Pal, You’ve Got A Job To Do (part three)
Title: Pal, You’ve Got A Job To Do (part three)
Fandom: Gurren Lagann
Characters/Pairings: Simon, Darry, Gimmy, OFC
Word Count: 1000
Summary: post-TV series pre-Epilogue, continuation of the second part. Rossiu and the government take humanity into new territory which brings new danger which requires special talent. Who could fit that bill? Rossiu might know a guy…
A/N: aquatinted. If that one thing would happen already then this could be over... but noooo. LOL
***
Sitting in Gurren Lagann, absolutely alone, Simon found he had too much time for his own thoughts. He’d spent a great deal of time alone after the wedding. Yoko had offered to let him visit. Rossiu, with a greatly subdued hesitation, suggested Simon check in if he ever needed monetary support. Simon had almost taken him up on the offer when the weather during the second week anniversary of Nia’s disappearance took a turn for the worst. When Boota started looking like dinner, Simon almost broke.
If he couldn’t be with her, how could he be around any of them either?
If a stranger hadn’t offered him a job in a strange twist of circumstances, Simon might have made that call. Or eaten his most loyal pet.
He hadn’t been inclined to look for work either, except she had been precariously stuck in the sunken earth and he had a piece of rope. If she were an heiress and persistently indebted, how could he refuse her efforts to make things even?
A light flashed on the screen only just warning Simon before Darry’s cheerful face appeared at his left shoulder.
“Golly, it’s something else being back in this thing,” she said in a rush. “Not that we don’t like or even prefer Gurren Lagann, but it’s…”
“Yeah, I get it,” Simon nodded. “Are we here?”
Her finger pointed forward and even though she was in the cockpit of a suit several miles away, Simon instinctively looked to the front. A new image appeared resizing the moon, but showing it up close. A scrolling text began to summarize the atmosphere and geographical conditions. A highlighted triangle centered on the Lunar Base.
“Not much to look at, is it?” Simon whistled.
“No sir.” Gimmy’s face popped on Simon’s right side. “My information says it only took us half the time to get here compared to our last supply runs.”
“That’s great news,” Darry hesitated. “I hadn’t expected them to have made so much progress since we last dumped our haul. Who’s been stationed up here?”
“Dunno… exactly.” Simon stuck to the truth. Rossiu had emphasized the confidentiality of the project. Why play by that guy's rules? Except Simon wanted to get his own assessment of the situation before ruffling the fragile truce between them.
The base automatically opened the landing bay doors when it sensed their approach. The Gunman and the Grapearls followed the landing lights until they reached a second set of doors that readily allowed them access.
When the system powered down from flight to basic controls, Simon let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “I’ve still got it in me, spiral power…” He looked at his palm and the strange, uncontrolled twitching in his fingers.
Darry and Gimmy waited with their helmets tucked under their arms. He didn’t blame them. The moon remained inhospitable. Simply trusting that the oxygen in the base would hold wasn’t ingrained in them yet. He wanted to carry his also, but dropped it ahead of him. It floated to the floor with the strange gracefulness of lesser gravity before Gimmy caught it. He tossed his duffel bag of personal supplies to Darry next.
Simon gripped the edge of the open skull, intending to follow his belongings when a puff of air and a resounding hiss came from the second face in Gurren Lagann’s belly. The Gunman opened it’s mouth and a friendly squeak greeted them.
“Boota!” Darry grinned.
“We’ve got a stowaway?” Gimmy chuckled. “Man, I thought you were leaving him with Leeron. He’s going to be disappointed to find out that his unsupervised time with your lab rat just disappeared to the moon.”
“I guess I can’t blame you,”said Simon. He caught the creature as it jumped into his arms on their descent. Briefly, Simon thought he might be sinking into bottomless chill water until his boots touched the ground like the softest cushion. A second later, he adjusted to the new balance of his legs. He bounced slightly, but on the next drop the experience already seemed ordinary.
“Now you won’t be alone,” Darry commented, as if greatly relieved. She offered Simon his helmet. “Do you need us to stay for any reason?”
“Nah, just promise me you’ll cut your record time in half again on the return trip,” Simon exhorted.
“With that kind of enthusiasm, we’re sure to make it,” replied Gimmy. “Let’s go.”
Simon watched as the younger adults, now the rightful pilots to his former Gunman, fussed and adjusted the settings back to their liking. Of course they didn’t complain too loudly from respect, but Simon had sensed their influence on the machine. The legacy of the Gunman had left him behind.
But Simon wasn’t dead yet. He had a new adventure waiting. After Gurren Lagann flew back along the long corridor and the vacuum seals locked Simon safely inside the hanger with the Grapearls, he sensed another presence watching him.
The entire chamber seemed smooth and without the gaps typical of a doorway, still one appeared and a person walked in to greet him.
“Welcome, Simon.”
Not a person, Simon reminded himself. A robot. But he doubted that knowledge when he saw the robot from a distance. She, could it be a she?, managed a sophisticated walk even while wearing impractical shoes. Her curved figure wore a red dress that might have been cut too high or too low depending on where he looked. But her flesh was sharp grey, dark except where it reflected the lighting with the flashes of her movement. And the space where Simon might expect human eyes consisted of simple black dots like a half-credit coin.
“Are you the, ah, lead robot?” Simon asked. His eyes drifted to the Grapearl as he didn’t know where to look and no place on the robot made him feel easy.
“I am designated one point zero,” the robot’s female voice replied. Her tone conveyed tranquility as if she meant to relax Simon. It sounded too much like…
Simon shook his head. Then he chortled. “That won’t do. That won’t do at all. From here on out, I’m calling you…” He met her empty-as-space eyes and wondered how he looked to her. “Dark-Luna Pearl. I look forward to working together!”
