I will do so after I post this.
BTW, I would strongly desire your opinion of what Mizuho wants to do in this case.
**** **** ****
Local
Date and time: Sunday 9 May 2011, 2:16
PM EDT
Location: H.M.C.S. Haida, Deck A12 Aft, Flag
Officer's Level,
Seina
soon came in with a tray of finger sandwiches – all clearly hand-made by her
and her friends, I was quick to sense – and then she stepped out of the
room. As I relaxed, enjoyed my tea and
nibbled on the fresh-cut Black Forest ham-and-marble cheese sandwich slices with
shredded lettuce and a pinch of mustard in them, I was quick to sense both
Hiromi and Kumomi gaze at me – again, the latter doing it with closed eyes –
with clearly a type of ki sight.
"So what exactly are toshi?" I then asked. "A type of mutant?"
I
was quick to note THAT word made both girls wince. "Doug-san, please don't use that word here," Hiromi then
pleaded. "I'm sure the word is
quite accepted in your universe . . . but here, we're trying to steer away from
such terms." She winked. "Here, we would call you a
'naturally-born metahuman.' Those who
gain powers through accidents, deliberate genetic modification or such are
'fate-gifted metahumans.'"
"Not
'mutates,'" Kumomi added.
I
gaped. "Oh . . . "
"Given
your use of such a word, I assume in your universe, those who possess such
powers are not discriminated against," Kumomi then asked.
I
shook my head. "Of course
not."
"What
of artificial intelligences?" Hiromi wondered.
A
shrug. "Nothing wrong with
them."
Kumomi: "Including androids, gynoids and the
like?"
"No
restrictions if they're seen as fully sentient and capable of making their own
choices," I asserted. Where the
hell were these two going with this?
"Bioroids
as well, I would assume. Clones, perhaps?"
Hiromi mused.
"I've
never encountered bioroids," I admitted.
"I assume you mean 'biological android' by that." As they nodded, I added, "As for
cloning, doing same without the permission of the DNA donor is forbidden across
my planet. But if a clone is created illegally
yet develops a personality of his own, he has the same rights as anyone
else."
Both
of them nodded again. "Then you may
relax, Doug-san," Hiromi then stated.
"As you'll probably remember from my words earlier before you
discovered the 'phoenix' inside me . . . " – She made finger-quotes on
saying that – " . . . that I said that I was chronologically only two
years old." As I gazed at her, she
smiled. "I am a bioroid, the DNA
moulded with permission by my brother Ataru to make me a genetic twin sister of
his. My other sisters, Negako-onesama
and Tariko-onesan, are the same way.
Kumomi-san's present body is a bioroid as well; it was cloned for her
about a year ago in the wake of our first deep-space mission as a way of
breaking her from her 'fate.'"
As
I gaped at them – and my mage-sight quickly locked in on how YOUNG their bodies
really were! – she added, "You wonder why we have the technology that
created Haida and her sisterships with us now in the year 2011,
Doug-san? It is because a RACE of
bioroids who had been treated for the most part as SEX-SLAVES for the last
century Earth-time – on finally gaining their liberation from such an
existence; I will not dignify it with the term 'life' – decided that their
future was best guaranteed by coming to Earth." As my mind rocked from THAT tsunami of
information – and flashbacks of my experiences in Megatokyo in 2037 dealing
with Genom's boomers came back to me – she added, "And thus, effectively
crippling the alliance of local galactic powers that – thanks to their
willingness to adhere to the principles of realpolitik every time something
threatened them – allowed them to suffer for as long as they did."
I
fought down the outrage billowing in my heart.
"What of their former masters?"
"Defeated. Effectively rendered helpless," Kumomi
flatly announced. "Hiromi-san and
her siblings – this was over a month after their souls were pulled from
Ataru-san's mind – joined a combined force of humanoid warriors from the
planets Noukiios and Yehisril, aided by celestial dragons from both worlds – to
attack the planet where the bioroid factory that created our numerous sisters
was located." As I gazed at her, a
huntsman's smile crossed her face.
"Thanks to the blessings of the Heavens – though I'll certainly
understand if you refuse to acknowledge such as a 'blessing' – the liberation
of our sisters occurred without loss to any of them. Though their 'masters' suffered grievously
for their grotesque behaviour: Five
million died on Phentax Twelve – the planet where the bioroid factory was one –
and over three million in the space fleet our sisters' former masters
possessed; that was destroyed by the ch'uokyek of Noukiios and the ib'f
of Yehisril." I interpreted those
terms as "great dragons" and "dragons" respectively. "As restitution, the space dry-docks and
space factories the Niphentaxians – the Avalonians' ex-masters – possessed were
seized as 'war booty' and brought to Earth."
