Disclaimer: Sunrise controls the true HiME. Sunrise is in no way controlled by me.
Notes: Huge thanks to Crosswood for editing- all remaining mistakes are mine alone. Also, thanks to a number of people who encouraged me to keep at this particular story.
Looking Over the Edge
Saeko was as good as dead.
The young woman knew that it was only a matter of time until she was caught, trapped, and disposed of. She'd done too much to survive this. She'd done too little to ensure her daughter's safety. That was not to say she hadn't done all she could, was still even now doing everything in her power to improve Natsuki's odds in the sick game being planned around her.
Saeko was tired, however, tired and lonely. She was worried that part of her was looking forward to the silence and peace she hoped came at the end of a person's existence. That was her new comfort, as pretty thoughts about being able to share her burden only made her feel more tired, and bitter, and even more lonely.
Anyone that would understand, she couldn't trust. And who was left that she could trust? Oh, she didn't think her *dear* husband would actually turn her over to either dangerous group she was toying with. However, she didn't trust him to care- certainly not about her safety, and maybe, though it hurt to consider, maybe not about Natsuki's either.
She wondered sometimes if she had pushed Hiroshi into fatherhood. She did not regret Natsuki at all, but had he really felt ready? They'd discussed children before, but it had been in a vague way as something to happen in that magical, future time 'when they were settled.' The opportunity though…
It had been Sakai-sempai that started it. Always friendly, it had seemed the most natural thing in the world when he invited her to provide a sample as 'something fun' for the revolutionized DNA reader he was testing. It hadn't even seemed odd that his strange, but striking young nephew was at the lab. She saw him occasionally there and it seemed he was something of a mascot or pet to those on the upper levels. Sakai-sempai's test only took a drop of blood and less than a minute to produce a stream of data that both did and did not resemble the standard code of DNA.
"There it is, Nagi!" he exclaimed as he pointed out a specific portion to the boy.
"There is what?" she asked while laughing at his exuberance.
It had been the boy who had answered, with an oddly unchildlike wink, "The Princess gene."
After that, Saeko received the generous offer that would allow her to keep working, in some form or other, through an entire pregnancy and nursing period. They merely wanted to be her doctors and observe the earliest moments of an inheritor of this 'Princess gene.'
She had wanted a family, a real and loving one. She wanted it for the sake of her own past and for his as well. She wanted to prove that both of them could be part of a happy and stable family. She'd wanted also to have that much more to love. She did love her little girl, but she'd failed to make that stable and happy unit. Perhaps it was Hiroshi and her that were deficient… It didn't matter now.
What had happened to them, Hiroshi and her? It wasn't all that long ago that they seemed so suited, so matched. There were many things that bound them, like the fact that they'd both got through school on their own strength, their families either unwilling or unable to help. Personality wise they'd always been different but it had seemed to Saeko that they complimented, strength for weaknesses. She'd loved that he insisted on understanding the concepts, if not the numbers, of her work. She loved science and hated how the language of it was used to keep it insular, instead of making it as accessible to everyone as possible. They were both strong, intelligent, driven, and in love- or so she had thought.
The saddest part was that looking back, she could see their turning point. It was something so small, and possibly needless. She'd been hearing things, noticing things in her research, trends in the patterns of what she was asked to look into. Materializing Elements, it had seemed strange then; it was terrifying now that she understood more. That day, when she'd come home with vague ideas of super powers and alien technology, he'd asked the same question he always did and she'd frozen. It sounded like science fiction, or worse. He'd never believe her, would he? And she certainly couldn't make him understand when she didn't half understand either. She'd been vague, giving herself more time, but something had changed. She'd seen it but had held hope that it wouldn't grow. It had grown and she hated him for it. She hated him more for that moment – a moment which when she looked back on forced her to feel guilty. It forced her to wonder if she should have been honest, damn the consequences
Tense weeks had followed as Saeko fought to find the truth of HiME's and First District's plans. Finding sensitive information without looking like you were trying to find sensitive information was a battle on its own. And then to go home and have to decide daily what was safe to say- when the reward was more distance and silent reproach.
