MC File 1
Once upon a time, there was a person who had two names. That person was the heir to a peaceful country but sought revenge for the country's destruction; so he put on a helmet/mask, changed his name, and became a legendary hero in a certain army. That person now says he will purge the foolish people. Why does he choose to do this? And--- isn't this [person/place/period/idk] completely pacifist? Or is this the instinct of a hero? This person presumably truly hates peace. Perhaps he hates his little sister who carries on her father's dying with for peace. Still, no one can be sure of his real intent.
AC 195 - Dorothy
***
MC-0022 Next Winter
I don't have a name. I have no past. I was nothing but a mere expendable that could be thrown away. My youth was spent like nothing so much as a [dirty] old rag. For as long as I can remember, I've had to make like a terrorist just to survive the rough streets (lit: land) of Mars. I never felt any particular inconvenience [about not having a name], but the guys around me seemed to care and somewhere along the line, they took to calling me 'Nanashi.'
Basically 'history' doesn't exist. That's the same as me not having a name. The concept of 'history' is historians and historical scholars comparing historical data, understanding it, at the time those records are spoken in some form, 'history' is, from the start, what 'existed.' We who have given ourselves up to space and its (flush) of time are unable to understand the current condition of 'history.' First of all, the word 'history' is unclear as it doesn't distinguish between 'human history' or 'Earth history' or 'history of the solar system,' we don't know from whose point of view [this history] is being told from or by whom it is given a voice. Supposedly a thing owned collectively by man, as long as [it is] historians and historical scholars as opposed to something like 'god' speaking, then their personal subjectivity cannot help but [affect the telling of] history. That is why I don't trust the 'past' which [is usually considered] 'history.' No, I cannot find the value in the mere past. Maybe my feelings would be more clearly expressed with a straight forward 'whatever.' And if man believes, as I do, that the 'past' has no value, [then] 'history' isn't a collective possession and 'time' is nothing but a disposable expendable.
The Mars Federal Government announced 'Mars Independence' to the United Earth Sphere five years ago. [One] Martian revolution [around the sun] corresponds to about two Earth years. So in Earth time, it was about ten years ago. The Mars Federal Government representative was the first [Mars] President: Milliardo Peacecraft. He, who had been selected by the citizens of Mars, won the Mars government its autonomy [by] repeated negotiations with tenacious Earth; eluding the sabotage of the for-profit business organizations of/for Mars' development; not [resorting] to such extreme measures as a war of independence; and without spilling so much as a single drop of blood. In that [declaration of] independence, the people living on Mars pronounced themselves Martians [ALT: In that declaration of independence, [Milliardo] gave the name Martians to the people living on Mars, after what they had called themselves.] Furthermore, people came to be able to live on Mars and it was this time that they took to calling it "Mars Century," retroactive from when the first firm steps [at colonization] were taken [#1]. There had been, untl that point trouble (lit: a hitch) in daily life caused by Earth's AC calendar conversion system which used colony standard time, and there was a need to [align] the length of a year ((687 days)) and the length of one day ((24 hours 37 minutes)).
It was this time more than any other that separated the history [#2] of Earth and Mars.
However, from around this time, peace and order on Mars began to fall apart. Differential society dissatisfaction was on the verge of exploding. In just a few short years, disputes had started across the land. Inaugural [start up?] enterprises began crushing themselves. The (ditch) between the Anti-Earth Sphere and Pro-Earth Sphere factions was deep, and while the federal government leaders (who were going to unify) kept the tides of war blurred by standing neutral, the suppression of fighting and maintenance of peace went from the police system to the military organization. The chain of hatred among nations (lit: races) coming from different faiths and ethnicities also continues. So the victims retaliated and as a result they cried for revenge; the situation was an eternal ball [as in dance] that unfolded night after night with no end in sight. It's believed that the peace keeping system likely didn't cover [all] the Earth Sphere yet (and that's what caused the trouble). For the people of Mars, they started to feel that if it was going to come to this, it would have been better if they hadn't become a free state.
