Chapter Text
Doctor Hayashi passed through the door into a beautiful garden. An elegant karesansui stretched out before him, dominated by a large rocky outcropping. A man sat crosslegged at its peak, apparently in meditation. A westerner, tall with wavy brown hair.
Hayashi was reluctant to disturb him, but this was important. “Ah, Garabadi-sama, do you have a moment? I am Hayashi Hiro from the Nakatomi Corporation.”
Of course. Just a moment. The seated figure did not move and his mouth never twitched, but the voice was audible and seemed to come from all around him. Hayashi felt a sudden sense of panic, but then Garibaldi opened his eyes and smiled, and the tension broke.
He slid down the rocky outcropping and patted it with his hand. “And what can I do for you, doctor?”
“I have a research project that might prove very useful in environmentally friendly energy production. It is fusion based and very efficient. The device itself is small and relatively inexpensive, so it could be introduced to emerging nations as a source of cheap energy, but there is a problem. While the device is small, it produces a great deal of radiation, making the shielding an issue. I have been informed that an ideal stabilization material would be kaiju scales. Your group is the only practical source of such a thing.”
“What sort of quantities do you require?”
“At the moment, only a few hundred grams. If the experiments prove fruitful, full production would involve several thousand kilograms per year.”
“Easily done. An adult kaiju sheds that in the course of a month.”
“Thank you, Garibadi-sama. I’m sure you’ll find Nakatomi appreciative.”
Garibaldi gazed at him cooly, and Hayashi was afraid he had insulted him, but when the man spoke, his tone was gentle. “I am here to protect the kaiju, not exploit them. Efficient energy production is a worthy goal, but I will not tolerate bringing harm to my charges.”
Hayashi bowed, “Of-of course Garibadi-sama. Such magnificent creatures!”
“They are very nearly human, you know. Much more closely related to us than even Pan troglodytes. We are considered subspecies with each other, like we are with the k’tos.”
“But the kaiju are so huge!”
“An adaptation. The mutation came with the ability to metabolize radiation and volcanic heat. Humans and k’tos received intelligence instead. I think we got the better of the deal.”
“But intellectually, they are still animals, are they not?”
“Perhaps in a general sense. Smarter than a dog, not as smart as a man. They are certainly trainable, though, even without my…methods. And they have their own talents, quite apart from merely their impressive size.”
Hayashi struggled to keep the skepticism from showing on his face. Garibaldi could sense it, though, and gave a small smile. He reached out and touched the rocky face of the prominence.
There was a rumble, and the rock face shifted and split apart. It rose up to a towering forty meters and opened a massive toothy maw in a great yawn. Eyes the size of city buses opened to regard the two men standing below it, and it bent its neck to nuzzle Garibaldi affectionately. Garibaldi picked up a large rake to scratch under its jaw and it purred like a jackhammer in bliss.
“Hodira is just a child, only five years old. When full grown he’ll be over thirty stories tall and hopefully, will remember humans with affection.”
He tapped the creature on the shoulder to get its attention, “Hodira…zen.”
The kaiju rose up again and looked around. It reached out a claw with talons as long as Hayashi was tall, and gently raked them across the ground. Where the white sand and gravel had been disturbed by its movements, it was once again in smooth arcs and ripples.
Hayashi looked at the creature’s efforts with shock. “You taught it to do karesansui?”
“He taught himself, after seeing the Venerable Phra Satō last year. Satō has brought students back here several times. It teaches them all patience and subtlety. Hodira has to learn to be gentle if he is to be around humans.”
He examined the creature’s massive flank, then reached up with the rake and gave him a vigorous scratch. Hodira leaned into it with pleasure. A loose scale fell away. It was the size of a door.
“There you go, one kaiju scale. That should be sufficient for your experiment. You should thank its donor.”
Hayashi bowed to the kaiju with no sense of irony. It returned the gesture. Garibaldi was right. This scale was worth twice its weight in gold to him, and unobtainable from anywhere else.