Perfect Circle By Karlmarks Thanks to Locke, Jenn, and especially Zanakin for prereading! Prologue: Nightmare *********Author's notes:********* First: non-standard disclaimer. While this is NOT a lemon by ANY means, this chapter is rather dark in tone, and does contain some graphic (as far as text can be graphic) violence. I've been told the profanity is enough to warrant a warning, though this story is certainly not exceptionally packed with four- letter words. Additionally, the standard disclaimer: I don't own the rights to any of the Tenchi Muyo characters. Not one. Don't worry, I'm taking it pretty well. The only major original characters of the Perfect Circle series so far are Reelan and Elath. If you're reading this, you probably already knew that, but it never hurts to make sure. This particular episode has only the Mihoshi (and a very different Mihoshi, at that) character from the Tenchi Muyo universe; the other characters will come into play in the next episode. I wrote most of this episode from Elath's point of view because, well, it made more sense that way. Many things in this fictional universe are, well, improbable. The entire galaxy appears to operate on Earth years, days, seconds, and so on. Most languages sound suspiciously similar to English or Japanese (English in this story). Nearly every sentient species is humanoid. To list every scientific impossibility in just the "Official" universe (i.e.:"Where does all the extra mass between Ryo-ohki's cabbit and spaceship form come from?") would be both time-consuming and pointless. I'm not going to explain these anomalies of the universe Tenchi inhabits in my story; let's just take it at face value and enjoy the ride! The universe of this story may not match exactly with a specific, official universe (I.E.:the OVA universe), but it's largely consistent placed at the end of the first TV series, "Tenchi Universe". @@@@@@@@THIS PART IS IMPORTANT!@@@@@@@@ This particular chapter takes place two years before the rest of Perfect Circle. @@@@@@@@THIS PART IS IMPORTANT!@@@@@@@@ OK.....that was a lot of notes. Sorry. Now, we begin. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Life wasn't perfect, but it was damn near close. Mihoshi hummed a song under her breath as she walked through the corridors of GP Command Nexus 3 to her private ship. She had *earned* this vacation! After a year-long search, she had tracked down Reelan Karst, robber, murderer, and fairly notorious hacker. Computer crimes were thought obsolete in the modern era: major systems had *no* unsecured data links to the outside world, period. His Mind Machine Commlink invention had changed all that, spawning an entire criminal industry. MMC let its controller use the full power of their thoughts to crack security directly,allowing access to secure systems through *anything* directly hooked up to them. Even the lock keypad on a door would do, provided one had sufficient willpower. He had provided cover for the crimes he was involved in by taking their targets offline. His untraceablity had been near-legendary in this sector. Had been, until Mihoshi had bagged both him and a promotion to Detective First Class. Though a suspected partner was still at large, she wouldn't stay that way for long. Since a rising star of the GP got few chances to take a break, her parents had jumped at the opportunity for a family vacation. The Pilot Academy her younger brother attended was currently on semester-end break, so the family made plans to rendezvous at the resort planet Coraliin. Mihoshi's ship, the Seraph, was fast enough to give her an extra day of leisure before the scheduled meet- up. *** In the bar (helpfully labeled "The Bar" by a sign outside The Bar) on Sarveen, Mihoshi watched. Watching was a habit she'd picked up early as a GP detective, and, even off-duty, she watched. A Cyrmion gestured wildly at his or her (determining the gender of non-humanoids wasn't one of Mihoshi's strong points) companion in an attempt to prove what must have been a breathtakingly important point. Three people of a species she didn't recognized laughed. A humanoid male sat down next to her. "Can I buy you a drink?" asked The Humanoid. "I guess," Mihoshi said without enthusiasm. The last thing she needed was complication in her life. She thought quickly, then added "Blue Lightning, double," the most expensive item this place would be likely to serve. After relaying her order to the multi-tentacled barkeep, he once again proved his determination to ignore her subtle "I despise you" hints by trying to start a conversation. "My name's Jakt," he announced. After waiting an uncomfortable 15 seconds, he tried again. "What's yours?" "*Detective First Class* Mihoshi," she replied loudly. Nearly all conversation in The Bar ceased. The