Ship's Operational Log, Saturday 1 January 2011, ship's time 0520 hours EST, Captain (Navy) Brian Gamblin reporting,
Having assumed a more peaceful stance concerning the dimension we are now operating in - and lowering our radar-jamming systems to allow all nations with such capabilities on Earth to detect us finally - we have resumed a close orbit over Tōkyō. All is well and all personnel - save the Director's elder sister, Grandmaster Moroboshi Negako - are back aboard Haida, Arizona, Yamato and Freedom.
We have just been joined by another force from our home dimension: the British starship H.M.S. Hood, the Australian starship H.M.A.S. Kirkpatrick and the Encouraçado Espacial João Cândido Felisberto of Brazil, all under the command of the Director's other sister, Miss Moroboshi Tariko. All three ships were the only ones of the Earth Defence Force ready to be used and deploy in support of the search mission for both Haida and Freedom beyond Arizona and Yamato. Accompanying them were six of the Type A civilian passenger/cargo transport colonisation ships that have been launched by the Avalonians from the former Niphentaxian Navy spacedocks seized at the Liberation last February.
Much to the surprise of many in the enhanced squadron now in orbit over Earth, the six vessels in question are ships that are ultimately owned by the cruise ship company Carnival Corporation and PLC of Miami, Florida. Three of them are the Royal Mail Starships Mauretania, Lusitania and Aquitania, all of whom were named after famous passenger liners that plied the North Atlantic in the period before, during and after World War One; both the originals and the current ships operate under the Cunard Line brand. The other three - under a revised White Star Line brand that was reformed four months ago by Carnival and Cunard - are Royal Mail Starships Olympic, Titanic and Britannic. Hopefully, the luck of the new R.M.S. Titanic will be much better than her tragic namesake that sank off Newfoundland back in 1912, to say anything of the new R.M.S. Lusitania given what happened to her namesake off the coast of Ireland in 1915 thanks to the U-20.
To given the Program survivors a chance to have much larger quarters than what they had endured for so long on Freedom, all of them have been moved aboard the Type As and allowed to relax and unwind from many months of uncertainty and fear thanks to their horrid experience at the hands of the Greater East Asia Republic. I am quite pleased to report that the Catering Support Regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps - augmented by just-formed Territorial Army RLC regiments meant to support the new reserve brigades created thanks to the massive amount of Avalonian-Britons joining Her Majesty's armed forces as part-time soldiers - came through spectacularly in preparing large amounts of food so that over sixty thousand young teenagers can get away finally from eating replicated products three times a day. I have already begun the process to recommend the units involved receive the Chief of the Defence Staff Commendation for their help in such a time of need.
After a meeting between Director Moroboshi, Captain Nathan Kerr of Hood, Captain Umezu Saburō of Yamato, Lieutenant-Colonel Conrad Scattergood of the Catering Support Regiment (who has his deployed regimental headquarters aboard Olympic), Carnival Chief Executive Officer Micky Arison (who came to this dimension aboard Mauretania) and Miss Nakagawa Noriko (the Elder Mother of the Program survivors) here on Haida, it has been decided that as soon as we do return back to our own dimension, they will remain on the Type As - with the full willing support of Carnival through both Cunard and White Star and the logistics support of the British Army - while arrangements are made with the Japanese government as to their re-settlement there. It is now hoped that all the kids will be adopted into foster families by the time the new school year begins in Japan in April 2011. A survey of all the classes involved indicate that while these kids are prepared to live in other countries if necessary, all would prefer to live in the Japan of our dimension, which I'm sure the current government would loudly welcome given the downward trend of the nation's overall population in recent years. Already, all the former members of Shiroiwa Junior High School Class 3-B have made it quite clear they want to live in Tomobiki and attend Tomobiki High School, where "Hiromi-sempai" is currently a sophomore.
The would-be last participants of The Program - the forty-two students of Shikanotoride Junior High School Class 3-B - have yet to decide what they want to do with themselves. For the time being, they'll remain on Arizona.
I also suspect - and Captain Umezu agrees with me on this - that when the Program survivors start coming of age, the Japanese Self-Defence Forces will be getting a massive number of new recruits joining up, both in the other ranks and through the National Defence College in Yokosuka.
As was promised by Captain Kazanski to President Clinton, scientific personnel - who also came with Hood, Kirkpatrick and Felisberto to this dimension - are, under the direction of Ki Tsukihana and Hakaru Ayami, preparing data packages for transmission to various nations so they can start developing their own Sagussan-based technology to eventually give the Earth of this dimension FTL-capable starships of their own in as short a time as practicable. As a show of good faith to the new government of the now-renamed Republic of Japan - now forming under the new leadership of Motobuchi Kyōichi's father, Representative Motobuchi Ichimaru, who was supported in his bid to become the new Prime Minister by the leadership of both the Republic Army and Navy - copies of that self-same knowledge were conveyed to the Diet by Mimura Shinji's aunt Tomoko and Prime Minister Motobuchi to the various government departments and industrial scientific work units throughout Japan so that the people of that nation and their allies in the Oriental Commonwealth will not feel left out as the humanity of this dimension advances finally to the stars . . .
R.M.S. Titanic . . .
"Geez, Boss! You EVER see a ship like this before?"
Kazuo blinked as he took a look around the vast space of the main ballroom of the Type A passenger/cargo transport starship that all the former Shiroiwa students - and Shōgo's girlfriend Keiko, who was seen as an unofficial member of their group - had been moved to once it was decided to fully evacuate the Freedom pending her final fate; given that the Niphentaxian ship didn't have the tachytron energy collectors Sagussan-designed vessels were equipped with, returning her back to her proper dimension would be difficult and the engineers were considering sending her flying into the Sun to render her into her component atoms so that, when the whole mass shifted over in just under a year's time, it wouldn't cause a huge impact in the Earth Defence Force's home dimension. "Actually, no. I did go on a cruise ship to Guam with my parents once when I was still in elementary school, Mitsuru . . . but I must confess that such vessels were not as ornately decorated or as well-equipped as this one."
