Annual Review
Standard disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters do not belong to me. This is rated R due to language. This came out of a discussion that Relena and Zechs seemed to have an interesting effect on some people. (Relena's fan club, Zech's men.)
The white room was quiet. The five chairs that occupied it each had a different look about them. At one end sat a coldly clinical office chair, no frills, no extras, pure form and function. It was black vinyl with a rigorous scotch guard regimen to insure that it looked and performed the same every time it was used. To the right sat a chair that when new had every option man could fit in a mobile chair, and then some that had to be invented to make it the deluxe model. It's slovenly occupant had managed to stain the rich leather and wear some odd patterns into the wood armrests making the chair look older then it really was. Next to it was a chair that resembled a mobile throne. It's lush tapestry work and fringed cushions hid several compartments where its occupant had stashed some reading material and his sketchpad and pencils. Directly across from the throne sat a wooden chair that was shaped like a U with no back support. A simple cushion sat in the center of the U covered by a beautiful silk scarf, there purely for the Feng Shui. To the right of that chair sat the fifth and final chair. This one was brown aged leather, oiled to keep the material in excellent repair, yet warm and inviting with a sense of old world charm.
The room only ever saw use during the owner's annual review, which was scheduled to begin in less then ten minutes. First to arrive was a little old man in a white lab coat with a robotic right arm. He swept the room with a cynical eye and noted that, as expected, he was the first to arrive.
"Old fools," he muttered to himself and settled into his chair at the head of the table. "Is it any wonder they can't make a better machine then mine."
"Speak for yourself J, came the familiar aggravating voice from the door way. "I am every bit as good as you, I just don't obsess over it like you do."
The new occupant strolled in with a stained lab coat and a hot cup of coffee in his hand. With an air of uncaring nonchalance - one he had perfected in the pre-doctorate days when the two of them were nothing more then snot nosed little punks trying to one up each other in college. He flopped into his chair purposely slopping some of his coffee on the leather, knowing it would drive the pretentious J into a private tizzy. He noted the other flinched slightly but otherwise made no comment. No worries, the afternoon was still young.
"I see you are early as usual J, " G purred. "Are you missing your little test subject 01?"
"At least my test subject has talent, unlike you street scrapings from L2." J growled back.
"Are you two going at it again?" came the smooth voice of O. "You would think you get enough of that with your daily 'brag' sessions. If we could keep the bickering to a dull roar today it would greatly appreciated."
J's prosthetic hand only snapped menacingly in response. G took the high road and silently sipped his coffee. O simply shook his head and settled into his U shaped chair, folding his legs in his usual lotus position. He knew the peace would not last long, with those two it never did. With a silent plea for serenity sent to the gods, he began his quiet meditation. The quiet lasted long enough for the rooms final two occupants to stroll in together. H & S walked in engrossed in their own little conversation.
" . . . and that's why I only use premium lubricants," H said with a serious nod, "It gives you a much smoother motion, not to mention it helps save on wear and tear."
"I must give it a try," S responded, "I've been having a lot of excess damage being caused by 'Lubrication Breakdown.' I'll have to try your brand next time."
"Well, If you two are finished discussing what type of lubrication you each prefer, we'd like to start this meeting," J snapped.
"We'll discuss it tonight over dinner," H said diplomatically
"My treat, " S said with a warm smile, "You bought last time."
"Enough," J snapped, "We are behind schedule."
"Careful J," G said in a low tone, "Remember what happened the last time you upset the 'ambiguously gay duo'? We don't want a repeat of that do we?"
J shuddered and G had to suppress a grin. Yes, even he did not want a repeat of the incident, despite how it made J irritable for weeks afterwards. In all these years, the other three doctors could never pin down those two on their sexual orientation. Neither man had ever married, but then again neither had any of the rest of them. They both seemed to spend a lot of time with each other, but then again this field only has the five of them, who else could they share information with? G shook his head, some things were best left unasked. S sat on his leather chair and H slid into his throne and they both turned to J.
J cleared his throat, "Now that Operation Meteor has been underway for several months now, we need to go over the accumulated data from the various mechs and their pilots."
