That day would be the greatest day of her life so far. B-Komachi would make history by singing at the Tokyo Dome. All seats were sold out and it was the all talk in the press.
Ai barely could contain her excitation. It was like electric jolts ran through her body for every step she made. But she needed to concentrate: that would be a moment she couldn't afford mistakes.
Above all, the entire country will learn that Ai Hoshino loved them. She would make their weary lives a bit happier with those beautiful lies she'd sing on stage.
Before becoming an idol, Ai never ever thought of leaving Japan, not even Kanto. But now, she even started dreaming of singing to the rest of the world. Her manager was contacted by foreign producers interested in streaming B-Komachi overseas.
She could love them! She could love the entire world!
And then…she will be loved by them…
She was just finishing preparing a change of clothes for her children. Miyako would get them soon. She had already decided the last act of her idol career would be revealing to the world how blessed she was for having given birth to her two little angels.
But that belonged to the distant future. What mattered was the moment.
The doorbell rang. She closed the bag and walked to the living room.
"Welcome, Miyak-!"
She dropped the bag on the floor. Her expression twisted into a mute banshee.
"You…" A man pointed a knife at her; his other hand had both Aqua and Ruby under his arm. "You traitor!"
"Mama! Help!"
"I'm scared, help! Help!"
The man started to curse and swear at her, rambling about lies and betrayal. Her eyes, however, locked at the fearful expressions of her children. They were crying. They called for her. They were struggling, but there was little their small bodies could do against a grown adult.
Her jaw froze. She could feel cold sweat running through every pore of her body, ruining her makeup. Her legs trembled, she felt them becoming liquid. The screams died in her throat.
There was nothing she could do. If she approached him, the man would hurt her children. If she stood frozen, the man would kidnap them.
Once again that moment she realized what true horror was.
"Wake up!" She cried.
As if on command, her eyes opened. She groaned while scratching her eyes.
She sat down on her bed. She turned on the lights, just to make sure she was still at her quarters at Saotome Institute.
Her room, made of metallic walls of the vessel's hull, check. Her table and the books she studied, check. The coarse blanket and the bland pajamas, check. Her larger and stronger body, check.
She was Sapphire, the flesh machine. Her Aqua and Ruby didn't exist in that world. Her primary mission was to pilot Ultimate Getter and save the world. Ai Hoshino, B-Komachi's Genius Idol, was dead. Only Sapphire remained.
The lie was still the same as the day before.
She sighed, while leaning against her pillow. She stared aimlessly at the metal ceiling above and that flickering fluorescent lamp.
They need to replace it.
Dying was only the second worst thing that could happen to her. The first was that recurring nightmare: Aqua and/or Ruby gone.
She glared at the lamp, projecting all the negative feelings she could muster at it. If someone hurt her children or took them from her, she would raise hell. She would turn the planet upside down and leave a trail of blood and corpses in her wake. She imagined herself at the top of Tokyo Tower, staring down Tokyo burning, like a goddess punishing that world beyond salvation for the most unforgivable sin possible. She would become Ai Hoshino, the Dark Star of Vengeance Incarnated.
She sighed again. Her glare subsided. She took her hands to the face. What kind of lie was that? She was not able of doing that. The ultimate perfect idol cannot hate, cannot feel wrath. Vengeance is a petty thing, beneath her. She couldn't even hate that moribund lamp. She will always love everyone, including her worst enemies. She is a star, cutting through the darkness of the world.
The reality was that if Aqua and Ruby were taken from her, she would just wither and die. She would lose completely the ability to lie. A world without lies was a worthless world. Therefore, she would just…quit, to use a euphemism.
That was a concerning matter, because the lie that held her together in that new world was already so thin.
She just hoped Aqua and Ruby were following her dreams at home. Maybe they could find a way to not depend on lies and love others the way she found in her last moments. A tru…a not-lie! Yes, that was the perfect word for it.
But it was time to return to her world of lies. The perfect and ultimate soldier. The most boring lie she'd ever told.
She remembered that was the testing day. After taking a shower and eating breakfast, she put her pilot suit, a purple and light red body-fitting outfit. She had her helmet under her arm, light red, with blue details. Her long purple hair was tied into a bun.
Everyone at the institute looked excited for the test. The staff invariably smiled at her, praised her for her performance at the simulator. Some bold ones even tried to flirt with her. She didn't even know their names. Although she was on alert to any face she saw in the day of her birth, the rest was just a blur. Besides, she never had any meaningful exchange of words with them. Why did they bother? She was nothing but a tool to them.
As part of her lies, Ai remained emotionless, expressionless. This time, however, her true feelings coincided too much with her façade. The amount of boredom she endured changed nothing. Every minute she felt the urge to slam her head against the wall and she didn't even know why.
She looked up at the imposing form of the so-called "Ultimate Getter".
Standing fifty meters tall with all three Getter Machines combined, it was a study in contrasts. Huge, bulky lower legs led up to much more slender thighs, supporting a wide, barrel-waisted midsection, both parts clearly identifiable as Getter-1 and Getter-2 respectively. It looked surprisingly fragile, standing on its pointed, stem-toed "feet" for lack of a better word, but as the recent bouts of simulations had proven, it still had a remarkable degree of balance.
Above that, the markings and materials of Getter-2 stopped abruptly, as a broad torso and wide shoulders showed where Getter-3 stood out. Much like the legs, the arms displayed the same bizarre contrast in proportions, with slender upper arms attached to bulky, heavy looking forearms and crude, almost blocky five fingered hands. At least the oversized, armored shoulders gave it more of an intimidating silhouette, even if that was only to mask the overdesigned gear assemblies that the designers had come up with to attach and move the arms.
Finally, there was the head, which felt the most...unfinished to her, for lack of a better word. Really, it was little more than a vaguely human shaped shell with empty eyes and a faceplate "mouth" studded with ventilation grilles.
Beyond that, there were a variety of weapon ports, exhaust vents and other such auxiliary features scattered throughout the design. Dual missile launchers in the shoulders, bulky chest mounted heat sinks, and a large secondary thruster pack courtesy of Getter-2 sticking its huge stabilizer wings out from its back.
All in all...not exactly something one would call "beautiful", much less "sexy", but there was a brutal power in its ugliness that she could feel, something incomplete somehow, she was sure of it. But as to the nature of what it 'lacked', what it needed to be complete, Ai couldn't put it into words.
Well, military doctrine says that if it's stupid and works, it means it's not stupid. It was time to test that.
The technicians made the last preparations. With exception of a couple working on the left shoulder, all of them had already left. Engineers checked the data with her their handheld computers. Given their smiles, everything was on schedule.
She studied the blueprints. She read the theory behind its energy source. She piloted it in the simulator. She touched it. And yet, she knew nothing of it. It seemed to stare at her.
She was created to pilot it, what if it was the Getter that piloted her?
What a strange thought. But, for a moment, she saw a glint in its eyes. She narrowed her expression.
An alarm started to blare.
"Attention! Bogotá is under attack! Pilot Sofia, report to the control room!"
Upon hearing the order through the PA system, she rushed to the control room, passing through the panicking staff. Arriving there, she found all the strategists in heated discussion, yelling at each other. Again, their faces were just blurred and all she could hear was a cacophony of rants.
"Somebody betrayed us!"
"Where's the traitor?"
"We can't tell if there's a traitor or not!"
"Has the Overseer said anything?"
"Silence!" An old man, a five-star general slammed his fist on the table. That helped her to focus her attention. The show was about to unfold. "Hell! We can't just jump to conclusions! We need to review the available information."
The general pressed a button at the table. The screen turned on. It showed images of alien foot soldiers landing at the busiest centers of Bogotá. They dropped in cylinder-shaped landing crafts and used stolen human machine guns, shooting in the air, though soldiers with aliens rifles also escorted them. Four enemy giant machines patrolled the city – reporting names: Beetle, Centaur, Dragon and a previously unseen they called Jellyfish.
