Cybersix walked out of Von Richter's office in a less happy mood than when she had entered.  She glanced up and noticed Quaren watching her.  She stopped and they locked eyes.

Quaren looked miserable.  She shrugged and cocked her head towards the door.

Cybersix smiled and embraced her sister, "I understand." she whispered into Quaren's ear.

"Damn it, be careful or I'll hunt you down and flay you alive!"  Quaren hissed.

"Now I really have a good reason to be careful!" Cybersix giggled.

She went down the stairs.  Maria was standing beside the bannister.

"Mama, I'm sorry.  I tried." Cybersix sighed.

Maria just shook her head and smiled sadly, "Thanks for trying, dear." she thanked her, "Don't forget your shoes.  And be careful.  For me?"

"Oh especially for you, mama!" Cybersix hugged her.

She stood outside of the screen door, wriggling her shoes back on as she thought over what to do next and who to recruit.

She re-entered the garden and glanced around.  The ground looked a bit queer next to a large plant with huge green leaves, so she went over there, "Terra?"

Terra rose up out of the ground, "Hello Cybersix.  Are father and mother okay?"

"Hello Terra.  Yes, they are fine.  Don't worry about them."

"Terra is happy.  Can Cybersix help with the Garden now?"

"No Terra.  Father has given me two jobs to do, and I've got little time to do the first one.  Type 37 has been kidnapped by Cornazon, and I must pick some Specials to help me rescue him.  Will you come with me?"

"Type 37 is in danger??"  Terra was shaking, which he did when upset.

"Yes."

"Is it dangerous?  Must Terra hurt people?"

"Maybe.  But Terra, if you come, fewer people may be hurt, including any brothers or sisters who will come with me."

"Is Cybersix leader?"

"Yes."

"Then Terra will come." He said resolutely.

"Good.  I'll have Kayla make the announcement when we're ready to move out."

She walked to the garden exit, but couldn't cross the path that ran alongside, since a troop of 100 young cybers had suddenly appeared and were charging past her.

"HEY!  IT'S SIX!" someone shouted.  A few skidded to a halt, only to be bowled over by the ones behind them.  The ones after them slowed down, walked around the pileup and began to gather around her, eager to meet one of the very first cybers.

"DID I TELL YOU TO STOP?" Cyber 1377 bellowed, who had been bringing up the rear, "AAARGH!  What batch of half baked sustenance was used to GROW you ALL???"

Cybersix looked down and covered her mouth with her hand so the cybers wouldn't see her smiling.

"I DON'T CARE IF SHE'S GOT CARROTS GROWING OUT OF HER EARS!  WHEN I TELL YOU TO RUN, YOU RUN!  IS THAT CLEAR???"

"YESSIR!"

"NOW, WHAT DID I TELL YOU TO DO?"

"RUN SIR!"

"WELL???"

They turned and scampered down the path.  1337 winked at her, "MOVE IT YA SLOTHS!  YOU GOTTA MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME!" he shouted as he ran after them.

She headed across the compound to the main laboratory.  She entered the main lobby and headed down the stairs to the computer room.  She glanced through the glass window at the seemly endless rows of personal computers and miles of blue wire as she walked to the end of the hall and opened the door at the end.

Kayla, Cyber 338, sat at a console, a pencil in her mouth and a scowl on her face as she pounded at the keyboard, "Where ARE you, you stupid little..."

"Hi Kayla!" Cybersix greeted her, "Got a few minutes, or should I come back later?"

"Hi sis.  Just waitaminnit." she swiveled her chair and typed in something on another terminal.

Cybersix's eye wandered over to the wall, where two katanas in their scabbards hung crossed on the wall.  On the floor was a small backpack, which she knew contained a black Ninja costume.  Even across the room and despite the dull drone of air conditioning and computer fans, she could hear the one that sang with a low vibrating hum*.  Kayla had given a demonstration of Ninja sword skills once, and had chosen that one to use.  It had been chilling and eerie to hear it warble and whine as she went through her practice sets, the sword seeming to sing in harmony with her movements.  Kayla afterwards confessed she didn't know which one she'd use if sent on a mission: The normal sword for silence, or the singing one to strike terror.

She had been sent to Dr. Zacharias' townhouse to install the secure communications link to the compound, as well as upgrade his computer as a favor.  While loading the software, a three pronged attack by unknown enemies of the doctor destroyed the block's transformer and his backup generators in the yard, bringing down his defenses and letting in the third group.  For some reason, she had brought along her katana out of a strangely perverse (for her) desire to impress him.  She was not pleased that the power failure had scrambled the disk three quarters of the way through a Windows install, so she made short work of the intruders, which partly accounted for the reason why their origin remained unknown.

