[Cyberia] Cyberia:The Undiscovered Country

[Cyberia GM]

Dot nodded numbly, "I'll come back sometime... after things have been
fixed."  She looked over Asha, uncertain of her own feelings, but knowing
that even with the little time they'd known each other there would be a deep
absence without her.

"I'll go."

+++++

Asha knelt next to Dot, and hugged her.  "I know you will," she said, her
face shuttered.  "Just make sure you fix everything first," she added,
forcing a smile onto her face.

Dot nodded dumbly.

She turned to Shirow.  "Take care of her," she said, taking his hands into
hers.

He said nothing in return.  Nothing needed to be said.

"You'll need to shift in tandem.  When you hear the cracking from the beam
scouring the surface, fly like the wind.  You won't have a large window, and
you need to break through the barrier as quickly as possible."  She smiled
wryly.  "I can't exactly repeat the distraction."  She paused, looking at
the two of them, before speaking again.  "Let's get on with this, then," she
said, moving towards the door.

Placing her palm on the lock, she watched as the door opened.  The Merlin
was moving slowly, so only the stench of the blasted wastes- a result of the
pollutants of the MultiNats- assailed them.  Asha crouched by the open door
for only a moment, looking back at Dot.  Then with a smile, she was gone,
and her wings unfurled, catching the sparse sunlight as they caught the
drafts and she sped away.

Finally the reserves that held Dot began to seep.  She sniffed noisily as
tears traced her cheeks.  She stood, silent with sorrow.

"Close the door," Shirow said at last, making his way to the front.  "Do you
know of a specific location in the Wastelands you'd like to shift to?  I'd
not like to be working against you unbeknownst when we're in such a
hurry..."

"No," Dot replied as she dried her face with her sleeve.  "But I could
describe the place Suhuy and I went through.  We could aim for that if don't
know of one better."

A grunt and a nod were Shirow's only reply, as he settled into the control
seat, motioning for Dot to take the co-pilot's seat.  As she described the
location, Shirow listened intently, starting the Merlin back along it's
course at half speed.  They cruised for a few minutes before the craft began
to buck against a wave of energy, detritus assaulting them from behind.  A
cloude of black eclipsed even the bare sun, engulfing them in darkness.

"Now," Shirow said, calmly, his voice almost a whisper.  The craft lurched
forward and upward, into the nuclear sky, shooting from the cloud like a
bullet from a pistol- a crack sounding as they broke the sound barrier.
Shirow's face was set in a grim line as he began to concentrate on shifting
the craft...

Dot concentrated, her thoughts focusing as deeply as she could on a land
she'd seen only briefly in the past.  But it was tainted with the sadness of
having to leave Asha behind.