Two Years Later

Life had changed considerably for Bahamut since that day.

Now, the esper couldn't go anywhere without being swamped by Ettecans. Only in wherever he chose to dwell was he preserved from the constant onslaught of onlookers, fans, and devotees. For the first few months, he was mostly stuck in his room, for they swarmed outside and eagerly awaited some sign from him. They luckily calmed down over time, and Bahamut was given a bit more mobility. But still, he was occasionally surprised by a recorder hiding in some bush or tree, or a camera flash suddenly dazzling him. He stuck out like a sore thumb, and hence couldn't go anywhere without arousing the attention of a crowd, or having his movements become public knowledge. The esper dealt with this the best that he could.

The room was only for Bahamut, and so Shinza had departed and returned to her university to submit the last of her data and be fully decommissioned. She still had to give the main project report, however. And so, a few days later, after much urging and pleading, Bahamut reluctantly agreed to accompany her in what would be his first public appearance. Hence, in addition to the scientists, there were also crowds of cheerers similar to what had appeared at the airfield, and occasional shouts that they loved Bahamut. Needless to say, Bahamut felt some relief when he got to leave.

Since then, Shinza had made time to visit Bahamut at least once a day. When she first arrived, however, she had to devote most of her time to coaxing him. She wanted him to endure more physical tests now that they were back on Etteca, which would be conducted by other researchers. The esper didn't have very fond memories of those tests, painless as they had been, and was extremely reluctant. However, Shinza was adamant. She seemed to nearly beg him to do these tests. In the end, just to make her quiet, he agreed. He wished he hadn't soon after, because afterward, for every day for three months, he had to leave his new suite, endure the rigors of pushing his way through crowds of screaming fans, and make his way to the university to be tested all day before turning around and going back. If that wasn't enough, all of these scientists glared at him coldly and emotionlessly, and were totally business with him. It was only then that Bahamut realized what a difference Shinza's disposition had made in their lab relationship. Luckily, after the three month period, he was not summoned for any further tests.

At home, Bahamut spent most of his days standing upright and sitting around. He couldn't eat or drink. He couldn't recline and could barely move. He could watch the screens or listen to music or read…but that was it. It was a rather lonely existence. He at least wished he could have hunted for his own food, as he used to. He hated being confined to the ground. He yearned to feel the wind underneath his non-existent wings once again. He wanted to feel the ground beneath his missing feet, and breathe the air with his own lungs. The only stimulation he received was Shinza, and his tasks. He was not yet finished with his story, after all, and she continued to personally transcribe it. But other than that…he was nothing. Just some bit of flesh in a sac.

Bahamut began to feel depression shortly thereafter. He had nothing. Everything had changed around him and in him so much that he felt he was only pseudo-alive. He was lonely, and he was tired of going around in his barely-functional cybernetic body. He began to catch himself wishing he was dead some mornings.

However, Bahamut could no longer so easily bring himself to that point. The people of this world had fixed themselves to him. They saw him as some great philosopher or standard. It had saved them from disaster, regardless of whether or not he truly was that standard. To take the way of despair…to end his own life…it might mar their hope as well. They might think that his way of thinking had been a waste and idle vision, and that he was just some crazy creature. And he did still want to return to Gaia andthe side of his unmarried wife. With that in mind, he agreed to hold a bit longer. Until he had finished the books, he would continue.

Still, he couldn't continue like this. He couldn't stay alone with nothing but his life support machines reminding him of the fragment of a creature he now was. He had to try and brighten himself somehow. He had to seek some sort of happiness or some diversion to get his mind off of death and himself. And in the end…he could only do one thing to preserve his sanity.

He had taken up lecturing.

The esper sighed a bit at the memory of when he started right now, as he was poised on a dias in a wide, metal area. Currently, he was in the "back stage" of where he was about to go on. Above him, a good few stories, was the main ampitheater. It consisted of hundreds and hundreds of "booths", which were magnetically held concave disks, which had seats in them for separate people, arranged going up and up until it nearly formed a complete sphere. Each one had an edge railing around it, a sliding door opening to let the people in, and a speaker to magnify the voice of the one in the center. The sphere itself was hundreds of feet in diameter. Such a massive speaking hall did not exist anywhere on Gaia, and it was so large it was somewhat magnificent to even behold.

Bahamut was in a type of loading zone. Right now, hovering far above him, was a dias similar to his own. An introductory speaker was preparing the crowd for Bahamut, giving his rather long introductory speech. When he was done, Bahamut's own platform would rise and begin to hover in the room. Although unseen microphone devices would magnify his voice, his platform would also gradually circle the room, turning his face out to gradually look at everyone around him. Until then, Bahamut exhaled into his breath mask, and awaited his chance to rise.

