Chapter 3
Oh, singled out on the first day of work. Nice, lovely.
Cassandra didn't rise from her seat, nor did she indicate herself to anyone in the room. In all likelihood she was already standing out in the crowd. No one had ever seen her there before so they could only assume who she was. She glanced at Lady Une then caught Katarina's curious gaze.
"She's been kind enough to provide us with the hard copy of Tallgeese's original plans. Katarina, she's going to be working with you on upgrading the systems in all of the Gundams. She will also be helping with the training of the officers that are going to be involved with those systems. She's also made a request that anything and everything to do with the Tallgeese III upgrades be left to her and its pilot," Une indicated Zechs and then turned back to face the rest of the group. "Get to know these two women. They're going to be running your lives for the next several months. Are we understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" Was the collective reply from those piled into the room.
"Good. Dismissed,"
As the crowd slowly started to disperse, the only people that remained were Howard, the Gundam pilots, Lady Une, Katarina and Cassandra.
"You created the Tallgeese?" Kat asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, that was me," Cassandra sat back in her chair and chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "I had Howard's help putting her together, though, so I can't take all of the credit."
"How noble of you to bestow such an honor upon this old man!"
"Don't get your panties in a wad, Howie, darling," Cassandra smiled slyly. "If I recall, the first day of construction, you nearly got us all killed,"
Howard frowned a little at that. "It wasn't entirely my fault,"
"Right, because the Tallgeese just blew herself up,"
"It's possible! That girl has a mind of her own!"
"Are we still talking about the Gundam?" Duo inquired as he looked between the two. Cassandra just smiled at him.
"People, please!" Lady Une drew everyone's attention back onto herself again. "Let us not start this off in an unruly manner. We have a lot of work to do. And we need to start this work by better acquainting ourselves with the Tallgeese's original system." She looked back to Cassandra. "Can you please explain the basics?"
"Nothing about the Tallgeese's system is basic," Cassandra muttered, slightly insulted by Une's request. "Every part of her was complicated and intricate. I put a lot of hours into her design and her extremely intelligent system. Had she not been destroyed before her initial testing phase, the Gundams probably would have had the same engines." The look she was getting made her chuckle. "I can't say the Tallgeese was the first actual Gundam, but she does predate them."
"The only thing that was ever complicated about that hunk of junk was that it could never seem to be finished,"
Cassandra glared at Wufei. "Well, if someone hadn't insisted on taking it for a test battle before it was ready, that 'hunk of junk' would have been our salvation!"
"What a joke!" Wufei leapt up from his seat. "That suit has never been more than it is right now!"
"Wufei," Zechs warned, slightly insulted. He'd built the Tallgeese III from the ground up and he was very proud of that suit, and it was certainly not a hunk of junk.
"Sit down, Wufei!" Lady Une demanded as she glanced between the two. "Now I don't know what the hell is going on between the two of you, nor do I care what you went through in the past together. The fact of the matter remains that we are about to go to war and the Tallgeese is all we have right now. We need all of you to work together to make this happen. I've been made to understand by Howard that the original Tallgeese was never completed and that the models that followed it, Tallgeese's II and III, are just copies?"
"Of course," Howard confirmed. "Cassie never divulged the secret behind the system so I could only make a copy. Even with the actual Tallgeese in my hands, I couldn't get the system to properly work. It wasn't until Zechs took over the suit that anything started to work properly. I still haven't figured that out,"
"Can you explain this?" Lady Une looked to Cassandra who just sighed.
"Even as damaged as she was, the Tallgeese still had basic functions. The only difference in her design is that she chooses her pilot. The pilot can't choose her," Cassandra looked to Zechs curiously. "I imagine she put up one hell of a fight against you?"
"I had a heart attack at 19 before I could even properly pilot her,"
Cassandra nodded, looking down at the table. "You probably tried to do too much too fast. Howard, before he took over, did you test the system out first?"
"Not very much. We sent her through a few simulations, but we never really got her fully stretched. I was just astonished that I even managed to recover her intact, for the most part."
"This Tallgeese III model, does it have the original computer chips or the original mainframe?"
"Well, no, those kind of got fried,"
"Then I'll have to reprogram and rebuild her systems from scratch…"
"Her programming has been modified to my specifications," Zechs interrupted. "The programming is fine,"
"Has anyone else ever gotten wind of this system?"
