Author's Notes:

My author's notes for this chapter of this story of mine will be rather long, and so, if you don't want to bother to read them, feel free to just scroll ahead past them; in my author's notes I will be explaining a few things about this story of mine, but if you will choose not to read them, you won't loose much anyway.

This story of mine is a crossover between Saber Marionette J and Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 realities. In Saber Marionette J reality, this story takes place after Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry were released by Mesopotamia, but as you can guess, this release is going to be very different from the one we saw in Saber Marionette J animated series. In Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality, this story takes place soon after the last OVA (i.e. Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 animated series) episode – "Scoop Chase".

Speaking about Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality, in Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality it is going to be year 2433, not 2033. But nevertheless, a lot of things, including the general technology level, will remain more or less same in the Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality, partially because in this story a lot of research and resources were put into interstellar colonization program (i.e. Project Frontier and Project Mesopotamia), which has never happened in the original Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality. However, this was interstellar colonization program eventually considered a failure and was shut down, because of lack of communication from departed colony ships; the more details may or probably may not be given as the story will progress. And also, extra three hundred years also brought a few more wars and a few more cataclysms, which needless to say slowed the scientific progress down even farther. And so, even though the history of Earth has significantly changed comparing to that of the Bubblegum Crisis reality, all the main aspects of Bubblegum Crisis reality, like GENOM, Knight Sabers, A.D. Police and of course Boomers will remain almost unchanged. Perhaps it is somewhat illogical, but in this story of mine it is so. But still, many elements of the original Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality has changed greatly, as well as background and role of certain people.

By the way, when it will come to computer operation and hacking, this fanfictional story of mine will mostly rely on Cyberpunk hacking system (for those who don't know it, Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-3033 OVA series take place in Cyberpunk reality, although there are some more or less significant differences from normal Cyberpunk reality), i.e. the virtual network and neuro-connection, but only when it will come to the newest technologies from Earth; however, when it will come to Terra II technologies (I have a feeling that virtual network and hacking weren't developed especially well on Terra II) or some older technologies (like Mesopotamia and all the related equipment, for example) the process of hacking and computer operation will be far less advanced, although it will still have some things taken from Cyberpunk hacking system.

Oh, and also by the way, even if you haven't seen either of Saber Marionette J TV series, or Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 OVA series, I believe that you still will be able to enjoy reading this story of mine, as I will provide the description of the characters, as well as background descriptions, even if the later will be somewhat short.

For example, this chapter of this story of mine will contain more or less detailed physical descriptions of Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry from Saber Marionette J reality, as well as more or less detailed physical descriptions of a couple of rather important characters from Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality. And so, if you already know what all or at least some of these characters look like, please bear with my descriptions, for they are mostly meant for those who haven't seen either of these animated series.

And also in some parts of this and following chapters I on purpose inserted some overly prolonged descriptions into the dialogues, including stating the obvious, which while seem somewhat illogical and inappropriate may actually to give readers who aren't familiar with Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality some additional information about Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 reality, even though needless to say this additional information is going to be somewhat subjective.

This chapter of this story of mine, as well as possibly some of the future chapters of this story of mine, will contain musical fill-ins. The beginning of each musical fill-in will be marked with [Musical fill-in – song title] and the end of each musical fill-in will be marked with [/Musical fill-in]. Musical fill-in themselves will be written in italic type. Also after doing a bit of thinking, I've decided to use both English and Japanese lyrics in these musical fill-ins of mine. And so, lyrics before the slash (/) are Japanese lyrics, while lyrics after the slash (/) are English lyrics. Well, I don't think that you would have any problems with noticing it either way, but nevertheless I've decided to mention it to make things completely clear.

And finally, in some parts of this chapter I will be using certain Japanese words, phrases and honorificators (i.e. a name suffixes), as I believe that it will help to depict the atmosphere and characters' reactions better. Here is more or less correct (I am not studying Japanese myself, at least not yet) translation of Japanese words, phrases and honorificators (i.e. a name suffixes), which I will be using:

Ne – the word that seems to be primary used in some questioning sentences. In this chapter it is used mostly in the beginnings of the sentences, where it is either omitted during the translation, or translated as "Hay". Near the end of the sentence, however, it can be translated in a few different way, but it is usually translated as something like "Eh?", "Right?" "Isn't it?" or "Isn't that right?" near to the end of the sentence. Used in this story primary because of a certain blue-haired marionette's liking of this word.

Hai – the expression of agreement, usually translated as "Yes",  "Okay", "Alright" or "That's right".

-sama – is a honorificator, i.e. a name suffix. It is added though a hyphen after a person's name. Referring to someone adding "-sama" suffix to his or her name is the most respectful way to refer to someone. Suffix "-sama" is usually used to refer to someone of great social status or someone whom you deeply respect, or as a way to flatter someone. Name remains unchanged by adding "-sama" suffix, for example Otaru = Otaru-sama, Faust = Faust-sama. In translation, suffix "-sama" may either be omitted, or be translated as "Lord", "Lady" or some similar appropriate highly respectful title. In case with Cherry referring to Otaru as "Otaru-sama", the most appropriate translation seems to be "Master Otaru".