"Well, let's hope the luck of this ship is much better than her namesake," Satomi stated as she crossed her arms. "We all know that story, don't we?"
"I doubt they'll ever run across icebergs in deep space, Tomi," Shinji noted.
"Comets are often made of frozen gasses, Shinji. Atop that, there are asteroids to consider as well," Kazuo reminded his classmate. "But given that there is the history of the original Titanic to remember, I believe the crew of this new ship will keep such things in mind. And I also believe the ship will come with ALL the necessary safety features needed to keep whatever passengers and crew she carries to their destination in total comfort and with a guarantee of a secure landing."
"But what would a ship like this do, Boss?" Mitsuru wondered.
"The Earth which will soon become our new home suffers from overpopulation and over-usage of natural resources, Mitsuru," Kazuo stated as several of the people walked away from them to gaze on the detailed diagrams of the walls of the main entrance lounge they had just entered from the materialiser room where they had arrived aboard from Freedom. "Fortunately, the Seifukusu Dominion has turned over thirty Class-M planets to Earth's control so that populations can be shifted over. Titanic and all her sisterships will be used initially as colonisation vessels. As you can see in the main diagram Yukie and the others are looking at now, there are cargo holds which would hold all the physical materials necessary to shift a good-sized group of people and allow them to establish a new settlement on another world. By the time we graduate from high school, we might actually be able to join in on such settlements on Pacifica."
"'Pacifica?'" Noriko asked.
"That is the name of the planet that will be divided between Japan, the two Koreas, Mongolia and Taiwan - what we know of as Formosa - when settlement is begun in earnest, Noriko. During previous times Mizuho allowed us to 'stretch our legs' when we were still aboard the bioroid factory, I took the chance to get into the factory mainframe and analyse what were the actual plans our adopted race had when it came to helping the Terrans overcome such problems. I must confess that the 'roadmap' set up by President Meinyak was spot-on when it came to predicting what would happen."
"So you knew that we could have stayed in Sempai's dimension all along, didn't you?" Ogawa Sakura then stated as she looked at him; she and Yamamoto Kazuhiko had been examining a cut-away model of the Titanic set in the middle of the room.
"I did."
"Why didn't you try to tell us that, Boss?" Kanai Izumi stated.
"Because those times we were allowed to be free of the Staff's focusing crystal were quite brief, Izumi. It was hard - even for myself - to discuss such an emotionally-intensive subject as that to all of you," he explained as he gave her a knowing look. "As demonstrated by the many attempts Mizuho made to convince you of what was happening, your emotions concerning our overall situation were quite overwhelming. But do not be saddened by such things. In this case, it's certainly better late than never."
"Kazuo-kun is right," Noriko said. "So, now that we're aboard this big boat, let's go find someone and get our cabin assignments. I want to be able to sleep on a real bed for a change instead of a futon. Even if we are used to sleeping on them."
The others nodded as they headed out of the entrance lounge into a hallway marked with a sign declaring BOARDING PROCESSING. They soon came to a series of booths that were manned by smiling Avalonian-Britons in formal clothing marking them as officers and crew of the Titanic. One of them had the three gold stripes and diamond-shaped Elliot's Eye insignia of a first officer on her epaulette slip-ons, her peaked cap bearing the wreathed badge with the red swallowtail pendant and the bright white star of her service. "Ah, the heroes of the hour!" she said as the women in their booths all rose and began to clap their hands. "Welcome aboard Titanic, sisters and brothers," she then declared as she gave them a formal salute that would pass muster at the Britannia Royal Naval College. "I'm Chief Purser Katharine McElroy of the White Star Line, assigned to the Royal Mail Starship Titanic. For this voyage, I'll be in overall charge of your cabin assignments and all necessary supply and administration when it comes to your staying aboard this ship until you're allowed to re-settle in Japan. I also serve as the ashi'cha of this vessel's Avalonian crew, so if any of you need any sort of spiritual guidance - as we don't have any Shintō or Buddhist priests with us on this voyage - my cabin doors are always open. In the meantime, if we can ask you to file through the admission booths, you'll be given your room assignments, and then the cabin stewards beyond will escort you there and help you settle down."
"Arigatō!" most of the forty-two people that were standing there - the clear exceptions were Kazuo and Mizuho; the latter was in a hoverchair as she slept off the exhaustion she had sustained in using the Staff of Gihan in such a brutal manner not more than several hours before, the Staff behind held by Yoshio as he helped push her into place so she could get her cabin assignment - chanted as they bowed to her.
People then started to file through the booths. The couples in the group were allowed to take up married couple cabins, and then were escorted off while the still-single people were either given two-bed rooms (if they wanted to pair up with a friend) or single-bed cabins for those wanting to be alone. Noting that Mizuho had been given a cabin of her own, Kazuo made a hand signal to his gang friends, then moved over to one side to wait their getting through the admissions lines before joining him. "What's up, Boss?" Ryūhei asked as they all formed a school circle around him and Izumi.
"Find out Mizuho's cabin assignment. Under no circumstances is she to be left alone," Kazuo whispered to them. "Pass this on to Kaori and Megumi as well; Mitsuko and her friends are already aware of this. Shinji and Yoshio will set up video and sensor surveillance as well. Remember what Sempai told us about the Staff?"
The others all nodded in understanding. They had been quick to note that the stewards handling their room assignments - while looking quite physically healthy and in very good spirits - had haunted looks in their eyes that were not so different than what Shōgo had demonstrated before their lives would forever change thanks to The Program. And given what the Staff of Gihan - a Sagussan weapon of mass destruction even though in the case of the Program survivors, it had become a device of mass creation! - was all too capable of doing, the temptation of making use of it to go back to the Phentax system in their universe would be great for many Avalonians nursing thoughts of revenge against their former masters. To say anything of their helping their sisters - if they existed - in this dimension become free if it was discovered they were also trapped in chattel slavery.
