Chapter Nine
~Reiming~
What can I say: anyone who takes my sword does not live to get away with it, as my opponent
realized. After that rather short battle, I murmured to Veylona, "I'm sure glad you designed
those." She smiled thinly. "You're welcome."
Of course, the move I had made was also a risky one. Now it was obvious to the other six that
Veylona and I, or at least just me, were extremely dangerous. It was possible that the other
six would join forces to try to kill us.
We found this out for a fact as we were going back to our rooms. For some reason, one boy was
following. "You girls think you're so smart," he sneered. "Well, you guys will be the first to
go!"
Though both Veylona and I ignored him, we both glanced at each other, and we each made a mental
reminder to watch out.
The boy was still ranting and raving as we reached our room. I had gotten annoyed with him, and
I had hurried ahead to our room. Suddenly, the watch I wore vibrated. Immediately my eyes
narrowed and I turned around. "Why don't you just shut up already?!" I growled, pretending to
be irritated, but the real purpose was to make eye contact with Veylona and gesture to my
watch. Her eyes flickered to our room and down to my watch, which actually had a small
infrared and radiation sensor in it. She turned casually to the boy. "So then...any particular
reason that you are following us?"
The boy sneered at us. "Me, of course not!" But the way he said it caused both of us to
narrow our eyes. "Oh very sadistic of you," I thought. "Figures you'd follow to see us get
blown to bits." The way his eyes lit up as I touched the door knob confirmed our suspicions;
there was definitely a bomb in our room. Veylona nodded, and I grabbed the boy by the shirt.
"Go...away...permanently!" I hissed, and shoved him into the door with so much force that he
fell through the flimsy door...and triggered an explosion.
When the smoke cleared, quite a crowd had gathered. "What happened here?!" Himmler demanded,
shoving through the crowd. I gestured. "There WAS a bomb in here, but that problem has
been remedied," I stated matter of factly.
Atkins leaned in the doorway and saw the...remains...of the boy. "I see," he said simply.
Veylona looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I could practically see her thinking, "One down,
five to go."
It was probably a good thing that we had, in a way, made an example of that boy. It proved to
the five others that Veylona and I weren't to be trifled with. However, that did not prevent
a gang of three from jumping us after dinner.
I have to give them credit: they were quiet, and armed and certainly had planned well. However,
Veylona and I did not spend our free time relaxing. When we weren't arming ourselves with
weapons, we were practicing our sparring. After a brief scuffle which resulted in Veylona and
I receiving a few knife slashes, the three were down. Two were down permanently, the third
was still alive. Then I had idea.
"Veylona, remember that truth serum?"
Veylona stared, then chuckled, a cold laugh that was fairly similar to that of Himmler and
Atkins. "Well then, here's a nice guinea pig."
I removed the vial and a syringe and filled in, then jabbed it into him. However, he didn't
move. "Well then," Veylona said, "we have problem."
"Is that right?"
"Still have the stimulant?"
"Yes...but then he'll be too active."
"Still have the depressant?"
"Well...yes."
So we injected him with that too. We managed to get some information out of him (they had some
guns hidden; we retrieved those later, proving that the serum did work), but he was dead in
about a minute, from drug overdose. "Oops," I muttered. Veylona glanced at me. "Oops, is it?"
she said sardonically. I pretended to think for a moment. "Well, yeah, oops." This
comment caused us both to convulse helplessly into laughter, but it wasn't because we were
happy. Because at that moment, Veylona and I realized exactly how heartless we had become.
But now it was down to four: Veylona and myself, and two other boys. At this, Himmler and
Atkins stopped. I guess even for those two blood thirsty monsters, going from 201 to four in
just four years was too much even for them. So they stopped, and called us in the next day.
"You four are the final four," Himmler began. "Congratulations, you've made it."
None of us said anything; by this time, emotions were fairly non existent.
Himmler smirked at our lack of speech. "From this day on," he continued, "you four will
undergo intensive training. By the time we are done with you, you will be the Perfect
Soldiers, the perfect fighting machines. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir," we all muttered. Himmler nodded. "Then that is all. You two boys may
leave with Atkins to begin your training at once; Lillith and Veylona, you two stay here."
The two boys left, and Veylona and I stayed. Himmler leaned forward at us, and smiled an
extremely unpleasant smile that was so vile that Veylona and I glanced at each other.
"Ladies," he began in a silky voice, "you two will be 'mature' very, very, soon.
Therefore, as soldiers, you two must be able to use that to your advantage. So, I'm afraid the
first course of training you will undergo will be different than those of Phillipe and TJ.
Willis! Richardson!"
Immediately, two soldiers appeared. Himmler waved to us. "Teach these young ladies how to
'use their charm.'" And with that, he left, leaving us to begin what we would call later our
official beginning of life in hell.
Chapter 10
*~Meilai~*
After four years of torture, it was understandable that Lillith and I lacked emotions.
However, to this day, I can still remember being curled up in a fetal position on my cot,
shaking violently. Lillith was not in better shape; she had not moved from her position from
the toilet for the past ten minutes.
What occurred after Himmler left was too horrible to write; however, be assured that it was
easily the most traumatizing thing that had ever happened to both of us in those four years.
Now that I think about it, I think that "relieving" some of their soldiers and "teaching us
how to use our charm" were not the only motives that Himmler and Atkins had for subjecting us
to that kind of torture. The fact was, Lillith and I were dangerous. Even though we were
children, we had succeeded in wiping out nearly 20 people with little effort. By doing what
they did to us, they completely crushed what little was left of our soul and resistance, and
left empty shells.
Of course, they didn't stop there. Though we did undergo actual training with the other two
boys, Phillipe and TJ, we began to have nightly visits from various soldiers, and even from
Himmler and Atkins themselves. They sent Phillipe and TJ once also, but Lillith and I
weren't so defeated as to even allow them into our room, as they found out as we held two
guns a fraction of a centimeter away from their heads.
And so time passed. Eventually, it got to a point where Lillith and I couldn't stand it
anymore, and delivered out harsh punishment to anyone who dared to try anything on us. It also
got to the point that the possibility of pregnancy was very real, so Himmler and Atkins stopped
visiting, as did the soldiers, although Willis in particular enjoyed jabbing us in places we
did not appreciate as we passed each other in the hallways.
It was now AC 195. I was fourteen, and Lillith was fifteen. The two of us, along with Phillipe
and TJ, were actually treated quite well now. We had very nice rooms, though Lillith and I
still chose to share a room; top quality equipment; and an endless supply of arsenal at our
disposal. However, it was around this time that I found out that I had been poisoned.
