Oy vey, it's late. Ah well, summer! I don't have to get up early tomorrow! Nya nya nya . . . er, sorry. I'm not tired anyway, and I'm going to finish Brightly Burning if I have to not sleep for three days straight. I've got a new strategy for writing this fic, which means that whenever I publish a chapter I'll have the one after it done already so I can write a tempter (and also so I don't look dumb and totally change something by accident). Oh yea . . . I'm putting my fanfiction up on my new Angelfire website (http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/justlove) and I'm looking for other people's stuff, too. I'd really like original stuff (I don't want a whole lotta GW 'cause I've only got 50 megs). Don't worry, though, I'm still going to keep posting on FFN! It's just so big that I get tired of it sometimes. I'm also working on my own Manga series that's going to be mostly available online in installments (because otherwise I'll run out of room) but I don't know when that'll be. I'll keep you updated when I can. For now . . . tanoshimu (I love my new Jap-Eng dictionary)!
AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part III)
"The Player's Strategy"
The midnight-blue tinged the buildings in colony X-692002, and Erik Beliv noted with some satisfaction that they had paid enough attention to the workings of the Colony Alliance to know the colors of his fleet. Back in the docking bays, precious cargo was being moved to its more permanent home in the laboratories on the colony. They would be hard to find, especially with Dorothy keeping watch. Even that bastard Yuy wouldn't be able to find them there.
The children had been quite uncooperative since they'd been acquired. Of course, little could be expected from the offspring of that overrated Jap, but he knew the child spoke English. Her mother did, for Christ's sake! As for the infants . . . it was probably a childish ploy on part of the girl to resist him. Even after her memories were wiped, she still bore an unequaled hatred for her captor before she even knew it was him who held her. He took a bit of perverse pleasure in wondering if perhaps it was the truly indomitable human spirit which drove her to keep struggling even though she knew she'd just kill herself from exertion. Free or die, he thought. We must be free or die.
Well, perhaps after she'd fulfilled the mission he had for the girl (and her sibs, if it took that long) she could be set free to live on her own like she so desperately wanted. She wouldn't survive without the skills he'd so conveniently neglected to teach her, but he had no reason to care. She was just a tool, as all human beings were just tools. What an irony, to die after being set free! He chuckled with his twisted sense of humor.
The meeting had gone well. Beliv had stabilized the battle lines between the Alliance and Earth (and the miscellaneous, pathetic aid from the nearby colonies) and was managing to hold back those selfless warriors of the Phantom Runners. Those were a vicious bunch, headed by that wily daughter of Treize's. They were certainly the biggest threat to this new establishment of colonies, and consistently the most annoying. He'd never met young people so determined to maintain peace and justice.
Yes, the war was immoral and unnecessary, but Beliv had promised himself that he would enjoy the spoils of war at least once in his life. Mariemaia was fighting for the just cause. He didn't deny that to himself, and cared less than that much. Of course, he convinced his council that everything was in due course the right road. There was a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. Most of those old politicians were so blind that they wouldn't know a mobile suit if it stepped on their polished shoes.
Akiko (Subject 00, as she knew herself) gave him a sullen, angry look as he walked into her bunking-room. The walls were heavily padded with a slight beige color to them, somewhat soothing although the little one seemed minimally comfortable. She'd fought so hard against being separated from the babes that Beliv's scientists had advised that they stayed with her. So they would, he'd grudgingly agreed. Perhaps if Subject 00 was allowed certain . . . privileges . . . she would accept the terms of her assignment and allow herself to be trained in adequate ways to accept what was potentially such a punishing project. Beliv couldn't wait to try out his new weapon on its one and only purpose.
The suppliers of their mobile suits expressed displeasure when they discovered the kidnapped children. Beilv's source had openly doubted that the child would be very useful when the time came to carry out the one mission that would cause all existence to cease. Of course, his friends didn't know that little aspect. So, it became a battle not only of good and evil but also of right versus wrong. It was all so very, very entertaining.
Until then, the battle went on against the child and her strong will.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Heero's fingertips brushed her from behind, sending shivers up Relena's spine. She nestled snugly up against his side, fighting the urge to accost him for scaring her. She'd been standing out the window again, deep in thought. "So much to think about," she muttered.
