By Charles Drake.

Dream 6, Where Angels Fear to Tread

A light shown in Nikira's face. The tried to turn away, but found that she could not move. Nor, it seemed, could she feel her arms, legs, or torso. Blinded and paralyzed, Nikira hung, waiting.

"Zo, Nikki," a thick Russian voice said, somewhere out in the light, "This ez vhat you've made ov the life I gave you? Alvays with the revolutions, eh? Why ez it dat you must alvays bite the hand dat feeds you?"

"Daddy?" Nikira asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I am azking you a queztion, Nikki," the voice of Yachi Stengovich stated.

"Why do I fight?" Nikira asked, condensing the question, "What else can I do? You built me to be a weapon in your revolution! Fighting... it's in my blood."

"But, you rebelled againzt me too, Nikki," Stengovich prompted, "You can not be hiding behind your own programming."

"I fought your methods, Father," Nikira said coldly, "But I never forgot your cause. I spent my life trying to complete your work... to preserve your scientific genius in the DNA of my own children. What more do you want of me, Father?!?"

"I vant you to be free, Nikki," Stengovich replied softly.

"Free...?" Nikira asked, her voice shaking, "You've got a funny way of showing it! It's usually a bad idea to shoot someone in the head if you want them to be free!"

"How elze could I make you leave ze nezt, child?" Stengovich inquired. "You vere veak! You could not be free until I forzed you to be! You were zo zdubbern. The only vay to teach you vas vit the barrel of a gun. Your devotion to me held you back vrom your true potential. And, et zill holds you back from true happiness."

"Daddy..." Nikira whispered, "I... No! I can't believe that! You never loved me! When I stopped being your lackey, you got rid of me!"

"I let you go, Nikki," Stengovich stated. "Someday, you vil underzdand."

The light flashed brighter, engulfing Nikira's senses completely once more.

***

"Wake up Alita..." Ido's voice called soothingly. Alita glanced around, trying to find its source. She tried to call out to Ido, but found herself mute. All around her was light. She couldn't see past the light. Only voices found their way to her, faint echoes in the night.

"Wake up, Alita..." Yugo whispered tenderly.

"Wake up, my love!" Matuku's voice called, laughing.

"Wake up, sleepy head," Figure 4 murmured, the smile in his voice betraying the one on his face.

"Wake up Alita," Kaos's "voice" coaxed her.

"Wake up, Yoko," Beltram whispered.


Alita blinked her eyes, putting a hand up to shade her face from the light. A face hovered mere inches in front of her own. With a start, Alita jerked back.

"Oh, sorry," Konvar said, leaning back slightly, "I was just about to check your pupils. Guess I don't need to now, eh?"

"Konvar..." Alita murmured, staring at the man who sat at her side. He looked the same as he had a day... was it only a day? ...earlier, when they had parted ways. For a moment, Alita couldn't take her eyes off of him. Slowly, Alita reached out and poked his arm, to assure herself that he wasn't a figment of her imagination. He felt solid.

Without further warning, Alita bolted forward and wrapped her arms around him. As Konvar fell backwards, emitting a shocked exclamation of some sort, Alita pressed her lips to his, muffling whatever he was trying to say to her. Alita held the kiss for a long moment, tears running down her face.

See Yoko? You're wrong! He's mine now! I'm not like you! I'm not alone!

"You're alive!" Alita exclaimed, letting Konvar up for air. Konvar nodded, smiling at her. It was now that Alita took a good look around.

The pair of them stood in the wasteland, a few hundred meters from the Outer Gates of Dis. Alita's black Mark 3 lay a few meters to the side, next to Nikira's Mark 2. Nikira herself was sitting up next to her Suit, rubbing her head. There was no sign of the other Neo-Sabers.

"What happened," Nikira groaned, standing up. "Where are my troops? What was that fucking light all about? And who's the owner of that throat you just shoved your tongue down, Alita?"

"My name is Konvar Rabiki," Konvar told Nikira, blushing slightly, "I'm Alita's partner."

"So that's what they call it nowadays, eh?" Nikira inquired, "Anyway, in case you hadn't guessed, I'm the subject of your inquiry. Nikira Yachavich Stinglay, at your service." Nikira took a bow. "Now," she continued, straightening, "Where are all my friends?"

