Searching [Milestone #2] (Finished)

Merrick’s primary conflict and goal is to solve the mystery surrounding his surrogate guardian’s murder and then dispense justice on the parties responsible. During story arc two, he has made tangible inroads towards achieving this end. First and foremost, he has learned that a group of individuals were likely responsible rather than an individual. Likewise, he has stumbled upon hideouts which the group has used as bases of operation and places to perform their nefarious activities, namely, experimentation on the various races. In An Unbidden Guest, he came into possession of a list of names.

Thus far, Merrick knows that the list includes members, allies and potential recruits. By examining personnel records in Seireitei and using contacts in the human world, he has determined the identity of a number of individuals on the list. The most notable among them is Amara Naren, also known as “Cloaked and Hooded," her name was revealed in A Lively Impediment. An individual who has tried to kill him on multiple occasions, he believes her to be a high ranking member within the organization. However, he also suspects that she answers to someone else.

Merrick has a number of wants. Clearly most important among them, is eliminating the individuals who had a hand in Josephine’s death. Likewise, he wishes to repay a debt to his guardian. He believes he failed to prevent her death and finding those responsible would be making amends. In addition, he feels he owes her for raising him as a son. Thus, Alain will have repaid his debt once he kills the bad guys and cures the illness which was used as the murder weapon. A secondary want would be to remain emotionally closed off. He doesn’t really want to deal with people if it can be avoided. He doesn’t want friends. He merely wishes to be left alone to live his life in the pursuit of knowledge and information. He’s content with who he is and knows that emotional ties only result in trouble and pain.

In order to accomplish these wants or goals, Merrick needs power in the form of Bankai. His many encounters with Amara Naren and the sheer size of the group, illustrate this need, but still, there’s no guarantee that it will be enough. This leads into his second need, allies or as he might put it, cannon fodder. The simple truth is that Alain needs help in order to obtain his justice. Even if these allies are only used as a distraction, he can’t go it alone any longer. This need has also begun to rear its ugly head in the form of his growing power. He realizes that the day is fast approaching when he will no longer be able to pursue his quarry in the human world due to the restrictions placed upon powerful Shinigami by the Gotei. Finally, his seemingly intrinsic emotional nature and the resultant emotional stagnation from Josephine’s death, will need to begin changing in order for his power to evolve.

Alain remains a difficult individual to interact with. So if someone’s looking to him for a friend or expecting to receive the warm and fuzzies, then think again. Nevertheless, there has been some softening at the edges of his cool exterior. Regrettably, not all changes have been positive and even Merrick has recognized some of them. While he prides himself on being calm and patient, he has found that more and more things have started to annoy him. In the past, such instances were ignored completely or viewed through a lens of indifference that left him unaffected. This is no longer true and a possible sign that the gears of his emotions are starting to move again.

Merrick likes the use of the term ally and has found a few individuals with whom working could be described as inoffensive. However, these people aren’t his friends. First, there is Machie of Fifth Division. Perhaps saying that he gravitates towards her would be too strong of a description. Simply put, she seems to possess qualities which make her useful to his endeavors while allowing him to maintain his need of secrecy. She’s quiet and rarely talkative, a plus since Merrick spends most of his time thinking. Likewise, she comes across as agreeable and hesitant which allows him to rope her into any schemes which he might be plotting. And A Little Something After and Early Morning Exchange detail his interaction with Machie.

While Shinigami are fast, they can’t be everywhere at once and given Merrick’s distrust of pretty much everyone, he can’t rely on Fourth Division to supply information when in all likelihood, significant parts would be censored before reaching him. In steps Janus DiNapoli, a spiritually aware human who is capable of being his eyes and ears. As a human, her sphere of influence is obviously limited. Therefore, she will hopefully be just the first of many human world allies who will keep him apprised of earth activity. An Unbidden Guest and Quid Pro Quo show this growing relationship.

On the antagonist side of the ledger, we have two names, Ai Shirai and Rick Rogers. First, Ai is a child-like Arrancar who has interfered with his activity on multiple occasions. During their first encounter (Mystery Man or Woman?), Merrick mistook her for an associate of the Cloaked and Hooded figure. As the first Arrancar that the Shinigami had met, he bound her in bakudo and attempted to study her mental makeup. Unfortunately, she broke free and escaped due to her superior speed. Months later (A Lively Impediment), their paths crossed again when evidence taken from the hollow Eurynomos (Sifting Through the Detritus), led to a clandestine meeting with a person of interest (POI) in his investigation. The POI never arrived, but Ai did. Still believing in her connection to Cloaked and Hooded, he followed the little Arrancar and his suspicions were proven true. She was working for the mysterious stranger without knowing. The incident wound up paying unexpected dividends. While Cloaked and Hooded conversed with Ai and two Arrancar, their identity was revealed. Amara Naren, former Shinigami of Fifth Division, was the mysterious Cloaked and Hooded who had tried to kill him multiple times in the last year. While Amara remained the big fish, he's unwilling to let Ai have a pass. He must learn exactly what she knows.

