This is my first attempt at writing fan fiction based on the El Hazard series. Note that it is based on the continuity of the two OAV series and the second television series "The Alternative World". It certainly contains spoilers for the first OAV series, and a few for the second OAV series. At this point, six chapters are planned. Though I call them "chapters" they are more or less independent stories (which is what I said about my Sailor Moon stories, so you're free to believe as much of that as you like). El Hazard and characters therein were created by Hiroki Hayashi and Ryoe Tsukimura, and brought to North America by Pioneer LDC. All the normal fanfic disclaimers apply. I'll give this one a PG rating. Ken Wolfe Ken_Wolfe@mbnet.mb.ca El Hazard - Earth Chapter 6 - Forever "Are you cold?" Ifurita asked. Makoto came up closer behind her and enveloped her with his arms. "Just a little. But that's good. It should be a little cold here. Wouldn't be right if it weren't." Ifurita turned her head enough for him to see her impish smile. "Don't distract me too much, love." It was a joke of course. But if he did seriously distract her their invisible shield might drop and it would get a whole lot colder. Anyway, her smile was something he had seen too little of lately. He only wished he could see her better. The pre-dawn glow in front of them was just starting to drown out the starlight. "Not long now." "Four minutes." The refracted light with which the sun announced its imminent emergence was starting to bring out some highlights of the stark terrain spread out below them. Ifurita had chosen their vantage point well, it was going to be spectacular. "Do you know how old I was when I first dreamt of watching the sunrise from here? I couldn't have been more than ten." "We could have come any time," Ifurita said. "Well, it's not like we haven't been occupied. It never really entered my mind until recently." She lifted her hands up and rested them on his. "This won't be the last time, you know." Ah. So that's what was bothering her. He leaned his head lightly against hers. "I know, Ifurita," he said gently. "I know. We're just crossing another threshold, that's all. The next time we're here, it will be... different." She squeezed his hands. "The important things will be the same." "So they will." They stood in silence now, a silence they both knew would last until the sun had cleared the horizon. A little gleam of light caught his eye and he looked down. The ring on Ifurita's finger had caught the light of the emerging dawn. The ring he had given her on their silver anniversary five years ago. A simple band of silver with a tiny twist where a stone would normally have been. It had reminded him of a Moebius strip, that was why he had bought it for her. The Moebius strip defied intuitive topology, a twist of space which turned two sides into one. Just like the twist of time and space which had brought them together and tied two hearts into one. On that milestone, as on this one, he had wanted to do something special. So they had climbed Everest. Well, not exactly... all but the last hundred yards had been scaled with the help of wormholes and levitation. They were on the eve of another milestone today. As they waited for the sun to appear, Makoto's thoughts drifted back to the many others they had shared over the past few years. Remembrances flashed across his mind's eye like snapshots from a long story all strung together... -------------------------------------------------------------- Shayla set her glass down just hard enough to cause some of the whiskey sour to slosh out. "What? You mean once they've left that's it?" "We told you that a long time ago," Afura said, sounding very annoyed. Shayla snorted in derision. "I remember Miz' wedding. The party went on 'til dawn. We're supposed to be cheering them on, right?" "Well, we've prepared the guest rooms at our place," Makoto said. "When the ceremony is done we can go back there and have an all-night party if you like." "Now that's more like it! Your weddings over here look more like funerals." "Hey, enough of that talk," Nanami said, bopping Shayla on the arm. "It's bad luck." "Wrapping up the reception before sunset has got to be bad luck," Shayla retorted. "Are all weddings on Earth like this?" "Japanese weddings have the distinction of being among the most expensive and also among the shortest." He should know. He had arranged for the transfer of gold from El Hazard, and the financing of the wedding. And this one was a beauty. He looked out across the huge banquet hall. It seemed that Ai and her husband had invited pretty much everybody they knew, mostly friends from college. You know you're getting older when all the college students start looking like kids. "But not many have two honeymoons," Nanami said. "True enough." After they got back from Hawaii, Ifurita would be taking her goddaughter and son-in-law to Rostalia. It wouldn't be the first time. He had known about her true origins for years. Their courtship had started all the way back in middle school. Nobody had been surprised when they announced their intentions. He was likely the major reason she had chosen this world as her true home. Makoto noticed Kauru walking over from the other table of Rostalian guests. Like all of them she was in Earth style formal wear. To most people here they were all just friends of Ai's eccentric godmother, it was best to try and keep it that way. She got Ifurita's attention by leaning over her and putting a hand on her bare shoulder. "Ifurita-sama, I think Fujisawa-san and Miz-san will be going to see Ai before the couple leaves." "Oh... yes. Thank you for reminding me, Kauru." Makoto could see she was going to need some encouragement. He stood up and offered his hand. "Come on, I'll take you over there." After just a moment's hesitation, Ifurita took his hand and stood. "Thank you." As they made their way slowly between the tables, Makoto lightly patted the hand she had on his arm. "Shame on you, Miz would have been very upset if you hadn't come." "I still feel like I'm imposing." "What, after twenty years? I don't believe that, what's really on your mind?" "I guess I have a different perspective. To me Ai is still barely an infant." "Really? You were happy to take me to your bed when I was no older. I'm shocked." She regarded him with narrowed eyes but an indulgent smile. "You know what I mean." He chuckled. "Trust me, Miz feels exactly the same way." The Fujisawas and their new in-laws were already chatting in the anteroom when the two of them arrived. Miz greeted Ifurita with a kiss on the cheek. "Silly girl, I thought you weren't coming. Makoto, you must come say good-bye to Ai and Hiroshi as well." "Of course. But I hope you're not intending to make them late for their flight with all these good-byes." "Don't be smart," Miz scolded. "You know how I feel about airplanes." "It's the safest way to travel," Makoto assured her. It was odd how she thought nothing of traversing the wormholes but cringed at the idea of vehicles held aloft by mere airfoils. Still, Ifurita had agreed to shadow the plane all the way to Honolulu. It was just as well Ai didn't know about that. When the happy couple came to say their farewells, Miz did enough crying for all of them. Later at the house party, Makoto managed to catch Afura alone for a little while. "Did you hear anything about the expedition?" She had just come to Earth for the wedding, he hadn't had a chance to speak with her for a while. "They all made it back safely. There is activity near the border, more than we thought." "Bugrom?" Afura hesitated. "They are Bugrom, yet they are not. It's something new. Elena sounded a bit unsure about some things in her debriefing, but she was clearly worried." Makoto knew Afura's successor well, she was fastidious to a fault and hard to spook. If the new Great Priestess of the Wind was worried about what she saw, so was he. Perhaps Ai's choice of a homeland was wiser than she knew. He felt bad about thinking that way. An arm came around Makoto's neck and put him in a headlock. "Hey, Makoto. Alielle's