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Talking about fic: Traitorous Jewelry
This side fic set in the "Discovering the Sun" universe was rather interesting to write. I'll talk a bit more under the cut.
Be aware that this fic spoils the second half of Kabuto (and the whole series, practically), as well as talks about some of the things going on "behind the scenes" in the main "Discovering the Sun" storyline.
Traitorous Jewelry
by Estirose
c 2007
The title refers to Tadokoro's plan to do something with the jewelry his kind are making, because it, and he, would be traitorous.
Tadokoro held up the piece of jewelry to the light. It was not a bad piece of work, actually, and even he could be fooled by the simplicity. However, what it did, what Tadokoro wanted it to do, would be seen as betrayal. He knew the plans, knew what had to happen, and yet... he couldn't go through with those plans that had been made so long ago.
Yes, the jewelry does make humans into Worms in this universe as well. The plans that he's referring to have to do with Kagami (and Tendou, but mostly Kagami).
"Ah. So *that's* where that went!" a voice, cheerful and loud, announced. Tadokoro half-turned, not surprised to see Negishi, one of the Native's foremost council members and ZECT liaisons. Negishi's human form was a man in his 30's in a gold jacket and a sweatshirt, always seemingly cheerful and harmless, insisting that people drop the honorific off his name. Those who knew him well knew that he was a dedicated, determined to save his people and the humans of Earth, relentless in the pursuit of that goal.
I liked Negishi, actually. I tried to write him as I perceived him: one that seemed harmless, and yet was capable of so much damage. I don't think in this universe he's quite as nasty, however. His actor is in his mid-30's, so that's how I placed his appearance.
Negishi would be the first to name him traitor for what he was contemplating there. For even thinking of altering the destiny of one of the young men that the Natives and Humans had prepped for a terrifying and life-shortening job. But Negishi didn't know Kagami, hadn't worked with Kagami, didn't know how unlikely it was for Kagami to willingly accept another Zecter. The Natives' own rules and beliefs had prevented Kagami from casting off TheBee Zecter, causing him to be a reluctant host at best. He knew they wanted Kagami introduced to Gatack Zecter as soon as possible, but Tadokoro couldn't see him willingly accepting a new Zecter.
Negishi was involved in Kagami's "creation", but he's never met Kagami. I tried to bring it out here that Negishi can be rigid, stubborn, and really peeved if you don't do things his way. Tadokoro, on the other hand, knows Kagami and he can't bear to send Kagami into a fight where he'll die just for the Worms' sake.
"Isn't it pretty?" Negishi said, taking the jewelry out of Tadokoro's hand. "I can't wait for them to go into mass production. We'll have a nice promotion. Wear this jewelry and live longer."
"Are we still disclosing the fact that it turns a human into one of us?" Tadokoro asked. It wouldn't be beyond the council to decide what humans needed for their own good, either.
This is referencing later episodes of Kabuto, where Negishi does try to turn all humans into his brand of Worm. And since this is a different universe, people do know about the Worm, and are more comfortable with the idea.
"Of course," Negishi said, still projecting an aura of utter harmlessness. "There are enough that would take our form, given that they'd also be allowed to retain their life as humans." He stared at the jewelry and then pocketed it. "So, why are you suddenly so interested in my little... project?"
It wasn't something that he could admit the true reason on, so Tadokoro settled for a lie. "I'd heard that we were near production, and I wanted to see it." He turned away before Negishi could read the betrayal on his face.
Yeah, Tadokoro really doesn't want to send Kagami into battle as Gatack. But, as I said, Negishi gets pissy when you don't follow his plans.
"You wanted it for other reasons." Below Negishi's affable exterior was a hard tone. "And I know what that is." The hard tone went away with his next words. "I know it's hard, but this is what he was born to do, Shuichi."
Of course, Negishi isn't stupid. A little lacking in compassion for his lab subjects, but not stupid.
Tadokoro mostly succeeded in hiding his alarm. Or so he hoped. "He's going to reject the Zecter, and I don't blame him."
"Ah, so that's what's troubling you!" Negishi said jovially. "He'll get used to it. It's keyed to him, wouldn't take any other host. We still have to offer Gatack out, but we know it'll choose him, so what's the harm?"
