Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay. Would you believe my laptop can't access the internet in Europe? Shouldn't have come as such a big surprise--that America Online doesn't work in Italy--but whatever. I was told you can get online if you buy an Ethernet card and connect wirelessly. Bull. Italians haven't even discovered air conditioning, but I digress...
Anyway, I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the wait, it's pretty long. I tried coming up with a name for it, but nothing stuck, so I thought 'hey, I'll let the readers decide.' Leave your suggestions with your reviews, and I'll pick the one I like best. I'll find a way of incorporating the winner's name into the fic or something.
Disclaimer: Xenosaga and all affiliated brands belong to their respective owners.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borne Up on Angel Wings
Chapter 2 Insert Title Here
---
Breathe, she told herself. Breathe and everything will be ok. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared around the familiar walls of her cabin. She had made it to the Elsa against all odds, (with a little bit of help).
Shion struggled to sit up in her bed. She was exhausted. The lack of oxygen coupled with frequent Gnosis encounters had drained her of her energy. It took a great deal of effort for her to get to her feet and stumble to the bridge. She needed to know what was going on. The Elsa's Logical Drive had been damaged, so hyperspace was out of the question. How were they going to get anywhere?
The bridge doors slid open, and as she walked through, she noticed everybody was sitting on the edge of their seats, staring intently at their respective monitors with worried faces. Her presence had gone unnoticed. The bridge was eerily quiet.
Captain Mathews's voice broke the silence. "Don't you EVER try a stunt like that again! You could have completely blown out our thrusters!"
Tony turned around calmly, but Shion noticed his knuckles were white. He had been gripping the ship's controls rather tightly.
"Excuse me Captain, but I believe it was your idea to retrieve the E.S. Asher before the stronghold got sucked up by the black hole. I was merely following orders. The Elsa's thruster's are shot, and that's because you lack better judgment."
"You were driving like a maniac!" The Captain's face began turning violet.
Jin stood up, "I was against the idea. The E.S. Asher is replaceable. By retrieving it you placed all of our lives in danger. It's a miracle the Elsa escaped the black hole's gravitational field." He folded his arms and scowled at Mathews.
"Yeah," Tony scoffed, running a hand through his light brown locks, "and the only reason we got out of there was because of my fantastic piloting skills. If anybody else had been driving this ship, our molecules would be scattered across the cosmos by now."
The Captain quietly fumed, but he kept his voice down because he believed Shion was still sleeping. "Do you have any idea how valuable the E.S. Asher is?" He glared at Jin, "What would have happened if we didn't go back and get it?"
Jin rolled his eyes, but it was true. The E.S.'s computer contained a comprehensive documentation on its hard drive of everything that occurred on the Ormus Stronghold. That information was vital to them and to the Federation, which would need some sort of proof when Captain Mathews made the claim that he had been attacked by a gigantic enemy spaceship. Without the information stored on the E.S. Asher's hard drive, the Federation could suspect the Captain was lying, and that the damage on the Elsa's Logical Drive could have come from anything.
"Still," Jin said, subtly nodding towards the cabin, "there are some who have already been through enough today. Playing catch with an E.S. while gambling our luck with one of the most powerful forces in the universe hardly seems wise."
"We had an 81 chance of falling into the black hole's gravitational pull while retrieving the E.S. Asher." KOS-MOS spoke up, staring cooly at the Captain, "Tony's piloting skills had nothing to do with our unlikely escape. Dumb luck, as you would call it, was on our side. We happened to be in an area where the black hole's gravity waves had waned for an instant, allowing the Elsa's now damaged thrusters to break free. I would not recommend repeating that stunt again with those odds simply because--"
"It was dangerous!" MOMO yelled and jumped to her feet. There was no anger in her voice, just concern, "What we just did was incredibly dangerous! I'm not trying to blame anybody, but we almost lost Shion and chaos out there, and if it were up to me I would have flown them to the nearest hospital immediately, E.S. Asher or not. I think the Captain is right in saying that the information stored in the E.S. Asher's mainframe is very important. I just don't think it was worth risking Shion and chaos's lives again." She paused, nervously patting down her skirt, "Everything turned out OK, so we should just be happy, but the only thing that upsets me is that if we knew the Elsa had even a slim chance of escaping the black hole's gravitational field, then why didn't we rescue Shion and chaos in the first place instead of waiting here while Shion almost suffocated to death?"
Captain Mathews looked like a kettle on the verge of exploding, but he kept his voice calm:
"That's an excellent point MOMO. If I had known we could have escaped the black hole I would have taken control of the Elsa myself and gone to rescue them. But I thought they were coming back on the E.S. Asher. When they didn't... well, we had to get it back. I apologize for placing your lives in danger, but sometimes its unavoidable. The information on that E.S. is more precious than most of you probably realize. Believe me, I've dealt with Federation beaurocracy before. Shion stole an E.S. from the Dammerung, we're flying towards Old Miltia (an off-limits planet), and now we're about to claim that we've been fired upon by the--whadaya call it?-- Ormus Stronghold. To the Federation, our behavior has been pretty damn suspicious. If we don't have a comprehensive log that spells out exactly what happened to us, nobody is going to believe us, and we could face criminal charges for flying in restricted space. Again, I know how dangerous it was, and I'm... sorry."