"Someone has tried something similar before, but not the same," Cassandra looked at Heero. "I don't know how the hell Treize did it, but he got his hands on the basic layout of a similar system once before. He couldn't copy it though, so all he got out of it was this thing he called the Zero System,"
Heero barely twitched in reaction to this news.
"Wait a second!" Quatre just stared at her in surprise. "Are you telling us that you are the mind behind the Zero system?"
"No, I'm the mind behind the Tallgeese system. I worked on a project for the original Zero System before it was scrapped by the lead scientist, but it had nothing to do with Tallgeese. And I made it so her programming couldn't be copied. Only someone with a very intimate knowledge of the system could ever hope to make a proper and authentic copy,"
"So what you mean is that we really have nothing to worry about once you get this system in the Gundams?"
Cassandra looked at Lady Une and shook her head. "No, I'm not saying that at all. Tallgeese's system is one of a kind, it can't ever be duplicated. The science behind it is too complicated,"
"A little arrogant," Wufei sputtered but Cassandra merely rolled her eyes.
"It's not arrogance, it's fact. It took months to even get the math right, and by the time we- I got her system working, any suggestion of duplicating the system was tossed out the window. It took too long to produce," Cassandra glanced across the table at Howard and saw the way his jaw twitched. Truth was, once she'd completed the system and it worked, she and Howard had realized what would happen if OZ or the Alliance had gotten hold of it and they had kept the system a secret for years.
"Anubis wants her, Cassie,"
"You really think I'm gonna let that ball-less bastard take my system and slap a sticker on it to claim it as his own? I put my life into that suit. I'm not about to let him take it. And you're right, integrating the Zero System with the original Tallgeese System will probably boost our chances tremendously, but Tallgeese won't need Zero once she's fully operational. But we can definitely add it to the other Gundams. I don't recommend setting it to primary functions, though." She glanced at Heero. "You can handle that system, I've seen as much, but not everyone can tolerate it. Trying to train everyone to handle it is going to take more time," She looked at Katarina and smiled. "I'm going to need your help with this. This system is going to go through a lot of testing and since you're the head of this whole shindig, your two cents would be appreciated. And I'm interested to see your blueprints for the exoskeletons and cockpit designs,"
"You've got it," Katarina offered, smiling.
"Good. It's settled. You'll need to get started immediately then. Howard, why don't you take her down to the hangar and get her set up. I'm sure she'll want to see what she'll be working with," Lady Une was making it clear that this was exactly what she needed to have done.
"Wait, she's here?"
"Yeah," Howard grinned. "She's here,"
"Come on," Zechs muttered as he rose from his seat and walked toward the door. "We'll show you,"
...
The second the elevator doors opened for the small group, they were introduced to their first glimpse of the chaos that was going to be their lives for the next several months. Zechs led the entire group towards a cleared area of the hanger where his Gundam, the Tallgeese III, rested.
Cassandra stared at it from the catwalk, totally stunned by what she saw.
"You did this?" She looked to Zechs and then back at the suit, awestruck by the sight.
"Had a little help from Howard,"
"She's beautiful…" Cassandra whispered, smiling. "It's so much more than I imagined. You upgraded everything,"
"All the way down to the last bolt in the foot,"
"I can't believe this," She walked further down the catwalk to get a better look at different angles and just shook her head. "You're not as ignorant as you look, Zechs,"
There was a giggle from behind the group and Zechs turned to glare, but Noin, Sally and Katarina all looked equally guilty.
"Looks like you borrowed some of Epyon's design as well," Cassandra stood up straight again and smiled. "I can work with this,"
"That's good to hear," Howard grinned, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Now that we've gotten you acquainted, why don't you go play with her for a while?"
"Don't have to tell me twice," Cassandra leapt for the stirrup and road it up to the cockpit, overjoyed to even be able to touch the suit again. Zechs, nervous about the wellbeing of his Gundam, quickly followed her, intent on keeping her from throwing things out of whack.