suggested a game of strip poker. What do you say?" A few years ago if Shayla suggested that it would have been in all seriousness. "Thanks but I think I'll pass." "Boy, I finally catch you when I know the missus won't be here and you wimp out on me. Fine, we'll play for drinks then." Shayla more or less behaved herself, which in recent years had come as a welcome relief to Makoto. She hadn't taken to retirement quite as gracefully as Afura. But she did spend some time helping to whip the next generation of priestesses into shape, which from what Makoto had seen she enjoyed far more than she would admit. Ifurita was there when he woke up the next morning. She still sometimes had this unnerving habit of watching him sleep. "I take it they arrived safe and sound?" "Yes." "So what's bothering you?" "The prospect of becoming a grandmother." He threw a pillow at her... ___****___ The military road along the Holy River had frequent observation posts, all readily visible. Most were little more than huts, many were fortresses of various sizes. This new one looked unimpressive even for a hut. It was meant to. From the spot they had just teleported to, Makoto could easily see the object of everybody's concern, far in the distance on the other side of the immense river. The air was clear and crisp today, so the mountain stood out sharply. He shaded his eyes and squinted. Even with the naked eye he could see signs of the activity there. "Is that scaffolding I'm seeing?" "Yes," Ifurita said. "They have telescopes inside." Both the guard at the door and the officer within saluted Ifurita when they approached and entered. As the Princess' Champion, she held rank and authority within the legions. The officer took them to the only other room in the building, a bare observation room whose only openings were shaded air vents above and a wide slit where three or four people could sit down and comfortably watch the mountain across the river in Bugrom territory. Makoto took a seat on one of the wooden chairs, picked up a spyglass and put it to his eye. It was already focused at the right distance, not surprisingly. He took several minutes to scan across the vast face of the mountain. The scale of the operation was astonishing. There must have been scores of thousands of laborers picking at the rock face, thousands more hauling rock up and down the crude ramps that angled between the maze of scaffolds. "Does that go on all the time?" he asked. "Day and night," the officer answered. "They light torches when it gets dark." "It's hard to get an idea of scale... are these Bugrom really no bigger than us?" "No bigger. But those packs they carry are full of rocks. Each one of the bugs carries along at least their own weight all day long, but we almost never see one fall or even slow down." Makoto put down the spyglass and looked up at the officer. "Have you ever seen them up close?" "No, only the priestesses have. We hear the stories, just like everyone else." Makoto certainly had heard the stories. They looked just like a different race of human, until you saw one casually leap ten yards. Or until you heard their voices, earsplitting screeches that were at the uttermost limit of human hearing. Or until you got close enough to see their eyes. "So they're just cutting away at the surface." "As far as we can see. There's no sign of deep tunneling. Still, we've had sappers at work on this side of the river for months. Just in case." Fujisawa had told Makoto about his part in that work. This place was one of the entrances to the tunnel network. "Any guesses what they're doing?" "We thought they needed the rock for construction, until we saw them just piling it up all over the place." "The Bugrom do not use rock for construction," Ifurita said. "Temporary structures are of secreted resin, more permanent structures are of a ceramic compound they grow in factories." "But it would be madness to make a base in full sight of us like this," Makoto said. "They know if we think it's a threat either you or your sister will go pulverize it." "I don't believe what they are constructing is a threat." Ifurita sat down in the chair beside his and pointed out through the observation slit. "With your naked eye, look more closely at where they are cutting. Try to imagine it after they have hollowed out those places more extensively. Look at the symmetry of it." Ifurita had said she had an idea, but had not elaborated on it. He folded his hands on the table before him and gazed silently at the mountain. He imagined it as Ifurita had asked. After a minute or so, he suddenly gasped and then slapped his forehead. "I don't believe it! Not even him!" Ifurita smiled. "It will be only one head. But it will be wider than the four heads carved into Mount Rushmore." "Mount what?" the officer asked. When his fit of laughing was done, Makoto explained the extravagant display of hubris and arrogance they were witnessing. The man leaned down to the window and gazed out at the mountain as if for the first time. He shook his head in wonder. "Well I'll be damned. I'd heard that fellow was right full of himself but this is just crazy. Nobody's seen him in years, we all thought he might be dead." "Well in a few years' time you'll be able to see his smiling face just by looking out the window." The officer stood up straight again, scratching his close-cropped skull in a manner that almost suggested embarrassment. "It sure makes us look like fools, spying on them like this." "Not necessarily," Ifurita said. "This could simply be a case of hiding in plain sight." Makoto frowned. Ifurita had used that phrase before to describe what was happening here. "Hiding what?" "An army of nearly a hundred thousand superhuman soldiers poised right on our border." The Alliance council soon decided to move more of the troops from the city garrisons to the border fortresses. Which as it turned out was exactly what the Bugrom wanted them to do... ___****___ "Forget it!" Nanami snapped, pulling her arm from Makoto's grip. "It took me years to build this place, I'm not going to be scared out of it! And don't you dare tell me that you'll just buy me a new one!" He had expected reluctance, but not such anger. He had been raising his voice without realizing, it was natural for her to take offense. "I... I'm sorry," he stammered. "Makoto, I think you're overreacting," Ifurita said gently. "The troops are maintaining order. It is unlikely there will be any trouble." But for the pool of light around the counter the restaurant was in darkness. The other workers had cleaned up quickly and rushed home to beat the curfew. It was just the four of them now. Despite everything, business continued to be brisk. Most people were just trying to carry on, trying to believe that it would all turn out. "I hear them coming," Nanami's husband said with an odd mix of relief and trepidation. "Yes," Ifurita confirmed. "An armored unit." They all moved silently towards the front of the room, hanging back just a bit from the window. Makoto and Nanami each clung instinctively to their alien mates. This was upsetting them even more than the much larger conflict taking place so far away. The clanking, rumbling noise was growing rapidly now, rattling the windows. One after another, the armored personnel carriers filed past them. Each had one soldier with a machine gun at the ready and another standing in an open portal, watching for rioters or looters or worse threats. Except for just before curfew the vehicles generally stayed where they were and the soldiers patrolled the vast city on foot. "I can't help thinking I had a part in this," Makoto said. "I brought across the technology that made this possible." "No, I believe it was just the opposite," Ifurita said. "From what we've seen, the rebels were able to get as far as they did with ingenious use of more conventional weapons. You may very well have given the police the very tools they needed to avert a disaster." The splinter group from the militarists had come within inches of plunging Japan into civil war. The shaky coalition that had emerged in the aftermath of the