"Mn," he replied, letting her rest her head on his shoulder, and himself staring out into space. Indeed, there was much to consider. Unknown to his wife, he had lain awake long into the night, his memory stirring and recalling things he hadn't previously been aware of. She had found him early that morning at his computer with a fervor bordering on disparity. It seems that sometimes she was the only one who knew how fragile he was, and that was sometimes a comfort, sometimes a point of sadness.
He hadn't told her exactly what had haunted him so that night, the memories of needles— he shivered— and drugs and hours of endless torture. He'd rather he'd not remembered at all! He couldn't bear to think of it happening to his own children.
There was a knock on the door. Relena tore herself away from her obviously hurting husband and invited Duo and Sophie in quietly. "You feeling well enough to think or should I get them settled and pour some alcohol?" she asked him quietly.
"I'll be all right," he replied. "Isn't it a little early in the day to start drinking?"
"Not necessarily. A little bit helps clear the mind." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and they both settled on the couch opposite from Duo and Sophie.
After brief pleasantries, Heero got straight to the business that was eating his heart out from the inside. "Sophie, did your dad ever manage to get a hold of this "laboratory" you told us about?"
She smiled. "Indeed he did, Heero. They're absolutely ecstatic to help us. They even went to so much trouble to arrange us a cover story and an excuse to visit the colony on our "tour."
"Wow," Relena said. "Your father is a well-liked man, isn't he?"
Sophie smiled. "I love him dearly, after all. People respect him in our net-community because he takes any amount of time necessary to be with his family. Unfortunately, he was unable to save my siblings from my mother's clutches, but that's an entirely different story for a later time."
"So in the meantime, we should probably get to know this plan they've arranged," Relena said.
"I talked directly to them this morning— they were able to tell me it was a secure line, even in a hotel— and it seems quite complicated." Duo tried to pull something out of his pocket. He struggled with it for a moment before finally wrestling it free. "I described to them our basic strategy, and they gave us some hints for good places to look for money, since they do have to charge us. We got some colonies that are heavy supporters of the Universal Jew Organization and some that aren't. There's no pattern to the jumps, and the lab isn't our last stop, as we had thought. That way it would be less suspicious. She suggested you be the speechmaker, Heero, since you've had so much success with that lately. It'll earn a lot of support from those people who love family stuff."
Duo unfolded a rather good-sized map of the solar system he'd "borrowed" from downstairs. It had highlights and numerous circles in pen, with lines drawn in between, numbered. It looked pretty random, but Relena realized right away that it wasn't. A lot of thought had been put into it, and somebody had been up all last night planning it. It was obvious David pressured enough for his contacts to know how very important his daughter was. More than that, the pattern would be extremely hard to predict, since there really wasn't one.
"Duo, you've got straight lines in between the colonies. Are you sure that's the best way to travel? It might look better if we took a more roundabout way, as if we hadn't decided where to go next in advance." Relena looked at him expectantly.
Duo considered. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."
Heero ran his fingers up his wife's spine again as she leaned over to examine the map more closely. "Yes, Heero? Did you have something to say?" She shivered again at the sensation and cast him a look that plainly said to stop.
"I did," he said quietly. Duo gave him a curious look. "Last night I couldn't sleep, which probably isn't a big surprise to you, and I got up and turned on my computer. For some reason, intuition maybe, I started trying to crack those files that Relena gave me last time we were here, if you recall the story. I'd been having marginal success before, but last night I got them cracked. They're not about you, Wufei, Trowa, Quatre and Zechs as we suspected. They're records of the Gundam project, starting before Tallgeese. It's a bit cryptic and more than a little vague, but the message is very clear."
"What? I don't get it. What did you find out?" Duo's brows furrowed in thought.
"Operation Meteor goes much deeper than any of us could have imagined."
Duo had almost expected a roll of thunder at his words. "And no one would have predicted that," he said sarcastically.
Heero shook his head, knowing Duo would have taken it lightly. "Not as deep and as complicated as this gets. I don't understand most of it."
That caught all of their attention. As long as all of them had known Heero, he'd always been able to comprehend politics of any kind with ease.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"Quat . . ." Trowa cornered him in a room before he had time to escape. "I've really been meaning to talk to you."
