by Famira Damaris
Disclaimer: I don't own Generator Gawl or its characters! No
sue! Sue is bad!
Author's Notes: Not much to say. The shortest chapter, more
of an interlude to a larger chapter. I could really use some feedback (like
suggestions for situations, that sort of thing). The reason it's short
is that I'm writing depressed ;_;. Well, there's nothing more to say, so....
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Third Vision (teaser)
Kennai lounged back into his chair in the darkness. He didn't know where Ryuko was at the moment – and he wasn't terribly concerned either. She could take care of herself. She wasn't the one he had to watch over. She was in on Kubere's operation permanently, and she couldn't pull out if she tried, if she wanted to. The blue-haired man was more concerned with the operation itself – no drastic results yet, nothing, despite what Ryuko believed. She was a great asset to Kubere, the biologist, but she was taking things too slowly. She had scoffed at him – what was a day or so? So eager for World War III that he couldn't wait? No, that hadn't been it: he wasn't thirsty for blood like others were, nor was he hungry for power. No, nothing like that, nothing quite so melodramatic.
He had a schedule to follow. Simple as that.
Kennai glanced out the window of the darkened office: the black clouds that had been collecting all day had finally burst, the rain coming down in sheets, pounding against the ceiling and splashing violently against the panes of glass. It would be over by the next hour – he thought it was a bit pathetic when he could start predicting the changes in the weather pattern without any mistakes: a product of too much over-zealous research on everything regarding Oju. Sad on his part, really.
He grunted. Seeing that events weren't unfolding to his pleasure, he had decided to take matters into his own hands. Ryuko was more heavy-handed in her approach to things: he didn't particularly approve of how she'd been using the test subject as a mere moving camera, instead of for other uses. He cradled his chin in the palm of his hand, staring at the midnight rain dribbling down the windows. The girl wasn't stupid – she knew what she was. Ryuko was treating her as if she had no brains, something to be ordered around. [She really should take the subtler approach. The girl isn't very productive as a camera]
Which was why he had that little talk with her earlier today. She wouldn't disobey either of them. He wasn't quite sure *what* she thought. A very quiet girl, one that listened easily, listened to by others and trusted. Just like that Gawl generator, she wasn't as transparent as she seemed. He had the idea that he'd never be completely sure of her feelings regarding Kubere and its operation based in Oju. Still, she had agreed to relay his little bit of information: it wasn't really much of a rumor, since the Professor *had* been moved yesterday from Auge's center. Certain ears must hear what she said: he was counting on it that they would. The Professor was becoming quite a commodity, he thought with the barest grin. No doubt that the three would try to get into Auge to locate the man – try to stop the research, try to do something about Auge itself – and then the trap would be sprung.
So much faster than Ryuko's plan.
They weren't stupid, his opponents. Of course they wouldn't all go – maybe one or two, but never in a group to be caught. As soon as Ryuko's little pet project was under wraps, they'd find their way to Auge. He thought it would be a good opportunity for the test subject to practice generation. Kill two birds with one stone that way – he preferred to be as efficient as he could. He knew she wouldn't be happy about it, that she had prompted her friends to approach Auge. Still, she'd do as she was told. She could agonize over it later. After the job was done.
He liked the idea of separating them. Less danger for the test subject, if the Gawl generator wasn't in the way. Didn't really matter which of the scientist-generators was lured away and disposed of. Whichever one showed up on Auge's doorstep first, he supposed. He wasn't particular about it, though Ryuko might be. She liked to toy with others, a trait that Kennai sometimes found annoying. This wasn't the time for games.
There was a movement to his right. He looked up, his thoughts broken as a girl stepped forward from one of the open doors leading away from the office. She paused, as if afraid to enter, one white hand on the doorframe, as if for support.
"Still awake?" Kennai asked. She nodded miserably. More nightmares, no doubt. He still couldn't figure out why she was having such trouble sleeping in a normal bed – the recent attempts had ended in failure: she was having trouble adapting.
"I just can't seem to fall asleep," she bowed her head, apologizing, "I…I-I'm sorry."
