Chapter 10-E-Pandora

About a month had passed since the last nova clash. The last nova clash had made the chevalier fearful of their enemies and in desperation for survival, they had agreed to use Dr Scarlett Ohara's E-pandora project to supplant their fighting strength. The e-pandora project was basically a project thatt attempted to use artificial stigmata to enable normal incompatible girls to fight as pandora. While seemingly a good project, Gengo Aoi knew of the consequences and had sent out a document about the project to Tachibana who had then sent it to Meijin. He returned to his room that night waiting for the call from Tachibana. He had spent most of the day with Chiffon since it was a sunday. They had done their usual routine of going to the mall and then returning to make out a little bit before going their separate ways. However this time they had started from morning since Meijin had said that he would be busy that night. This made Chiffon slightly jealous as she thought that she was competing with someone else for her lover's affection. Their relationship was still shocking to many of the students because most pandora were romantically involved with their limiter partners. Chiffon was probably the first exception to this rule as she shared a strictly personal relationship with her limiter. Shrugging off the thoughts of the day, Meijin answered the call he was expecting on his gauntlet. Rather than just conversing with Tachibana as he usually did, Gengo Aoi had also joined in their conversation this time.

"Dr. Aoi it's a pleasure to finally get to speak to you." Meijin said addressing the old doctor. "Yes, Hello Meijin and hello Tachibana my old friend. On to the matter at hand-the e-pandora project. I fear that the chevalier are getting desperate now. There is now way the e-pandora project can produce pandora of equal fighting strength with normal pandora. Even if it did their bodies would probably not withstand the strain and they would undergo novalization." He spoke addressing the two other people in this conversation. "Yes I did go through the document you sent us and I am sure Meijin also knows about the project fully as well." Tachibana spoke as Meijin nodded his head in agreement. "By the way Tachibana how is the project going?" The doctor asked his old friend now significantly calmer than he was before. "It's progressing as planned. The 00 is now undergoing synchronization tests. Right now with the current stabilization technology it is reaching 300% output and producing the extremely pure particles we need should 'that' happen again." Tachibana replied the doctor. "Good. Anyway, Meijin, Scarlett has requested the top pandora to be gathered at the Chevalier facility in Alaska in order to assist in the development of the e-pandora. I have requested that you be sent along as well in order to try and find out what they really are trying to do. Also if possible I'd like you to have the 00 seven sword with you there just in case mass novalization occurs." Meijin noted his request. Tachibana then informed him to come up to the M-Bus to pick up the 00 seven sword before leaving for Alaska. Meijin acknowledged and then cut off the call.

The next day during school hours, Chiffon, Elizabeth, Satellizer and their limiters plus Meijin were told to report to Sister Margaret's office. As they all gathered outside the headmistress' office they all wondered why she wanted to see all of them. They were then gestured inside where they were told by Sister Margaret about the e-pandora project and how they had been selected to go to the Chevalier facility in Alaska to assist with the project. They were all shocked at hearing this but had no choice but to follow the orders they were given. They were told that they were leaving the next day. Meijin informed sister Margaret of his 'special' travel arrangements as the rest of them took their leave.

The next day the West Genetics representatives to Alaska met at the helipad. Chiffon noted that everyone was present except for Meijin Kawaguchi she wondered where he was as Sister Margaret approached them. She told them to board the chopper that would be taking them to the Alaska facility and wished them a safe trip. Before boarding, Chiffon asked sister Margaret what happened to Meijin Kawaguchi since she remembered that he was supposed to be a part of the delegation as well. Sister Margaret said that Meijin Kawaguchi had some pressing matters to attend to and told her student council president not to worry as she would meet her lover there. This made Chiffon blush as joined the rest aboard the helicopter.

