Bubblegum Ragnarok 
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Chapter 4 (first section)
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Iczer woke slowly, the first thing attracting her attention was the
quiet patter of feet, followed by the soft hum of a power supply.
Turning her head in the direction of the noise, she opened one eye,
gazing blearily out onto the world, as she watched Nene seat herself
in front of her computer, her motions showing the very careful manner
of someone who is trying not to make too much noise and wake sleeping
people - as usual in such cases, with a complete lack of success. Ugh,
she thought, managing to get her other eyelid open as she
surreptitiously watched. Pink _and_ fluffy nightie? Nene, with hair
like yours, pink is _not_ a colour you should wear! She hurriedly
pushed back the thought of how cute, and, yes, sexy Nene looked in it.
No, she definitely wasn't chunky...

Curiously, she watched as Nene typed quietly, wishing she could see
what was coming up on the screen, but unable to see it past Nene's
back. Well, there was an easy way to find out. Yawning, she sat up,
the sheet falling back from her as she ran a hand through her unruly
mane of hair, smiling over at Nene. She was interested to see Nene
jerk slightly as she heard the yawn and movement behind her, wondering
just _what_ Nene had been up to? Her sensitive ears heard a rapid few
clicks, and she added the mental note that it seemed to be something
she didn't want to share; she was certain that had been Nene covering
up what she had been doing before anyone could make it out.

"Good morning, Nene."

Nene turned around in her chair, smiling back, then yawned as Iczer's
second, even bigger yawn set her off too. She giggled softly. "Don't
_do_ that! You're making me wish I could sleep in too!"

Iczer glanced over to where Priss lay, slightly worried that their
conversation, although quiet, would wake her. However, judging by the
way Priss lay sprawled out, breathing none-too-quietly through her
wide- open mouth, they could make much more of a disturbance than this
without disturbing her! Nevertheless, Nene gestured towards the
kitchen, and she nodded, gathering her blanket around her as she
padded across as softly as she could, letting Nene close the door
behind them.

"Thanks, Iczer, I didn't want to wake her. What with her singing, she
keeps rather odd hours, you see.2

"That's OK, Nene, I understand. I suppose you have to get to work?"

Nene nodded, bending down and getting some milk from the refrigerator.
"I'm afraid so. Lucky it didn't snow much last night after all, I
won't be delayed getting in. Can I get you anything for breakfast?"

Iczer smiled her thanks.
"Just coffee, please, if it isn't too much trouble?"

Nene smiled back; Iczer shuddered slightly as she realised that her
personality was nearly as bubbly as last night, even at this hour of
the morning. "Of course it isn't"

As she spoke she was already getting out cups, pouring what seemed to
Iczer to be a huge volume of chocolate into her own. Iczer didn't
comment; with her coffee addiction, who was she to question Nene being
a chocaholic?

She carefully cleared away some of the things from last night, making
some space for them at the table. She was slightly surprised at how
small Nene's apartment was, after all with the money from the Sabers
plus her salary she must have been pretty well off, and she wondered
what Nene did with it. Mind, compared to the place she had rented it
was spacious, not to mention far nicer.

Nene put the two cups on the table, gesturing to Iczer to sit, as she
dragged out a chair for herself. For a minute, neither of them spoke
as they sipped at their respective drinks, the Iczer put her cup down,
looking seriously at Nene.

"Did you mean what you said last night, about helping me get my stuff
back?"

Nene took another sip of her chocolate, looking at Iczer over the top
of her cup. "Of course I did! It isn't really any problem. Look, come
over to HQ this afternoon, I'll have everything arranged. Ask Priss
for directions when she wakes up, if you need them."

Iczer smiled her thanks, looking relieved; while the things in the bag
were, of course, replaceable, she was reluctant to lose the things
she'd been given. And right now, any money she could save on
replacements was needed badly. Looking at Nene smiling, managing to
look cute and bubbly even while drinking at breakfast, she wondered
how many people underestimated Nene because of that. Quite a few, she
suspected; she mustn't be one of them, she was certain Nene would be
trying to find out more about her, and wasn't sure what she'd think
when she found there simply weren't any records on her to access!