At last, he heard the speaker overhead come to his conclusion. As he did, his dias immediately began to rise from the lower level, and elevated him to an opening far above him. Bahamut looked up and straightened himself as best as he could in his position. Moments later, just as he was about to pass over the edge, he heard his name called. A resounding chorus of applause resulted, echoing throughout the sphere. It was an interesting tone to say the least. As for the esper, he was elevated into plain view at this point. He stood straight and tall. Some people might wave or smile to the audience, but the best he could do was wave his metallic arm (which was an arm now and not a claw) and smile beneath his mask and new visor. And so, he merely stood at the ready as he was lifted into the air, raised until he was approaching the middle of the huge speaking hall. As he did, the applause began to die down. He prepared himself to speak. He had a new voice synthesizer now. This one actually gave him a real voice, although he thought it sounded a bit too bravado to be his… But it was the best they could do.

"Thank you, everyone, for your warm welcome. I am grateful for the hospitality that this world has shown me since my arrival. Now, I'm never quite sure how to begin these things, so you'll have to bear with me for a little while.

"When I come to these things, I usually try to come having something new. That's not that easy. I assure you, Dr. Shinza was incredibly thorough when she wrote my story down. There isn't much left to say about myself, my history, or Gaia that isn't in one of the books that she put out. So I guess I'll talk about something that's very important to me, but I haven't been able to see much of since I got here.

"I'd like to start with a problem. If any of you like, you can think about this or enlighten me if your planet has come up with the answer, for even after being alive for thousands of years I still don't know it. And that problem is this… When we all are born, while we're infants, we start out perfectly innocent. We smile. We laugh. We are curious. We freely touch one another and show our love or distress. There isn't a thing that we can do that doesn't make all around us look to us with great affection. I know. Even crooks and felons on my world couldn't help but smile and play with an infant when a mother walked by. Now, of course there are exceptions to this, such as one who was stalking this woman as a victim…but that isn't the point. The thing is…when we are young…we are so fresh and new and innocent that people can't help but look to us with joy. It is like seeing something totally unspoiled in the world. Something that is untainted and unconcerned with all of the troubles and tribulations that all of us deal with and constantly plague our minds. We start out innocent and pure.

"But then…somewhere along the line, something happens. As we grow older…our faces lose that eagerness and curiosity. Our gestures become more certain and firm. That innocence and purity in our eyes gradually dims and becomes filled with knowledge and experience. We stop playing. We stop smiling. We stop seeing the world as new and fresh. It becomes cold…boring…conventional to us. We become more reserved…harder…colder. We forget how to let loose and wonder. Our minds become weighed down under our new experiences. Everyone…I am over four thousand years old, and yet I haven't aged a day since my twenty-first year. But I will tell you this…inside, I am very old and withered, for my life is filled with such experiences and pain that most of my youthful energy and vibrance is gone…my taste for life…my passion for what is new. That…is when you truly grow old.

"And some people don't stop here. They continue to change. Continue to warp. Not only do they grow cold…they grow bitter. Somewhere along the line, either due to despair or to some sadistic twist, they began to seek their gain or pleasure from hurting others. Some do it out of necessity and a will to survive. But some…some do it for pleasure's sake…to fulfill some desperate, mad need in their brains that we still do not understand. On my world, as you all know, these people sometimes took dark and sinister forms, but I tell you my monsters were no more twisted as the ones around you. Serial killers…pedophiles…rapists…genocidal maniacs… The point in which a person switches from sanity to insanity. It is to this problem, everyone, that I am still puzzled. What thing in life turns a human, Ettecan, esper, or anything else from that innocent child into a sadistic madman?

"Science has its answers. Some say it is predetermined in genetics. Even if that were so, I would refute it. I can tell you right now that a person is not made who they are by what they are born with, but by the choices they make. Is there an athlete in here that was never faced with failure with what he had started with, and then worked hard to surpass it? Is there someone with a learning disability who did not modify themselves to get by it? Where there is a will, there is always a way, in this one thing if nothing else.

"Some would say it is background. For any of you who believe that yet respect my opinion, I ask you only to look at the case of me and my brother. We were born nearly identical, and went through everything together. Yet I became king while my brother went mad with hate. Again, I ask, are there any here who started off in life poor and unloved, and yet have risen to become the upstanding citizens you are today? Is there anyone here who faced some great tragedy in their life, only to rise up beyond it and find opportunity in the difficulty? Yes, I have seen people who have endured terrible, unspeakable things while they were children and had no power to stop it. Some of these people were warped by it…but some also went beyond it to become great people and great parents.

"So what is the answer? I suspect that just as I have never found it, this dilemma has confounded the great thinkers of this world too. I'm sure many of you, if not all of you, have thought about it yourselves. However, I'm not going to give this problem to you to take home and stew over. I have a different question for you, and this is finally getting into my main topic…" Bahamut hesitated here, long enough to level a glare out at his audience through his visored vision.

"Have any of you ever asked yourselves…what would I do if I had the answer?"

There was, typically, silence from the audience. They were supposed to stay quiet. However, a few heads turned at this, not expecting this sudden response.

