Shin Kidou Senki Gundam W: Frozen Teardrop – Shokuzai no Rinbu

Chapter 2

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Treize File

Aurora Borealis... it"s not produced by the planet itself, but rather by the planets of the solar system. The storm at Mars" North Pole had settled and the stars stretch out overhead. Once, the atmosphere was too thin to make the stars twinkle. Since the terraforming, the atmosphere has become more like Earth"s and now, the stars do twinkle. But when the air is dead calm, that"s when the Aurora Borealis comes. Before your eyes, a white curtain floats down. The thin, filmy light is like nothing so much as the hem of an angel"s or G.o.d"s cape. And when it flutters, shades of indigo, purple, green and even sometimes red bleed across the sky. That"s Aurora Borealis. I"m aware that my description is somewhat cliche but be that as it may, that most excellent curtain of light is like a graceful and solemn circle dance.

Surprisingly, you can see the stars shining through all the fluttering. Tens of thousands of kilometeres to the east, it changes into a curtain of deep green. It looks as though it might be hiding the stairway to heaven, like the stairs are hiding behind the billowing curtain of light. Watching this ever-changing curtain reminds me of the majestic beauty of nature and the mysteries of s.p.a.ce. If it"s this beautiful from Mars, I can only imagine how much more beautiful it would have been as seen from the North Pole of Earth.

There must be people who object to calling Sleeping Beauty "Aurora." The story tellers of old could have easily called her Thalia. But if the name of Operation Mythos was misappropriated from Tchaikovsky"s most famous cla.s.sical ballet, it stands to reason we"d also use "Aurora."

"For "Aurora"s Awakening," there must be a three song prelude," Father said. In Tchaikovsky"s ballet, the prologue is in four parts. I thought it might be missing one of those four parts so I decided to listen to it to be sure.

"So, that means..." I said, looking to Father and Master Chang with a displeased look on my face. "The old data files need a pa.s.sword or something and these files are needed to make the capsule work?"

"Exactly," said Master Chang. Not to me, but to the microchip that contained the converted data files that I was holding. That was the only way Master Chang could look at me. As soon as I handed over the chip, he practically s.n.a.t.c.hed it away to scan and check the contents. Master Chang opened up another program and turned on the holographic monitor in front of us; then, he entered the pa.s.sword. The pa.s.sword was the year and season in which the filed was recorded.

"With this, we can start the defrost systems of the capuse."

I couldn"t help myself, it had been bothering me [since Father Maxwell mentioned it and] I had to toss out my how-many-parts-to-the-prologue question.

"But doesn"t the prelude have four parts?"

"This boy is the fourth part," Master Chang said. He glanced at Father as the data loaded.

"My prelude is equal to any symphony."

I thought Father Maxwell seemed a little suspicious, what with being a priest, yet given to speaking with such bombast.

"The real problem is the condition Aurora will be in once he"s out of stasis," Father Maxwell said concernedly.

He might be a little shady, but he was surprisingly likable.

"Successful awakenings from artificial hibernation have an 80% success rate, but I"m seeing some abnormalities in the neuron secretions of the hippocampus. Meaning there is a chance his memories have been wiped out completely."

"The old AC memories?"

"Well, yes."

"Hey, Father c.r.a.pswell [#1]," the boy called Duo b.u.t.ted in. "I couldn"t give a rat"s a.s.s about that, tell me where my partner is."

"That is best left to Doktor T and Professor W."

I had heard both of those names before.

"Do you by any chance mean Snow White and The Warlock?"

"Duh! Who else?!"

"You don"t mean this kid is going to pilot..."

"Ah, well... he"s been trained to Aurora"s level for the sake of the symphony."

So that"s why he was named after the Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell. But as I thought about it... this little boy as a piolt... "hard to believe" would have been putting it mildly.

"Equal? Screw that, I"m loads better [than Aurora is]. You don"t know jack, Fat Max [#1]."

"It"s my fault he"s got such bad language. I raised him by myself after his mother died."

"Unfortunately," said Master Chang in a clipped voice as he glared at the holomonitor, "neither the "Aurora Princess" and your son are [the best choices] for this mission."

"Well, we can"t just leave him like that, now can we."

"......" Master Chang kept silent.

"Father, are you a Preventer, too?"

"No, no. I don"t have nearly as much leisure time on my hands as Master Chang," he said with a grin. "Let"s just say that we"re old friends."

"Zero is the number of times I"ve ever considered you a friend."

"Hey now, are your or are you not the same guy who looked death in the eyes with me on that lunar base?"

"Hn. I would probably be able to breathe a little easier now if you"d actually bit the dust then."

"Says you, geeze."

I had never seen Master Chang speak so much before. Father Maxwell was probably less of a good friend and more like bad company.

"The three files have been downloaded. All that"s left are your files."

"Yup."

Father Maxwell tossed him the chip. Master Chang loaded it into the computer and downloaded the data.

"Are you going to download all that?"

"This is just the bare minimum."

If Duo or myself didn"t interviene, those two would soon be going for the jugluar. I wasn"t normally one to pose stupid questions, but it was my responsibility to see this operation successfully accomplished. It was therefore in my best interest to go ahead and ask.

"This is probably a silly thing to ask, but this data is also from the AC era, correct?"

"Yes."

"Is AC 130 the earliest history on record?" [Kathy or Duo #2]

"Are you really going to upload all that old data into Aurora?" [Kathy or Duo]

"If Aurora wakes up now, the body will be as good as it was when he was first put into stasis, but it"s entirely possible that the mind has "reset," leaving it no more advanced that a baby"s." [Chang]

"What about checking that data?" [Kathy?]

"Did you want to censor something?" [Chang]

"That authority has been entrusted to President Catalonia." [Kathy]

"Huh, so Dorothy"s gotten along pretty well then. I"ve never met her myself." [Father Maxwell]

And there was my proof that Father Maxwell was not a Preventer- to call the representative of the Earth sphere by her first name was unheard of.

"She"s a brilliant broad... if Relena were at the helm, there wouldn"t even be any Operation Mythos."

Even if he was a Preventer, there"s no way he would ever call his commanding officer a "broad."

"Say what you will, I"ll have a look at Father Maxwell"s files all the same."

"Looks like it"ll take some time."

"What?"

