Xenosaga: Gottlicher Eingriff

Chapter Eight: Rescue

Shion groaned as a loud buzzing sound emitted from the computer near her bed. She rolled over, wrapping her pillow around her ears in the hope that whomever was calling would give up and call back when she was properly rested. But the noise persisted, and finally she turned back to the offensive machine, cracking open an eye to see who was calling.

Everything in front of her was a blurry haze. She blinked her eyes, but still the haze persisted. Then she realized the source of her trouble. Her contacts weren't in. Shion sat up, rubbed her eyes to get the sleep away, and put her feet into her slippers. There was no way in hell she was going to walk on the cold floors of the Dammerung barefoot.

Shuffling her way to the bathroom, she squinted her eyes at the number on her way pass. The number was Allen's. What does he want? He knows I don't like being disrupted in the mornings, she thought drowsily. Then she sighed, and pressed the accept button.

"What do you want, Allen?" she asked, making it clear she was not pleased about being woken at – she glanced at the glowing green numbers above her computer – seven thirty in the morning.

"Hey, Chief – Shion!" he quickly corrected at her glare. "Guess what? That giant Gnosis just started doing something, and Vector's sending the Dammerung out to look at it."

"Why did you wake me up at seven thirty in the morning to tell me this?" she asked, her annoyance growing. "You could have told me later."

"Well, yes, I could have," he said. "But the thing is, we're already there. So I assumed that you would want to do your job…"

"Oh, shut up," she muttered. He frowned, and leaned forward.

"I didn't quite catch that," he said. Shion shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "Where are we meeting, and when?"

"Docking Bay Twelve, in about fifteen minutes. I'm taking care of all the gear, so all you need to do is get down here."

"A Docking Bay?" she repeated, confused. "Are we actually going in for a close look?"

"Oh, right! You distracted me from the rest of the news. We're meeting up with the Durandal."

"Really? That's wonderful! I can't wait to see everyone again. Do you think the Elsa will be there too?"

"I don't know," he said. "But the faster you get down here, the faster we can find out!"

"Where is he?" said Gaignun, trying to reach out to Jr. through his mind. But the redhead seemed to have blocked his brain from his brother; he wouldn't respond to Gaignun. Finally giving up, Gaignun left his office and walked down toward the Realian lab to get a status report on the 100-series. He was sure that Ziggy and chaos would look out for his brother, and he had other matters to attend to.

The doors of the lab swished open, and Gaignun found himself face to face with none other than his old friend Nausicaa Kitase. She looked up, and smiled when she saw him.

"I didn't know you were here," she said, giving him a wave before returning to her work. "What exactly do you do here?"

"I sort of own the Kukai Foundation, as well as this ship."

"Pretty impressive," she said. "Then I assume you want a status report?"

"Do you have one ready?"

"Sure do," she said, closing down her computer files and turning to a manila folder. She opened it up, and quickly scanned the information. "Everyone is operating normally now. It appears as though there was an energy surge from the object they were scanning, and it interfered with their neural network. Whatever it was didn't want people finding out about it. While I was examining them I went ahead and added a new program. All it does is prevent this sort of thing by redirecting the surge. It's a bit complex, but that's the gist of it."

"I see," he said, digesting this information. "Does this program affect anything?"

"Nope. It's a harmless subprogram that activates when a surge hits the neural network. They may still get a shock, but it should keep damage to a minimum." She passed him the manila folder, which he accepted. "Everything is written in there, so if you really want to read through it and try to cipher it into the English language, be my guest."

"I don't think so," he said. "I'll just keep this for the records."

"Go ahead. Need anything else done here before I hitch a ride back to Fifth Jerusalem?"

"I believe that is all," he said. "Thank you for coming out here."

"No problem," she said. "I love working with Realians, and this was a unique problem for me to handle. I'm just glad I got a chance to use my new program."

"It hasn't been tested?" he asked, starting to feel a little alarmed.

"It has," she said. "But the program is mostly for Realians who work with hacking for the government, not privately owned 100-series. I just had to modify it a bit to match the network of the 100-series, and it'll work like a charm. But if you want me to stay and monitor their progress, I could. I don't have pressing matters at home that my assistants can't handle."

"If you wouldn't mind. I would rather make sure the adjustment is complete, and there is one 100-series that doesn't have this program."

"MOMO?" asked the doctor. He nodded.

"She may find it useful, and she may not. However, we should at least – " His words were cut off by the rather abrupt appearance of chaos.

"Gaignun, have you seen Jr.?" he asked, looking apprehensive. Gaignun sighed. He had a feeling that, once again, Jr. had done something very, very rash.

---

MOMO regained consciousness slowly in the cold, dark area. As she sat up, she felt a sense of déjà vu, reminded her of when she had woken up in the Song of Nephilim. At least she had a warm sweater this time, and her bow was beside her. She pulled the helmet off her head, and pushed the twisted wreck that had been the Zebulun's door aside. Careful of the jagged edges, she jumped lightly to the floor below. The squishy feeling beneath her boots reminded her of where she was.

Looking around, she couldn't see or sense any Gnosis near her. Perhaps they were all still outside, fighting. But thinking about that made her feel worse. How could she have let herself get into trouble again? And what had become of Ziggy? She couldn't remember.

"Ugh…!" she groaned, clutching her head, which had chosen at that time to remind her that she had collided rather harshly with the metal of the Zebulun before blacking out. There was no time to worry about the battle outside. What was important right now was getting out before a Gnosis found her – or worse, if the giant Gnosis digested her.

Scanning the Zebulun, she knew right away that there was no hope of repairing it with what she had on hand. She would have to find some other means of transportation. It pained her to leave behind the E.S. that had protected her so many times, but there was nothing she could do. Picking up her bow, she started down a passageway that seemed to lead toward the outer edge of the Gnosis.

The deserted halls were a little spooky, but she preferred this to meeting a Gnosis every few feet. Unlike the Gnosis that had captured them before, this Gnosis didn't have mechanical parts floating around it. Instead, there was merely the slimy skin of the Gnosis to look at. Because it was so dark, MOMO couldn't see where she was going very well, and would have kept bumping into the walls if she had been a human instead of an Observational Realian. After about fifteen minutes she arrived in a small antechamber, which was well lit. Taking a good look around, she gasped, startled, as she took it all in.

She hadn't been unnerved terribly by the Gnosis before, as she had been within one before. But this Gnosis was different – it wasn't materialized completely into this plane. Instead, it was still translucent. She imaged she was still in the Gnosis only because it didn't want to let go of what it held, trusting the Gnosis within it to exit and enter as they needed. That seemed to suggest that the Gnosis wasn't the leader, as she'd thought, but merely a transport ship between wherever the Gnosis came from and here. It also seemed to be a battle coordinator of sorts too.

MOMO stepped slowly into the room. Despite the fact she knew it could support her, and that her sensors told it her was solid enough to walk on, she still felt like she was stepping out into midair. The light seemed to come from lichen growing along the walls. What a unique life form, she thought, recording everything she'd thought and seen so far. Just in case she didn't make it out…

"Stop that!" she scolded herself, accidentally out loud. MOMO clamped her hands over her mouth in horror. She didn't see anything, nor sense it, but she still felt like she shouldn't be talking in so solemn a place, with its eerie organic light and transparent structure. I'm going to be okay, she told herself angrily, refusing to take a defeatist attitude about this.

Deciding that she'd lingered long enough, MOMO quickly crossed the room to the other side, clutching her bow tightly, the cool metal of the weapon giving her some comfort in this alien world. On the other side she was thankfully back in the darkness, where she couldn't see what she was walking on.

She MOMO walked down the passage, getting closer and closer to the edge, her sensors were starting to show an unusual reading; but they had to have been damaged in the crash. It couldn't possibly be true…could it? She checked again and again, but the sensors stubbornly showed the same thing. KOS-MOS was in the center of the Gnosis.

---

"Gone?" Gaignun repeated. It wasn't in disbelief that he repeated what was said; it was merely a way to confirm that he'd heard chaos right. The silvery-haired boy nodded.

"Gone," he repeated. "We were over at the sickbay, and Jr. kept talking about how it was his fault that MOMO was caught by the Gnosis – "

"Caught by the Gnosis?" repeated Gaignun. This wasn't something that he'd anticipated in the equation.