Cyrmion and his/her companion quietly stood up and walked quickly out of the room. Undeterred, Jakt continued. "How long you been on the force?" "Year and a half," Mihoshi said, keeping her noncommittal tone of voice. "Then there's still hope!" he exclaimed, flashing her a lopsided smile. "But we gotta get you to a licensed therapist, and quick!" In spite of herself, Mihoshi laughed. A few drinks later, she had agreed to let him walk her to her ship, where she was staying for her one day pre-vacation-vacation. When they reached the hatch, Mihoshi didn't think to turn around at the rustling sound coming from behind her. She didn't quite understand what she was doing on the ground a second later. "Must havvvv...slippd," she decided aloud. "Help me up?" she thought in a brief moment of clarity. Then Jakt used the second hypospray on her and the ground in front of her eyes faded into hollow, echoing darkness. *** The ringing sound of boots on metal awakened her. As a GP officer, Mihoshi had seen what happened to women in these situations. If she was lucky, maybe her body would be found unconscious instead of dead when Jakt was done with her. Then everything lit up painfully as she opened her eyes. The image of a brown-haired woman compressed into focus. "You're not Jakt," she observed. "And you're going to wish I was," the woman replied. Her beautiful silver eyes flashed. A sign reading "Mnemosyne--Deck 12" was the last thing Mihoshi's eyes caught before they closed again. Laughter echoed in her head as the universe faded out again. When Detective First Class Mihoshi awoke, the first thing she noticed was her left arm. Specifically, that she couldn't move it. She couldn't remember opening her eyes, and yet she could see. She didn't seem to be able to blink, either. Trying to move established the fact that she was strapped to a wall. A mist sprayed across her eyes from the apparatus that held her eyelids open. In front of her stood the brown-hairedcaptor. The room was brilliant white. "Where's Jakt?" she reprimanded herself internally. "Whatever he called himself, he's long gone with his 50 credits," Mihoshi's abductor answered. "Well...who are you? And where am I?" Mihoshi demanded. "I'm Elath, and you're on the Mnemosyne. Now, I think that, given the circumstances, it's *you* who should be giving *me* information. Understood?" "'A GP officer must never release classified information to unauthorized persons,'" quoted Mihoshi. "Anyway, I don't *know* anything classified." Shit...shouldn't make her mad...shouldn't make her mad...> Elath considered Mihoshi's response *very* briefly, then continued. "Reelan Karst. You know who he is, correct?" Mihoshi nodded. "Good to know I haven't been wasting my time. Now, to the important part. You know *where* he is." It was not a question. Mihoshi recalled the events of the day before her vacation began. "Now, as per procedure, you'll be handing the suspect over to the officers in a standard shuttle belonging to a shuttle at the rendezvous for transfer to a different ship. You know how it is with suspected Syndicate members: need to know basis. And you don't need. They'd have to look damn hard to figure out where Reelan ends up, so they won't expend the effort to free him." Mihoshi knew when she was lying to herself. "Well where is he, dammit? Give me the ship's name, UIN, and location, and you can walk away." Elath was visibly annoyed. "Why would I tell you?" Mihoshi asked, in all seriousness. Elath laughed and left the room. A minute later, Mihoshi heard a door open to her left, out of her field of view. "Do you love your family?" Elath asked. A muffled voice called out unintelligibly from Elath's direction. Elath walked into view, with the person Mihoshi least wanted to see at the moment standing beside her. Mihoshi's brother Avar's gag was untied by their mutual captor. "Mihoshi! What the hell are you doing here? Who is this woman? Wait...GP...*THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, ISN'T IT!*" Avar was obviously not having a pleasant vacation. "Who else is here?" Mihoshi demanded. "How the fuck should I know?" Avar screamed. "I fall asleep for one fucking minute waiting for my shuttle and the next thing I know I'm in...whatever the fuck this place is, all tied up, with this fucking psycho!" "Touching family reunion, officer, but I have another question for you now," Elath said, smiling. She held up a blast pistol. "A blaster pistol cauterizes, right?" Mihoshi nodded. "Wrong. Modified to a low enough output, it does something a lot more interesting. Now tell me where Reelan is or your brother will find out just *how* interesting it can be." "I DON'T KNOW!" Mihoshi pleaded at the top of her lungs. She desperately tried to convince Elath of the need-to-know system