She concentrated again on her drink, as she wondered why she'd slept
undisturbed last night. She had thought Iczer-2 would have wanted to
talk about what had happened, but instead all she could sense was a
feeling of reassurance. Maybe she'd decided to let her get a good
nights rest; ironically, after complaining so far about not getting
enough sleep, she missed that nightly meeting very badly. Still, there
was always tonight.

Nene finished her chocolate, getting up as she moved over to the sink
to put it down. Iczer looked up, draining hers and putting it next to
Nene's as she got up to join her.

"Can I help clean up?"

Nene smiled and shook her head.
"It's only two cups, it'll only take a moment."

Even as she spoke she was running the tap, but as she reached for the
cups she managed to knock one off the counter. Seeing it fall, Iczer
reacted without thinking, her hand flashing out to catch it before it
had fallen far. Standing, she carefully put it back, then realised
with a start that Nene was staring wide-eyed at her hand.

Nene shook herself, blushing slightly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare! Thanks for catching it..."

Iczer blinked, finally realising what was the matter, as Nene
continued.

"Priss told me about yesterday, but I never realised - you're so fast,
I've never seen _anyone_ react like that!"

Iczer flushed faintly herself.
"I didn't mean to startle you, I just saw it fall and grabbed it. I've
always been fast, I guess, I don't really think about it."

Nene shook her head, rinsing the cups off.
"That's OK, at least it saved me a cup!"

Turning, she smiled cheerily.
"Well, I have to get ready and go off to work! Don't let Priss sleep
in _too_ late, will you?"

Iczer grinned.
"I won't. Will it be OK to use the shower after you're done?"

"Of course! Your things should be dry by now, too, I hope."

Iczer hoped so too, she didn't exactly have anything else to wear if
they weren't, and even if Nene offered to lend her something it wasn't
going to fit.

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Nene weaved her way through the packed ADPolice office as she headed
for her desk, smiling at them as some of her colleagues waved good
morning to her. She took her jacket off, placing it meticulously on
the hanger next to her desk, as she settled down in front of her
computer, switching it on with a cheerful smile. She was always _so_
much happier when she was working on a computer. She quickly let the
system go through her immediate workload, frowning slightly as she
worked out how to finish the first batch off quickly so she could get
to work on finding out more about Iczer. Also to arrange for her to
pick up her things, she reminded herself, as she quickly flicked
through the items recovered from last nights Boomer rampage; yes, that
looked promising, a large bag still unclaimed. Absently tapping the
end of a pencil against her teeth, she settled down, fingers tapping
the keyboard in a quick flurry of motion, already keen to get started
on the interesting possibilities of the problem of discovering who or
what Iczer _really_ was, and what she was doing here...

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*

Iczer stayed in the shower a long time, letting the hot water run down
her body after she finished washing, not thinking, just feeling its
heat soak into her with pleasure. In a fuzzy way she found it a
pleasant surprise to find that these sort of sensations felt must more
pleasurable, more intense in her current body. And enjoying the shower
stopped her from having to worry about what she was going to have to
do with herself, at least while it lasted. At last she realised she
had to stop, reluctantly turning the shower off as she grabbed a
couple of towels, wrapping one about her as she ran her fingers
through her hair, wringing the bulk of the water into the shower
cubicle before wrapping another towel around it loosely to stop it
dripping. She's have to ask Priss if she knew if Nene used a drier,
her hair took far too long to dry on its own.

She was happy to find that her clothes had dried overnight. Grabbing
them, she tossed them over one arm as she opened the door to the
living area, her other hand keeping the towel wrapped around her hair
in place. Stepping out of the bathroom, she noticed Priss sitting up,
watching her. Smiling a greeting, she walked over.

"Good morning, Priss."

Priss looked rumpled, and barely awake, as she growled a reply.

"'morning..."

Iczer grinned inwardly. It was nice to see that there were people who
were even worse in the morning than she was; she didn't think she'd
approve of the Knight Sabers if they were _all_ morning people like
Nene!

