Yay! I finally updated! Sorry it took so long, but I actually have a part-time job now (read: I am in desperate need of cash) so I haven't been able to write as often as I would like to. However, this chapter definitely does not suffer from lack of words–it's twice as long as the other two.
First I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this fic. You guys are awesome, and you keep me writing! Now that I have some free time, I might read and review some of your fics, so watch out (muahahahah)!
You're not interested in my mindless ramblings, so here ya go.
Disclaimer: I don't own Xenosaga Episode I. Or II. Or the Japanese anime, or the CD. And just to be sure I doubt I'll own the future episodes III, IV, V, and VI.
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Borne Up on Angel Wings
Chapter 3
---
Tony sat at the Elsa's controls biting his nails. He had wanted to drop the habit for a while now, but he couldn't help himself when he was really nervous. His eyes darted around the bridge. Good, it wasn't just him. Everyone looked a little jittery. MOMO had that concerned look she always had on her face; Shion's arms were folded tightly across her chest; Allen looked nauseous; the Captain was even more cranky than usual... Nobody said a word.
Aside from the Captain, Jr. was the only one who seemed both apprehensive and angry. He paced around the bridge making everyone around him antsy until his fist finally came down on Shion's monitor, making her jump.
"I don't understand!" He yelled, piercing the silence like a gunshot, "the Durandal should be here by now. What's taking them so long?"
"Calm down, Jr." Jin said. He sat in his chair with his arms folded and his head slightly bowed, "getting angry won't make the Durandal get here any faster."
"Don't tell me to calm down." Jr. snapped, "it's ten thirty. The Durandal was supposed to pick us up hours ago. And I'm thirsty as hell."
The Captain couldn't help himself, "I told you not to shower."
"Come on guys." Shion muttered. She sighed deeply, as if she were releasing pent up pressure inside of her. "Cool it. Can't we contact the Durandal through the U.M.N.?"
Jr. gritted his teeth. He thought he had explained this already. "No." He started out icily, but then his voice softened. It wasn't Shion's fault the Durandal hadn't arrived yet. "We can't contact the Durandal if it's in hyperspace."
"Well," Shion's voice swelled with optimism, "if it's in hyperspace it means it's on its way."
'Yeah, well, it's been in hyperspace for six hours.' Jr. thought to himself. Surely it would be here by now. The Elsa wasn't that far from the Kukai Foundation.
He started pacing again, but a beeping noise stopped him in his tracks.
"What's that?" He asked hopefully.
MOMO investigated the blinking light on her screen, "I'm not sure." A few seconds went by as she brought up a graph on her monitor, "it's not the Durandal though. Whatever it is it didn't gate out of hyperspace, and it's not showing any signs of having ever been in hyperspace." She paused a bit more, "Um. That's strange. It's not broadcasting any signal. All spacecraft emit some form of radio waves. And... it's really big."
A thought crossed Shion's mind that made her skin crawl.
"Is it a Gnosis?" She asked, already sounding afraid. If another Gnosis like Cathedral attacked the Elsa now, it would be all over. They had no defenses, no functioning weapons, and no way out.
"Negative." KOS-MOS answered her. A collective sigh echoed around the bridge. "I've not detected any Gnosis for several astronomical units. Where is the object in question?"
MOMO read off the coordinates from her computer.
KOS-MOS analyzed the UFO, then, "It appears to be a meteor in orbit around the closest star. It's composed mostly of nickel, with some iron." She paused, almost surprised herself by the information she had just uncovered. "The meteor is approximately one mile long in diameter."
Hammer's eyes bulged out of their sockets, the meteor appeared on his screen too, "That's a big rock."
Shion was afraid what the answer would be to her next question, "KOS-MOS, is there a chance that meteor could hit us?"
"Affirmative. It is on a collision course with the Elsa." The android responded with frightful accuracy. She was not one to mince words.
Wonderful, Shion thought. It was about time things started going dangerously wrong again. The hilarity from Shion's visit with chaos in the shower had long since evaporated. Everyone was tired and nervous--not a desirable condition to be in when faced with a crisis.
Allen stated the obvious, "Wait a minute. If that meteor hits us... How fast is it going?"
"The Elsa will crumple like cardboard." Mathews grumbled. "There is no way my ship can survive a collision with an iron meteor the size of twenty city blocks. It's speed is irrelevant."
Allen's foot began tapping nervously, "Our Logical Drive is busted though. We can't gate in!"
The Captain was losing his patience, "If we had the ability to gate in, don't you think we would have hauled butt out of here a long time ago!"
Allen slumped, "And the Elsa's thrusters?"
"Gone. Tony blew them when we escaped the black hole's gravitational field."
"We must have some options!" Shion cried exasperated. "Are you telling me the Elsa can't move at all?"
The Captain said nothing. An ominous quiet fell upon the bridge.
"Rear thrusters." chaos spoke up suddenly. All heads turned to him.
"The Elsa's rear thrusters are still functional."
The Captain scowled. Rear thrusters were used mainly to align the Elsa with docking platforms. Flying quickly in reverse generally proved to be impractical in space, so by their very nature rear thrusters weren't very powerful. He doubted they could move the Elsa out of the meteor's path.
"Their engines aren't that fast." Hammer said, as if reading the Captain's mind, "will they get us out of the meteor's way in time?"
"Do we have any other options?" chaos asked with startling simplicity.
The Captain considered. They had to try something. Floating around in their current location was suicide.
"Tony." He barked, "Activate the Elsa's rear thrusters."
Shion braced herself for the initial inertia that accompanied every spacecraft's takeoff from a resting position, but it never came.
"Are we even moving?" She asked.
"The thrusters are on at full power." Tony told her, "we're inching backward."
"Wow," Shion sighed, "those things are slow."
"MOMO," Jr. asked, "can you get an image of the meteor up on the bridge's main screen?"
The Realien punched in a few commands on her computer and a hologram of the rock appeared above the Captain's head. It whirled about slowly in space. Even as a hologram, the meteor looked big.
"How much time until impact?" Shion asked KOS-MOS.
"It is difficult to deduce exactly. The vectors of the meteor as well as those of the Elsa keep changing. I would say approximately two minutes until impact."
As if by magic, all heads snapped up to look through the Elsa's front window. Sure enough, a large rock appeared dead ahead of them in the distance. It would be a head-on collision.
"Tony," KOS-MOS began, "if you steer the Elsa to the right, we may be able to evade the meteor entirely."
Tony shifted the Elsa to the right.
"We're going backwards Tony!" The Captain screamed, "turn left on the wheel if you want to go right!... Idiot."
"My bad." He muttered, leaning hard to his left. He forced himself to concentrate and fought the urge to bite his nails. The Elsa banked left ever so slightly. Shion could barely feel the ship changing direction.
"Turn harder." KOS-MOS commanded, but she sounded worried. Strange. Worry was not an emotion Shion remembered programming in her, for practical reasons. "The meteor is slightly changing course. It's veering left."
Tony leaned left as far as the ship could turn. The Elsa was definitely turning now, but progress was still painfully slow.
"Here it is." chaos pointed to something on his screen. Shion, Jin, and Jr. wandered over to him and peered over his shoulder. They saw an image of the Elsa in the center of chaos's screen. Two black holes were behind the ship, and the meteor was racing in front of it, towards the black holes. It became clear now. The meteor had been orbiting around a star, but the black holes were pulling it off course. Unfortunately, the Elsa was in its path.
