"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. I got
the lyrics off of:
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