[ PG ] "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." -Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken ********************* Triple Point by +Gradient ********************* "Hello, you have reached the Mizuno residence. We are not available at the moment, but if you would graciously leave a message, we will get in touch with you as soon as possible." "Ami. Please pick up. It's me, Makoto. I know you're there. You've got to listen to me . . . it wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for this -- it just happened. Look, you need to come down to the hospital right now; your mother is already here and she's asking about you. We just need you down here right n-- Click. * * * * * [Saturday - A Sunny Day] Saturdays were always sweeter in my neighborhood. Laugh if you must, but I really do mean that. Well, let me clarify that a bit. Although I live in one of the better sections of Tokyo, there is a suburban polymer plant about a kilometre away that produces those little plastic rings that go around cans in six-packs of cola and beer and other things that girls my age like to drink at their parties. Not that I'd know anything about that. As I was saying, the plant has a very subtle discharge that only a few people in the area can detect. Naturally, I'm one of them. Not really that bad -- you sort of get used to it after a while. But on Saturday, the plant goes down to maintenance mode and production shuts down temporarily. You don't even really notice it until that morning when you wake up and the air is crisp and like an old friend come to visit, like it must have been in days of old. You know, in the last three years I've had a lot of Saturdays to think things over. I remember the first Saturday: it had just been the day before that I had gotten into trouble at that computer school. You know, the one that the youma had run and had been sucking in unsuspecting kids, like myself. Luckily Usagi and Luna found me and, well, the story after that pretty much gets boring. Ami studies. Ami gets the call from the senshi. Ami goes right away and does her best. Ami watches as Usagi blasts the monster and then complains about something or the other, forgetting all the time that she was the one who was fated to be a princess. Ami goes home and studies until late in the morning to make up for the hour and a half of cram school that she missed this evening. Ami has a ten minute cold dinner with her mother and pretends to be having a conversation, because Ami knows that her mother is pretending too. Ami gets an "A" on the test and points out to her classmates that it really *was* hard, and they dismiss it as simple modesty, never suspecting how close to the truth this admission was. Ami goes home and tries to catch up on the piles of work that had been accumulating. Maybe tonight's going to be the night, Ami thinks. Ami begins to study. Ami gets the call from the senshi. Ami goes right away and does her best. Three years straight. * * * * * [ Last Tuesday - A Rainy Day ] The silence was like an empty canvas, gently waiting for the world to be created upon it. Waiting for something special to break it, something meaningful, something profound. "Negative," the odango-haired girl said with smug certainty. "Is that your answer or are you saying that you don't have the answer?" "Ami, the answer *is* negative, I double-checked." "Usagi, the answer is positive. Look here: there's four negative numbers multiplied together, an even number, which means the final answer is positive," she said with more than a slight bit of exasperation. "But Ami, you're not looking at---" "No, Usagi. The final answer is positive." She had been cutting her princess off more often as of late. "I think I see Usagi's point," the other blonde present noted without delay. "Look, there's another negative here in this next set of parenthesis---" "Which is squared before it is multiplied with the others, Minako," she sighed in resignation. She shook her head in a small disbelief as she continued. "Maybe we should just stop for the night before I have to go over order of operations again." "Why? We've got plenty of time." *We've* always got plenty of time, don't we, Usagi? "I really need to go, my cram school science project deadline i--" "Hey Mako-chan, did you see that guy eyeballing you today at lunch?" "What guy?" "My deadline--" "Usagi! You shouldn't be prying into other people's concerns!" "Yeah, like that's stopped you before, Rei." "Who asked you, Minako?" "My deadline--" "What did he look like? I didn't see him." "Why do you always have to tell Usagi her business? She's doing okay." "Tall, dark, and handsome. Sort of like my Mamo-chan with longer hair and glasses." "I'm just trying to make her a princess. She's got to learn a certain carriage." "My--" "Cute?" "What does carrying her have to do with it?" "Oh, definitely." "That's how she carries *herself*, Minako! Are you sure you're in our grade?" "M--' "All right, that's it---How cute--You want a piece of me, Shrine Girl---Mako-chan, I think he's in the grade below us, if you can handle that sort of thing---How am I supposed to take your threats seriously, Minako, when you can't get them out without laughing---No, I don't have any problem with younger men---Hey Artemis, you just showed up so why don't you tell Rei here that I could easily take her one-on-one--- Speaking of Mamoru, where has he been this week, I haven't seen him around---You'd better not, especially since you're afraid of fire--- Oh, he's around---Artemis! That was a secret!