Episodes
Megatokyo is not a second Eden, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still have its serpents.
A young couple in the city's poor Rift section are about to become caught up in the early stages of a desperate war fought in the shadows cast by the Mega City's gleaming fortresses of wealth and power.
Priss' personal tragedy blinds her to the forces swirling around her. The AD Police continue to investigate her involvement in her lover's death, Genom executives continue to pursue her, and from afar, the mysterious Knight Sabers watch over it all...
Driven to the breaking point, Priss has risked her life to avenge Rick's murder. She lashes out at his killer, but the fallout of her rash plan will change her life forever.
In the aftermath of the Edogawa riot, the true shape of Cybergenics' menace becomes clear. Flint's lust for revenge and power will rock the Mega City, if not the world, to it's very foundation.
Cast of Characters
The Knight Sabers
A shadowy band of high-tech vigilantes, the Knight Sabers are barely more than a hushed rumor in the world, but they are very real.
Using techonology far beyond even that vailable to the militaries of the word, the Knight Sabers stay in the shadows, keeping people safe from rampaging Boomers when even the AD Police can't. Led by Celia Stingray, their motives remeain unclear...
Priscilla "Priss" Asagiri
Age:24
Occupation: Singer/Songwriter, Knight Saber
Voiced by: Taylor Carlson
A motorcycle enthusiast and aspiring singer, Priss is a firebrand of a young woman.
Priss was drawn into the Knight Sabers' world of intrigue after her boyfriend was murdered to keep Genom's theft of the original Cyberdroid research secret. She signed on initially for the chance for revenge, but has since come to realize that they really do serve a greater purpose. In a world where the common man becomes more and more enslaved by a corporate master, the Knight Sabers represent the greatest idea possible, hope.
Her driving ambition, however, is to sing. She wants to become the kind of singer who sways people's hearts and minds, who has the sort of immortality that few ever achieve. She wants her songs, her voice, to make a difference in this world.
She's unique among her teammates in that Priss lives in the Rift area of Old Tokyo, the section on the western side of the city that was most devastated by the earthquake. She makes her home in an old semi trailer, which she's managed to hook up to functioning electricity and water lines.
Priss is hot-tempered and aggressive. She's also the most effective in-close combatant the Knight Sabers have, which is why her Hardsuit is covered with so much weaponry. She can be difficult to control in the field, but the rest of the team is glad she's on THEIR side.
Ceilia Stingray
Age:32
Occupation: business woman, Knight Saber
Voiced by:Kristyn Mass
The daughter of Dr. Carl Stingray, the genius cyberneticist who first invented the Cyberdroid, and thus, the Boomer, Celia is a very wealthy woman at the center of a secret crusade.
To the public eye, she's a businesswoman in Megatokyo's well-to-do Tinsel City area. She owns several buildings, and manages a very successful clothing boutique. She flatly refuses to publicly discuss her famous father, who died when she was fifteen. As such, any fame she may entitled to has long since withered away.
In secret, Celia is the founder and leader of the Knight Sabers. The beyond-cutting-edge powered armor they use, the Harsuits, are of her design. How she came by such advanced knowledge is a complete mystery. While she has a degree in business, she's never shown any public aptitude for the sciences.
Celia seems to have two distinct sides to her personality. One is very warm and caring. She respects the role she plays within the group, and the input ofher friends and teammates. The other, is very cool and calculating. This is theside that makes the plans, that drives her, that wants to see Genom punished for what it's done, not just to humanity, but to the slave race Genom is built upon.
It is rumored among her surviving family, that Celia's father did something to her mind when she was a child. This is perhaps the reason behind both the creation of the Knight Sabers, and her somewhat fragmented personality.
Lena Yamazaki
Age:31
Occupation: Stock Broker, Knight Saber
Voiced by: Rina Adachi
Lena is a long-time friend of Celia's.
Since their families were lont-time friends, Lena and Celia were raised close as sisters.When Celia's father passed away, Lena's family took in the Stingray children, until Celia turned eighteen.
Lena has always had dreams of being a dancer. She studied since she was five, and supplemented that training with various martial arts disciplines. Lena holds mastery in several distinct styles.
She is also obsessed with making money. It all began when a stray comment her father made when she was young, "So, how is DANCING going to feed you?" lead her to begin hoarding her pocket money. It became a mild obsession, and resulted in her eventually becoming a certified stock broker. Lena made her first multimillion dollar deal when she was only a month out of school. But you'd never know it unless she told you. She's got a small apartment in eastern Megatokyo, and lives very simply.
