Part One
The monitors that were assigned to Heero led him into a large, utilitarian conference room that was located a good distance away from the main training center. Heero had never been inside the conference room or its surrounding offices before. This wing of the complex was relatively new to him. He stepped inside the large, rectangular room and took a seat at the end of the massive metal centrally located conference table and waited. The two men who had provided him with nourishment and supervised his shower stood directly behind him and waited.
Heero found himself exploring the rubber collar they had put around his neck and wondered what its function was. Commander Armonia had mentioned that it was less barbaric than handcuffs but Heero wasn't so sure about that. He had worn something similar to this when he had been training with Doctor J on Wing, during a time when the CLO had little faith in him to not run away and abandon his mission with the mobile suit. It had been a shock collar back then, and he assumed that this device would respond the same in the event he tried to run or attack someone.
Heero's fingers ghosted over the rubberized surface of his collar before they glided up the side of his face to touch the stiff muscles of his temple just above his new ocular implant. Despite the fact that his brain had fused seamlessly to his bionic eye he still felt uncomfortable with the idea that his original, organic eye was gone.
It concerned him that he was losing physical parts of himself now, rather than just the moral and emotional ones. How much more could he possibly give to the world? He had lost his family and his childhood. His body had been put through the worst abuse imaginable: broken bones, electroshock, torture, crushing gravitational forces, and more concussive damage than he could remember. At one point he was even willing to give away his life, and the time mortality had assigned to him by joining Relena in cryostasis for the hope of future peace.
He closed his eyes and curled the fingers of his left hand into a tight fist beneath the table and let the pad of his right index finger slip over the makeshift, yellow wire ring Duo had given him. He had lost everything, but had gained something more in return.
If it weren't for the hope that he would one day be fulfilled in life and share that fulfillment with someone else, he would have given up long ago.
It was that singular hope that continued to keep him alive, otherwise he would have killed himself before being made into a weapon again.
Part Two
"You're sayin' I just gotta lay here? For how long?" Duo asked as his nose scrunched with disgust. "I don't have time to just lay here for hours."
Professor G snorted through his enormous nose and glared at him. "Why does everything have to be so difficult with you? I'm asking you to take a nap, and you're fighting with me."
Duo swung his legs as they dangled limp and naked over the side of the metal exam table in the medical wing and scowled at the crotchety scientist. "I can't. I'm busy. Can't we do this later?"
"Oh, because we can just develop technology out of thin air on a whim, right? Who do you think we are?" Professor G grumbled as he turned his back to him and began to activate the neural scanners. Duo shrugged his shoulders against the thick curtain of wires that were draped aroud his head, neck and shoulders. The halo that they had put over the crown of his head rested awkwardly and dug painfully into his scalp. He didn't know how Heero could stand being in this shit all the time.
"Sure, why not? You guys are like space wizards or something, right? I mean, you're not dead. Miraculously. What's that about? And then you have this magical spaceship you just to happen to have hidden here in the asteroid belt. Ya made complex robo eyes out of nothing for Heero. Hey, Doctor J, did you cast curaga on my spine? Sorry, G, but you're obviously the black mage of the party." Duo was rambled in an attempt to postpone the inevitable experimentation he was about to be subjected to.
"I never know what the hell you're talking about," Professor G mumbled as he gestured for him to lie to the table.
Doctor J was standing at the foot of the table with his usual carefree, goofy grin. Duo glanced at him, sighed and twisted around to lie flat on his back against the cold, metal table. They had stripped him down to a pair of shorts to make easy access for all of the sticky tape and probes around his heart, chest and sides of his rib cage. The exposed skin on his back grew tight against the chilled surface and forced a shiver to zap up his spine.
"Shit, it's freezing. Is this really necessary?" He mumbled as he shifted uncomfortably against the tabletop. Suddenly his back erupted with a gradual warmth and soon the entire backside of his body felt comfortable and cozy. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and saw that Doctor J was still at the end of the table, except now his grin was even wider.
"Better?" The old man asked with a chuckle. Duo shrugged a shoulder and smirked.
"Yeah, thanks." He replied as he flopped down onto his back again and wiggled around in an attempt to get comfortable. There was nothing to look at on the ceiling except a couple of white, circular overhead lights.
"Okay, so we've taken your musical preferences and are going to have you listen to them through these," Professor G said from beside the table. He held up a pair of thick, padded black wired headphones. "And then we'll measure your autonomic responses to each of the songs and will develop a series of tones and sounds that will stimulate your brain and body to react that way when under attack by the subsonic wave."
