Wanders: Ascension
By Eve
Part Six: The Return to Incognito
A.C 202
27 January
Sydney, Australia
Pacisci "Paci" Organization
West Subdivision
The room was poorly lit. She could barely see the table and
chairs, as she entered the room. It was even worse because
she was tired. She slowly made her way across the room, to
a chair against the far end of the wall. Dorothy didn't feel like
dealing with anyone just yet.
"Can I get you something to drink?"
She was startled out of her thoughts by the young secretary
who had brought her in. She stood waiting for her answer.
Dorothy shook her head. "No thanks. I'm alright." The
woman nodded and left, leaving Dorothy once more to
her thoughts.
What the hell was she getting herself into? She was re-entering
a life where she had promised herself that she would never
resort back unless it was absolutely necessary. She sighed and
buried her head in her hands. She had spent the past several
days, going through countless of reasons why she shouldn't
come. But then she could counter every single reason with a
reason why she should be here. In fact, she had more reasons
to be here than not to be here. It made her feel sick.
Her eyes wandered around the room, taking in what she
could from the poor lighting. They put in mirrors, she
noticed. She stared at her reflection in the wall next to
her. It was probably for pointless reflections such as these.
Either that or to drive people like her crazy.
She didn't want to see what she looked like. She didn't want to
be face with the fact that she looked horrible. But curiosity got
the best of her and she looked up.
"Damn," she muttered. "I look horrible."
Her green eyes were dark and lifeless, looking like a faded
emerald that no longer was taken care of. Her light blonde
hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, brushing just below
her shoulders when she moved. It took her days to get used
to the fact that she had cut her hair. She wore black boot cut
jeans with blue flip-flops, feeling like she had to have some
color in her outfit. Her short sleeve shirt was black and had
in silver lettering the word, "Angel". On her neck she wore
a silver necklace with a heart-shaped charm. It had been a
gift from her grandmother before she had left for the Cairo
base and headed into battle. That was the last time she had
seen her grandmother. Sighing, she closed her eyes.
"I really do look fucking horrible."
"Not as bad as I do."
Dorothy smiled and looked up, greeting the person that
was standing in the doorway.
"It's been awhile."
**
Merian stood at the doorway, where the secretary had
pointed her to go through and wait. She gave Dorothy
a small smile and wandered to a seat.
"It hasn't been long enough," she muttered.
She watched Dorothy lean back in her seat and sigh. "It seems
we never meet on any good circumstances, Mer." The Chinese
woman nodded and studied the room they sat in. It had been
awhile since she had been here.
"I guess they're intent is to show us how shitty we look, huh?"
Dorothy rolled her eyes at her, causing another smile on
Merian's face. She too began to study her reflection in the
surrounding mirrors. She wore a short khaki skirt with small
red roses embroidered at the edges and a white tank top. She
had no jewelry, but simple diamond studs in her ears. On her
feet she wore black Adidas sandals, wanting to avoid any type
of dress sandals. Her raven black hair was pulled back in a
french braid and tied at the end with a navy ribbon. Her hazel
eyes seemed to be faded, but did show some signs of life occasionally.
"Nope. They know how much we hate looking at ourselves, so
they put the damn mirrors in. You got to go for the simplest of
the explanations."
Dorothy nodded in agreement. "It's the whole conspiracy thing
they have against us. Got to love it."
The two girls sat in silence, both staring at their hands below
hem. Merian sighed. It shouldn't have to be small conversation.
They were friends, sisters even, but the years had created such
distance between them. This was going to be hard.
"We need time," she said softly.
"But we don't have any to spare..."
**
She stood at the doorway, watching two of the most important
people in her life staring back at her. She fingered her identification
card, quietly waiting for a response.
"You look good, Cat."
Smirking, she made her way to join the other girls at the
table. "You're getting to be too good at lying, Dee." She
let out a small laugh. "I am the best, my dear. What can
I say?" She grinned and sat in the chair across from Merian.
Catherine looked around the room, waiting patiently for
the coffee she asked for.