Kennai pushed himself from the chair, circling around the desk. Her blue eyes were focused on the ground – he thought he saw a glimmer of tears forming. She was wearing a large opaque nightgown, which she was to wear whenever she went to sleep in a futon. The thing was really too big for her, Kennai thought [It's practically dragging on the floor, for God's sake.] She was completely dwarfed by the article of clothing, making her look even more childlike and small. He reminded himself to see that she received proper attire in the future.
"Don't be. Everything takes time," He brushed her pink curls over her shoulder, placing his hand on it. He turned, hand still on her shoulder, and ushered her out of the darkened office. She allowed herself to be led, as he continued, "It probably wasn't one of the factors built into you, to immediately adapt to changes. Tell me, how long have you been sleeping in a bed?"
"A week," she told him in her quiet voice.
"Exactly. You can't expect to suddenly feel comfortable in only a week."
The sound of the girl's bare feet on the corridor's tiled floor was drowned out by the soft click of Kennai's heels. They were alone: few passed down these halls in the middle of the night. The girl made a helpless shrugging gesture. It had been Ryuko's idea that she be "trained" to sleep in a human bed: in the event that she was invited to her friend's. The biologist had thought it best that the test subject wouldn't toss and turn in the night and inadvertently babble in her sleep. It had seemed rather petty to Kennai, but he let Ryuko have her way regardless.
"Do you want to sleep in your cylinder?"
Another guilty nod. She was keeping her gaze on her pale feet, as if afraid to meet his eyes. Probably expecting to be harshly rejected.
"I don't see any reason why you can't." Kennai said. "We can't have you turning into an insomniac on us, now can we?"
"No…I guess not."
"You need some rest. I'll help you into your cylinder – this is the only time, though. Next time, try to stay to your futon, alright?"
"…Okay," the girl stopped as the blue-haired man did, waiting as he passed a plastic card through the door's lock. It hissed open, bathing the two with a warm orange glow from the interior. He restrained her from immediately entering with pressure on her shoulder from his fingers.
"You made sure the information was passed on?"
The girl looked away, her pink hair bobbing with the motion; "Yes…I mentioned it when I was talking to Ryo today."
"The blond one?" Kennai didn't wait for an answer, instead nodding with approval, "Good. You've done well. I'll have more orders for you in the morning."
The girl didn't reply, looking down again. She was no doubt feeling ashamed: he still wasn't quite used to the idea of a generator with such strong emotions. He had to admit that she was one of the most depressed people he had ever met. Of course she had her reasons, but still…it took a little getting use to.
He gestured toward the room, "Let's see about getting you into your cylinder, shall we?"
The girl walked in, Kennai following after her. The laboratory held several tall tubes: only one looked to have been currently used. The equipment was giving off a faint humming, seemingly alive under the orange lighting. He turned his back on the girl, touching one of the panels: as the screen lit up, he began to key in commands. He could hear the sounds of the girl discarding her nightgown: she never slept with clothing in her cylinder. Kennai kept his eyes on the control panel, watching the tube statistics for any errors. None. He finished, putting the final command for the cylinder to fill up with the stasis liquid as soon as the test subject was inside and hooked up. He knew why she had wanted to sleep in her cylinder – in stasis, she couldn't dream, and wouldn't be plagued by her uneasiness and nightmares, the things she didn't want to think about. He turned around.
The girl stood inside the tube, having lowered the cylinder around her from the low ceiling. She had the telltale markings of a generator upon her body, the red crossing from her torso to just below her petite waist. She wasn't paying attention to him, instead reaching around her and taking hold of the small cables hanging from the machinery above her. Kennai crossed the room toward the door, expression as bland as usual. She started attaching the wires to her body: as the cylinder began to fill up with the yellow-red stasis "jelly", she sat down on the floor, wrapping her hands around her bare knees.
She tentatively looked up, and offered him a tiny smile, the expression itself drowning in her own depression and sadness, before she was overwhelmed by the stasis. Her large blue eyes closed, and her body relaxed, as she was lifted slowly off the floor in the rising orange liquid. Kennai turned away, leaving the laboratory, locked it behind him without looking back.
