Alpha and Omega - Jackal's Story

Chapter 8

In collaboration with Subzero Dragon. Visit their profile to see the other side of this story. Important events that aren't mentioned here take part in the other side of the story.

We arrived back at the Far East Branch where I intended to visit Robin immediately. However, other people had already made plans for me. I hadn't even walked two metres into the Den when I was stopped as someone stood in my way with arms across his chest. Looking up, I see that there is a smile on his face. An almost mischievous smile. I use the opportunity to look over his character. The man is light skinned and has black hair that hangs over his left eye. He looks to be wearing a Commader outfit which has been left open to reveal his black shirt underneath. Also, concerningly, he has an unnatural arm. Clearly there was something wrong with it seeing as how it looks like he is wearing a golden glove over it. Is it just the glove's design or is his arm so badly damaged that it looked like it does?

"Hey kid." He says simply with a smile on his face, moving his left arm to his right as I raise my head to look him in the eyes.

"What's wrong with your arm?" I blurt out and only realise how bad it sounded after I had said it.

"Haha! That's not very polite, you know. You should at least introduce yourself before saying something like that." The man says as he removes his golden glove to reveal that it wasn't just the glove's design. It was in fact an unnatural arm. I became very concerned at that.

"Hey! What is that?!" I almost jumped back as he extended the arm out to me. It must have been obvious that I didn't like the sight of the arm but he didn't seem to care as he grabbed me by my shoulder. It was a strong grip that, despite my efforts, I couldn't fight against.

"Calm down, rookie. I ain't gonna hurt ya." I hear the humour in his voice. He was enjoying my reaction to his arm. What kind of psychopaths do they let become God Eaters? Despite the fact that I am still uncomfortable with his arm, I ease my attempts to escape with the hope that if he says my complying then he won't see any need to keep hold of me. My thought process did work.

"Who are you, exactly? You're not a man-made Aragami are you?" My imagination was now running wild. There was no way that the man was born like that. The only explanation I could reach was that the man either volunteered or was forced into an experiment to create an Aragami that can fight against the other Aragami. He may not be a threat to me, yet, but I just can't let my guard down around him. If I'm not careful someone could die.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself." He remarks with a daft smile on his face. How is it that this man lectured me about introductions and yet he forgot to introduce himself?

"I am Lindow Amamiya of the 1st Unit. My fiancée has told me quite a bit about you, Jackal." He speaks with a light hearted chuckle. I have no idea who this guy's fiancée is but surely I must know her if she has been talking about me to him.

"I've heard you're the type of person that can't sit still." He speaks as he puts his non-human arm around my shoulders and he begins walking, forcing me to move with him.

"Always getting up from your infirmary bed. Man, you remind me of someone else. You'll probably get along really well with them." He speaks as we continue walking down a corridor and into the lift which takes us up a few floors.

He continues talking as the lift ascends although I tune out to his ramblings until something crosses my mind.

"You said your fiancée told you about me. Who is she?" The identity of the woman who would be marrying a guy like this intrigued me. What does she see in this guy? He seems to be a forceful kind of guy. Does his fiancée even want to be in a relationship with him? Is he forcing her? I could feel my anger rise but it sharply deflates at his answer.

"You forgot about her already? I guess she didn't make much of an impression on you then. I'm getting married to Sakuya." I instantly remembered the events in the infirmary as he said this. We have just stepped out of the lift and continuing our walk. Meanwhile all my anger has left my system as I remember that Sakuya is more than strong enough to handle herself. But hey, it's just occurred to me,

"Where are we going?" I ask the man and his grip seems to have tightened a little as he opens the door in front of us.

"Sorry rook but I was told to dump you off in here." He says as he pretty much throws me into the room and shuts the door. Turning around, I notice that he is not in the room and must have closed it from the outside.

"Damn him. What I have done to deserve this?" I groan as I pick myself up and look around the room. It takes only a few seconds before my eyes lie on the man with dark grey hair behind the desk.

"Director?!" I shout in surprise with the tone of a question. I didn't expect him to be the type to use force to get someone to show up in his room.

"I apologise for the rough journey up here, Jackal, but, you see, I needed to speak with you." The director spoke in a tone that I've become accustom to during my time in this branch. I've only seen the director once before now... Hey, wait! This guy threatened me the last time I was in here! Not only that, he assaulted me!

"You should also apologise for showing inappropriate behaviour to me during our last meeting! You kicked me in the leg and threatened me as well!" I shouted my discontent at the events of the last time we met. At the time, I had no idea what would happen and didn't expect to be assaulted. Come to think of it, there are a lot of forceful people in this branch aren't there. The guy who brought me here and his fiancée, a match made in heaven for them two forceful people, as well as the Director. That is probably the worst of them all!

"You're not setting a very good example for those that you work with! Are you trying to teach people that you can just assault and threaten people to get what you want?"

