AN: Oh my God! I'm not writing a Ziggy fic! What's wrong with me?! Anyway, it seemed like poor little Andrew deserved a fic. He's my favorite NPC you know... Oh yeah, and I just thought I'd get this out of the way...
Disclaimer: I do not own Xenosaga (damn the luck) and I don't own any of the characters in any of my stories. There.
___Proof of My Existence___
"Now show me the proof of your existence... To me alone..."
My palms sweated heavily. I don't know why I was so nervous. I had spoken with the Commander before on many occasions. So why should today be any different? Because this was my first -real- mission, that's why. All of my previous assignments were nothing in comparison to the seriousness of what I was about to undergo. I had never been in charge of a small dispatch, let alone an entire platoon. But there must have been something the Commander saw in me to make him so confident in his selection. As confident as he may have been, I felt my confidence leaking out of my body with my perspiration. I closed my eyes, slowly taking in a deep breath. The elevator drew to a slow stop and, as the doors slid open noiselessly before me, I stepped into the room.
It was dark, lit only by the light from outside the observation window. I could see the verdant surface of the planet our ship was steadily hovering over. Silhouetted by the light glancing off the surface of the planet was my Commander, his robes flowing past his ankles and his hands clasped firmly behind his back. His dark eyes gazed not at me but out the observation window in front of him, his glowering face reflected by the glass. I felt as if I had disturbed something, even if it had only been the silence. Nervously, I clicked my heels together and threw my hand to my brow in salute.
"Commander Margulis," I announced, "You called for me?" He answered me with silence, speculating every undulating wave on the planet below us. After long, pondering minutes, he spoke.
"Cherenkov," he muttered, as if just realizing I was there.
"Sir?" I answered.
He turned then, and the look in his eyes was one of a sagely man, a man of the world. A man who knew more than most men knew as one.
"Behold the light that spreads before your eyes," he told me, motioning with his hand to the observation window, "This light once symbolized civilization - the very will of the human race. But what can be gleaned from the light we see today?" When I made no answer, he turned back to the window, a scowl on his pale face. "The people of this world have cast away their will to create, drowning themselves instead in an endless cycle of consumption... What you see now is the deceitful light cast by their stagnant eyes."
The Commander sighed deeply, then began to walk the length of the window, glancing only to the planet below.
"The people you've encountered in your lifetime are not people at all. They're less than human - mere sacks of flesh and bone. Only upon the realization of self-will, can a person truly be called a man." It was now that he turned to me again. "You chose to reject the false light, refused to succumb to their lies... That's why you never faltered, even after all the personality reconditioning." He nodded, as if confirming something in his own mind. Then, putting a thoughtful hand to his chin, he continued. "Long ago, man was forced to leave behind his homeland... This was brought about by the masses who extinguished the very light that drove their will. So how about it, Cherenkov?" He asked, a smile forming on his usually dour expression. "Let us rekindle the torch so that human consciousness may once again be resurrected... For our sake..." He looked again to the surface of the planet below, "and that of our God."
A long pause passed between us. It was as if the Commander was letting the words he had just spoken sink in, giving them weight. I felt awkward for some reason, and I shifted my weight to my other foot.
"Y-yes, sir," I told him. Making a gruff laugh in the back of his throat, Commander Margulis walked to me, clasping his hands behind his back once more.
"I like you, Cherenkov. Not many men can say that I approve of them much in one way or another. But I knew from the day we found you that you would be different from the other useless scum I get around here. Do you agree?" He was taller than me by a good few inches, and he intimidated me to say the least. Though, for some reason or another, I was calmer than I had been upon my entering. I felt a smile from almost involuntarily on my lips.
"I should say you're correct, Commander." In response, he gave another gruff laugh.
"Give a stray dog scraps and all he ever wants is more," he muttered under his breath, "Those dogs down there don't know what they've gotten themselves into by accepting the scraps I've thrown to them. I don't feed strays for charity, Cherenkov. Dogs well fed are dogs more apt to attack when confronted. You feed your dogs, Cherenkov, and you feed yourself, if you get my meaning." His eyes connected with mine briefly, then he moved to the window again.. In silence he stood again, for minutes on hand. After a while, I couldn't stand the silence.
"Sir," I interjected, "My mission...?"
"You will be going to the planet you see before you," he said without turning, "to meet with an informitant. He will give you the device you need to complete your mission. From there, you will go to Vector's headquarters and use the device to activate your target."
"The KOS-MOS android?" I asked. Margulis nodded.
"You are to bring the android straight to me. If anything happens to deviate from the plan, your first course of action will be to contact either Pellegri or myself." He turned to me, a fierceness in his eyes that I had only witnessed once. "There is no reason to be covert in your capture of this android, Cherenkov. Its retrieval takes the utmost priority. Is that understood?" I felt a lump starting to form in my throat, and I tried to force it down as I responded.
