052: A Comet Appears

[contract_star]

[Hei isn't hurt this time! ...Okay, fine, if you look closely enough you might see some new bruises, but that's all. He's out away from most of the Plane traffic with his scope set up, trying out the new eyepieces that Diva got him for his birthday. There's a small table covered with food nearby that Hei has been picking at, and a new comet in the Astral Sky. It's a bright blue and yellow streak with a long tail, rolling across the sky like the ball of ice and gas that it is. Hei has no idea which one it is, and there's really no hope of identifying it since the Sky changes all the time, but hey, it's a comet. Comets are important.]

[Hei looks preoccupied with something other than the comet, though. After awhile he plunks down on the Plane floor with a sigh and scoops up a potsticker from his mini-buffet.]

[He mutters to himself,] Sam would never let me hear the end of it, of course...

Comments

[madamemoiselle]

{In her own way, it's how Diva shows her scathing bitterness, but she sounds so airily cheerful}

They were the guards and scientists that kept me locked up. But they certainly won't be causing anyone else problems, right? It was alright, since Deadpool said it was alright, and Sam wanted me to leave alive, no matter what.

{She laughs a bit} Ne, but that's why people always wanted to hear me sing. Governments, I mean. I'm the perfect weapon, they'd always say.

[contract_star]

They're right; that's fine. The important thing was that you got out. I just...didn't realize you had that kind of power.

The perfect weapon. That's a laugh. You could easily turn on them. Can you control it, who turns into those monsters? Or is it everyone in range?

[madamemoiselle]

Absolutely, I can control them. Better than I can control my Chevalier. Anything created from me, whether my blood or my voice, we're linked. I can talk to my Chevalier here {She taps her head} and that's how I control them.

{Teasingly} But the governments, they all know that now, don't they? Amshel and I destroyed Germany and Russia, after all.

[contract_star]

I see. There's no way to control you though. [Faint smirk.] I suppose they did learn that the hard way.

[madamemoiselle]

{A bit timidly} Well...That's what Amshel was for, right? And Sam and my other friends. I don't really know what's right all the way yet, so...I guess Sam is the person that controls me, really. But that's not really control...? But it's similar.

[contract_star]

Well...I wouldn't say that having someone in control of you is a good thing. It's best to be in control of yourself. But, if someone is going to control you...then at the very least, it should be someone you care about and trust. A good person. [He smiles.] And Sam is a good person, so you have nothing to worry about.

[madamemoiselle]

I'm glad that you think so. I'm trying to be independent, but...Well, since I've had to depend on others my whole life, it's new. To say the least...

[contract_star]

Exactly. Take it slow.

[madamemoiselle]

I just hope that I can, you know?

[contract_star]

You've been doing pretty well so far.

[madamemoiselle]

{She opens her mouth to say something, but changes her mind once she remembers}

Ne, I almost forgot! What were you saying earlier about Sam?

[contract_star]

Earlier?

[madamemoiselle]

{Nods} When we started talking. You said Sam wasn't going to hear something...Or something like that, right?

[contract_star]

Oh. Oh right, that.

You remember the train accident?

[madamemoiselle]

I do, of course. You are alright, right?

[contract_star]

I'm fine. But the two Contractors who caused the accident, they saw me. They came to shut me up, but they stopped when they realized who I was. They said they wanted my help.

[madamemoiselle]

Oh, but that's a good thing, isn't it? Ne, why would Sam make fun of you for that?

[contract_star]

He told me awhile ago to build up an army against the Syndicate, start a war. I told him I wouldn't. If I help these two, Azure and Verde...if I help them, I'll essentially be doing exactly what Sam told me to.

[madamemoiselle]

{Thoughtfully}

Well, then you'll have to decide, won't you? If you help them, you'll be putting yourself in danger, but you probably won't have to worry about the Syndicate chasing after you anymore, right? But if you don't, you keep hiding, but you're safe.

{Diva considers it for a moment, looking back to Hei} Didn't you tell me that the Syndicate was like Cinq-Fleches once?

[contract_star]

I know. It'll have to be my decision. That's what I've been thinking about.

Yes. Why?

[madamemoiselle]

Then you can't do it, Hei. Of course, I don't mean any offense to you, but if you want to bring the Syndicate down, then it's going to be more than an army that you'll need. Ne, I mean, how many people and organizations have tried to take down Cinq-Fleches, do you think?

{Innocently} To take down Cinq-Fleches, the Red Shield, which was a worldwide organization of highly trained people that had dedicated their lives to killing me...Us...but it still didn't do what they wanted. Even with Our death, and we were the head of the company, Cinq-Fleches would have survived despite.

[contract_star]

We might be able to find other ways. We can't just rely on out-and-out fighting anymore. [Blinks as he realizes he's using "we."] Maybe if Contractors can just...figure out how to live their own lives.

[madamemoiselle]

Ne, you know that last part isn't possible, Hei. I mean, look at me. If you suddenly take away what they "know", then...that transition surely won't be as nice as mine is so far.

{As an afterthought} What about PANDORA?

[contract_star]

I know that, but Contractors are already changing. Azure and Verde say they're in love. That should be...impossible. It's not even something that Contractors think about. I keep meeting Contractors who don't fit the bill of having no emotions, no soul...it's like Amber said. They're waking up. In any case, if I do go through with this, I wouldn't force anyone.

I'm not sure about PANDORA.

[madamemoiselle]

But...Hei would die, I think. I believe in Hei, but...Contractors are powerful, even for me. The ones that I fought with you, they managed to actually kill me, even though they're not very different from humans. And Hei won't be able to survive a bullet like I was.

{She mulls that over for a moment, then speaks quietly} If they're a problem, then...I want to destroy them. Oh, I guess that's a bad thing to say, but it's that same feeling. I didn't have it for Joel, since I got to kill him, but until I heard that Josef was absolutely dead, I wanted to kill him. Uhm, I don't know if that makes sense, but it's not something that Sam could understand, I think. So I haven't told him...