"I can see you're upset, Jackal, but it was all for a good reason. Well, my actions were for a good reason. Had you have visited your friend in the infirmary that day you would have seen that she was a lot worse for wear. I'm sure you've heard about her medical condition?" The director asked me. I have no idea how he knew about that.

"How do you know about that?"
"It's my duty to know the welfare of my employees. So when it was discovered that she was a haemophiliac I was one of the first to know. That and I received the medical records for the two of you from Commander Viper. He tells me that he hopes that you both have been recovering well and he'll try to get in contact with you as soon as he can." Director Sakaki spews out words hoping that I can keep up with him. So, after giving myself a few seconds to think, it's safe to say that, at the least, the medical team knows about Robin's haemophilia. I also know that Commander Viper has given us his "best wishes" for our healing. That is very surprising. I thought he would have blamed us for not being ready to deal with the Tsuchinoko.

"Oh, okay. Are we finished?" I know it sounded rude but I have no intention of showing manners to the guy that kicked me in the leg and threatened me.

"Not quite. I couldn't help but notice your medical records. There is nothing here from over two months ago. The latest one tells me that you stumbled across your previous branch having woken up a short while away from there."

"That's right." I begin with an exasperated sigh. I didn't want to talk at the minute. Right now, I want to see Robin. It feels like it has been many years since I have done so. "I have no memory of anything that happened over two months ago."

"Intriguing. It appears you have a case of amnesia... and no memories have returned yet?" The man enquires with his head resting on his joined hands. It looks as though Robin's secret isn't the only medical condition to escape. I shake my head to answer the director. He appears more intrigued at my answer.

"This is very interesting indeed. I've seen cases of suppressed memories but not a case of amnesia. This is most intriguing." His fascination in my case is very off-putting.

"Can I leave now?"

"Of course. You are dismissed." Sakaki speaks what looks to be an even wider smile on his face than the one I've grown accustom to; it is very disturbing. Well, at least I can visit Robin now. She's probably sad and lonely without my company.

"Hey, Director Sakaki. We're back from the expedition." A man speaks as he enters the room and holds the door open allowing three other men to bring in a box of materials on the floor.

"Ah, good timing. Very good timing indeed. You are free to leave." He speaks to the men in lab coats and they leave without hesitation. It takes me a few seconds of looking between the box and the door before I make my move. I head towards the door.

"Aren't you curious as to what is inside?" Sakaki asks me and I can't deny it. "After all, these are the items that were discovered where the Tsuchinoko attacked you and your friend." If my curiosity levels weren't already high, then they would definitely have been after the introduction of the new information.

"Well, I can't say that I am not intrigued." I scratch my head with a hand as I look towards the box of items. Obviously the man wanted me to look inside the box so I didn't have to worry about permission. Well, who knows, maybe there will be something worthwhile in there. I head to the box of items instead and rummage through them.

It takes a while before I do find anything worth mentioning and it just so happens to be something that doesn't belong to me. In my hands now sits a large drawing pad. It had definitely been damaged but it was still salvageable. I bet the fact that the drawings are still in tact will please Robin. There didn't seem to be any pencils though. I guess that may disappoint her. Still, I've found her bag as well as her drawing pad. The rest of the things in the box look pretty useless now but at least these are fine. I rushed out of the room and started my trek to the infirmary. It wouldn't be too long now until Robin was released from there, and she'll be back to herself, but that doesn't stop me from joking with her. A mischievous smile grew across my face.

I walk into the lift and head to the floor with the infirmary on it. A minute or two later the doors to the lift open and I almost drop the item in my hands in shock. I see two individuals. One of them I can instantly identify as Sakuya but as for the other, surely it cannot be her. Why is Robin walking around when she should still be in the infirmary? Is she still hurt? Judging by the smile on her face, she doesn't seem to be in pain.

"Robin? What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be resting?" I ask with the surprise on my face being replaced with concern although that quickly disappears as she smiles at me. It is almost as if I have been starved from that smile.

"I can't just stay in bed forever. I'll get soft and fat." Robin answers my question. I must admit that a soft Robin sounds pretty good. Maybe she should stay in bed.

"Ha! That's more like the Robin I know. You're getting your pep back. But seriously, are you up for it?" I chuckled but was still concerned about her welfare.

"Yeah. I was starting to feel like a caged animal in there." She comments and I remember that I planned on giving her a present. I realise that I must have put my hands behind my back when I was surprised at their appearance outside of the lift.

"Hey Robin, I have a present for you. Close your eyes and hold out your hands..." I speak in a rhythmic tone but Robin doesn't want to play along.

"What kind of present?" She tries to angle her head so that she can see what I am holding behind my back but I move so that I am always facing her.

"You'll find out soon enough." I speak in the same tone as before and she begins to ease her advances. She reluctantly held out her hands and closed her eyes. That's when I drop her present into her hands. "Surprise! I brought you a trophy!" I give her a wide grin. I had taken the liberty of taking one of the harvested materials from my most recent mission with Karel and had given that to her. Once she realised what it was, and looked up to me, she burst into a fit of giggles and I couldn't suppress mine any longer.

"There it is. There's that contagious laugh." I allow myself to regain my composure before showing her the bag I had in my hands. "Here's your real present. Go on, open it." I made sure to give her a smile as she took the bag and I almost burst into laughter as she looked back up to me with suspicion marring her features. That all changed as she saw what was inside the bag; her drawing pad. Her face clearly showed surprise as she looked into my eyes.

"I decided to see if the salvage team was able to scavenge any of our supplies. Turns out some things were recovered. I couldn't resist surprising you." I tell her how I found her drawing pad with a knowing smirk on my face.

"Jackal… I… this is…! Wow!" She spoke, eventually regaining her voice as she flicked through her drawing pad.

"These drawings are very good, did you draw these?" Sakuya spoke for the first time since we crossed paths here as she looks over Robin's shoulder to view the drawings. I can't help but also take a peek at them. "That's impressive. You have a real talent, Robin. I really like this one, it's very realistic."

"When did you do that? On the helicopter?" I ask in surprise as I marvel at her drawing of me sleeping in the helicopter. I don't know why but she quickly closed the book seconds after I had seen the drawing. When I was flipping through the pages earlier, I had noticed the drawing but thought nothing of it at the time.

"I'm impressed! It's really good!"

"T-thanks. I wasn't sure you'd like it, so… Thanks" She spoke with a flustered smile.

"You don't need to be so humble about it. In fact, I think you should frame some of these," Sakuya chipped in. As she stopped looking over Robin's shoulder. It was clear to see that Robin was flustered and I found it too be pretty cute. It's not often that I get to see that from her. Since Robin is up and walking, shouldn't that mean that she will be back to be going on missions soon? Of course, after a bit of training... Training! I almost forgot that I had planned to do some training after I had visited Robin. I decided to make this known to the two women.

"I almost forgot. I was going to do some training after I visited you. Wanna watch?" I ask her.

"I'd rather participate." She shakes her head as she says this. Surely she cannot participate yet. I mean, I'm still taking it easy by going on easy missions to ease myself back into my usual training drill.

"Wait, what? You sure? You might not be ready..."

"That's why you need to keep training, so I don't fall behind." She retorts but I'm still unsure about the situation. Thankfully, Sakuya agrees with me,

"Why do you keep pushing yourself so hard, Robin?" She continues with a sigh, "He's right you know."

"If I don't practice, I won't be able to return to duty. I know better than to overdo it, so don't worry." Robin reasons but I'm still not too sure about Robin training just yet and I could tell that Sakuya was feeling the same way. There was an awkward silence as we stared at Robin, hoping that she would change her mind. She didn't.

"Alright then, fair enough. Why don't you go and two train together? I'll observe the session. But I'm pulling the plug if either of you overwork yourselves, okay?" Sakuya spoke after a short, uncomfortable silence. Well, if Sakuya was okay with it then I should be as well.

"Yes ma'am" I speak whilst Robin nods her head in confirmation of the conditions.

"The training hall is this way. Follow me." She speaks, satisfied with our answers and heads to the lift that I had stepped out of when giving Robin her presents. We all enter the lift and proceed to the Training Room floor.

"How's it feel to get back into it?" I ask Robin with a wide smile across my face whilst doing a few stretches. It felt great to be fighting alongside Robin again. I just felt more safe. She is amazing in battle and a great battle partner. I see her shrug in response. Is she even in the mood for training?

"Hey, let's have a competition. Whoever scores the kill gets a mochi ice cream from the loser!" I shout. Surely her favourite food will entice her.

"Yeah? I accept! Don't expect to win without a serious fight!" She flashed me a familiar smile. That's the spirit Robin but I have no intentions of letting you win, I thought to myself as a grin grows across my face. I reposition myself to prepare for the competition.

"Same to you! I'll take it easy on you!" She was still recovering from her injuries after the fight with the Tsuchinoko, after all.

"Alright, here we go," Sakuya's voice booms over the intercom, "First up is a warm-up. We have a Gboro-Gboro ready. Try to focus and don't get careless. This may be a practice match, but the challenges are real. As you may know, a 'fatal' attack will end the sim immediately. You will have ten minutes."

"Ten?! That's kind of short..." Robin blurted out in surprise, to my surprise.