He turned, pushed himself back up to a sit and gawked at the mushroom-capped old timer. "Eh? The who-da-what?"
Doctor J laughed before he walked around the side of the table to stand beside Professor G and clamped his claw-like hand on the other man's shoulder which caused G to visibly cringe.
"What he means is that we're going to find music that will hopefully counteract the effects of the thing you and Heero encountered in space." Doctor J explained. He reached over to grab the monitor Professor G had been working on an swiveled around so Duo could see the frantic bright green horizontal zig-zag of his on EEG readout.
"So, explain what the difference is between my brain and Heero's, then. Why did that thing make him puke and space-out like that, but it did hardly anything to me?" He asked while tugging at the EEG wires around his face.
"It's rather complex. The human brain is made up of various types of waves that dominate at different stages of development, consciousness, so forth. Heero's brain at rest is more active than a normal person's, much like yourself. His brain has an unusually high amount of gamma waves, which are used for learning, cognition and high-level information processing. Your brain has increased activity of beta waves, which are used for conscious thought. That is why you have a good memory, and can fix and solve problems easily."
Doctor J released the other scientist's tense shoulder and walked around the table to stand at the foot of it once more. He stroked his chin thoughtfully with his claw. "The weapon uses a variety of subsonic broadcasts that has a stimulating effect on different parts of the brain. When we tested Heero with it, he experienced violent reactions because the primary subliminal control factor increases the gamma waves. His gamma is already high, nearly one hundred hertz at rest. Gamma waves are involved in much of the subliminal processing of the brain anyway, so when he experienced it it basically put his body into overload. Your beta waves dominance operates at a lower range, somewhere between twelve and forty hertz so somehow it overrode the broadcast, or perhaps neutralized its effect, which made your reaction much milder."
Duo rubbed his probe-encrusted forehead and sighed loudly. "So wait, this thing is trying to control us? Does that mean Heero could have been controlled by it?"
Professor G shrugged. "We don't know. He was overwhelmed he became confused. It gave him a strange, non-contact concussion. Perhaps its intention was to stop you from escape, rather than to actually control you. The same thing happened here. He had a concussive reaction, but then when we amplified the sound his gamma waves went off the charts and it was at that point he lost his cognitive abilities entirely."
"Holy shit. So wait… if I have a fancy brain, then why the hell couldn't I connect to ZERO before? And why does Heero's brain seem to override mine? If his brain is so hyperactive, then why the hell does it make me feel so calm when I connect to him?" Duo asked. He decided to take full advantage of this spring of knowledge while he could and get some of his curiosities answered.
"ZERO uses gamma waves to interface with the pilot. Heero was chosen specifically for his ability to integrate with the system because of his increased brain activity. We have always known of his gamma production," Doctor J explained blandly. " When you bond with Heero through Wing-One, you're experiencing his brain in neural synchronization with ZERO. You feel calm because Heero's higher processing and multitasking abilities are so practiced that he himself is calm and focused during the experience. The calm and neutralizing effect you feel has nothing to do with his brain waves, but moreso his actual persona and affection for you."
The statement forced Duo to realize his current situation once more, and he became painfully aware of how absent Heero was from the ship. He frowned and wordlessly tilted back to return to a supine position on the table once more. Thankfully the two coots made no further comment. Professor G handed him the headphones and he carefully slid them over the EEG halo and rested the padded cups gently over his ears. The exothermic heat against his back did little to soothe the lingering emptiness he felt.
Abruptly his ears swam with the calm melodic, plucky guitar opening of "Red Barchetta" by Rush. He stared up at the unremarkable ceiling and took a deep breath before he closed his eyes and tried to relax. The insides of his eyelids illuminated immediately with the memory of the inside of his long lost Shelby Cobra and his now equally lost lover at the steering wheel.
Doctor J had been right about Duo's brain. He had an impeccable memory, and he could vividly recall the first time he had listened to this song with Heero back on X-18999.^ Heero had come to the colony to investigate Quatre for something that turned out to be a misunderstanding, and Duo had got himself caught in the crossfire of Heero's Preventer investigation. Literally. He had taken a bullet to the thigh, and so he was forced into the passenger seat of his beloved acapulco blue Shelby while Heero had driven them to the police department.
He had been excited to show him his car, the rebuilt tape deck and remagnetized antique, vintage cassettes he had custom restored.
He remembered everything. The dull, aching pain in his leg that only sharpened with each shift and pull of the muscle car as it turned and bumped along the road. Heero looked fucking gorgeous behind the wheel of that car, with his eyes narrowed with focus and his long, work-worn fingers of his right hand grasped tightly on the 1400 position of the leather wrapped steering wheel.
