[Fan Fiction] Big O Parallel Universe

The apartment door swung open, revealing stacks upon stacks of newspapers, magazines, and books piled up against the walls, creating new walls within the main room. Central to all the papers was the scratched up dented wooden desk piled high with empty, stacked paper coffee cups and stirrers, all in neat rows. Amid the cups was a large ashtray filled with cigarette butts, reaching nearly two feet tall, all arranged in a spiral tower. And framed by the cups and ashtray was an old battered typewriter, a single sheet of paper still resting in the carriage.

'I've lived my life as a newspaper reporter. I uncover the truth and write my articles. Then I learned - all too well - that a mere reporter like myself can't ever get to the truth of this city, it's nearly impossible. And it's unsure. No one here is interested in learning the Truth, a Truth that must be known. But I want to know, I want to learn What Must Be Known!'

"'I want to learn What Must Be Known'," Roxanne read the last line aloud in her low, soft voice.

The sound of a liquid substance moving across a surface caught her attention and she turned to look at the closed door. The crack of the door seeped in a dark, noxious chemical she recognized instantly.

"Gasoline!" she exclaimed.

She gazed at the mountains of paper-material around her, then her eyes rested on the window just as a roar of fire crept under the door.

Roxanne kicked the window out with her stiletto heel, then leapt out down to the street. Raising her arm, her wrist-cable shot out of her watch and grappled the wall lip of the apartment's roof.

A fireball exploded out of the apartment.

Roxanne hung for a moment, getting her bearings, just as the noise of the dome's fire truck screamed toward the building.

"Whew," she commented.

A voice abused by nicotine cried out, "You're a corrupt dog on the city's leash!"

Roxanne turned to the source of the voice, seeing a vaguely outlined figure in a tan trenchcoat and a strangely-shaped head. "Are you Michelle Seebach?"

"Michelle Seebach has vanished from this world," the woman proclaimed, now more visible in the dome's twilight. Roxanne activated her wrist-cable and was pulled up to the roof of the building. "Go and tell that to your Masters!"

Roxanne reached the edge of the roof and flipped over, did a mid-air somersault, and landed on her feet, facing the strange spectre with the bandaged head and hands.

"All right - so what name do you go by?" Roxanne called.

"For the time being you can call me Schwarzwald."

A sudden memory popped up - she was not sure where or how she knew this - and she automatically translated the name: "'Black forest'?"

The figure known as Schwarzwald continued giggling in a girlishly mad cackle, "Report this to your Masters ... you can tell them that they will never see their darling reporter in this city again!"

She continued giggling madly, as another explosion rumbled the building and smoke filled the street, screening Schwarzwald from Roxanne's view.

* * *

Roxanne Smith - freshly showered, coffee in hand - stood on the balcony of her mansion. She did not see the brilliantly lit domes before her nor feel the cold wind whipping her long black hair over her shoulders. In fact, she was clad in her tank top and sweatpants, seemingly unaffected by the constant chill of the climate.

[Dig up the truth. I had no choice.]

"Aren't you cold?"

Roxanne turned, seeing her android butler standing on a parapet, his black coat swinging about his legs and his auburn hair caressing his face in the breezes.

"Oh, hello, Dorian," she answered. "Are you worried about my health?"

"Not really," he replied, seemingly a normal response from a normal teenage boy.

Roxanne chuckled.

[Androids and Megadeuses, they definitely existed here beforehand. No one doubts that in the least. But maybe we just convinced ourselves that's the case.]

"Tell me, Dorian," she said. "Do you ever take the time to think about yourself - what could possibly make you tick?"

"I think about myself more than you do, at least," he retorted, turning his head to look at her.

Roxanne turned back to the western horizon. "Yes," she murmured softly. "This is about myself. It looks like the time has finally come to face the darkness within me."

Dorian gazed at her, saying nothing.

* * *

Roxanne Smith stepped onto the service lift at the top of the main catwalk in Big O's hanger. Twisting a key into the lift's systems, she began to descend to the lower floors beneath the bank she had converted into her home.

At the lower level, she pulled a mag light out, illuminating what appeared to be an old advertisement for some electronic device. She made her way down the debris-filled tunnel.

