Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Part Seven- Enduring Will

(Abandoned warehouse, downtown Camineet)

Ever since LaShiec's rise to power in Algo, many businesses had been forced to shutter- whether through rising inflation, the tyrant's ever-increasingly strict laws, or just plain bad luck. Most of the proprietors had rented out large warehouses, now full of unprofitable merchandise, a majority of which was sold at rock-bottom prices, just to recoup some of the lost Meseta invested.

One such warehouse, at the far end of Camineet's famed Kodama Way, was not one of these warehouses.

Alisa had explored it twice in the past, finding some scattered money and a universal lockpick, leaving a myriad of crates behind. This was most fortunate for Suelo and her family, who took refuge among the abandoned merchandise. Some of the preserved food in the warehouse was still edible, and Rainy had managed to rig a small camp stove from stockpiles of spare parts.

It was a bit eerie, Suelo thought, but she decided it was better than risking arrest by staying at their house.

"All righty, Mama!" Rainy said, stepping out from behind a stack of crates. "Finally got that chemical toilet set up, but I think we're still gonna be bathing with moisty-naps."

"Thank God, we have a bathroom," Cutruss replied, walking past his sister. "I really have to go to the bathroom!"

"Eew. Thanks for sharing, sicko." Rainy waited until Cutruss disappeared behind the crates, then asked her mother, "How long are we gonna stay here, Mama?"

"I don't know, honey," Suelo replied, looking towards the warehouse's door. "It might be a week or two, though."

"Hrmm. Looks like I'll have to build us a TV, then!" Rainy skipped off into the mass of crates and boxes, eager to find some leftover electronics. Suelo just watched her, then sighed.

"Mom?" Janey asked, looking up from a gutted crateload of fabric. "There's some sleeping bags here. Should come in handy- the air conditioner keeps kicking on and off."

"That'll do, Janey. I don't know if there's any medicine I'd trust down here."

"Not by the looks of it," Arturo called from the warehouse's far end. "Most of this medicine expired in the twenties, if I'm reading through this dust right."

"Oh dear. Right, then..." Suelo clapped her hands together, then continued, "Everyone, just remember, this is only temporary. We'll be back home in a few days, barring-"

"Oh, God! That felt great!"

Cutruss walked out from behind the crate stack, wiping his hands with a moist napkin. "I think I dropped a kilo or two," he added.

Arturo threw a mallet at his son, then shouted, "Quiet! Your mother's trying to size up the situation here, and she doesn't need to hear about that kind of crap!"

Suelo sweatdropped, then she continued, "...Where was I? Oh, yes. We should be back home in a few days, so just remember- bathroom's behind the toilet paper crates, kitchenette's in the corner, and the sleeping bags are right over there! Think of it as a camp-out!"

Except that we're in a warehouse, Rainy thought. And on the run from LaShiec. Oh, Mister Lutz, I hope you guys kill him soon...

-=-=-

"Good thing we brought these flashlights," Tairon said, tying a massive lantern to the barrel of his laser rifle. His Laconia axe was strapped to his back, as Lutz reasoned that the rifle would be more useful in the tight confines of Tajima's cavern. "Honestly, lil' buddy, I thought you had the magic lamp."

"I apologized, didn't I?!" Myau replied, squirming uncomfortably as Lutz tied a flashlight to his back. "Hey, not so tight! I like breathing!"

"Sorry, Myau. There. That should do it." Lutz stood up, then readied his Psycho Wand. "Master Tajima shouldn't have moved around much during the past few weeks, Tairon. You remember how to get down there, right?"

"All the way down, yeah, yeah," Tairon replied, stepping into the dark cave. After a second, Myau bounded in behind him.

"Hey, Tairon? You know what we should have bought before we came in?" he asked. "A magic almanack."

"Too bad nobody in Paseo was selling any," Tairon replied, leaning around a corner with his rifle. "Come on in, Lutz. This part's clear. Anyway, lil' buddy, they don't have any because they don't exist. Gotta keep the cartographers in business, you know?"

"Give it time," Lutz interrupted. "Perhaps in a thousand years or so, someone will create such a device. It won't just show you where you are on one planet, but display an entire solar system- you could see Palma, Motavia, and Dezolis in their orbits around Algo, in realtime, too... possibly using holographics and satellite imaging."