"It might be better to say you"ll experience it rather than read it," Father Maxwell said, twirling a pair of sungla.s.ses. I didn"t know what he meant at first, but then I realized those sungla.s.ses were actually the latest of virtual visors. It meant that the files had been recorded in 3D, and the contents of those files was sent straight to your brain as if you had experienced the events as a guest or onlooker.

"Aurora"s mind was sophisticated. Can we really recreate it with just those files?"

Master Chang looked unsure.

"It"s a risky bet... things might not go according to our expectations."

"So he might betray us, like he did before?"

"I can"t deny that that is a possibility."

"It was pure luck this guy got to be Aurora... anyhow, it"s a dangerous gamble we"d better make a bet we won"t regret."

Father Maxwell gave me a little wink.

"Well, I"m pretty beat after looking at all this."

"Whatever... you"re always like that."

"I don"t need a Preventer like you to tell me that." [Er, Duo Jr. seems to be a Preventer then?]

I copied Father Maxwell"s microchip and checked the file in question. It showed up on the holomonitor as a list of years and names and was separated into several chapters.

"Father, what"s this?"

"You could call it a history book, or even a biography. Either way, everything about the past was processed by a special program called "ZERO" and put onto this chip."

"Why does it start from AC 130?"

"If we gave him memories fo all human history, he"d turn into an omniscient megalomaniac or something. That"s why we"re only giving him recent history, so he doesn"t go bad. What he needs isn"t a history of Mars, but a history of After Colony."

I looked at Duo with sudden interest. Either he was bored stiff with our conversation, or in a huff because he was lying on the sofa in the back of the room. He had his back to us and his long brain hung limply all the way to the floor. For some reason, Father Maxwell looked nostalgically at Duo as he said:

"This isn"t the tripe printed in history books, it"s all the what we knew- the real behind the scenes stuff- that"s really important."

"However much ZERO figured out, we can"t be sure your own subjectivity hasn"t colored the files."

"And why should you be? In any event, I have tried to be as objective as possible."

"That"s what I"m afraid of."

"Hey, I"m being modest here... or aren"t you Easterners familiar with the concept?"

And they were fighting like a pair of five year olds.

I focused on the files. "Treize Khushrenada" was the very first heading. Since it was just text, I could read it on the holomonitor. It was, however, completely different from my own image of Treize. This is how Treize is portrayed according to the Preventers:

Treize Khushrenada (AC 171-195) Executive of Romefeller Foundation and unifying Commander in Chief of the secret society named "OZ." As his grandfather was commander in chief of Romefeller, Khushrenada was born into elite society. Moreover, he was extremely charismatic and by his excellent politics, collected many supporters and followers.

All his actions were backed up by his unique philosophy and aesthetic and the Treize & Lady Une Faction showed tremendous confidence in them. He was very aware of the sin of war and took it upon himself to memorize not only the number of casualties, but also the name of each and every person killed in the war.

Following the OZ coup de tat against the Alliance, Treize spoke out against Romefeller policies. That resulted in Treize losing his position for a time and he was put under house arrest for treason. After the death of Duke Dermail, he returned as the Commander in Chief of OZ.

Thereafter, he received the rank of Head of State from the Earth United Nation"s Queen Relena and declared full war against Milliardo Peacecraft who was representing the colonial revolutionist group White Fang declared full war.

During the Eve Wars, Khushrenada challenged Peacecraft to a duel aboard Libra. Peacecraft refused and discharged Libra"s big guns. As a result, Treize gave the order to commence the largest MS battle in history. The battle grew confused and Treize"s final opponent was Gundam pilot 05. The battle was fierce, but ended in defeat for Treize whereupon he forfeit his life. He died at 24.

There aren"t supposed to be any errors in that account. But those files of Father Maxwell"s were unbefitting the uncommon hero. Surely he was a man of many mysteries. Why did he care about the fallen soldiers? When did he start memorizing the names of the dead and the number of casualties? When was his ideological and philosophical root severed and supplanted with a seed of pessimism? The answers were in those files. I borrowed Father"s virtual visors and plugged them into the computer. I put on the visor and the word "ZERO" popped up on screen. The calculated history was input directly into my brain. It was AC 170; it started one year before Treize was born.

AC 170 WINTER

Two lovers stood under the Aurora Borealis: Ein and Angelina. In the most northern part of the North American continent, there was a city called Yellow Knife. The couple stood in a field of snow and admired the beauty of the Aurora Borealis. The gorgeously resplendent curtain of light twinkled on endlessly. Later, even the locals would admit it wasn"t often you saw such a marvelous sight (as was seen on that night). To call it the ultimate beauty of solar wind and magnetic fields wouldn"t do it justice.

"Earth is beautiful from s.p.a.ce... I thought it was the most beautiful thing," murmured a wide-eyed Ein. "But then I came to Earth and actually saw this world and it"s fantastic; inundated with beauty."

"Ein..."

"Earth is beautiful... it"s so beautiful, and yet..." Ein was troubled. Angelina guessed at his feelings.

"..."

Even though she understood what he wanted to say, she could offer him no words. On this beautiful Earth, ugly war would continue ceaselessly. And they were considering taking the war beyond the Aurora and out into s.p.a.ce. Ein pushed his worries aside and smiled. He decided to express his feelings about something else that was beautiful.

"The Aurora is beautiful, but nothing holds a candle to you."

Angelina turned her eyes demurely downward at hearing his brazed admission.

"I"m not that pretty..."

Ein touched his fingers to her jaw and tipped her face to meet his.

"Don"t look at me," he said, "look at the Aurora."

"What?"

"I want to see the light reflected in your eyes... nothing else could possibly surpa.s.s that in beauty."

They gazed into each other"s eyes and then kissed pa.s.sionately.

Ein Yuy was born in AC 150. He was the nephew of colonial Problem Conference Engine representative Heero Yuy. Heero Yuy placed much confidence in him and by the tender age of 20, Ein had been entrusted with bridging the gap between the colonies and Earth. The current trip Ein was making to Earth was for the sake of promoting peaceful negotiations with the Cinq Kingdom, a medical state, and the Romefeller Foundation.

Angelina was the sole daughter of Romefeller representative Duke Cinquante Khushrenada; she was born in AC 152. Her father doted upon her from a very early age and she lived a life free from want. She often attended ceremonies and parties that promoted relations between the colonies and Earth. No one could have forseen the changes one of those mere parties would bring not only to her, but to all of mankind.

