"After the Crisis"

The sound of yelling and revelry awoke her, Priss sat up in bed and saw her band mates laughing it up and playfully shoving each other. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“We’re close to home,” Fox shouted. “Tokyo, Sweet Tokyo!”

Though Priss felt herself getting caught up in their enthusiasm, she knew there was not much for her to be celebrating. All of her band had family and friends waiting for them here in Tokyo that they had not been able to see in at least a year. They had been in America promoting the band and then on various tours without a real break in months. The last time Fox had returned to Tokyo he had invited Priss to come along and she had begged off. She could tell that he had been curious, if not concerned, but would not dare ask why she had resisted.

In truth, she had wanted to go back, but was hesitant. She had originally planned for it to be a small undertaking to find her band mates and head to America and play the clubs for a while before coming back to see everyone again. However, what happened is that she spent weeks hitching rides to find her bassist Mason Fox staying with his parents. Then the two of them rounded up the others and headed for the United States. They had begun playing at a club and for a while Priss forgot all of her anxiety. Her life as a Knight Saber became a thing of the past, a past she became more and more reluctant to face.

After a few months, they were signed by an American label and began touring some big cities. They got rave reviews and now the label wanted them to return to Japan and record a new CD for release in both countries. The rest of the band had been so excited at the prospect she did not see any way she could protest. Now that she was so close to the city, she was both apprehensive and excited. Though she was not sure what their feelings on the subject would be, she did want to see Linna, Nene, and Sylia again. She stretched and stood up from the fold out bed and joined the others looking out the window at the skyline of Neo Tokyo.

…

Miles away in the country, Sylia was working in the garden outside of her home. If someone had told her just a few years ago that she would be tilling in the flower bed of her mother’s home in denim overalls she would have called them crazy. Though there had been many events in her life recently that would have seemed so impossible before. She looked over at Macky as he approached her with a wheelbarrow full of mulch. The frown on his face tore at her heart, she knew that he longed for the city, longed for the excitement, and the possibility of being close to Nene, but it was too dangerous for him.

After the Galatea Incident, the government referred to the phenomenon as The Boomer Revolution. When groups began to re-enter and organize efforts to rebuild the city, the groups and remaining government officials decided to outlaw Boomer technology. They raided Genom’s corporate office, laboratories, and the remains of the tower and destroyed everything. They also declared that any Boomer technology that was found would be immediately destroyed and that experimenting with the technology was prohibited.

“Where do you want this?” Macky asked.

She smiled brightly at him and replied, “Just dump it into the flower bed and help me spread it around.” Macky looked at her with surprise, then he smiled back. “I must have been frowning,” he thought to himself. “She always seems to get so sweet when she catches me frowning.” He cleared his throat lightly and asked, “So, where is Nigel?”

“He went in to town to do some shopping and pick up some parts to repair the lawnmower,” she told him. As she thought of Nigel her hand instinctively went to her stomach. She had just discovered that morning that she was pregnant, and she could not wait to tell him when he got home that night. They had been living there in the country home ever since Sylia had heard word that Boomers were outlawed. He had been supportive, willing to stay there and be there for her. She knew that Nigel, like Macky, longed to return to the city; the hustle and the bustle.

Suddenly, she felt Macky’s gaze on her and he was looking at the way she seemed to be cradling her stomach. She jerked her hand away and began to work at spreading the mulch through the flower bed. She waited for Macky to ask her about it but he remained silent. He used to be so talkative, or at least it had seemed that way to her, but now he seemed to have mastered the Stingray silent treatment. She stood up and looked down their dirt road towards town, wondering when Nigel would return.

“I saw something interesting in the newspaper today,” Macky commented. “Priss and her band Sekiria are coming back to Tokyo. They are scheduled to arrive today and perform a concert at the new Hot Legs tonight.”

“And?” Sylia pressed on.

“I was wondering if we would be making an appearance?” he looked away shyly and did not see the anger rising to the surface in Sylia’s face, but he certainly heard the rage when she resumed speaking.

“She ran out of here without so much as a goodbye and has not spoken to anyone in two years, and you expect me to be clamoring to see her?!” she asked.

“Well I-“he got out before she continued.

“Besides, it is way too dangerous for you to be in the city. Do you remember the law? Do you remember what they will do to you if it is discovered that you are a Boomer?”