government's collapse finally had at least the provisional loyalty of most JSDF and police units. A shooting war was looking less and less likely. After weeks of hovering like a sword of Damocles, the American fleet off the coast might be standing down soon. "This country has been at peace so long," Nanami's husband said. "Things will be different now. We might find ourselves less welcome." "They can't blame foreigners this time," Nanami said bitterly. "We brought this on ourselves." Her husband smiled sadly at her. "That will only make the urge to blame outsiders all the stronger." He would know. Long after the Phantom Tribe had ceased to be a threat, tribesmen who were captured or who surrendered themselves to the Rostalians faced a lifetime behind bars. Only the few like Shelvin who found powerful citizens to vouch for them were granted freedom and some level of acceptance. Of course that had ended abruptly with the coming of the Second Bugrom War. As he said, it mattered little that the Phantom Tribe played no part in the new threat. The nature of the Bugrom's attack had pushed the wrong buttons, had stirred up bad memories. "Nothing shatters a people's confidence like suddenly finding out that people they had seen every day, people they had trusted, have been plotting their downfall," Shelvin continued. "Their world collapses and they begin to see enemies everywhere. My people exploited that for centuries." "Stop it," Nanami said miserably, holding him closer. "I don't want to talk about it." He kissed the top of her head and held his peace. Makoto smiled. It wasn't the first time he felt grateful for the man who had won his friend's heart. Over time he had won over all her friends as well, with his kindness and a gentle wisdom beyond his years. He had plenty of reason to feel bitter about what had happened to him and his people. But Makoto had never seen him express anything beyond sadness and regret. "NHK just came back on the air," Ifurita said. She had been monitoring the airwaves with her sensors for weeks now, scanning both public and private bands for any news that might impact the safety of her loved ones. "That's good news," Makoto said. Smashing the communications infrastructure had been one of the rebels' most effective tactics. The ominous silence had been more terrifying to the people of Tokyo than the bombings or the gas. Now all that remained was to repair the bridges. That, and the people's confidence. They all sat down and watched the news for the first time in a long while. Things would never go back to the way they were before. But they never did... ___****___ "Elena's hurt!" Makoto heard Kauru wail. He had problems of his own. Two more Neo-Bugrom shot up from behind the rubble blocking the tunnel entrance, just two heads seen for a split second, two arms little more than blurs. He almost moved fast enough. One bullet glanced off his helmet, the other bounced off the cat-armor just an inch below his neck. Stunned and half-blinded with tears of pain, Makoto squeezed off two wild shots and ducked back around the corner. He had no delusions of hitting anything, but he had to discourage them from jumping into the cave, make them believe they would be shot down like their brethren who littered the rock floor. He and Nanami had the easy part, they had cover and their opponents could only come at them from one direction. From behind him he heard the staccato thunderbolts of Ifurita's staff and the whoosh and roar of the inferno the Fire Priestess was conjuring. He didn't have to look to know the Neo-Bugrom were still swarming in through every hole they could find. The mind-numbing screeching of their death agonies filled the cave. What with the latent heat from his fellows' weapons and the stench of burning bodies, the air was barely breathable. Kauru's scream of rage and despair carried over even the horrible din of battle. As if smelling blood, another horde of Neo-Bugrom leaped over their cover and surged down the tunnel towards their human enemies. With the low ceilings they couldn't make the spectacular grasshopper-jumps they were so fond of. But that only slowed them down a little. Makoto and Nanami sidestepped into the tunnel mouth and rapid-fired their rifles. There was no need to even aim, they were shooting into an advancing wall of Bugrom flesh. Every shot sent another body splashing to the floor. It would not be enough. They would not even have time to empty the magazines in their guns. There was a crack like thunder as a thousand thin streams of water streaked between Makoto and Nanami at supersonic speed. The mass of flesh they passed through did not even slow them down. Suddenly there was no more shooting. It took a moment for that to register. Makoto took his eyes off the charnel house in the tunnel just long enough to snap his head around and back again. The scene barely had time to imprint itself on his mind. Elena lying bleeding. Kauru slumped on the floor beside her, still dazed from the violent display of power she had just unleashed. Ifurita and Kiku standing side by side, trying to look everywhere at once, ready to unleash thunderbolts and fire again. "They've sounded a retreat," Ifurita said. "They're gone." It seemed that was all the prompting Nanami needed. She flipped off her helmet and let it clatter to the ground. She backed into the wall and slid down it to the floor. Makoto staggered over to her. "Are you okay?" She answered between ragged breaths that made her whole body shudder. "Dammit... getting too... old for this." Her eyes were vacant and hollow. But it looked like she would be okay. Makoto turned back to the dim, hazy interior of the cave. The hot, fetid air was nearly choking him. He blinked tears out of his eyes. Ifurita was already crouching beside Elena. She worked with the perfect machine precision that showed she had given herself over to the Voices. Within seconds of opening up the little medkit, she had adhesive dressings on the worst of Elena's cuts. The products of ancient technology would already be at work, knitting a web of tiny fabrics that would bind the flesh together again. In just a matter of seconds Ifurita fitted a tiny ampoule into an injector, jabbed it into Elena's neck, then switched it for another ampoule and did the same. "How is she?" Makoto asked. Ifurita was already closing up the medkit again. "She will live. But her skull was nearly fractured. I gave her something that should reduce swelling of the brain. Only time will tell." The young blonde priestess really looked like a mess. But she was lucky, most people who went hand-to-hand with a Neo-Bugrom ended up in pieces. "Don't," Ifurita warned, as Kauru reached out to Elena, looking like she intended to lift her fellow priestess' head into her lap. "She shouldn't be moved. I'll teleport her when the time comes." "You were right about one thing," the tall, chestnut-haired priestess of fire called from where she stood. "Whatever they found here, they sure wanted to hang onto it badly." Despite Ifurita's previous assurance, Kiku was still watching the cave entrances that dotted the rough wall both along the floor and along the stone ramp above, her Lamps ablaze with barely contained fire. "We killed only half their number," Ifurita replied. "They must have at least taken some part of what they wanted from here, else they would have fought to the death." "Should we go after them?" Kiku asked. "No. They will have left the caves and scattered by now. We would never find them in the forest. We will redirect patrols when we return, but in all likelihood we have lost them." "I'd like to go see what it is they wanted so badly," Makoto said. Ifurita nodded. "I'll go with you. Kiku, I doubt very much the Bugrom will return in force but they might have left snipers behind in case we get sloppy." "We'll watch things up here," the priestess said. "Nanami, you still in good shape?" She got a nod from the Earthling. "Okay, keep watching that back door. Shoot it if it breathes." "I'll also stay-" Kauru was almost to her feet when she careened wildly to one side. Ifurita barely caught her. The Demon