Monarch Containment Facility, Angat Dam
Operations Room, just below Bunker #1
The view on the flat screen monitor switched over and over. The main hall showed, then another spot twenty meters further on. The machine room appeared in view after view then the lunchroom, out in front of each containment facility. What he was looking for never showed.
A small vein started to pulse on Michael Stevens' head as he found containment unit two open again and its occupant roaming the halls. He wanted to yell at some perfunctory but there was no time. He switched the screen at his desk back to eight views at once with a click of his mouse. Inside, outside, he was nowhere.
Stevens growled, then looked over to the room guard, "Restituto!" he called, and the man snapped to attention, "When was the last time you saw Koenig and what was he doing?"
"Around ten sir, in the main hall." Restituto replied, nodding, "He was looking for Hawkins. Should I send Paras to fetch him?"
Stevens leaned back in his chair and sighed, holding a hand over his eyes, "If he's actually looking for Hawkins I doubt either are on base anymore. Don't bother sending Paras out." then another thought hit him and he glanced at the screens, "I'd like him to do a check on what personnel are at stations though. We seem to be down some."
"Right away sir." Restituto replied and started talking quietly into a transmitter on his lapel.
Stevens nodded, figuring he'd handled the situation as best as possible. Things were simply bothering him too much, though, for him to just sit back and wait. The idea of trusting anyone else to oversee his all important work, to make sure everything was going right, was as ludicrous in his mind as it had ever been. Some things just took a personal touch.
"Get me a driver while you're at it Restituto." Stevens commanded, getting up from his desk, "I'm going out after a walk around."
The Filipino mercenary nodded to his boss and relayed the command. Stevens strode across his operations room and headed out the door to the underground. It took him only a few moments to check on certain places, under the overhang in the machine room, outside the lunchroom, around the corners in the main hallway, to confirm his suspicious. None of the Americans assigned to his project were in-house. It wasn't much of a surprise. He had highly doubted they would stick around when there was a risk of exposure to the project, and it was very possible he could get them to come crawling back after the fuss died down.
Heading out to the car he'd ordered Stevens got the return response from Restituto on his smartphone. No Americans in-house, not unexpected. Koenig missing, a little more worrisome but the man had always hated Hawkins and probably had gone to drag him back from wherever. Dr. Ishiro Serizawa requesting a meeting at the original facility? That would mean Serizawa himself was coming to town. Stevens frowned greatly on that one. Depending on the results of his trip and where the doddering fool ended up he might just have to handle that one personally.
"Destination sir?" Stevens driver asked, saluting. Stevens smiled, seeing his limousine was in sparkling condition. Someone at least was acting up to standards today.
"Quezon City, the underpass." the commander ordered, sliding himself into the limo's padded seats. He didn't bother to see the driver nod and get into the car, that much needed no checking on.
11:00 am local time, Noon Philippines time
In the Java sea,
80 miles North of Jakarta, Indonesia
There was tranquility in the peaceful noontime waters just South of the equator. The sun shone down brightly upon beautiful blue waters. A tramp freighter ship was off on the horizon, probably on the sea lanes going too and from nearby Jakarta, but nothing else was visible, only row after row of jutting spines.
Having pulled away from its assigned escort miles before Godzilla kept to a lazy thirty-five knots, in no hurry to get back to its home trenches, but not wanting to be followed by the hives of the little builders that stayed near it like remora to the much smaller sharks plying the ocean under the waves.
The territory it most protected, the place that the most trouble could arise from was ahead. To a creature millions of years traveling thousands of miles in trips that could take weeks were little more in comparison to human reasoning than a stop to the corner store.
There was the tiniest of ripples upon the surface of the water. Unnoticeable to most life forms an infrasonic pulse, the communication form of another great beast, had passed through the area.
Two great eyes the size of houses rose from the waves. The great brows above them furrowed and a flash of anticipatory anger raced across facial features larger than the average office building. Teeth exposed in a snarl the head crashed back into the waves.
One by one, then in three by threes, the great spines creasing the ocean's surface began to dip under water. A hundred sixty-eight meters worth of tail began to sway through the water with more purposeful propulsion.
More than a thousand miles away in a solitary tractor-trailer, one giant screen showed those great spines sinking into the ocean's depths. With the clack of computer keys a giant timer, set above all the screens, set itself to thirty-one hours. One second later, thirty hours, fifty-nine minutes, fifty-nine seconds… fifty-eight… seven… the countdown had begun.
Godzilla was coming.
