Chapter Eight: Chekhov's Radio
Arc Two: Beneath the Red Table
Opening: "Cyclone" - 12012
The chromed silver rooftops of Britannian Tokyo made for an eyesore from ground level, stretching for miles in unison, and blocking out sunlight below, however it was a practical solution that saved costs and protected from earthquakes, as well as looking stunning from above. The sleek, bold sheen of the glassy surface reflecting all the colours of the city, lined by black streets creating a grid like pattern like a surrealist artwork adorned by harsh rays and lines down every axis. Cornelia Li Britannia, new Viceroy of Area 11, admired the architecture from above, the sleek surfaces forming well under her gaze.
It was now three months since her brother Clovis had died, and following a brief power spat, she had been nominated as Viceroy after her successes in Africa. While this meant she would likely miss the War in the European front, she didn't mind, as it meant she could find Clovis's killer and keep a closer eye on Euphemia, who was in the next room of their flight in.
Cornelia cared more for Euphemia than anyone had their own family, guarding her with watchful eyes and zealous hand, often scorned by the target of her affections but with a knowledge that it was well intended. Even years later, memories of their other half siblings, the long departed Lelouch and Nunnally, came back, sending her into shudders. It still felt like her own failure, having been sent away the night of Marianne's death. Lelouch, understandably, addressed their father with bold rage, and was sent away with Nunnally. This compounded her guilt and rage, as the real victim of Marianne's murder, Lelouch and Nunnally, were sent away for being brave enough to stand up to Charles, doing nothing wrong.
It should have been her, she still thought. She should have been the one to confront Charles about his carelessness, where no one else had. At times, she even wondered if any of her living siblings could take up the throne of the Emperor after he died, as an Emperor required a courage they all lacked. While Cornelia had moved past this cowardice, she didn't know that her siblings had grown past their simple urges to please power.
Still, it was neither the time or place for such reflections, as they were moving in for landing, and business was soon to be conducted. Despite her concerns for her younger siblings, she was an accomplished military commander with little tolerance for slip ups or waiting, and affected herself in this fashion while in public. She knew that if she were to push the discipline and order of her troops as she did, she had to be seen to be just as disciplined. No one followed a coward.
Who she was indoors, she wasn't certain. Her military life blended with a frustration for the system as it was, and her affections for her family complicated this. However, while who she really was was still up in the air, when out of doors and in the field, no uncertainty was permitted, both for the morale and integrity of her troops. Preparing for battle was a fine art she had mastered over many years of battle, and as they touched down and the Earls and Nobles gathered around her transport, she prepared for battle of another kind.
"Oh, my Lady, welcome. The first order of business is a welcome party we've arranged for your Highness and... Oh!"
His welcoming tones were cut short as she drew her sword and swiftly moved to hold the leading edge by his throat. This sudden escalation, combined with the narrow, sharp eyes of a woman intent on spilling blood sent the Noblemen away in a scurry, as the one under threat quivered in fear. She snarled.
"Sloppy, senile, corrupt. Where is Zero? I want the enemy of the Empire caught! Get Zero!"
As Euphemia sighed from behind her, Cornelia proceeded to roar out orders to the men in front of her to postpone the party and apprehend Zero at all costs.
Meanwhile, far away, someone arguably far more dangerous to Britannian society was not happy in the least, his dark malcontent striking mild irritation into the hearts and minds of those around him as he went about his foul business.
"SUZAKU? WHERE THE HELL IS MY COFFEE?"
"GET IT YOURSELF, I'M BUSY!"
And busy Suzaku was, watching the news coverage of Cornelias arrival on the television set, forcing the Black Prince to get off his couch and go through the motions of making his own. Not that Suzaku minded; since Lelouch had wormed his way out of his colleagues's attempt to get him in shape, he had been doing this and that to try stick it to him, though as Lelouch trudged in in slippers and a gown, he felt his friend wasn't exactly getting the message. Still, nothing would come of nothing, and so he looked on as Lelouch glared at his coffee machine for a solid three minutes, far more amused by the sight of Cornelia drawing a sword on a Noble.
"Do you see this?"
Lelouch looked over and chuckled. "She hasn't changed."
Suzaku nodded, before turning back to the television, seeing a teen their age with pink hair and an apologetic smile passing from behind. She looked pretty, but he was certainly not telling Lelouch that. Still, he watched on as Lelouch sipped his fresh drink and observed over his shoulder.
"She certainly seems to be in a hurry." he noted, and Suzaku agreed. She was not wasting any time on the paddock, almost speed walking over to her limousine down the tarmac. It was bizarre, and almost unnaturally fast.
