Gall Force:  The Day After
By Fred Herriot
450 Clare Avenue South, Welland, Ontario L3C 3B3 Canada
gorgo@net.co.kr
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Based on the "Gall Force" series created by MOVIC.
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NOTE:  This is a fan-fiction story written by a "Gall Force" fan for the
enjoyment of both other "Gall Force" fans and anime fans in general.  It is
not intended to act as a part of the official "Gall Force" continuity, nor
is it intented to infringe on the rights of all legal copyright holders,
including CBS-Sony Group, MOVIC and US Manga Corps/Central Park Media.
Permission to re-transmit this story through the Internet; to file this
story in Usenet ftp and other archives; and to print this story for
distribution in fan fiction magazines and APAs granted.  Full creative
credit is appreciated, though.

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EPILOGUE - AND THE ETERNAL STORY GOES ON...

The week after the final battle between Solnoid and Paranoid...

 The Gall Force returned to Nova Scotia after a night of celebration on
Tahiti.  The United Nations were quick to foot for things like hotel bills
and food, which was good since many of the Terrans forgot to bring money
with them.  Fortunately, the natives who spotted the Solnoid equipment left
helter-skelter on the beach believed that it was a Hollywood movie
production having come to town.  With their presence accepted with stride,
the Solnoids and Terrans finally began to unwind, daring to believe that
after so long, the bitter war between the two races is finally over.  And
what better way to personify that peace than the relationship forming
(reforming?) between Born and Patty.

 After they set foot on Canadian soil again, both Cattys proceed to New York
to meet with their mother.  The sad news is relayed from everywhere else:
all the other Catty androids were struck with the computer virus the rebels
in Polynesia transmitted as a precursor to their attempted takeover of
Earth.  However, with their neuroprocessors intact, hope is there that
somehow, they could be allowed to live again.  Denise remains in Canada,
praying that somehow, the woman she fell in love with will come back to her
safe and sound.

    *    *    *

 A week later finds Denise Schultz in New York.  Escorted by Len to the
front entrance of the United Nations central building, they are met by a
beautiful middle-aged woman with lavender hair and gold eyes dressed in a
stylish power suit.  "You must be Denise," she walks up, grapsing the
Canadian's hand.  "I'm Catty Nebulart."

 Denise blinks, staring at the Solnoid leader.  "Wow!  I can see where your
daughters got their good looks from!" is the first thing that comes out of
her mouth.

 Nebulart flushes as she guides Denise into the famous tower behind her.
"Come.  Catharine's this way."

 Denise blinks, then remembers that her Catty had taken the Terran name
"Catharine."  "It'll be strange to call her 'Cathy' instead of 'Catty.'"

 "Well, the Catty from the first 'Starleaf' insisted on taking the name
'Catty Nebulart II,'" the Solnoid leader explains.  "I have no real problem
with that.  They are all my children.  To have one acknowledge that even now
makes me happy."

 "How's Catty doing?" Len inquires.  "She took her boyfriend's death real
hard, you know."

 "She's fine," Nebulart's eyes are hooded as she thinks about the pain her
daughter is presently experiencing.  "There is some sort of consolidation
from this.  When she was a disembodied android mind and Dawn still a
Paranoid, they cyberlinked frequently, sharing their thoughts and dreams.
In a sense, a part of Dawn will always live on in Catty."

 "Thank heaven for that," Denise sighs.  "If I lost my Catty, I'd kill myself."

 Nebulart smiles at her as they come to a door.  "Then you're in for quite a
treat, Denise."  Opening the door, she ushers Denise in.  "Wait here.  I'll
get her."

 Len and Denise walks into a small meeting room.  Turning on the lights, the
waitress turns...to see a human figure encapsuled in a storage chamber in
one corner.  Horror crosses her face as the person in there becomes quite
familiar.  "Catty!!!"

 Now standing alone, her eyes closed, the last Catty android remains deathly
still as Denise walks up to her.  She is dressed in a simple white jumpsuit.
Looking for some way to punch through the glass, Denise finds a door handle.
Opening the chamber, she reaches out to Catty's face.  Horror crosses
Denise's face as she feels the skin.  Room tempterature.  "No...oh, no!!"
Denise backs away, tears in her eyes.  "Catty, Catty, how could they do that
to you...?!"

