Day 24: 46565 Words.
The operation happened later on that afternoon and it only took a few hours, and Makoto was waiting in the room when he returned. His midsection was wrapped in bandages and he was groaning slightly. There was a nurse that was accompanying his stretcher back to his room and she saw Makoto and bowed politely.
“How's he doing? Is he okay?”
“He's starting to come out of the anesthaesia.” The groans behind her got louder. “He's under enough sedative to sink an Inter-Jovian freighter and still, for some reason, he's fighting against it. Like he [wants] to wake up.”
“I wonder what it is he's dreaming about?”
The nurse wanly chuckled. “I'm wondering too, but I don't want to be around when the sedative wears off to find out. Please excuse me, I have other patients to see to. Will you be staying this afternoon?”
“I will be. Maybe I'll have the chance to ask him myself if he happens to awaken while I'm here.”
“As you wish, Princess. I pray that you are careful?”
“I will be. Thank you.”
Makoto watched as the stranger was transferred to a bed and covered up to keep him warm. She looked at him and shook her head quietly as she sat down and waited.
Eric was on his way to check in on Makoto when he spotted Jade studying her hand held computer intently. She noticed that Eric was walking past her and reached out to gently grab his arm. He looked up with a questioning gaze and frowned slightly.
“What now, awaiting the next great alien invasion?”
Jade rolled her eyes and handed him her mini-computer. “We've got Mechanoids sitting on our ass right outside of Saturn. How's that for an answer to your question, Genius?”
Eric sobered up right away. “Are you kidding me? What's going on with everyone trying to come invade us? Does the Queen know about this? Does Makoto...”
“The Queen, yes. Makoto...she's so caught up in her little pet project that this would easily escape her notice. I figured I had a better chance of someone helping me do something about it by telling you. At least [you] would see what an immediate threat that they pose. Hell, for what it's worth, we could keep our little tourist there sedated until the end of the millenia and [then] deal with him. The Mechanoids are on their way and we've got to deal with them [now].”
Eric frowned. “How far out are they?”
“Five days at most. There's a small squadron of their ships that seem to be breaking off from the main fleet. My best guess is that they're gonna try to come at us from two directions and divide our forces. We're going to have to fight them once we get here.”
“Fight them with what?”
“I would have said we could have thrown something together using the technology that alien came in and our replicators, but when we tried to salvage his ship, there wasn't a whole lot to salvage. All we could get from his ship was where it was from and the name of the person controlling it when it hit us.”
“So we do know his name?”
“Denkiteki Akuma.”
“And what planet?”
“Some planet called Vegeta. Titan Net says that it's 30 light years away from us. I'm fascinated, to be honest with you - he's got the ability to get here, but we don't have the ability yet to get there. Doesn't there seem to be something wrong with that?”
“You said yourselfl that the Saiyajin were a race of planet-conquerors. How much are you willing to bet that they not only raided peoples, but also raided technologies?” Eric took the hand held from Jade and listened to himself think for a moment.
“I'll be the one to tell Makoto about the Mechanoid threat. I don't think she'll be able to handle dealing with you any more than she really has to or wants to. I'm sure she will want to do something about it as much as you or I do.” Jade nodded. It seemed that finally Eric was coming around to her way of thinking, and in a way, that would be nothing but good. For her, anyway.
Eric and Makoto had their conversation later in the evening, as Makoto found herself walking in the Royal Rose Garden not far away from where she and Kyara had seen the shooting stars that were the two pods landing on their planet.
“Mechanoid threat, huh? It's been a while since I've been in a good fight - I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.” Makoto grinned at Eric in the way she usually did when she was about to spar him and she was confident of her ability to beat him.
“Mm hmm. I think we have cause to be worried, though. You are aware of exactly what kind of threat the Mechanoids pose, yes?” Eric stopped and turned towards Makoto.
“I'm guessing you suggested this walk in the Rose Garden to tell me?” Makoto raised an eyebrow.
Eric grinned sheepishly. “Am I that obvious?”
Makoto nodded. “Yes, but I love you just the same. Now tell me what's going on.”
“The Mechanoids are a race of beings that use their psychic abilities to control people, and entire planets at once. They fight using legions of what can be termed as 'hosts'. Generally speaking, they try to overrun a people by sheer numbers. It's not certain whether they use powers the way that we do, but we don't want to give them the chance to do so. They'll be arriving in about four days or so. I have talked to Mother about our plans, and she will deal with keeping the people informed and getting them safely evacuated. You know how it is when we get into fights, right? Stuff goes boom.”
“That's true. So we go fight the Mechanoids. What are we going to do about...”
“...Akuma?”
Makoto heard that name and it seemed as if it did nothing but echo in her head. “That's his name?”
“Denkiteki Akuma from the planet Vegeta. That was the only inforation about him that we could retrieve from the pod he crashed in. Everything else was destroyed, which means we can't replicate the technology that got him here. Jade and I were discussing that, how it's ironic that he could get here, but we can't get there. The planet Vegeta is more than 30 light years away. Could you imagine anything that far?”
“It seems that we're gonna have to - if there's even one person like Akuma that's come to visit us, who's to say that there might not be more after him?”
Makoto let her gaze drift to the spot she swore she remembered as the first place she had seen those two streaks across the sky. “For one of the rare times in my life, I'm willing to agree with Jade that we as Jovian people need to expand our horizons, before our horizons come to expand over us. Let's go back, Eric - you, me, Mother, and Jade have a lot of planning to do before the Mechanoids' arrival.” They turned and made their way back to the castle.
--Let go.--
--What..why...who are you?--
--A voice from a home you don't remember.--
--I...let go?--
--You are a Blessed Son. Your destiny is to change lives.--
--Am I still alive?--
--You are. I have to return you to your Path. But listen for me, and you'll find me.--
--I...--
Akuma, in his first conscious act in the weeks since his pod crashed, clenched his fist.
