Knights or Justice?

by astrocitizen

Once more, the shadow of Britannia has fallen upon an unsuspecting land, and a city now lies in ruin. Again, cries of retribution call out for the fall of the Empire. But whose shall be answered? Those of Lelouch the Black Prince and his vengeful knights? Or those of a strange band of squires and their mentors, the Justice League?

6. Chapter Five

Knighta or Justice?

Chapter 5: "Court of Equity" part 2

by AstroCitizen

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Imperial Palace, the City of Pendragon

Holy Empire of Britannia, mainland (a.k.a. Area 1)

The Retaliation plus five days

Sister, what are you thinking?! Euphemia cried out internally.

The doll-like princess had been awakened from her musings upon Schneizel's presentation when her sister began speaking, only to cringe as Cornelia made her needless accusation. She looked at its recipient, Lelouch, who simply frowned back at Cornelia before falling back into silence, clearly preoccupied with his own thoughts of the recent past and these new revelations.

Seated next to him, Euphie caught a quick look of sympathy from Schneizel, who otherwise carried himself neutrally, his hands folded together on the tabletop. Incisive as always, he knew too well the predicament she was in. She returned the gesture with an appreciative nod before sitting back in her chair.

She desperately wanted to relax, to take a moment to stop and compose her thoughts. She wished everyone gathered would do the same before they continued the meeting. But it was not meant to be. The chairs they were in were unfamiliar and too straight-backed to relax. Also, it was apparent few of her siblings were of the same, contemplative mind.

Her elder sister, as a matter of fact, had evidently made it her mission to display her combative mood. Out of the corner of her eye, Euphie watched as Cornelia dumped a handful of reports she'd seen her gathering earlier. They compiled the damage done and speculated repair-time for the mines, outposts, factories, and other installations that had been attacked in the past few days. Particularly worrying were the docks and ports, now either clogged with sunken ships or blocked by coral reefs that had appeared overnight. Without them, available supplies that had escaped the attacks could not easily be portioned out where they were most needed.

For the moment, however, that was of secondary importance. What was foremost on mind was the source of these attacks, which Schneizel had just provided the answer for.

Despite her uncomfortable chair, Euphie's mind slipped back into meditation. While most everyone else teetered on shock, the presentation on Tarnhelm had held no surprises for her. What was news to her had occurred during the introduction of the project's representatives, which included young Miss Einstein. It was her connection to their brother and the impact of her equations on the project which was the impetus for Cornelia's behavior now, attempting to make Lelouch, however tenuously, responsible for the mess they were in. For her part, Euphemia just sighed quietly, helpless as the gulf between two of her dearest siblings widened seemingly with every day.

Unlike many of the royal family, she'd been overjoyed when Clovis had reported his chance discovery of their long-missing half-brother. Said joy had nearly turned to tears as she realized how their father expected him to make up for the time he had lost making himself of service to Britannia. Lelouch had been home only a day before being sent off for training in military service. From there it was straight into a campaign to seize as much of northeastern Africa and the Middle East as possible, chopping away at the tentacles of the Empire's old enemy, the Euro Ultra-union. It had been during his triumphant return home that she finally had time to sit him down and try to reestablish their atrophied friendship.

"Try" being the operative word.

I started off by trying to coax him into talking about what happened when contact was lost during the invasion of Japan, she thought. I should have known better. It only had brought back memories of losing Nunnally, a topic of which Lelouch would not speak, not even to her. Whenever she tried to bring it up, he would only get tense and remind her that he'd already given an official report to Schneizel.

"… and it says everything that needs to be said, so get a copy from him," he'd told her curtly, terminating their conversation.

It had been one thing to believe her dead when there was no solid evidence. But to hear directly from Lelouch's lips made it feel like Nunnally had died all over again. She wanted desperately for him to be open with her, not so much for herself that she could grieve properly, but for his own peace of mind as well. It was clear he hadn't achieved closure, that he held himself accountable. For both of them to mourn would do him a world of good.

She thought that she might have an opportunity when he appeared at the emergency meeting following the first series of attacks. He had been an entirely different person then, welcoming and helpful as she was on the verge of falling apart. It seemed that, if one good thing had come out of the crisis, he was willing to let the walls between them crumble. But now, they were right back up again.

Does it really have to be like this? Turning her head, she took in her elder sister as she absentmindedly rubbed a bruise still on her face with her free hand, her left arm set in plaster and hung up in a sling over her midriff. She hated the theatrics Cornelia had engaged in just now, especially how she'd noisily moved her chair around before attacking Lelouch. She bet that it had been done just to get everyone's attention first, as she doubted Cornelia had actually been paying too much attention to the presentation.

Her cool attitude was totally undeserved, in Euphemia's opinion. Lelouch's actions in Africa were… well… exactly the sort of thing their father demanded from each of them, and Lelouch could do no less. In fact, to prove himself to the throne – spectacularly and repeatedly – was the unspoken mandate of their father.

It all worked out for the best, Euphie liked to think. Lelouch had taken the initiative, ending the stalemate between Britannia and the Middle Eastern Federation, opening the way for Area 18 to be opened. It wasn't anything Big Sister couldn't have done, just that she would have taken longer.

Much, much longer.

Cornelia could be so stubborn at times, and where battle was concerned, she and those under her command relied almost entirely upon the power of their Knightmare Frames. Sometimes, it seemed she did so as a sign of respect for her old mentor, Lady Marianne, who had championed the expansion of KMF's as a new branch of service. Other times it looked to be a simple matter of her warrior's pride, treating battles as duels writ large where pure skill was relied upon like knights of old. All the same, against the might of the M.E.F., consistent close quarters combat only produced the odd victory after suffering massive losses of her own. If it wasn't for the fact that she fought on the frontlines, personally leading her men into battle, Euphie doubted she would have much loyalty from her troops with the risks they had to take.

And speaking of taking risks…, she thought as she remembered the aftermath of the Middle East campaign.

That Lelouch had taken no end of liberties, bordering upon mutiny some argued, could not be denied. But his actions had met with success, and success, as His Majesty had once stated, was the sole earthly judge of right or wrong. As such, Lelouch was rewarded with a peerage upon his return to Pendragon. He was no longer the "commoner prince" too many other royals and noble houses had mocked. Furthermore, he was a hero of the Empire; the public was as fascinated by the mystery of his lost years living among them as his miracles on the battlefield.

A sure sign of his elevation both imperial and to the people was his return to Area 11 as commander over all military concerns there. It was an important region with its abundance of Sakuradite deposits, and overseeing its protection was a responsibility given to him by the Emperor and Prince Schneizel as preparation for a future campaign against the Chinese Federation.

Or at least, Euphemia had assumed as much. Schneizel had been speaking offhandedly when he said in front of her that he had plans for solidifying the Empire's interests in Asia in the near future, and that Lelouch would play a pivotal role. "I don't want to ruin the surprise," he added when she attempted to press for more details.

All too soon, tragedy struck with the death of Clovis, fate balancing out the return of one brother with the loss of another. Lelouch became temporary viceroy, effectively removed from the battlefield as he dealt with the inadequacies of Clovis' reign over the former island-nation. Schneizel sent Cornelia to join him there, which Euphemie had hoped would give them the opportunity to reconcile. Instead, it compounded the hurt feelings between them – Cornelia with her (mostly) imaginary feelings of having been upstaged, while Lelouch felt like he was being micro-managed in his reconstruction of the area.

Making things worse, according to Cornelia in her letters to home, was that Lelouch had adopted some of Clovis' less-savory habits. Sometime after his return to the area, Lelouch had taken in a disrespectful waif who went by her initials with no other identification of her family or pedigree. Euphie was hopeful that her sister had jumped to conclusions, but if Lelouch kept this "C.C." anywhere as close at hand as Cornelia said, what else was she to think?

Of course, that was her sister's take on the situation. Euphemia hadn't been afforded the chance to see things for herself. Area 11 was in development status, and until it was reevaluated as a satellite of Britannia, it was a savage land, unsafe for her to visit. This was Cornelia's usual excuse whenever she left on her latest assignment, stopping at the main doors of their villa just long enough to give Euphie a hug, a peck on the forehead, and a reminder to be good while she was away. It had been her excuse as well when made Vicereine of Area 18, having returned from her secret assignment.

Ah… Big Sister's "secret assignment," she thought.

It was all rather apparent now, but at the time Cornelia had been appropriately close-mouthed when she'd suddenly returned from Area 11. All Euphie knew at the time was that she'd been summoned to a special conference with His Majesty, from which she'd immediately left for Dallas and the private labs and industrial park there owned by Schneizel. And what was she going there to do?

"I'm not just a princess, Euphie, but a military officer. I go where I am told, and serve the needs of the Empire to the best of my ability."

That was another of Cornelia's automatic answers, given whenever asked what she does while on assignment. She'd been just as unwilling to part with details when she returned a few weeks later, although Euphemia could pick up on a hint of annoyance about the whole thing. She'd simply taken a few days for R&R, which with Cornelia meant making sure her division and others under her command weren't dragging their feet with their duties in case they were called to action sooner than expected. This was only broken by some alone time with Euphie, usually a picnic in the gardens around Chalcedon Villa.

Admittedly, Cornelia always did her best to use this opportunity to catch up for lost time, but for once it seemed like she wasn't really there. She'd been distracted, gazing off into space, buried deep in thought. It had been up to Euphemia to carry on any conversation, to which her sister's answers had either been vague acknowledgements that she'd spoken, and occasionally just an affirmative-sounding grunt. This continued even as Euphie's speech began to skew towards the nonsensical in an attempt to snap her out of her daze.

"The first week you were gone, brother William invited to me to another garden party at that fancy summer home of his in Virginia," she said, filling Cornelia in on the social scene she'd missed while away. She'd started with the festivities of the 15thPrince, whose interest in the theatre had made him an insufferable follower and patron of his namesake's works. "You can guess what he had arranged for entertainment," she added, good-naturedly.

"Naturally," Cornelia responded, but there had been a moment's pause that her sister had picked up on. Lying on her back with her arms crossed behind her head, it looked as if she was uncharacteristically cloud-gazing.

With a cocked eyebrow, Euphemia continued. "I think it was supposed to be all post-modern interpretations though, what with Lord Montague having Juliet tied to railroad tracks rather than forced into an arranged marriage."

"Mm'hmm."

"And Oberon a talking badger from outer space."

"Sounds like it was fun, Euphie."

She paused for just a moment before deciding to bring out the big guns. "I'm pregnant. The father is the footman… or his cousin, an out-of-work street performer with a harelip. Which felt odd, by the way."

"How nice for you."

At that point Euphemia had simply poked her in the neck with a cube from the ice chest holding their drinks. Now that had gotten her attention.

Nevertheless, Cornelia was resolved not to speak of her and, a few days afterward, gave Euphemia a kiss again as she returned to the Middle East as the new Vicereine of Area 18. Naturally, she took along her aides, Sir Gilbert and General Darlton, who'd proven just as impenetrable about the whole affair. Euphie could usually wheedle some scraps of information from them, which all went to prove that whatever had happened in Dallas had been of the highest security clearance, her puppy dog eyes never having failed her before.

Her more-or-less safe return after her disappearance, however, had seen a complete reversal in Cornelia's attitude, the proud Goddess of the Battlefield opening up in the intervening days. Days she'd been allowed time for medical treatment, followed by rest before being debriefed, which had allowed Euphie time to wear down her sister's defenses. Not that she had needed much time to do so.

