The Reunion Gig
It had taken a whole day's driving after crossing the border into Utah, but they had finally made it. Turning off from the main road, they followed the small side road to a three-storey office building, out in the middle of the dust-strewn desert. It did not take long for them to find a parking space outside the building, for not many people came around here. That suited the owner of the property just fine, and his newest visitors knew it.
Alan and Shinoda climbed out of their car once they had parked themselves outside the building. Alan stood for a moment, leaning against the car, looking up at the building. He remembered his last visit to this place, which had not gone well at all, and he hoped he would not have to endure a repeat of that occasion.
"Like I said," he said, speaking to Shinoda but not looking at him, "don't expect much, not at first anyway. You have to go pretty far into the place before things get interesting."
He stood looking at the building for another second or two, before noticing that Shinoda hadn't given some kind of acknowledgement that he'd heard him. Turning around, he noticed Shinoda seemed a lot more interested in his phone, as he was thumbing the keypad with a furrowed brow.
"Shinoda?" Alan called, wondering what he could have found more interesting than meeting the subject of much of their discussions up to this point.
"Hm?" Shinoda said, looking back up at Alan for a moment. "Oh, sorry Alan. It's just Yuki again. She hasn't stopped texting me since King Ghidorah's attack. She now says she's coming to Salt Lake City at the earliest opportunity." He looked slightly uncomfortable as he finally put away his phone. "It's making me feel a bit embarrassed, to be honest."
"So she's concerned about you," Alan said, shrugging. "What's there to be embarrassed about? You like her, don't you?"
"Well, yes..." Shinoda said, his cheeks turning slightly red. "I do, it's just..."
"Then what are you complaining about?" Alan said in mock incredulity. "I think it's about time you took the plunge with her. You like her, Io likes her, and I'm pretty damn sure she likes you both. I think it's time you just 'grabbed the bull by the horns', so to speak."
Shinoda sighed. "Maybe..." he said quietly. "Once we're all finished here." He looked up at the building, and so far he did not look impressed with what he was seeing. The office building looked just like any other. "You were right," he added. "There's not much to see on the outside."
"It gets a lot better inside," Alan said, beckoning Shinoda over to the front door. "Trust me."
"I hope you have not left too many big surprises," Shinoda said warily. "I still cannot believe you did not say anything about Manda."
"Your expression was priceless," Alan said, smirking. "Where's the fun in finding out everything too soon? You should know better than anyone in the value of a little mystery from time to time."
Shinoda just sighed. He wondered if Alan was going to start making a hobby out of shocking him. He followed Alan through the front door of the building, stepping into the reception area. It was very plain, with only a couple of potted ferns providing any real form of decoration. It was obvious the Utah Foundation did not expect many visitors to this place. Shinoda continued to have a slightly disappointed look on his face. Noticing his expression, Alan just gave a quick wink before turning towards the receptionist's desk. The receptionist herself – one Darla – was now looking at Alan with a slightly alarmed expression. It seemed she recognised him from their last meeting, and her expression seemed to be saying "oh no, not again!" to Alan.
"Excuse me, love," Alan addressed her, leaning on the desk. "We're here to speak to Mr. K. Knight. Is he around today?"
Darla sighed for a moment as she picked up a phone: "Mr. Knight, that British guy has come back. The one with the strange eyes that look like yours. Yeah, he's brought a friend as well. What do you want me to do with him?"
She waited for a moment for a response and then nodded.
"Alright, sir," she replied. "I'll send him on through." She hung up the phone and stared back at Alan and Shinoda. "Mr. Knight will see you now. You may pass through that hallway. Don't worry about the security guards. They've been phoned. Mr. Knight is busy though—very busy—getting repairs to his arm, but he'll see you. It's just down that hallway." She pointed down to a long hallway lined with a few security guards.
"Thank you," Alan nodded. He turned to his companion and led him down the hallway where Darla pointed. The guards clicked their heels as Alan and Shinoda passed them, going into the elevator. As they headed down they saw in the side window of the elevator the massive body of Kiryuu Knight being repaired in the bay area.