This part is driving me batty in the main storyline. Essentially, all I can figure is that either Kagami is going to have a surprise Zecter, or we're going to have a lot of beat-up staff because ZECT is going through the motions and Gatack isn't happy about continually being handed people that aren't its partner.
"After the TheBee Zecter fiasco, he won't accept it." Maybe he could sway Negishi over to his way of thinking. Maybe.
"Ah, yes. We fixed the Zecters so that won't happen again." Negishi said. "I apologize deeply for that glitch. But he'll still have no choice in the matter." Shaking his head, Negishi continued, "The Zecter knows him, even if he doesn't know it. We made sure of that. We've done so much to both of them, and they don't even know it."
Tadokoro nodded. Kagami was growing up fast, even if he was still a child by Worm standards. He had to admit that he didn't know that much about the alterations made to the two boys - he wasn't high enough ranking for that - but he did know they'd been altered, enough to make them both slightly more resilient and better able to deal with the Zecters. Even enough for TheBee to get confused and choose Kagami as a host, when it shouldn't have.
This wasn't the only reason that TheBee chose Kagami as host, but it didn't hurt. Negishi is being accurate when he says that the two have been altered, but I wanted to not paint myself into a corner, so Tadokoro apparently doesn't know what's happened even though he's entrusted with Kagami's care. I also established that Worms live several centuries and have longer childhoods, so Kagami is young by Tadokoro's standards.
The only silver lining on that was that they knew how Kagami would react to being a Zecter's host, which was badly. "It'll choose him... But what will get him to chose it?"
Negishi nodded slowly, obviously thinking. "Whatever needs to be done. We need our God of Battle, Shuichi." Negishi looked at Tadokoro with a calm but pleading look. "What needs to be done? What can we do to make him accept Gatack?"
A "calm but pleading look"? What in the heck was I thinking? Anyway, Negishi is more desperate than he looks, I think. I get the impression that Kagami's time with TheBee screwed something up.
Tadokoro suddenly wondered what it would take to make Kagami accept the Zecter that he'd been born and adjusted to use. "I think the one that knows best about what will make Kagami accept Gatack Zecter is Kagami himself."
I get the impression that they had a good idea of how to bond Kagami to Gatack, and have been doing adjustments for most of his life. He doesn't remember, though, because he's always been knocked out or otherwise made to not remember his visits to his Worm doctors.
Negishi leaned forward. "Then it's your duty to find out what that is," he suggested airily. "You're the one who handles him, after all."
Tadokoro gave a small nod at the simple fact that he was supposed to be handling Kagami - and, in fact, both boys.
Yes, he's supposed to be handling Tendou, too, but something went wrong. I actually follow this up in another story.
"So, do you have any suggestions for right now?" Negishi asked. "What he's concerned about, anything? Or for that matter, why he reacted so badly to TheBee?" Pausing, Negishi amended. "Actually, never mind. Somwhere inside him, he had to know it was the wrong Zecter for him."
Actually, he didn't, but Negishi didn't know this. Kagami's been kind-of wanting a Zecter because of his "programming", but TheBee Zecter really screwed his bond with Gatack up.
Not wanting to disrupt Negishi's thoughts, or for that matter, betray his young charge, Tadokoro remained silent.
"How's his bond with Tendou Souji?" Negishi asked. "Is it causing him problems?" The council member seemed deep in thought. "If nothing else, he should want to be with a Zecter like Tendou Souji is. He shouldn't feel complete without it."
Negishi, I hate to tell you this, but you're screwed.
Tadokoro sighed. "The fact that Tendou wants to sleep with him, and he with Tendou, is bothering him," Tadokoro admitted, still hoping that Negishi would see that these two young men weren't just instruments of war, especially as at least one of them had been raised relatively normally.
"Why should it?" Negishi asked, seemingly confused. "That's how we made them, to want to be together. If they're doing it clandestinely enough, I don't see the problem. If they live long enough to have children... well, they'll be Natives then and it'll be easy enough to fix."
