Blue Drop: Angel's Home: Chapter 14
Answers
Mari'il found a message waiting for her when she arrived home at her apartment. Sitting down at her desk she opened it to play. The screen cleared then showed Loriel sitting at her own desk.
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``Abdiel, Ariel, Mari'il, I just found this out and wanted to pass it on to you without waiting until the next time we meet. I'm sorry that won't be for a while, but I need to head out for another Fleet Exercise ...again.'' Her mouth quivered in a wry smile. ``These do tend to come up at the most inconvenient times, don't they. I hope you'll forgive me for being vague about any intelligence sources used here. I feel you all understand that need.
``Anyway, I've followed up on some of the information you gave me at our meeting. It seems that Zephrael has not been working alone on this consciousness transfer project. You were correct in pointing to her former teacher Sariel. I wonder what we might uncover if we look a little deeper into why she has disappeared from public and academic view of late.
``Her prime collaborator at the moment is Razael, another student of Sariel, and it sounds like she shares her attitude. I don't know if either of you you have run across Razael in your work. I expect Mari'il will find it especially worrisome that she has recently departed for Forime with a few assistants to see what they could do to help with the restoration of male Arume. Leastwise, that is what the mission description states. A detailed investigation of this mission shows that one of the items of cargo was labeled as a pair brain-scan analyzers. Purportedly these were for analyzing Forime, and they may be used for that as well, but what is suspicious is that they were previously used in Zephrael's laboratory and their weights don't match those recorded at delivery. You know how researchers tend to modify instruments, and that may be all we're seeing here, but given the other evidence, I'm concerned that this may be one of the devices Zephrael used to transfer consciousness. You reported that a high intensity Emil-Force wave seems to help with the transfer, so it may be significant that there are also three large Emil-Force storage bottles in the manifest.
``Unfortunately, I don't have the same level of influence on Forime as I do around here. Missions at the end of a long chain of Leminov shifts have always been granted a large degree of autonomy, and here is one case where that could be more of a problem than a help, so I'm not sure if there's anything significant I can do now that Razael's left. I did send word to one of our the division commanders heading to Forime of Razael, telling her what we've discovered here and what our suspicions might be. Ekaril might remember Admiral Mariel from our days together on Celerol when she was still an operator.''
Mari'il paused the playback while Ekaril told Mari of the time when she served together with Mariel. Loriel was the commander of Celerol and that was where Ekaril first met her. Mariel was fun-loving, but a bit ...different even back then.
``On the other hand, I now have enough data to show that Zephrael has been violating the terms of her research contracts with Fleet. While her `questionable' medical ethics don't violate any specific clauses, they do point to a lack of rigor in upholding others. One big violation was her shipping classified gear, including the brain-scan analyzers, to Forime with Razael without authorization. She also shipped another unauthorized pair to an unsecured location in Mindenev. Together with this, she's released some classified information she had been granted access to as part of her research. Because of these misdeeds, I was able to get her declared in violation of her contracts, which have thus been canceled. She will have to vacate her offices in Fleet Hospital. She'll be given two weeks to do so, but her data and computer access have been restricted immediately.''
Loriel smiled a cold smile, and Mari'il was happy to be neither the cause nor the target of it.
``Master Commander Phanuel, of the judicial branch, has been very helpful in arranging all the legal matters in this. She also uncovered some further violations which I must keep confidential.
``Abdiel, I've also found some more information about Zephrael's test subjects. I'm forwarding that to you separately in hopes you will find it useful in addition to disturbing like I did. I'm also sending you Phanuel's contact information in case she can help you with it.
``I hope that this finding provides more help than worry. I'm sorry to bring it to you, and that I can't provide much reassurance.
``Grand Admiral Loriel out.''
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Mari'il sat there, simply staring at the blank screen where Loriel had just spoken. It was some time before she moved again. When she did, she shook her head to clear it. [[ Do you think we need to worry about this? ]] Mari asked Ekaril.
[[ I can't say for sure. Of course I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone on Earth, and that's the main worry I have about this being used there. If it helps any, I think it unlikely that Tsubael or Kouzuki-san would end up on the wrong—on either—end of this device. ]]
[[ Thanks. That is exactly what I was worried about. ]] Mari sensed Ekaril's feelings of reassurance and loving protection, and they really did help calm her. [[ Anyway, I guess there's not a whole lot we can do from here, even if we would worry. So I guess it's better if we don't. ]]
[[ Mari, my dear, those are wise words. Let's try to follow them. ]]
With this thought, Mari'il got up from her desk and headed into the kitchen to prepare her dinner. Tonight she chose a more complicated set of dishes for her meal, as the care required preparing them would keep her mind occupied.
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``So, what did you think of Loriel's message?'' asked Abdiel. She and Ariel had arranged to meet Mari'il in her office, and she voiced the question they all had.
``I'm glad she won't be able to cause any more problems at the Hospital,'' replied Ariel. ``Raphael will also be happy to learn she won't have to worry about running into her any more.''
``True,'' said Mari'il. ``that one encounter she had with Zephrael when I was moving out really unsettled her. On the other hand, I also hope that nothing bad happens on Forime or in Mindenev where she sent that equipment.''
``I do too,'' Abdiel agreed. ``I'm also glad Loriel was able to do kick her out of her Fleet work. I'm also grateful for the further information she sent me.''
``I may need some further help though, which brings me here.'' Abdiel nodded to Mari'il. ``Thank you for offering to introduce me to Phanuel.''
``No problem.'' Mari'il looked at the clock. ``Shall we head over? It's about time, and she has has a nicer office to talk in than I do.''
Abdiel and Ariel both agreed, so Mari'il led them through the long halls of Admiralty House. They arrived at Phanuel's office and Mari'il knocked at the door.
Phanuel immediately answered, inviting them to come in and have a seat.
``Master Commander Phanuel,'' Mari'il began, ``Let me introduce the friends Grand Admiral Loriel mentioned. This is professor Abdiel from the University, and Doctor Ariel from our hospital.'' She gestured to her two companions in turn.
``Abdiel, Ariel, I'm pleased to meet you. Mari'il told me we might have some things to share about Zephrael.''
Abdiel nodded, took out a data chip and passed it to Phanuel. ``Here is what I've found out about her involvement with university research. It looks like she's been careful to not arouse suspicion, but I hope that combining this with your data may help us protect folks at the university as well.''
Phanuel put the chip in her reader, and the four proceeded to discuss the evidence they had on Zephrael and what she might be trying to do. While Phanuel didn't know the details of the university's bureaucracies, her expertise in the judicial branch helped greatly in deciding how to best present this to the University Ethics Board.
``Thanks again for this data, Abdiel,'' said Phanuel as their discussion drew to a close. ``It gives me the last piece needed to create a legal wall between Zephrael and her test subjects—including you, Mari'il.'' Her smile showed both gentleness to those she was protecting and an unyielding strength to any opposing them. ``Also, if you would like, I'd be happy to review your complaint to the Ethics Board.''
``If you would, please,'' Abdiel replied. ``The closer to an airtight case we hand them, the faster the academic bureaucracy will move. I think this should prove sufficient to have her banned from the University as well.''
``Thank you both,'' said Mari'il, happy to hear of the widening circle who would now be safe from Zephrael.
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Phanuel and Abdiel were good to their word, and the University Ethics Board soon declared Zephrael persona non grata. The only worrisome aspect was Phanuel's report that Zephrael had left for parts unknown immediately after cleaning out her office at the Hospital. Phanuel guessed that she headed for Mindenev following the equipment she sent there, but it would take time to trace the convoluted route she took trying to make it difficult to track her.
Mari'il hoped this didn't bode ill for the people of that distant land, assuming that's where she went. Mari'il and Phanuel figured this was her likely destination as she had also uncovered rumors that Sariel had disappeared into this less than perfectly law-abiding territory. Mari'il did wonder how Zephrael and Sariel would fit in there. After all, their own elitist attitudes and sense of superiority seemed opposite of the ``anything goes'' free-for-all which seemed to epitomize Mindenev culture. Some of the goings-on at their festivals would curl the hair of straight-laced Arume, to say nothing of how the assistant principal at Kaihou Academy would have reacted. Reports were that their politics were similarly loose. After thinking about it for a bit, Mari'il figured that this had to be the reason they ended up there, Sariel and Zephrael could slip their questionable activities through the cracks this looseness provided and bribe their way out if that didn't work.
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Not long after Zephrael was banned from the university, Abdiel asked to see Mari'il again, saying she'd found some further interesting results regarding shared consciousness. Mari'il suggested also inviting Ariel, as she'd been involved in this from the beginning. So the three of them found themselves once more sitting together in Ariel's office, as that was the most convenient central location for all of them to meet.
``You sounded hopeful when you called me,'' Mari'il observed. ``Did you find something good? I can only hope.''
``I just might have. On the other hand, I don't want to falsely raise your hopes. If you don't mind, I've got a couple questions for you as well.''
Mari'il nodded in assent.
Abdiel turned to Ariel. ``Would you mind displaying that data I just sent over.''
Ariel instructed her office-computer to do so, and gave Abdiel control of the display which appears on the wall beside them.