"Loud and clear, Boss," Hiroshi stated . . .
"Mizuho-san, we're here."
A tired sigh escaped the would-be warrior-priestess as her eyes opened up and she gazed around the quite beautiful hotel-like room she had been assigned. It had a large picture window showing a panoramic view of space, with the Olympic hovering off in the near distance and Aquitania beyond her, the Moon off to the left and up. Gazing on the beautiful civilian transport ships - which were the same size as a Type One battleship, though built with solid upper and keel-line superstructures mostly lined with windows to indicate where the passenger cabins were - she was quick to note the colouring of the hulls. Black overall in lieu of the various shades of grey used on military warships, she had a white upper superstructure and blood-red lower superstructure, with four sensor towers atop the upper superstructure (in a design echo of the original Olympic's and Aquitania's four funnels). The former ship had her sensor towers painted in the White Star pattern of a black top over a tan base; the Cunard ship beyond had black tops over dark red bases divided by three very thin equadistant black stripes. The Union Jacks marking the ships as British-owned were on the main hull aft of amidships. And on the upper hull near the forward end of Olympic, there was a stylised White Star in tan Helvetica font beside the red swallowtail pendant insignia of the famous shipping company was painted there to mark her current operators; though she couldn't see that detail on Aquitania, Mizuho had been told that Cunard ships had the name of their home service in red block letters painted on their hulls, no doubt accompanied here with the Cunard Line's red flag bearing the rampant crowned gold lion holding a globe in its forepaws. Their names were printed on the bows and ahead of the twin exhausts of their main hull in white, their registered home port - unlike the original ships, it was Southampton in lieu of Liverpool for both Olympic and Aquitania - marked with their names aft.
"Beautiful . . . "
"Hai, they are quite beautiful ships, aren't they?" Yoshio asked.
"You would prefer to deal with warships, would you not?" Mizuho asked.
The gentle giant blinked, and then he sighed. "Maybe. But then again, the one time I used one of the Freedom's missiles to destroy that ELF transmitter in China . . . " A shake of the head. "There were a dozen people there, Mizuho-san."
She blinked. "You regret killing them."
A nod. "Hai."
"Then you will be forgiven by the Master for what you did," she assured him. "You, my friend, regret what you had to do even if it was to ultimately ensure we stayed safe. As all true warriors should feel whenever they are forced to take a life. That is what I asked the Staff to do when we unleashed our punishment on the monsters that condemned us to die. To seek out all those who did NOT regret ordering us - or supporting those who ordered us - to kill or be killed." A sigh. "To believe there were so many . . . "
"DHK's reported that the total number of dead was 314,930," he stated. "The number of people in comas but are still alive are 426,738." A shake of the head as he gazed wide-eyed at her. "It's madness, Mizuho-san! How could all those people just ACCEPT - even LIKE! - something like The Program? Didn't they care?"
"They were the leaders in a dictatorship, my friend," Mizuho stated. "Once they got past the period where the Program could have threatened their lives - and then gained access to the halls of true power - they simply didn't care anymore. We were all pawns in a sick chess game of life. Throwaway toys to be used and discarded as required. Since they had never gambled their own lives, they didn't understand what gambling the lives of others meant. After all, we were safe behind the umbrella of our nuclear missiles from attack from America or Russia - even if the leaders of both those lands eventually decided they didn't wish to seize what territory we had, even Guam, Karafuto or the Chishima-rettō - and we were at peace with our neighbours despite the rebellion in the Philippines. So what experience did they have with warfare? They had none. But like the immature children they really were at heart, those monsters decided they liked the flash of explosions and the gory sight of people dying . . . so they thought up a way of letting that happen in real-time. And we all suffered for it." She then smirked. "They didn't realise - and didn't care - that we also had feelings, dreams and desires. So since they didn't - and wouldn't - make themselves see that, I forced them to see it. You know the results."
"It's amazing that the Army and Navy survived with so few losses," he noted.
"The benefits of an all-volunteer military force. And unlike the monsters of the so-called 'non-aggressive defensive-army,' those who put on the uniform to defend their homeland from external threats were not asked to be passionate supporters of The Program before they put those uniforms on. Besides, even if Japan still has a powerful military, the vast majority of the Diet such as Kyōichi's father survived and they are moving to make some necessary reforms. And with all those who wanted us to kill each other out of the way, there should be nothing to stop them from making the Japan of our birth as good and as peaceful as the Japan we will soon become a part of."
"I wonder . . . "
"What?"
"If we have counterparts in Sempai's universe. I heard Sempai talk to her sister before we left Haida to come here to stay for the time being. Negako-sama had gone down to Tomobiki to look in on the counterpart to Sempai's brother. If the Moroboshi family is in our universe, could we have counterparts in theirs?"
A nod. "Possibly, but I doubt it. After all, we were born of the generation that blossomed in the wake of the end of the Greater East Asia War. Our new homeland only has just over one-half of the population of our old homeland. The 'baby boom' generation as the Americans call it." A smile. "It also explains Shiroiwa; the town was founded AFTER that war ended. It is not an older village of farmers or merchants like our new hometown was before the Restoration. Shiroiwa doesn't exist in the Great Emperor's universe."
"It'd be strange."
"How so?"
"Dealing with real aliens."
"My friend, some would see us as the aliens."
He blinked, and then chuckled. "Hai, that's true!"
A knock then echoed from the door. "Enter, friend Shinji!" Mizuho called out.
The door opened to reveal the basketball player. "Hey, guys," he said as he closed and locked the door behind him, and then he looked around. "Whoo-ee! These are some posh digs we'll have for the next while! Hope it doesn't spoil us!"
"Do you have it?" Yoshio asked.
A wink. "Right here," he said as he drew out a small pyramid-shaped device, and then he placed it down on the nightstand beside Mizuho's bed. "It's attuned to the meson radiation the Staff is putting out. If it senses the Staff moving beyond five metres from where Mizuho puts it down, an automatic signal goes out to Haida and Arizona. There'll be a pack of SEALs, plus Negako-sama, here within seconds."
