Chapter 12: I Hope
November 2nd, 8:27 PM, Pacific Standard Time
"What a reunion this has been," Ishiro thought sadly and sarcastically while walking up the hill.
The ecstatic feelings of being reunited with his best friend after sixty years of living with the reality of Akira's supposed death were oddly mixed. Now Akira's loss of close family friends and the mourning of his nephew heaved a heavy burden on him.
While climbing the stairs, he began internally wrestling with an idea. It just popped up. It would probably not be permitted, but he would mull over it for a while and discuss it later with Mr. Dough, and if able and willing, Akira.
Right now the group's trek was still haunted and chilled by Lance's breakdown, and for some reason, Akane especially, or as Ishiro could best tell by her continuous stares toward him and Akira, but mostly Lance along the shoreline. Emiko and Hideo tried to comfort her out-of-place stoic sadness for a stranger she just only met an hour ago. It also seemed Yamane was trying his best to comfort Ishiro because of Akira's predicament, occasionally grasping his shoulder and nodding in an understanding fashion. The domino effect of emotional causality seemed to be afflicting every member in some way, even Shinzo to some extent.
As the group reassembled on the hill by the crashed prius, Mr. Dough crossed the lighthouse wreckage and met the group.
"Professors Sato, may I have a word?"
"What about?"
"Let's talk over here. Your group knows some of this already, and some other things not so much…let's just talk for a moment."
Both walked over to the farthest humvee from the group.
"Professor Sato, I assume you still know everything about what we're doing, what we find and what we discuss is top-secret, and confidentiality is the utmost absolute right now?"
"That's a given Mr. Dough. What do you need to inform me of?"
"You didn't hear this from me. Officially the United States has this local oil tanker disaster under control. Unofficially, we seem to have more or less lost control and tracking of the ongoing situation happening right now in the Pacific."
"Situation in the Pacific? Mr. Dough?"
"That was the primary reason we were seeking you out. We…we can only track it by the scattered and occasional path of destruction on the waters, although it appears it's now heading west. Damn thing seems to be moving extremely fast along the oceanic bottom, and it has the scattered sonar signature of a rock. Nearby submarines gave out last reliable radar position, putting it off the northwest waters of the Hawaiian Islands."
Ishiro closed his eyes, a momentary thought and personal guilt of people afflicted by encountering it. He wished he could have done something, something to stop it now.
"How bad is the situation Mr. Dough? Is it going to strike there next?"
He sighed.
"Doesn't look like it right now. However maritime authorities report two massive cargo ships, a Samsung cargo ship and the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, along with multiple fishing trolleys in the North Pacific, suffering catastrophic damage from an unknown source. Most eyewitnesses don't know what hit them, the survivors anyway. I and many in certain areas of our government believe that is our hook, and the trajectory leads it roughly to the Southwest Pacific."
"Mr. Dough, why wasn't I informed of this sooner?"
"Because of this Professor," Mr. Dough said in a gruff, irritated tone while waiving his arm to the surrounding scene, specifically pointing towards the trail Akira and Lance began heading up.
"That is why we barged in the tent earlier. This detail the others don't know, but…your government wants you back immediately to brief them. They want you to explain, with Yamane, what is going on in detail."
"Already?" Ishiro questioned with a tinge of dread in his voice.
"Given some of your member's reputations and standing in the scientific community in Japan, and this most recent attack, certain top officials and members in the JSDF think your group needs to explain its findings to other certain officials in the Japanese Government."
"What do you make of this Mr. Dough?"
Dough looked to his polished shoes, and then slicked back his oily black hair, a look of subtle contemplation on his face.
"I can't give too much of an opinion on this situation…however; I get the feeling your Deep Sea Ecology Professor is extremely suspicious and skeptical most of the time. It'd be wise to temporarily adopt a non-trusting mindset like his for whatever comes next. Play is sincere, tell them what they need to know but only what they absolutely need to know, but don't be goaded along, if you catch me."
Ishiro looked blankly at him, starting to get a feel for what Mr. Dough was implying.
"So, if I was Professor Mafune, I'd assume that the Japanese Government believes something is bound to happen really soon, and Godzilla is heading west-southwest for non-specified reasons? Possibly Japan?"
"Those are your words Professor, not mine," Mr. Dough smirked. "Yamane is going to keep our joint government operations and myself in the loop, but, suffice it to say…trust your gut first."
"I…thank you for your recommendations Mr. Dough."
"Tomorrow afternoon your team is going back to Japan. Everything confidential, top secret and all-inclusive in this investigation is free-reign to your superiors in Japan. After that…if we do see one other again, let's hope it's a matter of congratulations to you for stopping this thing."
"I hope so too."
Mr. Dough slowly walked away, before quickly turning around in a brisk pace.
"One more thing…here," he said, handing Ishiro a USB drive.
"Keep it for yourself. I've got copies galore and the tech to make it look like no copies were made. Tell Akira not to worry about Lance's recent doings. This will all be swept under the rug, and tell Yamane's buddy Ajar that the favor he owes me is going towards them now."
He turned back, looking momentarily at the crashed prius Lance stole.
"Damn that thing's a wreck; I can't believe that kid wasn't killed."
8:33 PM
He walked with a stern stride over to a black vehicle in the distance, got in the passenger seat, and was driven off.
Ishiro quickly ushered the group back into the humvees. As they piled in, and Ishiro and Yamane were getting into the third distant humvee, they saw Akira and Lance slowly walking up the trail past the wreckage, before seeing Lance puke in the bushes.
