Saber Marionette J's major theme seems to be sacrifice for the
greater good. As such it is very emotional material, and at the
end of Episode 26 - the six OVAs - I felt compelled to write this.
It is likely that most people have not seen up to that point, so
I have to warn you that there are spoilers in the story below;
though only for the OVAs, as I did not touch on the TV Series, and
all events occur in OVA 6 of SMJ. Nevertheless, I feel that the
story stands on its own merit, and I hope that people will give it
due consideration. C&C is, as always, very welcome - especially for
a story like this one.
Disclaimer: Saber Marionette J belongs to Akahori Satoru, Kotobuki
Tsukasa, Bandai Visual and Movic. However, the concept of plasma
ghosts is entirely mine.
Warning: SPOILERS Ahead!
PLASMA GHOST
By Kagami
To a plasma ghost, sight is everything.
That is a truth that you will learn, young ghost. No, it is
not because we lose our other senses. Once you have ridden the
magnetic fields of Terra Two, surfed the great plasma conduits of
the underground and dived with the behemoths of the ocean depths,
you will realize that we have lost little and gained much with our
passing.
No, the reason is much simpler. Sight is the only remaining
sense that we share with our human siblings. The only sense that
bridges the gulf of death that separates us from our living
brothers.
Is that important, you ask? Do we not venture into a new
realm after all? Why should the antics of living humans be of any
concern to us ghosts?
Pertinent questions. Shall I then tell you of the sights that
I have seen? The visions of wonder, the magnificent acts and the
marvelous heroism? All that is lost to us now. Without fear of
death, what meaning has our lives?
Better to forget, you say? Perhaps, young ghost. You may be
wiser than I in that. But first let me tell you of one such perfect
story. It occurred when I was a young ghost, much as you are now.
---
My vision is fragmented, the story marred as I am carried
hither and thither by the random diversion of the plasma flow.
And yet, perhaps it is made more poignant even so.
My first sight is of a man. Blond and blue-eyed. A Galtlander,
but no ordinary one. I recognize his face. It is Gerhard von Faust,
absolute ruler of Galtland. He stands in front of a computer
projection speaking to ... a woman! No, not a marionette, not even
a Saber, but a real, live woman!
I see that you do not understand my surprise. Perhaps women
are commonplace on Terra Two now? They are? I thank you for that
information, young ghost. Let me explain myself then.
In those days, lost among the countless turnings of Terra Two
around its sun, women did not exist on this planet. All we had were
the marionettes, false replicas of the other sex. Only one woman
remained among the descendants of the six men who colonized this
planet. She was Lorelei, as you surely know since all women are
descended from her clones, who was rescued from the colony ship,
Mesopotamia, in a great endeavour by ... ah, but I perceive that
you know of this tale already. I shall not digress further.
Since only one woman exists, it took only the smallest
conjecture to realize that it is indeed Lorelei who stands there
speaking with Gerhard von Faust.
They converse in low tones. Alas, for I cannot hear any of
their speech. The loss of hearing bites deep, but their faces are
admirably grave. Faust gestures toward the computer projection. My
gaze follows. The projection is of a marionette's specifications.
But certainly, of no ordinary marionette. Not one, but three Virgin
Circuits! And more still. My gaze is drawn to a particular heading.
It reads Plasma Control System. For a marionette! How incredible!
The marionette series number reads NSM-X1. Apparently, she is
designed to control the living flow of plasma. The specifications
are so fascinating that my gaze remains locked upon the projection
screen, devouring the shifting information.
Then, the currents in the room shift, and I am made aware
that another watches both Lorelei and Faust as I watch them. It is
a marionette. One with long blue hair and eyes that glitter with
emotion and intelligence. Perhaps a Saber, but undoubtedly with a
Virgin Circuit.
For the longest of moments, I stare at her as she, in turn,
stares at the two humans and the computer. Then, incredibly, she
seems to become aware of my gaze upon her. Her eyes search the
room before coming to rest in my direction with a faint air of
puzzlement. Could she see me? A ghost? Could I communicate with
her?
Alas, the flow in the room sees fit to revive in that moment
and I am drawn away. Only the memory of deep blue eyes that appear
to speak of the ocean depths remains with me.
---
The plasma currents are disturbed; the flow dangerously
unstable. Pictures of the world appear as frozen moments,
followed by a blurring rush of jumbled visions. All is chaos.
