(Author's note: this story takes place a short time before "Graduation Day")
Sylia gazed thoughtfully through her silvered visor at the figure seated across from her, on one of the uncomfortable benches dotting the park area next to
City Hall in Atlas Park. Her visitor -- supplicant, perhaps? -- appeared nervous, even through her white-and-blue hardsuit; a suit, Sylia noted, that bore
signs of both fanatic attention to detail and exceedingly humble origin. With the exception of the bulky, crude-looking gauntlets that broke the otherwise
sleek lines, she thought it resembled one of her girls' suits quite closely.
Too closely for comfort, really.
Sylia's eyes flicked to the side, where Net Sabre's transponder blip was blinking, letting her know that Nene was in position should things turn ugly
-- though she privately thought that wasn't much of a risk, all things considered. Not only were they in shouting distance of City Hall and it's
attendant heroic complement, her visitor ... wasn't much of a threat.
"Sabre Zero, is it?" Sylia said, trusting her voxmod to distort her voice beyond recognition and at the same time let her sardonic tone slip through.
Sabre Zero nodded eagerly. "Yes ma'am!" The new hero leaned forward slightly, bracing her hands on the edge of her bench. "I've
wanted to join you for-EVER-!"
Sylia revised her age estimate downward another couple of years. "I see. And why is that?" Sylia leaned back and crossed her legs, smiling to
herself at how easy that action was compared to the older model suits.
Body language alone spoke volumes as Sabre Zero regarded Sylia in shock. "Because you all are AWESOME!" she cried. "And you do really great
things, and... I want to be like you."
"(Watch out, Sylia! Psycho fan at ten o'clock!)" Nene giggled over the comm.
"(Hush, Nene,)" Sylia rebuked gently, and continued out loud: "That's... very flattering, thank you. But you should know we're not in
the habit of accepting total strangers into our ranks."
Nene choked out another laugh. "(Since -when-?)" she demanded brokenly.
Meanwhile, Zero nodded eagerly. "I understand -completely-, really! I know I'll have to pass some test or initiation or something like that.
I'll bet you've got Net digging into my background right now, don't you?"
Sylia blinked, and Nene fell silent.
"What do you mean?" Sylia inquired calmly.
Zero flipped up her faceplate, revealing a petite, almost elfin face framing startling blue eyes staring intently at Sylia. "Well, it's pretty
obvious, I mean, she's your tech specialist, after all!"
"(... I know we haven't been big on the secret identity thing, but -how does she know that-?)"
Sylia clasped her hands on top of her knee and regarded Zero patiently. "Why don't you tell me just what you know, or think you know, about the
Sabres."
"Oh, wow, we could be here for -days-!" Zero replied. She proceeded to rattle off a surprisingly large body of information, most of it disturbingly
correct in spirit if still somewhat misguided in fact. "-- and the -rumor- is that you're planning a hostile takeover of Crey when the time is right
and are going to rename it GENOM, but nobody knows for sure what that actually means." Zero blinked, then tilted her head. "Saayy... I do have a
question, though. Does Net really shoot lightning bolts out of her, uh, chest area? 'Cause it's in the alpha build that way, but I told everyone that
that's ridiculous, it's not like she has any emitters there or anything."
"(... pardon me, Sylia, I'm going to go plug some programmers now.)"
"(Why's that?)"
"(They -leak-.)" Sylia chuckled at Nene's indignant growl.
"(Later. You caught all that?)"
"(Uh-huh. Where did she -get- this stuff? She's got info the PPD doesn't have!)"
"(That's a very good question.)"
"(Tell me her name and I'll get -all- her secrets,)" Nene chortled. Sylia shook her head slightly.
"(Don't sound so -eager-, Nene.)" Sylia cleared her throat as Nene "Awww'd" in the background. "You have a ... unique grasp
on the Sabres, miss...?"
Zero grinned and winked. "Andrews, Alexandra Andrews, at your service, Sabre Prime!" She flashed a victory sign. "Call me Alex, or A.J.,
I'm not picky."
"(Andrews, Andrews,)" Nene muttered. Sylia heard a cheery 'ding!' through the comm system. "(Got it! Okay, let's see... oh, -no-.
This is bad, Sylia, this is really really bad.)"
Tension coiled Sylia's muscles into humming knots as she prepared to attack. "(What is it? Is she a plant?)"
"(She's the vice-president of the Paragon Sabres GO! fan club and is a total -geek-, and I don't mean that as a compliment!)"