"I'm afraid Nene has already left for work."

Priss rubbed her eyes as she staggered to her feet, clutching her
blanket as she headed for the bathroom. "Good for her."

Iczer grinned behind Priss's back, sitting carefully as she put her
clothes down next to her, listening with more than a little amusement
at the noises Priss made as she stumbled around the bathroom.

Priss wasn't much faster than she had been; by the time she emerged,
looking at least moderately human (if still not really fully awake)
she had finished drying, and dressed. Her hair was still wet, but it
would dry. She looked over at Priss, then looked away as she grabbed
her clothes, pulling them on with an annoyance that seemed to be aimed
at the time of day in general rather than the unfortunate items of
clothing. It must still be early by her standards, she supposed.

Finally, Priss shrugged into the last of her things, and looked over
at Iczer with a calculating expression on her face. Iczer started to
worry about that; she hoped she didn't talk in her sleep, that _would_
lead to an interesting (not to mention incriminating) conversation.

"Tell me, Iczer, what are you going to do about getting home? Or
supporting yourself here while you get things sorted out?"

Iczer tried, hopefully successfully, to hide the surprise she felt.
Now what was Priss getting at?

"I ... haven't really made any plans... I've been looking for work for
the last few days, but without any papers or anything it's a bit
difficult."

Priss was still looking at her with that same calculating expression,
and she was starting to get more worried about what it meant.

"Well now. You're in pretty good shape, aren't you? You work out a
lot?"

Iczer looked puzzled at this; after shoving her in the shower last
night Priss obviously knew what she looked like, so why this question?

"Well, yes, I do? Why...?"

"I have a fried who's been looking for an assistant for a while. She
teaches fitness classes, aerobics, that sort of thing. Maybe you'd
like to meet her, if you're up to it I'm sure you could some to some
suitable arrangement."

Iczer restrained herself, barely, from showing the surprise she felt.
Fitness...? Oh, she must mean Linna! Who else could it be? But why
does she want to help me so much, we only met last night. Somehow she
couldn't bring herself to believe it was her dazzling personality, she
was _certain_ inside that Priss had an ulterior motive. The only thing
that made sense was that Priss wanted to keep track of her for some
unknown reason, and that itself worried her. But she couldn't sense
any feeling of malice from Priss, just a burning interest.

"Why that's very kind, Priss. But I don't want to be such trouble, I'm
sure I can find something..."

"Don't be silly, it's no trouble! She's been looking for a while, and
hasn't found anyone. It's not easy to find someone fit enough to
handle the job, not with all the idle types around this city."

Iczer looked back at Priss, trying to push behind that
ever-so-innocent expression of helpfulness Priss currently had
plastered across her face, but still couldn't sense anything that
seemed dangerous. She decided she didn't really have much choice; what
Priss had described certainly seemed the best job she'd seen since she
arrived, and if the price was that the Knight Sabers would be keeping
an eye on her it seemed a price worth paying. Anyway, just working for
one of the Sabers couldn't cause any harm, could it? It wasn't as if
it would get her involved with them, or anything. She was determined
on one thing; she was NOT going to get involved in fighting killer
robots with a band of female mercenaries in high-heeled battlesuits!

"That's awfully kind of you, Priss, I'd love to meet your friend."

Priss smiled back in a manner that reminded Iczer of a cat who'd just
spotted a nice fat mouse that couldn't get away from it. She hoped she
wasn't doing something silly, but when it came down to it she didn't
really have much choice. She still wondered what seemed to have Priss
so interested in her, but guessed she would just have to wait and see.

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*

Iczer brushed the sweat-matted hair back from her face, panting softly
as she looked at Linna again, and hoping that at last she'd get a
chance to rest. She couldn't believe the workout she'd just been put
through; if nothing else she was impressed with the fitness of her
current body. Unfortunately her enhanced strength didn't help that
much with aerobic exercises, which was mostly what Linna had been
testing her with, and she felt like she was swimming in perspiration,
her borrowed leotard dark and wet. Fortunately Linna didn't look in
better shape, but she suspected that the dark-haired girl would fall
over before she'd admit she couldn't do any more testing.

