OOC: Memory Number One
On his way to work, Aim encountered a number of children playing a friendly game of Cops and Robbers. He smiled to himself, thinking of how nice it must be to partake in such a harmless game, that had such harsh real world implications, in such a carefree way. Part of him wished he could join them, and give them a few pointers on how to more accurately hit their targets with their suction dark guns, but he only had a few minutes to be at work.
Just as he was about to turn a corner, he felt a little pop against his leg. He stopped and looked down to see one of the childrens' darts sticking off of him. He chuckled and shook his head, leaning down to retrieve it...but there was something strange. There was a crystal attached to it, and if he wasn't mistaken, it was a memory crystal. While he had never seen one before, they had been described to him in passing, and he knew would touching it directly with bare hands would entail.
Luckily, he had taken to wearing his shooting gloves all the time. They were really comfortable, and they protected his hands without ever getting in the way. What's more, they were reassuring in a way he could quite explain. They just felt right.
So he went ahead and plucked the crystal off the end of the dart and knelt down, letting his rifle bag slide gently from his shoulder to the ground (he always took it to work with him, so he could go straight to the range when he got off). He slid it carefully into a side pocket of the case that he rarely used, making a mental note of it.
Once he got off work, he had gone to grab a box of ammo to slip into his rifle bag when he again noticed the small bulge in the pocket where he had placed the crystal. He stopped there for a moment, furrowing his brow in thought. He was torn. Part of him wanted to simply forget he had the crystal, or to give it so someone else, but he couldn't accept letting himself live in such ignorance. Even if had a hunch that there were some things he didn't want to know about his life, he needed to know.
That afternoon, he forewent going to the range in favour of returning home to examine the crystal. Almost immediately when he got home, he plopped himself down on his futon, and opened the zipper to the pocket that held the trinket. One at a time, he removed his gloves and tossed them to the side, then reached in to pull out the glowing crystal.
----
It was painfully quiet, except for the even clicking of his footsteps. The air was stale, too. The only movement in it seemed to coincide with the rise and fall of his chest. He paused for a moment, and there was a mechanical swooshing sound accompanied by the slightest rush of air. A door had automatically opened for him. Immediately, there was a voice. It was his own.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Lockon..." The reply was the voice of a girl. She was young, perhaps thirteen or fourteen. While her reserved tone didn't seem too out of place, there was something that did. She sounded far too melancholy. Knowing she was distressed simply wasn't going to slide. His voice in response was soft and sympathetic, carefully practiced to give his comrades reassurance that there was always someone around who cared.
"What's wrong?" He closed the distance between them, and the faint sound of his footsteps filling the small room once more as the door swooshed closed behind him again. He stood close to her, leaning against a metallic bar. Or perhaps it was plastic. He couldn't tell through the protection of his gloves.
"It's nothing...I was just thinking about what my parents must have felt, constantly being on missions." She seemed to be regaining her composure. **
"Oh? So both of your parents were in Celestial Being?"
"They were both second-generation Gundam Meisters."
"I see. I can fight today thanks to your parents efforts." He paused only slightly before getting back to the issue at hand. "So are you feeling homesick or something?"
"Today...is the anniversary of their death."
His tone shifted slightly, taking on a more sober hue. "What happened?"
"I don't know. All I know is that they're dead."
"Celestial Being's members are sworn to secrecy. I don't know anything about the present member's pasts either. So there's not even an exception for family." While he understood the reasoning behind it, the severity of the rule seemed too much. This young girl was given very few choices in life, and she wasn't even allowed to know something as important as the fate of her parents.
"You inherited their will, right?" He reached around to lay his hand on on her head, gently pulling her against his shoulder. "You're strong. You're a strong girl." He nodded to himself in resignation.
"It's Neil." He felt her head turn as she looked up at him.
"Hm?" It was strange how such a small sound from her could convey both surprise and concern.
"My real name is Neil Dylandy."
"Your name?" She voiced the question as if to reassure herself.
"Yeah, that's right. I'm from Ireland. My parents were killed in a terrorist attack." She moved against his hand again, some of her stiffness melting away as she leaned against him more heavily.
"Why..."
"It's not very fair if only you reveal your past."
"You're kind." Her admiration and relief were apparent in her words, however subtle. He knew then that he had succeeded in putting her more at ease.
"Only to girls," he said, very matter-of-factly.
Just then, the sound of the door was heard once more from across the room, followed quickly by another voice. He recognized it as Dyad's.
"Lockon.." He had sounded as if there was purpose to his address, but he cut himself off quickly. His voice was muffled as if he had immediately turned away in surprise. He sounded embarrassed. "Excuse me.."
He quickly removed his hand from the girl's head, leaning back from her as if he were caught at something.
"It's not what it looks like!"
----
When the memory faded away, his vision slowly returned, and he was back in his room atop his futon. As he moved to set the empty crystal on the table in front of him, he suddenly realized his how uncomfortable and awkward his clothes were. When he looked down, he couldn't help but let out a bewildered exclamation, dropping the crystal on the table.
"What the hell!?!"
Not only was he wearing a ridiculous red dress...but he had breasts to fill it out, all be them fake.
"This is ridiculous." He sighed heavily, leaning back against the futon. It looked like he wasn't going to be leaving the house for a while. That was fine, really. While the memory had confirmed some things he was already pretty sure about, it added a lot of overwhelming information that would take a while to process.
After a moment of sitting there, he leaned forward again and grabbed his gloves, putting them back on. If he was going to look this outrageous, he may as well not feel naked without his gloves as well.
OOC Notes:
Memory includes Touch/Smell/Sound.
Scene taken from Gundam 00 Episode 9, timestamp 9:46 - 9:58 and 11:17 - 12:31. The girl is Feldt Grace. While her name was mentioned in the original dialogue, due to differences in Japanese and English grammar, it is not indicated here, and Aim will still not know her name.
** Indicates a filler line of dialogue, added to make the scene of the memory flow. In the episode, the scene cuts away here, so this line is merely speculation.