“Mr. Carson! What a wonderful surprise!” Sarah called out, a bit startled by her captain’s entrance to her office. He looked formal as always, but the stiffness had subsided. He was among friends.

“Just thought I’d see how everything is going with the new Kaigiantess… Goddesszilla is her name, correct?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied with a nod, noticing how he was beginning to pace around the confines of her office. It wasn’t too spacious; just enough room beyond her desk for someone to move about, which Mr. Carson took full advantage of nonetheless.

“So… how is it going?”

“The results are remarkable, Mr. Carson… but at the same time, a bit strange and even unorthodox. She acts like an animal, like she’s a giant dog. It’s as if she’s not even human. The experiments with human interaction today proved this. She acts maternally to the man she attempted to kidnap yesterday.” Sarah watched as Mr. Carson thought over her response, obviously turning over some own thoughts in his head.

“I see… you wouldn’t happen to know why Goddesszilla would be acting so… peculiarly, would you?”

“But of course not, sir,” she said, becoming confused. “If I might ask, is something wrong, sir?”

Mr. Carson didn’t say anything at first, turning around to the door to Sarah’s office. It was opened a bit to the rest of the EDF, an issue which he promptly resolved. When he turned back to see Sarah, his look had become noticeably more grim.

“I can trust in you, can’t I, Sarah? As a General of mine?” A familiar nervousness came back to Sarah, knowing this kind of speech meant something big was coming.

“Of course, sir,” she said with confidence. What else was there for her to say?

“Good,” he said, taking a seat. “I can tell you exactly why Goddesszilla might have a few quirks in her personality and interactions. But it’s an explanation I can’t afford to have spread around, do you understand?”

“Well… yes, sir.”

“Good,” he repeated. “You see, Goddesszilla is most certainly a human. But she has a – unique, I suppose is the right word – past. She was born to an unknown tribe of people on an island far in the Pacific. Unfortunately for her, that island was not known to be inhabited. As a result, it was a prime location for nuclear testing. We believe the testing of a nuclear bomb known by the codename ‘Devastator’ coincided shortly after her birth. She was the sole survivor of the incident… because something about her changed with the radiation. It didn’t consume her, it made her evolve. She became what we know now is a Kaigiantess. She’s been living on that island for around twenty years now, Sarah. She is quite easily the first Kaigiantess in recorded – or unrecorded -- history.”

That was quite a lot for Sarah to take in at once, and she blinked in awe. Now it made so much sense: the behavior the animalistic patterns in everything she did. First and foremost, she was animal. She survived solely on instinct, without a mother or father to guide her. It would have been sad if she didn’t decide the best way to fix everything was rampage in New York City.

“But, sir, why is this secretive knowledge?” she asked as the question popped into her mind.

“Because the Devastator is EDF technology,” he muttered under his breath, at a volume Sarah could only just hear. “And it just as well wiped out an entire civilization. If news of that were to become public… even among EDF staff… morale would be lost. Hope would be lost. Trust… would be lost. Those are very important things to have, Sarah, especially in times like this.”

Sarah nodded her head slowly, agreeing with him.

“I’m not expecting you to think what we’ve done is alright,” he said with a voice firm and assuring. It was as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “I’m just expecting that you won’t find it so wrong as to let others know. That’s clear, no?”

“Of course, sir. The moment you close that door, it’ll be as if this conversation never happened.”

“But I do want it to happen, Sarah. I want you to know. Maybe someday others will know as well. But know is not that time. Continue as you were,” and he slipped out of the room like a wisp, disappearing into the shadows behind her door.

“Come on, Angie, come out!” Vanessa shouted to her friend, pounding the front door.

“I’m not coming out! It’s not safe out there!”

“Angie, didn’t you hear the news? They captured the monster, it’s gone!”

“…it’s gone?”

“Yes, it’s gone, now open the door so I don’t have to shout at you.”

Slowly the fortress opened itself to Vanessa and revealed her friend standing in the doorway, huddled into herself. She didn’t want to chuckle at the sight of that, for both of their sakes, but couldn’t help herself.

“You’re so weird,” she said, shaking her head.

“Thank you for that,” Angie said under her breath, about to close the door. Vanessa reached out and stopped her with one hand.

“Come on, Angie, I’m just joking,” she laughed in an exasperated tone. “I’m serious, though, the monster’s been captured, it’s safe to come out now.” Angie looked away, flustered, then released the door and allowed it to swing open.

“Well then what do you want?”

“The Teaho trials are still on, Angie, and they’re tomorrow! We have to get you ready!”

“Oh, I forgot about that…” Angie trailed off.

“You already said you’d go, it’s too late to back out now. I was thinking maybe we go to a salon and pretty you up for the big day. Whaddaya say?”

Angie said nothing, her eyes shifting from side to side, then raising to Vanessa’s with a faint smile.

“I thought I was already pretty.”

“Well, yeah, but there’s always room for improvement. It’s good to come outside every once and a while.”

“Just lemme get changed. Or is that not social enough for you?” she joked in a light hiss.

“That’s pretty sassy talk from a girl getting a Teaho trial,” Vanessa burst laughing as Angie closed the door again. It was all her friend could do but stand and wait, hoping it would open again, that she would actually step out of it. As if to challenge her doubts, she stepped out and smiled almost evilly at Vanessa, knowing she had broken her assumption.