Xenosaga: Gottlicher Eingriff

Chapter Four: Realian Problem

Ziggy looked about the Isolation Area that contained the Zohar Emulators, but no longer could he detect the unusual source of energy that had suddenly appeared upon the security sensors. He pulled out his communication device, slipped the earphone part around his ear, and tapped a button, opening the speech function on the microphone.

"So far all clear," he said into the microphone. "I can't detect the anomaly anymore."

"Huh, that's odd," said Jr.'s voice on the other end. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Ziggy said calmly, knowing he hadn't meant to suggest he wasn't good as his job.

"Okay. Wait there a moment, and I'll get the 100-series to scan the area one more time. Maybe they'll get something we missed."

"All right," Ziggy said, and he leaned against a wall, waiting for the 100-series to complete their scan. He looked around at the Emulators as he did so. So far, nothing seemed amiss about them. They were still in their protective metal cases, and the seals were unbroken. Nothing organic was in the room, except for him. The only noises were the distant hum of the engines, the buzz of the cables that sent electricity into the room, and his own steady breathing. To most the place was creepy with the massive monoliths towering over you, making you feel small, and the odd shadows that seemed to move of their own free will. But Ziggy felt no fear over this, not anymore. Now, it was merely something that he could analyze and dismiss as fantasy, the effects of darkness and silence on the human brain.

"Durandal to Ziggy, repeat, Durandal to Ziggy. Come in, old man," said Jr.'s playful voice on the other end of the communicator. "Please respond from your sector of space."

"Sorry, I was thinking. What did the 100-series get?"

"A big, fat nothing," he complained. "But I know there was something there!"

"As do I. Perhaps whomever it was teleported out."

"But that's not possible!"

"Jr., I would think that after having the same experiences as the rest of us last year you would have learned that there is very little in this universe that is impossible." Ziggy suggested, allowing a little amusement to show through.

"You're right, I suppose. But this is so frustrating," he mumbled, and Ziggy was sure he wasn't just talking about ghosts running amok in his ship. He was talking about the fact that everyone else they'd used to journey with was off doing their own thing, having the time of their lives, and he was here with nothing left to do. Even MOMO was probably having more adventures than he was.

For a brief moment he wondered what exactly the Realian girl was doing. She hadn't called, so he assumed that everything was all right. But his curiosity was starting to get the better of him. In the time they had spent together he had started to think of her as a daughter. His worry for her hadn't diminished in this time in between. He had to remember to give her a call one of these days.

He shook his head, knowing that for now he had a job to do. What had they been discussing...? Ah yes, Jr. had been complaining about how frustrating this was. And, for once, Ziggy agreed with him 100 percent.

"I am sure it is," Ziggy replied, not knowing what else to say. "I'm leaving the Isolation Area now."

"Okay. See you later," muttered Jr.'s dull voice, and switched off his end of the device. Ziggy followed suit, switching off his device and starting toward the door. As he reached it, he thought he saw something dark as night move to his left, but nothing registered. Ziggy shook his head, refusing to allow the human half of his brain to get to him. He knew that if he turned there would be darkness there, and nothing more.

---

From the darkness a robed figure watched Ziggy as he left, a slight smile on his face. How easy it is to sway Realians and humans, and how much easier it is to sway those that have become less than human. He slowly glided up to the Zohar that read 'Marienkind' on it, and smiled as he reached out a hand to caress the smooth metal. Soon, so very soon, it will be time. And then we will see who is the master and who is the follower, won't we?

He slowly reached out to the Zohar with his mind, and smiled at the presences that reached back. These fools will do anything for death, he thought, laughing. A few 'reassuring' thoughts, and they readily agreed to help him, and to persuade the rest of the Zohar inhabitants to do the same. He laughed then, his laughter like poisoned ice.

Soon, Jan Sauer, soon it will be time for you to stop clinging desperately to life and accept that you are, in fact, dead. Just like I am. But there is a difference between us. I chose to gather power with my death, by my ether-meld. You, you were content to stay dead until they brought you back. And now you keep clinging to life, even though you insist you want death. How pathetic.

Voyager smiled, his eyes narrowed at the door Jan Sauer had recently exited. Soon... he thought with satisfaction. Soon his anger would be sated.