Aboard the M-Bus, Meijin Kawaguchi was running the final tests on the 00 seven sword. He marveled at its high speed and power output. The buster sword had amazing offensive and defensive capability while the gun blade was stronger than even the GN Partisan in its canon mode. Tachibana looked on proud at his handiwork. In truth the 00 was no easy unit to make. It had been planned for since the project began but they barely got it functioning now due to the fact that it was near impossible to get two GN drives work in perfect harmony. It still required the use of external stabilizing systems which was done by the weapons. After feeling satisfied that the armour was ready for use, Meijin decided that it was time to leave the M-Bus for the Alaska facility. He reached the Alaska facility slightly before the West Genetics delegation as was there to greet them when they arrived. Chiffon was pleased to see him there as she had been worried about him all throughout the trip here. She raced into his arms and said "Where have you been? "I was so worried when you weren't there to board the chopper." He gave his lover a reassuring pat on the head as he told her that he had to settle some things. Seeing him around made Chiffon's worry disappear as they joined their friends on a tour of the Alaskan Facility. They were brought on a tour of the Alaskan facility and for the most part it was similar to West Genetics except for the fact that it was larger and also adapted for the cooler environment. After their tour the delegation was shown their rooms and Meijin was convinced by Chiffon to stay in the same room as her using her smile. They were then informed that they were expected in two hours in the main lobby for an address by Dr Ohara.

Since they had time the delegation broke up into their separate rooms. As they spent some alone time together Chiffon asked Meijin what he thought about the project. He had to lie to her of course given the nature of his mission here. He told her that the project was interesting as it meant that they could supplant the numbers against the nova who seemed to be getting stronger. Since they had time to spare the two of them decided to have a quickie before taking a shower and going to the main hall as they were told. At the main hall, Chiffon introduced Meijin to the remaining four of the top 5 pandora worldwide. "Well well, if it isn't the unmatched smiling monster. Who is that with you?" One of them asked. This was a red haired woman who had a large bust. Chiffon introduced her as Roxanne Elipton the 2nd ranked pandora worldwide. She then went on to introduce the others including Cathy Lockheart whom he recognized from the 10th nova clash, Julia Munberk and Charles Bonaparte. The group with the exception of Cathy and Chiffon were shocked when Chiffon told them his name. Apparently the fact that he had managed to fight Chiffon to a standstill and his feats during the 10th nova clash had made him famous worldwide. He didn't like being so famous but he just put the matter aside for now. He and Chiffon went to join the rest of the students from West Genetics at a table as silence filled the hall. Scarlett Ohara gave her address thanking the pandora for their cooperation and contribution to the e-pandora project. She also gave a brief overview of what the e-pandora project was and its current progress. She then told them of the arrangements. There would be a mini carnival between the e-pandora and the pandora tomorrow in the afternoon and until then they were free to do as they pleased except access restricted areas of course.

Chiffon and the other pandora from West Genetics decided to go for a swim. Chiffon had tried to get Meijin to come along but for once her smile didn't work as Meijin was adamant on going to 'train'. He reached the simulation centre and activated his avalanche exia. He then released GN Particles throughout the whole facility. The reason why Gengo Aoi had asked him to do the investigation was because he was able to communicate using GN particles. This allowed him to stay discrete because anyone who saw the particles would think that they came from wherever he was training. Focusing his mind. He explored the facility completely using the particles. He discovered multiple odd disturbances but could not put his finger on what exactly it was. He decided that it was enough spying for the day and decide to report to Gengo and Tachibana. The two men thanked him for his report and asked him to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. Glancing at the clock, he saw that he still had another two hours before having to report anywhere so he decided to join his friends at the pool. Seeing him arrive at the pool made Chiffon dance with glee as she threw himself into his arms. She asked him how his training went and he said it went fine. He was surprised to see so many of the pandora there including Cathy, Roxanne and Charles.

He went to the battle arena with Chiffon and they got seated in an area reserved for the West Genetics Delegation. Scarlett Ohara announced the pairings for the fights and asked all the involved pandora to report to the main battle area immediately. The roster surprised Meijin as it did not include any of the world's top five pandora. He thought that maybe Dr Ohara felt her e pandora weren't all that ready to take on such opponents yet. Needless to say, the results of the mini carnival were unsurprising. The e-pandora were completely destroyed by their normal counterparts. Meijin however was not interested in the results but more impressed by the amount of drive that each of the e-pandora had to succeed despite the odds that were obviously not in favor. As everyone was dismissed, He and Chiffon went to go have their dinner before returning to their room. Chiffon forced him to join the two single beds together so that they could sleep together. He agreed not wanting to face her smile that although seemingly sweet was extremely scary as well. As he lay there still awake with his auburn haired lover's hands around his body and her body tightly pressed against his, he couldn't help but shake off the feeling that he had felt the same strange sensations today when he scanned the facility somewhere else before. He shrugged the thought off and went to sleep with his arm around Chiffon.