MOMO nodded, "Let's just avoid doing something like that again."
"Absolutely. Things are already tense here as is." The Captain jerked a thumb towards Allen, who was hunched over in his chair and had been hyperventilating ever since Shion entered the bridge. Evidently Tony's mad dash out of the black hole's gravity waves hadn't been gentle on Allen's stomach.
Jin relaxed a bit and sat down. As he slid into his chair, he noticed his sister standing in the bridge's doorway.
"How are you feeling?"
"Uh... much better, thank you." Her voice was soft and tired, and it seemed to cut through all the built up tension on the bridge.
chaos, who had been typing furiously at his computer during the Elsa's retrieval of the E.S., spun around in his chair.
"Hey." He called out, surprised to see her already on her feet. She waved shyly.
"Shion!" MOMO darted towards the door and hugged the young brunette, "I'm glad you're ok. You didn't look too good when chaos brought you in here." She smiled a little and whispered, "he hasn't said a word since you and he came back. He's been really worried about you." The Realian winked at her.
"It's good to see you're up." Jr. smiled.
Shion felt a bit overwhelmed. All of her friends were staring at her with genuine concern on their faces. For a moment she felt a strange sense of belonging. Peace and happiness welled up in her as she stood in the company of the people who cared for her. She hadn't felt that way in a while.
"Well, hello everyone. How are you all?" The words flew out of her mouth mechanically, but she realized that maybe she should have held her tongue. The escape from the black hole almost ripped the Elsa to shreds, and its passengers were obviously in a pretty sour mood. She suddenly understood the cause for all the turbulence she had felt in her cabin before while she teetered between sleep and consciousness.
"Oh, peachy," Tony answered, "we can't really go anywhere and we're stranded in the middle of nowhere. We're all going to die."
MOMO spun around and glared at the pilot. His remark had been intended as a joke, but she didn't believe Shion would think it was very funny. Especially after what she had gone through.
"We're not going to die," Mathews retorted, "idiot. I've sent out a distress signal through the Unus Mundus. Federation ships will come rescue us in a few hours."
"How much is 'a few hours'?" Shion asked as she slumped into a nearby chair. Her muscles still ached with fatigue.
"Taking into consideration the Federation's relatively slow response to distress signals in the U.M.N., I'd say the first rescue ships should arrive in forty-eight hours." KOS-MOS responded, without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"WHAT?" Allen shot up to his feet, clutched his stomach, and sank back down again. "Forty eight hours! But what if Shion were dangerously hurt? Does the Federation expect us to be able to survive without a problem for two days? What if the oxygen providers on the Elsa malfunctioned? There'd be nothing left for the Federation to rescue!"
Mass outrage broke out on the bridge, which mostly consisted of random complaints shouted to the Captain while he yelled back, 'what do you expect me to do about it?... idiot.'
"Relax everyone," Jr.'s voice rose above the general commotion, "I placed a call for help through the U.M.N. to the Kukai Foundation. They'll be here by tomorrow afternoon."
Shion glanced at a clock on the monitor beside her. It read nine o'clock in the evening. In space, without a star to orbit around, day and night are nonexistent; however, the Elsa's clocks were synchronized with the ones on the capital of Second Miltia, and everyone aboard the Elsa was on Second Miltia time.
"Well, I guess I can wait until tomorrow," she yawned, "I don't think I'm in any mortal danger for the time being." She paused and looked at the clock: 9:01. "Still, the more we wait here, the more Feb's sisters suffer on Old Miltia. I can't just sit here and wait to be rescued like a damsel in distress." She turned to the Captain, "Does the Elsa have a safety pod or some sort of smaller space vessel? Maybe I can reach Old Miltia on my own. If I can get in touch with Feb, I could tell her--"
"You should rest." Ziggy's voice cut the air like a blade. Everyone fell silent. The terse cyborg lived by the motto, 'if you have nothing intelligent to say than say nothing at all.' For him to speak out about Shion's safety, or anybody's for that matter, was very unusual.
"If you were to leave now for Old Miltia in a one-man pod you wouldn't make it past the first transfer column, especially in your current condition," he continued, "until the Kukai Foundation repairs our Logical Drive I suggest we all relax. Don't think about Feb's sisters, or the Zohar, or Ormus. We can't do anything now anyway, and worrying would simply make the situation worse. Just..." He paused, searching for a word he didn't use often, "...chill."
"He's right." KOS-MOS walked over to Shion and helped her out of her chair, "humans do not function properly without resting. A lack of sleep lowers your reaction time, ruins your skin, strains your vision, creates unnecessary stress, and makes you irritable. Without the required eight hours of sleep, humans are prone to--"
"All right! Thank you KOS-MOS, I get it. I'll rest now."
"We all should." Jin turned to leave, "We've had a rather trying day. It's best we all take it easy for a while, lest we all become irritable." He glanced briefly at the Captain before exiting the bridge.