---Usagi, have you eaten this evening---Aha! Gotcha now blondie!---Yesss, Luna, full meal--- how cute---red face--curry-turned downdancenosyromanticneverparentslate embarassedsempaitransferstudent30000yendrivesuniversitymisunderstoodold bloodtypenevermeaniedoubtecchidinnerneedsoverloadedAmi-------------* "I'm sorry. Did you want to say something, Ami-chan?" "Ami?" "Positive." "The answer is positive." * * * * * [ Wednesday - A Windy Day ] "Excuse me, you're ahh . . . you're Mizuno Ami, aren't you?" His words, of course, were trained and practiced, but the meaning of the underlying uneasy tone *should* have been immediately obvious to any teenage girl. "Er, yes. Have we met before?" The word "should" is present in many languages, despised by all. "Not really. I, uh . . . I sit in the back of our advanced mathematics section in cram school. I was just wondering, um, what . . . what you thought of that bonus problem on the end of today's test." Those last few words came out very quickly and very awkwardly, giving the painful impression of being hastily improvised. "Well, that *was* a tricky one, uh . . ." she politely offered a pause to allow him to gracefully correct his lapse of protocol earlier. "Oh! Oh, I'm Tsujimoto. Tsujimoto Kai. I go to Solato Academy." "Well, Tsujimoto-san, as I was saying earlier, that was a tricky one. The key to solving it was actually in finding the function's . . ." "Inverse." They said it simultaneously, prompting a rather embarrassing yet strangely delightful moment. "Yes. When you did that extra credit problem on the board the other day, I knew that you were the one to ask about this particular challenge." "Oh." Her hand almost instinctively went to cover her mouth, but she resisted, knowing what that implicit show of emotion meant. "Oh, it wasn't really that h---" "Aaaaaamiiiiii-chaaaaaaaan!" Oh, perfect. "Did you just hear something, Mizuno-san?" "I don't think so. Maybe it was the wind blowing." "Ami! Over here!" Both turned to see the jumping and waving visage from afar. "Do you know that girl? I think she's trying to get your attention." "Yeah, I think you're right," she mumbled in a barely audible yet clearly unamused tone. "Just a moment, Usagi, I'm having a class discussion!" "Ah, leave it to Usagi-chan for discussions about class," she giggled to herself as she approached the twosome. "Now," she continued, "who are you?" She raised a finger toward the young man who visibly recoiled at such a breach of politeness. "Usagi! Please! This is Tsu--" "Tsujimoto Kai, Solato Academy. I attend Mizuno-san's cram school." "Tsujimoto, eh? Are you trying to ask Ami out?" "Usagi!" The blue-haired girl habitually and frantically looked around to see how many people had overheard this assertion. "Sorry, but it can't be helped. I just thought Tsujimoto-kun here ought to know that he'd better be smart, at least as smart as Urawa-kun was." "Usa-- "That's unlikely." "--gi!!" "Uh, maybe I'd better leave you two to yourselves. I've got to get home to do some homework. Yeah. Um, I'll see you tomorrow, Mizuno-san. Have a good evening." He was already backing away and on the verge of running as he made his hasty valediction. The blue-haired girl, was, of course, too stunned to talk, to put it mildly. Her head turned slowly from the rapidly receding figure of the boy to the blonde with her arms on her hips bearing a smile of grand satisfaction, waiting for the next words to escape her lips: "Well, aren't you going to thank me?" "*You want me to thank you?*" "Sure. I could tell as soon as I showed up that you were trying to squirm your way out of talking to him. Besides, everybody knows Mizuno Ami's too devoted to her work to give her time to *any* boy, at least for the time being. He was sort of cute, though. I'll just let you make it up to me by buying me a milkshake in a few minutes down at the soda shop." What do you say? What *can* you say? "Let's go." * * * * * [ Thursday - A Foggy Day ] "Booooring!" Usagi frowned as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "This *has* to be one of the worst field trips I've ever been on." "Usagi, it's not that often that we are given an opportunity to see an art exhibit. Perhaps you should make the best of the situation." Ami sighed as she scanned the room to take note of how many other schools Usagi was embarrassing Juuban in front of. "We'll be out of here in thirty minutes, so let's just look around. Maybe you'll see something you'll like. Now come on, Makoto's over in the student wing. Let's see what she's viewing. And I've got a surprise too!" "This place has a cafeteria?" "Not quite. Now come along." In a