Mechagodzilla X Episode: Going Under v2.0

[CII]

I cannot take all the credit for this one...most goes to Studio Asperger. This story was written by the both of us. I'll do a co-author's commentary when I'm done posting this baby up. And it is 160 pages long by the count of Microsoft Word XP. I think it's longer in other forms though...maybe close to 200...250?

Mechagodzilla X Episode: Going Under v2.0





Over and over again, he watched the scene, trying to make sense of it all. Still, nothing made sense. How did he do it? How did he create that blast? Kiryuu played the tape over again, resting his holographic head down on the desk. He backed it up, rewound it, played it in slow motion—but still, there was no answer. It was in his stomach. He never thought he had a stomach. Fully trying to understand Godzilla, there were many theories on the great monster. Kiryuu still had the information he stole from Okinawa nearly two years ago. So, he began to rely on that. What created the plasma breath? How was Godzilla able to possess it? The H-bomb changed him. Kiryuu knew that, he remembered being changed. Over 50 years ago, he had that breath weapon, but even then he still questioned how he was able to do it. He did not possess it before. Neither did his son. Now, they both did—and it was all because of that H-bomb. But then, the original died and now since he is a bio-mechanical robot, he should not even possess the ability to have that breath weapon. But he still fired it off at Titanosaurus. Kiryuu rewound the tape again, watching once more as the exposed spines on his back began to glow. He saw the blast irrupt out of his mouth—it was white with only a touch of blue. Godzilla’s breath was mostly blue. Kiryuu sighed again, wiping his eyes. He was tired of staring at the screen, but he had to know. Where did it come from? That plasma breath bothered everyone in the control room. Gordon left to get drunk because of it, then came back cursing at everyone. Katsura became even more frightened than ever, Will tried to deny it—saying it had to be some sort of malfunction in the system. Even Kiryuu wanted to believe that—but it was just not possible. He knew he was the original Godzilla. He had come to accept that in the end of all things. But, still, that breath—it was impossible for him to have created that breath. What made Godzilla produce that breath? Was it a byproduct of the radiation? Was it some sort of regurgitation? Kiryuu filed through the lines of information he had stolen from the base. Not even they had the information he needed. Kiryuu slammed his head against the desk in exasperation. He was tired. Nothing made sense anymore to him. Kiryuu was just as disturbed about the breath as everyone else in the base. It haunted him, and it brought him to tears because of it. He could not produce it again. They already tried to test it one night out in the desert. He tried—so very hard—he tried to fire it. It just would not work anymore. His spines were exposed just so that he could see if he could do it. But he could not. Perhaps it was all for the best though that he never could produce it again.



Within a few weeks of returning to the main base in Utah, Kiryuu asked to visit Godzilla again. Perhaps this would be the answer he was looking for. Maybe Godzilla could show it to him. Gordon allowed it. The Shirisagi took Kiryuu to the super-tanker where he was to be shipped across the Pacific Ocean. They wanted to keep it under the public eye that Kiryuu frequently visited Godzilla. Despite the fact that people knew about what lay underneath the metal, not many were completely worried about it. Sure, there were a few—that is a very few—who thought it was wrong to use the skeleton of the original. These were the same people who thought that stem cell research was wrong. The first Godzilla was dead, so what if the Utah Foundation used his bones? But they brought the original Godzilla back to life by accident. It did not matter to anyone in the Utah Foundation—the original Godzilla was now on their side. Kiryuu thanked that. He felt that his death came too prematurely anyways. He had unfinished business to do and the Utah Foundation made it possible for him to finish what he started. He had no more qualms about what they had done. They just gave him an edge. But still—he was the first Godzilla—but in this new state, he should not have fired that breath.



While on Ogasawara Island, Kiryuu made notes as his son demonstrated the firing of the breath. Kiryuu wanted his maser cannons removed so that he could try and see if he could fire a plasma breath as well. He watched, studied how Godzilla did it. He explained to his son that death had taken away that memory of how to fire such a weapon. After Godzilla had shown him how to do it, Kiryuu tried on his own. Still, no breath came. Kiryuu was left with no answer. Godzilla could sense his father distraught and tried his best to comfort him.



“It’s not possible,” Kiryuu told Godzilla. “I don’t know why I was able to fire it then and not now. It’s just not possible. And…the ones who brought me back are afraid.”



“Will they kill you?” Godzilla asked.



“No,” Kiryuu said. “We’ve become a family now as well. They care about me too much. These humans who have brought me back—it’s just a small group. It’s not the whole species. They are worried about me just as you are. They are afraid that because of what happened in the Land of Flowers that other humans—ones that do not understand me might try to take me away. And harm me. And harm you as well. They’re protecting both of us.”



“These humans that brought you back to life are protecting me?” Godzilla asked, a bit confused.



“Yes,” Kiryuu replied. “They are. That’s why I must remain with them. You have to understand that. I can’t protect you unless I am with them. In a way, I’m glad I can’t fire that breath now. They are afraid because of it. They’re different than the others, trust me.”



Godzilla hefted a sigh and nodded. He had no other choice but to trust his father now. Kiryuu placed his claws on Godzilla’s cheeks and leaned over—pressing his snout against his son’s forehead. Kiryuu gazed into his son’s dark red eyes, seeing the worry and the love in them. They sparkled, even more than ever now.



“I’ve forgiven them, son,” Kiryuu said. “For doing this to me. I want you to forgive them too. Because of this—we can be together.”



“You call being so far apart together?” Godzilla asked.



“Would you rather have me at the bottom of the ocean—dead?” Kiryuu asked. “And you never see me again—or this?”



“This…” Godzilla sighed. “I want to see you. I understand. Father, what killed you anyways? You said that the humans have given you vast knowledge since you became this—cyborg-thing. Have they given you the answer as to how you died?”



“Unfortunately,” Kiryuu began with a heavy sigh. “The humans that I work with don’t even know that answer. This human—a scientist that created this weapon died when I died. He killed himself to seal away this secret of his weapon. I think he didn’t want anyone else using it.”



“Why?” Godzilla asked.



“He was afraid that some bad humans might use it for evil,” he replied. “He didn’t want it to be used for evil. So—because of that, no one knows what this weapon was.”



“They have many secrets,” Godzilla sighed.



“Humans are fickle creatures,” Kiryuu chuckled.





Humans were fickle creatures. Kiryuu knew this very well. Katsura was very fickle, so was Gordon, and Will, even Maria was fickle a bit. But when she became fickle—usually meant Kiryuu’s eyes were about to be targeted. Kiryuu chuckled when he thought about that time she smacked him in the eye. No human had ever done that. But he loved her because of it. He loved joking around her with the ‘wrong’ statements. It made her flush a bit, but she knew it was all in good fun. Kiryuu loved her. She was different, and she kept his mind off of worries like how he was able to produce that breath. Kiryuu leaned back in the chair, sighing again. Godzilla asked him a peculiar question. It was a question that often ran through Kiryuu’s processors. Just how did he die? What weapon could produce those bubbles that burned like acid? Kiryuu just did not want to recall the death. That was one of the scenes he did not want to relive again. Still, he wanted to know. Kiryuu’s holographic form disappeared from the room and his consciousness returned to his body. The bay was empty. He checked to see if anyone was in the control room. There were people in the control room, but not Will, or Katsura, or Gordon, or even Maria for that matter. He would not expect Maria to be there just yet, she was still moving into her new condo in Provo. The base was closer to Provo than to Salt Lake City, though that was where the Utah Foundation headquarters was located. She still did not like to move to Utah, preferring to remain in Florida. Kiryuu could tell she missed the ocean. He did too. Being in Ft. Lauderdale—and Miami Beach for that matter was invigorating to him. He loved the ocean. But the ocean also brought back horrible memories—his death. Titanosaurus brought those memories out and Kiryuu hated him for it. Kiryuu was glad he killed Kraken.



Kiryuu watched as the maintenance crew worked inside the control room. He knew their names as well, but he was not very close with them. An occasional ‘hello’ or ‘how are you doing’ was enough to let them know he acknowledged them in the control room. Then, he saw Mike and Tochi inside the room. For now, he did not feel like talking to them. Kiryuu sighed as he closed his eyes, turning inward to his CPU. That question Godzilla asked him. How did the original die? How did Kiryuu die when he was the original Godzilla? Kiryuu did not want to bring up those memories, but to find the answer, he had no choice. Kiryuu called up the memories through the syntech and through the bones. He took in a sigh as he remembered Tokyo in 1954…





He rested on a rock at the bottom of Tokyo Bay. The night before he strode through the city of Tokyo, Japan. He had the urge to do so, he did not know why. There were these tiny creatures and they had these strange things—firing pain at him. So, he shot back—using his fires to destroy their homes. They were afraid of him, and they had good reason to. Some how, he knew that they were responsible for the pain he felt every time he fired that breath weapon—the pain he felt when the sky exploded that day two years before. It burned him, and it burned his son. Then, he made him become this thing—it mutated him—changed him—made him more violent. He just wanted them to pay for what they did. And so, he burned them. Now, he was resting. It wore him out when he attacked their town—using that strange new gift he now possessed. All he wanted to do was take a nap. They screamed something when he raided their town. Gojira…Gojira…that was what they called him.



Gojira sighed as he awoke from his nap. His pointed ears picked up the sound of something nearing him from the surface. He glanced up, seeing a ship above, blocking out the sun’s rays. Gojira growled as he watched two of those strange creatures wearing strange clothes float down a black colored vine into the water. He let loose another growl, telling these tiny creatures to stay away from him. Gojira noticed something that one of the creatures’ hands. It was a tube of some sort—glass. Gojira’s keen eyes zoomed in on what it was. There was a silvery looking sphere inside the tube. He watched as the two humans settled down on the seabed below. One of the humans came up, leaving the one carrying the tube down on the seabed. Gojira leaned over, watching silently as the creature lifted the tube up, throwing it down near the dinosaur’s toes. Then, bubbles appeared out from the tube filling the water in a curtain of bubbles. Gojira felt the bubbles caress him. They were bubbles, nothing wrong with bubbles. Bubbles do not hurt. Then, he felt a new pain as the bubbles flowed about his body. They stung. Gojira glanced about, wanting to swim away from this pain, but he could not. He was trapped. The bubbles were seeping away the breathable water around him. He could not breathe! Then, he glanced at his claws, seeing his scales disappear around—exposing muscle, then bone. The bubbles were eating him! Gojira cried out in pain and gurgled. It was too painful. He was being eaten by these strange bubbles. He glanced down, trying to see if the creature was still there. The creature was gone. All that was left was a skeleton of the creature. As it wanted to kill Gojira, it had killed itself in the process. As the bubbles ate at him, everything went black. He could feel the painful claws of death reach out and take him. There was nothing he could do. It was better this way, he thought. His mate had died many years before. He had not gotten over her death. He knew he never would. Gojira welcomed the pain of death. His son would be alright now. His son would take up the fight he left off…





“Water…can’t breathe water…” Kiryuu began. “Can’t breathe…water…bubbles…pain…”



He twitched as he watched the scene play out before him. He could feel the bubbles around him, eating him alive. Kiryuu growled, opening his eyes. He let out a powerful roar and it echoed through the bay area. Mike and Tochi came running out onto the catwalk, their eyes in complete shock.



“Kiryuu!” cried Mike. “Jesus Christ! What’s wrong?”



Kiryuu gasped virtually, his golden, cat-like eyes wide. They looked strangely bloodshot. He looked at Mike and Tochi, tears streaming down his face.



“Kiryuu?” Tochi asked. “Okay, I’m gonna call Katsura, and Gordon, and Will…get the whole gang in here. Just hang in there, buddy.”



Kiryuu was too weary from the memories to protest. He sighed again, leaning his head back against the body arms around him. Mike just glanced up, staring at the great bio-mecha.



“Kiryuu?” he asked. “You okay?”



“Nightmare…” Kiryuu replied. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily. What could it be? What was that weapon? That weapon…it took away something in the water, or it poisoned it. What was it?



Now he had to know. Perhaps knowing would also ease his pain on it. Knowledge had that affect on him. He seemed more at ease when he knew what was going on. Kiryuu sighed again, turning inward again. He ignored Mike, who was still staring up at him. Mike shrugged, going back into the control room. Kiryuu sighed. The Internet was what he needed right now. He knew that Gordon would protest if Kiryuu went about, searching for documents that were not meant for his viewing. Still, Kiryuu had the right to know. He began to feed himself through the Foundation’s satellites. Kiryuu pulled up his regular sites, military sites and he used his usual anonymous names while viewing them. Most of the sites he found were focusing on the US cover-up on Monster Zero. He had enough information on Monster Zero. He knew Monster Zero. That was another memory he did not want to dive into at this moment. For now, it did not matter. Kiryuu fed his way through cyber-space, viewing the lines of code that came up around him. Perhaps while viewing these sites, finding the weapon that was used on him—he could find the answer he needed to know about that plasma breath. There was enough on it though—various sites that had pictures of Kiryuu firing off that breath. There were sites that compared the blast Kiryuu produced to the blast the original produced. And there were sites that stated what Kiryuu and the Foundation knew all along—that the original had returned. Though, there were still others who did not think this was all that important. Kiryuu growled as he filed through the sites. None of them had the answer. This answer—the answer of his death—was still shrouded in secrecy. Kiryuu sighed again. Much time had passed since he had started his search. Kiryuu opened his eyes, becoming weary of this. He was tired. He glanced down, seeing that Gordon and Katsura had come into the bay.



“He said it was a nightmare,” said Mike.



“Nightmare my ***,” Gordon growled. “Kiryuu! What the hell is going on now?”



Kiryuu rumbled, blinking away his weariness: “I’m sorry that I startled them. More nightmares of my death.”



“Death?” Katsura asked.



“Bubbles…” Kiryuu sighed. “Bubbles that ate my flesh away. I’m still haunted by them. I don’t know what weapon they used.”



“It’s best that you don’t,” Gordon said. “It’s best that any of us don’t.”



“Do you know who the scientist was, Gordon?” Kiryuu asked.



“No,” Gordon asked. “And no, I’m not lying to you, Kiryuu. I don’t. Even I asked the Prime Minister that. You know how he is! The damned ******* didn’t even give me a straight answer. He said it was an experimental chemical. They were going to use it on something else entirely. Makes me wonder though—back then, 10 years after we dropped two A-bombs on them…if that ‘experimental chemical’ was some sort of weapon the Japanese were cooking up to use on us in retaliation. I don’t think that now, but I did think that back then. If anything else, they’re the ones who are hiding it. You tried hacking into the military grids again, eh? Couldn’t find anything?”



“I have the right to know, Gordon,” said Kiryuu. “It was my death.”



“You know,” Gordon began. “I’m not gonna even stop you. Might teach that *** a thing or two. And that Katagiri *******.”



“Katagiri?” Katsura asked. “The Minister of Defense and the head of the Crisis Control Intelligence?”



“That fellow right there,” Gordon growled. “He was the one who put my company up to building Mechagodzilla, you know. But I never liked the guy. Creeped the hell out of me. When you hacked into the Okinawa base two years ago, Kiryuu, it was their database you stole on all the information on Godzilla. Hack into the CCI again, that might give you some answers or, something. But, who knows. That weapon was made before computers had the computing power to store information. You may not find it.”



“Which means that the information would be on hardcopy in some filing cabinet,” began Kiryuu. “Like the information you had about my bones.”



“Make it harder for anyone to get a hold of it,” said Gordon. “Not unless you’re willing to break into the CCI to do it. Just be careful when you hack. Don’t lead it back to us like you did last time you broke into their database.”



“Don’t worry, I’ve got alibis now,” Kiryuu chuckled. “I can always use them. Make it look as if someone else did it.”



Katsura and Gordon sighed.



“Sometimes, I wonder if Will made him too sinister and calculating,” Gordon sighed.



“I don’t think Will’s to blame,” Katsura said.



“No,” Gordon sighed. “He gets it from me. Because I’d do the same thing.”

[CII]

A Hacking We Will Go…





The lines of code ran up the screen, filling it with useless gibberish as it scrolled up. He tried to clear the lines of code out, but it would not clear at all. Then, the virus program came on line, stating that a worm was feeding its way through the system. The lieutenant shook his head as he read the scrolling. The virus program caught it, but the attack continued. There were lines that came up with quotes all over the screen.



“I see what you see,” was what they read. “I know what you know.”



He shook his head as he tried to fight off the attacker with his own skills. Still, the hacker was faster. He glanced up, seeing Colonel Kenji Fujito walk by the desk.



“Colonel, sir,” he began. “We’re being attacked—again.”



“What?” Fujito asked. “Again?”



“Twice today,” he replied. “From a different address.”



“What information are they taking?” Fujito asked, leaning over to see the screen.



“Information on Gojira,” the lieutenant replied. “Mostly about the first one.”



“Why does this sound familiar?” Fujito sighed as he glanced away.



“Sir?”



“Two years ago, we were hacked by someone and it came from the Utah Foundation base in Yokohama,” the colonel began. “Where Kiryuu was stationed. And the Prime Minister believed it to be Kiryuu. I do too. That AI system is a powerful machine. It’s sentient, you know. And it’s the Foundation’s guard dog on hackers. But, this also means that it is a superb hacker itself.”



“It’s not the Foundation, sir,” he replied. “It’s coming from—Coney Island, New York.”



“No Foundation IP address?” Fujito asked.



“No, sir,” he replied. “Nothing.”



“Kiryuu…” Fujito sighed. “You’re tricking us again. What more could you want from this base?” He turned back to the officer. “Can you block it?”



“No,” the officer said. “But, it looks like who ever it was—is done. They found what they wanted.”



“What information, this time?” Fujito asked.



“Uh—Gojira’s breath,” he replied. “That was it. Oh, and something about the death of the first Godzilla.”



“Kiryuu…” Fujito began. “You fired that breath weapon in Florida…so; you want to know how you did it, huh?”



“We should inform the Minster of Defense about this,” said the lieutenant.



“I have no proof that it was Kiryuu again,” Fujito began. “Even if I knew deep down in my heart it was him. He’s done it before—he can do it again. Just tell Mr. Katagiri that there was an attack and we got it under control.”



“But what about the information?”



“Let Kiryuu have it,” Fujito began. “Not like we have anything on how the first Gojira died anyways. And we don’t have much on his breath weapon as well. He won’t find much. All that we know, he already possesses.”





Kiryuu opened his eyes, downloading the rest of the files he found from Okinawa. He smiled again. It was almost nostalgic to be going back and hacking into the Okinawa base. He leaned back again, filing through the information he had gathered. Still, it was not good enough. Probably why they did not put up much of a fight this time. The first time he had hacked into their databases, they were scratching and biting him along the way, now—it was like they almost allowed him to have it. He saw why as well—the information was worthless. Hacking was no longer a thrill if he was coming up with worthless information. Just like Knight said, the database of the CCI did not possess the information on the weapon that killed the first Godzilla. He had to know. So, he went searching again. He came up upon another site. It was the Godzilla Prediction Network. He had heard of these people before. They were one of the ones who offered to help in tracking Godzilla when Kiryuu was sent to Japan. Gordon Knight refused the offer though—and that was when the CCI stepped in—making their offer. Kiryuu, himself, opposed the idea, finding the Foundation’s satellites perfect for the ability to track Godzilla. Still, though the GPN’s tracking abilities were primitive; they held information on Godzilla that sparked Kiryuu’s interests. There were other sites as well that the Network funded and supported. One was called G-Chasers. Now, Kiryuu had heard of these people. They were like storm chasers, going off to chase Godzilla, going into dangerous situations to get information and photographs of the monster. They even took information and photos of other monsters besides Godzilla. He found a few of them, photographs of monsters like Godzilla, and some were even about Kiryuu. Kiryuu breezed through the various folders of the site’s gallery. He knew a few of these people. Not personally, but mostly from online chats. He had been to this site before and he frequented it regularly to see if any new pictures and information were posted. He had better information than they did, but to just read what they knew was amusing enough.



The site was loaded with visitors today. It had been that way for a while now. And it was mostly because of the incident at Ft. Lauderdale. There were photos of Titanosaurus up on the website, and a few of Kiryuu even—with his spines exposed.



And my plasma breath spouting at the sky…Kiryuu thought. Lovely…



There were several threads made about the incident. They had theories, some were about it could be possible to awaken a dead soul. One particularly was enraged by it all. This poster slandered the Foundation’s name with posts of how they disturbed the rest of the dead. It was not right for them to do it. If only Kiryuu could let this ‘Ryuu no Me’ know that the original wanted it. There were other posts that just stated it was some sort of fluke. Just because the Foundation used the skeleton of the original Godzilla, does not mean they had remade him. Kiryuu went online at this board, posting a few messages on his own. His messages were indifferent though to the whole meaning. He did not want to give himself away too much. He called himself ‘Heavy Metal’ on the board. Nothing was too revealing about that. He left a few things in his personal file on the board that he liked heavy metal rock bands, and well—the movie Heavy Metal. Even his email address had ‘Heavy Metal’ on it. heavymetal-baby@gmail.com It was one of the many email addresses he had in his possession.



“Sometimes we leave things unfinished in life,” he posted. “Maybe it was fate that brought the original Godzilla back in this form. Destiny…”



As silly as that sounded to him, he often wondered about it. Destiny. Did he have one? There had to be a reason why all of this happened. Then, he was reminded what that was when he saw the next thread. The thread was about Monster Zero. Kiryuu often posted in it, asking about it many times. And his answers were the same, they all believed it happened. Especially that Ryuu no Me fellow who had taken pictures of the attack on London. It was when Kiryuu found the pictures of Mothra. She had played a part in chasing this three-headed, golden dragon away. For some strange reason, that sounded all too familiar to Kiryuu. He tried to remember if she had done something like that before…back then…



But he posted at that thread anyways, telling them that he believed it happened as well. Of course he believed it happened because he was a victim of that monster as well. That creature killed…Kiryuu growled again, gritting his teeth as he forced the memories back down.



He shook his head, trying to blot those memories out of his processors for right now. He did not want them to come back. Too many memories, too much pain. Still, he looked on. Kiryuu turned away from the G-Chaser’s website, returning to the Network’s website. Kiryuu began to look up files on the people who ran it. One particular name captured his eyes more than others—Dr. Yuji Shinoda. Shinoda was a self-proclaimed ‘kaiju-ologist’ if there was such a thing. He was a biologist who studied up on the strange mutations that have been showing up recently. Kiryuu had spoken to a few of these people before and Shinoda was no different. It was not what Shinoda knew or theorized before. He and Katsura seemed to be on the same level with the information on Godzilla cells. Especially their regenerative properties. Though, Katsura never really gave the amino acid a name, it seemed that Shinoda had. Organizer G-1 was what Shinoda called it. Not to imaginative name, but it was precise enough.



This Shinoda would love to get a hold of the information Katsura has on this ‘Organizer G-1’ effects on syntech, Kiryuu chuckled to himself. Still, this was not what interested Kiryuu. There were some holes in his research that Kiryuu could easily fill. It was something else he saw that sparked his interests. Kiryuu looked up the personnel file on Shinoda and found that he knew a Dr. Miyasaka from the CCI. It was perfect. It seemed that Miyasaka was also studying Godzilla, and Kiryuu found from that personnel file on him—that he was also had one of his degrees in chemical weaponry.



I have you now…Kiryuu said. Shinoda…tell me…can you give me what I want?



These two scientists were close, extremely close. He found from the files that he downloaded that Shinoda also at one time worked for the CCI. This Shinoda will prove very useful to him. He had to make contact with Shinoda. Kiryuu began to write up an email to the head of the GPN, sending it through his ‘Heavy Metal’ email address. He wanted Shinoda to be able to trace it back to him. He wanted to speak to Shinoda himself. And so, Kiryuu set it up, hoping to get some information. He even offered some information in return, but for now he did not want to say what it was. He wanted Shinoda to find guess what information he had. Kiryuu waited for the reply, reclining in his CPU. He smiled a bit, a feeling of anxiousness coming about him. Kiryuu wanted his answers.



For nearly a day he waited for an email reply, though none came. Kiryuu sighed a bit, sending the email out once more. Does this Shinoda guy check his inbox? Kiryuu knew exactly what to do and he began to send the message through the lines of code into the GPN grid. This grid was wide open. It barely had any virus protection, at least compared to the grids he was used to hacking. Kiryuu chuckled; sending a message through the grid—attacking every computer he could find that was attached to the GPN severs. Kiryuu yawned as he attacked this hardly protected server. There was no challenge to it. He could tell they were fighting back, trying to stop him from feeding his way into their databanks. He downloaded what they had on Godzilla—even if it was incomplete. He grabbed a few pictures too that it seemed this Ryuu no Me took for the GPN. He had some sort of connection with Shinoda too. And there were a few pictures of Kiryuu as well. Kiryuu downloaded them, saving them to a special folder. He read that Shinoda had his own theories on the bones that were inside Kiryuu’s body. And that made Mechagodzilla chuckle even more. Kiryuu backed away, feeling weary again. He sent another email out to Shinoda, demanding a response this time. He mentioned in the email how the information Shinoda had on Godzilla was very—fragmented. He hoped that was enough to get a response. Then, he disconnected his CPU from the Internet. He was tired. Too many memories, too much pain. Kiryuu sighed as he shut down for the night. He just wanted to rest, putting everything else behind him. Perhaps when he awoke, there would be an email for him to read. Just as he shut down, he heard a female voice enter his mind.



I hope you find what you’re looking for, lover boy, it was Biollante.



“Not now,” Kiryuu sighed, seeing her caged image appear in his virtual world.



Oh, Kiryuu! Biollante began. I have so much to share with you about this Shinoda person. About who he knows. I would love for you to meet him.



“Who, Shinoda?” he asked, glancing back at the great plant-like gator.



No…Biollante purred. Him. You’ll see. You’ll be shocked when you meet him. All four of us…we’re so much alike. We’re one happy family, you, me, Godzilla…and him…



“Who the hell is ‘him’?” Kiryuu asked.



Funny, he asked the same question to me when I had some fun with him…in Nevada…Biollante replied. He’s been following you. He’s become your Number One fan, despite the fact that the hates you. He’s the one who called you ‘Chrome Crotch’ a few times during his postings. He hates you so much, but he’s compelled to follow you. I’m sure now that he knows about who you really are—he’s having a complete heart attack. He must be in spasms on the floor by now.



“What the hell are you talking about, Erika?” Kiryuu asked, coming closer to the cage.



Just like the government did something to me, they did something to him, Biollante replied. Just like they did something to you as well, and to Godzilla. You two came first, then us. He’s been following you because he doesn’t know why you do the things you’ve done. Now, he does. But he only knows half of the truth. Sure, he knows you’re Godzilla’s father—but does he know about the super-intelligent AI you possess? Does he know just how manipulative you’ve become since your—reanimation? He thinks you were some abomination. Now, I’m sure he thinks you’re some innocent victim of circumstance. He thinks you’re being used. But does he know that it is you who is using everyone else? You’re pulling the strings now. You have them under your control.



Kiryuu growled, turning away from her.



He doesn’t know the whole truth, she said, her tendril coming out and touching Kiryuu on the shoulder. He doesn’t know the real dark side that is the original Godzilla. Were you this manipulative before you died?



His eyes rolled, shaking his head.



You were! Biollante smiled. Of course you were! How could she have loved such a devious, conniving dinosaur like yourself? She really must love the ‘bad boys’.



“Shut up, Erika,” Kiryuu growled.



Ah, now I see where Maria’s been getting her thrill now, Biollante giggled. She also likes the bad boys. Your deceased mate and Maria have a lot in common. Makes me wonder—if reanimation worked for you, then perhaps reincarnation worked for her. Maybe that’s why you’ve fallen heads over heels for Maria—why you don’t care much for Katsura anymore. Is it? Is that it, Kiryuu?



“I don’t know,” Kiryuu sighed.



Maybe she’s your mate reincarnated, maybe not, Biollante shrugged.



Kiryuu turned back towards her: “Leave me be, Biollante. Please?”



Don’t worry, my sweet, sexy, mechanized hunk, she purred. I’ll leave you to your thoughts. Still, it would be fun if you were to see him. I would so much love to play with him again. He did follow you. He follows you everywhere. He’s your shadow now. The pictures are proof of that. I can’t wait until you meet him. Then, I can have both of you to play with.



Kiryuu growled again, shoving her image back into the small recess of his processor. He locked her up tightly again, making sure she would not disturb him again. That was the last thing he wanted now. Sooner or later he was going to figure out how to get rid of her. He wanted her deleted from his CPU, permanently. Still, who was she talking about? This person who has been following Kiryuu all this time—who was that? Kiryuu was too tired to think about it right now as he began to settle in for the night. He wanted peace of mine, and a reply from Shinoda.



“Chrome Crotch,” Kiryuu breathed. “The only one I’ve found who has called me that was ‘Ryuu no Me’. Has Ryuu no Me been stalking me?”

[CII]

And the Emails Just Keep Coming…



Yugi Shinoda walked into his office at the Godzilla Prediction Network. His daughter had been hard at work today, filing his business in the proper spots. She was always good at that. She was a genius when it came to business expenses, accounting, deals, bargains, what should the Network spend on, what they should not spend on. He trusted his money to her as well. She was such a great saver when it came to money. It was no wonder that he could afford some of the equipment his Network had. He was thankful of what she had done for him. She was not there right now. She was at school right now. Shinoda was proud to have raised a brilliant daughter. Her mother would be proud too.

Shinoda reached over and turned on his Mac G4. He waited for the computer to warm up, hearing the famous chime it gave off when it turned on. He had a T3 line in this Network, so when the computer was on it was automatically connected to the web. Shinoda glanced over to the left side of the screen, seeing that there had been several messages for him. One was from his security team that kept his databases safe from hackers. He opened it, noticing that held a tag of urgency.

“Shinoda, a hacker breached our security protocols we had on the Network. I have never gone up against such a powerful hacker before. We could not block him. He took everything! All the files we had on Gojira—he copied them. He did not erase them, but he did download them. And he mocked us as he hacked. We received messages from him, saying our grid wasn’t secured as he thought. He was too fast and he was too powerful. He might hit us again, though I don’t see why since he took everything we had.”

Shinoda sighed as he stared at the email. A hacker? He thought he had the top programs in security and protection on all of his systems. Then, he noticed several other emails. They were from someone else—someone he did not know. They had titles of information about Gojira. Shinoda opened them.

“Dr. Shinoda, at last I have found you. I am a great admirer of your work. Tell me, for all the knowledge you know—do you happen to have an answer as to how the original Godzilla died? What weapon did they use on him? This is important to me. Please, reply to my email—Heavy Metal.”

Godzilla’s death? That was what this person wanted. Shinoda noticed another email, also sent by the same person—this Heavy Metal.

“You have not replied to my email. I was hoping that you would. If you were wondering about the mysterious hacker who attacked your system. I am that hacker. Compared to what I am used to hacking, your security grids have much to be desired. I grew bored of waiting for you, and so I decided to see for myself. Your information on Godzilla is lacking. The information I possess from Okinawa is ten times more valuable than what you possess. This displeases me. And you call yourself a studier of Godzilla? Therefore I shall not be bothering your grids anymore and you have no worth to me. But, you do know someone who does. Tell me of this Dr. Miyasaka, Dr. Shinoda. You and he worked together in the CCI. While you have left to start your own Prediction Network (which I will point out is very primitive. It was no question why I and the Utah Foundation turned you down) he still has information that he can give me. Contact him for me, and then contact me afterwards. If you do not, I will look to other means. Perhaps this—Ryuu no Me can grant me some information that you are unwilling to give me. Reply ASAP—Heavy Metal.”

“Who the hell is this guy?!” Shinoda asked, backing away from the screen. “Godzilla’s death? I don’t know how that happened.”

This had to be some sort of joke, but the words this Heavy Metal gave him sent shivers up his spine. He mentioned the Utah Foundation though, which made Shinoda even more frightened. He recalled four years ago when the project known as Mechagodzilla—Kiryuu was sent to Japan. He offered to help predict some of Godzilla’s movements, though the Utah Foundation said they had far superior tracking systems. He heard a rumor from Miyasaka. Miyasaka told Shinoda that it was not the Foundation who turned the GPN down—it was Kiryuu who turned them down. He heard rumors that Kiryuu was built with a powerful AI system, capable of making his own decisions. It was the AI who said it…that was what Miyasaka said. Though, it had only been just a rumor passed around the CCI. But that rumor frightened Miyasaka, it frightened the Prime Minister, and it excited the Minister of Defense—Katagiri.

“‘It was no question that I and the Utah Foundation turned you down’,” Shinoda read. “‘I and the Utah Foundation…’”

Shinoda’s eyes lit up, shaking his head now. He could not come to those conclusions. He did not want to know right now. Already he had learned from the press conference that the Utah Foundation had used the original Godzilla’s skeleton for the frame of Kiryuu. They had done more than he ever thought they could do—they brought the original Godzilla back to life. Though the press conference denied a few points about the potency of the skeleton, the Utah Foundation admitted that they had used it. It was more than true. He saw the spines from the news broadcasts in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Kiryuu Mechagodzilla spouted plasma fire. His exposed spines glowed. It made more sense to him than ever. The Utah Foundation had brought the original Godzilla back to life. He was more than thrilled to share it with a very close friend of his—Alan Tyler. Alan Tyler, a very skilled British photographer and one of the few survivors of the Monster Zero attack on London—made it his life to study and photograph monsters. Monster Zero had taken his parents away from him. It was not as much of the death of his parents that drove Alan, it was the fact that the world—no the American government was trying to cover the attack up. Alan resented the American government, and he also resented the Utah Foundation for building Kiryuu. No doubt more than ever now. They had brought back the original Godzilla. Shinoda called Alan about it during the press conference. Alan was upset by it all, while Shinoda ate it all up. Perhaps Shinoda could not blame Alan for feeling so upset about what Gordon Knight had done.

Ryuu no Me…Shinoda thought. This Heavy Metal person was looking for Alan. He was looking for him. He was looking for Alan as well…he was willing to use Alan. Alan would be even more furious about that than ever. This Heavy Metal worked for the Foundation. He had to call Alan up for this, though. He had to let Alan know about this Heavy Metal guy. Though, he was afraid that Alan might be getting himself into more trouble than he bargained for. So, for now he left it alone. He wanted to tell Alan that he received emails from Heavy Metal, but only on the death of Godzilla. But not to mention that Heavy Metal knew about Alan’s relationship with the GPN.

He could not think about it. He did not want to think about it. It would give them more power if he did. He ran a shaking hand through his black hair staring in silence at the email. He did not like it one bit. That was when he decided to pick up the phone.

[CII]

Dragon’s Eye



How long had it been now? 2, 3, maybe even 4 weeks?



Alan knew it had to have been that long, though it sure didn’t feel like it. It felt like only yesterday he was still in Panama... still viewing that screen, when that press conference had played. All this time he had suspected that something odd had been going on, but he could never have expected something like this...



He should’ve known there was something strange about that robot... ever since he witnessed Godzilla’s reaction when he ripped the machine’s arm off. Now that he knew the truth about the robotic Godzilla known as Kiryuu, it seemed obvious why Godzilla reacted the way he did. Was there any way he could have known back then? How was he to know that Godzilla had seen the bones under the layers of metal and bio-syntech... perhaps even sensed the soul trapped within?



Alan wondered how long Godzilla had known the truth. The arm was the first clue... had he figured it out as time went by? He couldn’t help but wondering how the mutated reptile felt, knowing that his father was alive... resurrected as a machine that had first been built to kill him.



The most bitter twist of irony indeed... Yet more twists had been added to the tale as time had gone by. It seemed Kiryuu himself was now aware of what he truly was, of what the Utah Foundation had done to him. Even though Alan couldn’t say for certain, that certainly was what it looked like. Alan had witnessed all of those strange events, the strange interactions between Kiryuu and Godzilla. He thought back over all the times that he had witnessed the two of them seemingly go against everything that the Utah Foundation, not to mention the Japanese and American governments, had constructed Kiryuu to do...



The scene at Yokohama had been what started it all. For Godzilla had shown himself to Kiryuu, not to fight him, but just to meet him. That had been the first time Alan had seen Kiryuu’s true face, and also had started to learn of the true relationship between Kiryuu and Godzilla. Looking back, he now knew that Godzilla had come to see his father... just to see him...



Alan couldn’t help beating himself up over it all, even if he knew there was no way he could’ve known back then. If he knew then what he knew now, perhaps he wouldn’t have been so keen to follow Kiryuu, and learn what he could about him... learn why Godzilla acted the way he did around him...



The events in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, had been what finally revealed the truth to him. Alan still couldn’t shake the image out of his mind... of the exposed, bony back spines on Kiryuu lighting up, signaling the coming of the brilliant white blast of fire that had erupted from Kiryuu’s own mouth. The machine had never done anything like that before, and Alan still couldn’t fathom how such a thing could’ve happened.



It had been during the televised press conference hosted by the head of the Utah Foundation, Gordon Knight, that had finally confirmed what Alan had suspected upon witnessing the events at Ft. Lauderdale. It was during that conference that Knight had revealed what they had used to construct Kiryuu. That had been what had made all of the answers to the questions that had been building up in his head fall into place.



For the Utah Foundation had used the bones of the first Godzilla, the one who had died in 1954, to construct their bio-mech. Their excuse had been that it was the only thing on this planet that could support something that shouldn’t even be able to stand at its weight. Perhaps, but this was not what Alan was bothered about. He’d come to accept the fact that the bones were there. What he could not accept was what had come with them...



For Alan was now absolutely certain that the Utah Foundation had done more than just use the bones in the construction of Kiryuu. They’d done more than that. Somehow they’d ended up reviving the original Godzilla. Unintentionally, no doubt, but they’d still done it. The very soul of the original Godzilla was now inside that metal body. Was such a thing even possible? It had to be...There was no other explanation for Godzilla’s strange behavior around Kiryuu... and for the way Kiryuu treated him...



That was what Alan hated so much about what the Foundation had done, in their pursuit of building a machine to kill a monster created by the foolishness of some Americans in the first place. It was people like them who had built the atom bomb—the very thing that gave birth to Godzilla and his son in the first place. The original Godzilla had died 50 years ago...and they’d brought him back. As far as Alan was concerned, the dead should remain at rest. They should be able to rest in peace after the hardships of life.



For a long time Alan had thought Kiryuu as nothing more than a tool for the Americans to play ‘hero’. Now, he wasn’t so sure. Was Kiryuu even aware of what he was? Well, surely he was, given how he reacted to Godzilla, how he seemed to defy the purpose that he had originally been built for. If he was aware, then why was he still helping the humans, knowing that people like them had mutated him and killed him in the first place? If he wasn’t, then how long would it be before he did become aware?



The Foundation had opened Pandora’s Box...



So Kiryuu was the original Godzilla, the father of the current Godzilla... now resurrected in the form of a machine that had been constructed by a medical conglomerate that hailed from a country that had created him way back in 1954...



Fate had a sense of irony all right...



Adding to Alan’s current ill-feeling was the fact that the American government still refused to acknowledge that the Monster Zero attack on London had happened. That monster... that three-headed dragon had managed to virtually wipe out England in less than a day... and yet, despite the evidence Alan himself had gathered, the whole thing was still written off as a hoax by the American government. Alan found himself almost wishing that Monster Zero returned, and attacked America. There’d be no way the government would be able to silence that...



So Kiryuu was working for a load of liars and conspirators... That was no way to be brought back from the dead...



Right now he was walking through the streets of Grand Forks, North Dakota, dressed in his usual long black trench coat and with his long hair tied back in a ponytail. He was carrying a small bundle under his arm... a parcel addressed to the Utah Foundation, c/o Gordon Knight. He’d not gone to Utah straightaway, where the main headquarters was, feeling he needed to clear his head before he did anything else. At least here he felt a little less like he was in a country where the liars and fools decided the fates of the common man.



As he walked through the quiet streets, he thought back to the events of last night. He’d rented a session in an Internet café, just to catch up with what was going on the G-Chaser Network, where Alan published the accounts and photos of his expeditions up to that point. The site had been very busy. Ever since the events in Ft. Lauderdale, more and more people had visited the site, perhaps doing random net searches on Godzilla and Kiryuu and had dropped by for curiosity’s sake.



Much of the talk on the site had been about two subjects—the Monster Zero attack, and the bones in Kiryuu. As far as the Monster Zero attack went, everybody agreed with Alan that it had actually happened. The photos were proof of that. Funny, Alan had thought, how he felt closer to a group of faceless strangers than anybody he’d met in real life at this point...



The matter of the bones had caused more debate though. Some thought it was nothing but an enormous fluke, that Kiryuu got lucky that time, that there was nothing else to think about. Others, such as Alan, had decided on the possibility, however remote, that the use of the bones had somehow awakened the soul of the original Godzilla. Alan had left very outspoken comments about this, under his net alias of ‘Ryuu no Me’, letting everyone know that he felt it wasn’t right that the Utah Foundation had brought the original Godzilla back, that they should’ve let him rest in peace.



The most recent post had been made by someone calling himself ‘Heavy Metal’. Alan had often found that this person always tried to remain as impartial as possible when it came to discussing the matters raised on the board. Commendable, but Alan couldn’t see how someone could not have some firm opinion on the subject one way or the other. The post had read something like this;



“Sometimes we leave things unfinished in life. Maybe it was fate that brought the original Godzilla back in this form. Destiny…”



To which Alan had replied;



“I don’t believe in fate or destiny or anything like that. I’ve never liked the idea that my life isn’t my own. Besides, I seriously doubt it was Godzilla’s fate to be working for a government that covers up the truth of events that may come back to haunt them. You call that destiny? It’s not the kind of destiny I’d want if I were in Godzilla’s position.”



He wondered how that Heavy Metal guy was going to react to that. Alan had tried to be civil as possible, he only hoped the guy wouldn’t over-react, as some of them on that board were prone to doing.



In general though, Alan had been surprised at just how calm people had been about the whole affair, at just how little it bothered them. Indeed, after he’d finished his business on the Network and had gone out for a pint, he’d overheard a conversation between some of the townspeople, discussing the matter of Kiryuu as calmly as talking about the weather.



