by L. Fergus
“Friends trust each other,” said Kat. “I know what I’m doing, or at least I hope this is the machine the instructions they gave me are for.”
“Who gave you what instructions?”
“The Angel who I believe invented this type of armor system. I would think she knew what she was doing, because, to be honest, these flimsy metal pieces aren’t anything like what Frostbane had.”
“You said he was a bear. Of course, they’re different.”
“I meant in complexity. Be quiet, so I can recite the instructions to the machine. You wouldn’t want it coming out with a third arm, would you?”
“Neptune’s rings, help me,” Rabbit groaned.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. Be quiet.”
Rabbit sat down on a stool and banged her head on the bench.
“I can hear that,” said Kat.
With a dull thud, Rabbit’s head hit the bench and remained there. Kat cleared the machine’s input screen. She recited the instructions as fast as the machine could interpret. When she finished, she looked around and found Rabbit staring at the screen.
“You…you just recited fifty thousand lines of code from memory. That’s impossible.”
“Let’s hope I didn’t make a mistake,” Kat joked painfully. Reciting the instructions had given her a pounding headache. She hit the enter key, and the machine began to work. Kita went to the stool vacated by Rabbit and rubbed the sides of her head.
“Are you ok?” said Rabbit.
“My head hurts, and I’m sleepy.”
“I’d like to say: take a nap, but we need to keep alert,” said Rabbit sympathetically. She rubbed Kita’s arm.
“I know,” Kat whispered.
“Do you know how you did it?”
Kat shook her head. “Memories accessed unknown memories. It’s like everything flows in one direction. Stuff that I do know seems to be able to access the unknown with the right stimulus. Frostbane’s memory must have been able to access something else.” She slumped down, holding her head.
Rabbit sighed worriedly. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Kat looked up at her. “No, but thanks for asking. I know this friend thing can be hard.”
“We’re going to have some fun too, right?”
Kat smiled. “I hope so. I’m itching for a fight, but I think you mean something else. Of course, we will. No one would be friends if things were always stressful. Speaking of that, are you ok? You seem a little stressed by everything, and by that, I mean me throwing your armor in the ARCM.”
“Are you always so impulsive?”
“I’m not impulsive, usually. Everything I do is weighed and measured—risk versus reward. If I didn’t have a high percentage of success, I never would have done it. I try to be opportunistic, but never reckless.”
“So, befriending was a calculation?” Rabbit asked sounding hurt.
“Of course. If I didn’t think you would be a worthwhile friend, I never would have asked. Friendship always comes with an unknown amount of risk. I like to think the benefits far outweigh the negatives. If it ever reverses, then the friendship terminates. How depends on the reversal.”
“Is everything so black and white with you?”
Kat chuckled. “Ask me about my morals some time.”
“Do I need to worry?”
“I’m loyal to my friends. You have nothing to worry about,” Kat assured her. The ARCM dinged like an oven to signal it had finished. “That’s a new feature,” she muttered as she opened the construction compartment. She caught her reflection and muttered even more.
Inside sat a bodysuit, bracers, boots, a belt, and a silver circle an inch tall.
“What happened to my BEAR suit?” Rabbit cried.
“I made it better. I’m glad we had the old one. It saved me a lot of coding and having to ask you an embarrassing questionnaire.”
“I…How do I put it on?”
“I thought it looked self-explanatory. Boots, feet. Bracers, arms. Belt, waist. Choker, neck. And, your new biometric suit. I don’t know what your favorite color is, so I made it black. You can change it to whatever color or design you like, same goes for the armor.”
Rabbit raised an eyebrow. “Really? We need that?”
“A girl needs to express herself.”
“Sure. I’ll put it on and see if it fits,” Rabbit said with a worried smile.
“Let’s do it back in your room. I hope you have a makeup drawer.”
“Why?”
“Because I look awful. This face won’t grab anyone’s attention.”
“Aren’t we trying to avoid attention?”