"The meteor is accelerating due to the black holes' gravitational fields." KOS-MOS explained. "Half a minute until impact."
Shion's head snapped up again. An enormous gray structure filled the Elsa's front window. Up close the meteor looked like a gigantic metal wall hurtling through space, about to smack the Elsa.
"We're moving too slow!" MOMO screamed, "we're not going to make it!"
Shion tried to ignore her words but MOMO was right. There was no way the Elsa would get away in time, and the rear thrusters were burning at full power."
"Ten seconds until impact!"
Shion gripped chaos's chair in fear. Death was certain now. Alarms began blaring from the Elsa's monitors. Blinking red lights cast an eerie glow all around the bridge. The meteor was going to hit them... smash them into nothingness by its sheer mass. Shion's paralyzing fear bothered her. She instinctively grabbed chaos's hand for support. Her voice came out in a scared whisper:
"chaos, I-"
She never finished her sentence. A blinding ray of blue light erupted from behind the Elsa and went sailing above the ship's hull. A hundred thousand blue lasers followed, colliding with the meteor in the most amazing display of fireworks Shion had ever seen. The gargantuan rock sizzled red at first and then exploded. Flying shards of nickel tore across deep space in all directions. Hundreds of tiny rocks pelted the Elsa, banging against the ship's hull and rendering its passengers almost deaf from the earsplitting bombardments.
When the pandemonium finally stopped, Shion mustered enough courage to open an eye. The Captain decided not too. He didn't want to know what the exterior of his ship looked like right now. A meteor exploded only yards away: the Elsa must be scratched up beyond repair! Since he decided to keep his eyes shut, Shion was the one who shouted with joy when a rather large spacecraft flew into view.
"The Durandal!" Her arms flew around chaos's neck with glee. The huge, red, spacecraft floated a half mile away from the Elsa, it's angel wings twirling lazily around it. The Durandal's powerful lasers had just blasted the meteor out of existence.
The Captain's throat was dry, but he managed to speak, "Hammer. Open up a communication link."
Hammer's fingers flew over his keyboard and Mary's face appeared on the Elsa's main screen. The Captain was about to yell something, but Jr. beat him to the punch:
"IT'S ABOUT FRIGGIN' TIME YOU GOT HERE!"
---
"Ok," Hammer said, pulling a lever beside the Elsa's entrance, "we're safely docked. You can walk out now." The Elsa's main doors slid open with a hiss, and Shion stepped out into the Durandal's huge dock.
"Hi y'all." Mary was there to greet them. "I'm glad y'all are ok. We raced to get you as soon we got your distress signal, but all the U.M.N. columns were very busy."
"How come?" Jr. stepped out of the Elsa, followed by the remaining passengers.
"Well, something big is going on at Old Miltia. The Federation is making a rowdy fuss about it, but nobody knows what's going on. All I know is that hyperspace was clogged with a fleet of Federation ships rushing towards Old Miltia."
"They'll spill their guts soon." Jr. said calmly, "the Federation holds a press conference every time a criminal so much as farts."
"Not this time," Mary sounded worried, "the military is involved, and their lips are sealed. The space around Old Miltia is restricted, and the Federation is arresting anybody who comes close to the planet."
"Well, that's a problem." Shion muttered. She tried to process the information slowly, to avoid panicking. Whatever the Federation's big secret was, Shion was positive it had something to do with Feb's sisters and the Zohar.
"We need to get to Old Miltia as fast as possible." Jr. told Mary.
"Now how'd I know you were going to say that?" Mary smiled. "We've been ordered to repair the Elsa ASAP, but we don't have the right equipment on the Durandal. We have to go back to the Foundation."
Shion sighed. More delays. "Are you sure you can't fix the Elsa here?" She asked. "It's rather urgent."
Mary took a quick look at the Elsa, "Definitely not. What did you do to that ship anyway? Didn't Captain Mathews just have it remodeled?"
"Yes." The Captain answered her wearily. "I'm going to be in debt for the rest of my life, but the Elsa's gotta be ready by tomorrow."
"Will do." Mary smiled, "Shelly's piloting the Durandal back to the Foundation right now. You guys look exhausted though. We have a bunch of free cabins in the Residential Area. Feel free to rest up."
Shion thanked her and headed for the Durandal's transport train. She felt terribly guilty for allowing three days to elapse without reaching Old Miltia yet, and the worst part was that she had no control over the situation. Once again, there was nothing she could do but rest.
"Tomorrow, Nephilim." Shion whispered as she boarded the train, "Tomorrow I'll save your sisters. Please forgive me."
The train jolted forward and sped to the other side of the Durandal. Shion got out at the Residential Area, found an empty cabin, and collapsed into its bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
---
He was crucified and died, so that all sins could be forgiven.
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And so it came to pass, the Zohar gave birth to mankind.
-
When God cast Lucifer into Hell, his evil seeped into the One World and became the Operating System for existence.
-
Her flesh was crafted by mankind, and His pain released her from her sins and earthly bonds. Her resolve conquered Lucifer's evil.
-
He sacrificed himself to the Zohar, and Lost Jerusalem was reborn.
-
"Where?..." Shion stood in a dark room. Then it all came back to her. The lab. Her colleagues at Vector. The quiet black container that looked so much like a coffin. Strange hooded men had entered without permission. 'This isn't right,' she thought, 'they are not observing protocol. This area is restricted to Vector engineers.'
One man, adorned in a blue cloak, approached the coffin. 'No! She isn't ready yet. Stay back!' The coffin opened. There she was: spindly, not yet finished. Inhuman. Her eyes showed no emotion. Her face expressionless. She was created to kill...created to kill.
She pounced. Shion witnessed one of her fellow Vector engineers be murdered in the most gruesome way possible. The hooded man in blue looked confused–didn't he know she was not ready? What was he thinking?
Blood gushed from the room in crimson streams. She slashed the existence out of anyone who stood in her path. Soldiers fell before her–holes gored into their bodies. She vaporized a fighter jet, deflected lasers, crumpled missiles. She was unstoppable. She had no feeling, no morals, no instincts. What had Vector created? What had Shion created? Something that preformed unspeakable horrors...
She advanced, eyes red and cold. Shion screamed–fear, panic, terror enveloped her. Paralyzed her. She felt a warmth and hit the floor. Kevin. He shielded her with his body. Protected her.
KOS-MOS didn't blink, didn't flinch, didn't utter a sound as she drove a sharp, spinning drill into Kevin's abdomen. It was as automatic and natural as breathing.
Shion's world crumbled and shattered into an incoherent mess of blood and screams. She couldn't feel, couldn't see, couldn't think straight. She only heard screams. Screams that reverberated around the room and in her head. Screams that she realized were her own. In the midst of all the destruction, Kevin grabbed her hand and whispered, "Don't worry. This is what's supposed to happen. This is what we wanted, Shion."
What was he talking about? She didn't want this. He was dying! His blood was soaking her. The horror! She fought the urge to vomit, and now acted upon the only instinct that still worked within her–the desire to survive. The drive to live.
She unsnapped Kevin's gun from its holster. It too was covered in his blood. She aimed it at KOS-MOS. Tears streaming down her face, her voice was choked and hollow.
"KOS-MOS, why?" She whispered.
She squeezed the trigger. The gun erupted with such force that Shion's arms snapped backward. A searing sound of metal on metal pierced the lab, then KOS-MOS's head exploded. Debris flew everywhere. Shards of burnt metal mixed with blood. Kevin lay dying on Shion's lap. And the screams, the horrifying screams...