“Well, as long as he’s out there bustin’ monster ***,” he’d heard them say, “then I couldn’t care if he was made a’ pencil lead.”



Alan wondered why he was so surprised at just how well everyone was taking the news. It had been the same with the British public after Monster Zero’s attack. They’d accepted that the attack had happened, and had been more willing to talk about it, even if no American wanted to without using the word ‘hoax’. If they knew what Alan knew about Kiryuu, or if they knew the truth about the cover-up, perhaps they wouldn’t be so calm...



He’d still been unsuccessful at obtaining evidence to prove that the American government had covered up the truth, and now the frustration was really setting in. All he wanted to do was nail the people responsible, make them pay for quarantining England and leaving everybody there to rot...However, he’d not been able to find any evidence that he could use to prove that the cover-up had taken place. The photos alone weren’t enough to convince people, since many believed the government when they said they were nothing but elaborate fakes.



This had not stopped him from trying though. The truth of Kiryuu had hardened his resolve to get to the truth. He’d learned one truth, it was time for everyone else to learn another...



As he thought about all this, Alan heard his mobile ringing. Having a feeling about who it was, Alan fished the phone out of his pocket and answered. His theories were confirmed when he heard the voice of Dr. Yuji Shinoda speaking on the other end;



“Alan? It’s me,” Shinoda said. He was a much more subdued figure ever since the press conference. He’d phoned Alan up, excited at the possibility that the original Godzilla had been resurrected. After all that Shinoda had said that our technology was becoming too advanced. Alan had gotten rather short with him, yelling at him, his frustration being released on the unfortunate Shinoda. Nowadays Shinoda was much quieter, and it seemed he and Alan had mutually decided not to discuss the argument further.



“Yeah, what is it?” Alan said, as he continued on his way down the quiet road.



“Something’s really important has happened,” Shinoda replied. “Someone’s been sending me emails asking me all of these questions. Really big questions.”



“What about?” Alan replied, though he wondered why Shinoda had bothered to call him about some email pest. Maybe Io was not at home so often, and Shinoda wanted someone—anyone—to talk to.



“Well,” Shinoda continued, “He’s been asking me a lot of questions about the original Gojira. He’s been asking me about what it was that killed Gojira back in 1954, he’s been hassling me for a reply.”



Now this was odd. Alan himself had sometimes wondered what had killed Godzilla—the first one—but had never been able to find any answers. Shinoda himself didn’t know, nor did anyone else Alan had spoken to about it. Now someone had emailed Shinoda out of the blue asking about it. This was odd...



“What was the guy’s name?” Alan asked.



“I don’t know,” Shinoda said, “All I have is a nickname... ‘Heavy Metal’. Didn’t know anybody actually watched that movie.”



Heavy Metal? A horrid sinking feeling entered Alan’s stomach. It couldn’t be...could it?



“You should listen to this...” Shinoda went on, sounding scared out of his mind, “He hacked into the GPN’s servers and downloaded all of the information we have on Gojira. Didn’t delete it, but he copied everything! Then he emailed me stating my data was lacking, and even insulted me, saying ‘you call yourself a studier of Gojira?’ Of all the nerve!”



Alan narrowed his eyes. He didn’t understand. Heavy Metal struck him as one of the most collected people on the board, yet here he was hacking into databases and throwing insults and threats. If this was his idea of payback for that comment Alan left, he was being pretty ****ing retarded...



“So,” Alan asked, “What did you tell him?”



“Nothing,” Shinoda said. “I’ve only just got the emails. I was sorting out the GPN’s finances with Io. This Heavy Metal guy said he couldn’t wait for an answer, and hacked our databanks. Even if I’d got his note sooner, what could I say? Nobody has been able to find out what killed Gojira. Believe me, I’ve tried.”



“Miyasaka would know, right?” Alan said. “I mean, he’s still under the CCI’s employ, and I don’t trust those guys.”



“I’ve already tried asking him about it,” Shinoda said. “Of course, he doesn’t know either. All he knows is that the scientist who made whatever it was killed himself to prevent anyone from ever finding out the secrets of this weapon. Mind you, if it was as dangerous as rumored, then I wouldn’t want anyone to know about it either.”



Alan sighed. So there was no luck to be had there. Then again, if what Shinoda said and the rumors, whatever they were, were true, then perhaps it was for the best that no one knew what was the truth behind the only weapon ever to kill Godzilla.



“Why don’t you just tell the guy to f*ck off, then?” Alan said simply, “If you don’t know, you shouldn’t have to put up with that kind of harassment.”



“I don’t want any trouble,” Shinoda said heavily, “Whoever it is; I’d rather not take any risks. He’s already downloaded everything we have on Gojira; I hate to think what else he could do.”



If Heavy Metal wants trouble though, Alan thought, he’s about to get it...



Alan sighed, as he approached a postbox. Taking a moment to make sure that he’d got the address right, he dumped the package inside. He wanted it to get to where it was supposed to go, and quickly.



“Anyway,” Shinoda continued, “How’re you doing? You holding up okay?”



Alan didn’t reply. He didn’t know how he felt. So much was buzzing around in his head. All of the bizarre events that had happened to him over the last two years were building up in there. Add to that the continued problem of the cover-up and the truth about Kiryuu, and Alan didn’t know what he was supposed to feel. So much had happened, very little of it could be explained, and all of it only served to scrape away at his mind...



“Listen,” Shinoda said, “I can’t apologize enough for what happened a few weeks ago, but you can’t just…”



“Sorry,” Alan said, snapping out of his daydream, “I was miles away. I was just shocked that someone who had often spoken about the dangers of advancing our science was jumping around like a schoolboy over what the Utah Foundation had done to build Kiryuu.”



“I know, I got carried away then,” Shinoda said, his voice full of apology, “I just found it so amazing that the original Gojira had come back, I forgot myself.” He stopped for a minute there, organizing his words. Alan continued to remain silent. “I know it’s been hard for you over these last two years, especially with what happened in London and everything else after it. Still, we’ll just have to face these things as and when they come. ‘Roll with the punches’ so to speak. We’ll get all the answers one day. Isn’t that why you became a G-Chaser in the first place?”



Alan sighed. He knew Shinoda was right. He had to pull himself together, get his own head sorted out. One day the truth would be revealed... One day they’d all see through the lies. His mentor, Tetsuo, had often said that, and Alan firmly believed it. He had to. That belief was the only thing keeping him going... the reason why he continued to hunt the truth.



“I guess so,” he said to Shinoda, his voice much calmer than it had been for a while, “Thanks. A few more weeks and then I’m coming home. I think I’ve done all I can here, but there’s still one or two things I need to take care of.”



“Okay,” Shinoda said. “Be careful though. Don’t do anything rash. Don’t get yourself into trouble over all this.”



“I know, I know,” Alan replied. “I’ll see you when I get back.”



“Sure,” Shinoda replied, “Sayonara.”



With that, he hung up. Alan started to head away from the postbox, back to the temporary place he’d rented.



He had a few things he needed to do. In that package was something that hopefully would make Knight realized the severity of what he’d done. It was a little something to let everyone at the Utah Foundation know that someone had figured out the whole truth of what Kiryuu was. Hopefully it would draw them out... force them to reveal something they’d previously kept hidden. Maybe he’d get some answers then...



Hopefully they’d take the bait.



As to that Heavy Metal character...If Shinoda wasn’t going to do anything about it, Alan certainly was.



* * *



Well, hope you’re happy…a small voice in Shinoda’s head spoke, You’ve only gone and told bare-faced lies to someone who trusts you. What do you think he’ll do when he finds out you omitted a few key details?



As he hung up the phone, Shinoda tried to silence those nagging voices in his mind. He tried to persuade himself that he had done the right thing. This way, Alan wouldn’t try anything stupid... he wouldn’t get himself into more trouble than he probably already was in...



He turned back towards the monitor and re-read the email again. The chilling messages contained on it haunted him constantly, preying on his mind, filling him with so many doubts that he had hoped never to endure again.



He was used to agencies doing dirty-dealing to get their own way. He knew from experience that the CCI used to do it all the time, and he was still hearing horror stories from Miyasaka about how they often twisted the system to achieve their own agendas.



Now it seemed the Utah Foundation was following their lead. This Heavy Metal character had managed to re-instill those old fears. He held his head in his hands, trying to push back the fear and doubt. This person had hacked into the GPN’s databases, and then had threatened to try and get the information he needed from Alan, of all people.



Shinoda reached a shaking hand up to the computer, and powered down. He was now frightened beyond belief. This guy wanted information out of him and Miyasaka... and was also willing to use Alan to achieve his goals. He could safely assume that Heavy Metal worked for the Utah Foundation... had they discovered what Alan was up to, and were now moving to take action against him?



What if Heavy Metal was…? He didn’t want to think that, but the insane possibility seemed hard to ignore, given the rumors that Miyasaka had picked up from within the CCI’s walls...



There was nothing he could now. He was trapped. All he could do now was hope Alan didn’t do anything to attract attention to himself...least of all if the attention came from the Utah Foundation...

[CII]

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Curses



“Alan Tyler,” Kiryuu rumbled. “That is who this Ryuu No Me is.”



He had spent long hours—after hours in the night going through various files. This Alan Tyler person wanted to hide himself from what ever he was running from, but even he had an FBI file. Who does not these days? No one could run from the Homeland Security. If it had fingerprints, it had a file.



“And he had been stalking me this whole time,” Kiryuu sighed to himself. “He was there when I got my arm torn off, he was there at Yokohama, it seems from these pictures, he was there at Nevada, according to Biollante, and—he was there at Panama.”



Kiryuu chuckled, smiling as he cracked his virtual knuckles as he delved into the FBI databases. He did not want them to know he was here, though. He kept himself hidden fairly well. For now, he could not keep track of Alan’s movements. Still, this person will turn up sooner or later, do something that he would be able to track.



Kiryuu breathed. “Brilliant. Well, then, Shinoda, if you will not give me what I want, then most certainly, Alan will. I have answers for him. I have such lovely answers for him.”



Kiryuu sat back in his virtual world, filing through the various nexuses in the Internet. He went back to visit the website that Ryuu No Me visited. It was the G-chaser website. Kiryuu blinked as he saw the message he had left on the topic that was about the bones inside of Mechagodzilla. Alan had replied.



“I don’t believe in fate or destiny or anything like that. I’ve never liked the idea that my life isn’t my own. Besides, I seriously doubt it was Godzilla’s fate to be working for a government that covers up the truth of events that may come back to haunt them. You call that destiny? It’s not the kind of destiny I’d want if I were in Godzilla’s position.”



Posting a reply to Ryuu No Me’s message did not do it justice. Kiryuu chuckled as he read that. This person would be in for a surprise if he knew the whole truth. Kiryuu thought on the downside of tell him. Humans did not like the idea of a sentient AI, especially an AI that was possessed by the spirit of the original Godzilla. And the original Godzilla was enjoying every bit of his new life with the Utah Foundation. It opened doors for him that were closed to him when he was nothing more than a dinosaur. Kiryuu’s only mission in life—for truth was not the protection of humans—but the conservation of knowledge that humans had amassed over the thousands of years. Being connected to the Internet made him realize that. And he had to protect every last gig he of information he found. And so, he replied to Alan’s statement, but not on the board, through an email.



“My dear Mr. Tyler, you are so prominent into dealing out judgment of a crime every government is guilty for. Every government—not just America—do things that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. But they do these things in order to protect their people, sometimes from themselves—and from the rest of the world. I should know, I’ve had my fair share of dealings with governments. Now, to answer you question about Godzilla’s choice—the original Godzilla’s choice. Who are you to say he wouldn’t? You’re not Godzilla, you don’t know what he wants, what he thinks, or even what his motives are. We are all used in some form or another. We are all pawns in this world. Maybe Kiryuu has more control over things than you think he does.”



Sending the message out, Kiryuu chuckled a bit. If that does not ruffle a few feathers, then he did not know what would. Of course, is reply on the board was again indifferent about the subject. A subtle: “We are all used in some form or another…” was enough to get his point across. Again he did not want to let too much information out about who he really was. So far, this was good enough. Still, no reply from Shinoda. Kiryuu stopped haggling him, deciding to keep his eye on Alan Tyler instead. Alan would not be impressed unless Kiryuu had something to show for his talent. Kiryuu sat back, thumbed through his own collections of photographs he had taken through his optical sensors. They were his memory that he backed up in order to know what was what through sight. And some of them were as beautiful as photographs should be. They were works of art. Kiryuu sighed a bit, as he shoved them away. For now, he was going to wait.



* * *



“Mr. Knight,” began Dolly. “A package just came in for you today.”



Gordon stopped in his walk towards his office, turning towards Dolly’s desk. She was his own personal secretary. Dolly’s curly black hair was combed back into a poof ball at the back. She stood up, handing him a brown package. It was sent Priority Mail, holding the famous eagle seal on top. Gordon took it, staring at it for a moment.



“Who is it from?” Gordon asked.



“Doesn’t say,” Dolly said. “But the postage stamp looks like it came from North Dakota.”



Gordon sighed as he took the package from her.



“Thanks, Dolly,” he said. “Any calls for me?”



“No,” she replied.



“Any—other calls…Kiryuu…Will…Katsura…” he stared down at the package.



“No,” she replied. “It’s early in the morning, sir. They’re not there, and Kiryuu’s probably in sleep mode.”



“Knowing the next president of the Utah Foundation,” Gordon Knight sighed. “He’s probably filing through Foundation records to study up all he can so he can get ready when the day finally comes and I hand him the seat and all my shares, thereof.”



Dolly chuckled a bit as she watched Gordon disappear behind the doors to his office. Gordon sat down at his desk, opening the package with a knife he had tucked in his pocket. He pulled the flap back and pulled out what was inside. It was a photograph, of very good quality. And it was of Kiryuu.



“What the…” he breathed.



From the picture, Kiryuu was looking directly at the camera, his bio-syntech sensory cords draping over his shoulders. His eyes were in deep concentration, and almost a bit annoyed. And those pupils of his—contracted into thin lines. The golden irises glistened in the sun. It was a superb shot of Kiryuu. He wondered who took it. Then, something dropped out of the envelope. It was a note.



“Let the dead rest in peace…” it read.



“What the hell is this?” Gordon asked, a bit confused. “‘Let the dead rest in peace…’”



He thought on what the message meant. It was about Kiryuu. Then, his eyes opened widely. This guy was referring to what Kiryuu really was in reality, the original Godzilla. Knight had reanimated the original, given it a new lease on life, and a new—more powerful mind as well. This person knew who Kiryuu really was. Though Gordon had revealed to the world what he had used, he tried to cover it up as best as he could that the original Godzilla was reborn. Even if he made some sort of hint about it at the conference in Florida, that was enough for people to discount it. It was too much information and he knew how some people with conspiracy on their minds thought. Most people believed he used that ‘Godzilla thinks Kiryuu’s his father’ line to cover something bigger up. It was working exactly how he planned it would. So what? Godzilla thinks that Kiryuu’s his father. It did not matter to some people. The news stations were using the whole ‘father’ thing as a gag on their programs. And so, people discounted it. It did not turn out as bad as he thought it would have. Gordon was satisfied. But this person knew exactly what the Foundation had done. Gordon shrugged a bit.



“Yeah, kid,” he laughed at the picture. “Yeah, I brought back the dead. He doesn’t mind it. I’m not worried about it either. He’s my heir, by the way. No one is worried about it. And if you think that your little note is gonna scare me, you got another thing coming. You have no idea what I’ve created—and it’s bigger than the fact that it’s the original Godzilla. A lot bigger than you know. That don’t matter to me anymore.”



Still, Gordon would love to know who sent this picture. He knew exactly who could tell him.



“Yeah, kid,” he said. “Guess what, I’m gonna track you down with the best bloodhound in the world—with the thing you’re accusing me of bringing back to life.” He tapped the intercom. “Miss Dolly.”



“Yes, Mr. Knight,” she said over the speaker.



“Get me Kiryuu on the line,” Gordon said. “I know he’s awake down there. Get him on the line. I want to speak to him for a moment.”



“Yes, sir,” she said. Gordon waited for a moment, and then, he heard another voice on the speaker.



“Yes, Gordon?” came a much deeper voice than Dolly’s.



“Kiryuu?” he asked.



“I’m here,” Kiryuu replied. “What is it?”



“You done hacking into the CCI, yet?” Gordon asked.



“I am,” he replied. “They did not have my answers. I am going to other alternatives now.”



“I need you to trace a package for me,” Gordon said. “Feel up to it?”



“Trace a package?” Kiryuu asked. “Of course.”



“I wonder, have you been letting your guard down recently?”



“My guard down?” Kiryuu asked, a bit shocked. “No, why?”



“Someone on the outside knows you’re Godzilla’s father,” Gordon said. “I’ve got a package with a note that hints to that.”



“Well, you did hint on it at the press conference,” Kiryuu noted.



“Yeah, but hardly anyone took the bait,” Gordon said. “But this guy did. He took a picture of you too. Looks like he was in a helicopter or something when he took it. Got your face and your shoulders, that’s it. You’re looking up at the camera.”



“So, this person has sent you a picture of me?” Kiryuu asked.



“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve got the parcel number on the package. Can you look up a tracking number with this?”



“Does it have a return address?” Kiryuu asked.



Gordon glanced around on the address sticker on it.



“Grand Forks, North Dakota,” Gordon replied.



“That’s a fairly large city,” Kiryuu said. “Any other information on it?”



“Just the usual postmark date,” Gordon replied. “It was sent through Priority Mail though.”



“Good,” Kiryuu replied. “It’s easier to track. Priority almost always has a tracking number of some sort. They pay for that much, they want to make sure that it gets to its destination properly. Bring it to the base. I want to see this for myself.”



Gordon nodded as he took his hand off of the receiver. He walked out of the office with the package under his arm.



“Dolly, call my driver,” he said. “I’m going to the base.”



“Yes, sir,” Dolly replied. “I’ll hold your calls for you.”





Maria breathed as she stepped into the hangar bay. She saw Kiryuu with his eyes closed. She had a feeling that he was not asleep. He rarely slept. There were things for him to do. He was obviously doing something internally. Will was at his desk with Katsura beside him. They were whispering to each other. Katsura seemed slightly worried about something.



“Hey, what’s going on?” Maria asked as she walked into the control room.



“We think there’s some sort of leak inside the base,” Will said. “We just got a call from Gordon. Actually, Kiryuu did, saying someone knows about him being Godzilla’s father. Though, we’re not worried about that now, but who knows what else this guy knows about Kiryuu.”



“Gordon will be here shortly,” Katsura said.



“Someone hacked into the base?” Maria asked.



“We don’t know,” Will replied. “Kiryuu’s doing a full sweep of the Foundation’s grid. He’s checking the satellites as well, making sure that no one is ‘hitching a ride’ on them so to speak. And I’m goin through the lines of code that is our security grid to make sure they’re working properly. It’s nearly impossible for someone to break in to this base. Kiryuu hacks into this base constantly to test our security grids. So far, no one can keep up with him. So, we beef it up even more. I just don’t get it.”



“Don’t get yourself into a knot, Will,” Katsura said. “We’re all worried about it.”



“Someone might know that Kiryuu’s sentient?” Maria asked. “Is that why you’re all worried?”



“Possible,” said Will. “Though, they’d have a hard time proving it. Still, we have to be careful about this. Even a small thing like someone knowing the truth about Godzilla and Kiryuu is enough to set us off. Back then, if someone did know about Kiryuu being Godzilla’s father before we had told everyone what was underneath Kiryuu—yeah, we’d be pulling our hairs out over it. Now, it’s not a big deal.”



“Wouldn’t people be disgusted by it?” Maria asked. “I mean, about the fact that the Foundation brought the original Godzilla to life?”



“You’d think that,” said Will. “But you’d be amazed about how a lot of people don’t care about these things. Hell, they wouldn’t care if Kiryuu was originally Godzilla’s gay cousin twice removed on his mother side and he if had a foot fetish when he was alive back in ‘54. It don’t matter to them. They’ve seen worst things on TV. Now, the fact that we created an AI capable of sentience and for that matter such unbelievable hacking power inside the bio-mechanical body that was the current Godzilla’s father…now that would shake the world. It would start religious wars over the whole idea that humans are capable of creating sentient life.”



“They don’t think Godzilla is sentient?” Maria asked.



“We may think he’s semi-sentient,” said Katsura. “But the world doesn’t. Mankind is arrogant. Everyone thinks that Godzilla is an animal—not capable of sentiency. Though, I and Kiryuu may theorize that he is, we don’t have much proof on that. But Kiryuu’s sentiency, we do have proof on that. That’s why people would care more if they found out that Kiryuu’s sentient.”



“Someone please define what ‘sentient’ means,” Maria sighed. “Many times I thought of animals being sentient as well.”



“Compared to Kiryuu, they aren’t,” Will said.



“Sentience is loosely defined as someone being able to perform cognitive thought,” boomed Kiryuu’s voice through the bay area. “Godzilla may be able to perform these tasks, but not on human—or even my level. Which is why we differ. Sentience is also defined as being ‘human-like’, being able to interact with humans, understand their reasoning and react accordingly, and also make humans perceive that being to be human in nature. Something I have be able to do but something Godzilla has not been able to do. Though, sentience is really defined as something that has sensory perception of the world. Perhaps what I possess is more along the lines of ‘sapient’ sentience, the ability to act and react with intelligence. I have ideas, I have thought, something Godzilla has shown, but on a much more primitive level. So far, his thoughts were about me, mostly, but they are also about what he is going to do during the day, what are his instincts telling him? Humans rarely rely on instincts now, as do I as well. And also Godzilla’s inability to communicate on a human or higher level will also make it hard for us to prove that he is also a sentient being. I love my son, but he is not capable of true sentience. Still, even that statement can be disproved at any time. But for now, it is safe to say it.”



“And that’s why Kiryuu passed the Turing Test,” Will chuckled.



“What exactly is the Turing Test?” Maria asked.



“A test devised by a British mathematician,” replied Kiryuu. “In the 1950’s. His name was Dr. Alan Turing. He theorized that it was possible for one day mankind would create a computer capable of cognitive thought. Therefore, he created a test that would challenge any sophisticated computer that bore any possible resemblance to sentience. It tested the computer’s ability to think abstractly—outside its programming with a series of conversations. A computer and a human would engage in a conversation through messages mostly. A judge would be appointed to tell the difference between the two participants in the conversation. The judge does not know which one is which, but he reads the conversation accordingly. If he can tell the difference between the two participants, actually say that one is the computer and the other is the human and get it right, the computer has failed. I believe the judge who witnessed my conversation often mistook the human for the computer, isn’t that right Will?”



“It was funny to see it too,” Will laughed. “He couldn’t tell the difference. Kiryuu passed. He’s sentient.”



“Many of us thought that because Kiryuu could emote,” began Katsura. “That was how he was sentient. It isn’t. Emotions could be easily programmed into Kiryuu’s system to help him interact more with us better, although we did not put emotions into him. The Turing Test was the only thing that could prove Kiryuu’s sentience, not emotions.”



“I didn’t know that,” said Maria.



“It’s true,” said Kiryuu.



“So, this guy might know more than you guys are comfortable with?” Maria asked.



Katsura sighed as she pulled back her hair, revealing the plug in her neck. Maria obviously knew that she was also worried that this guy might know of Kiryuu’s connection with her. She sighed again, glancing up at Kiryuu.



I’ll find this guy, Katsura, Kiryuu said into her mind. Don’t worry.



“Gordon is coming with the package,” said Will. “And Kiryuu’s gonna trace it to see who sent it.”



“Good,” said Maria. She turned back to Kiryuu, who smiled pleasantly at her. “You feeling alright?”



“I’ve been better,” he sighed. “I’ve been up all night trying to answer questions that have only now been resurfaced.”



“Kiryuu wants to know how he died in ‘54,” said Will. “He wants to know what the name of the weapon was that killed him. And Gordon gave him the permission to find out by any means necessary. Just as long as he doesn’t get the company in trouble.”



“The CCI didn’t have what I was searching for,” said Kiryuu. “At least not on in their databases. If they do, it’ll be on hardcopy in a filing cabinet somewhere.”



“What gave you that idea, Kiryuu?”



“My son,” Kiryuu rumbled. “He wanted to know what killed me. In a way, I do as well. It would bring me peace of mind. And perhaps—get these dreams to stop.”



Maria stepped closer to the great form in the bay. Kiryuu glanced down at her, smiling still. She had heard of those dreams that he had, the ones that haunted him still. It was of his death long ago. It made no sense to him that bubbles could do so much damage. He had the right to know.



“I know it seems a bit obsessive of me,” said Kiryuu. “But this is my life we are talking about.”



“I know,” said Maria. “But I heard it was a very powerful weapon. Some people would think that you might use it.”



“I have no need for it,” Kiryuu said. “But knowing its function would satisfy me enough. It would be ridiculous for me to use it—or even for this company to put it to any uses. Besides, perhaps from this weapon can come some good. After all, if it weren’t for the atomic bomb, I would not have a plasma pack to keep me running, would I? It took a weapon of such great destruction to help mankind understand the ways of nuclear power. From the cyclotron came the boiling water plant.”



“You think you can put some good to that weapon?” asked Maria.



“Maybe not the weapon itself, but the components that built the weapon,” Kiryuu said. “If it is a substance that can be used in other ways besides destruction. In a way we could benefit from it.”



Maria chuckled: “I see, getting ready to tackle Gordon’s job, huh? You’re trying to find new avenues to make this company more prosperous.”



“I sound arrogant in my musings, don’t I, Maria?” Kiryuu sighed as he turned away from her.



“No,” Maria said. “Kiryuu, I didn’t mean it like that. Maybe we can find other ways to put this thing to use. Just like the scientist that created it, I wouldn’t want this thing to fall into wrong hands either.”



“The information I will discover, I shall lock away in my database,” said Kiryuu. “I’ve made a promise to myself. Only I will know. If it is that powerful, no human shall know of what it is until I can see that some good can come from it.”



“Gordon knows of this?” Maria asked. “Does he know what you’ve decided to do when you get the information you require?”



“Yes,” Kiryuu replied. “He said it’s only right. Though, some how it makes him feel better that I would hold such information in my head than anyone else. To trust me like this is a great honor. I wouldn’t want to let him down.”



“You better not!” called a gruff voice behind them. Kiryuu tilted his head slightly, his golden eyes falling on Gordon Knight. The CEO smiled back at Kiryuu, bringing out a Priority Mail package from under his arm.



“Here it is,” Gordon said. “And I brought the picture. I figured since it is of you, you should see it, and the note.”



“Come up to my cockpit,” said Kiryuu. “We’ll look at it from there. Will, Katsura, Maria, you may come as well.”



“Fine by me,” said Gordon. “We all need to know what is going on here.”



Will and Katsura joined Gordon and Maria up on the lift towards Kiryuu’s shoulder. Maria glanced down at the package, seeing the North Dakota stamp on it.



“North Dakota?” she asked. “Who would want to bother Kiryuu from there?”



“I don’t know,” Gordon said. “I’m not as worried about what they know of Kiryuu’s relationship to Godzilla, I’m more worried about what they know about Kiryuu’s intelligence.”



“Who knows that Kiryuu’s sentient?” Maria asked.



“Besides myself, Katsura, Will, Tochi, Mike, and well—most of anyone in the Foundation who either is involved with this project, including yourself,” Gordon sighed. “No one. Though, the Japanese government has an idea.”



“No, they don’t have an idea,” said Will. “They know full well that Kiryuu’s sentient. It was one of the qualms Ifume had with us and Kiryuu’s system. One of the reasons why he didn’t trust Kiryuu.”



“That and, Kiryuu crippled the CCI’s grid one time while he was searching for information on Godzilla,” said Gordon. “The Prime Minister knew it was Kiryuu. Of course when I finally found out about it that was when I figured out I can’t control him.”



“Now, you’re using his skills as the ultimate hacker?” she asked, a bit shocked now. The lift slowed as the four stepped out. Gordon opened up the hatch, climbing down into the dark chamber. He saw the lights slowly turn on when he came to the cockpit. The others followed. Gordon sat down at the console, opening the package he had under his arm. He took out the picture and held it up to the camera.



“Wow,” Will breathed. “That’s—dramatic…very dramatic.”



“Nice colors,” said Maria. “Kiryuu, you look so handsome in this picture.”



“He’s a very good photographer,” said Gordon. “Wish I could hire him. It’s a shame I have to get Kiryuu to give him a good kick in the *** and a ‘don’t frag with me’ note.”



“What does the note say?” Kiryuu asked.



“‘Let the dead rest in peace,’” Gordon read.



Kiryuu stared at the picture, studying it with intent. He was not looking at himself, rather the background around him. He knew that area. He recalled there was one incident where he looked up at helicopter flying over him and Godzilla. It was when he was in Panama, trying to tell Godzilla to return home. They had a fight, Godzilla did not want to go. Then, Kiryuu stared at the chopper above him. He could not keep his eyes off of that chopper. He sensed something coming from that chopper, something that Biollante giggled about inside his head later. Kiryuu sighed when he heard the message on the note. Who else would send a message like that? Who did he know of that would do something like this, feel so strongly towards the fact the Foundation? He sat in his CPU quietly, pulling up his sites again. It had been a few days since he started his search, a few days since he hacked the grid of the GPN to look for his answers. He needed this. Then, his Internet history popped up with the G-chaser website. He remembered during that time, he had a reply from Ryuu No Me on Kiryuu’s indifferent comment. So, he sent him an email. Kiryuu glanced over and saw the email sitting in his Inbox.



“Gordon,” Kiryuu said. “I don’t need to trace that package. I know who sent it. And if I’m correct, he won’t even be in North Dakota anymore. He’s a traveler.”



“Who?” Gordon asked.



“I had recently came in contact with a person called Ryuu No Me who is a part of an organization—if you call it that—named G-Chasers,” Kiryuu said. “They go around…”



“I’ve heard of them,” Gordon snorted. “No good, lousy bums are what they are! All they do is go around the world, chasing monsters, and taking pictures. Monster chasing is one huge testosterone ride for them. Sooner or later, they’re gonna get killed for what they do.”



“I believe a few of them have been,” Kiryuu said. “The site has obituaries on it as well. Girls also do chases, Gordon.”



“How much you wanna bet that there’s more boys there than girls,” Gordon snorted. “So, you think it’s this Ryuu No Me kid, huh? What makes you say that?”



“He’s my stalker,” Kiryuu replied.



“You’re—what?” Gordon asked.



“Kiryuu, you have a stalker?” Maria asked.



“Kiryuu!” Will breathed. “I don’t believe it.”



Kiryuu pulled up the various pictures he found that was in Ryuu No Me’s folder. There were many pictures of various monsters, but never had he seen such an enormous collection of pictures of himself.



“I know this place,” said Katsura. “That’s in Yokohama. And this was Tateyama. And look…Panama!”



“He was in Nevada too,” Kiryuu said.



“There are no pictures he took of you in Nevada,” Gordon said. “How can you be sure?”



“Biollante has told me,” Kiryuu replied. “Before I arrived, she—had some fun with him.”



Gordon shook his head. He did not want to know what that ‘fun’ was—knowing how sick and twisted Erika Munson was.



“She attacked his mind,” said Kiryuu.



“Why?” Katsura asked. “Why would she attack some photographer’s mind?”



Kiryuu shook his virtual head. He started to change the subject.



“This guy has a deep resentment for me,” Kiryuu said. “It runs really deep. He hates everything that the Foundation has ever done to bring about my rebirth. He just sent me a reply to my email to him. I emailed him. He respects me a bit—as Heavy Metal—but this one…”



Kiryuu pulled up the screen, reading the email silently. He made sure he edited the bits he was willing to share with his friends.



“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are, but what makes you think you have the g**d**n right to preach to me like that?! What makes you think you can just go around interfering with people’s lives?! You had no f*cking right whatsoever to hassle Shinoda the way you did. Why can’t you just piss off and leave the man alone?!



“All that stuff you said about me not knowing what Godzilla would want, isn’t that more than a little hypocritical? How would you know what’s best for Godzilla? I seriously doubt you’re Godzilla or Kiryuu either, so you’re hardly in a prime position to speak about his welfare!



“So why don’t you just back off and stop telling me what I should think?! You have no idea why I am the way I am, so don’t tell me to be otherwise!”



Kiryuu showed them the edited piece.



“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are, but what makes you think you have the g**d**n right to preach to me like that?!



“All that stuff you said about me not knowing what Godzilla would want, isn’t that more than a little hypocritical? How would you know what’s best for Godzilla? I seriously doubt you’re Godzilla or Kiryuu either, so you’re hardly in a prime position to speak about his welfare!”



“What the hell did you do to piss that guy off, Kiryuu?” Gordon asked.



“I merely said that he should think twice before passing judgment on something he knows nothing about,” Kiryuu replied.



“Jesus, Kiryuu,” Gordon sighed. “You either gonna be caught for some of the things you’ve done, or actually build yourself up so much that not even God can touch you without having to ask whether or not he should. And it’s frightening sometimes. But, mark my words, the bigger you are, the harder the fall.”



“I realize that, Gordon,” replied Kiryuu. “That is why I rely on subtleties. I move in the shadows. So does this person. He has connections with a Dr. Shinoda.”



“So,” Gordon shrugged.



“Dr. Shinoda,” began Katsura. “I know him. We went to college together. A few times he was my lab partner. He was more of an acquaintance of mine. He started the Godzilla Prediction Network.”



“Aren’t those the same guys who offered to help us in tracking Godzilla down?” asked Gordon. He turned to Kiryuu. “But you said ‘no’.”



“I said no to the Prime Minister of Japan,” said Kiryuu. “We both said no to Shinoda. He knows Dr. Miyasaka, who is in the CCI.”



“He specializes in chemical weaponry as well, doesn’t he?” Gordon asked. “I think I’m following you. And this guy knows Shinoda.”



“I’ve emailed Shinoda,” said Kiryuu. “He has refused to reply.”



“Probably figured out who you were,” Gordon said. “So, there’s our leak.”



“Maybe not a leak,” said Kiryuu. “We don’t know what Shinoda knows.”



Kiryuu turned away rumbling pleasantly as he thought all of this through. Then, he smiled within his processors.



“I have an idea,” Kiryuu grinned. “If Ryuu No Me wishes to send the Foundation this. Perhaps I should send something to him in return.”



“Reply?” Maria asked. “Is that wise?”



“You want to meet this guy in person, don’t you?” Gordon asked. “I forbid it!”



“Biollante hold some sort of connection with him,” Kiryuu said. “Government experiments. It’s not like the US government doesn’t know of my sentiency, they just know we haven’t gone public with it. I must know about this person as I do with my death.”



“Why?” Gordon snapped back.



“Because, Gordon, G-cells may be involved,” Kiryuu growled.



Gordon just stood and stared at the screen.



“G-cells?” Katsura asked.



“Biollante said something to me while I was going through these files,” Kiryuu continued. “She said that there was a connection between she, I, Godzilla—and…this Ryuu No Me. Just like the US government raped my cells to create Biollante…”



Katsura’s head dipped down a bit, sighing.



“You think this guy has G-cells on him?” Will asked.



“Why else would Biollante want to toy with him like that?” Kiryuu asked. “I felt something when I saw that chopper. I don’t know what. But I have the right to know. He’s my connection with Shinoda and Miyasaka. Yes, the Japanese government is hiding something. I did a small search on this guy through the CCI. He’s broken out of the building before.”



“What was he doing in there in the first place?” Gordon asked.



“You didn’t listen to me,” Kiryuu said. “I said he broke out, I didn’t say he broke in. Though, for now, I do not have the files on why he was there. I don’t think he knows either. He can give me the answers I need. And perhaps, in a way, I can help him get the answers he seeks.”



“Damn them…” Gordon sighed. “Just like the US government and their lies about using my syntech. So, we’ve got another Biollante on our hands, is that what you’re saying, Kiryuu?”



“Yes,” Kiryuu replied.



“Damn it to hell,” Gordon growled. “It’s the CCI’s fault?”



“I will not come to those conclusions yet, Gordon,” said Kiryuu. “But it is a possibility.”



“Fine,” he said. “Send this Ryuu No Me an email. You have a good head shot of Godzilla?”



“Yes,” Kiryuu nodded virtually.



“Send that to him,” Gordon replied. “Put some quirky tagline to it as well.” He paused a bit. “What are you gonna say?”



“‘There is a reason why the dead will not rest in peace’,” Kiryuu said. “And I’ll have a picture…the best photograph of Godzilla sent to him as well. I’ve got one, showing every detailing of his eyes, of his face—and showing the expression of love and compassion to his father. It’s brilliant.”



“Good,” Gordon said. “Send it right away. Let him mope around that.”



“You’re setting this guy up,” said Maria. “You plan on using him for something.”



“I want to meet this guy,” said Kiryuu. “I am going to send him this picture, wait for his reply, then—when that is said and done, I will set up a meeting with him. He wants to claw my eyes out, he can just try while I’m holding him bound in syntech so close to my jaws. And then, I’ll know whether or not Biollante is right about this Alan Tyler—whether or not he has my son’s cells in him.”



And I will so much love to play with him again…Biollante purred through Kiryuu’s processors. Katsura felt dizzy when she heard the words. She leaned back, shaking her head. She saw the image, a face coming to her bound in syntech. A pair of golden eyes stared at her in horror, they were like Kiryuu’s eyes—but they were foreign to her. Kiryuu growled seeing this image as well. Biollante had them both. All they could see were the golden eyes, the dark form struggling against Biollante’s grip. Katsura fell to her knees.



“Katsura!” Maria cried, taking hold of her arm.



“Those eyes…” she breathed.



“What the hell happened?” Will asked.



Kiryuu growled, gritting his virtual teeth as he slammed Biollante against the harden walls of his most inner processors.



Oh, Kiryuu, I so love it when you play rough with me…Biollante purred.



“Do that again, and I will purge all of my CPU of any unwanted viruses,” Kiryuu growled. “You will not interfere when I finally meet this person you’re so fond of.”



I’m not fond of him, Kiryuu, Biollante said. But he’s such a neat puppet to play with at times. You’re gonna send him to that awful place, aren’t you? You’re so cruel. You see, you’re using him as your puppet too. He hates being used. He’s sticking up for you now because he thinks the Foundation is using you. Once he finds out the truth, he won’t do what you want him to do.



“He’ll have no choice,” Kiryuu growled. “He has a right to know about what has happened to him as well. Besides, jus think what he’ll be getting out of it. King Ghidorah. It hurts, but I can reach in and capture a picture from the memory of the cells to show him it. A picture of King Ghidorah he does not possess.” His mind went to the humans inside the cockpit. “She is contained again. She has no power right now. I’ll send this picture as soon as I can.”





Kiryuu settled back as he set up the pictures for the email. They were perfect, flawless. He reached into the deep recesses of his syntech to pull out the King Ghidorah image and he fixed it up. It was a bit grainy, like an old photograph from a family album. But this was not his family. Godzilla was. There was a reason why he was here now, and Godzilla and King Ghidorah had something to do with that. And so, he wrote his message.



“There is a reason why the dead will not rest in peace,” Kiryuu wrote beside the image of Godzilla. Then, he wrote another message beside King Ghidorah, also known as Monster Zero. The great golden dragon’s wings were extended to their full span and he stood upon a field of plants and trees long dead in this world. Around his massive feet were the bodies of creatures that are now extinct. Kiryuu continued to write. “And there is a reason why the dead must continue until his true task is done and the real monster can be laid to rest. You and I have something in common, Mr. Tyler. King Ghidorah. We both want to see this monster dead for what he has done.”



Kiryuu chuckled as he sent the message. If this did not make a few waves with Alan, he did not know what could.

[CII]

Curiouser and Curiouser



It had been a few days since Alan had stopped in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Over the last few days he’d been heading towards Utah, his route would be taking him through South Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado. He didn’t feel he was in any great hurry to get there though. He felt it best to take his time, just clear his head... even though it was hard to do that, given everything that had happened to him over the last two years...



Ever since he’d first come to the United States last year, he’d often felt like he was a pilgrim in an unholy land. Maybe that was a bit harsh on the American people. After all, they hadn’t asked for their government to cover up the Monster Zero attack, to hide the truth from them. It wasn’t the people that had come up with the idea to say it was a terrorist attack, and that the British government was scape-goating monsters...



Still, the feeling had persisted, and even now Alan could not shake off this feeling of some kind of lurking, insidious deception practiced all the time by the men and women who ran this country. He didn’t want to think it, but he still felt it. Maybe it was just knowing that he’d never be able to forgive the American government for letting England get wiped out two years ago, by a monster that in one day had taken away everything Alan had ever cared about...



He could never forgive the government for such deception on a huge scale...



So many things had happened over the last year that had further intensified his anger... the most prominent of which had been the truth about that machine... and of what resided inside it...



Now he was in Rapid City, South Dakota, taking another break from his travels to rest up. He thought back to last night, when he had arrived in the city. After finding a place to stay for a while, he’d taken a session at an Internet café, just to check his inbox.



What he had found was a message from Heavy Metal. He was positive it was the very same one who not only posted at the G-Chaser Network, but had recently taken matters into their own hands and had hacked into the database belonging to the GPN. It seemed that, rather than leave any further replies to Alan’s posts on the message board, he’d decided to email Alan himself. Alan had a quiet respect for Heavy Metal up until that point—Heavy Metal always sounded like one of the few sane people on that board, leaving precise, impartial notes on subjects that often got others like Alan himself hot under the collar. However, the tone of this email was different, and Alan didn’t like it one bit.



To Alan, it had been a snotty, overly preachy message practically telling Alan what he could and couldn’t think about the whole issue of Kiryuu’s bones. So Alan had sent a rather nasty reply, confronting Heavy Metal about the hacking of the GPN, and rebutting the sanctimonious points that the guy had tried to raise.