Twenty minutes later,
Airliner NH 869
Over the Pacific Ocean
The sounds coming over his assistant's phone were in as few words as possible, a mess. Having connected by internet to the Monarch Janjira Ready Room, Dr. Serizawa had hoped there would be good news. Unfortunately it sounded as if the people there were having a fit of piqué.
"Both Janjira and Jakarta have registered the sound at the same time?" Vivienne spoke into the phone, trying to get some sort of confirmation, "No other locations have it but Hong Kong, Janjira and Jakarta? Singapore reports it too on a separate channel, but not New Delhi?"
"They're confirming North and South, but not middle?" Serizawa said, confused, "Wouldn't the sound have reached Manila on a straight line long before it hit those locations?"
"I can't explain it beyond the equipment in Manila is malfunctioning sir." Graham said, looking embarrassed as she bowed her head, "They are denying all knowledge of it."
Serizawa glanced warily back towards Hideki and Ford. He couldn't see them where he sat, but it was certain they knew something. If only he could get over there and talk to them. He needed to compare notes but the two seemed stubbornly silent on the whole thing.
"Really? Is that confirmed?" Graham said, almost breathlessly, "I'll tell him."
"More news?" Serizawa couldn't wait.
"The Americans say they picked up the sound first, from their seismographs on Guam. It took them time to get their information collated and contact every facility. They say the pulse was centered just northeast of Manila." Vivienne confirmed, "The Saratoga is on its way to the area, but for some reason there is some sort of diplomatic mess preventing them from coordinating with the local military. No one understands it."
Serizawa looked to his assistant, then away from her, mulling the situation over. Things went together only in one logical explanation. The Monarch head stifled his desire to begin cursing out loud.
Hours later,
14°38'46.7"N Latitude, 121°02'27.4"E Longitude
Off to the North side of the Quezon Avenue Underpass.
A large black limo pulled off to the side of the road, getting a few honks of derision from other motorists as it temporarily blocked traffic before seeming to disappear into the shadows. Just by looking at it in passing, as thousands of people did every day, one would probably never have noticed the side spur it entered, hidden by the shadows of a pedestrian bridge. The walls of the concrete, tunnel like, nearly mile long, underpass seemed completely flush and mostly featureless, and without pedestrian traffic in the tunnel it was likely no one had ever been close enough to notice.
Pulling up the stealth driveway Stevens' limo parked before a pair of heavy concrete and steel doors, like those of his containment facility. It was a dark place, but apparently either cleaned impeccably or in a location that not even random junk from the city ever filtered into. The end of the drive even had its own cul-de-sac made large enough for a limousine or semi-truck to fit in.
As banks of florescent lights fitted into the walls turned themselves on Stevens stepped imperiously from his vehicle. He neither spoke to his driver, nor paid anything else of the place any heed before he strode up to the main gates. The entire place seemed oddly empty as he walked up to the massive main gate and waited without saying a word. Whatever control the odd location had noticed the project lead very quickly and the main doors pulled themselves to the side, out of his path, much more quickly than the ones at his main facility.
None of it seemed to matter to Stevens. The easy stride he held, the way his head was tipped slightly back, and his utter confidence walking through the empty, yet mahogany wood-paneled, halls spoke that this was his personal space, his manse, his domain.
Past vast doors with radiation warning symbols larger than he was Stevens strode. Past empty laboratories straight out of a mad scientist's dream he walked, unconcerned. Past specimen jars of embryonic creatures that just screamed wrongness… Past the remains of human experiments all dead, but many apparently done on adults and children… Past tissues almost as uncountable as the money wasted on luxury furnishing no one but he would ever use… Past this and more Stevens strode with ever-increasing pride until he reached the back room of the place. The nave of a temple built to everything sociopathic in human pride. The high altar of arrogance, hidden behind doors of lead and concrete.
Stevens opened those doors wide and basked in the radiant golden glow coming from beyond.
3:35 pm, Philippine local time.
Airliner NH 869
On final approach to Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Metro Manila
Dr. Ishiro Serizawa had been completely quiet for hours. Staring at the seat in front of him while rubbing his father's watch even his assistant had been able to get nothing from him. The ramifications of what was happening in his world, in his own organization, were just too dire.
The doctor only finally looked up as their airliner's wheels touched the pavement of the Manila International airport. He glanced to his assistant, then back down to his watch, knowing how long a day it had been, and how much longer it was going to be. There was no helping it.
On the other side of the aircraft and slightly back Ford Brody and Hideki Aino were hastily setting themselves up to grab their belongings and be off as quickly as possible. Neither wanted anything to do with Serizawa, nor any of his questions, before they were on their way.