Darla had not been joking, for Kiryuu looked a mess. His right arm that King Ghidorah had smashed was removed for the moment and a new one was being manufactured, though it would be some time before it arrived. For now, Kiryuu had only one arm. Parts of his armor were removed and the black, latex skin was revealed underneath. Some of that skin was also removed and the silvery and blue syntech was showing. What was even more interesting for Shinoda to see was that the syntech was pulled back, revealing the severed bone of the upper arm where Godzilla ripped Kiryuu's right arm off back in Japan those years ago. Even the spines were revealed as well. They could see technicians working on the severed bone, attaching various connectors to start the process of reconnecting another robotic arm to it. Alan couldn't help wincing at the sight; not even Organiser G-1 could replace lost limbs.
As soon as the two of them got to the catwalk, Kiryuu turned his head and dipped it in greeting.
"Mr. Tyler," he began, his deep voice echoing through the bay area above the construction going on around his body. "Welcome back."
Alan nodded in reply. "Y'alright?" he asked, out of politeness more than anything. He leaned slightly to get a better look at the exposed bone where Kiryuu's right arm should be. "Though that was probably the wrong question to ask," he continued.
"I have experienced more horrific injuries than this," Kiryuu rumbled, peering down at his shoulder for the moment. "I am sure you know what I mean."
He looked back at Shinoda, who was gazing around at the cavernous bay with wide eyes. As he gazed at Kiryuu and the space he was contained in, he kept muttering "This is amazing!" under his breath. Unlike Alan, who had visited this place once and had seen it all before, Shinoda was clearly having the time of his life in Kiryuu's 'home'. Alan kept thinking Shinoda was acting like how a child does on Christmas morning, full of excitement and wonder and happy to be getting big new toys. He turned back to Kiryuu, shaking his head, an expression of mock exasperation on his face.
"I can't take him anywhere," he said in a low voice. If Shinoda had heard him, he was pretending he hadn't. Kiryuu chuckled and shook his head as well.
"I take it, Dr. Shinoda, you are most thrilled to see me?" he asked with a pleasant grin on his face.
"Oh, but I am," Shinoda called. "You're... well, you're Gojira. How could I not be?"
"I must apologize for my forwardness when I first emailed you," Kiryuu began. "I did not mean by my harsh words. I did not mean to question your studies of Godzilla. It was too terribly arrogant of me."
He winced slightly as a sharp pain shot up his arm. He glanced down as the technician below began to apply the clamps to the bone, coming close to one of his sensors in the arm itself. Kiryuu sighed for a moment and his attention returned back to his guests. He signalled for them to come closer to him. They walked up onto a higher catwalk closer to his head. Kiryuu brushed back his green mane and his face became serious.
"No doubt you have seen the broadcast," Kiryuu said. "About what I said about my son. Have no fear, he will be safe. I have no intentions of killing him." Alan simply nodded, not overly surprised by that piece of information. He knew Kiryuu wouldn't kill his own son, this just confirmed it.
"So what will happen to him?" Alan asked. "You wouldn't have said something if you didn't have some kind of plan. How do you propose on hiding your son away from the world?" There was a note of concern in his voice which Kiryuu noticed.
"I promise you he will come to no harm," Kiryuu began, "I intend to put him into cryogenic sleep with a low frequency blast from my AZC. Then, I'll send him to Antarctica to keep him frozen. I have a base there which will keep an eye on him. This world is about to change for the worse, and I don't want my son to be harmed by it. The energies that King Ghidorah has unleashed could change him, forever. So, I want to save him from it."
"I see," Alan said, in a sombre tone. "When you go to freeze him, please take me with you. I don't even need to be near him; I just want to be there to say goodbye."
Kiryuu nodded. "I shall make arrangements for Chester MacAnderson to fly you to Ogasawara Island. He will keep you at a safe distance, and you can watch and say your goodbyes from there." He tried to smile, but the stinging sensation caused by the work on his arm meant the smile looked more like a pained grimace. Alan just nodded appreciatively.
"So what's going to happen from here on out?" he asked. "I ran into Manda yesterday, but he didn't get to tell me the whole story, so just how bad is all of this going to be?"
Kiryuu shifted slightly, laid a claw on his severed arm and took in a deep breath.