Each of the doctors brought out their spec. sheets and in short order they compared combat data. S stated blandly that his mech. "Heavyarms" was having problems with the guns jamming due to the extreme heat breaking down the lubrication for the firing mechanisms. H once again offered the advice on the lubrication he had developed to withstand extreme heat and friction so that "Sandrock" could perform in the desert without any loss in ability. G had to take a moment to gloat about the fact that "Deathscythe" had never been shot down, unlike a certain "Wing" who didn't even make it to earth with it's pilot inside. This degraded into a small bitch session about salvage rights and stolen parts. It took the solemn tone of O proudly announcing that his "Shenlong" was systematically destroying Oz Bases without any aid or attempt to hide it's location to silence the bickering. Once again the meeting got back on track, and ideas for modifications of the mechs were proposed and ratified.
"Now for the real reason for this meeting," J said, rising to his feet. His mechanical eyes irised down to mere pinpricks of light as he swept the room with gaze, "We need to evaluate the performance of our pilots. Since mine was the first I will begin. 01's early genetic modifications enabled him to watch and absorb much from Odin, the assassin whom I'd assigned to guide his formative years. His training was intense, and it helped him learn to devalue the price of human life. In short it was the perfect mold for the perfect solder. His boosted immune system and strength enabled him to keep up with a man who always lived by his wits, never staying in one place longer then necessary. Later I gave him booster shots to amp up his strength and immunity even further so that now he heals far faster then average. The less time in recovery the more time spent on the battlefield I always thought.
"As you know, I used the data obtained from our Alpha and Beta batch to genetically modify 01's personality. As you all remember, We were trying to make the perfect leader by modifying their pheromones to emit an intoxicating sent that would draw others to them like moths to the flame. We tweaked the endorphins so that they would almost get a high from being the best at what they do, forcing them to continually excel for that next rush of endorphins. As we all know, these modifications had some unwanted side effects. The pheromones were a smashing success, in some cases almost too much so. But the personality modifications lead to delusions of grandeur, and a split personality. Also they became do focused on being the best that they developed fixation issues. Because I wanted my pilot to blend in with the crowd, I chose not to do the pheromone modification, and rather tried to narrow down on the factors that caused the aberrant behavior. 01 never showed signs of instability like the Alpha Series or Beta Series until late in his training. I had thought the personality modifications we had made to the original formula had corrected the original flaws, but unfortunately I was proven wrong."
"It seems that he is also becoming a megalomaniac with fixation issues, just like Alphas and Betas. He truly believes that he is the only one that can win this little war we have set in motion. This in itself is not a bad thing, except he is willing to do anything to win, and sacrifice any one or anything to win. That, combined with his fixation on self-distrusting could make 01 a liability when the fighting is finished. Fortunately my modifications did fix the split personality issues, but not the fixation one. I am forced to admit, that although he is the perfect solder, he will have little or no chance of surviving this war. His suicide fixation has begun to impair his judgment in battle as he takes on unacceptable risks in his pursuit of absolute victory. I need to find a way to correct the fixation issue, or at the very least, change what he is fixated on. If any of you have a solution to this problem, I would like to hear it at the end of the meeting."
J concluded his presentation with a nod to G and then sat down. G grinned and took a minute to drain the last of the coffee from his cup before he stood the make his own presentation. Then, with a careless toss he threw the disposable cup towards the trashcan missing it completely. He felt rather then saw J squirm as he rose to his feet, knowing the other man was silently agonizing over the cup being out of place. With a wicked grin, he peered out the notch formed in his white hair by his long nose at the other doctors.
"02 is a remarkable piece of work. I also made some personality modifications, as well as some speed adaptations. You see, I wanted a pilot that could react as fast as he could think, so 02 has four times the neural capacity of a normal human. To go with his faster thinking, I also modified and conditioned his body to react without thinking to the impulses from his head. Now, unlike my Dear Dr. J, I had a different idea on what would make the perfect weapon. I let him age one year with a nice stable family, then I dumped him on the streets of L2. Adaptability I've always said is key to survival. The training he received in the school of hard knocks was invaluable. He learned how to survive at all costs. He learned how to take what he needed, how to survive everything life threw at him. I was preparing to collect him when a remarkable thing happened, a church took in 02. I watched as they taught him the value of life and love, and then reinforced the fact that pain and death are inevitable. It was then that I reclaimed him for training, and he came willingly."
"Now the personality modifications I made were different then J's. I used a watered down version of the pheromones to allow 02 to have a certain charisma to charm his way out of a bad situation, something he used with great effect in his L2 days I might add. I also tried to play down the personality modifications, not wanting an inflated ego to damage his higher thinking. The results were unexpected, but not altogether bad. 02 has all of the bad personality traits of the Alpha and Beta lines, but in his case they work to his advantage. When he witnessed the destruction of the Maxwell church he developed the split personality disorder. This both helped him cope with his loss, and form a channel for his anger. His alternate persona he calls Shinigami, or the God of Death. In Shinigami mode, he is able to best use his enhanced speed and reflexes, and he is also able to kill without remorse, for he believes himself to be death itself."