Ein and Angelina met at one of those parties on Earth. They fell in love at first sight and finally, after many a secret meetings, they managed to sneak away to the North Pole. It was unclear whether or not they actually inteded to elope at the time, but Angelina"s feelings were unshakeable after sharing the Aurora with Ein.

"No regrets?"

"You"re leaving after all?"

"Yes."

"I love you, Ein."

"And I, you, Angelina. But there is work to be done."

"Then I am going to s.p.a.ce, too."

Ein shook his head almost imperceptibly. There was no way the great house of Khushrenada would permit their only daughter such an outrageous flight of fancy. Any more than Ein Yuy could part company with his uncle Heero and stay on Earth. In words, it was impossible. Reality was a bitter pill to swallow for both halves of the couple. Nonetheless, they were so distraught over their parting, they considered any and every conceivable method to prevent it, so earnestly did they love one another. In the end, however, Ein was forced to leave Angelina behind and return to s.p.a.ce.

People who have known absolute beauty, however, reject living among what they would henceforth consider the polluted ma.s.ses of humanity and are given to acting irrationally.

The first time Angelina went to s.p.a.ce alone happened a month after she had stood in the snowy field watching the Aurora Borealis with Ein. He was on L-2 colony V08744 and attempting to prevail upon an anti-Allicance resistance group to give up at least military means of resistance. V08744 was, at the time, the most extreme of the anti-Alliance factions. Since it"s construction in AC97, it was seething with malcontent and loathing at the squalid living conditions and ceaseless rioting brought on by a long reign of poverty. All that rage was pointed like a spearhead at the United Earth Alliance. Ein, however, had been successful in his persuasion. He had convinced the resistance of Heero Yuy"s ideal: create equality for the Earth and the colonies both.

Heero Yuy"s was a name destined to go down in the history books, but would it be for his legendary leadership and brilliant political skill or, from another perspective, because of his nephew Ein Yuy"s quiet contributions of strengthening intercolonial relations?

After Ein successfully persuaded the resistance group, Angelina unexpectedly appeared before his eyes.

"Ein," she said, suddenly throwing herself into his arms and kissing him for the first time in a month. Eine spared but a thought for the onlookers, then without even considering the danger, embraced his greatest love.

"Angelina."

The couple got married on V087444 at the small Maxwell church. At the end of December AC 170 (by some accounts, it was Christmas day), the star crossed lovers, the most perfectly matched couple in all of s.p.a.ce, became husband and wife. Among the attendees was Ein"s uncle Heero Yuy, who gave a short speech of congratulations.

"May the future of these two be full of blessings. We the people of the colonies did not leave Earth to start a war, we cam to love and to love one another. We would like you to think that s.p.a.ce exists for the sake of love."

There are now no traces of the Maxwell church (which should have stood to commemorate the couple for years to come). In AC 188 a group of anti-Alliance colonists staged a coup de tat. More than 240 people died when the church was burned to the ground. All the world over, the event has been referred to as the Maxwell Church Tragedy. If Heero or Ein had lived, if they had been on L-2, perhaps the tragedy could have been avoided. However, talk of how history could have been different, the would-haves and could-haves, is just so much wasted breath.

For the time being, though, Ein and Angelina started their life together on the colony. Their life was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness. more than ever before, Ein served as Heero"s right hand man, working vigorously to deepened intercolonial cooperation. Because of this, however, he and Angelina could not stay in one place long. Instead, they continuously shuttled around from one cheap hotel to the next. As Heero Yuy"s tools of persuasion in colonial political activities were purity and integrity, he never once used money from his backers or campaign funds or personal wealth (to support himself).

Also, the Cosmo Arma was hostile towards the colonies and feared Heero Yuy was scheming to unite all the colonies (against earth). They were vascillating over whether or not to result to desperate measures and a.s.sa.s.sinate Heero Yuy. Likewise, Ein, too, was forced into more secluded political activities.

There was no reason Angelina, daughter of the plutocratic Khushrenada family, should have been satisfied with such a vagabond lifestyle. And yet, she continually a.s.serted that, as long as she was with Ein, she was happy. And that was how she lived her life until the summer of AC 171 when she happened to meet Heero Yuy again.

AC 171 SUMMER

"It has been too long, Uncle Heero," said Angelina, who was pregnant with her first child.

"h.e.l.lo, Angelina. You"ve grown even beautiful."

"How nice of you to say that... but your flattery is wasted."

"But Angelina, if you want a smooth birth, Earth is preferable to the colonies," Heero said as he stroked his bushy eyebrows as was his wont.

Angelina was surprised to hear Heero Yuy, visionary of the colonies, spouting hundred year old superst.i.tions about the dangers of giving birth in s.p.a.ce.

"There is no need to worry. The medical team from the Cinq Kingdom has already solved that problem. Today, there are no abnormalities of the womb caused by being in s.p.a.ce." Families like the Winners were even conducting tests on DNA manipulated test tube babies.

"Of course there aren"t. I was merely concerned for the baby"s grandfather, Duke Cinquante Khushrenada."

"What about my father?"

"Since you came to s.p.a.ce, he seems rather depressed. When he heard about the child, he became terribly worried, or so I gather."

There had been information about peole employed by Khushrenada to bring Angelina back to Earth. It was hardly unusual for an old fashioned man such as Cinquant Khushrenada to fear the old superst.i.tions about giving birth in s.p.a.ce. Most people on Earth firmly believed that bearing children in s.p.a.ce usually ended in death for both mother and child. That vicious fallacy was intentionally spread in order to prevent further loss of great minds to the s.p.a.ce colonies.

"I could sound out Romefeller if you"d like..."

"Uncle, I am afraid I must decline your offer," Angelina said resolutely. "Our child has no connection whatsoever to the rest of the Khushrenadas."

"But Angelina..."

"Heero had spoken out of worry for Angelina, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"Please, uncle, do not worry about us. We will manage somehow." She then changed the subject by asking about something that had been bothering her, "What about you, uncle? Aren"t you going to marry? I think it should be your lineage that carries the future of the colonies and the Earth."

"As long as there is someone who can continue my work, that is enough. Just so long as the name Heero Yuy doesn"t fade from the history books."

And then, Heero foreshadowed the future:

"If something should happen to me, Ein will continue in my place. And..." he gently touched Angelina"s swollen stomach and a tender smile lifted his lips. "I"d be honored if this child might also."

"Of course."

That was the last conversation between Heero Yuy and Angelina Khushrenada.

