Story: Once Burned, Twice Shy (all chapters)

Once Burned: Part One

Major Motoko Kusanagi walked into the bar, pausing for a moment to carefully scan her surroundings for any signs of possible trouble. She stood there, a shadowy figure at the doorway, dark purple hair falling around her face. Piercing eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, a heavy bomber-style jacket concealing the gun she always carried

The bar was an older place, and not particularly well kept up, but it was quite popular in it's own way. Having been almost adopted by the various intelligence agencies in Japan it was considered to be neutral territory. No forms of electronic eavesdropping, wiretaps or other information gathering activities were permitted within there, with some fairly gruesome punishments coming to you if you dared to violate those unwritten rules.

She knew all of that of course, but Motoko still carefully checked the place out anyway. The major got a few nods of recognition as she made her way through the smoky air towards the long bar,m the crowd giving way with a respectful caution. The barkeep wiped out a dirty glass before he set it down in front of her.

"You're usual?" the bartender asked calmly. The brown haired woman nodded, and the man poured generously before moving off to attend to the other customers. He knew hanging about and listening to conversations could be bad for his health.

"Major," her boss nodded to her as he settled into the seat beside her. Aramaki's ring of white hair stood up all around his bald head, and the shorter man should have looked almost funny, but his eyes were shrewd, piercing through the smoky haze. He wore a casual man's suit, the sort a mid-level salaryman might wear, but he was no ordinary man.

"Right on time," Motoko smiled.

"One for me, too," Aramaki tossed the credit to the bartender and in moments a drink was set down in front of him.

The two of them had started meeting like this not too long after the Major had began running the little anti-terrorist strike team for him. They both talked entirely off the record here, with Aramaki getting a feel for what was going on with his point operative while also keeping her in the know about any political landmines that might be coming their way. Both of them got something useful out of their discussions, and both walked away satisfied.

"Are there any problems from that last job?" Motoko asked him curiously as she raised up her glass ceremoniously, just like they always did with their first drinks.

"To your health," Aramaki tapped his glass to hers gently, and they each took a drink. "The Prime Minister is grimly accepting that we didn't have too many options," he related, "but we're going to have to watch our backs."

"As usual," Motoko agreed. She took another drink, "The unit's shaping up pretty well, even that new kid's pulling his weight."

"I was a bit dubious about your having a mostly human agent on the team," Aramaki calmly noted, "but it seems you were right." He took another drink, "There is something else that I wanted to ask you about, however."

"Here it comes," Motoko smiled, her red eyes crinkling with mirth. She finished off her drink, then signaled the barman for another. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of the scent of the place, prefering the stink of decay to the sterility of other parts of town.

Aramaki waited until the bartender left the drink, his gaze on Motoko thoughtful "You've turned down some very qualified applicants for your team recently," he said quietly, "usually without any explanation. I don't particularly care personally, but I often have to explain why. It doesn't help that they've all been women."

"It's complicated," Motoko swirled her drink around in the grimy glass, then drank. She felt the old man's gaze on her, holding up the glass of amber fluid to look through it thoughtfully. She took another drink before adding, "And a bit of a long story."

"I've got time," the older man waved for a refill.

Motoko met Aramaki's eyes, trying to get a sense of how determined he was about this. The bartender refulled both their glasses, then he asked, "Should I leave the bottle?"

"Why not?" Aramaki said dryly.

Motoko let loose a soft sigh, and she sipped a bit more of her drink before starting, "It was a few years back, and I was still working for your predecessor then...

The two women ran up the long hallway together with an almost inhuman speed before taking up their positions on either side of a closed door. Both of them were young looking, dressed in combat fatigues, and carrying some impressive looking weaponry. They exchanged a long glance, something sparking between them, then the purple haired girl shook herself.

She knew that the entire building was locked down tight, but Motoko used the com-link at the base of her throat to crisply ask, "Has the evacuation of this floor been finished?"

A clearly resentful police officer replied with stiff formality, "Evacuation complete, ma'am."

"Baka," Motoko muttered to herself softly. She switched over to her unit command frequency to ask, "Everyone in place?"

"Yeah." "Hai." "Go." came across the system as various officers around the building reported in. Standing right across from her Yayoi smiled coldly as the black haired woman murmured like a lover, "Let's do this."

"Right," Motoko gave her a fierce grin, feeling a bit of fire deep in her belly at that lingering gaze. She pushed her scruffy purple hair backwards, took a centering breath, and then she kicked the door in with the nearly superhuman strength that her enhanced body gave her.

The deal was going down just as they had been told it would be, the proscribed technology being exchanged for the solid gold bars, a nearly untraceable form of payment. The shock of their arrival only lasted for a few seconds, then the opposition's weapons were rapidly broken out. Two large men, quite obviously bodyguards, took up defensive positions even as the two dealers looked around them frantically for any way out.

"Just drop your weapons and surrender," Yayoi softly appealed to them, the slim cyborg being careful to move in a non-threatening way as she stretched out her hand, "it's the only way that you're getting out of here alive.".

"Never," the badly sweating dealer growled. His suit clung to his body, his optic ports looking oddly beady in his fat face.

'They're very nervous,' Motoko thought to herself, 'good.' Hitting a specific frequency on her communicator she softly gave the order, "Go."

There was the sudden sound of breaking glass, Then one of the two bodyguards jerked up slightly. He swayed there a moment, like a puppet with the strings cut, then he dropped to the floor, stone dead from the bullet of her best sharpshooter.

"What the hell," the money man blurted out in shock and fear, his face becoming even more pale than it had been.

"We aren't playing games here," Motoko said to them coldly, keeping her weapon level and aimed towards the money men. "We have gunmen based in the building opposite, ready to fire on my order," she pitched her voice carefully, sounding coldly ruthless, "and that is the only warning I'm giving you. Surrender now, or pay the consequences."

Yayoi met their eyes in mute appeal before continuing gently, "We don't want to see any more needless loss of life, please just give up."

A short time later, all the captives were being led away by the regular police forces and Motoko and Yayoi were sharing a hot cup of tea. "You really do the bad cop role very well," Yayoi smiled up at her gently as they leaned up against one of their unmarked vehicles. The battered car looked like a piece of junk, but a powerful engine lurked under the hood.

"Which wouldn't work at all without your good cop routine," Motoko smirked before leaning over and kissing her gently on the lips.

"Ah, ah," Yayoi chided her gently as she pulled back a bit, "no victory celebration until we go see the boss, lover."

One of the things that Motoko was quite aware of, in dealing with their employer, was that he didn't like her very much. That didn't bother her at all, but it did color the way they dealt with each other. No pleasantries were exchanged, no pleasant bits of chit chat, just getting right down to business so that they could get away from each other as quickly as possible.

"Good work," Colonel Akagi Tonada said not even looking up to meet their gazes, "just a bit excessively theatrical, but quite effective none the less." A dainty female android strutted on past them, bending way over to wipe some sweat from his brow while revealing some impressive looking breasts, and Motoko shuddered slighly.

"It got the job done," Motoko answered him crisply, "just like you asked."

Yayoi raised an eyebrow, pushing her long black hair away from her face, "So do we have a new assignment, or can we take some time off?" She shot Motoko a seductive look, her dangerous smile implying what she wanted the time off for.

"I need you two for a special assignment this evening," Tonoda said, showing absolutely no regret over disrupting their plans. "A body guarding assignment, for an important speaker visiting our city tonight," he said with an odd degree of amusement.