Everyone decided to take Ziggy's advice to heart. Tony put the ship in autopilot (not that it could go anywhere anyhow) and retired to his cabin, muttering something about beauty sleep. Everyone followed suit. Even KOS-MOS decided to have her routine maintenance done. Shion trailed behind MOMO and headed for their cabin, but she stopped at the bridge's doorway and looked over her shoulder. Only chaos was left, punching in a few final commands on his computer. He looked up from his monitor to see who was still lingering on the bridge, and saw Shion beam him a smile which would have won her the Miss Miltia contest hands down. He gazed at her with an expression that bordered between confusion and shyness. Either way she thought he looked adorable. Dramatically turning around so that her hair shimmered around her head, Shion noticed a sliver of steel rocketing towards her. She jumped out of the doorway before the sliding door closed on her face.
---
"Shion."
"Noooo." Shion groaned in her sleep. She was too tired and cranky to have Nephilim visit her in her dreams and babble about supernatural phenomena.
"Don't be afraid to trust your heart." Nephilim was telling her, "remember that sometimes the line between friends and enemies is very blurry, and it's difficult to tell the difference."
"The line between slightly annoyed and pissed as hell is also very blurry," Shion muttered, "and right now I don't think there is a difference."
"Trust your heart," Nephilim repeated, "if the Zohar momentarily falls into the wrong hands, it may be to your advantage. Don't be discouraged if your first attempt to retrieve the original Zohar fails."
"I can't hear you, la la la la la."
"No matter what road you choose, the outcome guided by your destiny will always be the same. The Aeons may be swayed by the enemy, but your heart will set them straight."
"Again with the Aeons? Ok, humor me. What are they?"
Nephilim's mouth twitched into what could be construed as a smile. "You know them better than I do."
Shion fumed silently in frustration, "Fine. How many of them are there?"
Nephilim semi-smiled again, "Uncountable billions, but you only need to be concerned with two."
"Two Aeons. Well, I still don't know what they are, but I suppose this is a start--wait a minute, you said I know them. Are Aeons people?"
Nephilim said nothing.
"Who are they?" Shion almost screamed.
"Well--"
And then she woke up.
"Grrrr!" Shion growled and punched her pillow, "that always happens!" It occurred to her that MOMO was sleeping in a bed two feet away from her, so she quieted down. She glanced at her clock. It was midnight on Second Miltia's capital.
"Only three hours of sleep." She mumbled and coughed. Her throat was parched. She reached for a bottle of water on her dresser that wasn't there.
"Grr." She growled again, and, accepting the fact that some greater power didn't want her to sleep right now, she decided to take a trip to the Elsa's bar for something to drink.
Yawning, she shuffled out of her bed and into the hallway. Her left hand flipped the nearest light switch. Nothing happened. She flipped it again. Still nothing. She stood there flipping the switch for a pathetic ten seconds before realizing the light would not turn on. Captain Mathews must have cut electrical power to save on life support (and money). Jerk.
Stumbling down the hallway, Shion managed to stub her toe four times before hopping into the bar holding her right foot and cursing in pain. She wobbled in the darkness towards the refrigerator, tripped on a stool, and finally came crashing down behind the counter, leaving a string of curses in her wake.
"Stupid steel archways!" She yelled as her face hit the floor, referring to the offending structures that damaged her toe, "why the hell are they in the hallway anyway?"
"I think they're needed to hold up the walls." A voice echoed around the bar.
Shion scrambled to her feet and peered over the counter. chaos was sitting at the bar's largest booth, facing a huge window that revealed a beautiful view of the universe. He seemed to be suppressing a fit of laughter.
"Hey." She mumbled, ignoring her throbbing toe. "What are you doing up so late?"
chaos shrugged, "I can't sleep."
She grabbed two bottles from the fridge and walked towards chaos's booth, carefully watching her every step.
"Here." She handed him a bottle and sat down next to him.
"Thanks." He smiled and made room for her. Maybe she was fatigued or perhaps the dim light was playing tricks on her eyes, but Shion swore she saw him blush as she sat down. Both of them had their backs to the door and were facing the window.
"Are you sure you're feeling better now?" He asked when he figured out she wasn't going back to bed. "You really should rest if you're tired."
She shook her head, "No, I'm fine. What about you? Why are you sitting at an empty bar in the middle of the night?" She suddenly realized she'd never properly thanked him for saving her life. Twice. Now was as good a time as ever...
"I just like it here. This window has a nice view." He responded.
For the first time in her life Shion felt a pinch of shyness. Saying 'thank you' appeared to be harder than she thought. Was it something you just blurted out of the blue?
She looked out the window. The stars were breathtaking, millions of white dots on a black canvas.
"How beautiful." She murmured, "They're really amazing."
chaos nodded, "Yeah, I love looking at the stars. They calm me down when I can't sleep."
"Calm you down?" She giggled. He was just about the most sedate person she had ever met. "You seem calm enough as is."
He chuckled, "I guess so. I just like to take it easy. But I still have trouble sleeping at night."
Shion's lips pouted in compassion, "Aw, that's no fun. I used to have insomnia too for a while--after Kevin died-- but," she searched her nightgown for a box of pills she usually kept when she slept, "I have some sedatives if you want, if I could just find them..."
"That's ok," he smiled, "sedatives don't really work on me." He gazed out the window, recognizing the clustered band of stars that made up an arm of the Milky Way.
