Brief foreword: This is a reconstruction and continuation of a fanfic by another author. I was asked to take this project over after it lay dormant for months and the author had too many other projects to deal with. I also let it lay dormant for months, until I finally hit upon a way to get it rolling again. C&C appreciated. The fanfiction you are about to read is presented in true digital ASCHOLE, for picture and sound that really stink. For maximum reading comfort, please use a fixed width font. She wanted to glance over her shoulder, but knew she couldn't risk slowing down to do so. She was being stalked, hunted. She wiped the sweat from her brow, and tried to remain calm, even as she ran. Predators smell fear, and the smell of fear entices them. The path ahead was dark. Her footsteps thudded on the hard ground, the only sound to be heard, save for the pounding of her heart. A little further...just a little further, and she could get away... Her foot caught on a rock, and she fell, hard. She fought the urge to cry out as pain shot up her leg, telling her she had twisted her ankle. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to will the pain away. To will her fear away. She opened her eyes. Eyes stared back into her own. Large, luminous blue eyes, gleaming with a predatory light. She gasped. The predator's mouth opened, exposing glistening fangs, fangs which would certainly clamp down on her throat, tearing out her jugular, ending her life. And then the predator would feed on her flesh. Involuntarily, she opened her mouth to scream... ****** "Kiyone! Wake up, Kiyone!" The sleeping teal-haired detective opened her eyes, which locked immediately with the pair of bright, shining blue eyes mere centimeters from her face. She screamed. "Waaaaaaah!" Kiyone's scream startled the blonde leaning over her, causing her to fall. She flailed her arms wildly as she landed on top of Kiyone, who started to scream again--then blinked. "Mihoshi?" "Waaah! You scared me!" Mihoshi bawled, still flailing. Kiyone gently placed her hands on her partner's shoulders, pushing her up enough so that she could rise to a sitting position. "Shh, it's okay." She paused, taking a deep breath as reality set in. "Why did you wake me up?" she asked. Mihoshi stopped flailing, her panicked tears drying up. "We're late, Kiyone! We overslept! We gotta get to work or we're gonna be in trouble!" Kiyone blinked. "What!? That's impossible! What time is it?" Mihoshi thrust a digital clock in her face. The bright green display read [9:13]. Kiyone stared at it for a moment. *How the hell--?* She stood up, and looked around. Something was seriously amiss. If it was that late in the morning, why was the apartment so dark? She walked over to the window and opened the blinds. Darkness greeted her. She blinked. After a moment, realization dawned. "Mihoshi," she began quietly. "You bought one of those American 12-hour clocks, didn't you?" "Umm...yes?" Mihoshi offered. Kiyone took a deep breath, clenched her fists...then wheeled on the blonde. "IDIOT!" she screamed. "It's nine o'clock AT NIGHT! As in 2100 hours!" Mihoshi blinked. "Umm...oops?" She rubbed the back of her head nervously. Kiyone sighed, frustrated. "Mihoshi, go to sleep," she bit off tersely. She shuffled back to her own futon, and slid into it. The blonde looked like she was going to cry. Finally, she slipped into her own futon. Kiyone could hear her sniffling, and for a moment, felt guilty enough to comfort her well-meaning but scatterbrained partner. Then, the sniffling gave way to gentle snores. Sighing, Kiyone closed her eyes, and eventually drifted off into slumber. LURKERFICS, ltd. in defiance of PIONEER and AIC presents... egDaAmIaNrb original concept by Libby Thomas reconceived and written by The Eternal Lost Lurker characters and situations from "Tenchi Muyou!" used without permission chapter one Kiyone hadn't been asleep thirty minutes when a persistent beeping awakened her. She sat up, grumbled irritably, and searched around for the source of the sound. A glance across the room revealed that her partner was still asleep. *If it's that dipshit clock of hers, I'm going to brain her with it,* Kiyone thought darkly. Five minutes elapsed before she located the beeping culprit. Still grumpy and irritated, she was about to grind the offending object into dust...when a part of her mind which had somehow become more awake relayed to the still-unconscious part that the object in question was her wrist comm, her link to the Yagami's monitor relays. Immediately, her full mind snapped into focus. Headquarters was calling. Throwing on a yukata in an attempt to make herself presentable, she made her way to the roof, where the Yagami stood cloaked. Boarding the ship, she activated the comm station, and played the incoming communication. /Galaxy Police Temp Recall Notice 1071-1701A: Detective First Class Mihoshi Ordered To Report To Headquarters As Soon As Possible For Required Physical Examination By Order Of Galaxy Police Chief Medical Officer./ Kiyone blinked. *A physical? That doesn't make any sense...we both had our physicals at the same time, three months ago. She isn't due for another one for at least six months...