—
"Aaaahh!" Shion tumbled out of bed and hit the floor in a cold sweat. The lights in her cabin flashed on automatically. For a moment she lay on the floor, too terrified to move; then she slowly crawled back into bed.
'Just a dream.' She thought. A horrible one, but still just a dream. Nightmares of KOS-MOS's accident and Kevin's subsequent death haunted her frequently in the months after Kevin's funeral, but as time went by they recurred less and less. Strange that she would have one of those nightmares now, over two years after Kevin's death.
Something else bothered her though. Before her nightmare began, in the dream-like state between consciousness and sleep, she'd received five cryptic messages–probably from Nephilim– and had no idea what any of them meant, if they were related, or if they had something to do with the accident two years ago. Knowing Nephilim, she wouldn't reveal those answers anytime soon, if at all. Rummaging through the contents of the cabin's dresser, Shion made it a priority to copy down all the messages on paper now when they were still fresh in her head. Too tired to make sense of any of them at the current hour, she decided to sleep on it and inquire about them tomorrow.
—
"Shion, wake up." Jin banged on the door of her cabin.
Shion groggily got out of bed and flipped a switch. The cabin's door slid open and Jin walked in.
"It's 11:30, Shion. The others want to know where you are. Why are you still in bed?"
Shion stumbled towards a mirror and tried to tame her wild locks, "Sorry. I didn't sleep well last night." She remembered the messages she had scrawled down after her nightmare, and she quickly pocketed them.
"The Elsa's been damaged pretty badly. You wanted to go to Old Miltia didn't you?" Jin asked her.
"Yes. It's very important. How long will it take for the Elsa to be repaired?"
He shrugged, "Mary said about two days–maybe longer. The Logical Drive has to be replaced."
Shion wheeled around. She couldn't afford to lose anymore time. Two days were too much, she'd already delayed her trip to save Feb's sisters far longer than she'd expected.
"I can't wait that long," she told him, "Is there any other ship that can take us to Old Miltia?"
Jin shook his head, "I doubt it. The Federation has already declared Old Miltia off-limits to civilians. Apparently something of grave importance is occurring on that planet, but nobody has any information. If we were to go there we'd have to beak Federation law. Captain Mathews is the only captain who is willing to do that. I'm afraid the Elsa is our only choice."
Shion pursed her lips, "Can't the Durandal take us there?"
"No. It would be unwise to place all of the lives on this ship in danger."
"So...What are we supposed to do for two days? Feb's sisters need me, Nephilim said they're in trouble."
"Has Nephilim contacted you since you left the Dammerung?"
Shion paused, trying to remember. "Yeah. Twice when I was on the Ormus Stronghold and every time I fall asleep."
"Did she express concern or anger at the fact that you haven't reached Old Miltia yet?"
"Well...No, she told me not to worry."
Jin smiled, a rare occurrence, "Then you should do just that. All things happen for a purpose, Shion. Maybe your trip to Old Miltia has been delayed for a reason. Try to use the two days you have to accomplish something important."
Shion's mind flashed again on the messages. Would two days be enough time to decode them?
"Think about that." Jin continued, "Everyone else is at the beach. We can't go anywhere for two days, so don't start feeling guilty if you have some fun. It'd be best if you relax and recharge while you're here, since there will probably be a lot of fighting once we reach Old Miltia." Jin turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"I thought I'd join the others at the beach."
Shion raised her eyebrows, "You're going to the beach?" She sounded incredulous.
"Yes. I'm not anti-social you know. You should probably come too. Breathe some almost-fresh air."
"Maybe I'll come down in a little while."
"Alright. You should definitely join us, though. The others are eager to see you." He paused, "especially chaos." He turned and left a wide-eyed Shion standing motionless in her cabin; her mouth hung open.
—
As far as space colonies go, the Kukai Foundation was Shion's favorite. Few others were able to mimic the light of the sun using enormous incandescent light panels, and even fewer had an ocean with a working ecosystem. It still amazed Shion how far man had gone into artificially creating the environments of life-sustaining planets. There had probably been a beach on Lost Jerusalem just like the one here at the Kukai Foundation.
As Shion rounded a corner and felt soft sand beneath her feet, she spotted her friends by the shore playing volleyball. They had even managed to get Ziggy to play.
"Hi guys." She said, dragging a beach chair behind her. She had no intention of playing volleyball now–she had a lot of work to catch up on, especially if she didn't want to be fired.
Jr. turned around and waved at her. He did a double-take when he saw her scantily clad in a very revealing bikini, and, elbowing chaos hard in the ribs, he began to whistle obnoxiously. Allen was so intrigued by Shion's attire he didn't notice when the volleyball smashed against his face.
"You children are such gentlemen." Shion raised her voice above the masculine cheers, "Sorry but I'm in no mood for games today–Allen stop drooling–I have a lot of work to do." She pulled out her communicator, "You should search elsewhere if your looking for young girls to bounce around and play volleyball with."
The boys assaulted her with loud booing.
"You're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, Shion." Jin quipped.
"I have work to do!"
—
"Man, this is boring." Shion moaned. Vector had left her a substantial amount of work regarding the programming of KOS-MOS, but since the events on the Woglinde (which to her seemed like years ago), Shion didn't have any time to file a single report. She was currently typing sluggishly on her computer, differentiating integrals and the like. As Chief Engineer of Vector's First Division, it was Shion's responsibility to debug KOS-MOS's aggressive neural processor–the part of KOS-MOS's A.I. that caused her to battle and act, well...aggressively. An error in the debugging could result in a catastrophe not unlike the incident two years ago that ended with the death of dozens of Vector employees. The Director of First Division had failed to tell Shion, however, that the debugging process was incredibly boring, inefficient, and time-consuming. Such was the agony of the aggressive neural processor debugging that Shion hurled her communicator on the sandy banks of the Kukai Foundation's beach twenty minutes after she had begun working.
"Stupid aggressive neural processor." She grumbled, "Hey KOS-MOS." She called out. The android, who had been monitoring the game of volleyball with unusual curiosity, turned around.
"Yes, Shion?"
"Would you ever walk on to a busy street and slaughter innocent bystanders?"
KOS-MOS blinked. She wasn't programmed to respond well to sarcasm.
"No Shion, that would be illogical. I cannot cogitate a scenario in which the slaughter of innocent people would be desirable."
Shion seemed to ponder that statement for a while.
"Good enough." She said, "Your aggressive neural processor is fine. There's no need to debug it."
Content with the fact that she had done a good day's work, Shion flopped down on her beach chair and decided to sunbathe. Conscientious distraction–a term her brother used often–was a method by which a person did not think directly about his or her problems with the goal of relaxing the brain and therefore allowing it to arrive to the solutions by itself. That was what Shion had in mind. Worrying too much about Feb's sisters, or the Zohar, or the Aeons, or being fired, or the blossoming feelings she felt for chaos would soon result in a nervous breakdown. Better for her to tune the world out for now. She'd need all the energy she could muster to tackle all the problems fate was about to throw at her.
"Hey Shion!" Jr. called, "wanna play volleyball? We're going to start another game soon."
"Sorry, but I'm working." She called out as she lay tanning on her beach chair with her communicator seven feet away from her.
"Oh, my bad." Jr. spat. "I suppose you have nothing better to do?"
