Hope I will write peace on your wings And you will fly all over the world "Shumira, please, you must eat something" The white haired girl simply sat at the table, sadly looking at the untouched food in front of her. "Shumira no hungry," replied the girl in a monotonous voice. "Shumira go to bed now, ne?" Ido let out a loud sigh and gave her a weary nod. The girl slowly rose from the table and headed towards her room. It was Ido who now sadly contemplated the plate in front of him. A couple of weeks had passed and Shumira still couldn't get over her brother's death. Not that he could blame her. Jashugan had meant everything to her, and in spite of his efforts to comfort her, Shumira's melancholy only worsened. She hardly ate at all, and was dangerously close to anemia. Ido had hoped things would improve by letting Shumira remain at his repair shop while Gally stayed over at New Kansas. Although Shumira did not express hostility towards anybody, he knew she avoided being around her brother's final opponent. Gally also felt bad for the girl, but she didn't seem to empathize very well with Shumira's feelings. She knew Jashugan had fulfilled his destiny, facing death as champion of the Motorball circuit. He heard the phone ringing in his lab. He slowly got up, wondering who could be calling at this time of the night, and was surprised to see the anxious face of the New Kansas bartender in the small videoscreen. "Doc, it's Gally. You've got to come quick!" "What's wrong?" Ido asked, already worried. "I don't know. She's not well. I think she fainted. Please hur..." Before the man could finish speaking, Ido grabbed the bag in which he kept his basic medical kit and dashed through the exit. He didn't notice the white haired girl peeking at him from behind the door of her room. --- The little girl lay on the bed, immobile. She seemed to be sleeping, her calm features undisturbed. She was not breathing. As Ido carefully began to examine the girl, the bartender continued his account, nervously clutching his hands. "She had been complaining about a headache yesterday, but when I told her to go and see you she said it was nothing. She went to bed early last night, and woke up late, which is something she never does. And she *still* looked tired. I was going to call you myself, but you know how Gally-chan is. She said I was just being silly, and I really don't know much about cyborgs. She *looked* O.K., but she was drowsy all day, and didn't eat at all. I told her to skip tonight's show but she's so... so *stubborn* sometimes. After her performance she just went to her room and tossed herself on the bed. I couldn't wake her up, Doc. I can't even tell if she has a fever. I should've have called you before, it's just that..." "Don't worry, it's not your fault," interrupted Ido. "I've overridden her internal life support system. The exogenous controller should keep her condition stable until I've gotten her back to my workshop. There's not much more I can do here." "She'll be O.K., won't she Doc?" Ido didn't respond. He gently lifted the little girl's lifeless body, which was almost as heavy as he was, into his arms, and carried her out of the room. --- Ido carefully analyzed the computer's screen. The various diagnostics indicated nothing wrong with Gally's artificial systems. It had to be the organics. That was what he feared most. A couple of hours later his worst suspicions were confirmed. Encephalitis. He knew this was his fault. His shop did not really offer the highly sterilized environment required to perform complete CNS transfers. It seems he had tempted fate once too often. He had to hurry. The disease was frighteningly swift, and could cause permanent brain damage and even death within a day or two, particularly to a cyborg which lacked a proper immune system. An analysis of the artificial CSF in her skull revealed in was a viral infection. He would have to synthesize the special antibiotic serum himself. He looked at the little girl at his side, her expression a serene mask which gave no indication whatsoever of her desperate struggle to live. --- Shumira couldn't sleep. She merely kept staring at the ceiling, crying. She didn't sob, or make any sound at all. She would just fix her gaze on a crack and tears would quickly fill her eyes. Even though she was with Ido, she simply felt very sad and lonely. She didn't like to feel that way, but she couldn't help it. That was how she felt. A noise suddenly made her sit up. It was the sound of breaking glass. She got out of the bed and tip-toed outside the room. She saw light coming out of Daisuke's lab, and furtively peeked inside. Ido was sitting next to Gally in front of a large table covered with beakers and weird looking tubes with strange shapes. On the floor besides him she saw the shattered remains of a test tube semisubmerged in a slightly whitish solution. Ido had buried his head in his arms, right next to the microscope in front of him. He wearily lifted himself, and Shumira was surprised to see how tired he looked. He slowly got up and turned on the centrifuge which stood on the table behind him. He glanced towards the entrance of the lab, perhaps feeling a gaze upon him, but there was no one there, as Shumira had quietly begun to head back to her room. --- The white haired girl gently closed the door behind her. For a moment she forgot her sadness, thinking instead of how worried and tired Ido had looked. She also thought about Gally. He was really fond of her. "She's like my daughter" he had told her once. Shumira sadly frowned. She didn't remember what her own father looked like, or even her mother. She didn't even know who they had been. Her Onii-chan never said much about them, and she had never asked. Suddenly she felt her eyes fill with tears again, and she slowly headed back towards the bed. Before lying down, however, she glanced at the small night table besides it. It had a single drawer which she had never bothered to open. The room she was living in had belonged to Gally, and she wasn't particularly interested in looking through her possessions. But for some reason she suddenly felt curious, and cautiously opened the small drawer. Inside it she found a stack of writing paper and a pen. She also saw a small holocard. She slowly