Fandom: Gurren Lagann
Characters/Pairings: Simon, Darry, Gimmy, OFC
Word Count: 1000
Summary: post-TV series pre-Epilogue, continuation of the second part. Rossiu and the government take humanity into new territory which brings new danger which requires special talent. Who could fit that bill? Rossiu might know a guy…
A/N: aquatinted. If that one thing would happen already then this could be over... but noooo. LOL
***
Sitting in Gurren Lagann, absolutely alone, Simon found he had too much time for his own thoughts. He’d spent a great deal of time alone after the wedding. Yoko had offered to let him visit. Rossiu, with a greatly subdued hesitation, suggested Simon check in if he ever needed monetary support. Simon had almost taken him up on the offer when the weather during the second week anniversary of Nia’s disappearance took a turn for the worst. When Boota started looking like dinner, Simon almost broke.
If he couldn’t be with her, how could he be around any of them either?
If a stranger hadn’t offered him a job in a strange twist of circumstances, Simon might have made that call. Or eaten his most loyal pet.
He hadn’t been inclined to look for work either, except she had been precariously stuck in the sunken earth and he had a piece of rope. If she were an heiress and persistently indebted, how could he refuse her efforts to make things even?
A light flashed on the screen only just warning Simon before Darry’s cheerful face appeared at his left shoulder.
“Golly, it’s something else being back in this thing,” she said in a rush. “Not that we don’t like or even prefer Gurren Lagann, but it’s…”
“Yeah, I get it,” Simon nodded. “Are we here?”
Her finger pointed forward and even though she was in the cockpit of a suit several miles away, Simon instinctively looked to the front. A new image appeared resizing the moon, but showing it up close. A scrolling text began to summarize the atmosphere and geographical conditions. A highlighted triangle centered on the Lunar Base.
“Not much to look at, is it?” Simon whistled.
“No sir.” Gimmy’s face popped on Simon’s right side. “My information says it only took us half the time to get here compared to our last supply runs.”
“That’s great news,” Darry hesitated. “I hadn’t expected them to have made so much progress since we last dumped our haul. Who’s been stationed up here?”
“Dunno… exactly.” Simon stuck to the truth. Rossiu had emphasized the confidentiality of the project. Why play by that guy's rules? Except Simon wanted to get his own assessment of the situation before ruffling the fragile truce between them.
The base automatically opened the landing bay doors when it sensed their approach. The Gunman and the Grapearls followed the landing lights until they reached a second set of doors that readily allowed them access.
When the system powered down from flight to basic controls, Simon let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. “I’ve still got it in me, spiral power…” He looked at his palm and the strange, uncontrolled twitching in his fingers.
Darry and Gimmy waited with their helmets tucked under their arms. He didn’t blame them. The moon remained inhospitable. Simply trusting that the oxygen in the base would hold wasn’t ingrained in them yet. He wanted to carry his also, but dropped it ahead of him. It floated to the floor with the strange gracefulness of lesser gravity before Gimmy caught it. He tossed his duffel bag of personal supplies to Darry next.
Simon gripped the edge of the open skull, intending to follow his belongings when a puff of air and a resounding hiss came from the second face in Gurren Lagann’s belly. The Gunman opened it’s mouth and a friendly squeak greeted them.
“Boota!” Darry grinned.
“We’ve got a stowaway?” Gimmy chuckled. “Man, I thought you were leaving him with Leeron. He’s going to be disappointed to find out that his unsupervised time with your lab rat just disappeared to the moon.”
“I guess I can’t blame you,”said Simon. He caught the creature as it jumped into his arms on their descent. Briefly, Simon thought he might be sinking into bottomless chill water until his boots touched the ground like the softest cushion. A second later, he adjusted to the new balance of his legs. He bounced slightly, but on the next drop the experience already seemed ordinary.
“Now you won’t be alone,” Darry commented, as if greatly relieved. She offered Simon his helmet. “Do you need us to stay for any reason?”
“Nah, just promise me you’ll cut your record time in half again on the return trip,” Simon exhorted.
“With that kind of enthusiasm, we’re sure to make it,” replied Gimmy. “Let’s go.”
Simon watched as the younger adults, now the rightful pilots to his former Gunman, fussed and adjusted the settings back to their liking. Of course they didn’t complain too loudly from respect, but Simon had sensed their influence on the machine. The legacy of the Gunman had left him behind.
But Simon wasn’t dead yet. He had a new adventure waiting. After Gurren Lagann flew back along the long corridor and the vacuum seals locked Simon safely inside the hanger with the Grapearls, he sensed another presence watching him.
The entire chamber seemed smooth and without the gaps typical of a doorway, still one appeared and a person walked in to greet him.
“Welcome, Simon.”
Not a person, Simon reminded himself. A robot. But he doubted that knowledge when he saw the robot from a distance. She, could it be a she?, managed a sophisticated walk even while wearing impractical shoes. Her curved figure wore a red dress that might have been cut too high or too low depending on where he looked. But her flesh was sharp grey, dark except where it reflected the lighting with the flashes of her movement. And the space where Simon might expect human eyes consisted of simple black dots like a half-credit coin.
“Are you the, ah, lead robot?” Simon asked. His eyes drifted to the Grapearl as he didn’t know where to look and no place on the robot made him feel easy.
“I am designated one point zero,” the robot’s female voice replied. Her tone conveyed tranquility as if she meant to relax Simon. It sounded too much like…
Simon shook his head. Then he chortled. “That won’t do. That won’t do at all. From here on out, I’m calling you…” He met her empty-as-space eyes and wondered how he looked to her. “Dark-Luna Pearl. I look forward to working together!”