"It is an interesting question, in my opinion. What would you do? What would any of you parents do? Suppose the answer was genetic. They found that there was in fact a gene for madness. Would you then want to see your children taken off to some special prison for mad people, knowing they were sane the whole time? Would you like them to take a gene therapy that would alter their behavior and mood, changing their personality? Or worse yet, assuming the technology is lacking. Would you see them destroyed? What about the adults? Suppose one day your boss came up to you and found that you had a gene for madness. Would you take being sacked so easily? Or denial of medical help, because people prefer a mad person to die? Or what if you were imprisoned before you could commit an act of madness in the future? I've already established that genes do not always determine a person's fate…but if one is found, then what? Do we purge society of all of them to ensure safety?

"What about background? Suppose that we could find the perfect, ideal situation…the kind of upbringing, teaching, and education that would make our children the best possible people. And so…then what? What would we do with that knowledge? Would we alter ourselves to become the most perfect people? Conform to some near robotic standard, so that all of our environments and behaviors were flawless? Essentially…produce our children like factory components? If we wanted the ideal children, we could in fact process them in that way, ensure that they had just the right things planted into their minds, felt only the right experiences. But would any of us dare to do that?

"But now you may be saying, what's this rubbish this man is talking about? We would never go to such extremes to ensure safety. And I ask in reply…why not? Basic ecology rules that you must produce the most fit offspring possible. Rules for order in society are to have citizens who will obey laws. If you had a child with a gene for madness or an incorrect upbringing, the child would essentially be a waste, and science suggests the best thing to do is to slaughter that child, so that no more of your time, energy, and money is wasted on him or her, and raise a more fit offspring. And we all want a peaceful, orderly society, don't we? We all want to live without fear or danger of one another. So where is the problem? Isn't stopping a potential serial killer from murdering four people worth altering or ending the life of the one? Why do you care?

"And to that end, I ask other things. When you hug your children and put them to bed at night, do you do so knowing that such is good for his or her mental well being, so that he will pass more of his or her genes on in his or her progeny? When you help a disabled and struggling old man with his load, do you ask yourself why I am creating a drain on society by sustaining an infertile, sick old man? Do you come to the aid of a distressed mother animal separated from her young because you'd like them to grow up to enhance biodiversity or would like future food items? Do you smile at me, applaud for me, and shower me with so many honors because you think that I will somehow enhance your fecundity?

"I did not come to this world planning on being some great philosopher or prophet. However…there is a message that I want all of you who truly think I am worth repeating to hear and repeat. And that is that there is good and evil in the world. There is a reason that we feel that the right thing to do is to love and honor and help. And it isn't some ecological-based gene manipulation. It is because it is the right thing to do. These things are not delusions or fabrications. True, pure love and goodness is the greatest thing on this world or any other.

"I know some of you will say by what standard can I set what is good and right? My own? Hardly. I'm as flawed and imperfect as the rest of you. And I can't point to some physical concrete thing and say that is the rule to follow. Instead, I appeal to each one of you. You all very well know that there is a time in which you did something violent or hurtful and you knew right then and there that you were in the wrong. You adore great people of altruism when you see them giving so much of themselves to better others. You know that when you once gave up something pleasurable to do something honest or noble, you felt a satisfaction and pride inside of you. Even before you knew anything of the law of this world, you knew full well how happy you were when you were hugged by your parents and the shame you felt when they were angry with you.

"And if you have read my stories and trust them…then you should believe me when I tell you that there is evil in the world. I have seen evil in its concrete, physical form. I have seen savage, unforgiving heartlessness and malice feed upon the immorality of my world and grow from it. I have literally felt the human race sink into darkness. And always…always…it was not the people who served their own selfish needs or the people who engaged only in a philosophy of hedonism or relativism who stood up to do something…but the people who believed that things were wrong and set out to change them. They believed they had a responsibility to make the world better. And I know, even though some of you may still doubt good and evil, you feel that responsibility inside you as well and act upon it.

"I ask but one thing of you all in conclusion. The next time you feel a twinge inside you of true guilt…the next time you feel remorse for something you did…the next time you have scruples about some shady practice you are about to engage in…please do not just dismiss it as some foolish, archaic notion within you. Try to see what you are doing in a new light. Ask yourself…if there was truly good and evil in the world…if there were truly things trying to build it up and tear it down…what side would I be on doing this?"

Bahamut paused here a moment, to look around the auditorium again. He couldn't make out many faces, and was unsure of whether or not his words had left an impact on them. He was sure he would get some flak about this over the next few days. People didn't really like him talking about such things, at least some didn't. They thought it was useless rhetoric at this point, causing more problems than it solved. But he didn't care. If they wanted him to speak, that was what he would say. And so, he gave them a nod at the end. "Thank you for your time."

The esper's dias slowly began to lower back to the ground again. As it did, the traditional chorus of applause began to sound.


"I wish you wouldn't do that."

"Do what?"

"Talk about that. You'll turn people off. They'll say you're forcing your beliefs on them."

