Chapter Twelve: Touched by a Gnosis

(A/N: HAHAHAHA!! I've reached Chapter 12 now! In your face! But thankies to the readers and reviews. ; I don't own Xenosaga but I own Shane.)

The group, along with Shane, watched the former Commander Cherenkov transform into a beast-like gnosis. It resembled a over-fed gargoyle with two larva-like lackies at its side. The gargoyle roared loudly as everyone covered their ears. MOMO fell to her knees. She whimpered. Shane looked at the little girl then growled. Her eyes turned dark gold, her pupils slitted as she rushed at the gnosis.

''Rahhh!!!''

''Shane, don't!!''

The gargoyle looked to the running girl and swung its arm at her. She ducked down then punched the monster in its leg. Her arm was grabbed forcefully as she cried out, being thrown into the wall behind the group. MOMO stood up and ran over to the milky-haired girl who coughed up blood onto the ground. ''Ow...'' ''Shane, why did you--?'' She grinned sightly. ''Guess I got excited...and I saw how scared you were...'' The little girl held her hand gently as she looked back at the battle that took place behind her. Ziggy was standing in front of MOMO, protecting her and the fallen Shane.

''How is she, MOMO?''

''She has a dislocated arm and one of her ribs are broken...it's not puncturing any vital organs, but she shouldn't move for a while.''

The blonde cyborg watched Shion, KOS-MOS, and chaos fight off the gnosis as he looked down at the milky-haired girl. ''That was foolish, Shane. You know better than to attack a large gnosis like you did.'' ''Yeah, thanks for making feel even worse--ack!'' She groaned, laying her head down.

''Shane...!'' She could barely hear MOMO's voice anymore as she went into total darkness.

The milky-haired girl opened her eyes as she laid on the floor of an unknown room. She looked up to see Shion who stood on a small balcony. She was looking at two men who were talking in front of her. ''...Shion?'' She blinked and looked down at her. ''Ah...Shane?!'' She kneeled down, helping the girl up slowly.

''What are you doing here?''

''That's what I'd like to know myself...'' She looked at the two men who were talking, narrowing her eyes. Margulis...Cherenkov...

''Behold the light that spreads before your eyes. This light once symbolized civilization – the very will of the human race. But what can be gleaned from the light we see today? The people of this world have cast away their will to create, drowning themselves instead in an endless cycle of consumption… What you see now is the deceitful light cast by their stagnant eyes,'' Margulis told Cherenkov as they both looked outside a large window. Shion looked at the two along with Shane. ''The Commander… But, who's that with him…?''

''Hells if I know.''

''The people you've encountered in your lifetime are not people at all. They're less than human – mere sacks of flesh and bone. Only upon the realization of self-will, can a person truly be called a man…'' The tall burgandy haired man turned to face the commander. ''You chose to reject the false light, refused to succumb to their lies… That's why you never faltered, even after all the personality reconditioning.''

''The Commander…underwent personality reconditioning…?'' Shion asked aloud. ''Maybe it was his past that led to the reconditioning..'' Even though I know what happened... ''Long ago, man was forced to leave behind his homeland… This was brought about by the masses who extinguished the very light that drove their will. So how about it, Cherenkov? Let us rekindle the torch so that human consciousness may once again be resurrected… For our sake…and that of our god…'' They watched the sunrise from the horizon of the planet they were passing by.

''Happiness? Were those my feelings just now? No…it must have been the Commander's feelings.'' The Vector employee looked at Cherenkov.''Commander… What is it that you were searching for?''

Shane closed her eyes slowly as she opened her eyes again to see a beach in black and white with Cherenkov and Shion.

''Commander…''

''I never really existed at all… I…'' He took a deep breath as he told the two girls his story. ''36 years ago… The year after the Zoar Incident, which led up to the Miltian Conflict. I was brought into this world as a weapon of warfare… It happened all the time back then. Killing was my…no, our whole reason for existence. The fortunate ones were those who could adapt to that way of life. Even luckier were those who died on the battlefield. But I was never granted that opportunity. Before I could find some significance to my own life, the war ended, and I was left behind while the world went on.'' He continued. ''I tried to adapt… But the language I spoke was so different from the rest of the world. I thought the entire world had rejected me. But the Commander… It felt like he really needed me. I saw a future for myself in the Commander… Or, I wanted to, at least. But I had to rely on the drugs to communicate with the rest of the world. It was because I hadn't changed… After everything that happened, I hadn't changed at all. Now I finally understand. The world didn't reject me, I rejected the world."

Cherenkov smiled to himself as he looked out to the horizon. "Shion… I like it here. I'm the only living thing that exists in this place. There's nothing else. No anger, no sadness, no happiness, not even a future… The only thing that's here…is me. And that'll eventually fade away… It feels good… This is exactly what I've been searching for all this time… Shion…you'll eventually find yourself here, too… I'm sure of it… It won't be much longer… I know… I…can tell…but Shane...I'm not so sure about you..." Shion and Shane closed their eyes as they disappeared.

Back in the present, the Gargoyle disappeared, letting out a roar of pain. Shion fell to her knees, crying softly. MOMO shook the girl's shoulders and snapping her from her grief induced trance. ''Shion! Shion!''

Shion blinked as she looked around "What was that…? Where's Commander Cherenkov…''

chaos looked saddned as the young woman could tell that Cherenkov was already gone. Shion continued to cry softly, wiping her tears with her left arm. ''Shion…'' "chaos! What just happened? Where is he? What have we done?! Tell me…" She held his hand tightly then placed her head on his knee, crying softly. He stroked her hair gently.

''Ziggy, did something happen?" Ziggy didn't answer the little girl. ''Ziggy…?"

"It's…nothing you need to worry about…" He looked to Shion "I'm sorry…" She sobbed, looking at chaos. ''Was that really the Commander?! Tell me, chaos! Surely we didn't…" He placed both of his hands on her shoulders gently. ''Shion… The truth isn't always a pleasant thing to know,'' he said in an gentle voice.

Shion looked down. ''chaos… Are we all…going to end up like him…?''

"We're still here and none of us have turned into Gnosis. Perhaps we can take solace in that."

He comforted her again and helped her stand up. "Here stand up…" Shion began to calm down, taking deep breaths. ''Okay…where's Shane?'' Shion looked over to see the girl laying on her side, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth.

''Oh my god...'' She ran over to her and lifted her up slowly. MOMO ran over. ''She has a dislocated arm and a broken rib,'' she told her. ''But she's still alive.'' Shion sighed a breath of relief. Thank goodness... Just then, Shion's group felt the Cathedral Ship shaking. ''The connection between the phenomenon boundaries is dissipating. If this continues, this spatial location will disappear. We are in danger.'' The area began to fade away to show the outside.

Space.

''This isn't good!'' Ziggy yelled as the group floated upwards. The entire area of Cathedral Ship faded away.

''Oh! Look! Over there!'' The group looked over to see the Elsa, with its lights on, moving towards them.

''Heyyy, Ms. Vector! You still alive?'' The captain's voice yelled out over the intercom. ''Chieeef! Are you all riiight?!''

"Captain! Allen!'' Shion said as she held onto Shane protectively. The group floated to where the Elsa's catapult opened, getting in. Then, the Elsa sped away from the Gnosis who were following after them.

''They're coming after us!''

"Full speed ahead! Shake 'em off!'' Tony nodded, increasing the speed. "Aye, sir!" The ship continued to fly at high speeds in an attempt to save their lives from the monsters.''Man… There's a ton of 'em!'' Hammer said, looking at the screen. As the Elsa sped away, blue lasers fired from above and destroyed the gnosis that were chasing after the cargo ship.

"What the…?!'' From above, a large red starship with two wing-like orbiters circling around it. A look of surprise came onto Captain Matthews' face. "The Durandal?!''

On the bridge of the ship now known as the Durandal, a red-haired boy with blue eyes stood with his hands on his hips, a wide grin on his face. "You got it!" he said. The bridge had 100-Series Realians who sat at consoles and typed hurriedly, not looking away from the screen. A purple haired woman turned to look back at the red-haired boy. "Registration confirmed, Little Master. It's the Elsa,'' she told him.

"Jeez…Those guys were damn lucky we were passing by. What the hell are they doing here? Well, whatever. All guns, target the Gnosis. Cut open an escape path for Elsa and annihilate the enemy!'' He ordered. The starship immediately fired a bunch of lasers at the Gnosis and they blew up in chains. Back in the Elsa, the group walked to the bridge. Ziggy carried Shane on his back as she groaned in response. He looked up to hear the blasts from outside and felt the ship shaking. "Sounds like the fighting's started,'' he said.

MOMO looked up at him and Shion. "Are we going to be okay? There were so many of them when we transferred in..." The Vector employee narrowed her eyes. "They destroyed an entire Federation fleet. It would be wiser for us to flee than fight." Outside, the battle against the gnosis and the Durandal continued.

"This is no good. We'll never get all of them. What should we do?" A blonde woman said to the little master. He gritted his teeth, growling. ''We should've resupplied earlier… This is what I get for taking on the U-TIC. Otherwise this would be a cinch…'' The purple haired woman typed hurriedly on the console she was sitting at. "Little Master. Enemy group formation approaching from five o'clock. We're being surrounded on all sides,'' she said in a monotone voice.