"Of course, Commander Margulis. Above our very lives."
"Yes. To give your life for the greater good... Do you know what a martyr is, Cherenkov?"
"No, sir," I said truthfully.
"A martyr is someone who gives his life for something he believes in. Do you believe in our Organization?"
"Yes, sir."
"Would you give your life to ensure the success of your mission?" Margulis asked me. I faltered for only a moment.
"Yes, sir. To ensure that the KOS-MOS android is delivered to you, I am willing to lay my life on the line." I awaited his response, and when it came, it sent a chill up my spine. He cracked a cruel smile on his face as I had never seen. This was a powerful man, beyond the laws that governed others. Here stood before me a man who would conquer, laying before him and behind him a line of death and destruction. A man of deadly power an even deadlier stratagem. Here stood Commander Margulis.
"You're a smart man, Cherenkov," he murmured in his husky tone. "You would do wise to keep yourself alive. I could use more men like you." Taken by surprise at his praise, I nodded.
"Y-yes, sir."
"You'll be taking D-platoon with you to the Vector Headquarters. They're already on their way to the hangar if Pellegri did her job. You'll be leaving at 06:00 hours." That was less than half and hour to get ready. That was all he said to me. I saluted him once more and turned for the elevator again. I chanced a glance over my shoulder to see that Commander Margulis once again at the observation window, staring down at the planet's surface, his face set as stone. Now slightly unsettled, I moved to the elevator and closed its doors quickly after me. Slumping against the wall opposite the doors, I exhaled loudly. Never had I seen the Commander with such a fierce gleam in his eyes, nor the almost devilish smile on his face. He was keen on getting his hands on that android.
Very keen.
The silence in the elevator seeped into my every pore until it permeated my being. It was the eye of the storm. What had come before was nothing compared to he second wave of the storm. It would sweep over me like a wave of death, plucking up those around me and ending their lives with deft accuracy. But I was blissfully unaware of the events to come. I thought the storm had passed. How wrong I was.
The elevator glided to a stop, and I slid my U-TIC mask over my face. True to what the Commander had said, D-platoon was already filing into the hangar below me. All I needed was my gun. My beloved pistol. I gripped it firmly in my hand and, after only a moment of staring at it, shoved the gun into its holster. I headed for the hangar then, brushing off the feeling of doom that tried to push itself into my head.
Routine mission.
Nothing could go wrong.
Disclaimer: I do not own Xenosaga (damn the luck) and I don't own any of the characters in any of my stories. There.
___Proof of My Existence___
"Now show me the proof of your existence... To me alone..."
My palms sweated heavily. I don't know why I was so nervous. I had spoken with the Commander before on many occasions. So why should today be any different? Because this was my first -real- mission, that's why. All of my previous assignments were nothing in comparison to the seriousness of what I was about to undergo. I had never been in charge of a small dispatch, let alone an entire platoon. But there must have been something the Commander saw in me to make him so confident in his selection. As confident as he may have been, I felt my confidence leaking out of my body with my perspiration. I closed my eyes, slowly taking in a deep breath. The elevator drew to a slow stop and, as the doors slid open noiselessly before me, I stepped into the room.
It was dark, lit only by the light from outside the observation window. I could see the verdant surface of the planet our ship was steadily hovering over. Silhouetted by the light glancing off the surface of the planet was my Commander, his robes flowing past his ankles and his hands clasped firmly behind his back. His dark eyes gazed not at me but out the observation window in front of him, his glowering face reflected by the glass. I felt as if I had disturbed something, even if it had only been the silence. Nervously, I clicked my heels together and threw my hand to my brow in salute.
"Commander Margulis," I announced, "You called for me?" He answered me with silence, speculating every undulating wave on the planet below us. After long, pondering minutes, he spoke.
"Cherenkov," he muttered, as if just realizing I was there.
"Sir?" I answered.
He turned then, and the look in his eyes was one of a sagely man, a man of the world. A man who knew more than most men knew as one.
"Behold the light that spreads before your eyes," he told me, motioning with his hand to the observation window, "This light once symbolized civilization - the very will of the human race. But what can be gleaned from the light we see today?" When I made no answer, he turned back to the window, a scowl on his pale face. "The people of this world have cast away their will to create, drowning themselves instead in an endless cycle of consumption... What you see now is the deceitful light cast by their stagnant eyes."
The Commander sighed deeply, then began to walk the length of the window, glancing only to the planet below.
