Interlude: 07: Endless
(A.C. 194, March 10th; Colony L3):
8-year old Jin Toshino lay in his bed, the stuffed lion tucked in the crook of his arm the moonlight dancing across his bedroom floor illuminating the darkest part of the room reflected off a fallen mirror. The young boy shifted in position in his sleep dropping his lion onto the floor when his arm fell from under his pillow, the lion hit the ground making not a single sound when it did. Jin yawned loudly rolling over again kicking his plaid sheets off of his lower body irritated by all the heat they kept in.
His brow creased in frustration, with a huff the young boy got up from the bed shifting his head toward the window; there was something not right about the outside and it bothered him more than he cared to admit, groaning he slid out of his bed and walked over to the window. Raising a hand he grasped the curtains and shut out of the moonlight just as he heard voices barely above a whisper approaching his open bedroom door, acting quickly he jumped back in bed and pretended to be sleeping.
The voices rose and lowered in volume making Jin wonder what his parents were talking about so intensely that they had to whisper. Then he remembered the odd looks they had been giving him everytime he walked past them after watching TV, they seemed distracted by something, if not the endless hours he spent watching TV then something else. Jin couldn't put his finger on it. He heard his parents stop talking when they entered his bedroom and walked over to his bed, he could feel their presence looming over him like two shadows, he tried his best not to flinch under their gaze but the moment his mother's hand touched his face his onyx blue eyes snapped open causing his mother withdraw her hand from his face, Rei wondered if he was awake the entire time they were in the hallway.
Putting on her best smile Rei ran her hands through Jin's bedhair. "Have you been awake this whole time?" Rei asked cautiously. Jin shook his head setting up in his bed his gaze shifted over to his father, Taku, who stood behind his mother looking upset to say the least, Jin didn't question their behavior. "What's wrong?" He asked instead. Rei smiled again shaking her head, her hands grasped her son's hands and gently she pulled him out the bed. "What do you say we go to earth?" She said. "I hear its nice this time of season." Jin arched an eyebrow at him amidst his smile; what season he wondered, from what his friends told him in school, earth was a horrible place ruled by the alliance and was ugly compared to the colonies.
Besides why would they go to earth in the middle of night? Taku watched his son with suspicion knowing the eight-year-old was hiding something from them just as they were. "Okay," Jin responded after a while. Rei embraced him a bear hug then ruffled his hair. "Pack you things, we're going right now," Rei announced exiting the bedroom. "Why now?" Jin asked curiously shifting his gaze back to his father's grim face. "Just do as your mother says, Jin, we'll explain everything on the way," Taku replied walking out of the room.
Jin frowned inwardly kneeling down in front of his bed pulling his suitcase from underneath it. Although he would never say it aloud, his parents were scaring him with all the whispering and secrecy, they barely talked to him anymore and when they did it seemed as though they were trying to hard to deter him from their behavior when they were only attracting his curiosity to question them. Heading over to his drawer he opened his suitcase and then began to shove all his underwear and other clothes into his suitcase until he could get nothing else inside.
Dropping his suitcase to the ground Jin jumped onto it, he then clamped the locks down onto the latches and stepped off it. Grunting the little boy picked his suit case and headed out of his bedroom in his pajamas. He stared into his parents bedroom and noticed they were holding each other lovingly, his face scrunched up in disgust and he past the stair's railing and headed down the stairs.
Rei turned at the minute when Jin vanished from sight and pulled away from Taku, and picked up her duffle bag while holding onto her pendant. Taku ran blew into his unruly bangs scratching the back of his head, he watched his wife hurry out of the room with both their bags telling him to hurry. Taku glanced at the empty bedroom with a look of sorrow knowing it would be the last time he would ever see it and made his way down stairs meet up with his family. His short hair stuck to the sides of his neck and face from his sweat, his bangs obscured his vision slightly.
He watched Rei force Jin into green jump suit saying it was a good way to hide his pajamas while Jin objected saying no would care if he was in his pajamas unless the fashion police existed and they hauled his ass down to their station. Rei smacked him the mouth for that comment, Jin did no cry instead he cursed again and got hit again, he almost cried that time. Taku stepped of the landing with a grunt catching the attention of his only child. "Dad, how come I gotta wear this stupid space suit? Is Mom gonna make me sit outside the shuttle?" Jin asked haughtily. Taku grinned and shook his head grabbing his demin jacket pulling it over his shoulders.