"I suggest we leave those two alone to figure this one out. I gather they'll be the most unhappily paired couple in this complex. I know Cassie too well and she's going to do everything to her own specifications, leaving no room for Zechs' input,"
"Meaning Zechs is going to give it to her any way," Noin chuckled. "They are not going to like each other,"
"They'll get over it," Heero said flatly. "I am interested about this new system she has in mind. If it's anything like the Zero System like she claims, it's bound to be efficient. She said the Tallgeese chose its pilot, right? So that would mean the system must have had some kind of neural interaction. Zero has a minor neurological aspect, but it doesn't choose the pilot. The pilot has to be able to handle it. There's a difference. What she's suggesting hasn't been done before,"
"Which is why no one has ever been able to duplicate the system," Howard pointed out as the group ventured off to start the planning, trying to keep from smiling. Tallgeese was nothing like the Zero system, but they would find that out on their own soon enough. "Now, about those Gundams,"
...
"Well?" Zechs inquired from outside of the cockpit.
"Well what?" Cassandra asked as she fiddled with the control panel, quickly pulling up the programming screens. "Huh, well look here! You are definitely an interesting man, Zechs Merquise. These readouts are quite impressive,"
"How did you get into that? It's all password protected!"
"My suit, my expertise,"
"Did you hack my system!"
"My system," She corrected as she flipped through page after digital page of readouts. "Your reaction times are a lot faster than I would have thought. When I designed her, I had designed her around the reaction time of her original pilot. Seeing as how we never completed the testing phase, it left a lot out in the blue with some really big question marks. These readings…" She shook her head as she went through a few more pages. "No wonder she let you pilot her. These are crazy,"
"I've had my own experience with the Zero System,"
"I can see that," Cassandra narrowed her eyes at a particular reading and sat back in the pilot seat, slightly perplexed. "That's weird…"
"What is it?"
"Nothing, it's just," She tilted her head a little then leaned forward and flipped through a few more screens. "Huh…That can't be right…"
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Zechs inquired, not even in the least bit concerned.
"When I figure it out, maybe," She stood up, felt around the overhead panel and grinned as she pushed up a well hidden latch.
"What are you doing?!"
"Explorin'!" She teased as she climbed onto the seat and examined the brain of the Tallgeese. "Oh no, this is all wrong!"
"Don't touch anything!" Zechs growled as he climbed inside and tugged on the hem of her jacket. "I programmed her the way I wanted her!"
"Well that doesn't really mean you did it the right way, does it?"
"Cassandra!" He growled as she climbed inside and turned on the lighting inside. "I'm serious! Don't touch her!"
"She's mine, I'll do what I want!"
"The hell she is!" Zechs growled, climbing up to join her in the small hatch. "What are you doing?"
"Checking the data output, stop having a conniption. I'm not gonna change anything…yet," She grinned up at him. "This is the original hub from the Epyon, correct?"
"Yeah, so what?"
"So this is Treize's mockup. Now I'm really curious. Let's see what he's got going on here," She pressed a button and waited for the panel to open up so she could study the hardwiring and the computer chips. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" She rolled onto her back, wired in the screen above her and read through the programming. "Oh, damn…that's not half bad,"
"Thank you," Zechs muttered, watching the green and blue lights flashing over her face as she went through the programming.
"Have you really been piloting her with this system all this time?"
"Yes, but I prefer the original system to this one. Since the Epyon was integrated with the first version of the Zero System, I had to deal with it. The original Tallgeese was much more cooperative after my first experience with her,"
"That's because my Tallgeese system wasn't equipped with something like a neural link, making it similar to the Zero System Heero used, but less stressful."
"Less stressful? I had a heart attack!"
"Because you tried to push the engines too hard before you were ready. Pretty powerful stuff, dear. Maybe next time you'll listen to her," Cassandra went through a few more pages and smiled slightly. "I told you, I designed her to choose her own pilot. And after that pilot was chosen, I programmed her to the pilot's specifications. Well, at least I would have if…" Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. "Never mind. Look, you liked the first system, right?"
"Yes, I did,"
"You realize it wasn't my version?"
"It was still an incredible system,"
"I'm sure Howard will be pleased to hear you approve," Cassandra closed the panel and sat up again, looking thoughtful. "I can work with this system and reprogram it, but I'm going to need a few extra parts. Some of these are shot. Some of the chips you've used are outdated,"
"I had to keep the construction of her under wraps. Everyone thought I was dead, so completely draining my accounts would have been too obvious. She would have been destroyed before I finished her. Besides, I didn't want to get Howard into trouble, either."
"Thanks for that," Cassandra climbed back down into the cockpit and waited for Zechs to follow and replace the panel hatch before she sat back down in front of the control panel again.
"What's so special about this system?"