"The people you've encountered in your lifetime are not people at all. They're less than human - mere sacks of flesh and bone. Only upon the realization of self-will, can a person truly be called a man." It was now that he turned to me again. "You chose to reject the false light, refused to succumb to their lies... That's why you never faltered, even after all the personality reconditioning." He nodded, as if confirming something in his own mind. Then, putting a thoughtful hand to his chin, he continued. "Long ago, man was forced to leave behind his homeland... This was brought about by the masses who extinguished the very light that drove their will. So how about it, Cherenkov?" He asked, a smile forming on his usually dour expression. "Let us rekindle the torch so that human consciousness may once again be resurrected... For our sake..." He looked again to the surface of the planet below, "and that of our God."
A long pause passed between us. It was as if the Commander was letting the words he had just spoken sink in, giving them weight. I felt awkward for some reason, and I shifted my weight to my other foot.
"Y-yes, sir," I told him. Making a gruff laugh in the back of his throat, Commander Margulis walked to me, clasping his hands behind his back once more.
"I like you, Cherenkov. Not many men can say that I approve of them much in one way or another. But I knew from the day we found you that you would be different from the other useless scum I get around here. Do you agree?" He was taller than me by a good few inches, and he intimidated me to say the least. Though, for some reason or another, I was calmer than I had been upon my entering. I felt a smile from almost involuntarily on my lips.
"I should say you're correct, Commander." In response, he gave another gruff laugh.
"Give a stray dog scraps and all he ever wants is more," he muttered under his breath, "Those dogs down there don't know what they've gotten themselves into by accepting the scraps I've thrown to them. I don't feed strays for charity, Cherenkov. Dogs well fed are dogs more apt to attack when confronted. You feed your dogs, Cherenkov, and you feed yourself, if you get my meaning." His eyes connected with mine briefly, then he moved to the window again.. In silence he stood again, for minutes on hand. After a while, I couldn't stand the silence.
"Sir," I interjected, "My mission...?"
"You will be going to the planet you see before you," he said without turning, "to meet with an informitant. He will give you the device you need to complete your mission. From there, you will go to Vector's headquarters and use the device to activate your target."
"The KOS-MOS android?" I asked. Margulis nodded.
"You are to bring the android straight to me. If anything happens to deviate from the plan, your first course of action will be to contact either Pellegri or myself." He turned to me, a fierceness in his eyes that I had only witnessed once. "There is no reason to be covert in your capture of this android, Cherenkov. Its retrieval takes the utmost priority. Is that understood?" I felt a lump starting to form in my throat, and I tried to force it down as I responded.
"Of course, Commander Margulis. Above our very lives."
"Yes. To give your life for the greater good... Do you know what a martyr is, Cherenkov?"
"No, sir," I said truthfully.
"A martyr is someone who gives his life for something he believes in. Do you believe in our Organization?"
"Yes, sir."
"Would you give your life to ensure the success of your mission?" Margulis asked me. I faltered for only a moment.
"Yes, sir. To ensure that the KOS-MOS android is delivered to you, I am willing to lay my life on the line." I awaited his response, and when it came, it sent a chill up my spine. He cracked a cruel smile on his face as I had never seen. This was a powerful man, beyond the laws that governed others. Here stood before me a man who would conquer, laying before him and behind him a line of death and destruction. A man of deadly power an even deadlier stratagem. Here stood Commander Margulis.
"You're a smart man, Cherenkov," he murmured in his husky tone. "You would do wise to keep yourself alive. I could use more men like you." Taken by surprise at his praise, I nodded.
"Y-yes, sir."
"You'll be taking D-platoon with you to the Vector Headquarters. They're already on their way to the hangar if Pellegri did her job. You'll be leaving at 06:00 hours." That was less than half and hour to get ready. That was all he said to me. I saluted him once more and turned for the elevator again. I chanced a glance over my shoulder to see that Commander Margulis once again at the observation window, staring down at the planet's surface, his face set as stone. Now slightly unsettled, I moved to the elevator and closed its doors quickly after me. Slumping against the wall opposite the doors, I exhaled loudly. Never had I seen the Commander with such a fierce gleam in his eyes, nor the almost devilish smile on his face. He was keen on getting his hands on that android.
Very keen.
The silence in the elevator seeped into my every pore until it permeated my being. It was the eye of the storm. What had come before was nothing compared to he second wave of the storm. It would sweep over me like a wave of death, plucking up those around me and ending their lives with deft accuracy. But I was blissfully unaware of the events to come. I thought the storm had passed. How wrong I was.
The elevator glided to a stop, and I slid my U-TIC mask over my face. True to what the Commander had said, D-platoon was already filing into the hangar below me. All I needed was my gun. My beloved pistol. I gripped it firmly in my hand and, after only a moment of staring at it, shoved the gun into its holster. I headed for the hangar then, brushing off the feeling of doom that tried to push itself into my head.
Routine mission.
Nothing could go wrong.