Somehow they changed (or think they changed) Kagami's and Tendou's sexual orientations, and programmed them to want to have sex with each other. Or something like that. Negishi sees nothing wrong with this, either, and he's probably responsible for everybody being ordered to stay off Tendou's and Kagami's cases about their relationship. Of course, if they survive, he wants to make sure they reproduce. *Headdesk* Negishi is so an idiot in some ways.
"Kagami's confused and conflicted about wanting to sleep with another man, and I can't tell him that it's okay," Tadokoro said. "We're depending on these two for so much, and yet we're not telling them anything."
Yeah, keeping them in the dark has obviously worked wonders.
Negishi shrugged. "That's the way it has to be, Shuichi. If they knew, they wouldn't be who they needed to be." He put his hand on Tadokoro's shoulder. "Work with Kagami. Do what you can. Get him to accept his destiny. Neither you, nor I, nor anybody else has a right to take that away from him."
Tadokoro nodded and stood up, at a loss to say anything else. He had his orders, and he'd do his best to obey them - but that didn't mean that he wouldn't derail their plans. Kagami might have been fated, engineered to be a warrior, but he was still one of Tadokoro's people, and Tadokoro cared about his people. "I understand."
This is what I like about Tadokoro. He cares. He's a bit gruff sometimes, but he cares.
Holding out the jewelry again, Negishi looked at it. "This wouldn't have changed him anyway, you know. He's not human enough anymore." He looked up at Tadokoro, the warning clear in his face. Then the enthusiastic, smiling mask slipped on again. "I expect you have duties to attend to. I won't keep you any longer." As Negishi walked away, he called out, "Work hard! Good luck!"
And Negishi gives a bit of information here: Kagami and Tendou are far more changed than Tadokoro knows. He's also putting Tadokoro on notice here: he knows Tadokoro isn't entirely to be trusted with his charges, and he wants Tadokoro to know that he knows.
Tadokoro had a sinking feeling that they'd all need it.
-end
I wanted to go "behind the scenes", to explore a bit of the Worm world and war, and Kagami's and Tendou's place in it, as well as why Kagami is being so confused about Tendou. Needless to say, I don't share Negishi's views about the transitiveness of Kagami and Tendou's sexual orientations. For a bright guy, he's stupid at some things.
Be aware that this fic spoils the second half of Kabuto (and the whole series, practically), as well as talks about some of the things going on "behind the scenes" in the main "Discovering the Sun" storyline.
Traitorous Jewelry
by Estirose
c 2007
The title refers to Tadokoro's plan to do something with the jewelry his kind are making, because it, and he, would be traitorous.
Tadokoro held up the piece of jewelry to the light. It was not a bad piece of work, actually, and even he could be fooled by the simplicity. However, what it did, what Tadokoro wanted it to do, would be seen as betrayal. He knew the plans, knew what had to happen, and yet... he couldn't go through with those plans that had been made so long ago.
Yes, the jewelry does make humans into Worms in this universe as well. The plans that he's referring to have to do with Kagami (and Tendou, but mostly Kagami).
"Ah. So *that's* where that went!" a voice, cheerful and loud, announced. Tadokoro half-turned, not surprised to see Negishi, one of the Native's foremost council members and ZECT liaisons. Negishi's human form was a man in his 30's in a gold jacket and a sweatshirt, always seemingly cheerful and harmless, insisting that people drop the honorific off his name. Those who knew him well knew that he was a dedicated, determined to save his people and the humans of Earth, relentless in the pursuit of that goal.
I liked Negishi, actually. I tried to write him as I perceived him: one that seemed harmless, and yet was capable of so much damage. I don't think in this universe he's quite as nasty, however. His actor is in his mid-30's, so that's how I placed his appearance.
Negishi would be the first to name him traitor for what he was contemplating there. For even thinking of altering the destiny of one of the young men that the Natives and Humans had prepped for a terrifying and life-shortening job. But Negishi didn't know Kagami, hadn't worked with Kagami, didn't know how unlikely it was for Kagami to willingly accept another Zecter. The Natives' own rules and beliefs had prevented Kagami from casting off TheBee Zecter, causing him to be a reluctant host at best. He knew they wanted Kagami introduced to Gatack Zecter as soon as possible, but Tadokoro couldn't see him willingly accepting a new Zecter.
