hand, releasing a
blurry sphere of force, which slammed one of the PUNC's into the granite.
   "Hi guys!  Miss me?" DC asked.
   The lack of a response was unsurprising.  The addition of a fourth, with
longer ranged weapons, turned the tide of battle.  While Wolf and Jessie bounced
around, slicing and dicing, DC and  Kali worked the edges, driving the PUNC's
inward.  The effect was somewhat like a black hole.  Eventually, they ran out.
  "Good job, Sam." DC panted, sitting heavily on the ground.
  "Thank you, Mario.  Are you all right?"
  "Just...tired..." DC wheezed.
  Wolf strode over, "You should have done some improvements while you were in
the Tank."
  "What?!" Kali shouted, "Mario, are you OK?"
  "I'm fine, Kali." DC replied, "Thom, that's Jon's schtick, not mine.  I prefer
to keep my genes as is."
  "Everybody ready to go?" Jessie asked.  At the sight of three nodding heads,
she triggered her commlink. "Sam, bodyslide by four.  Location: Homeplate."
  The four figures shimmered, and vanished.

LATER THAT DAY

  "First floor!  Leather, Lace, and Lollipops!"  Marius announced as the lift
doors opened.  Reactions to this ranged from total indifference to a death
threat, which was about average.  The Otaku Group had gathered in the Lippit
Complex's equivalent to a briefing room.  Corinthian had something to say...
  "After discussing it with SF, I've decided to take a leave of absence.  SF and
I want to do a little salvage operation."
  "Let me guess," DC piped up, "You are going to raise the Titanic..."
  Cor crossed his arms before his face,."BZZT! Wrong answer.  It's been thought
of too many times.  TWICE, by Arthur C. Clarke."
  "So what's it going to be?" Kali asked
  "The Yamato."
  DC whistled, "Please tell me you aren't going to turn it into a spaceship."
  "Not yet," Cor grinned, "Unless Captain Avatar asks nicely."
  "I have some ideas you might be able to use," Thom said, from his seat in the
corner.  He and Jessie were discussing upgrades on their respective armors.
Jessie, as ex-merc, and Wolf, as ex- [CLASSIFIED]  tended to come up with
Siamese Fighting Fish solutions [Beautiful, but deadly as hell].
  "I knew I could count on you.  I'll keep in touch through Sam." Cor smiled.
  Sam rezzed in, "You might be out of range, unless Michael finishes the
satellite net."
  "The Twins and I will be working topside full-time.  We're almost finished,
but sometimes they can be ... distracting." Marius replied, a slight leer
playing across his lips.
  "I hope so," Cor remarked, I'd hate to lose contact with Sam, he didn't add.
  DC stood, clearing his throat.  "It seems our little band is splitting up.
I'm leaving too."
  "Why? Kali asked, "Is something wrong?  Wolf told me about the implant..."
  "I just need a vacation, to clear out my head.  Things have been weird for me,
lately."
  Frosty, who'd been whispering in Sheila's ear, looked up, "You'll be back for
the wedding?"
  "Of course," DC smiled, "Who else could give away the bride?"
  "You want to take out a ship?" Wolf asked, "The Truck won't be available for a
while."
  DC shook his head, "I have my own transportation."
  "Dare I ask?" Cor snarked.  The meeting was starting to break up, and DC was
usually good for a few hours of sleep-inducing cyber-babble.  So he wanted to
see what he'd come up with.  He needed the rest.
  "Road trip!" Wolf called, "who wants in?"
  Jessie raised her hand, as did Cor.  Marius begged off, saying he had to get
back to work.  Frosty and Sheila had other plans, and Kali wasn't interested.
  "Very well." DigiCom sighed, "Sam, bodyslide by 4, to the Annex."
  Rings of light appeared over their heads, sweeping downward.  There was a
brief disorientation, and they were at the Hangar Annex, home of the group's
fleet of  high-tech transports.  Basically an underground garage, it was
accessible by ramp from the outside.  But the Otaku's preferred to 'slide.  Less
traffic, prettier lights.  
  "So which is it?" Jessie asked, "Wolf showed me all of these."
  "None of these." DC replied, pulling a remote from his pocket.  One burst of
infrared light later, he'd opened up one of the auxiliary garages to reveal...a
white 1994 Ford Escort.
  "You've *got* to be kidding, Mario." Cor announced, "With all of the tech
available, you're using your own car?  Have you finally lost it?"
  DC looked hurt, "I thought you knew me better than that.  Anyway, I've made
some...improvements."
  "So what's the deal?" Wolf chimed in, "Is it heavily armed?"
  "Not usually..."
  "Can it fly?" Jessie added.
  "Not really."
  "Then what, pray tell, is the big deal?" Cor snarked.
  "This..." DC pressed a button on the remote, and the car began to ripple.
Waves of energy flowed from bumper to bumper, shifting, tinting, morphing.
Finally, the energy faded, leaving a mint condition '59 T-Bird convertible, with
the top down.
  "Nice..." Cor replied, while Wolf began checking out the undercarriage.
Jessie looked bored.
  "Based on my armor, I assume."
  DC nodded, "I've programmed it to emulate every 4-wheeled vehicle in our
database.  Except for the Truck, of course.  Oh, and the '58 Fury.  I couldn't
access it."
  Cor smiled, "My fault.  I'm saving it for something special."
  Wolf's head popped up behind the hood, "The engine doesn't seem right."
  "Probably because it's a mock-up." DC replied, "I hate gas stations."
  "Ah."

THE NEXT MORNING

  DC finished loading up the trunk, "Cor left already?!?."
  "Yup.  He and SF took the testbed they worked up out from EB before dawn,"
Wolf replied, "They wanted to get out before the first shift arrived.."
  "Pity.  I wanted to say goodbye." he shrugged, "Whatever... Anything else?"
  "Just this..." Wolf added, handing him a small triangle of black resin.
  "What is it?"
  "Something Frosty came up with.  It's a long range distress beacon."
  DC nodded, "Until Mike finishes the satellite net, the combadges have limited
range."	
  "Just open the casing.  It'll burn out in 5 minutes, but that'll be long
enough for us to trace."
  The two men stood silently for a moment.  Then, as he climbed behind the
wheel, DC broke the strain, "Well, that's that then....Be seeing you."
  Wolf replied in kind, giving a quick salute.  The engine roared to life, and
the car drove off.  Wolf stared at its wake, sighing.
  "OK," he said, rubbing his hands together, "back to the drawing board..."
  He turned to the spotlit UPSTruckFromHell[tm] with a gleam in his eye.