"A pity we must guard against such things from our own sisters," Mizuho mused as Yoshio then moved to lift her off the hoverchair and move to lie her down. She kept the Staff in her hand as he gently placed her on the bed, and then moved to drape a quilt over her; the room's temperature was cool enough to allow her to continue to wear her school clothes yet not become too hot under the quill. "But necessary. Did you feel it?"
"Nah; Negako-sama blocked out our powers while we're still adjusting to being in flesh-and-blood bodies again," Shinji stated. "But you can see it in a few eyes."
"Hai, that's true," Yoshio said, and then he stared at Shinji. "I'll stay here for a few hours. She wants to sleep first before getting something to eat."
A wink. "I'll pass it on to Mayumi-chan."
Yoshio's cheeks instantly flared as Mizuho tried not to laugh . . .
The main recreation lounge . . .
" . . . spoken with President Clinton about what has happened here in Japan," Motobuchi Ichimaru stated in front of the crowd of press now meeting with him at the Diet Building in downtown Tōkyō; Titanic was now getting the CNN feed coming off several satellites orbiting Earth. "He has expressed his administration's full support for the reforms the Emergency Council of the Republic of Japan has launched in the wake of what the Program survivors unleashed on those who condemned them all to die over the last fifty years and more. Granted, there will be periods of great tension; we are trying to cast aside the mass paranoia that has governed our country's actions for far too long, but it will be hard to change attitudes even if the most radical amongst us are either dead or now in permanent comas awaiting their relatives' decision to euthanize them as a final act of mercy. I will be happy to take questions. Yes, Miss Amanpour?"
"Has there been any negative reaction by the relatives of the victims of the Staff of Gihan against the Program survivors, Prime Minister?"
A sigh. "Sadly, there has been some, but the police forces in the various prefectures of Japan - as well as local government authorities and non-governmental aide organisations - are monitoring the situation. While they cannot strike back at Noriko-chan or any of her friends - seeing as they are now aboard those beautiful starliners that came to our dimension in the wake of yesterday's events and are being guarded by the Earth Defence Force battleships also in orbit - there is a chance that reprisals could be launched against their relatives still alive here in Japan."
"Such as yourself, of course."
A nod. "Yes, such as myself. But I hope - and pray - that those people who are now facing either burying their relatives or deciding whether or not to end life support for those still alive yet are now comatose . . . will take a chance and sit back, then consider what happened. And what's more, WHY it happened!" He indicated himself. "Just a week ago, my wife and I had to face the horrible fact that our only son was dead. And that he died in a state-sanctioned act of MASS MURDER! For years, we were all led to believe by our government that participation in The Program was a solemn duty for the youth of our land to endure when they were called up. Yet too many of us never sat back and thought – and, in fact, were never ENCOURAGED to think! - of what the COST of The Program actually would be. Not just the cost of lives . . . but the horrible cost to our country's very soul, the spirit of the land given to us by the Kami for us to have. And for those who did think of such things . . . they had to keep such thoughts to themselves lest they become targets of government crackdowns."
He took a deep breath. "Then two days ago, I learned my son had - through a miracle that could, in many ways, be thought of as pure magic! - ultimately survived. But because of the specific mechanics that made his survival possible, he can't live here. So in essence, my wife and I have to face the same thing we did last week: An empty home with no son to care for. Now, there will possibly be the chance for future children. But even if we do have further children, my wife and I will not have our first son with us anymore. Neither will all the others who have lost their loved ones thanks to The Program. So therefore, the Emergency Council - which was formed and supported both by those who have been victimised by The Program and those who never approved of it but never had to bury a loved one, all with the full support of the Republic's armed forces - will make it its top priority to ensure that nothing of that nature will again haunt our nation and her citizens. And especially her children." He then pointed to another reporter. "Yes, Mister Kim?"
"What plans do the new government have concerning the technological knowledge our visitors from that other Earth are transmitting to us at this time?"
"Earlier today, a consortium of scientific research groups, both private and government, have come together under the leadership of Ms. Mimura Tomoko to analyse the various physics, chemistry, biology, metaphysics and mathematical structures that fully govern our counterparts' technology so such can be put to use here as soon as possible. Like our counterparts, we are facing overpopulation and resource exhaustion issues; the sooner we get out into space and settle other planets, the better for us all.
"Of course, we of Japan will gladly invite our Oriental Commonwealth partners to join us in this effort, as the nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the British Commonwealth of Nations, l'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the Commonwealth of Eurasian States will also be doing under the leadership of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Russia. This is a friendly competition - which is much better than a multi-way cold war! - between all of us to see who is able to produce the results the fastest AND the safest. We believe - and many of the leaders of other nations agree - that it may be possible to start deploying fast sub-light spacecraft to explore Mars within the next couple of years . . . and launch our first ever superluminal star craft within the decade. It sounds incredible, but please remember what the late President John Kennedy urged Americans to do concerning their Apollo programme at his inaugural address in 1961. We all know what happened on 20 July 1969 on the Moon." As people applauded and laughed, he then pointed. "Miss Davant?"
"Speaking of defensive organisations, what will happen, Mister Prime Minister, concerning the large number of weapons of mass destruction - specifically nuclear missiles - deployed by the Japanese Army and Navy? Will Japan and her allies enter a version of the SALT and START treaties that exist between Russia and America?"