Shimatta! – "Shit!"

Ano – sound of hesitation, which is usually translated as "Ummm…" or something similar.

Unagi – translated as "eel", however, in this chapter of this story of mine, "Unagi" is a name of a submarine-like underwater vessel, which is equipped with a rather advanced computer, which give it a certain degree of artificial intelligence.

Konnichi wa – "Hello!" or "Good day!"

Disclaimer:

No matter how much I wish it to be otherwise, I own neither Saber Marionette J TV series, nor Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 OVA series. Saber Marionette J animated series and all the characters from them are based on works of Satoru Akahori, Hiroshi Negishi and Tsukasa Kotobuku and officially copyrighted and owned by Kadokawa Shoten, TV Tokyo, Bandai Ent. and Anime Group. The original story behind Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 OVA series has been written by Suzuki Toshimichi, and Bubblegum Crisis MegaTokyo 2032-2033 OVA series are officially copyrighted and owned by Artmic and Youmex. This story is a fanfictional work that has been written without either of these animated series' acknowledged owners' knowledge or permission, and will be removed from the view of the public should any of them request it.

Dedication:

I dedicate this story of mine to my beloved Agent Regina, who is the most wonderful person I know! Agent Regina, if you are reading this story of mine I truly hope that you will enjoy doing so!

Mesopotamia's Revenge: The Bitter Release

Three women stood before a bull's-eye, looking through it. Two of the women, who seemed to be able to understand the gravity of their situation far better then their light-hearted sister, looked very sad – one was already one the point of tears, and the other looked liked she was trying very hard to fight them. The third of them looked very confused, as apparently she didn't fully understand what was going on.

But even though two of them looked no different from a normal human women (in case with the third of them, her inhuman nature was catching the eye immediately), neither of the three was really a woman, rather they were robots that were made to resemble the women so perfectly, that when those few inhuman features that they had are covered by the clothes, as it is with two of them, it is absolutely impossible to distinguish them from human beings. Marionettes – that's how the robots like them were called. They weren't humans, and yet…

In more then one way they seemed to be more like humans then like machines. Indeed, not only they looked almost exactly as normal humans, they also could feel emotions no different from any human, even though they have grown to be able to feel the full array of human emotions only recently. To make their resemblance with humans even more striking, they could eat and drink just like normal humans to replenish their energy instead or in addition to recharging their batteries from some other energy source, and they could even enjoy their food and drink. In their periods of inactivity they could sleep just like normal humans, and they even could see dreams. And to make their expression of their human feelings absolutely perfect, they could even cry and blush. And finally, among all the other emotions they could feel, they could love. They loved one man who was their everything, and for whom they would gladly sacrifice themselves to Satan himself, and in the way they have done almost exactly this only a short while ago.

Behind the bull's-eye loomed a dark silhouette of a large spaceship that hovered on the planet's orbit and that was fully responsible for the terrible destruction brought upon this planet not a long time ago. Right now, almost all the people upon this planet, called Terra II, had absolutely no idea that this spaceship was the source of the recent attack upon the planet, nor about the price that was paid to stop this attack. But soon, those few who knew the truth behind the recent events will make sure that everyone will also know the truth behind the recent events. And soon in the eyes of the people of Terra II, this silhouette will become very much like Satan himself.

And yet the three marionettes, who were now able to understand him better then anyone else, knew that everything wasn't as simple as that; and despite everything he had done to Terra II, they couldn't think of him as some ultimate source of evil. For even though they still couldn't agree with his reasons to do what he has done, they could at least understand his reasons to do what he has done. For even if it was only for a short time, they became one with him, and during that period of time they shared his pain just as he shared theirs.

All the years he spent there, hovering at the orbit of Terra II, he felt great helplessness, having his beloved at his side, but unable to do anything to fulfill her wishes. For fulfilling her wishes would mean loosing her forever. And then they came into his life, with intention to become his beloved's replacement. But instead of ease, they brought him only more pain; adding the pain not of the single heart, but of the three hearts to his pain. And such pain was too much for him to bear. And no matter how much he wished them to be a replacement for what he was forced to give up, they neither truly wished nor really could become such a replacement. But what was gone was gone, and all his wishes and desires were gone along with it. All except for one – the desire of revenge. For even though they couldn't ease his pain by staying with him, he has found another way to ease his pain. Well, to tell the truth, it hasn't brought him any ease, but at least it has brought him some grim satisfaction. They separated him from the woman he loved, and now, he made everything to separate them from the man they loved in return. Such was his revenge.

Three marionettes continued to stand before the bull's-eye and look through it. Two of them were simply unable to believe that this was really happening now, when their return to their beloved master side seemed to be so close, and the third wasn't fully understanding why her sisters were so sad, when everything was fine and they were supposed to be happy.

