Chapter 19[Reality Check - Tuesday Feb. 09 2010, 1620 hours, Black Pegasus Club] "Sergeant Sam'di?" asked the figure in the doorway. "Is that you?" It peered a little longer into the darkness, looking both Lieutenants over. "What are you doing here?" Thallin stepped forward, squinting. "Lieutenant Tallon? This is Lieutenant Braywater. Could you please put the gun down?" The figure paused, then lifted the other arm. Suddenly, light flooded the inside of the club as all spotlights came on at once. Standing by the door was Sarah Tallon, holding a glue-gun in her hand. "Well, unless you're a piece of wood, you've got nothing to worry about." She threw the gun aside casually and stepped toward Thallin and Kay. "So, why have we got three Lieutenants skulking around in the dark, mmh?" she asked, giving an exaggerated wink. She bent over and lifted one of Izabelle's eyelid, peering into it. "And one of whom had seriously too much to drink. You know, Lieutenant", she continued, facing Thallin, "I did not figure you out for a guy who'd get his dates drunk - know what I mean?" Again, the overly exaggerated wink. "Now wait a second." protested Thallin. "Surely you don't think I... With... And..." He opened and closed his mouth silently a couple of more times, then stopped moving altogether. "Oh, I give up!" He sat down heavily. "We were simply helping Lieutenant Fate back to her new home." explained Kay, trying desperately not to smile. "We found her in one of the bars and thought it best if she slept it off on her own bed." "Do you need a hand?" "If you wouldn't mind. Izi's kinda heavy." Sarah's eyebrow rose at Izabelle's nickname but otherwise she stayed silent. Kay turned towards Thallin and nudged him. "Hey, SDF to Thallin. Where do we go from here?" Thallin looked up and looked vacantly at Kay's face before his eyes finally focussed. "I have no idea. Sergeant Sam'di was doing all of the organising, so I don't know where she located our quarters." "Up the stairs, third door to the left for you, fourth for Lieutenant Fate." chimed Sarah, all smiles. "There's even a connecting door between the two sets of quarters." An unrecognised muffled sound came from Kay, causing Sarah to turn towards her. "That's a nasty cough you have there. Well, shall we?"
Sarah arranged a few pillows under Izabelle's head before following the others out the door, closing it behind her. Once in the corridor, she seemed to remember something and pulled a remote control from her jacket- pocket. "Before I forget," she said, "Tamara wanted me to give you this. It's the controls for the entire club." Thallin took the remote and looked at them. It was a bizarre combination of portable computer and video remote control. A small screen allowed the control to inform the holder as to the status of most of the equipment around the club, as well as allowing him to control them from a distance if need be. Thallin typed in a few commands, looking at the menus as they scrolled by. One set of controls under the security system label were locked out under a password. <I'll have to ask Tamara what's under the password.> "Thanks, I think I'll be able to manage with this." A sub-menu came up on the screen, showing him that the VX-001 had been transferred to the lab bay somewhere in the warehouse. <Now if only this thing would give me a map, I'd be set.> "Was there anything else?" "Apart from the fact that the cellar and the fridge is fully stocked and that the staff you requested is hired, no. Oh, about the staff. You'll find their files in your room, on your bed." "Shouldn't you have put them in his office?" asked Kay, a sharp edge to her voice. "I could have, but it wouldn't have been as much fun." Again the wink. Thallin was beginning to suspect that half the conversation was passing him by. Was he missing something? "Anyway," continued Sarah, "I've got to go and sign in for the day. 'A technician's work is never done' and all that jazz. So if you'll excuse me, I'll just show myself out." She gave Thallin a little wave of the hand and walked back to the stairs, her hips swaying ever so slightly. "hmph." Thallin looked at Kay, wondering what the problem was. She was standing with her arms crossed, a look of disapproval on her face. "She couldn't be more obvious, could she?" "Obvious?" asked a surprised Thallin. "About what?" Kay looked at him for a moment, studying him. "You really, truly don't know, do you?" She waved it aside. "I guess you'll find out soon enough." "Well, before you disappear as well, I'm going to need your help." "My help? What for?" Thallin pointed to Izabelle's quarters. "I still have a core-dump to do on Izabelle's memory. I could do with an extra set of hands."
[Reality Check - Thursday Feb. 11 2010, 1947 hours, Black Pegasus Club] "That's it, all done." announced Thallin, bringing his finger down heavily on the 'Enter' key. "You mean she won't remember anything?" asked Kay, looking up from the tank were a naked Izabelle was floating, half a dozen cables attached to her cranium. Thallin sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I managed to block off most of the memories so she will not be able to access them without a voluntary search. The problem is, I don't have the time to do a proper purge - or to hunt down every memory we want to erase." "So?" "So I injected a worm into her brain." "A worm?" "Sorry, old terminology. A seeker program. It'll hunt down every memory pattern which relates to her believing herself to be Christina Leeds and erase them. I also included this delusion she had about loving me." "You're playing God again, Thallin" warned Kay. "Maybe. But it gets easier every time you do it." Thallin got up and flexed tired muscles back into shape. "Anyway, you look worse than I feel. We're done here, so why don't you go back to your quarters and catch some sleep?" Kay nodded, suddenly looking even more tired. She yawned, then stretched her own muscles. "Good idea. G'night Thallin." She headed for the door and opened it, stopping briefly to blink at the brightly-lit corridor. "Hey, Kay." Thallin called from the inside. "rmfp?" she answered, half asleep. "Thanks for your help... I appreciate it." Kay waved a hand at him and closed the door behind her, leaving Thallin alone in the dim light of Izabelle's room.
