*****

The apartment was small but it felt cozy. It was her home… Nene's own home. Well, actually the A.D. Police had assigned it to her, but at least it was earned on her own merit anyway.

It wasn't too difficult to find the Totem pole since her mini computer guided her. Once there, she made her presence known and was taken in front of her superior.  There she was given a uniform and the keys to her new home. She would start work the next day at the top of the morning. She couldn't help but feel eager and nervous at the same time.

The place had very basic furniture.  She quickly decided that after she cashed her first paycheck, she would start to make some changes in the decor.  She went to the room that from now on would be her bedroom.  Nene parked her things in the closet and put her weasel on the bedside table. She plopped down on the bed and was immediately struck by the different feel.  She longingly thought back to her soft mattress at home. Nene couldn't help but think of her parents. Surely they would be angry and worried. She felt the urge to call them, at least to tell them that everything was okay. However, she managed to restrain herself for now.  She wouldn't call them this night since they must learn the lesson first. They needed to see reality and accept that their daughter was an adult now.

*****

Only one day remained before Christmas Eve and the city seemed to be overblown with bedlam. Everybody was doing their last minute shopping and it was almost impossible to simply walk on the streets.  Priss really hated that kind of congestion so she opted to work from home. She had called Nigel to tell him that she wouldn't be out, but that she would still spend Christmas with him the next day. She had to leave a message on the answering machine since Nigel wasn't at home for some unknown reason. That was another thing that she hated too, talking with a machine.

The cold was intense and the trailer seemed to be turning into a fridge. The heating system wasn't working very well so she was forced to wrap herself tightly in blankets.  She also made some hot coffee while she continued to write down the ideas that were swirling around in her mind, perhaps some of them eventually growing into new songs. While a melody was playing itself in her head, she decided to capture it on the stave sheet before her memory decided to throw it away.  She spent the whole day buried in her work.  In her brief moments of distraction, her mind transported herself again to the mall at the exact moment where the metal angel descended through the skylight.  A warning from her stomach signaling lunchtime finally interrupted her thoughts.  Thus she left her songs and distractions behind to go try and scare up some food.

*****

The cold morning of December 24th had dawned darkly because of the clouds that covered the sun. The snow had started to slowly fall since the first hours and everything suggested that without doubt this would be a white Christmas.

Nene had to go to work but she only had to stay until noon and luckily had the next day off. She felt proud wearing her police uniform and she thought that her parents would be very happy if they could see her dressed like that. She decided that she would call them tonight, as she didn't want to put off any longer the call that she knew she had to make since arriving in Tokyo. The least she could do was greet them for Christmas.

She sat bored in front of her monitor.  Nothing interesting was happening and she hadn't struck up any conversations with any of her new co-workers yet. So she decided to make use of her "ability" to kill the weariness.  Her idea was to access her computer back in Nagoya.  However, it had nothing to do with being a hacker… it simply involved the common ability to have remote access from any machine to her own. She wanted to know if there had been any "unusual" activity in her things, but she found everything in order. When the worst was over, she would go back home for a visit and then she'd take her computer.  Her excuse would be that that she missed it and for the moment she didn't have enough money to buy a new unit.

Once she finished checking everything, she continued poking around the network.  She managed to casually enter the A.D. Police's server, which in theory she hadn't been granted access to yet. She was surprised to find all records for the voomer incidents from the last two months. The incident that most caught her attention was the one that happened only two days ago, the same day she arrived in Tokyo. The weirdest thing she found was that there were two versions of the same event.  In the official record, the A.D. Police had gained control over the situation.  In the other version however, things happened in a very different way.  It mentioned the intervention of an unknown person using a very high tech hardsuit who managed to completely destroy the mad voomers before the A.D. Police could even get to the scene. In that same file, there were two communications from Genom labeled as "urgent".  Those messages forbid the public disclosure of any kind of mention of the unknown person who interfered in the incident.  Those who didn't follow that order would be punished 'appropriately'.