"We will consider that," the prime minister stated. "But we will do so when we feel our interests are safeguarded. I explained this to President Clinton in my phone-call with him and he agrees with me. Furthermore, I am pleased to say that President Putin, President Chirac and Prime Minister Blair - as was revealed to me by their ambassadors here in Tōkyō - also agree. Much that I truly understand why many people worldwide would wish to be rid of such weapons - we Japanese, of course, live with the memories of the bombings of Tōkyō and Kyōto in 1945 by the Nazis to this very day - but we do not wish to enter a situation where we will not be bullied by someone who, for whatever reason, doesn't like us. The racism that helped start off the Pacific side of World War Two and eventually pushed the creation of the 'Greater East Asia Republic' is still there in many places, on all sides. We need to educate people - again, on all sides - to eradicate that racism. As we're doing that, it is strongly possible that some group may wish to take advantage of our desire for world peace and lash out. It could be the government of a nation-state . . . or it could be a terrorist group who develop simple low-yield tactical bombs or 'dirty nuke' radioactive waste devices that kill people without destroying buildings. Or it could be someone who makes use of biological or chemical weapons." He sighed. "I pray the day comes soon that we can all look upon each other and live the dream the late Reverend Martin Luther King spoke of years ago in Washington, where people judge each other not by the colour of their skin . . . but by the content of their character. We must all work to make that dream come true." He pointed. "Mister Schächter?"
"Some people in Japan have stated that while they gladly support the ending of The Program, they also are concerned about the possible rise of juvenile delinquency among the youth of Japan. What will happen now that the youth of Japan no longer have to literally fear for their lives? Will there be programs that will be instituted to encourage them to positively contribute to Japanese society, thus helping the nation fully pull away from its past as the 'Greater East Asia Republic?'"
"Yes, there will be such programs, though be assured they won't be mandatory. We haven't decided what yet, but such programs will be encouraged. As to what, I cannot say. We're still at the beginning stages of those discussions . . . "
"Oi! Change the channel, huh?"
Shūya smiled as he keyed the controls to change over to MTV, though he turned down the volume as not that many people in the lounge - which now included members of over thirty classes spanning all five decades The Program was in operation - cared for such loud noise even if it was good music. He then set aside the remote before relaxing in his chair. "Hey, Yoshitoki?"
"Yeah?" Kuninobu Yoshitoki called out from a nearby chair.
"What do you want to do with yourself once we're moved into a new home?"
A snort. "Pass high school first!" the other man said before he sipped back the vitamin milkshake he was drinking; the male members of Class 3-B were on their last day of restricted food consumption so as to not upset their stomachs. "None of us are brilliant geniuses like Sempai's friends Ayami-chan and Tsukihana-chan, so I don't see myself doing anything other than pass the Centre Test in three years' time and getting into a good university. If something comes along . . . " A shrug. "It comes."
"You feeling okay, Shū?" Shinji asked.
A sigh. "I'm still getting over it, Mim."
"Over what?" Shōgo wondered.
"The fact that we didn't just pre-empt The Program when we escaped from Japan, Shōgo," Shūya stated. "We fuckin' destroyed it . . . and all those who supported it. Just like you wanted to do all along. Remember what you told those NADA bastards on the patrol boat back on Oki-shima?" As the two-time Program participant nodded, the would-be pop guitarist breathed out, "I just hope we did the right thing in the end."
"It's for them to figure out, Shūya. Not us," Kazuo advised.
Others nodded. People then perked on hearing footsteps, and then turned as Ryūhei walked into the room. "Everything okay with Mizuho, Ryūhei-kun?" Kaori asked.
"Yeah, she's fine. Shō's watching her now," Ryūhei stated. "Yo, Shū, you better go look in on your lady there." As the others tensed, he added, "She just got off the comm link with her jackass mom." A shake of the head. "No fuckin' change."
"Oh, fuck! What the hell's wrong with the bitch?" Mitsuru snarled. "Noriko's bro is okay! She's okay! There ain't no Program anymore! What's the deal here?"
"Probably she's like the counterparts to Sempai's parents."
Eyes locked on Shūya, and then people thought about it. "Then if she actually LIKED The Program . . . why the hell ain't she DEAD?" Shinji asked.
"No doubt because she believed in it enough to accept that it would come for both her children . . . but not to the extent the Moroboshis and other families did, Shinji," Kazuo stated, and then a smile turned his lips. "However, I do not think she will survive much longer - at least emotionally - if she maintains such an attitude."
"Why do you say that, Boss?" Ryūhei asked.
"Her brother, Ryūhei. Remember how happy he was that Noriko was alive and safe?"
The others nodded. "He's a cute tyke," Mitsuru stated as everyone remembered meeting little Nakagawa Kinji on the Yamato. "He'll grow up to be strong. Bet on it."
"And estranged from his mother," Kazuo added.
Everyone blinked. "Yeah! You got a point, Kazuo," Yoshitoki noted. "Kinji-chan really looked mad when his mom wouldn't say anything to Noriko-chan." He then perked before adding, "AND Yukie-chan and her parents were there, too."
"Right!" Shinji trilled out. "Yukie-chan's parents were there . . . "
"And they both accepted Yukie-chan and Noriko-chan being bond-mates. After they got the explanation of what was normal among Avalonians," Yoshitoki finished. "From what I saw, they didn't like Noriko-chan's mom giving her the cold shoulder like that." He then winked at his classmates. "Something tells me that the Utsumis are going to always stay close by to Kinji-chan in case he doesn't feel at home with his parents . . . especially if his mom's attitude keeps up."
"Not to mention most of our other parents," Hirono added.
"Everything with your parents cool, Hiro?" Mitsuru asked,
A sigh. "Weird as it sounds - hell, weird as it was to ME! - they're sad that I gotta go, but they hope I won't be as much of a fuck-up as I was here, Mitsu," the punkish girl stated. "Damn! Never thought that dyin' and comin' back would cause such an attitude change with the folks!" She then paused before moaning. "Fuck! Don't say weird shit like THAT, Shimizu! We don't want THAT attitude to spread around!"
The others - save Kazuo - ruefully chuckled . . . and then they all perked on hearing footfalls. They turned, and then relaxed on seeing Noriko walk into the room, hand-in-hand with Yukie. While the former's face was still damp from crying, she did seem a little more upbeat than what she had appeared like she was right after her failed attempts at speaking to her mother on Yamato. "Hey, Boss Lady! It's all cool?" Mitsuru asked as the couple moved to take their seats.
