------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Dirty Pair (and Company) in R E U N I O N S by Larry Mann and Ryan Mathews ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c) 1995 Larry Mann & Ryan Mathews ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "What makes a human? What causes a person to be human? What is the defining nature of *humanity*?" - from a transmittal by WWWA Agent Deirdre (#101-D, Avatar) --------------------------- S T A G E T H I R T E E N --------------------------- > 15:05:00 [Shasti, Nance, Andrew, and Yuri continue toward Lord Robin's vault, Shasti escorting Yuri at gunpoint. Inside Shasti's mind, her personalities clash.] SOCIAL Because it's wrong! DETECTIVE "Wrong" is a relative concept. SOCIAL No, it's not! We can't just go using people any time we want! I won't stand for it! CENTRAL I don't understand. It never bothered you before. SOCIAL Well, I've been thinking. And I've been thinking that I'm sick and tired of people being scared of us. I'm tired of not being liked. I'm tired of making friends with people, only to have the rest of you kill them when you decide they're not needed anymore. It's not fair, it's wrong, and I'm not going to keep quiet anymore! LACOMBE Being liked is pretty overrated, if you ask me. It's just more excess baggage to carry around, having to live up to other people's opinions of you. SOCIAL What about Andy? CENTRAL Andy... SOCIAL Look at him. He's staring at us, wondering if we'll actually do it, actually shoot her in the head. And he's wondering what he'll do if that happens. CENTRAL I hadn't thought about Andy. WARRIOR I'm not letting Yuri go. We need her. She's the only weapon we have. DETECTIVE Agreed. May I suggest a compromise? CENTRAL Sure, go ahead. DETECTIVE We keep Yuri for insurance, as planned. When we've accomplished our goal, rather than kill her, we render her unconscious and leave her for her friends to find. LACOMBE NO! That goes against everything I've taught you! You don't leave any loose ends laying around! CENTRAL We've left Yuri as a loose end twice already. Once more won't make any difference. Is this okay with you, Social? SOCIAL It's wonderful! Andy will love us for it! Thank you so much! [Deirdre whispers to the Social Personality.] DEIRDRE Way to go, girl. [The Social Personality blushes. Behind them, LaCombe glares.] ------ ["Lord Robin" leads Kei.] KEI Where are we going? ROBIN To meet a friend of yours I've been saving for a rainy day. Ah! Here we are. [They arrive where Rumiko is being kept in a force field.] RUMIKO Kei! KEI Rumiko! ROBIN You're on, ladies! Break a leg! [Robin vanishes, along with the force field.] RUMIKO Now what do we do? [Lights begin cascading along the ceiling.] KEI Guess we follow the lights. ------ [Shasti and the others continue toward the vault.] YURI You're never going to get away with this, you know. SHASTI Is that the best you can come up with? That ranks right up there with "I don't know what you're talking about", and "We can make a deal". YURI Hey, Andy, you don't really think you're going to get out of this one alive, do you? SHASTI Shut up. YURI Boy, you should have been there for the _Lyra_ caper. Shasti wasn't that difficult to find, actually. Just followed the trail of dead bodies. "Use 'em and lose 'em", that's Shasti's philosoph--URGH! [Shasti clamps tighter on Yuri's neck.] SHASTI I told you to shut up. NANCE You're not tellin' us anything we don't know already, girl. Let it drop. YURI How's your shoulder? [Nance's shoulder is red from where Shasti had him shot.] NANCE If by that, you're asking why I'm staying with her, it's because I want the money. YURI You'll end up just like the others--OW! SHASTI Just because I can't kill you, doesn't mean I can't break every bone in your body. YURI Do your worst. SHASTI Trust me, you don't want me to. Just shut up. You won't accomplish anything anyway. Andy knows I love him, and he loves me. YURI Is that right, Andy? ANDREW Yes. I'm sorry, but you're wrong, Yuri. You don't know anything about Shasti. Yes, she let Paul die. I might have, too. The guy was a monster. But Shasti's ready to turn over a new page, and I'm going to stay and help her. YURI It may be a new page, but it's the same book. ------ [The metal