Nene knew that not only had she entered the main server that she wasn't supposed to be in, but she had infringed on high security protocols. That meant that the system either had a lot of bugs… or somebody had shutdown the firewall to enter, carelessly leaving the door open in the process. That further meant that she wasn't alone in the server and her presence could be discovered at any moment.

She quickly backtracked, deleting any record of her presence and returned back to her earlier activity. After all, it wasn't a good idea to be fired on her second day of work.

Before she knew it, time was flying and she was surprised to find her shift already over. She picked up her stuff and was ready to go.

She was trying to find enough strength to call her parents when she got home.  Before that Nene remembered she needed do some shopping first.  After all, she couldn't live forever eating fast food alone. That concern distracted the teenager just at the right moment when she was crossing the main hall to walk out of the Totem pole.  Because of that, she didn't notice a tall and tough figure that was standing near the door chatting with someone else. Nene was walking with her head down, patterning her thoughts with the floor design that attracted her so much.  Suddenly her head collided with something very hard.

"Hey, what the…!?!"  The tall and tough figure exclaimed, turning his head around to see what had bumped into him.

Nene looked straight up and found a very good-looking guy with a dark complexion who gazed down at her confused.

"I'm sorry! It's just…" The young girl didn't know what to say.

"Are you blind?!" The man was ready to yell at her, but when he saw the very red face of the girl, he changed his attitude.

The man at his side adjusted his glasses with one finger while he tried to hide the laugh that was threatening to burst out.

"I'm so sorry! It wasn't my intention…" Nene felt very ashamed.  She was new there and didn't want to be treated like a fool.

"It's okay, no problem. What's your name?" The man changed his facial expression to a kinder one.

"Nene Romanova."

"You're new here, right?"

"Yes, it's my second day."

"Detective Leon McNichol.  Nice to meet you officer Romanova," he added while trying to express himself in a more friendly way by extending his hand towards her.

"Pleased to meet you…Detective McNichol."

"But you can call me Leon." The young man shook Nene's hand with vigor and winked at her.

"Leon!" The man at his side caught his attention.

Leon stepped aside to introduce his partner while still holding the girl's hand. "And this is my partner detective Daley Wong."

Nene felt uncomfortable and tried to let go of his hand, but she didn't want to be rude either. When Leon noticed that he still was holding Nene's hand, he released it quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Well, we are new too.  We started here two weeks ago. If you want, maybe we could go out to lunch together."

"I'm sorry, but I'm short of time now.  Maybe another day would be nice though," Nene was almost running to the door, trying to get away from the embarrassing situation.

"OK Nene, see you around. And…Merry Christmas!"

"Goodbye! Merry Christmas to you too!" The young girl picked up the pace and was out on the street in a flash.

"Leon, Leon…What'll I do with you?" Daley put his hand on his partner's shoulder while showing a resigned face for such behavior.

"Come on Daley! Even if she's just a girl, it's still worth a try." Leon scratched his head while he followed the blond haired girl with his eyes.  However, she quickly became lost among the growing lunchtime crowd.

Nene wasn't accustomed to such agglomeration.  In Nagoya there were many people too, but Tokyo was sheer pandemonium compared to her hometown. Everything could be found here. She was still bothered by her encounter with the detectives.  It was the first contact she had had with someone besides her superiors. She had to admit that both of them were very handsome, but she wasn't used to that kind of treatment since she had been very shy with the boys back at her school.

She bought just enough provisions to last for a few days and went to her home ready to make the overdue call to her family. She entered the building carrying the shopping bags and traveled up the elevator.  When she reached her floor she immediately recognized a very familiar woman standing in front of her apartment's door.

"Mom?!" Nene's exclamation was almost a sigh.  At the same time, she let the bags in her arms fall to the ground.

When her mother saw her, she ran up to hug her. Nene stood motionless without even reacting to the woman's effusive demonstration.

"What's wrong honey?" Anya stepped aside surprised by the chilly reception from her daughter.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to be make sure you were fine. Look at you!  This uniform suits you wonderfully!" The woman stepped aside to gaze at her daughter's one-piece attire.

"How did you get here?" Nene asked without showing any kind of emotion.