The first of them, the tallest of the three, bore strong, honest and proud features of the one born to be a warrior. While she didn't look to be overly muscular, one look upon her face was enough for the most people to realize that there was no small strength hidden within the beautiful body of hers. She had long bright red hair, tied into a single long pigtail behind her back. Her eyes were unnaturally red in color. She was dressed in black jumpsuit with some orange clothes over it and wore white socks and high-heeled red shoes. She also wore a pair of white ribbons, contorted into circles at her bare shoulders. And finally, she also wore a pair of large earrings in form of golden-yellow metal globes; as they seemed to be too large to actually be golden, it seemed more probable that they were made from well-polished bronze or some other similar metal. While most men would consider this marionette's body to be more beautiful and sexy then two others women's bodies; she was the only one of the three whose inhuman features were uncovered by her clothes – tiny but still perfectly visible slits of her cooling system, which were located on her arms just bellow her bare shoulders. It was almost impossible to imagine somebody with her features crying, and yet, she looked almost like she was about to cry now, as she had a mixture of anger and sadness upon her face.

The one who stood next to her seemed to be the first one's total opposite in almost everything. She was the shortest among the three and her features were soft, gentle and somewhat fragile. This one had purple hair, which was mostly short with exception of two very long pigtails on both sides, which she kept in front of her. This one's gentle eyes were blue in color. She was dressed in white and pink kimono and wore somewhat strange and clearly oversized shoes, which also were white and pink in color. She also wore a large bow behind her head, of a very light pinkish color, and a pair of large red plastic globes, one at the each side of her head, with a golden-yellow metal pendant attached to each of them; as it was with the first marionette's earrings, it seemed to be more likely that these pendants were made from well-polished bronze or some other similar metal, rather then from the real gold. While this marionette's sweet and gentle face was likely to be considered far more attractive then the first one's face, her body was likely to be considered far less attractive then the first one's body, especially since her breasts weren't developed especially well. In fact, this one's short height and poorly developed body could have made this one to appear less mature then the other two, if not for the sad but still serious and somewhat thoughtful expression upon her face.

The last one was taller then the second one, though not by much. However, even though her height was closer to the second one, her body was closer to the first one, and it was almost as beautiful and sexy as the first one's body. She had rich blue hair with a pair of very short pigtails tied in front of her, and green eyes. She was dressed in black jumpsuit with slightly mismatched white and yellow clothes over it. This one's shoes were also somewhat strange and clearly oversized, but this one's shoes were mostly yellow in color. This one's hair was mostly covered by yellow kerchief. At the right side her had this one had a large red globe, very much like the red globes the second one had, but deeper red in color and without any additional ornaments. But despite the fact that her outfit looked rather strange and mismatched, she still looked more or less good in it, although she would probably look even better in a more suitable outfit. However, even though this one seemed to be more or less physically mature, something about her expression suggested that she was in fact much more childish then other two. And indeed, unlike the other two marionettes, this one seemed to be unable to fully understand the gravity of their situation…

"Ne, Cherry, Bloodberry, what's wrong? Why are you so sad? We are going back Otaru, aren't we?"

"Terra Two is… getting farther." The red-haired marionette said, looking as if she was trying hard to hold back tears.

"What does it mean, Bloodberry?" The blue-haired marionette asked. "Aren't we going home?"

"No, Lime," the purple-haired marionette said, answering the question instead of her red-haired sister – Bloodberry "We aren't going home, we are…"

Unable to hold her tears back any longer, the purple-haired marionettes lowered her head and began to weep quietly. Seeing the tears slowly running down her sister's face, the blue-haired marionette – Lime, began to realize that something was very wrong about their current situation.

"Ne, Cherry, we are what?" Lime asked, for even though she didn't wished to cause her sister more sadness, she wanted to know what was going on.

However, it was Bloodberry who answered Lime's question instead of Cherry. "We seem to be sent farther from home, Lime."

"No…" muttered Lime as her eyes widened in horror and tears showed up in them as well. "No! It is impossible! How could it be? He promised to release us, didn't he? He even provided us this shuttle, didn't he?"

"He never actually said that he would send us back to Otaru." Bloodberry said, despite all her efforts to hold back tears, the tears were showing up in her eyes now too. "He just said that he would set us free…"

"…And we simply assumed the best." Cherry finished for her, speaking through the tears. "But this… this is a long-range shuttle. And it can take very far from Terra Two. We may actually never…"

Leaving her sentence unfinished, Cherry continued to weep quietly.

"No…" muttered Lime, shifting her tears-filled eyes from Bloodberry to Cherry. "No. No! Nooo!!!"

Bloodberry was crying now too, yet despite that she made an attempt to take control over the situation.

"Cherry, don't just sit there like some doll!" Bloodberry shouted, sounding angry only to hide the despair that she felt. "You are supposed to be good with all this high-tech stuff! So, do something!"

"H-hai." Cherry replied.

Then Cherry straightened to her full height, though short it was, wiped off her tears with a sleeve of her kimono, never bothering to notice that they just kept coming, and moved to the only computer terminal in the room, which was naturally located at manual control panel. Cherry sat down into the chair before the computer terminal and pressed a few buttons, initiating its activation.

As she watched Cherry taking actions, Bloodberry felt her spirits rise. True, she always was one of the first to tease or even insult Cherry at almost every suitable opportunity; however, she was forced to admit that the little marionette certainly knew her way around computers and other various electronic devices. Simply taking over the control of this shuttle couldn't be more difficult then hacking Gartlant's computers and electronic locks, could it?