Shion followed his gaze for a while, but then turned to look at him. His face was quiet and serious, as always, but she sensed a powerful sadness hiding behind his beautiful eyes. Tonight in particular he seemed incredibly worried about something.
"chaos," she stared into his eyes, trying hard to dismiss her quickening pulse, "is everything ok?"
At first he seemed startled by the question. He couldn't remember the last time someone asked him if everything was ok. As he turned to face her, he became mesmerized by her gaze. Her uncombed hair fell in thick locks around her face and the bags under her eyes were a telltale sign of restless sleep. Yet even exhausted as she was, her slender frame gave off an aura of energy and vitality. Shion's sheer will to live surged through her body like a dynamo and bowled over anybody who stood in her way. Allen had seen it on the Dammerung when she bluntly told him they were going to escape using "brute force." chaos had experienced her spunk for himself on the Ormus Stronghold, right after Cathedral trashed the E.S. Asher, and Shion vowed to unleash all the fires of hell on the Gnosis if it continued to bother them. He was almost uncontrollably drawn to her audacious spirit; it was the quality in her which he found most attractive.
"I just..." he began, "it feels like I have a huge responsibility on this ship. If anything happens to anybody here, I feel accountable. Like before, when we were retrieving the E.S. Asher, I was inputting the navigational commands and overriding the pilot's channel. Tony and Hammer are great, but they never would have been able to fly the Elsa so close to a black hole."
So he saved everyone again, Shion thought. It was no stroke of 'dumb luck' that the Elsa just happened to be traveling through a weak spot in the black hole's gravitational field. No wonder he had been typing furiously on the bridge.
"And if anyone gets hurt, it's my fault. I'm supposed to keep people safe around here. Sometimes I worry something horrible will happen, and I won't be able to save anyone. I got you out of the Ormus Stronghold, but it scares me to think about it... What if one day I fail, and I can't protect you..."
Shion's eyes widened.
"Guys." He said quickly afterwards, "what if I can't protect you guys?" He paused, almost on the verge of tears, "I don't know if I'd ever be able to forgive myself."
He noticed Shion was looking at him quite intently. Her gaze seemed to be penetrating him. He was surprised at himself for revealing so much; he rarely talked about his feelings. Feelings get in the way when you have secrets to keep.
He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and heard her speak, "You don't have to feel accountable for anything. If something happens to the people on this ship it certainly isn't your fault."
He smiled but didn't seem too convinced.
"chaos," she stifled a yawn, the fatigue was attacking her again, despite her racing heart, "what you did yesterday was... amazing. You alone are the reason I'm still here, and you don't need to worry. Everybody is fine. Everybody is fine because of you."
His expression softened, and something about his face made her heart flip.
"This fear you carry with you, it's not healthy." She looked up at him and her eyes blazed straight to his soul. "Don't burden yourself like that."
He was startled by her command. It never occurred to him that someone else may be concerned about his well-being. Yet here she was, her tired face glowing in the starlight, fighting sleep to console him. chaos had been coming to the Elsa's bar every night for a long time due to his insomnia, and he had always been alone. Tonight was the first time he had someone to share the stars with, and he found himself enjoying Shion's company more and more every second that ticked by.
He began talking to her, and she tried to pay attention. She really did. But she was having a very difficult time trying to keep her eyes open. It wasn't long before her head slumped against his shoulder. He simply smiled, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. He could smell her hair. His face reddened. Why bother trying to keep her awake?
Resting on chaos's shoulder, however, Shion discovered something interesting about herself. When she was on the verge of sleep, her inhibition disappeared.
"Thank you, chaos." She whispered. Her voice was soft and light, made sweet by the oncoming sleep. "For saving me yesterday. I thought you were wonderful. You're such a sweet person, so kind and selfless. You always put everybody else's safety in front of your own." She exhaled, and he could feel her breath on his neck, "I'm lucky to have stumbled on this ship with someone like you."
chaos almost hit the table. He was deeply moved by her confession, and an unknown force ignited within him and spread through his body like wildfire. He opened his mouth to say something after what seemed like forever, but her steady breathing told him she was already sleeping. Smiling, he put his arm around her neck to prevent her from rolling off his shoulder, and he lay back in his seat. For the first time in a long while, he felt truly at peace, and for the first time in an even longer while, he slept--under the twinkling glow of the stars, and calmed by Shion's soft breathing.
---
Shion awoke feeling comfortably warm. She stretched lazily to scratch her leg, but in doing so she felt an arm around her waist. Was Tony hitting on her again? Slowly she opened her eyes and found chaos's sleeping face three inches from her nose.
"Ah!" She yelped and all her blood rushed to her face. She struggled to get up but realized chaos had covered both of them with his jacket. His arm was resting over it. That explained the warmth.
"Well," she whispered to herself, after a vain attempt to crawl out of his jacket, "I could either get up and freeze, or I could stay here nice and warm, cuddled up with this adorable... gentlemen." A silly grin spread across her face and she snuggled back into chaos's embrace.
She could have sworn someone would have walked into the bar at that very moment. The doors slid open.
