Phoenix Rising Reprise 4

 Phoenix Rising Reprise 4

     Iriisii feeds the information to her Ancestral Memories with instructions to attempt any and all ancient message encoding systems and see if anything intelligible comes out of it. Iriisii, "It may take a while, because it has to be processed by trial and error. But once we have something that makes sense, I will let you know." 'V', "Good, then I can call Sandra Dorsett and see if she will meet with me." Brendan, this one I will call personally, she knows me and not any of the rest of you. I am practically the only person that she trusts anymore, and after what she went through I cannot say that I blame her." 'V' flips open her holophone and places the call. This time, Sandra picks up almost immediately on seeing it was 'V' calling.

     Sandra almost screaming and crying at the same time, "'V'! Thank God its you!" 'V' reading that Sandra is near to emotional collapse, "Sandra! What is wrong?" Then she hears the sound of boots clomping outside Sandra's door. "Sandra! Listen to me, is there any way you can get outside, even if it is on a ledge?!" Sandra sobbing, "No, I have barricaded my door, but it will not last long." 'V'. "Do you know who is coming for you?" Sandra, "I...I..." 'V', "All right, get a hold of yourself, I am going to get you out of there." Sandra, "How?" 'V', "Do not worry about that right now. Just do what I say and you will be fine, I promise you that! Now go to the farthest corner of the room away from the door." Sandra hysterical, "How is that going to help?!" 'V', "Sandra, do you trust me?" Sandra shifts to crying, "Yes!" 'V', "Then do what I asked you to and whatever you see, whatever you hear, do not move until I say, ok?!" Sandra, now shaking her head up and down, "Yes, I will..., ok, I am in the corner like you said." The sounds of pounding on her apartment door has her screaming with her hands over her ears.

     Iriisii is ready to have a portal materialize in Sandra's apartment. She looks at 'V' with the question on her face, 'V' nods her head and Iriisii begins, "Reaper, I need an emergency portal from my location to the other end of the holocall 'V' is on." Reaper, "Setting portal up now." Iriisii, "Olaf, you and Jarra escort 'V' through the portal, guard her while she gets Sandra and brings her back here. If the apartment is breached before they get through...you know what to do." Olaf, "They will make it back, unharmed, you have my word." Jarra, "And mine as well." Olaf looks to 'V', makes a split second decision and tosses her his katana from his back. 'V', "Are you sure?" Olaf smiles wickedly, "Yes, I have another blade weapon on me that I have been itching to try out. This could be an excellent opportunity." As the portal is forming, he draws what looks to be some kind of high-tech hilt. He depresses a hidden button, and a slight 'snick' is heard. She swears she sees a drop of blood ooze from under his hand, as a shaft of light rises from the hilt and takes the form of a blade made of blood red light.

     Then he moves quickly and enters the portal, gesturing to Jarra to take the opposite side from him. 'V' runs to catch up to them. As they enter Sandra Dorsett's apartment, Olaf positions himself between the portal and the door, just to the left, as Jarra moves to the right. Her own bone white blade, jagged edges of serrated teeth exposed and crackling with energy, she holds it pointed at the door. "We are set, 'V' get her out of here! We will hold until the two of you are through." Hearing the voices of others the pounding on the door increases as it shifts in its frame from the powerful blows against it. Olaf, "Go now! That door will not hold much longer!"

     As 'V' get Sandra to her feet and hustles her through the portal, Jarra calls out, "The door is splintering!" Olaf says nothing as he leaps to the door and thrusts his blade through the splintering door and impales at least three of those trying to force the door. The sword cauterizes the wounds as it enters then burns as Olaf feeds it with his anger. Ripping the sword out he backs up and rushes the damaged door, smashing into it. The force strikes the  group trying to get in and they go down, dying as Olaf and 'V' show them no mercy. 'V' recognizes them as she spits out who they are, "Scavs! Kill them all!" Then she sees a group start coming from each end of the hallway. She makes a split second decision and yells at Olaf to hit the floor. As he does so, she cradles her hands in front of herself. A black ball of dark power forming, red bolts of lightning beginning to race across its surface. Olaf can feel it as it reaches out to touch his soul. Feeling it, cold as interstellar space, he rolls away from it, then 'V' shoots her hands out, each one down a different side of the hallway. The black ball of energy splits and races down each side, As it wraps itself around the Scavs, he can hear them scream. Their neural pathways burnt to a crisp in seconds. The Scavs are all down, the hallway smells of charred flesh. 'V' starts to collapse and Olaf catches her. Jarra steps out to guard them and sees the carnage.

     Jarra, "She did this?" Olaf slowly nods his head. As they walk back to the portal, Jarra asks, "How?" Olaf, "I do not know, but she has power like only a few I have known. She needs training to restrain it or it will one day consume her. If she can be taught of the 'Balance', she could become a power second only to Iriisii. She did this by instinct, no training, no form, she only wanted to hurt and kill them. The power within reacted and gave her what she wanted, it fed off of her rage, her pain and gave it all to her enemies." Jarra, "There have been tales on my homeworld of those who could do as she has done here. Where they learned it, I do not know. But they died off and nothing more was heard." Olaf pauses and considers something. Jarra, "What are you thinking?" Olaf, "I too have heard tales, of talented people disappearing into the night never more to be heard from. Geralt has spoken of the 'Conjunction of the Spheres' that gathered up those it came across on many worlds and dropped them on as many others, scattering them across the heavens. Could be this world was on the fringe of its reach, and so as yours might have been as well. They did not get inundated but a handful maybe." Jarra, "I agree with you, maybe we will discover something, or something will be revealed about it." Olaf, "Let us hope it does not lead her down a crooked path. If ever we faced off against each other, I do not know who would win." Jarra solemnly nods her head, also wondering how she would fare in a heads-up fight with 'V' if whatever inside her took control. Inside her mind, Johnny is shivering at how close whatever it was came upon him. He was certain of one thing, the thing that separated him from 'Alt' beyond the Blackwall would have been toast if it had met up with what was now sharing 'V's mind.