She trusted him. A bad thing, that. As Kennai headed back to his office, his hands in his pockets, he resolved to change it: it was dangerous if she started to feel close to him. He'd see to getting rid of her trust in him later: it didn't matter if it hurt her or not. She healed rapidly, and she would learn from her "lesson". [She thinks of me like a parent. Her trust is her weakness] What was her name again? Natsume? Natsami? He could never remember it, always thinking of her as either "the girl" or "the test subject". Better he didn't bother with stupid details. Allowing the test subject close relations with any of Kubere's officials was rather idiotic, and trying to maintain such relationships would only take too much time and effort. He hadn't the time and no wish to be close to the girl - he had better things to focus his attention on, a larger goal.
He had an agenda to keep, after all.
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It never failed to surprise Koji that he felt much better in the morning. Though he still hurt, it was a dull ache now, only truly painful when the wounds were aggravated – he had opted for sleeping on his stomach instead of his back. The night had seemed to drag on, and though he had slept well enough, he was subconsciously glad that it was morning. Ryo had been the first to wake up – an early riser, the tall boy had thought he had heard the other scientist tiptoeing about as he folded his futon, not wanting to awake them. Koji had gotten up only a few minutes afterward.
It was Friday: two more days until the Oju Founding Festival. Masami had signed up to help out with one of the food stalls on the basis that "everyone" would soon know the "true power" of her cooking techniques: through various threats and pleadings, she had convinced Gawl, Ryo, and Koji to come with her. Lucky, that. They wouldn't have to try to prod her to go: Gawl had made it clear (though he never actually said anything) that he'd be accompanying Masami – probably still remembering the two incidents where she had almost been killed by generators. Made sense that he'd want to protect her. Ryo had noted that Gawl seemed to be developing emotionally, though he was still rather pig-headed and easy to set off. A few more years, and he'd almost have the emotions of a pure human. Not that they had enough time: they never did.
Ryo was seated before his laptop, already dressed in his uniform. Koji joined him, the pale flickering glow of the small screen bathing both of the boys. He glanced at the laptop – he had been expecting Ryo to be looking at Takuma Nekasa's statistics, or something else more closely related to Auge. Koji raised an eyebrow as he recognized the data scrolling down the small screen: various generator types, results of tests that had been conducted.
"I brought a data disk with this information. I thought we might need it."
"Really." Koji looked back at the screen, continuing bluntly, "Trying to decide which generators we can survive against?"
Ryo nodded glumly, "Yeah."
"It's probably better if we know the odds." Koji said. They were pretty small: neither could stand up to a large variety of the biological soldiers: both were only Phase-1 generators.
"Yeah." Ryo fell quiet. He'd changed a lot since they had left the future – Koji had known the other as long as he could remember, had worked as his colleague for quite a while. [Hard to believe I never realized how long] He stole a glance at the young boy sitting next to him: still worried, still nervous. [What if he's called out, or attacked by a generator? He runs the risk of breaking down] It was obviously troubling Ryo that the little time they had was limited, that he could probably count down his days on one hand.
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School had gone on normally. Gawl had fallen asleep during a presentation: Masami had kicked a small bruise in his leg trying to wake the oblivious boy up. Luckily, the teacher had been rambling again, too caught up in his lecture to notice. Koji shifted in his seat – today, he was sitting next to Ryo, as everyone had been split up into groups of two. The majority of the class was either asleep or fiddling with some odd object in boredom, few paying any attention. He glanced over at his partner: the blond was staring out the window, a troubled expression on his face. [Only two more days…and little more before the third World War…]
"…a sacrifice really means anything? Or will all end in naught? To some…"
Koji ignored the man, leaning across his desk toward Ryo.
"What's the matter now?" he kept his voice low. He winced mentally at how callous he sounded – had he always been cold? Amazing that now, he would notice. He kept his face neutral: in Gawl's words, his "mule face".
Ryo sighed. "I'm just thinking…in only a few more days, all of this will be…gone."
Koji frowned. He knew what his companion was thinking of: the friends they had made, the life they had settled into, the strangers they had passed on the street. Try as he might, he found he couldn't conjure up an ounce of care: for as long as he could remember, he had only thought of himself, if he had or hadn't been slighted, and how things in the end would work out for him. [I've forgotten what it feels like to be compassionate…] He stared at Ryo – unlike Koji, the blond didn't think solely of himself. He worried and genuinely *cared* for the well being of others: he, like Gawl, thought selflessly. [But myself? No] Thinking of this bothered Koji: he didn't like to consider that maybe he was less of a human than Gawl, that maybe he really *was* a cold-hearted jerk. He was silent for a minute, thinking this all through.