"Yamane?"
"Yes Ishiro?"
"Would you mind if I rode with them only? I don't think they'd be tolerable to anyone else right now."
"Of course," Yamane said quietly yet understandingly, grabbing Ishiro's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Whatever you need."
He told the driving soldier he was joining another humvee and quickly left. As Yamane left, Akira and Lance approached the vehicle. Ishiro opened the door and invited them in. With kind yet despondent expressions they took their seats, and were off. The driver moving at such a snail's pace that it'd be a at least five minutes to maneauver the streets at night with no street lights on.
Ishiro quickly glanced at Akira and Lance; lament and gloom plastered on their faces. Akira looked under control, but Lance was physically shaking in erratic points, shivering, but not in the same way when one was cold.
The first minute in the dark yet gingerly-lit humvee backseats was awkward, warm and quiet. Lance strenuously coughed several times, his throat sounding as though he just gargled aggregate gravel. Then he spoke up with a minor jarring to his speech pattern.
"Dr. Sato?"
"Mr. Northwest?"
"You said you went through what my uncle went through…what I've just gone through. Is that really true?"
Ishiro nodded lightly. Seeing Lance in his emotional state felt too close to his own experiences that he'd try and quelched over time, feelings he didn't quite forget.
"You both know…this feeling I have. How long does it last? The emptiness…the void, this hatred, Dr Sato?"
Ishiro stayed quiet, contemplating what to say.
"Dr. Sato, how long do I have to feel like this?"
Ishiro looked away for a moment, trying to hold back involuntary tears. Akira saw him.
"HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO FEEL LIKE THIS? TELL ME, PLEASE!"Lance cried out, his voice cracking from his sorrow.
Ishiro looked to him and Akira with red eyes. Even though it was dark, Akira and Lance could see he had tears welling up.
"Lance, what you've gone through, what happened to you, no child, no one should have to…I can't begin to tell you how you should accept this. I never did-"
"When does it go away Dr.?"
"It doesn't Lance."
Lance's expression went blank, his shaking body froze in time. Ishiro could sense the boiling, bubbling grim and hate in Lance's soul.
"I…I can't speak for Akira…but I never lost my void, my despair. I just boxed it in a small spot and filled all the spaces around it with my present family and career. I use it as a reference point to always be thankful for what I have."
"I never lost it either," Akira spoke up. "I did what Ishiro did…something like the reference point thing, but I didn't do other things like Ishiro. I lost…I thought I lost everyone, everything, everything one day a long time ago, all because of that monster. My biggest fear since was if I ever found people I'd care about, I might lose them in a similar way, and it'd be my fault. I still can't believe you Ishiro, Megumi and Masako made it through back then Ishiro," Akira said in a reserved smile, "…so that renewed my soul. Yet…I never thought you'd suffer like Ishiro and I Lance."
Akira rolled his fists into a ball, cracking his fingers and tied up all his tension in his arms.
"My void stayed. I was hardened and cold when I came here to America. I hated living for a long time, but I only continued as rebellion to Godzilla, my hate for it manifested in living against it. I wasn't going to let it have the satisfaction of eventually ending me too. I lived on, buried my hate…but I never lost it."
"So…I have to feel like this…forever?" Lance asked.
"No, not forever," Ishiro responded.
"You'll always have that feeling, but you eventually live with it, accept it as a reality; it won't be as intense later on in your life. It will slowly dwindle down, and it won't be the first thing on your mind every day."
"We have to be thankful for what we have now," Akira chimed in. "We may have lost your parents, but we still have each other. Hopefully one day in a long time from now you'll have found solace that there are and were people in your existence who deeply care and cared for you."
"I do uncle. I just-"
"It's alright. The pain…just work with it. You'll win eventually," Ishiro said encouragingly.
"Back in the tent Dr. Sato, you said you wanted to destroy it? This thing, a monster…that's the reason my parents died? I couldn't do anything to help save them. It just…I don't even understand how they ended up on the beach down there."
"Understand this Lance because it's very important. Your parents were taken as the collateral damage of Godzilla's rampage."
"Godzilla. You two keep saying that. What does it mean?"
Akira coughed, muttering the words "sea god" and "sea demon."
"That's what the people on Akira and mine's past island home called a mythical sea monster that allegedly lived off our coast, taking occasional sacrifices when fishing was bad. Your uncle and I didn't think much of it. Honestly, all I knew was the story, not the name of the mythical creature."
"I only knew because of my grandfather Ishiro. He secretly told me," Akira said, both him and Ishiro flashing momentary smiles to their memories of Akira's grandfather.
"So," Ishiro continued, "this huge organism we now designated as Godzilla resurfaced over sixty years after destroying our lives. My entire career and profession has been secretly dedicated to understanding anything I could about it. Now that it's back, and now that Akira and I have been vindicated for our past experiences in such a horrible way like yourself, I can only see attempting to track it down to help stop the coming horror."
"Ishiro, Godzilla's attack in Trinidad wasn't random, was it?" Akira asked.
"We don't know. I think it may have something to do with the earthquake a few days. Sometime after the earthquake, boats out at sea near the underwater epicenter began reporting huge sonar readings within the vicinity of the earthquake's epicenter. The closest few boats to these sonar readings disappeared, while others ended up smashed all over Trinidad. Our Deep Sea Ecologist also found out a NOAA research vessel in the waters at the time that had determined oceanic disturbances in the lower depths along the fault within range of the epicenter, possibly an underwater landslide."
