Another Bryce Tale
(from alt.tv.max-headroom)

The TransNet gathering was well underway when Bryce Lynch spotted Jenny, the head of Research and Development from Network 66. He wanted to know why she hadn't helped him find Theora during the war between Zik Zak and Zlin and decided to ask her.

"Why?" He asked.

"Go away." Jenny said, bitterly.

"I want to talk to you." Bryce told Jenny.

"Why?" Jenny asked. "You got your girlfriend back, what do you need me for?"

"My girlfriend?!" Bryce yelped. "What in the name of God are you talking about?! I don't have a girlfriend!"

Jenny blinked at him, knowing by his voice that he was telling the truth.

"Theora's not your girlfriend?" She asked.

"No." Bryce replied.

"I thought she was." Jenny said, embarassedly.

"You thought I was dating Theora?" Bryce asked.

Jenny nodded. "I thought you might be sharing your bed with her." She told Bryce. "I felt so... jealous!"

"Jealous?!" Bryce asked, stunned. "Why?"

"I've always wanted to be your first." Jenny told Bryce.

"My first what?" Bryce asked, innocently.

"I wanted to be the first person you ever made love with." Jenny said, softly.

Bryce blushed and hid his face, shyly.

"By the looks of things," Jenny murmured with amusement in her voice, "it would seem that I still have the opportunity." She lifted Bryce's face with a single finger and placed a long, drawn-out, tender kiss upon his lips, which were trembling.

"Jenny, come on!" Grossberg was calling to her.

"I have to go." Jenny told Bryce, parting from him with great reluctance and running after her boss. "I'll call you. I promise."

Bryce sat there, still stunned by the kiss, for a full minute before he realized Jenny was gone. "Jenny." He said, in a very low whisper.

"You keeping something from us?" Edison asked him, amusedly.

Bryce continued to stare at the door that Jenny had gone through.

"Bryce? You there?" Edison asked.

Bryce just stared at the door. "Jenny." He said, weakly. A tear ran down his face unchecked. He knew he and Jenny would never be together, no matter how much they both wanted it. Cheviot and Grossberg would always stand in their way. It was too much for him to bear. If he stayed at Network 23, he would never be able to give himself to Jenny, and if he left, he would lose Max. He was utterly devestated. He put his face in his hands, and sobbed, unconsolably.

Edison put his arm over Bryce's shoulders. "You okay?

Bryce looked up at Edison.

Edison nodded. "It's all right." He told him.