"He has an over inflated ego, and thinks of himself as the best pilot, but he is not so driven by it that it harms his sensibilities. This allows him to more objectively assess risk and possible failure, and then go try it anyway. The problem of fixation is also present in 02, but unlike 01, this fixation has had positive side effects." G turned to leer at J, "you see 02 has fixated on 01, and it seems he has made it his personal duty to watch out for him. He has already aided pilot 01 in several ways, including allowing 01 to pilfer parts from his own mech. to repair his own damaged suit."
J glowered at G but remained silent.
G looked smug and continued, " On the whole I find him a damn fine pilot, and I can honestly say his chances of surviving this war are high."
"That's because he's like a cockroach," J grumbled.
"I think my roach's cock is exactly what your pilot needs to break his fixation," G murmured suggestively.
"01 is not some deviant like your little L2 call boy," J huffed standing. "He's a ladies man."
"Yeah, that's why he ignores all the girls that are throwing themselves at him," G purred, "That's the real reason 02 thinks he has a shot at him you know. It's his seeming lack of any real interest in girls."
"He is ignoring all distractions as per his mission parameters," J sputtered angrily, "and you damn well know it!"
"He doesn't seem to ignore 02," S offered with a smile, "03 often comments on how much more alive he seems in 02's company. He finds it refreshing."
"02 is a part of his mission, of course he can't simply ignore him," J growled. "I think your pilot is reading too much into it."
"I have to disagree," H chimed in happily. "04 has informed me that the only time he can read any emotions from 01 is when he is with 02. He thinks it's cute and is totally for the match."
The red of J's face deepened considerably, "Of course 04 would be for the match! Then he and 03 wouldn't be alone in their deviant behavior!!"
"Enough," O commanded, "I have other things to do today and do not wish to have any more time wasted with this nonsense."
"Fine!" J huffed falling back into his chair and folding his arms defensively.
"As you wish Master O," G conceded with a grin and a wink at S.
S gave his a smile and a nod, causing G to grin even wider before sitting down. S stood and straightened his lab coat, stealing a quick glance at H before addressing the assembled doctors.
"03 was created almost by chance." He started out with a half apologetic smile. "I had been approached by a circus couple about helping them have a son. They had already had a lovely daughter, and could only afford one more child. Well, I agreed to help them, and thought that I could give them an improved child. So I modified his genes to give him a lean and hyper agile torso, and a heightened IQ. H was visiting at the time I was tinkering with the embryo, and he asked me to try out some of his new research on empathic modification. I never used any of the pheromone or personality modification tech we had pioneered in the first two batches, because we had not even discussed the possibility of making the pilots yet. You see, this was still just a favor for me. Well months later when this project was proposed, H and I recalled the embryo we had toyed with and decided to see if we could borrow the baby for a little testing. Certainly they owed us that much.
"Call it luck or cruel fate, but we arrived in the midst of a skirmish and the poor circus family had been caught in the middle. As we watched the wagon was shot and destroyed. Miraculously the child and his sister survived. We quickly recovered the child and ran our tests to see how the modifications had worked out. When we had finished testing, I delivered the child to a mercenary group to raise, and like J, let him grow up learning the art of death. I recovered him later for training and discovered that the combination of his latent empathic abilities and the horrors and rigors of war had turned the young circus performer into a cold, ruthless killing machine. 03 has only a basic personality, one forged out of necessity out of feeling the deaths of countless friends and foes. His empathy works only occasionally due to his unconscious desire to block it out and not feel the pain."
"His ability as a pilot is uncanny. 03 can walk coolly into the midst of a firefight, and shoot his way back out. Unfortunately he also has a fixation on death and he sees it as a logical solution when he runs out of options. He would have self-detonated if I had not been for the timely intervention of 04. I am uncertain if he will survive the war, but I certainly hope he will."
S threw a longer look to H, and then gave up the floor and sat down. H stood and smiled warmly at S, then turned to the rest of the doctors.