"Well I consider having to alter my speech so that it is more suitable to a crowd to be them forcing their beliefs on me." Bahamut answered as he rolled along down the subterranean metal hallway of the speaker's building. He had exited the auditorium a while ago by this point. Now, he was making his way back down to the lobby of the building to leave. A few people were milling about, talking with each other. These people had helped put the talk on, and so they didn't react much to him. They did look up and stare somewhat, because it was an unusual sight, but then went back to their work.

"Besides," Bahamut continued. "At my age, I couldn't really care what they think of me. What will they do? Shift my contents? Slap me on the metal hand? Disconnect my batteries?"

Shinza, ever present at all his lectures, and now walking alongside him, reached a hand to her head and rubbed in between her eyes. It was obvious that she had this discussion with Bahamut before, and found him just as obstinate as he was now. It was getting her off topic. She shook her head. "To think…I was actually in a good mood before now…"

"Perhaps you should ask yourself why you are the one who doesn't yield to me." Bahamut flatly retorted. "Were you listening today? Would you move to disagree with me about these things?"

"Of course I wouldn't disagree about those things. I know they exist." Shinza answered with a groan. "But there's still logical explanations for everything other than some force of good or evil..."

Bahamut sighed again at this, and bowed his head slightly in the tank. "Shinza...I thought that your society, of all societies, would realize now that there is no such thing as a logical explanation. There are only rules that have held true so far."

The scientist looked up to him in puzzlement at this, seeming to be disbelieving it. However, Bahamut turned and focused on her.

"Look at the world. Look at all of your theories. All of the bases for everything you think of. Look in front of us." He gestured to the floor. "You walk along this surface every day, and not once do you ever think about it. You don't believe it's going to fall out right from under you. You don't believe it's going to turn into some shapeshifting monster and devour you. You don't believe gravity will suddenly stop working and you fling off of it. You believe that the world is constant around you, and that all of these things can be predicted based on your rules. And why? There is nothing anywhere that can tell you for certain whether or not the sun will be in the sky tomorrow, that your neighbors aren't mass murderers, or even that you won't turn into a tentacled monster in the next few seconds. You accept everything in the world on faith."

"But those are ridiculous examples." Shinza protested. "And I do know those won't happen. I can stand on the floor right here and see that it's stable. I can wait a few seconds and see if any of this happens. I can test it."

"But who are you?" Bahamut retorted. "You're not everyone, and you're not me. All of what you perceive and learn is nothing more than impulses fired in your brain giving you information. You can't even be sure I exist, or any of this exists around you. Because you can prove these things to yourself, why should I believe you? Why should anyone believe you?"

The scientist sighed and rolled her eyes. "Because you can come and see it for yourself too!"

"Then why do you dismiss me without trying to experience these things for yourself?"

The woman was struck dumb again. She hesitated, and shut her mouth once more. Bahamut looked to her expectantly in response. However, in the end, she merely sighed and looked away again without response. She was dismissing Bahamut as being too obstinate again, and not considering any of this. The esper sighed. He had hoped that, with time, she would come to believe him. Out of all of his followers and the people on Etteca who adhered strictly to "Gaiaism", there was only one person on it that he wished would be a "convert". In the end, he turned away and continued to move down the hall as well, staying silent for a moment.

"What were you in a good mood about?" Bahamutfinally asked.

Shinza paused a moment afterward, but then looked back up to the esper.She seemed to recover now, and turn her mind to something else which made her more excited."About where we're going today? Remember?"

Bahamut groaned and rolled his eyes. "Oh, that." He flatly answered. "I think I'll call the whole thing off…"

The scientist wheeled her body around to him at that. Her eyes suddenly widened…and she looked almost fearful. "No! You can't!" She nearly cried to him. Her hands grabbed for his own in a pleading gesture. "You have to come! You agreed that you would."

The esper groaned again. "It's bad enough that I have to live in a permenant tea bag. I'd rather not be submerged in a tank for an entire month on end. Two years was more than enough."

"Just one more month." Shinza answered, still looking at him with a begging stare and clasping his hand stiffly. "I promise…just one last month. I'll never ask you for anything again. I swear."

Bahamut would have grimaced if he could. "I seem to remember hearing you say that more than once…"

"Bahamut…please…I'm really, really begging you." Shinza continued, only sounding more desperate.

The esper sighed. "You won't even tell me what this is about…"

"Please!"

Bahamut rolled on a bit longer in silence. He looked ahead and said nothing. Shinza stared at him and wrung her hands together, nervously looking for his answer. After a few moments, the esper finally turned his head back to her. His movements were slow and dour.

"On one condition."

Shinza eagerly nodded, a grin forming on her face. "Yes! Whatever it is, yes!"

"You have to tell me about your parents…and you can't avoid my questions."

Shinza's eager face immediately turned white. A great fear had suddenly seized her. Her hands wrung together more tightly than before. Her lip began to quiver as she turned away and looked to the ground. She walked forward more slowly, forcing Bahamut to slow down.

