Jenny and Artemis knocked at Lilly's house. They were excited to get into contact with Lucas after so long. It would be nice to know if she made progress in finding Mr Gordon. Artemis in particular was excited to show her brand of 'planetary magic' and had been researching interstellar communication. This was helped by the fact that the moon was always going to be on her side... and was like a big antenna to her.
When the front door opened, they were surprised to see Lilly's Mother and Stacy (Lilly's younger sister- though was now 'technically' her twin human sister.) They looked a little stressed out judging by the look on their faces.
"Hello girls," said Mrs Gordon wearily. "Um... I'm afraid you can't spend the day with Lilly."
"What's wrong?" asked Jenny.
Stacy gave a concerned look to her mother, then back to the others. "She's... not too well."
Mrs Gordon sighed and tried to calm the teenagers down when she saw how concerned they were. "She's going through her first heat cycle and she's... not taking it too well."
Jenny and Artemis blinked. "Oh..." both said in unison.
The silence was awkward to say the least.
Finally, Jenny broke the silence. "Is... is she going to be okay?"
Mrs Gordon nodded. "I'm sure she will... the doctors say to just let it run it's course. Stacy, why don't you get her some water for now?"
Stacy almost sweated at that. "Mom- she nearly clawed me-" the human girl said worried.
"She wasn't herself dear... go on, I'm sure she's sorry... just go get her some water, and hopefully this will be over in a few days."
"days?!" said Stacy aghast.
"Well- we don't know. It's her first one. The medicines don't seem to be working either..." Mrs Gordon had prepared for this eventuality and products were available to help... but it was a bit hit-and miss. Sometimes they worked, and other times... nothing.
Jenny and Artemis looked wordlessly.
"I guess we can wait a few days," said the moon-girl. "Wish her the best from us, okay?"
"Thank you for understanding girls... sorry about this. Could you let Jen know she'll be unavailable too? She was really hoping to meet you all tomorrow in the magic circle." Mrs Gordon closed the door, as she tensed with her keen ears listening to her daughter's bedroom. This was certainly not something in the manual of parenting a teenager..
Artemis and Jenny quietly walked away when... something startled the moon girl. "Did... you feel... Jenny... I think we have to go somewhere."
Jenny looked oddly but Artemis always had a strange sense about these things. Quickly they hurried to whatever it was that Artemis felt...
In a hospital, Hiro lay in bed, connected to various life support machines. He had been in a coma now for a long time. Visitors came, his sister and parents... but the prognoses was looking grimmer each day. The world was thankful for his sacrifice, but it didn't look like anyone could do anything for him in return.
"This is hopeless!" Shouted Dr Heider.
He paced back and forth in the hospital room. This place was a jail cell! It beeped to the time of how much time he had left until he could be released, always watched by a 'guard', the angel Deborah. Was this some form of purgatory? "I've worked on this kid for months... he is not coming back. His.. brain is just..."
Deborah watched him pace up and down. She wasn't bothered by the eccentricities of this doctor... it paled compared to her own after all.
Dr Heider had the next scan of Hiro's brain and frowned. "This is impossible. I can not do anything for him. His brain activity is zero! He's dead. This is just... a limbo existence for him."
Deborah calmly walked up to Heider...
Heider groaned as he looked. "What? You can glare at me all you like, it isn't changing anything. Hiro is dead, okay? His hardware is keeping his tissue alive, but that's it. All the months you have kept me here, I could have spent helping patients that actually could use the help- Are you listening to me?"
"Hm? Oh, not a word," shrugged Deborah.
This pushed the doctor on edge. "Listen to me!"
Deborah wasn't even looking at him. "How about... no. Actually, I have a better idea. The digital fairies have been working on Hiro's Daemon. It should come online soon and we'll be able to talk to it."
"How is that going to help?"
"I didn't say it would. But if you stop being helpful, I can be very helpful to you... you certainly don't have to treat Hiro... if you stop, you can instead... go through the door."
Heider looked at her. This psycho was playing him... he knew that. Probably booby trapped the door or something. What next? was she going to poison his drink? "What good is a daemon? we'll need a mainframe to load it in."
"... It's been made available." Said the woman with a faint smirk. "A little bit of... 'future tech' you could say."