``I've been looking through Zephrael's data as well as elsewhere, seeing what I could find about the underlying consciousness rejecting the transferred one. I've compared the records she took of your brain-waves, Mari'il, with those of her subjects and with those you gave me. These are some of the same graphs I showed you earlier, Mari'il.'' She brought up a pair of complex graphs on the wall-screen. ``See this confused spike here? I find it's present in Zephrael's subjects, but typically not in yours Mari'il. And those times you do show something here, it's shaped differently.'' She brought up a third graph. ``You can see here it's much smoother. Interestingly, these only seem to appear right after you have had to deal with Zephrael. I'm not too surprised as activity in this region is typically associated with fear, conflict and aggression. I wouldn't blame you for that kind of reaction after dealing with her. I've certainly felt that way. Interestingly enough, her subjects never seem to have these spikes disappear after the transfer, and they seems to change shape and grow as the original consciousness surfaces and rejects the transferred one.''
``How does this compare with ordinary Arume?'' asked Ariel.
``Here is one sample, mine,'' answered Abdiel, adding a fourth graph to the wall. ``You can see it normally doesn't have this `confused conflict spike' either. I tried a few things, and.'' She replaced her graph with another, ``This was when I deliberately worked myself up into being quite mad. At this point, it was easy to get mad at Zephrael for what she's been doing.'' Mari'il and Ariel joined her laughing at this choice. ``Interestingly enough, it didn't appear immediately, but only after I'd been mad for a bit: almost as if it had to wait until the anger seeped into my subconsciousness. Or maybe it was a mental adjustment to long-term conflict instead as subconscious reactions can also be pretty fast, though that's beside the point. Also you'll notice that my spike is closer to the shape of Mari'il's rather than Zephrael's victim's.''
Ariel raised an eyebrow at her change in terminology about Zephrael's test subjects.
Mari'il also noticed that, but instead asked a more important question: ``Does this mean that I'm closer to an `ordinary Arume' than to Zephrael's ...victims?'' She sat forward on her chair, hoping for an answer.
``Yes, and no,'' answered Abdiel with an enigmatic smile. ``In this area you definitely are, but there are other areas where you also differ from `average.' Significantly. When we apply Almiel's filtered transform,'' she transformed the graphs with a couple quick commands, ``you see that you and Zephrael's victims are more similar, having two distinct peaks, whereas mine shows only one.''
``Could this be the different consciousnesses?'' asked Mari'il. ``It also looks like the victims' are more distinct and one is noticeably smaller. For me it looks like they're about the same size, and there's a mixed area in between them that doesn't appear elsewhere.''
``Yes, Mari'il. That's what I saw.'' Abdiel broke into a big smile. ``Ariel, you've found quite an exceptional friend here.''
Mari'il blushed. ``You really should thank Ekaril for that,'' she added with a slight accent. ``She's much better at science and the like than I am.''
``Don't sell yourself short, Mari,'' said Ariel, making her blush deeper.
Abdiel smiled and nodded. ``This is also a good segue to some of my questions and the beginnings of a theory. Mari, Ekaril, Can I ask if you both continue to be `separately' conscious in there? For example, can you both be `present' at the same time, or can you both experience the same thing slightly differently and then compare that with each other afterwards?''
Mari'il laughed and then began to answer in her normal voice. ``Yes, you can say that. A lot of the time we are `both here' as you might say, and yes we `talk' to each other a lot. Maybe `talk' isn't the right word as it's become something far deeper than just language over time. Also even though only one of us may be talking to you, both of us are always listening. Then again, there are times when we seem to be `thinking the same.' Have you ever had a close friend where the two of you reacted exactly the same way to something and you felt like you were both thinking exactly alike? It's like that but far, far closer. It's almost like at those times that we think much more as a single `Mari'il' than as individual `Mari' and `Ekaril'.'' She covered her mouth in a nervous laugh. ``But I'm not sure if any of that makes any sense at all.''
Throughout this answer Abdiel looked at Mari'il, thoughtfully, nodding in agreement. ``Yes, it does make sense. Thank you. I think it actually explains a lot here.'' She gestured to Mari'il's graph on the wall. ``You see, I think that the two peaks here represent your two separate personalities and this mixed area in between them represents the `Mari'il' when you think as one.''
``Mari'il really did pick up on the salient points of these earlier,'' said Abdiel. She put up another graph on the wall. ``I think this progression shows things clearly. This first one is from the data Mari'il gave me from when Mari and Ekaril were still separate but sharing a dream. Notice how the second, `Mari,' peak is much much lower here and there's almost no `mixed area' between them. This also confirms some of my theories on touch telepathy. Thank you Mari'il.'' She shook her head, and put up one more graph. ``Pardon that digression. Anyway, this one was taken recently, after Mari's memories reappeared in fact. Look how the `mixed area' has grown in strength without really diminishing the two main peaks.''
