Karl finished giving his report of how the King's Fleet was with the campaign along the coast to his father, Romano Lopez. The son of the Prime Minister never approved of the war, and everybody knew it. His friendship with Zechariah Malachi was no secret amongst the nobility and politicians, either. This made him the target of constant insults and accusations of being unpatriotic. He would defend his honor, but he had bigger concerns, at the moment. He felt it his duty to try to secure a ceasefire, somehow. He knew Oriana personally, which meant he could talk to her about the matter to see what could be done. Just as he was about to try to connect to her, he heard the door open. "Who is it?" Once he heard Princess Sorell's voice, he turned around and bowed. "How may I be of service, milady?"
Hearing Zechariah's name left him in speechless anger for a moment. Has she come to mock me, too? I'll have none of it! His anger subsided as he realized Sorrel was merely curious. "Pardon my rude stare. People in Parliament have mocked me for my friendship with Zechariah. Yes, I know him." He brought out a set of recording goggles he made years ago, plus a record disk. "When I first met him, I was wearing these recording goggles I invented to catch on video the inside of the school I was the exchange student to in a small Fertaninn town in Benjlakk. He was running frantically to avoid some girls who were enamored with him. He always was a child on the inside."
He replayed the recording he made of Zechariah sprinting very swiftly while shouting a long and loud "Help me!" It was followed by a view of the girls looking for him and Karl's voice talking to them.
<I>"Excuse me, sir! Have you seen Zecahriah Malachi?"
"He's blond, with blue eyes, and is a bit childlike in demeanor."
"Hmm..." Karl looked behind him. "Looked a bit timid to be a Malachi."
"That's him!" All three girls exclaimed.
Karl turned his head and pointed. "I think he went down the hall to the right." It was a lie, of course: he was trying to help the poor boy get away. The girls fell for it and went on their way while thanking him.</I>
"Of course, even though he'd run the moment a girl would try to kiss him or anything like that, he would help anyone who was crying, as shown by this recording provided by his brother, Benjamin," Karl added as he played another recording.
It was Zechariah's seventh birthday, and a clown was trying to entertain the kids. It came short when one of the girls present cried in fear of the clown. Zechariah's parents apologized for the incident and paid what was owed to the clown, who politely said with a smile, "It was a pleasure, regardless," before being on his way.
Zechariah tried to calm the girl as the clown left, but to no avail as she kept crying. Thinking while pacing, he noticed the pet kitten named Tiger and picked him up to show the poor girl. "Kitty cat?" While it got her attention, it failed to stop the tears. He gently put Tiger down and then noticed the three-month-old puppy named Su-Su and picked her up to show the crying girl. "Puppy?" Success. She held the puppy in her arms like a mother would a baby and calmed down while complimenting on how cute Su-Su was. She lowered the puppy to the floor and leaned forward to kiss Zechariah, who timidly ran to his mom. The previously-crying girl thought it cute and giggled.
With those two recordings out of the way, Karl went on to explain more about his friend. "The reason he would run off was because he was afraid of what would happen if he saw a lady as more than a friend. One of these days, though, he'll find the one to settle down with. Not that he'd have to search for long: he is quite accomplished in Solar Technology. I even helped with his inventions, from time to time. We exchanged knowledge on machinery and robotics. He is also very kindhearted, as you may have noticed. If he's been drafted, something tells me he will find every opportunity to try not to kill, if he can help it."
He then turned to the schematics for Gary, the robotic bird. "He once stood up for me when some classmates called me a rich scoundrel due to my being the son of the Prime Minister, whom has been rumored to do shady business behind the scenes. There is some truth to the rumors, but still, I did not take kindly to such insults. Zechariah was about the only one who came to my defense. To express my gratitude, I offered to make designs and help build a robotic pet for him. We ended up calling the mechanical bird, "Gary". It has been a symbol of our friendship, ever since. One thing I can attest to about him is this: when you are around him, you are in good hands."
Zechariah finally had some alone time. He used this time to think up strategies he can use for when Brown Wing Team was up in space. Whoever this Moon Force was, they were formidable to have taken control of the space station. His thoughts returned to Sorell from time to time. It is weird... I never let a gal kiss me, before. I wonder if maybe I... He shook that thought out of his head. Him with the Princess of his enemies? That was preposterous! Why would she be interested in him? There were plenty of boys among the nobles in Metargo she could mingle with and become the wife to! What were the odds?