Another year passed [MC-0018]. A mars year, that is.
***
MC-0021 First Winter
At Elysium island near the Mars equator, a large (scale) conference [among] leaders was being held in the (federal government central city) Relena City. Several VIPs from Earth had been invited. Presidential aide Lady Une, ambassador Sylvia Noventa were in attendance. The "Little Prince" [#3]-- a frozen hibernation capsuel-- was set up in the back-most chairperson's seat of the hall. A single rose was among the [bed of] thorns, and albeit an imitation, it was beautiful. An eternally beautiful little girl slept within. She rendered distinguished service to the Mars Terraforming, Relena Peacecraft did. She had encountered trouble on the passage from Earth to Mars and [has since] been sleeping in the hibernation capsule; that's what I heard, but the details have never been officially disclosed. Milliardo, the first president of the Mars Federal Government, stood in front of the capsule and, facing the government leaders and VIPs from every country, began his address. He whitewashed over peace and history [ALT: Whitewashed the why-fors and what-wheres of peace and history]. I was a part of the security detail and stood in the very front [of the audience] with my back to (that) President Milliardo. In the middle of the address, the order came. Suddenly, explosions [rocked] all over the conference room. Just as planned. It was the timing device my comrades had taught me. With the conference room in an uproar, it was our job to guide President Milliardo and the SP [#4] to a safe place; that was my official stance (lit: face) to the end. I shouted, "THIS WAY!" At the same time, I pulled out my pistol, aimed at my target and pulled the trigger. The silencer rang out a dry machine sound [#5] and the bullet shot clean through Milliardo's wrinkled brows. Instantaneously, there was another explosion somewhere else. That, too, was as planned. I took advantage of the melee and fled outside the conference room. Immediately I ditched the officer's uniform and pulled my favorite knit cap low over my eyes. The hat had frayed threads here and there and my comrades teased me about having a worn out rag sitting on my head. It was unmistakably me who had killed Milliardo Peacecraft. I was raised as a terrorist, the only thing I had been taught was how to destroy authority. But I wasn't interested in politics. It was just a matter of my bosses telling me to do it and I did it [ALT: when my bosses said 'jump' I asked 'how high.'] I wondered where the group who made them move was. Earth sphere radicals and Mars development business foundations stripped of their vested rights and a secret organization called Preventer.... what interest were [any of] those to me, the tail of the lizard [which is easily cut off #6]? I ran through downtown with its small-scale swarm of tent-like residences. I ran like the devil was after me. But the (garrison) had blocked [my way]. The terrorists who were supposed to be my comrades were also looking for me. Betrayal and destruction of evidence was our usual modus operandi. There was nothing I could do but run. No other way save to continue my flight. This time, it would likely be my turn [as the target] (lit: to be killed). I couldn't trust my intended escape route. Calling upon my rock climbing skills, I clambered up a wall and took refuge in the ventilation of [some] house (I'd never seen before). Terrorists have a habit of infiltrating the underground [areas]. Even so, I went ahead and (prowled around behind/in the ceiling) and somehow managed to escape the pursuit of the garrison and my former comrades [#7]. I bore hunger and thirst, but weathered it out for several days. Nevertheless, places for me to take refuge steadily became fewer and fewer. It had probably been a week since the [assassination]. In the uproar, I had been seen by people totally unrelated [to the incident]. They tipped off the (garrison). It would be possible to kill them before I got reported, but I got disgusted by the thought of killing someone just so I could keep going. I understood that there was nowhere in [all of space] where I deserved to live [alt: was worthy of living]. Regardless, I still had a touch of instinct that made dying at the hands of another rather distasteful. I think I'd rather use this gun and blow myself to kingdom come.
"......"