Maybe she felt a need to make a confession, or perhaps she just needed someone to talk to as she straightened it all out in her head. Maybe it was the painkillers they'd given her still in her system. Whatever the reason, Cornelia had done the unthinkable – breaking with standard operating procedure – and told her little sister all she knew.

Thanks to the work of a number of scientists, including an Honorary Britannian whose presence Cornelia hadn't failed to roll her eyes at, Schneizel had started a new research project. Code-named Tarnhelm, its goal was to create a working process for teleportation, to literally make things disappear and reappear elsewhere. They had been more-or-less successful, as the project had found a way to teleport things and people safely, but with the inescapable side effect of provoking what they called a "wave function shift", which was the opposite of a "wave function collapse".

Whatever that meant.

In layman's terms, Tarnhelm's process worked in that it could send anything just about anywhere on Earth. The problem was that it was not their Earth. Their test subjects, whether they be animal, vegetable, or mineral, all materialized on what was called a "parallel Earth," a copy of their world but with potentially slight or major differences.

Not surprisingly, within a week, having read the report (although he still ordered Schneizel to condense it for him when he was summoned), the Emperor had ordered an expedition be sent to the "nearest" parallel Earth, which had since been officially dubbed Earth-2. Schneizel had anticipated expedition parties to be ordered, and in fact it had been one of his sticking points in his report. But it had been with the hope that the parallel Earth phenomenon would be investigated as purely a scientific and intellectual concern, while Tarnhelm returned to its original teleportation program. Britannia didn't need another war front, as the military was already bogged down with the E.U. There was also the potential for aggression from China and the continued rebel activity in many of the areas to consider.

This was not to be, however. Not surprisingly, the expedition's main purpose was to spy, to gather information on Earth-2's societal structure as well as military capabilities. This was to be followed by a series of raiding parties at critical points of both strategic and psychological importance. What had begun as an experiment in a new method of transportation had instead opened new worlds (literally) of conquest for the Empire.

Whatever his feelings were, naturally Schneizel had obeyed. A few days later, after an explanation of the program and the specifics of their mission, a small team of experienced intelligence officers, accompanied by the Knight of Twelve Monica Kruszewski, were subjected to the wave function shift process. Careful examination had shown it was always the same parallel Earth that experiments led to, which Schneizel's team had explained – or tried to explain – was "a result of the specific eigenstate values being applied to the Tarnhelm particles to cause a wave function shift". Trying to understand all that, Cornelia had admitted, made her head spin, so she just accepted that it was happening and got on with her work.

It had taken Euphemia a few minutes to adjust to all of this, too – what Schneizel had achieved, what their father had used it for, and her sister's participation. During that time, Darlton had stood by respectfully while Cornelia continued lying on her hospital bed, either waiting for her sister to react or reminiscing herself over the entire situation. Only Guilford, still under observation in the traction ward, was absent.

"And what did they find on this… other Earth?" she finally asked.

Darlton opened his mouth to speak, but a sharp intake of air through his superior's nose silenced him.

"Our shadow, Euphie, that's what they found. A caricature of everything that's gone before. They found… the United States of America."

Euphie's hair had nearly stood on end at that comment. Suddenly, much of what Cornelia had said to that woman, Diana, made sense: Calling her an American (a little-used and terribly archaic term for inhabitants of their continent or its southern neighbor), saying their nations shared the same origin, talking as if her people were a blasphemy against Britannia. Earth-2 was a world where Washington's Rebellion had succeeded, and the Empire was nonexistent. That was one of the first things Dame Monica and her fellow spies had found, and been the most pivotal. And it was all the reason the Emperor needed to cancel further investigations, and order the immediate assembly of a strike force.

Naturally, Cornelia had been one of the first Schneizel had called upon for the planned operation. Despite her initial shock, she'd given the operation her all, and within a few weeks' time, a series of raiding parties was assembled under her direction. As always, it consisted of Knightmare Frames, which technicians from Tarnhelm each retrofitted with a return module. A strike plan had been drawn up, using a handful of maps gathered during the spy mission. Once everything had been checked and rechecked, the Knightmares were organized into groups as small as a single soldier here and there, to a sizeable squadron. With a cursory order to proceed, rather than a wish of good luck, from His Majesty, they activated their Tarnhelms and disappeared, Operation: Wild Hunt in effect.

With backing from Darlton and Sir Gilbert, Cornelia had attacked a fort of some note in the Duchy – or "State" in the local lexicon – of Kentucky. She'd expected it to be a central command center for military operations, filled with important officials and sensitive materials whose loss would leave the American hierarchy in disarray. Instead, it had been a gold repository, filled with tons of bullion. That was the reason she'd been so surly when she returned. She'd signed onto the opening moves of a grand new campaign, and instead wound up nearly committing a glorified bank robbery.

When she'd heard that, Euphie had to excuse herself as she dashed out the room. Cornelia and her aide-de-camp naturally assumed it was to compose herself after hearing of that shameful incident. The reality was, Euphie had fled to a distant ladies' room and spent almost five minutes having a belly laugh. The mental image of her sister in a domino mask with a cigar clenched in her teeth, running towards a getaway car, a tommy gun in one hand while lugging along burlap sacks with pound symbols sewn onto them, was too much for her.

After returning, she'd learned it was not just Cornelia's disappointing assignment that left her with ill feelings about the operation. Additionally, she'd been distressed by their losses. All research had shown the Americans' military had made no moves towards anything akin to Knightmares, relying on infantry on foot, armored vehicles and air support as Britannia did until the successful invasion of Japan. Just like in that month-long war, it should have been no contest. And yet they'd lost nearly an entire squadron.

"Well, describing it as a loss is perhaps overstating it," Cornelia muttered. "It was a strike force led up by that maniac, Sir Luciano."

The self-styled Vampire of Britannia, whom Euphie had every intention of obeying Cornelia's demand that she not get within sight of, had led an attack upon the other world's city of Philadelphia. Their own Philadelphia was of some historical interest, having once been home to royalty, but was now a somewhat rundown port city teeming with blue collar workers. On Earth-2, however, it was a metropolis, a center of art, culture, and cuisine, befitting a nation's capital. Bradley had been the obvious choice to see it scourged from the Earth… or that one to be precise.

"Bradley gave me this… look," Cornelia admitted reluctantly, "right before entering the Percival."

She disclosed nothing about what she thought it may have meant, but Euphemia still glanced at the door. She was certain that Guilford would burst through the door right then, trailed by doctors and nurses pleading with him to mind his injuries, loudly decrying the most-feared KOR for his dishonorable behavior. When nothing happened, she returned her attention to her sister.

"That was the last that I saw of him… of many in the squadron Father afforded him." She scrunched her nose in displeasure before continuing. "Philadelphia… like hogs before a butcher. He was having too much 'fun'," she spat out, "when their time ran out and they were supposed to return. So he told his squad to ignore the call to disengage and keep up the battle. A few, knowing that the whole operation was signed off by the Emperor Himself, wisely choice to return. Most did not."

A puzzled look came over her face for a moment. "The Valkyries stayed behind, of course, except for one of them. She used to work for me. What was her name?"

"I believe you are thinking of Lt. Marika Soresi, m'lady," Darlton said.

"Ah, yes. Her family's standing is already in dire straits thanks to her brother. She knew better than to defy an imperial order," her voice tinged with pride at her former subordinate.

Euphemia paused as she tried to remember. The name – Soresi – sounded familiar, and then there was the matter of family disgrace. It had something to do with the Purist Faction in Area 11, she could remember that much. They'd made a mess of things following the death of Clovis, and there was question as to whether they hadn't been attempting a coup. Quite a few noble houses both at home and abroad were scrambling for it.

"Anyway, that's the last anyone saw of them. We've no idea what happened. Then there was the pilot who reappeared dead."

"His Knightmare had been destroyed?" Euphemia exclaimed.

"Nothing like that, Your Highness," Darlton said. "He'd been sent to the other world's England to ascertain what precisely the Age of Revolution had wrought upon Britannia's motherland. According to the onboard computer, he'd arrived safely in London along the Thames River, and before long had sighted where the Tower of London was still standing. He was proceeding with little-to-no-resistance when his Sutherland simply powered down without warning. As near as can be figured, there was some sort of error in his electronics, possibly caused by the Tarnhelm, that caused the Yggdrasil drive to shut down. The fault corrected itself nearly sixteen minutes later and the systems reactivated, which also set off the return module. From the looks of things, however, he'd already shot himself with his sidearm rather than risk being caught and interrogated while his KMF was stalled out."

As Darlton told the story, Cornelia nodded slightly, pleased at the soldier's dedication to his duty, and defiance in the face of the enemy, as her former teacher and current second-in-command continued.

"Between the loss of Sir Luciano and his men, and the apparent tinkering the return modules still require, His Majesty suspended further incursions, during which time all concerned were sworn to secrecy and returned to standard duties." He was quiet for a moment, contemplating matters for a moment before he spoke up again. "It would seem that we have more preparations to make than we originally anticipated, however," he admitted.

All of this gave Euphie a bit of an edge over the others convened for this war council. This included Lelouch for a change, but from his expression during the scientists' presentation, they were only confirming what he half-suspected already. She wondered how the rest of her siblings would react. Given her big sister's remarks just now, she was likely to be in for more surprises before they were adjourned.

/ * CG * /

"I'm… surprised by all of this," Odysseus said, finding his voice.

"I'm taken aback as well," she heard Lelouch mutter, shooting Cornelia a cross glance through hooded eyes.

"No, no, Lelouch, that's not what… well, Cornelia saying that… what I mean is…" Odysseus said, stumbling over his words.

"You mean you don't believe any of this nonsense either, brother?" Guinevere interrupted, finishing his sentence for him. As she said so, she gave her copy of Schneizel's report, plus its addendum on the Earth-2 expedition and Operation: Wild Hunt, a look as if it were an unhygienic-looking smudge on the table. "This is commoner 'summer movie' fantasy drivel of the lowest sort. What's really going on, you two?" she finished as she divided her attention between Schneizel and Cornelia.

To Euphemia's right, her sister lurched forward in her chair so she could hit her elder sister with one of her best ever scowls. "I've seen the proof with my own eyes, Guinevere! And so have you for that matter. That light show wasn't to give those intruders cover as they jumped down that hole they made, I can assure you. The Tarnhelm Project is real, as is that twisted mirror-world I was taken to!"

"And you're a woman of your word, just like your hero," Carine muttered cattily.

Despite their differences at the moment, Lelouch stared daggers at her along with Cornelia. "Watch. Your. Tongue, Carine," he said, inferring that she was at risk of losing it. Carine simply glared back at him but, after a moment, snorted and averted her head. Euphie supposed she would later boast that she hadn't lost the argument, just refused to lower herself to a battle of wills with Lelouch.

Slowly turning his attention away from his "wicked stepsister," a nickname he used as child for Carine when in private, he began speaking again, civilly, to Schneizel. "I too have seen the evidence with my own eyes, and I don't doubt your veracity, Schneizel. But still… to my knowledge, teleportation has been limited to experiments in the lab, and even then just with subatomic particles – photons and ions and…" He waved a hand in a slight circling motion, either trying to think of another example or allowing his words to hang in the air.

"So on's?" a quiet voice offered.

A number of heads turned automatically to the commoner who'd spoken out of turn. Lelouch joined them but his features were infinitely more forgiving. In fact, he was happy to see her participating.