Manhattan Games____________________________________________________THREE

  DigiCom stood, sword at ready, waiting for the next wave to attack.  It rushed
toward him with a roar, as he balanced in his precarious stance.  At the last
possible moment, he leapt skyward, letting the force of the assault pass beneath
him.
  The tide rolled back. [PSYCH!!! -DC]  
  DC shifted his grip on the piece of driftwood, and rebalanced on the lone
piling.  This particular stretch of Jersey shore had seen better days, but the
abandoned pier was tailor-made for his particular brand of workout.
  DC closed his eyes once more, picturing his next attacker.  Again he leapt,
pivoting and slashing at his phantom opponent.  Down he came,
landing heavily on his right foot. His arms windmilled,  and he regained
equilibrium.  Then someone applauded.  Predictably, he fell off the piling in
surprise, getting the wind knocked out of himself in the process.  Darkness
overtook him.
  Slowly, cautiously, reality reasserted itself.  DC groaned, dispelling the
shards of a truly interesting, if somewhat illegal, fantasy.  As his pants
soaked in the rolling surf, he opened his eyes.	
  Another pair looked back, framed by an undeniably female, and truly stunning
face.
  "Are you all right?" she asked.
  "Uh, um, ahhh..." DC replied winningly.
  The face took on a look of concern, "Lie still, you might have a concussion."
   Following his normal behavior patterns, DC immediately ignored sound medical
advice, and sat up.  The universe spun for a moment, then settled.
  "Don't you have anything better to do than sneak up on people?"  he snarked,
lumbering to his feet.  Like many people, DC was usually grouchy when he woke
up.  Since he also grouched out when his knees got wet, and they were sopping
now, he was bordering on downright anti-social.
  The stranger,  now also standing, was not worried about it, "And here I
thought you might enjoy a little appreciation.  Most people do..."
  Sniffing, she stormed out in a huff.  DC watched her go, noting among other
things, how enjoyable watching her was.  Little used synapses flared to life,
kicking his endocrine system into overdrive.
  "Wait!" he yelled, and started to run.
  Somewhat surprisingly, considering his lack of stamina, DC managed to catch up
with her fairly quickly.  "Listen, I'm sorry I snapped at you..."
  The woman walked on.
  DC caught up, "Let me make it up to you..."
  The woman walked on.
  "At least, tell me your name, so I know where to send the roses..."
  The woman stopped, "Catherine.  Catherine Dai.  My friends call me Cat...YOU
can call me Ms. Dai."
  DC fell to his knees, prostrating himself before her.  "My dear Ms. Dai, " he
salaamed, "Please do me the great honor of having lunch with this unworthy
wretch."
  Cat smiled down at him, "Oh get up!!!" DC did so, "And tell me your name.
Unworthy Wretch makes for a tough conversation."
  "I can imagine," DC replied, "'Unworthy Wretch, pass the salt.'  It could get
annoying...I'm Mario, by the way, but you can call me DC, or DigiCom, or
whatever...I've got a lot of nicknames."
   "DigiCom?  That's an odd name..."
  "It's a long story..."

THREE HOURS LATER

  "And so here I am.  I'm on my way to visit my folks, but I stopped here for a
bit of a breather."
  The waiter left, after refilling the water glasses for the umpteenth time.
The remains of a fairly long lunch lay strewn about the table, mostly on DC's
side.  It's doubtful he tasted much of it, however.  You see, DC was, if not in
love, at least in a severe case of like.  Cat was beautiful, intelligent, and
the fastest pun-slinger he'd ever seen.   Her green eyes were almost hypnotic,
and framed by a vaguely Asian face, which topped a lithe body which befitted her
name.
  Cat, for her part, wasn't as affected.  Sure, he was cute, in a scruffy kind
of way, but he seemed so....nerdy.
  "When do your folks expect you?" she asked.
  "Sometime tonight.  I expect they'll have quite a spread, my mom tends to go a
bit overboard.  Care to come along?"
  Cat pounced, "For homemade Italian food?  You've got a deal...on one
condition."
  "Which is?"
  "I'm doing a demo in Central Park this afternoon." she replied, "and I need
someone to beat on..."
  DC gulped.  This might not be as easy as he thought.

CENTRAL PARK

  In the shadow of Belvedere Castle, a small crowd had gathered, watching the
assembled martial artists warm up.  Most of the combatants wore Japanese gi, but
a few wore hakama or Chinese garb.  Cat was one of the latter, befitting her
status in her chosen style.  She chatted with a few friends, watching a camera
crew in dark suits set up, until the roar of an engine made her pause.
  DC pulled up in his Escort, parking in a handy, if illegal, curbside slot.
Exiting, he peered around a bit before locking onto Cat, and sauntering over.
"The cannon fodder has arrived," he joked, warily sizing up the others.  He was
one of the taller people there, but that didn't mean much.  Not in this crowd,
anyway.
  Cat, in turn, checked DC out.  He held himself well, she decided.  With a
little training...scratch that, a LOT of training, she could do something with
him.  At least he dressed to move, she noted, glancing at his baggy black
sweatsuit.
  "Ok, DC, here's the deal.  You get to attack me, barehanded, at any time
during my speech.  I get to stop you...." Cat grinned, "I'm good at it."
  DC thought a moment, "You...want me...to *attack* you?  What form of Kung Fu
do you use, anyway?"
  "White Tiger."
  Mario visibly dug into his memory.  "Can't say I've heard of it."
  "Then listen to my speech." she replied.
  The demo began.  Various artists were ahead of Cat in the program, including
masters of Greenoch, Aikido, and the esoteric Kulido.  DC stared, drinking in
the data.  Then Cat's turn came up.  She began to describe the history of Kung
Fu, starting with Bodhidharma and the Shaolin.  As she went on, describing how
her mother's family had merged Southern Shaolin with Tai Chi, DC watched,
entranced by her voice.  A tap on his shoulder made him turn.
  "She's about done," reminded the Kuli master.  DC nodded, and rose into a
crouch.  Swiftly and silently, he dashed up behind her, and leaped.  Without
missing a syllable, Catherine grabbed him by the wrist, and spinning slowly,
brought him crashing to the ground.
  "But it's quite effective," she concluded, bowing to the audience.
  "Ow." DC agreed, as the cameras whirred on.
  Cat smiled down at him, "*Now* you can call me Cat..."
  A sudden rumbling interrupted DC's weak rejoinder.  As the crowd turned, a
phalanx of Harley Davidsons pulled up, bearing a troop of large, hairy, and
fairly unhygenic bikers.  They dismounted, readying inexpensive weapons of  wood
and metal. [Bats, chains, boards,...the usual].
  The emcee of the event, a South American sensei, smoothly strode over to the
vanguard of the oncoming horde.  "Good afternoon, gentlemen, I am Jason Grace."
He paused, expecting some response.  Hearing none, he continued, "May I help
you?"
  "Goodnight Gracie..." the apparent leader replied, driving a steel pipe into
Grace's stomach with surprising speed.  The situation rapidly went downhill from
there, as the melee began.  Best described as leather and denim vs. cotton and
silk, it became a battle royal, as martial artists of a dozen styles clashed
with the newcomers.  
  Cat showed her skill, disabling several opponents with low kicks, leg sweeps,
back fists, and palm heel strikes.  However, she was not alone.  Several weapons
stylists had cleared quite a swath across the park, waving staves and blades in
wide sweeping circles.   Under their protection the crowd dispersed, saving only
the camera crew, which stuck to their guns [well. cameras, anyway].
  DC for his part, was looking for cover.  There wasn't a whole lot of it within
reach, so he ducked around the corner of the castle, digging into his pockets.
He extracted a silver ring, emblazoned with an oddly shaped "N", and, with an
odd glint in his eye, placed it on his right hand.
  Standing straight, he drove his right fist into his left palm, proclaiming,
"In brightest day, in darkest night...the Word resounds, 'Let there be Light!'"
[Dramatic, true, but what the heck....]
  A silvery sphere rose from beneath him, leaving skintight black armor in it's
wake, before reshaping itself into football-style shoulder pads.  Thin strips of
chrome extruded from the neckline, wrapping about his face to form an oddly
familiar mask with a triangular mouthpiece and bulbous black lenses.  The words
formed in his HUD:
  "GENESIS, Mark I.  ALEPH engaged
   Power systems: Nominal
   Sensor systems: Nominal
   Life support systems: Nominal
   Armaments: Nominal.
   Shall we play a game?"
  "Yes..." DC replied, blurring into motion.