"W…Why do you want that?" She spoke in a much more uneasy and slow voice. "I…I already told you everything…"

"No, you didn't." Bahamut coldly answered. "And you avoided it every time I tried to press for more information. I want the whole story."

As Bahamut watched, he saw a change come over Shinza. She began to tremble… Her skin turned whiter, and she nervously licked her lips like she used to. She swallowed deeply, and turned her hands over each other. He knew he had something here. It had mystified him for a long time, and after eight years he wanted to know more about it. He especially wanted to now. Whatever it was, it was obvious that Shinza hadn't gotten over it. He began to grow more and more suspicious of this with time…

"N…N…Now?"

"No, not now. Later. After this is done."

Shinza seemed to relax a little at that. But still, she was nervous, looking from side to side and wringing her hands. At last, however, she drew in a sharp breath, and managed to nod. "…Alright." She finally spat out. "Alright…after this is done."

Bahamut gave a nod back. "Very well." He answered, and then turned his head forward again.


Where Shinza ended up taking Bahamut was somewhere different. It was over on the other side of the city in which he now lived. However, Shinza, who became less nervous and more talkative and happy with time, told her that it was still affiliated with the university. As it was, when they reached it, it looked like some semi-circle foundation, with a long, tall tower in the same shape rising out from the ground. Not only that, but some sort of giant orb was in the center of the semi-circle, seeming to hover in the middle of it. But it wasn't an orb…it was more of the building. In face, bridges seemed to rotate around the inner area of the semi-circle, going to different floors and rooms, and connecting them to the sphere as they moved, occasionally stopping and letting a party go through.

Bahamut gradually made his way into this sphere. He gained little from his entry into the building. It seemed to be a rather busy place. There were quite a few Ettecans coming and going. All of them froze and stared at him in surprise. Luckily, this was a secret place he had gone to, and there weren't any crowds. But he still had the usual assortment of fans, and a few people wanting him to sign books. At any rate, the great esper and Shinza went by these until they reached a turbolift, which was fortunately large enough for Bahamut's newly reduced size. Once there, they rode up a considerable distance before exiting, going down a hall, and then entering some sort of windowed corridor. Once they did, the esper was surprised to see it rotate, and realized he was in the rotating bridge.

When it came to a stop, Bahamut found himself facing a new door somewhere on the sphere. But this one looked like it was locked…and guarded. Some sort of police robot was waiting at the front. On recognizing Bahamut and Shinza, it immediately stood at ease. It let the two of them approach. Once there, Shinza input some set of digits into a keypad, and the door slid open, allowing her and the esper to pass through.

It was much darker here, and high ceilinged. There were no overhead lights in this room. It was dark, simple, and metal. It was also filled with devices on wheels. A considerable amount of computers and other large scanning devices were here. But Bahamut didn't recognize any of them as what Shinza had used. These were in their own element. There wasn't much in the way of levels in the chamber either. The edge of the room had a raised walking ramp to get to a different door, but nothing else. In front of him, to his disdain, was a sac holder, designed to suspend him and attach devices to him. It was a much larger one this time. Now, large machinery was protruding from the floor as well as the ceiling. Many cables were extending to them, and some had lights on them that were glowing. All of the devices seemed to be linked up to it. Lastly, there were many people walking around the room. Most of them looked like some sort of laboratory type, although Bahamut couldn't place what kind exactly. As a last disturbing element…there seemed to be high security measures around the room. All of the doors had locks and retinal scans, and guard robots.

On entering, Bahamut at first found himself having to stop. There were so many people running around and devices hanging loose that he couldn't move. Shinza herself pressed in close to him and waited, watching the people move around. Yet they didn't have to wait long. One of the people, a person who was overlooking a fellow worker adjust a computer console, raised his head on seeing them come in. Immediately, he smiled…some sort of fair, faint smile that made Bahamut a bit uneasy. It seemed almost too pleasant. At any rate, the man turned and began to walk over to them. On reaching him, Bahamut only got the feeling even more from him. His own blue hair was especially long, and was styled back in some sort of strange Ettecan format. And his face…with his eyes burning some alien blue color, and his smile so strange and false looking… In truth, it could have just been the man's natural appearance, but it unnerved Bahamut none the less.

The only thing worse was when he spoke. His voice was like warm honey…so sweet it was sickening. Bahamut struggled not to show his revulsion at it.

"Good day, Lord Bahamut, and Professor Shinza. I am Dr. Maester. It is a pleasure to meet you at long last. I do hope that I will be of great service to you soon." With that, the man gave a bow to the esper.

Bahamut didn't react. He was made too uneasy by his appearance and voice. It sounded so…plastered. He didn't know what to think of it. He was just a very unsettling person. He turned to Shinza after a moment. However, she seemed perfectly normal. In fact, the closer they had gotten to this point, the more excited she had become. She was now nearly quivering with joy, almost hopping in place. Eagerly, she turned to Bahamut and gestured to him.