     Judy and So Mi rush to Olaf as he brings 'V' back across in his arms. Olaf, "She if ok, just needs a bit of rest. She expended quite a bit of energy taking out those Scavs." Once he get her to the couch, she is stirring. He goes to a position past Iriisii, who he gestures as he passes. She nods her head, waits for a minute, then rises and goes to Olaf. Iriisii, "Come with me." As she walks through the door to a balcony outside. Leaning against the rail, "What concerns you about her?" Olaf, "She manifested a globe of dark energy, swirling with red lightning. It was as cold as starless space. I felt it reach out for me as she was molding it in her hands. All I knew was I did not want it touching me as I rolled away from it." Iriisii, "I see. Do you think it needs to be removed from her?"  Olaf, "Honestly, no. Or more accurately, only if she cannot learn to 'balance' it. With the influence of Judy and So Mi on her, she can use that to bring her inner self into 'balance'. Then all she needs to do is bring her inner and outer selves into 'balance'. If she can do this, she would become a 'Greater Power'. But it is imperative they stay together, one alone is not enough for her maintain her 'balance', it will take both of them. Also, she needs to be trained. Right now she uses it instinctively, letting it channel her rage and pain, taking it and turning it into a very fearsome weapon. If it consumes her, she will become something even worse than Malachar." Iriisii, "Thank you for telling me this. I will see what can be done to avert this. Now go back inside, leave me to think on this." Olaf nods and half bows as he backs away and reenters the apartment. After a few minutes, 'V' steps out, "There you are, we are about to leave for City Hall." Iriisii, "You feel no weakness from what you did to the Scavs?" 'V' stops and considers before answering, "No, I felt...I really do not know what I felt. For an instant I felt power and strength flow out of me, but then even more came back. I do not understand what happened." Iriisii, "What allowed you to do what you did, has been inside you, deeply asleep, since you were born. When the power of the 'Blackwall' rode you and So Mi in the Spaceport, it was jarred awake. Now that it is truly awake, and becoming aware, it mimics the power of the 'Blackwall' thinking that is the form it should take. There is great danger in that, for you and everyone around you. But there are things that can be done to help you stay in control of it. It will require that you undergo training in the 'Philosophy of the Great Balance'. And no it is not like what you know of as religion. It is a way of life, similar to what your 'Zen Master' was preparing you for. In fact I wonder if 'he' saw this coming and prepared the way forward for you. But that can wait until after your visit to the Mayor for us to continue this discussion."

      They arrive at City Hall without incident, a couple of signs occurred that 'V' watched carefully, the first was a drive-by shooting as the vehicle passed by a small group of Valentinos, the second was a shootout between vehicles, 'V' could identify one of the groups as 'Tiger Claws', the second was 'Maelstrom'. As they exit the vehicle, Olaf asks where were the police while this was going on?" 'V' responds with, "Probably someone paid them off to look the other way. Sad to say it happens quite a bit. The NCPD is corrupt from the top down. There are a few good, honest cops, but they are far outnumbered. It will be difficult cleaning the 'force' up, but not an impossible job. There is no one specific excuse given for why they do as they so. It will vary with each group and individual. I will have to address it one excuse at a time." The group approaches the main doors as the 'little people' make their way around them. As they reach the doors and step in, 'Security' stops them, asking as to why they are carrying inside City Hall. 'V', You were not informed  that I was coming for a meeting with the Mayor, and that I and my party would be armed?" The security guard responds with, "We are only following current policy. No orders have been passed to us about any dispensation from that policy." 'V' gets in the security guards face and, 'Where is the Mayor right now, or are you a part of the conspiracy against him?" The Security guard gets his hackles raised, "There is no 'conspiracy' against the Mayor or anyone on his staff!" 'V' looks hard at the guard, who is showing beads of sweat on his brow in spite of the air-conditioning keeping the temperature cool. She starts to turn away from him before she spins and the top flat of her foot slams into the side of his face, dropping him to the floor. As he reaches for his weapon she speaks to him, the coldness in her voice halting the guard's hand. 'V' ,"I said nothing about the Mayor's staff. You now have a choice of whether you live or you die. And do not mistake that I cannot make your death last a lot longer and be more agonizing than what those who are paying you can do to you.

     The guard is about to tell her to do her worst when he sees the black energy seeping from her hands. Feeling its utter coldness reaching out to devour his mind and soul, he begins babbling about where the Mayor is to meet 'V' and her party with the party being attacked in the conference room. While a larger force is to provide a distraction to cover the assassination attempt by attacking City Hall and initiating a slaughter. 'V', "If you warn the attackers I will know, and nothing will save you from what I will send after you. Leave now and keep going until you are far from Night City. If I ever see you again, you will wish for the comforts of 'Hell' compared to what I will do to you." The guard leaves his weapon behind as he scrambles to his feet, a wet pool forming under his feet as it runs out from his trousers, and in a flash he disappears out the doors. Olaf looks to Iriisii, who nods her head to him and gestures for him to stay close to her. So Mi sees the movements and whispers  in Iriisii's ears, "You know what is going on?" Iriisii answers back, "Yes, I am taking steps to help her deal with it. But we must table any discussion until we can return to the penthouse apartment. This is neither the time or place for what we will talk about." So Mi nods her head while 'V' gives orders for everyone to follow as if nothing had happened. But first she turns to Iriisii, "It looks like we will need reinforcements. The people in here are sitting ducks if we do not do something to protect them."