his capture had been conducted under. "One question: why?" Elath responded. "I was booked once. They didn't do all that secrecy shit for me, and I'm ten times as dangerous as he'll *ever* be!" She laughed at her joke. "Your story isn't holding up, detective." She loaded a chargepack into the gun and pointed it at Avar's right leg. "He's Syndicate!" Mihoshi yelled. "Suspected involvement with The Syndicate gives any prisoner a Need To Know flag! Don't hurt him, I swear it's true!" Elath yelled back at her. "You fucking liar! He wasn't Syndicate! We were partners 5 years, since he got into the business, and we never got into that shit! Give me a better story next time." A blast pistol usually creates a unique hiss as its energy projectile excites molecules in the air between its origin and destination. On low power, the air molecules move slowly enough to create a loud, mid-pitched hum. It was not loud enough to drown out Avar's scream. Mihoshi was forced to watch as Elath held down the trigger, burning through her brother's leg at a point just below the knee. All she could do was block out the image of her brother--detach, withdraw--Oh God, Avar was going to die! The blood hissed when it touched the exposed bone. It fell to the floor in a bubbling pool for a few seconds before the temperature equalized. "Now," Elath said, quieting Avar violently with the heavy barrel of her pistol, "you will tell me where Reelan is. Mihoshi thought rapidly. "Coordinates 1032, 65556, 262144; on board the Ranger," she lied. Elath's silver eyes widened with rage at Mihoshi's stubborn commitment to duty. "You," she said, staring deep into her captive's eyes, "are lying." If she thought her career was worth more than her family, she deserved this. Elath brought the blaster to bear on Avar's head and looked to Mihoshi hopefully. "Look, I know people. GP Command people. I could get Reelan a lighter sentence! Just let me go! I won't report this, I swear!" Mihoshi thought back to Hostage Negotiation training. "It's obvious you're a very powerful person, and you've just been given a great opportunity. A chance to show the galaxy that you're really not out to hurt anyone. Just let me and Avar go. He's in school, he's going to graduate in 5 months. Show me how kind you are and let Avar go." If Elath saw her captives as people she'd have a harder time killing them. That was the theory, at least. The theory was apparently wrong. Elath applied the blast pistol to the back of Avar's head. Mihoshi screamed as a reddish mass boiled out of the back of his head, his face pressed into the floor. Elath put her foot down, and what had been Avar's head melted across the once-colorless floor. When would the goodcop see that she was serious? *** A small-time runner had been picking up a shipment of Matter Displacement Bombs on the remote world of Tolrun. She paid with a voucher from her client, and, upon delivery, would receive a 5% cut of the profit. Even 5% of a shipment like this would be enough to overhaul the engines of the Vore, her personal ship. A gravlift cart cancels out the pull of the strongest nearby source of gravity on its cargo. Even weightless, objects retain their mass, so the smuggler was struggling to maneuver the 200 kilos through a public marketplace. thought the woman. She laughed involuntarily, and, the second her eyes closed, she hit a blue-haired young man with all 200 kilos of matter displacement equipment. Even at walking speed, 200 kilos is a lot to be hit with. He fell on his back, mouth bloody. "Shit, man, I'm sorry!" He was hurt badly enough to conceivably charge her with assault, and the last thing she needed at this point was 20 to life for what the local cops would find in the crates she was pushing. "No...it's okay," he said, sitting up. "You might wanna be more careful with something that illegal, though." Less than a second later, he was on his feet, looking forward, with a cold round object pressed into the back of his neck. "This," the pirate whispered, "is my blast pistol. If you try to move away, yell for help, or even talk too loudly, your parents are gonna have to go to Dr. So-and-so to pick up your dental records to get positive ID, 'cause there isn't gonna be anything left of your face." <"The modern criminal learns how to act from holos,"> remembered the youth being held at gunpoint. "Look. I'm not gonna turn you in. I just want to know...how can I get a job like yours?" For the first time in her life, someone admired her. A low-level criminal working a shit job for far less money than she deserved, and she had a fan club! Something in the earnest tone of the man's voice made her answer. "Walk me to my ship; we'll talk. By the way, I'm Elath. Who're you?" "Reelan. Reelan Karst." *** "What'll it be then, eh?" Though