Chapter 5: Investigation
Dr. Andrews sat at her home office computer and looked over the footage the Hollow Earth team had sent over. She could see the battle between Kong and the other Titan unfolding before her eyes as she continued studying the footage. Where in the world was this one hiding down there, she wondered. Were there others? Questions strolled through her mind as the last image of the beast paused before eating the drone. She studied it's face, the curvature of the horns and darkened grey brown of it's skin. Why did it look so familiar? The sound of the phone ringing broke her concentration.
"Tell me you've got something on this one," she immediately responded.
"As a matter of fact we do," the voice of Dr. Henry said, "I found some records matching the description of this titan in some older files. I just emailed them to you."
She immediately went into her email and opened the link from Dr. Henry. The window opened, revealing several speculative reports as well as a cave painting depicting a very rough sketch of the same Titan in white and red outlines above what looked like a cluster of people. She clicked back onto the reports and her eyes quickly scanned each page.
"So we have an idea of what this, "Angirasu" is but we've yet to of seen one until now."
"Except Dr. Serizawa was the one who coined it's name but I guess when he filed the report they translated it as "Anguirus". Aside from that, you are correct."
Dr. Andrews sighed.
"Whatever it's called it tore the hell out of Kong. It was more quick and agile than it appeared at first."
"And that bite of his was incredibly powerful if it was able to shatter Titan bone the way it did," Dr. Henry added.
Ilene closed the email and sat back in her chair.
"The Hollow Earth team are tracking it now I hope?"
"Yes they've got a drone monitoring it's movement. So far it seems to be heading west, away from Kong's domain."
Ilene couldn't help but feel relief. According to the team Kong was recovering fine and so was the other ape. And while the rest of the tribe could have easily dealt with this Anguirus due to their numbers, there's no telling how many others could have been hurt. She knew Titans could be violent but she didn't have to like it.
"Thanks Allan. I'll look over everything else here in a bit. We'll be heading back down to Hollow Earth in a few days. I'll check in with the team once more then. Make sure if they discover anything else to get back with us."
She hung up the phone and set it back down. Another new species. Hollow Earth is so large she knew there had to be other species down there to be discovered. Hopefully the rest weren't as volatile. She stood up from her desk, stretched, and exited her office towards Jia's room. The next trip down was going to be another trip to the Iwis for Jia. Though she had gotten better about it, she still felt that gnawing sense of worry fill her whenever Jia went. Sure the Iwis had the barrier and Mothra but parents always worry for their kids, right? She shook the thought away as she looked into the room. Jia was busy at her desk, her pencil quickly moving along whatever homework she had been given. She had definitely improved in school within the last 2 years, even making some other friends. Contact with the Hollow Earth Iwi and their culture seemed to reinvigorate everything within Jia. Ilene couldn't help but smile. Parenting wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
Madison knocked on the apartment door labeled 38G. She had finally managed to make it out to Chicago and had agreed to meet with Steve Martin at his home. She waited patiently for an answer and then knocked again. Still silence. She went to knock once more when the door opened up.
"Sorry for the delay, please come in," he said, moving to the side to allow her entrance. She looked over the space as he closed the door. A quaint living room area with a large window that led out to a balcony greeted her, the view overlooking the city was quite lovely. Little decor aside from some framed news stories and a singular chair lay in the room. From it's appearance, Steve Martin lived a very simple life.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get out here sooner," she said as he pointed out a chair at the dining room table.
"I'm guessing your father didn't want to make the trip," he shouted to her as he went down the hall towards the bedroom.
"Theories were never his strong suit. He prefers hardcore evidence. All the more reason he went back to studying animals when he originally left Monarch."
Steve came back with a stack of several notebooks and placed them on the table. Then after offering Madison a drink, he joined her at the table.
"That's something you don't see everyday," Madison said, pointing to the stack. Steve smirked.
"It's a peeve of mine. I prefer putting pen or pencil to paper instead of digital. The same goes for books as well."