Shion suddenly remembered Nephilim's cryptic messages, "Uh, actually yeah. Just a minute guys, I'll play volleyball in a while." She jumped out of her chair, retrieved her communicator, and pulled out the slip of paper which contained the messages. Before going to the beach, she had stuffed the paper in the elastic waistband of her bikini since she had neglected to bring a purse. The sudden removal of something from her underwear caused a fit of laughter from the men playing volleyball. Shion chose to ignore.
She sat down on her chair and looked at the first message:
He was crucified and died, so that all sins could be forgiven.
Shion had studied enough Ancient History in her schooling years to know what that sentence referred to. During the first two millennia of mankind's existence, the religion known as Christianity was the most prevalent. The sentence alluded to the most significant event in Christian scripture: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, or the messiah–the Savior–, who claimed to be the son of God. He sacrificed himself so that all men's sins could be forgiven, and, if Shion remembered correctly, he rose from the dead after three days, and was currently seated at the "right hand of the Father," and his followers would wait in joyful hope for his Second Coming (the apocalypse) in which he would judge the righteous from the wicked, and cast the latter into hell, while bringing the former with him into Paradise.
It was a religion. An old religion, but with a beautiful story, as far as religions of that time were concerned. So earth-shatteringly significant was the crucifixion of the Christ that the calendar of the civilized world adopted that date as the beginning of modern time: A.D., anno domini–the year if the Lord. What Shion didn't know was what the event of an ancient religion had to do with the Aeons, or the Zohar, or with anything since the disappearance of Lost Jerusalem. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'at least I know what Nephilim is talking about. Maybe after I look at the other messages it'll all make sense. What about the next one?'
And so it came to pass, the Zohar gave birth to mankind.
Huh? This appeared to have some other religious overtone, with the creation of man and all, but the statement seemed pretty straightforward: the Zohar created humans. Shion had no idea what to make of it. If the statement were true, its philosophical and moral implications were enormous. Did that mean the Zohar was an entity? Or was it merely a tool used by God to breathe consciousness into humans? If God even existed. Not many people believed in God anymore.
'This is going well. I haven't accomplished anything." She looked at the next message, hoping it would shed some light on the first two.
When God cast Lucifer into Hell, his evil seeped into the One World and became the Operating System for existence.
So much for that idea. Again the message waxed religious. Calling upon her knowledge of Christian scripture once more, Shion remembered that Lucifer was the Devil, who used to be heaven's most beautiful angel until he rebelled against God and was subsequently banished to hell. She didn't remember anything about his evil seeping into the One World. What was the One World anyway?
By sheer accident, Shion's gaze fell to her communicator. She was currently logged on to the U.M.N.. She paused, looked at the message, then looked back at her communicator. U.M.N.: Unus Mundus Network. Unus Mundus...One World. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets. Could it really be that simple? That meant that according to the message, Lucifer somehow entered the Unus Mundus, but what was the Operating System? A thought entered her head, and a chill raked her flesh.
"Jr." She called out, "What does U-DO stand for?"
The young boy whirled around, "I thought we were trying to relax, Shion, are these the kind of things you think about on your down time? You must be the life of the party..." He seemed angry that she had interrupted their brief respite from the real world. "Anyway, U-DO stands for something like Unus Mundus Operating System."
Shion reeled. If she followed through the analogy, then Lucifer–the Devil–was U-DO. Again, these revelations were earth-shattering, but what did they mean? It seemed to her that these messages were nothing more than the ranting and raving of an unstable mind. Was she supposed to take this message seriously? That Lucifer's evil was poisoning the Unus Mundus? That the Zohar created all life? There was still no coherence to any of this information.
Her flesh was crafted by mankind, and His pain released her from her sins and earthly bonds. Her resolve conquered Lucifer's evil.
Wow. Shion didn't even know where to start. She was about to skip right to the last message without bothering to decipher this one, but something in the back of her head made her reconsider the first clause: Her flesh was crafted by mankind...What kind of flesh does mankind craft? Clones? Realiens? Androids? Cyborgs? Shion held her breath. Androids...KOS-MOS...KOS-MOS's flesh was crafted by mankind, but what about her resolve to conquer Lucifer's evil? If Lucifer was U-DO...Shion remembered the vision she has seen of KOS-MOS battling U-DO in space sometime in the future. It made about as much sense as any of the other messages, but the second clause had her totally lost. His pain released her from her sins and earthly bonds. Was the "His" referring to Jesus?
"This isn't making any sense." Shion grumbled, too tired to analyze the last message. She allowed her mind to wander, and her gaze fell upon her friends playing volleyball. She wondered if she should fill them in on Nephilim's recent visit. Jr., MOMO, KOS-MOS, Allen, Ziggy, her brother,...chaos, all of them had been through think and thin together. She had accomplished more with them by her side then she would have ever hoped to do by herself. Now all of them were willing to accompany her to Old Miltia with only a vague idea of why they were going there. They had a right to know about the messages. Maybe one of them might even know what Nephilim was trying to tell them. But why bother any of them now? Better let them play. There would be time for worry and battle later.
Shion sighed and slumped back into her chair. 'Beaches are nice.' She thought (great discovery of the century). She liked the sand, the sun, the waves...bare-chested chaos.
"Wha?" She gagged herself in mid-thought and jerked upright in her chair once she realized what she was staring at–chaos's slender frame. He had his back to her and every time he jumped to tap the volleyball he unknowingly gave Shion a wonderful view of his...posterior.
She'd never really considered what it was about this mysterious boy that drew her to him. Ever since Kevin's death, she hadn't allowed herself to get close to anybody–Allen was living proof of that. However there was something about chaos's calm demeanor and his considerate, selfless attitude that made him the center of Shion's thoughts. More so now after their adventure in the Ormus Stronghold. She felt safe with him. A comfortable feeling of peace and warmth washed over her every time she felt his gaze, his presence, his touch. The fact that chaos was always so quiet and sad didn't ward of Shion in the least. On the contrary, despite the melancholy aura that surrounded him and all of his secrecy, she felt she could share anything with him.
So, as she sat on her comfortable beach chair starring at the silver haired boy playing with her friends, Shion began asking herself the question that all young lovers ask themselves at the beginning of a serious relationship. Did she really have feelings for him? And, more importantly, were they reciprocated? Shion didn't have a very good track record with love–both her parents died fourteen years ago (she was eight), her brother was as cold and uncaring as his sword, and the only person whom she ever truly loved, Kevin, was murdered mercilessly by her own creation. Love had never loved Shion, so she gave up on it. After Kevin's death she threw herself into her work, striving for the position of Chief Engineer and promising herself she would never allow KOS-MOS to malfunction the same way she did two years ago. Ever. But now the tables had turned. Her job at Vector was in jeopardy, and she had discovered she could still care for someone. She risked losing everything she had worked so hard to achieve over the past few years, but she also risked gaining something much better. If she was clever and acted with the same ambition she always did, she could have both.
She grunted and began typing on the communicator, wrenching her gaze away from chaos. With her luck, she'd end up losing both. She gazed at the Vector logo on her communicator. That was her life now.
'I'm too old and jaded to fall that hard for someone.' She thought angrily, 'I'm not an infatuated teenager who runs circles around her love interest and feels like she's been hit by bricks every time he so much as smiles at her.'
As if on cue, a volleyball fell from the sky and collided with Shion's face.