"Good, you're here." It was KOS-MOS. Her heels clicked underneath her on the hard floor as she walked towards Shion. "MOMO was worried about you. She said she didn't find you in your cabin. Everybody is looking for you. No, don't get up, it isn't a problem. I'll just tell them you're here sleeping with chaos."
Shion relaxed, then her face blanched.
"WAIT!" She hissed, "don't say it like that!--"
She never finished her sentence because Jr., Tony, and Captain Mathews stumbled into the bar looking tired and very hungry. They spotted Shion nestled in chaos's arms... lying down... under his jacket. Tony faked a shocked expression and turned to Jr., who covered his mouth with his hands. A half-second later they exploded in a fit of laughter.
"So that's what she means by 'resting.'" Jr. smirked.
"Hey Shion, you get to 'rest' with me tonight. chaos already had his turn." Tony giggled.
Shion was mortified. "It's not what you think!" She scowled, trying hard not to wake the boy sleeping next to her. She tried to explain, "I was just thirsty-"
"For some lovin'." Tony winked.
"--so I came here to get some water, and chaos was sitting here by himself, so I decided to--"
"Keep him company?"
"Yeah. NO! Not the way you think! We just sat here--"
"And made sweet, passionate love under the stars." Tony grinned. Jr. was doubled over with laughter.
Shion grabbed the bottle of water she had left on the table and prepared to hurl it at Tony's head, but her hand stopped in midair when the door slid open and Allen walked into the bar. He saw Shion and almost fell over.
"No!" She groaned in desperation, "Allen, it's not what you think!" She wiggled out of chaos's arms and bolted up, hitting her head on the table.
Allen staggered to his feet, "Shion," he babbled, "You. He. Here? You... you." He tripped and fell, hitting the counter and knocking over a stack of crystal glasses that shattered all over the floor.
"Quit your stupid crap." Mathews bellowed, "I'm hungry. Someone make me something to eat!" A droid rolled into the bar and began making breakfast.
Jr. and Tony's obnoxious laughter eventually woke chaos up. He sat up at the booth and yawned, looking surprised he had a good night's sleep. He turned to Shion and smiled.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked.
"Er..." She stuttered. Although she was dreadfully embarrassed, chaos didn't seem phased by the others. She decided to ignore them as well and smiled, "yeah. I feel great." She handed him his jacket, which had remained hanging over her shoulders.
After hearing the Captain's order for something to eat, MOMO, Jin, and Ziggy filed into the bar. Shion decided to change the subject and beat Tony to the punch before her brother started suspecting anything. The last thing she needed was for Jin to rip on her for... 'resting.' She ran over to the Elsa's pilot.
"Hey," she began, stomping on Tony's foot before he could open his mouth, "Why is it so cold in here?"
"Ow!" Tony grumbled, "What, you noticed it was freezing just now? Oh wait, that's right. You were snuggled up all warm and fuzzy in you lover's arms-"
Her foot came down again.
"OW!"
Jin mercifully paid no attention to Tony's comment.
"My ship is full of idiots." The Captain groaned. He walked over to the counter, shoving the droid out of the way, and began making breakfast himself. "Ok everyone." He yelled, "I'm calling a meeting."
"Huh?" A look of puzzlement crossed Tony's face, "Since when do we have meetings?" He grumbled, massaging his foot. Apparently the Captain was trying to enforce some kind of order on this flying circus.
"Since NOW!" Mathews scowled, "good, everybody is here right?" He paused, "Hammer! GET THE HELL IN HERE!" His voice was so loud Shion's ears rang.
The Elsa's navigator dragged himself into the bar, groggy with sleep.
"Good," the Captain began, throwing some batter on the stove, "I have a few announcements to make."
"Oooh, we have announcements now! Maybe the ship will get a toilet that actually flushes." Hammer giggled, elbowing Tony.
"Quiet moron! I'm serious! First of all, from now on their will be no fornicating in the Elsa's restaurant."
"I wasn't--" Shion began, but she noticed chaos laughing with the others. He winked at her.
"Calm down Ms. Vector, I was only kidding." Mathews was ready to throw all those present who were laughing off his ship.
"Actually," Hammer interrupted, "this isn't really a restaurant, it's technically classified as a bar--"
"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up? It's eight in the morning: too early for you to be a pain in the ass. Now..." The Captain looked around the room and faced his sleepy crew. Humans, a Realian, a cyborg, an android, a droid... the Elsa really was a circus.
"First," the Captain wiped dough from his hands and cleared his throat, "The Kukai Foundation is sending a vessel here to pick us up this afternoon. The Elsa will be taken into maintenance immediately afterwards, so I need everybody's crap outta here before that happens."
Random groans echoed around the bar. Everything except what was nailed to the ship's floor had to be transported out of the ship. Nobody looked forward to the manual labor.
"Next, I've taken the liberty to remove the E.S. Asher's hard drive." He produced a small disk, "this contains the information stored on the E.S.'s mainframe. I need someone to hold onto this who won't lose it within the next five minutes. Little Master, I assume you'll be in charge of this?"
Jr. nodded and took the disk from the Captain.
"Finally, and this is important, so unclog your ears Hammer. I don't know exactly what time the Kukai's ship is gonna get here. That means until then, we have to survive on life support. If any of you haven't noticed, I shut off the electricity and the heat to conserve energy in the event of an emergency."