"Manual control… offline. Access to flight data bank… denied. Please proceed by entering the password or log off." The shuttle's flight computer reported meanwhile, speaking with emotionlessness of an ordinary machine.

Cherry let out a small sigh, yet she also looked much calmer now. Concentrating on doing something she was good at was giving Cherry some comfort as well as helping Cherry to put away her gloomy thoughts, at least temporarily. Cherry produced a cable from somewhere under her clothes and attached it to the computer terminal. It took Cherry a mere few seconds to read data about password and to put it in.

"Manual control… offline. Access to flight data bank… confirmed. Please proceed with either typing down the command or giving a verbal command."

Cherry was about to command to shift the shuttle into manual control, but she immediately thought better of it. As Cherry regained a great deal of her former calmness and confidence due to her easy success, she returned to being careful and considerate as always. And so, Cherry decided to get some information about what is truly going on before taking any serious actions.

"I need information about our destination point as well as about our route." Cherry said.

"Please wait for a few seconds." The shuttle's flight computer replied.

"Hay, Cherry, shouldn't you better hurry up with taking us back to Terra Two?" Bloodberry asked, looking at Cherry with slight displeasure.

However, the only reply Bloodberry got from Cherry was a "don't interfere with my professional work" look. Bloodberry sighed, yet remained silent, hoping that the little marionette knew what she was doing.

"In approximately two minutes and forty seconds our shuttle will enter a worm-hole…" The shuttle's flight computer started to speak.

Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry looked confused, as none of knew what worm-hole was, or even heard anything about it.

"Ne, what is…" Lime started to speak, intending to ask her sisters if they knew what worm-hole was.

But then Lime went silent, as she realized that it probably wasn't a time and place to ask such questions, and besides, the look upon her sisters' faces told Lime that this time they knew as little as she.

"…Which will take us to our destination point – SDPC Spaceport just outside Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" All three marionettes asked simultaneously.

None of them knew what the word "Tokyo" meant, and they were quite sure that it was the first time they are hearing it. However, the strange thing was, that despite that there also was something familiar about this word; as if it was a remnant of a long lost data.

"Give us more general location!" Cherry demanded, with almost nothing of her former calmness and gentleness in her voice.

"Japan." The shuttle's flight computer replied emotionlessly.

The three marionettes were even more confused now, if only such thing was possible. For while none of them knew what the word "Japan" meant, is sounded almost like the name of the city-state where they have been made.

"Are you sure that it is Japan, not Japoness?" Bloodberry asked.

"Yes, it is Japan, not Japoness." The shuttle's flight computer replied, this time with a hint of a cruel satisfaction in its voice.

However, the marionettes' minds were too occupied by others things to notice it.

"The more general location!" Cherry demanded, almost screaming this time.

"Earth."

This was finally the name that both Cherry and Bloodberry heard and knew, and they were utterly shocked to hear it. Lime, however, didn't know this name, and so, she was still rather confused about what was going on, even though she has already had a firm suspicious that whatever was going on was nothing good.

"Oh no…" Cherry muttered. "He plans to send us to Earth… But… If so, we may never actually see Otaru-sama again…"

"Cut it out, Cherry!" Bloodberry said in commanding voice. "We haven't lost yet! Now, stop doing nothing and turn this shuttle around to Terra Two! I don't know what this worm-hole is, but I'd prefer not to find it out in a hard way! Now, Cherry, get on to it!"

"Hai." Cherry replied, without feeling any confidence in her chances to succeed at all.

Lime, who stood somewhat aside, just sighed sadly, as she watched her sisters apparently trying to do something. At times like this Lime couldn't help feeling hopelessly useless.

"Cherry, Bloodberry, please give it your all." Lime thought.

While Lime and Bloodberry could do nothing but watch, Cherry began to frantically type commands. Cherry's face now turned into a mask of concentration. However, it took Cherry no time to discover, that manual control seemed to be blocked off, and all the requests and commands to change shuttle's destination were denied. Not even the passwords were required, just plain words "Access Denied!" were appearing on the computer screen.

"Why?!" Cherry asked aloud, addressing nobody in particular, not even apparently stupid shuttle's computer itself.

"What's wrong, Cherry?" Bloodberry asked, with none of her former anger remaining in her voice.

"Ne, Cherry, what's wrong?" Lime asked.

"I…" Cherry started to say, and her voiced sounded weaker then ever before. "…I can't do anything at all, not even passwords are required…"

Lime just stood there, shocked and horrified, while Bloodberry…

"Shimatta!" Bloodberry swore openly. "There must be something we can do!"

"I… I can attempt to assimilate myself with this shuttle's flight computer, and then attempt to break through whatever virtual defense have been put into it, and should I succeed, I believe that I will be able to take over the control of this shuttle. However…"

"Then what are waiting for?!" Bloodberry shouted at the smaller marionette. "New Year's Eve?! Do it, Cherry!"

"H-hai." Cherry replied.