God gently eased the wobbly priestess of water back to the cave floor. "You gave too much of yourself this time, my friend," she said softly. Kauru had been stubbornly hanging onto her post beyond her years. It was beginning to show. "Sit and watch over Elena. If she awakens, don't let her move." Kauru just nodded. She looked like she would have trouble going anywhere even if she tried. Makoto followed Ifurita to the hole in the middle of the cave floor, stepping over bodies as he went. He knew Ifurita would be able to tell if any were alive, but he couldn't help watching them warily. These were what he had termed the Mark Twos. They couldn't pass for human close up like the Mark Threes who had infiltrated and overrun the frontier cities. But they were a whole lot meaner. Ifurita had certainly surprised them by teleporting her little strike team inside their perimeter. Launching their counter strike had taken the Neo-Bugrom all of five seconds. The Bugrom had set up a rope ladder leading down the freshly excavated shaft. Ifurita made her intention clear by strapping her staff to the back of her new improved uniform. They held on to each other and the Demon God lifted them over the shaft. They drifted down slowly, their way barely lit by tiny glow-lamps that had been working for thousands of years. Only Elena had gone down there... just for the few seconds she needed to clear out whatever guards had been down there. Of course she was now in no condition to tell them what she had found. The little hallway they dropped into was somewhat more brightly lit than the shaft had been. It was easier to see that they had left the natural rock formations behind. They were now in one of the ancient buildings that were fitted together with huge blocks of what Makoto had come to think of as synthetic marble. The two broken Neo-Bugrom bodies and the spider web patterns of cracks on the wall beside them told what had happened here. A massive double door of some dull gray metal lay open. The two of them walked through. It was a large room, well lit by the extra glow-lamps brought in by the Bugrom. Everything said this had been a laboratory. It looked remarkably intact. Some of the machinery Makoto recognized. There were even some computer consoles that looked to be operational, as if the Bugrom had been interrupted in the act of examining their find. There was a lot of machinery he couldn't identify at first glance. But the thing that really caught his eye was the row of six huge transparent cylinders that stood like columns between organic looking machinery embedded in the floor and ceiling. Five of them held the still bodies of young girls floating in a yellow fluid. One had been smashed open, and held naught but a little pool of yellow liquid at the bottom. The realization came to Makoto just as Ifurita gasped and took a step back. The girls were pale with wavy, silver hair. All identical... ___****___ "I can't believe it's been a year." "I know," Ifurita said, adjusting his tie for him. "Ai was saying the same thing." "How did she sound?" "Okay. I suppose she's been too busy to think about it much." "Ah, the terrible twos." Ifurita smiled. "Yes, she does have her hands full." Makoto checked his watch. "I guess it's about that time. Are you ready?" Of course she was. When she said it would take her seventeen minutes to get dressed, she meant it. They moved out into the hallway. "Yuki-chan," Ifurita called as she passed the girl's room. "Time to go." "Okay, Onesama." Yuki emerged from her room carrying the flower Makoto had brought for her. When it came time to dress formally Yuki took her lead from her big sister. Seeing them both like this, it was even more uncanny. In another six or seven years Ifurita would have another identical twin. Yuki took her big sister's arm and they headed for the car. "Onesama, can I drive today?" "Certainly not," Ifurita said mildly. Yuki pouted. "I've flown Makoto-onichan's skiff back in Rostalia. I bet I could drive a car." "I'm sure you could. But ability does not give you the right to break the law. Laws are much more rigid here. It is the price they must pay for being relatively free from the whims of aristocrats." "You mean I can fly boats in Rostalia 'cause we're aristocrats?" Ifurita smiled. "Something like that." She and Yuki got into the car while Makoto thumbed the switch to open the garage. It would take longer by car, but there were some places it just didn't seem proper to teleport to. On the way there Makoto was more or less silent while Ifurita and Yuki discussed some research project Ifurita had the young girl working on. The girl did not spend enough time on Earth to make it worthwhile enrolling her in a school, but Ifurita was more than capable of tutoring her. Makoto knew that his wife liked it better this way. It was more than Yuki filling a gap that had been left when Ai grew up and went on her own. He had to admit they had woken one of the five clones for dubious reasons... they had to find out what the Neo-Bugrom had stolen, had to find out what they might be up against. What awoke was a frightened young girl who told of harsh masters that had stored her away as future Demon God material. She had most of Ifurita's genetic enhancements, but none of her symbiotic implants. As far as they could tell, without those symbiants she would grow up and age normally. Yuki was bright and energetic, and despite all their best efforts to spoil her rotten she was developing an agreeable disposition. Her sisters now slept under the guard of a heavily armed garrison. Their fate was still a matter of much discussion. Makoto found a place to park near the gate. "I see Hiroshi-san's car," Yuki said. He maneuvered the car in place and killed the engine. "I hope they haven't been waiting long." "Basis the car's infrared signature, no more than five minutes," Ifurita said. They walked onto the well-treed grounds. Makoto thought of how autumn was a perfect time for such an anniversary. The stiff breeze sent the falling leaves rustling along the ground or fluttering through the air like flocks of birds. The riot of color made a lovely, melancholy backdrop for today's gathering. The others were waiting just far enough from a stand of tall trees not to get inundated by falling leaves. Makoto was not surprised to see Alielle and Ikuko there as well. Alielle was holding little Kenji and the two of them were doing their best to keep the infant content enough to settle down, no small feat. Being Ai and Hiroshi's primary baby-sitters, they had plenty of experience by now. Everyone said their greetings. Ai approached Ifurita and they joined in a brief embrace. "Thank you for coming, Mama." "Not at all. I see you can still wear that dress." Ai smiled. "Not for long, I think." Though it wasn't showing yet, she and Hiroshi had another on the way. It wasn't long before Nanami and Shelvin arrived. By now Makoto had almost forgotten what he looked like without his glamour. By law he could not use it in Rostalia, but he had not been back there in years. Makoto had never asked, but he wondered whether Shelvin's human guise aged naturally with him or whether it was something he did deliberately. "Afura and Shayla were in Rostalia last week," Nanami said after greeting Ai. "They send their love and their regrets." "I understand," Ai replied. The two former priestesses were busy trying to train more of the new priestesses in the use of the Lamps, something that was desperately needed in the war effort. The way the Neo-Bugrom were dug in amongst their captive humans, weapons of mass destruction were out of the question. Warriors who could take on the Bugrom one-on-one were the only answer. "Did you see Rune when you were there?" Alielle asked. "Of course. Her son is growing like a weed." Alielle just nodded, the real question having been asked and answered. Makoto and Ifurita were probably the only ones who picked up on that... and Ikuko too, of course. It had been inevitable that Alielle would let something slip one day. When Fatora had found out about Ikuko, Alielle had barely escaped with her life. Years later, it