Elfen Liner Notes : A Vaxxing Opponent
2008
Anytime this thing of hers got difficult to take, she remembered Kouta's words, just before they all finally went their separate ways.
**I don't approve of what you did, or how you went about it. Your actions brought a fair amount of pain to our household, and to the world. But some of your actions have balanced this out. One of those is standing as the people's hero, for creating the means by which the attacks were ended. You may be a created hero, a manufactured idol, but you are also a needed one. Act as that hero, not despite the fact that it pains you, but because it does, and you will finally have our full forgiveness and respect.**
So relying on those words yet again, Arakawa prepared to endure yet another talk show appearance, though this one had a better cause than merely lauding her for work she now saw as forever tainted.
*Gotta sell it...people are counting on this drive. About two billion people with a questionable future on this planet.*
The way the war had been mishandled, she felt no guilt for at all. Humanity was now circling the existential drain because even the Diclonius birth crisis couldn't put everyone on the same page soon enough. Two billion people on paper sounded a lot like genetic viability should not even be a concern.
But people were still scared to have kids. Old grudges meant that the vaccine was still being withheld from areas not liked by someone else for some such reason. Any time a horned birth would crop up-these areas were wiped away with not even a hint of mock regret. Worse still, the aggressors didn't really have enough people to stop the vaccine being delivered outright-only to frustrate it enough that full coverage was impossible, always leaving the door open for more horned births, and thus excuses to strike.
"Joining us next on USA Morning Klatch is the renowned Doctor Hiromu Arakawa, the little lady who saved the whole wide world!"
*At least here in the states, nobody gets that my folks gave me a guy's name. Yeah, I saved the world - after helping to damn it to the point it needed saving. But the world needs a poser-so I guess I'm what Nana calls Big Hair Faker from Dragon Ball.*
Arakawa put on her best face as she emerged on stage, waving at the cameras and audience, a wink that had become her trademark pasted on her face. The show hostess - who Arakawa noted was not THAT much taller than her - gestured for her to sit down after shaking her hand.
"So, Doctor-is world hunger in your crosshairs next?"
The sheer vapidity of the question almost bowled Arakawa over, though she had been warned this particular host was near the edge of the stereotype for the group as a whole.
"Well, that would be nice, wouldn't it? But while I plan to donate to several groups doing just that, I feel like first and foremost I have to complete my work damping down this outbreak that's challenged our world. In fact, an effort to do just that is why I'm here today."
Because, Arakawa told herself, she couldn't think of any other reason she would subject herself to this. The host either did not catch on to her sarcastic look or could not hope to.
"Great! Now, Doc-can I call you Hiromu-or just plain Hero, cause that's how a lot of people see you-Doc, you once worked for one of Japan's biggest companies-Oh My Goodness, just a huge concern, Kakuzawa Industries-any office romance dirt to dish on your old bosses?"
This woman was, in Arakawa's eyes, rapidly making Nana seem like a conversational genius.
"My-old bosses, rest their souls-surrounded by much warmth-weren't much for romance. They were dedicated to their work-one might even say, they were deeply committed..."
*Or they should have been*
"...but again, the reason I'm here is..."
"Oh, C'mon, Doc! Any crazy inter-office wagers? A hard working gal like yourself must let loose sometime."
Arakawa simply broadened her smile.
"NO-No office wagers. Thanks for asking. Am I going to get a chance to speak about my vaccine?"
If the host had simply turned on her and showed proof that Arakawa was something of a fraud, the scientist would have welcomed it at that point. But while she did turn on her, it was nothing so substantive or cathartic.
"Well, we are going to speak about this vaccine, and a lot of other vaccines, Doc. With someone who always has a lot to say on the subject-and who always looks just awesome doing it-right when we come back!"
The cut-away to commercial was met with applause - for reasons Arakawa could not quite discern.
*Then again, seeing this void disperse even for a few minutes could make me spontaneously applaud*
Arakawa saw the host being 'refreshed' by her make-up people, and swore she could hear her head rattle when she shook it.
"Umm, another person is coming on? I really need to explain why I'm here-which your people promised there would be time to do..."
An opened palm was held in front of Arakawa. The host never turned around to look at her.
"Hold that thought, honey, OK?"
Arakawa found she was holding lots of thoughts-and even more words-back at that moment, till the show resumed.
*Why couldn't they have booked me again with that short-haired loud woman who's on night-time cable? She at least knew what I was talking about.*
"And we're back! Folks, Doctor Arakawa likely saved the whole world when she cooked up this vaccine while fighting off hordes of violent devil-girls..."
*Forget Nana. This woman makes the Professor's severed head look sharp.*
"...but as we know, vaccines are a touchy subject with some, and in some corners, frankly more than a little bit controversial."
Arakawa openly wondered how and when not getting sick became a source of controversy. She would learn this soon.
"So let's give a big morning show hand to our old pal, Mackenzie Jenarth! Hey, Mackie!"
Arakawa struggled with the name, so she darted to her portable electronic device (a gift from a major tech CEO), and checked.
*Former nude model in mens' magazines-and host of a game show on a music video channel? Well, this shouldn't be much of a debate.*
The host was already seeming to crowd Arakawa out of her own interview, fawning over the still-attractive former model. It would only get worse.
"Now folks, most of you viewers know that I was a line producer on Mackie's Double-Up show, so this is kind of a reunion, too. Mackie-why don't you give us your take on Doctor Arakawa's vaccine-and the questions your organization has about it?"