[I've been using these underground tunnels as transport for Big O. I understand there was once a transportation system here at one time called a 'subway'. It may only be thirty feet below the surface, no one wants to set foot down here.
Not even bank robbers.
Big Ear once told me that forty years ago, there were people who lived down here. Some wanted to, some had no choice.
Even I hadn't gone down here further than this. This is definitely another world that no one in the city knows about.
Except for one woman.]

Roxanne began to climb down the service ladder, holding the mag light in her teeth. The stone walls gave way to riveted steel, then smooth metal.

[The further down I go, the newer the walls become. Items from a more recent era are buried even deeper down.]

A dull roar, like wind blowing through a tunnel, became louder as Roxanne made out the faint glimmerings of light below her. Not only the sound of wind, but moans and cries of pain and loss.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, her gloved hands clutched the ladder as her knees threatened to give out from under her. Her feet slipped, causing her to grip the sides of the ladder with her ankles. Everything in her body began trembling, filling her with panic, making sweat pour down her forehead and into her wide eyes.

The mag light fell from her mouth, falling silently, then landed with a faint shatter of glass and plastic.

[I'm scared.
M-me.
I'm actually scared!]

Her voice choked as she felt her hands shake uncontrollably, making her lose her grip on the ladder.

She tumbled down, landing on her side. She forced her body up with one hand, nothing but panic and fear searing through her mind and choking her brain.

[What's triggering this irrational emotion??]

The iridescent light down the corridor pulsed brighter, half-blinding her and even forcing her back on the floor.

[This is just some sort of physiological response. R-reason should be able to suppress it ... I must suppress this absurd emotion!]

Roxanne's anger was being shoved out by the fear - fear filling up every nook, every creavice of her being, overflowing her brain and spilling over the floor.

Her vision began to swim with figures walking toward her ... whispy, unemotive, transluscent ... dead ...

Roxanne's scream of terror filled the chamber.

I always found it cool how Roger in Act 4 was, despite overcome with terror, able to witness his emotions. Even if futile, he is still strong enough to try and supress him.

Roxanne is the same way. She should be, seeing as she's like Roger's double...

Just one thing bugs me.

"[Androids and Megadeuses, they definitely existed here beforehand. No one doubts that in the least. But maybe we just convinced ourselves that's the case.]"

Maybe I was wrong, but I did not thing Roger had thought this to himself, but had just said it randomly to Dorothy. So I would guess that Roxanne would in turn be saying it to Dorian, not neccesarily just thinking it.

The fact that we don't get to see Roger's face to see his mouth move would make you guess it's a thought, but never in the series do we see Roger think to himself in the middle of a conversation with someone, he only seems to think to himself while driving alone in the Griffon.

So shouldn't Roxanne be the same way? Or did I just miss something somewhere...

He also narrates on the balcony on occassion. I had assumed - watching act 4 - that he and Dorothy were simply standing there in silence, thinking their own thoughts, and that the only conversation was the question, the answer, and so on. Plus the dubbers gave no indication the difference between 'thought' and dialogue' like they do in radio plays - I had to go by what I could see.

If this - narration vs. dialogue - turns out to be the largest clue in the entire series, then I'm going to be very upset.

Nice job, Lady T. I like how you're spinning this story out.

Pygmalion

Good job, Lady Tesser. Do More.

I should've said this days ago when I first read the portions of Act 4 you'd posted, but it's better late than never: Great job! Keep up the good work!

Kick my butt again, folks. I need one to finish it. I have everything written out except for the action in the battle between Big O and Archetype. I even have the dialogue down, but I have this huge block about writing the battle scenes - you know it's my writing weakness.

Anybody want to help out on this? I'll give you credit. Maybe even a batch of spice cookies.

*raises hand*

Oooooooo-ooo--ooooooooooo memememe!

I REALLY need to get to writing again, i have the season onecollection so i cant watch the fight and transcribe it, and since im getting a week off i can start.

please put the cookies i the bag or or....i just sit here and do nothing, dont think i wont do it, i might just be crazy enough!

Easy boy, battle scenes are my specialty!