I
nodded; obviously, the race-name "Avalonian" was the term used for
bioroids of my hosts' particular type.
"What about possible retaliation?" I then asked.
Hiromi
sighed. "In a way, we were very lucky,
Doug-san. By the time we moved to free
the Avalonians from slavery, the Niphentaxians – who are genetically a race of
mimics similar to the Iotians from Star Trek – had simply become too lazy.
You're an American. You know the
history of your country from before the War Between the States, do you not? How did the people of the states which tried
to form the Confederacy in 1861 view their lifestyle, all supported by chattel
slaves once imported from Africa?"
As I nodded – even if I was an engineer by training, I did know my
country's past quite well; working in a team of warriors from across the
planet, insults and comments about the bad side of being an American were
commonplace – she smiled. "While
there is a chance that the Niphentaxians might seek some retribution should
they shake away their years of laziness, there are those amongst their kind who
DO understand what happened and why . . . and are working to make the remainder
of their society confirm. For those who –
if luck shines their way – wish to press issues, this ship we're on . . .
"
"Helps guard
against it," I finished for her.
"Hai." Hiromi then looked weary. "When I first truly became my own
person, Doug-san, all I was concerned about at the time was ensuring my family –
Onii-san, One-sama and One-san – was safe and sound. On returning to Earth after helping the
Avalonians free themselves, we met up with Tsukihana-kun and a friend of his,
who had spent the previous several months using an abandoned starship
construction satellite they found in a dead solar system not too far from here
to construct Haida and forty-nine other such ships. And given Onii-san's experiences with other
aliens – provoked two years ago when the Niphentaxians' allies, the Urusians,
threatened to 'invade' us . . . to be staved off when Onii-san won a game of
tag against the Urusian champion – I realised I had no choice but to make sure
Earth was protected as much as all the Avalonians needed and deserved to be
protected." A smile. "So – when the United Nations here, in
their wisdom, declared me to be the leader of the Earth Defence Force – I ultimately
became responsible for the good welfare of nearly TEN BILLION sentient beings,
Doug-san. Over seven billion Terrans and
nearly three billion Avalonians."
"What
about overpopulation issues?" I then asked, my mind boggling at those
numbers.
"Fortunately
for us, our defeat of the Niphentaxians – and, by the extension, the Urusians;
they are, for the most part, a very arrogant and selfish species – impressed one
of our closer galactic neighbours: The
Seifukusu Dominion," Kumomi stated.
"So much so, in fact, that they were willing to allow us to take
control of THIRTY Class M worlds – again, using the Star Trek term – in many
solar systems to the galactic 'west' and 'south' of us that they had no use for
anymore. The total territory size is
about two hundred by three hundred light-years in a roughly trapezoidal
shape." As I gaped at her, she
smiled. "And right now, people who
wish to get away from crowded cities and breath clean country air are lining up
to migrate to those new worlds, which are being divided according to overall
Terran population at this time. Japan,
for example, will share a planet named 'Pacifica' with the Koreas, Taiwan and
Mongolia. Canada will share a planet
named 'Vinland' with many Caribbean states.
It goes on and on."
"Wow
. . .!" I breathed out, and then I perked as something came to me. "Are Terrans and Avalonians genetically
compatible?"
"Certainly,"
Hiromi said with a smirk. "So atop
a considerable technological leap forward into the future, there's going to be
a considerable evolutional leap as well.
Maybe not to the Yizibajohei extreme, but the chances are that
fate-gifted and naturally-born metahumans will be making their appearance here
as well."
"For
the first time since the Second World War," Kumomi added.
"Wow
. . .!" I breathed out again . . .
.
. . and then perked as the other door leading into this room opened, revealing
a woman Hiromi's age, though she had long blue-green hair and brown-grey eyes
under reading glasses. She was dressed
in casual civilians in the same general fashion as Hiromi wore – though this
one had a jean skirt in lieu of jeans – and she had a gold headband holding
part of her hair down. As my mage-sight
clicked in, I noted she was also a bioroid – and yes, a toshi as well, though
her earring was gold and not silver – and I was quick to pick up on the
celestial dragon within her. Though in
THIS one's case, the being within her was truly ALIEN and not Terran-type like
Kumomi's.
"Husband,
aren't you . . . who's this?" she then asked as she gazed on me.
I
blinked. Shades of Ten'o Haruka and
Kai'o Michiru!
Hiromi
was gay.
And
if that was accepted here . . .!