"Hehe, Lutz, I think you're talking nonsense," Myau said. "Next you'll be telling us that Palmans will be building generational ships to explore beyond the stars, sandworm farming's going to be the next big thing, and that a computer'll be running Algo!"

"Pfft, like that's gonna happen!" Tairon laughed. "Algo's pretty much gonna stay the same over the next two thousand years- I'd bet my last Meseta on it!"

"I... I suppose you're right," Lutz said, lowering his gaze in defeat. "Nobody can predict the future after all... who knows what things will be like?"

Deep down inside, Lutz couldn't help but fathom that Tairon and Myau were wrong- dead wrong- and that things were about to go south for Algo, but he pushed the feeling aside. Right now, he resolved, he had to help Alisa any way he could.

Little did he realize that he had struck a nerve- Tairon and Myau had the exact same feelings.

-=-=-

"So, anyway... grafh..."

Doctor Mad had partially lifted his gas mask, and was eating a particularly smelly balogna sandwich as he sat near Katya, the IV feed in her neck steadily streaming into her. He took another bite of his sandwich, then continued, "...I like balogna. It's like the lord king of deli meats. The LaShiec of deli meats. Ham, turkey, cappicola's good, too... but balogna? Love it."

There was no response from Katya- mercifully for the doctor, as she had screamed during the first ten minutes of the microt transfusion. Now she rested, comatose, as the chemicals, strandware, and microts spread through her body.

"Liverwurst, though... it's the lady queen of deli meats, and by that I mean Queen Alisa. Really nice looking, but God, bitter aftertaste and treats you like crap! The first time we met, she had pink armor- I kid you not, Katya... grafh... pink armor! And she and her friends ruined three months of experimentations! They even defeated my personal shield and my PoCkEt RoCkEt, Mark One!"

Doctor Mad paused for a second, to wipe some crumbs and pieces of balogna from his five-o'clock shadow. He shook his hand towards the floor, dripping sandwich debris on the already filthy floor, then took the last bite of his sandwich. "Now, where was I?" he asked. "Oh, yeah, I was whining about Queenie. So, she says, 'Hell no, you're not performing your experimentations on my cat, go find a stray,' and then wham! They attack me! Of course, she didn't say it like that, and I did nearly blow up that frail-looking guy with a couple rockets, but hey, shift happens!"

"....."

"So, after they steal my Laconia pot, which I bought market value from some sucker in Paseo- with cardboard Meseta, mind you!- I had to get back to my backup lab! So, once I heard them leave, I went to my window, and..." He threw his lab coat back, revealing a battered device, held together with mesh tape and tin foil, some of it covered in barely-legible Burger Xnight logos. "I used my personal jetpack! Under the cover of late morning, I flew from that lame podunk town of Abion to the spaceport, stuffed myself into some carry-on luggage, and hid in relative discomfort on the first flight to Camineet!" He pulled his gas mask back into place, adjusted its straps, then told Katya, "Once off the ship, I jetpacked my way to Baya Mahlay, where I could try to revive my experimentation notes!" His voice became more strained as he continued, "Guess who was freaking waiting for me."

Katya still didn't respond. The IV drip leading into her neck finally emptied out.

"That's right. Alisa was, her armor still pink, her blonde friend still stupid, her damn cat still not turned into a weapon. We fought, I lost, and..."

-=-=-

Black. All she could see was black. All she could feel was the sensation of monofilament wires being run through her muscles and veins, miniscule pinpricks poking at each of her organs. She was helpless, her heart betraying her by circulating the doctor's potent chemical mix through her body with each beat.

Green letters suddenly appeared in the corner of her vision, like a marquee in Parolit's Naka Square. "Entering diagnostics mode."

She started to wonder just what that meant, but her thought train was interrupted by more words, scrolling in and out of sight. "HP: 1/85, MP: 0/65. Neural networking: Complete. Vital organ reinforcement: Complete."