She mused that perhaps it was that distance, that perceived need for an ally that led her to her ultimate plan of action. If she could not find someone to trust, she would create one: a warrior to defend, a woman to protect. Besides, someone merely human could not stand against this alien technology- technology so advanced that even to her mind it sometimes seemed like magic. Saeko would have never imagined that she of all people, would come to so intimately understand ancient man's reactions to a universe he could not comprehend.
Saeko was beginning to comprehend, however. The apparati labeled 'Obsidian', the crystal cage and its childish captive, the strange code in her own daughter's DNA… it was starting to come together. She did not know if she could build the tools that could withstand, let alone overpower, the forces at the disposal of District One's true masters. But then, she did not know that she would have to. The secret that lay in Natsuki's blood was the answer, but it was the crystal cage that was the inspiration.
The work had to be done at home. It was easy enough to find time as at age five, Natsuki's inclination to sleep through the night (in the interest of playing much harder through the day) was greater than most other children. Hiroshi would hardly notice either. Even if he chose to sleep at home, he was hardly going to look for her.
The equipment needed was a little more difficult. Months of carefully planned trips to the inventory room- taking two items, signing for one, were a large portion of the routine. Parts were scavenged from a 'home monitoring unit', explained as a way to monitor the HiME cell reaction in Natsuki in various situations without having to get her to the lab and risk not getting the readings at all. Saeko would have kept her daughter away from that place entirely, but there was no stopping that development. Natsuki actually seemed comfortable in those grey corridors, among the white coats- more comfortable than Saeko was now among her peers.
Only a part of the Protector could be made with Saeko's resources, but it was a vital part and she was betting a lot that it could not be reproduced by others. The plans were drawn up in full, a hundred safeguards hidden by different degrees. Some of her programming would be replaced, that was inevitable, but she made sure that some of the true purpose of her Protector was wrapped inexorably in the most important, the most complex, and the most tempting aspects and functions of the machine… the individual. Then with all the planning, plotting and gathering done, it was time for the first of the truly nerve wracking parts.
Hypnotism- it had actually been a fleeting interest of Hiroshi's. It was not something Saeko even suspected she would make use of, especially in such non-entertaining circumstances. It wasn't that she rejected the power of the mind- how could she, given the findings of the HiME project? She just thought science was at its best in the physical world where results were more measurable and more easily anticipated. With this in mind, she hypnotized her then six and a half year old daughter and influenced the child's mind to make something real.
Not rock, but ice resulted from the stimulus as Saeko relayed to Natsuki the –need- to create for the good of them all. She described the crystal, not at first invoking the image of the cage. Painstakingly she explained the shape and angles they needed, seeing it built from the bottom up. At the half point, she asked her HiME to feel no pain then pricked a small finger and squeezed a few drops of blood into a center recess in the ice. She bandaged her child's finger as the crystal finished taking for there was one last role for Natsuki in this creation Now Saeko spoke of permanence and the ability to hold, cradle the life within, unchanging. Forever. At the utterance of that last word, some alien reminiscence within her summer princess had clicked and she no longer held ice, but a model in miniature of the crystal that held captive some other mother's child.
The ability to neutralize a HiME's power, to overcome the forces that would use, enslave the HiME… 'Obsidian' was set to absorb the pain and sadness- the metaphorical blood and tears of these marked girls. The literal blood would be 'Obsidian's' downfall. She had not known then what exact complications would arise because of that same blood. There was no question it was the answer to the problem of anti-materialization potential. Filtering the data through the materialization-able blood would fill in the code needed to counter it. The blood would be made a viable conduit of information through Sakai's invention, his DNA reader, made for the purpose of identifying potential HiME parents.
It gave Saeko special pleasure to think it would be a piece of First District technology that would allow anti-materialization capability. That technology provided the link, the method of translating between Earth level technology and the alien secrets hidden in HiME blood, and the stranger ability to harness and direct feeling as power. The crystal would serve two purposes. The simpler would be the simpler prismatic effect of directing the information of the blood to the proper, waiting receiver. The other purpose was the same as its prototype. It would keep the blood vital, frozen in time exactly as it had been. The crystal was the means that would allow this cybernetic protector to have 'life'. If Saeko's theory of Obsidian's ability to siphon emotion and convert it to energy was correct, perhaps it would allow for something akin to humanity as well. She was certainly counting on DNA recognition and a devilishly hidden protocol that would cause… attachment.
