Gigi Andalusia. Hathaway had learned the woman's name from Kenneth, and without a doubt, from the very first moment they met, Hathaway had concluded she was a difficult and troublesome woman.
At this moment, Gigi had simply changed into a bathrobe provided by the hotel.
Standing outside Hathaway's room, she tilted her head slightly, her previous fluster completely gone. Her pale blue eyes scanned Hathaway as if searching for something deep within him.
If it were Kenneth, or any other man, seeing such a lovely young girl standing at their door in such a state, they would surely be ecstatic and invite her in for a night of conversation.
But to Hathaway, Gigi was simply exhausting.
If not for the last shred of kindness in Hathaway's heart influencing him, this girl would likely end up dead in some forgotten corner in a few days.
Perhaps he shouldn't use Damien's plan... no, he would stick with it.
After all, according to his method, teammate casualties would be kept to a minimum.
"Is there something you need?"
Hathaway did not step aside. Instead, he stood firmly in the doorway, looking at Gigi with a clear sense of "resistance."
But Gigi was more like a cat with no sense of boundaries; she peered through the gap beside Hathaway, catching glimpses of his room.
"Aren't you going to invite me in? That's hardly the behavior of a gentleman."
"I don't particularly enjoy inviting a woman who moved into my suite without prior discussion into my bedroom."
Hathaway shook his head, having no intention of leaving the doorway. "If you have something to say, you can say it here."
"Alright, alright. How about we both compromise? Let's talk in the living room."
Gigi seemed to have anticipated that she wouldn't be able to enter Hathaway's private room for their talk, so she settled for the next best thing, inviting Hathaway to the living room. "You wouldn't want to refuse me even this small request, would you?"
His prediction was correct; Gigi was indeed a troublesome woman.
Gigi sat familiarly on the longest sofa and patted the spot next to her, signaling for Hathaway to join her. However, Hathaway sat directly in a single armchair instead, maintaining his distance from her.
"I didn't get a chance to talk to you on the Haunzen, and now I'm a bit curious," Gigi said, her voice laced with genuine intrigue. "You were the only solo male passenger on the entire Haunzen who didn't come over to harass me."
"And... your performance when Mafty appeared was very interesting."
As expected, Gigi was a troublesome and dangerous individual.
Hathaway kept a stone face, looking at Gigi, who was waiting expectantly for his answer.
"It was nothing more than fear in the face of someone holding a dangerous weapon; that is human instinct."
"Is that so? Because I felt you were thinking something else at the time... surprise, confusion, annoyance, and frustration. On the Haunzen, you were as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark."
As she spoke, Gigi shifted several spaces on the sofa, leaning in close to Hathaway and observing him from an upward angle.
"As I thought, you must have some connection to Mafty... or perhaps, you are that legendary King of Prophets—Mafty Navue Erin."
'This feeling... could this woman be a Newtype?'
She truly was a woman just like Quess Paraya, and she seemed even more dangerous. Should he eliminate her?
"...It would be best if you didn't say such things so carelessly, Miss Gigi Andalusia."
Hathaway's expression remained rigid; no one could tell what he was thinking at that moment. "Sometimes, words can be used to kill."
For some reason, when Hathaway said this, Gigi looked as if she had seen something terrifying and suddenly pulled away from him.
The two fell into silence once more. After a long while, Gigi opened the conversation again.
"Never mind, let's move on to the next topic. Do you think humanity needs an absolute ruler? Do they need something like a God?"
Gigi proposed a hypothetical—and for an ambitious person, a quite tempting—subject. "Or rather, do you want to become a God?"
"Humanity does not need a God to guide them; they will find their own way out."
Hathaway shook his head. His personal belief was, in fact, the same as Amuro Ray's.
"But you can't even trust me. How are you going to trust humanity? How can you believe they can change the world?"
Gigi looked into Hathaway's eyes, sensing his current thoughts as if trying to find a specific spark within them.
"How arrogant, Hathaway."
"...I have already told you, I am not the so-called Mafty."
At this point, Hathaway had no desire to continue talking with Gigi.
"If your so-called 'conversation' is just making these assumptions about me being Mafty, then I don't believe there is a need to talk further."
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from killing Gigi. He was behind enemy lines now; he had to act with extreme caution in all things.
Silence once again descended upon the room.
However, the next interruption to their conversation did not come from a new topic raised by Gigi, but rather from a knock at the door.
"Hathaway, are you in?"
It was Kenneth's voice.
"Yes, I'm here."
Ignoring Gigi, who now looked somewhat dissatisfied, Hathaway went to open the door.
There stood Kenneth, once again clad in a neat white suit.
"I know a decent ballroom here in Davao. Would you two like to join me?"
"Oh, yes! I'll go change my clothes!"
Hearing Kenneth's invitation, Gigi seemed to have found a new target. Her bare feet made a patter-patter sound against the floor as she ran back into her room.
"And you?"
Kenneth looked toward Hathaway.
"No, thanks. I've been wandering around Davao all day; I'm tired and just want to rest."
Hathaway led Kenneth into the room and sat back down in the same single armchair as before.
"Is the wound on your shoulder alright?"
"I've taken some painkillers. It's not a major issue, at least not for dancing."
As he spoke, Kenneth lightly moved his right arm; there indeed seemed to be no functional problem.
"You really go all out to pick up girls, don't you?"
Hathaway sighed, feeling a bit exasperated by Kenneth's attitude.
"I'm a commander, after all. I don't need to head out to the front lines."
Kenneth raised his right index finger and wagged it.
"Besides, I've made full arrangements for tonight. Even if Mafty attacks, we can repel them or even take them prisoner."
'Arrangements? So Kenneth has laid a trap in Davao?'
Suddenly, Hathaway felt a cold sweat break out across his back, dampening his white shirt. In the dim environment, however, it was concealed by the shadows of the night.
"Colonel Sleg, could you help me put on my necklace?"
At that moment, Gigi appeared before the two men, dressed in a magnificent formal gown.
"Certainly. How could I ever refuse a request from Miss Gigi?"
Smiling, Kenneth walked behind Gigi and took the necklace from her.
While Kenneth was helping Gigi put on the necklace, she stole a glance at Hathaway without Kenneth noticing.
However, Hathaway, shrouded in the dim light, simply sat there quietly, staring at the scenery outside the window, his thoughts unknown.
"Well then, I'll be taking Gigi along now."
With their farewells and the closing of the door, the warm yellow light vanished. Hathaway sat on the sofa, plunged once more into darkness.
In this darkness, Hathaway pulled from his pocket that card—the one capable of driving anyone to madness.
"I know... doing things this way won't solve the problem."
A sense of powerlessness washed over Hathaway. He slumped back into the sofa, his right hand trembling as he raised the card, observing the object that filled him with such loathing.
Memories of conversations with his comrades and with the civilians echoed in his mind.
"Tell me... how can we destroy a system so deeply entrenched?"
He recalled the sights he had seen in Davao and elsewhere on Earth: the rampages of the Man Hunter units, the vicious cycle of environmental degradation. "It is no longer possible for all of humanity to reside on Earth."
"Otherwise, the rebellion initiated by Char, and those who died back then, will never find peace."
Inexplicably, Hathaway thought of the miraculous light Amuro Ray had brought forth at the cost of his life... and of Damien's confident face, so reminiscent of Char Aznable.
"As long as exceptional regulations still exist, humanity will breed corruption."
Hathaway closed his eyes, a single tear tracing a path down his cheek. His strengthless right hand succumbed to gravity, and his fingers mindlessly relaxed.
The card gifted by Kenneth—the one that could have provided for him for the rest of his life—fell to the floor.
-----------------------------------
Inside the golden, opulent elevator, the numbers on the display steadily counted down. Kenneth and Gigi stood on opposite sides of the car.
"I didn't expect Colonel Sleg to invite me dancing so late," Gigi said, twirling her long, pale-gold hair.
"I wanted to express my gratitude. After all, you are my goddess of victory, Gigi."
Kenneth thought for a moment before settling on a reasonably appropriate explanation. "If you hadn't stood up back then, I might have died aboard the Haunzen."
"A goddess of victory... It seems men like you who go to the battlefield are always a bit superstitious?"
Gigi looked at Kenneth, her voice carrying a subtle, faint trace of dissatisfaction. "But Hathaway, who is just like you, seems to be avoiding me constantly."
Hearing this, Kenneth's brow furrowed slightly. As a model soldier who had climbed to his position from common roots, he sensed an unspoken implication in her words.
"Gigi... are you suggesting something?" Kenneth's tone turned somewhat serious.
"I'm just curious, don't you think?"