Rei sighed zipping the suit up in the back making sure everything was secure on it. Jin frowned at the way he looked in the spacesuit; it made him look like an idiot! "Can we go now?" The young Korean asked angrily. "Yeah we can go kiddo," Taku responded picking up his and Rei's duffle bag. Jin grabbed his suitcase again and rushed over to door despite Rei's best efforts to keep him away from it, he was just too excited about the thought of going to earth. When he opened the door he was greeted by a tall woman with red hair and the brownest he had ever seen that glowed in the moonlight. She wore an Alliance military uniform and this made the little Korean boy wonder if his parents were in trouble with the alliance.
The woman smiled at him kneeling down his level, Rei came up behind Jin and placed a protective arm around him. "Hello, Jin," She said. Jin blinked his eyes in confusion before noticing something familiar about her wavy red hair; her bangs were slightly discolored harboring an orange look. It wasn't long before Jin broke out into a smile. "Auntie Margaret!" He exclaimed breaking away from his mother and embracing Margaret. Margaret threw her arms around the little boy's body looking up at Rei and Taku with an unpleasant expression. Rei glared at the woman but said nothing, Jin pulled from Margaret beaming happily while Margaret placed her hands on the sides of his arms.
"Where you guys going without me?" Margaret asked pouting. "We're goin' to earth," Jin announced ignoring the look his father gave him. Margaret pretended to look surprised. "Really? Mind if I come?" She asked. Rei butted in before Jin could respond and grabbed her son's wrist. Margaret stood up letting the three of them walk by her. Taku glared at her running off to catch up to his wife. Margaret watched them retreat down the sidewalk toward their car, folding her arms the young woman caught Jin turn his head toward her and wave with the hand that was in his mother's firm grip. Margaret waved back before shutting the house's door and heading up the sidewalk with a smirk on her face. Her hand patted her sore abdomen vanishing around down an alley way.
"I'll see you later, guys, good work!" Rei switched on the lights in her office ready for another round with paper work, but stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted a familiar figure standing over her desk looking through her drawers in an almost panicked way, they hadn't noticed the light until the sound of a coffee cup shattering on the ground was heard. The figure looked up at Rei who had looked like she had seen a ghost, Margaret glared at Rei through her bangs ready to make a quick escape.
"Margaret, what are you doing in my office?" Rei asked shakily. Margaret stepped away from the desk hiding her hand that held the desired mission objective behind her back, Rei's eyes averted toward her hand and spotted the disks. Slowly Rei approached Margaret with a weapon in her hand. "Margaret, give me that, it doesn't belong to you," She said. Margaret smirked. "It doesn't belong to you either," The older woman stated firmly.
Margaret stared at her friend, emotionless were the state of her eyes, slowly the taller woman strode toward the terra-cotta haired woman until the space between them vanished. "Please, I don't want us to be enemies, just give me the disks, no one has to know about this," Rei pleaded extending her hand out to Margaret. The red haired woman stared down at Rei's callused hand in question wondering if she should object her mission and listen to her pleading friend and return the disks to their rightful master or do the opposite of both?
Rei watched Margaret's features soften and for a minute Rei actually thought she was going to listen and give the disks back, but instead all the Korean woman got was the end of a barrel of a gun. Rei's eyes widened in fear as she watched as Margaret's finger pulled back on the trigger, moving on automatic the young woman thrust her hand that held the weapon (a dagger, given to her by her grandfather) toward Margaret's torso, the blade tore through her uniform and sliced through the skin on her abdomen.
Rei smacked the gun out of Margaret's hand just as it went off beside her ear, Margaret's hand grasped her bleeding torso just as Rei lunged at her only to have her arm twisted behind her. Rei gasped in pain when her body came in contact with the office wall knocking down a picture of her son and husband down. "I'll give the disks back, but if your son means anything to you, you'll keep your mouth shut about this entire thing, understand?" Rei blinked back tears nodding, her breaths were short and quick, Margaret glared at the back of Rei's head before releasing her from her grasp. Rei turned around and slid to the ground against the wall just as Margaret dropped the disks onto the ground and exited the office through the window like a ghost. Rei watched the curtains blow in the simulated wind, before burying her face in her hands allowing herself to cry.