  Cat was getting tired.  Kumite was one thing, but these bozos just didn't know
when to give up.  Smashing her 5th, or possibly sixth, nose into a lump of
cartilage, she spun around, looking for her next opponent.  Then she stopped,
and stared.  The leader of the opposition, still wielding the pipe, stood before
a new arrival, a man in black spandex, with a Darth Vader-like facemask
  "Am I supposed to be scared?  Well I'm not!!!" he snarled, swinging his weapon
of choice.  It passed harmlessly through the figure's head.  
  "Strike one..." came the calm reply.
  Again, the leader swung, and again it passed through the ghostly form.
  "Strike two..."
  Screaming, the leader raised his pipe over his head in both hands, bringing it
down in a vicious chop.  A clear, crystalline shield appeared before the
strangers face, causing the pipe to rebound into the leader's skull, with a
sickening thud.
  "Strike three, you're out....Now," the stranger [ok, WE know who it
is....]replied ominously, "is there anyone else who wants to play?"
  He raised his fist, which grew a corona of amethyst energy.  The attackers,
stunned into motionless, suddenly remembered how to move, dashing to their bikes
and revving off.   As sirens echoed in the distance, the stranger stood
motionless, then sank into the ground.  The combatants rushed to the spot, but
found only grass and dirt.
   Cat looked about her, finally finding DC staring at the ruined lawn.  She
moved to join him.  "I'm a bit depressed about the damage." he sighed, "I mean,
why did they do all of this?"
  Cat stood before him, tapping her foot, "What was that all about?"
  "What?" 
  "Your MANTIS impersonation..." she replied.
  DC paused, "Um, what do you mean..."
  Cat stalked around him, forcing him to turn, "I know the way you move, and
that suit of yours doesn't change that...or your height for that matter.  Now
what's going on?"
  DC sighed, pulling the ring out of his pocket, "I guess you caught me.  Here,
catch!"
  Cat examined the ring noting it's heavier than normal weight.  "What's the N
stand for?"
  "It's not an N," DC replied, pacing back and forth, "It's an aleph.."
  "LF?"
  "Aleph, first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  One of the symbols for infinity.
And symbolic of my armor..."
  "Go on..."
  "The first letter, for the first book of the Hebrew bible.  Genesis..."  DC
continued, describing the acronym and it's rough abilities [see the
appendix...].  "...not to mention, the onboard computer is called the Auxiliary
Logistic Element Processing Heuristically.  ALEPH, in other words..."
  Cat was not impressed, "Sounds a bit contrived...does EVERYTHING have to be an
acronym?"
  "No, not really," he replied, "But it's always a challenge to make it work."
  "I'm glad my bosses don't feel the same way...it'd give me a headache."
  "I like a challenge.  And tonight will be one of my biggest....dinner with my
folks.
   
YONKERS, NEW YORK, 6:00 THAT NIGHT

  "So where did you meet her?" Mom asked.  DC sighed and rolled his eyes.  Sure,
the food was great, and it was nice to see everyone again, but the
questions...the interminable questions.
  "Like I said before, at *least* six times, I met her on the beach.  We had
lunch, and I thought she might enjoy a home-cooked meal."
  "Is she...safe?  I don't want you messing with drugs, Mario..."
  "Mom...." DC trailed off.  While his father held court on politics [as usual],
Cat had started to chat with his sister, Maria.  Again, as usual, they were soon
gabbing away like old friends.  His sister had that effect on people.  Even
though she'd been in a coma for a year and a half, and still required a
wheelchair, his sister could still make friends with anybody.  And they stayed
friends.  Forever.  The best DC could do was to be really easy to remember.  New
haircuts, facial hair, puberty, NOTHING made him unrecognizable.  So at least
once a month, he bumped into someone who'd say "Hey!  How you doing?" who he had
absolutely no recollection of.  Pity, really. His memory was spotless,
otherwise.
  The call came to sit at the table.  After getting Maria squared away, DC sat
across from his guest.  Cat looked stunning, in a simple blouse and skirt.  DC
ate much less than he usually did, but for once, Mom wasn't complaining.
  "So, Catherine?  What do you  do?"  his dad was saying.
  "I'm a biologist, working on synthetic blood cells."
  Dad looked blank at this, and abruptly changed the subject, "What do you think
about Clinton?"
  DC sighed.  Politics again...
  The dinner passed without further incident, and as they cleared the table, DC
turned to Cat and asked, "Care to see the 5-cent tour?"
  "I'd love to..."
  "OK,  here goes."  he began, pointing about, "Over there is the kitchen. Over
there is the soggiorno, sort of an Italian sun-room."
  They moved down the hall, "We've got the TV room, my sister's bedroom, the
master bedroom, the pantry, and the bathroom.  Downstairs is another kitchen,
the pool room, and my old bedroom."
  Cat smiled at him, "I'd like to see it..."
  "You would?" DC whispered, "But there's nothing there!  Just an old desk, a
bed, and a lot of old books..."
  "I'm sure there is *something* we could do..." she purred.  As DC gulped, she
took him by the arm, and led him downstairs.

