rassera | IC Contact

[The hardest phone call Kaneda's ever had to make. Fighting down that urge to hang up, because why should he talk to someone who just tried to murder him?

Why?

Kaneda knows why, deep down. Because he trusted Euphie, and he's got to find out if he still can.]

You were looking for Japanese to kill. That's...what you said, you know.

[There's a sharp intake of breath. She feels like she's been stabbed. The bullet that Lelouch had fired didn't hurt as hard. Why would Kaneda lie to her?

How can he be telling the truth?] N-no... I couldn't have... I would never...

[And that's what he was listening for. Her actual reaction to it.]

I was there--you were there.

I'm not making this shit up, Euphie!

[She's glad she's alone in the house, slumped against the wall, curled up in a ball, her voice shaking. It's impossible, what he's saying, but why would he lie?] --but I would never have! Kaneda, that's not like me! You know that!

[She sounds desperate, whether trying to convince him or herself.] I've never shot someone in my life! Kaneda, please!

[His head tilts back, hitting the wall he's sunk against, a soft thud heard across the feed.]

I wouldn't have gotten you to a healer if I--

It didn't sound like you, alright? It was you. But you sounded like you were keeping a goddamn score.

[Her voice trembles as she tries to desperately keep it together.] What... what sort of things did I say?

I don't remember any of this, Kaneda. I-- I could never have...

You said--

[It's hard when she speaks like that. Deep down, he wanted to believe, her, and in some aspects, he did. That's why he knocked her out. That's why he protected her from Tetsuo.]

'It'd be a lot easier if you just cooperated'. Something like that.

[The life in his voice is gone, like he was reading off a piece of paper--no emotion, just...getting those words out before he has the chance to dwell on them.]

[As he goes quiet, he can probably hear not-quite-silent sobbing from the other end of the line that she is trying desperately to conceal, but the very wet-sounding sniff betrays her.] Why... why would I have... I wouldn't say that...

Was it that light? Did... did anyone else act differently?

[There's something that wrenches his heart at that. Maybe it's because he knew how genuine it sounded. Granted, his mind was still reeling in how awful the whole thing was...but Euphie was now in that position too.

And he's a little grateful for it.]

A lot of people were attacked, running around...getting poisoned.

Some people died.

Kaneda... [She says softly, though there's a tone of-- if not hope, at least potential understanding in her voice.]

So it wasn't just me? Others... it wasn't just me trying to hurt people all of a sudden?

...Something was going down. That's for sure.

[He didn't know what, thought. The attackers had laser guns and poison darts, but what Euphie's behavior was...it was more psychological. Her weapon was an actual gun...]

You didn't look like you. It's like you were possessed or something--

[He stops. ...Would that be so far off? It happened to Kei back home...]

Possessed? Is that... would it have been possible? Did anyone else act like I did?

[Her voice raises as she asks the questions, and then turns small again.] ...Kaneda, do you believe me?

Not like you.

[Then again, he didn't stick around long enough to find out. He's not really fond of being shot.]

...

And I wouldn't have saved you if I didn't think something was damn off about this.

What happened to the others, then? What made me different?

I don't understand. Why would I say that? Why would I do that? I don't remember--

[And then she trails off; when she speaks again her voice is trembling.] I... I don't remember. It's like from back home, at the SAZ, I don't remember-- [The phone clatters from her hands onto the floor. Because it's so very similar. It's far too similar for comfort, and she's starting to feel sick from dread.]

....Euphie?

[Her question's lost, his voice showing a hint of concern as her voice breaks off, hearing the phone drop.

Is she--]

EUPHIE??

Kaneda... [Her voice is faint and very far away, because she's letting the communicator stay where it is on the floor.] I don't remember what happened at all. The only time... [She swallows.] The only other time that's happened... was at the SAZ.

Before I got shot.

Kaneda, what if-- what if something like this happened then?

[Her voice is soft, and it's not just from the comm falling to the floor. It's like she were waking up from a nightmare, her tone trembling and frail.

...

And then she says that last part--that was right. She DID lose her memory recently, didn't she?]

It can't be the same thing--[So why can't he say that with more confidence?]

Can't it? [Her voice is small, shaking.] Is that why... I died?

I'm not sure, but-- but if I did anything like that... at the SAZ of all places--!

...

That's where you were making a speech for Japan, wasn't it?

[Shit. He knows where this is going. He'd been trying to avoid this line of thought exactly. But no matter what excuses he throws into it...

The puzzle pieces add up too perfectly.]

It was... more than that. The SAZ was where the people of Area Eleven could be independent. They could call themselves Japanese again, and govern themselves.

It would have ended the rebellion peacefully, so... so if that happened...

Kaneda, I-- [She swallows a painful lump in her throat.] --I think I need to go.

Euphie?

[If her situation involved the Japanese...]

Euphie, don't do anything stupid, alright?! You don't KNOW what happened.

[Suddenly, there's nothing that describes the tone of her voice more than exhausted.] Don't worry, Kaneda, I won't do anything stupid.

I just... need to be alone for a while.

Thank you for being honest with me.

...Alright.

Take care of yourself, got it?

I will... try. I will promise you that.

[She doesn't sound sure, though.]

Take care, Kaneda.

[She hangs up.]