Alan was tired of trying to be polite. He was sick of bottling it all up, tired of having to keep quiet despite all of the lies that kept circulating around him. That had been the reason he’d sent that photo—a copy of the best photo he had of Kiryuu—to the Utah Foundation’s boss. He wanted them to know that someone else knew of what they had done, hopefully stir up some trouble amongst them... even if it did mean he was disturbing the hornet’s nest.



That said, he couldn’t get Heavy Metal’s words out of his head. Something in particular that he had said had still got him to thinking even now;



“Every government—not just America—do things that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.”



Maybe so... After all, he’d heard a lot of horror stories from Shinoda about the sort of things he had to do during his time at the CCI, of some of the dirty dealings that had gone on in there... However, this was different. Those sorts of cover-ups hadn’t affected him directly. They hadn’t almost wiped out his homeland... hadn’t nearly lost him his life...



He didn’t know what he was supposed to think right now. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so foolhardy, he wouldn’t have ended up in half the scrapes he’d ended up in. The problem with that was he wouldn’t know what he knew now... and that he somehow preferred over being ignorant, of being blind to the truth.



It was the only thought keeping him sane...



That day, he decided to hire out another session at that café, find out what was going on in the world. He’d been meaning to get himself a laptop, maybe one of those fancy wireless ones, but then again he doubted they’d work to any effective degree. He’d always had bad experiences with computers, and generally didn’t like using them. Still, it was the best source of information he had... and the only place he could post his photos uncensored and without fear that they would be passed off as fakes.



At the café, he logged on and opened up the G-Chaser Network. The place was pretty quiet today, not many were posting at this time of day. They’d all be out at work by now, where they’d likely be fired for looking at pictures of Godzilla. The board was quiet, not many new posts worth noting about, just Heavy Metal keeping his usual indifferent tone, quite different from the tone of that last email.



Alan didn’t have the heart to rebuke him here though. He felt he’d made his point through that email. Hopefully Heavy Metal had taken the hint.



With that, he headed for his email account, ryuu_no_me@hotmail.com. He half expected it to be full of the usual spam and junk mail. So much for Hotmail’s guaranteed email filters.



What he didn’t expect to find was an email from Heavy Metal. After the amount of ranting Alan had done in that email, he’d expected Heavy Metal to not reply to him. Maybe he’d come up with his own slander, as a retort, possibly yet more pompous self-righteousness to force down Alan’s throat. Alan rolled his eyes, bracing himself for all manner of abuse, as he clicked and opened the email.



What he found in the email were two photos, both with writing beside each one. Alan’s eyes went wide as he saw the photos, and looked at them more closely...



One of them was a superb ‘portrait’ shot of Godzilla, looking directly at the camera, the camera itself almost perfectly at eye level with Godzilla. Alan had often tried to get such a photo like this. He’d always theorized that, as long as nobody directly attacked Godzilla, he’d basically leave them alone, and thus shots such as this were possible, but difficult to take. Had this Heavy Metal character managed it? It looked like Alan would soon have a rival.



The photograph showed every last detail on Godzilla’s face, right down to every shade of color in those brown eyes. However, what startled Alan was the expression in those eyes. It was an expression of strong love and compassion, one that Alan had never seen before, at least not this close. He’d never have believed that Godzilla was capable of actually showing such human emotion, until he’d witnessed the interactions between Godzilla and Kiryuu...



Alan shook his head, blown away by the superb quality of that photo. He knew a good photo when he saw it. What also caught his attention was the tagline next to the photo, and what he read suddenly made his blood run cold;



“There is a reason why the dead will not rest in peace.”



This sounded too close to the message that Alan had sent with that photo to the Utah Foundation for comfort. He was finding it impossible to discount it as coincidence. How else could somebody counter his phrase so precisely?



He didn’t want to believe it, but he started to suspect that Heavy Metal was connected to the Utah Foundation in some way. If so, was this their idea of retaliation for his little stunt? Somehow they’d tracked him down, and sent him this photo and the counter-quote to go with it, like some kind of sick joke...



The surprises weren’t about to end here though. For as Alan scrolled down to the second photograph, he almost audibly gasped at what he saw.



The second photo was one of Monster Zero, the same gigantic, three-headed golden dragon that had haunted Alan’s nightmares for the past two years. Alan still remembered so vividly what had happened during the attack, he’d barely survived. He thought he’d been the only one to have taken any photos, not that it made much difference...



Upon closer inspection though, Alan saw that the photo had not actually been taken in London at all, or any other part of England for that matter. Instead, the dragon was stood upon a vast forest, full of plants and trees that Alan had never seen before, the monster’s wings unfurled to their full span. It reminded Alan of something he’d seen him do in London. A vivid memory came to his head, of the monster standing higher than Big Ben, unfurling his wings, tilting his heads towards the sky, releasing that unnerving, bell-like call from his three throats, almost as if announcing his domination over mankind...



He brought up the Network and opened up his photo gallery, instantly checking the photos he had taken of that moment. Indeed the two were very similar, but there were noticeable differences. The angle of Alan’s photo was slightly off to the side, taken from ground level—luckily Monster Zero was on the other side of the river, so he could still capture a lot of detail in the photos. In Heavy Metal’s photo, not only was the location different, but it had been taken from directly ahead of the monster, and almost at the creature’s eye level.



However, it was the final detail that really unnerved him. For around Monster Zero’s gigantic feet were the bodies of numerous creatures that looked like...



He started bringing up a variety of paleontology sites, and cross-referenced those with the creatures he was now seeing. Photos of bones that had been found, artist’s renditions... all of them very similar to what he was now seeing.



Unless his eyes were deceiving him, those creatures in the photo were dinosaurs...



It had to be some kind of fake... a sick joke praying on his experiences with that monster... Then he saw the words that had been written underneath the photo;



“And there is a reason why the dead must continue until his true task is done and the real monster can be laid to rest. You and I have something in common, Mr. Tyler. King Ghidorah. We both want to see this monster dead for what he has done.”



How did this guy know his real name? Then again, if the Utah Foundation HAD managed to track him down, they must have got some help from the FBI or something like that, but then how did he know his name with that sanctimonious email he had sent him?



It seemed Heavy Metal had also given Monster Zero a different name...



King Ghidorah...



Monster Zero was just a name that the press had cooked up. The real name of this monster had never been known... Did Heavy Metal know what that name was? How much else did he know about ‘King Ghidorah’? What did he mean by ‘you and I have something in common’? Sure, Alan wanted to ensure that King Ghidorah remained dead, but what did Heavy Metal have to do with it?



To be safe, Alan sent a copy of the photos to a contact he had back in Japan, another G-Chaser who had the facilities to identify faked photographs. Indeed, he was something of a ‘whistleblower’ and had spotted several very convincing fakes that had been put on the board before. He knew instantly that Alan’s photos of King Ghidorah were not fakes, he’d be able to find out whether or not Heavy Metal was one big faker. Just to make sure, he made the guy swear on his life that he wouldn’t show the photos to anybody else.



Alan was full of mixed emotions as he stared at the two photos. He was scared out of his mind at what the meaning of all this could be... yet he was also excited... inspired even. Heavy Metal knew something about everything that was going on, and he wanted to know what. He couldn’t shake off the nagging possibility that this was some kind of trap set up by the Utah Foundation... but even if it was, he wanted to know what kind of trap this was...



He wanted to find out more about Heavy Metal, about what he knew... meet him if he could... There was an insane possibility that he’d found a strong ally in finding the truth about this ‘King Ghidorah’... If there was even the slightest chance, he didn’t want to blow it. He had to be careful how he worded his enquiries... Perhaps email wasn’t the way to go... Too much chance of emails getting hacked or intercepted...



So he sent this reply;



“Okay, I give up… how did you get those photos? I’ve never seen any like these before…



“I’m intrigued by your connection to this ‘King Ghidorah’. I want to see him dead, and the people responsible for the cover-up go down, but what do you have to do with it?



“Listen, we need to talk. Any chance of us meeting face to face? Just give me a place and time, and I’ll be there.”

[CII]

Reeling in the Catch





Kiryuu leaned his holographic form against the vending machine, watching Maria feed her dollar through the slot. He smiled as he watched her get her food from the machine. He noticed that her hair was a bit longer than it was when he first met her and she had it back in a ponytail. Maria stared up at him, seeing what he was looking at.



“What’s wrong?” she asked.



“I’m just staring at your hair,” Kiryuu replied. “It looks nice. You’ve never had it in a pony tail before.”



“It’s longer,” Maria smiled.



“How do you like the desert?” Kiryuu asked.



“It’s dry,” Maria chuckled. “I’m a little homesick for the beach.”



“There is California,” Kiryuu said.



“It’s not the same,” she sighed. “I’ll be fine, Kiryuu. I’m in the best of company.”



Kiryuu chuckled, blushing at her comment. He knew what she was referring to. He glanced away, looking a bit embarrassed by the comment.



“I’d love to take you out on a tour of the desert,” he said. “But there’s not much to see.”



“There’s no need,” said Maria. “I’m fine.”



“Maria, I mean it,” Kiryuu said. “You want to go somewhere, I’ll take you.”



“Will Gordon let you?” she asked.



“We’re in the middle of a desert,” Kiryuu said. “No one cares. I have more freedom here than I did in the east. This is what Gordon was talking about.”



“I see,” she said.



Kiryuu lifted his metallic claw to her face, feeling the curves around her chin. She could feel a bit of his touch. It felt like a warm light against her face. She cupped her hand over his claw.



“I can feel that,” she said. “I can grip it too.”



“Will has made adjustments,” Kiryuu said. “I can lift heavier things now.”



Kiryuu stepped away from her and walked over to one of the tables in the break room. The holographic cyborg curled one of his claws into a fist and slammed it into the table. She saw the table bounce before his fist fazed through the surface. Maria’s eyes widened slightly and then she nodded.



“Nice,” she said. “I guess pretty soon, I’ll be able to punch you in the stomach if I got upset again.”



Kiryuu’s eyes stared back at her with shock. Maria chuckled as she pushed passed him with her shoulder. He was amazed that he could feel her shoulder. Kiryuu smiled, following her. He walked down the hallway, seeing Will and Katsura pass him. Katsura ran after him, seeing that he was following just shy behind Maria.



“Have you received anything yet from this Ryuu No Me?” Katsura asked.



“Not yet,” said Kiryuu. “I’m keeping my eye on the inbox.”



“Your are setting this up,” said Katsura. “You’re wanting to meet this guy.”



“Hai,” Kiryuu nodded. “Another person has G-cells with them. This should not be done. Even if Gordon finds a way to use G-cells for humans, he knows that I won’t let him. Not after Biollante.”



“It’s probably not his fault,” said Katsura. “Just like it wasn’t Erika’s. You said that he may not know about it. What brought up that conclusion that he doesn’t?”



“He’s not hiding,” said Kiryuu. “If I were human and I had G-cells in my body, I would be in hiding from the government. I would not even have a file, or an email address—or photographs that I have taken on the internet. I would be trying to avoid everything and everyone. He doesn’t know what lies inside of him.”



“Something tells me you might tell him when you meet him,” Katsura said.



“That is up to the decision,” said Kiryuu. “I’m more worried about getting what I require.”



“This person has been spreading the news of King Ghidorah,” said Katsura. “I’ve seen pictures. Why did America cover it up?”



“Because America had a hand in calling the monster,” Kiryuu replied. “There were scales found in Britain that they were studying. I have files on it now. Both British and American scientists were studying. Just like the bones inside of me calls to my son, and the G-cells of this Alan Tyler calls to Biollante and I, so did the cells of King Ghidorah call to the monster. And now he knows that life has once more sprung up again on this planet, Katsura. He returned to destroy the rest of it, but Mothra stopped him. He went back into space to lick his wounds and re-gather his strength.”



“For two years?” Katsura asked.



“You don’t understand, Katsura,” Kiryuu began. “He’s been alive since 130 million years ago. I would not doubt it that he’s been alive much longer than that. This is a monster who could be as old as the Earth. Two years means nothing to him. Two years is like two minutes to him. What would seem like a long time for you and I, is a mere spark in the night sky to him. Legends of Earth state that dragons were long-lived creatures—immortal. Where do you think those legends came from? King Ghidorah. Not even Manda is as old as he is. And no doubt he’s become stronger the long years of being alive. And he is massive. He’s bigger than I am, even in my mutated state.”



“You have so much awe for him,” said Katsura.



“I have so much hate for him,” Kiryuu growled. “He—killed—my mate.”



Katsura stepped back, gasping.



“I remember,” Kiryuu sighed. “I remember having one. My kind mated for life. I had children, other than Godzilla. King Ghidorah killed them—leaving Godzilla and I alive to bear the pain of their loss.”



“I’m sorry,” Katsura breathed. “But it’s hard to believe that you remember that.”



Kiryuu turned to her, placing his claws on her shoulders.



“I am torn between two,” he said. “The two identities that I possess. I am both the first Godzilla and the AI that is K-I. But, the longer this AI stays inside this body, the more of K-I it looses and the more of the first Godzilla it gains. But now, I’m more than just Godzilla. I am Godzilla with a mind of a genius. That part I will not loose. I am Godzilla. This Tyler person wrote to me, telling me that he suspects that I am neither Godzilla nor Kiryuu. Won’t he be surprised when he finds out that I’m both.”



“No doubt he’ll be more than shocked,” said Katsura said. “Just don’t frighten him too much when you do meet him. And be careful.”



“I will,” Kiryuu said, wrapping his arms around her. There was still love in there somewhere for her. His metallic claw passed across the bump that was the little port in her neck. He moved away from her, his golden eyes becoming downcast. “I am sorry for forcing you to do this—become a part of me.”



“It’s alright,” Katsura smiled. “I’m fine now. I hardly notice that you’re there somewhere in the back of my mind.”



“I hope so,” said Kiryuu. “Because you have my syntech inside of you, in a way you also have G-cells inside.”



“I know,” she nodded. Kiryuu sighed as he walked away from her. Kiryuu’s image disappeared as his mind returned to his inbox. There was a message waiting for him from Ryuu No Me. He was not worried about what some of the lines were in the message. Only the question of: “Okay, I give up…how did you get those photos?” and the other question: “Any chance of us meeting face to face?” There it was. That was all he needed to know. No more playing with this person, it was time to do his business. Kiryuu chuckled inside his processors, smiling as he mulled over the email. It was obvious; he impressed Alan Tyler to near speechlessness. Kiryuu had to contact Gordon about this. He dialed up Gordon’s cell phone.



“Hello?” came the gruff voice over the phone.



“Gordon,” began Kiryuu. “It’s Kiryuu.”



“Alright,” he said. “What’s going on?”



“Our dear Alan Tyler has now replied to my email,” Kiryuu said. “The one with the photos I sent him.”



“You sent more than one?” Gordon asked. “I thought you were just going to send him the picture of Godzilla.”



“I sent him my picture of King Ghidorah as well,” Kiryuu replied.



“Your—what?!” Gordon gasped. “What picture of King Ghidorah?”



“The one from the memory of the cells some 130 million years ago,” Kiryuu replied. “He’s speechless.”



“Kiryuu…” Gordon sighed. It was useless to fight with him now. The great machine had a reason to send that one. It was obviously to get this Tyler guy’s attention. Whatever the means, he managed to get it. “Alright, what’s his reply?”



“Exactly what I expected and what I was hoping for,” Kiryuu replied. “He wants to meet me. I am to set up a when and where.”



“Just like you wanted,” Gordon said. “And I can’t believe I’m letting you do it as well.”



“We’ll both benefit from this in the long run,” Kiryuu said.



“I don’t see how,” Gordon sighed. “But against my better judgment, I’ll let you do it.”



“I require something though,” he began. “By any chance will Chester MacAnderson be available?”



“My helicopter pilot?” Gordon asked.



“Yes,” Kiryuu replied. “I am in need of his services.”



“Why?” Gordon asked.



“To secure any risk that Alan may not be able to meet at the place I will designate,” Kiryuu replied. “I want a helicopter pilot that I can trust. One that won’t turn tail when he sees me.”



“One on the payroll no doubt,” Gordon sighed. “I’ll get Chester. He’s used to flying around you, and he knows you as well. I’ll get him. He does run a small business of his own as well—giving tours around the desert.”



“Thank you, Gordon,” Kiryuu rumbled through the phone.



“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Gordon said. “This guy could spill the beans about your AI. Then, it’ll be all over.”



“Then, I’ll do something to him, something similar that Sandra Bullock went through in the movie The Net,” Kiryuu said. “And the person Alan Tyler will no longer exist.”



“Sometimes I wonder just how evil you really are,” Gordon sighed.



“I didn’t say I will kill him,” Kiryuu chuckled. “He won’t die. But he’ll find out that his credit cards will no longer work, he’ll see that his phone service has been shut off. If anything else, I’ll order a hundred pizzas and send them in his name.”



“That’s not nice,” Gordon chuckled.



“I do not wish to be messed with by this kid, Gordon,” Kiryuu growled. “If he wants to expose me, fine, he can do that. Then, he’ll see just how powerful I really can be and I’ll let the CCI know I found their little science experiment. I think I know why I get away with half of the things I do to that place. Katagiri loves me. And he’ll be more than thrilled to see that I’ve put my hacking abilities to a good use for him.”



“Now that really isn’t nice,” Gordon sighed. He really meant it that time.



“You said that you’ll do anything to keep the secret of my sentience from the world until you’re ready,” Kiryuu said. “I’m about to expose myself to this person, and I’m going to make sure he keeps quiet about it. I will send him back to Japan to get what I need. I am going to give him what he wants—exposure of King Ghidorah, the real truth. Files, signatures, names, pictures, everything. If he’s a good boy and does as he is told and after we part ways does not say a world about my sentience—I’ll let him have it. But if he does not, I’ll make sure he’s hunted down. I’ll reveal that he stole those documents to Katagiri and I’ll send the Japanese government after him.”



Gordon sighed. He knew that Kiryuu was serious about this. He wanted no mistakes this time. The mistake at Miami Beach was enough. There would be no more foul-ups after that.



“I’m going to meet with him in broad daylight,” Kiryuu said. “If that is alright by you.”



“In the middle of the desert?” Gordon asked.



“Yes.”



“Fine by me,” Gordon shrugged. “Just don’t get caught in a dust storm.”



“Thank you,” Kiryuu smiled.





Kiryuu leaned back again, smiling as he began to write his email.



“Now that I’ve gotten your attention, Mr. Tyler,” he spoke aloud as he wrote the email. “You must realize that once we meet each other, this must be confidential. No word must be uttered by this. As you’ve already guessed—if you have not, yes, I am in league with the Utah Foundation. But it is not the Utah Foundation who is setting this meeting up—it is I. Let me point something out to you, the Utah Foundation has no interests in you. Therefore, when you do meet me, you will be talking to me as myself and not the Utah Foundation. They will gain nothing from our meeting.



“I’m going to clear something else up as well. Your auspicious notion to say that I know nothing of Kiryuu or Godzilla are highly incorrect. Prepare to receive the shock of your life, my friend. I can just come out and say who I am now, but I know you will not believe me through this email. So, seeing is believing. As for Shinoda, perhaps my methods were a bit drastic, but I had to know. As for Shinoda, perhaps he knows more than he’s letting on. Something of a rumor in the CCI about the real truth behind Kiryuu Mechagodzilla.



“It is not the bones inside of Kiryuu that is the real secret, Mr. Tyler. It is not the fact that Kiryuu is Godzilla’s father that’s the secret. That little stunt you pulled to ruffle our feathers did nothing more than a send a slight tremor. Though, Gordon Knight has framed your picture. He admires your skills. The Foundation doesn’t care that you know about Kiryuu’s true relationship to Godzilla. And you are about to see why when we meet. But if you wish to spoil the surprise before we meet, ask Shinoda who I really am. I think that because he figured out just who hacked into his databases scared him into silence. He knows who I am and now you will too.



“Our place of meeting. Well, if you’re so anxious in meeting me, I will not deny you an audience. How could I? You hold a few riddles of your own whether or not you know them. And I am very intrigued about these riddles. I’m sure that you’ll be as much of a shock to me as I will be to you. You will meet me in the middle of the desert in Utah, about forty miles west from Tooele—straight west at high noon. Bring a helicopter. There’s a helicopter touring company with cheep rates in Salt Lake City named Utah Lake Touring. I’m afraid it’s the only one in town. The Mormons do not like people touring their city very much. But I do not question them. I look forwards in meeting you face to face; we have much to discuss—Heavy Metal.”



Kiryuu sighed again, marveling over his work. The board is set, and now it is time to move the peaces. He sent the email, hoping that Alan will reply.

[CII]

Hook, Line and Sinker





How had he done it?



It was only a couple of hours after he had sent an email reply to Heavy Metal, requesting that the two of them meet up. He was now back at the same Internet café that he had used all the time he’d been staying here in Rapid City. He was pretty sure the owners of the café were getting sick of the sight of him, and indeed he did seem to be attracting a couple of odd looks.



Alan didn’t care though. Now that he was on the verge of something big here, he didn’t want to miss anything. He wanted to regularly check his emails, so that he didn’t miss any other messages from Heavy Metal. The guy seemed to have become a new contact, and Alan didn’t want to miss any of his messages, even if it meant hogging space at some crummy café.



He’d have to get himself a laptop one of these days.



Now he’d just finished reading the first of two emails he found that had been sent to him. The first was from the contact who he had sent the photos to. He wanted to know whether or not Heavy Metal had faked such impossible-seeming photos. Now he’d just got the reply;



“Alan, I’ve run every kind of test I can think of on both of those photos you supplied me. I don’t know how this person managed to get their hands on photos such as this, but I can safely say that both of these photographs are genuine. Nothing fake about them whatsoever. I wanted to get a second opinion, but I kept true to your request for me not to show the photos to anyone else. I honestly don’t understand how this guy could have such photos… Be careful.”



So how had Heavy Metal done it? There had to be some kind of mistake... it was impossible to take photos of dinosaurs... cameras definitely didn’t exist back then, and the nearest thing that existed to a dinosaur these days was Godzilla... He opened the email with the photos again, looking hard at the photos again, particularly the second one.



Monster Zero, King Ghidorah, whatever his name was... How had Heavy Metal managed to get hold of a photo that portrayed the monster standing over the bodies of dinosaurs?



This was too strange for words...



Questions stinging away at his mind like ever so many live wasps, Alan pulled up the second email he’d just received. It was a message from Heavy Metal, and quite a lengthy one at that. Alan slowly read through it, paragraph by paragraph, finding even more questions adding to his already expansive list;



“Now that I’ve gotten your attention, Mr. Tyler, you must realize that once we meet each other, this must be confidential. No word must be uttered by this. As you’ve already guessed—if you have not, yes, I am in league with the Utah Foundation. But it is not the Utah Foundation who is setting this meeting up—it is I. Let me point something out to you, the Utah Foundation has no interests in you. Therefore, when you do meet me, you will be talking to me as myself and not the Utah Foundation. They will gain nothing from our meeting.”



It was just as Alan had suspected... Heavy Metal was with the Utah Foundation. He’d suspected as such ever since receiving the photos, along with quotes that so accurately rebutted his own note sent to the Utah Foundation less than a week ago...



So he was with the Utah Foundation... So why was he setting up a meeting without them having anything to do with it? What guarantees did Alan have that the Foundation really would have nothing to do with the meeting?



Well, you can’t exactly make a convincing promise through email, Alan thought, so you’ll forgive me if I take those statements with a pinch of salt. I’ll decide what’s to be ‘confidential’ after I meet you... What does this guy have to say that demands my silence? If this guy wants me to keep quiet about whatever the Foundation are up to, maybe I can make some sort of deal—my silence in exchange for the information I need to expose the American government’s little cover-up...



Well, Alan would cross that bridge when he came to it. For the time being, perhaps he could use that plan as a back-up...



“I’m going to clear something else up as well. Your auspicious notion to say that I know nothing of Kiryuu or Godzilla are highly incorrect. Prepare to receive the shock of your life, my friend. I can just come out and say who I am now, but I know you will not believe me through this email. So, seeing is believing. As for Shinoda, perhaps my methods were a bit drastic, but I had to know. As for Shinoda, perhaps he knows more than he’s letting on. Something of a rumor in the CCI about the real truth behind Kiryuu Mechagodzilla.”



So what exactly was this ‘shock of his life’ going to be? Who was this guy anyway? Was he really so heavily involved in the whole Mechagodzilla project, that he could know far more than Alan had first thought? This was becoming more interesting by the minute...



At least he was sort-of admitting to his attempts to hack into the GPN’s network... but what did he mean by Shinoda knowing more than he’s letting on. What was this about the CCI? Alan knew that Shinoda and Miyasaka still kept in close touch... could Shinoda have picked up something from Miyasaka? Some kind of rumor passed down through them? The CCI had close ties with the Japanese government after all...



Or was this guy just messing him around?



“It is not the bones inside of Kiryuu that is the real secret, Mr. Tyler. It is not the fact that Kiryuu is Godzilla’s father that’s the secret. That little stunt you pulled to ruffle our feathers did nothing more than a send a slight tremor. Though, Gordon Knight has framed your picture. He admires your skills. The Foundation doesn’t care that you know about Kiryuu’s true relationship to Godzilla. And you are about to see why when we meet. But if you wish to spoil the surprise before we meet, ask Shinoda who I really am. I think that because he figured out just who hacked into his databases scared him into silence. He knows who I am and now you will too.”



Oh, so Gordon Knight acknowledges that I exist, does he? Alan thought, in a very sarcastic tone. I feel so f*cking honored.



What was this guy talking about? The truth of the relationship between Kiryuu and Godzilla was a big enough revelation as it was, but if the Foundation itself wasn’t bothered about it, what else could it be? What could possibly be bigger than learning that something that was built to destroy Godzilla was actually his father?



Just who was Heavy Metal? All that talk about Shinoda... what had he gotten himself into? Shinoda had always been an inquisitive fool, for as long as he’d known him. How deep had he gotten himself in?



Alan held his head in his hands, this information, suggestion and theory hitting him like a ton of bricks. What was he getting himself into? However, he was far too deep to back out now...



He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. He was preparing to dial Shinoda’s number, find out what exactly was going on, what sort of ‘rumors’ Shinoda had picked up lately...



However, something held him back. Deep inside, Alan had some kind of insane desire to find out what was going on by himself, without anyone else’s help. Shinoda may be able to tell him what he needed to know, long before Heavy Metal could... yet Alan didn’t want Shinoda to tell him. He wanted to find out first-hand, and if Shinoda didn’t know anything, then Alan would know something Shinoda didn’t...



In the end, Alan put the phone back in his pocket. He wanted to find out the answers by himself. He could put it down to his own stupid pride for all he cared, but he didn’t want any help in solving these mysteries. He turned back towards the screen, reading the last paragraph;



“Our place of meeting. Well, if you’re so anxious in meeting me, I will not deny you an audience. How could I? You hold a few riddles of your own whether or not you know them. And I am very intrigued about these riddles. I’m sure that you’ll be as much of a shock to me as I will be to you. You will meet me in the middle of the desert in Utah, about forty miles west from Tooele—straight west at high noon. Bring a helicopter. There’s a helicopter touring company with cheep rates in Salt Lake City named Utah Lake Touring. I’m afraid it’s the only one in town. The Mormons do not like people touring their city very much. But I do not question them. I look forwards in meeting you face to face; we have much to discuss—Heavy Metal.”



Riddles? What was this guy talking about? If Heavy Metal knew so much about him, he should have everything he needed to know about him. Well, there were some things Alan didn’t understand lately... such as the strange dreams he’d been having over the last five years... but how would Heavy Metal know about that? Maybe it was just his idea of dramatic effect.



So... Heavy Metal wanted them to meet in Utah... in the lion’s den...



Alan thought about what it was he was about to do. Here was a chance to actually get some answers from the inside... a chance to get some questions answered, hopefully find out everything he needed to know, the answers to at least a few of those questions that had been building in his head for the last two years...



Then again, for all he knew, this could be some kind of elaborate trap set up by the Utah Foundation to shut him up. For all he knew, he could head to the rendezvous point and find several armed police waiting there for him...



Alan shook himself. Get a grip, he thought, you’re not about to turn into Mr. Paranoia, are you? I want to see just how far this trap goes... No matter how small the chance is that I’ll get some answers, it could well be my only one... Who am I to pass up such a chance?



His mind was made up. He immediately began to think about just how quickly he could get out to Salt Lake City. Even by the fastest route, via Wyoming, it would still take him a few days to get out to Utah, hopefully no more than a week...



Still, Alan didn’t care. He wanted the answers, the sooner the better. So, he sent a quick email back to Heavy Metal;



“It’s a deal. I’m heading out to Salt Lake City now. I should reach the city within the next few days. I’ll contact you again when I reach Salt Lake, so further arrangements can be made. I won’t be so presumptuous as to make any promises about my arrival time over email, you know how hard traveling can be these days.



I look forward to meeting you. See you soon.”



With the email sent, Alan headed back to his place of lodgings. Luckily, he hadn’t brought much luggage, so packing was easy. Within a couple of hours, he was out on the road again, the city around him gradually clearing away and leading into the South Dakota countryside.



This was it…Just a few more days of traveling and all of this would be over... Hopefully he would find all the answers he’d need... and all it would take would be one meeting from someone in a good position to give him those answers...

[CII]

An Unexpected Guest





He came up to the receptionist, smiling slightly as he approached her.



“Hello,” he began.



“May I help you?” she asked him, slightly disturbed that he managed to find this base all the way out in the middle of the desert.



“My name is Captain Tim Marx,” he said. “I’m here to see Kiryuu.”



“Excuse me?” she asked, even more dumbfounded.



“This is the Alpha Base of the Utah Foundation, isn’t it?” Marx asked, running a hand through his hair.



“Yes,” she replied. “How—how did you…”



“They know me,” Marx said. “Trust me.”



He waved a hand in front of her face. The receptionist blinked for a moment, and then smiled and nodded.



“He’s waiting for you,” she said. “I’ll buzz you in.”



Marx nodded as he walked down towards the guard at the gate. The guard quickly stepped aside, letting him through the gate. Marx smiled, passing workers as he walked down the hallway. He knew where he was going. After traveling down an elevator, he finally came to Kiryuu’s main hangar bay. Marx walked through the door of the control room. Gordon Knight, Katsura Yugami, Maria Vasquez, and Will Penter glanced back as he walked in, their eyes wide with shock.



“Who the hell are you?” Gordon growled. “And how did you get down here?”



Marx ignored him for a moment, turning towards Maria: “Dr. Vasquez, it’s nice to see you again.”



“I know you…” she said.



“Officer Marx,” he said.



“Officer Marx…” Maria breathed. Then, she realized just who she was talking to. “Leviathan!”



“What?” Katsura gasped.



Marx nodded, his form shifting into a human sized, blue and green scaled, Eastern-looking Dragon. Will dropped his notepad, his eyes completely wide. Katsura just stared and Gordon’s eyebrows twitched.



“Okay—now I’ve seen everything…” Gordon swallowed.



“It’s nice to see you again, Manda,” rumbled a deep, basso voice from the bay’s PA system.



“It’s nice to see you too, Kiryuu,” Manda said, walking towards the enormous bay window over looking Kiryuu’s massive head.



“Wh—wh—why are you here?” Gordon asked, trying to muster the strength to talk.



“I’ve come on the behalf of Mothra,” Manda replied.



Maria slowly walked over to him, placing her hands together. Her face was beaming with excitement.



“Leviathan…I’ve wanted to tell you how much I’ve always wanted to meet you…” she began.



“You’ve already met me, Maria,” Manda smiled back at her. “On Miami Beach.”



“I didn’t know who you really were then,” she chuckled. “It never occurred to me that a Miami Beach cop was really the East Guardian of Atlantis. I wrote a college paper on Atlantis…so this is some what of an honor to finally meet you. I’ve always believed that Atlantis was real.”



“Thanks,” Manda chuckled.



“Okay,” Gordon sighed, finally collecting himself together to speak. “Why did Mothra send you?”



“We know what you’re planning on doing,” began the Dragon, his form shifting back into the blonde-haired, tanned Tim Marx. “In a way we’ve suspected this. During the attack on London, which I was not contribute, but Mothra did—she sensed something coming from the ruins. It was a human—with G-cells inside of him.”



“Alan Tyler,” said Kiryuu. “Mothra knew about this?”



“One of the reasons why she became a bit upset about the resurrection of the original Godzilla,” Marx continued. “These cells should be left alone. But, what’s done is done, right? Anyways, like what the US government did to Erika, they tortured this man, trying to mutate him with the G-cells. He doesn’t remember anything that happened to him. And it’s probably best that he doesn’t. I’ve come to ask you not to tell him when you meet him.”



“Mothra knows that I’ve been emailing this guy?” Kiryuu asked, a bit shocked now. “How did she know that I’ve set up a meeting with him?”



“It’s better that you don’t meet him,” Marx said. “But since you’re gonna do it, I can’t stop you. Just don’t tell him what has happened to him.”



“He has a right to know what has happened to him, Manda,” Kiryuu said. “Just like I had the right to know the bones of the first Godzilla is inside of me. I have the right to know what they did to this kid just as much as I have the right to know how I died.”



“You’re gonna use this kid,” Marx said. “Mothra doesn’t like it.”



“I don’t care what Mothra thinks,” Kiryuu growled. “These are my cells, these are my son’s cells.”



“Kiryuu…”



“Listen to me, Dragon,” Kiryuu began. “Ever since I awoke in this age, I’ve always had a since that I’ve been summoned here for a reason. Someone is using me—and it is not the Foundation. I don’t want to remember King Ghidorah’s attack on my kind millions of years ago, but every day, I am reminded by it. And every time I see it, I see Mothra fighting him. Then, all I remember is blackness. I’m not blind, Manda, I’m not stupid either. Tell me, who is it really that’s pulling my strings?”



Marx sighed, shaking his head. He did not want answer that question.



“Don’t tell me that what I’m about to do to this kid isn’t right and justified,” Kiryuu growled. “It is. Now, let me continue.”



“Right now, I’m not stopping him,” said Gordon. “He’s doing it against my better judgment too. But he has a good reason to do it. Just let it play out. We might benefit from the long run.”



“One word of advice,” began Marx. “Please, don’t tell Alan what’s inside his body. It would crush him.”



“I will do what is necessary to get the job done right, Manda,” Kiryuu’s voice rolled smoothly off of the speakers. “That is how I work.”



“I understand,” Marx sighed. “When did he say he’ll be here?”



“His last email was about two days ago,” said Kiryuu. “I’m suspecting that he will contact me soon. He said that he’ll email me when he arrives in Utah. From there, I will tell him when I’ll be at the place we are to meet. He will get his answers, Manda, and so will I.”



Marx sighed again, leaning against the console: “Then, I hope you guys don’t mind if I just hang out here until you do. I wanna know what will happen and what you’re planning for him to do once you meet him too you know.”



“To tell Mothra, no doubt,” Gordon snorted.



“That,” he replied. “But also out of my own curiosity. We Dragons have always been curious.”



“Looks like we’ve got an unexpected guest,” Will chuckled. “So, you’re a real Dragon, huh?”



“Yes,” Marx nodded.



“You don’t eat maidens do you?”



Marx chuckled: “You don’t know how many times I’ve been asked that question.”



“You’ll be a fish out of water, though,” Kiryuu said. “There’s no ocean here. And the nearest lake is filled with salt—too much salt. I wouldn’t suggest taking a dip in it.”



“I know about Salt Lake,” Marx nodded. “I’ve visited it a few times. This place you guys are planning on meeting at—it’s not the Salt Flats, is it?”



“Near there,” Kiryuu replied.



“I hope Alan has eye drops then,” he chuckled. “The last time I went there, I was rubbing my eyes for a week. One hell of a desert you have here. Salt everywhere.”



“You should have warned him,” said Maria.



“That’s why I suggested the helicopter,” Kiryuu began. “Salt is murder on metal.”



“Which includes you,” Gordon said.



“So, I’ll go barefooted,” Kiryuu began. “Besides, it’s near the Salt Flats; it’s not in the Salt Flats.”



“So, you’re gonna meet this guy,” Marx said. “Alan Tyler. And you’re gonna have him go find what killed you?”



“Yes,” Kiryuu replied. “I could not find it on the web—not even through hacking. Titanosaurus used that memory when I fought him.”



“So, that’s what started this,” Marx sighed. “Biollante helping to emphasize on this need to find out who you were?”



“No,” Kiryuu replied.



But I was the one who told Kiryuu about Alan, Biollante chuckled into Marx’s mind.



“Hell…” he sighed. “This is gonna end badly.”



You’ll see when we’re done with him, Biollante purred. I can’t wait to see my dear Alan again. I’ll have Kiryuu and Alan together—then all I need is Godzilla and I’ll have the whole set.



Shut up, Kiryuu growled at her.



“Will, show Captain Marx—er—Manda where he’ll be staying,” Gordon said. “I hope you don’t mind staying at the base.”



“No problem,” Marx said.



“Come on,” Will said, leading him out of the control room.



“I’ve got a Dragon staying at the base,” Gordon sighed. “Great…”



* * *



Shinoda came to his computer again, worried that it had been attacked once more. What he found in his inbox was a single email that had Heavy Metal’s address. Not him again. He had it with that guy. That Heavy Metal had the gall to insult him, telling him that he did not know much about Gojira. Shinoda sighed as he opened the email.



“Hello, Dr. Shinoda. I must thank you for one bit information you have given me. Thanks to your friend, I will be getting all that I need. And perhaps through him, you may also receive information on Godzilla to fill all those gaps I found. You know why I know more about Godzilla than you do. Because you know who I am and what I am. I am sorry that I was too hasty in my motives, but I do not have a lot of time right now to be patient. I can be patient when it’s over and done. Please accept my apologies. And also, not a word of this to Ryuu No Me—Kiryuu Mekagojira.”



“Kiryuu…” Shinoda sighed. “So it is you. It really is you. How ironic that the original would be contacting me about my information on the original Gojira. Not a word of this to Alan? On-no…he isn’t. He couldn’t have. Oh-no.”



Shinoda picked up the phone.

[CII]

Into the Dragon’s Lair





Two days...



That was how long Alan had been traveling ever since he left Rapid City. At last, however, journey’s end was in sight. He’d had very little sleep and was exhausted, but kept telling himself to drive on.



It was now late afternoon, and Alan glimpsed out of the windows of the jeep. The countryside around him was now beginning to become dry, arid desert. It reminded Alan of the short time he’d spent in Nevada - an experience that he would much rather forget. He was hot, and he couldn’t stand the heat, but he didn’t unwind the windows - he had the feeling that it would only do him more harm than good in this desert.



All this had better be worth it, he thought. He wouldn’t normally come to such a place, but if there was even a small chance that he could get the information he needed, then he had to take it. If this Heavy Metal was who he claimed to be, then he hoped he could get the answers...



His train of thought was interrupted by the shrill ringing of his mobile phone. Pulling over to the side of the road, he got out of the jeep to stretch his legs, pulling the phone out of his pocket. The air was dry, the slight breeze picking up loose sand and carrying it a short ways. Alan had heard of the awful dust storms that could suddenly blow up in this region, and hoped nothing like that was going to happen while he was here. With that in mind, he answered the phone.



“Hello?” he spoke. The voice answering belonged to Dr. Shinoda. Shinoda sounded slightly panic-stricken as he spoke, as if he’d found out he was dying.



“Alan?” he said, his voice slightly garbled. The signal was pretty poor here, and Shinoda’s voice, while not unbearable, was still not very clear. “Listen... where are you now?”



Pretty dumb question, Alan thought. Shinoda knew that Alan was out in the States, why was he asking him this? Well, if he wanted specifics...



“If you have to know,” Alan said, “I’m out in Utah, on my way to Salt Lake City.”



“What?!” Shinoda said, sounding thoroughly alarmed.



“I’ve found a contact who may be able to clear up a few things for us,” Alan said, figuring Shinoda would want to hear that they were close to some answers. “I’m arranging to meet him, hopefully tomorrow.”



What Alan didn’t expect was for Shinoda to suddenly start babbling incoherently, as if he was having trouble speaking.



“Utah....” Alan could hear him muttering, “Oh god... he’s out there... he’s going to-”



“Shinoda?” Alan asked, with a somewhat impatient tone, “What is it? What are you talking about?”



“Listen, Alan,” Shinoda said, speaking urgently, “Don’t meet this contact. Get out of America as fast as you can.”



“What are you talking about?” Alan said, in an icy tone. He didn’t need this... not when he was so close... “What’s so wrong with getting some answers at long last?!”



“Alan, please!” Shinoda said, almost begging, “Just trust me on this! Don’t meet him!”



An awkward silence followed. Alan then remembered something Heavy Metal said in his last email to him, referring to Shinoda in particular...



“He knows who I am and now you will too...”



Heavy Metal had said that. Alan had almost phoned Shinoda up to ask him about it, but had backed out, out of some childish desire to find out for himself. So if Shinoda knew this guy, why was he trying to stop Alan meeting him? If he didn’t then why had Heavy Metal said he did?



“So what is it about this guy that you don’t want me to find out?” Alan asked, his tone now becoming more and more annoyed by what Shinoda was saying.”



“Nothing...” Shinoda stammered, “Er.... don’t know what you’re...”



“Shinoda, are you hiding something from me?!”



“Absolutely not!” Shinoda said indignantly. Alan could tell in his tone that the guy was lying. This was all he needed, for people he had known and trusted for years to hide secrets from him.



On the other end of the line, Shinoda was now thoroughly unnerved. There was no possible doubt in his mind that the ‘contact’ Alan had mentioned was in fact Kiryuu. There was no other possibility, judging from Alan’s words and the email he’d received. Did he dare tell Alan the truth about ‘Heavy Metal’? He wanted to warn Alan, tell him to run away...



However, he’d heard the rumors about just how powerful Kiryuu was—they were the same rumors Miyasaka himself had picked up from within the walls of the CCI. Did he dare tell Alan anything? What if not even the phone lines were safe?



“Alan, you’ve got to understand,” Shinoda pleaded, “You’re messing in things that were never meant to be uncovered. If you keep going the way you are now, you’ll only get yourself into even more trouble than you already are! You can’t keep doing this to yourself. Your search for the truth has become an obsession, and it’s going to destroy you. I can’t let you destroy yourself.”