* Kiyone knew for a fact that both of them had been given a clean bill of health; if Medical had found anything out of the ordinary, Mihoshi would have been placed on sick leave until it could be taken care of. Kiyone contemplated this unusual order. Headquarters would not have issued a recall for an impromptu medical examination without a reason. But what could that reason be? There weren't many circumstances which could warrant such a recall; in fact, Kiyone could only think of two offhand. Officers suspected of substance abuse would be subject to such an examination; Kiyone dismissed this idea without a second thought. Mihoshi drank her fair share of sake; they all did. But never while on duty, and Galaxy Police officers were required to accept a filter implant which would prevent alcohol damage to their bodies. Aside from that, there was no way Mihoshi was abusing any chemical substance. Kiyone would know about it by now if that were the case. The only other possibility would be that Medical had reason to believe there was something seriously wrong with Mihoshi. A terminal illness, complications from an old injury, something of that nature. That notion troubled Kiyone. She briefly considered logging into the GP database and pulling up Mihoshi's medical record, but decided against it--even if Medical had a suspicion that something was wrong, it wouldn't be stated in open record until it had been confirmed. Sighing, Kiyone disembarked, returning to the apartment. As she slid into her futon, she cast a worried glance at her sleeping partner, and determined that she would keep a close eye on the blonde for a while. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- She blinked at the walls of the corridor. Glassy and shiny, like a hall of mirrors, the narrow walls, floor, and ceiling were smooth and cold to the touch. She shivered, wishing she had a pair of shoes. Or any clothing, for she was naked. The corridor seemed to stretch into infinity in either direction, the distance obscured in dark shadows. Walking aimlessly, she gazed into the walls. Though mirrorlike in their composition, what they were showing was no reflection. The images in the glass were smoky, seen through a filter of thick grey haze, and often were completely obscured. Here, she saw a man who looked familiar. Who was it? Her grandfather. Grandfather? Yes, grandfather. The kindly man who looked after her when she was small, who helped her become what she wanted to be when she was older. What she wanted to be? What had she wanted to be? She wanted to be...a police officer. Yes. That's right. A police officer. Just like grandfather. Why did she want to be a police officer? Because grandfather was one? Yes, because grandfather was one. That's right. Here, a lot of people who didn't seem familiar at all. They were so big, and she was scared. But some of them were even more scared. She could tell. How could she tell? She didn't know. But she could tell. One of them started moving towards her, and then the smoke filled the mirror and she couldn't see any more. She looked around. There, going to school. School? The Academy? That's right, the Academy. Funny, she couldn't remember much about the Academy. But there were her classmates. There were her teachers. She felt their eyes on her. Awe. Respect. Admiration. Envy? Fear? More portals full of smoke so thick she could see nothing else. A few held brief flashes of scenes. Here, a flicker of a man shooting behind him while running away. There, a flicker of a stern lieutenant, glaring at her. Over there, grandfather, getting ready to hang a medal around her neck. There, a pair of alien eyes, staring up at her in fear and terror. She could move no further, and her body had become numb. There was a final mirror beyond the shadows, obscured by fog so thick nothing was visible. She reached out to it, touched it. Pain. Lightning in her body. Lightning up her spine. Lightning in her skull. Lightning in her eyes. So much pain, it hurt. It hurt and it wouldn't stop hurting and then the bright light and then the dark shadow and then the fog and she knew that the fog was pain and the pain made the fog and she had to get out of the fog had to clear it out of her way but there was so much pain it hurt the pain the fog the pain the pain oh god the pain it's making the fog the fog is the pain it hurt so much the PAIN-- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mihoshi bolted upright in her futon, clutching her chest. Her heart hammered, and sweat plastered her pajamas to her skin. She ran a hand through her damp hair, and stared at it. "Was that a dream?" she wondered. A scent assailed her nostrils. She frowned. It smelled salty, damp, like [fear] sweat...she was smelling her sweat? That couldn't be right. But she was. She sniffed the air. Yes, definitely [fear] sweat. But there were two smells. She frowned, and wondered how she knew [the smell of fear] that there were two scents. She smelled her own [fear] sweat, very close, and smelled more [fear] across the room, coming from Kiyone. Kiyone? Yes, it smelled like [fear] Kiyone. But how did she know that? She sat, brow furrowed in thought for a long moment. Something tickled at the back of her mind, like she should remember [pain] something important. Finally, frustrated, and becoming tired of the [pain] smell and of being drenched in sweat, she got up and went to take a bath, careful not to disturb her sleeping partner. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Kiyone yawned as she groggily stirred from slumber. She glanced at the clock, and blearily confirmed that it was five in the morning. And the light over the kitchenette was on. She sat up, and glanced over to see Mihoshi sitting quietly in the corner, holding a mug from which she occasionally sipped. The aroma of broth tickled Kiyone's nose. Mihoshi's head snapped up suddenly. "Good morning, Kiyone," she said quietly. Kiyone blinked. Mihoshi hadn't even been facing her, and the light wasn't quite bright enough to illuminate the sleeping area. How had the blonde known she was awake? "Um...good morning, Mihoshi," she said. Slowly pulling herself up from the futon, she regarded her partner. "Are you alright?" Mihoshi took a long sip of her soup, then nodded. "I'm fine," she said distractedly. She looked up, and smiled at Kiyone. "Why don't you go have a bath while I fix some breakfast?" Kiyone blinked. She started to make a protest, but Mihoshi cut her off. "Please, I insist," the blonde said. In the dim light, Kiyone could almost swear she saw Mihoshi's nose wrinkle in distaste. "Umm...sure, Mihoshi," she said, shuffling off to the bath. As she slid the door closed behind her, she sniffed herself. *Funny, I don't smell anything. But from the way Mihoshi was acting, you'd think I had body odor or something.* Frowning, she undressed, and moved to lather up. She noted absently that Mihoshi must have bathed some time during the night; there were subtle signs the bath had seen use since the previous day. Quickly scrubbing and rinsing off, she lowered herself into the small furo, sighing. Something was definitely wrong. Mihoshi being awake and dressed this early in the morning, for one, was bizarre. She also seemed...subdued, quiet. She thought back to the night before, and the communique from headquarters. Had Mihoshi found out about that? Was that the reason she was acting strangely? Or was it something else...? After a few minutes, she emerged from the furo and dried herself off. Slipping on a robe and slippers, she stepped out of the bath. "I'm going up to the Yagami to take care of some paperwork, okay Mihoshi?" Mihoshi blinked, then shrugged. "Alright. Need any help?" Kiyone shook her head. "No, that's alright. You just...take it easy, okay? Watch some television or something. I won't be long." "Oh...okay, Kiyone. Have fun!" Mihoshi said cheerfully. *She seems to be alright,* Kiyone mused as she made her way to the roof. *Still...* -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Raiding ship's stores for a cup of coffee, Kiyone seated herself at the computer console, and logged into the GP database. *I'm not sure I'll find anything, but this is the best place to start,* she told herself. Accessing the medical records, she called up Mihoshi's file. GALAXY POLICE MEDICAL RECORDS FILE 776432-0239B KURAMITSU, MIHOSHI DET. 1C VITAL DATA DATE OF BIRTH JGC 10798.32 PLACE OF BIRTH UNKNOWN RACE UNKNOWN SEX FEMALE "That's odd...race unknown?" Kiyone mused. She realized that she didn't know what planet Mihoshi was from...it had never come up in conversation...but surely that information would be in her records... MEDICAL HISTORY --TRANSMISSION OF FILE TERMINATED-- --RESTRICTED ACCESS DATABASE FILE-- Kiyone blinked. "Restricted access?" That didn't make any sense. Service records and medical profiles were usually available to all Galaxy Police operatives above Detective Third Class. Brow furrowing, she tried to call up Mihoshi's service record. The GP network refused her request, citing restricted access. "Okay, this is getting weird," she commented. She frowned, wondering what to do next. There was something going on here, and she wanted to know what it was. Despite the fact that Mihoshi frequently got on her nerves, and she often wished she was not partnered with the ditz, she did care about her, and she wouldn't be able to rest until she found out what the administration was trying to hide. Logging out of the network, she modified the comm frequencies on the computer console, and configured the equipment to transmit an anonymous login. Internal affairs often practiced this procedure, she had learned, when doing checks on records, so that their computer activities would not be attributed to their personal terminals. She hesitated. She could get into a lot of trouble if she was discovered. She might even be throwing her career away. An image flickered through her mind of Mihoshi lying on a hospital bed, pale and weak, dying from some incurable illness, unable to do so much as breathe for herself. Eyes hardening in determination, she logged in. >WELCOME TO GALAXY POLICE NETWORK >PLEASE ENTER YOUR REQUEST >1. PUBLIC INFORMATION >2. RECENT POLICE ACTIVITY REPORTS >3. PERSONNEL RECORDS Kiyone pressed [3]. >PLEASE ENTER THE NAME OF THE OFFICER YOU ARE INQUIRING ABOUT. Kiyone typed in [Kuramitsu, Mihoshi]. >RESTRICTED ACCESS FILE. PLEASE ENTER YOUR ACCESS CODE, OR PRESS 'Q' TO ABORT. Kiyone was by no means a computer expert, but she had picked up a few tricks...she knew she might be able to crack the access code. Pausing for a moment, she thought about the few internal affairs officers she knew and had seen in action, trying to remember anything she'd be able to use. Cracking her knuckles, she typed [11A2B]. >VERIFYING, PLEASE WAIT... >ACCESS GRANTED. TRANSMITTING FILE. Kiyone blinked rapidly as the database began transmitting an extremely large file to her terminal. *This is too large to be a service record file,* she thought. Once the transmission was complete, she terminated her connection, and brought up the file she'd received. GALAXY POLICE RESTRICTED FILE R-69913650225-11235 SUBJECT: KURAMITSU MIHOSHI SECURITY LEVEL: ALPHA [WARNING! THIS IS A CLASSIFIED GALAXY POLICE DOCUMENT. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED A COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT, TRIPLE-ENCRYPT IMMEDIATELY AND DO NOT MAKE HARD COPIES. EXTREME PENALTY WILL BE ISSUED IN THE EVENT OF A SECURITY BREACH.] >ENCRYPTED DOCUMENT. With mounting trepidation, Kiyone instructed the computer to decrypt the file... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-