Xenosaga: Gottlicher Eingriff
Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own Xenosaga. If I did, I would not be here writing this story, I would be in a studio somewhere writing the script and planning the designs. Now that you know that, allow me to get on to the important parts; my author note and the story
Author Note: My story will follow the plotlines of Episodes I and II, and then it takes it's own direction. I translated the title 'Divine Intervention' into German online, but I wasn't sure if it was right. If anyone knows German, and can tell me if that's right or wrong, that would be awesome. Oh, and I'm sorry if any characters seem OOC. I'm trying my best, but something a little off may slip in here. Any suggestions that you could make would be appreciated. And, as always, you can check the status of my stories on my bio page.
And now, onto Divine Intervention.
Chapter One: A Moment's Reflection
One year after the events of Episode II
"Little Master, do you require anything?" asked Shelley as he left the Durandal's bridge for the lift, Alby following him closely. He turned to her.
"No thanks, Shelley. Just call me in my room if when Gaignun gets back from his meeting," he requested. Shelley nodded affirmative. He turned to Alby.
"Stay," he said. The dog just looked at him with his amethyst eyes, not comprehending his words. "Stay," he repeated, gesturing toward the bridge. Alby continued to stare, his head cocked to one side,
"I don't think he's gonna listen to you," said Mary, laughing. Jr. sighed. He knew when he was defeated.
"Oh, all right," he said to Alby, and the dog jumped over to him and stood beside him, wagging his tail. Jr. rode the lift down, walked across the floor below, and into the mass transit system that waited for him at the other side, Alby following him closely the whole way.
"Residential Area," he said, and the system started off. He sat down on one of the cushions, and sighed. It had been hectic since the Durandal had found the Elsa and it's strange passengers, and it was only going to get worse.
It didn't help matters that Gaignun seemed had been disappearing a lot recently. Gaignun had told him that it was a top-secret matter for Helmer, but he wouldn't tell him anything else. What could he be doing during all of these 'vacations'? Jr. wondered. Gaignun should have, no, would know better than to deceive him. At yet, despite all of his suspicions, he had no idea what Gaignun was doing. Jr. just wished he knew what was going on, but Gaignun refused to talk about it.
"Residential Area," droned the flat voice of the machine, and Jr. got up. He walked off the system, but hit his head on the top of the door.
"Damn," he hissed angrily. In the last year he'd undergone a serious growth spurt, and was now about the same size as chaos, and he actually looked 16. After all of these years of looking 12, though, he still wasn't used to it. He walked down the familiar corridors to his room, rubbing his sore head. Once there he walked in, locked the door, then sat down on his bed, looking out the viewport at the shimmering stars. Alby jumped up beside him, and made himself comfortable on Jr.'s mattress.
Jr. sighed as he watched the stars. Somewhere out there were the remnants of the group he'd been a part of all this time. Through the intervention of fate they were spread into the four winds, and Jr. knew that it was gong to take a lot of luck to get them all back together again. He wasn't even sure if he'd get the chance to see any of them again. They'd become close friends, all of them. Even KOS-MOS seemed to have opened up the tiniest fragment, a huge accomplishment when you took into consideration she was a state-of-the-art combat android.
Jr. pulled a photo of all of them out of his pocket, and studied it. There they all were, smiling at the camera, except for KOS-MOS, of course, as they stood together for what might have been the last time in the Park Area. But the picture seemed to capture the moment better when she wasn't smiling. That was true to life, and Jr. wanted to remember everything about his friends just the way they were. In fact, every single one of them seemed the way they always did.
There was Allen with that same baffled expression on his face. Shion was smiling politely, although her attention was focused on KOS-MOS, as it always was. chaos had a small smile on his face, his arms crossed as he looked at them all, obviously amused. Ziggy looked bored, as was usual in the cyborg, although you could see the tiniest hint of a smile, so small Jr. wasn't even sure if he was imagining it or not. KOS-MOS stood on the edge of the picture, unsmiling and still, participating because Shion had requested that she do it, yet still not seeing the purpose of it.
And there he was in the middle of everything, just as he always was, smirking at the camera. And there was MOMO standing next to him, her grin rivaling his for brilliance and volume. Just they way things always were. I wonder if things will ever go back to the way they were. I doubt it, but I can always dream. That's what's gotten me this far in life, hasn't it?
He sighed, and placed the picture on his bedside table. Everything was changing, and he couldn't take it. Albedo was dead, Gaignun kept disappearing, his friends were scattered, and the alliances between the planets had been deteriorating quickly since the Patriarch and his Immigrant Fleet's betrayal had been discovered. Jr. didn't see how anything was going to be solved. And he was stuck here, unable to do anything. That was probably the most frustrating of all. He hated being still and inactive, because that let him think too much. And that was never good for him. In fact, he was busy thinking right now. And his thoughts always lead him back to two people.