What the hell kind of bull***** is this? Alan thought. Shinoda knew full well why Alan was always searching for the truth... find out why the American government had covered up the attack by that monster Heavy Metal referred to as ‘King Ghidorah’. Why the hell was Shinoda saying all this? He was hiding something, there was no doubt about it.



“Is that the only reason?” Alan asked, in a low, menacing tone.



Shinoda went quiet. Alan had trapped him. What else could he say? Alan would never believe him, regardless of what he said...



“Huh!” Alan snorted, his voice full of anger, “Hell with you!”



With that, the line went dead. Shinoda replaced the receiver, and covered up his face with his hands. Things were going from bad to worse...



Alan was now in a thoroughly foul temper. Shoving the phone back in his pocket, he threw open the car door and climbed back inside, almost slamming the door shut. He banged his fist on the steering wheel. Who did Shinoda think he was, trying to stop him getting what he wanted?! What was he hiding from Alan, and why? He’d be having more than a few words with Shinoda when he got back.



He started the car back up again, and pulled back onto the main road, resuming his journey. Now if he’d read the map right, he should be arriving in Salt Lake City soon... Hopefully very soon, as Alan felt that he needed some sleep...



Finally, Alan reached the city. The sun was starting to set now, and he was very tired, but he had one more job to do before he could even consider sleeping. If only he could find somewhere with Internet access...



Fortunately, there was an Internet café still open on the high street. Yet another one, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. He went inside, and logged on, accessing his email. He knew the time and place that he needed to meet Heavy Metal, he’d held on to that email to remind himself. Whatever day he was to meet Heavy Metal, he’d have to get up pretty early. He had to find that aerial tour company, for starters. Now that he was here in Salt Lake City, all he needed to know was the day of the meeting, so he sent a quick email to Heavy Metal;



“I’ve just arrived in Salt Lake City. Am available to meet tomorrow, if you wish. Reply ASAP.”



Alan really needed an answer from Heavy Metal tonight, so he stayed in the café for a while, randomly searching through the net. He hoped Heavy Metal checked his inbox regularly...



As it turned out, Alan checked his inbox on a whim about ten minutes later, to find a reply had been sent;



“Good, you’re here. High noon, tomorrow, 40 miles west of Tooele. Remember to bring the helicopter. I can’t express that enough. You’ll need it in order to even speak to me, unless you like craning your head and getting a neck ache from it, or shouting at me from down below—which will give you a lovely horse in your throat. I want to meet you face-to-face, not face-to-my big toe. I know exactly what you’re going to say ‘cut the jokes’. I’m not joking and you’ll see why when you see me. Oh, and do tell dear Shinoda not to worry about it. I sent an apology to him about hacking into his computers. I wouldn’t have been surprised that he called you—since you two are such good friends. Oh, and when we meet, I’ll have a present for him as well, which I’m sure he’ll enjoy. So, bring a box with you. See you then. Remember, tomorrow, high noon. We are going to have a lovely chat—Heavy Metal.”



So the meeting would take place tomorrow. At long last, the answers were within reach...



From the tone of the email, there was no possible doubt that Shinoda had been contacted again by Heavy Metal. That was what Shinoda was hiding. That guy had some explaining to do when Alan got back to Japan.



What did Heavy Metal mean though, talking about ‘craning your neck’ and speaking to his big toe? The guy was making himself out to be hundreds of feet tall. Unless...



Alan smirked. An idea had formed in his head, as to how Heavy Metal was going to get to the meeting point. He had a funny feeling he knew who would be Heavy Metal’s escort...



Show-off, Alan thought. The guy sounded like he was going to put on a hell of a show. Hopefully he was going to get a close-up look at Kiryuu in the bargain.



Well, Alan figured it only polite that he send confirmation of receiving the message. He wasn’t expecting a reply, so he sent an email with only three words;



“See you there.”



Now he had to find a place to stay for the night, as the room began to grow even dimmer as the sun outside began to sink below the horizon.

[CII]

Disturbing Info



Kiryuu stood in his avatar form, staring down at a print out he just made. His eyes were lost and his mind wondered in and out. He stared down at the papers in front of him, shaking his head. He had been up all night again, searching on more information about experiments of G-cells through the CCI, and he found it. It had Shinoda and Miyasaka’s names all over them, and also Katagiri’s name. Kiryuu sighed again, reading over the files he managed to steal from the CCI. Shinoda found a fragment of Godzilla’s scales during a raid on the beach once. Kiryuu knew about this when he raided Shinoda’s files on the server. He sent this fragment to Miyasaka, who showed it to Katagiri. Because of Shinoda’s ties to Miyasaka, Katagiri began to experiment with G-cells on living human beings. Kiryuu growled as his eyes passed over the writing. He read it before he printed it out, but he felt he needed to read it again. The cells had changed the subjects in various ways, especially in their minds. Because of his son’s cells, Alan could some how share his mind with Godzilla.



Kiryuu rose his head up, staring at his own reflection in dark glass on the wall. He came close to the class, staring at his eyes. The report stated that Alan’s eyes had changed, becoming golden, and his pupils became like slits. Exactly like Kiryuu’s eyes. It did not make any sense to him. This kid, whether he knew it or not, could share his mind with Kiryuu’s son. Mechagodzilla did not like it. It was like Biollante. Perhaps this was why she was able to invade Kiryuu’s processors and torment him so much.



I bet you’re wondering if Alan can do the same thing, aren’t you…echoed a hollow voice in his processors.



“Erika,” Kiryuu growled. “This is none of your concern.”



Oh, but it is, Biollante began. You don’t like it, do you? You don’t like the fact that your mind could be easily hacked into by someone like Alan. You even hate it more that he has the ability to hack into your son’s mind. Makes me wonder if Katagiri tried to use this trick in order to control Godzilla. If Alan could inhabit Godzilla’s mind, then, perhaps if he learned to control this ability, he could control Godzilla.



“Shut up!” Kiryuu growled, slamming his ethereal fist into the wall. Though his hand fazed through the wall, it did leave a slight dent before it did. He was becoming more and more solid with each of Will’s adjustments to the projector.



And if he can control Godzilla, he could easily control you, isn’t that right?



“No,” Kiryuu growled. “You may have tormented me in my CPU, but you have not the power to control my movements. Besides, I doubt Alan has your mental abilities. He may only be slightly affected by my presence, but this is different when it comes to my son. Like you, he has my son’s cells inside.”



Meaning he’s a threat to you…Biollante began. You’re thinking it, aren’t you? You’re thinking about killing him once you meet him. You want to bleed him, to purge your son’s cells from his body. To free your son from Alan’s mind. You want it, you desire it. The desert is the perfect place to off someone you despise. You chose well when you chose the desert. You don’t want him to learn how to control Godzilla.



Kiryuu barred his fangs, his virtual breath becoming heavier, angered. His face twisted into an animalistic snarl.



If you had blood, it would be boiling right now…Biollante chuckled. That’s it, Kiryuu. Become enraged by it. You’re the original Godzilla, you could tear this little pipsqueak in two when you meet him.



“I won’t,” Kiryuu growled, forcing his anger down. “I won’t kill him. But I will tell him how I feel about him. I’ll him if he ever thinks of hurting my son…”



I doubt he can control it, Biollante began. He couldn’t when he was inside Godzilla’s head in Nevada. I enjoyed playing with him while he shared your son’s mind. I want to tell you a secret. The hate that Alan felt for you—I passed it on to Godzilla in order to make him fight you.



Kiryuu once more held her in his mental vice.



“Watch what you say, Erika,” he growled at her. “Or I’ll turn all my anger towards Mr. Tyler at you instead.”



Again, he locked her up in her cell, bricking it up with binary code. Kiryuu sighed again, leaning his head against the wall. He could see the sun began to rise in the east. It was the next day. He had already received an email reply from Alan Tyler, saying he will be at the spot Kiryuu chose. It was only a few hours before he had to meet him. Kiryuu leaned against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. He stared at the papers again, feeling a slight sob come on him. He was broken, completely broken now. His son was all he had left, and the world would not leave him alone. He heard the sounds of feet walking towards the break room. It was Maria.



“Kiryuu?” she asked, noticing him weeping in the corner. “Kiryuu…”



Maria rushed over to him, sitting down beside of him. Kiryuu was silent, glancing at her.



“What’s wrong?” she asked.



Kiryuu did not reply. He flung his arms around her, leaning in to her shoulders. Maria placed her arms around him, as best as she could around a photonic projection. Maria leaned away, placing a hand up to his face.



“What happened?” she asked.



“I want to kill him,” Kiryuu sighed. “So much because he is a threat to my son.”



“Hang in there,” Maria said. “I know you’ll make it. Just send him off where you need him to go.”



“I know Manda doesn’t want me to tell him what’s inside of him,” Kiryuu said. “But it would bring me such satisfaction if I did. And then warn him about it.”



Maria leaned in, pressing her lips to his. He actually felt that. Kiryuu wrapped his arms around her waist. He could feel a slight pressure on his chest as she leaned into him. He kissed her passionately, holding her tightly. He just wanted to hold her, to have her near him. Maria smiled, her head falling to his chest. She could hear him rumble pleasantly.



“Feeling better?” she asked.



“Much,” Kiryuu purred. “Te amo, mi Maria.”



“Te amo tambien, Kiryuu,” Maria smiled.



“I see I came in here at a bad time,” began a voice above them. Kiryuu glanced up, seeing Marx standing over them. He and Maria rose off the floor.



“Marx,” Kiryuu began. Manda leaned over, seeing the papers on the floor.



“The G-cell experiment done on Alan,” he breathed. “You hacked more into the CCI, I see. You wanted to know how much of an effect this had on Alan?”



“He can enter Godzilla’s mind,” Kiryuu said.



“Not by his own will, though,” Manda said. “Go easy on the kid. Please. This isn’t his fault.”



“He could hurt my son, Manda,” Kiryuu growled at the human-disguised Dragon.



“He loves Godzilla,” Manda began. “As much as you do. He wouldn’t try to do anything to him.”



“Maybe not by his will,” Kiryuu said. “But by the wills of others. Don’t think I wouldn’t have perceived this. Remember what I was built with, what my previous functions were supposed to do.”



“And now, you use your creators,” Manda said. “Interesting how it changes. Please, remember what I said.”



“I will,” Kiryuu said. “I will.”



He let go of Maria, giving her a slight kiss on the forehead. Then, his image disappeared. Maria knelt down, taking the papers from Manda. She began to read them, her eyes wide.



“No wonder he was upset,” she breathed. “I hope he can keep his composure down when he finally meets this guy.”



Wonderland



Kiryuu made his checks, making sure he was in working order. He glanced down as he saw his body began to rise out of the hangar bay. Gordon was letting him do this, against his better judgment. Mechagodzilla needed to know how he died in ‘54. He glanced over what he knew about Alan Tyler, the man’s hatred towards Kiryuu, towards what America tried to hide. Kiryuu tried to make him see that every one had faults. But now, this would be different.



Chrome Crotch…Kiryuu thought. Alan, looks like you’re about to have a big surprise from Chrome Crotch.



He knew that Gordon had made a call to MacAnderson about giving Alan a ride to Tooele. Kiryuu stepped away from the launch pad, walking out to the parking lot. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to see if perhaps he could sense Alan through the cells. It was a strange feeling, but sure enough he could. It was like sensing his son almost, but in the body of this human. The human was here, and he was moving. It was not time yet, but Kiryuu could think of nothing else. Three hours away before 12 noon. His head was exposed, his locks twitching like serpents. His eyes narrowed and his lip curled in a snarl.



If this guy could get in my head, he would know about Katsura…Kiryuu thought. He grunted as he revved up his gravity generators. He fired up his boosters and leapt into the air, watching as the land changed before him. He flew over Salt Lake City, passing over the buildings. He glanced down at the streets as he passed them, trying to sense Alan. He could sense him, but barely. All he sense was that Alan was somewhere within a five-mile radius where he was flying over. And that distance grew the farther he flew from Salt Lake City. Kiryuu kicked his boosters into high speed, facing towards the west, towards Tooele. Within the hour he had made it to the meeting spot, exactly 40 miles straight west from Tooele, and not a foot or an inch off. His calculations were precise, and he was grateful for them. Now, he started to calculate how long it would take Alan to arrive to the point, starting from noon. He processed exactly what time Alan would have to leave with the chopper in order to get here. He calculated it would take them at least an hour and a half, and not a second more. And so, he waited patiently for Alan’s arrival, keeping his eyes directly east—the direction he came from. Everything was exact, and everything will work like clockwork.



“Come to me, Alan Tyler,” Kiryuu chuckled. “Come—step through the Looking Glass. You’re about to enter a world like you’ve never seen before.”

[CII]

A Flight to Remember





It was time...



Alan awoke just after 8am the next morning. He wanted to make sure he was up reasonably early. He knew that the meeting he was heading for wasn’t royalty or anything like that, but he still liked to give himself that little bit of extra time to prepare, not to mention grab a mug of coffee.



Once he’d given himself enough time to wake up, he was out on the streets of Salt Lake City. He was on the lookout for an aerial tour company that he could ‘borrow’ one of their helicopters from. What was the name of the one Heavy Metal mentioned? ‘Utah Lake Touring’... Alan was pretty sure he could get someone there to co-operate if the price was right. The last time he’d had to persuade an aerial tour company to lend him a hand, he’d had to pay extra for their trouble.



He’d decided against bringing his weapons and camera with him. This was his best chance to get some answers to questions that had been bugging him for a long time, and he didn’t want to risk blowing it by being armed and unnerving his contact. Besides, it was too hot to be wearing any trench coats, even if it was to cover up his weaponry.



He knew he had to allow himself enough time to reach the spot Heavy Metal had arranged to be the rendezvous point, some 40 miles west of Tooele. If he had to take a rough guess, it would take at least an hour and a half to get out there by helicopter. He’d find out when he found that damn tour company...



At last, he found the tiny airfield on the very outskirts of the town. He parked up just outside, and walked through into the small office building. There was only one person in the small office area—a red-haired, slightly tanned and heavily freckled man propping his feet up on the desk. The man seemed fairly well-built, and he flashed a rather polished smile at Alan when he looked up and saw Alan standing in the doorway.



“Can I help you?” he asked. Alan noticed a slight Scottish accent accompanied the man’s speech.



“Yeah,” Alan said, becoming rather business-like, “I need a flight out into the middle of the desert.”



“When?” the man asked.



“Today,” Alan said, “Right now.”



The man arched his eyebrows, removing his feet from the desk and standing up. “Well, man, lucky for you I’ve got no bookings at present. I can get you where you need to be right now, if you want.”



Alan looked up at the clock on the wall. The time was about a minute after half past ten. Alan hoped Heavy Metal wasn’t too picky about punctuality.



“Would you?” Alan said, glad that his luck was in. “Cheers. Can we go now?”



“Aye,” the man said, already walking towards the other door leading to the airfield. Alan could see a helicopter parked a short distance away.



“My name’s Chester MacAnderson, by the way,” the guide continued. “I’ll be your pilot for the day. And you are?”



“Alan Tyler,” Alan replied, extending a hand to Chester, which he took and shook.



Alan followed Chester out towards the helicopter. Chester climbed into the front, into the pilot’s seat, Alan climbing into the rear.



“So where’re ye headed?” Chester asked, over the whine of the rotors as they started up.



“40 miles due west of Tooele,” Alan replied.



“Very good, sir,” Chester replied cheerfully, “Don’t worry about paying me, you can do that when we get land. Here we go!”



The rotors spun madly, and Alan felt the familiar lurching sensation as the helicopter lifted off from the ground. A short time later, the helicopter was away, flying clear of Salt Lake City. Gradually, the cityscape changed, becoming the same dry, barren desert that Alan had seen driving into the state yesterday. He was uncomfortably reminded of Nevada, memories that he’d rather forget.



For the first hour or so, there was little talk between Alan and Chester, until finally Chester broke the silence.



“So where’re ye from anyway?” he asked.



“England, originally,” Alan replied.



“Ah,” Chester replied, with mock cynicism, “South o’ the border, from the heart of the enemy. Right, out o’ me helicopter, this is as far as you go.”



Both chuckled at this little joke. Seemed Chester was the type who wasn’t afraid to talk about his ancestry, and of the somewhat strained relationship between England and Scotland.



“Well, doesn’t take a genius to work out where I’m from,” Chester said. “Let me just thank you for not saying you’re from Britain. I don’t consider myself British, by any means. I’m Scottish, you’re English, simple as that. It’s not like there is such a thing as the ‘British Empire’ anymore anyway. What’s left of it is a joke, if you ask me, especially that bloody Royal Family. They’re a laughing stock these days. Nope, I’m Scottish, not British, and I would’nay have it any other way.”



It was at this point that Alan burst out laughing. He didn’t mean to, it was just that Chester’s little speech had brought up a memory that he’d long ago lost. Chester’s little speech about Scotland and the so-called ‘British Empire’ had brought it back up.



“What?” Chester asked, politely puzzled. “What’s so funny?”



“Oh, nothing,” Alan said, starting to calm down a little, “You just remind me of a Scottish friend I had at school. He thought along your lines.”



“Where was he from?” Chester asked, “I might’ve met him.”



“Dufftown,” Alan replied.



“Ah, wouldn’t’ve met him them,” Chester said, “I’m from Kilmarnock, meself. Sounds like a full-blooded Scotsman though, your friend. Maybe we met in a past life, moments before getting stabbed by English soldiers.”



Alan snorted. He was beginning to like this guy a lot.



“I mean,” Chester continued, “Did you ever see that movie, Braveheart?”



“Once,” Alan said, “I’d rather forget I ever heard of it.”



“You’re not the only one,” Chester said. “Talk about inaccurate. I’m Scottish, but I still know me history. That film wasn’t a film about a horrible historical event, it was a sad excuse for Mel Gibson to add to his f*cking ego. And the less about ‘Braveheart 2’, aka The Patriot, the better.”



Alan chuckled. Nice to know he’d met someone who didn’t let patriotism blind him to the truth of historical matters. English history wasn’t a basket of fruit itself, but he accepted the facts, rather than try to hide them. Unlike some people...



“By the way,” Chester said, “I take it you heard o’ that whole Monster Zero business?”



“How could I forget?” Alan said, rolling his eyes. He could guess at what was coming next, that it was a hoax, terrorists did it, what-have-you.



“Well,” Chester went on, “I don’t know whether it happened or not, but I can tell you this—the Scots didn’t send it, we don’t hate England that much.”



This was said in such a casual, conversational tone that Alan couldn’t help laughing again. He was enjoying this guy’s company. Scotland had always seemed like a good place to spend his retirement—quiet, peaceful, somewhere he could stay out of trouble.



The casual talk between the two continued for the next half hour. The landscape changed very little as they flew on. At about noon, Alan spoke up again.



“Where are we, anyway?” he asked.



“40 miles due west from Tooele,” Chester replied. “Looks like someone else has an interest in this area too. Take a look.”



Alan looked straight out of the windshield. Sure enough, right in front of them was the gleaming, towering metallic titan, Kiryuu. The cybernetic dinosaur was just stood there, surveying the area, his face unmasked and the bio-syntech ‘hair’ twitching slightly, like live snakes. Alan found himself wishing he’d brought his camera along after all. No doubt Heavy Metal was on board Kiryuu somehow. It pained Alan slightly to know that the original Godzilla was now being used like some kind of ferry. He looked over at Chester, who surprisingly enough had not shown any sign of shock at seeing Kiryuu. In fact, he was actually flying closer to Kiryuu, without raising any objections.



Surely this wasn’t right somehow...



Then, Kiryuu turned slightly, now facing the helicopter, which moved ever closer to him. What happened then was to haunt Alan for a long time to come...



For Kiryuu opened his mouth, only instead of the assortment of grunts and chirrups that he used around Godzilla, an actual human voice—a deep, extremely resonant and very handsome-sounding voice—came out and spoke;



“Ah, Mr. Tyler. You’re late. By about 7 minutes and 34 seconds to be exact. I was just about to leave.”



Alan’s blood turned to ice. It was impossible...they couldn’t have...At first, he hoped that it was some kind of loudspeaker or something, but that wasn’t true. There was none of the metallic grating or anything like that as you get with a voice over a loudspeaker, and in any case the voice was too resonant, as if a human had said those words. On top of that, Kiryuu’s lips were moving, perfectly in synch with the words that were being said.



Alan could scarcely believe his ears. They couldn’t have...they gave Kiryuu a ****ing voice?! Alan sat aghast as Kiryuu spoke again.



“Not at all up to your usual standard, Chester.”



“Aye, sorry ‘bout that, Mr. Mechagodzilla,” Chester said, apologetically.



Alan’s gaze then shifted to Chester. All the time...he knew Kiryuu, and spoke to him?! He was with the Utah Foundation?! This was insane...it had to be some kind of sick joke...How could the Utah Foundation have given Kiryuu a voice?!



“No matter,” Kiryuu replied. “At least he’s here now. The Foundation will pay your fee. You may go.”



“Yes sir, Mr. Mechagodzilla,” Chester said, in that same casual tone, “I’ll leave you two to it, then. I’ll be hanging around not far from here, give me a shout when he needs picking up.”



Alan’s was pretty sure he was experiencing ‘mind-blow’. It was impossible... Kiryuu was speaking, and Chester was as casual as they come about it! What was Heavy Metal playing at?!



Unless... It was too weird, too far-fetched...and yet...



At this point, Alan panicked. He had never been so scared before in his life. He tried to reach over to the pilot’s seat, to grab the controls himself. He had to get out of here...get away from that...that...whatever the hell it was.



Suddenly, a blast of air filled the cabin as the door was suddenly opened, and Alan felt something wrap tightly around his torso. Before he even had time to think, he was being dragged straight out of the open door, and he found himself suspended in mid-air. Looking at himself, he saw that the black bio-syntech cables had wound themselves around him. Alan could barely hear Chester call cheerfully “Nice meeting you, Mr. Tyler!” before he found himself getting dragged away from the helicopter towards Kiryuu. He gave one last despairing look at the helicopter as it left the area.



Alan found himself wishing that this was some horrible dream. He was now suspended, upside-down, hundreds of feet above the ground. As he watched, more bio-syntech tentacles wrapped themselves around him, wrapping him even more tightly, pinning his arms to his sides and tying his legs together. Alan struggled, and shouted out, but to no avail. No one was coming to his rescue. He’d fallen right into the trap.



He was suddenly flipped right way up again, so that he was facing Kiryuu. He was now so close to Kiryuu’s face, an enormous golden eye with a slit pupil completely filling up his field of vision. Alan was scared out of his life, and stunned into silence, as he heard Kiryuu speak, that same deep voice confirming the insane idea that had formed in Alan’s head.



“I am Heavy Metal...Kiryuu Mechagodzilla.”

[CII]

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire



“Have a lovely chat with Chester MacAnderson, did you?” Kiryuu asked, chuckling at the frightened man he held in his tentacles. “He works for us, you know. He’s Gordon Knight’s personal chauffer pilot. I had to make sure that you got here by someone I can trust.”



“Who the—what the f*cking hell are you?!” Alan cried.



Kiryuu chuckled: “You think there’s a person inside me? Controlling me? I told you, I’m in more control than you think I am. I am the Artificial Intelligence known as K-I, you may call me Kiryuu Mechagodzilla, designed and built by the Utah Foundation of Bio-organic Research, a sub contractor of Lockheed Martin, the famous industrial company that built the L1011. The company that is the Foundation is actually more industrial than it is medical. That is why they were contracted to build me. And this that is wrapped around you is the famous bio-syntech, my muscle system, cloned form the reprogrammed DNA of the first Godzilla. And yes, the bones of the first Godzilla are inside of me too.”



Alan just stared back in disbelief. He could not believe he was hearing this. This could not be real. Kiryuu is being controlled by an Artificial Intelligence? Then, he began to think back to Shinoda. Was this what Shinoda was warning him about?



“Still don’t believe me?” Kiryuu asked, his question ending with a deep, hearty laugh.



“You can’t be real,” Alan snorted back.



“Well, then, if you don’t believe your own eyes,” Kiryuu began with a deep rumble in his voice. “Then perhaps a second opinion is in order.”



And with that, a smaller tendril shot out, reaching into Alan’s pocket. Alan just could not believe how nimble, how flexible this stuff was. He watched as Kiryuu pulled out his cell phone. He watched the tiny syntech shaped claws work around the phone. Kiryuu stared at it; he seemed displeased with Alan’s phone.



“This won’t do,” Kiryuu said. “I can’t possibly be using up your long-distance this way. It must cost a lot to call him on this plan of yours. Let me see…”



Alan’s eyes grew wide as he watched Kiryuu literally play with the phone, whistling into the speakers, dialing up several numbers as he whistled. He seemed to be matching his own tone with the phone. Then, the whistling stopped. Kiryuu smiled back at Alan.



“There we are,” he rumbled pleasantly. “You now have free long-distance on this phone. Forever.”



“How the f*ck…” Alan breathed. Kiryuu laughed, enjoying this moment. He knew that Alan had never seen or spoken to anything like him. It thrilled him to no end.



“Binary code,” Kiryuu replied. “The language your phone speaks in. I’m a computer, Mr. Tyler. The original Godzilla is a computer now; his first language to understanding you humans was binary.”



Kiryuu drew Alan close to him again, bringing him near his right eye again. Alan began to breathe heavily as he came close to that enormous, golden eye. But he was in for another shock. As Alan looked into the eye, he saw the eye flash for a moment. Then, showing in glowing green, Alan could see several lines of alternating 1s and 0s scroll across the surface of the eye. He thought for a moment that he could hear some strange electronic beeping sounds as the lines of code flashed across Kiryuu’s golden, opalescent orb.



“You humans are so fascinating,” Kiryuu rumbled. “Your knowledge. I have always been the one seeking out knowledge, one of the few of my kind who questioned the ways of the universe. What I mean by ‘my kind’—is well…dinosaurs. Now, thanks to you humans and your gift of AI, I have the means of filling myself with mountains of knowledge. Ah, here he is.”



“Moshi-moshi?” came a voice over the phone. Kiryuu pulled it closer to his lips.



“Dr. Shinoda,” he rumbled. “So nice to finally talk to you.”



“Who is this?” Shinoda asked.



“Kiryuu Mechagodzilla,” he replied.



“Oh God…” Shinoda breathed.



“I’m here with Mr. Tyler,” Kiryuu said.



“Oh-no,” Shinoda breathed, the phone shaking in his hands.



“Now, what seems to be the problem, Shinoda?” Kiryuu asked. “You’re acting like I’m about to kill Mr. Tyler. I swear, I won’t hurt a single hair on his head.”



“How did you get this number?” Shinoda asked.



“I’m borrowing Alan’s phone,” Kiryuu replied.



“Oh *****…” Shinoda breathed again.



“Oh, don’t worry, Dr. Shinoda,” Kiryuu said. “No harm will come to him. I’m hoping to be sending him to you with a small gift. I’m sure you’ll like it.” He turned his attention back to Alan. “I see you didn’t bring a box. You don’t listen well to instructions do you? Very well. I’ll find another way for you to carry my gift to Shinoda.” Kiryuu turned back to the phone. “I’ll give you to him. Our dear friend, Alan Tyler doesn’t believe that I am who I say I am. I know you can tell him otherwise.”



He handed the phone to Alan, holding it up to his ear. He did not untie Alan’s hands, though. He wanted to keep them bound.



“Alan!” Shinoda cried. “Alan! I can’t believe it! I can’t believe that you went through with it! Alan, listen to me. Kiryuu—the original Godzilla—when they remade the original into what he is now—the rumors around CCI was that the Utah Foundation hired some of the best programmers from Intel to create the most powerful AI system in the world. This AI system, as the rumors said, became sentient upon activation within the body of Kiryuu. I heard theories in it. Some said that the spirit of Godzilla made the AI sentient. But—but it’s twisted because of it. When the original Godzilla awoke inside this thing, he became aware—and dangerous. He’s a hacker, Alan. The most powerful hacker in the world! Even the Prime Minister of Japan was afraid of him. Miyasaka said that the CCI was attacked by a hacker—it led back to the Foundation’s base in Yokohama. Alan, Kiryuu hacked into the CCI, by hacking into the base at Okinawa. He stole everything! Miyasaka told me to swear that I would never tell anyone. That’s why I couldn’t say anything about it to you, Alan. That AI that has become Kiryuu—the original Godzilla—he’s evil! And the rumor that the machine malfunctioned when he came to Tokyo…it’s all lies, Alan! Kiryuu didn’t malfunction; he attacked Tokyo because he wanted to! The Foundation has no control over him! He’s evil!”



“I’m not evil,” Kiryuu said, overhearing the voice on the phone. “I’m just misunderstood.”



“Alan, he’s gonna get you into more trouble if you listen to him!” Shinoda cried over the phone. “Please, Alan! Don’t listen! I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in control of the whole Foundation. Everything that is the Foundation, he bends it to his will!”



“That’s enough out of you,” Kiryuu growled, switching off the phone. He turned back to Alan. “Regardless to what Shinoda said, I won’t get you into trouble. Not unless you’re looking to start trouble with me.”



Alan wasn’t really listening. He’d heard Shinoda’s voice, confirming everything...the ******* had kept this from him...something like this...



“It can’t be...” he kept muttering, facing away from Kiryuu, his eyes closed, speaking barely louder than a whisper, “It can’t be, it’s f*cking insane, it’s just not possible...”



The only response he got was a loud tutting sound. As Alan opened his eyes, slowly turning to look back at the huge, reptilian eyeball before him, he realized it was Kiryuu who’d made that sound, shaking his head slightly.



“For someone who was so keen to find out the truth about me,” Kiryuu’s deep voice spoke, “you certainly don’t want to believe the evidence of your own senses. Isn’t that, as you put it, ‘more than a little hypocritical’?”



Alan gasped, his eyes going wide. Kiryuu had just used his own words against him. He shook his head, trying to bring himself out of the paralyzing shock that had hounded him ever since the first time Kiryuu spoke to him. He heard Kiryuu giving a low chuckle—it struck Alan that he was enjoying every minute of this, which only served to start raising Alan’s own anger levels. He tried struggling against the bio-syntech again, but soon gave up—quite aside from the fact that he was hundreds of feet above the ground, he was pretty sure Kiryuu was tightening his grip every time Alan so much as twitched.



He just could not deny it...They’d given Kiryuu intelligence, advanced intelligence at that...Who knew what he was capable of now, the original Godzilla coupled with advanced AI...Then again, if Godzilla had been capable of existing in the first place, who knew what else was possible...



“Alright...” Alan said, almost gasping as he spoke, his voice gradually starting to change from panic to anger, “So what the f*ck is it you want with me?!”



He noticed Kiryuu’s eye narrow slightly as he spoke. Alan had the funny feeling Kiryuu was not keen on Alan’s tone.



“The answers to the riddle behind my death,” Kiryuu replied. “You see, it’s a bit of a mystery to me. While what Shinoda said was correct, I am a very powerful hacker. I can hack into anything I want and get answers, but you see this is limited. I can hack the Internet all I want, but I won’t find the answers to what exactly killed me. I know, no one knows that. No one—save maybe the CCI. I need to know what the weapon was that was used on me in 1954, and also, who the scientist’s name who invented this device. You’ll be doing me a favor if you do this. Also, you’ll be doing my son a favor too. This request is actually more his than mine. He was the one who asked it. He knows that I am now able access everything you humans have, that was why he asked it. He also wants to know.”



Alan couldn’t believe he was hearing this. The original Godzilla wanted to know how he died all those years ago...and the current Godzilla had also asked. Kiryuu knew who he was, he was looking for answers...but what made him think Alan could get them for him? If he’d already tried Shinoda with no luck, what made him think Alan would have any answers?



“I’ll be giving you something in return,” Kiryuu continued. “For your efforts. I know that you’ve broken out of the CCI. Would you like to know what they did to you while you were in there? Tell me, how would you like to know what lies beneath your skin? I have that answer, Alan. I have all the answers. I hold all the questions as well. You want answers so much you’ve risked everything to come here. You had a feeling this was some trap, but you came. You need answers. Even more so than the answers about King Ghidorah. I have those too. I know why your eyes look exactly like mine in every way.”



Broken out of the CCI? What the hell was Kiryuu talking about? Alan had never even set foot in there, as far as he could remember. What was this about ‘what lies beneath his skin’? As to his eyes...Alan had always had them, as far as he knew...he just thought it was some sort of birth defect...his parents had been quick to pass them off as contact lenses...



Alan shook his head, the comment about King Ghidorah had brought him back to his senses. He knew Kiryuu had to know something about that monster, and Alan wanted to know what.



“Just what’s your interest in this ‘King Ghidorah’ anyway?” Alan asked, in a rather defensive tone, “What was with that photo you sent me? That monster was before your time. How do you know he’s not a hoax?”



“Oh, I know,” Kiryuu replied. “I know because he attacked Earth 130 million years ago. Before my time? Kid, I’m a 130 million years old. It was during my time. If you noticed the picture, the dinosaur beneath his feet. That was my mate, the mother of the current Godzilla. I have a personal score to settle with King Ghidorah. That is what he called himself when he attacked us. This monster is pure evil. He wants to feed upon the lives of this planet to sustain his great power. It’s what he did with my kind, and that is what he’ll do with yours. I can’t let the fate of my kind be the fate of yours.”



He leaned Alan away from his face and let loose a great sigh. Alan could tell there was some strain there, realizing that this was a tender subject for him. Kiryuu leaned closer, taking a virtual breath. His eyes blinked, releasing mech-fluid to wet them. Alan pulled at his restraints and Kiryuu could feel him growing tired.



“Okay, that’s good,” Alan retorted back with some sarcasm. “That’s fine. So, you want me to sneak into the CCI and get that information for you, huh? Are you f*cking nuts?! You think I would do that?”



“I know you would,” Kiryuu replied, rumbling. “Because you want to know why you’re having strange dreams, why all of a sudden Biollante had you trapped in Nevada. You have the right to know what they did to you, just like I have the right to know how I died.”



“What do you know of that?” Alan asked, snapping back at him.



“I know a lot of things,” Kiryuu said. “I know what happened to you five years ago, what they were using you for. And I’m disgusted by it.”



He whipped Alan closer to him, growling a low, guttural growl.



“But you’re not the sort who likes things handed to him on a plate,” Kiryuu said. “So, I’m gonna let you find out for yourself when you get my information. Call it a two-for-two.”



“How the hell do I know you’re not gonna sell me out to the authorities?” Alan asked.



“Because I might be sharing that cell with you if I do,” Kiryuu replied, a smile appeared on his lips. “I have no need to sell you out to anyone. If you want my word though, here…”



Alan watched as another blade came up to his face. Two other blades came over to the single blade near his face. He watched as the two other blades sliced the tentacle off. The second blade wrapped around the severed syntech mass, shoving it into Alan’s pocket.



“For Shinoda,” Kiryuu began. “As for you. Secrecy is your only hope as it is mine. You see, if anyone were to know about me, it would open a can of worms so great that the whole world will be swallowed in it. Do not worry, the world will know about my sentiency soon enough. I intend to tell them. But they are not ready right now, as I can see just by talking to you. But for now, it is best that they do not know. As you are risking everything to meet me, so have I risked everything to trust you with my secret. I don’t know you, but I have to trust you. I have no choice but to trust you. But if you cross me, binary code can be your worst enemy. Just like I gave you long distance to your phone, I can take it away—and a lot more. I can make it to where you no longer exist.”



Alan felt the fear rise inside of him again.



“I keep my words,” Kiryuu continued. “I always do. This is how desperately I need this information. I won’t use it. I just need to know. I have a right to know. I’m tired of being used, Alan. Aren’t you tired of people using you? I’m not using you; I’m giving you an opportunity to change fate. And I will give you what you need to reveal to the world of King Ghidorah’s truth. The Americans are more behind it than just the simple cover-up of a terrorist attack. Like I said, every government has its secrets. The British government was also behind it as well. It was an agreement by both governments to cover this up because they knew what they unlocked. They called King Ghidorah here. Now that King Ghidorah knows there’s life again on this planet, he will return.”



“All’s I have to say, mate,” Alan grunted. “No wonder you called yourself Heavy Metal online.”



“A cliché,” Kiryuu chuckled. “I know. But I do like the movie.”



The wind began to whip up around him and the familiar sound of chopper blades filled the scene. Kiryuu had called Chester back.



“The expenses will be covered,” Kiryuu said. “You’ll find when you arrive at the airport; your flight will be free. I want no complications. You will give Shinoda that piece of my syntech. Keep it covered, make sure no one sees it.”



“Mr. Mechagodzilla!” called Chester. “You called for me again?”



“Take Mr. Tyler back,” Kiryuu began. “Your fees will be paid for. You’ll find a few extra digits in your paycheck from Gordon Knight.”



“Thank you, sir!” Chester called. “I appreciate it.”



Kiryuu slowly placed Alan back into the chopper, his syntech strapping the human into his seat.



“And you, Mr. Tyler,” began Kiryuu. “Look in your bank account tomorrow. You’ll find a little something for your trouble today. I’ll give you 5,000 up front, and 5,000 when you return to me with the information I require. Understand? Remember, keep this between us. Oh, Chester, how’s the new syntech upgrade working for your leg?”



“Working just fine, sir,” Chester replied with a smile. “I thank you for the program you wrote for it. My leg moves much better now. It felt stiff before the program.” He turned back to Alan. “My leg caught on fire when I was working on me chum’s car. Gas tank blew. 3rd degree burns everywhere. They had to amputate it. Thanks to the Foundation, I don’t have to use that god awful clunker of a fake-foot. I don’t even have to take the prosthetic off when I go swimming. Feels exactly like my real leg.”



“The Foundation aims to please,” Kiryuu chuckled. “Take care, Alan. I enjoyed our little chat. I’m sure we’ll have another one soon. I’ll keep in touch. I have your phone number and your email address. I’ll keep a regular tag on you.”



With that Kiryuu revved up his gravity generators and fired up his boosters. Alan watched as the great metallic dinosaur leapt into the air, heading back east, back towards the hidden base where he came from. Chester waved as he watched the bio-mecha disappeared. He glanced back, receiving a soured look from Alan.



“Oh, he ain’t all that bad,” Chester began. “He’s a nice lad once you get to know him. That voice, sampled from Gordon Knight’s voice, you know. Though, he makes it sound better than what comes out of Gordon’s mouth. Enjoy your chat with him?”



“Wonderful...” Alan said, in a low, extremely sarcastic, almost world-weary tone. Of all the strange things that had ever happened to Alan, this definitely topped the list.



“Hey,” Chester said, almost defensively, “It was just as big a shock to me when I first heard him talking. I admit, I almost fainted. He’s really not that bad when you get to know him.”



Alan wasn’t really listening. He didn’t even give Chester a rebuke—it seemed that the shock at learning the truth about Kiryuu had taken all of the energy out of him.



“So...er...” Chester hesitated for a moment, “If you don’t mind me asking, you talk about much?”



“Yeah...” Alan said, in an almost faraway voice, “...a lot of things...”



Chester could tell though that Alan wasn’t really in the mood for talking, hardly surprising considering the shock he had just received. So Chester dropped the subject, and the rest of the flight continued in silence...



Glancing out of the window at the desert landscape, Alan was full of mixed emotions. He’d learned so much from that conversation…and yet so little. His meeting with Kiryuu had answered a lot of questions and thrown up a lot of new ones.



All that stuff about Alan himself and of the strange dreams he’d been having... What had Kiryuu been talking about? How did he know all of that? How and why was the CCI connected? What had happened to him five years ago? He wanted to just pass it all off as some kind of scare tactic Kiryuu had conjured up, something to persuade him to break into the CCI and get the information he required. Yet...there was a horrible nagging feeling at the back of his mind...like some kind of long-forgotten memory that was trying to resurface...



The truth about Kiryuu, and the things that he had said, had genuinely scared him. The things Kiryuu was capable of doing...Alan still couldn’t believe it. For one minute he’d wanted so much to be able to tell people the truth about him, to let them know why Kiryuu acted the way he did...but now Kiryuu himself was stopping him. Alan now realized that Kiryuu was more than capable of carrying out his threat of erasing Alan’s identity if he so wished. If that happened, surely he would be as good as dead to the world...



Besides, this was not something he could tell everybody. It would cause a huge international incident, cause even further divides amongst the human race than there already were. As much as he hated to admit it, Alan knew Kiryuu was right...



The world wasn’t ready...



Alan knew he was trapped. Kiryuu would know if Alan deviated from their arrangement in any way, so Alan knew he had to do what Kiryuu wanted, even though he knew what he was about to do was completely dangerous, almost impossible...



He had to find a way though. The thought of finally uncovering the truth of the cover-up that had lasted for two years was the only thing keeping him going. Alan suddenly thought of something else, a thought which got him very frightened indeed. From what Kiryuu had said, it sounded like King Ghidorah could very well return at any moment. Yet, he had been sure that the monster had been defeated in London. Surely nothing could survive the firepower that was thrown at it...



If there was even a slim chance that he could come back though... He had managed to wipe out England in less than 24 hours... if he was to come back, there was no telling how much more carnage it could cause... if it was even more powerful than Godzilla or even Kiryuu...



That was why he had to get that info, even if it did mean he had to do Kiryuu’s dirty work to get it. The world had to be warned of this monster... the truth had to be exposed.



He reached into his pocket, his hand closing the bio-syntech tentacle, this ‘gift’ for Shinoda. Why hadn’t Shinoda told him anything? Was he scared of what Kiryuu might do? Or did he simply not want to accept the truth himself, believing that not telling Alan was one way of denying it?



Whatever the case, Alan would be having more than a few words with him when he got back. As the helicopter started to approach Salt Lake City once again, Alan knew that, somehow, against all the odds, he had to get that information out of the CCI... and Shinoda had to help him.