"…I told Gawl about the plan," Ryo continued, whispering, "He doesn't really like it, but he agreed to keep the others out of the way."
"Good." It had been decided that Koji would be the one to go to Auge: Ryo would back him. Now that he thought about it, Koji was somewhat glad that he would be the one to go, and by himself. No one would be there to see his possible failure, "…Are you afraid?"
Ryo looked up sharply, surprise written all over his face, "I …I mean…well, yeah…I guess so."
"Why?"
"Many reasons, I suppose. I don't want to die, and I don't want to see others get hurt…" Ryo trailed off. He wanted to say more, but he wasn't sure how to phrase it. He was torn between decisions, unsure if he should take action to save a future, and destroy another one. He was constantly hounded by the thoughts of death – something Koji didn't quite understand. He did, however, understand the decision that Ryo had made, that haunted him every day since they had come to Oju.
"Afraid that the future we chose to save might not be the right one?" Koji asked, whispering back. He was starting to hate the fact that he was the way he was, that he didn't care the way his companion did. Yet, despite the self-deprecation, he found that he wasn't *sorry* at all that he didn't care. Irritated yes, but the forgotten emotions he could give or take.
Ryo mournfully looked down at his hands, "…yeah."
An awkward silence. The teacher was still droning on.
"Worrying like that will get you nowhere, Ryo."
The blond hissed sharply, and Koji suddenly realized he had struck a taut nerve. He had gone too far. [*Shit*]
Ryo rounded on him, blue eyes like icy lightning, "Is there something wrong with *caring*, Koji? Or are you too caught up in yourself to feel for others?!" He looked like he wanted to go on, but he choked off, his anger rising. He clenched his fists, unclenched them as he searched about for a way to express himself.
Koji watched him with an unreadable expression, as the blond boy almost trembled with suppressed anger. Apparently this had been something that had been building up in the other for a while.
Some of the closer students were starting to look over curiously.
"I care because I believe I can *do* something with my hopes. Maybe you're just being more pessimistic than usual," Ryo growled, "But I'm getting really sick of hearing only negativity from you. Ever since we first met, it's been nothing *but* pessimism!" His normally quiet voice was rising quickly, almost in a shout, "You've always made things worse!"
Gawl was awake now, and regarding this exchange with a wide-eyes – he hadn't ever seen the normally calm scientist ever blow up at anyone, had never seen Ryo lose his temper. Then again, neither had Koji: underneath his controlled façade, he was actually shocked with surprise. Ryo's angry words were driving home: he was too stunned to ignore them.
"Mr. Kudou!" The class collectively started at the thundering bellow.
The teacher had stopped lecturing, and was now staring at Ryo, frowning, "You're disrupting class. I'd appreciate it if you kept your personal grievances at home: school is for *work*, Mr. Kudou, not discussing your problems with others."
Ryo shrank back in his seat, his anger fading away rapidly as he realized that everyone's attention was on him.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"…I apologize for my poor conduct."
"Go wait in the hall. I'll be out shortly to discuss your behavior."
Koji found that he was unable to meet his companion's icy blue gaze: only when the door clacked shut after the blond was he able to look up from the imaginary spot of dirt on his notebook. The passionate words had struck deep, had spurned questions that he didn't want to have to try to answer. He should have taken Ryo's emotions into account from the start: but he hadn't, and now Ryo was furious with him, at the worst possible time. He knew he'd have to try to apologize: with less than a week left, they couldn't afford to have their little team torn apart by an argument, not now, and definitely not here.
Not with only five more days left.
To be completed...
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Yes, a REALLY short chapter. There WILL be
shounen-ai in the next chapter: I just didn't feel like writing out another
battle in Vision Three. This is more of an interlude, to build up Ryo's
troubled mind, blah blah blah.
Not too long ago, my sister got the Generator Gawl manga....kicks ass, in Japanese tho ~_~. But Ryuko and Kennai...*makes a face*...they never struck me as lovers. I guess it's something that got cut out in the anime. Anyway, I think this is the crappiest chapter...it'll improve in the next chapter...I think I'm still shocked over the tragedy in New York tho...
Please pray for the people in New York and the Pentagon.