"I asked for your address at the A.D. Police."

Nene opened the apartment's door and invited her mother to come in. Anya entered while looking at everything around her. In absolute silence, Nene went to the kitchen and put away the things she had bought. Her mother couldn't stop watching her as she would not let herself believe that her daughter was living alone in this place.

"Are you happy Nene?"

The teenage girl watched her mother out of the corner of her eye.  She was angry and she didn't exactly know why. But deep in her heart she knew that it was completely normal that her mother was worried about her, and she did feel somewhat relieved that she was there. But she would never admit that to her mother.

"Yes, I'm happy."

Anya hugged her, feeling more relieved by her daughter's assurances. For a very long time she tried to prepare herself for the moment in which she must let her daughter be free.  At last the moment had come. Now the only thing that she wanted to know was if the little girl she still couldn't see as a woman was simply fine with that freedom. And if Nene was fine, Anya would be fine too.

"That's the only thing I want to know."

"How is dad?"

"A little bit angry, but he'll be fine soon. Y'know how he is."

Nene got ready to make lunch, but since she didn't want to show her mother that she knew nothing about cooking she took out some instant rice with curry from the fridge and put it on the microwave instead. Anya took a seat while her daughter was preparing the table.

"Are you staying here or going back to Nagoya?" Nene asked, sitting down in front of her mother, while waiting for the rice to finish cooking.

"I have to go back home or your father will never forgive me," she said with a hint of a joke to her voice.  Her face turned serious as she looked back up into her daughter's eyes though.  "Nene, do you want to come back with me?"

"But…"

"You can take a flight tomorrow and you could come back to Tokyo quickly. And as far as the money is concerned, don't worry about that. Consider it a Christmas present."

"That sounds good," Nene smiled back towards her mother trying to cheer her up. However, Nene wasn't sure in her inside, she understood the concern that her parents feel for her…and it wasn't fair that they don't spend the Christmas together…but it was as they didn't get the message and one more time they want to control her life. She would access this time because was about a special occasion, but she must be ready for whatever would be waiting for her at home.

The microwave announced with a whistle that lunch was done. Nene served the rice and both of them started to eat. Through the window, the sky grew dark as the snow that had stopped for a couple of hours began to fall softly again.

*****

It was almost five o'clock in the afternoon by the time Priss finally woke up. She had practically slept the whole day and she didn't have any idea what time it really was. She wrapped herself up with blankets so she could stay warm.  For the moment, she let herself be ruled by the intense tiredness that had nearly overwhelmed her for the last several days.

When she finally found the motivation to get up and make some coffee, she found the light on her answering machine blinking.  She realized she must have been sleeping very deeply to not hear the phone ringing in her small trailer. Before she played the message, Priss remembered she had forgotten her cell phone had been turned off from the night before. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she turned it on and found a message waiting there for her as well.

While she poured her coffee, Priss tried to listen to her message. However, her cell phone's battery was almost dead. She had forgotten to recharge it for several days, so she instead decided to hear the message on the regular phone first.  When she pushed play on the machine, she instantly recognized Nigel's voice… and felt a little bit anxious as a result.

"Hi Priss, I don't know where you're at right now. I've been trying to call you on your cell phone and at home, but you're not answering.  Well I hope you hear this in time… tonight I won't be at home, something came up very suddenly. I'm sorry.  I know I promised you that we would spend Christmas together… Well, that's all. Take care. Bye."

Priss continued to drink her coffee as the message didn't disturb her from that activity at least.  She put the cup down and started to charge her cell phone, hoping to find something different on the message there. In the meantime, she tried to not be worried.  After all, that would make it just another night anyway and she didn't really care about any special meal in any event. The cell phone finished its rapid charge and Priss found the message there was from Nigel as well. When she heard it, she verified the contents to still be the same as the other message. She decided to call the garage but received no answer.  It quickly became evident that Nigel had left as he had said.  She now considered herself defeated but still didn't try to let it show. Besides another lonely Christmas wouldn't bother her.  It could be worse. She was very ready to take a hot bath now.  She became determined to find a way to have fun that night no matter what.