took it out and turned it on. The image showed Daisuke and Gally standing next to each other in front of the the entrance of his repair shop. He had his arm around her shoulders, and she looked very tiny and fragile standing next to him. It reminded her of how she looked when she was next to her Onii-chan. She remembered Ido's expression in the lab. So worried and tired. She grabbed one of the sheets of paper, and, for no particular reason, folded it in half. A vague memory suddenly stirred in her mind. She opened the piece of paper and folded it in two again, so that the creases crossed perpendicularly. She began to remember something her Onii-chan had told her about her Haha long ago, when she was little. But the folds were not quite right. No, not the folds. The paper. She folded the sheet again, this time diagonally, and cut out the extra piece so that the remaining leaf was square, and repeated the folding, this time making another diagonal crease. Shumira kept experimenting, folding and unfolding the sheet in various ways, trying to remember what her brother had taught her. After a few minutes she finally managed to get the wings right. She carefully made the last two folds which formed the head. She placed the small paper crane on the night table, and for the first time in weeks, her lips formed a small smile. Even though it was all wrinkled and a bit torn, it looked pretty. She grabbed another piece of paper and began the process again, this time with greater speed and confidence. She made only one mistake before completing the small bird. She took a third piece of paper, and quickly began to fold it. --- Ido had spent almost twelve hours trying to formulate the appropriate medicine. He had finally managed to produce an antitoxin which would hopefully eliminate the infection, but nothing was certain. Even if it worked, it might have yet been too late, as the EEG readings were extremely erratic. He inoculated the serum into the girl. He had no idea of the dosage required or how to proceed with the treatment. He would have to monitor her closely to see how she responded to this first injection, and, if all went well, follow-up with two or three further shots. He sat besides the little girl, and gently stroked her hair, quietly whispering something into her ear. --- Shumira kept folding the little birds. One after the other, and soon there was a rather big pile on the bed, but she was running out of paper, and she knew she had to make as many cranes as possible, more than she could count. After folding the last sheet she stepped out the bedroom and headed towards Daisuke's room. Sure enough, she found another stack of writing paper next to his bed, even larger than the one she had just completed. She also saw two pictures on the little table, one besides the other. She studied them for a few moments before hurriedly returning to her room. --- Gally did not seem to be responding to the treatment. Temperature, CSF pressure and EEG readings had not improved in the last seven hours. Was the serum ineffective? Or was the dose too low? The EEG suddenly went wild, violent peaks flashing across the display. Ido had disconnected all of the girl's servomotor interfaces, and she remained immobile, but he knew she had begun to go into convulsions. He took a second syringe and and proceeded to give her a second, stronger injection. --- Shumira had made a lot of birds. So many she couldn't even count them. But she kept going, nimbly handling and folding the little pieces of paper. She remembered now what her Onii-chan had told her, and how he had learned to make the cranes from their Haha, and without realizing it the sorrow in her heart waned, and she knew she would make her Onii-chan proud of her. She had almost used up the second stack of papers. Her fingers hurt, and she had cut herself a few times with the sharp edges of the leafs, but she didn't care. Without pausing, she began to fold another bird. Three hours later she grabbed the last sheet of paper. --- Gally slowly opened her eyes and saw Daisuke looking back at her, his bloodshot eyes framed by his pale and weary features. "Are you O.K.?" she asked, worriedly. Ido cracked a smile. "Am *I* O.K.?" he said, quietly laughing. Gally smiled back at him, but soon dozed away, sleeping peacefully at last. Ido bent over and gave her a peck on the forehead before quietly leaving the laboratory. --- As he headed towards his bedroom he passed in front of Shumira's room. He stopped for a moment at the entrance, not quite certain of what he was seeing. Shumira lay on the bed, sleeping, lightly snoring. Around her dozens and dozens of paper cranes were scattered on the mattress and on the floor. He went into the room, carefully avoiding stepping on the figures. He cleared the bed of the little birds and tucked Shumira under the sheets. He stroked her long white hairs a couple of times, and gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. "Thank you, Shumira," he whispered, as he turned off the lights, and left the room. --- The white haired quickly walked through the maze of junk and debris which covered the scrapyard. The bag she carried on her back was rather large, but it didn't seem to take her much effort. In spite of the apparent chaos, she knew how to move through the corridors flanked by the enormous piles of torn metal. Soon she reached a small clearing surrounded by mountains of abandoned cars and other mechanical parts. It had been an odd request, but Shumira knew it was what her Onii-chan would have wanted. It was, in a way, fitting. She walked towards the centre on the clearing. The inscription on the headstone read simply three words: Jashugan Motorball Champion The girl gently placed the paper birds over the grave. Although tears fell down her cheeks, she smiled as she stood up and saw the flock of little cranes covering the mound. She remained silent for a few moments before turning around and heading back home. A gust of wind swept the grave, and the cranes fluttered in the air, flying higher and higher towards the skies, until they disappeared into the heavens. For Sadako Sasaki _________________________________ marco@chinook.physics.utoronto.ca Gunnm: Broken Angel http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html