GUNNM GAIDEN

                     "T'was the Night Before Christmas"
                 Visions of sugarplums...dance in her head

SPRING
The season is spring - It has been six months since Ido first met the
strange girl Carol...

(cityscape, Zalem and the scrap in the background, in the foreground is an
aqueduct and a bridge)
(Carol is sitting on the edge, ostensibly at the foot of their building)

(Gally is pursuing a bug)

(Carol, seated with legs crossed, looking bored. She is dressed in a dark
shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a ragged though presentable dress, and
sandals)
Carol: .......

(Gonzu, with his pullcart)
Gonzu: "'S hot already. I'll see yuh later, Carol-chan."

(close up on Carol)
Carol: "Ido...he's at work?"

(Gonzu, with a patronizing smile)
Gonzu: "Ido's at Gauss' clinic again. He's hauling some serious ass."

(A cyborg is laid out, chest open. A cyberdoctor, armed with a pair of
forecepts, is hard at work on his artificial heart)
SFX: chik zween

(closeup on Ido, sweating and breathing heavily)

(Gauss, back to the wall, looks on)

(Ido wipes his face)

(Gauss puts his hand on Ido's shoulder)
Gauss: "Here. Move aside."
Ido: "Wha?"

(Gauss pushes Ido out of his way)
Ido: "B--b--but, I..."
Gauss: "No, move over!"

(Ido, on the steps outside the OR, slumped over)

(Ido in FG, Gauss in BG. He is wiping his hands on a towel)
Gauss: "You showed up six months ago now..."

(Gauss' eyes)
Gauss: "...and since then, I've learned from you, too."

(Gauss and Ido)
Gauss: "About people medicine, the Hippopotamus oath, it's all truly
amazing stuff."
Ido: "That's the 'Hippocratic Oath'."

(Gauss in the doorway)
Gauss: "I've taught you everything I know about cybermedicine. But the
operation just now..."

(Closeup on Ido)
Ido:.....

(Gauss, bracing for the worst)
Gauss: "You plain-old hate cyborgs."

(Ido,pain across his face)
Ido: "WHAT!?"

(Ido, to Gauss' back)
Ido: "How can you say that?"
Gauss: "Don't you try to deny it."

(Gauss, over his shoulder)
Gauss: "Your fingers can't lie. And as long as you hate the patients..."

(Ido, watching hope slip away)

(Ido, from above. Maybe it's a result of the scale, but he looks small)
VO: "You won't ever be a cyberdoctor..."

(Ido, biting back his feelings)

(somewhere in the Scrapyard. A sign on the side of the building advertises
"B1F [Bottom/First Floor?--Ed.] BAR-- ANNTATIC)

(a closeup on a bottle of "Factory Farm Bier" [pun unintentional?--Ed.]
Someone's clenched hand is next to it)
Vox: "Shit...damn it all..."

(yep, it's Ido, slumped down on the bar with a glass in his hand. He's
drooling)
Ido: urp..."I...am a DOCtor!"

(takes a swig of beer)
Ido: "FUCK being a grease monkey!" *urp*

(the bottle is yanked out of Ido's hand)
SFX: yoink!

(Ido gazes over at the prankster)
Ido: "Oi...that's my drink..."
Person: "Being a drunkard...is hardly respectable...Mr. Ido."

(Ido, trying to see straight)
Ido: "Who're you?"

(closeup. It is a gaunt-looking man in a snappy hat)
Dedekint: "My name is Dedekint. Might I have a little of your time?"

(he tips his hat back, revealing the Stamp)
Dedekint: "As one...'expatriate'...to another."

(Ido is shocked)

(cut back to Carol, looking morose. The stars are out)

(Gonzu, with Gally in his arms, is standing out front of the house)
Gonzu: "Ido's a smidge late."

(closeup on Carol)
Carol: "Mm-hm."

(Gonzu turns to go in)
Gonzu: *yawn* "Well, I'm off to bed."
Carol: "Ah."

(Carol is tired)

(rubs her eyes)

(reacts with surprise)

(Ido is coming across the bridge, all lost in thought)

(Carol, arms thrown open, rushes to greet him)
Carol: "IDO!"

(she is jumping for joy)
Carol: "Ido! Wel-gum-back!"
[still inarticulate speech? or just excited? both?--Ed.]

(Ido, still lost in thought)
Ido: "Hush, now. Off to bed with you!"

(Carol is shocked. Not even a hello)

("Hell hath no fury...")

(Carol throws a punch at Ido)
SFX: POMF Ido: "Ouch!"

(Ido looks dully after Carol as she runs off)
Ido: ...?

(realizes what he's done)

(Carol, in tears, running through the streets)

(she is stopped by a wall, resting against it with one arm. Ido is rushing
up to her)
Ido: "CAROL!"

