More Peoples
Seven. The complete number. Seven days in a week. Forgive seventy times seven times. Seven together, sitting in a dark room, deciding the fate of some seventy zillion lives, plus those of the two future heroes whose shadows stood about the projectors, slowly spinning in the waltz a young girl described not so long ago.
Duo shook his head a little to clear it. I hate it when this poetry shit pops into my head, he thought a little moodily. He repeated what he had thought in his mind and wrinkled his nose in disgust. He had even mentioned the seventy times seven thing Sister Helen had always told him when he had beaten the shit out of some other kid who had been stupid enough to make fun of the orphan with a braid at Maxwell Church.
Sister Helen… Father Maxwell… Almost as soon as the names came to him he shoved them brutally back to the dark corner of his mind where they usually dwelt. I'm done with that! he told himself fiercely. It's no good to open up old wounds when I'm about to get new ones.
He had to chuckle a little at that. Who knew what kind of hurts this war was gonna bring, and from who? Duo didn't know too much, but he did know that his own best friend would probably inflict a beating or two on him. He sighed a little at that. Oh well, he decided. That's what happens when your best friend's the Perfect Soldier. He let out a deep breath, more of an effort to blow his bangs out of his eyes than a sigh. Heero would be Heero, and nothing was going to change that. All thoughts of pain and sorrow wiped from his mind, he turned his eyes to the perfect, 3D figurines floating above the desk.
The first was a guy who looked like he was a little younger than Duo, but if he was it couldn't have been by more than a year or two, wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a big t-shirt. His limp ringlets of hair that barely touched his neck were black, cut tidily, though the cut allowed for his thin curls to go wild without it making his head look like some utter contradiction. His eyes were a hue that seemed completely indiscernible between the colors green, blue, and gray, somehow being all those colors but not really being them. Duo wouldn't be surprised if they changed with his surroundings, or even his moods. His skin was as pale as that of the boy scrutinizing the picture.
The second hologram was of, surprisingly enough, a young woman. Once again she was around his age, though perhaps a little older instead of younger. Her pale blonde hair was not white, but it was a sure thing that if she spent more time in the sun it wouldn't be long before it turned that color. It came down to the middle of her back and was held back in an elegant low ponytail, the tie by her shoulders. Her intense gaze was a steady green, not an extraordinary color of any kind. But those eyes were sharp and intelligent, an indicator that she took shit from no one, despite her rather short white skirt and pink T-shirt that announced its wearer to be "Princess".
He knew he should probably be paying more attention than he was, but he really didn't want to hear. Oh well. He knew he could just follow along with whatever was going on later and he'd be off well enough. As a matter of fact, they'd all think he was sick or something if he paid attention and wasn't forever asking questions during missions and missing his cues to cut the jokes and get serious.
Why the hell should I be serious anyway?! he demanded of himself, leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. They're all serious enough to make up for three of me! 'Sides, things are bad enough already. He sighed, though only inwardly this time. He wasn't particularly grieved about the death of Professors G, J, and O, but he wasn't about to jump for joy either. Sure, he had never liked G. Sure, G and the other Docs had betrayed or ditched all the pilots more than once in the past. Sure, if G had been alive and leading this meeting right now Duo would've told him to go to hell and wait for his personal torture session. But that didn't mean he wanted him dead. Who, besides Heero anyway, honestly wanted someone they had known for years to just… die?
Well, either way, they were still stuck with Trowa and Quatre's professors, S and H, who said that in order to beat this new enemy they were going to need a few new recruits. Then each of them had supplied a candidate for another gundam pilot, which were the two whose pictures Duo had just been looking at.
Suddenly, something S was saying snapped him out of his daydreams.
"However, according to the statistics we managed to get from J's computer immediately after his demise, even two new gundam pilots wouldn't be enough to eliminate this new threat to peace."
Duo sat straight up. "What?" he squawked incredulously.
"In order for this to succeed, we need at least eight total pilots, preferably nine. However, we only have the resources to keep and maintain eight gundams."
The brunette leaned back in his chair again, his mind eased. "Alright," he said easily. "So who's Number Eight?"
S and H exchanged glances; not a good sign. Then, H admitted, "We know of no one capable of such a position."
He groaned and almost sank from his chair to the floor. This was starting to get really irritating. "So what the hell are we supposed to do?" he demanded.
"We were going to ask," answered H, "if any of you knew someone."
There was silence and Duo quickly went over the people who knew, trying to imagine then piloting. He knew plenty of people who could pilot a suit, but none of them had enough skill to handle a gundam. "No winners," he said flatly. He turned to the fourth pilot. "No pun intended," he assured Quatre.
"Not a problem," replied the man easily before turning to H and admitting, "I know no one with enough talent or skill."
"You'll have checked out all of my colleges in Preventors for their skills already and found them inadequate," replied Wufei.
Trowa shrugged and didn't say anything, which everyone took to mean he didn't know anyone either.
There were a few moments of silence, which were broken by Heero letting out a breath that someone who didn't know Heero might have said sounded resigned. When they all looked to him he met H's gaze with his and said, "I know someone."
Duo frowned a little. Heero sounded and even looked flat out reluctant to mention this person. "What's the matter, buddy?"
For a moment it looked as though he wasn't going to reply. Then, right when Duo had given up on his hopes for an answer, he said, "We haven't talked in a while."
"Okay…"
Hearing the question in Duo's voice, Heero sighed again and continued. Duo couldn't believe his senses; Heero was answering his questions?! Unreal. "She's going to be pissed at me."
"She?" exclaimed Wufei in shock. "Another woman?"
At the same time, Duo said, "And this bothers you why?"
However, Heero's phase of actually enlightening Duo and the other pilots had ended, and the man went silent.
***
"You've failed me."
Tatiana, kneeling down, her head bowed in submission, winced at the distaste in his voice. He was furious.
However, when she expected to hear another insult toward her, he simply sighed. "I was afraid this might happen," he muttered darkly, more to himself than her. Then, "Stand up, Colonel Omin. I've read your report and know you went to every length possible to destroy them. You were simply overpowered." Not quite believing her ears, she stood and raised her eyes to meet his.
"They're trained gundam pilots, after all," he continued. "They have to be good enough to evade your attacks to be the stuff of legends they've become."
"Sir?" Was that supposed to be atonement for her failure, or an insult to her skills that she hadn't been able to complete her mission successfully? She couldn't tell.
"They're trained to survive people like you," he explained, pacing back and forth. "But they're still overpowered in the long run. They don't have enough strength to beat us." He turned away. "They're going to need new recruits." He looked back over his shoulder. "And that is your mission."
Seeing her confused look, he smiled coldly. "People with the skill to pilot gundams are on short supply these days. They've already picked out their recruits." His grin widened and Tatiana repressed an urge to shudder. "Your mission is to kidnap those new recruits, Kaiyel Braveo and Kiana Heggel. You will find all the information you need on this." He handed her a CD case. "Dismissed."
Tatiana took the disk, bowed at the waist, and started to walk out of the room. But when she reached the door she heard him call, "Tatiana, remember; three strikes and you're out. Do not fail me again."
She swallowed hard. "Yes, sir." With that she hurried out.
***
I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I hope you'll review and tell me how I did. The next chapter, where they actually meet the new people, should be out soon enough. If you want to talk to me, just tell me how in a review, and I'll get on a friend's messanger systems and chat with ya. *Sad face* Daddy sez I can't get a messenger system or let peoples see my e-mail address, he's paranoid… *Sigh* Oh well I guess. Just tell me, and I'll find a way to talk to you, I get so bored…