01 | Emergence

[digs_holes]

[1]

[It's been a while since anyone seen a certain little kid in a blue coat. Turns out that it's mostly because he's been keeping to himself, a little freaked out by everything that's happened. But he's seemingly a little more prepared now, and he emerges into the hangar to look at the mecha again.]

I still wonder why it's only our Ganmen that have giant faces... all the rest of these look almost normal. [He then pauses in front of a Desu unit.] Well, almost all of them. [Then he remembers some of the other things: the weird four-legged beasts, the human-sized pieces of armor that aren't actually here even though their pilots are...]

Or maybe all the units are different, and ours are just more different.

[2]

[The evening finds Simon on the deck, looking out at the stars. It's something he's never really gotten tired of.]

I wonder what it'd be like to be up there... to move among the lights in the sky.

Comments

2

[nietzsche_waifu]

The night sky really is beautiful, isn't it?

[digs_holes]

Yeah. It's something we never really had in the village, so... it's still new to me.

[nietzsche_waifu]

I did not expect to miss it, but years without real days and nights did their thing.

Some of White Chalice's crew are in space even now. Perhaps one day you will join them.

[digs_holes]

That's how the village was. Underground with no surface light, so our day and night were whenever the elder said they were. I remember when I first saw the sun... it was so bright, but I couldn't look away. [He sighs; Yoko had quickly fixed that.]

[He does perk up at the mention of going to space.] Really? We can... we can go to space?

[nietzsche_waifu]

Of course. We have the technology - had for a long time, in fact.

Underground village? I see.
[That explains it.]

[digs_holes]

[Simon blinks.] That's amazing... Yeah! One day I'll go space, and get to see the stars up close...

Mm. Jeeha wasn't a great place, but... it's where I lived. We were in another village until the Chalice found us again, too.

[nietzsche_waifu]

I wonder just how many villages are still underground, hidden from the rest of humanity's eyes.

[digs_holes]

I don't know. That's a good question, actually. Are there more people like us, that have never seen the sun? That dig to survive?

[nietzsche_waifu]

Most likely, too many.

1

[the_innocent_blade]

Well have you noticed anything strange with it?

Like it staring at you or roaring in your direction?

[digs_holes]

No. Nothing like that... wait, do you think it'll do that!?

[the_innocent_blade]

Demonbane did that to me when I came up to it.

It is about 90% face so I figured that it should be easy for it to do those things.

[digs_holes]

That's... even more face than Lagann has. Then again, Lagann's shorter than I am, so...

I don't think it can do those things, though. At least, I hope not...

[the_innocent_blade]

Ah I was referring to your machine here. Mine is more shinguard, shinguards and hair. I would show it to you but my boss is a bit picky about where to place it.

Daijuji Kurou by the way.

[digs_holes]

Oh. I thought that sounded a little high for how much face Lagann had. [But then, it's a face mounted on short, stubby legs, so it's probably accurate.] It might be cool to see yours sometime.

I'm Simon. Hi, Kurou.

[the_innocent_blade]

[Kurou could only laugh a bit here.]]

You know you're a lot more polite than the kids I know back at home.

[digs_holes]

Nobody really liked me in my old village, so I tried to be a nicer person to see if I could change it. It... didn't really work.

2

[saikyocivrobo]

[Someone else is watching the night sky too! It's a tiny white robot, using a man-sized pair of binoculars. Well, one binocular at least.]

[digs_holes]

[Simon pauses when he notices the tiny bot.]

What is this thing...? It's like a robot, but... it's so small... [He turns on the lights on his goggles to get a better view.]

[saikyocivrobo]

[Prometheus stares back through the binocular. He stands resulutely, points at the stars and then at himself with his thumb.]

[digs_holes]

[The boy kneels down to examine Prometheus a little closer, grinning.]

You remind me of my bro. Big talk, but who knows if he can back it up.

[saikyocivrobo]

[The tiny robot raises his fists several times, creating a cloud of steam above his head, and then spreads his arms high up as if showing something really big. Possibly himself.

Oh hey, someone else is approaching.]

Oh, he can, believe me.

[digs_holes]

[Simon attempts to make heads or tails of Prometheus' latest charades before he's interrupted.]

I think that's what he's trying to tell me. But at least someone can back it up. I'm not sure it's a good idea to trust a robot because it made me think it was powerful without proof.

[saikyocivrobo]

He actually wanted to say he was to the stars already.

[Prometheus stretches out, pointing with his finger towards the sky as far as he can.]

And that they're overrated.

1

[possibly_here]

[To say Kazuki is not a super social person is a bit of an understatement. But he's been looking over Mark Sein actually, testing experimentally with the kinds of weapons and materials it can and can't assimilate. He's had a lot of success in the former category too. But when Simon says that last little bit...]

I think it's just how things work. Different machines are meant for different tasks.

[digs_holes]

Maybe... I just don't know what Ganmen are for. Especially mine. [He looks at Lagann again.] All I know is that it starts up differently from my bro's Gurren, and we don't know if that's normal either.

[possibly_here]

... What kind of different? It can't be too different, can it?

[As someone who's had plenty of experiences with LOTS AND LOTS of pain from the Fafner startup sequence, Kazuki's honestly starting to get curious now.]

[digs_holes]

[Simon pulls out the Core Drill that hangs around his neck.] This is the key. And it only works for me. And it won't start if it doesn't think I want to fight.

2

[demonofjeeha]

[Of course Kamina's there. He never gets tired of the sky either.]

We're gonna find out, you and me.

[digs_holes]

[Simon smiles.] Yeah... yeah! We'll go there one day, and we'll look at the stars, and we'll see what's up there!

[demonofjeeha]

And whoever we find up there, they'll remember the Gurren Brigade for all time!

[Kamina: in usual form.]

[digs_holes]

Y-yeah, they will! Um, but we don't have much of a Brigade yet, do we, bro? [Silly Simon, binding Kamina logic to, well, logic.]

...wait, you think there's people up there!?

[demonofjeeha]

Of course there are! You know what they're saying down here? Even this whole world is just a big ball of rock. There's no way this is all there is to the universe.

[digs_holes]

Well, of course there's more out there, but... more people? Is there really another planet with people on it?

[Mind blown. But he gets over it, grinning.] Right! We'll find them and we'll show them how awesome we are, right bro?