Chapter Fifteen: Mismanagement
The ruins of the former Tokyo settlement were to one side.
Kallen looked at them from the sidecar of Rivalz's bike as Rolo drove on. Vast pools of water had seeped into the streets. Several of the rotting skyscrapers had collapsed in on themselves. A few more had simply broken apart, their fragments falling among others. Now and then, you saw people slogging waist-deep in the water.
Others sat in makeshift houses, heads in their hands as they took in the ruin of what they had built.
"So, I guess Lelouch has put us together again, huh?" said Rolo, not paying attention.
"Looks like it," said Kallen.
"Hmm, does he usually work at such a breakneck pace?" asked Rolo, seeming to want to be social.
"Yeah, generally," said Kallen. "I don't usually operate in this sphere, though. My job usually involves going out further afield. I don't really have much of a place in the soup kitchen itself."
"Why not?" asked Rolo.
"I was the last person to join the Student Council, and it was already operating before I showed up," said Kallen. "It's only natural it would take a while to fit in, and I don't really think I'd be good at soup kitchen duty."
"No regrets, then?" asked Rolo.
"No," said Kallen. And she was about to say more when her phone rang. They must have gotten the reception back up. Drawing it up, she saw it was a burner phone. "One moment." Flipping it open, she put it to one ear. "Yes?"
"Kallen, are you alright?" asked Naoto. "I think they finally got some lines back on."
"I'm fine," said Kallen. "I can't really talk right now. Not a good time."
"Right, well, things are really bad out here," said Naoto. "Huge parts of the city have been waterlogged, a lot of people drowned in the flooding. And a lot of buildings collapsed.
"Now we've got armed guys pretending to be policemen on the border.
"If you could get some of your friends down here-"
"Oh, that's good," said Kallen, not wanting to expose herself to Rolo. "I'm glad to hear that Prince Clovis is focusing on us nobles first. Nothing against the commoners, but if we miss a phone call, thousands can die.
"You know, the Student Council has actually been organizing a humanitarian effort. But they've got their hands tied in the Britannian segment. And even if they could come over to help, a lot of the people they are organizing wouldn't want to."
"Sorry to hear that," said Naoto. "I'm guessing you're in good company right now."
"Yes, sorry," said Kallen.
"Anything you can do on your end?" asked Naoto.
"Well, I'm heading to the Purebloods," said Kallen, surprised that Naoto was asking for help. Were the Student Council's operations really that important? "We haven't seen a single police officer on the way here, actually. Lelouch asked me to try and get some help for the commoners, and they're my only contacts.
"But that's not going to the elevens any good. They'll have to take of this themselves.
"I mean if there were some kind of humanitarian effort in the ghettos they could make contact with. Honorary Britannians or something, maybe we could justify sending someone over." She stopped. That was too far.
"Kallen? Why'd you stop?" asked Naoto.
"Alright, fine, I know you don't care about that, okay. Sorry I asked," said Kallen, not looking at Rolo. "So, how are your parents?"
"...There is a group of Honorary Britannians posted at the site of the old soup kitchen," said Naoto. "We've agreed to leave them alone, and they are helping with evacuation and rescue.
"No word on the police."
"I'm glad to hear that," said Kallen. "Listen, I've got a meeting to attend. It was really nice talking to you."
"Yeah," said Naoto with a laugh. "Let's hope I can talk to the real Kallen next time."
"Obviously. Bye," said Kallen before hanging up.
"Friend of yours?" asked Rolo.
"Just someone I have to be friends with," said Kallen. "I don't even remember their name most of the time."
"Do you remember it now?" asked Rolo.
Kallen laughed. "No.
"I didn't see the name on the caller ID, I recognized them by their voice."
"That really seems like something you should look into," said Rolo.
"I know," said Kallen, leaning back with a sigh. "I was a huge jerk a few months ago, and I only started getting better recently. I still haven't become a nice person yet. What about you? Why'd you transfer into Ashford Academy?"
"My parents live outside Area 11, but wanted me to have an education as a good school," said Rolo. "It was actually only a few months ago."
Kallen nodded. "Hey, could you pull over at Shinjuku."
"Sure by, why?" asked Rolo.
"It's where the old soup kitchen was, Rolo," said Kallen. "You really should look at this if you're going to be working with us."
"Right, I remember the newspaper articles," said Rolo, turning off at the sign.