Hiromi
chuckled. "A visitor from another
dimension, my wife," she said.
"Doug-san, may I present one of my lovers in this life and my
second wife in my first, Izuku Mioko.
She's known by the battle-name 'Kamikyo Reishi.' Mioko, this is Douglas Sangnoir-taisa of the
United Nations Metahuman Peacekeeping Force.
He goes by the battle-name 'Looney Tunes' and he's a sorcerer, arch-mage
class."
Mioko
perked, and then she smiled at me.
"Well met, Master Douglas," she said as she gave me a
classical kung fu-like salute with her hands, though it was the right fist into
the left palm and not the other way around.
"I trust you weren't hurt."
"He
was unconscious when he arrived and we sent down Henrietta-chan and her friends
to go fetch him, My Empress," Kumomi stated. I was quick to note that Mioko seemed not to
mind being called "empress."
"This is not the first time he's been forced to move from dimension
to dimension. He's been separated from
his home dimension – and a most caring wife – for nearly fifteen decades in his
personal time-line." As Hiromi and
Mioko gasped on hearing that, their eyes tearing in honest sympathy, Kumomi
added, "No doubt, whatever fickle fate decided to force him on such a
journey will stop at nothing to push, push and keep on pushing until he either
breaks or they show mercy to him."
"Oh,
really?" Mioko stated with a look of pure disgust. "Then I suggest we go send Negako-sama
out to thrash the louts for their petty behaviour."
"Getting
One-sama to do that will be difficult, Mioko-vayae," Hiromi noted.
I
smirked on sensing the translation of that honorific: My beloved. And that made sense to me. Despite my personal preference to avoid
celestial beings like phoenixes and dragons, I knew they mated for life. "Well, it should still be done,
Dearest," Mioko stated with the voice of someone who was clearly used to
commanding others to do her bidding.
What the hell was the difference between Hiromi – who was an actual
EMPEROR of China in her first life! – and Mioko, who was simply Hiromi's wife
and mother to his/her children back then?
"If Master Douglas has remained devoted to his beloved all this
time, he deserves to be returned home as quickly as can be done!"
"Why
couldn't you be one of the
Fates?" I then pleaded.
Laughter
filled the room . . . and then a voice called out, "What's so funny,
Mama?"
I
blinked before I turned . . .
.
. . and then gaped on seeing what had to be the CUTEST seven year-old kid I'd
EVER encountered in my travels. Clearly
possessing the genetics of both Hiromi and Mioko in her body – and yes, this
one was a bioroid, too; the body was about the same age as Mioko's – she was
dressed in a pinafore with a red T-shirt underneath, the design of which
clearly matched what her parents wore.
Given the sprinting jackrabbit insignia over the kanji ?? for "Tomobiki" – the name
was one of the six days in the Japanese calendar that marked what sort of luck
one might experience – I would assume this was the couple's high school. But WHY on Earth would someone go out and
name a high school of all things after the concept of bad luck
descending on a person's friends?
"We
have a guest, Arami-chan," Mioko said as she leaned down to lift the girl
into her arms. "We have a grand
sorcerer with us." She waved to
me. "This is Master Douglas
Sangnoir, who calls himself 'Looney Tunes.'" She blinked.
"'Looney Tunes?'"
"My
mage-gift is centred on music, Mioko-san," I answered her. Yes, she was a dragon – and an ALIEN one at
that! – but hers and Hiromi's child had not been touched at all by Celestial
power . . . and by the feel of pure love Arami's parents felt, they seemed to
prefer that Arami lived that way. So
clearly, even if Celestial power was involved with toshi – Arami's earring was
a crimson-red shade; she didn't strike me as even a beginner fighter – they still
seemed to strive to be as normal human as possible. And while there was a shrinking yet still
present part of me that still demanded to know what the game was, I was
starting to realise that in THIS universe, it was possible for mortals to be
touched by Celestials and NOT be corrupted or influenced by such infinite
power.
What
was the secret here?
"Any
specific type of music?" Hiromi then wondered, clearly curious by my
gifts.
"Any
type that has lyrics that I can interpret," I answered. "Using the song as inspiration, I can
channel my magic to do all sorts of things." I paused as I wondered if I should do this in
front of these beings, and then – despite the part of me warning me NOT to
indulge my deepest desire now, especially in the presence of three
Celestials-in-mortal form – I picked up my helmet and flipped open the external
speakers to the "on" position.