Even through the trauma, and even though many years had passed, Lillith had not lost her
interest in biology, and had spent hours staring into a microscope developing various
concoctions. One day, she asked me to test an indicator she had developed. "Put a drop of
this in various poisons," she said. "If it changes color, that means it detected it and it
works."
I did so, and I reported to her that it worked. She was rather pleased with herself, but then
left to take a shower. Out of curiosity, I decided to prick myself with a pin and test a drop
of my own blood.
I think my heart about stopped as I watched the indicator change color. I stared at it for about
ten minutes, not daring to believe what I saw. Then I chuckled to myself. "Oh, very clever of
you two," I said bitterly. "So this is your insurance; this is how you keep us under
control."
Soon however, I heard Lillith leave the shower, so I quickly cleaned up.
I did not tell her that we were all poisoned.
Later that day, Himmler and Atkins called us all in. "Operation: Meteor, has finally begun,"
Atkins announced. The four of us exchanged glances. "Excuse me?" TJ asked, looking confused.
Himmler explained. "Operation: Meteor will cause a lot of confusion on Earth and the colonies;
that is all you need to know. During this time, we will seize control. This is where you
four come in."
I glanced at Lillith, and Phillipe and TJ also exchanged glances. Atkins saw. "Yes, you are
right," he said cooly. "This is what you were trained for."
"So now what?" Phillipe asked, looking bored.
Himmler and Atkins stood up. "So now this," Himmler said, and waved his hand. A screen
flickered on. On it were four large mobile suits. "What...the..." I heard TJ mutter.
The rest of us stared as well. As part of our training, all four of us were skilled in the
use of Leos and Pisces, and we had recently completed our training with Cancers. But these
were definitely new to us. The four suits on the screen were much larger, and obviously much
better equipped.
"These are known as Gundams," Himmler announced. "They are made from Gundamium alloy;
hence, the name. Lillith, you shall pilot the Phoenix; Veylona, you shall pilot the
Seraphim; Phillipe, you are the pilot of the Basilisk; and TJ, you will pilot the Wyvern."
Atkins removed several files. "You will have to fight the Rommefeller Foundation, as well as
OZ, but your main enemies will be..." and he handed us the files. "Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell,
Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and..." Lillith trailed off. For some reason, Himmler's
eyes hardened. "Is there a problem, Lillith?" he asked coldly. I looked at her. Lillith's
face had gone pale, and she seemed to have trouble speaking. But she quickly recovred.
"No..." she said quietly, and finished the last name, "Wufei...Chang..."
Chapter 11
~Reiming~
"Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and..."
"Is something wrong Lillith?"
"No...and...Wufei Chang..."
The words echoed in my mind as I walked out into the hangar where the four gundams were.
"Wufei...Wufei...Wufei..."
"NO!"
Veylona turned around and stared. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing..."
Veylona obviously didn't believe me, but she gave up, and turned back around. I set my lips in
a firm line and continued walking, trying to ignore the feelings that I had thought had
disappeared long ago, and trying to ignore the cool touch of the pendant I always wore under my
clothes, a charm in the shape of a phoenix.
The phoenix...and the dragon...I am the phoenix, and Wufei is the dragon.
No! Stop it! You are no longer Chang Reiming! Your name is Lillith, a girl without a past.
And a girl without a soul...
Furious with myself, I stopped walking and pulled out my necklace. "You stupid thing! You
tie me to a past I want to forget!" I thought angrily, and attempted to tear it away.
But I couldn't.
I sighed and tucked it back in, feeling defeated. "My name is Lillith, my name is Lillith," I
muttered to myself, trying to steel myself against the onslaught of emotion that threatened to
break me apart. "I am a cold hearted murderer, I am not Chang Reiming. Chang Wufei is not my
brother; he is not my twin. The necklace I wear is my symbol, the symbol of the mighty
phoenix. It holds no connotations; it is merely who I am, fierce, proud."
But unlike the phoenix, you are not willing to set yourself aflame...you value your own
miserable life too much...
Shut...up!
Finally, I managed to silence the conscience I had long thought disappeared and don my mask
once again. The six of us reached the gundams, and we stared.
All four were equally impressive. The Seraphim, Phoenix, and Wyvern were obviously built for
speed, while the Basilisk was built for firepower. I glanced at Phillipe's cold face. Yes,
the Basilisk is the right suit for him. Like the mythical beast it was named for, this suit
was large, strong, and possessed amazing weaponry. Phillipe had always hated subtlety; he
enjoyed face to face confrontations, relishing the chaos of battle. The Basilisk would suit
him well.
However, Veylona, TJ, and I were different. All three of us specialized in espionage; we were
the complete opposites of Phillipe. We chose hit and run tactics; strike the enemy
unawares, hide, then come back for round two. And judging from the sleek design of our suits,
we could tell that they had been made for us.
All four suits had curious wings mounted on the back that concealed missiles, and faces
representing what they were named for. The Seraphim had the face of a woman, and a beam cannon
and a beam saber. The Phoenix also had a beam cannon and also a double headed thermal weapon,
and had the face of a bird. The Wyvern was mounted with some sort of laser/cannon on the back,
like a tail, along with a beam sword and guns on the shoulders. It had the face of a cross
between a reptile and a person. Finally, the Basilisk was armed with several gatling guns, but
also had lasers built in the head and shoulders. There was also a beam saber hidden in one of
the arms, and it had a face similar to that of the Wyvern.
We all sized our gundams up and down. "I want to test mine," Phillipe said boldly, and jumped
into the cockpit. TJ followed, but Veylona and I stayed behind; we wanted to see exactly what
these suits were made of.
Phillipe and TJ started their suits, while I went over to a console and began running an
analysis of the suits. Veylona joined me. "What are you doing?"
"Before I throw myself into something that I have no idea of, I'm going to figure out
exactly what those things are made of," I said. "I've never seen them before, and I don't like
being caught unawares."
Veylona nodded, and I knew that she had felt the same. I continued to type as the other two
jumped into the sky and began fighting. It was impressive to watch. The two were easily at
least 20 times stronger than the average Leo, but then again, I amended, it still depended on
the skill of the pilot.
"What's this?" Veylona pointed. I looked to see what she pointed to. "Hm...self
destruct device?"
Veylona reached over and began typing. "Well well well," she murmured, "it's connected to
some unknown source." She raised an eyebrow. "Bet you there's some secret button somewhere
in Himmler's or Atkins' room."
"Or...in their gundams."
"What do you mean?"
"They wouldn't entrust us with this much power. This is their insurance, just like-"
and I stopped. Just a few days ago, I had realized that I had been innocuated with some
sort of poison when I tested an indicator I had developed, and I had not told Veylona. I
didn't want her to find out just yet. Just now, I had almost revealed it.
