The Shadow of War

"It should be."

Durandal nodded at that and answered.

Ulen Hibiki...

The name stirred Le Creuset's memories. The face beneath his mask seemed to twitch.

He had gone through every file concerning himself in Mendel's archives. Those encrypted, sealed documents marked "Top Secret"—every page seemed to carry the scent of disinfectant and despair.

And Ulen Hibiki—this name was the beginning of every file, the god who had created him and cursed him.

That mad geneticist had used Al Da Flaga's genes to create him, a "counterfeit."

And the boy named Kira Yamato was probably that man's greatest creation.

A being combining every advantageous human gene, the Ultimate Coordinator—

"So... he succeeded after all?"

Le Creuset's voice seemed to squeeze out through clenched teeth.

He remembered the childhood he had spent in the laboratory, deprived of sunlight.

Endless tests, icy needles—

Even now, those memories still made him ache faintly.

But more importantly, the existence of an Ultimate Coordinator would affect Chairman Durandal's plans.

It meant that current genetic engineering technology was still far from its limit.

Kira Yamato's existence would drive people to pursue ever more perfect offspring without end—

"Do you need me to..."

Le Creuset lightly tapped his fingers against his knee. It was both a question and a suggestion.

His movements were gentle, yet the temperature in the carriage seemed to drop a degree.

"Do you remember what I told you? No one deserves to die because of where they came from."

Le Creuset's tapping fingers stopped.

Those words were like a key, opening the darkest room in his memories.

Regarded as a disgrace by Al Da Flaga and abandoned, he had waited in a corner for both his body and mind to collapse.

He hated that man, hated this world, and hated himself most of all