"Apparently," Kiryuu began, "these events will happen when the energy King Ghidorah has spread across the world rises to a certain level. They'll be isolated, and will happen over the course of decades, maybe even centuries. And from what I could gather, the energy will stick around until it calls King Ghidorah's remnants called Horrors and they'll come down and feed off of the energy, which will lower it and return the world to the way it was before the energy rose. Unfortunately, after they had their fill... they'll create another King Ghidorah. What's worse is that these Horrors are the souls that King Ghidorah has fed on. Gordon Knight, the people Monster Zero has killed, my mate and children, even your parents... All will become servants to that monster!" He lowered his head down, shutting his eyes painfully.
"I... I thought I could kill him. I thought I could avenge my family's death, and the deaths of everyone else... I thought I could save this world from him. I didn't want to let anyone down. So many were counting on me. However, even after all of our plans and preparation, and in spite of all of his immediate plans being destroyed, he still had one last means of escape. He'll come back; it may take a few thousand years, but he'll come back." Kiryuu's eyes opened up again and his pupils contracted into slits. A vicious sneer appeared on his face.
"Thing is," he continued, "I intend to stick around when he does. I'll find a way to make sure that three-headed monstrosity never returns. Even if it takes me centuries, I'll find a way. There's always a way to do it."
Alan nodded. "You know the saying," he said, "'Where there's a will, there's a way'. If he can be got rid of permanently, I'd sure as hell like to know it too."
Alan had tried to sound confident in that statement, but a few seconds later the misgivings in the back of his mind came to the fore. He looked away from Kiryuu again, rubbing his now-deformed neck. Since the mutation, a series of hard ridges could now be seen on it, ridges which felt as hard as crocodile scales. He remembered vividly what had happened to him in Knoxville, as the mutations had started, and that had forced him to re-evaluate things. Kiryuu's own eyes narrowed when he saw the spots on Alan's neck; he knew that such a change was only a sign of hard times ahead for the mutant.
"Mind you..." he said, his tone much quieter and more humble. "If I'm still around then, I don't know what sort of state I'll be in." He sighed, only the sigh came out as an animalistic rumble. "Katagiri was right..." he continued, sounding very bitter. "It's only a matter of time." He then looked across at Shinoda, seemingly looking for help. Shinoda simply motioned his hands towards him, egging him on.
"Go on, Alan," he said, in a quiet, almost fatherly tone. "It will only tear you up if you don't talk about it now." The scientist looked up at Kiryuu.
"If-if you don't mind, um..." Shinoda paused for a moment, "Mr. Knight... I don't think this is something I should be listening to. Is there anywhere I can wait so you can have privacy?"
"Of course," Kiryuu nodded. "Down that hallway, you will find a waiting room. Just go down there and wait. I'll call you when we are done."
"Thank you," Shinoda smiled and nodded to Alan. Then, he walked silently down the hall.
Alan sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before looking back at Kiryuu.
"What's going to happen to me then?" he asked. "What sort of state will I be in by the time the shit's happened and that monster comes back?"
"Alan," Kiryuu began, taking a deep breath and running his one claw through his green locks. "I honestly don't know. I don't even know what state I'll be in when he returns. I cannot predict what this Mana energy will do to me. It might... It might bring the Gojira out in me and drive me completely mad to where I won't even be able to even think rationally anymore. It might do the same to you.
"I wish I knew what will happen. Things aren't simply explained anymore, as much as I wish they were. What Katagiri did to you, your comrades and all of those innocent people angers me to no end. I'm fine with the changes that science and the fear of Godzilla have brought onto me, but I wonder if you feel the same. It's not easy, thinking you were one thing and finding out that you're another. As I said to you when we last spoke, a part of me still thinks I am nothing more than a highly advanced computer inside the shell of the dead remains of Gojira. I suspect you too will always have a small identity crisis, a part of you unable to say for certain whether you're Alan Tyler or Godzilla. How you deal with that uncertainty is a choice that I leave to you."
Kiryuu looked away again, seeing all his technicians bustling about to repair him. His face was distressed, as if the weight of the world was just thrown onto his shoulders.
