Disclaimer: Mobile Fighter G Gundam is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.
Author's Note: Many thanks to ALittleSalty1 for some corrections in this chapter.
On the Dark Side
Chapter 2: Bad News! The Darkness Yet Survives!
Today was going to be a bad day, wasn't it? Rain thought this as she walked home from the nearby coffee shop.
It was a week after the incident on the balcony. She didn't have any more hallucinations, but the chills still dogged her. It baffled her, as they were her only symptom. She wasn't running a fever; she checked several times. She wasn't malnourished or anemic that she was aware of. It wasn't overly cold in her apartment - if anything, its air conditioning didn't work very well.
She wasn't happy about the idea, but she figured if the chills did not go away or, heaven forbid, got worse, she'd have to go visit a doctor herself. Maybe it was her own pride as a doctor, but she wasn't particularly enthused about hearing someone else's opinion on her health.
...And with everything she had been through in the past year, she was secretly worried they might find something horrible.
As for the sudden return of her dread, she wasn't sure why. It just suddenly crept over her as her apartment building came into view. Was she coming down with depression now? She wasn't a psychologist, but maybe she was suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Or maybe she was just that good at predicting disaster. For when she opened the door and stepped into the lobby, she found her neighbor, Mr. Watanabe, sitting on a chair by the door. He was an elderly man that lived across the hallway from her. Usually he wasn't awake this early in the morning. She wasn't sure why he'd be hanging around out here.
"Oh hey there, Miz Mikamura," he said. "How you doin' today?"
"Oh, hello! I'm fine, thanks," Rain replied. "What brings you out here?"
"I was waitin' for you, actually," Mr. Watanabe answered. "Ya see, there's a bunch of important-looking suits from the colony up on our floor right now. I think they're talkin' to your boyfriend. Anyway, they shooed a bunch of us out 'n' told us to come back later. Probably don't want us to hear government secrets, or somethin'."
"Oh, okay," said Rain. It was probably Karato and his friends discussing something with Domon. It probably had something to do with the previous Gundam Fight. Or maybe the next one. "I guess I could just do some grocery shopping in the meantime."
She was about to let herself back out when Watanabe stopped her. "Actually, they told me to send ya up there if I saw you," he said. "Said they got somethin' mighty important to tell you."
She shivered as she closed the door. "Okay then," she replied. "I guess I better go see what they want."
She thanked her neighbor as she pressed the button for the elevator. That feeling of dread descended on her as she rode up to her floor. It shouldn't, of course; it made sense for Karato and his committee to want to talk to her, too. She was Domon's only crew member. She took care of both the Shining and Burning Gundams. Why wouldn't they want to keep her informed? They were probably just discussing Domon's role as champion in the 14th Gundam Fight. Or maybe they were planning on upgrading the Burning Gundam?
After what felt like the longest elevator ride in her life, the carriage finally stopped and the door opened. She was immediately met by two guards stationed just outside the doorway.
"Good morning, Dr. Mikamura," the first one said to her.
"Prime Minister Karato and Dr. Kasshu have arrived from the colony and are currently speaking with Domon," the second added. "There's something very important they needed to discuss with you, too. If you'd come with us, please?"
Why was Dr. Kasshu here?! No, no, it was probably nothing. He was probably taking the place of her father, now that he was gone. She was surprised he would even want to, given how the government treated him.
"Uh, sure!" she replied as she stepped out of the elevator.
As the guards escorted her the short distance down the hall to her apartment door, her dread went into overdrive. There were guards stationed everywhere. Armed guards were standing by windows. She could understand why they shooed out their neighbors on this floor, even if it seemed a little extreme; the walls weren't soundproof, and they didn't want any random civilians overhearing government plans. Especially if those civilians had ties to other nations. But why did they need this many guards? Why did they need armed guards?
She knew. This had nothing to do with any Gundam Fight.
The guards stopped her at her apartment door and radioed someone inside that they had arrived. The door opened, revealing the living room, which was crawling with even more guards and secret service men. Domon had pulled up a chair and was sitting across from Comissioner-turned-Prime Minister Karato and his father. They all looked up at her as she entered the room.
