Editing KSGU:Volume 7 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 4===

“…Audrey Burne. Even if it’s a pseudonym, it certainly sounds delightful. I do watch those movies too.”

Martha said as she eased herself into the seat opposite. Mineva could tell from this woman’s mannerism that she knew etiquette was a weapon to protect herself. During the past 2 days, Martha had already shed off, 1, 2 layers off her mask and started to show her arrogant nature, but that refined etiquette of hers still demanded equal respect from the other party. Mineva clenched the fists on her knees and turned her silent stare at the other woman. Her sense of danger were telling herself that if she did not exert strength on herself like this, she would be devoured by Martha’s pace.

The officer room crewmen dressed in white attendant clothes were serving soup according to where both women were seated. As the flagship of Londo Bell, the “Ra Cailum” had a commander room with top-notch furniture inside. The 8-seater table was made of authentic oak, and the cutlery were all of top-grade branded goods. The reason why a commander room, which would occasionally act as a social stage for special guests, existed, was because it was an important ‘armament’. Whether it was the well-trained attendants or the carpet with nary a speck of dust, they certainly showed the merit of the commander or the captain. However, the commander was not in that room.

The ones in the room were only Martha, the black-clothed Foundation subordinates escorting her, and no crew member of the “Ra Cailum” other than the two attendants. The basic greetings, which were a form of etiquette, were simply formal interactions, and the atmosphere in this room was equivalent to that of an interrogation room. The fragrance of the soup served in front of Mineva had an invisible malice, torturing her. This was probably made from a retort pouch used by a high-class hotel, but her body would not be able to take it as she went on a hunger strike for 2 days. As long as she relaxed, she felt that she would fall anytime—

“Please enjoy.”

Martha said, showing a smile indicating that she saw through the other party. Mineva held her breath as she excluded the nutritious looking soup from her sights.

“You’ve been drinking only water ever since you arrived here, haven’t you? Your body won’t last at this rate. Besides, your body isn’t just your—”

“I have no intention of accepting anything from the enemy.”

The voice that interrupted caused the attendant’s hand to tremble as the grape wine was being poured. The men from the Foundation, who were standing at the door, gave nervous looks into the room, but Martha’s expression did not change at all, “How unexpected.” Martha did not stop smiling as she said these words and took a sip from the wine.

“I should have explained to you regarding how we plan to deal with the “Box”. We believe that you’re on the same side as us, Your Highness.”

“Then, why did you detain Banagher Links?”

“He did take the “Unicorn”, and is suspected to be involved in a terrorist attack. And now, he intended to escape from the ship. It’s to be expected that we detain him.”

“Then what about Marida? She’s my subordinate. If you say that you’re on the same side as me, I hope that you return her to me.”

Martha put the wine glass back on the table as she glanced to the door. The black Foundation subordinates nodded and opened the door. The two attendants, who were prompted to leave, went through the door, and once the subordinates closed the door, Martha raised the glass again. This room became a place where only the two of them were in, and Martha swirled the liquid that was as red as lipstick, “Even if you wish for this, Your Highness, she probably wouldn’t listen.” She slowly spoke up.

“Lieutenant Marida…Ple Twelve is currently working under us. This is her own will.”

“Will? You forcefully made adjustments to her and dare to brazenly—”

“That’s right, we made adjustments to her. Just like what Neo Zeon did in the past.”

Martha removed her smile as her icy cold and sharp stare pierced into Mineva’s heart together with her voice, causing the latter to be silent. She recalled the pair of blue eyes that once easily subdued the escaped Banagher and did not respond upon seeing her.  That hollow expression was just like the moment when Marida was first detained on the “Garencieres”. She was like a puppet with its strings snapped—“Princess Mineva, please don’t act innocent here.” Martha turn her lips into a smile as she said,

“We’re not the ones who create that pitiful creature, but you. I just want to release her inner thoughts and give her a chance of revenge.”

“Revenge…?”

“Yes, I want her to take revenge on the world that created her, the world dominated by the logic of men.”

Martha raised the empty glass, and then got around the table as she walked towards Mineva. The latter resisted the urge to leave her seat as she continued to look in front.

“Princess Mineva, you’re one of the victims too. The logic of men set up the conflict between the Federation and Zeon, and this logic set you upon a throne that doesn’t exist. Even so, nobody’s willing to listen to you. Those men just see the “Laplace Box” dangling in front of them and lose themselves like crazy dogs.”

Martha brought her face to Mineva’s ears, and whispered, “Don’t you find this ugly?” her voice had the fresh stench of grape wine, and the latter felt like she was ensnared by snakes as goosebumps rose on her.

“In this sense, you have the natural flair for it. Do you want to ally with me, Princess Mineva? I won’t put you in a spot, and I can assure the safety of the Zeon remnants following you.”

“Ally, with you…?”

Mineva inadvertently turned her head around and looked at the face sticking close to her shoulder. Martha looked back at the face doubting her intellect as she withdrew, “If men continue to direct, humanity will reach its doom sooner or later.” She left these words behind as she got behind Mineva.

“This planet is already in tatters…we need the sense of women to rule the world to prevent the same mistakes from happening again. There was a movement of female rights a long time ago, but that was a battle of authority using the logic of men. What I seek, however, is different. If we follow the logic and rational of nature, the ones dominating society are naturally women.”

Martha toyed with the empty glass as she put her other hand around Mineva’s shoulder. The latter felt goosebumps from the chill of the hand, and she looked down at the soup that was about to go cold.

