Section Two: A Young Dragon

It was good to see the green eyed pilot found the packet of papers I had left for him…for them all. I watched from the shadows as his eyes flicked over that first entry. Then he gazed long and hard at the dark haired pilot of 0-1. I knew he could still see traces of the fellow I described. That alone spoke for the validity of the record he held.

The willful destruction of the gundams after the 2nd Eves War hit the young men harder than any of them imagined, as I knew it would. Days after finally shutting the door on that aspect of their lives they found themselves drawn inexplicable together again.

The five young men knew the others capabilities in combat. They fought with, and on some occasions against, the others in battle. Now they accepted one another as allies…companions in arms…possibly as friends. But I knew they did not truly understand themselves…let alone each other.

They wanted independent lives, separate from what they had been made to do, but that was easier said then done. They instinctively came looking for some measure of comfort from the only ones who could truly understand their loss. And when they did, they found my journal waiting.

0-3 discovered it first, as I said, and his hand shook as he read it. He clearly realized what he held, and its importance, before he made any move to share it with the others. The taciturn pilot knew some few facts about his companions' lives, they knew very little about his own. But what I had recorded was notably different from all he had learned in both respects and he felt compelled to read further.

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Entry two:

Weeks later I was sent to A0206. There I learned Master O's methodology was significantly different from that of Master J. No sooner had I descended the ramp of my shuttle when the tall man challenged me. "You have come to see my young dragon?" he asked fiercely.

I nodded and tried to face the master with some semblance of authority, though I suppose I came across as dreadfully young and inexperienced. As he led me through the network of corridors he explained his subject, Chang Long, had been a gift from a once powerful warrior clan exiled to the L5 colony. When the clan leaders had gotten word of Master O's work for Operation Meteor they were happy to supply him with anything he needed to further his objective.

What he needed was a child. They complied. From an early age the boy, who had been given the name WuFei, had been an acolyte devoted to the War God Nataku. Master O used his technological genius to make this symbolic gesture reality even if it was only in the boy's mind. My first glimpse of 0-5 told me little about him. He sat cross legged on the floor as if in meditation, but it was not inner peace his mind sought to obtain. He was being lessoned in a much harsher school of thought.

Leather bands restrained his arms at his sides and a sensory hood completely engulfed his head. A complex umbilical of wires and hoses tethered him directly to the banks of computers and machines covering two walls of the chamber. The boy occasionally tugged against his restraints but by in large he sat completely dossal lost in the virtual world his master crafted for him.

"Most priests are devoted to peace and tranquility but not those of Nataku." the bald man explained. "Clan Long went to great lengths to train my Wufei as a harbinger of retribution, before I ever met him. However, despite considerable skill in martial arts, he was personally reluctant to the idea. And that was likely why they gave him to the program. The simulation eases him into a more accepting frame of mind."

I noted the big man looked satisfied with his progress. He continued, "For my young dragon, Nataku is now more than a disembodied warrior spirit…She is his young bride. I have breathed life into an ideal…and body and mind he is joined to her. In the course of the scenario he will watch her die, sacrificing her life for his. When the time comes he will choose the path of justice, seemingly of his own will, to take Shenlong to earth becoming the tool we need him to be."

"B-but it is not real," I had the audacity to remark. "If he were to learn the truth, it could destabilize him." I frowned. I had seen the files of the early tests of the ZERO control system. It had driven many test pilots to 'instability.' Some had committed suicide…others had died in decidedly more spectacular fashions. The control system he designed for the Talgeese was not as responsive as the zero system had been but there was always the threat that such things could happen again.

It seemed the big man may well strike me for even bringing up memories of that unfortunate stage in the projects development but he did not. He rested his hands on his hips and glared but his answer was calm and calculated. "We have taken great care to shield his mind from such intrusions. Everything he experiences is based on facts which can be verified independently. OZ troops did attempt to destroy the colony. Our Tallgeese took to the air and changed their mind. The pilot though victorious could not stand the stress and expired just as all the others have. We had to send out Shenlong to prevent a counter attack. We were bluffing, the Gundam doesn't even have weapons yet, but the gamble worked and Treize Khushrenada himself will confirm the facts are as 0-5 will remember them. He was wounded in the battle after all."

"You clearly place a high importance on mental conditioning, How is he physically?" I inquired changing the subject. "You said your boy is skilled in martial arts…but we both know that is of nominal value piloting a Gundam." I shuttered remembering one Tallgeese test pilot who's heart had ruptured simply because it could not take the strain. That was before the Makar learned the benefits of choosing younger more resilient subjects. But youth alone was not enough. Not by far. A Gundam pilot must be made of sterner stuff…anything less and they would be no different than those who had sacrificed themselves to the Tallgeese years before.

Master O understood what I was implying and confirmed that every precaution had indeed been taken. "I have made 0-5 something more than human, just like the rest of the pilots. He has an extremely high tolerance for pain and heals twice as quickly as one would expect. But you knew that…tell J his serum performed adequately, Though, I am sure his own subject has already convinced him of its value."

In truth 0-1's reaction had been a bit better than 'adequate.' The Doctor's experimentation made him near immortal, though not indestructible. I lost track of how many broken bones I watched him receive during his most intensive training. There was no doubt he would recover from wounds that would kill grown men.