"What's with all the mirrors?"
Both Merian and Dorothy laughed at her. "It's too show us
how hideous we look to the common eye." Catherine raised
an eyebrow, but said nothing. She found her eyes wandering
towards the reflection. She really had changed.
She didn't even recognize herself.
Her eyes, usually a light violet, were dark and cloudy and
hid behind her glasses. She was unusually pale, mostly
likely from the lack of sun since she worked in the lab
all day. She wore a long sleeve black shirt with a pair of
green khaki shorts. On her feet, she had on blue Nike
sneakers. She had grown her curly flaming red hair back
down to past her shoulders. It was pulled back into a tight
bun.
"I look like a goddamn corpse."
Her comment set the other two into a fit of laughter.
**
Hilde Schibecker stood at the doorway with two cups of
steaming coffee watching the laughing girls with a tiny smile.
She missed this.
She missed her friends, her sisters.
She missed the laughter, the crying...
She missed everything.
"At least you're not a chunky monkey."
Hilde was met with three very startled stares. She watched
as smiles bloomed on each of her friends, no sisters' faces.
Catherine stood up to help her with the coffee, while both
Dorothy and Merian gave her smiles.
"You still have this thing with thinking your fat, huh?"
"Well," she started with her trademark grin. "You know
me, chica. I gotta throw my two cents in every now in
then." The others laughed as she sat down. She sighed
and looked around the room. The mirrors in the room
were really creeping her out. It was almost as if it was
forcing her to really look at herself and notice how
horribly off she was. She wore all black today. She
knew it seemed to be ridiculous, wearing all black in
ninety-degree weather in Australia, but she was
comfortable like this.
She closed her eyes.
Duo Maxwell really had rubbed off on her.
She wore a black tank top with a pair of black sport shorts.
Around her waist she tied a dark blue sweatshirt, which
brushed her legs when she walked. Her ebony hair was
pulled back into a messy ponytail, with a few stray tendrils
brushing her face. Hilde decided to grow her hair back
after she had left L2. She had hated her short hair. She
remembered when she cut it; she literally broke down
into tears when she heard the snips of the silver scissors.
That day was the worst day of her life.
"So how come the coffee took so long?"
She looked up, startled for a moment, but met Cat's
gaze. She watched the other girl take a sip of the coffee
she brought in and make a face.
"Christ, this is horrible!"
Smirking, Hilde examined her own coffee. "I didn't
make it, so don't look at me."
Catherine grinned and winked at her. "If you had made
coffee, I wouldn't not be breathing right now."
Hilde rolled her eyes and began to search through her
purse. She pulled out a small white envelope and threw
it at Dorothy. "What's this?" the other girl asked. She
motioned for her to open it. "Son of a..." Hilde nodded,
agreeing with her friends' reaction. She sighed. "I had
come home one day, I think it had been at least three
years since I had left L2. It turns out that Parker had
some how tracked me down to goddamn Madrid, just
to rub it in..."
Catherine took the envelope out of Dorothy's hands and
pulled out the photographs. The first picture was of Quatre
and his new girlfriend or "lady friend" as the press deemed
it. The girl was the typical blonde, neat and tidy, but most
likely really snobby considering the type of people Quatre
associated with. Hilde sighed. Parker had made sure to
include in his nice letter, that both Winner and Duo had
a new girlfriend every week but lately the girls in the
pictures have been sticking around for quite a while.
She watched Catherine pull out the next picture slowly,
knowing what the girl must feel like. It was the whole
anticipation of maybe he didn't forget... Hilde sighed as
she watched Merian struggle with the curiosity to look.
"At least he loves her," she mummered.
Catherine pulled out the next picture, causing her to
cringe. She had spent hours telling herself that it wasn't
worth it. Everything that had been said had been said
and that was it. She could do nothing more about it.
The last two pictures fell out and she went to reach
for them. "I don't remember these," she said softly.
"Let me see."
