Naomi Kotomine's Story

A girl entered the dimly lit lab, the only source of illumination a large lamp on a table. The figure of a sleeping man can clearly be seen dozing on it.

"Father? I've made you some coffee."

"Eunh?" The man jerked awake, wiping at the drool at the corners of his mouth. He adjusted his glasses, staring a moment at the girl who had just brought him his coffee. "Ah, thank you, Naomi."

He sleepily brushed away the piles of papers and schematics on the table, yawning repeatedly. Sighing, Naomi put down the coffee, making a mental note to clean the cluttered table later. Kirisame Kotomine, now sipping his coffee, was a man well past his prime, with shades of white streaking down his long hair. Naomi Kotomine, the girl who brought the coffee and the daughter of Kirisame, picked up one of the paper. Her smile softened as she saw what he had been working on again.

"Father...."

"Naomi, I told you... I won't stop until you have your own body again."

"But!"

"No buts. I can't let my daughter stay in that robot body forever now, can I?" He raised his hand and petted her head, ruffling her hair. "Sides, who knows if you suddenly have this urge to get a boyfriend."

"Eh?" There was a look of definite embarrassment, though her face didn't turn red. Robots don't have blood vessels after all, Kirisame thought sadly.

"Oh? You already got one? Who is it? The Almeno boy? Or was it... Francis?"

As his daughter stuttered and struggled to make a denial, Kirisame was grateful he had managed to change the subject which seemed to depress her, and continued on teasing her.

It was rather uncomfortable for him.

Kotomine was sitting down at the table, eating the sumptuous meal his daughter had prepared. While the ingredients and the dish itself was simple, it was cooked perfectly. Delicious. A feast in this run down house they took shelter in, a boon hardly worthy of the creaking table it was on, a truly sumptuous meal for one such as he. But...

Naomi caught him looking at her and smiled. "So? Is it good?"

"Of course, I'd even eat dirt pies if it was made by you."

"Oh? Shall I feed you dirt everyday then?"

"What? Don't be mean to your father, Naomi." Pretending to sulk, he scooped up some more rice from his plate.

Naomi.... It was sad to see his daughter just sitting there at the table. She was smiling every time he saw her, but he was sure Naomi wanted to be normal again. To be....human. Kotomine put down his spoon, having finished more than half of the food on the table. "Well, I'm going to go over those documents again. And I do need to check on the test rats."
________________________________________________________________________________

Naomi sat outside the house, looking at the night's sky filled with stars. It is strange. Feeling no need to eat, no need to drink, or even get bothered by mosquitoes. She knows her father was working around the clock to find a way for her to regain a normal human body but... . Did she really want to regain her body? Naomi had been asking herself that more these last few weeks. Would it be worth having your own father working himself sick over it?

"No, it isn't." She said out loud. Tomorrow, she will persuade him to take a vacation. Perhaps she should threaten to shut herself down. Her background processes started to power down her body, entering sleep mode to conserve energy. There was hardly anything to do at night time anyways. She realized something as her vision faded.

She had forgotten what it was like being human.

Meanwhile...

The Enigma had watched the chaos erupt from the Ark from a series of screens, safely hidden yet still located within the city of Los Angeles. Each screen was remotely linked to a different camera, a different satellite, secured behind the best firewalls and proxies, personally developed by Veriza Corporation with the highest standards of security- Nothing was going to bypass these security measures, because the only form of technology that is able to grab those keys at that level is personally owned by the Enigma. With three SVP operatives out of the picture, and a fourth captured, a sly smile formed. Suddenly, three of the screens focused on a man from different angles, an alpha to be exact.

So, the thugs weren't enough to take him down. No problem, they did their job. They were successful in flushing out not only this man, Lento, but a SVP operative as well. I have plans for him.

Another set of screens focused on another group of people. This time, it was a scientist and a young human woman. No, android. He wasn't entirely sure on what they were thinking about, but seeing that the scientist had the signs of sever fatigue, the Enigma called upon another plan of action.

Activating a speech console, the shadowy figure called to one of his personal servants...

"I'm sending the pictures and coordinates to you now. I want you and a group of men to... invite them into our little web. Initiate PROJECT:GHOST."

He was pleased with the silence on the other end. By how he pulled the strings, the silence was the simple answer for "yes sir". Looking onto two final screens, each a different view of two different subjects, he smiled again. One was focused on the SVP operative, restrained to a medical rack and equipment attached to her, the other focused on a Rezekan, data streaming across the screen, revealing vital signs and the like.

The Enigma had something important for these particular specimens. He wanted to see if they were willing to break old ties and build new bridges...

A voice called out, one she recognized, "Hay! Nay-oh-mie! We gotta nother feller here that needs some healin!" followed by several hard knocks on the front door.

Opening the door, the tall man strode through the door, taking off his cowboy hat as he did so. Naomi was sure there was another name for the hat, a ten gallon hat perhaps, but cowboy hat seemed to fit it better. "Who is it this time?" She asked.

The tall man pointed back towards the door, " Its the Miller kid again. I swear he's got the devils luck. He got shot down in every fight hes ever been in and walks away with nothin but a scratch." A young man barely the age of 20, Andrew Miller, hobbled in supported by another man, his friend presumable, Andrew wearing a sheepish grin on his face. "Hey again. And Ben, I was never shot down in evry fight, I survived some remember?"

"Yeah, like that time you crashed into that space ship and got stuck there waitin fer someone to bail ya."

The others chuckled, as the two started arguing again. Kirisame Kotomine, having heard the commotion, headed out from his lab. "Ah, Andrew again. Come on to the back." The two men, Andrew and his friend followed Kotomine into the operation room, leaving Naomi and Ben alone. Ben, the tall man, collapsed onto a sofa, sighing contentedly as he leaned against the sofa's back. "Man, Nay-oh-mie, I can't recall the last time I get ta sit down and relax."

"Is it bad?" She asked. Ben didn't answer. He took out a cigarette and started smoking. They sat in silence for several minutes, Naomi watching the cigarette's smoke rising and coiling into several different shapes.

"Bad." He said suddenly. "That Miller kid is one of the lucky ones. Most of them.... well, most of them got to pilot their first mech, and for some, their last. I ain't gonna lie to you Nayohmie. Sooner or later the fight will come here, and I will get to lead a group of kids then watch most of them die in the first barrage." He took a deep pull at his cigarette, "This war... ain't worth it."