doors that sealed Paul to his doom literally explode outward, fragmenting into shards. Paul staggers out. Behind him are the remains of the small robots that had attacked him. Paul tenses, clenching his teeth.] PAUL Ggrrgnnhhzzkkkggkl... [A small trickle of blood comes out his nose. He wipes it off.] Gotta hold it together. Gotta hang on. [He heads after the others.] ------ [Shasti, Nance, Andrew, and Yuri continue toward the vault.] SHASTI Come on, Nance, pick up the pace. NANCE I'm sorry. I'm in pain. I think you understand why. SHASTI If you'd cooperated, you wouldn't be in pain. It's just a little further--UNH! [A wall panel slides open, and a fist connects with Shasti's jaw. Wasting no time in taking the initiative, Yuri drops out of Shasti's loosened grasp and elbows Shasti in the gut, then follows with a spinning kick to the head.] ANDREW Leave her ALONE! [He charges Yuri. Another elbow renders him harmless, curled up on the floor gagging.] [Shasti spins to get a bearing on Yuri and runs into Kei, who decks her.] KEI GOD, that felt *great*! [Shasti springs to her feet and finds herself surrounded by Kei, Yuri, and Rumiko. They circle her slowly.] YURI Keep alert, guys! Stay evenly spaced! The first move she makes toward one of us, the other two have to attack her simultaneously from the back! Be alert for a feint! KEI Hey, I know the drill! She's not getting away this time. SHASTI Nance, help me. [Nance laughs out loud.] NANCE You gotta be joking! Nah, I think I'll head toward the vault. I'll have it open for you if you make it, if not, well, life's a bitch. YURI Let him go! Don't even look at him! Keep your eyes on Shasti! KEI & RUMIKO Understood! [Rumiko slowly pulls out the trank-plug gun.] KEI God, I've waited so long for this. [Shasti spits at her.] Is that what you're reduced to? You're gonna pay. Gonna pay big time. We're takin' you back to Elenore. They're gonna *dissect* you! Find out just which screws are loose in that sick excuse for a mind of yours! SHASTI Fuck you. YURI Keep quiet, Kei. Don't make her mad. RUMIKO You can't blame her, Yuri. We know how she feels. After what she did to Darryn, I can't help but want to hurt her. [Shasti blinks.] SHASTI Darryn. Thank you so much. I'd completely forgotten. I must be slipping after all. Oh, Rumiko... "The green cat meows backwards." RUMIKO W-what? SHASTI Don't you see, Rumiko? I'm not your enemy. The Angels are. They brought you here to kill you. [Kei laughs.] KEI What the hell? Do you really think-- RUMIKO You... BITCHES! [Rumiko pounces on Kei.] KEI Hey! What are you doing? OOF! RUMIKO How could you do this? How could you betray me?! KEI What the hell are you talking about?? [She dodges as Rumiko attacks.] YURI Rumiko, no! [Suddenly, Shasti has her at gunpoint again.] Oh, shit. SHASTI Come, Andrew, let's go. ANDREW But, what about...? SHASTI Oh, don't worry about them. I hear the 3WA is instituting a wonderful cloning program. [Shasti, Andrew, and Yuri leave.] KEI Rumiko, she's getting away--YAAH! [Kei ducks as Rumiko's kick dents the wall.] Oh, shit, you're running that ninjitsu package... [Rumiko suddenly grabs her head.] RUMIKO Uuhhh. [Kei runs up to her.] KEI That's it! Fight it off! You can--UNGH! [Kei touches Rumiko and is rewarded with an arm-thrust to the face. She gets to her feet and wipes blood off her chin.] Oh, brilliant move, Kei. DARRYN (voice) Kei? Kei, can you hear me? KEI Darryn, is that you?! DARRYN It's me. I'm in a communications center. I couldn't get the terminals to work, but now they've come on by themselves. KEI What's wrong with Rumiko? [Rumiko continues to hold her head and groan.] DARRYN I think she caught the wetware virus Shasti gave to me. She must have gotten it through our CyberAudio link. I'm trying to use the link now to deprogram her. Given the experience I've had with the virus, I should be able to-- KEI, WATCH OUT!! [Rumiko attacks savagely, but Kei manages to dodge.] KEI Thanks, Darryn! DARRYN I'd stay away from her until I'm finished. KEI No argument here. ------ [Shasti, Andrew, and Yuri arrive at the vault, where Nance is busy with the lock.] NANCE Hey, you made it! Can't say I'm pleased. SHASTI We don't have time for this. "Lord Robin"! Open the vault! ROBIN (voice) I can't. SHASTI Open the