Veylona had continued typing. "If I can just find the other gundams..." she muttered, still
typing furiously. "Are you hacking into their computer?"
"Yes...not the so-called main one, but one I discovered through the use of one of the
various cameras we've hidden throughout the facility. It's somewhere underground..." and she
continued working.
Meanwhile, Phillipe and TJ had landed. "Ha ha!" Phillipe exulted. "This is most excellent! I
feel so powerful!" and he aimed his guns at us. "How do you two feel now?" he crowed. "You
are both at our mercy!"
I raised an eyebrow coldly. "Who is at who's mercy? You two jumped into your suits like the
foolish BOYS you are. You couldn't wait to play with your new toys; well, we've discovered
something quite interesting. You see, there is a certain little something planted deep within
your suits. Would you like us to show you what it is?"
"What do you mean?!"
"Uh-uh...that is for us to know."
TJ, who actually used his brain more than his brawn, suddenly demanded, "There are self
destruct devices implanted, aren't there?!"
"Umm...maybe so, maybe no. Regardless, would you like for us to see if there are? If
there are, well then, one push of the wrong button would just 'accidentally' blow you to
pieces," I said cooly, and casually put my hand over a random button, just for the effect.
Phillipe kept his guns aimed at us, then, disgusted, jerked them away and jumped out of his
suit, fists clenched. TJ did the same. "You fucking bitches," Phillipe snarled, advancing
toward us. "I'll be sure to make you pay. You two are going DOWN!"
"As are you both," Veylona said icily, looking up from her typing. "See you all in
hell."
Phillipe glared some more, but TJ came up and turned him away. "They're not worth it," he
said, and steered him back towards the compound. I watched them go, and turned back to
Veylona. "Find it yet?"
"Yeah...but hold on," she said, downloading information onto a CD, then quickly
pocketed it. "In our room, but no earlier," she said. That said, we quickly headed back.
In our room, Veylona typed in a secret password into her laptop and accessed a part of it, that,
according to the best of our knowledge, Himmler and Atkins did not know existed. She downloaded
the information on her suit in, as I did with mine, and she also downloaded the information she
had taken. "Here," she said, turning the monitor towards me.
"Chimera and Griffon?"
"Has to be it. They're hidden...here," and she tapped a few keys. A diagram of an
extensive underground network popped up. A blinking light indicated where the other suits
were. I studied the diagram.
"We can't have Himmler and Atkins controlling us like this," I said, tapping me fingers.
"Can you reroute the sequence for the activation of the self destruct mechanisms to our suits,
or somewhere else?"
Veylona frowned. "Yes...but we will still need to disable the ones in their suits..."
"But if we disable it, then they will know that we were the ones who did it."
"Right...Why don't we just deal with the ones in the Wyvern and Basilisk? All we need
to do is connect the sequence for their devices into ours, and not even bother with sneaking
into the underground room. I don't think Himmler and Atkins will detonate any of us any time
soon; they need us. But WE need to be able to control Phillipe and TJ. They are definitely a
threat," she finished.
I agreed. "We should also encrypt our codes, so they can't connect our devices with their
suits."
"Exactly...I'll do it for mine, and you'll do it for yours."
I smiled grimly. "It looks like our own Operation: Natural Selection, is about to begin anew."
"Oh, yes."
Chapter 12
*~Meilai~*
Phillipe definitely had plenty of brawn; sadly, for him at least, no brain. His threatening of
Lillith and I was extremely tactless of him, and he certainly sealed his doom with that
action.
But then again, we had planned on eliminating them both sooner or later.
Lillith and I encrypted our self destruct mechanisms, preventing access to them. Then, we
connected the devices in the Wyvern and Basilisk to ours. That done, we decided to sit and
wait.
We did not have long. Operation: Meteor was in full swing on Earth, and chaos reigned
supreme. Rommefeller had internal problems, and with the gundams wreaking havoc, the Earth
and the space colonies were in total disarray. Himmler and Atkins were nearly dancing with
anticipation.
Unfortunately for them, fate dealt them a cruel blow. A few days before the four of us were
scheduled to attack with a legion of fighting prototypes known as mobile dolls, a man named
Treize Khrushrenada beat them to it. With the help of OZ and his right hand man, the
mysterious Zechs Merquise, he staged a coup and seized power.
Lillith and I walked into the meeting room, where we had been called. Himmler had shot the
TV, and it sat there, smoking. Atkins' eyes were glittering dangerously.
"That bastard! How could he?! And we were so close!" Himmler ranted, about to pull out
his hair, not that he had much as it was.
Phillipe and TJ, who arrived shortly after us, smirked. TJ leaned in close to Lillith. "What
happened?" he whispered.
"Someone beat them to the punch," Lillith remarked dryly. "They missed the boat."
TJ chuckled softly and sidled up to Lillith suggestively. "That's too bad," he whispered in her
ear. "I would have enjoyed having some fun. Maybe we can still have some, hm?" he said,
nibbling her ear. Lillith closed her eyes and leaned into him. I turned away to stifle a
smile. After the crossfire with Phillipe and us pretending to be able to activate the bombs
in their suits, TJ had started flirting with Lillith. Of course, this disgusted her, but we
had decided that she would lead him on a little. Both of us knew that he was probably going to
try to get information out of her, and then kill her, but first have some "fun." And so since
both of us were adept at the fine art of seduction, we decided to use that to our
advantage.
Atkins finally noticed the antics of Lillith and TJ, and snarled, "You animals, go do it
somewhere else!" he growled. TJ cast a condescending look in his direction. "Very sorry sir,"
he said sarcastically, and reached for Lillith, but she slipped out of his grasp. "Later,"
she murmured, looking up at him through her lashes, and casually sauntered her way towards me to
stand next to me. "Bastard," she hissed, but quietly.
Himmler had not calmed down yet, and continued his ranting. Finally, Phillipe had enough.
"With all due respect, SIR," he sneered. "Why don't you wait? This Treize Khrushrenada can
only reign for so long before the exact same thing happens again. It will only take a few more
years. Let's wait, and improve our gundams as time passes. In the mean time, let's study
these five pilots; learn their tactics. When the time comes, we'll be truly ready for them."
And with that, he turned and marched out of the room, with TJ right behind him.
Lillith cast a look at me. "Perhaps he does have some brain after all," she mouthed, and
inclined her head towards Himmler, "Sir," she acknowledged, and turned and left. I followed.
We went to our room, and Lillith and I pulled out our computers. "I'm actually going to follow
that jerk's advice and try to figure out their battle tactics," I said. Lillith nodded.
"Likewise."
