Disclaimer: Only own the DVDs.
Warning: Spoilers!!!! If you haven't seen all of Geneshaft and don't want to know what happens, please turn back now. I won't be offended =P
Baffled, that was the only word for it. Major Hiroto Amagiwa, decision-maker extraordinaire, was completely, utterly, baffled.
For three weeks he had been plagued by nightmares and dreams alike of his time on the Bilkis. The more he pondered the dreams, the more confused he became. Most of his dreams involved one 2nd Lieutenant Mika Seido and her undying ire towards him.
In truth, not a day went by when he didn't think about the events of that unfortunate day. Ryoko Burning, one of his best friends in truth, had been forced to sacrifice herself in order to save him, her superior officer.
He'd thought through the situation at least a dozen times, each time trying to find some way he could have saved her. But each time, he came up blank. The decision Ryoko made was the correct one. But that didn't mean he had to like it.
Sighing, he rolled over in his bed. Tonight's dream had been about when Mika had been pointing a gun at him, the day the small ring was inside the Bilkis. He remembers feeling something unidentifiable even then. Heartache? Yes, he remembers pain shooting through his heart. That she would point a gun at him, threaten him, had hurt him. That she didn't believe him when he told her the truth about Ryoko's death hurt even more.
But why? Why should he care what one, insignificant, White thought of him?
Because she isn't insignificant. She had saved the world, saved humanity. But hadn't she meant something to him before she did that? Most likely. Why else wouldn't he have shot her for insubordination when she refused to pilot the Shaft? He had aimed a gun at her before, after all.
And even then he hadn't been able to shoot her. She had attacked him, or tried to, before they had met and he still couldn't shoot her. What kind of high-grade decision-making is that? Even his decision to nominate her as a Shaft pilot candidate seemed to go against his programming.
Huffing, the major rolled out of his bed and walked towards an open balcony window. Standing on the stone over-look, he looked at the city beneath him.
A new thought came to mind: his birthday was in two days. He would be turning 18, the age he can officially decide where he wants his career to go. He suppose he liked being in the military. His gene-type cleared him for anything that involved decisions.
What did he want in life? Did he want to spend the rest of his life ordering people around now that he's seen what people can truly be?
And he had seen it. Lord Sergei Sneak and Remmy Levi-Strauss showed him that humanity was not perfect, that humanity still have all straights of disloyalty, aggression, and selfishness that the government had attempted to weed out with their genetic engineering programs.
But, then, the others had shown him the good things humanity had left.
He had never told anyone, but he'd found Register Beatrice crying in her quarters, Mario's file beside her on the bed. A Register showing emotion was unheard of, their bodies designed in a way to suppress whatever feelings they otherwise would have felt. He'd simply closed the door and walked away.
Sub-captain Mario Musicanova cared enough about their crew to face-off with one of the most dangerous men on the planet. Jean Gadot was a perfect example of why men still needed Registers. And Mario had gone straight into the pit of the beast to protect the people he cared about. What a waste of a good man. Mario was one of the best people he had ever known. Everyone liked the man, and he would admit he was sad to hear of his death.
Sofia Galgalim was another Bilkis crewmember he would rather not have lost. Truth be told, he liked listening to her and Mika verbally spar. They brought out the best in each other, it seemed. He was worried when he heard of her and Mario's deaths. He felt his heart beating faster after each question, Mika's absence becoming more noticeable with each beat. The voices he'd heard while still asleep echoed through his mind again. He could almost feel the same panic he had known back then.
And the utter relief he felt when Beatrice had informed him of her current whereabouts.
That had been one of the most terrifying moments in his life. In truth, he imagined that if Sofia died, she would also. She was loyal to her friends. And he was the one that constantly seemed responsible for their deaths.
Mario died because he had fallen ill and Mario was forced to take over.
Sofia had died because there was no official captain to make decisions.
And, of course, Ryoko.
He had tried to understand why Mika was so upset about Ryoko's death. Her DNA was in the bank, and a duplicate already existed. Yet, for some unexplainable reason, Mika was convinced that Ryoko was gone forever.
Mario had mentioned a similar idea when Tiki was resting. An exact copy could be made, but Mario was determined to save the one that already existed, claiming that it would be different.
But, how? How could a person that is identical to another in every way be anything but the same? Would they not have the same abilities, traits, features? What about them would make them different? He had gone to see Ryoko's duplicate, to apologize, and had noticed no flaws.
Physically, she was the same person.
Was there some mannerism he had missed? She seemed of similar disposition to the Ryoko he knew. She sounded the same and carried herself the same way. So, then, why was Mika so upset?
"I'm going to see 'love' for myself." Mario's words whispered through his mind.
Was love the reason Mika was so intent on believing that Ryoko was gone? Was love the reason Mario forgot himself and became irrational over Tiki's condition?
"Love," it was an obsolete emotion taken out with the passing of the 21st century. Love was what had caused countless problems between nations, between humans. As a young military student, legends of Spartans and Trojans were sneered upon, just another example of how emotions and men could destroy humanity.
Love was merely a thing of the past that lived in dreams.
So why did he find himself thinking of that word whenever his mind wandered to Mika Seido?
Why are his decisions not foolproof when she was involved?
Why was he lenient with her where he would punish others?
Why did he feel happy when he remembered that she had held his hand on Ganymede?
Why did his vitals race at the thought of her being in danger, or just at the thought of her?
Was it love that caused him to stay up late wondering what she was doing?
Was he in love with her?
While at the academy, he had been introduced to an effective decision-making principle- Occam's Razor.
"All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best."
Despite the fact that love was supposed to be extinct, he couldn't help but think that it was, indeed, the simplest solution.
He was in love with Mika Seido.
Moving back to his bed, Hiroto Amagiwa fell asleep with a small smile on his face. It was the best night's sleep he'd ever had.
So, terrible story. One morning I woke up with an almost irresistible urge to write a fanfic called "Occam's Razor." It didn't occur to me that I probably needed to find an anime and a plot to go along with the title, so I dug up Geneshaft! It's a wonderful anime and I feel like I may not have done it any justice here, but I wrote it for the title.
I hope you enjoyed this!