"Hours after the earthquake and little tsunami we had, that's when things went all to hell," Akira said.
"I can't imagine-"
"You can Ishiro; you know what it's like."
The slow but humid ride to camp was now in its last minutes. They saw the others walking along the small dirt-path to camp, except Akane who stood back by the two humvees with the soldiers, intermittently staring towards their incoming direction.
8:40 PM
When they parked, Akira asked Lance if he could have a moment with Ishiro. He weakly nodded and exited, walking up the path with a lethargic stride until several soldiers ran up to forcefully escort him. Akane ran over and was seemingly roaring at them to back off, though Ishiro and Akira couldn't tell exactly what she said from the distance. She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the campsite, presumably to their resting area from earlier. The soldiers continued to follow.
"That young lady is extremely kind to be watching out for my nephew. Is she a student of yours?"
"Yes. She's in a program studying under myself and a few others. Right now she and most of our team has been roped into this investigation as payment for her services and assistance."
"Oh, well that's good, basically an internship."
"Yes," Ishiro replied sheepishly.
"Ishiro?"
"Yeah Akira?"
"Look, I'm sorry we reunited under these circumstances. Even with the loss of my family friends, and given the experience Lance is likely to be as messed up as we are, I take solace and renewal knowing you, yours and my sister by some miracle survived Odo."
"My sentiments Akira. Still though, to live that long with the brute fact of knowing everyone you knew, family, friends, all killed at the same time and not being able to trace them…how'd you make it? I at least had your and my sister to give me some reason. What the hell kept you going?"
"Survival and hatred Ishiro. Some of it renewed as of recently, but hatred for that thing, the desire to live just to hate it…wanting to destroy it and watch its life slowly and painfully leave its eyes…my existence was dedicated to the hating of a monster no one in America could or would believe in. That's pretty much why I had virtually no friends or family outside of Lance and his parents."
"I suppose you never found peace then Akira."
"More or less, I relaxed and mellowed out over decades, did many things, joined a Marine Tech institution and became a marine engineer. That was a fun life. I did it secretly to be out on the waters, doing my job, just waiting for a chance to see if I could locate it, then have it destroyed."
"Speaking of which Akira, how did you make it to the United States? Why not go to mainland Japan?"
"I still ask that to this day. I don't regret ever living here, but it was…probably a combination of strange ocean currents that drifted me out somewhere in the Pacific, and a small ship that found me drifting at sea for almost a week, an American fishing vessel. They showed me kindness at my lowest point, and I wanted to become like that, like the Americans that found me, so I went to the United States and became an American years later."
"Was the transition tough?"
"Oh, no question it was tough, but I eventually made it work, and did quite well, even though I never did marry. I lived for myself, wanting to help people in my craft as much as possible. Make sense?"
"Yeah, but I just don't understand…how did we not cross into each other after Godzilla destroyed Odo?"
"Well, after I thought I lost my mother and Masako, I tried for the hill you ran up, but the fires and debris were completely blocking me, so I tried getting a boat around the island. Unfortunately when I was about to take off a gigantic piece of land slide my way and took me with it, crashing me out to see and pushing me into the offshore current. I tried paddling back with broken pieces of wood, but I couldn't muster enough energy, so I…gave up for a while."
"Good God Akira."
"At that moment, I felt my entire world was destroyed. How does a kid bounce back from that? They don't…not easily at least. But then I heard it roar. I couldn't see the damn thing, but I heard the water crashing minutes later. I saw its spikes head right towards me and said my peace, closed my eyes and waited for death. Death never came, so, here I am."
"It passed you by? That's almost akin to what happened to us when we ran up the hill. Godzilla looked down on us, then roared. It could have crushed us, but I think it just stared down at us, not really caring, just…indifferent to the pain you, Masako and I endured."
"Ishiro? Why did Godzilla attack Odo?"
"I don't know Akira."
"You've been studying this for over sixty years, and you know nothing?"
"Not with absolute, scientifically definable certainty. I have my warranted suspicions, but that's why I'm studying it Akira."
"You should be trying to destroy it, after what it did to us."
"I am, but the best way in resolving a problem is to understand the problem, understand its source, its origins, otherwise guesswork and hunches will lead to nothing more than incompetence and tragedy."
"I suppose that's true. I just…I really hoped it wouldn't ever come back, at least in my lifetime. So there's no reason it attacked Trinidad in particular then?"
"That's another thing. I think Trinidad was just another random landfall stop like Odo."
"Random Ishiro?"
"Yes. Indifferent, random, no purpose whatsoever…"
They paused, still seated in the humvee. Several soldiers walked past them, circling the campsite grounds.
"Ishiro?"
"Yes?"
"I don't have a home anymore. It was destroyed in Godzilla's attack. What's worse is…I don't know what to do about Lance."
"Doesn't Lance have relatives?"
"No. He lost his other family members a long time ago in a terrorist attack and his parents were his last living relatives, all he had left. I don't even think I'm a legal guardian. Linda and Scott were trying to get that squared away for the last month after their science meetings. I fear the government is going to take him away and relocate him."
"Could you adopt him?"
"I would if I could, but I can't very well take care of him without a home. This place is no home. He's a strong kid, but this loss…no kid should have to go through something like he did, like we…Ishiro, I don't know what to do."
Akira held his head in his hands, sighing loudly and mumbling what he was going to do.