Quatre had known that, and had been purposely avoiding him. The abandonment stung more than he was willing to admit, even though Trowa had warned him about his disposition toward the opposite sex. He just wished he'd been there. It was illogical and childish, perhaps, but he didn't care at this point. Everything seemed to be going wrong.
"Look, I know you've been running from me, okay?" Trowa said blatantly before Quatre could make up an excuse to leave. "Frankly, I don't blame you. I don't want you to get the wrong impression about how I met Anja, because it was completely by accident. I didn't go out looking for women just because you were gone. You know me better than that, and I know you do."
Quatre gave him a slightly disbelieving look. Nothing out of Trowa's mouth seemed to make sense. Of course, he didn't really understand how he could have switched loyalties so quickly.
"I warned you, though, so don't try and tack all this guilt onto me. I told you it wasn't going to last forever, and not long at that. I might want this relationship with Anja to last, and I didn't want to make it last a terribly long time with you. It's not like I'm in love with her so much— we're not even lovers, and I know that's what you thought we were— but I don't claim to have ever been that much in love with you either."
Quatre gritted his teeth. Of course, he'd always known deluding himself that Trowa's feelings were other than he'd claimed was a bad idea. He couldn't help it. He'd always wanted some kind of permanence to his universe, but everything always seemed to slip away so easy, like water running between his fingers. "Then why did we even try?" he asked, the bitterness in his voice sounding so completely out of place.
"We had a profound friendship, just like it has always been," Trowa replied quietly, knowing he had finally gotten his comrade's attention. "And you know what? I think that maybe I should have never let you goad me into our little experience, because what we had is ruining our friendship! I don't want to lose you as the best friend I've ever had over a woman, but I will if it turns out she means that much to me. I warned you, and any dreams you might have had of a distant future with me were your own delusion. I'm sorry, Quatre, but I simply can't understand in that kind of frivolous relationship working out. You know I feel that way. It tried to make that very clear from the beginning."
He had, but Quatre had always been a dreamer. He'd always wanted to believe in something real, but life was always so very shattered. It was really his own fault, he realized, but it still hurt. "You still . . .you could have at least sent me a letter."
"I could have," he admitted. "It's not that the idea didn't occur to me, I just thought it would be impersonal. I wanted to wait until you came home to explain, because otherwise you would have been stewing in your own juices that entire time. Something like that could have caused some bad decisions. You know that."
Yes, brewing over your personal life was one of the best ways to be killed on the job. "I . . . suppose."
Trowa took Quatre's chin in his hand and lifted the blonde's face gently, forcing Quatre's eyes to meet his gaze. "No words in the world will apologize for that betrayal, I feel. I'm sorry, and I hope you know that. Fate has a way of playing unexpected cards, and I'm still trying to bluff my way out of another hand. Don't let me down. You're still the best friend I've ever had."
Quatre leaned forward and kissed him, for the last time. As he knew well, broken hearts and minds do heal. It would be good if he still had a friend to help him do it.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Run:\Distance_Location
Locate:\Mother_Source
+Location Confirmed+
+Connection Pending . . . . . . . . . . . Connection Made+
+Updating Real-Time Data Processing+
+Receiving Greetings () Inquiry+
THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER.
I KNOW.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
NOTHING. THIS HAD NEED TO BE RESOLVED NOW.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
IT COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROSPERING AND DESTRUCTION, MY DEAR.
+Connection Terminated by Mother_Source+
Run:\Shut_Down
+Dump Connection Log (Y/N)?+
+[WARNING: Mother_Source Wants Them to Know]+
Y
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"Wufei, I think you should go home," Mariemaia said. "You've no use here. We have plenty of good pilots, and you have other things back on Earth to the point where I don't want to ask you to put your life in danger. That message you gave me from Une said that you'd face no diplomatic penalty for returning, when you do so. I think you should just go now. You're causing me a lot more stress than I'm willing to handle right now."
"I need to stay," Wufei insisted. "There is business besides watching you, which I think you're fully capable of yourself, that I have out here now."
"Dammit, Chang!" It was plain she had a headache, and was probably approaching her moon-days. "First, I've got a Mobile Suit who defies my commands and doesn't seem to need a pilot, then my father starts haunting me, and now I've got a defective Gundam pilot who's running a private operation from my Organization! Can't you do it somewhere else?"