Sylia closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "(Nene,)" she began warningly. The other Sabre cut her off.
"(Listen to this! Winner, ParaCon '07: Best Costume, for her take on a video game character, it says 'Rinoa' here, I'll look that up
later. She posts to more forums than -I- do, and more frequently. I'm -still- getting hits in on a search, almost all of them having to do with sites
discussing heroes in Paragon City, video games, or both!)" There was a pause. "(My god, Sylia, her MySpace friends list rivals -Space Mage-!)"
"(... so she's not a threat, then.)"
"(No, just terribly, hideously geeky.)" Nene laughed. "(Careful, it might be contagious! Next thing you know you'll be dressing up in
some outfit you made yourself... oh, wait...)"
Sylia rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help but smile. A window popped up in her display, showing a beaming young girl with jet-black hair wearing an
improbable getup -- and that, Sylia reflected wryly, was saying a -lot- in this town -- that seemed to consist of a pair of black bike shorts, a black halter,
oversized boots, a blue open-front sweater, and more leather belts than was strictly necessary. Not a bad design, Sylia mused, but not an especially good one
either. She shook off the distraction and skimmed the detail text. Alexandra J. Andrews, no criminal record, an extensive online persona, and a grade-A
fascination with heroes and heroic deeds.
"(She's not -a- fan, Sylia. She's -the- fan.)" Sylia couldn't help but agree, even as she wished Nene would stop reading her mind like
that.
"(The question is what do we -do- with her? Just let her run around as she is? I'm afraid what she might do to our reputation, without
guidance.)"
"(We don't need her, really.)" Nene sounded dubious.
"(No, we don't. But neither can we let her go unchecked.)"
"(Give her to Linna?)"
"(You say that as though it's a bad thing.)"
"(I'm not -blind-, Sylia. Poor Irene was a -wreck-.)"
"(Something which you -clearly- had nothing to do with,)" Sylia noted dryly. Nene remained silent.
"Well, miss Andrews," Sylia said at last. "I'm afraid I have to say that I don't see a need for you in the Sabres." She held up
her hand to forestall an outburst. "That's not to say I don't appreciate the ... tribute, I think, that your suit represents, and the effort to
which you must have gone to build it."
Alex nodded eagerly. "I was planning on taking it to ParaCon this year, but we -- the club and I, I mean -- we decided we needed to kick it up a notch,
and, well, Crey cryo-rifles are cheap if you know where to look."
Sylia digested that bit in silence for a moment. "So, your suit relies on scrounged technology and garage-sale hand-me-downs, is what you're saying?
And it actually works?"
"Well..." Alex tapped her forefingers together, not meeting Sylia's eyes. "I guess you could say that, yeah."
"(... you know, if she can pass the FBSA certification exams with -that- sort of junk, she might be useful after all,)" Nene mused.
"(That's not precisely what I was thinking, but you have a point,)" Sylia admitted.
"(Plus, I bet her and Mackie would get along great.)"
"(... you're not helping her case, Nene.)"
"Please, give me a chance," Alex said, leaning forward. "I'll do anything! You won't regret it, I promise!"
Her decision made, Sylia rose to her feet. "Do you have a job, Miss Andrews?"
Clearly baffled, Alex slowly shook her head. "Uh, sort of but not really, I work summers at the Up-n-Away and go to college."
"(She's double-majoring in electronics and drama,)" Nene supplied after a moment, her tone amused. "(Also, she's due to get promoted to
shift manager at the burger place. Huh.)"
"(That was quick,)" Sylia noted, to which Nene giggled.
"(That was -boring-, is what that was. Up-n-Away might as well be called Give-It-Away in terms of security.)"
Clearing her throat, Sylia nodded. "Clearly, Miss Andrews, you know too much." She stood calmly, staring down at Alex.
Alex gulped.
"You leave me little choice, I'm afraid," Sylia continued in an even tone. She raised one gauntleted hand.
"P-please don't," Alex squeaked. "I won't tell anyone, I promise!"
Sylia flicked her wrist. A blur streaked across the space between the two women, bouncing off Alex's lightly-armored chest with a dull tok! sound. She
looked down.
A business card lay in her lap, one corner slightly bent.
"Be there tomorrow at one," Sylia said. She turned to leave, adding over her shoulder, "And, Miss Andrews? Don't be late."
(Meant to add this, but forgot: reference image for her winning cosplay entry.)
