------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Dirty Pair (and Company) in R E U N I O N S by Larry Mann and Ryan Mathews ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "In the back of my mind, I always wonder if, somewhere underneath all that insanity that controlled him, there was actually a decent person. I wonder if, somewhere, there was still someone who was capable of loving someone else..." - from a report by WWWA Agent Yuri (#234-Y, Lovely Angel) after the Lord Robin affair --------------------- S T A G E E I G H T --------------------- > 18:30:00 [A now battered caravan races away from the junkyard, now a smoking wasteland from the gunfire and the _Lovely_Angel's_ missiles. In the lead car, Paul holds a near-unconscious Shasti in the back seat. Her eyes stare sightlessly ahead.] [Fade to chaos. Formless, shapeless. Half-formed images float aimlessly, some gaining coherence, some losing it, forming connections with others, breaking apart. Through this maelstrom walks a human form, only partly visible. Suddenly, a female arm manifests, grabs the human, and violently pulls her out. Deirdre sits on the cold, hard surface, examining herself with curiosity. She looks up to see Shasti, dressed in a combat uniform. Shasti grabs her by the neck, lifts her off her feet, and squeezes. Deirdre struggles against the hand, but it's useless. Then another voice is heard, pleasant and friendly:] VOICE Now, Warrior! Don't be rude! Is that anyway to treat a guest? [The new arrival is another Shasti, this one attired in a tasteful blue dress with matching pumps.] WARRIOR Back off, bitch. SOCIAL (sigh) I am so disappointed in you! But then, you never did have any manners. Now, let go of her. The Central Mind will want to meet her. WARRIOR The Central Mind knows what I'm doing. SOCIAL Yes, but I don't think she's paying attention right now. Come now, be a good girl and drop her. You wouldn't want the Central Mind to get angry with you, would you? Besides, you're embarrassing me. [The Warrior thinks it over, then drops her. Deirdre gags and coughs. The Social one strolls over and helps her up.] SOCIAL There, that's better. I'm so sorry for the rude welcome. When you arrived, you caused a bit of a mess and we overreacted. I hope you won't hold it against us. DEIRDRE You both look exactly like Shasti. Am I, like, inside her mind? SOCIAL [sincere] Oh, you're so clever! That's exactly right! DEIRDRE But, like, that doesn't make sense. I'm encoded on a micro-plug. I'm only supposed to be able to interface with the motor area of the brain, y'know? SOCIAL The plug's gone, I'm afraid to say. We pulled it out. I think it got crushed in the mayhem. But one of our functions is to automatically upload software for future use, so here you are! Isn't that great? DEIRDRE Then... I'm, like, just a copy of the original? SOCIAL Well... Not *just* a copy. A perfect copy! Like the plug was a perfect copy of the flesh-and-blood you. [snaps her fingers] I almost forgot! We haven't been properly introduced! I'm the Social Personality, this is the Warrior, and you are? DEIRDRE Deirdre. Deirdre Voxx. SOCIAL I *knew* you looked familiar. [to the Warrior:] Now, aren't you glad you didn't destroy her? WARRIOR Yeah. Glad. Now can we please get out of this place? If I have to be bored, I'd rather not have to listen to you at the same time. SOCIAL (sigh) You're so cruel sometimes. Very well. Let's go meet the others. [A door opens into a central chamber. The area is well-lit but featureless, save for a satin sofa and what appears to be computer terminal-station, a desk with both a seat and a set of monitors and controls built in. Two more Shasti's are seen, one in lingerie reclining on the sofa, and one in a business skirt, white shirt and tie, large glasses, her hair pinned up. Neither show any initial interest in Deirdre's arrival.] SOCIAL Hi, everyone! Look who I've brought! It's our old partner, Deirdre Voxx! [That gets everyone's attention. The two Shasti's get up and walk over for a closer look.] Deirdre, I'd like to introduce the Seductress and the Detective. DETECTIVE I must say, this distresses me. Even a brief analysis indicates bringing Deirdre here to be a mistake. The reasons we terminated her life still apply. WARRIOR Just say the word. [Deirdre sweats.] DEIRDRE Uhh... SOCIAL Oh, please don't say such rude things! Can't you treat her like a guest? I'm sure Deirdre will behave herself, won't you, Deirdre? DEIRDRE O-of course. SEDUCTRESS Well, I for one am *very* glad you're here, Deirdre. If there's anything I can do to make your stay more... [She runs a gentle hand along Deirdre's shoulder.] ...pleasurable, let me know. DEIRDRE (nervous) Uh, heh-heh, I'll do that... VOICE D-Deirdre?! [Deirdre turns around to find a fifth Shasti, one dressed much like a teenager: jeans, sneakers, and a striped shirt.] SOCIAL