Fractured Universe - Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.

Hope Yamato walked over to the coffee table on the Inner Sanctum's living deck and retrieved the file folder that she had discoved on her last recon mission. The one which had broken her so horribly, the one of her past.

Her gut felt icy as she picked it up. It wasn't fear of the contents, as such. While she knew that she should be afraid, the now stoic woman wasn't. The nightmares contained within carried no weight for her personally anymore.

No, it was what the group's perception of her could become after the words within were aired and could never be taken back. The thought of losing those who had become her family over this was a very real fear, but with that thought came the admittance that because she didn't fear what she was, she could give a proper account of herself, so that her family could hopefully understand and accept what she was.

Sitting down at the table, Hope felt the déjà vu clearly through her unease. Lacus's carefree smile had now disappeared, knowing that what would be contained hereafter had driven Hope to insanity. The group prepared itself to soberly hear Hope's words.

"You are all my family, and each and every one of you has stuck with me through this whole thing so far." Hope said quietly, re-enacting the moment at which she had been plucked from the real world and set down on the Excalibur by Kira's own hand. "I just want you all to know that no matter what happens, no matter if your feelings change because of what is written in this folder, that I am thankful for what you have done for me."

The group listened to the emotional statement quietly before each of them reached their hand over to Hope's and gently clasped it. She smiled warmly.

"Hope, we don't want you to be afraid of losing us as family." Mayu smiled. "What is contained within this folder is contained within. It doesn't change the fact that we know you. Not what your past held, but the brave, strong woman that you still are despite all that has happened. When you are finished, I will still be here by your side. We all will."

On cue, the others nodded. Unable to smile just now, Hope sighed softly before closing her eyes and flipping the folder open. Her heart beat in her chest as she felt Mayu squeeze her hand, to let her know that she was not alone. It was time.

"Let me introduce myself: My name is Hope Yamato, formerly Subject A-4 of the Atlantic Federation's Carnation Project, although I was more commonly known as Kira Hibiki, and I was created in the now abandoned lab known as Area 51, located in the Nevada desert."

Hope Yamato had been created in a laboratory from the harvested egg of a female Blue Cosmos scientist whose name had been struck from the notes. However the sperm used to fertilize the egg was a special development of the Atlantic Federation's top secret Area 51 lab, which was located in the Nevada desert. The sperm possessed a new type of Genome which was engineered to eliminate the Y-chromosome enough to ensure a female child and to allow this female to successfully carry a pregnancy of any known species, regardless of whether it was animal or human, to full term. Hope Yamato was of the very first trial generation. The original Zero Generation.

Grown in an artificial womb under bright white lights and constant monitoring, Atlantic Federation scientists had micromanaged her development, as well as the development of another four subjects as she had grown, eventually birthing her and the surviving two others at the stage where they would developmentally be age three.

However at this point the scientists determined that the batch's DNA was flawed and all had been rendered sterile. In a time before the training and killing had begun, the scientists had removed them from the labs and put the three into foster care. A year later, Hope had been adopted by her parents, her memories of the dark labs gone and forgotten.

What a cruel fate to lead her back to that cursed desert.

Of course, Blue Cosmos took what it had learned and moved onto further trials. The existence of Katie, one of Hope's long-lost, and presumably long-dead sisters, was proof that they had finally succeeded in their endeavors, but that raised more questions. The girls entering the area could not possibly all be test subjects, so how were they having their genetic coding rewritten?

The answer lay in the one common denominator: they all entered within a 100 mile radius of the lab.

At some point, an airborne reagent was absorbed by the women, causing their genetic coding to change enough to accept the sperm of any other creature successfully. Thinking back, the few vague and gibbered testimonials she had encountered while hunting Blue Cosmos had all talked of a dizzy spell soon after entering the area, many falling asleep until it passed. When they awoke, the poor women had become something neither human nor animal. Exactly as Lexi's medical report had suggested in the parental DNA.

Zero Generation, the genetically altered female and animal pairing, required nothing more than a single mating for pregnancy to occur, although in many cases the maternal parent died during childbirth or was killed thereafter by their offspring; the First Generation.