"I think this entire world will be confused as to what will happen now," he continued. "One thing I know for certain is that it can never go back. The Appalachians will always stay as they are now. The volcanoes have quietened down, but they'll still be there. Though things seem calm now, they're about to get worse for that little state called Tennessee, and for the rest of the region those mountains encircle. I have been told that those mountains will alter the climate around there, creating draughts and over time even deserts just like here in the West; mere patches, to be sure, but deserts nonetheless. Those mountains will alter the jet stream in that area. Those sorts of events will sow confusion, and that's dangerous in these times. Everything's so fragile now." Kiryuu's head lowered and his eyes closed. He knew Alan had been bursting to berate him about one fact in-particular, and now he had to address it.
"I'm sorry, Alan. I'm sorry that I lied. I'm sorry that I said that I would not use Serizawa's weapon and I did. I just had no choice in the matter. But like those times when I was the monster attacking the city, nothing could kill me. Men had tried. And so, Serizawa allowed the usage of his weapon because nothing else could stop me. I felt the same way about King Ghidorah; nothing could stop him either. He was just too powerful. No weapon I possess, even my breath, had any effect. He just shrugged it off like a dried-up leaf. And he played with me like a cat with a mouse. If it weren't for Ericka sacrificing herself to save me, I would have been his patsy. Of course, none of that matters now; he'll come back, just like I did." He sighed again and leaned against the body arms that supported his body.
"There is something else you should know," he continued. "Biollante is gone for good. I finally learned what her purpose was in the fight against the hydra. Just as Manda saw would happen, I ended up becoming controlled by King Ghidorah. All I could do was watch, unable to stop myself from hurting my son. However, she stepped in and drove King Ghidorah from my mind, at the cost of her own life. With her last breath, she gave me her powers... and her memories. I understand now what she did to you, but neither of us will be troubled by her again. She was a horrible monster, but if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have won. I owe her a lot."
"How ironic," Alan muttered, not really caring what had happened to Biollante. He had not forgotten what the monster had done to him in Nevada, and was not so willing to feel like he owed her anything. Kiryuu simply glanced back down at Alan with a weak smile.
"Alan," he said, "everything that happened before I defeated King Ghidorah was fine. A little bumpy, but fine. We all lived our lives. We all worked, we all played, we all did our duties. Now, it's a downhill run from here. This world, you, me, everyone, is going to change for the worse. All that I can suggest we do is live it one day at a time. I know it's a bit depressing. I am sure that if things get worse for me as well, I will feel like hitting the format button in my hard drive; it would be taking the machine's version of arsenic and saying that death would be better. But I have to remind myself about what I want to do; I have to be around when King Ghidorah comes back. I am sure you feel the same too."
He took in a sigh once more and glanced back at Alan, his eyes moist and his slit pupils wide and round.
"So tell me, Alan," Kiryuu said. "What do you intend to do? You are what you are. I wish I could find a way to change you back, but that's not within my power. I can't do everything. What happened to you should never have happened. You know what I intend to do, so tell me; what do you intend to do?"
Alan was silent for a moment, Kiryuu's words drilling into his mind like tiny jackhammers. Now that it looked like he was facing a very uncertain future, he was not sure which path he should take. He was silent for a moment, fearing what was to come, but knowing there was no point in trying to outrun the inevitable.
"It's like you said," he said, nodding. "I just have to take each day as it comes. And you're right; I want to be around to help fight King Ghidorah when he comes back. There won't be any need for G-Chasers in the future, I guess; I'll have to find something else to do with my time until he comes back. I can wait though; after all, I'm British," he said, with a dark chuckle, "I know all about playing 'the long game'."
"I am glad to hear that from you," Kiryuu rumbled. "However, I advise against blinding yourself to the seriousness of your 'condition'. I cannot predict how long Organiser G-1 will keep you alive or when the mutations will complete. I will not lie to you or insult your intelligence about this matter. If the worst comes to the worst, and if you ask it of me, I will be there to help 'ease' the pain you will no doubt experience.
"In the meantime I will do my best to make sure that no-one finds out about your continued existence. Of course, you will have to put in the work as well. Now that my sentience is made public, I will doubtless be going down in the history books, but I want you to ensure that will never happen to you. Out in the public eye, everyone can know everything about you; a fact that can and doubtless will prove to be dangerous." He leaned in closer to Alan, a familiar grin playing across his face.