Meanwhile, Ein was preparing for an interview with the colony"s Cosmo Arma Major Septum. Little did Ein know that that meeting was not going to take palce. He received a message flagged as "urgent."

"We"ve got a problem, Ein."

It was one of Angelina"s guards. He said that Angelina had gone out to do some shopping when, from out of nowhere, she was surrounded by several men. They trundled her into a car that had pulled up and took off with her. Ein wasn"t as angry at the guard"s incompetence as much as he was angry at himself for never warning Angelina to be more careful and avoid going out.

"I"ll bet it was them." Immediately, Ein suspected it had been the men Mr. Khushrenada had hired. How could it have been anyone else?It was the only thing that made sense. He never would have guessed they would use force to get Angelina back, but he had been careless to a.s.sume the Khushrenada"s had come to accept the marriage of Angelina and Ein.

"I"m on my way," said Ein, even though he was at a loss for what to do. The colony"s peace and order was managed by the Cosmo Arma and Ein was in no position to go off on a wild goose chase looking for Angelina when he was supposed to be meeting with Lt. Commander Septum. Conversely, the people of Earth would probably spin Ein"s life with Angelina as abduction instead of marriage. All was lost. He was vascillating (between going after her or letting her go). Then, re received another message to his cell phone. It said:

Sayonara.
When I think about how hard everything has been for you, I know this is the only thing I can do to make it better for you.

Angelina must have secretly sent that desperate email while her handlers weren"t looking. It sounded just like her- always worrying about Ein before even giving a thought to herself.

"This isn"t over."

Ein was irritated both at the dirty rotten Khushrenada tactics and his own weakness.

"You can"t tear us apart that easily."

If he gave up now, he"d lose the most beautiful woman in all of s.p.a.ce. Ein got in touch with his contact at the Resistance, Quinze. It was like setting a thief to catch a thief and Ein quickly learned that they were heading to the s.p.a.ce port.

"I can still make it!" Ein said and jumped into his car and headed to the s.p.a.ceport. He found out they were taking off from runway 13, which served as the Alliance"s airstrip on that colony. When he arrived at the s.p.a.ceport, he drive right through the chain link fence and came to a (screeching) halt right on the tarmac.

"ANGELINA!" Ein shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Ein!" said Angelina, seeing his figure from the shuttle window. He knew she couldn"t hear, but wild horses couldn"t have kept him from screaming. Tears streamed down his face. If only he had wings, he would fly to her side, but... he was only human.

Alliance soldiers had already surrounded Ein.

"Ein, you"re causing a scene," said Major Septum as he stepped out from between the soldiers. He had a gun trained on Ein. "This area is under the jurisdiction of the Cosmo Arma. We have to ask that you, not being a member of our personnel, leave the premises."

Ein ignored Septum and walked calmly towards the shuttle.

"STOP!" Septum"s voice echoed across runway 13. "If you refuse to follow my orders, I will be forced to shoot you."

But (mere) orders couldn"t stop Ein.

"This isn"t an idle threat. It would be to your disadvantage to cause anymore trouble." Septum tried conveying his point with words befitting a Major of the Alliance. Ein, however, was not intimidated and Septum pulled the trigger. The bullet hit him in the left shoulder.

"ANGELINA!" He screamed not for the pain of the bullet, but the pain of losing his beloved wife. Septum fired a second shot. That one hit and took a chunk out of his right calf, making it difficult to Ein to continue walking.

"ANGELINA!"

This time, he screamed for the pain also. He tried to keep moving forward, but listed terribly to the side. He collapsed, arms and legs splayed wide, right over the white 13 painted upon the tarmac.

"Ein!" Angelina"s eyes burned with the sight of the man she loved lying crumpled on the runway, vivid red blood pooling over the number 13. "Ein Yuy. The man I love."

She wouldn"t let herself cry.

I will not forget this. The man I love threw everything away and screamed my name.

Thought Angelina to herself even as she steeled her heart.

"I love you, Ein."

"An... ge... lina..."

Ein kept yelling even as his consciousness grew weak. Septum felt utter hatred; he felt the urge to kill.

There is only death for those who do not obey my orders. Thought Septum as he took aim at Ein"s head. But some how, the shuttle had found s.p.a.ce in which to maneuver around them, started its engines, and slowly started moving. The soldiers fell back to the sides of the runway to make s.p.a.ce for the shuttle. Septum lingered, but eventually, he was overpowered by the head of the exhaust and stepped back himself. Seconds later, the shuttle left.

Ein was taken into custody by the Peace Preservation Office on charges of unlawful entry into Alliance grounds and acts of treason.

"I will see Angelina again."

That was Ein"s only wish. And after weeks of imprisonment, he was released and returned to his political activities (for colonial cooperation). Ein did not cry any more; he would not allow himself.

"I"ll break down the wall between the colonies and Earth. Then, I can be with Angelina again. Despite a vacuum and physical distance between us, why should there be any wall between people whose hearts are aligned?" Ein had made up his mind.

However, the two were not to meet again. Indeed, a rather cruel twist of fate was awaiting them.

AC 171 AUTUMN

Three months later, Angelina gave birth to a boy in Luxembourg, Europe. She named him Treize. The name meant "thirteen," perhaps because she indeed could not forget the blood stained runway 13. For Angelina, the memory wasn"t distasteful, it was the moment she saw with her own eyes what true love really meant.

Treize had Heero Yuy"s bushy eyebrows, but his eyes were the spitting image of Ein. Whenever she looked at Treize"s face, hear heart was transported to s.p.a.ce. His birth certificate bore the name "Treize Khushrenada" and there was no mention of his father.

Since before Treize could remember, Angelina and influential Romefeller member Dermail Catalonia"s son Hundert had been married. A magnificent ceremony had been held. With an age different grater than twenty years, it stood to reason that there was no [romantic] love between the two. But Angelina was in no state to refuse a political union and accepted the proposition.

Her father, Count Cinquant, was aging. He was of the mind that his daughter"s previous penchant for flight and impetuous behaviour were gone. He thought the Khushrenada family welfare was now well taken care of with Angelina in a stable marriage and raising the Khushrenada heir.

That sense of security perhaps sent him to an early grave. The following year, in the early spring of AC 172, Romefeller representative Count Cinquant Khushrenada pa.s.sed away. The future of the Foundation and the Khushrenada family fortune was left to the new born Treize. Until he came of age, Dermail Catalonia a.s.sumed the leadership of Romefeller. Catalonia lacked Khushrenada"s leadership and charisma and for several years, the Foundation was without a driving force.