 "I'm right here, Denise," a voice calls out from behind her.

 Denise spins around to see Catty standing there, a light smile on her face.
Like the deactivated android, she is dressed in a white jumpsuit.
"Catty...?" Denise takes a hesitant step back.

 Catty reaches over to graps her hand.  "I suggest that you get used to the
idea of calling me 'Cathy,' at least in public."

 Denise looks at the hand.  She feels the heartbeat in the wrist, watches
the skin change colour as Catty put pressure on her hand.  But there was not
the unyielding strength she exhibited as an android.  What was going on
here?  In answer, Catty smiles.  "I decided I no longer wanted to live as an
android.  Fortunately, Commander Dawn brought a solution with him when he
came to Earth.  It was intent just for his Catty, but we saw no harm in
using it for ourselves."

 Denise blinks as she takes in that information.  "You mean to say...you're
human?!  Fully organic?!"

 "Yes," Catty/Cathy nods.  "Like you, I now have the ability to procreate,
to give birth to children.  Also like you, I will age...and eventually die."

 "Doesn't that scare you?!"

 "It does, a bit," the Solnoid draws the Terran into her arms.  "But as long
as my life has you in it, I believe there will be no problems."

 Denise wanted to laugh, to cry, to jump for joy.  All that utters from her
breath is, "Catty, I love you!"

 They kiss...

    *    *    *

 "Well, nice to see you two back together again," Nebulart comments as Len,
Catty and Denise join the other living physical double of the Solnoid leader
in her office later.

 "Thanks, Captain," Denise nods, staring at the woman beside her.  Given the
presence of the other Catty, she might as well start calling her lover
"Cathy."  It would take just a while to get used to; both names were quite
phonetically similar.  "Oh, what about the others?!"

 "They are now human as we speak," Nebulart relaxes.  "All of them had taken
the prior precaution of shielding their minds from computer viruses when
they started to introduce themselves to the Internet.  It did not protect
their bodies when the rebels unleashed their virus, but their minds were
whole and intact when their sentiences were transferred to pure-organic
bodies.  For many, it was a good thing.  Some are married, many others have
boyfriends and the occasional girlfriend.  They want to have children, too."

 "Have you ever considered marriage yourself, Captain?" Len softly inquires.

 The Solnoid shrugs.  "I've been quite busy aiding my people in their
resettling on Earth to consider seeking a mate of my own, Leonard.  But, if
the chance and the right sort of person do come, I will be more than happy
to consider it."

 "I hope you do soon, Mother," Catty looks at her.  "Unlike male Terrans,
female Terrans have a fixed time by which they could bear children."

 The Solnoid leader reaches over to cup Catty's chin.  "And why should I
have children, precious, when I've already got them?"

 "Oh, Mother," the younger Solnoid is on the verge of tears.

 Nebulart smiles, then turns back to Cathy.  "Now, the reason I called you
here today, Cathy, is that I believe the time has come for me to consider a
possible successor as the leader of the Chaos Foundation.  I could not
consider anyone else more worthy than both yourself and Catty."

 The sisters gasp disbelievingly at their mother's words.  "Why, I...Mother,
this is so sudden," Cathy shudders.

 "I have to echo Cathy's statement," Catty adds.  "Why us?!"

 "Because the recent incident has proven to me that there are many among us
who are dissatsfied with my position as their provisional Leader," Nebulart
responds.  "Perhaps it is time for a fresh perspective as we continue to
integrate ourselves in Terran society."

 Catty and Cathy look at each other.  "Mother, I am more than honoured that
you would consider us to replace you," the former pats her heart, "...but
could you grant us a while for us to consider our own place?  I am still in
mourning," she nudges the black armband around one arm, "...and I'm sure
Cathy has to spend some time with her lover so they could get used to the
fact that both are now human and could enjoy an emotionally satisfying life
together."

 "Yes, that is true," Cathy nods.

