Zelene Birkenbaum

**Zelene Birkenbaum** (ゼレーネ・ビルケンバウム,, *Zerēne Birukenbaumu*?) is an antagonist turned secondary supporting character in the 86 -Eighty Six- series introduced in Under Pressure.

Zelene was a soldier and researcher from the Giadian Empire who developed the Legion. She was assimilated into the Legion as the first Shepherd with the callsign of **Mistress** (ミストレス,, *Misutoresu*?).

Her Ameise was designated as the **Merciless Queen** (無慈悲な女王,, *Mujihina Joou*?) by the Eighty-Sixth Strike Package prior to confirmation of her identity.

## Appearance

As a pureblood Pyrope it can be assumed Zelene had bloodred eyes and hair when she was human.

The liquid micromachines imitation based on her had very long hair, a prominent forehead, gentle eyes, a slender nose, thin lips, and a pointed jaw. All those traits can be assumed to be what Zelene looked as a human.

As the Merciless Queen she inhabits an Ameise with lunar-white armor and a golden optical sensor unique to the unit. The Ameise bore the Personal Mark of a goddess leaning against a crescent moon.

## Personality

Zelene is described as a soldier with a hatred for war, wishing to make unnecesary the lose of human life in battle. Her personal beliefs and experiences would shape how the Legion would operate. An example would be that the Legion could not develop its own weaponized aerial units, as she had a vehement hatred for aerial combat following her brother's death.

Her speech patterns as the Merciless Queen were cold and mechanical during her interrogation in the Alliance of Wald until she started interacting with Shin and Viktor, there she displayed a very human behavior and slowly becoming more open when answering the questions, even showing compassion towards Shin, or laughing upon hearing of his love confession towards Lena.

## Background

Zelene used to have an older brother who unfortunately died an incident involving friendly fire. She became reclusive after the event, Vika himself stated that she was a witch which cursed the world, this was the beginning of her hatred towards war, which motivated her into developing an AI that could remove humans from the battlefield.

Zelene used the Mariana Model AI developed by Viktor Idinarohk in tandem with the Alliance of Wald's superior Feldreẞ technology in order to create the Legion. She would apparently pass away from an unknown disease shortly before the first series of Ameise was produced. Neither her body or death certificate was ever found, due to assimilating with the Legion herself as the Merciless Queen.

## Chronology

### Volume 4: Under Pressure

Shortly after Shin's victory against the Phönix the machine's micromachines started to move again, forming a female figure which managed to mutter a message telling him to go and find Zelene.

### Volume 5: Death, Be Not Proud

After the Siege of Revich the Mistress made her presence known to the Strike Package, much to their surprise she didn't attack despite how weakened they were after the battle. In the brief moment of her appearance Shin could hear Zelene's voice which caused the Captain to suddenly awaken all his repressed memories from his childhood.

### Volume 6: Darkest Before the Dawn

Zelene was contacted by No Face to know why the original plan to capture Báleygr (Shin), Hveðrungr (Viktor) and Minerva (Annette) was rescinded. She was very confused after No Face called Baleygr a possible succesor to command the Legion just to later say he is someone to be eliminated.

As the Strike Package started the offensive she wasn't surprised, due expecting the United Kingdom to do whatever was necessary to survive. She inmediatly commanded her troops to intercept the enemy.

During the battle she identified Hveðrungr as being Vika, she remembered their previous meetings and how the prince's wish to see his mother would be what helped start the Legion War.

As she watched footage of the enemy lines she signed, wondering why some units like the Phönix weren't obeying orders. The disarray among the Legion caused the plans to go awry which made things more favorable for the United Kingdom's forces.

At some point Zelene left her chamber, she was spotted by Theo, Raiden and the rest of their squad before disappearing into a passage. Theo and Raiden quickly decided to chase after her.

The Merciless Queen reappeared after Shin finally defeating the Phönix once for all, she approached him slowly while shruging the bullets from Shin's 9mm pistol, she came closer to him as if toying with him, but before she could do anything Fido appeared an knocked the unnarmed Ameise and restrained her, the Mistress tried to fight back but her legs were blown off by Theo leaving Zelene unable to do anything before being captured.

## Trivia

* Zelene was acquainted with Shin's father—Reisha Nouzen—as fellow researchers.
* The voice Shin heard from Zelene is described as sorrowful.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Volume 6 Prologue
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Volume 7 Chapter 2
3. ↑ Alter.1 All-Star Perfume Battle
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Volume 7 Chapter 1
5. ↑ Volume 4 Epilogue