“Beauty is a weapon all its own,” said Kat. “I thought they would have taught you that in spy school.”
“I, kind of. I’ve never been very good at it. I just do it when I have to. I usually come out looking like a clown,” Rabbit admitted as she struggled to carry her new suit.
Kat took the boots before she dropped them. “Don’t worry, I never could do it very well. Growing up, someone did it for me. Then I met someone who knew what she was doing, probably one of the best, if not the best. She showed me how to do it right. I think I know enough to help you, but I only work in black.”
“Naturally,” said Rabbit, rolling her eyes as Kat laughed.
Back in her room, Rabbit set her new BEAR suit down on one end of the bed. She made the other end, moved the suit, and finished making the bed.
Kat put the boots down with the rest. Her light footsteps kept her from crushing a toy. She bent down and picked it up. It was a figurine of some UEE Political Bureau person in full uniform.
Rabbit sighed. “That’s General Lyakhova. She is, or was, my idol.”
Kat looked at the statue in silence. It wasn’t a bad likeness of the woman she remembered from the bar. At the time, she’d known everything about the woman, and now she knew nothing more than a name, face, and her plot to keep Kita locked in an elaborate prison.
“Sometimes idols don’t turn out to be who you thought them to be,” Kat said softly as she handed the figurine over.
Rabbit looked at it for a moment and then dropped it on the floor. She crushed it under her boot. “I thought that’s who I wanted to be like, but not anymore. Neptune’s rings, in little over an hour you’ve shown me more about life than the Political Bureau has in seven years.”
“You’re twenty-two?”
“Twenty-three in a couple of months.”
“No wonder no one likes you,” Kat joked. “I’d hate you, too. Especially, if some kid is getting promoted way ahead of me.”
“You would?” Rabbit said looking worried.
“I don’t hate you,” Kat said reassuringly. “If those pathetic worms don’t or won’t understand, to the Crushing Depths with them. You’ve got more guts, brains, and potential than all of them combined. And if there’s one thing I look for in friends, it’s to find people better than me.”
“I’m not better than you,” Rabbit said shyly.
“You are in lots of ways. You definitely have more potential beyond what the UEE wants of you.”
Rabbit smiled. “I guess I should get this on.”
“Yeah, sure. Where’s your makeup kit?”
“Bottom drawer of the desk in the back.”
Kat dug in the drawer and found the kit.
“Oh, thank the bloody moons,” Kita said when they opened the kit. “I was afraid it would be an old fashioned paint by numbers kind.”
“A what?” said Kat.
“In the old days before color generators, kits came with just a few select colors, and that’s what you had to work with.”
“Let me guess—they rarely had black?” Kat teased.
Kita sighed. “It was a special order.”
Kat sat at the desk and set up the mirror. In the background of her reflection, she saw Rabbit looking at her. “What?”
“I’ve got to change.”
Kat smiled sweetly. “So, go ahead. I�
��m going to be too busy to look at you anyway. I hate to tell you, where we’re going, privacy is a luxury. You might as well get used to it. At least, this time, you’ll have a friendly face staring at you.” She watched Rabbit blush deeply. “Or would you prefer I go stand in front of a mirror, bent over a sink, in the bathroom?”
“Ah,” Rabbit fumbled, “as long as you promise not to look.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, including in the mirror.”
“It’ll be the first time outside a doctor who’s seen me,” Rabbit hissed back.
“Oh,” Kat smiled. “Well, it’s a little late to go get flowers and chocolates. Do you have some soft music to play?”
“What?” Rabbit gasped.
“Exactly.” Kat chuckled. “Get dressed, and I’ll put my face on. When you’re ready, I’ll do yours.”
“I don’t need makeup.”
“Consider it war paint. It can intimidate, manipulate, dominate, infuriate, and twitterpate. You’ll understand the first time you walk into a room and see that every woman wants you, and every man hates you. Or the other way around, I suppose, if that’s what you like.”
“Some friend,” Rabbit whispered.