seemed that Fatora was still unwilling to lift the in abstention death sentence she had passed on her unfaithful concubine. Of course everybody hoped, but Makoto for one had no delusions about that ever changing. Nanami lifted the flower she was holding, showed it to Ai. "This is actually from Rune, I've been keeping it in water. She sends her love and hopes you'll come visit again soon." Ai led everyone to the place. Makoto wondered what sort of resting place Rune would have made for them had they not designated Ai's chosen homeland as the place they wanted. Probably something very grand and elaborate. After all, they had died saving her son from the Neo-Bugrom. Here there was but a single modest gray marble tablet lost among the countless rows of virtually identical ones. Ai crouched down before it and laid down the flowers and incense she had brought. While the others watched in silence, she brought her hands together in prayer. When it was Makoto's turn to pay his respects, he showed the item he had brought to Ai. "If it would be okay..." She smiled. "Of course. It's very thoughtful." Makoto crouched down, opened up the bottle of sake and poured a liberal amount of its contents over the headstone. There was so much he had to thank them for, not just for himself but for his friends and family... and for the very worlds he called home. He wasn't sure what he believed, and he really didn't have a way with words. In the end, the prayer he chose to send them was a simple one. *Well done, Sensei. Well done, Miz. Well done...* ___****___ "Looks like our Lady called it right," the First Officer said. Makoto leaned out over the railing of the navy cutter and looked down at the city they were approaching. It didn't look as bad as he thought it should. But he could see the signs of what had been happening here. Trails of dark smoke angled up from many places within the city, converging into a brown haze being swept out across the plain. Lead elements of the cavalry were poring in through the gates that had been secured and opened by the airborne troops. Squadrons of cutters patrolled the clear blue skies. Throughout the day the Bugrom had sent whole squadrons of their own flyers to try and relieve their fellows in the city, but they had all been intercepted. It was far more than they had ever tried to do for the other cities Ifurita's legion had overrun. Yet another sign that her hunch had been right. He was there. An officer came trotting up the deck and in one leap took the little stairway that led up to the open bridge at the cutter's prow. He saluted the Captain. "Sir, lookouts spied a message from the ground. Commander Rilikan sends his regards and requests we drop our boats in front of the Great Hall. Advises area is well secured, sir." The Captain nodded. "Very good." He leaned out over the railing and examined the area around the great dome that dominated the center of the city. "Number one, bring us down to the east. We'll double back into the wind, make our drop and stay in place." The First Officer barked out orders. The ship began its descent, and men swarmed to the gun emplacements. Despite the Commander's assurance, the Captain was treating this as a drop into a hot zone. Probably a good idea. It had been a stiff fight. The assault had been launched at dawn, as it always was, but all the major objectives had not been secured until midday. There were just isolated pockets of resistance now. The Commander was probably just getting the last of his reserves onto the ground while there was still enough daylight to do it safely. The Captain turned to the company commander. "Lieutenant, you can tell your men we'll be dropping them in ten minutes." "Right, sir." The legionary turned to Makoto. "I expect this means you too, sir." Makoto smiled. "Yes, I expect it does." Ifurita's second-in-command knew Makoto was on this ship... he would have made *damned* sure the area really was secure before requesting them to make their drop. Makoto took one more look out over the city before following the Lieutenant down the ladder into the cramped interior of the ship. Their descent was a slow, careful one. Loaded down with its boats, the normally agile cutter was slow and clumsy. Which was why the modified ships of Ifurita's airborne legion always had to approach a target under cover of darkness, otherwise they would be sitting ducks. The Bugrom had been catching on to this... despite their constant improvement of the new tactics, each drop had become harder than the last. Only a cadre of Ifurita's original legionaries remained, the rest were recruits who had signed on along the way. Makoto and the Lieutenant settled into one of the armored boats. They were greeted with rough cheers from the riflemen. Most of these were veterans of past drops... you could spot them easily by the number of severed Bugrom antennae they had bolted to their helmets. The sergeant had a virtual crown of little bobbing antennae tips. The big barrel-chested sergeant graced Makoto with a gap-toothed grin. "Lord Makoto, I hear our Lady captured the Big Guy!" "I guess we're about to find out." The message had not come directly from Ifurita... that could mean a number of things, one of which being she was busy with matters more pressing than calling in the last of her airborne reserves. "Don't worry," the sergeant said cheerfully as he made sure Makoto was strapped in. "Our Lady fights by the book, but she can smell trouble better'n anyone I've seen. She's got it all under control. Besides, soon as she brings your ship down you know it's already over. Probably got the Big Guy's head up on a pike by now." Makoto smiled. Like all the veterans these men practically worshipped the ground Ifurita walked upon. Most of them were from one or another of the occupied cities, which was exactly what Ifurita had asked for when she was forming the new legion. They were mostly frontier irregulars who didn't fit well with the Rostalian military hierarchy but who were itching for payback. Ifurita had given it to them in spades. The bell rang three times. Everyone knew what that meant. They braced themselves. With a resounding clank the bolts were thrown. The boats did not need to fall even one foot, but even so Makoto felt the impact all the way up his spine. Even the enormous leaf sprints that held the great wheels in place could only do so much to cushion the fall. Immediately, the little engines whined and the boats lumbered into motion. They weren't really going anywhere, the drivers were just getting the boats into a defensive formation. Like the Captain they were doing it by the book. As soon as the drivers and gunners gave the okay, they opened the hatches and the rest of them filed out. News of Makoto's arrival spread like wildfire. All along the walk across the plaza, up the steps and into the great stone edifice, soldiers on the ground, in the windows and on the rooftops all cheered. Most of them waved freshly harvested antennae. Makoto's arrival heralded another victory. He was also well known among the soldiers as the designer of the little amphibious drop-ships that had proved so effective. The legionaries always treated him well. Makoto saw the usual signs of how dearly the victory had been bought. A hastily assembled field hospital nearby was a source of horrific screams as surgeons hastily amputated mangled limbs. Further away, a group of soldiers were struggling to subdue and manacle men who screamed and thrashed and foamed at the mouth. Drugged human shock troops. They had never been very effective, the Bugrom had probably intended them to be a terror weapon. Far from breaking morale, the ones who survived had become the legion's most enthusiastic recruits. She awaited him under the great dome of the central assembly hall. The marble floor was littered with the grisly remains of the vicious fighting that had won them this prize. And she had been in the thick of it. Her staff had left great blackened holes all over the place. But she was smiling, and all the riflemen in the command company - the surviving ones - were waving their weapons and bellowing