"Well? What next?"

Linna grinned back, adjusting her sweatband.
"That's enough, I think! It's nice finding someone I can work out with
this much, I've missed having a good partner"

Iczer smiled, partly at the complimentary words but far more at the
realisation that at _last_ she could rest!

"So how did I do?"

Linna chuckled, tossing Iczer a towel as she grabbed another for
herself to wipe her face with. "Very good! If you're still interested,
the helpers job's yours"

Iczer grabbed the flying towel with an easy gesture, shrugging it
across her shoulders as she gratefully wiped her forehead. "Of course
I am! Uh... did Priss mention though, about payment...?"

"Oh, the need to be paid in cash? That won't be a problem, I'm happy
with that. I can easily arrange it with the owners, after all it's me
you'll be working for."

Iczer smiled, in thanks and relief. She suddenly realised how much
she'd been counting on getting this job from Linna, all the possible
alternatives were, well, unattractive at best. And surely just working
for one of them wouldn't be likely to affect the Knight Sabres work or
operations in any way, would it? So it was quite safe...

"When would you like me to start?"

"Tomorrow, if you can. We'll need a few days to get you familiar with
the routines, and how I go about things, and the sooner we start the
sooner you can help me properly. Meet me here at, mmm, 8.30am, then we
can go through some things before my first class"

Iczer winced inwardly at the start time. God, what an hour for a
respectable alien killing construct to be up and active... especially
when she was getting so little sleep. Still, the was by far the best
job she was going to get offered, so she'd just have to buy an alarm
clock. Nodding, she tossed the damp hair back over her shoulders as
she slowly wiped off, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the way she
smelt right now.

"That's fine. Ah, if we've finished... showers? I need one."

Linna chuckled, indicating the door with a nod of her head.
"That way! We both need one after that!

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**

Iczer ran the brush through her damp hair, wincing occasionally as it
caught on a snarl. Still, it felt good to have clean hair.

Linna smiled at her.
"I did wonder why you kept your hair so long, I find it gets in the
way if I let mine grow to anything much more than it is now. But it's
so lovely, I can see why you did."

Iczer blushed at the compliment, covering her embarrassment in her
careful brushwork. "Ah... thank you, Linna. But yours looks nice, it's
just that I don't think short hair suits me. And, well, it does cover
my ears."

Linna hmmmd, looking over with a deceptively casual glance.
"Yes... are you worried about them? I would have thought it was simple
enough to have cosmetic surgery to fix them?"

Iczer stopped her brushing, startled by a sharp mental poke of *don't
you _dare_* from her partner.

"No! I mean, no, why should I, I'm not ashamed of them? Why should I
change them?"

Linna adjusted her own hairband, carefully not meeting Iczer's rather
angry stare as she fiddled with it. "Well... its just that in Japan,
many people consider such features, uhhh, lower-class, or tasteless."

Iczer scowled, as she turned away, finishing her own hair. Linna's
rather tactless words had at last explained why she'd received some of
those odd looks recently. "Well, they're what I was born with! So I'm
not going to get them bobbed or something just to pander to local
taste!"

"Hey, its OK! Don't get upset over it!"

Iczer sighed, as she put her brush down, adjusting her hair so it fell
neatly down her back, letting the silken feel of it caress her fingers
as she got her flash of anger under control. She mustn't upset Linna,
she didn't want to lose that job.

"I'm sorry, Linna. I guess I'm just a little stressed right now."

Linna smiled back at her, a trace of embarrassment at the response
she'd caused still in her voice. "That's OK, I understand. Well, it's
nearly lunchtime, and I was going to meet up with Priss. Would you
like to join us?"

Iczer smiled, about to reply that she'd love to, then suddenly 
remembered her current finances (or rather her lack of them), and bit
her lip in embarrassment.

"Ah, I'd really love to, but..."