As if venting her frustration over Hathaway ignoring her, Gigi began to mutter. "I am somewhat aware of my own charms, yet Hathaway is completely different from the rest of you."
"That's enough, Gigi."
Kenneth felt he couldn't listen to any more. "Hathaway... he suffered a great blow in the past. He has been in pain ever since."
Even now, he could recall the occasional trembling of Hathaway's fingers and those moments where he would suddenly space out.
Although Hathaway never said it outright, Kenneth could still feel that personally shooting the woman named "Quess Paraya" had left an indelible mark on him.
"I'll let it slide this time, but I don't want to hear such things again."
Realizing his tone might have been too harsh, Kenneth softened his stance slightly. "Things are different now than in the past. When dealing with the topic of Mafty... certain words really can kill a person."
"Words can kill." This was the second time the phrase had reached Gigi's ears.
But this time, aside from the fear of the concept of "killing," Gigi felt a sense of "boredom" regarding both Hathaway and Kenneth.
-----------------------------------
The night passed without incident. The following day, after a routine formal review by the Federation Investigation Bureau, Hathaway was summoned to Kenneth's office.
"Hathaway, sign this and you're free to go."
Seeing Hathaway enter with his luggage in hand, Kenneth—now back in his military uniform—handed him a report.
"Where do you plan on heading next?"
"I'm planning to go to Manado."
Hathaway scanned the statement in the report, which Kenneth had handled personally. "I heard there are some rather unique plants there; I might stay for a while."
"Then I'll see you next time. Maybe I can even find you in Manado for a drink."
Hearing Hathaway's destination, Kenneth smiled and leaned against his desk.
"I don't drink."
Hathaway shook his head, pulled a clock from his bag, and handed it to Kenneth. "This is for you."
"Hm, thanks."
Kenneth took the alarm clock from Hathaway and fiddled with it briefly.
"To be honest... it's a bit of a shame. With seven high-ranking Federation officials resting in Davao, I fully expected Mafty to raid the city last night. I made quite a few arrangements."
Kenneth shook his head. "I didn't expect... to end up empty-handed."
"Still, it's lucky they didn't come. You're safe, at least."
With that, Kenneth waved his hand dismissively. "Relax, the targets I leaked earlier were decoys."
"I never heard you mention that."
Hathaway was momentarily stunned by Kenneth's words, even though he had anticipated something of the sort.
Suddenly, the telephone on Kenneth's desk rang.
"...What?"
Kenneth picked up the phone, his relaxed expression instantly turning grim. "...All MS units, scramble! You must capture the enemy pilot at all costs!"
Immediately after, Kenneth hung up and looked at Hathaway.
"Sorry, I won't be able to see you off. I have an emergency on my hands."
"Is it Mafty?" Hathaway asked, momentarily taken aback.
"Isn't it obvious?"
-----------------------------------
Thirty thousand meters above, a shuttle quietly opened its cargo bay, and wild winds swept through the interior.
A red-and-white unit lay silently inside the bay, awaiting deployment.
In the cockpit, clad in a red pilot suit, Char was methodically adjusting the unit's parameters.
"I didn't expect that even though the old guy was so stubborn, in the end, he stayed up all night to run tests for me..."
Char leaned back in his pilot seat, looking at the view of the cargo bay displayed in the panoramic cockpit.
Recalling the way he had taken this unit from his hands, with him shouting "I don't care how you go to your death," the corners of Char's mouth couldn't help but curl upward.
Beep beep beep...
A timer alarm rang, bringing Char back to reality.
"Shuttle auto-cruise set, automatic cargo deployment program set, unit check complete..."
Char tightened his grip on the spherical control sticks.
"It's time to invite that Full Frontal for a dance."
"RX-110RF, Zorin Soul, Cha—Damien, launching!"
Along with the movement of the rails, the Zorin Soul, lying face down, was escorted out of the cargo bay by the rails, captured by gravity, and plummeted toward the ground.
The thrusters emitted yellow flames, the Minovsky Craft System successfully activated, and the unit suspended itself in the air as if defying Earth's gravity.
"Radar sweep... found you."
Several boxes appeared in the panoramic cockpit, seemingly forming a formation and escorting something. Char laughed.
The modified mono-eye of the Zorin Soul suddenly flared to life, and the thrusters erupted with two thick streams of fire, propelling the unit to forge ahead, pushing down through the cloud layers.
.........................