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
Sylia gazed thoughtfully through her silvered visor at the figure seated across from her, on one of the uncomfortable benches dotting the park area next to
City Hall in Atlas Park. Her visitor -- supplicant, perhaps? -- appeared nervous, even through her white-and-blue hardsuit; a suit, Sylia noted, that bore
signs of both fanatic attention to detail and exceedingly humble origin. With the exception of the bulky, crude-looking gauntlets that broke the otherwise
sleek lines, she thought it resembled one of her girls' suits quite closely.
Too closely for comfort, really.
Sylia's eyes flicked to the side, where Net Sabre's transponder blip was blinking, letting her know that Nene was in position should things turn ugly
-- though she privately thought that wasn't much of a risk, all things considered. Not only were they in shouting distance of City Hall and it's
attendant heroic complement, her visitor ... wasn't much of a threat.
"Sabre Zero, is it?" Sylia said, trusting her voxmod to distort her voice beyond recognition and at the same time let her sardonic tone slip through.
Sabre Zero nodded eagerly. "Yes ma'am!" The new hero leaned forward slightly, bracing her hands on the edge of her bench. "I've
wanted to join you for-EVER-!"
Sylia revised her age estimate downward another couple of years. "I see. And why is that?" Sylia leaned back and crossed her legs, smiling to
herself at how easy that action was compared to the older model suits.
Body language alone spoke volumes as Sabre Zero regarded Sylia in shock. "Because you all are AWESOME!" she cried. "And you do really great
things, and... I want to be like you."
"(Watch out, Sylia! Psycho fan at ten o'clock!)" Nene giggled over the comm.
"(Hush, Nene,)" Sylia rebuked gently, and continued out loud: "That's... very flattering, thank you. But you should know we're not in
the habit of accepting total strangers into our ranks."
Nene choked out another laugh. "(Since -when-?)" she demanded brokenly.
Meanwhile, Zero nodded eagerly. "I understand -completely-, really! I know I'll have to pass some test or initiation or something like that.
I'll bet you've got Net digging into my background right now, don't you?"
Sylia blinked, and Nene fell silent.
"What do you mean?" Sylia inquired calmly.
Zero flipped up her faceplate, revealing a petite, almost elfin face framing startling blue eyes staring intently at Sylia. "Well, it's pretty
obvious, I mean, she's your tech specialist, after all!"
"(... I know we haven't been big on the secret identity thing, but -how does she know that-?)"
Sylia clasped her hands on top of her knee and regarded Zero patiently. "Why don't you tell me just what you know, or think you know, about the
Sabres."
"Oh, wow, we could be here for -days-!" Zero replied. She proceeded to rattle off a surprisingly large body of information, most of it disturbingly
correct in spirit if still somewhat misguided in fact. "-- and the -rumor- is that you're planning a hostile takeover of Crey when the time is right
and are going to rename it GENOM, but nobody knows for sure what that actually means." Zero blinked, then tilted her head. "Saayy... I do have a
question, though. Does Net really shoot lightning bolts out of her, uh, chest area? 'Cause it's in the alpha build that way, but I told everyone that
that's ridiculous, it's not like she has any emitters there or anything."
"(... pardon me, Sylia, I'm going to go plug some programmers now.)"
"(Why's that?)"
"(They -leak-.)" Sylia chuckled at Nene's indignant growl.
"(Later. You caught all that?)"
"(Uh-huh. Where did she -get- this stuff? She's got info the PPD doesn't have!)"
"(That's a very good question.)"
"(Tell me her name and I'll get -all- her secrets,)" Nene chortled. Sylia shook her head slightly.
"(Don't sound so -eager-, Nene.)" Sylia cleared her throat as Nene "Awww'd" in the background. "You have a ... unique grasp
on the Sabres, miss...?"
Zero grinned and winked. "Andrews, Alexandra Andrews, at your service, Sabre Prime!" She flashed a victory sign. "Call me Alex, or A.J.,
I'm not picky."
"(Andrews, Andrews,)" Nene muttered. Sylia heard a cheery 'ding!' through the comm system. "(Got it! Okay, let's see... oh, -no-.
This is bad, Sylia, this is really really bad.)"
Tension coiled Sylia's muscles into humming knots as she prepared to attack. "(What is it? Is she a plant?)"
"(She's the vice-president of the Paragon Sabres GO! fan club and is a total -geek-, and I don't mean that as a compliment!)"