The Road to Ragnarok________________________________________________FOUR

  The UPSTruckFromHell(tm) rolled down the highway, engines purring with
contentment.  Inside, things were not so content.
  "I still don't see why we couldn't just fly there." Jessie was saying.
  "Because," Wolf replied, "I'm not exactly sure where it is...so we've got to
look for it on the ground...right Kali?"
  In the back, Kali looked up, then silently returned to her King novel.  She
knew better than to get involved.  She wouldn't even have come along, except the
Complex was nearly empty, and she was bored senseless.  And a bit lonely.
  "Here's a gas station," Jessie said, "Let's stop and ask."
  Wolf made as if to drive on, but thought better of it.  Jessie would kill him.
Or at least maim him horribly.  He wasn't sure which was worse.
  The Truck pulled into the Sack o' Suds, and the trio stepped out.  Wolf
approached the nearest denizen, a seated man of indeterminate, but quite
advanced age.  The stranger spit a wad of tobacco at a handy cuspidor, and
grinned.
  "Howdy, son.  What can I do you for."
  Wolf shuffled his feet, "Well, I'm trying to find directions to Casa de
Lupe."
  "The Werewolf museum?  I reckon I can get you there.  You go up the road a
mite, say two or three miles.  Turn right at the old Barlow place, can't miss
it, it's got a big blue barn.  I remember when we put it up, must have been
thirty years ago.  I was just home from Japan, and was going to marry Norma
Jane...She was a sweet gal, God bless her..."
   Wolf stood dazed, entranced by the droning litany.  As the old-timer wound
down, Jessie shook him by the shoulder, while Kali shut off the DAT recorder. As
they led him back to the truck, the stranger called out, "Nice meetin' you
folks.  Come back and sit a spell, y'hear?"
  The Truck pulled out, Kali at the wheel.  As they left, the old timer reached
beneath his chair, removing a slim black radio.
  "Agent Nestor to Jackknife," he dictated into the mike, "The target has been
sighted.  Proceed with plan Beta..."

MEANWHILE, BACK IN NYC

  DC and Cat were visiting her job, a biotech firm called Universal Bionics.
Cat was explaining her newest project.
  "Since so many diseases result from a genetic breakdown, we're trying to
develop artificial phagocytes to detect and eliminate harmful mutations."
  DC squinted into the microscope, "I see you are going with a bacterial
approach.  Have you considered molecular machines?"
  Catherine shook her head, "Nanotech makes good SF, but bad medicine.  The
technology simply doesn't exist yet."
  "Don't be too sure," DC replied, scratching an 'N' onto the tabletop with his
fingernail.
  Cat shrugged, "*Reputable* nanotech doesn't exist, although we are tr..."
  "I hope you aren't giving away *all* our secrets..." a nasal voice cut in.  As
DC looked up, a leather-skirted, highly made-up, yet still rather attractive
figure hobbled into the room, balanced on precariously high heels.
  "Oh!  Hi Marsh!  Mario, this is Marcia Goldstein, my boss.  Marsh, this is
Mario Di Giacomo, my ...associate."
  "Charmed, I'm sure." Marcia replied, holding out her hand.
  DC bowed over it, "Likewise.  Catherine was telling me about your work here.
I've dabbled in cybernetics myself, on occasion.  It's always been a hobby of
mine."
  "You might say Mario fights with the problem daily," Cat added, winking slyly
behind Marcia's back.
  "Oh.  Cat, honey?  Could I speak with you a moment?  In private?"
  DC shrugged, and walked out to the lobby.  Marcia grabbed Cat by the arm, and
dragged her to an office. She could move pretty well on those stilts, when she
tried.
  "So how come I've never heard of him..." Marcia scolded.
  Cat smiled, "I didn't want you to steal him from me."
  "Oh, stop it," Marcia brayed, "No really, where'd you find him?  He sorta
looks like a skinny Brendan Fraser..."
  "You might say he just dropped in one day, and fell at my feet." Cat grinned,
"We've been dating for a few months."
  "Have you...and he..."
  Cat just smiled.
  "Ohhhhh...no wonder you've been hiding him..."

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

  The Truck rolled on, with Jessica at the wheel.  Wolf, recovered from his mild
case of brain-drain, was amusing himself by sticking his head out the window,
and letting his hair blow free.  Kali, seated in back, was listening to an
edited version of the directions.
  "There should be another turn coming up after this hill." she announced.
Alas, it was not meant to be.  As they crested the hill, they found a huge
semi-trailer blocking the road.  Jessica decelerated, and reached for the
jumpjet controls. 
  "I can go over it, no problem." she declared.
  Kali shook her head, "We want to keep a low profile.  Anyway, they might need
our help."
  Jessie shrugged, and put the Truck back in gear.  Slowly, they pulled up to
the jackknifed semi, and disembarked.
  "Anybody home?" Wolf called.  As Kali and Jess caught up, he moved to the cab.
It was empty, save for a map, and a picture of a UPS Truck.
  "Guys," Kali remarked, "I have a bad feeling about this."
  How right she was.  As they left the cab, several strangers in black suits, in
groups of three, appeared out of nowhere, ringing the truck, and the Truck.  
  "Battle stations!" Wolf cried, as the nearest raised a large, blunderbuss-like
rifle.  He and Jessie crouched in preparation for transformation, when the
trigger was pulled.
  Massive white noise filled their ears, causing excruciating pain, in an effect
similar, but not as bad as, an episode of "Barney and Friends."  Kali, already
in motion, had almost made it to the Truck, when unconsciousness took her.   Her
last thought was a burst of psi energy, which impacted on the Truck's control
panel.
  Then there was silence.  All that remained was a slight beeping, which
accompanied the readout "Security systems activated.  Tech dumped."
The advance guard entered the UPS truck, and found it empty...

  "Subject 1 is regaining consciousness.  Prepare the pentathol."
  Kali swum back to consciousness, and the darkness lifted from her vision.  A
gentle prick intruded itself into her sensorium, and the voices began.
  "What is your name?"
  Kali mumbled, "Carley..Carley Paynting..."
  "Hello, Carley, there's someone I'd like you to talk to..."
  "Ok.." she replied, bemusedly, "that would be nice..."
  "Carley, this is Dr. Khinde.  You can call me Madeline..."