The former model's hair was even bigger than her chest, if such a thing was possible.
"Well, as I hope everyone knows, my sweet beautiful baby girl was born with-challenges-aplenty, and I never liked the explanations the doctors provided-when they bothered to provide one."
The host shook her head, looking at the audience.
"Doctors, folks, do we all know just what she's talking about?"
Arakawa let the obvious rejoinder to that one slide right on by. The host kept right on.
"Mackie-what about the Doc's vaccine-I mean she did save us all from going the way of Dino and Grimlock, right?"
Arakawa couldn't let that one go.
"Wait-wasn't he a robot? And-couldn't Dino talk in one episode?"
Jenarth seemed just as capable of bypassing Arakawa entirely.
"My thing is all about questions. Doctors like Miss Arakawa here push these vaccines, these drugs, and let's call them drugs, for pity's sake, and make their tidy fortunes off them, all while our kids pay the real price."
Despite her sometimes-overwhelmed nature, Arakawa was at her core a rational person, and searched here for a rational answer to what the celebrity intruder was saying. The problem was, as it had been with her late employers, the rational was often turned away at the door. In fact, though she had scolded Kouta for not checking to see if she had followed him to Maple House (this to deflect from household anger), she herself was in many ways more unworldly than any of them there.
"Excuse me? Are you somehow talking about possible side effects from using vaccines?"
The glares that came told her all she really needed to know. On a show she had been invited to appear on, and as far as she knew, had been billed to appear alone. Jenarth simply shook her head impatiently.
"We are talking, DOCTOR, about a worldwide money machine that doesn't care as it chews up our kids and holds back their development. It is well documented that these vaccines of yours cause a whole host of developmental and immune disorders. Are you a parent, Doctor? Have you experienced the heartbreak of watching your little one fall further and further behind, all because some people decided to get unspeakably wealthy while playing God?"
Arakawa now felt an annoyance that transcended all her fears and guilt. Now, her knowledge was being called into question.
"Just where is this documentation? You asked me if I'm a parent. I ask if you are a Doctor, and if so, just what arcade machine university did you pluck your degree out of?"
She was firing off her best, and yet Arakawa had once more underestimated the ferocity of one who saw only their cause and their goal.
"My accreditation is one taken from the college of the Internet, Doctor. They're called search engines. If you bothered to use one, you'd find all the documentation you could ever want, all of it pointing to the truths I have struggled to bring out. Millions of people around the planet, telling the stories of how their children were changed almost overnight after taking your magic elixirs."
Arakawa was at a loss. Now attention-seeking anecdotes were being taken over careful study and analysis?
"How can you cite something that is built on multiple layers of air, sand, water and playing cards, and expect to put yourself forward as..."
The host with the least displayed her suspect allegiance once more.
"Wow, this is getting heated. Doctor, we do not enjoy personal attacks on this show. But this is a fascinating debate, which will continue when we get back."
Arakawa decided to ditch the sarcastic rejoinder, and drill down to opposition research. While the two old friends giggled about how well the whole thing was going. The mid-show commercial break was longer, allowing Arakawa just enough time to hit paydirt.
*Use a search engine? Babe, I DESIGN search engines. My firm got bought by a firm that got bought by a firm that merged with a firm that sold out to one of the big three. Course, I got screwed over and had to take the job with the Professor, but still.*
The host resumed, and without missing a beat, chastised Arakawa once more.
"Now, Doctor, just because your point of view has been challenged, doesn't mean you can just kick civility to the curb. Now, isn't an apology in order?"
Arakawa did as her host had done, bypassing her words while reading from her mobile device.
"Ahem-I am nothing special in and of myself. So many of what people think of as my achievements aren't in fact mine. I guess you could say I just drew the longest straw-I won the genetic lottery when it came to certain things."
Prepared for bluster or anger, the simple recitation left host and opponent at a loss for words, till the host finally regained her voice.
"What the hell was that?"
Jenarth was quickly fuming.
"How dare you use my own words against me? That is completely different!"
Arakawa calmly tapped her device.
"I actually think you showed a lot of wisdom in a time when fame should have gone to your head. I do wonder why you can't apply this same wisdom to your child's challenges, instead of assuming there must be a sinister reason for it all. Believe me, I've known some sinister folks. Way worse than you could imagine. I also see those same words applying more to my life than I am remotely comfortable with. But these are the hands we're dealt. Shutting down a system that has overwhelmingly aided the world isn't going to erase our challenges."
Jenarth rose in a fury and raised her finger, pointing.
"I have broken better people than you, Arakawa!"
To which the scientist could only sigh.
"And somehow, Chief-you're proud of that fact?"
Some handlers had Jenarth offstage in a heartbeat, and Arakawa seized the moment.
"Folks, some in this world are using this sorry moment we find ourselves in to do some ethnic cleansing. I have a fund - donate and I'll match, to see to it that these hateful folks don't make the war Humanity's finish line. We need everybody to make it through this."
After giving a phone number, Arakawa turned and saw the host. Oddly she was smiling.
"Great show! I'll bet we take the Daytime Emmy for this one!"
Arakawa bit down, and shouted.
"Pastry Tray!"
The sudden barked command had a tray of multi-fruit topping danishes and tarts waiting a moment later. The host oohed.
"Doc, you are going to share, right?"
In fact, a widely grinning Arakawa let her have the whole tray. All at once.
Walking in to this scene, a simple look shooing off the still-fuming Jenarth, the Agent merely shook her head.
"I really can't take you anywhere, now can I?"