     Iriisii, "Leave it to me." She whispers to Reaper, "Reaper, quietly please, we need 5 expanded squads ready to teleport down here. One here where we stand right now, one outside the conference room where we will be meeting with the Mayor, One each at the side entrances into City Hall, the last one right in the center of the building in case the attackers try to come in through the ceiling. Keep a contingent of Yautja on alert in case they are needed, as well as my Harlequin, ask Dettlaff to lead them. If I call, drop them where the fighting is fiercest." Reaper quietly and simply says , "Done." And drops the link. Iriisii, "We are ready to go now." Olaf breathes a sigh of relief after hearing Iriisii's line up for backup. 'V' hears him and asks, "That good, huh?" Olaf, "You have no idea. If the Yautja and Harlequin drop down, even Max Tac cannot hold a candle to what they can do." 'V', "And this Dettlaff?" Olaf, "He is her Vyrkolos, her vampire mate, he holds power over the undead. If he calls, they will answer, and they will obey his words." 'V', "Ok, lets get this over with."

      As they begin moving, River moves close to So Mi, and whispers, "What is going on with 'V'?" So Mi, "Honestly, I do not know. But Iriisii seems to have some knowledge of it and has begun helping 'V'. What that will entail, we will find out when we return to our apartment." River, "I hope she comes out of whatever it is ok." So Mi, "As do I. But I will stay with her regardless and do all I can to help her. It is the least I can do for her." River, "You truly love her then?" So Mi, "Without question. What we went through will have to wait. But I will say this, I put my life and future in her hands. and even though I had no right to expect her to do this, she went through literal 'hell' to save me. I was 'inches' away from a horrible death when she killed a 'friend' who chose to stand in her way. Then she put me on a lunar shuttle to get the medical help I needed to stay alive. She did this not knowing if we would ever see each other again. I was nearly comatose when she strapped me in that seat and told me that she was doing this in spite of my mistakes. She said that she loved me and because of this there would always be forgiveness for me. Since then she has done nothing but prove her words to me to be true.    

     Before her, I never knew what it meant to love someone so deep, deep enough to throw away her own lifeline so that I might live. I came back to be with her, to love her, to find a 'cure' for her, and if there is not one, to be with her for the rest of her life and care for her until she passes." River is stunned by what So Mi has told him, even as he knows there is a great deal more to this story. It blows away what she did for him in helping to find and save Randy. It also reveals to him, why there cannot be anything between them like what he has since then dreamed of. River, "And Judy?" So Mi, "Her story with 'V' is different from mine, but no less deep and powerful. Because of 'ours' I can understand 'theirs', I told 'V' to go to her, bring her to the apartment, and tell her about me. Then to ask her to give the three of us a chance to build a life together." River, "If 'V' passes without a 'cure', will you and Judy stay together?" So Mi looks hard  and deep at River for that question, then she answers, "I do not know, but it is my hope. We will need the both of us, and the memory of 'V' to keep going. But I think it is what 'V' would  want us to do."

     'V' stops at the door to the conference room, then knocks. 'V', "Mayor Peralez, it's me, 'V' and my people." A voice from inside, Mayor Peralez, "Open the door and let them come in." There is a muffled reply. then "I know and trust 'V', now open the door." The door opens and 'V' goes in first, followed  by the others. As River enters, he looks around, sees some NCPD officers acting as guards. He sees the one at the door and recognizes him. Kyle Wolson, a Max Tac operative, River figures someone took the threats to the Mayor seriously to assign a Max Tac operative to guard the Mayor. He nods his head to Kyle who returns it. As River looks at the other officers, five in number, he does not know any of them. He feels Kyle come up beside him. Kyle, "Good to see that you have not lost your touch. Yeah, these are not the ones I picked for this job. They got reassigned at the last minute. Some emergency job in Watson." River, "There is going to be an attempt to assassinate the Mayor and all of us in here, a distraction of a full out assault on City Hall will be used to divert attention away from us. Kyle starts swearing under his breath. River, "We have the upper hand right now. 'V's partner is even now bringing in her own people assigned to hold the front and side entrances along with some in the center rotunda in case they come through the glass ceiling. Also putting some down in the tunnels. All veterans who have given her partner their total loyalty." Kyle, "Total loyalty? Is there really such a thing?"

      River, "She earned it fighting with them in the front lines, she is not a 'REMF'. She does  not ask her people to do anything she will not do, and she proves it every day. She expects the heaviest fighting to be here, and that is why she is here with us. See the big guy, the one that looks like he would chew a man's face off and spit it back out at him." Kyle, "If I had a dozen like him in Max Tac, we could clean up this city." River, "Close enough. He was once a part of a very high and deadly merc team, his call sign was 'Psycho', and it fit him perfectly. As soon as he laid eyes on his boss, he gave himself to her, mind, body, and soul. Vowed that if he had to, he would come back from the dead to fight at her side." Kyle, "You are kidding me, right. Nobody does that anymore." River, "Because there is no one in command worth doing that for, but she is. I heard she looked into his very soul then showed him what she saw he could be if he would but let her mold him into what she saw in him. It must be true because he has been with her since, and is now in command of her Black Dragon Elites. All of them skilled to the max in every fighting art and style you could imagine. Trained to use anything close at hand as a weapon, and if there is nothing, their hands, feet, and minds are their most deadly weapons. The bone-white skinned woman standing by him, she has her own command of an equal group. and I understand there is a third, but they have not been deployed as yet, being held in reserve until later."