---

Jr. paced the bridge of the Durandal, walking back and forth between Mary and Shelley. He looked down at the 100-series for a moment. "Anything?" he asked.

"Negative. There was a momentary surge in the Isolation Area after Ziggy left, then nothing," said one, either Akina or Amara, the two with identical personalities and hard work ethics. He always had trouble figuring out which was which, although MOMO always seemed to know.

"Damn," he hissed, and resumed his pacing. Alby watched him curiously, his head cocked to one side as though pacing were the stupidest thing he'd ever seen. Jr. stopped to drum his fingers on the rail a moment, then went back to pacing. Finally, Mary had had enough.

"Little Master, stop your pacin' this minute!" she complained, holding out her hands to stop him. He obliged her for a moment, leaning on the railing.

"Sorry, Mary," he apologized. "But this whole day has been so weird and yet so boring. I don't know what to make of it."

"Well, neither do we," Mary said, indicating her sister and the 100-series. "But at least we aren't trying t' wear a pattern into the metal deck!" she added, laughing at him as she turned her attention back to her work. Jr. made a face at her behind her back.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, looking around the bridge. He pounded his fist on the railing that he leaned on in frustration. "There has to be some explanation. Are you sure it was only one Zohar?"

"Yes," said the other, either Akina or Amara. Jr. decided they really needed to get nametags or something, at least for those two. The rest were kind of easy to figure out, if they were talking. Ren was the one that had started to talk like Mary did after having so many lessons with her. Leyna was the silent one, who always spoke in a solemn voice. Nixie was the one who was always teasing the others, and Yuri was the one always taking charge of the others. However, if they all stood side by side, silent, Jr. was positive he wouldn't know Leyna from Nixie, and they had such drastically different personalities.

"Little Master, I am detecting a surge from the starboard side of the ship," said Shelley, cool as always.

"Can you put it on the screen?" he asked, pushing himself away from the railing and staring expectantly at the screen. Please be something there, he begged silently. He wanted nothing more than an explanation for what had happened, or at least some sort of adventure - anything. Shelley tapped several keys, and an image of stars appeared on the viewing screen. Jr. scanned it eagerly, but there was nothing there.

"Are you sure there was something there?" he asked wearily, resuming his pacing, much to Mary's annoyance, although this time she didn't say anything.

"According to my monitor, something is still there," she said. "Can anyone sense anything out there?" The sisters quickly conferred with themselves, scanning with all their abilities.

"No," called Yuri, speaking for the whole group. Jr. doubled his pacing, trying to vent some of his frustration and anger without taking it out on the innocent bridge crew. For the last week things like this had been occuring, and today's incident in the Isolation Area had been the worse of it. To have an enemy that could freely roam about the ship was never, ever good. Odd signals kept being detected, and yet nothing was there. Messages would be received, yet when they were answered there would be only static.

"I sense somethin'," called a voice from below, which he recognized as Ren's. Jr. hurried over to the edge and looked down at the green haired girl. "It's really faint, but I can kinda make it out. Concentrate on 340-832-8-92." Shelley quickly typed in the coordinates. The viewscreen zoomed in, and Jr. peered at it in interest.

"What's that?" he asked, as a small white sphere appeared on the viewer. There was something scribbled on it in black paint, something he couldn't quite make out. Something about it seemed eerily familiar, though. "Shelley, see that insignia looking thing?"

"I can't zoom in on it anymore," Shelley replied. "It is blocking all of my scans. 100-series, can you try to scan it?"

"Everyone, start to link," Yuri said, linking into her computer. "We'll have more power that way."

"Aye-aye, captain," said Nixie sarcastically as she starting the linking process along with the rest. Six pairs of eyes closed as one, and together they began their scan. Jr. watched anxiously, drumming his fingers along the railing again. Slowly, data started to appear on Yuri's screen. Jr. hurried down the walkway, and leaned over the girl's shoulder to read what was appearing. So far, it was only boring information. Size, weight, composition. Then, something interesting appeared. It was sending and receiving a tight-beam communication from some point in space.

"Shelley, are you getting this?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm trying to pin-point the communication now."

Jr. hurried over to her computer, watching as slowly number after number appeared, narrowing it down even more. "Hey, it looks like it's coming from - " His words were cut off as, without warning, the Realian sisters screamed as one, then toppled over, unconscious. The three humans stared at them in amazement.