"The worst thing…"
"Akira?"
"The worst thing is that Lance's going to become obsessed and dedicate his life to this… hate, to destroy Godzilla. That's not a good future for him."
"I can testify to that. I mean, I love science now, but I started out with horrific intentions."
"You still have those intentions Ishiro."
"I know. I've been secretly at it since Odo, but now…vindication to what happened to us is now occurring. Maybe not officially, but something."
"There is something on par though Ishiro…the fact that it's out there right now, doing God knows what on the open ocean to ships caught in its path. I hope your people know what they're doing."
"Me too. This, this is not like Odo, but this…what's coming, I don't know, but my gut tells me it is something we must prevent. We don't need any more tragic death or embittered and hardened people, young like Lance, or old and worn like us," Ishiro momentarily joked.
"If there's one thing that monster's good at Ishiro, it's making eternal blood-lust for it," Akira replied back sarcastically.
"So Ishiro, I don't know how much longer we'll have, maybe another day or so to see eachother. Hopefully for a little longer, but under Lance's circumstances…I wish I could see and talk to Masako and your sister. But that may complicate things."
"Perhaps Akira, or…"
"Or?"
"Or…perhaps there may be a way we can all be together again."
"Ishiro, what are you suggesting?"
"This is just a thought…but if you and Lance were agreeable to this proposition, I could quite possibly arrange for the both of you to live with Masako and myself. That is, if-"
Ishiro trailed off, looking away for a moment, turning around again to see Akira's face develop a glimmer of hope on it, the look when they realized you one another was over an hour ago.
"You…you could arrange such a thing?"
"I've developed some connections, so, yes, it is more than possible…it's very possible. I'd ensure you and Lance could live comfortably with us in Tokyo indefinitely. I just don't want this to seem like this is yours and Lance's only alternative. He has a life here too."
"I don't know. Lance is pretty introverted and…I've not really seen him take to people well, not a lot or any friends as I know of, at least until that sweet young woman in your investigation…what's her name, the young one?"
"Akane. I think they're developing some kind of connection, maybe a friendship of sorts. It's too early to tell, but it seems like she is helping him cope emotionally. She understands these things I think."
"Ishiro, this gesture, I…I can't," Akira's voiced cracked in a watery croak.
"You'll also have privy to the ongoing investigation right now since you are one of the survivors, and with any hope, get the satisfaction of being part of the demise and destruction of Godzilla."
"I think he and I'd like that, very much Ishiro."
Both finally stepped out of the humvee, Akira reaching over and giving Ishiro a gripping hug, his eyes still sad, yet in the back hope slowly but surely swelling for acceptance and a life with his surviving family he thought he lost.
"I hope Lance isn't taken aback by this proposition Akira."
"I can only ask. No is the worst he'd say, but the government relocating him is the worst of all possible situations. I don't think he'd want me out of the picture any…hell, he fought tooth and nail just to see me up here for the weekend."
"So then it might be a possibility?"
"Probably. He'd most likely jump at the opportunity to get away from here. He'd want his stuff from his bedroom back in San Francisco, but I guess you'd be able to make that happen I think?"
"Absolutely. But what about you Akira?"
"I don't think I have a thing left in my home. Everything I have or owned is gone, so I'll start brand new. Luckily I keep a record of such things in my wallet for reference, just in case. I had to transition once, so the reverse should be easy but tricky."
"Speaking of which, if this does come to fruition, how would Lance do?"
"He already knows how to speak Japanese fluently as you know, and he's pretty good at reading it. I don't think he'll have troubles. I'm the most Americanized of the two of us…I am not as etiquette-oriented as my birth nation…I've become really really informal."
"Also Akira, if you and Lance would like a funeral for them, I could arrange for that too."
"We should discuss that another time. For now, I think I need some rest…and I need to be with Lance right now. Ishiro?"
"Akira?"
"I don't know how I could ever repay you."
"Be my best friend again, and talk to your sister in the following days and that'll be enough."
Akira smiled, then turned around and headed back into the tent, escorted by two soldiers.
Ishiro hung back, standing outside the tent. He meandered towards the parked cars across the street towards a large, neatly-trimmed lawn. He looked up into the unusually clear dark sky, bursting with stars and a brilliantly bright waning moon phase. Even with all the turmoil, all the horror that transpired and was yet to come, Ishiro took solace in looking into the stars and wondering the grand workings of the cosmos. Getting lost in the ideas that humans, if not all forms of life, even Godzilla, were essentially derived from star stuff and thinking about what life might be like beyond the visible stars.
"I wonder what's next for us."
November 3rd, 9:55 AM PST
The group began assembling outside the Gulfstream G650 jet back in Arcata-Eureka Airport, engines beginning to turn on, the military humvees with several soldiers packing their supplies in the back. Gradually one by one they walked up the short flight of steps. Ishiro, Akira and Lance were the last ones still standing outside the aircraft. Akira walked towards the steps, momentarily glancing towards the distant evergreen tree-line concealing in the far distance his smoldering home and community Trinidad for over thirty years. He turned back and entered the plane.
Ishiro and Lance stood outside the plane, looking west towards the open Pacific Ocean.
"Lance, are you ready?"
"I am. And my parents?"
"…in the jet already. And you know you're not forced to come with us just because Akira urged you too."
"That Dr. Sato, is where you're wrong."
"Oh? How so?"
Lance's expression was more recuperated yet still solemn and blank.
"It may seem that he asked, but I had a feeling something like this would happen. I'd jump at the opportunity to be part of Godzilla's death. I suggested to him we finish this…once and for all."
"Lance…I-"
"And Dr. Sato, thank you very much for accepting me into your home. I look forward to helping out in any way I can, and to meeting my uncle's long lost sister."
"Oh…my wife…I need to let her know her brother is still alive…and coming to live with us with a newly adopted nephew."
"Newly adopted Dr. Sato?"
"Akira didn't tell you? You get to keep your Northwest name, but Mr. Dough managed to pull some strings with some of my associates. Akira is now your legal guardian."
"You did that? Already?"
"Well, not me directly, but I helped push a few buttons."
Lance made a weak but extremely sincere smile.
"I got the feeling button-pushing is a theme in all this stuff you're doing."
Ishiro weakly smiled before boarding. Lance turned back facing the distant Pacific Ocean. He'd live on the other side of the ocean in half a day, leaving the life he once knew. He wiped several tears falling down his face before boarding the jet.
10:20 AM
As they took off going south, the jet turned northwards. In minutes, they got an aerial view of the full scale for the first time of what happened in Trinidad.
Immediately everyone noticed the isolated nature of the area, especially with huge military perimeters set around the entire town. Military vehicles, chain fences, blunt looking blockades buffered the surrounding areas and the ant-like movement of soldiers down below occurred on land while the waters were patrolled by numerous military boats, only getting somewhat close to the oil-laden waters of the immediate coast. They were high enough to see a squadron of helicopters fly below them to the east.
Subtle details of the incident became apparent. Dozens of small and medium sized boats were littered and smashed throughout the entire town, the biggest ones along the proximity of the coast. The oil tanker's wreckage and oil was plastered inland at a criss-crossing forty-five degree angle of the small coastal town. Military units and hazmat clean-up crews lit up the dark, broken scenery with bright orange and yellow dots. Akira and Lance looked out their windows on the right, seeing the foundation and few structural walls of Akira's home, black, charred and slowly falling apart under the force of gravity. Past the oily graveyard that was the parking lot was Trinidad.
Trinidad Head, now burnt to a crisp, had blackened oily grasses and shrubs, and only a few scattered evergreens still standing. They were marred by fire and the force of the tanker. Gobs of thick oil surrounded the entirety of the rocky formation's waters, most of it now drifting along the coast southward, creating an even larger environmental disaster downstream. Looking closer on its ocean-facing side, Trinidad Head had an enormous chunk of its side missing, looking as though it was blown apart and scattered in a debris field hundreds of meters in circumference. The large number of prominent boulders making the debris field in the water looked either glassy or still hot, creating low steamy mists around them. The giant gaping opening looked burnt like a meteorite's ablation in the atmosphere. This immediately told Ishiro and Erika that extreme thermal activity occurred here, far exceeding the temperatures of oil tanker accidents.
"How did it do that?" Shinzo asked.
"Maybe it's not a coincidence that large areas of the oil tanker were completely melted down and irradiated," Erika responded. "Add to the fact that the sample tissue you found was radioactive."
The coastline started gradually disappearing from the horizon as they moved northwestward over the Pacific Ocean. Everyone began settling on delineated work to do, except Akira and Lance. They still looked out their windows, watching the coastal town of Trinidad, California in the United States disappear from site.
"Goodbye my home," Akira thought.
"Goodbye mom, goodbye dad," Lance thought.
Far down below they saw a huge wall of dense fog moving fast towards the coastline. It made Lance shiver.
1:09 PM Pacific Standard Time
The group was either re-analyzing their new-found data from Trinidad and Odo Island or picking up from where they last left off. Lance and Akira were fast asleep in the white chairs on the right side of the jet, recuperating their energy and strength. Behind them were Ishiro and Yamane, followed by Shinzo and Erika. Emiko and Akane sat together while Hideo sat two rows behind them.
Their goal was to produce a complete report to submit and a presentation/conference to certain members of the Japanese government and scientists within four days.
Akane struggled through another trail of calculations from the Trinidad footage. She recalled her last height measurements may have used a faulty assumption and retried them.
"What!? Its calculated height is even higher than the last one? I don't think I even showed Ishiro or Yamane the last one either."
Her computer screen blinked a small text, indicating an estimated height range between 118.5 -121 meters.
"Now...if this is its height range, what about it's mass?"
Ishiro and Yamane were estimating it's trajectory on a series of GIS models using the positions of destroyed ships and fishing vessels out in the Pacific Ocean. They had a numerous shrunk tabs showing sensitive eyewitness reports, aerial military photos of a colossal underwater figure and several pieces of recovered video footage showing huge spikes popping from the dark North Pacific waters in broad daylight going through the sides of a cargo ship. All information relating these events were being controlled by the U.S. and Japanese governments.
"Good God Yamane. There's no consistency in the data. We can get a rough area of its direction, but nothing specific!"
"It doesn't help that it pops up to the surface irregularly," Yamane replied, "but the fact that it travels the ocean floor might help us in some way."
"Can you articulate Yamane?"
"You think we could determine if it's actually traveling along marine geological formations, like trenches, ridges and canyons?"
"That's possible Yamane, but the Pacific Ocean depths are littered with those kind of underwater features in highly inconsistent networks. We haven't a way to track a viable path unless we have submarines within range of the thing, and that's if they can determine its trajectory with respect to the underwater geology of that area."
"Maybe we should use an ecological model of whale migrations? We can make a series of linear regression equations based on the data at hand and compare how proximal the routes are to this thing's current trajectory. You said when it attacked that it probably went after whales to eat?"
"Yeah…but if Godzilla is really this big, I doubt whales would be enough to sustain it, otherwise we'd have no whales left in the ocean, assuming metabolic rates are similar between the two."
"That's…something else to mull over later. Let's get back to the task at hand. Why not give it a go anyway?"
"Agreed."
"And Ishiro?"
"Yes?"
"That was a very kind thing of you to do, for Akira and Lance I mean."
"Akira would have done it in a second if our rolls were switched."
In the back Hideo started right where he left off; ripping his hair out and ready to throw his laptop and notebook out of the jet. Emiko and Akane were snickering at this, though they passively hoped they'd eventually finish their assignments and be able to help him.
"It's got to be energetics…energy-related. I mean, all that radiation on that tanker, it just didn't get their on its own. This is related mathematically…somehow!" Hideo sternly thought. Several more minutes of looking at an advanced equation series he set up, determining it's irreconcilability with the biomechanical laws of nature, he screamed in his head, comically revealing an angered and exasperated expression while in the throes of a semi-mental breakdown. "The biochemical factors might….NO! NO CREATURE ON EARTH WORKS LIKE THIS EXCEPT THAT GOD DAMN MONSTER! AAHHH!"
"Poor Hideo," Akane said to Emiko with a small grin while Emiko quietly chuckled.
"Yeah, I think Ishiro may have given him the toughest task. We should probably help him when we're done.'
"You sure? I thought you like seeing your boyfriend squirm?"
"HEY! He's not my boyfriend!"
"Really Emiko? You can fool yourself and maybe your grandfather…though he's probably sharper than he lets you on, but you're not fooling me, or my sister, or Shinzo, or Ishiro, or-"
"ALRIGHT, I GET IT! It's…complicated Akane."
"It doesn't seem so complicated when half your team catches you in bed with another team member."
"You know what Akane? You're one to talk!"
"What are you on about?"
Emiko nodded her head over to Lance. Akane sat with the most forced blank expression possible.
"I…I don't get what you mean."
"Let me put it this way. One of us apparently likes younger men, so since by your logic I'm in an apparent love triangle, with two men at least my age or older, that pretty much narrows down the field of possibilities."
"What the hell Emiko? I was helping him cope. For God's sake his parents were killed by Godzilla. Maybe not directly, but it's the reason they're dead now."
"That I totally get, and you are very noble in that respect…however…"
"However what?"
"I'm talking about when we all entered the tent to tell you what's been going down all over the North Pacific, right when we found out that stuff with Ishiro and Akira, I saw the way you were eyeballing him, big-time."
"I was not!"
"The fact you're making such a convincing, straight poker face, without so much as a facial tic, tells me you're lying."
"Emiko, be serious. Besides, he's younger than I am."
"By how much? Only about a couple years?"
"Goodness Emiko, come on!"
"And in time when things settle and get under control, maybe your friendship with Lance could magnify into a beautiful cherry blossom."
"Alright Emiko, that's enough of that."
"Also there is no law forbidding dating in your age ranges in Japan. All you have to do is wait a couple of years…"
"Emiko!"
"…and the age of consent won't be a factor at all."
"EMIKO!"
"…then all will be right and prosperous for your future kin."
"Damn you Emiko," Akane huffed out in a flustered laugh. "
Towards the back, Erika and Shinzo were discussing the results of the report on the hide tissue sample.
"This is absolutely fascinating Shinzo."
"Yes. I thought we lucked out when I found this sample. I just can't believe its average density lies somewhere between the inner core of the Earth and the element Osmium, more close in range to the later," Shinzo replied. "The thing is tougher than diamond by astronomical miles. We couldn't very well get a large sample, just micron-sized bits from one of those diamond drills, and that broke off only millimeters in the sample."
"Not to mention the team in Trinidad still hadn't hit a melting point for it. It just kept getting hotter and hotter, and it still stayed intact," Erika continued.
"Don't forget how flexible the material is," Shinzo added, "I mean, in respect to the creature's size, it's in principle, extremely flexible. If nearly all the tissue on Godzilla is like this, then it must be quite able to move around with little to no problem."
"The biochemistry Shinzo…there's nothing on Earth that even comes close to how strange and unique this is. There's no comparison-"
"What about extremophiles Erika?"
"Well, large multicellular creatures don't typically exhibit such degrees of durability and temperature tolerance akin to Tardigrades. What's more, I think the sample has actually undergone growth."
"WHAT!?"
"Not by much, but when I checked its density to confirm your results, the sample weighed more than your first estimate. In addition, several small grooves in the sample are now completely covered, based on photo comparisons."
"The hide tissue grew independent of the host?" Shinzo asked in shock.
"Mind you, not a lot Shinzo. It hit a plateau point, then it looks like it stopped."
"How in hell could it have done that? It's just the hide! The cells shouldn't be that active, if whatever was growing can be called cells!"
"Maybe it's a clue to the mechanism for how this thing acquires its energy. You said yourself earlier those regular feeding behaviors common for terrestrial and aquatic organisms may not suffice in explaining how it acquires energy."
"Yeah, you're right Erika. Ishiro and Yamane know this all too well. If it did work like regular organisms, which I seriously doubt, its metabolic rate would be cosmic to Earthly standards, which is why it needs a more refined, highly concentrated form of an energy source."