The first was Albedo. Jr. was having a hard time dealing with the fact that his brother, his twin brother, was dead, even after a year. Sure, he was crazy, but Jr. had always hoped that somehow he would be able to recover, that they could go back to being two carefree kids who teased each other about the littlest thing and said that they hated the other, even though they never, ever meant it.
But those days were gone forever. Because Albedo had made him kill him. Selfish bastard, Jr. grumbled to himself in annoyance. But, like always, he didn't mean it. In fact, it made him sad that Albedo was gone. For so long he'd had Albedo's heart beating along side his, in tandem with his, and now there was nothing but a chilly void there. A part of him had been ripped away, and it would never come back. The comfort, the assurance that someone was still there, had been stripped away from him. He felt weak, vulnerable.
And that led him to the next person. MOMO too had always been there for him, and yet she'd left him as well. At least he knew that she was safe. He would hate to think of life if she were dead. She was always so vibrant, so alive. It had torn his heart to pieces to see her emotionless face after she'd disconnected her neural paths to keep Albedo from the Y-Data, and the thought of that expression on her face for all eternity was just too great. She was a support column, a reason to keep going, and if he lost that then he lost everything. He had no idea why he felt this strongly about her.
In retrospect he'd realized he's never felt so strongly about anyone before, except for Sakura, but she was dead now – and he wasn't even sure he cared about her more than MOMO even when she was alive. He wished he had someone to talk to, someone that didn't see him as a superior. But there was no one left like that on the Durandal. Well, Ziggy was on board, but he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to pour his heart out to the taciturn old man.
He lay down on the bed, and threw an arm across his face. He just couldn't take this anymore. Everyone, everything, was slipping away from him, leaving him stranded on some godforsaken island. Gaignun too was always there, and he'd always understood his problems. But now he too had gone away. Usually, when he couldn't take it anymore, he reached into himself to find the link to Albedo. But even that wasn't able to comfort him anymore. He was completely and utterly alone.
That thought crushed him like a 50 pound rock. I really am a coward at heart if I can't take being alone like this. How can I possibly be strong, for this ship's crew and the Foundation, if I can't even be strong in the security of my own mind? He was losing it, and he knew it. It was all slipping away again. Albedo... You may have done a lot of bad things, and you may have tried to kill a lot of people... But despite it all, you were still my brother.
And now you're gone, and I'm the one who has to continue on for an eternity alone. I'm the one who has your nightmare, and you now have mine. I was afraid of death, and now you're the one that has to contend with it. You were afraid of being alone, and now I must contend with that. He grinned slightly as a thought occurred to him. We always said that we hated each other. And yet, in the end, we saved each other, if only for a moment, from the one thing that we feared the most.
At least you can't feel the emotions I feel right now. I'm still a coward, Albedo, and I can't go on like this. I wish you were here to help, you or Gaignun or MOMO or anyone, really. Just so I don't have to be alone. I'm... still... a coward... and I probably always will be.
---
MOMO sprang awake as a sharp pain in her right chest started to stab at her. She hugged her stomach, and tried so hard to make it go away, but she knew that it wouldn't, because she also knew where it came from. For more than a year an awareness for the emotions of a certain U.R.T.V. had started to grow in her, coming to a peak when they'd been with Albedo in Sakura's Subconscious Domain. It had started when she had been aboard the Song of Nephilim, calling out for him and Ziggy. No matter what she tried, the awareness for his emotions didn't go away. She looked out at the stars, wondering if he could see the same ones that she did, and wishing that she could be there to help him.
Jr., it's okay, she thought, trying to reach him through the awareness. But she couldn't. It was something that only she knew about. She hadn't mentioned it to him, knowing that he didn't need to worry about what he was transmitting along the link along with everything else that was bothering him. And it was comforting, too. Jr. tried so hard to pretend he was strong and tough, and he never let his true emotions show through. But with the link she knew what was going on. She was glad she could understand what he was feeling better and help him with that in some small way.
It's okay, please don't be sad. She wished she could do more, but she couldn't. All she could content herself with doing was trying as hard as she could to send him some reassurance. She doubted that it reached him, though.
---
Jr. didn't know why, but after his silent tirade toward 'Albedo' he felt better. It felt almost as if someone was there listening to his problems, and understood them. It's kind of like MOMO were here or something, he thought. MOMO was the only person he could think of actually talking to who would actually care about his problems.
