Ignition: Four "Sylia," the female voice groaned, "you promised!" "Just let me check this call," Sylia Stingray promised, her night gown slightly messy. The distorted voice made Sylia Stingray raise an elegant eyebrow, but the message made the silver haired business woman sit up and take notice. 'Did they actually say what I thought they did?' she wondered, running the file over again. "We wish to contract with the Knight Sabers," the artificial voice began, "your reputation is impressive, and your capabilities in urban combat would be useful. A major operation is begining in Megatokyo soon, and we would appreciate your help." "Urban combat in Megatokyo?" Mara asked, the tawny haired younger woman smiling at her lover as they reclined on the bed together. "Not a pleasant thought," Sylia agreed, removing the slim data storage device from her private computer. Her expressio was thoughtful, "Voice analysis has come up nil, implying the entire message was artificially created." "And no real information on their objectives or identity," Mara quietly noted, "other than an email address from a free public service." She sighed, seeing that Sylia was now entirely focused on the problem in front of her and decided to add, "Wonder if it's connected to the corporate espionage Nene is worried about?" Sylia paused, her eyes narrowing slightly in thought. "The timing is quite the coincidence," she admitted, reaching across the bed for the phone. She dialed, listening to the ring, then once it was picked up she asked, "AD Police? Could I speak with Officer Romanova, please?" She listened to the answer, "Ah, thank you." "What?" Mara asked, watching as Sylia put the phone down. "A new wrinkle to the situation," Sylia mused, "there's been a shooking, one of the employees at a company involved with Nene's case, she's out checking it out now." The AD Police cruiser skidded to a halt in front of the hospital, the passenger door fling open almost as soon as the car halted. Nene jumperd out, only sticking her head inside to say, "Lisa, park the car and follow me in, I may need a witness to any statements." "Ma'am," Lisa Valente nodded crisply, "I'll meet you inside." Nene turned and strode inside, the graying officer following the far too familiar route to Emergency. 'I've had way too many officers in here the last few years,' she thought bleakly. A nurse at the reception desk questioned her presence so Nene flashed her badge, wishing she was in uniform. "Sorry, ma'am," the young woman flushed, "I understand that the shooting victim is over in ward C." She dropped her voice to confide to Nene, "There are already several people there who say they're the woman's friends." 'Lovely,' Nene thought, 'bystanders.' Quick steps brought the officer to ward C, a secure section of the Emergency room used for victims in dange of additional violence. A group of women stood in the hall, clearly led by the tall, orange haired woman standing to one side. A tearful brown haired woman looked through the glass at the victim worriedly, a pink haired woman standing nearby. "Arisugawa Juri?" Nene blinked, recognizing her instantly. "Nene," Juri nodded, not taking her eyes from where doctors were busy working on their patient. Her face was blank, utterly controlled, but a fire blazed in her eyes as she said, "It's Keiko, she was the one who was shot." There was a second of shock, Nene had met Keiko more than once when she went to the Locket with the others, then she firmly squashed the emotion. She had to be a police officer now, stay objective and focused on the job. "Is she conscious?" Nene asked, asctivating the mini-recorder that was built into her uniform jacket. "No," May shook her head, not taking her eyes away from Keiko, "she hasn't regained consciousness since she was brought in." "Who brought her in?' Nene asked, hoping that there might be a good witness to the shooting. "That would be me," the blionde haired woman said, stepping from the shadows. Nene turned to look at her then froze in surprise. Nene knew about the Sailor Senshi, of course, everyone in Megatokyo did. Legendary heroes for over fourty years, unaging guardians of the city, they were the subject of many discussions at AD Police. But knowing about them and meeting one was an entirely different thing. Sailor Venus was grave as she said, "I was in the Bioware facility, trying to find information on the recent break ins, when I heard a gunshot." She looked frustrated as she continued, "I found Keiko in a computer room, a data-disk beside her but no sign of the shooter." "Data disk?" Nene pounced on that eagerly. Sailor Venus produced the bagged object from a pouch in her sailor fuku, "I have only handled it with gloves, fingerprints should be uncorrupted." As Nene was holding out a plastic baggy for the disk Lisa caught up with her, skidding to a stop as she took in Sailor Venus. "Wow," she managed weakly. "Thank you," Nene sealed it up, sliding the disk away. The door to the emergency suite opened, a redheaded young man emerging. "Doctor Saotome," Juri said to him intently, "is Keiko...." Dr, Saotome shook his head gravely, "There's serious internal injuries, bleeding in both the chest cavity and lungs. Short of massive use of Boomeroid implants, there's nothing I can do." "No," May said weakly, tears streaming down her face. "Is Keiko awake?" Nene had to ask. "She's conscious but very, very weak," he answered them before pointedly looking at Nene, "don't stress her too much, please." May lead the way inside, moving to Keiko's side. She knelt down, taking Keiko's hand and squeezing it gently. Keiko was pale, her long brown hair streaked with gray, lines of pain around her eyes and mouth. Tubes connected her to monitors and liquid feeds, her gown still stained with red from the initial medical probes. She looked over at May, her expression sad, then Keiko quietly managed, "I'm sorry, love, I guess I got overconfident." Nene hated to interupt them, but she knew she had to. "Can you tell me what happened?" she asked, praying that Keiko had at least seen her killer. "I work for Bioware," Keiko managed,. "one of their Boomer researchers. We were handed files and data a few days agio that seemed to have been stolen from Re-genex, our main competetor." Nene felt a sudden flash of pure annoyance. 'And they didn't report it?' she thought, but kept herself from saying anything aloud. "I was trying to confirm if they stole the data or merely bought stolen goods," Keiko whispered, "but what I found out was far worse than I thought." She took a breath, wincing in pain, "Bio-ware, along with several other companies, intend to override Boomers and force them to attack the city along with Mercenary forces." "You can confirm this?" Sailor Venus asked, her eyes wide. "The data disk," Keiko answered, her eyes drooping, "everything I could find was downloaded on to it." Nene slipped from the room, moving out into the hallway as she got out her cellphone. "Leon, it's Nene," she said, "we need to recall every AD Police officer we can." Leon stuttered a moment, surprised, then asked, "Why, exactly?" "I still need to review all the data," Nene said briskly, "but if this is true there could be a city wide boomer incident in the very near future." There was some creative swearing then Leon said, "Will do, but get the data connfirmed as soon as possible. We need to know when and where." "Got it," Nene nodded. Hanging up she she dialed fast, waiting till it was picked up, "Sylia, it's Nene." Not waiting for a greeting she continued grimly, "We need a emergency meeting of the Knight Sabers as soon as possible."
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