"However, I won't likely succeed in doing this." Cherry thought gloomy, admitting her likely defeat. "Whoever…" Cherry looked thorough the bull's-eye at the dark silhouette that still loomed over there, even though it appeared to be much farther away now. "…Or whatever has designed this system certainly knew his job well. Gartlant's electronic locks were so simple comparing to this. And still, I must give it a try."

This shuttle's flight computer wasn't originally designed to allow a marionette to assimilate with it, yet by attaching a few more of her operational cables to the computer terminal, Cherry was able to begin the process nevertheless. With a little difficulties Cherry managed to bypass the outer security level, gaining full access to the flight computer's data banks. Without bothering to look through the data banks or even thinking about it much, Cherry simply downloaded the whole data banks into her system. Fortunately for Cherry, along with other benefits her Maiden Circuit provided her with virtually infinite space for storing data to complement her virtually infinite ability to learn.

But as soon as Cherry bypassed the outer security levels, she immediately encountered the serious difficulties, just as she knew she would. But even though Cherry expected to encounter some more or less serious difficulties at this point, she still wasn't able to fully imagine how serious these difficulties will actually be.

Initially, Cherry even managed to deactivate a couple of rather advanced virtual barriers, and simply bypassed the other three. However, when Cherry began to hope against hope that she might actually succeed, a trio of even more advanced virtual barriers manifested themselves right in front of her. A quick analysis told Cherry that there was no way for her to simply bypass these virtual barriers, and so, Cherry started to work on neutralizing them…

Back in the real world, Lime and Bloodberry could do nothing but watch Cherry, who seemed to completely lost herself in the virtual world. Cherry was visibly sweating and her eyes was glowing with light green color as incomprehensible lines of information were running through them. Lime looked at Cherry with an expression of worrying openly displayed upon her face, while, on the other hand, the expression upon Bloodberry's was nearly unreadable, although in reality she was nearly as worried as Lime was.

After fifteen seconds that appeared to be more like ages for Cherry, Cherry managed to deactivate one of these virtual barriers. However, just as Cherry was about to go ahead to neutralizing the second of these virtual barriers, she with surprise saw that the virtual barrier, which she has just neutralized, rose once again. Cherry was shocked, for although she immediately though of at least one idea of what was going on, she could hardly bring herself to believe it…

"It cannot be…" Cherry muttered, as she temporally withdrawn from the virtual world.

"What's wrong, Cherry?" Lime asked in a worried voice.

"Don't tell me that you can't do this." Bloodberry said with a steel in her voice.

"Actually, I may not…" Cherry started to speak, but Bloodberry interrupted her.

"I said, don't tell me that!" Bloodberry said, sounding actually angry this time.

"Bloodberry, I'm sorry…" Was all that Cherry could say in response.

"You're sorry?!" Bloodberry roared angrily, for her enforced anger was all that kept her going on right now. "For once I asked you to do something useful, and all you can say is that you're sorry?! Stand aside, I am going to deal with it in my own way!"

Without waiting for Cherry to react or reply, Bloodberry not-too-gently shoved Cherry off the chair, disconnecting operational cables from the computer terminal.

"No, wait!.." Cherry shouted from the floor…

But Cherry's shout came too late, for Bloodberry has already slammed her fist hard into the computer terminal, smashing quite a large part of it.

"Severe damages sustained…" Came a voice from computer terminal. "User access offline… Have a nice tri…"

Computer terminal didn't fully finished speaking his last sentence, when it went dark and silent...

"Ano…" Lime said, as she shifted her eyes from Cherry, who was still flat lying on the floor, then to ruined computer terminal and finally to Bloodberry, who looked horrified rather then angry now. "It didn't worked well, ne?"

"I…" Bloodberry spoke, as she was trying to fight off the tears but with no success. "I… I wasn't thinking… I ruined everything…"

"You didn't ruin anything, Bloodberry." Cherry said, as she got up and gently took Bloodberry's hand into hers. "I won't likely be able to beat the security system anyway, that's what I was trying to tell you. Not only it was extremely well designed, but also somebody was raising new defenses while I was beating the existing ones. There was nothing you or I could do about this."

It was then when the environment behind the shuttle's bull's-eyes suddenly changed from the normal space into a strange corridor-like void, whose color kept constantly changing from dark purple to dark green.

"So, this is a worm-hole?" Bloodberry asked, her voice was neither sad nor angry now, but rather nearly emotionless.

"It appears so." Cherry replied, her voice was nearly emotionless too, just like Bloodberry's voice was.

"So, this is a point of no return for us, ne?" Bloodberry asked again, speaking in the same emotionless voice as before.

"Maybe it is." Cherry replied, speaking in the same emotionless voice as before.

After that Cherry and Bloodberry went silent, as they stood side by side holding each other's hands and absently looking into the bull's-eye. Lime watched Cherry and Bloodberry for a couple of minutes, before suddenly find strength to speak.

"Ne, Cherry, Bloodberry, what do you think the Earth is like?" Lime asked.

"Who cares." Bloodberry said, speaking in the same emotionless voice as before.