"You aren't talking about that 'Humanity First' wacko, are you?" Motoko asked suspiciously, but he only nodded, his smile widening.

"Gah," Yayoi made a face.

Dr. Gretchen Phillips was a firm believer in humanity, but in a way that Mokoto thought did much more harm than good. She was firmly convinced that humanity's decision to embrace cybernetic enhancement was a mistake of the highest order, and that all of the human race must strive to return to what humanity once was.

'Of course,' Motoko thought to herself cynically, 'a unmodified human probably couldn't survive with all the pollution we've been pumping into the air since the nineteenth century, not to mention the more exotic poisons we've added in the past few wars.'

Yayoi shook Motoko out of her thoughts as the girl pointed out to him, "You know that she's going to hate the two of us on sight."

"Irrelevant," Tonoda said, the fat man shifting uncomfortably, "it's just for one night, then she's out of our region and someone else's problem."

Motoko sighed, "Got it."

Chapter 2

Once Burned: Part Two

"This is going to be lots of fun," Yayoi sighed as they got into an unmarked cruiser, starting it up and moving off into the rain.

"Well, let's hope no one decides to take a shot at her," Motoko smiled slightly, "maybe while we're watching over her we can get some snuggle time in."

Yayoi laughed softly, flashing a fond smile while expertly maneuvering them through rain drenched streets, "You're bad."

The hotel that Dr. Gretchen Phillips was staying in was one of the city's best, though she thought their security was a bit weak. They didn't even try to confirm that Motoko and Yayoi's ID were genuine before letting them go up to the lady's suite. A mostly unenhanced security guard stood at the door, giving the two of them a suspicious glare.

Motoko presented her ID, Yayoi following her lead. "We're here to provide security for Dr. Phillips while she's in town," Motoko explained.

The burly man looked them over a moment before muttering, "Dr. Phillips is just going to love having you two around."

Yayoi gave him a sympathetic glance, "Don't I know it."

A flash of a smile, "Then you'd better go on in, she was complaining earlier about the additional security being late."

A blonde haired woman was pacing the room, and Motoko instantly recognized her as Dr. Gretchen Phillips. "Where have you been" the blonde growled, then did a visible doubletake at getting a good look at them. "You're cyborgs?" she scowled, "Why did they send.. never mind, I want to speak with you're superiors, right now."

"I'm not sure that'll really help you," Yayoi fought back a slight smile as she explained, "first you'll get the run-around, then when you do finally reach our boss he'll probably just tell you that we're all he has available."

"So instead of wasting all of that time," Motoko said crisply, "why don't we get you to the conference so you can do your speech on time?"

Gretchen's jaw worked as she ground her teeth together for a moment, then with a loud "Damn it!" she grabbed her briefcase and coat and was out the door.

"I guess that counts as a yes," Yayoi smiled as they, along with the startled young man, fell into step behind her.

Before they could climb into the limo that was waiting outside Motoko checked it over thoroughly, getting an approving nod from the man who then settled behind the driver's seat. The ride to the convention itself was mostly silent, Gretchen staring out of the window and pointedly ignoring her two reluctant companions.

The convention was well underway when they arrived, Gretchen almost jumping out of the Limo and trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and her two new bodyguards. Yayoi smiled wryly, hanging back just a bit to watch the crowd while Motoko tried to stay as close as possible. The director of the convention ushered them into a waiting room, where the three were to remain until the speech.

"Do you think we should do a sweep?" Yayoi asked Motoko softly, giving a glance to the clearly irritable Dr. Phillips.

"Well," Motoko started, then shuddered slightly. Yayoi smiled at her innocently as she gently slid a hand up Motoko's thigh. "I don't think we really need to," she murmured softly, clearly enjoying the subtle touch.

"Five minutes," a young man carrying a data-file stuck his head in to say.

With a soft sigh Yayoi stepped back, murmuring, "Later."

Motoko gulped, feeling the sweat clinging to her brow. "Later," she agreed softly, silently wishing that later was right now.

"One minute," the boy stuck his head in to report.

Gretchen picked up her papers, organizing them carefully. She strode out into the hallway, the two following closely as she ordered, "Don't follow me onto the stage! It would completely ruin my credibility."

"Yes, ma'am," Yayoi threw a mock salute.

"I don't like this, " Motoko muttered as Gretchen strode out onto the stage, soaking up the cheers of the crowd.

"Give me a break," Yayoi muttered. "She's a nut, and I seriously doubt that anyone is going to really try something!"

"But..." Motoko started.

"There's better things to do," Yayoi murmured, moving in close to Motoko.

Yayoi pressed her lips to Mokoto's, gently silencing her partner. She resisted a moment, then Motoko gave in, returning the kiss with a whole evening's worth of denied passion. The sound was small, so small that she might not have even noticed it even if she wasn't distracted. But the bullets sliding into a chamber, that was a sound she recognized instantly.

"Shit," Motoko pulled free from Yayoi's grip, pushing her lover backward.

Mokoto was running across the darkened stage even as the weapon fired once, shoving Gretchen aside. The woman's shoulder exploded in a splash of red, a shot that was meant for her head. The two rolled, Gretchen ending up shielded beneath her as bullets impacted the floor around them. A pause in the firing and Motoko had her pistol in hand, three fast shots going into the shooter who was concealed on the upper balcony.

"Motoko," Yayoi ran out after her, eyes wide and face pale.

"Watch over her," Motoko got to her feet, running after the fleeing shooter. She was up the stairs in seconds, then out the service door onto the roof.

He stood on the edge of the roof, looking out at the city. It was a casual thing, the wind gently ruffling his gray hair, an odd smile visible on his face as he turned to look at her. Something about him, his stance, the way that he moved, told Motoko that he was fully cybernetic, with little or no parts of his human body left.

"Climb down slowly," Motoko barked as she held her gun on him, "and keep your hands where I can see them!"

"The Wired is coming," he smiled, "and a fool like her cannot prevent it's coming." He tilted his head, "I'm sure that you understand."

"No, I don't," Motoko growled out, "just get down."

"You will," he answered, and calmly stepped off the edge.

Motoko ran forward, looking down towards the street as he flashed her another enigmatic smile just before he hit the top of the limo. His body broke there, plastics and alloy flying through the air, a mix of oil and synthetic blood pooling all around his broken form. The crowd drew back in fear, then rushed forward to study the ruined form.

"Shit," Motoko muttered softly, slipping the gun away.

Gretchen was being carried out on a stretcher when Motoko made it back inside. She watched the medics silently, then moved up to stand at the blonde's side. "The shooter killed himself," Motoko said to her quietly, "to avoid capture. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Gretchen smiled up at her weakly, "you saved my life."

Motoko watched the ambulance leave silently, barely feeling Yayoi's presence beside her. The dark haired girl tightened her grip on her arm and softly said, "Motoko?"

"Don't," Motoko shrugged her hand off, walking out alone into the rain...

Once she finished speaking Motoko looked down into her glass, swirling the fluid around before finishing it off.

"What happened afterward?" Aramaki asked quietly.

"The only reason that I didn't get into real trouble was that Gretchen just didn't realize how badly distracted I'd been," Motoko said grimly.

Aramaki nodded thoughtfully, "And Yayoi?"

"I transferred her right out of my team and then moved out of our shared apartment the next day," Motoko quietly admitted. She sighed softly, an oddly regretful look on her face, "I just couldn't risk something like that happening again."

"And that's why you won't have any women in the unit now," Aramaki noted, "you're worried that you might be tempted."