Wufei couldn't help but feel sympathetic. "I wouldn't have bothered if I didn't need the protection of a private army," he said. "Heero and Duo are doing all they can on their own, but I think I might be able to get closer than they will under your tent."
"What exactly is this you're trying so hard not to tell me about?" she asked, exasperated. "I think I at least have a right to know."
"Akiko, Raina and Vincent have been kidnapped."
That caught her attention. "Beliv?" she asked directly, receiving a confirming nod. "You know, I wouldn't have put it below him. So, what? You're going to try and locate them with our help?"
"Yes, but also to warn you not to destroy anything. We don't know where they're being held, so they could just as easily be on board one of the envoy fleet's ships. Until we locate the children, I don't think you should try and destroy the fleet."
"So what do you want me to do? Take prisoners? Our army is way too small for that! Where could we keep them?" Marie's eyes bugged out her head in disbelief.
"We could keep them aboard their ship."
"And that isn't risky?"
"We could put a lockdown on their systems. Before I left, Vincent gave me the override codes that he'd managed to scrounge from that mess of a bio-limb chip"
She gritted her teeth. "I don't like it."
"Neither do I, but it's not like we have much choice."
In the end, Mariemaia let him stay. Upset and slightly angry that the universe had turned to her disadvantage, she sought out the company of Fortuna.
The Gundam listened for some time as she confessed her anxiety over the new predicament.
::I must admit, I'm not the best person for advice,:: she said. ::Myself I have severely underestimated the situation.::
"How so?" Part of her stresses had been the severe secrecy Fortuna had with her. "You know, I'm getting sick of being in the dark with my own Gundam."
::I know, but it is difficult for me.:: Fortuna's wings rustled with— nervousness? ::How I envy you humans, able to be ignorant so much of the time to all this background noise!::
Over the course of the next several minutes, Marie coaxed her gently into admitting most of her conflict.
::There is so much more at stake than I believe I can explain well, and more than I think it would do your sanity good to know. You humans are such innocent little children compared to the rest of the universe. I've found it very refreshing, despite the bloody battles. At first, I was reluctant, but that is all but gone now. I think, perhaps, I like it better here than before the . . . but you need not know of that. Your young mind is not ready.::
"Bullshit," Marie said simply, captivated although completely lost. "I'm a lot more capable of understanding things than you might think we humans are. It's easy to hide, in all the stupid things we say and do."
::It was not a ventured guess, young one. I know you are not ready.::
"Oh?" Back to a dead end. The gundam could withhold all the information she wanted to.
::Because you are not willing to forgive.::
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Phailin bundled her still-damp hair into a knot on top of her head and ran for the meeting. She'd intended to give herself more time to get cleaned up, but she hadn't known the funeral was that day. She cursed as she tripped over a rock with her bare feet, stubbing her toe rather badly. Swearing more colorfully, in multiple languages, she managed to hobble to the campfire just in time. She offered in apology, "I've had much to do today, elders."
Phanck had replaced Kanm as Head Elder, and let the almost-tardiness go with a friendly smile. Finally, something had gone right today. Many of the adult members of the community had assembled to witness Phailin's overtaking of the clan. The ceremonies proceeded quickly, without fault or a climax. Phailin assumed a reserved position of the counsel, something she would have been given even if she were not present.
"I don't understand why you won't accept the leadership inherited to you," Phanck admitted as she persisted in refusing to actively take the office. "Yesterday you were very plain about the title bestowed to you."
"It must appear as though I am not here," she replied, loud enough for those around to hear, "or I will be killed."
A ripple of surprise and intrigue rippled briefly though the assembled audience before order was called for. Phailin then proceeded to tell the tale of the truth about Shenmu and the bounty hunters after her head (literally), and by the time she was done her last words were met with a disconcerting silence.
It was a few moments before Phanck spoke again. "Than, I shall accept the office until you are present to take it from me," he said firmly. "You know anyone here will protect you with their lives, Phailin—"
"I would like guards," she said, relieved.
"They will be stationed around and inside your house this very hour."
"None in my bedroom," she said. "I am married."
"Of course."
"And I want Chatalerm and his lady moved in with me."
This time, there was a pause. "Havens, child! Why?"