 "I understand," their mother nods.  "Take your time.  But do consider it.
I realize some may look upon you as mere copies of myself, but I trust you
above anyone else, Solnoid or Terran.  I could not think of the Chaos
Foundation being left in better hands than either of yours."

 Catty and Cathy look at each other.  Like it or not, their mother knew them
quite well.  They were hooked.  What better chance to finally complete their
work on the Species Unification Project than to help their fellow Solnoids
adopt themselves to Terran society.  But this bait was quite barbed.  "We'll
keep in touch, Mother," Cathy leans over to kiss her mother's cheek.

    *    *    *

 "Mother is stupid!!" Barbara Scott exclaims as she meets with a group of
ex-Catty androids in a downtown New York restaurant later that day.  "To
actually consider one of us to succeed her?!  Anyone still with hostile
intentions would consider us no better than she!"

 The other women at the table nod.  All of them save for Catty and Cathy had
seriously altered their looks as androids, and had chosen to maintain them
when they became human.  However, the only deference to their mother were
the eyes, which remain bright gold.  The only people without gold eyes are
native Terrans, such as Denise and Len, who came to join the meeting.
"Maybe it's time for the Chaos Foundation to go the way of Chaos itself,"
Denise muses.

 "To disband the organization?" Josephine Valmont, a Catty from Paris,
stares at the waitress.  "Is it still too soon?"

 "I think it is," Diana Faulkner, from Liverpool, nods.  "But, I dare say
some would believe that ridding ourselves of the Foundation would force
those still with anti-Terran feelings to reconsider."

 "To grow up, finally," Lisa Tanner sips her cola.

 "Exactly," Diana nods.

 "But is that enough, Diana?" Mieko Suzuki, from Tokyo, interrupts.  "I
cannot help but think of the Greek legend of Pandora and her box.  Our
coming to Earth is very much like Pandora's box being opened.  Now that our
people are here, our knowledge will become a part of Terran life.  Without
the Foundation, there will be no control for ambitious Solnoid...or Terrans,
not to mince words...to cause all sorts of trouble."

 Several other women nod reality at Mieko's warning.  "And what happens when
we grow old and die?" Chelsea Waller, Nebulart's personal assistant at the
United Nations, adds.  "Dreams, ideas and beliefs are information, just like
hard facts.  They will be transmitted from the current generation to future
generation.  Can we train our own offspring to carry on our task?"

 "Do we have the right to do that?" Lisa adds.

 Cathy sits back.  They had come to a crossroads.  Becoming human was a
dream all her sisters had shared.  Now that they were human, they confronted
the fact that they may not be able to properly fulfill their responsibility
to the Species Unification Project, just by the most basic of problems
confronting humans:  aging.  "No, we do not," she shakes her head.  "I for
one want to put my past life behind me, live with the woman I love and enjoy
a life where I don't have to worry about slaving myself to the Species
Unification Project.  I believe that we must trust our basic nature.
Terrans, while they do have evil people among them, are basically good in
nature...and by our living with them, their good nature will eventually
disseminate to all the Solnoids presently alive, not to mention their
descendants."

 "No one can place perfect trust in an organic institution, sister," Catty
objects.  "Chelsea has a point."

 "So what could we do?" Lisa sighs.

 Silence falls over the table as the once-androids contemplate the problem
before them.  Cathy looks at her hands.  Human hands, with blood and
adrenaline coursing through them.  Cells living and dying, the cycle of life
and death replaying itself within her as it did all over Earth.  The Eternal
Story, her mother had called it.  Life to death, death to new life.  How
could they give Earth an agent who can elevate herself above that basic fact
of existence?  To form a cult of watchers was dangerous.  Like cults and
religions all over Earth, there would come those fanatics who would twist
the basic beliefs their group espoused for their own ends.  That was no
solution.

 Denise leans over to whisper in her ear.  "Your old body."

 Cathy blinks.  Of course!  It was the most elegant solution of all.  She
knew what an android was capable of doing, more so what an android built of
Solnoid technology could endure.  She was just one...and unlike her sisters'
old bodies, it was still in very good shape.  She looks to Catty.  Her
sister nods, having overheard Denise's suggestion.  Cathy faces the others.
"I believe there is a possible solution to our problem," she announces.