It had been shortly after he had found out that Heero and Relena were no longer together, and when they arrived at the police department he stole a kiss in the parking lot and tried not to make too many jokes about courthouse weddings when they had to sign in at the front desk.
Duo became very aware of the red wire ring on his finger as he lie on the table being bombarded by his memories. He thumbed the underside of the ring thoughtfully. He was still upset about Heero's disappearance, but after being able to fully vent at Trowa he felt some relief. Duo didn't know how to properly deal with his problems, and he knew that it was a personal flaw he had to work on. Sometimes it was just easier to put on a brave face and keep moving forward, rather than sit back and dwell on the issue. He was prone to overthinking things, and so it was easier to repress the issue rather than face it head-on. In the end that method always bit him in the ass, but after years of perfecting his method of choice it was a hard habit to break.
He was grateful for everyone's support and he still felt guilty for snapping at Hilde. He decided that after he was finished with this experiment he was going to find her and apologize.
He frowned and tried to force his body to relax but with little success. He began to wonder how he was ever going to fall asleep.
Part Three
"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here," Commander Armonia said flatly as she folded her white-gloved hands one over the other on the table in front of her. Heero looked from the brunette, apathetic commander to the aggressive blond captain to her left. The commander followed his gaze to the woman who he had first encountered the day before in his room. "You've met my sister Soris. Captain Soris Armonia."
Soris was watching him with intense, narrowed eyes. Heero returned her gaze with equal, hostile verve.
"I see you've been adequately cared for. You must be upset with us for your abduction, but as I said before it was necessary," Commander Armonia began. "As I have mentioned, we are the New Resistance Colony Liberation Organization."
"You've said," Heero replied firmly. "Why did you bring me here?"
"We have studied your profile at length, and require your assistance," Commander Armonia replied. Heero straightened in his seat and shifted his gaze from Soris to the commander.
"I will not fight for you," he informed plainly. He heard Soris snarl under her breath.
"We do not ask you to fight. There will be very little fighting," the commander said slowly. "We are aware of your status as a Newtype."
"I'm not a Newtype," Heero replied. Soris rolled her eyes and slammed her hand on the table. The gesture caused a couple of lower ranking officers in the room to jump with surprise.
"Stop fucking around, we know what you are. We have all of your files and training records. You're a Newtype. Let's stop playing games here and quit being so formal." Soris stood so quickly that her chair tipped over and slammed to the floor. An enlisted man scrambled over to pick it up for her as she pressed her palms on the table and leaned across it to glower at Heero.
"If you have my file, then why do you require me to be here? What else could you possibly learn from me?" Heero asked, nonplussed.
Soris appeared as if she were about to leap over the table to strangle him. He turned his attention back to her higher ranking sister and proceeded to ignore her.
"We need you to train our pilot," the commander said bluntly.
Heero felt his eyes involuntarily widen. He looked from the commander to the captain for verification. Soris was grinning wickedly, amused by his response.
"No," Heero replied with a frown.
"You act like you have a choice," Soris snarled. Commander Armonia lifted a hand to gesture for her sister to quiet. The captain reluctantly took her seat, crossed her arms and scowled at Heero darkly from across the table.
"You must understand, we are not the enemy. We need you to help bolster the NR-CLO, as you once had for our parent organization. We know of your sacrifices. You are not our enemy, but a hero. The hero of the colonies, the bringer of peace." Commander Armonia's eyes glistened with passion and for the first time since their meeting she appeared energized. "We are asking that you simply instruct our new pilot on how to control his Newtype abilities and connect to our battle system."
Heero frowned. "The Earth-Sphere is united. I don't understand what need you have for a pilot," he said firmly. "What you propose is against the disarmament treaties. It forces the colonies away from unification with Earth and Total Pacifism. I will not. I can't become involved in anything that goes against what I believe in."
"Some freedom fighter you are!" Soris hissed. "This is the fucking crap they replaced me with?"
Heero continued to ignore her. "You ask me to become something I can no longer be. I'm sorry you've wasted your time, but I will not facilitate the training of anyone on a battle system."
"I'm sorry to hear you say that," Commander Armonia replied, her face reflecting her clear disappointment. "If you would just meet our pilot, and perhaps mentor him?"
"I have no interest in aiding your cause, whatever that may be." Heero replied honestly. He could hear Soris suck her teeth at his statement.
"You do realize that if you don't help us, we'll just have to kill you, right?" Soris exclaimed, her expression smug. "Still won't change your mind?"