she had moved up quite a bit in the galaxy and had figured out how to be properly menacing along the way, Elath had lost neither her idealism nor her habit of using other's words instead of her own when she needed to be most threatening. "Tell me? Or do you really want to see what else I have planned for our little vacation?" *** Inside GP Command Nexus 3, Arnam was worried. As a lieutenant, the safety of her officers was a prime concern. Two days ago, Mihoshi's friend Sardre had reported her missing. They were to have met up on Coraliin, and, when the detective never showed up, Sardre's search had totally failed to find her or her family anywhere on the planet. The GP had similar luck. Upon checking the passenger records of Gloriously Economical Spacelines, it seemed her parents and brother had showed up at the port to confirm their tickets an hour before departure, but vanished before the ship left. Mihoshi had left no clue whatsoever as to her whereabouts. The rescue force Arnam had organized had managed to turn up the Seraph, IFF transmitter modified and without its UIN, in a used shipyard with "Sporty appearance! Powerful AM engine! Stereo loud enough to hear kilometers away--in airless *outer* SPACE! Only 35000 cred! Act now!" painted on the hull in place of a name. A trace on how it got there was the case's only lead. *** "Your mother," Elath explained to the instrument of her beloved's imprisonment, "is restrained in such a fashion that she is totally unaware of and unable to interact with her surroundings." Vareth was bound to a stretcher by energy bands with a metal plate over her eyes; a sonic damper projected a field to prevent sound from reaching her. Her mouth was moving in what must have been a scream, but the damper absorbed all sound. "Now, there's nothing in that marvelous setup of hers to block pain. You know where Reelan is, and you know I will kill to save him from your kind." Elath drew a cheap, mass-produced lightsword from her belt. "Now, you *will* tell me." "No! You stupid bitch! Are you listening to me at all?" Mihoshi blurted without thinking. Tears ran down the detective's face. Elath, watching, knew Mihoshi would break soon. The lightsword powered up. Elath swung it in a narrow arc through Vareth's wrist. "Bionics are good these days. Your mother may be able to lead a normal life if you *tell me where Reelan is or I will be forced to kill her*!" The pirate's voice edged on panic. Elath *knew* she was close. Knew it. Nothing had worked, so the terrified Detective First Class had fallen back on honesty. "You--you're fucking crazy! There's no way he's going free! Murder isn't gonna make me magically figure out where he is! You're gonna be locked up for a *very* long time! Maybe they won't kill you if you let us go *now*!" She didn't expect to win this argument. Her prediction was correct. "Oh, more mind games? Imagine *this* away!" Elath brought the sword down again. She cut away a bit more than half of Vareth's left wrist, then ripped the rest off and flung it at Mihoshi. The blood on the detective's uniform was joined by vomit. She was obviously aware who had the power in this situation. And yet she would not relent...why? But Elath knew her eventual victory would be worth any sacrifices made along the way. *** Reelan was excited. As his thoughts hacked into security with his prototype MMC link, his body held its breath in exhilaration. This was his first real run. Elath had briefed him on what to expect. "Now, these rentacops will draw their guns right away, but be *real* hesitant to fire. Usually they'll surrender without a fight if you get the drop on them. It's like the bank's *giving* their money away!" A job he loved, a partner he loved: paradise. As soon as the last firewall broke, he flipped back to reality. Loading his blast pistol, he joined Elath at the loading door. A strange carnival atmosphere surrounded this adventure. "Is it--" "Taken care of." Elath placed the vehicular-grade hoverpod on the door. Activated, it ripped the door off and continued on a flight into the sky. The bank 100 meters below its current position was about to lose about 500,000 cred. "Go!" Elath shouted, and she and her partner ran through the door, guns ready. After knocking a security guard unconscious en route, the pair arrived at the vault. "Alright, people, I'm here to make a small withdrawal from your esteemed facilities. If everyone keeps their heads, everyone gets to keep their heads." Elath brandished the pistol menacingly. The three employees they surprised working at the central computer were all face-down on the floor less then a second after her motivational speech (though not before quickly glancing at the pirates' faces.) "Management briefed them well," she laughed to Reelan. High-level workers