Editing KSGU:Volume 2 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 20===

“I don’t deny that you managed to build the Foundation in one generation, but times are changing.”

On the other side of the door that’s slightly ajar, the light of the sunset and his father’s voice came from there. That sunset was as beautiful as rouge, a crimson red sunset that was like fresh blood. Yes, at that time, the Vist’s mansion was still on the ground…Cardeas recalls that under that real sky, when they’re basked under the real sun, his grandfather was sitting at the office in the west block of the building—the healthy and strong Syam Vist will often look outside the window with hesitant looks.

“No matter what you say, I don’t intend to hand the <<Laplace Box>> over to the Federation. The Foundation will be doomed once we hand that thing out. You’re to be the next head of this family, and yet you don’t know that?”

Syam’s steady voice has some anger in this. This is a dream. Cardeas, who realizes this, continues to listen to this quarrel between his grandfather and his father. He’s standing outside the office, becoming one with the 18-year-old him who peeked in. His father, who hardly comes home, will often start arguing with his grandfather. At that point, Cardeas had no interest in managing the Foundation at all, whole-heartedly thinking about how he’s to get away from these. To Cardeas at that point, this was a problem he had to handle.

Once he graduated from high school, he didn’t want to enter college. He wanted to go out and sightsee, to take care of himself, and roam around the way. He knew what he could do and what he couldn’t do. Ever since young, he was forced to enter a prestigious boarding school, and was forced to walk down a paved path. He remembers his own frustrations and melancholy he had when he was young, and stood in front of the office of this grandfather he always respected. The reason why he chose to visit when his father was around was because he wanted to avoid the hassle of saying the same things twice, and also, his personality wished that he could handle this thing the elders couldn’t handle. Unlike the overly-serious father of his, the seasoned but smart grandfather will definitely stand on his side. That’s what Cardeas intended.

“What you said is outdated. The Foundation can still hang on even without the ‘box’. Or rather, because of the box, the Foundation can’t take a step forward.”

“Whose view is that? The Immigration Council?”

“Mine, father. I can think too.”

Father. Cardeas’ impression was that this was the first and last time his father called his grandfather as such. The awareness that this is a dream becomes faint, and Cardeas listens to their conversation intently. His father and grandfather want to step past that line they can’t get across. And even as family—no, it’s because they’re family—that they take the one step that has no turning back. Even though he was only an 18-year-old brat back then, he was scared as he felt this. The mansion that he lived in ever since young became chilly.

“During the past 20 years, I expanded the Foundation through my own means, and I am proud of my own results. But you think that this result is due to the ‘box’…”

“I never said that. You have the awareness to grasp the idea of when the trend is going on, which is why I nominated you to be the next head. But even though running this Foundation requires such awareness, it can’t be used as the premise to start things.”

“As you so hoped, I continued to restrain myself in order to answer your wishes. So what in the world are you still hoping for? When are you going to hand that thing over to me…! Sleeping in that uncomfortable freezer all day; do you intend to control the Foundation forever?”

“Once I find someone worthy enough to hand the ‘box’ over, I’ll die immediately. However, that person’s not you.”

Even though it’s just said in the spur of the moment, Cardeas knew that his grandfather said something decisive. After a short moment, his father’s voice was trembling, “You’re really straightforward there…”

“Then, our relationship as father and son is over. I’ll use that ‘box’ you got accidentally to stabilize the Foundation, and I’ll learn from your will to live and try my best to get what I need.”

“You’re already mentally prepared when you say this, are you?”

“Do you think I’m joking?”

“No…it’s just that as a father, I hoped that you’ll take action without talking. Or else you’ll regret it.”

Cardeas thought that the so-called words piercing the heart referred to such a thing. The despair was shown through words, bringing a cutting ability that would never be matched. It’s not hard to imagine what the person who heard that will feel.

“…Even this me doesn’t have just one person’s expectations. The Foundation I and them look forward to is different from yours. Don’t forget that.”

Cardeas felt that his father said too much. Even though this was still the lowest level of arguing for the person involved, there was too much information revealed. It would be enough to just say the following sentence if he wanted to leave that place.

“You’re really a lonely man.”

With this, his father walked out of his grandfather’s office. Cardeas, who was standing in front of the door, couldn’t find a chance to hide and froze. His father was slightly shocked to see him, and then wordlessly passed by him. On the other side of the door, his grandfather’s profile was looking over with the shadow of the sunset draped over, and those eyes of him seemed like they wanted to tell something. However, Cardeas didn’t have the courage to enter the room. The door closed quickly, and the lone shadow in the sunset remained in Cardeas’ stare.

At that time, if father said something—no, if he had just put his hand on my shoulder, if he had only shown even the tiniest bit of concern to his son, future developments may have been different. Cardeas thought. However, his father remained silent, never met anyone at home even at night, and went back to work as if he was running away. He was doing this because he didn’t want his wife to worry…or maybe not. His father was merely looking at himself, looking at his own pitiful state of being abandoned by his grandfather. In the end, this was all because of his father’s limits as a man, and was the biggest reason why his grandfather never handed everything over to him.