A nod. "I'll be alright, Mitsuru-kun. Thanks," Noriko said before she took a deep breath. "We just got a call . . . from Principal Amano."
Everyone perked. "The principal of our school? Why?" Shinji asked.
"Well, one tradition The Program started up . . . was that whenever a class was forced to 'play,' the school they came from would then posthumously declare all the members of that class graduated from junior high school," Noriko explained. "Since we're the only class that's fully intact and on their feet, Amano-kōchōsensei wants to hold a special ceremony for us before we head to our new home." She then giggled. "I've even been asked to be the valedictorian for the class!"
The others considered that. "That'd be really fuckin' weird!" Ryūhei noted. "We only completed one term before we got taken to the damned island! And we're gonna have to do some serious catchin' up in school before we could all go to Sempai's school in April."
"True, but I think they - and the whole country - need it," Noriko stated. "We were so hell-bent on getting our revenge on the monsters that tried to kill us all that we tended to forget that there were other people in Japan who never cared for that sort of thing at all. They need to start getting their own closure."
"So we're doin' it?" Mitsuru asked.
No objections came from anyone present. "When's it happening?" Shūya asked.
"Monday morning," Noriko answered; it was currently Sunday afternoon down on the planet below them. "The world media will be there. Sempai's going to make sure that we'll be protected and safe while we're down there. Even if Kyōichi-kun's father is the Prime Minister now, there might be some crazy out there who'll try something."
"Probably some dork that lost out on a bet," Hiroshi muttered.
Others ruefully chuckled on hearing that. "Now comes the hard part," Yukie mused.
"What's that, Yukie?" Satomi asked.
"Noriko has to write a speech."
Many of the others winced on hearing what has to happen. "Oh, man! I feel for you, Boss Lady!" Ryūhei moaned. "I really feel for you!"
Noriko's and Yukie's cabin, a few hours later . . .
"Hai, it's open."
"Greetings, Noriko. Yukie."
Both women turned, and then smiled. "Negako-sama!" Noriko called out as the ninjutsu grandmaster came into the room. Given that they were using a married couple's suite, the bond-mates had been relaxing in the small living room as the ashi'cha of the Program survivors typed out what she wanted to say on a dataPADD. "How are things with your counterpart here?" she asked as Yukie moved to prepare some tea for their guest. "Is Ataru-chan going to be okay? Does he have any other relative to live with?"
Negako sat down. "You remember Kyech, do you not?"
Both younger women blinked, and then Yukie gasped. "Oh, you mean K'ekhech-sama!" she said, and then turned to gaze on a still-confused Noriko. "You remember her, Noriko! She was that superpowered, red-haired Noukiite woman who led their troops down to Phentax Twelve to liberate the factory back in February!" As Noriko's eyes widened in recognition, Yukie turned back to Negako. "Did her counterpart come here?"
"Yes. One of her ch'uokyek friends advised her to do same. I arranged for her to take Ataru immediately to see Ganzo on Okusei so that the spirits of my counterpart as well as Tariko's and Hiromi's counterparts could be given bodies of their own, then they could either remain on that planet as they mature or return back to Earth. I also advised my other-self to do everything she can to prepare her soon-to-come siblings in the Art so that, if such should be needed when they eventually decide to return to Earth, they will be prepared. I also dealt with the counterparts to Sakurambō Hayao and his niece Sakura so they will not have to disturb my family's counterparts if or whenever they elect to return to Earth." Negako gazed at Noriko. "You have done much to prompt a profound evolution in the land of your birth, Noriko. But there is the chance that what you helped start may not evolve in a positive direction. It could even make matters worse. Not everyone believes in - as Abraham Lincoln once called them in his first inaugural address - the 'better angels' of human nature."
A sigh. "Hai, that's true. But we can only do so much. We can't stay here - and many of us don't WANT to stay here, even now! - so there has to be a point where it has to stop and others have to take over to press it forward." Noriko shrugged. "It's only fair, deep down. We can't take away other people's rights to make their own decisions, after all. Even if they end up making the wrong decisions."
A nod. "It is wise that you are keeping such in mind, Noriko. I understand you have been asked to provide a valedictory address to the ceremony marking your honorary graduation from Shiroiwa Junior High School. Have you composed it?"
Noriko moaned. "Not much . . . "
"Let me have the dataPADD."
She blinked, and then handed the device over. Negako took it, then tapped controls to get into Titanic's mainframes to access the large collection of data - compiled from both the British Library in London and the Library of Congress in Washington, which was natural given the dual-nationality ownership of the starliner between an American parent company and a British operating company - and then she typed a name into the search engine. A moment later, she got into the file she wanted, and then downloaded same into the dataPADD. After a moment of scanning what she had copied over, she then moved to highlight a particular passage. "Read through this speech," she then stated as she handed the PADD back to Noriko. "Especially consider what was said in the highlighted section. I believe it will give you the inspiration you require, Noriko." She then rose. "I will remain with Mizuho for the remainder of this evening giving her some shiatsu treatment to help her better recover from what she endured with the Staff two days ago. If you desire further assistance, I can be contacted there. Be assured, there will be no threats in the gymnasium at school when you arrive there tomorrow morning. Ensure you also get adequate rest."
Noriko blinked, and then she nodded. "H-hai . . . "
With that, the grandmaster walked out of the room. "Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr," Yukie said as she gazed over her shoulder at the dataPADD. "Who was he?"
Noriko tapped a control to access a short biography of the person in question. "He served on the American Supreme Court back in the early part of the twentieth century," she explained, and then blinked. "He also fought in their Civil War on the Union side; he was from Massachusetts. Came out of it as a captain . . . " She then flicked off the window of the biography of the famous Supreme Court justice, then began to read . . .
Shiroiwa Junior High School, next morning . . .
