PATHS OF LIFE
Chapter Two

Written by Ice Dragoness

"This Gundam," began Doctor J, "is called Draco. Your Gundam," he added as an afterthought.

They had booked a plane back to Japan. Now, they were in a remote underground area that Relena didn't even know existed. As far as she knew, they were very, very far underground, but not enough to inhibit health. Apparently this was where Doctor J had developed her Gundam.

Relena gazed in open awe at the magnificent machine in front of her. The Gundam itself was approximately the size of Wing Zero. But there was something else about it that attracted her.

Draco was definitely feminine. No, it was not pink or flowery or frilly. But it was more slender than the other Gundams and was obviously designed for a lighter person. The head was solid ebony with a gold dragon-like crest on top. Its eyes glowed a molten silver; they were hot, like it was furious.

The torso was a mix of black and silver, black was the base color and silver was the border color. The shoulder extensions were shaped like Sandrock's, but instead of white and gold, they were green with black lining. It's arms were both completely silver with green claws for hands, like Shenlong's. On the right arm there was a black and silver shield like that of Wing Zero's and the other arm sported a green twin buster rifle. Both legs were completely black.

Suddenly, a voice broke through Relena's reverie.

"Here are the stats for Draco, Relena," said Doctor J as he handed her a piece of paper with some numbers and stats on it to her.

Armament-
Twin Buster Rifle x1
Beam Glaive x1
Flame-thrower x2
Dragon Fang x1
Beam Gatling Gun x2
Army Knife x1
Long Shield x1

Basic Statistics-
Height: 16.7
Weight: 7.3
Armor: Gundanium/Titanium Alloy

Fighting Statistics-
Fighting: 180
Weapon: 200
Power: 190
Armor: 180
Speed: 230

"You see, Draco was mainly designed for speed, like Deathscythe and Deathscyhe-Hell. But it also has a wide range of weaponry, like Heavyarms and Shenlong-Altron, Relena," lectured Doctor J. "Now -"

"Don't call me Relena, please," broke in Relena flatly.

"Why not? Bad memories?"

"Exactly," Relena confirmed.

"What would you like to be your code name?" asked the old man.

"What about . . . Meiun?" Relena suggested.

"Meiun it is," agreed Doctor J.

"I want to see what your physical level of pain-tolerance is, Meiun. You can't exactly spar with me, though, I'm an old and decrepit man."

"You are, aren't you," Relena said with a smirk, the light in her turquoise eyes dancing. Not a question, but a statement.

"Don't push it. But I designed a virtual-battle for you to test out. Just to warn you though, the pain you will feel in there is real, and is physical."

Relena's heart fluttered nervously. "Okay," she said tentatively. "What do I have to do?"

"There is a small room nearby that is hooked up to my virtual-world. Once the hologram starts, you will be in Draco, fighting for your life," he answered grimly. "Of course, if you lose there, you don't die in real life," he added. "But losing is not very common, because I'll ease you into this. On your first simulation, you will just be fighting two Leos."

"Just two Leos?" Relena asked, both disappointedly and indignantly.

Doctor J chuckled. "But you won't start out with that. I need you to become comfortable with Draco's cockpit. You can't fight without knowing your weapons, after all."

He led Relena up a long, long flight of stairs that led up to the cockpit door. When Relena touched the entrance it opened automatically. "I can't go inside with you," Doctor J warned. "Draco will become attuned to only one person, it's pilot - you. Do you see the blank blue screen on the left side?"

"Yes," Relena called.

"Place your left hand on it," Doctor J instructed. "It responds to your thoughts, so command it to turn on by thinking, 'Draco on-line'."

Relena did so. As she did, she felt a sharp tingle run through her head, but brushed it off as the cockpit lit up. The largest screen on the right glowed. On it appeared a question in bold neon-yellow letters -

AZ System - ON/OFF

"It's asking me whether the 'AZ System' should be on or off, Doctor!" yelled Relena.

"Turn it off for now by touching the word 'OFF'. You're not ready for AZ yet," he answered.

"What is the AZ System, Doctor?" asked Relena as she poked her head back out curiously.

"AZ stands for Advanced-ZERO," asserted Doctor J.

"Oh..." Relena said. She had heard a lot of the ZERO System from Quatre and Duo, and she shuddered to think of what an advanced ZERO would be like.

"Now, punch the small black button on the top-left corner of the control panel. Its labeled 'Layout'."

As Relena pushed it, a picture appeared on the frontal screen. It was a complete diagnosis of her Gundam from top to bottom, inside and out. All of the weaponry was labeled and pointed out, all of the statistics for the suit, the emergency power system labeled, and a complete map of the inside, down to the very last circuit. "Wow," she whispered, awestruck at the sheer power at her fingertips.

So, here's the controls that activate the limbs of the suit, she thought with a quick glance at the frontal screen. She punched the "Zoom" button on the control panel and a picture of the panel appeared on the screen. All of the buttons, joysticks, and the keypad were easily visible and clearly labeled.

"So, when will I do this virtual fight?" Relena questioned, leaning on the cockpit doorframe after she had familiarized herself with the Gundam's control panel. It had taken about five to ten minutes.

"Right now, if you think you're ready for it," Doctor J said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Relena responded.

"If you think so, come this way," Doctor J said, leading her towards a small room near the end of the corridor nearest the base of the stairs.

The door of the room was labeled "MS Pilot Trainee Testing Room" in a strange neon-lime-green. Relena shivered, that sounded eerie.

Inside the room, it was fairly unremarkable. In the far-right corner (which wasn't really very far) there was a headset and visor hanging on an outlying hook. Leading from them was a wire that connected to a small hole in the steel wall.