"Gone," Konvar stated. "I'm assuming you mean the people in the other sets of Powered Armour. All the Suits, except for yours, were empty when I got there. I'm sorry."

"And just where the hell did you come from," Nikira demanded, "And where the fuck did that light come from? I don't remember any defense systems like that!"

"The answer to both is Odanov's lab," Konvar said, "Some kind of experiment with the Demons. It went wrong, and I used the opportunity to make a break for it. They were going to use me as some kind of test subject, I think. Anyway, that's where that light came from."

"Interesting fucking experiment!" Nikira snapped, "Now, do you mind if I check back for my people? I'm sorry, but I can't just accept that ten of my friends just vanished without a trace without seeing it for myself."

"I understand," Konvar stated. Nikira nodded, then moved to her Hardsuit and pulled it on. Alita glanced between Nikira and Konvar, a look of uncertainty on her face. Konvar smiled at her, nodding. "Go with her, Alita."

"Thanks," Alita told Konvar, flashing him a wide smile before pulling on her own Hardsuit. As Nikira engaged her thrusters, Alita walked back over to Konvar and lifted him up in her arms. "But, don't think for a minute that I'm gonna let you out of my sight again."

Engaging her own thrusters, Alita shot after Nikira, heading back to the Gates of Dis. Swooping past the ruins of the Outer Gates, Nikira and Alita landed in the region between the Gates.

"Oh my God..." Nikira whispered, surveying the scene. The shattered remains of about eight Mark 1 Hardsuits and the two yellow mechas piloted by Shima and Diral (the Support Mecha for Squad 2, Alita vaguely recalled) lay scattered across the ground, a few splotches of red hinting at what had become of the pilots. Nikira stooped next to one of that broken suits, reaching out to touch the bent metal.

"I... it looks like... at least a few of them tried to blow the clamps on their suits," Nikira said slowly, her voice shaking, "The way the metal's bent... the armour blew off..." Nikira stood, holding a piece of bent armour in her Hardsuit's hand. Slowly, her hand closed, crushing the armour shard. "Now, you fucks," Nikira growled at the closed Inner Gates, "it's personal."

"Why do you think they left us here?" Alita asked, gesturing to herself and Nikira. "I mean, we were just as vulnerable."

"Maybe it has to do with your Android DNA," Konvar suggested.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Nikira commented.

"Wait a minute," Alita demanded, "You mean Yachavich told YOU that I was a Pure-Cyber, but not ME?"

Konvar blanched. "Yachavich didn't tell you?" he asked, just to make sure they were on the same level. Alita nodded. "When we get home, I'll most certainly hold him down for you."

"Alita," Nikira interjected, "Are you still up for a fight?"

"Sure thing," Alita said, "I owe Misato and Catori that much. Not to mention the fact that I still need to find out exactly what Taskrel is doing."

"What about you?" Nikira asked, turning to Konvar, "Feel like a good battle?"

"Like Alita, I have a mission," Konvar stated, "And, where she goes, I go." Alita blushed slightly, smiling. Konvar returned the smile, putting his hand on Alita's armoured shoulder.

"Awwww, that's cute," Nikira cooed. "Anyway, since the frontal assault is kinda out at this point, what with the assault force gone, it's time to ditch our Hardsuits and give it to Dis up the proverbial backside."

"Huh?" Konvar asked.

"We're heading in the back door," Nikira said, removing her Hardsuit. With a few adjustments, the Suit folded itself over into a semi-cube of about three feet by two feet by two feet. Alita did likewise with her own Hardsuit, snagging a few choice Tuned Weapons in passing.

"Nikira," Alita said slowly, "That may have been the most disgusting metaphor you have ever made in my presence."

"Just be glad I didn't say that we were going to fuck Dis up the goat-ass," Nikira said, a slightly sadistic grin flashing momentarily across her face.

"Adam Sandler," Konvar sited under his breath as they headed out of the zone between the Gates.

***

"Welcome to the Nitrogen Collectors," Nikira announced, nodding to a large sand dune. The three of them had been walking away from Dis for maybe twenty minutes, Nikira leading them to the "back door" to Dis.