As the plane taxied down the companionway Ford nudged Hideki and pointed to the window remarking, "It looks like Serizawa has his transportation set up."
Sure enough, there, atop the terminal they were approaching, sat a Eurocopter Dauphin in Monarch's blue and white color scheme.
"We'll have a car waiting." Hideki said with a smirk, noticing the shining Monarch transport, "I'll drive, I know the way."
"Heh, we don't even rate a driver?" Ford said with a bit of a chuckle.
"I'm not good enough?" Hideki sounded hurt. Ford just shook his head.
Over on the other side, as the plane turned about and entered the terminal area, Serizawa and Graham got their first look at the helicopter.
Serizawa raised his eyebrows and nodded, "How good of Tam to park it on the terminal for us."
"He's always been efficient." Graham replied, looking to her smartphone, "He had to refuel it a few times to get it here from Taiwan."
"So still no response from Stevens on the trouble in his backyard." Serizawa queried.
"None whatsoever."
Serizawa dipped his head in shame, responding, "Why am I not surprised."
Once they got into the terminal it didn't take long for Serizawa and Graham to be escorted up to their waiting Dauphin. The helipad being right on the top-middle of the terminal itself hurt matters none and their helper Tam's apparent and ready efficiency had every one of the airport staff racing to keep up.
Tam himself was a short man, of standard southern Chinese complexion and a thin build apparently kept that way by his complete inability to avoid expending every possible calorie he had on endless activity. He almost ran three rings around Serizawa on their way to the helicopter. His black hair, hidden under a white baseball cap, and his white overalls made a strange, off-color, blur, in his constant motion.
"I checked the traffic logs in person." Tam shouted to his passengers over the sound of the Dauphin's blades spinning up to speed as they approached it, "Not a thing from Manila in three years."
Vivienne ducked and climbed into the Dauphin's side door with Serizawa and Tam helping her then checked her smartphone, adding, "That's unusual, the grants and funneling into this branch establishment has increased sevenfold over the past five years, yet we've been hearing nothing from them on their progress."
"I have found signs that they are also taking in money from other sources." Tam said as Serizawa joined them on the helicopter, "We heard nothing from their office in Valenzuela City on the way here."
"You're headed there." Serizawa said, in rather blasé way that suggested neither a command nor question.
"As we speak." Tam replied, motioning to the pilot for them to take off.
Serizawa looked out the window and tried to familiarize himself with the lay of the city around him. It had changed since he had last been in the area more than a decade before. There were far more high-rise towers and modern infrastructure. Even the airport seemed much bigger, with bright and shining new terminals surrounded by art-deco churches and avant-guard structural art.
Somewhere down there Ford Brody and Hideki Aino would be disappearing into the bustle of the city, heading wherever they were going. He suspected they would make progress long before he did. At least there were some newer highways and more under construction since last the doctor had been in town.
The helicopter started over low buildings Serizawa somewhat recognized, most of the city having been low to the ground as of his last trip, and quite an inordinate number of shopping malls. Soon however they were skirting strips of skyscrapers jutting up from pastures of low-lying structures. Serizawa found he recognized the government buildings, and the poor, blighted, Pasig river as he passed over them, but everywhere he saw there were far more high-rise buildings, mostly in narrow strips miles long.
He could tell they were getting closer to site when they began passing over mile upon mile upon mile of warehouses and cemeteries. It had always bothered him their Manila headquarters was so close to a practical city of the dead. They passed first over one giant cemetery, one with a mostly Chinese feel to it, then miles on they flew past another, more general cemetery. A little further on the Tullahan river came into view and beyond it would be…
Serizawa stopped in mid thought and tilted his head in confusion. Monarch's Manila branch had always been right past a bend in the river and just behind a massive pair of warehouses. The place wasn't exactly prime real estate, but buying cheap and innocuous had been a hallmark of Monarch's early days, hidden as a shipping company. The thing was, where the headquarters had been at the turn of the century, now sixteen years later, was just an empty lot.
"If that is the headquarters of anything I will eat my hat." Tam pointed out, not mincing words.
"Put us down." Serizawa ordered, looking all the more concerned.
"Not like we will land on anything." Tam said with a shrug as Vivienne looked on in shock.
The helicopter landed in the middle of a field of empty dirt, blowing up a cloud of dust and debris as it set down. As soon as the helicopter powered down and the obstruction cleared Serizawa and Graham were out of it, scouring the lot as best they could. Tam never even bothered getting out.