Unfortunately, her attempted smile to indicate 'I'd really love to but
I have other arrangements, I'm sure you understand, another time' was
ruined by the loud rumble of protest from her stomach. She blushed,
while Linna giggled at the sound. 

"Come on, you really sound like you need something! My treat."

Iczer grinned back, unable not to respond to Linna's carefree 
cheerfulness.
"OK, that would be great. Thanks!"

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Priss looked over at Linna as Iczer walked away from them, headed out
to the nearest subway.

"Well, what do you think?"

Linna raised her eyebrows at Priss, recognising that particular tone
of voice, if not the reason for it.

"About her? She's OK, seems a bit shy, but she should do a good job.
Why, what aren't you telling me about her?"

Priss grinned, deliberately keeping Linna waiting while she took
another sip of coffee.

"Oh, nothing much. Just that ... there's something odd about her, she
intrigues me. As long as you'll be working with her, maybe you could
keep an eye on her for me?"

Linna looked more curious, and a bit troubled.

"This isn't... business that should concern Sylia, is it? If so..."

Priss shook her head adamantly.

"No, I'm certain it isn't! It's just she interests me, there as too
many things that don't fit. Anyway, there isn't any need to bother
Sylia, not with all that's been hapenning. Besides, she isn't the only
one of us capable of looking into something, is she?"

Linna looked out of the window, thoughtful.

"Well, OK, but you have to tell me the full story later, OK? And
promise me, you'll tell Sylia if it sems necessary."

Because if you don't, _I_ will! She added silently to herself. Your
judgement hasn't been too hot recently, Priss, and I don't want you
going off half-cocked again!

Priss nodded in agreement, a small smile on her face. That didn't
reassure Linna in the slightest.

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Iczer looked up at the imposing frontage of the ADPolce HQ with 
considerable trepidation. It was certainly an impressive building; it
seemed a pity to her that some of the money lavished on it couldn't
have been spent of the better equipment that the men on the ground
obviously needed, judging by her own experiences, but she guessed that
some things never changed, and the fancy building was no doubt making
the administrative staff very happy.

She sighed to herself, making sure her ears were covered and her
glasses firmly on, then walked into the entrance, hoping Nene had
arranged things as she'd promised. She needed the things in her bag,
but they weren't irreplaceable, and she'd rather lose them than find
herself explaining her presence here in a police interrogation cell.
Especially a Japanese one; she suspected their reputation for carefree
disregard for a suspects rights wasn't better in MegaTokyo than in her
original universe.

Walking carefully, she crossed the street to the front of the
building. The snow last night hadn't been serious, but it was still
cold and she had to step carefully to avoid the pools of half-solid
slush and snow that the cleaners had piled up at the sides of the
road. She shivered, wishing she'd had time to get another coat to
replace the one she'd lost last night, hurrying to get inside where it
would be, she hoped, decently warm. At least the weather forecasters
had said that the unseasonable airstream from Asia was due to change
very soon, and it would get back to normal temperatures. It couldn't
happen too soon for her.

The wide door opened automatically as she approached, leaving her in
front of an imposing reception desk. She smiled nervously at the
smartly uniformed girl behind the counter, trying to look as helpless
as possible.

"Excuse me? I'm here to collect some of my things that were found?"

The girl looked up at her, her gaze wandering down across Iczer's body
in a way that made her blush faintly, then smiled cheerfully.

"Of course. Can I have your name, please?"

Iczer gulped, _really_ hoping Nene had made good on her promise to
arrange things so she wouldn't have to show ID.

"My name is Iczer"

The girl looked at her, and then started to type at her computer
console. After a few seconds she looked up again.

"Oh... you were involved with that Boomer incident last night?"

Iczer nodded, not speaking, and hoping the girl wouldn't act so 
friendly; she was desperately afraid of saying something stupid that
would get her into deep trouble, and it wouldn't be as easy to talk
her way out of it here than it had been at Nene's home. Fortunately
for her nerves, the girl just looked down again, as her console beeped
quietly and popped out a small plastic card.