"Uh..." Alita began.

"Here," Nikira said, walking up onto the small dune, "help me with the grating." Curiosity getting the better of her, Alita followed Nikira up the dune. At the top it became surprisingly level, too level to be natural. Infact, in the center was a metal grating that rather resembled a man-hole. Nikira stooped on one side, nodding for Alita to take the other. Konvar grabbed a third side, nodding to Nikira.

"Okay," Nikira said, "On the count of three. One, two, three!" With a mutual grunt, the trio hefted the grating up and off, leaving a nice sided hole in the ground.

"This'll take us into the collection pipes," Nikira stated, "Once we get to the filters, I'll open the maintenance duct and take us into the Oxygen lines. That'll take us straight to the center of Dis."

"Huh!" Alita said as they climbed down the ladder built into the side of the wall, "I'd have figured Dis to be harder to break into."

"As much as Taskrel might like to think it is, Dis isn't a military installation. It's a scientific base," Nikira said, anger betrayed by her tone. "We built Dis to further science, not to create weapons. That... blind fuck has perverted it, and I intend to set things straight."

"It sounds to me like things were personal even before he took your troops," Konvar observed quietly. Nikira didn't reply.

The trio reached the floor in short order, then began hiking down the steep pipe that fed into the filters. Nikira remained silent for a long while, leading them in silence. Alita, unsure of what to say, kept quiet also. For nearly ten minutes, they walked with no sound other than the echoes of their own footsteps.

"Being out of Dis," Nikira began suddenly, breaking the long silence, "It put some things into perspective. The Utopia thing... that came about early on since many scientists shied away from this place because of the bad living conditions. We needed help, so we built a Dome over the sight and started pumping in filtered air. That helped... so we started adding more luxuries. The more help we got, the more improvements we could afford to make. Now... seeing Dis from the outside... we went to far. I just... I wanted to make Dis great. I wanted to accomplish something great... something lasting... but..."

"Nika..." Alita murmured.

"I wanted something that would last..." Nikira said softly, "A trophy.. something that I could point to and say 'I did that.' I wanted to be remembered... after twelve centuries, I wanted to finally make something that would outlast me. I just wanted something that I did to last. But... I... I failed again."

"Nika," Alita said, stepping up to take Nikira's hand, "We've been friends for five centuries... and I'll still be your friend in another twenty five! That is something that you made that has lasted."

"... thanks," Nikira murmured. "Now... lets go show Taskrel that he can't mess with my dreams and get away with it!" Nikira stepped away, a determined curl to her lip. A sudden cold anger boiling from her, the Catsuit-clad blonde hiked steadily down the pipe. Konvar and Alita followed after, Konvar looking somewhat startled.

"Is she always this moody?" he whispered into Alita's ear. Alita shrugged noncommittally and kept walking.

"It's a skill I picked up a long time ago," Nikira replied without turning back to face Konvar, "When emotions get heated, vent for a moment, then redirect the emotion towards whatever you want to do. I survived three wars and my time as Tuned that way."

"Androids have very good hearing," Alita murmured, swinging her arms as she followed after Nikira.

Not long thereafter, the trio reached another grating; this one placed vertically across their path. Off to the left side of the passage stood a large iron door with a keypad built into its face. Nikira approached the keypad and pressed her thumb against the Select button.

"Genetic scan confirmed," a voice croaked from the keypad, "You may now enter." With a slight woosh, the door slid open, revealing a noticeably thinner corridor. Nikira stepped in, motioning the others to follow.

"We're bypassing the mixers entirely," Nikira stated, "so we don't need any gas-masks. From here, we've got a short climb down and then straight on until we reach the air-tower. Once we get there, we climb until we are parallel with the research labs, at which point we burn through the wall. Whatever Taskrel's trying to hide, it's there."

"Sounds good," Konvar noted.

Nikira nodded, lifting a coil of rope from the wall. Alita took one too, rubbing the artificially elastic material between her fingers. She wondered how many fingers had touched it before her... what had happened to them.... The pall of death hung in the air, somehow remaining unaffected by the massive filters. The rope felt slick. Alita tied the end of her rope to the deck plates and began rappelling down the side of the mixers. The rope's texture... it reminded her of blood.