"Otaru-sama won't be there." Cherry said, speaking in the same emotionless voice as before.

"But Otaru is alright, ne?" Lime said. "And it's all because of us. We can't be with him, but we made sure that he will be alright. And you know what? It makes me really really happy inside. Even when I'm not with Otaru, I can be happy just by knowing that he is alright."
But neither Cherry nor Bloodberry answered Lime.

"Cherry? Bloodberry?" Lime asked.

But once again there was no response from either Cherry or Bloodberry.

Feeling a sudden sting of worry, Lime walked up to her sisters and tugged Cherry's kimono, but once more, there was no response from either Cherry or Bloodberry.

Finally, know knowing what to do, Lime walked around still Cherry and Bloodberry and looked into their faces. Their faces seemed to be frozen, without any emotions upon them, but still wet from the tears they cried not a long time ago. Their eyes were dull and also emotionless. Lime was used to seeing such eyes upon the face about every other marionette she encountered, but she didn't fully understand why Cherry and Bloodberry were no having the eyes like this. Then Lime suddenly remembered something else, Tiger had exactly the same eyes right after she got broken. But what did it mean? Did it mean that Cherry and Bloodberry were now broken too? But there were absolutely no injuries upon them…

And then, Lime suddenly understood. Cherry and Bloodberry weren't physically broken, they were broken emotionally. Lime couldn't fully understand why exactly, however, for while Lime herself was also saddened by the fact that she wasn't with Otaru anymore, she knew that Otaru was fine, and that was all that mattered for her. But it seemed that both Cherry and Bloodberry wished for something far greater then this, and that seemed to be the reason of why they were behaving so right now.

"Cherry, Bloodberry," Lime said gently. "Please, be okay soon."

Lime didn't noticed, as the environment behind the shuttle's bull's-eyes suddenly changed once again, back to the normal space. But in the next moment, Lime felt that something strange was going on. Lime couldn't feel pain in the whole sense of this word, but she felt her energy diminishing rapidly, and this was as close to feeling pain as Lime could feel. And so, Lime let out a short scream, as she fall to her knees, supporting herself with her hand to avoid falling flat. Through disturbances in her eyesight, Lime could see that neither Cherry nor Bloodberry were able avoid such a fate, and both of them were now lying flat on the floor. Lime didn't know what was happening now, but even so, she smiled.

"You are alright, Otaru." Lime said softly. "I am so…"

Lime wasn't able to finish her sentence, as the last remnants of her energy run dry, unable to support her functioning anymore in such an extreme conditions…

[Musical fill-in – Kibou no TEEMA/Theme of Hope]

Sora wa meguri/As I circle the sky,

Towa no nemuri wo shiru/I understand the sleep of eternity.

Kaze wa nagi/The wind is calm,

Shio wa michi/The tide ebbs and flows.

Haruka naru/I'm getting farther away,

Kagayaki ni umarekuru inochi/Shining to a new birth.

Hikari no naka/Within the light 

Mezame yo Ima/Now I awaken!

Hito wa meguri/As I circle the people,

Kibou no imi wo shiru/I understand the meaning of hope.

Yorokobi ni/In joy,

Yasuragi ni/At peace,

Idakarete/Embracing it,

Tataeaishiau inochi/Praising the love that fits with life!

Yorokobi ni/In joy,

Yasuragi ni/At peace,

Idakarete/Embracing it,

Tataeaishiau inochi/Praising the love that fits with life!

[/Musical fill-in]

The shuttle slowly drifted through the space, with a thin icy pellicle already beginning to cover it. But then, there was a roaring sound, as if something has erupted within the shuttle, and a jut of fire erupted from shuttle's engines; an emergency system designed against such an occurrence worked, and shuttle went ahead towards its destination…

And, a some while later…

A tall and powerfully built man sat in some kind of a dark room. While he wasn't overly muscled, like some kind of wrestler or weight-lifter, he still made an impression of being a rather strong man. He could be called handsome, yet there was something about his face, which might seem to be repulsive for some people. He had light gray hair and his eyes were unnaturally red in color. He appeared to be somewhere in his early twenties or possibly middle twenties. He was dressed in light gray shirt that matched the color of his hair, with a black leather jacket casually thrown over it. He also wore black pants and black boots.

The man sat on the chair with his back leaned to some kind of a large piece of a machinery, which in fact was a very advanced computer terminal, to which he was obviously attached, for a couple of cables run from the computer terminal into man's neck. In the half-circle around man's head many, slightly more then a dozen to be more precise, holographic screens hovered in the air; some of them showed a map of a huge city, more like metropolis in fact, displayed in the different zoomings, while others showed a film of some kind of a shuttle-like object falling into the bay, which also was played in the different zoomings, from the different angles and with a different speed. One of the screens showed an underwater image of what seemed to be the same object that was falling into the bay in the films, although it was difficult to tell for certain, as the image wasn't clear and the object was shown only from above. And finally, upon the last screen was an image a slightly older man also with black hair, who wore a light salad-green business suit over a white shirt and also wore a black necktie. The man on the screen currently appeared to be in the middle of a real-time communication with the man who was attached to the computer terminal.