"This is where we're supposed to be sending all that money." Vivienne pointed out, looking at her smartphone in mixed awe and disbelief, "14 degrees, 41 minutes, 4.7 seconds North by 121 degrees, no minutes, 34.3 seconds East. We are exactly where we should be."
"But our men are not." Serizawa noted, shaking his head.
"Is there something you should be telling me sir?" Graham asked, broaching a question that had been brewing in her head for hours, "You seem to have this figured out far more than I do, and you've been angry about it for a while."
Serizawa looked at Vivienne, accepting that she had finally taken enough of his silence on this particular issue, something that rarely ever happened, and sighed before giving her a sad response, "During the battle in San Francisco, I had opportunity to talk with Admiral Stenz and explain to him my thoughts on the arrogance of man. This is yet another part of that, one that was foreseen by our strategists in the wake of the disaster."
"And what part would that be?" Graham said, pulling at her superior to get to the bottom of things.
"It was predicted, that man, in his arrogance, would believe that we could control even the very heavens under the sway of a charismatic enough leader. That people of power could be convinced not to fear the MUTO, but that we could control the MUTO."
"That's insane!" Vivienne almost shouted, a slight break in her well maintained composure.
"For those of us that know what they are capable of, yes." Serizawa said, holding his arms behind his back and looking up to the sky, "But now as ever the arrogance of man is believing nature is under our control, not the other way around. It is now my lasting shame that the next outbreak of these creatures will likely come from within my own organization."
"But no one can possibly think they can control those things." Vivienne said in disbelief, "They must have seen the films, the footage. They can't possibly…"
Serizawa held up a hand, stopping his assistant in mid rant, and shook his head slowly, then added, "Human beings tend to believe what is most convenient for their own ego on these matters. Anyone who has never fought a monster, faced one himself, in absence of other evidence and with a charismatic enough person leading them astray would find it naturally easy to believe that the greatness of humanity and our apparent absolute control over their pampered, wealthy, environment extends even to things that we have no ability or right to control."
"So someone in charge, just because they've never felt any form of powerlessness, just decides to ignore all the evidence to the contrary and risk the lives of an entire country?" Vivienne said, expression horrified, "Even under the best of circumstances biological weapons are nearly uncontrollable."
"Give someone enough power over his fellow man and he tends to forget that it doesn't extend to the world they live in." Serizawa offered sagely, "Get in contact with Stenz, and try to get hold of someone in the Manila office, wherever it is. This will not end well."
"Already been doing it." Tam shouted from the helicopter, "Japanese people take forever to do things! Must anticipate before you make up your minds! Stenz has been on his way with the entire carrier group, but big boats take forever to get anywhere. Local office answers the phone just to put people on hold, at least they have a catchy hold tune."
Vivienne and Ishiro looked at each other, then back to Tam, then to each other again, and shrugged. Serizawa walked over to the helicopter and looked at Tam's smartphone. They were, as the Chinese man had put it, on hold.
There was a blare of static from the phone then a voice came over it, "Director Serizawa, is director Serizawa there?" a woman asked.
"He is here, you want him?" Tam replied with another question before Serizawa could confirm anything. He quickly switched over to speaker phone. There was a bit more static on the line as the woman patched them through to someone else.
"Well well." a deep masculine voice emerged from the smartphone, sporting an English accent, "Are you through playing in the dirt yet director? I would not want to stop you seeing as that seems to be one of your favorite ways to pass the time. Still, I hear you're looking for a meeting and I'm sure if it is needed I can pencil you in this afternoon."
Serizawa and Tam looked at each other. Without a word the doctor looked back to his assistant and pointed at the phone, checking that who was talking to him was indeed who he thought it was. Graham nodded confirming they were being contacted by the local field lead, Michael Stevens.
"I suppose you aren't the talking type so I'll just do the talking for you." Stevens continued, not waiting for anyone to respond, "The silence of the last decade speaks to that even if you won't. I'll be at Quezon City Hall for a little bit more, just finishing some errands I had to run. If you want to meet me there I'd be happy to oblige."
The phone went to silence on Stevens last words. He'd hung up without even a goodbye.
Tam's eyebrows raised beyond the rim of his hat, "Wow." he said, not mincing words as usual, "That is one big asshole."
"He's also my responsibility." Serizawa said, already having gotten in and helping Graham behind him, "Can we get there quickly?"
"Not a problem." Tam said, giving his usual circular signal to the pilot and telling him to get things moving, "That's only about three miles. We should be there before he gets done congratulating himself on being an ass."