"It is a beautiful thing that we are doing today," Principal Amano Masamichi stated as he gazed on the crowd in the school's gymnasium, which was now filled with all the students still attending the school, the relatives of many of the forty-two "graduates" from Class 3-B and visiting dignitaries . . . not to mention the presence of both Japanese and American special forces troops from the Yamato and the Arizona, all ready to react if some idiot wanted to do something stupid. "For so long, ever since shortly after the end of the Greater East Asia War, given the demands of The Program, we educators - for the most part - dreaded the news that one of the classes we were responsible for would be asked to perform their 'solemn civic duty' to the nation and either die on the 'playing field' of that horrible 'game' . . . or ultimately survive after witnessing the deaths of friends, even loved ones.
"We now know that in all cases, those who were made to 'play' were whisked off before the final embrace of Eternity - known to the race that created the great Staff now being held by Inada Mizuho-kun here with us today as Te'a, 'That Which Is Above mortal understanding' - would claim their souls, to again see new life. And when they were given that new life, they chose to come back . . . to ensure that this constant bleeding out of the youth of our society would stop once and for all. And they did that not more than seventy-two hours ago. Ironically, seventy-two hours was the time any 'episode' of The Program was to play out . . . so it indeed is ironic that we now move to add our own closure to that dark time in our nation's history by ending it with as much a swift finality as those horrid 'episodes' were always made to end."
He took a deep breath, and then he gazed on the forty-two young people standing on the stage nearby. "We will miss you all here. We were torn - as our nation was torn - by your struggle on Oki-shima, then torn again by your revealing to us all that you survived and wanted the justice you all so deserved . . . and which you obtained so well, while at the same time showing mercy to those who didn't deserve to be hurt. Even those of us who - while believing we understood the purpose of The Program - still felt doubts, even felt pain at the loss of so many children of this land.
"But I hope - and I pray that all of us who will remain behind also hope - that you will not forget us in your new life in that different Earth ten years ahead of us now," he said, his eyes misty with tears he wouldn't shed. "That you will - even if only in spirit - still wish us the best as we struggle to make a Japan that you could have chosen to remain in hadn't Fate forced a different choice on you. We will miss you. There will be an empty hole in our school come next March when we hold the graduating ceremony for your peers that remain behind. We will always remember you. And we hope that you will do unto your new homeland what you did here. You give it new life. May the Kami, may the Buddha, may God - and may Lyna - watch over you in your lives to come."
Applause came from the crowd in response to those words, people rising to give everyone a standing ovation. Once that was done, the principal took a deep breath. "To close off this ceremony, I turn things over to Nakagawa Noriko-kun."
More applause as she walked over, exchanged bows with the principal, and then she mounted the lectern. As the clapping and cheers died away, Noriko took a breath. "Forgive me," she began. "I'm not much of a speechmaker, so I'll keep this short."
As laughter filled the gymnasium, she placed the dataPADD she had brought with her on the lectern before gazing on the audience. "For the last ten months - in my own personal timeline and in the timeline of all my classmates - I often spent nights thinking about why The Program existed. Why did this ultimate 'no-win' scenario, where we were asked to kill or be killed, was forced on us. What it meant for all of us who went through it . . . as well as for those who watched it from the sidelines. I'm not going to render some final judgement on what it ultimately did and didn't do to Japan and those who call these ancient islands home. I'll leave that to the historians in the years to come to figure out . . . and no doubt, debate until they're all hoarse in the mouth." As the audience laughed, she then took another deep breath. "But I do want to say something about what it will mean for those who it touched the most. Not just us who went through with it . . . but our peers who were spared from it.
"Some people have said in the last forty-eight hours - and perhaps before that both here and abroad - that The Program was established as a way of suppressing the spread of juvenile delinquency among the people of our age group in Japan. That because the adults of this land were more concerned about their own personal survival . . . that the leaders of the state ultimately felt they had no choice but to take into their own hands the duty that parents and guardians must exercise to teach their children and wards personal discipline. To respect, protect and help develop the society they are a part of. So they did it. And because we lived in a dictatorship that was so ironclad when it came to controlling all our lives, when the brutal costs finally began to sink into people's minds, there was no realistic way for people to say, 'Hey, this is wrong! We must stop this!'"
She then bowed her head. "But I can - we who were aboard Freedom all can - understand the fear that helped contribute to The Program. The fear that we - the generations that grew up WITHOUT experiencing such a shattering world war that lasted fifteen years in the Pacific and six in Europe - would not appreciate what had been given to us. That we would move to destroy what others who gladly gave the full measure of their devotion sought to protect and save. And perhaps - even if the response to that concern was something that was so barbaric that it will cast an eternal shadow onto what those people did that WAS good, such as show that different races could live side-by-side in equality - something might happen which could lead down that dark path. A path that you, my friends, might take . . . either on purpose or by accident.
"And while there's nothing further my friends and I can do to help point the way - for we really have no right to jab our fingers into your collective backs and say 'this is wrong' since we won't be living here anymore - perhaps there is one thing we could do before we depart from these shores for the last time," she stated. "As I was trying to come up with this speech last night, Moroboshi Negako-sama came to my cabin aboard Titanic and showed me a speech our American friends with us today and listening in to us on CNN might recognise. Especially with a phrase that was given prominence in a special mini-series produced for their PBS network back in 1990 on the terrible civil war that nearly shattered that nation over five years in the 1860s.
"A speech given by Oliver Wendell Holmes, who served as a captain in the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment during that war - and who would later serve for thirty years on the Supreme Court of the United States - on the thirtieth of May in 1884 had this to say when it came to understanding how that war came to affect the generation that lived through it . . . as well as the generations to come in their wake as they built a nation that was nearly ripped apart in his youth." She took a breath. "'We know that, if the armies of our war did anything worth remembering, the credit belongs not mainly to the individuals who did it, but to average human nature. We also know very well that we cannot live in associations with the past alone, and we admit that, if we would be worthy of the past, we must find new fields for action or thought, and make for ourselves new careers. But, nevertheless, the generation that carried on the war has been set apart by its experience. Through our great good fortune . . . '"
She stared at them all. "'In our youths . . . our hearts were touched with fire.'"