war cries. Even the ones who hadn't seen it before knew what was coming... as every legionary knew this was how they had sealed every victory since the legion's first chaotic combat drop. The Demon God crushed her consort into a fierce, deep, long kiss. The crowd went wild. Makoto saw the twinkle in her eye he had come to know well. It was the aftermath of her rekindled warrior's instincts being sated, not unlike the afterglow of spent passion. But something was different this time, there was a hint of reserve, of seriousness in her manner. She held him as much in support as in celebration. Over the din of the raucous hooting and hollering, he barely heard her words. "Makoto, there is something that you need to see." She took him down a dark stairway into the catacombs below the great hall. The soldiers there greeted them with far more reserve than the ones above had. They gave him a look he could describe as sympathy... as if for one who was about to see what they had seen. Makoto emerged into the room and gasped. "My God..." The low ceiling of the vast space below the hall was supported by a honeycomb of traverse arches. It seemed to go on forever. The rows and rows of graceful curved support columns all had glow-lamps hanging from them. They dimly lit the thousands upon thousands of eggs that covered the floor. "None of them are near hatching," Ifurita assured him. "The flame-thrower units will be here soon. By morning this will all be ashes. This is not what I brought you here to see." She led him across the room, weaving between the great upright semitransparent eggs. They were embedded in the layer of hard, smooth resin that covered most of the floor. He first saw it as a great shadow ahead. As they approached he saw that the bloated thing was slowly heaving and pulsating. He also became aware of some rasping noise that waxed and waned. They approached one end of it. The group of riflemen there looked even more spooked than the others. "Any change?" Ifurita asked the officer. "Hasn't let up for a second," the officer said gravely. "Merciless Hell, how long do you think he's been like that?" Ifurita put a hand on his shoulder. "Best not to think about it, Lieutenant." "Not much chance of that ma'am." She gave him an affectionate pat and they continued on their way. They approached the end of the great helpless thing... the front end, Makoto could see. It had a head of sorts, one that looked disturbingly like a human head that had been bloated and grafted onto this thing. It hissed at their approach. "Is this... Queen Diva?" Makoto asked. "It was," Ifurita answered. They came closer and he could see more details now. It really did look more like a distended human head now, vaguely female. There were even a few strands of coarse hair sticking from it like a forest of curled antennae. She hissed louder, and suddenly she was hissing words. "The Mizuhara! We had the Chosen of God among us and yet we could not defeat the Mizuhara. The Jinnai is perfect, so the fault must be with us. The fault was that we had not fully partaken of the Jinnai's greatness. So we ate of his anointed brain and knew all that knows. His divine wisdom showed us the true path. We must make a new race of children to defeat the Mizuhara. So we took him as mate and now he gives of his seed every day. But our new children are not worthy. The fault is with us, we have failed the Jinnai. The Mizuhara has won, and now the Universe will be a Hell forever..." Makoto had not really heard any of this, at least not until much later when Ifurita recited it back to him. He was down on the ground vomiting. Not from the sight of the Queen Bugrom, but rather from what she held in her embrace. Forever held lovingly in her mandibles, the upper half of her mate's shriveled body protruded from the gray mass of her own abdomen. Old scar tissue covered the holes in his skull. There was no mind left in his distended eyes. All that was left was the laughter. The laughter that had long since settled into a rasping wheeze that waxed and waned with each shuddering breath. As Ifurita had promised, by morning it was all ashes... ___****___ "Would you like to go to our homeroom first?" Ifurita asked. "No, we would hardly recognize it anyway. And with all the expensive computer equipment they've got in there these days, they probably have motion sensors." "We could always do your... what did you call it, your bungee cord maneuver. But I suppose you're right, the classrooms are not anything like they were in our day." Makoto smiled. Ifurita did her best to play the part of the wizened old obasan. But only her eyes were old, as they had been since long before he had met her. Their Earthling friends - the ones who didn't know - were not saying anything. But it would come out as a look or as a nervous laugh or as a whisper just within earshot. *What is she?* "Are we ready?" Ifurita asked. "When you are." Ifurita gated her staff into one hand and offered the other to Makoto. He took it, and a moment later they were elsewhere. In total darkness. "Love, are you sure you haven't taken us into a subway tunnel by mistake?" The two globes embedded in Ifurita's staff flared like oversized light bulbs, revealing her rueful smile. "If you don't trust me to drive, you should do it yourself." "No thanks, it gives me a headache." Which was true, he had been doing less of the interdimensional hopping in recent years. "Anyway, it looks like you were right on target." Their arms went around each other's waist without conscious thought. For a while they just contemplated the room in silence. Nothing had changed, except for a very fine layer of dust that dulled the colors of the floor tiles. Ifurita's hibernation chamber still stood open as it had since the day he found her here. "It's somehow smaller than I remember it," Makoto said. "This place looms large in both our memories." "It sure does. I was right about here too, when you popped out." "Yes, you were. But it was different." Ifurita stepped away, knelt down and put her hand to the floor. The brighter tiles on the floor, walls and ceiling began to glow. "It's still active?" Makoto said, surprised. "Enough for the lights. But even just this will drain it dry by morning." Morning. When they would start tearing down the school above. Makoto had not even known about it until some reporter left him voice mail asking him what he thought about it. So there were still people who remembered the old legend of the people who came back from the mythical world of El Hazard. But the anthropologists were having none of that nonsense... now that it would not interfere with the smooth functioning of this little piece of the vast Japanese educational system, the diggers were chomping at the bit to once again get their hands on this important cultural artifact. Ifurita assured him they would not find much. Without the code sequences the power systems would stay dead. All that left was some pipes and valves that directed the hibernation gases. No doubt they would postulate some elaborate vivisection and burial ceremony that would put the Egyptians to shame. Which was why they were there, while they could still take one last look in private. At least that was what Makoto had said. But in fact this was the place he had chosen to tell Ifurita about certain decisions he had made. Makoto wanted to go have a closer look at the chamber that had held and protected his love for a hundred centuries. But as soon as he took a step, Ifurita turned to face him and reached out to put a hand lightly on his chest. "Stay there, okay?" "Why, do you want to take a picture?" "In a manner of speaking." She backed up a couple of steps, turned around and walked over to the open capsule. She stepped up onto the little raised platform under the fat onion dome and turned to face him again. The effect was magical. She had her staff instead of her uniform this time, but in every other respect it was the same as that day. She was even wearing her hair the same way. That moment could have been yesterday, but it felt like an eternity lay between then and now. From the perspective