"As good as term as any, Nina," he said appreciatively to his friend, who went from looking as if she was about to duck behind Dr. Dorado to smiling helpfully. "I know such things from following your research and that of your great-grandfather. I never would have dreamed doing the same with macroscopic mass was possible, though. Certainly not in my lifetime."

"'Macrosocpic'?" Euphie muttered to herself as she started flipping through the condensed version of Tarnhelm's lab reports, trying to find what that meant. Her actions didn't escape her sister beside her.

"Fancy egghead talk for 'real-world scale,'" she said sotto voce to her. "And if somebody tosses out 'Newtonian' too, it means the same." Evidently, while she couldn't follow all the science involved, some of the terms and their meaning had stuck with Cornelia.

Their little exchange hadn't gone unnoticed, as Schneizel began speaking again. "I know it all sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. I must admit my image of myself as knowledgeable in matters scientific took a beating whenever I received lab reports," he added with a self-deprecating smile. "But, as Lelouch says, this has been experimented upon at the subatomic level, one of the reasons young Miss Einstein was brought on board once I learned of her work.

"If I follow the ideas correctly, it all goes back to the idea that a physical system, such as an electron, exists partly in all of its theoretically possible states simultaneously, but will give a result corresponding to only one of those possible states when measured. What is it called again?"

"'Quantum superposition' I believe is the term, my lord," Kanon voiced from behind him.

"Ideas which are based upon the work of Nina's great-grandfather, Professor Albert Einstein," added Lelouch. "In addition to teaching physics at a university, he also worked upon it, over the years writing papers that expanded the laws originally set down by Sir Isaac Newton. Or am I understating him?"

This last bit was directed at Tarnhelm's junior researcher, who blushed rather adorably. Euphemia smiled warmly at her down-to-earth reactions. However, the girl's blush drew out something that made Euphie turn her head away. Not in disgust, as most would, but rather shame…

Cornelia, apparently, had not entirely exaggerated on how untamed the Areas could be. Nina and some of Lelouch's other classmates from the Ashford family's boarding school had gotten caught up in a hostage crisis engineered by the Japanese Liberation Front. After an extended time held at gunpoint, the girl's nerve had broken and she had some sort of a hysterical fit, an enraged terrorist pistol-whipping her severely across her face to settle her down.

This had scarred Nina horribly, mostly along her right cheek. Lelouch was paying for the cosmetic work necessary to correct the damage, but it had to come in increments as she healed between surgeries. It was nearly gone, but still, there was still some scar tissue, which she covered with a large band-aid so as not to offend. The patch she had on now was marketed as flesh tone-colored, and so of course was laughably obvious. This was at the best of times, and her face reddened as it was now really brought it out.

And all the while, I'd been living it up here in Pendragon, Euphemia thought, feeling guilty for her dilettante lifestyle. My "big adventure" was ditching my escorts to go traipsing around the shops and parks alongside the common folk while Lelouch was fighting for his friends' lives.

A quivering voice suddenly broke Euphie from her silent self-analysis as the subject of her thoughts started speaking.

"N-no, not at… at all, Your Highness," Nina said, her gaze shifting between the floor and a spot on the wall behind and just off to the side of her brother's head. "He taught physics, mostly, but when he had the time, he worked out equations for recombi—er, I mean, reconciling the laws of classical muh-mechanics with the field of… the laws of the electromagnetic field. Of course, it… it's taken awhile f-for people to warm to his ideas. He, uh, he came up with the idea that-that gravity pulled light, too. No one, nobody really believed it until aster… astronomers took photographs of the stars by the sun during as solar… a solar e-eclipse seven years ago."

"'General relativity' as he called it I believe," Dr. Dorado voiced beside her.

Euphie just did catch Lelouch mutter to himself. "2010… at least that was a good year for somebody."

Shaking his head, he then continued aloud. "Originally, space and time were viewed by scientists as simple, unchanging, static ideas that objects existed in and events took place in. The professor, however, treated them as something real, tangible in a way. His work stated that the existence of matter and energy in space can change its shape. It can warp time, it can distort it."

"And rip open holes in it." Euphie tried to become smaller in her seat as her sister started speaking again, knowing fully that it wouldn't end well. "That's what your – 'classmate' is she? – has brought to the fold. Instead of ironing out the wrinkles like she was supposed to!"

Euphie heard Guinevere mutter beside her, "All a commoner's good for," but Cornelia missed it, carrying on as Lelouch's scowl deepened.

"The plan for Schneizel's program was to make teleportation real. To find a way to bypass three-dimensional space, getting from point A to point Z without having to move through the interceding points. We could have moved armies anywhere we wanted to, attack the capitals of Europe and China directly, without betraying any sign of our attacks." She gestured at Schneizel as she said so, then banged her fist down on tabletop in a way that – had they'd been in a cartoon – would have seen a small portion of it crumple under her blow. "And instead? We're under attack! On our borders and in our homeland alike. In less than a week we've lost nearly a fifth of our military capacity. That has been the outcome of your interference, Lelouch!"

A dichotomy against his face, which had turned red in fury halfway through her rant, Lelouch's voice was deceptively calm. No one could miss the caustic undertone as he responded, though.

"No, Cornelia, this predicament we're all in is the result of your interference. Yours and everyone else who engaged in this unwarranted display of force." He'd held up his copy of Schneizel's addendum report towards everyone and flicked through the pages quickly, allowing them to fan out, before dropping it. "Your actions were unsubtle and obvious; you were practically daring the Americans to do something about it… and they have! When an entire squadron didn't return, you had to know that some Tarnhelm devices would have to be recovered, examined, and replicated. We were already in a drawn-out fight over the Atlantic, and now we're on the cusp of another war, a war with no borders to patrol, no no-man's-land too dangerous for either side to cross, and no guarantee of success!"

Still frowning at her sister, Lelouch then slumped back in his seat. He was silent for a moment before, taking a deep breath, he started again, speaking calmly this time. "We… we've attacked a whole other planet. We, we were the ones who learned about them; they did not learn about us. But now they do know. We… no—you, Cornelia, have antagonized a people, a culture we don't entirely understand. You gave them a black eye, and in return they've plucked out one of ours."

He fell silent again, his gaze falling away from Cornelia as he picked up the reports before him again and started leafing through them. Suddenly, he muttered, "You should have said no, damn it."

With a snort, Cornelia began to respond, not unexpectedly by saying that she was a soldier and obeyed orders, although Euphie could tell from her tone of voice she was going to bring up Lelouch's disobedience back in Africa. Her words were cut off as Lelouch's head suddenly shot back up.

"It wasn't you I was speaking to, Cornelia," he said heatedly, then turned towards Schneizel. "I was talking to you."

The Second Prince brought a hand up on his collar bone, his expression betraying a hint of surprise. Euphie, and quite a few others gathered, half-expected him to say "Moi?"

"You were already Chancellor when I was exiled, Schneizel, and for the past five years you've been practically running the Empire for Father," Lelouch continued, his voice rising. "You know better than anyone else here what state the economy is in, of our military capacity, and that of the Europeans and the Chinese. So if anyone in the world was in a position to tell the Emperor that declaring a war – and against an entire planet, for that matter – was a bad idea, it was you. And you should have! We didn't need yet another front to fight upon, especially with a people that were of no threat to us whatsoever! They didn't even know we existed!"

And with that he collapsed back into his seat again, returning to the reports in his hands. Euphie noticed it seemed it was more for something to look at instead of looking at anyone else. The thought occurred that it wasn't that he felt embarrassment, but rather it was he felt too sickened to look them in the eye. "You… just should have said no," he quietly reiterated.

For a moment, there was silence, but then Earl Maldini started speaking in defense of the White Prince. "With respect, Your Highness," he began, although his voice carried only the nominal respect a royal was due, "but that is unlikely to have made a difference."

"I fail to see how it possibly could have made things worse," Lelouch grumbled back.

"In any event," Kanon continued unabated, "His Majesty would have still ordered the expedition mounted, followed by Operation: Wild Hunt, whilst the Chancellor would almost certainly been dismissed from his duties and thereafter placed under house arrest for his defiance."

"A situation from which he would have been recalled by us, and greeted with any number of hearty backslaps for the callous disregard he was shown, after the Americans had still retaliated and still captured the Emperor," Lelouch rejoined somewhat peevishly, his eyes never leaving the papers before him.

"The location of His Majesty still has not been positively pro—"

"And his hands would have been clean of this… snafu," Lelouch interrupted him.

"Unlike mine?" Cornelia asked, heatedly.

"Yes, of course, Cornelia," he said in utter disgust.

"I go where I am ordered, Lelouch. I'm a professional soldier, unlike you—"

"—ignored the dangers! How 'professional' is—?"

"The loss of face you caused me—"

"You couldn't leap at the opportunity Father was handing out fast enough—"

"—complete disregard you had for my seniority—"

"—throw your men at the enemy until something breaks—"

"Lelouch, this situation called for—"

"—you are the situation, Cornelia!"

"Enough!"

Lelouch and Cornelia's argument stopped dead with that. Euphemia started to look around to see who had shrieked, part of her wishing to thank them, but then got distracted.

Why is the table suddenly thigh-high to me? she thought as she noticed the tabletop was much lower than it was a second before. Looking around, she saw where everyone's chairs had suddenly gotten shorter too, as everyone else was still sitting at chest-height with the tabletop. They were also staring at her. Do they think it's something I did? Emil's the practical joker, not me.

"Euphie!"

It was a harsh whisper and, looking down at her side, saw Big Sister looking up at her, her face ashen yet with an expression of annoyance.

Oh, yes. I was the one yelling just now, she realized. She then felt a sharp tug on her skirt.

"Euphie!" Cornelia repeated herself, not so quietly this time.

For a moment, Euphemia was silent as she twitched, almost sitting back down again as she was being motioned to. Then she grabbed skirt and yanked it free from her sister's hand.

"What's happened to you two?" she demanded to know, her eyes zipping back and forth between her sister and Lelouch. "We were as close as if we'd shared the same mother, but now look at us! We're no better than…" Her voice trailed off as she turned and waved her hand noncommittally at the rest down the conference table.

Guinevere picked up on what she was saying, and immediately shot a death-glare at her. "Have you forgotten to whom you are speaking, Princess Euphemia?" she hissed out.

"Yes, sister," she answered, sadly shaking her head. "I know exactly who I'm speaking to… a big nobody trading in on her crown!" As everyone gasped, she looked up, an accusatory expression aimed at everyone gathered at the table. "How many here have done anything to earn their pride, to earn their positions? Who amongst you do not automatically bank on their noble house's name, who own everything to the simple fact that they were fortunate enough to be born a child of the Emperor?"

She let her question hang in the air before continuing. Taking the moment to take in their reactions, she saw a few blank stares, but mostly shock and outrage. A few had the presence of mind to look guilty, but even those had a tinge of anger born of denial. Deciding they'd had enough time, she answered her own question.

"None of you have… and, frankly, neither have I. Ultimately, we're all a bunch of spoiled, self-serving freeloaders. We live off the riches gathered either by our armies in foreign lands, or out of the hands of our people. Our only interests are fulfilling our petty little desires."

Frowning, she turned to her closest siblings, who were staring at her as much as anyone. "You… you're different, or supposed to be. Vanguards of the Empire, all of you. But you've changed since we were children, I see that now."

