2022-12-25: A Very Gamia Christmas, Part 2
- Cutscene: A Very Gamia Christmas, Part 2
- Cast: Cascade Vermilion
- Where: A Secret Base
- Date: December 25, 0096
- Summary: Gamia NX-2 returns with her prize. Takes place just after A Very Gamia Christmas.
Androktasia X2 dropped the giant helmet, dark-coloured, edged in gold detailing, and bigger than most mobile suits could use, on the tarp that Gamia NX-2 had set up ahead of time.
A few moments later, and Gamia herself extricated herself from the head of the robot, having unhooked herself from the complex system that she used for piloting. She perched on top of Androktasia's head and looked down at the helmet.
"This is pointless," Gamia NX-1's voice sounded, before she stepped out from the side of the hangar NX-2 had brought Androktasia back to. Though they had their differences in outfit and hair - NX-1 was blonde and NX-2 a redhead - they looked close enough to be sisters. Which, of course, they were. "They didn't ask you to bring them this. There's probably no use for it. It might fit Androktasia X2 if you changed the shape of its head, but it serves no practical purpose."
NX-2 reflected that though NX-1 might be her sister, she didn't actually like her very much. In some ways they were just too similar to get along. They both knew, for instance, that they were competing with each other - though neither could really say what they were competing for, or why, or why it needed to be a competition. In other ways, they were just too different. They'd always defend each other from people on the outside, but amongst themselves they regularly clashed. Nobody was allowed to upset the Gamias except the other Gamias.
"I didn't invite you here," NX-2 said. "This is my project. Go bother Three." NX-1 huffed, then turned away with a swirl of hair and clothes, striding off into the darkness. NX-2 knew she'd probably regret having done that later, but that was a problem she didn't have to deal with now. She was on a time crunch to finish this; it was 4:16 in the morning and she needed to get it done before people started to wake up.
NX-2 turned back to her project. At one of the corners of the tarp, she grabbed it, leaping entirely over the helmet and to the other side, pulling the edge of the tarp along with her to cover the helmet. Then she went to one of the remaining corners and repeated the process. She couldn't really wrap something this size, but she could at least make a little pouch, tie it up, and then...
And then what? She might not agree with NX-1 a lot of the time, but even NX-2 had to admit this time she had a point. None of this stopped her from working on it, though - as she thought, she grabbed a third of the corners, pulling it up. It had seemed like a good idea when she'd thought of it, as Cascade. Christmas existed; you got your parents presents at Christmas. She didn't know how to make anything, so she'd used the skills she'd been taught to fetch something instead. It might be useful, it might not be, but it was rare and interesting.
But she wasn't Cascade Vermilion. She had to remember that. Cascade existed only at Nagoya, at Ashford Academy, or when she was with the Black Knights. She was a role, a sheltered nobleman's daughter taking advantage of new freedoms to learn about the world, who stood up for the people of Area 11 with a double life as a Black Knight. And while she enjoyed her time as Cascade, she wasn't a real person.
When she left Nagoya... well, when she was here, or on an Amalgam operation, or controlling a kikaiju, she was Gamia NX-2: loyal soldier, obedient daughter, heir to the kind of attitudes that Dr. Hell and Baron Ashura preferred. She could do what she wanted, to a point. Who was going to stop her? She wouldn't let them stop her, or Ashura, or Dr. Hell. She enjoyed her time as Gamia too. She liked to act, and to bare at least some of her emotions. It was a relief to let it out.
But some days - and she felt a bit like a traitor even thinking this - Gamia NX-2 felt as artificial as Cascade Vermilion. She didn't have an explanation for that. It wasn't something she tried to think about.
Gamia NX-2 finished pulling up the last of the corners, tying them there with a length of cable. It made an enormous pouch, but one Androktasia could carry easily. She returned to her own robot, leaping up it in a pair of jumps and reconnecting herself. She'd bring it to Baron Ashura and see how they liked it.
As she began to boot up Androktasia, she couldn't get one last thought out of her head.
If Gamia NX-2 was a role, and Cascade Vermilion was a role, who was she...?