š What If: Mikazuki Augus in The Witch from Mercury
> Title: The Demon from Earth
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š Scenario Premise:
In this alternate timeline ā a post-Iron-Blooded Orphans continuation, Mikazuki is resurrected, cloned, or salvaged in a hidden Earth-based research program obsessed with reawakening ancient Gundam technology. This black project is rooted in GUND-ARM research, centuries before the Ad Stella timeline.
This Mikazuki is either:
A preserved consciousness uploaded through a neural backup via the Alaya-Vijnana system;
Or, a direct cloned body genetically reconstructed but rebuilt to house the original consciousness through GUND-based neural synchronization.
The project is called: "Project Barbatos: Thanatos Link" ā the most dangerous attempt at creating a perfect human-machine interface.
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š§ Connection System: Alaya-Vijnana Type-Z (Thanatos Link)
š© Description:
A fusion between GUND Format and Alaya-Vijnana, this system is a fully invasive, spinal-rooted neural implant that directly fuses the pilot's nervous system and cognitive map into the mobile suit.
Total Neural Overlap: The Gundam and pilot share one mind ā pain, emotion, thought.
Combat Performance: Reaction time is instantaneous. Mikazuki controls the Gundam as an extension of his own soul.
Risks:
Any damage to the Gundam is mirrored in the pilot.
Extreme psychological bleedthrough: The Gundam may reflect Mikazuki's inner state.
Continued use burns out brain tissue and degrades motor control. He's slowly dying every time he connects.
> "He doesn't pilot the Gundam. He becomes it."
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š¤ Gundam Name: Barbatos Thanatos
š„ Description:
An ancient, recovered ASW-G-00 Barbatos, rebuilt with cutting-edge GUND Format advancements and Thanatos Link interface.
Design: Sleeker but more predatory than Lupus Rex. Tail and claws have returned. Eye slits glow red, with core vents leaking black "steam."
Weapons:
Thanatos Spear: A condensed, GUND-formed anti-Gundam pike.
Hand-mounted bone-crushing claws.
Back-mounted drones that act like detached limbs (GUND-bits).
Aesthetic: Scars and exposed spinal implants down the Gundam's back ā mimicking Mikazuki's own.
> "Some say the machine howls before it moves. Some say it's not a machine at all."
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š§ Mikazuki's Personality:
This version of Mikazuki is colder, more focused. His humanity is dimmed ā without Orga, he has no dream of his own. He exists to fight, to destroy, and to obey orders.
But when he meets Suletta Mercury, he's...confused.
Suletta reminds him of a life he never had.
Miorine sees him as a walking war crime, horrified by how far GUND Format can go.
Prospera calls him "a proof-of-concept. A monster made from grief."
Elan sees him as a true Enhanced Human ā a mirror of his suffering.
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š„ Plot Role:
Mikazuki is deployed by a rogue Earth resistance group seeking revenge against the Benerit Group. His arrival shakes the foundations of Asticassia, and especially the Benerit corporations.
His presence:
Forces the world to confront the dangers of over-integration with Gundams.
Serves as a living warning: what happens when humanity becomes too close to its weapons.
Eventually, Barbatos Thanatos begins to "awaken" ā exhibiting signs of its own will, mirroring Mikazuki's fading humanity.
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š§Ø Final Choice:
Mikazuki can either:
1. Disconnect forever and die as a crippled, fading shell;
2. Or become one with Barbatos, fully losing his body ā a new Gundam god.
Suletta begs him not to. But Mikazuki, in his quiet way, just says:
> "This is who I am. I only know how to move forward."