[CII]

At the Base



Maria walked out to her car, getting ready to go on to lunch. She did not care for the food from the cafeteria at the base. The bread was dry, the cakes were lacking in flavor, the food was awful to her. She could not understand how Will and Katsura could eat the stuff they served in the cafeteria. Gordon of course could just fly out in his helicopter off to somewhere and eat. Sometimes Maria wished she could be rich too, to have all that money. She walked over to her shiny, red Camero. Gordon knew how much she loved that car, so he had it sent to her from Florida. She appreciated all that he had done for her in order for her to come here. She knew it was because of Kiryuu, though. He wanted to make the great mecha happy. Kiryuu did not want to have a long distance relationship with her. She still could not understand how he could have fallen in love with her.



Maria got into the car, pulling out of the parking lot. Then, she felt something stop her and the car shake. She glanced out, noticing the car was lifted up a hundred feet above the ground. She found herself looking at two great going eyes and a broad smile in the front of her windshield.



“Kiryuu!” she cried. “What are you doing? Come one. Put me down. I need to get lunch.”



“Perfect,” Kiryuu grinned at her. “A good time for me to take you out.”



“Kiryuu!” called Maria. “This isn’t funny. You can’t take me out to lunch. Now, come on, put me down.”



“Sure I can,” Kiryuu said. “Watch.”



Kiryuu lifted off again, his jets taking him to Provo. He could hear her giggling uncomfortably inside the car. The last time he grabbed her, she nearly flipped out. The end result was Kiryuu kidnapping her and taking her to the Everglades for a small chat. And now, he swept her car off its tires again, taking her to someplace.



“I love a man who has the ability sweep me off my feet,” Maria laughed. “Literally!”



“I’ll sweep you off to anywhere you want to go,” Kiryuu chuckled as he turned towards the town. Kiryuu’s eyes spied a fast food restaurant. “How’s McDonald’s sound to you?”



“Sounds fine,” Maria replied.



“Well, then, here we go,” Kiryuu said, wrapping his tendrils around the car. “Down you go. And there isn’t even a line.”



Maria felt the car being lowered by the syntech. Kiryuu dropped her off at the ordering panel. She began to order her food, feeling the car move on to the next window. The tenant at the window saw the red Camero wrapped up in silvery syntech blades, suspended slightly off the ground by two syntech ropes.



“Hi!” Maria began. “How much was that?”



“$5.02,” he replied, glancing up and seeing what the silvery ropes were attached to. “Hey is that…”



“What?” Maria asked.



“That—that….” He could not bring himself to saying what he saw. He did not believe it himself about what he saw. She handed him the money and he handed her the food.



“Thanks,” Maria smiled, pulling on the syntech. He watched as the car rose up from the pavement, shaking his head in disbelief. Kiryuu rocketed himself away again, grabbing hold of the car. Exiting Provo, he found a nice quiet patch of desert to land it. Kiryuu settled down, sitting on the ground and leaning back. Maria saw the car door open as two syntech tendrils came out, grabbing a hold of her waist. She grabbed her food as she was suddenly lifted out of her car. Soon, she found herself on the bridge of Kiryuu’s snout. Maria giggled a bit, opening up her food and began to eat it.



“I told you I could take you out to lunch,” Kiryuu said.



“You could get into trouble for this,” Maria said.



“It’s worth it.”



“So, what did you two talk about?” Maria asked, eating her fries. “You and that guy Alan?”



“We talked about a lot of things,” Kiryuu replied. “Mostly about what I wanted him to do for me.”



“Did you tell him about the cells?” she asked.



“No,” Kiryuu replied, sighing a bit. “I didn’t. It’s best that he finds out on his own. I sensed he was the sort that needed to do that. He needs to find things out on his own; it’s his thrill in life.”



“I see,” Maria swallowed her food.



“In a way he is like me,” Kiryuu said. “But one advantage he has over me. I cannot break into the CCI physically. If I were his size, I would have done it myself.”



“No,” Maria said. “You still would have hired someone to do it for you. You’re the manipulative type, Kiryuu.”



“Perhaps,” Kiryuu said. “I don’t mean to be.”



“Yes you do,” Maria laughed. “But—that is what I love about you.”



Kiryuu tilted his head slightly, blinking his eyes in minor shock.



“I feel like I’ve had this conversation before,” he said. “Long ago.”



“What do you mean?” Maria asked.



“Strange,” Kiryuu continued. “My mate said the same thing about me. She said she loved my sinister, manipulative ways. It’s strange. You are very much like her. It’s no wonder why I like you so much.”



“Sometimes people are the same all over,” Maria said. “So, the CCI has this info on this super weapon built back in the 50s. God, that era was so weird. I mean, we had super weapons back then, but we also had Leave It to Beaver. Good, wholesome-family times. But then we had all those tests on how to destroy each other more. It made no sense. I think the 60s made more sense than the 50s.”



“Drugs and alcohol,” Kiryuu rumbled. “To bad I was dead at the bottom of the ocean that time, only to wake up during the decade when Rap, Hip-Hop, and Grunge became popular. And people wore parachute pants. Why couldn’t they have just waken me up during the 70s. I missed the 80s completely.”



“Maybe it was for the best that you did,” laughed Maria. “You weren’t missing much.”



“No boy bands existed then,” Kiryuu chuckled. “And the music sounded better.”



Maria heard music begin to play from inside Kiryuu. He had turned up the volume loud enough for it to be heard outside. She recognized the song. It was Free Bird.

“Will told me you loved that song,” Maria sighed, wiping her mouth with her napkin. “It spoke to you in so many ways.”



“I could never figure out why,” Kiryuu said. “One of the reasons why I wanted to be activated in the 70s. Too bad the technology wasn’t there for me to exist then. I would have loved to see Lynyrd Skynyrd played this song in concert. I just appreciate it so much.”



She sat back, listening to the song, closing her eyes. She could see why he loved that song. It was so smooth, so calming. She noticed that he was playing the live version of the song. She could hear the crowd calling and shouting in the background of the track. Kiryuu purred as he felt her hands come down, massaging his snout. She was finished with her food finally. Kiryuu wrapped his syntech around her again lifting her up. He set her gently down on his chest as he leaned back down to the ground. He placed his arms behind his head, taking a virtual breath.



“Shouldn’t we be getting back?” Maria asked.



“Not until this song’s over,” Kiryuu replied, closing his eyes. He turned up the volume. Maria chuckled as she laid her head down on his metallic chest.



“This has been one hell of a lunch,” she said. Kiryuu lifted his head up, craning it down at her. She felt syntech fingers run through her hair. It was the only way he could truly touch her, truly hold her. This relationship was going to be difficult between the both of them. They would never be able to kiss, to hold each other. In a way, they both sensed that it would not end happily either. There was no happy ending for them. Sooner or later, she would want more than just a hologram to hold on to. And he wanted to give it to her. He was just unsure on how he could. Kiryuu smiled again, listening to the piano play in the song, hearing Maria’s breath slow. She sounded like she was about to fall asleep. He wrapped the tendrils around her again, just holding her, feeling her hair between the bladed fingers. He glanced down at the red Camero he had in his other claw, setting it down on the ground gently.



“And this bird you cannot change…” the singer began. Kiryuu glanced up, feeling the wind pick up around him. He saw a white helicopter fly over his head. He knew who it was. It was Chester, but this time he was not flying in the helicopter he flew Alan in, this time, it was a much larger one. The symbol of the Utah Foundation was painted on the tail of the chopper. A person opened the door and Kiryuu noticed it to be Gordon.



“You two having a great lunch?” he asked.



“Gordon,” Kiryuu said. He lifted Maria up.



“Gordon!” Maria cried. “He just…”



“I know what he did,” Gordon sighed. “And he did it without coming back and talking to me about what he spoke about to Alan.”



“I suspected that Mr. Tyler had a nice flight back to Salt Lake City, Chester,” Kiryuu said.



“Aye, sir,” Chester replied. “Didn’t talk much though on the way back. Me thinks you gave him a pretty good fright.”



“I had to do what I had to do,” Kiryuu said. “In order to him to do what I wanted him to do.”



“And you’re gonna be paying him, too,” said Gordon. “10,000 dollars. Where the hell did you get that money? And don’t tell me it’s from the Foundation. That money ain’t yours yet, you overgrown rust bucket. You don’t own the Foundation yet!”



“My own money,” Kiryuu said. “From my own privet stash.”



Gordon sighed, shaking his head.



“Where the hell did you get 10,000 dollars?” he asked the great bio-mecha.



“My dealings,” Kiryuu replied. “My business. One thing I need to learn how to become when I finally completely take over the company.”



“Like you haven’t already,” Gordon spat. “I already know that you have. Maybe not legally, but you have taken over my company. You took it right out from under my nose.” He sighed again. “And there’s nothing I can do about it now.”



“I’m doing it for the best of your interests,” Kiryuu said to him. “You know that. So, I finally have my first Shadowrunner working for me.”



“He’s no Shadowrunner,” Gordon said. “You could have asked me and I would have used my own Shadowrunners to get that information you wanted.”



“He is,” Kiryuu said. “He just doesn’t know it yet. But he knows how to Shadowrun. And he will get me that information. My paying him completes the agreement for the Shadowrun he’s doing for me. He’ll Shadowrun because he needs to. He needs to find out what they did to him back there.”



“I take it you didn’t tell him,” Gordon said.



“I did not,” Kiryuu said. “He needed to find out for himself.”



Gordon leaned back in the chopper, signaling to Chester to take him away from Kiryuu.



“Return to the base, Kiryuu,” Gordon ordered. “Understand?”



“Compliance,” Kiryuu nodded, picking up the Camero and Maria. He placed her inside the car and then took off, following the chopper.

[CII]

Homecoming



It had been too long since Alan had stood on Japanese soil, as he headed out of the main terminal building at Tokyo International Airport. He’d spent so long over in the States that he was sure he’d soon be suffering from culture shock, to add to the rest of the shocks he’d experienced over the last couple of days.



Not long after he’d got back to Salt Lake City, he’d packed and headed straight for the airport. It had been a shock when he’d been informed that his flight back to Tokyo had already been paid for by the Utah Foundation. This shock had surprised him even more, considering what he had only recently been through. After his encounter with Kiryuu, he was surprised that anything else still surprised him. By rights, his senses should have been deadened to shock.



He flagged down a taxi to take him back to his apartment. It was late at night when he’d arrived, and he wanted to get some sleep. He felt he needed it, not just because of jet-lag, but also of what he was about to do while he was here...



He still could not get over his meeting with Kiryuu Mechagodzilla himself...that deep, elegant voice, the cords of syntech seemingly with lives of their own...He moved his hand into his pocket and closed it around the bio-syntech tentacle. For one minute he thought he felt it quivering slightly, but that was more than likely just the movement of the taxi. It was presumably a gift for Shinoda, and so far he’d managed to get it here without anyone seeing it—he was amazed that the metal detectors at the airport hadn’t picked up on it.



Now Kiryuu wanted him to break into the CCI headquarters, and find out what it was that killed him 50 years ago... an answer that no-one outside of the CCI - possibly even the government—knew. How was he supposed to do that? What was he supposed to be looking for? He’d have to tell Shinoda to get a hold of Miyasaka - he needed to have a few words with Shinoda anyway, about why he never said anything about what Kiryuu was capable of...



There were many things Kiryuu had said that had been troubling him. First off was the hint that the creature that he called ‘King Ghidorah’ was coming back. This troubled Alan to no end, considering he had first-hand experience of what that monster was capable of, being one of the few survivors of the attack on London two years ago. Kiryuu had also said a lot of stuff about ‘what lay underneath the skin’, referring to Alan in particular. Alan had no idea why Kiryuu would say stuff like that, but now he couldn’t help but wonder...



Five years ago, he’d come down with amnesia, and even now there were still gaps in his memory. The biggest gap was around the time he was first found on the side of the road. A Japanese family had found him, and once he could remember his name his parents had been found and notified. Alan had spent the following three years piecing his life back together, but there were still gaps in his memory...



Was there even an insanely remote chance that the CCI had the pieces to fill in those gaps?



The taxi pulled up outside of his apartment in the Shibuya district. Alan paid the fares and stepped out into the street. It was a warm, muggy night, which only served to add to Alan’s sense of drowsiness from the long flight. He made his way into the apartment building, and climbed up the stairs until finally he was inside the familiar surroundings of apartment 302—his own apartment. It had been too long since he was last here, and it showed—there was dust on every surface, lifting slightly as Alan walked through the room.



Alan crossed straight into the bedroom. He was too tired even to have any drinks, but he figured he may as well see if anyone had tried to contact him while he was gone. Finding no messages on his answering machine, he switched on his computer to check his email. Glancing under his computer desk, he pulled out a box and began to thumb through its contents.



The box was full of information that he had picked up during his G-Chases. Photographs, press cuttings, any personal notes and memos that he had taken down, even the odd video or two. One of these he recognized as a tape showing the events of a G-Chase that occurred two years ago...only a week before King Ghidorah’s attack had changed his life forever...



Much of the info that had been put in there most recently was info that he had on Kiryuu before his departure for the US—press cuttings covering what he had done, and several photos that Alan himself had taken. If Alan knew then what he knew now, would he still have followed Kiryuu and Godzilla to the ends of the earth? Well, of course, he was a G-Chaser—he was obligated to investigate monster activity wherever it came up, even if it was in someone else’s shadow.



Yet... if he knew then what he knew now, he’d’ve had the sense to stay out of trouble, to not get involved in what the Utah Foundation was doing...



Up until now, Alan had seen Kiryuu as something to be hated, as a symbol of America forcing its way into affairs that they should’ve stayed out of, a sign of them messing in what they could not possibly comprehend. Yet... now that he had seen Kiryuu for what he really was... he knew Kiryuu was now using them...



Now he was using Alan...



Alan shoved the files back into the box, pushing the box back under the desk. Because of his own stupidity and recklessness, he was now being used by none other than the original Godzilla himself... Yet this was the only way he could get the information he needed to expose the cover-up that had resulted in King Ghidorah becoming unnoticed by much of the world...



He hated it... but he had no choice... least of all considering what Kiryuu could do to him if he didn’t...



His computer had warmed up by now, so he checked his email. There was just one message there, written by Kiryuu;



“The security systems within the CCI are difficult to break through. Perhaps it was easier for you to break out than it will be for you to break back in. And their protocols have changed over the five years. One thing I am really proficient at is security. If you need my help with it do give me a ring at 1-800-555-0268. It is a toll free call. This is a direct feed into—well—me. I need this information; this is why I am going to help you. It is your choice—Kiryuu Mechagodzilla.”



Again, there was Kiryuu talking about how Alan had been in the CCI before. Had he been in there five years ago? He honestly couldn’t remember for the life of him. He took a look at the phone number on the screen, and pulled out his own mobile, holding it in his hand for a moment.



Would he really ever need to call Kiryuu though? Right now, Kiryuu was the last person on Earth that Alan wanted to speak to. Then he thought about what sort of security the CCI might have. No doubt the place would be guarded like a fortress... What if Miyasaka didn’t know of any way around the security? What could be done then?



In the end, he saved the number into his mobile’s memory. He didn’t want to phone Kiryuu if he could avoid it... but a nasty feeling told him that the call would be unavoidable. After saving the number, he switched off his computer, and collapsed onto his bed, falling asleep almost instantly, he was so tired. Much of his sleep that night was dreamless, the blackness broken only once by visions of the ocean... of the stars in the night sky... as if viewing it all from a distant shore, bringing an intolerable feeling of loneliness...

[CII]

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures



The next morning, Alan was awake perhaps earlier than intended, at 10:17am. He’d hoped to sleep longer, but then again perhaps it was best that he woke up earlier - he had a lot to do... a lot to discuss...



After showering and drinking a mug of coffee, Alan opened a side drawer and removed a small collection of wires and hooks—a set of lock picks that he’d learned to use. Much like with his mastery of the whip, it was an unorthodox skill that may still find some use... perhaps in the CCI. As well as that, he took the bio-syntech tentacle and his Desert Eagle, his trench coat perfectly hiding the holster for such a gun.



Afterwards, he headed into the city, once again astride his beloved black Kawasaki motorcycle. He’d missed it terribly, and actually took a number of lengthy detours along Tokyo’s outskirts to get a feel for it once again. He’d missed the feeling of the wind and traffic whipping past him, and wanted to savor it again. Too bad Godzilla wasn’t around - that would’ve been the best ‘welcome home’ present he could receive.



He made a stop in the city centre, to check his bank account through an ATM. Sure enough, upon checking his account; he found that his account had been boosted very recently, to the sum of exactly US$5,000. He didn’t have a good feeling about what he was about to do, but he had no good reason to turn Kiryuu down now, especially not considering he was more than capable of taking more than that money away from him. The money wasn’t a big motivator for this though—he was doing this for the promise of the information that he could receive—information that could potentially deal a serious blow to the American and British governments...



Eventually, he arrived at his destination—the Shinoda Distillery on the other side of town. Dismounting his motorcycle, he headed inside, passing the familiar metal shafts housing the distilling equipment, up into the attic, before finally reaching the headquarters of the GPN. As he headed inside, he could hear two voices in deep conversation. One of them he recognized as Shinoda’s, the other he wasn’t so sure about until he listened in;



“... The base got hacked again not so long ago. Came around looking for information on Gojira...more specifically what we knew about the breath weapon.”



“We really need to meet more often, I’m so behind on what happens these days,” Alan could hear Shinoda saying. “Katagiri still being a pain in the *** to work for?”



“Yes...” the second voice replied wearily, “You know what he’s like. He’s been trying to get a grant to send a unit of the JSDF to Ogasawara Island, though he keeps getting stopped at every turn. He’s been looking through a number of old files lately, but he never lets on as to what they’re about. This obsession with Gojira’s going to get him killed one of these days.”



“He’s not the only one,” Shinoda said, equally weary. “I told Alan this fixation of his with Kiryuu would get him into deep trouble...I can’t imagine what’s happened to him... If only I’d told him the truth sooner.”



Shinoda sounded as if he thought Alan had died. Alan had heard enough. He stepped through the door into the GPN’s main research area. He soon saw Shinoda, dressed as shabbily as usual, talking to a smartly-dressed, bespectacled man, with a nervous look on his face. This was Dr. Miyasaka, who Alan had only met a few times, but he looked no different to how he did years ago, aside from his hair being slightly grey.



“I would’ve gone after Kiryuu anyway,” Alan said, admitting to himself more than anything what he had been trying to deny—even if he’d known about Kiryuu from the start, he would’ve followed the machine dragon, considering the other monsters that he usually encountered on the way. It was in his nature—to go where the monsters are.



Shinoda’s and Miyasaka’s eyes went wide as they turned to see Alan. Shinoda rose, walking over to Alan.



“Alan!” he said, his voice shaking, “Oh God! I thought for sure... I thought...”



It looked like he wanted to embrace Alan, like a father welcoming his son, but his face fell when he saw the look on Alan’s face. It was a furious look—clearly Alan was more than a little pissed off about what had happened to him over the last couple of days.



“Look, Alan,” Shinoda stammered, holding up his hands in surrender, “I can explain everything, but first…”



“But nothing, Shinoda!” Alan half-shouted, causing Miyasaka to visibly jump. He advanced on Shinoda, pointing his finger accusingly. “You knew what Kiryuu’s big secret was! Why didn’t you tell me?!”



“Alan, you’ve got to understand!” Shinoda pleaded desperately, “I didn’t want to believe the rumors myself! I can’t imagine what Kiryuu’s capable of! He could’ve killed you for what you were doing!”



“For what?!” Alan retorted angrily, “Taking a few photos of him?! I hardly think that’s enough to put me on Death Row!”



“It is if you start snooping round in things that aren’t meant to be messed around in!” Shinoda said, now backed up against his computer desk. “Please, Alan... I didn’t want you to get yourself into any more trouble! I didn’t want you to find out about him, so you could avoid getting dragged into matters that don’t concern you!”



“Bit f*cking late now,” Alan said, the venom in his voice evident, getting closer to Shinoda. “I had my reasons for going. I had to find out if there was any chance the cover-up of ‘Monster Zero’…” He referred to King Ghidorah by that name, knowing Shinoda would only know that name the press called him. “…Could be exposed. I’m willing to risk my life to get the truth out, but you....” He paused for a moment, before finally saying, in a low, hissing tone, “You’re a ****ing coward.”



Alan was now right in front of Shinoda, who was looking away from Alan, his eyes shut. It was clear that he was feeling utterly scared. He hadn’t meant to upset Alan like this... he’d only wanted him to stay out of trouble... Now he was clearly deeply in it.



“I’m sorry...” Shinoda said, his voice filling with tears, “I couldn’t help but get scared. I know I’m not your father, but…”



“So stop pretending to be!” Alan snapped. He then backed away slightly, now seeming to calm down after that little outburst. He still seemed to shake with a kind silent anger. “You wasted your time.”



Shinoda opened his eyes again, clearly very unnerved by Alan. The G-Chaser was a good foot taller than him, and he had looked ready to kill then. Miyasaka had been quiet the whole time—perhaps he’d felt it best to stay out of this matter.



“So... er...” Miyasaka finally said, nervously, “You... you spoke with him, did you?”



“Yeah...” Alan said, in that same low tone. He pulled the bio-syntech tentacle out of his pocket and tossed it to Shinoda. The scientist caught it, his eyes going wide.



“Is this...” he said, aghast.



“He said to give that to you,” Alan said, seemingly not caring about it. Indeed, it looked like he was almost relieved to be rid of it. Miyasaka gasped, rising up and walking over to Shinoda to get a better look. Alan just stood back, leaning against the back wall, arms folded across his chest.



“My God...” Miyasaka gasped, taking a closer look at the tentacle. “Shall we take a look?”



“Yeah...” Shinoda answered breathlessly, and the two headed over to a desk with a microscope on the surface. Immediately Shinoda was scanning the cord of syntech, the visuals from the microscope showing up on one of the computer monitors. Shinoda and Miyasaka both shared gasps as they zoomed in.



“Would you look at that...” Shinoda said, his voice filled with nervousness. “Look how perfectly the cells are fused with the synthetic muscle tissue, at how the cells are dividing at an accelerated rate. Incredible!”



On the monitor, amidst the weaving strands of the finely-crafted synthetic tissue, a number of white cells with three tentacle-like strands could be made out, fused perfectly with the myriad cell structures. This was the cell of the amino acid known to Shinoda as Organizer G-1—the key to Godzilla’s regenerative capabilities... and also the answer to how Kiryuu was able to mould the syntech at will.



“Amazing...” Miyasaka breathed, “A perfect fusion of organic and synthetic cell structures... How was the Utah Foundation able to do this?”



“Yeah, great science lesson,” Alan suddenly spoke up impatiently. He’d remained quiet about the fuss over their new toy, but right now he had bigger problems. “Right now, I need to talk to you both.”



Shinoda and Miyasaka peeled themselves away from the microscope, and walked back over to Alan. What else could possibly be bigger than what they had learned? Alan’s expression was deathly serious.



“Kiryuu didn’t send me back out here to share that with you, though,” Alan continued, suddenly very business-like, “He wants something from the CCI that he can’t get through hacking.”



He looked directly at Miyasaka as he said this.



Miyasaka looked shocked. He was pretty sure they had every last scrap of information they had on the original Godzilla taken when Kiryuu hacked the base last time... What else could there possibly be?



“I don’t understand...” he stammered, “What else could he possibly want?”



“He wants to know how he died, back in 1954,” Alan replied, “He’s convinced the information on the weapon that killed him is somewhere in the CCI, if not on computer then definitely elsewhere.”



“But...” Miyasaka stammered, “... if there was, I’d know... surely...”



“Maybe if they didn’t trust you not to try to destroy that information,” Alan said, coldly, “You know what these government types are like—they don’t like telling these things to people who actually have a conscience.”



“Damn that CCI!” Shinoda suddenly said, now seemingly angry with this little fact. It was clear there’d been feelings in him that he was now starting to get off his chest.



“I really wouldn’t put it past them to keep something like that hidden!” he fumed, suddenly turning to Miyasaka, “Why do you keep working for those lowlifes?!”



“Shinoda!” Miyasaka said indignantly, “I can’t just leave my job! I have a family!”



“So do I!” Shinoda said, his voice shaking with anger, “But I’d never sell my soul to those blackhearts all the same! They don’t care about what secrets they hide, not unless it can potentially destroy Gojira! Have you forgotten that Katagiri once tried to kill me 5 years ago?!”



Now this caught Alan’s interest. Shinoda didn’t often talk about the friction between the GPN and the CCI, and this was the first Alan had heard about any attempts on Shinoda’s life.



“Shinoda, be reasonable!” Miyasaka stammered, trying and failing to calm down, “You don’t know that Katagiri was deliberately…”



“He knew I was out there, following Gojira!” Shinoda said, his anger steadily rising. “You told him yourself! I didn’t know about all those blast bombs he’d hidden through the area! Yet he went ahead and detonated the bombs anyway! A minute’s delay and I’d’ve been able to get clear! He almost killed me then, not to mention Io and Yuki! He’s a lunatic! How can you work for someone like that?!”



It was clear that Miyasaka was beaten. He could not think of anything else to say in Katagiri’s defense. What had happened that day had almost resulted in murder...amongst other things...



Shinoda let loose an angry sigh, turning back to Alan. “So Kiryuu wants to know how he died, and reckons the information is in the CCI? How do you propose on getting that information?”



“That’s where Miyasaka comes in,” Alan said, nodding to Miyasaka, who now looked positively alarmed at Alan mentioning his name.



“M—me?” he stammered, “How?”



“What do you know about this weapon that killed Kiryuu?” he asked, looking Miyasaka dead in the eye. “What am I looking for?”



Miyasaka looked crestfallen. “I honestly don’t know...” he said nervously, “All I can remember is Katagiri muttering the name ‘Serizawa’ last time I asked him about this. That’s all I know. I’m really sorry.”



“So where would the info be kept?” Alan asked, only for Miyasaka to panic again.



“What are you saying?!” he stammered, “I can’t reveal that sort of thing! Do you know what could happen to me if anybody finds out I had a hand in this madness?! I could lose my life!”



“Miyasaka, this isn’t about you, or me, or even Kiryuu!” Alan snapped back. “If Kiryuu keeps to his word, I could finally have the evidence to reveal Monster Zero’s existence to the world!” Shinoda and Miyasaka looked at each other, worried, as Alan continued, “Kiryuu hinted that monster might be coming back! If he is, the world’s got to know! I don’t care if I have to assassinate the Prime Minister himself to get that information; I’m getting that information and alerting the world.”



Alan’s tone was grim, determined... rather frightening. Shinoda just looked nervously between Alan and Miyasaka, never knowing Alan to be so reckless. Miyasaka sighed wearily, clearly torn. On the one hand, he didn’t want to risk his life - he had too much to lose. On the other hand, if this Monster Zero was really coming back, would that make him responsible for the world not being prepared to face such horror?



Finally, he caved in. He had a lot to lose if he was caught, but his own beliefs in the sanctity of life overrode those feelings. If what Alan was saying was true, then everyone needed a chance to prepare. That was why he’d joined the CCI—he’d hoped that his research there could be used to benefit the people... if only he’d known he’d be working for people who’s only interests were in destruction.



“Look,” Miyasaka said, “I don’t know the specifics of the weapon used to kill Gojira in 1954, but if the CCI has any information, I know where it might be. The basement level is always under heavy guard. Not even I can go there—only those like Katagiri with the highest security clearance can see what’s down there. If there’s any secrets they want to hide, they’ll be down there.”



“So how can I get there?” Alan felt the need to ask.



“The security’s really heavy inside...” Miyasaka said in a low tone. “Maybe if you could get inside the generator rooms, and into the ventilation system from there, you could get to the basement... I know an inspection of the generators is due to take place about 10pm tonight, and the inspectors are always given the keycards to the back entrance that leads straight to the generator rooms... But there’s so many alarms!” he said, in a defeatist tone. “There’s so many cameras inside that base, not to mention guards and other sensors. The security stations are always manned, you’d need a heaven-sent distraction to get them away from their posts! I don’t have the access to override the security systems, and I can’t get authorization... I’m sorry, Alan. There’s nothing I can do. There’s no other way.”



Alan wasn’t so willing to accept ‘no’ for an answer though. He was fixated with getting the information, no matter what. the cost. Not just on King Ghidorah... he wanted to know if there was any truth to what Kiryuu said about him... his connection to the CCI.



“Well, I’ll find a way,” Alan said simply, starting back towards the stairs.



“Alan!” Shinoda called after him. Alan stopped for a minute, as Shinoda continued. “What if you don’t succeed?”



Alan turned his head slowly back to him, his reptilian eyes flashing with a new kind of reckless resolve... a new mania.



“I must succeed.” he stated, before heading back out of the compound. Shinoda and Miyasaka looked at each other, both very worried.



Alan was absolutely frustrated. He knew he was practically on his own for this. Unless... but he was the last person he wanted to talk to right now...



It was then that he realized he’d have to swallow his pride, just this once...



You may not be able to override the security, Miyasaka, he thought, as he headed outside the distillery and sat astride his motorcycle, but I know someone who can. I just hope I can get this information tonight... the sooner this madness ends, the better.



With that in mind, he pulled out his phone. Taking a quick moment to make sure he couldn’t be overheard, he dialed the number Kiryuu had given him and waited. The line was connected almost instantly, and Alan had the feeling that Kiryuu knew full well who was calling. Sure enough, Kiryuu answered, in that same deep voice;



“Ah, Mr. Tyler...” Kiryuu’s voice rumbled, with a low, humorless chuckle, “I was wondering if you’d get over your shock long enough to phone me.” Kiryuu’s voice was full of a cold, clinical kind of humor, the sort that only attracts nervous laughter at best.



Alan said nothing, as Kiryuu spoke again: “So, why not tell me what this is about?”



“I spoke to Miyasaka about the CCI,” Alan said, his tone just as cold, “He said if what you’re looking for in the building it’ll be in the basement. My best chance of getting in through the back door, into the generator rooms and into the vent shafts from there. That place is armored like a fortress though.”



“I suspected as such,” Kiryuu rumbled, “So how about my offer?”



Alan let loose a sigh, knowing he was going to regret what he was about to say;



“I’m taking up that offer,” he replied.



Kiryuu chuckled. “You don’t sound too happy about it.”



Alan didn’t say anything. He wasn’t happy about this, but he had no-one else to turn to. He wasn’t about to admit that to Kiryuu though.



“Very well then, Mr. Tyler,” Kiryuu said, in a tone that Alan could only describe as ‘holier-than-thou’, “I will disrupt the CCI’s security grid at 10pm tonight, Tokyo Standard Time, so make sure you’re ready to get inside at that precise time. You will have to deal with any guards you come across yourself, but you will not have to fear any sensors or cameras.”



“However,” he continued, “you will be up against a time limit. Not even I can keep the CCI’s grids occupied for long. You will have about 30 minutes, maybe 40 at a push, before they find out what’s happening and track me down, so make sure you do what you need to do and get out of the building well before then. Understood?”



Great, Alan thought, way to make an impossible mission even more impossible. It sounded like Kiryuu was willing to buy him some time though, and right now he couldn’t afford to turn down any offers of help, so he nodded.



“Understood,” Alan said.



“Good,” Kiryuu said, giving his low chuckle, “I hope you appreciate what I’m doing, Mr. Tyler. I’m counting on you to get this information for me. Just think how difficult your life could be right now if you went back on your word.”



There was an awkward silence. Alan hated this... hated being used by this merging of monster and machine... but what choice did he have now?



“Remember...” Kiryuu said, “Be ready at 10pm tonight.”



With that, he hung up. Alan pushed his phone back into his pocket. As he revved up his motorbike’s engine, he began to wonder if the original Godzilla had been this maniacal, this manipulative even before he died.

[CII]

Shadowrun



The CCI building... on the outside, the place seemed like an ordinary enough office building. Standing not far from the city centre, the building was 10 storeys tall, the whitewashed mortar and stone broken up every now and then by rows of glass. It was the home of the Crisis Control Intelligence agency, the government agency established to work together with the JSDF to co-ordinate counterattacks against monsters.



In other words, it was an organization set up almost for the sole purpose of finding a way to destroy Godzilla.



The CCI’s chief officer, Mitsuo Katagiri, had risen through the ranks quickly, through the ranks of the JSDF until he had become a full-fledged field commander. That was when he had been recommended for leadership of the CCI when it was first formed, and despite his relatively young age he had proven himself as a master tactician, and a few years later he had landed himself in the role of the Japanese Minister of Defense.



Katagiri may have impressed all of the government officials, but Shinoda was now firmly convinced he had seen Katagiri for what he was—a certifiable lunatic, obsessed with destroying Godzilla by any means possible—seemingly even at the cost of human life. Somewhat hypocritical, considering that he had attempted to swing Shinoda to his point of view, arguing that attempting to study and learn to cope with Godzilla’s attacks could lead to tremendous loss of life. That had been when Katagiri had first approached Shinoda and Miyasaka, offering them both places in the CCI. However, not long after he had joined, Shinoda had become increasingly outspoken against Katagiri’s methods, and so he had been thrown out of the agency, prompting him to set up the Godzilla Prediction Network. He’d hoped that, in this privately-run enterprise, he could do what he’d hoped to be able to do in the CCI—to study Godzilla and find out what mysteries he had to hide. The science he was working with was rather shaky—he admitted as much himself—but at least he wanted to do something, rather than let others decide what he could and couldn’t do.



As far as Shinoda was concerned, Katagiri was blinded by his devotion to his duty, and wanted to achieve his ends by any means possible—he would not be surprised if Katagiri was hiding a secret as big as the information on the weapon that caused Kiryuu’s death from everyone, even his own subordinates.



That was the general idea Alan had from his conversations with Shinoda on the subject of the CCI in the past. Until now though, Alan had never known Shinoda to be as outspoken as he had been today—he’d never mentioned half the things he had done to Alan until today. Now, as Alan hid in a back alley opposite the back of the CCI building, at 9:55pm Tokyo Standard Time, Alan was running it all through in his mind. Shinoda was highly suspicious of Katagiri, and Alan began to wonder if his suspicions were justified. Kiryuu himself was certain the CCI was hiding something... even going so far as to mention that Alan had somehow been involved in their affairs in the past...



Well, Katagiri, Alan thought, tonight I find out what secrets you have to hide. Tonight I get all the answers...



He was confident he was prepared for what was coming. As he hid behind a large dumpster in the alley, he double-checked to make sure he had everything—his gun, his bullwhip, his mobile phone and his personal lock pick kit. Hidden under his coat a durable, satchel-like pouch was strapped to his side. This would be where he would hide the documents he needed. He glanced down at his watch. Knowing the time was creeping closer, his heart beat faster.



It was then that he heard footsteps in the alley, slowly passing by Alan’s hiding place. As they passed, Alan noticed a man in drab worker’s uniform, the sort of overalls mechanics wore. Alan reasoned this was the guy the CCI was bringing in to maintain the generators.



Sorry, my friend, Alan thought as he pulled out his gun, but you’re not going to do any maintenance tonight.



Silently, Alan stepped out behind the worker, holding the barrel of his gun and raising the handle up above his head. The unfortunate worker didn’t even hear Alan approach, barely felt the sudden impact of the gun handle against his neck. Within seconds, he was knocked out cold, and fell, his limp form spreading across the floor of the alley.



Alan quickly stashed the worker behind the dumpster, confident that he wouldn’t be waking up for an hour at least. Quickly rummaging through the man’s pockets, he eventually found the CCI-branded pass card. Alan wasn’t sure if he’d really need it, but he figured he’d take it anyway. It didn’t really matter—the black skintight gloves he was wearing would not leave any prints. Alan wanted to make sure he left no traces of his visit.



Moving closer to the exit of the alley, Alan saw the huge rear wall of the CCI building clearly now. Near to his hiding place was the maintenance door leading to the generator rooms, complete with camera steadily surveying it and much of the surrounding area.



Alan ducked back into the alley as he pulled a black balaclava over his head—if he was caught on camera, he didn’t want to be easily recognized. Tucking his hair down the back of his trench coat, he surveyed his watch again.



9:59pm... It was now or never.



Pulling his mobile out, he phoned Kiryuu again.



“I’m all set to go,” Alan said, as his watch turned to exactly 10pm. “Tell me when.”



“Give me one second,” Kiryuu began. “I am attempting to connect to their grid now.”



Kiryuu glanced down at the control room, his golden eyes falling upon Will. Will could not believe that Kiryuu had tricked him into helping him hack into the CCI. Kiryuu knew he would need some help in giving Alan a long enough window to go in and get the information he needed. Will seemed the perfect person to help him with that. Will sighed again, nodding, his hands flying across the keyboard. Kiryuu closed his eyes, and began to feel his way into the CCI. Mounds and mounds of code laid before him. He had Will with him, aiding him in his search. The security was tight in the CCI grid. He could feel the resistance from within the grid. They could not keep up with his movements inside the grid. He chuckled as they made their attempts at stopping him from accessing their security grids. Kiryuu began to feed his viruses into the grids, keeping their security measures busy. He could feel the walls crumbling as he moved onto the next security station. Lights flickered from within the inside of the CCI building. There seemed to be a feeling of panic as the alarms went off. The CCI could counteract this attack, they had counter measures against this. But, they soon found out that even those were not working. The locks were opened, the building was vulnerable now. Kiryuu could sense Katagiri was calling for control over the chaos he had caused.



This was enough to keep them busy. Kiryuu opened one eye, seeing Will nod again. The plan was working. Kiryuu kept his eyes closed, contacting Alan once more.



“They are distracted,” Kiryuu rumbled through the phone. “Go quickly! I can attempt to push it to 40 minutes, any longer and they will notice me. I am having to use every backdoor trick I know in order to make them believe that the attack is coming from somewhere else. But they will soon find out. Get the information I need, don’t even bother to read it while you’re in there. Just get it and get out! You can read it when you’re safe away from the CCI. But hopefully this 40 minute window can at least give you some time on finding out what happened 5 years ago. If you find that information, don’t toddle on it for too long. You can do that when you get out of the CCI as well. Now hurry!”



Alan didn’t need telling twice. As soon as he heard Kiryuu give the go-ahead, he hung up and sprinted out to the back wall of the CCI. Running to the back door he tried opening it first without the pass card. Instantly, the door swung open, the lock automatically disabled. Tossing the now-useless pass card to one side, he ran inside the building, shutting the door behind him.



A short passage led straight to another door, which Alan quickly stepped through, closing the door behind him. Instantly, he found himself inside the large generator rooms, the loud humming from the backup generators filling his ears. A myriad of pipes and cables filled the room, and over the loud humming Alan was pretty sure he could hear sirens going off in some other part of the building. He was alarmed as he spotted a security camera looking straight at the door, but then he noticed that the power LED was off, so there was no need to panic.



Suddenly, Alan heard footsteps starting to approach the door. He quickly dashed behind the nearest generator and waited silently. The footsteps grew ever closer, and as Alan watched, he spotted a smartly-dressed CCI guard—he must have heard the door open and was coming to investigate. He stood there for a minute, scratching his head as to how he could’ve sworn he heard the door opening.



Knowing he couldn’t risk being spotted, Alan quickly jumped out from his hiding place, behind the guard, and grabbed him. The guard didn’t even get a chance to turn around as Alan suddenly slammed him hard into the door. Once, twice, three times he did this, before the poor guard slumped to the floor, knocked out. Alan quickly hid him out of sight behind some pipes before moving on.



Alan’s heart was pumping so hard he swore it was going to jump into his throat any second. G-Chasing now seemed like child’s play compared to what he was doing now. He knew he had to move fast. Finally, Alan spotted the grating that led into the ventilation system, hidden in a small cul-de-sac behind some pipes, the grating itself embedded into the floor. It was an emergency access for when anybody needed to maintain the vents or remove blockages or spray for vermin. Now that he was further away from the generators he could hear the sirens much more clearly. Whatever Kiryuu was doing to the systems, it had to have been big to have caused this kind of ruckus. The vent grating was held in place by a sturdy padlock and was bolted to the floor for good measure.



Alan pulled out the lock pick kit and pulled out two thin wires, then proceeded to work on the padlock. After roughly half a minute of carefully twisting the wires, Alan finally heard a clicking sound, as the lock was freed. Alan wasted no time in removing the padlock, before unscrewing the heavy bolts. After an enormous amount of effort the bolts were free, and Alan wasted no time in throwing open the grate and climbing into the narrow ventilation shaft. He knew he couldn’t afford any more delays—looking at his watch, he saw he’d lost about 7 minutes already.



The vent was very tight. It was large enough for Alan to fit in and crawl along on his stomach like a snake, but it would make for very slow progress. The further inside Alan seemed to get, the more this task was beginning to seem impossible. He slid along in the dark vents, the sound of sirens becoming louder and louder. Occasionally he snatched glances down some of the other branching passageways, noticing flashing red lights coming from the gratings that were embedded in the floor above. Panicked shouts and running footsteps could also be heard. To Alan, it sounded like he was in the middle of a war zone, and he only hoped that this level of panic hadn’t spread to the basement yet...



He checked every vent he came across as he crawled along, all of the vents that looked down into the floor below. None of the rooms below seemed to have anything that he might be looking for, from what he could tell. There was a place with a variety of test tubes and what looked like an intensive care unit from what he could see, and another place that seemed to be expelling some cold air into the vent—most likely a freezer, maybe to keep certain experimental chemicals in. Alan could only imagine what they might be used for, and he pressed on. Finally, he found a promising-looking room—he could see a series of filing cabinets, lining the wall closest to the vent. If Kiryuu couldn’t find this information anywhere on the Net, it had to be on hard copy in one of those cabinets...



Alan quickly loosened the bolts holding the vent cover in place, opened the vent and carefully dropped into the room. He noticed he was in some kind of storage area—there were a lot of boxes stacked up in the corners of the room, some of them quite large. Alan knew he wouldn’t have time to see what was inside them, for as he looked at his watch he saw that it had taken 13 minutes to get to this point, meaning that his time was half-gone. The room was not very well-lit, only lit by a couple of lamps in the corners of the room. Alan soon saw the back wall, almost entirely covered with filing cabinets, and walked over to it. All of the drawers were alphabetically labeled, with the Japanese equivalent of each letter embossed on each drawer.