Angelina, at the time, did not give up on life. She had found a purpose for her political marriage: instill the values of Ein in their son. That, she felt, would atone for her previous impudence.

Meanwhile, in s.p.a.ce, Heero Yuy presented the "Total Colonial Unification Declaration." The people of s.p.a.ce thought this would bring the colonies equality with Earth. Angelina, too, danced for joy when she heard the proclamation. There was great rejoicing at the taking of the first steps towards realizing a truly unified state of being. However, Earth was very cunning and seemed to believe this would only serve to facilitate further exploitation of the colonies. Proof of this was in the expansion of the Alliance"s military bases in s.p.a.ce and a sizable increase in the Alliance military maintenance expenses that were shouldered by the colonists. Furthermore, raising tariffs on intercolony exports was decided mainly on Earth"s side and the colonies were pulled into one disadvantageous treaty after another. The people of the colonies thought of complaining, but they had no way of competing with Earth"s Alliance military. Diplomacy without power wasn"t just a castle in the air, it was down right wicked.

"All this is happening because your grandfather wouldn"t let me and your father alone," Angelina said to little Treize. "If they want reform, they must take into account both the wishes of s.p.a.ce and the ideas of Earth.

"That"s something only you can do. That is the mission you must complete."

Hundert wasn"t concerned to hear Angelina talking so, he simply smiled gently. It"s unknown whether he didn"t take her talk seriously or if he still respected Angelina"s opinions at the time. He was generous and had no qualms if his beloved wife couldn"t bring herself to love him back. He was also generous to Treize despite the child being of a different father and Hundert was affectionate towards him. Although fellow aristocrats called him a people pleaser and insensitive behind his back, Hundert paid them no mind. He had the last laugh when, two years later, Angelina gave birth to his child, a baby boy.

#1 Okay, literal j.a.panese is this: c.r.a.p Father or s.h.i.t Father. It is a general insult meaning, obviously, "c.r.a.ppy." I thought "Father c.r.a.pswell" was rather brilliant on my part. And, just to keep it fun, Fat Max (I used that in my rough translation because writing out Father Maxwell was just too tedious).

#2 Just my guesses at who is speaking. There are no names listed for most of that section, so my guesses are based on both what is being said and how polite it is. I figure Kathy is going to be most polite given her status and femaleness (lulz for j.a.panese) and Father Maxwell and Duo are very casual.

AC 173 SPRING

Angelina and Fundelt gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Van Khushrenada. He was two years younger than Treize. He had Angelina’s features and everyone thought he was girl. He really was as beautiful as an angel come to Earth. Right down to his eyebrows (so unlike Treize’s own bushy ones). As he possessed both Khushrenada and Catalonia genes, Van was also more appropriate for both a.s.suming the leadership of Romefeller when the time came and inheriting the family t.i.tle. Hundert kept that little fact a secret from Angelina and Treize. Instead, he showered them with gratuitous affection so as to maintain their good graces. Naturally, the Foundation was pleased with the birth of Van and thought of it as a second coming for Cinquant. Years later, Treize himself would share the same opinion and bequeathed both the Khushrenada fortune and the Romefeller representative position to Van. He resolved himself to a life of military service. Young as Treize was, he was innocently happy at the birth of his charming little brother.

Around the same time, in s.p.a.ce, Heero Yuy announced the colonies independence, to be secured by nonviolence and demilitarization. Needless to say, this was the formal Declaration of s.p.a.ce. This was the catalyst of Cinq Kingdom’s decision to choose total pacifism and it would also be the source of Queen Relena’s One World Declaration several years later.

Angelina watched Heero Yuy’s address live with Treize and the new born Van. Her face, however, was steeped in worry and there were even tears in her eyes. How could tears, which were not supposed to exist for her anymore, be ready to spill down her face? On the monitor, she could see Ein standing beside Heero Yuy . The aftereffects of having been shot had left him walking with a cane and carrying himself in a painful looking posture. Nonetheless, he wasn’t partic.i.p.ating from behind the scenes anymore, he was taking action on stage. The sight filled Angelina with great pride. But when she saw among Heero’s attendants the one-time anti-Alliance resistance leader Quinze and the wealthy Dekim Barton, who was rumored to have split colonial wealth in half, an unspeakable uneasiness encroached upon Angelina’s heart like a dark shadow. The very Independence Proclamation itself was in extreme danger. The proclamation was essentially a complete rejection of the Alliance. Of course, it was welcomed with open arms by the colonies but for Heero and Ein, it was the equivalent of taking on the Alliance with their bare hands.

“They’re going to be killed…”

Personally, Cosmo Arma General Septum hated Ein Yuy, but Heero Yuy was standing in a dangerous place himself. At that pace, the colonies were going to be robbed of their rights. Bearing that in mind, a sniper from the forerunner of the secret agency OZ, the Alliance’s “Specials”, surely could have been employed to take out Heero Yuy. The Specials were members of the Alliance headquarters, and there weren’t any members of the Alliance forces in s.p.a.ce with the authority to give the order. In the end, that ‘request’ was paid for from the s.p.a.ce army’s budget and the Cosmo Arma would accomplish that task. The man who received Septum’s request was Odin Lowe. Note his name, as he will be discussed in more detail later.

AC 175 April 05

Four year old Treize distinctly remembered the events of this day. This is probably his earliest memory. Angelina had taken Treize and Van on a trip to the northern peninsula of Scandinavia. Hundert did not accompany them. Angelina was hoping to show her two sons the Aurora Borealis. There plans were to see the beautiful fjords by ship, then go by Norway Sea to Greenland where they could see the Aurora Borealis from a snowy field. However, the day before, there was a blizzard. In April, there are a lot of ice floes that float down from the Arctic Sea. Because of the storm, the enormous white floes were crashing into each other terribly. Some of them stayed afloat; some of them sunk below the surface. The rought white sea water looked like a battle field of grappling ice soldiers. The front edges were sharp and pointing and whenever two floes crashed into each other, they were each left looking even more knife-like. Treize remembered watching that scene from the ship and being strangely affected. That battle had no principles and no point. There was neither justice nor evil, neither friend nor foe. It was just an out and out exercise in futility. Rationally speaking, that scene could simply be put down to Mother Nature. Treize, however, saw that battle as a thing of beauty.