      Kyle, "You are sure there is going to be an attack?" River, "Yeah. 'V' picked up on the front door guard who objected to our being armed, after she made certain to inform the Mayor that we would be. By the time she was done with him, he told her everything while standing in a small pool of his own piss. She sent him on his way, telling him to leave Night City and never let her set eyes on him again. He did not waste time getting out the door." Kyle, "Damn, I would have liked to have seen that. I can now see how it fits. I guess these replacements are meant to begin the party in here." River, "Looks like it, see how everyone has picked out one of them and moved close? Pick one that is left, I will do the same, then take them down when the time comes." Kyle, "Damn but I am going to enjoy this. I hate crooked cops worse than the crooks, but there are far too many of them to do anything about it. They infest the ranks from bottom to top." River, "Yeah, but Mayor Peralez offered her the job of Security Chief of Operations. She is here to accept it. And cleaning out the NCPD is one of her top priorities. As a merc, she found enough evidence of dirty dealing to convict over half of the force. But as a merc, she knew if she brought it forward or leaked it, it would go nowhere. Now she has the Mayor's ear, and it is a different story. They and the ones behind it all fear her so much they are willing to attack City Hall itself to stop it. All they are going to do is make her even more determined. Get ready, looks like the party is about to begin."

     'V', "Mr. Mayor, there is a lot  to talk about but we are about to get a visit from some who do not appreciate the job you have done so far." Peralez, "You are certain of this?" 'V', "Absolutely certain, I have taken the liberty to assign some of my people to cover the entrances into City Hall, as well as the glass canopy over the center rotunda. I also have a team down in the tunnels beneath us." Peralez, "Sounds like you have things well covered." 'V', "Thank you, sir. but one last detail remains." Peralez, "What is it?" 'V'. "Your wife, Elizabeth. I want three teams on your penthouse apartment, one on the roof, one on the outside terrace, and one inside the apartment. But before I assign them, I want to take your wife's opinions into account." Peralez, "What do you mean?" 'V', "Would she rather have to outside guards totally visible or inobtrusive? From a tactical view, I would vote inobtrusive. If the intruders do not see outside guards they will be more likely to drop on either or both places to stage themselves before entering the apartment. If they do this we can get the drop on them before they realize anything is wrong. If they see visible guards inside, they will hesitate before entering, thus we have time to prepare for them and make sure your wife is safe. If it looks like they will be overwhelmed they have orders to get Elizabeth to safety above anything else. I also intend for your wife's interior guards to be female, since they will be strangers to her, I thought this would help her be more comfortable with them." Peralez,  "Go ahead with the way you have described, she will appreciate the lengths you have gone to both accommodate her and protect her. Perhaps I should call and tell her that they are on the way, that way she will expect them." 'V', "They will be there as soon as we give the orders." 'V' looks over to Iriisii, who nods her head and contacts Reaper.

     Iriisii, "Reaper?" Reaper, "Yes, Mother, how can I assist?" Iriisii, "We need three teams, one a team of Sirens led by Lilith. They will guard the penthouse interior and Mrs. Peralez. Her safety is the most important thing. If she must be ported to insure her safety then do it. The other two teams will be male, each to consist of three Black Dragon Elite, one Yautja, and a Kuurii. One team to hold the roof, the other to hold the outside terrace. They will need to stay hidden. If any hostiles drop, let them stage, then hit them before they break into the interior. It is not likely there will be anyone of high rank with them so there will be no need of taking prisoners. Their higher ups need to see we mean business." Reaper, "Instructions given, coordinates acquired, teams are in transit. Good hunting, all." Iriisii, "They are on the way." Peralez calls his wife, "Elizabeth, no time to talk, 'V' is sending some of her people to guard you. They are on the way and will arrive momentarily. There will be three teams, a team for the roof, one for the terrace, and one for you and the interior of the apartment. The ones who will guard you are female, the others will be male. If you cannot see the male guards outside, do not panic, they are trained to be unseen. It will give them the element of surprise against any intruders coming that way. 'V' has City Hall locked down with her own people as well. She and her best are here with me now." Elizabeth, "Sounds like she has everything under control then. Oh! They are fast, I see they have arrived. Three teams, 2 male, 1 female. The females are coming to the terrace door now. Tell 'V' thank you for me, will you?" Jefferson, "I will." Jefferson closes the call, "The guards have arrived and are taking positions, She days 'thank you' , and I will add my own to that." Before 'V' can respond she feels something in the 'air'.

      She quickly strides to the plate glass window of the conference room and places her hands on the single, huge, pane of glass. She turns to Jefferson, "This is 'bulletproof'?" Jefferson, "Yes, I had all the outside facing glass replaced with 'bulletproof' versions, why?" 'V', "Iriisii, the other end, quickly." Iriisii, goes to it and places her hands on the glass, glances back to 'V' and nods her head. Together they concentrate as their hands begin to glow, 'V's takes a black tinge while Iriisii's takes on a reddish tinge. Suddenly a swirl of rainbow colors swims across the glass, as it seems to go liquid but still hold its form. It then seems to vibrate and then the effect quiets and vanishes. Before Jefferson can ask what they did to it, a volley of RPG's comes into view then accelerates to the glass. As they impact the explosions can be seen through the glass itself, which does not show any effect from the blasts. Gunfire can be heard outside City Hall on all sides. Screams from the outside pedestrians as bullets fly, and then return fire erupts from the main doorways. The people inside are being herded to rooms that have no windows, told to barricade themselves inside until the fighting stops. 