Sylia closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "(Nene,)" she began warningly. The other Sabre cut her off.
"(Listen to this! Winner, ParaCon '07: Best Costume, for her take on a video game character, it says 'Rinoa' here, I'll look that up
later. She posts to more forums than -I- do, and more frequently. I'm -still- getting hits in on a search, almost all of them having to do with sites
discussing heroes in Paragon City, video games, or both!)" There was a pause. "(My god, Sylia, her MySpace friends list rivals -Space Mage-!)"
"(... so she's not a threat, then.)"
"(No, just terribly, hideously geeky.)" Nene laughed. "(Careful, it might be contagious! Next thing you know you'll be dressing up in
some outfit you made yourself... oh, wait...)"
Sylia rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help but smile. A window popped up in her display, showing a beaming young girl with jet-black hair wearing an
improbable getup -- and that, Sylia reflected wryly, was saying a -lot- in this town -- that seemed to consist of a pair of black bike shorts, a black halter,
oversized boots, a blue open-front sweater, and more leather belts than was strictly necessary. Not a bad design, Sylia mused, but not an especially good one
either. She shook off the distraction and skimmed the detail text. Alexandra J. Andrews, no criminal record, an extensive online persona, and a grade-A
fascination with heroes and heroic deeds.
"(She's not -a- fan, Sylia. She's -the- fan.)" Sylia couldn't help but agree, even as she wished Nene would stop reading her mind like
that.
"(The question is what do we -do- with her? Just let her run around as she is? I'm afraid what she might do to our reputation, without
guidance.)"
"(We don't need her, really.)" Nene sounded dubious.
"(No, we don't. But neither can we let her go unchecked.)"
"(Give her to Linna?)"
"(You say that as though it's a bad thing.)"
"(I'm not -blind-, Sylia. Poor Irene was a -wreck-.)"
"(Something which you -clearly- had nothing to do with,)" Sylia noted dryly. Nene remained silent.
"Well, miss Andrews," Sylia said at last. "I'm afraid I have to say that I don't see a need for you in the Sabres." She held up
her hand to forestall an outburst. "That's not to say I don't appreciate the ... tribute, I think, that your suit represents, and the effort to
which you must have gone to build it."
Alex nodded eagerly. "I was planning on taking it to ParaCon this year, but we -- the club and I, I mean -- we decided we needed to kick it up a notch,
and, well, Crey cryo-rifles are cheap if you know where to look."
Sylia digested that bit in silence for a moment. "So, your suit relies on scrounged technology and garage-sale hand-me-downs, is what you're saying?
And it actually works?"
"Well..." Alex tapped her forefingers together, not meeting Sylia's eyes. "I guess you could say that, yeah."
"(... you know, if she can pass the FBSA certification exams with -that- sort of junk, she might be useful after all,)" Nene mused.
"(That's not precisely what I was thinking, but you have a point,)" Sylia admitted.
"(Plus, I bet her and Mackie would get along great.)"
"(... you're not helping her case, Nene.)"
"Please, give me a chance," Alex said, leaning forward. "I'll do anything! You won't regret it, I promise!"
Her decision made, Sylia rose to her feet. "Do you have a job, Miss Andrews?"
Clearly baffled, Alex slowly shook her head. "Uh, sort of but not really, I work summers at the Up-n-Away and go to college."
"(She's double-majoring in electronics and drama,)" Nene supplied after a moment, her tone amused. "(Also, she's due to get promoted to
shift manager at the burger place. Huh.)"
"(That was quick,)" Sylia noted, to which Nene giggled.
"(That was -boring-, is what that was. Up-n-Away might as well be called Give-It-Away in terms of security.)"
Clearing her throat, Sylia nodded. "Clearly, Miss Andrews, you know too much." She stood calmly, staring down at Alex.
Alex gulped.
"You leave me little choice, I'm afraid," Sylia continued in an even tone. She raised one gauntleted hand.
"P-please don't," Alex squeaked. "I won't tell anyone, I promise!"
Sylia flicked her wrist. A blur streaked across the space between the two women, bouncing off Alex's lightly-armored chest with a dull tok! sound. She
looked down.
A business card lay in her lap, one corner slightly bent.
"Be there tomorrow at one," Sylia said. She turned to leave, adding over her shoulder, "And, Miss Andrews? Don't be late."
(Meant to add this, but forgot: reference image for her winning cosplay entry.)
--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs