Suzaku stared the far wall of the briefing room, covered from roof to floor with large screens, each one showing either a face, blown up to sizes that him feel much better about sitting so far away, or maps of various important districts around Area 11, especially the ever growing red blemish called the SAZ. The entire room was built several dozen meters underground, under even the interlocking plates that held the city above. It was organized like a movie theatre, with six semi-circular blocks organized like stadium seats. Each one set about eight feet below the one above it. Within each block sat office staff tapping away, coordinating police, military, and emergency crew around the city. Built as the nervous centre of the military in Area 11, away from prime targets like the Viceroy Palace, it was the crownpiece in the new army system, the culmination of the harsh lessons Britannia learned from the Battle of Toyko and subsequent aftermath.
"How are the investigations into the terrorist attack on the Baronet of York?"
Suzaku walked back over to the front of the section he stood on and looked towards the frontmost at Julia, upright and pacing around. She had jumped right into action, taking no time at all to organize the affairs of the police and military and, as Gino liked to say, "get shit done". Three drug dealing groups, four crooked businesses, the final list of Japanese rebels given amnesty completed, and countless cases of small crime and even a few lost pets, Julia directed every single case herself. In two weeks she had done more than most police forces would do in a year. They were practically singing her praises from the roof of every building in Tokyo.
"Not well, Commander Patton," The voice of one Inspector Wilkes echoed across the room. "We've conducted interviews on all the guests at the party, none of them seem to remember much about the incident. We've told them that the terrorists were stopped by an experimental KMF unit, as ordered. There's no trace of propellant or descent boosters within any area of the manor, so we've got no idea how in the world it got there."
The soft expulsion of breath from Julia was one of frustration. Weeks of investigation turned up very little about the group involved and practically nothing about the rogue Knightmare, now code-named "Black Dog". No CCTV footage, unreliable eyewitness accounts, no random orders of raw materials. All they had to go on was an abnormal Sakuradite Reactor signature, captured from space by a passing weather satellite.
The click of her heels was rhythmic comfort to her stressed mind. "Call off the investigation. Let it go cold. If that's the last we see of those terrorists, that'll be the last of them. And we'll know when Black Dog shows up again." It was difficult to admit defeat, even temporarily. There were more pressing issues than a dormant terrorist cell and a seemingly helpful ghost of a machine. She asked the nearest person to her right to cut the call before departing up the flights of stairs to Suzaku.
She could feel his wary eyes on her, radiating contempt, as if to penetrate her very being. She tossed a coy smirk his way, as per the norm, and strolled past, seemingly unaffected. She did notice that they had become increasingly less intense as of late. Apparently even he couldn't argue with her results. He kept pace at a careful distance behind her. He had made the rule, on her second day in Area 11, that he would follow her around, an action which was made possible by the new, replacement Viceroy, Lord Lambert arriving. A stout man with a large voice and very classically Britannian features, he was sure to inspire more confidence in the remaining Britannian Nationals than a Number as a leader.
The harsh light of the white hallway outside brought Julia's attention back to her fatigue. Upon exiting the underground room she slouched from her formerly perfect posture and let out a mighty yawn. Suddenly the heeled boots she had decided on that morning seemed like much less of a good idea than ever.
The body Julia inhabited was used to all-nighters with minimal sleep and plenty of coffee. Extended working hours had always been a part of Lelouch's daily life, what with moonlighting as a terrorist leader while pretending to be a student. The sleep deprivation during her time in prison, experienced by both Lelouch and Julia, made the active, restless nights of managing the combined forces of all of Area 11 pale in comparison. Even so, there was little she could do to stop the incessant yawns and aches that came with overwork.
Several elevator rides and miniscule cat naps later they had arrived back onto street level. The sudden oppressive noise of traffic in the middle of the day replaced the dull silence and clean hums of the underground facility. They had exited what seemed from the outside to be a regular police precinct, but the few allowed access to the highest security level knew about it, and it was a secure way to communicate abroad quickly. With an operation as tight-lipped as the Black Dog investigation, the danger of information leaking out was too great to risk a less safe line. To her pleasant surprise Gino was waiting for the two of them, leaning on a sleek blue sports car, shades on and generally looking both aloof and attentive to his environment at the same time.
"You guys are finally done, I mean geez, what took you so long?" He wrapped his arms around the duo, walking them over to the side of the road.
"You're here early," Suzaku dodged the question, sounding slightly irritated at Gino's timely arrival.
"Yeah, I know. We got held up by Australia, something about a volcano in the area going off. I just hopped in Tristain and hoofed it the rest of the way. So, voila." He let go and dusted his hands across his torso.
"Is Anya here yet?" Julia interjected.
"No, she's still coming. There isn't enough sakuradite in the world to keep Mordred in the air long enough to get here." He chuckled at his own humour. "Which reminds me. Suzaku, you still owe me from the last duel we had." His head tilted downward and pointed at the other party. His gem-like blue eyes peaked out from behind the expensive Ray-Bans.
"I'll get on that, I'm just kinda busy right now." Suzaku replied. He tried to rest his arm around Gino until said blonde grabbed Julia by the shoulders and tilted her chin towards his face.
Gino moved in, with less than an inch between them. He scrutinized every crease and valley on her face, eyes darting about from behind the tinted glasses.
"Sophie~" he cooed, using her assumed name and rubbing her cheekbones just under her eyes, "You really need to rest, how long have you been up?"
"S-seventy-two hours I t-think," She pretended to swoon under Gino's sudden close attention. She had quickly befriended the blonde teen in Pendragon, and now he was a self-proclaimed best friend to her.
He seemed to droop upon hearing that. "You can't be like that, Sophie~," again he dragged her name out, melancholically this time, "Go and sleep, you can't be awake that long. Hell, even I couldn't do that. Not even in boot camp."
"A-alright," Her voice was pitched and quieter, meek almost. A far cry from what she assumed was her normal tone.
"That reminds me," Gino quickly spun on heel back towards Suzaku, bouncing from worried friend to happy friend in a moment, "There's a new shawarma place on King and 9th, it's GREAT. I gotta take you there, like now. Your treat. Remember~, you owe me~!" Julia smiled as Gino yanked the poor Knight of Seven to his car.
"But-but, I-I got things to do, the new Viceroy to get ready for tomorrow, all kinds of-" Suzaku protested.
"-all kinds of stuff that can wait until you've eaten lunch. Jeez Suzaku, you look as thin as Sophie over there." Gino interjected, "But no seriously, go home and sleep, Sophie. You look like a ghost!" He yelled at her from the edge of the road now, trying stuff a still-protesting Suzaku into his car. She smiled as sweet as she could and waved them goodbye, the facade dropping the moment they were out of view. Gino didn't know anything about the Zero Case. Only Suzaku and the emperor knew about Lelouch, and herself. Keeping him in the dark was all but paramount.
Her driver had come to pick her up not five minutes later. The smooth leather of the seats was anything but comforting. The springy, soft material was completely different from the cold, sterile metal that had filled her world in her first moments, but nevertheless every sensation kept her on alert. Even without the Black Dog investigation it was unlikely that Julia would sleep.
Memories and nightmares assaulted her, more than normal. In day she looked at them with cool apathy, an outside observer. But in sleep, there was no barrier. Feeling and emotion flowed freely in the dark oblivion of rest. It was worse now, and Julia knew the reason. She was here, in Japan. Lelouch's second home, if not her first.
The tingle in her left eye was common as she passed through areas the previous owner of her body had. But there was no geass. Not anymore. No blood red veil over a door to a black soul. Only an amethyst jewel, reflecting all light that enters, and letting none see beneath. Julia flexed her fingers again, the first exercise that was asked of her. Even now she felt alien in this body, even while living her own life.
Julia fought to stay awake. As much as she hated sleep, her body could only go so long without the comfort of oblivion. There was a partition between her and the driver. She pinched her own skin, slapped her cheeks, counted in steps of 47, sat in the most uncomfortable position possible. Anything for it to stay away. She made a quick mental note to put a minibar in her car and stock it with enough coffee to wake a bear in winter. At some point she was left with nothing but poking herself with a pen.
The world had other plans for Julia. The rumble of the car, the gaze of warm sunlight on her from the window, the soft, cushiony leather of the seats all conspired to drag her into the dark depths of her own mind. Her eyelids fell, and there was no way she could fight it.
There was no control in her dreams, none at all. Sometimes she wondered if Lelouch really was trying to reach out. It seemed like the only explanation.