I looked at my watch. It was nearly the time Phobos-- disrupted as it was by the sun-- could be seen passing. I often compared myself and this Phobos. The name means "fear" in Greek mythology. I had the sensation that "phobos" was passing through me at present [#8]. The Martian moon Phobos ran contrary to the usual clockwise rotation of normal stars, it moved counter-clockwise [that's for the idiot note, Sumizawa!]. The satellite rose in the West and set in the East. It's a phenomenon caused by spinning at a higher speed than the rotational velocity of Mars. But its speed is also relatively fast [ergo] two or three times a day it can be seen (plunging) before the slowly moving sun from the opposite direction. And awaiting us (lit: less than fifty thousand years in the future) is its collision with Mars('s atmosphere) and the ring which will subsequently form from all the little pieces [of Phobos]. I believed with all my heart that [our] foolish existence continued to go against the flow of time.
"I'm not the only odd fellow."
I liked seeing (the scene of) that jet-black moon crossing-- no stabbing-- the pure white sun like [it was] a warped bullet.
"It wouldn't be too late if I died after seeing him [#9] off, eh......" I said creeping out from the attic of the tent house. Standing on the solar panel-covered roof, I looked over the panoramic [view of] Mars. Dust-filled gales blew across [the land]. The sky was covered with a thick layer of clouds: I could confirm neither the sun nor Phobos. I couldn't even see "Frozen Teardrop," as the second moon (or satellite) was so-called for its resemblance to a frozen teardrop. Things didn't go as I'd thought they would. I even laughed.
"Huh...... that's how it's gonna be, huh." I muttered and pressed the muzzled of the gun to my temple. I shed no tears. Naturally. My tears had long ago been frozen. Then, I heard the sorrowful tones of a violin (at my back). I inhaled sharply as I turned around, "......?" There was a tall man with long bangs standing there with his arms crossed. He was as scholarly type man, thin and close to past middle age [#10]. And a young boy about my age sat at the man's feel playing the violin. Or probably a girl as she was wearing a skirt. She [also] had on goggles. The song was Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade." My holding a gun didn't phase those two, they stayed as they were for a while. I fixed my aim to the man's forehead. Glaring down the muzzle of my gun, the man slowly raised both hands. He seemed to indicate he would not attack, but there was no carelessness in the movement and his eyes were filled with seething anger. The girl finished her violin performance and removed the goggles. She wore glasses under the goggles. It was considerably conscientious [of her] to want to protect [her] big, blue eyes from the dust clouds of Mars. I thought to ask them who they were but the man began to speak first.
"I also don't have a name, but if you must call me something, call me Doktor... T."
Also? The man calling himself Doktor knew that I didn't have a name. The girl, holding the violin under her arm, giggled.
"Isn't it inconvenient to not have a name?"
"This young lady is Katrine Wood Winner...... daughter of the house of Winner.," said Doktor in a calm tone. "However, you'd best take care...... neither one of us is as gentle as we appear." I wondered where exactly they'd appeared gentle. [ALT: I wondered where exactly they'd appeared from at all #11] Keeping my gun trained [on them], I affected a calm air.
"What do you two think you know about me?" Those were the first words I spoke when I met the Doktor and Katrine.
"You are me," Doktor lowered his hands and barely moved his thin lips. "I know everything." That sharp look [of his] shot straight through me (lit: my heart) like an arrow. "[You] don't bare your fangs at those who are not your enemy...... you're a docile man."
Point my gun as much as I liked, I couldn't [bring myself] to pull the trigger. The Doktor-- it was like he saw through me.
"Do you know who I've killed?"
"Milliardo Peacecraft died in AC 195, [he died] in battle at the last Earth Sphere war; the Eve Wars. What you killed was merely the spirit (alt: soul or apparition) of a dead man."
"That's ancient news," I wasn't such a simpleton as to so easily believe old stories like those that are written in textbooks, and I didn't care about history. I never went to school and so had practically no proper education. I'd come this far without having won so much as love or affection or what have you.
"Well, shall we talk about what happens now?" Asked Katrine with a smile on her face. "There are three options available to you." Slowly she stood up and brushing dust from her skirt, spoke dispassionately. "The first is to commit suicide here......" I realized that instrument could not be [just an instrument (lit: negligent)]. "Another is to go into town and be killed by someone." I stood at the ready, aiming the muzzle of the gun at Katrine when she began talking; I interrupted her speech.