“I’m not forcing you. I will leave and won’t put stuff on your face. I’m just trying to help you like you’re helping me,” Kat said with a shrug. She stood up, gathered up the kit, and headed for the door.
“Don’t go,” Rabbit said, jumping in front of Kat. “I can do it.”
Kat raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t some weird friend test. I’ll respect your boundaries. You push them when you’re ready or when you don’t have a choice. But, you do have a choice. You’re not hurting my feelings.”
“Are you sure?”
“Fine by me.” Kat waved politely then made her way to the bathroom. She applied her makeup while grumbling over the sink being in the way. On the way back, she noticed a guard waking up. With a sigh, she kicked him in the head, putting him back to sleep.
“Much better with the strength control,” Kita teased Kat. “You didn’t send his head down the hallway like a kick ball.”
“Har, har. You’re so funny,” Kat said playfully. She entered Rabbit’s room and tried to stifle a laugh. Rabbit stood trying to look over her shoulder into a mirror she held with one hand and close the biometric suit with the other. She danced and fumbled around like a child trying to get a KICK ME sign off her back.
“Ah, you have it on backward,” Kat said gently from the door. “It’s self-sealing, and the seam goes in the front.”
Rabbit spun around, the suit hanging off her. “What? Who designs a suit like that?”
“I thought it was standard. All of mine have been like that. You just pull the fabric together and press.”
“I’ve never worn one before.”
“The original biometric suit didn’t self-seal?”
“I have only seen the video and the actor already had it on.”
“Ah.” Kat smiled. “Mind if I help?”
“I…Ah…Sure,” Rabbit said, finally looking up from the floor.
Her jaw dropped when she looked up at Kat’s eyes and face. Kat’s eyes had a smoky look to them. She’d shaped and darkened her eyebrows to transition between her makeup and her blonde hair. With the arch near the end of her eyebrow, it gave her an alluring, but menacing look. A tiny bit of blush gave her cheeks color and showed off her bone structure. Her lips were black, with ruby red peeking through.
“What…what happened to you?” Rabbit stammered.
“I told you about the power of beauty. Unfortunately, I can’t do much with my hair.” She’d pulled it back into a high ponytail with a braid running over the front of her head to keep it out of her face. “Too damn short to put it in a proper braid. I don’t suppose you’ve got any earrings I can borrow? I seem to have lost all of mine.”
Rabbit shook herself free from staring at Kat’s face. “I…ah…sure do.” She went to move and forgot about the suit. She tripped and fell. Kat caught her before she landed on her face and stood her up.
“Let’s get this on right first,” said Kat. “Do you think you got it or do you want me to stay and help?”
Rabbit stood in turmoil thinking it over. “Why don’t you stay and help.”
Kat nodded and helped strip the suit off. After getting it on the right way, she showed Rabbit how to close it. “Think you can manage the rest?”
“Yeah. The earrings are in that drawer.”
Kat opened the drawer, and her eyes went wide. Earrings of all shapes and sizes filled the drawer. “Do you get to wear them often?”
“No. Those are all someday I’ll get a chance to earrings,” Rabbit said sadly.
Kat dug into the drawer, and finding lots of tiny hoops, she pulled out nearly a dozen and inserted them to create a stack on her right ear. She found a silver cage ball on a chain and inserted it into her lobe. Disappointed she didn’t find any cuffs or bars for her left ear, she looked for alternatives. Finding a large hoop gave her an idea. She bent it to fit through the holes for her bar, follow the curve of her ear, and come through the hole in her lobe. A few tiny hoops around the large one kept it in place.
Rabbit finished putting on her armor at the same time Kat finished with her jewelry.
“Did you learn all of this growing up?” Rabbit asked, in awe.
“Some of it. Like I said earlier, someone else taught me just about everything I know.”
“Wow. Can you show me?”
“Of course. How’s the armor feel?”
“It fits like a second skin, it doesn’t weigh nearly as much as it looks, and there’s no hindrance to range of motion. It’s incredible.”
