Dragon's Eye

It felt like only yesterday since Alan has been in Panama, still viewing that screen, when that press conference had played. All this time he had suspected that something odd had been going on, but he could never have expected something like this. He should've known there was something strange about that robot, ever since he witnessed Godzilla's reaction when he ripped the machine's arm off. Now that he knew the truth about the robotic Godzilla known as Kiryuu, it seemed obvious why Godzilla reacted the way he did. Was there any way he could have known back then? How was he to know that Godzilla had seen the bones under the layers of metal and bio-syntech, perhaps even sensed the soul trapped within?

Alan wondered how long Godzilla had known the truth. The arm was the first clue; had he figured it out as time went by? He couldn't help but wondering how the mutated reptile felt, knowing that his father was alive, resurrected as a machine that had first been built to kill him. The most bitter twist of irony indeed. Yet more twists had been added to the tale as time had gone by. It seemed Kiryuu himself was now aware of what he truly was, of what the Utah Foundation had done to him. Even though Alan couldn't say for certain, that certainly was what it looked like. Alan had witnessed all of those strange events, the strange interactions between Kiryuu and Godzilla. He thought back over all the times that he had witnessed the two of them seemingly go against everything that the Utah Foundation, not to mention the Japanese and American governments, had constructed Kiryuu to do.

The scene at Yokohama had been what started it all. For Godzilla had shown himself to Kiryuu, not to fight him, but just to meet him. That had been the first time Alan had seen Kiryuu's true face, and also had started to learn of the true relationship between Kiryuu and Godzilla. Looking back, he now knew that Godzilla had come to see his father. Alan couldn't help beating himself up over it all, even if he knew there was no way he could've known back then. If he knew then what he knew now, perhaps he wouldn't have been so keen to follow Kiryuu, and learn what he could about him, learn why Godzilla acted the way he did around him.

The events in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, had been what finally revealed the truth to him. Alan still couldn't shake the image out of his mind; of the exposed, bony back spines on Kiryuu lighting up, signalling the coming of the brilliant white blast of fire that had erupted from Kiryuu's own mouth. The machine had never done anything like that before, and Alan still couldn't fathom how such a thing could've happened.

It had been during the televised press conference hosted by the head of the Utah Foundation, Gordon Knight, that had finally confirmed what Alan had suspected upon witnessing the events at Ft. Lauderdale. It was during that conference that Knight had revealed what they had used to construct Kiryuu. That had been what had made all of the answers to the questions that had been building up in his head fall into place. For the Utah Foundation had used the bones of the first Godzilla, the one who had died in 1954, to construct their bio-mech. Their excuse had been that it was the only thing on this planet that could support something that shouldn't even be able to stand at its weight. Perhaps, but this was not what Alan was bothered about. He'd come to accept the fact that the bones were there. What he could not accept was what had come with them.

For Alan was now absolutely certain that the Utah Foundation had done more than just use the bones in the construction of Kiryuu. They'd done more than that. Somehow they'd ended up reviving the original Godzilla. Unintentionally, no doubt, but they'd still done it. The very soul of the original Godzilla was now inside that metal body. Was such a thing even possible? It had to be. There was no other explanation for Godzilla's strange behaviour around Kiryuu, and for the way Kiryuu treated him. That was what Alan hated so much about what the Foundation had done, in their pursuit of building a machine to kill a monster created by the foolishness of some Americans in the first place. It was people like them who had built the atom bomb; the very thing that gave birth to Godzilla and his son in the first place. The original Godzilla had died little over 50 years ago, and they'd brought him back. As far as Alan was concerned, the dead should remain at rest. They should be able to rest in peace after the hardships of life.

For a long time Alan had thought Kiryuu as nothing more than a tool for the Americans to play 'hero'. Now, he wasn't so sure. Was Kiryuu even aware of what he was? Well, surely he was, given how he reacted to Godzilla, how he seemed to defy the purpose that he had originally been built for. If he was aware, then why was he still helping the humans, knowing that people like them had mutated him and killed him in the first place? If he wasn't, then how long would it be before he did become aware? The Foundation had opened Pandora's Box.

