"Inventing the Future"
Author's Note: Strap yourselves in and make some popcorn; I think this is the longest chapter yet!
"Chapter 38: Insight, Final"
Jaming's time in the service of Emperor Griffon wasn't quite what Lin had expected it to be. In the beginning, other than building or designing weapons and miscellaneous machines, he didn't actually do much. However, he did hear about what his creations were being used for, and his occasional uneasy frowns hinted at a growing sense of disquiet.
Most notably, Flotsam, a creepy circus clown who had joined Griffon's forces sometime before Jaming had, dropped by Jaming's workshop to gloat about the success he'd had with something he called 'Halloween'.
"Ho ho ho! My boy, you've got quite an eye for detail, I must say! That new machine of yours is fantastic!" cackled Flotsam, puffing away on a smelly cigar.
Jaming bowed wordlessly, accepting the praise, but looking very subdued.
"It was an absolute slaughter! Grown men screaming like little girls, women scattering like rabbits. And as for their little snot-nosed brats? Why, they never stood a chance!" Flotsam shrewdly narrowed his eyes when Jaming turned away from him. The inventor resumed his tinkering with what seemed to be another, flashier platform, and Flotsam sneered in disgust. "Oh, come on! Don't be such a lemon-sucking sourpuss! I thought you'd be more pleased than that! Have a cigar. Celebrate a little!"
The inventor replied coldly, "I don't smoke. Now, if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do."
"Well, if you're going to cop that sort of downer attitude, you're not worth my tobacco." Flotsam snorted, calling over his shoulder as he left the workshop. "It's off to Palm Brinks next. We'll find that stone yet!"
Lin saw Jaming's lip curl, but he made no retort. He stared off into space for a while, and Lin thought she could see the beginnings of regret, but she couldn't be sure until she heard him mutter, "What am I doing?"
Griffon, wearing his cowl so that his eyes looked like two red points of light, was listening at the door. "You are fulfilling your obligation to me. Or did you wish to resign?"
The small robed person raised his hand in Jaming's direction as the inventor jumped guiltily, and the next thing Lin knew, Jaming rose off the workshop floor and sailed back into a wall. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs and left him rubbing his head, but it didn't seem to cause any lasting harm.
Jaming caught his breath, clearly frightened, but keeping his composure for the most part. This was his first meeting with 'the boss', and even though he dwarfed the robed figure, the power in that small package was unmistakable. "N-no, my lord."
"So...you are the inventor who has made my latest conquest possible. It would be a shame to see such talent go to waste. Wouldn't you agree, Dr. Jaming?" Griffon drawled as he casually strolled through the workshop, inspecting his servant's work.
"I...I would not want that, sir," Jaming mumbled, getting slowly to his feet.
"Good. Then we understand each other."
"Yes, sir." Jaming nodded.
"This platform is a curious little device, but I'm more interested in knowing the progress you've made on the Death Ark. I hope you haven't shirked your duties to tinker with this little toy."
Jaming shook his head, a bead of clear sweat trickling down his temple. "No, the Death Ark is ready to go, sir. It did well during testing, but it has yet to be proven out on the field. It is in dry dock until Gaspard is ready for it."
"Hm..." Griffon folded his arms in his sleeves, his red eyes narrowing beneath his hood. "I don't believe that your heart is truly in this endeavor. You humans will lie to save your own skins, and then turn around and do the opposite of what you say. Isn't that right?"
Jaming's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. This was truly a no-win situation. No matter what he said, he knew that it was liable to displease Griffon. "Self-preservation is only natural."
Griffon actually laughed at that. "It is. And so is skepticism when it comes to dealing with your kind. I will need more than your word alone as proof of your loyalty. You will go with Gaspard when he uses the ship."
"M-me, sir?" Jaming's voice gave an almost adolescent-sounding squeak as it broke.
"You will pilot the ship, and you will obey Gaspard. His orders come directly from me. If I detect any sign of disobedience on your part..." Griffon's eyes narrowed once more. "you shall be punished. Severely. Is that clear?"
Jaming clasped his hands behind his back, and Lin could see that they had begun to shake. Clearly, he was hiding his hands for that very reason. "Crystal clear, sir."
"Good."
Griffon left, and Jaming slowly sagged against the wall and slid down into a sitting position.
Lin frowned thoughtfully. She had thought that Jaming had enjoyed serving the side of evil. It had never occurred to her that he chose to do it to avoid coming to harm himself. She felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach as it occurred to her that they must be getting very close to the attack on the Lighthouse. Sure enough, after the colors of the scene blurred and shifted, they reformed into a location that she knew all too well. "No...don't make me see this again..."
She found herself on the Death Ark, standing with Dr. Jaming and Gaspard. She slowly backed away. As she watched, though, she thought that Jaming sounded hesitant and uncertain.
"What shall I do?"
Lin blinked as the scene shifted. Jaming materialized beside Gaspard, no doubt using an invention of his to teleport there, possibly one that was built into the ship itself.
"We're under attack from the Moon Crystal." Jaming sounded flustered, as if he had not expected this development. In all fairness, he had no way of knowing that the Crystal could be used in such a manner. "Wh, what should I do?"