"As Dr. S has already stated, we tried the "space heart" modification on 03 first, and were quite pleased with the results. I refined the technology even further, convinced that this was the right track to overcome the problems with the Alpha and Beta series. I was approached by Mr. Winner and asked if I could help his wife have a son naturally. I seized the opportunity and quickly implemented my plans on the embryo. I gave it my modified Space heart, as well as the personality modifications as well refined as I could make them. Lastly I gave him the pheromone modification. When the day of the birthing was at hand, I was there at the Winner's request to witness the joyous event. I will never forget that day. Unknown to my self, the embryo had made an empathic connection with its host. Unfortunately, during the birthing process, the pain of the mother transferred to the child, and he internally broadcasted it back to the mother two fold."
"We knew something was wrong, but no one knew what. It all came to a head when we cut the umbilical cord. The mother's heart simply seized up as the young 04 belted out the first scream from his lungs, renting the air with its piteous tone. I performed the autopsy and learned the truth of all this later, but inwardly I had suspected this was the case all along. I offered my services as a teacher and became known as Instructor H to the young 04. Through my guidance he studied the ancient art of war, and learned that a good plan was almost more important then a great machine. He learned fast, and the ability to sense what other around him were feeling tempered his ego. 01 became a brilliant tactician, and with the help of his space heart and pheromones was well loved by all who knew him. When I showed him the Gundam, and explained our cause, he joined willingly, even though it made his father sad."
"He has made some powerful allies in the desert with the Maguanacs, and they will fight to the last man for him. Unfortunately he too has developed a fixation, but like 02 it is with another pilot, 03. I cannot say if this is a side effect of the personality modification, or if it is just because he senses a kindred spirit in 03. It is my hope that perhaps he can teach 03 how to open his space heart once again, and instill in 03 a desire to live. As a Gundam pilot he is quite skilled, though not as skilled as the others. As a tactician, he is unequaled. If the five will hook up under his guidance they will be an unstoppable force."
H concluded with a short bow, and cast a glance at Master O, whose eyes remained closed. Once he resumed his seat, Master O opened his eyes, and without rising began his summery.
"As agreed, Chang has no modifications. As our control subject, we can gauge the value of these modifications. Chang was selected from one of the elite marshal arts clans on L5, the first son of the most talented couple on that colony. He was trained from birth to value honor and justice above all else. His physical training was far more rigorous then any other in the colony. I insisted on him studying six hours a day, to broaden his mind, and the sensei insisted he train four to eight hours. So, for 15 hours a day, he trained and studied, always chastised for his weakness if he could not keep pace with his busy schedule. When he was old enough, he took a bride, a beautiful girl named Nataku. He thought her weak because she only studied and trained for the standard eight hours a day. He would later regret that assessment as she left into space to fight for the colony, and died before he could help her in Shenlong."
"It was then out of anger that he chose to fight for justice, for the weak that should not fight. He renamed his Gundam Nataku in the memory of his dead wife and took the fight to those who started it. Chang's skills are on par with any other pilot here, and his reputation in the earth's sphere is beyond reproach. True, he is a bit arrogant, and bears a grudge against women, but nothing can stop him when he is in the heat of battle. In truth, I think the tinkering you all did was for nothing. There is nothing training and skill cannot overcome."
Master O closed his eyes once more and silence filled the room. J nodded and addressed the others from the head of the table.
"Well then, it certainly seems like the latest batch is far superior then the first two, but that brings us to the final point on out agenda. What should we do about the Alpha models and the Beta models?"
"Nothing," Master O spoke up, "let the stronger prove to be victorious."
"Yes J," H chimed in, "I say we let them be. It will be good to test the new models on the old ones."
"I agree," S added.
"You would," J grumbled.
"Relax and let them continue on as is, J." G smirked, "It will be interesting to see what will become of them. Besides, the alpha series models, Treize and Une are already causing a rift in the OZ forces, and you know what they say- 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' or something like that."
"You are just grinning because the betas are stalking 01 and you find that incredibly funny," J snorted in disgust.
"I told you not to make a batch for the Sanc Kingdom, but no, you had to get on your soapbox and say, what harm could a pair of enhanced pacifists be? Well now you know. One of them shot your precious 01 down on his way to earth, the other is ruthlessly stalking him and causing him all kinds of trouble. That is one hell of a Beta Set Dr. J."
"Oh you smug shrimp . . ."
The other doctors realizing the meeting was over rose from their seats and left quietly. J and G continued bickering as they too stood and made their exit. The door slid closed and a small service bot slipped out of the maintenance door. It disposed of the empty coffee cup lying on the floor and picked up the discarded doodles by the tapestry throne. It took a moment to place he chairs back into proper order before leaving once again. The five chairs sat alone once again, as the lights turned off for another year.