Lena seems to have incredibly good luck, except where she wants it. She's had a string of horribly unsuccessful romantic relationships, much to the chagrin of her friends, who are all getting just a bit sick of hearing Lena's latest sob story...
Always one to wear her heart on her sleeve, Lena can occasionally be a bit too blunt. You'd think this would strain friendships, but the rest of the team know she is always there when they need her.
Nene Romanova
Age:24 (on paper) 19 (actual)
Occupation: AD Police dispatcher, Knight Saber
Voiced by: Lindey Steindler
Nene is the youngest member of the Knight Sabers, at only 19 years old. Shecan be very childish and impulsive, but in her own way, she's also the most frightening. Nene is quite possibly the best hacker in the world. It doesn't matter how secure your database is, if it has a single line to the outside world, it is Nene's plaything.
Deciding while still in high school that she'd had enough of home and her overprotective parents, Nene cracked open her own birth records. She altered her date of birth so she was now legally adult. Then she hacked a property management company's server and took over the lease of a nice vacant apartment in Megatokyo with paid up rent and... simply left. When she eventually grew bored of having nothing to do all day, she broke into the AD Police database and literally gave herself a job as a Support and Dispatch officer.
Nene is actually the first person Celia brought onto the team. It started with rumors of a nigh-impenetrable database, a network that had defeated everyone who tried to crack it. It included heuristic algorithms, black ICE programs... and things that didn't even have names yet. It took Nene three weeks to finally get in, and when she did, all she found was a job offer.
Nene's hardsuit isn't designed primarily for combat, which is good since she's by far the least effective fighter the Knight Sabers have. Its purpose, however, is to act as a mobile electronic warfare suite. With her suit's systems, Nene can take control of most electronic devices around her, surveillance systems go offline, radio communications become jammed. Shes even been known to divert spy satellites.
Nene Romanova in one scary lady.
Mackie Stingray
Age:19
Occupation: Lord of Knight Saber Mantenance
Voiced by: Mike Dent
Mackie has the best life in the known universe. A ninteen year old kid who spends his days tinkering with motorcycles and high-tech gadgets, and his nights fighting crime surrounded by babes in powered armor.
At least, that's what he tells himself. In actuality, he's the Knight Saber's chief grunt. He drives the truck, does the lion's share of the maintenance on their equipment, and more less lives at his sister's beck and call.
It's easy to underestimate Mackie. The boy is something of a goofball. He's always making jokes, or scheming about how to get cameras into the changing rooms... In other words, he's a typical teenager. He seems very content to just drift along through life. He just finished high school and has no plans to go on to college, nor any desire to go get a job... but the fact is, he doesn't have time. Mackie is as dedicated to the Knight Sabers' cause as the girls are.
While not as apparently gifted as Celia is in the brains department, Mackie is no slouch. She may have designed the the Hardsuits, but Mackie is the mad genius behind the auxiliary weaponry and augmentation systems they use in combat.
Henderson Alvarez
Age:68
Occupation: Butler, Knight Saber support
Voiced by: Chris Walker
Henderson is the butler, friend, and surrogate father figure of the Stingray siblings, and of the Knight Sabers as a whole.
Polite and unassuming, his formality (he insnsits on usng proper titles for everyone) at first can seem a bit cold, but nothing is further from the truth. He cares deeply for Celia, Mackie and their circle of friends.
On the day young Celia Stingray became her brother's legal guardian and moved them into their new home, Henderson made contact. Celia immediately took him into their new household as their new butler... but apparently, at some point in the past, he lived a very different life. He seems to know a great deal about Cybernetics, Boomer design, and is instrumental in the Knight Sabers' operations.
He assists the Knight Sabers in the field, but he does so from their secure bunker headquarters. Home Base which is beneath one of Celia's properties. He supplies Data support, and helps monitor police and media response. While he secretly wishes that Celia and Mackie wouldn't endanger themselves so, he understands why they do. While he knows he can never replace what they lost, he looks after the Stingray children as if they were his own.
G.E.N.O.M. executives
The Global Economic Network Of Mankind, better known as the Genom Corporation, is a monolithic giant of capitalism gone far, far over the line. Its CEO once joked that the Polar War waged between the United States and the Russian Federation was simply fought to decide who had the right to buy Genom products.