An image of a Palman female appeared in the left side of her sight, white lines overlaying where the heart, brain, stomach, and lungs were on the figure. This sight soon disappeared, as the words continued. "Combat subroutines: Complete. Laser claw generators: Complete. Loaded programs: RES.EXEC, GIRES.EXEC, ANTI.EXEC, REVER.EXEC, FOI.EXEC, TSU.EXEC, GRA.EXEC, ZAN.EXEC, DBLSLASH.EXEC, ELIMINAT.EXEC. Memory Used: 378/8652 GQu. Internal cranial computer: Operative. Visible light vision, infravision, MRI vision, thermal vision: Operative."

There was the sensation of several objects suddenly piercing the backs of her hands, but she couldn't see what they were- her eyes were still closed, and would not open. Again, the words continued to scroll by. "Targeting scopes: Operative. Libra Mark III combat scanner: Operative. ALL SYSTEMS GO."

And then, her eyes opened, shifting into focus, looking up at a man in a stained lab coat. There was a hissing in her ears, then she could hear the man saying, "...as I surprised to see her, sitting in Kingie's lap like some high-class call girl! I'm pretty sure that's what he's using her for-"

"Doctor." Her voice was still the same, but there was no emotion, no feeling.

-=-=-

"Wh- well, you're finally up, Katya!"

Katya sat up on the operating gurney, slight whirs coming from her joints as she moved into place. "I am ready for service, Doctor," she intoned, looking at him curiously.

"Holy dog crap, this actually worked!" Doctor Mad pumped his fist triumphantly, then jumped into a somersault. "I actually made a robot without killing someone! A girl robot, too!"

"I am unsure as to what you mean, Doctor."

"Oh, it doesn't matter!" The doctor ran over to his intercom, eagerly slamming its talk button as he shouted, "Kingie! Queenie! I actually got one working! Plan C is a huge success!"

"So, you have a prototype?" LaShiec's voice asked through the panel. "Bring it to the throne room immediately."

"Yes, Your Worship!" Once the intercom silenced, he turned to Katya. "First things first though, Katya- how do you feel?"

"My external appearance has improved by 14.6%," Katya replied. "Doctor Mad, I require new clothing."

"Just what I was gonna say, 'cause I'm a fractactical gene-ass!" Looking his creation up and down, Doctor Mad said, "I was thinking something red. Goes with your hair, I think, Katya. And cleavage, because everything's better with cleavage! Hot girls, swords, axes, slashing weapons in general- everything's better with cleavage and midriff! Except for guys. Or fat chicks. Or guys who dress like fat chicks." He scratched his head, confused. "Hrrm. I guess not everything's better, after all."

"Doctor Mad, I believe you're rambling," Katya said. "We should acquire some new clothing for myself before we meet Lord LaShiec and Lady Alisa."

"Heeey, you already know about her! Just... when we get to the throne room, could you stop that?"

"Stop what?"

There was a loud sigh, then Doctor Mad said, "Blink, damn it!"

"I have no need to blink."

Sweatdropping, Doctor Mad thought, O... kay, I think there's still some software bugs in ya, but... hey, you're hot, and you're a prototype anyway, so I think I can at least get away with that. "All right, we've wasted enough time in this dump," he told Katya. "Let's get going- you've got royalty to meet!"

-=-=-

"He has a prototype, Reipard?"

LaShiec nodded, smiling at Alisa. "He does, my dear. From what I gather, I think he used that scullery maid who tried to disfigure you."

"Hmph." Alisa closed her eyes, then raised her nose into the air. "Trash like her shall finally serve a useful purpose in society."

"Indeed she shall." LaShiec tickled Alisa's chin gently, savoring her laugh- her malevolence still came through in her laughter. He smiled- his influence over Alisa, as well as the Hell Crown's powers, had done an excellent job of corrupting the noble warrior who set out to destroy him.

"Oh, Reipard..." Alisa's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Alisa, my love, how would you like to learn more magic?" he asked. "To help cement your status as Lady Queen of Algo?"

"Why, I'd love that," Alisa replied, her eyes sparkling in anticipation. "Not as much as I love you, Reipard, but... to learn more magic, so that we may crush anyone who dares to stop us..." She sighed. "Utter ecstacy, Reipard."