[Reality Check - Friday Feb. 12 2010, 0605 hours, Black Pegasus Club] Thallin was watching a re-run of the "Pirates of Penzance" when Izabelle finally emerged from her artificially-induced coma. On the screen, the Pirate king was listening to the Major-General's song. "'And with a slice of lemon
Thallin had always enjoyed this particular production of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic. In it, the members of the cast played not only amongst themselves, but with the orchestra and the audience as well. While Izabelle stood up and made her way to where he was sitting, Thallin simply drunk in the show, as the Pirate King swung his sword and hit one of the orchestra's cymbals. "'It wasn't me... It was the musician'
"Thallin. What is the date please? My chronometer seems to have lost some time." Leaning over to pause the play-back, Thallin looked at the clock on his desk. "Monday 12, six in the morning. How do you feel?" "Confused. There seems to be something happening inside my mind, over which I seem to have no control. I also have no recollection of the past three days. Was there a problem?" "No problem, I simply wanted to upgrade your software and it took me a little longer than I expected. Any disorientation?" Izabelle paused for a moment before answering. "Nothing I cannot override if need be. I assume from the surrounds that we are no longer in our normal quarters?" "No. Here." Thallin threw a pass-key at her. She caught it in mid- flight and attached it to her others. "This is the key to the front door. The key to your quarters should still be in the lock." Thallin looked pensive for a moment, trying to decide whether his next sentence would be well received. "Izabelle, are you happy here?" "Yes, Thallin. Why? Did you want me to remove myself from the premises? If so, I shall require some time to vacate my quarters." Thallin looked at her face, trying to gauge what her reaction, her thoughts were. "No, it's simply that Lieutenant Landers has been complaining about my keeping you away from her squadron. I think it may be a good idea if you spent more time with them from now on. You know, fly a few routine missions every week." "It would make sense, it would also keep Lieutenant Landers at bay." Thallin could not be certain, but he thought he could hear a certain self- satisfied smugness in Izabelle's voice. <..uh ho..> "There is an inspection scheduled for 0800 this morning. I shall participate in it and in any subsequent patrols during the day. Would that be satisfactory?" "That would be fine, Izabelle. Thank you." "Anytime, Thallin. Anytime."
[Reality Check - Friday Feb. 12 2010, 1328 hours, SDF Hangar Bay] Thallin had finished reconfiguring the VX-001 for its new role as a dual- control fighter. The remote controls had been pushed back into the head of the Battloid to make room for the pilot's seat. This made them vulnerable to a near-miss, but it was only temporary and they would not be required until such a time as Thallin finally understood the part Izabelle played in Eve's plans. The plane itself had been relocated from the warehouse to the SDF-1's launching bays thanks to a series of airlocks most had forgotten about. After all, there was no reason for anyone to suspect that a warehouse recently converted to a club also housed the repair labs for an experimental Valkyrie. <Now, if only Kay's mechanic would stop looking at me so obviously...> It amazed Thallin how the simple fact of knowing you were under surveillance would heighten your awareness of those around you. <If I'm not careful, I'll turn paranoid... paranoider?... Whatever.> He closed the access hatch and thumbed the latches to secure it before moving towards the human-sized set of airlocks at the other end of the bay. Once there, he cycled the locks and removed his helmet when the pressure equalised. <You could kill somebody with ease in an airlock. A few extra wires here, a few less there... and the person inside either suffocates or dies from extreme pressure.> Thallin shook his head. This way of thinking led to madness. Slowly, Thallin made his way pass the guards and out onto the streets of Macross City itself. The lighting inside the ship simulated a bright Monday afternoon - but then again, it never rained on Macross City. <Rain. I never thought I'd actually miss getting drenched.> He was still lost in his dreams when his personal pager sounded in his pocket. "All military personnel on duty to stations. The Macross will be approaching Mars Base Sara in twenty minutes. All off-duty personnel to remain on stand-by. Supply and Requisition officers to Daedalus for final briefing." Thallin stopped for a moment. Mars Base Sara had been abandoned a few years before when a United Earth Government's Space Destroyer had been stolen by a contingent of troops from the Anti-Unification Forces. The base had been evacuated in all haste when the Destroyer was last seen heading for Mars. But this was to no avail. The Destroyer somehow managed to track down the evacuation ships and reduce them all to dust, killing all on board. <What could possibly be on that base that would merit our stopping there?> wondered Thallin, starting again on his way. A few steps later, a thought struck him. <Supply and Requisition... Supplies. We're stopping to replenish our stores. And if Mars Base's supplies are intact, there should also be...>Without waiting to finish his thought, Thallin broke into a run, grinning madly. "Oh boy."
Forward to Chapter 20.
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