Negishi was involved in Kagami's "creation", but he's never met Kagami. I tried to bring it out here that Negishi can be rigid, stubborn, and really peeved if you don't do things his way. Tadokoro, on the other hand, knows Kagami and he can't bear to send Kagami into a fight where he'll die just for the Worms' sake.
"Isn't it pretty?" Negishi said, taking the jewelry out of Tadokoro's hand. "I can't wait for them to go into mass production. We'll have a nice promotion. Wear this jewelry and live longer."
"Are we still disclosing the fact that it turns a human into one of us?" Tadokoro asked. It wouldn't be beyond the council to decide what humans needed for their own good, either.
This is referencing later episodes of Kabuto, where Negishi does try to turn all humans into his brand of Worm. And since this is a different universe, people do know about the Worm, and are more comfortable with the idea.
"Of course," Negishi said, still projecting an aura of utter harmlessness. "There are enough that would take our form, given that they'd also be allowed to retain their life as humans." He stared at the jewelry and then pocketed it. "So, why are you suddenly so interested in my little... project?"
It wasn't something that he could admit the true reason on, so Tadokoro settled for a lie. "I'd heard that we were near production, and I wanted to see it." He turned away before Negishi could read the betrayal on his face.
Yeah, Tadokoro really doesn't want to send Kagami into battle as Gatack. But, as I said, Negishi gets pissy when you don't follow his plans.
"You wanted it for other reasons." Below Negishi's affable exterior was a hard tone. "And I know what that is." The hard tone went away with his next words. "I know it's hard, but this is what he was born to do, Shuichi."
Of course, Negishi isn't stupid. A little lacking in compassion for his lab subjects, but not stupid.
Tadokoro mostly succeeded in hiding his alarm. Or so he hoped. "He's going to reject the Zecter, and I don't blame him."
"Ah, so that's what's troubling you!" Negishi said jovially. "He'll get used to it. It's keyed to him, wouldn't take any other host. We still have to offer Gatack out, but we know it'll choose him, so what's the harm?"
This part is driving me batty in the main storyline. Essentially, all I can figure is that either Kagami is going to have a surprise Zecter, or we're going to have a lot of beat-up staff because ZECT is going through the motions and Gatack isn't happy about continually being handed people that aren't its partner.
"After the TheBee Zecter fiasco, he won't accept it." Maybe he could sway Negishi over to his way of thinking. Maybe.
"Ah, yes. We fixed the Zecters so that won't happen again." Negishi said. "I apologize deeply for that glitch. But he'll still have no choice in the matter." Shaking his head, Negishi continued, "The Zecter knows him, even if he doesn't know it. We made sure of that. We've done so much to both of them, and they don't even know it."
Tadokoro nodded. Kagami was growing up fast, even if he was still a child by Worm standards. He had to admit that he didn't know that much about the alterations made to the two boys - he wasn't high enough ranking for that - but he did know they'd been altered, enough to make them both slightly more resilient and better able to deal with the Zecters. Even enough for TheBee to get confused and choose Kagami as a host, when it shouldn't have.
This wasn't the only reason that TheBee chose Kagami as host, but it didn't hurt. Negishi is being accurate when he says that the two have been altered, but I wanted to not paint myself into a corner, so Tadokoro apparently doesn't know what's happened even though he's entrusted with Kagami's care. I also established that Worms live several centuries and have longer childhoods, so Kagami is young by Tadokoro's standards.
The only silver lining on that was that they knew how Kagami would react to being a Zecter's host, which was badly. "It'll choose him... But what will get him to chose it?"
Negishi nodded slowly, obviously thinking. "Whatever needs to be done. We need our God of Battle, Shuichi." Negishi looked at Tadokoro with a calm but pleading look. "What needs to be done? What can we do to make him accept Gatack?"
A "calm but pleading look"? What in the heck was I thinking? Anyway, Negishi is more desperate than he looks, I think. I get the impression that Kagami's time with TheBee screwed something up.
Tadokoro suddenly wondered what it would take to make Kagami accept the Zecter that he'd been born and adjusted to use. "I think the one that knows best about what will make Kagami accept Gatack Zecter is Kagami himself."
