Hey guys! Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm so glad you all liked it :D
NeoChick: Yeah, if I'm typing the majority of it at 3 in the morning, it's gonna have some errors. I explained that one big mistake at Xenolegacy…LOL thanks for the review, you ShionxGaignun freak
Not much changes in this chapter.
Neo! Come and do my disclaimer!
Neo: KOS-MOS rox does not own Xenosaga. No one can own Xenosaga. It doesn't exist. None of this exists. It isn't real. Nor does she own the rights to lyrics from The Matrix Revolutions. The movie where I die. That sucked. Trin died too. Everyone died. Except Niobe and Morpheus. Boooooty call! Well, anyways, the lyrics are the property of Don Davis.
Ain't he cute! –Hugs Neo-
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Xenosaga Episode II: Die Kraft der Liebe
Chapter 2: Artificial
Gaignun, Jr., Ziggy and Momo stood in the UMN Control Center, waiting for Momo's analysis to begin. Momo was wearing a new outfit, a beret perched on top of her head. She hadn't noticed that Jr. was staring at her with an expression of longing on his face.
"She should be arriving soon…Jr.? Are you even listening to me?" Gaignun said, looking at his brother. Jr. quickly snapped out of his trance.
"Huh? Oh, yeah," he said.
"Who's coming?" Ziggy asked.
"Juli Mizrahi, from the Contact Subcommittee," Gaignun replied.
As if on cue, the door opened and Juli Mizrahi stepped into the room. Momo let out a small gasp.
"Mommy!" she exclaimed, her eyes bright with excitement.
"It's been awhile," Juli said, "It's nice to see all of you again."
"You're looking well, as always," Gaignun said, nodding at Juli. She gave him what looked like a half-smile.
"Allow me to thank you on behalf of the entire Subcommittee. We're very grateful for your help during the Proto Merkabah incident," she said. Ziggy quickly glanced at Momo and then looked at Juli.
"We couldn't have done it without Momo. She was immensely helpful," he said, placing his hand on Momo's shoulder.
"Ah. Thank you for your support, Momo," Juli said. Momo beamed and started to walk over to her. Juli suddenly started walking towards Jr. and Gaignun, passing right by Momo. Momo looked over her shoulder, tears starting to form in her eyes. Why does Mommy act like that?
"I'd like to organize the data. If you could prepare a room for me, I'd appreciate it."
"…gladly," Jr. said flatly. He sighed and looked at Momo. She looked as if she just had her heart ripped out and stomped on with a pair of soccer cleats. He had the strongest urge to lash out at Juli.
Jr., don't. Not now. Gaignun said over their mental link.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It just makes me so mad!
Please, try to contain yourself. For all our sakes.
Fine. Jr. rolled his eyes.
Juli took a deep breath. "Momo?"
"Yes?" the young realian said, her voice suddenly brighter.
"It would be nice if we could live together once things settle down," she said. Juli and Jr. then left the scene. Ziggy put his hand on Momo's shoulder.
"Momo, that's great," he said, even though he knew that Juli saying that was just an act.
"Uh huh!" Momo replied happily.
"Momo?" said a voice from behind them. They all turned around to see Shelley, clad in a purple dress. "Please, come this way. The analysis is about to begin."
"Okay!" Momo, Ziggy, and Gaignun followed Shelley into the analysis room.
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"Oh man, I'm so late…" chaos jogged into the building and stepped onto the elevator. After it had ascended to the floor above, he scanned the room for any sign of his comrades. "They must already gone into the analysis room. I should have woken up earlier…if only those two hadn't kept me up all night…" chaos started towards the analysis room, when he heard voices in the room across from him.
"Doctor, what was that about?" said one voice. chaos pressed his ear against the door to listen. Is that Jr.?
"What?" said a female's voice. chaos identified it as Juli Mizrahi's.
"You know what I mean," Jr. sounded annoyed. "Acting so nice to Momo all of a sudden? Does that ring a bell?"
"Did it sound like an act?"
"Yep, pretty much."
In the room, Jr. was speaking to Juli. She was collecting data from a terminal. "Look, I know Joachim created that realian to be stimulated by familial warmth," she said matter-of-factly, "Fulfilling that is a necessary part of my job to make sure the operation goes as planned."
"Pssh, I should have known…" Jr. groaned. Juli started towards the door. "You know, pretending to be cold and emotionless will only hurt you in the end," he said sincerely.
Juli turned to face him, her hands trembling. "That realian was created by Joachim," she said, her voice shaky, "and frankly, that scares me."
Jr. shook his head. "See here, I don't know what kind of person Joachim was. I don't know what he was thinking when he created the 100-series realians. All I know is that I'm going to treat Momo like a real girl."