People remained silent - many of the young people there, who had never heard of the legendary juror from Massachusetts, now spellbound by what their friend and soon-to-be former schoolmate was saying - as she finished, "'It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing. While we are permitted to scorn nothing but indifference, and do not pretend to undervalue the worldly rewards of ambition, we have seen with our own eyes, beyond and above the gold fields, the snowy heights of honour, and it is for us to bear the report to those who come after us.'" Noriko then stared at them. "Even now, there are many in this land that are still afraid of the 'fire' Holmes-sensei spoke up that burns in the hearts of all of our peers who are growing up here today in this land. But my friends and I ask you - no, we plead with you! - to look upon that fire not as something that can destroy.
"But something that can forge new things . . . and a new future."
She paused as the audience began to applaud, many of the younger people getting on their feet and cheering her on. Noriko smiled, her cheeks reddening as she waited for the noise to die down, and then she moved to finish, "You out there that probably felt at times that The Program was there to protect you from the fire in the hears of my generation burning you and the land you lived in . . . probably now feel as if an inferno will soon engulf Japan. I ask you to not think that. I ask you all to do as those who once forged the katana a samurai bore unto battle in ages past to protect what he had vowed to protect even at the cost of his life. I ask you to harness the fire!
"For as Holmes-sensei said at the end of what I just quoted to you . . . ALL of you must answer for what you choose to do in the future to those generations who have yet to be born. You must give them reason for accepting what you chose to do that will lead to the world they will be born into . . . or else it will be THEY who will burn away all you have created. Is that what you want? Do you wish to create the ground for a civil war that could arise from that just because you don't want to see past your fears? We hope not," she said as she waved to her classmates. "And we hope . . . and deep down we know! - that you will do the right thing. For your future . . . and yourselves."
She then picked up the dataPADD and moved to stand before her friends. They stood to attention before bowing to the audience. "Be well, all of you," Noriko said before tapping the PADD's communication control. "Nakagawa to Titanic. Beam us up."
"Understood, Noriko-san," a voice called back. "Energising."
They then disappeared in a sparkle of energy as the audience applauded, many of their peers crying out their farewells. As the crowd then moved to depart, many of the people there came over to where the Moroboshi siblings - who (save for Negako, of course) had all dressed in their Tomobiki High school uniforms in a show of solidarity to their new friends - were standing to thank them or pass on messages to those who had just left that they didn't get the chance to do so earlier. As Ataru and Tariko both moved to take the letters from the students and stuff them into bags for transport up to the Titanic so they could be read, Hiromi was quick to sense two military officers - a Navy commander and an Army lieutenant-colonel, both in formal dress uniforms, golden aiguillettes marking them as aides-de-camp to civilian officials wrapped around their arms - gazing her way. Realising they wanted to talk to her, she walked over. "Is there something I can do to assist you gentlemen?" she said as she gazed curiously at them.
Both officers perked, and then the Navy officer sighed. "A simple question to be answered, Moroboshi-sama," he stated. "How much did you help Noriko-san and her friends when you went aboard the Freedom to meet with them before Friday?"
Hiromi perked, and then she chuckled. "I assume both of you were involved in the Republic's moves to counter the Freedom's presence over Japan?"
"We were officers assigned as liaison personnel from the Intelligence Bureau to Internal Security," the Army officer stated. "We were there at the Matsushiro complex outside Nagano when the Staff ended up killing off all the Central Committee members, including Interior Security Ministry Tsugawa. As Mikiya-kun here stated when that happened, it was pretty nicely played on Noriko-san's part. We guess a lot about what was going on and why . . . but we didn't predict the Staff at all."
"Ah, professional curiosity you mean?" Hiromi asked. At the colonel's blush, she sighed. "All I did in the end was give them the hope that they could live in my dimension - as the creation of their new bodies guaranteed that would happen - and remind them that as they are all Avalonians, they should consider using a psychic attack on those who authored their sufferings in The Program in lieu of resorting to mere 'terror bombing' in the style the Germans, the British and the Americans unleashed on their enemies in the European side of the Greater East Asia War." A shrug. "After all, what would doing that ultimately have done?" She then sighed as she gave them a knowing look. "So you both had your doubts, eh?" she asked.
"Not as often as we should have," the commander confessed.
"Oh, enough! That you had them speaks of your humanity, Commander! Be proud that you did feel that way, even if not as much as Shinji-san's late uncle did!" the reborn emperor scolded. "I will not judge you - or anyone else, in uniform or not - who were in those places when the Staff unleashed the wrath of the Program victims onto those they wanted to see suffer. Where is the border between simply 'obeying orders' and being responsible for something that could be called a 'war crime?' You didn't know - and you weren't encouraged - to consider that in your duties. That you had doubts alone demonstrates that you can define the border I spoke of just now and adhere to it. Those who Noriko-san and her friends elected to strike down . . . had no doubts at all." Her eyebrow arched. "What, I therefore ask, does that say about them?"
"She has a good point," the commander noted to his friend.
"Hai, she does," the colonel stated before both stood to attention and saluted her. "You have our thanks, Director. And please pass on our compliments to Noriko-san for both her leadership over her friends . . . and her restraint."
"Please have a safe voyage home," the commander said.
Hiromi smiled as she gave them the classic fist-in-palm salute of old China, bowing her head. "May your futures be bright . . . for yourselves and your home country." She then sighed. "Now if you'll excuse us, we ourselves need to return to our proper place in the space-time continuum." A wry smile then crossed her face as she turned away, muttering. "Re-setting the shipboard chronometers alone will be such a chore . . . "
As she headed off, both Sanada Mikiya and Anjō Gō blinked. "Um, Mikiya-kun . . . do you think that when we come together with their counterparts here, we'll be running into that sort of thing?" the just-promoted colonel then wondered.
"I think so," Sanada answered, nodding, and then he perked as something came to him. "You want to know something, Gō-kun?"
"What?"
"The future will be quite exciting to watch."
Anjō considered that, and then he grinned. "That it will . . . "
To be concluded . . .