"Dr. Maester is one of the greatest minds in biomechanical research on Etteca…maybe even the universe." After saying this, Shinza turned back to him. Her joy vanished a moment, and was replaced by tension. "Now…I'm taking that due to the fact that we're standing here talking to each other that my proposal was finally accepted?"

Dr. Maester hesitated a moment, but then gave a single nod, still smiling. "Yes. Personally…I'm grateful for the opportunity. I can understand why they were uneasy about it, however. As we confirmed, there is no way to correctly estimate the amount of power that would result. But given his stable situation, we've agreed to proceed."

"So, we're starting right now?" Shinza eagerly asked.

He nodded again. "Yes. We are just about ready for Bahamut, and your services can also be enlisted. Although, I'm not sure if you tolerate being reduced to a laboratory assistant after having earned so much fame as a primary researcher."

Shinza grinned and let out a laugh at that. "No, not at all. This is a dream for me."

Bahamut wasn't able to truly understand what was being said, or what it had to do with him. However, he knew it concerned him, and something big. He raised one of his artificial claws at this point. "Excuse me…might I ask what's going on?"

Both people turned to Bahamut at this. Shinza looked a little nervous in response, but more from being excited than anxious. As for Dr. Maester, he kept that eerily calm look, and regarded him with that same smile.

"All will be clear shortly. For now…let us prepare you for entering the sac."


Thirty minutes later, Bahamut once again found himself in the situation he woke up in almost ten years ago. He was floating in a sac once again, attached to even more devices and scanners than usual. As for his medium, it seemed to be a more vivid light blue this time, much clearer than before. All of his prostheses had been removed. His legless, armless, wingless body now floated. His voice box had been removed from the breath mask, and his visor had been undone, once again plunging him into darkness. Luckily, Shinza had come to assist him in this regard. She allowed him to reach out with his telepathic powers and see the world through her eyes. She also was the only one comfortable with getting mental messages from him.

The rest of the technicians had finished setting up. They were now standing in various positions at the equipment. All was on and operational. On a large screen that Bahamut could see, a 3D scanning image of him slowly rotated, pointing out his vitals and status as it did so. Shinza stayed close to the tank, looking into him. Dr. Maester stood at one of the consoles at a distance. Bahamut frowned slightly. He didn't like the idea of being at his mercy. However, he contented himself for now. After all, even without limbs, he was far from helpless.

"Is Mr. Bahamut comfortable, Dr. Shinza?" The sweet voice finally asked.

Shinza paused a moment, reading Bahamut's mental message. "He's just eager to know what's going on."

Maester smiled and nodded. "We're just about to begin. Tell him to please remain calm. This operation won't hurt him in any way."

Shinza frowned slightly. "He says he can understand you fine, he just can't talk back."

If Dr. Maester heard this, he didn't react. He instead reached down and pressed a few buttons to initiate a program. The rest of the technicians went to work monitoring their devices at this point, and watched and waited. Bahamut hovered in his tank shortly, wondering what exactly was going on. He tried looking out through Shinza's eyes again to see what it was…

Then, he noticed it. One of the larger devices attached to the membrane was sliding open. When it did, a ring like device began to emerge. After it extended a little, Bahamut noticed that it was attached to some sort of mechanical cable that acted like an arm. It snaked its way through the fluid, and began to make its way toward him. Bahamut grew nervous. He began to wonder what the intentions of this were, and wondered if coming here was a bad idea. Yet he stayed still as he watched the ring continue to wave its way through the fluid, and finally made its way to the forearm that remained on him. Here, the ring maneuvered itself until it just surrounded the end of the arm. There…it suddenly tightened and closed itself around the end of the stump.

Bahamut shifted a bit at this, but continued to watch. Slowly, cables began to come out of other devices, snake their way through the liquid, and attach themselves to the ring. But the ring itself was changing. Sections of it began to slide out and rotate around the circumference. As they did so, they created more attachment points for cables, and they fixed themselves as they did so. The sliding and rotating continued until the ring had grown into a cylinder. It continued to length onward, and although Bahamut couldn't see it…he felt as if thing were moving around inside the cylinder as well…like small devices were deploying. At any rate, the cylinder continued to extend and thicken, connecting more and more cables onto it. At last, after it had extended about twice the length of the remainder of his limb, diagonal polygons were deployed at the end, and shut it off. The last few cables connected. After that…nothing. Bahamut thought he felt a slight tingling at the end of his severed stump, but he figured that was just phantom limb.

He turned back to Shinza at this. The woman, in response, looked back to Maester. "He wants to know what now."

The doctor merely shrugged. "That's it for the month. We'll have the results then."

Bahamut groaned in his tank. That was it? This was why he had come along here? Just to go through all the trouble of taking off all of his prostheses so he could attach this thing to his stump? It made him more than a little irritable. That was…until he heard the next part.

"You'll have to remain here until then, Mr. Bahamut."