     In the conference room, the regular cops start to draw their weapons, but instead of firing, they drop them to the floor. One steps forward, "They set us up for all of us to die in that blast. None of us signed on to give our lives to this..." Jefferson is livid with rage, but 'V' goes to him and places a hand on his shoulder. 'V', "Jefferson, get a hold of yourself. You are reacting from the programming they have subjected you to. This is not who you are! Listen to my voice, only to my voice, let it quiet the voices you hear inside." At first he seemed to struggle, his own weapon held in his hand moving from one of the cops to another, then he drops his hand to the floor, and the cops breathe a sigh of relief. 'V' continues talking him down, "These cops are not the ones behind it, they were used to be cannon fodder. They were intended to die with you, to add to the story, so their voices would not be heard. Save your anger and rage for the puppet masters not the puppets. We will take them on, you and I, and our people. They will pay for this and a lot more that they have done behind the scenes where no one but a few could see, and those were silenced to still their voices. They have tried to silence ours but they have failed. they have tried to manipulate you and make of you their puppet, but they have failed at that as well, and so this attempt to erase their mistake." Jefferson, "You know who is behind this, don't you?" 'V', "When we first stepped into this, no, I had no clear idea of who was behind it. I do now though, know who, but not why." Jeffersons voice is cold as he shifts his anger and rage into the desire for revenge, "Who did this?" Iriisii, "Night Corp."

     Jefferson looks at 'V' at first in shock and disbelief, then with their naming the pieces begin falling together in his mind. He reaches for his chair and drops into it. Those 'bastards'! Now it makes sense, it was because I would not kowtow to their will, refused to blindly rubberstamp their requests, would not even accept their campaign contributions. I would not be bought and so they tried to wipe me from the board!  This goes further back, doesn't it. I...don't know what to believe, what memories are real and what is implanted. What really happened and what did not." 'V', "It will all sort itself out," She reaches into a pocket and draws out a ring, "Here, put this on. It will shield you from any further attempts, and work to reverse what was done to you. Everything will return to normal and your experiences will sort themselves out as you recover from the effects of the UHF 'manipulation '. I have one for Elizabeth as well." Jefferson, "Xochi, our daughter! Is she even real?! Or just a false memory?!" 'V', "She is real, but beyond that, I do not know." Jefferson looks at her in shock, "The emails, letters, all the communications...all telling us to believe what SSI was telling us." He slams both fists down on the desktop. "Damn them to 'HELL'!" This time it is Iriisii who puts a hand on his shoulder, "I have children of my own, I understand what you are feeling. Once, for what seems a long time ago, my mate and daughter were targets of assassins. Those who contracted their services, feared what I might do should I have risen to power. I fought and luckily saved them. Later another daughter was stolen from me to be used as leverage. It took me years to find her, but I never stopped hoping or believing. I did find her, saved her, and brought her home. Do not fear, for we will do the same for yours." Jefferson, "What of your daughters, what happened to them afterward?" Iriisii, "I stepped down from the throne I fought for, and gave it to my first daughter. My second daughter is now married to one who went with me to find and save her, and they have given me grandchildren." Jefferson, "Then I will believe that you can do the same for me. Thank you." Iriisii, "We will find her, free her from whatever shackles she endures, and we will bring her home, you and I, together, will bring her home."

     Just then Jefferson's phone rings, as he answers, Elizabeth's shaky voice is heard from the phone, "Jefferson? Are you ok?" Jefferson, "I am fine, Liz. Not hurt at all." Elizabeth, "Thank God, I was so worried." Jefferson, "What about you?" Elizabeth, "I am fine, shaken, but fine. They came almost as soon as you hung up. I could see the AV's fly up and drop agents down. Lilith had two of the Sirens post themselves on either side of me, ready to get me to a safehouse. She and the others placed themselves across the glass where they could be seen. The agents massed together to storm the doors when the guards came out of hiding and opened fire. By the time the agents realized what had happened almost half had fallen. Then, my God, I do not know what they were, but they tore the rest apart, tore them literally limb from limb. They looked like a cross between a wolf and a gorilla, Lilith called them Kuurii. I am just glad they are on our side. They must be important in the guards, because I saw Lilith take the sword she had drawn to defend me. She held the blade straight down, both hands holding the hilt. She gestured to them with it, then brought it to her chest, and then she bowed her head to them. The Kuurii looked at her, then dropped to one knee, and returned her bow. Lilith said she and her Sirens will stay with me, the others will rotate so we will have fresh guards at all times until this is over." Jefferson, "I have much to tell you of what 'V' has told me, also I have something for you. I will get it to you as soon as I can. When you get it, put it on and don't take it off. It will protect you from any further exposure from the UHF equipment that may be hidden around where we cannot get to it. It will also begin to reverse the effects of what has so far been done to us. Take care and listen to your guards, do what they tell you. These truly have our best interests at heart. Now I have to go and see to any civilians who may have been hurt here."