"Hence…the radiation? Shinzo, have we seriously given thought as to whether Godzilla could be a chemotroph? Maybe a chemolitotroph?"
"Or maybe a radiotroph Erika, like some fungi species? A type of radiation filter feeder? That radiation detected all over the ship and the beach can't be a fluke."
"Let's re-check the metabolic and trophic levels again, see if it could conceivably fit in any of those categories…if not, which is resoundingly looking more likely, we should advise Ishiro. He probably suspects its mode of energy acquisition is radiation too."
"Hence his suspicions of the American nuclear tests, although we really haven't had nuclear tests in the south Pacific to date. So then why are we so focused on understanding its trophic dynamics?"
"The more we know about it, the better. It's always better to have more info."
"Well…yes, you're absolutely right Erika."
"Thanks Shinzo. That's the first real concession I've heard from you this leg of the trip."
"It's the last you'll get for a while," Shinzo smirked, "and one more thing."
"Shinzo?"
"Just a comment really; I think your sister is starting to get quite fond of that young American."
"I don't think that's entirely fair. Sure, I think I saw her eyeing him a couple times when we walked into that whole…you know."
"Yeah, that stuff."
"But seriously though Shinzo, she's been there for this young man the majority of the night. I don't think its attraction so much as empathy and understanding, you know, just trying to be there for someone with a similar experience."
"Similar experience? Akane? Your sister? What do you mean? You mother's alive."
"Her mother."
"Oh...goodness I didn't even….I see. I keep glancing over that little detail of you two not having the same mother. Sorry Erika."
"Wow. A concession and an apology, I didn't know you were capable of such things Shinzo."
"Ha Ha Ha."
"She's been pretty anti-social since her passing, so this experience in a way, minus what's mostly transpired as of late, has probably been good for her ability to talk to people."
"It seems Lance is pretty non-sociable too, by American standards. You'd have to be if you're willing to leave your home country and everything you know the next morning."
"You mean besides the ordeal of realizing just last night he lost his parents in a monster attack tragedy and didn't want to remain anywhere near the area they died, not to mention the arguably festering, boiling rage that's been triggered inside him against this creature, and for all we really know, joined Akira's associations with Ishiro just to have the opportunity to play a part in Godzilla's eventual destruction?"
"Uh…yes, that too."
"Still Shinzo, I wouldn't put it past Akane to eventually bond with this kid over their similarities. Maybe something good might come out of it…I hope."
3:30 AM in Japan Standard Time, 11:30 PM Pacific Standard Time.
The Gulfstream G650 jet touched down in Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport). Excluding Akira and Lance, who were well rested and fully recharged, the rest of the group was beyond exhausted, after synthesizing all their findings, data and proposals into one giant cumulative report to be presented within two days to unspecified officials in the Japanese government.
The flight downwards and along the tarmac felt extraordinarily therapeutic to the group. The major mental stimulant kicked in for most of them; back home to recuperate, relax and sleep in preparation. All would be required to attend the conference and answer questions at one point, but for now, there was a moment's peace.
Even in peace though, the group planned a means continuous contact, needing the ability in the off-chance to stay connected. Given the circumstances, a two-thirds majority won out against only using electronic means, though they all agreed to exchange contact information with one another to keep connected. Akane, Emiko and Hideo were to stay with Erika and Shinzo on the college campus. Akira and Lance were to go with Ishiro, who arranged prior to their landing with Ajar Kadin to have a sizable but modest apartment allocated towards them, along with a stable monthly income. The apartment happened to be just across the hall from Ishiro and Masako's.
Yamane was the only one heading to the government building. He told the group he'd rest in their facilities, and then would begin participating in the conference assemblage, all from the newly constructed museum in Yoyohi Park in Shibuya, adjacent to the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center that was still undergoing construction.
Before the group's final separation, Ishiro and Shinzo talked to Yamane about the new museum's features briefly. When asking about why the park was chosen given the local unrest and controversy surrounding the project, Yamane brushed it off as though it was nothing substantial. Ishiro pushed Yamane to explain why the project was under extreme secrecy and housed large numbers of security personnel. They could detect a subtle unease in Yamane's mood when they discussed the museum at all.
"Certain attractions and exhibits are world renowned artifacts. They require extra security detail," Yamane said with a straight face, but with a somewhat suspicious tone.
"That's true, but isn't it strange for your museum to require that many guards along the entirety of the property?"
"Unfortunately that falls out of my hands Shinzo. Suffice it to say I intend that museum to open to the public with top-notch analytical facilities and labs as soon as possible."
"I'm certain it will be a grand museum to the science Yamane," Ishiro encouraged.
"When it opens, I'd like to invite all of you to the opening day and receive a personal tour," Yamane announced to the entire group, waving towards Akira and Lance too.
"We'd be happy to attend," Erika responded with a tired but happy voice.
"I must depart now everyone. You all have my untold gratitude for engaging in this investigation. We'll be in touch soon. And Emiko?"
"Yes grandfather?"
"Shinzo will send you home within the next three days. Please try and be patient with the abrupt accommodations at the college. At least you'll probably see Daisuke. Goodbye Emiko."
Yamane embraced his granddaughter in a small hug, then entered his taxi, just before giving a knowing look and smile towards Hideo, implying he knew what was going on between them. Hideo delicately nodded in return. Emiko just stood in the same spot, recollecting, recalling and recalibrating her situation with Daisuke.
"I didn't turn my phone on since we left America."