It's global monopoly on Boomer technology, has given Genom a deathgrip on the world economy, and they wield that power without regard for the consequences to the rest fo the world.
Quincy Rosenkroitz, Chairman of Genom
Age:Unknown (presumed early eighties)
Occupation: Chairman and CEO of Genom
Voiced by: Devlin James
To say that Quincy Rosenkroitz is the richest man on Earth is like calling Mt. Everest a speed bump.
Son of a German industrialist, Quincy knew himself to be a man of destiny from an early age. He began amassing a bewildering array of contacts, business alliances, the occasional shady politician, and a truly staggering amount of assets before he'd even left school. By the time he was forty, he'd already managed to corner several developing markets around the world.
But it wasn't enough. Despite his vast wealth, he still felt as though something greater beckoned. That something came to him from another man's vision. A small cybernetics lab that was financed, through several layers of shell corporations, by one of Rosenkroitz's interests.
Whiz Laboratories had stumbled upon something so staggering, it would remake the world... and the fools were too blinded by their science to see it. When all their primary talent died in a fire, and the lab was destroyed in the incident, it caused him no great moment of sadness.
The few remains of their work, however... those, he carefully cultivated.
His network, Genom, is now the single largest corporate entity in human history. Quincy Rosenkroitz sits upon his throne and looks down on the world that is his, spurning all human contact... and it is good.
Brian J. Mason, President of Genom Heavy Industries
Age: 49
Occupation: Senior VP, Heavy Industries division, and Chief Operating Officer of Genom
Voiced by: Edwyn Tiong
The number two man on the Genom totem pole, Brian J. Mason is CEO Quincy Rosenkroitz's right hand man. While the Chairman is reclusive, Mason is the public face of Genom. Mason is the man who is seen with political leaders, Mason is the one who gives interviews (at least occasionally).
Cold and calculating, in the shark-infested waters of the Genom hierarchy, Mason's is the shadow that all the other predators fear. Many have speculated that with Rosenkroitz's advancing age, Mason may actually be the one calling the shots. This isn't entirely untrue, but even Mason still serves at the whim of the biggest shark in the sea, and he knows it.
Perhaps he's biding his time, perhaps he's just waiting for the old man to die...
The cool, lethal armor he presents to his fellow man has but one small gap, his relationship with Kate Madigan. It isn't really love, not as the rest of humanity know it. Love is too simple, too ordinary a word. Kate knows him, the real him. His hopes, his desires. With her, Brian can relax and let down the shields that keep him safe, at least partially. There are depths to this man no one will ever see, and his ultimate goals, are not so easily gleaned.
Kate Madigan, Head of Special Projects
Age: 44
Occupation: Senior VP, Corporate Affairs at Genom
Voiced by: Jen Rhodes
Kate Madigan is a very powerful woman. Head of Genom Corporate Affairs, she is responsible the smooth running of the enormous network on a day-to-day basis. She hires, she fires... She hides the bodies.
Madigan's is a name to conjure with, but only if you like playing with fire. She tolerates no failure or interference from others, and her passion for efficiency and expedience is well known. In public, she rarely shows much emotion aside from cool disdain. It is said amongst her small inner-circle of subordinates however, that she's at her most terrifying when she becomes enraged... because it's impossible to tell from the rest of the time.
Kate's relationship with Brian Mason is the worst-kept secret amongst the higher echelons at Genom, though it's not widely known outside those circles. She is fiercely loyal to him, and regards any threat to Brian as a threat to her. She does not allow threats to exist. She deals with them quietly, and decisively.
Because, after all, the woman who knows where all the bodies are buried, is the woman who REALLY holds the power...
Thomas Flint, former CEO of Cybergenics
Age: 51
Occupation: Now a Genom Senior VP, was CEO of the Cybergenics corporation
Voiced by: Michael Valenzuela
Thomas Flint is a recent addition to the Genom family. His research firm, Cybergenics, was a leader in the field of cybernetics and genetics. Their successes in producing cloned biological implants for limb replacement and organ failure made Cybergenics one of the foremost bio medical corporations.
Naturally, Genom couldn't have that. The economic juggernaut simply absorbed the smaller firm three years ago.
Flint found himself with a seat in the larger pool of Genom vice presidents, where he quickly formed alliances with several other key divisions, and parlayed their eventual success and merger into a seat at the Senior VP's table.
