Editing KSGU:Volume 3 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 5===

The voice that came out from his throat was so hoarse it was surprising, and Banagher Links opened his eyes.

What first entered his eyes is the light panel that’s giving off white light. The light panel had a wire fence on the surface. ''It doesn’t look like furniture an ordinary house will have. It seems that I’m on a certain ship.'' On thinking about this, Banagher’s head started to move slowly. He remained lying down as he moved his sights.

There was a light antiseptic smell here. The fans seemed to be too loud for an air-conditioner. Most likely, it was the sound of the machines inside the ship making the sounds. From the way the sounds came about, this place was not a space shuttle or a working-class ship. ''It’s a larger ship—the sound of a large carrier-class ship’s engine running. '' As Banagher thought about that “Are you awake?” a voice came from beside him, and a man dressed in white appears in his sights.

One could tell from the slightly tan skin that this man with some moustache was of Arabic descent. Banagher immediately tried to get up, but the man pushed him back onto the bed without hesitation. The small torchlight shines right into Banagher’s eyes, causing his face to frown. "Hm," the man snorted and let go, and Banagher quietly leaned his back on the bed he was lying on.

He could see boxes with medication inside the room and 9 monitors on the wall. There was a treatment table beside the console, and there are documents of medical history. The wall beside the bed had small holes that are like mini tunnels, and they should be for something like CT scans. Banagher stared at his numb hands and notices that he was wearing a gown for patients. He tried to force out a hoarse voice, “May I know…this is?” The man in white continued to write something on the record and answered Banagher’s doubt without looking at him.

“This is the infirmary of the Nahel Argama…can you understand it this way? Anyway, it’s a Federation ship.”

Tossing aside the medical record, the man picked up a canteen and returned to Banagher. Banagher immediately realized that he was in low gravity conditions from the way the water inside the canteen swayed. He received the canteen and seemingly gulped all the water down in one shot.

“I took your wallet to check. Your name’s Banagher Links, a student of Anaheim Electronics Industrial College. Am I right?”

The man, who returned back to the treatment table, pulled out the chair and sat down before asking. “Yes.” Banagher, who could finally make some sound after drinking, answered,

“As we were rushing out of the port, we didn’t have the time to check the data of the colony, so I’ll ask directly. Do you have any past medical history or any allergies to drugs?”

“I guess not…is this ship moving in space?”

“Yeah. We’re still hidden inside the shoal space region. Don’t worry, the enemy won’t come looking for us so quickly.”

From that nonchalant tone, he could tell that the man was already used to such a situation. ''Enemies''; Banagher remembered this term that had nothing to do with him. Even though he could vaguely sense some danger, Banagher showed a relaxed expression and diverted his attention to the canteen that was already empty. He felt that the water was filling his originally parched body, melting away the weight that was built up within his heart. ''Why am I so thirsty? How long have I been asleep?'' He could not remember anything, and the brain that tried to recall was still not working. Even though he remembered he did have a very bad nightmare, it was just a vague feeling left, melting away gradually together with the weight inside.

''Perhaps this might be a dream as well. This is a dream I’m having in the AEIC dorm. Once I wake up, I’ll have to be careful not to wake Takuya up and sneak out to work in the morning—speaking of which, I don’t know what happened to the people of the Bubbo Company. The 4 winged mobile suit appeared in the Industrial zone. If there’s a disaster at the port, the office that had some gasoline stench should be…''

Banagher’s heart started to beat faster as his temples hurt. He used his hand to touch, and the feeling of the bandage reached his fingertips, causing him to gasp. Perhaps detecting Banagher’s current situation, the man asked without looking over, “Does it hurt?” “A little…” Banagher answers. “That’s proof that you’re still alive. Try and endure it.” What he got were such cold words. “The latch that’s used to fasten the helmet forced itself on the forehead. Without that, you would have died with your neck snapped.”

His heart started to race again, and this time, the sound is so loud that others could hear it. The latch was used to fasten the helmet—that machine that looked like it had an interrogation set attached to the headrest. His head was once held by that thing on both left and right side before pressing onto his forehead. The scene in the past immediately became a bright visual, and the thin layer that covered his memories was ripped apart.

The siren could not stop, and the monitor displayed the words “NT-D”. His body was then held down with such force that it felt like his eyeballs were about to explode from the acceleration. Finally, everything was soaked in a very viscous liquid, causing everything in front of his eyes to look like they’re in slow-motion…''what happened after that?''