cost too much in training to throw away through carelessness in a robbery, so standard procedure was to give all non-security personnel training on "holdup etiquette". After tying up the employees, she joined Reelan at the vault door. Normally, it would be on a time-secured lock, but thanks to Reelan's hack, it swung open at the push of a button. This surprised the workers quite visibly, though not audibly, thanks to the one-way sonic containment field surrounding them. Most of the cash (despite the ease of digital currency, most transactions were still done through non-replicably encoded paper-thin credit vouchers for anonymity) had been loaded into their agrav crates. Elath was securing the lids when Reelan went to back out to the computing center to check on the hostages. They were still under control, he noted. He was totally unprepared for what happened in the next two seconds. In the corner of his left eye, he caught movement. A security guard stepped into the room and froze momentarily in shock. He sized up the situation: bound hostages, open vault, armed man. His eyes met with Reelan's. His hand shot to his gun. Without time to think, Reelan fired. The guard lay on the ground, bleeding from two holes in his chest. Reelan heard the metallic clang of a gun on the floor. His? No, it was in his hand, warm from being fired. He stared at the dying man on the floor for a moment before Elath emerged from the vault. Seeing his face, drained of color, the body on the ground, and the guns, her faced flashed concern for a second before she decided Reelan was unhurt. Then she laughed. "Don't worry, your first time always hurts a little," she said in a mockery of a caring voice before reverting to laughter. She had been ready for this eventuality, had prepared her jokes carefully. "Now, you are a man." Noticing her partner's shocked expression remained, she continued. "Seriously, it's no big deal. Just try not to do it too often; it'll make them try harder to find us. Pain in the ass, have to keep a low profile for a while, but we won't get caught." This wasn't going as well as she had hoped, but he would get over his inhibitions, given time. Hadn't she? *** The Seraph had been traced back to a small-time grifter on backwater Sarveen. The name he gave, "Jereth," was almost certainly false. His DNA had never been registered, but this was not unheard of on frontier worlds. Three witnesses verified his having talked to Mihoshi in "The Bar" shortly before her disappearance. Arnam handled the interrogation personally. The suspect grinned lopsidedly at her, hopeful and yet knowing he was beyond hope. "Look: we believe you know the whereabouts of Detective First Class Mihoshi. If she is alive, giving us information leading to her recovery will look favorably in any...legal proceedings you may be engaged in following her return. If she is not, a guilty plea could help you avoid the death penalty. All in all, it's in your best interest to cooperate." In interrogation, sometimes honesty actually was the best policy. *** Despair wrapped Mihoshi in its warm embrace. The detective was in tears. Her mother's severed head remained on the floor, silently expressing its outraged disappointment at her daughter's failure to protect her family. But there was nothing left to do. Nothing had worked. Reason was not working, pleading was not working, and Elath seemed to have an innate ability to tell if Mihoshi was giving correct information. The pirate, too committed to her love to accept defeat, tried again. Elath wondered. "You really don't want to know what comes next. Tell me, and you won't *need to know*," she laughed cruelly, showing the detective how badly her pitiful lie was going over. Mihoshi seemed weaker now than she had ever been. Weakness was important. Weakness meant the loss of the will to fight back. Weakness meant that Elath would soon find out where Reelan was. *** The stars shone brightly on a cloudless night. Jiroth had no moon to drown them out, so on a night like this, one could see the truly amazing sight of a sky near the galactic core without interference. Binary and trinary systems, red giants, and blue protostars created a beautiful image across the blanket of night. Inside the room, Elath turned her eyes away and glanced over at Reelan, sleeping peacefully next to her. As though he was aware he was being watched, his eyes opened. "Beautiful," he exhaled quietly. "After tomorrow, we're leaving Corespace, so look while you can," Elath reminded him, knowing as she spoke that her beloved had been referred to her, not the sky. After a minute of silence, she spoke again. "This can't last forever. One day, the GP will catch me, and you'll have to go on without me. Are you prepared?" "Don't be so morbid," he said, worried. One