Whether or not Tam's words were true it turned out to be a very quick flight over to the Quezon City Hall. The Dauphin circled the area once, looking for a place to pout down and giving Serizawa a good lay of the land. City hall itself was a group of buildings surrounded on three sides by lagoons, parks and a colonnaded courtyard extending out to the main street. On the last side the complex sat up against a rather posh hotel and a very tall building the helicopter had to make effort to get around which looked more like a skyscraper's shell more than a proper high-rise.
"It is pretty dense in there." Tam pointed out, looking for a place to put down, "Pretty sure they won't like us just dropping in."
"I'll clear it later." Serizawa said, motioning towards a tree-lined lot across the street from the complex, "We can't miss Stevens. Just get the police to clear over there."
It took only a few minutes, and some frantic scrambling by the local police, to get the lot cleared and Serizawa on the ground. He nodded his thanks to the officers and gave them a wave while he and Graham crossed the field and street between themselves and City Hall.
"They're not following us, or escorting us at all." Graham pointed out, looking back at the officers.
"They know what they're doing." Serizawa said, "And who they're taking orders from."
The pair walked through a parking lot and past what seemed to be a half-dozen monuments to this or that person they'd never heard of before getting in under the raised paths that surrounded the complex's main courtyard. They found Stevens, sitting at the base of yet another monument to someone of local importance, chatting with a number of depressingly well armed soldiers. Serizawa winced when he saw them, remembering how he'd felt seeing very similar soldiers outside a particular mine far to the South of here on his last trip more than a decade ago. At least none of the five heavily armed men were wearing masks this time, as if seeing the face of the men who might shoot him could have made the doctor feel better.
"Ah, Doctor Serizawa." Stevens said, standing up and waving to the oncoming pair, "It's been a long time."
"Mister Stevens." Serizawa said, warily, eying the armed men that were arrayed around the courtyard.
"Oh, do you think it's wise to speak, sir." Stevens said, emphasizing a specific word, "It must be so hard being the mime in charge. You wouldn't want to break your record now."
Serizawa nearly snarled at the smirking American and stormed forward, "I will talk when I am wont to Mister Stevens. Especially since it seems that there has been far too much going on here behind my back."
"Oh? And who put it behind your back Director?" Stevens asked, pressing forward himself and stopping Serizawa with the magnitude of his menacing aura, "I certainly didn't. You've been pretty damn willfully ignoring us out here, so obsessed were you with your little bug at Janjira. A whole damn army of MUTO could have marched through this place so thoroughly was your nose ensconced in the radioactive pit you now call home. Oh but I suppose we were better off that way. Or have you asked Greg Whelan or his tech lead, Jainway I think, about their opinion on the matter? Oh waiiiit, you can't, because you got them killed."
Vivienne Graham gaped in shock as the taller American leaned down into the face of her sensei. He was berating the man she admired at all but point-blank range. Her anger welling up on the issue was only held in check by the small signal Serizawa had given her to keep quiet. No matter what she had expected, this type of antagonistic, preemptive retaliation wasn't it. Things were going downhill fast. Stevens had started with condescension and dropped to low blows almost immediately. This wasn't a conversation, it was a beating.
Serizawa looked up into Stevens' eyes and saw within them almost nothing of what he expected in a human. The man he had known many years ago, when he had approved his assignment to this country, was gone, if he ever really existed. Serizawa would have put money on the fact that power had brought out the true Michael Stevens, a being without a hint of the respect, affability and general humanity he'd pretended to in the beginning. There was no talking to this man. The course of insanity within him had been set long before, only the level of self-aggrandizement had grown to the point that he likely thought the MUTO themselves were within his control.
Serizawa simply turned around and started walking away. He took Vivienne by the arm and brought her with him.
"Quitting the field so soon Director?" Stevens said, tilting his head back proudly to look down his nose at the retreating man.
"I have not the horns of Jericho Mister Stevens. I can not break down a wall of rock in my path simply by talking to it or shouting at it." Serizawa replied without turning or slowing, "Sometimes to break past obstacles a man in my position requires… bigger guns."
Stevens crossed his arms and let out a harrumph as the doctor left him behind. He faded into the distance without other remark, so busy was he giving orders to his soldiers.
Serizawa shook his head and looked to Graham. He remembered from their flight how many massive television and radio antennae were positioned close to the City Hall. The place was perfect for a group he knew to bounce signals off of without attracting any attention.
"Vivienne." he said, the use of his aide's first name stressing the importance of his words, "Contact Admiral Stenz, we'll need him. Also ask him to do a satellite image scan of the area. I need him to find… what did Hideki call it? A really big truck."