In gratitude, Dr. Zacharias obtained a katana of exceptional quality from a master swordmaker, the mention of whose name made Kayla gasp and blush with embarassment at such largesse.  He then treated the sword using nanotechnology to render the edge sharp beyond her comprehension and the body of the blade incredibly tough.  She didn't believe his warnings about it until a fixed idea, who had been looking at it, dropped it and it buried itself into the ground two feet.  They were clearing a part of the forest for extra farmland, so she took it out there and sliced down more trees in 10 minutes than five Fixed Ideas could in an hour.  An unfair comparison, the fixed ideas later complained: the singing scared the devil out of them.

The only problem with the katana, Kayla complained, was getting it to shut up when stealth was essential, and silence was worth three dollars a second.

Framed by the hanging katanas was a picture of Marryn.

"I still miss her."

Cybersix was roused out of her reverie at Kayla's comment, "We all do." Cybersix sighed, "Am I that obvious?"

"Yes." Kayla smiled sadly.

"So, what computer problem has been bugging you now?" Cybersix asked, changing the subject quickly.

Kayla scowled and waved at the seeming endless banks of microcomputers on the other side of the glass wall, "Beowulf Linux clusters have problems detecting double failures, and I had the stupid luck of getting two failures since I left last night.  I'm running a long diagnostic now since you're here to be briefed for the Cornazon mission."

"And the Meridiana mission too."

"I'm still compiling the dossier on that Amato guy.  Kinda cute, in a Fixed Idea sort of way." She punched up a JPEG of a bulky, muscular blonde.

"Hmph!  I don't know!" Cybersix glared at the screen, "Looks like he's got meat for brains.  And his reflexes can't be all that good with all that muscle to move around!"

"I won't argue about the reflexes, but meat for brains he has not, dear sister.  His series that got father's attention has the science right, although the speculations and predictions don't seem to mesh with the articles.  Then again, you're the literature specialist, so I'll defer to your judgement."

With a scowl, Cybersix reached over and punched a button, erasing the picture, "The Cornazon file?  Please?"

"Oh ho!  Touchy, aren't we?  Maybe you like the guy?" Kayla jibed as she typed in some print commands and pulled up some satellite pictures on displays.

"Thanks to him, I'm going to be condemned to Meridiana for months!" she complained.

Crosshairs appeared on the display, "Given that Cornazon lives in the jungle for the same reasons we do, he's practically a neighbor." Kayla started, "His compound isn't more than 50 kilometers northwest of here, a bit deeper in than we are, but closer to the poppy fields necessary for his line of business." A section of the display was marked off, then blown up to reveal a jungle compound more typical of Amazonia than Von Richter's,  "I don't know how he could come off as Robin Hood, given the way he treats uncooperative farmers.  A brutal and nasty sonuvabitch.  Need a hand?"

"Father seemed reluctant to let you go." Cybersix replied.

"Hey, who's in charge of the mission, you or him?"  Kayla swiveled in her chair to face her.

"I am."

"You know father's style.  You have complete authority." she frowned at her,"What exactly did he say about me?"

"Well, he didn't want you in charge, because tactics aren't your strength." Cybersix bit her lip.

"And he's right." Kayla assured her, "But did he say he didn't want me to go?"

"Well, no."

"Then take charge!"

Cyber 338 had suffered distress at "birth".  Marryn had worked on 338 and saved her, getting attached to her in the process.  Marryn pulled strings to get 338 assigned to do chores in her lab, watch the experiments, even to help at her bungalow.  Candies ordered from outside wound up in 338's hands and tummy, albeit in a way that ensured that no other cyber found out about the favoritism.  It was Marryn who noted 338's incredible skill with computers, and made sure the cyber had plenty of time and help to attain mastery.

Born and raised on the Continent, Marryn believed in the value of being widely travelled in order to broaden the mind.  Thus, Marryn insisted that 338 leave the compound and travel to Japan on an assignment for her, privately noting the young cyber's interest in the far east.  While there, she was able to impress a ninja master to take her under his tutelage, and the assignment strangely took longer and longer to complete.  When 338 came back with a katana bestowed by her sensei as his most excellent pupil, Marryn was estatic but Von Richter was doubtful.

Then came the incident at Dr. Zack's townhouse.  In the same ceremony at the compound when Dr. Zack presented her his token of appreciation, Von Richter made her a "Special".  It was Marryn who named her "Kayla".  It was having a special talent or ability that made one "Special." It did not matter that those talents might be innate or acquired.