“Yes,” he mumbled softly.

‘Well you better, because if you do remember that, then the last thing you should want to do is to go into the city.” She heard the sound of a car approaching and looked up to see Nigel pulling into their driveway, her rage dissipated and a smile came over her face. Macky saw the love in Sylia’s eyes as she looked at Nigel, the way he had a calming effect on her. How then could she not understand and sympathize with his problem. The one he wanted so far from him, and probably making an appearance at the concert but he was stuck there in a country house on an old dirt road. He wondered where Nene was at that moment and wondered if she ever thought of him, the way he thought of her.

…

At that moment, Nene was running around like crazy trying to get all of the day’s paperwork processed into the computer and be on her way home. There was only twenty minutes until the end of her shift and she wanted to be finished on time because she was meeting Linna at a diner to grab a quick bite. Nene worked at the new AD Police headquarters as a technology officer. The AD Police members that had returned to the city to help in the rebuilding effort, including herself and Leon, had seen the need to reinstitute the force to govern the returning citizens and to organize the destruction of Boomer technology.

Thinking back on that time she could not help but feel a pang of guilt. Despite everything that had happened she had not wanted all the Boomer technology to be destroyed and outlawed, only controlled better. However, everyone else hungered to wipe out the beings that had destroyed their city. She and Leon both got lost in the overwhelming majority and assisted with their efforts. Her one preservation had been to keep secret the location of information and technology relating to the Knight Sabers. Leon could have revealed this information himself but he had kept silent. Maybe that had been his way to preserve something as well.

Leon had become an instant leader for the group as they worked to clean, build, and repair their city. When the force became more and more established, Leon was named Chief of the AD Police. Nene had been there to see him sworn in, heard him promise to continue the fight to become the city they once were. It was at that moment that she thought of Priss, how Leon used to ask about her, as if Nene would know anything.

When Priss had run off from Sylia’s place, everyone assumed they would hear from her. As days, then weeks, then months passed they no longer watched the phone waiting for it to ring. They stopped sorting through their mail expecting there to be a letter from Priss. Everyone moved on and mostly forgot about her, even Leon. There had been a young woman named Kyoko who had offered the returning workers food and a place to stay. She had become smitten with Leon and after months without word from Priss they had begun dating.

Leon and Kyoko seemed to be the perfect couple and within weeks, Leon had asked her to marry him. They had been married almost a year now, and Leon no longer asked about Priss. Nene had been glad to see Leon find someone. As much as she had wanted Leon and Priss to be together, she could not fault Leon for moving on. Priss had left him high and dry and Kyoko had been there for him.

Suddenly, Nene realized that she had been gripping the arms of her chair and not typing in her day’s paperwork. Priss did not deserve her rage anymore. No one wanted her back around, except maybe Linna. She took a deep breath and got back to typing her paperwork in to the computer so that she could leave for the day. There was no use thinking about Priss, she would probably never see her again.

…

A few blocks away, Linna sat in a small diner brimming with excitement. She was looking at the newspaper she had just bought from the vending machine and was surprised to see the article about Priss returning to Tokyo and that she would be performing a concert at Hot Legs. Linna was sure that Nene would not want to go but maybe she could talk her into it. Although even if she refused Linna knew she would go by herself. She had not heard from Priss in two years and was dying to see her.

She remembered the day after Priss had left watching Nene leave with Leon for Tokyo to join the restoration effort. Sylia had offered to let her stay there for a little while and for the next few weeks she sat on the porch every day and waited; half expecting for Priss to return. When she realized that Priss would not be coming back she left for her parents’ home. She decided that she would stay with them until it was safer to head back to Tokyo.

The several months that she was there her parents were matchmaking endlessly and trying to find her a “suitable” husband but Linna turned them all away. She had been attracted to the man they had introduced her to before, none of these men piqued her interest. She rejected date after date and her parents told her that they were going to pick her a husband if she stayed there any longer. So, she packed her bags and made her way back to Tokyo.

Linna found herself sharing a small apartment with Nene; since they were in such short supply. The two became fast friends again, and Linna realized early on that the subject of Priss was one that was off limits. Nene still resented Priss for breaking Leon’s heart when she took off, but Linna disagreed. Her loyalty was with Priss and Linna felt that Leon had pushed her too hard by asking her to marry him only hours after she woke up from a three day sleep, but you could not say that to Nene.