"Mama!" Rei felt her heart skip a beat at the loud outburst from her 8-year-old son. She looked down at Jin with questionable eyes, Jin just stared at her looking unpleased by the death grip she had on his wrist. "Why'd you go and leave Auntie Margaret like that, its not like she did anything wrong," Jin grumbled looking down at the floor. Rei gave the boy a rueful smile wishing she could tell him the truth about his adopted 'aunt' Margaret Cypher, but she knew it wasn't the right time to tell him. Kneeling down in front of him she lifted his bangs from his medium sized onyx blue eyes and placed a kiss on his cheek hoping he would forget all about the moment.
Jin managed to force a smile on his face before glancing around him; the spaceport was hardly full of any people, many of them were just flight attendants getting ready to leave or just arriving to start their jobs, which brought him to the nagging question in his mind: Why were they going to earth so late (or rather early depending on what area you lived in the colonies)? None of anything that was going on made any sense to him at all, not his parents, not their trip, not even leaving Margaret behind instead of inviting her along.
Jin felt as though he was closed inside a metal cage that kept getting smaller and smaller, sighing he pulled his wrist out of his mother's grasp and placed his suit case down onto the ground beside her. Rei stared down at her son, confused by the solemn look on his face. "Jin, honey what's wrong?" Rei asked hesitantly. "Nothin' Mom, I'm going over to the observation window -- to look at the stars," Jin responded walking away from his parents that stood in line that would take them to the shuttle to earth.
Rei watched with saddened eyes Jin make his way across the smooth spaceport floor toward the large window, for a moment she regretted leaving Margaret the way she did, but she had to for the sake of her family. She turned to look at Taku who had been staring at her the entire time, she blinked back tears of remorse when Taku pulled her into his embrace. "I'm sorry, you were right," She whispered into his jacket sleeve. Taku just held her.
Jin pressed his head against the window pane with a sigh, he didn't want to be around his parents anymore until they were on the shuttle. They were hiding too much from him as it was. His onyx blue eyes stared into the sea of stars he wished to be apart of when he grew up to be either a pilot or an explorer of different galaxies. Jin smiled at the though as his eyes wandered the outside counting every twinkling star he could find before staring down at the helmet tucked in the crook of his arm with disdain, stupid space helmet, he thought ready to toss to the ground when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Jin's onyx blue eyes averted upward away from the helmet and found himself staring into the green eye of mobile suit; he blinked with wide eyes he scanned its white face before rocketed upward giving him a glimpse of its entire body down to the feet until he could see it no longer. Whoa, a mobile suit! Jin's face broke out into a smile as he looked around for the mobile suit. He turned to call his parents over but the feeling of the colony rumbling beneath his feet caught him of caught sending him crashing to the ground on his bottom with a cry of surprise that sounded more like him mocking a baby's cry.
He winced at the stinging pain in his bottom looking up at his parents he noticed his father was pointing his helmet that was floating away from him, grumbling the young boy pushed himself of the ground and grabbed the helmet out of mid air and put it on his head. He felt embarrassed; no body else was wearing a space helmet why did he have to? Jin began to walk over to his parents but another shock wave through colony sent him stumbling backward onto his bottom again, only this time it was an explosion that sent him to the ground.
Jin literally jumped into the air when he saw the lobby of the spaceport engulfed in flames, his pupil's dilated in pure horror when he heard the observation window's cracking from the shock wave of the explosion. Slowly, as he climbed off the ground he watched as the class continued to crack forming jagged spider-web designs on the fracturing window. Maybe this is why my friends don't like earth, its got bad luck. Jin fell to his knees at the trembling force of another explosion this time the cause of the explosion revealed itself; Jin felt as though his eyes would come bulging out of his skull. Outside the observation window was the mobile suit he had seen pass it before.
It resided on the far end of the left side of the window. He watched as a light emitted from the object it held in its hand before being brought out of his trance by the sound of glass shattering and people screaming. The screen of the helmet came down causing all that the young Korean saw to turn to a blue tint, he glanced toward the side of his helmet and noticed his hand upon the switch, grunting he pulled himself onto his feet. He turned to see his parents on the ground unable to get up due to all the people running around them pinning to the ground.