In Who Is Isaac Dean?, Rick Rogers of the Quincy was the first person that Alain had met in a long time who was his equal in combat or more likely, his superior. The Shinigami bore no grudge against the man and attempted to resolve the situation peaceably, but neither could he allow the bear of a Quincy to interfere with his questioning of Isaac Dean, a member of Amara’s band of rebels. As it turned out, Merrick bit off more than he could chew and was nearly killed. Humiliated and forced to escape in order to survive, he was dealt harsh dose of reality. The Shinigami doctor was ill-prepared to deal with Amara and cohorts, let alone their leader, whoever that might be. Despite the implications that this confrontation exposed, Rick’s slight couldn’t be ignored. The man had spit in the face of Alain’s one true ambition.

Although Captaincy was never something that he wanted, circumstances have changed. Certainly more of a selfish desire than out altruistic need for the division, he sees most people around him as weaker, especially among the Spellcasting Elite. There’s no clearer example of his growth in relation to his peers than to have risen to a level where he can take the reigns of a division. While people may quibble with his motivations, the role would be a means to an end. With increased status, he sees a vehicle to serve his ambitions. How those endeavors might change once he obtains his current desires, is anyone’s guess.

Although solving the murder and repaying a debt, has served as the means by which Merrick handles his primary conflict, the death of Josephine, the progress towards its resolution has revealed a secondary obstacle in the form of an emotional barrier. Though only vaguely aware of this issue at best, the signs of overcoming his emotional and personality stagnation have already begun. However, the process is moving at a snail’s pace. For an individual who sees himself as highly adaptable, and in many instances is, his inflexibility in this regard and how he ultimately deals with it, will be the throughline which likely carries his story forward in the foreseeable future.

For Alain, he’s aware that the death of his guardian has shaped him. What he doesn’t realize or is only starting to realize, is that there are problems associated with who he has become. Part of that problem is believing he had no choice in how he turned out following his mother’s death. In his mind, if he wants to make her killers pay and repay his debt, then he believes he needs to carry himself a certain way. Were Josephine alive today, she would explain how wrong he is in this belief. Alas, she has passed away. As a result, the job falls squarely on Merrick’s shoulders as well as the people in his orbit, to show him another way of doing things. Whether he’s willing to listen, remains a work in progress.

Aleith’Sor, his zanpakuto spirit, is capable of being motherly in nature. In truth, she’s the closest thing he’s had to a mother since Josephine. Having waited a long time, perhaps too long, for Merrick to move past his guardian’s death on his own, she has now started to actively try to alter his view of himself and the world. Then there are the relationships with Shinigami like Junko Gekido and Machie, individuals with whom tacit groundwork has been laid, which may one day blossom into more significant emotional bonds. Other examples like his growing annoyance with others and his belief that others are necessary to take down his enemies, illustrate a changing attitude.

However, he still might takeaway the wrong lesson at times. Whereas one might see a need for help, Merrick sees a need for distraction. As we’ve seen thus far, Alain can be very set in ways. When those methods work and work effectively, why would he change. They have allowed him to advance from Academy recruit to a Lieutenant level Shinigami who now sees Captaincy within his grasp. This is the quintessential double-edged sword. He’s very close to acquiring something via methods which need to change in order to evolve. As such, these changes won’t be easy and large scale emotional and mindset changes will be even tougher. Though perhaps being in charge of others will serve as another spark to alter his way of thinking. All of these little moments are stepping stones, when combined, hopefully lead to Merrick accepting Josephine’s death and becoming a new and better man along the way.

Since the death of his guardian and mother, the last four decades of his life have been spent serving something outside of himself. Given how dedicated and driven he has been with solving Josephine’s murder, he has only begun to scratch the surface of the question, “who is Alain Merrick?” The journey to answering this question will likely be the fundamental crisis for the character as they move towards the prestige realm.

Merrick’s defeat at the hands of Quincy Rick Rogers was a devastating blow. By having to flee in order to avoid death, it forced the Shinigami to reexamine both himself as well as the collision course (with his enemies) on which he set himself following his guardian’s death. If Alain still wanted to make his preeminent dream a reality, then he needed more power. The realization of his weakness has stoked the flame deep within the recesses of his soul, leading to much consultation with Aleith’Sor in his pursuit of Bankai. He believes he's ready for the next step in the evolution of his power. Now he's awaiting that final spark.