(Provided I'm a allowed of course )

Hi everybody. I’ve only recently discovered Paradigm City and this forum. After spending a couple of days reading posts and fan fiction at random I decided to register if only to poke a few seemingly dead threads I found interesting to see if they twitch. But rather than put on my best Stewie Griffin voice and demand you all drop what your doing at once and entertain me, I thought I’d make a blundering contribution first. THEN I’ll demand the continuation of Reciprocal Paradigm! I’ll warn you- my favorite prose is purple and I tend to fire punctuation randomly onto a page. So here’s my unpolished interpretation of a forthcoming (?) scene in the Reciprocal Paradigm setting from the insane Archetype’s point of view, followed by more spluttering and groveling for the divine Lady Tesser to finish Act 4.
**************

It is Now Living


It once heard great buildings tumble; the groan of buckling steel; the thump of thousands of feet marching as one-- songs of battle. But now, even the memory of sound disappeared in the yawning decades of silence. It knew nothing but the quiet stillness of its forgotten grave in a location even it didn’t recall.

One night, or day (it always lost track of the passage of time) it slowly became conscious of a small creature creeping across its massive partially exposed frame. The creature seemed at once both terribly insignificant and fascinating. Its insignificance stemmed from its diminutive size and seeming uselessness. But it fascinated, even threatened, by its sudden inexplicable presence and the way that it had, in an instant, shattered the constant silence and peace.

“A megadeus was nothing special, Negotiator. I could possess power like that if I could only regain those memories…”

It cast about for recognition of the sounds it heard, a name for the creature, a memory, something to mute the noise and break the silence.

“…For some time it has been buried here. I have released the lock and for my trouble THIS is what’s become of me. A shame you didn’t end up the same way…”

At last! For once it searched and found what it had sought!

“What is that boy doing? An android! But why?”

Data flowed through its long neglected core in a suddenly familiar song of Babel that ended in a stifled cry. It needed more. She needed more. Somewhere before her the source fled. She would not let it.

“What happened? Why did it move? Why did it move!”

The little creature, a domina, fell screeching from her shoulder unregarded and in flames as she reached out, pleading for the source. It was drawn away by yet another domina, and it denied her with each echoing step.

“No! It cannot be! That thing is no friend of mine. I have no idea where it came from! It has no relationship to me that much I KNOW is true. It cannot be. That thing should not be allowed to exist anywhere!”

Enraged, she crashed through every flimsy obstacle placed between the uncooperative source and her. A maze of low white walls crumbled around her quarry as she cut off every exit. Her fragmented thoughts and absent purpose demanded an instant of clarity from the tiny machine brimming with information and disguised as a boy. Coldly and vehemently, he dismissed her repeatedly.

/stopwhoamiwhatamiwhatismytargetistheremoreofmegivemewhatyouknow/

/NO! GO AWAY!/

Just when he was nearly in her grasp, a giantess fell from above raining still more debris down into the chamber. For a moment, she looked at it curiously. It was whole and complete with weapons and memories and a domina and absolutely no use for the source that it had snatched up from the ruin.

/ isthismeisthiswhatishouldbeitdoesnotrequireyourinformationcomeoutgivemewhat
youknowgivemewhatyouare/

She lunged at the newcomer and it tossed her aside, but the weight of its armor slowed it. She didn’t have that problem, but consequentially, felt a momentary interruption of power flow from the impact. She picked herself up in time to receive a couple of blows to the chest. She crouched for a moment, recovering and waiting for the next punch to give her a window of opportunity. She sprang when the completed archetype moved to strike again. It pummeled the ground harmlessly.

There was a crackle of electricity as blue lightning arced toward her enemy. She had a hold of it and would not let go. When it tried to throw her off once more, both combatants tumbled. She recovered first and resolved that her enemy would not leave the ground again.

Grappling with the thickly armored thief, she found that if she peered into its chest she could see the tiny source crumpled in the dark. He was faltering, looping the same denial over and over with a signal like a whisper.

/No. No. No. No. No./

She knew now that there was a box inside her, too, where the source could be, finishing her broken thoughts and stating her purpose. No more quiet confusion. No more purposeless peace. No more waiting outside of time. She would go into the world above and do whatever it was she was meant to. All she had to do was crack open that chest and take what she needed.

Then a strange thing happened. The chest opened up, revealing more than an android full of memories. She was propelled backwards away from the coveted information. Then the explosions started as bit by bit she went offline.

Overhead there was a familiar sound of buildings crumbling and steel girders twisting. Somewhere, those that could fled the destruction. But down below Big Eurydice settled back into the quiet grave. More time would pass beyond her ken. She would forget her hard won data once more. She reached out with one last frantic seeking before the lights flashing across her unfinished face dimmed.