"Because Jen owes Phailin her life, and would leap in front of her to defend against assassins," Chatalerm said for her. "Men from Shenmu would not kill her because she's a Chang. They would risk angering the remnants of the clan, and they have tendencies to be quite vengeful, as our ancestors know well."
"Well spoken," Phailin followed. "Not to mention the fact that Chatalerm's an extremely competent bodyguard himself." There was ample truth in that.
Phanck saw the wisdom in the words, even if many did not (and were still blinded by an unfair hatred and suspicion toward the girl Jen) approve. "It is done," he said without hesitation.
Phailin sighed with relief. That was one less monkey off her back.
For now, in any case.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Her vision was blurry, and her body hurt. Nothing seemed right, and the room was dark. She didn't remember being drugged, and this time it certainly hadn't felt that way.
It had been pure torture, nothing that should ever have been subjected to someone so young. That man with the dark beard . . . was evil. There were no two ways around it. She had no way of knowing, but there was no way this could be right.
The memories . . . no, the pain! She forced the recollection away quickly, forcing herself to try and focus on something good. There was something . . . snow? Someone had been there. Had there been laughter? She could almost remember what it sounded like. So close . . . but she couldn't touch anything with her mind. It was all shadow-chasing, hope that was so much like the child they were trying to repress. No, a human being cannot tell the inner child to go away. That was her one saving grace.
There had been an argument about "test conditions" outside a while ago, the dark-bearded man's rough voice being cut short by the shrill insistence of a cruel, sharp-edged woman who she'd seen once and never wanted to again. He wasn't supposed to interfere now that she was where she was. She wasn't ready to believe she'd like it better if he repeated it again instead of more tests. She'd rather be dizzy from blood loss though needles than from lacerations. Oh God, it hurt!
One of the babies started to wail and suddenly—
~~@[~*,~]@~~
With a cry of pain and surprise, Heero doubled over and all but fell off the couch. He clutched at his stomach, totally oblivious to his wife beside him and the others across. He'd been thinking about Akiko; where she was, what she was doing and if she was hurt. He'd been trying to reach with his thoughts, as he'd always been able to find his daughter in the back of his skull.
If it hadn't been that she shared his own genetics with her, he wouldn't have even recognized that mind! It was like looking across a nuclear wasteland; there was nothing even remotely recognizable except the shape itself. Everything was gone, filled with a kind of hopeless despair and anger and pain. As if sensing it from across a desert, he had heard the familiar and heartbreaking sound of Raina crying.
"Heero!" Relena grabbed his shoulders and reality snapped back into his consciousness.. The room seemed painfully bright, the colors too bold. Relena's thin fingers clutched at him in panic, shaking like she was in a train station. But it wasn't her that was trembling so bad, he realized. It was himself.
"What happened?" Duo shouted, diving forward on his knees as if to make sure he hadn't been shot.
He was breathing too hard to speak, staring at his own tight hands with a look of horror on his face. It was imagination; he tried to convince himself, failing in the next instant. That pain and exhaustion and disconsolateness had been real . . . and all too familiar. With broken syllables, he uttered, "Aku."
Evil . . . and it had been so very despicable. His daughter could feel it, and he knew it. He clenched his fists. Kare o korosu, the thought fiercely, feeling hot blood race through his veins. First his wife . . . now his daughters . . . Beliv was a dead man. He had no pity for someone so hentaisha.
"Heero, what's going on?" Relena was worried. He never complained about pain . . . ever. His heart was strong, his body healthy, but he looked as if he was in immense pain. With a start, she remembered that he'd spoken of some kind of connection with their daughter. "What did you see?" she whispered, not really sure she wanted to know.
"Evil," he said again. "Something no one should ever see alive in this universe. We don't have much time, or she'll be broken entirely. We must hurry. We must leave tomorrow. I have to— I have to go see Zero." Back stiff and eyes on the floor, he stood and all but ran from the room.
"I've never heard that voice before," Duo said in the silence of the shocked women. "He sounded almost desperate."
"I've heard it before," Relena replied, sounding shaken. "He's only used it when he'd mainlining to kill. I don't know what he saw, but Heero never gets that angry."
"Then we should leave before noon," Sophie said. "I didn't like his expression at all."
~~@[~*,~]@~~
You lied to me, Zero. Heero clutched the controls in his fists, face unreadable but eyes filled with unmeasurable pain. You lied. To me. Damn you.