"I can tell you in the greatest confidence," he continued, "that there is much to be said for going un-noticed by the media, history books, visions and prophecies. Whatever you do, whatever path you take, no-one is going to see you coming."
Unknown to Alan, both he and Kiryuu had somehow simultaneously thanked each other in their minds. Kiryuu stood back upright, giving a satisfied smile; it seemed his words had the desired effect of putting a new lease of life into Alan.
"In the short-term," he said, "you will not have to worry about the police again. They have called off their search; they have been led to believe that you were killed trying to leave the country."
"I wonder who gave them that idea?" Alan said wryly, an eyebrow arched. Kiryuu chuckled.
"There is one more loose end that has to be dealt with at the present time," Kiryuu then said. "Once again, it all centres around the late Mitsuo Katagiri."
"Ah, him..." Alan muttered, scornfully. "Well, we don't need to worry about him any more, as you know. The thing is," he continued, shaking his head in disbelief, "he killed himself, as tempted as I was to finish him myself. I even tried to help him as he fell, for my sins, but he wasn't having any of it." At this, Kiryuu gave a low chuckle.
"That shouldn't have been unexpected," he rumbled. "Katagiri had spent so long fighting Godzilla. He had made it his life's work to destroy my son. What began as a desire to protect his countrymen became an obsession, and that obsession drove him to madness, drove him to commit the terrible atrocities you are all too familiar with. Considering his history, I do not believe he would have wished to be indebted to Godzilla himself."
"You said it yourself once, though," Alan responded, still looking confused. "I'm not Godzilla." Kiryuu simply shook his head.
"To a mind as diseased as Katagiri's," he replied, "I doubt he could tell the difference." He winced slightly as the apertures continued their work on his damaged arm. "I understand that the detective in charge of investigating his death was suspended for wasting police time and resources. Apparently she lost her prime suspect in Knoxville," he finished, giving a piercing look at Alan.
"I wondered when this would come up," Alan sighed. "The Utah state police were a lot more persistent than I thought. She saw a lot of things in Knoxville; more than she ought to have done." He looked away, now looking rather ashamed. "It's my fault she got suspended. I owe her an explanation."
Kiryuu leaned back, his free hand scratching his chin. An idea had occurred to him.
"If you go into the control room," the mecha said, "you will find some documents that have just been printed. They are just sitting in the printer. Fetch them, and bring them back up here." Alan did so, working his way along the catwalks into the control room, and then returning with a handful of papers.
"This is..." Alan muttered, his eyes slightly wider, "the Beta Experiment file..."
"That's right," Kiryuu said, a note of triumph in his voice. "You will notice that I have edited it, and now this copy contains no mention of you. I gave you the opportunity to put an end to Katagiri, a job which I must say you performed quite admirably. However, his legacy still remains. The CCI still stands, and I have no doubts that the Japanese government is moving to cover up any evidence of those terrible experiments. In a way, Detective Rigden has also suffered from it, though she remains unaware of this. Now I want you to give her a chance at redemption. I will be gracious enough to let her bring the end of Katagiri's legacy, and exorcise that particular demon of the past. If given the choice, would you deny her such an opportunity to crack the biggest case of her career?"
Before Alan could answer, the door to the control room was suddenly flung open again, and two people walked out onto the catwalk. One of these was Shinoda, grinning broadly, while his right arm was wrapped around a small girl, with black hair tied into pigtails. Alan recognised her as Shinoda's daughter, Io, and the two were thoroughly engaged in conversation, Io gazing up at her father with adoring eyes. She jumped when Shinoda swung his arm rapidly to one side, making a loud 'woosh' noise. Clearly he was vividly describing the events in Knoxville in considerable detail.
As Io glanced down the catwalk and saw Alan, she smiled brightly and ran down the length of the catwalk with her arms outstretched.
"Alan!" she cried out as she ran, and the G-Chaser kneeled down, his own arms outstretched and grinning from ear to ear. Then Io almost knocked the wind out of him as she collided with him, wrapping her arms tightly around Alan. He did the same, looking back at Shinoda, who was standing looking at the pair with a warm smile. Alan closed his eyes, holding Io, hoping never to lose her or her father but knowing he would lose both someday. As this horrible thought crossed his mind, a tear slid out of his eye and down his cheek.