"Hey!" She yelled, as she lost her balance and fell off the chair, "I told you Jr., I'm not–" She stopped in mid-sentence. She had failed to notice the teams had switched fields, and chaos was standing on the other side of the net, opposite Shion, rubbing his head sheepishly.
"Sorry Shion," he called out smiling, "I guess I served a little too hard."
"Um...that–that's ok." She staggered to her feet and wiped the sand from her rear.
"Come on Shion," Jr. whined once he managed to stop laughing, "play a game with us. It'll help take your mind off your lover." He lowered his voice to a whisper so that only she could here, "As if your wide-eyed, drooling stare isn't noticeable."
She sighed, "Alright, alright." She spat out the last 'alright' as if it were laced with venom, "I'll play."
—
As far as games go, Shion was a good sport. She hadn't expected this game of volleyball to be anything other than an activity to pass the time. Jr. had other ideas, however. For him, this game would be something of a blood-war. Defeat was unacceptable, and he would fight as hard as he could to win this battle as much as he would if he were fighting a Gnosis.
To ensure victory, the teams would have to be selected wisely, and Jr. would obviously be the one who chose them. At first, he wanted Shion on his side, but he later realized that maneuver would separate her from chaos, and he needed both of them on the losing team (his opponents) in order for his end-of-the-game victory dance to yield the desired results.
"Ok," he cried, "I guess that leaves MOMO. She's gonna have to be on my team." He said it as if he had just been diagnosed with the bubonic plague.
"Hey," MOMO folded her arms and pouted, "I serve just as well as you do, Jr.."
Shion laughed. She was aware of this tactic. Boys who were too shy to show their feelings (or too stupid to know how to) often teased and bullied the girls they liked.. A nice insult came to Shion's mind, and she was about to rip into Jr. for not openly showing his affections for MOMO (she certainly had the right to do so after all the heat she'd taken from him regarding chaos), but she decided against it. After all, who was the adult here?
"So that leaves me, MOMO, and Ziggy versus Shion, chaos, and Jin. KOS-MOS will be the ref." Jr. said, as if the setup of the teams were as important and complicated as the battle formations of a Federation Fleet.
Shion reeled. She knew what Jr. was up to, putting her and chaos on the same team. He planned to set them up for an embarrassing situation not unlike what had happened yesterday on the Elsa. "Wait," She cried, "I'll switch with MOMO if you don't want her on your team."
Protests met her statement, this time from Jin.
"No Shion, the teams are fine." He inched closer to his sister and casually nodded towards chaos, "it wouldn't be proper to separate two lovers."
"What? Hey! What is it with you people today? Somebody defend me. Allen!... Where is Allen?"
"He left a while ago. Said something about talking to the Director of Vector's First Division." Jr. told her.
"Oh, that makes sense. He needed to vouch for me. Wait a minute, don't change the subject! I don't think I deserve all the snide remarks about–" But her complaints fell on deaf ears.
—
Shion didn't know the reason. Maybe it was because Jr. was taking the game way too seriously, and her heart really wasn't in it. Or perhaps it was because she kept on stealing glances at chaos in his bathing-suit, jumping and running beside her, and her attention was elsewhere. But for whatever reason, her team was losing pathetically, and it wasn't long before the game became vicious. After a good half hour, everyone was tired and sweating, and Jr.'s team needed only one more point to win. Naturally, he decided to serve the match-point.
"Come on guys," Jin reassured his teammates before Jr.'s serve, "we don't want to lose to them do we?"
"Just focus." chaos told Shion.
Jr. served the ball in typical Jr. style. It sailed over the net at blinding speed.
"Sorry!" Shion yelled. She jumped and smacked the ball with her fist, a big no-no, since she risked shooting it out of bounds, but luck was on her side. Plus, she wanted to win now. The ball flew to the other side of the net at a dangerous angle, but MOMO hit the sand on her knees and tapped it up just in time. Ziggy slammed it across the net after MOMO's save.
"It's yours Shion." Jin cried.
"Get it Jin! What are you doing? Get it!" Shion screamed, she bolted for the front of the net, but there was no way she could make it to the ball in time.
chaos lunged and barely nudged the ball with his fingertips with just enough force to send it to the other side of the net.
"This is it guys! Prepare to lose!" Jr. jeered as he prepared to hit the ball with all the power he had left in his arms.
Shion, who had gotten accustomed to Jr.'s play style, expected him to send the ball towards the back of her field, so she took off and left the net. Big mistake. He was feigning. Jr. tapped the ball ever so lightly, and it dropped like a dead-weight over the net.
"No! Shion, why did you leave the net?" Jin started reprimanding her, but she didn't hear him. She wasn't about to let Jr. get the best of her. The ball continued falling...
chaos dove for the ball. He missed, and landed on the sand. Shion dove for the ball. She missed, and landed on chaos. Match-point. Jr.'s team won.
As Shion landed perfectly on chaos's backside, two thoughts crossed her mind. The first was surprise at how warm, muscular, yet soft the young boy's body felt beneath her. The second was indignant anger–Jr. had set her up for yet another embarrassing moment. However, all was not yet lost. Maybe no one would notice.
Yeah right. Everybody exploded in a fit of laughter.
Jin sighed, "We would have won," he looked up towards the sky in a sign of hopelessness, "if Shion could have just kept her hands off of him."
Shion growled something unintelligible. Humiliation welled up within her, but once again chaos didn't seem at all phased. Then again, she was still sprawled on top of him.
"Wah!" She rolled off of him with a soft thud. "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves!" She scowled, "we have important things to worry about! How can you be fussing over something so trivial?"
"Aw, don't get mad Shion." MOMO helped her to her feet. 'Sweet MOMO.,' thought Shion, 'the only considerate one in a sea of cretins.'
"I think it's so romantic, the way you act clumsy and show your feelings for chaos. Like yesterday in the shower." The Realien smiled.
"Thanks, MOMO ." Shion spat through gritted teeth.
Jin shook his head and gave chaos a hand getting up, "Really Shion, I don't remember you being so openly flirtatious. At least be subtle. I mean, you practically threw yourself on to him. Don't you think you're coming on a little strong?"
Shion's mouth hung open, too shocked to speak.
Jin continued, "Try not to flirt so openly next time. One might think you're...easy."
Despite the differences between Shion and her brother, she never once in her life hated him. At that moment, however, she came really close.
"I-wha–" She didn't like the awkward situation she found herself in. Everybody was ganging up on her. "Ziggy, say something!" She hoped the intelligent one of the group would help restore order to her quickly vanishing dignity.
The cyborg hardly raised an eyebrow, "You're padded top had the desired effect, Shion. I've never seen chaos grin like that." So much for the idea that Ziggy only spoke if he had something intelligent to say, although she couldn't shake the feeling that it was true. In spite of chaos's calm, unaffected demeanor, he seemed to be hiding a smile under a crimson blush. When she dove on top of him he hadn't so much as batted an eyelash. Had he enjoyed their contact?
Shion was about to point out that her top was not padded, but given the condition everyone was in to poke fun at her, she thought better of it, and kept quiet.
"You know," Jr. began, his tone suddenly becoming serious, "Maybe we can arrange a cabin switch on the Elsa. I'm sure MOMO won't mind being alone, and chaos's room is soundproof anyway, so–"
"Shut up Jr.!" Shion barked as the young, red-headed boy collapsed in a fit of laughter.
Desperate and helpless, Shion turned to the only person left who would defend her. KOS-MOS, the android driven by logic, would surely put a stop to this childish banter. By now she probably thought that humans were about as clever as radishes anyway.