The storm blew over early the next morning and it was a brilliantly clear day. This was the time that Angelina first heard of the a.s.sa.s.sination of Heero Yuy. The three of them watched in astonishment as, on the TV monitor, the legendary revolutionary was shot and breathed his last on live TV. Angelina was at a loss for words. And, at the same time, a terrorist group blew up the venue and Ein Yuy was a.s.sumed dead. Angelina remained silent. We don’t know if she was thinking ‘It can’t be…’ or ‘It’s just as I feared: they’ve been killed.’ But she did not scream or fall to pieces.

“History has started to get out of gear. This world is wrong,” Angelina said as she stroked her children’s cheeks.

At their mother’s insistence, the two boys, Treize and Van, left their cabin and went to watch the ice floes. What they saw there was something they could never forget for as long as they lived. The corners of the ice floes, finely gouged and sharp and transparent, had blue sea water frozen inside that sparkled with the sunlight spilling over the horizon. Silver and gold and all the colors of the rainbow flashed from the floes floating like jewels in the water.

It was pure beauty, appearing after a meaningless battle with it’s perfectly sublime beauty.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it, Treize?”

“Yes.”

“Boys, you should remember this view… it might come in handy sometime,” said Angelina quietly from behind her sons.

“Mother…”

“Ein, I love you.”

Angelina’s lips met little Treize’s. But it was not a mother kissing her son. She saw Ein’s face on Treize and gave him a lover’s kiss. For the first time in his life, Treize shed tears. He understood just how much pain his mother was experiencing. Young Van surely must have seen them, but he would never speak of it. Perhaps he didn’t remember it. But it’s not hard to imagine he felt something (even if only) deep in his heart. Treize Khushrenada did not cry again. He had, like his father and mother before him, refused to let himself do so.

The world is changing.
The Earth is falling
The paradise of s.p.a.ce is withering.

This Treize wrote some twenty years later [AC 195], quoting Rilke"s poem "Autumn" in a composition. And before, in AC 187 also, he created an enduring complimentary piece. Perhaps he was thinking to connect that view of the ice floes to "Autumn" or to his own piece. Speaking of the floes, the day following the a.s.sa.s.sination, Angelina returned to Lunxemburg without seeing the Aurora Borealis as planned. Thereafter, she took to wearing mourning black, shutting herself in her rooms and never taking another trip. From then on, Treize and Van didn"t encounter much in the way of emotion [stimulation]. Indeed, they didn"t seem to register the magesty of nature or the mysteries of s.p.a.ce.

By any estimate, April 7, AC 175 was a fateful day for Angelina, Treize, and Van. Of course, it went without saying that it would eventually end up changing the lot of every man, woman, and child on Earth. On that fateful day, however, they also happened to see a stunningly beautiful view from the ship. For Treize, at least, there could be little doubt that the sight had left him changed. The following composition was written in German and perhaps serves as a character reference for one Treize Khushrenada"s sensibilities. It could be thought of as both a character study and a character reference for Treize Khushrenada:

"Dazzling Light"

I saw a point of light from across the dark
I ran towards the light
Nothing but mere running
Running like on possessed
And I kept running
It was just like coming out of a tunnel
I burst into a world of dazzling light
It was a world br.i.m.m.i.n.g with contentment

Is this what I was looking for?
Something that I sought?

No, it was not
I searched not for repose
I did not ask for this heart

I looked behind me
I pa.s.sed by myself
There was the dark exit of the tunnel

I was not looking for results

We needed more progress

So it is
What I sought
It was in that black darkness
There was a meaning to my continued running

So I asked myself

Why?
Why continue to run?

AC 187 Sommer TK.

AC 176 AUTUMN

The a.s.sa.s.sination of Heero Yuy left an ugly scar, especially for the people most hoping for peace. The Alliance"s Corsica weaponry development base [factory] in the Mediterranean was in the process of manufacturing human-shaped mechanical weaponry called "mobile suits." The suits were developed by five brilliant scientist-c.u.m-technicians sent by the colonies. However, in the wake of Heero Yuy"s a.s.sa.s.sination, the five scientists ceased all cooperation and fled. As a result, OZ"s chief engineer Seis Clark and chief consulting engineer Tsubarov Bilmon took over the mobile suit project and reworked it into a low-cost, ma.s.s production plan. In August of that year, the first ground-battle use mobile suit prototypes, named LEO, rolled out and by the middle of October, battle-worthy suits were being sent out. At the same time, Tsubarov had improved the Trago"s mid-range support and indirect offense systems and had them [Tragos] being ma.s.s produced by the end of the year. Likewise, Seis modified the ground-based LEO plans to construct a suit capable of flight and those started coming off the a.s.sembly line in April of the next year. It would not be an exaggeration to say all the prototypes from the first wave of what is known as the early days of mobile suits were completed during this time. This, in turn, lead the Cinq Kingdom on the Scandinavian peninsula, which was a medical state, to turn away from that military course and instead acted upon the peaceful ideas upon which the kingdom was founded. Moreover, in s.p.a.ce, colony L-5A00206 and elsewhere responded to Alliance military meddling within the colonies by announcing their intent to rebel and drawing up serious plans of opposition. Seizing the opportunity, the military uprisings Heero and Ein had been repressing started to erupt all across the colonies. Of course, a better description might be "unhooked play." In respoinse, the Alliance took more and more control of military affairs often in the name of keeping the peace. Under those conditions, hatred bred more hatred until it seemed like an iron curtain had fallen and that only portended useless war. Incidentally, this L-5A00206 colony was the location for the [first] mobile suit battle in history, but as it only tangentially relates to the heading of this chapter [note: the files are actually ent.i.tled "ZERO" but all the data Kathy Po is reviewing is concerning Treize, so the "chapter heading" should probably be inferred to be Treize], discussion of it shall be postponed.

It was written earlier in this account that a man who has seen absolute beauty starts to regret a life among the filth mirred ma.s.ses of humanity and is at times given to rash behavior bordering on the insane. The same could be said for the beauteous word "peace." Those who have once tasted peace, even for the shortest of times, are gripped by feelings of uneasiness as soon as it is taken away from them. And as they scream out for its return, they become fighters hungry for blood and unmindful slaughtering fellow men in the name of regaining it. This has been observed time and again throughout the history of mankind.