"You did it!" Io was saying happily. "You kept your promise!"
"I always do, Io," Alan said quietly. "I'd never have let anything hurt your dad."
After a few moments of silence, Io stepped back towards her father, and Alan stood up. He looked between both Kiryuu and Shinoda before shaking himself.
"Well," he said, holding up the files, "the sooner I get this done, the better." He started to walk back towards the door, but Shinoda held up a hand.
"Alan," he said, "I'd like to stay a while longer, if you don't mind. I have a few ideas that I want to share with Kiryuu before we go back home. You don't mind, do you? You can come back and pick me up when you've done... well, whatever it is you need to do."
Alan's eyebrows arched up, but he nodded, beginning to walk past him towards the elevator.
"Alan-" Kiryuu began, but Alan spun around and interrupted him.
"Don't worry," he said. "That offer you made about 'easing the pain' if the worst happens goes both ways. If and when this cataclysm causes you to go snooker-loopy and become the biggest bad of them all, I will absolutely kill you, no problem."
Shinoda and Io looked at Alan, open-mouthed. Alan turned to leave again, but Kiryuu spoke up again.
"I was going to say," he said, "that Manda told me about what you did in Knoxville, and I wanted to thank you for saving my life. What were you talking about just then?"
Alan paused for a moment, feeling that he had embarrassed himself. He was about to repeat what he had said, but decided against it.
"Nothing," he muttered. "You're welcome. Cheers, mate."
With that, he walked back to the elevator. Shinoda and Io were lost for words, but Kiryuu grinned. He knew full well what Alan had said, and he also seriously doubted that Alan would be able to make good on that promise, if the time ever came. Still, he appreciated the sentiment.
As Alan rode the elevator back up to the ground level, he saw Shinoda and Kiryuu deep in conversation. As he walked back out into the sun-baked car park, Alan really didn't know what to make of Kiryuu. On the one hand, his encounter with King Ghidorah and the knowledge of what was to come had visibly shaken him as it had Alan himself. On the other hand he had a nagging doubt that Kiryuu knew the full extent of the horrors to come and was leaving something out. Plus he really didn't like the idea of Kiryuu being able to look in his mind. It was one thing to hack into a computer, but to look into someone else's mind was a frightening thought. He had had enough of such things to last a lifetime.
Hell and damnation, he thought to himself, as he climbed into the car and started the engine. Beside him lay the files, and although Alan wasn't sure he agreed with Kiryuu's idea, he couldn't think of what else to do. At least it was something to take his mind off what Kiryuu had said.
***
Carla Rigden was now feeling like the unluckiest person in the world. Upon returning home to Utah, Chief Masters had given her a complete verbal flaying. Among other choice phrases, she had been told that she had made "a hell of a mess", and turned the Utah police forces into a laughing stock. She had tried to defend herself, had tried to point out that there was more to this case than was initially thought, but the fact of the matter remained that she was unable to catch a wanted man. She was now suspended without pay pending an official inquiry.
Now she was back in her apartment, once again training with the large punching bag in her room. With particular viciousness she remembered the incidents that had brought her to this unenviable position. Everything had gone wrong from the moment she had taken on that Katagiri case, and ever since Alan Tyler had walked into her life. She could picture both of their faces on the punching bag as she landed her jabs and straights.
After several minutes of this, she leaned against the bag, panting and sweating. She had never felt so miserable in her whole life, and she had the horrible feeling that after the inquiry things would get a lot worse.
"God damn you..." she cursed angrily. "God damn you to Hell..."
"You wouldn't be talking about me, would you?" a male voice suddenly said from behind her. She spun round, and then saw that Alan was now standing in the doorway to her bedroom, a file in one hand, regarding Carla with those cat-like eyes of his. At first, Carla was shocked that he had managed to get inside without her hearing, though she remembered there was a drainpipe quite close to her bedroom window; her training seemed to have made her completely lost in thought. Her shock turned to anger and her eyes narrowed. She knew her own gun was locked away in a box under her bed, and she cursed herself for not having it now, though she doubted it would have any effect on him after what she had witnessed.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here again, you freak!" she spat. "Now you've got five seconds to get outta here before I call the cops!" She was about to stride over to her phone, but she heard a sudden click and froze. Turning to face Alan, she saw that he had his Desert Eagle raised, pointing it at her head, and had clicked the hammer into place.