The look on Domon's face told her everything. He was always a very serious person, but his current expression could cut granite. All the color had drained from his face. His eyes were wide, and his pupils practically slits. Whatever they were about to tell her was not going to be pleasant at all.
"Uh, welcome Dr. Mikamura!" Karato said with a shaky smile. He stood up and shook hands with her. His hands were clammy and sweaty - he was obviously very nervous. Not good. The fact that Dr. Kasshu had his eyes closed and was looking rather depressed was also not good.
"Why don't you have a seat?" the Prime Minister continued. One of the guards supplied her with a chair from the kitchen table and placed it next to Domon. She dutifully sat down and placed her coffee on the low table in front of her; she had a feeling she needed to be sitting for whatever they were going to tell her. Especially since Domon was now reaching over and holding her hand. He had become more affectionate to her in the month following the Gundam Fight, but he still wasn't big on physical affection. That he would suddenly hold her hand was just another clue as to how bad this situation was. Like the Prime Minister's hand, his was cold and sweaty. The hand holding was probably him trying to comfort himself as much as it was comforting her.
Once they were all seated, Karato's polite smile quickly disappeared as he gave a tired sigh. "Look, we've got some really bad news here, so I'm just gonna cut to the chase," he said. "We found a piece of the Dark Gundam that's still functional."
Rain didn't know if she should to vomit or faint. Thankfully, she didn't do either; she squeezed Domon's hand and slumped in her chair out of shock. She helped blow that thing up. She saw a heart-shaped hole blasted all the way through it followed by it going down in a fireball. She saw the Dark Colony rot. And it survived?!
She berated herself for being surprised. Of course it survived. She knew it all along; that's where this feeling of dread kept coming from. She knew deep down that it would always come back no matter how many Sekiha Love Love Tenkyokens they threw at it. That thing was indestructible.
She suddenly felt herself becoming angry...very angry...
"Partially functional," Dr. Kasshu corrected, as if that was any help. "Its main generator was destroyed, and it's currently trying to regenerate itself on some sort of backup power." He turned to Rain. "Let me explain from the beginning."
The doctor told her how last week, the cleanup crews had finished taking apart the Dark Colony's enormous main body. They were then able to enter the thing's core inside its head. In there, they found the remains of a giant Gundam with teeth and four arms. Rain instantly recognized it as the Gundam that had been created in response to her guilt over what her father had done to the Kasshus, and her desire to keep Domon away from her. The crews were about to drag it out, thinking it wasn't operational, until someone noticed a silvery liquid leaking out all over it. It was trying to repair itself somehow.
The Gundam was taken into government custody and placed in a cell completely made out of energy barriers so its DG Cells could not potentially infect anything. Except for its self-regeneration systems - which they fully expect to cease once its backup power runs out - the thing seemed to be offline. It was not an immediate threat to anyone right now.
"That's what we thought the last two times," Rain interrupted, "and just look what happened! It's playing possum! I hope you guys take that thing apart, cell by cell. And as soon as possible!"
Dr. Kasshu looked rather guilty and broke eye contact. Karato looked even more nervous. Domon started rubbing his temple with his free hand.
Rain felt her stomach drop. "You are planning on getting rid of it, right?" she asked.
"Well yes, we are planning on disposing of the Dark Gundam," Karato tried to assure her. "...Eventually."
"'Eventually'? What does that mean?!" Rain felt her anger rising.
Domon finally let out a loud, frustrated groan. "They're not," he answered her. "And even worse, they're bringing it down here!"
"WHAT?!" Rain let go of her boyfriend's hand and jumped out of her seat. The guards all began staring at her, but she was too furious to be embarrassed.
"Domon, do you mind?!" Now it was Karato's turn to get angry. Domon just deathglared back at him as he eased Rain back into her seat. The Prime Minister then turned to Rain, and sighed again, looking guilty. "I-I can understand your concern Dr. Mikamura. Please, allow me to explain this time..."
It was true that they were not planning on destroying the remains of the Dark Gundam immediately. There had been a lot of infighting between the various politicians and top military officials, but ultimately they reached an agreement: they needed to keep it in order to find out what went wrong with it. And they needed to do it quickly, before any new technology using the Three Theoretical Abilities was developed anywhere else. Otherwise, the same malfunction might keep happening, and the 13th Gundam Fight tragedy would just replay over and over again.
