The Chapter get Retranslated
Mika rested in the manor for a while before he and Lacus took a car to the villa where Gundam Barbatos was kept.
The car was very low-key, quite ordinary for a nation like PLANT. Lacus was a celebrity, after all; driving a flashy car would only draw unwanted attention.
As for surveillance, Lacus didn't believe "that person" had the capability to plant bugs within the heavily guarded territory of House Clyne. After all, that person couldn't afford to completely burn bridges with the Clyne Faction just yet. The time wasn't right, and more importantly, a falling out would be detrimental to both sides.
The small car pulled up to the villa gates. When the guards saw Mika accompanied by the princess of PLANT, their mouths fell open in shock.
"Whoa, no way... the 'acquaintance' that kid mentioned is actually the apple of the former PLANT Chairman's eye, Lacus Clyne?"
Indeed, she was the daughter of the former Chairman. The current Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council was Patrick Zala Athrun's father.
This change in leadership had occurred only a few days prior. The reason was that the Moderates, led by Siegel Clyne, were finding their voice increasingly weakened within the Council. Under immense pressure, Lacus's father had resigned from his position as Chairman, becoming an ordinary member of the Supreme Council.
Mika led Lacus to the underground hangar. As Barbatos's concealment was deactivated, the machine appeared before Lacus, missing one of its horns.
"How... How did Barbatos end up like this? What happened?"
Lacus had originally assumed Mika brought Barbatos here to pick up some equipment, but she never imagined it was actually for repairs. Furthermore, she knew how powerful Mika was. Barbatos was a machine that even a group of ZAFT Red Coats couldn't scratch, yet here it stood, battered and ravaged.
Mika shook his head. "Ah, I ran into a troublesome guy a few days ago, but I took care of him. Although Barbatos only sustained armor damage and it's not a big problem, it's still better to fix it up."
Lacus exhaled a long breath. "I understand. Mika, I'll take you to the Clyne family's secret factory. They will have everything you need."
"That's great. I'll let those old guys know and bring the transport vehicle around."
Mika seemed somewhat excited as he ran off. Lacus smiled and called out after him, "Alright, please don't rush!"
Only after Mika had disappeared did Lacus pull back her smile. She turned toward Barbatos. "Mr. Orga, can you tell me exactly what happened?"
"...Haven't you noticed? Something is wrong with Mika," Orga's voice replied with a complicated tone.
"Something wrong?" Lacus thought back to the Mika she had just seen. Nothing seemed out of place.
"Is that so? I thought you would have noticed..." Orga sighed, his voice heavy. "His eye... Mika's right eye was taken from him."
"His right eye?" Lacus's pupils contracted violently. She finally realized what was wrong. It was his eye. Mika's right eye seemed...
"Wait, what is going on? Mika's right eye was perfectly fine the last time I saw him! What happened?"
"I should have mentioned it to you before... the Alaya-Vijnana System..."
Lacus thought back to the mysterious, strictly locked code she and Hilda had seen before. "Alaya-Vijnana... does that mean...?"
"Yes. To gain even faster reaction speeds, Mika deactivated the limiters connecting him to Barbatos. His right eye was the price..."
Lacus turned pale, covering her lips with her hand, looking completely lost. "How could this happen? Didn't you stop him?"
Orga's voice turned irritable. "Of course I tried to stop him! But in that situation, facing that monster... if he hadn't removed the limiters, he would have lost much more than just an eye."
"I... I can't believe it. What kind of enemy could force Mika...?" Lacus couldn't imagine an enemy so powerful that a pilot as strong as Mika would have to resort to a life-threatening move.
Orga spoke slowly. "Remember when we first met and I told you about the Alaya-Vijnana System? I also mentioned that Gjallarhorn had someone who underwent a so-called 'complete' Alaya-Vijnana synchronization surgery."
"Yes... that was the person who had his entire consciousness connected to his machine, but Mika defeated him, right?"
"Yes, that's the one."
Lacus quickly interrupted. "Wait, you said that machine was defeated by Mika? Didn't he die?"
"It's not that strange. Both the Mika standing before you and I are people who have truly died once."
"Ugh..." Lacus was choked up by Orga's words, her expression turning somber.
Orga continued, "The moment that monster appeared, he targeted Mika. To ensure the Archangel wouldn't be caught in the crossfire, Mika decided to leave the Archangel and intercept that Graze in an archipelago. The result was a victory, but..."
Rumble.
A transport vehicle drove over, interrupting their conversation and stopping between Lacus and Barbatos. Mika jumped down from the vehicle with a faint smile.
"Alright, I'll load Barbatos onto this and then we can head out."
Suddenly, Lacus cupped Mika's face with her hands, startling him.
"Wh-What are you doing...?"
Mika felt confused as Lacus's left eye stared intensely at him. Lacus looked at Mika's right eye, which was clearly different from his left. A wave of heartache washed over her, and tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.
"Stupid Mika..."
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