"With the both of you, that should be plenty of time. This isn't a particularly strong variant. Besides, I want to see if you two are as talented as the reports say. Get ready!" At Sakuya's words, I find myself thinking about who else has read our reports considering that I thought they would be private. However, I didn't have long to contemplate as a Gboro-Gboro materialised about 20 metres away from us. As soon as I had seen it, I began sprinting towards the creature at an angle. I know that Gboro-Gboros most often prefer to us long range targets so it was likely to be that it would use one of them now. I was correct in my assumption as a large ball of water head in our direction. I avoid it with ease; running at an angle, it was easy to sidestep although Robin had bigger problems with it. As I reached the beast, I started swinging at its fins. As expected, I caught the attention of the Aragami and it turns towards me; its gaping jaws threatening to swallow me in. I made a large step backwards and the Gboro-Gboro spins around rapidly. I hear it connecting with something before seeing Robin on the floor. Robin takes advantage of the situation and I take the time to analyse it. As Robin falls to the ground again, and the simulacrum moves towards her, I rush towards it from behind with my Scythe thirsty for blood. However, I'm not the only person that sees a chance to end it as Robin shoots back to her feet and fires at the beast. My Scythe and her bullet hit the simulacrum at the same time. It fell and didn't make a move.

"Huh. That was anticlimactic." I was surprised at how easy it was for the Aragami to fall. I only hit it a few times. Worst of all, I don't even know who won the competition.

"We won already? What a let down..." Robin sounded just as disappointed as I was.

"Four minutes and fifteen seconds! Very nice, it looks like the report of you two coming from an elite branch was true!" Sakuya speaks through the intercom. I must say that I am surprised at the new information. I was sure that it only took 30 seconds to defeat it.

"That wasn't hard at all. Turn it up next time!" I shout up to where I imagined Sakuya would be with a wide smile. I needed more of a competition.

"Take five first. I have to reset the sim anyway. Good job, you two!" Sakuya speaks from her position and I can imagine her fiddling around with a computer or a machine as we speak.

"Okay. Just let me know when the next sim is ready." Robin speaks up. I would have made a comment on that had it not been for a new voice coming through the speaker.

"Excuse me, a moment please. Robin, Jackal, can you two meet me outside? I want to ask you a favour?" It takes a while for me to recognise this voice as Alisa's.

"A favour?" I was confused as to what was happening.

"Just come out, please? I'll meet you there shortly."

As Alisa left, I headed to Robin to comment on her abilities.

"Hey Robin, good job. You're still pretty sharp. I think we tied on the kill shot though. I'll ask if Sakuya will let me see the video footage to be sure." I wasn't sure of who actually finished off the simulacrum so, for now, nobody will get the mochi ice cream. I smile as Robin chuckles and we both head out of the Training Room.

As we get go outside of the Training Room, I see Alisa descending down the stairs. I wonder how long she has been here for and how she knew where we were.

"What is it, Alisa?" Robin spoke up. It sounded as though she was nervous. I begin to feel that way as well as Alisa looks around to confirm that we are alone.

"It's about our upcoming mission. As you may be aware, Director Sakaki wants us to gather a sample of scales from Tsuchinoko for research. I wanted to ask you two if you knew anything about that thing." Alisa informs us and I feel myself release a sigh of relief.

"Not really." I say with a scratch of my head. Our first encounter with the beast almost became our last. I, definitely, wouldn't have made it by myself.

"Oh. I was hoping you two knew something..." Alisa seemed depressed at my answer. I almost feel guilty about not knowing anything about the beast.

"Please tell me you aren't thinking of that thing on your own..." Robin speaks up and I feel myself begin to worry. I don't care how experienced Alisa may be but it would be impossible to defeat that monster alone.

"Don't worry about us. We won't be looking for trouble. It's strictly recon. You're welcome to come along if you feel up to a mission." Alisa speaks as she puts a reassuring hand on Robin's shoulder. What surprised me though, is that Alisa offered Robin a chance to go on a mission. She shouldn't even be training and already she has been offered a mission. It doesn't matter that it is reconnaissance there is still a chance that there are very powerful Aragami around.

"Me?"

"You can't be serious." I spoke in an exasperated voice.

"I was watching that fight. Granted the Gboro Gboro was a weak Aragami, I could see both of you are talented God Eaters. Jackal, you just came back from that mission with Karel, right? I thought you might be tired." Alisa speaks. It is true that I have recently come back from my mission with a God Eater that I'd rather never meet again, but there's no chance that I'm going to let Robin go on a mission by herself.

"A little, but I' much tougher than I look. I'm game if you are." I spoke as I turned to Robin for the final sentence.

"Are you two sure?"Alisa asks us in case we want to change our mind. I looked to Robin and noticed her nod her head. If she wasn't going to back out then neither was I. I nodded my head as well.

"Alright, in that case, welcome to the roster. Meet me up at the helipad on the roof in thirty minutes." After these words, Alisa left us and, seeing as how we already had our God Arcs in hand, we both headed to the roof. Where we made idle chat before Alisa showed up with the other member of our team behind her.