The two of us spent the next few hours reviewing clips of the gundams in action. They were
quite impressive. After a while, Lillith closed it and started studying the profiles instead.
"Interesting..." she muttered.
"What is it?"
She showed me a photo. "This," she said, gesturing, "is Trowa Barton, son of Dekim Barton and
brother to Leia Barton. But this," she said, showing another picture, "is the pilot of gundam
03, Heavyarms."
I frowned as I looked at the picture of a crude looking blond man smirking at the camera to
a somewhat fuzzy picture of a boy our age with curious brown hair swept over his face with
dull green eyes. "Huh, what happened?"
Lillith shrugged. "Can't be plastic surgery; these two must be different people. This pilot
must be an impostor, but why?" and she began typing into the computer.
"What are you doing?"
"Hacking into the Barton Foundation's computer."
"Let me help."
After an hour, we finally succeeded. "Well then, so the real Trowa Barton was shot and killed
shortly before Operation: Meteor," I stated. Lillith also read the document. "Seems like
Operation: Meteor is actually not going as planned."
I nodded. "Operation: Meteor's stated goal is to avenge the death of Heero Yuy. But here," I
indicated, "it shows that it actually is for the Barton Foundation to seize control of
Earth," and I stretched and yawned. "Really, just how many people want to rule the world? Do
they have nothing better to do?"
Lillith smirked. "Probably not," and she began search the database. "NOW what?" I said,
bored and tired. "So this guy's an impostor. Big deal; he's still the same: a gundam pilot
and our enemy."
"Not our enemy," Lillith murmured. "Himmler and Atkins' enemy. We are just the
soldiers. Ah," she said, pulling up an entry. "No Name huh? How original," she remarked,
showing me a picture. "An engineer for the Barton Foundation," I read, then turned back to
my lap top. "When you're done wasting your time, let's go eat, okay?" I said, flopping down on
bed. "I'm taking a nap."
"Mmm," was Lillith's answer, still typing. I sighed and went to sleep.
Chapter 13
~Reiming~
It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to turn on a guy. It took TJ about three seconds
to arouse himself. Disgusting.
When you get down to it, men just follow their pointers through life.
Okay, I admit it, I'm biased. Now, married and with a child, I hardly feel that way, but for the
sake of my writing this, let's just pretend for the moment that I hate and despise all men.
Which is why I surprised even myself as I combed through the Barton Foundation's data base
searching for the impostor's DNA sample, and then accessing a database that recorded all the
births on Earth and each of the colonies. There were easily a few billion entries, and I was
afraid that my poor computer would explode, but it didn't.
After several hours of turning up with no match, I finally matched No Name's DNA with the
infant Triton Bloom, born AC 180 on Earth. There really was no point in my finding out really,
but I guess after living in paranoia for most of my life, I'd formed the habit of finding out
as much as I could about my enemies.
Then, somewhat hesitantly, I looked up Wufei's profile.
I stared at the picture for a long time. "I don't believe this; he looks like a nerd," I
thought, amused. The boy with semi long hair and glasses that stared seriously at me did not
resemble the fiery boy I had known. Then I scrolled down some more.
"Well, what do you know, he did marry Meilai's sister after all," I chuckled, looking
at their dour faces in the wedding picture. Then I frowned. "Meiran Ron, DOB AC 180...DOD
AC 194? She died? How?" and I read. "Oh...a battle with OZ. That's a shame," and I
glanced over at the sleeping Veylona. "Wonder if she'd care..."
I read some more on the other pilots. Heero Yuy was actually Odin Lowe Jr; his father had
actually been the one to assassinate the original Heero Yuy. "Now that's irony," I
muttered. Duo Maxwell was an orphan who was known as "Maxwell's demon." Trowa Barton, er,
Triton Bloom, had a sister named Cathrine with whom he was working with at the moment...but
neither knew that they were related (more irony). Quatre Raberba Winner was a member of the
pacifist Winner family (even more irony). Finally, Wufei Chang is...was...my brother.
That was probably the most ironic of all, which disgusted me.
Finally, I decided that I had dealt with enough irony for a day, and I roused Veylona. "Hey,
wake up. I'm hungry."
Veylona opened one eye lazily. "About time," she muttered, and got up. She glanced at the
screen on my laptop, and her eyes widened somewhat when she read that Meiran had died, but
she stopped quickly. She glanced at me. I shrugged. "Thought you should know."
"Why would I care? I'm not related to Meiran Ron," she said stiffly, but as she left
the room, her shoulders shook somewhat, but when I looked at her in the face next, her eyes
were blank, as they had been for the last few years.
We walked toward the dining room and picked up our food. TJ of course tried to convince me to
meet in his room later, but I rejected him. "Blame your friend," I said with feigned
sweetness. "I'll be studying the gundam pilots tonight, just as Phillipe suggested. I'm
afraid you won't be getting any tonight," I finished, patting his cheek. As I walked away, I
muttered, "Nor will you EVER get any from me."
I took my food and sat by Veylona, who was scanning the documents reporting the latest
developments on Earth. "That was an interesting conversation you two had," she muttered to me,
not looking up. I twitched my mouth in a semblance of a smile, and tested the food with
the indicator I had formed, a habit I had started a long time ago. When it changed color, I
frowned, and I tossed my head at Phillipe. "Disappointed?" I called out. "Idiot, you'll have
to do better than that."
Phillipe glared at me furiously, then went back to his food. I rolled my eyes and got another
plate from the cook.
After dinner, Phillipe came up to me. "What do you want?" I said, when I saw him. "Listen to
me," he hissed. "I'm sick of working for these two bastards. You and Veylona just stay out of
my way."
I simply ignored him, and examined my skirt. "What, upset that the poison you slipped in didn't
work? Really, that's pathetic. We've always stayed out of your way; you're the one that
keeps interfering."
Phillipe let out a snarl, and I looked up. "Look you fucking bastard, I can take you any day.
Don't piss me off," I said coldly, staring straight into his eyes. Phillipe snorted. "Is that
right?"
"You know I'm right. YOU better stay out of MY way," I said, disgusted, and walked
past him to my room.
That evening, I told Veylona about our exchange. "He's becoming increasingly annoying," she
said placidly. I agreed. "And I'm sick of letting TJ stick his hands into my clothes," I
added. "We need to do something about them. Ready to finish off Operation: Natural
Selection?"
"Of course. Phillipe doesn't want to work for Himmler and Atkins any more, right?
Well then, all WE have to do is drop a few subtle hints, and 'accidentally' leak some
information. We get Phillipe and hopefully TJ to try and attack Himmler and Atkins, but at the
same time, we tell Himmler and Atkins about it, so they'll probably arm themselves by using
their gundams, and we all know what're in their gundams..."