"I have a few friends that I visit off work," Motoko admitted, "but not on the job." Her eyes narrowed, "I won't allow someone to be hurt again because I got distracted."

"I understand," Aramaki said quietly, "and I'll back you up if anyone questions you on refusing those applicants."

"Thanks," Motoko nodded slightly.

End, Once Burned

Chapter 3

Twice Shy: Part One

Major Motoko Kusanagi strode through the pouring rain, looking around cautiously until she reached the unmarked vehicle. Her trenchcoat dripped with water, but it also easily concealed the weapons and gear that she carried.

"What are we dealing with?" Motoko asked, sliding her sunglasses down.

Batou sighed, the tall man smiling grimly. "Murder," he said crisply, his optic implants gleaming, "and it involves a politician."

"Which is why we're here, I guess," Motoko agreed. They walked towards a body covered by an emergency services tarp. "So how did the Interior Minister die?" she asked as they moved into the shield that protected the crime scene.

"Head shot," Batou said as he flipped open a small notepad, "the shooter escaped, and we don't have any information on him or her. No witnesses, still collecting evidence."

"Aramaki contacted me on the way here," Motoko said, "he said we had a liaison officer here from the regular police?"

"Yeah," Batou nodded to where a woman with long black hair stood nearby the crime scene investigators, intently watching them work, "she seems pretty competent, so far. Closed off the scene, got the techs in, found what might be the weapon."

"Huh," Motoko nodded slightly. "Well, Aramaki told me we're stuck with her, so I'd better go try and make nice with the lady." She gave him a look, "Contact the team, I want a full background check on the Minister, look for any traces of motive. We need to hit the ground running on this case, these political cases always get complicated."

"Got it," Batou agreed as she walked away, "good luck."

Motoko kept her eyes down as she walked, remembering being at previous crime scenes. There was a flash of silver, and she knelt down to take a look. Half hidden under a piece of garbage a silvery recording disk lay there, unmarked and looking brand new. She was tempted to pick it up and pocket it, but... "Hey," she waved, getting the attention of a technician.

The tech quickly trotted over, her long blonde hair bouncing. "Damn," she murmured, kneeling down beside Mokoto. Using a sterile field she collected the disk, sliding it away in a protective case. "Thank you," she smiled

"You're welcome," Motoko got back to her feet as she looked over the tech, the girl's name-tag reading 'Alexandria.' She smiled slightly, "After you're done with it, I'd really appreciate knowing what's on that disk."

"We'll try," Alexandria beamed before returning to her duties.

With that Motoko made her way onward carefully, soon reaching the liaison officer's side. The woman's long black hair flowed down her back like a cloak, though in this case it was a damp and soaking cloak. "Major Motoko Kusanagi," she introduced herself, "Section Nine."

"It's been awhile," the black haired woman turned to look at Motoko. Her smile was grim, but there was a twinkle to her eyes as she continued, "Yayoi Mitsuri."

Motoko looked over at her former partner, her onetime lover, and felt a moment of vertigo. She didn't look the same, her stance and face a bit more mature than she once was, but she still made Motoko's body respond with the memory of other times together.

"So what do we have on the murder?" Motoko asked, keeping her voice even and professional despite her gut instinct to flee.

"Hello to you, too," Yayoi smiled wryly. "I assume your associate gave you a summary?" she nodded to where Batou had been standing.

"A polititian bought the farm," Motoko kept her voice level, "no suspect, no witnesses so far, evidence still being collected. Is that about it?"

"Evidence you helped collect," Yayoi noted, "thanks."

"Just doing my job," Motoko said simply. "Is that it?" she repeated.

"Pretty much," Yayoi calmly agreed with her, "but there's something that your big friend doesn't know just yet."

"Oh?" Motoko looked over at Yayoi, trying to keep her face expressionless.

"We got a call just before the killing," Yayoi said, "that's how I was able to respond so quickly. We also warned him, but it didn't do any good."

"Do you know who phoned in the warning or threat?" Motoko asked.

"It was a threat," Yayoi clarified, "and there was a familiar name attached to it." She paused, but Motoko didn't rise to the bait. Yayoi smiled grimly, "The caller claimed to be representing something or someone called the Wired."

Motoko swore to herself softly. She had been keeping an close eye on the name ever since the assasination attempt a few years back, but there hadn't been so much as a peep. The only things that she had ever found were whispers about people who had surrendered their physical bodies, becoming something.. else.

"My feelings exactly," Yayoi agreed. She tilted her head back thoughtfully, "I put a call in to Dr. Gretchen Phillips, just in case they want to take another shot at them."

"Good," Motoko sighed. She narrowed her eyes, "What were the politics of the Interior Minister, was he pro or against cybernetics?"

"He had at least some cybernetic enhancements," Yayoi said to her calmly, "I saw that when I looked over the body."

Motoko nodded thoughtfully. "I have my people researching his background," she said as she began to walk away, "if we hit anything good, I'll pass it on."

"Motoko," Yayoi called out.

Motoko slowed to a stop reluctantly. She had passed the protective field around the crime scene, and rain dripped down as she turned back to ask, "Yes?"

Yayoi hesitated, pushing her long hair back from her face. "I was wondering if we could talk later," she said softly, "off the job."

Motoko knew it was a bad idea, but she still answered, "All right. I'll comm you, when I go off shift later."

"Thanks," Yayoi smiled, then turned back to her work.

'Dumb, dumb, dumb,' Motoko chanted to herself as she strode towards the unmarked cruiser she came in. There was no sign of Batou around, so he was probably back at headquarters helping with the data search. She slipped into her cruiser, then jerked as the comm activated.

"Motoko, we've got another problem,' Aramaki scowled, his snowy white hair standing up around his bald head.

Motoko felt herself tensing. "What is it?" she asked curtly.

"Two other killings," Aramaki said simply, "same method, similar government officials, and happening at the same time."

Motoko used a rude word she learned back in her black ops days. "No way in hell this is a coincidence," she muttered to herself softly. "All at exactly the same time?" she asked.

"Exactly at the same time," Aramaki agreed.

"Were there warning calls?" Motoko asked. He looked a bit surprised and Motoko smiled grimly, "Talked to my liaison officer here."

"Yes, there were," Aramaki confirmed, "and timed so that we couldn't get to the victims in time to protect them."

"Just like here," Motoko muttered. She thought about it for a moment, then stuck her head out of the car window to yell, "Hey, Yayoi! Get over here!"

The dark haired police officer made her way to the cruiser, her expression quizical. "Yes?" she asked, looking at Mokoto curiously.

"There's a new complication to this case," Motoko said to her simply.

Yayoi saw the face on the viewscreen, recognizing him instrantly, "Sir!"

"Two aditional murders," Aramaki said simply, "aparently taking place at the same time and using identical methods."

"We're not just dealing with murder," Yayoi said gravely, "or at least not murder alone. Conspiracy, at least, or..."

"... or a puppet master," Motoko added grimly.

To be continued...

Chapter 4

Twice Shy: Part Two

Yayoi Mitsuri looked at the crime scene around her calmly, trying to focus her concentration on the job that lay ahead of her. This murder smelled all wrong, somehow, things just weren't adding up. It was almost like an assassination, but without any apparent motive, no reason to kill the target. She firmly hoped that the background checks would come up with something useful, but she wasn't holding out much hope.