"Why would you do that?" Juli asked. "You're only going to end up giving her false hope."
"I made a promise to Sakura," he said, yawning.
"A promise?" Juli asked. "What sort of promise?" Jr. just ignored her. "Tell me, Rubedo," she said.
"I go by Gaignun Jr. now," he said, rolling his eyes. "I promised Sakura that I would look after her mother and little sister." Juli stared at him for a few moments.
"Please, Doctor, I'd like to see you smile again," he said softly. "I'm sure Sakura would want that too.
I have to see this… chaos came through to door to see Juli and Jr. looking at each other. She flashed Jr. an upset look before exiting the room. "I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" he asked.
"Oh, no. Nothing like that," Jr. said. "Tell me, how's Shion? She seemed really sad at dinner last night."
"Oh, she's doing fine. I tell you, it was an awkward relationship at first, but they're growing on each other," chaos said vaguely.
"Who, Shion and Jin? That's good," Jr. said in a satisfied tone. chaos smirked at him.
"What?"
"Oh, you'll see…" chaos said.
"Whatever," Jr. cracked his neck.
"Well, it looks like there's still time before the analysis begins," chaos said, glancing at the clock. "Where's everyone else?"
"Momo is getting prepared, Shelley and Mary are helping her…Gaignun is probably hanging out with the 100-series who will be operating the analysis…and Ziggy…uh…I think Ziggy is getting his body repaired before Momo's gig," Jr. replied.
"Let's go check on Ziggy," chaos said. Jr. nodded and led chaos towards the maintenance room.
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"How do you feel?" a female voice asked gently from above him. Ziggy slowly opened his eyes, almost jolting straight into a standing position when he saw Juli Mizrahi looking down at him.
"D-Dr. Mizrahi?"
"Momo asked me to do it," she said, some resentment in her voice. "She said 'Mommy, you're a famous scientist, so you must know all about cybernetic engineering.'"
"Ah, I'd prefer-" Ziggy said, beginning to feel flustered.
"I'm not a young woman," Juli said, cutting him off. "Don't let it bother you." She began walking towards the computer terminal. "A famous scientist? Hmph, maybe infamous would better describe me," she sighed.
Ziggy blinked. "You seem unsettled when you're around Momo…why is that?"
After a brief pause, Juli said, "Could you love someone who looked like your child, but wasn't?"
"That's a…difficult question," he replied.
"Creating something to look like my daughter won't bring her soul back…" she said, her voice distant. "And with all of her clones scattered through the entire star cluster…I'm constantly reminded of her death…" Her voice trailed off as she looked at the floor.
"Was it…your husband's idea to make them look like her?"
"…Yes…" Juli turned to face him. There was another awkward pause. "Do you have any children?" she asked him.
"Yes. A son," Ziggy replied, memories coming back to him. "He was a healthy, intelligent boy…I lost him in an accident."
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Juli said. "Is that…is that why you committed suicide?"
"Yes, it is," he responded bluntly.
"I should have done the same when I lost Sakura…but instead of grief, I was filled with anger towards my husband." Ziggy shook his head.
"Don't say that…you have too promising a life to commit suicide," he said.
"Hm? Sorry, I didn't hear what you said."
"Oh. Never mind," he stammered. "Here's an idea. Why don't you pretend you had two daughters?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, moving a bit closer to him.
"One that passed away, and one that's still alive."
Juli blinked, her face a mere two inches away from Ziggy's. "So, you're saying that I should treat Momo like a real daughter instead of just one of Sakura's copies?" she asked quietly.
"Please consider it. For Momo's sake."
"I'll…I'll think about it. I'd better get going…" she said. Her face lingered close to his for a short moment before she straightened and strode towards the door.
"Thank you…for the maintenance," Ziggy called after her.
"You're welcome." Juli left the room. Ziggy stood from his chair and checked his mechanical left arm and spun his hand twice. He let out a small sigh.
"Alright, you two can come in now," he said, pressing the button for the door to open. Jr. and chaos stumbled into the room and fell into a heap on the floor, as if they had been leaning against the door, straining to hear the conversation. That was exactly what they were doing. "Jr., I thought I told you that eavesdropping isn't very admirable."
"Hey! We weren't doing it on purpose!" he cried.
"Yes we were," chaos murmured to the redhead. "Ow!" he cried as Jr.'s elbow crashed into his ribcage.
"Anyway…I gotta say, old man, you sure are full of surprises," the little firebrand said.
"What do you mean? I'm sorry, I'm not following what you're saying," Ziggy said defensively.