Shinza winced a little at the violent thoughts that the esper sent her way. Terrific. Now he was stuck in this tank. At least before he could move around, attempt some semblance of life. He had things he could have been doing. Sure, things were a bit boring…but not nearly so much as on the ship. And this was the voyage all over again. He had endured much of his life with patience…but now his patience was wearing thin. He almost wanted to blow this tank just so he could feel what it was like to have air on his skin instead of liquid before he died…

"If you like," Dr. Maester suggested. "We could give you a special sedative, similar to what we give to people in suspended animation. It would keep you out for a month. When you wake up, it will be like no time has elapsed at all."

Bahamut hesitated at that. Normally, he'd say no. He didn't approve much of drugs, or putting himself at the mercy of any other party. And he didn't like this guy too much… Yet, in the end, he realized he didn't care that much either. If he died, he died. It wasn't like he had much to offer the world anyway. Besides, it was unlikely they were going to kill him. And he had never tried something like this before. Perhaps it would be good just to give it a shot. After all, as old as he was, it was hard to find things that one hadn't done yet. He finally decided in favor of it.

Shinza received the message, and formed something of a look of concern. She knew this wasn't like him. "Bahamut, are you sure?" She asked in response.

To make sure that the answer was not ambiguous for the technicians, Bahamut gave one sharp nod.

Dr. Maester smiled. "Very well then." He answered. At that, he turned to one of the nearby assistants, and gave him a nod. This assistant nodded back, and then turned to his console. He pressed a few buttons on it. When he did, yet another object came out of a device on the side. This one looked to be some sort of snaking cable with a needle on the end of it. It was a bit longer than Bahamut liked, the esper realized soon enough. What more, he realized it wasn't going for anyplace conventional. It appeared to be twisting around behind his head, and beginning to take aim at the back of his skull.

Bahamut was about to protest…when the needle drove into the back of his head, and he remembered no more.


An eternity of chaos and visions… An endless swirling dream of colors and shapes unknown to man… One great vision after another in an endless cycle… Illusions and hallucinations dancing in and out of each other again and again…

The great glowing city of Z'Nark'And…or Zanarkand…or whatever… The great sphere shaped audience hall. A flash…and it is filled with medium…and people dance around in it playing some game with a ball… Another creature appears above it, wrapped in medium just like him…and he stretches out the medium and turns the city to nothing…

Bizarre temples on strange worlds…and out comes Shinza, only she's dressed like a priestess and she's human… Dead men walk… Monsters linger… A black witch strokes a stuffed moogle and looks at him… Humans run around on a barren shore, only they're dressed like Ettecans…

A wedding ceremony…Shinza is marrying Dr. Maester, only he's human wearing what the mayor was wearing… Then he turns into a being of light and darkness…and a game ball comes out from nowhere and strikes him, sending him flying into an abyss… People…thousands of humans…all dressed like Ettecans…they sing the first song that Bahamut heard on his ship…

He is there. He is a great mural painting on the ground…yet he rises out of it as colorful and misshapen as he looks there. His wings are feathered, and a golden halo surrounds behind him. The people bow to him as he crosses his arms before them… But then, he looks around…and he is in the ruin of great Z'Nark'And…and there, rising from the ocean, is some great fishfrog, turning and looking to him and flexing its great fins… He sees this…and focuses on it as it opens its mouth…revealing great, gaping black…


Blackness lingered on Bahamut for a long time. He felt light and weightless. He felt cushioned and held. He wasn't sure if he was still dreaming. He wasn't sure if he was still asleep. But then…he felt tickling. Bubbles…brushing past his skin. He lifted an arm to his head…only to find that it wasn't there. His air…it tasted too pure and cool. He tried opening his eyes…and could see nothing. Nothing at all. Of course he couldn't. He had no eyes. He was totally blind… And at that, he realized the truth. He remembered who he was and where he was.

Bahamut stretched out his mind. He found an inviting place, and went into it. It was Shinza. He looked out through her eyes. The room was unchanged. All of the devices were still there. All of the people were still there. However…they looked different. Some had changed hair. Others wore slightly different items. He realized this, and thought back…back to what was the last he remembered. When he did, he recalled that dream…that crazy, senseless dream… He shook his head at that, and remembered further. Yes…he was supposed to be out for a month, and so he had taken the sedative to knock him out.

He snorted at the thought.

That's the last time I take drugs.

"Bahamut, are you alright?"

The esper looked up to Shinza at this. He rolled his head around a bit, but then sent her a message. She turned behind her. "He says he'd rather stay awake next time, but that he's alright, and he wants to know why he had to wait a month."

Dr. Maester gave a nod in reply, still smiling. After seeing the alternate version of him in that dream, it unsettled the esper more than before. "Of course." He answered in that same, too-smooth voice. "Dr. Shinza…if you would be so kind as to turn your attention to the metal cast that Mr. Bahamut has been wearing for the past month, so that he might see what has been going on."