So Kiryuu was the original Godzilla, the father of the current Godzilla, now resurrected in the form of a machine that had been constructed by a medical conglomerate that hailed from a country that had created him way back in 1954. Fate had a sense of irony all right.

Adding to Alan's current ill-feeling was the fact that the American government still refused to acknowledge that the Monster Zero attack on London had happened. That monster, that three-headed dragon had managed to virtually wipe out England in less than a day, and yet, despite the evidence Alan himself had gathered, the whole thing was still written off as a hoax by the American government. Alan found himself almost wishing that Monster Zero returned, and attacked America. There'd be no way the government would be able to silence that. As far as he was concerned, Kiryuu was working for a load of liars and conspirators. That was no way to be brought back from the dead.

Right now he was walking through the streets of Grand Forks, North Dakota, dressed in his usual long black coat and with his long hair tied back in a ponytail. He was carrying a small bundle under his arm; a parcel addressed to the Utah Foundation, c/o Gordon Knight. He'd not gone to Utah straightaway, where the main headquarters was, feeling he needed to clear his head before he did anything else. At least here he felt a little less like he was in a country where the liars and fools decided the fates of the common man.

As he walked through the quiet streets, he thought back to the events of last night. He'd rented a session in an Internet café, just to catch up with what was going on on the G-Chaser Network, where Alan published the accounts and photos of his expeditions up to that point. The site had been very busy. Ever since the events in Ft. Lauderdale, more and more people had visited the site, perhaps doing random netsearches on Godzilla and Kiryuu and had dropped by for curiosity's sake. Much of the talk on the site had been about two subjects; the Monster Zero attack, and the bones in Kiryuu. As far as the Monster Zero attack went, everybody agreed with Alan that it had actually happened. The photos were proof of that. Funny, Alan had thought, how he felt closer to a group of faceless strangers than anybody he'd met in real life at this point.

The matter of the bones had caused more debate though. Some thought it was nothing but an enormous fluke, that Kiryuu got lucky that time, that there was nothing else to think about. Others, such as Alan, had decided on the possibility, however remote, that the use of the bones had somehow awakened the soul of the original Godzilla. Alan had left very outspoken comments about this, under his G-Chasing handle of 'Ryuu no Me', letting everyone know that he felt it wasn't right that the Utah Foundation had brought the original Godzilla back, that they should've let him rest in peace.

The most recent post had been made by someone calling themselves 'Heavy Metal'. Alan had often found that this person always tried to remain as impartial as possible when it came to discussing the matters raised on the board. Commendable, but Alan couldn't see how someone could not have some firm opinion on the subject one way or the other. The post had read something like this;

"Sometimes we leave things unfinished in life. Maybe it was fate that brought the original Godzilla back in this form. Destiny…"

To which Alan had replied;

"I don't believe in fate or destiny or anything like that. I've never liked the idea that my life isn't my own. Besides, I seriously doubt it was Godzilla's fate to be working for a government that covers up the truth of events that may come back to haunt them. You call that destiny? It's not the kind of destiny I'd want if I were in Godzilla's position."

He wondered how that Heavy Metal guy was going to react to that. Alan had tried to be civil as possible, he only hoped the guy wouldn't over-react, as some of them on that board were prone to doing. In general though, Alan had been surprised at just how calm people had been about the whole affair, at just how little it bothered them. Indeed, after he'd finished his business on the Network and had gone out for a pint, he'd overheard a conversation between some of the townspeople, discussing the matter of Kiryuu as calmly as talking about the weather.

"Well, as long as he's out there bustin' monster ass," he'd heard them say, "then I couldn't care if he was made a' pencil lead."

Alan wondered why he was so surprised at just how well everyone was taking the news. It had been the same with the British public after Monster Zero's attack. They'd accepted that the attack had happened, and had been more willing to talk about it, even if no American wanted to without using the word 'hoax'. If they knew what Alan knew about Kiryuu, or if they knew the truth about the cover-up, perhaps they wouldn't be so calm. He'd still been unsuccessful at obtaining evidence to prove that the American government had covered up the truth, and now the frustration was really setting in. All he wanted to do was nail the people responsible, make them pay for quarantining England and leaving everybody there to rot. However, he'd not been able to find any evidence that he could use to prove that the cover-up had taken place. The photos alone weren't enough to convince people, since many believed the government when they said they were nothing but elaborate fakes. This had not stopped him from trying though. The truth of Kiryuu had hardened his resolve to get to the truth. He'd learned one truth; it was time for everyone else to learn another.