"Yeah, whatever. Don't deny it, old man," Jr. replied.
"Isn't the analysis about to begin? We can't waste our time here," the cyborg said.
"Oh crap, we'd better get back!" Jr. smacked himself in the forehead with his hand.
"But…Shion and Allen aren't here yet," said chaos. Suddenly, a soft giggle came from behind them. The corners of chaos's mouth curled up into a grin. "Never mind."
"Hehe, cut it out! Everyone will see!" the voice said before giggling again.
"So?" said another voice. This one sounded male. The giggling continued as Ziggy, Jr., and chaos all turned around slowly.
"H-holy Jesus! Wh-what the?" Jr. cried. His jaw almost fell to the floor when he saw Shion and Allen standing on the elevator, their lips locked together in a fiery kiss. Jr. opened his mouth to say something, but all he could do was point at them, mouth open, his bright blue eyes wide with terror. Shion quickly broke the kiss at the sound of his voice.
"Oh! Uh…did the elevator already stop?" she asked, blushing redder than an apple. "We didn't notice…"
"Hey guys," chaos greeted them, smiling. "Taking advantage of every moment, I see?" he said jokingly.
"You know it," Allen said, shaking chaos's hand.
"Well, well, well," Jr. said a mischievous sneer on his face. "Look at these two lovebirds."
"You two must have really bonded," Ziggy said.
"Well…yeah…I guess you could say that…" Shion said.
"What, it's not like you two got busy or anything!" Jr. exclaimed. Allen blinked at Jr. and Shion let out a nervous laugh.
"Uh, this is kind of awkward…" Allen said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Immediately, Jr.'s expression changed back into the one he was wearing whenever he first saw Shion and Allen kissing. He pointed at them, his mouth and eyes wide open.
"Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-" he tried to stammer something out.
"I think what he's trying to say it that he is very happy for you two," Ziggy said, glaring at Jr. Jr.'s expression remained unchanged. "We are very happy as well."
"Thanks," Shion said, beaming. "Hey, has the analysis begun yet?"
"Not quite. Shelley and Mary are still getting Momo prepared," Ziggy said, glancing over his shoulder. "I think they'll be done soon, though. We'd better get moving."
"Yes, let's," Shion said. Allen, Ziggy, Shion, and chaos started towards the analysis room, but Jr. remained behind. Rooted to the spot, he was pointing at staring at the place where Shion and Allen had just been standing. Finally, he managed to utter:
"That is just creepy!" He looked around frantically, noticing that his friends had left him behind. "Hey! Wait for me!" he cried, running after them.
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"Come on, let's go in!" Jr. said, after he had caught up with the rest of the group just outside of the analysis room.
"I apologize for the wait," said the employee in front of the door, "Preparations for the analysis are now complete. Are you ready to begin?"
"Yes," chaos replied.
"Then please, go in."
The room was divided into two levels. Momo and Mary were in the bottom level, which was a big open area where Momo would be tested. The upper level was a covered balcony overlooking the bottom level. That's where the control terminals were located. Jr., chaos, Shion, and Allen stood in the upper level looking down at Momo. Ziggy was standing on the staircase leading below.
"I'm going to go down there with Momo," Ziggy said.
"Good idea," chaos answered.
Ziggy proceeded down the staircase and waved to Momo. She waved back with a wide smile.
"Just try and relax, okay, Momo?" said the blonde with the Texan accent. "This is just the initial preparation for the analysis."
"Thank you. I'll do my best," she replied, a hint of nervousness in her voice. She looked at Ziggy and giggled. "You know, I'm a self-adjusting model. I've never had maintenance like this before. So, I guess this is what it feels like when you do it, Ziggy?" she asked the cyborg. Her feet left the ground as a blue energy field surrounded her.
"Don't worry. There's nothing to be afraid of," Ziggy reassured her. Momo nodded at him before closing her eyes and looking straight forward.
Meanwhile, up in the control room, Jr. stood staring intently at Momo. The blue light illuminated her soft, graceful features and beautiful amber eyes. As he pressed his face up against the glass, he couldn't help but imagine that he was pressing his face against hers.
"Little Master? What are you doing?" Jr. snapped back to attention to see Shelley standing behind him, studying at him with an odd look on her face.
"Oh! Uh…nothing! Nothing at all!" Jr. responded apprehensively. His face turned the color of his hair as he saw the mark his lips had left on the glass. "Damn…" Using his sleeve, he quickly wiped the glass clean.
Jr. turned around, jaw clenched, still red in the face. He was greeted by the image of Allen, his hands on Shion's hips, whispering something in her ear. Shion blushed a bit and smiled before pressing a quick kiss against his lips. Christ…can't those two get a room? Jr. thought angrily to himself.