Madison chuckled.
"So what happens if your editor wants you to email some news to him? How do you manage that?
"Usually I go up to his office and put it on his desk. But sometimes I've been known to be crazy and fax it," he said with a small grin. He opened up a smaller notebook from his pocket and placed it opened on the table.
"I suppose we should start discussing what our initial thoughts and any findings we have. First off, what do you know about your friend the General?"
"Other than the fact he's an asshole, not much," Madison said. Martin opened his pad and began to take notes once more.
"Seems like a good place to start our inquiry. I've got some military contacts I can speak with. Is there anyone within Monarch you can speak with to maybe dig up some of the General's past?"
"I can check but I'm not entirely sure. We're supposed to be joint with the EDF but we don't usually hear much. I'll definitely see what I can do. Are you thinking he's motivated by something that's happened before?"
Martin finished writing and leaned back in his chair.
"We both have the feeling that the EDF isn't exactly speaking the truth here in terms of their motivation. And we're probably right. There's just been too much coincidence for there not to be some kind of ulterior motive. It's either that or he's a zealot which has the possibility of being even more dangerous."
Madison thought for a moment.
"One of the things that Dad and I both agreed on was that it was odd for Behemoth to just show up, let alone in a populated area. It's not a predator by any means so the odds of it just showing up without some kind of motivation is well out of character."
"How would the General lure the creature though," Martin said as he jotted down some more notes, "Surely that would've left a trail of some kind."
"That's what's troubling, we haven't found any evidence of that," she responded.
Silence between them as Martin finished his writing.
"So in short order we have this: Dig up the General's past, find a connection between the then and now, discover how or if the General can lure Titans, and his motivation behind everything. Sound about right to you?"
Madison sat there thinking for a moment. Then an idea wormed it's way in.
"Their tech and weapons. This Super X of theirs can't be the only thing at their disposal. Monarch uses technology we got from Apex Cybernetics and the EDF has access to all of their information as well. Who knows what else they could make."
"Could they build a mech like Apex did in Hong Kong," he asked.
Madison shook her head.
"No. One of the first things Monarch did was purge that information from Apex servers. Something like that was too much, even for us. But it wouldn't be difficult to use Apex's other designs to make something else entirely. And if their goal is to be able to fight on equal terms with Titans, they could potentially make something even worse than a Mechagodzilla."
Martin let out a sigh as he finished writing.
"It looks like we've got our work cut out for us."
Madison looked at the notebook stack and then back to Steve's little notepad.
"Why bring out a stack of notebooks if you're just going to write in that little one there? Trying to impress me," she spoke with a chuckle.
Steve smiled back.
"These notebooks here have everything I've ever done reports on, including some of my own observations and thoughts on Titans and our place in the world. Just a little side hobby of mine. But if you are impressed, all the better."
Hollow Earth
The HEAV came to a stop just outside the Monarch Outpost. Dr. Andrews and Jia stepped out of the ship. Jia stepped quickly, eager to get into the the building and get an opportunity to look in on Kong. Ilene had waited to tell Jia about Kong's recent scuffle until they were on their way in hopes of not worrying her too much. She should've e known better. Jia spent the whole trip in anxiety. Now they were here and she practically ran into the building. By the time Dr. Andrews reached the main control room, Jia was already glued to a screen of one of the drones. As she approached, she could see Kong on the screen. He was going about his daily routine as if nothing happened. New scars adorned his flesh but aside from that, he appeared normal. Jia turned toward Ilene.
"He looks ok," she signed. Ilene signed back.
"Kong is strong, like you. He recovers quickly."
Jia turned toward her mom.
"You still should've told me sooner," she signed angrily.
"What difference would that have made? You would of been worried for much longer than you were and driven yourself crazy."
"I don't want things hidden from me. You're supposed to be honest with me like I need to be with you."
Jia quit signing and immediately sent a thought to Ilene's head.
"If you want to keep things hidden from me maybe I should just ignore what you have to say."