"So that's why my nipples are diamonds." Hammer mumbled.
"QUIET! I thought the Elsa had enough supplies to last us at least a half day, but my pea-brained, scum bags of a crew never cease to amaze me. Since our very talented pilot enjoys taking twenty minute showers, we are currently experiencing a shortage of water. If all of you want to have drinking water available until our transport arrives, nobody will be allowed to shower from now until we're rescued."
"Are you serious?" Jin spoke up, "This is why you've called a meeting? My sister almost died last night and you assembled us here to tell us we can't shower?"
"Yeah," Jr. complained, "why should all of us be penalized? We're not barbarians. Hygiene ranks rather high on my list of priorities. If it's Tony's fault we have a water shortage, then he should be the one who doesn't shower."
"What!" Hammer looked terrified, "Do you have any idea how much he's gonna stink if he doesn't shower?"
"Hey!"
"Are we still arguing about showers?" Jin sighed, "Doesn't anybody care that the Captain just told us he doesn't know when we're going to be rescued?"
"It's always Tony's fault." Hammer grumbled, ignoring Jin.
Shion decided to take her revenge on the pilot, "As if we all don't know what it is he does in the shower for twenty minutes."
"What are you talking about?" Tony scowled, "It's none of your business which part of my body I wash for twenty minutes."
"I really don't care." The Captain growled, "All I know is that it's your fault there's a water shortage, so you should give up your twenty minutes for everyone else."
"If I may," KOS-MOS began. She must have thought the people on the Elsa had lost their minds, arguing about showers, "I believe I have a solution to your hygiene problem. If all of you can shower in less than four minutes, there will be enough water left in the Elsa to last us until the evening."
"What do you suggest we do?" The Captain asked, and then cursed because he realized he had burned the pancakes he had been trying to make.
"If each of you individually shower for thirty seconds, it won't affect the shortage of water. If you shower two at a time, water expenditure will be minimized."
"No way." Tony groaned, "you mean we're gonna have shower buddies?"
"It is the most efficient solution."
"Fine then." The Captain tossed a pan on the floor in frustration, "Everybody pair up." He glared at Tony, "Don't get any ideas. Shion's 'shower buddy' will be MOMO. I'm putting you with Hammer."
"WHAT!"
"Everyone meet me at the bathroom in half an hour. I'm going to release the water for four minutes, afterwards it will shut off automatically." Mathews looked at the brown pies he had meant to be pancakes. "Will someone who knows how to cook please make the goddamn breakfast!"
---
When you get caught up in a whirlwind adventure to exterminate the Gnosis and find the Original Zohar, Shion thought, your days can be pretty hectic. Some days you find yourself in the midst of bloody, gory battles, and the drama and horrors you experience can be enough to split your heart in two. Others are spent agonizing over the stupidest things. Days when the weight of your quest disappears from your shoulders and silliness reigns supreme. Today was one of them.
As Shion walked down the hallway towards the bathroom a half hour after she had made everybody breakfast, the scene she came upon almost made her drop her towel with laughter.
Everyone save Ziggy and KOS-MOS were lined up in front of the bathroom wrapped in either towels or bathing suits. Tony was wearing fuzzy bunny slippers. All the stress and anguish of the battles she fought yesterday seemed to evaporate at the sight of Jr. and Hammer jostling for first turn under the shower. She spotted chaos with nothing but a towel around his waist and began to sweat a little, in spite of the cold.
"Ok, I'm gonna start the water in a minute." Captain Mathews appeared at the other end of the hallway completely clothed, "I'm only gonna let it run for four minutes, if you people aren't fast enough, that's your problem."
"Aren't you going to shower too Captain?" MOMO seemed to be the only one who cared.
"I already did."
"Without a shower buddy?" Tony asked.
"Naturally. I'm the Captain. Now hurry up. The water should be starting any second now."
Hammer grabbed Tony and shoved Jr. out of the way. "Come on, bunny boy, if we go first we'll have more time."
"You stupid animals, don't you have any manners?" Mathews scowled, "Let the ladies go first. Did I hire a bunch of inconsiderate slobs?"
"But Shion got here last!" Tony whined.
Shion took MOMO's hand and strutted to the bathroom, grinning triumphantly at Tony. She had one foot in the doorway when a droid approached her from behind.
"Ms. Uzuki," it beeped, "You have a U.M.N.. call at the terminal. Someone from Vector wishes to speak to you."
"Perfect." She groaned, tightening the towel around her body, "MOMO go ahead, I'll be back in a minute. Who's the dumb jerk that wants to talk to me now right when I was about to..." Her voice faded as she stormed down the hall.
"Woo-hoo!" Hammer cheered, "she's gone! We don't have to pair up!"
---
Shion plopped herself down at the U.M.N.. Terminal. The identification number on her screen indicated that the call was coming from the Dammerung. She accepted it. It was Myuki.
"Shion!" The young girl on the other line squealed, "Thank goodness I reached you. Is everything all right? I heard something terrible happened to the Elsa yesterday, something about an organization called Ormus. Are you ok? Hey wait a minute, why are you wearing a towel? Is this a bad time?"