The canteen dropped out from Banagher’s hand and onto the floor, letting out a clear sound. ''That’s right, I was once sitting inside that cockpit, piloting that mobile suit called the “Unicorn” and fighting against the “enemy”. Audrey, Cardeas, Takuya, Micott;'' several faces and names appeared in his mind. Banagher used his hand to support his head that felt like exploding soon. The automatic door opened, and a woman’s voice could be heard “Excuse me!” before she entered.

“Doctor Hassan, I heard that the kid’s awake…” Speaking halfway through, the woman’s eyes met Banagher, who lifts his head. “Ah, it’s true.” The woman’s round eyes became even rounder. The Easterner’s petite body had a grey shirt and white pants on her. Though one could tell from her attire that it was the Federation Space Forces, the woman herself did not look like a soldier. Once Banagher felt that she was basically a girl around his age, the man called Dr. Hassan turned around and said with a flat tone, “Oh, you’re here alone.”

“The person himself did indicate that the identity’s correct. I’ve already done the checks you wanted as well. What I investigated using the facilities here show that he’s all clean.”

Hassan showed a meaningful expression as he concluded and said this to the woman. The woman looked back at his expression and nodded. The grim atmosphere that came with the term check reached Banagher’s heart, but he did not have the mind to think too much into it. “Nice to meet you. I’m Ensign Mihiro Oiwakken.” She lifted her expression that seemed to be hidden before and greeted with a smile, causing Banagher to blink.

“Welcome to the Nahel Argama…the current situation doesn’t make it situation to say this, but are you alright? Banagher Links?”

“Ehh, well…”

“There’s a lot of things I would like to ask you, but first, I have to thank you. It’s thanks to you piloting the Gundam that we’re able to survive.”

“Gundam?"

“The machine you piloted. Am I right? The face was hidden thought, and there’s only one horn left.”

''I don’t understand at all. I don’t even understand what she’s asking.'' Banagher turned towards Hassan, who was facing the desk as the white back did not look like it was going to turn around. “Don’t you remember?” Mihiro’s head tilted slightly to the side as she glanced at Banagher’s eyes.

“I remember sitting in the mobile suit and piloting it. But at that time, my mind was just thinking about making it move…”

Suddenly, a pulsating pain came out from his temples. It was not the pain from the restraint, but a pain from the inside—“Is this kid alright?” Mihiro turned away from Banagher, who was touching his bandages, as she asked Hassan.

“I still have to do some more important things that will be of burden to him!”

“There’s a slight concussion, so he might feel dizzy. His body doesn’t have any problems. He’s fine, for a “Gundam” pilot.”

Hassan answered with his face tilted aside. Banagher’s confused mind responded to the term “Gundam pilot” as he and Mihiro turned to look at the side of Hassan’s face.

“This isn’t the first time. Every time, the “Gundam”…never mind, you’ll soon understand.”

Hassan waved his hand to divert both their stares away and turned back to the table. Banagher and Mihiro stared at the white profile, glancing at each other from time to time, and an awkward silence soon happened. “Don’t worry too much.” Mihiro forced a smile and said,

“We’ve checked your identity, so just answer the military’s questions later.”

“But the doctor just said that he didn’t have time to check with the colony’s records…”

Banagher saw that Mihiro was taken aback, and regretted somewhat that he just said something unnecessary. Those who knew about such things would have the other party on the ropes—especially in such a place like the army. Perhaps begrudging Hassan for saying too much, Mihiro glared at his back and sighed, gave a wry smile as she admitted to Banagher, “Your friend identified you.” Sensing that Mihiro seemed to be a gentle person, Banagher relaxed somewhat. On the other hand, the term friend causes Banagher -to frown.

“Those people look like they’re from AEIC, so I was wondering if they knew you. Asking asking, they said that they went to the colony builder with you when escaping and separated in the meantime.”

“Takuya and Micott? They’re on this ship too?”

Banagher really couldn’t make any other conclusions. “Do you want to meet them?” On hearing Mihiro follow up with these words, “Of course…!” Banagher answered enthusiastically. Mihiro looks at Hassan and gave him a look of dilemma. Hassan did notturn back as he merely said, “I didn’t hear anything.” Mihiro then shrugged her slender shoulders, lowered her head to stare at Banagher, and said, “Alright.”

“Just a little though. There’ll be a lot of high-ranking uncles coming over to ask you questions. Understand?”

Mihiro gave a stiff smile, which somehow indicated the seriousness of this situation. Realizing that he was in a troublesome situation, Banagher cautiously got off the bed and stepped on the floor barefooted for the first time. It felt eerily cold.