Another shift, and Jaming looked rather panicked. "The ship is going down!"
Lin was growing dizzy from all these scene shifts, and she closed her eyes for a moment to shut out the visuals. She had seen almost nothing pertaining to the Lighthouse. Everything she had just witnessed seemed to highlight how ill-suited Jaming really was for combat. He was tall, but he wasn't particularly muscular. It wasn't blatantly obvious, but she could tell that he was a reluctant servant at this point. He seemed to be, in a word, stuck.
The sound of voices brought Lin back to what was happening, and she opened her eyes. They were in a location she didn't recognize, and Jaming was busily surveying the damage done to the ship.
"Hey, Jaming," Gaspard called grimly, "stop that for a minute and come here."
Jaming flinched, then scrambled down from the hulking craft and approached Gaspard. "Yes?"
Gaspard suddenly seized him by the front of his coat and nearly yanked him off his feet as he leaned in to whisper. "Tell me...Do you have a death wish?"
"N-no..." Jaming scowled at Gaspard and freed himself easily, but it was obvious that this was only because Gaspard had let him. "The ship is fixable. I don't know what you-"
"Be quiet," Gaspard folded his arms and shut his eyes for a moment. Jaming obediently shut up. Gaspard then drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes once more. "Your attitude is a poison. It's obvious even to the lowest level soldier that you're having second thoughts."
"I'm not-" Jaming began, but Gaspard talked over him.
"You are. And they will get you killed. I am telling you this because your creations are needed. But there comes a point where your detriments begin to outweigh your assets. If you're as smart as you claim to be, then stop sulking and show some enthusiasm. Fake it if you have to, because if Griffon sees you wavering again, your life is forfeit. I know he already warned you once. Most don't even get that. Consider yourself lucky. Now...we might not have managed to destroy the Lighthouse, but as it happens, the mission was not a total failure. The Great Sage, Crest, is no more. You are fortunate indeed that Emperor Griffon is content with that." Gaspard then turned and strode away, leaving Jaming alone with his ship and his thoughts.
Lin thought about how she'd fare under so much stress and pressure, and the thought made her wince. When was this going to be over? Would she be stuck in this vision for much longer?
The next several scenes went by in a flash. There were brief snippets (only flashes, really) showing a dramatic change in Jaming's demeanor as he seemed to embrace the role of 'mad scientist'. His true self was being buried day by day, and the facade was becoming stronger and stronger.
Max and Monica encountered Dr. Jaming and his floating platform on a beach in Veniccio, and the transformation was startling. Forget about enthusiasm; his mannerisms now looked almost insane! Whether he was acting to save his behind, or whether he had actually begun to lose it, Lin simply could not tell. Either way, he moved and spoke with an almost manic sort of energy.
Strange sea creatures, which he referred to as 'Shigura', were wearing odd devices on their heads. It became apparent that they no longer had any control over their own actions, and that he was using a modified electric guitar to control them remotely and make them attack while he himself stayed out of reach.
As Lin watched, Max and Monica soon discovered the way to take him out. They attacked a Shigura when Jaming's platform was above one of them, more to make it react than to do any actual harm, and the Shigura would jerk its head up and into the platform. After a certain number of blows it actually began to short out. Finally, he was dumped unceremoniously into the sand.
It was only then that things actually began to look up for Jaming. The Shigura, now free to do as they wished, could have easily taken their revenge on him. Instead, a few of them stayed with him and tried to revive him! Gaspard, disgusted at Jaming's failure, left him where he was.
Lin witnessed his transformation, which had only truly begun with the loss of his battle with Max and Monica. She witnessed his remorse, and saw his resolve to do better. She witnessed his first meeting with Meredith, and she actually had to smile at how quickly they went from being mere acquaintances to becoming friends.
Finally, when Lin watched Jaming tearfully come clean to Meredith about his past, she had to believe him when he said that he was sorry. And, as the scene shifted again, she saw his anguish at finding Meredith half-dead in a sea cave, and later on she saw the two of them confess their love for each other. She no longer needed convincing. Jaming had changed.
And, strangest of all, a faint image seemed to be superimposed in the background. As Lin focused on that instead of on Jaming's past, she could see it more clearly. It was Veniccio, but it was much different than the one she had seen earlier in the vision. Garish neon lights gave the nighttime shore an almost carnival-like atmosphere. Four metal structures, one red, one purple, one blue, and one green, were connected to a much larger central building. A faint voice, one that seemed to belong to an adolescent boy, was heard as if over a radio with a poor signal.
"Now, hold on a minute. This is not the same Jaming that attacked you back in the past, okay? Well, not exactly the same, anyway...He happens to be his grandson."
Lin tried to hear more, but she felt a sensation of being pulled. "Oh! But...not yet! I want to know!"
Lin came out of her trance and continued to stare up at the Moon Crystal for a moment or two. Then, when the vision did not return, she sighed and looked at where the sun was in the sky. "What? But that's impossible...I've been in there for hours!"