“To put it simply, the biological model of humans is chained within the bag called the womb. Men are simply in charge of inserting their seeds, and beside that role, it can be said that they’re aliens without value biology. That’s why men like to boast about themselves. They boast about the causes of righteousness, their ideals, and they want to find value in this world itself, starting wars in the end. Up till now, humanity has been becoming arrogant as they found their sense of self-worth against nature, and allowed men to continue their wanton belly. It’s about time to return things to how they were. In order to move the shackle of the womb into space, 10,000 lightyears away…”

“Miss Martha, do you have children?”

The interrupting voice caused Martha’s fingers, resting on Mineva’s shoulder, to tremble. “Two of them. why?” Upon hearing the stiff tone, Mineva felt the reason by the chill in her heart, “Are they the children you bore?” she started to ask with a personal tone.

“…What do you mean?”

“I don’t understand what kind of person my mother is, and that’s because she dead before I could remember. However, there’s no reason for me to remember that she’s still my mother. A female as a mother, someone with a motherly nature, anyone will give off that sort of gentle presence. I can’t sense that maternal presence from you.”

Martha’s expression immediately changed as she stumbled backwards. Mineva saw the suit that showed the other woman’s bodyline, realized that she obviously put in her utmost effort to maintain her skin so as to prevent people from realizing her age, ''as expected'' and secretly muttered to herself.

This woman, while acting as a clever tactician, had an immature flair on her. Her girlish ideals and grudges had corrupted her right from the base, and it felt like she lost something as she increased in age. She talked of her knowledge of humans, but she never understood people, and did not intend to understand them. Martha was a hypocrite of a reformer. Mineva stood up and looked in front, feeling that there was no need for her to be afraid. Martha wanted to maintain his footing, but could not do so, and stumbled backwards again as Mineva glared at her with her clearly hostile eyes.

“You denied the logic of men, and yet used that to conquer Marida. It’s possible if you explained that it was the ruthlessness of women at work, but you’re acting just like a man when you’re using that excuse to rationalize your knowledge. You’re not the kind of woman you say. Of course, you’re not a man. You’re just using the tone of a man to exercise the cruelty of a woman, a conman who uses whatever indecent weapons—”

Something grazed past Mineva’s face before she could finish, and a sharp sound glided past the sky as it entered her ears. The shrill sound of the glass breaking rang from behind, and the Foundation subordinates in black charged into the room, perhaps because they realized that there was something amiss in the situation. Mineva stared at Martha, not moving at all, and the latter’s hand, which threw the glass at Mineva, continued to look over.

“There’s nothing at all. Move out.”

Martha chastised them without moving her head, and clasped her hands that were still trembling a little. The men looked a little tentative as they looked around the room, and then retreated from it. Once the door was closed, Martha regained some of her cool, and she flicked her hair and gave a wry look as she muttered, “You got me there.”Mineva however merely heaved a slight sift of relief.

“I was careless and thought that you’re just a little pipsqueak. It seems that I underestimated you, and that you are really capable to talking down the pilot of the “Unicorn”.”

“I underestimated you too. You do have feminine points.”

With her back facing the wine glass that was shattered on the wall, Mineva expressed her true thoughts. Martha hid her wry look as she showed anger in her eyes again and snorted, “Same goes for you. I should respect that arrogant self-esteem of yours.” She sighed as she said this, and tied the strands of hair covering her forehead between her fingers.

“But that self-esteem will kill. You understand? You just robbed the future off the Zeon remnants who admired you. Their only future is to coexist with the Vist Foundation. Women are supposed to play the role of protector. I suppose you aren’t?”

Mineva was already prepared, but the poison arrow in the form of words still caused quite the shock. Martha probably noticed Mineva clenching her fists as her lips, coated with a thick layer of lipstick, twisted as she sneered. “Excuse me. I’ll have to make a correction here”. She said as she took a step forward.

“It’s also a woman’s ability to use their self-esteem to kill men. Be a fine woman, and it’s best if you can turn that Banagher Links into your own fertilizer.”

Martha left these words sidelong as she walked towards the door. Mineva resisted the urge to look back and retort as she stood where she was. The door opened, and closed, and the poisonous air surrounding Martha, which filled the room, immediately vanished. What replaced it and struck Mineva was a heavy sense of fatigue.

Mineva could not exhale immediately as she looked down at the bowl of soup that turned cold. Her stomach that was growling had stopped doing so, and she, who felt only thirst, reached for the cup of water with condensed water on it. Her trembling fingers could not listen to her command, and some of the water that was poured in sputtered out. The water that drenched the tablecloth flowed down the edges of the table as it dripped.

''I won’t regret it, and that’s how it is.'' Mineva looked at the water droplets that was dripping and convinced herself in her heart. There was a familiar voice ringing in her heart, the voice of a voice calling for her. That glimpse of the face two days ago was more mature than it was the last time she saw him. That tanned and reliable face was only looking at her as it called. He too was imprisoned somewhere on this ship, struggling alone as he bore this heavy secret. He did not rely on anyone else, and there was no hope for him to be saved. He would continue to fight on until a certain someone he could trust tell him that ‘it was enough’.

However, that would be equivalent to defeat. Even if the opponent merely wanted to revert the situation back to normal after reclaiming the “Box”, Mineva would definitely not succumb to those people who took away Marida’s soul. She did not want a woman like Martha to let things develop as she please. ''I hope that you’ll continue to hang on,'' she cheered on Banagher in her heart as she recalled the words Martha said, shocked by this as a result. ''It’s also a woman’s ability to use their self-esteem to kill men—''she was prompted by the urge not to associate herself with Martha’s ego. ''I was intending to watch Banagher and my Zeon people die.''

''Then, what should I do?'' Mineva could not even make a sound as she, out of strength, put her hand on the table to support herself. She grabbed the wet tablecloth to suppress the emotion surging up her throat. The water oozed from between her fingers, and the dripping sound echoed through the commander room.