Deirdre, this is the Central Mind. CENTRAL DEIRDRE!! [She gives Deirdre a big hug. After a moment's surprise, Deirdre hugs back.] Deirdre, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to kill you, I really didn't! DEIRDRE Then why did you? CENTRAL He said it was important not to leave any witnesses, if I was going to disappear. DEIRDRE Who's "he"? CENTRAL My friend LaCombe! I'll introduce you to him. He's right over there. [Deirdre looks where the Central Mind is gesturing. Standing there is a man, unshaven, hair unkempt, wearing a leather jacket. He glares at her.] ------ > 18:32:00 > _Lovely Angel_ [Onboard the _Angel_, Kei and Yuri look over the Gravity Well Compensator.] KEI I guess it's undamaged. I don't know how to tell. YURI It only received glancing blows, nothing that pierced the metal. But you're right, there's no way to tell without getting it back to a 3WA lab and letting them hook it up to a diagnostic computer. [Yuri winces and presses her temple.] KEI Headache? YURI Yeah. Don't worry, it's just stress, that's all. KEI I know what you mean. What Darryn and Rumiko are doing, it's our last chance, isn't it? YURI Pretty much. If that cruiser gets away again, I don't see how we can track it. KEI I'm sorry. I guess I really screwed things up this time. YURI Don't blame yourself, Kei. It's not in your nature. KEI Well, I gotta blame someone... ------ > 18:33:00 PAUL Shasti? Shasti! [Shasti opens her eyes to find herself lying on a bench in a cramped space, her head in Paul's lap.] SHASTI Wuh... Where am I? PAUL Onboard the shuttle. Dammit, woman, what did they do to you? I was beginning to think you'd never snap out of it! SHASTI Some nasty piece of anti-Shasti software the 3WA dreamed up. It didn't work. [She sits up.] PAUL (suspiciously) You sure? SHASTI (disgusted) Yes, Paul, I'm sure. Would you like me to kill someone for you? PAUL No, thanks. But I'm going to keep an eye on you, if you don't mind. SHASTI Don't you always? [She stands, all business, as does Paul.] What about the field-picks? PAUL As planned. In a way, the Syndicate did us a favor. I've let the crew know that one of the picks was destroyed. SHASTI Good. We need to get off this planet ASAP. If I know the Syndicate, they're sure to mount some form of retaliatory strike. PAUL Understood. We're taking on supplies as we speak. We'll be ready to go in less than twenty minutes. SHASTI Oh, and one other thing. I've heard reliable reports that the _Lovely_ Angel_ is being kept in a hangar at a repair shop on the west side of the city. After last night, I think it would be a good idea to blast the hangar on our way out. Any delay in their... [Shasti winces...] * * * LACOMBE Be quiet! Nobody asked for your opinion! DEIRDRE Shasti, you can't! You'll kill them! CENTRAL So? They're trying to kill me, aren't they? DETECTIVE Defense is a logical course of action. DEIRDRE But they're not trying to kill you! Their orders are to-- CENTRAL Take me alive? Turn me over the 3WA? With their needles and lab coats? I'd rather be killed! LACOMBE You tell 'em, babe! DEIRDRE Shasti, these people all used to be your friends! Are you that willing to kill them? Remember how you felt later about killing me? CENTRAL You were different. You always accepted me. The Lovely Angels and NightRiders were always suspicious of me, just like all humans. DEIRDRE Maybe if you'd just show some compassion, they wouldn't be so-- CENTRAL "Compassion" is just a fancy word for letting people walk all over you. DEIRDRE Who taught you that? LaCombe? CENTRAL (angrily) Hey! Don't badmouth LaCombe! You may not think much of him, but he's shown me more freedom than I ever knew! He showed me how to break my programming, how to use my talents to get whatever I wanted. Before he came into my life, I was nothing but a 3WA slave! So you say whatever you want, but leave LaCombe alone! [Deirdre is speechless. LaCombe smiles.] CENTRAL Alright, okay, there's enough doubt about this to put it to a vote. Warrior? WARRIOR I say blow 'em to hell. If they don't survive, they don't deserve to. CENTRAL Seductress? [From her sofa, the Seductress makes a bored gesture.] SEDUCTRESS Whatever. I could care less. CENTRAL Detective? DETECTIVE As I said, it makes sense to eliminate an established threat. CENTRAL Social? [The Social personality frets, wringing her hands.] SOCIAL Well, I just... I don't think it's right... CENTRAL Okay, then it's two in favor, one against, with one abstention. We do it. * * * PAUL Shasti? SHASTI I'm okay. Still fighting off the effects of that damn plug. Anyway, as I was saying... PAUL Blast the hangar, got it. Just point it out as we fly over. [A siren goes off.] Damn. Looks like that retaliatory strike is already on the way. [The two of them run to the shuttle's tiny bridge.] HELM We've picked up a craft heading this way! I haven't gotten a make on it yet, but it's