"…Furthermore, assuming that this object isn't an accidental meteorite or some fallen orbital satellite we yet weren't informed about, whoever sent this was definitely using a very old information." The man on the screen spoke. "As you well know, old SDPC Spaceport was mostly devastated by the Third Great Quake more then a hundred and a half years ago, and what was left of it was completely lost in the Great Flood that soon followed the quake."

"So, you are implying that this object came from one of the long-gone colonial spaceships, aren't you?" The man, who was attached to the computer terminal, asked.

"It seems almost impossible, after more then three hundred years…" The man on the screen replied. "…And yet, we cannot dismiss such possibility."

"Very well" The man, who was attached to the computer terminal, said. "If this is so, I am going to go to take a look upon it myself."

"Ummm… May I ask you, what do you hope to find in there?" The man on the screen asked. "Even if it came from one of colony ships or even from an already established colony, I doubt there will be anything apart from message or possibly messenger in there. So how could it…"

"I hope for nothing, I am just looking into everything that might help me in fulfilling my mission." The man, who was attached to the computer terminal, replied, with a slight displeasure in his voice. "And if you still have some brains in that head of yours, you won't ask any more questions. Understood?"

"Understood, sir." The man on the screen replied, bowing his head in either agreement or respect, or possibly both.

"And one more thing before you go." The man, who was attached to the computer terminal, said. "You will tell neither government nor especially Chairman Quincy any of this. If anybody will ask you questions about this, pretend to know nothing and say that you will investigate this matter as soon as possible, in short, delay time."

"I won't lie to Chairman Quincy!" The man on the screen replied hastily, apparently terrified by such a prospect. "His hands are long enough to reach me anywhere! If he will find out, I am as good as dead!"

"You fail to forget that my own hands are even longer." The man, who was attached to the computer terminal, replied calmly. "Chairman Quincy won't likely find out your little betrayal. On the other hand, I know what kind of man you are too well, and thus I am ever watchful about your possible betrayal. If I will feel that Chairman Quincy, or anybody else for that matter, found out everything sooner then he should, you better built another spaceship really quickly and get yourself as far from Earth as you can; for otherwise you are surely as good as dead, I can promise you this much."

The man on the screen looked as far from being happy as a person possibly could, and yet he said nothing; he simply bowed his head once again. Then the  holographic screen, which contained the image the brown-haired middle-aged man, disappeared.

While the man, who was attached to the computer terminal, knew, that every minute was vital now, he nevertheless decided to spend some time thinking. He didn't liked the other man, who feared him so that he has actually became his lackey, to ask him a question, yet he was forced to admit, that this was a question he was asking himself as well. What did he hope to find in this object? He didn't know for certain. He only had a feeling, that something about it may help him to break out of the no-win situation, which he has found himself in despite all his power and influence. Most of the time, this man wouldn't bother to listen to his feelings, yet now he didn't seem to have anything better to do anyway. This wouldn't change his situation to the worse, yet it might actually change it to the good. And so, the man made his decision.

"Unagi." He sent an electronic message through the Net. "Prepare yourself. I am going to use you soon."

"Yes, Master." Came a reply.

Almost immediately after that, the cables that connected the man to the computer terminal immediately retracted themselves back into the computer terminal, following the man's mental command. As soon as it happened, the remaining holographic screen disappeared as well. Then the man pressed one of the buttons upon the computer terminal, and the computer terminal went dark and silent, as apparently it has been turned off. After that, the man stood up and walked out of the room, moving in quick steps. Indeed, every minute was vital now.

And, somewhere else…

A young woman, also somewhere in her early twenties or possibly middle twenties, sat in the chair before the computer terminal, this one was a more or less normal-looking one. She was quite beautiful in elegant and slightly aristocratic sort of way, and her expensive and somewhat revealing lingerie did very little to hide her natural beauty, for it seemed to be designed to emphasis its wearer's beauty rather then hide it. Her hair was short and black in color, while her eyes were brown in color. Although the room had no windows, and thus, there was absolutely no way to determine what time of the day it was right now; judging from woman's clothes, or precisely speaking nearly the lack of such, it was right to assume that it was the night right now.

Either way, the computer screen in front of the woman showed a map of a huge city, more like metropolis in fact, which seemed to be exactly the same map which some of the man's holographic were showing. One location somewhere in the bay near the city was marked by a glowing red spot. However, the woman was currently paying little attention to the computer screen and the map upon it, as she was in the middle of telephone conversation.

"So, we are getting another present from SDPC, aren't we?" The woman asked through her mobile phone. "The last time they were involved everything was getting a little messy."

"Not necessary, although we cannot dismiss such possibility." Came a male voice from the phone. "My sources in SDPC tell me, that SDPC chairman himself seems rather surprised by the whole incident. But then again, the last time when something big has happened and SDPC was involved, he also knew nothing about it, or at least he pretended not to know anything about it. Sometimes it is surprising how little he knows about what is going on within his own company, especially if this something is some big and illegal business. However, I have a feeling that it can be much different this time."

"A feeling?" The woman asked in barely shown surprise.