But now there was a new problem: they needed a safe place to take it apart and study it. Unfortunately, all the government research facilities up at the colony had been badly damaged by the Dark Colony's tendrils. There was also some concern about the functional remains potentially contaminating and reviving all of the dead nanotech laying around. Even though the facilities on Earth were outdated due to being low priority, they were much safer than the ones at the colony.
Of course, bringing the Dark Gundam back down to Earth had its own set of concerns; what if it truly was playing dead again and got loose? What if it tried to absorb the planet again, like it tried to over a month ago? Therefore, they had to take the utmost precaution while transporting it. One of these precautions was the main reason for today's visit: they were going to give Domon access to the Burning Gundam again. He had defeated the Dark Gundam three times so far, so he was their best bet just in case it escaped. On the day that the cargo ship carrying the Dark Gundam was scheduled to arrive on Earth, he would be escorted to the hangar where the Burning Gundam was currently stored and be put on standby. He would be allowed to leave once the mechanical monster was safely secured inside a government facility. Afterward, he would still be on call until they had finally disposed of it.
Another precaution was that this operation must be kept an utmost secret. After the Dark Colony disaster, the other nations were more than a little cross with Neo Japan. They wanted to know why exactly Neo Japan felt the need to create a Gundam that was its own grey goo scenario, and they didn't exactly believe the explanation that it was originally created to restore Earth. To say tensions were high was the understatement of the year. Then there was Neo Japan's own fears that another colony may try to steal the Dark Gundam for themselves (like what the late Prime Minister Wong Yunfat tried to do) or that another rogue military officer might try to commandeer it (like what Major Ulube tried to do). Because of this, Domon and Rain could not tell their Shuffle Alliance friends about the situation; they had to keep things entirely to themselves.
"One more thing," Dr. Kasshu added, taking something out of his jacket. "This is for you, Rain."
Rain was handed a large syringe with an equally large bore needle encased in a plastic sheath. It was full of what looked like dark grey sand. The "sand" seemed to ripple and move on its own. When she tapped the barrel, the "sand" hummed softly.
"What is this, exactly?" she asked, eyeing it.
"Those are experimental anti-nanomachines," Dr. Kasshu explained. "They're designed to neutralize DG Cells. They've been successful in all of the test runs we have completed so far. However, they have a limited power supply, so only use them...in an emergency." He looked rather nervous as he spoke that last statement.
"Like if the Dark Gundam grabs me again, right?" she sneered, feeling herself get angry again. She didn't mean to take that anger out on the doctor; he had been probably dragged into this because the Dark Gundam was his creation. It was just that this was beginning to be too much!
Dr. Kasshu sighed sadly. "To be honest, yes," he replied. "In reality, the Dark Gundam can use any woman of childbearing age as its optimal core life unit. But it knows you best. During its last moments, it was fueling itself on your thoughts. There may be a chance that, if it escaped, it may target you. So we are giving you those as a precaution."
Rain grimaced, but tried to calm herself down before she spoke. "Thanks, but...again, if you want to keep me safe, you'll just get rid of that thing immediately," she said. She managed not to snap, but there was still an edge to her words that she just couldn't shake. "Or at the very least get rid of its CPU so it can't plot its escape!"
"I'm very sorry Rain, but we need as much of the Dark Gundam as we can get," the doctor said. "But if it's any consolation, you're giving it a bit too much credit."
"How so?"
"You have to remember that, as dangerous as it is, the Dark Gundam is still just a machine. It's just following its corrupted programming. All of those elaborate plans were hatched by humans. It's not some criminal mastermind plotting its revenge."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Rain said, looking down at the syringe in her lap. She had her doubts; she had been part of it, after all, and it sure seemed intelligent enough. But she was getting really tired of arguing, especially when she knew it would do her no good. The looks on Karato's and Dr. Kasshu's faces told her that they, too, thought this was a bad idea, but there was nothing any of them could do about it. Some high-ranking goons from the colony wanted to keep that abomination, and that was final.