It hurt. It hurt so much. Lying there with the cold steel against her face, the feeling of air being driven out of her lungs as the boot came down for another kick. Weren't dreams supposed to be painless? She couldn't move. Not even an inch. No amount of pain could paralyze her like this. Suddenly there was water. Ice cold. Her vision was blurry, too blurry. No details she could recognize, certainly not those of her assailants. She sputtered from the sudden liquid invasion, and hands reached out from the unknown, pinning her to the floor.
Her vision darkened again, and breathing became a challenge. Her panicked mind ran through as many possibilities as possible on what was being done to her, and it rested on one, cruel result.
She barely had time to suck in a breath before the water came again. She immediately gagged, her mouth reflexively trying to breathe against the saturated cloth around her face. Her chest spasmed, pain and burning flared across her throat and lungs. Her limbs flailed uselessly against grips of iron, holding her down.
There was no need to wonder why this was happening. She had committed the crime, and she would now pay for it. She didn't have to resist. She could just… let go. The world hated her. Her followers hated her. Her friends and family hated her. There was no place for a sinful demon on this earth.
From the depths of her mind she could feel her breath giving out. Her lungs deflated and mouth closed up. The embrace of unconsciousness in here was welcome, a reprieve from the horror and pain around her. This time, she let go.
"You can't escape."
Julia awoke with a desperate gasp. Her diaphragm spasmed to take in the sudden rush of air into her lungs. Eyes fully opened to clear blue skies that stretched far beyond, with clouds that moved far too quickly for reality.
"Big Sister! Big Sister!" She heard a sweet young voice next to her. "You're awake now! Let's Play!"
Next to her stood a young girl, no older than five or six, in a simple white dress that went to her knees. Long raven hair framed two purple eyes and a wide, innocent smile. The front two teeth on the top row were missing as well.
Julia stood up, dusting off her own white dress. Immediately the child pulled her by the hand over to a large tree, where two other raven-haired, purple eyed girls sat by.
"It's sooo boring here." The young child sat down by a set of blocks. From her new position the black tattoo on the young girl's left arm, a number 1 written in fancy calligraphy surrounded by a border in the shape of a diamond. "Big Sister Two is still asleep, and Big Sister Three never wants to play. At least you're here."
The names were arbitrary, given only upon Julia's observations. There was no reason to get attached to these figments, these constructs.
She walked barefoot across the smooth, white surface beneath her feet. Along with the sky it stretched as far as the eye could see. Only here, where the tree cut into the white ground with black roots, was where there was anything.
Julia approached Two, a shivering young teen, only slightly younger than Lelouch's body herself. The 2 tattoo was surrounded by a heart border.
Every attempt to touch Two only ended in the girl shrinking away, curling into a ball to avoid contact. If Julia did touch her, Two would only recoil and thrash around until she let go, before returning to her prior, weepy state.
Three was a different matter. She sat on one of the roots, looking at her own hands. Her dress was not pure white. It and her body were covered in blood. Splotches of it across her face and down her arms and torso, pooling across the roots and onto the ground. She simply stared at her own hands, eyes wide and shocked in disbelief and sadness. Her tattoo was surrounded by a spade. The girl herself was unresponsive, never reacting to any stimuli. Pushing her over just left the girl staring at her hands, now on the ground.
This was her sanctuary, if one could call it that. As much as she dislike being back in here, the ruined depths of a previous mind, it was certainly safer than being within the nightmares of sleep. Here she had at least a modicum of control.
Julia stepped back from the group, One too enthralled in her blocks to notice her change in location. She looked at the top of the tree.
A blood red rose, with a diameter of almost five meters, sat nestled between the branches of the gnarled oak. Inside it was another girl with the same features as all of them, unconscious and naked. Julia smirked at her position. Lelouch had always been one for symbolism, if her memories were to be believed. The girl hung from a cross of vines, head drooped forward in unconsciousness, arms outstretched to the side. Occasionally a black tear would fall from the left side of her face, silent as it fell into the pool with others around it.
"You really did a number on this one, Suzaku." Julia noted, while scratching her left arm, where her tattoo was, a black 4 surrounded by a clubs symbol.
A/N: So, yeah, Season 3 hype, Whoo!
Next Chapter: Solace of the Damned