As he thought about all this, Alan heard his mobile ringing. Having a feeling about who it was, Alan fished the phone out of his pocket and answered. His theories were confirmed when he heard the voice of Dr. Yuji Shinoda speaking on the other end;

"Alan? It's me," Shinoda said. He was a much more subdued figure ever since the press conference. He'd phoned Alan up, excited at the possibility that the original Godzilla had been resurrected. After all that Shinoda had said that our technology was becoming too advanced. Alan had gotten rather short with him, yelling at him, his frustration being released on the unfortunate Shinoda. Nowadays Shinoda was much quieter, and it seemed he and Alan had mutually decided not to discuss the argument further.

"Yeah, what is it?" Alan said, as he continued on his way down the quiet road.

"Something's really important's happened," Shinoda replied. "Someone's been sending me emails asking me all of these questions. Really big questions."

"What about?" Alan replied, though he wondered why Shinoda had bothered to call him about some email pest. Maybe Io was not at home so often, and Shinoda wanted someone - anyone - to talk to.

"Well," Shinoda continued, "He's been asking me a lot of questions about the original Gojira. He's been asking me about what it was that killed Gojira back in 1954, he's been hassling me for a reply."

Now this was odd. Alan himself had sometimes wondered what had killed Godzilla - the first one - but had never been able to find any answers. Shinoda himself didn't know, nor did anyone else Alan had spoken to about it. Now someone had emailed Shinoda out of the blue asking about it. This was odd.

"What was the guy's name?" Alan asked.

"I don't know," Shinoda said, "All I have is a nickname... 'Heavy Metal'. Didn't know anybody actually watched that movie."

Heavy Metal? A horrid sinking feeling entered Alan's stomach. It couldn't be... could it?

"You should listen to this..." Shinoda went on, sounding scared out of his mind, "He hacked into the GPN's servers and downloaded all of the information we have on Gojira. Didn't delete it, but he copied everything! Then he emailed me stating my data was lacking, and even insulted me, saying 'call your yourself a studier of Gojira?'. Of all the nerve!"

Alan narrowed his eyes. He didn't understand. Heavy Metal struck him as one of the most collected people on the board, yet here he was hacking into databases and throwing insults and threats. If this was his idea of payback for that comment Alan left, he was being extremely petty.

"So," Alan asked, "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing," Shinoda said. "I've only just got the emails. I was sorting out the GPN's finances with Io. This Heavy Metal guy said he couldn't wait for an answer, and hacked our databanks. Even if I'd got his note sooner, what could I say? Nobody has been able to find out what killed Gojira. Believe me, I've tried."

"Miyasaka would know, right?" Alan said. "I mean, he's still under the CCI's employ, and it would be typical of them to keep that kind of thing hidden. I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them."

"I've already tried asking him about it," Shinoda said. "Of course, he doesn't know either. All he knows is that the scientist who made whatever it was killed himself to prevent anyone from ever finding out the secrets of this weapon. Mind you, if it was as dangerous as rumoured, then I wouldn't want anyone to know about it either."

Alan sighed. So there was no luck to be had there. Then again, if what Shinoda said and the rumours, whatever they were, were true, then perhaps it was for the best that no-one knew what was the truth behind the only weapon ever to kill Godzilla.

"Why don't you just tell the guy to fuck off, then?" Alan said simply, "If you don't know, you shouldn't have to put up with that kind of harrassment."

"I don't want any trouble," Shinoda said heavily, "Whoever it is, I'd rather not take any risks. He's already downloaded everything we have on Gojira, I hate to think what else he could do."

If Heavy Metal wants trouble though, Alan thought, he's about to get it. He sighed, as he approached a postbox. Taking a moment to make sure that he'd got the address right, he dumped the package inside. He wanted it to get to where it was supposed to go, and quickly.