Jealous, Jr.? asked the voice of his brother over the mental link.
Jr. began blushing again as he saw Gaignun, standing on the other side of the room, smirking at him. No way! Jr. replied angrily. Why would I be jealous? I mean, who would I possibly want to do that with?
Whatever…Gaignun responded, shrugging.
The truth was, Jr. did want what Shion and Allen had. Just not with Shion. Or Allen, for that matter. Jr.'s face contorted into an expression of pure terror at the thought of him and Allen doing that. Suddenly, he had an idea.
Casually, he walked up to Shion and Allen and deliberately stood between them. "Nice day, huh?" he asked nonchalantly. "So, Allen, you hit a home run last night? First, second, third, going, going, gone!" he yelled, jumping up and down. Shion and Allen both blushed. "Aw, I'm just kidding with you guys," he said. "Just remember, Momo's down there…" he said, a mischievous glint in his eye. "We don't want her seeing anything she's not old enough to see yet," the redhead stated, laughing. He walked back over to the window and stared at Momo again.
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Suddenly, in the analysis room, Momo let out a loud gasp. "Momo, what is it?" Mary asked. She pointed to the room where everyone else was. "What is it?" Ziggy asked her again.
"Shion and Allen! They…kissed!" Momo exclaimed happily, her eyes bright with glee.
"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. They're together now," Ziggy told her.
"Shion and Allen? Together?" Mary asked loudly, her obnoxious accent almost deafening everyone. "I can't believe the wimp told her how he feels!" she proclaimed happily.
"Momo, we will be shutting down your artificial personality layer during the analysis. Your artificial emotion and abstract cognitive functions will temporarily cease to function, but please do not be alarmed," said one of the mass-produced 100-series from the control room above.
"Artificial…emotion?" Momo's voice was confused. She placed both hands on her heart.
"Since your artificial personality is an option for interpersonal interaction, this procedure will have no effect on your observational functions," the 100-series replied.
My heart is just…an optional function? Momo wondered, sadly.
"Momo…" said Ziggy, walking closer to her and outstretching his hand. Momo moved her hand towards his until the only thing blocking each other was the blue light around Momo.
"Personality sleep mode active. Shutting down," said another 100-series. Momo looked straight forwards, a blank look on her face. Ziggy suddenly felt very upset. Did he care for this realian like a daughter?
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Meanwhile, Helmer entered the control room. Gaignun nodded in recognition as everyone else waved to him. "Hello, everyone. How's it going?" asked Helmer.
"They're having a pretty hard time preparing for Momo's analysis. As is the protection on her wasn't complex enough, some of her routes were damaged in that last hacking attempt," Mary said over the intercom.
"So her personality layer is deactivated. I see," Jr. said, trying to hide the hint of sadness in his voice.
"Yeah, it's kinda painful, like we're doing something terrible to her. It reminds me of when Shelley and I were on Old Miltia, kept on constant meds. I felt totally empty inside then. I really hated it," Mary stated unhappily.
"Yes…" Shelley agreed somberly.
"We humans might be shameless at times, but that's still how we feel," said Mary. "I think if someone told me that my heart was just a fake, I'd really be hurt."
There was a brief pause before Jr. spoke. "Even our hearts…even our hearts may be nothing more than playthings created by god…" Jr. started to walk away.
"Little Master, where are you going? Don't you want to be here with Momo?" Shelley asked him.
"I-I can't watch," Jr. said in a small, scared voice. "I'm scared…"
"Jr…." Gaignun said.
"I'm a…coward!" Jr. said before tearing away from the room, tears streaming from his liquid blue eyes, the end of his cloak fluttering behind him.
One of the 100-series announced the analysis of Momo and the countdown process. "Just a little more, okay Momo?" said Mary, concern apparent in her voice. "After this is over, we'll all go someplace really fun."
"Final barrier decode pattern decrypted. Initiating complete protection removal…" one of the 100-series announced. As her announcements continued, Mary looked at Momo.
"Momo!" Mary said in a shocked tone of voice. Suddenly, holographic monitors of Momo appeared all over the control room.
"S…top…" Momo choked out.
chaos, Gaignun, Helmer, Shion, and Allen all gasped. Juli Mizrahi, Ziggy, and the rest of the staff all looked stunned at the sight before them.
"Momo! What is it? What are you trying to say?" Mary asked frantically.
"It's…a…tr…ap…" Momo managed to say with some difficulty. The blue light around Momo turned red. Suddenly, the 100-series seated next to Shelley fell over dead. Shelley only stared in shock. Another 100-series across the room also fell over. And another, and another. The monitors that showed Momo changed to red.