They came to a halt in the breakdown lane, and Rolo looked down at the wreckage of the soup kitchen. It was in ruins, but the loss hadn't stopped Lelouch. If anything, it had made him go into overdrive.
"Why'd they blow the place up?" asked Rolo.
"To make a point, I guess," said Kallen. "'Britannians not wanted.' Their loss." Then she noticed Honorary Britannian soldiers working the structures. "Still, what are those guys in uniform doing here?"
"They look like Honorary Britannian soldiers," said Rolo.
"Come on, let's go check it out," said Kallen.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Rolo. "I really think I should stay with the cycle."
"Fine, you do that," said Kallen. "They're trying to move wreckage; I need to know who is in charge and if we can use them." Hurrying down to the ground level, she made her way toward a group of them struggling to move a huge stone.
"Do you need help?" she asked.
One of them looked back. "Yes, actually. There are some kids under here."
"Right, let's go," said Kallen.
Moving to help him, they all positioned themselves.
"One, two, three..." said the one who'd spoken. "Lift."
Together they pushed and the stone was rolled away. A number of children and several people were pulled out. Some of the Honorary Britannians led them away. The last one looked as if to thank him and blinked. "Kallen? You're here?"
"Suzaku?" asked Kallen. "Glad to see you made it out alright."
"I was one of the lucky ones," said Suzaku. "Thanks for your help. Though you're kind of the last person, I'd expect to come out here."
"I was on the way and wanted to see what was happening here," said Kallen. "How many do you have here?"
"Well, there are fourteen of us left here," said Suzaku. "Others have moved to different locations; there are eight of them. We used to have a hundred people, though.
"Some died or disappeared, we didn't find all the bodies, and the rest made a run for it. But we haven't received any orders from Milner, so mostly we've just been trying to help how we can."
"How is it going?" asked Kallen.
"Not too well," said Suzaku, looking around. "We can save people in danger, but we've barely got enough rations and supplies for ourselves. In a few days, we'll run out and have to ditch the post entirely.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm part of a humanitarian effort," said Kallen. "The entire Tokyo settlement got wrecked. Lelouch has chosen to focus his main efforts on repairing the Britannian half."
"Lelouch?" asked Suzaku.
"Yes, Lelouch Lamperouge, he's running the Ashford Academy Council," said Kallen. Despite herself, she was wondering why he asked. "There's Milly Ashford, Rivalz Cardemond, Nina Einstein, Shirley Fenette, me. And I guess his little sister Nunnally.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, I just zoned out there for a moment," said Suzaku, shifting at the mention of Nunnally. "I guess that's to be expected."
Yeah, Suzaku knew someone called Lelouch, who was probably a Britannian and his age. They'd have to be someone who could be going to Ashford Academy. And since Nunnally had also gotten a reaction, that Lelouch had a little sister named Nunnally.
So Suzaku probably knew Lelouch somehow, likely from before the invasion. There weren't a lot of commoners from Britannia living in Japan; it was mostly merchants and nobles. Though there was also Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally Vi Britannia-
Oh.
No, no, that was an assumption too far. Lots of people were named after royalty. Except Genbu Kururugi had a son named Suzaku who could have known those two. And that would perfectly explain why Lelouch was so cagey about his background.
Questions for later. "It's his only option. There isn't any point in trying to save the world if you can't even save yourself.
"Anyway, he's sending me to the Purebloods to see if we can arrange some aid.
"On the way, I saw you guys and figured I'd see if you needed anything. If I can get supplies, maybe I can get something for you."
Suzaku nodded. "Hang on a sec. We actually have an inventory, and we've got a wish list of supplies." He drew a list out of a breast pocket and handed it to him. "We tried asking the locals to help out, but well..."
"You're not popular," said Kallen.
"Guilty as charged," said Suzaku. "In all honesty, I don't think you're going to have any luck Kallen.
"We have no idea where the police are here. We actually had to go to a payphone and call up our headquarters and got nothing.
"I did hear that Kyoto has plans to send in some aid. Lady Kaguya apparently wants to dispatch humanitarian aid."
Kallen halted. "Kyoto? Why would they help?" But she knew the answer because Naoto had dealings with Kyoto. Every member of the resistance did.
"Good public relations, I guess," said Suzaku. "In all honesty, I think it might be a ploy to get goodwill. I'm pretty sure at least one member of Kyoto associates with the JLF. I don't like assuming the worst of people, but this seems more like a recruitment tool."