Angelina Khushrenada also started acting strangely about this time. Since Ein"s death, she lost her will to live and seemed to shut herself off from the world. Often, she could not sleep for nights on end. She cried even when she was not sad, and the subtleties of emotion faded from her beautiful face. Her words and actions became incoherent as did her increasing eccentricities. At times, she even stripped away her mourning clothes and took to going about her room in the nude.

To Treize, his beautiful, elegant, deeply refined mother was being eaten alive by a consumption. Surely it must have been difficult for Treize to watch her decline and he, powerless to help, and yet, not a single tear did he shed. Neither did he complain about Angelina"s behavior.

"I am happy only that she is here," he said and no more was he doted upon by his mother. Likewise, Van took his cues from Treize"s actions. Long ago, Angelina had told Van to do exactly that. For the boys, who were just five and three years old, their behavior was commendable.

The Khushrenada house was virtually deserted. This was because Hundert, who was supposed to be the head of the house, spent as little time as possible within it. He said he was extremely busy managing the Foundation, but both Treize and Van knew it for the evasion it was: he wanted to get away from Angelina. Perhaps if Hundert had devoted the time to nursing his [literally says "beloved", keeping with the until-now theme of the older man pleased at his trophy wife, but hereafter we see his trophy has lost it"s l.u.s.ter in his estimation] wife, the sickness in her heart might not have gotten any worse.

Angelina was hospitalized in the royal Hospital in the Cinq Kingdom in an effort to improve her mental and emotional stability. Hundert explained to Treize that he chose Cinq because of its cutting edge facilities and practices, but in reality, he chose an out-of-country hospital in an effort to preserve face. Nevertheless, Treize and Van did not let the distance keep them from visiting her often, unlike Hundert who visited the hospital just once. That alone was enough to see there was no love between the married couple.

Hundert accompanied the boys to the Royal Hospital, but he opted to remain in the car. The lobby was thronging with people. Hundert would later find out that it was because the heir to the Peacecraft throne had been born. The prince was apparently named Milliard Peacecraft. Treize Khushrendada and Milliardo Peacecraft. Those two would later go on to form the OZ Specials and eventually, would be the instigators of total war between Earth and s.p.a.ce. But of course, no one could predict then what fate had in store for them.

AC 180 APRIL 08

Four years had pa.s.sed. Angelina still had not been discharged from the hospital. Treize was nine and Van was seven. As youngsters, both boys had excellent [academic] records and had the charisma to be the leaders of their cla.s.ses. The main difference beteween them being Van"s naturally weak body where as Treize did fencing and horseback riding and was an all-around sportsman. Each holiday [day off], the pair of them made a point of visiting their mother in the hospital. Onece, they had been walking down the quiet hospital halls and just before they entered their mother"s room, Van had asked Treize a question that had been on his mind for quite sometime.

"Treize, do you love mother?"

Treize had no intention of evading his little brother"s naive question, but neither could he manage an answer.

"Do you?"

"Of course I love her."

"Is that so... well, I suppose that"s plenty, isn"t it?" Treize said with a gentle smile. Van thought there was a hint of sadness to his brother"s lips. Van did not ask that question ever again.

They entered the room and Angelina was staring absent-mindedly out the window. As usualy, her eyes were void of any vitality; there was such despair in her life that it almost seemed as if she could not breath. The two of them told her about the events at school that had transpired that day and about their pet cat. Their topics were just trifles, but both of them- and most especially Van- reported them in earnest. As ever, Angelina mere nodded but whenever her eyes happened to meet Treize"s, she never failed to say: "The world is yours. You will command s.p.a.ce and Earth both." Treize was naturally not the type of child to honestly believe their words. Van, however, was different. He swallowed his mother"s words hook-line-and-sinker and he believed his brother had been appointed with the task of bringing peace to s.p.a.ce and Earth.

King Peacecraft"s declaration of [his country"s] total pacifism coincided with the birth of [his daughter] Princess Relena. A brief review of Cinq history demonstrates that the Scandinavian kingdom could not end any geopolitical dispute. Plainly stated, the word "peace" was the most distant metaphor. Poor in natural resources and possessing only a very modest army, Cinq was oft pulled into disputes with its neighbors and the pitiable kingdom was subjected to big European nations" selfish desires. There was a time when they [Cinq] morphed into a great military state and started aggressions with other countries. That was an opportunity for armies the world over to attack Cinq, merciless and with out consideration, and turn the kingdom to dust. The people, nay, the country as a whole, was completely impoverished and yet, vast reparations were being demanded. It was King Peacecraft himself who met those repayments with determined resolution. He had, until then, poured the nation"s military budget into the advancement of the medical field and in so doing, created the best medical facilities in the world. Moreover, the education system was changed to support the one in three citizens who intended to become doctors or nurses. The country became a top level contributor to the development of medical equipment and a sharp decrease in war casualties were among the achievements of King Peacecraft. In just a few short years, the reparations had been repaid in full. Afterwards, they had the cream of the crop of doctors and they were dispatched to areas where disputes had taken place and offered medial services free of charge. In so doing, they managed to divest their country of its former image as a military nuisance and they earned the trust of the world. Soon, other countries stopped trying to a.s.sault Cinq. It was as if the country itself had become a hospital. Any army that attacked a hospital would doubtlessly be criticized and no one was rash enough to start a dispute with Cinq- there was no meaning in doing so. Since that successful campaign, Cinq had, over time, developed a loud, strong national voice and didn"t regret [using that voice] in an effort to eradicate war on Earth. Medical exports to the colonies also flourished and it was the medical staff of Cinq which solved the problem of giving birth in s.p.a.ce. Later, Heero Yuy and King Peacecraft would have several meetings, but their connection did encounter come complications. However, with Heero Yuy"s a.s.sa.s.sination in AC 175, Peacecraft lost a fellow advocate for peace and became the lone proponent of pacifism. He temporarily stopped peaceful activities in s.p.a.ce and instead pushed for making peace on Earth. Few were the countries that approved of his actions, but he insisted on following that course. Additionally, that brought about his declaration of non-military, non-violent, anti-war Total Pacifism. That this would bring about the Cinq kingdom"s greatest tragedy was something eleven year old Prince Milliard and new born Princess Relena could not possibly have known. Twelve months after the announcement, General Daigo Onegal of the United Earth Allicance attacked Cinq, believeing the expansion of peaceful principles was dangerous. Cinq was utterly destroyed. King Peacecraft died in the battle and the two children"s whereabouts were unknown. It was AC 182. [AC 182, Zechs would have been 12 based on the what was just said at the end of the paragraph, meaning he would have been born in AC 170... and that is just a blatant error on the author"s part as Sumizawa mentioned the birth of Miliardo in a previous section in AC 176 AUTUMN when Angelina was first moved to the hospital in Cinq]

AC 183 WINTER

Treize"s mother Angelina moved to a different hospital before the fall of Cinq. It is believed that Hundert made preparations for this after having received insider information from the Alliance. However, rather than a hospital in the dispute riddled Earth Union, she was taken to a colony in the L-1 cl.u.s.ter that specialized in medicine. L-1 was chosen most probably in an effort to keep Treize and Van- upon whom either or even both the Khushrenada and Romefeller Foundation pinned their hopes for the future- from seeing their ill mother.