Cardeas lost his strength to continue discussing about the future and went back to school. He heard of his father’s death 3 months later. There wasn’t anything suspicious, and he died because of an unfortunate car accident—that’s what the police and the news reported. In fact, some people in the Vist Foundation knew that it wasn’t the case, and of course, Cardeas was one of them.

Cardeas learnt later on that his father was instigated by some Federation government senators and bureaucrats that he had strong relationships with, and really intended to launch something like a coup to get the Foundation. 50 years passed since the Universal Century started, and the difference in wealth between the Earth residents and the spacenoids was obvious. The space migration plans had shown some clues of abandoning the residents, which will of course cause the spacenoids’ dissatisfaction to increase. Spacenoids all over the place continue to demand for independence, and the Federation was fearful that the <<Laplace Box>> would land in their hands—especially the faction of the political philosopher Zeon Zum Deikun, who attracted the attention of the spacenoids by promoting Side-ism—and his father must have been swallowed by this huge monster called the Federation government when he was trying to develop the Foundation. He was trapped, unable to break away, and walked down the path of no return.

It’s possible to make a huge commotion over his father’s death, but the people that could do it chose to remain silent. They just viewed his father as someone who could convince his grandfather, and once they saw that his grandfather rejected his father cruelly, they didn’t have any ability to continue negotiating. Cardeas hated those people who came to his father’s funeral with vague expressions, and it may be a lot easier to hate his grandfather. However, Cardeas saw that his grandfather seemed to age a lot once his father died, and couldn’t hate him at all. On the other hand, he couldn’t forgive him easily; and so, he chose to keep his distance away from the family and carry out his own plan without permission. He was looking for strength that could crush a frozen heart and fight against the cruel world. In the end, the Earth Federation’s army became a one-time stop for Cardeas.

Cardeas learnt there that for hardworking people, there are two categories to them. One is the kind that will do anything to gain recognition; and the other is the kind that will see whether he will accomplish things and got other people’s recognition as a result. The former is about getting the praise of other people, and loses decisiveness in important situations. In contrast, the latter have their targets set in front, and won’t be distracted by the situation in front of them or the conscience, and will not hesitate when making decisions.

If his father was the former, his grandfather was the latter. Leaving aside his own feelings for his own grandfather, Cardeas himself worked hard to be the latter. His father always aimed to get his grandfather’s appraisal, and until the end, was his grandfather’s tool. One could even say that he was forever a kid. ''One shouldn’t be walking down the same path as this world isn’t so caring to kids, let alone let them live on as kids. He has to work hard for his own sake and not look for others to repay him; and he should remember this heartily and do what he had to do. If he couldn’t be completely independent, an end where he would be discarded once he’s used would be waiting for him. If that really happened, he would be vengeful over being unable to feel love and praise, and will continue to curse the world before dying.''

''To be a man.'' This belief cause the 18-year-old youth to shed his appearance as a teenager as he faced the dry outside world. After more than 10 years, Cardeas became someone suitable in his grandfather’s eyes, and at this point, he returned back to the Vist Foundation. The 30 years that passed next was really fast, like instant. He lost a lot of things, and there were a lot of things he couldn’t protect. But even if others don’t know this, he did.

Perhaps this way of living is really lonely, perhaps life’s just a game of bluff. Cardeas, who used his own body to take the bullet from a relative of his—and the closest one at that, proved that he was just a member of a cursed family, and thought coldly in heart. ''Was grandfather’s careless for letting father betray him? Is it because he lacked a heart to think for the weak that he demanded so much from himself? Or he had to use this forced view to protect himself? If he didn’t do so, he will be crushed. From that viewpoint, that will make him a delicate and weak person. ''

''That’s why he dreamt. He dreamt of finding someone he could hand the <<Laplace Box>> over to and hoped to get back the promised future. He harbored such a naïve thought and bet his entire life on it. And he asked me, who’s walking down the same path as me: Can you forgive me?''

Was that really Syam Vist who would never look for other people’s appraisal? However, Cardeas, who’s about to meet his end, will soon experience the dissatisfaction of life. Humans will give birth and entrust their funerals to their children. His grandfather, who had to endure the greatest pain of killing his own son and yet get the recognition from his grandson, should be a happy man.

''But I have nothing. A relative to ask for forgiveness, someone who can redeem me, someone who I can entrust…I have nothing. I’m lonely. '' Cardeas thought. ''Lonely, helplessly lonely…''


The words that were said subconsciously came out from the hole in his abdomen, forming a trail of blood floating in zero gravity. Cardeas feels that the heat on his burning skin is becoming weaker, and groggily awakes to see fire in his sights.