"I've heard about those," said Kallen. And then she smiled in what might have been an evil fashion. "And you've just given me the tools I need to get this operation off the ground. I'll be back. Good work, you're a credit to your race."
Moving back to Rolo, she found him on the phone.
"Yes, Father, Prince Clovis appears to be making a complete mess of things. I know I shouldn't say it like that. But as far as I can tell, he's left the entire settlement to rot. The Ashford Academy Student Council are heading the relief effort, not him.
"It's possible there is something going on I can't see. But from down here, it looks like. Well, like there isn't any leadership at all. Ordinary people are not happy. If the Student Council hadn't organized them, it would be complete chaos. Gambling dens are being rebuilt before running water is restored."
Silence.
"Lelouch or no one, from the looks of things. We're going to check in and see if we can get some aid for the settlement now. But I've got my doubts about it being feasible. I don't think this will be a very safe place to invest in at this rate. Are there any strings you can pull?"
A response.
"Right, I'll keep an eye out. I'll call you and Mother as soon as I learn anything else," Rolo hung up and turned to Kallen. "Oh, Kallen.
"Sorry about that. I uh... my Father sent me to Area 11 for schooling. But he wants me to keep an eye on things here and make regular reports. Sakuradite doesn't seem like a market that can fail, but you never know."
"Makes sense," said Kallen. "We've got what we needed. Let's go."
No way was Rolo making a report to his Father. Even if you assumed he was incredibly strict, Rolo's words were too professional. And ordinary schoolboy did not report Royalty to be absolute incompetents so clinically. It was true, but Kallen tried to imagine Rivalz or Shirley making that kind of report.
It would simply never happen. Britannians had been trained to be subservient to royalty in all things. So the odds that a hesitant and timid boy like Rolo Haliburton would be so clinical would be... bad.
So...
Rolo Haliburton was a government agent, probably indoctrinated from a young age. And he was making a covert report on Clovis' performance and recommending a change of administration. This was a lot of assumptions to make, but it made sense.
More research would be needed.
"Is something wrong?" asked Rolo.
Kallen considered her answer. He'd picked up on her being concerned, so she had to cover it. "Did you really mean all that? About there being a complete lack of leadership?"
"I..." Rolo paused. "I know I shouldn't say stuff like that, but... seeing all this waste makes me angry."
"Well, don't," said Kallen. "That kind of talk can get you killed in the wrong company. And it's also not patriotic."
"Yeah, you're right," said Rolo. "Sorry."
Kallen wondered how to play this? Should she drop the conversation? Or would that seem like she wanted to drop the conversation? "What was all that about Lelouch or no one?"
"Oh um, Father was asking me if there was any kind of leadership in the settlement," said Rolo. "I guess I just blurted it out. And it's true, so far as we can tell."
"Right, sure," said Kallen. "Let's just drop it."
At last, they got to the Viceroy's, and it looked pristine. Aside from a couple of hedges being made a bit ragged, it was intact. The streets had been cleared and cleared. Windows were being replaced, and knightmares stood.
"Here we are, the Pureblood HQ," said Rolo, parking and paying their toll. "You want me to head back?"
"No, you can come in," said Kallen. "I might need to get back to Lelouch in a hurry. We could end up with a flat no."
"Oh nice," said Rolo with a smile. "I've never been in here before."
It was more genuine.
Moving forward through the front doors, Kallen found the secretary at the front desk. She considered how to play this. She didn't have any rank in the Purebloods, and she had no pull, so what did she have? A potential career path.
How could she use that?
"Excuse me," said Kallen, moving forward and standing up straight. She saluted. "Private Kallen Stadtfeld of the Purebloods reporting for duty."
The secretary blinked. "Right, of course, you are expected."
Wait for what?
Lady Villetta hurried out quickly in surprise. "Oh, Kallen, you're here." She halted. "Who's your friend."
"Oh, Rolo gave me a ride here," said Kallen. "I actually have something important I need to report. It... it concerns the security of the settlement."
Villetta motioned and brought her to one side in a corner. They were very close now, and Kallen found the proximity pleasant. "Okay, what is it?"
"On my way here, I saw a group of Honorary Britannians trying to repair the settlement," said Kallen. "They were low on supplies, and expected they'd have to abandon their position shortly."
"Alright, that's unfortunate, but I don't see why that concerns us," said Villetta. "The elevens aren't exactly a high priority in this situation."
"They were expecting a Kyoto Relief Package," said Kallen.
Villetta got it. "I see."