According to Treize, it was not too difficult to get along with his stepfather, Hundert. The man was sympathetic when their mother wasn"t around and continued to treat Treize well. Hundert"s behavior was not as much a product of having developed kindred feelings from living together [with the children] but more a matter of his guilty conscious forcing him to act to make up for the years of neglect he had shown his family. Note, that a man who could survive [vicious] n.o.bility should also possess a conscious to spur him to atone for his sins is truly a man of the highest echelons. Then, there was Van who loved and respected Treize. The boy seemed to have appointed himself the task of a.s.sisting his elder brother, the future commander-in-chief of Romefeller. However, as Treize grew from boy into adolescent, he had absolutely no interest in the Foundation or with the royal political fields and rejected his promised post at Romefeller. Instead, he enrolled in the United Earth Alliance military school. He was only twelve. He had done so most likely due to his disgust with the n.o.bility"s predisposition to exclusionary behavior and he decided to [eschew all that to] become a military man. One could easily also imagine that Treize felt some connection to the Heero Yuy and the Cinq kingdom in their final days and he understood that however sublime pacifism may be, those without power are easily crushed. Either way, in those sorrow filled eyes, he seemed to have discovered the value of his own life.

Treize was at the top of his cla.s.ses in military school also. His teacher was a a Romefeller Colonel, rumored to be something of an odd fellow, named Chilia Catalonia. He was the youngest son of acting Romefeller representative Duke Dermail and Hundert Khushrenada"s several-years-removed younger brother [WTF, Van"s birth was all trumped up because VAN was supposed to FINALLY provide a blood connection between Romefeller and Khushrenada.] Chilia had a two year old daughter named Dorothy and she frequently played at the school. This little girl was distantly related to Treize, extremely bright, and possessed a striking smile.

The things she said often got a laugh out of the people around her, "When I grow up, I want to be Mr. Treize"s wife!" She said that not because she wanted to make Treize laugh, but because she honestly believed it. She seemed to honestly wish Treize could have really been her brother and for his part, Treize doted upon her as if she truly were his little sister. Chilia also treated Treize as a brilliant student rather than just the nephew he actually was and paid him particular attention. Specifically, he was pa.s.sionate about teaching Treize how to handle the latest mobile suits, battle tactics, and the theory of war tactics. The prevailing thought at the time was that mobile suits sat inactive in the battle field like a white elephant. Up until then, there had been no proof of the machines functioning effectively. Naturally, Treize seemed to agree that mobile suits had [relatively] little value as a weapon of warcraft. He was, however, prepared to make the acquaintance of someone who would blow that idea to pieces. That occurred when Professor Chilia took him on a field trip to the Alliance base in Corsica. Standing there quite unattended was the as-yet-uncompleted mobile suit Tall Geese.

Treize"s first impression of the Tall Geese was not very favorable. First, there was the color. It had been painted camouflage as if to a.s.sert that it was indeed a military weapon. It looked like the Headless Horseman of old North American legend what with the head being held in the suit"s own arms. And what were they thinking to name it "Tall Geese"? [Though] he could not imagine calling the suit something like "The Reaper" or "Miracle Maker." Of the scientists who developed the suit, one man, still on the base, was working as a technical advisor. Treize approached the extremely lackadaisical looking man wearing the Hawaiian shirt and sungla.s.ses. The man was snoozing in a beach chair.

"My name is Trize Khushrenada. I have a question for the technical advisor."

The man in the sungla.s.ses looked like he had no intention of answering as he made a show of presenting his back to Treize and loudly scratching his b.u.t.tocks.

"I believe the machine would not work effectively on the battlefield."

While it was highly mobile, the armor was heavy enough to render it remarkably difficult to maneuver. It was not suitable for midrange support or breaking through enemy forces on the front line. Those areas were better left for the Aries with it"s improved mobility or a heavily armored Leo, and the Tragos offered sufficient indirect support.

"That"s my humble opinion, but what is the technical advisor"s opinion?"

The man- Howard, the technical advisor- snorted, but answered the question, albeit without bothering to look at Treize.

"That"s what you would think if you put a mobile suit in a [d.a.m.n] corps or a division." Treize failed to understand. How would t be used if not in a corps or a division?

"That machine, the Tall Geese, is meant to take on a thousand a.s.sailants at once, and to do it alone. Originally, mobile suits were supposed to be used to that effect."
Finally, Treize understood the practical uses intended for the machine. In all the history of warfare, it is generally said that he who had the superior numbers almost certainly has victory. Even against the elite, if the enemy had greater firepower, they could crush the opposition and gain victory with little fighting. This was believed to be the best of plans. Nevertheless, the developers of the Tall Geese turned that conventional wisdom on its head and designed a mobile suit contrary to the accepted ideal. but... at best, the suit had just a single use and that did not seem very effective.

"Sounds exactly like the hero of a fairy tale," Treize thought skeptically.

A war machine that could decide the battle with a single shot.
A mobile fortress.

Even if such a thing truly existed in full working order, that there was not a pilot alive capable of manning it.

"Perhaps if I were the pilot.." Here, Treize"s line of thought performed a complete 180 degree turn, "it would not be impossible."

Treize did not quit that line of thinking. It was at once characteristic of him and something the average man could not easily do. "What he battlefield needs is not a ma.s.s of less-than-perfect fighters, merely a single hero." Doubtlessly, that would lead to a reduction of fatalities and meaningless sacrifice. "This just might be the perfect weapon..."

"I have a request."

"Hm?" Howard asked Treize to repeat what he h

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