"Odd." Suzaku commented, before shrugging and standing to check their stocks in the other room. With their constant trading through Clovis's code, as well as their substantial government contracts, their company had 20 billion in capital invested in Sakuradite, or what amounted to .2% of all Sakuradite currently in circulation. This didn't seem like much, but as he'd pointed out to Milly, once the value of Sakuradite sank, and it would sink once they sabotaged Britannia's Ganymedes, 20 billion would buy far far more than .2%, and once that floated back to a stable number, they could sell it, making enough to fund all manner of devious things.
And so, Suzaku stepped into the dark room of screens that Lelouch, Ohgi and he would spend odd hours in making calls, checks, and sells to manage their growth. The room had drawn curtains filtering in the only light, forcing Suzaku to blink several times to read their screens, blitzing out information with fully lit LED's and a terrible user interface.
Sakuradite, 140.65 Dollars per Imperial Pound.
Suzaku relaxed. That was pretty much where they'd left it, and they hadn't bought or sold anything. He yawned, stretching his arms upwards as he let out a breath. He needed some more sleep. As he began to turn, he took another fleeting look at the screen, which ticked over to a new value.
Sakuradite, 142.06 Dollars per Imperial Pound.
Suzaku blinked in incredulous shock, and stared intently at the screen as the price shot up by a dollar and a half. While at a glance this mightn't seem much, even a few cents rise or fall would be noteworthy. This was a soar in comparison, and it was due a hefty explanation.
"Um, Lelouch?"
The rich voice came sauntering in from outside, unconcerned. "What is it?"
"You may want to look at this."
Audibly irritated, Lelouch strolled in, coffee nearly empty, moaning about being dragged from pillar to post, before falling silent as soon as he saw the number, his face freezing in a confused, surprised expression, not moving at all for five seconds.
"Suzaku…"
"Ay."
"Was it not 140.62 dollars this morning?"
"I walked in and it was .65, but it just leaped right there."
Lelouch leaped- yes, leaped, much to Suzaku's surprise, into the office chair in front of the screen and began to hammer furiously at the keyboard, draining the last dregs of his coffee down his throat before beginning to explain.
"Someone's just bought a load of Sakuradite… that's why it's rising."
"Someone?" Suzaku replied incredulously.
"Almost certainly military, no private investors would do this at the moment."
"Military? But the War has just ended!"
"I know, Cornelia just arrived from Torbruk to…" Lelouch responded, before catching on, as Suzaku quickly did. Flipping open his phone, the Japanese teen looked through the incoming news, which described how Cornelia arrived, and immediately demanded Zero's head in what was, by all accounts, a very unladylike display.
"She's going for Zero."
"I see. Let's see where."
Several minutes of quiet investigation later, and they were making precious little progress, faces buried in screens as they shouted out scraps of knowledge.
"It's definitely headed to Japan, reports from Britannian Shipping are showing a diversion from several containers bound for export. They've been earmarked, and are apparently required at a moment's notice to be deployed."
"Cornelia went straight to the palace, and several Knightmares were seen going in."
"There's a few forced traffic blockages around Kawaguchi, Koshikawa, and Saitama."
Lelouch looked up after hearing Suzaku's report. "That's right in the middle of Tokyo. Ohgi, could you get in here?"
Ohgi, hearing his name called, came in, the elder Japanese man in his normal leather-fur attire, and was promptly asked "Is there any rebel presence in Kawaguchi, Koshikawa, or Saitama?"
After pausing a moment, he nodded. "The Yamato Alliance. Their HQ is right in the middle of the Saitama ghetto."
An air of silent realisation fell on the blackened room, all men in the dark. Eyes flitted back and forth, awaiting instruction from one of the others. As far as Suzaku could make out, none knew what to do. Suzaku breathed in, Suzaku breathed out. Lives were now in their hands directly, not the result of some ponzi scheme or indirect consequence, but now they held a direct authority over people surviving to see tomorrow.
Suzaku breathed in, Suzaku breathed out.
"We need to warn them."
It was Ohgi who spoke, and it merited a harsh turn from both Suzaku and Lelouch, the latter of whom spoke first.
"Have you gone insane? There's no way we can do that!"
"But they're stuck in there!" Ohgi protested.
"They are violent insurgents, and we must not make contact. It would be too great a risk."
Ohgi was dumbstruck. "They are on our side! We cannot let them die!"
Lelouch turned away, hissing "They left our side the day they picked up a gun. We will do nothing to help them whatsoever."
Suzaku stepped back, coming to a sudden realisation about Lelouch. While he had changed Lelouch's views, he had not moderated them. His paradigm was still maintained, that no latitude was to be allowed. Now that he was taking a pragmatic, pacifist approach, those who fought for the same cause in different ways were still enemies. Lelouch may change sides, but his zealotry and stubbornness of method remained. Suzaku didn't feel that was the case by definition, but was far too conflicted to support Ohgi.