"Mary, get a medic," Jr. said, quickly getting himself under control.

"R-right away!" she said, quickly tearing her gaze away from the others and fumbling with her handheld. Shelley slowly walked to the nearest one, and felt her pulse.

"She's alive," she said. Jr. breathed a sigh of relief, glad that they weren't in any severe danger.

"Man, this has been one hell of a week," he grumbled.

---

MOMO stared in horror at her sister lying unmoving on the floor. Running over, she felt her pulse. The girl was alive, but she wouldn't respond to any of MOMO's ethers or shakes, and the pulse was racing. Okay, I need to think clearly, MOMO thought, trying hard not to panic. It isn't fatigue or illness, because my ethers didn't work. Scanning her I can't find anything wrong, except her heart is unusually fast and she just won't wake up. Oh god, oh god, what am I going to do?

Yes, MOMO was on the edge of losing it. She stopped and willed herself to be calm, although she couldn't stop the shaking of her hands. The area around her was deserted, as no one was leaving Miltia at a time like this. The building was only open to allow people terminal access, but no one else was there.

Nausicaa and Canaan should be back soon, she thought, hugging her stomach. I hope they make it in time. She carefully picked the Kirschwasser up, and looked around. She didn't know how much time the Realian had. She had to find Canaan and Nausicaa now.

Holding the girl against her, MOMO started out of the spaceport and looked around the streets. Surely someone here could help her. But none of them had any experience in Realians. She needed to find the UMN building soon, but her panic was clouding her mind. She started off in what she thought was the direction of the UMN building, hoping that she was right.

"MOMO!" called a voice behind her, causing her to turn around. Canaan and Nausicaa ran over to her, looking at her. "What the...?" started Nausicaa, but MOMO cut her off.

"She just fainted all of a sudden, and she won't wake up!" MOMO said, showing her the girl. "Her pulse is fading, and I don't know what to do!"

"Okay, calm down. We'll get to the UMN building, and I'll look at her there," reassured the woman, picking up the Kirschwasser. "You two run ahead, and tell them to have my analysis room ready by the time I get there, okay? I'm counting on you, so you need to stay calm," she added, looking directly into MOMO's scared golden orbs.

"O-okay," she said. She turned to Canaan, who started off at a run down the street. MOMO raced quickly after him, not wanting to loose sight of him in the crowd. Nausicaa followed them at a slower pace, not wanting the jostle the hurt girl.

---

Nausicaa, exhausted, finally reached the building. MOMO was waiting anxiously for her inside.

"They got your room ready, and your assistant is ready," MOMO said. "Canaan made sure they did it right away."

"Good," Nausicaa said, walking quickly by her. She didn't know what was wrong with the Kirschwasser, and she wanted to find out. Her symptoms didn't match anything that she'd ever seen before, in all her years of research.

Once in the room Nausicaa stabilized the girl as soon as she placed her on the chair by giving her a drug to relax her racing pulse. Then she started warming up her equipment, attaching a brainwave monitor to the head of the Realian. She started scanning, making sure the vital signs remained the same.

An hour later, unable to detect any sort of virus, she decided to try see if the girl was in shutdown. Finding that she was, she initiated the emergency start up. Slowly, her pulse finally returned to normal, life functions began to return to wake up mode. Nausicaa waited by the chair, waving to MOMO to allow her in. MOMO hurried in, and peered down anxiously at the girl. Slowly, her yellow eyes opened. She started at the sight of the two, and jumped back, looking around.

"W-where am I?" she asked, shaking her head as though trying to clear it. She looked back up at them. "Who are you?"

"I'm MOMO. Don't you remember anything?"

"MOMO... You're the one... from the lab... I'd heard you were born, but we've never met. I'm Suki." She held out her hand, which MOMO took with confusion.

"What do you mean? You came up to me in the spaceport, saying you had a message for me." The girl shook her head.

"I don't remember any of that. The last thing I remember was entering the Song of Nephilim... Then I woke up here. That's it, really."

"It's okay, we believe you," Nausicaa said, trying to soothe the agitated girl. "You seem to have misplaced part of your memory, but that's okay. We'll find a way to retrieve it."