There was another subject that Linna had to be careful with: the Knight Sabers. Boomer technology had become outlawed and was destroyed during the restoration, but Linna had yearned to put on her hardsuit again. The one time she had broached the subject in front of Sylia she had become furious and had told her that the Knight Sabers were over and done with. Later, she had been talking with Nigel and he had said that he got a letter from Nene. Nene had told him that she had been able to save everything that was inside of Nigel’s garage and the Stingray building pertaining to the Knight Sabers. Nigel then told Linna that he had moved everything to his garage and could create new hardsuits if it became necessary.

She remembered how surprised she had been at the news. She would have figured that Nigel would want to be rid of the Knight Sabers as much as Sylia did and she said as much. “I won’t ever make another suit for Sylia,” he asserted. “I have seen her push herself too far and her mind and body can’t handle it anymore. I would never let her get in a hardsuit again and I will personally destroy all the data and schematics for her hardsuit.” She nodded her head in agreement and was glad to feel like someone else did not want to just brush the Knight Sabers under the rug.

She was pulled from her memories as she noticed Nene sitting down across from her in the booth. “You looked a million miles away,” Nene commented as she sat down.

“I guess I was,” Linna replied. “Have you seen today’s paper?” she asked as she handed it to Nene. It was open to the article about Priss and Nene’s smile faded instantly.

“I cannot believe she is actually coming back,” Nene remarked. “I guess she probably doesn’t think there is any reason she should not return,”

“I guess that means that I am going to the concert by myself,” Linna alleged with a sigh.

“You really want to go?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes, I do. It has been two whole years since we laid eyes on her and I would like to know that she has been okay. I guess I would also like to reassure her that we don’t all hate her.”

Now it was Nene’s turn to sigh and as she did she heard her cell phone ring.

“Hello, you’ve reached Nene,” she answered. Linna leaned back in her chair and listened for Nene to finish her phone conversation. “Sylia what’s wrong, you sound hysterical.” Linna’s attention was now rooted to the discussion. “What do you mean Macky left?!” After another pause she heard Nene say, “I understand, I promise I will look into it.”

“Macky ran away?” Linna asked.

“Yeah,” Nene answered as she stood up. “Sylia thinks he is going to Priss’s concert; so, I guess we are going after all. I promised Sylia I would find him and get him to come home.”

…

Linna and Macky had not been the only people who had wanted to attend the concert. Leon had seen the newspaper article that morning and though he knew there was no reason for him to go; he also knew that he wanted to be there. He told himself that he would go just to see her one last time, on stage. He had always been entranced by her singing, as well as her looks, but he wanted her singing on stage to be the last memory he had of her.

His current memories were tainted by the way they had left each other in that bedroom. Later, he had kicked himself for the way he had acted and for getting upset when he knew that she had only been trying to push him away because she was scared. Unfortunately, by the time he had returned to talk to her again he learned that she had left a short little note and had snuck off in the middle of the night. He and the others had all assumed they would hear from her in a matter of time but no letters or phone calls ever came their way.

He took Nene with him back to Tokyo to work on the Restoration effort and he used to ask about Priss, but Nene received no news either. Little by little he gave up hope and started to believe that she had meant what she said about being with him because she thought it could all be over in the morning. Though he guessed he could not really blame her, everyone most likely had those thoughts that night, and they were not facing Galatea the next day. He supposed he had just wanted his feelings reciprocated so much that he had been willing to believe that they were, at any cost.

He looked around as he walked towards Hot Legs and wondered if Priss would even notice him there in the crowd. Would she even look the same to him? Would she evoke the same passion from him that she had before? He guessed that he would have to go inside and find out. He entered the club and found a secluded spot in the back to watch the concert. Hopefully she would not even see him.

When Linna and Nene arrived at Hot Legs the club was full of smoke and seemed just as it had always been. Priss and her band had not taken the stage yet and the crowd was clamoring and shouting her name. The stage lights came on abruptly and the band appeared on stage in a flash of smoke. Everyone began to cheer and Linna was doing the same. Nene grabbed her arm and shouted, “We are supposed to be looking for Macky.”

“I am, I am!” Linna insisted.

“Maybe we should split up,” Nene suggested. Linna simply nodded in agreement and they moved away from each other as they searched the crowd for Macky.