Standard disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters do not belong to me. This is rated R due to language. This came out of a discussion that Relena and Zechs seemed to have an interesting effect on some people. (Relena's fan club, Zech's men.)
The white room was quiet. The five chairs that occupied it each had a different look about them. At one end sat a coldly clinical office chair, no frills, no extras, pure form and function. It was black vinyl with a rigorous scotch guard regimen to insure that it looked and performed the same every time it was used. To the right sat a chair that when new had every option man could fit in a mobile chair, and then some that had to be invented to make it the deluxe model. It's slovenly occupant had managed to stain the rich leather and wear some odd patterns into the wood armrests making the chair look older then it really was. Next to it was a chair that resembled a mobile throne. It's lush tapestry work and fringed cushions hid several compartments where its occupant had stashed some reading material and his sketchpad and pencils. Directly across from the throne sat a wooden chair that was shaped like a U with no back support. A simple cushion sat in the center of the U covered by a beautiful silk scarf, there purely for the Feng Shui. To the right of that chair sat the fifth and final chair. This one was brown aged leather, oiled to keep the material in excellent repair, yet warm and inviting with a sense of old world charm.
The room only ever saw use during the owner's annual review, which was scheduled to begin in less then ten minutes. First to arrive was a little old man in a white lab coat with a robotic right arm. He swept the room with a cynical eye and noted that, as expected, he was the first to arrive.
"Old fools," he muttered to himself and settled into his chair at the head of the table. "Is it any wonder they can't make a better machine then mine."
"Speak for yourself J, came the familiar aggravating voice from the door way. "I am every bit as good as you, I just don't obsess over it like you do."
The new occupant strolled in with a stained lab coat and a hot cup of coffee in his hand. With an air of uncaring nonchalance - one he had perfected in the pre-doctorate days when the two of them were nothing more then snot nosed little punks trying to one up each other in college. He flopped into his chair purposely slopping some of his coffee on the leather, knowing it would drive the pretentious J into a private tizzy. He noted the other flinched slightly but otherwise made no comment. No worries, the afternoon was still young.
"I see you are early as usual J, " G purred. "Are you missing your little test subject 01?"
"At least my test subject has talent, unlike you street scrapings from L2." J growled back.
"Are you two going at it again?" came the smooth voice of O. "You would think you get enough of that with your daily 'brag' sessions. If we could keep the bickering to a dull roar today it would greatly appreciated."
J's prosthetic hand only snapped menacingly in response. G took the high road and silently sipped his coffee. O simply shook his head and settled into his U shaped chair, folding his legs in his usual lotus position. He knew the peace would not last long, with those two it never did. With a silent plea for serenity sent to the gods, he began his quiet meditation. The quiet lasted long enough for the rooms final two occupants to stroll in together. H & S walked in engrossed in their own little conversation.
" . . . and that's why I only use premium lubricants," H said with a serious nod, "It gives you a much smoother motion, not to mention it helps save on wear and tear."
"I must give it a try," S responded, "I've been having a lot of excess damage being caused by 'Lubrication Breakdown.' I'll have to try your brand next time."
"Well, If you two are finished discussing what type of lubrication you each prefer, we'd like to start this meeting," J snapped.
"We'll discuss it tonight over dinner," H said diplomatically
"My treat, " S said with a warm smile, "You bought last time."
"Enough," J snapped, "We are behind schedule."
"Careful J," G said in a low tone, "Remember what happened the last time you upset the 'ambiguously gay duo'? We don't want a repeat of that do we?"
J shuddered and G had to suppress a grin. Yes, even he did not want a repeat of the incident, despite how it made J irritable for weeks afterwards. In all these years, the other three doctors could never pin down those two on their sexual orientation. Neither man had ever married, but then again neither had any of the rest of them. They both seemed to spend a lot of time with each other, but then again this field only has the five of them, who else could they share information with? G shook his head, some things were best left unasked. S sat on his leather chair and H slid into his throne and they both turned to J.
J cleared his throat, "Now that Operation Meteor has been underway for several months now, we need to go over the accumulated data from the various mechs and their pilots."