"Here. It's a temporary visitor ID, please wear it until you leave. If
you take a seat, one of our people will be with you shortly to take
you to identify your things."

Iczer smiled her thanks, making a big production out of fixing her
badge as she tried to ignore the slow, curious look she was given. She
was starting to hope it was just police curiosity, she was afraid to
think what else might be involved. She sat down, looking about her in
an attempt to look busily interested in the admittedly rather boring
appearance of the ADPolice entrance hall.

Luckily for her growing tension, it wasn't very long before another
girl appeared, who stopped in front of her and smiled down; this time
just a friendly smile.

"Miss... ah... Iczer??"

Iczer looked up and nodded, slowly getting to her feet.

"Yes?"

"Good afternoon. I'm here to take you to identify your things, please
follow me, and stay close. It's easy to get lost in here."

Nodding, Iczer did as she was told, staying as close as she could to
the girl. She hadn't been joking about it being both a maze, and a
pretty busy one at that, as she let her effortlessly through a series
of corridors that would have made a laboratory rat feel quite at home.
Eventually they arrived at a large room full of lockers. Standing
quietly, she looked around with interest as the girl consulted a
notepad, then pulled out a locker drawer and lifted out a bag, putting
it on the table in the middle of the room.

"Could you identify this as yours, please?"

Iczer nodded, unzipping the bag and quickly looking through the 
contents, smiling in relief when she was certain it was hers.
"Yes, this is mine."

The girl smiled, then looked rather uncomfortable.
"Ah... there was a jacket as well, but it's rather..."

Iczer looked at her, confused.
"It's rather what?"

The policewoman shrugged, and pulled a large plastic bag out of the
drawer, placing it on the table. It contained her jacket, but it was
still covered and soaked in blood after last night. "I'm afraid it's
in rather a mess. Did you want to take it as well?"

Iczer gulped. The sight of that bloodstained jacket was making her
feel physically sick as it brought back the memories and feelings of
last night. Face white, she turned away from it, grasping the handle
of her bag in reassurance. "NO! I mean, no, I don't, please..."

The girl looked at her white face closely, obviously concerned, but
she didn't seem very surprised. "There's a restroom just in the
corridor, if you'd like to use it?"

Iczer tried to smile in thanks, but settled for a quick nod, trying to
restrain her trembling, as the girl quickly led her outside, pushing
the door of the restroom open for her. She hurried inside, her hand
clutching the sink as she half doubled up, trying not to be sick. The
sight of the blood had brought it all back, making her realise just
how real it had been, that someone had died. Despite the fact she now
realised it wasn't really her fault, she didn't feel any better about
the young girls' death. Shaking, she turned on the cold tap, splashing
her face with water until she felt a little better.

She turned suddenly as the door opened, but it was only the
policewoman. "Are you OK?"

She nodded before replying, trying to steady her voice.
"Thank you, but I'm fine now. It was just a shock, seeing it like
that..."

The girl nodded in sympathetic understanding, probably she had seen
this sort of reaction before. Iczer just hoped they wouldn't ask her
to identify the girls' body, or something. She shivered again, not
understanding why she was having such an extreme reaction to this;
she'd seen blood before, and the fight with Loki had certainly been
bloody enough, and she hadn't fallen apart like this. Maybe it was a
delayed reaction to being shoved around Universes. She was beginning
to worry about it, which itself did nothing to help her emotional
state. Straightening up, she tried to put it all aside for the moment,
picking her bag up and settling it over her shoulder.

"If there isn't anything else, I really should be getting along."

"Yes, of course. No, there's nothing else to do, Officer Romanova
cleared up all the paperwork earlier. You just have to sign for the
bag and contents, and that's it."

Iczer stood for a moment, steadying herself, before giving the girl a
rather shaky smile. "Thanks. Well, if you can show me where I do
that?"

The policewoman nodded, holding the door open for them both to leave.
Iczer must have been more unsettled than she thought, for as she left
the washroom she nearly ran into an ADPolice officer striding down the
hall. Startled, she barely managed to stifle an *eeeep* as she jerked
herself to a halt, as he swerved sideways, barely avoiding her.

