Welcome back, my loyal readers. In this chapter, I'm going to put Daniel's 21st century technology to use when dealing with the Neuroi. Please let me know what you think!
As Daniel flew towards Yoshika's position, he couldn't help but wonder to himself why she was doing this. 'I know she is always trying to prove herself,' he thought, 'but she should know better on something like this.'
As Daniel approached her, he noticed two very unusual things about this Neuroi: one, it had transformed itself into a shape resembling a witch, and two, it wasn't firing on Yoshika. In confusion, he radioed to her, "Hey, Yoshika! Are you okay? What's going on here?"
Yoshika then turned suddenly towards him and quickly radioed back, "I'm fine, don't worry. And please, don't shoot! This Neuroi is different than the others." When Daniel asked how, Yoshika explained, "It seems as though this Neuroi doesn't want to fight."
'Well that certainly IS different,' Daniel thought as he nervously observed Yoshika as she and the humanoid-shaped Neuroi flew in circles around each other – seemingly in a playful manner. He decided to trust Yoshika's instinct for the moment, as he took his weapons offline – though he kept his shields up. He then asked, "Yoshika, are you able to actually understand what this Neuroi is trying to tell you?" Yoshika shook her head as she responded, "Sorry, but I'm not sure exactly what it wants or what it's doing. Though I AM sure that it won't attack if we don't."
As Daniel thought about what she said, he was struck with an interesting idea. "Hang on a minute, Yoshika. I may be able to help you with that." He then activated his onboard computer and booted up the electronic communications program. Once there he set the program to transmit the messages he typed in binary code. 'If these Neuroi are truly intelligent beings, they should be able to understand what to do with this.' He then typed and transmitted a simple message to the Neuroi:
Hello. My name is Daniel. My friend's name is Yoshika. What is your name?
He didn't have to wait long for a response as he heard the onboard computer beeping as a new line of text appeared on the screen:
Hello Daniel. Hello Yoshika. I know who you are. Thank you for not shooting at me.
Daniel gasped as he read the response. 'This is unbelievable,' he thought. He the radioed Yoshika. "Hey, Yoshika! I think I made contact with the Neuroi!" he exclaimed. "Really?" Yoshika asked in surprise, "That's great! What's it saying?" As he began typing the next message, he replied, "Give me a couple of minutes and I'll be able to tell you." He then sent out the next message line:
You're welcome. If you don't wish to harm us, then we don't wish to harm you.
The next message came back quickly:
That is good. As to your previous question, I'm afraid I don't have a name in the way you would understand it. What is important now is that I have something that is urgent you hear.
'Wow,' he thought as he read Yoshika the lines of the conversation. "We're actually talking to a Neuroi! Do you know what this means, Yoshika?" She shook her head as she responded, "No. What?" Daniel then explained, "If we can establish a way to communicate with the Neuroi, we may be able to figure out exactly what they are doing on our world. This could possibly be a first step to reaching an understanding with them and ending this war peacefully."
Yoshika gasped as she responded, "That would be amazing!" Daniel then began to think about his response as he said, "It's a bit of a long shot, but if this works, it's a real possibility." He then received another message line from the Neuroi:
I know that you have no reason to trust me, but it is urgent for both sides that you come with me so I can show you what I mean.
While Daniel was a bit skeptical of the Neuroi's proposal, the prospect of establishing real contact with the Neuroi was too great for him to reject it outright. He decided he would go, but would maintain the highest level of caution. However, before he could type out a response, he heard a different voice calling out over the comm system.
"Daniel! Yoshika! What are you two doing?" It was Major Sakamoto, who had finally arrived at their position along with the other witches on duty. "That's a Neuroi! Shoot it!" Mio shouted. "Wait! Hold on!" shouted Yoshika. Daniel then added, "Hold on, Major. This Neuroi isn't acting hostile! There's no need!"
Mio continued to fly closer as she responded, "It's tricking you! Just shoot it!" Daniel again tried to reason with her. "It's not tricking us! There's no need to shoot! I promise you – just standby!" Mio then replied, "Then I'll shoot it!" as she prepared to engage the Neuroi. "No, Major – wait!" Daniel shouted, trying to stop her. However, it was too late as Mio opened fire on the Neuroi, and the Neuroi quickly fired back in response before retreating just as quickly. Daniel and Yoshika watched in horror as Mio's shield failed and the beam hit her, causing her to sustain very serious injuries and sending her falling to the Earth below.
"No!" cried Yoshika as she flew down, along with Perrine, to catch Mio before he hit the ground. "Dammit!" Daniel cursed aloud to himself before following Yoshika and landing nearby. As he exited the fighter, he grabbed the medical kit out of its storage space in the cockpit. When he got to Mio's side, Yoshika was already using her magic to keep the major alive. He then took out a vial and a syringe, and began to fill the syringe with the liquid from the vial. "What are you doing?" shouted Perrine as she saw Daniel with the syringe. "I've giving the major something to help stop the bleeding!" he responded, as he injected Mio around where her injuries were most serious.
When they returned to the base, Mio was still in critical condition as the medical personnel rushed her to the infirmary area and Yoshika continued to use her magic to try to heal her. As she continued to use her magic, Yoshika looked noticeably exhausted. She pushed away various personnel multiple times before her power gave out and she collapsed from exhaustion. As Lynne and Trude carried her to her room to rest, Daniel quickly walked away from the scene. He heard Trude shout out, "Hey, Daniel! Where are you going?" He quickly shouted back, "I'm going for a walk around the base! If you need me, use the comm!"
He tried walking around in the woodsy area surrounding the main building for a couple of hours. When that didn't calm him down, he tried to shut himself in his room and relax, but he just paced around the room continually thinking to himself, 'Why?' Why did Mio have to show up at that moment? Why wouldn't she listen to him and Yoshika? Why was she so stubborn? He went over the sequence of events over and over in his head, wondering if he could have done anything different, but not finding an answer.
He later returned to the infirmary to find that Yoshika had woken up and returned herself, and was continuing to use her magic to heal Mio. He ignored Perrine, as she decided to give him the business for what had happened, and he couldn't help but admire Yoshika's determination to do everything she could despite the stress of the situation. Daniel then asked if she needed any assistance. "No, I'll be fine. Thanks, though," she replied. Daniel then decided to stay in the room with Mio and Yoshika, and ended up falling asleep while sitting by the window.
Daniel was jolted awake to Yoshika squealing in happiness. When he fully opened his eyes, he saw Mio awake and internally sighed a huge sigh of relief. When Mio saw that he, too, was awake, she decided to ask both Daniel and Yoshika why they hadn't fired on the Neuroi. When they tried to explain to the major once again that the Neuroi wasn't acting hostile, Mio responded by saying that it was only a trick by the Neuroi. Daniel, however, disagreed. "Rest up for now – I'll show you what I'm talking about once you've recovered." Mio sighed, still skeptical of Daniel's claims, but willing to let it go for now. When the two exited Mio's room to allow Perrine some time with her, they were met by Trude, who informed them that Minna wanted the two to report to her office in a few hours after they had a chance to rest in their rooms.
Well, this can't feel good for Daniel. Kinda like getting sent to the principal's office (not that I would know that feeling firsthand). I hope you enjoyed my little twist on the first contact with the Neuroi. Tune in next time to see how he explains this to Minna!