Still he lived.
“How's he doing? Is he okay?”
“He's starting to come out of the anesthaesia.” The groans behind her got louder. “He's under enough sedative to sink an Inter-Jovian freighter and still, for some reason, he's fighting against it. Like he [wants] to wake up.”
“I wonder what it is he's dreaming about?”
The nurse wanly chuckled. “I'm wondering too, but I don't want to be around when the sedative wears off to find out. Please excuse me, I have other patients to see to. Will you be staying this afternoon?”
“I will be. Maybe I'll have the chance to ask him myself if he happens to awaken while I'm here.”
“As you wish, Princess. I pray that you are careful?”
“I will be. Thank you.”
Makoto watched as the stranger was transferred to a bed and covered up to keep him warm. She looked at him and shook her head quietly as she sat down and waited.
Eric was on his way to check in on Makoto when he spotted Jade studying her hand held computer intently. She noticed that Eric was walking past her and reached out to gently grab his arm. He looked up with a questioning gaze and frowned slightly.
“What now, awaiting the next great alien invasion?”
Jade rolled her eyes and handed him her mini-computer. “We've got Mechanoids sitting on our ass right outside of Saturn. How's that for an answer to your question, Genius?”
Eric sobered up right away. “Are you kidding me? What's going on with everyone trying to come invade us? Does the Queen know about this? Does Makoto...”
“The Queen, yes. Makoto...she's so caught up in her little pet project that this would easily escape her notice. I figured I had a better chance of someone helping me do something about it by telling you. At least [you] would see what an immediate threat that they pose. Hell, for what it's worth, we could keep our little tourist there sedated until the end of the millenia and [then] deal with him. The Mechanoids are on their way and we've got to deal with them [now].”
Eric frowned. “How far out are they?”
“Five days at most. There's a small squadron of their ships that seem to be breaking off from the main fleet. My best guess is that they're gonna try to come at us from two directions and divide our forces. We're going to have to fight them once we get here.”
“Fight them with what?”
“I would have said we could have thrown something together using the technology that alien came in and our replicators, but when we tried to salvage his ship, there wasn't a whole lot to salvage. All we could get from his ship was where it was from and the name of the person controlling it when it hit us.”
“So we do know his name?”
“Denkiteki Akuma.”
“And what planet?”
“Some planet called Vegeta. Titan Net says that it's 30 light years away from us. I'm fascinated, to be honest with you - he's got the ability to get here, but we don't have the ability yet to get there. Doesn't there seem to be something wrong with that?”
“You said yourselfl that the Saiyajin were a race of planet-conquerors. How much are you willing to bet that they not only raided peoples, but also raided technologies?” Eric took the hand held from Jade and listened to himself think for a moment.
“I'll be the one to tell Makoto about the Mechanoid threat. I don't think she'll be able to handle dealing with you any more than she really has to or wants to. I'm sure she will want to do something about it as much as you or I do.” Jade nodded. It seemed that finally Eric was coming around to her way of thinking, and in a way, that would be nothing but good. For her, anyway.
Eric and Makoto had their conversation later in the evening, as Makoto found herself walking in the Royal Rose Garden not far away from where she and Kyara had seen the shooting stars that were the two pods landing on their planet.
“Mechanoid threat, huh? It's been a while since I've been in a good fight - I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.” Makoto grinned at Eric in the way she usually did when she was about to spar him and she was confident of her ability to beat him.
“Mm hmm. I think we have cause to be worried, though. You are aware of exactly what kind of threat the Mechanoids pose, yes?” Eric stopped and turned towards Makoto.
“I'm guessing you suggested this walk in the Rose Garden to tell me?” Makoto raised an eyebrow.
Eric grinned sheepishly. “Am I that obvious?”
Makoto nodded. “Yes, but I love you just the same. Now tell me what's going on.”
“The Mechanoids are a race of beings that use their psychic abilities to control people, and entire planets at once. They fight using legions of what can be termed as 'hosts'. Generally speaking, they try to overrun a people by sheer numbers. It's not certain whether they use powers the way that we do, but we don't want to give them the chance to do so. They'll be arriving in about four days or so. I have talked to Mother about our plans, and she will deal with keeping the people informed and getting them safely evacuated. You know how it is when we get into fights, right? Stuff goes boom.”
“That's true. So we go fight the Mechanoids. What are we going to do about...”
“...Akuma?”
Makoto heard that name and it seemed as if it did nothing but echo in her head. “That's his name?”
“Denkiteki Akuma from the planet Vegeta. That was the only inforation about him that we could retrieve from the pod he crashed in. Everything else was destroyed, which means we can't replicate the technology that got him here. Jade and I were discussing that, how it's ironic that he could get here, but we can't get there. The planet Vegeta is more than 30 light years away. Could you imagine anything that far?”
“It seems that we're gonna have to - if there's even one person like Akuma that's come to visit us, who's to say that there might not be more after him?”
Makoto let her gaze drift to the spot she swore she remembered as the first place she had seen those two streaks across the sky. “For one of the rare times in my life, I'm willing to agree with Jade that we as Jovian people need to expand our horizons, before our horizons come to expand over us. Let's go back, Eric - you, me, Mother, and Jade have a lot of planning to do before the Mechanoids' arrival.” They turned and made their way back to the castle.
--Let go.--
--What..why...who are you?--
--A voice from a home you don't remember.--
--I...let go?--
--You are a Blessed Son. Your destiny is to change lives.--
--Am I still alive?--
--You are. I have to return you to your Path. But listen for me, and you'll find me.--
--I...--
Akuma, in his first conscious act in the weeks since his pod crashed, clenched his fist.
Still he lived.