/IWANTTOLEARNWHATMUSTBEKNOWN/

************

Puh-lease continue this thread! Lady T, you've always got such great ideas and I can't wait to see what strange departures you & Foxhound have cooked up for the second season. RP has a lot of quirky potential, loads of great artwork that makes it a lot easier to imagine an estrogenated Big O, and (once upon a time) a lot of talented people overflowing with enthusiasm for the project. Sadly, I don't think there's been an act posted since last year. Can we get a crash cart in here to ressurect this thread?

I have the rest of Act 4 finished - it's just the battle scenes always trip me up (I've had to have help writing battle scenes) and I don't think it's fair to post the rest of it without the battles being done - it'd be like missing the climax of a story.

Admittedly, I think I did bite off more than I can chew on this project. I dearly love Roxanne and Dorian, and I will get back to RP now that my obsessive Harry Potter fanficking is dying down.

Would you mind terribly if I entwined what I wrote with the scene you just did? For this battle is what's holding me back.

Go right ahead. Concider it open source. Just glad ta see ya.

Hey, you ever notice how in this ep when Roger is wigging out on the floor underground the close up of his eyes kinda looks like Dorothy's? How Blade Runner.

Oh yeah, and *Stewie voice* "Victory is mine!"

* * *

Roxanne became aware of birdsong. The feel of a soft, warm breeze across her face. Sunlight dappling through leaves. The scent of flowers, grass -

She slit her eyes open, the sunlight slightly blinding her as she focused on the face above her. A young girl, redheaded, with vivid violet eyes and wearing a red dress.

"D-dora?" Roxanne murmured.

Her eyes snapped fully open, now seeing Dorian looking down at her.

"Dora?" he asked.

She realized her head was laying in his lap. She sat up in panic. "R. DORIAN!"

"Did you just say 'Dora'?" he asked.

"That's none of your business!" Roxanne snarled. "It's got nothing to do with you - what am I trying to say??" She fumbled for a chocolate in her suit. "What are you doing down here?"

Dorian offered her a chocolate and she snatched it out of his hand and popped it into her mouth, playing it across her tongue and letting the smooth flavor calm her.

"Looks like your physiological responses are returning to normal," Dorian observed as he got up and brushed his coat where her head had lay. He turned to gaze down the metal corridor, the iridescent pink light glimmering in beckoning.

They looked at each other, then began to make their way toward the light.

"Dorian," Roxanne said as she brushed strands of black hair back up into the french-twist. "I know you can't feel terror. Do you care to know what it's like?"

"I don't understand the emotions you people have," Dorian answered in an expressionless tone. "But even my mother never obtained the knowledge of how I operated; she could never understand how I think."

Roxanne stared at his serious profile, feeling a sting of pain for Dorian to have lost his 'mother' to an accident during a kidnapping. "Dr. Wayneright was the top person in android research."

"Mother was a 'craftsman'," Dorian corrected her.

"Well, then," Roxanne commented, her eyes drawing down his shoulders, the taper to his waist, and his long delicate fingers. "She was a very skilled craftsman."

"You do not need to stroke my ego, for I have none," Dorian informed her. "Mother did not have a complete understanding of the core technology. She only constructed me and put me together in the hopes of ... bringing back her dead son."

Her eyebrows raised in surprise at the underlying tone of both anger and pity the android boy had. "No matter what, no one on this planet could possible know everything. No one." Her brows lowered down over her brown eyes as she drifted back ot her ordeal. "But if there's something that frightens you, there are those who turn their eyes away, and there are those who try to see through the fear and conquer it."

Dorian felt a tremor of electrical energy, an elderitch force of consciousness coming to life.

Roxanne continued, not seeing his slight pause in step: "People aren't all the same. The truth is, R. Dorian, every one of us is a different being ... " She paused, not feeling his movement. "Dorian?"

"That sound," he remarked, staring ahead into the darkness at the end of the corridor.

They stared into the immense chamber before them. It was either round or oval, it was hard to tell because of the incredible size, with several passages leading off into other corridors like the one they had came through. The ceiling was at least five hundred feet from the ground, while the ground itself was littered with oddly sized rectangular cubes and boxes.

"What was this place?" Roxanne breathed.