"This can't…" Juli said, her voice cracking.
"Interference is manifesting from unobservable space," said one of the male employees.
"Barrier logic destruction, 68. Emergency cutoff!" cried one of the female members of the staff. She his a few buttons on her terminal's keypad. "Cutoff refused! A terminal has been opened to the U.M.N. network. Unable to determine the intrusion route!"
A male staff member then said, "Multiple axon connections advancing within the subconscious domain. A large-scale holographic network is being established!" Juli let out a loud gasp.
"Dr. Mizrahi! What's happening?" asked Ziggy from the staircase. He quickly walked up the remaining stairs and stood next to Juli.
"No wonder we didn't find anything, we were analyzing each system separately," she said frenetically. "Each layer itself is a low-resolution fragment, like scattered bits of memories. It's only when they all become active at once that the whole image comes together. Joachim's pulled off a grand tromp l'oeil!" She turned to one of the staff members. "Try the cutoff again!" she cried before saying, "Reestablish defensive logic against the internal hack attempt!" at another employee.
"Right! Attempting to restart defensive logic! Denied!"
"Momo!" Ziggy and Mary cried at the same time.
"I'm…sorry…I…didn't know…" the pink haired realian said.
Then, a horrible revelation washed over Gaignun. "No! This is…" he said.
Juli shook her head in despair. "There's a self-expanding trap in there. This isn't one of Joachim's designs. It's something recent-probably planted during the intrusion of the Song of Nephilim."
"This is…this is Albedo's work!" said Gaignun.
"20 seconds to defense logic failure!" shouted one of the employees. Juli pushed her out of the seat and sat down. "We're running the risk of complete data leakage!" she cried.
Juli began to put initiate some commands on the terminal. "Dr. Mizrahi, what are you doing?" asked Ziggy.
"I'm using the emergency control code and destroying the data," she replied.
"You can't! If you do that, Momo will..."
"You have a better idea? We cannot allow the Y-Data to fall into the enemy's hand, under any circumstance!" she demanded.
"Dr. Mizrahi!" Juli stopped, her finger hovering just above a big red button.
"Momo…" she said regretfully. She pulled her hand away from the button.
"Dr. Mizrahi! The holographic network has begun to disrupt! The expanded data is disappearing!" said one of the employees.
"What? But I didn't…" Juli said, confused. The word "WARNING" in large white letters flashed from the red holographic screens.
"What's going on?" Ziggy inquired.
"It's MOMO. She's cutting her own neural pathways, to disperse her memory! She's destroying her own mind to protect the data that Joachim entrusted to her…" Juli said. She looked as though she was about to burst into tears.
"What?" Ziggy said.
"This isn't good…" chaos muttered.
"Oh my…" Shion stared at Momo as her green eyes widened with fear for her friend. Allen embraced her and began softly stroking her hair. He whispered some reassuring words to her, although his voice was unsure. Gaignun was glaring into space, his teeth bared.
"Momo!" cried Juli. The red field around Momo let out a bright light, and then the realian fell to the motionless to the ground. Juli and Ziggy hurried down the staircase.
"The 100-series prototype has shut down!" yelled Mary, horror stricken. Suddenly, the familiar face of a white-haired U.R.T.V. appeared on the warning screens.
"So…I trust you like my gift?" he said in the voice that puts a shiver down your spine.
"Albedo!" Gaignun snarled, his luminous green eyes glinting with fury.
Looks like ma peche managed to protect Mizrahi's legacy with her own body. How very brave," Albedo crooned mockingly. "However, no matter how charming, in the end she's nothing more than a puppet. A puppet waiting for a miracle to make her human, believing all of Mizrahi's rubbish..."
"A puppet?" Shion said angrily, breaking from Allen's embrace. Albedo threw his head back and let out a victorious, maniacal laugh. Down in the analysis room, Juli began giving Momo CPR, desperately trying to revive her.
"Dr. Mizrahi, is she-" Ziggy began to say.
"It's all right. I won't let her die. Injecting nanounit restoration," Juli said. Ziggy could have sworn he saw a tear running down her cheek. "Ready twelve-device-activator." Mary nodded quickly and ran to fetch it.
A trail of blood was on the ground; a child's show resting on top of it…a mysterious man in a black cloak was standing next to the blood… Ziggy snapped back to reality as Juli continued trying to revive Momo.
Juli stopped for a moment to look at Ziggy with red-brimmed eyes. "This time…I will save her. I swear it!"
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Jr. came tearing into the control room. He fell to a heap in the ground, panting heavily. "I heard the alarms. What's going on?" he demanded.