"Mom, Dad!" In a desperate attempt to reach Jin began to run in their direction when he felt himself being pulled by a strong suction. Jin extended his hand toward them as if they could reach him. He rolled across the ground momentarily before being yanked by an even suction; Jin threw his hands up over his face despite the protection of the helmet when his body collided with the weakened observation window.
The window shattered and he was pulled out of the colony into space. Rei screamed as she watched her Jin fade into nothing but another spec in space, Taku held her back with one arm while the other had wrapped itself around a sturdy object. At least he knew his son wouldn't share the same fate as they would. Rei broke down against her husband sobbing uncontrollably as everything around them was illuminated by an intense light that danced around the two like flashing track lights.
Jin watched in horror as the colony was swallowed in the largest display he ever saw in his entire life. Everything he held dear to him was gone in that same instant: his friends, his home, his toys, and most importantly his parents. Overwhelmed by the sudden pressure that formed inside his soul, Jin slipped into unconsciousness, his body wandering space aimlessly.
"...In other news, a Colony in the La grange point 3 area was destroyed in what investigators believed to be an explosion, there were no survivors found amongst the destruction. There are some rumors within the colonies that alliance had something to do with the explosion but nothing as been confirmed as of yet. Sheena back to you...." The television shut off the moment the woman called Sheena replaced the male reporter, the young slender shadow of a woman played against the wall beside the television as she wrapped a towel around her damp body.
Her wet hair rested upon her shoulders and back. She trotted across her apartment floor toward the her bedroom at the sound of her videophone ringing loudly inside. She stepped over her wrinkled uniform that laid on the ground amongst a heap of other dirty clothes. Setting down onto her bed she pressed a button on the keyboard and the image of an elderly man appeared. Biting down on her lip, Margaret concealed her anger before turning her videophone toward the window. Acting quickly she pulled on her bra and tank top followed by a pair of sweat pants to look more presentable.
Tossing her towel onto her bed she turned the videophone around toward her, to her relief the man was still there. "What do you want?" She asked haughtily. Duke Dermail gave the woman a disapproving frown wishing to do nothing more but slap the smug look off her face if not for the space between them. "I expect, a little more respect from you miss Cypher. Did you see the news?" He asked. Margaret narrowed her eyes nodding. "Nice way to cover you tracks ... pinning on the very military I work for. Why is it that I killed them for you again?"
Duke Dermail's frown only grew deeper to Margaret's great delight, she was itching to be fired by him. "Revenge and money, if I'm not mistaken. Not to mention that you were only female solider in your division worth looking at twice," Dermail snapped. "You'll receive you payment in due time. Expect to be hearing from me again miss Cypher, good day." Margaret turned the videophone off gritting her teeth in annoyance.
So much for getting fired, she thought ruefully rising from her bed. Had it not been for something she was protecting, Rei would probably still be alive and maybe, just maybe they would have remained friends. Margaret stared down at her stomach lifting the tank top up revealing her scarring injury. Then again, maybe it was all well that Rei and her annoying family was dead; she marred her body. Now she would unattractive to her husband. Sighing Margaret stormed out of room and headed to the training area to blow off steam.
(A.C. 194, March 12: Somewhere in space...)
"Man, its been four months and we haven't found that planet we tracked!" Grumbled a young man in his twenties. The pilot, happening to be his friend looked over his shoulder at his friend who was staring at the star chart he had made himself with a weary expression. The two of them had just turned 24 and the first thing his star-exploring friend, Joseph Hawking wanted to do was go and get a piloting license for the both of them since they had been taking classes at a well known piloting academy for a good span of five years.
However, Gene Willard, the pilot of their affectionately named shuttle Barbarossa, did not want to do anything that was related to work especially on or after his birthday. He simply wanted to relish in the fact that he was another year older and had survived a close brush with cancer while Joseph wanted him to see the world through his eyes before his life ended. And that's what they did. Gene was beginning to regret every minute of it.
"Can we go home now? We've been on this untraveled route for who knows how long. I haven't got a girlfriend yet!" Gene grumbled. Joseph looked up from his star chart and glared at Gene. "Hell no, we haven't that planet yet! Don't you wanna a planet named after you? You'll get more girls this way!" Joseph proclaimed dramatically. Gene scoffed in disbelief.