~Reiming~
What can I say: anyone who takes my sword does not live to get away with it, as my opponent
realized. After that rather short battle, I murmured to Veylona, "I'm sure glad you designed
those." She smiled thinly. "You're welcome."
Of course, the move I had made was also a risky one. Now it was obvious to the other six that
Veylona and I, or at least just me, were extremely dangerous. It was possible that the other
six would join forces to try to kill us.
We found this out for a fact as we were going back to our rooms. For some reason, one boy was
following. "You girls think you're so smart," he sneered. "Well, you guys will be the first to
go!"
Though both Veylona and I ignored him, we both glanced at each other, and we each made a mental
reminder to watch out.
The boy was still ranting and raving as we reached our room. I had gotten annoyed with him, and
I had hurried ahead to our room. Suddenly, the watch I wore vibrated. Immediately my eyes
narrowed and I turned around. "Why don't you just shut up already?!" I growled, pretending to
be irritated, but the real purpose was to make eye contact with Veylona and gesture to my
watch. Her eyes flickered to our room and down to my watch, which actually had a small
infrared and radiation sensor in it. She turned casually to the boy. "So then...any particular
reason that you are following us?"
The boy sneered at us. "Me, of course not!" But the way he said it caused both of us to
narrow our eyes. "Oh very sadistic of you," I thought. "Figures you'd follow to see us get
blown to bits." The way his eyes lit up as I touched the door knob confirmed our suspicions;
there was definitely a bomb in our room. Veylona nodded, and I grabbed the boy by the shirt.
"Go...away...permanently!" I hissed, and shoved him into the door with so much force that he
fell through the flimsy door...and triggered an explosion.
When the smoke cleared, quite a crowd had gathered. "What happened here?!" Himmler demanded,
shoving through the crowd. I gestured. "There WAS a bomb in here, but that problem has
been remedied," I stated matter of factly.
Atkins leaned in the doorway and saw the...remains...of the boy. "I see," he said simply.
Veylona looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I could practically see her thinking, "One down,
five to go."
It was probably a good thing that we had, in a way, made an example of that boy. It proved to
the five others that Veylona and I weren't to be trifled with. However, that did not prevent
a gang of three from jumping us after dinner.
I have to give them credit: they were quiet, and armed and certainly had planned well. However,
Veylona and I did not spend our free time relaxing. When we weren't arming ourselves with
weapons, we were practicing our sparring. After a brief scuffle which resulted in Veylona and
I receiving a few knife slashes, the three were down. Two were down permanently, the third
was still alive. Then I had idea.
"Veylona, remember that truth serum?"
Veylona stared, then chuckled, a cold laugh that was fairly similar to that of Himmler and
Atkins. "Well then, here's a nice guinea pig."
I removed the vial and a syringe and filled in, then jabbed it into him. However, he didn't
move. "Well then," Veylona said, "we have problem."
"Is that right?"
"Still have the stimulant?"
"Yes...but then he'll be too active."
"Still have the depressant?"
"Well...yes."
So we injected him with that too. We managed to get some information out of him (they had some
guns hidden; we retrieved those later, proving that the serum did work), but he was dead in
about a minute, from drug overdose. "Oops," I muttered. Veylona glanced at me. "Oops, is it?"
she said sardonically. I pretended to think for a moment. "Well, yeah, oops." This
comment caused us both to convulse helplessly into laughter, but it wasn't because we were
happy. Because at that moment, Veylona and I realized exactly how heartless we had become.
But now it was down to four: Veylona and myself, and two other boys. At this, Himmler and
Atkins stopped. I guess even for those two blood thirsty monsters, going from 201 to four in
just four years was too much even for them. So they stopped, and called us in the next day.
"You four are the final four," Himmler began. "Congratulations, you've made it."
None of us said anything; by this time, emotions were fairly non existent.
Himmler smirked at our lack of speech. "From this day on," he continued, "you four will
undergo intensive training. By the time we are done with you, you will be the Perfect
Soldiers, the perfect fighting machines. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir," we all muttered. Himmler nodded. "Then that is all. You two boys may
leave with Atkins to begin your training at once; Lillith and Veylona, you two stay here."
The two boys left, and Veylona and I stayed. Himmler leaned forward at us, and smiled an
extremely unpleasant smile that was so vile that Veylona and I glanced at each other.
"Ladies," he began in a silky voice, "you two will be 'mature' very, very, soon.
Therefore, as soldiers, you two must be able to use that to your advantage. So, I'm afraid the
first course of training you will undergo will be different than those of Phillipe and TJ.
Willis! Richardson!"
Immediately, two soldiers appeared. Himmler waved to us. "Teach these young ladies how to
'use their charm.'" And with that, he left, leaving us to begin what we would call later our
official beginning of life in hell.
Chapter 10
*~Meilai~*
After four years of torture, it was understandable that Lillith and I lacked emotions.
However, to this day, I can still remember being curled up in a fetal position on my cot,
shaking violently. Lillith was not in better shape; she had not moved from her position from
the toilet for the past ten minutes.
What occurred after Himmler left was too horrible to write; however, be assured that it was
easily the most traumatizing thing that had ever happened to both of us in those four years.
Now that I think about it, I think that "relieving" some of their soldiers and "teaching us
how to use our charm" were not the only motives that Himmler and Atkins had for subjecting us
to that kind of torture. The fact was, Lillith and I were dangerous. Even though we were
children, we had succeeded in wiping out nearly 20 people with little effort. By doing what
they did to us, they completely crushed what little was left of our soul and resistance, and
left empty shells.
Of course, they didn't stop there. Though we did undergo actual training with the other two
boys, Phillipe and TJ, we began to have nightly visits from various soldiers, and even from
Himmler and Atkins themselves. They sent Phillipe and TJ once also, but Lillith and I
weren't so defeated as to even allow them into our room, as they found out as we held two
guns a fraction of a centimeter away from their heads.
And so time passed. Eventually, it got to a point where Lillith and I couldn't stand it
anymore, and delivered out harsh punishment to anyone who dared to try anything on us. It also
got to the point that the possibility of pregnancy was very real, so Himmler and Atkins stopped
visiting, as did the soldiers, although Willis in particular enjoyed jabbing us in places we
did not appreciate as we passed each other in the hallways.
It was now AC 195. I was fourteen, and Lillith was fifteen. The two of us, along with Phillipe
and TJ, were actually treated quite well now. We had very nice rooms, though Lillith and I
still chose to share a room; top quality equipment; and an endless supply of arsenal at our
disposal. However, it was around this time that I found out that I had been poisoned.