"No," Shion sighed, but she was happy Myuki had called, "No, everything is fine. I'm feeling better."
"We got the Elsa's emergency signal. I forwarded it to the Kukai Foundation because those Federation lazies will never rescue you in time. I think the Foundation sent the Durandal to pick you up."
"The Durandal? That's wonderful Myuki, thank you!"
"No problem. I wish that was all I had to tell you, but I'm afraid I have some bad news."
"What's wrong?"
"I thought I'd warn you in advance. The Director is absolutely livid that KOS-MOS is with you. He wants her back right away with a complete report explaining why she is in your possession again, with an apology."
Shion gulped. The Director was the head of Vector's First R & D Division, basically Shion's immediate superior. She had gotten on his nerves before when she had allowed KOS-MOS to act autonomously. Shion's escape from the Dammerung and theft of the E.S. Dinah probably didn't help either.
"Thanks Myuki. I was expecting the Director would go ballistic on me. I'll start filing a report out right away."
"Um... there's more."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the Director is especially mad at you because someone here has been going on and on about what an irresponsible engineer you are and how your position in Vector isn't deserved."
"Who?"
"Remember Harold what's-his-name from First Division? Lately he's been contacting the Director to tattle on you, and without you here to protect your reputation, well..."
"Harold! That idiot!" She remembered. Harold what's-his-name was on the programming team that developed KOS-MOS. During production of the android he had gone against every single one of Shion's suggestions. He wanted KOS-MOS to have no human emotions, very little logic drives, and a terribly aggressive disposition. Harold was part of the reason KOS-MOS went haywire two years ago and slaughtered the Vector employees. When Kevin was around, he put Harold in his place, but now...
"What a jerk! He's the guy who wanted KOS-MOS to be a weapon of mass destruction. Why is he spreading dirt about me?" Shion was indignant.
Even in the static of the U.M.N. Terminal, Shion could tell Myuki was reluctant to speak.
"Tell me Myuki."
"He wants your job, Shion."
Shion's blood ran cold.
"He wants you fired and out of the way so..." Her voice trailed off.
"So... What?"
"So he can have complete control of KOS-MOS."
"NO!" Shion's fist came down hard on the terminal, almost breaking the connection, "Myuki he can't! He's going to rip her apart and turn her into a monster! After all of my--after all of our work on her! You have to stop him! Tell the Director I'm a damn good Chief Engineer and--"
"I already did. I told him you and KOS-MOS were responsible for the Proto Merkhaba incident and that you would return KOS-MOS with the report to Vector's Second Division with all due speed."
Shion sighed, "Thank you Myuki. You're wonderful. Is there any way we can stop Harold I-don't-give-a-damn-what-his-last-name-is before he destroys everything the team at First Division worked so hard to create?"
"If you can get enough people to tell the Director that Harold is full of it, then I'm sure you'll be safe. A few people here at First Division are vouching for you already, but a lot of them are afraid of Harold. Apparently he has dirt on just about everybody." Myuki grinned. "He's gonna hate it when he finds out I told you about his plot to get you fired."
"Oh, he better pray he gets relocated from the Dammerung because once I get there I'm going to kick his ass so bad!"
"You go girl. Just know that a lot of us are sticking our necks out for you, so..."
"Of course. I'll get that report done immediately. Thank you so much. You're saving my skin, Myuki." Shion glanced at the clock on the terminal's screen. Three minutes had elapsed.
"Oh my God! I have to shower! Don't mind me Myuki, just tell the folks at Kukai to rescue us soon before I'm told I can't use the bathroom anymore."
"Sure thing Shion, good luck. Remember that apology in the report!"
Shion nodded and was about to disconnect, but a thought suddenly crossed her mind, "Wait a second Myuki. This is totally off topic, but do you have any idea what an Aeon is?"
Myuki's brow wrinkled, "I thought an Aeon was an eternal amount of time. Why do you ask?"
"That's what I thought too. No, I was just wondering. Could you check Vector's database for any information about Aeons, please?"
"Um, sure. I'll e-mail you anything I find as soon as I can, but I really should get off the U.M.N. now. I have to pretend I'm working here." She laughed.
"Ok, thanks a million."
"Don't worry about it. And you tell Harold to go get a life. Nobody here wants to see you fired."
Shion smiled and disconnected. She glanced at the clock and darted down the hall towards the bathroom.
---
Captain Mathews started running the water a little later than was planned, so Shion figured she still had a t least a minute to shower. She stormed towards the bathroom, fuming over the information Myuki had revealed to her.
"Chief!" Allen called to her. He began running frantically toward her.
"Not now Allen." She grumbled. She noticed there was no line leading to the bathroom. Everyone must have showered already.
"Chief, hold on!" He scrambled up to her.
"Allen, please, now is not the time." She paused, "actually..." She grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. "Listen," she barked at him, "I just got off the U.M.N. with Myuki. She told me Harold Assface is planning to get me fired."
"But I thought his name was Harold Aster-"
"Well now he's called Harold Assface! Anyway I need you to call the Director this instant and tell him what a wonderful Chief Engineer I am, how I'm always responsible and considerate and all that crap, and you need to convince him not to fire me. As for Mr. Assface, tell the Director he's mentally unstable and should be put into an insane asylum immediately."