(shot from rear. Ido places a hand around Carol's shoulders. On the wall
above them are a couple of posters, ostensibly for bands. One, with a skull
and torso on it, reads "Kill Me I Wanna Die In Your Arms Forever--Death".
Beolw it is another, with a laughing skull on it, that reads "Kill Fuck
Die--Now on Sall!")
Ido: "Please...I'm sorry..."

(Carol's face. Tears are streaming from her eyes, and snot's running from
her nose)

(wipes her face on his coat lapels)
Carol: "You jerk!"

(closeup on Ido)
Ido: "I'll make it up to you..."

(Ido and Carol, arm in arm, walking along across the page)
(a denizen, who looks vaguely like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, looks
from out of a stall window. A sign below reads "Popcorn c200 Coke c100.")
[EDITORS' NOTE--there has been considerable speculation about how much a
chip is worth in modern currency, and unfortunately this doesn't solve the
problem. Although popcorn and soda pop--we here assume that Coke is now
synonymous with soda, as opposed to referring to cocaine--are sold in such
venues as circuses and cinemas, their cost is exorbetant. We have no way of
knowing if these costs are indicative of those across the Scrapyard, nor do
we have a constant barometer to measure them against.]
Person: "Gegege...Late date, kiddies?"

(closeup on the person's face)
Person: "How 'bout a ride up the highest gondola the Scrapyard's got,
'Chimney High!' Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee...special-late-nite fare,
only 100 chips!"

(Carol is enthralled, Ido is merely apprehensive)
Carol: "Neat!"
Ido: "Wuh--wait!"

(we see what this "Chimney High" is. It's a tall tower, with a bunch of
gondolas hanging down on the side. "Chimney High" is written on it, in case
it isn't obvious. There's another sign on an archway over the entry, and
still another on the booth. Carol is running lickety-split inside)
Ido: "W-wait! Carol! Isn't there ANYTHING ELSE?"

(not surprisingly, they're on the gondola up. Carol is leaning out over the
edge, Ido is pressed up against the gondola's side. It's made up of tubing
and what looks like chicken wire)
SFX: hrum...squeak squeak

(closeup on Ido's hand, clenched on the railing)
Ido: I-I hope this thing is safe. Good heavens, it's a thorough rustbucket.

(Carol is hanging from the upper bar with her feet pressed against the
side)
Carol: "Oh, it's so beautiful!" Ido: "AAAAUGH!"

(She is back on the ground, looking bewildered)
Carol: ?
Ido: uff..."Please stay down...you could fall..."
caption: (indicating Ido) this man is an acrophobe!

(cloesup on Ido)
Ido: Still, Carol...I wonder who she is. I thought at first it was some
manner of shock-induced regression or amnesia...

(shot of the Scrapyard with the gondola in FG)
Ido: But I don't think that's it. It's almost as if..

(Carol in FG, enthralled with the whole experience. Ido, still seated, is
mercifully lost in thought)
Ido: her body matured, but her spirit was a blank slate...like Kaspar
Hauser..
Footnote: Kaspar Hauser...1812-1833. In 1828 , a youth with no memory and
unable to speak appeared in a town in Germany, bearing a letter that
claimed that he was a membery of the German royal family. He died at the
age of 21 under mysterious circumstances.

(Carol starts jumping up and down excitedly and pointing)
SFX: wam! wam!
Carol: "LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT THAT!"
Ido: "Stop shaking the thing!"

(her foot goes through the grate)
SFX: bang

(Carol in space)
Carol: "Ah!"

(Ido terrified)
Ido: "CARO--"

(shot upward of Chimney High. The gondola can be seen with the base hanging
open)

(Ido grabbing madly ad Carol, still not aware of what's happening)

(closeup on Ido, sweating madly)
SFX: erg... Ido:........

(closeup on Carol's left foot. her sandal is dangling)
Carol: "Ah.."

(the sandal drops off)
Carol: "ACK!"

(closeup on Carol)
Carol: "My sandal..."

(Ido pulls Carol to him)

(Carol, one eye closed, pressed up against Ido's shoulder)
Carol: "You're hurtin' me!"

(Ido looks wearily at Carol)

(Ido, with Carol in his arms)
Ido: "I'll buy you another pair. Now be still."
Carol: "Uh-huh."

(Ido and Carol in the corner of the gondola. There's a light from one side
of the picture)
SFX: wahm
Ido: "It's dawn!"

(as dawn breaks over the Scrapyard Ido and Carol, curled together, take it
in)
[Editor's note--interestingly, scanning this in, I used Gaussian smooth to
take the jaggies out]

(the gondola, side view)

(there is something up on a neighboring smokestack)
SFX: whish...

(moving in. It's the mecha from "O Holy Night". Crying...)
Mecha: graa..