"If Kyoto manages to ingratiate itself to the ghetto, it could cause us to lose a lot of influence," said Kallen. "I talked with a lot of people in the settlement. The Britannians citizens are working overtime to make repairs on their own efforts.
"The Student Council is heading the operation, so they can't help.
"No one has seen a single police officer. The construction crews are working in places like Babel Tower. We've been trying to channel them into using their time productively. But some are looking for someone to blame."
"What exactly do you want me to do?" asked Villetta.
Kallen drew out Suzaku's list. "I've got a wish list here from Suzaku Kururugi of the Honorary Britannians. He'd operating from Shinjuku. It's a number of requests he believes could be used to continue operations."
Villetta took it and looked over it. "This is chicken feed. Rations? Blankets? Portable shelter? We have this stuff in the supply rooms just in case."
"Well then, we don't have anything to lose," said Kallen. "We've already gotten a lot of good publicity for humanitarian work. Britannians as a whole, I mean. Kyoto is just trying to steal our thunder. So let's just make sure operations continue and take all the credit.
"Suzaku is probably going to go to Lelouch eventually for help anyway. It's the smart move in this situation. It's basically a rubber stamp."
Villetta smile. "A small price to pay for undercutting terrorism. Right, good work on this." Then she sighed. "Unfortunately, we need you to get dressed."
"Dressed?" asked Kallen in surprise. "For what?" And then she noticed that Villetta was wearing a blue shimmering dress and high-heels. It had a lot of cleavage, baring the sides of her large breasts and ending at her navel. Not to mention pearl earrings that gleamed on her ears.
Villetta sighed. "Prince Clovis is holding his party anyway. Most of the nobles got out of the situation just fine; they were in better places. He's planning to hold a smaller celebration now, as a... show of will, I think.
"To demonstrate the storm hasn't beaten us.
"The point is that not being present for this having shown up could be taken as a slight. We'll just get you a spare uniform; it's fine."
Okay, Kallen Kozuki was absolutely disgusted by this. And Kallen Stadtfeld had to agree with her for once. "Lady Villetta...
"Where are the police?"
"The police are gone, alright. All of them," said Villetta. "Prince Clovis ordered the police forces across Area 11 to be moved to critical locations. Their knightmares as well. We've only got a small detachment here in Tokyo left, aside from the garrison.
"Milner is still here with a small task force to keep order, but he hasn't been doing anything with it. Lord Gottwald doesn't have authority over him, and Prince Clovis has given no orders."
"Why?" asked Kallen. "Have you seen what happened out there? We've got civilians trying to take the place of government services.
"There is an armed militia pretending to be police on the border. Do you really think they're going to go home when Milner gets back from... wherever he is."
"Many of our knightmares got wrecked, Kallen," said Villetta in a low tone. "Several whole warehouses of them were swamped. We're trying to salvage them, but the repairs could take time. A lot of our long-distance got shut down.
"And our long-distance scanning systems were completely fritzed. We do know that a Britannian fleet covering us from the north was blown off course.
"There's a Chinese Invasion invasion fleet in the Indian Ocean. Kewell is gone with his entire remaining forces to shore up the north. Bartley is operating over time to try and get our knightmares back in shape. They've even retasked Lloyd Asplund from his private project to fix things.
"With any luck, the Chinese will go back, and things can get back to normal.
"But for now, we have to pull out all the stops."
Okay, that was a pretty good reason. But it raised another question. "Why is Prince Clovis throwing a party?"
Villetta remained dead silent for a long time. She looked to the left, then the right. "Don't ask the question, Kallen. Higher ranked people than you have already talked to him about this. I'll get you a dress to put on, smile, and looked pretty, and observe what happens.
"The party will go on, the nobles will dance, and we'll fix the problem in the background before anyone notices. I'll see to getting the Honorary Britannians their wish-list while you're changing."
Kallen nodded and looked to Rolo. "Rolo, you're going to have to go back to Lelouch without me. Tell him what is going on.
"I think I've gotten some help for Suzaku, though."
"This doesn't seem like something we should be doing," said Rolo hesitantly.
"If you make an issue of it with royalty, be my guest," said Kallen. "This isn't the kind of offer I can refuse." This was also the only way she could actually get a conversation with Clovis. If she could talk to him, maybe we can set something up. And she couldn't decline without destroying my entire future for nothing. "Tell Lelouch...
"Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't make it."
"I will," said Rolo.
And he left.
Now for the worst part; socializing with nobility.