Karato and Dr. Kasshu stood up as they began to wrap up the conversation. Karato let them know that the cargo ship would be arriving on Earth the morning after tomorrow. They would come to get Domon a few hours beforehand to escort him to his Gundam. The guards began to radio each other that the visit was finished. Everyone shook hands, and the Prime Minister and doctor were escorted out of the apartment by the guards. Domon waited a few minutes, making sure they had all left the floor. Then he punched the door in rage. He had been holding back of course; if he hadn't, he would have ripped the door in half! There were still splinters where his knuckles made contact, however.
"I destroyed that thing!" he barked in a pained voice, slumping and pressing his head against the door, "Three times!"
"I know, I helped destroy it the last time," Rain replied. "And they still want to keep it. After what it did to the colony, the politicians and military think it's a good idea to have it around!" She rubbed her face. "What is wrong with some people?"
"Maybe they're not getting rid of it because you can't," Domon said glumly, turning around and leaning against the door. "Maybe it's evolved to the point where it can't be destroyed."
"Let's...not go that far," Rain said nervously, recalling thinking the same dreadful thing a few minutes ago. "Anyway, you did a great job of keeping yourself together through the whole thing. I was getting ready to read them the riot act!"
"Trust me, I really wanted to curse out Karato more than anything," Domon said, "but then they brought my dad along. I just couldn't yell at my father, not after what he's been through. Besides, it's not like it would do any good. Neither one of them made the decision to keep the Dark Gundam, they're just the bearers of bad news."
"I'm surprised your father is even helping them. After...well, you know" Rain didn't want to go into detail.
"He's told me before it's because he feels responsible for what the Dark Gundam did," Domon replied. "It's his creation, it went rogue, so now he feels like he's got to help clean up the mess."
"I...I know the feeling," Rain stared her hands, which were still clutching the syringe. There were times she still felt guilty over her father's betrayal, despite him trying to make up for it before he died. Even now it nagged her, no thanks to today's situation. They wouldn't be having any problems with the Dark Gundam today had it not been for her father. She tried to dismiss it. Nobody knew what would have happened; maybe the Gundam would have malfunctioned anyway! The guilt relented a little, but refused to completely go away.
Thankfully, Domon managed to snap her out of her funk by stepping away from the door and saying, "Guess I better start preparing, then."
"Isn't it a little early?" Rain asked, as she put the syringe on the coffee table and returned the chair to the kitchen.
"Not really," he replied. "Haven't been inside a Gundam in over a month. Hope I'm not already rusty..."
He suddenly stopped and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rain...I know this is gonna sound cliche...," he said slowly. "But we can get through this. Remember, we've been through worse."
"R-right," she nodded, her hands trembling.
Impulsively, she turned and wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't help it; she was so terrified, and needed to hold on to someone. He didn't protest, and returned the embrace. The two stood there for a minute, just holding each other, until Rain finally let go.
"...I-I'm sorry," she sputtered, fighting back tears. "I'm just...so..."
"No need to apologize, Rain," Domon said softly, holding onto her hands. "I'm pretty upset about the whole thing, too."
She let go of his hands, not because she wanted to, but because she needed to wipe her eyes. "I guess we both better start preparing, then?" she said.
"Yeah, let's go," he nodded.
They walked off in opposite directions. She headed back to the coffee table to retrieve the syringe. She needed to find a safe place to put it. While she was over there, she spied her forgotten coffee cup. Gingerly, she took a sip. It had gone cold.
Cleanup crews were still hard at work up at the colony. In addition to taking apart the main body, crews were also tasked with untangling the giant cables that had wormed their way into the cities. It seemed that the shelter domes had hardly been effective against the Dark Colony. Some of these cables had embedded themselves into the various buildings, making it next to impossible to clean them up without having to demolish all or part of those infested buildings. Therefore, to protect the good citizens of Neo Japan from falling rubble, crews had to temporarily evacuate certain parts of the cities as they worked.
It was in one of these evacuated areas that a suspicious figure was cautiously leaping from rooftop to rooftop. He was completely covered in a long overcoat, his face hidden under a scarf and a wide-brimmed hat. He kept peering over the edges of buildings to make sure the military personnel down below would not see him jumping around. After he made a leap, he would immediately take cover by doors or vents and make sure no aircraft or mobile suits were watching him from the sky.