Yayoi looked up, her dark hair flowing wetly down her back as she snuck a glance at the dark purple haired woman sitting in the unmarked police cruiser. Having Motoko Kusanagi here was such an odd experience, one that she was still trying to figure out. She worked for Section Nine, Yayoi had heard, doing the sort of jobs the government rarely admitted they needed done.

'So why is someone like her out here?' Yayoi frowned. The political connection was an obvious explanation, but it was almost too obvious. 'Of course I could always be over thinking this,' she admitted to herself.

There was a movement by the cruiser, and Yayoi was surprised to see Motoko stuck her head out of the car window and yell, "Hey, Yayoi! Get over here!"

Yayoi made her way to the cruiser with a quizzical look on her face. "Yes?" she asked, looking down at Motoko curiously.

"There's a new complication to this case," Motoko said to her simply, directing Yayoi's attention to the cruiser's viewscreen.

Yayoi saw the face on the viewscreen and recognized the white haired, nearly bald older man almost instantly, 'That's Aramaki, the head of Section Nine!' She stiffened and crisply said, "Sir!"

"Two additional murders," Aramaki said to simply, "apparently taking place at the same time and using identical methods."

Yayoi's thoughts raced as she absorbed that information, slotting it in with what she had seen here. "We're not just dealing with a murder," she finally said gravely, "or at least not murder alone. Conspiracy, at least, or..."

"... or a puppet master," Motoko added grimly.

'Puppet master?' Yayoi blinked, filing that information away. She looked over at Aramaki's face and mustered up her courage to ask him, "Was there any mention of something called 'the Wired' with the other incidents?"

"The Wired is coming," Aramaki calmly quoted, "was attached to the messages we received for the other two murders."

Motoko frowned thoughtfully. "I helped one of the crime scene techs find what looked like a data-disk," she said, "was anything similar found at the other locations?"

'Where did she...?' Yayoi felt a sudden flash of irritation and quickly quelled it. If Motoko had helped them find something it was a good thing, no matter how much her gut might think it was just interfering with her case.

"Yes," Aramaki nodded, "we've got two of the disks with our analysis teams, but they're well encrypted. We'll need time to crack that."

Yayoi hesitated before reluctantly asking, "Do you think you'll need the third disk to assist with the decoding?"

"It would probably help," Motoko said dryly.

Yayoi gave Aramaki and Motoko a grim look, "I really hate the idea of handing any of the evidence over to you, especially if we ever have to prosecute whoever did this. It seriously screws with the chain of possession."

"But?" Aramaki prompted her.

"You've got better equipment and staff to analyze the disk," Yayoi said dryly, "I'll authorize the disk to be released to you." She looked at Motoko, "Can you sent that big monkey over to the police lab, I'll tell them he's coming?"

"Batou," Motoko provided the name with a little smile even as she connected to him cybernetically. 'Batou?' she visualized him.

'Yeah, Major?' Batou answered.

'Swing by the police crime lab,' Motoko ordered, 'they have a data- disk waiting for you to pick up. It's tied to this assassination investigation.'

'Got it,' Batou replied and disconnected.

"That's oddly eerie," Yayoi noted quietly. She looked over at Aramaki, "I'd like to be kept in the loop on this investigation, despite the work being done by your people."

"I don't object," Aramaki said before looking at Motoko, "Major?"

Motoko gave Yayoi a thoughtful look before she said, "I don't have a problem with that."

"Good. Let me know when you have some progress to report," Aramaki said before disconnecting, his expression already focused on his next task.

"Where to?" Yayoi asked as she went around to the passenger side and climbed in.

"The main analysis lab," Motoko said crisply as she started up the unmarked cruiser, "the disk should be there in a few moments."

They rode silently, Yayoi occasionally looking over to study the intense woman's profile. "What was your boss so concerned about?" she finally asked.

Motoko smiled slightly, restrained humor twinkling in her dark eyes. "Right now," she smiled wryly, "he's probably fielding calls from every nervous minister concerned that they're going to be the next target." She sighed softly, "It's one of the reason's I've never wanted to advance that high, dealing with that sort of thing."

Yayoi nodded slightly, a slight smile on her face. "No, you were never much interested in promotion," she agreed, "just nailing the bad guys. Does Section Nine let you do that?"

"More often than not," Motoko said noncommittally. She looked over at Yayoi, "I noticed you haven't continued your cyberization. Why?"

Yayoi hesitated, trying to find the best way of putting it. "I haven't become a convert to the 'Humanity First' group or something like that," Yayoi smiled slightly, "but I did remember our little run in with that 'Wired' nutcase. I don't know if becoming a full cyborg did that to him or if he was crazy to start with... but I didn't want to find out."

"Fair enough," Motoko agreed, the tone of her voice neither approving or disapproving. They pulled in front of a nondescript government building, "We're here."

"Not quite what I was expecting," Yayoi blinked up at the plain building in surprise. Not that she was sure what she thought it would be, but this wasn't it.

"Section Nine tries to keep a low profile," Motoko said dryly.

The keycard that Motoko used opened the main doors, revealing a simple front room. They walked through, the Major nodding her greetings to the others as they went on through. "There doesn't seem to be any women here," Yayoi noted.

Motoko's expression was oddly remote as she said, "I learned my lesson. I'm very careful to keep myself out of temptation."

Yayoi blinked in honest surprise as Motoko sat down at one of the desks. 'No women here at all? She did all that because we...' she thought, feeling profoundly shaken.

"Looks like we've got something," Motoko said as she opened up a series of files. "The three disks each contained fragments of a message."

The screen showed a burst of snow first, then a figure that was oddly familiar to them both. The man looked casual, the wind gently ruffling his gray hair, an odd smile visible on his face as he looked at them. Something about him, his stance, the way that he moved, told Motoko that he was fully cybernetic, with little or no parts of his human body left.

"He's dead," Yayoi whispered, "I saw the body myself." The shooter from years ago, the assassin who had sought to kill Gretchen Phillips for her anti-cybernetics stance, stared out at them from the screen.

"The Wired is coming," he said to them with that same unnerving serenity, "our goddess is awakening from her long rest. Lain is coming. Embrace the Wired or be destroyed, there are no other options." With that, the image was simply gone.

"Artificially created image, maybe," Motoko said grimly, "or maybe... something else. Whoever it is, we still don't know what they want."

"Lain..." Yayoi frowned, trying to recall something. "Lain of the Wired..."

"You know something?" Motoko looked up at her from her seat.

"Something I read, once," Yayoi mused. "Lain is a legend in cyberdive circles, she supposedly could go anywhere, do almost anything," she paused, "if she was even real."

"If she is coming back," Motoko said grimly, "then we could all be in trouble."

To be continued...

Chapter 5

Twice Shy: Part Three

Motoko smiled wryly as she offered the other woman her hand and said, "It's good to see you, Dr. Phillips."

"Gretchen," the blonde corrected her with a smile. The public speaker and politician looked more relaxed than when they had known her years ago, sitting there casually on her office couch, the two officers settling into seats opposite her.

"Gretchen then," Yayoi said, careful not to sit on her mane of long black hair.

"I'm a little surprised to see you both here," Gretchen said. She tilted her head to the side, "It's been a very long time since the shooting."

"There's certain details involved in your case that relate to an ongoing investigation," Yayoi said diplomatically.

"The Wired?" Gretchen asked.

Motoko leaned forward intently, "That's a name that has cropped up, yes." Her dark purple hair fell into her eyes as she asked, "How did you hear about it?"

"It was in the original assassination threat I received way back then," Gretchen admitted, "though we could never find an organization tied to it."