Shinza must have done so, for as Bahamut reached out and dipped into her mind, he saw her vision squared solely on his encased limb. He didn't feel any tingling now. But still it sat there with all of the cables attached. He watched it for a moment, as Maester reached over on his console and pressed a few buttons. He looked up again just before pushing the last one, so that he could get a good view. As he depressed it…suddenly the cylinder fractured. When it did, it let out a great hiss, and a rush of air bubbles came flowing up from it. The cables detached, and drew themselves back into the wall as they did so. The cylinder fragments sank to the bottom, where nanites were already hard at work recycling them into the medium. However, Bahamut didn't notice this. As his metal plates fell…and as the bubbles cleared…he focused solely on his arm as Shinza did…

What he saw amazed him.

He had a totally new limb.

The esper exhaled a blast of air into his mask, stunned. What was this? A new prosthesis? It didn't feel like it… His other attachments only gave him the general feeling of touch. But here…it felt like his own flesh. He could feel each bubble brush past his scales. He could detect the temperature flowing through it. And his fingers…it felt like forever since he had fingers. He waved them, and they responded immediately in turn. He hesitated again, but then slowly raised the limb and touched it to his face. For the first time in years, he was able to feel his own face. It was scarred and disfigured, he immediately gathered…but it was his. And he could touch it again.

This arm wasn't like his old one. It seemed to be sleekly armored. The scales shimmered iridescently as he rotated it and were a darker color, like a green or dark blue almost, and seemed to almost be metal although they felt natural. If he had another arm, he might have plucked one off to see if he could bleed. That wasn't all. It felt stronger…harder…more formidable. It seemed as if his arm was the most livid thing about his body.

He raised his head, turning his attention to Shinza. The woman, in response, smiled pleasantly and folded her arms behind her back in an innocent gesture.

"…I wanted it to be a surprise." She explained, answering Bahamut's unasked question of why she didn't tell him. "I've been petitioning for this, Bahamut. Ever since our first year together in space. I begged the councils back on Etteca to allow Dr. Maester to use his biomechanical cell regeneration technique on you, to essentially grant you a new body. I wanted one to not only replace your old one, but that could tolerate your full level of energy. I wanted to get you off of life support, most of all. However…they didn't believe me when I said you were mentally stable or trustworthy. That's why they had to test you for themselves."

"You see," Dr. Maester added, from his position. "Quite frankly…we are unsure of how much power you are capable of. Your old body was inadequate. This new one was custom built from modifying your DNA, and then piece-by-piece reassembly of your appendage, developing in a way similar to an infant developing from a zygote. Specific genes, proteins, and mineral acquisitions have been inserted into your genome to ensure that your new body will be in peak performance."

Bahamut hesitated at that. He turned to his arm once, and thought for a moment, before looking back to Dr. Maester. Shinza spoke up at this.

"He wants to know if he's a cyborg."

To this, Dr. Maester cracked his head back and gave a resounding laugh. It was a bit too creepy sounding for Bahamut's tastes, but he endured it. After laughing a little, Maester lowered his head and shook it. "Oh no. Cybernetics are so primitive...almost barbaric. This is something quite different. This arm is more of a bio-android state. Essentially, it's a machine built with totally biological parts. But don't worry, you are indeed a living thing still. You're just much more. Your regenerative capabilities have increased a thousand fold. Your cells are much more efficient, and your blood being produced by the marrow in your new bones carries two hundred and fifty times more oxygen than your last body did. Your scales can lock on your body and your bones are seven hundred times stronger than titanium. In short…that arm is so indestructible that it could survive in space, provided you took a deep enough breath."

Bahamut turned back to the arm at this. He was silent, but thought about it…used his mind to go over every detail about it. Yes…it was much better now. That was why it felt so different from before. Still…he was silent about it, and watched it a few moments more.

"Now…" Dr. Maester spoke up again after a few moments. "It was my intention to do what I did to your arm to the rest of your body, inevitably replacing what bits of your flesh you still have left with similar material. It will be far more complicated than it was to fix that one arm, I assure you. Muscles, bones, skin, and some marrow…that was enough. Organs and more advanced nerves will be more difficult. It will take much longer than a single month to complete. Furthermore…this new body would fully utilize your power. As I said before…no man can say how strong you would be. Knowing all this, would you like for us to proceed?"

Bahamut hesitated again at that. He turned his head down and thought for a moment. As obvious as the answer may have seemed…it was still a difficult question. That much power… If he could fully utilize his strength…then he would at least be as strong as he was when he had been fully powered up as Neo Bahamut. Any stronger…and his strength would terrify him. There was no telling what kind of damage he could do. And even with a new body…he wasn't sure if he still would want to continue. He still would have nothing and no one…and he would still be a stranger in a strange land…

But in the end, the esper shook this off. If he was going to die…he wanted to die as an esper and not as a lame fish. He wanted to feel the air of this world. He wanted to bask in its sun. He wanted to eat and drink again. He wanted to lie down and sleep on his own limbs. And he wanted to look on Shinza with his own eyes. In the end, that was a good enough reason for him, he turned back to Dr. Maester, and gave a nod.

"He says do it." Shinza translated.

Dr. Maester smiled and gave a nod. "We'll get started right away."


To be continued...