The sun had moved, but not very much. She couldn't have been in her trance for more than thirty minutes, but she felt like she had just lived a lifetime. And, in a very real way, she had.
What had been the Moon Crystal's reason for showing her that last odd glimpse of the future at the end of it?
'He happens to be his grandson.'
That odd conglomeration of buildings. Whatever it was, it must have been (or might someday be) important, otherwise why would she see it?
"What did that place have to do with him?" Lin murmured as she picked up her book and closed it. That unknown voice had been addressing someone, and Lin thought that it must be Max and Monica. They were the ones who could travel through time, so that place must exist in the future.
If Jaming had anything to do with the construction of that place, and if Max and Monica had gone there, then Lin could only come to one conclusion. The future needed Dr. Jaming. Even if Lin never forgave him, and she was actually beginning to, that much was clear.
Seeing what the future might hold, and seeing how holding on to hatred could transform a person had opened her eyes. Was that the lesson that the Moon Crystal had tried to teach her?
Saving people just by being there. That was the kind of Sage that Master Crest had wanted to be. Nowhere in this pronouncement did it say anything about nursing a grudge. What kind of Sage could she hope to be if she let this darkness consume her? Would she ever become a Sage at all?
Lin went to the center of the Lighthouse and took the lift down. She needed to find Jaming and talk to him while she still felt brave enough to do it.
Jaming and Meredith exited Lin and Argo's house only to come face-to-face with Lin herself. All three of them froze.
"Hoo!" Argo flapped his wings, but did not fly from his perch. "Lin...I can explain everything."
Snapping out of it, Lin shook her head and murmured, "It's okay, Argo. I was actually getting ready to look for him. Hello."
This last was directed at Meredith, who smiled a tad nervously and slipped her dry hand into Jaming's sweaty one. She could feel him shaking, and she knew that however this went it would be difficult for him. And, no doubt, for Lin as well.
Jaming squeezed Meredith's hand before letting go of it. Without a word, he brushed past Lin and moved off to gather his wits. He wasn't intentionally being rude, but he hadn't expected to encounter her so soon. He didn't go far, however, and he turned back to find both females watching him.
Meredith cleared her throat and spoke up. "I think I'll go for a walk. I get the feeling you two have a lot to talk about."
Jaming's eyes widened, but he didn't argue. He didn't want to face this without her, but he also didn't want her to witness his shame. When Lin nodded, he knew that the decision had been made. Meredith went over to him and gave him a hug, whispering that she wouldn't go far, and for that he was grateful.
Lin drew near, a ghost of her previous feelings for him still on her face. "So..."
Jaming looked down at this girl; half his age, and yet he felt like little more than a scolded child. "You have something to say to me. Go ahead and say it." It came out harsher than he meant it to, and he lowered his eyes as if to apologize for his tone.
"It's not easy for me...I hardly know where to begin." Lin frowned and folded her arms.
Jaming knew exactly what she meant! "Me neither."
"I wanted to thank you. For saving me last night." She saw him flinch, and she actually gained courage from it. "And I'm sorry I hit you."
Jaming tried to speak, then cleared his throat and tried again. "Don't apologize. Not to me. You were justified."
"Maybe..." Lin looked out over the plateaus, spotting Meredith on one of them. She was chatting with Ferdinand, and she kept glancing in their direction. "But everyone has a story that no one else knows about."
"What do you mean?"
"When I was at the Lighthouse today, the Moon Crystal showed me a vision," Lin replied, seeing no point in sugarcoating the truth. "It's never happened to me before. I don't know how it happened now."
Jaming paled. As an introvert, he was very territorial about his privacy, but if the Crystal showed it to her and gave her no choice in the matter, he couldn't really say much! "How...how much did you see?"
Lin was silent for a long time, and Jaming began to squirm a bit.
"How much did you see?"
Finally, she answered him. "Enough to see that you aren't exactly what I thought you were. Enough to see that the future needs you."
Ahhh, so there it was. He had some part to play in the future, otherwise she would have continued to be hostile to him. Well, wasn't that her right? He had wronged her! "We're in the here and now. You have every right to hate me after what I did."
"I did hate you," Lin raised her eyes to meet his, and some of the hardness was back in her gaze. "And it will be a long time before I can let go of everything that's happened...if I ever can. But I don't think I can hate you anymore."
He actually cringed away from her then, reminding her of how he twisted to avoid the knee she had aimed at his crotch the night before. She didn't even remember doing that until right then, and she bit her lip in embarrassment. When he spoke, his voice was tight with restrained emotion. "There are times when I hate myself for the things I've done. I haven't apologized to you yet. Not because I'm not sorry, but because no apology can ever be enough. I...I'm sorry."
Lin nodded slowly, the steeliness leaving her eyes when she saw that he truly meant it. "I believe you. Now...I'm still not sure why you came here. Unless that was it."
"No...You were never supposed to see me," Jaming mumbled, looking over at where Meredith was trying not to look like she was watching them. "I knew that would upset you, and...I was reluctant to face you. I had a question for you, but Meredith was going to be the one to ask it."
"Well, I guess we're over the big hurdle, then. She can come back over, if she wants to."