"Momo…she shut herself down to protect what her father entrusted to her…" Allen said quietly. Jr.'s lower lip trembled as his eyes grew wide again.
"Is there anything we can do about it?" asked Jr. trying to keep his voice strong.
"Her basic functions have recovered. Though she avoided death, her neural network, the rough equivalent of her brain, has been completely shattered to pieces," stated Helmer. He turned to Shion and Allen. "We need the expertise of Vector's Third Division if we stand any chance of recovering the Y-Data. This crisis isn't just Second Miltia's problem anymore. On behalf of the entire government, I am hereby requesting your official assistance."
"All this to protect her father's wishes," Shion said, shaking her head. "We would be honored to assist you. Besides, Momo is a close friend of ours."
"I can't even begin to express my gratitude," Helmer said gratefully. "Thank you so much. And now, I must make my leave. Good luck," he said, shaking Gaignun's hand before he left the control room.
"Allen, how about you and I arrange the equipment transfer from Third Division?" Shion asked.
"Of course. No problem," he replied before they also exited the room.
How…how could this have happened? The red haired boy was leaning against the glass window, his head resting on his arm. His body was shaking with half-suppressed sobs. I failed my promise…I-I couldn't protect Momo…
"Hey, is he okay?" chaos whispered to Gaignun, pointing to Jr. Gaignun glanced at his older brother, and then slowly approached him. Gaignun outstretched his hand and rested it on Jr.'s shoulder. He knelt down to his level and softly spoke, "She'll be fine. Don't worry. Shion and Allen will make sure everything goes alright."
"Yeah, that is if they aren't too busy staring at each other's asses." Jr. cracked a tiny smile. "I'm fine. This is just bringing back some memories, that's all."
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"What are you talking about? What reason could there possibly be for the Immigrant Fleet to deploy ships to Second Miltia?"
The Federation Parliament Building conference room was dark, despite the monitors showing the faces of different politicians from the government. A monitor appeared next to the one of the man who just spoke. An older man's face was present on it. He was clad in gold and white robes. His yellow eyes stared menacingly at the rest of the monitors.
"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak. Once, in this region of space, there existed the great land of Miltia. As you all know, when the unfortunate events occurred fourteen years ago, that land along with mankind's greatest treasure, was sealed away like a cursed past," he said. "That greatest of treasures originally belonged to all of mankind, and we of the Immigrant Fleet had been its caretakers from time immemorial."
"Now wait just a minute. All Zohar activity currently falls under the jurisdiction of the Federation. You aren't trying to monopolize that great treasure for yourselves, now, are you?" insisted the man who had spoken before the elder one.
"We wouldn't dream of it. All I am saying is, there are those who would claim it as their own."
"Are you insinuating that the Miltian government would do such a thing?" asked a different man.
"They have clearly used the events of fourteen years ago to justify their mobilization. To demonstrate that, they have summoned the great evil, Proto Merkabah, in an attempt to reignite the flames of conflict across the galaxy. They intend to take advantage of the chaos of war to use the relic in Old Miltia for their own self-interests. In response to these usurpers, the Miltian government, we propose to reclaim our long standing traditional rights to be the caretakers of the relic," the white-haired male said.
"The incident you speak of was perpetrated by the U-TIC Organization. All accusations against the Miltian government were officially cleared, were they not? I believe there was even evidence provided by Vector."
"Yes. But there are also rumors that Vector is supporting the Miltian government. I wonder just how trustworthy Vector's data really is. Where is the Miltian government's representative now?" said yet another man.
"Where is Representative Helmer? Doesn't he have anything to say in this matter?"
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The Uzuki residence was quiet. A large, dark-skinned man entered through the door to find Jin, sitting at the small table, drinking tea. "It's been a long time, Lieutenant General. Or do you prefer Representative Helmer, of the Second Miltian Parliament?" Jin asked coolly.
"The old way is fine, Captain. It suits me more. Well Captain, aren't you going to ask me why I've come?" asked Helmer.
"I've got a fairly good idea," Jin replied.
"Fine. Then I'll get straight to the point," Helmer nodded. "Captain, I'd like to enlist your services once again," he stated straightforwardly. There was a brief pause, in which both men stared at each other.
"I believe you already know Canaan," the bald man finally spoke.
"Yes. It's been a while."
"The data you entrusted to Canaan... I want to find out the truth it holds."
"That evidence was obtained illegally. It won't stand up in court," Jin stated.
Helmer sighed. "I don't care. If I can just find out who our real enemy is, that'll be more than enough. I want to know, Captain." Jin tilted his head to the side for a moment, thinking.