From the stage, Priss began to sing and as she did she could not stop herself from look into the crowd. She looked for any sign of Linna or Nene to no avail. The stage lights restricted her vision somewhat. As she searched the swimming sea of faces, she almost stopped singing as she saw Leon’s face in the crowd. He was standing against the back wall; almost the exact spot from which he had first watched her perform. He looked like he did the last time she had seen him, minus his clothes. He was wearing a suit but it looked great on him and he still had that tan skin and stunning silver hair.

Priss forced herself to look away and lose herself in what she was singing. Throughout the set she tried to avoid looking at Leon but caught herself looking back to make sure he had not left. She wanted him there to hear her sing every song. She wished she could make this concert continue on and on forever. Before she knew it they were performing their last song and the night was drawing to a close. She gave one last look to the back of the club and found that Leon was gone. He had left before the concert was over, most likely to avoid talking to her. Though she tried so hard to hide it she could feel a small tear making its way down her cheek.

The band thanked the audience and Mason took the mic from Priss’s hand and told everyone that they would continue to perform at Hot Legs while they were in Tokyo. The crowd cheered and then they began to clear the club. Priss walked off stage and back to the dressing room. She expected the room to be empty but when she walked in she found Macky sitting there on the couch. “Macky?” Priss yelled. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see your concert,” he replied. “I was feeling cooped up in the country and when I heard that you were back in town and performing, I decided I would come to see the show.”

“I’m sure Sylia is worried about you,” Priss commented. “This city has to be dangerous for you.”

“Why?” Macky asked. “I don’t look like a Boomer. Who would ever find out?”

“Calm down, I’m not trying to make you go home,” Priss assured him. “I just didn’t want you to get caught.”

At that moment, the door opened and Linna and Nene were standing there. “Macky!” they exclaimed. “Oh thank god you are here! Sylia called us after she had discovered you missing and sent us here to find you.”

“It’s good to see you too Nene,” Macky replied with a sarcastic tone. She looked surprised by his comment.

“It is good to see you Macky, but you have to realize how much danger you are in here.” She looked down at the floor. “Sylia is worried about you and I need to take you home.”

“I’m not going back to that house,” he asserted firmly. “I am staying here in the city, you cannot force me to leave.”

Nene looked up from the floor and anger entered her voice, “You will have no one to stay with here in the city. You certainly can’t stay with me.”

“He can stay with me,” Priss interjected.

Nene and Macky both turned towards her with looks of shock on their faces.

“The record label has provided me with a big penthouse apartment and there is more than enough room. Macky is right, you can’t make him go back. He can stay with me while I am in Tokyo, if he promises to head back when I leave.”

“Are you insane?!” Nene shouted. “You are going to get him killed!”

“He will be fine,” Priss shot back. “He will be in my hotel room or with me at all times. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“Oh sure,” Nene snapped indignantly. “Just be sure to give him more notice than you gave us when you decide to disappear again.” Then she turned and stomped out of the room.

Linna watched her walk away before approaching Priss and saying, “Just let her be, I’m sure she will cool down in a couple of days.” Then she gave Priss a quick hug. “I’m glad you are back.” She pulled away and ran out after Nene.

Priss had not been surprised by Nene’s reaction to her; she had expected anger. However, Linna’s reaction had thrown her for a loop. She had seemed genuinely happy to see her, not the least bit upset over two years without communication. Priss just shook her head and looked over at Macky, “Let’s go kid.”

As they walked out of the club neither of them noticed that they were being watched from a car parked across the street. Inside that car, Leon sat watching Priss leave with Macky. He was not sure why he had sat there waiting to see her leave but now that he had, he could make no more excuses. It was time to head home to his wife.

When Priss and Macky entered her hotel room she collapsed onto one of the couches with a sigh. She grabbed the remote from the glass coffee table and flipped on the television. “You can have the bedroom,” she told him. When she saw his look of surprise she clarified it by saying, “I don’t sleep much.” He nodded his head and walked into the other room.

As Priss flipped through the channels, she stopped on the 24 hour news network. They were discussing the decision by members of the Diet to host panel discussions on the future of Boomer technology. They wanted to draft a law that would allow experimentation and application of the technology in certain areas. She shut off the television in disgust and laid back on the couch and waited for sleep.

To Be Continued. . .

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