(closeup. it really is crying)
Mecha: graaaaa

SUMMER

(Gonzu's hand, lifting up a knight)
Gonzu: "Seems like Ido..."

(Gonzu and Carol are playing chess. Gonzu is making his move)
Gonzu: "Hasn't been working with Gauss lately...wonder what's going on.
Jumping the horsey gives up...uh-huh, um...."

(Carol looks at the board, perplexed)
Carol:.......

(suddenly, she gets an idea and pounds her fist into her palm)
Word balloon: (lightbulb)

(Carol moves her king out of harms' way)
Gonzu: "What the--!"

(Carol has gotten up and is tossing Gally up into the air. Gonzu,
thunderstruck, is still seated)
Gonzu: "She...she's done it..."

(closeup on Gonzu)
Gonzu: (thinking) S'pose she's a prodigy?

(a building in the moat that surrounds the pile of scrap that is
immediately beneath Zalem)
DEDEKINT'S LAB

(a woman's arm and body, with a noticeable scar on her upper arm. beside
her is a cybernetic arm with identical proportions)

(Ido, triumphant, with simulymph/blood on his smock and gloves)
Ido: "There! Procedure completed!"

(Dedekint, in a pose reminiscent of Gauss' from earlier, but he is smiling
and applauding)
SFX: klap klap
Dedekint: "Excellent! Very well done!"

(patient is leaning up, and Dedekint is helping her with her arm)
Dedekint: "You're every bit as brilliant as I had hoped. Here...try to move
it..."

(patient is amazed)
Patient: *gasp* "My arm's...real! And the skin is baby smooth!"

(closeup on Dedekint)
Dedekint: "Of course, it's your arm. We make a clone using your DNA. Even
the scar will be gone in a week. You shall regain your natural beauty."

(patient is excstatic)
Patient: "I just can't thank you enough, doctor!"

(Ido and Dedekint)
Dedekint: "Ho ho ho...being appreciated for your work is so wonderful,
isn't it."
Ido: "Mm-hmm."

(Dedekint and the cyberarm)
Dedekint: "Throughout the ages, women have sought beauty. The Scrapyard is
no different..."

(Dedekint and the arm, limbs growing in the BG. Dedekint is making a Grand
Point with an Extravigant Gesture)
Dedekint: "I saw it. That for women who have desecrated their bodies using
machines, I could use Zalem's technology to clone and transplant those lost
limbs."

(Dedekint staring off into space)
[Is this guy full of himself, or what?--Ed.]
Dedekint: "But it is too great a task for me alone...I need an assistant. A
true doctor who understands the majesty of the human body! And sadly, it is
obvious that the quacks in the Scrapyard are insufficient..."

(Ido and Dedekint clasp hands)
Dedekint: "So there! Doctor Ido, I found you! My partner from heaven! Let
us work together to this goal!"
Ido: "Doctor Dedekint..."

(Ido smiling)
Ido: "I will go with you!" (thinking) This is my destiny, then...

(Ido, more thoughtful)
Ido: (thinking) Failing Gauss still hurts me...but I was not meant to be a
cyberdoc. To graft human bodies onto lowly cyborgs...as a doctor, is there
anything more righteous?

WINTER AGAIN

(Ido, with a bag, walking through a neighborhood in the Scrapyard)
Ido: (thinking) It's Christmas time again...

(a fellow has some wares spread out on a blanket below the "Death" posters,
and Ido pauses to take a look)
Ido: "Perhaps I should get something for Carol. I wonder if she'd like a
doll."

(Ido, smirking)
Ido: (thinking) Or perhaps a brooch? Since she is becoming quite
alluring.....

(Ido, squatting down for a closer look)
Ido: "And for once, money's no object..."

(a pair of scissors)
SFX: snip snip
Carol: "Si-ii-lent night...."

(Carol, in a sweater and long dress, is tying bows onto a tree. she's
looking quite alluring, yep)
Carol: "Ho-oo-ly night...."

(Gally's attention is captured by something)
SFX: swiftch!

(Gally is going all pointy. Carol is nonplussed)
Gally: ROWR!
Carol: "Gally, s'matter?"

(Carol enlightened)
Balloon: DING-DONG!
Carol: "Ah!"

(Carol runs to the door)
Carol: "It's Ido! Or maybe Mr. Gonzu?"

(she opens the door to the mecha)

(Carol, in fright)
Carol: "Ack!"

(mecha's tripartate eye narrows)
SFX: VWEEEM

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The views expressed on this page are not necessarially those of Yukito
Kishiro, and are the product of two college kids who can't communicate by
frantic hand gestures, let alone plain language. Sorry, sensei.
Special thanks to Shueisha and Viz, for letting us go ahead with this, or
at least not getting in our way.
This has been brought to you by KAOS (Ku mquAt and The Odd Soul).