Heero sighed and looked down at the surface of the table. "I will not."
"Let's not be rash," Commander Armonia said. She stood up from her chair, which prompted her sister to stand and all of the lower ranking officers in the room to stand at attention. "We'll give you some time to think about it. I will have the pilot's file sent to your room, along with details of the battle system in question. I am sorry that I can't give you any more information than that at this time."
Heero felt his arms roughly grabbed by two soldiers who forced him to stand as Commander Armonia made her exit with her fiery sister in tow.
Footnotes:
Okay, so all of this crazy music, drumming, bonding, Newtype crazy is all starting to reveal itself and come together. I wanted to go ahead and touch on some of this footnote and paraphrase a little bit for you guys since these notes use pretty specific terminology. Basically Heero's brain is operating fast with gamma, Duo's is running at a different wavelength on beta but together they are adorably awesome.
Duo's need to drum his fingers, tap is feet and fidget is contributed to his massive amount of beta wave production at any given time (which can flux or decrease with anxiety or stimulation). Beta waves are also said to be involved with having a good memory, which is why he can hear something (he's an auditory learner) once and remember it forever. They are also involved in problem solving parts of the brain, which explains his tinkering and ability to come up with solutions quickly and on the fly (and often creatively as well) Examples: fixing Relena's tube, the Haros, and rigging his mobile suit last minute under duress to operate it without the use of his legs. Over time Duo has learned to consciously suppress some of his beta activity to make it easier to fuse with ZERO.
Heero's brain activity directly meshes with ZERO system. Gamma waves are said to be involved in certain REM sleep cycles, which provides visualization to the brain. This corresponds with the idea that Heero is able to envision ZERO predictions seamlessly, and maybe hints that something is up with his brain and premonitions facilitated by ZERO itself (innocent whistle). Gamma waves are associated with deep, cognitive thought, advanced learning and high processing tasks.
The Footie Footnotes:
* Gamma waves: "A gamma wave is a pattern of neural oscillation in humans with a frequency between 25 and 100 Hz, though 40 Hz is typical. neuronal clusters oscillate together during these transient periods of synchronized firing, they help bring up memories and associations from the visual percept to other notions. This brings a distributed matrix of cognitive processes together to generate a coherent, concerted cognitive act, such as perception. This has led to theories that gamma waves are associated with solving the binding problem***. observed as neural synchrony from visual cues in both conscious and subliminal stimuli. Gamma waves have been observed in Tibetan Buddhist monks. A 2004 study took eight long-term Tibetan Buddhist practitioners of meditation and, using electrodes, monitored the patterns of electrical activity produced by their brains as they meditated. The researchers compared the brain activity of the monks to a group of novice meditators (the study had these subjects meditate an hour a day for one week prior to empirical observation). In a normal meditative state, both groups were shown to have similar brain activity. However, when the monks were told to generate an objective feeling of compassion during meditation, their brain activity began to fire in a rhythmic, coherent manner, suggesting neuronal structures were firing in harmony. This was observed at a frequency of 25–40 Hz, the rhythm of gamma waves. These gamma-band oscillations in the monk's brain signals were the largest seen in humans (apart from those in states such as seizures)." - Wikipedia. (Excerpts)
** Beta Waves: Beta wave, or beta rhythm, is the term used to designate the frequency range of human brain activity between 12.5 and 30 Hz. Low amplitude beta waves with multiple and varying frequencies are often associated with active, busy or anxious thinking and active concentration. Beta waves are associated with the muscle contractions that happen in isotonic movements and are suppressed prior to and during movement changes. Bursts of beta activity are associated with a strengthening of sensory feedback in static motor control and reduced when there is movement change. Beta activity is increased when movement has to be resisted or voluntarily suppressed. The artificial induction of increased beta waves over the motor cortex by a form of electrical stimulation called Transcranial alternating-current stimulation consistent with its link to isotonic contraction produces a slowing of motor movements. - Wikipedia (Excerpts)
*** The binding problem: (Two Types: segregation - BP1 and combination - BP2) The segregation problem is the problem of how brains segregate elements in complex patterns of sensory input so that they are allocated to discrete "objects". The combination problem is "How do the brain mechanisms actually construct the phenomenal object?", "consciousness-related binding", emphasizing the entailment of a phenomenal aspect. - Wikipedia. (Condensed)
^ GW OUROBOROS: What Friends Are For. Chapter 14.
Luna Armonia:
Soris Armonia:
Bonus:
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ - Soris flipping the damn table.