dragging pace Ami led Usagi into the aforementioned wing, where examples from prominent student artists from the metropolitan area were on a rotating display. To be invited to contribute a piece to the Tugoro Exhibit was the early pinnacle of success for the aspiring painter or sculptor, as representatives of several notable universities and conservatories were known to frequent its halls. A perhaps slightly less discriminating eye had already arrived at a conclusion on one of the paintings hanging on the wall: "I like it." Makoto noted that several other would-be critics always gave their analysis while stroking their chin, so she did the same, if only to give further self-assurance to her rather meager, if concise, criticism. "Hmmm . . . a chrysanthemum, in a vase, on a table, with nothing else . . ." Usagi felt compelled to give her view. "I like it too, I think. But why aren't there other flowers? Or maybe a fancier vase? I like flowers, too, perhaps not as much as you Mako-chan, but I think it might look . . . I don't know . . . more colorful, with more flowers." "Well I believe the artist was going for a sense of minimalism in her work -- you know, by leaving out everything else, the painting strives to convey the natural simplicity of the flower through its own composition." As Ami finished her description, she looked over to see that her two friends were locked in a dumbfounded stare at her, both with mouths slightly open. Makoto was the first to break the stare, shaking it off by pointing out with a slight laugh that "I just liked it because the chrysanthemum was pretty." She then looked slightly around in confusion, "Do either of you know who painted this, anyway?" "It says right here," Usagi's pointing finger indicated the lower right quadrant of the piece. "Kibu Shirome. Kibu Shirome. Where have I heard that name before . . . it sounds so familiar." "Wait!" Makoto interjected rather loudly before remembering that she was in a largely silent art gallery. "Doesn't she go to that school that our American football team played last week? Keikiwa, I think." Usagi snapped her fingers in realization. "Yeah, that's it. Short brown hair. Now I remember her." She looked at the painting again. "Wow. She only goes to school a couple of kilometres from here. We have famous artists in our midst and we don't even know it." "Small world, isn't it?" Ami noted with a smile. "What do you think of this one?" She slowly sauntered over to a smaller painting, only twenty centimetres on each side. Within was a scene not unlike the Impressionists of old: two girls, each with a parasol, enjoying a meal while floating along a gentle current in a small, yet elegant, boat. The pointillism of the composition was crafted in such a way as to confirm the many hours of toil placed into this labor of love. Usagi squinted her eyes and closed in on the work, applying some silent, indeterminate form of criticism upon it, and then stepped back to make her declaration. "You know, that girl on the left sort of looks like me," she began with a sideward glance, then breaking into giggles, "but my eyes are much more beautiful than that." "But what do you think?" "Well, it's nice and all Ami, but . . ." "But?" "But it reminds me of those cheap paintings that you see in dentists' offices. You know -- they try to give you some feeling, but it's just that they seem *so* fake. Besides, I can't even really tell what's going on in this one. Like, are they sisters, friends? Yeah, dentist's office. That's it." "It's just so cold," Makoto noted from afar. "Yeah, Mako-chan, that's a good word." Usagi nodded her head while still peering at the painting. "Cold." "Who's this one painted by?" Makoto moved in to get a better view. "Mother." "What?" Makoto stared at Usagi to emphasize the bizarreness of the blonde's answer. "No, really . . . it says so right here in the corner, in English -- 'MA'. That does mean 'mother', doesn't it? No wonder he or she doesn't want to give their real name." "Well, let's go look at another one. Do you think Michiru has one or two hanging in here?" Usagi's mood turned to one of cheer at once. "No way. This place is way too small for her. Everybody in here's rank amateurs compared to her. Try the national gallery." Makoto looked upward and shook her head while glancing over at the blue-haired girl who still seemed transfixed by something in the painting. "Come on Ami, you're holding us up. Our class is about to move into the next wing." "Yeah, let's not get left behind! Besides, I'm curious to hear what that surprise you were talking about was! Over lunch, of course!" Usagi nearly squealed as she left the hall, visions of tasty treats hindering her already questionable attention. One last look. The periods were there, she was sure of it. Maybe it was just the lighting in this room. Or maybe dust settling upon the oil had blotted them out over the past weeks. Whatever the case, the periods were there. She could even see them now as she turned away. "M.A." * * * * * [ Friday - A Cold Day ] "Would all contestants competing in the National Fifth