“That’s because the suit is mostly a smart metal. The belt contains the power pack.”
“Captain Jessica Rabbit, power up,” Rabbit ordered.
Kat gave her a funny look. “What are you doing?”
“Turning it on?” Rabbit said with an embarrassing smile.
“Try boom-shacka-lacka-boom-shacka-boom-boom.”
“Say what?”
“To turn it on. It can’t be something it’s going to hear in normal conversation.”
“I’m not saying that.”
“Teasing.” Kat chuckled. “I wouldn’t harm your dignity that way. Usagi, kogeki.”
The six different pieces of the BEAR armor reacted at once. Glowing lines traced the contours of Rabbit’s torso, arms, and legs connecting the six pieces. The liquid alloy flowed along the lines. After the pieces had connected, the metal flowed out across her body, encasing her, forming joints and plates. A band of metal went over her head and expanded into a helmet with a wide T-shaped vision panel.
“What do you think?” said Kat.
Rabbit rotated her arm and bent a knee as she looked down at herself. “It’s amazing. There’s no resistance or restriction at all. What’s it look like?”
Kita held up a mirror for her.
“Oh my, it’s beautiful.”
“What? You think I’d put you in something ugly?” Kat laughed. “You’re standing next to me, remember.”
Rabbit squeaked in surprise. “Tell me that was you talking.”
“No, that would be the suit’s VI. The suit itself is too complex for anyone to handle on their own. You can always reprogram the voice. I just prefer to have a woman talking in my ear.”
“It’s fine. I’ll change it later. What happened to the maser cannon?”
Kat flexed her jaw hoping Rabbit didn’t mind some changes. “It’s still there but modified, of course. Your new advanced BEAR suit can take more of a beating than the old one and has more firepower. It’s self-healing, you can hit harder, move faster, lift more, and the VI inside will have extra visual goodies. You’ll be able to see better than I do. So, if I drop something in the dark or lose an earring, I expect you to find it.”
“You better not lose any of my earrings.”
“I won’t. You’ll find it. The maser
cannon is in your right bracer, and a mini Gauss Gatling gun firing two millimeter electromagnetic cartridges is in your left. Packed into these sleek and stylish shoulder pads are a set of five missiles.
“On your back,” Kita tapped what looked like a small backpack, “along the top here are a set of four mortars. Layered shields will protect you from most projectiles and energy weapons. Melee weapons and slow projectiles aren’t affected. The VI can help you select the proper warhead for any target for any weapon. The suit is capable of automatically replenishing ammunition, but it can run out. When it does, the VI will tell you what in the environment will replenish the stockpiles. And last, but not least, you have an antigravity system and standard jet pack under the mortars.”
“I can fly?” Rabbit exclaimed.
“All that and that’s what gets you excited?” Kat chuckled.
“How does it all work? What do I say?” Rabbit demanded enthusiastically.
“I don’t know. I am only the brochure. You’ll have to talk to the VI.”
Kat didn’t get a response and guessed Rabbit was talking to the VI. The suit changed to a deep blue color, with light blue highlights. White panels and stripes appeared to break up the solid color.
“Usagi, kotai,” Kita ordered. The suit retracted.
“Hey, what’d you do that for?” Rabbit whined.
“We’re under a time crunch, remember? I have to do your face before we leave. You need to put your uniform on over the biometric suit so we can get out of here.”
Rabbit nodded. “Right, let me get dressed.” She hurried to put on her uniform. It hid everything but her boots. She turned her suit’s boots black to match her uniform’s boots. “How do I look?”
Kat shrugged. “Fine, I guess. I don’t know what a proper Political Bureau officer is supposed to look like.”
“Fatigues don’t require much. If I needed to be in my dress uniform, we’d be here a while.”
Kat nodded. “Stand in the light.”
“Can you do a blue to match my suit?”
“We’re not free of your former masters yet,” said Kat. “Let’s keep it inside the regulations. I’ll put the kit in my belt, and we’ll go bold when we’re free.”