Even through the trauma, and even though many years had passed, Lillith had not lost her
interest in biology, and had spent hours staring into a microscope developing various
concoctions. One day, she asked me to test an indicator she had developed. "Put a drop of
this in various poisons," she said. "If it changes color, that means it detected it and it
works."
I did so, and I reported to her that it worked. She was rather pleased with herself, but then
left to take a shower. Out of curiosity, I decided to prick myself with a pin and test a drop
of my own blood.
I think my heart about stopped as I watched the indicator change color. I stared at it for about
ten minutes, not daring to believe what I saw. Then I chuckled to myself. "Oh, very clever of
you two," I said bitterly. "So this is your insurance; this is how you keep us under
control."
Soon however, I heard Lillith leave the shower, so I quickly cleaned up.
I did not tell her that we were all poisoned.
Later that day, Himmler and Atkins called us all in. "Operation: Meteor, has finally begun,"
Atkins announced. The four of us exchanged glances. "Excuse me?" TJ asked, looking confused.
Himmler explained. "Operation: Meteor will cause a lot of confusion on Earth and the colonies;
that is all you need to know. During this time, we will seize control. This is where you
four come in."
I glanced at Lillith, and Phillipe and TJ also exchanged glances. Atkins saw. "Yes, you are
right," he said cooly. "This is what you were trained for."
"So now what?" Phillipe asked, looking bored.
Himmler and Atkins stood up. "So now this," Himmler said, and waved his hand. A screen
flickered on. On it were four large mobile suits. "What...the..." I heard TJ mutter.
The rest of us stared as well. As part of our training, all four of us were skilled in the
use of Leos and Pisces, and we had recently completed our training with Cancers. But these
were definitely new to us. The four suits on the screen were much larger, and obviously much
better equipped.
"These are known as Gundams," Himmler announced. "They are made from Gundamium alloy;
hence, the name. Lillith, you shall pilot the Phoenix; Veylona, you shall pilot the
Seraphim; Phillipe, you are the pilot of the Basilisk; and TJ, you will pilot the Wyvern."
Atkins removed several files. "You will have to fight the Rommefeller Foundation, as well as
OZ, but your main enemies will be..." and he handed us the files. "Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell,
Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and..." Lillith trailed off. For some reason, Himmler's
eyes hardened. "Is there a problem, Lillith?" he asked coldly. I looked at her. Lillith's
face had gone pale, and she seemed to have trouble speaking. But she quickly recovred.
"No..." she said quietly, and finished the last name, "Wufei...Chang..."
Chapter 11
~Reiming~
"Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and..."
"Is something wrong Lillith?"
"No...and...Wufei Chang..."
The words echoed in my mind as I walked out into the hangar where the four gundams were.
"Wufei...Wufei...Wufei..."
"NO!"
Veylona turned around and stared. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing..."
Veylona obviously didn't believe me, but she gave up, and turned back around. I set my lips in
a firm line and continued walking, trying to ignore the feelings that I had thought had
disappeared long ago, and trying to ignore the cool touch of the pendant I always wore under my
clothes, a charm in the shape of a phoenix.
The phoenix...and the dragon...I am the phoenix, and Wufei is the dragon.
No! Stop it! You are no longer Chang Reiming! Your name is Lillith, a girl without a past.
And a girl without a soul...
Furious with myself, I stopped walking and pulled out my necklace. "You stupid thing! You
tie me to a past I want to forget!" I thought angrily, and attempted to tear it away.
But I couldn't.
I sighed and tucked it back in, feeling defeated. "My name is Lillith, my name is Lillith," I
muttered to myself, trying to steel myself against the onslaught of emotion that threatened to
break me apart. "I am a cold hearted murderer, I am not Chang Reiming. Chang Wufei is not my
brother; he is not my twin. The necklace I wear is my symbol, the symbol of the mighty
phoenix. It holds no connotations; it is merely who I am, fierce, proud."
But unlike the phoenix, you are not willing to set yourself aflame...you value your own
miserable life too much...
Shut...up!
Finally, I managed to silence the conscience I had long thought disappeared and don my mask
once again. The six of us reached the gundams, and we stared.
All four were equally impressive. The Seraphim, Phoenix, and Wyvern were obviously built for
speed, while the Basilisk was built for firepower. I glanced at Phillipe's cold face. Yes,
the Basilisk is the right suit for him. Like the mythical beast it was named for, this suit
was large, strong, and possessed amazing weaponry. Phillipe had always hated subtlety; he
enjoyed face to face confrontations, relishing the chaos of battle. The Basilisk would suit
him well.
However, Veylona, TJ, and I were different. All three of us specialized in espionage; we were
the complete opposites of Phillipe. We chose hit and run tactics; strike the enemy
unawares, hide, then come back for round two. And judging from the sleek design of our suits,
we could tell that they had been made for us.
All four suits had curious wings mounted on the back that concealed missiles, and faces
representing what they were named for. The Seraphim had the face of a woman, and a beam cannon
and a beam saber. The Phoenix also had a beam cannon and also a double headed thermal weapon,
and had the face of a bird. The Wyvern was mounted with some sort of laser/cannon on the back,
like a tail, along with a beam sword and guns on the shoulders. It had the face of a cross
between a reptile and a person. Finally, the Basilisk was armed with several gatling guns, but
also had lasers built in the head and shoulders. There was also a beam saber hidden in one of
the arms, and it had a face similar to that of the Wyvern.
We all sized our gundams up and down. "I want to test mine," Phillipe said boldly, and jumped
into the cockpit. TJ followed, but Veylona and I stayed behind; we wanted to see exactly what
these suits were made of.
Phillipe and TJ started their suits, while I went over to a console and began running an
analysis of the suits. Veylona joined me. "What are you doing?"
"Before I throw myself into something that I have no idea of, I'm going to figure out
exactly what those things are made of," I said. "I've never seen them before, and I don't like
being caught unawares."
Veylona nodded, and I knew that she had felt the same. I continued to type as the other two
jumped into the sky and began fighting. It was impressive to watch. The two were easily at
least 20 times stronger than the average Leo, but then again, I amended, it still depended on
the skill of the pilot.
"What's this?" Veylona pointed. I looked to see what she pointed to. "Hm...self
destruct device?"
Veylona reached over and began typing. "Well well well," she murmured, "it's connected to
some unknown source." She raised an eyebrow. "Bet you there's some secret button somewhere
in Himmler's or Atkins' room."
"Or...in their gundams."
"What do you mean?"
"They wouldn't entrust us with this much power. This is their insurance, just like-"
and I stopped. Just a few days ago, I had realized that I had been innocuated with some
sort of poison when I tested an indicator I had developed, and I had not told Veylona. I
didn't want her to find out just yet. Just now, I had almost revealed it.