"Yes," chaos said. "The Zebulun was hit while returning to help the Asher; Ziggy was propelled out of the E.S., but MOMO was stuck inside, completely knocked out. With no pilot the Zebulun was propelled toward that giant Gnosis by the others returning. Anyway, if the Asher hadn't been in trouble, and if MOMO hadn't turned around to help, she might be on the ship. So, instead of taking it as her fault she turned around, or the Gnosis' fault for being there…"

"He took it as his own for getting in trouble, and for letting her come along in the first place," Gaignun said, closing his eyes. "So he went back to get her?"

"I asked him to wait until we were ready to help him, but you know how stubborn he is. I probably should've dragged him into the sickbay to see Ziggy with me, but I didn't."

"No use crying over spilt milk," Gaignun said. "Are there no other E.S. or even an A.G.W.S. that we could use?"

"None that are ready to infiltrate a Gnosis," chaos said. "I guess all that's left is to hope they get out soon, or at least don't get themselves killed until we can find some way of helping them."

Gaignun didn't reply as his portable headset rang. He pulled it on, and opened the line. "Yes?"

"Master Gaignun, the Dammerung of Vector has arrived here," said Shelley's cool voice. "C.E.O. Wilhelm himself is present. He wishes to speak with you at your earliest convenience on the Dammerung."

"The C.E.O. of Vector himself chose to pay us a visit?" Gaignun said, mostly for chaos' benefit. Perhaps it had been his imagination, but he could've sworn chaos' eyes darkened for a moment at the news. He quickly brushed the thought aside; more pressing matters were at hand. "Tell him I would be delighted to accept his invitation. He can expect me in about fifteen minutes time."

"As you wish," Shelley said, and the connection ended. He took off the headpiece, and looked curiously at chaos. But once again the young man's face was impassable. Gaignun had always prided himself on his ability to read people, but chaos was one of those few that could manage to evade him. As chaos offered no news on the development, Gaignun said nothing.

"Well, as you can see, I must be off for my meeting," Gaignun said. "If you could manage to bring him back in one piece, I would be very grateful indeed. The resources of the Durandal are at your disposal."

"I'll do what I can," chaos said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to get himself out for once in his life. He seemed pretty determined."

"Anything you can do to assist an acceptable outcome is appreciated," Gaignun said. "Now, I must take my leave of you. Good luck."

"Good luck to you as well," chaos said. "I have a feeling you're going to need it."

---

Jr. stopped the Asher in a small alcove along the Gnosis'…skin, for lack of a better word. The Gnosis itself seemed pretty transparent, but the sensors of the Asher had assured him that it would be solid enough to walk on.

He opened the hatch of the Asher, after assuring himself that his spacesuit was indeed on properly, and floated into the Gnosis. The skin, however, refused to let him through. He had been prepared for that, however, and pulled out one of his guns. Taking careful aim, he fired six shots in rapid succession. The result was a fist-sized hole, and a slight tremor from the Gnosis. Jr. pushed his hand in, and slowly pulled apart the layer, making a big enough hole for him to get in. Finally, it was big enough, and he tumbled into the semidarkness inside.

Strapped to his wrist was a locator, which was attuned to the Zebulun. Glancing down at it, he was pleased to see that he wasn't too far from MOMO's location, assuming she hadn't gone too far. After double-checking the reading he headed off in the direction indicated.

Soon enough he came across the Zebulun, and as he had feared MOMO had already gone. Her helmet was placed carefully on the ground, which suggested that she had moved with deliberation instead of panic and fear. The other side of the small room that hosted the Zebulun had only one other door; therefore, it was the logical assumption that she'd gone that way, since he hadn't passed her on his way here. On his way to the exit he picked up her helmet; she would need it for entering the Asher.

The passage was dark, and since Jr. was not an Observational Realian, he kept misjudging distances and bumping into walls. By the time he'd hit a wall for the fifth time he started to swear vehemently, but was stopped by a new sound – a scream.

Forgetting all the pain he was in, forgetting that it would be stupid to run in a dark hallway, he started to race ahead at full speed, his footsteps muffled by the soft padding of the ground. In record time he reached the lichen room that MOMO had passed through; unlike MOMO, he didn't stop to appreciate the alien presence that had shaped the room, he so intent upon finding MOMO. Unfortunately, it had sounded like something had found her before him. But she couldn't die, he wouldn't let her, they were going to get out of this together and alive.