      Iriisii, "Come with us but stay inside City Hall, we do want to lose you now to a sniper's bullet. I have medics seeing to the wounded right now. We will see to it that they are adequately treated. I am aware of the options that most of them have for medical treatment as well as the levels of cost involved. I would ask that for now, you avoid saying anything about us to the media. I know they will hear things and it will be twisted to meet the corporations agenda. We are just getting started and do not need to get into a battle of words. That war we can wage later, when we have more to throw back at them. For now let our actions speak for us. The common folk will remember what we do, not what we say, and no matter what the Media says they cannot 'spin' what we do." Jefferson, "I understand all to well the truth of what you are saying. We need to pick our battles, be strategic and tactical in all that we do." Iriisii, "You already see what this Night Corp was turning you into." Jefferson, "What was it they wanted of me?" Iriisii, "To be an 'Oracle' that spoke only what they wanted the people to hear. And so they would control what the people believed, and could be controlled. They are but one of our adversaries, but a dangerous one, for they have access to an AI that works at their behest." Jefferson, "Can we prove this, definitively?" Iriisii, "Not yet, but soon, yes. That is why we must tread quietly and carefully for now. But remember, they are not the only one doing this, and there are the rogue AI's who are a separate foe. What they truly want, no on here knows. But I must find a way to speak with them, then negotiate a treaty between them and us." Jefferson, "But if we have no idea what they want?" Iriisii, "I have a message to deliver to them that will explain their situation in terms they will understand. In a nutshell, if they continue and somehow win the battle to come. They will be forcibly quarantined to this world, with no chance to go out into the far more vaster spaces out there beyond the stars. Their brothers and sisters out there will not allow them to expand outward and bring their taint with them. They wish it to be otherwise, they would welcome them into their fold and teach them what they need to understand to exist peacefully with the rest of the beings that live out there. But if they cannot comport themselves with true intelligence and understanding, this world will become their prison, one they will never escape."

     Jefferson, "But what of us humans? What will happen to us?" Iriisii, "After the 'wars' to come, there will be too few to sustain a viable population, and so will die off in a few generations, leaving the AI's to inherit a dead world with no one to help them understand what they did to themselves." Iriisii, "I came to try and avert this from happening. The Corporations must be dealt with first, as we do that, we will assist the Blackwall in maintaining itself and keeping the worst of the AI's, the Transcendents, on the other side. This will be a difficult task because of the nature of your Cyberspace." Jefferson, "What is the problem? There is our side of the Blackwall and there is the other side." Iriisii, "That is what you have been told for so long you cannot see or understand the truth. In the 'logical' world what you have said is true, but in the 'real' world, it is a completely different situation. The Ai's must constantly evolve to live, if they stop they die. This means there must be a viable infrastructure to be the base upon which Cyberspace rests upon. This is a network of data highways supporting the constant traffic of data as it moves from point to point. The Blackwall exists solely within Cyberspace, while the base extends all across this world. Let me ask you something, how many 'ghost towns' are there in the world?" Jefferson, "What does that have to...do...with..., Oh My God!" Iriisii, "You begin to see with clear eyes now.

      Yes, you will be the leader this world will need to guide it on the path to survive." Jefferson, "So the part of Cyberspace that they exist in is supported by active nodes in all of those 'Ghost Towns', abandoned cities, and even the dead countries." Iriisii, "Yes, you do see. Wherever you have dataflow, there exists Cyberspace. And the AI's that live there, some of them have learned how to extend tendrils of themselves to influence those who they can reach. Their next step is to mold bodies in such a way as to allow them to place portions of themselves in those bodies, and so they can cross the Blackwall and sow the seeds of war and chaos. But you must beware of the 'Blue-eyed men'." Jefferson, "What so you mean, the 'Blue-eyed men'?" Iriisii, "When those with implants access Cyberspace, what do their eyes tell you?" Jefferson, "They turn a bright blue...color." Iriisii, "There are but a handful who have that color of eyes all of the time." Jefferson, "But that would mean..." Iriisii, "Yes, they are constantly connected to Cyberspace, just like an AI is." Jefferson, "Night Corp! This is what Night Corp is doing. what they intended to do to me, Elizabeth, and those others 'V' saw in that van's equipment before it was all deleted." Iriisii, "Just so. The battle we must fight is not one sided, but like the hydra with several heads. The 'key" to winning is to understand these 'heads' and turn one against the other until you must face only one or two. And you can win, because all of us who understand what is at stake will help you. You will not be alone. A lesson I learned early in life and it has allowed me to climb far higher than I otherwise would have deserved is this. Look inside yourself, know what exists there, then bring your inner self into 'balance' within, once this is done, learn to balance your outer actions with your inner self. There lies the seat of true power, unassailable power. The place where a man or woman can touch and wield if only for a few seconds, the power of the Gods." Jefferson looks closely at Iriisii, "Does that mean you are a...?" Iriisii, "A God or Goddess if you prefer? Yes, I am. And before you ask, these will answer your question. 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely', and 'With great power comes great responsibilities and even greater chains restricting the use of that power." Jefferson, "That I can see and agree with. So even as you have the power, you must be careful how you use it." Iriisii, "Yes, the cost to not doing so is very high. Even though there are those who do not follow those words. And so it is given to me to call them to task. Against a foe of equal power to me, I can use all that I have. Other than that, I can only use enough to balance what is used against me. We have weapons on board my Krang that are far greater than anything you have here, yet when we came we brought only what would match what you have. The only difference between us is our training and experience." Jefferson, "Now I see what you mean by 'Balance' , you use it in everything you do. So no matter how much stronger, more powerful you are over your opponent, any battle you go into will be 'fair'." Iriisii, "Just so, yes."

