Ten minutes of midnight, Tuesday, April 21, 1992
03-28-2017, 12:16 AM (This post was last modified: 10-21-2017, 10:03 AM by Bob Schroeck.)
03-28-2017, 12:16 AM (This post was last modified: 10-21-2017, 10:03 AM by Bob Schroeck.)
Sailor Moon stepped out the shadows with Luna at her heels as I
touched down a short distance from the building that housed the
radio station. I hopped off my cycle and sent it back up to
hover half a kilometer overhead in stealth mode until I needed it
again. "Sailor Moon, Luna," I said with a nod as soon as they
got close enough.
Usagi looked for a moment like like she was trying decide whether
to hug or salute me, then split the difference by giving a little
wave. "Thanks for coming, sensei."
"I told you I would, teishi," I said with a smile. "So, what've
you got?"
She gave a short, brisk nod. "Right. There's this new radio
show called 'Midnight Zero' that's gotten real popular real fast.
The host reads love letters sent in by listeners, and anyone
whose letter gets read on the air gets a flower-shaped brooch
from the station."
"I think I see where this is going," I said. "Everyone who
received one of the brooches now has the Sleeping Sickness, am I
right?"
She bit her lip. "I didn't check everyone, but my teacher at
school got one a couple days ago and she's in the hospital now.
And one of the girls in my class at school got one this morning
and passed out. And I passed out, too, because it was so close."
"I woke her up, and confirmed it," Luna spoke for the first time.
"The brooch had some kind of life energy drain effect on it."
Inside my helmet, I raised an eyebrow. "'Life energy'? That's
kind of abstract, isn't it?" Then I shook my head and waved the
question away. "Never mind. Stomp the baddies now, magiphysics
and philosophy later. And the baddies are...?"
"That's where it gets stranger," Sailor Moon said. "The people
working at FM Number 10 don't know about the show. It's not in
the listings, either. But it's definitely on the radio every
night and *everyone* seems to know about it. So Luna suggested
that I investigate the radio station while it was on the air.
She gave me a magic pen that let me disguise myself..."
I glanced at Luna. "You did?"
She gave a feline shrug. "It's a toy I'd taken away from the
Princess a few days before... before," she verbally stumbled, and
glanced away. "She'd been playing pranks with it. It seemed to
me that Sailor Moon could make good use of it." She took extra
care to say "sera" and not "tserla", I noticed.
I nodded approvingly. "Good idea, that." I turned back to
Usagi. "So you disguised yourself. And?"
"We got inside just as the show was starting, and everyone in the
station was asleep except for the host of 'Midnight Zero' and
some woman watching him," she replied.
"Both felt like the Enemy," Luna added.
"Yeah. As soon as Luna said that, we snuck back out and I called
you."
"Okay then." I smiled, there inside my helmet. "If I were
marking you on your performance so far, the only thing I'd take
points away for was not transforming first."
She bit her lip again. "Right. I'll remember for next time."
"Other than that, a perfect grade. Good investigation, even if
it was spurred by a convenient coincidence. You found what might
be the the bad guys' base, got in, scouted, confirmed you were
right, and got out again to call in reinforcements. Good job,
Moon. Luna," I went on, "if you've got any other 'toys' in your
back pockets, we'll need to sit down later and go through them
to see what's useful and what's not."
The cat nodded. "Of course."
"So now what?" Sailor Moon asked.
I laughed. "Why, now comes the fun part. Butt-kicking!"
She giggled, and Luna gave me a disgusted look.
"Now, this is *your* operation," I said, raising a finger. "I'm
here as backup only. If these two are like the critter in the
jewelry store, you should be able to handle them by yourself.
I'll be hanging back, and I'll only step in if you get in
trouble." I put a hand on her shoulder. "This should be easy."
It would take less than ten minutes for me to regret jinxing us
that way.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
touched down a short distance from the building that housed the
radio station. I hopped off my cycle and sent it back up to
hover half a kilometer overhead in stealth mode until I needed it
again. "Sailor Moon, Luna," I said with a nod as soon as they
got close enough.
Usagi looked for a moment like like she was trying decide whether
to hug or salute me, then split the difference by giving a little
wave. "Thanks for coming, sensei."
"I told you I would, teishi," I said with a smile. "So, what've
you got?"
She gave a short, brisk nod. "Right. There's this new radio
show called 'Midnight Zero' that's gotten real popular real fast.
The host reads love letters sent in by listeners, and anyone
whose letter gets read on the air gets a flower-shaped brooch
from the station."
"I think I see where this is going," I said. "Everyone who
received one of the brooches now has the Sleeping Sickness, am I
right?"
She bit her lip. "I didn't check everyone, but my teacher at
school got one a couple days ago and she's in the hospital now.
And one of the girls in my class at school got one this morning
and passed out. And I passed out, too, because it was so close."
"I woke her up, and confirmed it," Luna spoke for the first time.
"The brooch had some kind of life energy drain effect on it."
Inside my helmet, I raised an eyebrow. "'Life energy'? That's
kind of abstract, isn't it?" Then I shook my head and waved the
question away. "Never mind. Stomp the baddies now, magiphysics
and philosophy later. And the baddies are...?"
"That's where it gets stranger," Sailor Moon said. "The people
working at FM Number 10 don't know about the show. It's not in
the listings, either. But it's definitely on the radio every
night and *everyone* seems to know about it. So Luna suggested
that I investigate the radio station while it was on the air.
She gave me a magic pen that let me disguise myself..."
I glanced at Luna. "You did?"
She gave a feline shrug. "It's a toy I'd taken away from the
Princess a few days before... before," she verbally stumbled, and
glanced away. "She'd been playing pranks with it. It seemed to
me that Sailor Moon could make good use of it." She took extra
care to say "sera" and not "tserla", I noticed.
I nodded approvingly. "Good idea, that." I turned back to
Usagi. "So you disguised yourself. And?"
"We got inside just as the show was starting, and everyone in the
station was asleep except for the host of 'Midnight Zero' and
some woman watching him," she replied.
"Both felt like the Enemy," Luna added.
"Yeah. As soon as Luna said that, we snuck back out and I called
you."
"Okay then." I smiled, there inside my helmet. "If I were
marking you on your performance so far, the only thing I'd take
points away for was not transforming first."
She bit her lip again. "Right. I'll remember for next time."
"Other than that, a perfect grade. Good investigation, even if
it was spurred by a convenient coincidence. You found what might
be the the bad guys' base, got in, scouted, confirmed you were
right, and got out again to call in reinforcements. Good job,
Moon. Luna," I went on, "if you've got any other 'toys' in your
back pockets, we'll need to sit down later and go through them
to see what's useful and what's not."
The cat nodded. "Of course."
"So now what?" Sailor Moon asked.
I laughed. "Why, now comes the fun part. Butt-kicking!"
She giggled, and Luna gave me a disgusted look.
"Now, this is *your* operation," I said, raising a finger. "I'm
here as backup only. If these two are like the critter in the
jewelry store, you should be able to handle them by yourself.
I'll be hanging back, and I'll only step in if you get in
trouble." I put a hand on her shoulder. "This should be easy."
It would take less than ten minutes for me to regret jinxing us
that way.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.