Veylona had continued typing. "If I can just find the other gundams..." she muttered, still
typing furiously. "Are you hacking into their computer?"
"Yes...not the so-called main one, but one I discovered through the use of one of the
various cameras we've hidden throughout the facility. It's somewhere underground..." and she
continued working.
Meanwhile, Phillipe and TJ had landed. "Ha ha!" Phillipe exulted. "This is most excellent! I
feel so powerful!" and he aimed his guns at us. "How do you two feel now?" he crowed. "You
are both at our mercy!"
I raised an eyebrow coldly. "Who is at who's mercy? You two jumped into your suits like the
foolish BOYS you are. You couldn't wait to play with your new toys; well, we've discovered
something quite interesting. You see, there is a certain little something planted deep within
your suits. Would you like us to show you what it is?"
"What do you mean?!"
"Uh-uh...that is for us to know."
TJ, who actually used his brain more than his brawn, suddenly demanded, "There are self
destruct devices implanted, aren't there?!"
"Umm...maybe so, maybe no. Regardless, would you like for us to see if there are? If
there are, well then, one push of the wrong button would just 'accidentally' blow you to
pieces," I said cooly, and casually put my hand over a random button, just for the effect.
Phillipe kept his guns aimed at us, then, disgusted, jerked them away and jumped out of his
suit, fists clenched. TJ did the same. "You fucking bitches," Phillipe snarled, advancing
toward us. "I'll be sure to make you pay. You two are going DOWN!"
"As are you both," Veylona said icily, looking up from her typing. "See you all in
hell."
Phillipe glared some more, but TJ came up and turned him away. "They're not worth it," he
said, and steered him back towards the compound. I watched them go, and turned back to
Veylona. "Find it yet?"
"Yeah...but hold on," she said, downloading information onto a CD, then quickly
pocketed it. "In our room, but no earlier," she said. That said, we quickly headed back.
In our room, Veylona typed in a secret password into her laptop and accessed a part of it, that,
according to the best of our knowledge, Himmler and Atkins did not know existed. She downloaded
the information on her suit in, as I did with mine, and she also downloaded the information she
had taken. "Here," she said, turning the monitor towards me.
"Chimera and Griffon?"
"Has to be it. They're hidden...here," and she tapped a few keys. A diagram of an
extensive underground network popped up. A blinking light indicated where the other suits
were. I studied the diagram.
"We can't have Himmler and Atkins controlling us like this," I said, tapping me fingers.
"Can you reroute the sequence for the activation of the self destruct mechanisms to our suits,
or somewhere else?"
Veylona frowned. "Yes...but we will still need to disable the ones in their suits..."
"But if we disable it, then they will know that we were the ones who did it."
"Right...Why don't we just deal with the ones in the Wyvern and Basilisk? All we need
to do is connect the sequence for their devices into ours, and not even bother with sneaking
into the underground room. I don't think Himmler and Atkins will detonate any of us any time
soon; they need us. But WE need to be able to control Phillipe and TJ. They are definitely a
threat," she finished.
I agreed. "We should also encrypt our codes, so they can't connect our devices with their
suits."
"Exactly...I'll do it for mine, and you'll do it for yours."
I smiled grimly. "It looks like our own Operation: Natural Selection, is about to begin anew."
"Oh, yes."
Chapter 12
*~Meilai~*
Phillipe definitely had plenty of brawn; sadly, for him at least, no brain. His threatening of
Lillith and I was extremely tactless of him, and he certainly sealed his doom with that
action.
But then again, we had planned on eliminating them both sooner or later.
Lillith and I encrypted our self destruct mechanisms, preventing access to them. Then, we
connected the devices in the Wyvern and Basilisk to ours. That done, we decided to sit and
wait.
We did not have long. Operation: Meteor was in full swing on Earth, and chaos reigned
supreme. Rommefeller had internal problems, and with the gundams wreaking havoc, the Earth
and the space colonies were in total disarray. Himmler and Atkins were nearly dancing with
anticipation.
Unfortunately for them, fate dealt them a cruel blow. A few days before the four of us were
scheduled to attack with a legion of fighting prototypes known as mobile dolls, a man named
Treize Khrushrenada beat them to it. With the help of OZ and his right hand man, the
mysterious Zechs Merquise, he staged a coup and seized power.
Lillith and I walked into the meeting room, where we had been called. Himmler had shot the
TV, and it sat there, smoking. Atkins' eyes were glittering dangerously.
"That bastard! How could he?! And we were so close!" Himmler ranted, about to pull out
his hair, not that he had much as it was.
Phillipe and TJ, who arrived shortly after us, smirked. TJ leaned in close to Lillith. "What
happened?" he whispered.
"Someone beat them to the punch," Lillith remarked dryly. "They missed the boat."
TJ chuckled softly and sidled up to Lillith suggestively. "That's too bad," he whispered in her
ear. "I would have enjoyed having some fun. Maybe we can still have some, hm?" he said,
nibbling her ear. Lillith closed her eyes and leaned into him. I turned away to stifle a
smile. After the crossfire with Phillipe and us pretending to be able to activate the bombs
in their suits, TJ had started flirting with Lillith. Of course, this disgusted her, but we
had decided that she would lead him on a little. Both of us knew that he was probably going to
try to get information out of her, and then kill her, but first have some "fun." And so since
both of us were adept at the fine art of seduction, we decided to use that to our
advantage.
Atkins finally noticed the antics of Lillith and TJ, and snarled, "You animals, go do it
somewhere else!" he growled. TJ cast a condescending look in his direction. "Very sorry sir,"
he said sarcastically, and reached for Lillith, but she slipped out of his grasp. "Later,"
she murmured, looking up at him through her lashes, and casually sauntered her way towards me to
stand next to me. "Bastard," she hissed, but quietly.
Himmler had not calmed down yet, and continued his ranting. Finally, Phillipe had enough.
"With all due respect, SIR," he sneered. "Why don't you wait? This Treize Khrushrenada can
only reign for so long before the exact same thing happens again. It will only take a few more
years. Let's wait, and improve our gundams as time passes. In the mean time, let's study
these five pilots; learn their tactics. When the time comes, we'll be truly ready for them."
And with that, he turned and marched out of the room, with TJ right behind him.
Lillith cast a look at me. "Perhaps he does have some brain after all," she mouthed, and
inclined her head towards Himmler, "Sir," she acknowledged, and turned and left. I followed.
We went to our room, and Lillith and I pulled out our computers. "I'm actually going to follow
that jerk's advice and try to figure out their battle tactics," I said. Lillith nodded.
"Likewise."