"Okay. I really don't remember anything about a message."

"I know, and that's okay. We'll find a way to get it back. Bur first, we need somewhere for you to stay for a little bit. You ought to stay here, under observation. I'll stay here too, to keep an eye on you. Is that okay?" Suki nodded in agreement, and Nausicaa turned to MOMO. "MOMO, you should call your mother and tell her where you are. I'd like your asistance for a while. Then I want you to find Canaan, and tell him that I'll be here a while, so he should finish his search himself."

"All right. The UMN still has communications, right?"

"Sure does. Tell them I said you could use the phone out front."

"Okay," MOMO said, and hurried off to complete the task. Nausicaa turned back to Suki. The girl stared at her, seeming scared still. Nausicaa tried to relax her.

"So, you said your name was Suki?"

"Y-yes."

"Well, that's a very pretty name. It fits you."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, Suki, what can you tell me about the events leading up to the black space in your mind?"

"Well, I entered the Song of Nephilim with my sisters. We were supposed to get it operational as soon as we could. I was supposed to look over the databanks. I went into the room, and was working on confirming them full when a shadow fell over me. I think everything went black, and someone was whispering to me, and I felt cold all over. And I don't remember anything else."

"Hm, that's interesting. Well, you should try to think about it a little bit more, if it doesn't scare you. Anything else you can remember will really help me try to isolate the problem. It could be the area was blocked, or the memories totally removed, or any number of things."

"I'll try to remember, but I don't know if I will."

"Just - " Nausicaa's words were interrupted by the urgent beep of the communication console behind her. She turned around, and opened up the connection. A red-haired teen looked back at her, probably about MOMO's age, appearance-wise.

"Hello, is MOMO there? We were told this was where she was by her mother."

"Oh, she should be around here somewhere," Nausicaa said. "Do you want to wait, or shall I give her a message?"

"I guess just a message," he said. "Could you tell her that her sisters are sick?"

"Sick? What's wrong with them?" asked Nausicaa, concerned. If they were MOMO's sisters, they must be Realians. Their illnesses always concerned her.

"We don't know yet. They were in the middle of a scan when they suddenly collapsed. They woke up again, but we can't figure out why they suddenly collapsed. And they all seem to be unfocused."

"Do they have their memories intact?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, I just had a problem like that earlier today. But in her case she doesn't remember a thing for quite a while back."

"Wait, you work with Realians?"

"I'm only just the top Realain researcher Nausicaa Kitase, nothing special," Nausicaa said. Most humans had never heard of her, and she had no doubt that this person would be the same. Humans just didn't seem to care much about what happened to Realians. Although he had called to tell MOMO about her sisters...

"Could you come look at them? We'll pay you," he said, breaking into her thoughts. Nausicaa mentally reviewed her schedule.

"Hmm, I think I could do that. One moment. What was your name?"

"Oh, uh, Gaignun Kukai Jr." The name didn't explain why he was so familiar, although it did explain where he came from. Everyone was aware of the Kukai Foundation. She turned to Suki.

"Would it be okay if we went there? That way I could compare these cases."

"I don't mind what you want to do, if you think it will retrieve my memory," Suki said. Nausicaa nodded, then walked out into the corridor. She spotted the pink-haired girl looking in a room down the hall, and beckoned her over.

"MOMO, do you know a Gaignun Kukai Jr.?"

"Oh, yeah. He's a friend of mine. Why?'

"He called to say your sisters were sick. I'm going out to look them over, and I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me and Suki, provided your mom says okay."

"I'd love too! And mom will say okay, I know she will," MOMO said excitedly.

"I'll tell him we'll all be coming, then" She turned around, walked back into the room, and faced the waiting teen. "I'll be coming up with two other people," she said. "One of them is MOMO."

"MOMO is coming up? Awesome! Tell her I said hi, and I can't wait to see her again," Jr. said. "Goodbye, Dr. Kitase."

"Good-bye, Mr. Kukai."

"I don't really like being called that. Call me Jr., everyone does."

"All right. Well, goodbye." With that he terminated the line. Pushing the thought that he was familiar out of her mind, Nausicaa turned back to Suki.

"It looks like your my unofficial assistant for the week. Could you help me pack?"

"Sure," the girl said, and they started to gather together the supplies.