Sure, Albedo would have cared, but he didn't like to admit that there were problems in the world. For Albedo, his older brother was someone who had no problems, who was there for moral support. MOMO would actually understand, though. I wish you really were here, he thought, looking back out at the stars. Maybe I should give her a call one of these days...
Alby, as though sensing the sorrow within him, crawled over to him and started to lick his face. Jr. laughed as he gently pushed the puppy away.
"Hey, cut it out!" he said, but the puppy just ignored him as he jumped right back at his face. Jr. held up his hands to protect his face from the assault.
"C'mon, stop it!" he protested, although he was smiling on the outside. He is just like Albedo... He absolutely loves to torment me.
---
chaos had always known that he'd have to face his 'old friend' again. The only question had been when and where. And that meeting had been way sooner than he thought. And now he was going to have a serious chat with him, longer than a brief conversation. He had put it off for a year, but he couldn't avoid the issue anymore. And they both knew it.
Wilheim, what games are you playing now? he wondered yet again as he watched the Dammerung grow closer in the distance. He could feel tendrils of his friend's power and influence in even the farthest reaches of the galaxy. He knew Wilheim was involved in what was going on, but he didn't know how. What exactly was his plan? And, more importantly, how far was he willing to go to reach the goal of his plan?
He sighed, then stepped off of the Elsa. After contending with some minor business for the Durandal, he'd asked them to stop by the Dammerung to drop him off, and to pick him up when he called. Since he asked for so little, they'd agreed to make the stop. He walked down the corridors. Although he'd never been onboard the ship before, he knew instinctively where to go. And his instincts did not lead him astray. They never did.
"How may I help you?" asked the bright young woman sitting at the desk before Wilheim's office. Shion had called her Miyuki or something like that when the Dammerung had come to the assistance of the Durandal over a year ago.
"I wanted to speak with Wilheim," he said.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No."
"I see. I'll ask him, but he's very busy. What shall I say your name is?"
"...chaos." He'd considered giving his other name, but this one would do for now. Wilheim no doubt knew he was aboard the Dammerung anyway.
"I'll call him right away," said the smiling girl. She picked up the phone on her desk. "Mr. Wilheim? There a man named... chaos here to speak with you." She was silent a moment, listening. "Of course sir. Right away sir." She hung up the phone, then turned to him. "I'm sorry, he's very bust he'll see you tomorrow though. He said that we were to provide you with a room until he has time to meet with you."
"All right then."
Miyuki pulled out a map, and a key with the number '351' written on it. "This is your room number. Just follow the map to our quarter area, then look for this room number. There is a cafeteria on board, and some observation decks. Places like these are labeled in green. Oh, and try not to stray too far from the green areas. The rest are for authorized personnel only."
"I understand. Thank you." He turned and started to walk away, not bothering to glance at the map. He knew where he had to go.
"chaos?" called a curious voice behind him. He turned to see Shion, Allen and KOS-MOS walking toward him.
"Why, hello. I didn't expect to see you here."
"The same here," Shion said. "How are you? What are you doing here?"
"I've been fine. I just came to speak with Wilheim. What about you? What's been happening with you?"
"Oh, we've been working on getting KOS-MOS ready to - oh, yeah. The information is restricted," Allen said, his face turning red as Shion turned to face him, annoyed. "Sorry."
"Nothing personal, chaos," Shion said apologetically. "But I personally don't want to be kicked off this project."
"That's all right, I understand," chaos said. That was very curious indeed. He had known what would happen with KOS-MOS when they dropped them off a year ago, but he hadn't been so sure about Shion and Allen. KOS-MOS would no doubt be receiving repairs and upgrades, and it was obvious she had. Shion and Allen, however, had run away from the Dammerung. Personally, chaos wondered if Wilheim had let them escape.
Shion was a good fighter, but she didn't seem like she could take on the security forces of a super-powerful and top secret ship like the Rhine Maiden. And yet, if he had, what would have been the purpose? A test to see how far they would go to accomplish their goals? Or was there something else behind all of this?
"chaos? Are you okay?" asked Shion, calling him out of his musing. He smiled slightly.
"I'm all right. I was just thinking," he said. Shion nodded. She zoned out a lot too, thinking about what was going on and what would happen.
"Yeah, I guess there is a lot to reflect upon. We've come so far. And to think, a mere year and a half ago I was a merely a project leader on the Woglinde. Now here I am as the Chief of the project in Vector receiving the most attention, after battling Gnosis, U-TIC, going through a wide variety of buildings with mazes so confusing it makes me wonder what the designers were thinking, and solving so many puzzles I'm starting to see them in my sleep. It seems like I've grown years, and yet it hasn't been that long!"
"I know the feeling," chaos murmured, although he was thinking of something a little different.