of mortal man it had been the better part of an eternity, the better part of a life. Ifurita just stood and smiled fondly at him. Some time after they had reunited she had given him her view of that moment, through the link they shared. A bewildered young boy whose arrival she had awaited for ten thousand years. It was quite a different figure she looked upon now. All his lady friends told him he still had the same adorable baby face, bless their lying hearts. Ifurita stepped down from the platform and walked over to him. "In all these years, you never before asked me to accompany you here. I know you never came alone, you would not do that. Very soon we will no longer be able to come here in private. But I can't help feeling that there was some other reason." There was no point delaying it any longer. He took her hand. "I'm dying, Ifurita. I have two or three years at best..." ------------------------------------------------------- Makoto's mind stopped wandering through the past, the march of recollected moments came to an end. The unfolding sunrise before him brought him back to the present, overwhelmed him with its beauty. "Who would have thought a desert could be so lovely." Ifurita said nothing, standing utterly still in his arms as she had been since the sun peeked over the horizon. It now painted the landscape in more shades of orange than he thought could possibly exist. He gave her a squeeze. "Hey, you're not having second thoughts, are you?" She did not look at him. "If you are sure it is what you want, then I have no doubts. But... I want to make sure you know, you don't have to do this thing. There are other ways that are... less irrevocable." "I know. Believe me, the prospect frightens me. Even more than the thought of impending death, it frightens me. But whenever I begin to doubt, I just think of two things." After a moment, she finally did turn to look questioningly at him. "I think of how much Yuki is like you... or rather how you are like her. Even after all those centuries. And then I think of how much more completely I will come to know you and understand who you are, after this is done." Her smile was barely a hint, gone almost before it was there. "I will help you through it as best I can." "I know." "Still, I must tell you yet again. For you it will seem to be an eternity of hell. Whatever you think now, before it is done you will have begged me to end your life." "It's not the pain that frightens me, Ifurita. It is what comes after, a journey I can't even imagine right now. But as long as you are with me at the end of that journey, I have no doubts." Ifurita turned her head back to the East again. They both knew that the matter was settled. It was a while before she spoke. "Do you want to go soon?" "I'd like to stay a little longer. Unless of course holding this shield in place is making you tired. You're not getting any younger, you know." The smile that came now was more like the one he was looking for. "Baka." From the slopes of Olympus Mons, they stood and watched the sun rise over the red sands of Mars. ___****___ The field trip was over, so Makoto and his young students made their way back to the classroom. Said classroom was little more than a little pavilion standing in the middle of the rolling hills of green that lapped at the lower slopes of the great mountains. They had spent most of the lovely summer day in the surrounding woods, learning about how the Earth and the Machines spun a web of life around them. Makoto put down the little girl he had been carrying, straightened out his tunic and sat down on the tree stump that stood just outside the open pavilion. All the others were already gathered around under the shade of the octagonal roof held up by the impossibly thin columns. It was the last lesson of the day, the most important one. Story time. They settled down and a gaggle of eager faces looked up into his. Makoto smiled. Over the past year they had eagerly devoured many stories from him. Some, especially the older ones, regarded him as more of an elder brother than a sensei. But despite appearances they all knew that he was old enough to have seen things that were now little more than legend, could tell them things that none other could. They did not know it, but today's story would be the last. It was one he had participated in, even if he had only seen very small pieces of it. Even if he had learned not to let it show, it was one that even now he told with feelings of profound sadness. "Children, today I'm going to tell you the story of the Empire of Man." They all cheered and clapped. The grownups never talked much about the old Empire when the little kids were around. All that the young ones had ever managed to find out could be said in the span of a minute. Even Makoto Sensei, who told them many things they had never heard of before, would speak of it only in riddles. But he knew things, they could tell by the twinkle in his eye. And now he was finally going to tell. Makoto left them waiting just the right amount of time before beginning. "A thousand years ago, man swarmed over the Earth in unimaginable numbers. He had marvelous machines with which he remade the land as he saw fit. But they were nothing like the Machines that now envelop the Earth and preserve the Law. They were enormous, big enough to see even with the naked eye. Some were even larger than the men who made them! The biggest ones were larger than any beast that walks the earth or swims the oceans. "Man saw but two things before him back then: the vastness of space and the Unknown Heaven. There was no Law, nor was there the Known Heaven as there is now. Some believed the only Law was that all men must one day go into the Unknown Heaven. Some believed even that Law may not be so. Believing space to be empty they also believed it to be theirs, so they sought to lay claim to it. But between the worlds of space there lay the Void that no man could pass even in the span of his whole life. Man despaired that the Earth and the Unknown Heaven were all he would ever know. In their despair they turned upon each other, nearly destroying their world. "Then Man discovered the Wormholes. The first few who dared travel the Wormholes came back from distant suns and told of wondrous worlds they had stepped upon mere hours before their return! The Void no longer stood between Man and the universe that was his. Some said the Wormholes might even take them to places beyond our Universe if only they would learn how. But none ever learned how. There were more worlds than they could count just in this tiny corner of their own Universe, and Man meant to have them all. He went up above the Earth and made machines like nothing he had made before, great ships that were like worlds unto themselves. The biggest of them held more people than are on all the Earth today. These ships went out to all the stars in the Heavens, finding new worlds that they would make like unto the Earth, make their own. This was the beginning of the Empire of Man. "The Men on those other worlds became as numerous as their brethren back on Earth, and new worlds had to be found all the time. Over the centuries Man produced other wonders. Fewer and fewer men went into the Unknown Heaven... it was thought that one day none would ever take that path again. In its place Man created the Known Heaven that stands to this today. It was a place built within the Wormholes themselves, a place too small to measure on the outside, too large to imagine on the inside. A place where all things were possible and all things could last forever. Few men went to that place, but all men knew it well, for there was no Law and many who went in came back to tell of this place where wish and reality were one and where Time held no power over Man. "Man met other peoples over the centuries. Many looked much like Man, but none behaved much like him. They were all immensely old and wise, yet each had their own world and no more. They each knew of the Wormholes but cared nothing for the worlds beyond. Some of these peoples had a Known Heaven of their own, others had only the Unknown