Hilde looked up, meeting Catherine's tired violet
eyes. "I'm might as well see who she is." She
watched her friend gently trace the picture with
her finger. All of this had such of an effect on
them. None of them could ever forget that night.
"Who's the girl in this picture? The one with the
pilot of 01" Merian asked softly.
"Sylvia," a new voice began.
"Sylvia Noventa."
**
She stood watching her friends, her sisters intently. It
was a wonder what the years have done to them. They
were all tired, beyond exhausted of fighting and lying.
They were the products of selfishness and the desire
to have power, yet they never ever served for these
purposes.
Relena Darlin felt all eyes on her as she made her way
over and sat down in the far end corner.
"She's Marshal Noventa's granddaughter, Duo's girlfriend is an
ex-pilot for Oz. I think her name is Lana. Quatre is dating the
daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, Michelle. And Wufei is
dating Sally Po, a Preventer's officer and his partner."
Hilde looked at her. "Santo Dios! What did Parker do? Send
you a report?" She nodded. "Three-hundred pages of everything
from what their diets have changed to and their sex life."
"That's fucking sick," Dorothy muttered.
She shrugged, but said nothing.
"At least he didn't tape anything," Hilde began. She then
turned to Relena. "Or did he?"
The other girl smiled and shook her head, looking around
the room. They were all here. All five girls who carried
memories of the past that no one wanted to remember.
They were living proof that through whatever mentality,
survival was possible. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Everything had just begun...
"So," Merian started, leaning back in her chair. "You haven't
said anything about the mirrors." She looked around her and
found herself drawn to her reflection and was met with a tired
young woman looking back at her. Her long sandy blonde hair
was pulled back loosely in a high ponytail with a few strands of
tendrils brushing the back of her neck. Her bright blue eyes still
held their piercing quality, but showed an immense exhaustion
and sadness. She watched with absolute fascination as her eyes,
the window to her soul clouded over and left them as dark blue
pools. She sighed. Her reflexes were kicking back in. She wore
dark gray sweat pants with green flip-flops. She also wore a red
tank top with the Japanese embroidered word "firefly".
"I look like bloody shit," she muttered.
Merian laughed. "That's how it's been when we all walked in. I
personally think it's a shitty attempt to clean us up."
Relena grinned. "I couldn't agree more with you."
They sat in silence, each contemplating on different aspects of
their lives in the past. Relena sighed. Would she be able to go
through with everything? Would she be able to step into the
cold persona where she could pretend like at least she accepted
everything the way it was?
"So anyone know when Doc. is going to show her lovely
presence?"
Dorothy shrugged.
"You know Doc. She's always unpredictable."
**
Emma Peterson was an old woman now. Silver, gray hair fell
down past her shoulders and wrinkles adorned her face. Her
hands looked like prunes, suffering from a mild case of arthritis.
"I guess I'm one hell of an unpredictable old woman."
She was greeted by five very tired, but big smiles. She remembered
when these very five girls when they had been at least five or six.
They used to come and give her hugs every time she entered a room.
How times changes.
Now, as she stood in front of the long table, she was staring
five beautiful girls in their twenties.
She was really old.
Peterson made her way towards the last open chair slowly. She
took out six heavy files and pushed them to each girl.
"Funding must have gone up, 'cause we're actually getting folders
to brief us."
She shot a look at Hilde, causing the rest of the girls to giggle.
"Good to see you haven't changed a bit, my dear."
Hilde grinned and winked at her.
"I'm one of a kind, Doc. One in a million, they say."
Peterson smiled and opened up the file in front of her, motioning
the girls to the same. Her expression then became serious.
"At six o'clock last Thursday morning, Senator Thomas
Larson formally of the Society made a declaration that the
long fallen organization started by his mentor General
Harrington would rise to power again. The declaration
itself was not official nor was it public, but Larson made
it clear that he would take down the UESA in one blow."
She watched as Dorothy rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Jesus... It's
been what? Sixteen years? And on top of that he's sugar coating
things."
