October 29, 2004
Summary 4 (ZERO)
Pg's 74-96
(ZERO can be accessed from the "link section" in the sidebar. Book 1 and 2 are availible, though Book 1 will be coming down in the near future)
Julia is having a hard time in the desert. It doesn't take long before she collapses in the desert, unable to go on. Lucky for her, Geo see's something strange and investigates, only to discover her on the brink of death. He checks her pulse, and finding her still alive, he gives her water. The other boys show up and ask him if he's found another dead body, to which he replies that it's not a dead person at all, and even more, it's a woman. Batsu, Agi, and Zatto immediatly perk up at this bit of information. Batsu shoves Geo out of the way. Geo tells them it's not nice to steal from the living, and the other's declare they're saving her, not stealing from her. Then they carry her off, leaving Geo to mutter something about being kidnappers.
Meanwhile, somewhere else, Minerva has decided to do some research on Geo. She's going through his files and stumbles upon some information pertaining to his father, Kageo Akira. Apparantly, Geo's dad was a well established doctor, with licenses in General Surgury, Brain Surgury, Dermatology, Internal Medicine, as well as part of the Research and Development team. She's astounded by the information, but something else even more surprising reveals itself. A thesis paper, documenting the research and development of a particular virus is found on a computer disk. Apparently, people infected with the virus are born genderless (neither male nor female), though this only occurs when exposure to radioactivity is high enough. These people are immune to all other viruses and also display a higher level of intellegence and sensitivity to stimuli. The report reeks of chemical weapondry, but, Minerva isn't sure what to make of it. She reads on to discover that Kageo Akira died at the age of 32 due to complications of several illnesses and over exposure to pluetonium. He had run from the Zoo sometime before that and only returned after he was found dead.
Julia wakes up to the sounds of the boy's converstation. They're laughing and teasing each other. Geo notices she's awake, and offers her some water. She drinks like six jugs while the group watches in astonishment. Refreshed she takes a minute to take in her surroundings and is panicked when she sees the group of young men staring at her. Geo asks if she has a name, but she pulls away, afraid to speak after remembering what her would be rapists had said "It's a woman's voice."
Geo and Batsu look at each other. Batsu think's she's crazy, but Geo continues to talk to her, asking her where she was from, if she knew where they were, etc. Julia perks up when she hears him mention that they are looking for Ogawa. He invites her to come along, telling her that traveling alone in the desert is a bad idea anyway. The other boys round up some extra clothes and send her off to the showers.
Of course, boys will be boys, and one by one they sneak out of bed and meet outside the bathroom door. They argue outside, yelling at Geo who has put the bathroom door back up (remember he's funny about stuff like that). Apparently, he's done such a good job, they can't even peek though the cracks and Batsu says that's not a problem, he'll just make his own. But Batsu being the overzealous young man that he is knocks the door completely down, spilling the voyures onto the bathroom floor where Julia is drying off. Julia just stares at them, a bit surprised, but it's the boys who are shocked. The woman they resuced has the chest of a man...literally.
They all leave, crying, while Geo puts the door back up and apologizes. When he tries to leave, Julia stops him. He tells her not to worry. Everyone will leave her alone, but she points to the shower head and then to him. She'd over heard that he'd not taken a shower. He says he'll do it later, and Julia changes into the clothes they'd given her. She motions that she'd wait while he showered, and Geo finally gives in, though he tries to tease her about peeping (which she doesn't find funny).
****for the record, I'll continue calling Julia "she".****
Inside the shower, Geo talks to Julia. He realizes she doesn't talk and thinks up a way to communicate by having her answer yes no questions with a knock. One knock for yes. Two for no. He asks her if she's hurt, and she answers "yes". He goes through about four or five body parts, to which she answers all "yes". Geo says no way, she couldn't be injured everywhere, and sums it up to muscle pains.
The next day, Batsu brings Julia a stick and asks if she can write, then asks her for her name. Julia thinks about her pet crow she left back at Admiral Batsu's home, and then writes the word "Karasu". (Japanese for "crow")
Geo notices the choker "Karasu" is wearing and asks her what it's for. She covers her neck and runs off. Batsu grabs Geo by the arm and tells him that's not a question he should ask. Collars are the mark of a slave. He believes that "Karasu" was kidnapped and somehow managed to escape. He suggests that they continue to help her, but Geo is still hung up on the slave bit. He gets upset, asking what kind of people would do that sort of thing. He wonders what they were thinking, putting collars on people, and then he remembers how he used to think the barcodes put into their ears back at the Zoo were bad...
A helicoptor appears and there's no place for them to run. Agi and Zatto start to panic, but the helicoptor surprisingly just turns and leaves. Geo and Batsu just watch with mild interest...However, Zatto starts yelling that Karasu has taken off, and Geo sees her running up a sand dune. He gives chase, shouting at her to stop. He tells her that she's going the wrong way and if they get lost, they'll all die. Karasu grabs him by the arm and yanks him up the dune. Below, they see the place they'd been looking for. Batsu is a bit miffed by Geo's poor choice in direction, and Agi and Zatto sing praises to Karasu, who is the hero of the day. Geo starts to wonder about Karasu's intuition and Batsu tells him not to worry about it.
They reach the buildings, only to find it abandoned. Even more odd, almost all of the Ogawa's belongings are still there and even the meal they last ate is still on the table. However, there's no one to be found anywhere. "Karasu" runs though the building, opening doors and looking in closets. Geo and Batsu watch her, and finally Geo mentions that he thinks "Karasu" might be Ogawa's missing Julia. Batsu ponders that Julia was a girl, but Geo has started thinking...
****
Next time:
Both Batsu and Geo recieve some surprising night time visits. A long lost friend returns as well, though the reunion isn't as pleasant as they all hoped. Things will start picking up after this latest chapter...