"Anyway," Shinoda continued, "How're you doing? You holding up okay?"

Alan didn't reply. He didn't know how he felt. So much was buzzing around in his head. All of the bizarre events that had happened to him over the last two years were building up in there. Add to that the continued problem of the cover-up and the truth about Kiryuu, and Alan didn't know what he was supposed to feel. So much had happened, very little of it could be explained, and all of it only served to scrape away at his mind.

"Listen," Shinoda said, "I can't apologise enough for what happened a few weeks ago, but you can't just-"

"Sorry," Alan said, snapping out of his daydream, "I was miles away. I was just shocked that someone who had often spoken about the dangers of advancing our science was jumping around like a schoolboy over what the Utah Foundation had done to build Kiryuu."

"I know, I got carried away then," Shinoda said, his voice full of apology, "I just found it so amazing that the original Gojira had come back, I forgot myself." He stopped for a minute there, organising his words. Alan continued to remain silent. "I know it's been hard for you over these last few years, especially with what happened in London and everything else after it. Still, we'll just have to face these things as and when they come. 'Roll with the punches' so to speak. We'll get all the answers one day. Isn't that why you became a G-Chaser in the first place?"

Alan sighed. He knew Shinoda was right. He had to pull himself together, get his own head sorted out. One day the truth would be revealed. One day they'd all see through the lies. His mentor, Tetsuo, had often said that, and Alan firmly believed it. He had to. That belief was the only thing keeping him going, the reason why he continued to hunt the truth.

"I guess so," he said to Shinoda, his voice much calmer than it had been for a while, "Thanks. A few more weeks and then I'm coming home. I think I've done all I can here, but there are still one or two things I need to take care of."

"Okay," Shinoda said. "Be careful though. Don't do anything rash. Don't get yourself into trouble over all this."

"I know, I know," Alan replied. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Sure," Shinoda replied, "Sayonara."

With that, he hung up. Alan started to head away from the postbox, back to the temporary place he'd rented.

He had a few things he needed to do. In that package was something that hopefully would make Knight realise the severity of what he'd done. It was a little something to let everyone at the Utah Foundation know that someone had figured out the whole truth of what Kiryuu was. Hopefully it would draw them out, force them to reveal something they'd previously kept hidden. Maybe he'd get some answers then. Hopefully they'd take the bait.

As to that Heavy Metal character... If Shinoda wasn't going to do anything about it, Alan certainly was.

***

Well, hope you're happy... a small voice in Shinoda's head spoke, You've only gone and told bare-faced lies to someone who trusts you. What do you think he'll do when he finds out you omitted a few key details?

As he hung up the phone, Shinoda tried to silence those nagging voices in his mind. He tried to persuade himself that he had done the right thing. This way, Alan wouldn't try anything stupid; he wouldn't get himself into more trouble than he probably already was in. He turned back towards the monitor and re-read the email again. The chilling messages contained on it haunted him constantly, preying on his mind, filling him with so many doubts that he had hoped never to endure again.

He was used to agencies doing dirty-dealing to get their own way. He knew from experience that the CCI used to do it all the time, and he was still hearing horror stories from Miyasaka about how they often twisted the system to achieve their own agendas. Now it seemed the Utah Foundation were following their lead. This Heavy Metal character had managed to re-instil those old fears. He held his head in his hands, trying to push back the fear and doubt. This person had hacked into the GPN's databases, and then had threatened to try and get the information he needed from Alan, of all people.

Shinoda reached a shaking hand up to the computer, and powered down. He was now frightened beyond belief. This guy wanted information out of him and Miyasaka, and was also willing to use Alan to achieve his goals. He could safely assume that Heavy Metal worked for the Utah Foundation; had they discovered what Alan was up to, and were now moving to take action against him?

What if Heavy Metal was him? He didn't want to think that, but the insane possibility seemed hard to ignore, given the rumours that Miyasaka had picked up from within the CCI's walls. There was nothing he could now. He was trapped. All he could do now was hope Alan didn't do anything to attract attention to himself, least of all if the attention came from the Utah Foundation.