"Very well, Alisa. But... know this." LaShiec's voice suddenly took on a grave, serious tone. "There comes a price for learning such powerful magic."

"And what would this price be?"

LaShiec laughed. "The price, Alisa... is a kiss."

Giving him a playful, seductive smirk, Alisa repeated, "A kiss?"

"A kiss."

"Well, then..." Closing her eyes, Alisa leaned towards LaShiec, kissing him on the lips. Pulling back after a few seconds, she whispered, "Is that sufficient payment, Reipard? Or..." She gave him another kiss, deeper and more intense than the last one. "...Shall that suffice?"

"That suffices, my love," he replied, returning Alisa's kisses with one of his own. "Now, the magic. Alisa, dearest, close your eyes and think. Think about how there are so many spells out there devoted to protection- warping N-Space enough to deflect physical or thamaturgical attacks, thwarting them entirely."

Images appeared in Alisa's mind- her sword bouncing harmlessly off of some of the creatures she had fought, Lutz's spells harmlessly ricocheting away from her beloved LaShiec. She gritted her teeth in anger at the last thought- Just one of many to hang on to my glory, she thought. But that was before you showed me the truth about them all, Reipard, my love. That they are parasites.

"I'm sure you've seen the movements these casters made in order to create these N-Space barriers and shells," LaShiec told her. "Concentrate, and with a gesture of your own, imagine these distortions cast asunder- defeated."

Alisa's eyes opened, and new knowledge of the spell of Neutralization formed in the back of her mind. "Hmm..." She smiled at LaShiec. "You are quite the teacher, Reipard."

"And you're quite eager to learn, Alisa. I can teach you a few more spells, but... remember my price, Alisa."

Remember, she did- over the course of that afternoon, LaShiec taught Alisa some of the spells contained in the Hell Crown- Shadow Breath, Another Gate, and Nova. And for each spell she learned, Alisa rewarded LaShiec with a passionate kiss.

"Alisa, my dear," LaShiec said as the sun started to settle below the horizon. "You've learned well today. Tomorrow, I shall teach you the four basic elemental attack spells- your Flaeli could use some company."

"That would be wonderful, Reipard," Alisa breathed, kissing LaShiec again.

"You deserve this wonder, Alisa... after all, the most beautiful woman in Algo should be the most powerful. And once you learn these spells, there is one more spell sealed within your crown."

"Oh?" Alisa raised an eyebrow. "One last spell?"

"Indeed. We shall talk more of this tomorrow, though, my love." He scooped Alisa off the ground, into his arms. "For now, we should get some food- I can't teach my wife when she's hungry!"

"And my husband can't teach me when he's hungry," Alisa finished.

They both laughed, then LaShiec carried Alisa towards the Castle in the Sky's dining hall.

-=-=-

"I'm bored!" Myau shouted, his voice echoing through the corridors of the cavern. "Where's Old Man Tajima, Lutz?!"

"He's down here, I know it," Lutz replied. "Tairon, turn left at this next T."

"Got it." Tairon braced himself against the wall of the T intersection, then hoisted his laser rifle. He peeked down one branch, then spun on his heel and leaned out towards the other branch. "This one's clear," he told Myau and Lutz. "You're positive you remember the way, Lutz."

"I'm certain of it!" Lutz replied. "Master Tajima had me and my fellow Esper acolytes memorize every square centimeter of this cavern as one of our initiation rites."

"It's been a while, though," Myau said. "So maybe you're a bit con..." Suddenly, the hair on his back bristled. "Sssh. There's something up ahead. Sounds like a torch."

"That would be Master Tajima," Lutz told him. "He always left two torches burning outside his chambers."

"Just like last time," Tairon said. "Let's go."

The group approached the torchlit door outside Tajima's chamber, which Tairon and Lutz pushed open. "Master?" Lutz called out. "It is I, Noah. We have returned."

Tairon looked around the room. "Hey, uh, Lutz?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"I don't see Tajima here. He's gone..."

End of Part Seven

Where is Master Tajima? What is this powerful spell sealed within Alisa's Hell Crown? What is Katya's first mission as a minion of Algo's rulers? Will Suelo and her family evade capture in Camineet's warehouse district?