"They support a free Japan for gods sake!"
"And yet they are antithetical to the completion of that goal, indirectly slandering people like us as violent. Perhaps their destruction at the hands of Cornelia will be a way to kill two birds with one stone. At least they won't be making a racket anymore, and their supporters may come to us in their absence."
Suzaku was horrified at the look of sudden bemusement on Lelouch's face, as if what he had suggested was anything other than completely deplorable. With fluttering breaths, he asked, hoping for a no, "You don't mean that?"
Lelouch looked over to Suzaku, and shrugged. "The rebels die and stop being a problem for our image, Cornelia gets the bad press, and we can say she's killing the Japanese. It's what Ohgi might call a win-win proposition, hmm?"
Suzaku's blood ran cold. The flippantness, the disconnection, the lack of any care or regard for the lives that were at stake. Perhaps he could have made a case, on the need for safety within their operation, but it was Lelouch's callous attitude that settled the issue. It may not be logical, but their was no rational response to a man who had shrugged off lives.
Suzaku sighed, and caved.
"I'm sorry Ohgi. We can't do it."
Ohgi snapped his head round and stared at Suzaku, and was seconds from bursting out before Lelouch raised his hand in what could only be described as a smug fashion. "Democracy rules again. Besides, we have no way to contact the Yamato Alliance. I'm glad we could come to this understanding."
And then he left. Smug, and seemingly content, Lelouch just trotted off, leaving Suzaku and Ohgi in stunned silence, before Ohgi began to turn on him viciously, forcing himself up against his comrade.
"What the hell-"
Suzaku backed off, and put his own hands up, not in flippance like Lelouch had, but in a retreatful request for a moment to explain himself as he was cornered against the fridge by the older man. Ohgi bided for a moment, visibly fuming.
"Listen, he'd have never let us contact them. But that doesn't matter, we can still do it from here."
Ohgi seemed surprised, but nodded, allowing Suzaku to continue.
"We don't have the Alliances contacts, but we still have your friend's radio from when we exchanged Nagisa and arranged to meet at Tokyo Tower. We can ask them to warn Yamato for us."
"The radio you called us on in Shinjuku? You still have it?" Ohgi started, suddenly enthusiastic, as Suzaku presented it, buried under a pile of files and papers, its square, grey metal digging into his palms as it gripped it with a protective zeal. Ohgi smiled, as he turned it on. Suzaku was now dubious as to whether it would work, now that he thought about it. They were far too far from Shinjuku-
"Hello?"
-or they could work all the way from Ashford Academy, that could also be the case. Suzaku was surprised to hear the voice on the far end so clearly, with so little static or interference. It was bizarre, but there was no time to think of it, as Ohgi explained.
"It's me, Ohgi."
"It's been awhile Ohgi. How're you doing?"
"I'm fine, but listen. Cornelia is going to attack the Yamato Alliance at Saitama, can you tell them to get out?"
There was a pause, before the voice replied "Alright, I'll get in touch. Thanks for the warning."
"No problem. Say, could you-"
But before Ohgi could ask anything else, the radio blinked dead. Suzaku and Ohgi exchanged dubious looks. Musing, Suzaku asked "Y'know… Zero used the container we left with your group…"
"What are you saying?" Ohgi responded quickly, seeming less than eager to think about this.
"I was just wondering how close the connection is."
"Well… Zero works alone, doesn't he? Besides, my group was never bold enough for the stuff Zero has pulled off."
"That leaves the issue of the container."
"I mean, they probably have met him. They both support violent revolution, so they're on the same side. Maybe they're helping him, with logistics or manpower." Ohgi supposed.
"Manpower?" Suzaku questioned, not fully understanding what Ohgi meant by the term.
"Yeah, manpower. He'd need some help behind the scenes."
"Oh…" was Suzaku's only response. It seemed obvious now. The rebels they'd met at Tokyo tower were far too uninspired to become Zero, and there was no motive that they wouldn't have already had before they had met to take up arms in a new way. They were silly. But Zero could use them to his ends. It was almost sad how they were being used. But putting that aside, even though Ohgi's partners were not Zero, they were associated with Zero, and should word of Cornelia's attack reach him, they could be responsible for a bloodbath.
Suzaku breathed in, Suzaku breathed out.
The pair left the room, locking it behind them and making themselves coffee as the hours ticked by, news feeding in by a trickle. It was a Sunday, and so there was sod all to do, resulting in the pair lounging about. After finding sod all to do, Suzaku eventually returned to stew in silence. Lelouch was gone the entire day, likely out gambling to pass the time. Suzaku was envious of his escapism, stuck in his 2 by 4 box. Sayako was out with Nunnally, probably for the best. He didn't want to bother them. He stewed in his thoughts about how he would confront Lelouch. He knew Lelouch had the entire annexe bugged out of paranoia, so he would have to address the issue sooner or later.