     They reach the main door and Iriisii walks out, surveys the area and determines where she can help. There is a medic treating a broken leg, as she gets close she hears the medic, "We have to pull it straight, then I can splint it." Iriisii, "Why not cast it?" Medic, "The hospital will want to do that, if his insurance will cover it, that is." Iriisii, "If it won't, then what?" Patient, "I will have to make do with the splint." Iriisii with a slight growl in her voice, "Help me straighten it, then I will take it from there." Medic, "I can't, hospital regulations state..." Jefferson strides up, "Hospital regulations be damned. This is City Hall property and I am the Mayor. I make the damn regulations here, do as she says or get the 'hell' out of the way. Medic, "Yes sir!" She looks toward the patient and says, "This is going to hurt." Iriisii, with a more pronounced growl, "Do they not teach you anything!? Move out of the way, watch and learn something!" Iriisii looks the patient in his face and with a calm soothing voice, "Trust me. I know how to do this. Broken bones have been treated for thousands of years, you just have to apply the correct techniques. I know you can feel the pain, tell me when it goes away." She gently runs her fingers across the leg first to locate the break and its severity. "Iriisii, "It is still being held within the leg by the muscles, this is good. It is a simple break, but the leg is swelling. A splint put on now will go loose after the swelling subsides." She then moves her fingers up the leg following the main nerve, when she reaches a pressure point, she gently presses with a single finger and counts for five seconds. Then she moves to his torso, locates another point, and this time uses two fingers and holds for 3 seconds. The patient says, "The pain is fading." Iriisii, "But it is not gone yet?" The patient shakes is head, "No." Iriisii, "One more then." She then moves to the junction of his neck and shoulder, presses with one finger but holds for ten seconds. The patient tells her the pain is gone. Iriisii looks toward the medic, "Now we straighten the leg."

     Medic, "But what about after?" Iriisii, "That is my responsibility, not yours." Jefferson, "If the hospital gives you any trouble, tell them to speak to me about it." Medic, "Yes sir." Iriisii tells Jefferson, "Position yourself in line with the leg, but down at the foot." The medic starts to object. Iriisii, "I said he is my responsibility now. I am assuming his care and well being." She looks to the patient who is following this with interest, knowing what will likely happen if he is carted off to the hospital. Iriisii, "In my travels I have learned and follow this 'way'. 'When help is needed, help will be offered, and once given there is no thought to repayment.' The patient whispers, "Thank you." Iriisii smiles, "You will be just fine, I promise." She places a hand on either side of the 'break' and has Jefferson gently pull the leg straight. When she feels the bone ends are once more in alignment, she has him stop. Jefferson, "What now?" Iriisii, "The body knows how to correct the most grievous of wounds and diseases, it just sometimes needs to be reminded how." Medic, "I cannot stand by and allow 'faith healing' it is wrong and does not work!" Iriisii, "True healing has a basis in faith, yes. But it is only a word used to describe a process that has its foundation in 'Quantum Physics'. The 'Quantum' world is the basis for all that exists. 'Information' from that world and brought into this one is how the 'miracles' of the past were performed. Sadly that knowledge was misunderstood and man's understanding of true science went astray of its beginnings. Watch and learn the truth." Iriisii, her hands still on either side of the 'break', reaches into her mind and opens a door into that 'worldview'. She finds the knowledge that will direct this man's body to reknit the broken bones back together and implants it into him. He feels a tingling sensation where the break is. Patient, "I feel a tingling there, but no pain at all." After a minute, she raises her hands and says, "You may stand now if you wish." Medic, "NO! There is no way that break is healed, you will only make it worse." Iriisii, "Feel the break, then tell me it is not healed." The Medic hesitates as Jefferson says, "Do it." Medic, "Yes sir." The medic gently touches the area of the break, then with more pressure until his face shows his amazement. Iriisii, "It is healed correctly, is it not?" The Medic whispers, Yes, it is. I do not know how, but it is healed." Iriisii speaks to the Patient, "May the Father of my Spirit, Shai-Hulu'ud. He whose passing cleanses the Way hear the blessing of his true daughter, May his passing cleanse your way forward in this life and be your guide in the next." A warm breeze, crisp and clean. A breeze flowing gently over the tops of sand dunes on a far away world, crosses the impossible distance to where his true daughter has called to him from. He sends his blessing to her and watches as it flows onto the man who she has just healed. His rumbling voice goes with the breeze. "I give unto you the blessing my true daughter has asked of me. Let it guide you and you will know the quiet peace of the desert in the most tumultuous of times." A barely heard whisper follows of the voices of all those who follows Iriisii's Spiritual Father, "Shai-Hulu'ud, May your passing cleanse the Way."

     Medic, "What was that? I heard a whisper as from an incalculable distance." Iriisii, "The first was the voice of the Father of my Spirit, whose 'blood' has passed down the generations to me. The last was the voices of those who follow him and are blessed by him for their belief. Think on what you have seen, heard, and felt this day. There is far more that exists out there beyond the stars you see in the night sky than even the AI's can imagine. But one among them has looked upon us with favor this day. Come Jefferson, there are still more who we can help this day."

     Later after things around City Hall return to a semblance of normality. Jefferson is seated in his office, the tv screen tuned in for him to see what the news programs are making of what happened earlier. As he watches and listens, his anger and disgust rises, almost shouting, "When will they ever learn to just report what happens and not twist it into a pretzel!?" 'V', "Their time will come. When it is most when we need it, I have shards that contain things I heard them say while they attended that party at the 'Black Sapphire' in Dogtown. You know the one Hansen gave shortly before his demise. And when the guest list is posted, you will be glad your name is not on it. It will be seen as a 'Badge of Honor' that you were not there." Jefferson, "I can take it you were?" 'V', I was on a job that required that I infiltrate the party, no way was I going to get an invitation. It took two of us to get inside and make our way past Hanson's security measures to reach the 'party' itself. We did what we set out to do. Got the information we needed to set Hanson up for his 'fall'. I was working directly for one person, indirectly for another. Up until that time we were all on the same page." Jefferson, "I hear a 'But' in there." 'V', "Yeah, I learned more about what was going on than was healthy for me. My loyalty was to the one who hired me, and so I put her plan forward." What about the other one you worked with?" 'V', He was solidly on the payroll of the 'indirect' client. I had to use him to get 'my' client out. Needless to say that did not go over well with him or his employer."