Overhead, a tattered banner read 'Expo '04', yielding no light on what they were looking at. To their left, the skeleton of a giant robot lay crumpled amid a mountain of dirt.

"What is this?" she asked again, hoping the silence would somehow answer back. She located a ladder and both descended down to the floor of the cavern, their footsteps echoing all over the chamber.

Dorian felt another surge, this one of a computer mind, searing through his brain.

Roxanne continued to stare at the models - she was quite sure they were in the middle of a model - as she wandered along the ... streets.

After stepping through the maze of an expressway, she now recognized what this was - a 1:500 scale model of Paradigm City, or whatever it was called before the Event.

"I can't believe the size of this place," she murmured, popping a chocolate in her mouth. She allowed it to melt and swallowed it. "It's immeasurable."

"Nothing is ever immeasurable, Roxanne Smith," Dorian stated.

She stood twenty yards away from the giant robot, staring up into its face. And it struck her that this was not a normal robot - it was a skeleton. "It's a Megadeus!"

A woman's voice answered, "I'm amazed you made it this far. Most impressive for a Paradigm bitch-dog!"

Roxanne squinted, seeing the trenchcoat and bandaged form of Michelle Seebach standing on the shoulder of the Megadeus. "Michelle Seebach? No - Schwarzwald! What are you doing here??"

Dorian felt the presence enter his mind, screaming through his circuits and programs, just as Roxanne watched the large Megadeus begin start-up program with flickering warm-up lights.

"Is that Big O's archetype?" Roxanne goggled aloud.

"Forty years ago," Schwarzwald practically sang in a fevored voice. "Something Happened - and we all lost our memories! We even forgot the untold power we once possessed!"

"You call this power?" Roxanne asked with disdain, indicating the skeleton.

"A Megadeus was nothing 'special', Negotiator," Schwarzwald explained, her bandaged hands waving frantically. "*I* could possess power like that if only I could regain those memories." She leaned against the face of the Archetype, caressing it gently as she closed her horrifying eyes in bliss. "Ohhh ... the power I would have ... !"

"Is it still operational?" Roxanne called.

"For some time it's been buried here," Schwarzwald pressed on her rant. "I've released the lock! And for my trouble, THIS is what became of me!" She raised her bandaged hands. "It's a shame now - isn't it? - that you didn't end up the same way, you pampered pretty little girl." She stood upright and leered ominously.

Roxanne now noticed a long wrap of bandage slipped from the sleeve of Schwarzwald's trenchcoat, gasoline-soaked and spilling at her own stiletto-heeled feet.

Schwarzwald cackled, raising up a lighter and striking it, the flame dancing upward.

From behind Roxanne, Dorian walked right up to the Megadeus, his black concentric eyes transfixed to the dead eyes of Archetype.

"DORIAN!" Roxanne cried.

His voice muttered and poured out strings of code and programs, his lips fluttering over the sounds no human could understand.

"What is that boy doing??" Schwarzwald demanded.

Roxanne attempted to grab for him, but he walked away from her gloved hands, his face upraised to the skeletal Megadeus and his unhuman voice becoming louder.

"AN ANDROID?!" Schwarzwald cried.

"DORIAN - NO!" Roxanne yelled.

Archetype began to stand.

"No!" Schwarzwald moaned, being jostled by the Megadeus. "But why??"

Dorian's lips flew through the sounds, his chin practically quivering from the movement -

Archetype awoke -

And Dorian, realizing what he had done, screamed.

Roxanne made a lunge for Dorian, grabbing his solid body in her arms and using her own weight as momentum to roll away from the crashing Megadeus.

"What happened?" Schwarzwald demanded, her voice reaching a higher pitch of panic as she lost her footing. "Why did it move?! WHY DID IT MOVE??"

Archetype crashed forward, making her lose the grip on the lighter which plummeted straight into the gasoline-soaked bandages - which was followed by her own body.

Roxanne barely looked up in time to see the burning Schwarzwald rise up from the flames, her body engulfed in fire as she screamed. Roxanne turned over, Dorian's head in her lap, as the android stared up at the Megadeus. "What's wrong, Dorian?"

"It is now living," he stated quietly. "It has access to my information."

Archetype stood up, the body swerving and trying to stack itself upright. It looked around, then brought its attention on Roxanne and Dorian.

Dorian gasped, feeling a spike of fear in the center of his being.