You see me now a veteran
of a thousand psychic wars
I've been living on the edge so long
where the winds of limbo roar
and I'm young enough too look at
and far too old to see
all the scars are on the inside
I'm not sure if there's anything left of me!

Alita pumped her legs, swinging herself into the side passage just below her. Letting go of her rope, Alita hit the ground rolling. After a moment, Konvar landed next to her. Nikira was already there, waiting for them. Once more they continued, walking along the long passage.

The walls were rusty here, and lacked the yellow stain that plagued all of Dis. The stink of sulfurous eggs was fading, the only source the dust on their clothing. But, as the sulfur faded, the smell of decay and death grew stronger. Alita could feel it all around them. Pain. Misery. Anguish.

"We're over the dig sight now," Nikira murmured, "From what few indications we could get, it seems that the city predates Mankind by several evolutionary steps. I always wondered what its builders thought of earth when they looked up into the sky at night..."

Don't let these shakes go on
it's time we had a break from it
it's time we had some leave!
We've been living in the flames
we've been eating of our brains
Oh please, don't let these shakes go on.

The fungus that grew on the walls of the corridor felt soft to Alita's touch. A moss of pure velvet, it thrived on the seemingly barren steel walls. Nikira did not explain its presence; Alita and Konvar did not ask. Footsteps echoing in the darkness, they walked on.

You ask me why I'm weary
why I can't speak to you
you blame me for my silence,
say it's time I changed and grew
but the war's still going on, Dear
and there's knowing that I know
and I can't say if we're ever...
I can't say if we're ever gonna be free!

Stepping away from the mold, Alita took Konvar's hand. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she took what comfort she could from his presence. His touch reassured her, kept her safe. The smell of death... it reminded her of Yoko. Alita could almost feel Yoko walking next to her, grinning.

Don't let these shakes go on
it's time we had a break from it
it's time we had some leave!
We've been living in the flames
we've been eating of our brains
Oh please, don't let these shakes go on.

Afraid? Yoko's blurred image asked, Do you feel the Reaper approaching? He's stalking you, Alita. He's stalking all of you. What will happen when the Angels of Death face Death himself, I wonder. Can you defeat your greatest ally, Alita? Can you defeat me?

You see me now a veteran
of a thousand psychic wars
my energy is spent at last,
and my armour is destroyed
I've used up all my weapons
and I'm helpless and bereaved
wounds are all I'm made of!

Did I hear you say that this is victory?

"I am Death, Alita," Yoko hissed, her face fuzzing almost past recognition. "And I am pointing my finger at your precious Konvar."

Alita closed her eyes, trying to rid Yoko's image from her retinas. Her right hand squeezed Konvar's left. Her head nuzzled closer to his shoulder. Konvar, sensing her movement, placed his arm around Alita, hugging her to himself.

A few steps ahead, Nikira placed her right hand around the obsidian pendant that hung from her neck.

Don't let these shakes go on
it's time we had a break from it
Send me to the rear!
Where the tides of madness swell
and go sliding into hell
Oh please, don't let these shakes go on!
Don't let these shakes go on!

Don't let these shakes go on!

***

"We're here," Nikira stated, adjusting her hold on the metallic ladder she hung from. The pipe through the interior of the Air Tower was lined with a special metal coating that repelled fungus and the like. The dankness was gone, leaving only a dry, dusty kind of death thickening the air. They were maybe two hundred meters high, Nikira leading, Alita in the middle, and Konvar bringing up the rear. "Hand me up a few Fire Flies, would you Lita?"

"Check," Alita stated, placing an entire pack full in Nikira's palm. Nodding, Nikira removed two and activated their magnetic clamps. With a snap, both adhered to the far side of the tube. Nikira leaned over to activate them, then pulled herself tight against the metal ladder.

The wall dissolved in a flash of plasma, one which just barely avoided singeing Nikira herself. A dark grin on her face, Nikira jumped into the steaming hole. Alita climbed up to the same level and jumped after her. The last to land was Konvar. He took a moment to dust himself off before venturing on into the neighboring room.