Each of the doctors brought out their spec. sheets and in short order they compared combat data. S stated blandly that his mech. "Heavyarms" was having problems with the guns jamming due to the extreme heat breaking down the lubrication for the firing mechanisms. H once again offered the advice on the lubrication he had developed to withstand extreme heat and friction so that "Sandrock" could perform in the desert without any loss in ability. G had to take a moment to gloat about the fact that "Deathscythe" had never been shot down, unlike a certain "Wing" who didn't even make it to earth with it's pilot inside. This degraded into a small bitch session about salvage rights and stolen parts. It took the solemn tone of O proudly announcing that his "Shenlong" was systematically destroying Oz Bases without any aid or attempt to hide it's location to silence the bickering. Once again the meeting got back on track, and ideas for modifications of the mechs were proposed and ratified.
"Now for the real reason for this meeting," J said, rising to his feet. His mechanical eyes irised down to mere pinpricks of light as he swept the room with gaze, "We need to evaluate the performance of our pilots. Since mine was the first I will begin. 01's early genetic modifications enabled him to watch and absorb much from Odin, the assassin whom I'd assigned to guide his formative years. His training was intense, and it helped him learn to devalue the price of human life. In short it was the perfect mold for the perfect solder. His boosted immune system and strength enabled him to keep up with a man who always lived by his wits, never staying in one place longer then necessary. Later I gave him booster shots to amp up his strength and immunity even further so that now he heals far faster then average. The less time in recovery the more time spent on the battlefield I always thought.
"As you know, I used the data obtained from our Alpha and Beta batch to genetically modify 01's personality. As you all remember, We were trying to make the perfect leader by modifying their pheromones to emit an intoxicating sent that would draw others to them like moths to the flame. We tweaked the endorphins so that they would almost get a high from being the best at what they do, forcing them to continually excel for that next rush of endorphins. As we all know, these modifications had some unwanted side effects. The pheromones were a smashing success, in some cases almost too much so. But the personality modifications lead to delusions of grandeur, and a split personality. Also they became do focused on being the best that they developed fixation issues. Because I wanted my pilot to blend in with the crowd, I chose not to do the pheromone modification, and rather tried to narrow down on the factors that caused the aberrant behavior. 01 never showed signs of instability like the Alpha Series or Beta Series until late in his training. I had thought the personality modifications we had made to the original formula had corrected the original flaws, but unfortunately I was proven wrong."
"It seems that he is also becoming a megalomaniac with fixation issues, just like Alphas and Betas. He truly believes that he is the only one that can win this little war we have set in motion. This in itself is not a bad thing, except he is willing to do anything to win, and sacrifice any one or anything to win. That, combined with his fixation on self-distrusting could make 01 a liability when the fighting is finished. Fortunately my modifications did fix the split personality issues, but not the fixation one. I am forced to admit, that although he is the perfect solder, he will have little or no chance of surviving this war. His suicide fixation has begun to impair his judgment in battle as he takes on unacceptable risks in his pursuit of absolute victory. I need to find a way to correct the fixation issue, or at the very least, change what he is fixated on. If any of you have a solution to this problem, I would like to hear it at the end of the meeting."
J concluded his presentation with a nod to G and then sat down. G grinned and took a minute to drain the last of the coffee from his cup before he stood the make his own presentation. Then, with a careless toss he threw the disposable cup towards the trashcan missing it completely. He felt rather then saw J squirm as he rose to his feet, knowing the other man was silently agonizing over the cup being out of place. With a wicked grin, he peered out the notch formed in his white hair by his long nose at the other doctors.
"02 is a remarkable piece of work. I also made some personality modifications, as well as some speed adaptations. You see, I wanted a pilot that could react as fast as he could think, so 02 has four times the neural capacity of a normal human. To go with his faster thinking, I also modified and conditioned his body to react without thinking to the impulses from his head. Now, unlike my Dear Dr. J, I had a different idea on what would make the perfect weapon. I let him age one year with a nice stable family, then I dumped him on the streets of L2. Adaptability I've always said is key to survival. The training he received in the school of hard knocks was invaluable. He learned how to survive at all costs. He learned how to take what he needed, how to survive everything life threw at him. I was preparing to collect him when a remarkable thing happened, a church took in 02. I watched as they taught him the value of life and love, and then reinforced the fact that pain and death are inevitable. It was then that I reclaimed him for training, and he came willingly."
"Now the personality modifications I made were different then J's. I used a watered down version of the pheromones to allow 02 to have a certain charisma to charm his way out of a bad situation, something he used with great effect in his L2 days I might add. I also tried to play down the personality modifications, not wanting an inflated ego to damage his higher thinking. The results were unexpected, but not altogether bad. 02 has all of the bad personality traits of the Alpha and Beta lines, but in his case they work to his advantage. When he witnessed the destruction of the Maxwell church he developed the split personality disorder. This both helped him cope with his loss, and form a channel for his anger. His alternate persona he calls Shinigami, or the God of Death. In Shinigami mode, he is able to best use his enhanced speed and reflexes, and he is also able to kill without remorse, for he believes himself to be death itself."