Roxanne raised her watch to her face. "Big O - it's Showtime!"

She pulled Dorian up amid the rubble around them; he grasped her shoulders, trying to steady himself. "It looks like it's after you, Dorian."

Both broke into a run.

"Norma!" Roxanne cried into her watch, not liking the feel of Megadeus breath on her back. "How much longer?!"

Back at the mansion, Norma looked in on the roast cooking in the oven. "It won't be long now, ma'am," she spoke politely into the phone. "It's almost ready."

Roxanne barely managed to keep up with Dorian as both tried to lose Archetype amid the maze of 'streets'. Its face appeared over their heads, chasing them from above.

"No, it cannot be!" Dorian cried, his voice tinged with panic. "That thing is no friend of mine - I have no idea where it came from! It has no relationship to me, that much I KNOW is true!" He ignored the tendrils of its presence trying to snake into his mind. "It can't be! THAT THING SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO EXIST ANYWHERE!"

They ran around a corner - to find a bloackage of rubble. Roxanne turned around, feeling Dorian press against her back for protection.

The hand of Archetype reached down -

And Big O erupted through the floor, sending the skeleton Megadeus spinning arse-over-teakettle across the chamber.

Roxanne climbed in Big O's cockpit, followed closely by Dorian.

The remains of Schwarzwald stared in awe from her diasaster area. "Megadeus," she maoned softly, drinking in the feminine lines and ornate armor of the black and purple Megadeus. "So - SHE is - "

In Big O's cockpit, Roxanne crossed her arms, allowing the control panel to fall into place around her. The main monitor rose up out of the floor and the words flashed across the screen:

'CAST IN THE NAME OF GOD - YE NOT GUILTY'

Roxanne gripped the controls.

"No," Dorian whimpered from the corner of the cockpit, his body curled up in a fetal knot. "It can't be. No."

"Dorian - remember - you don't need to feel fear," Roxanne stated.

Norma's voice came from the comm: 'Mistress Roxanne.'

Roxanne switched on the visual. Norma held a pan of roast, looking most apologetic. 'I'm terribly sorry to keep you waiting, Ma'am.'

"It's okay, Norma. I just never thought I'd need to go below the subway." Dorian glanced up to see Norma looking slightly confused as Roxanne popped a chocolate in her mouth, swallowed it, and proclaimed, "This ghost is going down!"

The Archetype lunged at Big O and she tossed it aside, slamming the skeleton into one of the chamber's walls. The incomplete Megadeus picked itself up in time to receive a couple of blows to the chest.

"I don't know who you are," Roxanne intimated severely. "And I don't know how you came here or better yet why - but you're no 'god', that's for sure!"

Archetype crouched down on all fours, surveying the completed Megadeus. It sprang when Big O moved to strike again. Big O pummeled the ground and Roxanne was surprised to find it attached to the back of Big O.

"It's even more powerful than the Megadeus!" Schwarzwald marveled.

Roxanne pulled back on the control levers and Big O reached back, gripping the Archetype and tearing it from her Big's body. The result was a tumbling of Megadei crashing to the ground in a heap of metal and electrical shockwaves.

Archetype leapt up, landing on Big O's chest and face, its own face staring deep into the cockpit, electricity shocking through the mouth cavity.

Big O's monitors turned static as schematics of the naked Megadeus flickered amid robotic code translated to human language -

/itdoesnotrequireyourinformationcomeoutgivemewhatyouknowgivemewhatyouare/

Roxanne felt a spike of fear in her stomach now. She recognized what it was doing - it was desperate, it wanted Dorian. It wanted whatever was inside Dorian. It wanted to mind-rape him, the highest form of android violation that could be performed.

"No ... " Dorian moaned, his voice muffled in the corner. "No ... "

"Dorian - take a good look!" Roxanne ordered, straining against the controls as she maneuvered Big O's hands. "That thing's a monster that has nothing to do with you!"

He forced himself to look back into the blinking lights of its eyes, the hunger for information and completed sentience staring back at him.

She flipped her hand around the controls, slamming her fist into a panel. "Big O - I tell you, he's no friend of yours either, girl, so DON'T HOLD BACK!"

The missle banks opened up in Big O's ribcage. Archetype looked down at them in curiosity just before they fired off and pushed it upward to the ceiling and through the concrete above, exploding in an array of shrapnel and several layers of tunnels before breaking the surface of the street above.