  A white-suited technician gaped, as without warning, the readings on his
monitors began to oscillate wildly.  He glanced at the window to the
Interrogation suite, only to quickly drop his head.
  "I'm a scientist." he muttered, "I didn't just see a young lady flying through
the air."
  He looked up again.  He was wrong.  With a sudden crash, the window burst
open, and papers began to fly everywhere.  Director Conn could be heard,
shouting over the din.
  "Get the Thorazine!!! And somebody contact Dr. Marcus!"
  Kali left the suite, hovering in a corona of psychic energy.  Her head whipped
about, searching, and searching.  Where were they.  A group of figures
disembarked from the nearest elevator.  Some, showing remarkable tactical
awareness, returned to the 'lift.  The rest were not as lucky, as Kali scattered
them like ninepins, barely breaking stride.  As she passed them, hair streaming,
one of her recent victims, teetering on the edge of consciousness, raised his
pistol to her retreating form, and fired.
  The results were in one sense, spectacular.  There was no light show, and only
the hiss of compressed air, but when the dart struck Kali in the shoulder, the
results were quite impressive.  She dropped like a rock.
  Director Stefan Conn, accompanied by his science team, strode towards the
fallen Aussie.  After confirming her lack of conscious thought, he stood, and
ordered her taken away.
  "Oh, yes.  I want her kept incommunicado.  Full tranquilize, until we can
develop a suppression system.  Have Marcus start work immediately."
  He stalked away, followed by his team.  There was work to be done.

  For example, Wolf and Jessie.  The klaxons and alarms awakened them from their
stupor, but the guards pointing large-caliber rifles at them, combined with
their restraints, made it a moot point.  As they finished glancing about the
room, Conn walked in.
  "Well now," he purred, "I don't think they'll be any problem with you."
  "Where's Kali!" Wolf shouted.
  Conn smiled thinly, "Miss Paynting is a bit indisposed.  I fear her awakening
caught us a bit off guard.  That will not happen again."
  Jessie snarled, "You don't know who you are dealing with."
  "I disagree, Ms. Anders.  You and Mr. Carney here have very few secrets from
me." he replied, reaching for a folder," Jessica Anders, born May 7, 1961, in
Bonn, Germany.  One of the first women allowed into the Border Patrol.  Served
with distinction, resigned in 1992, last known employer, Klarion DataCorp."
  "Mr. Carney was even easier to trace.  We were able to access your Naval
records," he paused, turning a page, "*All* of your records.  Most impressive.
There is only one thing we don't know...How long have you been working with
aliens?"
  Wolf stared at him, and started laughing.
  "We know you have access to extraterrestrial technology.  We have witnesses
who have seen flying trucks, walking artillery, and a large, green plane of
unknown design.  Two of our best agents had to be deprogrammed after you used
some kind of mind-control ray on them.."
  "Who are you guys anyway..." Jess asked.
  Conn smiled his annoyingly thin grin, "I'm going to tell you, because even if
you escaped, and you can't, no one will believe what you tell them.  We," he
waved his hand, encompassing the room, "are the Metaphysical Intelligence
Bureau."
  "MIB?" Wolf thought a bit, the effort showing on his face, "Of course, the Men
in Black!!!"
  Conn nodded, "That is the name the tabloids have assigned to us.  We've been
studying alien encounters for many years now.  And now we have proof that aliens
are preparing to invade!"
  Wolf and Jess just stared blankly at him.
  "Don't try to deny that you've been recruited by alien powers as an advance
force!  We have your vehicle, and soon we will have all its secrets!"
  "You are nuts." Wolf commented.
  "QUIET!!!" Conn spat, "You have not shown your companions abilities.  So now
we can begin." he turned to the nurse beside him, "Begin the interrogation."
  Two muscular orderlies came in, needles at the ready.  Two pricks later, the
questions began.  What followed was an interminable blur of demands, queries,
and cajoling.  Time passed, and the answers began to flow.
  As time moved on, it became clear that Wolf was the best choice.  Kali
remained under strict medical observation.  One missed injection could be
life-threatening.  Not for her, mind you, but for everyone else.  Jessie, on the
other hand, was a tougher nut to crack.  Not only was she not as familiar with
the OG tech base, but also she had received special training in the resistance
of chemical interrogation.  So, after a short time, during which she revealed
the [former] existence of Deslock, she was left pretty much alone.  As things
turned out, this was a mistake.
  Security was tight at the installation, but as a merc, she was prepared to
deal with that.  One "night", or at least what felt like night, she managed to
pick open her restraints, using a carelessly abandoned paperclip.  Slipping over
to the door, she called out weakly,
"help...help...I think I'm sick.."
  As it had in so many movies, it worked, causing the night guard, a blameless
youth named Billy [who needed the health insurance], to open the door, and rush
in.  Naturally, the room was empty, until Jess dropped on him from the ceiling
above.  Bill was knocked out immediately, and soon found himself relieved of his
sidearm, keys, and radio.  Jess moved on.
  Down the hall, she found another guard, who's reaction time was just a bit
slower than her's.  She pulled the trigger, marvelling at the lack of sound the
fletchette pistol made.  A slight flutter, no more.  Inside, she found Wolf,
sleeping off the effects of his most recent session.  She tried to wake him, to
no avail, so she simply detached his straps, and left a gun on his chest.  Wolf
could take it from there, she decided.
  A further search revealed no signs of Kali, but the front desk, after a short
and painful discussion, was able to locate her equipment.  As she had tried
several times before, she tried to summon her BITCH armor, but something,
somewhere, was interfering.  But there was one thing she could do.  
  Stealthily, she stalked the halls, firing seldom, until she reached the
equipment locker.  Along the way, she traded her pistol for a larger, more
powerful [ar ar ar] rifle that a patrolling guard had been nice enough to give
her [after he'd been knocked unconscious].  But the time for stealth soon
passed.  Klaxons soon rang out, as either one of her victims, or Wolf awakened.
Either way, chaos broke out.
  Shrugging, she fired a full clip into the locked door, blasting it open.
Inside, she quickly picked up a black triangle of plastic, and cracked the
casing...