As he plummeted back into darkness he could hear the sounds of a battle. The familiar twang of her energy bow, the snap of fangs, the swish of an arrow being released, the cry of pain as the shaft of light reached its mark. Still running he withdrew his guns from their holsters, ready to join the fray. He had been lulled into security by the deserted halls, but now he was ready for battle. His blood began to sing in anticipation, as it always did. He was meant for battle, meant for it as surely as the Realian he had almost reached was not.

Finally he found her, her back against a wall, her bow still firing away with amazing accuracy. There were scratches on her forearms, the blood soaking her spacesuit, and her cheek sported a nasty bruise. Still, the determined fire didn't leave her eyes as she gave her all to the battle.

Jr. dashed into the room, guns held at the ready, dropping the helmet at the door. With agility befitting a U.R.T.V. he drew a bead on the opponent, and released a hail of bullets. The unknown Gnosis was quickly distracted from its meal, deciding to neutralize this new threat before eating in peace. But Jr. didn't give it much of a chance to fight back. He charged the monster, getting in a few shots at its eyes before drawing away. A forked tail hit the ground where he had been with a splat, but he was long gone, firing at a newly opened target.

MOMO, in the mean time, had drawn on her ether powers to cure herself. With fresh strength she added her share to the battle – she concentrated on calling forth strong ethers to crush the Gnosis with. Once she discovered a weakness to thunder, she called forth thunder ethers, wounding the beast even more.

The Gnosis itself was confused. Should it attack the one hitting it the hardest and the least, or the one that struck lightly and often? It seemed torn between the options, a fact that both MOMO and Jr. would use to their advantage. When the monster seemed to be bearing down too much on MOMO, Jr. would pull of a risky attack that would cause it to turn. When Jr. was backed into a corner, MOMO released a very powerful spell that weakened her for a while, but left Jr. free to move and continue the battle.

It seemed to take forever, although a more accurate measure of time would have been twenty minutes. Finally, bleeding and blinded, the defeated Gnosis thrashed about wildly, and then lay still. MOMO and Jr. looked at each other across the battlefield, at a loss for words, so intent where they on regaining their breath. Finally, MOMO spoke.

"You came to find me," she said, looking him right in the eyes. Before he could say anything, she kept going. "I wanted to give up for a moment back there, before you showed up. But I couldn't, because I had to keep myself alive long enough for you to get here. I knew that you would. You always do."

Jr. felt himself blushing. Now that the battle was done, he was out of his element. He wasn't sure what exactly he was supposed to say here. Somehow, 'you're welcome' seemed to pompous, while 'it was nothing' made it seem as though he'd had nothing better to do, had fancied a stroll around enemy territory, and had accidentally stumbled upon her being attacked by monsters.

MOMO looked nervous after a moment of silence. "I…I guess we should head back now," she said softly, looking pointedly at everything in the room except him. Damn it, I screwed up and I don't even know how! He watched her start to leave, and suddenly realized he had to say something before she went too far.

"Er, MOMO…" he said, and almost slapped himself. Real articulate, he mentally berated himself. Now she probably thought he was even more of an idiot. At least something went right, though, she did turn to face him. "Look, I…well, that is…I wanted to say…t-that…uh… Man, this is really hard. Look, I guess what I'm trying to say it, thanks for…believing in me, believing that I'd do something right."

She laughed a little. What did I do now? "Jr., you do manage to do and say the wrongs things some times, that's true. But your heart is always in the right place."

"Oh! Thanks," he said. They stood there, unsure what to do next. "Um, we should probably get back to the Asher before Gaignun institutes a search party."

"You didn't tell anyone you were coming?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, not exactly…" he said slowly. "I mean to say, I gave the impression that I would hang around for a bit and get a plan together. And I did, in a way. My plan was jump in the Asher, reached the Gnosis, and then wing it."

"Wing it?" she repeated, cocking her heard curiously.

"It means 'make it up as you go along'. That's what you do when you head into a situation that you didn't prepare for in any way."

"Oh," she said, probably filing that away for future reference. "Well, yes, we should get going." Jr. quickly walked over, and handed her the helmet he'd dropped.

"You're going to need this," he said. "I guess the Gnosis doesn't like me as much as it likes you; I had to park on the outside."