"Put the visor on," ordered Doctor J. Relena did so, and the doctor punched a small red button on a handheld control she hadn't noticed before.

Instantly she was thrust into black space. Relena sucked her breath in sharply. The control panel was right there in front of her, and the rest of Draco's cockpit surrounded her, down to the last perfect detail. When she glanced up at the main screen, she saw two green Leo suits. They were about to attack her. The one on the left struck out with it's near arm.

Relena scrambled to block with the correct arm. I guess I didn't study that control panel as well as I thought I did, she thought ruefully. But there was no time for more thoughts, because the second Leo decided to attack.

Doctor J frowned as he watched Relena's hands race over blank space quickly. She wasn't doing as well as he thought she would. I just hope she doesn't access the A-ZERO System, he thought.

Relena was losing, and she knew it. In desperation, she unleashed a barrage of flames with her dragon-arm, hoping to disable at least one of them. It worked partially; she managed to remove an arm and leg off of one.

But even though she crippled it, it could still shoot with the other arm, and it knew it.

Relena was startled by a small message on the bottom-right of the screen. It read in blocky red letters -

ACCESS A-ZERO SYSTEM W/ "AZERO"

Desperately Relena punched in "AZERO" onto the keyboard, and remembered no more as the world faded into black.

When she awoke, Relena was lying on a cot in an unfamiliar room. A shadow was standing above her. Startled, she lashed out with her left arm.

"I told you you weren't ready for the AZ System!!" he said angrily, ignoring her blow. "Why did you access it?!"

"That's right . . . it was just an illusion," Relena murmered groggily, sitting up slowly. "But it seemed so real, so lifelike, I thought my life depended on it . . . What happened after I accessed A-ZERO?"

"You don't remember?" Doctor J asked, startled out of his anger.

"No, just . . . fainting," she said in a confused voice, furrowing her brow. When she tried to remember, she just got a headache.

"I'll have to look into that," he mused aloud, then changed the subject. "By the way, did you feel something when you commanded Draco to come on-line for the first time?"

"Now that I think of it, my head was tingling."

"Good," he said with satisfaction. "Now you've forged a mental link with your Gundam. Anytime you want, you can gather information off of its database into your memory or order it on- or off-line without touching it. In the meantime, I have some less . . . strenuous practice excercises for you and Draco," he informed her firmly and Relena sighed.

Two days after her training had started, Relena worked up the courage to ask Doctor J something that had been bugging her for a while. "Doctor, can I ask you a question?"

"Depends on what you ask."

"Well, aren't you supposed to be dead? I mean, you were in that Libra ship fragment when it exploded," Relena pointed out uncertainly. "How did you survive?"

To her surprise, Doctor J chuckled. "I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that, Relena. You see, I had recently developed a device that will allow you to teleport away from something. I had thought it could come in handy on the battlefield, you know - startle your enemies by disappearing right before their eyes. But as it turns out, it only can teleport a maximum number of kilograms, which I happen to weigh under," he explained. "So I teleported out of there, knowing that the Viper Clan could, and probably would, rise up against the new government again, and that I might be needed in another war."

"Again?! You knew about the Viper Clan?" Relena asked, both angry and amazed.

Doctor J frowned. "Yes, I did. Every now and then they would uprise against various government systems. The only serious impact they ever had on the world was fear, and of course during the Gundam Wars they were the White Fang rebel group."

"But this is a lot bigger than just an uprising!" Relena persisted. "It's caused a full-fledged war!"

"Yes, this time it is," he replied with a nod. "Which is why I designed two more Gundams to fight," he added.

Relena paused. "Two more?" she asked. "Who's the other pilot?"

"I haven't decided that yet," Doctor J admitted. "Do you have any good suggestions? And Dorothy Catalonia doesn't count," he smirked.

"Actually, yes," Relena said as she bit her lip. "She was an OZ soldier before she switched sides, thanks to Duo Maxwell."

"You must be talking about Hilde Schbeiker," Doctor J improvised.

Relena stared at him in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"In truth, I haven't really hid my identity from the entire world," he confided. "I've been in contact with Heero ever since the Mariemaia incident, so I know all about Hilde and her exploits."

"Should I contact her?" Relena asked, unsure whether to drag Hilde into this. After all, Duo would not be happy.

"Would she make a good pilot?" he responded.

"I think so, she was captain of her squad," suggested Relena to Doctor J, who nodded in confirmation.

"Get in touch with her, immediately," he ordered, and Relena complied by reaching for her laptop.

Hilde, are you there? It's me, Relena, Relena typed as she sent an e-mail off. If Hilde was online, the computer would force her into automatic chatline.

Hilde online. You're lying, Relena Peacecraft's dead, Hilde retorted.

Ask me something only I (Relena) would know, Relena replied instantly.

What happened to my Swiss Army knife? challenged Hilde.

That wasn't your Swiss Army knife, it was mine, Relena typed.

A long moment passed. Then her laptop beeped, and a reply came slowly, each letter forming seperately.

Relena, is it really you?

It is, Relena assured her. And this chatline is secure, I made sure of it. You can say whatever you like.

Well, the first thing I'm gonna say is that Duo's a complete and total jerk for not letting me fight! Hilde raged. He's becoming more like Wufei with every passing moment! It's all "You shouldn't fight, Hilde" and all that trash!

Relena actually laughed aloud. This was the perfect entrance. You really want to fight?

Of course I want to fight! I can't just stand around doing nothing in the middle of a war!

Wow, deja vu. Well, I know a way you can get in the middle of the action . . . Relena knew that it was important to leave Hilde hanging.

Yes! How?? Hilde's reply came faster, like she was more eager.

Just come stay with me, Relena suggested. Now, here are the coordinates for the place I'm staying at . . .