Irregularities______________________________________________________FIVE  

UNIVERSAL BIONICS, PROJECT BLOODSONG

  DC and Cat stared at the cryogenic flask on the table between them.  After
weeks of grueling design and testing, the serum was ready for the
final test, one which might never be performed.
  "The FDA would never allow it." Cat muttered.
  "I'm not sure they can stop us.  The AMA, on the other hand..." DC trailed
off, as his indiglo[tm] watch ignited, shedding it's cyan aura across the room.
  "What is it?" Cat asked.
  DC paused, "I'm not sure...let's find out."
  Tapping the twin control buttons in a seemingly random fashion, he began to
speak into the crystal, "DC to Lippit, come in..."
  While Cat simply stared, a disembodied voice emanated from midair, "Lippit
here.  Is that you Mario?"
  "Yeah, Frosty...what's going on?"
  "One of our emergency beacons have been tripped.  Looks like Wolf's.
We're scrambling all personnel."
  "Can you 'slide me in?"  DC queried.
  "Nope.  Mike's still upstairs, calibrating the satellites."
  "Is Jon back yet?  He'll want to get involved..."
  "No go.  He's in Japan.  Even boosted, we can't reach him."
  "Out of range of Sam?  That's not like him."
  A burst of static obscured part of the reply, "..with him.  LUCIEN is running
things here."
  DC thought a moment, "I'll be there ASAP.   Mobilize Troops For The Day."
  "Do we have to?" Frosty replied.
  "'Fraid so.  DC out." He turned to Cat, who simply glared at him.
  "What was that about?"
  DC shrugged, "Looks like my friends need my help.  I'll keep in touch."
  "Not on your life," she replied, "I'm coming with you."
  "It's too dangerous."
  Cat looked up at him, "And how many martial artists will be there?"
  "Well, there's Jon, if he makes it.  Wolf's the one in trouble, and Jessie is
probably with him...Right now...None." he admitted. 
  Cat smirked, "You need me.  Grab your toothbrush, and let's go!"
  DC shrugged helplessly.  He grabbed his jacket, and strode out of the room.
Cat moved to follow him, and almost as an afterthought, snatched the flask from
the table.
  Together, they entered the Anti-Chrysler.  While Cat strapped in, DC typed in
a new code on the control panel [three digits, all alike.  Guess which?]
  As the windows rolled up, with the hiss of a pneumatic seal, a calm voice
[taped by Daniel Davis] began to described the ensuing changes.
  "Internal atmosphere engaged."  The air grew cool.
  "Anti-gravity pods activated."  Slowly, the hubcaps extended, and the car rose
off the ground.
  "Phase system on-line." A wave of light shimmered over the exterior,
and any observer would have noticed a slight translucence.
  "Please state destination and rate of travel."
  "Lippit Hall.  Maximum speed." DC replied.
  "Your funeral."  The car slowly rotated, facing east-north-east.  Then, with a
burst of light, it blasted off.

LIPPIT HALL,
FIVE MINUTES LATER.

  DC and Cat marched into the conference room, where Frosty and Sheila were on
the 'link with Talamasca.
  "...It'll be at least another six hours." Marius was saying.
  "We don't have that much time." DC replied, sitting with a thud.
  "DC!!!" Sheila cried, giving him a quick hug, "You look...good!"
  Indeed he did.  Gone was the shaggy mop of hair, and the scraggly mustache.
Instead, he wore a flattop, and was clean-shaven.  He also seemed a bit more,
confident.
  "Who's the dish?" Marius called.
  "Die slowly," DC replied, "Everybody, this is Cat.  Cat, this is
everybody...so far."
  Greetings were exchanged, but things got quickly down to business.
  "Marius, do you need the Sisters with you?" DC asked.
  "Not for work." he leered.
  DC sighed.  Things never changed around here, he thought. "I want them down
here.  We need all the troops we can get."
  "The TFTD will be here soon." Sheila replied, "Do you want me along?"
  DC nodded, "Like I said, all we can get..."
  "Then I'm coming too," Frosty chimed in, "where she goes, I go."
  "Touching, but impractical.  I need you here on comm.  Have you traced the
signal?"
  Grimacing, Frosty replied, "We've traced it to the old AEC site in Nevada.
Specifically, it's coming from..."

AREA 51, SKULL MOUNTAIN

  The MIB were in disarray.  After sending the beacon, Jess worked her way back
to Wolf, following the sounds of mayhem.  Eventually, they linked up, and began
to fire large amounts of ammunition.
  "Have you seen Kali," he shouted over the din.
  "No, not here.  Maybe another level?"  Jess replied, adding more bullets to
the melee.
  "Up, or down?" he grinned.
  "Down.  She's probably under heavy security."
  Wolf nodded, handing her his SMG. "Cover me."
  While Jess proved that it was possible to fire two MP5's simultaneously, if
you didn't care about aiming much, Wolf ignited his Nega-Knife, which had been
disguised as a ballpoint pen.  One ragged circle later, they dropped to the next
level [SEGA!!!]

HANGAR ANNEX

  "Oh boy." DC sighed.  The TFTD had arrived.  Crowley, grungy as always, was
carefully cleaning his fusion-powered chainsaw.  The Duck Lord, or Bushroot [due
to a slight resemblance to that toon] was working on a gatling-mounted plasma
flamethrower.  The Mad Persian, quiet as always, simply carried a phaser
bazooka.  The Jester...was just being himself.  His weapons were too silly to
describe. [Hint.  Anvils are involved.]
  As they waited, Sheila and the Twins slid in.  The twins wore their matching
minimalist hardsuits, while Sheila wore her Klingon Battle Armor.  DC smiled,
remembering her capture of the former Maxim-6.
For his part, DC wore GENESIS, and looked as menacing as ever.  Cat stood beside
him, in a generic ROACH, a small case hanging from the waist clips.
  "We're all here.  Good."  DC motioned to the vessel behind him, which had it's
wings folded up, "This is a modified Lambda-class shuttle. It carries room for
all of us, plus 9 speeder bikes.  She'll get us there.
The rest is up to us."
  "Let's rock." Crowley announced, as the chainsaw growled to life.

AREA 51

  Things were looking up.  Although they still hadn't found Kali, they'd cleared
3 more floors.  Resistance was letting up, as the guards decided, correctly,
that fighting back was too dangerous.
  Jessie and Wolf dashed down the hall, until an iron door made her pause.  It's
design, bridging the center divider, looked like a trident, or maybe the Greek
letter...
  "PSI! Of course!" Jessie shouted.
  "Huh?"
  "Kali's PK!  This must be where she's being held."
  Wolf nodded furiously, "No problem."
  The Nega-Knife hummed to life, and Wolf began to get to work.  With a crash,
the door fell in.  Inside, they found a suite of hospital beds, most unoccupied,
save for the one holding their missing comrade.
  "What are you doing here?  This is not a shooting gallery." The figure who
stated this was of about middle height, wore silver-framed glasses, and had
blond hair in a style which guaranteed it getting into his eyes.
His nametag read "Dr. Calvin Marcus."
  "Listen bozo," Wolf demanded, "We are taking our friend out of here. You can
either get out of the way, or..."  
  The barrel pointed at his head finished the statement.  Marcus didn't back
down, however.
  "This is a hospital.  You can't just barge in here, waving guns about..."
  "This is a PRISON!!!" Jessie snarled pushing him up against the wall.
  Marcus shook his head, "Ms. Paynting signed a release for testing.  I have it
right here..." he pointed vaguely at a nearby clipboard.
  Wolf shot the clipboard, shredding it's contents.  The noise, combined with
the sheer psychic pressure, caused Kali to awaken.
  "What the hell..." she mumbled, as the furniture started to rattle.
  "Kali!" Wolf shouted, "We're here to rescue you."
  Blearily, she stared up at him, "Aren't you a little short for a
stormtrooper?"
  Jess smiled, "I think she'll be all right.  You! Get her in a wheelchair.
It's time to go..."
  Shakily, Marcus complied.