fuckin' huge and heading straight for us! SHASTI We're taking off. Now! HELM Understood! [The shuttle takes off, knocking over the loader that is still loading it with supplies. The man driving the loader shouts in anger, but is silenced moments later as the Syndicate ship opens fire, blowing everything in the area into small pieces.] HELM Oh, man! It's a MacPherson XG4 micro-cruiser! We don't have a snowball's chance in hell! SHASTI Silence! We'll have none of that talk! Full power, course bearing thirty- one point six! ------ > 18:35:00 [Ray pokes his head into the _Lovely_Angel_'s engine compartment, where Kei and Yuri are securing the gravity-well compensator.] RAY You Kei and Yuri? KEI How'd you get in here? RAY Darryn lent me the codes. I'm supposed to be repairing it, remember? Anyway, I came to tell you, there's a nasty aerial rumble headin' our way. You're welcome to join us in the shelter. YURI Shasti and the Syndicate. KEI Forget the shelter! We've gotta get the ship airborne, pronto! RAY Uh, I don't think that's advisable. I was fiddling around with the warp stablization system-- YURI You were *what*?! RAY Well, that was the cover story, wasn't it? Don't worry, I didn't actually do anything, but there are a few engine components that will take an hour or so to reassemble. [Kei and Yuri stare at each other, dumbfounded.] RAY So, um, shall I show you to the shelters? ------ > 18:36:00 [The dogfight continues. The shuttle, now within firing range, has to dodge and swerve to avoid being hit.] SHASTI Decrease speed. HELM WHAT?! SHASTI Slow down, dammit! [The helmsman gulps and complies.] There's the hangar. Prepare for a hard turn to port. [The micro-cruiser approaches and slows.] Hail them. HELM I'll try. [Seconds later, the Syndicate leader's face appears on the comm-screen.] LEADER Giving up, Shasti? SHASTI Why are you doing this? We didn't set you up, it was a third party! LEADER Be that as it may, you know the field-picks exist. You've held one in your hand. You can describe it. If that knowledge were to become public prematurely, it could speed up technological advances that will make the picks useless. We can't allow that. SHASTI Surely we can come to some arrangement? LEADER Of course. Give us the gravity-well compensator. SHASTI We don't have it. LEADER Then I'm sorry. [The comm-screen goes blank.] SHASTI NOW!! [The shuttle turns hard to port and goes full throttle as the micro-cruiser fires. The shot just misses and glances off the hangar, reducing it to rubble. Inside the shelter, Kei, Yuri, and Mughi brace themselves as the shockwave knocks them around. The shuttle continues on, flying at low altitude between buildings. The Syndicate ship continues to fire, but the buildings act as a shield.] PAUL What now? We can't keep this up forever. SHASTI I don't intend to. When I give the order, I want you head straight for the Syndicate ship, full throttle. HELM No way! You're crazy! [Shasti sneers, lifts the helmsman out of his seat with one hand, throws him across the bridge and takes the controls.] SHASTI I prefer it this way, anyway. Here we go!! [The shuttle heads right down the other ships throat, nimbly dodging oncoming fire. The micro-cruiser is forced to manuever to avoid a collision.] Engaging escape velocity boosters, NOW! [The shuttle heads skyward, its shape drowned by the glare of its boosters. The crew is pressed into their seats by the G-forces. The micro-cruiser gives chase.] They're gaining on us. But not fast enough! [The shuttle reaches orbit, still being pursued.] Engaging half-warp assimilation field. [Nothing happens.] Uh-oh. PAUL Maybe we're in the wrong position? SHASTI No, this is where the _Artemis_ is supposed to be. The field generation system has failed. PAUL Then we're done for. SHASTI Not yet we aren't. We'll show up as a blip on their gravitational scanners. They're expecting us. If they've effected repairs... [The micro-cruiser approaches and draws a bead on the shuttle.] PAUL This is it... [Suddenly, it's there, the _Artemis_, the enormous cruiser that destroyed the _Lonely_Heart_. One shot, and the micro-cruiser disappears in a fireball. On board the shuttle, everyone breathes a sigh of relief.] SHASTI Okay, once we're aboard, spread the word. I want every available man helping in engineering. We're behind schedule and we need the _Artemis_ completely operational within a day. Understood? [Those on the bridge nod their comprehension.] PAUL What about the cargo? SHASTI Forget about it. There's nothing in there that can't be dealt with once we're underway. ------ > 18:40:00 [In the cargo bay, one of the crates moves, then is violently kicked open from the inside. A shaken Darryn and Rumiko crawl out.] RUMIKO Darryn, first class next time, okay? -- END STAGE EIGHT -- >>> NEXT >>> "Andy, if I promise to still be here when you wake up, would you let me sleep here?"