The main processor complete, it was time to recruit her unwitting collaborators. First District would never build something so dangerous to their designs, so she would have to find another entity, a force that could somehow compete with her employers for strength and secrecy.
Saeko listened to the rumors, and more important, looked for who was watched. Over time she assembled a list of the most likely people. It wasn't a perfect method, since she couldn't truly find out anything about the possible organizations, but she would make it work. Her first plan was a series of carefully placed comments that would not mean too much- never directly to one of her suspects, but within hearing. With luck, she would not look like a stage actress, trying to "subtly" make a point to the audience… and after dropping these hints she hoped like hell the other party would take the initiative, because in this case, her first plan was also her last.
They had taken the initiative. The invitation was divided into a seemingly innocent answering machine message (a call to do a survey- from a pharmaceutical company), a note in her locker, and a number- which was a time and address, sent to her pager. She'd never been so relieved and terrified by the same event. That conflict had been a fitting introduction to the Sears Foundation.
Her contact wasn't what she was expecting- though she couldn't say exactly what she had expected to see. The lack of a trench coat must have been part of the disconcerting picture, though the gray skies above them did fit her idea of the situation. Instead of the movie spy archetype however, this man, not so much older than her, was in an exceedingly ordinary business suit. The American, or possibly European, was not the attractive stereotype of a foreigner. He was too hawkish, with his long nose and smallish, focused eyes. His smile conveyed nothing but predatory instinct as he introduced himself. He had called himself John Smith, and as he flattered her and 'little Princess Natsuki', she wondered if this man was not far more emotionless than the being she hoped, with the help of Sears, to make.
Negotiations had nearly been disastrous. Sears was not merely watching and waiting. They had their own plan, though Smith was careful enough that she couldn't fully guess what it was. What he could not hide was that the missing component was HiME DNA. The man seemed genuinely shocked that Saeko didn't want to offer her child into scientific experimentation a second time- this time without her having any semblance of control. It was telling of the man's nature that when she revealed what she had come to sell, he masked his surprise almost entirely.
The deal was made, and an obscenely large monetary transaction was scheduled to take place. Saeko didn't care about the money. The appearance was the thing. She couldn't risk Sears looking too closely at her motives, so she manufactured one that was closely modeled on the truth. Saeko wanted to get herself and her child away from First District and the coming dangers. The money was to create their new life and cover their tracks. The truth, however, was that Saeko planned to be gone before she'd have a chance at the funds.
As far as money went, she had thought of one thing she could do in case she did not make it. Saeko had quietly changed her will and had listed Natsuki as the beneficiary of her assets and her life insurance. Would Hiroshi pick up the slack? Saeko was far past being able to leave those questions to chance.
In the end she had to leave even sooner than planned. Saeko had planned to go to work one last time, finish the workweek so she would have the extra time before her absence was noticed. She had stopped to buy groceries before going home from her appointment with Smith. She noted grimly as she entered, that the rain was starting in earnest. As she hurried to buy some snacks that would serve well for travel food she spotted a familiar face at the other end of the aisle. She managed to fake a cheerful greeting to her favorite junior- she had trained the afro-sporting scientist. He nodded in return, obviously distracted. As he passed her though, he whispered two words that made her blood run cold, "They know."
The rush back home barely registered in her mind. Rushing Natsuki along without explanation was all she could force herself to do in her agitation. It was too soon! All of the factors were crowding in on them- the obvious tail, the worsening weather. Saeko became more daring in her speed, and would have been more daring in her route if given the chance. It was impossible not to suspect she was being led, forced to that ledge and that last desperate adjustment to avoid the hunters before her. For one perfect moment, looking over the edge to the black water below, Saeko saw the threads of fate already weaved and wondered about those yet to be placed. Could it possibly work for the best? Would Sears' plans help or interfere with her own? Would someone be there to love Natsuki, to make Saeko's daughter the center of their world?
Kuga Saeko was as good as dead. Natsuki and the others were in their places, for better or worse.
She'd let the HiME handle the rest.