"Before you do that," Alan said calmly, "you might want to take a look at this." He waved the file in his other hand, and held it out in front of him, apparently wanting Carla to take it. The detective approached cautiously, her eyes never leaving Alan's as she outstretched an arm to the files. Then she reached out and snatched the file away, finally taking her eyes off Alan to look at the cover.
"'Organiser G-1... Beta experiment?" she breathed. She opened the file and began to read a small section. As she read, her anger gave way to curiosity, and her curiosity became horror as she read further, reading about the injection of Organiser G-1 into the bloodstream, and the terrible effects the experiments had on the many unfortunate victims.
"Jesus..." she muttered. "And Katagiri's name is all over this..."
"You wanted answers, Detective," Alan said. "I owed you them. You need to know what sort of man Mitsuo Katagiri was; he was the sort who would gladly tread on others and commit atrocities like that to further his own aims. He was a lunatic, and that's why he died in that factory. I assume you already knew about that?"
"So you did see him die?" Carla asked, her head snapping back up to look at Alan. "But your name isn't anywhere in this file. Why would you be-"
"Use the brains you were born with, Detective," Alan interrupted. "Why do you think I can heal so quickly, can roar like Godzilla, and have these eyes?" he continued, pointing at his own eyes. "What do you think people are going to do when they find out about me? I'll be carted off to some lab somewhere and poked at for all eternity. If you have any sense you'll forget my face and my name when this little meeting is over."
At last, Carla was beginning to see the reasons why Alan had acted the way he had in Knoxville. She could now see why Alan would do such things, what sort of person Katagiri was... and the reason Katagiri had died. As much as she had wanted to forget the bizarre incidents in Tennessee, they were now coming back to her memory.
"Tell me honestly, Tyler..." Carla finally said, looking Alan directly in the eye. "Did you kill Katagiri? He hurt you, so did you hurt him back?"
"No," Alan responded. "I can't tell you how much I wanted to, but I didn't."
Carla regarded Alan carefully, almost as if she was trying to read his mind. In the end, she seemed satisfied that Alan was being truthful and relaxed a little, looking back to the file.
"Why are you giving this to me though?" Carla asked.
"I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself, Detective," Alan replied, holstering his firearm, "in the eyes of your colleagues and peers. Bring that information before the United Nations, and expose the activities of the Japanese government and the Crisis Control Intelligence agency. How do you think people will react to you cracking such a high-profile case? You could be Commissioner within the year; at the very least you should get your badge back. The benefits are greater than that though; you'll be exposing an enormous crime against human life and bringing down those responsible. Katagiri has been put to an end, and now I leave it to you to finish off his legacy once and for all. No-one deserves to suffer the way my friends did. I leave it all up to you to make sure it never happens again."
Jesus, Alan thought, I'm even starting to sound like Kiryuu.
Both were silent for a moment, while Carla turned things over in her head. It was then she noticed Alan turning around, beginning to head back into her room. Presumably he was going to climb back out of her window and climb back down the drainpipe.
"Tyler," she said, "you can use the door, you know." With that, she walked over to the apartment door, unlocked it and opened it. She stood aside to allow Alan to step outside. They both gave courteous, rather forced nods as they passed, and Alan walked back down the corridor.
As Carla shut the door behind him, she looked back down at the file. Alan had given her a veritable gold-mine of information, but now she was beginning to have doubts. If she was asked about who her source was, she wouldn't know what to say. She could say she was doing some extra digging on the Katagiri case, but she wasn't sure how long her stories would last under scrutiny. Still, the evidence in the file seemed pretty irrefutable, certainly enough to warrant further investigation, and now that it had presented itself again she wanted to tie up this loose end in her life once and for all. It was not so much the glory or the regaining of respect that she craved; it was the desire to see that justice was done to the ones who had brought so much calamity to so many lives.
She crossed over to the telephone and dialled American Airlines, booking a flight to New York. She reasoned that, while she was bringing justice to corrupt politicians, she would make some attempt to get over her fear of flying while she was at it.