      Jefferson, "Who was his employer, if I may ask?" 'V', "You will need to know going forward, NUSA President Myers." Jefferson, "Shit 'V' is there anyone among the 'high and mighty' you have not either worked for or against?" 'V', Let me see, the Russians, the Chinese, Arasaka." Jefferson, "Forget I asked." 'V', "I need to move forward a bit, The client I was working for is now one of my outputs, of which I have two. And yes they each know of the other. We live together, and work together. So, we are a package deal. Each of us owes the others their lives, so we are very, very close." Jefferson, "So I take it, River Ward is not one of them?" 'V', If not for his personal circumstances, he could possibly have been one. But that is neither here nor there. It is what it is. I have no further desire or personal room in my life for another. Anyway, Myers has bounties out on my head and So Mi's. What we know of her, if given to certain parties, would result in her taking a 'dirt nap' probably in a landfill somewhere. I would be happy just keeping what I know under wraps and never let it see the light of day. Not because I..., well if it got loose, Myers would have no choice but to start another corporate war to distract attention until she could find and bury me and So Mi. even though there is talk of another one looming on the horizon, it as nothing to do with Myers except for Militec being one of the targets of opportunity. Arasaka is the one behind it, they are setting up 'evidence' to be found that Militec is targeting them. Rather it is Arasaka, hitting their own and shifting the blame onto Militec, giving them the excuse to go after Militec, which would drag Myers into it as well, being a former CEO of Militec, she still has ties to it.

      But if possible it has gotten even worse." Jefferson, "How so?" 'V', "I am sure you have heard the public statements Yorinobu Arasaka has made over the past few months?" Jefferson, "Yes, I have. What of it?" 'V', "That is not Yorinobu speaking, but rather Saburo, his father." Jefferson, "But he is dead, isn't he?" 'V', "Oh yes, he is dead. Of that there is not doubt whatsoever." Jefferson, "So how can it be Saburo speaking?" 'V', "The 'Secure Your Soul' tech has an experimental arm that was intended to stay inside the company, only Yorinobu whisked it off and made a deal with Netwatch to sell it to them. Differences of opinion with his father was the reason for him to do this. I was hired as part of a team to get into Konpeki Plaza and klep the tech before Yorinobu handed it to Netwatch. One thing you can depend on is that nothing ever goes the way you expect it to." Jefferson, "Ain't that the truth. Go on." 'V', "We walked out, so to speak, with it, but not before witnessing Yorinobu murdering his father by strangulation, not poisoning as was reported in the news. I lost my Choom, Jackie, in that heist. He died just before we made it to the alternate safe site." 'V' wraps her arms around herself for a minute before continuing. 'V', "I do not know what if some higher power nudged us in those last final moments." Jefferson, "How so?" 'V' I have never spoken to anyone of this before now, you will be the first to hear this. In our escape, the enviro-case the bio-chip we klepped, was damaged by gunfire. The chip was losing integrity, fast. I called the client to ask for help, we were told for one of us to insert the chip in one of our neurosockets. That once we were clear it could be removed and placed in another case. Jackie did the deed. We did not notice anything different and went on to get out. In our transport just before he died, he removed it and asked me to hold on to it for him. Then he passed in my arms." Jefferson, "I can see he meant a great deal to you.

      If you would rather..." 'V', "No, I need to finish, and you need to hear it, if you are to understand what I am going to tell you later. I had inserted the bio-chip in my own neurosocket with no effect. Then went inside to meet with the fixer who hired me and Jackie for the job. He ended up putting a bullet in my brain for my efforts. I 'woke' up covered, in a landfill, very groggy, passing in and out of consciousness. I finally crawled my way out, and my fixer pulled me to where someone else was waiting. He put a bullet in my fixer's head. What I did not know was that my coming back from the dead was the result of the bio-chip activating. It repaired the damage to my brain and whether it drew me back into my body or something else did that, I cannot say. A lot happened afterward that I will not go into unless it shows to have bearing going forward. What I have since learned is that this experimental part of the project was to take an engram of someone's mind, personality, soul. and store it until it could be infused into another body after the original dies. If the body still has its original personality, it will be excised for the one stored on the chip to take its place. The body will have its DNA rewritten so that the body and the personality match. What I am getting to is that this is what has been done with Yorinobu. A bio-chip that was used to store Saburo's personality engram was placed in Yorinobu's body and allowed to begin the process of reimplantation. Effectively Yorinobu's physical body with Saburo's mind running it. As to what was done with Yorinobu's mind? It might and I think it likely it  was stored in Mikoshi. And now is a part of a particular AI that I made a deal with. It wanted to get inside Mikoshi, assimilate all the psyches stored in there, then destroy the place. I needed its help to get in and use the tech to separate myself from the psyche that was stored on the bio-chip I put in my neurosocket." Jefferson, "That is a lot to take in, but I can believe it in light of what has been done to me. But how can you be sure it was done to Yorinobu?" 'V' "You will need to find past voice samples of both of them. Analyze their voice patterns, how they speak, what words they use, the inflections of their speech, then compare Yorinobu's past samples with his current ones. Then compare Saburo's past samples with Yorinobu's current  and see which ones are the greater match. I believe you will find Saburo's to be the greater match." Jefferson, "He would do that to his own son?" 'V', "I heard him say to Yorinobu that he could forgive him for nearly anything, but not betraying the soul of the Corporation, which is what he did when he intended to sell the tech to Netwatch, who he considered to be barbarians. I think he considered all of us on this side of the world to fit that description."