Once done, I flipped open the keypad and searched for the song I
wanted. As the three older women in the
room patiently waited, Arami motioned with her arms to be let down to the
deck. Once Mioko had obliged her, the
young girl scampered around the table, then got up onto the chair next to mine
to look at my helmet. I stared at her,
and then smiled. What the heck!
"Here,
press this," I then bade.
Arami
did so . . .
The
Darkside is coming, now nothing is real.
She'll
never know just how I feel.
From
out of the shadows, she walks like a dream.
Make
me feel crazy! Make me feel so mean!
"Hey,
Gorgeous!" that wonderful voice echoed from nearby. "Hey!
What's this place?!"
* *
*
Local
date and time: Monday 10 May 2011, 3:28
AM JST
Local
location: Senshobu-jinja, Tomobiki-cho,
Nishitokyo-shi, Tokyo-to,
"Mizuho
. . . "
"No
. . . his pain . . . "
"MIZUHO!"
Inada
Mizuho – who had been hovering on the edge of total emotional collapse ever
since her mind locked in on the travelling arch-mage sorcerer she had sensed
three hours before – gasped on hearing that barked voice, and then she shook
her head for a moment as the powerful empathic link between her and Douglas
Sangnoir faded from her mind. "I .
. . so lonely, Negako-sama . . .!" she moaned out as she gazed with
tear-filled eyes at Moroboshi Negako.
"He loves her so much . . .!"
Negako
took a deep breath. "To answer the
question you clearly wish to ask, Mizuho:
YES, you can bring Margaret to this dimension." She then leaned close to gaze with her
almost-black eyes upon the younger survivor of The Program. "But ask yourself this, Mizuho: What will happen to Margaret when she and
Douglas attempt to leave this dimension together and enter those realms
influenced by the beings you immediately believed planned to threaten Douglas'
life before you brought him to Welland?"
Mizuho
blinked, and then she shuddered as her respect and near-reverence for the
grandmaster of Saiko Jinseijutsu-ryu clashed HARD with her own personal sense
of romance, a typical affliction for fifteen year-old Japanese high school
freshmen despite her being psi-bonded to Niimi Rena for the last five
months. Atop that, her own powerful
sense of right and wrong was mixing together with her personal beliefs to urge
her to give in to her desire to use the Staff of Gihan to reach out through the
Multiverse and locate one Maggie Sangnoir to bring her to this dimension and
reunite her with her beloved husband.
After all, to a devoted Zoroastrian, the supreme deity was the Creator
Himself, Ahura Mazda. The only other
being of near-equal rank to the "Master" – as Mizuho always addressed
Him as – was Ahura Mazda's arch-rival, A?ra Mainiuu, the living Spirit of
Entropy and all that was not good with Creation.
And
to Mizuho's mind, the idea of a devoted couple being SEPARATED by these
"fates" for nearly FIFTEEN CENTURIES – in the husband's viewpoint –
was WRONG!
It
could NOT be tolerated!
Yet
. . .
Yet
. . .
Yet
. . .
"He
misses her so much, Negako-sama . . .!" Mizuho moaned.
A
nod. "That he should given his
devotion to his own personal beliefs.
But even if deities and other such entities had strict controls over
their actions in OUR part of the Multiverse, that is not so true
elsewhere," Negako warned.
"There are beings out there who desire Douglas to continue to
travel from dimension to dimension and timeline to timeline on his 'quest' to
his home dimension. In their eyes, his
interaction with people such as the Knight Sabres, the Nornir living in Nekomi,
the Evangelion pilots and others, Douglas has contributed most positively to
the lives of those he has interacted with.
They desire him to continue such a process within reason." A sigh.
"And yes, there are those entities such as those you sensed three
hours ago that would desire Douglas' permanent demise to prevent him from
performing more such deeds."
"In
other words, if you bring Mrs. Sangnoir here, you present TWO targets to those
dark kami you sensed earlier this evening, Mizuho-chan," Sakura added.
Mizuho
blinked. "What should I do . .
.?"
"Ask
him."
She
perked, and then turned to gaze on Rena.
"Beloved . . . "
"Tell
him what forced you to bring him here, Mizuho-vayae," Rena stated. "And ASK him if he thinks it's okay to
bring his wife here. Once he says 'yes,'
do it."
Mizuho
blinked, and then she nodded before grasping the Staff.
In
a flash of energy, she vanished from Japan.
Watching her go, Sakura moaned, and then she gazed in annoyance at
Negako. "Is THIS helping her
control that thing?!"
"She
will learn from Douglas, Sakura. Never
fear," the ninjutsu grandmaster noted.
The
Shinto shrine miko moaned . . .
* *
*
BTW, I would strongly desire your opinion of what Mizuho wants to do in this case.