The two of us spent the next few hours reviewing clips of the gundams in action. They were
quite impressive. After a while, Lillith closed it and started studying the profiles instead.
"Interesting..." she muttered.
"What is it?"
She showed me a photo. "This," she said, gesturing, "is Trowa Barton, son of Dekim Barton and
brother to Leia Barton. But this," she said, showing another picture, "is the pilot of gundam
03, Heavyarms."
I frowned as I looked at the picture of a crude looking blond man smirking at the camera to
a somewhat fuzzy picture of a boy our age with curious brown hair swept over his face with
dull green eyes. "Huh, what happened?"
Lillith shrugged. "Can't be plastic surgery; these two must be different people. This pilot
must be an impostor, but why?" and she began typing into the computer.
"What are you doing?"
"Hacking into the Barton Foundation's computer."
"Let me help."
After an hour, we finally succeeded. "Well then, so the real Trowa Barton was shot and killed
shortly before Operation: Meteor," I stated. Lillith also read the document. "Seems like
Operation: Meteor is actually not going as planned."
I nodded. "Operation: Meteor's stated goal is to avenge the death of Heero Yuy. But here," I
indicated, "it shows that it actually is for the Barton Foundation to seize control of
Earth," and I stretched and yawned. "Really, just how many people want to rule the world? Do
they have nothing better to do?"
Lillith smirked. "Probably not," and she began search the database. "NOW what?" I said,
bored and tired. "So this guy's an impostor. Big deal; he's still the same: a gundam pilot
and our enemy."
"Not our enemy," Lillith murmured. "Himmler and Atkins' enemy. We are just the
soldiers. Ah," she said, pulling up an entry. "No Name huh? How original," she remarked,
showing me a picture. "An engineer for the Barton Foundation," I read, then turned back to
my lap top. "When you're done wasting your time, let's go eat, okay?" I said, flopping down on
bed. "I'm taking a nap."
"Mmm," was Lillith's answer, still typing. I sighed and went to sleep.
Chapter 13
~Reiming~
It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to turn on a guy. It took TJ about three seconds
to arouse himself. Disgusting.
When you get down to it, men just follow their pointers through life.
Okay, I admit it, I'm biased. Now, married and with a child, I hardly feel that way, but for the
sake of my writing this, let's just pretend for the moment that I hate and despise all men.
Which is why I surprised even myself as I combed through the Barton Foundation's data base
searching for the impostor's DNA sample, and then accessing a database that recorded all the
births on Earth and each of the colonies. There were easily a few billion entries, and I was
afraid that my poor computer would explode, but it didn't.
After several hours of turning up with no match, I finally matched No Name's DNA with the
infant Triton Bloom, born AC 180 on Earth. There really was no point in my finding out really,
but I guess after living in paranoia for most of my life, I'd formed the habit of finding out
as much as I could about my enemies.
Then, somewhat hesitantly, I looked up Wufei's profile.
I stared at the picture for a long time. "I don't believe this; he looks like a nerd," I
thought, amused. The boy with semi long hair and glasses that stared seriously at me did not
resemble the fiery boy I had known. Then I scrolled down some more.
"Well, what do you know, he did marry Meilai's sister after all," I chuckled, looking
at their dour faces in the wedding picture. Then I frowned. "Meiran Ron, DOB AC 180...DOD
AC 194? She died? How?" and I read. "Oh...a battle with OZ. That's a shame," and I
glanced over at the sleeping Veylona. "Wonder if she'd care..."
I read some more on the other pilots. Heero Yuy was actually Odin Lowe Jr; his father had
actually been the one to assassinate the original Heero Yuy. "Now that's irony," I
muttered. Duo Maxwell was an orphan who was known as "Maxwell's demon." Trowa Barton, er,
Triton Bloom, had a sister named Cathrine with whom he was working with at the moment...but
neither knew that they were related (more irony). Quatre Raberba Winner was a member of the
pacifist Winner family (even more irony). Finally, Wufei Chang is...was...my brother.
That was probably the most ironic of all, which disgusted me.
Finally, I decided that I had dealt with enough irony for a day, and I roused Veylona. "Hey,
wake up. I'm hungry."
Veylona opened one eye lazily. "About time," she muttered, and got up. She glanced at the
screen on my laptop, and her eyes widened somewhat when she read that Meiran had died, but
she stopped quickly. She glanced at me. I shrugged. "Thought you should know."
"Why would I care? I'm not related to Meiran Ron," she said stiffly, but as she left
the room, her shoulders shook somewhat, but when I looked at her in the face next, her eyes
were blank, as they had been for the last few years.
We walked toward the dining room and picked up our food. TJ of course tried to convince me to
meet in his room later, but I rejected him. "Blame your friend," I said with feigned
sweetness. "I'll be studying the gundam pilots tonight, just as Phillipe suggested. I'm
afraid you won't be getting any tonight," I finished, patting his cheek. As I walked away, I
muttered, "Nor will you EVER get any from me."
I took my food and sat by Veylona, who was scanning the documents reporting the latest
developments on Earth. "That was an interesting conversation you two had," she muttered to me,
not looking up. I twitched my mouth in a semblance of a smile, and tested the food with
the indicator I had formed, a habit I had started a long time ago. When it changed color, I
frowned, and I tossed my head at Phillipe. "Disappointed?" I called out. "Idiot, you'll have
to do better than that."
Phillipe glared at me furiously, then went back to his food. I rolled my eyes and got another
plate from the cook.
After dinner, Phillipe came up to me. "What do you want?" I said, when I saw him. "Listen to
me," he hissed. "I'm sick of working for these two bastards. You and Veylona just stay out of
my way."
I simply ignored him, and examined my skirt. "What, upset that the poison you slipped in didn't
work? Really, that's pathetic. We've always stayed out of your way; you're the one that
keeps interfering."
Phillipe let out a snarl, and I looked up. "Look you fucking bastard, I can take you any day.
Don't piss me off," I said coldly, staring straight into his eyes. Phillipe snorted. "Is that
right?"
"You know I'm right. YOU better stay out of MY way," I said, disgusted, and walked
past him to my room.
That evening, I told Veylona about our exchange. "He's becoming increasingly annoying," she
said placidly. I agreed. "And I'm sick of letting TJ stick his hands into my clothes," I
added. "We need to do something about them. Ready to finish off Operation: Natural
Selection?"
"Of course. Phillipe doesn't want to work for Himmler and Atkins any more, right?
Well then, all WE have to do is drop a few subtle hints, and 'accidentally' leak some
information. We get Phillipe and hopefully TJ to try and attack Himmler and Atkins, but at the
same time, we tell Himmler and Atkins about it, so they'll probably arm themselves by using
their gundams, and we all know what're in their gundams..."