 The others stare quizzically at her...

    *    *    *

 "That was brilliant," Cathy giggles as she and Denise make their way to the
jet which would take them back to Halifax.  "I can't believe the others went
along with it!"

 "Thank you very much," Denise kisses her girlfriend's cheek.  "At least,
you know that she'll always do the work."

 The two make their way to their seats, then relax.  Watching the jet taxi
its way towards the take-off point, the once-android stares at the distant
skyline of New York City.  "One day, this will be the capital of a unified
Earth," she muses.

 "Give us a while before we think of that, Catty," the waitress leans
against her.  "Oh, finally, we can go back to some peace and quiet."

 "How about marriage?"

 Denise nearly falls on her face.  "What did you just say?!" she stares
incredulously at Cathy.

 The lavender-haired woman reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small
case.  Inside are two engagement rings.  "Denise, will you marry me?" Cathy
proposes as she slips one of the rings on her lover's finger.

 Denise stares at her.  "I'd marry you in an instant, but I have to remind
you that there are few places on Earth which recognize same-sex marriages."

 "Canada is one of them, remember?" Cathy smiles.  "And one of my sisters is
linked with a group of Sensualists who took over one of your splinter
Christian evangelical movements and transformed it into a place where all
religions, all beliefs are welcome.  They do same-sex weddings, too."

 Denise looks down.  She wanted to live the rest of her life with this
wonderful woman beside her, so what was wrong with her?  "I do," she huskily
sighs, leaning over to kiss her lover.

 "Save the 'I dos' for when we get there," Cathy growls.

 Both women laugh as the jet takes off...

    *    *    *

 Catty's eyes open.

 The android does an immediate self-diagnostic as air fills her lungs.  All
systems come on line, returning nominal readings.  She slides her hands up
and down her body.  Stepping out of the programming chamber, she notices
that clothing and identification have been prepared.  Catty smiles as she
begins to dress.

 It would be strange being alone.  All the Catty androids who survived Sigma
Narse had placed a little of their own minds in her, the parts of their
minds which remembered their lives as observers for the Species Unification
Project.  Now, they had become mortal, willing to live their lives to their
conclusion, whatever Fate had in store for them.  She would outlive the last
pure-born Solnoids to have migrated to Earth.  But did that really matter now?

 Ahead of her was an unending road.  Pandora's Box, the part of her which
had come from Mieko Suzuki warned, was open.  The technology and the
knowledge to make it possible was unleashed.  Those who would end the
Eternal Story in a flash of death and destruction were out there.  Perhaps
not born or created at the present time, but they would always be there
until the day humanity accepted as faith the fact that war, that killing,
that hatred itself was not the final solution to settle disputes, to resolve
differences.  Until that day came, Catty had a mission to fulfill.  Humanity
had come a long way.  It still had a long way to go.

 Finally preparing herself, Catty opens the small wallet.  Her
identification declared her to be Catty Ray Caraway, an independent
journalist.  Press credentials and an American passport are also there,
along with a list of contact numbers for Chaos Foundation offices around the
world.  Noting the cheques and monetary notes, she walks out of the offices
of the United Nations, proceeding on her eternal journey...to write her own
Eternal Story.  Crossing the plaza, the android stops, then looks back up to
one office.  Watching her go is Catty Nebulart.  Catty sighs, tears flowing
down her cheeks, as she waves good-bye.  Her mother, also crying, calls out
to her.  While the noise does not penetrate the windows, the message is clear.

 I love you.

 Turning around, Catty walks to the curb, hailing a taxi.  A cab comes up.
The driver is Pakistani, his tongue one of many languages in Catty's
communications subroutine.  "Good afternoon," she smiles, sitting down in
the back seat.

 Surprised that this pale-skinned woman with the curiously shaded hair could
speak his language intimately, the driver turns his hack onto the street.
"Where to, miss?"

 "Where?" Catty sighs, looking at the skyline of New York.  "Anywhere," she
smiles to the driver.  "I want to see everything.  I've got all the time in
the world..."

     *** Never The End ***