700 FEET STRAIGHT UP, 3 MILES EAST

  "What do you mean, phasers aren't working?"  DC snarled.
  Sheila shrugged, "Looks like residual radiation from the nuclear tests.  The
phasers went fffft."
  DC sat back.  Ah well, he pondered, plasma works well too.  "Give the Persian
something from the stores, and prepare to attack."
  The motley crew, astride their hovering cycles, sealed up.  With a thought, DC
triggered his smart-metal helmet, and watched the sensors come on line.
  "Otaku group, It's time to rock...and RIDE!"
  Engines hummed to life. and the assault began.  The first wave, consisting of
the Persian, Duck Lord, and Jester, charged in, bike-mounted lasers flashing.
The guards up top literally didn't know what hit them.  As soon as the fence was
down, the remaining six advanced.
   The main building was the target.  The bikes were ditched, and hand-to-hand
began.   The Mad Persian, given a matching flamethrower, paired with the Duck
Lord in a near orgy of hot plasma death.  Crowley, for his part, was moshing
like a maniac [or like himself, which was worse].  Over in one corner, a series
of metallic clangs announced the Jester's presence. 

  So much for the TFTD.  The Sisters, moving as one, were having the time of
their lives, kicking butt all over the place.  They stood back to back, and
simply let them come.  True, many of the guards almost came in a different
fashion, but that was due to the Sisters' particular, ahem, agility.
  "Oh for a soundtrack."  Anna commented.
  "You said it, sister," Una chimed in, "Pity DC said we couldn't have one."
  "We'll have to chat with him." Anna added, drop-kicking a drooling guard.

  Sheila and Cat were getting along rather well.  While she slammed her fist
into a guard's sternum, Cat marveled at how much like DC, or even closer, how
much like DC's sister, Sheila really was.  After all this was over, she decided,
she really needed to have a chat with her.
  Sheila, for her part, was bored.  Although, as flesh, she wasn't as fast as
she had been, her batl'eh skills were still up to par.  These guys were
outclassed.  She hoped they found their friends soon.  She wanted to get back to
Frosty.

  DC ghosted through the battle, drifting through barriers like a dream.
Oddly enough, some of the guards were actually running away *before* he got
there.  Something was going on, inside the complex.
  Shrugging into solidity, he let loose a bolt of plasma, which burned through
the air, a few walls, and an ammunition dump.  The resulting explosion shook the
battlefield.  DC smiled.  Whatever was going on indoors, would have to wait a
bit longer.

  Jess didn't feel the same way.  The power had gone out, and the elevators
were'nt working.  To top it all off, the resistance had changed.  Instead of
uniformed guards, they were facing those damned suits again.  And the men in
black were popping in and out like crazy.
  Wolf watched Marcus suspiciously, as he tended to Kali.  The drugs were
wearing off, but she was weak.  He didn't feel so hot himself.
My kingdom for a HardSuit, he sighed.
   Kali slumped wearily in her chair.  She recognized the doctor as the one
who'd kept her drugged, but somehow, she felt better with him around.
   Marcus was confused.  He'd thought he was in a research lab, but this was a
bit much.  This was not right.  He pondered if he should do what he could...

  Up top, the guards had been routed.   Whatever else they were, they weren't
idiots.  DC monitored their escape, and one message caught his ear.
  "Shooting inside, aliens outside...I QUIT!" one had muttered.
  DC switched over to the unit channel, "OK guys and gals, looks like they're
free.  TFTD, keep them busy.  Cat, Sheila, with me.  We're going in."
  "What about us?" Anna pouted.
  "Yeah, what can we do?" Una chimed in.
  DC looked at them across the field.  A reply came to his tongue, but a glance
at Cat stilled that.  He merely replied, "Make sure no one follows us."
  "Okay." they chorused, and returned to their dance of death.
  DC, flanked by his pseudo-sister, and sorta-SO, ripped open the elevator
shaft.  "Going down?", he grinned.

  Things were not going well.  They'd made it to Level 2, based on the signs,
but they could go no further.  The MIB was in full swing, and they were simply
outgunned.  It was no use.  They put down their guns.
  Conn, accompanied by Dr. Khinde, strode in.  He smiled thinly at the ragged
band, "Despite your futile attempt," a distant crash made him pause, "you remain
our guests.  We have what we need of you.  You may die now."
  He pocketed a compact disc, and motioned to the guards. "Kill them."
  "Wait!" Kali whispered.
  "I'm not going to give you a chance to use your abilities."
  "I saw her die..." she pointed to Madeline, "how is she here."
  "Ms. Khinde told us you'd met.  Apparently, she survived."
  Kali shook her head, as Conn left, with a brace of guards, "It's not
possible."
  "You have no idea.  Prepare to fire.." was the reply.
  "NO!!!!"  Marcus stood, eyes blazing.  Literally.  The guards dropped their
weapons, clutching at their heads.  He stared at each in turn, watching them
collapse.  Then he turned to face Madeline.
  "Oh, my, god.." he said, a look of horror coming over his face.  With barely a
glance, madeline turned, and fled.
  "What happened?" Kali asked weakly.
  "I'm telepathic," Cal admitted, "like they say, it takes one to know one."
  "Oh..."

  Conn dashed to the stairs, only to hear a slight cough behind him.
  "Excuse me," the deep voice called, "are you in charge here?"
  The trio whirled, to find a being in an insectoid mask, flanked by two women.
One readied a sickle-shaped blade, while the other extended shimmering claws. 
  "Guards! Help!" he pleaded.  Then he ran.
  The stranger raised his hands, and released a ripple into the air, which
slammed the guards into the wall.  "Watch them," DC ordered, and moved to
follow.
  Conn ran down a corridor, sealing a heavy metal door behind him.  DC phased
right through it, catching up.  They faced each other in a large room, lined
with cone shaped tiles.
  "I have all the data I need, alien." Conn sneered.
  "First error," DC replied, retracting his mask, "I'm no alien."
  "A collaborator, even worse." Conn snarled, "But this disk will uncover your
treachery."  He raised the CD.
  "Wrong again."  A thin beam tugged at the case, and DC channeled the slightest
bit of power along it.  The disc sparked, and Conn dropped it.
  "Very well, I'll take you with me!" he shouted, tripping a switch.
  Discordant waves of sound buffetted the room, bouncing off the tiles.  DC
dropped to his knees, mind reeling.  The sound seemed to come from every
direction at once, and he just ... couldn't ...focus.  
  Conn laughed, "You never noticed my earplugs, fool.  Specially designed to
filter out your own pain field generators.  Do you have anything to say before
you die?"
  DC licked his lips, "Apocalypse..."
  His armor began to glow, lifting him into the center of the room.  Then it
exploded.  And there was silence, blissful silence.  
  Conn stood shakily to his feet. "Clever, overloading your armor like that.
But now you are unprotected."
  He moved to the door, which had been blown open.  "Goodbye, traitor."
  He then drew his automatic, and shot DC in the heart.  Eight times.