"He has an over inflated ego, and thinks of himself as the best pilot, but he is not so driven by it that it harms his sensibilities. This allows him to more objectively assess risk and possible failure, and then go try it anyway. The problem of fixation is also present in 02, but unlike 01, this fixation has had positive side effects." G turned to leer at J, "you see 02 has fixated on 01, and it seems he has made it his personal duty to watch out for him. He has already aided pilot 01 in several ways, including allowing 01 to pilfer parts from his own mech. to repair his own damaged suit."
J glowered at G but remained silent.
G looked smug and continued, " On the whole I find him a damn fine pilot, and I can honestly say his chances of surviving this war are high."
"That's because he's like a cockroach," J grumbled.
"I think my roach's cock is exactly what your pilot needs to break his fixation," G murmured suggestively.
"01 is not some deviant like your little L2 call boy," J huffed standing. "He's a ladies man."
"Yeah, that's why he ignores all the girls that are throwing themselves at him," G purred, "That's the real reason 02 thinks he has a shot at him you know. It's his seeming lack of any real interest in girls."
"He is ignoring all distractions as per his mission parameters," J sputtered angrily, "and you damn well know it!"
"He doesn't seem to ignore 02," S offered with a smile, "03 often comments on how much more alive he seems in 02's company. He finds it refreshing."
"02 is a part of his mission, of course he can't simply ignore him," J growled. "I think your pilot is reading too much into it."
"I have to disagree," H chimed in happily. "04 has informed me that the only time he can read any emotions from 01 is when he is with 02. He thinks it's cute and is totally for the match."
The red of J's face deepened considerably, "Of course 04 would be for the match! Then he and 03 wouldn't be alone in their deviant behavior!!"
"Enough," O commanded, "I have other things to do today and do not wish to have any more time wasted with this nonsense."
"Fine!" J huffed falling back into his chair and folding his arms defensively.
"As you wish Master O," G conceded with a grin and a wink at S.
S gave his a smile and a nod, causing G to grin even wider before sitting down. S stood and straightened his lab coat, stealing a quick glance at H before addressing the assembled doctors.
"03 was created almost by chance." He started out with a half apologetic smile. "I had been approached by a circus couple about helping them have a son. They had already had a lovely daughter, and could only afford one more child. Well, I agreed to help them, and thought that I could give them an improved child. So I modified his genes to give him a lean and hyper agile torso, and a heightened IQ. H was visiting at the time I was tinkering with the embryo, and he asked me to try out some of his new research on empathic modification. I never used any of the pheromone or personality modification tech we had pioneered in the first two batches, because we had not even discussed the possibility of making the pilots yet. You see, this was still just a favor for me. Well months later when this project was proposed, H and I recalled the embryo we had toyed with and decided to see if we could borrow the baby for a little testing. Certainly they owed us that much.
"Call it luck or cruel fate, but we arrived in the midst of a skirmish and the poor circus family had been caught in the middle. As we watched the wagon was shot and destroyed. Miraculously the child and his sister survived. We quickly recovered the child and ran our tests to see how the modifications had worked out. When we had finished testing, I delivered the child to a mercenary group to raise, and like J, let him grow up learning the art of death. I recovered him later for training and discovered that the combination of his latent empathic abilities and the horrors and rigors of war had turned the young circus performer into a cold, ruthless killing machine. 03 has only a basic personality, one forged out of necessity out of feeling the deaths of countless friends and foes. His empathy works only occasionally due to his unconscious desire to block it out and not feel the pain."
"His ability as a pilot is uncanny. 03 can walk coolly into the midst of a firefight, and shoot his way back out. Unfortunately he also has a fixation on death and he sees it as a logical solution when he runs out of options. He would have self-detonated if I had not been for the timely intervention of 04. I am uncertain if he will survive the war, but I certainly hope he will."
S threw a longer look to H, and then gave up the floor and sat down. H stood and smiled warmly at S, then turned to the rest of the doctors.
