Chapter Twenty Five: A Chicken In Every Pot
Arc Seven: Reawakening
Opening: "I'll be back" - Da-ICE
Seven Years Later
"Today in brief, Prime Minister Kururugi will visit the Fuji refineries to begin the transition of the facility back into the hands of the Protectorate Government, Prime Minister Kururugi is to give a short speech to commemorate the occasion before the handover goes underway, and in election news, this turnover has given the ruling Ameliorate Party a 4% increase in their small lead over the Revanchists."
Kallen Stadtfeld yawned as she leaned over her bed to turn off her bleating alarm, half listening to the news broadcast in the next room. Standing up and stretching in her night clothes, she eventually slaved on more practical attire before going about the various procedures to prepare herself for the day. Finally, with considerable gusto, she broke into the living room, calling over the couch facing away from her "Morning!" with her usual cheer.
To her announcement, the figure on the chair stood up from the news broadcast to greet her, turning around with a genuine, familial grin across his face, the same he always wore.
"Good morning Kallen!" greeted Rolo, her younger brother, giving a slight wave before bringing across a plate of eggs and toast, explaining "I had some earlier, there's plenty left over."
"Thanks!" Kallen replied, placing the plate down on the table opposite his as he asked "So are you working today?"
"Yeah." she answered as she bit a chunk off the corner of the bread. "It's a pain, but Clarke wants everyone in today. Apparently the Revanchists are holding a big party meeting today."
"In the Babel Tower? Hardly home turf."
"My thoughts exactly, but I'm not going to question it. I'm in enough hot water as is." Kallen answered, as she recalled the unfortunate incident of her spilling a glass of wine on an Ameliorate Representative as Rolo sat back and sighed, obviously tired.
Kallen, who was gathering her things to get going, didn't question why Rolo was tired. He had had work himself the previous night after all. She had admitted to him that she didn't know why the Revanchists, nationalistic Japanese who would normally shun a venue such as Babel, were visiting on that day, as well as why it had been demanded that she be there.
To this effect, there was a great deal Kallen Stadtfeld did not know. She did not know the reality of the fact that the arrival of the Revanchists and her being requested to work that day were inextricably linked, as well as the fact that she was virtually unfireable, regardless of who she dropped wine on; her real job at Babel was an unknowing one.
Furthermore, as little as she knew about her own job, she knew even less about Rolo's. Her stories of Japanese nationalists holding a conference in Babel Tower and her being asked to work that day was all old news to him, having heard it the night before from his employer at the OSI, who had themselves been directing Kallen's work environment very closely.
Of course, this whole arrangement went far above her head as she waved Rolo goodbye, who gave a half wave as he used his free hand to text the full details of Kallen's morning to whatever government bureau wanted it. The redhead herself, unaware of this, stepped out onto the bright, vibrant street of Shibuya, in the heart of Yamanote, the hilly, affluent region that was but eight years ago on the fringe of the ghetto, if not quite in it proper. Today, while it was still a higher percentage Britannian than average, it had significantly improved in both quality and equality.
She hopped onto her bicycle, swinging her change of clothes and bits and bobs onto her back before rocketing down the road, accelerating down the huge hill just by her house and blasting past the Yamanote Rail Crossing at full tilt, flying back up the far side of the hill with the momentum carrying her to the crest, where she could see the entire of Tokyo.
It was certainly a sight to behold, especially when compared to how it had been eight years earlier. It perhaps lagged behind the pre-war aesthetic, but that was no criticism; given what the had been left with, the Ameliorates under Suzaku Kururugi had done an excellent job turning surplus, enthusiastic low skilled labour into a massive urban renewal project that was now hotly tipped to serve as the new model for infrastructure projects across Britannian slums, though the Homeland Government itself was still not onboard for authorising the payments. It was very modern, yet still homely, with very stringent size regulations that allowed for order and yet modular variety, like a row of pastels flying by.
One unfortunate problem with this low rise European model of the revitalised Tokyo however was that there was very little lead up to the Business districts in Koto and Minato, leading to rather intimidating towers near, if not adjacent to lovely colourful town area. The wall, rising for hundreds of meters as she approached at breakneck speeds, almost seemed to swallow her up as she passed through the first few grey buildings, complete with grey suits and grey people all around.
Kallen blasted on for several more blocks before arriving at her workplace in the Babel Tower. Like most of the business high rises, it was built during Pendragon rule, and felt like it. It was a large, imposing building that seemed to be in contest for sheer imposition with all the buildings around it. The lobby, adorned in black and red, seemed alien, even with four years working there. Still, after stepping behind the counter to change into company sanctioned attire, she stepped back out into the hall.
Clarke, as ever a man to set your watch to, stepped out into the same hall exactly seven minutes later, directing the assembled staff to their duties.
"Kallen Stadtfeld, you will be working with Marika Soresi in Hall J for party 6."
Kallen nodded, and moved over to stand beside the ginger woman of the same age before reading over the assignment.
"Go figure…" she chuckled as she realised they would be looking after the Japanese party she had been wondering about. She shook her head in mild surprise at what she assumed to be amusing coincidence, before moving on to Marika, whose brother had been a Purist back in the day, and commented "This is going to be interesting, eh?"
She grunted, and started walking, which frustrated Kallen somewhat. They had been paired probably more than any two employees, and yet she could barely seemed to stand Kallen, only just about putting up with her, as if obligated. It confused and annoyed Kallen to no end to be a victim of constant glares and side eyes, as if her colleague was keeping tabs on her.
But she put on a good face as she set about laying all the tables and preparing all the fineries, in time for the League's arrival at eleven, which she and Soresi stood abreast for at eleven on the dot as the doors opened.
First to enter the room with visible authority was Representative Kyoshiro Tohdoh, followed closely by his recent fiancée Chiba Nagisa. Both wore the most formal kimonos, as they did almost everywhere, presenting the image of the Revanchist League as promoting a more traditional Japan. In truth, it was mostly a party of former Black Knights affiliates who had not been charged with crimes, as well as the more jingoistic elements of Kyoto who walked about with the faint tint of gunpowder that they could never shake off, though they were nonetheless popular, scoring between 30-40% on average in polling, and holding a moderate amount of seats in Government.
A reputation as being the political wing of the Black Knights, it seemed, was not quite enough to render one unelectable, which spoke volumes for the Japanese populace. While she was no Purist, she had lived in Japan long enough with her mother and maid to know that they were hardly the greatest group of people. She was of the belief, just like her new mother, the RPJ would not last much longer, and would be torn apart by the viciousness of their own kind.
In any case, following Tohdoh and his fiancée came the rest, about 20 or 30, filling the room with kimonos and high dress as they quietly filtered out, spreading across the hall. Kallen could only help but notice at some point or another they all took glances at her. In truth, she found the half veiled Japanese gunmen incredibly intimidating up close, even as she performed her duties distributing food while they talked through formal Japanese language in formal Britannian ways, aloof and snooty.
Hoping to impress Clarke and Marika, she moved towards a crowd of four to offer delicacies. Each of them seemed to recoil slightly before staring through narrow eyes, which only served to put her even more off.
This set the tone for some time. The only event of more was, following some silent discussion by the crowd, Tohdoh stood on a platform to give a stump speech. It was short and to the point, explaining how he was glad to see such a showing from them, and how he wished them well in their future endeavours.
With that, he hurriedly departed with all party attendants who were Representatives, leaving only unelected party members. This was most certainly not on the itinerary, which meant Kallen could only assume something drastic has changed since their arrival. But what could it be, as there was only Mariko and her attending them, and phones were not allowed?
This struck her as extremely bizarre, but that notwithstanding the party went on very smoothly, concluding at 2 with no other real noteworthy events. The guests filtered out very quietly and in an orderly fashion at the allotted time, leaving Kallen and Marika alone to clean rather anticlimactically considering the upset Tohdoh's departure had caused.
Afterwards, Clarke came and dismissed them, allowing them to return home for the day, visibly deflated, which confused Kallen even more. 'Had something gone wrong?', she could only wonder.
Still, it meant she could head home, so she headed back through the dimly lit halls to the changing area, stepping along the narrow corridor with relaxed shoulders. She was looking forward to the rest of the day to relax with Rolo, before maybe going out for tea. However, as she lazily marched down the hall, she did not see a slender hand grab her from behind until she felt its sharp tug, which then pulled her back viciously.
She barely had the opportunity to cry out before the arm yanked her back into a fire door, and the door was hurriedly shut behind her. After a moment's struggle, she was finally pinned back, before finally allowed to see her captors.
What she saw was nothing if not bizarre; kidnapping her, or at least stuffing her in a fire exit, was a Japanese man and a young, black haired girl with a jaunty grin. It was about this point that she mentally put the probability of someone kidnapping her in this fashion at above a 50% chance of being a bizarre fever dream.
"You've really let yourself go." the woman snarkily commented, increasing Kallen's percentage to 60% for the sheer bizarreness of the remark.
"What-" was the only word she managed to get out before a loud banging erupted on the far side of the door.
"What's going on in there?"
In response to the insistent, but not yet angry voice on the other side of the door, Kallen attempted to call out for help, however the man blocked the cry in her throat with a quick jab before the woman pulled out a pistol and emptied it through the door, silencing the concern from the far side.
"We need to get going, our airlift arrives in ten minutes."
The Japanese kidnapper, seeming to act on command of the woman, lifted Kallen to her feet and pulled a gun of his own, pointing her down the narrow fire escape. Reluctantly, she followed the woman down the path as she heard more shouting all around her in rooms and corridors the escape route passed by.
After several minutes of running, they reached an end, marked by another fire door which the woman shoved open.
"Shōgo, you have ammunition." she explained, gesturing her accomplice to head out first. He nodded, and after some inspection, stepped out into the hallway.
"All clear." he invited, and Kallen and the other woman followed him out, before they continued moving through the open corridor towards another door, before announcing "Through here."
With that, he threw the double doors open with great gusto, before his body jerked backwards in several quick but individual movements, invisible gut punches in rapid succession that sent the kidnapper to the ground in moments. There had been no sound, even as 'Shōgo', looking positively shocked as his life left him, wheezed out his last. Even so, it took Kallen little time to realise he had been shot, as he began, almost posthumously, to bleed across his torso.
Kallen tried to back off, unsure why this Shōgo had been shot with such prejudice and whether said killer was a friend or foe, being out of sight beyond the door, however as she moved backwards she hit against the woman, who seemed quite calm in spite of her colleague meeting a sticky end, and Kallen fell to her knees just in time to see the would be saviour round the corner, silenced pistol in hand.
It was Mariko, sporting her pistol in tandem with a triumphant grin as she looked upon the two other women, raising the odds to 85% that Kallen had lost her mind. The other woman tried to move out of the line of fire, however all she got was two bullets to the forehead for her trouble, their trajectories flying over Kallen's grounded frame, and sending the woman straight down onto her back in a matter of moments.
Kallen, assuming for now Mariko by some miracle had come to save her even as doubts as to the unlikelihood of that sank in, moved forward, transitioning from her back to a crouch, saying "Thank you so much Mariko, I couldn't-"
Her rushed explanation of her gratitude was abruptly cut short by a boot to the face, which caught Kallen, who was sent back to the ground with no delay, off guard. She felt stunned as she attempted to recover, feeling her bloody nose and now sore head with confusion. Mariko was now standing over her with her pistol pointed down demeaningly as Kallen tried to comprehend what was happening. Nothing was making sense; terrorists were kidnapping her, and her co-worker Mariko was now shooting up people and holding a gun on her.
This had to be a fever dream, she shook. There was no way it could be anything else. She was now dripping a cold, uncertain sweat out of panic and the sheer alien events that were unfolding.
"What… what are you doing?" she panted as Mariko continued what seemed to be a mental victory lap, almost savouring the moment of having Kallen at gunpoint.
"Say that again."
Kallen's eyes narrowed in astonished confusion, before asking through her bloody nose, more angrily than before out of confusion, "What the hell are you doing?"
Mariko chuckled as she seemed to come to a realisation, before explaining in cryptic fashion "Oh, oh she hasn't told you yet? You don't remember?"
Her laughter broke gently, as if appreciating a subtle pun known only to her, before slowly growing to a triumphant maniacal crescendo.
"She didn't-" Mariko began, before having to stop herself out of laughter. "Want to hear a secret? Mm? Before I send you off?"
The gun toting ginger paused for a moment, before kneecapping Kallen to prevent her escape, which sent excruciating pain shooting through her leg as her knee shattered at the bullet impact. She roared out in pain, rolling onto her side and gripping her thigh with both hands. Seizing the opportunity, Mariko planted her foot on Kallen and rolled her onto her side, pinning her.
"Oh, that looks painful." Mariko chuckled, briefly distracted "But I'm tight for time, so I'd better make sure you hear this before you kick the bucket"
She leaned in, enjoying every moment as she whispered "You were Zero."
Kallen took several seconds to understand what Mariko had just said. Zero, the founder of the Black Knights, renowned terrorist, and killer of Shirley's father… was her? This made no sense. While it was true nothing seemed to make a great deal of sense today, this took the cake. Naturally enough, Kallens own thoughts proceeded in a far less orderly fashion, to the point she could only manage a furiously shaking head in desperation.
"Oh reeeally? Or perhaps you just don't remember. You were Zero, the damned Eleven terrorist, and you killed my brother Kewell at Narita."
Mariko's voice grew harsh as she revealed her secret, but Kallen was hardly listening. It wasn't possible. Zero had been executed following his last stand at Hokkaido, as part of the independence agreement. Moreover, how could this be? She could only just get past living with them, the idea that she would lead a revolt was absurd. Kallen couldn't stop shaking as panic took hold. As she tried to make some verbal sense of this, she suddenly felt a hand grip her ankle from behind, sending a bolting shock up through her broken knee and striking her chest with cold energy. She recoiled outwards along her spinal axis, as if trying to expel something deep within her, as she suddenly was transported deep within her in what she imagined an acid trip to be like.
"What the hell…"
"Do you desire power?"
The voice was obscure, and directionless, but Kallen grabbed onto it, shouting "Yes!" through her mind.
"You already possess the power you seek. It's merely imprisoned within the cage of amnesia. Remember...Remember who you really are...the power of the king. Now let the seal be broken!"
It was already a bizarre out of body experience, but it grew even more unusual as she felt a sudden awakening, as if her brain were being reprogrammed. She shook, as she woke to Mariko, who had concluded her venting.
"I remember..."
Mariko turned back, obviously choked up over her brother, the cropped ginger Purist she now remembered killing during Narita. He had been an unpleasant character who hung around with Jeremiah Gottwald and Villetta Nu, the latter of whom she had Geassed to kill the current RPJ Prime Minister, , whose Finance Minister Lelouch Lamperouge… no, Vi Britannia, she had herself had shot, even after saving him from Mao and Kusakabe, who she had shot herself.
She remembered everything.
"Tell me…" Kallen began hoarsely, trying to not further harm her knee as, in her sudden enlightenment, the situation became far more clear to her and she calmed, "...how long were you waiting?"
"For my chance? Oh, you mean you remember now?"
Kallen didn't speak, saving strength, nodding which seemed to satisfy Mariko, who replied with great zeal.
"Eight years. Eight goddamn years, seven of which I spent within a few metres of the one bitch I wanted to kill, that I had to keep alive until she showed up. Well, she's here, and-"
"I think that's quite enough. On order of Kallen Kozūki, cease all movements."
Mariko's eyes widened in her last moments of freedom, realising too late she had been had, before they glazed over, a thin veil over the panic Mariko must be feeling under her statue frame. In the meanwhile, Kallen took her time propping herself up on her good knee, hopping over to the far wall to retrieve Shōgo's gun.
"You want to see me in hell? You waited eight years?"
Mariko couldn't answer, but she didn't need to.
"You'll have to wait a little longer. Tell me what it's like when I make it."
With that, Kallen shot Mariko repeatedly in the chest until the bullets ran dry, at which point her good leg gave way. However, as she fell, she felt a pair of arms pull her up. She smiled, as she recognised the welcome face.
"Thanks for getting me C.C. Took you long enough."
The witch chuckled, before explaining "The cavalry is going to arrive any second, so we better get going. How's that knee?"
For those in my audience who already fit the Venn Diagram of Politics, Code Geass, and Fanfiction, I'm going to throw another loop at you; those who read this fic who know your Mamoru Hosoda will recall that hill in the beginning as Makoto's from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which, if you have not seen it, is an awesome film you should definitely check out. Not major, but I thought it was cool.
Another thing that may slip under some radars is the fact that Mariko is not an OC. Kewell Soresi is the ginger Purist who you're likely familiar with, or at least know him from Adam, but what isn't often mentioned is that his younger sister pops up late into R2 as one of Luciano's henchmen, or henchwoman here, and is killed by Kallen pretty quickly. I myself didn't know this until reading Lelouch Of Britannia, a fic I would also recommend. Another instance of this was Upson Thompson from the St. Darwin crash Chapter; not an OC, he was the man in charge of Viceroy Nunnally's flagship. EDIT: I wrote here that he survived, however this is fake news. He died defending that ship, according to Lloyd Asplund.
EDIT: Guest, RPJ stands for Representative Protectorate Of Japan, as Republics are a no no.
Oh, and WE'RE BACK, and we're staying back, just as I hope you'll stick around for the rest of R2 of For Hearts And Minds, starting with Chapter 26: 51% Permanent Majority. Stay safe, rate, review, and watch your back at work.
~Eth0