"...oh?" Now Heider's interest was peeked. If Deborah was suggesting... she could bring machinery from the future here... then suddenly this became a lot more interesting. Especially to him.
Deborah waved a hand. "Yes... stand back. If Lucas's is right..."
Suddenly, beside Hiro appeared a new computer. It was unlike anything ever built or made... or could be made for another hundred years perhaps. It looked almost organic... it even acted that way, as wires quickly latched onto Hiro's lifeless body. It was some kind of life support machine... for digital systems. It complemented the biological life support he was already on.
Heider had to whistle impressed. "Okay... well... load the daemon in. let's see what we have to work with."
Slowly the image of an asian woman appeared, wearing a yellow dress. She looked blankly at Heider as if she could see him. There must be a camera hidden on this screen... but he couldn't even tell where. "Hello. I am Hikari. Nice to meet you." said the computer generated image, from 'invisible' speakers. It was like a window into the digital world... so seamless.
Heider looked into the screen and the blank soulless eyes of the daemon. This was Hiro stripped of his capacity of self awareness. It had all his memories and skills... but nothing human was in it. It was just a computer program... but a program with the knowledge of how to repair cybernetic errors perhaps. Obviously the kid was a bit weird, considering his daemon was a female. Maybe he was just one of 'those' kinds of people? Heider was no stranger to the transgendered... though Hiro's psychological profile didn't even hint towards it. "Okay... Girl-Hiro...creepy, Well if we're going to integrate you back in, we'll have to resolve your identity first. You're really Hiro got it?"
"Hello. I am Hikari. Not Hiro. Can I help?"
"No- You are Hiro. A cybernetic male," said Heider as calmly as he could. "Use your logic routines..."
"Initiating. result unchanged. I am Hikari. Can I help?"
Heider frowned and face palmed. "Okay, well that proves it. This kid's a goner. There is nothing I can do if his daemon wont even acknowledge who she really was. That's the very first step towards integration."
Deborah grinned. "Be imaginative doctor. There's always the door."
Magic girl six was exhausted as she walked on soft sand.
It was turning night now, and she felt cold. The desert got really cold. Why did her magic bring her here? It was just sand... endless streams of sand. Earth's wasteland... not anyone in sight... she was alone.
She decided she had to stop at this point, and rest. She took out her die, and looked at the curious runes on it. Sometimes it had the normal one to six written on it, other times it was in roman numerals... once she had seen them as the four suits, plus a joker and a blank side. She didn't really understand the nature of the power of Six... she was never given any training to be magic girl six.
But it is what she was...
The die had changed again, to show a few strange pictures. She rolled the die, as there was a bright flash of light...
... and a camp appeared. It had a camp fire, a tent, some food... everything she would need to survive a night here. "Oh... lucky. I was hoping for a portal to somewhere nice though," She said darkly. Still, a camp was a welcome thing right now.
She made a slight frown when she saw the tent inside had a change of clothes for her- complete with a change of underwear. Three bras all looped in a rather complicated way for her chest... and she did need it.
She had such a solitary life these last few years... her magic tended to everything she could need, physically.
... but she was lonely. Part of her felt, she would always be alone.
Doug was lost...
entranced...
Everything was blue... so much blue... and whisks of grey and light, clouds so beautiful as they changed shape... like God's canvas.
where was he?
Everywhere... nowhere... looking inwards and outwards... or maybe, nowhere at all. He felt himself merging with something that he actually wondered if he had died and ended up in some strange paradise...
Then he saw the moon... and it was calling to him. Over here... come to me... you can make it...
Wordlessly Doug reached for it... it became a focal point... a place to float towards.
Suddenly he felt himself back on... some kind of street. He felt wet- like it had been raining on him a lot. A chilly breeze made him feel as if he was naked- which was very strange. There was a girl in front of him...a teenager her skin looked strange. It looked silvery, and speckled like the craters of the moon.
Doug then looked at his own hands- which had turned an ocean blue, but had a green fuzzy band around the wrists, like cuffs. Water seemed to rain down his elbows. "What happened?" He- but his voice.. it was high. Like... like a girl's voice?
"Um... Hi Gaia," said Artemis curiously.
Doug screamed.