Pointing at them each in turn, she continued. "Cornelia, you're my big sister, and I'll love you always. You're probably one of the best soldiers that have ever lived. You've fought and bled along with your men, and cried for their loss. Others may call you the Witch of Britannia, but I know the real you.

"Unfortunately," she added after a moment's pause, "because of that I've seen you change. Oh, you're not a bloodthirsty monster like Carine or Sir Luciano…"

"Hey!"

"… but you are obstinate. You've become intolerant of contradiction, and violent. You're unwilling to listen to reason, and it's not because you're strong, it's because you're afraid. Afraid of looking weak even for a moment. And so you react to every - and I do mean every – challenge like it's a stubborn nail that you just have to hammer until it finally goes in. There's no place for people like you… not outside of a war zone at any rate. And considering we're slowly taking the entire world, that means some day there won't be a place for you at all!"

Euphemia then turned away, leaving Cornelia speechless. She just sat there, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, as Euphie began letting into her half-brothers.

"Lelouch, you're brilliant, and the way you've run Area 11 speaks of how Britannia needs to rule if it is to hold onto all it has gained," she said sincerely, thinking of the brave way he stood up for innocent civilians, both Britannians and the native peoples, against violence and corruption. That and his employment of an Honorary Britannian as one of his personal knights had given her hope.

She had ideas for Areas to have special administrated regions in which designations like Number, Honorary Britannian, or commoner weren't thrust upon people. It was a step towards equality among non-royals that she felt would say day be needed, both to maintain the peace and for the Empire to realize its anthem's declaration as a land of truth and hope. She'd kept these a secret, fearing no one would listen, much less help develop them, until Lelouch returned. But...

"You're headstrong, too. And arrogant, and," she stopped and shook her head, "I'm not sure if you're insensitive or just oblivious. Either way, you've thrown up walls around yourself and won't let anyone in. We've different mothers, but you and I are still blood, and you won't let even me in." She stopped for a moment as Lelouch reacted as if he'd been slapped, but then plowed on. "You won't trust anyone, and because of that you insist on being in control, of making all the decisions, of shouldering all the burden. That kind of pressure always breaks someone sooner or later, even you. And by then you'll have either driven everyone away, or they'll have turned against you."

Finally, she turned to Schneizel, you looked at her expectantly, but also a tad warily.

"Big brother Schneizel, something's happened to you, too. Otherwise we wouldn't be in this situation."

Rather than looking insulted or crestfallen, Schneizel simply cocked an eyebrow. He settled back into his chair, his face serene as he awaited the rest of what she had on her mind.

"You're a loyal subject of the Crown, and easily one of the most astute and accomplished of us here," Euphemia continued. "And for that His Majesty entrusted you with handling the duties of the Empire for him." She paused for a moment at this, thinking about her father's otherwise lack of responsibility in handling the affairs of state, but passed up talking about it.

"But part of being loyal – whether to a friend or to an entire nation – is to speak up when you think a poor decision is being made. For both of these reasons, duty to the Empire and loyalty to our father, you should have said no. He may have listened, or he may not have. But we'll never know now… you had an opportunity to make a difference and you threw it away. And as such, you failed everyone… including yourself."

One could have heard a pin drop as Euphemia sat down again. It was obvious that Cornelia was silently fuming, but also taken aback by her younger sister's observation of her behavior. Lelouch's focus was again upon the papers in his hands, but now it was clear he was too ashamed to meet Euphie's gaze. Schneizel simply steepled his hands and looked over them; whether he was studying Euphie or gazing off into space as he considered her words, she couldn't tell. Most of the royal court sat quietly, either chastened by her too, or simply embarrassed by her display. A few of the more stubborn royal siblings, Carine among them naturally, were trying to make her burst into flames with their minds.

Whatever anyone was thinking, it was interrupted by applause, as two hands clapped together slowly but steadily. Whatever her feelings at the moment, Cornelia looked fit to read someone the riot act for sarcasticlapping at her sister, when she noticed the one clapping was Odysseus. And the look on his face…

He was proud!

"Thank you, Euphemia," he said, continuing with his solo ovation as he stood from his seat. "You've said precisely what needed to be said, and no one was willing to."

Returning his hands to his sides, his usually mild-mannered features took on a disapproving look as he turned to his fellow royals. It gave him an air of actually being Emperor Charles' firstborn for once, and most that would have usually spoken up instead held their tongues.

"The other day, I spoke about how we were facing an unprecedented danger, how our enemies would soon see opportunity to strike back, and that we had a responsibility to the people to find a solution. We were… interrupted, but today we assembled together for those same reasons. In fact, those same reasons doubled. And how have we responded? By making accusations and volleying recriminations at each other."

Looking up, he then gestured magnanimously towards Dr. Dorado, Nina (standing right behind the Honorary Britannian like a child using a parent to hide from a stranger), and the other scientists from Tarnhelm, who'd stood stock-still throughout the last few minutes' verbal barrage. "And in front of guests, too. Assembled here to help give us clarity, instead we've made them a forced audience to our childish theatrics." With a sad bow of his head, he then spoke directly to them, "My apologies for our unseemly display, ladies and gentlemen."

Returning his attention to his younger siblings, he fixed the lot of them with a disappointed frown. "This is supposed to have been a meeting to figure out what is going on and how best to handle matters, and instead it's become one huge argument. We are facing a crisis, far larger than our petty squabbles; that is something we should all have the wits to see, and only Euphemia has been brave enough to take us to task for it."

And with that, Odysseus sat stiffly back down, sagely stating that there would be no more derisive, unconstructive criticism. From here on out, he ordered, they would focus on discussing who, what, when, where, and why of the problem, and how to correct it. As for anything else, what little worth saying had been said, so there was no point in continuing it. Euphie smiled at that, glad to see she hadn't made a spectacle of herself for nothing.

"We'll talk about this later," she suddenly heard in a harsh whisper. Turning her head slightly, she saw Cornelia giving her a look out of the corner of her eye, a stern look that promised a reckoning for the way she'd been spoken to. But her action hadn't gone unnoticed.

"No, you won't," the First Prince shot back, his tone flat but commanding. "No more hammering this evening, Cornelia."

Euphie heard Cornelia make a small squeak out of the back of her throat, a sound more typically coming from herself. They both gave their eldest brother a look of shock – either for intruding on family business or for the reversal in his manners – before settling back into their chairs, Cornelia allowing the matter to lie still for the moment.

"Now, then," Odysseus began, giving the meeting a fresh start. "The how and the why and the who, as I said. I think we're all having a bit of trouble following the precise science, so if we could go back a bit, would you be so kind to explain what is occurring – the act rather than the math, if you will – and how we've made contact?" he asked the Tarnhelm personnel.

There was a brief hubbub as the scientists whispered amongst themselves. Euphie got the feeling they'd been promised just to serve as voices for the PowerPoint presentation, after which they would leave. Making extemporized talk with the royal family had not been part of their equations.

"Nina," Lelouch called out, taking the bull by the horns. "How did we wind up going to another reality, when the idea was to leapfrog over space on our own world?"

Sadly, the poor thing was still useless speaking to a large group. She stopped and started ten times in less than a minute, her eyes darting about the room as her soft, borderline mutter of a speaking voice only emphasized her rising embarrassment. A few couldn't help giggling… assuming they even tried.

Next to her, Euphie heard Guinevere mutter to herself, "'Commoners were born to serve'," a bit of wisdom she'd inherited from her mother.

"Nina," Lelouch spoke again, his voice calm but still forceful. "Speak to me, Nina. Tell me how teleportation was intended to work, and how this has happened instead."

The giggles instantly stopped as princes and princesses shot their unwelcome, back-from-the-dead prince angry looks, infuriated that he'd basically told this commoner to ignore them. A rude way to do things, but it worked, as Nina's voice, still low but now speaking consistently, began again, her eyes focused on her former schoolmate.

"Well, as been said, teleportation is moving from one place to another without occupying the space in-between. And my great-grandfather offered theories that space and time can be… molded, basically. He imagined that space and time could be altered metrically, forming a shortcut from one point to another. The idea was called the Rosen-Einstein conduit effect, and Dr. Dorado had some ideas on how to make it really happen. That was what Project: Tarnhelm was trying to do."

Suddenly, Nina looked away, continuing but no longer maintaining eye contact with Lelouch. For a moment, Euphie thought to speak up but decided not to. So many of her siblings held the Tarnhelm Project and its staff responsible for the current crisis, particularly Nina and Dr. Dorado. Nina because it was her and her forebear's work that had somehow jumbled thing, and Dorado because… well, "Numbers were born to suffer" as Guinevere would put it. That was precisely what he was and all that he could be in their eyes, no matter his accomplishments and who his patron was.

"The particles Dr. Dorado worked with caused a quantum fissure effect, enveloping any mass that they were centered on, from just a rock, a person, or an entire Knightmare, and shunting them through the shortcut. My ancestor's work helped fill up the holes in the process, but we used too much of them, I guess," she admitted. "The process bent time and space too much. The equations for stabilizing the exit point went beyond our world to a parallel one."

Nina was silent after this, resulting in a brief pause before one of the other scientists stepped forward, taking up the slack. He was a bespectacled man of average height, with thinning hair and a somewhat over-sized cranium. Even from a distance, Euphie could tell his teeth were stained by nicotine as he talked. "Er, Professor Hugh Everett, my lords and ladies" he said with a bow in way of introduction. "I'm, uh, a late addition to the program, following the initial return module experiments. I was brought on because it was I who formally proposed the idea of parallel worlds in my thesis paper on interpreting quantum mechanics, 'The Theory of the Universal Wave-function'."

Euphie, along with most of his audience, answered with blank stares. Deciding to put aside any bravado in lieu of explanations, the professor began again.

"The many-worlds interpretation, as is the popular name for the theory, holds that all possible histories are real, having their own Earth in which the differing actions and their consequences are real, as opposed to being a hypothetical 'what if?' scenario. Effectively, anything that could happen does happen, just within its own separate reality."

"Ah," interrupted William, nodding to himself. "Less sad are Shakespeare's words of tongue or pen; your parallel worlds provide what might have been." He then smirked, so full of himself as ever when he had a chance to not just utilize one of his idol's quotes, but make up a line of poetry himself.

"Whittier," said Lelouch.

"Thank you, brother," William responded, smugly. "It's nice to be appreciated."

"Not 'witty', William," Lelouch began again, his voice tinged with exasperation. "I said 'Whittier'. It was John Greenleaf Whittier you were referencing just now, not Shakespeare." He then asked Everett to continue about the nature of parallel worlds as William tried hard not to face-palm himself, mortified over either getting his quotes mixed up or having to be corrected by his lower-born brother.

"Thank you, Your Highness," the professor said politely, giving the sputtering 15th Prince a nervous glance. "Um, well, 'parallel worlds' is actually something of a misnomer." As he spoke, he held up his hands and, with his forefingers, drew two vertical lines next to one another in the air. "We don't believe these realities are coexisting, replicating one another's history precisely until randomly acting different at some point. No. A more accurate term would be 'divergent worlds'."

Putting his fingers together, Everett then started drawing a single imaginary line this time. "If it helps, imagine a cross between a historical timeline and a genealogical chart. The world is singular, for awhile, but then along comes a decision, a choice, an event point as we call it, any occasion where there's more than one option for consequences of the event. Rather than remain linear, we now have two worlds, amoeba-ishly split so that each possibility may occur." As he said so, Everett took his finger apart, continuing to draw his line but now in separate directions, forming an imaginary "Y" in the air. Returning his hands to his sides, he continued speaking to the assembled court. "I know that it sounds preposterous, but recent events show that it does happen. It's happening now even as we speak. Someone, somewhere, is experiencing an event point, and entire worlds – separate and different but equal – are being created because of that event."