"As Dr. S has already stated, we tried the "space heart" modification on 03 first, and were quite pleased with the results. I refined the technology even further, convinced that this was the right track to overcome the problems with the Alpha and Beta series. I was approached by Mr. Winner and asked if I could help his wife have a son naturally. I seized the opportunity and quickly implemented my plans on the embryo. I gave it my modified Space heart, as well as the personality modifications as well refined as I could make them. Lastly I gave him the pheromone modification. When the day of the birthing was at hand, I was there at the Winner's request to witness the joyous event. I will never forget that day. Unknown to my self, the embryo had made an empathic connection with its host. Unfortunately, during the birthing process, the pain of the mother transferred to the child, and he internally broadcasted it back to the mother two fold."
"We knew something was wrong, but no one knew what. It all came to a head when we cut the umbilical cord. The mother's heart simply seized up as the young 04 belted out the first scream from his lungs, renting the air with its piteous tone. I performed the autopsy and learned the truth of all this later, but inwardly I had suspected this was the case all along. I offered my services as a teacher and became known as Instructor H to the young 04. Through my guidance he studied the ancient art of war, and learned that a good plan was almost more important then a great machine. He learned fast, and the ability to sense what other around him were feeling tempered his ego. 01 became a brilliant tactician, and with the help of his space heart and pheromones was well loved by all who knew him. When I showed him the Gundam, and explained our cause, he joined willingly, even though it made his father sad."
"He has made some powerful allies in the desert with the Maguanacs, and they will fight to the last man for him. Unfortunately he too has developed a fixation, but like 02 it is with another pilot, 03. I cannot say if this is a side effect of the personality modification, or if it is just because he senses a kindred spirit in 03. It is my hope that perhaps he can teach 03 how to open his space heart once again, and instill in 03 a desire to live. As a Gundam pilot he is quite skilled, though not as skilled as the others. As a tactician, he is unequaled. If the five will hook up under his guidance they will be an unstoppable force."
H concluded with a short bow, and cast a glance at Master O, whose eyes remained closed. Once he resumed his seat, Master O opened his eyes, and without rising began his summery.
"As agreed, Chang has no modifications. As our control subject, we can gauge the value of these modifications. Chang was selected from one of the elite marshal arts clans on L5, the first son of the most talented couple on that colony. He was trained from birth to value honor and justice above all else. His physical training was far more rigorous then any other in the colony. I insisted on him studying six hours a day, to broaden his mind, and the sensei insisted he train four to eight hours. So, for 15 hours a day, he trained and studied, always chastised for his weakness if he could not keep pace with his busy schedule. When he was old enough, he took a bride, a beautiful girl named Nataku. He thought her weak because she only studied and trained for the standard eight hours a day. He would later regret that assessment as she left into space to fight for the colony, and died before he could help her in Shenlong."
"It was then out of anger that he chose to fight for justice, for the weak that should not fight. He renamed his Gundam Nataku in the memory of his dead wife and took the fight to those who started it. Chang's skills are on par with any other pilot here, and his reputation in the earth's sphere is beyond reproach. True, he is a bit arrogant, and bears a grudge against women, but nothing can stop him when he is in the heat of battle. In truth, I think the tinkering you all did was for nothing. There is nothing training and skill cannot overcome."
Master O closed his eyes once more and silence filled the room. J nodded and addressed the others from the head of the table.
"Well then, it certainly seems like the latest batch is far superior then the first two, but that brings us to the final point on out agenda. What should we do about the Alpha models and the Beta models?"
"Nothing," Master O spoke up, "let the stronger prove to be victorious."
"Yes J," H chimed in, "I say we let them be. It will be good to test the new models on the old ones."
"I agree," S added.
"You would," J grumbled.
"Relax and let them continue on as is, J." G smirked, "It will be interesting to see what will become of them. Besides, the alpha series models, Treize and Une are already causing a rift in the OZ forces, and you know what they say- 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' or something like that."
"You are just grinning because the betas are stalking 01 and you find that incredibly funny," J snorted in disgust.
"I told you not to make a batch for the Sanc Kingdom, but no, you had to get on your soapbox and say, what harm could a pair of enhanced pacifists be? Well now you know. One of them shot your precious 01 down on his way to earth, the other is ruthlessly stalking him and causing him all kinds of trouble. That is one hell of a Beta Set Dr. J."
"Oh you smug shrimp . . ."
The other doctors realizing the meeting was over rose from their seats and left quietly. J and G continued bickering as they too stood and made their exit. The door slid closed and a small service bot slipped out of the maintenance door. It disposed of the empty coffee cup lying on the floor and picked up the discarded doodles by the tapestry throne. It took a moment to place he chairs back into proper order before leaving once again. The five chairs sat alone once again, as the lights turned off for another year.