She fumbled out her cellphone and turned it on. The voicemail announced she had thirty-three voicemails and ninety-two texts, all from Daisuke Serizawa. Hideo poked his head over to see her cellphone.
"I've never seen that many texts and voicemails accumulate in a ten hour period," he quietly joked out to her.
"Hideo…I'm going to have to tell him eventually."
"I know Emiko. I sure hope he's going to be his usual self and pretend he's listening while looking through an electron microscope or performing another series of derivations."
"Based on these texts messages," she paused, briefly going over just a couple, "whoa…I don't think so."
She and Hideo walked over to Shinzo's car and got in. Shinzo subsequently hoped in and drove them and himself to the University. Akane walked over to join Erika in her car, before turning to Lance, who was walking with Akira and Ishiro towards a taxi. She stopped over to see him.
"Lance?"
"Yeah Akane?"
"I forgot," she paused, pulling out a piece of paper, "to give this to you."
"What is it?"
"My phone contact, email and address in Chichibu, just in case."
She gave a small bow to him, to which Lance gave in return before he spoke up.
"Akane?"
"Yeah?"
Lance walked over and hugged her in a tight embrace.
"Thanks…for being there for me last night."
"You're not alone in this Lance. Don't forget that," she replied kindly to him, before they separated to their respective vehicles. Erika and Akira gave subtle nods to one another suggesting things were marginally more than they appeared, before everyone embarked on their travels.
3:45 AM JPT,
Yamane arrived at the National Diet Building. He stopped by his quarters to inspect all was well in his facilities, then exited into the main building interior walkways. He walked into one of the lounge facilities closed after hours with two other officials sitting by the closed café surrounded by a dozen more government officials, all much younger than them. Both the leading officials were in their seventies like Ishiro but not nearly as healthy or kept, looked dreary and unprepared, bickering over minor details of the constitution of Japan and other world leader's roles, though the first appeared far more polite and tactful than the other.
Yamane was blissfully off in his own mind, popping in and out of the discourse. He kept noting that all he himself cared about was that he was a scientist and intrigued only by the natural world. His disdain for politics and geopolitical situations was internally kept under wraps though. He had to for a long time out of necessity, only to ensure key details and information in the projects they undertook in the past would not be publicly known.
"At any rate Yamane, we hope your travels were pleasant and information rich," said one kind yet tried politician by the name of Shinjo.
"Is the report ready?" Said a brisk, aggravated one by the name Daiki.
"It is compiled and prepped. I hope the conference within the next few days will shed light into how important and incontrovertibly alarming this situation has become for us," Yamane said coolly.
"Considering the most recent events in our island chain, I should think the committee and official military gathering are giving it serious consideration," Shinjo replied.
"Our island chain? What do you mean?"
"Although," Daiki interjected, "our response is going to be tethered and restricted due to the international nature of our constitution. It's absolutely observed that our own prime minister has to ask permission to retaliate against foreign aggressors."
"Daiki, Shinjo, elaborate. What do you mean events in our island chain?
"Two-hundred and seventy-nine kilometers southwest of Odo Island a Japanese freighter, the Eiko-maru was lost. Before losing contact and disappearing off radar, it reported the sea glowing, flashing in a bright light."
"My god…it's in our waters now," Yamane croaked. "I can't tell Ishiro or the others, not now."
"The others? Who?" Daiki asked impatiently.
"My team, the one I assembled for this investigation. The one you wanted me to lie about until the impossible happened."
"Yes, we fully understand that situation," Shinjo calmly replied, hoping to diffuse the tension between Daiki and Yamane.
"Oh no…all those fishermen, gone," Yamane whimpered.
"It's not just the Eiko-maru Yamane. There's more," Daiki said.
"More?"
"Odo," Daiki said quietly.
"That was over sixty years ago," Yamane replied back quickly.
"Have you not kept contact with your team Yamane?"
"They will contact me with further updates when they discover new relevant information."
"No they won't," Shinjo said solemnly to Yamane.
"What?"
"Yamane, something happened on Odo Island only a couple of hours ago after the Eiko-maru around one in the morning. We didn't want to alarm you yet, but the research team…"
Yamane dropped in his seat, looking straight at the crème-colored wall in front of him.
"…we can't get a hold of them."
With his hands wrapped around his head, Yamane realized what was now so immediate and apparent, hoping the entire ride on the plane that the westward trajectory was faulty.
"I need a search and rescue on Odo, right now," Yamane barked.
"We've already got that in motion. We've alerted special personnel in the JSDF to observe the waters in the entire Bonin Chain for the next few hours."
"What is going to happen next?" Yamane silently asked.
"Mr. Daiki, Mr. Shinjo, we've made emergency contact with Odo," one of the young officials said with his laptop placed on the table. "His name is…Kono Otani. He sounds like he's in extreme duress, but still with us."
"Otani," Yamane muttered quietly.
"Sir," another young official said to Shinjo, working with three others trying to plot various points on a GIS map. "We've intercepted dozens of emergency calls on Aogashima Island. The details are that something enormous travelled through the island half an hour ago," he cried out.
"More reports coming right now," said another young official, "…from Hachi-jima island. Scattered emergency calls are indicating a huge dark figure rampaging through the town. Heavy casualties, injuries and property damage being reported."
Daiki, Shinjo and everyone paused, looking at Yamane, who put on a stern face, but his eyes unveiled the horror precipitating in his soul.
"It's starting."