"I assume you've seen a mobile doll in action?"
"Of course. Mobile dolls run completely by computer,"
"Well, it's kind of like that, except the Tallgeese was meant to share its intelligence with its pilot and vice versa. Basically, where a mobile doll is in complete control and doesn't need a pilot, the Tallgeese shares that control with the pilot, making for a much stronger suit. Mobile dolls may have intelligent computer brains, but they don't have a pilot with rational thinking. They seek out the most probable target and take it out, with no consideration for the target that might gain them more ground. In other words, they just shoot and keep going. They don't defend and they damn sure don't strategize. And they're slow! With the system I created, the Tallgeese and pilot interact with one another and make decisions based off of that interaction. That's why you had that heart attack, Zechs. You didn't want her input. You offended her,"
"I offended a computer?"
Cassandra chuckled a little. "If you want to consider her just a computer, than yeah, you offended a computer."
"But she's not just a computer?"
"Nope," Cassandra grinned proudly. "I told you, this suit is a part of me. It's my baby. She has a perfectly well working positronic brain. Or she would have if it hadn't gotten fried. Have you ever seen that old movie I, Robot?"
"Once or twice,"
"Consider the mobile dolls the NS5 robots with the basic computer brains, and Sunny as the Tallgeese. While the NS5's could only interact based on their programming through the main hub, Sunny could act on his own as if he were a human being. It's the same basic principle." Cassandra sat back and stared at the main computer screen for a moment. "The Zero System isn't the same though. With Heero's own additions, it did improve, but it just isn't the same. Zero comes up with different options and shows them to Heero, allowing him to choose the scenario that best suits him. While this is very effective, it doesn't really make the suit any more efficient. It's still just a computer,"
"What difference is there between the Tallgeese and the Zero system then?"
"Ok, try to follow me on this, Zechs. Zero is like the NS5 robots. It does what it's told to do. Tallgeese? Ah, man, Zechs. She does what she's told but she has the ability to chose not to do that. She has the ability to disobey. She has the ability to think on her own."
Zechs stared around the cockpit, literally stunned by this news. "So I'm really not in control of her at all?"
"Oh, you're in control because she lets you be in control. I told you, she chooses her pilot. It's the way I made her. She's not just a computer program, Zechs. She's alive,"
"You're one crazy woman," He muttered as he stared at her. "How did you do it?"
"Like I'm gonna tell you that," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Look, just give me a few days and you'll be chatting with her like she was a real person. If you want it in easier terms, she's basically a living spirit inhabiting the suit. She's really quite amazing."
"That's kind of disturbing, actually,"
"Not really. You've been talking to her all along, Zechs. It's just that the only way she's been able to talk back is through Zero." Cassandra climbed out of the cockpit and stretched a little. "I should have her back to normal within a few weeks. I bet she's going to be quite the chatter box, too. Probably a bit grumpy with me,"
"I can't believe I'm having this conversation,"
"Zechs, really, in this day and age, is it really that hard to believe?"
He paused as he followed her back down onto the catwalk. "No, I guess it isn't. I suppose I'm just a little apprehensive about holding an intelligent conversation with a computer,"
"Just wait. You'll love her once you get to know her," Grinning, Cassandra scampered off to meet with Howard and to make a list of all the parts she would need to get things started.
"Learn anything about the system?"
Zechs turned towards Noin and nodded, looking back up at his Gundam. "She's an amazing piece of work,"
"Uh-huh,"
He glanced at her, sighing. "I was talking about the suit, Noin,"
"Sure you were," She grinned. "So, you think you can work with her for the next few months?"
"With or without strangling her before the end of it?" Zechs growled, shaking his head. "She's a feisty one and she's got a mouth,"
"All women do, as you well know,"
He snorted, looking away. "Yeah, I know,"
"As long as you remember that, it should be fine. Just remember, a woman with a wrench in her hand, or any blunt object really, isn't a woman you want to piss off. Besides, she seems pretty damned smart. You might learn something from her,"
He glanced in the direction Cassandra had gone and remembered the meeting the night before. "Noin, there's something between her and Wufei that's just barely being contained. They don't like each other and it has something to do with this suit,"
"I could do a little research,"
"Thank you," Zechs breathed, frowning. "We need to know everything there is to know about how those two know each other in case something happens. Whatever is between them…it isn't pretty,"
...
End Chapter