"I don't think there's any other way." Then, suddenly, I noticed the gentle light radiating from Doktor's eyes. Unknown words like father and mother cut across my mind.
"What you need is a place to call home." Never had I ever been looked upon with such kind eyes. "Wouldn't a third option be coming with us?" That shook my feelings. But I, like my ragged old knit cap, was still cold and dark and deeply suspicious.
"How did you find me (lit: know this place)?" A freezing red wind blew through.
"The lady...... her instincts are sharp."
"It's too bad [we] couldn't see Phobos, isn't it, Mr. I-Don't-Have-A-Name...... I wanted to see the sun being stabbed, too."
"......" I decided to give it up. There was no where to hide if they could see through every thing and anything. I surmised they weren't from my former terrorist organization nor were they the government's people. Assuming there truly was a third option, I thought I'd have them tell me. I had a dim memory of something surely French-- troisime chemin or something. When I thought of such an unnecessary thing, I realized I was already completely defeated.
"......" Without saying a word, I stuck my gun out to Katrine. She accepted it with a kind smile and in return, passed me the violin she'd been holding.
"Salam [#12], Mr. I-Don't-Have-A-Name." The violin was a genuine instrument. I had thought it might have been concealing some kind of weapon but apparently I had been unnecessarily borrowing trouble.
"Yeah.... Zdravstvuj [#12]." I, like Doktor T had just done, raised both hands without putting the violin down. The choice to live necessitated considering myself as a captive.
"Don't do that, we're friends [#13], see?" Behind her glasses, Katrine's ernest eyes appealed [to me] strenuously. Much later I heard that Doktor T had once gone by the name "Nanashi." Indeed, I thought I really probably was [the same as] that Doktor T.
***
I boarded a small hovercraft and left Elysium Island. After the Utopia Sea, we crossed the Acidalia Sea [note: there is an eponymous plain] and continued on South. [Since] I had nothing to do, I tried to play a waltz on the violin I'd received. It was a song I dimly recalled from when I was a little boy. Katrine came to listen.
"What's that song called?"
I didn't know.
"Renya no butoukai...... 'Endless Waltz', [#14] " said Doktor T quietly. "[We'll] have to change that waltz to a requiem sometime."
I was surprised when they took me to a little circus. It was on an isolated island (floating) in the Chryse Sea; I didn't think patrons would come to such a remote place. Was I supposed to work here? I supposed it was something an (old rag [this is the same thing he calls his hat]) like me could do, right? At the center of the little tent were lion and elephant gages; a trapeze and tight rope were suspended, slack, from the canopy. We crossed the stage and continued on backstage. There was a cramped office. There to meet us was a silver-haired gentleman with the same eyes as Katrine. I surmised this man was likely the head of the Winner household.
"Oh, that was quick, wasn't it." He had the exact (refreshingness :D) of a youth.
"It was fun, you should have come, too, (big) brother."
"No, I'm not used to Mars' (open) air." They were siblings with a pretty big age gap. "'Snow White' and 'Warlock' took up a lot of my time, too......" His manner of speech was just like that of a youth's but I could completely agree to [seeing] these two as father and daughter. "You're (young master) Nanashi, right?" Said the silver-haired man as he held out a cup of coffee in my direction. "I'm Double-U...... Professor W." I took that to be the Winner 'W.'
"Doktor, what is your 'T' short for?" I asked as I drank my coffee. Saying no more than necessary seemed to be this man's [T's] prerogative (lit: characteristic).
"It's Trowa," Professor W answered with an affable [look to his] face.
Doktor T, however, denied that, "No, it's not T for Trowa. T for Triton......" Either way, they meant the number 'three', thought I; it didn't matter much to me.
"So what of this third path I was supposed to take?"