Alan remembered that Miyasaka had said he’d heard the name ‘Serizawa’ mentioned once. Alan felt pretty sure it was connected to whatever he was looking for, even if ‘Serizawa’ wasn’t the name of the project itself. It was as good a place to start as any, so Alan pulled out the lock pick kit and started to force the tiny lock of the drawer embossed with the Japanese equivalent of the letter ‘S’. Each drawer had it’s own lock, and none of them were tough to break. Within seconds Alan had opened the drawer and started thumbing through its contents. At last, Alan found a file labeled ‘Serizawa’, and quickly pulled it out, opening it and reading the first page for any clues as to where to go next.



The file was a profile of one Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, a brilliant scientist and expert in biological and chemical weaponry. As Alan skimmed the profile, his eyes fell upon Dr. Serizawa’s last recorded project, dated 1954—the date both Dr. Serizawa and the original Godzilla died. Alan’s heart skipped a beat as he spotted the name of this project;



‘Oxygen Destroyer’



Alan stuffed Serizawa’s file into the pouch that he had brought, and shut the ‘S’ drawer. Instantly, he picked the lock of the ‘O’ drawer, and looked through its contents, finally finding a fairly thick file entitled ‘Oxygen Destroyer’. Alan grabbed the file and stuffed it into the pouch.



Well, Alan thought, this has to be what Kiryuu’s looking for. If it isn’t, then tough ***** for him, because I’m not doing this again, not for him or anybody else!



As he prepared to shut the ‘O’ drawer though, Alan noticed another part of the drawer had this label;



‘Organizer G-1: Beta Experiment’



Hand shaking, Alan reached over to the labeled divider, only to find the file pertaining to this ‘experiment’ was missing. Shrugging, Alan closed the door. For a moment, he’d wondered if Shinoda knew that the CCI had conducted some kind of experiment with Organizer G-1, but he knew he couldn’t afford to waste any more time. It had taken him about 5 minutes to get the files, and he estimated it would take another 10 minutes to crawl back through the vents to the generator room. 35 minutes... it was going to be close, and if Kiryuu couldn’t hold off the security teams for the full 40 minutes... it didn’t bear thinking about.



Quickly, Alan stood on one of the boxes in the area, and launched himself back up to the ventilation hole. He barely managed to grab onto the edge, hauling himself up into the vent. He had no time to be neat and shut the vent—with all the precautions he’d taken, he doubted they could trace any of this back to him, so he could afford to not be neat. He slid back through the vents, the sound of sirens still wailing above him. Alan wondered why he hadn’t heard anybody in the basement level, but maybe it was like Miyasaka said and only a select few were allowed down there, even in emergencies...



He didn’t care about finding what it was that Kiryuu meant by ‘what they did to him’. He’d got what Kiryuu wanted, he couldn’t afford to go off on wild goose chases for something that probably didn’t even exist.



However, about halfway back towards the generator rooms, Alan ended up snatching a brief glance through one of the vent covers he’d passed on his way through here. It was looking down into the room he had spotted the test tubes and the ICU. However, looking down from this side, he saw something else... something that caused his heart to beat faster...



From what he could tell, it looked like some kind of skin-colored tentacle, and even more disturbing was that it was moving slightly...



Did he have enough time to check this out? What was Katagiri hiding in there? Did it have anything to do with what Kiryuu said?



His curiosity got the better of him. He unscrewed the bolts and slid the cover aside, dropping into a dimly-lit laboratory. All manner of cabinets lined the walls, and microscopes, test tubes and jars full of strange liquids and a variety of surgical equipment covered every surface. Here and there were spare ICUs. The door didn’t have any windows, and curiously, there were no cameras in this room. It was almost as if whatever was in here, Katagiri didn’t want his own employees to know what it was...



As he looked at the centre of the room though, Alan’s blood turned to ice as he found out why...



For in the middle of the lab were three operating tables, ICUs stood next to each one, two of them were occupied... Carefully stepping into the corner of the room to get a better view, Alan gasped out loud at the occupants of the room. Each of the tables were labeled 1, 2 and 3, and Alan noticed that table 3 was empty. As for the other two though...



Table 1 was occupied by some kind of horrible cross of human and reptile. The head was reptilian, long and flat-looking, with an enlarged chin. Two rows of dorsal spines poked out of this being’s back, the arms and legs seemed too long for its body. It’s skin was stretched over the bizarre skeletal structure, even covering the tail that was poking out, dropping slightly onto the floor. Alan recognized this as the flesh-colored tentacle he’d seen from the vent.



The creature on table 2 though, seemed closest to human. However, instead of human skin, it had dark grey scales covering every inch of its body, its hands and feet were twisted into gnarled, animalistic claws. Messy, white hair was growing out of the creature’s head, as long as Alan’s own hair, but much more unkempt. Alan noticed that both creatures had a variety of tubes stuck into them, some connected to the ICU, while others seemed to be connected to a drip-bag, gradually filling these creatures with an unknown liquid.



Alan dared to get closer to the creature on table 2, this bizarre human-reptile hybrid. He could hear its ragged breathing, and noticed that its eye was half-open, dilated. Clearly this being and its neighbor were dead to the world. The eyes were a reddish-brown color, the same as Godzilla’s, in fact...



Alan backed away from the two creatures. This was insane... What the hell had happened here?! What kind of sick things had Katagiri being keeping down here?! Was this their big secret?



Looking back at the table-tops around him, Alan spotted a thick file. Looking closely at it, Alan spotted the title of the file;



‘Organizer G-1: Beta Experiment’



Did this have anything to do with what he was seeing before him? Kiryuu had warned him not to waste time dwelling on the things he was seeing, and Alan was snapped back to reality after realizing he’d lost a good 5 minutes in here. Maybe it was just his own panicked, shocked mind, but he thought he could hear someone approaching...



Quickly, Alan stuffed the file into the pouch, along with the Serizawa profile and the Oxygen Destroyer info. He climbed onto table 1—its occupant was so under due to whatever cocktail of drugs was keeping it asleep it didn’t notice anything—and scrambled back into the vent. For a moment, he thought he could hear someone entering the room, but didn’t hang around to find out if this was the case. He crawled as fast as he could back to the generator room, hoping against hope that he would just make it out.



His mind was now buzzing with new questions. What the hell had he just seen in there? What did this have to do with Organizer G-1? Was this what Kiryuu was referring to? None of this made sense...He knew he had to read that file if he got out of here in one piece.



Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached the vent cover leading to the generator rooms. Without hesitation, Alan pulled himself out of the vent. He quickly checked his watch... Less than half a minute to go...



He ran faster than he had ever run before—past the pipes, behind which the guard still slept, past the noisy generators, throwing the door open, not even waiting for it to shut as he dashed through, to the outside door, throwing it open, back outside, behind the building.



Less than five seconds to go...he had almost reached the alley, where he would be out of sight of any cameras...



Two seconds...



One second...



He’d made it...he was in the alley...



Even though he was dimly aware that he was now safe that the time limit was now up, Alan didn’t stop running, pulling off the balaclava as he went. He didn’t stop running until he was a few streets away from that nightmare place, when he was on the street where his motorcycle was parked.



Alan had never been so scared in his life. His nerves were shot to hell, not just because of what he had just done, but because of those things... those creatures that he had seen inside... So that was Katagiri’s dirty secret, and it somehow involved Organizer G-1... That empty slab in particular had distressed him... Who had been occupying that table? Had they been involved in whatever procedure the other cross-breeds had been through?



Then he thought of what Kiryuu said... about what Alan was doing in the CCI five years ago...



It couldn’t be... It wasn’t possible...



Alan doubled over, suddenly feeling a violent urge to be sick, not just from exhaustion from what he had done, but also from the horrifying thought that was occurring in his head...



Taking a moment to steady his nerves, he climbed back onto his motorbike and started the engine. Soon he was pulling away from that Godforsaken area, away from the horrors contained within the CCI building, now carrying three highly-confidential files from inside its walls. No doubt Kiryuu had long since pulled himself out of the security grids, Alan only hoped to God that Kiryuu had been able to keep them occupied long enough for Alan to not leave any traces. He knew he had to get a look at them all...that Organizer G-1 file in particular...



The answers were coming.



* * *



Kiryuu slumped down in the hangar bay, mimicking exhausted breathing. If he had pores, he would be sweating by now. His eyes closed tightly as he swallowed, rubbing his face with his claws.



“I delved to deep into the CCI, Will,” he breathed. “I—I delved to deep.”



“We covered our tracks,” Will said. “They would have recognized your style by now if you had done it by yourself. I’m—glad you asked me to help.”



“It’s over, it’s all over,” Kiryuu panted, glancing back up into the bay window. “I’ve—I’ve never pushed it that far before. I’m—I’m usually in and out of a place like that in two seconds. I’m…I’m so tired. I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”



“It’s worth getting what you need to know,” said Will. “And you’re right, you do need to know.”



Kiryuu sighed again, running a shaken claw through his fleshy, green mane. He shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks now. He left one camera on, feeling his way through the CCI in order to distract them. The camera he left on was the camera inside that ICU unit. He saw them, he saw both of them. He saw what they looked like, what the G-Cells did to them. It was like a nightmare to him. Katagiri, that horrid man Katagiri used Kiryuu’s son’s cells to torment and twist those three humans into the mutations they were now. Alan was obviously the lucky one of the three. Only his eyes were changed. But still, he had those cells inside of him.



“Kiryuu,” began Will. “You better check to see if your Shadowrunner made it out alright.”



“He probably doesn’t want to talk to me right now,” Kiryuu sniffed, trying to wipe the flowing tears from his eyes. They just kept coming. “After what he has seen, he probably doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now. I can’t blame him.”



“Still,” Will said. “That’s what Gordon does. You have to call him.”



Kiryuu shook his head. Instead, he just sent an email to Alan’s account.



“When you’re ready to talk, call me. I think we both need to talk. I think right now, we need each other more than we realize, Alan Tyler. For we are family, you and I.—Kiryuu Mechagodzilla”



“No,” Kiryuu sighed. “Not yet. Not yet. I have a feeling he made it out. I can sense that he did. And he has what I need. Let him find his answers and then—when he’s ready, he’ll contact me.”

[CII]

Subject #3



A short time later, Alan staggered back through the door of his apartment. It was now almost 11pm, and he was tired beyond belief from his ‘excursion’, but he didn’t want to sleep yet. There was something he had to check, for his own piece of mind...



He pulled off his trench coat, tossing it to one side before unclipping his holster and whip, and placing them on a side table. He then headed over to his small kitchen table, switching the light on, pulling out the files he had managed to recover. He put the two files for Kiryuu to one side—he doubted he could understand them if he tried to read them right now. In any case, only one file mattered right now...



This Organizer G-1 file... As he pulled it out of the satchel, his mind started conjuring yet more questions. What the f*ck were those mutant things in there?! How was Shinoda’s discovery involved in all this? Why would the CCI keep something like that there? Why was there only two out of three inside that lab? Alan shook his head, feeling his own mind was trying to bury him with those questions. He couldn’t help but fear that this was related to what Kiryuu said... something about Alan himself being at the CCI five years ago, about the CCI doing something to him...



He let loose a heavy sigh, to steady his nerves. It was better that he get this out of the way now... find out what exactly was going on here. He didn’t want to find out what was in that file, not with the horrible feelings that were welling up within him, but he felt that he very much needed to...



So it was with a shaking hand that he opened the file, turning to the first page...



The first page was entitled ‘Background Information on the Amino Acid known as Organizer G-1, and Background of Proposed Beta Project’. It was a basic and brief overview of how, on July 19th, 1999, Shinoda discovered the source of Godzilla’s regenerative capability. Accompanying these tidbits of info that Alan already knew, there was a photo of the G-1 cell, a white cell with three tentacles trailing out of it. This part of the file was dated July 21st, 1999. There was one last part on this page that stated;



“CEO of the CCI, Mitsuo Katagiri has granted permission to implant samples of Organizer G-1 into the three G-Chasers the JSDF recovered from the rubble of Gojira’s most recent attack. They were found alive and brought to the med labs in the CCI. They were to be held for questioning when they recovered, but life-signs have grown faint in all three subjects. Katagiri wishes that this project commence immediately, to test for the possibility of using Organizer G-1 in medical treatments. Only Dr. Miyasaka has expressed concerns, however the project will proceed within the next 24 hours. Profiles of the three subjects follow on subsequent pages:”



Alan turned the page, to read the profiles of the three ‘subjects’. He could not believe the conclusion that he was reaching in his mind... that at some time or another those mutants used to be human... His heart pounded as he began to read the first profile.



The first profile was of ‘Subject #1’, an American national by the name of Joel Sellinger. A small photo of Joel showed him to be a young, blonde-haired man with piercing blue eyes. The face seemed young and full of life. Alan thought back to the lab... there had been three operating tables, each of them numbered... that lizard creature had been on table 1...



Alan found it impossible to believe that this young man with his whole life ahead of him could’ve become that disfigured cross-breed that he saw in the lab... His breathing started to become heavier. What had the CCI done?! How could this have possibly happened?! It was insane... impossible... Hardly daring to wonder what was coming next, Alan turned to the next profile... and when he saw the name, his heart stopped dead.



The name of subject #2 - the man with reptile skin - was Tetsuo Yagame.



His own G-Chasing mentor... It couldn’t be... How could that creature in the lab be the same person as this person in the photo, with his graying hair, dark brown eyes, and face that spoke of over 30 years of hardened experience chasing Godzilla?! It couldn’t be... it just couldn’t...



Alan’s breathing became sharper. He was now terrified out of his mind at the thought of what the CCI had done to those two. Everything he had seen, heard and read so far was now forming a horrifying conclusion in his mind as to who subject #3 was...



As he turned the page for the last profile, all of his worst fears were confirmed as he read the name on the profile...



Alan Tyler.



Alan’s eyes went wide in terror. It wasn’t possible... and yet here was the truth with his own eyes... He was subject #3... The third mutant...



He took a closer look at the photo the CCI had of him. He must’ve been 33 in this photo... he noticed the eyes instantly... for they were not golden, with slits for pupils... Instead, they were grey, with normal round pupils... Alan reached a shaking hand to the photo, almost as if he was trying to grab those lost eyes somehow...



What had the CCI done to him?!



He continued to read on, the next page showing ‘pre-insertion of Organizer G-1’. Several photos were here, showing all three figures barely recognizable from the photos, covered in scars, burns and other horrific injuries. All three had been heavily sedated, and remained unaware of what was going on around them. As soon as they were given the go-ahead from Katagiri, samples of Organizer G-1 had been injected into all of the subjects.



Organizer G-1 had been injected into him... But if it was just to heal their injuries, how had the others been mutated as heavily as they were? How had his eyes changed into the reptilian eyes that he had been so familiar with for 5 years? He turned over and read on, to find a follow up report from a few hours later:



“The experiment appears to have been a success! Over only a few hours, we watched the miracle that is Organizer G-1 heal the subjects’ bodies. It was a truly incredible sight, as the burned, scarred tissue was slowly restored to its natural state. After a few hours it was impossible to tell that they had ever been injured. We have high hopes for using Organizer G-1 in medical treatments, if it is capable of treating the most fatal of wounds... maybe it could allow humans to cheat death. If only Dr. Shinoda, the man who discovered Organizer G-1, was here to share our triumph.”



Triumph?! Something must have gone awry, judging from what Alan had seen only a few hours ago. He turned over and saw several photos taken from various stages of the healing process. It was like watching some kind of slideshow, seeing as all of their injuries were healed over the space of only a couple of hours. From the horribly injured beings that they were into their original state... Organizer G-1 had saved them. However, he began to wonder at what cost...



Turning over, the latest entry was only 2 days later, July 23rd, 1999;



“A disaster has struck. We entered the lab this morning only to find the three subjects thrashing about in enormous levels of pain. We were only able to subdue them again after we had increased their dosage of morphine. However, their pain started again only an hour later, and so in desperation we have administered a mixture of several different drugs. Such a concoction of morphine, paracetamol, aspirin and several other painkillers would normally kill a man. However, the subjects’ life signs are still stable. Surely they shouldn’t be able to survive such a mixture...



“We cannot understand how this could’ve happened, or what caused the levels of pain the subjects experienced. We need to continue with the research and find out the cause. The subjects are now so full of drugs they are incapable of feeling any pain...”



That would explain why the mutants were so heavily drugged-up when he saw them...



The next page... July 24th, 1999;



“This cannot be...



“Today, we witnessed a truly horrifying spectacle. The subjects started stirring fretfully in their sleep, but even as we watched, we saw something begin to tear its way out of the backs of subjects 1 and 3...



“As we watched, both specimens began to grow sets of dorsal spines, exactly like Gojira’s... Subject #1 has 2 rows, while subject #3 has three. We quickly brought in a med team with scanning and X-ray equipment.”



Alan found his own hand move to his back, rubbing against it. His increasingly terrified mind began to picture himself with Godzilla-like spines on his back...



“We have found that the dorsal spines belonging to subject #3 are not connected to any important organs, so we were able to safely remove them. The open wounds left from the removal healed almost instantly, before our eyes. However, subject #1’s dorsal spines are connected to several important organs, such as the lungs, stomach and small intestine. It would be impossible to remove the spines without serious complications arising for those organs, so unfortunately we are going to have to let those spines grow.



“As if these mutations weren’t horrifying enough, we have looked at subject #2, and noticed a dark growth covering the skin around the point where Organizer G-1 was injected. On closer examination, we have discovered that this growth is actually the subject’s skin... His skin is becoming akin to that of a reptile, consisting of slate grey scales...



“We cannot understand how this could have happened. We will call an emergency meeting with Katagiri and Dr. Miyasaka to determine the cause, and the course of action we must follow...”



Once again, there were even pictures to accompany this development... Photos showing the dorsal spines on both Joel and Alan’s backs... photos showing the growth of the scales on Tetsuo’s arm... X-ray scans and assorted other diagrams... Alan felt a violent need to be sick with some of the images he was seeing...



The next piece of writing read as follows...



“A number of theories were raised during the meeting today, not many of them seem likely... Miyasaka was as white as a sheet when he heard of what had become of the subjects - I feel he is letting his own personal feelings come in the way of his judgment. The only possible theory he had was that, since Organizer G-1 belongs to Godzilla, no other life form is able to control it. He feels that Organizer G-1 is trying to mutate the subjects’ bodies into forms that better suit its needs...



“In other words, it’s trying to turn them into new Gojiras...



“If this is the case, we cannot forecast how these beings will evolve... Our experiment has been a complete failure... There is no way we can risk using this as a medical treatment. We will continue to scan the subjects, and find out what we can about their condition, but I fear we may soon need to proceed with termination...”



Was such a thing really possible? Had Organizer G-1 really tried to turn him into another Godzilla? If that was the case, why was he still reasonably human, when both Joel and Tetsuo had been as badly mutated as they were?



July 27th, 1999;



“We took a blood sample from all three subjects, and ran DNA tests. Incredibly, the DNA results show that Organizer G-1 has actually started to change their DNA at the very core. Their DNA is now a perfect fusion of human and Gojira’s own, the two completely different DNA forms so perfectly fused. However, we fear that total conversion is inevitable at some stage...



“The subjects continue to mutate at a slow rate. Subject #1 has now started showing signs of complete skeletal restructuring. We noticed his arms have grown longer, and that his face has altered slightly, developing harder ridges. Subject #2’s skin has now become even more reptilian, the spread of the scales now extends further along the arm.



“Subject #3, however, is an extremely intriguing case. We have noticed that his eyes have become a vivid golden color, and the pupils have become slit-like. Other than that, he has not shown any further signs of mutation. How this has happened we cannot comprehend... but perhaps he is the closest we will find to the results that we originally wanted to achieve...”



Alan looked down at his own hand... Organizer G-1 was inside him, and yet he was still reasonably human. Not even those scientists knew how... Why was this his fate? Why wasn’t he rotting in that lab like the rest of the mutants?



July 31st, 1999:



“Two nights past, we saw subject #3 stirring in his sleep. However, despite observing him for hours, we could not see any further signs of mutation. We wanted to pass it off as a bad dream, but in the end we decided to scan his brain patterns, see what might be going on. Perhaps his next mutation is not external... or maybe it was just a bad dream. If the subjects’ minds are still functioning normally, despite the drugs, there may be something to research...



“Over the last couple of days, we have found some extraordinary results! Some time ago we managed to recover data on Gojira’s own brain patterns, despite the tremendous amount of risk involved. When we cross-referenced these with subject #3’s own results, we found some startling results...



“We have discovered that on odd occasion’s subject #3’s brain patterns are perfectly identical to Gojira’s. This has led to a lot of speculation amongst the staff. We have even begun to speculate that somehow, beyond all our wildest expectations, subject #3 is capable of sharing his mind with Gojira. Mr. Katagiri was highly excited by this discovery. He feels that through this we may be able to coach #3 to control this power... If he is capable of what we think he can do, he could predict Gojira’s movements... maybe even be able to control Gojira’s thoughts and actions... If it is possible we could now have an extremely powerful weapon on our hands.



“Mr. Katagiri wants to keep the subjects alive, and find out if they all develop this ability. Dr. Miyasaka has been the only one to raise protests against this experiment, and as a result he has now been removed from the scientific team responsible for this project. Mr. Katagiri now wants us to find ways to control the subjects, and their ability to share their minds with Gojira.



“Organizer G-1 may have failed us as a medical treatment... but it may yet succeed as a biological weapon...”



Biological weapon?! Sharing their minds with Godzilla?! It was crazy... they couldn’t possibly do this...



Yet... he thought back to the strange, vivid dreams that he had before... When he had seen Godzilla facing that Biollante monster out in Nevada, he’d passed out... In the dream that had followed, he was looking at the monster face-to-face... Was he really looking through Godzilla’s eyes then, sharing his mind?



It just couldn’t be... Organizer G-1 had given him a mental link to Godzilla... This was too frightening beyond words. If Katagiri saw potential in it as a weapon, especially if they thought Alan could completely control Godzilla’s actions...



Alan shut his eyes. He desperately wanted all this to be a bad dream... He wished it would all go away... This time though, his wishes were not going to come true...



Did he dare read on? He knew he had to...



August 1st, 1999;



“Once again, disaster has struck the project. During the night, subject #3 - who we were counting on for our attempts to control Gojira—has escaped. He apparently awoke and escaped through the ventilation system, escaping out of the maintenance door in the generator rooms. We must not have given him the correct dosage of drugs last night...



“We cannot forecast what will happen to him, especially if he mutates again. Mr. Katagiri has ordered that he be found at all costs, and searches are continuing.”



So he had escaped... This was what Kiryuu had meant... he’d escaped from this experiment, with Organizer G-1 forever embedded under his skin...



All that followed were photos of the advancing stages of the mutations of Joel and Tetsuo, until finally;



February 1st, 2000;



“All attempts to find #3 have failed. After so long of searching with no trace of him, Mr. Katagiri has finally called off the search.”



Alan quickly flicked through the rest of the pages—they were all pretty much the same, updates on the others’ progression with photos, showing every gruesome stage up until they finally appeared like Alan had seen them. The final entry was dated just a few days ago;



“Incredible news. The remaining subjects are now starting to develop the same ability that #3 had—to dive into Gojira’s mind. Mr. Katagiri has told us to advance our research, and quickly—with the recent spates of attempted hackings into the base, he is concerned that someone on the outside could find out about the experiments. He is no longer concerned about #3, but I still fear for what might happen if he should ever remember anything of this...”



That was it... the end of the file. Alan closed it, and instantly a memory played out before his eyes...



The buildings collapsing all around him as a series of high-powered explosives were detonated...



Faint voices all around him, speaking about ‘inserting the sample into the skin now’...



Immeasurable pains in his back, like something was bursting out of it...



Suddenly waking up on an operating table... sensing that his brothers were still sleeping... only one thought on his mind...



‘Must escape...’



Alan held his head in his hands. This couldn’t be... it wasn’t true... it was impossible... he didn’t want to believe it...



His breathing ever sharper, he slowly stood up and staggered over to a rack of knives on the kitchen counter. Slowly, he pulled out an extremely sharp carving knife, and held it delicately over the skin on his arm...



He had to make sure...



With one swift movement, he slashed open his wrist. Instantly, blood started pouring out of the wound, dripping down onto the floor below. Alan felt his knees go week, as he collapsed onto the floor...



It wasn’t true... he was certain that now he was going to die... now would be the end of it...



However, even as he watched the blood continue to pour out, he saw the wound seal itself up, quickly, barely perceptively, until finally it was closed completely...



He now saw the evidence with his own eyes... Organizer G-1 was inside him, and it wouldn’t let him die. Why had he not suspected it earlier?! All those times he should’ve been badly wounded, not even able to stand... He hadn’t even aged in the last five years at all, nor ever got sick...



Neither age nor sickness could affect him now...



Shaking, Alan suddenly released a wild cry from his throat, and he struck again with the knife... again and again, slicing just about every part of his body he could reach. His arms, his legs, his chest, even his own face... He continued to cut away, blood seeping out of him in droves. He could see it drip onto the floor, soon covering this small space where he was kneeling.



As he watched again though, the wounds instantly began to heal. In scant seconds, all of the wounds had completely closed up, leaving his body covered in blood with no signs of any injuries...



This was the truth... he could not escape it... This was what Kiryuu had been telling him about...



The knife fell from his hands. He covered his blood-soaked face with his equally coated hands, and he wept. There was nothing left for him now. He was not human... he was a product of some group’s ideas for how he could be used as a plaything... as a tool... as a weapon...



He was nothing... not human... not monster... nothing....



He was completely broken.

[CII]

Family



This was... familiar to him somehow...



Yeah... as he looked around, he remembered... this was Tokyo... it had undergone numerous changes through the years he had spent here...



It was late afternoon, beginning to get dark. He was stood on the highway, astride an old Yamaha motorcycle. This was his first motorcycle, and one of his greatest possessions. It was a calm day, with a slight breeze blowing, cooling this hot summer day. Air-raid sirens were going off all around him... a Godzilla alert... No doubt the city would now be evacuated...



“So... er...” a man’s voice spoke, quite close to him, speaking in a slight American drawl, “So he’ll be coming here soon? Then what are we still waitin’ around here for?”



He looked over to his right. Next to him were two other men, both astride their own motorcycles. The nearest to him was a Japanese national, early 50s, his graying hair blowing slightly in the wind, riding on a gleaming silver Kawasaki. To his right was the American he’d heard speaking, a 20-something with blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, his ride being a huge Harley Davidson. Alan recognized both of them instantly, for they were both good friends and G-Chasers...



Tetsuo Yagame and Joel Sellinger...



“Just a few moments,” Tetsuo said, his English up to a decent standard. Alan remembered giving him lessons—he taught English to Tetsuo, and in return Tetsuo had taught Japanese to Alan. The two of them could’ve spoken to each other in either language, sometimes switching mid-conversation, just to try and catch the other out...



“Dr. Shinoda has already gone on ahead,” Tetsuo continued, “He’s told his friend in the CCI, Dr. Miyasaka, about what we’re going to be doing. The JSDF have set up blast bombs around Gojira’s landfall point—Dr. Miyasaka’s going to persuade them to delay the detonations, just long enough for us to get good pictures.”



All of a sudden, they heard it... Godzilla’s trumpet-like roar, sounding loudly as if to tear the whole sky in two... On the horizon, they saw the form of the gigantic mutated dinosaur appear, laying waste to everything in his path.



“Alan, yer being pretty quiet,” Joel said to him, “Anything up?”



“Oh, no, “Alan replied, “Just that I haven’t had a chance to do this for a while. I’m looking forward to it.”



Tetsuo chuckled. “I know the feeling very well, Alan,” he said, himself looking as excited as a schoolboy. “Well, I think now’s a good time to refresh your skills! Let’s go!”



It was what all of them wanted to hear. Instantly, the three of them revved up their motorcycles, and instantly sped off down the highway, the wind rushing through Alan’s hair as he rode. Within minutes, they were close to the towering titan, Alan feeling like he could reach out and touch the monster. He turned excitedly towards his two friends...



Except they were gone. Alan screeched to a halt, panicked, searching round desperately for any sign of Joel or Tetsuo. What had happened to them? They’d been right next to him only a few seconds ago?



Looking down at his feet, he recoiled in horror. For sprawled on the ground were two creatures seemingly out of his nightmares. One of them was a strange human/reptile hybrid, with a flat, reptilian head and enlarged chin, two sets of Godzilla-like dorsal spines, long, disfigured arms and legs and even a tail. The second being was more human, but covered in slate-grey reptile’s scales, his hands and feet twisted into beast-like claws...



Alan stood their, horrified, taking in the full horror of what he was seeing. All of a sudden, their was a loud explosion all around him, rocking the whole area. The blast bombs... they were going off far too early... Miyasaka said he could get the CCI to delay the detonation...



Suddenly the highway beneath him collapsed, sending him crashing down onto the street below, sending him falling even as the fires raised all around him. He tried to shout out, but no sound would come out of his own mouth...



Then, there was nothing but darkness... Looking down at his own body, he was now horrified to see it twisting, morphing... changing right before his eyes. His entire body was becoming covered in slate-grey scales, his hands twisting into gnarled claws, his entire body burning, twisting itself, seemingly reconfiguring its shape...



Alan screamed out in agony, and jerked forward. He yelled out, trying to escape from this horrible fate...



Next thing he knew, he was lying on the kitchen floor in his apartment, gasping, his face covered in sweat and blood, his eyes wide in unfathomable terror.



He knew exactly what that dream was about... That was that G-Chase in 1999... Shinoda had said Miyasaka could persuade Katagiri to delay the blast-bomb detonation, except Katagiri had stabbed them in the back and detonated the bombs anyway... That had been when all this started... when they had found him, and injected a substance that rightly belonged to Godzilla into his body...



Alan held his head in his hands, tears forming in his eyes. Both Tetsuo and Joel had been good friends. Tetsuo in particular, for he had taught Alan everything about G-Chasing... the history of Godzilla, the best photographic opportunities, unwritten rules that had to be followed when chasing Godzilla into the danger zones... even how to touch him and live to tell the tale... As for Joel, he had been a promising up-and-coming G-Chaser. A little rash every now and then, but a good soul. He had his whole life ahead of him...



That day however, all three of them had their lives, their very humanity stolen from them... stolen by Katagiri, who wanted to use them as weapons to destroy Godzilla... once he had discovered the link they had to Godzilla himself...



Alan would never forgive the CCI for what they had done to him...



Slowly, he rose up off the blood-stained floor. He must have been too exhausted to go to bed last night, and had passed out in the middle of the pool of his own blood he had made the night before. Immediately the thought of doing such a thing made Alan want to be sick.



He glanced down at his watch. It was 6:47am. It was still dark outside, with signs of the approaching dawn. Alan pulled himself onto his feet, looking down at his slashed, blood-stained clothes and skin. He felt sick from what he had done, but he had to be sure that it wasn’t all a nightmare... On the floor, the carving knife he had used still lay where he had dropped it.



Knowing that he would not be able to get back to sleep now that he was awake, he headed over to the bathroom to clean himself up. After all, that was what humans did, right? Kept themselves clean... even if right now he felt not even a shower could cleanse him of what was befouling him...



* * *



A couple of hours later, Alan had cleaned himself up, and had pulled on fresh clothes. However, he had not had breakfast or a drink yet. Instead, he had sat at the end of his bed, thumbing through all of the files he had recovered last night. He had read and re-read the file on the so-called Oxygen Destroyer he had recovered, trying to make sense of it and failing. If this was the weapon that killed Kiryuu 50 years ago, Alan couldn’t understand how. It must have been pretty dangerous though, if Dr. Serizawa had taken his own life to try to prevent the secrets of this weapon from getting out...



A small part of his mind reasoned that Dr. Miyasaka could explain things to him, but right now he was the last person Alan wanted to speak to. Miyasaka had been involved in the experiment that had turned him into a mutant, even if he had tried to protest against it. He could’ve terminated the project... he should’ve... He should’ve just left the three of them to die. That would’ve been more humane that what they had done to him...



He didn’t want to re-read the file on the Organizer G-1 experiment. He didn’t want to relive those memories... he didn’t want to see what the CCI had done to him and his friends again...



Eventually, Alan finally decided to try and clean up the spilt blood on the floor. He could not believe that he had actually slept in it that night... that was akin to sleeping in a sewer... So he headed over to the back of the apartment, pulled out a mop and bucket, and had finished filling the bucket with hot water when there was a knock on the door.



Alan froze. His already fevered mind began to wonder if the CCI had already figured out what had happened last night... But if that was the case, surely they wouldn’t knock first...



Walking over to the front door, Alan peered through the peep-hole on his door. Shinoda was stood out in the corridor, his image distorted slightly by the concave shape of the glass. He looked like he’d had very little sleep last night himself, his appearance haggard. Alan slowly opened the door for him, and immediately Shinoda ran in, looking very worried.



“Alan!” he said, “What happened last night?! Did you... did you go to the CCI?!”



Alan wasn’t in the mood for talking to anybody right now. Indeed, it looked like he didn’t want anyone within 200 miles of him. However, since Shinoda had barged in like this...



“Take a look for yourself,” Alan replied in a slow, monotonous tone. To Shinoda, it sounded like Alan had forgotten the use of the English language. He walked through the apartment towards the kitchen, gasping and holding his hand up to his mouth when he saw the pool of blood on the floor.



“Dear God!” Shinoda exclaimed, “What happened here?!”



Alan slowly walked up behind him. His lack of reply was beginning to unnerve Shinoda even more. Alan said nothing, but instead walked through to the bedroom. He returned a second later, thrusting the files into Shinoda’s face. Shinoda read the title of the file on the top;



“Oxygen Destroyer...”



Shinoda thumbed through the file, scratching his head. After a while, he closed the file, looking genuinely puzzled.



“My field’s in biology, not chemistry,” he admitted, “I don’t understand any of this. Miyasaka would probably know though, I’ll give him a call…”



“No!” Alan said, his eyes wide, seemingly on the verge of going completely off-the-rails. “Don’t tell Miyasaka I have these files. I don’t trust anybody who works for the CCI... least of all after this.”



“After what?!” Shinoda said, becoming annoyed with what Alan was saying and doing. He could not understand Alan’s irrational behavior at all. He was beginning to think that Kiryuu had unhinged him in some way.



Alan took away the files on Serizawa and the Oxygen Destroyer, and Shinoda found himself looking at the Organizer G-1 file.



“Beta experiment...” Shinoda muttered, his voice full of fear. Organizer G-1 was his discovery, yet Alan had found a file stating that the CCI had gone behind his back and carried out further experiments on it... Shinoda was now becoming fearful of what this file could contain.



Indeed, as he read through the file, Alan could see genuine terror and shock on Shinoda’s face, as he turned each page, gasping at every picture, every new fact that he was picking up from the file. It was clear to Alan that Shinoda genuinely did not know about the experiments—at least he hadn’t been covering up for anybody, like he hid the truth about Kiryuu from him. Alan slumped onto the end of the bed, head low, almost as if trying to hide his face away.



“Oh God...” Shinoda muttered, as he finished the file. “Those *******s.... They wouldn’t... How could they do this...”



“They could and they did,” Alan said, his voice breaking, “Gojira’s not the monster... Katagiri is... The CCI has done more damage than Gojira ever could...”



“He’s insane...” Shinoda said, his voice becoming more angry now. Katagiri had stabbed him in the back before, now he had truly cut deep. “This could kill a man...”



“No, it couldn’t,” Alan said, blankly, “Believe me, I tried.”



Shinoda realized that this explained the pool of blood he saw. He dreaded to think what Alan had done to himself last night, yet there was no outward sign of any physical injury. What especially worried him was Alan’s seemingly dead tone with that statement. It sounded like Alan was on the verge of complete mental breakdown. He shook his head fearfully, knowing that he would never be able to trust his government again... that Godzilla was just as much a victim of this as the mutants were... his cells had been raped, used to harm others, going against everything Shinoda had ever fought for and believed in...



“It’s confirmed a theory of mine...” Alan said, in that same deadpan tone, “You make an important discovery, or put any invention on the market, and someone will find a way to use it as a weapon, to hurt others or damage the environment. Look at Oppenheimer... He split the atom, and others took the next step and mass-produced the hydrogen bomb. They created something capable of destroying millions of lives... On top of that, the hydrogen bomb awakened both Kiryuu and Godzilla, mutating them, prompting them to rampage in a country full of the race responsible for what happened to them... and now their cells mutated me...”



There was an awkward pause after this. Shinoda knew what Alan was saying. He himself had often being scared of how humans were becoming too reckless in their need to advance technology... He feared that humanity was now a walking time-bomb, capable of destroying itself any minute. One of these days they’d go too far, and by then it would be too late...



“Gojira’s attacks were justified... his son’s attacks were justified... I wonder if King Ghidorah’s was as well...” Alan continued, “Humans will never learn their lesson. Last night was proof of that.”



Shinoda was scared out of his mind. Not only at this discovery, but also the effect it seemed to have on Alan. What had happened to the idealistic man he knew? Now he only saw a wreck of a man, talking doom-filled sermons, his faith in humanity destroyed completely. Shinoda couldn’t imagine what that was like... Perhaps it was best that he let Alan have some time alone... No doubt he’d be taking the information on this ‘Oxygen Destroyer’ to Kiryuu... He barely registered that Alan had used the name ‘King Ghidorah’... was he referring to Monster Zero?



Maybe it was best that he go...



“You’ll be heading back out to Utah, right?” he asked tentatively, “To give that information to Kiryuu...”



Alan looked back at Shinoda, the expression on his face utterly pitiable.



“I’ve got to, haven’t I?” he responded. He’d seriously considered just taking the files and running... running as far away from civilization as he could... Right now he felt Ogasawara Island would be the only place he would belong...



In the end, he pulled himself out of that decision. No doubt he would still be tracked down... then what would become of him... All he knew was that he had to get out of Japan, and stay out... He feared the CCI may still find a way to trace last night’s events back to him...



“Kiryuu has every right to know how he died,” he continued, “Just like I had every right to know what happened to me...”



Shinoda thought Alan might say something like that... though Alan’s tone was still worrying dead, like he truly didn’t care what happened to him anymore...



“I...” Shinoda said, “I’d better go... I’ll see you around.”



Alan didn’t reply. He was still hanging his head, seemingly ashamed to even be here. Quietly, Shinoda left the apartment, trying to fight back tears. His country had betrayed him, and now it looked like he was going to lose a friend... perhaps forever.



Alan was only faintly aware that Shinoda had left. He hadn’t wanted anybody near him right now... not even someone he’d trusted for years... He didn’t feel he could be around humans again... at least not for a while. He didn’t feel he could connect with humans now... though some part of his mind was trying to persuade him otherwise. As much as he wanted to talk to Shinoda then, a part of him felt he couldn’t... like he had suddenly developed some kind of block that prevented him from connecting to anyone, even his friends...



It was the worst feeling in the world... the feeling of losing his sense of self... and he was feeling it deep. He felt like his humanity, his very soul had been ripped away from him...



On a whim, he logged on to his computer, connecting to his email account. He wanted to get out of Japan as fast as possible... perhaps he’d better at least email Kiryuu, let him know he had the files and needed to get to Utah as fast as possible.



From the look of things, it seemed Kiryuu had beaten him to it. For Alan found an email in his inbox from Kiryuu’s ‘Heavy Metal’ address;



“When you’re ready to talk, call me. I think we both need to talk. I think right now, we need each other more than we realize, Alan Tyler. For we are family, you and I.—Kiryuu Mechagodzilla”



Family... how could he consider Kiryuu to be his family? Alan’s family had been born and raised in Whitby... they’d brought him into this world... they’d both being murdered by King Ghidorah...



Yet... he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Kiryuu was right... Michael and Holly Tyler might have brought Alan into this world and raised him... but had that still being the case when Organizer G-1 had been inserted into his body? Those DNA results showed that he was now related to Godzilla rather than any Tyler... Perhaps Alan Tyler had died the minute those cells had been inserted... maybe he was just another Godzilla, with Alan’s appearance and his memories...



He held his head in his hands. He didn’t know where those thoughts had come from, but right now they felt close to the truth. His eyes fell upon a framed photo of both of his parents, happy and smiling. now they were both buried in the graveyard of St. Mary’s Church in Whitby... without markers... Alan didn’t know what he was supposed to think any more, knowing he was no longer blood-related to them... He shook himself, desperately trying to contain the howl of despair that was trying to force its way out of him.



He switched off the computer, and proceeded over to the kitchen. For the rest of the day, he only did odd jobs around the apartment, not going out. He mopped the blood off the kitchen floor, cleaned a few places, and packed much of his stuff for his inevitable trip to Utah.



At last, as the sun sank below the horizon, Alan knew he had to go to Utah. He knew he had to speak to one of the last people on Earth he wanted to speak to right now... He wanted to get this over with, one way or the other...



So he pulled out his mobile, and dialed Kiryuu’s number.



“Hello?” came a rather weary tone over the phone. It shocked Alan a bit. For a moment he was not sure if he had dialed the right number.



“Kiryuu…” Alan breathed over the phone.



“Alan?” the voice replied. It was Kiryuu. The strong, deep, and rather handsome voice he had gotten to know trickled down to nothing more than a whisper. Something had happened, but that did not worry Alan right now. “You made it. Good. That is very good…”



It sounded like Kiryuu was relieved to hear that Alan had made it. There was an almost solemn tone in his voice, which disturbed Alan. He sounded like someone had died.



“I have a couple of files you might be interested in,” said Alan. “I guess I ought to get them to you...”



“Oh, good,” Kiryuu said, his voice trying to get a little louder, trying to make it like he was smiling. “It is a good idea that you do. You better not tell me about them over the phone. Who knows who could be hearing us. It is not wise.”



“I understand,” Alan said.



“Tell me,” Kiryuu began. “Tell me what you saw, Alan. Tell me everything…”



Alan fell silent after that. He did not want to relive those horrors, nor did he want to call up those memories in order to force them out of his mouth into words to tell Kiryuu. At least not over the phone. Kiryuu was right; there was a possible chance that someone was listening.