Marryn suffered a stroke a few weeks later, and passed away in her beloved Kayla's arms.  It took months for the compound, the Von Richters, and Kayla, to recover from the loss.  She bagged up the ninja costume and hung up the swords and the picture, taking one down daily to practice in the solitude and privacy of the computer control room since that time.

"What's the status of any rescue mission being mounted by the government or the police?" Cybersix asked.

Kayla blinked, looking a bit disappointed, and turned to a console readout, "No news or action anywhere.  Cornazon's still a favorite with some, so there's political pressure on the government to believe that he'll keep his end of the bargain."

"Then you're not needed to inject confusing orders into their communications system that would delay them and interfere with our operation, are you?"

"Oh no!" she brightened.

"Then you're on the team.  For your stealth skills," she added quickly, "I prefer humiliating Cornazon, not slaughtering him."

"You hope." Kayla returned, looking skeptical.

"Okay," Cybersix sighed, "Bring one of the katanas.  Don't use it unless you have to."

"Who's coming along?" Kayla got up to get the printouts of photos and maps that were being spat out by the high speed color printer.

"Terra for sure.  I haven't thought of any others yet. I want to come up with a plan first."

"Want the Meridiana briefing now?"

"No.  I don't want to fume over it during this mission."

"Good idea."  Kayla approved.

The two bent over the printed out photos and maps, considering and rejecting various options.  Cybersix became grateful that Kayla had convinced her to put her on the rescue team: Her ninja training made her an excellent critic.

"Hmm, it's obvious who you should ask next." Kayla observed when they had settled on a plan.

"Right.  It may take a while.  I'll call you when I know who can come and who can't."

"Better make it snappy.  The deadline is noon tomorrow." Kayla got up to get her knapsack.

"We'll strike before morning for sure."

Cybersix left the laboratory and headed out to the east perimeter.  The gravel path became a dirt path, then a small trail as she passed the steam generators and entered the jungle that surrounded the compound.  She paused occasionally to listen to the sounds of screaming parrots, chattering monkeys, and the occasional roar of the ruling black jungle panther that came from the green world around her.

Soon, these welcome sounds would be gone, to be replaced by the noise, chatter, crowds and confusion of city life.

She came to a natural clearing in the jungle, where the sunlight was able to stream down to the floor.  The black, knarled arms of burnt trees revealed that the origin of the clearing was a recent fire caused by lighting.  Lighting struck this area a lot, which was the reason why the compound was placed here.  It provided the energy necessary to create sustenance.

She paused and looked around, then smiled and walked confidently across the clearing.

"AAAAUUUGGGHHH!  YOU SPOILED MY SHOT!"

Cybersix turned to see Grizelda appear out of nowhere, prone on the ground with her Leica pointed at a hole.  Her lizard-like red eyes glared at her.

"How the heck am I going to get a good shot of the Amazonian rabbit with people coming through here like it was downtown Meridiana??" she complained.

Grizelda was a Special because of her ability to turn invisible.  She was as strong as a cyber, and had excelled in Stealth and Spying Techniques.  She used her ability to become the worlds most famous, and most anonymous, Amazon photographer, being able to sneak up really close to her subjects, and possessing the boundless patience necessary to wait for them to appear.

Except, of course, when members of intelligent species or varieties derived therefrom appeared to behave in a decidedly unintelligent manner in her estimation.  Even Fixed Ideas rarely ventured out into the jungle, less out of fear of the panther than from stumbling into Grizelda on the prowl for her next Pulitzer nominated nature photo.  There wasn't a jungle themed calendar on the planet that didn't have fewer than three photos copyrighted "GVR".

"So what the HELL are you doing here?" Grizelda got up, "And get the hell away from that hole!"

"We've got a problem." Cybersix said, not moving.

Grizelda glared at her, then motioned her to follow her to a prudent distance from the hole, "So what problem do I have, other than you being here?" she demanded as she began to diddle with the 15 controls on her camera.

"Type-37's been kidnapped by Cornazon, and Father has made me team leader of a rescue squad of specials."

Grizelda's head snapped up, "Oh crap.  Old baldy is surrounded by cops, and he manages to get himself kidnapped?" she complained.  But she began to go through an elaborate shutdown sequence of her camera, "And I suppose you want me to go along and rescue his sorry fat ass?"

"Well, yes, if you're not too busy with your dear little rabbit."

"Ah, why not?  Old Peter probably is scared shitless by now with me yelling at you."

"Oh?  Is that him?" Cybersix pointed over Grizelda's shoulder.  She turned and groaned at the sight of a rabbit not thirty feet away sitting upright on its hanches regarding them curiously.  And her camera was fully shut down.