Yayoi took a photo from her pocket, passing it over smoothly as she asked, "Have you ever met this man?"

Gretchen studied the photo, an image generated from the message that Section Nine had been able to decode. "No, at least I don't think so," she passed it back, "though with all the physical alterations... it would be hard to be sure."

Motoko nodded glumly. The man's face was oddly smooth, perfectly shaped, and clearly he had been surgically modified. "We're assigning an officer to watch over you," Motoko said, "just in case there's another shot at you."

"I'd appreciate that," Gretchen said gravely.

Yayoi hesitated for a moment, "If it's not too impolite to ask, how is your shoulder?" Motoko shot her former partner a deadly glance, but Yayoi kept her eyes straight ahead.

"I had to have the joint replaced artificially," Gretchen said, referring to the injury she had received while under their protection, "but other than that it's fine."

Motoko met the woman's eyes honestly, "I'm not sure if I ever apologized, for not preventing you from being shot."

"He was going for a headshot, I'm told," Gretchen said dryly, "under the circumstances, I think I got off lightly."

"I shouldn't have even let him get the first shot off," Motoko said simply as she got up from her seat, grabbing her overcoat and pulling it on smoothly. "Contact us if something comes up, please," the intense officer said.

"Thank you for your help, and I'm sorry for having to disturb you," Yayoi said, taking Motoko's cue and rising from her seat.

"Good luck to both of you," Gretchen escorted them over to the office door, watching thoughtfully as they walked away.

They left the office building together, walking towards the waiting unmarked police cruiser. "What do you think?" Yayoi asked softly, climbing in the passenger side.

Motoko settled behind the wheel, "She was being straight with us, I think." She started the car up, moving out into traffic, "Just a loose end I wanted to be sure was tied up." Motoko felt Yayoi's gaze at her and asked, "What?"

"You've been going non-stop from when we found the first body last night to this morning," Yayoi noted, "don't you ever take a break?"

Motoko flashed her a smile, "You know as well as I do that the first forty eight hours of a murder investigation are the most important."

"That's true," Yayoi admitted. Her stomach gurgled softly in the quirt of the cruiser, and she blushed fiercely as she said, "Sorry!"

Motoko fought back a smile, "I haven't eaten yet, either. Want to grab some breakfast?"

"Please," the blushing Yayoi murmured.

Motoko navigated through Tokyo streets, coming to a stop behind a converted warehouse. She lead Yayoi around to a front door, nodding to a black haired woman who stood at the door. They walked in together, passing their coats to a young woman waiting at the entrance and headed over to one of several waiting tables. A bar was set to once side, a large dance floor was temporarily covered with tables and a stairway lead to rooms upstairs.

"Good morning May," Motoko said familiarly to the busty brown haired woman dressed in the maid's uniform, "could I get two of my regular breakfast?"

"Sure," May smiled. She gave Motoko a look, "We missed seeing you last night."

"Had to work," Motoko shrugged, watching May weave through the morning crowd towards the busy kitchen.

"Interesting place," Yayoi looked around, blinking in surprise at the library over on the other side of the building. Two young ladies walked by, holding hands, and she began to suspect what sort of place it really was.

May delivered two cups of coffee, dropping off cream and sugar, then she brought two massively loaded plates of food. She set them down in front of the wide eyed Yayoi and grinning Motoko and said, "Enjoy your meal."

"Wow," Yayoi blinked in awe at her meal.

Motoko dug in with a smile, munching on her food happily. "Arisugawa's Locket," she waved around them with a hand holding a thankfully empty fork, "a nightclub and restaurant established back in the early twenty first century. Has an odd reputation, but the food and company are great."

Yayoi tentatively began to eat her breakfast, her eyes widening again at how good the food really was. She prepared her coffee, drinking a bit to revive herself then asked, "You mentioned something earlier... about a puppet master?"

"An older case I never resolved," Motoko admitted, "I've been keeping my eyes open for any signs of it, but no luck."

"It?" Yayoi echoed in surprise.

"Well, I never found out if it was a man or woman, so..." Motoko shrugged eloquently.

"I still can't get over how much a cyborg like you eats," a blue haired young woman stopped by their table to remark, "where do you put it all?"

Motoko stuck her tongue out at her, "Your food is so good, Sasami, I just have no choice." As Sasami was leaving she noticed the odd look Yayoi was giving her and asked, "What?"

"I don't think I ever saw you this relaxed before," Yayoi blinked, "not even back when we were still together."

"The Locket is neutral territory," Motoko explained, "enforced by some pretty dangerous ladies. It's one of the few places I can say I feel totally safe."

Yayoi picked at her food a moment, then put her fork down with a soft tap. "Are you ever going to talk about it?" she demanded softly.

"Talk about what?" Motoko asked mildly.

"Us," Yayoi sighed, "what happened between us."

Motoko chose her words carefully as she said, "I don't know if there's much left for us to talk about." She picked up her mug of coffee, "I screwed up spectacularly."

"That's... short and to the point," Yayoi blinked, her eyes flashing. "Did you screw up on the job, or our relationship?" she demanded.

"Both," Motoko met her eyes calmly. She looked down uncomfortably at her food, "All I can say is I panicked. I knew that is we stayed together I'd make that mistake again, so...."

"So you dumped me," Yayoi said softly.

To be continued...

Author's Note: The place they're eating at is Arisugawa's locket. May is from the anime series Hand Maid May and Sasami is from Tenchi Muyo.

Chapter 6

Twice Shy: Part Four

It was raining again as they left the club, both of them running from the building over to the cruiser. "Hope this storm passes soon," Yayoi muttered, the black haired woman smoothly climbing in the passenger's side.

"Sorry to say it's not likely," Motoko flashed her a smile. Her purple hair was flattened a bit by the rain, but other than that she looked good. She focused her will, concentrating to activate the communicator and blinked at the message she recieved. "Isn't that interesting?" Motoko murmured.

"What?" Yayoi asked with a frown.

Motoko started up the car, swiftly pulling out into the rain swept streets. "There's been a development back at the analysis lab," she said, watching out for other vehicles as she sliced through traffic, "something about that message."

"I thought they had already decoded it?" Yayoi blinked.

"I asked them to see if they could trace it back to it's source," Motoko said with a shrug, "analyse any visual data buried in the recording itself." She paused before adding, "Apparently it originated within the internet itself."

"You're serious?" Yayoi asked. "It was entirely computer generated?"

"Looks like it," Motoko said. She smiled grimly, "That's why we're headed over there, to talk to them in more detail."

Yoyoi nodded slightly. She looked out into the rain and asked, "Are your people looking into this Lain as well?"

"Yeah," Motoko smiled wryly, "if this mythical goddess of the 'net is involved, I want to know anything I can about her."

"There was something I found when I looked into it years back," Yayoi pulled out a notepad, writing something down. "Out of curiosity I did a simple 'net search on Lain, and this came up," she showed the paper to Motoko.

"Lain000navi.net?" Motoko read the mail address with a raised eyebrow. "The Navi address hasn't been used in years," she said.

"Even odder," Yayoi said, "it's the only mail address with the name Lain in it. There seems to be a block on using the name otherwise."

"Unusual," Motoko noted as they pulled in front of the nondescript building they had visited earlier. Motoko's keycard opened the main doors, revealing a simple front room. They walked through, the Major nodding her greetings to the others as they went on through.

The tech's didn't have much more information than what Motoko had relayed, sadly. It appeared that the message had been entirely assembled within the net, the coding of the pieces of the file identified as being from various centers in the web.