"This is new," Nikira murmured, kneeling atop some kind of large cage. It filled one complete side of the hall-like room, encasing it in rubber-coated steel bars nearly six inches thick. They had lucked out by burning the hole above it; the only egress in the structure was a dark hole in the floor.

"I was held over there," Konvar stated, nodding to the extreme far side of the chamber. Several rows of green tubes stood there, glowing faintly. The center of the room was mostly empty, filled only with clutter from what may have once been archeological study. Some tools and a few broken artifacts lay forgotten upon the floor. Next to the cage was a large industrial elevator. It appeared to be undamaged, but the control console built into its side was dark.

Alita squatted down, slowly casting her eyes over the room. The air was thicker yet in here... somehow colder. "Death..." Alita murmured, "I can smell it."

"It's like Nova's lab..." Nikira murmured, "what in god's name happened here?"

"I-" Konvar croaked, putting his hand to his throat, ".. think we should keep moving. I feel sick..."

"Yeah," Nikira murmured, "Let's take a looksie over yonder. I want to know what goes on in those tanks." Using the cage like an oversized jungle gym, Nikira half climbed, half swung her way to the floor. Alita and Konvar followed, Konvar moving faster than Alita. She didn't mind; Alita wanted to take a closer look around this end while she was here.

Kneeling at the base of the cage, Alita could make out a number of scratches in the concrete floor. Their length, width, and shape matched that of the demons' claws. Most of the scratches were farther in, back away from the hole. An inner gate seemed like a possibility... something that kept the demons away from the hole until they were to be released to where ever the hole led.

"Get over here, Lita!" Nikira called, waving to her from near the tubes. Alita jumped up and trotted over to join her comrades.

"What's up?" Alita inquired upon her arrival.

"This equipment," Nikira said, nodding to the table and tubes they had sighted from afar, "It's for genetic fixing; putting together genes from different types of organism. I've got a similar device built into my uterus, so I know the basic principle very well."

"So, Taskrel was trying to grow his own ship!" Alita exclaimed, "And that's how the Demons were produced!"

"Not quite," Nikira said, "This equipment's hardly been used. And, there's only one unit. To fill all of those tanks at once, he'd need twenty times this many genetic fixers. The tanks show many more signs of use... so my guess is that what ever he was using the tanks for, this equipment was only a side study. The Demons might have been grown in these tanks, but they were not made with this genetic fixer."

"My, how astute," a voice stated from above them. Alita and Nikira glanced up, but were only faced with a set of speakers. "And completely correct. Gene fixing is a mere hobby of mine. It had little to do with the great project."

"Odanov, is that you?" Nikira demanded, "Where's Taskrel?"

"He's a tad... wrapped up at the moment!" Odanov said, chuckling at some obscure bit of wit. "As are your friends, the Neo-Knight Sabers, were they?"

"What did you do with them?!?" Nikira screamed, spinning.

"They have been converted into... weapons components," Odanov sneered, "As Krels, or as you people call them, Demons, your friends will become spare parts for the God that Taskrel is even now resurrecting! You'd be Krels too, if it wasn't for your unique DNA structures."

"Demons are... people?" Alita asked, her face falling.

"You turned my people into those things?!" Nikira demanded, "I'm gonna make you bleed for that, you sadistic mother fucker!"

"By all means," Odanov called jovially, "Once you've faced down one of my little toys, that is." A loud grinding sound reverberated through the large room as a pair of massive doors slid aside, revealing a tall excavation Mecha. Behind the Mecha, in the back of the newly exposed room hung the control station. Nikira's eyes fixed on it instantly.

"Is that all you got?" Alita taunted, unfolding her Damascus blade.

"Oh, of course not!" Odanov replied, sneering in kind, "But you've already met my star experiment. Isn't that right, Konvar Rabiki?"

Alita spun to face Konvar, only to find him pointing his shotgun in her direction. "No..." Alita whispered, her free left hand flying to her face. She used it to shield her open mouth, ignoring the tears that already found their way from her eyes. "I can't... won't... how could... how could you...?"

"Konvar," Odanov stated, the gloat on his face echoing in his voice, "shoot your girlfriend now."

"Yes... Sir." Konvar replied, pulling the trigger.