``Does that mean that we're getting better at working together?'' asked Mari'il.
``That seems the most likely explanation,'' Abdiel agreed. ``But you, yourself should probably be able judge whether you're `more together' now than earlier.''
Mari'il thought that this was likely the case, but wondered if that was just part of how a relationship would grow over time.
``Would these graphs also mean,'' Ariel interjected, ``that Zephrael's victims never reach this point of cooperation and thinking together?''
The other two smiled at her using up Abdiel's new term for the ``experimental subjects.''
Abdiel agreed that this would be her guess, though she never had the chance to ask. She then turned back to Mari'il. ``May I ask you a personal question?'' When Mari'il agreed, she asked, ``Do the two of you argue or fight much?''
``No!'' replied a surprised Mari'il. Then, as she thought about it more, a contented smile filled her face and she continued, ``How could we do that to each other? Oh yes, we definitely have in the past.'' Her face colored, embarrassed by a private memory. ``But now, no. I guess we're so close that we can feel how an argument like that really does hurt each other. And we love each other enough to never want to do that.''
She gave a private laugh then explained, ``The reason we're laughing is that in the last `argument' we had Mari was arguing for what she thought Ekaril wanted and Ekaril was arguing for what she thought Mari wanted. Once we realized what we were doing, the argument evaporated and we laughed and laughed and laughed.''
Abdiel joined in the laughter. ``That is an amusing form of `argument.' And I guess if you have to have one, that's the best kind to have.'' Her expression grew more serious but, no less happy. ``And if my theory is right, that's why you never need worry about succumbing to the fate of Zephrael's victims.''
``I believe the spike I first showed you in the victim's profiles comes from the stress and conflict of the two consciousnesses fighting for control, probably at an unconscious level—at least for the transferred consciousness. I've not seen anything in Zephrael's notes that indicates she explored what happened to the target consciousness.''
``No, she wouldn't,'' commented Ariel. ``They'd just be part of an experimental animal to her, or just one more obstruction to her plans to transfer consciousness from one Arume to another.''
``You're right, but I feel this disregard is also why she had problems. You see, the original consciousness never goes away, regardless of Zephrael's effort to suppress it; we seem to hold onto our existence, to life, quite firmly. I think that the original consciousness keeps struggling to express itself until it finally succeeds and rejects the transferred consciousness. Since you both are `there' and expressing yourselves, and since you're not fighting with each other for control—in fact, you seem to share perfectly—I don't see why you can't keep on living `together' like this. Your most recent brain-wave measurement also show the lowest levels in the `fear and stress' area for you, ever, so that's also a good sign.''
A wave of different expressions washed over Mari'il's face. ``Thank you!'' She took Abdiel's hands as tears began to leak out of the corners of her eyes. ``Thank you. I... We... we really hope you're right. That would be so wonderful to be true.'' [[ Me first? ]] Mari asked silently, then continued with a slight accent, ``I do want to live, but more than that, I want Ekaril to. If I had to choose, I'd rather die in order to keep her alive than go on living after she was gone. I've been at that point, of losing Ekaril forever, twice already. I never want to face that possible loss again.'' She nodded, her deeply blushing cheeks now covered with tears, and continued in a different tone of voice, ``And I, too, never wish to be parted from Mari. I'll do anything to protect her. I would rather die myself than bring her any harm. Of course, you see that would hurt her anyway, so I really hope you have found the truth.'' Mari'il futilely tried to wipe away her tears. ``If there's anything we can do to help you confirm your theory, or even anything we could do to delay any rejection if it's wrong, please tell us. Please let us help.''
``Mari'il... Mari, Ekaril,'' said Abdiel, returning her grip on her hands while Ariel floated over to put a comforting arm around her. ``I promise you I'll do my best to help you. I think that this data shows that you're becoming stronger and more stably bound to each other, rather than fighting for dominance like Zephrael's victims. You're already doing all I would recommend: you care for each other... you love each other, and'' she laughed ``you're being good `roommates' in the one body you have.''
Ariel agreed. ``You do make a wonderful couple. I also think it's deliciously appropriate that your love for each other may be the very thing that gives you a long life together.''
Author's Note:
As some of you have been interested in which facts I have pulled from the manga, compared to ones I have made up, I thought you might find this of interest. The following contains a spoiler for the Blue Drop: Tenshi no Bokura manga, so some of you may not wish to read the rest of this note.
In the manga, Razael actually transfers the consciousness of Shouta's friend Kenzo into the body of ``a defective Arume.'' I decided that Zephrael's research could well be the basis for this. And here, I have tied the actual transfer machinery back to Zephrael as well as making her and Razael collaborators. And yes, Mariel here is ``Admiral Ma-chan'' from the manga. Hopefully these aren't too many ties back and forth.