"So, they're not gonna let us go, huh? And they've coordinated their attack patterns… I've never seen them fight like this before. Even if we gate-jump out of here, we may not be able to shake 'em."

A 100-Series Realian cried out, "Little Master! Another group is chasing after the Elsa!" On the large screen, it showed the Elsa was being chased after by the gnosis. Back on the cargo ship, the group walked onto the bridge.

"Captain!'' Shion called out. The captain looked back at her. "Hey! You all right?" She shook her head. ''Shane needs medical attention!'' He nodded then looked to Tony. ''Tony! Can you lose 'em?" The pilot shook his head. "I doubt it…They're a lot faster then we are," he said in an hopeless voice. "Damn it! The Durandal's guns aren't slowing them down. What're we gonna do…?!"

Down in the lower section of the Elsa, KOS-MOS entered the cargo elevator and she went up. Hammer looked at the warning signal on his screen with a confused and surprised look on his face. "Huh? Hatch number 17 is open…? Was somebody still down there?!'' He asked. Shion gasped, realizing that the blue-haired android wasn't on the bridge with everyone, save Shane. "It's KOS-MOS! What is she…"

The navigator typed hurriedly on his console. ''I'll put it on the monitor.'' He revealed a screen that showed KOS-MOS, her back to the screen, riding the cargo elevator up. "KOS-MOS! KOS-MOS! KOS-MOS!! What are you doing?! Get back here!!" The Vector employee yelled as the hatch opened above the android. "There's too many of them for you to destroy! You're not equipped to handle that great number!"

The blue-haired android had her head lowered as she asked, "Shion… Will feeling pain…make me…complete?" She lifted her head and opened her eyes to show that they were blue instead of her default red.

"What? I can't hear you!"

"The air is too thin for her voice to carry!" Hammer said. The screen immediately closed. KOS-MOS made her way to the roof of the Elsa as she floated to the front roof.

"Attract Inhibitor output at 300 percent. Zohar Emulator waves can no longer be suppressed!" A 100-Series Realian said. The red-head growled. "What the hell… Now they're acting up?!" The purple haired woman typed hurriedly, looking up from the keys and to the screen. "Intruder alert in the Pieta motherframe! Permutational phenomena appearing in the Variant!"

"In Momma? Where's it coming from?!"

"Scanning transfection course…" One of the 100-Series scanned from her console as the transfection course data appeared. "Course tracked! It's coming from the quarantine hangar!" His blue eyes went wide. "The quarantine hangar…it can't be the Zohars?" He asked in a worried voice."It is,'' the 100-Series replied. " External sources are sending requests to the Zohars!"

"Paradigm contamination is spreading! If this keeps up, the motherframe will be taken over!" The purple haired woman told him. "Cut off the main line to the quarantine hangar! Stabilize the Attract Inhibitor through a secondary line!

"Main line purged! All signals blocked!"

KOS-MOS looked at the large amount of gnosis that chased after the Elsa as she activated her torso weapon and fired a big laser beam at the Gnosis, destroying them all. The blue-haired android closed her eyes, opening them again to reveal her red eyes. On the bridge of the Elsa, everyone had watched in awe as the gnosis were destroyed by KOS-MOS. Captain Matthews leaned back in his chair, sighing a breath of relief. "Heck, that wasn't so bad,'' he said. Allen looked at Shion with a worried look. "Chief…"

"Did… …did that really just happen?" She asked softly. "Yeah… It appeared as if she absorbed the Gnosis." She looked down then shook her head. "How could she have weaponry we don't even know about…? No, that wasn't a weapon, that was…"

"…something impossible,'' the brown haired man finished. The captain shrugged. "Who cares if it's possible or not? She got rid of the Gnosis, right?" Hammer looked back at him then said, "Uhh…Captain? Little Master's been buzzing us for awhile…"

"Huh? Oh. Patch him in." As Allen spoke with the captain and the navigator, Shion looked down at the floor. This isn't the KOS-MOS that I built… Kevin… Is this your hand at work…? Is this the real KOS-MOS that you wished to create…?

''...Shion?''

She looked up at Ziggy who still had Shane on his back. ''She's bleeding profusely from her mouth and it's sticking to me.'' A look of complete shock came onto the Vector employee's face. ''Oh my god! Shane, wake up! I'm so sorry we forgot about you!''

''...Yeah, sure, I'm loved now.''

Chapter Twelve: End. (Yup, Shane's loved by everyone, alright. AND I showed JR., Gunz! That was for you. Please R & R, everyone!)