Godzilla X Mechagodzilla

Ch. 8-LIFE LESSONS

When Kiryu was returned to base that evening after its battery gave up the ghost, Dr. Yuhara informed Akane of his discovery regarding its sudden madness.

"Upon analyzing our video footage and putting our heads together a bit, the guys and I found out that Kiryu went wild almost immediately after Godzilla roared. Something in Godzilla's roar triggered a severe malfunction in Kiryu, addling its computers and making it believe we were the enemy. Mechagodzilla seemed to revert to its roots for the time, succumbing to the commands of its DNA. In a sense, it became Godzilla again. Scary, huh?"

Akane nodded. They were standing inside Kiryu's maintenance room, gazing with new and terrifying knowledge at the disabled cyborg before them. The room was dark and silent and no one was in it at the moment, only Yuhara, Akane, and his daughter. And Sara...Sara did not seem pleased about the current state of affairs at all.

She had perched herself and her plant on the bridge before Kiryu, chin resting on the railing as she gazed sullenly at the shadow-draped metal creature. Akane approached her and dared to ask what was wrong, and Sara was not shy to tell her and her father precisely how she felt.

"It's wrong," she declared, glaring at Yuhara and Akane. "Humans made a weapon using the bones of Godzilla, and they get upset when it backfires on them? Kiryu is a living thing too, and it's in pain. We force it to fight Godzilla when all it wants is to be friends. But you don't care. Why would you? You just want to destroy Godzilla. Look at it!" She cried, pointing to Kiryu. "That poor creature is suffering and it's all because of you!"

"Sara," Yuhara sighed, patting his daughter on the shoulder. "I understand what you mean, I really do-"

"No you don't! You adults say that life is precious, but you don't believe it. All you ever do is hurt things and act like it's okay!" Sara yelled, turning and fleeing the room.

Akane sensed a profound disquiet in little Sara's spirit. She believed the girl must have experienced some sort of trauma in her life to make her such an insightful and brooding child, and Yuhara confirmed her suspicions by confessing of the suffering he and his daughter both endured in their lives.

"A few years back, my wife, Sara's mother, fell ill while pregnant with our child. Little Sara adored her mother and cherished her just as much, if not more, than I did. We were always a very close and loving family and nothing could separate us. Except death, that is."

"Sara was naturally extremely excited at the prospect of a sibling and was ecstatic about the birth, but when it came time for my wife to bear the baby into the world, there were complications. The doctors told us that it was either my wife or the baby that would get to live, and of course, my wife chose the baby. Little Sara obviously wanted them both to live, but in the end, neither of them did. Ever since then, she's been rather sensitive about life and death."

They found Sara outside on the balcony embracing her sleeping grass tightly, tears glittering on her face as they leaked from her glazed eyes. She gazed longingly at the stars in the sky, as though she were searching for her mother's soul among them. Akane paused beside her, placing her hand on Sara's.

"You were right, you know. Kiryu is a living thing, but its life is like mine; Worth nothing at all."

Sara whipped around to face Akane, staring at her with ardent indignance. "Don't say that! Life is precious! Every life is worth something. Every one."

Akane sighed. "Are you sure?"