He slowly but surely made his way to the roof of a software company known as Colony Dynamic Systems. Despite its English name, it was a purely Neo Japanese company that was founded about ten years ago. After scanning the skies for a few minutes, he walked over to the rooftop access hatch. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked. The maintenance crew was probably so quick to evacuate, that they forgot about it.
The stranger entered the hatch and stepped down a metal staircase. His footsteps were very heavy, and his feet clanged against the steps as if they, too, were made of steel. The staircase led down to a small maintenance room with a door on the other side. The door led to wide office space. He stepped out and scanned the various desks, cubicles, drawers, tables, and walls for anything that might look like a floor plan or a directory. He needed to find the main security office, as he had no doubt he would need to disable a few systems and checkpoints that would be guarding his quarry. He would also need to erase the footage of his visit, as he had no doubt the security cameras were still active and watching his every move.
He finally found a directory in a large binder on an employee's desk. It told him that the security office was on the ground floor. He headed over to the elevators, which had been deactivated due to the evacuation. Thankfully, there was a reset keyhole right under the button.
He took off his right glove, revealing a silver-white mechanical hand covered in small hexagonal patterns. His fingers ended in sharp metal talons. He pressed one of these claws up against the keyhole, and with a quiet slurping noise, it changed its shape to fit inside. He turned his hand to the "ON" position, resetting the elevator. He removed his finger, put his glove back on, and pressed the button which dutifully it up. He then rode the elevator down to the ground floor.
Once he had arrived, he cautiously crept around, avoiding windows as he searched for the security office. When he found it, he wound up having to unlock the door with his finger first. As he walked in, he immediately saw a wall of surveillance monitors, all of which were still recording. Yes, he'd have to take care of that. But first, he had something more important to do. He switched on the nearest convenient computer, hoping it had the information he needed.
After the computer finished booting itself up, the stranger gave it a sharp glare. Instantly, hundreds of windows popped up, flashing images and text before closing or moving on to something else. Finally, two documents appeared on screen. One was a directory telling him where the "sensitive" decommissioned projects were: the second basement. The other was from an inventory system which told him exactly where his target was placed within that basement.
The documents closed themselves as he brought up another program - the program that controlled access within the building. The elevator to the second basement required special clearance, so he made sure to disable it. He also disabled the checkpoints down inside the basement itself. He then brought up the controls for the surveillance cameras. He erased all footage of his visit as well as turned all of the cameras off. Next to him, the wall of monitors went black all at once. Nicely done.
He left the office and headed off to an obscured corner of the building. The elevator to the basements was hidden back here, off by itself. With the security systems disabled, he was able to ride it down like a normal elevator. Upon arrival, the stranger found that the second basement looked like a very large warehouse. There were rows and rows of shelves full of strange gadgets and pieces of computer hardware. This was where Colony Dynamic Systems kept all of its decommissioned or failed projects. What he was looking for was their classified projects - ones that had been created for government use.
He recalled that this company had a few government contracts in the past, but there had been one project he was interested in particular. Its working title was the "Zoning and Emotional Range Omitted" (ZERO) System, and it was a mobile suit interface program. It had many different functions, one of which decreased a pilot's reaction time. However, its main attraction was that it would quickly calculate and predict its opponent's next moves based on battle data and the current situation. To put it in layman's terms, it was a "psychic" program. It was thought to be the very next major breakthrough in mobile suit technology - until the tests produced disastrous results and it was abruptly cancelled.
The stranger came upon a heavy steel door in the back of the warehouse. Beyond it was the decommissioned government projects he was looking for. Normally, a special key card was needed to open it, but he disabled that a few minutes ago. Instead, it automatically slid open for him, and he nonchalantly stepped inside. It was a smaller storage space filled with more pieces of hardware and file cabinets containing software.
He found his target inside a small box in a file cabinet. It contained a single SD card. He removed his glove and placed the card in the middle of his palm. The hexagonal scales of his hand twitched and crawled around as they enveloped the card. The stranger stared into space for a moment as he downloaded the program and attempted to install it into his CPU. The installation seemed to work, which was a relief, as he wasn't sure it was even going to be compatible with his systems.