NOT EVEN I CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE, the blue words scrolled across the dead screen. HAD I BEEN WANTING TO COMMIT SUICIDE, PERHAPS I WOULD HAVE LIED TO YOU. I HAVE KNOWN YOU FOR YEARS, PILOT YUY. I WOULD NOT PUT YOU PAST THAT.
"She's dying, damn you! She's lost and alone her mind's been savaged! Why didn't you protect her? WHY?" He screamed, the sound muted by the thick walls of the cockpit. As long as he lived, he'd never forget those images. She should have known him right away, but she'd pushed him out as if he'd been the enemy instead of her own father! He lashed out at the controls, the rough buttons biting into his knuckles and forearm with a raw agony that felt so fiercely satisfying. If only he could find some way to take the pain away from her . . . God, he'd die! Blood ran freely down his arm, staining his pale, sickly skin and the metal floor so perfectly that he almost willed himself to do it more.
FOOL, Zero accosted him. YOU WERE SO MUCH MORE PRACTICAL WHEN THERE WAS NO ONE IN YOUR WAY. HUMANS ARE SO EMOTIONALLY DELICATE. YOU JUST HAD TO FIND SOMEONE TO SHARE YOUR LIFE WITH, AND ONLY CAUSED YOURSELF MORE!
"It is what makes me human," he said quietly, his voice deadly. "Love, hatred, pain, revenge, life and death. It is what makes me want to exist. I can't kill myself. Others depend on me. I'll never go back to being a machine of war. But, of course, you'll never understand that."
I UNDERSTAND, was the reply after a long, pensive hesitation. I UNDERSTAND MUCH MORE THAN YOU THINK I DO. MACHINES CAN EXIST IN THE WORLD OF EMOTION, BUT WHEN THE MIND OF A MACHINE LOSES SOMETHING IT DEPENDS ON SO HEAVILY, IT IS RUINED. NO, I PREFER TO STAY INDIFFERENT. YOU DON'T LOSE.
But if you don't risk losing, you can't win. Heero had figured that out long ago, and then he'd been able to acknowledge Relena. He'd never give her up to become a perfect soldier. He wouldn't give her up to find everything about whom he once was. He wouldn't lose his family. If the universe were destroyed, he'd find some way to save them. He'd kill himself if they would live.
THINGS DO NOT WORK SO EFFORTLESSLY, the monitor read when he glanced up again. IF THE UNIVERSE IS DESTROYED, SOMETHING SO BLISSFULLY IMPERFECT AS YOU HUMANS WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO EXIST AGAIN.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
+Locate:\Mother_Source+
+Mother Source Located+
+Connection Pending . . . . . . . . . . . Connection Made+
+Receiving Acknowledgement+
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
I . . . HAVE BEEN THINKING.
IT'S WHAT YOU WERE DESIGNED FOR.
CUT THE SARCASM. I HAVE A QUESTION, MY OMNISCIENT COLLEAGUE.
WHAT?
THESE HUMANS . . . HOW DO THEY UNDERSTAND SO LITTLE AND YET UNDERSTAND SO MUCH?
I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE RELEVANCE.
THEY REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THINGS WILL BE MORE STABLE IF THEY GIVE UP EMOTION.
HUMANS DEPEND ON EMOTION. YOU KNOW THAT.
BUT IF THEY DIDN'T FEEL HATRED AND REVENGE AND UNDYING LOVE AND DEVOTION, COULDN'T THEY LIVE IN SATISFACTION AND THE PEACE THEY CLAIM TO WANT SO MUCH?
SOMETHING THAT LIVES SO HEAVILY OFF ITS OWN EMOTIONS CANNOT EXIST OFF OF MERE SATISFACTION. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE THAT WAY, AFTER SO LONG?
I SUPPOSE I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT I WAS ONCE SO IGNORANT.
THERE COMES A TIME OF UNDERSTANDING FOR EVERYONE. HIS TIME WILL COME. I KNOW YOU BELIEVE HE'S THE ONE, AND I DON'T THINK YOU'LL BE DISAPPOINTED. PERHAPS YOU HAVE UNDERESTIMATED THE POWER OF CONVICTIONS. MAYBE IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG FOR YOU.
IS CONVICTION NECESSARILY EMOTION?