"About that," Professor W said as he booted up a holomonitor. "[Unfortunately] the state of affairs has surpassed what we had predicted...... I want you to see this." The final resting place of Milliardo Peacecraft appeared [on the screen]. The family was crying before the coffin. "Ms. Noin's anxiety is never ending......" Professor W muttered as he watched the screen. The image confirmed the widow Lucretia and the twins born to Milliardo, Naina and Milu, wearing mourning clothes. The kids were maybe a touch older than myself. [I] was caught with a slightly guilty conscious. "But you don't need to worry about [that]," Professor W touched the screen,"...... look carefully." [He] zoomed in on the picture and increased the resolution. Neither Miss Lucretia nor the twins (named Naina and Milu) were crying. All of them, they were only touching their handkerchief to their eyes.
"When you look at their eyes, you can tell [his] being killed was planned in advance." Doktor T, who was standing alone and leaning against the wall spoke coldly. "The problem is the man standing in the rear of the family......" The clip was paused and the man in question['s image] was enlarged. In a black suit and black sunglasses stood a young man with long blonde hair and a unique air all his own. He had the impression of an SP bodyguard more than that of a government man. No, a military man is more like it.
"I want you to really remember his face...... he was in the secret service controlled directly by the President."
From over by the wall, Doktor T said quietly, "---Merquise." I couldn't quite catch what he said, but I remember it [sounded] like a person's name. "With your murder of the Mars Federal President Milliardo Peacecraft, both powers of the reformist and conservative factions have balanced......"
"Balanced?"
"Yes. Essentially, the revolutionaries were supposed to make great advances until the next president was elected."
"Then why are they in a state of equilibrium?" asked Katrine as she wiped her glasses.
"Most of the important members of the revolutionary faction have died...... he went to the Langrin Republic as a representative," Professor W changed the image on the holomonitor. He pulled up [an image] of the young man with long blonde hair we'd just seen. This time, the sunglasses were off, his well-proportioned face announced, and he was wearing the deep green clothes of a military uniform.
"That was three days ago...... it was broadcast today."
"I am Special Officer First Class Zechs Merquise. We of the Lanagrin Republic [wish to] announce [first] our declaration of secession from the Mars Federation and our independence and [second] we have decided to declare war against the Mars Federation."
He kept talking ironically about the 'abolition of Earth's rule [over Mars], and development of the upper classes,' and 'the masses are coming together.'
"That's Zechs alright," this time I could clearly hear Doktor T's words.
"Your third options was to take up our ideals (lit: will) and fight for all the people who couldn't fight."
"I'm the guy who's [acting as a dampener] to prevent the spread of the flames of war, right?" Katrine winked cutely at me. I thought it was just as I feared, I was going to be a clown.
"But the war had already begun," and I stated my position, "I'm a terrorist. War isn't my thing [which is why he thinks he's going to be a clown: what is a terrorist to the war effort?]."
"You'll be trained..... as a pilot." So saying, the Doktor turned his back on me. "This way...... let's show you your machine."
"?" I went after him and got in the elevator that went to the subterranean hangar.