Every decision? How much is "every"? Euphie wondered, raising her hand, something she was taught to do even though she was educated by private tutors.

"Er, yes, Your Highness?" asked the professor, surprised that a member of royalty would wait for permission rather than just speak up.

Euphie then lowered her hand, hearing Cornelia grumble, "So, you do remember your manners, after all," behind her. Ignoring her, she asked the professor her question.

"Professor Everett, when you say every event point, do you mean 'every-every' or 'decisions of consequence-every'?"

"Well, that's a good question," the professor said, happy to see one of the royals getting into the spirit of things. "Taking into consideration the number of choices one makes in a single day, the notion that one is responsible for creating an entirely separate world seems ridiculous. It seems unwieldy, and a gross violation of the conservation of energy as near-infinite amounts of new matter are generated by new Earths practically every moment. Add in the fact that it's every person on Earth doing this, and been so since the dawn of time…" He let the idea hang in the air as he shrugged his shoulders. "But yes, every option for a scenario is played out thanks to these divergent worlds."

Everyone looked incredulous at the idea, and Euphemia couldn't help but feel the same way. "But professor, choosing between marmalade, apricot preserves, or raspberry jam to go with my morning toast… that hardly seems the sort of thing worlds are sculpted from."

Her question left Professor Everett tongue-tied, to which Dr. Dorado stepped up to the plate, smoothing out his necktie as he collected his thoughts. Out of the corner of her eye, Euphie noticed Schneizel frown ever so slightly, while Kanon seemed to catch his breath.

"Science, Your Highness, holds that if one backtracks a hurricane far enough, one comes across a butterfly flapping its wings on the other side of the planet. What may seem trivial at the moment may set a course that holds major consequences later on. To use your example, if you choose the jam, you carry on the rest of the day as you normally would. The marmalade, however, gives you a sugar rush, changing your mood and pace ever so slightly from how you would have acted otherwise. Greater still, the apricot preserves may be a bit off or disagree with something you ate earlier, causing you indigestion which the jam and the marmalade would not have. In any event, there are differences in how your activities throughout the day unfold, which reflect upon the people around you and the events that transpire due to your actions. The result, whether it takes a day, a century, or a thousand years, is a version of the Earth, very different from the other, all stemming from which choice you made."

Finished, Dorado stepped back, apparently not noticing as Everett whispered his thanks to him. Far away, Kanon visibly relaxed while composure returned to Schneizel's face. Euphie just barely noticed this as she reviewed the allegory in her head, before smiling and nodding her head at the Honorary Britannian. "That… makes a lot of sense, doctor."

The doctor inclined his head towards her in recognition of her praise, but there was no rest for the wicked.

"And you're certain that we are dealing with an entirely different world?" asked Guinevere, her tone still expressing doubt over the whole matter.

"Yes, sister, we are," Schneizel answered for Dorado. Guinevere may be willing to browbeat the Honorary Britannian, but her younger but nevertheless influential brother was another thing. "As with reverse-engineering a strange device once we found out what it does, we were able to learn a lot of the nature of these divergent worlds once we realized that's what we were making contact with. What was it that you found when samples taken from Earth-2 were studied, Professor Everett?"

The balding man stepped forward again. "Matter that we acquired from the other world – the plant and insect life our test animal brought back, for example – was tested up, down, and center. Every way possible and a few we came up with along the way. And what we found was the matter it was composed of was asynchronous with matter on our world. Not in and of itself dangerous or toxic, mind you, just composed ever so slightly different."

"How so?"

Taking his glasses off, Everett started polishing them as he thought. Euphemia suppressed a giggle, as he looked the very picture of the scientist from a science fiction movie who'd figured out what's really going on.

"As you said, Your Highness, most of what we know now is based on what we figured out since we realized what we were actually doing. Studying Earth-2 matter on a subatomic level, we've found what we call the 'quantum signature'. The idea we've bandied about the lab is that all matter in the universe resonates on a quantum level, very precisely. This basically acts as a marker to distinct divergent worlds, but it may be more important than that. It could very well be the basic foundation of existence."

"Since you discovered this difference in your analysis of matter brought here, I take it that traversing from world to world does not change that 'signature', correct?" asked Lelouch.

"Quite correct, Your Highness," Everett said appreciatively, clearly glad someone was following the subject material. "Due to the momentary fissure that Miss Einstein mentioned, matter is placed in a mild state of quantum flux, shifting it to another reality, but its own signature remains the same. In point of fact, if – as I said – it's pivotal to existence, then it may be impossible to change the quantum signature of matter anyway."

"Have you even tried?" asked Carine peevishly.

"Er, no, Your Highness."

Clearly unsatisfied, the bloodthirsty princess opined that perhaps they should. "Scrambling their signatures would give us a good weapon against these E-Two freaks," she observed.

"Carine, he said it's a fundamental fact of existence itself," Lelouch said, throwing in his own two pence. "Based on that, trying to fiddle with the quantum signature of matter, alien or not, may be… another… bad idea."

Euphie took in at Carine's sour expression, as she remembered that same phrase being just a few minutes ago. Still, she wasn't going to let the issue drop without having the last word in. "So, basically, this little nugget of information is useless, then?"

"Er, as a weapon? Yes, Your Highness," Everett said, nervously, the character of this princess evident even if this was the first time he'd seen or even heard of her. "This universal resonance keeps the divergent words separate, and not overlapping one another, a dangerous phenomenon if it were to occur, indeed. Furthermore, knowledge of the quantum signature is the only confirmed means of knowing what world one is on, your own or a divergent one. Some are obviously different, while others are so minutely different a man could spend his entire life on one and never realize he hadn't return to his home reality."

Lelough leaned forward in his chair at this, clasping his hands together. "Which we can all tell is not the case with Earth-2, whose history long ago branched away from our own. Obvious, this world's event point was during Washington's Rebellion, specifically when Benjamin Franklin was bribed, or rather refused to be."

While basically in agreement, Lelouch's supposition was met by other, more cynical views on the change in history of the other world. "Or it wasn't enough for him," someone said, while a princess whose name Euphie didn't know offhand suggested that the Duke of Britannia simply hadn't gotten to him in time while Franklin was serving as General Washington's envoy to France.

As people spoke, Euphemia flipped through Schneizel's addendum on Earth-2 and what little they'd gathered about the American republic. She came across the money section just as someone voiced the possibility that Franklin had betrayed Washington – "as he was supposed to" – but the effort failed, after which he was able to cover his tracks just in time.

"He must have covered them amazingly well for this to happen," Euphie said, as she held up her copy. It showed off the page dedicated to analyzing the monetary note designated for one hundred dollars (however much that translated into pounds), which proudly carried on one side a miniature portrait of the man they knew as Washington's betrayer, a true Britannian patriot, and the discoverer of electricity.

"Heh," Lelouch chuckled. "And right on the other side is the legislative hall in Philadelphia where the Continental Congress signed their manifesto against Good King George's colonial rule. Maybe Franklin wanted more, maybe he just didn't receive the offer in time. Or maybe he was just made of sterner stuff in their world," he added sardonically.

He waved all the other cries made against him by the assembled royals, all except Euphie's own admonishment. "I'm not trying to start another argument, Euphie. I'm just noting, like Schneizel's idea men, that small things lead up to big things. Here, something small happened in Earl Franklin's life, and as such he did not wind up an earl. He observed his own advice that he and his fellow mutineers would hang separately if they did not risk being hanged together… and as a result, fewer did."

"You spend much of your time reading up on traitors, Lelouch?" Guinevere sniped at him, unmindful of Odysseus' earlier rebuke.

"The past is over and done with, Guinevere," he responded evenly. "But it's where today is born from, so one should be mindful of it. As for my opinion on, in this case, the would-be Earl, if one studies his previous behavior in life, then it was accepting the Duke's offer as he did in our world that was contradictive to his nature."

Stopping to allow the resultant taunts to settle down, he continued with his explanation. "Benjamin Franklin routinely protested the Stamp Act and other trade restrictions handed down by the pre-Britannian government in London, for which he was decried and insulted by loyalists. An offer for land and a title does not always sooth such wounds to one's honor. Furthermore, even as a boy he was a habitual dissenter when he felt he had a cause. The entire reason he moved to Philadelphia in the first place was that he was fleeing his unappreciative brother, a journalist who got upset when he realized articles contributed by an anonymous widow were actually written by Benjamin, whose work he'd refused to publish earlier. Franklin broke his apprenticeship doing that, a heady thing back in those days."

Lelouch stopped for a moment, as if contemplating matters. "When you stop to consider these and other events of his life, and how they reflect upon his nature, then Benjamin turning upon Washington and his fellow Congressmen is actually the uncharacteristic act." Lelouch suddenly looked up and fixed Euphie with a look. "About as likely as Euphemia here going on a shooting spree." As he said that, he moved his hand to his right eye, and rubbed it with his forefingers. "Sorry… eyelash tickle," he offered quietly.

At the suggestion, a chill went up Euphemia's back, oddly feeling as though someone had walked over her grave. "Lelouch, could you have pleased thought of something less gruesome?" she asked.

Lelouch himself had made a face at his own suggestion. Realizing he'd been spoken to, he apologized, stating he just wanted to give an extremely pointed example.

"Moving along," Odysseus said, his voice soothing any nerves frayed by the little exchange. "Whether by Earl Franklin himself, or some odd twist of fate earlier, the upshot is, as observed, a society founded in Washingtonian politics, not the monarchy and the aristocracy brought over by our English forebears and their cousins from the continent, correct?"

"Yes, brother," Schenizel said respectfully. "The United States operates by a system not unlike the Euro Ultra-union, albeit a federation of provinces, or 'states,' rather than separate kingdoms and countries. Volunteering citizens are elected by general consensus to posts of varying levels of powers. The power structure extends from the local level of cities and townships, to state level, and finally the federal level, where government posts and agencies have powers that span the entire federation.

"The precise mechanics and power structure of the federal government was a matter still being researched when His Majesty called an end to the expeditions. News articles suggest a powerful legislative body not unlike the Central Hemicycle in Europe, which had inherited the name of 'Congress'. This body seems to be divided into two houses not unlike our Parliament—"

"What?! Why? I wouldn't think Washington's government would have allowed for any nobles in their society," Odysseus asked.

Showing no sign of annoyance at being interrupted, Schneizel stopped to admit that it was something he and his intelligence analysts wondered about, too. "Neither house is composed of inherited positions like our own House of Lords, we noticed, so why bother?" Posting to either house, he went on, was via election and therefore both were essentially an Imperial Senate (or "House of Commons" as was called in the olden days, and which some nobles preferred to use in private).

Getting back on track, Schneizel explained that, while the Congress was no doubt influential both as a body and as separate individuals, most of the country focused upon an executive officer known as "The President". This officer appeared to fulfill a role similar to being chancellor or, despite being separate from the Congress, a prime minister. "In that he gets all the attention, good or bad, leaving the Congress to do all the work evidently," he explained, receiving a small round of chuckles. "Based on discussion in newspapers and political displays Dame Monica and her expedition saw, either an election year for the President's post is forthcoming, or there is the possibility of a call for a vote of no confidence in the current one."