“Alan?” Kiryuu asked. “Are you there?”



“I—I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Alan sighed. “But we do need to talk.”



“I understand,” Kiryuu replied. “It must have been horrific, what you saw. I know how you feel. They—raped my son and myself too. It’s not safe there, where you are. It’s not safe. Get out of the country as soon as you can. You shouldn’t have problems getting the information through security at the airports. I mean, it’s just paper. Your flight will be paid for again. When you bring me the files—it will conclude our agreement and I’ll give you what you need. But I must suggest something for you to consider. Don’t return to Japan.”



“Right,” Alan sighed, completely devastated. “When can we meet?”



“I hate to rush you, but I don’t want to risk you staying in that country any longer with what you’re holding,” Kiryuu began, his saddened voice now picking back up to the cold, cynical, analytical tone Alan had gotten to know. “Preparations have been made. Get out of the country tonight. I will meet you in four days. As soon as you are safe back on American soil…” Kiryuu paused, giving a slight chuckle, “…and what I mean by safe, I mean by the country I have more control of—you will email me, letting me know that you’ve crossed the boarders. It will be only once you arrived in the continental United States will I reveal where our next rendezvous shall be. And not a moment’s sooner.”



“Okay,” Alan said. He did not want to argue with the great bio-mechanical, original Godzilla right now. He had not the strength for it. “I’ll contact you when I get out of the country.”

[CII]

Journeyman



With that, Alan hung up.



So this was it... Once he was out of Japan, he couldn’t come back... and he had to leave tonight...



Alan held his head in his hands. He didn’t want to stay in Japan in case he was caught, but on the other hand... this was his home, after all... he had a whole life here... he couldn’t give it all up so easily...



He shook his head. Get a grip, he thought. Logic has to take place over sentiment here. You should’ve seen this coming the minute you agreed to get those files...



He never saw the revelation about those experiments coming though...



Finally, he knew he had to accept how things had turned out... didn’t mean he had to like it, though. He dragged his suitcase out towards the door, and packed a few more items he thought he’d need. He didn’t bother to pack a great deal though—he didn’t plan on taking anything with him. He didn’t know if he could anyway, not without alerting the CCI, who no doubt were jumping on any possible lead they could find.



He only hoped Miyasaka wouldn’t crack if he was questioned... Surely he wouldn’t betray Shinoda’s trust?



Trying to push such thoughts out of his head, he grabbed all of his old G-Chasing equipment. He had half a mind to leave it all, but decided against the idea. Back in that lab, he’d considered putting a bullet through the brains of the two mutants that used to be his friends—he was pretty sure destruction of the brain was the only sure-fire way to kill something injected with Organizer G-1. He’d wanted to put an end to their suffering... but if he’d done that the CCI would’ve been able to trace the bullets back to him for sure...



Locking up room 302 for the final time, he headed outside to try and flag down a taxi to take him to the airport. The night was beginning to get cool, the stars overhead twinkling slightly, but Alan wasn’t at peace this night.



Just then, he recognized Shinoda’s car pulling up outside the apartment building. Shinoda stepped out of the car, and quickly ran over to him.



“Alan!” he said, “I’d hoped to catch you before you left. Listen, I just need to...”



He tailed off as Alan held up a hand to silence him. Shinoda could see a sullen, sorrowful look on his face, like he was in mourning. He didn’t feel he could blame him... maybe, with the discovery of what was inside him, he felt like something had died inside... Who could say for certain?



Alan reached into his pocket, and pulled out a few keys, tied to a small ring. He passed them over to Shinoda, who took them, puzzled.



“Wh—what are these?” he asked.



Alan turned to him slowly.



“The keys to my apartment and my motorcycle,” he said, in that same dead tone he’d used before. “Maybe Io will find a use for them.”



“Why are you-” Shinoda said, before breaking off. His eyes widened slightly as he understood what Alan was doing.



“Y—you’re not coming back, are you?” he asked, tentatively, feeling like he knew what the answer would be. Alan’s eyes gave him the feeling of enormous loss.



“If I stay, and the CCI find me and catch me,” Alan said slowly, “they’ll put me under with drugs and try to use me as a weapon... just like the others... You don’t think I’d stick around and let that happen to me, don’t you?”



Shinoda didn’t even try to argue. He let loose a long sigh, understanding Alan’s reasons, but still feeling the sting of losing a friend all the same. He didn’t think there was any sign of all this simply ‘blowing over’—Japan was now officially a danger zone to Alan. Better that he didn’t return, and remain safe, somewhere where the CCI couldn’t find him.



“Alan...” Shinoda said slowly, “I can’t imagine...”



“No...” Alan said, slowly, deliberately, “You can’t.”



Something else occurred to Alan... Something that had come to him in his dream...



“You weren’t being entirely honest two days ago, were you?” he said, “When you talked about knowing about the bombs...”



Shinoda sighed. “I know,” he said, “I knew about them, told Tetsuo about them, but I hoped Miyasaka could persuade Katagiri to delay the detonation. I don’t know why I said I didn’t know about them then... I was angry... it just sort of slipped out.”



That was all Alan wanted to hear, though Shinoda had the funny feeling that that didn’t matter to Alan anymore. That wasn’t all Shinoda wanted to say though. He had to clear something up with Alan... for his own peace of mind, at least.



“Listen...” he said, slowly, his voice full of concern, “Just for the record, I can’t apologize enough for everything, for keeping Kiryuu’s secret from you... for everything the CCI did to you... I’m sorry I ever found out about Organizer G-1, and for getting you mixed up in all this... for getting you mixed up in the CCI, and Kiryuu...”



Alan’s face remained blank. It was impossible to tell what was going through his mind right now.



“Why?” Alan said, blankly. “You didn’t set off those bombs... you didn’t inject Organizer G-1 into my bloodstream... What have you to be sorry about?”



Alan flagged down a passing taxi. With Shinoda’s help, Alan placed his suitcase in the boot, and prepared to climb in.



“Well then...” Shinoda said, “I guess this is goodbye... For what it’s worth, it’s been a privilege knowing you.”



Alan felt like his heart had been stabbed. Shinoda was a good friend, had been for years... He was trying to hide it, but having to abandon the life that he had built for himself here... having to leave the friends he had trusted for so long... it was tearing him apart inside...



This was all Katagiri’s fault... Ever since he’d detonated those bombs, regardless of Miyasaka’s warnings, Alan’s life had been over...



“We won’t see each other again...” Alan said, in a low tone, knowing he couldn’t lie to Shinoda. Shinoda himself clearly had tears forming in his eyes, but nodded, accepting what Alan knew... that there would be no reunions in the future...



Alan climbed into the taxi, and asked to head for Tokyo International Airport. Shinoda stood on the curb, watching the taxi leave. He didn’t finally move from where he was stood until quarter of an hour had passed. As he finally climbed back into his car, he was losing his struggle to hold back the tears. A close friend was gone... perhaps forever...



He’d never forgive Katagiri for this... He wished there was something he could do... anything... to help Alan in his struggle... but he knew he couldn’t...



Nobody could...



* * *



A few short hours later, Alan was on the first flight back to the United States, his seat once again paid courtesy of the Utah Foundation. He wondered what would happen if the CCI ever checked all flights out of the country... hopefully they’d pass off the paid seat as the Foundation simply sending over one of their staff from the Yokohama branch office...



As Kiryuu had predicted, he’d had no problems sneaking the files through security... after all, it was just paper. He sat with them in the overhead locker above his seat - he wanted to keep them close to him at all times. He’d heard a lot of horror stories of baggage going the wrong way, and wasn’t willing to take such risks. Hopefully they were what Kiryuu was looking for... but even if they weren’t there was no going back now for him...



As the Boeing 747 left Tokyo International, just a few minutes after midnight, Alan gazed out of the window at the rows of streetlights, gradually becoming smaller and smaller as the plane rose into the night sky. Alan bid one last farewell to his home... his home for 20 years... At the same time, he knew he was saying farewell to his life... a life that had suddenly been snatched away from him, swiftly and without remorse, from individuals who made their living from war...



What would happen to him now? Even if he met up with Kiryuu, and obtained the information on King Ghidorah, where would he go from there? He had no family now... well, he knew Kiryuu was now family, but he didn’t know if he was fully ready to accept that. How could he stay so far from home, knowing what he was... with that ever-present, horrible feeling that the only suitable place for him was Ogasawara Island?



He knew he was right earlier when he told Shinoda that all humans ever did was find ways of destroying themselves... He had half a mind to not spread the truth about King Ghidorah at all... Some part of him wanted humanity to rot for what they had done to him...



Now he had the feeling he was even starting to think like Godzilla...



Finally, as the plane turned, setting off in its direction towards the United States, away from Japanese airspace, he didn’t know what to think.



* * *



Kiryuu sat back, reaching into his email address for any updates. And he had found it.



“Kiryuu, I’m back across the border into the United States. Let me know where and when we will meet. I’ll bring the files with me.”



Alan had returned and he had the files with me. Even if he could not answer the riddle about his breath weapon, he would at least solve the riddle about his death. Something for his son. And perhaps Alan can clear up about what he saw in the CCI. Kiryuu began to write his email.



“Very good, Mr. Tyler. You’ve done well with the task I have appointed you. And I have something for you as well. You will meet me in the desert again, the exact same place as last time. 40 miles due west of Toole, at noon, on Tuesday. Chester will be waiting for you in Salt Lake City. I have made the proper arrangements again. Don’t be so hard on him just because he works for my company. It is a small request.”



Kiryuu sent the email to Alan’s inbox.

[CII]

Thicker than Water





He could not believe he was back here... back out in Salt Lake City... just a few short days and he was back here...



Only a couple of days ago, he’d arrived back in the United States. As soon as he’d got back to Salt Lake City, he’d sent an email to Kiryuu, confirming that he was safely back across the border. Almost immediately he’d received a reply, informing that he was to bring the files to the same place they met last time... 40 miles west of Tooele, on Tuesday...



Well, today was now Tuesday, and Alan had spent the last couple of days shut in his motel room, not talking to anybody, staring at the same four blank walls. He didn’t feel he could be amongst humans again... He’d pulled out his Desert Eagle a number of times, seemingly playing with it. He knew guns weren’t toys, but he couldn’t help himself. At one point, he’d seriously considered sticking the barrel in his mouth and pulling the trigger. In that respect he thought he’d shown remarkable restraint.



Maybe it was better that he be dead... at least that would be a foolproof way of ensuring the CCI could never track him down. For he knew that even now they must be searching for any leads that would ensure the capture of the one responsible for stealing confidential files from their vaults. Perhaps Miyasaka had been questioned... maybe even Shinoda... He only hoped they had the sense to keep quiet. He knew Shinoda would, but Miyasaka was another matter entirely...



Why hadn’t that man stopped those experiments while he could? Couldn’t he have tried harder to ensure that the experiments would not go ahead? What had the CCI done to him to ensure they got their way? Right now, he wouldn’t put anything past Katagiri...




What was he doing here, really? He should be keeping as far away from humans as possible right now. He didn’t know what might be going on. He felt as if he was contaminated with something, and that he had to stay away from humans or else it would spread and cause an epidemic...



Perhaps this was why he felt himself shaking, as he walked to the edge of Salt Lake City, at a few minutes after 10am. The small bag that contained the files was slung over his shoulder. Once again, he wasn’t bothering with anything else—he didn’t trust himself with his weapons right now. Nobody paid him much attention as he walked along. Of course they wouldn’t—to him, he would be just another guy. None of them could possibly know what lay beneath his skin... nor could they know that, much as he looked it, he wasn’t human.



Eventually, he reached the edge of town. A short ways further on, and he found what he was looking for—a small, privately-owned airfield. A sign just over the door of the tiny office building read ‘Utah Lake Touring’. Standing on the front step, enjoying the morning air, was Chester MacAnderson, a red-haired, heavily-freckled Scottish man who smiled broadly as he saw Alan approaching.



“Mr. Tyler!” Chester called cheerfully, “Good morning! Good to see you again!”. He held out his hand as Alan approached. Alan took it, and they shook hands. He hadn’t wanted to, but saw no sense in offending Chester just because right now he didn’t like being touched. When he brought his hand back though, he hid it inside his pocket.



“Come on through, Mr. Tyler,” Chester continued, leading Alan through the office building and straight out to the airfield. Alan looked at his watch, seeing that it was a few minutes before 10:30am. Chester was already climbing into the pilot’s seat. Alan climbed into the back, his hand clamped tightly round the bag’s strap.



“Make yerself comfortable,” Chester continued, his own cheerful, optimistic outlook not changed one bit, “I figured we’d make an early start this time, ‘specially since we were late last time. Kiryuu’s a stickler for punctuality, as you no doubt figured out last time.”



Alan didn’t say anything. Right now, he was distracted by all of the constantly buzzing, whirling thoughts in his mind. He wasn’t even sure if his thoughts were his own anymore. As the helicopter’s blades started spinning, Chester looked back at him, his face full of concern.



“Er... are you okay?” he asked tentatively, “You look like someone’s died.”



Alan just looked back at him, his own face still blank, his eyes seemingly dead to the world.



“Look,” Chester said, “if you’re not up to it, I can call Kiryuu and call it off-”



“No...” Alan spoke up, his voice seemingly full of forced indifference. “Keep going. It’s better that I get this over with.”



“Okay, your call,” Chester shrugged, turning back to face the windscreen. “Here we go!”



Within minutes, the helicopter was outside of the city limits, heading towards its destination 40 miles west of Tooele, not far from the Great Salt Flats. Alan stared out of the window, watching the scenery roll by. After a few minutes, Chester tried once again to strike up conversation.



“So...” he said, struggling for a moment, trying to come up with a suitable topic for conversation, “... how was it out in Japan? You see much of your family?”



Family... Alan hung his head, closing his eyes—the nearest expression he’d shown to actual emotion over the last few days. Chester knew instantly he’d brought up a very sensitive subject. Perhaps Alan’s family was...



“I...” he stammered, feeling very awkward, “... I’m sorry... I didn’t know…”



“No...” Alan said, quietly but audibly, “... you didn’t.”



Alan’s tone wasn’t angry, or even upset... his tone still had that same unnerving indifference to it, as if Alan almost didn’t care. Unknown to Chester, Alan’s family wasn’t dead - or at least not the family that he was now a part of anyway. In fact, they were on their way to meet one of his relatives now...



As Alan sat their, his eyes closed, a sudden feeling of heavy drowsiness overcame him, suddenly making him feel very tired. He knew he hadn’t had much sleep the night before, but he knew now was not a good time to take a nap. However, this tiredness seemed to drain every last inch of him, he didn’t feel like he could even so much as move a finger. He just felt so tired...



Finally, he caved in to this tiredness, and allowed sleep to overtake him. Maybe it would do him good to sleep for a little while... he was sure Chester would wake him if need be... All he had to do was shut his eyes... and finally he drifted off.



For a time, his sleep was dreamless, until his vision started to clear. As it did so, he saw that he was looking out to sea from the shore. The sound of the breaking waves filled his ears as he looked at the star-strewn night sky. Wherever he was, it had to be on the other side of the world if it was still night time. As he gazed out at the water, he couldn’t help feeling an indescribable feeling of loneliness... like some kind of bottomless sorrow of a great loss that was trying to resurface... He was missing something terribly...



For some considerable time the ocean filled these dreams, then his vision started to go dark again, almost like he had close his eyes at that point. Then his vision returned, only slightly grainy, like an old movie. Now he was in the middle of a forest clearing, gazing up at a creature that Alan knew full well was extinct...



It was a dinosaur, no two ways about it, covered in slate-grey scales, bipedal, with a tail as long as its body. Alan tried to remember what species it was, but couldn’t quite place it. The only thing he could tell for certain was that, somehow, it bore a resemblance to Godzilla... In fact, it slowly began to dawn on him that he was pulling its tail.



The dinosaur turned, gazing at him intently, with eyes that were a brilliant gold with slits for pupils. Alan knew where he had seen eyes like that before... but that thought was almost pushed out of his mind. Instead, he felt like he wanted to take this creature somewhere, show it something. The dinosaur simply shook its head, making almost disapproving sounds... sounds that he felt like he understood, but didn’t remember what they meant...



The dinosaur then reached out to him, pulling him closer, tenderly resting its snout upon his own head. As it pulled away again, gazing at him intently, Alan inexplicably felt like he belonged... Was he just imagining it, or did this long-dead being really look at him with a look of... well... love?



For some reason, Alan felt like he wanted to weep...



It was then that the vision of the dinosaur started to fade, and the sound of beating helicopter blades started filling his ears again. As he opened his eyes, he found that he was back inside the chopper’s cabin, Chester still focused on his flying. Maybe he’d seen that Alan was asleep and thought it best not to disturb him. Alan breathed in sharply, wondering what the hell that had all been about. He remembered the dream so vividly, not to mention the feelings that had been associated with it... How the hell could those feelings have been dragged up? How was he feeling such strong emotional ties to what were products of his imagination?



Then, it slowly started to dawn on him. He remembered something he’d read in that file detailing the experiments... the extent of his mutation... He remembered reading the doctors theorize that he was able to share his mind with Godzilla on occasion... and that the effect caused him to pass out...



If he’d really been seeing through Godzilla’s eyes just then, maybe he’d been gazing from the shore of Ogasawara Island... then those other dreams... they could’ve been...



Godzilla... Alan thought... Were those your memories?



Alan now began to become worried. If Alan could see through Godzilla’s eyes, then was there a chance Godzilla could see through Alan’s eyes? Was he inside Alan’s mind right now, seeing through his eyes?



Alan shook himself... it didn’t bear thinking about. Surely there’d be some kind of sign that this was happening...



It slowly started to dawn on him what exactly the dreams meant... If he’d been looking through Godzilla’s eyes, and Godzilla at that moment had been reflecting on his memories... then that had to mean that dinosaur was...



So that was what Godzilla looked like, before the hydrogen bomb mutated him... His son must have looked pretty similar...



“Mr. Tyler?”



Alan jumped as Chester addressed him. He’d been so far away, buried in his own thoughts, that it was a shock to be directly addressed.



“Uhn?” he said, as a rather indistinct way of letting Chester know he’d heard him.



“Looks like you’re awake,” Chester said, cheerfully, “Just letting you know we’re reaching the rendezvous point. You can see Kiryuu out of the windshield now. I think that this time we’re right on schedule.”

[CII]

The Oxygen Destroyer



Kiryuu glanced up, hearing the sounds of the helicopter blades come close to him. His lips curled into a smile when he saw who it was. Right now, he did not know how he was going to act towards Alan now that Alan knows what was inside of him. In fact, there was some confusion inside Kiryuu as well. He did not know if he wanted to tear Alan apart first, or embrace him like he embraces his son. Some other confusion came about him as well, should he call Alan his grandson now? That sounded better than calling Alan his son.



No, he’s neither, Kiryuu thought. No matter what he has inside of him, he is not my son or grandson. In a way he is family, but I did not give birth to him. No doubt he’s confused about all this. Distressed. He’s wondering whether or not if his own parents are his own parents. Looks like I’ll have to clear that up with him.



We are family, Kiryuu, whispered Biollante from her cage. You, me, Godzilla, and Alan. Accept it.



Kiryuu sighed again, shoving her back once more into the dark recesses of his CPU where she would not disturb this meeting. In so many ways, she was right. Alan was his grandson—in the most wrong way possible. And this kid needed to hear that from him. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. The great bio-mecha chuckled. He could use this in some sort of form or fashion. It would be a learning experience to see what the human’s reaction would be if Kiryuu called Alan his grandson. Kiryuu growled, his blades coming up to the side of the helicopter and forcing open the door. Once more, Alan was bound in the syntech. He could feel the human struggle in his grasp again as he brought him closer to his snout.



“Thank you, Chester,” Kiryuu said. “That will be all.”



“No problem, Mr. Mechagodzilla,” Chester called. “Give me a shout when you need me again. Great seein’ yah again, Mr. Tyler!”



The helicopter lifted away, disappearing in the hazy, blue sky. Kiryuu turned back towards his captive.



“Welcome back, Alan,” Kiryuu rumbled pleasantly. The grin spread wider across his face, showing off every sharpened tooth in his mouth. “My grandson…”



Grandson...



Alan felt sick at the thought. He hung his head, eyes half-closed, clearly trying to avoid Kiryuu’s gaze.



Alan had never known his grandfather... He’d died of a heart attack just a few months after he was born. He’d never got a chance to know him.



Now Kiryuu had started referring to him as that... If this was his idea of a sick joke, Alan certainly wasn’t finding it funny. Yet, he felt something tugging away at his mind... A horrible, nagging feeling that there was more truth to Kiryuu’s words than might be realized.



He was related to Godzilla. He knew he couldn’t deny it, as much as he tried. He shook his head, knowing that this was sick. This was wrong in so many ways. It wasn’t fair, not to him, or to either of the Godzillas... He shouldn’t have ended up like this... It was like something out of a nightmare...



However, it was real...



He remained silent, trying to organize his very confused thoughts.



Kiryuu’s eyebrow cocked up, tilting his head to one side. Already, he could sense that Alan was even more distraught than before. With the revelation of what the CCI did to him, Alan was more than a bit disturbed. Kiryuu sighed, realizing perhaps it was just best to get down to business.



“Did you bring my information?” Kiryuu asked.



“I did,” Alan replied, bringing out the satchel he had slung over his shoulder. He pulled out the papers pertaining to the weapon used on Kiryuu in 1954. A slender tendril came up, forming into a human-sized, dexterous claw near the papers. The claw took the papers away as another human-sized claw came up. Kiryuu drew the papers close to one of his enormous eyes. Alan’s eyes widened as they saw the slit pupil began to move from side to side, reading the pages written. Kiryuu was in silence as he read the pages, flipping through them.



“You—you can read that?” Alan asked.



“I’m an advanced AI, dear boy,” Kiryuu replied in a flat tone as he read the sheets. “Not some ignorant mollusk. I can read in 10 different languages, and speak in 20 different tongues and dialects. I was programmed with the understanding and literacy of both Japanese and English, but I acquired the other languages through my private research on how to understand you humans better.” He lowered the paper, bringing Alan close to one of his golden eyes. “Yes, Alan, ‘you humans’. No matter what is inside of you, you are still human. It’s not what’s in your blood that makes you human, it’s what’s in your head—what’s in your heart. And because of that, you will always be human, even to me—and even to Godzilla.”



Alan glanced away again, his eyes becoming downcast.



“I can be your grandfather, a guiding hand in your progress of better understanding yourself,” Kiryuu began. “For I have gone though many trials by fire in my acceptance of what I have become—my understanding of what I was, what I am now, and what I hope to grow into. I do not blame them for what they have done; instead I use it to my advantage. But I give you one warning. If you attempt to try and hurt my son, consider your life forfeited.”



Alan shuddered again, swallowing what courage he had down his throat. He could tell in that enormous, golden, cat-like orb that Kiryuu meant every word. There was no deceit in his voice. He was sincere, and that was what made the great, bio-mechanical dinosaur more frightening than ever. Kiryuu returned his gaze back to the papers, reading them, processing their data into his CPU. He was making copies into his file system.



“An oxygen destroyer…” Kiryuu breathed. “So that’s what that was. Those bubbles. A weapon that can destroy oxygen molecules in water. How interesting. Splits oxygen atoms into a fluid and then disintegrates those oxygen molecules causing living creatures to die of asphyxiation as their remains are liquefied. And it’s a very painful death; I can tell you that, Alan. It’s very painful to have your very flesh stripped from your bones.” He cleared his throat, his thoughts returning to the pages. “This sounds like a weapon more along the lines of nuclear fission than a chemical reaction. My understanding of it is this, splitting the atom into its most primal form of protons, neutrons, and electrons. His notes indicate that this weapon works much similar to a neutron bomb, only you don’t suffer from neutron radiation poisoning, you just liquefy completely. And it leaves no fallout radiation as an after effect. A very interesting weapon indeed. Why, you can go into the area where the oxygen destroyer has been ignited without worries of poisoning. Only true aftereffect is the poisoning of water. It turns the water into hydrochloric acid, as in the acid used in digestion in the stomach. With no oxygen to attach itself to, the hydrogen binds with the chlorine molecules. Most unpleasant. But this is in sea water. I wonder what will happen if it’s used in regular water minus the sodium chloride. Aren’t we glad, Teller didn’t discover this? Or oxygen destroyers would have been on the market by now.”



Kiryuu growled, hearing Alan mumbled something under his breath. Apparently, he was boring the little human with his scientific murmuring.



“Who has seen these files since you retrieved them from the CCI?” he asked the human in his grasp.



“No one,” Alan replied.



Kiryuu’s great eye roved back to Alan: “You’re lying. Out with it!”



Alan felt the syntech wrap tighter around his body, squeezing his sides. Alan tried to struggle, but the syntech began to wrap around his arms and legs as well. He saw the tentacles branch off, forming into the famous blades that he had seen before.



“Organizer G-1 may have given you the ability to heal faster than a normal human, my grandson,” Kiryuu growled. “But once your head is severed from its body, you will die like anyone else who has been killed by decapitation. The body cannot live without the mind. Now, who else has seen these files?!”



“Go ahead and kill me, Chrome Crotch!” Alan spat. “I have no more will to live! And it’ll keep the CCI from hunting me down.”



“The CCI is the least of your problems now, kid,” Kiryuu growled. “I hold Katagiri’s pulse under my thumb. His insane fascination with Godzilla’s destruction has allowed me to work under his nose without him knowing. I bet he spends his nights looking behind his TV set to see if I’m watching him through the fiber optic cables. Now, who else has seen these files?”



“Shinoda,” Alan replied, sighing. “He read them. But he said he doesn’t understand them. He’s a biologist, not a chemist! So, leave him alone!”



“Dr. Serizawa died to prevent anyone from knowing what killed me in ‘54,” Kiryuu said. “If Dr. Shinoda doesn’t understand at least a shard of what Serizawa wrote down on these pages, then he’s not much of a biologist.”



Alan just stared back in confusion.



“Foolish boy,” Kiryuu said. “In order for anyone with a doctorate in biology to finish his courses, they have to take some intermediate chemistry classes. He has to, especially since Shinoda has a degree in microbiology. He studies animals on a cellular level, and even a molecular level. And microbiologists have to study molecules, like desoxyribo nucleic acids—as in DNA molecules. How else was Shinoda able to figure out the amino acid in my cells that promotes regeneration of damage tissue? He had to have looked at it on a chemical level. Now, chemistry may not be his field, but he did have to study it.



“No doubt Serizawa had to have a clear understanding of biology to know the effects of the oxygen destroyer had on living tissue. And it said here that he had a tank of fish he tested it on.”



“He only glanced at it,” Alan protested, trying to defend Shinoda. “He didn’t study it.”



“Perhaps,” Kiryuu rumbled. “I wish you wouldn’t hide things from me, Alan. It doesn’t make your visit with me any easier.”



Kiryuu absorbed the final pages of the files on Serizawa’s oxygen destroyer. Then, he ripped the pages up, dicing them so much that no one could ever piece them together. He turned back to Alan, chuckling again.



“Now, the only information on the oxygen destroyer is in here,” Kiryuu rumbled, tapping his metallic claw on the temple of his head. “Locked away in files so encrypted that it’ll take years for anyone to even decipher them. And now, only I know how to build one—no one else.



“Have no fear, I will honor Dr. Serizawa’s wishes and never build one. But his notes stated that he was going to tell the world eventually—when he finds a way to use his new chemical compound as a way to help mankind. Just at the time and in its current state, it could only be used as a weapon. At the time, even nuclear power could only be used as a weapon. Now, we have nuclear plants that produce energy needed to be used in every home.”



Alan still was quiet. The really did a job in making the first Godzilla an intelligent being. And Shinoda was right; the intelligence seemed to have given Kiryuu a maniacal streak. That did not sit very well with Alan at all. Allan gave a grunt.



“Okay, mate,” he began. “I did my part. We finished here? Now, how about the information you want to give me about King Ghidorah.”



“We will get to that when I feel like it,” Kiryuu growled deeply at him. “Right now, I have some questions. We need to talk, Alan. We need to talk about what you saw in the CCI. I need to know, Alan. I only saw through the cameras what was in that ICU ward. Even that was only a glimpse. Tell me—everything. I think—it’ll help in the healing processes if you just let it all out to me.”



Alan didn’t reply for a short time. He was thinking about what Kiryuu had said about Shinoda. If Shinoda did know something about the Oxygen Destroyer’s effects, why did he say he didn’t? Was he scared by the potency of the weapon? Had he tried to tell himself that it wasn’t possible that such a destructive weapon could possibly exist? Had even just a brief glance at the file convinced him that such a dangerous device should never be allowed to exist?



Alan wouldn’t be surprised if that had been the case, but the only thing he knew for certain was that now he would never know.



Kiryuu’s voice seemed to bring him back to his senses. It was just as he had dreaded... He’d have to relive those events again just to tell Kiryuu what he probably already knew. Alan shook his head, feeling like he was shaking away some sort of denial. He could not deny what had happened, no more could he deny what Kiryuu really was now...



Finally, he knew he had to talk, get all of this out of the way. He sighed, and began to speak;



“I should have just got out the minute I got those files... My own stupid curiosity drove me to take a look in that lab though... Funny, if I hadn’t been so curious to find out about Godzilla in the first place, I would never have got into this mess... I don’t know, maybe it’s always been in my genes, G-cells or not.



“What I saw in that lab that night... I’d rather forget all about it, but I know that I’ll never be able to. I can’t die naturally now, right? The memories would come up again somewhere along the line...



“I don’t know if you saw the full extent of the mutations the others had gone through... There were three operating tables in there. One of them was empty. The rest... they had those ICU units next to each one, and a drip bag, full of god-knows-how-many drugs. They were being used to keep them unconscious...



“Subjects #1 and #2, they referred to them as there... but I know their real names, and that makes it all the worse...”



Alan’s voice began to break at that point, momentarily losing the indifference that had been filling it for a while. It looked like the memories he was experiencing were truly paining him. He was seeing it all again now—the laboratory full of chemicals, surgical equipment and monitoring stations beside each table. The occupants of the tables stood out particularly... those memories and faces that would haunt Alan for the rest of his life...



“Subject #1... he used to be an American called Joel Sellinger... He was only 20, he had his whole life ahead of him... I wouldn’t have recognized him if I didn’t know who he was. He doesn’t even look human anymore. He’s like a cross between man and reptile, it’s like his skeleton’s being exchanged for a lizard’s. His skin’s still human, stretched over those new bones... It was his tail I saw from the vent, prompting me to into that place. He has a set of dorsal spikes too... I almost grew them myself... He was the worst affected out of the three of us.



“As for #2... He was my mentor, Tetsuo Yagame. We met when Godzilla ‘visited’ Tokyo in 1984... He taught me everything I know about G-Chasing... how to get the best photos, Godzilla’s previous appearances, even how to get so close you could touch him and live to tell the tale...” Alan’s voice broke off again, and he closed his eyes tight, almost like he was forcing back tears. “He now has Godzilla’s skin... his hands are now claws... his eyes are just like Godzilla’s... Strange... He got Godzilla’s eyes and I somehow ended up with yours...



“I doubt either Tetsuo or Joel know who they were now... They’re dead to the world, drugged while the CCI experiments on them like playthings. I could still be in there with them... rotting away... with those madmen wanting to use the three of us as weapons...



“I didn’t know all this at first, though. I found a file that told me who they were, which I took. I don’t doubt that you’ve already seen it though... If I’d known then what I know now, I would’ve put a bullet through their brains. Like you said, the body can’t live without the mind. I would’ve ended what they were going through... ensured that they could not be used to hurt Godzilla, or anyone else... They would’ve wanted it... The CCI would’ve traced the bullets back to me, but I’d rather die than go back there... I’d’ve ended it myself... What happened to us is irreversible... It would’ve been the only way.”



It was clear by now that Alan was fighting a losing battle with the howl of despair that was trying to escape his throat. He closed his eyes tight, forcing back tears.



“I’ve lost everything now... My family, my home, my friends.... my life.”



He raised his head, looking straight into Kiryuu’s eye. His face was a mixture of both anger and despair. Now that his eyes were open, tears had started streaming down his face. He no longer cared if Kiryuu noticed... nothing mattered anymore...



“A part of me wants everyone to suffer... Part of me doesn’t want to tell the world about King Ghidorah, even though I feel I need to... Humanity’s a walking time-bomb, ready to explode at any second. ‘Us humans’ don’t need King Ghidorah to wipe us all out... We do a good job of that on our own... Especially if we do things like this... All we seem to be able to do is destroy each other, and the world around us... Godzilla’s living proof of that...”



Alan didn’t know why that had come out. It was a thought that had been plaguing his mind ever since he found out about what had happened to him. He felt like Captain Ahab, who had spent years hunting Moby Dick, the white whale that crippled him. In the end, that vendetta had destroyed him... but Alan felt like he had already been destroyed...



He hung his head, once again closing his eyes, the images from his memory so painful he could not stand them anymore. It seemed that telling Kiryuu about what had happened had revealed his true feelings... feelings that he had tried to hide ever since the CCI raid. He had revealed every thought that was on his mind, and now he was truly broken. He knew that Kiryuu considered him a threat to Godzilla, with the link that they shared... If the CCI ever found him, and tried to use him and Godzilla as weapons...



It was better that it all end now...



“Just get it over with...” he said, his voice full of genuine despair, pleading, begging Kiryuu to end it all. “It’s better that the risk be eliminated...so that I can’t hurt you, Godzilla, or anyone else again.”

[CII]

Kiryuu pulled his lips across his enormous wracks of teeth, the corners of his mouth forming into a bestial snarl. He began to growl as he held the human tighter in his syntech coils. Even more blades formed up around Alan, glistening gold and silver in the noon, hot sun. Alan’s eyes trembled a bit as they stared down at the sharpened tips of those blades. Then, he shut his eyes tightly, feeling the blades draw ever so closer to him.



Kiryuu, don’t! Called a voice from deep inside of him. It was not Biollante. Don’t, it’s not right!



Katsura…Kiryuu breathed.



Please, don’t do it! Katsura cried.



Alan’s eyes grew wide. The voice was just a whisper inside his head, but he could hear it.



Oh, cut him, cut him! A second voice, slightly more sinister than the first called out. That was Biollante. Cut him. Make him bleed, just for fun.



Kiryuu grunted, lifting a claw to his head. He threw his head back, letting loose a powerful roar. Alan gasped, thinking he was going deaf from the sound. And it was still Godzilla’s roar that bio-mecha was emitting. Nothing had changed since Florida.



Shut up, Erika! Kiryuu growled inside his head. His eyes focused on Alan, giving off a wild gleam. Alan turned slightly, noticing one of the tentacles rising up towards his head—near his ear.



“Remember what I said?” Kiryuu began. “Remember that in some form or another we are all pawns in the grand scheme of things? It is our destiny to be these pawns. Just as you, the CCI, and the Foundation are my pawns to move about on the field as I please, so am I a pawn of another—moving to another square of the playing field, so is my son a pawn in the grand design.” Kiryuu’s lips came close to Alan’s other ear, his deep, resonating voice became a subtle whisper. “I’m going to show you something. You will probably hate me for this even more than ever, but it will help you in the time to come, and it will allow me to move the chest piece that you have become for me into play.”



Alan felt a pierce from his other ear. Something was lodging itself into his ear canal, something he did not want in there. He turned again, Kiryuu’s syntech tendril sticking out of his head. He could feel it force its way deeper into his ear, literally piercing his brain like a sharp needle. Alan screamed out with horror and pain as the syntech-like needle pierced its way through gray matter. Then, he heard Kiryuu’s voice again, the broad deep, realistic voice echoing inside his head something he did not understand, nor did he want to hear.



“Detecting new hardware. Downloading hardware plug-in, scanning for viruses.”



With that, everything went black. Alan fell for what seemed ages, through lines of 1s and 0s, binary code he could not even fathom to understand. The only thing he could tell was his mind was some how linked with Kiryuu’s CPU. He felt like he was about to overload with all of this backwash of information and surges of energy flooding his mind. He could not even begin to comprehend what Kiryuu had done to him, let alone understand the lines of code he was seeing. Then, the code faded away and he found himself lying on a grassy plain. It was hot and sticky, like summer in the Amazon. He could see palm trees around him, but also other plants as well—plants that have not been around this world for eons. Then, he saw them, dinosaurs, reptiles both great and small go about what some could call the ‘circle of life’. Then, he saw a dinosaur that looked familiar to him. This dinosaur had golden eyes, the pupils slit like the pupils of a cat. Beside this dinosaur was another, slightly smaller and not as built. Alan was no biologist, but he could tell that the one with the golden eyes was the male, and the smaller one was female. The golden-eyed dinosaur, that was Kiryuu! It was Kiryuu, before he mutated and became the first Godzilla. Around Kiryuu and his mate were hatchlings. They all looked the same; he could not tell which one was going to become the current Godzilla. Kiryuu had more than one child, but only one of his children would survive beyond what many had termed the extinction of dinosaurs.



Alan glanced up, hearing the sky explode above him. A fiery ball spun towards the ground. Every prehistoric creature, from the smallest to the largest began to flee from this fire ball. He heard a familiar sound, a bell call echoing through the now smoldering sky. The fiery ball formed into an enormous monster, with three heads, and two tails. Enormous bat-like wings flapped and fanned the smoky air. King Ghidorah had come. Alan watched as Kiryuu let loose a bellow. That sound was not Godzilla’s roar; it was slightly higher pitched than Godzilla’s roar. Alan realized just how small Kiryuu was back then. The dinosaur that would become Kiryuu was no bigger than 8 feet tall. It was hard to believe that creature would mutate and become nearly 200 feet tall. It just seemed impossible. And King Ghidorah was massive compared to the small dinosaur. Alan heard Kiryuu’s mate call out, shoving one of the hatchlings into Kiryuu’s arms. She squawked at him, nudging him away from her. Then, she parted him, taking the rest with her. King Ghidorah spat his lightning towards the ground as fires ignited from the dry timber. The flames rushed forth, and Alan heard Kiryuu call out to his mate, only to find her and his children now beneath the feet of King Ghidorah.



Run, little one…run as fast as you can…came a hollow voice inside Alan’s mind. King Ghidorah roared out just as an enormous moth struck his backside. Alan turned around, seeing that Kiryuu and his hatchling had cowered in a cave. They watched the fight, watching with frightened eyes as the two gargantuan monsters battled. Alan’s eyes widened just as he saw the mountain above them rumble, covering the mouth of the cave in a landslide.



So that was how it all started, Alan thought, as everything started to go black around him again, throwing him into another void of darkness. He figured the riddle as to how the dinosaurs became all but extinct had now being answered. King Ghidorah was capable of wiping out all life on an entire planet... and two years ago he’d tried to do it again. Alan began to wonder how many other planets King Ghidorah had rendered lifeless before now, and if he had come here again in the time between the dinosaurs and his attack on London.



Again, everything went black for Alan as he was thrown into another void of darkness. He glanced around as to what happened to him again. Alan looked towards the horizon, seeing a bright flash across the ocean. Then, he saw a faint, but fiery mushroom cloud rise up, and the earth began to tremble beneath him again. He knew what that mushroom cloud meant. It was a nuclear bomb. It had to have been the H-bomb tested on Bikini in 1952. Rocks fell away from the mouth of a familiar cave and Alan watched as two dinosaurs awoke from their ageless sleep. They had not changed yet, even after the bomb had detonated.



The fallout will come in a few days…said a deep, familiar voice. It was not the bomb itself that mutated us, it was the fallout. Nothing can survive someone throwing the very heat of the sun at them.



Time itself seemed to be sped up before Alan, as he watched several days pass on the island. It began to snow over the landscape. The two dinosaurs glanced up as flecks of radioactive ash rained down upon them. The one that will soon become Kiryuu seemed in pain as time raced forwards again. Kiryuu forced his son back into the cave. Alan began to realize this was why Kiryuu took in most of the radiation from the 10 megaton bomb. It almost happened so fast, seeing the dinosaur mutate and growl large before his eyes. Then, this 8-foot dinosaur became a 200-foot terror, and a solemn reminder of man’s foolishness.



Alan heard the son—who would later become the current Godzilla—cry out to his father, begging him not to leave. But something drove the original Godzilla to leave the island. Alan glanced back at the hatchling, listening to his haunting cry of sadness as he watched his only parent leave. It almost brought Alan to tears just hearing it. Two years passed before Alan within a blink of an eye and he now found himself standing in downtown Tokyo—in 1954. He watched the carnage as Godzilla (Kiryuu) made his way through the thriving city, burning and trashing as he went. Nothing could stop him. The vision changed again, and Alan now found himself under water. Godzilla was there, peering over a rocky ledge as two men set a strange device down onto the ground. As the device was activated, bubbles flooded the water. He heard the mutated reptile cry out in pain as the bubbles touched his skin. Then, the flesh of Godzilla was stripped away. He was seeing the oxygen destroyer in action. As the bubbles clear, all Alan could see that remained of the great monster was his skeleton. Alan was terrified at the spectacle before him. So that was the full effect of the Oxygen Destroyer... No wonder Dr. Serizawa had taken his life to prevent anyone from learning about it. This weapon could mean the end of the world, if it fell into the wrong hands...



Then, a voice interrupted the scene. It was gruff sounding to Alan, and commanding.



“Kill him!” cried the voice. “God damn-it!”



“Mechagodzilla,” began another voice, female, and familiar. “He is down. Strike now before he gets up.”



“I don’t believe he has the strength to,” began the most familiar voice he heard in all of this madness. “He has been weakened.”



Alan glanced around, now a new scene had filled his vision. It was day time and he was seeing Godzilla before him. The monster was on the beach, but he looked like he had gone through hell-fire. He was bleeding. Standing a little ways was Kiryuu, fully armed with his forearm cannons and his missile pack on his back. His head was also covered with the helm, protecting those syntech dreads. This was a battle between the two, a battle that seemed familiar to Alan, but he had not seen before. This must have been the first battle between Mechagodzilla and Godzilla. And neither of them knew who they were. The voices that Alan heard were referring to Kiryuu as Mechagodzilla. It was must have been before they gave the great bio-mecha the name Kiryuu. This battle happened over two years ago. The gruff voice he recognized to be Gordon, but who was the female voice?