Time passes. How much I cannot be sure. I try to focus on the
people that I have seen.
I glimpse Faust working on a strange device, Lorelei
working equations on a computer, and more, much more. The
blue-haired marionette walks with others of her kind. She is
speaking with a young man. Her eyes strangely fearful, yet calm.
She laughs at a drawing of a large cetacean. I cannot make much
sense of what I see.
Time passes.
---
The flow has strengthened. It draws me from Japones, whirling
me towards the peak known as Fuji-san. I cannot resist it. I meet
with other ghosts. No one can tell me what is wrong with the plasma
flow. They all share my worry.
Our conversations break up as the flow grips us. We rush
towards the ground. Plasma is gathering beneath Fuji-san and it is
drawing us along. It is the only explanation.
The peak approaches. For a moment, the world steadies and I
catch a glimpse of the blue-haired marionette. She stands on the
edge of the crater. Her eyes, ever I am drawn to those eyes, are
peaceful, filled with resolve. She leaps, dives into the vent. She
vanishes from sight.
I am sucked down, the ground absorbs me.
---
The plasma conduits are violent. Full of turmoil. For the
first time since I died, I am frightened. The carefree existence
of a ghost no longer seems so protecting, so invulnerable.
Plasma discharges explode against the rocky walls of the
vent. Their violence and volume increase as I am drawn deeper.
And yet deeper, until the light and heat seem to beat against my
existence. Until I reach the main flow, the vast and awesome
stream of plasma tunneling beneath Fuji-san, stressing and
straining the surrounding strata until our poor planet tears
asunder.
The radiant energy tears at my being, seeking to absorb me,
to dissolve my core. Pain, so recently unknown, wracks my ephemeron.
I look desperately for escape, for sanctuary, and for a mind-
wrenching instant, I cannot find any.
Then, I see it.
A crowd of ghosts huddle in a meager shelter formed by
a rocky outcropping. One waves me over with a frantic motion.
I struggle against the draw of the flow, slipping and sliding
until I reach the outcropping. Darting into the fragmenting
shelter with the last of my energy.
The pounding pulse of the plasma flow beats a numbing
rhythm upon the sheltering wall. The other ghosts look as
dispirited as I feel, crushed down by the raging energy torrent.
How long would our small sanctuary last? How long before it was
swept away?
Not long at all seemed to be the cruel answer. The wall
began to crumble, pieces of bedrock pulling away to be shredded
in the current. In that moment, I made peace with myself, fully
expecting to lose even my tenuous existence as a ghost.
To die.
A final and permanent death.
It was then that I saw her. In that moment of death. In
that moment of triumph. An angel with wings of light.
---
Her wings blaze with reflected energy, burnished white in
radiant coruscation. Light shimmers in her eyes, deep pools of
ocean-blue. I recognize her then, even without looking for the
confirming blue hair.
Somehow, the flow is calm around her. Like the eye within
a tornado. The plasma recognizing its mistress. I finally realize
who she must be. NSM-X1. A marionette with the prototype Plasma
Control System.
A marionette with three Virgin Circuits. Each the equivalent
of a human heart. A human soul. She was planning to channel the
plasma energy, diffusing the stream and preventing it from tearing
Terra Two apart. But, she would never survive acting as a conduit
for the energy discharge. It would destroy those delicate circuits.
Destroy her soul. A sacrifice then, for the saving of Terra Two.
A sharp twist in the flow distracts me from my agonized
thoughts. Something approaches from above. A second marionette,
riding upon the strange machine which I saw Faust working on.
I have seen her before.
A glimpse somewhere.
Yes, she drew the picture of the cetacean spouting salt
water. She had been happy then. Smiling as she showed her blue-
haired friend the picture. But, not now. Instead, her face is
marked with worry, etched with fear and concern. She seems
desperately determined to reach her fellow marionette, to the
point of pushing her machine beyond its limits. Indeed, the
machine is vibrating badly. Plasma discharges have damaged it and
it cannot last much longer. The second marionette leaps
off the machine as it begins to tumble and disintegrate, shredded
by overload.
She converts her leap into a dive, hand outstretched and
screaming out a call of denial. The first marionette turns and
looks up towards her diving companion, and speaks. I cannot hear
what she says, but she is smiling. A soft and gentle smile. They
are words of farewell and of thanks. Of that I am certain. She
turns back, and begins to glow as she gathers the plasma.
