Amiko Yumikura lay stretched out on her bed and gazed at the schools of fish swimming out in
front of her broscilite micro-observatory. It had been two hours since she last saw anything on the
monitor.
The young Kaijuologist sighed, got out of bed and pressed a button to her side. With a slight
whirring
noise, the windows on her observatory were being blocked out by RCC and heightened steel/titanium
panels, putting her in the dark.
With that, Amiko kicked off her flip-flops, placed her crescent moon glasses to her side and
tucked herself into her futon, the only sounds in the micro-observatory were the whirring of its mobile
treads against the ocean floor and the vibrating ping of her monitor. With that, she let sleep take over.
#
4 weeks ago
Amiko stared at the burning remains of what used to be Honolulu as the gigantic form of
Godzilla stomped his way back into the sea. His tail disappearing beneath the waves. "This war
with the Kaiju is becoming costlier by the minute," Professor Ando declared, "times have become
more and more desperate. We need to truly understand these creatures. If anyone has an idea,
please by all means, speak up."
Amiko raised her hand, "I-I think I have an idea." she announced.
Everyone in the room turned their attention to the bespectacled, 20-something scientist.
"Yes, Doctor Yumikara?" Dr. Ando asked.
Amiko stood up and strode to the front of the room, blueprints in her left arm. As soon as
she was standing in front, the young Kaijuologist cleared her throat as she began talking.
"For a long time, all observations of the Kaiju have been, well, at afar. Yes, I have
somewhat of a grasp of why we do that; safety precautions, the fact the Kaiju are so big we can
see them from such a long distance and the only way to get their attention is to shoot at them
and I think we all know how well that turns out."
And now comes the part where they think I'm better off in a mental ward. Amiko thought to
herself as she adjusted her glasses, "However," she exclaimed, "it's because we've always
observed these creatures from such a long distance that we have such a little understanding of
their behaviors. Therefore I have come up with a new plan: observe the Kaiju up close."
The room was filled with silence as her colleagues stared at her. Amiko didn't need to have
any of them talking however, their silence was all she needed. They thought this young woman,
this willowy, twenty-something, short black-haired, glasses-wearing, young Japanese woman was
completely and utterly out of her mind.
She was about to retake her seat when a hand rose up. Amiko turned to meet the hand's
owner; her father Nemuro, a solemn-faced man in his late forties. "Yes, Professor?" she asked.
Nemuro cleared his throat before speaking. "Suppose we do consider up-close
observations, how do you intend we carry this out? How do we know this won't end in disaster?"
Thanks, Dad. Amiko mentally congratulated her father for speaking up before getting
back to business.
"Professor Yumikura does raise a good point. How do we carry out such a risky scenario?
The answer? With this."
With that, Amiko projected one of her blueprints on the monitor via remote. The
blueprint featured schematics for a boxy, car-like vehicle with treads on its sides. "Ladies and
gentlemen," Amiko announced, "I give you the Mobile Armored Observatory or M.A.O. for
short. With this, anyone can observe the Kaiju at a close enough distance to get a good look
but still remain at a safe enough length and it's sturdy enough to withstand almost any
punishment thrown its way. So far, only one M.A.O. has been made and ready to be
tested tomorrow."
"And who are you volunteering for this test drive?" another scientist- an American named
Raymond Mason- asked.
Amiko smirked at this. "You're looking right at her."
#
Day of the launch
"So, all preparations have been made in order?" Nemuro asked as he and Amiko strode
along the deck of the M.A.O. launchsite.
"Yes, Dad." Amiko answered.
"All of them? What if you run out of air?"
"Dad, I told you at the meeting, the M.A.O. has an extendable air-siphoning tube on the
top that automatically activates once I'm running low on air. Plus the tanks are filled with enough
air to last me four weeks. I'll be fine. If you're worried about me getting the Bends, I'm not going
to be heading that deep."
"What about food and drink?"
"External fishing spear and automatic internal cooker for food and a desalination device
for when I get thirsty. Any other questions, Dad?"
"Just one; are you sure-"
Nemuro didn't get to answer his question as Amiko stomped towards a crane operator
who was lifting the M.A.O. and clumsily banged it against the side of the platform.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Be careful with that thing when its armor isn't active! That cost ¥150
trillion to make and I really hope you have that much dough on you to pay for the damages!"