"Oh, my apologies ma'am..."
His speech halted suddenly as he looked at her. It took her a few
seconds to realise that she recognised him; it was the young policeman
who had run out last night to help her and the other girl. She
blinked, stepping back a pace to give herself some room, as she looked
at him in embarrassment, unsure how to respond.

"Uh... hello..."
Oh right, she sarcastically thought to herself, what a wonderful
opening line! Why didn't you pretend you didn't know him and just keep
going? Behind her she could just see the policewoman craning to see
over her shoulder as she eyed the two of them curiously. "Do you two
know each other, then?"

Iczer shook her head, blushing, not knowing how to respond safely, and
wishing Iczer-2's clear skin didn't make her flush so obviously every
time something like this happened. It wasn't helped by the friendly
way in which the man smiled at her, obviously pleased to see her.

"In a way. I met her last night, at that Boomer incident. She saved my
life."

Iczer saw the other girl staring at her, and couldn't help but feel
the emotions curling about her, as she blushed even more deeply. "No,
really, it was just blind luck. I'm sure you'd have been fine without
me, I was just getting in the way." Even as she spoke, she realised
that her hurried, almost breathless denial wasn't going to help.

The officer shook his head, smiling up at her. With a detached part of
her mind she was surprised, he was shorter than she was. Last night
had been so hectic she hadn't noticed, but somehow she'd got the
impression the ADPolice squads were all big men.

"Nonsense! Without you that Boomer's cannon would have fried me!
But... what are you doing here?"

Iczer sighed, trying not to show a reaction as a brief memory of last
night caused her sickness to partially return. "I had to collect some
of my things, I left them behind."

Behind her the policewoman gestured at the officer, trying to shut him
up before he upset Iczer again, her signals making him look confused,
before he smiled again as he finally realised what she wanted.

"Well, at least you could let me buy you a drink sometime, that is if
you don't mind?"

Iczer looked at him blankly, trying to work out what he'd just said,
having trouble for some moments with the concept of a man trying to
pick him/her up, before she finally made the mental connection. It
didn't help that her sudden realisation was accompanied by a loud
mental chuckle from Iczer-2, who obviously had a far better grasp on
the situation right now than she did!

"A... drink? But ... I don't, I mean I..."

He smiled at her confusion, then bowed slightly formally.
"But I'm forgetting my manners! My name is Morisato, Keiichi 
Morisato..."

Iczer gaped at him, mind whirling furiously as she stared at him. It
_had_ to be just a coincidence, didn't it??!

"Miss? Pardon me, but is something the matter?"

She gulped, and managed with an effort to paste a shaky smile across
her face. "N... no, nothing. I'm sorry, it's nothing, really."

"Ah, I see. Then you will let me take you out for a drink sometime?"

She nodded, almost automatically, mind still shuttling on automatic as
she tried to reassure herself than the man's name was merely a
coincidence.

This time he smiled broadly.
"That's great! Here, my card. Give me a call, OK?"

Iczer licked her lips, looking uncertainly for a moment at the
proffered card, before taking it with a hand she had to will into not
shaking visibly. She looked at him again, and nodded, unwilling to
trust herself to speak, as he smiled a final time, and strode off down
the corridor. Oh god, what had she got herself into _this_ time??! Her
hand closed into a fist, crumpling the card slightly as she looked at
the retreating back of Officer Morisato, absolutely certain that what
had just happened had a meaning, but having no idea at all what it
was.

**********************************************************************
**

Priss wove her bike through the traffic as she made her way to Raven's
Garage. Her attention wasn't on the other vehicles, but on the odd
events of last night. She still didn't believe a word of what Iczer
had told them, she was certain the girl was lying, but the fascinating
question she had was the one of _why_ was she lying? For some reason,
she had a feeling that the incident with the Boomer hadn't been a
coincidence, even though she didn't have any evidence to support the
idea. Well, she was sure Nene would have some answers for her very
soon; much as she teased her about her lack of physical skills, she
had a very deep admiration for her ability to find things out. Not
that she'd ever _tell_ her that, of course! 