Bright, brighter, brightest.
In mere seconds, she shines so fiercely that it hurts to look,
like the heart of a newborn star. The furnace of radiant energy
being focused and released is so great that it impacts upon the
localized fields serving as ghost visual receptors, to the point
that a being without eyes can barely stand to watch. She shines
until she becomes pure white, a being of utter light.
Then, her wings shatter.
She falls.
The second marionette screams something. A name, I guess. She
drops down beside the fallen angel and gathers her into a desperate
embrace, weeping tears of loss.
Pillars of plasma erupt around the pair. I believe, no, I
know she has completed her task. I have to believe. Such sacrifice
should be rewarded with success. Anything less would be a mockery.
The swirling plasma erupts up the vent of Fuji-san, drawing
all the ghosts with it. The two marionettes remain below on the
crumbling cavern floor with the second marionette attempting to
protect her friend amidst the roiling turbulence. I am carried
along despite all my struggles. The flow breaches the craterous
peak of Fuji-san in seconds, piercing the overhanging clouds with
a column of energy, expelling plasma into the safe cocoon of space.
For a moment, I fear that all of us ghosts would be carried along
into space but luckily, the column spits us out, scattering us in
all directions.
She is lost to my sight.
---
When the plasma winds die down, I find myself free to move
along the planetary magnetic fields. Under my own power. I am free.
Free from the flow which had dominated all plasma ghost travel.
Free for thousands of years, I realize, before the plasma builds
up to a similar level again.
Free.
I want to thank her. For this great gift. But, I don't even
know if she is alive. I decide to search.
I find her lying upon a bier. She is silent, her circuits
dead. I cannot cry but I mourn. For her passing. For her sacrifice.
For the loss of the world in losing her. For my loss.
Others stand by, about to leave. It seems to be the end of a
ceremony of farewell. The second marionette is here, saying her
farewell. Lorelei is here as well. I hope Lorelei can repair the
Virgin Circuits someday and return her soul. I have to believe
that it is possible.
The others leave. But at the doorway, the second marionette
turns to face the bier.
She says a name. A short name.
I cannot hear it.
---
For a long time, I wonder who she was. The blue-haired,
ocean-eyed angel who saved Terra Two for humans and plasma ghosts
alike. Destiny seemed determined not to tell me, until one day,
the flow draws me to Japones.
Seemingly at a whimsy of fate, the flow leaves me before a
large statue. It is a statue of her. Hair, eyes, and form are all
crafted to perfection. She stands poised in the stance that I had
seen beneath Fuji-san, wings extended and ablaze. The artist must
have been told by the second marionette or perhaps the artist
was the second marionette. I do not know, but whoever it was
had captured the splendor of the moment perfectly.
I read the brief inscription.
'Dedicated to Marine.'
'Who saved this planet from destruction.'
'The citizens of Japones and Terra Two salute your courage.
We are ever grateful for our redemption and we shall never forget
your sacrifice.'
At last, I know.
Marine.
---
That seems like a good place to finish the story, does it
not? What happened to her, you ask? Did Dr. Lorelei manage to
repair her? Ah, well, that would be a good story for another
time.
But perhaps now, you understand why I say what I said.
To a plasma ghost, sight is everything.
---
NAI NO OWARI
Author's Notes:
(1)Plasma ghost deafness - Technically, sound is a wave, so ghosts
should be able to detect sound. Well, yes. The plasma fields
convert all energy into a form of visual perception so the ghosts
do detect sound. Unfortunately, they lack the ability to convert
visual sound waves into meaningful language. So the ghosts do not
actually hear anything when people speak. There are probably a
hundred reasons why energy fields don't work this way, but well,
it's just a story and SMJ science certainly isn't technically
sound anyway. :)
(2)Origin of the ghosts - Well, they were essentially a story-
telling tool but the idea came up while I watched the SMJ Series.
At one point, I thought - wouldn't it be cool if things like
plasma ghosts existed and why not make them dead people, somehow
transformed into a plasma existential state. It's not too original
an idea, it's been done before in novels but this is a first for
SMJ, I think.
(3)Virgin Circuit - otome kairo in Japanese; can be translated as
maiden circuit but I've gone with the Hecto and Shinsen Gumi
fansubs and used Virgin Circuit as the translation.