"Situation report." The general said.
"My contact at the Colombian army said that they're moving to engage the enemies. A Brazilian electronic warfare plane has entered Colombian airspace with permission. We can use protocol VIGIL to patch up with them without causing a diplomatic incident." An officer said.
"Any answers to why aren't they butchering the civilians?" A strategist asked.
"They're not using terror tactics, but rather shock and awe." Another replied.
"No, they're more like herding large groups of people to do something with them. They key is that new Jellyfish unit. They're after something else. My hunch is that they don't know the Getter is here. General Park reported that they're engaging the enemy in Australia." Another officer replied.
"If this is the case, we're in the middle of an intelligence blackout. It's like if two nations at war fired orbital missiles at their satellites at the same time without each other knowing. The result would be a worldwide blackout." Another strategist replied.
"Sweet mother of mercy, that's literally the nightmare scenario," the general said and then looked at Ai, "Pilot Sapphire, what is your assessment?"
"If the enemy is conducting a punitive expedition," Ai said, like a robot, "The best alternative would be keeping low profile. If they haven't found us, then we should delay the testing until they're gone. Tell your contact at the Colombian army to do the same and just observe the invaders. It might hurt their pride, but it will keep casualties to a minimum. The confusion might cause more casualties than any actual fight."
The board room looked at each other. They seemed to agree with Sapphire.
"Attention, contacting HQ." The screen changed to the emblem of the Saotome Institute, with the caption 'Video Not Available'. The voice was distorted by interference. Ai, however, felt it was familiar. "This is the Overseer. I am arriving in my particular jet, but I've been briefed on the situation in Bogotá. Send the Getter."
"But, sir!"
"You heard me. We will take them by surprise. The victory will ensure the public's trust in the Saotome Institute."
"That's madness!" the general got up from his seat, "We haven't found the other two pilots!"
"Irrelevant. For a small enemy force, our pilot should be able to take on them. I hope you understand that, General Forrester, and devise a plan so this objective can be achieved. As the Overseer, my word is final." The transmission ended.
The general sighed. The rest of the strategists also eyed each other with concern. Ai remained stone-faced, but she thought the Overseer to be an idiot. He was supposed to be the "voice" of the ones behind the counteroffensive against the Seven Emperors, but she wondered if all of them were idiots. Maybe they cared for humanity as much as her.
"On my way to the Getter."
Ai turned around and walked to the Getter. She put on the helmet and waited in the cabin, while the Getter was carried by a truck towards the target area, escorted by a convoy of the institute's security forces. She thought of nothing during the ride, besides comparing the actual panel to the one in the simulator. Although it had a keyboard, there were so many levers and analog buttons. It looked so…retro? Even after many missions in the simulator, it still felt it belong to another age.
A large traffic jam formed in the exits of Bogotá. It mattered little to those who entered the city. Eventually, the convoy advanced until the traffic jam was unbearable.
The truck lifted the platform used to bring Getter. Many in the crowd stopped running, while the security forces circled the truck to stop people from approaching too closely. A woman wearing the uniform of the institute said in accented Spanish, through a megaphone, "No temáis. ¡He aqui, la carta de triunfo de la humanidad!"
"Sapphire, here, waiting for orders."
"Sapphire," the girl from mission control called…what was her name again? "You're clear. Start Getter Ultimate. Your mission is to repel the Seven Emperors' forces."
"Affirmative. Getter Ultimate start."
She said, emotionless. She inserted the keycard into the panel. Using an actual key, she opened a case in the panel with two additional cardholders and inserted the other two cards.
Lights flared up in the panel as the green energy flowed through its nooks and cranks.
The Getter shuddered. Its engine started, humming a deep sound. The opaqueness of the screen gave way to a high-definition view of the outside. Green lines appeared throughout the entire robot.
It lifted both arms, while a green gleam surrounded its eyes. In the ground, the crowd started to cheer for the Getter. Ai moved the controls forward. It was showtime.
She yawned, however. Her stars were black.