Ilene looked at her in disbelief.
"You're blowing this way out of proportion Jia. Kong is fine and you need to calm yourself. There's no need to get this upset," she spoke out loud. Jia continued telepathically.
"You want me to deny who i am and now you want to hide what happens to my friend from me. If he was hurt, I shouldv'e been told. How would you like it if something happened to someone you cared about and no one said a damn thing to you?"
Ilene was speechless. She had never seen Jia so upset and for her to lash out the way she did was so unlike her. She tried to calm her rising tide of emotions.
"Jia, I know you're upset but you don't need to be acting this way. You need to..."
Jia cut her off with a rising voice in her mind.
"I need to not embrace my history! I need to not grow into who I am! Everything you say I need is what YOU want, not what I need! You're trying to control everything I do and I am tired of it! Stop it and leave me alone!"
The final word rammed Ilene's head with a crash. Jia stormed out of the room as she recovered. A tear began to run down Ilene's cheek as Jia slammed the door closed behind her. The other workers looked on in complete puzzlement at what just happened. To them, Dr. Andrews was talking out loud to herself and reacting. They all knew of Jia's ability but it still looked incredibly awkward. One of the workers went to speak and Dr. Andrews shot them a "Don't" look. She wiped the tear from her eyes and cleared her throat.
"Everyone ready to head home?"
Jia made her way outside, passing by the new crew of the monitoring station as they unloaded the HEAV. She sat down on the ground and leaned against the warm metal of the ship. She didn't understand why her mother was being this way, trying to repress and control what she knows. She didn't want her using her telepathy or tell her about what happens to Kong. Her mom would never or could never understand how deep her connection to Kong was and why it was so important to her that she know. If not for Kong, she would've perished with the rest of the Iwi. Jia felt waves of anger passing over her. She wanted to be away from here. She didn't want to have to look at her mom again after this.
"Ok, that's the last of it. Let's get everything moved in and then the other crew loaded up."
Jia watched as the crew moved their belongings inside. And then the thought crossed her mind. One that she tried to repress at first but then decidd she didn't need to. She stood up and made her way into the HEAV. It was empty, just as she had thought. She sat down at the console and looke it over. She had watched the pilots enough times that she had a pretty good idea of how to fly it. She also had a tendency to read into their minds whenever she was along for the ride. If her mom wouldn't accept her, then she'd just go to where she was accepted. Jia closed the hatch from the controls and began to power up the HEAV.
"Anything new on this Titanus Anguirus," Dr. Andrews asked Dr. Ladd as she stood looking over Kong on the monitors. Kong was helping clean one of the Wart Dogs from a previous hunt to divide up amongst the tribe.
"Not too much more than we already knew at first. It keeps wandering back and forth to the outskirts of Kong's territory, almost like it's being indecisive. An interesting behavior pattern but nothing of too much consequence."
Dr. Andrews looked back over the report and then looked back at Dr. Ladd.
"Thanks Diane. Go ahead and get your stuff and get home. I bet your husband is anxious to have you..."
"Hey, who's taking the HEAV?"
Ilene looked up as Len pointed at a screen. The HEAV was rising awkwardly, moving to the left and right as if it were a swaying drunk. Ilene's heart leaped into her throat as she realized what was going on before she could think it.
"Patch us into that HEAV now," she shouted. Len went to work trying to pull up the HEAV's internal camera. There, plain as day, Jia was at the helm of the HEAV.
"Jia! What are you doing? Stop before you wreck the HEAV! You have no idea what you're doing!"
Jia ignored her as she pressed something on the panel. The camera feed went dark as the HEAV took off and began slowly ascending away. Len tried to pull the camera feed up again but was unable to.
"Dammit! Get her back on screen or get comms on. She needs to get her ass back here now!"
Dr. Andrews kicked a desk and sat down, her hands gripping the arm rests tight. If the Hollow Earth didn't kill that girl, she just might.