As if reading Shion's mind, KOS-MOS stepped between her and Jr., preventing him from attacking Shion's good name.
"Actually Shion," KOS-MOS began, "your embarrassment at this moment is quite understandable, and probably made worse by your emotional state; however, do not think that your behavior is abnormal. chaos's appearance–his bare chest and other such features–is bound to excite natural urges within you, such as a strong physical attraction and a stimulation of the sex drive–"
"ALRIGHT KOS-MOS, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Shion's shrill voice cut the air like a blade, but it was barely audible over the sound of her friends' cheers and shouts. Even chaos chuckled behind his hand.
All of Shion's blood seemed to surge to her face, "I-I have to get some work done on the Durandal!" She yelled and stormed off the beach, leaving her friends who were sinking to the ground, howling with laughter.
—
"Excuse me, where can I find a U.M.N. Terminal."
A blond Realien indicated a cabin in the Residential Area, "Over there, Miss."
"Thank you." Shion walked over to the terminal and accessed the Unus Mundus. She dialed the offices of Vector's First Division. Myuki's face lit up on the screen.
"Hey Shion! I'm glad to see you're at the Kukai Foundation. Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, everything is fine...for now."
"That's good. Listen, I'm incredibly busy but I do have some stuff for you. Here, this is a letter from the Director." Myuki uploaded a file to Shion's terminal.
Shion gulped. She wasn't sure she wanted to read what the Director had to say, but she opened the e-mail anyway:
Dear Miss Uzuki,
I regretfully inform you that the Board of Executives of Vector's First R&D Division, after a careful analysis of your work and behavior at our company, have concluded that your conduct has been dangerously inappropriate as of late. Unless an immediate change is effected–primarily the return of KOS-MOS to the team at Second Division and a subsequent apology on your behalf–drastic measures will have to be taken...
The letter proceeded to list all of Shion's alleged faults: failure to report to the Director on time, sloppy work regarding KOS-MOS's development, and unprofessional behavior in the Encephalon, "to name a few." She closed the link and saved the letter to her communicator. It made her sick–she was in deeper trouble than she had thought. The only way to get on the Director's good graces now was to hand-deliver KOS-MOS personally to the Dammerung, along with a report and an apology.
"Thanks Myuki. Do you have any other scalding letters from bosses at Vector who are pissed at me?"
Myuki laughed, "No, and I'm sure it's no big deal. It'll all blow over after a while. I got some stuff on Aeons though, remember you asked me if I could find anything?"
"Yeah! What did you find?" Shion's eyes lit up. Maybe now she'd start finding some answers.
"I searched Vector's archives and I found a few entries, but it doesn't seem like anything very serious. Take a look for yourself." She uploaded another file:
AEON: Any one of many mystical forces in nature and in the supernatural world that have existed since the creation of Lost Jerusalem. In Ancient times they were known as gods who could take the form of humans. Aeons hail from a higher plane of creation and are the anti-existence of the Gnosis.
It is said in many ancient, religious scriptures that one Aeon is destined to use the Zohar to save humanity, and in doing so, Lost Jerusalem well be reborn, freed from the clutches of Abel's Arc.
Shion's brow wrinkled, "this looks like something out of a fantasy novel. Are you sure this information was recorded on Vector's archives?" The archives at Vector were the most comprehensive database of information ever created. The inside joke was that if something wasn't found in Vector's archives, then it didn't exist.
"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Myuki answered, "but it's interesting because a large portion of the information on Aeons found in the archives is restricted."
"Restricted? By whom?"
"By Vector's president. Only he can access the information."
"You mean Wilhelm?" Shion seemed incredulous.
"Yeah, isn't it weird? Why would he want to restrict anything? Oh! And I also discovered that there's nothing on Aeons in the Undus Mundus."
Shion laughed, "That's impossible Myuki. The Unus Mundus in an information database in cyberspace that spans the cosmos. Try cross-referencing Aeons with Gnosis or Abel's Arc–what is that, by the way?"
"Beats me, but I already did the cross-referencing. Here's what I got: since an Aeon is the anti-existence of the Gnosis, any single Gnosis disintegrates from this universe if an Aeon comes into direct contact with it. Hold on a sec, let me check the Unus Mundus again."
Shion waited while Myuki did her research.
"Ok, it says here that Abel's Arc is a huge Gnosis of unimaginable proportions that apparently..." Myuki paused, as if stunned by the information she was about to reveal, "swallowed Lost Jerusalem and its Solar System."
Shion blinked. "You're kidding right? Are you sure you're getting this information from a serious source? What server are you using?"
Myuki frowned, indignant, "I'm using Vector's server, Shion, and of course I'm receiving this stuff from a serious source. You trying to tell me Vector's archives aren't serious? I'm researching this wacko stuff for you, you know."
"Ok, you're right Myuki, I'm sorry. I'm just a little tense right now."
"And you didn't even let me finish. While I was illegally hacking into Vector's database–"
"You what!"
"Yeah, everyone does it, now be quiet–I found out that the word "Aeon" is part of the encryption code on the black box that Kevin programmed into KOS-MOS's mainframe! Isn't that totally freaky?"
Shion's mind reeled, pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together at the edges of her mind.
"No way, but–" Shion was cut off.
"Let me finish! I tried to decipher the encryption code on the black box, but it's really complicated. It said something about an awakening. Something like 'when KOS-MOS awakens blah, blah, blah, then something else happens to Abel's Arc and blah, blah, blah, and then the circle of zara-something-or-other, and then it just went all crazy.' I couldn't understand any of it."
Shion didn't know whether to be more surprised about the information Myuki was telling her or about the fact that Myuki had hacked into one of Vector's most confidential files to do so.
"Where did you hear about Aeons anyway?" Myuki asked, "you seemed to have struck gold in terms of secret Vector cover ups. I wonder of that word appears anywhere else in KOS-MOS's mainframe."
'That's irrelevant now.' Shion thought, "I first heard about Aeons on the Ormus Stronghold." She decided to omit her near-death experience with Nephilim.
"No way! When I first used Vector's search engine to look for information on Aeons, I got a link that said an organization called Ormus was searching high and low for an Aeon to activate the Zohar! Something about a super weapon. I just blew it off as some conspiracy theory by some psycho, but now that you mention Ormus...I don't know. It's food for thought."
Shion nodded, then mentally kicked herself. She had been on the Ormus Stronghold and she could have hacked into its computer files to find more stuff about the Aeons! The stronghold was gone now, though, and her answers with it.
"Well, anyway, thanks so much Myuki, you've been a great help. I expect to see you soon since I have to bring KOS-MOS to the guys at Second Division on the Dammerung."
"Yay! I'll be waiting. I'll try to keep Harold from causing any more trouble."
"Good. Once I get there save yourself a front-row seat, because I'm gonna tear that man apart limb from limb."
"Ok, take care Shion!"
The connection ended, and Myuki's face faded from the screen.
—
"Come on everyone! The party's over. Get your lazy asses up to the Durandal. We have some serious cleaning up to do."
Shion had wandered back to the beach after her talk with Myuki, only to find Captain Mathews screaming at her friends who were tanning on the beach. Tony and Hammer stood at his sides and they didn't look too happy.
"What's the matter, Captian?" Jin asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.
"The Elsa is about to be completely refurbished (for the second time in two weeks), inside and out. She's getting a new Logical Drive, new thrusters, and the interior cabins are being remodeled."