"So, to make a long story short, they're the Ultra-union, but here on our land." Euphie blinked as she turned to the speaker, which was Prince Oscar. "Oscar of the Red-Nose," some called him behind his back for his tendency to imbibe. He'd been silent the entire time and, knowing his habits, she was somewhat surprised to see he hadn't fallen asleep in his chair.

"Mmm, regarding their political structure, I suppose that's a sound comparison," Schneizel admitted. "Based on observations, which admittedly we don't have too much of, American society and culture is more a hodgepodge of Europe and our own. They've no royalty, although the commoners are similarly enamored with the escapades of celebrities and old money families. Their economy is capitalistic, and encourages conspicuous consumption, such as our own. Automobiles, electronics, entertainment, and other forms and methods of leisure time are heavily stressed by advertisement, although investing or at least safeguarding their money is also prevalent. The level of their technology is equivalent to our own, despite the fact they're still dependent upon fossil fuels, and are only experimenting in solar energy and the like. For some odd reason, they haven't discovered Sakuradite on their world yet."

"Maybe they're not smart enough to know what to do with it," Guinevere sneered.

"Or perhaps," Euphie said wonderingly, "for some odd reason, it doesn't even exist there." Noticing the looks this earned him, she shrugged back meekly. "Just saying," was all she could think to offer.

"As for their social makeup," Schneizel continued, "Anglo-Saxon and other Caucasian races are nominally the chief ethnicity, although races from around the world mix freely in their society, which is more apparent in metropolitan areas. Britannian, or rather English, is the official language, although other languages, including those on the blacklist, are used publicly without punishment. There is no Number system, and we saw no sign of slavery being practiced. They portray themselves as an egalitarian society with opportunities for class mobility, and denying social boundaries based upon religious beliefs, racial identity…" He stopped suddenly, and shrugged. "Or, that is their intention at any rate. Subtle and not-so-subtle worried looks at individuals based on telltale ethnic features are not unknown. People descended from Arabic territories in particular were occasionally viewed with trepidation if not outright suspicion."

"They're at war with the – oops! I mean, a Middle East Federation, too?" Euphie asked him.

"More or less," Cornelia said, mild appreciation reflected in her voice as they moved onto a topic she was versed in. "The materials brought back from Earth-2 did not always go into detail; often, news articles referenced events that must be common knowledge on their world. Evidently, still within the public conscious are a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that occurred several years ago…"

She suddenly stopped talking, her expression vaguely pained, and Euphie knew she was momentarily distracted by thoughts of their own terrorist attack from years before. She knew this as her own thoughts strayed towards the death of Lady Marianne. Stealing a glance at Lelouch, she only saw the stoic look on his face, waiting for Cornelia to finish her explanation.

"We only have a date on which the attacks occurred," she said, starting again, "and that they were concentrated on two places, named 'The Pentagon' and 'The World Trade Center'. The name of the latter makes me think it may have been a variation of the J.L.F.'s attack upon the summit for Sakuradite allocation a few months ago."

At that, Euphemia looked back at Nina Einstein, as did Lelouch, their eyes briefly making contact as they both turned their heads. Obviously, her sister's remark brought up old fears, as the girl's composition trembled a bit, her head lowered as she absently rubbed the band-aid on her face. Fortunately, making a rather audible swallow, she brought her head back up after a moment, balling up her courage to see the rest of the meeting through without making a scene.

Next to her, Euphie heard Cornelia continue, and picked up the remainder of her talk on the terrorists' actions and America's response. Whatever the details of the attacks were, they resulted in a series of military actions which have engulfed two major Middle Eastern countries suspected of having a hand in the attacks. The Americans basically toppled the two nations' governments, but otherwise their war has stagnated due to long-term guerilla action by the countries' former armies, as well as rebellious civilians either still loyal to the old regimes or simply objecting to a foreign presence on their land. The American government had been taking sharp criticism for this, both by other governments, including its supposed allies, as well as its own peoples, whom Cornelia criticized as not having the same stomach for war as Britannians do.

"What was the response of the other M.E.F. countries?" Lelouch asked her, as his attention returned from his friend.

Cornelia responded evenly to the poignant question. "Public condemnation but no real military assistance that we can tell to" – she stopped to look at her notes – "Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, there is no Middle East Federation to begin with. Nor is there a Chinese Federation, and technically, no Euro Ultra-union."

"What does 'technically' mean?" someone asked.

Cornelia's gaze shifted, her expression questioning, to Schneizel, who recognized the signal to take up the subject matter. "The various nations of Europe remain sovereign states, responsible for their own affairs. The closest thing to the Ultra-union is the European Union, which is little more an economic and political association, keeping the stock market even while also providing a platform for politic discourse. Hardly a power bloc like the E.U. we are familiar with."

"The United States is both a party to and a host for an international version of the same which calls itself the United Nations," Kanon added behind him.

The mention of this reminded Euphie of one of Cornelia's accusations, something about the American ambassador's people allowed their enemies onto their land to make deals. Well, that answers that question, she thought.

"As for Asia, China is a socialist state formally known as the People's Republic of China," Schneizel continued. "It covers most of mainland Asia, but is still smaller than the Federation and does not exercise the same level of power. Most Asian regions remain separate political entities, even those that also have communist regimes and may or may not be client governments of China. All in all, the superstates we're familiar with do not exist on Earth-2, where the numerous nations remain rather divided. Not necessarily in conflict, mind you, but they value their independence, and have no expansionist empire such as ourselves to inspire strong alliances."

"What status is the American government?" "Are they unstable at the moment?" Castor and Pollux asked, plainly looking for cracks in the other world's armor, particularly the Empire's counterpart.

"No, but that's not impossible," he said guardedly. "From what we have gathered, the United States' recent history has been… laborious. With the federal government distracted by the drawn out war against the terrorists' sponsor nations, a number of business entities decided that while the cat was away, the mice would play. Indications are that some corporations effectively swindled their stockholders by falsely reporting their gains and losses. Furthermore, the various banking cartels have played fast and loose with their investors' money, gambling on land speculation and the housing market. This has had widespread repercussions on all corporate and financial entities, causing a sharp economic depression. The fact that few of the top executives of these groups are being taken to task for their actions, has led to civilian outcry. In fact, the government has gone into debt giving them more money in the hopes of stabilizing the economy."

Euphemia nearly bolted out of her seat as Guinevere suddenly let loose a loud cackle, the hand she held daintily over her mouth doing nothing to dampen her ear-piercing shriek of a laugh. "The great and powerful Americans, brought low by the money-lenders!" she stopped to gasp out between breaths before she started laughing again.

"And if wars were fought by people trying to bash one another's heads in with their coin purses, that would mean something," Cornelia rejoined angrily, but went unnoticed, her elder sister far too pleased by Schneizel's revelation on the Empire's mirror opposite. Deciding she could ignore people too, Euphie reopened Schneizel's report…

/ * CG * /

The notion of money caused Euphemia to turn to the section concerning the United States' monetary system. The Federal Reserve Notes – as was the title across the top of what was believed to be the front of each bill – were of dollar amounts ranging from just one to one hundred. These samples were the most commonly used bills, the report noted, with perhaps larger denominations in circulation. While there was no indication of the existence of notes equivalent to "Giants" or "Titans," as were nicknamed the million-pound notes once used by banks for massive transactions, there was no reason to believe they had not existed at some point.

More so than other sections of the report, this section was filled with pictures, specifically photocopies of the paper money and coins brought back by the expedition. The report explained that the expedition's members had been supplied with forged credit cards designed to give false returns when used, a common piece of equipment for modern spies. This had allowed them to make purchases, such as paying for meals or going into places that charged for entrance. That being said, they were also provided with some minor gems and jewelry which they sold at pawn shops. This was in case they needed cash money, but basically the intent was to acquire samples of American currency for cultural analysis.

I bet Schneizel wished Clovis was still with us when that happened, Euphie thought sadly as she looks at the pictures of paper bills and coins of different sizes and illustrations. In addition to his own skill with a brush, Clovis had been something of an art historian, with some astounding knowledge of archaeology concerning hieroglyphics.

Most of the bills had on one side a landscape, centered on a building either of vital importance to the government or historically significant. For example, the bill portraying Benjamin Franklin on its front hosted an illustration of the Continental Congress' meeting place, here named by a tiny plaque as Independence Hall. Others were of places scarcely identified, such as a Georgian-style manor called "The White House". There were two exceptions, however, on the one-dollar and the two-dollar bill.

The latter showed the Congress in the process of signing the Declaration of Independence, their manifesto to George III and Parliament. In it, they had made their demands for freedom, speaking for the colonies with the intent of becoming an independent entity from England, as well as for the people, announcing their existence as free men with stature equal to the king, being fellow creations of God. Lofty words which were later held as base hypocrisy for many of them were slave-owners, and all were landed gentry, practically noblemen themselves. The rise of Social Darwinism had added another reason to spit upon their egalitarian goals as idealistic nonsense, a child's fantasy at best. For her part, Euphemia did look upon the situation questionably, but given her own situation – a royal fantasizing of special zones without class boundaries – she didn't totally dismiss their long-term plans or individual convictions out of hand as most did.

Shaking her head, she moved onto the other exception on the back of the one-dollar bill, which had caused her eyes to fairly bug-out the first time she saw it. The thought occurred that Schneizel would definitely have appreciated Clovis' input as she took in the heavy use of symbolism. Centered was a massive "ONE" – the phrase "In God we trust" inscribed over it – bookended by two circles. The first circle showed a pyramid, its capstone floating freely above it as well as superimposed with a glowing eye. Above and below the pyramid were Latin phrases, translated as "He approves undertakings" and "New Order of the Ages". Obviously the latter phrase referenced the colonies becoming a newborn nation unto itself, while the former was presumably an assumption of divine support.

Just as bizarre was the circle on the right, which depicted a coat of arms consisting of a heraldic shield over a falcon with a cloud of stars over them. Clutched in the bird's claws were a handful of arrows and an olive branch, apparently denoting the country's capacity for both war and peace if so inclined. It also held in its beak a banner with more Latin on it, announcing "Out of many, one", denoting the separate states condition as part of a larger whole, or perhaps the integration of different peoples into a mass community.

Powerful symbolism, whatever you think of them, Euphemia thought, as she turned her attention to the portraits the bills also carried.

Much like Britannian pounds, the dollars were decorated on one side with miniature portraits. The Empire used pictures of the current emperor as well as past royalty of some fame, with Areas often circulating random notes that depicted their current viceroy. The Americans, however, were all portraits of past historical figures, most of whom they recognized.

This gave her a pause, as Euphie considered the number of people that had risen to prominence on both worlds, in spite of differences of history and society. We may have diverged from one another, but some thinks still run parallel, apparently, she thought, thinking of the terms debated earlier.

The first and the last samples showcased two pivotal figures of Washington's Rebellion: General Washington himself, of course, and Benjamin Franklin, the latter with a knowing look but also an impish twinkle that was appropriate for him.

While schoolwork had not been her forte, she'd studied diligently rather than be automatically given marks that were low but still passable like some of her less-conscientious siblings. One of the topics she still remembered was the discoverer of electricity, and savior of the Empire in some eyes. The son of a candle-maker who wound up an earl, he was shown off as a representative figure of both Social Darwinism – the cream that rose to the top, as it were – and the meritocracy of the Empire, where ability was rewarded just as incompetence punished. A far cry from the same society that sniggered ruthlessly behind the backs of Lady Marianne and her children, which Euphie remembered just as well as her sister. She liked to think that Earl Franklin, who even after receiving his peerage signed all correspondence humbly as "B. Franklin, Printer," would have had no part in such shenanigans.