of the unspoken laws of her profession was that you never succeeded in staying free. It was always just a question of how long you had until you were caught. "But really, what would you do?" "It won't happen," Reelan maintained. "I won't let it. I love you." For a moment, Elath believed in his optimism. And he continued. "Forever." *** Detective First Class Mihoshi knew this to be true. She couldn't give the answers her captor wanted to hear, and she had no question of Elath's capability to commit murder. Resigned to her fate, she did not even bother to speak when Elath carried her unconscious father into the room. *** "Look at me!" she screamed. "Tell me where Reelan is or your father will never wake up!" Mihoshi remained silent. Elath made a fatal mistake. She fired the shot. As the blood spread across the floor, she knew that, hostages used up, there was no way she'd get the information to save her beloved. Before she could begin to think of what to do next, the space station shook and a loud "clank" reverberated through it. *** "Docking clamps secure!" reported the Assault Team Beta unit 1. "Roger," replied Arnam, Assault Team Alpha unit 1. "Let's move out!" Over the Mnemosyne's intercom, she announced the ultimatum. "Elath Iven, this is the GP. Three of our ships are blockading this station, and our rescue team has landed. Surrender yourself and your hostages immediately." *** Elath knew it was over. Her ship would be powerless against a pack of GP cruisers, and there was no way she could hold off an entire assault team by herself. She knew well what happened to those the GP caught. Being handed off to local authorities was not pleasant; some of the backwater worlds she'd gone through still allowed execution by torture. In her heart she knew he would not, could not ever forgive her. Paradise was gone forever. While he met whatever destiny the GP had in store for him, she would choose her own, with honor. She brought the barrel of the blast pistol to her mouth. "Forever." Reelan's voice flashed through her thoughts in her the final moments as the energy projectile sped upward; her destiny compressed into a single burst of pure energy. Then her inner voice fell silent as most of her brain impacted on the pristine ceiling. *** In front of Arnam, a fellow officer stood motionless. Arnam stepped forward, prepared to let her colleague know how her laziness endangered the lives of the hostages. The scene past the doorway swung into her field of view, and the words froze in her mind. Flecks of blood littered the shining walls of the white room. At least two people had died in this room; a third looked probable. And Mihoshi. Alive. Good. Good? Arnam hated to think of the psych work this would require; would the rising star she had staked her reputation on survive intact? Arnam shut her eyes in disgust at both what she saw in the room and what she saw about herself. But Mihoshi's whispering voice interrupted her thoughts. Without inflection, without thought, the sobbing detective spoke softly. "don't know. I don't know don't know. don't know I don't know I swear oh god please I don't know." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ***********Final notes: "Serial number" sounded silly for a spaceship, and I thought it would be mildly amusing if, in space, ships were registered with UINs, (Universal Identifying Numbers, used in the popular chat program ICQ), so I put that in. I've been told the profanity is a bit excessive--all I can say is that most of the people I know talk in a similar fashion when they lose their keys; what would the stress be like if they lost their families? I edited out a bit of it, but if you think it's at an offensively high level, of course let me know in email so I can do it differently next time I write something like this. ***********About The Author: Karlmarks is an anonymous internet personality. You could know him in real life. Scary, huh? @@@@@@This part is important!@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Email him-- markskarl@hotmail.com --with comments of ANY kind. If you read it, please let me know what you thought. "Good" or "Bad" would do (though anything constructive would put me in your incredible and eternal debt.) And yes, I realize Mihoshi you all know and love doesn't act like that, and she won't, two years later. If you think it's a bit unclear, tell me so I can put an intro on the next chapter in clarification. anything at all would be appreciated. Take five minutes out of your life to let me know it's not a cold, uncaring world, after all. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@This part is important@@@@@@ "But I don't believe in God So I can't be saved All alone, as I've learned to be In this mess I have made" --Ben Folds Five, "Mess"