"Hey," Batou walked in, drops of rain clinging to his coat. The computer room was small, made even smaller from the size of the man occupying the space with them.

"You again," Yayoi frowned. She didn't much like the man, probably less because of anything he had done and more because of the close relationship he had with Motoko. There was a casual ease between them, one that reminded her of what Motoko and herself once had.

"Any luck tracing back the original assasin?" Motoko asked Batou curiously.

"Some interesting stuff turned up when we did some deep digging," Batou said with a slight smile. "He was Prof. Mason, a researcher in applied cybernetics at Tokyo University. Aparently he was studying the tech explosion that happened in the early twentieth century and certain covert organizations like the Knights."

"Hackers," Yayoi supplied before Motoko could ask him, "supposidly assotiated with Lain, but it wasn't clear if they were her friends or enemies."

"Yeah," Batou agreed, completely oblivious to any hostile vibes that were coming off her. "He was also interested in the supposed downloading of minds to the Wired that was going on," he continued, "and how they were accomplishing it."

"Did he unearth pieces of that technology?" Motoko asked curiously.

"Looks like it," Batou agreed, "some chips and computer technology from that era, anyway. It was shortly after that he went into the procedures to become a full body cyborg."

Yayoi leaned forward curiously, "Did anything unusual turn up in the original autopsy? I'm pretty sure you have those records...."

"Good guess," Batou nodded. He tilted his head to the side, "There were some pieces of really odd technology in him... a neural accelerant, antique chips, a few other things."

Motoko nodded slightly, her eyes strangely distant. "Thanks, Batou," she said thoughtfully, "that could be important."

Batou left the room after exchanging a few pleasantries with Motoko. Yayoi looked at Motoko thoughtfully, trying to read her face and finding it harder to do than she remembered. "You aren't thinking about going in there after him?" she asked.

"I don't know," Motoko admitted before looking up to meet Yayoi's eyes, "but I do think that I know what happened with the killings. Probably, anyway."

"What?" Yayoi frowned.

"The Professor is able to reach out of the Wired somewhat," Motoko said, "and he ghost-hacked his targets. May have been directly, may have just been bystanders, but he compelled the deaths to show us his power."

"And why target them?" Yayoi challenged.

"They were all moderates in regular contact with Gretchen Phillips," Motoko said, "not so rabidly anti-cyborg but willing to listen to her. He was making a point, that it was dangerous to interfere with him or his goals."

"You found that out in the background check," Yayoi's voice suddenly sparked with anger, "and you didn't share it with me?"

"I didn't put it all together until now," Motoko said, not sounding very apologetic about it. She sighed softly, "Now, if he is in the Wired how else do we go after him but a cyberdive? It's not like he has a body to arrest."

"And what's to stop him friom lobotimizing you in there?" Yayoi challended her, "You know that he's had years to grow in power in there."

"I refuse to let a murderer walk away," Motoko said intensely, "simply because there's some danger involved with going after him."

Yayoi opened her mouth to say something....

.... when alarms rang out around them. "Security breech?" Motoko jumped up, a impressive looking pistol in hand. She lead the way out the door, "What's going on?"

The two ran down the halls, following the signal down to it's source, freezing in surprise as they came into a larger computer center. Everyone lay there unconscious, all the researchers and Batou were just snoring away.

"Freeze," Yayoi raised her pistol, pointing it at a figure standing in the shadows.

"If I do that," the woman's voice was quiet, "I can't explain why I need your help."

"Move forward to where you can see you," Motoko instructed, her dark eyes alight with some kind of odd curiosity.

The woman who walked out of the shadows had redish brown hair framing her face. Her eyes were dark and intense, standing out in her pale skin. On the left side of her face a piece of ribbon was tied around a lock of her hair. Her slim body was sheathed in simple clothing, a clearly amused smile flickering on her lips.

"Who are you," Yayoi asked, "how did you get in here?"

"I would have thought you'd recognize me," she smiled, "considering all of the research you've done." She looked over at Motoko, who had holstered her gun and was gazing at the woman with awe and a bit of fear in her eyes, "She certainly has."

"So who is she?" Yayoi demanded of Motoko.

"Lain," Motoko answered quietly, "I think she's Lain."

To be continued....

Chapter 7

Twice Shy: Part Five

Yayoi didn't lower her gun a centimeter as she faced the woman who was calling herself Lain, but her eyes widened just slightly at that piece of news. The black haired police officer quietly asked her, "You're Lain?"

"Yes," Lain nodded slightly, the brown haired teen smiling slightly.

"Prove it," Yayoi kept her gun steady.

"No," Lain shook her head, her redish brown hair framing her oddly expressionless face. Her eyes were dark and intense, standing out in her pale skin as she looked up to meet Yayoi's eyes. On the left side of her face a piece of ribbon was tied around a short lock of her hair.

"Why not?" Yayoi demanded.

Motoko put her hand on Yayoi's arm, the dark purple haired agent smiling at her grimly. "Getting in here unauthorized should be impossible," she said firmly, "even for a team of agents, much less a single woman."

Yayoi scowled, "That doesn't mean she's Lain."

"No, it doesn't," Motoko agreed, "but she's already done one impossible thing today. I'm willing to wait and see what she does next."

Yayoi met Motoko's eyes and realized her former partner didn't really trust this Lain yet, either, she was just being less obvious about it. With that Yayoi slid her gun away, looking over at Lain and saying, "All right, let's see what we can do."

"Good," Lain nodded slightly, then she flashed a sudden smile, "though in truth I've come here for your help against Professor Mason."

"Why do you need our help?" Motoko blinked in surprise.

Yayoi looked equally shaken as she protested, "I thought that you were supposed to be some kind of cybernetic goddess."

"A goddess with self-imposed limits," Lain said simply. Before they could ask she added, "I quickly realized the truth of the saying, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"So you set limits on what you could do," Yayoi said thoughtfully.

"There are many things that I need to explain to you," Lain said calmly. She gestured around the lab and at all the people still sleeping on the floor and said, "Could we talk about this somewhere a bit more comfortable?"

Motoko smiled wryly, "Right." She lead the other two women out of the room and down the hall, opening a side door. The room had a battered couch, chairs, a table and a coffeemaker that by the smell had been running a bit too long. She poured herself a cup of the thick brew, turning to look as Lain settled into a chair, "So talk."

Lain looked up as Yayoi was moving to the coffee machine and smiled sweetly, "Could you...?" Yayoi made a face but poured her a cup, setting it down beside the girl. "Thanks," Lain took a drink, murmuring, "it's been a long time."

"You're welcome," Yayoi said, pouring out her own cup. She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should sit down then decided to remain standing by Motoko.

"I'm not quite sure where to start," Lain finally admitted as she cradled the cup in her hands, bringing it up to take a drink.

"You said you needed our help to stop Professor Mason," Motoko calmly offered as she studied Lain, "why is that?"

"Mason not only recovered the technology to download a ghost into the Wired," Lain said quietly, "he also recovered certain programs that were intended to make a man something like unto a god. The first time this sort of thing happened I had my full power and defeated the man who tried it, but this time I'm limited."

"Why not just remove your limitation and stop him?" Yayoi asked.

"I set the block so it could only be removed by certain key events," Lain shrugged casually, "Fouth Impact, alien invasion, or a life anhililating force sweeping across the planet. I never thought to include a power-mad murderer in the Wired to that list."