A picture of Katie was placed on the table next to this pile of papers, her questioning eyes staring at the pair even from the photograph. First Generation was a mixture of the parent species and a humanoid female, and due to the nature of the maternal Genome, while conjecturably all were born with both male and female reproductive systems, the female system was genetically sterile, meaning that they were unable to fall pregnant themselves. However, the combined DNA meant that they could impregnate ordinary human females without difficulty. A veritable reproduction machine, capable of being in heat at will like a human.

Everyone in the group could only guess at what a Second Generation would be capable of, but no one wanted to know.

The group sat at the table for the longest time as the chilling revelations finally came to a close for the time being, the enormity of the experiments performed by Blue Cosmos was truly terrifying. However, Hope was silent for other reasons. The realization that she had always been sterile rattled her for sure, but it wasn't what had really her frightened. Upon revealing that she wasn't a real human being but some test tube concoction, Mayu's stroking thumb had fallen still, and a few minutes later her hand had withdrawn, Mayu seeming to constantly keep it occupied pushing papers and photographs around the table. Hope hadn't missed this, and inside her heart she had felt a jolt of panic.

"Hope...I am so sorry." Mayu started quietly, the amethyst-eyed woman searching the sounds for any hint at her lover's feelings. "Blue Cosmos has taken so much from you, I...well, I don't know what I can say right now."

Hesitation. Hope heard that long silence of death, the one sound she didn't want to hear, and as she did her heart split in two. Feeling her tears coming unbidden, she stood from the table and paced to the door leading to the elevator before shakily raising her hands to her face shamefully. Immediately, Mayu sprung from her chair in concern, approaching to a short distance from her. Mayu felt cold, and the air wasn't the reason for her chill.

"Hope, I know it's a lot to take in, but-" Kira began, only to be cut off.

"Stop." Hope sobbed.

"What?" Mayu asked, taken aback.

"Stop it!" Hope repeated. "I know that you're all trying to think of a way to distance yourselves from me!"

Mayu's eyes widened as Hope cried into her own hands, her brunette tresses flailing in the air around her. Mayu had thought the tears were for her lost life and her anger, which had been directed at Blue Cosmos even back then, but Hope thought that she was pushing her away. Immediately Mayu took a step forward, her left arm paused halfway between her mouth and a placative pose.

"No, wait! It's not like that! We're not-" Mayu's words were cut off again, Hope looking away as her shoulders shuddered with her sobbing.

Sniffing, she stayed her tears to hoarsely reply. "Well you don't have to worry. I'll leave today, I'll leave and-"

Her words were cut off by pain, a vice-like grip on her right wrist quickly spinning her around.

"STOP DOING THIS, PLEASE!" Mayu all but screamed, the woman's loud voice cutting the thick despair. In shock, she let her free arm drop, heart hammering as the silence echoed outward. Kira took a step back, uncertain as Mayu continued to shout.

"I am not at a loss for words because things changed, I am at a loss for words because I can't imagine what you are going through!" As Mayu spoke, her right arm gripped Hope's left bicep and shook the shocked woman, her resolute violet eyes locking with Hope's own as the tears slowed, barely daring to continue in the face of Mayu's rage. She continued without breaking step, her raised voice scary in a way. Hope's heart raced.

"I don't know why these horrible things happened to you, Hope. But I will not abandon you when you need someone! Not now, nor any other time! When you brought me into this world I promised that I would be there for you, and I will always be here because I promised I would be! It doesn't matter to me that you weren't born like a normal human being! All I know is that right here, right now, you ARE a human being!" Her anger spent, Mayu's emotion turned on itself, the woman losing power. Her strength fading to black, she shook Hope once more while she was able, her own tears welling.

"You...you are a human being..." Mayu repeated weakly, imploringly. But as she breathed the words, her eyes still meeting Hope's own, she felt herself realize that the woman she held so close was leaning forward.

The kiss was a quiet and gentle thing, the entire universe seeming to become silent as their lips met. Emotion died away for Hope as she felt Mayu's hands reach up to cradle her face gently, her soul only experiencing a glowing white as she gently dropped her arms to hold Hope's sides. Mayu's eyes freed a pair of emotional tears as she shut them in the moment, this kiss that wasn't hungry or needy.