Merian sighed. "He's a crazy bastard that holds a load of
grudges. I wouldn't expect anything less from him."
Peterson nodded and continued. "There will be a conference
between UESA and the Society, which leads us to the first part
of business. Cat, dear heart, I want you to play reporter on this
one. You need to take advantage of the question and answer
session. Look for holes in his responses."
The red head nodded, flipping through the rest of her file.
"Also be careful who you bump into. Barton and the other
Preventers will be around. Second part of business. Dee, you
are to be apart of the audience. Take note of who's in attendance
and who's not. Many of the people there will be sponsors."
Dorothy looked at her. "You have here that the Winner
Corporation will be there. Do you mean the big shot himself
will be in attendance?"
She nodded. "The Society will try to use his business as an
attraction. You are to play the same part you've been playing
for years, but be careful. You know why. That brings me to
the rest of you. Merian, you will be behind the wheel this time.
You will be the extra eye for these girls."
Merian smiled. "I've always loved sitting on my ass." Hilde
snickered. "We've know that for years, chica."
Peterson held up her hand before the two girls could start fighting.
"Hilde and Relena, you two have the most important jobs," she
began. The two girls looked up at her with mild interest.
"Let me guess, Relena and I get the dirty jobs."
Relena sipped her coffee. "It's always been like that, love." Hilde
shrugged. "You know what they say. It's an honor to get down
and dirty for your country."
"You really know your bullshit, Hilde," Dorothy said. Hilde
leaned back in her chair. "Again, let me reiterate...I'm one of
a kind, babe."
Peterson smiled. It was good to have the girls back. "All right
girls let me finish. You'll have time to talk later."
"Sorry Doc., we all got carried away."
Her expression became serious.
"From our underground sources," she began, ignoring the
snickers from the girls. "We have discovered that there
will be an assignation attempt on Millardo Peacecraft's
life." She looked at Relena, who wore an unreadable
expression on her face and continued. "Rumor has it
that the attempt will be from someone inside the
Preventers Organization. No one has been able to
decipher who it might be yet. Whatever the cost, I
want a clean job. The both of you will go in and get
out as quietly as possible. Remember that this is just
the beginning of things. We want to see how we're
going to deal with things first."
She looked around and studied each girl. Catherine was
leafing through her file, sipping her coffee occasionally.
Merian was slouching against her chair with her eyes
closed, while Dorothy stared off into space. Hilde was
playing with her pen and Relena was reading the paper
in front of her.
She sighed. "Girls, I'm sorry it has to be this way..." Catherine
held up her hand. "Doc. we've been through this before. We
understand. It's just been so long."
The old woman leaned back in her chair. "There's going to
be a meeting with the council later this week."
"Oh really... The old folks want to grace us with their
omniscient presence."
Relena sighed. "Hil..."
The other girl shrugged. "It's the truth. They're just a bunch
of sixty to seventy year olds who love playing God. How long
have they been around? Since A.C 165? Following the wonderful
traditions of life, liberty, and freedom? Mi amiga, that is bullshit."
Relena leaned back into her chair. "I know, I know. I honestly
agree with you. But there's also a lot on the side that needs
at least some attention from us. I mean, love tell me. Are
you ready? Are you ready to put your bloody soul on the
market again? Also think about it. There is nothing we
can ever do."
Merian closed her file and nodded. "None of us are
saying we don't agree with you. But you have to
remember; these are the people who are going to
send us home. We have to kiss their asses no matter
what."
Peterson looked around at the girls sadly. "You can go unpack
now."
"Same rooms?"
She smiled. "Same rooms."
Hilde grinned. "Well in that case, Mer and Dee, the bed near the
window is calling for my occupation."
A wicked smile formed on Dorothy's face. "Not if I can help it..."
The two girls ran out of the room with Merian on their tails. She
heard loud giggling from the hallway.
"Don't break anything!"
She turned to the other girls who shrugged as they stood up.
"Some things never change," Catherine remarked as she and Relena left.
The old doctor smiled.
And she was glad some things never did.
**