***
An algae [able to] withstand dryness [dehydration?] was discovered on Jupiter's Europa moon and [because of it] the Mars terraforming progressed by leaps and bounds. 200 years ago Earth time, Mars gradually became warmer due to the greenhouse effect caused by the man-made freon (CFC?) atmosphere, but there remained a [considerable] level of carbon dioxide that made respiration impossible. [What's more], just a slight warming [had?] melted the polar caps, but the water was immediately absorbed by the [soil (lit: sucked up to the subterranean)] and in the winter, the newly formed ocean had reverted back into a desert. AC era space developmental researcher Lana Green was the first person to think of using "Europa algae" on Mars. At the time, "Europa algae" was a big discovery in science, but it had no practical uses in daily life and was dangerous stuff that posed a threat to the planet Earth. The Europa algae far below the ice in the deep sea, upon being exposed to sunlight, multiplied-- with surprising speed-- a plankton commonly known as "Jupiter moss." Propagating this "Jupiter moss" on Mars greatly accelerated the warming and greening (note: the moss helped make it possible for more plants to survive). It was predicted that by these means, the terraforming could be done in a few decades instead of a few hundred years. Despite this, the intelligentsia in the early days of the AC era did not put this plan into action for fear of environmental destruction on a global scale. There was, however, an accident (some time). One of the several resource satellites that was brought to Earth left its orbit and managed to crash into Mars. (Essentially/Normally), that resource satellite should have been called a "MO-VII." It fell in Argyre plain in Mars's southern hemisphere. Likewise, the Hellas plain is also in the southern hemisphere too, but in this plain in quite ancient times [experienced] a collision with a meteorite. There, another resource satellite fell and a (double formed) crater of huge [proportions] was formed. The problem was the ice inside that resource satellite. "Jupiter moss" grew and multiplied rapidly. The peolpe living on Mars for the para-terraforming didn't notice slow environmental change [that was happening] outside [their] domes [#15]. Sandstorms continued to howl, the red earth and sky remained unchanged. In the Mars ground water, moss continued to grow, [the people living on Mars only] seemed to notice when the average temperature seemed to rise. And within a few short years, half the deserts of Mars filled with ocean water. Blue [note: this word is the same kind of blue used to describe Katrine and Quatre's eyes] water filled the Argyre double crater and it became a large lake, or rather an ocean. The oxygen (density) rapidly went up. From the inception of Jupiter moss in the double Argyre crater to the ocean that came to replace it, that body of water came to be known as the "Lana Green Sea" and (moreover) a huge manmade island was constructed there and that was the birth of the "Lanagrin Repbulic."
***
The elevator stopped at the lowest level. There was a (vast) hangar and factory. When the doors opened, there stood a huge, and despite being just a skeletal structure, obviously man-shaped machine. There were two of those works-in-progress there.
"So this is an MS ((mars suit))?"
"No, this is an MS ((mobile suit))."
I thought it didn't matter what they were called if the abbreviation was the same. The MTF ((Mars TerraForming)) was a two-legged manipulator-equipped machine used to reform Mars and had been in use since the para-terraforming days. The MTF was called a Mars Suit after it was modified for battle and the one who had (diverted it) for military purposes was the President Milliardo whom I had killed. To suppress disputes that [were occurring] all over the place, I can't deny it was necessary to possess overwhelming military power. Also, if you consider [how] sandstorms (accompany) Mars magnetism, it's obvious to employ giant humanoid weapons operated by pilots. Yet as long as the MS weapons were around, peace had not/never come to the people.
"Mobile suit?" I repeated that word, [just having] heard it for the first time.
"That's what they're called on Earth."
"Well, okay......" Why did I get the feeling thee was some fear/danger in Doktor T's eyes? Mobile suits were...... 'Manipulative Order Build and Industrial Labor Extended Suit' abbreviate that to [just] the first letters of the words and you get 'MOBILE Suit.' [#16] It was probably better (lit: straight forward) to stick with the "Mars Suit" that means "Mars Suit." Taking a deep breath, Doktor T said the names of the two suits, "This one is 'Prometheus' and that one is 'Scheherazade'." [One was t]he God who, by giving man fire, incurred the wrath of the gods and was branded as a traitor. [The other was a (beautiful queen who), f]or the sake of soothing the heart of a king who repeatedly slaughtered [stuff], told him fairy tales night after night. Greek mythology and Arabian Nights. There wasn't a single point in common between the two. Katrine had played 'Schederazade' on the violin, was that her trying to allude (lit: show off) to her machine? But they'd been given such weird names.
"Was the naming an interest of yours?"
"They were code names on the blueprints...... I don't care for them, but it's inconvenient when something doesn't have a name." That [last art] was for my benefit, do doubt.
"Which one will I use?"
"The young lady fancies (riding) Scheherazade, yes?"
"I don't know...... she might feel that way but that Professor is against it."
"Are they really siblings?"
"From here on out, if you're going to ask questions, ask yourself...... you're not as naive as you think."
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