After the bath, she reviewed the available options to spend the night. But as she thought through her plans, she didn't want to admit it, but Priss felt hurt over Nigel's sudden decision.   The only thing that could appease the growing angry feeling was to race off on her bike and a find a couple of good beers. So without thinking twice, she mounted her bike and took off through the snow towards Hot Legs.

In route, many images flew through her mind.  The past joined with the present to once again torture her.  All kind of questions started coming to light.  Did Nigel really love her?  Was she only someone he wanted a one-night stand with?  And more she thought, the more hurt she felt. Hiroshi had really loved her, she could be sure of that. He saved her from the solitude in the worst moment of her life.  He gave her everything she had now and had transformed her into a real woman.  Most importantly, he protected her with his own life…he died for her.  Priss felt a biting pain in her chest, as if someone had stabbed a knife in her heart.   What she just remembered was something that she tried to keep buried in her memories for the last six months.

Rolling up to Hot Legs she noticed that her eyes were clouded with tears.  It wasn't the right moment to cry, it wasn't a moment to be sad.  But she couldn't be happy either… She parked the bike in the alley just as she always did.  She took off the helmet and rubbed her eyes to erase the trace of her incipient tears. When she entered the club, it seemed strange to find so many people there. Obviously, it wasn't as full as a normal day, but even so she expected to find the place almost empty.

Priss went straight to the bar, ignoring the looks of recognition that immediately followed her.

"Priss, what kind of business brings you here on a night like this?" The bartender asked her, finding the presence of the young singer strange.

"Its better if don't ask and just give me a beer instead."

"Sure thing."

The cool and sparkling beer cooled down the strong passions conflicting inside at least for a moment. The mood was nice and quiet for Hot Legs.  Even if there weren't live shows that night, the music was still pretty good. Priss finished her beer but realized that even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to take away the pain that was hitting her heart. Was it for Nigel? While she stared into the empty jug, she tried to find the real reason for her anguish. She finally decided that it was partially for Nigel, but also for Hiroshi too.  She knew that Hiroshi never would hide something from her, and he'd always be by her side.  But Nigel…it wasn't the first time he disappeared without any reason and he never gave her a real explanation for that.  Now the door to the past was opened one more time and she needed to find a way to close it again…

"You have anything stronger?"

"That all depends on what you mean by "stronger"…

"Don't complicate my life any more than it already is.  Just give me the strongest drink you have… I don't give a damn if it sets me on fire when I drink it. And in the meantime, pass me another beer." Priss extended the jug signaling her desire for more.

The last time she had called on the help of alcohol to forget her pain had been after Hiro's death.  She drank so much that she had spent a whole week in bed recovering from the hangover. This time the reasons weren't as strong, but she didn't want to face the loneliness of Christmas Eve so she preferred to evade it.  She drank her second beer while the bartender mixed a drink that looked like it might explode on the spot.

"Here you go Priss."

"Wow and what's that supposed to be? At least I want to know how I'll die…" Priss took the glass in her right hand and spied it through the dim light.  The distinct red color… she loved it...

"It's the strongest drink I have.  It's made of… well… maybe it's better if you don't ask…"

The determined girl drank it in one shot and immediately felt the fire burning her throat.  It felt so good though that without thinking she asked for other one.  She began to feel a buzz as if her thoughts were dissolving in some kind of nebula.  When she asked for the third drink, she started to doubt her very sanity.

"Priss, are you OK?" The bartender was a little concerned when he saw that she couldn't stay seated, laughing in a strange way. As an answer to his question, Priss fainted on the bar, still holding the glass in her hand and stammering nonsensical words.

Priss was lost.  She wanted to move but her body wouldn't respond. Everything was spinning around her and her only wish was be able to focus her sight on something concrete.  With that, she realized her sight was clouding slowly. She had almost completely lost her sense and surrendered to the encroaching drowsiness.  But before she could even manage to do that, she felt that she was moving without thinking. The last thing that crossed her mind before fainting was a question… Whose hands were grabbing onto her and taking her away???

To be continued…