"Understandable," Motoko found herself admitting. She studied Lain intently for a moment before asking, "So what do you need us to do?"

"Even with my limitations," Lain flashed a slight smile, "I think I can stop, or at least contain Mason. However, I'm going to need you to...."

Yayoi listened to Lain explain, staring, then she shook her head. "You have to be crazy," she said firmly, "every objection I had to Motoko going into the Wired after him goes double for this!"

"It's not a bad plan," Motoko said thoughtfully.

"If this goes bad," Yayoi stared at her in horror, "you could end up labotomized!"

"I can't make you do this," Lain said, "but it may be the only way to stop Mason."

Motoko looked over at Yayoi then back at Lain. "Could you excuse us? I need to talk this over with my partner," she said, gently drawing Yayoi aside.

Yayoi followed her as she shook her head while muttering, "I don't remember you being this reckless when we worked together."

"It's not reckless," Motoko lead Yayoi over to the coffee pot as she said firmly, "or at most it's a calculated risk." She met Yayoi's eyes, "The plan can work, but I need your help to pull it off."

"My help?" Yayoi raised an eyebrow.

Motoko flashed a brave smile, the sort of one a younger, much cockier Motoko might have gave when they were out in the field together on a mission. "My body is going to be pretty defenseless while I'm taking care of business in the Wired," she said, "I want someone that I can trust out here taking care of it for me."

Yayoi looked at Motoko sideways, a ghost of a smile on her face. "Considering our history together, you'd do that?" she asked.

Motoko met her eyes, "Yes."

Yayoi nodded slightly, puffing a breath out in a sigh. "Then if you're determined to be this foolish," she said, "I guess I'll have to help."

Lain looked up curiously as they arived, "Well?"

"We'll do it," Motoko replied firmly.

"Good," Lain nodded gravely.

With that the three got up from their seats and went to work. It didn't take long to set up the cyberdive rig that Motoko would be using, it only took certain chips that Lain provided to bring it up to their needs. And every step of the way Yayoi studied the various modifications suspiciously, an attitude echoed somewhat by Motoko.

"Is being paranoid a requirement for government service," Lain noted at one point, "or does working for the government do it to you?"

Yayoi smiled slightly and just answered, "Yes."

"All right," Motoko lay back on the reclining seat, the connections snapping into place at the base of her neck, "let's do this thing."

"You sure?" Yayoi squeezed her hand gently.

"It's time," Lain agreed. Her body suddenly just dropped to the floor, like a puppet who's strings had been cut, and Motoko stiffened, then went limp.

It felt different than other cyberdives Motoko had been on, more vivid somehow. She slid down, layers of old data parting for her, eventually revealing a different place. It looked like a real enviroment, a school building and the town surrounding it. She settled down on a roadway, old fashioned power poles lining the route, the colors all washed out somehow.

"Well this is unexpected," Motoko looked down at the replica schoolgirl uniform that she now wore, tailored to her somewhat more generous figure.

"I'm sorry," Lain wore a matching uniform, a wry smile on her face, "this is my place, more or less, based on my precious memories."

Motoko concentrated, feeling the comfortable weight of her weapon in her hand, "Then let's go find Mason and go home."

To be continued....

Author's Note: Fouth Impact refers to events in Neon Genesis Evangelion, more or less. There were three 'impacts' in the series, and it can be assumed that a fourth would probably end all human life. The name Mason is a tip of the hat to Bubblegum Crisis.

Chapter 8

Twice Shy: Part Six

The simulation of a little town was eerily quiet as Motoko and Lain strode down the street, the reddish tinted telephone poles glowing oddly as they passed by. Both of them were dressed in school-girl uniforms, Lain's looking nice on the smaller girl's while Motoko's looked just odd. The taller woman hefted her pistol then smoothly concealed it somewhere in her uniform.

"I'm surprised that you didn't change your clothes," Lain noted, her reddish brown hair falling around her pale face. She nodded towards the uniform Motoko wore as she said, "You can modify the data if you want."

Motoko actually looked amused, her dark purple hair falling into her eyes. "I don't really worry much about appearances," was her simple answer, "and it might make our enemy underestimate me." She looked around her, trying to get a sense of the complex data pathways as Motoko asked her, "So how do we find Mason?"

Lain tilted her head to the side then scowled, eyes flashing. "He's at the school," she sounded angry, "my school. Come on."

They moved with an oddly unnatural speed, unhindered by actual physical bodies. Around them houses blurred by, no people or vehicles visible at all. "This is your place," Motoko murmured, "why would he come here?"

"To show he can," Lain answered her coldly.

The world almost seemed to shift as they came to a stop, the school gates standing wide open. Shadowy figures moved through the gates and around the late twentieth century school, not real people but merely constructs of light and fragmentary data. The data streams converged here, this was a hub of the system providing access to the larger web and maybe even beyond. They walked through the gates together up to the buildings, Motoko calmly pushing the door open for Lain.

"Are you all right?" Motoko asked, noting the pinched look on Lain's face.

"Some of my most precious memories happened here," Lain said crisply as they entered the darkened halls, "the idea of Mason being here disgusts me."

"Then let's take him out," Motoko answered crisply.

A student appeared before them suddenly, the attractive girl gazing at them with dark eyes. "Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" she asked, the flesh of her face melting at the data composing her was suddenly rewritten.

"Cheap tricks aren't going to stop us," Lain answered, walking right through the girl like she wasn't even there. They walked on together for a few moments then she turned to Motoko and said, "Can you go on alone?"

"No problem," Motoko answered her confidently, "just make sure to hold up your end when the time comes."

Lain faded out, her body becoming semi translucent as she said, "I'll be there." With that she was gone, no trace remaining.

"Well," Motoko murmured as she drew her pistol and ran down the hallway, "Time to start doing things my way."

"What is going on?" Yayoi growled.

The lab was normally used for cyberdives, equipment around them set up for monitoring this sort of thing. However, an instant after the dive began the systems lost track of Motoko's exact position, though they did maintain a sense of her physical condition.

"At least you're still all right," Yayoi said. Her long black hair flowed down her back, the woman sitting nervously beside where Motoko rested in the cyberdive rig. Yayoi's eyes studied her friend's empty body with a tenderness she wouldn't have otherwise shown.

"What the hell is going on?" Batou stumbled inside, the bulky man looking into the room in honest confusion.

"You're finally awake," Yayoi scowled. She puffed a breath out, knowing she wasn't irritable with him as she continued, "Motoko has gone into the Wired to try and stop Mason."

Batou looked at her a moment, trying to see if she was serious then smiled wryly. "Sounds like something she'd do," he admitted, running a hand through his short blonde hair.

"Now that's comforting," Yayoi sighed, looking back towards Motoko.

"You and she," Batou said to her quietly, "you've got some history." Yayoi looked back at him in surprise and he smiled wryly, "Not that she'd ever talk about it, but it's pretty clear just watching the two of you together."

"And?" Yayoi asked curiously.

"I hope you'll be sticking around once this is over," Batou said simply, "she could use someone like you in her life."

Before Yayoi could form an answer sirens wailed as she whirled around back to Motoko. Her previously limp body was arching up, every muscle tensed as she shuddered and quaked. Both Yayoi and Batou rushed over, all but shoving her back down onto the bed even as she began to twist and jerk around uncontrollably.

"What the hell is going on in there?" Yayoi repeated, desperately hoping that Motoko was going to be all right....

"Shit," Motoko spat blood onto the ground, dropping to her knees. The knight raised his dripping sword even as Motoko lined up the shot, blowing his head off with one blast of her gun.

