Air pirate AU - TTGL fanfic, part 3
Entry: ganmen
\ˈgän-man\ or \ˈgam-man\
Noun.
A humanshape vehicle that uses its passenger(s) as a fuel source.
Plural: ganmen
Origin: "Gam", previously slang for leg, and "Man".
First use: 3025
- The Collective Language Dictionary
The history of ganmen is a particularly interesting one. They are, without argument, the single most influential technological breakthrough in the last century. Since the world had long run out of efficiently combustible fuel, scientists were hard-pressed to find a fuel source that was clean, efficient, and inexhaustible. A small thinktank of formerly independent scientists discovered that a passenger's life force could be tapped into and used as mechanical energy. It took quite a while for them to realize that the best way to harness this power was to create machines with humanlike anatomy--all of the test pilots for nonhuman machines were immediately rendered insane. Within a few years, the thinktank developed a design with surprisingly minimal negative effects, which were mostly an increased metabolism and need to sleep.
The thinktank produced quite a line of ganmen, each one more efficient and stronger than the last. The group had eventually been bought out by the government, as they had needed the funds to continue creating them. However, the majority of their production was limited to military-grade ganmen that could be easily mass-produced.
They had disliked the idea from the very start, but they had continued to develop their science in secret. Gurren and Lagann had been two of their last independent projects.
One of the things the thinktank had not discovered was the tendency for some ganmen to imprint on their passengers, resulting in a unique consciousness. This fact is still not realized by the vast majority of the world.
...
The doors to the bridge slide open. Kamina strides inside, flopping unceremoniously into the captain's chair before sliding forward into a slouch, covering his face with his hat. He was a bit nervous about the whole thing, but damn if he was going to show it.
Simon, in the corner of the bridge, hovers over a diagram of a map, currently tracking the ship's progress. He lifts a brow in curiosity at Kamina.
"So, she...declined?" he asks slowly, unsure on how to read Kamina's posture.
"Nope. She'n Lagann are gettin' familiar as we speak."
"You...left her alone...with Gurren Lagann?" More slow inquiries.
"Well, yeah. "Intimate moment", or someshit."
Simon's shoulders slouch. "I'm not following."
"He accepted her."
He stands up straight. "Really?! How long have they been at it?"
Kamina shrugs. "Fifteen minutes? S'why I left."
"Well, I guess if Lagann trusts her..." Simon turns to look out at the clouds. "...then there's nothing we should worry about. He knows us better than we know ourselves."
Kamina considers the statement and adjusts his hat back. "Conditions at twenty thou?"
Simon manipulates the console before him. After a second: "Clear. Wind minimal, south east. No signals for 200 kilo."
Kamina grins. "Great conditions fer practice. Begin slow ascent."
Simon nods and addresses the crew. "Ten knots, 90 to the horizon!"
...
"Hi!"
Total darkness. No...that was the back of her eyeballs. Yoko slowly opens her eyes and gets a facefull of...face.
"...Um...hi?"
The face backs up, so Yoko can see the entirety of it. It was mostly just that face--wholly yellow pupils inset hardened, angular facial features, and yet was plenty expressive despite them. It was as if its brain was exposed to the world, yet was equipped with a pair of dexterous arms and, by contrast, stubby feet.
"My name is Lagann. What's yours?"
"Yoko. ...You're a...ganmen."
He laughs. "That I am."
It hits her. This was the face that was perched on top of the ganmen she'd just entered. She had figured it was just for aesthetic purposes, just like everyone else on the surface did.
"...I'm sorry. I don't understand what's going on."
He laughs again, more out of amused understanding this time. "I'm surprised that a veteran pilot such as yourself has never met a mech soul before."
"That's just a myth. Wait, how do you know that I'm a veteran?"
"If it was just a myth, how could I tell that you're a veteran?"
He grins cleverly. Yoko raises her brow in confusion.
"Don't get so wound up in semantics. Look around. This is your subconscious," he says, waving an arm out to their surroundings.
She does. It's as if the two of them are trapped in a glass bubble, and on its surface are projected flashes of memories. Some long, some only a fraction of a second. Some happy, some painful. Some she remembered, and some she didn't. Some where she was in the military, flying freely through the sky without a care in the world. Some where she defied commands and was stripped of her ganmen, which was destroyed in front of her eyes. Some where she sat sleeplessly in prison.
Yoko averts her eyes. She now feels more naked than she'd ever been literally.
"I respect your privacy," the small ganmen says quietly. "That's why I want to ask for your consent before we combine."
"That's awfully...considerate of you," she responds. "According to the "myth"...this all becomes part of you, doesn't it?"
"Sorta. Kinda. I don't control how it happens."
"...Is this my contract with Dai-Gurren?"
An awkward silence. "...Contract?"
"Yeah, contract. Like, an agreement of terms. Of services. Of commitment."
Lagann blinks at her blankly a few times. "That's not how Dai-Gurren works, Yoko."
"...it's not?"
"No. All of the crew is here of their free will. They are allowed to leave, if they wish, whenever the ship docks."
"Shit," Yoko hisses in disbelief. "First I'm broken out of prison, then told that Dai-Gurren doesn't enjoy killing, and now that everyone here is here by choice? Next you'll be telling me that they regularly donate to charity."
"We probably would if actual charities existed."
Yoko buries her head in her hands.
"That's not really the point, though. Do you want to combine or not?"
"I..." She gulps. She said she'd jump right on in, didn't she? There was no looking back. "...Yes."
"Brace yourself. The first time always hurts."
"I know."
It was immediate. It felt as if her head was literally being split into two pieces. Despite how prepared she was for it, she still screamed as loud as her lungs could manage, and yet no one heard her. If it lasted for seconds or for minutes, Yoko couldn't tell, because half way through it, she passed out.