After that outburst, Amiko turned to face her father.
"Am I sure about what now?"
Nemuro took a deep breath, "Are you sure there's nothing I can do that will change your
mind?"
Amiko rolled her eyes at this. "Dad. I'll be fine. You're talking to the same girl who went
cagediving in Great White-infested waters with her brother and came out unscratched."
"Yes, but you almost gave your mother a heart attack."
Amiko gave her father a reassuring smile and hugged him. "Dad, I'm a grown woman
now. You don't have to keep worrying about me."
Nemuro returned his daughter's hug and both held that for what seemed like an eternity
until someone tapped on Amiko's shoulder. "It's time." the man said.
With that, Amiko broke away from her father and walked towards the M.A.O.'s cockpit.
Just before she entered the micro-observatory, she took one last glance at the man who loved and
nutured her as she grew up. With a sad sigh, Amiko descended into the vehicle that was dropped
into the calm blue waters of the Pacific.
#
Present day
BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!
Amiko shot up as the alert went off. Not bothering to put on her glasses despite holding them in
her hand, she reached and pressed a button on top of a circular radar system. As she put on her glasses,
she could make out a large yellow mass on the bottom of the radar's gridded HUD. There was
definitely a Kaiju alright and she was right on top of it, or maybe it was the other way around. No
matter, there was a Kaiju in the area and now was the time to study it. With a flick of a switch, the
protective panels drew back and she was greeted with the sight of... Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Granted there were some strange, jagged rock patterns and a few fish flicking in and out but no Kaiju.
With a growl, Amiko slammed her bare foot against the radar which continued to beep like
crazy. "There's no Kaiju, you stupid, defective, good-for-nothing, piece of-"
Suddenly, the alarm went off again, this time louder as a second yellow dot approached from the
upper left of the radar.
"Knowing this stupid thing, it's probably picking up a whale or something." she grumbled to
herself. ¥150 trillion and for what? A radar that acts up randomly? Amiko was about to give up when
caught something moving in the corner of her eye. There was something moving in the partially sunlit
waters. Something massive.
Propelling herself in a ribbon-like motion, stringy barbels trailing behind her front and hind legs
was Manda. The dragon Kaiju's glittering sea green scales gave her an almost metallic look while her
tail fin produced micro-currents. Amiko would have found her beautiful, if not for her radar's constant
beeping. Okay, note to self, she thought, Get this stupid thing fixed if the M.A.O. is to go market.
Suddenly, Amiko noticed Manda's dot stopped moving and looked up to see the dragon Kaiju
floating fifty nautical miles away from the M.A.O. At this distance, Manda was no bigger than a blue
whale (considerably small compared to her) but even then, the young scientist could see the reptilian
eyes of the Kaiju were narrowed and she even looked like she was in an attack position, but why?
It was at that moment Amiko turned to face the "rocks" on which the micro-observatory rested
on and a shocking revelation hit her like a ton of bricks. Those weren't rocks. Those were spikes.
Immediately, Amiko activated the M.A.O.'s anchor systems as the owner of said spikes rose to its- or
rather his- full height. In the blink of an eye, Manda shot forward with a hissing grunt. There was a
sudden jolt that rocked the M.A.O. and Amiko was tossed against it. She hit her head on the left side
and everything went black.
#
The light of the sun beaming through the reinforced windows was the first thing Amiko noticed
as she stirred. With a groan, the woman slowly sat up and noticed blue sky to her right, but
saw nothing but darkness to her left. She also noticed the radar wasn't going off, mainly because it was
shattered. Curious, Amiko opened up the hatched and poked her head out only to be greeted by an
unbelievable sight.
Standing fourty feet in front of her, wounds still healing, breath coming out in deep rumbles was
Godzilla. Amiko then noticed Manda retreating from the corner of her eye, possibly to lick her wounds.
She turned all her attention to Godzilla, only to notice that the King of the Monsters was looking down
right at her.
For a good five minutes, both human and Kaiju locked eyes. Amiko felt like an ant compared to
the giant beast. A feeling of fear and respect crept up her spine as she gazed into the blazing, primal
stare of the Kaiju King. She could also feel something else. Something she could put her finger on.
However, she didn't have time to think about it before Godzilla lifted his head into the sky and roared
in victory before disappearing beneath the waves, leaving an awestruck Kaijuologist behind.
End