District Science Competition Qualifier please remember to register at the courtesy desk . . . to repeat, would all contestants . . ." My day, she thought to herself. My day. Time to shine. The voices within the great hall echoed in a cacophony of scholarly and not-so-scholarly discourse. Surely, to many of her friends, this would have been an intolerable situation. To her, however, the symphony was just beginning. Just need to wait a little while until my solo. Can you hear it like I can? "The C/2-fixed points of topological Hochschild homology are . . ." The flute. " . . . consists of a silicon substrate with a periodic array of electrodes . . ." Oboe. " . . . a redshift of Z=1.552 contradicting Einstein-de Sitter models . . ." Clarinet. Here I go . . . "Ah, Mizuno-san, are you busy at the moment? There is someone I would like you to meet." "Not at all Idemoto-sensei, it would be my pleasure." Having one of your teachers as an organizer of the event certainly has advantages. "This is Matsuzawa Musami, head chair of genetics at the University." She smiled inwardly as she noted with glee that he was already encaptured by the lure of her particular project. "Yes, I have read several of your books, Matsuzawa-sensei. It is an honor to have you view my work." "Oh, it's *my* honor, Mizuno-san, since I've heard so many good things about you from my former student here. Now, he mentioned that you were working on a method of enhancing DNA sequencing?" "Yes. From what research I've done on current sequencing techniques, I found that there was much room for improvement on the efficiency side of the equation. Basically, what I've done is to design a particular set of computer algorithms which, I believe, if tested in laboratory conditions, will roughly double the current speed and efficiency of the sequencing process. The controlled tests that I have performed seem to indicate that magnitude of increase." "A new algorithm . . . a colleague of mine had toyed with the idea of designing one, but he dismissed it as impractical." He broke his gaze at her display and trained a wry eye on her. "Is there any particular reason why you picked *now* to do this particular work?" "Well, it's a well-known fact that the University is one of the major world centers in the Human Genome Project. It just occurred to me that, with the project now just gearing up, it would be nice to have the local school assume a leadership role by showing that we could shave some time off the process." "And approximately how much time do you think we could save?" "Over the entire project? Three years, as a conservative estimate." The grizzled old gentleman smiled and nodded his head in polite astonishment. "This is most impressive, Mizuno-san. Most impressive. Perhaps you would like a personal tour of our department next week. I'm sure that many of my colleagues would enjoy working in your company, since I've heard from your teacher of your current, how should I say, *recent good fortune*, with the University. For now, however, would you do me the honor of discussing a few details of your brilliant development a little more?" "Oh, it would be my pleasure. The underlying basis of the conversion process is actually quite simple in that . . ." {Beep} "Er, quite simple in that . . ." {Beep} " . . . the fundamental base-pair combinations are nothing more than . . ." {Beep} "I'm sorry, Mizuno-san. Are you being paged?" That's a kind word for it. Try having your heart ripped out. {Beep} Not now, for God's sake. For one time, just shut up and stop beeping. I've given you everything else. Can't you just give me one day? "Mizuno-san, I think you should take this page. I'll come back some other time if I can work it into my schedule." "No, I . . ." {Beep} "Mizuno-san?" {Beep} Click. "No, this page was just one of my students wanting to cancel her tutoring session. I'll get in touch with her later. Now, excuse me for the interruption, but as I was saying . . ." She had always wondered whether the disable button on this thing worked. After all, it had been three years and she hadn't dared touch it. She was surprised by how easily the button pressed inward. * * * * * 35.66934 north, 139.76785 east. This is it. The call had to come from here. She checked twice to make sure that the geographic origination function within her linked minicomputer was operating correctly. The call earlier had actually been two separate ones overlaid, placed within seconds of each other. A playground? Why would they have called from here? It doesn't make any sense. It was now almost dusk, and the street lights were activating in sequence. The day's newspapers had already begun to blow from their trash containers to litter the grounds of the park. Quite artistic, actually. She would have probably missed it, if not for the color of the horse. The merry-go-round horse was white with a blue mane. The dark stain was only accentuated and given life by the contrast: the horrible red discoloration upon its neck had been added earlier today while such things as human genetics and angels dancing on the head of a pin