Knowing what I know about him, the more I think of it, the more Lelouch has a point, she thought. Still could have done without the shooting spree suggestion, though.

The general, meanwhile, looked serene, unsmiling but not stern. This was a far cry from the self-righteous would-be despot she was acquainted with in Britannian depictions of his rebellion. The best he could hope for was portrayal as something akin to Shakespeare's Brutus, a villain-with-a-noble-rationale, tragic but no less a traitor to those he'd sworn loyalty. On Earth-2, evidently, he either lived to see the rebellion succeed, or died making certain that it would, his memory enshrined for either reason.

The rest she remembered to some degree or another, recognizing the names beneath their faces if not the faces themselves. Here on the two-dollar note was Thomas Jefferson, a contemporary of Franklin who'd been the author of the Congress' manifesto, as well as one of those selfsame slave-owners used to portray them in a poor light. Another, the five-dollar, showed Abraham Lincoln, another proud example of the Empire's system. A lawyer from the Duchy of Illinois, he'd been elevated to the Imperial Senate, then chancellor, serving as the emperor's right-hand man as the Empire briefly broke into civil war over control of industrialization, the rights of nobles, and other issues of the day.

Euphie stopped again as she considered another bit of trivia she'd learned in her studies. While not an overtly religious man, Chancellor Lincoln had subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessity, a belief that the human mind was controlled by some higher power, not necessarily God but referred to as "providence". For some reason, that fact skirted about the edges of her mind, like a name she couldn't quite remember being on the tip of her tongue. Deciding that, if it was really important, it would occur to her later, she moved on.

The rest were named Hamilton, Jackson, and Grant. Hamilton she guessed was Earth-2's Alexander Hamilton, aide-de-camp to Washington, who died alongside a man named Burr during a shootout with loyalists. Grant was likely Sir Ulysses Grant, a popular general during the civil war who may have succeeded Lincoln as chancellor had he not gotten bogged down in scandals with friends and acquaintances.

Out of the three of them, only Andrew Jackson really leapt out to her. While uncertain of his role in America's development, next to Franklin and Lincoln he had the greatest impact on early Britannian society. A soldier, then a knight and finally a peer, he'd used the spoils system to buy influence among noble and commoner alike as he rose through the ranks of society. He'd been a potential chancellor, gaining notice when an insane former housepainter attempted to murder him, a knight named Sir David Crocket affording him a narrow escape.

While notable aspects of his history, Jackson's pivotal actions were in helping to organize the Aborigine Approval Act, an imperial proclamation by which full rights as subjects of the crown were offered to the native peoples of the American continent in exchange for fealty. A large number, wisely noting which way the wind was blowing, accepted the offer. Those who resisted were forcibly relocated and more-or-less subjugated, their dwindling descendents known today as the Empire's first Numbers, the Ones. After Britannia fully integrated with loyalist settlements in the Canadian territories, the same happened, resulting in either Twos or, as was the vernacular at the time, Native Britannians.

This same methodology was used time and again, increasing Britannia's scope of influence without needless violence. As such, the Empire integrated the French colonies which were now the Duchy of Louisiana, including the natives whom they'd allied with as far back as the French-Indian Conflict. So too did were incorporated the descendents of Africans who'd been brought over as slaves before its abolishment by Parliament, as well as inhabitants of islands in the southeastern areas such as the Key West, Haiti, and Cuba.

This continued until the late 1920s when Social Darwinism gained a foothold, and the Empire began encroaching on territories of peoples and nations who valued their independence. This resulted in the evolution of the Area system, along with the concepts of Numbers and Honorary Britannians. A far cry from the Aborigine Approval Act, these institutions only offered the conquered the option of being banned from society or a limited series of civil rights, rights which often existed only on paper.

Memories of the A.A.A. reminded Euphemia of one of Lelouch's close aides, Major Nu if she remembered her name correctly. She was a direct descendent of the Hekawi tribe who'd steered the Five Civilized Nations towards accepting Jackson's offer. Coincidentally, she was also a surviving member of Area 11's Purist Faction, a group which vehemently opposed the notion of Honorary Britannians, feeling that it diminished the line between Britannian and Number. Despite all the talk of a coup being their intention, the Purebloods were loyal to the crown, something Lelouch said their leader for the Area, his knight of honor Jeremiah, exemplified. As a result, they'd respected citizenship granted by to the native peoples and their descendants by the Act, which the major's presence attested to.

Which places them several rungs over some of the other arch-Social Darwinist groups out there, Euphie thought ruefully.

A number of groups had appeared in recent years advocating that Social Darwinism actually wasn't being exercised enough in society. They all operated under the banner of strengthening Britannia's natural power or safeguarding the people from "foreign contamination." Some, like the Purist Faction, you just didn't want to rub the wrong way; others, however, were simply dangerous extremists who unfortunately had influence. They moved to abolish not only the Honorary Britannian system, but retroactively do the same to the A.A.A., thus converting the descendents of the Native Britannians into Numbers as well. This included the descendants of European expatriates, even the non-English royalty. They even wished to expand the Number system so that Britannians who didn't meet some manner of requirements – psychological, physical, ideological, etc. – were demoted to Number as well. Notions proposed by the Purebloods were divisive enough, but demands such as these for many brought to mind the Unity League movement that Europe had suffered.

Euphemia shivered slightly as she remembered stories about them. It was a sequence of her history and social studies lessons which she privately called her "Britannia good/Europe bad" schooling. These lessons were obviously a tad biased, but there was no denying the actions of Adolf von Braunau and his followers, which the Central Hemicycle had sadly admitted to once they'd learned the whole truth. Taking the notions of fighting fire with fire to its not-so-logical extreme, the League was a totalitarian movement, its intention to oppose Britannia by becoming more like Britannia. They moved to forge Europe into a weapon, advocating militarism, and expunging all weakness. It had taken hold in the German-Austrian states and, before anyone knew it, they were essentially in control, the territories officially under martial law but effectively seceded from the Ultra-union.

Resources, industry, and business interests were seized – or "nationalized" – by von Braunau's provisional government, the Reichstag. Civilians, meanwhile, were divided and segregated by squads of special deputies, frightening in their black uniforms and armor. Those who did not contribute to "the strength and unity of Europe" were forcibly evicted to designated districts, ghettoes in other words, later to be taken to labor camps and "reeducation centers" as space became available. Despite public claims to the contrary, no one returned from these places, a major sticking point in the Unity League's reign that more than anything else forced the hand of neighboring European states. Security forces by order of the Prime Minister himself swept in, but they were far too late. The camps were actually mass execution sites which claimed hundreds if not thousands of the homeless, the mentally ill, the lame, even people with something as minor as a family history of a disease, be it mental or physical.

Religion had also been a major sign of "strength" or "weakness" that the Unity League's deputies had stormed entire towns over, Europe's Jewish communities being a prime target. As suspected, von Braunau was a believer in the Aryan theory – a myth, actually – that had appeared in Europe just as Social Darwinism appeared in Britannia. The belief was that there had been a primordial race of god-like men, the Aryans, from some mystic land in the far North. The Aryans were supposed to be the progenitors of the Norse and other European races, as well as the inspiration for the pantheons they once worshipped. This same belief carried that the Hebrews were these god-men's enemies, who had contributed to them degrading into mere mortals, and whose descendents were all in a secret conspiracy to hold back the resurrection of the Aryans' power.

Just as Social Darwinism grabbed people's imagination in Britiannia, these twisted ideas took hold in many people at the time, provoking a new era of religious intolerance and violence. Many of Europe's Jewish communities decided to make a new life for themselves in Britannia. They were joined by Eastern European people who'd also been targeted as ancient enemies of the Aryans, and were more willing to risk a fresh start in a strange new land than flee and throw themselves on the mercy of the Russian czars. Thankfully, they had moved just as Social Darwinism was becoming the Empire's new religion, essentially coming in under the wire, and swore fealty to the crown as full Britannian citizens rather than honorary ones. As such, Britannia gained an entire generation of thinkers, scientists, and artisans practically overnight.

It was a loss that left Europe smarting for generations, although not all had learned from it evidently. Naturally, the Empire had leapt upon stories of the Unity League and von Braunau's Reichstag to showcase how far the Ultra-union's rhetoric of equality was a sham, an act which had worked but only for awhile. To many, the Number system was evidence enough that the Empire was only a stone's throw away from doing the same. In fact, many of the symbols of the Unity League, particularly the six-pointed star Jews were made to wear as part of their identification, had appeared at demonstrations against the Empire in the ghetto areas outside of Imperial Concessions. It was another matter which egged on Euphemia's development of her S.A.R. system as an alternative to Numbering.

If only I could find someone who would—

"—listen to me?!"

/ * CG * /

Euphemia suddenly looked up, afraid she'd been spoken to while her head was in the clouds. But no, it was Cornelia yelling at Guinevere.

"Come now, sister," the First Princess said, trying to sound conciliatory. "This is just the good news we needed. Their commoners are on the verge of rioting. They may have done some mischief to us, but they don't have the financial basis to launch a long-term war with us."

"I would hardly describe almost a fifth of our military in disrepair, with about half of the remaining basically sidelined, as 'mischief,' Guinevere," Lelouch retorted.

If Cornelia noticed him standing up for her, she didn't notice, continuing to meet Guinevere's ill-advised comments. "Any country worth its salt won't let a down economy stop it from rattling its sabers if both the rulers and the ruled feel threatened by an external enemy… which we are and which we have done."

Across from her, Carine looked just as dubious as Guinevere. "So what if the vermin protest? They're still dependant on the same tanks, artillery, and aircraft as twenty years ago. Knightmare Frames aren't even on the drawing boards." She shrugged, as if the answer were obvious. "Let's figure out the Tarnhelm problem so we can lay waste to a couple more of their cities. That'll be the end of it. Alright?"

Sitting back with a satisfied smirk, she then caught where Euphemia had been absent-mindedly shaking her head in disbelief at her. Scowling back, she was about to say something when Lelouch answered her.

"Not alright, Carine," he said. "Do they have a Knightmare force? No… because they don't need them."

Euphie looked back and forth between her two siblings. Lelouch's reminder of the Americans' counterattack successfully shut Carine up. As if she hadn't been reminded enough, Carine then accidentally bumped with her elbow on the head of a walking cane hooked onto her armrest, knocking it onto the floor with a clatter. Cursing quietly to herself, she leaned over in her seat to pick it back up. There'd been no broken bones, but the ambassador, Diana, had badly bruised her leg, necessitating the cane for awhile.

"Are we certain those… creatures… were real?" asked Emil. "Poor 'Rudolph' here sees bizarre things every so often, and it means nothing," he added in jest as Oscar bristled at the jibe.

"We all saw them this time," Schneizel politely scolded him. "And thanks to Lelouch and those beneath him, we also have recorded evidence of these beings. The Justice League."

There was a moment's confusion at that. The name hadn't appeared in Schneizel's report, nor had it been mentioned before. Diana and her men hadn't even formally introduced themselves.