And while that was for the best, it still left him all but alone, up until long after the sun dipped below the horizon, and the door eked open, allowing light into the empty room as if by a holy decree, pulling the secrets out of the dark.
Suzaku did not turn around, knowing who it was. He sat and pouted, still waiting on the news. The visitor didn't speak either, leaving a large bag on the kitchen table, taking a load of his darkened, slender back, before sitting down. Suzaku knew he could see the radio, could see their communications, but he didn't really care at this point. He was far too tired, needing both sleep and relief from the man who was awaiting some form of acknowledgment from his equal. After not receiving it, he called out with an equal degree of irritation and snark.
"You've been busy Suzaku."
Suzaku didn't reply. After a moment's pause, Lelouch continued. "Your friends have been busy too." Suzaku, again, didn't respond, unsure what to say. The Britannian sighed, before explaining. "Radio is fast, but nothing beats street level. Zero showed up at Saitama today."
This got Suzaku's attention, as he turned to ask, in shock "You went down there?"
Lelouch cheekily smirked, responding "I had to do some stuff."
"LELOUCH, YOU NEED TO TELL US ABOUT THESE THI-" Suzaku yelled, before stopping dead mid sentence as he realised that he'd fallen for Lelouch's trap, sighted within his hypocrisy. Lelouch's smirk reached new bounds as he leaned back, seeing the defeat in Suzaku's eyes, and asked "So what have you been up to?"
Suzaku sighed, and gave in. "If you're right, I messed up. I told the rebels to get out, but they passed the information on to Zero. I'm sorry."
It was Lelouch's turn to sigh, and walk towards the balcony, leaning against it like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders, pressing it into the bars. He didn't speak for almost a minute, before Suzaku insisted "I said-"
"I know."
Suzaku blinked, before asking "Are you mad?"
After a moment, Lelouch explained. "I'm not mad. I'm not even especially… annoyed. It is inconvenient that Zero gets a reputation boost, and Cornelia gets a Casus Belli to wage war on Elevens. That in and of itself was annoying. I know, because… well, I know you, or at least I think I do, that you were approaching it from some vague semblance of 'doing the right thing'. Certainly, given that I have derived this new plan from your ideal of peaceful opposition, one could make the argument you were still right. I don't like to… ever have been one to judge with new... information. You make your decisions with what you know, and blaming it on something you couldn't know is silly, at least as far as I can see. Your heart was in the right place."
Suzaku was surprised. This was the most candid he'd ever been.
"That… being said, you cannot compromise. Once you go down the path we have agreed, any straying will destroy our argument. Perhaps our ideals have begun to diverge. Perhaps you are the constant, and I have gone from the blood mongerer, to your equal, to surpassing you in my drive for a lack of involvement with violent groups. Perhaps the convert, the replica, has gone beyond the parameters of the original. It's an interesting concept, but unlikely, given our respective motivations."
The Honourary Britannian nodded in understanding. They indeed had arrived at the same conclusion from extremely different data points, however he didn't want to interrupt Lelouch while he was being unusually honest. He could only wonder what had brought this on; did Lelouch think he had been wrong? Lelouch did not frequent the realms of self reflection, so perhaps breaking new ground had spurred a moment of weakness, of honesty. He certainly wasn't complaining, but Suzaku could only note this turn with caution.
"There is one thing that troubles me. This can only mark the beginning of it all, and waiting at this point loses us more than it gains. I am not mad at you, but this represents a deeper issue, that we must tackle, The Long War if you will. In any case, all the tasks at hand have been cleared."
Lelouch paused, drawing his full voice into a triumphant announcement out of the balcony.
"The time to strike is now!"
Drama! This marks the end of the Second Arc, where we prepared and readied ourselves for the action. As usual, it will be more subtle, but now the stakes are real, and the dominoes are loose. As to this chapter, it was a bit of a bottle episode, and it serves to both show us where we are fiscally, and remind us of the influence and knowledge our heroes are armed with and lack. It's a long way ahead, but the King is about to grace the field of combat.
If the First Arc centred around establishing how our characters fit in this world, and this one was about them taking the initiative and become agents of change, the new Arc will be about the initial effects of this change. We will see their reputation and notoriety grow, both among rebels and the government.
Thank you all so much for reading, and I welcome you all to the new arc, The Big Show, beginning in For Hearts And Minds, Chapter 9 with Black Monday, following a brief Flashback. Be safe until that point, try not to collaborate with terrorists, and please rate and review!
~Eth0