were being discussed. Blood for blood, so to speak. Her pulse didn't have time to increase. She was already gone. * * * * * Five blocks. Mother's hospital. It had to be this one. Closest option. She ran there unconsciously as time slowed to a brutal pace. The second-floor waiting room was familiar, but not in this cruel way. Got to scan the room quick. See who's here. Minako asleep on the couch with Artemis. Closed door beside. Rei in the corner talking to Mak--- Usagi. "Ami! No! You can't go in there!" The brunette rapidly wrapped the girl in her grip before she could frantically throw open the closed door. "Let go of me! I've got to go in! I've got to go---" "Calm down, calm down. She's all right. She's all right. She just needs some sleep right now. We can't disturb her. Luna's in there with her, so she's okay. She's okay, in stable condition. Your mother's going to be here in about ten minutes to look her over." She slowly released her grip and softened her voice as she felt resistance lessen. "What . . . what . . . hap--" "There were five of them," Rei peered across the room with her arms crossed and a genuine accusatory look projected so frighteningly close as to chill the soul, "and there were four of us. It's that simple." "Yeah, we could have really used Sailor Mercury today. We tried to call you on the communicator, Ami," the brunette sat to relieve her fatigue, "but you must have been out of range." "That's odd. *I wasn't aware that our communicators had a range.*" Rei had not yet broken her glare. "What are you saying, Rei, that Ami deliberately turned off her communicator? That's just silly, right, Ami?" Right Ami? "Ami?" At that moment when young girls' minds collide with reality, there is little to do but run away and cry. Or cry and run away. At this moment, she did both. * * * * * [Saturday - A Sunny Day] The birds chirping are always the first sound I hear on a Saturday morning. They wake me up with their splendid song and make this day the only day, as it should be. The second sound today is somewhat unusual. "Good morning, Ami." "Good morning, mom." "You're looking . . . better, after last night." "Yeah, I guess you're right." "I don't suppose you want to talk about it, do you?" "No. Not really." "That's fine with me. She's going to be okay, though. The police are still looking for the attacker from the description that Makoto and Rei gave them. As for her, just a partially torn leg tendon and a couple of minor abrasions and broken fingers. On her writing hand, no less. She's actually going to have an excuse for not having her homework for a little while." A slight, polite laugh. Polite as could be expected for a girl who let down her friend without even thinking twice. Polite as could be expected for a g---- "Ami," ever so forcefully mother interrupts my guilt. "You can't live only for her, only for them, forever. You need to attend to yourself, your own needs." Can't I? Wasn't that part of the deal? My destined role? Forever? "You never told them about being admitted to the University on a trial basis, did you? Never could accept being separated from them, like before." "Mom, I . . ." "No, Ami. It's all right. I'm not complaining. I really don't understand why you feel a need to always be at their side, but it is *your* life, and I trust you. And let that be the end of it." And it would be. She always understood me that way. "But there's one more thing. There was one favor that I was meaning to ask you this fine morning." "Yes?" "Let's have breakfast together. No business. No interruptions. No bad things from the past. No books at the table for either of us. Let's just have a good mother-daughter breakfast, and talk for a while, and see where the day takes us." I have seen real magic before my eyes. I have seen the heights and depths to which the human soul can sink. I have seen the power to break worlds, and I have seen the power to save them stored within the hearts of young, unassuming girls. I have seen all of this. And yet I am never unamazed by my mother. "Y . . yeah, I think I'd like that a lot." * * * * * That was ten minutes ago and that was my story. {Beep} They say that some people have never lived . . . {Incoming videolink communication} Until they've died a little as well. {Frequency identifier - Tsukino Usagi} Welcome, Saturday. {Open link? Y/N?} Notice how crisp and pure the air is this morning? {Y/N?} Like an old friend come to visit. {Y/N?} Ever so sweet . . . - - - - x - - - - **************************************************** "Water which is too pure has no fish." -- Ts'ai Ken T'an Author's Notes: Sailor Moon and associated characters are the intellectual property of Takeuchi Naoko and/or Toei, DiC, Bandai, Kodansha and a host of other ethereal corporate entities. The title refers to the hydrological triple point rather than a geometric triple point (e.g., the Trifolium's [(x2+y2)2+3x2 y-y3=0] origin.) Thank you for your time. gradient@thedoghousemail.com http://members.tripod.com/gradient "Triple Point" Red-1 +Gradient January 1999 ****************************************************