KOS-MOS was not paying attention to the conversation around her, oddly enough. She was, instead, replaying the events from a year ago upon the Durandal in her head, when they had last been all together. In that moment, for the merest nanosecond, something undefined in her parameters had sparked through her.
It was something that was completely alien to her, and it had been on her mind a lot this past year. She wasn't sure if she should alert Shion that there may be a malfunction in her system, but that didn't seem possible. Her analysis concluded there was nothing wrong, and she did not have that alien... program anymore. But it still bothered her.
What could something like that be? She retraced what had happened before the spark. They had taken a picture of the group, then Jr. had jumped in front of them to say a few words. She had the speech still in her databanks.
"I realize this is probably the last time we're gonna be together for a while, so I wanted to say something to you. Over the course of the months that we've known each other, I've come to consider you all good friends, and I'm sure you all feel the same way about each other. Well, except maybe KOS-MOS, but that's okay.
"You see, no matter where you go and no matter what you do, we're all still in this together. I'm sure we're gonna meet up again somewhere, someday. At least, I hope we do. But until then, we'll still be together on the inside."
"Wow, Jr., that was really nice," said MOMO's voice.
"Yeah, well.." he trailed off, blushing from the compliment."It's true. We're kinda like a big family. And even though we're all leaving each other, we shouldn't forget each other."
For some reason, after Jr. had said that about being a family and leaving, KOS-MOS had felt something spark through her. She didn't know what it could be. She hadn't mentioned it to anyone, though. She didn't want to cause needless worry when their skills were needed elsewhere. But she might tell chaos.
The android had no idea why, but her sensors indicated that he was trustworthy person. Her sensors had even said so the first time they'd met, for no reason whatsoever. She'd dismissed it at the time, but now it was curious to her. After all, they'd just met. But she still determined that speaking to him had no negative side. He would not tell Shion or Allen if she requested it. And perhaps he would know what to do.
Her musings were interrupted when she realized that Shion and Allen had started walking for the lifts.
"KOS-MOS, are you coming?"
"Affirmative Shion. I will be there in approximately 3.44532 minutes."
"Oh...okay. But don't get lost."
"That is not possible. I have a map of the ship in my databank," she said, wondering what such a statement meant. Shion just sighed and walked onto the lift, Allen closely following her. chaos started to leave, but KOS-MOS held out a hand to stop him. He was surprised for the merest second, then he turned to face her.
"Yes, KOS-MOS?" he asked curiously.
"chaos, I believe that I have experienced a systems malfunction."
"Really? Shouldn't you tell Shion instead of me?"
"Shion would merely worry needlessly, bring down proficiency by an estimated 34.9973 percent. If I mentioned this to Allen, he would simply tell Shion, causing two people to worry. I have chosen, based on this information, to talk to you." She didn't need to tell him the reason she was mentioning this was because of unexplained data in her mind.
"Needlessly?" he said, questioning her choice of words. "A malfunction is something that has to be worried about."
"The malfunction has passed. But I am experiencing a...a curiosity as to what it was."
"Can you describe it?" chaos asked thoughtfully.
"It occurred right after Jr. spoke about everyone being a family when we last met aboard the Durandal."
"That was quite a while ago..."
"Affirmative. But it has been...bothering me. It was an odd surge, and it left behind an unpleasant feeling."
chaos looked at her curiously, pondering what she said. After a moment, he spoke.
"KOS-MOS, I think you may have experiencing an emotion called sadness. As unlikely as it sounds, I think you were sad about the prospect of everyone leaving. I've heard cases of machines as advanced as you evolving. Maybe that's what's happening. You're evolving."
KOS-MOS looked at him in curiously. "Evolving?" she repeated, wondering if she had heard him correctly. chaos nodded.
"Yes. You've spent so much time around humans, and so much time away from the control of the labs, that you're starting to evolve into your own personality."
KOS-MOS considered that. "You have brought up an interesting point. I shall consider it." She turned and walked away without saying another word.
chaos watched her walk away just like that, and a part of him smiled, although on the outside he seemed as thoughtful as always. Well, Wilheim, I guess you did complete your job. I'd been wondering about that. He watched KOS-MOS walking away, who appeared deep in thought about what he said. He smiled, this time on the outside.
Don't worry, KOS-MOS. You're evolving into your purpose, just as you were meant to. You, and you alone, are the savior of the galaxy. The Gnosis may be gone, yet this peace is but temporary. We shall need permanent redemption, and that is your role. And I shall be your guide along the road of redemption. Trust me, because I won't let you fall. With this thought in mind, chaos started along the halls toward his room.
Trust me, KOS-MOS. I'm your guardian angel.