He wanted to get a girl without the help of fame. As he muttered under his breath about the trip being stupid, Gene was jolted out of his complaints by the sound of the radar going off. Dropping his star char Joseph came up to the cockpit and began to fiddle with the equipment hoping that it was the planet the radar had picked up on. When the camera zoomed in on the object both men's mouths dropped open. "Holly -- that's not a planet, that's a person!" Gene blurted. Joseph nodded dumbly.
Gene and Joseph headed to the closest colony they could find after debating that the person as alive and the planet could wait. Their shuttle arrived in the La grange point 1 area low on fuel, they managed to land it on the closest colony they could find and it wasn't exactly a well known colony. The entire inside was a wreck, almost inhabitable. There were hardly any hospitals that were unoccupied with injured or fatally wounded citizens of the colony.
The only one left open to them was the St. McNeil hospital that was rebuilt over the land of a destroyed orphanage and that hospital was for alliance soldiers only, but being earthlings, Gene and Joseph were willing to take their chances with the hospital. An ambulance arrived the space port several minutes later and after a quick examination the paramedics hauled the two young men and the drifter to the hospital as fast they could. When they arrived at the hospital the drifter was sent to the ER for immediate treatment.
"Its a miracle you found the lad when you did," Exclaimed the doctor looking down at the young boy in the hospital bed. "If he had stayed in space drifting like he was any longer, he would've been dead." Gene and Joseph nodded not really listening to the man; they were focused on the well-being of the boy in the bed hooked up to a respirator, his pale complexion boarderlined on deathly white, his lips were dried and chapped, they were split when removed the helmet off his head. His body was in a state of paralysis and the boy was obviously in a coma from the head injury he suffered.
"Will be all right now?" Gene asked. The doctor looked down at his chart then up at the boy then back down at the chart again. "As far as I can tell, he's suffered slight brain damage, but it shouldn't affect his motor skills or anything else, but other than that, we won't be able to know for sure until he wakes up. If he ever does," The doctor replied solemnly. "Where did you find him exactly?" Joseph and Gene pondered for a moment scratching their heads.
Gene's eyes lit up and his fingers snapped loudly causing Joseph to jump. "We found him on one of those untraveled routes, nearest to the L3 point. Why?" Gene asked. "There's a chance he could be a survivor of that colony accident," The doctored murmured. Joseph chuckled. "That's a bit far-fetched isn't it?" He said running his hands through his spiky hair. The doctor shrugged saying it was just a possibility, not exactly far-fetched. The two young explorers headed off to the space port with the little boy's condition on their minds, wondering what could've happen to him.
(A.C. 194, March 16: St. McNeil hospital)
Where am I? Is there anybody there? Mama.... Daddy? Are you there....?//The darkness was cold and he didn't like it. When he opened his eyes they felt foreign to him as if they didn't belong to him, he shut them immediately again, the light stung his onyx blue eyes when it filled his iris. He groaned in pain at the sensation of something in his throat his hand automatically reached up to his neck he place his fingers upon his throat wincing at the hard plastic feeling in his throat.
Reaching up he found the object and pulled hard at it, he made a gagging noise at the tube came up out of his throat, once it was out of his mouth tossed to the side and let himself cough while he proceeded to rip the lines out of his arms. He winced at the pricking sensation when they came out his arm, looking up he scanned his surroundings with panicked eyes. This wasn't where he was supposed to be! No -- he was supposed to be with someone somewhere else someone or people he loved, why was he here?
His eyes darted every which away as he tried to get his legs to move. He grunted using his arms to pull his legs from underneath the covers, they just wouldn't move. It was like they were frozen. He was caught half way out of the bed by a nurse that happened to walk in holding a silver bowl full of soap and a wet sponge, she almost dropped the contents in her hands if had not been for her sudden stop that caused some of the water to sloosh out of the bowl onto her legs.
She yelped in surprise making her way over to the night stand beside his bed and placing the bowl onto it before resting her hands on his shoulders and placing back into the bed. He stared at her through his bangs that touched his cheeks and the tip of his nose with his onyx blue eyes. The nurse took a moment to catch her breath before speaking. "My God your awake!---- oh wait, that was a stupid thing to say," She trailed off for a moment then placed her hand under his bangs and lifted them above his face. He stared at her, fear etched across his face.