"Stinkin' rabbit!  I'd better get a break before that beast drives me stark raving mad!" Grizelda walked over to a tree trunk and pulled a camera case out of the backpack hidden there, "I'll have you know, I'm coming dressed as I am!  Got any problems with that?"

It didn't really matter what Grizelda wore, since it wouldn't be seen anyhow.  She was currently dressed in a light blue one piece speedo swimsuit with a pair of very short shorts pulled on, long white socks and brown boots.  Sorta looked like what her favorite computer game character wore.  Cybersix idly wondered if Grizelda had finally gotten over the recent report of Lara's demise.

A shadow passed overhead.  Both women glanced up to see Cyberdragon descending in lazy, slow circles..

"Damn place is starting to look like the Meridiana Metro at rush hour!" Grizelda complained.

Dressed in jeans and a light blue shirt with velcro lined slits in the back for her wings, Cyberdragon landed next to them, "We've got company." she reported, the sun gleaming off her finely scaled green skin.

"Shit!  One damn thing after another!" Grizelda complained, "Where?"

"Five klicks down the mountain.  Usual group of about three white bwanas and many willing, obedient black and indian servants carrying their stuff."

"Damn.  You'd think after all the years we've been here scaring the crap out of them, that they'd have run out of willing and obedient black and indian servants to carry their stuff by now!"

"There's no time for making like the Great Mazouti of the Amazon." Cybersix interjected, "Type-37's been kidnapped, and I need Grizelda and you with me, Cyberdragon, to rescue him."

Cyberdragon regarded her with shock, "Leave the compound without me watching?  Let the whole world just march in and find us?"

"It's just for tonight, Cyberdragon," Cybersix put her hand on Cyberdragon's upper arm, "Look, I need you and your night vision for Recon, lookout, and attack coordination, and I need Grizelda to go in and pull him out.  We haven't got much time."

Cyberdragon's eyes drifted from Cybersix's eyes down to look pointedly at her own arm.  With a start, Cybersix realized that she had been unconsciously caressing her upper arm, enjoying the feel of the smooth, closely joined, jewel-like scales as they slid past her fingers.  She reddened and pulled her hand away hastily, "I-I'm sorry! I-" she sputtered.

Cyberdragon smiled, "Hey, the Fixed Ideas like it too.  I was never this popular when I was an orphan hiding in that opera house!"

Grizelda laughed at Cybersix's confusion, "Looks to me we'll have to use Big Bird, then," she remarked.

"Right." Cyberdragon agreed, "I'll get him going, then follow you to the meeting point."

She lifted her wings above her head and leaped upwards.  They stroked downwards, and the two women felt the strong rush of wind around them as the beating wings lifted her into the sky.  They watched as she disappeared, gliding, behind the trees.

Their eyes then met.

"Damn!" Grizelda shook her head, "If only..."

"Me too." Cybersix confessed.

Grizelda slung her pack onto her back, "So, who grabbed 37?" she asked as the two headed back to the compound.

"Cornazon.  He's being held captive in their jungle hideout 50 klicks from here."

"Well, we won't be gone long, then." Grizelda nodded, "Who else is going?"

"Terra and Kayla."

Grizelda's eyebrows went up, "Kayla?  She's with me, right?"

"Yes."

"Good.  I hate working with amateurs.  I suppose Terra can manage."

"He'll be with me."

"Really? So how-"

The raucous sounds of several thousand birds filled the air, interrupting her.  Cyber and Special looked to their right to see thousands of birds flying through the jungle understory.  A huge blue bird sporting a metal helmet with anntenae weaved expertly through the trees.  The huge, squawking assembly whirled like a storm down the hill in the general direction Cyberdragon had indicated.

"Whew!" Grizelda wiped mock sweat off her brow, "I wouldn't want to be those white bwanas now!"

"Well, for starters, you're not white, sister dear."

Grizelda guffawed, then snapped her fingers, "Hey!  I got an idea!  Why don't we get Big Bird to come with us and litterally drop a shitload of birdcrap on Cornazon as a diversion?"

"We thought of that, but Kayla didn't want to sneak through the mess."

"Oh yeah.  They'd spot my footprints appearing in it too."  Grizelda glanced behind her, "Say, can you tell me something?"

"Depends.  What is it?"

"Do you know where the hell Bethany came up with the name 'Big Bird' for him?"

Cybersix shrugged, "Probably that yankee preschool program she got the Fixed Ideas addicted to when she came during Christmas.  The one done in the inner city**."

She jerked her thumb downhill, "Does HE know?"

"No!  You want to tell him?"

"Hell no!!"

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Chapter 1
Chapter 3

It was in the interest of literary variety that I have Grizelda speaking as she does.  No approval on the use of such language is expressed or implied.