002 on 005
Wait, who? 005? Yeah, I don't know if he likes me or not. He's never really said anything particularly weird or even been any different with me than with any of the others, but, I dunno, it's just weird. Not that he's weird but more like just everything he says is weird and whenever we're in a room together it feels weird. Weird and awkward. Like, we're both Americans, but, we have completely different experiences. For all we've done similar stuff and been similar places, we may as well be from different planets. The New York I knew in 1964 isn't the New York he knew in 2001, and even if we were from the same time I don't think we'd have the same memories of the place. I dunno, some people look at a river, they think "wow, what a beautiful source of nature" and the rest think "damn, I'm going to get my feet wet".
And yeah, we've had a couple of conversations about the half-dozen places we actually have in common, but, it was kinda weird. For him, the Empire State Building was "so full of people, but so lonely" but for me it was all "I'm so gonna spit over the edge". The only thing we agreed on was that Central Park is lame. None of out little chats ever lasted more than a couple of minutes, though. He's not much of a talker; tends to keep to himself. Sits alone most of the time and tends to use as few words as possible. I kind of actually want to get him drunk, just to see if he's the kind who'd turn into a total blabbermouth when he drinks. (Mind you, I want to see everyone in the team drunk, so, that's not really saying much. Actually, can we even get drunk?)
I think the real thing is that I just don't like silence. Life is fast and life is loud and I really don't understand quiet people. Plus, with all the weird, unbelievable Black Ghost crap we've gone through you'd think we'd never stop talking about it all, right? We're all we've got; it's not like we can really talk about it to anyone else. And yeah, to me at leasts it feels a bit easier. I'd rather say "Hey man, thanks for literally punching that artillery shell out of the air and saving me from being blown halfway to New Zealand in an explosion" than "Hey man, sorry your culture got crushed into oblivion." Call me a coward if you like, I don't care. I don't want to go there, not yet.
He hasn't brought it up either. I don't know if he's just being nice, if he doesn't care or if that's just him being his usual self. I'm not going to push anything. Best to let sleeping giants lie.
And he is a giant. The guy has got to be over the seven foot mark. I always thought I was tall, but, next to him, I got nothing. It was pretty funny in Japan; me and him, walking down the street. Everyone stared and it was hilarious; you don't get more gaijin than us. Then, just for kicks I would speak to everyone around us in flawless Japanese.
Wait, what was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Point is, the guy is massive. But, the biggest, stupidest mistake you could make is to think that he's a gentle giant. I mean, yeah, he's all quiet and all in the house, but, put that guy in the middle of a fight and he turns into this goddam superman or something. Like, a while back we were up against some lower Black Ghost lackeys and one of them had the bright idea to try and hit 005 with a tank. Not a great plan. The tank speeds towards him, sixty or seventy miles an hour and 005 just turns around, holds out one hand and stops the whole thing dead, cool as anything. The tank flips over a couple of times and then 005 picks it up and just hurls it right back at them, hitting another tank and causing both to explode. It was pretty much the single coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. And then he just moves on. Not a word, not a reaction. Nothing. That bugs me. I mean, how can you do something that cool and not make the most of it? You don't have to toss off a James Bond one-liner or anything (should have worn a seatbelt...!) but at least enjoy it. When I do something that cool I can't stop thinking about it for days on end. I mean, there was this one time, back in in Japan, when we were all fighting 0010: I flew up to 0010 at full speed, snapped into acceleration mode, kicked the shit out of him and flew off before the bastard could even figure out what had hit him. It was seriously cool and I couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterwards. 005 just doesn't seem to care. And woah, I just got it. Nothing stops 005. Bullets bounce off him and nothing phases him. Deep stuff, man.
And, yeah, I don't know how to explain it. The guy knows stuff. Stuff he couldn't possibly have found out. Like, this one time after I got into an argument with 004, I was in a foul mood. I was annoyed at everyone for taking his side. After hearing me complaining, 005, with no provocation, just said:
"He used to be like you, when he was your age. He made a lot of mistakes as a teenager."
Seriously, what do you say to that? Was that supposed to make me understand anything any better? I mean, did 005 say anything to 004 that day too? (You know, something like "Don't be a jerk, man; he's not going to turn out like you did. He's smarter than that.")
Also, he's always the first to know when 001's awake. And he can predict the weather, sort of. I mean, he can usually guess if it's going to rain in a day but not much more. He also has this habit of making the rest of us look bad by being the first to volunteer to help with, well, everything. Cooking, cleaning, mechanic stuff, night rota, holding 001... (What? I ain't a servant. I'm not gonna let everyone take advantage of me just to make myself look better in front of them. And I don't know how to cook anyway, or wash dishes, or fix things. Anyway, everyone else seems to do OK on their own anyway. 006 is a chef; let him cook. 003 can see everything; let her be on lookout. 007 is British; let him make tea and talk everyone's ears off. 005 is a do-gooder; let him do good. I do more than my fair share out in the battlefield anyway, which more than makes up for it.)
Anyway, to sum it all up, I don't get the guy. I got nothing against him and there's probably no-one else I'd want guarding my back in a fight, but... If we could just share a beer or something and really just have a conversation I think we could get on OK, but, so far it's just awkward.