Nene Romanova's red hair nearly matched the color of her cheeks as she growled, "What do you mean, access denied?" AD Police headquarters was a large building, a shining tower in a city of similar shining towers. Set up in part to be Genom's private army and security force all expenses had been paid in equipping the unit. Their computer technology, weapons and vehicles were all top rate, sadly unlike most of their staff. Despite offering generous salaries most regular police officers were leery of joining Genom's private police, leaving them recruiting from officers unable to stay in the regular police for whatever reason. Nene Romanova was one of those exiles, cast off from the regular police. The brass had been so appreciative of her computer expertise at first, assigning her to computer crimes and watching the convictions roll in. But as she began to experiment with cybernetic augmentation their glee turned to disapproval, until she was finally expelled. "Damn it," Nene growled as her hands shimmered. A series of micro-thin connection threads were running from Nene's boomer-like hands to the computer, data being received with almost no lag by her nervous system. She chased information in a virtual maze construct, a visual representation of computer pathways and memory, and normally she'd have caught it by now. However, her exploration of Genom's computers were anything but normal. Sylia Stingray monitored the search from her home, wearing a modified virtual reality rig to observe the conflict. "Nene," the black haired woman asked her calmly, "are you sure this is safe to do?" "No," Nene answered her, "But at least here there's a minimum of boomers here to send to try and attack me." Her virtual self shimmered as number generating programs spun out differing series to try to crack the encryption programs that were sealing away the information she was after in there Sylia heard her yelp in pain and leaned forward as she commanded, "Nene, disengage!" "Yes, ma'am," Nene agreed as she pulled back her connectors, feeling a mild throb of pain in her fingertips. "What happened?" Sylia asked as she disengaged the monitor rig and activated a regular communication video screen in her office on the peak of Genom's Tower.. "Whoever designed the security there was really cutting edge," Nene conceded as she rubbed her still tingling hands, "they rigged up a neural feedback in addition to viral bombs as part of your defenses." Sylia grimaced slightly, "Internal Security is Mason's department, along with Jeena Malso. I suspect they're the ones who designed the system." "I doubt Jeena was much involved," Nene noted as she pulled her white uniform gloves on, "she's a former beat cop and captain, not a cyber wizard." "Mason, then," Sylia said. "So," she continued, "I assume you can't break in remotely?" "No, I probably can," Nene answered seriously, "but it's going to take a lot of computing power... much more than even ADP's computers." Nene watched as Sylia sat back, wondering what the other woman was thinking of. Personally Nene was in this for the challenge of solving a unique puzzle, with the added bonus of having the head of Genom owe her a favor. Sylia seemed to be also bit by the puzzle bug, but from what Nene had gotten from Lisa Valente there was a personal connection as well. "I'm going to see what I can do about getting you that computer power," Sylia said after a moment, "would you be willing to try again?" "Is this going to be official or off of ADP's radar?" Nene asked after a moment's thought. "I'd like to keep this under wraps," Sylia said, "for the reasons we discussed before. Is that a problem?" "No," Nene said cheerfully, "I'll just need to work around my job." She smiled slightly, "I'm in, if you want me after failing twice." "I still need you," Sylia confirmed, "and I'll contact you in a few days." "Thanks," Nene nodded as Sylia excused herself and cut the connection. Once Sylia was gone Nene let herself relax, running a shaking hand through her sweaty red hair. She wouldn't say that Sylia scared her, exactly, but she certainly felt a certain awe in the dynamic woman's presence. It was surprising that a woman younger than her could inspire such feelings, though when Nene hacked into her records she got a sense of Sylia's capabilities. The woman was near the genius mark, if not over, and Nene got the sense Sylia might have been deliberately holding back on the tests. Sighing reluctantly Nene went back to her work, focusing on her terminal and the mundane job of dealing with malicious hacks of boomer servers. It was sad that some poorly adjusted people felt the need to attack Genom in such stupid ways, but it fell to officers like her to track the intrusions, backtrack them to people then assist regular police in arrests. "Hey, Nene," her superior called, "your pal Wong is here. The Akajima file!" "Right," Nene called as she grabbed her jacket and hurried out of the cubicle to meet the two cops waiting in the lobby. Daley Wong and Leon McNichol were beat cops, both men she had worked with before on cases. Regular police often had to be called out on AD police cases, and they quickly spotted ones who could work with them without friction. Daley and Leon were good guys, for the most part, with their only problem being Leon's tendency to shoot off his mouth. "Hey, Nene," Leon smiled as she hurried up to them, the woman not even coming up to the tall man's shoulder. "Hiya Leon-poo," Nene said in her teasing, sing song voice. As Daley chuckled Leon blushed redly, "Do you have to call me that?" "Yup," Nene winked. "I shouldn't have asked," Leon sighed. "Did you get the warrant we needed?" Nene asked as she lead them to one of the high tech cruisers exclusively owned by the ADP. "Signed, sealed and delivered," Daley said as Leon looked enviously at the car before reluctantly climbing in the passenger side. Nene took the driver's seat as Daley climbed in back. "Buckled up?" Nene asked before starting the engine and taking them out of the garage and onto street level. Tokyo was a busy city any time of day, people racing back and forth like ants in a ant farm. A ADP cruiser cut through traffic like a knife as they drove, the low to the ground vehicle nearly silent as it's electric engine purred. "Man," Leon murmured as they drove through the business core then out towards the docks, "I can't wait until the regular police trade in our hybrids for these." "Patience," Nene half smiled as she double checked the address on the onboard computer. Daley smiled slightly as they passed into the slums filled with dock workers, "Or you could always join the ADP." "No way," Leon blurted then looked at Nene sheepishly, "no offense." "None taken," Nene answered as they stopped by a older set of apartments. She looked over the terrain, then murmured, "The suite we want is upstairs and around the corner." Daley made sure the strap holding his gun in place was unsnapped, "Parking out of his line of sight?" "Trying to," Nene answered honestly. "Let's move," Leon headed to the side door and used a police universal pass-key to get them inside. He checked out the stairway, "Looks clear." "I'll take the rear," Daley said briskly, "you lead." "Got it," Leon said as they hurried up the stairs. "Don't I get a say in this?" Nene puffed as she was swiftly hustled between the two men up three floors. "No," Daley winked, "consider it a old fashioned male right." They reached the third floor and slid out of the stairwell, quietly hurrying towards the suite. It took less than a minute to get in position, Daley planted in front of the steel door with warrant in hand while Nene and Leon flanked him on either side. Pressing the call button beside the door Daley firmly said, "This is the police, we're here for David Suzumiya! Come out with your hands up, we are authorized to use deadly force!" "Nice," Nene murmured as the silence dragged on. "I'm up," Leon shuffled over and used the pass-key or open the door. Daley kicked the door open with his boot as he yelled, "This is the police! Come out with your hands up!" "Master!" the naked robot bounced her way around the corner. "Eh?" Nene blinked. "Leon?" Daley surrendered to a authority on the opposite sex. "Wait, wha...." Leon started as Daley pushing him in front only to be knocked over by the cushiony blonde bombshell. David Suzumiya emerged from a bedroom as the slim, somewhat ragged looking man sheepishly asked, "Uh, am I in trouble?" "Depends on if our friend runs out of air under your playmate," Nene noted dryly.
Back to Stage 3 Index - Back to Bubblegum Crisis Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction