Ami Mizuno drove with the same kind of efficiency she brought to most of her jobs, diverting just enough of her attention to the road while considering what else she was doing. 'Mistress Nine is still too much of a unknown,' she mused, 'I need more data.' The parking garage was dark as the sports car smoothly slid to a stop, the shadows concealing the corners and making it a likely place for an ambush. Thankfully, Ami had already prepared for that possibility. "Ami," Minako's voice came over the concealed ear piece, "I've scanned your surroundings with my suit sensors, there's only regular background noise. We're also ready to deploy if there's any boomer surprises." "Thanks," Ami answered as she took the case from her car, the microphone in her suit collar transmitting her voice to the other Senshi Sabers. Walking away from her car, Ami headed to space number A-29, the one they had arranged to meet at. A voice from the shadows called, "That's far enough, Ms Mizuno." "You wanted to talk to me," Ami kept herself looking relaxed, "so talk." "You brought the money?" the woman's voice asked warily. "As I promised," Ami raised the case and set it on the back of a car, "and I can add a bonus too, if the information you provide is worth it." She popped the latch and opened it to reveal the bundles of cash within, "Well?" "What do you want to know?" the woman sounded much more relaxed. "Any and all information on Mistress Nine," Ami said to her calmly, "and the super Bio-Boomer project." "Well," the woman's voice sounded amused, "I had heard you already had that data through Hotaru Tomoe." "I'd like to corroborate that data," Ami answered mildly. "Understood," the woman's voice became entirely business like, "here's what I know..." Ami drove out of the garage nearly ten minutes later, case much lighter and her expression grim. "Did you record all that?" she asked as she pulled into traffic. "Every word," Minako answered. "Do you want us to meet you back at the Silky Doll?" "Please," Ami agreed, "we have much to discuss." The Silky Doll lingerie and clothing shop was Ami's cover as well as her hobby, a place where she could put aside the incredible weight of her mission and deal with mundane things like convincing people to buy something a little more racy than they were used to. The company van pulled in just as Ami arrived, the two of them pulling into the underground parking side by side. Ami slip from her seat gracefully, her silk skirt whispering as she waited for the others to get out of the van. Makoto opened the driver's door and jumped down, her brown ponytail bouncing against the athletic woman's back. Minako bounced from the back, her golden hair sparkling even as Rei followed, her long black hair echoing her serious expression. "Was this cloak and dagger crap worth it?" Rei asked, her leather jacket flapping around the slim woman. She looked sexy in the painted on jeans and muscle shirt, seemingly unaware of it as she stretched gracefully. "I think we learned some new information," Ami managed, gulping past the arousal that tightened her throat. "Thank god I didn't have a rehearsal today," Rei grumbled as they headed inside the store, "I think some of my bandmates are starting to wonder." "They think you're a Senshi Saber?" Minako asked. "No they think I have a secret girlfriend," Rei groused, "they're teasing the hell out of me over it." Makoto chuckled, "Bring one of us over, we can pretend to be your girlfriend. Might ease off on the teasing." "Sorry Mako-chan," Rei smiled wryly as they reached the elevator upstairs, "you're not really my usual type." Ami hesitated but had to ask, "So what is your usual type?" Rei looked over at Ami, faintly surprised to see such curiosity from the cool woman. "Usually the office lady type," she admitted, "and I've been known to help bring out the occasional curious straight girl." "Ooh, bad girl," Minako teased as the elevator smoothly carried them up. "Don't you run a fairly good chance of getting your heart broken with those kind of girls?" Makoto asked curiously. "It's not that serious," Rei said with a cocky grin. "Come on," Ami kept her voice tightly under control as she lead them out of the elevator then down the hall to the meeting room. Forcefully she tried to drive out any images of Rei and her probable conquests, but they teased the edges of her mind. Minako raised a eyebrow at Ami's terse manner, the group of them following her into the meeting room only to see three women waiting there for them. She recognized Setsuna immediately, Ami's friend and associate sitting patiently waiting, but the two younger women she had difficulty placing. "Ladies," Ami said briskly, "you all know Setsuna, of course, and her companions are Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaoru." "Yo," Haruka waved hello, the sandy blonde casually sitting in one of the larger chairs beside Michiru. "Ami," Rei fixed her with a look, "does this have something to do with their visiting a few days ago...?" "I'm sorry that Ami didn't tell you the truth at the time," Setsuna quickly jumped in, "but I asked her not to talk about it." "Something interesting happened?" Minako looked around interestedly. "Not quite the way you think," Ami smiled slightly. "Grab a seat, everyone, this is going to take some time to explain." Rei grabbed a chair and sat, the look in her eyes showing she had not forgiven Ami for any deception. Makoto sat with Minako as she also asked, "And does this have something to do with why you didn't want Haruka helping with her sports car a few weeks back, too?" "Ami and Setsuna were trying to protect us," Michiru said with a certain kind of formal dignity, "forgive them." "Protect from who?" Rei pushed, "Who the heck are you two anyway?" Haruka's eyes narrowed a bit, "Watch the tone, Hino." Ami cleared her throat loudly, preventing things from going any further. "If you don't mind," she said frostily, "I'd like a chance to explain." "Well done," Setsuna smiled slightly. "As many of you know there was a program to create Super Bio-boomers," Ami took on a faintly lecturing tone, "which so far has created five subjects. One of them is our opponent, Mistress Nine, and another is Hotaru Tomoe." "And these three are the rest?" Minako offered. As everyone looked at her in surprise Minako shrugged:"Seemed like a good guess." "Yes," Setsuna acknowledged, "I was the first prototype that DR. Mizuno created, while Haruka and Michiru represent the second generation." "And Mistress Nine and Hotaru are the third?" Rei asked after a moment. "More like one and a half," Ami cut in. "According to my source Tomoe was working with incomplete data when he created Hotaru and Nine," she revealed, "technically speaking Haruka and Michiru are more advanced." "That's good, right?" Makoto asked, "They're stronger than her?" "No, they're not," Setsuna jumped in. "Huh?" Minako blinked. "They're more advanced and simulate humans better," Setsuna said, "but that means their strength is actually closer to a real humans." "Crap." Rei sighed. She looked over at Haruka, "So you and Michiru were at my concert because of Setsuna? Or Ami?" "No," Haruka sighed, "we snuck out. And both of them gave us grief over it." Makoto snickered softly, "I can imagine." Rei, oddly, relaxed just a bit. "Good," she said, "I thought you were both fans and didn't want to be disappointed."
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