The traffic thinned around her, becoming scattered as she finally got
close to her destination. She wondered how Mackie was getting on with
repairing the damage incurred during the fight with Largo? She wanted
to have words with him about that, the sooner she'd be ready to get
back into action the happier she'd be. Her wound was nearly healed,
and she chafed at Sylia's ruling that she mustn't do any training
until _she_ pronounced Priss ready! Hell, she was a grown woman,
didn't Sylia trust her not to do anything silly?

She drove her bike into the entrance to the garage, noting no-one was
outside for once. She wasn't really surprised, there was a lot to do,
and anyway Dr. Raven always complained that cold weather like this
made his bones ache. Swinging herself off her bike, she shoved it past
the boundary of the perimeter alarm before tugging off her helmet,
letting it swing from one hand as she casually pushed the door open. 

"Hi, pops! Is Mackie here?"

Dr. Raven only spared her a quick glance and a frown at her greeting,
before returning his attention to his work.

"He's in the lab."

Priss waved her thanks, grinning at the annoyed look on the old man's
face; one of these days she was going to address him formally as
'Doctor', just to see his reaction!

Walking across the workshop, she casually dumped her helmet on a bench
as she opened the door and stepped into the concealed lift, flipping
up the cover as she tapped the access code into the security pad. She
waited for a minute as the lift took her down to the basement, then
pushed the door open and stepped into the hidden workshop.

"Hi, Mackie!"

Mackie looked up, smiling over the half-disassembled hardsuit he was
working on.

"Hi, Priss! Come to see how I'm getting on with the repairs?"

Priss grimaced slightly.
"Getting on? You mean you haven't finished yet?"

Mackie looked offended.
"You know very well there's still a lot more work to be done! And
anyway, sis said you weren't to do anything involving work until you
were fully recovered."

Priss frowned, not wanting to be reminded of that edict, or of the
events that had led up to it.

"Oh, OK already, I'll be a good girl!"

Mackie grinned, not commenting. He was happy Priss was seeming if not
exactly cheerful, at least less depressed than she'd been recently.

"So what have you been up to?"

Priss sat down at the end of a workbench, one foot swinging idly as
she watched Mackie work. "Oh, nothing much. I've been ordered to take
it easy, remember?"

"I heard there was another Boomer rampage last night. Some people
killed."

Priss nodded, looking thoughtfully out into space.
"I know, I saw it."

"You saw it? What were you doing there?"

Priss looked at Mackie's annoyed expression, and sniffed. It was bad
enough when Sylia ordered her to take things easy, now even Mackie was
acting like her nursemaid!

"Actually, for once it was completely accidental! I just ran into it
by accident, and stayed to watch. It was afterwards it got
interesting...2

"Afterwards? What happened afterwards?"

Priss grinned over at Mackie, who'd stopped working, one hand still
absent-mindedly holding a screwdriver as he stared at her with a
curious look on his face, obviously realising from the way she'd said
it that it was something unusual.

"Well, what happened went like this...2

**********************************************************************
**
**********************************************************************
**

The police officer moved quietly through the now almost empty ADPolice
offices. At this time of night, all the administrative and casual
staff and police had long headed for their homes, and the active,
24-hour section wasn't very close to here. Still, he looked about
casually, as if just checking up on things, just in case someone was
working very late or something. Seeing nothing, he smiled to himself,
as he sat down behind a data access console, making sure he was both
hidden from anyone walking casually by and in a position to quickly
change to an innocent operation if someone did disturb him.

Flexing his fingers slightly, he slipped a data chip into the storage
socket as he started to download data about last night's Boomer
incident. His employers were, of course, always interested in the data
ADPolice had, mainly to make sure they only had the data they were
supposed to, but he'd received a message to look into last night's
with an unusual priority flag. Judging by what he'd heard in the
canteen, that didn't surprise him, although he was certain that the
reports of what a girl had done to a Boomer were heavily exaggerated
each time they were told. Still, it was easy money...


End of Chapter 4