Heaven and were content with that. They told tales of other races who had gone entirely into their Known Heaven, never to return. Man called these the Elder Races. He found them curious and strange, but had little to do with them. They were as tiny points of stillness lost in the ever expanding Empire of Man. "Then one day, quite by chance, Man met a race that was very much like himself. On that day, we learned they called themselves the Chosen. On that day, one of their great ships and one of ours claimed the same world. On that day, the War began. "Imagine all the Earth filled to overflowing with people, such that the din of their comings and goings is incessant wherever you may go. Now imagine every inch of that world burned, all the people ground to dust. Now imagine that on a thousand worlds. That was the War. It lasted for centuries. It ended only because, eventually, there were so few Men and so few Chosen in the immensity of space that they simply could not find each other. Earth was one of the places where a few of the Men were left alive. They huddled in their caves, hiding from the fires and poisons that would claim them if they dared set foot on the surface. "That was when the Elder Races sent the Demon Gods to the Earth. The Demon Gods told Man the very things the Elder Races themselves had tried to tell the Men of the Empire. They told how only through the Law could Man avoid War. The Men of the mighty Empire had laughed. The Men who survived the War listened and learned. They accepted the Law and the Machines that the Demon Gods had brought to preserve it. "The Law says that in a finite world all things must remain finite. For each race, one world. For each Man, one hundred turns of the Earth about the Sun, no more. For those wishing more, the agony of becoming a Demon God and the pledge to become a Guardian of Law. For those desiring the Eternal, the Known Heaven or the Unknown Heaven, from which none may return. As on Earth, so on all the other worlds where Men and Chosen remained. The Demon Gods brought the Law to those worlds as well. Through them and through the Machines, the Law is guarded just as it has been guarded on the worlds of the Elder Races since the days when the Earth was young. "Thus ended the Empire of Man." It was the way of Story time that nobody could ask questions until the next day, so Makoto sent the children back to their homes. They scattered from the little open rotunda, heading out across the rolling fields in little groups. Many were miles from home, some even had to go down into the plains. But the little Machines would watch over them and provide for them if need be, until they were back with their families. When they were all out of sight, she came to him. She appeared right in the middle of the little tile floor, in the shade of the roof. The breeze played with her platinum hair. She stood with arms crossed, smiling at him. "So, which version did you tell them?" "The nice version." "Have you ever considered staying on a little longer?" "No. When they get much older than this, most of them will be smarter than an old fossil like me. I would just embarrass myself." "Seriously, these ones really have taken a liking to you. When they come tomorrow and you are not here, they will know you've gone for good. It all seems rather abrupt." "Well, I would have been gone next year anyway, I did agree to do a stint on Centauri. Speaking of which, I'm surprised to see you, I wasn't expecting you back from there so soon." She spread out her hands and shrugged. "Oh it was a simple matter, somebody trying to break the Wormhole trap." "It wasn't those people who want to go hunt down the Chosen, was it?" She chuckled. "No, these ones wanted to go hunt down the Elder Races and give them what for." "What, that again? It sounds like Centauri is getting even more agitated than Earth. You know, I'm of a mind to go there early, check things out. Was there anything you needed to do while we're here?" "No, I've already done my rounds. But before we go, I believe this is the day we said we would talk about it again." It took a moment for Makoto to remember. "Oh, right. The Known Heaven. So, how do you feel about it?" "I confess I am in no particular hurry. As you are so fond of saying, it is not going anywhere." No, it certainly was not. And neither was the Unknown Heaven beyond it, where their old, departed friends were waiting for them. Makoto thought about it for a moment. He shrugged. "Why don't we give it another hundred years?" "Okay, I'll mark my calendar." "Great." Makoto stood up. "Ready to go?" Ifurita wagged her finger. "You know procedure. Always be at full power before making a jump." "Yes, I suppose it has been a while." Makoto gated his staff into his hand and held it out to her. "Care to turn my crank, beautiful?" She winked and took it from him. "Love to, darling." If you're going to have a running joke last for a thousand years, you might as well make it a really bad one. The End Author's Postscript Some people were probably expecting more of a continuation of the previous chapters. This is more of an epilogue, mainly because I wanted to deal with what I thought was a very central issue: how will Makoto and Ifurita resolve the dilemma that she is virtually immortal and he is not? Their discovery of the lab with Ifurita's clones was, admittedly, a device to give them a means of dealing with it. I make no apologies for the punch line. So why the obsession with Ifurita? Sure she's gorgeous, but so are a lot of other anime leading ladies. I think she represents a lot of things that make her character both thrilling and terrifying. Most obvious is the Frankenstein complex... men made her to serve them and she destroyed them. Her beauty makes her all the more terrifying... she is the Black Widow, the Succubus, the Siren who can lure men to their doom. But she is not just a monster or a mindless killer, she has self awareness and a conscience, which makes her plight all the more horrific... did her inhuman senses allow her human heart to feel the agony and terror of every single one of the millions of people she was forced to slay? She is Judgment Day personified, a doomsday weapon with a moral sense. She is like an immensely old Goddess from the misty past who reminds us of our own mortality, and of the sort of price we may need to pay if we wish to become like the immortal Gods. She betrays the man who tries to enslave her and pledges her undying devotion to the man who sets her free, if not a paradox then at least a reminder that beings with free will do not behave according to Newtonian physics. You try to push them to the right and likely as not they will roll to the left. Ifurita also reminds us of what may lie in our own future... when we have finally created beings more capable and powerful than ourselves, will we have the courage to set them free or will we bind them in chains of fear? The people who made Ifurita made their choice, and Makoto made his. Finally, like all characters who are aliens, cyborgs, androids or gods in disguise, she represents the doubts we feel about each other. However human she appears, do we really know what is going on in her mind? Even if we could see her heart as Makoto does, can we be sure we really understand what we are seeing? Oh who am I kidding, she's an anime babe who eats Terminators for breakfast, what more could you ask for? Several people commenting on previous chapters had complained that I had left Jinnai entirely out of the picture. All I can say is... you asked for it. Observant readers have probably figured out that the attempted coup of the Japanese government reflected events in the second Patlabor movie. Really observant readers of previous chapters might recall when Makoto gave labor technology to Shinohara Heavy Industries. My thanks to Charles Groark, his detailed comments on the draft versions of these stories was invaluable. This is the last of the El Hazard Earth Chapters. My muses have not told me whether there will be any more El Hazard stories, I'll just have to wait and see. I hope you had fun. I sure did. Ken