"So?"
The Captain's face flushed red with blood, "So? So all the Elsa's passengers, a.k.a. all of you, have to clear out the Elsa's interior! Every bed, table, chair, lamp, storage box, refrigerator, and toilet that isn't nailed to the floor or isn't an inherent part of the ship's guts has to be removed. Manually. Since my crew here can't lift marshmallows, all of you are going to have to help us. Remember, I did provide asylum for you during the Ormus incident, and I'm going to be kind enough to take you all to Old Miltia once my ship is up and running again...AT MY EXPENSE!"
"Ok, ok. Jeez, Captain, don't burst a blood vessel. We'll help you." Jr. hopped off his chair.
"Um, excuse me Captain." Shion asked him privately, "I don't believe anything on the Elsa is nailed to the floor."
The Captain grunted, "then that means you're going to have a very busy day ahead of you."
When all of the Elsa's crew and passengers boarded the shuttle at the that would take them back to the Durandal, the looks on their faces were not unlike those of prisoners who knew they were destined to live behind bars for the rest of their lives.
—
"Oh...my...God." Shion dragged her exhausted body through the Elsa's now empty cabin and collapsed into the ship's only remaining chair. She couldn't remember every being so tired..
"Hey! Miss Vector," Shion heard the Captain's voice reverberate around the Elsa's bare walls, "I'm about to lock up the ship, you almost done in there?"
"Yeah," she managed to gasp, "there's just this one chair. I got it. I'm just resting for a bit."
A curse, then, "Oh, fine. Just hurry ok."
Shion moaned an answer that he would have to interpret as a yes. She heard the Elsa's entrance door slide shut.
For all the macho attitude that the big, muscular men aboard the Elsa seemed to possess, they had turned out to be real sissies when it came to actually using force to move things. So incapable were her male crew-mates that Shion had to haul three beds, all the tables and chairs in the bar, all the chairs in the bridge, six storage boxes, the actual bar (complete with serving table, refrigerator, and sink), two smelly toilets, and a 110 pound computer through the Elsa's tight hallways and out of the even tighter exit. She was completely spent.
"Oww." She groaned and shifted in her seat. Sunlight drifted in through the cabin's window. Night was falling on the Kukai Foundation, and the solar panels began simulating a sunset.
"That's pretty," she mumbled. As she sat in pain in the Elsa's empty cabin, Shion began to do what she often did when she felt exhausted: talk to herself.
"I can't believe what a horrible turn of events I've had to go through," she mumbled, "Feb is probably pissed as hell with me by now, and my job is on the line because Mr. Assface is going on a power trip..." She sighed, "Oh, please don't fire me, Director. Who knows what will happen if Harold becomes Chief Engineer. He can't change KOS-MOS, he'll turn her into a monster again. What the heck is he after anyway? The black box? And what's the deal with these Aeons? What's Nephilim getting at with her weird messages?" Obviously, she still hadn't figured everything out yet, but the conversation she had with Myuki had been an eye-opener.
Warm hands on her shoulders jolted her out of her monologue. Her head snapped up, and she found chaos standing behind her. He was smiling.
"Sorry," he whispered, "but I overheard the conversation you were having with yourself."
Shion blushed in an unseemly fashion. His eyes were causing her to lose all extraneous thoughts very quickly, "yeah." She mumbled, "I'm a little tired." What are you still doing here?"
"I was moving some pillows out of here when I spotted you sprawled out on this chair, so I decided to take a look and make sure you hadn't passed out."
She rolled her eyes, "Oh, excuse me. The big tough man on deck was carrying some pillows. Do you need any help with that?"
chaos chuckled, "No, I'll be alright. But what about you? You single-handedly moved half the Elsa's furniture out of here."
Shion nodded weakly, "It would have been easier to grab the Elsa from the rear and shake out its contents." She mimicked the shaking movement with her arms, but stopped immediately.
"Owwww." She groaned, rubbing her upper arms, "I think I'm in more pain now then when we fought that horrible thing in Proto Merkhaba–" Her sentence ended in a deep sigh as she felt a divine sensation flutter down her spine.
chaos smiled, "I thought you might need a massage. I think you've earned it."
She relaxed instantly as his soft hands kneaded her shoulders. This was heavenly... She realized in a flood of emotions that she'd never been this close to anybody before, symbolically. chaos assuaged her pain with no other reason than to make her feel better. It was care in its purest form.
'Not good,' she thought. The barriers she had put up around herself since Kevin's death were quickly crumbling at chaos's soothing touch. She felt her pulse quicken. 'This is bliss...'
A soft ray of sunlight entered the cabin's window and lit up her face.
"Isn't that beautiful?" chaos asked. Whether he was referring to the sun or to her face was something that made Shion's heart flip.
"Yeah," She whispered, closing her eyes. She felt a lump in her throat. The sunlight was so beautiful. chaos was so kind... "The light is really pretty."
chaos's hands moved up to rub her neck, and his fingers brushed against her cheek. Her eyes fluttered shut. She laid her head against his chest. 'Bliss...'
"You know," he whispered as crimson rays of light lit up the room, "I read that Lost Jerusalem's sun was the source of all life on that planet. I think's it's kind of sad that we'll never be able to see the star that gave birth to mankind. All we have now is fake light created by incandescent bulbs. Imagine how beautiful a sunset on Lost Jerusalem must have been." He paused, staring around the illuminated room, "this is kinda nice too, though."
Shion nodded. Her eyes were still closed. He noticed her lips began to quiver.
It was true. The sun had breathed life into Lost Jerusalem. The incandescent bulbs of the Kukai Foundation were pathetic compared to the power of a star, but there was still something awesome about them. They were a testament to man's greatest achievement–the apex of technological advancement. The human race had created a sun. The solar panels were proof of mankind's will to live.
She couldn't help it anymore. Her emotions had reached the bursting point. There, in an empty cabin of the Elsa, lit up by the Foundation's artificial sunlight, Shion broke down. Tears streamed uncontrollably from her face as she tried unsuccessfully to muffle her sobs.
"Shion?" chaos asked, removing his hands from her shoulders. His expression showed genuine concern.
She covered her face with her hands and sniffled, "chaos, what are we doing?"
He raised an eyebrow, puzzled, "Uh, I think we were cleaning out the Elsa..."
She shook her head, "No. I mean what are humans doing in general? Mankind is lost in space without a home, on the verge of extinction. We're being hunted down by killer Gnosis and nobody knows why. Someone is searching for the Zohar, and I don't who it is or whose side I'm supposed to be on or what the hell the Zohar is supposed to do. Now I'm getting messages from Nephilim about Aeons and ancient religions and the Devil and Abel's Arc, and somehow I have to save Lost Jerusalem and sort everything out when I know absolutely nothing!... And on top of that I'm about to get fired! My job is on the line because some jerk wants to take KOS-MOS away from me and strip her of all feeling...turn her into a monster like she was when she killed Kevin. I-I have no idea what to do anymore! I want to help Nephilim and Feb, God do I want to help them, but-but I don't know how!" She crumbled in front of him again.
Her sobs tore through chaos like a knife. He had barely realized how much emotional garbage had been dumped on her. The breadth and scope of her mission was weighing down on her–crushing her. It was a miracle she had stayed strong up to this point without losing her mind!
He sank to his knees and wrapped his arms around her.
"Shh," he whispered, "Shion, you don't have to worry. You're not alone."