**** **** ****
Local
Date and time: Sunday 9 May 2011, 2:16
PM EDT
Location: H.M.C.S. Haida, Deck A12 Aft, Flag
Officer's Level,
Seina
soon came in with a tray of finger sandwiches – all clearly hand-made by her
and her friends, I was quick to sense – and then she stepped out of the
room. As I relaxed, enjoyed my tea and
nibbled on the fresh-cut Black Forest ham-and-marble cheese sandwich slices with
shredded lettuce and a pinch of mustard in them, I was quick to sense both
Hiromi and Kumomi gaze at me – again, the latter doing it with closed eyes –
with clearly a type of ki sight.
"So what exactly are toshi?" I then asked. "A type of mutant?"
I
was quick to note THAT word made both girls wince. "Doug-san, please don't use that word here," Hiromi then
pleaded. "I'm sure the word is
quite accepted in your universe . . . but here, we're trying to steer away from
such terms." She winked. "Here, we would call you a
'naturally-born metahuman.' Those who
gain powers through accidents, deliberate genetic modification or such are
'fate-gifted metahumans.'"
"Not
'mutates,'" Kumomi added.
I
gaped. "Oh . . . "
"Given
your use of such a word, I assume in your universe, those who possess such
powers are not discriminated against," Kumomi then asked.
I
shook my head. "Of course
not."
"What
of artificial intelligences?" Hiromi wondered.
A
shrug. "Nothing wrong with
them."
Kumomi: "Including androids, gynoids and the
like?"
"No
restrictions if they're seen as fully sentient and capable of making their own
choices," I asserted. Where the
hell were these two going with this?
"Bioroids
as well, I would assume. Clones, perhaps?"
Hiromi mused.
"I've
never encountered bioroids," I admitted.
"I assume you mean 'biological android' by that." As they nodded, I added, "As for
cloning, doing same without the permission of the DNA donor is forbidden across
my planet. But if a clone is created illegally
yet develops a personality of his own, he has the same rights as anyone
else."
Both
of them nodded again. "Then you may
relax, Doug-san," Hiromi then stated.
"As you'll probably remember from my words earlier before you
discovered the 'phoenix' inside me . . . " – She made finger-quotes on
saying that – " . . . that I said that I was chronologically only two
years old." As I gazed at her, she
smiled. "I am a bioroid, the DNA
moulded with permission by my brother Ataru to make me a genetic twin sister of
his. My other sisters, Negako-onesama
and Tariko-onesan, are the same way.
Kumomi-san's present body is a bioroid as well; it was cloned for her
about a year ago in the wake of our first deep-space mission as a way of
breaking her from her 'fate.'"
As
I gaped at them – and my mage-sight quickly locked in on how YOUNG their bodies
really were! – she added, "You wonder why we have the technology that
created Haida and her sisterships with us now in the year 2011,
Doug-san? It is because a RACE of
bioroids who had been treated for the most part as SEX-SLAVES for the last
century Earth-time – on finally gaining their liberation from such an
existence; I will not dignify it with the term 'life' – decided that their
future was best guaranteed by coming to Earth." As my mind rocked from THAT tsunami of
information – and flashbacks of my experiences in Megatokyo in 2037 dealing
with Genom's boomers came back to me – she added, "And thus, effectively
crippling the alliance of local galactic powers that – thanks to their
willingness to adhere to the principles of realpolitik every time something
threatened them – allowed them to suffer for as long as they did."
I
fought down the outrage billowing in my heart.
"What of their former masters?"
"Defeated. Effectively rendered helpless," Kumomi
flatly announced. "Hiromi-san and
her siblings – this was over a month after their souls were pulled from
Ataru-san's mind – joined a combined force of humanoid warriors from the
planets Noukiios and Yehisril, aided by celestial dragons from both worlds – to
attack the planet where the bioroid factory that created our numerous sisters
was located." As I gazed at her, a
huntsman's smile crossed her face.
"Thanks to the blessings of the Heavens – though I'll certainly
understand if you refuse to acknowledge such as a 'blessing' – the liberation
of our sisters occurred without loss to any of them. Though their 'masters' suffered grievously
for their grotesque behaviour: Five
million died on Phentax Twelve – the planet where the bioroid factory was one –
and over three million in the space fleet our sisters' former masters
possessed; that was destroyed by the ch'uokyek of Noukiios and the ib'f
of Yehisril." I interpreted those
terms as "great dragons" and "dragons" respectively. "As restitution, the space dry-docks and
space factories the Niphentaxians – the Avalonians' ex-masters – possessed were
seized as 'war booty' and brought to Earth."