* * *

In a lush, executive office, Alexia Rosewater watched the by-play on a monitor. "She seems to be an excellent negotiator now, doesn't she?" She leaned back and tented her fingers, her craggy face in a smirk.

* * *

Roxanne stood on the balcony of her mansion, her grubby black robe tied tightly around her waist. Dorian stood on a nearby parapet, his black coat swinging around his gray trouser-legs. The breezes also whipped his auburn locks around, caressing his cool, pale face, which was illuminated only by the dome.

"Aren't you cold?" Roxanne asked conversationally.

Dorian turned to face her, his expression unreadable.

"I was just asking, you know, out of curiosity is all."

"Even I can discern temperature," Dorian stated matter-of-factly. "Mere function." He tipped himself backward, gazing at her, standing on one leg until he was bent all the way back and his hair nearly touched the stone of the parapet. He suddenly flipped backwards, landing delicately on an 'altar stone' some twenty feet behind him.

Roxanne sighed, turning to look back out over the domes as she placed a chocolate in her mouth. She was started when his arms rounded her waist and he gently hugged her from behind as he whispered, "Thank you." into her mass of unruly black hair. Then he was gone.

"That is one complicated android," she murmured to herself.

* * *

Das Mädel, das alles wissen mochte
Das Mädel, das nichts weiß

Wenn du groß bist, verstehst du, sagt die Mutter

Das Mädel, das alles sofort wissen mochte

Tief im Schwarzwald, der Großvater, der alles weiß

Um den Großvater zu suchen, tief im Schwarzwald

Aber er kann den Großvater nicht finden, das Mädel.

Immer weiter, immer weiter sucht sie, als ...

* * *

Shot of ring-dial phone on desk, snowglobes in the background. The phone rings ... once ... twice ...
Roxanne's gloved hand reaches over and picks up the receiver, the cord dangling.
A woman's voice - abused from years of whiskey drinking and cigarette smoking - says:

"What episode next, guys? Bring Back My Ghost or Legacy of Amadeus?"

Tough call. Although you needen't alter the name Bonnie fraiser. Just the sex of the character.

Hmmm. As they stand, I prefer Legacy of Amadeus. But I suppose they both have their merits. If you feel like doing some Roxanne character building and maybe explore her MP background Bring Back My Ghost is the way to go. If you're in more of a Dorian mood, and you think it's about time the voices in HIS head formed a blues ensemble or something...do Legacy. Either way, I'm iching to read Legacy just to see how it diverges from the source material. I'm also anxious to see more of Beth, who for some reason I like more than Beck. But that will have to wait. BTW act 4 was nicely wrapped and I am positivley twitchy with joy, which is quite a feat after the day I've had. Thank you so much!

Hmm, I think it would be amusing if you did change Bonnie's name to "Bobbie". "Bonnie" always struck me as girly for a guy and "Bobbie" is kinda masculine for a lady. Don't tell my Aunt Bobra I said that.

I dunno, I feel you should go with Bring Back My Ghost

I took the liberty of putting in the special characters needed for this song and corrected the gender of the subject ("Mädel" is neuter and so takes "das"):

Das Mädel, das alles wissen mochte
Das Mädel, das nichts weiß

Wenn du groß bist, verstehst du, sagt die Mutter

Das Mädel, das alles sofort wissen mochte

Tief im Schwarzwald, der Großvater, der alles weiß

Um den Großvater zu suchen, tief im Schwarzwald

Aber er kann den Großvater nicht finden, das Mädel.

Immer weiter, immer weiter sucht sie, als ...

Feel free to cut and paste!

Pygmalion

Thanks, auntie Pygmalion. As is obvious, my foreign language skills reek like rotten eggs.

I'm thinking of going into 'Legacy of Amadeus'. If anyone wants to write a filler scene or story or episode while I work on it, they're welcomed to.

Finally, Act 4 has been completed!

Well..Personally, I think you should just follow the normal episode line, so I'm guessing Bring Back My Ghost should be the next one.

I like how there was more detail than what isn't normally seen in the show, though it was a little freaky...android mind rape... Sounds more like something from A.C.T.'s episodes, w/Big B and Alan and Dori.

Still, it's great to see this again. We want Bonie Frasier! Bonie actually can sound like a girl's name on it's own, so no change needed there...