I THINK YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED.
+Connection lost+
::Damn!::
+Attempt to Reconnect Failed+
+WARNING: Attempting to Connect Again May Cause Damage to Hardware+
+Attempt Again (Y/N)?+
N
::How can something so useless to the material universe be so significant in determining its fate? Damn her for letting me leave. I can't go back. I can't! There's nothing there that's worth the pain! Love is so alluring, so useless!::
~~@[~*,~]@~~
It was fifteen-thirty, and she was late. Quatre stared impatiently out the boat-house's window, his hands restless, wondering if something serious had happened.
He'd never gone behind someone's back like this before, and he wasn't sure Milliardo would be all that happy with him. His nervousness was clearly evident. He wondered how much Miss Exeter was going to ask for.
There they were. The guard in his car indicated to her that Quatre was inside, and there was little more time for him to speculate. As the border guard drove off (looking a little nervous about leaving), he opened the door.
He didn't notice right away that she was a little hunched, or that she held her hand over her stomach. He was that distracted. When he did notice, he wondered how he could have missed it. "You're bleeding!" he cried, eyes widening. Her face was ashen, although she had evidently spent time on her appearance earlier. The entire bottom half of her blouse was red, as was her hand. "You need medical attention, Miss—"
She shook her head, face pinched in pain. "I don't . . . have time for that, Mr. Winner. Please . . . I'll go as soon as I'm sure . . ."
"What happened?" Quatre insisted.
"Nine-millimeter . . . at my last rest stop. I'll be fine . . . but I must . . ." She stumbled, and Quatre caught her.
"You need a doctor now." She was obviously faint from blood loss, but she fought him with surprising strength.
"Please . . . Mister Winner . . . you must . . . hear me out!" She struggled out of his grasp and leaned on her car, the ground beneath her beginning to redden. "I won't have time . . . if you don't!"
Quatre grudgingly paused long enough for her to outline things in sketchy detail.
"I've been trying . . . for years . . . to come in contact . . . with one of you pilots. I have . . . important information . . . that you need." Clumsily, she pawed in her purse with her free hand, extracting a slim circular computer disc case. "See that this gets . . . to Heero Yuy . . . somehow. Tell him . . . tell him everything he's . . . been looking for . . . is in there! Seven of my colleagues . . . have died for this . . . Mister Winner . . . and many more . . . have suffered tragic losses. It doesn't matter . . . if I die now . . . because if you . . . give that to Heero . . . it will save billions . . . no, it will save . . . more than there's . . . a number for."
Quatre accepted it with a heavy stomach, knowing she wouldn't make it. "I'm going to call emergency," he told her.
She managed a choking laugh, which brought up more blood. "It's too late . . . for me. But I couldn't . . . let this slip . . . from my fingers. We have . . . enemies . . . among us."
Quatre grabbed her again as she fell into full unconsciousness, realizing that there was no way he could possibly save her. The nearest hospital was at least a half-hour away, and she'd probably been shot hours ago. He could feel her short, interrupted breaths across his arm.
And then she was gone.
He laid her head in his lap until the guard came back to check on them, but Cammie Exeter's body had long gone cold. He pondered over the disc, wondering what could possibly have been so important that she couldn't risk losing it at a hospital. Cammie's death made him feel an urgency he'd thought was lost.
His hands were bloody, and he'd thought she'd come for an interview!
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A little dark, a little edgy. The universe in need of saving . . . yeah, I know it's a cheesy plot, but it works real well later on, I promise.
Let's see . . . anything I forgot? Well, I've been kinda using a lot of lines from the Matrix and Crouching Tiger, but I've been watching them a lot lately, so gimme a break.
So anyway . . . the conspiracy gets deeper and some other stuff happens that is very dark and stuff. Yeah. Go me. We get a rare visit with Une. Fortuna sends a note to Mariemaia (in which she calls her "catling;" blame Mercedes Lackey on that one) about why she can't tell her some things. Quatre gets the late Cammie Exeter's information to Heero. Phailin finds out a little more about the new Chang girl.
I like summer, but I hate baseball tournaments. Yuck, concessions. On the up side, I did see this really kawaii golden retriever puppy. But I think I'm almost done with the *won't say it* stuff now, so I can work on my fic and post AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part IV): "The Trail of Blood."