I
nodded; obviously, the race-name "Avalonian" was the term used for
bioroids of my hosts' particular type.
"What about possible retaliation?" I then asked.
Hiromi
sighed. "In a way, we were very lucky,
Doug-san. By the time we moved to free
the Avalonians from slavery, the Niphentaxians – who are genetically a race of
mimics similar to the Iotians from Star Trek – had simply become too lazy.
You're an American. You know the
history of your country from before the War Between the States, do you not? How did the people of the states which tried
to form the Confederacy in 1861 view their lifestyle, all supported by chattel
slaves once imported from Africa?"
As I nodded – even if I was an engineer by training, I did know my
country's past quite well; working in a team of warriors from across the
planet, insults and comments about the bad side of being an American were
commonplace – she smiled. "While
there is a chance that the Niphentaxians might seek some retribution should
they shake away their years of laziness, there are those amongst their kind who
DO understand what happened and why . . . and are working to make the remainder
of their society confirm. For those who –
if luck shines their way – wish to press issues, this ship we're on . . .
"
"Helps guard
against it," I finished for her.
"Hai." Hiromi then looked weary. "When I first truly became my own
person, Doug-san, all I was concerned about at the time was ensuring my family –
Onii-san, One-sama and One-san – was safe and sound. On returning to Earth after helping the
Avalonians free themselves, we met up with Tsukihana-kun and a friend of his,
who had spent the previous several months using an abandoned starship
construction satellite they found in a dead solar system not too far from here
to construct Haida and forty-nine other such ships. And given Onii-san's experiences with other
aliens – provoked two years ago when the Niphentaxians' allies, the Urusians,
threatened to 'invade' us . . . to be staved off when Onii-san won a game of
tag against the Urusian champion – I realised I had no choice but to make sure
Earth was protected as much as all the Avalonians needed and deserved to be
protected." A smile. "So – when the United Nations here, in
their wisdom, declared me to be the leader of the Earth Defence Force – I ultimately
became responsible for the good welfare of nearly TEN BILLION sentient beings,
Doug-san. Over seven billion Terrans and
nearly three billion Avalonians."
"What
about overpopulation issues?" I then asked, my mind boggling at those
numbers.
"Fortunately
for us, our defeat of the Niphentaxians – and, by the extension, the Urusians;
they are, for the most part, a very arrogant and selfish species – impressed one
of our closer galactic neighbours: The
Seifukusu Dominion," Kumomi stated.
"So much so, in fact, that they were willing to allow us to take
control of THIRTY Class M worlds – again, using the Star Trek term – in many
solar systems to the galactic 'west' and 'south' of us that they had no use for
anymore. The total territory size is
about two hundred by three hundred light-years in a roughly trapezoidal
shape." As I gaped at her, she
smiled. "And right now, people who
wish to get away from crowded cities and breath clean country air are lining up
to migrate to those new worlds, which are being divided according to overall
Terran population at this time. Japan,
for example, will share a planet named 'Pacifica' with the Koreas, Taiwan and
Mongolia. Canada will share a planet
named 'Vinland' with many Caribbean states.
It goes on and on."
"Wow
. . .!" I breathed out, and then I perked as something came to me. "Are Terrans and Avalonians genetically
compatible?"
"Certainly,"
Hiromi said with a smirk. "So atop
a considerable technological leap forward into the future, there's going to be
a considerable evolutional leap as well.
Maybe not to the Yizibajohei extreme, but the chances are that
fate-gifted and naturally-born metahumans will be making their appearance here
as well."
"For
the first time since the Second World War," Kumomi added.
"Wow
. . .!" I breathed out again . . .
.
. . and then perked as the other door leading into this room opened, revealing
a woman Hiromi's age, though she had long blue-green hair and brown-grey eyes
under reading glasses. She was dressed
in casual civilians in the same general fashion as Hiromi wore – though this
one had a jean skirt in lieu of jeans – and she had a gold headband holding
part of her hair down. As my mage-sight
clicked in, I noted she was also a bioroid – and yes, a toshi as well, though
her earring was gold and not silver – and I was quick to pick up on the
celestial dragon within her. Though in
THIS one's case, the being within her was truly ALIEN and not Terran-type like
Kumomi's.
"Husband,
aren't you . . . who's this?" she then asked as she gazed on me.
I
blinked. Shades of Ten'o Haruka and
Kai'o Michiru!
Hiromi
was gay.
And
if that was accepted here . . .!
Hiromi
chuckled. "A visitor from another
dimension, my wife," she said.
"Doug-san, may I present one of my lovers in this life and my
second wife in my first, Izuku Mioko.
She's known by the battle-name 'Kamikyo Reishi.' Mioko, this is Douglas Sangnoir-taisa of the
United Nations Metahuman Peacekeeping Force.
He goes by the battle-name 'Looney Tunes' and he's a sorcerer, arch-mage
class."
Mioko
perked, and then she smiled at me.
"Well met, Master Douglas," she said as she gave me a
classical kung fu-like salute with her hands, though it was the right fist into
the left palm and not the other way around.
"I trust you weren't hurt."
"He
was unconscious when he arrived and we sent down Henrietta-chan and her friends
to go fetch him, My Empress," Kumomi stated. I was quick to note that Mioko seemed not to
mind being called "empress."
"This is not the first time he's been forced to move from dimension
to dimension. He's been separated from
his home dimension – and a most caring wife – for nearly fifteen decades in his
personal time-line." As Hiromi and
Mioko gasped on hearing that, their eyes tearing in honest sympathy, Kumomi
added, "No doubt, whatever fickle fate decided to force him on such a
journey will stop at nothing to push, push and keep on pushing until he either
breaks or they show mercy to him."
"Oh,
really?" Mioko stated with a look of pure disgust. "Then I suggest we go send Negako-sama
out to thrash the louts for their petty behaviour."
"Getting
One-sama to do that will be difficult, Mioko-vayae," Hiromi noted.
I
smirked on sensing the translation of that honorific: My beloved. And that made sense to me. Despite my personal preference to avoid
celestial beings like phoenixes and dragons, I knew they mated for life. "Well, it should still be done,
Dearest," Mioko stated with the voice of someone who was clearly used to
commanding others to do her bidding.
What the hell was the difference between Hiromi – who was an actual
EMPEROR of China in her first life! – and Mioko, who was simply Hiromi's wife
and mother to his/her children back then?
"If Master Douglas has remained devoted to his beloved all this
time, he deserves to be returned home as quickly as can be done!"
"Why
couldn't you be one of the
Fates?" I then pleaded.
Laughter
filled the room . . . and then a voice called out, "What's so funny,
Mama?"
I
blinked before I turned . . .
.
. . and then gaped on seeing what had to be the CUTEST seven year-old kid I'd
EVER encountered in my travels. Clearly
possessing the genetics of both Hiromi and Mioko in her body – and yes, this
one was a bioroid, too; the body was about the same age as Mioko's – she was
dressed in a pinafore with a red T-shirt underneath, the design of which
clearly matched what her parents wore.
Given the sprinting jackrabbit insignia over the kanji ?? for "Tomobiki" – the name
was one of the six days in the Japanese calendar that marked what sort of luck
one might experience – I would assume this was the couple's high school. But WHY on Earth would someone go out and
name a high school of all things after the concept of bad luck
descending on a person's friends?
"We
have a guest, Arami-chan," Mioko said as she leaned down to lift the girl
into her arms. "We have a grand
sorcerer with us." She waved to
me. "This is Master Douglas
Sangnoir, who calls himself 'Looney Tunes.'" She blinked.
"'Looney Tunes?'"
"My
mage-gift is centred on music, Mioko-san," I answered her. Yes, she was a dragon – and an ALIEN one at
that! – but hers and Hiromi's child had not been touched at all by Celestial
power . . . and by the feel of pure love Arami's parents felt, they seemed to
prefer that Arami lived that way. So
clearly, even if Celestial power was involved with toshi – Arami's earring was
a crimson-red shade; she didn't strike me as even a beginner fighter – they still
seemed to strive to be as normal human as possible. And while there was a shrinking yet still
present part of me that still demanded to know what the game was, I was
starting to realise that in THIS universe, it was possible for mortals to be
touched by Celestials and NOT be corrupted or influenced by such infinite
power.
What
was the secret here?
"Any
specific type of music?" Hiromi then wondered, clearly curious by my
gifts.
"Any
type that has lyrics that I can interpret," I answered. "Using the song as inspiration, I can
channel my magic to do all sorts of things." I paused as I wondered if I should do this in
front of these beings, and then – despite the part of me warning me NOT to
indulge my deepest desire now, especially in the presence of three
Celestials-in-mortal form – I picked up my helmet and flipped open the external
speakers to the "on" position.
Once done, I flipped open the keypad and searched for the song I
wanted. As the three older women in the
room patiently waited, Arami motioned with her arms to be let down to the
deck. Once Mioko had obliged her, the
young girl scampered around the table, then got up onto the chair next to mine
to look at my helmet. I stared at her,
and then smiled. What the heck!