"I'm quite certain that is the official name for the agents of the United States' counterattack," he explained. "Here and there, the Earth-2 journalists would mention the involvement of a group called the Justice League, often concerning disaster relief or crime statistics. As with the terrorist attacks, everyone who hears of them already know what is being spoken of, so there was no clarification. At the time, we wrote this league off as a high-profile charitable organization, or some manner of utopian movement. Based upon the American ambassador's comments about justice, however, I've reevaluated that conclusion."

"Thanks for the warning," someone down the table grumbled.

"You're welcome, Emil," Schneizel responded, causing the prince to sputter at being caught.

"They… certainly would preclude the need for Knightmares if there is a supply of people like them," Odysseus agreed. "How could they possibly exist, Schneizel?"

"A new matter to be researched, if possible," Schneizel admitted. "Talk has been made of 'transhumanism' as scientific knowledge grows, particularly with matters of medicine, biology, and technology. But where we have talked, the inhabitants of Earth-2 have acted."

"And with no little experience," Cornelia added. "Those weren't subjects of recent experimental procedures we encountered. They were bio-engineered soldiers with experience."

"It would explain why a class system like Numbering does not exist on their world," Lelouch mentioned. "If they have the capacity for making such phenomenal leaps in physical capability, the sanctity of evolution, and therefore Social Darwinism, would receive short shrift."

"Technology was provided as a road to artificial augmentation, Cornelia," Castor (or Pollux) said, "along with biology. Those two men who escorted Diana could have used some manner of hi-tech."

"Yes," the other twin added. "The silver man's 'skin' promotes thoughts of nanotechnology, and the man manipulating tangible holograms almost certainly required that ring of his to perform his acts."

"Possible," Lelouch conceded, sitting back as he looked at his left forearm in remembrance. "The man in the suit of armor, I can't entirely discount the possibility of some advanced form of prosthetics. Not yet anyway."

"No one is asking you to," Schneizel said with a slight smile. "Still, seeing the ambassador in action, I got the definite feeling that it was more or less a natural act for her. What are your thoughts, Cornelia."

"I think you'll get all the answers you want once your scientists are done cutting her corpse up to their hearts' content," she said heatedly. "Her head, however, is going over my mantle."

Euphemia felt her eyes bulge again at this proclamation. "Cornelia, you can't be serious. She spared your life once; you can't hope—"

"And that was a mistake on her part, Euphie! A grave mistake!" she shrieked, slamming her fist down on the table again, definitely jolting everything sitting on it this time. "She should have killed me when she had the chance, instead of condemning me to live in humiliation. I can't rest until one of us – me or that juggernaut bitch – is dead."

At this, Cornelia looked Euphie directly in the eye, startling her. Her eyes blazed with fire, but had also turned red with tears.

"You should feel the same, Euphemia. And for a moment, you did. I heard you swear vengeance for me against that freak. Such an oath you must see through to the end if I fail, and therefore… I mustn't fail!"

Her declaration was a frightening one, and yet… After the heated words she'd poured out at her today, Euphie was surprised to hear Cornelia speak as defensively of her as ever. Smiling sadly, she simply reached out, taking her big sister's free hand in her owns. No words were necessary.

Sitting next to them, Guinevere simply rolled her eyes while Carine mimed the act of sticking her finger down her throat.

/ * CG * /

An hour later, Odysseus adjourned the meeting. It had its moments, of course, but all in all it had been productive.

Questions and suppositions had been volleyed back and forth concerning the Justice League – if they were Earth-2's true rulers, if they were even really human, etc – and how to deal with them. Schneizel and Lelouch were both asked about the advanced prototypes Earl Asplund had been working on, the sabotage of the Camelot project evident that his work was of concern to the preternatural beings. Lelouch responded that was a likely road to evening out the offensive gap between them, but sadly – even with the missing Major Croomey to act as a sort of pressure release valve – the earl was an inveterate tinkerer whose designs were too powerful to use by most. The term "user-friendly" was not part of his vocabulary, Schneizel allowed, but it was as good a deterrent as they had at the moment.

There were other, less pleasant moments. Especially when Lelouch, deciding he would be the bad guy who suggested it, tossed out the idea that they simply write off invading Earth-2 and cut their losses, which included abandoning the Emperor.

"Hey, I'm not Prince John, and Father is not Richard the Lion-hearted stuck in Vienna!" he said, defending himself from the borderline lynch mob before him. "And I'm not Richard III either, so no talk about how sharp a snake's teeth are," he added, seeing William's mouth open up.

Oddly, his pseudo-treasonous suggestion was also one he shot down, offering to lead a new reconnaissance team to Earth-2. The purpose of which, he explained, was to accumulate detailed information, including data on the Justice League and any other augmented soldiers. This was to be followed by planning and executing a rescue attempt for the Emperor and, hopefully, others taken captive. In fact, he made it sound like getting the other captives were nearly as important.

(Several minutes after the topic had concluded, Euphie realized Sir Luciano and the possibility of rescuing him, hadn't actually been mentioned. Deciding it was just as well, and too late to bring up the matter anyway, she shrugged her shoulders and dropped anymore thought of it.)

Continuing, Lelouch explained that if nothing else, a successful rescue would acquire for Britannia a measure of strength so any further communication between themselves and the Americans wouldn't be misconstrued as mere capitulation.

"They may have surprised us, but we can't meekly roll over to their demands," Cornelia had agreed.

Unfortunately, this led into a short argument with Lelouch. She insisted on leading the team, while Lelouch argued that her talents were open warfare, unsuitable for an undercover operation.

"He's right, sister," Schneizel said. "Besides, your face is certainly known to the Justice League and, likely the local military and security agencies. Lelouch may have better luck… leading my team."

Lelouch paused for a moment, before allowing that. "Additionally, I'd like to take along two members of my staff," he said, "and Sir Bismarck if you will free him from house arrest. It will give him a chance to redeem himself."

Looking pointedly at Guinevere and a few others, he added acidly, "That should also soothe any suspicions that I plan to take advantage of His Majesty's current state of vulnerability." Indeed, some of the looks he'd been receiving after volunteering to head a rescue operation hadn't escaped Euphie either.

The members of his staff he wished to take, many assumed were his two knights, Margrave Gottwald and an Honorary Britannian that was seconded from Camelot. They were half-right, it turned out, as Lelouch would bring along Lt. Kururugi while Sir Jeremiah stayed in Area 11, governing in his absence. As for the other member of his party, all he would say was, "She's an experienced deep cover operative and combat specialist I have on retainer." Cornelia had sighed heavily while Euphie's interest was piqued, surprised to learn that about C.C.

Schneizel seemed pleased with the compromise, and Odysseus was agreeable as well. The only sticking point was that Schneizel would feel more comfortable if Lelouch oversaw the planning but left the execution of any rescue to others. "We can't have you away from Area 11 forever, brother. I'd be more comfortable with your presence regarding the situation with China," he explained. Other than a satisfied smile that he was deemed necessary to keep the High Eunuchs at bay, Lelouch said no more on the subject.

Following was a small discussion regarding the Ragnarok file the ambassador had left them. Unfortunately, out of respect that it was a secret project known only to the Emperor himself, Schneizel would only discuss it with some of the top members of the government. This consisted of the minister of war, the senior-most admirals and generals that were the heads of the military's branches, the Emperor's personal advisers, select members of the House of Lords and the Imperial Senate, as well as the heads of imperial security and intelligence agencies.

"But none of us," Lelouch had groused. He then oddly went on about whether there was anything on the file concerning any of them, to which Schneizel maintained was not the case. Lelouch hadn't looked satisfied, but had let the issue rest.

Less of a secret were the catacombs beneath the castle, which many had learned of before they were sealed off by security, something Cornelia had a hand in as much as Schneizel. Pictures had been taken by then, however, and time had been spent bandying about the massive stone doors central to the ruins. She preferred not to think about them herself as they looked more like the Gates of Hell, a feeling Lelouch shared given the spooked expression on his face when he saw them. The strange bas-reliefs inscribed on them didn't help allay the notion, particularly a crest which she mentioned looked like an upside-down omega symbol with flared "feet".

"I was reminded of the Greek letter 'psi', what with the crease of the doors running through it," Schneizel offered, good-naturedly. "But on second thought, your omega analogy is closer, Euphie."

She'd smiled at that. Not as deeply felt as her exchange with her big sister earlier, but still it was something. She tried to keep that memory as she approached her sister, who wasn't expressing any wish to socialize as the meeting broke up.

"Here," she said, holding out a report Cornelia had missed. Looking up, she muttered a thank-you as she grabbed it up, tossing it in with the rest before slapping the lid down. "What now?"

Cornelia glanced at her, but otherwise made no move to turn to her. "What else is there, Euphemia? I must return to Area 18 and continue leading my men against the European hordes… only I'll be commanding from a safe distance inside of a G-1 this time," she said sadly, shifting her broken arm for emphasis. "Most of our siblings in the military do the same without any disgrace, and so can I." She fixed her with a slightly accusing look. "You should be happy to hear I'm off the frontlines."

"Hearing you go to war worries me, but I'm past the point where I'm scared, Cornelia," she said, defending herself. "But that's because I know you're going against other soldiers, and there's no better one than you. But these other people… the Justice League… they're not some odd platoon. They're something else, both in what they can do… and what they must be to the people on their world."

"They're already living weapons capable of mass destruction. What more do they have to be that could worry you?" Cornelia asked, a violent eyebrow raised.

There was a moment of silence as Euphemia organized her thoughts, then spoke, her voice low and serious. "If you do face the ambassador again, if you do fight, you won't be facing another soldier, someone sent to fight with orders and equipment and a plan to retreat or advance as need be. You'll be facing someone the same as you." Her hand shot up and closed over Cornelia's mouth, silencing her protest. "I'm not drawing a comparison. I'm just saying that she, and the rest of this league, have people to whom they mean the entire world. I could feel that about her. And they cannot let these people down, not once, and they'll risk everything so it won't happen a second time. That's what you'll be facing in her, just as that is what she'll be facing in you."

"What… what will I be facing against?"

"The same thing that you are to me, sister… a hero."

A mix of emotions played across her sister's face. Finally, she closed her eyes and, after a moment's concentration, let loose a brief chuckle. "If that's what you're worried about, Euphie," she said, opening her eyes again as she reached up to tousle her hair playfully, "you've nothing to worry about. For… there's no such thing."

With that, Cornelia picked up her briefcase with her free hand and moved to walk away, only to stop as Euphemia called out to her. With her back still to her, she then continued. "We have knights with codes of chivalry, Euphemia, but beyond that? I'm sorry, but heroes don't exist. Many men can be brave now and again; others can sell themselves as messiahs who can solve everyone's ills. But ultimately, they're people with feet of clay like everyone else. Some just crumble under higher pressure than most. People only become heroes after they're dead, and truth has been forgotten in favor of legend. Remember that, Euphie."

Setting her briefcase on the floor, she looked back as adjusted her cloak. As she did so, she reminded Euphie to pay attention to her teachers and her brother Schneizel while she was gone. She then added that she should spend some time with Lelouch while he was still in Pendragon, hopefully remind him how a real lady comported herself. With that, she gave a little wave, picked her briefcase back up, and walked away, leaving Euphemia with her thoughts. Chief among them was that it wasn't as bad as a hug and a kiss, but the hurt was the same.

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Disclaimer: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is the property of Sunrise and Bandai Entertainment. Young Justice is the property of DC Comics, Inc. and AOL-Time-Warner.