The reason why this program had been cancelled was because it had a bad habit of driving its users insane. All of its test pilots had eventually suffered severe mental breakdowns or even brain damage. The human brain simply could not handle all the information that the ZERO system would feed it. But he was not human, not anymore. He wasn't even technically alive. He had a CPU that was capable of processing all those calculations. But how well would the system work for him? That he'd have to judge for himself.
He removed the card from his hand and placed it back in the box. He then left the basement and rode back up to the ground floor. As he walked back to the elevators, an idea suddenly dawned on him. Why not have a little test run of his shiny new battle system?
He cautiously walked around to the front entrance, staying up against the walls and in the shadows so he wouldn't be seen. Very carefully, he peered outside the front windows. He saw two armed guards standing around outside the revolving door, as well as a dozen or so workers digging up rotten cables out of the street with jackhammers. He then called up the ZERO system and inquired what exactly would happen if he simply walked out the front door.
A second later, the system finished calculating every person's possible reactions and brought up the most likely outcome. Naturally, it said that he would be instantly spotted and apprehended by the two guards. Very good, but now for a harder question. He asked it if he could walk out the front door and successfully escape. The system took a few seconds to calculate these new parameters, taking into account everyone's reactions, his reactions, and everyone's physical abilities. Its result was that he would still be instantly spotted, but that he could easily overwhelm the guards and escape in any direction before anyone called for backup.
He smiled to himself. Yes, he was satisfied with the system so far - and he wasn't even getting so much as a headache! However, he did not wish to be seen at all, so it looked like he would have to go back up to the rooftops.
After this came the next step of his plan, and a much more difficult one at that - tracking down those last functioning remains of the Dark Gundam that the military had taken into custody last week. His DG Cells were damaged, and he needed to replace them...
Rain found herself waking up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache. She tried to see if she could just go back to sleep, but it was no use; her head hurt too much. She reluctantly got out of bed, careful not to wake up Domon next to her. Then she groggily staggered into the bathroom for some aspirin.
After taking the pills, she also took an extra long drink of water. She was cold, too; this time she felt cold all over. However, she was too tired and in too much pain to care much about that. She began to shuffle back to her room when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Down the hallway in the darkened living room, she saw a tall shadow. A quick look revealed it to be the silhouette of a man. Somebody had broken into their apartment!
No longer tired, Rain instantly leaped back into the bathroom, closed the door, and locked it. She put her ear to the door, listening for any movement. She didn't hear anything. She needed to get back out there and get Domon out of bed; he could easily fight them off!
A sneer crossed her lips. No, forget Domon; let him sleep! She would take care of this punk! She was still aggravated over yesterday's bad news, and felt like taking her anger out on that intruder. She stepped over to the bathroom closet and whipped open the door. Besides the toiletries, there was also a small box of tools inside - one of which was a big, heavy pipe wrench! She grabbed the wrench, then unlocked and opened the bathroom door. Rain pressed her back against the wall and waited for the bastard to walk by so she could give him a nice hard conk on the noggin.
She found herself waiting for about five minutes. Nobody walked by. Where was this guy? Did she scare him off accidentally? No, it wouldn't be that easy, would it?
Pipe wrench ready, she peeked out into the hallway. She couldn't see anyone in the living room now. Of course, she was at an odd angle, and couldn't see the whole room from here. The guy could be hiding around the corner, or in the kitchen.
She cautiously stepped out of the bathroom, wielding her wrench like a sword. Before she could even turn to walk down the hallway, she saw a tall man materialize out of thin air beside her, blocking her way back to the bedroom! Rain let out a surprised gasp. Why she didn't scream, she wasn't sure, but she was glad she didn't. She turned to the guy, and immediately raised the pipe wrench high above her head to give them the beating of a lifetime.
And then she saw who he was. The familiar dark brown eyes, the face that looked a lot like Domon's, the tousled black hair with the distinct sideburns...he was even wearing his last outfit of a dark blue jacket and black pants with a lavender shirt. Rain's jaw dropped and she slowly lowered her arms in disbelief. The wrench slid out of her hand and landed with a soft thud on the floor.
"Kee...Kyoji?" she whispered.