“Kill him!” cried Gordon.



“Is that logical?” Mechagodzilla asked. “Godzilla was not really attacking this city. If I am correct, it is you who attack him first. I question this greatly. Who is the real threat here?”



Alan could not help but to chuckle at Mechagodzilla’s question. It seemed so accurate. The AI was questioning his masters’ motives.



“Logic has nothing to do with it!” Gordon snorted. “He’s a menace to our existence.”



Mechagodzilla turned back at the Japanese Self Defense Force. He had paused in his attack, refusing to go any further.



“Fine, if you won’t finish the job,” began another voice. “Then, we will!”



Alan had heard that voice before, mostly on TV in Japan—the news. But right now, he could not place it. He watched as Mechagodzilla backed up, allowing the JSDF fire upon Godzilla. He heard the monster’s cries. But even he knew that they did not have the power to kill the monster. Then, something happened that Alan did not expect, several missiles fired from Kiryuu’s pack at the JSDF. Kiryuu began to attack Japan’s defense forces.



“What is he doing?” asked the third voice. “Gordon!”



“Beats the hell out of me,” he shrugged. “Katsura, what have you been teaching him?”



“Will, turn off the AI!” cried the female voice, the one called Katsura. “Shut it down!”



“Katsura,” began Mechagodzilla. “The body, I can’t control it.”



Godzilla hefted himself up on his feet, watching as the metallic version of himself blast away the attackers with his breath weapon. He blinked for a moment, curious as to why the creature would at first almost kill him, then attack these beings. Alan shared his confusion, watching with wide eyes as Kiryuu continued to blast away his allies. Was this what Shinoda was talking about that happened that day when Kiryuu faced Godzilla? Was this when Kiryuu decided to shirk his masters’ chains and try to destroy the city?



“Mechagodzilla,” began Katsura. “Stop it!”



“It is not me!” the AI replied once more. “Once more, the memories have stirred something. I will compensate.”



“Compensate, you metallic *******!” cried Gordon.



“It isn’t as easy as you say it is, Mr. Knight,” Mechagodzilla began coolly. “Especially when you are yelling into my ear!”



Alan glanced back at Kiryuu, realizing that this must have been the beginnings of the original Godzilla taking control over the AI that was Mechagodzilla. There was so much emotion in that one statement, where all the previous ones there had not been any. Alan turned away, hearing the sound of Godzilla’s roar. The monster was leaving. Mechagodzilla regained control over his systems, watching as the great reptile dove back into the ocean.



“Shall I complete my mission?” he asked.



“Negative,” began Will. “Return to base for some personality adjustments.”



“Affirmative,” Mechagodzilla said as he walked away. He powered up his gravity generators and his jets and leaped into the air, jetting himself back towards the compound.



Personality adjustments…Alan thought. He shook his head, sighing in dismay. He wondered if the Utah Foundation had started to realize what they had done, that they had brought the original Godzilla back to life. That ‘personality adjustments’ statement... it seemed to Alan that humanity always tried to dominate what it feared or didn’t understand. Small wonder Kiryuu had defied their orders.



Then the scene changed again. This time, he was standing in modern Tokyo, and it was night time. Before him laid the ruined city and Kiryuu Mechagodzilla standing in the center of it. He let loose his metallic roar—that strange alien roar Alan had heard a few times before Florida. But something was different about Tokyo. It was summer, but laid before him were rivers of ice. And he watched as Kiryuu’s opened chest glowed with a brilliant blue light. He fired the beam forth into the streets. It was the absolute zero cannon. This was it; this was the night that Shinoda described. Tokyo covered in ice and Mechagodzilla raiding it madly—just as he did once before in 1954.



“He tricked you!” roared Gordon’s voice cried out into Alan’s ear. “He made fools of us all. Get in contact with him, order him to return to base.”



He was hearing those voices again.



“Mechagodzilla, this is William Penter, return to base immediately!”



William Penter…again Alan wished he had stopped that scruffy looking computer nerd in Yokohama.



“Mr. Penter,” replied Kiryuu’s deep voice. “I am sorry, but I cannot do that. There seems to be something wrong. I know what happened to myself, who I once was. I had a past life. I existed long before, 50 year ago.”



“Damn it, you stupid rust bucket!” cried Gordon. “That wasn’t you, that was…”



“Godzilla, Mr. Knight?” asked Mechagodzilla. “Who you created me from. I am confused right now; you designed me to kill Godzilla. But I am Godzilla. So, what logic is this? Am I supposed to also kill myself as well as the other creature known as Godzilla?”



“Look, I don’t care about logic,” Gordon growled. “Just stop destroying the city!”



“I was ordered to destroy the one thing that is threatening this world,” began Mechagodzilla. “You created Godzilla, the creature that I was built to destroy. Is it not logical to destroy your kind in the process? I had read in one of your sacred testimonies that there is a law… ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. So, how logical is that you would make a law like that and then turn around and say that I am in the wrong here?”



“Jesus tap dancing Christ!” cried Gordon. “That’s the old Bible rule.”



“And even more interesting was that it was made by someone who believe to be of a higher power, so who are you and who am I to disagree?” came the cold question from Mechagodzilla. “I remember water and pain that was inflicted by humans many years ago. I am only doing what I believe is right and justified. Farewell, Mr. Knight.”



Alan shook his head, completely brain-fried by what he heard. He was astounded at the audacity of Kiryuu’s words, that he had actually pulled a stunt like that, using it as his reasoning. Yet, Alan found it hard to fault Kiryuu’s logic. Quite involuntarily, he burst out laughing. In some way he had said something similar to Kiryuu about deciding not to let the world know of King Ghidorah, it seemed Kiryuu had already used that trick to justify his actions. The scene flashed before him again and he was taken along another ride. This time, he stood before a familiar landscape. And there was Godzilla and Kiryuu standing, facing each other. Above them were three jets, the transport jets Kiryuu used to travel long distance. But another craft looked all too familiar to him. It was a helicopter. He saw a flash come from the side of the helicopter. This was Panama, and that was himself riding in that helicopter above the two Godzillas.



“What would I know of anything?” Godzilla asked defiantly. Allan’s eyes widened as his head swung back towards Godzilla. He understood that!



“Everything you have told me gets twisted around,” Godzilla continued. “I—I don’t even know you anymore. You’re strings are being pulled by those tiny creatures who think they own everything.” He reached out to touch the plating on Kiryuu’s shoulder. “This…look at this! They’ve made you into a monster, father.”



“I am better, faster, stronger, smarter, and more aware of everything than you are,” Kiryuu growled back. “You don’t know the power that I possess. You don’t understand how it binds me, but someday you will. We have had this discussion before. And it ends now. Leave before I do something I will regret later.”



Kiryuu took his helm off, shaking his locks free from their confinement.



“Would you, would you regret it?” Godzilla asked. “Did you regret shoving those sharp vines down my throat? You could have taken my head off, father. You wanted to kill me.”



Alan recalled what he saw on the news about the monster Titanosaurus and its attack on Ft. Lauderdale. He remembered seeing Kiryuu’s gruesome attack, shoving those blades down the sea creature’s throat, and decapitating his head with them. So, he tried to do this with Godzilla as well?



“We didn’t know each other then,” he said.



“And we still don’t now!” Godzilla said. “Let me go, let me do this. For my sake.”



Godzilla turned around, starting back on is path towards the east. Kiryuu growled, lifting up his forearm, aiming his twin cannon at his son.



“Step no further,” Kiryuu warned. “Don’t make me do this.”



“Shoot me,” he sighed. “It matters not. You’re not yourself. You’ll never be yourself.”



“This land does not belong to you,” Kiryuu said. “You have no right to enter it. I’ve told you what is yours.”



“That’s right, it belongs to those little creatures that tormented and killed you, and turned you into that hideous monster I see before me,” Godzilla mocked. “How silly could I be? Those silly little creatures.” He turned around letting loose a powerful roar. Godzilla lunged for Kiryuu, about to rake his claw across his father’s face. Kiryuu caught the claw in a swift movement. He swung around, knocking Godzilla to his knees as he locked his son’s claw onto his back. Godzilla fell down onto his stomach, his father on his back, pinning him down with his own claw to his back. He could feel pain in that arm as Kiryuu applied pressure to the wrist.



“If you do not say ‘yes, sir’ when I command you to return to your island,” Kiryuu hissed in Godzilla’s ear. Godzilla glanced up slightly just as two pairs of bladed, metallic, vine-like tentacles snaked around. They pointed their sharp tips directly at him. “I will break your arm, and then your leg, and then I will make it to where you can’t regenerate them back. You will be forced to drag yourself home.”



Alan could have sworn he heard himself call out from the helicopter: “Aw, why can’t they settle this over a pint?”



“I hate this new you,” Godzilla grimaced.



“Do as I say!” Kiryuu growled. “You interrupted an important research experiment with your little trip to this place.”



“The humans are more important than your own son?” Godzilla asked.



“If that’s supposed to make me feel guilty about what I’m doing to you now, it isn’t working,” the bio-mecha growled back. “What kept me from killing you before was the fear of myself being shut down. Now, do as I say!”



“Yes, sir,” Godzilla sighed, defeated. Kiryuu let him up. Godzilla sighed, heading back towards the west. He glanced back at his father for a moment. What have they done to you?”



“Made me far superior than they will ever be,” Kiryuu replied. “Now, go home.”



“You’re using me, and you’re using them,” Godzilla sighed. “That’s not the father I remember.”



Alan had to agree with that statement. Kiryuu was using the humans in some form or another. Even this frightened his own son.



“Things change,” Kiryuu sighed. “Go.”



Godzilla sighed as he lumbered to the west, ignoring the call of the strange voice from the east.



You’re right, Godzilla thought. Things do change, because you certainly did.



Things have changed all right, even for Alan. Then he recalled something... a dream he’d had about two years ago, after the battle against King Ghidorah. In it, he’d felt like someone was choking him, forcing something down his throat. Had he been sharing his mind with Godzilla then, and had somehow experienced that moment when Kiryuu almost killed him first-hand? If Kiryuu had killed Godzilla then, then Alan too would be...He heard that gruff voice he recognized as Gordon’s in the faded darkness again. Alan listened to it.



“I realized something in that bar,” Gordon snorted. “Allowing Katsura to reactivate you after we shot the EMP at you was a big mistake. I might have failed then, but I wouldn’t have the trouble I have now. I would have gone on, forgetting about what I did for Japan—the monster I built to help them with their little mutated ‘animal’ problem. But, I said ‘sure go a head…reactivate the stooge’. All because of Godzilla! And you have yet to do what you were built to do. I reactivated you because I hoped that you would finish your job. Then, I could get rid of you and wash my hands of the whole thing.”



Then, he heard Kiryuu’s familiar voice echo through again: “I’ve always had a deep resentment towards you, Gordon,” he began, fighting off the anger and the sorrow that suddenly flooded his processors. “I always did. And it’s still there, Gordon. It has never left. I hoped that it would…but it hasn’t. And now I know why…”



Another scene with the two voices came about. This time the tone was different.



“I wanted to say that what I said back there…” Kiryuu began.



“You still resented me?” Gordon asked. “I remembered that. I didn’t know that you still held some resentment towards me.”



“I don’t know why I do,” he said. “It’s fear.”



“You’re afraid that you’ll do something so bad that I would unplug you?” Gordon asked, leaning back in his chair. “Is that it?”



“Perhaps.”



“I threaten,” Gordon sighed. “I say things I don’t really mean sometimes. I’d be murdering a life if I unplug you. And I don’t mean Katsura.”



Katsura…What does Gordon mean by that? Thought Alan.



“I punish you,” Gordon said. “I tell you not to do things, but nothing will ever make me unplug you. I might have you removed from your head for a while so I don’t have to strain to look up at you to scold you, but I won’t disconnect you.”



“Even if one day Mechagodzilla becomes useless,” Gordon sighed, continuing. “I will find a way to keep you activated. Though, one way may not be the best thing.”



“What is that?” Kiryuu asked.



“Tell them that you’re sentient,” Gordon replied. “Prove that you are—then the US government can’t do a thing about it. They won’t be able to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”



“The US government has laws on sentient AIs?” Kiryuu asked.



“The US government has laws on sentient beings,” said Gordon. “You count as one of them. But, it might backfire.”



“How?”



“I might loose my company in the process,” Gordon replied. “I’d be committing a civil rights violation, and the government may launch an enormous law suet against me for it. I’d be damned to let them have it though.”



“What do you plan to do if that happens?” Kiryuu asked.



“I don’t have much time in this world,” he said. “I’ve ordered my lawyer to revise my Will to include you. But, I’m hoping that we could let the sentient thing go public before I kick the bucket. I want to see the look on all those faces when they all find out that you’re sentient and you’re not out to take over the world like most would think of. I have no heirs. And you’re the closest thing I’ve got to an heir. You’d be getting the Foundation no matter what happens. Hell, I built you! I don’t think you’d be letting me down. I know that you’d be making the decisions in my best interests when I’m gone.”



“You’re going to give me the company?” Kiryuu asked, completely shocked.



“The day when I retire from the Utah Foundation, I think it would be time to let them know,” he sighed. “Because that’s when you’ll be taking my seat, Kiryuu. That 50 pound CPU of yours is smart—it could run it.”



Though from the way things are happening, it seemed that Kiryuu was already running the company behind Gordon’s back. Alan also wondered how the world would react when the time came when Gordon told them about Kiryuu’s sentience. He couldn’t help but wonder if the world was really ready...If Alan’s own paralyzing terror at finding out the truth was anything to go by, he didn’t have much hope.



Then another voice came to Alan, a different voice that he had never heard before. This voice spoke on a different topic now. It was like Kiryuu was giving Alan fragments of various things that had happened in the process of his life. Alan imagined that this was what Scrooge felt like when the Ghost of Christmas Past showed him his memories. The difference was that these were someone else’s memories, rather than his own... and it sounded like Kiryuu was showing another fragment.



“It’s better that you don’t meet him,” the strange voice said. “But since you’re gonna do it, I can’t stop you. Just don’t tell him what has happened to him.”



“He has a right to know what has happened to him, Manda,” Kiryuu said. “Just like I had the right to know the bones of the first Godzilla is inside of me. I have the right to know what they did to this kid just as much as I have the right to know how I died.”



“You’re gonna use this kid,” the voice Kiryuu referred to as Manda said. “Mothra doesn’t like it.”



“I don’t care what Mothra thinks,” Kiryuu growled. “These are my cells; these are my son’s cells.”



“Kiryuu…”



“Listen to me, Dragon,” Kiryuu began. “Ever since I awoke in this age, I’ve always had a since that I’ve been summoned here for a reason. Someone is using me—and it is not the Foundation. I don’t want to remember King Ghidorah’s attack on my kind millions of years ago, but every day, I am reminded by it. And every time I see it, I see Mothra fighting him. Then, all I remember is blackness. I’m not blind, Manda, I’m not stupid either. Tell me, who is it really that’s pulling my strings?”



Alan had a deep, ridden feeling that this Manda and Kiryuu were talking about him. They were talking about Alan. But what about this Mothra? Mothra was the moth he saw fight King Ghidorah in London, also the same moth that fought him when he came to this world millions of years ago. Alan sighed, slumping down in the darkness. This was a little too much for him to even take in. He had seen and heard so much... probably more than any man should know, and now he felt like this knowledge was tearing his mind apart. He felt like his own thoughts were getting pushed out of his head, to make room for Kiryuu’s memories.



“Riddles in the dark…” rumbled a voice from behind Alan. He got up, seeing Kiryuu’s form take shape in this vast void. The form that appeared as Kiryuu was human-sized. “Riddles, questions, answers that will never be. How can I go on like this? How do I find the strength to continue on when all else that has been laid before me has been nothing more than despair? I’m Godzilla. It’s my destiny to continue on, even if the last shreds of civilization shatters and falls into the deep, I will continue on. I have to. Just as you must show the world the truth about King Ghidorah. Of course, I can just reveal it without, you. I don’t need you to do that…”



And as Kiryuu said this, the darkness that was the void faded away again and Alan slowly opened his eyes. He felt a relief, a cool rush of air feel his ear canal just as he watched the syntech tendril remove itself from his head.



“…I merely wanted to give you the information as full payment per our agreement,” Alan heard Kiryuu’s deep voice continue. His eyes slowly began to refocus. He glanced around, noticing that the sun was going down in the west. He had been out for hours.



“What the f*cking hell did you do to me…” Alan gasped.



“Telling you the truth,” Kiryuu replied. “But your miniscule mind has not the power to comprehend it. Or else, you would have been able to compute what I meant. But, if you want me to just flat out tell you, I will. It was destiny that I and my son fell into that cave, destiny that brought us here to this modern age, and fate, which mutated the two of us into what we are now. And what is that fate? King Ghidorah. As I told Manda, I’m not blind, nor am I stupid. She feared that in this battle, she will not have the strength to battle him, so, she brought a long a few friends with her. Godzilla and I. Mankind isn’t in as much control over the balance of this world as you think. King Ghidorah is the great equalizer, in a way, but he hasn’t met me yet. She planned this, this whole thing. My son and I have been pawns in her chess game against King Ghidorah all along. The board is now set and the pieces are moving. It’s only a matter of time. Only a matter of time until I smash the board and break the pieces. And King Ghidorah will be the first of the pieces I will break.”



“I—I don’t believe in fate,” Alan sighed. “I don’t believe that we can be that easily controlled.”



Kiryuu chuckled: “And yet, you fell for my clever trap the moment you replied to my emails. Fate brought you to the CCI, fate lead you out, fate has concealed the truth from you, allowed King Ghidorah to attack your country, both the British and the Americans playing a drama scene with the world to cover up the real truth behind his attack, and now, all of that has lead you directly to me. Even more ironic than before, the fate that brought Godzilla and I to this modern age, to be mutated, I to die and be reborn as the creature you see before you. And Shinoda, to discover the amino acid in our cells which lead to the CCI in mutating your body. And here we are fate and destiny together at last.”



Alan sighed again, shaking his head.



“And now, it is your destiny to prove the scandal both American and British leaders have been hiding from the world,” Kiryuu smiled, handing Alan some files with his syntech. “Behold—Dr. Martin O’Brien and Dr. Lesley Jenkins and the discovery of M0-cells! Fate has a sense of irony and twisted humor indeed!”



And Kiryuu let loose an almost sinister, yet boisterous laugh. He threw his head back, his syntech cord dreads swaying as he laughed. It was a very maniacal laugh, and it rubbed Alan the wrong way when he heard it. The original Godzilla was very sinister in nature. It amused him that this had happened, that these scientists had discovered these cells.



“Even more amusing than the fact that their folly will be my triumph!” Kiryuu laughed loudly. “Because they did not learn that the cells they had lead King Ghidorah back to Earth. And now that he knows life has begun anew on this world, he’ll return, to feast upon it once more—just as he feasted upon my kindred! And in the end, dear grandson, he’ll meet his fate at the end of my blade. I want him to come as much as you do. But the world must know. It is not logical to not tell them of the doom that awaits them.”



Alan just remained silent.



“Oh, and if you’re wondering about why you have my eyes,” Kiryuu continued, with a slight shrug. “It’s the same reason why sometimes blue-eyed children are born to brown-eyed parents. It’s a recessive gene. The gene must have carried over when they gave you my son’s cells. After all, you’re a carrier of the blue-eye recessive gene yourself. My eye color gene just rewrote it. While your Tetsuo friend had the dominant eye color gene—and it gave him brown eyes—which Godzilla also has. It just carried over. The some genes were not rewritten, just replaced. It was a statistic among my species, one out of possibly 100 gojirasaurs ended up with golden, cat-like eyes. But because of the way the pupils are shaped—means we see better in the dark than those with the dominant, normal, brown lizard-eye gene. Funny how that works.”



Kiryuu continued to chuckle, grinning in his own devious thoughts. Plans within plans, this was how it worked. Then, his face became serious as he turned back towards his human captive. He noticed that Alan had drifted off into his own world now; trying to gather all of the information Kiryuu fed him through that temporary link.



“I’m not going to kill you,” Kiryuu said. “It’s not my business to play God—yet. I should though, considering the dangers you pose. But, I doubt you could possibly control my son even if you crossed your eyes and looked all constipated-like. Godzilla’s a force of nature; you controlling him would be like raising your hand up to a tsunami and yelling at the top of your lungs ‘stop’. Unfortunately I lost my ‘force of nature’ appeal when I gained the IQ higher than Stephen Hawkins’s. You have no more fear of the CCI, than you would have fear of someone shooting you in the stomach. As I said, the CCI is the least of your worries now. So, don’t go kill yourself off just because of what you’ve become. If it were that way for me, I would have done ‘format c:’ a long time ago. But just because I have become this, doesn’t mean I can’t make the most of it. Killing yourself is taking the cheep, pathetic, feeble, weakling’s way out. You’re no more a monster than the people who dress in white sheets burning crosses in black people’s yards. So, now you don’t have to worry about doctor expenses anymore.



“And if you suspect the CCI’s on to you, just call me up and I’ll pull Katagiri’s plug. And then, he can sit back with a horrid look on his face, watching me as I make the world around him come crashing down. I’ll cut the strings and watch my little puppet go limp.”



Kiryuu chuckled after that.



“No prison in the world would be able to hold him once I unleash the information on what he has done,” Kiryuu growled. “The G-cells are the least of those deeds. He will be so ruined; the only pleasant trip for him is committing seppuku in front of a live audience. Might jack the ratings up on late-night TV. And we can say good-bye to the CCI. It’ll leave them so bankrupt that every employee would be forced on the streets begging for left over Ramen noodles and used chopsticks. And then all eyes will turn away from Godzilla. They won’t be worrying about him anymore.”



Alan looked back up at Kiryuu, his face serious. He knew Kiryuu was more than capable of doing everything that he said... and Alan found out that he wasn’t surprised, even uncaring. He wanted to see Katagiri suffer for what he had done, to him and to his friends. He would pay for all the crimes he had committed.



“He’d deserve it,” he said, in a rather bitter tone. “He’d deserve everything he got.”



Alan sighed, knowing what he’d just said. Perhaps Kiryuu was right—right now, Katagiri was the least of his troubles. If King Ghidorah really was coming back...



“King Ghidorah’s even worse, though...” he said, remembering very vividly the memories that Kiryuu had shown him. “Could he really come back? I thought that... what did you call her... Mothra had stopped him in London, and surely he couldn’t have survived the amount of firepower that was thrown at him...”



He noticed Kiryuu give him an odd look, a rather disdainful look, like he didn’t believe Alan could say something that stupid. Alan hung his head. After all, Godzilla had survived enough artillery to eradicate a small country, maybe it wasn’t so hard to believe King Ghidorah had survived as well.



“Yeah... right...” he said, in a low tone, “What was I thinking...”



“You were hoping that little attack was all over,” Kiryuu growled. “King Ghidorah was surprised, that was all. Now, he knows what to expect, he won’t be so careless next time. Mothra does not have the power to stave him off forever. She got lucky 130 million years ago.”



Kiryuu pulled Alan away from him again, allowing the tiny human to see his whole face once more. Kiryuu’s head turned slightly taking in a deep breath.



“No one deserves to die the way of King Ghidorah,” he said. “No one. Who are you to say that they should? Who are you to pass judgment on the lives of so many who have done nothing to you, me, or Godzilla? You are a very shallow man to think that.”



Alan took a moment to take that in. Maybe he had been somewhat over-reactive with those threats, but he wasn’t about to admit that to Kiryuu’s face. He was still in two minds as to whether or not to spread the information about King Ghidorah... he had the feeling he’d end up doing so anyway. He didn’t want to give Kiryuu the satisfaction of spreading the word himself.



He turned to look at Kiryuu, his face showing the same cold indifference he’d shown Shinoda.



“Yeah, well,” he said, in a somewhat sarcastic tone, “finding out somebody tried to use you, and tried to turn you into a weapon, can have that effect on a guy. You ought to know that better than anyone. I heard the tone you used against Gordon two years ago. You were almost enjoying bringing a new ice age to downtown Tokyo! I bet you wanted some payback for what one person did to you back in 1954, regardless of which way you want to put it. So who are you to tell me I want to punish those who don’t deserve it?!”



Then something suddenly occurred to him. The memories that Kiryuu had shown him... If he’d learned one thing about Kiryuu from them... He opened his eyes again, looking Kiryuu dead in the eye.



“That’s what all this is about, isn’t it?” he said, in a much more forceful tone, “Everything that happened to your mate and your other kids... I get it now... This has got nothing to do with fate, or higher powers pulling your strings, or however else you want to put it... Just like Moby Dick and Captain Ahab, King Ghidorah hurt you, so you want to hurt him back!”



He saw Kiryuu’s eyes narrow, saw his lips curling into a snarl. Clearly this was a touchy subject for him. Alan didn’t care what Kiryuu did to him though. He wasn’t afraid of Kiryuu anymore. His eyes flashed with defiance, never leaving Kiryuu’s own. He was not going to back down.



“You’re nothing but a massive hypocrite!” Alan half-shouted, his tone becoming more forceful, angrier, “No matter which way you word it, it all boils down to the same thing—revenge. You’ve played the old ‘eye for an eye’ card before, and it’s so f*cking obvious you’re doing so again! So don’t tell me that I’m being shallow, when your motivations are as basic and shallow as they come!”



Kiryuu deeply growled at his human captive again. Alan could clearly see the slit pupils pulse, adding to his own anger. Kiryuu was annoyed now. Then, his expression calmed down and he turned towards the west, seeing the sun set. Kiryuu chuckled and sighed, releasing his tension.



“Well, if you didn’t want to do this,” the bio-mechanical dinosaur began. “You could have said so. Funny how things change.”



Kiryuu tore up the papers he had in his tendrils, the proof about the King Ghidorah cover-up. Alan’s expression changed from rage to surprise again.



“Wait…what?” Alan asked.



“Let’s let them find out for themselves then,” Kiryuu said. “Perhaps it will make things even more interesting when the very monster they tried to disprove shows up. It’ll hand those puny humans their asses, won’t it? After all, that’s what we want, isn’t it? We—mutations of their creations—their folly. Oh, no, never throw them a bone or two on their mistakes; never actually just verbally say that they’ve made a mistake. They’ll figure it out sooner or later.”



Apparently, Alan was not one bit moved by this. Kiryuu brought the human closer to his eyes again.



“You will see tomorrow that your account will have another 5,000 dollars added,” Kiryuu continued in a dry tone. “Our business arrangement has concluded. I have no further need of you, Mr. Tyler. You are dismissed.”



Alan heard familiar sound of chopper blades thumping in the air. He turned around, seeing a faint form of Chester’s helicopter coming closer to Kiryuu. The lights of the chopper flashed underneath the fuselage. Then, he turned back to Kiryuu, taking in a sigh.



“Just answer me this,” Alan began. “I’ve always felt that your appearance, and your son’s appearances, should’ve forced people to see that their petty squabbles are meaningless, but humans still kill each other, not thinking of what else lies out there. Humans are self-destructive by their very nature; I’m not going to deny that... So how will King Ghidorah change that? Even if that monster’s stopped, people will still keep on killing each other... Nobody ever puts things into perspective, why should King Ghidorah’s attack make things any different?”



“Hope is a fool’s errand, Alan,” Kiryuu rumbled. “I hope for nothing for this world, only that it will serve my purpose one way or another. Humans are indifferent creatures. It is written in your very chromosomes to hate something that’s different than you. I pray though that one day this will not be proved. It’ll give those racists the right to do what they are doing. But whether or not you wish to believe me, you cannot deny 2 million years of God’s programming and evolution. Some believe that it was not God who created Man, but Man who created God.



“Maybe that’s why your religious scriptures have Him so vengeful and why genocide has been committed in His name. Human excuses explaining why another human with a different color of skin must die. And you call me the hypocrite. Not even King Ghidorah can change that. He’ll unite the races of the world long enough to get rid of him. Then, it’ll be back to the same old song and dance again. But during that union will be all the fire power I’ll need to get rid of him. Either way, heaven and hell are what you make of it. Destiny and fate can be controlled by your own decisions or by others. Either you choose, or you don’t. It matters to me not. Good night.”



Kiryuu dipped his head; a bitter smile curled his lips. He placed Alan back in the chopper, fastening the English man into the seat.



“Take him away, Chester,” Kiryuu said.



“Aye, sir,” Chester nodded, pulling up on the flight stick and moving the helicopter away. Alan glanced back, noticing that Kiryuu had not leapt into the air like he did last time. The great mecha was just staring up at the night sky. Alan shook his head as he saw Kiryuu’s form grow smaller and smaller as the chopper flew away from him.



“So, er...” Chester asked, during the flight back to Salt Lake, “You talk about anything interesting?”



Alan didn’t say anything. It wasn’t so much what had been said during the course of that discussion that had got Alan to thinking... it was what he had seen that got to him, and he doubted he could share that sort of information with Chester. The link that existed just then between Alan and Kiryuu... how had Kiryuu been able to do that? The visions that Kiryuu had shown him were still filling up his mind, and would remain with Alan for many years to come. He had seen so much... he now understood so much...



“Okay, okay,” Chester said, in a defeatist tone, “You can’t say. You could just say you can’t say, you know.”



Alan looked at Chester. He knew he was being rude. He wanted to tell someone - anyone - about what just happened, but it seemed he almost had trouble believing it himself.



“Hey, I didn’t mean-” Alan began, his voice full of apology.



“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Chester said, seemingly waving off any ill-feeling. “I understand. Kiryuu doesn’t usually share what’s on his mind with anybody, not even Gordon Knight himself knows what he gets up to half the time.” He swiveled round to look at Alan. “You should think yourself lucky, if he trusts you with his secrets. No-one outside the Foundation knows him for what he really is, you know? Can you imagine what a mind-blow it would be if they were to one day know?”



Alan just looked at Chester. That had been running through Alan’s mind too. Now he had seen Kiryuu for what he truly was, he seriously doubted it was such a good idea that other people know. That last speech Kiryuu had made to him in particular... Questioning the very foundations of religion would start wars all over the world... even if Alan found it hard to find fault in Kiryuu’s logic.



“If it shocked me, it’ll definitely shock everyone else,” Alan said, as Chester turned round again to focus on flying. “I thought I’d seen it all during my G-Chases, but Kiryuu... he’s something else entirely.”



“Too bloody right,” Chester said. “I can guarantee you this—I know he can be a bit of a head case, but he knows what he’s doing. Think of all the monsters he’s faced up ‘til now—Biollante, Titanosaurus, that Godzilla doppelganger a couple of years back... There wouldn’t be much left of this planet if Kiryuu hadn’t been around.”



Maybe... Alan thought. Maybe Kiryuu had seen off enough monsters in his time... but King Ghidorah was something else entirely. Alan had seen what the dragon was capable of during his attack on London two years ago. It had been sheer dumb luck that had helped everyone involved to survive that day... and now he was on his way back...



Much of the rest of the flight continued in silence, Alan going over everything Kiryuu had said and done. He could not get Kiryuu’s memories out of his head. They kept replaying in his mind, seemingly blotting out his own thoughts. He now began to see the scale of what he was caught up in... a war that had lasted for over 125 million years...



However, the loss of the proof of King Ghidorah’s existence was a huge blow. Alan mentally kicked himself for letting it get destroyed in front of his eyes - he would have to shoot off his big mouth. A part of him wondered if Kiryuu would have destroyed it anyway, he certainly wouldn’t have been surprised.



Finally, the helicopter touched down at the tiny airfield. As Alan stepped out of the helicopter, he glanced up at the night sky, littered with stars. Two years ago Alan had a taster of what lay beyond those stars... He now knew that life on Earth was not the only life out there... He began to wonder if there were other monsters... maybe, God forbid, other Ghidorahs...



Chester stepped out of the helicopter, as the whine of the motors died down.



“So,” he began, “What are you doing from here on out, Mr. Tyler?”



Alan hung his head. What was he supposed to do now? He hadn’t found what he came here to get, even when it had been within his grasp... His stay in the US hadn’t been a waste of time, of course - he know finally knew Kiryuu’s secrets, and the truth behind so many mysteries that had been bugging him for ages... yet he knew he could probably never prove King Ghidorah’s existence... part of him not wanting to.



“I honestly don’t know...” he said quietly, “I can’t got back to Japan, that much I know... So what to do now...”



“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Chester said, his voice still optimistic, “I came to this country with nothing but a suitcase, and look at me now! Gordon Knight’s personal pilot! You’ll manage somehow... if I can, I’m sure you can.”



Alan looked at Chester. In a way, he envied Chester... He wished he could be so optimistic, something he found difficult giving the numerous doubts and fears filling his mind.



“Look,” Chester continued, “Give me a shout if you need anything. You know where to find me.”



Chester extended his hand, a warm smile on his face. Alan took it, and they shook hands. He sighed, and turned to leave.



“Thanks,” Alan said.



“Aye, no problem,” Chester said. With that, Alan left the airfield. Despite Chester’s cheerfulness, Alan still couldn’t help feeling a sense of dread... Many big changes were about to happen, but what was he supposed to do then? What was he supposed to do now, for that matter?



Knowing how late it must be, Alan figured that, right now, he may as well sleep on it. Maybe in the morning, he would be able to see things clearer...

[CII]

Choice



The next morning, Alan was awakened by a loud pounding on his door. Kiryuu’s memories had been haunting his mind for hours that night, before he finally fell asleep. As such, he felt exhausted. He glanced blearily at his watch on the nightstand... 8:59am... Who could it be at this hour? Who even knew he was here?



Moaning slightly as he pulled himself out of the bed, Alan crossed to the door - he’d fallen asleep in his clothes that night. The constant knocking on the door seemed to pound in his head like ever so many hammers. When he opened the door, he narrowed his eyes slightly at the light that poured in from the rising sun.



On the front step was a smart, well-dressed man in a business suit. He seemed to be carrying some kind of file under one arm. He had a very professional stance, and didn’t seem deterred by Alan’s apparent early-morning foul mood.



“Mr. Alan Tyler?” the man asked briskly.



“Yeah...” Alan said gruffly, “Who wants to know?”



“I’m Mr. Thompson,” the man replied. Alan wondered if this guy could be any more vague. Early mornings always put him in a foul mood, especially after such a rough night, and the events of the previous day.



“So?” Alan said, in a somewhat sarcastic tone, “What can I do for you?”



This Thompson character seemed undeterred by Alan’s hostility. Instead, he continued speaking in that same professional tone.



“I have a message for you, from my employer,” he stated, “He sends his best wishes.”



“Your employer?” Alan said, skeptically. Seemed this guy was little more than some big shot’s little footstool. “Who might your employer be?”



“I can’t say,” Thompson replied, and Alan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.



“You can’t say?” he said, in a very gruff, rather rude tone, “Well, why not look me up again when you can say? Now piss off.”



He proceeded to try to slam the door in Thompson’s face, but Thompson stuck his foot in the door, keeping it open.



“Wait a minute,” he said, momentarily losing his professional demeanor, “My employer wants to give this to you, as a token of his esteem.”



It was then that he pushed the file through the gap in the door, where it dropped onto the floor of Alan’s motel room. Alan glanced down at it, then back at Thompson.



“The contents of the file are for your eyes only,” Thompson said, returning to his professional stance, “They are to be used at your discretion. My employer trusts that you will do what is right. Good day.”



With a slight nod of his head, Thompson then left. Alan shut the door, shaking his head. He picked up the files, half-expecting them to be advertisements for something. If it was, then salesmen were becoming more persistent...



He went back to the bed and slumped down on it. The file was labeled ‘Confidential’, and sealed with a paper band with ‘For Your Eyes Only’ on it. Alan tore off the band, and opened the file. As his gradually-waking mind began to comprehend what he was reading, his eyes widened in shock...



The file was none other than the data regarding King Ghidorah... the very same information Kiryuu destroyed in front of his eyes last night. As he read further on, the files contained everything - detailed information on how two scientists, Dr. Martin O’Brien and Dr. Lesley Jenkins, had discovered strange fossilized cells during an excavation back at the beginning of 2002, several months prior to King Ghidorah’s attack on London. The cells were studied, and were discovered to not belong to any life form that had existed at any time on this planet. The cells were taken to London, and were studied further. Both British and American scientists had been involved.



After the attack, scientists cross-referenced the cells from the fossil with those from a skin sample taken from the wreckage of the research site outside Newcastle. It was revealed that the samples were identical to—they were the monster’s cells. They were called M0-cells—Monster Zero cells, Alan reasoned. Figuring out that the cells must have called their owner back to Earth, both the British and American governments tried to wash their hands of the matter, even going so far as to cover up any sign that the attack actually occurred. It was a well-played cover-up that had lasted over two years...



How had he got this information now though? Then it hit him...He reckoned he knew who Thompson’s employer was...but why was he giving him this information? He’d felt pretty sure he’d said that they would not warn everybody of King Ghidorah... so why was he sending this information now? Was he giving Alan a second chance to warn everyone, keeping to his end of the bargain?



That small, selfish part of Alan spoke up again, the same part that did not want to warn everybody, to make humanity suffer for its mistakes...



Yet... Everything Kiryuu had shown him yesterday came back to him... and Alan felt that, for the first time, he was starting to put things into perspective. This was about more than just the CCI... King Ghidorah was pure evil, and capable of destroying all life on this planet... Would that make Alan responsible for the mass-extermination, if King Ghidorah returned and no-one was warned? Many people didn’t deserve to die... Maybe Kiryuu was right when he said he was being selfish...



What was he supposed to do? He spent the rest of the morning wrestling with his own doubts, trying to make up his mind as to what to do... satisfy his own twisted desire for revenge, or allow humans to live so they could keep destroying themselves? He thought over Kiryuu’s memories again... from what he had seen, fate did seem to be conspiring towards certain events... Not just Kiryuu, but Godzilla... and now Alan seemed to be sharing that fate, as much as he didn’t want to believe it...



About midday, Alan was disturbed by the shrill ringing of his mobile. Alan crossed over to where his trenchcoat hung, pulled the mobile out of a pocket, and answered. Before he could even answer, Kiryuu’s clear voice could be heard;



“Alan, it’s Kiryuu,” he began. “You’d think I’d let you walk out without that information did you? It is now in your hands. I trust you’ll do the right thing when the time comes for it. You’ll be deciding the fate of millions. A bit of a burden for such a small creature who thought he was nothing more than a spectator in this story. I will not be contacting you anymore. This is where we now part paths. Your destiny is no longer up to me.”



With that, he promptly hung up. So that confirmed what Alan had suspected... that Kiryuu had sent that Thompson character to give the file to him. Alan could only shake his head.



“You’re a real *******, Kiryuu,” Alan muttered. Kiryuu could’ve sent the information out anytime, he stated as such... Was this his idea of a joke? Doing the right thing... Right now, Alan felt keeping quiet was justified... Kiryuu would probably reveal the information anyway if Alan didn’t... He was probably expecting Alan to not do anything...



Then again... could he afford to take the chance? If Kiryuu didn’t release the information, that would make him, Alan, responsible for the probable deaths of millions... He wanted payback for what was done to him, but he didn’t want to become an accessory to murder just for it...



Maybe it was time he shelved his own damn pride... Besides, maybe, for once, he would be doing something Kiryuu wouldn’t expect, and that was almost worth the price of admission alone.



And This is Only the Beginning…



Kiryuu disconnected the line, chuckling. It was all time, Mr. Thompson’s arrival at Alan’s hotel, the papers, and the call. He knew that kid would not be leaving this country without those papers. He stood there, inside the binary coded walls of his CPU, glancing back at Biollante who also nodded. Kiryuu raised his arms up into the virtual air as several virtual screens floated down towards him.



“It’s time for a wake up call,” Kiryuu rumbled. “Everything is going according to my plan. The board is set and the pieces are moving.”



He kept part of his consciousness on the outside, listening and conversing with the humans below him. Especially Maria. The last thing he wanted was for her to be harmed. The world was changing and he was going along for the ride. He can change with the world, or change the world to what he wanted it to become.



He knew that Alan would not let Kiryuu have all the credit of releasing the information on King Ghidorah. Kiryuu’s eyes turned towards the virtual screens he displayed in his CPU. Each one held various news stations around the world. He wanted to keep an eye on them, to see when Alan was ready. If his little pawn was not going to do what he agreed to, then Kiryuu can easily take over. Kiryuu glanced away from the screens, seeing the image of Maria walk across the catwalk, waving at him as she walked by. Kiryuu extended a tendril down towards her, stopping her in her path.



“Hola, mi amor querida,” he chuckled.



“Kiryuu,” she chuckled as she felt the tentacle brush her cheek. “You look lost today.”



“Thinking,” Kiryuu replied. “About the future.”



“About King Ghidorah?”



“Yes,” he replied with a deep rumble. “And other things. This isn’t just about King Ghidorah anymore. This is about what my future will hold.”



“Then, don’t worry about the future,” said Maria. “Worry about now. Because all you have is today.”



“I have you as well,” Kiryuu smiled slightly. And I have time as well.



His rumble became a deep, vibrating chuckle that filled the hangar.



This is a new beginning…Kiryuu thought. The game has begun…

[CII]

Okay......Commentary time. Yeah, this story has NO monster fights. This is a prime example of me and my drama and dialog skills, and this is me writing a story based on conspiracy and espionage. Looking for monster battles? Not here!

And I'd like to thank SA for his contribution...we worked together on this thing. While I was writing Mechagodzilla XIII Into the Abyss, he called me up one night and asked if some how...since I'm allowing his character to play in the MGX timeline that some how Kiryuu and Alan find away to cross paths.

Well...this is the story.

Hope you enjoyed it.

This also shows Kiryuu's true personality. If any of you think he's some hero, your opinion is gonna change after this. He's more of an evil anti-hero.

And poor Alan. He's gonna be needing a therapist after this.