I get the impression that they had a good idea of how to bond Kagami to Gatack, and have been doing adjustments for most of his life. He doesn't remember, though, because he's always been knocked out or otherwise made to not remember his visits to his Worm doctors.
Negishi leaned forward. "Then it's your duty to find out what that is," he suggested airily. "You're the one who handles him, after all."
Tadokoro gave a small nod at the simple fact that he was supposed to be handling Kagami - and, in fact, both boys.
Yes, he's supposed to be handling Tendou, too, but something went wrong. I actually follow this up in another story.
"So, do you have any suggestions for right now?" Negishi asked. "What he's concerned about, anything? Or for that matter, why he reacted so badly to TheBee?" Pausing, Negishi amended. "Actually, never mind. Somwhere inside him, he had to know it was the wrong Zecter for him."
Actually, he didn't, but Negishi didn't know this. Kagami's been kind-of wanting a Zecter because of his "programming", but TheBee Zecter really screwed his bond with Gatack up.
Not wanting to disrupt Negishi's thoughts, or for that matter, betray his young charge, Tadokoro remained silent.
"How's his bond with Tendou Souji?" Negishi asked. "Is it causing him problems?" The council member seemed deep in thought. "If nothing else, he should want to be with a Zecter like Tendou Souji is. He shouldn't feel complete without it."
Negishi, I hate to tell you this, but you're screwed.
Tadokoro sighed. "The fact that Tendou wants to sleep with him, and he with Tendou, is bothering him," Tadokoro admitted, still hoping that Negishi would see that these two young men weren't just instruments of war, especially as at least one of them had been raised relatively normally.
"Why should it?" Negishi asked, seemingly confused. "That's how we made them, to want to be together. If they're doing it clandestinely enough, I don't see the problem. If they live long enough to have children... well, they'll be Natives then and it'll be easy enough to fix."
Somehow they changed (or think they changed) Kagami's and Tendou's sexual orientations, and programmed them to want to have sex with each other. Or something like that. Negishi sees nothing wrong with this, either, and he's probably responsible for everybody being ordered to stay off Tendou's and Kagami's cases about their relationship. Of course, if they survive, he wants to make sure they reproduce. *Headdesk* Negishi is so an idiot in some ways.
"Kagami's confused and conflicted about wanting to sleep with another man, and I can't tell him that it's okay," Tadokoro said. "We're depending on these two for so much, and yet we're not telling them anything."
Yeah, keeping them in the dark has obviously worked wonders.
Negishi shrugged. "That's the way it has to be, Shuichi. If they knew, they wouldn't be who they needed to be." He put his hand on Tadokoro's shoulder. "Work with Kagami. Do what you can. Get him to accept his destiny. Neither you, nor I, nor anybody else has a right to take that away from him."
Tadokoro nodded and stood up, at a loss to say anything else. He had his orders, and he'd do his best to obey them - but that didn't mean that he wouldn't derail their plans. Kagami might have been fated, engineered to be a warrior, but he was still one of Tadokoro's people, and Tadokoro cared about his people. "I understand."
This is what I like about Tadokoro. He cares. He's a bit gruff sometimes, but he cares.
Holding out the jewelry again, Negishi looked at it. "This wouldn't have changed him anyway, you know. He's not human enough anymore." He looked up at Tadokoro, the warning clear in his face. Then the enthusiastic, smiling mask slipped on again. "I expect you have duties to attend to. I won't keep you any longer." As Negishi walked away, he called out, "Work hard! Good luck!"
And Negishi gives a bit of information here: Kagami and Tendou are far more changed than Tadokoro knows. He's also putting Tadokoro on notice here: he knows Tadokoro isn't entirely to be trusted with his charges, and he wants Tadokoro to know that he knows.
Tadokoro had a sinking feeling that they'd all need it.
-end
I wanted to go "behind the scenes", to explore a bit of the Worm world and war, and Kagami's and Tendou's place in it, as well as why Kagami is being so confused about Tendou. Needless to say, I don't share Negishi's views about the transitiveness of Kagami and Tendou's sexual orientations. For a bright guy, he's stupid at some things.