She sniffled again, "chaos, you're so sweet." She was amazed at how keenly he understood her feelings. Ever since Kevin's death, she always felt alone...so terribly alone.
"You're stronger than you think," he continued, "all of us have only got this far because of you. Have you even noticed how far we've come already? You saved Second Miltia when we were on Proto Merkhaba."
Shion stopped sobbing, but she didn't seem at all convinced. She still felt pathetic and alone.
"I know you've been scarred by loss and sorrow, but are you aware of the change you affect in people? Ever since we found you, out in deep space after the incident on the Woglinde, you've motivated people to journey with you. Your love of life and will to live have inspired all of us to make our lives meaningful. Ziggy feels like a person with a purpose again, MOMO is ecstatic because she feels needed–and you've been like a big sister to her, Jr. also feels his life has a purpose since he started traveling with you, and KOS-MOS, she senses your strength, Shion. You made her, but you've also showed her, maybe unknowingly at times, the human traits of laughter, joy, love, sadness. She gets that from you, and she's become more...human in your company." He paused, "And your brother. He really does love you. A lot. He just has a tough time showing it. Your parents' death affected him too."
Shion removed her hands from her face and turned around. At the moment, she was speechless.
"Why do you think all of us want to tag along with you on your trip to Old Miltia?" He asked her, "you inspired us. Your mission becomes our mission. We're not just following you around because you have a pretty face. Although..." He grinned, "you do have a very pretty face."
Shion smiled shyly and wiped her tears. His embrace was so comforting. After a few deep sighs she managed to get up from her chair. Sunlight danced through her hair as she turned around to face chaos. Their eyes locked. She felt powerful feelings welling up inside her, feelings she had kept bottled up for a long time. His gaze seemed to penetrate her soul.
"You have a heart of gold, Shion. And you're stronger than most."
She blushed. All her apprehension was gone now. All she felt was his gaze.
"The way you talk about me," she whispered, shyly tucking a tuft of hair behind her ear, "you make me sound like a hero."
He smiled warmly, "you are."
As if to punctuate his statement, sunlight flooded the room and illuminated the bare walls, their bodies, her hair, and his face in a soft orange glow. She stared at his face and felt her knees go weak. Spikes of platinum hair streaked across his forehead, shining in the sunlight. His eyes glowed with a mysterious intensity...
Her heart raced. She opened her mouth to say something, but he leaned forward, and their lips melted into a warm kiss.
—
There was a certain magic about the Kukai Foundation at night. With the solar panels extinguished, the space colony seemed natural and inviting. A million points of light flickered from the windows of the Foundation's buildings and reflected off the water, giving the ocean the impression that it was filled with candles. The view from the Durandal's park was especially breathtaking, with the entire Foundation stretching before all those who wandered the park's flowery path.
For Shion, however, the view was the best she had ever seen in her entire life, but maybe it was because she had been skating on air for the past few hours, and now she was sitting comfortably in chaos's lap as he played with her hair. She could have been in Second Miltia's sewers sitting waist deep in human filth and thought it was the most beautiful view she had ever seen.
"You know," she murmured, "I'm still a little worried about the shmucks at Vector and Feb's sisters. How am I supposed to take care of two things at once?"
chaos sighed, "do you want me to console you again?"
She giggled, "yes!"
He started tickling her. Mercilessly. Maybe it was her imagination, but she had noticed a profound change in chaos. The brooding, melancholy aura that he always seemed to carry about him had disappeared. He smiled frequently now, a change that Shion didn't mind in the least.
"Ha, ha, ha–wait, chaos stop! Please!" He complied with her request, and she took a few seconds to catch her breath, "I'm serious! This is kind of a catch-22 situation. I either let Feb's sisters die or I get fired. I can't be on the Durandal and on Old Miltia at the same time."
chaos playfully messed up her hair, "you silly Chief Engineer of Vector's First R&D Division, it's already been taken care of."
"Hey! I spend hours on my hair in the morning! And what do you mean its already been taken care of?"
She heard a door slide open behind her and recognized the sound of Jr.'s boots on the floor.
"So anyway, I've figured out how–oh! Excuse me! Am I interrupting something?" Jr. had come upon a bench facing the park's window to find Shion sprawled out on chaos's lap with her arms around his neck.
"Maybe I'll come back later." Jr. grinned, "do you guys want me to order you some champagne and candles while I'm at it?"
"Oh, what's the matter, Jr.," Shion shot back, "are you jealous? You should have told chaos how you felt about him before."
"Ouch. The girl bites back now." Jr. laughed, "that's no fun."
"Actually, she's still freaking out about the situation on Old Miltia." chaos told him.
Jr. folded his arms, "what? You worry too much, you know that Shion. So what if there are a few Realians stranded on Old Miltia. I can arrange to send them coffee if they want."
Shion's expression soured immediately, "that's not funny. This is a big deal. Feb's sisters could be in serious trouble."
Jr. nodded, "I get that. You just don't have to go all wacko about it."
"Jr.! It's important! I have to help them, but if I do I'm going to get fired because my boss has a stick up my ass and he wants KOS-MOS back on the Durandal ASAP. "
He rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of Shion, "Alright Shion." He stared straight into her eyes with mock seriousness, "let's see if your Chief Engineer brain can process what I'm about to tell you–there is no problem. You, KOS-MOS, and your lover go to the Durandal tomorrow, and you can deal with that Assface guy. Meanwhile, me, MOMO, Ziggy, and Jin get on the Elsa and go to Old Miltia."
Shion blinked.
Jr. continued, "while you're disemboweling Mr. Assface, the four of us will be beating the crap out of all the Gnosis or soldiers or whatever it is we find on Old Miltia so that when you get there we'll all be ready to save Feb's sisters."
Shion blinked again, "you'd do that for me?"
Jr. got up, "of course ya dope. Besides, MOMO would never let me live it down if I didn't help you." They both laughed, "but seriously. You're not the only one who worried about the situation on Old Miltia."
Shion smiled, "thanks Jr."
"Thank me once we solve this Feb's sisters trapped in the Zohar mystery. Then when we put all of this behind us, I can kick your ass in volleyball again."
"Well, I do have this habit of jumping on handsome, shirtless boys when I play volleyball." She glanced at chaos intriguingly.
Jr. sighed, "I can't even make fun of her anymore. Tony will be crestfallen...Anyway, I gotta run and make sure the Elsa's refurbishing is going smoothly, if not the Captain will start bawling like a baby." He turned to leave and walked towards the doorway, "I'll leave the two of you alone now." The door slid shut behind him.
Shion and chaos stared at the nighttime skyline of the Kukai Foundation for a while, then he whispered in her ear, "don't worry about it, Shion. You can only handle one thing at a time. Focus on the issue with your Director first. We'll meet up with Jr. and the others once we've sorted everything out on the Durandal."
She nodded. Maybe she didn't have all the answers yet, but she was getting close. She snuggled into his arms and held his hand, "thanks for coming to the Durandal with me." She murmured.
chaos smiled, tenderness seeping out of every fiber of his body. Shion's heart melted.
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Wow. That took a long time to write, but I hope you guys liked it.
What's the deal with the Aeons? What's going to happen on the Durandal? Why has Allen been acting all sneaky of late? Why am I asking you these questions?–I know the answers anyway. You'll find out in the next chapter.
Once again, big thanks to all of you who reviewed. I spilled a lot of blood and sweat while writing this chapter (well, not really) so remember to R/R.