goddamn vault, or she suffers! YURI Kill her, Robin! Kill all of us! It's worth it to--gggllk...! [Shasti tightens her grip around Yuri's neck.] ROBIN The vault is on a separate circuit. Hurting Yuri will accomplish nothing, save to make me very... very... angry. NANCE Look, relax, already, will ya. [The vault opens, its enormous metal door sliding rapidly.] There. After you. SHASTI Wonderful! Thank you, Nance. Your service has been appreciated. [She shoots him in the head. Blood paints the lock controls. Nance slumps to the floor, dead, smearing a trail of blood across the wall.] ANDREW Shasti! SHASTI Don't start, Andy! The little bastard left me to die. YURI Like you left Paul? SHASTI Get in there. [The three enter the vault. Inside are stacked, as far as the eye can see, ingots of gold, silver, platinum, and many other metals.] SHASTI Oh... my... god... [She and Andrew wander around, stunned by the sheer quantity of the loot. Even Yuri is impressed.] YURI Whoa... ANDREW He must have touched hardly any of it. SHASTI There's enough money here to... to do anything. Anything! [Behind them, there is a sliding noise, and a loud bang. They turn to see the vault has closed.] NANCE (voice) HA HA HA! SAYONARA, BITCH! SHASTI (stunned) *Nance*?! How...?! NANCE I'm a genius, Shasti, that's how! I got into and out of the vault before you arrived! Then I took control of the local hologram projection system to make a fake "me"! Haha! Ronald Nance, the man who conned Shasti! I'm gonna like this reputation. [Shasti releases Yuri and tries to open the door.] NANCE Oh, please. You can forget about getting out of there. SHASTI DAMN YOU! NANCE Thank you, thank you! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take my nest egg, get out of this godforsaken hellhole, and spread the word about how smart I am! Enjoy your vaporization! [The voice cuts out.] ANDREW What does he mean, "vaporization"? SHASTI The plan had been to bring the ship down here using the half-warp drive and tractor the metal on board. Of course the ship's engines would be going full blast fighting the gravity well, so the metal would melt, but we could separate it later. YURI Ha! So this is the end. I just hope I last long enough to see you burn first. SHASTI Sorry to disappoint you, but I had my own plan. We're in no danger... Wait. [She starts to giggle.] He doesn't know! He thinks I'm following the official plan. That means he'll use the shuttle to escape! "Genius" indeed... [She checks her watch.] Shit. I don't have time for this. The distraction's about to start. ------ [On the bridge of the _Artemis_, consoles begin to come alive of their own accord. The crew struggles to regain control, with no success. The massive cruiser emerges from mock-space, seeming to appear out of nowhere. The ship's pulse cannons power up and begin to fire at the planet, the energy bursts scattering off the planetary force-field.] ------ [Kei continues dodging Rumiko's attack.] RUMIKO Traitor! KEI Rumiko, it's me! Your friend! You know I'd never-- DARRYN Don't talk to her! It's only making it more difficult to do this! KEI But if I talk some sense into her, maybe--! [In the instant's distraction, Rumiko manages to pin Kei against a wall. She pulls her hand back to administer the killing blow.] DARRYN Got it! [Rumiko freezes.] RUMIKO Kei? I-- I'm so sorry, I didn't... I don't... [Kei sighes in relief.] KEI Hey, forget about it. I-- [Rumiko kisses Kei on the lips, then passes out.] DARRYN Sorry about that. The aftershock was bound to cause some unpredictable behavior. She'll be back to normal when she comes around. [pause] Kei? [Kei stares blankly ahead, wide-eyed.] ------ [Nance slowly carries his bag of loot, struggling, using both hands. He encounters Paul.] NANCE Paul! You're alive! [Paul looks tense enough to snap in two.] PAUL N-no thanks to you. NANCE Hey, this business doesn't exactly lend itself to saving other people's lives, you know. You said that yourself. PAUL Where's shhhhhhhh--rgh! Shasti? NANCE You okay, man? PAUL Where is she?!! NANCE She got herself locked in the vault. She'll be dead soon. Why, do you care? [He hefts the bag.] Got at least a few million credits here. What say we split it? [Paul looks at him strangely.] Hm? [His arm a blur, Paul