"Lieutenant General, these days I am but a lowly used bookseller," he said. "I'm not sure I am capable of meeting your expectations." Helmer reached into his pocket and pulled out a connection gear. "This is…" Jin said, confused.
"The truth will surely be of great benefit to you as well." Jin examined the connection gear for a moment.
"Lieutenant General, you must realize that in order to unravel the data that I passed to Canaan, we have to go back there," Jin said, closing his eyes. "I assume you are aware of what that means."
"Yes. The memories on that planet are still powerful," Helmer said. "Still thinking about that night 18 years ago?"
The teenage boy fell to his knees, pieces of dark hair falling into his eyes. The rain fell hard upon his shoulders as he tossed his head back and screamed, "Guys! Don't leave me behind! Don't leave me here alone!" He began to cry, the rainwater mixing with his tears. He angrily beat the ground with his fists. "I-I've lost everything…everything!"
Jin shook his head, as if he was trying to knock something out of it.
"Well, I'm well aware of what it means," said Helmer, "and I'm ready for it."
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Back at the Control Center, Shion and Allen walked through the door of the control room, their lips glued together once more. Jr. shook his head scornfully. "You guys are killing me. Truly killing me," he said. "Hey, where's the guy from the Third Division?" Jr. asked, sticking his head out the door to look.
"Normally the Third Division would have sent someone, but we were closer. It's just easier for me to take care of it." Shion shrugged. "Besides, I've already had everything we need transported over. Don't worry; we've got the technical side covered. You can relax."
"Isn't that out of the First Division's jurisdiction?" asked Jr. Shion only ignored him.
"I just hope we don't have a hard time with Third Division later," Allen said.
"Yet you're still here helping," said Gaignun calmly.
"Well, I can't leave it all to her, can I?" he said, putting an arm around her.
"Jr., we want to save Momo too. Or do you think Allen and I aren't reliable enough?" Shion asked Jr.
"No way! Well, I dunno about Allen," Jr. said, smirking to himself, "But I'm glad you're here, Shion."
"Hey! What's that supposed to m-"
"We're short on time. Let's hurry," Jr. said quickly as to cut Allen off.
"Right," Shion said, laughing slightly at Allen's expression.
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Shion, chaos, Ziggy, and Jr. were standing around Momo in the large, open room. Allen was sitting up in the control room, operating the main dive terminal.
"Is everyone ready to dive? Momo's subconscious domain is likely in a highly unstable state. I don't know what dangers you may face, so you should make sure you're well prepared," Allen said over the intercom. "As soon as you're ready, I'll begin the dive. I'll wait here, so just let me know."
"We're ready now," Jr. scoffed.
"Right, I'll commence the dive then," he said, pressing a few buttons on the terminals. "The dive subjects for this operation will be Shion, Jr., chaos and Ziggy. I was telling Shion that I had KOS-MOS' data to be transferred here in case anything goes wrong. I'm sure having her around will be reassuring."
"Oh. My. God," Jr. said, his blue eyes growing large.
"Hm? Something wrong?" asked Allen.
"You said her name!" Jr. pointed at Shion. "You said Shion's name!" he crooned as if Allen was a baby who just said his first word. Allen rolled his eyes.
"Our dive target is MOMO Mizrahi's subconscious domain, which is modeled after Sakura Mizrahi's memories. Like the dive into KOS-MOS' Encephalon, there is a possibility of resonant memory playbacks with those who've closely shared time and space with her," Allen explained.
Jr. stared into the middle of their little circle. "This time, that'd be me," he said blankly.
"Jr.?" Shion said.
"Dr. Mizrahi told me that Sakura suffered from a central nervous system disorder. Did you have contact with her?" Ziggy asked Jr.
"I did. The going theory was that Sakura's symptoms were somehow connected to unusual wave pulse within the U.M.N. She was being attended to at the Yuriev Institute, where her treatment was also a part of the U.R.T.V.s' U.M.N. link training."
"Sakura? Is Sakura the girl MOMO was modeled after?" Shion inquired.
"I'd like to ask you something. What is U-DO, exactly? Why were you U.R.T.V.s created? To fight it?" Ziggy asked.
"Aah! Too many questions!" Jr. grabbed his head. "To answer Shion's question, yes. To answer Ziggy's question," he cleared his throat, "U-DO is the Unus-Mundus Drive Operation system. From the name, it might sound like some U.M.N. control A.I., but that thing was not created by human hands."
"Yes. That thing is positively not an A.I.," Shion said.
"Nothing that simple could have caused a space-time anomaly," chaos spoke.
