"Genom's interested in trying to capture a goddess?" Linna said, throwing a concerned glance over at Belldandy, who was pouring them all cups of tea. "That's impossible, isn't it?" Priss asked. Skuld had a very worried look on her face. "Not really," she admitted. She nodded towards Nene, "She was able to disrupt something Mara set up, and her powers aren't all that different from a goddess', really." "The file was manufactured by Mara," Sylia cautioned them all, "so I don't consider the data to be entirely trustworthy. But even so, it certainly is a point of concern." "Mara, in my experience, doesn't normally lie," Belldandy pointed out quietly. "Assuming they try something like that, we'll stop them," Urd said, making it a statement, not a question at all. There were nods of agreement all around. "We may need to assault Genom's Tokyo headquarters, at least," Nene said thoughtfully, looking ahead to that fateful day. She added with a smile, "We'll need a plan." "I've already been working on one," Sylia said. It was strange, but she seemed quite distracted, somehow. Almost as if there was something more important on her mind. "Leave it to Sylia to plan ahead," Linna smiled. The silver haired woman didn't answer. Instead, Sylia suddenly got up, "Skuld, could you help me with something?" The young goddess looked a bit startled by the abrupt question, but Skuld gamely answered her, "Sure, I'd be glad to." "What do you want us to do?" Priss asked, realizing that something might be up. "Stick close to the Silky Doll," Sylia said as she led Skuld towards the elevator, "just in case." The doors closed behind them even as she called Nigel, "Meet us in the hardsuit lab." "What do you need my help with?" Skuld asked Sylia as the elevator descended. "Some modifications to the hardsuits," Sylia said, adding more quietly, "I just hope we're not already too late." The doors opened and Nigel was waiting for them. "Skuld, could you give us a minute?" he asked her. He looked Sylia in the eye, "We got to talk." Jacobson looked at the image on his viewscreen, and fought to hide the nervousness he was feeling. "We should be ready for a trial run within hours," Jacobson assured him. "I hope so," Quincy said softly, and the image cut out. "The containment vessel's ready," Megumi reported to Jacobson quietly. All of them were a bit shaken to hear from Quincy himself, and it showed. Fairchild pushed a computer disk over the table to him, "This should be the code we need to achieve access. No guarantees, though." "Today's as good a day as any," Hitomi reported, pushing her long hair back. "The outlook on this isn't good, though," she said as she laid her Tarot cards out. "We've got a deadline," Jacobson sighed, "so let's get to it." His team scattered, even as Jacobson himself took a walk around what could be considered to be his masterpiece. The computers worked silently, auto-dialing randomly in hopes of connecting to that one number they needed. If they reached a higher power, the codes devised by Fairchild would force down the being they sought, causing it to manifest on this physical plane. Finally, the being would be channeled into the containment device, unable to be released until they let it go. Jacobson tried not to think about what would happen once they actually had one. He had very few illusions about the character of his superiors in Genom, or of its head, Quincy. Up until now, it had all been an academic exercise, a series of possibilities. Now, things were happening, and he wasn't entirely sure it was a good thing. He noticed Hitomi was still sitting at the table, and her face was awfully pale. "What's wrong?" Jacobson asked her softly. She held up two cards, and a odd smile twisted her lips as Hitomi said, "I drew these as the result cards: The Tower, and Death." Jacobson sighed softly, "Great, just great." "We're a bit busy right now, Nigel," Sylia said, frowning at the normally quiet man. "Won't take long," Nigel said quietly. "Had a little talk with Mara earlier," he explained. He saw Sylia's face pale, and asked, "What's going on?" "I'm.. not sure," Sylia admitted softly. "Mara seems to be somewhat interested in me, but I don't think that's terribly relevant," she defended herself. "She was worried about you," Nigel said, then he smiled as he added "she wanted to know if I was in love with you." Sylia looked quite startled at that, covering with, "I hope you told her we're both madly in love, of course." He gave her a look, then Nigel said quietly, "Mara really likes you, Sylia. You might want to start thinking about that more seriously." He left her then, walking over to stand by Skuld and to give Sylia a bit of time to recover. 'Think about it,' Sylia thought shakily, 'I've been doing nothing else since that kiss!' Mara had grabbed her on the way out, kissing her energetically, and even now Sylia felt her lips tingle a bit with the memory. She shook herself, and visibly worked to try to get ahold of herself. She walked over to Skuld and Nigel, on the outside looking like her normally cool, composed self. "I've studied the readings of Mara's power usages from the construction site, and I think we can rig up some shielding units." Sylia explained to them. "Gonna need more than shields," Nigel noted. Skuld nodded fiercely, a broad smile on her face, "I've got just the thing!" Then she began calling up files on Sylia's computer screen. "Very nice," Sylia smiled. Upstairs, a small council of war was taking place amound the others, while Henderson poured the tea for them as needed. Urd and Belldandy were mostly urging caution, though Urd didn't seem all that adverse to a good fight. Mackie and Nene were for taking a wait and see approach to the situation. And both Linna and Priss were all for a pre-emptive strike, going in to smash the equipment Genom had built before it could be built. "Finding where they are would be the biggest problem," Priss noted. "Maybe not," Nene said thoughtfully. "I remember how Mara hacked Jacobson's systems while she was in my body, and I bet I could do it again," she smiled. "Assuming Jacobson hasn't fixed his defences," Mackie cautioned. "We don't even know if they have any working technology," Belldandy cautioned them. "No way Mara would be that worried unless they at least have the technology ready," Urd said, shaking her head. "Why else would she have gone to all that trouble to give us the information?" she asked them. "I thought Mara was here to see Sylia," Linna smiled. At that, a bit of a flush appeared on Urd's cheeks, as if she wasn't quite comfortable with the idea of Mara being with Sylia. "She could just want us to attack Genom for kicks, you know," Linna pointed out. "Somehow, I doubt that," Priss admitted. Mara smiled to herself, even as she stepped into the little apartment she had... appropriated, a few weeks ago. 'Everyone needs a base of operations,' she thought. Her expression became more serious, considering the situation. The last time she had snuck into Genom, she had seen what Jacobson's team was working on, and it even scared her. If they could actually pull off trapping a higher being, the balance of power between the Gods and Demons would never be the same. A face appeared before her minds eye, fierce but beautiful, framed by silver hair. 'And then there's Sylia,' Mara though, flopping down in her chair. It was getting harder and harder just to play around with her, Mara wanted something... else from her. "Wish I'd been able to talk to Nigel longer," Mara murmured aloud. She hadn't expected that Nigel and Sylia weren't in lone. The man didn't seem to deeply care for her at all, in fact. 'But does that mean she could care for someone like me?' Mara mused. When they had talked, Sylia had admitted an attraction to Priss, but that was in the past. A slight smile quirked Mara's lips, thinking about the motel, and Sylia's sleeping form. "Sort of wish I'd taken advantage of her then," Mara admitted to herself. It had taken a great deal of will power not to take advantage of Sylia while she was stripping her naked. It was even harder to go asleep beside her, knowing that she was laying naked inches away from her. She shook her head, and Mara sighed out, "I guess I've got it bad for her."
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