The representatives from the various genetics facilities around the world were having a joint training exercise today. This began with some general physical training and then some friendly spars. Meijin was surprised that he had been asked to spar with two of the top five pandora. He first faced Charles Bonaparte who was an expert in the tempest turn. Though he admitted that she was good, she wasn't good enough to fool the zero system and was easily defeated by the avalanche exia. He then faced Julia Munberk who had an SSS type weapon similar to Elizabeth. This originally caught him by surprise as she used waves instead of beams. But her abilities were easily countered by the transient gundam and its GN Field. As they retired for the night, Meijin recalled where he had felt the odd feeling before. It was at the ravensbourne nucleotide chamber. He thought that such a thing would not be possible. The next morning before the pandora were asked to gather in the hall again he sent off a report on his theories to both Gengo Aoi and Tachibana.

The students who gathered at the main hall were all wondering why they had all been asked here on such short notice. Then Scarlett Ohara took to the stage and announced that the e-pandora had recently received a new upgrade called the mark IV. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by this new development except for Meijin. Dr Ohara then announced that there would be a match between Gina the first e-pandora who used the mark IV and Satellizer El Bridget in order to test the capabilities of the mark IV. As everyone proceeded to the battle arena to spectate the match. Although the mark IV was indeed impressive and it did give Gina a fighting chance against Satellizer, it still wasn't enough to beat Satellizer. However Meijin felt that something was off about Gina but he just wasn't sure what. As everyone returned back to their individual dorms to rest no one noticed the effect the mark IV was having on Gina.

The next afternoon an alarm indicating the presence of a nova in the base caused Meijin and Chiffon to hurriedly get themselves ready for combat as they rushed to the area where the nova was reported to be. Nothing prepared them for the sight they saw when they reached the location of the nova which was the e-pandora barracks. The nova that they had detected was in fact Gina. She had somehow experience stigmata corrosion and transformed into a nova. But there was still some signs that she was trying to fight it. Elizabeth was already there and had been injured fighting GIna. Suddenly they were interrupted by the appearance of Charles Bonaparte who wanted to completely kill Gina since she had become a nova. She viciously beat down Gina using her tempest turn but before she could land the finishing hit Meijin Kawaguchi stopped her using the avalanche exia. "Who's side are you on?" The tempest phoenix asked obviously angry at being denied a kill. "I'm on my side and I intend to save her." was his reply. as he threw the tempest phoenix into a nearby wall. He asked Chiffon to restrain Gina as he attempted to cure her. "Trans-am system activate." The avalanche exia's armor reconfigured itself and the armor began glowing red as it released a large amount of particles into the area which surrounded Gina and turned her back to normal. Amelia Evans who had been watching this rushed to her comrades side. Thanking Meijin and Chiffon for what they did as she brought Gina back to her room. as Meijin deactivated his armor he was pounced upon by an angry Charles. "What was that for?" She said as she tried to hit Meijin but was stopped by Chiffon. "There was no reason to kill that girl when she could be saved." He said calmly turning to take his leave.

He sent a report of what had happened to Gengo Aoi and Tachibana and also his additional discovery with the use of the Trans Am system. Dr Aoi told him that he would be ready to storm the base and take control should the situation get out of hand. Unknown to everyone, Gina would not live to see tomorrow as a shadowy figure entered her room and injected a syringe full of some mysterious chemical into her body. Hearing this news the next day shocked the Meijin and aroused his suspicions again. He sent another report to Gengo Aoi before leaving to meet the e-pandora with Chiffon. He gave them his condolences at the loss of Gina and apologized for not being able to do anything to save her in the end. They were still grateful to him because Gina had been able to die a human smiling rather than be killed as a nova. Amelia Evans then pulled him aside from the crowd and told him the warning Gina had given her about the mark IV. He asked why she was telling him this. She said because she knew Meijin would do what was right with the information. She also informed him of the e-pandora wanting to escape this place and their intention to escape being lab rats. Fully understanding their intentions, Meijin gave them his blessings and said that he would help them out as much as possible. Before he rejoined Chiffon he sent another report to Gengo Aoi informing of the upcoming rebellion as well as the threat of the Mark IV. Gengo Aoi swiftly replied that he would be ready to strike when given the signal.