"Wha-where am I?" He uttered hoarsely. The nurse seemed lost in his eyes before snapping herself out of her trance. "Your at the St. McNeil hospital, you've been here for five days, two men found you floating in space, they brought you here, its March 16th now and that was a good while ago. How'd you end up out in space?" The nurse asked timidly. The boy shook his head uncertain himself; he didn't remember any of this happening to him. "I don't remember. Where's my Mom and dad?" He asked weakly. "Why can't I move my legs?"
The nurse bit the bottom of her lip then explained carefully, slowly, the details of his condition and wasn't sure about his parents. He stared down at his hands, before asking her if she go and get someone who knew anything about his parents or what exactly happened to him. Reluctantly, the nurse did what he asked and left to get someone she thought would help, when she returned he stared up at the man trailing behind her holding a clipboard in the other hand.
"I see our patient is awake, how do you feel?" He asked. "I'm just dandy, seeing I can't move my legs," Jin stated tartly. The doctor just smiled at him before looking through his papers. "First off, that's a paralysis, its only temporary although physical treatment is required to remedy it. Do you know your name?" The doctor leaned in a bit to get a better look at the boy's face. "Its Jin...... Toshino, I think. Where's my Mom and dad; Rei and Taku Toshino?" The 8-year-old asked. The doctor blinked in bewilderment at the mention of the his last time, surprised he even remembered that much considering what happened to him.
Swallowing nervously the doctor gestured to the door way indicating he wanted to the nurse to leave; with a quick nod the woman exited the room without question. Jin's eyebrows narrowed in confusion shifting his eyes toward the doctor who looked as though he would faint from whatever was plaguing him at that moment. "Where are they?" He asked again, only in a much more angrier tone. "I'm--- I'm not sure how to tell you this son -- but..." Jin scowled growing impatient with the older man in front of him. "But what?" He snapped gritting his teeth. The doctor swallowed again only this time it
Looked as though he just swallowed air, placing a hand on the railing of the bed the doctor resumed where he trailed off. "But your parents are dead. They died in on a colony that was destroyed. When you mentioned the name Toshino, I knew you were a survivor of that colony accident and the son of the well known military scientist that worked for the Korean/Japanese military. Its a miracle your were able to remember that much, you suffered from slight brain damage, so you might have temporary amnesia----" The doctor paused mid-sentence when he saw the boy's face grow pale.
Jin's lip quivered as he fought back the will to break down and cry in front of the doctor. "They-- can't be dead.... they promised..... how could they die?" Jin took a shuddering intake of breath before finally breaking down sobbing controllably, his face buried in his hands. The doctor reached over placing a hand on the boy's shoulder only to have to it shrugged off, the next thing he knew he was staring up at bloodshot eyes and angry face. "They abandoned me did they? They blew up the colony to get away from me!! They hated me, they could've cared less about me!! That's why their dead and I'm not!" Jin snapped amidst his sobs. "They want me to suffer!!" The doctor shook his head in objection while the boy continued to cry. My boy they didn't abandon you. This was all just a horrible mistake that you happen to be apart of, the man thought before walking out of the room writing down that the boy wasn't mentally stable after hearing all the things he had said.
Jin remained in the St. McNeil, for physical and mental treatment for eight whole months until the doctor and physical trainer he was under the care of said he was well enough to leave. Jin was thankful for this, satisfied his acting skills had improved as well. He had smothering his true feelings beneath a calm expression accompanied by an unusual chipper behavior that drew much attention toward him much to his dismay while he was in physical treatment area of the hospital. He had made many friends and was slightly upset that he had to leave for earth for an orphanage back by a large conglomerate. The nurse that had given him sponge baths bought him all the necessary items although Jin had objected thinking the orphanage covered all that but the nurse (Luna) wanted to make sure he had something to remember his time spent at the hospital. Jin thanked them all and limped off on crutches with the two male social workers to the space port where the shuttle was waiting for them. "I'm sure you going to love earth, Jin," The social worker on the right announced with a smile. Jin just frowned.