The battlefield faded and Motoko pushed herself to her feet. She limped, one leg badly mauled by the demon she had faced in one of the earlier scenarios Mason had tossed her into. Almost as soon as Lain disappeared he had begun using various gaming scenarios to wear her down , the feedback clearly registering on her real body.

There was a moment of silence, the hallway reappearing around her, dissolving up ahead into an intricate data processing center. Motoko hefted her gun and walked forward painfully, cautiously watching for any more virtual traps. The vapors hanging in the air were familiar, just like a science lab, and as she progressed the technology formed an complex web.

Mason hung in the center of the web, his body and the cables blending together obscenely. It wasn't clear where the connections ended and his cyborg body began, the being was so deeply connected to the Wired and through it to the greater web beyond. No hair remained on his body, no trace of organic flaw, he looked like some mad puppeteer's toy hanging there.

Mason's eyes opened, glowing scarlet in the dim light as he studied her thoughtfully. "I thought ten simulations with no safety systems would stop you," he finally said, his voice sounding rusty and unused, "it seems I underestimated you."

"You're under arrest for murder," Motoko raised her gun calmly, "if you attempt to resist arrest I will use lethal force."

Mason laughed, his voice harsh. "That toy?" he said, and Motoko wasn't terribly surprised to see her gun simply dissolve into pixels of data, swirling off into the darkness. "Still, you have potential," he added, "join with me, join with the Wired...."

"Not interested," Motoko answered, meeting his eyes calmly even as she favored her wounded arm, carefully balancing to keep the weight off her leg. Mason's connections began to reach for, black conduits tangling around her but she simply stood there.

"Why aren't you...." Mason looked confused.

"That's because you're an idiot," Lain's familiar voice came from behind him.

BOOM! Mason was violently thrown forward, tearing free from the various links with a howl of shock and pain. He dropped wetly to the floor, staggering slightly as he turned around to see who was confronting him.

"You didn't even notice me severing all your connections to the web," Lain continued, the younger girl looking much more dangerous than she had before, "you were so fully preoccupied with trying to break Motoko."

"Just like we planned," Motoko agreed.

"You haven't won," Mason stood defiantly, "I know about the limits you imposed on yourself,, milady. You can't really hurt me, despite your powers."

"I don't have to," Lain answered, a shimmer of silvery light appearing in her hands. She tossed it at Motoko even as she cried out, "Now!"

Motoko caught the gun easily then with a feral grin on her face leveled it at Mason. He didn't even have a chance to scream as the first shot ate away his arm, the next blasting a deep hole in his chest. It wasn't really a 'gun' she was using, it was simply the virtual manifestation of the virus that Lain had tailored to deal with Mason. She couldn't actually use it, her self-imposed limits prevented that, but there was no reason Motoko couldn't!

"Please no," Mason looked desperately at Lain, "stop her. I can give you back Arisu, the way that you wanted her to be!" His power worked, the brown haired girl's image looking at Lain with impossible depths of kindness and love.

Motoko held her fire as Lain hesitated, then the girl shook her head. "It would just be an illusion," she answered, "and I don't have time for illusions."

"No...!" Mason howled, turning to try and charge at Motoko only to realize she was right in front of him, a deadly smile on her face.

"Good-bye," Motoko said calmly before firing point blank into Mason's head.

Chapter 9

Afterward: Arisugawa's Locket

"So Mason's dead?" Yayoi asked, drinking her beer happily.

Motoko nodded slightly, "Completely erased, as far as I can tell." A slight smile as she had some vodka, "Lain's little virus was remarkably thorough."

"I can still barely believe it all happened," Yayoi murmured, considering what had happened only a few hours ago.

Motoko had awakened in the cyberdive riggings not long after her convulsions finally came to an end, a worried looking Batou and Yayoi looking down at her. As she stiffly got up and started to disconnect from the computers Motoko explained what had happened to her in there, then the three of them went looking for Lain.

The body that Lain had been using was gone, no trace of her left. They tried the security systems but the records showed no images of her, it was as if Lain was some kind of ghost. A report had to be written, the three of them collaborating on the details then Yayoi and Motoko left Batou to write it as they retired to talk.

"Have you checked your email?" Motoko surprised her by asking.

"Not yet," Yayoi blinked, wondering why Motoko was asking that.

"There was a message on mine from ," Motoko said quietly, "that she owes us and can call the debt due if needed."

"Damn," Yayoi murmured. She took another drink then quietly asked, "Do you think she really was....."

"I don't know," Motoko admitted, "but she clearly thought she was and had the power to back it up." She flashed a grin, "Other than that, who can say?"

Something drew Yayoi's eyes to the kareoke stage where a familiar looking young woman stood alone, smiling slightly. Short brown hair, long dangling earrings, a single braid on the left side of her face and dressed up in a red shirt and black mini-skirt, she looked beautiful. But there was something... odd about that beauty, an almost unearthly feel.

"Speak of the devil," Yayoi managed weakly as Lain began to sing.

"And you don't seem to understand
A shame you seemed an honest man
And all the fears you hold so dear
Will turn to whisper in your ear
And you know what they say might hurt you
And you know that it means so much
And you don't even feel a thing

I am falling, I am fading
I have lost it all"

There was a gentle smile on Lain's face, and she was meeting the gaze of another young woman who was sitting out in the crowd. She seemed sorrowful as she sang, her voice taking on a touch of regret as she finished off the song,

"I am falling, I am fading, I am drowning
Help me to breathe
I am hurting, I have lost it all
I am losing
Help me to breathe."

"Arisu," Motoko blinked as the girl met Lain at the base of the stage, the two walking off together. She shook her head as she looked over at Yayoi and muttered, "You know, I don't think I really want to know."

Yayoi smiled slightly, "Maybe, but I want you to explain that to me later, thanks." They sat there in silence for a few moments then she quietly asked, "So what do we do now?"

"You can't close your case, I'm sorry to say," Motoko said quietly, "but if you want I can have Section Nine take it over so you don't have to deal with it."

"That's not what I meant," Yayoi looked up to meet Motoko's eyes as she asked, "what are we going to do about us?"

Motoko looked down uncomfortably, finishing off her drink then signaling the waitress for a refill. "I screwed up," she finally said, "I hurt you because I just wasn't strong enough to balance a career and a relationship."

Yayoi nodded slightly, giving Motoko a gentle look. "I didn't help back then, either," she said. "After you moved out I didn't even try to contact you," Yayoi reminded her.

"I haven't changed in that way, Yayoi," Motoko said uncomfortably, "the job still comes first." She took a breath, "But I want to try to keep you in my life, if you'll let me."

"Oh?" Yayoi smiled slightly.

Motoko smiled back hopefully, "I'd like to try to be your friend, Yayoi. We never really had the chance to do that back then, our affair was too hot, but I'd like to get to know you."

Yayoi reached out, gently putting her hand on Motoko's tense arm. "Friends, huh?" she smiled, "I'd like that."

The End

Final Author's Note: I didn't plan to actually make this a 'Lain' crossover, but the direction of the chapters seemed to require it. This is loosely part of my 'Eternal City, Crystal Tokyo' continuity, where Motoko appears in a version inspired by the new 'Man/Machine Interface' manga for GITS. Part of this chapter first appeared in Arisugawa's Locket, a bit I wrote after first seeing Lain. The song Lain is singing is Duvet, the opening theme of Serial Experiments Lain, of course.