quickly punches Nance in the chest. Nance drops the bag and stumbles back, stunned. He emits a strangled, wheezing sound, then blood gushes from his mouth like a fountain. A second later, he explodes violently, splattering Paul with blood. Paul picks up the bag, effortlessly, and heads back the way Nance had come.] ------ [In orbit, 3WA fighter craft scramble to attack the new threat, which continues to fire on the force-field.] ------ [Inside the vault, Shasti assembles a small, thin, device about a meter high. Yuri watches, no longer held at gunpoint.] YURI What are you doing? SHASTI If you're trying to distract me, don't bother. I'm incapable of being distracted. You'll be dead about a millisecond after you try whatever it is you're planning. YURI Well, then, there's nothing wrong in answering a few questions, right? SHASTI (sigh) Knock yourself out. YURI What is that thing? SHASTI A half-warp assimilation field generator. Any space surrounded by an assimilation field that comes into contact with an area of mock-space gets sucked into the mock-space. YURI Oh. That must be how a shuttle can land on a half-warped ship. SHASTI Very good. YURI But if you already had half-warp, why did you need to attack that scientist on Bydon? SHASTI Because we *didn't* have half-warp, not all of it, anyway. We thought we had a working system, but once we warped into mock-space, we found we couldn't get back out. YURI Then you must have used half-warp to pull off those robberies. SHASTI Exactly. Lord Robin's scientists had developed an experimental system that could take a mock-space field from the ship down to the planet. Of course, once the power ran out, the effect was a little messy. YURI I'll say. A lot of people died in those explosions. SHASTI Are we going to start this again? YURI Sure, why not? You still think Shasti's capable of being your little angel again, Andrew? ANDREW Any psychologist will tell you that stressful situations like these are not good times to draw conclusions about a person's mental health. YURI Well, you better do it soon. Unless you really think you're going to live much longer. SHASTI You don't give up, do you? If I was going to kill Andy, don't you think I would've done it already? Ah! Finished. [She turns the device on.] YURI A fat lot of good that'll do you. You should have been working on how to get out of here. SHASTI I was working on it, and still am. My brain is capable of multitasking. YURI Just one last question. SHASTI Whatever. YURI You went to all that trouble to get the gravity-well compensator, then you just traded it for something, I'd guess information on how to get through the planetary force-field. SHASTI Close enough. YURI Why not just use the compensator and the half-warp drive together? You could've warped right inside the force-field and let your shuttle out from there. With the compensator on, manuevering wouldn't have been a problem. [Shasti laughs.] SHASTI And here I thought you were a science-whiz, Yuri. You haven't been keeping up with the journals. YURI I don't understand. ------ [Deep within the bowels of the mountain, the half of the _Lovely_Angel_ containing the engines begins to vibrate softly.] ------ SHASTI Yuri, the gravity-well compensator and the half-warp drive use similar concepts. The half-warp drive uses anti-gravity to force a ship out of phase with the universe. The compensator uses a similar force to cancel the effect of gravity on warp travel. ------ [The vibration becomes more intense. The ship begins to hum, softly at first, then building in pitch.] ------ SHASTI If the two technologies were active, even within a thousand kilometers of each other, the result would be massive feedback. ------ [The humming builds to a deafening, high-pitched whine...] ------ SHASTI The engines would explode like a bomb. [Yuri winces.] YURI Uh-oh... [Realization begins to dawn on Shasti.] SHASTI Wait a minute. You got here *ahead* of me. How could you have done that, unless... oh, no. Oh, SHIT!!! [She runs to the field generator to shut it off.] ------ [BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!] --- END STAGE THIRTEEN --- >>> TO BE CONCLUDED >>> "I will *not* be outsmarted by some grinning, lunatic buffoon! Especially not by a dead one!"