  Barely a minute later, Cat and Sheila found him, bleeding from a massive chest
wound.  They rushed to his side.
  "Is there anything we can do?" Sheila asked.
  Cat opened the case at her waist, revealing a pneumatic syringe, "There is
something that might work.  It may also kill him."
  The two exchanged glances.
  "Do it."  Sheila commanded.

Endings?________________________________________________________Epilogue

LIPPIT COMPLEX

  The whole OR crew, save for the TFTD [who'd gone home], sat in the lounge,
basically in a blue funk.
  "What the hell happened?" Cor demanded, dashing into the room.
  Shakily, Kali stood, and replied, "We got captured by some feds.  DC got us
back.  But it might cost him his life."
  "Why the hell didn't you wait for me?" he thundered.
  "Because you were off playing salvage operator," Sheila shot back. "You
weren't even in touch."
  Sam rezzed to life, "He was out of range, sis.  There was nothing we could
do."
  "Well," Cor replied, "Don't do it again.  Mike tells me the web is in place,
so I insist on being informed."
  The door swished open, "Shut up Jon," DC said.
  "DC!" "Mario!" "Shirley!" came various cries of joy.
  DC hobbled in on Cat's arm, wearing his omnipresent sunglasses, and a black
suit.  Not a hardsuit, just a suit.
  "Welcome back to the land of the living," Cor snarked, "See what happens when
you go without me?"
  "Jon," DC replied, removing his wayfarers, "I have one word for you.
'Mindlock'"
  Milky white eyes met Cor's subdermal lenses, and he felt a 'presence'
invade his cyberlink.  "Sam?" he thought.
  "I can't keep him out."  came the reply.
  DC's voice joined the chorus, "SAMIAM, meet SAMURAI.  Rai, keep her busy..."
  "Of course," came the cool reply.
  Cor shifted into time-stop mode, and attacked.  It was therefore surprising
when a shield blocked his Nega-blade.
  "1/60th speed is SLOW, to a computer." DC whispered in his mind, "and I've had
shields for the Blades for a while."
  "How..." Cor snarled.
  "I took your advice.  I went for wetware.  My blood is my armor, now."
  "Oh, god, a Bloodshot clone." Cor snarked.
  "Right," DC replied, "You've been a bit big for your battlesuit." he reached
out, "I'm turning you off..."
  To the outside watchers, there was a flicker, a flash, than nothing.  DC
simply stood there, Cor lying at his feet.  He turned to the waiting hologram,
which had re-appeared.
  "Sam, m'dear. STELLARIS will be unavailable for a while."
  She paused, then replied, "I don't mind.  I think...I won't need it."
  "I see." DC said, "Anybody got news?"
  "Um, Cal, that is to say Dr. Marcus and I," Kali stammered, "are going to try
and find some of the other psychics in the MIB files.  Maybe open a school or
something."
  "In Westchester?" DC smiled, "good for you."
  "I just wish Conn hadn't got away," Wolf snarled, "I want his head."
  "What about Khinde?" Jess added, "there's a mystery there."

ELSEWHERE

  Stefan Conn, eyes wary, strode into the abandoned warehouse, "Ms. Khinde?"
  The lab-coated figure left the shadows, "I'm here."
  "The MIB has been compromised.  Only you and I know the truth."
  "That's half right." Khinde replied, "*I* know the truth."
  "What do you mean?" Conn stammered.
  "There *are* aliens here." she replied, as her coat, and skin, tore asunder,
"and I know who they are."
  Conn beheld the insectoid form before him.  "You???  But your record?"
  "Ms. Khinde died in Langley." the drone hissed, "as will you now..."
  The chitinous claw descended.

NOT THE END!!!

Author's Afterword:

 Regular readers of the OR stories may notice the lack of soundtrack and chapter
quotes in this tale.  Well, it's been my experience that after a while, you
spend more time looking for great songs, and apt quotes, then you do actually
writing.  So, I did neither.
  Completeists can sprinkle various songs by Queen, Rush, Aerosmith, and
Meatloaf wherever they like.  If you thought I treated Cor rather shabbily btw,
well, there's a reason.  He knows, and I know.  That's all that's important.
  There will be more OF stories, after I get some sleep.

Mario Di Giacomo, 11-16-94

Glossary A, Some terms to help understand the characters better:

Corgasm: Just being incredibly powerful, so you can save the day.  Effective,
but annoying

DC-cration: Destroying a nifty piece of tech, so you can make use of an even
niftier piece of tech.  eg. the whole WHG/HHG/PREDATOR/GENESIS thing.
Hopefully, I'm cured.

Kali-amity: Have you ever seen the end of Firestarter?  Imagine it with
telekinesis.  Kali is really good at it.

Wolf Blitz: Go into a building.  Kill everyone in it. THEN destroy the building.
Works on space frigates, too.

Glossary B, Nifty Acronyms & Technology:

GENESIS [see story for acronym]: Started out as a walking HoloDeck, and mutated
from there.  A tech file does exist, but I don't feel like typing it in.

SAMURAI: Strategic Assistance Module Utilizing Recursive Artificial
Intelligence: aka 'Rai'.  A self programmable military expert system. Based in
part on the comic book "Rai".

TFTD: Originally, the Thoughts For The Day message board. Several of it's
denizens took part in a "newbie war" that was even sillier than this story.

The Anti-Chrysler: My Escort, by way of the Viper.

Glossary C, Everything else:

Daniel Davis: The actor who plays Niles on CBS's "The Nanny" Watch it sometimes.
It's funny.

Kulido: Oh, a wise guy! Nyuck Nyuck Nyuck.

Marcia Goldstein: Actually based in part on the Nanny herself.

My family: As rendered, although they live in RI.

Everything else is explained somewhere in the other OR stories, which you all
should read. [blatant plug] or will be explained in a future story.  How's that
for a cliffhanger?

COPYRIGHT 1994, MARIO DI GIACOMO


|-----------====   Mario Di Giacomo, digicom@conan.ids.net   ====------------|
|------------H-|| General Operations Director, DigiCom Inc. ||---------------|
|------------H-|| Creator and Maintainer of the Otaku Files ||---------------|
|-----------====    & Part-Time Freelance Angel of Murphy    ====------------|


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