"Um, ok, but--"
"Not now. I have to shower." She headed for the bathroom.
"No, Chief wait!" But she had already disappeared.
She entered the Elsa's bathroom in a fit of anger. The nerve of that Harold guy! Her flesh crawled when she thought about what he might do to KOS-MOS if he had the power. She had never liked him.
The water running in the shower. Good, she still had time. She walked over to the shower and yanked back the curtain...
"Oh my God!" She screamed and jumped back three feet.
There was chaos.
All of him.
He wiped the soap suds from his face, "Need something?" he asked, completely calm.
Shion could barely get the words out, "I-I-I'm so sorry. I-I had no idea!" She scrambled backwards and tripped on chaos's towel (she had failed to notice it when she walked in).
"I'm really, really, really sorry!" Her face was redder than a ripe tomato. She bolted out of the bathroom shooting out a string of apologies behind her.
Darting into the hallway, Shion met mass hysteria on deck. Jr. was on the floor crying of laughter, and Tony had to hold his knees to prevent from falling over. Jin merely shook his head in disbelief, but she could tell he had been howling with laughter like the rest of them. Even Ziggy was chuckling.
"No-nobody told me!" She yelled. Her face crimson with embarrassment.
"Actually I tried to warn you--" Allen began.
"Are you still here!" She roared, "Go call the Director!"
Allen scampered towards the U.M.N. Terminal. Shortly after chaos emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. He met a barrage of cheers and whistles from the males on deck.
"It's all yours." He said smiling. Droplets of water trickled down his face. Shion avoided eye contact out of shame, and walked meekly into the bathroom.
"Idiots!" Captain Mathews appeared across the hall to find out what all the commotion was about. His face was as red as Shion's, but with anger. "Get back to work!"
Tony and Hammer ran for bridge faster than Shion had seen any man move in her life.
She apologized profusely to chaos, but he just laughed.
"You know," he said, "out of all the people on this ship that could have walked in on me, I'm glad it was you."
Shion almost hit the floor. She remembered when he had winked at her earlier in the bar. Was he flirting with her!
She hustled into the bathroom without saying anything, but the blush on her face gave her away.
"I can't believe it." She grumbled once her head was safely under the cool water of the shower. "Yesterday I almost died, and today I've been accused of... of fornicating on a booth! Then I walk in on chaos while he's showering--not that I mind--but now I'm never gonna here the end of it! And on top of everything I could get fired!" She stopped herself. It was all inconsequential. Febronia's sisters... A day had passed and she still hadn't made it to Old Miltia, and here she was. Having fun.
Before Shion could begin complaining again, the water above her abruptly shut off, right after she had lathered her hair with shampoo.
"You're kidding me!" She moaned as the shampoo dripped down her face and stung her eyes. She stormed out of the shower, almost forgetting her towel, and headed for the bridge.
"Captain Mathews." she whined once she entered the bridge. MOMO showed compassion for her. As for the other members of the crew...
"Oh my God," Jr. groaned, "I've laughed so much my sides hurt!"
"I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. Look at her hair! She looks like the Wicked Witch of the West." Tony fell out of his seat in hysterics.
Shion skulked, but she noticed chaos laughing heartily too. She had never seen him laugh like that before.
"Captain, would you mind giving me another twenty seconds of water? For obvious reasons?" She begged.
The Captain concealed a chuckle. He had never seen such happiness on his deck before. His crew members were practically dying of laughter.
"All right Ms. Vector. But it's coming out of your drinking water."
Shion thanked him, and, mustering up the little dignity she had left, she waltzed out of the bridge, leaving a trail of shampoo suds in her wake.
chaos watched her leave and smiled. He wondered what KOS-MOS thought of all of them now, laughing hysterically over a bit of shampoo. Humans were so intelligent, capable of creating Realians, KOS-MOS, and Faster Than Light travel, but at the same time they could be so... nuts. Totally nuts. He was happy Shion was able to enjoy herself today: laughing and poking fun at her friends. Even though she was the butt of most of the crew's jokes, chaos could tell she hadn't had this much fun in a while. She deserved a day free of fighting and full of laughter. It would be her last humorous day for a long time.
---
Allen sat at the Elsa's U.M.N. Terminal and dialed Vector's First Division switchboard.
"Hello, operator?" He said when a young secretary appeared on the screen in front of him, "I would like to speak to the Director, please. Thank you." There was a pause, then:
"Hello Director. This is Allen Ridgley from the KOS-MOS development team. Yes. I wish to speak to you about Shion Uzuki, the current Chief Engineer. That's right, this call is regarding her behavior. I'm afraid I have some bad news...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I dare leave a cliff hanger! Upon rereading this chapter I thought of naming it 'Star Gazing' or 'Shower Fun' or some other corny thing like that, but I'll leave it up to one of you. Behold my ingenious plan for reader involvement!...
I forgot to mention this before, but when I finally did manage to connect to the web in sunny Italy, I was floored by all the wonderful reviews I received. Thanks for all of your support! The next chapter will be dedicated to all you chaosxShion fans.
Input is appreciated, R/R.