All the refinery plants were burned, and the fire cause the inner walls of the factory to become rouge in color. That light was similar to the sunset he saw in his dream. This rouge light that seemed to burn all of the family’s works, including his father and grandfather’s, blackens the inside of the <<Magallanica>>, swallowing the mobile suits’ remains lying in the fire and burning everything to dust.

His own body will soon become one of the floating objects and get swallowed by the fire. Cardeas already lost a lot of blood ever since he was shot in the command console room and got here, and can be said to be dying. Soon after, this slightly dormant fire will likely burn even wilder, but there’s something he has to do. Cardeas uses his numb leg to kick the wall and fly to the safety area of the container deck.

He leans on the airlock and uses his blood-stained hand to press on the palmprint identification panel and look at the iris recognition installation to unlock the door, which in turns swings open. From the way things operate normally, the special forces probably haven’t found this way, but this means that Gael didn’t manage to destroy the classified stuff. Cardeas feels a pain in his heart that’s different from the one on his own body. ''Gael didn’t manage to make it here…''

''In that case, I can only do it myself.'' Cardeas pass through the airlock and enter the safety area in front of the gas chamber. In this large and completely sealed space, the unharmed white body of that <<Unicorn>> enters his eyes.

This mobile suit is created out of the Universal Century plan, which in turn is part of the Federation’s reorganization plan, and it bears the mission of being the guide to the <<Laplace Box>>. Cardeas use his hand to wipe his somewhat blurry eyes as he look at the machine that symbolizes the beast of possibilities. At this moment, he notices a stinging stench and frowns. It wasn’t an imagination as this safety area is really becoming smoky. There’s a hole in a certain corner in the next room, causing the smoke from the factory to enter here. Cardeas looks around, sees that it’s getting smokier, realizes it’s a bad sign, and leaps up to the pilot seat of the <<Unicorn>>.

Since there’s an access point, it’s not weird for the Special Forces to be here anytime. He has to erase the Laplace OS script on the machine and also try as much as possible to destroy anything related to NT-D here. Cardeas is really hurt by the fact that he has to destroy this thing without it being used once, but he can’t let the key to opening the <<Laplace Box>> enter the Federation government’s hands. Cardeas look up at the corner with the NT-D sensor, and then looks at the cockpit at the abdomen. The sound of something breaking can be heard behind him, and a hot gust of wind that blows over covers him.

They’re flames coming from the airlock. The flames climb up the wall, melting the metal frames, and Cardeas, who’s slammed to the wall, sees the debris that’s spewing out. He bites his lower lip, feeling regret instead of fear. He hasn’t dealt with the secrets of the <<Unicorn>>, yet the long-cherished wish of the family is going to be exposed as he dies off.

He has no kin he can ask for forgiveness, and has no god that he can pray for help. He will only be burned to death with anger and regret—Cardeas watches the debris flying over and wants to curse out loud, but at this moment, something seem to knock into him from the side and send him flying.

His body’s slammed aside into the wall, and he’s then pulled back to the container area with the <<Unicorn>>. Cardeas watches the surging flames below his feet, and his body embraces the impact of the debris that’s stabbed into the wall. At this moment, he touches the arms that are grabbing him from behind, and once inside the container area, the arm releases itself. The arms release once they enter a corner of the container, and a hand moves in front and grabs Cardeas’ hand tightly. That person kicks the wall on the container, and Cardeas moves over to the cockpit of the <<Unicorn>>. Cardeas notices the side of that person’s face and feels that his hand is losing strength.

“PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!”

Banagher Links yells as he grabs the hand that’s about to be released. Is this a dream? After blinking a while, Cardeas grabs Banagher’s hand again and checks the touch of that youthful skin. ''It’s good even if it’s a dream.'' He thought. If he can dream in the end, there’s still value in his life. To think that he, who’s hurt by his own kin, will be saved by ‘another’…

However, the sensation of reality becomes stronger as he approaches the cockpit of the <<Unicorn>>. The dream like feeling starts to fade, and the pain in the abdomen doesn’t seem to ease up. Cardeas looks again at the face in front of him, and Banagher looks back for a bit before looking away again. He puts Cardeas on the linear seat, and he stands at the door of the cockpit, his back facing the light as he looks over at Cardeas.

His face is really like his mother’s, and the ash tea-colored eyes seem to look rather stubborn. That’s right, it’s Banagher, Anna Links’ child. The scar has already remained in his heart, yet he never has the chance to look back at the tumor in his life. Right now, ‘she’ suddenly appears. The face that shows Cardeas how deceitful he has been is right in front of him.

“It’s you…”

It doesn’t matter why things ended up like this. Cardeas smiles as he looks at this kin of his who seemed to appear miraculously. Banagher remains silent and looks over with a wary and bothered look. Behind him, flames that are being created by the explosions start to dance and light his profile. It looks like a rouge-colored sunset is shining into the cockpit.