"Here,
press this," I then bade.
Arami
did so . . .
The
Darkside is coming, now nothing is real.
She'll
never know just how I feel.
From
out of the shadows, she walks like a dream.
Make
me feel crazy! Make me feel so mean!
"Hey,
Gorgeous!" that wonderful voice echoed from nearby. "Hey!
What's this place?!"
* *
*
Local
date and time: Monday 10 May 2011, 3:28
AM JST
Local
location: Senshobu-jinja, Tomobiki-cho,
Nishitokyo-shi, Tokyo-to,
"Mizuho
. . . "
"No
. . . his pain . . . "
"MIZUHO!"
Inada
Mizuho – who had been hovering on the edge of total emotional collapse ever
since her mind locked in on the travelling arch-mage sorcerer she had sensed
three hours before – gasped on hearing that barked voice, and then she shook
her head for a moment as the powerful empathic link between her and Douglas
Sangnoir faded from her mind. "I .
. . so lonely, Negako-sama . . .!" she moaned out as she gazed with
tear-filled eyes at Moroboshi Negako.
"He loves her so much . . .!"
Negako
took a deep breath. "To answer the
question you clearly wish to ask, Mizuho:
YES, you can bring Margaret to this dimension." She then leaned close to gaze with her
almost-black eyes upon the younger survivor of The Program. "But ask yourself this, Mizuho: What will happen to Margaret when she and
Douglas attempt to leave this dimension together and enter those realms
influenced by the beings you immediately believed planned to threaten Douglas'
life before you brought him to Welland?"
Mizuho
blinked, and then she shuddered as her respect and near-reverence for the
grandmaster of Saiko Jinseijutsu-ryu clashed HARD with her own personal sense
of romance, a typical affliction for fifteen year-old Japanese high school
freshmen despite her being psi-bonded to Niimi Rena for the last five
months. Atop that, her own powerful
sense of right and wrong was mixing together with her personal beliefs to urge
her to give in to her desire to use the Staff of Gihan to reach out through the
Multiverse and locate one Maggie Sangnoir to bring her to this dimension and
reunite her with her beloved husband.
After all, to a devoted Zoroastrian, the supreme deity was the Creator
Himself, Ahura Mazda. The only other
being of near-equal rank to the "Master" – as Mizuho always addressed
Him as – was Ahura Mazda's arch-rival, A?ra Mainiuu, the living Spirit of
Entropy and all that was not good with Creation.
And
to Mizuho's mind, the idea of a devoted couple being SEPARATED by these
"fates" for nearly FIFTEEN CENTURIES – in the husband's viewpoint –
was WRONG!
It
could NOT be tolerated!
Yet
. . .
Yet
. . .
Yet
. . .
"He
misses her so much, Negako-sama . . .!" Mizuho moaned.
A
nod. "That he should given his
devotion to his own personal beliefs.
But even if deities and other such entities had strict controls over
their actions in OUR part of the Multiverse, that is not so true
elsewhere," Negako warned.
"There are beings out there who desire Douglas to continue to
travel from dimension to dimension and timeline to timeline on his 'quest' to
his home dimension. In their eyes, his
interaction with people such as the Knight Sabres, the Nornir living in Nekomi,
the Evangelion pilots and others, Douglas has contributed most positively to
the lives of those he has interacted with.
They desire him to continue such a process within reason." A sigh.
"And yes, there are those entities such as those you sensed three
hours ago that would desire Douglas' permanent demise to prevent him from
performing more such deeds."
"In
other words, if you bring Mrs. Sangnoir here, you present TWO targets to those
dark kami you sensed earlier this evening, Mizuho-chan," Sakura added.
Mizuho
blinked. "What should I do . .
.?"
"Ask
him."
She
perked, and then turned to gaze on Rena.
"Beloved . . . "
"Tell
him what forced you to bring him here, Mizuho-vayae," Rena stated. "And ASK him if he thinks it's okay to
bring his wife here. Once he says 'yes,'
do it."
Mizuho
blinked, and then she nodded before grasping the Staff.
In
a flash of energy, she vanished from Japan.
Watching her go, Sakura moaned, and then she gazed in annoyance at
Negako. "Is THIS helping her
control that thing?!"
"She
will learn from Douglas, Sakura. Never
fear," the ninjutsu grandmaster noted.
The
Shinto shrine miko moaned . . .
* *
*
Canadian lighthouse to U.S. Warship approaching it: "This is a lighthouse. Your call!"