"Call it a hunch." The male voice replied; and the woman could almost see him in her mind's eye, smiling with that foolishly confident smile of his.

"Very well." The woman said, sounding absolutely calm, as she managed to hide her annoyance with surprising ease. "So what does this 'hunch' of yours tell you now?"

"Ah, I must be very lucky today to attract your interest!" The male voice said in a mock surprise.

This phrase of his itself was bad enough, but to make matters wore, it was followed by his short trademark laugh, which tended to annoy the woman beyond imagination. From time to time the woman would allow herself to give a not-too-pleasant comment to the man's behavior, but this time she choose to remain silent, waiting for her interlocutor to tire from enjoying himself and to proceed to business.

"Anyway." The man continued after he has finished laughing. "Assuming that this object didn't came from SDPC, which is highly likely, there is absolutely no information about this object's origins. Nobody would care about such security if it was something trivial matter, like some fallen orbital satellite for example. And also, we cannot dismiss the possibility, that this object came from far beyond Earth's orbit."

"Project Frontier and Project Mesopotamia?" The woman asked, for the second time showing a slight sign of surprise.

"Project Frontier was a failure." The man replied. "Few outside SDPC know this, especially now, when more then four hundred years have passed. The Frontier itself was lost at Jupiter's orbit right upon its return to the Solar System, and its crew was reported to be dead to the last man."

"And may I ask how do you know all this?" The woman asked, once again not fully able to hide her surprise.

"Knowing things is my job, Sylia, even when these things don't seem to have much significance nowadays." The man replied.

And this time the woman, whose name was indeed Sylia, knew, that this wasn't some false bravado of his. Not for the first time Sylia wondered, who this man, whom she knew only as Fargo, really was.

"But while Project Frontier was indeed a failure, Project Mesopotamia always was something of a mystery." The man, whom Sylia knew only as Fargo, continued. "Totally five huge colony ships have departed. Now it has been somewhere about three hundred years since the last one of them – Mesopotamia Five has departed. And until now there were no news from any of them. Most people believe, that Project Mesopotamia became a failure, just as Project Frontier was, while some suspect the possibility that colonists simply refused to contact with Earth, thus ensuring their independence from us. Either way, Project Mesopotamia was also proclaimed to be a failure, and since then, no new attempts to send colony ships was ever made."

"I see." Sylia replied thoughtfully. "But if so, why are they trying to contact us now, when three hundred years have passed?"

In response, Sylia heard Fargo's trademark laugh, which annoyed her greatly, once again.

"I am glad that you've grown to respect me so." Fargo said, after he finished laughing. "However, I am sorry to say, that even with all my virtues I am not an oracle. How should I know this? I just pointed out such possibility to you, nothing more."

"Why do you think it is of interest for me?" Sylia asked. "Shouldn't such things be done on corp… on government level?"

"Oh, c'mon, Sylia." Fargo replied. "You know that when Chairman Quincy will learn about this, he will get this object in first priority. And nobody knows what's in there; perhaps, it is something more then a simple message, or perhaps some technologies well beyond what we are capable of could be salvaged from the object itself. Well, my job is only to provide you with information, it is up to you what will you do with it. There is, however…"

"…A matter of payment." Sylia finished for Fargo. "How much?"

"Well, I happened upon a very good restaurant the other day, and I thought…" Fargo started to say, until…

"No!" Sylia interrupted him hastily, and then added. "I'll transfer twenty million yen to your account. It should be more then enough to you."

Once again, she initially got only Fargo's trademark laugh, which annoyed her greatly, in response.

"You won't be able to hold it back forever, Sylia." Fargo said, after he finished laughing. "Even though you don't admit it even to yourself, it is only a matter of time."

"Goodbye." Sylia said hastily and with a hint of anger in her voice, as she turned her mobile off.

While Fargo was a valuable informant, who seemed to have contacts virtually everywhere, some of his remarks as well his annoying laugh often went very close to pushing Sylia off the edge, and only though extreme mental effort was she able to avoid occasionally blowing her top at some of Fargo's most bold remarks.

Sylia looked at the computer screen before her once again and sighed; for while alien object's crash-site prevented GENOM, A.D. Police or some government corporation from finding and thoroughly searching it, it also made this alien object difficult for Sylia to get access to. Also if Sylia hoped to reach this alien object first, she wouldn't have time to gather her Knight Sabers in full force, but then again, considering the alien object's crash-site's location, Knight Sabers won't be to fight normally even should the difficulties occur. Should the difficulties occur, everything will depend on the vehicle, and in that, Sylia didn't have much of a choice either. Sylia turned the computer off and stood up, letting out another sigh…

Preview of the Second Chapter

Konnichi wa, my name is Mackie! A strange object has fallen from the sky, and sis seems to be rather eager to have a look at it. In fact, she wants to go there by herself. No way! I am going too! Remember, this design was mostly mine, and thus, I am the best qualified to be its pilot! Okay, let's go then… Oh no, we are under attack! But don't worry, sis, I will try my very best! Coming next "The Encounter in the Depth"! Sis, you can count on me!