Flint is a political animal. Brilliant in his own right, he's always looking for an angle, for how to game the system to his advantage and the advancement of his interests. Recently, he's begun probing potential weaknesses of the Heavy Industries division.
Thomas Flint simply wants it all, and he's willing to step on anyone he has to to get there.
The Advance Deployment (AD) Police
Charged with officially investigating all crimes related to Boomers, it is the unenviable task of the AD Police to deal with the artificial life forms when the do indeed, go rogue. Because of this, the ADP is divided into several Tactical Squads. Think of them as swat teams on steroids. In addition, there are several other units, some investigative, some support... The ADP are not merely thugs in riot armor, despite its public perception.
For several years, the AD Police were able to contain the odd Boomer riot here and there, but as their funding has been cut and Boomer riots become more explosive, the situation has only deteriorated.
Leon McNichol
Age: 29
Occupation: Investigator and Squad Lead, ADP 3rd Tactical Squad
Voiced by: Christopher Stadther
Leon McNichol is too cool for a lot of rooms... in his own mind at least.
At eighteen, he enlisted and served in the United States Marine Corps. In training he showed such a gift for small-unit tactics and sheer ability to survive that he caught the eye of Colonel Sam Lando. Leon found himself soon attached to Col. Lando's unit and doing the sorts of missions that never officially happen.
Unfortunately, Col. Lando wasn't the sterling example of an Officer everyone thought him to be. Involved in numerous suspicious incidents, he was finally brought to a court martial and all Lando's men were quietly dishonorably discharged.
One of the presiding officers at Lando's trial didn't agree with the broad brush that painted the innocent as well as guilty. He made it his task to see that those who really were only following orders landed on their feet. He put Leon in contact with an old war buddy, John Rawlins, with the Advance Deployment Police in Tokyo and Leon signed on.
Here, amongst the Tac Squad grunts, he found his place. Leon quickly became the core of the wildly successful Third Squad, eventually being promoted to it's lead position when the former Lead retired. He also showed an innate grasp of both deduction and investigative technique. At the urging of his squad mates, he took the test and was recently promoted once again, this time to Investigator. This makes him unique in the organization. A hybrid squad leader-detective as it were.
Leon still has issues with his past, however. His experience with Col. Lando and the way the top brass treat the rank and file of the ADP make him very distrustful his superiors. This trait shows itself at times when he butts heads with his direct superior John Rawlins. Some of their arguments could peel paint. Underneath all that anger is actual respect, but some times it seems very, VERY far under...
Daley Wong
Age: 31
Occupation: ADP Investigator
Voiced by: Eric Olp
Daley Wong is used to being the strangest guy in the room. A graduate of M.I.T., he actually holds a Doctorate in Cybernetics. He SHOULD be earning a whole lot more money doing research and designing the next breakthrough... but he's not interested in that. Instead, he works as an Investigator for the AD Police. He's not even in their Forensics department, he's out in the field. He says it's 'more interesting.'
Usually way too cerebral and sarcastic for most people, naturally Daley found himself partnered with the rising star of the ADP, Leon McNichol. The two work rather well together. Leon provides observation and human insight to complement Daley's technical expertise and eye for detail.
Of course, sometimes their working relationship is TOO smooth. A chance remark about the amount of time they spend together once led to a joke that they should just get married and make it official. The joke took on a life of its own and now some people think it may actually be true and the pair never bothered to tell anyone. Since neither Daley or Leon will dignify it with a response, the rumors continue to grow...
Captain John Rawlins
Age: 71
Occupation: Overall Commander, ADP Tactical Units
Voiced by: Devlin James
There's the brass, the people who rub elbows with the politicians, who have careers to think about and nice houses in the burbs... and then there's the guys who just get the work done.
For nearly sixty years, John Rawlins has gotten work done.
Nearing retirement, Rawlins is in charge of all the ADP's Tactical Units. Every combat team, every investigator... Rawlins is the guy they call Boss. He backs his officers all the way. Rawlins will shield them when the suits upstairs want a scapegoat. He'll not let anyone speak ill of the men and women who serve beneath him and get their hands dirty doing the old Protect And Serve.
Of course the opposite is also true. If you screw up, if you put yourself above your unit...if you cross the line... then God have mercy on your soul, cause John Rawlins won't have an ounce of mercy on your butt as he kicks it across town.