"Yes Rain, it's me," the ghostly man said. Even his voice was the same.
"But...you're supposed to be..."
"Dead? I know," he replied. His face then darkened. "Listen Rain, I don't have time to explain. I have something very important to tell you. The Dark Gundam is still online! Right now it's trying to-"
He suddenly cut himself off as he looked up at something behind Rain. Whatever it was, he looked horrified - his eyes were wide and his jaw was slack. She turned around to look, and found that her living room had suddenly vanished. In its place was a large body of water with a black void for a sky. Upon closer inspection, the "water" was actually metallic and reflective - it was that ocean of liquid silver that she dreamed about awhile ago.
"I'm too late...it's already here!" Kyoji cried. "Quickly Rain, you've got to get out of its range!" He reached out to pull her away, but his hands kept passing right through her shoulders.
Rain was about to ask him what he meant when she felt the temperature drop by ten degrees. She started to shiver, and her breath became visible. The silver ocean, meanwhile, began to bubble. Bulges appeared on its surface that rapidly grew bigger and taller. Something was rising from its slimy depths.
Some of the figures emerging from its surface grew massive, while other remained human-sized. The biggest figures began to develop mechanical features and details, and eventually revealing themselves to be all Gundams - ones that she was unfortunately familiar with. The one in dead center was a Gundam with massive shoulders covered in round vents, and an extra set of arms protruding from its back. It had a thin spine that connected to a larger Gundam's head - it was the Dark Gundam itself. Surrounding it was its "Four Kings." The ones she immediately recognized were the bat-eared Master Gundam and the toothy, bizarre-looking Walter Gundam that she had the displeasure of fighting once. The other two were Gundams that she didn't know the names of, but she swore she saw them somewhere before: a bird-like mech with a tall, pointy helmet, and a giant, tank-like mobile suit with huge horns on its back.
The human-sized figures all became people who were associated with the Dark Gundam besides Kyoji. She spotted Master Asia, Prime Minister Wong, and Major Ulube up in front. She also saw Michelo Chariot with them, as Domon had told her before that he had been infected with DG Cells, too. She also saw silver versions of Allenby, Saette, and Chapman, even though none of them willingly sided with the mechanical monster. And then there was a handful of other people that she didn't recognize at all - just how many people did the Dark Gundam infect?!
"Rain, RUN!" Kyoji shouted.
He didn't need to tell her twice! But before she could even move, all of the silvery Gundams and humans lunged at her at once, their gooey arms outstretched and ready to grab her. A loud, distorted, deep voice seemed to scream at her from all sides.
COME HERE!
Rain screamed and ran in the other direction. She only made it about two feet before crashing into something warm and solid. She lost her footing and fell flat on her back.
"Rain! Are you okay?!" a familiar voice called to her.
She sat up to find Domon crouching beside her. Still frightened, she quickly looked behind her. Nothing. No ocean of liquid metal, no malevolent Gundams or corrupted humans trying to get her. The darkened living room was back where it was. Kyoji was gone, too. She had been hallucinating again!
"I, uh...I'm okay," she answered. "I think I was sleepwalking!"
"...Sleepwalking?" Domon asked.
"Well, I woke up with a headache," Rain explained. "So I went to the bathroom to take some aspirin, and the next thing I know, I had some sort of nightmare!"
"Let me guess...it was about the Dark Gundam?" Domon said as he extended a hand to help her stand up.
She took his hand, got back on her feet. "Yes," she sighed.
"I'm surprised I'm not having bad dreams about it either," he said, still holding her hands.
"I didn't hurt you when I bumped into you, did I?" she asked, feeling embarrassed.
Domon just snickered. "Ah, don't worry about me," he told her, smiling. "Let's just go back to bed, okay? If you have another bad dream, I'll just wake you up!"
She nodded, and they headed back into the bedroom. She wasn't sure how she was going to be able to go back to sleep after all of that, however. She decided she wasn't going to tell Domon that the nightmare involved his late brother; they both had a bad day, no need to make it worse.
Despite the fact that he had only been a figment of her subconsciousness, Rain found herself agreeing with Kyoji. The Dark Gundam was still online. And it would be coming for her.