"Exactly. They just picked the name because it sounded good. At that, they tried to make us believe it, too. They said it was an artificial consciousness within the U.M.N. that was carrying some kind of dangerous waves," Jr. said. "But that was a total lie. Our father, Dmitri Yuriev, knew about it from the start." Jr.'s eyes trailed off to the side as he remembered that fateful night 14 years ago…
The U.R.T.V.s, or "Designer Children" as some liked to call them, were standing in a circle formation. There was a pit in the middle of the round grating. Albedo grabbed Rubedo's right hand, whimpering quietly. Suddenly, bright reddish light shone from the pit.
"All right, open spiritual link. All U.R.T.V.s, match your individual waves to mine," said the red-haired one. He looked at his right hand to see his brother holding on for dear life. Rubedo grunted and reached over, forcing Albedo to put his free hand in front of him. "Here it comes," Rubedo said. The U.R.T.V.s began the linking sequence, in which a circle of blue light attached them by their outstretched hands. Waves of purple began shooting from out of the hole, hitting into the U.R.T.V.s' link.
"I'm scared, Rubedo. Don't let go of my hand!" cried the boy next to Rubedo in a small, frightened voice. He looked at Rubedo like an animal about to bolt.
"Concentrate, Albedo. Just do it like in training and you'll be fine," Rubedo comforted him. Suddenly, a spark erupted from the light circle. Rubedo's body tensed. He saw something coming out of a planet, completely destroying it. Were those wings…? Rubedo's eyes widened as he realized what it was. "Wh-what the-"
"Rubedo?" The boy to the left of him inquired. The boy had bright green eyes and jet black hair. Rubedo slowly began backing up, trying to pull away from Albedo, a horrified expression on his face.
"Emergency cutoff! Shutting down spiritual link!" Rubedo finally cried. All of the U.R.T.V.s gasped and murmured at him. "I know what I'm doing. Even though we think of them as mental waves, the resulting anti-particle collision with us will be converted directly into thermal energy." A look of anger replaced the look of horror. "Dad knew everything. That bastard!"
"The link is complete. We can't stop it," the dark-haired boy stated firmly. Rubedo continued backing up, finally escaping Albedo's grasp.
"No! Rubedo, don't let go!" the horrified boy cried. Tears welled up in his big amethyst eyes as he desperately grasped Rubedo's hand again.
"No. I'm cutting the link!"
"Don't let go!" Tears were flowing freely down Albedo's cheeks. Rubedo broke free once again.
Just then, the link died. All of the children stared in horror at the reddish waves that were coming from the pit. Suddenly, one of the blonde ones was hit by a wave. And another. And another. Rubedo and Nigredo dove for cover, but Albedo just stood there, staring at a wave that was lingering over him. He reached his hand up to block it, but it didn't work. The wave hit him, and his scream echoed throughout the entire scene…
"So what is it?" Ziggy asked, pulling Jr. from his memory.
"Huh? Oh, It's an energy from a higher dimension, an entity that humans couldn't possibly control. It's ironic that we U.R.T.V.s are its anti-existence, and yet we were never told what it really is," he responded.
"U-DO…" Shion murmured quietly to herself.
"Hey guys, everyone put on those red glasses in front of you. They'll pull you into the encephalon," Allen said. Everyone looked down to see glasses that seemed to appear from out of nowhere. One by one, they each put them on their faces. "Alright, the encephalon construction is complete. We can open the interconnection any time now," Allen said.
"Okay, go ahead," Shion said.
"All right everyone, just relax and enjoy the trip. And don't worry, I'm a pro at this," declared Allen.
"He's right," Shion said, glancing at her lover. "We're in good hands."
A small snicker then came from Jr. He was looking down at the ground, a devilish smile on his face. He raised his cerulean eyes to meet Shion's emerald ones. "You would know," he said, smirking. "You had them all over you last night." Jr. then began laughing hysterically, tears running down his cheeks. Everyone glared at him. Once he noticed their menacing stares, he sobered and said, "Oh, come on! She basically set herself up for that one!"
"Can I start the dive now?" Allen sighed loudly.
"Yeah. Sure, go ahead, you naughty man," Jr. said. Allen sighed again.
"KOS-MOS data transfer confirmed. Initiating reconstruction," he said. Shion and chaos watched the middle of the circle, looking awesome and Matrix-esque in their red eyewear. "All preparations for direct approach complete." Jr. and Ziggy did the same.
"Alright. Let's go!" Jr. yelled, his voice strong and determined. They all felt the familiar sensation of falling into a large void. Shion closed her eyes and waited for the subconscious domain to load…
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A/N: This chapter was supposed to be one big part, but I'm going to camp this week, and I wanted to finish it now. Well…yeah! R and R!